A La Grange man was arrested earlier this week for allegedly assaulting one of his employees.

On Monday, investigators with the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division arrested Kelton Sutton, 66, of 3677 Frank Barwick Road, La Grange. He was charged with assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious bodily injury and kidnapping. All three are felony charges.

The LCSO investigation started after the alleged victim, which The Free Press is choosing not to name, reported she had been assaulted by her employer while she was at his residence while working in La Grange. The alleged victim reported she had been struck by Sutton during an altercation inside the home while she was caring for a family member of Sutton’s.

The alleged victim was treated at Lenoir Memorial Hospital and later transferred to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for further treatment for injuries sustained during the assault. Based upon information gathered during the investigation, Humphrey’s injuries met the criteria to establish “serious bodily injury” under North Carolina General Statutes.

“Our criminal detectives have worked hard to build this case and to try and understand why this incident occurred,” stated Lenoir County Sheriff Chris Hill. “It appears that this is a case of someone becoming very frustrated and then losing control, which resulted in the injury of (the victim).”

Broadway at LCC is tonight

The Lenoir Community College presentation of Broadway and Beyond will be at 7:30 p.m. today in the Waller Building Auditorium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with pre-concert entertainment by Timothy Maddox of the LCC Music faculty. The show is produced and directed by LCC Music Program Chair Carolyn Crossland. She and Rick Vernon will co-host the event.

Among the entertainers will be Kinston Dance Academy presenting a swing routine to “Sing! Sing! Sing!” One of the most famous songs of the Big Band Era, it was made famous by the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Teacher/choreographer Angela Patton and Kinston Dance Academy owner and choreographer Jan McKenrick choreographed the number. The routine will be a part of the 20th anniversary celebration for the studio at its spring production on May 3.

For information, contact Crossland at 252-527-6223, ext. 919, or crossland@lenoircc.edu.

Public invited to bell dedication service

Members of First Presbyterian Church invite the community to join their worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday for a special dedication of the Bell Tower. The final bells recently were installed due to the efforts of Fran Parker and a fundraising campaign in honor of her late husband, Dr. Sam Parker.

The bells were cast by the Petit and Fritsen Bell Foundry, The Royal Dutch Bell Founder, kin Aarle-Rixtel, Holland, under the direction of Harry Van Bergen of the Cleveland, Ohio, company by the same name. The bells weigh from 150 to 550 pounds.

The congregation hopes that when the bells toll, they will be a blessing for the entire community and a daily reminder of God’s love.

The church is at 2101 N. Herritage St. For information, call 252-522-1921.

Kinston leaders to address YPLC

Two of Kinston’s top ranking officials are also two of the youngest in the state at their jobs. While Mayor BJ Murphy and City Manager Tony Sears often share insight on what’s going on in the city, they will take part in a discussion April 25 hosted by the Young Professionals of Lenoir County.

The two will share their keys for success as Young Professionals and talk about some special projects in the works that will directly benefit local Young Professionals. The social will start at 5 p.m. in the main dining room of the Kinston Country Club. YPLC members will receive a complimentary drink ticket. There also will be a cash bar. Entry and food during the social is free.

Young Professionals, an extension of the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, is a professional society open to men and women ages 21 to 40. For more information, contact Ashley Pierce at ashley.pierce@self-help.org or Justin Hill at mjusthill@gmail.com.

SEATTLE — For the first time since 1915, a Kinston native has earned a Major League Baseball pitching victory.

Carter Capps, a North Lenoir High School and Mount Olive College alum, pitched two shutout innings for Seattle against the Detroit Tigers Thursday afternoon to lead the Mariners to a 2-0 victory.

Capps, the fifth Kinstonian to play in the major leagues, gave up two hits and a walk while striking out three to earn the win and to improve to 1-1 in 2013. He made his MLB debut last season for the Mariners.

“It was a good day and I’m excited,” Capps said in his post-game interview with the Seattle Mariners Radio Network. “We’ve got guys (here) who can throw it like nobody’s business. … The defense was behind us and the guys executed.”

The last time a Kinston native earned a MLB victory was in 1915, when George Suggs, then a pitcher for the Baltimore of the Federal League, finished 11-17 for the Terrapins.

Since Suggs’ tenure in MLB (Detroit Tigers, 1908-09; Cincinnati Reds, 1910-13; Terrapins 1914-15), there have been three other Kinston natives play in the major leagues other than Capps: Charlie White, a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves from 1954-55; Jason Roach, a pitcher for the New York Mets in 2003; and Chris Hatcher, a catcher/pitcher for the Florida/Miami Marlins from 2010 to present. Hatcher is presently playing in Triple-A New Orleans.

Seattle and Detroit played Thursday’s series finale about 13 hours after the Tigers’ 2-1 victory in 14 innings in a game that had a combined 40 strikeouts and had Justin Smoak tagged out at home in a collision with catcher Brayan Pena for the final out.

Detroit’s Justin Verlander (2-2), who threw 126 pitches in seven innings, gave up a two-out single to Robert Andino. Kyle Seager then hit the first pitch into the left-field corner. Andino raced around from first.

Endy Chavez followed with a single to left, scoring Seager. Tiger catcher Alex Avila caught the throw from left-fielder Andy Dirks, but did not position himself in front of the plate to block Seager’s slide. He slid under the tag.

Verlander struck out 12 — two short of his career high — and gave up nine hits, two runs and walked one.

Tom Wilhelmsen earned his sixth save.

Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma continued his strong start. He matched up well with Verlander until he developed a blister in the middle finger of his right hand, forcing him to leave after just six innings and 70 pitches. He allowed three hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

The only Tiger to reach second was Victor Martinez in the fifth. He singled, advanced to second on Jhonny Peralta‘s ground out and was left stranded.

The Mariners struck out 12 times on Thursday, one game after they set a club record with 21 strikeouts on Wednesday.

Free Press Managing Editor Bryan C. Hanks contributed to this report.

LA GRANGE — Heather Carson has been waiting for her North Lenoir softball team to break out.

She got it on Thursday.

Kaci Letchworth pitched seven strong innings, Dani Moulton, Nicole Robinson and Letchworth combined for nine of their team’s 16 hits with three apiece and the Hawks struck early to down Greene Central 11-3 and snap a four-game losing streak.

“Hopefully this will give us some momentum finishing up our conference schedule,” Carson said. “(A lack of) confidence has been the biggest thing.

“It helps when you hit the ball, and that’s something that we haven’t always done.”

Moulton was a home run short of the cycle and her, Letchworth and Tori Howard drove in two runs apiece in what was the biggest game the Hawks have had offensively in quite some time.

Letchworth, who overcame a game-opening double by Tatiana Bynum that turned into a run, singled three times and struck out 11 to give North Lenoir (3-8) its first win since defeating Eastern Wayne on March 26.

The Hawks put the last non-conference meeting between the two out of reach when they scored three in the fourth inning to turn a 5-3 game into a blowout.

They singled five times in the frame, including a two-run base hit through the hole on the left side by Moulton.

The teams, once conference rivals, will be league foes again beginning next school year as a part of the new Eastern Carolina 2A Conference.

“North Lenoir’s an awfully good team. I was pleased that we took them the distance,” Rams coach Jim Cole said.

Greene Central (5-7) got to Letchworth early with Bynum’s lead-off double, who later scored when Olivia Jackson blooped one in the middle of the infield that no one could get to.

Down 4-1 going into the third, the Rams tightened it up on an RBI groundout by Shay Ingalls and an error. But Letchworth settled down from there.

“I think when we get into tight situations it’s like we freeze,” Carson said, “so hopefully this will get us going.”

The Hawks added three more in the sixth when Robinson and Howard went back-to-back with RBI singles, and they added their final run on an error.

Moulton scored three times, Robinson scored twice and Blythe Greene had two hits and scored two runs. Howard added two hits also.

Greene Central, which went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base, including the bases loaded in the second, got two hits from Bynum, Jackson and Kaitlyn Napier.

“We hit the ball better than we have been,” Cole said. “It was a better night hitting for us that we’ve had against a really good team.”

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

Greene Central  102         000         0—3       8              4

N. Lenoir            041         303         x—11     16           2

Napier, Whitely (3) and Mokus, Jackson (3); Letchworth and Stallings. W—Letchworth. L—Napier.

An F-15E Strike Eagle drops through the sky on a low-level training mission and encounters — a wind turbine.

With turbine blades reaching within 8 feet of F-15s on missions out of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the proposed Pantego Wind Energy project resulted in a serious risk.

So, in January, Chicago-based Invenergy did away with its original plans to put a 49-turbine wind farm in the path of jets headed to the Dare County Bombing Range.

As renewable energy options like wind farms gain traction in North Carolina, Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, introduced a wind energy permit bill that would prevent such conflicts from happening again.

“House Bill 484 is dealing with wind turbines being set up in low-level fight routes, interfering with military flight routes in our state,” Bell said. “That’s a really, really big issue in Eastern North Carolina.”

Just interfering with missions over the Dare County Bombing Range alone, Bell said, could have wide-ranging impacts.

“Also, that wind farm would have affected the training capabilities of (Marine Corps Air Station) Cherry Point and also would have affected out-of-state bases — (Joint Base) Langley(-Eustis) in Virginia, and (McEntire Joint National Guard Base in) Sumter in South Carolina,” Bell said. “It would have been a big, big hit for Eastern North Carolina.”

Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir, signed on to the bill as a co-sponsor, which passed the House Environment Committee April 11 and awaits consideration in the House Public Utilities and Energy Committee. A message left for Graham wasn’t returned as of press time.

A similar version of the bill — S.B. 491 — sits in the Senate, where Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, is the primary sponsor. Sens. Don Davis, D-Greene, and Louis Pate, R-Wayne, are co-sponsors of the bill.

“I don’t know if they’ve scheduled a hearing for it yet or not,” Pate said of the Senate bill. “They just might be waiting to see how the House bill is being held.”

He added, “We’re very interested in it and want to go ahead and see it passed.”

Davis said he supports the effort because it’s important to keep military installations and the jobs they provide where they are.

“I believe it’s important for us to continue to make sure North Carolina remains a military-friendly state,” Davis said. “And for me, I have great concerns in making sure Seymour Johnson Air Force Base remains intact. We can’t do anything that could potentially put the base at harm.

“That has tremendous regional implications by doing so, and I just get very concerned when we, possibly, could put the base at risk.”

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

Breakout Box

‘Permitting of Wind Energy Facilities’

State H.B. 484

Primary sponsors:

n Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne

n Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin

n Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret

n Rep. Chris Whitmire, R-Transylvania

A local fraternity chapter is making innovative efforts to both raise healthy living awareness and fund scholarships for high school students.

Zumba with the Ques will be hosted Saturday from 3-5 p.m. at the Galaxy of Sports for the second year. The Lambda Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., will team up with Takeema Parson’s local Zumba fitness class for the event.

 “It’s killing two birds with one stone,” said chapter president Calvin Sutton. “Our fraternity (has) a national mandate that says we have to have a health initiative. I thought this would be a good and creative partnership to do that.”

The entry fee of $10 will go towards funding four scholarships for local students — one at each high school.

The student must be a male looking to enroll in a four-year college or university.

“We kind of scan the graduating class,” Sutton said. “(We) try to get the best well-rounded people. It doesn’t necessarily have to be based off of grades — just a good, well-rounded student that does a lot in the community.”

Sutton said there is no connection between providing scholarships and recruiting members into the fraternity.

“We just want to help out anyway we can,” he said. “It would be great if those guys would go off to college and later on decide that they want to be a member of our fraternity, (but) that is not our thinking when we give out these scholarships.”

The fraternity provides scholarship applications and collects reference letters from counselors. Saturday’s Zumba-thon is the main fundraiser for these scholarships.

Zumba with the Ques began when Parson’s husband, Tad, participated in Zumba with her.

“Later, some of his fraternity brothers started coming to class and enjoyed it,” Parson said. “We figured an event to encourage men to come out could not only benefit health but the community since the proceeds go to local high school student scholarships.”

Sutton said Zumba is a unique method for the men in the community to get involved in fitness.

“It’s just a good creative way to get everyone out,” he said. “It’s not the regular, typical or boring exercise that every one thinks about. Zumba is an excellent way to work out. It’s very high energy (and) good music.”

He said health vendors will be on site and the session is open to anyone.

“We’re trying to help make the public more conscious of the lifestyle that they’re living,” Sutton said of the event’s overall message. “Be aware of your health.”

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

BREAKOUT BOX:

Zumba with the Ques

n Saturday

n 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.

n Galaxy of Sports, 4100 West Vernon Ave.

n Cost: $10

In response to a court order, U.S. Senior District Judge Malcolm J. Howard moved former state Rep. Stephen LaRoque’s corruption trial back six days.

LaRoque will now face a federal jury on May 20, according to a Thursday report from N.C. Policy Watch.

It was the progressive public interest group that led an investigation into LaRoque’s activities in 2011.

A federal investigation followed, and a grand jury indicted LaRoque in July 2012 for a dozen charges relating to the misappropriation of federal funds.

Federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment Wednesday, but there were no new charges or allegations.

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

A stately brick building is taking shape on Airport Road near Lenoir Memorial Hospital. It will soon be the home of a new State Employees Credit Union branch.

The completion date is Aug. 29, and construction is currently on schedule, Michele Sasser, vice president/city officer, said.

Sasser and her staff will be moving from the branch at 2501 N. Herritage St. to the new location following completion of the building.

“We are in a rental site now,” she said.

Employees currently work in approximately 5,500 square feet of space, but the new building will have about another 1,000 square feet.

The not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative has been systematically leaving its rental spaces behind as it purchases land and builds according to its own architectural plans, Sasser said.

SECU purchased the land last year and broke ground in December — a project costing more than $1 million, she said.

There will be a drive-up ATM lane, three drive-through window lanes and more parking.

“Inside,” Sasser said, “(the layout) will be more central than it is now.”

Customers entering the building will walk into the reception area. Teller windows will be located to the left and a lobby with seating will be towards the back. The building will have more offices than the Herritage Street branch has.

“We’ll have more offices,” Sasser said, “so as we grow, we will hire more staff and have room.”

The new branch will provide the same services its customers expect.

“All we’re doing is moving our location,” she said.

The branch will be a full-service financial institution offering deposit accounts, loans, mortgages, safety deposit boxes, investments, trust services, estate planning and tax preparation, she said.

“I like the location better,” Sasser said. “I think it’s going to be easier for our customers getting in and out.”

SECU has branches in all 100 counties in North Carolina. Hours at the Herritage Street office are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The hours and phone number will remain the same at the new location. For information, call 252-522-2121.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.

Breakout box:

Do you have a new retail business or one that’s undergone a significant change? The Free Press would like to hear about it. Contact Margaret Fisher at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.

LA GRANGE — The 1988-89 school year brought in a new wave of theatrical tradition at North Lenoir High School.

Marian Kennedy, a teacher and the school’s drama department head, returned to her alma mater to expose students to more choices in theatre arts.

When she attended Governor’s School as a teenager, Kennedy realized students in the western part of the state had more options for music and theater. At North Lenoir, the drama department is fully self-supportive.  

“I think that we have really good students in this area,” Kennedy said. “(There are) really good people and I feel like we were just as talented.

“My goal was to come back here, teach and give students as many opportunities as I could to perform and to be exposed to the arts.”

She returned to North Lenoir with a vision. Now, nearly 25 years later, she is directing her 50th production at the school. She said she’s here to stay.

“The Wizard of Oz” musical opened Thursday morning with a show for Lenoir County elementary schools. The cast performed the grand show opening Thursday night; there are performances for the general public today and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with the finale Sunday at 3 p.m.

Another performance for public school students will be held this afternoon.

“I love musicals,” said Kennedy, who holds a master’s in musical education from ECU. “I’ve been singing in church since I was 3.”

“The Wizard of Oz” was the first show she starred in — leading as the Dorothy character — and directed, so it’s a special story to her.

“It’s magical and colorful,” Kennedy said. “I think it teaches a lesson: Sometimes, we always look for things bigger and better and think that the grass is always greener on the other side. Sometimes it’s right under our noses.”

This will be the fourth time of 50 productions Kennedy has directed “Wizard.” However, she said she hasn’t ever done a version that so closely mimics the original film.

Additionally, Kennedy incorporated flying in the spring show.

“That has really added a new dimension to this show,” said Kennedy, noting the flying and orchestra are special additions to the musical. “Because it was the 50th production, the parents and the community worked really hard to raise the money for these added features.”

North Lenoir history teacher Lee Holder said he’s seen first-hand how the production has rallied the community.

“Everyone’s pulled together,” he said. “People call and say, ‘What can I do help?’ ”

Holder and Kennedy began working at North Lenoir the same year.

“I think she has the ability … to put a positive spotlight on what we do at the school,” Holder said of the theatre head. “Every school seems to be known for something, and that’s one of the really positive things our school is known for.”

Holder’s daughter, Holly, a freshman, will star as a Dorothy in the musical. He said she manages to balance her time with her role.

“I know that the kids are very busy with the play, but they learn to manage their time and budget their resources,” Holder said. “I find my students still do well.”

Kennedy said theatre has given students confidence and speaking skills, even if they don’t chose to pursue it as a career — though she’s had a number of students currently teaching music and theatre and directing.

“I think what is wonderful about this is that it teaches them time commitment, how to get along with others and how to work as a team,” Kennedy said. “When you’re in a cast, you are a team.”

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

Breakout box:

‘Wizard of Oz’

n Scheduled performances: 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday

n North Lenoir High School auditorium

n Tickets: $6 students, $10 advance, $12 at door

For more information: Jennifer Spence, 252-527-9184

It can seem unsettling at first glance.

The majority of your interaction with poultry is at your grocer’s meat counter or at a fast-food drive-thru; the sheer preciseness of the organization of bringing chicken to your table takes an adjustment.

Proponents of the poultry industry don’t like the term “factory farm” because of its pejorative use by animal-rights activist groups. But it’s impossible to deny the industrial nature of the process.

Thursday, industry leaders, food and agribusiness reporters and a few others went on what is called the “Chicken: Farm to Fork Day.” Organized as part of the Chicken Media Summit by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, the tour of Sanderson Farms facilities in Kinston and Greene County were part of a three-day national event including sessions in New Bern.

The egg

At the Sanderson farm hatchery on Hill Farm Road, eggs come into a 68-degree Fahrenheit room to control growth, then move into incubation rooms for three weeks — each room containing 9,720 eggs — then to hatchery rooms for three days.

In the hatchery rooms, heat and humidity are tightly regulated for the chicks in trays which rise 15 high. Once hatched, the trays are wheeled into a separation room, where a robotic arm moves the crates off the stack, one-by-one.

The chicks ride a steel-rod conveyor belt, which allows egg shells to drop through or be sucked up by a vacuum. The jostling causes yellow down to rise into the air and coat the floor like an apocalyptic pollen release.

From there, the chicks tumble onto a solid conveyor belt to move into the next room.

The tumble can appear violent for such small creatures.

Wes Hall of Sanderson Farms, leading a tour group, said the vast majority of chicks make it through without a problem.

“That’s something we extremely rarely see,” Hall said, in answer to a question about the instances of chicken mortality.

In the next room, an automated system sorts chicks into four single-file lines, tumbling them into new trays — again, it can be disquieting to the unaccustomed observer. Chicks move into the trays 100 at a time. A sprayer releases a blue-green liquid meant to vaccinate the chicks with an even coating, and a robotic arm loads the trays onto carts for delivery into trucks.

“It’s important to keep them uninjured. We’re trying to raise a healthy bird,” Hall said.

He later added, “Everybody has been taught proper animal welfare practices.”

The chicken

One recipient of chicks from the hatchery is 3 Sons Poultry in Maury, north of Snow Hill. Brooks Edmondson, who owns the farm, has four chicken houses now instead of tobacco. It’s meant as a sustainable option for his sons should any of them decide to return from college and go into farming.

“I have a 13-, 10-, and 7-year-old. This is their future — I hope,” Edmondson said.

On average, with 31,600 chickens per house, the chickens themselves produce an average of about $244,242 in annual revenue.

The chickens reside in houses with a complex and interconnected system of climate control to make sure there’s an optimum range of warmth and humidity. If anything goes wrong, Edmondson and his associates receive alerts on their phones.

After seven weeks, the chickens go to be processed and are in grocery stores within 24 hours, according to Sanderson officials.

“In North Carolina, you’ve got a lot of family farms, like this one,” said Kim Decker, marketing specialist with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Certain organizations will try to tell you these are factory farms, but they’re really family farms. And, multi-generational family farms, where kids go on to college, they’ve built home places, bought land and raised kids and everything else.”

Food fight

In 2012, the group Mercy for Animals led an undercover investigation into so-called factory farms of Butterball turkeys in Eastern North Carolina.

Lenoir County was part of the project.

Activists obtained jobs on the farms and documented what the group says was illegal and unethical treatment of the birds. MFA used the video and accounts on butterballabuse.com and notified local law enforcement of its findings.

A similar operation in 2011 in Hoke County claimed its fifth conviction April 4.

Three other people received convictions for misdemeanor animal abuse and one received a felony conviction, the first in American history for poultry farms.

There’s been a push-back nationwide in state legislatures, through what are called “ag-gag” bills. The bills, including North Carolina’s S.B. 648, seek to make the very thing Mercy for Animals did illegal.

“Chances are that if one of these laws had been in place, we would not have been able to get the footage we did,” Vandhana Bala, general counsel for Mercy for Animals, said in a March story on the online journalism site Vice.

She continued, “We would not have been able to see the government corruption and the illegal activity that is currently being prosecuted if there had been an ag-gag bill in North Carolina.”

Decker said the bill is more to close loopholes and back up current corporate policies.

“It’s not just targeting agriculture in North Carolina. That bill is actually targeting anyone that would get employment by lying on the application, or them going in and doing an illegal activity where at a lot of facilities, it’s against the law, or against company policy to film, regardless.”

He later added, regarding the activists, “You have organizations that don’t like farming period, don’t want animals used for anything.”

Sens. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, Wesley Meredith, R-Cumberland and Jim Davis, R-Macon, are the primary sponsors of S.B. 648, otherwise known as the “N.C. Commerce Protection Act of 2013.”

The bill received first reading April 3 and was sent to the Senate Commerce Committee.

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

By MEGHAN BARR and KATIE ZEZIMA

Associated Press

On this week's edition of the show, Bryan Hanks and Jon Dawson are joined by Kinston/Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Department Director Bill Ellis, who talks about the success of the Woodmen Community Center and the upcoming opening of the Lions Adventure Water Park. Bryan and Jon are welcome Jonathan Massey to the show to discuss upcoming food challenges and share their iPod shuffles.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show.

Two men are in jail following a bust netting more than half a kilogram of cocaine.

Wednesday, the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office — working with state Alcohol Law Enforcement, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office — arrested the two men following a cocaine trafficking investigation.

“We are actively working to affect these large quantity drug shipments that are coming into our area,” Lenoir County Sheriff Chris Hill said in a statement. “Our narcotics detectives are dedicating numerous hours to find and arrest these persons who are facilitating drug trafficking in Lenoir County.

“We are proud to continue to build relationships with outside agencies like the ones who have helped in this arrest because drug suppliers do not stop at county lines.”

Jose de Jesus Colunga-Flores, 24, and Manuel Aguilar Servantes, 39, were arrested in a car on Burncoat Road, which runs between N.C. 55 and Liddell Road. Authorities found 22 ounces of powder cocaine at the scene — equal to about 623.7 grams — at the scene. It has a street value of about $43,120.

Servantes, of Goldsboro, is charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine, one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and one count of maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance. He received an $800,000 bond and detained at the Lenoir County Jail.

Colunga-Flores, of La Grange, received a $250,000 bond for one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and was placed in the Lenoir County Jail.

Neither Colunga-Flores nor Servantes have a prison history in North Carolina, according to records from the state Department of Public Safety.

The two men are scheduled to appear May 2 in Lenoir County District Court.

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

The following arrests were reported by the Kinston Dept. of Public Safety:

The following arrests were reported by the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office:

Churches enjoy pulpit exchange

Two churches did something recently that they hope will be the beginning of a new tradition. Westminster United Methodist Church and St. Augustus AME Zion hosted a pulpit exchange April 14.

The Rev. Julian Pridgen, pastor of St. Augustus, preached at Westminster, and the Rev. T.R. Miller, Westminster pastor, preached at St. Augustus. They were received and enjoyed by both congregations, with lots of fellowship following the services.

Buddy Ritch, former Kinston mayor, has had the pulpit exchange idea for a long time as a way to approach some of his concerns for the city. As a Westminster member, he welcomed Pridgen to the church and introduced him to the congregation. Many congregants expressed the hope that other churches will host similar exchanges in the future.

Appraiser to return to library

The Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library will host a program featuring renowned Farmville antiques dealer and appraiser Michael Cable at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The program will be held in the Schechter Auditorium of the library, 510 N. Queen St. Audience members are invited to bring up to two items to be discussed and appraised. 

The free program is sponsored by Friends of the Library. Space is limited, so reservations are encouraged for this popular program.

For more information, or to reserve seats, call 252-527-7066, ext. 120.

Wake-Up Lenoir has executive briefing

The North Carolina Partnership for Children is hosting several early childhood investment briefings around the state, and one in Kinston is scheduled for Thursday. The event will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Chef & the Farmer, 120 W. Gordon St., with breakfast provided. 

Kinston business leaders Stephen Hill and Randall Boehme will discuss early childhood investments as a key strategy in improving North Carolina’s workforce pipeline and in developing a strong economic foundation for the state. Hill is chairman of the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors — which is co-hosting the event. Boehme is Production Division manager with Sanderson Farms.

Effective early childhood programs enable children to become more creative, adaptable, team-ready employees by developing “soft skills.”

To respond, contact Molly Taylor with The Partnership for Children at 252-939-1200 or m.taylor@lgpfc.com.

Those who regularly read this column know I mine weekly reporting blurbs to dig up what I consider to be entertaining stuff — at least to me. This week’s news was horrible.

The Boston bombing has glued me to news streams on TV and my computer. As technically backward as I am, I’ve even tried following developments on my cell phone.

Friday morning, I was met with reports that one of the bombers had been killed and the other escaped the shootout. I’m glad one reptile is dead and hopeful the other snake will follow him soon.

When mindless evil rears its ugly head, I can’t muster up a single molecule of concern or consideration for those who summoned that beast. I want them removed from the gene pool and don’t care a whit about “reasons” or “motives.”

I’ve never had religious leanings, choosing to believe the universe was way too big for a carbon speck like me to matter one way or the other. In my eyes, the creation of religions must have been a function of evolving intelligence.

Once humans became capable of abstract thought we ceased having to live only in the present and branched forward and backward, into the future and past. I’ve always supposed that being able to substitute identities with deceased or injured fellow humans led inexorably to “invention” of a force for shelter from life’s tribulations.

That’s a lot of words that ask a simple question: Did God create us or did we create God?

Of course, without faith it may never be knowable to me, but when something so terrible as the Boston thing happens my core assumptions are shaken. If an absolute manifestation of cosmic “good” doesn’t exist, then by logical extension, neither can cosmic “evil.”

Well, by any measure I can imagine terrorism that kills and maims innocent kids is pure evil. So if I accept that as a truth then there’s no way around accepting the existence of counterbalancing pure “good,” the foundation of so many faiths.

Is Otis Gardner getting religion? No — but looking at things through an accountant’s eyes, we live in a very big balance sheet. The cosmos appeared from nothing so all of its components must eventually total to zero.

If I follow that thread into my personal life, it requires depths of evil have to be offset by heights of good. It’s the yin and yang, debit and credit of existence.

I’m deeply sorry for the innocents who were knocked out of wonderful lives without rhyme or reason and to no purpose other than the creation of pain. That’s pure evil by any measure.

I want to say I’ll pray for those folks, but that seems a bit two-faced given my history of rejecting any hint of metaphysics in my world. Besides injuring people in Boston, those bombers also blew away some of my smugness.

Maybe I’ll turn inward and visit my soul, if I can find it.

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

North Carolina, like the nation, saw a drop in the unemployment rate from February to March, as well as from a year ago.

The state’s rate decreased to 9.2 percent from the February revised rate of 9.4 percent, while the national figure fell to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent.

A year earlier, the unemployment rate was .2 percent higher in the state and .6 percent higher in the nation.

Statewide, the number of people employed decreased by 10,954 to more than 4.3 million, but increased by 42,669 from a year ago. However, the unemployed numbers decreased by 11,619, or 2.6 percent, from February and by 7,127 over the year.

The decrease of both employed and unemployed over the month could be caused by a combination of factors, said Ellen Bell of the Lenoir County office of the N.C. Division of Workforce Solutions.

“When people run out of unemployment insurance benefits,” she said, “a lot of people just drop out of the market. … A spurt of jobs — that could cause a decrease.”

Bell said there has been a spurt of temporary jobs, such as inside remodeling jobs. But there haven’t been any particularly significant trends, such as major layoffs or large numbers of employers seeking applicants, she said.

There has been a decrease in the number of people filing claims in person, Bell said. For the past couple of months, the state has been working toward requiring claims to be filed online or by telephone.

“We’re still assisting with customers having difficulties getting through on the telephone or online,” Bell said.

The most recent county figures are for February. Lenoir County had 2,956 unemployed, or 10.2 percent of the population, and 26,901 in the labor force. In January, the rate was 10.8.

Greene County saw 960 unemployed, or 9.7 percent, with 9,865 employed, and Jones County’s unemployed numbered 454, or 10.4 percent, and 4,385 employed. In January, the rates were 9.8 in Greene and 10.7 in Jones.

In North Carolina, Graham County ranked highest in unemployment at 20.2 percent, while Orange County ranked the lowest at 5.9 percent. Local rankings include Jones at 50, Lenoir at 46 and Greene at 37.

Nationally, the number of unemployed was 11.74 million and the civilian labor force was nearly 155.03 million. The civilian labor force in the state decreased over the month by 22,573, or .5 percent, to 4.74 million.

Non-farm industry employment, seasonally adjusted, fell by 300 to about 4.05 million from February. The industry with the greatest increase of employment from a month earlier was professional and business services at 4,200, while manufacturing had the largest decrease at 3,700.

The industry with the most job gains since March 2012 was leisure and hospitality at 20,200 of the private sector gain of 72,100. Total non-farm jobs increased by 75,300.

Both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data are subject to revisions. It should be noted that industry employment estimates are subject to large seasonal patterns. While seasonal adjustment factors are applied to the data, these factors may not be fully capturing the seasonal trend. Therefore, when interpreting the industry employment changes, it is advisable to focus on over-the-year changes in both the smoothed seasonally adjusted series and not seasonally adjusted series.

The next unemployment update is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1 when the county unemployment rates for March 2013 will be released.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.

Breakout box:

                    March 2012   Sept. 2012     Feb. 2013   March 2013

Statewide:       9.4                  9.5                  9.4                  9.2

National:           8.2                  7.8                  7.7                  7.6

Source: N.C. Department of Commerce

Eliminating North Carolina’s 24-student class size cap is just the surface of bill that passed the state’s Senate Education Committee Wednesday.

Local principals and superintendents back the flexibility of Senate Bill 374, primarily sponsored by Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph.  Funding teachers will be left up to the school districts, and administrators can maintain a familiar learning environment for kindergarten through third grade students.

Northeast Elementary School Principal Kecia Dunn said each of her kindergarten and first grade classes were over the limit by only one in December.

“I had to fix that because it was over the max, so I had to create a new class,” she said. “I had to uproot eight babies in kindergarten and first grade who had bonded with their teachers and bring in a stranger they didn’t know.”

SB374, which will advance to the Senate Appropriations Committee, could potentially threaten unions students form with teachers in intimate classroom settings but can be a way to avoid splitting classes over a single student influx. It would increase flexibility for such situations, but local administrators said budget cuts are always in the back of their mind.

“I’m OK with the bill as long as it does not affect the funding,” said Steve Mazingo, Lenoir County Schools superintendent. “I think the concern that I have … is to make sure this is not a way for the legislature to cut budget. As long as they give us the same funding we’ve been receiving to fund teachers for those grades levels, then I’m more than OK with it.”

While flexibility is something districts have asked for, the possibility of increased class sizes is a downfall.

 “In today’s instructions, at least in Greene County, we use a lot of small group instruction that allows students to get that individualized attention,” said Patrick Miller, Greene County Schools superintendent. “I would still try to honor (the) class size limit because I think it would be better.”

He said teachers are able to work with smaller groups with the current cap, an ideal learning environment for younger students.

Shameka Mumford, the mother of a child at Northeast, said she would prefer smaller class sizes for her children.

“Being a parent, the larger amount of kids in the classroom is harder,” she said. “The teacher is one person. I really think the smaller classrooms would be better, so they won’t be overcrowded.”

Mazingo said LCS will also maintain small class sizes, especially for younger grades. The system is in the process of allotment assessment, a series of meetings when schools get a prediction from the state of how many teachers are needed for the upcoming school year.

Northeast kindergarten teacher Davida Schmidt said SB374 would affect instructional time among her students and called a larger class “unreal.”

She currently has 21 kindergarteners.

“To me, that’s as high as it really needs to go,” Schmidt said. “We’re already working with kids who may not have been exposed to even going to a daycare. (The bill) would affect individual attention”

She read a book to her class this week, noticing when any student’s concentration strayed.

Her teacher assistant, Glorious Graham, said young students come with a variety of individualized behavior and personalities that must be addressed.

“I can’t do but so much,” she said. “It’s hard as it is.”

Graham said the bill is not a good idea.

If the legislature becomes a law, it will go into effect the same time Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget would erase funding for teacher’s assistants in second and third grade classrooms.

“I do think that the reduction in teacher’s assistants, and for us teachers, is going to be detrimental to our schools and to our kids,” Mazingo said. “I’m not sure the governor knew the impact that his has budget on classrooms.”

LCS analyzed the budget and found it would lose $1.5 million, which is used to fund 22 teachers’ assistants and 20 teachers. Figures from Greene and Jones counties were not released.

“I think (education) will take a hit,” said Michael Bracy, Jones County Schools superintendent. “(Teacher’s assistants) are the extra eyes, ears and hands who help the teacher in that classroom, so it will be a hit if the (budget) passes.”

He said education has suffered budget cuts the last few years.

It leaves educators and administrators to make adjustments.

“What concerns me about the bill is will they reduce funding to (local education agencies) if they increase class size,” Dunn said. “If you are up to 30 students, (is the state) going to accommodate that. That’s a lot children for one person to monitor.

“It will definitely impact the mastery of skills and instruction.”

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

Grant Tyndall and Garrett Holland homered and Wyatt Janning worked out of trouble in the last inning in South Lenoir’s 6-3 win at Jacksonville Northside Friday for its third straight victory and fourth in five games.

Tyndall began the game with a homer to left-center to spark a five-run first inning, then Holland added his second of the year with a solo-shot in the fourth.

Janning, who pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, earned the save, left a leadoff double on base and struck out two in the final frame. Justin Howard gave up five earned runs on nine hits and struck out four in the win.

Tyndall went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs and Trint Turner was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Blue Devils (8-7, 6-4 East Central 2A) will host Swansboro at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

GREENE CENTRAL 3, KINSTON 2: At Greene Central, the Rams picked up a tight Eastern Plains 2A Conference win on Thursday.

Dylan Taylor went 2-for-3 and Austin Mooring earned the pitching win. No details were reported by Kinston.

Greene Central (9-7, 7-2) will host SouthWest Edgecombe at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Kinston (4-13, 0-9) will travel to Wallace-Rose Hill on Monday.

BETHEL CHRISTIAN 12, GREENVILLE CHRISTIAN 2, 5 INN.: At Bethel, the Trojans won by the mercy rule and played error-free defense for the second straight game.

Hunter Truett went 2-for-3, had an RBI and scored twice, Austin Croom went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and scored twice, and Tyler Antwine had a hit and two RBIs. Ben Potter gave up two runs on four hits, walked one and struck out three in the complete-game win.

Bethel (9-6, 6-1) travels to Greenville Trinity on Tuesday.

GIRLS SOCCER

JACKSONVILLE NORTHSIDE 10, SOUTH LENOIR 1: At Northside, the Blue Devils struck first but then the Monarchs scored 10 in a row to mercy-rule South Lenoir on Friday.

Maecy Croom opened the scoring with a goal just 1:13 into the match, which was called with 28:35 left to play.

WILSON BEDDINGFIELD 4, KINSTON 0: At Beddingfield, the Vikings were defeated in an Eastern Plains 2A Conference match on Thursday.

Kinston (3-8-2, 1-1-0) will play at Tarboro on Tuesday.

SOFTBALL

SOUTH LENOIR 2, JACKSONVILLE NORTHSIDE 0: At Northside, the Blue Devils shutout the Monarchs in a conference game on Thursday.

Morgan Mentz singled and drove in a run, and Hailey Daniels and Madison Beyer each doubled for South Lenoir. Taylor Sandlin struck out four in four innings in the win. Beyer earned the save and also struck out four.

South Lenoir (13-3, 7-2) will host Swansboro at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

TRACK AND FIELD

SL BOYS FINISH SECOND IN EC2A MEET: At South Lenoir, the Blue Devils finished second in a four-team league meet Thursday with a score of 60. Richlands won the meet with 100 points.

Top three finishers for South Lenoir were: Hunter Bryan, second, long jump, 16-feet, 10.5 inches; Bryan, first, triple jump, 35-feet, 1.5 inches; Robert Simmons, second, shot put, 39-feet, 9-inches; 4-by-800-meter relay team, third, 9:40; Marquyse Jackson, first, 110-meter hurdles, 18.9 seconds; Gavin Hill, third, 110-meter hurdles, 19.5 seconds; Mason Zeagler, second, 1,600-meter run, 4:55; Bryan, second, 400-meter dash, 55.7 seconds; Jackson, first, 300-meter hurdles, 44.3 seconds; Hill, second, 300-meter hurdles, 47.2 seconds; Ivan Covarrubias, third, 800-meter run, 2:22; Zeagler, first, 3,200-meter run, 10:49; 4-by-400-meter relay team, third, 3:53; Bryce Floyd, first, wheelchair shot put, 11-feet, 10.5-inches; Floyd, first, wheelchair discus, 26-feet, 2-inches; Floyd, first, wheelchair 100-meter dash, 32.3 seconds; Floyd, first, wheelchair 200-meter dash, 1:09.8.

SL GIRLS FINISH THIRD IN EC2A MEET: At South Lenoir, the Blue Devils finished third in a four-team league meet on Thursday with a score of 42. Croatan won with 132 points.

Top three finishers for South Lenoir were: Meredith Rhodes, second, triple jump, 28-feet, 2-inches; 4-by-800-meter relay team, second, 12:21; Cameron Dawkins, third, 100-meter dash, 15 seconds; Caroline Jones, first, 1,600-meter run, 5:54; Carley Hill, third, 400-meter dash, 1:11.9; Rhodes, second, 300-meter hurdles, 54.1 seconds; Jones, first, 800-meter run, 2:41; Jones, third, 3,200-meter run, 14:20; 4-by-400-meter relay team, third, 5:09.