Wesley Beeson | The Sanford Herald Members of the public and current and former community officials gathered for Friday's ribbon cutting ceremony at the Chatham County Justice Center.

Chatham fetes opening of new Justice Center, Facilty hailed as safe, modern and efficient

Serving as the intersection of several segments of local government, the new Chatham County Justice Center officially opened its doors Friday.

The public gathered with former and current community leaders at 2 p.m. Friday at for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the center, located off of Sanford Road.

LOOKING BACK AT 2012: Hard-fought election ends in conservative majority

Editor’s note: In the fifth and final installment of The Herald’s countdown of the top stories of 2012, local elections shape the  future of Lee County.

SANFORD — A contentious presidential election trickled down locally, with several contested Lee County races making the year’s election the top story of 2012.

Read these stories and more at The Sanford Herald

Wesley Beeson | The Sanford Herald Kathy Wilson, right, one of the co-founders of Divine Finds thrift store, assists John Smith, left, with donations on Monday as he fills out a receipt of donated items.

Charitable groups see book in end-of-year contributions 

Several local nonprofits and charitable organizations saw slight increases in giving this past month as residents hurried to meet the deadline for a charitable tax deduction.

Monday was the cutoff date to donate to a qualified, tax-exempt organization to receive a tax deduction, and several Lee County organizations look forward to the period of year-end contributions.

LOOKING BACK AT 2012: Tornado-struck shopping plaza reopens, playgrounds restored

Editor’s note: In the third installment of The Herald’s countdown of the top five stories of 2012, recovery continues in the aftermath of the April 2011 tornado.

Businesses were rebuilt and the community has continued to heal in the year and half since a tornado struck Lee County, taking both livelihoods and lives.

After months of uncertainty, several of the businesses within the hard-hit Southeast Shopping Center Plaza reopened in November and December, including Big Lots and Tractor Supply. The dilapidated Umani Asian Bistro building adjacent to the center has been torn down to make way for a new BB&T branch, and big-box sporting goods store Dunham’s joined the plaza as its newest tenant.

Read these stories and more at The Sanford Herald.

Wesley Beeson | The Sanford Herald Tramway Fire Department battled a house fire early Monday morning which engulfed and destroyed this home on Montclair Circle.

Fire destroys Sanford home: None injured in morning blaze

Flames completely engulfed and destroyed a home early Monday in the 2800 block of Montclair Circle, where firefighters battled a fully involved blaze for several hours. Firefighters responded to the residence shortly after 5 a.m., but they weren’t able to control the fire for nearly an hour and half, said Tramway Fire Department Chief Scott Holt.

Video sweepstakes facing action from law enforcement

Local law enforcement officers are set to began enforcement of a 2010 ban of video sweepstakes as early next week — shutting down dozens of Internet cafes around the county.

The North Carolina Supreme Court recently upheld the 2010 state law ban on video sweepstakes, overruling an injunction filed by the Internet sweepstakes industry. According to a memo from the N.C. Sheriff’s Association to law enforcement agencies, enforcement can resume Jan. 3.

Looking back at 2012: Pottery Festival comes to a close

The Sanford Pottery Festival, known for attracting thousands of art lovers to Lee County the weekend before Mothers’ Day, ended this year, with local businessmen and civic groups hoping to fill the void with a new event.  Sanford Pottery Festival Director and Co-Founder Don Hudson announced the end of the festival — described as the largest pottery event in North Carolina — this summer, citing local governments’ lack of a tourism bureau and ability to promote the community.

Former Sanford resident Jason Campbell stands at the door of Bilbo Baggins on the set of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Campbell served as the creature assistant technical director for the movie scheduled to open next week.

Sanford native is part of ‘An Unexpected Journey’

I had my first crush on a red head girl with freckles at Deep River who reciprocated with a kick in the pants. I got picked on in the halls of Greenwood and West and Lee Senior. I laughed, cried, loved, dreamed and lived in a great small town. The world may seem like it is a million miles away but you can do amazing things regardless of where you come from if you believe enough in yourself to reach the places you want to go.

Shook earned admiration for work on board

Through six years on the Lee County Board of Commissioners, Linda Shook’s consistency and commitment to her beliefs was admired by her colleagues and friends.

Shook announced her resignation this week, citing a job-related move to Nevada with her husband. She served on the board as a Republican, two years as chairman of the board, and, according to her fellow commissioners, she’ll be sorely missed.

GOP will fill commissioner seat

Front Page of The Pendulum's 2010 Student Voters' Guide I headed up as managing editor of The Pendulum.

Election days are journalists milk and butter.

Today is the North Carolina primary and my first election day as a journalist at a professional news organization. I’m not new to covering elections—I was an AP stringer and headed up the midterm election for The Pendulum.  I pitched a student voters’ guide and handled the election night madness as managing editor for Elon’s student newspaper.  It was a thrill.

Now I’m looking forward to covering Lee County politics. Things have gotten pretty heated from all sides of the asile in the days leading up to today’s vote (check out the Letter section of The Herald) and I’m anxious to see how it all plays out.  I’ll be tweeting results at @Anna_M_Johnson as they come in and results will be in tomorrow’s edition of The Sanford Herald.

And if you’re a resident of North Carolina and haven’t already, go and vote.  Look up your poll location here.

My brother, Colby, and I at the beach when we were much younger.

I have less than 20 minutes until my friends arrive and we start our road trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for my last spring break. And the beach trip is a big one for me.  While it may seem small in comparison with other trips some kids make, this trip will mark the first time I’ve gone to the beach in more than five years.

For those of you wondering, that is a crazy long time.  In the past, I’ve usually gone home, picked up my waitress apron and worked during spring break to have a little bit of spending money.  But I think on my last official break I can take some well deserved time off.  I’ll try to update the blog with photos or if anything exciting happens during the trip.  Wish us safe travels.

Anna M. Johnson
anna.millicent.johnson@gmail.com
704-242-2486
Twitter: anna_m_johnson

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
The Pendulum, Elon, N.C. — September 2009 – present
Editor-in-Chief (January 2011-Present)

• Supervise entire newspaper production and more then 35 staff members
• Oversaw two physical staff and office moves during the year
• Copy edit all pages for content and AP Style on a weekly basis and daily online content

Managing editor (January 2010-December 2010)

• Manage 22 paid staff members, 13 unpaid staff members and more than 50 volunteers
• Responsible for payroll, distribution, scheduling office hours and subscriptions

Summer Editor-in-Chief (June – July 2010)
Senior reporter (September – December 2009)

The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. — July – September 2010
Newsroom and Editorial Page Intern

• Wrote editorials, columns and longer persuasive pieces on a weekly basis
• Wrote hard news and features covering government, business, medicine and education on a daily basis
• Designed opinion/editorial pages daily and designed pages for the metro section weekly

The Alamance News, Graham, N.C. — September 2009-January 2010
News and Feature Intern

• Covered town and county meetings, highlighting interactions with Elon University
• Edited and designed voter’s guide for municipalities and county elections
• Wrote a variety of news and features articles ranging from nonprofit events, crime and cultural events

The Enquirer-Journal, Monroe, N.C. — May – August 2009
News Intern

• Wrote for one daily paper and two weeklies with a combined circulation of 20,000
• Covered the foreclosure crisis, local government, crime, courts, nonprofit events and spot news
• Pitched, wrote and designed a quarterly page dedicated to senior citizen activities and concerns
• Designed news and feature pages on daily deadlines

The Home News, Marshville, N.C. — May – August 2006
Reporter and photographer

• Served as teen contributor for a hyperlocal weekly with a circulation of 2,700
• Engaged in field reporting with a local church group
• Covered local business, tourism and in-depth features

Awards and Freelance work:

• Placed third in News Writing at NC College Media Association
• Worked as an AP stringer during the 2010 midterm election
• Traveled to Internet Government Forum in D.C. as part of a 10-person reporting team for Imagining the Internet
• Vice President of Elon’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Software Comprehension:  Microsoft Suite; Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, DreamWeaver, NewsEditPro, Merlin, Trax and WordPress
New Media: Adept with new media and XML applications, including social networks, common blogging platforms and Web 2.0 research
Data Analysis & Visualization: beginning-intermediate skills in data cleaning & analysis, and basic visualizations with Excel, Google, IBM Many Eyes, social network analysis.

EDUCATION
Elon University, Elon, N.C. — Bachelor of Arts
Graduation Date: May 2012
Majors: Journalism and International Studies
Specialization: Print/Online News

Download a PDF version here.

I’m the editor-in-chief of Elon’s newspaper The Pendulum, a Periclean Scholar and I’ve held four journalism internships. I’m in the process of searching for my fifth in Eastern Africa this summer.

I have a few quirks like needing little to no sleep, following conspiracy theories like it’s my job and possibly holding the world record for the amount of Dt. Mountain Dew consumed by one individual.

I’m a passionate, driven reporter with a love for a compelling story. There’s nothing I love more than chasing a police scanner or heading out to a late night accident.

Here’s hoping you stick around and check out some of the things I’ve written and put together over the years. I’ll continue to update so keep checking back for more writing samples and new blog posts.

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.  ~Anton Chekhov

Want to get in contact with me or have a suggestion/complaint?  Fill out the form below:[customcontact form=1]

But they tasted good. So I’ve got the most important thing down.

I rolled them into little balls and placed them into the refrigerator. About three pans worth and close to 40 pops. Depending on what recipe you’re reading, they can stay in the fridge for an hour or overnight.  I wanted to see what would taste the best so I took some out after two hours and attempted to dip them in melted chocolate.

Not what I was planning on but it still tasted good. it's pretty hard to mess up Oreos and cream cheese.

This is where I was stalled.  I’m not sure what I am doing wrong but when I put the Oreo pops into the chocolate they get so hot they start to melt.  The pops fall off their sticks and into the chocolate.  I want them pops to be covered but my chocolate isn’t the rich creamy type it shows on the recipe. Mine is clumpy and hard to move.  I’m thinking I need to play with it some more, so I left the others in overnight and tonight I’ll try again.

Relax, I washed my hands.

Look for part two sometime later this weekend.