Briefly
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 4, 2004 1:56 PM
Preschool slots open
The Wayne County Partnership for Children has added 92 slots for the state's preschool program.
That will bring the total number of children served to 414, a 29 percent increase from last year.
The More at Four program is the state's free preschool initiative that serves at-risk 4-year-olds.
Children must have turned 4 on or before Oct. 16. The 92 additional slots will allow the Wayne County Partnership for Children to open up five new classrooms and expand one existing classroom at Fremont STARS Elementary School.
The new classrooms will be at Carver Head Start in Mount Olive, Wee Are the World Child Care in Dudley, two classrooms at Small World Child Care, and one site yet to be approved.
Applications can be completed at the partnership office, 800 N. William St. For more information, contact Valerie Wallace at 735-3371, extension 231.
Contract extended
The school board has again voted to extend its superintendent's contract.
By a consensus vote Monday night, the board gave a thumbs up to another year of service from Dr. Steven Taylor.
Taylor, who will begin his fifth year in the job, thanked the board for its vote of confidence.
"I enjoy what I do most days," he said. "Some days it gets a little more challenging than others.
"We're under a lot of rules and regulations and mandates. But in spite of that, our students are excelling and along with our teachers, are working hard every single day."
The board did not discuss whether to award the incentive pay that is part of Taylor's contract. Board member Lehman Smith said the group planned to meet again to make a decision, but noted that Taylor's evaluation this year was outstanding.
Taylor's current salary is $117,837.
Filling the boot
The Goldsboro Professional Firefighters Association will take part this weekend in the annual "fill-the-boot" campaign to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Firefighters will be stationed Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Wal-Mart at 1002 N. Spence Ave.
Firefighters have assisted the association for 50 years and last year raised $18.3 million to benefit the families.
More information is available from Fire Lt. Rob Loreman, the local MDA coordinator, at 921-2514 or Christine Bender, the MDA district director, at 1-910-791-8585.
Sandburg's World
Stagestruck's auditions for "The World of Carl Sandburg" will be from 7 until 9 p.m. Thursday at the warehouse on 113 W. Chestnut St.
High school and middle school students are eligible to audition for the readers' theater production directed by Margaret Boothe Baddour.
Picnic dinner theater shows will be Thursday, Sept. 23, at Mount Olive College; Saturday, Sept. 25, at Wayne Community College; and Sunday, Sept. 26, at the Wayne County Museum.
Center Street Jam Thursday
The Center Street Jam Thursday night in downtown Goldsboro will feature the popular beach music group The Embers.
The Embers have been entertaining in the Carolinas since 1958, playing a major role in developing the beach music sound that has become a genre and industry all its own. The Embers had been scheduled to perform later in the summer, but the concert was moved to this week because of a conflict.
The Jam is held at the Waynesborough House parking lot on South Center Street from 5:30 - 8 p.m.
The Band of Oz will perform at the Aug. 19 Center Street Jam.
Not cursing council
One of the men cited for cursing at Monday's Goldsboro council meeting said he did not curse inside the building, or at the council members.
Aaron Kornegay of LaGrange said that he was standing outside City Hall near the street, talking with a couple of other men when he made the comment. The comment, referring to excrement, was about the situation, he said.
"I was the first to leave the building," he said. "And I shook one of the officers' hands as I left."
Kornegay said that the officer did change his citation from "making a rude comment" in a public building, to making a rude comment in public.
"If I had made that comment inside, it would have been different," he said. "But I was just having a conversation outside."