North State Journal — Vol. 2., Issue 60

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 60

|

WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

N.C. Eagle Scouts embody entrepreneurial spirit, the good life

LAUREN ROSE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is presented the 2018 Boy Scouts of America Annual Report to the State in front of the Hawkins-Hartness House in Raleigh on Feb. 16.

the Wednesday

NEWS BRIEFING

Trump orders regulations to ban bump stocks Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump on Tuesday directed the Department of Justice to draw up regulations banning devices that turn firearms into rapidfire guns, like the bump stock used in October's mass shooting in Las Vegas. Trump told a ceremony at the White House for first responders that he expected the new regulations would be finalized "very soon." White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders told media Trump is considering endorsing age limits for buying certain types of semiautomatic rifles.

NORTH

STATE

JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

FCC reversal of net neutrality rules expected to be published Thursday Washington, D.C. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to publish on Thursday its December order overturning the landmark Obama-era net neutrality rules. The formal publication means state attorneys general and advocacy groups will be able to sue in a bid to block the order. The White House Office of Management and Budget still must sign off on some aspects of the FCC reversal before it takes legal effect.

A new working group will bring together mental health, security and law enforcement experts to make policy recommendations ahead of May legislative session.

By Donna King North State Journal SHELBY — N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore announced Tuesday the formation of a legislative select committee on school safety. The announcement comes in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting last week that left 17 students and teachers dead.

“As parents, our highest priority is keeping our children safe,” said Moore. “It starts with building safer schools in the capital construction phase and maintaining secure education facilities every day across North Carolina. It is our duty to provide the highest level of physical security for our kids’ classrooms through access control, surveillance and training.”

Attorney General Sessions forms cyber task force to probe election meddling Washington, D.C. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered creation of a task force on combating global cyber threats, including efforts to interfere with elections or damage critical infrastructure.

The announcement on Tuesday came amid renewed concerns about how Russia may attempt to use cyber tools to disrupt the 2018 midterm elections. It also comes as a lawyer and son-inlaw of one of Russia’s richest men pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a charge of lying to federal investigators. The charges came from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election. Alex van der Zwaan, who appeared at a hearing at a federal court in Washington, will face sentencing on April 3.

Lawmakers focus on school safety Chaired by Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston) and Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), the committee announced Tuesday will include 41 Republicans and Democrats who will make recommendations to the full N.C. House, which is scheduled to return for the long legislative session on May 16. Rep. Jeffery Elmore (R-Wilkes), who will serve on the committee, is a public high school teacher.

“You could never be one hundred percent prepared for a situation like that, all you can do is follow what you’ve been trained to do to the best of your ability because these type situations are truly acts of terror,” said Elmore. “The schools are the most prepared they’ve ever been in my whole career at this moment, but you can always improve on that and a lot of people don’t understand how that process works and what the trainings are about,” said Elmore.

The school training comes from the N.C. Center for Safer Schools, established within the Department of Public Instruction under See SAFETY, page A2

CHARLES MOSTOLLER | REUTERS | FILE

A needle used for shooting heroin and other opioids lies in the street in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, on Oct. 26.

Why police backing is key to needle exchanges Nationwide, at least a dozen states legalized syringe exchanges in 2016 and 2017, including N.C.

By Christine Vestal Stateline WILMINGTON, N.C. — Until the opioid epidemic began seeping into nearly every city and town in the country, the idea of a Main Street storefront offering free needles, alcohol wipes and small metal cookers for heroin users was unthinkable in a conservative Southern city like this one.

But these days, most of the roughly 100,000 residents of this historic port on the Cape Fear River are painfully aware that their community has a drug problem. Syringes carpet sections of public walkways, drug

users congregate in vacant lots, and an increasing number of residents are attending the funerals of friends and family members who have died of an opioid overdose.

As a result, many police officers here fully support syringe exchanges, places where drug users can go to dispose of used needles, pick up fresh ones, get health exams, and maybe find out about treatment options.

They say they’re willing to overlook the fact that possessing drug paraphernalia, including syringes, is an arrestable offense.

But even in N.C. where the state Sheriffs’ Association helped a grassroots harm reduction organization enact the most liberal syringe exchange law in the country in 2016, many cops still insist that giving free supplies to See NEEDLES, page A2

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS | REUTERS

A woman mourns in front of the fence of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the police security perimeter was removed, following a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 18.

INSIDE N.C.’s Supreme Court appoints a new Clerk of Court Jones & Blount

5

20177 52016 $2.00

8

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A2 WEDNESDAY

SAFETY from page A1

2.21.18 #116

“The whole state.

The whole story.”

Visit North State Journal online! nsjonline.com jonesandblount.com nsjsports.com carolinabrewreview.com chickenbonealley.com

We stand corrected To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline.com with “Correction request” in the subject line.

North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365) Neal Robbins Publisher Donna King Editor Cory Lavalette Managing/Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor

Published each Wednesday

by North State Media, LLC 509 W North Street Raleigh, N.C. 27603 TO SUBSCRIBE: 704-269-8461 or online at nsjonline.com Annual Subscription Price: $25.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: North State Journal 509 W North Street Raleigh, N.C. 27603

Get in touch!

www nsjonline.com

North State Journal

@nsjnews

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CARTERET COUNTY SHORE PROTECTION OFFICE

Morehead City Harbor maintenance dredging with concurrent beach nourishment in Atlantic Beach continues to rebuild the shoreline after storms.

GONE WITH THE WIND

Storms deepen beach sand crunch N.C. has added 137 million cubic yards of sand to the state’s beaches over the years

By Laura Ashley Lamm and Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH — As North Carolina enjoys a week of spring winter in February, many will head to the state’s beaches for a little sand between their toes.

But that sand is getting harder to come by.

N.C. is one of many coastal states with a sand replenishment program designed to protect and rebuild the shoreline following violent storms, according to the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA).

“North Carolina has 325 miles of ocean front. Only half of that is developed land while the other half is devoted to state parks, public access and more.

We have more underdeveloped land in North Carolina than other states have total,” said Greg L. “Rudi” Rudolph, shore protection manager with the Carteret County Shore Protection Office.

Beach erosion occurs due to storm damage, short sand supply, and water whisking the sand out to sea. A chain of storms with a heavy intensity can cause the sea level to rise significantly and ultimately remove parts of the beach. This is where beach replenishment becomes a key component of strengthening and protecting the beaches once again.

“Beaches are essentially a piece of infrastructure,” said Rudolph. “Take a road for instance, if it has a pothole, you’re going to fix it. If the beach has eroded, we are going to fix it.”

Carteret County is proactive in combating beach erosion and replenishing sand. They have volume goals set for the beaches to remain healthy and viable. If a storm causes the sand volume

to diminish, then the Shore Protection Office works to nourish the sand back to its target volume.

“North Carolina has made decisions to protect our beaches and shores, and we are wise in the ways in which we do that,” said Rudolph.

Florida has spent the most on beach projects and has performed maintenance most frequently along the most miles of beach. The state has 825 miles of sandy beaches along its 1,350 miles of coastline, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Over the years, Florida has spent $1.3 billion on sand replenishment, unadjusted for inflation, since its first project in 1944; the number of fills is 545; and the miles covered is 237.

California has placed the most sand by volume on its beaches — 394 million cubic yards of sand since its first project in the Los Angeles coastal suburb of San Pedro in 1927. Florida comes in second with 301 million cubic yards. North Carolina put down 137 million cubic yards of sand.

New Jersey has placed 171 million cubic yards and New York has placed 158 million.

Florida and New Jersey were the only states with designated funds for beach sand until 2017, when North Carolina became the third state to create such a reserve.

Increases in projects and storms in 2017 means that there soon may not be enough sand to go around. A potential sand shortage has led to lawsuits in Florida as the state tries to protect its $67 billion tourism industry amid rising costs and tight public funds even during calmer years. The quick succession of powerful storms in recent years makes the challenges even more daunting.

By one estimate, based on a sample of beaches, Irma knocked out four times the amount of sand Matthew displaced, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman John Camp-

NEEDLES from page A1 heroin users simply enables their drug use.

“Police officers are just like the rest of the public,” said Capt.

Lars Paul of the Fayetteville Police Department. “Until I was educated on harm reduction, I questioned why we were giving drug users all kinds of free supplies, too. It was just a matter of taking the time to talk to folks and learn about the public health benefits of syringe exchanges.”

Kendra Williams, a recovering addict who works part-time for the Wilmington syringe exchange, said some cops in the drug unit there still don’t take the law seriously. “They’ll take away ID cards proving they’re syringe exchange clients and tell them it doesn’t mean anything.

If they want to arrest you, they’ll find a way.”

Last year, a poll in Ohio — among the nation’s hardest-hit states — found that half of adults in that state favor syringe exchange programs. Politicians are listening.

Nationwide, at least a dozen states legalized syringe exchanges in 2016 and 2017, said Daniel Raymond, policy director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, a New York-based national organization that advocates for syringe exchanges. And nearly all of the

“It was just a matter of taking the time to talk to folks and learn about the public health benefits of syringe exchanges.”

— Capt. Lars Paul of the Fayetteville Police Department new laws were signed by Republican governors and approved by GOP-led legislatures, including in Ohio.

Even so, most of the lawmakers and governors who ultimately approved the laws resisted until they received endorsements from law enforcement groups, Raymond said. Otherwise, they would have risked appearing soft on crime.

A dozen states — Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia — enacted laws in 2016 and 2017 that protect the employees and clients of syringe exchanges from existing state drug paraphernalia laws that otherwise could be used to prosecute them for possessing a syringe, according to Raymond.

Five more Republican-led states, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa and Missouri, are considering similar legislation this year, he said.

Syringe exchanges, also known as needle exchanges, first came into being in the late 1980s in places such as New York City and San Francisco when it became clear that the HIV/AIDS epidemic was spreading through needle sharing among injection drug users.

But until recently, syringe exchanges were nonexistent in rural towns and cities in the rest of the country, except for informal underground efforts organized by advocates.

In North Carolina, syringe exchanges now are cropping up in office parks, pawn shops, church basements, fire stations, hotel parking lots and treatment centers throughout the state, and the state health department is tracking their progress. So far, 26 syringe exchanges have opened, and the coalition is working to open more.

“Until the law was enacted, people were afraid they’d be arrested if they came to pick up supplies,” said Robert Childs,

“Beaches are essentially a piece of infrastructure.

Take a road for instance, if it has a pothole, you’re going to fix it. If the beach has eroded, we are going to fix it.”

— Greg L. “Rudi” Rudolph, shore protection manager of Carteret County Shore Protection Office bell said. Matthew is already considered one of the worst storms in recent memory.

As needs and costs rise in Florida, communities are increasingly competing both for sand and funding, with some retaining “sand lobbyists” to represent them in state and federal legislatures.

This week, down the palm tree-lined roads of northeast Florida’s Flagler County, a half-dozen dump trucks are shuttling back and forth along the Atlantic coast pouring thousands of tons of sand onto the local beach. The estimated $26 million project began late last month.

Flagler County tried for more than a decade to get the federal sand funds used for popular beaches like Miami before turning to local tax dollars, private money and emergency aid to rebuild dunes and protect neighborhoods flooded in Matthew, Irma and several nor’easters since.

In 2013, Miami-Dade and Broward counties ran out of offshore sand, prompting what is considered the state’s first major projects to truck sand from inland mines. More Florida counties have since turned to the practice.

Reuters News Service contributed to this report.

director of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition.

North Carolina’s law made it simple for a syringe exchange to open its doors, he said. For underground groups already supplying drug users with sterile supplies, it simply meant registering with the state health department and providing a plan to ensure the privacy of clients.

For new groups, it meant finding funding and a base of operations, even if it was a private vehicle in a parking lot.

Unlike the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and previous drug epidemics, which were spawned and largely defeated in urban areas, this opioid epidemic is ensnaring people who live in far-flung small cities and rural communities. In addition to mounting overdose deaths, these rural communities are experiencing unprecedented surges in hepatitis C infections and increasing threats of HIV/ AIDS outbreaks.

According to Paul LaKosky, executive director of the North American Syringe Exchange Network, which helps fledgling groups launch syringe exchanges, the list of syringe exchanges, both official and unofficial, has grown by about 15 percent a year for the past three years, with the fastest growth in Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio.

former Gov. Pat McCrory back in 2013. The Center came as a result of the 2012 Newtown, Conn. shooting where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The lessons learned there, and ones since, contribute to new plans to keep N.C. student safe.

“I will triage this information from Florida when it comes in and see if we can learn anything new, and see if we can apply it to what we are doing here in N.C.,” said Mike Anderson, the Community Development and Training Manager for the Center for Safer Schools.

Anderson is a retired police officer and an expert in school and mass shootings. He’s studied every mass shooting since 1992, pulling together the details from before an event happens, how to best to react during a crisis, and how to help a community come back together in the wake of a violent crime. He and his seven colleagues work every day, thinking about incidents like the one in Florida last week.

We have a pretty diverse staff over here,” said Anderson. “We all have our specialties and collaborate really well with other state agencies, DHHS and DPS, to make sure everyone is around the table and make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Anderson and his colleagues provide statewide training for teachers and administration on how to identify a student in mental health crisis, bullying intervention and management of critical incidents at school.

“We don’t want to train an adversary, obviously, so we don’t want parents to know all the full plans, but we do want them to understand that we are ahead of the curve when it comes to training in that we do have a uniform protocol statewide to be able to deal with these things,” said Anderson.

Anderson also studies public reaction to a mass shooting crime.

“In all the cases that I’ve studied society usually tries to feel better about it if they can explain it away by hanging some sort of cause of it, usually bullying comes up, violent media, violent video games, substance abuse, gun control,” said Anderson.

“As a society, that’s what we want to hang it on, it makes us feel better, and it makes us feel better when someone is tried and convicted of a crime. As long as we can explain it away, we are fine and unfortunately we sit back and wait for the next one.”

But Anderson says the key to breaking that cycle is studying all the pieces of the puzzle and gaining community buy-in. He said that eighty percent of shooters tell at least one person, and recently mostly on social media.

“Safety in my opinion should be an everyday conversation… we are always asking what can we do better to protect the schools in North Carolina.”

— Mike Anderson, DPI Center for Safer Schools “The problem is that social media and the internet has become like reality TV to teenagers. They feel like they can’t make a difference, either they don’t trust people or they think that nothing is going to happen if they tell somebody, so they just sit back and watch it unfold.’”

The new General Assembly bipartisan committee will start meeting next week.

“The staff of the Center for Safer Schools think about school safety every day and have great relationships with our state partners at the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Health and Human Services, and with North Carolina’s school districts and charter schools,” said Superintendent Mark Johnson in a statement. “We look forward to working with the committee to show the progress we have made since the center’s opening in 2013 and where we need to go.”

In the meantime, Anderson says parents and teachers should remind students, if you see something, say something.

“If you’re in a school and you see a person who is not what they were yesterday, or teachers seeing signs of depression… they need to tell somebody. If they are in a hardware store and they see something weird, they need to tell somebody. It’s going to take all of us to get into this mindset that school safety is not something we can just put on the cops anymore,” said Anderson.

“They can’t just sit back and hope someone else is going to say something because they may not.”

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A3

BUSINESS

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID H. MURDOCK RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The Core Lab building on the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.

n.c.

FAST FACTS Sponsored by

The N.C. Department of Commerce is moving to take advantage of new federal legislation that holds the promise of bringing investment dollars for economic development into areas of the state where such capital is most needed. The areas will be designated as North Carolina Opportunity Zones.

This new tool for community and economic development is designed to provide tax incentives for qualified investors to reinvest unrealized capital gains into low-income communities.

“We’re optimistic that the Opportunity Zones program will bring a much-needed infusion of investment to our most distressed rural and urban areas,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland, “These investments will result in job creation, affordable housing and other economic activity.”

Recently passed federal legislation, known as The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R.1), authorize each state to designate up to 25 percent of its total low-income census tracts as qualified Opportunity Zones. Low-income census tracks are areas where the poverty rate is 20 percent or greater and/or family income is less than 80% of the area’s median income.

North Carolina has just over 1,000 qualifying low-income census tracts, and accordingly, is authorized to designate up to 251 census tracts as Opportunity Zones. N.C. Commerce is currently reviewing data and will make recommendations to the U.S. Dept. of Treasury this spring.

Approved Logos

SOURCE: N.C. DEPT. OF COMMERCE

NC Research Campus affiliate awarded major grant UNC Nutrition Research Institute wins federal support to develop blood test for a choline biomarker that could offer significant public health applications

By Emily Roberson North State Journal UNC NUTRITION Research Institute director Steven H. Zeisel, MD, PhD has been awarded a four-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of the National Institutes of Health, to develop and validate a panel of laboratory tests that can assess choline status in humans.

Choline is an important and essential nutrient for human health, playing a key role in brain development, and liver and muscle function. Foods that contain phospholipid lecithin, otherwise known as phosphatidylcholine, provide choline in the human diet. The richest sources are eggs and liver, but seafood, meats, dairy products and other fat-containing foods, as well as wheat germ, cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, and legumes, such as soybeans and peanuts, also are sources.

In addition, foods that contain commercial lecithin added as an emulsifier, like ice cream and salad dressings, also provide choline. A choline link has also been established in preliminary treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma and patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

However, there are currently no good validated biomarkers for assessing choline nutritional status that can be practically applied in clinical or public health practice.

A recent national diet survey by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control reported that 90% of

adults in the US do not achieve the recommended intake for choline. Zeisel said, “We need a better lab test that health professionals can use to assess a person’s choline status given the narrow range for healthy intake of choline, the three-fold variation in dietary intake in the US, and the effects of common genetic variants on requirements for choline. With the recent establishment by the Food and Drug Administration of a Reference Daily Intake (RDI) of choline, awareness of this critical nutrient is growing and health professionals will need diagnostic tools to help consumers make good choices for health.” Unfortunately, plasma choline concentrations alone are not a good measure of choline status.

To successfully compete for this large award from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Zeisel had to demonstrate that the studies were feasible and were likely to succeed; he generated this proof-of-concept data in a pilot study that was funded

by Balchem Corporation, a company that produces choline for food uses.

“Balchem considers it a privilege to support scientific research in general, but is particularly honored to support ongoing scientific endeavors by Dr. Steven Zeisel and his team,” said Jonathan Bortz, MD, Senior Director Strategic Innovation, Human Nutrition and Pharma at Balchem. “We are committed to supporting high-quality research, and Dr. Zeisel’s work on choline is world class.”

Zeisel expects the outcome of this research to improve public health worldwide. “Once medical professionals can identify which people have low choline stores, they can make sure that these people get enough of this essential nutrient,” he said. People who are low in choline can have excessive muscle loss when they exercise, and can develop liver

n.c.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT Sponsored by

“Once medical professionals can identify which people have low choline stores, they can make sure that these people get enough of this essential nutrient.”

— UNC Nutrition Research Institute director Dr. Steven H. Zeisel, MD, PhD problems. Women depend on adequate choline stores during pregnancy and lactation because they must deliver large amounts of this nutrient to the growing fetus and infant to assure normal brain development.

The UNC Nutrition Research Institute’s mission is to advance the field of precision nutrition by investigating how genes, environment, and microbiome affect an individual’s requirements for and responses to nutrients, given that very person is metabolically unique. The NRI is dedicated to finding out how these differences affect an individual’s health so that current “one-size-fits-all” dietary guidelines can be replaced with customized nutritional recommendations.

About the North Carolina Research Campus The North Carolina Research Campus, located in Kannapolis, NC, near Charlotte, is a scientific community that collaboratively works to empower human health through nutrition. Eight universities, the David H. Murdock Research Institute, global companies and entrepreneurs focus research and development on safer, more nutritious crops, healthier foods and precision nutrition. Learn more at www. ncresearchcampus.net.

Listen Live Weekdays 9am - 11am

CHADADAMSSHOW.COM

Listen to the north state journal staff every monday at 10:05am

Taste What’s Good from the Vine in Western NC When wine critic Michael Broadbent said, “Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilized pleasures,” we’re quite sure he was referring to the festivities at this Saturday’s 9th Annual Stanly County Winter Wine Festival.

Held in the NC Public Power city of Albemarle, this year’s festival is the largest ever, featuring some of the best wines from 15 western North Carolina vineyards—more than half of them based in public power communities. And, with restaurants like River Wild and Five Points Public House serving up delicious dishes, what we have here is a full-fledged Eat, Drink and Be Merry situation.

Event organizer, Albemarle Downtown Development Corporation, is even offering wine festival attendees a safe ride. For a small fee, attendees can catch shuttles running between the festival and some nearby hotels that are offering special rates.

Have a buddy who prefers hops to grapes? No worries. Morgan Ridge Vineyards is offering craft beer from its sister company, Morgan Ridge Rail Walk Brewery. Sounds like this event has the potential to be very, very merry indeed.

Learn more and plan your trip at www.stanlycountywinterwinefest.com.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A4

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Murphy to Manteo Davidson

Wake

A5

Jones & Blount jonesandblount.com @JonesandBlount

Hertford

N.C. Supreme Court appoints new clerk of court

Avery Jackson

By Meredith Pace North State Journal

McDowell

Macon

RALEIGH — Amy Funderburk has been appointed as the 16th clerk of court for the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Chief Justice Mark Martin announced Funderburk’s appointment on Monday.

“The Supreme Court was unanimous in selecting Amy to serve as its new clerk,” said Martin.

Currently, Funderburk holds the position of deputy general counsel to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts. She has been an adjunct professor at Campbell University School of Law since 2015.

Before serving the N.C. judicial branch, Funderburk was an assistant attorney general with the N.C. Department of Justice in addition to spending several years in private practice. Funderburk earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after receiving a graduate degree in counselor and adult education from East Carolina University.

Funderburk will replace interim clerk Christie Roeder. For more than 25 years, Roeder served as clerk of court for the N.C. Supreme Court before retiring in June 2016.

When Roeder’s successor, Bryan Boyd, stepped down as clerk last October, Roeder returned from retirement to assist the Supreme Court once more.

Funderburk will assume the duties of clerk upon taking the oath of office on

Dare

Mecklenburg Guilford

Pitt

Cumberland

WEST TINT OF CORN: COUNTY NAMES: Cub Scouts of Western N.C. Three C: 0Billboard gets Benton Sans accepts first girls Bold, international acclaim M: 12 12pt.

Avery County Cub Scouts of Western North Carolina Jackson County had its first girls members join the Y: 59.4 “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing pack this month. Everleigh Gittings, Missouri” won five awards over the Garrett, 7, Asa Smith, 6, weekend K: 6 at the British Academy Film 6,andKatherine Sophia Rarick, 6, were recently Awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Leading Actress (for Frances McDormand). The movie was shot mostly in Black Mountain and Sylva in the western part of the state.

The film also won four Golden Globe Awards last month and is nominated for seven Academy Awards.

VARIETY

Bigfoot Festival planned for late summer McDowell County Mark your calendars because the first Western North Carolina Bigfoot Festival has been scheduled for Sept. 8 in Marion. The event is being planned by Bigfoot 911, a group of researchers in N.C. who work to prove the creature’s existence. They gained national recognition when they posted an alleged sighting online over the summer. Organizers say they will have food, children’s entertainment, displays, bigfoot experts and a “calling contest” at the festival.

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

welcomed as members of Pack 26 in a service at Avery’s Creek United Methodist Church in Arden. Smith’s father is a pack leader, her mother is a den leader, and her brothers are both members of the pack. In October 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced it will start allowing larger packs to admit girls into the Cub Scouts, which is comprised of younger people, and for older groups, the organization will launch a new program for Girls using the same curriculum as Boy Scouts.

ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES

2 arrested after hit and run Macon County Macon County sheriff’s office said James Fred Hurst and Kathy Fay Nicole Atcheson were arrested Monday morning after numerous tips from the community revealed their location. The two are charged in connection with a hit and run crash happened just over a week ago that left Jesus Ruiz Soriano in critical condition. The two also face breaking and entering charges and are being held on $20,000 bond.

WLOS-TV

PIEDMONT BLACK RULE: Wineries now allowed open Solid black, .5 pttoweight in Charlotte

Mecklenburg County Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to allow wineries to open in the city. Wineries that make wine, cider or mead on property follow the same zoning rules that breweries follow. Previously, zoning required that alcohol production only occur in industrial areas. The vote in favor of the amendment came from a petition circulated by Bold Rock Cider Company who argued that adding wineries and cideries to the thriving craft brewery scene would draw people to urban neighborhood for shopping and recreation.

EASTGreen Western region: Piedmont ** All counties have a Social media posts threaten Missing Fort Bragg family located NState Red 1.5 pt. white stroke several Pitt County schools Cumberland County Eastern region: NState Navy Davidson County Pitt County Spc. Travis W. Reynolds, of

Davidson County fights cyberPiedmont region: attack as data held for ransom Davidson County Commissioners held an emergency meeting in Lexington Monday to discuss a cyber-security breach in the county’s computer system. The attack affected 70 of the system’s 90 servers, encrypting their data so it cannot be accessed. Investigators are in contact with the FBI and say the information is being held for ransom but did not say how much money the attackers want. Officials did say that resident and employee private information was not put in jeopardy. The county said they are working to first restore 9-1-1 emergency information and then additional data.

Fayetteville, his wife and their 19-month-old son have been located at a campsite in Tennessee after relatives reported them missing last week.

Officials at Fort Bragg say Reynolds has been absent without leave (AWOL) for almost a month. A 35F intelligence analyst with the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade, Reynolds reportedly left voluntarily and has been marked AWOL since Jan. 17. Officials have not said if Reynolds will be charged.

FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER

WXII-TV

WSOC-TV

DAILY REFLECTOR

Hatteras goes dark American Pickers coming to N.C. Wake County The hit show American Pickers is looking for collectors in North Carolina to agree to be on the program.

Producers of the History Channel program say that hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz will be in N.C. this spring and want to meet people with a large, private collection or accumulation of antiques, but not flea markets or stores. The show features the hosts offering to purchase and restore relics of American and state history. For more information contact the show at americanpickers@cineflix.com or on Facebook at @GotAPick.

HISTORY CHANNEL

High Point Olympian moves to semifinals Guilford County High Point Olympic speedskater Heather Bergsma will advance with the women’s Team USA to the semifinals of team pursuit races, competing Wednesday and Thursday. She finished 11th in the women’s 500 meter speed skating race on Sunday morning in Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games. The 28-year-old speed skater who was born and raised in High Point, moved to the Netherlands in 2015 with her husband, Dutch speedskater Jorrit Bergsma. This is her third winter Olympics.

Dare County North Carolina’s landmark Cape Hatteras has gone dark for a month as lighting repairs are being made to the lighthouse. A wave of storms in early January appeared to have caused lighting issues. The National Park Service manages the lighthouse itself, while the U.S. Coast Guard maintains the operation of the light. The Aids to Navigation Teams in Wanchese sent an electrician to the site once the damage was reported the weekend of Jan. 13.

Since then, the parts needed to make the repair have been ordered, however there is not yet an exact time frame of when the repair will be complete.

COASTAL REVIEW ONLINE

WXII

A social media post threatening violence at South Central High School and J.H. Rose High School went viral on Monday. The photo was an altered version of one originally posted on Snapchat by a student in South Carolina shortly after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla. The original photo showed the student holding a rifle with a caption that read “Florida Round 2.” That student was arrested. A post distributed on Snapchat Monday showed the same image with a caption that read “South Central High Monday 2:45,” prompting officials to increase security there and other schools.

Chowan University welcomes new president Hertford County Chowan University in Murfreesboro is welcoming a new leader. Dr. Kirk E. Peterson was formally introduced as the 23rd president in Chowan’s storied 170-year history. As of June 1, he will take the reins from current Chowan President Dr. Chris White, who will transition over to the role of chancellor.

That move was announced last year.

ROANOKE-CHOWAN NEWS HERALD

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH CAROLINA JUDICIAL BRANCH.

Chief Justice Mark Martin, left, appoints Amy Funderburk, right, as the 16th Clerk of court for the N.C. Supreme Court.

March 1. The North Carolina General Statutes set forth the duties of the clerk which generally includes managerial oversight of the Clerk’s Office and supervision of the professional staff within that office.

“Amy has served the judicial branch well by providing valuable and timely advice to judicial officials throughout our great state,” Martin said of Funderburk.

Hudson, Budd meet with business owners

By NSJ Staff SALISBURY/FAYETTEVILLE — Congressmen Richard Hudson (NC-08) and Ted Budd (NC-13) met with business owners at New Sarum Brewing Company in Salisbury on Tuesday. The stop is part of a tour to talk about legislative priorities and the recent federal tax cut package. In the package, Congress cut the federal excise tax for breweries making less that 2 million barrels per year.

“Our smaller local breweries are huge economic drivers,” said Hudson. “This tax cut will make it easier for them to buy new equipment, expand, hire more people and continue to invest in our community.”

In the new tax cut package, for the first 60,000 barrels, craft breweries will pay 50 percent less than before; $3.50 per barrel instead of $7. Some industry experts estimate this provision alone could create an additional $320 million in growth. N.C. has the largest brewpub presence in the South with 245 establishments.

Nationwide, independent American craft brewers contributed $67.8 billion and more than 456,000 full-time equivalent jobs to the U.S. economy in 2016.

Before the stop in Salisbury, Hudson first traveled to Fayetteville on Monday to meet with employees at Lowe’s Home Improvement on Good Middling Drive because Lowe’s is one of nearly 400 American businesses to announce employee bonuses and expanded

The

98 % of ALL Farms Truth are Family Farms

About Ag

ncfb.org

benefits because of the historic tax overhaul.

Earlier this month, Lowe’s also announced expanded paid maternity and parental leave, and adoption assistance benefits.

After filing for re-election last week, Budd said in a press release “the results speak for themselves” highlighting his “yes” vote on the tax cut package and his “no” vote on the recent spending bill.

Last month, Budd also introduced the Working Families Relief Act, which would further increase the child tax credit for working parents, allowing them to receive a $2,000 refund from payroll taxes.

“Today’s children are tomorrow’s taxpayers and entrepreneurs, and as lawmakers we should make it easier, not harder, to be parents,” said Budd.

Hudson also filed for re-election last week and launched the tour of his district to talk about the successes of the tax package and his work to improve conditions and support for service members. Fort Bragg is within District 8. Last week, Hudson also introduced the Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act (H.R. 5041).

“Making sure unused drugs don’t end up in the wrong hands is one of the biggest problems we face in fighting the opioid crisis,” said Hudson.

The bipartisan plan is intended to prevent the misuse of unused medications by equipping hospice professionals with the legal authority to safely dispose of unused drugs.

A6

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor | Troy Kickler, deputy opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Is health care a right?

In the private world, no one has the right to “demand” another person “pay for” their retirement, housing, education or health care needs.

A YOUNG MAN recently asked this question: “Is health care a right?

Explain” “Individual rights tend to be free” was the reflexive answer.

“Everything else is negotiated between parties and factions in the legislative process about who is going to pay for whatever government program is being proposed.”

The first 10 amendments — the Bill of Rights — concern freedoms that would be guaranteed in the new democratic republic.

We are free to speak at no monetary cost to anyone. We are free to worship in any religious tradition we choose, and no one is forced to pay for our actions. We can print anything in the press as long as we pay for the computers, internet and printers to circulate our thoughts.

Not the government.

The Second Amendment guarantees the right for an individual to bear arms. The government does not pay for them.

The Third Amendment restricts the quartering of soldiers in our homes. Freedom of privacy in one form in essence.

The Fourth Amendment protects us all from unwarranted invasion of our homes for search and seizure of evidence without a warrant based on probable cause. Another defense of our right to privacy essentially.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees our right to be considered “innocent until proven guilty.” It might cost a lot in legal fees to defend that innocence but not from appropriated tax dollars unless you are indigent and need legal aid.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees our right to a speedy and fair trial which might cost money for legal defense but not from appropriated tax dollars.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees our right to jury trials in federal civil cases involving amounts of more than $20.

The Eighth Amendment protects us from excessive bail or “cruel and unusual punishment.” No federal governmental appropriations are involved unless you count the billions of dollars spent each year to house hundreds of thousands of prisoners convicted of felonies, many of whom are in for life sentences instead of receiving the “cruel and usual punishment” of the death penalty.

The Ninth Amendment recognizes other fundamental individual rights not enumerated in the Constitution but doesn’t say what they are.

None of which seem to require federal appropriations.

The 10th Amendment reserves powers not delegated by the Constitution to Washington to the states and to the individuals.

Another declaration of reserving powers to the states and the individual.

When it comes to health care, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, national defense, interest on the national debt, environmental protection, welfare, education and agricultural subsidies, they are legislative issues that have to be debated, negotiated and voted-upon by our elected representatives in the U.S. Congress and Senate as opposed to being “rights” or even “entitlements” that are conferred upon each person at birth.

In the private world, no one has the right to “demand” another person “pay for” their retirement, housing, education or health care needs. Charitable wealthy people often pay for such services out of the goodness of their hearts through eleemosynary organizations such as churches and nonprofits, but no one really has to do it unless they choose to do so freely on their own accord.

Providing social safety nets and all government programs require political efforts to coerce others to pay for them through majority vote and democratic republicanism.

One “freedom” which should have been enumerated in the Constitution would have guaranteed the freedom of one generation from having to pay the debts of previous generations. Every generation should be forced to pay for the government services they vote into law, except for perhaps the cost of preserving freedom in world wars.

Not the next generation of unborn children who can’t vote yet.

Maybe it is time for a 28th Amendment to say so.

EDITORIAL | TROY KICKLER

Trump’s legacy may not be solidified for decades

Although Donald Trump was never a military leader such as Jackson, the 45th president’s similar polarizing nature definitely has people taking sides.

IT WILL BE a while — maybe a generation — before Americans know fully the effect of a Trump administration.

It’s too early to tell; it’s been only a little over one year during the first year of Trump’s administration. That fact, however, does not keep Americans of all political stripes from confidently espousing passionate opinions regarding President Donald Trump. Some are already establishing his legacy.

I’ve heard how Trump is the worst President since James Buchanan, the Pennsylvanian who preceded Abraham Lincoln and is often blamed for allowing the American Civil War to happen. I’ve also heard that Trump is worse than Andrew Johnson. The native North Carolinian was a war-time Tennessee governor, who later became Lincoln’s second wartime vice president and the 17th president during the tumultuous years of Reconstruction. One year in Trump’s term, the omniscient ones among us know his legacy.

The president can do nothing right.

From others, I’ve heard that the 45th president is returning America to the days of Ronald Reagan — in fact, they believe he may be an even better president than the actor-turned-governor of California who later became president. I’ve heard, to some degree, that Trump has kept America from falling into an abyss of gnashing globalism and all things un-American. One year into his term, the all-knowing of a different stripe discern his legacy. The president can do no wrong.

Again, it is too early to predict Trump’s

legacy.

Many times, Donald Trump’s leadership style and approach remind me of the seventh president, Andrew Jackson. Historian Charles Sellers once remarked: “Andrew Jackson’s masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage.” Although Donald Trump was never a military leader such as Jackson, the 45th president’s similar polarizing nature definitely has people taking sides.

There are more than a few similarities between Jackson and Trump. Jackson’s supporters believed he embodied what was right about America; the Tennessean wished to restore an old republican and constitutional government. His opponents, however, considered him an unfit outsider, puffed up with vanity and filled with despotic aspirations.

Already, there have been turnovers in Trump’s administration. Jackson’s two terms were no different. In his eight years, there were four secretaries of state and five secretaries of the treasury. Time will tell if the first year of Trump’s administration is par for the current presidential course.

Jackson was not considered a deep thinker.

Many also questioned his methods. Few of the seventh president’s political contemporaries, however, doubted that he had a coherent political philosophy. Among other things, he wanted a simple republican government and the elimination of the national debt.

Some considered Jackson to “be a dangerous man.” “His rashness of feelings” always prompted his speeches. Whether intentional or not, Jackson’s candidness did indeed catch the public eye. Yet, some learned, he was capable of concealing his thoughts.

Many believed Jackson to be an uncouth hothead. In his earlier years, Jackson did become involved in notable duels and made many inappropriate public comments. Yet, some historians, and even some of Jackson’s peers, remarked that his “celebrated temper” was actually more than once a calculated anger. Over the years, Jackson had developed an intuitive sense of others and when to provoke and when to soothe.

In 1846, a compiler of 25 eulogies for Jackson remarked: “It can hardly be expected that the present generation will do justice to the character of Jackson, [for] his opponents have ever been most bitter enemies, and his friends almost his worshippers.”

All this history brings me back to make a point. Trump’s presidential legacy remains undetermined. It might be 30 years or so before Americans understand the full effect.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A7

COLUMN | WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Will automation kill our jobs?

Because of automation, the U.S. worker is now three times as productive as in 1980 and twice as productive as in 2000.

A RECENT ARTICLE in The Guardian dons the foreboding title “Robots will destroy our jobs — and we’re not ready for it.” The article claims, “For every job created by robotic automation, several more will be eliminated entirely. ... This disruption will have a devastating impact on our workforce.” According to an article in MIT Technology Review, business researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them, contributing to the stagnation of median income and the growth of inequality in the United States.

If technology is destroying jobs faster than it’s creating them, it is the first time in human history that it’s done so. Actually, the number of jobs is unlimited, for the simple reason that human wants are unlimited — or they don’t frequently reveal their bounds. People always want more of something that will create a job for someone. To suggest that there are a finite number of jobs commits an error known as the “lump of labor fallacy.” That fallacy suggests that when automation or technology eliminates a job, there’s nothing that people want that would create employment for the person displaced by the automation.

In other words, all human wants have been satisfied.

Let’s look at a few examples. In 1790, farmers were 90 percent of the U.S. labor force. By 1900, only about 41 percent of our workers were employed in agriculture.

Today, less than 3 percent of Americans are employed in agriculture. And it’s a good thing. If 90 percent or 41 percent of our labor force were still employed in agriculture, where in the world would we find the workforce to produce all those goods and services that weren’t around in 1790 or 1900, such as cars, aircraft, TVs, computers, aircraft carriers, etc.? Indeed, if technology had not destroyed all of those agricultural jobs, we would be a much, much poorer nation.

What about the claim that our manufacturing jobs are going to China — a claim that’s fueling the Trump administration to impose trade barriers? It is true that between 2001 and 2013, 3.2 million jobs were outsourced

to China. However, in the same time frame, China lost about 4.5 million manufacturing jobs, compared with the loss of 3.1 million in the U.S. Job loss is the trend among the top-10 manufacturing countries, which produce 75 percent of the world’s manufacturing output (the U.S., Japan, Germany, China, Britain, France, Italy, South Korea, Canada and Mexico). Only Italy has managed not to lose factory jobs since 2000. Nonetheless, the U.S. remains a major force in global manufacturing.

Because of automation, the U.S. worker is now three times as productive as in 1980 and twice as productive as in 2000. It’s productivity gains, rather than outsourcing and imports, that explain most of our manufacturing job loss.

If our manufacturing sector were its own economy and had its own gross domestic product, it would be the seventh-largest in the world. Total manufacturing value could be as high as $5.5 trillion. In other words, about 17 percent of global manufacturing activity happens in the United States, and America dominates advanced manufacturing. According to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, U.S. manufacturing employs a large percentage of the workers who are trained in fields related to science, technology, engineering and math. It employs 37 percent of architectural and engineering workers and 16 percent of life, physical and social scientists.

Economist Joseph Schumpeter described this process of technological change. He called it “creative destruction.” Technology and innovation destroy some jobs while creating many others. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. labor force in 1950 was 62 million. By 2000, it was 79 million, and it’s projected to reach 192 million by 2050. Though the “creative destruction” process works hardships on some people who lose their jobs and are forced to take lower-paying jobs, any attempt to impede the process would make all of us worse off.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

COLUMN | L. BRENT BOZELL III AND TIM GRAHAM

SOCIAL SPIN The Social Spin is a new element of the North State Journal opinion page that recognizes the impact of social media channels on our collective conversation. If you have a favorite tweet or post, let us know using #SocialSpin and we may include it in a future issue.

Rob Goldman, a VP for ads for Facebook @robjective Feb. 16, 2018

“The majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election. We shared that fact, but very few outlets have covered it because it doesn’t align with the main media narrative of Tump (sic) and the election.”

John Kasich, governor of Ohio @JohnKasich Feb. 18, 2018

“If all the sudden you couldn’t buy an AR-15, what would you lose?

Would you feel your second amendment rights would be eroded? These are the things that have to be looked at and action has to happen.”

Donald J. Trump, president of the United States @realDonaldTrump Feb. 20, 2018

JONATHAN ERNST | REUTERS

“’There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s elections, there’s no evidence that that has happened in the past or that it will happen this time, and so I’d invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and make his case to get votes.’ ... The President Obama quote just before election. That’s because he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win and he didn’t want to “rock the boat.” When I easily won the Electoral College, the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.

If Sarah Sanders were to smack the press WHITE HOUSE press secretary

How much would reporters like it if Sanders were to question them as aggressively as they question her?

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is constantly hammered by “Gotcha!” questions from reporters in the briefing room.

This was dramatically underlined when the story broke about former White House staff secretary Rob Porter being accused of domestic violence by two ex-wives, one of whom even brandished a picture with a black eye.

By the time it was over, Sanders had one, too. It didn’t look good, and nothing Sanders said from the lectern was going to be good enough. The same outlets that couldn’t muster more than one question regarding former President Bill Clinton’s alleged rape of Juanita Broaddrick seem to ask 27 questions a day about Porter.

So we wondered: How much would reporters like it if Sanders were to question them as aggressively as they question her? We know the Trump haters erupted when Sanders merely asked reporters to share what they were thankful for alongside their questions as Thanksgiving approached. Imagine an exchange like this: NBC reporter Peter Alexander: “Sarah, how could you possibly not know about these charges, and how could Porter be praised as a good man? And why can’t you offer us more transparency on the vetting process?”

Sanders: “OK, let me ask you: How could you at NBC possibly not know about the accusations of Matt Lauer

aggressively propositioning women, even having a button under his desk that he could press to lock the door behind female employees? He worked at the top of NBC News for two decades, and nobody knew these women were suffering?”

Alexander: “Stop distracting. That’s none of your business. We’re a private company. We’re not accountable to the public like you.”

Sanders: “Why don’t you try that defense at a Comcast shareholders meeting? ‘We don’t have to be vigilant about our female employees. We’re a private company.’ And while you’re demanding transparency, how transparent was NBC in letting everyone know how it investigated Lauer’s misdeeds? How transparent was NBC in investigating Brian Williams’ lying on talk shows about all his amazing adventures in war zones? Next question.”

Jim Acosta, CNN: “Hold on!

Aren’t you and the president putting democracy in danger when you try to undermine the respectability of the press corps?”

Sanders: “Jim, should we revisit the respectability of CNN? Your network accepted Saddam Hussein’s claim that we bombed a baby formula factory in Iraq. Your network’s founder, Ted Turner, went to North Korea and then told Wolf Blitzer he didn’t see any brutality, just thin people riding bicycles. Are you serving democracy with this kind of

journalism?”

Acosta: “That’s not fair. That happened long before I got here.”

Sanders: “OK, Jim, how about the fact that your network let Hillary Clinton have some town hall questions in advance of a presidential debate so she could ace the test? Or that three reporters had to resign from your network for spreading ‘fake news’ about Anthony Scaramucci having a secret meeting with the Russians? Your ‘Facts First’ apple is looking wormy and bruised.”

This would probably drive the media further around the bend than they already are. But this is why Trump backers think it’s smart for the president to avoid 27-question press beatings. Trump backers remember when CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny, then a New York Times reporter, asked President Obama at the 100-day mark of his presidency, “What has ... enchanted you the most from serving in this office?”

We didn’t invent that quote.

Reporters will angrily deny there’s a dramatic double standard in what they call “holding public servants accountable.” Not even they believe it.

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center.

Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org.

Michael Johns, Former White House speechwriter @michaeljohns Feb. 20, 2018

“On the #FloridaShooting, we should ask hard--but very specific--questions on what could have been done to prevent this specific incident.

Broader agendas will only distract and divide. Logic points to school security unless there was basis for involuntary psychiatric hold. #2A”

BE IN TOUCH Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline. com or 509 W. North St. Raleigh, N.C. 27603. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for opeds should be sent to opinion@ nsjonline.com.

A8

North State Journal for February 21, 2018

Nation & WORLD

NEWS IN IMAGES Bobsledders Kim Yooran and Kim Min-seong of South Korea compete at the Olympic Sliding Centre at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 20.

ARND WIEGMANN | REUTERS

Competitors take part in the “Riding on Anything” championships organized in Bialka Tatrzanska, Poland, on Feb. 18.

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS | REUTERS

Adin Chistian (16), student of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, embraces his mother Denyse, next to the crosses and Stars of David placed in front of the fence of the school to commemorate the victims of a shooting, in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 19.

U.S. wants European commitment to improving Iran deal New York The U.S. has sketched out a path under which three key European allies would simply commit to try to improve the Iran nuclear deal over time in return for President Donald Trump keeping the pact alive by renewing U.S. sanctions relief in May. The approach, outlined in a State Department memo obtained

by Reuters and an interview with a senior department official, still faces obstacles. The European allies are reportedly reluctant to make such a commitment, two European officials and two former U.S. officials said.

U.S. top court mulls whether to take up DACA Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday discussed in private how to handle President Donald Trump’s appeal of a judge’s decision to block ending protections for illegal immigrants qualifying for former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The nine justices could announce this week whether they will take up the case. Trump’s administration is appealing San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s Jan. 9 ruling that halted the president’s order to sunset the DACA program in March, which protects from deportation young adults who came into country illegally as children and gives them work permits.

Brazil prison rioters free hostages, guards regain control Rio de Janeiro Prisoners who rioted in an overcrowded Rio de Janeiro prison and took 18 hostages have released all the captives and the facility is under the control of guards, authorities said Monday. Eight guards and 10 inmates had been taken hostage during the riot that began Sunday afternoon, the Rio state penitentiary administration said in a statement.

Iran cannot confirm missing plane found, freeze hampers search London The wreckage of an Iranian plane that crashed with 65 people on board was found in central Iran, state media said on Monday, but aviation authorities could not confirm the report. The Aseman Airlines flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens on Sunday 50 minutes into its journey to Yasuj. It is believed to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom.

AGENCJA GAZETA | REUTERS

Facebook plans What’s in the federal indictment of 13 Russians? to use U.S. mail

to verify IDs of election ad buyers

Dramatic storyline reveals an alleged multi-million-dollar operation that dates back to 2013 and employed hundreds to sow chaos in American politics

Rules would apply only to ads that mention candidates, not issue-based buys

By Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH — For those who haven’t had a chance to comb through last week’s indictment of 13 Russians released by the U.S. Department of Justice last week, the details are still emerging. The accused are alleged to have led a St. Petersburg, Russia-based internet research agency, referred to throughout the indictment as “The Organization,” which was tasked with “impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of the United States by dishonest means in order to enable the Defendants to interfere with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the 2016 presidential election.”

The indictment alleges that the group used social media to post hundreds of thousands of politically charged messages with the intent of creating confusion and nationwide discord as far back as 2013, under former President Barack Obama. At some points the accused had hundreds of employees divided into departments like graphic design, finance, content management, data analysis and a “translator project.”

The employees were allegedly divided into day and night shifts with a list of U.S. holidays so they could post appropriate content. The indictment cited organization documents in saying posters were instructed to create “political intensity through supporting radical groups, users dissatisfied with [the] social and economic situation and oppositional social movements.”

By 2014, the campaign was costing approximately 73 million rubles, or $1,250,000 a month. The money went to things like travel expenses, “drop phones,” hardware and “evacuation scenarios.”

Among the information in the 37-page indictment, the accused includes four women, and the operation started at least as early as 2013 and ran through post-2016 election weeks, with the Russian group organizing rallies in New York and Charlotte called “Trump is not my President.”

The group is accused of wire fraud, identity theft, and a number of other charges.

They allegedly stole the social security numbers, home addresses, birthdates and names of American citizens to set up fake PayPal accounts to pay for online advertising and supplies for rallies, fake personal social media accounts for posting comments, and fake issue and party organizations to promote action. Some of the accounts created by “The Organization” included: “United Muslims of America” ,“Secured Borders”, “Heart of Texas”, and “South United.” The indictment said the group’s “@TENN_ GOP” Twitter handle, posing as the Tennessee Republican Party, gained 100,000 followers.

According to the indictment, in 2013 several of the accused leaders traveled to New York, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, Louisiana, Colorado, Illinois, and Nevada to conduct research. Documents showed a Texas-based grassroots organization told them that their focus should be on “purple states like Virginia, Colorado and Florida.”

In one part of the indictment, the content of some of their sites allegedly urged black voters not to vote at all, or to vote for green party candidate Jill Stein. Organiza-

By Dustin Volz Reuters

DAVID SHEPARDSON | REUTERS

Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announces the indictments of 13 Russians charged with conspiring to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election campaign during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 16. tion-controlled sites called “Woke Blacks” and “blacktivist” posted items that read “Choose Peace and Vote Jill Stein, trust us its not a wasted vote,” and “We cannot be forced to vote for the lesser of two devils; we surely would be better off not voting at all.”

The Kremlin said on Monday that U.S. charges didn’t prove Russian state involvement. However, one of the indicted, Evgeny Prigozhin, 56, nicknamed 'Putin's cook' because of his catering business has multiple lucrative Russian government contracts that organizes banquets for the Russian leader and other senior political figures.

U.S. officials say has extensive ties to the country's military and political establishment.

"They (the Americans) are talking about Russian citizens, but we have heard in announcements from Washington accusations about the involvement of the Russian state, the Kremlin and the Russian government," Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

The actions detailed in the indictment describe work to disparage Republicans Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Democrat Hillary Clinton; and promote Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump.

They also organized rallies before the election opposing Clinton and after the election opposing Trump. Facebook’s Vice President of Ads, Rob Goldman confirmed this week that the Organization’s Facebook ads mostly ran after the election, demonstrating that the goal was to create conflict.

“I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal. The majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election,” said Goldman on Twitter. “We’ve shared that fact but very few outlets have covered it because it does not align with the main media narrative on Trump and the election.” He continued in another Tweet.

Nowhere in the indictment does it indicate a knowing collusion with any campaign, but it does say some Americans “unwittingly” communicated with the Organization.

Consequently, the election-meddling allegations have soured U.S.-Russia ties further, triggering new sanctions as well as pressure for more restrictions. Friday's indictment and news that Mueller's investigation is not yet finished mean the issue is likely to dog the troubled relationship for a long time.

WASHINGTON — Facebook will start using postcards sent by U.S. mail later this year to verify the identities and location of people who want to purchase U.S. election-related advertising on its site, a senior company executive said on Saturday.

The postcard verification is Facebook’s latest effort to respond to criticism from lawmakers, security experts and election integrity watchdog groups that it and other social media companies failed to detect and later responded slowly to Russia’s use of their platforms to spread divisive political content, including disinformation, during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Facebook revealed the plans a day after U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller unsealed an in- “If you dictment accusing 13 Russians run an ad and three Russian companies of conducting a criminal and es- mentioning pionage conspiracy using social a candidate, media to interfere in the election by boosting Republican Donald we are going Trump and denigrating Demo- to mail you cratic candidate Hillary Clinton. a postcard The process of using postcards containing a specific code will be and you will required for advertising mention- have to use ing a specific candidate running that code to for a federal office, Katie Harbath, Facebook’s global director prove you are of policy programs, said. The in the United requirement will not apply to is- States.” sue-based political ads, she said.

“If you run an ad mentioning a candidate, we are going to mail — Katie you a postcard and you will have Harbath, to use that code to prove you are Facebook in the United States,” Harbath global director said at a weekend conference of the National Association of Sec- of policy retaries of State, where executives programs from Twitter and Google spoke.

“It won’t solve everything,” Harbath said in a brief interview with Reuters following her remarks.

But sending codes through old-fashioned mail was the most effective method the tech company could come up with to prevent Russians and other bad actors from purchasing ads while posing as someone else, Harbath said.

Foreign nationals are prohibited under U.S. law from contributing or donating money or anything else of value or making any expenditure in connection with any federal, state or local election in the United States.

The indictment released on Friday laid out in specific detail how prosecutors believe Russians adopted false online personas to push divisive political content, including ads. The Russians also allegedly posed as Americans to stage political rallies in the United States and persuade real Americans to engage in pro-Trump activities.

Harbath did not say when Facebook would begin relying on postcard codes but said they would be in use before this year’s midterm congressional elections in November.

A Facebook spokesman declined to provide further details on the plan but referred to a company blog post from last October announcing plans to roll out more robust identification verification measures for political advertisers.

That blog post did not specify what the verification process would entail.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

SPORTS

PNC Arena crew makes quick work of changeover, page B4

JASEN VINLOVE | USA TODAY SPORTS

Lewisville’s Austin Dillon and his grandfather, No. 3 car owner Richard Childress, celebrate in victory lane after winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving No. 3 car, Austin Dillon wins crash-marred Daytona 500

the Wednesday SIDELINE REPORT NFL

Carruth apologizes for murder, wants custody of son Charlotte Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, convicted in 2001 for conspiracy in the 1999 murder of Cherica Adams, who was pregnant with his child, has penned a letter to her mother in which he accepted responsibility for the crime and expressed his desire for custody of his son.

Carruth was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison after he was found guilty on three charges related to Adams’ shooting death in November 1999. Adams was eight months pregnant at the time.

Adams, however, lived for a month after the shooting and delivered the child. The boy, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born with cerebral palsy as a result of his mother’s gunshot injuries. Carruth is scheduled to be released from prison in October. Saundra Adams, Cherica Adams’ mother who has raised Chancellor his whole life, responded on Twitter saying she has forgiven Rae but added, “I can say definitively he’s not ever going to have custody of Chancellor.”

NBA

Hornets fire GM Cho, Kupchak expected to be candidate Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan fired general manager Rich Cho and will immediately seek a replacement in a restructure of the Charlotte front office.

According to ESPN, the Hornets plan to pursue former Los Angeles Lakers’ personnel boss Mitch Kupchak. Jordan hired Cho in 2011 after only one year as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Per ESPN, the vision of the front office structure would be a combined effort between Kupchak and assistant general manager Buzz Peterson. Jordan, Kupchak and Peterson all attended the University of North Carolina, where Jordan and Peterson were roommates. Cho entered the NBA as an intern with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1995.

Lewisville native pilots Richard Childress Racing’s flagship car to the win; High Point’s Ryan Blaney leads points

JAMES GUILLORY | USA TODAY SPORTS

Now instead of having a seasoned veteran on the roster to run the offense until prized freshman Holton Ahlers is ready to take over, Montgomery must find a leader from a group of untested quarterbacks that has thrown exactly one pass in a college game between them.

The competition between Ahlers, redshirt freshman Kingsley Ifedi and sophomore Reid Herring began Monday with all three sharing repetitions with the first team offense on the opening day of ECU’s spring practice.

“We feel like we’re pretty talented at quarterback,” Montgomery said following the workout. “I felt

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Memories were stoked Sunday at Daytona International Speedway as the grandson of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s best friend took Earnhardt’s old number back to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500.

Austin Dillon, a native of Lewisville, saw his opportunity and took it to win the 60th running of the race.

Never seemingly among the top contenders all day, Dillon got to Aric Almirola’s rear bumper on the final lap and bumped by him to put the No. 3 in back on top of the season’s first race for the first time since the late driver did it 20 years ago.

Dillon races for his grandfather, Richard Childress, who was also Earnhardt’s team owner. Bringing back the No. 3, which hadn’t been used since Earnhardt’s death in this race in 2001, was finally blessed by Childress in 2014, though it was discussed

by Childress and “The Intimidator” when Earnhardt was still alive.

Now its legacy has been lifted even higher with only the third 500 victory for Childress — one by Earnhardt, one by his replacement, Kevin Harvick, and now one by Childress’ grandson.

“It was so awesome to take the 3 car back to Victory Lane,” Dillon said. “This is for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and all those Senior fans.”

And it wasn’t Dillon’s first experience in Daytona’s Victory lane, either. He was there 20 years ago.

“Daytona has a way with just making memories,” he said. “This place makes memory after memory, and they are life-changing memories, and I was fortunate to be in Victory Lane 20 years ago. and I’m here again, but I’m driving — this is awesome!”

See ECU, page B3

See DAYTONA, page B3

ECU coach Scottie Montgomery and the Pirates entered spring practice with three players battling for the open quarterback job.

Minshew’s departure leaves ECU with young options at QB Three quarterbacks with one total pass of college experience now vying for Pirates’ starting job

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal OF ALL THE CONCERNS Scottie Montgomery has heading into his third season as East Carolina’s football coach, the one area in which he didn’t think he’d have to worry is quarterback. But that changed earlier this month when incumbent starter Gardner Minshew left school to deal with an undisclosed family matter back home in Mississippi.

By K. Lee Davis Field Level Media

After two and a half years, Duke softball is an overnight success Blue Devils post six wins in their first nine games

By Shawn Krest North State Journal NINE HUNDRED twenty-five days.

When Marissa Young took the job as head coach, Duke softball had no players, no stadium and no games scheduled for 925 days.

Gerald Ford wasn’t president for 925 days. The U.S. didn’t spend 925 days in World War I. Young, who had played at Michigan, spent two years in the pros and eight years coaching college softball, most recently as an assistant at North Carolina, had a little more than 2½ years to build a program from scratch before her team would begin playing games that counted.

To put that in perspective, now that Duke has been playing softball games for a little over a week, it will

be Aug. 21, 2020, before Young has spent as long coaching games as she did waiting for the Blue Devils to take the field for the first time.

Not that there wasn’t plenty to do over those 925 days.

“There was a lot to worry about, to get this program up and running in two years,” Young said.

One of the biggest tasks was finding players who were willing to sign with a program that, for all intents and purposes, didn’t exist yet.

Young did exactly that, finding

“It was so awesome to take the 3 car back to Victory Lane. ... This is for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and all those Senior fans.”

— Austin Dillon

a handful of players in the class of 2016 who were willing to sign with Duke and wait a year for the program to begin play.

The 2016-17 Blue Devils didn’t have enough players to field a team and was made up entirely of redshirts.

“We did a lot of individual work,” said catcher Jazz Moreno, who, with seven walks and three sacrifice hits in nine games, is Duke’s career leader in both categories. “Sometimes, our assistant coaches would come out and play the field with us, so we could have a full team.”

“We owe a lot to them for being committed to the process and coming to Duke,” Young said. “Really, it was about a promise. There was no See DUKE, page B3

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

B2 WEDNESDAY

2.21.18

TRENDING

Enzo Martinez: The midfielder was signed by the Colorado Rapids from the club’s USL affiliate Charlotte Independence on Monday. Martinez, 27, was the 17th overall pick in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft

by Real Salt Lake in 2012. He was traded to Colorado in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. After spending two years with the Carolina RailHawks in the NASL, the Uruguayan national scored 29 goals in 79 appearances with the Independence over the past two seasons.

Baker Mayfield: The former Oklahoma quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner does not plan to attend the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium in April, according to a report from NBC Dallas.

Expected to be taken in the first round and potentially the top 10, Mayfield very likely will receive an invitation from the league to attend the draft, which has seen between 22 and 30 players in attendance in every year since 2011.

Peter Mrazek: The Red Wings goalie was traded to Philadelphia on Monday, a day after Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth joined fellow netminder Brian Elliott on the injured list. Detroit received two conditional draft picks for Mrazek, but had to agree to retain half of the Czech goalie’s $4 million cap hit. Philadelphia has managed at least a point in eight straight games (6-0-2) heading into Tuesday’s home game against Montreal.

beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES

OLYMPICS

Kimani Griffin’s Olympic debut Monday resulted in a 26th-place finish in the men’s 500-meter speedskating event in Pyeongchang. The 27-year-old Griffin, from Winston-Salem, recorded a time of 35.39 seconds — only slightly slower than the 35.26 he posted at the Olympic Trials in Milwaukee in December to qualify for the U.S. team. He was the third-fastest American in Monday’s race.

LEONHARD FOEGER | REUTERS

“I love ski racing. I want to keep racing forever.

Unfortunately, my body is not the Terminator.”

Four-time Olympian and seven-time medalist Lindsey Vonn, 33, on this likely being her final Olympic Games.

ROBERT HANASHIRO | USA TODAY SPORTS

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

NBA

RICHARD MACKSON | USA TODAY SPORTS

“I love this country and honestly tried my best.”

Fergie after her rendition of the national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

10 ACC teams projected to earn berths in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi as of Monday. Virginia, the nation’s No. 1 team, received a top seed, while N.C.’s Duke (No. 2 seed), UNC (No. 3 seed) and NC State (No. 11 seed) are all on track to receive bids. The Wolfpack are listed as one of the final eight teams in the tournament.

ROB GOLDBERG JR. | ECU ATHLETICS

MIKE NELSON | USA TODAY SPORTS

NBA All-Star Weekend was overshadowed by musician Fergie’s curious rendition of the national anthem, but Team LeBron wound up topping Team Stephen in Sunday’s game at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Hornets guard Kemba Walker had 11 points for Team LeBron in the win. James won his third MVP with 29 points.

The East Carolina women’s lacrosse team made history Sunday when freshman Megan Pallozzi scored 40 seconds into overtime to give the Pirates the first win in their young program’s history. Pallozzi scored four goals and fellow freshman Nicole LeGar added three to lift ECU to a 15-14 victory against Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs.

NHL

DENNIS WIERZBICKI | USA TODAY SPORTS

Four Blackhawks fans were ejected during Saturday night’s game after making racist taunts toward Capitals forward Devante SmithPelly. Smith-Pelly, who is black, was in the penalty box and visibly upset with fans at the glass to his left and at one point grabbed his stick and walked over to tap the glass with it. The four fans were removed after the incident and the Capitals confirmed they were chanting “basketball, basketball, basketball!” at Smith-Pelly.

Always Dry. Always Comfortable.

w w w . a l b e m a r l e b o at s . c o m

Find us on

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Indoor football returns to Greensboro with Carolina Cobras New National Arena League starts season on April 7

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal THE CAROLINA COBRAS are preparing for their inaugural season as a member of the National Arena League.

Just don’t call the Greensboro-based indoor football team an expansion franchise.

That’s because its coach, Billy Back, assistant Brian Schmidt and a solid nucleus of the roster are already familiar with one another from having played together on another team. As members of the now-defunct Wichita Falls (Texas) Nighthawks of the Indoor Football League, the group went 12-4 last season.

It’s a success Back expects to continue now that he and his core of key players have relocated to North Carolina to get a fresh start as Cobras.

“It’s kind of like a family atmosphere,” said Back, a former indoor player himself who has won three league championships during his six-year coaching career. “Those guys trust me and know I’m going to take care of them and put them in a good situation. From that point we have guys that mesh with what we’re trying to put together on the field, so the chemistry is always good.”

Greensboro was introduced as a new member of the six-team NAL in December and will play its first game on April 7 against the defending league champion Jacksonville Sharks. The other league teams are the Columbus (Ga.) Lions, Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Steelhawks, Massachusetts Pirates and Maine Mammoths.

The Cobras are owned by National Sports Ventures, a group headed by Atlanta businessman Richard Maslia.

ECU from page B1 like that before (Minshew) left. I felt like that on signing day a year ago, two years ago. Now we feel like it even more now that we see all these guys out here.”

Of the three, Herring figures to have the early edge since he’s been in the program the longest.

A former three-star recruit who set passing records at Raleigh’s Millbrook High, he saw mop-up action in two games last season, throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt in a win against Cincinnati.

“He’s felt like he should be the guy for a long time now,” Montgomery said. “He’s getting a chance to get reps with all those one receivers and it really shows that he has a tremendous arm talent. I don’t know if he’s improved,

According to team president Brian Cassidy, Greensboro was chosen because of its central location, a large fan base from which to draw, a modern 23,000-seat coliseum and a history of previous minor league sports franchises.

Like Back and his players, led by two-time IFL MVP quarterback Charles McCallum, Greensboro and indoor football are no strangers to one another.

Two other teams have called the Gate City home — the Greensboro Prowlers of Arenafootball 2 from 2000-03 and the Greensboro Revolution of the National Indoor Football League from 2000-06.

The name Cobras is also familiar, having already been used by the old Arena League franchise that played in Raleigh and Charlotte from 2000-04.

“Greensboro is just a big-time sports town and it’s time to bring arena football back after 12 years,” Cassidy said. “A lot of people are jumping on board and want to be involved with the Cobras, because they know it’s a new, fun and exciting thing that’s coming to the coliseum.”

Cassidy said he’s confident that the NAL in general and Cobras in particular will succeed where other leagues and franchises have failed because of the professionalism of those making the decisions.

It also doesn’t hurt that the commissioner of the league, Chris Siegfried, is a former arena football player and coach who understands both the game and how it should be marketed.

Cassidy said that just as much attention is being paid to the Cobras’ game night presentation as the team’s on-the-field product and promised that the atmosphere inside Greensboro Coliseum will be “kind of a football-game, hockey-game, rock-and-roll concert all rolled into one with a fan-friendly entertainment aspect to it.”

Among the features already in

because that’s not something we’ve seen to this point.”

The same can be said for Ifedi, a dual-threat athlete who was the first player Montgomery signed in 2016. He was thought to be ECU’s quarterback of the future until Ahlers came on board in December.

At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Ahlers has size, confidence and a cannon arm that produced 11,198 yards and 145 touchdowns in his career at D.H. Conley High. Despite having just arrived, he’s already emotionally invested in ECU’s program, having grown up in Greenville as a Pirate fan whose father is the PA announcer at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The only question surrounding his ascension to the starting job, it seems, is how quickly he picks up the offense and performs this

“We’re going to be pretty good on the field when it comes to talent. Now all we have to do is put it together on game day.”

— Billy Back, Cobras coach the works are meet-and-greets with the players on the field after every home game.

“Ownership is doing this the right way,” Back said. “They’re not coming in and spray painting things. We’re getting all new things. It’s going to be our field, our look, our atmosphere.”

As for those players, the veteran coach can’t wait to get started once training camp opens on March 17 at Proehlific Park, the training facility run by former Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver

“We’re excited about the style of quarterbacks we’re playing with right now.”

— Scottie Montgomery, ECU coach spring.

According to Montgomery, he’s off to a promising start.

“He didn’t look like it was his first college practice, but it shouldn’t,” Montgomery said. “He lives right down the road. He’s been over here so much it should look like his second or third college practice. He’s got a lot of work to do, but he’s got some good people pushing him. It’s going to be

DAYTONA from page B1 It was an overtime finish totaling 207 laps, seven more than scheduled, as a late wreck made NASCAR re-rack the field for a final sprint to the finish.

“I knew we were in a good spot,” Dillon said. “And I have to thank Darrell Wallace Jr. He did a great job, finishing one-two with ECR (Earnhardt-Childress Racing) engines.

“What a day. Thanks Darrell for that push. I had to make it happen in the end.”

Wallace, affectionately known as “Bubba,” had quite the day himself.

His second-place finish was the highest for an African-American driver in “The Great American Race.” The only black driver to win in NASCAR’s top series was Hall of Famer Wendell Scott, who captured the Jacksonville 200 in 1963. Scott is the only other black driver to run the Daytona 500, and his highest finish was 13th in 1966.

Now driving for the legendary Richard Petty — an N.C. native from Level Cross — in Petty’s legendary No. 43, Wallace was emotional after the race when his mother found him and gave him a hug and kisses.

Tears ensued.

“Dang it, mom!” Wallace said in the media center. “I’m trying to keep it together here.”

But for a driver who entered the race with only four starts at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup level, it was heady stuff. As was the prerace call from baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and tweets from Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

Ricky Proehl. Thirty-five players are expected to compete for the 25 roster spots.

In addition to McCallum, who threw for 2,959 yards and 56 touchdowns last season while leading an offense that averaged a league-leading 62.6 points per game, the other former Wichita Falls players are wide receiver Jordan Jolly, defensive back Michael Green and massive offensive/defensive linemen Jordan Mosley and Walter Thomas, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound veteran who spent some time with the New Orleans Saints.

“This is going to be a team with probably the best quarterback in the league, the best nose guard and three of the best receivers in the league,” Back said. “We’re going to be pretty good on the field when it comes to talent. Now all we have to do is put it together on game day.”

More information about the team can be found on its official website, Carcobras.com.

really good to watch his development the next 15 days.”

Should none of the three show enough progress by the Pirates’ Purple-Gold spring scrimmage on March 24, Montgomery could pursue a graduate transfer as he did last season with Thomas Sirk. But he’d prefer not to do that again.

There is also a possibility Minshew could return if his circumstances change, though it’s been rumored he’s considering grad transfer opportunities of his own.

“The door is open for him, whenever that happens,” Montgomery said of Minshew, who passed for 2,140 yards and 16 touchdowns while splitting time with Sirk. “But we’re focusing on what we have here. We’re excited about the style of quarterbacks we’re playing with right now.”

B3 DUKE from page B1 field, no locker room, nothing here for them. They came, stuck with the process and really laid the foundation.”

In the meantime, Young was helping to lay the foundation for the team’s home.

Construction began in 2016.

The $9 million project included a 500-seat stadium, located on East Campus, next to the field hockey stadium, with state-ofthe-art indoor batting cages.

With the still-unnamed stadium taking shape and her skeleton roster working out and waiting, Young added a second recruiting class last year, as well as a handful of transfers.

“This summer, it definitely felt different around here,” Moreno said. “It was like, ‘We have players now! We have a team!’”

Work on the stadium was completed, and its grand opening in September drew a sellout crowd for an exhibition game against NC State.

Four months later, on Feb. 8 at Florida Atlantic University, Duke’s Team One, as the program is calling the 2017-18 Blue Devils, took the field. The roster includes eight true freshmen, four redshirt freshmen, and transfers from UNC, Seattle University, Columbia, Ole Miss and James Madison. There are just two upperclassmen.

Duke won its first game, topping FAU, 4-3, and won two out of five games in the opening weekend. The Blue Devils then returned home to officially open their stadium in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

There were a few opening night jitters, as Duke committed three errors in three innings, falling behind Penn State, 5-0, in front of the home crowd. The Blue Devils mounted a rally, however, keyed by a two-run home run — the first in program history — by Katherine Huey. A true freshman, Huey had earned Duke’s first-ever win eight days earlier, and she recorded the team’s first home win as well.

In their second home game, true freshman Amelia Wiercioch came within two outs of throwing the first no-hitter in program history, shutting out Purdue, 4-0. Wiercioch also has the first hit and first RBI in Duke history.

Duke went on to beat Penn State and Purdue again over the weekend, sweeping all four games of the Challenge and completing a near-perfect debut.

“Some sunshine probably would have been the only thing I’d have added,” said Young. “We were tested. We had some things we had to battle out of. I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“It’s incredible, just to be at the forefront of a university and community getting behind a new sport, and then bringing along so many amazing kids for this journey,” she added. “Now, finally being able to get out onto the field and compete and win some games, it’s just icing on the cake.”

After 925 days, Young’s program is an overnight success.

DAYTONA 500 RESULTS

MARK J. REBILAS | USA TODAY SPORTS

Austin Dillon celebrates with crew members after winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

“Wow, that makes you feel good,” he said. “It definitely pulls on your heartstrings a little bit, just to know that you’re being watched by so many greats. They’re the ones you’re looking up to and they reach out to you and that’s really cool.

“So, I kind of feel like that little kid that looks up to me and I respond back to them.”

While Dillon came away with the win, not everyone from North Carolina was so fortunate. Here’s a rundown of how N.C.’s five other drivers fared.

Ryan Blaney Despite a dominant performance, Blaney finished seventh. There was some cause for celebration, though — thanks to the bonus points he collected he sits first in the Cup standings, six points ahead of Dillon.

William Byron The rookie piloted the famed Hendrick No. 24 to a 23rd-place finish, spinning out late in the race to set up the overtime showdown.

Ty Dillon Brother of winner Austin, Ty Dillon finished 39th after an early-race accident.

Jeffrey Earnhardt Childress’ grandson stole the show, but Dale Sr.’s grandson did well for himself, too. Earnhardt came in 21st, his best career finish after doing no better than 26th in his previous 58 Cup races.

Corey LaJoie LaJoie came in 40th — last place — after suffering a blown engine just eight laps into the race.

1. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 207 2. (7) Darrell Wallace Jr., Chevrolet, 207 3. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 207 4. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 207 5. (21) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 207 6. (16) Paul Menard, Ford, 207 7. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 207 8. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 207 9. (22) Michael McDowell, Ford, 207 10. (20) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 207 11. (37) Aric Almirola, Ford, 206 12. (29) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 206 13. (18) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 206 14. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 206 15. (10) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 206 16. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 205 17. (1) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 205 18. (24) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 205 19. (38) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 204 20. (34) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 204 21. (27) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 204

22. (40) Mark Thompson, Ford, 203 23. (33) William Byron, Chevrolet, 203 24. (30) D.J. Kennington, Toyota, 201 25. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200 26. (11) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 198 27. (36) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Accident, 198 28. (25) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Accident, 198 29. (9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Accident, 197 30. (15) David Ragan, Ford, Accident, 107 31. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 105 32. (31) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 102 33. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Accident, 101 34. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, Accident, 101 35. (28) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Accident, 101 36. (8) Erik Jones, Toyota, Accident, 59 37. (17) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, Accident, 59 38. (35) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 59 39. (23) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 59 40. (32) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Engine, 8

B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

B5

From hardwood to hockey rink

On Feb. 10, the PNC Arena changeover crew again converted the arena from basketball to hockey.

The team of 65 had three hours from the final horn of NC State’s basketball game until the doors reopened for that night’s Carolina Hurricanes game. The process requires removing seats and bleachers for basketball, adding back seats for hockey, and then removing the hardwood floor and baskets. The crew then builds the hockey rink, assembling benches, boards and glass, along with countless other tasks to complete PNC’s trans­ formation.

On this night, the job was done in 113 minutes.

PNC crew makes quick work of changing arena for events

72 The record, in minutes, for the PNC Arena staff to complete a basketballto-hockey changeover

By Shawn Krest North State Journal RALEIGH — For about six dozen people in PNC Arena on Feb. 10, there was a bright side to the Wolfpack’s four-point loss to the hated Tar Heels: They could start work on time.

“There was no overtime,” said PNC Arena general manager Dave Olsen, “and the students didn’t storm the court afterward.”

For several harrowing minutes in the second half, both scenarios seemed on the verge of taking place, which would have eaten into the three hours that Olsen’s crew had to change over PNC from a basketball arena to a hockey rink.

It was the fourth time this season that the arena hosted an NC State basketball game and an NHL Hurricanes game on the same day. Each of them had given the crew at least three hours to get the work done. “As long as we have a three-hour window, we’re good,” Olsen said.

It also helped that the arena was being flipped from basketball to hockey — an easier change than in the opposite direction. “It’s always easier to tear something down than to build it,” Olsen explained.

The speed record for the changeover is an hour, 12 minutes. “We just did an hour 20 a couple weeks ago,” said director of operations Craig Stover.

There would be no records set this time. The crew was tired and nowhere near done with a grueling stretch of the schedule. The Hurricanes had played the night before, meaning the crew was busy until about 2:30 a.m. switching the arena from hockey to basketball. With a Harlem Globetrotters game scheduled the following afternoon, the crew would have to stay late after the Canes game to make the switch again — for a total of three changeovers in a 27-hour period.

“We’re just going to go nice and easy and make sure no one gets hurt,” Olsen said.

Nice and easy doesn’t mean slow and leisurely, however.

“The key is to have everyone in constant motion, all the time,” Stover said, and, despite their lack of sleep, the crew complies.

There are 65 people dedicated to changing the arena floor over. Another smaller crew cleans the stands and suites. Other teams change the score-

board and arena ribbon board graphics and prepare the concession stands. “They need to be restocked,” Olsen said, “and we have to add items.

We don’t sell beer at college games, for instance.”

While the NC State players hit the showers, the crew begins work. NC State banners are taken down and folded up for storage. Several carts are loaded with the chairs from the student sections and press row. In five minutes, the chairs are gone.

In another four minutes, the risers that made up the student seating are disassembled and carted off as well.

Teams begin taking apart the basketball court, piece-by-piece. Each section weighs about 80 pounds and needs to be covered with protective plastic, so it isn’t scratched as it gets stacked on a cart. It takes 34 minutes for the entire court to be broken down and carted off, and three forklifts bring out the glass that will ring the hockey rink.

That requires an additional precaution. Members of the crew don hockey helmets, just like the ones the players wear, whenever they handle glass or walk on the soon-to-be uncovered ice.

With the help of forklifts, the team bench areas and penalty boxes are built.

The seating bowl also has several changes from NC State basketball. Additional seats are installed around the arena, and railings are erected to block off paths that allowed fans to reach the arena floor for basketball.

A little over an hour in, the floor crew is ready to start pulling up the arena floor and uncover the ice. The temperature begins to noticeably drop in the arena.

The crew makes short work of the floor, carting off the last piece 34 minutes after the first. While they work, protective netting is attached to the top of the glass, TV cameras are put in place behind the goals, and someone brings equipment to the team bench areas.

At 5:53 p.m. — an hour and 53 minutes after the final horn of NC State’s game and an hour and seven minutes before the doors reopen for the Hurricanes game — the ice resurfacing is complete and the arena is ready to go.

“Now, we’ll give them pizza and let them watch the game,” Stover said. And then the changeover will begin again, in the opposite direction.

“All in a day’s work,” he said.

PHOTOS BY SHAWN KREST | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

the good life IN A NORTH STATE OF MIND BEST OF THE BEST

N.C. wellrepresented at this year’s James Beard Awards NSJ Staff The semifinal nominees for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards for restaurants and chefs were announced last week, and a dozen N.C. restaurants and chefs made the cut.

The James Beard Foundation is dedicated to exploring how food enriches our lives. The prestigious culinary arts organization was established in 1986 to honor James Beard, a cookbook author and food expert. Beard helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs through the cooking school he founded in the mid-1950s. There he instilled the value of wholesome, healthful, seasonal and delicious food.

When James Beard died at 81 on Jan. 21, 1985, he left a legacy of culinary excellence and integrity to generations of home cooks and professional chefs. The James Beard Foundation administers several programs for chefs — include food industry awards.

The foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a performance space for America’s best chefs.

The foundation will announce the final nominees for all award categories during a press conference on March 14 in Philadelphia. The semifinalists from N.C. are:

Best New Restaurant Brewery Bhavana Raleigh

Outstanding Baker David Bauer Farm & Sparrow Asheville

Outstanding Chef Ashley Christensen Poole’s Diner Raleigh

Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional Leah Wong Ashburn, Highland Brewing Co. Asheville

Sean Lilly Wilson Fullsteam Brewery

Boy Scouts making an impact on the Old North State

By Clayton Abernathy For the North State Journal RALEIGH — While the N.C. Supreme Court is the appropriate forum for policy arguments to be made, a presentation there last Friday by the Boy Scouts organization was unrebutted and even had one of the justices advocating for their position.

Justice Paul Newby — himself an Eagle Scout — served as the chairman of the group tasked with making the 2018 Boy Scouts of America Annual Report to the state. Newby led a group of current and former Scouts from an opening event at the Supreme Court as they presented the report to Gov. Roy Cooper at the Executive Mansion and to Lt. Gov. Dan Forest at the Hawkins-Hartness House.

In addition to presenting and discussing a primer on the Boy Scouts, Newby also played host to dozens of Scouting leaders, current Scouts, and a distinguished group of business leaders and entrepreneurs who have obtained the rank of Eagle Scout.

This year’s report was titled “Scouting’s Impact on the Economic Engine of North Carolina,” and much of the activity at the Supreme Court was focused on the business success of Eagle Scouts and highlighting the impact that Scout-led businesses have had on North Carolina.

“These Eagle Scout entrepreneurs no doubt helped North Carolina become Forbes Magazine’s #1 Best State for Business in 2017,” said Newby in the report.

The report, which shows the overall impact of Scouting on the state, included broad data on the participation levels of the 68,646 youth members and 25,968 adult volunteers in the 11 Councils of the Boy Scouts across N.C. The report also presented an analysis of the influence had by Scouting on N.C.’s entrepreneurial economy carried out by Ted. D. Zoller, T.W. Lewis Distinguished Scholar and Professor at Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill.

In his analysis, Zoller suggested that more than 3,000 Scouting entrepreneurs are active in N.C. and that a high percentage of the state’s most successful en-

PHOTOS BY LAUREN ROSE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Justice Paul Newby welcomes N.C. Boy Scouts to the N.C. Supreme Court on Friday for presentation of the 2018 Boy Scouts of America Annual Report to the State.

“These Eagle Scout entrepreneurs no doubt helped North Carolina become Forbes Magazine’s #1 Best State for Business in 2017.”

— Senior Associate Justice Paul Newby trepreneurs are part of the exclusive fraternity of Eagle Scouts. In his conclusion, Zoller found that “individuals who attain the rank of Eagle Scout are 30 times more likely to become an entrepreneur than an average business person.”

Zoller — who is also an Eagle Scout — concluded his analysis with a recommendation that N.C. State Government study ways to encourage Scouting among N.C. youth.

Boy Scouts across N.C. gathered on Friday at the N.C. Supreme Court building for a special presentation.

‘Hamilton’ will headline 2018-19 season at DPAC Hit musical will come to N.C. more than three years after its debut

Durham

Rising Star Chef of the Year Gabe Barker Pizzeria Mercato Carrboro

Best Chef: Southeast Katie Button Nightbell Asheville

Vivian Howard Chef & The Farmer Kinston

Meherwan Irani Chai Pani Asheville

Sam Jones Sam Jones BBQ Winterville

Joe Kindred Kindred Davidson

Cheetie Kumar Garland Raleigh

NSJ Staff DURHAM — The Tony Award-winning musical “Hamilton” is coming to Durham — along with seven other Broadway hits — for an almost month-long run that will kick-off the Durham Performing Arts Center’s 201819 “New York, New York” season in November 2018.

In addition to Hamilton running from Nov. 6 through Dec. 2 of this year, the season will include: “Fiddler on The Roof,” one of Broadway’s greatest musicals (Jan. 8-13, 2019); Tony-nominated revival “Miss Saigon” (Jan. 2227, 2019); “Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Feb. 12-17, 2019); Tony- and Grammy-winning Best Musical “Dear Evan Hansen” (Mar. 12-17, 2019); Musical “Anastasia” (April 16-21, 2019); “Hello, Dolly!,” winner of four 2017 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival (May 21-26, 2019) and the timeless Broadway hit “Cats” (June 4-9, 2019).

“Suffice to say that this season is our biggest and best yet,” said Rachel Traversari, DPAC senior director of marketing. “All eight shows on our ‘New York, New York’ Season are current or recent hits on Broadway and coming directly to DPAC. There couldn’t be a better way to celebrate our 11th

PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

The cast of Hamilton performs. record-breaking season than by kicking it off with ‘Hamilton’ this November.”

Season tickets for the entire “New York, New York” slate are currently available as part of the SunTrust Broadway at DPAC 2018-19 season package and are available only to current season seat members. According to a release from DPAC, the popu-

lar venue sold an unprecedented number of season seats this past season and may not have additional season seat packages beyond what have already been purchased.

A public on-sale date for “Hamilton” has not yet been announced but a limited number of tickets to the other seven shows will go on sale later this summer.

“Suffice to say that this season is our biggest and best yet.”

— Rachel Traversari, DPAC senior director of marketing.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

entertainment NY judge rules Charter Communications must face lawsuit over slow internet Attorney general charges ISP provided customers with hardware incapable of reaching advertised speeds

By Jonathan Stempel Reuters MARIO ANZUONI | REUTERS

Stan Lee (L) greets cast member Chadwick Boseman at the premiere of “Black Panther” in Los Angeles, on Jan. 29.

Presidents Day box office is owned by Black Panther Latest Marvel film scores fifthbiggest three-day debut

By Dave McNary Variety LOS ANGELES — Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is heading for a stunning $235 million debut over the four-day Presidents Day weekend at 4,020 North American locations, estimates showed Monday.

“Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Ryan Coogler, has blown away its original tracking in less than a month.

The film, which carries an estimated $200 million production cost, had been tracking to bring in between an impressive $100-120 million when first estimates emerged on Jan. 25.

Since then, “Black Panther” has become far more than just a popular tentpole title.

Instead, it’s become a must-see event as it veers into record-setting territory. Thursday previews brought in $25.2 million, the largest Thursday night preview gross for a February opener and the second-largest preview gross for a Marvel film. The film has continued to shatter all projections since then.

On Sunday, Disney estimated that “Black Panther” would take in $218 million for Presidents Day weekend, then revised that number upward on Monday morning by an astounding $17 million. The movie finished Sunday with a $60.1 million — the second-best Sunday in industry history, just slightly behind 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” record of $60.6 million.

“Black Panther” has also pushed the 2018 year to date domestic gross up 6.9 percent to $1.65 billion, according to comScore. It is the highest three-day debut ever for a February film and the fifth highest of all time behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $248 million, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at $220 million, “Jurassic World” at $208.8 million and “The Avengers” at $207.4 million.

“Black Panther” has demolished the record for the largest Presidents Day weekend, blowing past “Deadpool’s” 2016 mark of $152 million. Overall North American moviegoing for the four-day period should hit an eye-popping

$340 million — far above the $278 million mark in 2016, according to comScore.

Boseman portrays T’Challa, the ruler of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society, who conflicts with Michael B. Jordan’s Eric Killmonger, who intends to take over the throne. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and Daniel Kaluuya also star.

“Black Panther” should dominate moviegoing for several weeks. Three new films launch next weekend with initial tracking on Feb. 1 showing Warner Bros.’ comedy “Game Night” was projecting an opening in the $15-20 million range on Feb. 23-25, while Paramount’s sci-fi thriller “Annihilation” debuting in the $12-15 million area during the same weekend.

Sony’s second weekend of family comedy “Peter Rabbit” is finishing a distant second with about $23 million at 3,725 sites for an 11-day total of $54 million, followed by Universal’s second session of “Fifty Shades Freed” with $19.4 million at 3,768 venues. The finale of the erotic trilogy has taken in $78.6 million domestically so far.

Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to Jungle” finished its ninth weekend with $10 million at 2,800 venues. The 62-day domestic total has hit $380 million, just behind 2005’s “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” for 32nd spot on the all-time list.

Clint Eastwood’s thriller “15:17 to Paris” followed in fifth with $9.1 million at 3,042 locations for an 11-day total of nearly $27 million for Warner Bros.

Fox’s ninth weekend of “The Greatest Showman” finished sixth with $6.4 million at 1,936 venues to bring its 64-day domestic take to $156 million. Lionsgate’s animated “Early Man” launched quietly in seventh with $4.2 million at 2,494 sites, and Fox’s “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” slid 58 percent in its fourth weekend with $3.2 million at 1,892 venues in eighth place. Helen Mirren’s “Winchester” came in ninth for Lionsgate-CBS Films with $2.6 million at 1,479 sites.

Fox’s ninth weekend of Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” rounded out the top 10 with $2.5 million at 1,050 venues for a total of $77.1 million. That was enough to edge Pure Flix’s launch of its faith-based Biblical story “Samson” with a modest $2.3 million at 1,249 sites.

NEW YORK — Charter Communications must face a lawsuit by New York’s attorney general accusing the cable company of providing customers slower-than-advertised internet speeds, a New York state judge ruled.

Justice O. Peter Sherwood of the state Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected Charter’s claim that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman failed to plausibly allege the company had shortchanged and misled customers.

He also rejected Charter’s claim that federal law pre-empted the lawsuit. The Feb. 13 decision was made public on Friday.

Schneiderman accused Charter’s Spectrum unit, previously known as Time Warner Cable, of having systematically defrauded customers since 2012, including by creating an impression they would consistently get fast internet speeds.

The attorney general said at least 640,000 subscribers “The signed up for high-speed plans allegations in but got slower speeds, and many subscribers could not our lawsuit access promised content such confirm what as Facebook, Netflix, YouTube millions of and gaming platforms.

He also accused Time War- New Yorkers ner Cable of leasing older-generation modems to 900,000 have long subscribers, knowing they suspected could not generate faster inter- — Charternet speeds.

In a statement, Spectrum Spectrum spokesman John Bonomo has been said the company “delivers its advertised internet speeds,” ripping you and will continue to vigor- off.” ously contest Schneiderman’s claims about practices at Time Warner Cable, which Charter — Eric Schneiderman, bought in 2016.

Sherwood rejected Char- N.Y. attorney ter’s claims that its advertising was not misleading because general the company had promised to provide speeds only “up to” particular levels, and reasonable consumers would understand that could mean slower speeds were possible.

The judge said the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, had rejected this argument in another case where, as Schneiderman alleged, the advertised speeds were “functionally unattainable as a result of the defendants’ knowing conduct.”

Sherwood said while there may have been “literal truth” to Charter’s advertising claims, this was not a defense “where, as here, the claims create a false ‘net impression.’”

Schneiderman called the decision a “major victory” for consumers. He said the lawsuit, which seeks restitution and civil fines, will proceed toward a possible trial.

“The allegations in our lawsuit confirm what millions of New Yorkers have long suspected — Charter-Spectrum has been ripping you off,” the attorney general said in a statement.

B7 ROYAL FLUSH

ANDREW MILLIGAN | REUTERS

Meghan Markle, the fiancee of Britain’s Prince Harry, meets members of the public at Edinburgh Castle in Britain.

Fashion label Sentaler basks in ‘Meghan effect’

By Helena Williams Reuters LONDON — Canadian luxury outerwear brand Sentaler made its first foray into London Fashion Week on Friday, with a private showcase that aimed to capitalize on its recent association with Meghan Markle, the actress fiancee of Britain’s Prince Harry.

For fashion brands, having apparel seen on a member of Britain’s royal family can lead a sales spike.

Sentaler was given such a boost from Markle, an actress who starred in the TV program “Suits,” in December 2017 when she was pictured wearing one of the label’s coats to a Christmas church service attended by the royal family in Norfolk, England.

Some British media outlets dubbed the surge in interest “The Meghan Effect.”

“The Meghan Markle effect is definitely real,” Bojana Sentaler, the label’s founder and creative director, told Reuters at the label’s showcase at London Fashion Week.

“Since she wore the wide collar wrap in camel color on Christmas Day, the coat sold out instantly and we had an enormous demand for Sentaler that day, as well as for many days after that. We were shipping coats all over the world.”

Sentaler said the increase in demand the brand had seen in recent months prompted them to come to London Fashion Week this year, where they held a private showcase event.

Informal endorsements of products by members of the British royal family are worth some $280 million to British companies alone, according to a 2017 report from consultancy firm Brand Finance.

Toronto-based Sentaler was founded in 2009 and has up to 10 employees according to its LinkedIn page. It has a showroom in the Canadian city and is sold online and in department stores.

Sentaler said, for many consumers, the royals provided some affirmation that was valuable to brands.

“They’re a stamp of approval for a lot of women. If the royals wear it, it must be good.”

TAKE NOTICE RANDOLPH NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 17 SP 460 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Brian R. Campbell to Alie Yates Brown, Trustee(s), dated the 9th day of May, 2011, and recorded in Book RE2232, Page 438, and Modification in Book 2528, Page 190, in Randolph County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Randolph County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in the City of Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on March 6, 2018 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Randolph, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Franklinville Township, Randolph County, North Carolina: BEGINNING at an iron stake in the Eastern right of way line of Old U.S. Highway 64 and N.C.49, Harvey C. Whitley’s Southwest corner; thence along Whitley’s line two calls: South 64 degrees 12 minutes 54 seconds East 177.86 feet to an iron stake and North 26 degrees 25 minutes 34 seconds East 133.58 feet to an iron stake in Vernon Garner’s line; thence along the Garner line South 2 degrees 38 minutes 30 seconds West 189.60 feet to an iron stake, corner of Garner and Dallas Keene (N.S. Grid: X = 1,777.166.81 and Y = 718,461.24); thence crossing a 30-foot driveway easement and along Dallas Keene’s line South 5 degrees 39 minutes 09 seconds East 104.87 feet to an iron stake, corner of Keene and Hazel T Cameron; thence along Cameron’s line South 00 degrees 01 minute 58 seconds East 99.66 feet to an iron stake; thence continuing along Cameron’s line North 74 degrees 47 minutes 07 seconds West 187.47 feet to an iron stake, corner of James C Street; thence along Street’s line two calls: North 28 degrees 04 minutes 30 seconds East 224.49 feet to an iron stake in the

Southern edge of a 30-foot driveway; thence along said driveway North 64 degrees 12 minutes 54 seconds West 178.37 feet to an iron stake in the Eastern right of way line of Old U.S. highway 64 and 49; thence along said right of way line North 29 degrees 02 minutes 20 seconds East 30.08 feet to the Beginning and containing 0.8962 acres, more or less. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2000 Trogdon Hill Road, Asheboro, North Carolina.

The above property is subject to an easement 30feet wide for driveway purposes as described in that certain easement to Dallas C. Keene in Book 1209, Page 1879, Randolph County Registry.

The above description was prepared from a plat of a survey by William Donald Smith, RLS, dated November 3, 1989, designated as Job No. 891102A, Notebook 109, entitled “Property of Ronald Davis Hyler”.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in NCGS §4521.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by NCGS §7A-308(a) (1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/ security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases.

Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale

is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Case No: 1231174 (FC.FAY) PUBLICATION DATES: February 21, 2018 and February 28, 2018.

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 18 SP 5 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Darin Matthew Duncan and April Berg Duncan (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Darin M. Duncan) to PRLAP, Inc., Trustee(s), dated the 7th day of November, 2007, and recorded in Book RE 2225, Page 667, in Randolph

County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Randolph County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in the City of Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on March 6, 2018 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the Township of Trinity, in the County of Randolph, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: The land referred to in this policy is situated in the State of NC, County of GUILFORD, City of ARCHDALE and described as follows: All that certain lot or parcel of land situated in Trinity Township, Randolph County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows: Being Lot 13 of Green Meadows, Map 2, a plat of which is duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Randolph County, North Carolina, in Plat Book 10, Page 131. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 5855 Joan Drive, Archdale, North Carolina.

Being the that parcel of land conveyed to Darin Matthew Duncan and April Berg Duncan from Glenda C. Duncan, single by that deed dated 06/03/1999 and recorded 06/08/1999 in Deed Book 1611, at Page 508 of the Randolph County, NC Public Registry.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in NCGS §4521.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by NCGS §7A-308(a) (1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/ security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are

disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases.

Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Case No: 1231159 (FC.FAY) PUBLICATION DATES: February 21, 2018 and February 28, 2018

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 21, 2018

B8

pen & paper pursuits comic relief

sudoku

SOLUTIONS FROM 02.14.18

Experience It All. All In One Place. #AllinOnePlace 50 Years of NC Arts Council in All 100 Counties State Parks and Recreation Areas North Carolina Aquariums Historic Sites North Carolina ZOO Museums of History, Art and Science Libraries and Archives North Carolina Symphony

dncr.nc.gov/AllinOnePlace

Happy New Year!

I wish you all the best in 2018 as you experience everything North Carolina has to offer.

Secretary Susi H. Hamilton

NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

NC DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES