Recent Articles

Early voting for municipal elections will end on Saturday and as of Tuesday morning, only 92 had participated in one-stop voting.
John Kearney, Elections Director, said he was disappointed in the numbers so far and encouraged voters to get out and participate in early voting.

The Nashville Graphic is introducing officers of the Nashville Police Department each month as part of an “Officer Spotlight” series.  The articles are featured the last Wednesday of each month  to help Nashville residents get to know the officers who protect and serve their communities.

Over 70 veterans were treated to an appreciation lunch last week in Middlesex.
Brenda Stallings has been hosting the veterans, mostly World War II and Korean War veterans, for the past five years at her home.
Stallings began the luncheon five years ago as a way to thank veterans for their service. Stallings’ father, Floyd Whitley, was a World War II veteran. He passed away in February 2012.

INCIDENTS
A larceny and breaking and entering a motor vehicle was reported on 10/20/13 at 802 E Washington Street
A missing person was reported on 10/22/13 at 408 E Green Street
A possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine was reported on 10/22/13 at 602 Lake View Drive

A breaking, entering and larceny of a labor camp was reported on 10/21/13 at 13688 NC 48
A breaking, entering and larceny of a residence was reported on 10/21/13 at 7669 S NC 58
Found property was reported on 10/21/13 at 5756 Autry Road
A breaking, entering and larceny of a business was reported on 10/22/13 at 10962 E NC 97

RICHMOND, VA - Tommy George Harrison formerly of Rocky Mount died October 18, 2013.  Funeral arrangements to be announced.  Arrangements by Stokes Mortuary, Inc.

ROCKY MOUNT –– Ethel Jones Cotton, 76, died October 21, 2013.  Funeral arrangements to be announced. Arrangements by Stokes Mortuary, Inc.

ROCKY MOUNT –– James Earl Brake, 58, of Rocky Mount, died on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount.

Johnnie Thomas “J.T.” Raper, 79, passed away  Saturday, October 26, 2013. A native of Nash County, he was the son of the late Johnnie Stanford Raper and Octavia Stancil Raper. He was preceded in death by his brother, Larry Bryant Raper and sisters, Eunice Raper Newton and Evelyn Raper King.

Grace Baker Minor, age 78, passed away  October 24. A Memorial Service was held October 26 at Lakeside Baptist Church in Rocky Mount.

Mary June Diven Donegan passed away on October 24, 2013 at the age of 89.  She was born in Washington D.C. on June 13, 1924 to Charles Albert Diven and Mary Eliza Morrison Diven. She was preceded in death by her  husband of fifty years Gorman Stafford Donegan and her older sister Martha Diven Johnson.

Alice Outlaw Shearin, 67, passed away  Sunday, October 27, 2013 at Nash General Hospital. She was born August 21, 1946, to the late Lewis Howard Wood and Ethel Viola Taylor Wood. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother Ray Wood; two sisters Joann Rackley and Loretta Groover.

Carolyn Goodyear Patterson, 70,  passed away on October 24, 2013. She was born in Dillon, SC to the late Lawrence H. and Hazel Llewellen Goodyear. She is preceded in death by her parents, her son, Donnie R. Patterson, and stepmother, Anne Johnson Goodyear.

Lula Gray Newcomb, 77, of Middlesex passed away on October 26, 2013. Funeral services were held October 28, 2013 at Joyner’s Funeral Home.  A graveside service was held October 29, 2013 in Bailey Town Cemetery.  The Rev. Reuben Batchelor and Rev. Marie Batchelor   officiated.

James Worth “JW” Carroll, 73, of Bailey passed away October 22, 2013. A memorial service was held October 24, 2013 at Joyner’s Funeral Home.  The Rev. Ronald Gurganus   officiated.

BOSTON, MASS. - Funeral services for Ada Stallings, 76, who died Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, took place Saturday, Oct. 26 at 12 noon at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church. Burial followed at Oakland Cemetery with Rev. Dr. Tyrone Jones officiating.

Colin Howard, a kindergarten student at Nashville Elementary, plays a fishing game on Friday night while Marianne Matthews, a fourth and fifth grade teacher at the school, helps. The school, with the help of the PTA, hosted its annual Fall Festival on Friday night on the ballfield at the school.

Mercedes Perry gets ready to shoot basketball at Nashville Elementary’s Fall Festival Friday night.

Nash County Commissioners have narrowed down the list of candidates for county manager down to two and will meet this week to compare the two candidates before bringing them back for additional interviews next week.
Interim County Manager Wayne Deal said the board met last week and decided on the two candidates. Earlier this month the board had narrowed down the candidates to six, after reviewing the 20 applicants who had applied for the county manager position.

It seems if you want to be offended these days, you don’t have to look far.
Maybe you saw that Turkey has now legalized the letters Q, W and X.
This seems pretty odd, considering how awkward conversations might be. Journalists, in the past, could not ask Who, What, Where and When, which would explain the lack of award winning reporters who could only say Ho? Hat? Here? And Hen?

I get to do a lot of neat things each year as a reporter. I cover board meetings (they aren’t really all that neat!), I cover school events, I cover community events and I cover veterans events, among many other things.
For the past three years, I’ve traveled out to Middlesex to cover a veterans appreciation luncheon. This luncheon is put on by a group of people. They are just citizens who want to show their gratitude for veterans. And they do a fantastic job.

Nashville’s Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum last week offering the community an opportunity to meet the three people running for two seats on Nashville’s Town Board and hear their answers to questions and opinions on local issues.
Unfortunately I wasn’t too surprised of the very low attendance. It seems we don’t take time to pay attention to local politics until something  happens that affects us personally.

This photo was originally published in The Graphic on December 6, 1973. Ladies from the Home Economics Extension Agent’s Office are pictured analyzing the results of a cookie recipe they tried out for the Food Festival with Holiday Ideas.

The Nash Central High School Marching Bulldogs competed at the Roanoke Rapids H.S. Eastern North Carolina Band Festival recently winning awards in the following categories:

The N.C. Department of Transportation will be distributing more than $145.6 million in State Street Aid, also known as the Powell Bill Fund, to 507 municipalities across the state. The initial allocation of $72.8 million was sent out on Sept. 30, with the rest to be paid by Jan. 1, 2014. That is an increase of about $2.8 million over last year’s allocation.