Year in review: January-March

JANUARY
3- U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-Dist. 3, spoke to about 260 eighth-graders at Woodington Middle School about national and international issues that affect Lenoir County, such as national debt, Iraq and illegal immigration

4- Concern over the financial health of the Global TransPark Authority arose, as its debt was announced to have reached $32 million. The debt stemmed from the 1994 loan from the N.C. Escheats Fund, a $540 million pot of unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer to acquire land and build facilities.

6-Lenoir Community College's Waller Auditorium received a $90,000 sound system, which upgraded the auditorium's projector, sound system controls and podium. The upgrades were completed by the Whitlock Group.

7-Kinston City Council members learned that Kinston has been a part of a three-way economic development agreement with Lenoir County and plumbing supplies manufacturer Ferguson Enterprises for nearly two years. With this agreement, the city must give Ferguson Enterprises $10,400 over two years to create 30 local jobs. The City Council voted on whether to approve the agreement, and it passed 4-1.

10- Pride of Kinston begins plan to replace even buildings on South Queen Street with a landscaped and scenic entrance to historic Maplewood cemetery. Maplewood Cemetery could be considered a guide to Kinston's history, with its occupants ranging from the city's oldest, most notable and wealthiest residents, to the poorest buried in the dead of night in unmarked graves.

10- Frederick Maurice Perry was arrested with possession of 932 grams of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $100,000. Perry was the leader of a drug operation.

14- Patrick Miller, former principal of West Greene Elementary School, took over as superintendent of the Greene County Board of Education. Miller succeeded Stephen Mazingo, whom stepped down to become the next headmaster of Arendell Parrott Academy.

15- Plans for the La Grange Recreational Park started, marking the beginning of the early-stage plan for the park, to include facilities like four baseball/softball diamonds, a football field, three full-sized basketball courts, and tennis courts.

15- Members of the Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority voted to give a grant, valued at $12,300, to the CSS Neuse Foundation. This grant money was intended to allow the completion of construction on the full-sized wooden replica of the Civil War Ironclad.

21- Mike and Timmy Haddock, of Haddock Farms, received the 2008 High Cotton Award at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Nashville, Tenn. The brothers use a no-till method, an environmentally conscious-approach, which played a big part in receiving the award.

29- Kinston doctor Edwin Cooper appeared on the National Geographic Channel for bringing a young girl back from the dead in an experimental surgery 14 years ago.

29-Lenoir County Economic Developer Mark Pope announced the expansion of Double D Trailers, a privately held corporation based in Pink Hill, to Univar's 40,000 square foot facility. This expansion created 55 new full-time jobs within the corporation.

FEBRUARY
1-Jim Hirschfield and Sonia Ishii of Chapel Hill were selected as the artists for the Pride of Kinston's pedestrian bridge, which is expected to connect Kinston's downtown to the Neuseway Nature Center.

2- George Graham, former chairman of the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners, was named chairman of the Lenoir County Democratic Party.

5- Lenoir County school officials seek assistance from the state and county to get reimbursement for the $495,000 spent on software used to track students' learning abilities and improve test scores, including the necessary computer hardware and consulting services.

5- The Kinston City Council voted in favor of an Urban Progress Zone, a resolution authorizing city officials to submit an application to the N.C. Department of Commerce, that, if approved by the state, would create a zone in the city where businesses could set up shop in exchange for a series of tax credits.

5-Jeff Stephens, Thomas Pharo, and Eric Rouse joined the Lenoir County Republican Party, with hopes of becoming the new county commissioners in the November 2008 election.

5- The Global TransPark announced the termination of the lease of Workhorse Aviation Manufacturers L.L.C., the aircraft parts manufacturer, after just over two years. Workhorse only created a fraction of the jobs promised and earned just portions of the performance-based grants from the state and county.

7- Snow Hill Primary and West Greene Elementary schools were awarded the 2008 Lighthouse Award from the North Carolina Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development for their innovative two-way immersion teaching method. This program, Los Puentes, offers both English and Spanish speaking students the opportunity to learn another culture and language.

7- Timothy Kinsey, 45, was sentenced to 28-35 years in state prison after pleading guilty to one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill/inflict serious injury and one count of attempted first degree murder for setting his wife on fire after an argument. Kinsey was also required to pay $8,824.40 in restitution to his estranged wife.

8- World Properties, owned by a father-and-son real-estate investment team from New York purchased Vernon Park Mall - including the main mall and the neighboring Firestone Auto Care. They formed the corporation Vernon Park Mall Holding Corp., with the hope of purchasing the mall and bringing more national retail and food chains to the mall, and encouraging local entrepreneurs to establish businesses there.

11- Alexis Welch, Lenoir Community College's Dean of Health Sciences, was elected the Chair of the North Carolina Board of Nursing.

14-Allegiant Air announced their plans to discontinue flights from the Kinston Regional Jetport to Orlando, Fla., leaving the local airstrip without a commercial passenger airline. Allegiant Air was not getting the passengers it needed to continue their operations in Kinston.

28-The nation's fourth largest poultry processing corporation, Sanderson Farms, met with 700 local poultry farmers to discuss preliminary contract terms for a $127 million poultry complex in Lenoir County. The complex would create 1,525 hourly-wage jobs and 125 salaried jobs.

29- Twenty-two Arendell Parrott Academy students returned to Kinston from Xojola, Guatemala. While in Guatemala, APA students tutored the village students, helped them with arts and crafts projects and delivered 12 computers to a local school.

MARCH
5- Stephen Laroque announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the Lenoir County Republican Party to focus on his campaign for the State House of Representatives. Vice-Chairman Harry Edwards took over Laroque's position.

8- The Lenoir County Battlefields Commission held a dedication service to formally thank Jack, Rebecca, Lou Ella and Michael Vause for selling a portion of their land to the Historical Preservation Group. The HPG received $100,000 in grants from the National Park Service and the Center for Civil War Living History to purchase these 57 acres from the Vauses. Thanks to the Vause's selling the battlefield earthworks, Camp Southwest will be preserved by the HPG. This service was held on the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Wyse Fork.

10-Smithfield Packing Co. announced its decision to close its smoked ham manufacturing plant on West Vernon Avenue due to the age of the building - it would be too costly to repair the building. Although this closing presented the possibility of 476 job losses, company officials offered local employees the chance to work at other Smithfield facilities, including the company's $100 million ham facility, which opened in November 2006.

13- The Big Daddy Express, the Neuseway Nature Center's children's train, hit the tracks for the first time after months of construction. The train, the newest attraction at the Nature Center, attracted visitors locally and from out of town.

15-The Kinston High School Basketball team won the 2008 3A State Championship game in Chapel Hill, earning KHS its first state championship in 43 years.

17-Kinston City Council unanimously approved a "resolution of concern" Monday for the conservation of water in Falls Lake reservoir. The resolution was in response to a request from Raleigh officials to the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Falls Lake's dam, to cut the amount of water it releases through the dam into the Neuse River in order to conserve drinking water for Raleigh.

19- The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office participated in a statewide drug bust, called "Operation Gameover," which netted multiple arrests and over $2 million in property, drug and cash seizures.

21- The Snow Hill Skateboard Park opened. The park had been in the works for over a year and cost around $60,000. Davis the plan for the park was solidified when he saw the potential hazards for youth skating in the street.

26- Jones County School's superintendent Ethan Lenker resigned to take a job offer in Sampson County. Jones County School Board President Barry Jones said personnel issues caused a rift between Lenker and the board. Mike Bracy, assistant superintendent, stepped up to fill Lenker's position as interim superintendent.

26- Yamco, a food-processing company that makes sweet potato puree, opened for business in Snow Hill.

27- Two of the three Democratic candidates for governor, State Treasurer Richard Moore and Ret. Air Force Col. Dennis Nielson, faced off in a debate at East Carolina University - debating the defining issues of the campaign, including what to do about Kinston's Global TransPark.

29- Over 200 runners participated in the Pride of Kinston's Run for the River at Neuseway Nature Center. The third annual race draws attention to downtown Kinston by leading runners through it.