NASHVILLE - The Nash County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer (SRO) Program, which recently expanded training for its deputies in the areas of autism and mental health, has attracted state notice, and is now considered a "flagship" program for the state.
Sgt. Kevin Bissette, NCSO SRO supervisor, shared the news during an SRO program update at the Aug. 11 Nash County commissioners' meeting.
Bissette said the "flagship" designation was given by the Center for Safer Schools, which is a division of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

ROCKY MOUNT - The mother of an elementary school student has been arrested on two charges after an Evolv security system flagged that she had a concealed gun in her purse at M.B. Hubbard Elementary School in Battleboro.
Nikeya Dishay Ricks was charged with a felony for possession of a gun on educational property and with carrying a concealed gun, a misdemeanor, after an incident Wednesday, Aug.13.

Michael Bryant Fisher (left) receives the Order of the Long Leaf Pine upon his recent retirement as the Nash County 9-11 Communications Director. Presenting the award is his brother, Brent Fisher (right).

NASHVILLE- Michael Bryant Fisher, newly retired from his position at Nash County 9-1-1 Communications Director, was celebrated for his many accomplishments last week. Along with a proclamation from Nash County recognizing Fisher's more than 31 years of service, Fisher was awarded the state's highest honor, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, along with a flag flown over the state capitol within minutes of a twin flag awarded at the same time to his brother, Brent Fisher, who retired from county service last year.

ROCKY MOUNT- With an eye to demographic increase, Nash County leaders and fire departments are learning from their counterparts from Johnston County, which has established a countywide fire service district.
Nash is currently researching future plans for fire services, with this being the first of many county models to be considered.

MOMEYER - One of Momeyer's capital reserve fund allocation ideas, that of installing a town sidewalk stretching from Bass Mobile Home Court up to A Touch Of The Father's Love, has been dropped like a hot potato once the "sticker shock" set in.
The sidewalk project was on the Aug. 18th town council meeting agenda, which featured a visit by Ben Farmer, planning and development services director for the Upper Coastal Plains Council of Governments (COG).

SPRING HOPE - Three people are homeless after a fire which apparently began in a vehicle parked in a carport and spread to the rest of the house. The house, declared unlivable, sustained "very extensive damage" according to the Spring Hope Fire Chief.
The first 9-1-1 communications call for the two-bedroom brick ranch house at 317 N. Walnut, owned by Clayton Crudup, came in at 5:01 p.m. Monday, August 18.
According to 9-1-1 command log records, the caller initially reported a car fire under the carport.

NASHVILLE - A Nashville attorney has embarked on a second career milestone at the state level while still working full-time locally. Kevin N. Lewis of the Valentine Law Firm was sworn in Aug. 12th as a member of the North Carolina State Ethics Commission, attending his first meeting two days later.
"It was a learning experience," Lewis said, adding that there was one other new member so that "he wasn't the sole rookie."

NASHVILLE - By a split vote, Nash commissioners have approved a waiver request submitted for the Taylors Store Road subdivision, proposed on the east side of Taylors Store Road near the Franklin, Warren and Halifax County lines.
A sketch plan for the owner, Nash Co JV 1, shows ten new residential lots and two open space lots on a 20-acre parcel, with the lots accessed by a new interior private road and served by private well and septic. Although technically located in Nash County, subdivision addresses would have a Hollister zip code.

NASHVILLE- A plan for a mural featuring a red cardinal on the side of Nashville Elementary has finally gotten some support from Nash County Public schools, but the project is essentially dead in the water at present without grant approval, which it did not receive on its first go-round.
Carrie Morningstar, an art teacher at Nashville Elementary, reached out to county commissioners in June asking for written support that she would add with her application to T-Mobile for a $50,000 grant.

NASHVILLE - In a move consistent with recent action by both the Nash County TRC and Planning Board, Nash Commissioners have voted to deny conditional zoning approval for a proposed expansion of the Williams Run Subdivision in Bailey.
The rezoning request by the C.T. Williams Corporation would have changed current zoning from R-40 to RA-20-CZ, allowing the construction of 54 new residential lots to be built on 37 acres on the north side of Strickland Road, across the street from Section 1 of the Williams Run Subdivision.

NASHVILLE- New overhead lighting for the baseball fields, batting cage and soccer fields at Miracle Park has been approved, with county leaders approving a $1.5 million dollar bid to cover the work.
Jonathan Boone, Nash Deputy county manager, asked and received approval at the county commissioners' meeting to award the bid to Musco Sports Lighting, LLC, with the project also including two service locations with contractors to support future park expansion.

RALEIGH - Starting Aug.1, county governments and conservation nonprofit groups may apply for grant funding from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for farmland preservation projects.
A new application format for all grant proposals is required this year. All interested applicants must complete the Intent to Apply section by Aug. 29 to be eligible to complete the full application.

Legalism, license and liberty. Do you know the difference? Sometimes the differences between the three may be subtle. But when compared and contrasted against each other, the differences are really quite striking.
The manner by which a Christian chooses to live out his faith shows which one of these words will most often be associated with his name. In some cases, all three will show up from time to time in our lives. But as we mature in our Christian faith, one of these nouns seems to show up more in our lives.

I began last week's article with these words, "We all make choices. Sometimes we think through these choices before we give our "final answer." Choices are made and some are more lethal in their consequences than others.
The old testament book of Daniel, especially the first six chapters, tells us about making decisions. In chapter 3 we are introduced to three Jewish friends of Daniel, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These young men must choose what they will choose in light of their faith in God.

On more than one occasion, I have made the passing comment that "the Darwinist has no answer to . . ." this or that phenomenon. For instance, we have said that the Darwinist has no answer for the irreducible complexity of particular biological systems in nature. Recall that an irreducibly complex system could not have come into existence through the slow step-by-step process of evolution because the system is not functional until all the components are in place.
More recently, we have said that Darwinists seem to have no answer to how humans "evolved" self-consciousness from simple atoms found in the human brain.

Congratulations to Neal and Megan Ward on the birth of their son, Grayson Banks Ward, born August 13. Proud grandparents are George and Donnye Saunders and great-grandmama, Barbara Griffin.
Women in Action of Red Oak Baptist Church had a great time together on Tuesday, August 12. The group is growing and is excited to be involved in missions. The group worked on several events that will be coming up soon.

Pierce Investments, LLC to Kyle Kenneth Bishop and Sarah Christine Bishop; 3020 Woods Walk Way, Rocky Mount; $351,000
D.R. Horton, Inc. to Tremaine Tyrone Lynch and Tynesha Vernee McGee; Bentridge Subdivision, Section 5, Lot 30
Kirkland Bass to Broudo Holdings, LLC; .25 acres; $120,000
D.R. Horton, Inc. to Carolyn Wood; Saddlebrook Subdivision, Phase 1-B, Lot 116

Damage to personal property; assault on a female reported at N. Hilliard St., Nashville on 8/10/25
DWI reported at S. Alston St., Nashville on 8/10/25
DWI reported at W. Washington St., Nashville on 8/15/25
Obtain property by false pretense reported at Eastern Ave., Nashville on 8/11/25

Discharge firearm into occupied dwelling/moving vehicle reported at 10653 Ward Rd., Whitakers on 8/4/25
Discharge firearm into occupied dwelling/moving vehicle; damage to real property reported at 10716 Ward Rd., Whitakers on 8/3/25
Larceny of a firearm reported at 12790 Eagle Ridge Dr., Zebulon on 8/8/25
Obtain property by false pretense; larceny by employee reported at 130 N. Old Carriage Rd., Rocky Mount on 8/5/25

Y'all, someone was trying to sell two jars on mayonnaise on Facebook Marketplace the other day.
And it wasn't even Duke's. As a matter of fact, it was Hellman's, which I didn't even know was legal in North Carolina. Maybe some charitable soul will make an offer just to safely contain and destroy the two jars before they make it to a cookout or some poor child's back to school lunch.
I don't know about you, but sometimes when I see weird stuff on sale I imagine stories and scenarios related to that item.

Last week brought the end to yet another era of extraordinary leadership in the Nash County Emergency Services. Bryant Fisher retired from his long-time post as Nash County's 9-1-1 Communications Director.
His twin brother, Brent Fisher, retired about this time last year as Nash County Assistant Director for Emergency and Fire Rescue Services. Brent moved into a state position as Area 6 Coordinator for NC Emergency Management.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on October 18, 1977. Mr. and Mrs. James Bunn proudly display their Conservation Farm Family of the year award while other members of the family smile approvingly.

The dress rehearsals have all concluded and the curtain is about to be pulled back on the 2025 Nash County Football season, with all four of the area's public schools kicking off this year's campaign on Friday, August 22.
Not only that, three of the county's four teams will be opening up the season at home, with Nash Central the lone squad beginning the season with a road trip.
The Bulldogs won't have to travel far for their first game though, with Central opening the year against a former conference foe in SouthWest Edgecombe.

All four of Nash County's public school spike squads have kicked off their 2025 volleyball campaigns, with Northern Nash the last to do so as the Lady Knights hosted their season opener against Nash Central on Monday, August 18.
Nash Central, Southern Nash and Rocky Mount each got a head start on Northern, beginning their nonconference schedules last week, with the Southern Nash Ladybirds making early waves around the area with a 2-0 start.

MITCHELL

BAILEY- A local preacher has deepened his connection with not only 'the Word,' but with lots of them. Paul Cantrell Mitchell, who delivers sermons at both the Mount Pleasant Methodist Church and StanHope Baptist churches, has published his first book of poetry, entitled A Fraction of the Complete Works.
One hundred and twelve poems are in Mitchell's book, offering reflections on a multitude of life events and emotions.