All in Local News

City of Kinston Proposes $133M Budget for FY 2025-2026

The City of Kinston has unveiled its proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, totaling just over $133 million, up from $120 million last year. The proposed general operating property tax rate for FY 2025-2026 is $0.73 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from $0.77 cents the previous year. This comes on the heels of Lenoir County completing a county wide property revaluation. The proposed rate remains higher than the revenue-neutral rate of $0.5994 cents.

Vehicle pursuit ends with drug charges and one suspect at large

On Tuesday, the 20th of May, 2025, at 8:50 pm, Sergeant Shackley was patrolling the Pink Hill area of Jones County. Sergeant Shackley identified a vehicle with an equipment violation and attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle failed to stop and sped up, leading to a vehicle pursuit. During the vehicle pursuit, Sergeant Shackley was able to identify items being thrown from the vehicle by a passenger.