NASHVILLE- Citing increased calls for animal assistance from Nash County and referencing both Halifax and Edgecombe Counties enacting a ban on chaining dogs, a PETA representative is asking that Nash County enact a chaining ban and also adopt mandatory spay and neutering for adoptable animals at the Pet Connection Center.
Rachel Bellis, Director of Local Affairs with People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) addressed Nash commissioners June 1st.

RED OAK - Organizers for the 2026 Family Freedom Celebration, planned June 28th at Ennis Park from 6 to 9 p.m., are keeping their ears perked in the event that a "Burn Ban" is declared before then; if that should happen, no fireworks will light the sky.
Nash County is in a state of extreme drought, and while the N.C. Forestry Service lifted a statewide ban on opening burning for all 100 counties on May 8, "that could change at any time," according to Mayor Levell Langley, retired Red Oak Firefighter and Board of Directors Board Vice-Chair.

NASHVILLE - The Nash County Planning Board, whose members oversee major subdivision requests and make development recommendations, is shifting one-third of its members; three of its nine positions expire at the end of this month.
The three members with expiring positions are Robert Cordell (District #2); Kim Moore (District #1) and Randy Adcox (District #7).
Tia Foula, Assistant Nash County Manager, told Nash commissioners June 1st that Cordell had applied for reappointment and had submitted a letter explaining that his planning board absences were from a medical condition.

Jewel Dempsy sketches a swan scene during Spring Hope's Chalk It Up event Saturday which attracted 20 participants. Graphic photo by Nancy West-Brake

SPRING HOPE - The town's second annual sidewalk art competition, "Chalk It Up," was held Saturday, June 6th, attracting 20 participants. The event was rescheduled from its originally publicized May 2nd date because of rain. Different sections of downtown were set aside for artists in each of four age divisions, with most beginning to sketch by about 8:30 a.m.
Artists were supplied with chalk, hand wipes and bottled water.

NASHVILLE - Conditional rezoning for a new 151-lot subdivision between Middlesex and Spring Hope has been given the go-ahead at the county level, pending future approval relating to a hookup to county water.
The Bissett's Bay Subdivision, planned on about 193 acres located on both sides of W. Old Spring Hope Road, Middlesex, just south of Frazier's Crossroads was the subject of a second public hearing June 1st.

Shawn Holland holds his Purple Heart. Contributed photo

ROCKY MOUNT - A person's actions, particularly in the case of saving the life of another, can have lifelong effects. Nearly 20 years after one Army officer saved the life of another soldier, that officer - now a Nashville Citizen of the Year - has received the Purple Heart.
Shawn Holland, Vice-Chairman of Seegars Fence Company and the 2025 recipient of the Nashville Chamber's Citizen of the Year award, was presented the Purple Heart during an emotional ceremony May 23rd at Nash Community College.

NASHVILLE - A first-time collaboration between four agencies - the "Nothing But Nash" Farm to Table Dinner- is planned Saturday June 20th at the Nashville Parks and Rec Center. It will feature meats, produce and desserts grown and prepared entirely in Nash County.
Maurine Brown, Nash Farmers' Market Manager, said the $75 event, which includes live music and a meal prepared by Chef Malik Williams of Lou Reda's, is a fund-raiser to benefit "Nash Double Up Food Bucks," a program to support healthy food choices for SNAP recipients at both the Nash County and the Nashville Farmers' Markets.

NASHVILLE - With water levels dropping in the Tar River Reservoir and in watersheds that feed the Tar River, both the town of Nashville and the city of Rocky Mount are asking residents to abide by voluntary water conservation measures.
Nashville launched its "Voluntary Conservation Stage II" measures June 8th, while Rocky Mount did the same three days before.
NOAA's website Drought.gov states that Nash County is currently classified in D3- Extreme Drought along with 31.4% of the state. Areas in eastern North Carolina have seen rain deficits of 5 to 8 inches.

Pictured above, NPD Officer Barbour lets children feel the thickness of a jacket used in K9 fugitive apprehension.

The Youth Police & Fire Camp, held from June 2-June 5 for children aged 8-13 years, alternated days spent with the Nashville Police Department and Nashville Fire Department personnel. Police-related activities included station and vehicle tours, a "burglary" scenario, traffic stop and vehicle search scenarios, a DWI simulation, a Drone demonstration with the Nash County Sheriff's Office, an SBI Bomb Squad speaker, a demonstration by the City of Rocky Mount Swift Water Rescue Team and K9 demonstrations.

Ro Broyles, Spring Hope Museum Director, accepts a check June 1st for $500 from Drew Griffin, Spring Hope Chamber of Commerce President.

SPRING HOPE -- The Spring Hope National Pumpkin Festival has announced the official launch of its new website at www.springhopepumpkinfest.com.
The new site serves as the go-to digital destination for everything related to the Festival, which is set to return on October 2-3, 2026, in Spring Hope.
Visitors of the website will find up-to-date announcements, vendor registration forms, parade participation forms, and a variety of ways to get involved in the festivities.

When I was Durham County Manager, I arrived at my office for another stress-filled day. As the morning wore on, I began to experience shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. It just couldn't be a heart attack, could it?
I began to think things through and finally concluded that all the signs pointed to trouble. Besides the fact that I was short of breath and had pain in my chest, I had the family history to go with it. My mother died of a heart attack at 44 and my father suffered for years with heart trouble.

Critics of Christianity contend that it is all well and good that Christians argue God is omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good, nonetheless, evil remains all the same. Last time we stated that the task of the Free Will Defense is to show no logical contradiction between two premises: 1), There is an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God, and 2) there is suffering in the world. Even so, the question inevitably comes: "If God is the Creator of everything, and God is all-powerful, then couldn't God have created a world with no evil?"

Today is the last day of Rainforest Falls Vacation Bible School at Red Oak Baptist Church. Please pray that the children reached this week through scripture, Bible study, imagination station, and games will carry the gospel with them and share with others so they will know the nature of God.
Also, be in prayer for the youth and chaperones of Red Oak Baptist Church who will be travelling to Virginia for Mfuge next week.
Women in Action of Red Oak Baptist Church will meet on Tuesday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the church.

CULLOWHEE - Ava Moore of Nashville has been named to the Spring 2026 Chancellor's List at Western Carolina University. To qualify for this honor, students must achieve a GPA of 3.8 or higher. Students named to the Chancellor's list are also named to the Dean's List.

Dominique Jones and Natahja Mayfield, both of Nashville, have been named to the the Southern New Hampshire University Spring 2026 President's List. The spring terms run from January to May. Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above for the reporting term are named to the President's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

I've reached that stage in life that I look at the calendar and any week without a doctor's appointment seems very exciting.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about hitting the 10-year mark after my transplant. Yes, I am grateful to be in the condition I am, but I've also been questioning if ailments are transplant or age related.
My thing is called "frozen shoulder." It sounds made up, but a real doctor assured me it is not and it does not feel made up since it hurts like $#@&. I had it a couple of years ago in the other shoulder.

According to the latest data, North Carolina has eight counties who have lost their local newspapers - meaning they have no access to locally gathered and reported news about their governments, schools and communities. The term for the loss of a free press is called "news desert."
The data also shows that North Carolina has other counties possibly approaching news desert status. In recent reporting about North Carolina's news deserts, people who have lost their newspapers are calling it a "structural crisis."

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on July 22, 1976. The Southern Nash Senior League team sponsored by the Bailey Tastee Freeze went undefeated in the Tar Heel Senior League competition posting a 10-0 record.