5 things to know about the 40th annual BBQ Fest on the Neuse
The BBQ Fest on the Neuse is back.
After missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world s largest whole-hog cook-off returns May 7 and 8 in downtown Kinston.
Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority director and BBQ Fest chair Jan Parson believes festivalgoers are ready for a change from last year s lockdowns and quarantining, but there are five things festivalgoers may want to know before attending the 40-year-old hog happenin next week. 2020 was a year of uncertainty and disappointment in many ways, Parson said. People are ready to get outside and see each other.
Kinston/Jones Free Press (kfp)
A bill filed last month in the North Carolina Legislature that would allow the public greater access to the personnel files of state and local government employees including teachers, law enforcement and city and county workers moved one step closer to passage this week.
Senate Bill 355, which would grant public access to information concerning terminations, suspensions and other disciplinary actions, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 27 and now heads to the Rules Committee.
If approved by the General Assembly, SB 355 will become effective Dec. 1, 2021 and will directly affect local stories covered by The Free Press involving law enforcement, the school system, and local government personnel.
Kinston community reacts to the Chauvin guilty verdict amid its own alleged police brutality
Kinston/Jones Free Press (kfp)
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges on Tuesday in the murder of George Floyd.
Though some members of the Kinston community felt justice was served, some couldn t find the words to say amid Chauvin s guilty verdict and Kinston s own alleged police brutality, which was caught on video Monday, April 12. I felt justice was served, Jeremy Lane, who attended Kinston s protest last year following the May 25 death of Floyd, said. The thing that gets misconstrued in any police brutality case, especially now with social media, is that the general public quickly assumes all police officers are the bad guys. That couldn t be further from the truth. We amplify a very small, small percentage of bad apples to the point we believe the whole bunch is spoiled.
Kinston/Jones Free Press (kfp)
A couple is dead after a woman ran a stop sign at the intersection of Wallace Family Road and Tilghman Mill Road Tuesday night.
According to the Lenoir County Highway Patrol, 42-year-old Kimberly Barrett of Kinston has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to stop at a stop sign in the death of Antonio Rhem, 37, and Regina Shackleford, 39, of Kinston.
Barrett was traveling west on Tilghman Mill Road in her Chevrolet SUV, while Rhem was traveling south on Wallace Family Road in his Buick passenger car. Barrett failed to stop at the intersection, striking Rhem’s vehicle. Barett’s vehicle came to rest in the roadway, according to highway patrol, and Rhem’s vehicle overturned and rested in a yard. The accident happened shortly after 7 p.m.
Kinston/Jones Free Press (kfp)
Several shirts revealed a theme on Wednesday, and Kinston Mayor Dontario Hardy repeated it five or six times: It shouldn t hurt to be a child.
Hardy, along with Lenoir County health directors and officials, kicked off Child Abuse Prevention Month in Pearson Park Wednesday, April 7, to bring awareness to the 21 children who died due to child abuse or neglect in North Carolina in 2019.
One of the 21 Ja Kobe Applewhite died that year in Lenoir County. He was 21 months old. I wanted to echo throughout our town that it shouldn t hurt to be a child, Hardy said. It is definitely something that I am concerned about, and I want to make folks aware that it s OK to report incidents that happen with children.