Irregularities in voter registration forms - including some for Nash County voters- have kicked off an investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE).
"Voter registration applications turned into county boards of elections are missing required voter information or include inaccurate information, such as a wrong date of birth or a voter identification number different from what's on file in the state election system. It is a Class I felony to falsify a voter registration form," states a NCSBE Feb. 13 press release.

NASHVILLE - In order to provide itself and landowners continued insurance protection from flooding, the town of Nashville is updating its flood damage prevention ordinance.
Parts of Nashville fall within a "flood plain" from either Stoney Creek or Sapony Creek, particularly lower W. Washington Street including "Dos Hermanos, McDonalds, Sheetz, Bojangles, all that," said Randy Lansing, town manager, at the Jan. 20 planning board meeting.

Bill Hill (right) is honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine during Monday's county commissioners meeting. Hill is retiring after nearly a half of a century of service as Nash County's health director. Pictured left is Dr. Mike Johnson, long-time Health and Human Services Board Chair, who presented the award to Hill.

SPRING HOPE - You can lead a horse to water, but if it's in Spring Hope, you might find a rock in the well and low water pressure from not enough wells- or water towers - online.
Public Works Director Bobby Ball gave a public works update at the Feb. 9 board of commissioners meeting.
"I know everybody's frustrated with it and I am too because I've been dealing with it," Ball said, summarizing the current low-pressure status as stemming from two wells that were no longer producing like they should.

Susan Phelps (right) is introduced by Nash County Manager Stacie Shatzer as Nash County\'s new economic development director. Phelps has served Nash County since 2017. Graphic photo by Nancy West-Brake

NASHVILLE - Bill Hill, retiring Nash County Health Director, was honored for his nearly half a century of service Monday, receiving a surprise in the process: indoctrination into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Credited as the longest serving health director in state history, and guiding the county through "significant health challenges, including the HIV/AIDs epidemic, Hurricane Floyd, SARS, Ebola, Zika and Covid-19," Hill's tenure also included statewide initiatives such as universal childhood vaccinations, bioterrorism preparedness and responses to the opioid crisis and mental health challenges.

NASHVILLE - A question of alleged misinformation about the Nash County Detention Center is causing differences of opinion between Nash County commissioners, prompting one request for the county to issue a 'fact check' in response.
Jerry Barnes, Nash County commissioner candidate, placed a full-page political ad in last week's Nashville Graphic. Included in the ad were claims about a 2020 letter from L.R. Kimball, an architectural and engineering firm which then declined to bid on recommended jail improvements; about current and projected jail costs, and about reduced jail capacity.

The nomination deadline is March 13 for the Nashville Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen and Junior Achievement awards
Nominations can be emailed to nashvillencchamber@gmail.com, mailed to Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Distinguished Citizen Committee, PO Box 1003, Nashville, NC 27856 or dropped off at The Nashville Graphic, 203 W. Washington Street, Nashville.
The Distinguished Citizen Award is presented to a citizen or business person from the Nashville area who strives to make the community a better place.

NASHVILLE - As part of the town's ongoing efforts to align inconsistent zoning use with up-to-date rezoning, a collection of four parcels being used by Braswell Milling has been rezoned into one lump under Conditional Zoning Non-Residential Industrial (CZNRI).
Shawn Lucas, Planning Director, requested and received council approval Feb. 3 for the rezoning action, which came up last year but was withdrawn in order to resurface in the form of a conditional rezoning request.

SPRING HOPE - In an attempt to gain better control over incoming subdivision requests, Spring Hope is working to re-establish a Technical Review Committee. In addition, commissioners are considering a policy change about the distinction between major and minor subdivisions.

RED OAK - The town of Red Oak is sprucing up its streetlights and also adding new Christmas light decorations.
A contract was approved with Pike for light replacements along Red Oak Battleboro Road, with one new pole and span installed. A key change is that the new lights will be LED, which town officials hope "will make a big difference" in the town's lighting bills.

MOMEYER- The Momeyer Outreach committee is planning to ask town council approval for a May 7 town event to observe the National Day of Prayer.
Convening for their meeting Feb. 12, committee members agreed that the first event they'd like to plan this year for community involvement is participation in the National Day of Prayer. They decided to hold off on planning all the details until they present the idea to council members at their upcoming Feb. 23rd town board meeting.

Recently, I was asked to nominate a friend of mine for a very prestigious award. I went into painstaking detail to make a strong argument for his selection. Frankly, I was surprised by my own research to learn of the many things he had done for others. And when I read the other letters of nomination that had been prepared for him, I just couldn't see how he could lose.
The competition was keen and, in all truthfulness, any of the nominees would have made a fine choice. So, I decided to commit his nomination to prayer.

So, what do we do with all of this? Having addressed the critical claims against the Christian resurrection narrative of being legendary, failing to satisfy Ockham's razor, and questioning the trustworthiness of the resurrection sources, the next logical step in the evaluation is to make some determination as to the truthfulness of the Christian account. Generally, when evaluating historical claims of past events, historians methodically subject the evidence to particular categories to determine how truthful the claim may be. Since we are here considering the "historical" claim of Jesus's resurrection, we can also follow this evaluation method.

"Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.' They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king."

Welcome Lervern Sykes to the Red Oak Baptist Church family.
Women in Action met on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at the church. Members had a good time making plans for future WMU events and projects. The group also had a special emphasis on the Heck-Jones Offering and learning about Fannie Heck and Sallie Bailey Jones. The Heck-Jones Offering is emphasized during February and all proceeds from the offering support the missions and ministries of NC WMU (Woman's Missionary Union).

Emma J. Briley and Jean P. Briley to Keith Jennings; 2001 Reges Store Road, Nashville; $260,000
Darick Wilkins to Letomas Wilkins and Brandy Wilkins; 2781 North NC 581, Spring Hope
Eric Wilkins and Annette Wilkins to Letomas Wilkins and Brandy Wilkins; 2781 North NC 581, Spring Hope
Norine Johnson and Preston Johnson to Letomas Wilkins and Brandy Wilkins; 2781 North NC 581, Spring Hope

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Possession CS on Prison/Jail Premises reported at 100 N. Boddie St, Nashville, on 02/09/26
Call for service reported at 105 Drake St, Nashville on 02/10/26
Call for service reported at 10962 Lake Royale Rd, Spring Hope on 02/09/26
Obtain Property by False Pretense reported at 1897 Sheldon Rd, Bailey, on 02/09/26

Missing Persons reported at 606 Cockrell Street on 02/09/26
DWI reported at MM 459 US 64 E, Nashville, on 02/09/26
Overdose reported at S. First Street on 02/09/26
Resisting arrest/Hinder& Delay/Disorderly conduct by Abusive Language or Disruption reported at 730 S. Bass Street on 02/10/26

My George Washington bobblehead stands among the greats on an old desk in our home office -- he's flanked by Winston Churchill, Edgar Allan Poe, Ron Francis and J.D. Martinez.
I finally broke down and decided to try an audiobook -- more on that in a future column -- and my first selection was Ron Chernow's biography of Washington. It's a pretty thick listen and even after a week the app says I have 40 hours left. I'm not sure what to make of that.

A paid political advertisement in last week's Graphic has prompted a bit of dialogue regarding the Nash County Detention Center expansion project.
As with all political ads, we attempt to make sure the content is as factual as possible, however, election season traditionally brings out all sorts of opinions and controversial topics to the forefront.
If you're checking your mailbox these days, you're most likely seeing a ton of political mail which, in my opinion, isn't even being reviewed much less fact checked.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on April 11, 1968. Twelve students represented Northern Nash High School at the 14th annual Future Business Leaders Convention held in Durham.