After enjoying the holidays, Bladen County began the new year in high gear. There were arrests, court cases, a new business opening, pot holes in roads causing problems, roadside litter drawing attention, the first baby of the year was born, and two women from Bladenboro starring in season 17 of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.”
Here are some of the highlights:
** On Monday, Jan. 4, many people in Bladen County were tuned in to watch “The Biggest Loser.” Bladenboro’s Vicki and Lauren Clark are participants.
** The first baby of 2016 was born on Saturday, Jan. 2 at Cape Fear Valley-Bladen County Hospital in Elizabethtown. Ayden Jah’Mir Lacewell (pictured, left) entered the world at 8:34 p.m.
** Bladen County is now home for the corporate headquarters of Cerno Veritas, Inc. (CVI), a private investigations firm which provides a variety of professional investigative services throughout the state.
** A co-owner of a popular White Lake business was indicted by a Bladen County Grand Jury with multiple sex offenses following a complaint from a parent about a child being improperly touched while working at the business.
** The White Lake Police Department charged three people in connection to a series of larcenies that took place between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7, 2015.
** An Elizabethtown teenager rejected a plea offer by the state and will stand trial on an attempted murder charge. Marquail Dashawn McKoy, 17, rejected a plea offer of discharging a weapon into occupied property that would carry a sentence between 51 and 74 months.
** Montise Arman Mitchell had his bond set at $3 million on his first degree murder charge in the shooting death of a Dublin man in November.
** The Holiday Booze It and Lose It Campaign by the North Carolina Highway Patrol found 10 drivers arrested in Bladen County on DWI charges.
** The air was thick as the commissioners again struggled through discussions about who is sitting where, who said what, and where are the banks at, but they pushed through the agenda at the Bladen County Board of Commissioners’ first meeting of the new year.
** The Bladen County Board of Commissioners welcomed the new Human Resources Director for the county, Shonteia Keaton (pictured, right).
** Many drivers throughout the county have been encountering a dreaded road hazard lately due to the recent rainfall we have received. It’s pot holes.
** Bladen County roadsides and parking areas are looking a little less than neat lately. Some residents would like to see a cleaner neater county with a little less litter in parking lots and along roadsides.
** Senior Lacey Suggs posted a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds Friday, Jan. 8 to lead the East Bladen Lady Eagles to a 48-37 Four County Conference girls basketball victory at Wallace-Rose Hill. East Bladen is 15-0 and continues to be ranked No. 1 in the NCPreps.com/High School Media Class 2A state poll.
** West Bladen overcame a 14-point deficit and rode a 23-7 closing blitz to a key 70-65 Four County Conference boys basketball victory at Clinton on Friday, Jan. 8. It was the Dark Horses’ first conference loss.
** Alanna Ludlum sparked a 7-0 closing run, and Laikyn Pait posted a double-double with 31 points and 15 rebounds as West Bladen’s Lady Knights won a triple overtime marathon over visiting Pender 62-56 on Wednesday, Jan. 6 in Four County Conference girls basketball action.
** Students in the 21st CCLC curriculum at Clarkton School of Discovery spent Thursday, Jan. 7 learning about DNA and blood typing onboard the DESTINY Traveling Science Lab.
** For many folks New Years Eve is a time of making merry and making resolutions, but, for many folks in Bladen County, New Years Eve came in rather quietly. The Venue at White Lake was the spot for many of you to ring in the New Year in Bladen County.
That’s the week that was in Bladen County.
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