Jamie Caudle

Anson County Board of Elections director Neva Helms resigned citing unsafe conditions and incompatible responsibilities. Her resignation follows a tense meeting with a local candidate and an ongoing investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections into the incident and other allegations.

Water service was restored in parts of Anson County after a three-day outage caused by a water main leak and pipe blowout. Engineers and contractors worked to fix the aging infrastructure, with full restoration expected by Monday or Tuesday. Residents are advised to boil water until quality tests confirm safety, and donations from Duke Energy and the state are being distributed.

Families in Anson County remain without water after a water main break caused widespread outages, with officials estimating a decade for full recovery due to aging infrastructure. State financial aid has been pledged to address a Department of Environmental Quality violation, while county commissioners approved a 9% water rate increase to fund improvements.

Anson County is losing over half of its treated water due to aging infrastructure, with 134 million gallons unaccounted for in a single month. County officials acknowledge significant financial waste and cite challenges like a 60-year-old water main and malfunctioning technology. A $9 million project to replace water treatment filters is underway, but funding gaps for critical repairs like a $500,000 generator remain.