People who hog public parking spots in downtown Nashville, particularly local business employees and visitors to the courthouse, are the targets of a new 2-hour parking enforcement initiative broached by the Downtown Nashville Strong Advisory Board (DNSAB).
Five board members present at a Dec. 18 public meeting at the town council chamber voted unanimously to pass a recommendation to the Nashville Town Council that parking spots on the merchant side of W. Washington between Barnes Street and Alston Street be marked on the pavement as 2-hour parking.

The City of Rocky Mount has authorized a 15-million-dollar land purchase for a location previously considered for a casino.
The land in question is bounded on the west by N. Old Carriage Road, on the north by U.S. Highway 64, on the east by I-95 and on the south by Dozier Road and Sunset Avenue, and is described in the resolution as having "significant potential for industrial or commercial development."

Little Kaiden Thorne (11 months) has a taste for his new bike he received for Christmas during the holiday giving event. Graphic photo by Nancy West-Brake

An annual holiday giving event In danger of closing down drew its biggest crowd to date Dec. 16, giving clothes, toys and food to 300 area residents.
Helping Hand Outreach, a ministry done by sisters Ann, Brenda, and Mary Richardson of Nashville out of Ann's home at 105 Surry Drive since 2015, held its annual Christmas event Saturday morning, beginning with a giveway of free clothing from 9:30 to 11 a.m., followed by bag lunches and visits with Santa and culminating in a bicycle giveaway.

Two past Nash County Commissioners were recognized and their praises sung Dec. 13 during the Commemorative Courtyard 2023 Induction Ceremony outside the Claude Mayo Jr. Administration Building.
Claude Mayo Jr. and Mary P. Wells now have pavement stones bearing their names, photos, and brief biographies in the courtyard, making the number of honorary stones five. Three previous stones honor Lou Mitchell Richardson, Rachel Matthews Joyner and Billy D. Morgan.

A local nonprofit organization active in seven Nash County schools is receiving plenty of praise from local leaders, but little or no financial backing.
Communities in Schools, in existence for the Rocky Mount Region for 36 years, has a staff of ten full-time employees, selecting workers with social work or counselling backgrounds.

A stalled movement to annex 55 properties into the Town of Red Oak begun over a year ago is back on the table as a result of public inquiry.
John Battle, who has an address on West Hampton Drive, spoke during the public input portion of the Dec. 11 Town Council meeting to asked about the status of the annexation, remaking that it "had been some time" since the town had approved it and wondering what the holdup was.

The Nashville Graphic office will be closed December 22-25 for the Christmas holiday.

A 21-year-old Enfield man is in custody after his arrest on Armed Robbery charges from a Dec. 15 incident at the Family Dollar in Whitakers.
Nash County Sheriff's Deputies responded to an armed robbery report at the Family Dollar, located at 302 N. White Street in Whitakers, at around 10 a.m. Friday and identified the suspect as Curtis Lamont Pitts, of 2010 Johnny Johnson Road, Enfield, according to a NCSO news release.

Call for service; possession controlled substance/jail premises; assault on law enforcement officer/other with firearm; damage to personal property/assault serious bodily injury reported at 100 N Boddie St., Nashville on 12/12/23; 12/14/23/ 12/15/23
Obtain property by false pretense reported at 12675 NC 48 Whitakers on 12/12/23

A federal grand jury in Greenville returned an indictment charging six individuals with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for their roles in an alleged scheme to obtain emergency rental assistance designated for households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by filing at least 44 fraudulent North Carolina HOPE program applications, resulting in the disbursement of more than $279,000 in proceeds in connection with the scheme. The indictment was returned on September 14, 2023, and the final defendant was arrested and made his initial appearance yesterday.

Over 200,000 present or former Nash County residents have unclaimed money sitting in state coffers, according to the Department of State Treasurer.
An investigation by The Graphic turned up the recorded amount of $17,799,710.44 as of Sunday, November 26th, registered to 203,286 owners. The property count is 179,823, according to Dan E. Way, Senior Communications Manager, Office of the State Treasurer.

The 4-H Sewing Club recently made baby bibs to donate to pregnant women. Pictured are members of the club with Tiffany Wickstrom (back row, second from left), of Your Choice Resource Center in Rocky Mount.

The town of Nashville has been chosen to work with a division of the N.C. Department of Commerce on plans to develop outdoor recreation to boost both economic opportunities and residential quality of life.
Nashville is one of 34 rural communities in the state to have applied for, and been chosen, for the 'CORE' project, which stands for 'Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies.'

As a child, we rarely received toys or even clothes throughout the year. We usually got those things either on our birthday or at Christmas - especially the toys!
In today's society, things have changed. Consumer analysts who track the whims of shoppers report that gift cards are being purchased this Christmas season in record numbers. It is an indication of the quality of life that we now have. We are hard to shop for because we have just about everything we need.

The Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, which features many Old Testament saints, concludes with a challenge to New Testament Christians: "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1 nasb 1995). Our challenge is to run the race of faith just as victoriously as those heroes who came before us.
The race we run is not a sprint. It is more like a marathon. It's not just a race we run today and then are done, but a race that must become a lifestyle. And as we run it, we are not alone. We are being watched and cheered on by a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1).

Kathy Gould, missionary to Ukraine, was the guest speaker at Red Oak Baptist Church Wednesday, Dec. 13 for their International Missions Emphasis. Kathy had a special time to speak with the preschoolers and then she shared about her ministry with all others. Kathy has been serving as a missionary in Ukraine for 30 years. She works with all ages and one particular ministry she has is Family Days where she has evangelistic activities for the families.

Former Rocky Mount-Durham District Zone 5 Governor Fran Bunn, at the podium, installs 2024 Officers for the West Mount Ruritan Club. Officers (left to right) are President Kevin DeBruhl, Vice President Angela Becker, Secretary Wayne Outlaw, Treasurer Robby Causeway and Directors Rick Becker, David Winstead & Colleen Curtiss. Causeway also serves as a District Zone Governor and Lt. Governor.

Donna M. Takacs, Donna Takacs Phillips, Michael Watson Phillips, Charles J. Takacs and Donna Takacs Phillips to Alejandro Angel Porras-Ortiz, Alejandro Angel Porras Ortiz, Alejandro Angel Porras Ortiz, Maria Ortiz Pacheco; 4200 S Browntown Road, Rocky Mount; $253,000
Freeman Cotton to Juan Pablo Lopez and Digna Marivel Hernandez; property along Maple Street

Building Permit Commercial
Bryan Moore, 341 Corbett Rd; modular unit; $27,000
Antonio Davis, 11287 E. Finch Ave; detached accessory; $8,700
Nicholas Kraft, 9377 N US 301; renovation/alteration; $2,500,000

SIXTH GRADE - A HONOR ROLL
Adeline Batchelor, Brandon Battle, Ny'Kaylah Best, Jordan Brantley, Collin Dew, Hunter Garcia, Blake Hager, Alexandra Hernandez, Anthony Jimenez Sosa, Landon Jones, Suliman Moharam, William Moore, Nolan Parsons, Carson Perryman, Gael Rangel-Sanchez, Caroline Riley, Makayla Skinner, Jimmy Suarez Alva, Addison Thompson and Michael Woodard

Soapbox holiday gift guide 2023 will bail If it seems like Christmas sort of snuck up on you this year, don't feel like you're alone. A lot of people are scrambling to finish their shopping.
It's been an odd year. I actually bought a Christmas shirt -- something I vowed never to do. But some genius Photoshopped a Santa hat on Edgard Allan Poe and I couldn't resist.

If you read Mike Brantley's Soap Box column last week and felt like you had a dé·jà vu moment - you were absolutely correct!
Thanks to my effort of juggling multiple things at the same time while laying out pages of the paper last week, his column from Dec. 7th ran again in the Dec. 14th edition.
There is an old proverb in the newspaper business when something odd happens to one of the pages during layout or production, the responsible party is that of a legendary gremlin who apparently sneaks around newspaper production offices from time to time.

This photo originally published on December 14, 1967 in The Nashville Graphic. These young men from Nash Central High School took first place in the quartet division and in the public speaking contest at the Federation meeting.

Dear Santa
I am 4 years old. This year I have been nice. For Christmas I would really like a scooter and a cat.
Love,
Adalyn