VOLUME 8 ISSUE 47 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024
DUPLINJOURNAL.COM
Duplin Journal THE DUPLIN COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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BRIEF this week
3-year-old-boy accidentally shoots, kills himself in Lenoir County Pink Hill The Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting death of Clarence Roland Byrd IV. According to Lenoir County authorities, the 3-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself with a handgun. The tragic accident took place Sunday, Jan. 14 on Murphy Road in Pink Hill. Lenoir officials said case evidence will be sent to the SBI lab to be analyzed and once the results are determined, the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office will consult with the District Attorney’s office in reference to potential criminal charges. DJS
ENA SELLERS | DUPLIN JOURNAL
Freedom Ride Martin Luther King Day celebrations started a day early in Warsaw as community members gathered at KEMBA for the Freedom Ride which culminated at the First Missionary Baptist Church with a special MLK service featuring Jaki Shelton Green, Poet Laureate of North Carolina as the key note speaker. See page 12 for more photos.
Jimmy Lee Road closed due to sinkhole
NCRB proposes 71.3% homeowners insurance hike for Duplin County
Pink Hill The Department of Transportation has closed Jimmy Lee Road near the Duplin-Lenoir county line due to a sinkhole caused by a deteriorating drainage pipe. Thew road is estimated to reopen March 11. DJS
Kilpatrick named ASWC state president Statewide Billy Kilpatrick, Duplin Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, was sworn in as state president of the Association of Soil and Water Conservation on Jan. 9, in Durham, N.C.
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UMO receives $2.4M from Lilly Endowment to fund ministry initiatives Mount Olive The University of Mount Olive received two grants from Lilly Endowment Inc., totaling $2.4M. The grants will be used to establish cohort-based and site-training models to equip parents, caregivers, children, and their congregational leaders in how faith develops across adolescence.
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ABBY CAVENAUGH | DUPLIN JOURNAL
Wallace’s newest police officer, Noah Locklear, was sworn in with his girlfriend, Madison Mozingo, by his side at the Jan. 11 meeting of the Wallace Town Council.
Citizens speak out on proposed Wallace annexation New WPD officer sworn in By Abby Cavenaugh Duplin Journal WALLACE –Numerous residents of a community near the Pender County line packed Wallace’s town hall on Thursday night, Jan. 11, to participate in a public hearing on the proposed voluntary annexation of 150 acres along US Hwy. 117. Ann Autry spoke first during the public hearing, saying she wanted to get more information on the rezoning and annexation.
“How can Wallace take from Pender County?” she asked. “I don’t understand how all this works.” Planning director Rod Fritz explained that the N.C. general statute allows for land to be annexed within three miles of the town limits, and added that the town doesn’t yet know what the 150 acres will be used for, or what type of rezoning applicants Keith Spalding-Robbins and Tony Davis will request. See WALLACE, page 5
Duplin and Lenoir counties are among those with the two highest proposed increases By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced in a recent press release that the North Carolina Rate Bureau is asking for an average statewide increase in homeowners’ insurance rates of 42.2%. For Duplin County the proposed rate increase is a whooping 71.3%. If approved, this hike would become effective Aug. 1. “It seems like it goes up a little bit every year,” said Curt Simpson of Simpson Real Estate Group. “I’ve seen it before where they made a big request and then it gets knocked back down … and it’s not nearly as bad as we thought, but most of everything is going up.” In 2020, the NCRB requested an overall average rate increase of 24.5%, later settling
“We have had some pretty hefty increases in the value of homes in the last few years, and that’s probably part of the reason for the increase…” Curt Simpson, Simpson Real Estate Group for an overall ARI of 7.9%. Factors that play a role in increased rates are inf lation, risks, value, rebuild cost, and the number of claims. “We have had some pretty hefty increases in the value of homes in the last few years, and that’s probably part of the reason for the increase… because a loss of a $300,000 home is going to affect the insurance company more than the loss of a $200,000 home. So, they are probably making up for some of that as well, in See HOMEOWNERS, page 2
Road concerns bring residents to Warsaw’s town hall Board asked for more transparency By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal WARSAW - Five residents signed up for public comment at the Town of Warsaw monthly town hall meeting. The first person to address the board was Teri Brinegar, she expressed concerns with vehicles speeding on Hill Street near the intersection with U.S. Highway 117. “It is just a fairly dangerous strip of road right there… I hear them going down the street at an elevated speed,” said Brinegar, explaining that she can hear loud mufflers well into 2-3
in the morning. “Maybe it needs a noise ordinance… I don’t know what to do about that other than bring it up as a topic of concern.” Brinegar shared that the night prior to the meeting, a boy crossing Center Street and Hill Street almost got hit by a car. “He had to stop and back up for the car that was coming fast down the street. He stepped toward the intersection again and the next car came up behind, and it turned in front of him and his dogs… The dogs could be the ones to take the hit. It could be a child. That is my concern,” said Brinegar. “I understand that it is a state road. I did not know if anything had been done as a change of jurisdiction since last year.”
She also shared that despite signs at both ends of the street that say no through trucks, she sees all types of farm equipment and Duplin County trucks on that road. “My understanding is they are illegal because it is a state road and —it says no through trucks. The trucks that I’ve been seeing out there are Duplin County trucks. The speed up and down that road, I can hear them at the stoplight... I can hear them revving their engines. They come flying across there and fly down the street all the way to the end. It happens almost every day.” Elizabeth Myer was next to address the board. She asked about reimbursement owed for
repairs done to a sewer line in October 2023. She also asked for updates about stormwater repairs for East Plank Road. “I wanted to get an update on if you are working on stormwater, the progress of that, because it is still flooding just as bad as it See WARSAW, page 6
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