N OT E D.
WHAT WE’VE HEARD AROUND OUR TOWNS … Compiled by Cooper Metts
COMINGS AND GOINGS Chapel Hill’s
HE IS HERE
fire chief,
Usher paid a visit to He's Not Here on March 31. The R&B singer was in the area ahead of his headlining performance at Dreamville Music Festival in Raleigh the following night. Held at Dorothea Dix Park, Dreamville was created in 2019 by well-known North Carolina native rapper and hip-hop star J. Cole and draws thousands to the Triangle each spring.
Vencelin Harris,
announced his retirement, effective July 1, after nearly 30 years of service to the department. “It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing my decision to retire from the Town of Chapel Hill,” he says. “After many conversations with my family last spring, we decided that it is time for us to start the next journey in our lives.” Vencelin took the position in February 2020 and led the fire department through the pandemic. Jenna Schwartz
was hired as the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s
greenhouse and nursery assistant in February. Jenna brings a wealth of experience to her new position after working for Fieldstone Garden and Meadowsweet Gardens. She also runs her own private native gardening business and has significant experience working in small-scale agriculture.
LGBTQ+ community and incarcerated people to their new position as program coordinator. Bryce, pictured below, is program coordinator for Project Impact, a
Orange County Sheriff’s Office Chief
Chapel HillCarrboro City Schools
Sykes is retiring in May. Jamie is a 1992 Orange High School
outreach program. He has seven years of experience working with the school district.
Vic Suter and Bryce Bowden joined CommunityWorx’s
leadership team in February. Vic, pictured above right, brings experience working with the 24
chapelhillmagazine.com
May/June 2023
Deputy Jamison “Jamie”
graduate and was hired as a deputy by former Sheriff Albert “Lindy” Pendergrass in 1995. “I thought about his role in building and shaping the team we now have and the service we provide to Orange County,” Sheriff Charles Blackwood says. “I made sure
to tell him he will always have a place at the table he built.” In February, Phyllis PortieAscott was
unanimously chosen by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners to fill the
vacancy on its board left by Renée Price’s election to the North Carolina House of Representatives. Phyllis worked on Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force and was