A WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE EDITOR

2021 summed up with one word: COVID (again) 

The year had a promising start as it appeared spread of the coronavirus was coming under control with approval of vaccines to check it. Johnston County's schools began receiving students on campus once again on Feb. 1, and Johnstonians flocked to the Health Department's free vaccination clinics.

Meanwhile, the county's jobless rate continued to recover from its frightening high of 11% in the spring of 2020, and as 2021 was coming to a close almost 100,000 Johnstonians were employed – an all-time high.

But we also experienced a setback with arrival of the Delta variant of COVID-19 during the summer that produced another spike in infections and a 4-3 decision by the county's Board of Education to reverse course and require mask wearing by students and staff when classes resumed in August.

Along with protests from some parents against the mask mandate was an outcry against the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" in Johnston's public schools that appeared to be a delayed reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. Responding to the CRT uproar, Johnston's County Commissioners withheld "full funding" for the county's schools until the Board of Education adopted a policy that put restrictions on how the teaching of race in American history can be addressed.

That wasn't settled till October, when the school board followed through and commissioners added $7.9 million to the schools' operating budget – an unprecedented granting of the school board's annual request in full.

Back to the impact of COVID: Facing disruptive staff shortages, the school board this fall approved a series of bonuses and pay raises for just about everybody – teachers and classroom assistants, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other support staff – and moved toward a minimum wage of $15 an hour for all school employees.

That was partly a response to last spring's announcement that Amazon would build a huge distribution center in West Smithfield promising minimum wages of $15 (later raised to $18 an hour).

Another apparent byproduct of Amazon's coming was approval by the Smithfield Town Council in recent months of several large-scale residential projects – a potential housing boom not seen here since Sylvania's arrival half a century ago.

What about the effects of COVID going forward into 2022? That's not clearly predictable with arrival of an even more contagious variant named Omicron, coupled with the disappointing statistic that half of Johnston's population still isn't vaccinated against the coronavirus.

VISIT the Weekly Sun archives for a more complete review of 2021's main events>

A steady stream of folks lined up for COVID testing Tuesday at the Progressive Men's Club building off East Market Street. The Health Department reports that 450 persons took advantage of the free tests on that day alone.

CORONAVIRUS REPORT

More folks getting tested; vaccinations still lagging

There's an upsurge of Johnstonians seeking tests to see if they've contracted one of the strains of COVID-19. But there's still not as much demand for vaccinations, although a state program offering $100 gift cards for first doses received did help some. Trouble is, only 150 of the cards were made available for Johnstonians, and those ran out by midday Monday, reports the county's Health Department.

According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, while 51% of Johnston's total population is now fully vaccinated (a percentage that hasn't moved much recently), 89% of Johnstonians age 65 and older are fully vaccinated. That's not far off the statewide rate of 91% for the eldest age group.

Health and Human Services reported this week that 17.3% of recent COVID tests administered statewide produced positive results for infections – the highest rate in quite some time (the state's ongoing goal is virus containment at a testing rate no higher than 5%).

The state also reported another significant rise this week in the number of persons hospitalized because of severe COVID infections.

Here are the latest mid-week statistics compiled by the Weekly Sun:

VIEW the current list of vaccination clinics in Johnston County>

VIEW the current list of testing sites in Johnston County>

Two new houses on South Second Street across from the Dog Park recently sold for $365,000 and $385,000, according to the Johnston County Tax Office.

Houses have gotten more valuable in Smithfield

The median selling price of houses in Johnston County has jumped from $251,000 last January to $331,000 last month – an increase of $80,000, or 31.8% – according to the latest TARR Report on the Triangle region's real-estate market. 

While most of that is a result of explosive suburban growth in northwestern Johnston, coupled with rising construction costs, the housing market in Smithfield has enjoyed a similar uptick in real-estate values.

Several years ago, few houses here sold above the $300,000 mark. That has changed, with dwellings offered below $200,000 not too long ago now attracting buyers willing to pay well above $300,000. Meanwhile, houses once priced in the low $300,000s are today registering sales above $400,000.

During the past two months, the Triangle Multiple Listing Service for realtors shows 33 existing units selling in the $300,000s and nine above $400,000 – including five above $500,000 – within the Smithfield 27577 Zip Code area.

Those prices aren't anything like the numbers for suburban communities between here and Raleigh, but they're significant nonetheless in light of more than two decades of lagging real-estate values in Smithfield.

Meanwhile, the median home price nationwide topped $400,000 for the first time during the third quarter of 2021, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

Two new houses finished during 2021 at the end of River Birch Court in South Smithfield have been valued at $474,570 and $675,120 by the county's Tax Office.

There's good reason
you've seen this sign
in many yards around
Smithfield lately....

www.CallPernell.com

Retail-sales growth in Johnston tops 20% again

Retail sales in all of Johnston County continued to increase at a record-setting pace during the third quarter of 2021, jumping 21.4% from the same period a year earlier. For the months of July, August, and September revenue from sales in Johnston totaled $706,809,640. That's an increase of $124.7 million from sales a year ago.

Johnston's retail sales have registered quarterly increases this year of 27.7%, 20%, and now 21.4% in the Weekly Sun's compilation of monthly reports from the N.C. Department of Commerce (normally issued to the public up to three months after the reporting periods).

Apparently those numbers are fueled by pent-up consumer demand as we emerged from the shock of the 2020 pandemic as well as an explosive growth of residential development in Johnston that us brought us many more retailers and service providers along with many more residents.

Those robust numbers also bode well for state, county, and municipal governments that share sales taxes paid by us consumers on the purchases we make.

ACCESS the state's monthly reports going back as far as July 1998>

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The lasting legacy of pioneering
industrialist John Shallcross Sr.

He moved his family's fledgling electronics business from Pennsylvania to Johnston County in 1958 – one of the first modern industries to relocate here in an era that saw more major employers to follow.

Shallcross Manufacturing Company made its mark as a producer of wirewound resistors so reliable they earned a contract with the U.S. Government in the production of intercontinental ballistic missles (IBMs) during the Cold War. The company also provided electronics for NASA during the early stages of the nation's Space Program.

And even though the family business was sold to Cutler-Hammer in the mid-1960s, John Shallcross Sr. and his children continued to nurture other enterprises here, including Shallco, a successor to Shallcross Manufacturing that continues to turn out electrical switch products today.

Gary Ridout, known to readers of the Weekly Sun for his stories about notable personalities who reside around Holt Lake, has expanded his work to include a series of interviews with several key players in the John Shallcross story. Transcripts of those interviews are published on this week's FEATURE PAGE>

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
From my home to yours,
I wish you happiness and good health
in the coming year.

SUSAN LASSITER
Broker, Fonville Morisey Realty
919-669-9235   •   www.fmrealty.com

WHAT'S COMING UP?

New Year's Eve a holiday for most government services

With New Year's Day falling on Saturday, Friday will be observed as a holiday by most federal, state, and local government agencies. Banks and the U.S. Postal Service as well as Johnston County's landfill and solid-waste convenience sites will be operating as usual on New Year's Eve, closed Saturday for New Year's Day.

County Commissioners face light agendas Monday
On the agenda for the 10 a.m. session next Monday at the Courthouse is discussion of next steps for expanding Broadband service in under-served areas of Johnston along with the usual monthly reports on COVID-19 and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. VIEW the full agenda>
Monday's 6 p.m. session has no rezoning hearings scheduled, only the usual spots for Public Comments, Manager Reports, and Board Reports and Comments.

Town Council meets Tuesday night with light agenda
The monthly meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and includes public hearings on a couple of relatively small rezoning requests: one to allow an addition of 1.61 acres to the Twin Creeks residential development off Black Creek Road just west of NC 210 (along with voluntary annexation to the town); the other to change the zoning classification of 0.93 of an acre on the north side Laurel Drive east of Laurelwood Drive from R-20 (Residential-Agricultural) to R-10 (Residential with lots of at least 10,000 square feet). VIEW the full agenda for Tuesday's meeting>

County and town taxes due next Wednesday (Jan. 5)

That's the last day to pay the current year's bill before interest is added to unpaid balances. You may pay in person inside the Courthouse or use curbside boxes outside, mail payments postmarked no later than Jan. 5, pay by phone by calling 9919-277-2223 (no convenience fee charged), or online at www.jcto.org>

DEATHS & FUNERALS

Click on the name to read an obituary, usually posted by the funeral home

GARY CURTISS (KURT) GRADY, 77 – died December 26

DANIEL RICHARD MARSHALL, 90 – died December 26

WILLIE ELWOOD STRICKLAND, 76 – died December 26

FLORENCIA RUFLO COMBATE, 68 – died December 25

SHERWOOD ALEXANDER LEWIS, 56 – died December 24

KENNETH LANE, 89 – died December 22

MICHAEL ANTHONY (MIKE MIKE) WEBB, 40 – died December 22

WILLIAR GRACE WILLIAMS, 80 – died December 21