For more than 45 years Sampson To Advertise Your County’s has been meeting building needs in Clinton Business Call & Sampson County. (910)590-2102 or email us at ads@ Steel Buildings Inc. 629 Northwest Blvd, Clinton, NC 517 Warsaw Road, Clinton, NC thesampsonweekly.com Ph: 910-490-1292 • Fax: 910-490-1286 910-592-8112 SAMPSON COUNTY’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER FREE TheVOLUME 9, ISSUE 32 Sampson Weekly www.thesampsonweekly.com Week of August 3-9, 2018 INSIDE Road Construction Frustration Rouzer to host Leads to New Friends National Agriculture and Big Blessings Leaders Roundtable We Should Know... Page 5 Entertainment Page 9 Sports Page 11 Rouzer to host National Agriculture Leaders Round- table on Nuisance Lawsuits & their threat to all of WEATHER Agriculture and Farm Families Nationwide *Senator Thom Tillis, Chairman Mike Conaway (TX), Fri T-Storms North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler Motorist in Clinton are frustrated, of that there is no doubt. It seems that nearly every direc- 80% will join a roundtable to discuss economic impact tion you travel there is road work being done. Trying to get in and out of businesses, espe- cially on 701, has been particularly frustrating of late. But where some see frustration, others Hi: 84 º Lo: 71 º On Friday, August 3rd, 2018 at 9:00 a.m., U.S. Congress- just make new friends. BLESSINGS, see P. 4 Sat Scattered man David Rouzer (R-NC), U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R- T-Storms NC), U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike 60% Conaway (R-TX), and North Carolina Agriculture Com- missioner Steve Troxler will convene a National Agricul- Hi: 88 º Lo: 72 º ture Leaders Roundtable to discuss the threat that nuisance Scattered Garland to Hold Sun lawsuits pose to the U.S. agriculture industry, rural Amer- T-Storms ica, and farm families nationwide. The roundtable will be 60% Back to School comprised of federal officials, state officials, economists, Hi: 89 º Lo: 72 º and national agriculture industry representatives, includ- Mon Scattered ing the President of the American Farm Bureau, Zippy T-Storms Extravaganza Duvall. 60% “Today’s nuisance lawsuits that are destroying livelihoods Hi: 90 º Lo: 72 º and communities in North Carolina are the tip of the ice- Tues AM berg for what is to come absent a well-informed public and T-Storms good public policy. A ‘nuisance’ is very much in the eye of 40% the beholder and every single farm family that is in com- Hi: 91 º Lo: 73 º pliance with all applicable regulations – no matter what they are growing – should have a safe harbor from legal Wed Scattered T-Storms action being brought against them. This is a very slippery 40% slope that threatens the very existence of every form of agriculture nationwide,” said Congressman David Rouzer. Hi: 90 º Lo: 73 º “I want to thank Congressman Rouzer for hosting this roundtable to hear directly from North Carolina’s farmers about how the nuisance lawsuits could affect their live- WEEKLY VERSE lihoods. The influence from outside lawyers in this case Do not merely has the potential to decimate our state’s vibrant agriculture listen to the industry and the countless rural communities supported by On August 11, 2018, the 2nd Annual Back to School Extravaganza will be held in the it. Agriculture is the number one industry in North Car- word, and so town of Garland at the Garland Softball Complex. The event is scheduled from 10am olina, and it is important to hear from those affected by deceive – 2pm. Sponsored by the Town of Garland, Pac Man’s Barber Shop, local churches, this threat. These lawsuits have the potential to affect the yourselves. businesses and community volunteers, will help supply young people from the Union agriculture community and farmers nationwide, and I look forward to participating in this event to learn how North Do what School District (grades kindergarten – 12th) with school supplies necessary to have a GARLAND, see P. 3 ROUNDTABLE, see P. 4 it says. James 1:22 LET EAGLE EYES HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR FAMILY AND POSSESSIONS! WEEKLY INDEX Do you remember the days when gas was less than a Eagle Eyes dollar and you never even locked your doors at night. Local..............................................1-6 Those days are long gone. Health................................................7 Faith..................................................8 So protect your hard earned investments, with a Surveillance System Eagle Eyes Home Surveillance System. Systems start Entertainment..................................9 We Always Catch Our Prey as low as $699.00 installed, with no monthly fees. Food................................................10 Athlete of Week..............................11 Education..................................12-13 Lifestyle...........................................14 Puzzles............................................15 Obits................................................17 Classified.........................................18 Business...........................................19 Ins Eagle Four System Eagle Six System Eagle Eight System Nascar..............................................20 Record from and Manage Record from and Manage 3MP Recording Resolution per Camera t Up to 4 Cameras Up to 8 Cameras Preinstalled 2TB HDD 720p Recording Resolution per 1080p Recording Resolution per Camera H.264 Dual Streaming Compression CameraPreinstalled Preinstalled 2TB HDD 8 3.6mm 3MP Outdoor 1TB HDD H.264 Dual Streaming Compression Bullet Cameras thesampsonweekly.com Call Today (910)990-3476 910-590-2102 2 www.thesampsonweekly.com Week of August 3-9, 2018 LOCAL NEWS at the event. It was great to see so many Farm Bureau members and other prominent agriculture leaders from across the state come together and share their thoughts on the future of North Carolina’s top industry. It was amazing to be a part of such an important day to the agriculture industry in our state. Events like these, stress the importance of communication and unification of farmers and agriculture leaders in North Carolina. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can assist you in any way possible. Legislative Recap Over the course of the interim, I will be including a Legislative Recap Section in the Newsletter. This section reviews meaningful legislation that became law in the 2018 session. Senate Bill 814: Judicial Vacancy Sunshine Amendment This session, the General Assembly passed 6 constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot this November. In this newsletter, I will go over Senate Bill 814, which allows for a new merit selection process to fill judicial vacancies. This bill only deals with vacancies and does nothing to I hope everyone is having a good week. The General Assembly was recently called into a special change the public’s power to vote for their judges. session to address concerns with the captions of the constitutional amendments on this year’s voting ballets. There were worries that political bias would be injected into the process to mislead Current law allows the Governor to fill all vacancies, without any public input or oversight on voters. Planning for interim committees has already begun, and I imagine most of the committees the individuals’ qualifications. This amendment, if approved by the voters, would create the new will begin meeting in September. Nonpartisan Judicial Merit Commission, which would consist of 9 members appointed by the Governor, General Assembly, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with no entity having a Groundbreaking Ag Sciences Center majority of appointments. The public would recommend vacancy replacements to the Commis- sion, who would then vet them based on their qualifications. Political affiliation would not be one of the criteria used to vet candidates. The Commission would then make recommendations to the General Assembly, who would in turn make at least 2 recommendations to the Governor out of the pool of candidates. The Governor would have 10 days to act before the General Assembly would fill the vacancy in his place. The bill also directs the General Assembly to establish similarly structured local nonpartisan commissions to fill Superior and District Court vacancies. Judges and Justices selected to fill a vacancy will serve until the election after the next election of members of the General Assembly. Moving to this merit selection process will ensure that the public has a voice in replacing their elected judges when vacancies occur and will remove political bias by having a nonpartisan com- mission be the initial entity to determine qualified individuals for the bench. If you would like to read this bill, you can do so at the following link: https://www.ncleg.net/ Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S814v4.pdf As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you have any questions pertaining to this legislation. From the District Sampson County Sampson Community College Project Skill-UP Sampson Community College is promoting Project Skill-Up to assist those who have been I was honored to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Department of Agriculture and impacted by a decline in the tobacco industry or for those unemployed. Project Skill-Up is a Consumer Service’s Agriculture Sciences Center on Monday, July 23rd. The 22,000 square foot program through the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission that allocates funding to facility will consolidate five functions of the Department of Agriculture, which are the depart- help individuals in North Carolina adversely impacted by changes in tobacco related sector of ment’s Food and Drug Protection, Standards, Structural Pest Control and Pesticides, and Vet- the economy by providing scholarship assistance to individuals. These individuals will have the erinary divisions. Most of these divisions currently operated out of labs that were more than 40 ability to update their current skill set and gain experience in marketable skills that reflect the years old. new and growing industries in their local communities. The funds will be used in the workforce development and continuing education areas of the community college and assist individuals, so Above is a picture they can then apply those learned skills to compete in the job market.