A tornado tore through northern Nash County today leaving downed trees, destroyed homes and injured people in its wake.
No deaths have been reported. Some residents were taken to local hospitals for treatment of injuries associated with the tornado, said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.
Several mobile homes and vehicles were flattened from Dortches to northern Rocky Mount.

Nashville is moving forward with the processes needed to build fire station 2 on Oak Level Road.
A public hearing is slated to be held on August 1 at 7 p.m. in council chambers on submission of an application to the Local Government Commission (LGC) for approval of a long-term land lease/installment financing agreement and approval for a bank loan and Edgecombe-Martin Electric Service Cooperative loan not to exceed $3.3 million to build the fire station.

The Town of Nashville is hoping to hear good news this week, as a grant announcement is expected on a sewer improvement and extension project in the Regency Estates and Essex Road areas.
The State Water Infrastructure Authority will meet this week to recommend projects to fund. Nashville Town Manager Randy Lansing said at last week's town council meeting that he had received an email that Nashville's project is among those being recommended for approval.

FIRST COTTON BLOOM 2023 - Matthew Floyd, age 8, joined by his uncle, Jonathan Evans, found the first cotton bloom of 2023 on a farm located on Old White Oak Road in Nashville. They spotted the bloom on July 11th. The Nashville Graphic has held a long-time tradition of offering a free one-year subscription for the first bloom of the season brought to the newspaper.

The Nash County Board of Commissioners has changed its zoning to allow a family to move a mobile home onto a spot where their former trailer burned to the ground.
Single-family residential zoning for the property, located on Old Smithfield Road in southern Nash County, doesn't allow for mobile homes. However, an older mobile home was grandfathered on the 0.87-acre lot when zoning was established for the area.

BELL

Nash County Soil and Water Director Cole Strickland is excited about the future of his department.
Strickland said the department has two new hires. Heather Bell was hired in September 2022 as an administrative support specialist for Nash County Soil and Water while Steven Ward was hired in February as the new natural resource conservationist.
Bell is a Franklin County native, raised on a family farm. Bell is now married to a farmer and they have two daughters.

Friday, July 21 at noon is the final day to file for area municipal seats.
The seats held by Nashville Mayor Brenda Brown and council members Louise Hinton and Lynne Hobbs are up for election.
Lynne Hobbs announced on social media Tuesday morning she will not file to run for re-election.
As of Wednesday morning, Brenda Brown has filed to keep her seat as mayor and former mayor, Donald Street, has filed to run against her.

Pictured, left to right, are: Nashville Mayor Brenda Brown, owners Dr. Shandal Emanuel and her husband David Jernigan, and chamber president Cliff Joyner. Graphic photo by Jo Anne Cooper

Nashville's Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting Saturday afternoon to celebrate the opening of Primary Care and Urgent Care of Nashville. The new facility opened Monday morning at 107A Nashville Drive.
The private practice has been launched by Dr. Shandal Emanuel who is well known for her work with Eastern NC Medical Group since 2005.
Over 300 people attended an open house and tour after the ribbon cutting Saturday.

The Nash County Sheriff's Office plans to hand out back-to-school bookbags the first weekend in August.
The annual Back to School Bash is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 5 with 300 bookbags handed out on a first come first served basis.
Children must be in attendance to receive a bookbag.
Deputies will also cook hot dogs and serve cold drinks, said Maj. Eddie Moore of the Nash County Sheriff's Office.

TRIBULA

Two Nash County High Schools will see a change in leadership as the new school year kicks off.
Nash County Public Schools has named Dr. Jonathan Tribula Principal of Nash Central High School and Nelson Johnston as Principal of Northern Nash High School.
Tribula has a decade of experience as a principal and 17 years of experience in education. Before joining Nash Central High School, Tribula was the Principal at Beddingfield High School, Forest Hills Middle School and Vanceboro Farm Life Elementary School.

Authorities arrested a fugitive accused of killing a dog after a chase through Nash County.
Ladarius Powell, 31, faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and fleeing to elude an arrest. The vehicle had been reported stolen in Pitt County. Powell was taken into custody earlier this week.
Powell had outstanding warrants in Edgecombe County on a charge of cruelty to an animal on an accusation he shot a dog, according to court records.

State and local authorities are offering tips to ensure residents don't fall victim to summertime crime.
The best step to prevent theft is locking vehicle doors, said Maj. Eddie Moore of the Nash County Sheriff's Office.
"Lock your car doors and home doors," Moore said. "Don't leave valuables such as guns, purses or money in vehicles."
An important extra step is recording serial numbers of valuables such as electronics and other high-dollar items.

A recent recall of beef at area Food Lion stores doesn't involve the Nashville location.
Last week, Food Lion issued a recall of ground beef sold at locations on Hunter Hill Road in Rocky Mount and Wakelon Street in Zebulon due to foreign material found in the meat, said Food Lion spokesperson Katherine Kirby.
Beef at the Rocky Mount store may contain plastic.

INCIDENTS
A misdemeanor larceny was reported on 7/10/23 at 1205 Eastern Avenue
A breaking and entering an auto and larceny from an auto was reported on 7/15/23 at 209 Virginia Avenue
A driving while license revoked not impaired rev., felony maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for a controlled substance, felony possession with intent to sell/deliver

Two counts of obtaining property by false pretense and forgery - uttering was reported on 7/12/23
A warrant service was reported on 7/10/23 at 100 N Boddie Street, Nashville
Found property was found on 7/15/23 at 1012 S Halifax Road, Rocky Mount
A discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling/moving vehicle was reported on 7/14/23 at 1024 Coggins Court, Rocky Mount

North Carolina's egg prices were steady on all sizes when compared to the last report. Supplies are moderate to meet a fairly good demand. The North Carolina weighted average price quoted Thursday, July 13, for small lot sales of delivered, cartoned, grade "A" eggs was 145.18 for Extra Large, 132.30 for Large, 122.09 for Medium, and 84.00 for Small eggs.

Nash County will be offering training for Extension Master Gardener Volunteers beginning on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023 through Tuesday, November 21st, 2023.
Classes will meet weekly on Tuesday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. between the Nash & Wilson County Agriculture Centers. For this training, we will be training together with Wilson County!

Vincent Lee Wilson and Zuwena Aisha Safiya Wilson to Alberto Lorenzo and Lisa Russell Lorenzo; Green Meadows, Lot 13; $198,000
Karen Brantley Murphy and Ronald J. Murphy to Karen Brantley Murphy and Ronald J. Murphy; 1.28 acres, 1.23 acres, 8 acres and 1 acre
Susan Kelly Purinai to David Wayne Purinai; Section 2, Candlewood, Block F, Lot 3
John J. V. Early and Jennifer A. Early to Karen Rae Turner; 5013 Netherwood Road, Rocky Mount; $280,000

The Boice-Willis Health Education Department and Diabetes Education Program has been recognized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for Quality Self-Management Education since 1999 and has achieved reaccreditation until October 5, 2027.
The Boice-Willis Diabetes Center team works with physicians to offer comprehensive medical care, health and diabetes education, assessment, and follow-up with the goal of providing information and skills essential to maintain optimal health.

BUILDING PERMIT
(COMMERCIAL)
Hatteras Brooks; 516 E Nash Street; new construction; $1,2000,000
Lauren Phelps; 4599 N Old Carriage Road; detached accessory; $15,000

Ayden Wright of Red Oak will join outstanding elementary school students from across the state this week to take part in a unique academic and career-oriented development experience, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF): Pathways to STEM, taking place in Raleigh at NC State University.
NYLF Pathways to STEM is one of the Envision by WorldStrides family of programs (www.envisionexperience.com) that enable students to explore their interests and experience learning beyond the classroom.

LIFE is GOOD....
when you have a companion by your side. It doesn't have to be a person; it can be a dog or a cat! I have had up to 7 personal dogs and 2 cats. Plus, temp fosters! Currently I only have one each. I adopted Maggie from the Nash Shelter about 2 years ago to be a companion to my last dog Poppy and myself. Sadly, I lost Poppy (health issues) and if not for Maggie and Oliver (the cat) I would be lonely.

Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female." (Matthew 19:4)
A few years ago, I wrote a column on the fallacy of evolution. It certainly generated a lot of interest.
Frankly, I thought I would hear loud protests from those who believe the lie. And I did hear from a few. But the vast majority of comments I received came from Christians who were encouraged and edified by the information I provided.

"Unchurched Christian" is not a biblical category. Ask Paul, John, or Peter what they think about unchurched Christians and they would have responded, "Why are you calling them Christians, if they are not a part of the church?"
The New Testament does not have a vision of the Christian life outside of the church, the local church. But there are many professing Christians today who seek to be committed to Christ with no commitment to the church. They do not believe in organized religion.

Thursday evening on June 22 was an exceptional time for the new Red Oak Area Rotary Club. The group gathered at the Red Oak Community Building with members of the local club, Rotary guests and potential new members from the area. It was an evening of good friendship, good networking and good food. The meal was sponsored by incoming President Chad Thompson. Decorators for the event were led by Club Secretary Holly Partyka and her team of Jayda Porter, Chad Thompson, Bill and Brenda Shaw, Carther Jorgensen, Jean White and Treasurer Sam Johnson.

Rocky Mount High School has announced its fourth nine weeks honor roll.

You might remember the opening credits and classic Flatt & Scruggs opening to "The Beverly Hillbillies" where Jed Clampett was shootin' at some food and up through the ground came a bubblin' crude.
It made ol' Jed a millionaire and gas wasn't even $3.45 a gallon back in those days.
But now a Kentucky man has become a real life Clampett, except instead of crude, he struck gold. Gold coins, that is.

Nash County implemented a permit program for its tax paying citizens (rural areas) to use for access to county convenience sites.
Those who live in municipal sites are expected to use their town service for trash pick-up.
The program was created to prevent those outside of Nash County from abusing the convenience centers with trash from outside areas which had become a huge issue.

Dear Editor:
Each of us probably knew since childhood two things from ethics: Love your neighbor and Thou shalt not kill. [ both fundaments?]
About 2 percent, in biblical times, traveled more than 55 miles from homes. 2000 years later, we travel more than 270 miles at 58 percent of international [all] populations. Neighbors are white, black, red, tan, amber, and brownish [other] skinned.

This is a photo of downtown Nashville from the Nashville Graphic archives. The photo was taken in September, 1974.

DAWSON TAYLOR GETS A HAND FROM TEAMMATE CONNER EZZELL

NASHVILLE -- It was a numbers game when Nash Rec hosted Roanoke Valley in Nash-Halifax Swim League action last Thursday at the NRST Pool.
Visiting Roanoke Valley displayed too much depth and skill for the host Sharks as RV remained undefeated this summer with a 366-210 decision.
Nash Rec competed hard and boasted several strong finishes, but simply did not have enough swimmers to compete with the Rockfish.

LEGENDARY BASKETBALL COACH GERALD MELTON

GREENSBORO -- The outcome of the game wasn't the most important aspect of Monday's North Carolina Coaches Association's East-West Boys Basketball All-Star Game.
Simply the honor of being selected for such a prestigious event was the foremost priority for the annual event -- though Gerald Melton has always played (or coached) to win during his glorious basketball career.

NASH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALLER RYLEE BREWER

ROCKY MOUNT -- A successful long-term building process has firmly established Nash Central High School as one of the area's elite volleyball programs.
But the Lady Bulldogs will experience a different sort of challenge this fall -- reloading on the fly in order to maintain their recent lofty string of successes.
Central lost several key seniors from last year's club, which went 19-6 overall (and 12-2 in the tough Big East Conference) while reaching the third round of the Class 2-A State Playoffs.

THE GREAT JERMIA WALKER

STANHOPE -- A star-studded Senior Class was saluted during the annual Southern Nash High School Athletic Awards Ceremony -- and four of them took home the school's top honors for the 2022-23 calendar year.
Landen Baker, who excelled in football, basketball and baseball, was tabbed as SN's Male Athlete of the Year.

ZEBULON - Jesus Chirinos homered, Luke Adams went 3-for-3 with two steals, Jace Avina had a two-run double and Nate Peterson, Tyler Wehrle and Jeison Pena combined on a four-hit shutout as the homestanding Carolina Mudcats defeated the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6-0 in Tuesday's series opener at Five County Stadium.

NASH REC SWIMMER HARPER WIGGS