FRONT PAGE

The Northern Nash High School community and athletic department lost a true pillar of its history last week, as longtime boys basketball coach Bobby "B.T." Dunn passed away on Monday, December 22 at the age of 87 years old.
Dunn spent 26 years teaching and coaching in Nash County and 34 total years in education, leading the boys basketball program at Northern in the 1970s and 80s before his retirement in 1987.

NASHVILLE- Next steps for Low Performing Schools in Nash County are awaiting DPI state approval after the Nash County School Board approved 2025-2026 school improvement plans at its Dec. 4 board meeting.
School improvement plans are revised annually based on the preceding year's data, said Melissa Dancy-Smith, Asst. Superintendent of Academic Services and Accountability, who initially presented the list of low-performing schools in late October and performance plans on November 24th.

ROCKY MOUNT - Ella Wilks, 11, loves horses. In fact, she seems to eat, breathe and sleep horses. Not entirely unusual, you might say, for a young American girl. But on a closer look, the depth of Wilks' interest - and talent - is extraordinary, not just for her age, but for any age.
Wilks, the daughter of Mary Thurman Wilks and Dustin Wilks, was recently selected to be one of 33 young dressage riders from across the United States, Canada and the Cayman Islands to attend a special two-day clinic in Wellington, Florida, the "Christian Kennedy Future Stars Program Thanksgiving Clinic" at the Global Dressage Festival grounds.

RED OAK- A 98-acre, 67-lot subdivision planned south of E. Castalia Road, Red Oak entitled the "Doughtie Subdivision" is expected to come up for town council rezoning consideration in January after planning board approval Dec. 23rd.
`Owned by Peggy Doughtie of Bethel, the parcel, which engulfs the 15-grave Jesse R. Griffin Cemetery, is part of a current conditional rezoning application by developer Marvin Shearin. It is currently zoned Agricultural but the application is for a change to RM, or Residential Mix. An adjacent property to the south is zoned RM.

SPRING HOPE - Priming is underway on the historic Spring Hope depot, but the question remains about what the final color will be on the restored building once painting is done.
"The building will not be that grey color," said Andrew DeIonno, town manager, referring to the current primer color. DeIonno told The Graphic that town officials had not yet received potential color boards from the architect and general contractor.

The annual "Sheriff's Christmas," a charity drive conducted by the Nash County Sheriff's Office that culminates in a vehicle caravan bearing gifts, took off amidst lights and sirens on the morning of Dec. 23.
Just prior to loading up the more than twenty cars, trucks, SUVs and patrol cars at 9 a.m., Sheriff Keith Stone, who began the tradition in 2015 during his first year in office, briefly addressed 35-40 deputies, friends and family members.

NASHVILLE - An inaugural Landowner Summit for Nash County farmers or anyone interested in getting legal advice on farm and land succession planning is coming up Friday, Jan. 9 at the Nash County Agriculture Center.
The event, free to participants, will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nash County Agriculture Center, with registration opening at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided.