School make-up days announced
HAMLET — With students missing three days of school because of snow and ice, Richmond County Schools Superintendent and the school board have announced the following make-up days:
Traditional students will report on Jan. 30 and Feb. 21 (both former staff development days).
All high school exams will take place on Jan. 17, 18, 19, and 22. Make-up exams will be administered on Jan. 23.
In addition to those changes, the first semester will now end on Jan. 23, followed by the beginning of the second semester on Jan. 24. Report cards for the second quarter will be issued on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
The Richmond Early College High School students will report on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Each of the newly modified calendars can be found on the Richmond County Schools website: www.richmond.k12.nc.us.
Toys for Tots serves nearly 2,000
ROCKINGHAM — Despite a dip in donations, Detachment 1252 of the Marine Corps League delivered toys to nearly 2,000 children in Richmond County this Christmas.
Local coordinator Benny Leviner said 1,869 children received four toys each, from MP3 players to dolls to bikes — “whatever we had on hand at the moment.” Multiplying kids by toys brings the total to 7,476 toys delivered.
Donations accounted for about 3,000 of those toys. The 22 members of the local League made up the difference, paying for more than 4,000 toys out of their own pockets, Leviner said.
The Marine Corps Reserve began Toys for Tots in 1947, as a way to bring Christmas cheer to children who might otherwise have been neglected. Since then, Leviner said, the program has delivered more than 300 million toys to children across the country.
School secures soccer field funds
ELLERBE — The state of North Carolina has delivered to Richmond County $100,000 to build a regulation-sized soccer field at Ellerbe Middle School, School Board members learned this week.
Because school districts technically cannot improve their own property — they must deed it to their counties, who then deed it back for school use after work has been done — the money went to Richmond County with Richmond County Schools listed as a “subrecipient,” school operations director Dennis Quick told the board Tuesday.
Estimated cost for the field is $102,000, Quick said, but the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization promises to make up the shortfall, “so it will not cost us anything.”
Last June, legislators promised their two-year budget would provide $400,000 for special projects in Richmond County, including $200,000 to upgrade the stadium at Richmond Senior High School and $100,000 for the soccer field. The budget also allotted $100,000 to reopen a rest stop near Ellerbe.
State Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Richmond, recently made a ceremonial presentation of the money.
City to block trucks from Spring Street
HAMLET — As the result of a resident’s request, the city has promised to repost a sign barring truck traffic on Spring Street.
Resident Linda Murray told City Council members this week that 18-wheelers routinely used the street for a shortcut, sometimes tearing out cables because the trucks were too wide and too heavy for the residential roadway.
Murray theorized that the city took down the sign when it last resurfaced the street.
“I believe we can take care of that,” Mayor Bill Bayless assured her quickly. “We’ll take care of that right away.”