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| PUBLISHED
ONLINE DECEMBER 17, 2020 • VOL.
2, NO. 58 |
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Stories and photos by Wingate Lassiter unless otherwise noted (click highlighted link to e-mail the editor) |
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CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
983 new cases added this past week; vaccines arriving for hospital workers The numbers continue to get worse, but help is on the way with arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines at Johnston Health hospitals in Smithfield and Clayton. "We're expecting 1,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to arrive here sometime Thursday," Johnston Health's Suzette Rodriguez told the Sun Wednesday afternoon. If the shipment arrives, "we'll start inoculating front-line employees Friday," she said. No word yet on when the public at large may be included. The county issued these COVID-19 totals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: • 9,895 cases (up 983 in one week); 92 deaths (9 this past week), 65 currently hospitalized (up from 49 last week) + 1,977 at home for a total of 2,042 active cases (down slightly from 2,082 a week ago). VIEW the county's COVID-19 Information page for more details updated daily> SCHOOL CAMPUSES WERE QUIET AGAIN THIS WEEK Meanwhile, Johnston County's public schools were mostly devoid of students this week as the system went back to remote learning at home for all grades because of the recent coronavirus spike that made us a "Critical Spread" county according to the state's COVID-19 Alert System. An exception was made for high-school students taking the state's end-of-course tests this week. State rules required them to take those tests on campus. Here's the COVID-19 report posted by the school system this morning (Thursday): STUDENT DATA: 82 active cases among students --- up from 54 cases last week; 1,045 active quarantines including 34 at South Smithfield Elementary, 6 at West Smithfield Elementary, 11 at Smithfield Middle, 19 at Smithfield-Selma High --- total quarantined last week: 1,490. STAFF DATA: 40 active cases among employees --- down from 41 cases last week; 139 active quarantines including 0 at South Smithfield, 2 at West Smithfield, 2 at Smithfield Middle, 5 at Smithfield-Selma High --- total quarantined last week: 250. VIEW the JCPS COVID-19 Dashboard for more details updated daily> COURT PROCEEDINGS POSTPONED FOR 30 DAYS Chief Justice Cheri Beasley this week ordered North Carolina's courts to postpone "non-essential, in-person proceedings" for 30 days because of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases across the state. Resident Superior Court Judge Tom Lock had already canceled all criminal district courts scheduled for this week in Johnston County after receiving word from District Attorney Susan Doyle last week that two of her employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. REGISTER OF DEEDS CLOSED TILL FURTHER NOTICE Another county agency --- the Register of Deeds office in the Courthouse --- announced on Tuesday that it's closing its doors to the public "out of an abundance of caution." Register of Deeds Craig Olive said the closure would continue "until further notice" but provided no other details. Register of Deeds employees, he noted, will be available by telephone to answer questions and provide assistance, and persons with previously scheduled appointments will be notified by telephone and re-scheduled. Mr. Olive said his office will continue to offer electronic recording of documents through the Register of Deeds website>
VIEW the current list of COVID-19 test sites and testing events in all of Johnston> |
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 "IF IT'S REALLY CLEAN,
IT'S PARRISH CLEAN!" 919-934-5898 www.parrishclean.com |
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 SANTA CLAUS WAS ROAMIN' THE TOWN! Without the annual Christmas Parade because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Town of Smithfield dispatched not one, but two Santa Claus "representatives" to cruise atop a couple of fire trucks through every neighborhood Saturday afternoon. They started out shortly after 1 o'clock and finished their rounds just before sundown. Among the spectators was this group (below) outside the home of Gay Pernell (right) beside Holding Street. With her (left to right) are her daughter Julie Leary holding grandson Graham along with his sister Clara and friends Cora and Oliver Hicks.  WATCH a short video of the Santa tour on the town's Facebook page> |
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Despite COVID restrictions, Johnston's retail sales were up 12.3% July-September That's good news not only for local retail establishments, but also for our county and municipal governments that depend on sales taxes for a chunk of their operating expenses. According to the N.C. Department of Revenue's latest report, retail sales in all of Johnston County totaled $582,103,144 during this year's third quarter (July, August, and September.) That's 12.3% above sales during that same period a year earlier. It's a remarkable figure in light of the shutdown of many businesses last March because of the coronavirus outbreak. And it follows an 11% increase in retail sales during the second quarter (April-June). An easing of restrictions on business closings over the summer likely contributed to the rising sales numbers reflected in the state's latest report. Here's another possibility: While Johnston's sales went up 12.3%, sales in neighboring Wake County rose just 2.4%. Could it be the statewide "stay at home" order affecting both commuters and shoppers channeled more Johnstonians into doing business locally? Statewide retail sales, meanwhile, rose 6.95% July-September. ACCESS the state's monthly reports covering all of N.C.'s counties since 2000> Last few days for a long-standing store . . .  Jimmy Blow opened The Jewel Box in Downtown Smithfield in October 1946 --- 74 years ago. The business moved to its new home on Booker Dairy Road in January 1990. Gordon Blow (center in photo) will close its doors one last time Christmas Eve. Jimmy Blow kept his hand in the business till shortly before his death last April at age 97. Gordon joined his father in 1973 after graduating from college. Ricky McLeod came on board in mid-1996, Kathy Sharp in June 2007. The Weekly Sun featured the business in a story published in February 2019> A COVID-19 protocol note: The trio briefly removed their masks and spaced themselves appropriately for the Sun's photo above. |
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 Story writer Owen Daughtry prepares to cut the ceremonial ribbon at the opening of the first "story walk" encircling the special playground at Smithfield Community Park that was built to accommodate youngsters with physical handicaps. (Photo from the Partnership for Children of Johnston County) Here's a unique addition to Partnership Park Thanks to donors taking part in the annual Johnston County Partnership for Children fund-raiser last March, there's now a "story walk" in place for children to move from station to station and read a story entitled "Different But Special" --- written by native Johnstonian Owen Daughtry, a victim of cerebral palsy. "Story walks are of the utmost importance right now to ground children in the routines of early literacy,” stated Heather Machia, Early Literacy Coordinator with the Partnership. "Families get outside and get moving while reading, which combines physical exercise with family conversations about the book that you are reading together." "Owen has been instrumental in the Partnership for Children Park since its inception," Ms. Machia pointed out. "It was only fitting that his book be the first." The story's text along with photographs and illustrations are spaced apart in weatherproof mounts positioned beside the sidewalk that surrounds the playground. Each stop presents a situation and asks the young reader to respond to it. The Partnership for Children was a key partner with the Town of Smithfield in developing the special playground on the western side of Community Park, which is accessible from Durwood Stephenson Parkway at the Recreation & Aquatics Center. She's a national African American Scholar  Norri Dupree of Smithfield --- a
senior at Neuse Charter School --- has been
honored by the College Board's national
recognition program as an African American
Scholar.She qualified by scoring in the top 2.5% of 3.8-million students who took a standardized test administered by the College Board in cooperation with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. "Norri Dupree is an amazing student and an amazing young lady," said Beth Miller, one of her teachers at Neuse Charter. "In addition to her work ethic in the classroom, Norris contributes her leadership to the NCS cheer team. In her spare time, she works at a part-time job." Added teacher Paige Bruner: "She takes learning seriously and not only wants to earn top marks, but she wants to truly learn her content. Norri enjoys learning the why, not just learning for the test. She has been a true delight to teach!" EDITOR'S NOTE: The content for this story came from a news item posted on the Triangle East Chamber of Commerce website. |
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WHAT'S COMING UP? PUBLIC AGENCIES WILL TAKE TIME OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS Both the County of Johnston and the Town of Smithfield will follow the holiday schedule set by the State of North Carolina, closing offices and suspending most services on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 24-25 and Monday, Dec. 28. The county will follow a slightly different schedule for its solid-waste "convenience centers" and the landfill, which will be closed on Saturday, Dec. 26 in addition to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but open on Monday, Dec. 28. The state's schedule closes offices and services on New Year's Day, Friday, Jan. 1 but keeps them open on New Year's Eve, Thursday, Dec. 31. WINTER SOLSTICE WILL OCCUR EARLY NEXT MONDAY The exact time, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac, will be 5:02 a.m. Monday, producing the year's shortest day with sunrise at 7:19 a.m., sunset at 5:04 p.m. After that, the days will gradually lengthen till the year's longest day next June. |
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DEATHS & FUNERALS Each week we post links to obituaries about persons who have died during the past week. We monitor the websites of local funeral homes to compile our list, and we welcome links provided by readers to obituaries of persons with Smithfield connections who have died outside our immediate area.... JIMMY RAY WALLACE, 83 - died December 16 FREDA BARBOUR FAIL, 72 - died December 14 IRVIN McLAMB, 86 - died December 13 LINDA DUBLIN LEVY, 72 - died December 12 DEBORAH JEAN DANIELS, 65 - died December 12 IDA JUANITA FAISON, 69 - died December 11 WILODENE WILLIAMS CONLEY, 82 - died December 11 EMMA ELOISE LAWHON GRIFFIN, 86 - died December 11 JOHN MICHAEL NEUMANN, 68 - died December 10 THOMAS CLARK FITZGERALD, 70 - died December 9 JEAN HINTON HIGH, 89 - died December 7 |
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS  WHEN DOWNTOWN WAS OUR CENTER FOR SHOPPING As late as the 1980s The Jewel Box and Worley Bros. shown here were just two of numerous small retail stores that made up the heart of Downtown Smithfield. This row of buildings in the 100 block of South Third Street was bought by the county and demolished in the late 1990s to make room for expansion of the Courthouse. The reddish brick building in the middle of the picture once housed Turnage & Talton, one of several Downtown grocery stores in an age before the suburban supermarket. (Photo from Warren Grimes Collection at the Johnston County Heritage Center) |
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LINKS TO MORE PAGES IN THIS EDITION OBSERVATIONS Rewind with our archives |
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For more information
about our community, check out my online
"newspaper parent" via the link shown below. This
website is a handy portal to important sources of
current information about Smithfield and Johnston
County.
 Here's
what you'll find there:• Local government website links • Local weather data, current & past • Neuse River levels & forecasts • Official time & Farmer's Almanac • Monthly unemployment reports • Quarterly retail-sales reports • Official population estimates • Agricultural statistics • Things to see and do www.smithfieldselmasun.com |
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