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It’s the brass ring

What a fantastic opportunity Johnston County has to break through a long-term barrier in new jobs and growth.

Some of us remember the amusement park carousel where you spent the entire ride hanging on for dear life as you tried to grab the brass ring. The proposed CSX intermodal hub is not quite like that old fair ride, because this brass ring is much, much bigger and offered as a gift to communities that continue to struggle economically.

I see many adults who have no option to even get on the carousel, much less grab a brass ring so they can take care of their families.

The CSX project is a great boon to Johnston County in itself and beyond it; there is no end to the expansion of other businesses and industries that will multiply jobs, improve and build infrastructure, and expand the tax base we desperately need to repair our schools and build new ones.

What retail operation or other industry jobs have you wished we had here in Johnston? With CSX, the odds are you will see it all.

We are all aware of the need for jobs and growth from eastern Johnston to the coast. Envision the impact the hub will have for our ports when it plugs into our current transportation network of Interstate 40, I-95 and U.S. 70. Eyes from around the country will fall on Johnston as the place for entrepreneurs, distribution centers, warehouses, manufacturers and perhaps an automobile plant to locate. CSX will help bring additional jobs, prosperity and growth to communities our children will want to work in and raise their families in.

History speaks to the impact CSX has already had in the development of many of our communities. Finding the right path to prosperity in any endeavor demands vision and a commitment to the future of our children. Always a struggle, growth must have a joining of mind, heart and resources in order to create prosperity that will impact all. Let’s make sure the brass ring does not slip from our great county. Forward with CSX!

Town leaders standing for CSX, not community

I’m not sure why Mayor Linwood Parker is refusing to listen to the citizens of the Four Oaks community. The majority of the community is against this CSX hub, with the exception of a few who are hanging on Mayor Parker’s promises of economic growth and jobs. That is something he can not guarantee the community.

Look how well that turned out with the industrial park; nothing much has ever come from it, and most likely the CSX will be more of the same. They’ll bring in experienced workers if they build the hub here, especially for the high-paying positions, and they’ll have a lot of employees to offer these positions too since they’ve had numerous layoffs lately.

It is beyond me that the words “eminent domain” have even been mentioned. It isn’t right for a company such as this and the mayor to force hard-working individuals to sell their land and homes; that’s not the American way.

Some of this land has been in my family for more than 100 years, and it’s absolutely priceless to my family. A lot of blood, sweat, tears and hard work have gone into being able to keep this family land for generation after generation. It’s not so easy to up and move a working farm. It’s also very disgraceful that a family cemetery on this property will be destroyed; our great-grandfather is among those buried in this cemetery.

I for one also have a problem with how this will impact our children going to school in the future. I have a small child who will eventually attend Four Oaks Elementary, and he has seizures. I will fight for my child to attend another school if this project comes to Four Oaks, because if he were to have an emergency, EMS would not be able to get to him quickly if the tracks were blocked by a train.

The mayor is supposed to back his community, not sell it out. And for him to say farming is a thing of the past is ridiculous.

Please come to your senses, Mayor Parker and commissioners, and stand with the community and its great citizens. Back the people who put you in office and keep CSX from destroying the town that we love.

Program appreciates business support

I was so impressed with the generosity and support that the Johnston County business community provided for the April Guardian ad Litem volunteer-appreciation reception.

Heartfelt thanks to the local businesses that contributed refreshments. Receiving this type of community endorsement is an encouragement for the Guardian ad Litem volunteers to continue their work with this program, whose mission is: To provide trained independent advocates to represent and promote the best interests of abused, neglected and dependent children in the state court system and to work expediently toward a plan that ensures these children are in a safe, permanent home.