Recent Articles

A Rocky Mount woman is hoping to use a game she created almost 10 years ago to help feed and cloth others.
Sharon Bartley came up with the idea for "The Believer's Race!" game while in New Jersey working with youth in the 90s. The game was copy written in 2006.
Bartley came to Rocky Mount in 2009 to take care of her dad and officially moved to the area in 2012. She said though the game is not necessarily new, it's new to this area and she hopes she can use it to help others.

Jennifer and David Thorne were overwhelmed on Saturday with the turnout of the first annual Healthy Hips Fun Run/Walk.
Over 100 people showed up for the run and over $3,000 was raised for the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.
The Thorne's daughter, Charlotte was diagnosed with Developmental Hip Dysplasia this year and just recently had surgery. Jennifer said surgery went well and Charlotte seems to be recovering well.

In a career of photo-journalism, I have photographed political fundraisers where people contributed vast sums of money to walk through receiving lines and shake hands with a notable politician or celebrity. I have also been contracted by lawyers to provide photographic evidence for their defendants.
It is with some degree of familiarity that I profess that exactly 99.6% of the time, most lawyer jokes are pretty much well-justified, along with the cynicism expressed about politicians. Lawyers turned politicians fill seats in courthouses, state houses, the Congress, and the White House. Opinions about lawyers earn credibility when the mayor of an Eastern North Carolina, lawyer turned politician, is disbarred.

I was at a conference in the Triangle when I got the first familiar vibration from my phone. That's how we get the headlines now, not first on the radio or TV, but through an alert on our smartphones.
Terrorists had taken over a concert hall in Paris and were not interested in negotiating. They were interested in killing. Later, I'd find out that a restaurant and a sports stadium were targeted; the later of which had the French president in attendance.

This photo was found in The Graphic's November 1977 archives. The photo is from the annual Christmas Parade in Rocky Mount.

Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools has announced Kelly Anne Mudd as the new Principal of Spring Hope Elementary School. Mudd earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland. After graduation, Mudd joined Teach for America and has been working in education in eastern North Carolina since 2006.
Mudd has a variety of experience in education, including being an Exceptional Children's educator. She earned a Master's in School Administration from North Carolina State University in 2013 and was a Northeast Leadership Academy Fellow during her program.

Mary Boehm of Nashville was installed as a Governor this summer for Lions Club District 5. The installation took place in Honolulu and was conducted by Dr. Jitshuhiro Yamada, a surgeon from Japan and Lions Club International President.

Troop 86 of Nash County visited the Microsoft Store at Streets at South Point in Durham in August. They learned about simple coding, designing a video game and used a Surface.

The Rocky Mount Elks Lodge No. 1038 presented an American Flag to Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone on June 18th in observance of Flag Day. Pictured presenting the flag is Exalted Ruler Frank Hans and Esteemed Loyal Knight Michael P. Davis.

Most homes in the United States will be preparing turkey for holiday meals. Unfortunately, this traditional meat can also be a food safety nightmare as turkey is linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis and campylobacterosis, illnesses caused by bacteria sometimes found in poultry. By following proper steps, you can reduce the risk of foodborne illness at your holiday gathering. Proper handling while thawing, preparing and cooking your bird are essential.
Plan ahead and thaw your turkey in the refrigerator, it will take 3-4 days to fully thaw the turkey.

Roger G. Taylor and Associates and Southern Bank proudly present "What Sweeter Music" - a Christmas performance by the Tar River Children's Chorus (TRCC) and Youth Strings on Friday, December 4 at 7:30pm. The concert will be held at Fellowship Church located at 1114 South First Street in Nashville.
Start the Christmas holiday season with the sweet sounds of award-winning children's voices and developing young string players, accompanied by harp and flute. The program will be packed with timeless classics from ancient to modern.

INCIDENTS
A larceny was reported on 11/9/15 at L&L Food Stores, 479 W Washington Street
A hit and run was reported on 11/10/15 in the Bojangles parking lot at 101 W Washington Street
A larceny was reported on 11/11/15 at 1205 Eastern Avenue

A damage to personal property was reported on 11/9/15 at 9438 Pine Street
A felony larceny was reported on 11/9/15 at 8549 Mill Branch Road
An assault/affray was reported on 11/9/15 at 1638 South First Street
A breaking and entering and damage to property was reported on 11/9/15 at 9454 Liles Road

Nash County Planning and Inspections issued the following building permits from November 9 through 13.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s visit to Rocky Mount, N.C. in 1962, where he first delivered the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, is getting noticed around the world. Most recently, the Imperial Centre Theater was packed with Rocky Mount residents who wanted to see reenactments of King's visit and hear from author and NC State University professor, Dr. Jason Miller, who remastered the audio from King's speech at Booker T. Washington High School. Miller has also written the book, "Origins of the Dream," connecting King's speeches and sermons to the poetry of Langston Hughes.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, Nov. 13, in Rocky Mount, Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson and Board of Transportation Member Gus Tulloss joined City of Rocky Mount Mayor David W. Combs and other local leaders to officially open the bridge on Country Club Road over Stoney Creek. Photos from Friday's ceremony can be found on NCDOT's Flickr Page.
"This is an incredibly exciting day for the City of Rocky Mount," said Board of Transportation Member Gus Tulloss. "Country Club Road is a heavily used route in this community. Having this bridge open is like Christmas coming early for the drivers of Rocky Mount."

The 5th Duke K.I.D.S. Golf Tournament was held on Friday, October 16th at Belmont Lake Golf Club. Sponsored by the West Mount Ruritan Club, this year's event netted over $10,000 to be donated to Duke Children's Hospital and Nash Community College in honor of Bayden Collins and in memory of Connor Armstrong.
In 2005, Bayden, the grandson of Wayne Outlaw, 2008 Ruritan National President, received a life-saving kidney transplant at Duke Children's Hospital.

Traffic slowed down with many turning into the State Employees Credit Union parking lot Saturday to look at a 400 pound tortoise in front of the bank. The Sulcata African land tortoise, named Benjamin Franklin, is the pet of Randy "Turtle Man" Gallagher of Calabash, North Carolina. Gallagher runs a turtle rescue. He decided to drop by Nashville Saturday for Benjamin Franklin to get a little exercise and offered a chance for the public to meet him. Pictured above is Elia Edwards of Benson who was visiting her grandmother, Joyce Neal, of Nashville.

Local Farmer Andrew Tyson got a surprise after all the rainfall earlier this month when a truck loaded with sweet potatoes got stuck in one of his fields.
Tyson said a wheel on the truck just disappeared into a hole, putting a halt on an already delayed-sweet potato season. Tyson said normally, they are done harvesting sweet potatoes but the weather delayed things a bit.
"All in a day's work," Tyson said.

Save Lives - FIX your Pets! Why not? It is such a simple solution! The excuse of "I can't afford to have my pet altered" is a waste of breath these days. If you can't afford a low cost clinic, then you should not have a pet! If you care about animals, then why would you continue to add to the population of unwanted animals who die in county Animal Control facilities. Plus it is a proven fact that pets that are spayed or neutered live longer and healthier lives.

Children and leaders came together on "Mystery Island" on Saturday, November 14, at Red Oak Baptist Church to discover the "lost" city. Over 50 attended this children's missions event from Red Oak, Arlington, Sunset Avenue, and West Mount churches. As participants arrived to the cruise ship taking them to the island, they were given investigator skills tests. They had puzzles to put together, items to guess by touch, and a tray of items from which items were removed gradually to see if they knew what was missing.

AVENTON STRONG! Well folks, again this may be the Sue Shearin and Ricks Family review. I told Sue I was going on strike this week, but I couldn't do it. I know there are folks that have moved away from the Red Oak and Aventon area that look forward to our little antics, so for you folks I will continue my mess this week....just for you, and if you don't enjoy reading about the Shearin and the Ricks family, now would be a good time to put your newspaper down.

UDC Bethel Heroes Chapter 636 members Margie Parker Brantley, Connie Cobb, Donna Boykin, Margaret Sink, Edith Whitby, Helen Sharpe and Traci Thompson attended the UDC North Carolina Division's 119th Annual Convention in Durham, NC. Connie Cobb, Donna Boykin and Traci Thompson were first time attendees.

The sun shone beautifully on Sunday morning as Peachtree folks gathered for worship. Pastor Whitehouse greeted those present. Sanctuary flowers were given by Bob and Fran Bunn in memory of her mother, Hazel, and in honor of her father, Jake Robertson. Special music by the Adult Choir was, "Calvary Covers it All / Burdens are Lifted at Calvary." It was directed by the pastor.
The title of Pastor Whitehouse's sermon was "Only Jesus and Jesus Only."

The rush is on. I've always thought that Halloween was the official, unofficial beginning to the holiday season. This is easily my favorite time of year...football, hunting, crisp mornings, schools out for a little bit for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This time, though, goes by quickly and if we are not careful it will be January before we know it, therefore, it's vital we slow down and learn to be a content people, a giving thanks people. One of the neat things about giving thanks is that it forces us to slow down. I would submit that we all need to slow down in life some and learn to just be...so we can listen to God and give thanks to Him.