Recent Articles

Nashville's Police Department is celebrating a successful year with its HOPE initiative, which became the first such program in the state that was aimed at helping those with a substance abuse disorder.
The HOPE initiative was unveiled on February 9, 2016. The initiative is a safe way for those with an opiate addiction to seek help without fear of incarceration as well as to provide resources to give individuals hope in becoming independent.

History will come alive at Castalia's Rosenwald School on Saturday, February 25.
As part of Black History Month, the Castalia Community Development Corporation will host an open house from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the school, located at 10445 Lancaster Store Road in Castalia. The open house will include tours as well as personal stories from former students of the school.
Rosenwald Schools were part of a building program established to improve the quality of public education for African Americans in the early twentieth-century.

Nashville's Town Council approved a request to rezone property across from Walgreens from residential to general business.
The request was approved last Tuesday night during the board's regular meeting.
A public hearing was held on the rezoning on February 1.
The request was from Jeremy Bell, who owns the 3.5 acre piece of property.

A team of BETA Club students at Nash Central Middle School will head to Orlando, Florida this June to compete in the National BETA Club Convention, after receiving second place at the state convention recently.
There are over 200 members in Nash Central Middle School's BETA Club. The club is an invitation only club and is based off of four principles; academics, leadership, service and character.

A local church is planning to fill 400 boxes for children in impoverished areas of Appalachia and is asking for the community's help.
Nashville Baptist Church will send a team of up to 25 people to six schools in Letcher County, Kentucky in April. The trip is part of "Hope for Appalachia," which was started in 2012.
As part of the mission's project, boxes are filled for youth with basic, everyday items.

The Nash Central Middle School BETA Club is pictured above posing at their Living Literature scene. Pictured left to right are: Cannon Puckett (Baker), Rachel Winston (Baker's Wife), Lilly Boone (Witch), Kylie Grace Billups (Little Red Riding Hood), Kada Murray (Cinderella), Trista Phan (Cinderella's Stepsister), Grayson Dwyer (Cinderella's Stepmother), Abby Wilson (Cinderella's Stepsister), Jimmy Porter (Jack), and Anthony Cockrell (Milky White-Jack's cow).

Nash County water customers in one area of the county were under a boil water notice through Tuesday afternoon after a water line broke on Bend of the River Road.
According to Derek Hawkes, Nash County Utilities Director, the leak was quickly fixed on Monday morning after it was discovered. Lines were also flushed and samples were taken and sent to the health department.

Reports of an armed subject near the courthouse on Thursday afternoon were unfounded, according to the Nash County Sheriff's Office.
Officers with the Sheriff's Office and Nashville Police Department responded to reports of a subject walking up Washington Street carrying a rifle headed towards the Nash County Courthouse. The report came in just before 5 p.m. and units quickly responded and located the subject; however it was determined he did not have a weapon.

Nashville's Town Council wants more information before moving forward with a Duke Energy Grant that will provide two electric vehicle charging stations in town.
Council members were presented a reimbursement agreement on Tuesday at the board's regular meeting that would reimburse the town $10,000 upon completion of the project.

A money seizure was reported on 2/6/17 on I-95 Southbound
A counterfeiting was reported on 2/6/17 at 9608 W NC 97
A felony larceny was reported on 2/6/17 at 8076 Stoney Hill Church Road
A recovered stolen vehicle and injury to personal property was reported on 2/7/17 on Richardson Road

An involuntary commitment was reported on 2/6/17 on W Washington Street
A fraud - credit card/ATM - was reported on 2/6/17 at 1016 Cross Creek Drive
A city ordinance violation was reported on 2/6/17 at 413 Center Street
A possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuan was reported on 2/8/17 on W Washington Street, near Taylor's Store Road

Nash County Planning and Inspections issued the following building permits from February 6 through 10.

It seems like travel outside of Nash County, no matter how limited, always offers plenty to write about.
I recently drove to Washington, D.C., for a writers conference, and the experience did not disappoint:
•Early on I-95, which has a posted speed limit of 70 mph for most of the ride from Rocky Mount to the Virginia border, I was passed many times because I exceeded the speed limit only enough to keep from getting run over.

The Spaulding Family Resource Center has been at the center of attention lately.
The building has been put on the auction block, so to speak, and has caused a bidding war of sorts.
The building has a lot of historical significance and one group wants to ensure the building's history is never forgotten. And rightly so.
The Spaulding Alumni Association made the first bid on the building but was quickly outbid.

Dear Editor: There are many that are up in arms about President Trump's proposal to place a tariff on goods imported from foreign countries that are from factories that moved from the United States. President Trump also plans to place tariffs on countries that use unfair trade practices such as currency manipulation.

COOPERS SCHOOL KIDS -- This photo was originally published in The Graphic on April 2, 1974. Mrs. Barbara Turner's fourth grade home room class presented a musical program during a PTA meeting at Coopers School. Pictured are the students dressed in Hawaiian attire preparing to sing and present several Hawaiian dances.

Margaret McIntyre Sink was honored with a Thirty-Five Year Pin and Certificate for her service and membership in the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).
Margaret joined the organization on May 15, 1980 under her Great Grandfather, Pvt. James Jefferson DeBose, Co E, 18th NC Infantry.
Margaret was a teacher with the Rocky Mount City Schools when she joined and was unable to attend the mid-day meetings. Then, in 1983, she and her husband went to the Netherlands. They lived there for sixteen years, where they taught school for the Department of Defense on two different military bases.

The Middlesex Powell Clinic is now UNC Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at Middlesex.
This change reflects that the practice provides whole family care including pediatrics. Dr. Gilbert Alligood specializes in pediatrics and internal medicine and is accepting new patients.

The State Capitol Police has announced the promotion of Officer George (Ricky) Tucker to the rank of Sergeant. The promotion was effective February 1, 2017.
Sergeant Tucker has served for 13 years with the State Capitol Police, most recently serving as the Training Officer for the agency. During his more than 30-year career in local and state law enforcement, he has served in supervisory positions including as a municipal police chief. He holds an Advanced Law Enforcement Officer certification, is a criminal justice instructor, and is a crime prevention specialist.

Rotary Club of Rocky Mount President Garry E. Hodges, left, stands with Laura Ashley Lamm, Eastern NC Desk Editor and Drew Elliot, Opinion Editor, both of North State Journal. They spoke Monday at the Doubletree of Rocky Mount.

Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Lee Parker of Spring Hope announce the engagement of their daughter, Victoria Rose Parker, to Tyler Clay Whitley of Bailey. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Whitley also of Bailey. The wedding is planned for May at the Chapel in the Woods in Louisburg, N.C.

Pictured above is the Cardinal Ball Royal Court, along with other top sellers for the Cardinal Ball raffle tickets. The Royal Court was composed of two groups of students; the first group are students who raised the most money on the third through fifth grade hall and the second group are the ones who raised the most money on the kindergarten through second grade hall by selling raffle tickets. It was still based on the traditional first, second and third place winners but a male and female winner was chosen for first and second place.

Halen Lynch and Ayahnie Savage take a break during the Cardinal Ball to enjoy refreshments. (Graphic photo by Jo Anne Cooper)

Jase Moore, a pre-kindergartner at Cedar Grove, at right, works on a Valentine at the Cardinal Ball with help from his mother, Amber. (Graphic photo by Amanda Clark)

Alijah Hedgepeth is all smiles during the Cedar Grove Elementary School Cardinal Ball. (Graphic photo by Jo Anne Cooper)