The legend lives on
A capacity crowd returned to North Wilkesboro for the third straight year to watch the NASCAR All-Star Race. Christopher Bell collected the million-dollar check for winning the race.
the BRIEF this week
FDA to update COVID-19 shot recommendations
Washington, D.C.
The Food and Drug Administration will issue new guidelines this year on who should get updated COVID-19 boosters, bringing the U.S. more in line with European countries when it comes to who should get the booster. In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, advisers suggested that higher-risk groups — adults 65 and older and those with risk factors — should receive boosters, and that more research should be done on whether boosters are e ective and to build stronger evidence on the risks and bene ts of the shot.
SCOTUS orders Maine House to restore vote of censured lawmaker
Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Supreme Court is siding with a GOP state lawmaker in Maine who was blocked from voting after she identi ed a transgender student athlete in a critical social media post. A 7-2 court majority on Tuesday ordered the Maine House to allow Rep. Laurel Libby to cast legislative votes while her lawsuit over the censure plays out. The case comes after the Democraticcontrolled House found that Libby’s viral post had violated its code of ethics by putting the student at risk. She was blocked from speaking and voting on the oor after refusing to apologize.
Attendees at the grand opening for the new Chatham Arts Center pose behind a sign celebrating the occasion.
New arts center opens in Pittsboro
It’s part of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources department
By Dan Reeves Chatham News and Record
PITTSBORO — The new Chatham County Arts Center, a project that re ects the community’s creative identity, opened over the weekend with a special event in Pittsboro, giving attendees a rst look at the programs and workshops the center now o ers. The celebration started with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and continued with a
full day of activities. The rst 100 visitors received free Arts Center T-shirts, while all guests enjoyed complimentary caricature drawings and refreshments. Live music by local musician Owen Phillips added to the festive atmosphere. Located at 964 East St., the county-run Arts Center shares a building with its parent, the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources department and other county o ces. The space became available after tness classes were moved to the new community center at Chatham Grove Elementary School,
See ARTS, page A3
“This space is just the beginning, we want to make sure the arts are accessible to everyone, no matter where they live in Chatham County.”
Leigh Babcock, Arts and Cultural program supervisor
Pittsboro to vote on FY 2025-26 budget next month
The current tax rate of $0.44 is not expected to change
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — Despite the revaluation of property values, the Town of Pittsboro is not expected to make any changes to its current tax rate. At its May 12 meeting, the Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners held a public hearing for the 2025-26 manager’s recommended budget, the nal step before its eventual adoption.
The budget comes in at just under $14.1 million — an increase from last year’s approximately $12 million budget.
According to sta , factors that are a ecting that increase include in ationary costs, supply chain issues as well as increased personnel costs
See PITTSBORO, page A2
“We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water.
Lee Zeldin, EPA administrator
Limits on the two most common types, PFOA and PFOS, will remain
By Michael Phillis The Associated Press
THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency said last Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some “forever chemicals” in drinking water that were nalized last year while maintaining standards for two common ones.
The Biden administration set the rst federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or per uoroalkyl and poly uoroalkyl substances, nding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and ba-
bies being born with low birth weight. Those limits on PFAS, which are human-made and don’t easily break down in nature, were expected to reduce their levels for millions of people.
Limits on three types of PFAS, including what are known as GenX substances found in North Carolina, will be scrapped and reconsidered by the agency, as will a limit on a mixture of several types of PFAS.
The Biden administration’s rule also set standards for the two common types of PFAS, referred to as PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion, e ectively the lowest level at which they
COURTESY CHATHAM COUNTY ARTS CENTER
JASON JACKSON FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
CRIME LOG
May 13
• Chandrica Yvette Caviness, 38, of Pittsboro, was arrested for theft and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
• Elmer Rolando De Paz Y De Paz, 30, of Undomiciled, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.
• Tiree Sintell Rone, 39, of Pittsboro, was arrested for armed robbery.
• Madison Paige Davis, 26, of Sanford, was arrested for selling or delivering illegal drugs.
May 14
• Kenyada Isaiah Nettles, 21, of Pittsboro, was arrested for assaulting a female, violating a domestic violence protective order, and damaging personal property.
• Taylor Vincent Clark, 21, of Chapel Hill, was arrested for assault by strangulation and nonviolent family o enses.
May 15
• Marquez Kente Headen, 27, of Siler City, was arrested for felony death by vehicle, child abuse, and driving while impaired.
• Jonathan Glenn Nolan Bowers, 49, of Chapel Hill, was arrested for assaulting a government o cial, resisting an o cer, and possessing an open container of alcohol.
May 16
• Kathryn Ariana Truitt, 32, of Bear Creek, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, pointing a gun at someone, and making threats.
• Benjamin Allen Wolfe, 48, of Pinehurst, was arrested for driving under the in uence.
May 17
• Quomel Rashad Scott, 29, of Greensboro, was arrested for possession of marijuana, intent to sell or distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, and simple assault.
for things such as insurance, medical, retirement and cost of living The proposed budget also includes the addition of ve new full-time positions: two police o cers, a public works maintenance worker, an IT manager and a downtown events and admin coordinator.
“We have to keep adding people incrementally or we’re going to nd ourselves in ve, six years very much underwater and not able to catch up,” said Town Manager Jonathan Franklin.
As this was a tax revaluation year, the town is required to report its revenue neutral tax rate — the rate estimated to produce equal revenue in the upcoming scal year at the current tax rate had no reappraisal occurred — which would be $0.3449.
However, town sta is rec-
ommending that they maintain its current tax rate of $0.44 per $100 valuation, with the value of one penny at that rate being worth approximately $170,000 to the town.
“It is clear there are a lot of pressures on everyone, and so I think it’s reasonable that people are asking for relief from the local government, where we presumably have greater responsiveness or the ability to respond to our constituents,” said Commissioner John Bonitz. “I don’t think it’s responsible to suggest we go back to a revenue neutral budget, but I am curious if we might be able to nd a sweet spot between revenue neutral and where we stand today.”
“We understand the concern,” Meacham responded. “But in order to do any type of reduced tax rate, we’d have to cut the budget signi cantly more and you’d end up essen-
tially paying people to not be able to do anything. We’ve already cut it back signi cantly and there’s not much else. The budget is already pretty slim.”
According to Meacham, the town has already made significant cuts in the budget process (approximately $3 million), eliminated positions, slid starting dates for other positions, dipped into fund balance (nearly $1.2 million) and are anticipating around $785,000 in loans to be utilized to cover capital outlay costs.
“The value gained in the penny will help us pay future debt services, other needs and all the stu that the community wants to see,” Franklin said. “It’s just a bit tough to chew on at the moment.”
The board will vote to approve the budget on June 9, which is also the date of the Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners’ next meeting.
Share with your community! Send your birth, death, marriage, graduation and other announcements to community@chathamnewsrecord.com. The weekly deadline is Monday at Noon.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:
May 24
Annie Hartnett: “The Road to Tender Hearts”
11 a.m. to noon
Book signing and meet and greet with author Annie Hartnett. Free to the public as part of the Events Series at Fearrington Village.
McIntyre’s Books Market Street Pittsboro
Briar Chapel Farmers Market
4-6 p.m.
Every Friday, 10 local vendors gather on the Green of Green Meadow Park to o er an assortment of fresh produce, meats, baked goods, oral arrangements and foods to eat. The last Friday of each month also hosts a selection of local and regional artisans selling their crafts.
161 Salt Cedar Lane Chapel Hill
Chatham Mills Farmers Market
8 a.m. to noon
This weekly outdoor farmers’ market is a producers-only market, which means the wide variety of goods o ered there, from fresh produce to other groceries, including eggs, cheese and meat, along with health and wellness items and crafts, are produced or created by the vendors themselves. Lawn of the historic Chatham Mills 480 Hillsborough St. Pittsboro
May 24
Bynum Bluegrass Jam Circle
This free, open jam session is held every second and fourth Saturday of the month for acoustic musicians of all ages and skill levels. Everyone is invited to bring their instruments and play! 10 a.m.-noon Front Porch, Bynum General Store 950 Bynum Road Bynum
May 25
Strawberry Social 1-4 p.m.
Come out and celebrate the heyday of strawberry season by sharing good food, drinks and live music by “Waking Up Moe.” The event will also include a craft market. Free admission.
The Plant 220 Lorax Lane Pittsboro
Cheerwine-ing
Thousands of cherry soda fans ocked to Salisbury for the annual Cheerwine Festival, enjoying plentiful food, music and even a History of Cheerwine trolley tour.
From Cheerwine- avored barbecue to Cheerwine- avored — well, just about everything — there was something for everyone at the annual event that’s been celebrating the North Carolina favorite since 2017.
ARTS from page A1
allowing Arts and Cultural Program Supervisor Leigh Babcock to begin shaping the center’s o erings.
“It was a fabulous day,” Babcock said. “We had about 260 people attend the event, and we had a ribbon cutting with Commissioner Katie Kenlan, several vendors and caricature artists from Penny’s Playful Portraits — which everyone loved.”
Babcock, who joined the department last year after working as a mixed-media artist in Virginia and at the City of Norfolk’s Visual Arts Center, played a key role in the Arts Center’s development. Her background in clay, stained glass, mosaic art and painting guided much of the planning, but she emphasized that community feedback helped shape the initiative.
“There are so many creative people in the area, and I’ve realized Chatham County is such a special place,” Babcock said in an interview. “I’ve met so many local artists, so it’s been really wonderful getting to know the community. It’s been a joy to watch this space come to life and to see people connecting through creativity.”
The Arts Center features two
primary studios: one dedicated to clay hand-building, pottery wheels and kilns, and another focused on visual and performance arts. While the center has been hosting programs quietly in recent months, Saturday’s celebration marked its o cial opening. Both studios were open for demonstrations and activities, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the space and participate.
Instructor Dolly Sickles led printmaking and block printing activities for teens, while Anne Lawtey, who will teach oil and acrylic painting classes, o ered hands-on sessions with other guests. In addition to studio tours and live art demos, attendees learned about upcoming classes and events for all ages and skill levels.
Babcock noted that the Arts Center will serve as a central hub, but its programming reaches far beyond Pittsboro. She has already led classes and art events throughout the county, including in Siler City and Bear Creek, with plans to continue expanding access.
“This space is just the beginning,” Babcock said. “We want to make sure the arts are accessible to everyone, no matter where they live in Chatham County.”
May 26, 2025
Prayers: Pastor Jason Golden Taps Across America: Cliff Tilly
Sponsored by:
COURTESY CHATHAM COUNTY ARTS CENTER
Instructor Ann Lawtey presents a still life oil painting art demo at Chatham County Arts Center on Saturday.
COURTESY CHATHAM COUNTY ARTS CENTER
Chatham County Commissioner Katie Kenlan, left, watches Arts and Cultural Program Supervisor Leigh Babcock cut the ribbon marking the grand opening.
PHOTOS BY PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
THE CONVERSATION
Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
The astonishment that comes
The past is behind us, but the future is unknown. She understood the present moment as an opportunity, a chance to notice and to wonder — in both senses of that word.
I WRITE TO REMEMBER my friend Sue Mannshardt, who died the day before Mother’s Day and whose memorial is this week. She was a spiritual teacher to me. She sang beautifully and taught me many songs, including from the Taizé community.
Sue also practiced what is known as contemplative prayer, which is a quiet, meditative practice of seeking the divine presence in one’s life. It is a “long, loving look at reality,” as Richard Rohr puts it.
Sue taught me that contemplative prayer is not about escaping from the world but rather fortifying one’s spirit to face the inevitable changes. After decades of living in California, she and her husband, Mike, came to North Carolina to follow their daughter, Elizabeth. Sue left most everything and everyone she knew and loved, including her church and the nonpro t, Hands of Hope, that she and Mike founded to o er resources to families experiencing homelessness.
As di cult as it was to leave the familiar and make her home in a di erent town on a di erent coast, Sue wrote how she prayed to “let it all go to leave room for the astonishment that comes.” That is a beautiful statement of faith.
This is not to say letting go is easy. She understood that we grieve our losses in life. There’s truth to the ve stages of grief as articulated by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, but Sue
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
Is it fruit or vegetable? Doesn’t matter for ’mater
The tomato has come a long way from its humble origins as a wild plant in the Andes area of South America.
In our world today, there are all kinds of awards and honors — Oscars, Tonys, Emmys, military medals and ribbons, North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the award I got from my college buddies for being the best sleeper on the second oor of Mangum Dorm and missing the most classes, just to name a few.
Of all the existing honors and those that should exist, however, there is one, I think, that’s long overdue because of all it does and means, especially starting around this time of year.
There should be an award — maybe for eating the most tomatoes or something, or at least a bronze plaque, in honor of a fellow named Robert Johnson, who, according to tradition, stood before a large crowd of folks on the courthouse steps in Salem, New Jersey, on Sept. 26, 1820, and, before their very eyes, ate a tomato to prove it wasn’t poisonous.
See, prior to that, folks weren’t so certain. Oh, to be sure, somewhere along the line, it’s likely other folks ate one or two, maybe with a loaf of fresh bread and a jar of Duke’s mayonnaise. But the conventional wisdom was that the thing deserved its nickname “poison apple.” Folks in Germany, for instance, believed that if you ate one, you turned into a werewolf. In my time, I have seen some folks act up if they didn’t get one, but never a werewolf. The reason for all that suspicion, experts tell us, is because the tomato plant bears a strong resemblance to something called the “nightshade plant,” which is poisonous.
The tomato has come a long way from its humble origins as a wild plant in the Andes area of South America — today’s Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador. Historians tell us the Aztecs and Incas knew about them around 700 AD. I wonder how they ate theirs without mayonnaise or hot buttered biscuits.
Anyway, by 1710, tomatoes had made their way into some writings of a fellow named William Salmon, who noted they were present in “the Carolinas.”
believed (and I agree with her) that grief is not linear. We don’t pass from one stage to the next. Sue expressed to me in an email, “My journey is long, hard, and hopeful — sometimes all at the same time.” I can relate.
Sue often referred to “liminal time,” which refers to a kind of already-and-not-yet period of transition. The past is behind us, but the future is unknown. She understood the present moment as an opportunity, a chance to notice and to wonder — in both senses of that word. In contemplative prayer, Sue sought the Holy One like the psalmist wrote long ago, “Be still and know” (Psalm 46:10).
Sue’s favorite verse, however, was John 1:14, “And from Christ’s fullness, we have all received grace upon grace.” She used “grace upon grace” as a mantra, repeating it in good times and bad, through the celebrations with her family and the loss of her friends. Even during her health struggles, she told me, “I’m choosing grace.” To choose grace is to be open to the astonishment that comes.
Rest in peace, my friend. May your memory always be a blessing.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman’s newest book is “This Is the Day.” He serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church as well as a writer, pizza maker, co ee drinker and student of joy.
Pretty appropriate for today, don’t you think?
Apparently, it was about that time or a little later that tomatoes began to get a bad rap. A fellow named John Gerald, a barber/surgeon, decreed they were dangerous because they contained low levels of a toxic chemical. That claim turned out to be true, but the levels were so low that they were and are still not dangerous.
Today, the tomato is talked about, analyzed, turned into juice or sauce, or just eaten, with the previously mentioned mayonnaise and bread or o the vine like an apple.
Scientists tell us they’re really a fruit, at least botanically speaking. But so, too, they say are avocados, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, pepper and okra. I’m pretty sure my mama would have something to say about all that.
Anyway, whatever they are, they are good, at least the homegrown ones, much more than the cardboard variety grown halfway around the world, picked and packed green, sprayed with something or another so they won’t rot and then shipped to their destination.
If anyone is interested, I am willing to provide a site for the award to recognize Mr. Johnson and his achievements. It won’t be in New Jersey, but we will have a tomato sandwich to celebrate.
After all, it’s getting close to summer, y’all.
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
COLUMN | ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN
JOHN A. PAPPAS
About that house you live in …
We seem to have a problem communicating. Being nice makes one a change agent? Really?
THIS IS A PLEA for minimal snickering, at least until you nish reading. After that, you’re on your own. Ready? Have you contained your snickering inclinations to a gentle con nement? All right. Here we go!
It is just soooo boring to say I like being nice to other folks — just about anybody I meet or even pass. You see what I mean? Is that not truly boring? Niceness-city.
Ah, but here’s a reframe. (Yep, I am just so wont to reframe.) What if niceness is actually a pillar of being a change agent? An advocate for change who is a catalyst for transformation in our culture. This could be you! Maybe already is? You tell me …
Oh, you want an example? Sure. On the more rabid end of change agentry was the 1773 dumping of massive English tea barrels into Boston Harbor. (C’mon, you gotta know what I mean here, right? If not, I’d recommend that noble historian, Google, be your omniscient guide for knowing everything all the time.) Wait, wait. I have a weak back, and throwing barrels of tea around just isn’t my thing. What’s ordinary, human-sized change agentry for those of us with back issues or who have an aversion to starting wars? (I’m a Quaker, after all.)
Being nice will do it.
Uh oh, we seem to have a problem
communicating. Being nice makes one a change agent? Really?
Damn right, it does. Being nice is change agentry, par excellence. Or, if you’re magically inclined (like me), consider the act of being nice as a magic wand. A magic wand, spritzing all and sundry, with the light of being acknowledged as another human being. How many of us walk in our world feeling unseen? Too many. “Being nice” change agentry is low-hanging fruit (incredibly low) for warming hearts and making someone’s eyes shine more brightly because they’ve been seen and acknowledged. I mean, does it get better than that?
Well, there is dark chocolate …
Aside from that, the dark chocolate, I mean, a little voice in my head just asked if “being nice” is generic change agentry. In other words, is it cheap? Please, give me a break! I’m going to blow o that self-inquiry with a quote from Ha z, the late Persian poet.
“The words you speak become the house you live in.”
I’m feeling quite fond of my house at the moment. And you?
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
The political message from Omaha should
Democratic cities elect Republican mayors the people think can keep order and get the roads xed.
Froma Harrop has written for The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar and Institutional Investor. COLUMN | FROMA HARROP
be obvious
AS I FLEW into Omaha for the rst time, the only thing visible from my descending plane was corn elds. You could even see the tassels. I was wondering, where is the city?
There certainly was a city, with a world-class medical center, famous zoo and great nightlife. Old-school steakhouses mixed with Persian and Asian restaurants. Anyone who had spent time in cosmopolitan Omaha would be totally unsurprised that Joe Biden ipped its congressional district in 2020 and that Kamala Harris won it in 2024. Or that Omaha has just replaced a three-term Republican mayor with a Democrat, John Ewing Jr.
Also understandable, Omaha’s representative, Don Bacon, has been Donald Trump’s most outspoken Republican critic in Congress. Located in Nebraska’s “east coast” along the Missouri River, Omaha’s politics have long been purple, and Trump has made that purple bluer. (Nebraska and Maine are the only states that allocate their electoral votes by congressional districts.)
Western Nebraska is cattle country and more libertarian than the Bible Belt. (Scottsblu near the Wyoming border is almost 500 miles from Omaha.) We get how some of the Democrats’ more radical social stances — or the ones that the right couldn’t stop exaggerating — would turn o these voters.
What’s really hard to understand, though, is how rural Nebraska fell for a man promising policies destined to badly hurt its economy. Trump made no secret of plans for a tari war that directly threatens farm exports.
Trump may have backtracked a little on his trade-killing tari s on China, but that, and other tari s, remain so wildly high that foreign buyers of American agricultural products continue to look for other suppliers. And even his recently announced pullback is for 90 days only, so the game goes on.
In addition, MAGA’s gunsights are set on cutting Medicaid. Without that money, rural hospitals will close. There’s just no explanation for undercutting one’s own interests other than overriding antipathy for the other side.
Political parties don’t matter so much in state and local races. Andy Beshear is the Democratic governor of decidedly red Kentucky. Deep-blue Vermont has a ve-term Republican governor, Phil Scott. Democratic cities elect Republican mayors the people think can keep order and get the roads xed.
But polarization has turned votes for national o ce into a more partisan a air. It’s hard to nd a Republican able to withstand MAGA’s threats, which makes Bacon a unique and welcome presence in Washington. Trump easily won Nebraska’s two other congressional districts.
Bacon took Omaha’s by less than two percentage points, though the district includes suburbs and some farm country. Reason? The turnout in these western areas was lower.
Which brings us back to the recent mayoral race in Omaha. What does it mean nationally, if anything? As just noted, party doesn’t matter so much on the local level. At the same time, the Republican who lost, Jean Stothert, was a moderate.
What would be signi cant in this race is the extent of turnout for Ewing. Was it Democrats burning to retaliate against MAGA? How many independents and disa ected Republicans joined them to voice their discontent?
The same can be asked about the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court race won by a liberal Democrat, despite the $25 million Elon Musk shoveled into the Republican’s campaign. Trump won Wisconsin by less than one percentage point of the popular vote.
Several Republicans in Congress are speaking out against Trump’s acceptance of a luxury jetliner from Qatar that will end up in his presidential library. It is not a gift to America. It is a $400 million gift to Trump.
Republicans should view these heartland developments as a serious political message. Some seem to, but what made them wait so long?
Don’t let a tax hike undermine North Carolina’s early sports betting success
JUST ONE YEAR after North Carolina launched its legal sports betting market, a proposal in the state Senate budget threatens to upend one of the most successful rollouts in the country.
Buried in the budget is a provision that would double the sports betting tax rate — from 18% to 36%. This sudden and severe increase sends the wrong message at the wrong time, putting the stability of a promising new industry at risk before it has had a real chance to mature.
North Carolina only went live with mobile sports betting in March 2024. Since then, the results have been remarkable. According to the North Carolina Lottery, in just Fiscal Year 2025, the state has already collected more than $94 million in tax revenue from sports betting — far outpacing early projections. In April alone, the industry delivered nearly $8.5 million to the state’s bottom line.
This kind of performance should be seen as a clear indicator: The current system is working. Players are migrating to the legal market, state co ers are bene ting, and licensed operators are forging partnerships with local teams and venues creating new investments in communities statewide. Why jeopardize that progress now?
As the leading trade association for the legal online gaming industry, iDEA represents a broad cross-section of companies — including operators, compliance specialists, payment processors and other suppliers — many of whom are licensed and active right here in North Carolina. These companies made signi cant investments in the state based on the bipartisan legislation passed just two years ago, which clearly outlined an 18% tax rate and a ve-year licensing structure.
Doubling the tax rate so soon after launch undermines the credibility of that agreement. It introduces unnecessary instability into a nascent market, discourages further investment and risks reducing the competitive o erings that make the legal market attractive to consumers. Higher taxes don’t just impact operators — they impact players, too. Bettors may see fewer promotions, worse odds and diminished engagement, all of which make illegal o shore sites more appealing.
If lawmakers want to responsibly grow gaming revenue, there are better options than a punitive tax hike. Eventually considering the legalization of online casino gaming — also known as iGaming — could generate signi cant new tax revenue without compromising the structure that’s already proving e ective. North Carolina has built a reputation as a forward-looking state — welcoming to innovation, supportive of business and committed to long-term economic growth. Let’s not allow a shortsighted tax proposal to derail that progress.
Doubling the tax rate now would be a step backward. Lawmakers should protect what’s working and reject the Senate’s proposed tax increase on sports wagering.
John A. Pappas is state advocacy director for the iDevelopment and Economic Association.
Biden’s Green New Scam: A bad deal for North Carolina
NORTH CAROLINIANS understand the value of hard work and personal responsibility. From farming and manufacturing to small businesses and trucking, we’ve built strong communities without needing micromanagement from Washington.
Unfortunately, President Joe Biden’s so-called In ation Reduction Act (IRA) — passed with little conservative input — ignores those values. Instead of empowering families, it hands power to bureaucrats, rewards China and shifts the burden onto working Americans.
We call it what it is: Biden’s Green New Scam.
The centerpiece of Biden’s law — the $7,500 electric vehicle subsidy — might sound appealing in theory. In reality, it’s a luxury for a small percentage of Americans. Only about 4% own an electric vehicle (EV) today, and three-quarters say they aren’t considering one now or never plan to purchase an EV. That’s because these vehicles aren’t designed for the realities of life in North Carolina — whether it’s rural commutes, long hauls or hurricane evacuations.
Meanwhile, much of the money from these EV initiatives ows straight to Chinese companies, some with direct ties to human rights abuses. Instead of rebuilding American industries, Biden’s policies strengthen Beijing. Supporters of the failed
Bidenomics theory point to new investments in clean energy. But not all investments are the same. Bloomberg reported on money owing to joint ventures between U.S. and Chinese companies that allow China to steal American intellectual property and send our tax dollars overseas. That’s a policy failure ― and it’s not helping states like North Carolina.
Washington calls this progress. Around here, it feels like another broken promise.
North Carolina doesn’t need more bloated programs. We need what we know works: strong borders, fair trade deals, American-made energy and tax relief that lets families and businesses thrive. However, as Congress repeals the Green New Scam, some bipartisan provisions that were lumped into the In ation Reduction Act should be kept, to protect the more than 20 energy projects currently underway in North Carolina.
The 45X advanced manufacturing tax credit, which creates the incentive for companies to manufacture here in America, is a core part of an America- rst trade policy. Recent Rainey Center polling found that 59% of voters support clean energy incentives, but only when the products are made in America, by American companies. Only 16% want these credits to
end. However, voters don’t support tax credits going to foreign companies — these policies need to end.
Another key provision of the IRA that makes sense is technology-neutral tax credits. Rather than creating a system where the government picks winners, technology-neutral tax credits let carbon capture, geothermal and clean fossil fuels compete on the same level as solar and wind. A recent Clean Energy Buyers Association shows why: they nd that full repeal of the technology-neutral investment and production tax credits would lead to an annual average yearly increase of more than $110 for annual electricity prices.
These provisions must be narrowed to ensure that only American companies bene t from them, saving billions in taxpayer money each year.
Biden’s Green New Scam may generate headlines in Washington, but for North Carolina, it’s a raw deal — one we cannot a ord to ignore.
It’s time to stand up, push back and demand a future built on American strength, not government schemes and empty promises.
Sarah E. Hunt is CEO of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy and Jarrod Lowery represents the 47th House District in the NCGA.
COLUMN | JARROD LOWERY AND SARAH HUNT
obituaries
Faydeene Richardson Johnson
Nov. 30, 1931 – May 15, 2025
Faydeene Richardson Johnson, 93, of Siler City, went to her heavenly home on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at Genesis- Siler City Center. Faydeene was born November 30, 1931 in Chatham County to the late Barthy Loe Richardson and Mary Woody Richardson.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband, Burton Johnson; her brothers, Willard Richardson, and Homard Richardson; and her sisters, Lucille R. Thomas, Mable R. Cheek, Lucy R. Thomas, and Bertha R. Odom.
Faydeene was a member of Loves Creek Baptist Church where she served in many capacities, including as Women’s Sunday School teacher and as the rst woman to serve as a deacon.
IN MEMORY
She also enjoyed serving others in the community through her membership in Hospice of Chatham County and through helping to establish the Loves Creek Hispanic Baptist Mission.
Faydeene was a graduate of Troutman’s Beauty College and worked at Park Beauty Salon of Siler City until the birth of her daughter, Melynna. In addition to her role as wife and homemaker, Faydeene loved gardening, landscaping and reading. She applied much of what she learned as a long time member of the Dig ‘n’ Dream Garden Club to beautifying the yard with lovely owers and shrubs.
Faydeene is survived by her daughter, Melynna J. Dowd and husband, Je Dowd of Lexington NC; nieces, Marcle Naylor of Mocksville, NC and Margaret Danels of Easton, MD; nephew, Harold Cheek of Burlington, NC.
A visitation will be held Thursday, May 22, 2024, from 11:00 - 11:45 a.m. at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home Chapel, with the funeral service following at 12:00 noon, Rev. Kenny Black will be o ciating. Burial will be at Loves Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family request in lieu of owers memorials may be made to the American Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a charity that Faydeene liked to contribute to.
Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is serving the Johnson family.
Online Condolences may be made at www.smithbucknerfh. com
EDNA “LOUISE” THOMAS POE
FEB. 15, 1928 – MAY 17, 2025
Edna “Louise” Thomas Poe, 97 of Siler City, died Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Ms. Louise was born February 15, 1928 in Siler City to Theodore and Callie Wilson Thomas. She was a charter member of Fellowship Baptist Church where she was Sunday school teacher, a member of the church choir, and teacher with the youth groups including Acteens. Once she was unable to attend church services she began watching the Gospel channel on Sunday mornings.
Ms. Louise enjoyed reading, doing search and nd puzzles, cooking cornbread, watching game shows especially Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. She spent many years working at Hadley Peoples and Kellwood and 27 years as owner and operator for 27 years of Poe Daycare. She loved each child that attended her daycare and would have her Christmas tree covered in ornaments made by the children.
Ms. Louise is survived by her sons, Larry Poe and wife, Carolyn and James Poe and wife, Loretta; and her daughter-in-law, Ola Poe. She is also survived by 9 grandchildren, Candy Casey and husband, David, Larry Poe Jr. and wife, Amy, Jenny Poe Lineberry and husband Richie, Barry Dark and wife, Cindy, Kevin Poe and wife, Stefanie, Jamie Poe, Allison Poe Gordon and husband, Robert, Clifton Hilliard and wife, Michelle, Crystal Pike and husband, Mike; 16 great grandchildren, Jessica Williams, Trey Lineberry, Makayla Thomas, Morgan Lineberry, Parker Poe, Jake Poe, Lillie Poe, Chris Casey, Cheyenne Blevins, Tristan Barbour, Kaitlyn Dark, Bailey Poe, Michael Kelly, Mason Gordon, Conner Gordon and Fischer Pike; and 4 greatgreatgrandchildren, Hadley, Kinsley, Carson, and Lincoln.
In addition to her parents, Ms. Louise was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Dock Poe, Sr.; her son, Billy Junior Poe; her sisters, Margie Maness, Ruby Stone, Nancy Hayes, Jackie Ellington, Joyce Hayes,
Catherine Yates Short
We offer an on-site crematory with many options of Celebration of Life services, Traditional, and Green Burials. Call us to set an appointment to come by and learn more.
April 22, 1934 – May 11, 2025
Catherine Yates Short of Williamsburg, Virginia passed away peacefully on Mother’s Day at the age of 91. She was born in Apex to Carl and Dorothy Yates on April 22nd, 1934. She was predeceased by her Mom and Dad and her brother Carl Yates Jr. and also her husband James R. Short and their rst-born son Jonathan Yates Short. She is survived by her son David and his wife Betsy of Lake Oconee, Georgia and her three granddaughters, Abigail Catherine Short, Shannon Rose Short, and Jennifer Cameron Short, her daughter in law Anne Short of Garner North Carolina, and her nephew David Sumpter of Tampa and his two sons Matthew and Eric. A memorial service will be held at Williamsburg Baptist Church on May 23rd at 11 am.
Larry Miller, star for UNC basketball, dies at 79
He scored 32 to beat Duke in the 1967 ACC championship game
The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL — Larry Miller, a two-time ACC player of the year for UNC and 2022 inductee in the College Basketball Hall of Fame, has died. He was 79. The UNC athletic department said Miller died Sunday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. No cause of death was given. An athletic department spokesman said Miller was in hospice care and dealing with medical issues for some time.
Miller, a native of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, was a star forward on coach Dean Smith’s rst two Atlantic Coast Conference champi-
onship and Final Four teams in 1967 and 1968. He earned rst-team All-America honors both seasons and was a consensus pick in 1968 along with UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, Houston’s Elvin Hayes, LSU’s Pete Maravich and Louisville’s Wes Unseld. Miller scored in double gures in 64 consecutive games, still a UNC record. Miller scored 1,982 points in three seasons and averaged 21.8 points, the fth-highest by a Tar Heel. In one of his most memorable performances, he scored 32 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the eld in an 82-73 victory over Duke in the 1967 ACC championship game. Led by Miller, Carolina went 70-21, including 32 -10 in ACC regular-season play, from 1965-68. The Tar Heels were No. 4 in the nal Asso -
ciated Press polls his last two seasons, the rst time UNC was ranked in the top 10 in the nal poll in consecutive seasons. Miller played seven years in the ABA and set the league’s all-time single-game record with 67 points.
HAROLD FILAN / AP PHOTO
Larry Miller of UNC attempts a shot while defended by UCLA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Teachers, get your applications in for a Bright Ideas education grant!
Teachers, are you looking for new opportunities to fund projects for your classroom? Central Electric is awarding up to $15,000 in Bright Ideas education grants to local educators in K-12 classrooms for the 2025-2026 school year.
e nal deadline for all grant applications is Sept. 15, but don’t wait to apply. Applications submitted prior to the early-bird deadline on Aug. 15 will be entered to win one of ve $100 Visa gi cards. Scan the QR code or visit NCBrightIdeas.com for more information or to apply!
Stein urges NCGA to include more Helene aid in budget
The governor wants hundreds of millions in additional spending
By Makiya Seminera The Associated Press
RALEIGH — Gov. Josh Stein urged state lawmakers Monday to allocate hundreds of millions more dollars toward western North Carolina’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene instead of waiting on “uncertain federal assistance.”
The money requested — $891 million — would go toward critical needs in Helene’s aftermath, such as revitalizing local economies, repairing town infrastructure and providing housing assistance, Stein said during a news conference in still-recovering western North Carolina. Stein released the Helene proposal as the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly prepares to nalize its state budget this summer.
More than 100 people died as Helene tore through western North Carolina in September, destroying homes, businesses and roadways. The storm’s record-breaking devastation totaled $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. Recovery has been slow in parts of the region as some hard-hit mountain towns still appear ravaged by the storm nearly eight months later.
Navigating Helene recovery is one of the chief issues Stein has been tasked with handling upon his rst few months in o ce. Some of the rst actions his administration took focused on rehabilitating the western part of the state, as well as establishing the Governor’s Recovery O ce for Western North Carolina.
“This recovery is going to take a long time,” Stein said Monday. “My administration, though, is in this for the long haul. I know that the legislature is as well.”
In March, state lawmakers passed another Helene relief bill for $524 million — signicantly less than the $1.07 billion Stein had requested the month before. That package added to more than $1.1 billion in Helene recovery ac-
tivities appropriated or made available by the General Assembly the year prior, according to Stein’s o ce. Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a $1.4 billion grant that would facilitate western North Carolina’s long-term recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency — the federal organization responsible for addressing some of the immediate needs in Helene’s aftermath — has also provided more than $700 million to state and local governments, as well as directly to North Carolinians.
Talks over FEMA’s e ectiveness have ushered western North Carolina’s recovery process into the national spotlight as President Donald Trump has suggested the agency’s dissolution. As a candidate, Trump continually disparaged the agency’s work in the region, which garnered support from those frustrated with a sometimes slow and complicated recovery process. Just last week, the agency’s acting chief David Richardson announced plans to shift disaster recovery responsibilities to states for the upcoming hurricane season.
Stein has called on the federal government to reform the agency but not to get rid of it, which he reiterated during his budget proposal announcement Monday.
More than a quarter of Stein’s proposal would go toward restoring local economies and their tourism industries. Another quarter would fund infrastructure repairs, debris cleanup and resiliency projects to better protect the region from future storms. Other allocations include addressing recovery needs such as housing assistance, xing waterways and farmlands, and food insecurity.
The state Senate has already approved its budget proposal and now awaits the House to release its plan this week. Then, state lawmakers can decide whether to incorporate some of Stein’s requests on Helene aid as the two chambers work out differences, with the goal of having a nal budget enacted by July 1.
Stein delivers the State of the State address at the Legislative Building earlier this year in Raleigh.
CHRIS SEWARD / AP PHOTO
CLASSIFIED ADS
REAL ESTATE
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RICKY ELLINGTON
AUCTIONEERS - Equipment, business, liquidation, estates, land, houses, antiques, personal property, coins, furniture, consignments, bene ts, etc., NCAL #7706, 919-548-3684, 919-663-3556, rickyellingtonauctions@yahoo. com.
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For sale by owner to settle Estate. (2) Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens Burial Plots $2,000.00 (valued today at $2,800.00) (2) Outer burial ash containers $500.00 (valued today at over $1,000.00). Contact by txt 919-930-4206 or Email sschnetzler52@hotmail.com
dishwasher are included in the rent. Rent starts at $630 and up. 400 Honeysuckle Dr., Pittsboro, NC 27312 919-542-5410 TDD 1-800-735-2962 Email: pittsborovillage@ECCMGT.com
NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION
FILE NO. 24CV2219-180 NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE
CHATHAM COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
JACOBO PABLO PEREZ, Plainti , vs.
ASHLEY BREWER WILEY, Defendant.
To: ASHELEY BREWER WILEY, defendant
Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is the recovery of money damages for personal injuries received in an automobile accident on September 30, 2024, in Johnston County, North Carolina.
You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than July 1, 2025, said date being forty days from the rst publication of this notice. Upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought. This the 8th day of May, 2025
GASKINS & GASKINS, P.A. Herman E. Gaskins Attorney for plainti P. O. Box 933 Washington, N. C. 27889 Telephone: 252/975-2602
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
25E000204-180 NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY The undersigned, Atlas Cleveland Dunn III, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Atlas Cleveland Dunn, Jr., deceased, late of Chatham County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the day of August 7, 2025, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This the 9th day of May, 2025. Atlas Cleveland Dunn III Executor Marie H. Hopper Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post O ce Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312
NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION
NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CHATHAM COUNTY BEFORE THE CLERK
22E000318-180 IN THE MATTER OF: THE ESTATE OF MAYBELLINE ANN ARZATE
TO: RAMIRO ARZATE BONITEZ
Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above entitled action. The nature of the relief sought is as follows: Petition for Determination of Lawful Heirs and Abandonment. You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than June 24, 2025, and upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought.
THIS, the 8th day of May, 2025. MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE W. BEN ATWATER, JR. ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF
Post O ce Box 629 Siler City, North Carolina 27344 Telephone: (919 663-2850 Facsimile: (919 663-3790 State Bar Number 6986
NOTICE
NOTICE OF PROCEEDING AND SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF RANDOLPH IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION FILE NO. 22CVD001043-750 FELISHA LYNN ALSTON v. TIMOTEO ULLOA TORRES
To: Timoteo Ulloa Torres, Defendant. TAKE NOTICE that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is ABSOLUTE DIVORCE BASED ON ONE YEAR SEPARATION. You are required to answer the petition not later than June 22, 2025 and upon your failure to do so the party seeking relief against you will apply to the Court for the relief herein sought. This the 8th day of May, 2025. Margaret J. Megerian, Attorney for Plainti 175 E. Salisbury Street Asheboro, NC 27203
NOTICE
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JACK A. MOODY NOTICE TO CREDITORS DECEASED.
The undersigned, having heretofore quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Jack A. Moody, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before August 21st, 2025 or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of any recovery thereon. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This the 21st day of May, 2025 William Barden Moody, Executor Estate of Jack A. Moody, Deceased c/o Ronald P. Johnson, Esq. Carruthers & Roth, P.A. Attorneys & Counselors at Law 235 North Edgeworth Street (27401 Post O ce Box 540 Greensboro, North Carolina 27402 Publication dates: May 21st, 28th and June 4th and 11th, 2025. 4908-2207-9811, v. 1
LEGAL NOTICE
PUBLIC HEARING The proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget for the Town of Siler City has been presented to the Town Board of Commissioners and is available for public inspection. To view the proposed budget, please visit www.silercity.org or contact Assistant Town Manager-Town Clerk Kimberly Pickard at 919-7424731 or kpickard@silercity.gov
A Public Hearing will be held on the budget ordinance for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 at the Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting Monday June 2, 2025 at 6:30pm in the Town of Siler City-City Hall Courtroom located a 311 North Second Ave. Citizens are invited to submit written comments to Deputy Town Clerk Briana Avalos @bavalos@silercity. gov or to Kimberly Pickard at kpickard@silercity.gov or by mail at PO Box 769, Siler City NC 27344
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Billy Edward York, Jr., late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 7th day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the lst day of May, 2025. Linda N. York, Executor of the Estate of Billy Edward York, Jr. 3730 Piney Grove Church Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE # 24SP001157-180 W. WOODS DOSTER, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN HENRY JACKSON, Petitioner, vs. MONEEK W. JACKSON, SAMUEL LEE JACKSON, AND DELENA J. SPINELLI, Respondents NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION To: Samuel Lee Jackson and Delena J. Spinelli
Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-entitled special proceeding. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Petitioner is the duly appointed and quali ed administrator of the Estate of John Henry Jackson; see Chatham County Estate File #22E000690180. The purpose of this action is to sell John Henry Jackson’s property to pay the debts of his estate. You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than June 17, 2025 and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought. This the 1st day of May, 2025. Shelby L. Lennon, Attorney for Administrator Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish: 05/08/25, 05/15/25, 05/22/25
Notice of Probate
IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF Catherine Crowe Ragland, File number 25E00200-180.
Notice is hereby given that Catherine Crowe Ragland, whose last known address was 300 Clynelish Close, Pittsboro, NC 27312, died in Chatham County on February 9, 2025, and that an Executor has been appointed Personal Representative of the Estate of said deceased person by the Clerk of Superior Court for Chatham County, North Carolina. All creditors of said estate are hereby noti ed to present their claims to the Personal Representative at the contact information below within 3 months from the date of the rst publication of this notice, which is on or before August 10, 2025, or their claims will be barred forever.
Estate of Catherine Crowe Ragland 118 Monterey Lane Durham, NC 27713 Please be advised that a copy of the will of the decedent is on le with the Chatham County Superior Court and is available for inspection. Date of First Publication: May 8, 2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
25E000118-180
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, Susan Elizabeth Moushon, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Carl Eugene Moushon, deceased, late of Chatham County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the day of July 31, 2025, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 2nd day of May, 2025. Susan Elizabeth Moushon
Executor Marie H. Hopper
Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post O ce Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312
EXECUTOR’S NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
All persons having claims against the estate of John Edward Hunt of Chatham County, NC, who died on the 19th of April, 2011, are noti ed to present them on or before August 22nd , 2025 to Geo rey E. Hunt, Executor for the Estate, c/o Schupp & Hamilton, P.L.L.C., P. O. Box 3200, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3200, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Schupp & Hamilton, P.L.L.C. P. O. Box 3200 Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3200 For May 22nd , May 29th, June 5th , and June 12th of 2025.
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of David Anthony Cook, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 7th day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the lst day of May, 2025. Susan Dowd Wustrow, Executor of the Estate of David Anthony Cook 1142 Bonlee Bennett Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
Moncure Fire Dept Annual Meeting The Moncure Fire Department will be holding its annual meeting on Monday, June 9, 2025 at Moncure Fire Dept Station #8, 2389 Old US 1, Moncure NC 27559. The meeting will begin at 6:30 pm and cover the state of the re department, nancial report, and Board of Directors elections. If you reside in the Moncure Fire District and are a taxpayer, you are a member and invited to attend.
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Administrator CTA of the Estate of Nancy Cary Peter late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 20th day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 14th day of May, 2025. Linda P. Crabtree, Administrator CTA of the Estate of Nancy Cary Peter 25 Joe Brown Road Bear Creek, North Carolina 27207
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629
SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having quali ed as the Administrator of the Estate of Russell Lee Hackney, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned through the attorney, Raymond L. Grier & Associates, LLC, 100 South Juniper Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 on or before the 1st day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 1st day of May, 2025. Raymond L. Grier & Associates, LLC 100 South Juniper Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 Telephone: 215 987 3990 Facsimile: 215 987 3984 raymondgrier@msn.com Attorney for Rumarcus D. Hackney, Administrator of the Estate of Russell Lee Hackney.
Notice to Creditors
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Joan Estelle Marsh, deceased, of Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before August 8, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 8th day of May, 2025. Ann Marie Marsh, Executor, c/o Bagwell Holt Smith P.A., 111 Cloister Court, STE 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against James P. Ward, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before August 3, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This 1st day of May, 2025.
Peter J. Ward, Executor 225 Britten Pass Alpharetta, GA 30009
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Matthew Ray Johnson, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 15th day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 7th day of May, 2025.
Amy Stackhouse Johnson, Executor of the Estate of Matthew Ray Johnson 596 R.E. Wright Road Snow Camp, North Carolina 27349 4tp
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000198-180 The undersigned, AMANDA JOHNSTON GROCE and EMILY JOHNSTON GORDON, having quali ed on the 11TH Day of APRIL, 2025 as CO-ADMINISTRATORS of the Estate of LINDA CHRISTINE BOGGS SMITH deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 15TH Day OF AUGUST 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 15TH DAY OF MAY, 2025.
AMANDA JOHNSTON GROCE, CO-ADMINISTRATOR 145 SCOTTSDALE LANE CLEMMONS, NC 27012
EMILY JOHNSTON GORDON, CO-ADMINISTRATOR 3128 HICKORY RIDGE DR. WINSTON SALEM, NC 27127 Run dates: M15,22,29,J5p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000247-180
The undersigned, MARK BRAUND CARPENTER, having quali ed on the 2ND Day of MAY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JEAN MITCHELL CARPENTER deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 22ND Day OF AUGUST 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 22ND DAY OF MAY 2025. MARK BRAUND CARPENTER, EXECUTOR 7409 RUSSELL RD. INDIAN TRAIL, NC 28079 Run dates: M22,29,J5,12p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM
The undersigned, James C. Bowers, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of James A. Bowers, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the Estate to present such claims to the undersigned in care of the undersigned’s Attorney at their address on or before August 22, 2025 or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the above named Administrator. This the 22nd day of May, 2025. James C. Bowers, Administrator Estate of James A. Bowers John Stephens, Esq. Carolina Estate Planning 380 Knollwood St. Suite 500 Winston Salem, NC 27103 May 22, 29, June 5 and 12, 2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000240-180
The undersigned, BRIAN PATRICK WHEELER, having quali ed on the 1ST Day of MAY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of DEWEY E. WHEELER, aka DEWEY EDWARD WHEELER, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms
BRIAN PATRICK WHEELER, EXECUTOR 1955 FARRINGTON POINT RD. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 Run dates: M8,15,22,29p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000254-180 ALL persons having claims against STEPHEN CHARLES ALLARIO, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Aug 22 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 22nd day of May, 2025. KIMBERLY D. ZIERMAN, Executor C/O Privette Legacy Planning 1400 Crescent Green, Suite G-100 Cary, NC 27518 M22, 29, 5 and 12
NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY 25E000141-180 ALL persons having claims against Elliott Milton Baron, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Aug 22 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 22nd day of May, 2025. MOLLY BAARS, Executor C/O Law O ces of Amy Whinery Osborne, PC P.O. Box 7 Cary, NC 27512 M22, 29, 5 and 12
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000234-180 The undersigned, DANIEL JOSEPH NAGLE, having quali ed on the 30TH Day of APRIL, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of MARY KENNEDY NAGLE, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 8TH Day OF AUGUST 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 8TH DAY OF MAY, 2025. DANIEL JOSEPH NAGLE, ADMINISTRATOR 6304 BLAIRMORE COURT RALEIGH, NC 27612 Run dates: M8,15,22,29p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#19E000112-180
The undersigned, RONALD BROOKS, having quali ed on the 28TH Day of FEBRUARY, 2019 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of MILDRED WATSON BROOKS deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 22ND Day OF AUGUST 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 22ND DAY OF MAY 2025.
RONALD BROOKS, EXECUTOR 1201 ALPHA ST. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: M22,29,J5,12p
PUBLIC NOTICE
CHATHAM COUNTY ABC
The Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026 has been submitted to the Chatham County ABC Board. A copy of the proposed Budget is available for
can be reliably detected. The EPA will keep those standards, but give utilities two extra years — until 2031 — to comply.
“We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water. At the same time, we will work to provide common-sense exibility in the form of additional time for compliance,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The development was rst reported by The Washington Post.
It appears few utilities will be impacted by the withdrawal of limits for certain, newer types of PFAS. So far, sampling has found nearly 12% of U.S. water utilities are above the Biden administration’s limits. But most utilities face problems with PFOA or PFOS.
Health advocates praised Biden’s administration for the limits. But water utilities complained, saying treatment systems are expensive and that customers will end up paying more. The utilities sued the EPA.
The EPA’s actions align with some arguments in the utilities’ lawsuit. They argued the EPA lacked authority to regulate a mixture of PFAS and said
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the agency didn’t properly support limits on several newer types of PFAS that the EPA now plans to rescind. They also sought the two-year extension.
Erik Olson, a senior strategist at the nonpro t Natural Resources Defense Council, said the move is illegal. The Safe Water Drinking Act gives the EPA authority to limit water contaminants, and it includes a provision meant to prevent new rules from being looser than previous ones.
“With a stroke of the pen, EPA is making a mockery of the Trump administration’s promise to deliver clean water for Americans,” Olson said.
President Donald Trump has sought fewer environmental
Logan Feeney pours a water sample with forever chemicals, known as PFAS, into a container for research,at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati last April.
rules and more oil and gas development. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has carried out that agenda by announcing massive regulatory rollbacks. The EPA plans to loosen regulations for greenhouse gas emissions, cleanup standards for coal plant waste and car emission limits, among many other clean air and water rules.
Zeldin’s history with PFAS is more nuanced; during his time as a New York congressman, he supported legislation to regulate forever chemicals.
Manufactured by companies like Chemours and 3M, PFAS were incredibly useful in many applications -– among them, helping clothes to withstand rain
and ensuring that re ghting foam snu ed out ames. But the chemicals also accumulate in the body. As science advanced in recent years, evidence of harm at far lower levels became clearer.
The Biden-era EPA estimated the rule will cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year. Water utility associations say the costs, combined with recent mandates to replace lead pipes, will raise residents’ bills and fall hardest on small communities with few resources.
The Biden administration did work to address cost concerns. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $9 billion for chemicals like PFAS, utilities have won multibillion-dollar settlements against PFAS polluters.
Utilities see partial relief, activists see a backslide
Some utilities have been surprised to nd out they are over limits. And small water providers might struggle with compliance costs and expertise.
“This gives water pros more time to deal with the ones we know are bad, and we are going to need more time. Some utilities are just nding out now where they stand,” said Mike McGill, president of WaterPIO, a water industry communications rm.
Some utilities wanted a high-
er limit on PFOA and PFOS, according to Mark White, drinking water leader at the engineering rm CDM Smith. He suspects the utility industry will continue to sue over those limits. Environmental groups will likely le challenges, too.
Melanie Benesh, vice president of government a airs at the nonpro t Environmental Working Group, said utilities may not have to install treatment that’s as broadly e ective if they just have to focus on two types of older PFAS.
“You really reduce what utilities have to do to make sure that the other, newer generation PFAS are captured” she said.
When the Biden administration announced its rule, the head of the EPA traveled to North Carolina and was introduced by activist Emily Donovan, who said she was grateful for the rst federal standards. She had long campaigned for tougher rules for GenX substances that had contaminated a local river.
Now the EPA says it will roll back those GenX limits.
“This current administration promised voters it would ‘Make America Healthy Again’ but rescinding part of the PFAS drinking water standards does no such thing,” she said.
to an
located in S. G. Brooks, Jr.’s northwestern corner in W.C. Webb’s northeastern corner, thence with Webb’s line
78 degrees 30 minutes 49 seconds
161.70 feet to an iron stake located in Paul Johnson’s southeastern corner; thence with Johnson’s line North 8 degrees 00 minutes 10 seconds East 143.98 feet to an iron stake located in the southern right-ofway of Dolphin Street and being the point and place of BEGINNING, containing 0.724 acres, more or less, and being all of Parcel 3 and a portion of Parcel 4 of Forest Hills Subdivision as per plat entitled “topo Survey for Joseph J. and wife, Jane T. McEvoy,” as prepared by James D. Hunter, RLS, dated March 31, 1987, recorded in Plat Slide 87-94, Chatham County Registry, to which plat reference is made for greater certainty of description. Together
door in Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on May 29, 2025 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Siler City in the County of Chatham, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: All that certain parcel of land situate in the City of Siler City, Matthews Township, County of Chatham and State of North Carolina bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at an iron stake located in the southern right-of-way of Dolphin Street (old Wrenn
with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 519 West Dolphin Street, Siler City, North Carolina.
Being the same property as transferred by deed dated 11/16/2017, recorded 11/20/2017, from Claudia Andrews Mace, unmarried and Nancy Andrews Palmer and Robert Stephen Palmer, wife and husband, to Michael Scott Patton, unmarried, recorded in book 1958, page 311.
Tax ID: 0014973
Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.
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 N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).
The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered 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 o cers, 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 o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly 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 ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the
JOSHUA A. BICKEL / AP PHOTO
CHATHAM SPORTS
Local girls’ soccer teams advance to fourth round
Woods Charter and Seaforth continue their playo runs Thursday
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
IN THE PLAYOFFS, the goal is to simply survive.
For the Woods Charter and Seaforth girls’ soccer teams, the wins weren’t the prettiest, but that doesn’t matter. They’re moving on to the fourth round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association playo s on Thursday.
Starting in the 2A East bracket, No. 4 Seaforth defeated No. 5 Manteo 2-1 in the third round Monday thanks to a score by senior Caitlin Erman in a third sudden death overtime period.
With under three minutes left in the overtime period, Seaforth junior So a Viana sent a pass to the left for Erman, and after gathering herself, she sent a shot from the top of the penalty area to the top center of the net.
Before the overtime period, the Hawks found themselves trailing for the rst time since March 19 (2-1 loss to Cardinal Gibbons) and had to ght their way back into the game. With just two minutes remaining in the rst half, Manteo senior Kenzie Flynn chased down a oating pass and tapped the ball in the net as Seaforth’s goalkeeper Katie Leonard moved toward her.
Crucial saves from Leonard and some tough breaks for Manteo kept the game within reach, though, including a foul against the Redskins that set up a free kick for Erman. Erman’s kick bounced o the Manteo goalkeeper, and freshman Amara Darden tapped in the rebound to tie the game with less than 10 minutes left in regulation.
Seaforth will travel to No. 1 Franklin Academy in the fourth round Thursday. It’ll be a rematch of last year’s fourth round meeting in which the Hawks won 1-0 on the way to winning the 2A state title. In the 1A East bracket, a
“The kids believe now.”
Graeme Stewart
goal from sophomore Annabel Unah was all No. 2 Woods Charter needed to advance past No. 10 Voyager Academy 1-0 in a third-round rematch of last year’s regional nal.
After the Wolves mis red on plenty of scoring opportunities in the rst half, Unah dribbled through the Vikings’ physical defense and sent the ball past the goalkeeper just a few minutes into the second half.
“I just kept pushing,” Unah said. “I looked at my corners like my coach tells me, always put it to the corners. And I knew I had someone on me, but I just kept pushing.”
For the rest of the second half, the challenge came with maintaining the lead.
Junior goalkeeper Grace Wilson made some huge saves,
See SOCCER, page B3
Seaforth boys win rst outdoor track and eld title
Local athletes took individual titles and scored in the 1A and 2A meets
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
GREENSBORO — Just months after claiming its rst indoor track and eld state championship, the Seaforth boys’ track team won its rst North Carolina High School Athletic Association outdoor track and eld state title at N.C. A&T on Saturday, nishing rst in the 2A standings with a score of 68. “They made a commitment to each other and a commitment to themselves, and they’ve put the work in and shown up every day and worked really hard,” Seaforth track coach Meredith Bazemore said. “I think coming o the indoor season and being able to do it again in the outdoor season is just a huge testament to them not letting up.”
In a tight race with state runner-up Brevard, the team
“They made a commitment to each other and a commitment to themselves.”
Meredith Bazemore
state title came down to thenal event of the day — the 4x400-meter relay. Seaforth’s team of senior Sebastian Calderon, freshman Paul Cuicchi, senior Walter Entrekin and senior Will Cuicchi set a new meet record (3 minutes, 21.34 seconds) and won the event to secure the championship victory.
It took a superb e ort, as the Hawks were seeded seventh for the event.
“This has been the ultimate goal since freshman year, trying to become state champions in the 4x400,” Calderon, the rst leg, said. “We started o running a four minute as our goal in our freshman year. Now, we have a meet record at
Local high school baseball, softball seasons end in third round
Seaforth’s baseball and softball teams fell in extra innings
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
THE BASEBALL and softball season ended last week in Chatham County as all four of the local teams fell in the third round. Here’s a recap of how the remaining teams ended their seasons.
Baseball
In the 2A East bracket, No. 9 Seaforth’s season ended in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to No. 16 SouthWest Edgecombe on May 13. Tied at 3-3 going into the top of the ninth inning, SouthWest Edgecombe senior Parker Gay tripled to right eld and scored
“Our mindset was just to go in and play. Leave it all out on the eld.”
John Warf
the go-ahead run on a single by senior Derrick Davis in the next at bat.
With another chance to tie or take the lead, Seaforth junior Colin Dorney started the Hawks’ nal batting turn with a double to right eld. But as he tried to take third base, he was thrown out. Sophomore Duncan Parker reached rst on an error in the next at bat, but Seaforth couldn’t bring him around for the tie. Two straight outs following Parker’s at bat ended the game.
See PLAYOFFS, page B4
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Northwood’s Benjamin Altenburg clears 15 feet on his way to a state 2A title in the pole vault.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Seaforth goalkeeper Katie Leonard launches the ball after a save against NCSSM-Durham. Leonard came up big in both of the Hawks’ playo wins last week.
Benjamin Altenburg
@CHARGERATHLETES / INSTAGRAM
Northwood, track and eld
Northwood’s Benjamin Altenburg earns athlete of the week honors for the week of May 12.
Altenburg, a sophomore, won the boys’ 2A state title in pole vault at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association outdoor track and eld championships Saturday. He was the only jumper in the competition to clear 15 feet, and he set a new personal-best mark of 15 feet, 1 inch. Altenburg set a new Northwood pole vault record as a freshman. After winning his rst state title as a sophomore, Altenburg said the goal is to keep breaking his own personal best and possibly break a state record.
Former Northwood golfer moves closer to US Open bid
Jake Conklin made it to the nal qualifying round
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
FORMER NORTHWOOD
golfer Jake Conklin moved one step closer to qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Open. Conklin tied for second with a score of 68 (4 under par) at the River Landing (River Course) local quali er in Wallace on May 7. Only the top ve out of 84 golfers moved on to the nal qualify-
ing round from the tournament.
The nal quali ers will play one 36-hole round at any one of the three international and 10 American sites from May 19 to June 2 (nine American sites played on June 2). The top golfers from those events will qualify for the U.S. Open.
The 2025 U.S. Open Championship will take place at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, from June 12-15. Before his most recent pursuit at the PGA event, Conklin was a member of the Northwood boys’ golf team from 2018-22. As a ju-
nior, Conklin tied for second in the 2021 North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A state championship at Longleaf Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines. He shot 70, which was 2 under par and one away from rst place.
To cap o his high school career, Conklin nished tied for seventh in the 2022 NCHSAA 3A championships with a total score of 152.
Conklin moved on to Barton College, where he was a member of the men’s golf team from 2022-24.
BARTON ATHLETICS
Former Northwood golfer Jake Conklin continues his quest to make the U.S. Open eld.
chi to take over. Cuicchi pushed past Brevard’s Leo Murray in the nal 200 meters and held the lead all the way to the nish line.
“Honestly, it was just kind of ‘hang on,’” Cuicchi said. “Coming o three events, that was rough, but I mean, I did it. Funny enough, me and Leo, who was the last leg on Brevard, we had the same kind of battle during cross country. So, it was a good full circle to end the senior year.”
Earlier in the day Cuicchi defended his 800-meter title with a time of 1:55.32, and he nished second in the 1,600. In the 4x800 nals, Cuicchi, the anchor leg, provided another boost for his team as he willed the Hawks from the fourth position ( ve points) to second place (eight points) in the nal two laps.
“I think what people might not know is Will came down with a migraine in the middle of that 4x800 and spent a good portion of the races between the 4x800 and the 800 managing a migraine,” Bazemore said. “He’s just an example of what it means to be all in on the day you need to be all in and put himself back out there to run really hard.”
Of course, the Hawks couldn’t
from page B1
including a risky one in which she ran up to meet sophomore Abby Anderson and snagged her shot after Anderson broke free with no other Woods Charter defender ahead.
“The only thing going through my mind is that I want to go and get the ball,” Wilson said. “I’ll do anything to go and get it.”
And with that mindset, the young Woods Charter team
have got the job done without two more state championship victories from senior Jack Anstrom, the future NC State runner.
Anstrom defended his titles in both the 1,600 (4:19.27) and the 3,200 (9:36.80), capping o his high school career with nine individual titles across cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
“This is my last meet in a Seaforth jersey, so I felt like I had to really go out and give it all I had,” Anstrom said. “It was a re-
is continuing to go and take what’s been theirs for years — a fourth straight appearance in the fourth round. After the loss of many key seniors from last year’s state runners-up, Woods Charter hasn’t gone anywhere.
“The kids believe now,” Woods Charter coach Graeme Stewart said. “I’m really proud of such a young team mixing it against a really strong, capable Voyager team today.”
ally good time. It kind of has me reminiscing on all the days from when I actually started running freshman year. I won’t have a Hawk on my chest anymore, so it’s a di erent feeling.”
Chatham County athletes won on the eld, too. Northwood sophomore Benjamin Altenburg, who holds the school’s pole vault record, won the 2A boys’ pole vault title after a erce battle with defending indoor champion, Seaforth’s Ryan Yoder.
Altenburg and Yoder began
The Wolves will host No. 3 Lejeune Thursday. Prior to the third round, Woods Charter beat No. 15 Roxboro Community 6-3 on May 16 on the back of three goals from sophomore Lucy Poitras. Another four goals from Unah and three more from Poitras led the Wolves over No. 31 Cape Hatteras in the rst round. Unah now has six goals in this playo run. No. 26 Chatham Charter fell
their duel after being the only two to clear 13 feet. At his personal-best of 14 feet, Altenburg stopped short of his jump on the rst attempt.
“I got really nervous,” Altenburg said. “I didn’t take o , and I thought it was because I was just too tired. But, on my second attempt, my run felt great, and when I got over, I realized that it was feeling pretty easy today.”
Both jumpers cleared 14-6 on their rst attempts, setting up an interesting nish between two jumpers who had yet to hit the 15-foot mark. After both missed their rst two attempts at 15 feet, Altenburg cleared the bar on his nal jump. With one last chance to extend the competition, Yoder missed his nal attempt.
With the title already clinched, Altenburg hit 15-1 to set a new personal-best.
Seaforth senior Claire Morgan nished her high school career with a state title in the 2A girls’ pole vault event. Morgan won by being the only jumper to clear 9-6 on her rst attempt.
“I cleared everything rst attempt just like I planned,” Morgan said. “I cleared 9-6, and I was like ‘Ok, we’re where we need to be.’ And then, everyone missed at 10, and I was like ‘Oh! That’s mine.’”
Other Chatham County athletes earned points for their teams.
Northwood senior Julia Hall nished second in the 2A girls’ 3,200 with a personal-best of 11:56.37 and sixth in the 1,600, earning the Chargers 11 points. Her teammate, sophomore Jada
to No. 7 North Moore in the rst round 8-0. The Knights nished their season with a 5-15 overall record.
Back in the 2A playo s, Seaforth’s playo run was met with di culty before facing Manteo.
In the second round, No. 13 NCSSM-Durham held the Hawks scoreless for nearly an hour until Viana aced a free kick and lifted Seaforth to a 1-0 victory.
Erman went o for six goals and led the Hawks to a 9-0
Everson, earned two points after nishing seventh in the girls’ discus throw. For the Northwood boys’ team, senior Luke Waldstein earned a point for an eighth-place nish in the high jump. Northwood’s boys and girls both nished tied for 19th. Jordan-Matthews senior Rachael Woods nished third in the 2A girls’ long jump competition with a mark of 17-3 and sixth in the triple jump to earn nine points for the Jets. Kamarie Hadley, a junior at Jordan-Matthews, earned ve points for nishing fourth in the boys’ long jump. The Jets’ girls nished 27th, and the boys nished 29th.
In the 1A state meet, Woods Charter senior Anna Peeler earned four points for a seventh-place nish in the girls’ 1,600 and eighth-place nishes in the 800 and 3,200. The Wolves’ girls’ 4x800 team of senior Michaela Valentine, sophomore Dana Sudhir, sophomore So a Rodriguez and sophomore Dara Sudhir earned two points for nishing seventh. Woods Charter’s team of junior Ezra Roebuck, junior Wyatt Webster, sophomore Jackson Selleck and senior Dylan Villanueva earned three points for a sixth-place nish in the boys’ 4x400. The Wolves girls came in 23rd place, while the boys nished 44th. Chatham Charter sophomore Torris Price scored the Knights’ only two points after nishing seventh in the 1A boys’ 1,600 with a personal-best of 4:28.55. That performance put the Knights at 47th in the boys’ standings.
rst-round win over No. 29 Red Springs. Also in the 2A East playo s, No. 16 Northwood played top-seeded Franklin Academy tough, but the Patriots pulled away late to beat the Chargers 3-1 in the second round. Northwood beat a familiar conference foe in No. 17 Southeast Alamance 4-3 in the rst round. The Chargers ended their season with a 13-9-1 overall record.
SOCCER
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
The Seaforth boys’ track and eld team poses with the NCHSAA state championship banner.
Powell’s athleticism shines at NBA draft combine
The former Northwood star is “all in” on playing in the pros
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
FORMER NORTHWOOD
basketball standout Drake Powell caught plenty of buzz at the 2025 NBA draft combine last week.
Powell, who measured in at 6-foot-51⁄4 and 200.4 pounds, stood out as one of the combine’s top athletes, nishing rst among all participants in the max vertical leap (43 inches) and standing vertical leap (37.50). He also nished seventh overall in the shuttle run (2.79 seconds), eighth in the three-quarter sprint (3.07) and ninth in the pro lane agility drill.
Other measurements included a 7-foot wingspan and an 8-foot-7-inch standing reach.
In the shooting drills, Powell went 21 for 30 o -dribble and 10 for 25 in spot up. He knocked down 11 of 25 shots in the three-point star drill, and in the three-point side drill, he went 11 for 24. Powell went 10 for 10 in the free throw drill. He
Drake Powell talks to media at the 2025 NBA basketball Draft Combine in Chicago.
did not compete in the combine scrimmages. In an interview at the combine on May 14, Powell told ESPN that he’s “all in on the
draft” and the “door’s closed” on returning to UNC. He also said he’s met with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Houston
Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies during his draft process. Known for his defensive prowess, Powell said his o ensive game is underrated, es-
pecially since he didn’t get to showcase it much at UNC. He said he just wanted to do what the coaches asked of him to the best of his ability.
“I feel like I’m the same two -way player that I was coming into college,” Powell said.
Prior to declaring for the NBA draft, Powell averaged 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with the Tar Heels. He started 27 games as a freshman.
“Hubert Davis has been very supportive during this process,” Powell said. “I’ve known him for a long time, and we’ve built our relationship up. And he’s just happy for me.”
The latest mock drafts since the conclusion of the combine predict Powell as a late rst-round or early second-round pick. ESPN’s mock draft released Monday has Powell going 31st to the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Bleacher Report’s mock draft, also released Monday, has him going 28th to the Boston Celtics. The NBA Draft will be held on June 25-26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Should Powell be selected, he’ll become the rst Chatham County high school alum to be drafted into the NBA.
Sophomore Jack Simpson had a productive night at the plate for Seaforth, going 2 for 4 with a team-high two RBIs. Dorney and junior Jaedyn Rader also notched two hits.
The Hawks, who took their last loss before the postseason on March 28, ended their season with a 19-8 overall record.
In the 1A East playo s, No. 7 Chatham Charter lost the hits battle to No. 15 Falls Lake, falling 9-1 on May 14. Falls Lake recorded 11 hits to Chatham Charter’s four. After a four-run fth inning in which Falls Lake notched ve hits, including a three-run homer by junior Jacob Watson, the Firebirds led 6-0.
Eight of the nine batters in Falls Lake’s battling lineup recorded a hit, but only two Knights, juniors Tyner Williams and Jace Young, were able to bat themselves on base.
Falls Lake pitcher Jacob Watson struck out seven batters in the rst ve innings.
of the season for the Bears.
Chatham Charter ended its season with a 15-9 overall record.
Softball
Making its rst third round appearance in the 2A East bracket, No. 9 Seaforth had its breakout season come to an end in another nailbiter.
Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of
the ninth inning, No. 1 Midway’s Kiley Ives singled to center eld and knocked senior Sarah Autry home for a 3-2 walk-o win. That marked the fourth straight Seaforth game to end by a margin of one run and the third walk-o nish in the Hawks’ last four games.
After giving up two runs in the bottom of the second, soph-
omores Annika Johansson and Emma Grace Hill hit back-toback singles in the top of the third and tied the game on an error by the Midway defense.
Led by Hill’s pitching in the circle (seven strikeouts), the Hawks held Midway scoreless from the end of the second inning until its nal run.
After reaching the most wins in program history, winning its rst ever playo game and claiming its rst conference tournament title, Seaforth nished its historic season with a 16-7 overall record.
In the 1A East bracket, No. 7 Chatham Central’s dominant season was cut short in a 10-3 loss to No. 2 Roxboro Community on May 13.
After losing to the Bulldogs in last year’s second round, the Bears got the rematch started with three hits and three runs in the top of the rst. Up 1-0 with loaded bases and zero outs, Addison Goldston grounded into the shortstop who then made an error on the throw to third and allowed sophomore Chloe
Brewer and junior Sallie Oldham score.
However, the Bears didn’t notch another hit until the top of the sixth inning.
“We didn’t stay on the top of the ball,” Chatham Central coach John Warf said. “If we get on the bottom side, anybody can catch pop ups.”
As nothing seemed to go the Bears’ way o ensively, they also committed six errors on the defensive side which led to extra runners and scores. Roxboro Community put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore Karlie Barringer tripled to left eld and knocked in two runs.
Chatham Central, the undefeated Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference regular season champions, nished its season with a 20-4 record. That’s the most wins for the Bears since winning 23 games in 2013.
“We’ve grown as a team this year, and the girls, they’re still young,” Warf said. “Our mindset was just to go in and play. Leave it all out on the eld.”
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham Central’s softball team lines up for pregame introductions before what would turn out to be the nal game
NAM Y. HUH / AP PHOTO
Seaforth boys’ golf nishes third at state championships
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
Golf
The defending champion Seaforth boys’ golf team nished third in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A state championship at Pinehurst No. 6 on May 12. Finding itself in a three-team battle for the top spot in round two, the Hawks nished behind second-place Pine Lake Prep (score of 628) and state-champion Salisbury (627) with a score of 629. This marked Seaforth’s third time earning a top-three nish in its four-year existence.
Seaforth entered the second and nal round tied for fth in the team standings. Led by junior Ty Willoughby’s one-underpar performance on Day 2, the Hawks nished with the best Round 2 score by one stroke and even crept into the top two during competition.
In the individual results, defending champion Ty Willoughby nished fourth with a total score of 146, which was four strokes ahead of par. Willoughby didn’t have the best start in
Seaforth junior Ty Willoughby competes on day two of the state golf championships.
Round 1, recording four bogeys and two double bogeys to go along with his three birdies on holes two, four and 12. Entering the second round in tied for sixth, Willoughby stormed back with ve birdies in Round 2, including three on the back nine holes.
Seaforth senior Gri n Ching nished right behind Willoughby in fth place with a score of 148, earning his
fourth straight top-15 nish in the state competition. Ching, tied for ninth after Round 1, climbed the leaderboard with four birdies on holes four, six, eight and 12 in Round 2.
The Hawks were the only Chatham County team to qualify in 2A and got help from others, including junior Campbell Meador (T-35th place, 161), sophomore Alex Ferm (T-61st place, 172) and senior
‘Celebrity gure’ coach Belichick touted as ‘great thing’ for ACC despite distractions
UNC’s head coach attracted plenty of media attention at the ACC spring meetings
By Mark Long The Associated Press
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Bill Belichick arrived fashionably late to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s spring meetings, his rst one as UNC’s head coach. Still wheeling luggage around the beachside resort in Amelia Island, Belichick banged his carry-on into the door frame as he joined league athletic directors, faculty representatives and football and basketball coaches.
It was a mildly awkward entrance for the ACC’s newest and brightest star. But if the former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion caused a distraction, no one seemed to care.
The ACC, at least publicly, welcomed Belichick, baggage and all.
“I thought I was done being tortured by him,” joked Stanford interim coach Frank Reich, who went 6-7 against Belichick, including a win in Super Bowl 52, during 18 seasons on NFL sidelines.
Belichick, with a new public relations communications person by his side, declined most interview requests at the Ritz-Carlton. He did two football-only interviews with
UNC reporters, sat alongside Clemson coach Dabo Swinney for an ESPN feature and did a brief segment on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” whose appearance at the meetings surely had more to do with the former NFL coach than anything the conference had going on during its three-day event.
ESPN already had made UNC’s home opener against TCU a prime-time event, with Labor Day night becoming a showcase for Belichick’s college coaching debut. It could be a launching point for the league, which trails the Big Ten and the Southeastern conferences in brand recognition, television ratings and — most importantly — revenue.
“I think they ran to us before we could even run to them, our partners at Disney,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. “Listen, it’s a great thing for the league. It’s a great thing for North Carolina. And we’re all following just the massive coverage that Coach Belichick draws.
“I don’t know that he’s got a private moment to himself at all from what I can see and read and what I follow. But I think it’s good. I think it’s good for our league. It’s good for certainly North Carolina. It’s good for college football people; it draws more interest. And it was enjoyable to have him here this week with our joint group in those meetings.”
Belichick, Reich and Boston College coach Bill O’Brien
Gray Stewart (79th place, 182).
Jordan-Matthews junior Ben Buckner earned a 46th-place nish with a score of 167, and Northwood sophomore Jackson Freeman nished tied for 58th with a score of 171. Due to rain, the 1A competition at the Longleaf Golf and Family Club in Southern Pines only completed one round. Chatham Central earned a ninth-place nish in 1A with a score of 347. Junior Tyler Measmer had the best day for the Bears, shooting 78 and nishing tied for 12th. Other Bears included junior Jesse Eskelund (T-43rd, 85), senior Stephen Moody (T-73rd, 92) and junior Gavin Vanderford (T-73, 92).
Chatham Charter junior Caden Poremba represented the Knights by himself and nished tied for 76th place with a score of 93.
Boys’ lacrosse
After receiving a bye in the rst round, No. 3 Seaforth dominated No. 14 Havelock in the second round of the 1A/2A/3A East playo s 21-5 Friday. The Hawks advanced
to the third round for the rst time in program history. Senior Cameron Exley scored a team-high seven goals. Freshman Liam McCann scored four goals, and junior Ivan Grimes recorded four goals and four assists. No. 13 Northwood fell to No. 4 Union Pines 10-6 in the second round Friday. Union Pines sophomore Asher Rombalski poured in a team-best three goals. Northwood junior Grayson Cox led the way for the Chargers with three goals and ve assists. In the rst round, Northwood trampled No. 20 Fike 18-3 thanks to six goals from sophomore Anthony Karpf and three scores each from Cox and junior Robert Tripp. The Chargers ended their season with an 8-13 overall record.
Girls’ lacrosse
No. 4 Seaforth cruised to a 19-1 victory over No. 13 Cape Fear in the rst round of the 1A/2A/3A East playo s Friday. No. 12 Northwood fell in the rst round to No. 5 Swansboro 21-4. The Chargers ended their season with a 3-10 overall record.
give the league three former NFL coaches, though none come with the titles and headaches — Spygate, De ategate and more — of Belichick. Their experience and insight were widely regarded, not surprising considering many top programs are adapting NFL models as they navigate a changing landscape on the doorstep of paying players for use of their name, image and likeness.
With no TV cameras chasing his every move, the 73-year- old Belichick was somewhat removed from the spotlight during the ACC event.
It may have been a welcome respite after the past few weeks, when he defended 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson for shutting down questions about their relationship, which has drawn outsized attention given their age gap.
“I don’t know that I concern myself with some of those things,” Phillips said. “I think about the elements that a ect the ACC. Some of those other things, I really don’t even pay that much attention to.”
“Bill’s been great to work with,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said. “He’s a celebrity gure, and he’s doing a great job for us.”
Added Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: “He’s an amazing football coach. You don’t get lucky and do what he did, especially in the NFL where the margin is so, so small. He’s going to be great for our league.”
The league is expanding to new markets and looking even farther abroad for the future
By Ken Maguire
The Associated Press
LONDON — The NFL’s international road trip will add Berlin, Dublin and Madrid as new destinations in the 2025 season, in which a record-high seven games will be staged outside the United States.
It’s a far cry from when league o cials had to persuade teams to play abroad when it was just one international game per year a couple of decades ago. The Minnesota Vikings this season will play back-to-back games abroad in di erent cities — rst in Dublin and the next week in London. Sao Paulo, Brazil, is hosting for a second straight season. The league’s appetite for international expansion is only growing, with Melbourne, Australia, already locked in for next year. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, could be a future host at some point, too. There have been 55 regular-season games played abroad so far.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has even oated the idea of some day staging an international Super Bowl.
Here are a few facts and gures to help put it into context.
1
The number of times the Dallas Cowboys have played internationally. Tony Romo led Dallas to a 31-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 9, 2014, at Wembley Stadium. Two other teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns — have also played just once abroad, but both are on the international schedule this season. The Steelers play the Vikings on Sept. 28 in Dublin; the Browns face the Vikings on Oct. 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jacksonville Jaguars have played the most international games — 13, all in London.
4
The number of times a team won a Super Bowl in the same season they played an international game. It’s happened the past two seasons: the Philadelphia Eagles won their Week 1 game in Sao Paulo, Brazil, last season; and the Kansas City Chiefs were victorious in Frankfurt, Germany, in Week 9 of 2023. The Chiefs won
in Mexico City (Week 11) in 2019 before winning the Super Bowl. The 2007 New York Giants are the other team, after playing in the rst regular-season game in London.
17
The number of hours of time di erence between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia. The Rams have been announced as one of the teams that will play a regular-season game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2026. It’s likely to be a Week 1 game that kicks o before noon in Melbourne. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks opened the 2014 MLB season in Sydney a week ahead of the rest of the league.
26
Number of regular-season games that have been played at Wembley Stadium. The next highest is Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (10). The Rogers Centre in Toronto is next with six games. Azteca Stadium in Mexico City has staged ve games. The rest: London’s Twickenham Stadium (3); Munich’s Allianz Arena (2); Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park (2); and Corinthians Arena (1) in Sao Paulo.
.125
Bu alo’s winning percentage in international games. The Bills are 1-7 outside U.S. They played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for six straight years (2008-13), winning just once. They pulled the plug on the experiment in December 2014 by terminating the four remaining years of the contract to play an annual game there. The 2013 game had an announced crowd of just 38,969. The Bills are 0-2 in London after losing both times (2015, 2023) to the Jaguars.
103,467
Highest attendance for a regular-season international game — the very rst one played outside the U.S. It was at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Oct. 2, 2005. The Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 3114. It might one day be eclipsed by Barcelona’s Camp Nou, which is expected to have a capacity just over 104,000 after renovations are completed. The NFL has already expressed interest in playing a game there.
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
CHRIS SEWARD / AP PHOTO
UNC coach Bill Belichick takes part in a March press conference.
Jennifer Lawrence stirs Oscar talk in Cannes for ‘Die, My Love’
The actor plays Grace, a mother with postpartum depression
By Jake Coyle The Associated Press
CANNES, France — Last year, the Cannes Film Festival produced three best actress nominees at the Oscars. This year’s edition may have just supplied another.
In Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson play a married couple with a newborn who move into an old country house. In Ramsay’s messy and moving marital psychodrama, Lawrence plays an increasingly unhinged young mother named Grace whose postpartum depression reaches darkly hallucinatory extremes.
For Lawrence, the 34-year-old mother of two, making “Die, My Love” was an intensely personal experience.
“It was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what (Grace) would do,” Lawrence told reporters Sunday. “I had just had my rstborn, and there’s not really anything like postpartum. It’s extremely isolating. She doesn’t have a community. She doesn’t have her people. But the truth is, extreme anxiety and extreme depression is isolating, no matter where you are. You feel like an alien.”
“It was really hard to separate what I would do as opposed to what (Grace) would do.”
Jennifer Lawerence
“Die, My Love,” which is in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, was one of the most anticipated premieres of the festival. That was owed partly to the widely respect for Ramsey, the Scottish director of “Ratcatcher” (1999), “Movern Callar” (2002) and “ You Were Never Really Here” (2017). Lawrence sought her out for the lm.
“I’ve wanted to work with Lynne Ramsay since I saw ‘Ratcatcher’ and I was like, ‘There’s no way,’” said Lawrence. “But we took a chance, and we sent it to her. And I really, I cannot believe that I’m here with you.”
Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” adapted from Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel, is a disorienting experience, pulsating with animalistic urges and manic spurts of violence. As a portrait of a marriage in trouble, it makes “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” look tame.
“Die, My Love” was quickly snapped up by Mubi on Sunday. In easily the biggest sale of the festival, the indie distributor plunked down $24 million for distribution rights to the lm in the U.S. and multiple other territories.
Lawrence’s performance, in particular, drew the kind of raves in Cannes that tend to lead to Oscar consideration. Lawrence has been nominated four times by the Academy Awards, winning once for 2013’s “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Since then, much has changed for Lawrence, including becoming a mother. On Saturday, Lawrence said parenthood has been such an enriching experience for her that, she joked, “I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor.”
“Having children changes everything. It changes your whole life. It’s brutal and incredible,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t know that I could feel so much.”
“My job has a lot to do with emotion, and they’ve opened up the world to me,” she added. “It’s almost like feeling like a blister or something. So sensitive. So they’ve changed my life, obviously, for the best, and they’ve changed me creatively.” Pattinson, who recently had his rst child with Suki Waterhouse, chimed in that he found having a baby “gives you the biggest trove of energy and inspiration.”
SCOTT A GARFITT / INVISION /AP PHOTO
Jennifer Lawrence poses for photographers at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in southern France on Sunday.
this week in history
Johnny Carson signs o , Bonnie and Clyde shot “Star Wars” hits theaters
The Associated Press
MAY 22
1939: The foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a “Pact of Steel” committing their two countries to a military and political alliance.
1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson, speaking at the University of Michigan, outlined the goals of his “Great Society,” saying that it “rests on abundance and liberty for all” and “demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.”
1992: After a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted his nal episode of NBC’s “The Tonight Show.”
MAY 23
1915: Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, aligning with the Triple Entente of Russia, France and the United Kingdom.
1934: Bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
1984: Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in nonsmokers.
MAY 24
1844: Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s rst telegraph line.
1883: New York’s Brooklyn Bridge opened to tra c.
1941: During World War II, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board.
1974: American jazz composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, 75, died in New York.
MAY 25
1787: The Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.
1961: President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
watching clips from earlier shows during the nal taping of “The Tonight Show” on May 22, 1992.
1968: The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.
1977: The rst “Star Wars” lm (later retitled “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”) was released by 20th Century Fox.
MAY 26
1864: President Abraham Lincoln signed a measure creating the Montana Territory.
1865: Confederate forces west of the Mississippi surrendered in New Orleans.
1938: The House Un-American Activities Committee was established by Congress.
1940: Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of some 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.
MAY 27
1896: Two hundred fty- ve people were killed when a tornado struck St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois.
1937: The newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, was opened to pedestrian tra c.
1941: The British Royal Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck o France.
MAY 28
1863: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of freed black men, left Boston to ght for the Union in the Civil War.
1892: The Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco.
1940: During World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces.
1998: Comic actor Phil Hartman of “Saturday Night Live” and “NewsRadio” fame was shot to death by his wife, Brynn.
Alligator from ‘Happy Gilmore,’ other lms, dies of old age
“Morris” was at least 80
By Thomas Peipert
The Associated Press
DENVER — An alligator that appeared in numerous TV shows and lms over three decades, most notably the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” has died at a gator farm in southern Colorado.
Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Morris the alligator was at least 80 years old when he died, the Colorado Gator Farm said in a Facebook post. He was nearly 11 feet long and weighed 640 pounds.
“He started acting strange about a week ago. He wasn’t lunging at us and wasn’t taking food,” Jay Young, the farm’s owner and operator, said in a video as he tearfully stroked Morris’ head in an animal enclosure.
“I know it’s strange to people that we get so attached to an alligator, to all of our animals. ... He had a happy time here, and he died of old age,” he said.
Morris, who was found in the backyard of a Los Angeles home as an illegal pet, started his Hollywood career in 1975 and retired in 2006, when he was sent to the Colorado Gator Farm in the tiny town of Mosca. He appeared in several lms, including “Interview with the Vampire,” “Dr. Dolittle 2” and “Blues Brothers 2000.” He also
“You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers — really anyone with arms or legs — but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the lm.”
Adam Sandler
appeared on “Coach,” “Night Court” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” featuring the late wildlife expert Steve Irwin.
But his most famous role was in “Happy Gilmore,” a lm about a failed and ill-tempered hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The title character played by Sandler confronts Morris after hitting a golf ball that ends up in the gator’s mouth.
Sandler posted a tribute to Morris on Instagram last Wednesday.
“We are all gonna miss you. You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers — really anyone with arms or legs — but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the lm,” Sandler wrote. “The day you wouldn’t come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: never compromise your art.”
Morris the alligator, who appeared in numerous TV shows and lms over three decades, most notably the 1996 comedy “Happy Gilmore” has died.
The Colorado Gator Farm, which opened to the public in 1990, said it plans to preserve Morris’ body.
solutions
“We have decided to get Morris taxidermized so that he can continue to scare children for years to come. It’s what he would have wanted,” the farm posted on Facebook.
JAY YOUNG / COLORADO GATORS VIA AP
DOUGLAS C. PIZAC / AP PHOTO Talk show host Johnny Carson wipes his eye while
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famous birthdays this week
The Associated Press THESE celebrities have birthdays this week.
MAY 22
Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 75. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is 68. Singer Morrissey is 66. Model Naomi Campbell is 55. Tennis player Novak Djokovic is 38.
MAY 23
Actor Joan Collins is 92. Chess grand master Anatoly Karpov is 74. Comedian-TV host Drew Carey is 67. “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings is 51. Singer-songwriter Jewel is 51.
MAY 24
Comedian Tommy Chong is 87. Musician Bob Dylan is 84. Singer Patti LaBelle is 81.
Actor Priscilla Presley is 80. Actor Alfred Molina is 72. Actor John C. Reilly is 60.
MAY 25
Actor Ann Robinson (“War of the Worlds”) is 96. Actor Ian McKellen (“Lord of the Rings”) is 86. Actor-singer Leslie Uggams is 82. Director-Muppetteer Frank Oz is 81. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 62.
MAY 26
Sportscaster Brent Musburger is 86. Singer Stevie Nicks is 77. Actor Pam Grier is 76. Country singer Hank Williams Jr. is 76. Singer Lenny Kravitz is 61. Actor Helena Bonham Carter is 59. “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone is 53. Singer Lauryn Hill is 49.
MAY 27
Singer Bruce Cockburn is 80. Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater is 75. Singer Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees is 68. Musician Andre 3000 of Outkast is 49.
MAY 28
Singer Gladys Knight is 81. Singer John Fogerty is 80. Musician Jerry Douglas of Alison Krauss and Union Station is 69. Singer Kylie Minogue is 57.
AMY HARRIS / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Patti LaBelle, pictured onstage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025, celebrates 81 on Saturday.
CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO
Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan turns 84 on Saturday.
AMY HARRIS / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Gladys Knight performs during the rst weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025. The singer turns 81 on Wednesday.
Krasinski, Portman search for ‘Fountain of Youth,’ Pee-wee as himself
Stereolab drops its rst new record in 15 years
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Joe Jonas’ sophomore solo album “Work It Out” and John Krasinski and Natalie Portman searching for immortality in Guy Ritchie’s adventure movie “Fountain of Youth” are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also, among the streaming o erings worth your time: Paul Reubens shines in the documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” Nicole Kidman returns as a shady wellness guru in “Nine Perfect Strangers” and Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping o ers gamers a chance to test their de-duck-tive skills.
MOVIES TO STREAM
Matt Wolf’s two-part documentary “Pee-wee as Himself” (out Friday on Max and HBO) is one of the most intimate portraits of Reubens, the man many know as Pee-wee Herman. Wolf crafted his lm from some 40 hours of interviews conducted with Reubens before he died of cancer in 2023. In “Pee-wee as Himself,” Reubens discusses the ups and downs of his career, how he crafted the Pee-wee persona and how it came to dwarf his own self.
Ritchie’s adventure movie “Fountain of Youth” (Friday on Apple TV+) stars Krasinski and Portman as a pair of siblings hunting for the fabled Fountain of Youth. The lm, which also stars Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson and Stanley Tucci, is the latest from the fast-working Ritchie, whose recent lms include 2024’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” and 2023’s “The Covenant.”
Last fall, “The Last Showgirl” (out Friday on Hulu) proved a poignant showcase for Pamela Anderson, long after her “Baywatch” heyday. In Gia Coppola’s indie drama, she plays a Las Vegas performer in the twilight of her career. Dave Bautista co-stars.
MUSIC TO STREAM
In the rst single released from Jonas’ forthcoming sophomore solo album, “Work It Out,” the boy band brother breaks the fourth wall in the third person. “Come on, Joe, you got so much more to be grateful for,” he sings in a rare moment of pop candor. His characteristic cheekiness soon follows. “Even baddies get saddies and that’s the hardest truth,” he sings atop
cheery pop-synth. The album, titled “Music For People Who Believe In Love” promises more alt-pop — with country and rock air thrown in for good measure. Good news for cool people with interesting taste: The Anglo-French Avant-pop band Stereolab returns with their rst new album in 15 years, since 2010’s “Not Music” arrived after the group announced an inde nite hiatus. That came to an end in 2019, when Stereolab announced remastered reissues, tour dates and a set at Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. The latest news arrives in the form of this new album, titled “Instant Holograms on Metal Film,” and it sounds as if no time has passed. Pachyman, the Puerto Rican-born, Los Angeles-based musician Pachy Garcia, has charmed audiences with his vintage gear and deep appreci-
ation for dub reggae. That continues on his fth album, “Another Place,” out Friday, with its dreamy, psychedelic indie. It’s the kind of stu that would be at least partially labeled “vaporwave” or “chillwave” a few years ago. Now, it’s a kaleidoscope of in uences only Pachyman could put together in such a uid package.
TELEVISION TO STREAM
With hits like “Maxton Hall” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Prime Video is investing in its YA content. In the new series “Motorheads,” a mother (Nathalie Kelley) returns to her blue-collar hometown with her teenage twins (played by Michael Cimino of “Love, Victor” and Melissa Collazo.) They move in with their uncle (Ryan Phillippe) who is haunted by the disappearance of his younger brother. Fun fact: Phil-
lippe’s son, Deacon, with Reese Witherspoon, plays that younger brother in ashback scenes. Besides the expected coming- of-age storyline about rst love and tting in at school, there’s also a greater mystery at play, plus street racing! Now streaming Prime. At the end of season one of Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers,” we saw Nicole Kidman’s Russian wellness guru, Masha, high tailing it out of town after her unorthodox practices included sneaking psychedelics into her patients’ smoothies. In season 2, Masha has relocated to the Austrian Alps with two new business partners, and they’re welcoming a new group of people to a retreat.
“I invited you all here because sometimes you shouldn’t deal with pain gently,” Masha says in the trailer.
The cast includes Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Mur-
“Come on, Joe, you got so much more to be grateful for.”
Joe Jonas
ray Bartlett, Henry Golding, Dolly de Leon and musician King Princess in her rst acting role.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
Winston Green, a high-strung courier in small-town America in the late 1950s, has one motto: Deliver At All Costs. If that means wrecking other cars or plowing through buildings, so be it. And as the cargo gets weirder — judging from the screenshots, UFOs may be involved — Winston “spirals downward into the depths of insanity.” The result, from Swedish studio Far Out Games by way of Konami, looks somewhat like the original Grand Theft Auto with a retro “Happy Days” glow. Hit the gas Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was once of last year’s cleverest surprises, introducing us to down-on-his-luck gumshoe Eugene McQuacklin in an animal-world parody of lm noir. My only complaint was that it was just a few hours long — but the good news is that Germany’s Happy Broccoli Games is already back on the case with Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. This time, McQuacklin investigates a mystery at a luxury campsite. If you enjoy brainteasers, another chance to test your de-ducktive skills arrives Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch and PC.
“Pee-Wee as Himself,” “Fountain of Youth” and “The Last Showgirl” land this week on a device near you.
“Music for People Who Believe in Love” by Joe Jonas, “Another Place” by Pachyman and “Instant Holograms on Metal Film” by Stereolab drop this week.
PRIME / HULU / TNT VIA AP
The second season of “Nine Perfect Strangers” is streaming this week.