The skeletal remains of a woman missing since January of 2007 were found in a wooded area in Scotland Neck.
Roses is returning to Roanoke Rapids and a new auto parts store will build on property where the former Barfield Chiropractor office was located off Julian R. Allsbrook Highway.
Roses will be located in the current Maxway building in the Great Falls Shopping Center and will also use the Dollar General building and part of the Goody’s building, according to the city’s Planning and Development Department.
A spokesperson for Variety Wholesalers could not be reached for immediate comment today.
Planning and Development Director Amanda Jarratt said up fit plans have been submitted for Roses.
Site plans have also been submitted for a new O’Reilly Auto Parts store, which plans to build a 7,225 square feet building on the vacant lot where the old chiropractor’s office was located.
The proliferation of Internet cafes across the state and city are the reason the Roanoke Rapids Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the matter Thursday, according to a memo from Planning and Development Director Amanda Jarratt.
“Electronic gaming operations also known as ‘Internet Cafes’ have been multiplying across North Carolina in recent months,” the March 9 memo to planning board members says.
Jarratt explains customers at these businesses buy Internet time on computers and that time comes with points to use in sweepstakes games offered by a specific Internet provider. “The games, with names like ‘Stars and Stripes,’ offer players a chance to win more points, which they can use to continue playing or trade in for a cash payout.”
The memo notes these sweepstakes and cafes are not video poker machines which were banned by the General Assembly in 2007.
“In recent months, Roanoke Rapids has seen an increased request to operate Internet Cafes,” the memo says. “Currently there are (seven) facilities operating in the City. The City of Roanoke Rapids Land Use Ordinance does not specifically address this type of use and as a result staff has drafted conditions for consideration by the Planning Board.”
The planning board last month recommended a public hearing on the matter, the memo says.
Under the proposal, which will be considered at a 5:30 p.m. public hearing in the first floor conference room of city hall, the businesses would be allowed under the category of recreational, amusement and entertainment and be a conditional use as electronic gaming operations in the B-4 and I-1 districts.
The proposal would call for the following regulations:
• 8 a.m. to midnight hours.
• 500 feet from any residence or residential zoning district.
• 1,000 feet from any church, religious institution, day care center, public or private schools, public park or playground, public library, cemetery, video arcade or theater which shows G or PG movies regularly.
• 1,000 feet away from any existing electronic gaming operation, tattoo and body piercing establishment or adult and sexually oriented business.
• No more than 20 electronic gaming machines operating in any location.
• The machines or terminals must not be prohibited by state or federal law and must have applicable licenses and permits.
• No alcoholic beverages may be served or consumed on the premises.
The proposal also addresses parking with a requirement of 1.5 parking spaces for every two electronic gaming machines plus one space for each employee on shift of greatest employment.
Current locations
• 1114 Julian R. Allsbrook Highway
• 1740 Julian R. Allsbrook Highway
• 1308 East Tenth Street
• 112 East Tenth Street
• 1052 East Tenth Street
• 291 Premier Boulevard
• Second floor of Jackpot Bingo
The Roanoke Rapids Police Department reported the following:
• A New Bern man was arrested Thursday for the theft of a $25,000 sound board from the Roanoke Rapids Theatre.
Chief Jeff Hinton said Jason Louis Lis, 29, was arrested by detectives Charles Vaught and Corey Dixon and charged with felonious larceny and possession of stolen goods.
Lis was arrested in Havelock by city and Havelock detectives.
The sound board was recovered. Lis went before a magistrate in Havelock for bond purposes.
• Richard James Bain II, 71, of Roanoke Rapids was arrested around noon Thursday by Officer T.L. Mason and charged with being a sex offender on school property.
Hinton said Bain was on Manning Elementary School property to pick up a friend's child and had a female accompany him. His court date is April 7 and he went to jail on $10,000 bond.
Roanoke Rapids will begin looking at Internet sweepstakes cafes from a zoning standpoint, City Manager Paul Sabiston said today.
Lafayette Gatling was given a flexible option to settle his debt with the city, its attorney, Gilbert Chichester, said today.
In what Chichester said was not a “drop dead letter” the city would allow Gatling to pay his February debt on the Roanoke Rapids Theatre and allow him additional time to make his March payment.
Chichester would not divulge further terms of the proposal citing ongoing negotiations. He did confirm the terms the city is offering are fair to Gatling as well as the city. If the undisclosed deadline is not met the city could start default proceedings.
“We want the theater to work,” Chichester said.
As of this afternoon the city had not received Gatling’s payment. The total Gatling owes is $196,406.98, rrspin.com first reported last week. Half is for February and the remainder is for this month.
Reached Wednesday in Chicago Gatling said he was with a family discussing funeral arrangements and could not talk. He did say arrangements were being made to pay the debt. Returning a followup call this afternoon Gatling said he could still not immediately discuss the matter.
In updates contained in Tuesday’s city council agenda packet, the city said it was told the payment could be expected by the end of the week and notes additional information requested by Bank of America has been forwarded.
What started as a way to help the Christmas for Kids program has turned into a full time venture for Elizabeth Branham.
District Attorney Melissa Pelfrey says Clarence Burgess Jr., charged in two Christmas season bank robberies, was released from jail on $8,000 bond because of miscommunication between her office and the clerk of courts office.
Pelfrey declined to elaborate but did tell rrspin.com “steps were being taken” to correct the miscommunication.
Burgess had his bond reduced from $1 million to $8,000 in two Christmas season bank robberies and was charged last Wednesday in a break-in at Chaloner Middle School and a burglary at Forest Hills apartments, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said.
Burgess, 25, who was charged in the New Republic and First Citizens bank robberies, and Jermaine Hale, face charges of breaking and entering, larceny, possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy at Chaloner Middle School.
Burgess was also charged with felony possession of stolen property in the Forest Hills burglary. Hale, 23, was charged with second-degree burglary, possession of stolen goods and felony larceny.
Burgess was taken into custody and jailed on $100,000 bond. The property belonging to the school, computer equipment, was recovered. The police department has asked the district attorney’s office to revoke Burgess’s bank robbery bond.
Sometime after his arrest on the bank robbery charges in December, Burgess was released from jail on $8,000 bond after it was reduced from $1 million.
When he was arrested on the bank robbery charges, Burgess was abusive, made threats against police and used racial slurs as he was taken into custody.
A magistrate gave Burgess 30 days in jail for contempt of court.
A group of event planners hope to fill the Roanoke Rapids Theatre April 3 with an Easter party dubbed Bunnies in Stilettos.
Citizen complaints led to a drug arrest today on Poplar Street in Scotland Neck.
Lieutenant Chuck Hasty of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said the narcotics unit received complaints and tips from Crimestoppers.
Agents arrested Laresha Donnese Williams of Scotland Neck at the house and she was charged with possession of marijuana. She has a court date of May 5 and her bond was $500.
Agents seized marijuana and other drug paraphernalia from the house.
Weldon Police Department Officer Chris Buffaloe and his dog Tyson assisted in the investigation.
The Halifax County Sheriff's Office reported the following:
• A car break-in off Ashford Drive in Roanoke Rapids where a small amount of money was stolen.
Major Bruce Temple said the crime occurred on February 26 in the late night hours.
The car was unsecured at the time.
• A residential break-in that occurred on March 5 in the 1900 block of Justice Branch Road in Littleton. A Samsung 52-inch screen television was stolen from the home. Temple said the entrance to the home was gated and someone may remember seeing a suspicious vehicle along the roadway or nearby paths.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.
A 50-year-old Roanoke Rapids man was beaten and robbed Monday night, according to police Chief Jeff Hinton.
Henry Collins, who is also known as Digger Man, was walking in the Fourth Avenue area from Wal-Mart around 8 p.m. when two black males came out of the woods, hit him and knocked him down.
They took his wallet, $6 and a key ring.
Hinton said a woman saw him on Medical Drive and said he couldn’t see well because he didn’t have his glasses.
Collins was treated for cuts and bruises at Halifax Regional Medical Center.
Police continue to investigate the common law robbery. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the police department at 252-533-2810 or Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.
The Roanoke Rapids Theatre says it can make its nearly $197,000 payment to the city by the end of the week, City Manager Paul Sabiston told council tonight.
