Lumberton Informer

Yesterday, there was a notice published for a Special Called Meeting. The notice stated that it was to deal with personnel issues in the police department. Naturally, I began to wonder about the personnel issue they wanted to address. The regularly scheduled meeting is less than a week away, why are they in such a rush to take action against something or someone in the police department? Are they trying to terminate another officer? Did they realize that the deadline for their response to the EEOC charge was Monday, September 27, 2010. At this point, I really don't know what is going on in the minds of our elected officials, namely Johnson, Gibson and Crider. I am certain they are not attempting to terminate Captain Franklin before the conclusion of a State investigation. Wait a minute. . .I almost forgot where I was living. Of course Lumberton's elected officals would jump the gun and vote to terminate an officer before receiving a report on the progress of the investig...

Another misquoted verse in the Bible is Matthew 7:1, "Judge not that ye be not judged." We hear this verse multiple times a day, especially on facebook. Too often we have heard sincere, misinformed Christians and unbelievers alike say, "I don’t want to judge anybody, but..." Ironically, the one who screams "judge not" is often the one passing judgment! Let’s See What the Bible Really Says About Judging: "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment." (Psa 37:30) "With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth." (Psa 119:13) "Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." (Prov 31:9) Jesus commended Simon, "Thou hast rightly judged." (Luke 7:43) "Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations." (Ezek 22:2) "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet ...

This post is not in response to what is going on in Georgia. I decided to put this post on my blog because on several occassions, I have been accused of speaking ill about ministers and other "saved" individuals. During the time when I was monitoring the comment section, I recevied several statements that included the pharse "touch not my anointed." Psalm 105:15 reads as thus, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. What does the above verse mean? Does this verse mean that we aren’t to question our spiritual leaders on matters of doctrine? Or does it mean something entirely different? The word for touch in Hebrew is naga. It means to strike, beat or bring down violently. It doesn’t mean not to criticize doctrine or to publicly examine another’s teachings. The word for anointed is mashiyach, which means a consecrated person, such as a king, priest or saint. Touch not my anointed means not to physically harm someone that has been set aside, such as a Ki...

The board of aldermen of the City of Lumberton don't understand why people are criticizing them. Dude. Maybe if you could reduce the number of city government screw ups from three per week down to just one or two, that would help a little. I was thinking about the events at city hall over the weekend, and I just have a hard time dealing with the fact that they just don't get it. For instance, during the budget meeting, Alderman Kent Crider kept saying that we [the Board of Aldermen] should fire Sharese Pearson. Po' thang. He really don't have a clue. Did he know that you could not terminate an employee once an EEOC charge has been filed. In doing so, would show that you are operating in retailation, which would not be good for your [the City of Lumberton] case. He went on for quite some time before the city clerk informed him and the rest of the board that they should not discuss this in an open meeting since it was dealing with a legal matter. Now, here we have ...

Hope Thomley, Executive Director of the Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, Inc., hosted a re-dedication/open house event for the newly remodled Lumberton Family Health Center. The center has a full staff, including Dr.Lai, and Nurse Practitioner Carla Whitfield. The Lumberton Family Health Center offers an extensive amount of medical services, including prescription drug programs. Participation in these programs allow patients to get their medication for as little as $5.00/month. There were several citizens and elected officals on hand for the ceremony. Mayor Holder addressed the audience and thanked Hope Thomley for choosing to invest in the community of Lumberton. District 2 Supervisor, Ben Winston attened the ceremony as well as Alderman Timothy Johnson, Alderman Bobby Gibson and Chairperson of the Lumberton Planning and Zoning Committee, Sylvia Griffith. Hope Thomley thanked Sylvia for giving her the advice and guidance needed to help with the erection of the Sou...

Despite what you may think of Chief Adrien Fortenberry, he is, without a doubt, a man of integrity. I’ve noticed that several comments have been aimed at his lack of public support for the police department. In all fairness, it was not necessary for Chief Fortenberry to go on WDAM to voice his displeasure with the budget cuts that were made to his department. Chief Fortenberry did not need to fight for his officers in the court of public opinion. Chief Fortenberry went to task for his officers in the only arena that mattered, the City of Lumberton’s board room. During his tenure as Lumberton’s Chief of Police, Adrien has managed to secure a reliable group of certified officers. Under his leadership, the Lumberton Police Department has flourished. Adrien transformed the Lumberton Police Department into a place to stay rather than having a revolving door of men and women that only used this city as a springboard for their entrance into law enforcement. In case you missed the report ...

After speaking with my advisor last night, I couldn’t go to bed. Something she told me had me dumb-founded. I love speaking with my advisor b/c she keeps me grounded, she’s not going to tell me what I want to hear, she’s going to tell me the truth, but I just found it hard to believe that the people of this city are saying that I am the one posting the comments on my blog. Wait, that’s not quite right. The black people of this city are saying that I am posting the comments on my blog. Now, I know why there are so few of us that attend the board meetings. This issue surfaced several weeks ago, and somehow it continues to rear its ugly head. There was group that wanted to get rid of me and they started telling everyone that I was the one that had posted a disparinging comment about them. I let the matter slide for peace sake, but why am I still being dragged through the mud b/c you wanted to find an excuse to get rid of me. Are you not satisfied? I’ve been sent to the back of th...