Democratic prospects versus Burr may lie with ousted senator
As roughly a third of North Carolinians like U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, another third doesn’t like him and the balance has no opinion, Democrats think they can knock him off in 2016. But the two-term...
View ArticleRetail Notebook: Robert Heath Insurance, Reynolds Seafood, Living Well
SNOW HILL | Robert Heath Insurance has been named one of the top 10 growth agencies in the state by Auto-Owners Insurance. At a reception held in Charlotte with all the regional associates, Heath and...
View ArticleBridge closure begins July 8
Beginning July 8 one of the main entrances to downtown Kinston will be closed for 10 months. Work demolishing the present bridges linking South Queen Street to U.S. 70, and the construction of a...
View ArticleCharges filed in fatal wreck
PINK HILL | The man who allegedly ran a stop sign and caused a fatal collision Wednesday has been charged. Jan Willard Friis III, 28, faces counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to...
View ArticleGarbage rate increase forecasted
Editor's Note: This is the first of a series on the Kinston city budget. There’s no rate increase for Kinston garbage pickup, but it could be on the way. Kinston City Manager Tony Sears presented the...
View ArticleOtis Gardner: Water has been simple, black coffe’s next
I’ve started drinking water. That seems like a most ridiculous first sentence to any column but for me it represents a quantum change of habit. I’ve never liked plain water except after football...
View ArticleDisturbance call leads to drug charges
Police responding to a disturbance at Mitchell Wooten Courts at 11:41 p.m. Monday arrested two people on multiple drug violations. “When they arrived, they could smell the odor of marijuana coming...
View ArticleDiner comes down
The smell of grilled burgers and other fare has long since left the premises, but the building that housed the historic Billy’s Drive-In came down Friday morning. The building, at 2012 N. Queen St.,...
View ArticlePEACE Breakfast brings community and state leaders together
Local residents, students, law enforcement agents and first responders gathered Friday for the fifth annual Substance Abuse Task Force Breakfast at Golden Corral. The annual event was organized by the...
View ArticleSL Student achieves perfect attendance
Perfect attendance is a goal many students strive for but few attain. Hunter Bryan achieved that goal 13 years in a row. From elementary school at Moss Hill Elementary to middle school at Woodington...
View ArticleNew name, expanded mission for gang unit
The Kinston Department of Public Safety’s gang unit now goes by a new name – the Police Community Action Team. “They’ve actually evolved into quite a few areas,” KDPS Director Bill Johnson said....
View ArticlePost 43: Not this time, Kinston
Gray clouds threatened the sky for most of the evening and a temperamental breeze helped to carry balls all over the park or force them down quickly into the glove of a fielder Friday night. In a...
View ArticlePhoto Page: Kids Fishing Day at Neuseway
The fish were biting, the sun was shining and anticipation filled the air as more than 75 youth came to fish Saturday at Neuseway Nature Park. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission hosted...
View Article'Umbrella of Safety' covers community
Anyone looking for local opportunities for youth or general safety information need look no further than Saturday’s “Under the Umbrella of Safety” fair sponsored by the Kinston Department of Public...
View ArticleWorking for the summer
[Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series on the Kinston city budget.] The City of Kinston’s finance department needs some help. The proposed budget includes requests for a new staff member...
View ArticleEnsuring your ‘Buddy’ is healthy
Diane and her husband William Byrd care about their 9-year-old bichon frise — a small fluffy white dog. So much so that taking care of “Buddy” is like having a child. “We’ve had our dog for about...
View ArticleGrant — Stallings
Randy and Debbie Grant of Kinston announce the engagement of their daughter, Brittany Owens Grant to James Wesley Stallings, both of Deep Run, son of Judy Stallings of Kinston and the late William...
View ArticleBrown — Smith
Toni Lynn Brown and Brandon Michael Smith, both of Kinston, were united in marriage at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 2, 2015. Pastor Gene Miller officiated the double ring ceremony. Escorted by her son Shane,...
View ArticleLewis — Griffiths
Ali Dee Lewis and James George Griffiths Jr., both of New Bern, were united in marriage at 4 p.m. May 2, 2015, at Carolina Colours in New Bern. The bride’s uncle, the Rev. David Cauley, officiated the...
View ArticleDeaver — Powell
Kayla Elizabeth Deaver of Deep Run and Eric Damon Powell of Dudley, were united in marriage at 2 p.m. April 18, 2015, at Tanglewood Church in Kinston. The Rev. Christian Powell was the officiating...
View ArticleMinister Column: His desire is for me
The Song of Songs or the Song of Solomon is the only book in the Bible, of which there are two titles, depending on your translation. That does not begin to indicate the problems this book has raised...
View ArticleTammy Kelly: Canning is coming back
Home canning and food preservation are making a comeback. The local food movement and resurgence of Farmers Markets along with the increase in availability of local produce have spurred a canning...
View ArticleSand in the Streets launches 12th season
When the Spare Change music makers walk onto the Pearson Park stage Thursday, June 11, it will be the start of the 12th season for Kinston’s Sand in the Streets summer concert series. Nostalgia,...
View ArticleHouse now filled with ‘curiosities’
WILMINGTON | It all started innocently enough with a single shark’s tooth found on a stroll as a little girl with her father. More than 50 years later, Lisa Plazzo has transformed her Wilmington-area...
View ArticleFilling the Frame: Coast Guard touch-and-go
A United States Coast Guard HC-130J, known as a Super Hercules, approaches the runway at the Kinston Jetport on Tuesday while practicing touch-and-goes. The aircraft, based in Elizabeth City, is one...
View ArticleMeet Me Monday: Retired school teacher brings gardening and teaching together
Retirement may symbolize an endless vacation or time to travel for some folks, but for Debbie Jones retirement led her right back to the place from where she retired. After teaching for 30 years,...
View ArticleThe Rundown
CUTTER CREEK GOLF CLASSIC Today through Sunday Schedule of events TODAY Practice Rounds off #1: 7:30 a.m. Practice Rounds off #10: 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. Range Hours: 6:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. TUESDAY Practice...
View ArticleMike Parker: Big Al and the Coconuts to bring beach music to library
Big Al and the Coconuts will be bringing their brands of beach music into the Schechter Auditorium — minus the heat, the sand and the sunburn — at the Kinston-Lenoir County Library beginning 3 p.m....
View ArticleBig Rock underway
Casey Wagner and the Inspirations are out to follow up last year’s mega hit in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament with another that’ll top the charts – or at least the scales. Wagner has long been...
View ArticleNorth Lenoir's Kittrell has heart of focus
Even with her teammates cheering her on, Breyuana Kittrell refuses to break her focus. Her formula before a race is very precise. She listens to calming tunes the night before and won’t talk to a...
View ArticleQuinton Coples hosting annual fundraising event
Outside linebacker and defensive end for the New York Jets and Kinston native Quinton Coples will return home to pay tribute to community leaders and most-improved student achievers. The Quinton...
View ArticlePageant competitors reveal wardrobe for state competition
Pageant lovers, family members and local residents came out Sunday to support Lenoir County’s representatives for the 2015 Miss North Carolina pageant and the 2015 Miss North Carolina’s Outstanding...
View ArticleSearch reveals guns, ammo, marijuana
After receiving a tip regarding guns and drugs, the Kinston Department of Public Safety responded to an apartment in the 300 block of South Davis Street around 7:07 a.m. Saturday. A person at the...
View ArticlePost 43: Solid pitching behind 2-0 conference start
Pitching was at the forefront of Kinston Post 43’s 2-0 conference start. The staff allowed a combined six hits and one run in those two victories, beefing up a four-game winning streak. “(Our defense)...
View ArticleCrime Roundup: Tip leads to heroin, gun arrest
Police received information that a suspect – Jacolby Renell Riddick, 26 – was at the corner of Tower Hill Road and North Adkin Street shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. “He was said to have a handgun and...
View ArticleDawson Classic Column: Local sick denied medicine due to age discrimination
The flu cut a large swath through my family this Christmas. I know there are others whose suffering makes ours look minuscule by comparison, but I have to turn in something by 3 o’clock, so here it...
View ArticleNix easily wins No. 2 spot for state GOP
Reports out of the state Republican Party convention, as it happened, appeared to show the race for the NCGOP’s second-in-command spot wasn’t close. Facing former Guilford County GOP Chairman Marcus...
View ArticleGreene County Clerk of Court in larger office
SNOW HILL | It’s still not home, but it’s the next best thing. The Greene County Clerk of Court office, displaced into a cramped magistrate’s office for about four weeks after two fires, has settled...
View ArticleFire hydrant tax part of county budget
The Lenoir County budget recently approved by Lenoir County Commissioners includes a property tax increase for the North Lenoir Fire District. “The North Lenoir Volunteer Fire Department Board...
View ArticleArea restaurant ratings
The following restaurant inspections were conducted by the Lenoir County Health Department: Handy Mart 2325 U.S. 258 N., Kinston Score: 94.5 Inspection date: 3/31/15 Observations: No...
View ArticleCrimestoppers offers reward for information in homicide
Lenoir County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward — the highest it offers — for information leading the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the Sunday, May 31 shooting death of...
View Article2015 All-Free Press Girls Soccer
FIRST TEAM F JENSEN WORTHINGTON Bethel Christian Academy Sophomore, Ayden 31 goals to lead entire NCCSA, six assists, 127 steals. Set school records this season for most goals in a game (8), most...
View ArticleSnow Hill adopts fund balance policy
SNOW HILL | Town commissioners don’t want the fund balance to drop below 8 percent again. So they voted unanimously Monday night for a new fund balance policy to help prevent what happened about five...
View ArticleWorthington nabs Free Press Player of the Year
Whether playing against the strongest opponent in any given soccer match or the weakest, it doesn’t make a different to Jensen Worthington. The Bethel Christian Academy sophomore forward is out for...
View Article‘Give 5, Get 5’ collects in Pink Hill
Students select books to take home at Pink Hill Elementary School on Tuesday after a ‘Give 5, Get 5’ book drive. More than 12,000 books were donated by local churches, students, parents and businesses...
View ArticleReece Gardner: Let's celebrate flag day
This coming Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day, the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777, when the Continental Congress sanctioned a flag for the brand-new United States of America. I want to recall...
View ArticleGreene employees to get paid furloughs
SNOW HILL | After several years with no across-the-board pay raises and the past few years of furlough days, Greene County employees are getting a treat. At the June 1 commissioners’ meeting, it...
View ArticleiPads headed to Greene County classrooms
SNOW HILL | Students ready to move forward technologically are in for a pleasant surprise next school year. Tonia Aldridge, Apple account representative for Greene County spoke to the Greene County...
View ArticleLocal veteran invited to participate in national athletic competition
Competing has become second nature to Jason Posey. Posey, a Kinston native and 10-year veteran was invited to compete in the 2015 UCO Endeavor Games in Edmond, Okla. Posey was on the waitlist for the...
View ArticleConflict as Pride of Kinston asks for $100,000 more from city
The first signal of trouble may have been the $100,000 request in additional funding for Pride of Kinston. Executive Director Adrian King, representing the local economic development organization at...
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