Youth tackle football is underway again in Siler City, across four age groups, thanks to programs from Siler City Parks and Recreation.
On Saturday, the Siler City Jets played Triad Elite in their rst game of the season.
the BRIEF this week
DOT threatens funding for 3 states for not enforcing trucker English pro ciency
Transportation Secretary Sean Du y says California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers.
An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn earlier this month found what Du y called signi cant failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took e ect in June after one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders. Truckers are supposed to be disquali ed if they can’t demonstrate English pro ciency.
Wisconsin judge accused of helping man evade ICE denied immunity
A federal judge is allowing a case to proceed against a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a man evade U.S. immigration agents seeking to arrest him in her courthouse. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested in April and indicted on federal charges in May. U.S. District Judge Lynne Adelman on Tuesday rejected Dugan’s motion to dismiss the charges against her. Adelman’s decision could be appealed.
$2.00
NC’s Main Street revitalization program accepts Siler City
The town will receive two years of downtown technical assistance through the program
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — The Town of Siler is making headway in its efforts to revitalize its downtown.
At the Town of Siler City Board of Commissioners’ Aug. 18 regular business meeting, town sta presented that Siler City has been accepted into the North Carolina Main Street
Downtown Associate Community (DAC) program. The DAC program is focused on creating economic development strategies that will transform downtown through an implementation plan methodology organized around a revitalization process focused on economic vitality, design,
Cowboy churches promoting traditional Chatham culture
A little bit cowboy, a little bit Jesus Christ
By Bob Wachs For Chatham News & Record
IN HIS BOOK of words, Mr. Webster de nes “culture” as “the concepts, skills, arts and institu-
tions of a given people in a given period.” And while that’s true, at times, through no fault of their own, those given people can see outside forces a ecting changes in their culture, as is happening across many parts of Chatham County now.
Despite those changes, however, two nontraditional local
churches are working to maintain and even grow a culture that harkens back to earlier days in Chatham County — namely, a cowboy culture.
“We call ourselves cowboy churches,” said the Rev. Wesley Thomas, pastor of Cool Water Cowboy Church, which meets in the Asbury commu-
NC Supreme Court says bars’ COVID-19 lockdown lawsuits can proceed
The lawsuits can proceed under the state constitution’s “Fruits of Labor” clause
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Supreme Court issued favorable rulings Friday for bars and their operators in litigation seeking monetary compensation from the state for COVID-19 restrictions rst issued by then-Gov. Roy Cooper that shuttered their doors and, in their view, treated them unfairly compared to restaurants.
“On the Fruits of Labor claim, we modify and a rm in part the decision of the Court of Appeals and remand this matter to the trial court to reopen factual discovery and provide a new discovery schedule for the parties,” Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote in the majority opinion in N.C. Bar and Tavern Ass’n v. Stein. “We reverse the Court of Appeals on its Equal Protection determination and a rm on plainti s’ statutory claims.”
Chief Justice Paul Newby authored the ruling in the second
“From the beginning, we never asked for special treatment, only equal treatment.”
Zack Medford, N.C. Bar and Tavern Association president
promotion and organization.
Acceptance into the DAC program is also the rst step toward an N.C. Main Street designation.
“This was a really huge collaborative e ort,” said Community Development Planner Sara
See PROGRAM, page A10
nity near the Chatham-Lee county line. “It might be more accurate to think of us as rural. I like to say if you’re comfortable shopping at Tractor Supply, you know what I’m talking about. We’ve got some folks who still are active farmers and cowboys, but there are also others who were raised on the farm but maybe aged out of horses and went into other professions.”
“Either way,” he said, “our objective is to impact Chatham County with a cowboy culture
See COWBOY, page A7
THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
CRIME LOG
Aug. 18
• Clayborn Michael Rattz, 64, of Sanford, was arrested for assault by pointing a gun and assault with a deadly weapon.
• Pate Russell Scott, 35, of Bear Creek, was arrested for possession of rearm by felon, possession of weapon of mass destruction, possession of methamphetamine, assault with deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of marijuana, second degree kidnapping and intimidating witness.
Aug. 19
• Laura Gibbs, 52, of Chapel Hill, was arrested for simple assault. Noe Wuilfredo Perla, 25, of Siler City, was arrested for discharge rearm on educational property and possession of gun on educational property.
• Alayna Ruth Townsend, 23, of Siler City, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and drug equipment violations.
• Kenyada Isaiah Nettles, 21, of Pittsboro, was arrested for domestic violence protective order violation.
Aug. 20
• Jameel Rafael Sellars, 36, of Sanford, was arrested for second degree forcible rape.
Anthony Wayne Boone, 23, of Pittsboro, was arrested for simple possession of controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property.
Dalton John Earl Rattz, 28, of Pittsboro, was arrested for breaking and entering, assault and battery and injury to real property.
Aug. 21
• Charles Allen Tysor Sr., of Siler City, was arrested for malicious conduct by inmate and communicating threats.
• Richard Thomas Jordan, 67, of Siler City, was arrested for hit and run leaving scene with property damage, resisting, delaying or obstructing an o cer and failure to heed light or siren.
traditions
Old Fashioned Farmers’ Days
Members of the Silk Hope Ruritan Club and volunteers demonstrated traditional tobacco stringing methods Tuesday at the Silk Hope Farm Heritage Park, preparing for the 50th annual Old Fashioned Farmers’ Days this weekend. Volunteer Betty Johnson and club member David Hobson tied tobacco leaves for curing in an 1849 tobacco barn, with members Missy Thompson and Mike Hecken assisting them. The technique represents farming methods used for generations before modern curing processes were developed.
The Old Fashioned Farmers’ Days festival runs Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 30-31, featuring demonstrations of historical farming practices, the cured tobacco display, food vendors and the event’s signature Steam Cream Ice Cream. Musical entertainment is scheduled for the outdoor stage Saturday and in the music barn both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Get more information at silkhopenc.org.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:
Aug. 28
Opinionation Trivia at House of Pops
6-8 p.m.
Two sessions of this “Family Feud”-style game are held each Thursday evening, rst round at 6 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., o ering contestants two opportunities to win House of Hops gift cards worth $15 and $25 each.
12 Russet Run Suite 110 Pittsboro
Bynum’s Byte Night
6-8 p.m.
Bynum’s Byte Night happens every other Thursday evening and provides a semiweekly tech hangout for anyone curious about computers, electronics or AI. A virtual reality headset is on hand if you want to step into another world for a bit. All skill levels are welcome; contact John G. Helbragga at 919-593-3559 with any questions.
Front Porch,
Bynum General Store
950 Bynum Road Bynum
Aug. 30
Chatham Mills Farmers Market
8 a.m. to noon
Producers-only farmers market o ering a wide variety of goods from fresh produce to other groceries, including eggs, cheese, meat, health and wellness items and crafts. Everything is created by the vendors themselves.
Lawn of the historic Chatham Mills 480 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro
Sanford Farmers Market
8:30 a.m. to noon
It creates the ideal place for local food producers to build connections within the community while giving the public a place to sample and purchase foods and crafts made by their neighbors. Experience the ultimate in food, fun and fellowship in the Sandhills region.
115 Chatham St. Chatham
Evangelism
Park Explosion
4-7 p.m.
A community event hosted by area churches with the uni ed purpose of spreading an uplifting message to those who feel left behind. Participants will have access to fresh food, health and counseling screenings, as well as employment information and other resources.
Washington Park
1305 Washington
COURTESY
Siler City’s Broken Spit sets the bar for BBQ
The restaurant lives up to its “We don’t B.S. BBQ” motto
By Shawn Krest Chatham News & Record
THE BROKEN SPIT passes the rst rule of a BBQ joint: Upon arriving, you say, “Maybe we should go somewhere else.”
No one has ever had great BBQ at a pretty restaurant. If it doesn’t look like it’s teetering on the verge of being condemned, the people inside don’t know how to cook meat.
At the start of what should be the dinner rush, there are three cars in the large gravel parking lot. One, in the far corner, has its hood up. A stray cat naps on the roof of a second. Plastic sheeting covers the broken-out window of a third.
None look like they belong to a customer. The only indication that the small shack is open is a small pink sign in the shape of a pig, lit in the window.
Maybe they left the sign on when they closed yesterday. Maybe they’re takeout only. Maybe, we should go somewhere else.
This is going to be great.
The smell of grilling meats hits a few steps from the entrance, and any thoughts of eating elsewhere are dispelled. Leaving without trying some is now an impossibility. Rule No. 2 of a BBQ joint, achieved.
The interior of the Broken Spit is just as worn and workday. Mismatched vinyl booths and tables that have lived a lifetime greet you, as does the large logo behind the counter promising “We don’t B.S. BBQ.”
The menu is simple. One page, front and back, with lots of white space: Five meats, a half-dozen sauces, eight sides. There are four appetizers, four sandwiches. What do you want?
It’s not cheap: Two people are going to be hard-pressed to eat
Church News
HOUSE OF PRAYER FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
The House of Prayer Fellowship Church, 549 Horton Road in Goldston will be having our annual Family and Friends Day on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 11am. The speaker will be Assistant Pastor Je Covington of the House of Prayer Fellowship Church. Dinner will be served immediately after service (eat in or take out.) The pastor is the Rev. Annie C. Glover. Everyone is invited to attend this great celebration!
The Broken Spit crushes the third rule of BBQ: The sides tell you how good it is, and the meat is more than worthy of its supporting cast.
for less than $50. But it’s not exorbitant. The best deal might be the mini-sampler for two, which gives you all the meats and sauces, two sides and hush puppies for $55. There’s also a full-sized version that feeds 4 to 6 for $80. The food arrives, and the Broken Spit crushes the third rule of BBQ: The sides tell you how good it is. It’s relatively easy (for some) to do meat well, but the quality of the extras tells you about their attention to detail and pride in their work. Where other places get bogged down in soggy breading and mush, everything the Spit o ers has strong, distinctive taste and was prepared with the care of an entrée.
The fried pickles crunch, and
the taste of kosher dill blends with the ranch dip instead of getting overwhelmed. The mac and cheese has a sharp blend of cheeses rather than an nondenominational “sauce.” And the baked beans? The smoky taste hits immediately and assures you that something burned to make the beans hit this hard.
The sauces display a similar focus on quality and taste. It’s easy to forget that honey BBQ should taste sweet. The red hot BBQ burns with spice, but they didn’t forget the last half of the name — it’s BBQ sauce, not a “Hot Ones” dare. Most importantly, the di erent sauces make the meat taste di erently. The small number of menu options create a nearly unlimited number of unique combinations.
The meat is more than worthy of its supporting cast. Tender, moist and delicious without the sauces and sides, it is the centerpiece of a meal you won’t forget.
The Broken Spit should be your rst stop upon arriving in Siler City. And trust us: You shouldn’t go somewhere else.
UNC’s Belichick tells players that Hulu will feature Tar Heels program in a show this fall
The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina will get an in-season close-up for its rst season under coach Bill Belichick.
In a social media video posted by the program Sunday, Belichick told the players that streaming provider Hulu will feature the Tar Heels in what he described as a season-long show “that will showcase our football program.”
“It’ll show our commitment to winning,” Belichick told players. “It’ll show our commitment to the team. and that’s our priority.”
Belichick, who coached the NFL’s New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles, is a rst-time college coach. UNC opens the season on Labor Day against TCU in a college version of “Monday Night Football.”
case, Howell v. Cooper, writing that “We acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic was a chaotic period of time,” and that the governor was not the only one facing uncertainty — small businesses did as well.
“It may be that the executive orders’ restrictions on bars were reasonably necessary, but the state constitution gives plainti s the opportunity to put them to the test,” Newby wrote.
“Plainti s have stated colorable constitutional claims under Article I, Sections 1 and 19. Because they have satis ed the requirements to successfully plead a Corum claim, sovereign immunity does not bar plainti s’ suit.”
The majority decisions by the justices mean a pair of lawsuits remain alive, and future court orders directing the state pay them nancial damages are possible.
As a way to ease the spread of coronavirus, Cooper — a Democrat who left o ce last December and is now running for U.S. Senate — issued a series of executive orders that closed bars starting in March 2020. By that summer, bars still had to remain closed, but restaurants and breweries could serve alcohol during certain hours. Later in 2020, bars could serve alcoholic drinks in outdoor seating, with time limits later added, but the plainti s said it was unpro table to operate. All temporary restrictions on bars were lifted in May 2021.
Lawyers defending Cooper have said the orders were based on the most current scienti c studies and public health data available at a time when thousands were ill or dying and vaccines weren’t widely available.
On Friday, the court’s ve Republican justices in one lawsuit agreed it could continue to trial, rejecting arguments from state attorneys that the litigation must be halted based on a legal doctrine that exempts state government from most lawsuits. That decision largely upheld a Court of Appeals decision from two years ago that had a rmed a trial judge’s order to allow the action led by Ti any Howell, seven other people and nine businesses to be heard.
“We acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic was a chaotic period of time,” Newby wrote in the prevailing opinion. “It is important to remember, however, that the Governor was not the only person facing uncertainty. Small business owners across the state dutifully shuttered their doors and scaled back operations without knowing exactly when they could open or operate fully again.”
A broader group of plainti s — the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and scores of private bars — that sued separately but made similar claims received a favorable ruling last year from a Court of Appeals panel that reversed a trial judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit.
Friday, the same ve justices ruled that the Court of Appeals shouldn’t have allowed the association to sue based on claims its members’ constitutional rights for equal treatment were violated. But the plainti s can return to a trial judge now and present evidence on the claim that their right under the state constitution to earn a living was violated, Berger wrote in the majority opinion.
The association and the private bars “su ciently alleged unconstitutional interference, and thus have a right to seek discovery to prove those allegations are true,” Berger wrote.
The Supreme Court’s two Democratic justices opposed decisions made by the majority in both cases and said the lawsuits should be dismissed. Associate Justice Allison Riggs wrote that the Bar and Tavern Association failed to signal it had evidence of a more reasonable plan to contain the virus’ impact than what Cooper chose.
Writing the dissent in the Howell case, Associate Justice Anita Earls said the majority “grants itself a roving license to second-guess policy choices, reweigh trade-o s, and displace decisions appropriately made by the political branches.”
The state Attorney General’s O ce, which represented Cooper in both cases, said Friday it was reviewing the decisions. Through a spokesperson, Cooper’s Senate campaign declined to comment.
The N.C. Bar and Tavern Association called the decision in its case a “major victory.”
“From the beginning, we never asked for special treatment, only equal treatment,” association President Zack Medford said. Chuck Kitchen, a lawyer representing plainti s in the Howell case, also praised the ruling in their litigation. Cooper was the subject of several lawsuits challenging his COVID-19 actions early in the pandemic, and he was largely successful in court. In August 2024, the state Supreme Court sided with a small racetrack that was closed briefly for defying state gathering limits and said the track and its operators could sue the top health regulator in Cooper’s administration.
BARS from page A1
North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon contributed to this report.
SHAWN KREST / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
The Broken Spit logo and slogan greets visitors as they enter the unassuming shack. So does the smell of the area’s best barbecue.
PHOTOS BY SHAWN KREST / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
While the Broken Spit’s meat steals the show, the sides are an outstanding supporting cast, including tangy mac and cheese and smoky baked beans.
CHRIS SEWARD / AP PHOTO UNC coach Bill Belichick speaks during a press conference in Chapel Hill back in March.
GERRY BROOME / AP PHOTO
A sign indicates that a hotel in Chapel Hill is closed due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in March 2020.
THE CONVERSATION
Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
Many songs, one faith
I was reminded of the biblical refrain, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!”
“THANK YOU, JESUS! You’ve been good to me.” The Male Choir at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church opened up with this spirited refrain for their 56th anniversary concert. The program called for them to march to the front, but the leader laughed and said they were seated before the guests arrived because it took old men too long to get on stage!
In addition to the ve singers, there were gentlemen playing the keyboard, guitar, bass and drums. The next song was the famous “Working on a Building,” which I’ve heard at bluegrass concerts over the years. This version was more bluesy. Despite their often overlooked and underappreciated genius, African Americans have made indelible contributions to roots music. I contemplated the delicate distinction between imitation and appropriation. Primarily, I concentrated on the music and made every e ort to synchronize my clapping with the 2s and 4s alongside the rest of the congregation. Besides clapping on the 1s and 3s,
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
another major di erence between the black and white church is that, while we pass a collection plate down the rows of pews or chairs, they invite people to come forward. And forward they came — clapping and dancing and laughing and singing! Yes, the Apostle Paul enjoined us to do things “decently and in good order,” but watching this o ering, I was reminded of the biblical refrain, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!”
After the o ering, the choir sang “Standing on the Rock,” which one of the speakers clari ed was not one of the rocks out on the side of the road! More than 2,000 years ago, when a Palestinian rabbi renamed a poor sherman as “the rock,” I doubt he meant for his followers to be as fragmented and fractured as we are today. Sunday morning remains one of the most segregated hours of the week or, if you worship at Mount Zion, several hours. But I didn’t begrudge the time.
There are valuable aspects to di erent traditions: Black Baptists o er joyful
Try these 10 Commandments for ‘back-to-school’ time
There’s a whole big school year stretched out in front of us; do your part to be on the honor roll.
MUCH HAS BEEN written and said through the years about the original Ten Commandments as found in the Bible. And like so many other signi cant matters in the Book, many times more is said than is actually done. But even though they’re old, they’re still the “Ten Commandments” and not the “Ten Suggestions” or the “Ten Good Ideas.” Whether we practice them or not… well, that’s the issue.
Anyway, a few days ago I ran across what could be called “The Ten Commandments for Back to School” and as the 2025-26 school year gets cranked up, take a peek at these and see if you don’t think there’s a place in life for them for students and parents.
I: Thou shalt not depend on school for moral and spiritual teaching. There are some upright folks scattered across the school system, but we should be more concerned if there’s no prayer at home more than if there’s none at school. No institution — school or even church — should replace the home as the rst stop for instructing children on what’s important.
II: Thou shalt not compare a child with his or her brother(s) or sister(s). The Book says each child is “wonderfully made,” so treat them like the individual they are.
III: Thou shalt teach them to do their best yet leave room for failure.
It’s not so important to be the best but to do your best.
IV: Be aware of the general content being taught. Know what’s going on. Support the teachers, but never forget you’re the parent. They are your children.
V: Thou shalt not criticize teachers in your children’s presence. Don’t be guilty of helping to break down authority. Question it where it needs to be questioned, but don’t do it in front of your children.
VI: Thou shalt laugh — and often. Many homes are not happy places. Are you fun to be with? Many folks are as funny as a pain in the neck. Say “yes” as often as you can; lighten up when you can.
VII: Thou shalt respect and show interest in knowing your children’s friends. Parents might not like to know this, but most children and teen surveys show friends are the most important people in your children’s lives. One survey indicates friends come in at 80%, while parents clock in at 60%. To build relationships with your children, listen but remember you’re not out to be their best friend. You’re out to be the parent. Many arguments have started over friends when children have said to their parents, “You don’t even know them.” Find out rst; than act accordingly.
VIII: Thou shalt treat teens like
worship, Episcopalians have beautiful liturgy, and Roman Catholics maintain a robust social justice ministry to the community. We Presbyterians have committees.
As the Male Choir led our diverse congregation in worshipping together, I dreamed of a way for all of us to gather under the same enormous tent every Sunday. Sure, there are thorny theological issues and more than a few logistical matters. But just imagine, if we did unite, there would be a remarkable number of people devoted to peace, mercy and humility.
When the program was almost over, the leader of the Male Chorus thanked everyone in attendance. He said, “Y’all being here makes my heart feel good.” I couldn’t have said it any better.
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.
adults but expect them to act like children at least two days a week. A teenager will act like a baby if you don’t treat them as adults. Young children think you’re great; teens think you’re old. Therefore, if you can be half as wonderful as your child thinks you are and only half as dumb as your teen thinks you are, you may be on the right track. Give them room to grow; try to recognize opportunities to trust their judgment.
IX: Thou shalt keep in check the “over” principle. Overprotection, over control, overindulgence, overreact, over liberate, but remember not to let the tail wag the dog.
X: Thou shalt maintain a home of security. Your life and relationships are the greatest example for your children. The Bible story of the wayward son is the perfect example. Make your home a place where the prodigal son or daughter come back. In the story of the Prodigal Son, you don’t need to look any further than the older brother to see why he left, and you don’t need to look any further than the father to see why he returned. There’s a whole big school year stretched out in front of us; do your part to be on the honor roll.
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
You just never know, do you?
Suddenly, I was a goner … for George Harrison.
THE BEATLES hit the big time when I was a very young teen. It was mass hysteria among all of us teenage girls. Cry! Scream! Keep crying and screaming! Even if you were only a mild Beatles fan, the peer pressure to cry and scream was a must. (Remember peer pressure at that age? Do what everyone else does or be dropped from the tribe. No way!)
And of course, there were the Beatles themselves: John, Paul, George and Ringo. Heartthrob city. In all honesty, I paid very little attention to George except for feeling a bit quizzical regarding his interest in Eastern meditation and spirituality. But hey, he was a Beatle and therefore allowed some level of weirdness. (Clearly, I was magnanimous at that young age.)
Life moved on (as did our teenage hormones), and the Beatles receded to background music.
Present day, which is many, many days past the Beatlemania of my early teen years: Both John and George have died, Ringo is still Ringo, and Paul is now Sir Paul. And I’ve reached the stage where daily exercise on my stationary bike is a necessity that I could never have even contemplated during the raging days of Beatlemania.
Sigh.
Somehow, I have to make that daily
COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH
‘The
30-minute stationary bike ride palatable. And when I say “palatable,” I don’t mean eating dark chocolate while I’m cycling. Yep, I was forced into branching out, nding new-to-me music to support that passage of time while bike-bound.
Some bug in my bonnet (synchronicity, magic, inner light, whatever) pointed me toward returning to the historical George Harrison and exploring his music. I listened and fell in absolute love with his lyrics. Suddenly, I was a goner … for George Harrison. As gone as I was as a young screaming teenager during those early Beatle years. (Well, minus the screaming and peer pressure to prove that I bowed to the gods of Beatlemania.)
His lyrics have touching drifts of the spirituality and mindfulness that are now woven into my life and, yes, about which I need constant reminders. George’s unexpected reappearance in my life o ered words I continually need to hear:
“Little things that will change you forever, May appear from out of the blue…”
A reminder that hope abides and the universe unexpectedly opens.
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
Epitome of Dumbness’
Trump says Smithsonian focuses too much on ‘how bad slavery was.’
SOME HEADLINES are just too stupid to pass by. Yes, this is the Donald Trump era, and Trump being Trump and all that. But even so, there should be some things a president doesn’t say or do. This is one.
“Trump Says Smithsonian Focuses Too Much on ‘How Bad Slavery Was,’” The New York Times screamed this morning. Yes, he really said that.
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Trump wrote:
“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future. This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums.”
Too much on how bad slavery was? Was it better than we think? Did it not cause a civil war? Are museums supposed to show us what we need to know about our history or what Trump and his white nationalist friends would like to hear?
The social media post comes a week after the Trump administration warned the Smithsonian that its museums must, within 120 days, adjust any content the administration nds problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.” In his social media post, Trump said that he had instructed his lawyers “to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities.”
Could it be any worse? Do to the Smithsonian what he has done, and is doing, to America’s leading educational institutions? Strip them of their independence, of their academic freedom and integrity, in the name of ghting
antisemitism. As the Jewish faculty of UCLA has rightly stood up and said, “No, thanks.” And double, “No, thanks” to whitewashing our history. What message does that send to a black schoolchild who visits the museum?
“It’s the epitome of dumbness to criticize the Smithsonian for dealing with the reality of slavery in America,” Douglas Brinkley, one of America’s most respected presidential historians, told The New York Times. “It’s what led to our Civil War and is a de ning aspect of our national history. And the Smithsonian deals in a robust way with what slavery was, but it also deals with human rights and civil rights in equal abundance.”
The “epitome of dumbness.” Trump has been there before. The e ort to whitewash our history extends to other stupid things this administration and this president have done, from minimizing the contributions of black heroes, including the Tuskegee Airmen who fought in World War II and Harriet Tubman, who led blacks to freedom on the Underground Railroad, to advocating the return of Confederate insignia and statues honoring those who fought to preserve slavery. On Juneteenth, the celebration of the end of slavery in the United States that became a federal holiday in 2021, Trump “celebrated” by complaining that there were too many nonworking holidays in America.
From the halls of the Smithsonian to the streets of Los Angeles, Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion has morphed into a war on black and brown people. He makes no bones about it. He is playing to the white nationalist fringe of his MAGA movement, and it is not just dumb but ugly. And racist. The Smithsonian needs to resist and to ght back, and it needs Congress’ support — and the public’s — to do so.
Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.
Is socialism as popular as the media think?
“DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS” have been getting the teenage-idol treatment from giddy reporters and editors at legacy media outlets for years. Their newest crush, as New Yorkers already know, is jihadi-apologist and Marxist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
In a 4,500-word cover story headlined “The Meaning of Zohran Mamdani,” Time magazine paints a caricature of a well-meaning, authentic and not-really-so-radical go-getter. An “ideologue interested in creative solutions” is how Time puts it.
Sure, Mamdani might support genocidal rhetoric, but the Jewish community will be pleased to learn that he “often talked about the problem of antisemitism and the need for antihate-crime funding.”
Is Mamdani, as many would have it, a generational talent whose campaign should be mimicked nationally by Democrats?
Yes, the resentful young have convinced themselves they’re living in the worst era ever to have befallen man. “People our age have never experienced American prosperity in our adult lives — which is why so many millennials are embracing democratic socialism,” Harvardeducated writer Charlotte Alter once put it in a Time cover piece on a previous darling, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
But George Will recently argued that a Mamdani win would be bene cial in reminding the nation of “socialism’s many harms.”
Collectivist ideas always fail, yet they never die.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) championed Hugo Chavez in the 2000s — and even after Venezuelans predictably began foraging for food, Sanders, one of the most popular politicians in the country, was still championing the same system. So it’s not as if we don’t have the lessons already. Indeed, we’ve been having the same debates in perpetuity. The zero-sum fallacy that capitalism is inherently evil and rigged has been hammered into our conscience for centuries. We’ve convinced millions of Americans that a gaggle of rich people can trigger economic havoc for pro t, control the economy to undermine the working class and push commodity prices higher to reap the pro ts. It is a tragedy that Democrats continue to stagger leftward on all fronts to mollify and placate their activist class. And it’s not merely economics. The modern “democratic” socialist comes with a slew of positions that not only undermine quality of life but clash with the moral outlook of normies: the pro-terrorist, pro-identitarian rhetoric; the championing of criminality and illegal immigration; the antimodernity climate hysteria; and the deranged social science quackery on gender — just for starters. So I wonder how popular socialism really is.
Right now, there is no real evidence that a socialist outlook plays in most places. It barely plays in cities. If NYC’s Democrats didn’t split the vote between Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and perhaps found themselves a candidate who hadn’t already tarnished themselves with scandal, Mamdani would likely lose.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, former Chicago mayor and would-be 2028 presidential hopeful Rahm Emanuel pushed back on hard-left ideas, contending Democrats should run on centrist slogans, such as “build, baby, build.”
How Democrats plan on doing this without rolling back the climate hysteria that undermines growth and squanders billions on half-baked energy plans is going to be interesting. But he has a point. Centrist Democrats are poised to win entire purple states like Virginia, showing far wider appeal than Mamdani — but they can barely get any attention.
One of the most popular governors in the country right now is Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, a Democrat in a state with a Republican-controlled legislature that President Donald Trump won by more than a 30-point margin. Why isn’t he the way forward for Democrats? Other governors in the top 10 have similar dispositions, including North Carolina’s Josh Stein and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, both in states Trump won. All of them take moderated left-of-center positions without a full-throated embrace of anti-market, anti-Western, racialist positions that are in vogue in cities.
No GQ covers for them.
The Democrats have become a party of the rich and the dependent poor — because the rich can a ord socialism and the poor marginally bene t.
Since the market-fueled gentri cation of the ’90s, cities have become increasingly progressive and correspondingly more expensive and poorly run.
California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York have seen signi cant net outward migration since then, while market-driven states with lower regulations and taxes like Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have seen signi cant increases in newcomers. This is before New York City installed a socialist mayor. How popular is socialism? Far too popular. But not as popular as Democrats and the media would have us believe. At least, not yet.
David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.
JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP PHOTO
President Donald Trump speaks alongside the FIFA World Cup Winners Trophy in the Oval O ce last Friday in Washington, D.C.
obituaries
IN MEMORY
AIDEN MICHAEL ALBRIGHT
AUGUST 22, 2025
Aidan Michael Albright age 20, of Sanford passed away on August 22, 2025. Aidan came into this world with not just ery red hair, but a re inside that burned brightly through his entire life. He was a force of nature and stubborn, but so driven, it showed in the incredible things he’d done in his short lifetime. He was an incredible athlete and highly intelligent. Loyal to a fault, and the kindest soul. He could make a room laugh. He started a business that soared and found the love of his life we knew would last forever. To know him was to love him. To be near him, spread joy. He is loved by so many and his love spread far and wide. This son, brother, and friend will be forever in our hearts, and his actions and love in life will reach beyond this moment in time. Aidan was an organ donor and the lives of four people and their families have been blessed by his gift of life. Aidan is survived by his mother, Mary-Jo Thompson (Justin) of Sanford and siblings; Gabriel Albright of Melbourne, Florida, Madison Thompson, Aidan Thompson of Sanford, NC; his father David Albright (Brittany) and family of Sanford and his siblings; Lilah Dixon, Robert James Hughes, Phillip James Hughes, and Declan Albright, all of Sanford, NC; Grandparents; Joann and Richard Dyson, of Sanford, NC; Barbara Squitieri of St. Petersburg, Florida, Deborah and Mark Michna of Ohio; great grandma, Marjean Bush of Ohio and girlfriend, Macie Whitt of Broadway, NC.
‘Sopranos’ star Jerry Adler, Broadway backstage vet turned actor, dead at 96
He had a long theater career before moving in front of the camera
The Associated Press NEW YORK — Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died at 96.
Adler died Saturday, according to a brief family announcement con rmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his sleep,” Paradigm Talent Agency’s Sarah Shulman said on behalf of his family. No immediate cause was given.
Among Adler’s acting credits are “The Sopranos,” on which he played Tony Soprano adviser Hesh Rabkin across all six seasons, and “The Good Wife,” where he played law partner Howard Lyman. But before Adler had ever stepped in front of a lm or television camera, he had 53 Broadway productions to his name — all behind the scenes, serving as a stage manager, producer or director.
He hailed from an entertainment family with deep roots in Jewish and Yiddish theater, as he told the Jewish Ledger in 2014. His father, Philip Adler, was a general manager for the famed Group Theatre and Broadway productions, and his cousin Stella Adler was a legendary acting teacher.
“I’m a creature of nepotism,” Adler told TheaterMania in 2015. “I got my rst job when I was at Syracuse University and my father, the general manager of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, called me (because) there was an opening for an assistant stage
manager. I skipped school.”
After a long theater career, which included the original production of “My Fair Lady” and working with the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Julie Andrews and Richard Burton, among many others, Adler left Broadway during its 1980s slump. He moved to California, where he worked on television productions like the soap opera “Santa Barbara.”
“I was really getting into the twilight of a mediocre career,” he told The New York Times in 1992.
But the retirement he was contemplating was staved o when Donna Isaacson, the casting director for “The Public Eye” and a longtime friend of one of Adler’s daughters, had a hunch about how to cast a hard-to- ll role, as The New York Times reported then. Adler had been on the other side of auditions, and, curious to experience how actors felt, agreed to try out. Director Howard Franklin, who auditioned dozens of actors for the role of a newspaper columnist in the Joe Pesci-starring lm, had “chills” when Adler read for the part, the newspaper reported.
So began an acting career that had him working consistently in front of the camera for more than 30 years.
An early role on the David Chase-written “Northern Exposure” paved the way for his time on a future Chase project, “The Sopranos.”
“When David was going to do the pilot for ‘The Sopranos’ he called and asked me if I would do a cameo of Hesh. It was just supposed to be a oneshot,” he told Forward in 2015. “But when they picked up the show they liked the character, and I would come on every fourth week.”
Humpy Wheeler, former Charlotte Motor Speedway president, dead at 86
The Belmont native was known as “The
By Jenna Fryer
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE — Humpy Wheeler, a pioneering motorsports promoter and former president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway, has died, NASCAR said. He was 86.
Charlotte Motor Speedway said Wheeler died of natural causes Wednesday in Charlotte, surrounded by his family.
“Humpy Wheeler was a visionary whose name became synonymous with promotion and innovation in our sport,” said NASCAR chairman Jim France. “During his decades leading Charlotte Motor Speedway, Humpy transformed the fan experience through his creativity, bold ideas and tireless passion. His e orts helped expand NASCAR’s national footprint, cement Charlotte as a must-visit racing and entertainment complex.”
Howard Augustine Wheeler Jr. was born in 1938 in Belmont in Gaston County and gained his rst major publicity job with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. He held several other positions after Firestone shut down its racing program in 1970 and was hired at Charlotte Motor Speedway by owner Bruton Smith as president in 1975.
He became a transformative gure in promoting racing and was known as the “P.T. Barnum of motorsports” for ashy prerace stunts, elaborate productions and sparing no expense in ensuring fans had the most enjoyable experience possible at his events.
Wheeler earlier this year was named winner of NASCAR’s prestigious Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR, to which he’d have been inducted into the Hall of Fame next year.
“Humpy’s contributions to and accomplishments in NASCAR are without parallel. The breadth and depth of his legacy,
“Humpy’s contributions to and accomplishments in NASCAR are without parallel. The breadth and depth of his legacy, and those whom he in uenced, assisted and mentored, cannot be overstated.”
Winston Kelley, executive director, NASCAR Hall of Fame
and those whom he in uenced, assisted and mentored, cannot be overstated,” said Winston Kelley, executive director of the Hall of Fame. “Frequently adding new dynamics to the sport, Humpy’s visionary leadership and creativity helped shape today’s fan experience.
“Through his innovative promotions and stunts, Wheeler’s contributions expanded NASCAR’s national and international presence during the 1990s and early 2000s, solidifying Charlotte as ‘NASCAR’s Home for Racing.’”
Wheeler mentored “hundreds, if not thousands,” of people throughout his life, Kelley said, including inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and Landmark Award recipient Janet Guthrie.
Wheeler spent 33 years running Charlotte Motor Speedway. His innovation and prerace extravaganzas recreated numerous military operations — including the invasion of Grenada — that made the facility a gold standard in NASCAR. He promoted school-bus races during the week, grassroots series for young aspiring racers, stunts and even the “Robosaurus,” a towering, re-breathing, car-crunching mechanical robot.
Wheeler and his boss, the late Smith, grew Charlotte Motor Speedway into the ownership group Speedway Motorsports Inc., which acquired multiple race tracks that play a pivotal role in American motorsports today. Charlotte was the rst track to build condominiums on site, built a restaurant overlooking the race track and was the rst speedway of its size to install lights for night racing.
“Charlotte Motor Speedway was blessed to have a lead-
er in Humpy Wheeler who can only be described as ONE of a kind,” the speedway said in a statement. “For more than 30 years, Humpy was a promoter’s promoter at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Alongside our founder Bruton Smith, Humpy pushed the speedway to new and greater heights — establishing the famed 1.5-mile superspeedway as not only the most innovative facility in NASCAR for fan, partner and competitor amenities, but also one of the most progressive in all of sports.
“Humpy’s engaging smile and air for promotion were legendary, and his impact on every stakeholder in motorsports will be long-lasting. Humpy not only made his mark with publicity, but also with a laser-focus toward the fans. He would often tell his sta to pay attention to ‘the three Ts — tickets, tra c and toilets,’ in order to ensure fans have the best possible experience. He would also say it was our job to put a little ‘technicolor in people’s blackand-white lives.’” Wheeler retired from Charlotte Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports in 2008 after a bitter falling out with Smith but remained active in motorsports through his own consulting company and was on the voting panel for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife, Pat; daughters, Traci and Patti; son, Trip; and four grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending and the family request donations be made in Wheeler’s name to the Belmont Abbey College Motorsports Management Program, which Wheeler was instrumental in launching more than 20 years ago.
P.T. Barnum of Motorsports”
CHUCK BURTON / AP PHOTO
Humpy Wheeler addresses fans at the track prior to the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series’ CocaCola 600 auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wheeler, who retired after the race, died Wednesday.
Musk accuses Apple, OpenAI of sti ing AI competition in antitrust lawsuit
The lawsuit was led by two of Musk’s companies, xAI and X Corp.
By Michael Liedtke
The Associated Press
ELON MUSK on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in articial intelligence.
The 61-page complaint led in Texas federal court follows through on a threat that Musk made two weeks ago when he accused Apple of unfairly favoring OpenAI and ChatGPT in the iPhone’s app store rankings for top AI apps.
Musk’s post insinuated that Apple had rigged the system against ChatGPT competitors such as the Grok chatbot made by his own xAI. Now Musk is detailing a litany of grievances in the lawsuit — led by xAI and another of his corporate entities, X Corp. — in an attempt to win monetary damages and a court order prohibiting the alleged illegal tactics.
The double-barreled legal attack weaves together several recently unfolding narratives to recast a year-old partnership between Apple and OpenAI as a veiled conspiracy to sti e com-
petition during a technological shift that could prove as revolutionary as the 2007 release of the iPhone.
“This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: arti cial intelligence,” the lawsuit asserts. The complaint portrays Apple as a company that views AI as an “existential threat” to its future success, prompting it to collude with OpenAI in an at-
tempt to protect the iPhone franchise that has long been its biggest moneymaker.
Some of the allegations accusing Apple of trying to shield the iPhone from do-everything “super apps,” such as the one Musk has long been trying to create with X, echo an antitrust lawsuit led against Apple last year by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The complaint casts OpenAI as a threat to humanity bent on putting pro ts before public safety as it tries to build on its
Chatham County Aging Services Weekly Activities Calendar
Monday, September 1 Aging Services Centers Closed (Labor Day)
Tuesday, September 2 Pittsboro Center for Active Living
8:30 a.m. - QiGong
9 a.m. - 3G’s Men’s Group
10 a.m. - Woodcarvers; Cardio Drumming
10:30 a.m. - Gym Orientation; Healing Hearts
11 a.m. - Weight Machine Orientation; Birthday Bingo with Mr.Ed
12:30 a.m. - Arthritis Foundation Exercise
1 p.m. - Rummikub
2 p.m. - Zumba Gold Siler City Center for Active Living
8 a.m. - Quilting and Sewing Time
9 a.m. - Cardio Drumming
10:30 a.m. - Bible Study; Mental Health with Mary Anne Fritz
Wednesday, September 3 Pittsboro Center for Active Living
8:30 a.m. - Cardio & Lower Body Strength
10 a.m. - Chair Yoga with Liz; Music Jam
10:30 a.m. - Co ee & Games with Law Enforcement
11 a.m. - Weight Machine Orientation; “The Chosen” with Discussion
11:30 a.m. - German Conversation Lunch
1 p.m. - Leaving Your Legacy with Jessica Bryan; Spades Siler City Center for Active Living
9 a.m. - Strong & Fit
10 a.m. - Sunshine Walkers
1 p.m. - Pickleball & Cornhole
2 p.m. - Minor Tech Support (by appointment only)
3 p.m. - Garden TLC Thursday, September 4 Pittsboro Center for Active Living
8:30 a.m. - QiGong
9:30 a.m. - Blood Pressure Clinic
10 a.m. - Hooks & Needles; Chair Zumba Gold
10:45 a.m. - African American Studies Group
11 a.m. - Kindermusik
12:30 p.m. -
1
1:30
3
9
10
1
2
3
8:30
10
11
1
8 a.m. - Quilting and Sewing Time
9 a.m. - Zumba Gold; Faith-Based Devotions
10 a.m. - Gaither Homecoming Videos
10:15 a.m. - STEP-tember Noon - Cornhole
12:30 p.m.
7
ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The crux of the lawsuit revolves around Apple’s decisionto use ChatGPT as an AI-powered “answer engine” on the iPhone when the built-in technology on its device couldn’t satisfy user needs. The partnership announced last year was part of Apple’s late entry into the AI race that was supposed to be powered mostly by its own on-device technology, but the company still hasn’t been able to deliver on all its promises.
Apple’s own AI shortcomings may be helping drive more usage of ChatGPT on the iPhone, providing OpenAI with invaluable data that’s unavailable to Grok and other would-be competitors because it’s currently an exclusive partnership.
phenomenal growth since the late 2022 release of ChatGPT.
The depiction mirrors one already being drawn in another federal lawsuit that Musk led last year, alleging OpenAI had betrayed its founding mission to serve as a nonpro t research lab for the public good.
OpenAI has countered with a lawsuit against Musk accusing him of harassment — an allegation that the company cited in its response to Monday’s antitrust lawsuit. “This latest ling is consistent with Mr. Musk’s
The alliance has provided Apple with an incentive to improperly elevate ChatGPT in the AI rankings of the iPhone’s app store, the lawsuit alleges. Other AI apps from DeekSeek and Perplexity have periodically reached the top spot in the Apple app store’s AI rankings in at least some parts of the world since Apple announced its deal with ChatGPT.
The lawsuit doesn’t mention the potential threat that ChatGPT could also pose to Apple and the iPhone’s future popularity. As part of its expansion e orts, OpenAI recruited former Apple designer Jony Ive to oversee a project aimed at building an AI-powered device that many analysts believe could eventually mount a challenge to the iPhone.
COWBOY from page A1 and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
To that end, Thomas and the Rev. Willie Pickard, who leads the other cowboy church — Stockyard Cowboy Church, which appropriately enough meets at Carolina Stockyards west of Siler City — their churches and several traditional area churches are spearheading a worship service at the county Agricultural Center just west of Pittsboro on Friday, Sept. 5 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The evening will feature music by a variety of groups from bluegrass to Southern gospel to soulful spirituals featuring a variety of instruments. Additionally, Pickard will present a Gospel message.
“Our objective is to impact Chatham County with a cowboy culture and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Wesley Thomas, Cool Water Cowboy Church
Pittsboro
Siler City Center for Active Living 112 Village Lake Road 919-742-3975
“What we do in no way is aimed at taking away from the traditional local church,” Pickard says. As a matter of fact, both he and Thomas are also pastors of two traditional churches — Pickard at Pleasant Hill Christian Church in Liberty and Thomas at Hunt Springs Baptist Church in Sanford. “But we know not everyone is accustomed to or comfortable at regular Sunday services, so we try to have Cowboy Church a little more informal but still true to the Gospel.”
The two cowboy churches have been around for some
time — Stockyard for 10 years and Cool Water for seven. Both have active memberships with regularly scheduled worship services (both at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays), guest speakers and musicians from time to time, and outreach and service activities. The event at the agricultural center is the second such worship service, and planners and organizers are hoping for a big crowd.
“The reason we do this is twofold,” Thomas says. “We want to get believers together so they can worship together,” he said, “but we also want folks who are not in church on Sunday mornings to hear the Gospel through music and a message.”
Pickard echoes that sentiment. “What we’re all about,” he said, “is to impact the community of cowboy culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe this is just one way of doing that.”
BOB WACHS FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Wesley Thomas, left, pastor of Cool Water Cowboy Church, poses with Willie Pickard of Stockyard Cowboy Church.
COURTESY APPLE
Apple announced last week that it is expanding the capacity of its data center in Maiden, supporting the growth of Apple’s services and its AI ambitions.
LEARN ABOUT LAND - Chatham Land Experts, www.learnaboutland.com - 919-3626999. JY2,tfnc
FOR RENT
POWELL SPRINGS APTS. Evergreen Construction introduces its newest independent living community for adults 55 years or older, 1 and 2 bedroom applications now being accepted. O ce hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 919-5336319 for more information, TDD #1-800-7352962, Equal housing opportunity, Handicapped accessible. A2,tfnc
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS now for onebedroom apartments, adults 55 years or older. Water included, appliances furnished, onsite laundry, elevator, keyless entry. Section 8 accepted. No security deposit. Application fee $25 per adult. Call Braxton Manor, 919663-1877. Handicap accessible. Equal Housing Opportunity. J14,tfnc
RAINBOW WATER FILTERED VACUUMS, Alice Cox, Cox’s Distributing - Rainbow - Cell: 919548-4314, Sales, Services, Supplies. Serving public for 35 years. Rada Cutlery is also available. A26,tfnc
JUNK CARS PICKED UP Free of charge. Due to many months of low steel prices and unstable steel markets, we cannot pay for cars at this time. Cars, trucks, and machinery will be transported and environmentally correctly recycled at no charge. 919-542-2803. A2,tfnc
LETT’S TREE SERVICE - tree removal, stump grinding, lot clearing. Visa & Master Card accepted. Timber. Free estimates. 919-2583594. N9,tfnc
HELP WANTED
Senior MES Solutions Engineer (Siler City, NC): For SiC & GaN techs, dvlp & improve MES connecting ERP w/ process control sys in the company’s factories. Option to telecommute up to 20%. Annual Pay: $137,987 to $225,000. Bachelor’s in Comp or Electrical Engg or rltd + 5 years’ exp in the job or Master’s in Comp or Electrical Engg or rltd + 2 years’ exp in the job, or any suitable combo of edu, trng, or exp req. Resumes: Wolfspeed, Inc., resumes@ wolfspeed.com.
1tp
Community (Located behind Lowes)
Three Bedroom Units
Rental Assistance Available
based on income
call 919-533-6198
# 800-735-2962
NOTICE
1A Towers, LLC is proposing to construct a 199-foot overall height monopole telecommunications structure located near 714 N Dogwood Avenue, Siler City, Chatham County, North Carolina (35° 43’ 42.0” N, 79° 28’ 12.4” W). The proposed tower is anticipated to utilize FAA Style E (medium intensity, dual red/white strobes) lighting.
1A Towers, LLC invites comments from any interested party on the impact the proposed undertaking may have on any districts, sites, buildings, structures, or objects signi cant in American history, archaeology, engineering, or culture that are listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Comments may be sent to Environmental Corporation of America, ATTN: Annamarie Howell, 1375 Union Hill Industrial Court, Suite A, Alpharetta, GA 30004 or via email to publicnotice@ eca-usa.com. Ms. Howell can be reached at (770) 667-2040 x 108 during normal business hours. Comments must be received within 30 days of the date of this notice. In addition, any interested party may also request further environmental review of the proposed action under the FCC’s National Environmental Policy Act rules, 47 CFR §1.1307, by notifying the FCC of the speci c reasons that the action may have a signi cant impact on the quality of the human environment. This request must only raise environmental concerns and can be led online using the FCC pleadings system at www.fcc.gov or mailed to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554 within 30 days of the date that notice of this proposed action is published on the FCC’s website. Refer to File No. A1316914 when submitting the request and to view the speci c information about the proposed action. 25-002541/CLS
NOTICE
City of Sanford / TriRiver Water REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
HVAC Maintenance and Repairs Advertisement
The City of Sanford is seeking quali ed companies to provide HVAC maintenance and repairs for facilities in the TriRiver Water service area. After the selection and award, selected rms will submit pricing proposals. This Request for Quali cations and others can be found on the TriRiver Water “Bid Opportunity” webpage at https://www. tririverwater.com/Bids.aspx?CatID=17, or companies may call 919-777-1122 for the quali cation requirements. Submittals are due by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
NOTICE
City of Sanford / TriRiver Water REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Janitorial Services Advertisement
The City of Sanford is seeking quali ed companies to provide janitorial services for city owned buildings in the TriRiver Water service area. After the selection and award, selected rms will submit pricing proposals. This Request for Quali cations and others can be found on the TriRiver Water “Bid Opportunity” webpage at https://www. tririverwater.com/Bids.aspx?CatID=17, or companies may call 919-777-1122 for the quali cation requirements. Submittals are due by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
NOTICE
City of Sanford / TriRiver Water REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Lawn Maintenance Services Advertisement
The City of Sanford is seeking quali ed companies to provide lawn maintenance services for facilities in the TriRiver Water service area. After the selection and award, selected rms will submit pricing proposals. This Request for Quali cations and others can be found on the TriRiver Water “Bid Opportunity” webpage at https://www. tririverwater.com/Bids.aspx?CatID=17, or companies may call 919-777-1122 for the quali cation requirements. Submittals are due by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
NOTICE
City of Sanford / TriRiver Water REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Roof and Gutter Inspection, Repairs/ Replacement Advertisement
The City of Sanford is seeking quali ed companies to provide roof and gutter repairs and maintenance for facilities in the TriRiver Water service area. After the selection and award, selected rms will submit pricing proposals. This Request for Quali cations and others can be found on the TriRiver Water “Bid Opportunity” webpage at https://www. tririverwater.com/Bids.aspx?CatID=17, or companies may call 919-777-1122 for the quali cation requirements. Submittals are due by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Chatham COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
25E000168-180 Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Ronald Lee Ballard, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the Estate of said Ronald Lee Ballard to present them to the undersigned on or before the 11th day of November, 2025 (this date being 3 months from the rst publication date of this notice) or same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment.
This the 7th day of August, 2025. Leonard L. Ballard 532 Stewart Ave Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Administrator of the Estate of Ronald Lee Ballard
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000228-180 The undersigned, AMY CRABTREE SEAGROVES, having quali ed on the 22ND Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of TERRY GENE SEAGROVES 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 7TH Day NOVEMBER 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 7TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025.
Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Regina Pasterczyk, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of their attorney at 110 Oakwood Drive, Suite 300, Winston-Salem, NC 27103-1958, on or before the 14th day of November, 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 undersigned. This 14th day of August, 2025. Kenneth Michael Pasterczyk, Executor Estate of Regina Pasterczyk c/o Craige Jenkins Liipfert & Walker LLP 110 Oakwood Drive, Suite 300 Winston-Salem, NC 27103 Craige Jenkins Liipfert & Walker, LLP Published: August 14, 21, 28 and September 4, 2025
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Lewis Keith Kidd 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 27th day of November, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 21st day of August, 2025. Kayla Kidd Humphries, Executor of the Estate of Lewis Keith Kidd 313 Sanctuary Way, Apt. 105 Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of John Kevin Conlon aka John K. Conlon, 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 21st day of November, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This 21st day of August, 2025. DONNA CONLON, EXECUTOR ESTATE OF JOHN KEVIN CONLON AKA JOHN K. CONLON
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
All persons having claims against Nanette Swift Melcher, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present them to Mathew Melcher, Executor of the Estate of Nanette Melcher, to Brittany N. Porter of NextGen Estate Solutions, 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 or before November 28th, 2025. Failure to present a claim in timely fashion will result in this Notice being pleaded in bar of recovery against the estate, the Personal Representative, and the devisees of Nanette Melcher. Those indebted to Nanette Melcher are asked to make prompt payment to the Estate. Matthew Melcher, Executor of the Estate of Nannette Melcher Brittany N. Porter, Attorney NextGen Estate Solutions 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
NOTICE
City of Sanford / TriRiver Water REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Vehicle Maintenance and Repairs Advertisement The City of Sanford is seeking quali ed companies to provide vehicle maintenance and repairs for vehicles and trucks owned by TriRiver Water. After the selection and award, selected rms will submit pricing proposals. This Request for Quali cations and others can be found on the TriRiver Water “Bid Opportunity” webpage at https://www. tririverwater.com/Bids.aspx?CatID=17, or companies may call 919-777-1122 for the quali cation requirements. Submittals are due by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, having quali ed on the 13th day of August, 2025, as CoExecutors of the Estate of Elizabeth Fletcher, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 21st day of November, 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 21st day of August, 2025. Kathryn Bethune and Ramon Gomez, Co-Executors of the Estate of Elizabeth Fletcher c/o Candace B. Minjares, Kennon Craver, PLLC 4011 University Drive, Suite 300 Durham, North Carolina 27707 THE CHATHAM NEWS: 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, and 9/11/2025
NOTICE
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
NOTICE TO CREDITORS COUNTY OF CHATHAM
THE UNDERSIGNED, having quali ed on the 15th day of August, 2025, as Executor of the ESTATE OF JOHN HOYT KELLEY, Deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the November 22, 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 21st day of August 2025. Sandra Loen Kelley
EXECUTOR
ESTATE OF John Hoyt Kelley
c/o Richard G. Long III, Attorney Walker Lambe, PLLC Post O ce Box 51549 Durham, North Carolina 27717
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000272-180 ALL persons having claims against Joan Covey Lawson, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Nov 21 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 21st day of August, 2025. Patrick Lawson, Limited Personal
All persons, rms and corporations having claims against William Charles Swan, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before November 10, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 7th day of August, 2025. Susan Hodge, Administrator c/o W. Thomas McCuiston
200 Towne Village Drive Cary, NC 27513
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms, and corporations having claims against Kevin Wayne Anderson , deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before November 7, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 7th of August, 2025. Kim McCullough Anderson , Administrator of the Estate of Kevin Wayne Anderson, c/o Amanda Honea, Attorney, 1033 Wade Avenue, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27605.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Max Allen Maples, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to exhibit them on or before the 21st day of November 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. Published on the 21st day of August 2025. Shanda Hardin, Administrator, 5216 Eastview Lane, Ramseur, NC 27316.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000267-180 ALL persons having claims against William Davis Brown, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Nov 28 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 28th day of August, 2025. LINDSAY BROWN, Administrator CTA C/O F. Timothy Nicholls, Nicholls & Crampton, P.A. PO Box 18237 Raleigh, NC 27619 A28, 4, 11 and 18
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000390-180 ALL persons having claims against Matthew Gerard Cecil, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Nov 07 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 7th day of August, 2025. Stephen Gerard Cecil, Executor C/O Lenfestey, Maxie & Burger, PLLC 5640 Dillard Drive, Suite 101 Cary, North Carolina 27518 A7, 14, 21 and 28
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E00187-180 The undersigned, STEPHEN THOMAS WILLETT, having quali ed on the 18TH Day of AUGUST, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of STEPHEN LEROY WILLETT, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 28TH Day NOVEMBER 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 28TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025. STEPHEN THOMAS WILLETT, EXECUTOR 2010 EDWARDS HILL CH RD SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: A28,S4,11,18p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000416-180
The undersigned, DONALD WAYNE CHAMBERS, having quali ed on the 8TH Day of AUGUST, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of ROYCE DILLARD CHAMBERS 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 14TH Day NOVEMBER 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 14TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025. DONALD WAYNE CHAMBERS, EXECUTOR 111 POLKS LANDING RD. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27516 Run dates: A14,21,28,S4p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000412-180
The undersigned, JOHN MONROE WALTERS, having quali ed on the 30TH Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of PHALA DOROTHY LAMOUR WALTERS 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 7TH Day NOVEMBER 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 7TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025. JOHN MONROE WALTERS, EXECUTOR 119 CHATHAM DR. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27516 Run dates: A7,14,21,28p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000401-180
The undersigned, MICHAEL ALFRED JAMES MOORE, having quali ed on the 28TH Day of JULY, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of MICHAEL THOMAS MOORE 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 7TH Day NOVEMBER 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 7TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025.
MICHAEL ALFRED JAMES MOORE, ADMINISTRATOR 1705 ELMER MOORE RD. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: A7,14,21,28p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000455-180
The undersigned, KENNETH A HENDERSON, having quali ed on the 18TH Day of AUGUST, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of DEBRA LYNN HENDERSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 28TH Day NOVEMBER 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 28TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025.
KENNETH A HENDERSON, EXECUTOR 2294 US 64 BUSINESS W. PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: A28,S4,11,18p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000342-180 The undersigned, KENNETH EUGENE POWELL, having quali ed on the 1ST Day of AUGUST, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of CAROLYN JEAN MILLER POWELL, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 21ST Day NOVEMBER 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 21ST DAY OF AUGUST 2025. KENNETH EUGENE POWELL, ADMINISTRATOR 3933 HIGHLAND CREEK CT. PFAFFTOWN, NC 27040 Run dates: A21,28,S4,11p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000424-180
The undersigned, JAMES RAY HOLDER, JR., having quali ed on the 4TH Day of AUGUST, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR, CTA of the Estate of THERESA E. HOLDER 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 21ST Day NOVEMBER 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 21ST OF AUGUST 2025. JAMES RAY HOLDER, JR., ADMINISTRATOR CTA 462 DUBLIN DR. SANFORD, NC 27330 Run dates: A21,28,S4,11p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000182-180
The undersigned, MICHAEL W. PAIGE, having quali ed on the 31ST Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of WILLIAM LEE PAIGE 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 7TH Day NOVEMBER 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 7TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025. MICHAEL W. PAIGE, EXECUTOR 18818 PIER TRAIL DIVE TRIANGLE, VA 22172 Run dates: A7,14,21,28p
HEARING NOTICE
TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NC
On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 6:00 pm, the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will hold the following public hearing in person at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center at 1192 Hwy 64 Business West, Pittsboro, NC: A public hearing to receive comments on the proposed acquisition and nance plan of real property located at 274 Pittsboro Elementary School Road, Pittsboro, NC for the purpose of expanding municipal facilities. The proposed acquisition is anticipated to be nanced through installment nancing. The estimated maximum amount of nancing required is $1,050,000.00.
The hearing will be held in person. The public can also watch the hearing live on the Town’s YouTube channel at https:// www.youtube.com/@townofpittsboronc/ streams. Members of the public must attend in person if they wish to speak at a hearing.
Contact the Town Clerk, Carrie Bailey, by 4 pm on September 8, 2025 to sign up to speak at the hearing at cbailey@ pittsboronc.gov, (984) 282-6647, or PO Box 759, Pittsboro, NC 27312.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM THE UNDERSIGNED, having quali ed on the 13th day of August, 2025, as CoExecutors of the ESTATE OF GRETCHEN R. BRUCE, Deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 29th day of November, 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 28th day of August, 2025.
Christopher Bruce and Robin Bruce CO-EXECUTORS ESTATE OF GRETCHEN R. BRUCE c/o Richard G. Long III, Attorney Walker Lambe, PLLC Post O ce Box 51549 Durham, North Carolina 27717
Chasing a ‘mega tick’ on the Chobe River
Birding in Namibia brings humor, missteps and one big misunderstanding
By Erika Ho man For Chatham New & Record
WE CLIMBED into tenders and motored to the Zambezi Queen, a riverboat that became our home for the near future on the Chobe River in Namibia. Early the next morning, I went out birding. I’d always used the term “birdwatching” but “birding” — the South African expression — does sound a lot cooler. Decked out with my late father’s binoculars and my iPad, I was certain I’d spot some exotic species. I tumbled into the boat with the rest of the gang.
“Mind the step!” Andrew, our Afrikaans guide, advised, a little late. Lathered in insect gel and sunscreen bought at the Aloe Store near the penguin nesting place at Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town the day before, I sat peeking out from my huge REI hat ready to witness any elusive bird that might perch on yonder branch on nearby shore.
“Look, there’s the blue-cheeked bee-eater,” Andrew exclaimed. A sea of tourists turned their heads, their cameras with behemoth telescopic lens already focused. They snapped away. I put down my pen and paper, grabbed up my iPad, poked in the security code, which wasn’t correct due to the hot glare on the screen. I had to reenter it. Hurriedly, I lifted the iPad in the direction of the little bugger and … gone. Soon Andrew shouted something about a red bishop. I scrambled to capture the image of this dar-
A blue-cheeked
ling and … too late. A snake-like head in the water Andrew called a reed cormorant, but the picture I took didn’t show much. It could have been a curved stick. Andrew heard the call of Cape turtle doves, which sounded like our mourning doves, but I had my iPad upside down and … you know the story. He’d spot a darter. Everyone’s head would swivel in the direction and then, oops, it was gone. I thought I’d get whiplash as many times as I pivoted quickly to catch an evasive, iridescent, lilac-breasted roller take ight from a branch right as I nished entering my security code for the umpteenth time.
“Oh, did you see that? There? Over there? See that. That’s a mega tick. A rare nd. Indeed.” Andrew, South African tour guide
“Polee, polee,” Andrew advised as we gee-hawed back and forth in the boat trying to catch sight of a swift wing and then capture an amazing species with a click click click. I attempted to jot down the names in a wee notebook of what I wasn’t quite sure I’d heard right. Did he just say, “Jesus bird who walks on water?” Perhaps, in retrospect, he had mumbled something about ticking something o , but I didn’t understand what he meant. The way he pro-
nounced words with his South African accent di ered so much from the way we Americans accent syllables that even common words and expressions sounded foreign to me.
“Polee, polee,” Andrew cautioned, which apparently meant “slow down or take it easy.” Often, he exclaimed this as he looked straight at me. I gured out its meaning after initially thinking he was calling me “roly-poly.” Trouble was Andrew inserted “polee polee” so often and so indiscriminately I wasn’t sure if he were telling us to smell the roses or calming his own frazzled self after a day of escorting the gang, which must have been akin to herding cats old cats.
“Oh, did you see that? There? Over there? See that. That’s a mega tick. A rare nd. Indeed,” he announced proudly. When we returned to our oating lodge, I asked Andrew about the birds I didn’t catch on lm or iPad. Nor did I grasp the nomenclature since Andrew, though looking Scottish, spoke with a thick Afrikaans accent. I discovered a little book in our cabin where we could check o birds we’d spotted. So, consulting that book, I asked Andrew if it had been a red-billed quelea I’d seen.
“Yes,” he told me.
“And was the eagle which resembled our bald eagle called African sh eagle?”
Yes. I had that right too, along with the jacana, wire-tailed swallow and pied wagtail. I’d found photos of most birds he’d mentioned in the small bird book in our cabin. Yet there was one I couldn’t locate in the book.
Beaches reopen after Hurricane Erin passes
Several people were killed in the rough conditions
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — North Carolina and other states on the eastern seaboard have begun to reopen beaches that had been closed due to Hurricane Erin, which sent strong winds and dangerous waves across the U.S. East Coast.
Erin’s outer bands brushed North Carolina last Wednesday, but the storm never made landfall and caused no widespread damage to infrastructure despite being twice the size of an average hurricane. After progressing north in the Atlantic, it weakened into a post-tropical cyclone Friday, far from land.
In North Carolina’s Outer
from page A1
Martin. “I want to publicly thank everyone that supported that process. It was really everyone that made this happen.”
Siler City will receive two years of downtown technical assistance through the program and if the town meets preset requirements, they’ll gain the opportunity to move up to an o cial N.C. Main Street designation. Communities who receive N.C. Main Street designations are able to bene t from partner-
Banks, Highway 12 on Hatteras Island opened at noon Saturday for residents, property owners and workers, according to North Carolina’s Department of Transportation. All restrictions lifted at 5 a.m. Sunday. The Outer Banks — essentially sand dunes sticking out of the ocean a few feet above sea level — are vulnerable to erosion. Storm surges can cut through them, washing tons of sand and debris onto roads and sometimes breaking up pavement and creating new inlets.
The dunes took a beating by Erin but there were no new inlets or signi cant structural damage to homes or businesses.
Elsewhere, there were several deaths attributed to the rough conditions caused by the storm.
In Massachusetts, a team of
ships with the N.C. Department of Commerce, available training, technical assistance networking, marketing and recognition and most importantly funding and resources.
According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, since 1980, N.C. Main Street communities have leveraged more than $5.5 billion in public and private investment in their downtown districts, which has created more than 37,000 net new jobs and rehabilitated around 7,500 buildings.
police and U.S. Coast Guard members were resuming their search Monday for a man in his 50s who was missing after a boat capsized o of Salisbury Beach on Saturday. The other
“We’re delighted to help Siler City strengthen their revitalization e orts through the Downtown Associate Community program,” said N.C. Main Street & Rural Planning Center Director Liz Parham in a press release.
The board also held a public hearing for a rezoning request for a parcel of property totalling approximately 1.5 acres and located on Piney Grove Church Road from Agricultural Residential to Highway Commercial.
“It’s currently vacant and
Sebastian Kettner shes on Jennette’s Pier as waves from Hurricane Erin crash ashore in Nags Head last Thursday.
person in the boat was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Despite challenging weather and sea conditions including 6- to 8-foot swells, the team
has been since it was created in 2008,” said Director of Planning and Community Development Timothy Mack. “It came under the ownership of Ms. Marcia Friday in October of 2024 and now she’s just looking to have it rezoned to make it a little more marketable.”
Although the parcel is designated as suburban within the future land use map, it borders the industrial and employment designated area. Currently, there is no water or sewer availability at the property
I added I’d even perused the larger bird book in the lounge without luck.
Feeling very proud of myself and emboldened, I then asked a question that made his head swivel. He tilted his square jaw toward me and stared strangely at me, like I was cuckoo or a dumb American.
“Which bird is that?” he asked solicitously.
“I can’t nd the Megatick,” I said. He squinted. His lips turned down. He sti ed a condescending smirk.
“The what?”
“You said it was a rare sighting.” I held up a small bird book. I shu ed through the pages. “The megatick?”
“Oh,” he said and surprisingly well held back breaking into a full- edged grin although he must have thought I was the stupidest tourist he’d ever encountered in all his years of shepherding tourists down the Chobe. Acting serious, he explained, “I want you to tick o the birds you see in the species checklist booklet. A mega tick is … a really big nd to check o .” I stared blankly straight ahead as it dawned on me that “mega” was an adjective meaning “big.” “Tick” Andrew was using as a verb meaning “check.” A mega tick was a big nd. I started laughing. “No wonder I couldn’t nd that bird species.”
Later, I asked another American lady who seemed a tad more alert than I what kind of actual bird was this elusive “mega tick,” and she thought the rare mega tick was a pygmy goose, but she wouldn’t swear to it.
performed sonar scans, dives, surface and aerial patrols on Sunday, the state police said in a news release. In Maine, a man was rescued Saturday after his sailboat capsized in high surf in York Harbor.
In New Hampshire, authorities are investigating the death of a 17-year-old boy who had been swimming with family members o of Hampton Beach on Sunday night.
Witnesses said he was pulled away by a strong ocean current and his father unsuccessfully tried to rescue him. Lifeguards brought both to shore and began livesaving e orts on the teen, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The father was treated there.
A man drowned Saturday after being caught in a strong rip current o the New York coast, at Sailors Haven in the Fire Island Natoinal Seashore in Suffolk County, authorities said. Ishmoile Mohammed, 59, was visiting from South Carolina.
according to Mack.
Following the hearing, the board approved both the rezoning of the property as well as an adjustment to the future land use map to align the property with its new designation.
Since the application was for a general use rezoning request, a site plan was not required and all potential uses allowed within the Highway Commercial zoning can be considered.
The Town of Siler City Board of Commissioners will next meet Sept. 15.
CLPRAMOD VIA WIKIPEDIA
bee-eater devours a dragon y near the Chobe River in Namibia, Africa.
PROGRAM
ALLEN G. BREED / AP PHOTO
CHATHAM SPORTS
for
The Hawks fell short despite four defensive takeaways
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
CHAPEL HILL — Despite the defense coming away with four turnovers, including a pick-six by senior Nick Gregory in the third quarter, Seaforth (0-1) came up short in a 27-21 loss against Chapel Hill (1-0) on Friday in new coach Tolbert Matthews’ debut.
Chapel Hill junior running back CJ Brooks-McMillan powered the Tigers’ offense with 80 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He made up for the struggles in the passing game — senior
quarterback Sam Zimmerman threw for two touchdowns with three interceptions.
“We knew the routes and concepts that they wanted the most,” Matthews said. “We know (Austin Campos), he’s a good player, so we knew we had to stay over the top of that guy.”
Seaforth’s o ense, on the other hand, couldn’t capitalize on favorable eld position. The Hawks trailed 20-7 when Zimmerman threw a pick to senior Noah Williams on the rst play of the second half. Williams returned it to the Chapel Hill 25-yard line. With some solid runs from junior quarterback Duncan Parker and running back Jayden Riley, the Hawks got to the 5-yard line. On second and goal from the 4, Parker
burrowed his way into the end zone, but the play was called back for illegal assistance on the run.
Chapel Hill made a fourth down stand by stopping a Parker scramble at the 1-yard line. On the next play, the Tigers lost a fumbled snap recovered by Seaforth at the 3. Seaforth’s drive once again ended with a turnover on downs. The Hawks forced a three and out on the next possession, and senior Patrick Miller blocked the punt to once again set the o ense up in the red zone.
This time another costly penalty put the Hawks back, and Parker threw an interception to Chapel Hill’s
The Bears opened their season with a 30-26 win over Graham
By Asheebo Rojas
Chatham News & Record
THE FOOTBALL season o cially kicked o in Chatham County on Friday.
The opening week saw comeback wins for two local teams, leading to a shake -up of the power rankings going into Week 2. Here are recaps of last week’s action and previews of what’s next Friday.
Chatham Central 30, Graham 26
For the rst time since 2020, Chatham Central is 1-0. The Bears clawed their way to a victory over Graham on Friday after building a 22-0 lead, losing it and taking all the marbles in the game’s nal minute.
Down 26-22 with 30 seconds left and deep in Graham territory, sophomore quarterback Brooks Albright placed the ball just over a defender’s head and into junior Sayvion Burnette’s hands
for a go - ahead touchdown. Albright nished the night completing 16 of 24 passes for 218 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 103 yards on nine carries. Senior receiver Nic Glover nished with six receptions, 93 yards, two touchdowns and nine tackles. Sophomore Gavin Williams led the defensive e ort with 12 tackles, including four tackles for loss.
Week 2: Jordan-Matthews at Chatham Central (7 p.m.)
Chatham Central will host in-county rival Jordan-Matthews on Friday. The Bears last beat the Jets in 2022, winning 19-6. This year’s matchup feels much di erent than the recent past as both teams are looking to avoid their rst loss.
For the Bears, this game will be a test of their physicality and ability to play consistently throughout an entire game. Jordan-Matthews will mix it up o ensively and operate the short game with its dual-threat quarterback, and it also has power in its rushing attack. The Bears, who mostly play both sides of the
The Jets got their rst win of 2025 against their rivals
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — Jordan-Matthews’ rst volleyball win of the season was served with sweet revenge.
The Jets took down rival Chatham Central in straight sets Aug. 21, avenging a 3-2 loss to the Bears a week prior.
Jordan-Matthews broke its four-game losing streak with its rst shutout of the year and beat the Bears for the rst time since 2023. “I’m really happy for the girls,” Jordan-Matthews coach Johnny Alston said. “They’ve been really working hard in practice, and today, they showed results from their hard work.”
Senior setter Maggy Jaimes-Pulido led the Jets with 23 assists, and junior outside hitter Jasmine Sorto re -
corded a team-high seven kills. After taking a 2-0 lead, Jordan-Matthews put the game away in the middle of the third set. With the Jets up 12-9, Jaimes-Pulido notched three aces and led a run to give Jordan-Matthews a 17-9 lead. Chatham Central could only get within six points from there, and an attack error gave the Jets the game-clinching score at the end of the set.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
The Siler City Jets played Triad Elite in their rst game of the season Saturday. Siler City Parks and Recreation is providing youth tackle football once again
four age groups.
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
JordanMatthews celebrates a point in its 3-0 win over Chatham Central on Aug. 21.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Seaforth quarterback Duncan Parker runs around a Chapel Hill defender in the Hawks’ season-opening loss.
Brooks Albright
Chatham Central, football
Chatham Central sophomore quarterback Brooks Albright earns athlete of the week honors for the week of Aug. 18.
In the Bears’ season-opening win over Graham on Friday, Albright completed 16 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns. Down 26-22 with 30 seconds remaining, Albright threw the game-winning touchdown to Sayvion Burnette, helping Chatham Central earn its rst season-opening win since 2020. Albright also rushed for 103 yards on nine carries in the win.
Seaforth volleyball falls in tight nonconference battle
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record Volleyball
After another 3-0 win over Northwood on Aug. 20, Seaforth took its rst loss of the season to Cleveland in the HighSchoolOT Garner Showcase Saturday 3-2. The Hawks fell to 2-1 and won a thrilling 29-27 fourth set to stay alive. Seaforth lost thenal set 15-10. Junior Ally Forbes logged a team-high 16 kills, and senior Josie Valgus and junior Abigail Valgus combined for 41 assists.
To bounce back from a 3-0 loss to Cary Academy, Woods Charter ended last week with straight-set conference wins over River Mill and Chatham Charter. The Wolves have won four out of their last ve as of Sunday.
Chatham Charter earned its rst win of the season over Phoenix Academy in straight sets Aug. 18. However, its struggles continued later in the week with a 3-0 loss to North Moore.
Northwood is still looking for its rst win after a 3-2 loss to Lee County on Aug. 21. Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference): Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. North Moore (4-0, 0-0); 2. Eastern Randolph (2-1, 0-0); 3. Uwharrie Charter (5-3, 0-0); 4. Southwestern Randolph (2-5, 0-0); 5. Jordan-Matthews (1-4, 0-0); 6. Northwood (0-6, 0-0)
Central Tar Heel 1A: T1. Woods Charter (4-1, 2-0); T1. Clover Garden School (4-1, 1-0); T1. Southern Wake Academy (1-1, 1-0); 4. River Mill (2-3, 1-1); T5. Ascend Leadership (0-2, 0-1); T5. Chatham Charter (1-5, 0-1); 7. Central Carolina Academy (0-3, 0-2) Greater Triad 1A/2A: 1. Bishop McGuinness (3-2, 0-0); 2. South Stokes (2-3, 0-0); 3. College Prep and Leadership (1-4, 0-0); 4. Winston-Salem Prep (1-4, 0-0); 5. Chatham Central (1-4, 0-0); 6. South Davidson (1-5, 0-0); 7. North Stokes (0-3, 0-0)
Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Cedar Ridge (5-0, 0-0); 2. Seaforth (3-1, 0-0); 3. Durham School of the Arts (4-2, 0-0); 4. J.F. Webb (3-2, 0-0); 5. Carrboro (3- 4, 0-0); 6. Orange (2-3, 0-0); 7. South Granville (1-4, 0-0) Boys’ soccer
Jordan-Matthews let the close
Girls’ tennis
Chatham Charter boys in the top ve of the season’s rst race
games get away last week as it lost to Providence Grove 5-4 on Aug. 20 and Currituck County 1-0 on Friday. The Jets haven’t lost consecutive games since Aug. 19, 2024. Seaforth’s struggles in nonconference play continued with a 2-1 loss to Chapel Hill on Aug. 18 and a 6-2 loss to Western Alamance two days later. Northwood split its week with a 2-1 win over Graham on Aug. 18 and a 1-0 loss to Hillside on Aug. 21. The Chargers, boasting the best record in Chatham County as of Sunday, have only allowed two goals in three games.
Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference): Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. J.F. Webb (1-0, 0-0); 2. Cedar Ridge (1-1, 0-0); 3. Orange (2-2, 0-0); 4. South Granville (1-1-1, 0-0); 5. Carrboro (0-2-1, 0-0); 6. Seaforth (0-3, 0-0); 7. Durham School of the Arts (0-2-1, 0-0) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Southwestern Randolph (4-0, 0-0); 2. Northwood (2-1, 0-0); 3. Jordan-Matthews (1-2, 0-0); 4. Eastern Randolph (0-1, 0-0); 5. North Moore (0-1-1. 0-0); 6. Uwharrie Charter (0-0, 0-0)
Seaforth split the week with an 8-1 loss to Carrboro on Aug. 19 and an 8-1 win over Northwood on Aug. 21. After beating Chatham Central 7-2 on Aug. 19, Jordan-Matthews fell to Montgomery Central 9-0 on Aug. 21.
Cross-country
Chatham Charter and Woods Charter hit the trails for the rst time this season at the meet hosted by Ascend Leadership Academy on Aug. 20. Chatham Charter junior Torris Price won the boys’ 3,000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes, 22.10 seconds. His teammates Eli Coleman (second place) and Adam Reese (fourth place) also nished in the top ve to help the Knights top the boys’ team standings. Woods Charter’s Holt Mody nished in fth place. In the girls’ race, Woods Charter junior So a Rodriguez nished second (13:42.40) and Chatham Charter sophomore Emily Scheidt (14:16.20) nished third.
Girls’ golf
Chatham Central played a round against Southeast Alamance at Quaker Creek in Mebane on Aug. 20. The Bears lost 168-170, but they had three golfers — Payten Suits (56, second place), Madalyn Holton (57) and Eva Patin (57) — nish in the top ve.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Seaforth blockers get their hands on a shot from Northwood’s Mikaylah Glover (7) in a game on Aug. 20.
Local baseball umpire takes talents to Cooperstown
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
WITH ALL THE things to love about the game of baseball, umpires are not usually one of them.
While players are cheered on, umpires are the rst to hear boos and shouts of “bad call” from spectators in the crowd and participators in the diamond. Sometimes, they’re accused of blindness.
But for Siler City native Husani “Hoodie” Williams, a longtime caller of balls and strikes, that wasn’t the case Aug. 10. Williams served as the home plate umpire in the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament No. 13 championship game in Cooperstown, New York — a prestigious honor for umps where the game’s greatest names are enshrined. While the No. 1 ranked Pioneers Baseball Red (Pennsylvania) beat the No. 11 New Hampshire Prospects for the title, Williams also claimed a personal victory.
“That was a big accomplishment,” Williams said. “Something checked o my bucket list.” Leading up to the big day, Williams spent nearly two months in Cooperstown o ciating elite 12U baseball games and learning from other umpires at the tournament.
“We’re all like a sponge when you get there,” Williams said. “Every night, we’ll talk about di erent rules, di erent scenarios. ‘Would you do this?’ I met a lot of DI umpires. I met an umpire that did a lot of college baseball games.”
SEAFORTH from page B1
Nicholas Kelly in the end zone.
“Three straight stops, honestly, that’s just unacceptable,” Matthews said. “I know we’re early in this thing, and we’re still trying to nd what works best and well for us, but we have to nd something that we can master and be well at, and run consistently and do well that we can rely on and get us in the box when we need to get there.” Things weren’t all bad for
Siler City native Husani “Hoodie” Williams holds the American ag while the national anthem plays before the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament No. 13 championship game.
Said Williams, “I really got a lot of connections when I was up there.” Williams also shared positive interactions with the young players and fans, which
the Seaforth o ense, though. The Hawks received the opening kick and started hot thanks to a solid running tandem of Riley and Parker. On a fourth down later in the opening drive, Parker scrambled and found sophomore Jude O’Neill down the sideline for a 20-yard gain. Riley punched in a 2-yard score on the next play to give the Hawks a 7-0 lead. The Tigers returned the favor with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Campos on the following possession. That was the
he posted on his “hoodiedaumpire” Instagram page, handing out wristbands branded with his social media name and signing baseballs for kids.
“When you see the di er -
start of 20 unanswered points in which Brooks-McMillan ran in a 6-yard touchdown and, after an interception to Seaforth senior Jacob Winger, Zimmerman connected with sophomore Deuce Geer for a 16-yard score with 11 seconds left in the rst half.
Brooks-McMillan put the Tigers up by two scores once again in the fourth quarter, running in a 2-yard touchdown with seven minutes left to play. Seaforth didn’t lay down,
ent kids saying, ‘There goes Hoodie Da Umpire. There goes Hoodie,’ you know, just talking to them and everything, it was awesome,” Williams said.
For Williams, his love for baseball and his eventual a nity for umpiring began when he was a child like his supporters.
Williams fell in love with the game between the ages of 9 and 10 while playing youth ball at Bray Park. He also played at Chatham Middle School and at Jordan-Matthews for a couple of seasons.
“I always wanted to be an umpire because I would look at the umpire like, ‘Man, they control the game,’” Williams said. “My mom wouldn’t let me say nothing to the umpires. I’d get in trouble if I said something. So I just saw how they control the game, calling safe, out, ball, strike, and it was a big thing.”
Williams started umpiring after returning home from college in 2002. With the help and guidance of former Siler City Parks and Recreation director Donald Dones, Williams started umpiring local youth games with ages as young as 8 years old.
“I thought I was going to be a great umpire because I was good playing baseball,” Williams said. “But it’s a whole different side when you’re umpiring. You could be a great person in the sport, but once you get on the other side, you’ve got to know di erent situations, different scenarios. It’s more than just knowing the rules.”
Learning the ropes was a “process” for Williams as he also had to learn how to deal with parents and coaches getting upset. As he moved to Georgia, Williams worked his way up into o ciating high
though, as it responded with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Parker to junior Max Hinchman with three minutes left.
Through its rolling ground attack, Chapel Hill picked up crucial rst downs on the next possession and ran out the clock.
Despite the loss, Matthews felt “proud” of his team for how hard they competed and played for each other.
Matthews said he got a little emotional before the game
“Something checked o my bucket list.”
Hoodie Williams
school games and high-level tournaments such as Perfect Game. He’s also an o cial for high school softball, volleyball and ag football, and he’s looking to work college baseball games in the future.
Williams has started to teach others about umpiring through his own organization, and to give back to his hometown, he hopes to do an umpire clinic in Siler City one day. As much as he loves baseball and his hometown, both showed love to him earlier this month.
Prior to the championship’s rst pitch, Williams and the three other umpires standing behind home plate had their names and hometowns shouted out by the announcer.
When the announcer said, “From Siler City, North Carolina,” there was a loud crowd of cheers from the out eld seating area.
“It was such a coincidence,” Williams said. “A team from Sanford was there. I had talked to them that week, and one of the ladies that was there, she was from Chatham Central, and she was like, ‘Hoodie!’ Her name is Randi Jo Kivett, and I talked to her.
“When they said Siler City, North Carolina, their whole team and parents and stu stood up. It was awesome. It was something that I’ll never forget. Like I said, no matter how big I do, how big I make it, I’ll never forget where I’m from.”
started, for he nally got to witness all his team’s e orts from his rst o season as a head coach play out on Friday. He feels his team is headed in the right direction as they look ahead to Southeast Alamance in Week 2.
“Not the outcome we wanted,” Matthews said. “We made a bunch of mistakes, but nothing that we can’t get cleaned up. So we’re going to get those things cleaned up, and I guarantee you’ll see a better team next Friday night.”
Hoodie Williams of Siler City o ciated a championship game
COURTESY HUSANI WILLIAMS
Blaney’s last-second surge at Daytona denies underdogs Cinderella moment
race to claim the checkered ag — a victory that denied a Cinderella moment and gave Alex Bowman the nal spot in the playo s.
By Jenna Fryer
The Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—
The Cup Series’ playo system is designed to give a long shot a chance to race for the championship.
As a pack of underdogs hurtled toward the nish line at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night, there was a real possibility of an upset and someone racing their way into the postseason by winning the regular-season nale.
Then a favorite spoiled it all.
Ryan Blaney won a four-wide
Blaney was 13th with two laps to go, then muscled his Team Penske Ford to the front and surged slightly ahead right before the nish line. He beat Daniel Suarez by 0.031 seconds, Justin Haley by 0.036 seconds and Cole Custer by 0.049 seconds.
Erik Jones was fth, Kyle Larson sixth, Chris Buescher seventh and Ty Gibbs eighth. Any of the seven drivers behind Blaney besides Larson would have been rst-time winners this season and claimed the nal spot in the 16-driver playo eld.
But Blaney — a former series champion already locked into
In the rst and second sets, Jordan-Matthews pulled away toward the end. The teams were knotted at 20-20 in the rst set before the Jets went on a 5-1 run. Senior Cassidy Graves started the late -set push with an ace, and a kill from junior Delaney Fuquay alongside two attack errors by the Bears gave Jordan-Matthews the set 25-21. “We really had to learn where
they were going,” Dekaney said. “Closer to the end of the set, they get a little softer and tip a lot more. So I think learning their behaviors helped us win that rst set especially.” Solid serving once again helped the Jets in the second set. Senior Emily Dekaney and Graves earned a few more aces to lead the Jets out of a back-and-forth battle. Jordan-Matthews ended the night with 11 aces — one more than the rst meeting against the Bears.
the eld — denied them all. His victory assured Bowman, who crashed early in the race and had to watch for more than three hours on TV to learn his fate, would race for the championship this season.
The rst 19 cars across the nish line were all within a half-second of Blaney, who wound up second in the regular-season standings. Daytona 500 winner William Byron had already wrapped up the regular-season title.
“What a wild couple last laps,” said Blaney, who waited until the end to aggressively move through tra c. “It’s de nitely not as traditional a way as we like to run them; we like to lead laps and things like that. We just
ROUNDUP from page B1
ball, will have to dig deep to defend it for 48 minutes.
Jordan-Matthews 20, Carrboro 15
Jordan-Matthews shined in the second half of its win over Carrboro, outscoring the Jaguars 12-0. Having senior Kamarie Hadley at quarterback added another dimension to the Jets’ offense as it opened passing opportunities and gave the Carrboro defense another runner to worry about in read options.
Down 15-8 late in the third quarter, Hadley hit junior receiver Namir Wiley for a 27-yard touchdown, bringing the Jets within one point. Sophomore Nolan Mitchell came up with a huge interception deep in Jordan-Matthews’ territory in the fourth quarter, setting up a short, go - ahead touchdown run for senior Jakari Blue. Blue finished the game with two scores on the ground.
An improved Chatham Central team is up next for the Jets. After giving up 301 yards through the air to the Jaguars, Jordan-Matthews will need a better performance from its secondary to be successful against a pass-heavy Chatham Central offense. The Jets have a chance at going 2-0 for the first time since 2013 with a win Friday.
Harnett Central 55, Northwood 7
There was no doubt that Northwood’s nonconference schedule was going to be tough, and 6A opponent Harnett Cen-
For a better result in its second shot at the Bears, Jordan-Matthews played with improved consistency and togetherness throughout the game. The Jets also didn’t allow the impact of Chatham Central’s powerful outside hitter Addison Goldston to dictate the outcome. “I told them she was going to bring it, and she did,” Alston said. “She had some nice swings and some good kills. We just had to brace ourselves to be
couldn’t really get there until the last second.”
Suarez, who is being replaced at Trackhouse Racing at the end of the season, was disappointed not to make the playo s.
“All in all, a good car. Just not enough and a little too late,” Suarez said.
Haley, who is likely to be replaced at Spire Motorsports at the end of the year, also was frustrated. Haley and Spire’s only Cup Series win came in this race in 2019, when it was shortened by rain while Haley was the leader.
“It hurts, especially with the year the 7 car has had. We obviously had a rough season,” Haley said. “You’re counting them down and just trying to play ev-
tral did everything to prove it.
The Trojans shut down Northwood’s o ense, allowing just 104 passing yards, zero passing touchdowns and snagging four interceptions between quarterbacks Grayson Cox and Finn Sullivan. Junior receivers Raje Torres and Nick Armstrong were the bright spots of the unit. Torres accumulated 139 all-purpose yards, and Armstrong caught the Chargers’ only score of the night. On the ip side, the Chargers couldn’t stop the run, allowing 292 yards and ve scores on the ground between Ro’Shawn Towson and Josiah Grice. Junior receiver Kole Thompson also had an outstanding night with 114 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.
Week 2: Asheboro at Northwood (7 p.m.)
Northwood will have to regroup and prepare for another tough opponent in Asheboro (6A). The Blue Comets are coming o a 59-0 win over High Point Central in which they rushed for 154 yards and six touchdowns. Not only will the Chargers need a better effort in their run defense, they will also have to limit turnovers to compete.
Seaforth
Week 2: Southeast Alamance at Seaforth (7 p.m.)
Seaforth and Southeast Alamance are familiar foes after spending multiple seasons together in the former Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference. Southeast Alamance has seen near instant success in football, logging winning records in its rst two varsity
ready to play it up. We played some of them up. She burned us on some of them, and over the course of the match, we were able to just do good in other categories.” Jordan-Matthews is already o to a better start than last season, when it didn’t earn its rst victory until the second week of September. Prior to its rst victory of 2025, the Jets, 1-4 as of Sunday, won three sets in the rst four games of the season. They
erything out. It stings, but still a good night.”
Buescher said coming up short of the playo s would force him to “just be mad about it for a while.
“Not trying to pout, just I’m proud of this team,” he continued. “It was a great night. We certainly had a shot and had the speed again, so want to be excited about that, and I am. But man, it’s just another one of those we had the ability to win this race, had the speed, had the handling, and no champagne to celebrate.”
The victory was on brand for Team Penske, winner of the last three Cup Series championships. Joey Logano won in 2023, Blaney in 2024 and Logano again last year.
The team has won those titles by overcoming summer slumps and then turning it up when the playo s begin. Blaney’s win snapped an 11-race losing streak for Penske and Ford.
Roger Penske, who was in Victory Lane to celebrate with the No. 12 team, has all three of his drivers in the playo eld.
seasons, while the Hawks have yet to do so in its rst three campaigns. Last year, Southeast Alamance smothered Seaforth 44-7.
The Stallions have picked up where they left o after an 11-1 run in 2024. Southeast Alamance dominated Orange last Friday 55-22 with 403 yards of total o ense. Junior DJ Callis led the rushing attack with 87 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries, and he combined with four other running backs to average 8.3 yards per tote. Callis had 147 yards and two rushing touchdowns in last year’s meeting with the Hawks.
Seaforth’s defense has shown to be solid in its pass defense, but the run game is what’s keeping the chains moving, especially at the end of the game, against Chapel Hill. If the Hawks can limit the Stallions’ running success, they can make for a much closer battle with their former conference opponent.
Power rankings (after Week 1)
1. Jordan-Matthews
2. Chatham Central
3. Seaforth
4. Northwood
Week 2 score predictions
Jordan-Matthews 26, Chatham Central 18
Southeast Alamance 35, Seaforth 14
Asheboro 27, Northwood 17
have more tough nonconference games to look ahead to, including Asheboro on Thursday and Union Pines on Wednesday, before conference play begins at North Moore on Sept. 9. For Chatham Central, also sitting at 1-4 as of Sunday, its 2025 hasn’t had an ideal start. Last week’s loss to Jordan-Matthews was its fourth defeat in a row. The Bears will look to get back on track as they dive into conference play next week.
VOLLEYBALL from page B1
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Jordan-Matthews’ Jakari Blue runs through a Carrboro defender during the Jets’ 20-15 season opening win.
A late run moved him from 13th to rst
Ryan Blaney (12) crosses the nish line to win Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona.
JOHN RAOUX / AP PHOTO
SIDELINE REPORT
NFL
Sanders waived by Buccaneers
Tampa, Fla.
Shilo Sanders was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, less than 24 hours after he was ejected from a game for throwing a punch. Sanders, the son of Hall of Fame
cornerback Deion Sanders, was battling for a roster spot after going undrafted out of Colorado, where he played for his father. He was also penalized for pass interference earlier in Tampa Bay’s 23-19 loss to Bu alo. The Buccaneers could still add Sanders to the practice squad if he doesn’t get claimed o waivers by another team.
BOXING
Boxer Chávez Jr. to stand trial in Mexico over alleged cartel ties
Hermosillo, Mexico
A judge in Mexico says Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will stand trial over alleged cartel ties but can await trial outside of detention. The court granted three months of additional investigation into the case. Chávez, who had been living in the United States for several years, was arrested in early July by federal agents outside his Los Angeles home for overstaying his visa and lying on an application to obtain a green card. He was deported by the U.S. on Aug. 19 to Mexico, where he faced an arrest warrant.
NBA Former NBA star Kemp gets 30 days of home monitoring for Wash. shooting Tacoma, Wash.
Former NBA star Shawn Kemp was sentenced to 30 days of electronic home monitoring for shooting at two men inside a vehicle in a Washington state mall parking lot. Kemp must begin home monitoring within two weeks. He must also serve one year of Department of Corrections supervision and complete 240 hours of community service. Prosecutors had recommended the six-time NBA All-Star be sentenced to nine months in jail, a year of supervision and pay restitution. But the judge found the circumstances surrounding the crime warranted a lesser sentence. Kemp said he acted in self- defense.
NFL Police noti ed after sex toy thrown onto eld during Titans preseason game
Nashville, Tenn. The NFL joined the WNBA in having a sex toy thrown onto the eld when someone tossed one during the Tennessee Titans’ preseason nale. The neon green sex toy landed near the 6-yard line with about ve minutes left in the Titans’ win over the Minnesota Vikings. The teams were on the eld with the Titans on o ense near mid eld when the object hit the eld close to the Tennessee sideline. The Titans say they reported the incident to police. Similar toys have been tossed at several WNBA games, resulting in at least three arrests.
Sharapova, Bryan brothers enter tennis hall
Serena Williams made a surprise appearance
By Jimmy Golen The Associated Press
NEWPORT, R.I. — Serena Williams made a surprise — and early — appearance at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, emerging from behind the stage to introduce “former rival, former fan and forever friend” Maria Sharapova for her induction.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion who will be eligible for her own enshrinement in 2027, drew gasps and shrieks from the crowd at the Newport shrine.
“There are only a few players in my career who challenged me to be the very best, every single time we stepped out on the court,” Williams said. “Maria Sharapova was one of them. Whenever I saw her name next to mine in the draw, I made sure I practiced harder.”
And the feeling was mutual.
“It’s a gift to have someone who motivates you to reach those heights. And I’ll forever be grateful for bringing out the best in me,” Sharapova said in her acceptance speech. “We both knew no other way than to ght our hearts out. ... We both hated to lose more than anything on this Earth, and we both knew that the other was the biggest obstacle between ourselves and the trophy.”
The rst Russian woman ever to reach No. 1 in the rankings and one of 10 women to complete the career Grand Slam, Sharapova was joined in the Class of 2025 by domi-
nating doubles team Mike and Bob Bryan. The twin brothers nished their speech with one of their trademark chest bumps.
Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova, Jim Courier, Stan Smith and Andy Roddick were among those in the crowd, wearing their blue Hall of Fame blazers. Sharapova and the Bryan brothers also received a cast tennis racket that is the hall’s newest o ering to inductees.
Sharapova was described in her introductory video as someone who “combined grit with glamour,” and some of the stylish out ts she competed in are already displayed in the
“When voices inevitably tell you to ease up, to round your edges, dull your ambition, I hope you can nd a way to ignore them.”
Maria Sharapova
hall — including a tuxedo-inspired dress she wore at Wimbledon in 2008. Williams noted that her rival was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 straight years — bolstered by
endorsement income that surpassed her on-court winnings.
“She showed us all how to take excellence on the court and turn it into excellence in business, and fashion, branding and everything that she touched,” Williams said. “She changed how women not only approached tennis, but sports and opportunity. She showed us that you can be erce on the court and strategic o the court, and unapologetically herself the entire time.”
Sharapova said her induction gave her a chance to look back — something she tried not to do when she was playing. And she credited her success to “embracing the struggles and leaning into the hard stu .”
“When voices inevitably tell you to ease up, to round your edges, dull your ambition, I hope you can nd a way to ignore them,” she said. “Compete ercely. Raise your standard. Set goals that intimidate you. And don’t forget to celebrate your victories, no matter how small.
“In giving my life to tennis, tennis gave me a life. And what a remarkable, remarkable life. And I’m so deeply grateful for it.”
The Bryans shared a speech as if they were taking turns hitting on a court, alternating at the microphone as they thanked coaches, friends and Davis Cup teammates from a career in which they won 119 ATP titles, including 16 Grand Slams, and an Olympic gold medal. They spent a record 438 weeks atop the world rankings.
Bob Bryan said he was fortunate because “for most of my career, I had the No. 1 player in the world across the hall.”
“Doubles was our love from Day 1,” Mike Bryan said. “We loved everything about doubles. We loved the strategy, the teamwork, sharing the highs and lows. Like our personalities, our games complemented each other perfectly.”
Women’s Professional Baseball League o ers new hope for female athletes
Launching in 2026, the league held tryouts in Washington, D.C.
By Alanis Thames The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Victoria Ruelas was 12 years old when she made history as the rst American girl to play in the Little League World Series. That was in 1989. And while Ruelas is proud of how far women in sports have come since her childhood, she can’t help but wish there were more opportunities for them to shine. Especially in baseball, where opportunities beyond youth leagues have so often required girls to take unusual paths, most of them alongside men.
“We keep saying how much strides we’re making,” Ruelas said. “But they’re so slow in coming. It just should be faster.
“I get excited when I see girls playing and getting to go to the Little League World Series every year. But to still be one here, one there — that’s upsetting to me. There’s so much more of us out there that play.”
Ruelas and many other women have carved out their own spaces in baseball over the years. Now, the wait for something more unifying is on the horizon with next year’s launch of the Women’s Professional Baseball League.
The league is holding its tryouts in Washington, D.C. While baseball stars like former Little League phenom Mo’ne Davis and USA baseball women’s national team player Kelsie Whitmore are already signed to the WPBL, the league’s tryouts are open to all women.
That has made way for competitors of all ages to chase their dream of playing professionally. For many, the tryouts are one of the rst times they’ve seen so many women’s baseball players in one place.
“I never thought I’d see this, ever,” said Monica Holguin, of Burbank, California. “You’re told when you’re younger, ‘Hey, you have to transition from baseball to softball because there’s no future in (baseball) for women.’ And so you just do it.”
The result for Holguin, 45, was turning her focus to raising her two children instead of pursuing a professional career.
“And then something like this pops up and you just say, ‘Hey, let’s just go do it,’” added Holguin, who tried out at third base. “You know, I really did it. I wanted to come out here, compete, and I wanted to show my kids, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can chase a dream.”
Age is no deterrent for Holguin and several other WPBL hopefuls, who are trying to open doors for the next generation of girls baseball players.
Ruelas, 48, played college
“I wanted to show my kids, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can chase a dream.”
Monica Holguin
softball at San Jose State and was on the U.S. team that competed in the 2001 Women’s World Series. She ew to Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii, for the tryouts and said, “Until my body says I cannot do this anymore, I’d like to keep playing.”
Micaela Minner, who owns a sports training company with her wife in Akron, Ohio, has accomplished plenty in her athletic career. She played baseball until age 15. She was a softball state champion in high school. She helped Missouri’s softball team reach the
2009 Women’s College World Series. And she played professional softball with the Akron Racers in Ohio.
Minner, now 40 and retired from softball, still feels a deep pull toward baseball — the sport that she said gave her a sense of belonging growing up in the small town Sanger, Texas.
Minner said her stepdad put her in baseball to keep “me out of trouble.”
Even though she played with boys, the sport made her feel part of something bigger.
“They loved me,” she said. “I t in, and me tting in made me love myself. And it saved me.”
Minner is trying out at rst base and as a left-handed pitcher for the WPBL. She said even if she doesn’t make the league, her hope is that playing professional baseball becomes a tangible goal for younger girls.
JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP PHOTO
Lauren Boden, second from right, Stephanie Everett, right, and other players talk in the dugout during the rst day of tryouts for the Women’s Professional Baseball League in Washington, D.C.
MICHEL EULER / AP PHOTO
Maria Sharapova holds the trophy after winning the 2012 French Open. The Russian star was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
New Beatles ‘Anthology’ projects to be released this fall
A restored version of the 1995 music documentary comes to Disney+ on Nov. 26
The Associated Press
BEATLES FANS will be feeling some “real love” for this: New content from the iconic band is coming this fall on screen, in music and in print.
“The Beatles Anthology” will be returning “in its ultimate form,” according to a release issued last Thursday.
The famed 1995 “Anthology” music documentary, recounting the band’s journey beginning with its Liverpool roots through to its explosive stardom, has been restored and remastered, and it will feature a new, ninth episode. It will stream on Disney+ beginning Nov. 26.
The ninth episode features behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Har -
rison and Ringo Starr coming together in 1994-95 to work on the series and “re ecting on their shared life as the Beatles.” Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, who died in 2016, has created new audio mixes for the majority of the featured music.
New “Anthology” music will be released Nov. 21. A fourth album, to be released alongside remastered versions of the rst three, includes 13 previously unreleased demos, session recordings and other rare recordings.
“Anthology 4” also includes, according to the release, new mixes of the Beatles’ “Anthology”-related hit singles: “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” The original “Free As A Bird” music video has also been restored. The two new mixes come alongside 2023’s “Now And Then,” the last Beatles song.
(All three singles were created from home demos that John Lennon, who was killed in
1980 outside the Dakota apartment building, recorded not long before, with vocal and instrumental parts later recorded by McCartney, Harrison and Starr.)
A 25th anniversary edition of the Beatles Anthology Book will arrive Oct. 14. In the book, all four Beatles recall the band’s journey. They’re joined by colleagues including Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Derek Taylor and others.
“‘The Anthology’ was always about their past, but this new edition con rms its enduring place in the present and future,’” the release noted.
The “Anthology” updates come as Beatles fans ready for not one, not two, but four feature lms about the band. All directed by Sam Mendes, the lms each focus on one Beatle. The lead actors will be Paul Mescal as McCartney, Joseph Quinn as Harrison, Barry Keoghan as Starr and Harris Dickinson as Lennon.
Teen girl murdered in paradise in twisty thriller ‘High
The book is reminiscent of Gillian Flynn’s “Sharp Objects”
The Associated Press
KATIE BISHOP nds heart and poignancy at the center of her artfully crafted thriller, “High Season,” setting it apart from other by-the-numbers beach reads.
At the center of the story is Nina Drayton, who, 20 years ago at age 5, was the sole witness to the murder of her sister, Tamara, by Josie Jackson, the daughter of their family’s summer housekeeper and her childhood babysitter. Nina was brought up to believe that her account of that wine-soaked night at her mother’s French villa was the reason Josie was put away and justice served. After the case faces renewed interest from a true crime in uencer, Nina begins to suspect that her story was faulty. At the same time, Josie returns to the scene of the crime searching for answers.
“High Season” has many moving parts — two timelines, ve viewpoints in total — and it also manages to serve as an exploration of our true crime obsession. Bishop acknowledges the double-edged sword of armchair detecting: the interest brings attention to forgotten cases but also makes it impossible for anyone to move on from it under renewed scrutiny. The promise of
Season’
for hiding their suspicions for 20 years.
justice is thinner than the promise of entertainment and gossip about a cast of suspects and victims, most of whom will never meet. The POV shifts feel natural rather than jarring, jagged pieces of a story. Bishop knows when it makes sense to see the world through one character, and then, in the next chapter, add a piece of the puzzle from a di erent character. It serves as a reminder that everyone has their own story of what they believed happened the night of the murder and their reasons
The most poignant parts of the novel are told by Tamara herself — Bishop could have easily made her victim another “poor little rich girl” by just having other people’s memories and judgments of her serve as her narrative. By giving Tamara her part of the story and making her a eshed-out character, we feel the grief that comes with her death and the hole it’s made for so many people. The novel also does a good job exploring how the glittering glamor of the Drayton family is out of reach for the working-class teenage girls in town and the lengths they will go to try to t in (or not) with the shiny elite. Josie’s teenage best friend, Hannah, has a crucial arc about the dangers of trying to shape yourself into someone else’s world at any cost. The treatment Hannah receives at the hands of Blake, Nina’s older brother, is chilling and an accurate depiction of how some men treat women they feel are beneath them.
The weak part of the novel is the climax of the truth coming out. It felt like an arti cial set-up for a story that otherwise owed along on the merits of Bishop’s lyrical writing and the tense atmosphere she created. What might have been cathartic felt too much like spectacle and deprived the reader of the emotion and suspense of the rest of the book.
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS VIA AP
“High Season” author Katie Bishop writes for several outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Vice and Vogue.
this week in history
King delivers “I Have a Dream,” Katrina hits Gulf Coast, Diana dies in Paris crash
The Associated Press
AUG. 28
1845: The rst issue of “Scienti c American” magazine was published; it remains the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States.
1898: Pharmacist Caleb Bradham of New Bern renamed his carbonated drink Pepsi-Cola, ve years after rst creating it as Brad’s Drink.
1955: Emmett Till, a black teen from Chicago, was abducted in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman and was found slain days later.
1963: During the March on Washington, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech before an estimated 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
AUG. 29
1814: During the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, formally surrendered to British military forces, which occupied the city until Sept. 3. 1944: Approximately 15,000
American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis.
2005: Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring oods that devastated New Orleans. Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200 billion in damage.
AUG. 30
1916: On his fourth attempt, explorer Ernest Shackleton rescued 22 crew members stranded on Antarctica’s Elephant Island for four and a half months after the Endurance sank.
1963: The “Hot Line” communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation.
1967: The Senate con rmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the rst black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
AUG. 31
1881: The rst U.S. tennis championships (for men only) began in Newport, Rhode Island.
1886: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of up to 7.3 devastated Charleston, South Carolina, killing at least 60 people.
bird species on Earth, went extinct as the last known example, named Martha, died.
1939: Nazi Germany invaded Poland, an event regarded as the start of World War II.
1985: A U.S.-French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic o the coast of Newfoundland.
SEPT. 2
1666: The Great Fire of London began, which would destroy more than 13,000 homes and hundreds of additional structures, including St Paul’s Cathedral.
Aug. 28, 1898.
1962: The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became independent of British colonial rule.
1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed after the car she was riding in crashed in Paris; her partner Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul also died.
SEPT. 1
1715: Following a reign of 72 years, King Louis XIV of France died four days before his 77th birthday; he was succeeded by his 5-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV.
1914: The passenger pigeon, once one of the most abundant
In ‘Splitsville,’ a screwball comedy of in delity with some cinematic verve
The lm belongs more to a zany tradition stretching back to the 1930s
By Jake Coyle The Associated Press
YOU CAN SAY THIS: Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin know how to start a movie.
Their 2020 breakout lm, “The Climb,” begins with two best friends on a bike ride just before Kyle (Marvin) is to be wed. Mid-climb, Mike (Covino) confesses he slept with the bride-to-be. In one long take, an argument on two wheels ensues, with hu ng and pu ng in between.
Their new follow-up to that lm, “Splitsville,” likewise kicks o with heartbreak on the open road. This time, Carey (Marvin), a gym teacher, is driving along a highway with his life coach wife, Ashley (Adria Arjona). They seem happy enough, though there are hints of trouble. When Ashley says she wants to have new experiences, Carey suggests pottery. Ashley corrects him: “I meant sexual.”
When an erratic driver careens o the road, they run to check on the passengers. Finding the woman thrown clear of the car, Ashley — faced with her own mortality — decides then and there to get a divorce.
In both “The Climb” and “Splitsville,” these are just the rst sharp turns in relationship roller coasters that unfold in clattering one-take set piec-
solutions
es mixed with nakedly frank heart-to-hearts. Their movies — Covino directs; they write together — are a little like Wile E. Coyote versions of a rom-com. And part of their considerable appeal is in how much Marvin and Covino are willing to put themselves through the ringer.
Like “The Climb,” “Splitsville” is a relationship farce that keeps amplifying and recycling.
From the scene of the accident, as the credits unspool, Carey trudges seemingly aimless across the countryside. (Splitsville is Nowheresville.) Eventually, though, he arrives at the handsome lakeside home of his childhood best friend, Paul (Covino), who lives there with his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson) and young son Russ (Simon Webster).
1789: The United States Treasury Department was established.
1864: During the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces occupied Atlanta. 1945: Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.
SEPT. 3
1783: Representatives of the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, which o cially ended the Revolutionary War and recognized U.S. sovereignty.
1861: During the Civil War, Confederate forces invaded the border state of Kentucky.
Paul and Carey have a close enough relationship that Paul comes right into the shower to check for ticks on Carey. Later that night, he and Julie casually acknowledge that they have an open marriage. Julie, for instance, could sleep with anyone. Even Carey, they note. Much of the fun of “Splitsville” is seeing how things topple from here, but it’s obvious enough that Julie and Paul’s agreement will get tested, very quickly. From there, the four central characters of the lm — Carey, Paul, Julie and Ashley — will take various turns in less of a romantic triangle than an adult game of musical chairs.
Though there are elaborately choreographed long takes that smack of contemporary moviemaking, “Splitsville” belongs more to a screwball tradition stretching back to the 1930s.
I’m convinced, though, that the performer here who would have been most at home in that bygone comedy heyday is Johnson. For the second time this year, following “Materalists,” she nds herself caught between the a ections of two men.
The twists and turns of “Splitsville” can grow a little tiresome. Reversals pile on top of each other. But in a movie about in delity where everyone is lying more to themselves than to their partners, those patterns e ectively lead back to where everyone started.
Three stars out of four.
THE INDEPENDENT VIA WIKIPEDIA
New Bern pharmacist Caleb Bradham renamed his tonic Brad’s Drink to Pepsi-Cola on
NEON VIA AP
From left, Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Adria Arjona and Dakota Johnson star in “Splitsville.”
MOVIE REVIEW
famous birthdays this week
Shania Twain is 60, Warren Bu et turns 95, Cameron Diaz turns 53, Van Morrison hits 80
THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.
AUG. 28
Actor Ken Jenkins (“Scrubs”) is 85. Former MLB manager and player Lou Piniella is 82. Former MLB pitcher Ron Guidry is 75. Actor Daniel Stern is 68. Jennifer Coolidge is 64. Film director David Fincher is 63. Country singer Shania Twain is 60. Actor Jack Black is 56. Actor Jason Priestley is 56.
AUG. 29
Actor Elliott Gould is 87. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is 87. Olympic gold medal sprinter Wyomia Tyus is 80. Animal behaviorist and autism educator Temple Grandin is 78. Rebecca De Mornay is 66.
AUG. 30
Investor and philanthropist Warren Bu et is 95. Actor Elizabeth Ashley is 86. Actor John Kani is 83. Cartoonist Robert Crumb is 82. Comedian Lewis Black is 77. North Carolina U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis is 65. Actor Cameron Diaz is 53.
AUG. 31
Violinist Itzhak Perlman is 80. Singer Van Morrison is 80. Rock musician Rudolf Schenker (The Scorpions) is 77. Actor Richard Gere is 76. Attorney and author Marcia Clark is 72. Actor Chris Tucker is 54.
SEPT. 1
Attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz is 87. Comedian-actor Lily Tomlin is 86. Singer Barry Gibb is 79. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw is 75.
Singer Gloria Estefan is 68.
SEPT. 2
Former Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth is 88. Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 77.
Actor Mark Harmon is 74. Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Con-
nors is 73.
61.
SEPT. 3
Singer-musician Al Jardine (The Beach Boys) is 82. Actor Valerie Perrine is 82. Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet is 72. Rock guitarist Steve Jones (The Sex Pistols) is 70. Actor Steve Schirripa (“The Sopranos”) is 67. Author Malcolm Gladwell is 62. Actor Charlie Sheen is 60.
Actor Keanu Reeves is
Boxing Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis is 60.
ROB BOGAERTS VIA WIKIPEDIA
Actor Valerie Perrine, seen in a scene from the 1974 lm “Lenny,” turns 82 on Wednesday.
ANDY KROPA / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Dr. Phil McGraw visits “Jesse Watters Primetime” in New York in 2024. The famous TV show host turns 75 on Monday.
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / AP PHOTO
Lennox Lewis throws a right at David Tua during the second round of their heavyweight championship bout in 2000. The boxing hall of famer turns 60 on Tuesday.
the stream
Sabrina Carpenter, Eminem’s ‘Stans,’ sci- comedy ‘Upload’ returns to Prime
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley play detective in “The Thursday Murder Club”
The Associated Press
SABRINA CARPENTER’S seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend,” and Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan 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: Some of the West’s biggest musicians are getting the K-pop treatment in the TV series “KPopped,” video game maker Sega tries to revive the Shinobi franchise and there’s Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan,” a lifestyle series from the Duchess of Sussex.
MOVIES TO STREAM
Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts*” didn’t make quite the mark in theaters that many expected it to, but the Jake Schreier-directed lm was still one of the most acclaimed MCU releases in years. After hitting theaters in early May, “Thunderbolts*” is now streaming on Disney+. With an ensemble including Pugh, Stan, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour, it follows a gang of ragtag superheroes who reluctantly come together as a team.
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie play elderly amateur sleuths in Chris Columbus’ “The Thursday Murder Club” (Net ix, Thursday). In the lm, based on Richard Osman’s 2020 novel, the group attempts to solve a crime from their seniors’ residence, Coopers Chase. Expect a cozy murder mystery with mature star power. Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s “The Friend” (Now on Paramount+) stars Naomi Watts as a New York writer who reluctantly inherits the dog of her deceased mentor (Bill Murray). The dog isn’t just any dog, either, but a mammoth Great Dane named Apollo. The adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel is very much a dog movie, but it’s also one about processing grief. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “one of those movies people complain they don’t make anymore, although its existence is a reminder that they
do still make ‘them,’ meaning smart, emotionally authentic stories about people who seem real.”
MUSIC TO STREAM
Who’s a good girl? Carpenter hopes to be when she releases her seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend.” It will drop almost exactly a year after she released breakthrough album “Short n’ Sweet,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Carpenter has been enlisting a golden retriever puppy and fans to unveil
her track list on social media. Stans of stans, unite. “Stans,” the Marshall Mathers-produced documentary about a cast of superfans of Eminem, directed by Steven Leckart, is on Paramount+. Eminem named the phenomenon 25 years ago with the release of his song “Stan” about an obsessive fan, which prompted the Oxford English Dictionary to eventually add the term. The lm “o ers a raw, loud and revealing journey across Eminem’s career — and the passionate audience that has grown with him.” Apple TV+ has a new mu-
sic competition series featuring iconic songs by some of the world’s biggest Western pop stars as they get the K-pop treatment. “KPopped” features K-pop groups ITZY, JO1, Kiss of Life, Blackswan, STAYC, KEP1ER, Ateez and Billlie teamed up with Western artists like Meg, Kesha, Patti Labelle, Kylie Minogue, the Spice Girls’ Mel B and Emma Bunton, Vanilla Ice, Taylor Dayne, Eve, J Balvin, Ava Max, Boyz II Men, Boy George, TLC and Jess Glynne. Together, o er new spins on classic songs like “Ice Ice Baby,” “Lady Marmalade,” “Waterfalls,” “Motownphilly” and “Karma Chameleon.” All eight episodes stream Friday.
SERIES TO STREAM
The sci- comedy “Upload” hits Prime Video for its fourth and nal season. Starring Robbie Amell, the series takes place in the not-too-distant future where humans can pay to upload their mind to a virtual afterlife when they die. Amell’s Nathan uploads in the rst episode and ends up falling for Nora, a human concierge assigned to help his transition go smoothly. Talk about a long-distance relationship! Created by Greg Daniels, who also created “The O ce,” the show deals with themes of class and ethics in technology.
“My Funeral” is a new Icelandic dark comedy about a man who on the same day as his retirement, a cantankerous man learns he has an incurable brain tumor and decides to host his own funeral. “My Funeral” can be seen on MhZ Choice, a streaming service for international titles.
More ower sprinkles! Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan,” a lifestyle series from the Duchess of Sussex is back on Net ix. The new episodes feature celebs like Chrissy Teigen, Tan France and chef José Andrés, who visit the former actor living well in Montecito.
Prime Video’s “The Terminal List” rewinds with a new prequel series starring Taylor Kitsch’s Navy SEAL-turned- CIA operative. “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf” is now available. Chris Pratt (who is also working on a second season of the original) also reprises his character. The franchise is based on books by Jack Carr.
Thanks to celebrities like Halle Berry and Naomi Watts, menopause has become a more mainstream topic in recent years, and a new comedy pokes fun at a woman’s journey through what grandma used to call “the change” or “the change of life.” “Middlehood” stars Elena Wohl as a woman going through a bit of a midlife crisis as she deals aging. The eight-episode series is streaming on YouTube.
For those hooked on the love triangle between Belly and brothers Jeremiah and Conrad in Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Net ix has a returning title to o er. Season two of “My Life with the Walter Boys” arrives on the streamer on Thursday. It follows a teen who moves in with family friends after her parents die and nds herself torn between two brothers. “Walter Boys” is based on a book by Ali Novak that was rst published on Wattpad.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
The Knightling is hardly your typical dragon slayer — for starters, he doesn’t even have a sword. He does, however, have a magic shield that he can ride, kind of like a ying saucer. That’s enough to get him around the exotic land of Clesseia as he searches for the legendary Sir Lionstone. The journey begins Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
DISNEY-MARVEL STUDIOS VIA AP
From left, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour star in “Thunderbolts*.”
Naomi Watts stars in the adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning “The Friend.”
“Stans,” a documentary about a cast of superfans of Eminem, left, and the series “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf,” right, are streaming this week.
