Recent Articles

Nash County presented plans for a detention center expansion to Nashville's Town Council last week, requesting the town permanently close a portion of Elm Street to accommodate the new facility.
Jonathan Boone, Director of Public Utilities and Facilities for Nash County, presented the request to council members during the board's agenda meeting on Wednesday, September 30.

An Emmy Award-winning Writer/Director/Producer with ties to Spring Hope is filming a heartfelt independent feature film in the small town.
Scenes from Stephanie Laing's Shoot the Rooster, a comedy/love story to the south, are currently being shot by Mark Cone, Owner/Producer of Southern Nash News. A little fun fact: Cone is Laing's first cousin.

Whitakers Revitalize and Preserve, or WRAP, celebrated its first big project on Saturday.
The organization hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting service for the "Music Blooms in Whitakers" Freenotes Harmony Park.
The project costs $35,000 and was made possible through grants from Cummins, Inc., The Mims Foundation, The Conservation Fund, Resourceful Communities Program and Positive Action for Christ as well as individual donors.

Elementary school students will start school on October 19, the Nash County Board of Education decided on Monday.
Board members voted 6-4 to move forward with Plan B, which would send students in grades K-3 back to school in a blended model.
The first phase began last month, as prekindergarten students and exceptional children in adaptive classrooms returned to a blend of face to face instruction and remote learning.

Nashville's Planning Board granted developer Michael Hurt a waiver that allows him to go ahead and resubmit a rezoning request on property he owns on Western Avenue.
The Town of Nashville currently has rules that state any rezoning request that is denied or withdrawn must wait six months before being resubmitted. However, the town's planning board may waive those requirements if they can determine there were unusual circumstances or financial hardships.

Nash UNC Health Care is implementing additional safety measures related to COVID-19 after the hospital saw an increase in patients and staff members with the virus last month.
According to Dorsey Tobias, Executive Director of Marketing, Communications and Strategy, the hospital saw an increase in the percentage of staff members testing positive for COVID-19.

Retired Marine Rick Thomason wants to draw attention to the number 22.
That's the average number of veteran suicides reported each day in the United States.
"It is a dark secret that no one wants to admit exists in America," Thomason said. "Twenty-two veteran suicides per day is preventable."
Thomason, 73, of Rocky Mount, serves as the Commandant for the Department of North Carolina Marine Corps League.

Thomas Betts speaks about the "Music Blooms in Whitakers" Freenotes Harmony Park on Saturday during a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony.

Nancy Taylor (center) celebrates after cutting the ribbon at the Freenotes Harmony Park in Whitakers. Taylor serves as the President of the Whitakers Revitalize and Preserve, or WRAP, organization. Taylor is also a town commissioner. Pictured behind Taylor are other officials and members of the town board.

Pastor Scott Dodson (far right) says a blessing for two-year-old Goldendoodle pup Finley, while owner Ashley Hassell looks on.

Galyce Ham brought Bubbles, her guinea pig out for the Blessing of the Pets event at Nashville United Methodist Church on Sunday.

If nothing else, 2020 has given us plenty examples of how things people love can be messed with.
But one thing you don't mess with is barbecue, specifically eastern North Carolina barbecue. The People's Pig is serious business, something held dear.
An Asheville man and a television station felt the backlash last week over a report on a local barbecue restaurant.
It wasn't even a Western versus Eastern barbecue argument or gas versus charcoal versus wood.

For many years readers have asked me why The Graphic doesn't publish Nash County deed transfers. Most readers say access to weekly transfers would be a great service to the community - and I fully agree!
However, researching the transfers of property each week is no easy feat, and it's unbelievably time consuming. And one thing newspapers, like many businesses, don't have right now is a lot of extra time nor money to pay for extra hours.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on February 21, 1963. Seven local men were sworn into the National Guard unit. Lt. Otha G. Langley (left) commander of the local unit is shown administering the military oath to the seven new members.

The State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate an officer-involved shooting last Friday in Rocky Mount.
Rocky Mount Police responded to a 9-1-1 call around 7:38 a.m. on October 2 in reference to a domestic disturbance in the 100 block of Sledgefield Drive.
A female was reportedly the victim of an assault that resulted in serious lacerations and puncture wounds. She was taken to Nash UNC Health Care.

A Rocky Mount man pled guilty in September to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Darius Lamark Richardson, 22, a validated member of the Crips street gang, pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and faces a maximum penalty of 120 months in prison.

Brenda K Dickerson and Maurice Preston Dickerson to Santos Martir Salinas Sarmiento and Ashley Jacqueline Salinas Antunez; 3.6 acres; $35,500
Laura P. Beebe to Timothy Akvin Beebe; Old Carriage Farm, lot 35, block A, section2 2;
Cynthia B. Masters and Johnnie O Masters Jr. to Frank Thomas Curlings Jr and Jamie Lyn Curlings; 1721 Benvenue Forest Road
Wayne Daniels Benton to Warren Daniels Benton; five tracts

A warrant service was reported on 9/28/20, 9/29/20 and 10/2/20
A fraudulent deposit of money was reported on 9/30/20 at 10201 S Nash Street, Middlesex
A financial transaction card fraud was reported on 9/28/20 at 1064 Stillbrook Court, Rocky Mount
A simple assault was reported on 9/27/20 at 1539 First Street Extension, Nashville

INCIDENTS
A failure to report was reported on 9/21/20 at 735 E Washington Street
A possession of marijuana was reported on 2612 Eastern Avenue
A sell/deliver was reported on 9/23/20 at 4316 Community

Building Permit (Commercial)
Sharon Greer; 341 Corbett Road; renovation/alteration; $15,450.77

North Carolina Wesleyan College has been fortunate in maintaining a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases on its campus since students returned in August.
As of October 2, only two active cases were reported among students and zero among employees. Since August 1, there have only been 9 positive cases for students and 3 positive cases for employees.

Winter is coming. Here is an easy to make outdoor cat home, for feral care or if you have an outside pet cat. All outside cats need to be spayed/neutered obviously, but truly, the only safe cat is an indoor cat. Learn more about sheltering cats at https://www.alleycat.org/ommunity-cat-care/providing-shelter/ MORE Shelter ideas at https://www.alleycat.org/resources/feral-cat-shelter-options-gallery/

"Accept him...without passing judgment on disputable matters." (Romans 14:1)
My Pastor once told our church that it was okay to stand up and be counted on matters of Christian principle as long as you could back it up in God's Word. I agree.
Christians have stood on the sidelines too long and allowed our country to take some abominable stands on matters in our society today.

Almost every week I am able to submit an article that I pray helps my readers understand the "Intersections" that we all encounter throughout our journey on this earth. More specifically, I focus on Intersections as it relates to the Christian's walk with Jesus. I want to thank you for reading and considering the thoughts I am sharing.
This week I want to begin with the relationship between the Church and the communities in which it exists.

North Carolina Wesleyan College recently welcomed two new counselors two its Admissions team, Adrian Moore to the traditional program and Jessica Wilkins to the Adult and Professional Studies (APS) program.
Adrian Moore is a 2018 alumnus of NC Wesleyan and graduated with a B.S. in Organizational Administration with a concentration in Sports Administration.