The “No Kings” protest in Pittsboro on Saturday was one of many around the state and the country, criticizing President Donald Trump with creative signs, impassioned speeches and a good number of American ags. Trump, meanwhile, oversaw a parade in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday — one shared with Flag Day and the president himself. N.C. House Minority Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham) was one of a number of speakers who worked to inspire the crowd.
the
BRIEF
this week
A judge could advance Purdue Pharma’s $7B opioid settlement after all 50 states back it
A judge is being asked to clear the way for local governments and individual victims to vote on OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids. The deal would be among the largest in a wave of opioid settlements. It calls for members of the Sackler family, who own the company, to give up ownership and contribute up to $7 billion over time. Of that, about $890 million could go to people who were victims of the drug epidemic or their survivors. Most of the rest is to be used by state and local governments to ght the crisis.
Wake Forest alum named University of Alabama president
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Peter J. Mohler has been named the next president of the University of Alabama. Mohler comes to the role from Ohio State University, where he served as executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge and as chief scienti c o cer of the university’s Wexner Medical Center. He will assume the role at the University of Alabama on July 21. Mohler has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wake Forest University and a doctorate in cell and molecular physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
$2.00
Pittsboro commissioners approve developmental rezonings, plats
Residential development continues to grow in Chatham County
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — The Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners had a few land-use re -
lated items on the agenda for its June 9 meeting.
The board rst held a public hearing for a conditional rezoning request of approximately 21 acres of property located on Old Graham Road from Medium-Density Residential (R-12) to Multifamily Residential Conditional District.
“The intention following the rezoning is to create a 98-lot single-family, residential development with a potential for adding duplexes,” said Planning Director Randall Cahoon-Tingle. According to the applicant, the development aims to be an age-targeted community for retirees.
In addition, the plans call for the construction of a public greenway along the eastern border of the property.
Federal court weighs challenge to NC redistricting maps
A lawsuit alleges GOP lawmakers illegally weakened black voting power
By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM — North
Carolina congressional and legislative districts drawn by Republicans that helped them re-
tain majorities in Raleigh and Washington are in court, as federal lawsuits accuse mapmakers of illegally eroding black voting power in the process.
A three-judge panel convened Monday in Winston-Sa-
lem for a trial over allegations that GOP legislative leaders violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution when they enacted new electoral maps in October 2023. Republican leaders counter that lawfully partisan — and not racial — considerations helped inform their decision-making. The lines were used in the
Justice Department targets voter registration compliance in battleground states
“They can request all the data they want, and it’s not going to prove anything.”
Jena Griswold, Colorado secretary of state
The DOJ is working to ensure states comply with election laws
By Christina A. Cassidy and Scott Bauer The Associated Press
ATLANTA — In North Carolina, it was a lawsuit over the state’s voter registration records. In Arizona and Wisconsin, it was a letter to state election o cials warning of potential administrative violations. And in Colorado, it was a demand for election records going back to 2020. The actions by the U.S. De -
partment of Justice’s voting section come amid signi cant personnel changes in the division, including the departures of career attorneys and decisions to drop various voting rights cases led under the previous administration.
The department’s focus on voter registration compliance and election record-keeping reects priorities that align with concerns raised by conservative activists following the 2020 election. The targeted states include several presidential battlegrounds and others controlled by Democratic o cials.
The board also held a public hearing for a rezoning request for nearly 30 acres of property located on Hillsboro Street from Highway Commercial and R-12 to a Mixed
See PITTSBORO, page A7
2024 elections, after which Republicans kept General Assembly majorities and ipped three U.S. House seats held by Democratic incumbents who didn’t seek reelection because they decided the recast district made winning impossible. Those seat ips, which turned a 7-7 delegation into one with a 10-4 Republican advantage, helped the GOP keep narrow control of the House, which has helped advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Favorable rulings for the plainti s could force Republi-
See MAPS, page A7
We stand corrected To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline.com with “Correction request” in the subject line.
CRIME LOG
June 9
• Celia Gattis Scott, 53, of Sanford, was arrested for shoplifting.
June 11
• Jacob Benjamin Dowd, 26, of Bear Creek, was arrested for failing to pay child support.
June 13
• Jazlyn Delmetria Fox, 22, of Durham, was arrested for possessing a stolen rearm, carrying a concealed weapon, and driving with an expired registration.
• Michael Lee Reese, 44, of Pittsboro, was arrested for violating a domestic violence protective order.
June 14
• Gavin King Nall, 41, of Bear Creek, was arrested for assault causing serious injury.
June 15
• Brandon Dean Beal, 29, was arrested for simple assault, damaging personal property, and domestic violence.
Judges side with GOP lawmakers over highway patrol commander
Three Superior Court judges ruled unanimously
By Makiya Seminera The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A panel of North Carolina judges dismissed one of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s cases against Republican legislative leaders Monday, upholding part of a power-shifting law that prevents Stein from selecting the State Highway Patrol commander.
Three Superior Court judges made the decision unanimously. The judges’ decision means that the dispute won’t go to trial, but it can be appealed.
The lawsuit focuses on a portion of a more sweeping law passed by the GOP-dominated General Assembly that eroded the governor’s powers, as well as the abilities of other top Democrats that hold statewide o ces, last year. A day after its nal passage, Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper led the legal challenge that the judges dismissed Monday.
The law says Stein cannot select his own commander to the State Highway Patrol and, instead, State High-
way Patrol Commander Col. Freddy Johnson will keep the job until 2030. Johnson was appointed by Cooper in 2021 and is a defendant in the lawsuit.
In the order that sided with legislative leaders and Johnson, the judges wrote there were “no genuine issues of material fact” and that the plainti — Stein — did not prove that the provision was unconstitutional.
An attorney for Stein, Eric Fletcher, had argued in Wake County court Monday that the provision guts the governor’s abilities and violates the separation of powers. The commander would not be “directly accountable” to the governor, Fletcher said, but rather “indirectly accountable” to the General Assembly.
Fletcher insisted the lawsuit was not a re ection of Johnson’s character and ability to do his job.
Lawyers representing Republican legislative leaders Destin Hall and Phil Berger argued the case should be thrown out because Stein hasn’t publicly contended that he wants to remove Johnson from his post and the gover
nor’s arguments were largely hypothetical.
Johnson’s lawyer, William Boyle, further a rmed there is “no crisis here” between the governor and the State Highway Patrol commander and that they aren’t “at odds with each other.” Granting the governor the ability to appoint a new commander as the suit makes its way through the courts would also cause “lasting detrimental harm,” Boyle said.
Stein is separately ghting another provision in the same state law passed last year that transferred the power to appoint State Board of Elections members from the governor to the state auditor, who is a Republican. Appointments have stayed in place as the provision’s constitutionality continues to be debated in courts. They shifted the state elections board from a Democratic to Republican majority.
Another three-judge panel scheduled a hearing for next week in a separate Stein lawsuit challenging in part new laws that limit his powers to choose appellate court vacancies and that would take from the governor the authority to ll a seat on the state Utilities Commission and give it to the state treasurer, who is a Republican.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:
June 20
Wren Paint Social 3:30-4:30 p.m.
A guided painting session where participants aged 18-plus are invited to join this workshop, where all materials will be provided for you to paint your own seasonal landscape. Contact the library at 919-742-2016 for more information.
Wren Memorial Library 500 North Second Ave. Siler City
Katherine Whalen’s Jazz Squad at Bynum Front Porch
7-8:30 p.m.
Family-friendly, free musical performance with donations welcomed. Concessions will be available onsite. Free parking.
Front Porch, Bynum General Store 950 Bynum Road Bynum
June 21
Chatham Mills Farmers Market
8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
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 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro
Meet Greensboro
Author Eddie Hu man 2-4 p.m.
Eddie Hu man will be discussing his most recent book, “Doc Watson: A Life in Music.” This event is free and open to the public. Free copies of Hu man’s new book will be available on a limited basis, rst come, rst served. Chatham Community Library 197 N.C. Highway 87 North Pittsboro
8th Annual Juneteenth Black Arts Festival 12-4 p.m.
This free community festival and celebration of black artists from near and far will also o er live entertainment, a Black Business Expo, kids’ activities and an educational heritage walk. Food trucks will be onsite for concessions. Chatham County Fairgrounds 191 Fairgrounds Road Pittsboro
Chatham student creates device to save birds from noise pollution
Lillian Williams won a $3,000 national prize for MicroBirder technology
By Melinda Burris Chatham News & Record
LILLIAN WILLIAMS, a rising senior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Morganton, was awarded rst place Grand Prize Winner in the OurEcho Challenge, a STEM competition sponsored by EarthEcho International. The global nonprofit encourages youth-led involvement in innovative explorations and practical applications to spearhead e orts to preserve, protect and restore biodiversity and local ecosystems.
There are three winners in the OurEcho Challenge each year. A team from Cary was analist in the 2024 competition, but Williams and Team MicroBirder are the rst Grand Prize Winners chosen from North Carolina. This year’s other winners included a oating wetland project from New York to address water pollution and a California team using “Genki Balls” to improve lake water quality.
The young student’s home school is Seaforth High School.
As the rst-place winner, she is the recipient of a $3,000 grant to implement her biodiversity project focusing on noise pollution and its adverse e ects on bird populations.
The MicroBirder device uses a microphone to record environmental sounds, noting the di erence between bird calls and human-made noise, measuring the levels of each.
“It was supposed to be a fusion of birding, the act of classifying, observing birds, and bird-watching,” explained Williams. “Then micro, the rst part of microcontroller. It’s a fusion of single board computing and bird classi cation.”
When asked what prompted her to explore the subject of noise pollution and speci cally its e ects on birds, Williams said she pursued the line of inquiry because her research online, “looking for ways that students could document sound pollution,” was disappointing.
“There was no way for people
to measure the e ects of sound pollution on animals in their area, at least in North Carolina. I could not nd any resources.”
Taking it a step further, the budding researcher said, “And then also, if you look at sound pollution research, the number of papers that are being written, and then compare it to climate change in relation to carbon emissions, and then plastic pollution, there’s just so much more being done for those subject areas, and there’s not enough being done in terms of grassroots movements for things like sound pollution. People just aren’t aware of it as much.”
Emphasizing the importance of this, she said, “You hear people talking about plastic pollution all the time. You hear people talking about carbon emissions, climate change, et cetera, but you don’t hear much about sound pollution. And when you’re out anywhere, you can’t really nd a place that’s silent.”
Williams pointed out how important silence is to “birds and animals that use things like echolocation and sound to communicate and socialize with each other.”
The MicroBirder project is designed to give people the a ordable resources and knowledge they need so they can detect and locate areas where sound pollution is heavily concentrated. Williams believes that by “giving people that voice and the resources ... it gives them the toolkit to advocate for their spaces and make the world quieter.”
According to Williams, les-
David Becker, a former department attorney who worked on voting rights cases and now leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, criticized the Justice Department’s approach as misplaced priorities.
“This would be like the police department prioritizing jaywalking over murder investigations,” he said.
A Justice Department spokesperson responded with “no comment” to an emailed request for more information about the actions, including whether similar ones had been taken in any other states.
Actions come amid major changes at the DOJ
Conservatives for years have called for an overhaul at the Justice Department in both personnel and priorities. President Donald Trump also has criticized how elections are run, blaming his 2020 loss on widespread fraud. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order seeking a sweeping overhaul of election operations — an authority the Constitution grants to the states and Congress.
After his win last November, Trump installed key allies at the Justice Department, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has made similar claims about the 2020 election. Multiple reviews in the presidential battleground states afrmed Democrat Joe Biden’s win in 2020, Trump and his allies lost dozens of lawsuits, and even Trump’s attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud.
Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the department’s civil rights division, said most of the DOJ’s
sons learned in the use of “speci c microcontrollers and single-board computers” through classes, including Research and Robotic Design for Agriculture and Engineering the Tools of Scienti c Discovery, taught at the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Morganton, were instrumental in teaching her how to use tools like Raspberry Pi, a small, affordable computer; Coral USB Accelerator; Tensor Processing Unit and CM16 condenser ultrasound microphone along with open source software.
She credits her teacher there, John Davis, as being a mentor to her in learning the value and accessibility of these tools and how useful they could be for innovative applications. Implementation of the MicroBirder initiative will begin this summer while Williams attends the Cornell Young Birders event. While at the university, she will have the opportunity to meet and get input on the project’s applications from experts at the Lisa K. Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She also plans to continue working with agricultural experts in North Carolina, including her former instructor, John Davis.
Her priority for this summer is to ne tune the assembly of the device and use the grant money to purchase the items needed to create the MicroBirder kits and working on what she describes as “programming, testing, all that stu , and then my plan going into the school year is to start distributing the MicroBirder kits to students in my area.”
The kits won’t just be handed out; Williams plans to use the opportunity to show kids how to assemble and use all the technology involved on a single-board computer so they can easily collect, read and process data, and then use the device to complete the bird classi cation process properly.
The project’s ultimate goal is to develop and implement a database where all this information can be uploaded so that hotspots where birds are being negatively impacted by sound pollution can be identi ed.
actions appeared reasonable and focused on issues that had already been raised by conservative activists in those states.
They also are the type that would be expected from a conservative administration, he said, with the exception of the Colorado request. He called that “well out of bounds.”
“This administration has prioritized grievance, even perceived grievance when there is no basis in fact,” said Levitt, who also served as a senior policy adviser in the Biden administration. “And it’s dismaying, but not surprising, that the civil rights division would do the same.”
Department wants records related to the 2020 election
The department’s request to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, asked for all records relating to last year’s presidential election. Federal law requires those to be kept for 22 months. In the request, the department stated it had received a
Church News
LOVES
CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH
Invites you to come to our YEE HAW VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
June 23-25 from 6-8:15 p.m. nightly. All kids/youth ages 4 years to 14 years are invited!
There will be snacks, Bible stories and crafts each night, and our closing night, June 25, there will be music, pizza, ice cream, fellowship and Bounce Houses!!! We are located at 1745 East 11th St. (Highway 64), Siler City, right across from Bojangles.
We’d love to see you there as we celebrate God’s greatest gift! Please come and bring a friend.
HINDSIGHT BLUEGRASS ROCKY RIVER BAPTIST CHURCH
June 22 – 6 p.m.
4436 Siler City-Snow Camp Road
Everyone Welcome!
A love o ering will be taken.
RIVES CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
4338 Rives Chapel Church Road Siler City
Sunday, June 2d
The gospel group “Mercy On Us” will be performing during the 10 a.m. Worship service
Please Join Us At This Special Event!
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the civil rights division, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit that accurate voter rolls are critical to ensuring elections are conducted “fairly, accurately, and without fraud.”
The previous board had acknowledged the issue and updated the state’s voter registration form. The new board leadership has vowed to address it.
Skeptical of the motives
complaint alleging that Griswold’s o ce was not in compliance with federal law relating to voter registration. The request also directs Griswold to preserve any records of the 2020 election that might still be in the state’s possession.
Griswold, in an interview, called the request a “ shing expedition” and said her o ce responded by providing state voting les.
“I’m not even sure they know what they are looking for,” Griswold said. “They can request all the data they want, and it’s not going to prove anything.”
North Carolina elections have been a particular target for Republicans
In North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers recently wrested control of the state election board from the Democratic governor, Justice Department lawyers led a lawsuit accusing state election o cials of failing to ensure that all voter records include identifying information, such as a driver’s license.
In Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020, department lawyers recently sent a letter to the state election commission accusing it of not providing a complaint process for those raising concerns.
This comes as Republican state lawmakers are pushing legislation to expand the ability to appeal decisions made by the six-member commission, which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Republican lawmakers have long complained about commission decisions they perceive as bene ting Democrats. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a law rm that frequently defends Republicans on election issues, supports both e orts, said Lucas Vebber, the rm’s deputy counsel.
“It’s ensuring that Wisconsinites are entitled to have their complaints heard and adjudicated,” he said. “As something as important as our elections, it’s vital to ensure that process is transparent and available to everyone.”
Rep. Lee Snodgrass, a Democrat on the Wisconsin Legislature’s elections committee, said state law needs some tightening around how election com-
plaints are handled, but she’s dubious about the motives of the Trump administration and conservative activists in the state.
They are looking for ways “to cast doubt on election integrity, so if they don’t get the results they want they can cry foul,” Snodgrass said.
Concerns about future actions
In Arizona, DOJ lawyers said the state was not clearly telling voter registration applicants to provide a driver’s license if they have one and asked the state to conduct a review to identify any noncitizens.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, responded by saying Arizona requires those registering to vote in state and local elections to provide proof of citizenship and conducts checks using the state’s motor vehicle records.
In Oregon, Justice Department lawyers weighed in on an ongoing lawsuit led by the conservative group Judicial Watch. It alleges the state has failed to comply with federal laws on maintaining voter lists and making these records available for public inspection.
John Powers, a former Justice Department attorney who now serves as legal director for the Advancement Project, said he was concerned about the moves coupled with the Justice Department’s sta departures and its withdrawal from voting rights cases.
Powers said he hoped, with midterm elections next year, that the department would not pursue minor technical issues in a way that could undermine public con dence in elections.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about what the future might hold,” he said.
VOTER from page A1
MORRY GASH / AP PHOTO Election workers process ballots for the 2024 General Election last year in Milwaukee.
COURTESY OF LILLIAN ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
Prize and grant winner Lillian Williams.
THE CONVERSATION
Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
| ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN
Our dangerous
The American ag is symbolic of subversion. The 13 stripes represent the 13 colonies, which declared independence from British colonization.
ON FLAG DAY, I was stopped by a police o cer as I crossed the street. The young man told me that I was not allowed to carry the agpole into the demonstration in front of the Chatham County Justice Center in downtown Pittsboro.
“Of course,” the o cer added, “there’s nothing wrong with carrying the American ag.”
I wondered if there are more restrictions on agpoles than handguns in this country, but I complied with the o cer’s request. I draped the ag around my shoulders and headed into the demonstration.
Upon re ection, I do think that the ag itself is dangerous — not physically as a weapon. Yet the American ag is symbolic of subversion. The 13 stripes represent the 13 colonies, which declared independence from British colonization. They were willing to die rather than submit to a monarchy that primarily served the interests of the wealthy elite. Furthermore, the 50 stars stand for the 50 states, each of which has its rights yet voluntarily chooses to be part of our union. The ag is dangerous to those who seek absolute power at the expense of our diversity that shines like stars. In the wrong hands, the stars and stripes might convey false authority, hollow bravado and even foment violence.
In America, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 to commemorate the Flag Resolution passed by the
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
Continental Congress in 1777. June 14 coincides with the founding of the United States Army. I recognize the sacri ce and bravery of people in our armed forces. I applaud their courage and genius. Many veterans are the rst to seek alternatives to violence, for war is hell. War is savage and sinful. War is a product of stunted imaginations, which might have been occupied in working for peace — the best impulse of all holy religions and faithful adherents around the world.
As I held my ag last Saturday, an older gentleman approached me. He was wearing an Army uniform. He asked if my arms grew tired from holding the stars and stripes aloft. Sheepishly, I admitted it was true. He pulled out a twist tie, probably from a loaf of bread, and after gently wrapping the ag around my shoulder, he fastened it like a cloak. He grinned and walked on.
A ag can foment dangerous ideas. Yet, as this veteran quietly showed me, we are also capable of kindness and compassion, small acts that would never be memorialized with a national symbol but are things that make for peace.
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.
Easy to get accustomed to many things
I have found myself turning into my fatherin-law, who, every time he came into our house, whether it was cold as whiz or hotter than a twodollar pistol, would say, “feels good in here.”
A FEW DAYS AGO, a longtime friend and I found ourselves standing outside for several moments in the ongoing visit of Mr. Hot Weather.
While I’m a little bigger than he is, neither one of us would qualify to shop in the petite side of the clothing store. And so, as we sweated in the heat and humidity — welcome to North Carolina in the summer — we began to reminisce about what it was like before air conditioners came along.
I mentioned how hard the heat is on a big ol’ boy like me; he agreed — and not just about me being a big ol’ boy — but, as he said, about himself, “Me, too; I guess we’re spoiled” or something like that. And then he went on to say before anyone had AC, we didn’t know any di erent.
And that simple statement found a home in my mind, and I’ve been thinking about how it applies to heat and humidity but also other parts of life.
For the rst several years I was around, we operated like most other folks — throw up the windows and hope for the best, especially at night. That wasn’t all that bad, partly because I didn’t know any di erent and partly because with the windows up, I could hear the frogs at Wallace Farrell’s pond just across our yard and into his pasture.
In time, my folks reasoned that one or two big box fans could be placed in the windows, turned to bring in air or pull hot out and clicked onto “high.” There was many a night I went to sleep to the hum of the fan accompanying WPTF’s “Our Best to You.”
It was somewhere around the 10th year of my little life that Mama and Daddy got our rst air conditioner. It was a big ol’ model about the size of a Volkswagen that they stuck in the dining room window, right behind the table.
That, of course, made that seat at the table a prime one when Mama put out the fried chicken and fried okra. Although my two brothers were pretty well gone from home, o at college and such, when they came home, they seemed to think they had some sort of right as older and oldest to claim what was usually and
normally my seat. Most of the time, I could whine and whimper enough to keep my accustomed place, but not always.
Anyway, later on my folks found a smaller model, which they put in a back-bedroom window so as to create a cross-cooling. It was at about that time I migrated to that bedroom, which previously had belonged to my brothers.
Today, our little abode is blessed with central air, and I have reached the point my friend mentioned earlier. I have found myself turning into my father-inlaw, who, every time he came into our house, whether it was cold as whiz or hotter than a two-dollar pistol, would say “feels good in here” about the time he got past the front door.
Part of this pondering I’ve been doing lately about all this does include the heat and our dependence on Mr. Carrier’s invention. But it also links up with our tendencies as human beans to get used to things over a period of time. Some of that is good. I’ve gotten used to at least three meals a day, although they may vary in time and content. My boyish gure bears that out.
But sometimes it can be a not-so-good thing, something we need to pay attention to and work on. A key one is found in the rst few words of the Psalms in the Book. It says folks are blessed who don’t “walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way (meaning ‘to be like’) of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.”
I confess to you I had read those words many times through the years, but it wasn’t until so long ago that I realized there was a progression there. If we aren’t careful, we can start walking (living) a certain way and before long we’ll nd ourselves standing around it, and then pretty soon, we’ve taken a seat and are hip deep.
So here’s to opportunities to avoid the heat, both to the weather and to the lifestyle. Stay cool …
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
Chaos is just so cool!
Ever heard of the Butter y E ect? Oh, you must’ve heard of the Butter y E ect. A butter y aps its wings in Tokyo, eventually causing a tornado in Oklahoma? Come on!
CHAOS IS SO COOL!
Well, geez, that’s a wonderful way to begin, pushing all your readers away with the mention of chaos. I mean, who needs more chaos? Not me. Do you? Likely not.
Point made.
So why begin with chaos, having just dissed its very mention?
Because I just now realized there’s magic in chaos! I absolutely adore the idea of magic: “Apparently in uencing the course of events by using mysterious forces.”
I am totally lost.
This is how my speeding locomotive of thoughts began. For whatever reason (likely the most recent batch of unsettling news headlines), I was thinking about how often I say “Hey” to people. I mean, people everywhere: on the street, in stores, pick your place. I’m just a “Hey” kind of gal, a friendly greeter for everyone I meet. Anyone who crosses my path, generally, gets a “Hey.” Period. (Look, I’m a native Texan. “Hey” comes with the territory.)
Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe my “Heys” are teeny-tiny vocalizations helping to nurture the world. (Ok, yes, I’m a bit grandiose at times.) Feeding a parched world, one “Hey” at a time. Oh, sure. Right. Next subject. No, no, seriously. (This is the point at which my sense of putative magic enters the picture.) Ever heard of the Butter y E ect? Oh, you must’ve heard of the Butter y E ect. A butter y aps its wings in Tokyo,
eventually causing a tornado in Oklahoma? Come on!
How ‘bout them apples? Here you go, my recently fallen-in-love-with chaos theory, clothed in the simple guise of a butter y, making waves way beyond its own sphere. “The interconnectedness of everything in the universe means … even the smallest action can have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences.”
Woo-wee!
Yep, there’s that dainty golden butter y twitching its wings in Tokyo and, unbelievably, whipping up a tornado in Oklahoma.
Oh, right.
Hello, it’s just an analogy.
And … friendly Ph.D physics folks seem to agree that “just a small change (butter y, butter y!) in initial conditions can drastically change the long-term behavior (tornado, tornado!) of a system.” Ta-dah!
Meaning, in my world of quasi-magical beliefs, the plethora of all my “Heys,” shared with just about anybody, could truly be world-impacting. Or what about the smile on my face when I’m looking out my living room window at all the trees? Could my smile be a putative butter y in uencing events way beyond my capacity to know?
Food for thought …
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
People watch reworks at the end of a military parade commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary June 14 in Washington, D.C.
No kings
It is a fair criticism of Biden that he should have taken action earlier.
WHAT DOES IT SAY when Alex Padilla, a sitting member of the United States Senate, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, is wrestled to the ground and handcu ed like a common criminal?
Not a rapist, not a murderer, but a member of the United States Senate.
It says no one with brown skin is safe from Kristi Noem’s goons.
Is that the message the Trump administration wants to send to Hispanics in this country?
Have we replaced the much hated by Trumpers “diversity, equity and inclusion” with old-fashioned racism? That is how it looks and feels.
President Donald Trump talks big about getting rid of the murderers and rapists who former President Joe Biden let across the border. They should have warrants with the names of those people on them instead of lining up all the men with brown skin at car washes across LA and taking them to unknown destinations, instead of showing up at Home Depot and Ralph’s, leaving law-abiding neighbors afraid to shop for groceries or attend their children’s school graduations.
And who do Trump and his acolytes blame for this reign of terror they are visiting on us? They blame Biden, of course. When things go right, it’s Trump who takes credit. When things go wrong, and they are going very wrong right now, they blame Biden.
On June 4, 2024, Biden took executive action to close the Southern border to asylum seekers; under the Biden policy, as explained by senior administration o cials at the time, “individuals who cross the southern border unlawfully or without authorization will generally be ineligible for asylum, absent exceptionally compelling circumstances.” Under the Biden policy, migrants who don’t meet the requirement of having a “credible fear” when they apply for asylum are immediately removable. The ood of immigrants across the border, if that’s what you choose to call it, is over.
It is a fair criticism of Biden that he should
have taken action earlier. It is not a fair criticism that his failings justify sending in the National Guard and the Marines — against the wishes of the governor of California, who is in charge of the Guard — to terrorize our community. These young men and women did not sign up so they could manhandle and arrest their nannies and gardeners.
“Fellow immigrants,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously began his address to the Daughters of the American Revolution at another time when antiimmigrant sentiment was a growing problem in this country. With the exception of Native Americans (hardly the model of who has been fairly treated), we are all immigrants, either directly or as the children, grandchildren or greatgrandchildren of immigrants. They came to this country to ee a king, to survive, to build a better life in a country that followed the rule of law.
In our country, due process is a fundamental right of all, not just of those who were born here. It is what we expect — often wrongly — when we travel abroad. It is what makes America di erent from other countries in the world, countries that hold Americans in prisons without the process that should be due when government deprives people of their liberty. We are aghast when that happens to us abroad. We should be just as appalled when it happens, as it is right now, in our own country.
Have we reached the point of a constitutional crisis yet? Do we already have a president who tries to rule like a king?
We do. The only thing that stands against the would-be monarch is not the Congress, which under Republicans has failed miserably to take a stand against the king’s excesses or to hold his unquali ed minions responsible, but the courts. Our democracy is in the hands of the brave men and women on the bench, who dare to say no to the man who would be king. We protest in support of them.
Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.
Why the CBO almost always gets it wrong
THESE DAYS it seems that a mysterious group called “the CBO” rules the world, or at least Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, it’s not very good at predicting things, and its bad calls can lead to bad policy results.
The Congressional Budget O ce and the Joint Committee on Taxation predict what will happen with spending, tax revenues and de cits from new bills and congressional budgets. They have made headlines with their absurd warning that President Donald Trump’s tax bill to extend the 2017 tax cuts and other reforms like eliminating taxes on tips would add trillions to the debt over 10 years.
The 2017 scoring of the Trump tax cut has already underestimated the revenues from the rst six years of the law by a massive $1 trillion or more.
But we know this is wrong. The aw is that the models don’t take account of the improved economy from keeping tax rates low and providing tax relief for small businesses and workers. The White House estimates that this bill, combined with pro-America energy policies and deregulation, can raise the economic growth rate to nearly 3% — which would mean at least another $2 trillion in added revenues.
When I pointed this out in The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated these defects in the CBO predictions.
Then Washington Post “fact checker” Glenn Kessler claimed the CBO is accurate and Johnson’s claim is “nonsense.”
Oh, really? It turns out that it’s the self-proclaimed fact checker who is getting the numbers all wrong.
The Post argued that the CBO really does dynamic scoring and adjusts for the changes in tax laws. Wrong. The CBO does not fully measure the economywide bene ts of lower tax rates and thus doesn’t adjust for higher employment and growth — which happens every time we cut tax rates.
We also know the 2017 scoring of the Trump tax cut has already underestimated the revenues from the rst six years of the law by a massive $1 trillion or more.
Yet Kessler notes that no one in 2017 could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns. That is absolutely true. But the pandemic actually reduced revenues from what they would have otherwise been by at least $1 trillion because commerce slowed to a crawl during the lockdowns. Yet even with the unexpected pandemic, the CBO still managed to underestimate the revenues generated from the tax cut.
Sounds like the speaker was right and the fact checkers struck out.
Everyone makes mistakes. But the CBO and JCT have a habit of overstating the bene ts of raising taxes and underestimating the bene ts to the economy from cutting tax rates. The CBO and JCT, for example, have almost always lowballed the economic e ects of cutting the capital gains tax.
My colleague Tomas Philipson, who served on the Council of Economic Advisers under Trump in his rst term, notes that the JCT never opens its books to show how it makes its “garbage in, garbage out” projections.
Maybe Johnson should demand they do that immediately. Or maybe it’s time for a new model based on real-world scoring. It’s time to put accuracy over ideology. Big decisions that have enormous trillion- dollar consequences for our economy are being made with a cracked crystal ball.
Stephen Moore is co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH
JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP PHOTO
obituaries
E. Ronald Evans
Oct.29th, 1942 –June 12th, 2025
E. Ronald Evans, 82, of Siler City, passed away at his home on Thursday, June 12th, 2025, surrounded by loved ones.
Ron was born in Gates County to the late Jesse R. and Fruzie E. Evans on October 29th, 1942. He is preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Leslie Carter Evans and Jesse R. Evans Jr.; his daughter, Charlene Evans Raven; and his great granddaughter, Sophie Elizabeth Fox.
Ron enjoyed to golf, hunt, or sh in his spare time. He also enjoyed working on and restoring cars and playing the guitar. He was a member of Brush Creek Baptist Church where he was a member of the Friendship Sunday school class and a former Sunday school teacher. He also was in the church choir and a deacon
of the church. Ron worked as a sales manager in food service at J.T. Davenport & Sons and at Lowes Food. Ron loved his dog, Charlie Brown. Left to cherish Ron’s memory is his wife of 35 years, Nanci Welch Evans; his daughters, Robin Evans Burkett and her husband Dale, of Su olk, VA, Amy Evans Hardy and her husband, John of Su olk, VA, Kelly Brooks Montgomery and her husband, Craig of Cornelius, NC, and Heather Brooks Peters and her husband, Robert of High Point, NC; his sisters, Gloria Evans Nichols and her husband, Joe of Ahoskie, and Juliett Evans Williams of Winton, NC; his brother, Clinton Evans and his wife, Marie of Murfreesboro; sixteen grandchildren; and 7 great grandchildren.
Funeral service will be Monday, June 16th, 2025, at Brush Creek Baptist Church, at 2 pm. Visitation will be at the church from 1-1:45 pm prior to the service, and burial will follow in the church cemetery. Services will be o ciated by Reverend Ed Lowder, Reverend Terry Pleasant, and Reverend Je Fletcher.
Memorials can be made to Brush Creek Baptist Church, 5345 Airport Rd., Bear Creek, NC 27207. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Evans family.
Online condolences can be made at www.smithbucknerfh. com
Rickey Michael Riddle
June 10th, 2025
Rickey Michael Riddle, age 68, of Pittsboro, died Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at home. Rickey was born in Chatham County to the late Leton Riddle and Margaret Foushee Riddle. He was also preceded in death by one brother, Gilbert Riddle. Surviving relatives include two sons; Rickey Riddle and wife Jaime of Pittsboro, Nicholas Riddle and ancé Meagan of Pittsboro, four grandchildren Mara, Chase, Holden, Landon, one brother; L.D. Riddle of Pittsboro, and one sister Frona Morgan and husband Charles of Lancaster, South Carolina.
The family will receive friends Monday, June 16, 2025, from 5:00PM-7:00PM at Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory Gri n Chapel. A memorial service is not planned at this time. In lieu of owers the family asks for donations to be made in Rickey’s memory to Chatham Animal Rescue & Education (CARE) P.O. Box 610, Pittsboro, NC 27312. Condolences may be made at www.donaldsonfunerals. com Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the Riddle family.
Blake Lindley Andrew Sr.
March 12th, 1931 –June 13th, 2025
Blake Lindley Andrew Sr., 94, of Snow Camp, passed away peacefully on June 13, 2025, at Chatham Hospital in Siler City. He was born in Chatham County on March 12, 1931, the son of the late James Harvey and Mary Blanche Lindley Andrew. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his wife, Rebecca (Becky) Andrew; daughters, Gayla Dawn Andrew and Janie Andrew Lindley; son, Kenneth Mark (Kenny) Andrew; and brothers, Murray Milton Andrew, Phillip Rader Andrew, and Donald Keith Andrew.
Blake was a 1949 graduate of Silk Hope High School. He spent his entire life on the farm, most of it devoted to raising poultry. He took pride in the hard work, the routine, and the quiet rewards of farm life. Though he also worked with dairy cattle, poultry was his passion and livelihood.
Blake had a deep loyalty to Ford—he swore by them—and owned just one Chevrolet in his lifetime, a concession to his daughter Janie who begged for a Monte Carlo.
In the evenings, Blake could most often be found at the kitchen table with a deck of Rook cards in his hand. A master of the game, he was known at every community Rook party as the player to beat. No one really wanted to be his partner—not because they didn’t admire him, but because he was so sharp and competitive, folks were afraid of playing the wrong card. His love of the game was really a love for the people he played it with.
One of Blake’s most remarkable
IN MEMORY
THELMA JEAN KIDD SPOON BREWER
JUNE 19, 1940 – JUNE 15, 2025
traits was his vast knowledge and impeccable memory. He could converse about any topic and recall birthdays, anniversaries, and phone numbers without ever needing to write them down. He could tell you what year the barn was built, what the price of feed was in ’62, and what card you played two games ago. His memory wasn’t just impressive— it was a living archive of family history, community stories, and practical wisdom.
In his later years, Blake found peace in quiet mornings spent watching the birds out his window. He enjoyed visits from neighbors and family, always ready with a story from the “good old days.” He was especially proud of his grandchildren, and anyone who stopped by would hear about their accomplishments.
A birthright member of South Fork Friends Meeting, Blake was a man of faith, family, and quiet strength. He will be remembered for his strong handshake, the breadth of his knowledge, unbeatable Rook game, and deep love for those around him.
He is survived by his son, Blake Lindley (Lin) Andrew Jr. and wife Angie; grandchildren Alyce Lindley Phillips (Mack), Mike Lindley (Ti any), Brandon Andrew, Mary Lindley Needham (Andrew), Lindley Andrew, Brady Andrew, and Carisa Andrew; greatgrandchildren Dakota Collet, Eli Rodriguez, Janie and Murphy Phillips, Bristol and Leah Lindley; sister Jane Andrew Lindley; sonin-law Mike Lindley; numerous nieces and nephews; special family friends Armando and Yaneli Cervantes; and devoted caregiver Carolyn Handley. A celebration of life will be held Wednesday, June 18, at 3 p.m. at South Fork Friends Meeting, with burial to follow. The family will greet friends following the burial in the church chapel. In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to the Janie Lindley Music Fund or the Memorial Association at South Fork Friends Meeting, 359 South Fork Bethel Rd., Snow Camp, NC 27349. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is assisting the Andrew family. Online condolences may be made at www.smithbucknerfh. com
It is with great sadness that the family of Thelma Jean Kidd Spoon Brewer announces her passing on Sunday, June 15, 2025, after a prolonged illness. She was 84 years old.
Thelma was born June 19,1940 to J.W. and Rachel Ritter Kidd of Coleridge. She grew up strong-willed and free-spirited with spunk and a love for life and her family. She married Frankie Spoon (deceased) of Bennett and spent her youth raising her four children, managing several chicken houses and working at Ramseur Interlock. Beyond her children, her greatest triumph was becoming a civil servant and working for the postal service in Randolph County.
Thelma encouraged her children to work hard and always believed in them and cherished their accomplishments. Just recently she commented on how important it was to her that all her family love each other.
Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Chatham News & Record at obits@chathamrecord.com
Thelma is survived by two children, Ricky Spoon and his wife, Kay, of Pittsboro and Steven Spoon (Janey) of Savannah, Georgia. Her baby girl, Janet Darlene Foushee, and oldest son, Frankie Spoon Jr., preceded her and were missed daily by their mother. Coming from a large family, Thelma is survived by her sisters, Annie Hummrickhouse of Raleigh, Helen Patterson (Wrenn) of Cary, Edna Johnson of Spartanburg, South Carolina and Alene Jahn (George, deceased) of Massachusetts. She is also survived by her brother Harold Kidd and his wife Marian of Fayetteville. Brothers that preceded her are: Winfred Kidd (Nancy) of Coleridge, Cecil Kidd (Jenny) of Siler City, and Roy Kidd (Alice) of Pittsboro. Thelma is survived by one grandchild, Rachel Victoria Spoon Ward and her husband, Captain Chris Ward of DeRidder, Louisiana. She experienced the joy of nieces, nephews, extended family members and special neighbors. Her sister-in-law, Louise Brewer Motes (Tommy), of Bennett, were steadfast, dear friends and watched over her beloved Bernie with great care.
Thelma was preceded in death by her husband, Roy Brewer, of Bennett. Roy adored Thelma and always treated the children as his own. She honored his memory by remaining at the family farm until shortly before her death.
Kenneth Farrell
PITTSBORO from page A1
Use Planned Development.
The property is slated to include commercial, o ce, institutional, residential (apartments and townhomes) and mixed-use residential uses.
“This does not have tenants lined up to come in,” Cahoon-Tingle said. “This is a future plan with a great deal of marketing yet to happen.”
The board also approved the preliminary plat for Phase 1 of the Asteria Planned Development, a storyliving community by Disney.
Phase 1, which is located east of the intersection of Grant Drive and Chatham park, is approximately 175 acres and will be subdivided into 494 residential lots (343 single-family detached, 57
townhomes, 50 duplexes, 44 quadplexes).
According to the plans, all residential lots will have driveways and garages that will provide two vehicular parking spaces per dwelling unit.
The plat also calls for the construction of a 10-foot wide multiuse path on Aster Green Parkway as well as 5-foot sidewalks on both sides of all internal subdivision streets.
The next step of the process involves the submission of construction drawings related to streets, stormwater control, drainage and utilities.
“Preliminary plats are like the name, just preliminary,” said Assistant Planning Director Theresa Thompson. “We do look at all the applicable standards at this time such as sidewalks, landscaping, street
MAPS from page A1
cans to redraw maps for the 2026 elections, making it harder to retain their partisan advantage. Otherwise, the districts could be used through the 2030 elections.
The trial involves two lawsuits led in late 2023.
In one lawsuit, the North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause and several black residents originally sued over redrawn state House and Senate maps and U.S. House districts. The other lawsuit led by nearly 20 black and Latino voters focused on the new congressional districts, four of which they argue are illegal racial gerrymanders.
Pretrial rulings this spring and amended litigation dismissed challenges to the state House map and narrowed state Senate arguments to a handful of districts. Still, both lawsuits claim that lines are so skewed for GOP candidates that many black voters cannot elect their preferred candidates, violating the Voting Rights Act. They allege the mapmakers at times submerged or spread out black voting blocs, which historically have favored Democrats, into surrounding districts with white majorities — bene ting Republicans. They point to the Piedmont Triad region where the cities of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem are located. They said Republicans split the region’s concentrated black voting population within multiple U.S. House districts. Then-Rep. Kathy Manning, a Greensboro Democrat, decided not to run again because her district shifted to the right.
Court decision and an April 2023 state Supreme Court decision that neutered legal claims of illegal partisan gerrymandering.
“The General Assembly has striven to end racial politics through race-blind redistricting,” wrote Katherine McKnight and Phil Strach, two lawyers for the GOP legislators, adding that a Voting Rights Act violation “would only return the State to the race-based redistricting it has sought to end.”
Rodden testi ed Monday the “racial sorting” of voters within challenged congressional districts that he examined can’t be attributed fully to politics alone. On cross-examination, Rodden acknowledged that he didn’t know all of the partisan factors that GOP lawmakers considered in 2023.
The three judges were all nominated to the bench by Republican presidents: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison Rushing (Donald Trump) and District Judges Thomas Schroeder (George W. Bush) and Richard Myers (Trump).
The panel has set aside several days for a trial that won’t end until July 9. Other likely witnesses include individual plainti s, state legislators, historians and more mapping experts. No immediate decision is expected — the legal sides have until early August to le additional briefs.
The court’s ruling can be appealed. With candidate ling for the 2026 election starting Dec. 1, any required remapping would have to be completed by late fall to avoid election disruptions.
trees, things like that, but actual infrastructure plans come at the next step.”
Finally, the board also approved the expansion of the downtown social district to include West End Kitchen, Finders and Seekers Emporium and Marigold.
The expansion stretches down West Street and includes part of Rectory Street.
“I think the social district has gone really well,” said Mayor Kyle Shipp. “I think it’s a good thing.”
Shipp also stated that with the expansion, the town needs to look into improving pedestrian safety, speci cally with more crosswalks on West Street.
The Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will next meet July 14.
“This was an e ort to spread those voters across districts,” said Jonathan Rodden, a Stanford University redistricting expert who testi ed Monday for some plainti s about congressional boundaries. Rodden said the results were less-compact districts that make it harder for voters within them to act collectively toward a common policy goal.
The plainti s also allege GOP lawmakers unlawfully packed black voting-age residents into a Charlotte-area congressional district.
The trial’s lawyers agreed not to give opening statements Monday. But in a pretrial brief, lawyers for Republican leaders said the lawmakers used mapmaking rules that prohibited using data identifying the race of voters, in keeping with rulings on previous North Carolina redistricting maps in which judges chided them for emphasizing race.
Instead, Republicans were able to lawfully use partisan data — like statewide election results — in drawing the new maps, the lawyers said. They cite a 2019 U.S. Supreme
Your Journey Starts Here...
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North Carolina has a long history of redistricting litigation in federal courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in landmark cases in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s involving racial bias and the extent to which racial considerations could be used in forming districts that favored the election of black candidates. The court’s 2019 decision on partisan gerrymandering stemmed from a North Carolina case.
The current maps were drawn after the state Supreme Court, with a Republican seat majority, essentially struck down rulings the court made in 2022 when it had a Democratic majority. Two other lawsuits challenging the 2023 district boundaries are pending.
Statewide races in North Carolina are close, and Democrats have held the governor’s mansion for most of the past 30 years. But Republicans have controlled the General Assembly — and thus redistricting — since 2011. Redistricting maps can’t be blocked by a governor’s veto.
HANNAH SCHOENBAUM / AP PHOTO
The North Carolina Senate reviews copies of a map proposal for the state’s congressional districts starting in 2024 during a committee hearing in October 2023.
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NOTICE TO CREDITORS
PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
Subject: Town of Pittsboro Climate Action Plan
Community Meetings
Dates: June 24, 2025, 4 PM-7 PM June 26, 2025, 12 PM-3 PM
Location: Pittsboro Community House, 65 Thompson St, Pittsboro, NC
Details: Join us for a public information meeting to discuss the Climate Action Plan. Your input is valuable as we work together to create a stronger, more resilient community Contact: Town of Pittsboro at (919) 542-6421or jpeterson@pittsboronc.gov.
Why Attend? Learn about the Climate Action Plan, ask questions, and share your ideas to shape the future of our Town.
NOTICE
“All persons having claims against the estate of DENNIS RAY APPLEYARD of Chatham County, NC, who died on March 13, 2025, are noti ed to present them on or before September 1, 2025 to Douglas Appleyard, Executor for the estate of Dennis Ray Appleyard, c/o Schupp & Hamilton, PLLC, P.O. Box 3200, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3200, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery.”
All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against Louise Barrett Derr, deceased, of Pittsboro, Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to present such claims to Diane Adkins, Executor/Personal Representative of the estate, at P.O. Box 2651, Taos, NM, 87571, on or before September 13, 2025. All claims not presented within this time will be forever barred.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Graham Camp Oldham, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 19, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This June 19, 2025. c/o Shea Maliszewski, Barringer Sasser, LLP, 111 Commonwealth Court, Suite 101, Cary, NC 27511.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Robert D. Shinney, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 12, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This June 12, 2025. c/o Shea Maliszewski, Barringer Sasser, LLP, 111 Commonwealth Court, Suite 101, Cary, NC 27511.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
25E000289-180 NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, Lori Delbridge, having quali ed as Limited Personal Representative of the Estate of Barbara Ann Headen, 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 September 10, 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 12th day of June, 2025.
Lori Delbridge Limited personal Representative Marie H. Hopper Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post O ce Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Paul David Justice 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 18th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 12th day of June, 2025.
Vicky P. Justice, Executor of the Estate of Paul David Justice 1353 Siler City Glendon 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
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Norva Marie Fisher late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said
having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Judith J. Milikofsky aka Judith June Milikofsky, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ces of Tillman, Whichard & Cagle, PLLC, 501 Eastowne Drive, Suite 130, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, on or before the 12th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment.
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Monnda Lee Welch, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before August 29, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 29th day of May, 2025. Anna Brothers, Executor 150 Saddle Tree Dr. Franklinton, NC 27525 IPL000176-180
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE# 25E000303-180
The undersigned, CATHERINE A. HELMEKE, having quali ed on the 5th Day of JUNE, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of KERRY DEAN HELMEKE, deceased of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to her on or before the 12th Day of SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 12th DAY OF JUNE 2025.
CATHERINE A. HELMEKE, EXECUTOR 1302 Ventnor Pl Cary, NC 27519 Run dates: June 12, 19, 26, July 3p.
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having quali ed on the 23th day of May 2025, as Administrator of the Estate of Rachel Hudson, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 3rd day of September 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment. This is the 27th day of May 2025. Danny Hudson, Administrator of the Estate of Rachel Hudson 292 George Hudson Road Siler City, NC 27344 Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: June 5th, 12th, 19nd and 26th.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Probate #25E000174-180_____
All persons, rm and corporations having claims against Earl S. Settlemire, late of Chatham County, North Carolina are hereby noti ed to present them to Kendall H. Page, as Executor of the decedent’s estate in care of Kendall H. Page, Attorney, 210 N Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 on or before the 19th day of September, 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 abovenamed Executor. Kendall H. Page 210 N Columbia Street Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Bar # 14261 Notice to Run: 6/19/2025,6/26/2025, 7/03/2025 & 7/10/2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA Chatham COUNTY
25E000296-180 All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against William Lambert Jernigan, deceased, late of Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 13th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 12th day of June 2025. Rachel Lee Jernigan, Executor c/o Hemphill Gelder, PC PO Box 97035 Raleigh, NC 27624-7035 Chatham News and Record June 12, 19, 26, 2025 and July 3, 2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000190-180 ALL persons having claims against PHILLIP NORMAN COOPER, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Aug 29 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 29th day of May, 2025. LINDA WASMUTH, EXECUTOR C/O GLENN B. LASSITER, JR. PO Box 1460 Pittsboro, NC 27312 M29, 5, 12 and 19
25E000315-180
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Loretta Bernice Chegash, also known as Loretta B. Chegash and Loretta Chegash, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Daniel E. Chegash Sr. as Executor of the Estate of Loretta Bernice Chegash on or before September 22, 2025, c/o Thomas J. Neagle, Attorney at Law, 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104, Carrboro, North Carolina 27510, or this notice will be pled in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor.
This the 19th day of June, 2025.
Daniel E. Chegash Sr., Executor c/o Thomas J. Neagle, Attorney 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104 Carrboro, North Carolina 27510
Attorney for Estate: Thomas J. Neagle Neagle Law Firm, PC 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104 Carrboro, North Carolina 27510 (919) 368-3536 For Publication: June 19, 26, July 3, 10, 2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000250-180
ALL persons having claims against THOMAS HUGH
THOMPSON, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Sep 05 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 5th day of June, 2025.
KARLA LACKORE THOMPSON, Executor
C/O Jones Branz & Whitaker LLP
4030 Wake Forest Rd. Ste. 300 Raleigh, NC 27609
J5, 12, 19 and 26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000288-180
ALL persons having claims against Benjamin Wayne Barber aka Benjamin Barber, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Sep 05 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 5th day of June, 2025. Cameron Barber, Administrator C/O Kerr Law, PLLC P.O. Box 10941 Greensboro, NC 27404 J5, 12, 19 and 26
NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF Suzanne Simmons Daily All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Suzanne Simmons Daily, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Kathryn Daily as Executor of the decedent’s estate on or before September 13th, 2025, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor. This the 12th day of June, 2025. Kathryn Daily, Executor c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517
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
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000275-180
The undersigned, CATHERINE M. RIEHM, having quali ed on the 20TH Day of MAY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of BERNARD RAY VANCIL, 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 29TH 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 29TH DAY OF MAY 2025.
CATHERINE M. RIEHM, EXECUTOR PO BOX 194 APEX, NC 27502 Run dates: M29,J5,12,19p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000033-180
The undersigned, CARLA PETERS, having quali ed on the 25TH Day of APRIL, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of BAILEY LOUIS PIGFORD, 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 5TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 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 5TH DAY OF JUNE 2025 CARLA PETERS, EXECUTOR 11801 US 421 GOLDSTON, NC 27252 Run dates: J5,12,19,26p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF MARIJANE K. WHITEMAN
All persons, rms and corporations having claims against MARIJANE K. WHITEMAN, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Patricia McDonough as Administrator CTA of the decedent’s estate on or before August 30, 2025, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Administrator CTA. This the 29th day of May, 2025. Patricia McDonough, Administrator CTA c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203
NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF William
Brent Sutton All persons, rms and corporations having claims against William Brent Sutton, late of Chatham, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Deborah Moyer or Rebecca Shelton as Administrator CTA of the decedent’s estate on or before September 7, 2025, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the abovenamed Executor. This the 5th day of June, 2025. Deborah Sutton Moyer, Administrator CTA
Rebecca Elizabeth Sutton Shelton, Administrator CTA c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty.
TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517
NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF Floyd
Fried
All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Floyd Fried, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Daniel Fried as Executor of the decedent’s estate on or before August 30, 2025, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor. This the 29th day of May, 2025. Daniel Fried, Executor c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517 Chapel Hill, NC 27517
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000291-180 The undersigned, MATTHEW JOHNSON AND BELINDA C. MURRAY, having quali ed on the 2ND Day of JUNE, 2025 as CO-EXECUTORS of the Estate of RANDY LYNN JOHNSON, 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 12TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 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 12TH DAY OF JUNE 2025. MATTHEW JOHNSON, CO-EXECUTOR 1104 BOWERS STORE RD. SILER CITY, NC 27344 BELINDA C. MURRAY, CO-EXECUTOR 95 NC HWY 22/42 BENNETT, NC 27208 Run dates: J12,19,26,Jy3p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000219-180 The undersigned, ALISON S. FLEMING, having quali ed on the 21ST Day of APRIL, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of SUSAN L. FLEMING, 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 29TH 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
Faraway places, strange-sounding names and Mile 23
Fried sh, Romanian moonshine and a speedboat dance party: just another day on the Danube
By Erika Ho man
For Chatham News & Record
FETEȘTI, HÂRȘOVA, Chiciu, Svištov, Nikopol, Tomis, Tsarevets, Mohács, Kalocsa, Pressburg, and Veliko Tarnovo — when Bing Crosby, Sam Cooke, Dean Martin, Margaret Whiting, Jo Sta ord, Tommy Emmanuel, Perry Como, Dinah Shore and even Willie Nelson crooned about “faraway places with strange-sounding names” that were callin’ them, they probably imagined China, Siam or castles in Spain — not Mile 23.
The world has changed since 1948, when that wistful song rst hit the airwaves. Today, if you’re up for an adventure, you can cruise 1,200 miles of the Danube — from the uninhabited Delta where it meets the Black Sea, all the way to Vienna, home of the waltz.
On Oct. 18, 2024, my husband and I traveled to Hârșova, Romania, to begin our adventure by speedboat through the canals of the Danube Delta. But rst, we spent a day touring Bucharest’s old city center, where stately old buildings stand in disrepair, adorned with AC units and tangled wires running wild across their facades.
In the historic district, we lunched at Caru’ cu Bere (the Beer Cart), dating to 1879, peeked into a centuries-old chapel and wandered through a gargantuan bookstore that also sold Starbucks mugs branded “Bucharest.” Every guide we met mentioned Communism — and how glad they were when it ended in 1989.
After our one-day tour, we set o on Friday for a wild ride in search of wildlife: swans, egrets, cormorants. According to the cruise brochure, we’d lunch in the picturesque town of Sfântu Gheorghe, near the Black Sea. But the birds had already migrated to Africa. And we weren’t allowed near Sfântu Gheorghe — Russian bombing in neighboring Ukraine had brought military restrictions to the area. Travel plans adapt. Ours did. Lunch would be in a small shing village on Mile 23.
Our motorboat captain, Titus, piloted a plastic-sided speedboat through the narrow, windy canals. It was colder than expected. My husband and I huddled in the back with little visibility. In front of us sat
Diane and Cheryl, cell phones at the ready to poke through a narrow slit in the plastic and snap bird pics. Vicki was across from them, doing the same. I spotted no Dalmatian pelicans — just generic ducks.
Freezing and miserable, we arrived for lunch, hoping to warm up. The restaurant’s dining area was outdoors. Our guide advised us to spread garlic-mayo on the sh soup “so it wouldn’t taste so bad” — her exact words.
She wasn’t kidding. It tasted like water sh had swum in — and peed in.
The entrée? Fried sh — heaps of it — that looked like inedible carp, full of bones. I passed. Polenta was served. I tried it. Still no good. I settled
for a liquid lunch of Romanian moonshine and skipped the cherry wine. Dessert was a mediocre brownie.
The saving grace was the company — three Canadian couples and one from the U.K., all friendly and good-humored.
On the ride back, Pam asked Titus if she could connect her phone to the boat’s sound system. He agreed. “Carolina Girl” blasted out. Titus began swerving the boat to the beat. We zoomed through the canals to “Brown-Eyed Girl” and “Mambo No. 5.” The women danced. The boat bounced. Romanian anglers along the banks looked stunned, unsure what to make of a party barge full of loud Americans being captained by a grinning local.
That quaint old song about “faraway places” could use a rap remix. These days, China and Spain aren’t that far or strange. But the places we visited — obscure towns along the Danube, swampy backwaters near the Black Sea — were de nitely out of the ordinary. In truth, they resembled Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. Although, in fairness, our gators are scarier than their ducks. Then again, Romania sits uncomfortably close to a war zone. Bombs are falling just across its border. If you crave travel to di erent latitudes, be ready to adjust your attitude. If you can’t adapt your expectations, maybe don’t answer the call of the wild. Stay home.
MIHAI PETRE VIA WIKIPEDIA
Covaci Street in Bucharest, Hungary, pictured in 2013, is a busy tourist destination popular with American travelers.
CHATHAM SPORTS
White re ects on high school career, college future as she leaves for Virginia
The Seaforth standout has big goals going into her freshman year
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SEAFORTH GIRLS’ basketball star Gabby White is ofcially moving on to her next chapter.
White left for the University of Virginia on Sunday, beginning her transition from high school to the ACC, one of the best women’s basketball
Aidan Allred gets the out at second base while playing for the Sandhills Bogeys last year against the Sanford Spinners in the Old North State League. Allred plays for the Randolph Ropin’ Roosters this summer.
conferences in the country.
In a conversation with Chatham News & Record alongside her mom, Joanne Aluka-White, the associate head coach for the UNC women’s basketball team, and her dad, Fred White, the now Virginia Cavalier re ected on her high school career and her hopes for college.
As a keystone piece to the start of the Seaforth girls’ basketball program, White accomplished a lot in a Hawks uniform. Across four seasons, White averaged 16.9 points, 9.5 rebounds 3.2 assists and 3.3
“Gabby has a lot of di erent attributes that makes her special and ready for ACC ball.”
Joanne Aluka-White
steals per game. The four-star earned a plethora of postseason honors, including two North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association all-state selections, four NCBCA all-district
PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Allred’s homecoming helps him regain love for baseball
selections (including District 4 Player of the Year in the winter), four Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference Player of the Year honors and the MVP of the 2025 Carolinas Classic All-Star Game.
“I just remember it like a fun experience, a very memorable experience,” White said of her time at Seaforth. “I got to meet a lot of people. I got the opportunity to play on a great program.” Seaforth found instant success in its rst year of existence, as White, Peyton Collins and
Hannah Ajayi led the Hawks to their rst playo win in 2022. The Hawks built on that and nished the 2023 season as state runner-up. White led them to two more regional nal appearances in 2024 and 2025.
“It means a lot to me, especially knowing that Coach (Charles) Byrd had so much faith and trust in me to help build this program up,” White said. “I feel like I’ve left it in good hands with Coach Byrd and the underclassmen that are
Post 292’s 16U team dominates North Wake in Heroes League series
Chatham County scored double-digit runs in all four games
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — Chatham
County Post 292’s 16U softball team outscored North Wake 28-6 in a doubleheader on June 12, completing a dominant sweep in the team’s four-game series last week.
After beating North Wake 11-0 and 12-2 on the road in the rst two games on June 10, Post 292 scored 10 runs in the bottom of the rst inning on the way to 16-4 win in Game 3. Third baseman Haley Havner went 2 for 2 from the plate and recorded two runs.
Shortstop Aubrey Covington also put on a solid batting performance, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
Down 2-0 after shaky start defensively in the top of the inning, six straight Chatham County batters reached a base to start its batting turn. Post 292 also took advantage of North Wake’s defensive mistakes as catcher Jasmine Sorto scored on a passed ball with pitcher Cici Delgado at the plate to tie the game at two runs apiece. In the next at-bat, Covington doubled, sending rst baseman Ella Parks and Delgado home for a 4-2 lead. Chatham County batters reached a base seven more times in the inning,
By Asheebo Rojas
Chatham News & Record
at Brunswick Community College, the in elder lost his love for the game due to a struggle with his mental health and had to step away in the middle of the year — but it wasn’t a nal goodbye to the diamond. Allred just needed to turn to the things and people he knew. Doing that led him to a fresh, yet familiar, start with the William Peace University baseball team, which he will join next season.
my brother went there,” Allred said, referencing his brother Alec. “He’s actually the rst person to ever go play professional baseball out of there, so it already felt kind of like a home.”
In contrast to the hourlong drive to Raleigh where his college career will continue, Allred got his rst taste of college ball about 150 miles and three hours away from Siler City.
“I was a freshman, and I
See ALLRED, page B5
The former Chatham Charter standout will play at William Peace next spring
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS
Seaforth’s Gabby White (3) takes the oor before a game last season. White spoke to Chatham News & Record before leaving to start her college career at UVA.
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham County’s Ella Parks makes contact with the ball against North Wake on June 12.
Allison Lineberry
Allison Lineberry from Chatham County Post 292’s 16U Heroes League team earns athlete of the week honors for the week of June 9.
Lineberry, a pitcher, played a huge part in Post 292’s dominant sweep over North Wake. In six innings pitched between Games 3 and 4 last week, Lineberry recorded seven strikeouts, three walks and six hits.
In Game 3, Lineberry pitched two straight 1-2-3 innings to close out the mercy rule win. Lineberry is a rising freshman for the North Moore softball team.
Northwood boys give rst look against the 3A state champions
The Chargers started the road to March with an early test
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
WINSTON-SALEM — On the same court where last season’s convincing run fell short of a state title, the Northwood boys’ basketball team began the road back to March last week.
The Chargers tipped o their o season in a scrimmage against the defending North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A state champions Ben L. Smith at the Steve Forbes Basketball Camp in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Friday, losing in overtime 50-49.
Senior guard Cam Fowler scored a team-high 18 points, and senior forward Chad Graves poured in 14 points. Smith senior standout Jyi Dawkins led all scorers with 27 points.
Northwood got an early taste of a close, down-to-the-wire battle. The Chargers led by double digits at one point and held a 32-23 advantage at halftime, but Smith rallied back in the third quarter behind an 11-point period from Dawkins. With less than four minutes left in the quarter, Smith took a 36-35 lead thanks to a transition layup by Dawkins, but the Chargers regained a ve-point lead going into fourth quarter.
Thanks to some costly Northwood turnovers and some stel-
lar o ensive rebounding by the Golden Eagles, Smith outscored Northwood 9-4 in the fourth quarter, ending regulation in a tie.
Both teams made just one eld goal in the overtime period, but Dawkins sent Smith over the top with a free throw. With four seconds left, Fowler got to the basket for a potential game-winning layup, but the ball bounced outside the rim.
“I thought we played hard,” Northwood coach Matt Brown said. “We did some good things o ensively. We’ve got to clean up some things on the defensive end, but overall, the e ort was really good, and we have lots to build on.”
After losing four seniors, including three starters from last year’s state runner-up squad, returning players will look to play bigger roles and contribute to the Chargers’ depth. Juniors Josiah Brown and Raje Torres — who scored nine and four points, respectively, and combined for ve assists Friday — started and helped facilitate the o ense after playing behind guards Isaiah Blair and Beau Harvey last year.
“It feels good having the ball in my hands, creating a lot of movement and a lot of plays for my team,” Josiah Brown said.
Senior forward Camden Miller also started and provided another big body down low next to Graves. After playing more of a reserve role last season, junior Finn Sullivan and sophomores Nivan Lauano and Grant Locklear also played
“They expect to win every game.”
Matt Brown
some minutes behind the starting guards.
Fowler, who blossomed into a leader for Northwood in his breakout junior season, said he wants to instill con dence in the younger guys looking to get signi cant varsity minutes for the rst time.
Brown also hopes some incoming freshmen, who aren’t yet with the team, can make an impact on the court next season.
“They just bring length and athleticism,” Brown said about the underclassmen. “Grant can shoot. Nivan can shoot. Holes that they can ll, we can ll what Cam and Chad and (Brown) can’t ll.”
Early this o season, returning to the state championship game and winning it all is already on the Chargers’ minds.
“They’re mad that they lost, and I’m mad that they lost,” Brown said. “We know what we need to do and x and move on from it, but they expect to win every game. And when they don’t, they take it personal.” Brown wants his squad to get back to the state nal with a fast-paced style of play.
As they look to continue being an elite defensive team, Brown wants to “score a lot of points” this coming winter.
Northwood’s Cam Fowler goes up for a layup in a summer scrimmage against Ben L. Smith on June 13.
COURTESY PHOTO
ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Walker’s long shot leads to go-ahead runs in Randolph County’s win over Chatham
Randolph County improved to 6-3 Monday
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
ASHEBORO — Down 6-5 with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Braxton Walker’s three-run shot to right center eld gave Randolph County the lead, and it never looked back in a 9-6 American Legion home win over Chatham Post 305 Monday.
As Walker’s ball kept gaining distance, Chatham center elder Daniel White ran over and slid for the out, but the ball slipped out of his glove. Although it wasn’t recorded as a hit, Walker’s e ort gave Randolph County an 8-6 lead, and he nished the game 2 for 4 from the plate. He also had four strikeouts while giving up zero hits and runs in the nal two innings of the game. Clay Hill had the best hitting night for Randolph County, going 2 for 3 with an RBI. Elijah Prince earned the win
on the mound with four strikeouts, two walks, two hits and an earned run in 12⁄3 innings. Starter Drew Harmon also struck out four batters.
Randolph County started o hot, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the rst inning. After two singles from Jake Riddle and Zack Scruggs, an error in
the Chatham in eld on a Jackson Hill ground ball brought both runners around. Two at-bats later, Clay Hill scored Grat Dalton on a single after he walked.
Still scoreless going into the top of the third inning, Chatham notched four hits and four walks to score its only six runs of the night. Up 4-3, Colin Dorney’s single with two strikes and two outs knocked in two runs and put Chatham ahead by three.
The lead didn’t last for long though. Jackson Hill was hit by a pitch, and two straight singles by Brody Little and Clay Hill loaded the bases. Riddle walked in a run two at-bats later, prompting Nathan Rose to relieve Zach Cartrette on the mound. On the next at-bat, Little scored on a wild pitch, bringing the de cit to one. Randolph County improved to 6-3 on the season with its fourth win in its last ve games. After hosting Beverly-Lowell Ohio on Wednesday, Randolph County will play at Aberdeen on Thursday at 7 p.m. Chatham fell to 2-6, losing three of its last four. Post 305 will be back in action at Hamlet Post 49 Thursday at 7 p.m.
now going up to be juniors and seniors, so I’m excited for what’s to come.” White shined on both sides of the ball in her high school career, and she grew o ensively each season, going from 16.1 points per game as a freshman to 18.4 points per game as a senior. Her parents got to see that improvement on the court just like everyone else, but they got a more detailed view on how she grew behind the scenes.
“She really did the work over the last couple of years to improve her game at every level, and she tried her hardest every time when she got on the court to bring her very best,” Aluka-White said. “It’s been cool to watch just to see how she’s evolved as a young woman, even as she grew as a leader on the court, using her voice and just being a leader and having fun with her teammates.”
Said Fred White, “She’s improved at every single aspect, and I think that’s just a testament to not only Gabby’s work, but Coach Byrd, Coach (Antonio) Hayes and all the coaches who’ve been part of the program and the players who’ve consistently pushed and challenged her.”
Being a college basketball player herself at Middle Tennessee and a coach for two decades, Aluka-White knows what it takes to be successful at the next level, especially in the ACC.
“Gabby has a lot of di erent attributes that makes her special and ready for ACC ball,” Aluka-White said. “It’s a rare nd when you nd a freshman that has the strength and physicality, speed and agility right out the gate. She has all of those
things, and then, she’s a true two-way player.”
For White, the competition she’s about to jump into stays in mind in her training. In preparation for college, she’s been shooting almost every night in the gym, weight training two to three times a week and doing skill work three to four times a week. She also did track and eld as a senior, improving her explosiveness and quickness in the high jump and running events.
All this work goes into her rst-year goals, including making an immediate impact at Virginia.
“The rst one is just to be my best self every day,” White said. “Giving 110% in whatever I do. And I hope with that comes more playing time, hopefully a starting position, but that’s all in the coach’s hands. One thing I really want to achieve is being freshman of the year. I know that’s something that’s really possible for me.”
Of course, the family is looking forward to the UNC and Virginia matchup in which White will play against her mom.
It’s all love between the two, but like any competitors, they’re honest about it.
“I want her to always do well, but I do always want the victory at the end,” Aluka-White said.
Said White, “I’m going to get the opportunity to play against my mom, hopefully come back to the Chapel Hill area, get to see some old faces and hopefully beat them pretty good, so I can brag in their face a little bit.”
“Oh, gosh,” Aluka-White responded.
For dad, he’ll be wearing Virginia colors that day. And it’s “not even close.”
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ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD Randolph County shares high- ves after the win over Chatham Post 305 on Monday.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Seaforth’s Gabby White looks to make a move in her nal game in a Hawks uniform.
SIDELINE REPORT
NWSL
Substitute Pinto scores winner for Courage
Los Angeles
Brianna Pinto scored just seven minutes after coming o the bench for the North Carolina Courage in a 2-1 win against Angel City. The Courage had lost all three previous visits to Los Angeles. Cortnee Vine had made it 1-0 in the rst minute of the game when she slid the ball into the net from a cross by Manaka Matsukubo. After Angel City tied it, the winner came in the fth minute of stoppage time. Pinto scooped up a loose ball and red it in from ve yards out.
MLB
Contreras brothers homer in same inning as opponents; rst time since 1933
Milwaukee Willson and William Contreras became the second pair of brothers to homer in the same inning as opponents. Both went deep in the ninth inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 8-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Willson Contreras’ ninth homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center, gave St. Louis an 8-4 lead in the top of the ninth. William Contreras led o the bottom half of the inning with his sixth homer. The Contreras brothers are the rst to homer in the same inning as opponents since Rick and Wes Ferrell on July 19, 1933.
LPGA
Ciganda wins Meijer LPGA Classic for rst LPGA Tour victory in more than 81⁄2 years
Belmont, Mich.
Carlota Ciganda birdied the nal two holes to win the Meijer LPGA Classic for her rst LPGA Tour victory in more than 81⁄2 years. Ciganda hit to a foot to set up her birdie on the par-4 17th, then made a 4-foot comebacker on the par-5 18th to avoid a playo with playing partner Hye-Jin Choi. Ciganda shot a 5-under 67 — her fourth straight round in the 60s — to nish at 16-under 272. The 35-year-old Spanish player won for the rst time since the 2016 Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
NBA Greenwood, former UCLA star and NBA champion, dies at 68 after cancer battle
Los Angeles
David Greenwood, who was one of coach John Wooden’s last recruits at UCLA and went on to win an NBA championship with Detroit during a 12-year pro career, died at 68 in Riverside, California, after battling cancer. Greenwood was a four-year starter at UCLA. He was the second overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft behind Magic Johnson. Greenwood went to the Chicago Bulls, where he played for six years. He later played for San Antonio, Denver and Detroit. He came o the bench to help the Pistons win the 1990 NBA championship.
Kicker Carlson, punter Cole put best feet forward for Raiders
The former NC State punter is a key part of Las Vegas’ special teams
By Mark Anderson The Associated Press
HENDERSON, Nev. — Neither took the easy path to get here.
But because Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole persevered, the Las Vegas Raiders have perhaps the best kicker-punter duo in the NFL.
Las Vegas showed its appreciation to Cole by signing him late last month to an extension that brie y made him the league’s highest-paid punter.
Now the question is whether the Raiders will show the same kind of appreciation toward Carlson, who enters the nal season of his four-year, $18.4 million deal.
For kickers with at least 85 attempts over the past three seasons, Carlson was fth in conversion rate at 89.3%.
His 24 made eld goals from 50 yards and beyond ranked fourth.
For those with at least 30 kicko s last season, Carlson was second in the league in allowing 23 yards per kicko return, just behind the 22.2 average of Greg Zuerlein of the New York Jets.
As a rookie in 2018 for Minnesota, he missed three eld goals — two in overtime — in a 29-29 tie with NFC North rival Green Bay. The Vikings waived him the following day.
Carlson caught on with the then-Oakland Raiders — he’s one of four players left who played for the team in the Bay Area — and soon began to establish himself as the one of the league’s best kickers. He was a second-team AP All-Pro in 2021 and a rst-teamer the next season.
Cole’s path was di erent, but like Carlson, he became one of the top players at his position when the early odds appeared against him. Cole, who played
How Prime Video’s
in college at NC State, also began his NFL career in Oakland, entered minicamp in 2019 hoping just to remain on the roster after those three days. He wound up beating out Johnny Townsend in training camp.
“I showed up to that minicamp and I really just felt like, ‘This could be it, and I’m going to go into every single one of these three days and I’m going to get all the juice I can,’” Cole said. “I’ve been trying to keep that same mentality, and I’m just on absolute borrowed time. I enjoy every single day. I don’t think there’s anybody that has more fun at work than I do. It’s just such a blessing.”
Cole has averaged at least 50 yards three of the past four seasons, a feat that only Ryan Stenhouse has matched in league history. He also is third in gross punting average (48.6 yards) and eighth in net average (42.1 yards) since his rst season.
Such production earned Cole rst-team All-Pro in 2021 and 2023. And a contract extension.
Cole was rewarded with a four-year, $15.8 million deal on May 26 that included $11 million in guaranteed money. That gave him the distinction of being the NFL’s highest-paid punter, but this week was passed by two other players.
Not that Cole is complaining.
When asked if he planned a major purchase, he said that already had been made before signing the contract.
“All of my plants died, so we just relandscaped our yard,” Cole said. “So I’m really excited that I get to stay here and watch those plants grow up. I don’t know if you guys have bought plants before, but they’re really, really expensive.
“So that was the big-ticket purchase — a couple of new queen palm trees in the backyard and a couple sweet Bay laurels on the side.”
‘Burn Bar’ changes how fans watch NASCAR races on TV
The new graphic uses AI technology to calculate fuel mileage during the race
By Joe Reedy The Associated Press
NASCAR FANS have grown accustomed to seeing speed, throttle and braking on broadcasts for years. There has been one measurement, though, that has eluded networks and viewers for years. Until now.
Viewers of the Prime Video races have been able to see fuel usage with the introduction of the Burn Bar. Race teams have measured burn rates and fuel levels down to the last ounce for years, but the methodology has been kept secret for competitive reasons.
Prime Video, though, developed an AI tool using car data available to broadcasters and teams that can measure miles per gallon. The Burn Bar made a brief appearance during Prime’s rst broadcast, the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. It has been used more frequently the past three weeks, most recently during the race in Mexico City.
NASCAR on Prime analyst Steve Letarte, a former crew chief for Je Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., contributed to the development of the Burn
Bar and sees it as the rst step in taking race analysis to a new level.
“It’s the rst true tool that is taking information o the car, making calculations and then displaying to the fan a calculation or measurement that is being used in the garage. And it does a ect the team,” he said.
“There’s not a sensor on the car giving us miles per gallon. It’s a mathematical calculation of other cars’ performances.”
The AI model analyzes thousands of performance data per second, including a range of in-car telemetry signals, RPMs, throttle and optical tracking of each car’s position. The model then evaluates each driver’s fuel consumption and e ciency throughout the race.
Letarte worked with Prime Video “Thursday Night Football Prime Vision” analyst Sam Schwartzstein and Amazon Web Services during the process. They came up with four methodologies that were tested during the rst part of the season, which was broadcast by Fox. Schwartzstein and Letarte would then get the data from teams after races to see how close they were until they picked one that worked the best.
The Burn Bar received its toughest test during last week’s race at Michigan as the nal 48 laps were run without a caution ag. Most teams made theirnal pit stops with 50 laps to go,
The “Burn Bar,” lower left, is used to measure Denny Hamilin’s performance during a NASCAR on Prime broadcast of the Nashville race earlier this month. The AI tool was developed by Prime Video to measure a car’s burn rate and fuel levels.
meaning teams were going to be down to the end of their fuel runs at the checkered ag.
“We projected William Byron to run out, which he did, and then we were on the razor’s edge for Denny Hamlin. And then watching the truck push him back into Victory Lane at the end, knowing he was as close as we thought he was — what a cool way to see this feature come to life and elevate NASCAR broadcasts,” Schwartzstein said. Alex Strand, Prime Video’s senior coordinating producer for live sports, also sees the Burn Bar as the rst tool of
many that Amazon and Prime Video can develop for its coverage. Prime Video is in the rst year of a seven-year agreement to carry ve races per season.
“It’s really cool to live in a world where it shows us that anything is possible. We’re starting with something that we’re really excited about, but it’s setting us down a path that will open up new doors for us,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re really excited about is to say, ‘OK, we’ve had success in Year 1 on a feature that’s resonated with fans right out of the gate.’ It raises the table for our o season.”
JOHN LOCHER / AP PHOTO
Las Vegas Raiders punter AJ Cole participates during a minicamp practice last week.
Van Gisbergen’s emotional win in Mexico City locks him into Cup Series playo s
By Jenna Fryer
The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY— Very little went right for Shane Van Gisbergen in the buildup to NASCAR’s rst international Cup Series points-paying race of the modern era.
A mechanical issue on takeo forced his team charter to abort the initial journey to Mexico City. He arrived at the venue Friday, a day late, and after winning the pole Saturday, the New Zealander fell seriously ill.
He was sleeping on the oor of his hauler before Sunday’s race, unsure he’d be able to physically complete the 100-lap event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
But there’s something special about the Kiwi and new venues, especially in the rain, and he salvaged the weekend by winning on the road course to earn an automatic berth into NASCAR’s Cup Series playo s.
Van Gisbergen led 60 of 100 laps and beat Christopher Bell by 16.567 seconds.
“I tried to treat it like when I go to Asia, just drink bottled water and be careful in the shower and brush your teeth with bottled water, but I just went downhill,” Van Gisbergen said. “Couldn’t keep anything
ALLRED from page B1
don’t know what’s it’s going to be like coming from a smaller high school,” Allred said. “It was just learning things that every freshman has to deal with.”
Allred made his rst collegiate appearance for Brunswick against USC Sumter on Feb. 14, going 0 for 1 and scoring a run. Against the same team the next day, he notched his rst career hit as he went 2 for 4 and recorded two putouts and six assists in the eld.
But from that point on, his production at the plate began to slow down. On top of that, the pressure of being recruited out of Brunswick weighed on him. New to the realities of college sports, Allred was still
in. Everything just went straight through me. I felt really queasy and my mind was there, but my body just had so much pressure in my stomach. Crazy weekend and everyone dug deep.” It was the second Cup Series victory of his career. He won in his Cup debut at the inaugural 2023 street course race in Chicago. Although he had success in the X nity Series — he won three races last year as Trackhouse Racing developed him for a Cup Series ride — Van Gisbergen has struggled this
learning how to be “level headed” with the ups and downs of his o ensive performances and the recruitment process. “I needed to take some time o and regroup,” Allred said.
Knowing that he wanted to return to baseball, Allred found a purpose for his time away. He went back to Chatham Charter where the game was fun — where he became a two-time Central Tar Heel 1A conference player of the year — and helped coach his former teammates through the end of the season.
“I had the most fun playing baseball I ever have there,” Allred said. “That was part of the reason why I came back was to nd the love of the game, and I did. They had a great season,
year at NASCAR’s top level.
He started the race ranked 33rd in the Cup standings with only one top-10 nish through the rst 15 races of the season. But his victory in Mexico City revived his season and gives him a shot to race for the Cup Series championship.
“It means everything to us; this is why I’m here,” Van Gisbergen said. “I am getting better and more competitive. We’re really making a lot of progress.”
Van Gisbergen celebrated in his traditional rugby-style way — he drop-kicked a signed
and it was fun coaching them.”
Allred said it felt like a “COVID” year, as he also worked out and practiced with his old high school squad. Along with having his family, his brother and his girlfriend as his support system, it was the friendships he still had at Chatham Charter that helped him nd joy in baseball once again and be a source of advice for those also wanting to have successful high school careers.
“It was good for both of us,” Allred said. “I feel like I helped them a lot in di erent ways. Maybe maturing some from what I’ve learned, but they helped me just as much.”
Said Allred, “They all said they loved having me there. I think it was the fact of being wanted. Knowing they want
football into the grandstands and then said he had recovered enough to enjoy “some Red Bulls mixed with adult beverages” later Sunday. Van Gisbergen bene tted from an early pop-up rain shower on the rst lap of the race because he’s an exceptionally skilled driver on a wet surface. His win at Chicago was in monsoon-like conditions.
Trackhouse now has two of its drivers — Ross Chastain and Van Gisbergen — locked into the playo s. But it was a bit of a disappointment for Daniel Suarez, the Monterrey native who thrilled the hometown crowd with a win in the X nity Series race on Saturday, as he failed to challenge his teammate for the win and nished 19th.
“I wish I was in the mix ghting for it a little more, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” Suarez said. “Every single thing about this weekend exceeded my expectations: the people, the fans, the sponsors, the excitement, the energy.
Suarez, who appeared to be blinking back tears as he sang along with the Mexican national anthem in prerace ceremonies, desperately wanted the home win in this contract year with Trackhouse. He was the face of this event as NASCAR ventured outside the U.S. with its top series for the rst time since 1958.
Bell nished second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was followed by Chase Elliott in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Alex Bowman, who hurt his back in a crash last week at Michigan, withstood the pain for a fourth-place nish in his Hendrick Chevrolet.
you there, they’re happy for you to be there and all of that.”
Other than the family connection and the countless weekends spent on the campus watching his brother play, the feeling of community and being welcomed is why Allred chose to continue his college career at William Peace.
He said Charlie Long, the William Peace baseball coach, “really cared about him” and that he and the rest of the coaching sta showed they’d love to have him in the recruiting process.
“You’ve got to go where you’re wanted,” Allred said.
In the meantime, Allred is back on the eld not too far from Siler City. He’s playing for the Randolph Ropin’ Roosters in the Old North State League.
including two hits, to take an eight-run advantage.
Allison Lineberry took over pitching duties for Delgado in the top of the third inning and made sure North Wake didn’t rally back into the game. She completed two straight 1-2-3 innings to close out the win, ending the game by mercy rule in the fourth inning and nishing with three strikeouts.
Minutes later, Chatham County scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning to blow out North Wake again 12-4 in the fourth game of the series.
Havner once again led the Post 292 at the plate, going 3 for 3 with one RBI. Although it built a 3-1 lead through walks and defensive mistakes from North Wake, Havner’s rst-inning triple and second-inning single were Chatham County’s only hits prior to the third inning.
Following a pop-up out by Delgado to start Post 292’s third inning turn, Chatham County ripped o seven runs to pull away. Paisley Hutchinson set up the game-clinching run by reaching rst on a third dropped strike, and Cassie Stallone got it started with a bunt to score Hutchinson for a 4-1 lead.
The inning circled back to Delgado as she batted Sorto home with a single for the nal score of the batting turn. Post 292 led 10-1 going into the next inning.
As rain started to fall, North Wake used three singles and a walk to score three runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Chatham County responded on Rylee Welch’s next at-bat as Stallone and Covington, who singled and walked, respectively, scored on two more North Wake mistakes. With the rain beginning to pick up, the umpires ended the game after those runs.
Lineberry nished Game 4 with four strikeouts, three walks and six hits in the circle.
Post 292 is now 5-3 after a season-opening series against Alamance and four straight wins over North Wake. Following a four-game series against Randolph County early this week, Chatham County will be back in action July 8 at South Wake for a doubleheader. Here’s the rest of the Post 292 16U schedule ( ve-inning doubleheaders starting at 6:30 p.m.): July 8 at South Wake (Middle Creek High School); July 10 vs. South Wake; July 15 at Johnston (Campbell University); July 17 vs. Johnston; July 22 vs. Orange; July 24 at Orange (Cedar Falls Park); Aug. 4 — State tournament begins (Burlington Springwood Park)
FERNANDO LLANO / AP PHOTO
Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Hermanos Rodríguez race track in Mexico City.
Indiana Jones’ whip, Culkin’s ‘Home Alone’ snow cap going up for auction next month
The Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane” and Star Wars props will also be up for bid
The Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Many of movies’ most sought-after props are going up for auction, including the Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane,” Macaulay Culkin’s knit snow cap from “Home Alone” and a whip wielded by Harrison Ford during the Holy Grail trials of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
The Summer Entertainment Auction being held July 15-19 by Heritage Auctions also includes sci- gems from the “Star Wars” galaxy, like a lming miniature of Luke Skywalker’s X-wing star ghter used in Industrial Light & Magic’s e ects work for “The Empire Strikes Back,” and the lightsabers brandished by Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker in “Revenge of the Sith.”
The Rosebud sled from the title character’s childhood sits at the center of Orson Welles’ 1941
“Citizen Kane.” It’s the last word tycoon Charles Foster Kane speaks before his death at the opening of the lm that is regarded by many critics groups as the greatest ever made. Long thought lost, the sled is one of three of the prop known to have survived. It’s owned by “Gremlins” director Joe Dante, who stumbled on it when he was lming on the former RKO Pictures lot in 1984. Dan-
te wasn’t a collector, but knew the value of the sled and quietly preserved it for decades, putting it as an Easter egg into four of his own lms.
Ford gave the Indiana Jones whip going up for auction to then-Prince Charles at the 1989 U.K. premiere of “The Last Crusade.” It was given as a gift to Princess Diana, who gave it to the current owner.
“These aren’t just props. They’re mythic objects,” Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, said in a statement. “They tell the story of Hollywood’s greatest moments, one piece at a time.”
Also going up for sale are a blue velvet suit that Mike Myers wore as Austin Powers in “Goldmember” and a Citroën 2CV driven by Roger Moore as James Bond in “For Your Eyes Only,” one of the lms Myers was parodying.
The auction also includes essential artifacts from the collection of legendary director Cecil B. DeMille, including a promotional pair of the titular tablets from DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” which the director had cut from stone from Mount Sinai.
Jess Walter’s ‘So Far Gone’ sets redemption story in fractured, modern America
The book captures the anxiety and absurdity of 2025
By Rob Merrill The Associated Press
WHEN THE HISTORY of the United States in 2025 is written, perhaps one of the best things that will be said is: “Well, it made for some great art.”
Consider “So Far Gone,” the new novel by Jess Walter. Set in present-day America, it opens with two kids wearing backpacks knocking on a cabin door. “What are you ne young capitalists selling?” asks Rhys Kinnick, before realizing the kids are his grandchildren. They carry with them a note from Kinnick’s daughter, describing dad as a “recluse who cut o contact with our family and now lives in squalor in a cabin north of Spokane.”
HARPER VIA AP
Jess Walter’s new book is “So Far Gone.”
It’s a great hook that draws you in and doesn’t really let up for the next 256 pages. We learn why Kinnick pulled a Thoreau and went to the woods seven years ago (Hint: It has a lot to do with the intolerance exhibited by no small percentage of Americans and embodied by a certain occupant of the White House), as well as the whereabouts of Kinnick’s daughter, Bethany, and why her messy marriage to a guy named Shane led to Kinnick’s grandchildren being dropped o at his cabin.
In a neat narrative gimmick, the chapters are entitled “What Happened to ___” and ll in the main strokes of each character’s backstory, as well as what happens to them
in the present timeline. Told with an omniscient third-person sense of humor, the book’s themes are nonetheless serious. On the demise of journalism in the chapter “What Happened to Lucy,” one of Kinnick’s old ames and colleagues at the Spokesman-Review: She “hated that reporters were expected to constantly post on social media … before knowing what their stories even meant.” Or Kinnick’s thoughts as he holds a .22 Glock given to him just in case by a retired police ocer who is helping him get his grandkids back from the local militia: “The shiver that went through his arm! The power! … The weight of this gun was the exact weight of his anger and his fear and his sense of displacement. … That’s where its incredible balance lay.”
As Kinnick links up with various characters and drives across the Northwest in search of his daughter and grandchildren, the plot unfolds quickly. Most readers won’t need more than a day or two to reach the nal page, which satis es the Thoreau quote Walter uses in the story’s preface: “Not till we are lost… ‘till we have lost the world, do we begin to nd ourselves.”
HERITAGE AUCTIONS VIA AP
The knit hat worn By Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone” will be auctioned.
this week in history
War of 1812 begins, O.J. arrested after Bronco chase, Brits win at Bunker Hill, Queen Victoria crowned
JUNE 19
1865: Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and that all remaining enslaved people in Texas were free — an event now celebrated nationwide as Juneteenth.
1910: The rst Father’s Day in the United States was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1953: Julius Rosenberg, 35, and his wife, Ethel, 37, convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed.
JUNE 20
1782: The Continental Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States, featuring the emblem of the bald eagle.
1837: Queen Victoria acceded to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
1893: A jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts, found Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.
1947: Gangster Benjamin
Judge
“Bugsy” Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills, California, home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill.
1967: Boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted and was sentenced to ve years in prison.
JUNE 21
1788: The United States Constitution went into e ect as New Hampshire became the required ninth state to ratify it.
1893: The rst Ferris wheel opened to the public as part of the Chicago World’s Fair.
1982: A jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three others.
JUNE 22
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for a second time as emperor of the French.
1938: American Joe Louis knocked out German Max Schmeling in just two minutes and four seconds to retain his heavyweight boxing title.
1941: Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive and ultimately ill-fated invasion of the Soviet Union that would prove pivot-
On June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally Ride became the rst American woman in space, launching aboard the space shuttle Challenger for a six-day mission.
al to the Allied victory over the Axis powers.
JUNE 23
1931: Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took o from Roosevelt Field in New York on a round-the-world ight that lasted eight days and 15 hours.
1972: President Richard Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments of 1972, including Title IX, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex for “any education program or activity receiving federalnancial assistance.”
2016: Britain voted to leave the European Union after a bitterly divisive referendum campaign, toppling Prime Minister David Cameron.
JUNE 24
1509: Henry VIII was crowned king of England; his wife, Catherine of Aragon, was crowned queen consort.
1939: The Southeast Asian country of Siam changed its name to Thailand. (It reverted to Siam in 1945, then became Thailand once again in 1949.)
1948: Communist forces cut o all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift.
JUNE 25
1876: The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand, began in southeastern Montana Territory. As many as 100 Native Americans were killed in the battle, as were 268 people attached to the 7th Cavalry Regiment.
1947: “The Diary of a Young Girl,” the personal journal of Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl hiding with her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, was rst published.
orders managers for late Johnny Winter to pay $226K in damages, alleging theft
The blues legend was ranked the 63rd-best guitar player of all time by
By Dave Collins The Associated Press
A CONNECTICUT judge has settled a bitter feud over the estate of the late legendary blues guitarist Johnny Winter, ordering his managers to pay $226,000 in damages for improper payments they received after his 2014 death and rejecting their claim to the rights to his music.
Relatives of Winter’s late wife, Susan, sued Winter’s manager, Paul Nelson, and his wife, Marion, in 2020, claiming the Nelsons swindled more than $1 million from Winter’s music business. The Nelsons denied the allegations and countersued. They accused the relatives of improperly having Paul Nelson ousted as the bene ciary of Winter’s estate, and they claimed ownership of his music rights.
After a seven-day trial before a judge in January 2024, Judge Trial Referee Charles Lee ruled Friday that the Nelsons received improper payments and made improper withdrawals from Winter’s accounts but rejected claims they committed fraud, mismanagement and breach of contract.
solutions
“The court nds that the conduct for which it has awarded the damages set forth above was negligent or at least arguably legitimate,” Lee wrote in a 54-page decision that also rejected the claims in the Nelsons’ countersuit.
The judge said the Nelsons’ most serious impropriety was
withdrawing $112,000 from Winter’s business account and depositing it into one of their own accounts in 2019 without listing Susan Winter as a signatory on their account. Susan Winter owned all of her husband’s assets — valued at about $3 million at the time of his death.
Paul Nelson, who managed Johnny Winter’s business from 2005 to 2019 and played guitar in his band, died in March 2024 from a heart attack during a music tour. Susan Winter died from lung cancer in October 2019. Months before her death, she removed Paul Nelson as her successor trustee to her family trust, which included all of her late husband’s assets. She named her sister and brother, Bonnie and Christopher Warford, from Charlotte, as her new successor trustees, and they sued the Nelsons.
The Nelsons claimed the Warfords took advantage of Susan Winter and had her sign legal documents while she was medicated near the end of her life. They also alleged the War-
fords soured their relationship with Susan Winter with false embezzlement claims. The Warfords denied those allegations. The judge ruled that the Warfords were entitled to damages because of improper payments the Nelsons received, including $68,000 in royalty payments from a 2016 auction of Winter’s assets, $69,000 in cash withdrawals, $18,000 in expense reimbursements and $15,000 in other royalty payments.
John Dawson Winter III was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He burst onto the world blues scene in the 1960s, dazzling crowds with his fast licks while his trademark long, white hair ew about from under his cowboy hat. He and his brother Edgar — both born with albinism — were both renowned musicians.
Rolling Stone magazine listed him as the No. 63 best guitar player of all time in 2015. He released more than two dozen albums and was nominated for several Grammy Awards, winning his rst one posthumously in 2015 for Best Blues Album for “Step Back.”
BOB DAUGHERTY / AP PHOTO
Rolling Stone magazine
JOHN DAVISSON / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Johnny Winter performs at the 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at Fair Grounds Racecourse in 2014 in New Orleans.
*Must set up Auto Draft for 2nd Month.
2024.
famous birthdays this week
THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.
JUNE 19
Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is 80. Author Salman Rushdie is 78. Actor Phylicia Rashad is 77. Rock singer Ann Wilson (Heart) is 75. Actor Kathleen Turner is 71. Paula Abdul is 63.
JUNE 20
Singer Anne Murray is 80. TV personality Bob Vila is 79. Lionel Richie is 76. John Goodman is 73. Rock bassist John Taylor (Duran Duran) is 65. Nicole Kidman is 58.
JUNE 21
Composer Lalo Schifrin is 93. Musician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 81. Actor Michael Gross is 78. Author Ian McEwan is 77. Actor Juliette Lewis is 52. Britain’s Prince William is 43.
JUNE 22
Journalist Brit Hume is 82. Singer Singer Todd Rundgren is 77. Meryl Streep is 76. Actor Lindsay Wagner (“The Bionic Woman”) is 76. Actor Graham Greene (“Dances with Wolves”) is 73. Cyndi Lauper is 72. Actor Bruce Campbell (“Evil Dead”) is 67.
JUNE 23
Singer Diana Trask is 85. Former “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson is 69. Actor Frances McDormand is 68. Drummer Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth is 63.
JUNE 24
Singer Arthur Brown is 83. Actor Michele Lee is 82. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown (“The Rookies”) is 82. Singer Colin Blunstone of The Zombies is 80. Drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac is 78.
JUNE 25
Actor June Lockhart is 100. Singer Eddie Floyd is 88. Actor Barbara Montgomery (“Amen,” “The Women of Brewster Place”) is 86. Singer Carly Simon is 82. Actor-comedian Ricky Gervais is 64.
CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO
Lionel Richie presents the award for song of the year during the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in 2025. The iconic singer turns 76 on Friday.
DANIEL COLE / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Actor Meryl Streep, pictured at the 77th Cannes lm festival France in 2024, turns 76 on Sunday.
ROBB COHEN / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Mick Fleetwood with Fleetwood Mac performs at State Farm Arena in Atlanta in 2019. The legendary drummer turns 78 on Tuesday.
LIFELIKE DIGITAL Triceratops and Spinosaurus lumbering through a reimagined “Walking with Dinosaurs” and Benson Boone’s sophomore album “American Heart” 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: A documentary on trailblazing NASA astronaut Sally Ride and the third season of “The Gilded Age.”
MOVIES TO STREAM
Cristina Costantini’s documentary “Sally” (streaming on Disney+) richly details the story behind the headlines of the rst American woman to y in space. The portrait of Sally Ride, the trailblazing NASA astronaut, is narrated by her life partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy. Her intimate perspective on Ride, along with archival footage and interviews with family and colleagues, captures a fuller backstory to an American icon.
“The Ballad of Wallis Island” (streaming on Peacock) was a standout in the rst half of 2025 but easy to miss. A funny and tender charmer set on the coast of Wales, it’s not a movie screaming for your attention. It stars Tim Key as an isolated widower who uses some of his lottery winnings to hire his favorite band, a folk duo named McGwyer Mortimer (Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan) to play by his rural home. In her review, AP lm writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that the lm feels “like a much-needed balm. Modest in scope and made with the lightest of touch, not unlike the lovely folk songs that populate its soundtrack, it’s also deceptively powerful: A gentle ode to moving on, in quirky packaging.” Net ix tends to bury older lms in its algorithms, but the streamer is hosting a good batch of Alfred Hitchcock movies. This month, it added “Vertigo,” “Rear Window,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “Frenzy,” “The Plot” and “The Birds” to its collection, along with the already-streaming “Psycho.” These are movies often available elsewhere, and there are many other great Hitchcock lms. But a solid sampler pack on Net ix could help bring Hitchcock to some new audiences, and there’s never a bad time to see “Vertigo” for the rst time.
MUSIC TO STREAM
Boone, the “Beautiful Things” singer, will release his sophomore album, “American Heart,” on Friday. Expect big pop -rock ltered through a kind of post-Harry Styles mimicry and 1970s worship. For fans of Queen, ELO and gymnastic pop stars with a penchant for doing back ips on stage. The Los Angeles sister trio HAIM have returned with “I Quit,” 15 tracks of danceable breakup bangers perfect for your summertime sadness. It’s soft rock-pop for the Miu Miu crowd and a sonic cure for seasonal depression. For the indie crowd, the New York-based Hotline TNT have been a fan favorite for their shoegaze-y power pop that appeals to both classic rockers and
those emo pop-punkers who miss the Vans’ Warped Tour. On Friday, the group, led by Will Anderson, will release “Raspberry Moon” via Jack White’s Third Man Records.
SHOWS TO STREAM
In 1999 a series called “Walking with Dinosaurs” premiered in the UK and captivated audiences. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, it was inspired by “Jurassic Park” and at the time was the most expensive documentary per-minute ever made. Special e ects like CGI and animatronics helped bring the dinosaurs to life. Twenty- ve years later, a reimagined “Walking with Dinosaurs” debuts on PBS in conjunction with the BBC using the latest technology to make the dinosaurs seem
even more lifelike. The six-episode series is now narrated by actor Bertie Carvel. It is available to stream on PBS platforms and its app.
It’s a great week for period pieces. First, Apple TV+’s Gilded Age, girl power series “The Buccaneers” is out for its second season. The soapy period piece features a cast that includes Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Josie Totah and Christina Hendricks. It’s based on an unnished Edith Wharton novel about ve American women in London for debutante season. These women are a contrast to English high society because they’re extroverted and opinionated.
BritBox has the 1930s drama “Outrageous,” based on the true story of the Mitford sisters, six women born into an aristocratic family who made headlines for their personal lives and politics. Bessie Carter, who plays Penelope Featherington on “Bridgerton” plays one of the sisters, Nancy Mitford. “Outrageous” is inspired by a biography that was originally published in 2002. The TV adaptation of the popular YA novel “We Were Liars” is streaming on Prime Video. It follows the a uent Sinclair family who has enough secrets to ll one of their bank accounts. It follows Cadence, one of the granddaughters who pals around all summer with two cousins and a family friend, Gat, and their group of four is known as The Liars.
Another dysfunctional
family is introduced Thursday in Net ix’s “The Waterfront” about the Buckleys, a family of sherman and restaurateurs in North Carolina. Business has been dwindling, and questionable choices are made to stay a oat, keep their secrets and not get caught by authorities.
A third period piece out this week is the third season of “The Gilded Age” and there is a lot to catch up on. Cynthia Nixon’s Ada Forte, now a widower after a very short marriage, has just discovered her late husband left her a fortune. This makes Ada the new matriarch of her family, surpassing her sister Agnes (played by Christine Baranski.) Their niece Marian (Louisa Jacobson) seems to be in the early stages of a courtship with neighbor Larry Russell, whose family’s wealth comes from new money. Created by Julian Fellowes, the new season premieres Sunday on Max.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
The in uence of Disney’s movie “Tron,” with its icy, neon vision of cyberspace, far outweighs the number of people who actually saw it when it came out in 1982. (I know I spent a lot more time playing the arcade game.) We are getting a third movie, “Tron: Ares,” in October — but rst we get a new game, Tron: Catalyst. You are Exo, an advanced computer program in a glitchy electronic world. Check it out on PlayStation 5,
and
“The Ballad of Wallis Island,” left, the documentary “Sally,” center, and the series
ALISTAIR HEAP / FOCUS FEATURES VIA AP
Carey Mulligan, left, and Tom Basden star in “The Ballad of Wallis Island.”
Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector appear in a scene from “The Gilded Age.”
