NASHVILLE - Long-time former Nashville Town Councilwoman Louise Hinton has been cleared of all charges relating to her November 2023 criminal summons for a misdemeanor charge of violating privacy of employee criminal records.
Hinton was served December 1, 2023, for an alleged offense September 26, 2023, in which Hinton was accused of allowing her son, Jeff Hinton, "to read and keep a packet containing information regarding an ongoing internal investigation between the plaintiff and another employee," according to court records.

NASHVILLE - Two principal positions, twenty-eight K-12 teacher jobs and twenty-three teacher assistant jobs are on the chopping block in Nash County schools as a result of declining enrollment, a decreased budget and loss of schools.
A Board of Education special called meeting at 12 noon Friday, May 10, was held remotely, with the public given to chance to view the meeting via livestreaming on You Tube.

Nashville, NC native Chandler James entertains the crowds Saturday afternoon opening for Easton Corbin. Photo by Nick Crawley

NASHVILLE - Good weather, festival food, vendors, carnival rides along with back-to-back bands kept visitors busy in downtown Nashville last weekend during the 26th Annual Nashville Blooming Festival.
The event, organized by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, brought thousands of people to the town on Mother's Day weekend. Organizers were still calculating attendance at press time but anticipate at least 30,000 people visited Nashville over the four-day event.

MOMEYER - The Town of Momeyer is cutting its property tax rate from 13 cents to 9 cents per $100 valuation, which is a 25% reduction that keeps the town 'revenue neutral.'
The new proposed rate will be presented along with the FY2025 budget at an upcoming special town meeting, set Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m. for the purpose of providing a mandatory public hearing prior to a vote on final budget adoption.

NASHVILLE - Nash County Public Schools (NCPS) honored its educators' achievements during the 2024-2025 Educator of the Year Awards, held May 8 at the Benvenue Country Club in Rocky Mount.
"We are incredibly proud to honor these educators who not only demonstrate exceptional skill and dedication but also inspire and shape the futures of our students," said a district spokesperson.

An April traffic stop on Raleigh Road, Rocky Mount, ended in the arrest of a 34-yearold convicted felon on multiple charges involving possession of drugs and guns.
Clarence Borum of Smith Street, Rocky Mount, is currently in jail under a $400,000 secured bond according to a news release from the Nash County Sheriff's Office.
Borum, driving a white Cadillac Deville, was stopped at the intersection of the Raleigh Road and Westwood Drive April 23 and was found to be operating with a suspended driver's license.

A 29-year-old Rocky Mount man will be serving eight years in federal prison after a high-speed chase in January 2023 where a child and puppy were in the car along with drugs and guns.
Chi-Ali Bunn of 5893 Autry Road, Rocky Mount, plead guilty in September 2023 to possession of an unmarked short-barreled rifle and was sentenced this month, according to a news release from the Nash County Sheriff's Office, which was involved in the case along with Wake County and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Effective July 1, five school principals will be taking the reins at six different schools as a result of demerger changes within Nash County Public Schools.
Quintin Mangano, Principal at Nashville Elementary, will become the new Principal at Bailey Elementary.
Darsheka "Tiffany" Hopkins, current Principal at D.S. Johnson Elementary, will become the new Principal at Nashville Elementary.

Assault with a deadly weapon; damage to personal property reported at 10762 Liles Rd., Bailey on 5/9/24
Larceny felony reported at 123 Cary St., Nashville on 5/11/24
Damage to personal property; motor vehicle theft; breaking and entering auto, larceny from auto reported at 1897 Sheldon Rd., Bailey on 5/5/24

INCIDENTS
Larceny misdemeanor reported at 1205 Eastern Ave., Nashville on 5/9/24
Larceny felony reported at 733 E. Washington St., Nashville on 5/6/24
Driving while license revoked not impaired revoked; DWI reported at mile marker 460 US 64 E on 5/9/24

NASHVILLE - The Town of Nashville has missed its annual audit reporting deadline, but officials are due to receive the report at their June 4 council meeting.
Tressa Rudd, Nashville Finance Director, reported April 16 that the Town had received notice from the Local Government Commission that its FY-23 audit submission was late and had not been received as of the April 1 submission date. She said the old auditor had left.

One man and one boy are under investigation by Nashville Police after a shooting incident in an area adjacent to Saturday night's Blooming Festival.
Officers working security for the Festival reported hearing shots fired at 8:10 PM in the area behind the Jail, on Vale Street. Officers gave chase and detained two individuals seen fleeing the area on foot.

CASTALIA - Castalia's proposed FY 24-25 budget will include a $1 increase in its sanitation rates.
Sanitation fees are proposed to go from $25 to $26 per month, Mayor James Alston told commissioners last Tuesday night at the board's regular meeting. The town contracts with GFL Environmental, Inc. for its sanitation collection.

Citing similarity of land usage on one side and across US 64, Nashville Town Council Council members have approved re-zoning part of a 35-acre parcel from agricultural to industrial, with planned use for development for warehouse storage.
Nashville Development LLC, located in Creedmor, NC, applied to rezone a portion of 1860 US 64 A, currently the property of Batchelor SA Heirs, from A-1 to I-1. The property is located to the west of Avents Lane.

Nashville Town officials lowered the boom May 7 on an overgrown property located at 714 Bayberry Lane, authorizing $2,000 in cleanup, for which homeowner Wyatt McGhee will ultimately be responsible to pay.
Shawn Lucas, Planning and Development Director and former Code Enforcer for Nashville, said McGhee was first cited for three property violations in August of 2023, including 'noxious growth of weeded, grasses or other plants or business that ... threaten to become a fire hazard for a harboring place for rats, mice, snakes or other vermin or otherwise poses a danger to public health or safety."

The 50th annual Nash County Soil and Water Catfish Luncheon May 9 at the Nash County Ag Center drew an appreciative crowd of 275 along with multiple distinguished speakers, including Bob Etheridge, State Executive Director of the North Carolina Farm Service Agency, who gave the keynote address after an invocation by Parker Philips and a welcome by Stacie Shatzer, County Manager.
Etheridge lauded Bobby Joe Fisher, Chairman of the Nash Soil & Water Board, for serving 34 years.

Beginning tonight, May 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Red Oak Community Building, Nash County officials are holding five community forums to solicit public input on how best to spend Opioid Settlement Fund money to help those who suffer from opioid abuse.
"We recognize that opioids have impacted every county in North Carolina, but each county is unique," said Tia Foula, Assistant County Manager and Opioid Settlement Manager.

I once thought that Satan was not the source of all evil in this world. Just because people could be bad, ugly, mean-spirited, or whatever label you might want to attach to it, didn't have to mean that the devil made them do it.
A lot of unbelievers do not associate evil with satan. However, a lot of Christians also fail to connect the evil we see in others with the devil. Isn't it interesting that the confusion we experience about the real source of evil also comes from satan himself?

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses - the only psalm attributed to Moses. The psalm begins by declaring the eternality of God (Psalm 90:1-2). In contrast to the God who is from everlasting to everlasting, Moses then declares the brevity and frailty of human life (Psalm 90:3-11). It is not until verse 12 that the prayer of Moses makes a request. He petitions God to teach us to number our days so that our hearts may become wise.

Red Oak Baptist Church had a Parent/Child Dedication on Sunday, May 12 during the morning worship. Children dedicated included Thomas Steele Baker, son of Sean and Carrie Baker, and Bryan Fisher Keen, Jr., son of Bryan and Sarah Keen.
The Baptist Men will have their monthly breakfast meeting on Sunday, May 19 at 8:30 am.
The Baby Bottle Blessing of Your Choice Resource Center is now going on at Red Oak Baptist Church.

The Town of Castalia hosted a National Day of Prayer Service last Thursday, May 2nd. Pictured above, members of the community join together for the service.

On Saturday, June 1, Downtown Enfield Restoration & Preservation (DERP) will sponsor the Annual Fishing Creek Paddle. Registration for the Fishing Creek Paddle begins at 8:00 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. at Bellamy Mill.
Fishing Creek is the largest tributary of the Tar River and is located in Halifax County. The North Carolina Department of Water Quality documented that the "water quality in this rural subbasin is excellent" and "streams within the Fishing Creek Subbasin and associated riparian habitat support significantly rare fish, mussels, and plants in addition to the Tar spinymussel and dwarf wedgemussel.

Southern Bank and Kramden Institute will host a digital recycling event in downtown Rocky Mount on Tuesday, May 21. The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Southern Bank's Business Center located at 100 N. Church Street in Rocky Mount.
The event provides a secure means for local businesses and individuals to recycle retired computer equipment and devices. Donated computer equipment is scrubbed of all data before being refurbished and donated to those in need in the community, including students and low income adults who otherwise would have no access to computers or online resources.

Brian Frantz and Jennifer M. Frantz to Brian Keith Creech; Windchase Subdivision, Block A, Lot 6
Nuview Trust Co. Custodian FBO Amanda Watkins IRA and Nuview Trust Co./Cust Amanda Watkins IRA #2026175 and Amanda Watkins to Everly Mae Real Estate Fund, LLC; 832 Russell Street, Rocky Mount

ROCKY MOUNT - North Carolina Wesleyan University (NCWU) has announced three new scholarships that will accept applications starting Fall 2024. Each scholarship was generously offered in memory of a loved one and aligns with Wesleyan's beliefs of being personal, practical, and purpose-driven.
The Charles Randall Ranke Scholarship is an annual scholarship established by Stephen Ranke (Infrastructure and Systems Administrator with NCWU), in memory of his father, Charles Randall Ranke.

New single family dwelling; 7586 Michelle Rd., Rocky Mount; D.R. Horton Inc.; $155,020
New single family dwelling; 7614 NC 56, Castalia; Adam Schroeder; $300,000
Renovation/alteration; 968 Aventon Gin Rd., Whitakers; Gara Fluitt; $20,000
Renovation/alteration; 2930 Peachtree Hills Rd., Spring Hope; Tony Shearin; $1,000

Last week it was reported that Utah has been named the Best State to Live by U.S. News and World Report for the second straight year.
Your feelings might have been hurt if you saw North Carolina came in at Number 19.
I, too, was disappointed. I was hoping to see us around the 45-50 range. More on that later in the column.
It is fantastic that Utah took the top spot. People who are thinking about moving should definitely move there.

Though every element of this year's Blooming Festival seemed to have rolled out smoothly, unfortunately an incident Saturday evening will forever remain in our thoughts.
When we, as organizers, were notified shots had been fired behind the jail, and in real time I was watching thousands of people making a mass exodus from the carnival area running towards our direction at the stage end, my heart sank.

This photo originally published in The Graphic on May 7, 1970. Pictured are new officers for the Rocky Mount Moose Lodge.

The Sudan Animated Animals visit with parade spectators bringing huge grins to all ages.