NASHVILLE - A routine rezoning application for the Nashville Junction turned into a standoff situation at the March 4 town council meeting, as the property owner and council members were not able to agree on proposed land uses.
Defined as a public-private partnership, the Junction as such is a hot topic for Nashville town leaders, who signed an 2021 inducement agreement with property owner Michael Hurt and invested public funds.

SPRING HOPE - A 'Pumpkin Festival Rally' held Feb. 24 at the Spring Hope town council chambers has been deemed a success, producing 27 volunteer sign-ups and direction to a webpage for those interested in working on specific festival committees.
Organized with the specific goal of saving the 52-year-old festival, the well-attended rally was emceed by Kyle Pritchard, Spring Hope Mayor, and featured a 'Festival 101' instructional powerpoint presentation by Ethan Vester.

NASHVILLE - The man arrested for attempted murder in the 2021 shooting of a Nash County Sheriff's deputy has been found guilty on four counts in a Nash superior court jury trial.
Jarred Ford, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was sentenced Tuesday under Superior Court Judge Timothy Wilson on two counts of attempted first degree
murder, in addition to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury.

Brenda Wind presents the Senior 4-H'er of the Year Award to Page Strickland. Graphic photo by Amanda Clark

Nash County 4-H celebrated the achievements of youth and volunteers last Monday night at the annual 4-H Achievement Awards Program.
Youth were recognized for their accomplishments during the 2024 year, with several top awards being handed out.
The Sew What 4-H Club was named the Club of the Year while the club's leader, Jane Tyson, was named the 4-H Volunteer of the Year. The Volunteer of the Year Award is sponsored in memory of Peggy Enroughty and in honor of Joseph Enroughty and the Enroughty family.

NASHVILLE - A backyard poultry flock in Dare County has tested positive for High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI), the first confirmed in that county. Nash Health officials are urging that Nash residents have the information they need to keep themselves healthy, particularly if they raise birds or are hunters at higher risk of contracting the virus.
HPAI spreads rapidly and has a high death rate in birds, but is considered a low risk to people according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

NASHVILLE - The land that Nashville's Fire Station 2 sits on, currently zoned as A-1 (Agricultural) along with an adjacent parcel, will be rezoned from A-1 to to B-1 (Business), after approval March 4 from the town council.
3MR Limited Partnership of Nashville, with its agents listed as David Rose and Meredith Sawyer, leased the property at 1520 Oak Level Road to the town of Nashville for seven years, with a purchase option at the end of the lease for the appraised value of the land at that time.

ROCKY MOUNT- Three of Nash and Edgecombe's best and brightest high school students were celebrated in style as candidates for the Boys & Girls Clubs' Youth of the Year, with the winner chosen by only a one-point margin over the Runner-Up.

NASHVILLE - The numbers of active Tuberculosis (TB) cases are on the rise in the United States, in North Carolina, and in Nash County. While TB is a treatable bacterial infection, there is no vaccine for it available or recommended in the U.S. How can people protect themselves, and what should they know?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of TB cases shot up by 19.6% nationwide between 2020 and 2023, with numbers increasing each year over the past three years. Previously, the disease had been declining for three decades prior.

SPRING HOPE- Design plans have been finalized for the Spring Hope Historic Depot Project, with documents soon to be submitted for approval to the State Historical Preservation Office and a caboose to be added this summer.
Town commissioners looked over the plans, unchanged from earlier editions but with more detail, at their March 3 meeting.

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23)
Body, soul, and spirit. The Bible says we have all three. But since we live in the flesh, we don't always understand that all three of these parts actually define who we are.

The first Four Words of the Ten Commandments are calls to worship.
• The First Word commands the proper object of worship: "You shall have no other gods before me."
• The Second Word commands the proper manner of worship: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image."
• The Third Word commands the proper attitude of worship: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."

Congratulations to Charlotte Lewis who joined the Red Oak Baptist Church family and will be baptized March 30!
Several ladies and gentlemen from Red Oak Baptist Church enjoyed the Your Choice Resource Center Celebrate Life Banquet on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The event which was postponed from an earlier date due to inclement weather was well attended. Guests enjoyed dinner catered by Prime Barbecue of Knightdale, auctions, and free gifts to find.

The Sew What 4-H Club was named Club of the Year at Nash County 4-H annual awards ceremony.

I've never been impressed by people who brag to me about putting in 60-70 hours a week. For that matter, I don't think people realize that a 40-hour work week is just arbitrary, not some holy number. There are a lot of things we accept as standards that really aren't.
I've been reading a lot the last several months about four-day work weeks. If I bring it up in conversation, people usually react in one of four ways: 1) Call me lazy or a dreamer (fair enough) 2) Say that could never happen because we "have" to work five days a week 3) Roll their eyes 4) Wonder whether working in academia has made me a communist.

Our job isn't easy is a huge understatement.
Our commitment to our coverage area is to remain unbiased and report things that affect citizens, whether we like it or not.
Sometimes things happen that we absolutely hate to report, especially when it involves people we know. I grew up here so just about anything we cover most likely will involve, or impact, someone I know. It's down right hard when the issue is controversial or not so pleasant.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on July 2, 1964. Nashville's cub scouts were learning the art of fishing as one of their recreational projects for the summer. The youngsters were taken on the fishing trip to Garland Strickland's pond in the Philadelphia Community by their cubmaster, James Bunn. (Graphic photo)