You’ve got that friend — heck, it might even be you — that whines about everything.

“When’s it ever going to get warm?”

“Oh! It’s too hot outside!”

“This country is too liberal. It’s going to hell!”

“This country is too conservative. It’s going to hell!”

“President Obama is leading this country to hell!”

This example of whining I hear, though, is the most ridiculous: “There’s nothing to do in Kinston!”

Yeah … right.

This county has the best parks and recreation department in North Carolina. There are more opportunities for youth — and adults, too — provided by the Kinston/Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Department for a county this size than any of its counterparts in bigger cities like Charlotte, Raleigh or Wilmington.

Want a fantastic meal? There are plenty of places — including the critically-acclaimed Chef and the Farmer and many others — where you can impress a date, your wife or a prospective business person.

Want a delicious and unique beer brewed in our very own backyard? Steven Hill and the good folks at Mother Earth Brewing will hook you up in a minute.

There are more churches and opportunities for worshipping the religion of your choosing in Lenoir County than you can shake a stick at.

The state’s newest and best gym facility — the Woodmen Community Center — sits on Vernon Avenue.

Nothing irritates me more than that whiner who bemoans the fact there’s nothing to do in Kinston. Most of the time that’s also the same person who complains about the terrible kids in Kinston (but doesn’t volunteer or donate time to help those children), argues that the police or sheriff’s office doesn’t do enough to curb crime or gangs (but has never helped taken part in a community watch or truly supported law enforcement) or bitches about politics in Lenoir County (but has never sat on a community board or helped in the political process).

The common refrain in the previous paragraph is people want to complain but don’t want to take action … which takes us back to those of you who try to convince others there’s nothing to do in Kinston or nowhere to shop or eat.

I know the economy has changed dramatically in the past decade but it hurts my heart to pass the old Blockbuster Video site on Vernon Avenue and see it gone. Of course, that doesn’t compare with heading east on Vernon and passing venerable Grainger Stadium with an empty parking lot on a beautiful spring night.

The coincidence? Both are empty because you and I didn’t support what filled their premises.

And it’s going to continue to happen. I frequent Bellini’s on Herritage Street as much as possible; it’s a nice little Italian restaurant across from the hospital in the same building the former Pizza Inn was in (you know, before it closed).

Bellini’s offers a delicious buffet lunch (inexpensive, too!) along with great service and a great dinner menu. But here’s the rub: it probably is not going to stay in business much longer if folks don’t support it.

Bellini’s is just a microcosm of some of the outstanding restaurants and businesses that have come and gone in the past 10 years in Kinston and Lenoir County — because too many of us spend our money in Greenville, New Bern, Jacksonville or Goldsboro. If we took the money we spend on cars, clothes, entertainment and food outside Lenoir County and spend it here at home, we not only help those businesses stay in business, we help ourselves by adding to our own tax base.

The next time you complain about nothing to do in Lenoir County, close your mouth, take a few minutes and find out what you have here. You might be surprised.

Bryan C. Hanks is the managing 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.

PINK HILL — A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but a rose festival without roses would be an odd thing, indeed.

At the Pink Hill Rose Festival, Corazon Ngo, a doctor at Duplin General Hospital, had roses on display and for sale as she knitted under the warm spring sun. The roses came from the Foust Nursery in Warsaw.

“Looking good, so far. Doing good,” Ngo said Saturday. “Everybody wants to take a picture of the roses. And I don’t know how you can have a rose festival without a rose.”

She had different varieties available, noting some are better than others for cutting and displaying in the home. Ngo also touted the rose as a regularly blooming plant.

“They are the only flower, the plant that blooms every six weeks,” Ngo said. “Because, look — dogwood blooms, after two or three weeks, they’re gone. Bradford pears, they bloom, and after three or four weeks, they’re gone. But every six weeks, the roses bloom.”

A number of other booths contained merchants making and selling small crafts, while children performed on flatbed trailers and other kids played on and around inflatable amusements. Across from where the children played, an array of restored and modified classic cars were on display.

Near lunchtime, business began to pick up at the food vendors. The Pink Hill Volunteer Fire Department offered barbecue plates, while over at the Demario’s Classic Catering booth, Derrick Coley fried fish and served up turkey legs.

Coley had a simple process for his turkey legs, which tend to give a person the appearance of a Viking while eating the massive drumstick.

“My turkey legs, when I get them, they’re already smoked,” Coley said. “We take them, we put them on the grill, warm them through, and it usually takes about an hour and a half to cook them. I just continually cook them, cook them, cook them until they get a nice, bronzed look to them.”

Meanwhile, Catherine Tyndall manned the Pink Hill Flower Fund booth while tending to her barbecue lunch. She’s worked with the group for about a year.

“We’re just trying to dress up Pink Hill, and we’ve asked a lot of different businesses to donate money toward putting roses — they’re called the Knock Out roses,” Tyndall said.

The beautification project has picked up in each year — they planted 50 rose bushes in 2011, 230 in 2012 and have 401 on tap for this year. The goal for 2014 is 500 bushes planted.

According to the plant’s wholesaler, Knock Out roses are disease- and pest-resistant, drought tolerant, require little maintenance and produce blooms until the first hard frost.

The rose festival continued until 10 p.m., and included the crowning of a Rose Court, cornhole, golf, and softball tournaments, a 5K run/walk and other activities, culminating in a public dance.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports. 

The long arm of the law reaches to Snow Hill.

Thursday, Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office deputies caught a man in Greene County who they say has been on the run since allegedly shooting another man in the face in December.

Authorities accuse Antoine Pridgen, 28, of shooting Eric Roach in the face outside a residence on the 300 block of West Queen Street in La Grange on Dec. 22. Roach, 22, is believed to have been gambling at the house and shot outside as he left. He had been released from prison four days earlier following a drug conviction.

According to the LCSO, detectives had a principal suspect in mind shortly after the shooting, but had been unable to track down Pridgen until recently. He’s charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Both charges are felonies.

“This is the true meaning of law enforcement agencies coming together to protect the community from suspects who are a danger to society,” Lenoir County Sheriff Chris Hill said in a statement. “I want to commend the Snow Hill Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this investigation and locating this fugitive.

“We are grateful that they both provided officers to assist us with this apprehension that occurred without any incident.”

Pridgen also faces unrelated charges in Wayne County of driving while impaired, speeding, civil revocation of driver’s license, driving while license revoked and giving fictitious information to an officer. He’s due in Lenoir County District Court on Monday and in Wayne County District Court on May 7.

Pridgen is in Lenoir County Jail under $115,000 bond.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

The second shooting in less than 12 hours happened near the scene of a Friday homicide.

Around 1:25 a.m. Saturday, an attempted armed robbery escalated and one of two suspects shot a man in the neck. The incident happened near the corner of East Washington Avenue and North East Street, where unknown assailants shot Jahad Moore, 18, in the head, and Jacolby Riddick, 24, in the leg. Moore died at the scene.

“Two guys approached him. He didn't know either one of them,” Kinston Department of Public Safety Director Bill Johnson said of the victim, Seth Garner, 19. “One of them had a small caliber handgun and demanded money. He had none. They got into an altercation and he wound up being shot in the neck.”

Johnson said the injuries weren't life-threatening, but Garner was flown to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for further treatment.

KDPS detectives are investigating the shooting.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

There’s not a “Kinston’s Five Most Wanted.”

But there are five particular people the Kinston police want to place in custody. As it stands, the Kinston Department of Public Safety doesn’t have the officers to select and track down a “most wanted group” as it has in the past. And that’s part of the reason it’s looking for assistance in locating Shawanda Everett, Anthonio Gray, Malcolm Stanley and Wycunta Sutton.

The N.C. Department of Public Safety lists Everett, 42, as an absconder from its probation and parole program. She’s wanted on a 2012 charge of obtaining property under false pretense, but she was also convicted of resisting arrest in February, larceny in December 2012 and was arrested for shoplifting in September 2012.

“One of the problems is the fact that we usually have the last known address, and if they’re not there, it’s hard to find them,” KDPS spokesman Woody Spencer said. “Because, we simply don’t have the manpower to send out case officers to look for absconders, or people we have warrants on. Of course, if we get a call or one of our officers sees them, and we can do it that way, that’s fine.”

Gray, 39, is sought for an obtaining property under false pretense charge from December 2011. He also holds two convictions for selling or dealing a controlled substance to a person younger than 16, and convictions for multiple charges of passing worthless checks in 2001 and 2002.

In 2009, Gray came to the attention of The Free Press because a burger he purchased at the North Herritage Street Burger King allegedly had a screw in it. According to Lenoir Memorial Hospital, the screw caused an intraoral laceration in after he tried to eat the burger.

Stanley, 26, is wanted because of a Feb. 7 arrest for felony larceny. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated in July 2012 and police say his record also shows charges for driving while license revoked, shoplifting and possession of stolen goods.

Sutton, 35, has a history of charges for failure to appear in court, and is wanted for an August 2012 charge of obtaining property under false pretense. She was convicted on drug charges in 2009 and 2007, arrested for felony contempt of court in September 2009 and has a conviction for larceny in 2007.

Police also say Sutton’s record shows an assault charge.

“She tends to just disappear, and it’s tough to find her,” Spencer said. “That’s one of the reasons these five, actually, were selected. Because, we want to find them, they’re hard to find, but if the newspaper puts their pictures on the front page, most likely someone’s going to call and give us some tips. You know, we need all the eyes that we can get.”

Spencer added, “Plus, if you look, pretty much all these had charges in the past. It’s not like they made a mistake. They’re what we call frequent flyers. We see them a lot.”

Jacolby Riddick, 24, made his way onto the list because of March 28 charges for felony breaking and entering and assault on a female. In January, he was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon, and in May 2012 arrested for robbery for taking $20 off a man in front of Henderson Food Center.

Additionally, Riddick sports a drug and trespassing charge from February 2012. In 2010 he was convicted of disorderly conduct, convicted of robbery in 2008 and of shoplifting and possession of stolen goods in 2007.

“We’ve had people where, basically, that’s their career, is breaking and entering,” Spencer said. “Once they serve their time, and they do, they come back out and they do it again. It’s just a revolving door. It’s frustrating for us, but that’s our job. We do what we can, and try to get them off the street for as long as the law allows.”

However, Riddick’s whereabouts are now known; he was shot late afternoon Friday in an incident that took the life of 18-year-old Jahad Moore.

People with information on the other four suspects are encouraged to call the KDPS tips line at 252-939-4020 or the main line at 252-939-3160.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

First Team

DEMEYIA ADAMS | South Lenoir | F, 5-9, Jr.

Demeyia Adams blossomed as a junior to nearly average a double-double and help South Lenoir to one of its best seasons in recent memory. Adams averaged 10 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and had eight double-doubles on the year to help the Blue Devils reach the second round of the state playoffs.

BRITTANY DRUMGOOLE | Kinston | G/F, 5-8, Jr.

Brittany Drumgoole continued her junior season doing what she had done the previous two — run that Vikings’ show and get everyone involved. She was third on the team in scoring at 10.1 points and led the area in assists per game at 6.4. Drumgoole overcame early foul trouble in the state title game to score eight points and dish out a game-high six assists. Drumgoole is currently on several D-I programs’ radars, including East Carolina.

MONIQUE LOFTON | Kinston | G, 5-5, Sr.

Monique Lofton gave defenses fits all season, and with it helped lead Kinston to its first girls basketball state championship. She was deadly from 3-point range at 42 percent, and she could take it off the dribble as well. Her 13.1 points per game were best on a team full of balance, and she scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter, in the state 2A title game. Lofton was named the Eastern Plains 2A Conference girls player of the year and is also this newspaper’s area player of the year.

LYDIA RIVERS | Kinston | F, 6-1, So.

Lydia Rivers may be the shyest and most courteous female player in the area, but her played suggests otherwise. The sophomore stepped up big this season to fill the voids left on the interior by 2012 graduates, and averaged 11.2 points, 11 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Rivers had 13 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks in the state championship game on her way to being named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.

HEATHER WEST | South Lenoir | G, 5-7, Sr.

Heather West showed up at South Lenoir at just the right time. West transferred from Parrott Academy to spend her senior season playing with her younger sister, and wound up leading the Blue Devils in scoring at 13.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game and to one of the better seasons they’ve had in a while. West’s leadership and play helped South Lenoir finish the regular season tied for second place in the East Central 2A Conference, and back to the state 2A playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Second Team

Franlena Brimage, Jones Senior

Ta’Bria Foster, North Lenoir

Malaysia Lancaster, Greene Central

Haley Moody, Bethel Christian Academy

Marquia Suddeth, South Lenoir

Third Team

Takerian Harper, Kinston

Erin Hughes, Parrott Academy

Caroline Jones, South Lenoir

Dasheka Mason, Greene Central

Alexis Williams, Kinston

Honorable Mention

Bethel Christian Academy: Kelsey Worthington, Carly Sanderson

Greene Central: Monesia Moore

Jones Senior: Ashley Brimage, Latrina Gatling

Kinston: Anshonee Addison, Jada Faison, Hannah Vermillion

North Lenoir: Erica Lee, Quoya Porter

Parrott Academy: Brooke Uken

South Lenoir: Hanna Meready, Moesha Franklin

First Team

ISHMAEL BALDWIN | South Lenoir | F, 6-6, Sr.

Ishmael Baldwin bounced back as a senior after academic troubles kept him from playing the year before to help lead the Blue Devils to a top four finish in the East Central 2A Conference and back to the state playoffs. Baldwin averaged a team-best 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He was an all-conference selection and has the interest of several junior college programs.

JOSH DAWSON | Kinston | G, 6-1, Sr.

Josh Dawson wasn’t the Vikings’ leading scorer, but he did all of the little things that helped them win their second straight NCHSAA state 2A championship last month. Dawson averaged 11.7 points and seven assists and was the guy that made Kinston’s ship run for 30 games — the final 19 of them wins. Dawson was named the Eastern Plains 2A Conference Player of the Year, the East’s Most Outstanding Player of the state championship game, the most outstanding player of the regionals and played in the Southeast Elite 24 Classic charity game in Wilmington. Oh, and he’s the area player of the year for the second straight year.

BRANDON INGRAM | Kinston | G, 6-7, So.

Brandon Ingram may only be a sophomore, but he’s already at the top of several local D-I college’s recruiting lists for the class of 2015. Ingram, who has already received a scholarship offer from N.C. State, averaged 12.7 points and four rebounds per game for Kinston, and scored 12 points to go along with three blocks in the state title game. He was also the only one that didn’t come off the floor for the Vikings.

JAUQUAZ JONES | North Lenoir | G, 6-1, Jr.

Jauquaz Jones had a breakout junior year in which he averaged a team-best 16.4 points and added 5.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.6 steals to help lead the Hawks to their highest finish in the Eastern Carolina 3A Conference at a tie for third. He also helped lead North Lenoir back to the state playoffs after missing out the year before. Jones was an all-conference selection.

DENZEL KEYES | Kinston | F, 6-5, Sr.

The athletic ability of Denzel Keyes was unmatched in the area this year. He led Kinston in scoring at 18.1 points and rebounding at 7.5 per game. He spent more time above the rim than below it, whether it was throwing down thunderous dunks or grabbing loose balls. And if the inside wasn’t there, he’d step out and drain the 3, where he was 37 percent on the year. Keyes, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the state title game, was named its Most Valuable Player, was an all-conference pick, joined Dawson in the Southeast Elite 24 Classic and has already signed to play basketball and football at N.C. A&T University.

Second Team

Davon Edwards, Bethel Christian Academy

Miguel Foy, Jones Senior

K.D. McCall, Jones Senior

Jonte Midgette, South Lenoir

Billy Summers, North Lenoir

Third Team

Joseph Biggs, Greene Central

John McLawhorn, Parrott Academy

Conor Rivero, Bethel Christian Academy

Jordan Stallings, Bethel Christian Academy

Jaquan Wooten, South Lenoir

Honorable Mention

Ayden-Grifton: Rondell Bell, Geremi Dixon, Brandon Larry

Bethel Christian Academy: Ben Potter

Greene Central: Cortez Braswell

Jones Senior: Eric Dudley Jr., Glen White

Kinston: Tiquan Canady, Qwarri Ham, VeQuain Joyner, Andrew Lopez, Jeremy Taylor

North Lenoir: Javante King

Parrott Academy: Henry Piner, Nate Staskelunas

South Lenoir: Dion Jones, Luke Whaley

Like a skilled and seasoned captain undaunted by adversity, Hubert Quinerly expertly guided his team through previously uncharted waters this past season.

Not only did Quinerly steer the Kinston girls basketball squad to its first state championship, it was also the first title in Lenoir County girls basketball history.

For his efforts, Quinerly has been named this year’s area coach of the year by The Free Press.

“It’s a great honor, but I certainly couldn’t have done it without such a great group of girls and such an outstanding coaching staff,” Quinerly said. “They not only made my job much easier, but a tremendous pleasure as well.”

The Vikings finished the season with a sterling 27-4 record and closed the year on an 18-game winning streak. They defeated Canton Pisgah 51-40 on March 16 to claim the 2A state crown.

“It still seems like a dream sometimes,” Quinerly said. “There’s not been a harder working group of girls; they were a pure joy to coach and deserving of the championship.”

Kinston’s run to the title started after a three-game losing streak in the Bunn Christmas tournament. When they returned to practice the next week, Quinerly made sure the team felt the sting of those three defeats.

“I was pretty hard on them that week in practice,” Quinerly said. “We ran a lot, but I wanted them to understand that losing three straight games was not the way of Kinston basketball. We had more pride than that. We were better than that.”

Quinerly’s hardcore strategy worked like magic. Kinston’s closest game the rest of the way was a 49-45 victory over Bunn in the Eastern Regionals. It was a rematch of a game Kinston lost over the holidays.

The Vikings also gained revenge on defending state champion Siler City Jordan-Matthews, the team that eliminated them from the playoffs the previous season.

“We accomplished everything that we set out to do, including some of the smaller goals like beating Bunn and Jordan-Matthews in the return matches,” Quinerly said. “Before the season we wanted to win our conference, our conference tournament, and go as far as possible in the playoffs. We did all those things and more.”

Of all the accolades, Quinerly is probably most proud of the effect the championship season had on his four seniors (Monique Lofton, Alexis Williams, Annie Thi and Starneka Clark), and on the community as a whole.

“Our four seniors have been with me since they were freshman,” Quinerly said. “Seeing the joy in their eyes, and watching the way our season brought the city together, made everything worthwhile. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

It was a potential recipe for disaster — a first-year head coach succeeding a legend at a program accustomed to success and expecting nothing less.

No problem, or at least it seemed that way for Kinston’s Perry Tyndall, who guided the Vikings to a 28-2 mark and a second consecutive 2A state championship.

Make no mistake about it. It wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“I definitely felt some pressure, taking over for a great coach like Wells (Gulledge), who accomplished so many amazing things here,” said Tyndall, The Free Press’ 2012-13 boys coach of the year.

“I was fortunate to step into a great situation with a tremendous group of assistant coaches and some unbelievable, hard-working kids. Winning a state championship is always difficult, but having the pleasure of working with these coaches and players was the easy part.”

Tyndall brought the same defense-first philosophy to the Vikings that he helped pioneer as a long-time assistant with his former mentor.

“I’ve always believed that a good, aggressive defense leads to easy opportunities on the offensive end,” Tyndall said. “Luckily, I had great athletes and kids with high basketball IQs to execute our plan. I was also blessed with kids who bought in to what we were trying to do and make my transition to head coach almost seamless.”

Tyndall proved his coaching acumen after the previously undefeated Vikings lost consecutive games in the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational over the Christmas break.

The second defeat came against Waxhaw Cuthbertson, the team Kinston knocked off in both the 2012 and 2013 state championship games. The loss came in particularly excruciating fashion as KHS blew a 13-point lead and failed to score a point in the fourth quarter.

It was a teachable moment that Tyndall made the most of. His team didn’t lose again, finishing the season with a 19-game winning streak that included the title-clinching, revenge-earning 56-53 triumph over Cuthbertson in the Dean E. Smith Center.

“The kids responded so well to those losses at Christmas,” Tyndall said. “My job as head coach was to make sure they understood the pain felt by those losses, but it was the kids who took those lessons to heart and used them as motivation the rest of the season.”

As far as the future is concerned, Tyndall understands that his first-year success will only increase expectations.

“We lost nine seniors last year and recovered. We lose eight seniors this year. It will be tough, but I’m fortunate to coach at a place that always seems to have a lot of chicken in the chicken salad.”

Monique Lofton can flat shoot the basketball. Just ask the 27 teams that Kinston defeated on its way to the title.

The small senior guard led the Vikings in scoring at 13.1 points per game and shot an astounding 42 percent from behind the arc, which helped the small-in-stature team handle teams with a much larger front lines en route to their first state championship in school history.

At season’s end she was named the Eastern Plains 2A Conference Player of the Year, and she’s earning the same distinction from her hometown newspaper.

“She can shoot it, score it, defend it,” coach Hubert Quinerly said. “She does so many things and we were better for it.”

Lofton’s deadly range and accuracy was so prominent that many times after her release teams would begin migrating to the other end before it went in. Her shot ability also made it nearly impossible for opponents to defend the Vikings because as they were forced to respect Lofton on the perimeter that opened things up in the post.

Lofton, who is leaning towards attending Methodist College in Fayetteville, scored a career-high 27 points, including seven made 3s, in a 72-16 win over Tarboro in the conference tournament semifinals.

She leaves Kinston after scoring 1,067 career points as a four-year varsity starter.

“It’s been a fun career,” Lofton said. “I never thought I’d make it this far but I did, and I’m glad I did.”

Much like boys area player of the year Josh Dawson, after the Vikings went without a win in their Christmas tournament Lofton took it personally and decided she was going to do whatever she needed to make sure her team didn’t lose again.

Quinerly put his team through a rough week of practice following an 0-3 showing in the Bunn Christmas Classic, and his girls responded, especially Lofton.

The Vikings didn’t lose again, and ended the season winning their final 18 games.

“Mo’ gets it. She’s a leader and a great teammate and a great player to coach,” Quinerly said.

In her final game in a Kinston uniform Lofton struggled in the first half, but found her rhythm in the second and scored all 11 of her points in the decisive fourth quarter in Kinston’s 51-40 win over Canton Pisgah.

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports. 

Josh Dawson didn’t lead his team in scoring, didn’t provide highlight-reel dunks and didn’t wow Division I scouts. But what he did do was make all of those things happen.

All told, Dawson was the driving force behind Kinston’s state championship.

The senior’s leadership during games and in practice, and his unselfishness with the basketball got his teammates most of the glory in a historic season for both the Vikings and Dawson, who has been named The Free Press’ boys basketball player of the year for the second year in a row.

“Josh is a special, special player, not just the way he plays but because of how he plays,” first-year coach Perry Tyndall said. “He was the one that got everything going for us.”

Dawson, who averaged 13.9 points and 6.2 assists as a junior, netted 11.7 points and seven assists per game this season on a team that had more than its fair share of scorers.

So, instead of being the one who wanted the ball in his hands, he decided to be the one to put it in the hands of others.

Dawson’s alley-oop passes to senior Denzel Keyes ignited the crowd several times each game, and his court vision found sophomore Brandon Ingram alone in the corner for a 3 many times as Kinston captured its second consecutive NCHSAA state 2A title with yet another three-point win over Waxhaw Cuthbertson last month.

“I just love getting my teammates involved. That’s my role on this team. That and to be a leader,” Dawson said.

All too often Dawson, who was also named the player of the year for the Eastern Plains 2A Conference, would pass up an open shot or drive just to get an assist.

During home games, the 6-foot-1 guard would walk by the scorer’s table and ask not how many points he had, but how many assists.

He sat a career mark with 15 dimes in a win against Tarboro on Feb. 5.

“Josh just loves to distribute the basketball,” Tyndall said. “He’s a great teammate and a great asset to our team.”

After the Vikings’ last loss, Dawson put it on his shoulders to make sure they didn’t lose again.

Until the final possible game of the season, they didn’t come close to losing.

Already playing at a high level, Dawson stepped up his play even more following his team’s loss to Cuthbertson in late December. He was named the regional most outstanding player in Fayetteville, then followed that up with a 12-point, seven-rebound, five-assist performance in the title game on his way to being named the East’s Most Valuable Player.

Dawson, who’s played varsity since he was a freshman, will graduate this year as the school’s most decorated hoopster in terms of titles won.

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports. 

Spring Fever fundraiser set for Tuesday

Members of First Presbyterian Church are getting ready for the Spring Fever fundraising event set for 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the church fellowship hall, 2101 N. Herritage St.

The event will include a homemade lasagna dinner with salad, bread and dessert, eat in or take out. Drive-through pick-up for take-out is on Parrott Avenue next to Walgreen’s. Tickets for the dinner are $8 for adults and $4 for children younger than 10. Stock your freezer at the baked goods/frozen foods sale. All proceeds will go to missions and church projects.

Call 252-522-1921 or stop by the church office.

Home Solutions: Termites ready to swarm

Spring rain in many parts of the state and warmer temperatures are likely to trigger some termite swarms.

“Termite swarms that occur outdoors are just nature’s way of reminding you that termites are all around you,” said Michael Waldvogel, N.C. State University Extension entomologist. “It does not mean that you should spray your yard (which wouldn’t really help anyway) or even have your house treated. However, if you haven’t had your house treated or inspected in recent years, having it inspected might be a good idea.”

You can do the inspection yourself if you’re confident and careful about checking the foundation (crawlspace and exterior). This could require pushing back fiberglass insulation to check wood framing that rests on the foundation. Check “critical areas” around plumbing also.

Calling a professional has its obvious advantages. A treatment isn’t needed unless you find evidence of termite activity. Some homeowners may feel more comfortable treating their homes proactively.

If termites swarm indoors, there most likely is an infestation that should be addressed within a few weeks. Even if you find swarmers, you don’t need to rush a decision. Depending on the size and nature of your home’s construction, termite treatments can cost $500 or exceed $2,000.

Take time to make a well-founded decision about the type of treatment and warranty being offered. Repair warranties sound great, but read the contract and understand that excluding “existing damage” means it excludes damage identified as already present at the time of their initial inspection or damage that wasn’t visible (e.g., inside a wall) and there are no live termites present when the damage is discovered.

That may sound unfair, but the company can’t be accountable for damage that wasn’t visible when they initiated the warranty, so there’s no way to know when it occurred.

Serious termite damage takes years to occur. If there is significant structural termite damage, consider repairing before treating in case the repairs require soil excavation (which could also disrupt any termite treatment in the process). NCSU provides information about termites at insects.ncsu.edu/wood.htm.

Source: Mike Waldvogel, NCSU Entomology

Trudy W. Pickett is extension family and consumer agent at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Office, 1791 N.C. 11/55. Reach her at 252-527-2191 or trudy_pickett@ncsu.edu.

Commentary about the 2012 presidential election has garnered a CNN’s iReport Award nomination for a Jacksonville High School graduate.

Elizabeth Lauten, 30, a media consultant in Alexandria, Va., won a video contest last year to be a guest correspondent for CNN’s coverage of the Republican National Convention. Her commentary about the public backlash actress Stacey Dash received for supporting GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has been nominated for an award in CNN’s third annual iReport Awards.

“It’s kind of crazy looking back at where I am now from being in Jacksonville 10 years ago,” Lauten said. “Things are finally coming around full circle from then. A couple of years ago I wouldn’t have even said that I would be a correspondent for CNN.”

Lauten, who graduated from JHS in 2001, became involved in politics during her junior year at East Carolina University by volunteering for local campaigns and participating in the College Republicans group on campus. She also served as editor of the college’s newspaper The East Carolinian before graduating in 2006 and immediately moving to Alexandria.

Lauten now works as a social and earned media manager at Purple Strategies firm and writes movie and television reviews for Miss A online publication. She previously served as press secretary for Republican congressman Joe Walsh and as a new media political manager for the Republican National Committee.

Lauten supported Romney and was appalled at how people treated Dash, best known for her role in the film “Clueless.”

“Instead of attacking folks, celebrity or not, who choose to be engaged and part of the political process, we should applaud them,” Lauten said in her passionate video commentary.

To view her commentary video go to http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-854581.

The iReports are an essential element of newsgathering at CNN, helping the cable network cover the biggest news events of 2012 including Superstorm Sandy, devastating wildfires in Colorado and the Israel-Gaza conflict, CNN spokeswoman Jenna DiMaria said. The reports, she said, also shared uniquely personal stories that put a face on complex issues like mental illness and gay rights.

For the first time this year, CNN will honor standout citizen journalism that happened elsewhere on the Internet in 2012.

“The iReport Awards are a wonderful way to acknowledge standout citizen journalism, and we’re excited to expand that to other sites this year,” said Katie Hawkins-Gaar, the editor of CNN iReport. “We love nothing more than helping amazing stories reach a global audience, and it is an honor for us to showcase such quality examples of storytelling through the Awards.”

Winners will be selected with a combination of judges and votes from the viewing public.

The 36 nominees were selected by a panel of CNN experts who reviewed nearly 11,000 iReports approved for use on CNN in 2012. There are six categories: Breaking News, Original Reporting, Compelling Imagery, Commentary, Personal Story and In-depth Storytelling. Judges will select one recipient in each category.

Recipients will be chosen through a combination of online voting and a panel of judges. Voters can make their selections now through May 6 at cnn.com/ireport-awards.

You can reach Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. 

A combination of light and dark clouds sets in over a lighthouse near N.C. 11 in Pink Hill. Rain showers left pools of pollen and water puddles along streets, reflecting clouds and signs of spring.

On Easter Sunday, we sponsored an Easter egg hunt for our grandkids at Chateau Parker. For the first time since Thanksmas (aka Thanksgiving), all 11 of our grandchildren came together for a united cause: find colorful plastic eggs — and liberate the candy within.

Since our house is tiny, we hosted the meal in two distinct shifts. The first shift included all the family — except Sara’s clan. Since we have three children who had two kids apiece, we had six kids and four adults. Later, when Sara’s contingent came, we dealt with the seven of them.

Can you imagine how much food a total of eight adults and two teens and two almost teens are able to consume? We provided the ham and dinner rolls. The rest brought side dishes. The table was not really spread in Thanksgiving-feast fashion, but I did hear the table legs groan a couple of times.

We had to ensure enough food to feed everyone, including Sara’s youngest, Allison. Allison may be 17 months old, but that girl can pack away as much food as her Papa and Grandma put together. Two bowls of oatmeal is a typical Alli breakfast, and she and Ben can easily demolish a half dozen eggs — Ben, two; Ali, four. Sounds like a baseball score.

Several of us had hidden Easter eggs. We asked Gary Harris not to cut our yard so the purple “flowers,” as Sandra calls them, would be available as hiding places. On Easter eve, I had opened 94 plastic eggs, loaded them with Easter candies, and snapped them shut. Three colander sized buckets held the prizes. Sara brought another three or four dozen pre-filled eggs.

Our task was to hide the eggs so they were visible to the little children, but not too easy to find. After all, if they found the eggs too soon, then the break time of the adult minders would be compromised. Hopefully, we were enacting Mission Possible.

We equipped them with their collecting buckets, lined them up, and sent them off. No Indy 500 race has had a more exciting start.

As most of you know, we have two sets of grandchildren — the Old Guard (those who are 11 through 14) and the Young Guns (those 5 and down). Older children helped their youngest siblings. Jaxen was with Laney and Haley was with Alli.

Believe me, 3-year-olds Ben and Hannah needed no help; they can spot an Easter egg at 500 paces. Some parents assisted with the hunt, but I sat in the swing, sipped coffee and watched the kids find the eggs within my view.

Papa’s prerogative is to sit and watch.

My joy came as the children came to the swing to show me their finds — and to empty their eggs. Sandra and I told everyone we wanted the plastic eggs returned so we could use them next year. We provided containers for the candy. Haley and I helped Alli open her eggs. Jaxen assisted Laney.

Even with well over 130 eggs, the hunt did not take as long as I had anticipated. All the little Every Ready bunnies were fully charged and moving like blurs. At least we enjoyed the silence. Do you know what the sound of 11 kids eating candy is? Roughly the same as one hand clapping.

Of course, I did not mind the amount of candy the kids were eating. After all, they were going home with Mommies and Daddies. “Fire ‘em up” is my philosophy.

I have never pulled a Sinbad, though. Sinbad said when one of his children leave grandkids at the house, just before he sends them home, he gives the kids cotton candy and Red Bull.

Fire ‘em up. Send ‘em home.

Babysitting requests at Sinbad’s home dropped significantly, as you can imagine.

By the way: chocolate works nearly as well.

(Evil grin)

Mike Parker is a columnist for The Free Press. You can reach him at mparker16@suddenlink.net or in care of this newspaper.

It’s not everyday an 18-year-old can leave both standout sport and academic careers pleated in the school hallways before turning a new leaf — or, putt, in the case of Jack Sides.  

The Arendell Parrott Academy senior is serving his last few weeks as a Patriot before heading to High Point University on a golf scholarship.

He followed in the footsteps of his best friend and began golfing at 12 years old, joining the APA team in 8th grade. Sides, now 18, took the hard-work-and-discipline road to close his last APA year with an impressive streak of being ranked in the top 300 by Junior Golf Scoreboard and finishing 16th at the North & South Junior Tournament in Pinehurst with 70-70 among the nation’s best high school junior golfers last year.

Among other accomplishments and successful performances, Sides tops off this part of his journey with a perfect 5.0 GPA.

“Grades come first,” said Sides. “My parents make me get good grades or I don’t get to play golf.”

He admires the sport challenges its players.

“I love playing it,” he said. “It’s not just something you can just go out and do. You have to keep working at it and be persistent.”

Sides says when he gets to college, he will work on mastering his short game — which he also considers his strength in golf. He feels he’ll have more time on the course because the one he uses to practice now is about 30 minutes away in his hometown of New Bern.

“I always see the difference between the tour pros and the amateurs is the short game,” Sides said. “I’ll practice more in college since I’ll have more free time, and I’ll be closer to a golf course.”

He said he received several scholarship offers, but chose High Point after a campus visit, realizing it was a great school academically.

Additionally, Sides appreciates first-year Panthers men’s golf coach Greg Flesher knowing the golf swing because of his involvement with a PGA program.

“The coach is really nice,” Sides said. “I know he’s building up his team since this is his first year. I’m going to just go in with an open mind.”

As a Parrott student since kindergarten, Sides is deeply rooted in the school’s culture and camaraderie. Passing freshmen greeted him as he sat in an APA hallway Friday.

“When I was little, I always looked up to the seniors,” he said. “Now that I’m a senior, it’s different and they look up to me. It’s really cool.”

As far as his teammates, Sides has kept contact with older players who advanced to the collegiate level. He was a part of the state championship team last year and has shared many memorable times with the current team.

“I’m going to miss hanging out with all the guys,” Sides said. “We’ve all grown so close together.”

Sides won’t be but a short drive away from home when he starts at High Point, another reason he chose the college. He hopes his message for his fellow classmates and golfers will be to “give them some good advice for the future and how to spend their high school careers.

“Enjoy it while they can.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

BREAKOUT BOX:

Meet Me Monday

Name: Jack Sides

Age: 18

Hometown: New Bern

Fun Face: One of his hobbies is playing ping-pong

TRENTON — Jones Middle School’s inaugural 5K run has brought the community together long before Saturday’s event date.

Various community agencies have pitched in and runners from as far as Winterville have registered for the 3.1-mile run. There were 51 people who signed up for the nine respective age groups last week.

Exclude the technicalities, such as the timers and medals, and you have a bonding initiative, which is how Jones County administrators intentionally crafted the event.

“We want it to be a community event,” said Michael White, Jones Middle principal. “Truly that’s what it was set out to be: to get the community and the school involved together. I’m half scared, very excited and very of nervous.”

White started running nearly two years ago and realized there had never been a 5K race in the county. He and administrator Joy Wynne drew up a route more than a year ago, and it’s finally come to life.

White said if the event, hosted by the Jones Middle Parent Teacher Organization, had taken place last year, it would have been too rushed.

On Saturday, the local health department will have information booths set up and the sheriff’s department will man blocked streets for an hour and a half.

Students, teachers and even Jones County Board of Education staff have signed up for the big run,

“I’m looking forward to it and I think it’s a great initiative,” said Jo Stone, local curriculum and instruction coordinator. “This is a way to stay healthy, keep moving, and involve the community.”

Stone, 68, is in favor of working toward preventative health, she said. In addition to her regular biking and yoga, she has joined a treadmill team to prepare for the 5K.

Jones Middle track and field distance runner, Ashley Murphy, said the run will supplement her athletics.

“I’m on the track team, so that helps,” she said about the run. “It can help us get more neighborly, and it will help get money for the school.”

The funds raised will go to the PTO, but school administrators are hoping it can help replace the sign in front of the school.

The event attracted 22 sponsors as of this week, with $200 from New Bern Sporting Goods as the largest donation.

“It’s good to feel the love and the support from people,” White said. “It’s nice to have people working with us, and it is building that sense of community. I’m excited about it.”

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

BREAKOUT BOX:

Jones Middle Schools’ Knights Run 1st 5K

n Saturday at 8:30 a.m., starting at Jones Middle School

n Check-in and late registration opens at 7 a.m.

n Registration Fee: $20 until Thursday; $25 after April 18 or day of event

n Registration is available through active.com (Keyword: Knights Run)

n For more information, call 252-448-3956 

If you see it, rest assured it’s not an illusion — that really is a police officer riding what appears to be a three-wheeled scooter.

Thanks to a grant from the federal government, the Kinston Department of Public Safety acquired what’s called a T3 Patroller electric standup vehicle. It’s the latest in what officers hope will aid the department in connecting with the community at large.

“It’s got a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour,” KDPS Cmdr. R.G. Russell said. “I don’t want to call it an actual, true governor, but it’s got a programming key to where you can back it down to a maximum of five, a maximum of 12. And that’s what we’ve got it currently set at, is 12.

“Chief (Bill) Johnson may have some other plans for it, but my intention is to not see it as a pursuit vehicle. It’s mainly for visibility, connecting with the community, and it can access areas that are not accessible to cars.”

Manufactured by T3 Motion out of Orange County, Calif., this law enforcement model debuted at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in 2006. Since then, models shipped to law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and New York City, and as far away as France and Abu Dhabi.

A study in 2011 by French police showed the ESV contributed to a 12 percent drop in crime.

And with a 9-inch high platform, an officer has a higher profile to both see and be seen.

“As I was turning around right there, there was a gentleman crossing the street and he was asking about it,” said KDPS Capt. W.C. Bayless, who put the vehicle through its paces Sunday behind the police station.

The ESV runs on two batteries, and KDPS has two sets so the vehicle can be continually in service. It can go anywhere from 25 to 45 miles on a single charge, depending on what’s used. Sunday, the vehicle had 26 miles on it with a little over half of the battery life left.

The Patroller also features a headlight and turn signals, a flashing light, horn and siren.

Right now, officers are still testing out its full range of use.

“It’s still fairly new to us,” Russell said. “We haven’t played with it enough to probably understand its full capabilities.”

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports. 

Opponents of the state lottery went after it with a cleaver.

But legislators appeared to be the ones hacked off last week.

The state House of Representatives, in a bill backed by Republicans but with significant Democratic support, passed a bill that would drastically alter the operation of the N.C. Education Lottery.

Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, the primary sponsor of the “Honest Lottery Act,” compared the modern lottery to mafia-run numbers rackets during the debate.

“The differences are this: the mafia, they’ll give you credit, they only take 10 percent off the top, and they don’t turn you into the IRS,” Stam said. “You actually have better odds with the mafia than with the North Carolina lottery.”

H.B. 156 makes a number of changes to the lottery law, from limiting lottery games to only draw-style games and instant scratch-offs, to superficial changes like changing every “gaming” reference to “gambling.”

Additionally, the bill requires advertising to state the total number of payments paid over a period of time with the present value of the prize, probability of winning a prize but not omitting the value of the lowest prize and the odds of winning a prize while disclosing the odds of winning the largest prize.

As well, the bill prohibits advertising or sponsorship in connection with any high school or college sport, or sporting event.

The bill delves into education also, mandating UNC create and make available to the state Department of Instruction, “course and professional development materials explaining the probabilities and other mathematical features of a lottery game for inclusion as a component of high school courses in civics and mathematics.”

Going further, the bill requires UNC to study lottery participation “as to frequency, amounts spent, family income levels, and other socioeconomic factors,” as well as “ticket sales locations in comparison to the frequency, amounts spent, family income levels, and other socioeconomic factors of the neighborhoods.”

In the past, Democrats rode the lottery issue to wins in typically red states, but that legacy didn’t stop nearly two-thirds of the House Democratic Caucus from backing the bill.

Rep. Rick Glazer, D-Cumberland, said during the debate that lottery funding misled the public about schools’ needs, and his vote for the lottery “may have been the worst vote” he cast as a legislator.

Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir, was one of 10 Democrats who voted nay. Attempts to reach Graham for this report were unsuccessful.

Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, also voted nay, and was only one of two Republicans to do so.

Bell said he would have voted against the lottery if he were in the General Assembly when it was up for consideration.

“The fact is that we have a lottery now,” Bell said. “And, we actually have a very good lottery. It’s nationally known. My issues with this bill, is one, I don’t think the lottery is dishonest, so I think the title is very misleading.”

Bell said the options on the table should be wither to do away with the lottery altogether, or make it the best it can be. He noted the legislation would cause additional and recurring state spending.

“Let’s make it effective, and make it beneficial to put money toward education and put money to where it needs to be,” Bell said. “If you’re not going to do that, then let’s file a bill to do away with it, and let’s have that argument. But let’s not make it ineffective by passing small pieces of legislation like this.”

The bill moves on to consideration in the Senate.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

A call of a structure fire went out shortly after 10:20 a.m. The house at 1327 Railfence Drive looked better on the outside than it did on the inside as smoke billowed from under the roof and filled the air with the thick smell of a bonfire. KDPS Engine 22, Engine 11, Ladder 18 and Ladder 33 responded with police and Lenoir County EMS. The cause of the fire is under investigation.