VOLUME 9 ISSUE 18 | THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2024
DUPLINJOURNAL.COM
Duplin Journal THE DUPLIN COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
inside The town of Teachey celebrated Juneteenth on Saturday, June 22, at the town park. First Baptist Church of Teachey Pastor Danielle Glaze emceed the event and recognized Little Miss Strawberry Dylan Dixon, left, and 7-year-old entrepreneur T’yonna Evans at the start of the event. See more on Page 12.
ABBY CAVENAUGH / DUPLIN JOURNAL
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DCBOE welcomes new director 5 BRIEF months before presidential election this week Wallace man charged with sexual exploitation of minor, jailed under $1M bond Wallace Shawn Keith Green, 53, was arrested on June 18 and charged with 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 10 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after a joint operation between the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service was conducted leading to his arrest for receiving and possessing child pornography. Green was taken before a magistrate and received a $1 million secured bond. He is currently in the Duplin County Detention Center. DJS
Qualified families with school-aged children can receive $120 in grocery benefits Statewide SUN Bucks, a new food assistance program, will be providing a onetime payment of $120 in grocery benefits throughout the summer to qualified families with school-aged children. Applications must be submitted by Aug. 31. Children automatically qualify for the SUN Bucks program if they have been approved for free or reduced-price meal benefits during the school year. Visit the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services website at ncdhhs.gov for more information.
Duplin sees an influx of voter registrations By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal WARSAW — The Duplin County Board of Elections recently welcomed its new director, Carrie Sullivan, who took over the role left by former director Jasmine Gadsden. Sullivan was sworn in June 6. While Sullivan is new to the role, she is not new to the Board of Elections or the electoral process. The Wallace resident started her journey with the Duplin County Board of Elections in 2020 working her way up to deputy director. Sullivan was named interim director in April when Gadsden announced her resignation to pursue other interests. “I came into the position of deputy director about 21⁄2 years ago and then, after Jasmine left, I stepped into this role,” Sullivan said. When asked how she felt about elevating into the director role only five months away from the presidential election, Sullivan said she felt confident. “I worked in a precinct on Election Day for the last presidential. So I have been out there and experienced that portion of it,” Sullivan said. “There are a few other duties that were not part of my wheelhouse before I had this position. But being that I have worked in the elections now for a couple of years, I feel confident. “I have a great relationship with all our precinct officials because I was the one that was over all the training, the correspondence with them. ... I am confident that we are going to
ENA SELLERS / DUPLIN JOURNAL
Carrie Sullivan, Duplin County Board of Elections director, sat with Duplin Journal last week to talk about her new role and the DCBOE preparations as elections approach. get through it, nervous just because it is a big presidential election to really have my name on for the first time. But I am confident.” Sullivan shared that they are seeing an abundance of voter registrations. “There are a lot of people out doing registration drives, so we are seeing an influx of them,” Sullivan told Duplin Journal, adding that the state is also seeing a huge amount to the point that they are sorting them every day. She also shared that they are having a lot of correspondence with voters and answering questions.
“We’re in a very big presidential year, so we all remember how the last one went — there was a lot of confusion. What we want to do is make sure that we don’t allow that confusion in Duplin County. We want to make sure that we are open and available for them.” There are many processes that go on behind the scenes as officials prepare for Election Day. Among them is ensuring that anytime new streets are added in the county, that they are entered into the system so those voters are placed in the correct precinct that way when the ballots are made, each one is assigned to the correct voter.
Another important weekly process is list maintenance, for which they monitor new felonies and deaths. “We remove the felons off the list,” Sullivan said. “If there are any deaths, we have to process that and remove them off just so that we are making sure that we have the most active registration so that there is nothing that anybody can worry about. Nobody can vote on anything that is not their own.” She added that the monitoring used to be a monthly task, but the state requires it now to be done weekly so everything is maintained and up to date. See ELECTIONS, page 6
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June is National Homeownership Month Statewide The U.S. Department of Agriculture is highlighting resources to help potential homebuyers as part of National Homeownership Month. Visit eligibility. sc.egov.usda.gov to learn about eligibility requirements through the USDA’s Single Family Housing Self-Assessment website. DJS
Organic Certification Cost Share applications available Statewide Organic producers and handlers may apply for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program now through Oct. 3. The program covers up to 75% of their organic certification costs at a maximum of $750 per certification category. For information, visit fsa.usda.gov or call 910-296-2193. DJS
Inmate dies at Duplin County Detention Center The SBI is investigating the death of a female inmate who was found unresponsive By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal A 42-YEAR-OLD INMATE at the Duplin County Detention Center in Kenansville was found unresponsive on Tuesday, June 11, at approximately 2 a.m. and was pronounced dead shortly after. Sheriff Stratton Stokes said jailers administered CPR on Christie Alexandria Bell until EMS arrived, but she was pronounced dead approximately 30 minutes later. Sheriff Stokes said they called the State Bureau of Investigation, following standard protocol, and are awaiting the autopsy results to determine the cause of death. The sheriff told Duplin Journal there was no indication of any type of trauma. Bell, who was arrested on June 9 on second-degree trespassing charges, was in the main holding cell where all the females are housed when she was found unresponsive. SBI officials said the investigation remains ongoing, and no additional information is available at this time.
Corn yields at risk due to abnormally dry weather The lack of significant rainfall means smaller harvests for Duplin farms By Abby Cavenaugh Duplin Journal IT’S BEEN ABOUT a month since Duplin County saw significant rainfall — and area farmers are starting to feel their hopes for a successful yield dry up like the corn stalks in their fields. “Basically, we are a bit on the dry side and it is starting to affect crops,” said Della King, field crops agent for Duplin County Cooperative Extension. “With the lack of rain and the heat, especially from a corn standpoint, you don’t get pollination of the ears that you need.” Since the beginning of June, the county has totaled just 0.26 inches in rainfall, and on top of that, temperatures are inch-
ing into the low to mid-90s most days. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows all of eastern North Carolina as abnormally dry. (Up-to-date maps can be viewed at Drought.gov.) “A lot of crops are burning up in the field,” King said. “When that happens, the corn is not going to make. The plants will just shut down.” And even though the area saw a spattering of rain on Friday and scattered storms on Monday, it may be too little too late. “When crops get to a certain point, they will not See CORN, page 5
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