The Platinum Club is in the process of getting booted from its location again.

A notice taped to the club’s entrance gave the reasoning as violence inside and near the club, along with the lack of a rent payment in November.

The same thing happened in November 2012, but owner Tharol Branch said he’d worked out the payment with the building’s landlords, Owen Lane Sampley and Wendy Shehane. Branch signed a lease with the late Ted Sampley in 2008, and after his death the property went to his children.

Branch said he feels he’s been targeted because of his opposition to Mayor B.J. Murphy.

“I put my ‘No More B.J. Murphy’ sign in the window because when I went to the city council meetings he only gave me three minutes to speak even though I was in an organization, which would’ve given me five,” Branch said. “I put the sign up and then Lane Sampley called me and asked me to take the sign down. I told him those are my political views, and then he told me I can either take the sign down or get out.

“Then on Nov. 4, him and Wendy (Shehane) talked to me and said they wanted me out by Dec. 5, but I didn’t get the eviction notice until (Tuesday).”

Branch was in a process to buy the building by 2018. Also, the notice wasn’t put up by Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who are required to serve the papers after a case is submitted in small claims court for an eviction.

“I initially had a deal with them to buy the building for $110,000 and it isn’t what I signed up for,” Branch said. “They’re taking what I’ve worked for and I’ve gotten nothing out of it. This is a breached contract, violation of my freedom of speech and civil rights.”

Branch said he has emails from 2010-2012 in which he said Murphy was trying to shut the club down.

Murphy, however, said he wasn’t getting involved in the issue.

“I thought about it, slept on it, and anything would be he-said she-said,” Murphy said. “That doesn’t solve any problem.”

He later added, “The city is not involved in that.”

When Pride of Kinston Executive Director Adrian King asked the city government to do something about the club in November 2012 — calling it “an eyesore in the heart of our downtown” and “synonymous with violence” — City Manager Tony Sears said the city didn’t have any legal standing to force an eviction.

Sears cited an earlier case involving Goldsboro where the city did something similar and its order was overturned in court.

Christopher’s Restaurant owner Chris Maroules, whose restaurant is next to the Platinum Club, has said he sees it as a nuisance and a safety hazard.

While most incidents involving the Platinum Club take place outside its location at 211 N. Queen St., the amount of violence led to concerns for nearby business owners.

Among the various incidents over the years, in February 2010 the Kinston Department of Public Safety sent more than a dozen officers to break up fights at club, and while they were doing so a man took several shots at the police, with bullets striking two women.

Nearly two years later, one of its own bouncers was arrested and convicted of stealing a 37-inch television from a salon a block away.

Also in November 2012, three people were stabbed and one woman bit the tip of the nose off another woman.

Three people were wounded in a shooting in September. Branch turned in his liquor license to the state and it was cancelled four days later.

He said he’s filing suit.

“I’m filing suits for discrimination, civil conspiracy and defamation of character,” Branch said. “They put the sign on the club saying I didn’t pay rent, defaced the inside and talked about the violence of the Sept. (14) shooting. They talked to me on Sept. 14 and took my money on Oct. 5. Now it’s Dec. 9 and they want to talk about the shooting?

“Then why did they take my money? I’m going to fight this fight and right now, I’m looking for a lawyer who’s hopefully not in cahoots with the good ol’ boys.”

 
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports. Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

The following corporations were registered with the North Carolina Attorney General's Office:

Change A Life/Save A Child, Nov. 24, Dominique Jackson, 202 S. McDaniel St., Apt. 26-J, Kinston

Affordable Rollback and Towing, Sept. 25, Curtis S. Beaman, 332 Fred Harrison Road, Snow Hill;

Diffusion Vapor, Dec. 1, William Aaron Shambeau, 1320 W. Vernon Ave., Kinston;

Another Day Another Way, Nov. 24, Debbie Maye, 1567 Mt. Herman Church Road, Snow Hill;

FND Internet Enterprise, Dec. 10, Francis C. Daniels, 2308 Hodges Road, Kinston;

G4 Farms, Oct. 17, David Greer, 296 Vine Swamp Road, Kinston;

Elle Obscura, 336 Harper Drive, Snow Hill, Nov. 7, 336 Harper Drive, Snow Hill;

Giambanco Family Restaurants, Oct. 3, 1012 Kingold Blvd., Snow Hill;

Charlie's Up Cleaning Foreclosure Homes, Sept. 25, Charles E. Oliver, 200 Summit Ave., Kinston;

Great Karma Solutions, Dec. 4, Theodore R. Green III, 1119-B Southeast Second St., Snow Hill;

Deep Run Productions, Vivian Howard, Nov. 18, 1373 Davis Mill Road, Deep Run;

Cut It Up Lawn Maintenance, Oct. 8, Christopher Landers, 1401 Opal Lane, Kinston;

Greene County Extension Master Gardner Volunteers Associations, Dec. 3, Marvin E. Riddle, 214 S.E. Fourth St., Snow Hill;

Harvey Farm and Realty, Dec. 2, Kendra Warren, 6174 U.S. 70 W., Kinston;

My Daily Bread, Nov. 10, Curtis NMN Bryant, 78 BB Second St., Hookerton/P.O. Box 275, Hookerton;

Casey B. Oliver and Associates, Nov. 14, Casey B. Oliver, 2496 English Squire Drive, Kinston,

Nfinity Elements, Sept. 25, Nfinitylink Communications, 1106-A Kingold Blvd., Snow Hill/P.O. Box 601, Snow Hill;

Nfinity Media, Sept. 25, Nfinitylink Communications, 1106-A Kingold Blvd., Snow Hill/P.O. Box 601, Snow Hill;

Highview Farm, Oct. 30, Cristie Mason, 5973 Bulltown Road, La Grange;

Capital Housing and General Contractors, Oct. 14, Michael Ricardo Baker, 1225 E. New Bern Road, Kinston;

Nfinity Productions, Sept. 25, Nfinitylink Communications, 1106-A Kingold Blvd., Snow Hill/P.O. Box 601, Snow Hill;

Danny Smith Trucking, Oct. 2, Myra NMN Smith, 2446 U.S. 258 N., Kinston;

Chens Chinese Restaurant, Nov. 3, Min Feng Chen, 211 W. Vernon Ave., Kinston;

Rouse Brothers Farms, Oct. 1, Benjamin Cobb Rouse, 164 Fire Tower Road, Walstonburg;

Eastern Environmental Services, Sept. 26, Robert F. Mooring Jr., 203 S. Caswell St., La Grange/P.O. Box 338, La Grange;

Brothers of the Inferno MC, Nov. 14, John Carlton Parks, 750 Parkstown Road, La Grange;

Lenoir County Volleyball Club, Oct. 9, Carroll Lee Avery, 2189 Pauls Path Road, Kinston;

Dat Consultant, Oct. 21, Trang Troung, 3219 Carey Road, Apt. 10-D, Kinston;

Set'em Free Bail Bonding, Oct. 22, Christopher Haddock, 571 Edward Bridge Road, Grifton/400 West Fifth St., Suite 200, Greenville;

Shines North and South Cafe, Oct. 14, Billy Rex Stafford, 6679 N.C. 13 South, Snow Hill;

Holly Hill Community Development Center, Nov. 17, no agent listed, 2031 Paul's Path Road, Kinston;

Herritage Automotive Services, Oct. 15, Clifton Glenn Kimberlin, 211 S., Herritage St., Kinston;

Beard's Tire & Service Center, Oct. 22, David NMN Wiggins, 607 Mitchell St., Kinston;

Homework Mom, Oct. 6, Cindy Rouse Watts, 1028 Dawson Station Road, Kinston;

Wireless World 2, Oct. 15, Nader Dari, 415 N.C. 13 S., Suite D, Snow Hill;

Barbara Lane, Nov. 17, Ely J. Perry III, 518 Plaza Blvd., Kinston/P.O. Box 1475, Kinston;

Howard-Knight Productions, Sept. 29, Vivian Howard, 1373 Davis Mill Road, Deep Run;

Eastern Outdoor Holdings, Nov. 7, Jess L. Edwards, 2003 Greenbriar Road, Kinston/P.O. Box 1416, Kinston;

Harveys LLC, Dec. 4, Kendra Warren, 6174 U.S. 70 W., Kinston;

Eastern Storage Services, Dec. 1, Aaren Brumley, 403 Graces Farm Road, La Grange;

International Sales Company, Nov. 10, Clayton Dwight Howard, 1205 Executive Drive, Kinston;

Magnolia Landing, Nov. 20, Walter r. Killinger Jr., 1215 W. New Bern Road, Kinston;

Jones Advantage Investments, Oct. 28, Jalen Jones, 1204 Ruffin Terrace Lane, Kinston;

K.L. Whaley Farm, Nov. 25, Jesse P. Hardison, 766 Whaley Road, Kinston/P.O. Box 3741, Chapel Hill;

Kristy Woodson Harvey Author, Nov. 13, 801 Plaza Blvd., Kinston/217 Front St., Beaufort;

Meridian Properties of N.C., Nov. 25, Gary Bevan Whaley, 1127 Institute Road, Kinston/1111 Institute Road, Kinston;

Midtown Motor Lodge, Nov. 19, Sherwood C. Henderson, 106 S. McLewean St., Kinston/P.O. Box 3169, Kinston;

Nehemiah Misson of Lenoir County, Nov. 3, Johan Mari-Aviles, 1901 Cambridge Road, Kinston;

Play, Explore and Learn, Oct. 14, Pamela F. Vause, 1836 John Heath Road, Deep Run/P.O. Box 62, Kinston;

Produce Marketing, Oct. 10, John O. McNairy, 6174 U.S. 70 W., Kinston/P.O. Box 189, Kinston;

RLE Properties, Nov. 12, Crystal Tyson Wooten, 1206 West Road, Kinston;

Saint Delight United Holy Church of America, Nov. 24, Devin C. Pickett Sr., 976 La Grange Road, La Grange/P.O. Box 1543, Goldsboro;

Segers Tax Solution, Oct. 2, Tracey Segers, 50 Winding Lane, La Grange;

Spence Automotive, Nov. 5, Keith Mitchell Spence, 603 Plaza Blvd., Kinston;

Before Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and a packed Kinston crowd, senior sensation Brandon Ingram scored a game-high 31 points in the Vikings’ 88-64 win over the visiting West Craven on Thursday night.  

Ingram added 11 rebounds to post a double-double in Kinston’s home opener.

“It means a lot to me that (Coach K) comes out here to support me and that he’s still recruiting me hard,” Ingram said. “(The home opener) was great for me and great to get the guys out. We kind of get tired of practicing and tired of competing against ourselves.”  

Kinston (2-0) opened the game on a 10-0 run to quickly pull away from the Eagles (3-6).

Zack Cuthbertson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer reduced West Craven’s deficit after a quarter, as the Vikings led by an authoritative 30-10.

Senior Mykel Hart contributed 22 points and a pair of boards, while senior Darnell Dunn added 13 and six rebounds. Ingram also led the game with four assists and three blocks. That Kinston trio shot perfect from the field in the third quarter. 

Cuthbertson paced the Eagles with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Kinston coach Perry Tyndall was pleased with the “balance” of his team.

“That’s where we thrive,” he said.

 Kinston hosts Eastern Wayne on Friday, when the Vikings will be presented with their 2013 state championship rings at halftime of the boys’ game.

Girls pick up first win of season

The Kinston girls’ basketball team defeated the visiting West Craven, 34-30, on Thursday night.

 Both teams opened the first half slow, as Kinston trailed, 7-6 after one quarter.

The Vikings (1-1) sped up the pace after halftime to hold off the Eagles.

Junior guard Jada Faison led the game with 12 point for Kinston, adding seven rebounds and four assists. Takerian Harper contributed nine points and a team-high eight boards for the Vikes. 

101st ANNUAL BB&T/NCHSAA STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Today’s games

 CLASS 2-A CHAMPIONSHIP—Today, noon

CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL DARK HORSES (13-1) vs. SHELBY HIGH SCHOOL GOLDEN LIONS (13-2)

CLASS 2-AA CHAMPIONSHIP— Today, 4 p.m.

WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL PAM PACK (14-1) vs. EAST LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL MUSTANGS (15-0)

CLASS 4-AA CHAMPIONSHIP—Today, 8 p.m.

WAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL COUGARS (15-0) vs. MALLARD CREEK HIGH SCHOOL MAVERICKS (14-1)

CLASS 1-A CHAMPIONSHIP—Today, noon

PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL VIKINGS (14-1) vs. ROBBINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL BLACK KNIGHTS (15-0)

CLASS 3-A CHAMPIONSHIP—Today, 4 p.m.

HAVELOCK HIGH SCHOOL RAMS (14-1) vs. CREST HIGH SCHOOL CHARGERS (15-0)

CLASS 3-AA CHAMPIONSHIP—Today, 8 p.m.

NORTHERN GUILFORD HIGH SCHOOLNIGHTHAWKS (14-1) vs. WEDDINGTON HIGH SCHOOL WARRIORS (14-1)

UPCOMING GAMES

TODAY

LCC at Caldwell CCTI 1 p.m.

Wrestling

North Lenoir at Eagle Invitational at Rosewood 9 a.m. 

It may have been a clear night outside, but inside Ellis-Simon Gym at Arendell Parrot Academy, it was raining — that is, raining 3-pointers.

The Patriots hit seven three-point shots as they downed the visiting Faith Christian Academy Patriots by a score of 70 to 58 to improve to 3-3 on the season.

“We just hit everything tonight,” Parrott star senior guard Gianpaolo Riccio said. “It was a great night for us. We kept shooting. Everyone on the team was shooting well and passing well.”

Riccio led the Patriots with 27 points and eight rebounds. He also nailed five from behind the arc. Also adding 3-pointers were A.J. Banker and Jason Farsaie.

Faith Christian came out with an early 5-0 lead before Parrott took control and never looked back. Early in the game, Banker, also one of the Patriot’s leaders this season, injured his ankle after trying to grab a rebound and left the game. With their fallen comrade out of action, the team rallied and shut down Faith Christian to take a 41-22 lead at halftime.

“The kids shot the ball well in the first half. They took more 3-pointers than they normally do, but they had some open looks,” Parrott coach Wells Gulledge said. “Gianpaolo started us off early and we kept it up. We were very efficient with our shots and had a great game overall.”

Parrott went on a 14-0 run to start the third quarter. Farsaie added 10 points for the Patriots while Matthew Chappell had nine. John McLawhorn matched Riccio with eight rebounds.

“We played well tonight,” Farsaie said. “We shared the ball well and played better on defense in the second half than we did in the beginning.”

Chappell agreed with Farsaie, noting, “The whole team played a big role in tonight’s win. There were lots of assists, great passing. The coach got everyone involved and everyone contributed. I’m proud of our guys.”

Most of the scoring by Faith Christian came in the final frame as Gulledge pulled his starters for his reserves. Still, Faith Christian sophomore Chase Hearn collected the game’s only double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“Simply, our kids swarmed to the ball tonight. We made the other team uncomfortable at times and that gave us a great advantage, especially in our shooting,” Gulledge said. “Overall, it was a great effort for our team. Our kids played hard and well. They left everything out on the court tonight and their efforts paid off. They are a great group of kids and have gotten better every game this season. Each time out, they are growing together and playing harder and harder. We’re right where we want to be, but there is still room for improvement and great things are going to be coming from them.”

Parrott girls come out on top of low-scoring affair

It may have been low-scoring affair, but the contest between the Arendell Parrott Patriots and Faith Christian Academy Patriots was a very intense matchup.

As the final buzzer sounded, Parrott pulled off the 30-21 win. Parrott improved to 3-3 on the season to end a three-game skid. This is also their first win without injured star Carolina Carlyle, whose knee injury last week will keep her sidelined for the next few weeks.

“To have your best player sitting on the bench makes it tough,” Parrott coach Shivar Person said. “The win gives our girls confidence that they can do it.”

It was a very slow start for both teams as it quickly became a defensive struggle. The girls on both teams stole many passes and forced their opponents to take off-balanced shots. Combined with a plethora of traveling calls and a pair of key blocks by Parrott’s Kaelyn Mohrfield, the offenses of both teams became effectively shut down. It was 5 minutes before someone scored and Faith Christian held a slim 7-6 lead at halftime.

“At half time I challenged the girls to do better and then left the locker room to let the seniors do the talking,” Person said.

The Patriots came out roaring and went on a 6-0, and then a 5-0 run.

 “Faith Academy likes to slow the game down and we weren’t patient in the first half,” Person said. “We did not allow a lot of good shots to happen and rushed them.”

Parrott outscored their opponents 24-14 in the second half.

Mohrfield let Parrott with 12 points and 10 rebounds en route to a double-double. Parrott Academy was also very efficient from the free throw line making 12 of 20 shots.

“We work on fundamental drills every day and that was a part of tonight’s success. Whether it is free throws or simple layups, you have to do those things to be successful,” Person said. “To be going into Christmas with a 3-3 record, I don’t think anyone would have thought that would have happened.  We are taking great steps every game and in February, we will have this program right where we want it to go.”

One can create for himself as well as his teammates.

The others can contribute double-figure scoring.

The rest can play their parts.

Kinston boys’ basketball coach Perry Tyndall said that “balance” is where his 2014-15 Vikings will prosper.

 In Kinston’s 88-64 hammering over the visiting West Craven on Thursday night, the Vikings displayed poise.

Kinston senior guard Brandon Ingram scored 31 points in the victory. He added 11 rebounds to post a double-double in his team’s home opener before Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, as the Blue Devils remain among Ingram’s final six college choices.

 “Brandon’s capable of doing that any time,” Tyndall said of his five-star recruit who’s averaged 37 points over Kinston’s first two games of the year. “He just knows. He knows what he needs to do. And the 11 rebounds, we need him on the boards. Once he secures the rebound, he gives us options, and that’s invaluable.”

Further down Ingram’s line against the Eagles were four assists and three blocks, both game-leading.

Joining him to round off Kinston’s double figures were Mykel Hart with 22 points and Darnell Dunn with 13, both seniors who, along with Ingram, comprise Kinston’s own Big 3.

“I see Darnell and ‘Kel right up there with (Brandon),” Tyndall said. “Those seniors are special, they’ve been in the program for a while. Then I look and I see so much other balance from the rest of the team.

 “That’s where we thrive.”

Dunn, Ingram and Hart recorded perfect third-quarter shooting from the field and were the only Vikings to attempt at least 10 shots.

Each player in a Kinston High uniform, on the other hand, contributed at least a rebound or a field goal attempt.

Ingram attributed the well-balanced Vikings to their depth and skill from top to bottom.

“All our guys can score the ball, all our guys can defend the ball,” he said. “We just know if one of us is down, somebody else will step up. (The home opener) was great for me, it was great to get the guys out. We kinda get tired of practicing sometimes, competing against ourselves.”  

So the Vikes spread their wings early.

Kinston (2-0) started Thursday’s non-conference matchup on a 10-0 run, capped off by Ingram’s electrifying dunk off his own steal. He contributed to Kinston’s next run with a half-court pass to Dunn, who scored off the backboard, and a putback after driving through the lanebut dishing the ball back out to Taji Moore. Ingram would clean up the long-range miss.

Additionally, the 6-foot-9 star strategically drew contact on several of his drives to the basket, especially in the first half. West Craven (3-6) sent Ingram to the line 12 times before halftime. He knocked down 11 of the free throws, perfect from the stripe in the first quarter.

“We were getting to the rim,” Tyndall said. “That kind of controlled the flow of the game. That’s good. We were aggressive; I like that, and we shot well from the line.”

Kinston finished with 69 percent free-throw shooting powered by Ingram’s12-of-14 performance from the line, making his first 10 in a row.

The Vikes continued to show balance among their star players and their reserves after coming back from a 49-27advantage at the break.

Ingram picked up his second steal 2 minutes into the third quarter and shared the love with Hart for a jam. Jeremiah Fields threw up the alley-oop pass for Hart to slam down, giving Kinston a 63-29 lead with 4:55 left in the period.

Kinston led by as many as 29 and opened the contest using a formidable press to deflate the Eagles.

“I thought we came out with good energy,” Tyndall said. “I love starting off on a 10-0 run. Right here in years past, we take everybody’s best flurry of punches right out of the gate and then we kind of react. I want to be a little bit more aggressive rather than being reactive initially, and I thought we did that.”

Kinston hosted Eastern Wayne on Friday night in a rematch of its season opener.

“(We have) a lot of things to correct, but it was good energy,” Tyndall said. “We need to get better every time we step out, but I have to keep reminding myself this is the second game we’ve played this year, so we have a lot of time to correct some things.”

Kinston girls open at home with victory

  The Kinston girls’ basketball team overcame a slumped start to pick up its first win of the season with a 34-30 victory over West Craven at Viking Gym on Thursday night.

Kinston (1-1) trailed, 7-6, after one quarter. A string of free throws captured the Vikes’ lead to start the second period.

 After the break, when Kinston led the Eagles, 16-12, the Vikings took control of the game’s pace.

“I thought that going into the second half, our biggest job was for us to just come out in the zone and press a little more,” Kinston coach Chris Bradshaw said. “That started speeding the game up. We knew they really couldn’t shoot the basketball, … so we knew coming out after the half, we were going to try and have a little pressure.”

Unforced turnovers proved to be costly for West Craven in the third, as Kinston took advantage.

Kalexis Mills pulled down a defensive rebound and dished the ball up to Xeoquijah Washingtonon the fast break, as Kinston led, 28-19, after the play.

West Craven would come within five points with 3:09 left in the game, but Kinston guard Jada Faison’s trips to the free throw line would help seal the win for the Vikes.

Faison led the Vikings with 12 points, adding seven rebounds.  Takerian Harper added nine points for Kinston.

 Kinston hosted Eastern Wayne on Friday night.

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

Girls:

W. Craven           7             5             7             11—30

Kinston                6             10           12           6—34

EAGLES              FG          FT          REB      3PT       TP

M. Latham          4-13      0-0         2-8         5             19

J. Wright              0-10      0-0         0-5         3             0

L. Cox    1-6         4-4         0-0         13           6

M. Cuthbertson                2-7         1-4         0-0         5             5

A. Wooten          0-0         0-0         0-0         2             0

S. Lilly  3-6         0-0         2-4         2             8

M. Cuthbertson                0-3         1-4         0-0         2             1

Totals   10-45    6-12      4-17      30           30

VIKINGS             FG          FT          REB      3PT       TP

K. Mills 1-6         0-0         0-4         4             2

J. Faison               4-15      4-8         0-0         7             12

J. Grimes             2-3         1-2         0-0         6             5

S. Mayo                2-5         0-0         0-0         5             4

D. Heath              0-0         0-0         0-0         1             0

X. Washington  1-5         0-1         0-0         4             2

T. Harper            3-14      3-7         0-0         8             9

J. Streeter            0-0         0-0         0-0         1             0

J. Badger              0-0         0-0         0-0         1             0

D. Fields              0-2         0-0         0-0         1             0

Totals   13-50    8-18      0-4         39           34

Boys:

W. Craven           10           17           14           23—64

Kinston                30           19           24           15—88

EAGLES              FG          FT          REB      3PT       TP

Q. Bryant            1-5         0-0         0-4         5             2

W. Canady          1-1         0-0         0-0         1             2

B. Cherry             4-13      5-6         3-10      2             16

J. Hargett             0-4         3-5         0-1         4             3

D. Abrams          6-9         0-0         0-0         2             12

S. Mims                0-1         0-0         0-1         0             0

S. Scott 2-4         0-0         0-1         1             4

J. Reed  0-5         0-0         0-2         0             0

Z. Cuthbertson  5-17      10-13    2-6         10           23

C. Armstrong     0-1         0-2         0-1         2             0

M. Pattin             1-1         0-0         0-0         1             2

Totals   20-61    18-26    5-26      29           64          

VIKINGS             FG          FT          REB      3PT       TP

A. Berry               2-6         1-2         0-1         4             5

J. Fields                1-3         1-2         0-1         3             3

T. Moore             0-3         2-2         0-0         1             2

J. Taft    0-2         0-0         0-0         0             0

B. Ingram            9-13      12-14    1-2         11           31

M. Hart 8-13      4-6         0-0         2             22

D. Dunn               7-10      1-2         0-0         6             13

D. Waters            1-3         2-2         0-0         3             4

J. Artis  1-4         2-4         0-0         5             4

K. Wooten          2-6         0-0         0-2         2             4

J. Taylor              0-1         0-0         0-0         1             0

R. Roach              0-2         0-2         0-0         1             0

Totals   31-66    25-36    1-6         39           88

Is anyone out there running around trying to find just the right gift for that special someone? I know that some people are harder to buy for than others. Are you feeling the pressure yet as we are now less than two weeks from Christmas Day? Well, don’t fret and stop running around like a crazy person. Calm down. Take deep breaths. Stop thinking socks, foot warmers, ties, and that Uncle Si Chia Pet. There are better gifts you can give this year. The Bible can actually help you.

It is recorded in Matthew 2 that we find the story of the wisemen coming to worship the Christ-child. These men can actually teach us a great deal about Christmas gift-giving, after all, they kinda started it all. These men travelled many miles to come to where Jesus was. Matthew 2:11 records how once they arrived, they opened their treasures and presented their gifts to Jesus. Allow me to simply draw out some important truths from their giving that can help you.

First of all, notice that their gifts were personally given. These wise men were probably very wealthy, yet they came personally. They could have sent someone to deliver their gifts to Jesus. Instead, they chose to give their gifts personally.

Secondly, their gifts were what I call “grace gifts.” A grace gift is priceless. Maybe it’s a jar of homemade preserves, a nicely knit sweater, a hand-woven quilt, a home-made pie, or just a simply hand written card. Grace gifts are gifts you give that cannot be purchased at Walmart or at the mall. Over the years, the most treasured gifts that I have received from my congrgation have been grace gifts. (Sidenote: Your pastor probably doesn’t need another tie, angel figurine, or another manger scene). Give a gift that is personal. Give a gift in which you have invested more than just money in. Give a gift that you have spent time and energy on. These gifts are priceless.

Sometimes a grace gift is non-material. For example, simply being together is a gift that is personal and priceless. Invite those you love to spend time with you this Christmas. Enjoy a meal together. Enjoy fellowship around a table with your family and friends. Sometimes a non-material grace gift may be one of service. What can you do to be of service to someone else? Jesus gave to us the perfect example of servanthood. He said in Matthew 20:28, “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Give of yourself through service. Clean someone’s home. Repair someone’s automobile. Run errands for an elderly family member. Go to the store for them. Maybe your grace gift is one of encouragement. There are many people all around you who need a lift. Christmas is not a joyful acassion for everyone. Help somone who is having a blue Christmas to have a joyful one. This may involve a special card, a personal visit, maybe even doing some Christmas caroling. Our church family at Sandy Bottom Baptuist Church enjoys doing this in our community every year about this time. Brighten someone’s day! That can be priceless as well. Think of someone right now whom you will give a grace gift to this year.

Thirdly, give a gift that is unexpected. No one expected the wise men, students of the stars and planets, to travel so far bringing gifts. They gave their gifts expcting nothing in return fro a small child. This is a wonderful example of giving unexpectedly. Many people give a gift for a gift. Few people will give a gift expecting nothing in return. My daughter, Michaela, serves as a shift leader at our Kinston Chick-fil-A. Sometimes she will joyfully share me with stories of people paying it forward. This is when customers come through the drive through and not only pay for their personal order but they also pay for the order in the car behind them. Do something for a complete stranger to bless them.

Lastly, give your gift now. Don’t wait to do a good deed. Samuel Johnson, a scholar and writer from the 1700s, wrote, “He who waits to do a great deed of good all at once will never do anything.” Merry Christmas!  

The Rev. Michael Dixon is pastor of Sandy Bottom Baptist Church.

I’ve heard confession is good for the soul. We’ll find out because I’m about to “out” my family — more specifically my wife — concerning a strange addiction she’s developed recently.

There were few warning signs, and those only subtle nuances. In decades past we put up one Christmas tree in celebration of the season as the vast majority of “normal” Americans do.

However a couple of years ago, Ann decided it would be good for us to put up two trees: one in the hall alcove and another in the den. Both were excellent places for them so everything worked in perfect harmony. I chalked it up to an abundance of Yuletide spirit.

Our second tree was solid white, which she draped with solid black decorations. I generally don’t have much of a horse in the Christmas race but have to admit it was — and is — striking.

Now this year there’s that white one in the living room and our traditional green one in the hall alcove sporting decorations laboriously handmade by my mother a half-century ago. Both trees are very pretty and ooze warm holiday spirit.

Nothing about the foregoing seems the least bit out of the ordinary, but the other shoe dropped a couple of weeks ago. Ann’s fingers were skipping through her iPad and stumbled upon a “eureka!” moment. A beautiful solid black Christmas tree reached from the screen and grabbed her by the neck.

Her mental wheels began turning and before you could say “pin number” she had clear visualization of that black tree dressed in white and our white one dressed in black. Through the wonders of the Internet and Wells Fargo, UPS delivered the black tree to our door a few days ago.

Thankfully, we won’t put it up this year. We hauled it to our storage unit, but preparations are already underway for next Christmas. New River Pottery is having a sale so she’s already bought some white peacocks for it.
She has placement geography worked out on her mental blueprint. The traditional green tree with Mom’s decorations will “live” in the dining room next year. The white tree will move from the living room into the hall alcove. And the new tree, with its sharp white décor, will stand at attention in the living room.

Next year when people see all three trees we’ll not be able to hide the truth. My wife’s problem will go public.

I have no idea what treatments are available. Do remedial organizations for Christmas tree addicts even exist?

Should I worry she might just leave them up after Christmas? What explanation could we give family and neighbors when summer rolls around?

So far we haven’t seriously considered an intervention. She hasn’t been talking in her sleep, “More lights, more tinsel!” and hasn’t wandered into the forest patches near our home to decorate the pine trees.

Perhaps she should get a website and possibly inspire others with the same problem, if such people even exist. “Hello, my name is Ann Gardner and I have a problem, Ho-Ho-Ho.”

Otis Gardner’s column appears here weekly. He can be reached at ogardner@embarqmail.com.

Lenoir Community College will offer a new program called One Night A Week starting fall 2015.

Designed with working adults in mind, the program allows for students to earn their associate degree in two years by attending two classes one night a week.

Dean of Student Services John Paul Black said students will meet with two instructors for one hour each during the first eight weeks. Students will have a second option to connect with their instructors by live video chatting one night a week to ask any questions about their homework and assignments.

“Video conferencing will allow the student to ask specific questions and have an interactive office hour with the instructor,” Black said. “You click the button and you’re there in the class. You don’t have to do anything special.”

All of the homework will be submitted online by the end of each week. After the first eight weeks, students will complete the classes and take two more classes for the remaining of the semester. Black said since the courses are shrunk to eight weeks instead of 16 weeks, students will have to be structured because they are expected to complete more assignments.

“We already teach these courses in modified environments to traditional students so we already have courses that are eight weeks,” Black said. “What you will find is instead of doing one assigment per week, you’ll do two.”

Black said he sent a proposal to the academic divison and the division chose which courses would be implemented in the program. The courses are designed to match what the Univeristy of North Carolina system requires for an Associate of Arts degree for a college transfer student. Some courses included in the program are humanities, music, social behavior sciences, business courses, microeconmics and macroeconomics.
Students will have to take an additional course called College Transfer Success during the first semster. College Transfer Success is an one-credit hour online course designed to aid a student with information on transferring to a four year college, financial aid availability and cost.

“This program at Lenoir is specifically for a student who just needs an associate degree in liberal arts or the student who is seeking to transfer to a four-year insitution,” Black said. “So the design of the course meets both needs.”

Tuition for the classes is the same price as the other courses at LCC and finanical aid is available.

“When you compare this to One Night A Week programs at current private institutions, this program is a fraction of the cost for the first two years,” he said.

Black said he is hoping for at least 20 students to sign up for the program in fall 2015. An orientation will be held 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 24 in the Assessment Center at LCC located in the Learning Resources Center.


 

A few days can make a world of difference.

On Tuesday, the family of Kinston resident Carlton Croom had been working to raise money for his burial. Croom, 53, was killed by a Chevrolet Trailblazer on Dec. 2 while riding his scooter on N.C. 11 South. His family put together $250, but needed about $3,000 for the entire funeral and burial.

Garner Funeral Home manager Jack Bell said more than $2,000 has been received between Wednesday and Friday afternoon from local residents.

“I think it’s very good of everyone who has stepped forward to this point,” Bell said. “Kinston and Lenoir County has always been a caring and giving community. The neighborhoods band together to help their neighbors out and this is another example. We’re still collecting and accepting donations for the family.”

Betty Orth, Croom’s sister, said she also received an additional blessing toward a burial plot.

“There was an elderly woman who contact the funeral home and told the director to get up with one of the family members,” Orth said. “She said she had a plot at Pinelawn (Memorial Park) and wanted to donate it to my brother and after the arrangements are done, put a headstone up for him.”

Orth said she’s thankful for everyone who has assisted the family in their time of need.

“I express my greatest gratitude toward those people like him,” Orth said. “They have hearts of gold to help us and it feels like everything is somewhat coming together. These people don’t know just how helpful they’ve been. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bury him before Christmas.”

If you would like to donate to the family of Carlton Croom, go to Garner Funeral Home at 209 W. Peyton Ave. or call 252-523-2124.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.
 

Following the trends of the state NAACP, the local chapter hopes to see a few policy changes in Kinston and Lenoir County.

The Kinston-Lenoir County NAACP called for eight policy changes in Tuesday’s press release, saying the reforms would “ensure that long-term systemic change is brought to address excessive force by law enforcement and the underlying racial profiling that continues to occur throughout North Carolina.”

Kinston-Lenoir County NAACP president James Mumford said letters have been sent to the Kinston City Council, Lenoir County Commission, Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy and Lenoir County Sheriff Ronnie Ingram.

“We’re doing this in an effort of solidarity with the state and national NAACP for reform on law enforcement policies and procedures,” Mumford said. “Hopefully, this starts a dialogue with the citizens of Lenoir County, law enforcement and elected officials to ensure policies and procedures are being updated and practices are in the best interest of our citizens.”

Lenoir County Commission Chairman Craig Hill said there will be discussion on the press release during the next county commissioner meeting on Monday, Jan. 5.

“We will review the requests made and respond accordingly, but we won’t meet until January,” Hill said. “I’ve discussed this briefly with the county manager and we’ll discuss requests before making a decision. Solidarity is important and we need to analyze and craft our response.”

Not all of the county leaders have seen the letter yet. Murphy said he hadn’t received a copy, but said the Kinston Department of Public Safety has been moving in a positive, proactive direction.

“KDPS is very diverse with black, white, male and female members,” Murphy said. “Of course, all of our officers are suited with the body cameras and we’re paying qualified new hires for (Basic Law Education Training) courses. When I see the letter and there’s something specific that needs to be reviewed, the  council would be happy to do that.”

Ingram said he also hadn’t seen the letter, but said he would be open to conversations when he does.

“Sometimes the mail comes in slow,” Ingram said. “Maybe there will be something in there (today), but as soon as it does come in I’ll look at it and take things from there.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

Breakout box

Here are the eight policy changes called for by the North Carolina NAACP:

n Special prosecutors, who are not politically connected to the local police department, to handle police shooting challenges

n Mandatory training on racial bias and police use of force

n The required use of police officer body-worn cameras to record every police-civilian encounter

n Better accountability of the use and potential distribution and use of federal military weapons by local law enforcement

n The universal use of dash cameras in police vehicles

n Community training to educate residents of their right when dealing with law enforcement

n Greater and more effective community oversight over local law enforcement and policing tactics

n The establishment of a law enforcement commission to review policing tactics that would include representatives from the most impacted communities

Over the next decade, the C.F. Harvey Parkway will complete its path toward N.C. 11 and residents will see the replacement of multiple bridges across the Neuse River.

On Dec. 4, the state Department of Transportation released its draft State Transportation Improvement Program plan, using a formula and adhering to a law recently passed by the General Assembly seeking a better allocation of state and federal transportation dollars.

“I’m pleased that the transportation law and vision, which is based on economic development, safety, and congestion instead of politics, is working as intended and exceeding our expectations,” Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement. “Over the next 10 years, this new law and vision will help create thousands of new jobs, invest millions in our communities, and better connect all North Carolinians to work, life and play.

“This is just the beginning and we will continue to build our infrastructure from the mountains to the coast, rural to urban, which will better connect people to jobs, education, and health care.”

If there is a place where rural Eastern North Carolina didn’t work into the priority list, it’s on congestion – connectivity tends to be more of a concern than high-volume traffic flow, but projects that are part of the Quad East interstate and highway plan were included as well.

The basic goal of Quad East is to facilitate transportation — and therefore business and revenue growth — along a system of interstates connecting Kinston with Greenville, Goldsboro and Wilson, and from there the state and nation as a whole.

Lenoir County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety is involved in a number of transportation planning activities and committees in the region.

“One, I was really pleased we’re going to fast-track the southwest bypass of Greenville, which will tie into (N.C.) 11 just south of Ayden,” Daughety said. “And, that’s huge for Lenoir County because that’s one of the last two major pieces of what is called the Quad East loop.”

He continued, “And in addition to that, the final piece to that — the completion of the (C.F.) Harvey Parkway — I was excited to see that it is funded in Year 10 (2024). Because, when you complete both southwest bypass, called the (U.S.) 264 Bypass in Greenville, and then you complete the Harvey Parkway, we will have put in place the basic Quad East loop.”

Daughety said that eliminating northern routes for the U.S. 70 bypass and committing to a southerly route was an important decision in the Harvey Parkway connection to N.C. 11 being a part of this 10-year plan.

For just the Harvey Parkway, right-of-way and utilities work in 2022 are anticipated to run $5.97 million. Construction cost is slated to be $28.44 million for both 2024 and 2025. It’s paid for by State Highway Trust funds.
A number of other projects around Lenoir County are either combined in multi-county appropriations for things like rumble strips and guardrails for safety or environmental mitigation to go along with the construction.

There are a handful of bridge replacements on the board as well.

The bridge replacement work on South Queen Street over the Neuse River is already underway, with a projected total cost of $15.11 million. The Highway Fund Bridge Replacement Program’s been tapped for $8.27 million to replace N.C. 55 bridges over the Neuse River, with construction planned for 2020.

The same bridge replacement fund’s also footing the bill for the Hardy Bridge Road passage over the Neuse – with funds set for $2.42 million and construction in 2023 — and N.C. 903 over the Neuse, with future costs running $7.15 million and construction in 2024.

The Aldridge Store Road bridge over Groundnut Creek is slated for construction in 2020 with a future cost running $990,000.

State Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata said projects are or will be underway in every county.

“Through the new formula, we will invest in our entire transportation network from the mountains to the coast, with crews actively working in all 100 counties over the next 10 years,” Tata said in a statement. “These projects will improve safety, reduce congestion and strengthen connections to make our state more economically competitive.”

 
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

There’s going to be a very special homecoming Friday night in Kinston.

One of the greatest basketball players in the proud history of Kinston High School, Craig Dawson, is the head basketball coach at Woodberry Forest (Va.) School, a private, all-male boarding school in Northern Virginia.
Dawson’s Tigers will visit Arendell Parrott Academy Friday at 7 p.m. in a game against the Patriots.

“This means absolutely everything to me,” Dawson said in a telephone interview Saturday afternoon. “To be able to come back to the city that I am so proud of, and to be able to bring my team to see where I’m from, it’s a big deal for me.”

Dawson led the state in scoring his junior and senior seasons at Kinston High School under then-coach and now-Lenoir County Board of Commissioners Chairman Craig Hill, graduating in 1998. He averaged 29.1 points per game his junior season and 29.4 points per game his senior campaign and finished with school records in points (2,182) and single-game scoring (46). He was named the East-West Game MVP after scoring 34 points in June 1998.

After being recruited by schools all over America, he signed with Wake Forest, where he went on to become one of the most prolific shooters in school history — including hitting 11 3-pointers in a game against Clemson. Following Wake Forest, he has coached at different levels, with him now at Woodberry Forest.

He also comes from a family that can be described as Kinston basketball royalty: his uncles are Jerry Stackhouse and Tony Dawson; a nephew, Joshua Dawson, is a star sophomore at Fayetteville State after leading Kinston to state championships in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

With that in mind, Craig Dawson said he’s anticipating a full house of supporters for Friday’s game. His Tigers also play at APA at 2 p.m. on Saturday against Carolina Friends School from Durham.
“I hope we have enough room for my family at Parrott!” Dawson exclaimed with a laugh.

Parrott is coached by Wells Gulledge, who won three state titles at Kinston High School in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Gulledge said when he was the coach at Kinston, he’d tried to schedule games against Dawson’s teams, but was unable to do so.

Gulledge added he hopes bringing Dawson’s Woodberry Forest team to Kinston will become an annual event.

“Craig is a staple of the Kinston community,” Gulledge said. “We felt like it was time for him to come to Kinston, have a little homecoming and have his friends and family over to our place.”

Between now and Friday, Dawson’s team has a game in St. George, Va., on Tuesday. Any coach worth his salt never looks past an opponent — but Dawson promised his Tigers would know what returning to Kinston means to him.

“As soon as we’re done with our game on Tuesday, my team is definitely going to know how big a deal this is to me,” Dawson said.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is as proud of his roots as Dawson.

“When I was growing up, I couldn’t wait to put on the green and gold of Kinston High School and be able to perform for my city,” Dawson said. “But my pride goes back to Rochelle Middle School and even back to Fairfield when I was 8 years old and to Holloway Recreation Center after that. To have the chance to play for Coley Little at Rochelle, those are times I’ll never forget. Those are the times that shaped me, not only as a basketball player and coach, but as a man.

“I have a lot of pride in where I came from and I’ll never forget Kinston.”

Bryan C. Hanks is the editor of The Free Press; his column appears in this space every Sunday. You can reach him at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.

Under clear sunny skies, spectators lined Queen Street to enjoy the annual Kinston Christmas parade on Saturday. A steady stream of bands, floats, classic cars and more — 112 entries in all — made their way along the parade route. Kicking off at 10 a.m., it took nearly an hour and a half for the parade in its entirety to pass by any given location, much to the delight of all in attendance.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, but what you do with your time.

On Tuesday, Esther Rolle Jones, 86, died at WakeMed Health in Raleigh. Her funeral was held at St. Augustus AME Zion Church Saturday, with the wake held a day earlier at Mills Funeral Home. Jones was a musician, artist and poet who has one of her poems in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

On Friday, five of her eight children — Kathy Cooper, Paul Jones, Reginald Jones, Esther V. Jones and Thomas B. Jones — came to give their respects to their mother who raised them in the complex of Carver Courts. Clifford Brock and Kenneth Jones were unable to attend and Robert Terrence Jones died in 2007.

Paul Jones, a superior court judge, said the love of his mother and father — Leroy Jones, who died in 1996 — was instrumental in the success of him and his siblings. Of the eight, seven received full scholarships and all six brothers have military experience.

“My father wanted us to be successful, but my mom was stronger in getting the point across,” he said. “She was always upbeat and strong in her convictions, even in the face of poor health in the later years.

“She always told us we could be whatever we wanted, so what we’ve accomplished is a testament to what hard work can produce. My philosophy as a judge is that you don’t have to follow the criminal enterprise to be successful, you can do it on your own effort and good parenting leads to good children.”

Thomas B. Jones worked for his brother, Kenneth, as an administrative liaison officer at Advanced Industrial Medicine Inc., in Baltimore and is now an ordained minister. He said his mother also taught her children to be humble and respectful.

“We all were taught to treat people and neighbors right as you reap what you sow,” Jones said. “My mother has been a great influence for me.”

Reginald Jones spent time in the Peace Corps after graduating from Duke University, then taught law and government in Wallace and Durham. Jones is an author now and said his mother wanted nothing but the best for her children.

“More often than not, with a large number of children you’ll have the gamut from average, above-average and genius,” he said. “She had an enviable task of having eight children without a dumb one in the bunch. She instilled desire in us not to just do, but overdo. Not to just achieve, but overachieve. She never cared about our grades, but of course wanted us to do well. She just wanted us to always do our best and we’re forever thankful for what she’s done for us. She gave us the illusion of having freedom but the choice was always hers.”

Kathy Cooper went to the Ivy League school Smith before going to UNC for law school. She worked in the attorney general’s office for 30 years — in charge of the water and land section — before retiring in November. Cooper said her mother gave the children encouragement.

“I remember when I was five, I had piano lessons but I didn’t like it,” Cooper said. “She told me I had the option of continuing them or going outside to play and I chose the latter. She wasn’t forceful toward what we wanted to do and we all chose different paths.

“We were also a competitive group — we compared SAT scores and played all kinds of trivia games. We also had a set of encyclopedias and the kids in the neighborhood used to come to the house to do their homework. She made you want to learn and excel and it’s amazing all eight of us have done so well.”

Esther V. Jones went to Livingstone and taught French before working as a marketing sales manager with Allstate for 23 years. She said the key to success for her was the great ethics her mother taught.”

“The main thing she told us was to always do well, be kind to each other and always tell the truth,” she said. “While everyone in the neighborhood had stereos, we had encyclopedias. She wanted us all to be educated and we had a passion to do well.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

The parade season in Lenoir County has officially come and gone after Saturday, but the spirit of Christmas is on full display in the hearts of thousands of residents.

Thousands flooded Queen Street to watch 112 entries go through the Magic Mile during Kinston’s annual Christmas parade. Kinston’s event was the third consecutive week a parade occurred in Lenoir County with La Grange’s parade on Nov. 30 and Pink Hill’s on Dec. 7.

Kenneth Ginn, one of the judges at the parade, said there couldn’t have been a better day to have it with clear skies and bright weather throughout.

“First off, you have a perfect day weather-wise,” Ginn said. “It was nippy in the air as it should be and there was no wind. We were lucky to have a lot of sunshine and this is an excellent crowd.”

Martha Bishop, co-chairwoman of the Lenoir County Christmas parade committee, said the parade is a great way to bring in the holiday cheer.

“It’s awesome to see the smiles on the faces of the people who came out,” Bishop said. “To many, this is the start of the Christmas season here in Lenoir County.”

Teneasha Sparrow lives in Greenville, but said she and her twin sister, Reneasha, try to come out to the parade each year.

“With us being from Kinston, we try to come out and show support for the community,” Sparrow said.

Kinston resident Keith Hill said he liked the family-oriented event.

“I lived in Kinston for 18 years, then left to go into the military for eight before coming back home,” Hill said. “I have five children and a beautiful girlfriend — Nohemy Flores — and we all wanted to be in the Christmas spirit.”

Kinston resident Erica Hart said she came out to the event for her children.

“My son is in the Kinston High School JROTC, plus my daughters wanted to see it,” Hart said.

Keziah Hart, 10, said her favorite parts of the parade included her brother and the school.

“I liked watching my brother and the Kinston High School band,” she said.

Jamonia Williams, 14, said he liked the parade, especially two elements of it.

“I always like it when the cheerleaders and bands have their competitions,” Williams said.

Kinston resident Paula Howard said she would’ve liked to have seen more floats in the parade, but overall enjoyed the sights and the amount of children involved.

“I like seeing the parade each year and I’m proud of all of these kids in the different organizations,” Howard said. “I feel like if the organizations keep up with the kids, Kinston will be a whole lot safer in the future.”

Another Kinston resident, Ashley Ormond, said she enjoys the parade annually, but would like to see a change in time.

“I liked it better when I was younger and the parade was at night,” Ormond said. “The trees would be lit up and there would be lights on the cars. That’s the only difference — other than that, this was a good parade.”

Susan Young, the administrative assistant for the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, said the parade was another example of how great the city is.

“This is what makes Kinston Kinston,” Young said. “If we had more events like this, the city will be better. Hopefully, the people who enjoyed the parade will also check out some of the stores downtown as well.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.
 

There’s a gap affecting nearly half the states in the country that leaves as many as 319,000 adults in North Carolina without health care coverage.

These are people who live below the poverty level, but are ineligible for financial assistance under the Affordable Care Act without the expansion of Medicaid coverage.

As of Dec. 5, 23 states, mostly in the northeast and west and including the District of Columbia, expanded Medicaid in 2014, five states are expanding in a non-traditional way and one state is expanding with a Section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver. That leaves 22 states, including North Carolina and most of the southern states, with no Medicaid expansion plan for this year, according to statereforum.org.

Parents with incomes below 43 percent of the federal poverty level — or about $10,100 a year for a family of four — and children with family incomes of up to 216 percent of poverty, or about $50,600 for a family of four, are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation.

“Under the ACA, people with incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of poverty may be eligible for premium tax credits when they purchase coverage in a (Healthcare) Marketplace,” states kff.org. “… Citizens and lawfully-present immigrants with incomes above 400% of poverty can purchase unsubsidized coverage through the Marketplace.”

But without expansion of Medicaid, parents above 45 percent of the poverty level and non-disabled adults in poverty without dependent children fall into a gap of non-coverage. Those are people below the poverty line who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for premium tax credits.

That’s because the ACA assumed anyone below the poverty line would automatically qualify for Medicaid. But that’s not the case unless the state expands the program.
 
Local discussion on expansion

Sen. Don Davis, representatives from the N.C. Justice Center in Raleigh and health care representatives visited Kinston Community Health Center on Dec. 3 to discuss Medicaid expansion.

Davis, a member of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Oversight Committee, explained that people without health insurance often put off getting medical attention until it becomes serious and they end up in the emergency room, the highest-priced medical care.

Susan Moore of the Lenoir County Department of Social Services said she sees working people below the poverty level not able to get health care.

“Lenoir County has 25 percent of our population below 100 percent of poverty,” she said.

Adam Linker, a policy analyst with the Justice Center’s Health Access Coalition, said North Carolina has the fifth highest number of ACA enrollees, behind California, Texas, New York and Florida, but Eastern North Carolina is underenrolled.

Linker said with the ACA, Congress expected all low-income individuals to be covered under Medicaid, so subsidies only cover people above 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

The ACA has new regulations and compliance costs and changes in Medicare payments increasing costs for medical centers with the anticipation of Medicaid expansion to cover those costs by more people receiving health care, he said.

“So that would mean billions of dollars across the state and across different sectors,” Linker said about expansion, “It’s difficult to get your head around the amount of federal funding that we’re talking about passing up because we don’t have many opportunities to bring in this much federal funding.

“The disparity that is growing between states is going to be enormous between states that close the coverage gap and cover everybody and those that do not. This is the equivalent of bringing in new military bases to North Carolina. It’s actually a little more than we would get from highway funding.”

The North Carolina Institute of Medicine estimates the state is missing out on $5 million a day since January by not expanding Medicaid.

It’s anticipated about 500,000 would enroll within two years if the program was expanded. But some of those people will find other coverage during this enrollment period, leaving an estimated 319,000 people without coverage at all.

The impact of no health care coverage includes delaying medical care, which studies show leads to higher mortality rates.

When the constitutionality of the ACA was challenged, it was deemed that Medicaid expansion would be such an enormous undertaking it would be like creating a new Medicaid system, Linker said.

When Medicaid was set up, each state could choose whether to opt in. So it was decided to allow each state the option to keep their current program or expand into the new program and get full funding for the first three years or 95 percent over 10 years to cover the newly-eligible people, Linker said.

“The estimates are in North Carolina that over eight years, it would actually save the state money because it’s so much federal funding coming into the state,” he said. “And we would be able to offset a lot of our state spending so it would actually save the state budget money over 10 years.”

There is also an economic impact in job creation, he said. A report is expected in mid- to late-December.

Linker said if North Carolina expands its Medicaid program, it will likely do so with a Secton 1115 waiver, which allows states options in utilizing the Medicaid dollars.

“You get to waive some of the traditional protections of Medicaid and do something state-specific and more creative than just expanding Medicaid,” he said.

Arkansas, he said, took the Medicaid dollars and bought the citizens private insurance plans without premium charges, Linker said. More states have followed or have asked for permission for waivers.

 
Reforming with expansion

The state has concentrated most of its talk about Medicaid on reform.

Linker said both Medicaid expansion and reform need to be “packaged” together because reform can’t take place without the influx of expansion dollars.

“One of the main reasons that the two need to go together is that the health systems are so stressed right now,” he said, adding 13 hospitals closed in 2013.

Debbie Gray, the director of patient financial services at Lenoir Memorial Hospital, said there hasn’t been a “significant financial impact” from the current ACA Healthcare Marketplace enrollment.

LMH’s marketing coordinator, Barbara LaRoque, and Terrence Body, a certified accounts counselor, both said Medicaid expansion would have helped the hospital’s bottom line by increasing the number of underserved people and filling the gap.

“It would have actually more or less helped reduce the costs with the premium increases that we’re seeing today,” Body said, “because (the underserved) would have qualified for the state plan for medical coverage even though they were working.”

Davis said the major issue in committee discussions has been how to reform Medicaid.

“Some are saying their concern is they want whatever happens, any reform, to result in net cuts, regardless,” Davis said. “And I can say we must get rid of fraud abuse within the system ... But what we also must acknowledge is it’s going to cost to provide care in the end.”

There has to be a balance of care in reform and cost, he said.

“I would imagine this will be about the most important issue that we will deal with in the upcoming session,” he said. “But I do believe at the end of the day for the 500,000 North Carolinians that are going right now without coverage that it’s the right thing for us to move forward with expanding Medicaid in the state of North Carolina.”

It doesn’t appear likely North Carolina will expand Medicaid next year with the uncertainty of what changes the Republican-majority Congress might make with the Affordable Care Act, according to newsobserver.com.
Linker said legislators are concerned about the current unpredictability of Medicaid and how much of the state’s dollars would be needed for expansion.

“I think that those are both completely manageable and we’ve seen that with other states,” he said.

Gov. Pat McCrory has talked about proposing a waiver-type program.

Davis said some Senate members strongly oppose expansion, and he stressed that Eastern North Carolina ACA enrollment needs to “ramp up.”

“In Raleigh, we’re looking at numbers so often,” he said, “and not realizing, or remembering, that they’re real people on the back end of those numbers.”

Linker said if the state legislature did pass a bill allowing for Medicaid expansion, the expansion could take place within weeks to several months of the bill’s enactment, depending on whether reforming Medicaid would be included.

“You could actually expand it within months of actually passing the bill, ... if you did a traditional Medicaid expansion,” he said. “Now if you do a reform and expansion package, like a lot of states are doing, that could take more like six months because you have to get federal approval for that.”
 
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.

SNOW HILL | Lisa Johnson has worked under eight county managers — starting with Allen Hardison and including interims — in the Greene County Manager’s Office.

For 18 years, she’s been serving as administrative assistant there, answering numerous phones calls, handling myriads of papers and setting up and taking notes at the county Board of Commissioners’ meetings.
With new board members taking their seats and a county manager soon to be hired, Johnson said it’s time to move on, and away.

She plans to move to Mechanicsville, Va., and marry her junior high school sweetheart whom she reconnected with on Facebook.

Johnson’s last day of work will be toward the latter part of next week, and the official date is Jan. 2.

She’s currently training Kathy Mooring, who has a number of years of clerical experience.

“(Mooring’s) catching on really quick,” Johnson said. “She’ll be a good fit.”

Mooring, a native of Akron, Ohio, was in the U.S. Navy from 1981-85 and spent her tour working in communications in the Cryptologic Technician Administration in Rota, Spain.

There, she met and married Leslie “Vann” Mooring, a Greene County native who worked for the federal government. They have one grown daughter.

The family traveled around quite a bit because of her husband’s job. In New Jersey, Mooring was employed for four years under a federal government contract job in administration. She also worked for the state of Virginia.

“I have always done administrative-type work,” she said.

That is until her husband retired and they moved to the Jason area of Greene County about three years ago. Then she settled for a part-time job at Harris Teeter in Goldsboro. Recently, the full-time adminstrative opened up in the county office.

“I felt with my background, it was more in line with what I was looking for,” she said about the administrative assistant position.

Mooring began training under Johnson on Nov. 24.

“There’s a lot to learn,” she said, “but I’m catching on and hoping that everyone will be patient while I’m taking over Lisa’s job — some very big shoes to fill.”

Mooring attended the Dec. 1 board meeting with Johnson and said she’s enjoying meeting the new board members and people with whom her husband grew up.

One of the biggest challenges Mooring said she anticipates is taking notes at the meetings and writing accurate minutes. Her first meeting working solo will be on Jan. 5.

“I just really want to do my best,” she said, “and do as good a job as Lisa has done.”

Johnson, from Indiana, moved to Greene County in 1986 and began working in the transportation department. Soon after, she transferred to her current position when Lisa Meadows moved to the Clerk of Court’s office.
“The idea of government intrigued me,” she said.

Prior to then, she worked for Frigidaire in Kinston. When she lived in Raleigh, Johnson worked in architectural hardware detailing blueprints. She also worked for the Chamber of Commerce in Cary for five years.

Johnson has kept busy in the county office with a steady flow of traffic and phone calls coming in. There’s a fair share of humorous calls, she said, like the person who wanted to put horses in the Snow Hill Rotary Christmas parade — which is not sponsored by the county — and wanted to know if the county would provide a pooper-scooper.

She recalled the early days when the county had an in-house attorney, as well as a full-time economic developer. Johnson was also running the office when the county dove into financial trouble and lost some of its staff.

“What really stood out is how everybody — and it wasn’t just this office — really worked to make things better,” she said. “It just really impressed me just how there were people who were willing to take on some extra duties.”

Johnson said she will miss the people here, but will be back to visit. She said she will be looking for a clerical position in Virginia, but it won’t be another government job.
 
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.

NEW BERN | A few minutes with Dan Addario and you begin expecting him to quote his mother’s view on life and a box of chocolates.

Though he’s got a good bit more intellect than Tom Hanks’ iconic Forrest Gump, Addario nearly matches him in the famous people he’s known and the major events he’s been around.

For instance Addario, a retired narcotics agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), knew the musician Ray Charles. He personally arrested him.

He also knew Timothy Leary: he helped break up his LSD labs and took him into custody. He was a friend of Panamanian strong man Manuel Noriega, was involved in the early stages of the French Connection drug investigation that inspired the 1971 Gene Hackman movie, worked with the Watergate boys (both the culprits and the man who investigated it), and was in Vietnam the week before America abandoned it.

Addario and his wife retired to New Bern eight years ago from his San Francisco home and has just completed his second term with this city’s Police Civil Service Commission. He had worked in criminal enforcement in various forms from the 1950s to until 1998 and, hearing his story, it is difficult to choose a couple of events to highlight.

Addario started his narcotics career with the Philadelphia Police in 1955. Well, almost.

In the first week of police academy, he said, “I get pulled out of line by a very distinguished looking guy.” He was taken to the superintendent who told him, “You don’t look like a police officer. We want to put you under cover.”

As part of his cover he had to tell his friends and family that he’d flunked out of the academy (“That was very embarrassing”). He was given forged papers outlining an invented criminal career then thrown into a cell, he said, so he’d be seen with other criminals and junkies. “A couple of people I met in the cells were drug dealers,” he said. Soon he was purchasing drugs and learning names.

After a year and a half he and his fellow undercover rookies rousted out 125 dealers who were arrested in mass raids. “The prosecutor was Sam Dash who would later be Watergate prosecutor,” he said.
It wouldn’t be his first touch with Watergate personalities.

It was Nov. 15, 1955, when MC Kae Williams, at Philadelphia’s Town Hall Ballroom, reported that Ray Charles and his band had drugs in their dressing room. “We didn’t want to have a riot arresting him before the concert,” Addario said, so they raided the band after the show. The Philadelphia Tribune reported that, along with “a quantity of marijuana,” Addario’s team also found “a hypodermic needle and a scorched spoon that was believed to contain a residue of heroin.”

Addario said Ray Charles “had track marks all up and down his arm,” and that the singer argued that they were from flu shots.

Addario called his chief, “an old time Irish cop,” to inform him of the arrest. “He got very flustered,” he said. “He thought it was the Ray Charles singers on the Perry Como show.”

Although Charles and his band were arraigned the next morning, “The group sends in high-priced attorneys to represent him,” Addario said. Charles was released “in sympathy to his being blind, I guess... I think there was some money passed on this one, to be honest,” he said.

He met Charles again in 1963.

“I got a call from the bureau wanting to know I would interview Ray Charles to see if he was still using drugs because Lyndon Johnson was being sworn in as president and he wanted him to sing the national anthem for the inauguration,” Addario recalled. So Addario set up a meeting. “I sat down, we talked it over. I thought, ‘Jeez, he looks great.’” He said Charles was thrilled to hear the offer of a presidential gig.

Charles remembered Addario’s connection to his earlier arrest, he said, but apparently all was now forgiven: Charles soon hired him to work security back stage in his Philadelphia shows and to escort the blind singer off the stage in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Addario was soon hired by the DEA and traveled to such places as Detroit, where he was working in 1975 when labor leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared.

In San Francisco he oversaw the destruction of a dozen of drug guru Timothy Leary’s LSD labs. “He was an intellectual fellow,” Addario said. “He had a beautiful wife. You wouldn’t think this guy was involved in drugs.”
Addario was later moved to South America and, later, to Viet Nam where he worked to end a pipeline of heroin that came to America, he said, in every conceivable way: through the belongings of soldier returning home and even shipped in the bodies of dead soldiers. In many of those cases, he said, funeral homes in North and South Carolina received the bodies and harvested the drugs.

It was while he was working in South America that he met Manuel Noriega who, at the time, was head of police in Panama.

“We became good friends,” he said. Addario first met the future dictator while running interference for a pair of DEA agents who “had gotten in trouble with police there because they had overstepped their boundaries... I promised him that if he let our agents come back in, they would work under his control.” Noriega relented and, after that time, the two men apparently took to each other.

During an international narcotics conference in Argentina, where Addario was based, Noriega attended and stayed at Addario’s home. It was here, during the Nixon administration, that Addario also me several Watergate figures including John Dean and Gordon Liddy.

After he retired from the DEA, Addario spent some time working for a San Francisco news station. Shortly before Americans arrested Noriega on trafficking and laundering charges, Addario was able to set up a news interview. He traveled to Panama with a camera man and a reporter.

“This was the time that (President) Bush Number One was raising all kind of hell,” Addario said, “trying to show he was very strong on drug enforcement.”

It took a couple days in which Noriega sent men to be sure the reporters were not tailed or a danger to him, but finally Addario found himself in a garden, in a former CIA stronghold, seated next to his old friend. Noriega told him, he said, that Bush had tried to get him to send troops in to Nicaragua, the Central American whose government the administration was trying to oust. “Noriega refused to do that, and that’s the reason the Bush administration turned on him,” Addario said.

Noriega told Addario that, had the US let him, he would have been willing to simply retire, but that Bush was too upset with him to allow that.

“We take this back to the station,” he said, “and the station manager at the time, they got to shoot it back to their headquarters in New York to get permission to air it. The station killed it. They wouldn’t permit that part about Noriega (refusing) to do the invasion of Nicaragua and help the US coup. That’s the reason he’s in jail,” he said.

“The White House put pressure on NBC to knock it out. But that was a dynamite story.”

Bill Hand is a reporter with the New Bern Sun Journal.