VOLUME 9 ISSUE 24 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2024
DUPLINJOURNAL.COM
Duplin Journal THE DUPLIN COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Local families visited the Duplin County Health Department on Thursday, Aug. 1, to participate in the back-to-school vaccination event. After the children received their immunizations, the families met with area agencies and vendors who provided free school supplies, goodies, and informational resources.
PHOTO BY ENA SELLERS / DUPLIN JOURNAL
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BRIEF this week
Nominations for 2024 Farmer of the Year, 2024 Young Farmer of the Year being accepted Statewide Send in your nominations for the 2024 Farmer of the Year and 2024 Young Farmer of the Year. The top three candidates will be honored at the North Carolina Farmers Appreciation Celebration on Nov. 4 in Raleigh. Awards include $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for 2nd place and $2,000 for 3rd place. NC State Grange will also provide $500, $300 and $200 for respective county applicant sponsors. If you know a farmer deserving of this recognition, visit N.C. Farmers Appreciation Day to nominate them.
JSCC celebrates innovative partnership Box-to-Bowl smart farm is North Carolina community colleges’ first hydroponic container By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal JULY 29 MARKED a special milestone for James Sprunt Community College as approximately 100 guests including local, regional and state leadership gathered at JSCC’s WestPark Campus to celebrate the ribbon-cutting ceremony of North Carolina community colleges’ first hydroponic smart farm container. The Box-to-Bowl smart farm is the product of a partnership between Four County EMC, North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, JSCC and Duplin County supported by a grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund. Thanks to this joint effort pioneering sustainable agriculture and local food production, See FARM, page 6
PHOTO COURTESY FOUR COUNTY ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION
From left to right are William Upchurch, Joseph Brannan, Franklin Williams, Anita Powers, Jay Carraway, Don Gatton, Dexter Edwards, Rep. Jimmy Dixon and Sen. Brent Jackson, joined by guests in front of the James Sprunt Community College smart farm at the WestPark Campus in Warsaw as they celebrate the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the state-of-the-art container farm.
Eligible ag workers can receive $600 one-time payment Duplin County Mt. Calvary Center for Leadership Development in partnership with the Hispanic Federation is distributing a one-time $600 payment to eligible agricultural and meat processing plant workers. To be eligible, the applicant must have worked in the agriculture or food processing industry between Jan. 27, 2020, and May 11, 2023. Applicants will be required to show a photo identification and a pay stub or W2 from the eligible period. Call 910-665-1352 for more information.
Large animal veterinarians may apply for $25K grant Duplin County The NCDA is calling all large animal veterinarians in the state as they are now eligible to apply for up to $25,000 in grants to help support their large animal practice. The deadline is Aug. 16. The funding opportunity is available to veterinarians who spend 30% or more of their patient care involved in large animal veterinary care. Visit ncagr.govfor more details.
Participate on DCPC Bicycle Helmet Giveaway on Aug. 17 Duplin County Duplin County Partnership for Children will host a Bicycle Helmet Giveaway during their Back-To-School Community Day Event on Aug. 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1333 West Charity Rd. in Rose Hill. Recipients must be present to be fitted for their free helmet.
For the story, turn to page 3.
Matthew Neal was arrested on July 31 at his residence in Pink Hill and charged with felony and misdemeanor cruelty to animals.
PHOTO COURTESY LENOIR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Viral Facebook video leads to arrest of dog abuser Matthew Neal of Pink Hill was arrested and charged with animal cruelty By Abby Cavenaugh Duplin Journal A PINK HILL man was arrested and faces multiple animal cruelty charges after a video surfaced on social media platform Facebook that appeared to show him beating a dog under his care at East Carolina Retrievers. Matthew Neal, 32, was arrested by Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office deputies at 12:30 a.m. on July 31 at his residence on Ash Davis Road in Pink Hill. Neal was charged with nine counts of felony cruelty to animals in Lenoir County and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals in Duplin County. His bond was set at $47,000. “We confiscated the 11 dogs on the property,” Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers said after the arrest. “They will be housed in a safe location this morning.” The LCSO was assisted by the Lenoir County Animal Control unit, the Craven County Sheriff’s Office’s Animal Control unit and Duplin County Animal Control. “We are truly appreciative of the assistance we received from the other agencies,” Rogers said.
“We would also like to thank the citizens and the incredible residents who have come forward and made statements to make today’s arrest possible.” East Carolina Retrievers’ Facebook page states that it is a dog training facility, working with hunting retrievers, field trials, hunting tests and gun dogs. The website is currently down. A Facebook post from 2019 states, “Our goal is to bring the absolute best out in every dog we are fortunate enough to train. With a proven training program paired with hard work day in and day out, we can help build the gun dog you’ve always wanted.” The video surfaced on July 30 and garnered more than 100,000 views from all over the country. In the video, Neal appears to repeatedly beat a black dog. Rogers called it “disturbing” and said, “While I am sheriff, I can assure the residents of Lenoir County that everyone, regardless of income level, race, social status or any other factor, will be held accountable for their crimes.” The warrants for Neal’s arrest detail his mistreatment of animals, including beating a puppy 52 times with a PVC heeling stick, misuse of a shock collar on multiple dogs, and choking and beating several different dogs.
Pets can get shelter at new animal services facility if residents must evacuate County Commissioners approved an amendment to increase funding for a water supply well project By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal KENANSVILLE — Duplin County Emergency Management Services officials attended the County Commissioners meeting on Aug. 5 to provide a briefing on Tropical Storm Debby. “A stall in the system is expected and will cause increased rainfall amounts, resulting in widespread flooding. It’s going to be a prolonged event spanning three to four days,” EMS officials told the Board of County Commissioners. “Rainfall amounts may exceed 10 inches. Right now, they are calling 8 to 12 inches for the northern part of the county and 12 to 16 inches for the southern part of the county. Again, river flooding chances will increase late into the week. “With this storm traveling over the water as disorganized as it was in the beginning and then gaining some strength, going over land, then back over water eventually as it comes out of the Savannah area, it is very unpredictable.” Tropical Storm Debby is expected to bring heavy rain, flash flooding and potential river flooding late into the weekend and early next week, according to EMS officials. They emphasized that Debby will not be a normal storm. “It is not going to be over in 24 to 36 hours,” officials said. “We’re not going to get 10 to 12 inches of rain in 24 hours. I like to describe this one as
a sneaky little hurricane because it is only going to give us an inch and a half, two inches of rain every 12 hours. But that cumulative total is eventually going to count and add up to something that could be disastrous.” The good news for residents who have pets is that they will be able to take them to the Animal Services Care and Adoption Center if evacuation is ever believed necessary. “Our operating policy now that we have the Animal Services Care and Adoption Center that has backup generator power is that our residents would take their animals and leave them in the care of our animal services department, and then they would proceed to the human shelter wherever we designate — if we do that.” County Manager Bryan Miller thanked the emergency management team, adding that they have done a tremendous job preparing ahead for situations like this. “They started a month and a half ago having conversations with the health department and DSS on shelter operations and the expectations they had, and these things are playing out today. They have done a tremendous job preparing for this,” said Miller. “I feel very confident that they’ve got everything in line and a firm grasp on everything that we See COUNTY, page 12
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