Local schools to start late on Wednesday

Local schools will operate on a delayed schedule on Wednesday.

Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools and administrative offices will operate on a two-hour delay. Edgecombe County Public Schools will operate on a three-hour delay for all students and staff.

Nash Community College and the Child Development Center will operate on a two-hour delay. Edgecombe Community College will close its campuses at 5 p.m. Tuesday and open at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

All Nash County government offices also will delay opening until 10 a.m.

The move came after the National Weather Service in Raleigh issued a winter storm watch for parts of North Carolina for Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, including the Twin Counties. (Source:  Read more)

Officials want citizens to know their rights – Rocky Mount Telegram

Local officials are taking a proactive approach to nationwide encounters between police and the public by hosting an informative presentation on Thursday.

“In light of recent events going on across the country, we want to be as proactive as possible in engaging the community and building trust with the citizens,” Rocky Mount police Community Resource Officer Brad Summerlin said.

Know Your Rights: The Law and You will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Rocky Mount City Council Chambers at City Hall, 331 S. Franklin St. Officials from the police department, authorities from Nash and Edgecombe sheriff’s departments, the city’s Human Relations Commission and local attorneys will work together to discuss a variety of topics related to people’s rights. (Source: Read more)

Butterfield: New Black Caucus Chair Talks Black Agenda + Strategy – Crew of 42

If you were the new Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) beginning your time as Chairman when the first Black President of the United States was in his last two years, what would your plan be?

If you were Chair at a time when Republicans held a record number of House seats — the most since 1928 — and the stats for Black Americans were getting worse, what would your plan be?  If that first Black President on his way out the door wasn’t all that excited about Black agenda items and rarely connects with members of Congress, what would be the plan?

These are the questions that the new Black Caucus Chairman, Congressman G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, has to confront over the next two years.  Presidential politics have already begun to take the stage at the start of 2015 as a lame-duck President notorious for not connecting with members of his own party in Congress begins to announce policy objectives. (Source: Read more)

When Folks Learn Who The NAACP Is Then The Better Off They Will Be

“When folks white, black, brown and other learn who the NAACP is then the better off they will be. The NAACP is not local president, state president and/or the national president. You see the NAACP was in place before any of the people serving in these capacities were born and will be in place when these folks no longer exist. So while you are mad as hell with certain folks because they speak truth to power, you will be mad as hell all the days of your life because even when these folks do not hold these offices, the mission will not change and the mission will continue to be carried out.” Curmilus Dancy II 2nd Vice President Rocky Mount NC Branch/Life Fully Paid Member Sunday January 11, 2015

I Know Some Folks

Because I got involved in community activism and political activism in the late 80’s not because I was having problems, but because I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless ie: children and the elderly I know some folks across the state.

I haven’t been to meetings across the state over the last I don’t know how many years that I didn’t know many of the folks in the room.

On last Saturday, January 3rd I was in Bertie County Ahoskie and Windsor NC covering the swearing in/inaugural for NC Senator Erica Smith-Ingram and I was in the presence of several folks whom I met years ago.

On yesterday Saturday January 10th I was in my home area Edgecombe County Rocky Mount NC covering NC House Rep. Shelly Willingham’s swearing in ceremony and folks from several counties were present. I knew many of them.

I feel so good when I go places and be in the presence of folks I have met over the years whom are trying to make NC a better place to live, work and play.

If you are reading this and you live outside of Edgecombe County, I want to say it was good being in your presence over the past 2 weekends and I will probably see you next month as I travel to Raleigh to cover the HKonJ.

So Patricia Ferguson Bertie County, Fred Yates, James Sears Perquimans County, Rep. Larry Hall Durham, Ronnie Smith Martin County, Mary Williams and Ann Huggins Pitt County, Peter Grear Wilmington NC, N Carnell Robinson Dunn NC, to name a few, until we meet again.

The Kochs’ Very Profitable War On Busses and Mass Transit – Politicususa

Anyone even remotely familiar with the Koch brothers is aware the billionaire oil magnates are pro-anything that translates into more personal profits for themselves, and anti-anything that does not explicitly advance their business interests and increase their wealth. Inherent in increasing their wealth is promoting policies and agendas that force Americans to buy more gasoline which is why there is a dearth of options to driving a car on this sad country’s pitiful roads,  and why America’s mass transit systems lag the rest of the civilized world. Whether it is paying Republican governors, state legislators, or congressional representatives the Kochs are behind every last effort to kill alternatives to driving. They have successfully blocked several states’ high speed rail projects, and obstructed community progress on bike lanes, light rail, bus rapid transit, or urban communities’ “walkability” factor; any mode of transportation that keeps Americans from driving cars and purchasing gas. (Source: Read more)

Supreme Court rejects new challenge to Obamacare law – RawStory

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up another broad challenge to President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The court rejected an appeal filed by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the Alliance for Natural Health USA. The groups had challenged various aspects of the law known as Obamacare including the so-called individual mandate that requires people to obtain health insurance or pay a tax.

In March 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the Obama administration. In 2012, a district court judge also ruled against the challengers.

The 2010 healthcare law has been subjected to numerous legal challenges, including a key 2012 case in which the Supreme Court upheld the bulk of the law on a 5-4 vote. (Source: Read more)

NC education department used Koch-funded group for proposed history lessons – News & Observer

State high school social studies teachers would be encouraged to use curriculum materials prepared by an institute funded by the conservative Koch family, under a proposal the Department of Public Instruction presented Wednesday.

The Bill of Rights Institute, based in Virginia, had a $100,000, sole-source contract with the state to help develop materials for teachers to use in a course on founding principles that the state requires students to take. The institute was founded in 1999 and receives grants from David H. Koch, the Charles Koch Foundation, and the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation, according to a website on Koch family philanthropies. (Source: Read more)

Photo stirring emotion – Rocky Mount Telegram

The Political Agitator response: I just don’t understand why this is a paid article when so many folks can’t afford to buy a newspaper but could see it free online.

A recent tension-filled Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education meeting continues to produce dissatisfaction and disappointment from community members and parents toward the school board and administration for the handling of a controversial Internet photo of six female high school students dressed similar to costumes resembling the Klu Klux Klan.

The photo was posted on Instagram during the Thanksgiving holiday break in the wake of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson said while the picture of the girls was offensive to many given the state’s painful history of racial strife and established KKK groups, the school system didn’t have the power to punish the students based on the where the incident occurred. (Source: Read more)

Judge could end feud between Dr. King’s children over his bible, Nobel Peace Prize medal

The Political Agitator response: This is just so sad.

Both relics reside in a safe deposit box, the keys held since March by an Atlanta judge presiding over the latest — and in many eyes, the ugliest — fight between King’s heirs.

The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc., which is controlled by Martin Luther King III and his younger brother, Dexter Scott King, asked a judge a year ago to order their sister Bernice to turn over their father’s Nobel medal and traveling Bible. The brothers want to sell them to a private buyer.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney could decide the case at a hearing Tuesday or let it go to trial. He said when he ordered Bernice to hand over the Bible and medal to the court’s custody that it appeared likely the estate will win the case. (Source: Read more)

Photos/Video: Community Worship Service Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin L. King Rev. Ricky L. Freeman Pastor Sunset Church of God Tarboro, NC

The message for the evening was “The Famine Is Over! I Come To Get My Stuff Back!”

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Black On Black Crime

Been addressing it for many years but what does that have to do with me addressing police brutality and other mess?

Now what?

Questions for the day!

So is “Our” President is responsible for how corporations treat their employees?

So is he is the reason why they changed to what they offer employees such as eliminating pension plans, 401K, insurance and etc.?

So the President is telling them how to treat their employees or is this something that the employers are doing and using “Our” President to do what they do to make the people mad with him.

Now that is how my ignant a… see it. But I am quite sure some others have the answers so now that I have put the questions out there, bring it on!

Senator District 3 I Am Happy To See A Black Female In Raleigh Representing The East

Beginning in January 2015 The DCN News Blog Online TV began capturing history in the making traveling to Bertie County covering Senator Erica Smith-Ingram’s swearing in/inaugural events. She has 8 counties and just look at how many folks can have access to this historical moment as she become the first black male or female to hold this seat since it was created for a majority black to represent us in the east. However former Senator Clark Jenkins Edgecombe County has held the seat since it was first created.

Although I have supported Jenkins over the years, I didn’t support him when he was first elected. I supported Patricia Ferguson Bertie County for the seat and she was blackballed by several black leaders here in Edgecombe County. However she was more than well qualified. I also supported Frankie Bordeaux and Shelly Willingham when they ran against Jenkins during a couple of elections. But I did support him during several of his elections and when I met with him, I told him there was nothing he could do for me that when the Boys & Girls Club and others contacted him for his support, that that is what I want to hear that he did along with making sure he represented the east well.

I didn’t support Erica Smith-Ingram during the past election because I didn’t know her or anything about her. I seen her for the 1st time at the Edgecombe County Human Relations Candidates Forum a couple of weeks before election time. When she got the opportunity to call me in the last hours I explained to her that I couldn’t publicly support her in Edgecombe County because I had nothing to share with folks about her in order to convince them to vote for her. However listening to her speak at the forum and having a phone conversation with her, I felt she would do a great job if she won. My words to her was when she win I would be one of her strongest supporters. So although I endorsed Jenkins because that is who the people in Edgecombe County knew, my heart was with Smith-Ingram.

So for all of those ignant to the facts white, black, brown and other to who I am and have labeled me as a racist, militant and other, I stand for justice no matter who it is for or against. Now if I was the racist that ignant white folks would have you to believe, I would have endorsed Erica Smith-Ingram just because she was black and I could have done that because I don’t see anything wrong with that. However when it comes to politics and asking other folks do things, you have to take things in a different perspective if you don’t know all of the candidates. Now hearing Smith-Ingram campaign speech, she reminded me of Patricia Ferguson whom ran for the same seat because I said hearing Ferguson speak at the 1st Congressional District meetings recognizing that she was a Bertie County Commissioner that she was a powerful black woman. I said if there ever came a time that I could vote for her, that I would so when the time came it was easy for me to choose her over Clark Jenkins. Although Jenkins lived here in Edgecombe County all I knew about him was he was rich and had a couple of businesses here however he had never been to a Democratic Party meeting.

I don’t think that my new senator can say she can’t trust that I will not be one of her strongest supporters because I was straight up with her. I told her why I couldn’t endorse her in Edgecombe County because I knew the mindset of the people here. I can say I voted for her but didn’t endorse her but I didn’t tell her that I was going to vote for her. What I did tell her is that I look at politics in a very peculiar way. I look at where I stand and I look at where the county stand because I am very active serving as a precinct chair and as former 3rd, 2nd and 1st vice chair of the Edgecombe County Democratic Party. I also served as the county chair after being appointed in 1998 –1999 to serve the unexpired term of Roy Gray who stepped down to go to work with former Congresswoman Eva Clayton.

Now don’t get it twisted because you see when Roy stepped down I was the 3rd vice chair, Celestine Lyons was the 1st vice and she had to step down because she was running for a county commissioner seat against another Democrat T.C. Cherry and 2nd vice Mayor Vines Cobb had had surgery and didn’t want to take on the position. I didn’t go to the meeting to become the chair but while there, Taro Knight called me outside and said man you got to move up. I said well I don’t want to but I will. Mind you I had filed to run for a seat on the Edgecombe County School Board but that would not be a problem because the school board was a non-partisan seat so if I was appointed I could do both.

Well of course Rev. Roosevelt Higgs as he always do either nominates himself or one of his closest allies nominates him. Taro nominated me and I was appointed.

I am looking forward to working with and holding my new Senator Erica Smith-Ingram accountable for representing us well in the east. You too have a role to play so get involved or sit down and shut up because ain’t nobody got time to be getting side-tracked by the old political games that have been played. I am going to call folks out more than ever because we are living in some crucial times. I ain’t got time to fight that other party and especially registered Democrats who are really Republicans. My new Senator has enough on her hands as she got to go into the fiery furnace to fight that other party.

Oh by the way I told someone when I seen Erica Smith-Ingram during the Human Relations Candidates Forum that after hearing her speak and seeing how beautiful she is, I would vote for her 2 times if I could. But the funniest thing was when I arrived at the church for her swearing in ceremony I congratulated her twice before the event began to find out that it was not her. She has an identical twin sister so therefore after seeing her, I would now say I would vote for her 4 times if I could. LOL!

Folks it is time to go to work and let’s pray for our new Senator Erica Smith-Ingram and to keep her encouraged so she can represent us well in Raleigh.

Senator Erica Smith-Ingram will be the speaker for the Dr. MLK Jr. Breakfast on Monday January 19, 2015 8:00 AM at the Edgecombe County Administrative Building 201 St. Andrews Street Tarboro NC.

Bad behavior on social media can cost recruits – Yahoo Sports

At St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama, the high school that produced Crimson Tide quarterbacks AJ McCarron and Jake Coker, there’s a new preseason ritual for football players: the social media talk.

It’s about more than minding their manners. Coach Steve Mask warns players not to post about injuries, which can scare away recruiters. Committing on Twitter to a school is also discouraged – one recent former player tweeted commitments to four different schools without informing any coaches.

”He came across as being not reliable,” Mask said. ”He gets a little joy out of the attention, but it’s not worth it.” (Source: Read more)