Having a day on my own in London, I spent part of it on Charing Cross Road in and out of the bookstores that were still open in those years. I was collecting Beverley Nichols on that jaunt and imagining that at any moment I would see Anthony Hopkins coming towards me straight from one of my favorite movies, 84 Charing Cross Road. Headed to the tube with a few wrapped books, I felt a restraining hand on my elbow. I had started to step off the curb forgetting which direction the traffic was moving. It was a stranger holding my arm. He said, “Don’t do that luv, it makes such a mess at rush hour.” I have never forgotten his kindness or the wonderful humor of this moment. I think it is safe to say that the Rocky Mount Telegram has made quite a mess at rush hour!
As part of this same trip, Princess Diana was tragically killed in a car chase by the paparazzi. I’d read enough English mysteries by then to have no doubt that the government was involved. Riding the tube later that same day not a word was spoken. Everyone had their heads buried in the newspapers. I was reminded of this experience when the Rocky Mount Telegram’s staff writer, Lindell John Kay began the expose on the City Manager and Landis Faulcon, Director of Community & Business Development — and anyone else that deserves this scrutiny. Of course, here in Rocky Mount, everyone is talking! Phone calls, e-mails, clandestine meetings, Facebook posts, conversations over lunch, dinner, or standing in the driveway. There are people worrying about how deep this investigation will go, some sorry they backed the wrong horse and those of us who are hopeful and ecstatic that at last the truth is being told. Later today many of us will be headed to City Hall to make our presence known while the Committee of the Whole meets behind closed doors.
I grew up reading The Chicago Tribune and thought I was headed to college to become a journalism major. I resent the state of journalism today. I canceled my Telegram subscription as a point of honor. But wait, a reporter actually investigating! Checking records, laying out a fact-based case step by step. Can you believe it? An investigation long overdue about things known, suspected, rumored, but usually stifled one way or another. I need to subscribe again in thanksgiving for Lindell John Kay and the revelations that are being spelled out, no holds barred.
When the taillights of at least two cars head out of Rocky Mount, let us hope and pray that the damage left behind continues to be investigated. Surely this must include the City Council who hired the City Manager in the first place. There is quite a mess to clean up. Now is our chance thanks to The Telegram who have dared to name those who must not be named and expose what I call the shenanigans of City Government.
Main Street Rocky Mount 
Thanks for all you do to promote Rocky Mount, Stepheny. Yesterday was a long wait while the Council was out, but I was proud to be a part of the group that stayed the entire time. Surely justice will prevail in the end, and the Council will do the right thing for the City.
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Thank you Stepheney. I am still following from afar. Massachusetts has been home for 30 years but my heart is still in Rocky Mount where my mom still resides. I visit when I can. I am heartbroken by the state of affairs in this fabulous city. I consider it more of a town. A town where the citizens lived by a moral compass, knew their neighbors, and were somehow connected as a community. Your blog gives me hope and faith that their are still small town minded people keeping the best in sight.
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Well said Stephany,
We must remember that the root of the problem is the city council. They must be removed or the cycle of hate and corruption will continue. Rocky Mount citizens this is your wake up call, The City Council. MUST be made accountable.
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Well stated Stepheny.
The reporter and the paper are doing their job. Without the watchful eye of honest reporting where would RM be.
It is astounding that the City Manager was hired in the first place. The consulting firm that conducted the search recommended that she NOT be hired. Yet, the City Council hired her over other more favorable individuals who did not have a checkered past.
It was clear from the beginning that the City Manager’s agenda was racially motivated and that she was forcing qualified people out of their jobs so she could fill the roles with her own puppets of a different color. Obviously this is her talent–obfuscate her unprofessional activity by creating a cloud of racial smoke.
Clearly there is a history of her mismanaging the office of City Manager in other cities. This begs the question of WHY WAS SHE HIRED? The entire council is a shameless group who do nothing but collect a check for their pathetically incompetent governing of our city.
Rocky Mount citizens UNSEAT them all and fire the City Manager and her puppets!
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