Recent Articles

RED OAK -- Talent isn't the only necessary intangible when building a consistently successful high school boys soccer program.
Other factors come into play, such as continuity and a veteran leader as a head coach.
Both of those aspects have been missing at Northern Nash High School over the past three campaigns after the legendary Joe McCarthy retired following the 2017 boys season.

LITTLETON -- After taking the previous weekend off, fans and drivers were back at Halifax County Motor Speedway last Saturday as excitement was high among fans, drivers and track personnel.
Six races were on the card, and the I-95 Late Model Challenge was getting ready to take place in front of a large crowd sitting eager with anticipation.

RALEIGH -- North Carolina State University baseball's Patrick Bailey heard his name called last Wednesday night in the first round of the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, as he was selected as the 13th overall pick to the San Francisco Giants.
Bailey becomes the 10th Wolfpack player selected in the first round of the MLB Draft (total includes secondary phase).

ROCKY MOUNT -- The USA South Athletic Conference has released its 2019-2020 Academic All-Conference Team.
This past season produced a record 1,702 honorees. North Carolina Wesleyan College ranked 5th in the conference with 119 honorees.
A student-athlete must have earned a 3.30 GPA in each of the two semesters of a given year to be eligible.

NASH COUNTY -- Here is an update from the Nash County Recreation & Senior Services Department with updated openings and offerings:
The following parks that are operated and maintained by Nash County Parks & Recreation were open for public usage as of June 1.

CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has announced the winners of the Female and Male Athletes of the Year for the 2019-2020 School Year.
The award is in its 35th year and winners receive the Pat Best Memorial Trophy.

(L to R) Faith Christian School seniors Logan Ayers (William Peace University) and Hobart Brantley (North Carolina Wesleyan College) sign with their respective four-year schools as part of a signing ceremony last week at the FCS Gymnasium in Rocky Mount.

COVID-19 may have canceled the annual Teacher of the Year Celebration for Nash-Rocky Mount Schools but the school system still found a way to honor educators.
This year, district leaders were able to coordinate a YouTube premiere video that announced the top educators for the 2020-2021 school year.
Typically, the school system hosts a special event at Rose Hill Conference Center to honor educators. However, the normal celebration over a meal and awards ceremony had to be canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions on mass gatherings.

No serious injuries were reported after a three vehicle accident on Friday, June 12.
According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, two vehicles entered the intersection of Oak Level Road and West Old Spring Hope Road at the same time, causing a collision.

The Town of Nashville is making plans to upgrade water and sewer along Eastern Avenue.
Council members met last Thursday to discuss the potential of increasing the size of the water main to 16 inches while work is underway to four-lane the portion of Eastern Avenue between Nashville to Rocky Mount.

Nash County roadways experienced flooding after heavy rainfall over several days this week.
On Wednesday morning, Nash County Sheriff's deputies assisted in the rescue of an elderly couple whose vehicle had been swept away. Nash County Communications notified the Sheriff's Office of a stranded vehicle on Seven Paths Road.

Nash County has surpassed the 300 mark in the number of positive COVID-19 cases being reported.
As of Wednesday morning, June 17, Nash County Health Director Bill Hill said the county was reporting 303 positive cases.
Hill reported six new cases overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday morning.

A Nash County resident and former agent with the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has published a book about the agency he once worked for.
James A. Bailey recently published a "History of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation." The non-fiction book includes extensive details regarding early agents' backgrounds, education, law enforcement training as well as the investigations into some cases.

Nash County Commissioners have established a special revenue grant project ordinance for Covid-19 grant funding and related expenditures.
Commissioners approved the grant project ordinance for the funding on Monday during the board's regular second meeting of the month.
Nash County Finance Director Donna Wood said there were three funding sources related to COVID-19 grants.

Back in late March, Nash UNC Health Care had requested community donations of masks and other medical supplies due to a shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE. Community members, businesses and faith based organizations donated many supplies including an abundance of medical grade masks, as well as hand-made cloth masks.

COVID-19 canceled summer plans for the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Ministry Team from Nashville United Methodist Church but the ministry found a way to serve locally instead. The ASP team has been participating in the mission trip for over 50 years, joining thousands of other volunteers from other states to work on homes near the Appalachian Mountains. In May, team members helped with a landscaping project and this week, the 52 volunteers who were slated to be on the mission trip helped work on homes of local families. Pictured above, team members work to put down mulch at the Nashville home.

The State Library of North Carolina recently announced that Nashville's Harold D. Cooley Library was a recipient of the 2020-2021 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant.
Cooley Library was approved for funding in the amount of $15,867. The Town of Nashville will provide a $5,289 match.

There was no public at the regular meeting of the town board of Castalia on Tuesday.
The meeting lasted a little over an hour, with a little less than half the time spent in a closed session to discuss personnel matters.
When the open session resumed, it was announced that the board had discussed the timing of Mayor James Alston's disclosure of his receipt of a letter from Fullerton Engineering.

To paraphrase -- and perhaps butcher -- the words of William Shakespeare, I'll say this about the growing trend of vandalizing, destroying, tearing down and moving statues and memorials that is gripping the country: I'm not here to praise or denounce the statues, I'm here to inform.
As many readers know, the Rocky Mount City Council has voted to move the Confederate statue that has stood near Rocky Mount Mills since 1917.