News - Randolph Record

05 Nov

Randolph County election results: Rivenbark takes landside victory to commissioner’s seat

Bob SuttonNews, PoliticsLester Rivenbark, Randolph County Board of Commissioners

Photo: Lester Rivenbark Republican Lester Rivenbark will join the Randolph County Board of Commissioners after an easy victory for the District 5 seat. Rivenbark tallied more than 55,000 or 78 percent of votes cast, easily defeating Democrat Jane Ledwell-Gant. Rivenbark takes the seat that’s held by Maxton McDowell. In March, Rivenbark defeated Chris McLeod and McDowell in the Republican primary. Incumbent Kenny Kidd, a Republican, retained his spot on the Board of Commissioners with an equally impressive showing. Kidd managed almost 56,000 votes or 78 percent to trounce Democrat challenger William McCaskill. Kidd had no opposition in the primary. The…

31 Oct

Randolph County embraces workplace health ranking

Bob SuttonNewsrandolph county, Sam Varner, wellness, Zeb Holden

ASHEBORO – Even more programs have been launched for Randolph County employees with the county receiving high grades for its workplace health initiatives. The county ranked 17th in the country and, for the fifth year in a row, first in the Triad region of North Carolina in Springbuk’s rankings of the nation’s healthiest employers. “We are in some pretty heavy company,” said Sam Varner, wellness administrator for Randolph County. “It’s pretty remarkable.” The ranking comes for any organization that has employees. Springbuk is a health analytics company that assesses health and benefits plans. Randolph County’s rating was boosted by providing…

29 Oct

RCSS students provided career pathway through RCC

Bob SuttonNewsEducation, Randolph Community College, Randolph County School System, RCSS

ASHEBORO – High school students in the Randolph County School System can select from a variety of program offerings through Randolph Community College in a new partnership announced last week. It’s called a Workforce Roadmap as part of a college and career readiness Continuum. This is an expansion of a program that began in 2003. The program provides RCSS students with post-secondary Career Academy certificate and credential opportunities. This program includes free RCC tuition and textbooks along with the opportunity to earn high school and college credentials. In 2023-24, RCSS students earned a total of 7,366 credentials aligned with the 26…

23 Oct

Randolph County School System receives more than $100,000 in grant funding

Ryan HenkelNewsEducation, Randolph County School System, RCSS, Stephen Gainey

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County School System has found itself with a bit of extra funding. At its Oct. 21 meeting, the RCSS Board of Education approved the acceptance of two grants. The first was a $50,000 Career and Technical Education Grade Expansion grant from the Education and Workforce Innovation Commission. The grant will provide partial funding to support a middle school career development coordinator whose job is to ensure students have a documented career development plan and will support staff with facilitation of each student’s plan. The second grant is a $60,000 Innovation Grant from the North Carolina Department…

22 Oct

Southwestern Randolph freshman dies from auto wreck

Bob SuttonNews, Obitobituary, Southwestern Randolph High School, student dies

ASHEBORO – A Southwestern Randolph High School student died as a result of an automobile accident during the weekend, according to information from the Randolph County School System. Freshman Adrian Jimenez Alvarado, 15, died Sunday. A school district spokesperson said a crisis team was at the school Monday to assist as word spread about the fatality. Support personnel will be available for the remainder of the week as needed. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Ridge Funeral Home in Asheboro. A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home’s chapel. Burial will follow…

21 Oct

Early voting brings high turnout in Randolph County

Bob SuttonNews, Politics2024 elections, early voting, randolph county

Sites in Archdale and Asheboro were busy ASHEBORO – More than 12,000 voters went to the polls across the first three days of early voting in Randolph County. On the first day of early voting Thursday, the Randolph County Board of Elections reported that 4,715 ballots were cast, led by the 1,181 voters at the Community Services Building in Archdale and 1,049 voters at the board of elections headquarters in Asheboro. The next day, there were 4,711 voters in the county, followed by Saturday’s turnout of 2,707 when there were reduced hours compared to the weekdays. The Archdale site had…

17 Oct

Asheboro High School, RCC expand career academy offerings

Bob SuttonNewsAsheboro City Schools, Asheboro High School, Education, Randolph Community College

ASHEBORO – Asheboro High School’s list of career academies in conjunction with Randolph Community College has grown. The offerings have expanded to include light duty diesel, zoo horticulture, advanced manufacturing and community support services in addition to collision repair academy. The partnership between the high school and RCC began in 2018 with the automotive academy, which has been redesigned into a collision repair academy. “It helps them step right into a job,” said Sarah Beth Cox, who’s career technical education director for Asheboro City Schools. That brings the total to five different programs. The additional offerings, which are available for…

15 Oct

Asheboro City Council tackles busy October agenda

Ryan HenkelGovernment, NewsAddie Corder, Asheboro City Council, Trevor Nuttall

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro City Council met for its monthly meeting last week with quite a busy agenda. The council first held three legislative hearings with the first being for an application to apply initial city zoning on more than 2,200 acres of NC Zoological Park and NC Zoological Society property recently annexed into the city limits. “The property was relatively recently annexed into the city limits by an act of the General Assembly and under state law, the city has to apply city zoning to all property within its jurisdiction,” assistant city manager Trevor Nuttall said. Nuttall said the…

13 Oct

Early voting period opens this week

Bob SuttonNews, Politics2024 elections, early voting, Melissa Kirstner, Randolph County Board of Elections, voting

There are tweaks to locations for Randolph County early voters ASHEBORO – Early voting begins this week for the Nov. 5 general election. The early voting window runs from Oct. 17-Nov. 2, with the exception of Oct. 20. Voting times are 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays; and 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27. There are five sites in Randolph County for early voting – Randolph County Board of Elections on North Fayetteville Street, Asheboro; Community Services Building, Archdale; Randleman Civic Center, Randleman; Franklinville United Methodist Church, Franklinville; and Randolph Community College’s Corner Foundation Center, Asheboro. Early…

09 Oct

Commissioners approve purchase of property for new elementary school in Liberty

Ryan HenkelNewsEducation, Liberty, public schools, Randolph County Board of Commissioners, Randolph County School System, RCSS, Stephen Gainey

ASHEBORO – Randolph County has taken a big step toward the construction of a new elementary school as the Randolph County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of land for the new Liberty Elementary School. At its Oct. 7 meeting, the board approved the purchase of 32 acres of land at a sale price of $62,500 per acre located at 4547 Starmount Road for the site. “The board and myself believe this is the best site for the new school,” Randolph County School System superintendent Stephen Gainey said. “The feasibility study may require us to buy more, so we’ve been…