Recent Articles

NASHVILLE - A man and a woman are dead, the victims of flash flooding Wednesday in Spring Hope.
While the victims' identities have not yet been officially released by the Nash County Sheriff's Office, the two were reportedly from Louisburg: 55-year-old Raymond Evans Jr. and 24-year-old Lottie Alston, a 2020 graduate of Franklin County Early College High. They were driving a silver 2002 Honda Odyssey minivan around 2:15 Wednesday afternoon in the area of 687 North NC-581 when the vehicle was swept off the right side of the road about 35 yards into a ravine during flash flooding.

The Joyner family held their annual family reunion at Oak Level Ruritan Club July 18-20. Approximately 100 family members attended the event which has been taking place for the last 55 plus years.
Due to rain, a group photo couldn't be taken. The family provided the photo above which was taken at a prior event showing family members pose forming the letter "J" while a drone photo is taken.

RED OAK- Rough grading of the land surface at the Old Red Oak Landfill, a "Superfund" contamination site, is presently underway, the seventh of ten remediation steps required by NCDEQ.
'Superfund" is the nickname for a federal act created in 1980 to allow EPA to clean up contaminated sites presenting unique risks to the environment and to human health, requiring specialized equipment and training to safely remediate.

NASHVILLE - The old Swift Creek Elementary School, sold off by Nash County Public Schools last year, is going back up on the auction block now that the buyer has backed out of the deal.
Angie Miller, NCPS Special Assistant of Auxiliary Services, Operations and Athletics, first shared the news at a July 28 board of education committee meeting, relaying that the property would be put back up for sale.

ROCKY MOUNT - Nash County's Pet Connection Center re-opened this week to offer adoptions, with August 4th as its first day with open doors. It is, however, still paused on owner surrenders.
The shelter will be also open one Saturday each month for adoptions, beginning with its first Adoption Saturday this weekend, August 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Adoptions come with a standard $50 fee.

NASHVILLE - A special ceremony to mark the 25-year retirement of Sgt. Stanley "Stan" Ricks of the Nash County Sheriff's Office was held Thursday, July 31st, at the historic Nash County courthouse, followed by a caravan of law enforcement to Ricks' home outside Nashville for him to do a radio check off-duty.
Ricks, whose partner, K-9 Pebbles, retired earlier this month, was the subject of multiple speeches of praise, also receiving multiple plaques for his service from Sheriff Keith Stone, from Capt. Bryant from the Civil division, from Capt. Costa from the K-9 Team and from Chief Deputy Alan Wilson for the special response team.

NASH COUNTY- Nash County Commissioner Gwen Wilkins was elected Director of District 7 for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) during the district's caucus meeting on July 31, 2025.
As District Director, Wilkins and her planning team will host upcoming district meetings where county commissioners and other county officials meet to share challenges, successes, and issues impacting counties within the region.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - One of Nash County's Cooperative Extension Agents, Colby Griffin, has another prize to add to his wall: this one for Distinguished Service. It is awarded by both state and national associations of county agricultural agents, recognizing Extension professionals for outstanding service, program excellence and high regard among peers. Only extension agents who have served ten or more years are eligible.
Griffin was awarded the prize at the state level in Concord, NC, on June 11th, proceeding to Billings, MT, July 1 to collect the national award.

RALEIGH- Longtime Nash County 4-H competitor Page Strickland has been inducted into the 4-H Honor Club, achieving the organization's highest honor at the state level.
Strickland, inducted July 21, 2025 during the NC 4-H Congress event in Raleigh, was awarded four scholarships at the Youth and Donor Event two days later: the Edward Gore/General Hugh Shelton 4-H Leadership Scholarship for $2,500; the Edmund & Elizabeth Aycock 4-H Scholarship for $2,000; the LR Harrill 4-H Scholarship for $2,000; and the Robert N. Wood Collegiate 4-H Scholarship for $1,000.

A broken power pole, with power lines still intact, is shown on Barnes Street near Strickland Equipment after an accident around 10:45 a.m. August 4. A box truck for Parrish Tires broke the pole, incurring a broken mirror and minor damage to its right side. The driver, 32-year-old Corey Tatum of Clayton, was charged with failure to maintain lane control. No injuries were reported. Duke Progress Energy completed repairs the same day and no outages were caused.

SPRING HOPE- While Spring Hope's Pumpkin Festival is alive and well, with more food vendors than ever lined up for October 3rd and 4th, the Spring Hope Pumpkin Pageant is taking a hiatus and will not be held this fall.
A press release from Michael Ward, Chamber of Commerce President, states that "this year marks a year of transformation for our cherished event," with 2025 being used to plan new developments for the pageant's future.

A hummingbird caught in flight as the days of summer begin to get shorter.

ROCKY MOUNT - A summer camp project for local middle school students may leave a lasting impression on first responders, with a message for firefighters and police officers who use the Nash Community College fire burn building near the Police Officer Physical Agility Test Field.
The side of the Burn building, used each year during NCC's Firefighter Academy, now is covered by an immense piece of "graffiti art" featuring a yellow sun burning on a blue background with the words "You Are Not Alone."

Nash County K-9 Fiji, along with handler Deputy Jack Thorpe, are shown during deployment to central Texas recently to assist with search and recovery efforts along the Guadalupe River, the site of devastating flash flooding. Fiji, a German Shepherd, is a certified Human Remains Detection Dog. The pair were requested by Texas Game Wardens at the city of Kerrville, Texas. They were part of a coordinated effort involving more than 50 K=9 teams from across the U.S. and Mexico, working 12-14 hour days to help locate approximately 160 people reported missing.

Last week, I wrote about how Old Unreliable finally bit the dust, taking a deer and my credit card balance with it.
While that old Dodge served my dad and his pugs for a generation, it was not so kind to us. If a truck could smoke two packs of Marlboros a day, lay out of work twice a week and get in the occasional fight at the Waffle House, it would have been this one.
The truck was ruled totaled and I told my youngest son, the primary driver of the vehicle, that we'd try to take our time and find the right vehicle.

At times, I feel I was born in the wrong decade - especially when looking back at all of the people of Nashville who taught me so much are now gone. In my younger days, I spent far more time with locals 30 plus years my senior.
I truly treasure the many hours spent hanging out with folks like Betsy Valentine Fuller, Mary Hobbs McIntryre, Chris Johnson, Ms. Rachel Joyner - to just name a few.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on Sept. 29, 1977. Beaulah Hudson (center, left) fits a jacket for Shaun Bunn in preparation for the Nashville Business and professional Women's Club's annual Fall Fashion Review at the Nash County Agriculture Center in Nashville.

NASHVILLE - A proposed across-the-board increase in student parking permit prices to $100 has been stalled amidst some contention, pending talks between the Nash County Public School Superintendent and high school principals, who reportedly asked for the hike.
LaShawnda Washington, board of education member, said she had the item placed on the August 4 agenda for discussion after she had several inquiries from parents.