Dear Friend of Senate District 10,

I hope you had a great week thus far. I would like to take a moment to wish you Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all take the time to reflect on the important things in life. Along with family and friends, I am honored to represent the citizens of Senate District 10. I thank everyone for your support and hope you had a safe and blessed holiday. 

 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can assist you in any way possible. 

 

Sincerely,
 

 

 

 

Multiple Contracts Awarded Improve Duplin Roads

N.C. Department of Transportation recently awarded multiple contracts to improve highways and secondary roads in Duplin County.

Barnhill Contracting Company of Rocky Mount was awarded two separate $1.7 million contracts.

Both projects call for milling and resurfacing the roadway and reconstructing shoulders.

One project was awarded for a section of N.C. 41 and 18 sections of secondary roads, while the other contract was awarded to work on a section of N.C. 111 and 13 sections of secondary roads. 

The third contract awarded this month in Duplin County was for $1.6 million to ST Wooten Corp. of Wilson.

The contractor will mill and resurface the road and grade the shoulder along a section of N.C. 903 and 12 sections of secondary roads.

All three projects can start in mid-March and are expected to be complete in the fall of 2021. 

 

JCC Partners With NC BioNetwork For Fall 2020 Biotechnology Virtual Career Fair

Johnston Community College’s Bioprocess Technology Department partnered with NC BioNetwork to offer a Fall, 2020 Biotechnology Virtual Career Fair (VCF) on Thursday, November 12th.

This online version of a traditional career fair was an opportunity for JCC BioWork students and alumni to network with hiring professionals in the biopharmaceutical industry. Numerous biopharma companies and staffing agencies participated, including Grifols, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Ajinomoto, Biogen, Guerbet, Catalent, KBI Biopharma, KriGen, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Precision BioSciences, Seqirus, Thermo Fisher, Adecco, Core Staff, Manpower Engineering (FKA Experis), OnBoard USA, and Spectraforce.

The registration process included pre-registration, resume submission for review/eligibility by Curry, and expectations provided by NC BioNetwork. A Priority Status was in place for which many JCC BioWork students and alumni qualified.

Participants interacted with hiring professionals from participating in biopharma companies and staffing agencies. Numerous JCC attendees have already completed assessments and interviews for Merck. Merck vowed to fill 50 current openings with only attendees from this VCF. JCC participants are reporting as many as 3 scheduled individual interviews next week with other represented employers.

JCC was represented by nearly 30% of the total number of participants, the largest group of any other college or university. The NC BioNetwork VCF preliminary summary reveals there were a total of 735 unique chat sessions for more than 100 job openings,162 pre-interview screenings completed, and 79 interviews scheduled.  JCC will partner with NC BioNetwork for the next Biotechnology VCF tentatively planned for April 2021. Interested employers can visit https://www.ncbionetwork.org/career-fair for information on participating in the next BioNetwork Career Fair.

 

Johnston County Department of Social Servies Angel Tree Drop-off

Christmas is right around the corner and The Johnston County Department of Social Services is excited to announce that they will be supporting and organizing the Angel Tree Project again this year.

Each year the Angel Tree helps to provide Christmas gifts to children in the foster care system (150+), participants in the Adolescent Parenting Program (80+), as well as families who contact them requesting help due to financial need.

Follow this link to see a list of items for children in need this Christmas. Please email or give us a call at 919-989-8687 to let us know which child or items you would like to cover and we will put your name next to them on the list.

Angel Tree items may be dropped off at the Johnston County Visitors Bureau office no later than December 7th.

Due to COVID-19, they will not be hosting their annual reception.

You may begin to drop off Angel Tree items. Their offices are currently closed to visitors but a staff member will be there Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm, please knock on the door or call our office number. Masks must be worn while in the building. Due to COVID-19, there may be limited staff in the office during lunch hours.

If anyone would rather donate by giving a check it can be made out to “Johnston County Department of Social Services” with “Angel Tree Project” on the memo line. DSS will use these funds to purchase any gifts that were not donated and be sure that each child receives something for Christmas.

Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nSHsSabNNtjbm9MAVRGQfr7rBKGkt0d5xeuGpi0OdVc/edit?usp=sharing

 

Did you know that Professional Boxer, Sugar Ray Leonard is originally from North Carolina? 

In fact, the Olympic boxing champion and the professional boxer was born in Wilmington, NC before moving to Maryland, where he eventually began his fighting career.

Ray Charles Leonard, born May 17, 1956, best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions; as well as the undisputed welterweight title. Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

"The Fabulous Four" created a wave of popularity in the lower weight classes that kept boxing relevant in the post–Muhammad Ali era, during which Leonard defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Hearns, Durán, Hagler, and Wilfred Benítez. Leonard was also the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses and was named "Boxer of the Decade" in the 1980s. The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. In 2002, Leonard was voted by The Ring as the ninth greatest fighter of the last 80 years; BoxRec ranks him as the 23rd greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.  

Leonard, the fifth of seven children of Cicero and Getha Leonard, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was named after Ray Charles, his mother's favorite singer. The family moved to Washington, D.C., when he was three, and they settled permanently in Palmer Park, Maryland when he was ten.