Recent Articles

CASTALIA - Castalia is looking to update its Comprehensive Plan to prepare for all the anticipated growth.
Commissioners voted unanimously last Tuesday to update the town's comprehensive plan as well as its zoning ordinances and to also look at establishing an Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, or ETJ, for the town.
An ETJ is the area outside of the city limits where the city can exercise zoning and land use regulations.

NASHVILLE - Nash County commissioners have passed the FY2026 budget ordinance, but not by unanimous vote. There were also some last minute budget adjustments and contention over two previous issues.
"No new items have been added since your June 2nd board meeting, when we held the public hearing," began Stacie Shatzer, county manager.

NASHVILLE - The second business to take up shop in the Nashville Junction, Eagle Eye Management's CEO Training & Wellness Center, has opened its doors and is accepting clients, both in-person and online.
Owner Latanya DeBois started Eagle Eye in 2008 with the idea of helping non-profits develop strategic financial planning but realized that much of any business's success stems from its Executive Directors.

RED OAK - Red Oak's Family Freedom Celebration is coming up at Ennis Park Sunday, June 29th, with planning "full steam ahead," according to Averi Parker, town clerk, who updated council members on planned events at their June 9 town meeting.
Parker said 19 food vendors were in place, with the variety of foods considerable.

RED OAK - Red Oak town officials have voted to approve the FY 2025-2026 budget, and are now taking pen to paper - or rather sharpie to maps - to figure out where to put in new sidewalks, should a grant be approved to do so.
There was no public comment and no commissioner comment, other than unanimous vote, on the 2026 budget at the June 9 council meeting. A budget public hearing held May 12 also produced no public input.

A Versute sharpshooter leaf hopper finds a moment of rest on a Carolina horsenettle petal in the early afternoon.

RALEIGH- Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone has been appointed to a new governor's advisory council on cannabis.
A June 5 press release from the office of Governor Josh Stein stated that Sheriff Stone's commitment to combating Guns, Gangs and Drugs "falls in line with the governor's desire to protect young people from the unregulated cannabis market."
Stein said that vape shops sell unregulated intoxicating THC products, with no legal minimum purchase age required.

NASHVILLE - In response to requests from school bus drivers for paid online training opportunities, less than 5% of bus drivers or monitors have signed up, a situation met with disappointment on the part of Nash Schools' Board of Education.
A transportation report provided to BOE members June 2 by Michael Baier, Director of Transportation, focused on incentives, including retention bonuses paid out at the end of the school year.

Maybe someone is trying to tell me to spend less time on my phone and laptop because my social media feeds have gotten really weird lately.
The so-called "algorithm" is not working right. I'm an expert at this stuff because I watched "The Social Dilemma" back in 2020. It explains in 89 minutes how social media manipulates and reads people's minds to manipulate them.
In our history, this has been completely unheard of except for when newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, AOL and Barney the Purple Dinosaur did the same thing.

If you're a regular reader of this column, there's no doubt you know I'm a sucker when it comes to saving an old building!
This week's edition brings an update on the incredible restoration project of the historic Red Oak Teacherage. The Red Oak Area Historical Preservation Society has done an outstanding job planning and implementing significant details of the restoration process. A huge hats off to the folks who have worked, on a volunteer basis mind you, to save this monumental piece of Red Oak's history.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on August 27, 1964. Roger Strickland, Stanley Gardner and Huel Bunn (left to right) examine a field of Gardner's tobacco which was riddled by a hail storm in the Stanhope section.

One of the points I try to stress to you every week is that no problem is too difficult for the Christian who is willing to reach out in faith and trust Christ.
As you already know, I often use personal experiences of my own, or others that have been shared with me to examine biblical truths. The stories may change but the bottom line is always the same: "When we stand on God's promises and apply biblical principles to the problems that everyday living brings, nothing can defeat us".

The story of Ruth begins with a time reference: "in the days when the judges ruled." The Judges ruled during 400 years of moral chaos and corruption in Israel. Judges 21:25 explains: "In those days there was no King in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes." This was arguably the darkest period in Israel's history. Yet against this dark backdrop, Ruth records a beautiful story of redemptive love.
• Ruth is one of two books named after a woman - the other being the Old Testament book of Esther.

Beauty. Such an interesting topic. It is a topic everyone has an opinion about, and all opinions are that we want more beauty in our lives. As we said last week, beauty is food for the soul. In fact, true beauty is said to be so personal and so transcendent that talking or writing about it seems to do them a great injustice and tarnishes their radiant glow. Perhaps it is because, as John-Mark Miravalle explains, beauty affirms balance, order, and a longing for the transcendent. Thomas Aquinas was keen on this. He once wrote, "Nature is nothing other than a certain kind of art, namely God's art."

Welcome to Clayton and Alondra Ball, new members at Red Oak Baptist Church!
Women in Action missions group met at Red Oak Baptist Church on Tuesday, June 10 for a "Summer Sneak Peek". There were 11 ladies participating. The meeting began with refreshments. The ladies then had a great time planning for the rest of the year and getting a sneak peek into what's ahead in WMU (Woman's Missionary Union" in the new year which begins in September. The next Women in Action meeting will be Tuesday, July 8 at 6:30 p.m.

NASHVILLE- An intersection between Red Oak and Dortches is about to get more busy, with recent approval given for a new 14-lot subdivision and a separate self-storage warehouse facility.

D.R. Horton, Inc. to Tyechia Lynch; Section 5, Bentridge Subdivision, lot 38
Justin Michael Raupp and Tracey N. Raupp to Justin Michael Raupp and Tracey N. Raupp; 5766 Careylee Road, Nashville
Christopher Lance Horne to Christopher Gilliam; 1.13 acres in Middlesex; $235,000
Molly Carey, C. Carey and Christopher Carey to Mahalia Lyles; Section III, Evergreen Subdivision, Lot 29

NASHVILLE- Nashville Police have concluded their investigation into a shooting incident reported Sunday, June 8 on Hurt Court, in which an elderly woman was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The woman's identity will not be released in consideration of the family's wishes, police said

Damage to personal property; hit and run, misdemeanor, fail to stop reported at 914 Old Wilson Rd., Nashville on 6/1/25
DWI; liquor-open container in passenger area (broken seal) reported at mile marker 459 US 64 E. Exit, Nashville on 6/3/25
Breaking and entering/felony/non-force/larceny; larceny from a merchant with property greater than $200 at 1205 Eastern Ave., Nashville on 6/3/25
Unauthorized use of motor vehicle; missing persons reported at 237 Macon Dr., Nashville on 6/4/25

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Airman Apprentice Tyler Davis, a native of Castalia, is serving in the U.S. Navy assigned to Aviation Rescue Swimmer School (ARSS) where the next generation of Aviation Rescue Swimmers (AIRRs) are taught to execute life-or-death rescues in the most extreme conditions imaginable.
Davis is a 2021 graduate of Northern Nash High School.
Davis joined the Navy less than a year ago. Today, Davis serves as a student rescue swimmer.

MINOT, N.D. - Christina A. Williams of Nashville has received a Master of Science, Special Education, Education of the Deaf from Minot State University of North Dakota. The university announced 548 students who were awarded degrees -- including 438 undergraduate and 110 graduate -- as the University's Class of 2025. Minot State's 110th Commencement Exercise was Friday, May 16.

Savannah Wood, a Southern Nash High School student, was awarded $1,000 for her outstanding academic excellence towards her college career at NC State. Pictured, left to right: Scholarship Chair Cyndi Carpenter, Savannah Wood, and Exalted Ruler Chris Bissette. Contributed photo

Pictured are citizens who participated in the 2025 Nash County Citizens Academy.

Mayor Levell Langley, center, holds a check for $625,000 made out to the Red Oak Fire Department for the purchase of a new fire and rescue truck, which has a build time of 120 days.