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| PUBLISHED
ONLINE DECEMBER 31, 2020 • VOL.
2, NO. 60 |
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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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MAY WE ALL BE BETTER IN
2021!
 mirrored the nation's biggest Coronavirus pandemic. Black Lives Matter protests. November's elections. Those events dominated the national news in 2020, and the impact of all three hit home to become the year's biggest stories here as well.  Above all others was the coronavirus
pandemic that disrupted our lives in every way
imaginable, shutting down workplaces, schools, churches,
places of business, and public gatherings from festivals
to funerals.Two other major events of the year took place in spite of the pandemic: • The Black Lives Matter protest marches and rallies in the summer. • November's General Election that produced a record number of ballots cast in Johnston County as everywhere else across the nation. A pictorial review of a year that, for many, will "live in infamy," on OBSERVATIONS> |
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CORONAVIRUS
REPORT
112 deaths; 716 new cases; 50 in hospitals yet that's down from this week's peak of 73 Tuesday's report from the Johnston County Health Department put the number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals at 73. Wednesday's report cut that number to 50. A week earlier 57 were hospitalized here. Meanwhile, the number in hospitals statewide continues to surge --- from 3,043 a week ago to 3,339 in Wednesday's report from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The county's mid-week report shows 2,978 active COVID-19 cases in Johnston: 2,928 recovering at home plus the 50 undergoing hospital treatment. That total is up 708 from a week ago. The state reports 14.8% of tests administered recently in Johnston County have come back positive --- same as the statewide percentage. VIEW the county's COVID-19 Information page for more details updated daily> HERITAGE CENTER NOW OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY The
Johnston County Heritage Center remains open but
is allowing visitors only by appointment until
further notice. Masks are required at all times
while inside the building, and gloves are
required while handling collection materials. To
request information or to make arrangements to
see the World War II exhibit on the first floor,
browse the gift shop, or do research in the
Reading Room, call 919-934-2836 or e-mail heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com.
 UNC
Health
provided
drive-thru
testing this
week in the
parking lot of
Smithfield's
First
Presbyterian
Church. Flu
shots were
also given to
those who
requested
them.VIEW the current list of COVID-19 test sites and testing events in all of Johnston> |
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Property taxes due Jan. 5 to avoid penalty You have until next Tuesday (January 5) to pay 2020 property taxes to avoid penalties and interest on late payments. To pay online, visit the Johnston County Tax Office website> Will collections be down this year because of the coronavirus pandemic? In recent years the County of Johnston has been among the state's leaders in percentage of taxes collected at rates consistently exceeding 99%. |
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 ANOTHER WATER-MAIN REPAIR JOB Town of Smithfield workers have been busy lately repairing water mains beneath several major streets. Here they're at work Wednesday morning on a pipeline beneath North Third Street beside the Public Library. Last Saturday they had to fix a water main beneath busy Market Street (US 70 Business) at Front Street. Town Manager Mike Scott said two other breaks needed repairs before Christmas on busy North Bright Leaf Boulevard (US 301). Rebuilding aging infrastructure such as this is a nationwide concern. |
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Upside-down high-school sports schedule puts basketball ahead of football in 2021 Barring last-minute cancellations because of coronavirus outbreaks, high schools will begin their belated basketball seasons next week. And if things play out as planned and the pandemic doesn't worsen, high-school football returns for a shortened season in late February.  For Smithfield-Selma High School,
the basketball season for both the boys' and girls'
teams opens at home next Wednesday (Jan. 6) against
squads from Triton High School of the Dunn-Erwin area of
neighboring Harnett County. A 14-game schedule concludes
February 19 at East Wake High near Wendell. For Neuse
Charter School, a 10-game season begins next
Tuesday (Jan. 5) at North Duplin High School east of
Faison and winds up at Sampson County's Union High south
of Clinton February 17.High-school football in North Carolina has been put off till basketball season is mostly done. Smithfield-Selma's first game --- under a new head coach, Deron Donald --- is set for Friday, February 26 at home against Western Harnett. The regular season will be limited to seven games instead of the usual 11. Meanwhile, North Carolina's high schools have been competing in several sports this fall, including girls' volleyball at Neuse Charter (6 wins, 2 losses to date) and Smithfield-Selma (winless in its first 10 contests). Here's the link to the SSS schedule for all sports> Here's the link to the Neuse Charter sports schedule> |
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WHAT'S COMING UP? COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO MEET MONDAY IN THE COURTHOUSE; AGENDA INCLUDES REQUEST FROM D.A. FOR TEMPORARY HELPERS The Johnston County Board of Commissioners will return to the Old Superior Courtroom in the Courthouse for its first-of-the-month sessions next Monday. Because of COVID-19 concerns, limited seating will be available for the public but the meetings will be live-streamed on the county's Facebook page> During the 10 a.m. session, the board will get a COVID-19 update from county health and public-safety officials and consider a request from District Attorney Susan Boyle for two additional positions in her office through June 30 "to deal with the increased workloads and backlogs that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed upon our offices." Details about all items on the agenda are posted online> During the 6 p.m. session, the board will conduct public hearings on five rezoning petitions --- in Pleasant Grove (2), Elevation, O'Neals, and Boon Hill townships --- and a proposed amendment to the county's Land Development Code. Details about all those items are posted on the county's website> SMITHFIELD COUNCIL TO MEET TUESDAY AT TOWN HALL; AGENDA INCLUDES AN UPDATE ON FLOODING OF BUSINESSES The Town Council will conduct public hearings on a request to rezone for Light Industrial uses 258.52 acres beside US 70 Business near Rogers Drive in West Smithfield and the proposed permanent closing of an abandoned portion of North Ninth Street off Hancock Street. The council will address persistent flooding of businesses in the 1600 block of South Bright Leaf Boulevard and consider staff recommendations for drone use by town departments and designation of fly zones for the public at large. Also on the agenda are several changes to the town's Unified Development Ordinance that have been discussed at length by the council at recent meetings. The full agenda with details about all items to be discussed is posted online> |
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Local doctors named in magazine's annual list of North Carolina's best
Colorado-based DataJoe Research helped the magazine compile the list with "an online peer-voting process" augmented by "referencing government sources" to make sure nominees are properly registered with the state and aren't being disciplined for infractions. "We recognize that there are many good doctors who are not shown in this representative list," the magazine states in its disclaimer. "This is only a sampling of the huge array of talented professionals in the region." Clayton-based doctors on the list: • Christian Nathaniel Gring, North Carolina Heart & Vascular, cardiology. • Rodrigo Teroso Samodal Jr., UNC Primary Care, family medicine. • Murtaza Parekh, REX Digestive Healthcare, gastroenterology. • Ajmal Gilani, UNC Neurology, neurology. • Carlos Fernando Bendfeldt, UNC Women's Health, obstetrics and gynecology. • Caroline Marchand Lewis, UNC Women's Health, obstetrics and gynecology. • Jennifer Mury, UNC Women's Health, obstetrics and gynecology. • Richard Alioto, UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, orthopaedic surgery. • Gregory Tayrose, UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, orthopedics. • Kenneth Lee Johnson, UNC Ear, Nose, and Throat, otolaryngology. • Aaron Leininger, UNC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, sports medicine. • Joseph Corey Allen, UNC Specialty Care, urology. READ the entire list compiled by Business North Carolina magazine> |
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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.... DONALD RAY LEE, 74 - died December 29 RICKIE WATSON HOLLOMAN, 68 - died December 29 MARGARET LEE JEAN ALLEN, 83 - died December 29 MARY VIOLET HAIR REESE MITCHINER, 96 - died December 28 WILLIAM ANDREW BRASWELL JR., 59 - died December 28 GRACE MAE HENDERSON, 82 - died December 27 JESSE CARL HALES, 77 - died December 27 CAROLYN MOORE KNISLEY, 77 - died December 26 WILLIAM ROBERT (ROBBIE) BRANTHAM, 57 - died December 26 NANCY LEE NARRON GORDON, 86 - died December 24 PATRICIA ANN BRASWELL JORDAN, 80 - died December 24 ROSA LEE POLLARD, 88 - died December 24 BOBBY CLAY BENSON, 46 - died December 23 SIBYL CORDELIA SANDERS, 60 - died December 17 DOUG DRIVER, 73 - died December 15 |
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS  THE DENTIST GETS A "TREATMENT" FROM HIS FAMILY Janice Lee Kittner sent us another example of photographer Fuller Rice's Christmas shenanigans: a greeting card made for her family in the 1950s from a photo staged in the dental office of her father, Dr. Bill Lee. He's the "patient" in the chair being "treated" by children Andrea (left), Janice (above), and Glen with limited supervision from their mother. |
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