NASHVILLE - With three detention officers being hurt in inmate attacks in as many weeks at the Nash County Detention Facility, the situation worsened by a shortage of detention officers and presence of multiple violent inmates, Nash commissioners have authorized a temporary move to allow off-duty sheriff's deputies to fill in at the jail.

SPRING HOPE - A new comprehensive land use plan may be in the works for the town of Spring Hope, with town planners saying the amount of growth, both planned and anticipated, calls for one.
"Honestly, we're experiencing a ton of growth in the ETJ (Extraterritorial jurisdiction)," said Andrew DeIonno, town manager, at the Jan. 16 planning board meeting. Spring Hope's ETJ extends for one mile outside town limits.

Nash County Commissioner Gwen Wilkins (pictured in purple suit)sings "We Shall Overcome" with the crowd at the annual MLK, Jr. celebration in Nashville.

NASHVILLE - Close to 300 people gathered for fellowship, food and a shared sense of purpose Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. The annual event is hosted by the Willing Workers Club of Nashville in partnership with the Nash County Democratic Cluster Precincts. The gathering ran from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the O.D. Moore Building at 808 S. Alston Street.

NASHVILLE- In the interest of more efficient personnel use, town of Nashville officials are going for a two-for-one deal in terms of certain advisory board membership, changing an ordinance to permit Tree Board members to be the same as members of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR) Advisory Board.

SPRING HOPE - Spring Hope's signature event for over 50 years, the Pumpkin Festival, just got uprooted with the announcement that the Chamber of Commerce will be ending its stewardship for the event, but town leaders are hopeful that "new blood" will step up to take over the job.
"After much careful thought and consideration, the Spring Hope Area Chamber of Commerce announces that it will no longer be organizing the Spring Hope National Pumpkin Festival.

Ethan, a Nash county resident, works at UNC Nash Hospital.

ROCKY MOUNT - TCI Works, a company that enhances the lives of disabled or disadvantaged people in Nash and Edgecombe counties, has four "wish list" goals for 2025: to find more businesses where their clients can help with hand assembly work; to find more businesses who will allow their clients to do job-shadowing; to expand their day program with more participants; and to be allowed into Nash County public schools to offer training and job placement assistance to students who are soon to graduate.

Nashville's Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for its annual Distinguished Citizen of the Year award.
This year's event is set for Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. at Nash Arts.
The Distinguished Citizen Award is presented to a citizen or business person from the Nashville area who strives to make the community a better place.

NASHVILLE - With IRS tax season comes an increase in IRS phone scams, so the Nash County Sheriff's Office is urging extra caution to prevent scammers from taking money, identities and peace of mind.
January is prime season for scammers who fake being IRS agents, according to Sgt. Kevin Bissette, a NCSO Detective.

RALEIGH - A Nashville man was sentenced to 48 months in prison, and three years of supervised release, for orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain emergency rental assistance designated for households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 12, 2024, Joe Lewis Jefferson, age 50, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of failure to file a tax return. As part of the judgment, Jefferson was also ordered to pay $323,824 in criminal restitution to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

NASHVILLE - Nash County students interested in pursuing college degrees in Nursing, Agriculture or Technology are now able to apply for scholarships in those areas through the Elks Lodge #1038 at Birchwood.
Three separate scholarships of $1,000 are made available through the Nashville Elks this year, with an application deadline of March 31, 2025.

"The end of a thing is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." (Ecclesiastes 7:8)
I was listening to a friend recently who came very close to winning a promotion. His disappointment was understandable. But as he shared his frustration, he also read some verses from the Book of Romans that comforted him. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith unto this grace in which we now stand.

Leonard Ravenhill, a 20th-century British evangelist and author, is renowned for his passionate call to revival in the Church. His writings and sermons have left a profound impact on Christians seeking deeper spiritual renewal. Ravenhill's thoughts on revival, rooted in Scripture and a life of prayer, emphasize personal holiness, a return to God-centered worship, and the urgency of awakening in the Church.
For Ravenhill, prayer was the heartbeat of revival. He famously said, "The Church is dying on its feet because it's not living on its knees."

Baptist Men's Day was Sunday, Jan. 19 at Red Oak Baptist Church. The day began with the men's monthly breakfast. The men then led the morning worship service with the Baptist Men's Director giving the welcome and announcements. Prayers were offered by Bill Sheets and Richard Davenport. The men filled the choir and performed special music. Clyde Best brought the morning message and Pastor Chris Fowler had the closing prayer.

I was going through yet another container of things from my late parents' house recently. Inside one was a cartoon drawn by a former Nashville Graphic staffer that pictured me losing newspaper-filled mailbags on Boddie Street out of the back of a pickup truck.
That death trap and environmental hazard had no tailgate or much of a floorboard. It took a lot of revving in the alley and standing on the clutch at a certain angle to prevent a choke-off, the worst humiliation for a teenage male in the 1980s.

I recall, back in 2016, helping one of my grand-nieces with her homework. I noticed none of her work was written in cursive.
During another study session, I noticed she couldn't read cursive. It was then I learned she was one of the age groups that missed the teachings of writing and reading cursive.
The penmanship skill had been removed from schools in 2010 when state education systems adopted the Common Core State Standards. Many states have since then added cursive back to their lesson plans. However, many of the Gen Z generation were skipped over.

These photos published in The Nashville Graphic on March 5, 1964. Red Oak's Rebels won top honors in the 1963-1964 Wake-Edgecombe-Nash Basketball Tournament. The champs (kneeling, left to right) Tony Bennett, Donnie Pittman, Wayne Brown, Jack O'Neill, Lensey Murray, Mike Weeks and Billy Davis. Standing: Manager Tommy Smith, Ransom Journigan, W.H. Johnson, Steve Moore, Tommy Booth, Wayne Denton, Rege Simpson, Steve Pittman and Coach Bill Ennis.