Paul Sabiston is here. Pete Connet is leaving.

Sabiston, the new Roanoke Rapids city manager started today, meeting employees, getting briefed by Connet, the interim city manager who will leave Thursday.

“Pete is updating me on various projects and issues,” Sabiston said today at city hall. “I’ve talked to the mayor. I’ve met with all the department heads.”

The new city manager also plans to meet with city council members before the panel’s next meeting, he said.

There are also routine matters he must take care of, learning city policies and procedures, development standards and codes. “We’re still going through things to determine the different projects and day-to-day operations,” the former town administrator of Shallotte said.

Connet said he has been answering questions and briefing Sabiston on issues such as the Brandy Creek community. Several matters like an odor in the community have been taken care of, he said.

Sabiston comes to the city as its fund balance improves, an improvement coming from actions taken by city council earlier in the year to keep it from falling below the 8 percent threshold required by the N.C. League of Municipalities. “It shows the staff and city council did the right thing,” he said. “We’ve got a good budget.”

Measures taken by council when the city learned in February it faced a $664,000 shortfall mean when it closed the books at the end of June, its fund balance increased 8.9 percent for a total of 17.2 percent. That represents a $1.9 million unreserved fund balance. Fund revenues for the year are expected to increase by more than $900,000.

Sabiston is also hopeful the budget situation will improve even more and expects the city’s audit, which is completed, to be a good one.

He said it is important to remember the good news about the fund balance doesn’t mean the city is in a position to do extra spending. “Hopefully it will get better. I think the finances are heading in the right direction.”

One of the first things Sabiston must do as new city manager is select a new planning director. “We’ve got some applications on file.”

Sabiston wants someone who will be able to run the entire department. “We’re still too small to have someone to sit in a cubby hole,” he said.

The welcome he has received thus far has been warm, he said. “I’ve got a lot of phone calls from people I don’t know telling me they’re glad I’m here. The family has enjoyed it.”

For Connet, it may be time to relax, although the league has already contacted him about another interim job, he said.

He leaves Roanoke Rapids feeling positive about the city. “Roanoke Rapids has a lot to offer,” he said. “There are still some bumps in the road.”

He believes, however, the Carolina Crossroads project will take off. “There’s a lot of positive things happening in the city. The national and state economy has hit all cities and counties across North Carolina.”

Witnesses made at least two attempts to get an Enfield woman off the tracks before she was hit and killed by a southbound Amtrak train engine Saturday morning, police tell The Spin.

Enfield Police Detective Randy White said Sherry Huntonn, 40, was standing up when the passenger train struck her.

Huntonn was allegedly drinking with other people when the people she was with heard the train coming and warned her to get up.

Friends assisted her but Huntonn sat back down on the tracks as the train continued to approach. As she got up to get out of the way she was struck and killed instantly, White said today.

Alcohol was found at the scene and an autopsy was being performed to determine her blood alcohol content, White said.

Huntonn, who is originally from New Hampshire, moved from place to place in Enfield, White said.

Family was expected to come to Enfield to claim the body.

The Spin first reported Saturday the collision occurred around 1 a.m. when the woman was sitting on the southbound tracks.

The engine pulling the Amtrak cars to Rocky Mount was probably going between 50 to 65 mph when the woman was struck, White told The Spin Saturday.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office reports a drug bust Friday morning in the Lincoln Heights community.

Lt. George Evans said in press release around 2:24 a.m. Deputy. W.C. Murphy spotted a vehicle traveling over the posted speed limit on Branch Avenue in Roanoke Rapids. 

He stopped it at Key Street. Antoine Boyd exited the vehicle and ran on foot. Murphy saw Boyd drop a dollar bill on the ground. 

After a short foot chase Murphy took him in custody. Inside the dollar was a small amount of powder cocaine.

Boyd was charged with resisting a public officer and possession of cocaine. He received a $1,000 bond and has a Sept. 14 court date.

The Roanoke Rapids Police Department reported the following:

• On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the downtown Food Lion, a 50-year-old woman was accosted in the parking lot and robbed, Chief Jeff Hinton said.

A man armed with a knife and a second person with him took the victim’s purse and fled on foot.

While searching the area, a witness told police the two fled to 134 Hamilton St. Police arrested Phillip Bernard Brown, 35, of 134 Hamilton St., for robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of stolen property. He was jailed on $25,000 bond and has a Sept. 30 court date.

Also arrested was Ian Barkley Coles, 17, of 134 Hamilton St. He was charged with aid and abet robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of stolen property. He was jailed on $10,000 bond.

• Also on Saturday police received a 3 a.m. call to the 500 block of Hamilton Street. Someone went in while the people were sleeping and left a pair of sneakers and cap in the inside. Nothing was taken. The case remains under investigation.

A second person has been charged in a November, 2007, larceny on Piney Grove Church Road in Littleton, according to the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.

A riding lawnmower and a four-wheeler were stolen from the property.

Detective Tyree Davis said in a press release the first arrest in the case was made in July when Solomon “Wilson” Thomas Johnston was charged.

Today, James “Lou” Edward Hall Jr., 22, of Roanoke Rapids, was charged.

Davis charged Hall with one count of felony larceny of a motor vehicle and one count of misdemeanor larceny. He was given a $5,000 bond and his court date is set for Sept. 23. The riding lawnmower was recovered.