the BRIEF this week
Trump tells UN in speech it’s “not even coming close to living up” to potential
President Donald Trump has returned to the United Nations to boast of his second-term foreign policy achievements and lash out at the world body as a feckless institution. He also warned Europe it would be ruined if it doesn’t turn away from a “double-tailed monster” of ill-conceived migration and green energy policies. World leaders listened closely to his Tuesday remarks at the U.N. General Assembly as Trump has already moved quickly to diminish U.S. support for the world body in his rst eight months in o ce. After his speech, Trump met with Secretary-General António Guterres and told the top U.N. o cial that the U.S. is behind the global body “100%” amid fears among members that he’s edging toward a full retreat.
Secret Service dismantles telecom threat around UN capable of crippling cell service in NYC
The U.S. Secret Service has dismantled a massive hidden telecom network in New York. Investigators say the system could have crippled cell towers and jammed 911 calls. The cache included over 300 SIM servers with more than 100,000 SIM cards. It was located within 35 miles of the United Nations. The network could have blacked out cellular service, especially during the United Nations General Assembly. O cials have not uncovered a direct plot against the assembly. Authorities suspect nationstate actors.
Capture the ag
Siler City Parks and Recreation’s fall season of youth ag football wrapped up this week at Bray Park, including these youngsters in the age 4-5 division last Wednesday evening. Turn to Sports for more on the burgeoning ag football leagues in Chatham County.
Commissioners consider potential expansion of metal fabrication plant
The rezoning request would allow Bear Creek Fabrication to grow its business
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — The Chatham County Board of Commissioners met Sept. 15 for its regular business meeting.
The board held three public hearings, with one being for a rezoning request for approximately 10 acres of property located at 1656 Campbell Road from residential to heavy industrial.
“The neighboring property,
where Bear Creek Fabrication is currently located, was initially zoned R1 back in 2016 when we zoned the county,” said planner Hunter Glenn. “In 2018, it was rezoned as heavy industrial as part of a commissioner initiated rezoning for businesses that were formerly in the unzoned portions of the county.”
According to attorney Nick Robinson, who was representing the applicant, the company has been experiencing steady growth and is looking for an opportunity to expand their operations on the parcel northwest of the current metal fabrication plant.
“The parcel that they already own and use is zoned heavy
See PLANT, page A2
Siler City commissioners presented with greenway expansion study
The study indenti ed four major connection upgrades for the Loves Creek Greenway
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — The Town of Siler City Board of Commissioners were presented with the nd-
ings from its Loves Creek Greenway Phase 2 and 3 feasibility study at its Sept. 15 meeting.
The study, which was funded through the Central Pines Regional Council and done by
McAdams, looked into the potential expansion of the Loves Creek Greenway, a 1.4-mile paved trail. “Loves Creek Greenway was a project we did many years ago,” said Planning Director Timothy Mack. “It was our rst phase, and we got it completed. Thankfully it was DOT fund-
Ukrainian refugee’s train stabbing death becomes early ashpoint in 2026 Senate race
“It’s pretty simple: A vote for Roy Cooper is a vote for more crime, more violence, more criminals.”
Michael Whatley, GOP candidate
Republicans target Democratic candidates over criminal justice policies
By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press
RALEIGH — Republicans in North Carolina and beyond are making a concerted e ort to turn the stabbing death of a Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte commuter train into a political liability for Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper in his
U.S.
race that is still more than a year away.
GOP candidate Michael Whatley has said Cooper bears “direct responsibility” for the deadly Aug. 22 attack on Iryna Zarutska because of a commission he created in June 2020 to address racial inequity in the criminal justice system. The panel’s unveiling occurred weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. But Cooper’s campaign said Whatley, a recent Republican National Committee chairman, was lying about the task force. Cooper “knows North Carolinians need to be safe in
See RACE, page A10
ed and it was our rst take at greenways.”
“A feasibility study is really a bridge between planning projects and construction projects,” said Will Washam, McAdams senior greenway planner. “The town has done the pedestrian
See GREENWAY, page A7
THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Sept. 15
• Janivis Quondez Wimbush, 33, of Talbotton, was arrested for attempting to obtain property by false pretenses, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretenses and exploiting a disabled or elderly person.
• Randy Scott Holton, 52, of Bear Creek, was arrested for second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
• Terryl Antonio White, 44, of Siler City, was arrested for possession with intent to sell or deliver Schedule II controlled substances, possession with intent to sell or deliver Schedule IV controlled substances and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances.
• Noah Bryson Jones, 18, of Pittsboro, was arrested for breaking and entering, felony larceny, possession or receiving stolen property and assault on an individual with a disability.
• Eliezer David Tanon, 37, of Goldston, was arrested for assault on a female.
Sept. 16
• Arnold Murray Degra eneraidt, 60, of Goldston, was arrested for involuntary manslaughter, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances and felony possession of cocaine.
• Heather Marie Hopkins, 42, of Moncure, was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
• Dianne Barber Gaster, 74, of Moncure, was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
• Alejandro Aucestovar, 50, of Pittsboro, was arrested for violating a domestic violence protective order.
USDA
o ers $1B in relief to livestock producers a ected by oods
The program will help o set increased feed costs for disasters in 2023 and 2024
Chatham News & Record sta
THE U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide approximately $1 billion in disaster recovery assistance to livestock producers a ected by oods and wild res in 2023 and 2024, Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced.
The Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wild re will help eligible producers o set increased supplemental feed costs resulting from qualifying disasters. Sign-ups have started, with applications accepted through Oct. 31. The USDA’s Farm Service
Agency has identi ed counties with qualifying oods and wild res for both years. Chatham County is included on the approved list for ooding from September 2024, when Hurricane Helene impacted the region, meaning local producers won’t need to submit supporting documentation. A full list of eligible counties is available at fsa.usda.gov/elrp.
The program covers weaned beef cattle, dairy cattle, beefalo, bu alo, bison, alpacas, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, ostriches, reindeer and sheep.
Wild re assistance applies to nonfederally managed land for participants who didn’t receive aid through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program or the earlier ELRP drought and wild re program delivered in July.
Eligible producers can re-
ceive up to 60% of one month’s calculated feed costs for wildre damage or three months for ood damage. The program has a $125,000 payment limit for each year, though producers can request an exception to increase the limit to $250,000.
Producers may receive assistance for one or both years and for multiple qualifying disasters but cannot exceed three months of assistance per producer, location and program year.
Applicants must provide documentation supporting their eligible livestock inventories as of the beginning date of the qualifying disaster event.
For more information, producers should contact the Pittsboro Service Center Farm Service Agency O ce at 919 -542-2244, ext. 2. The ofce is located at 1192 U.S. 64 West Business in Pittsboro.
Share with your community!
Send your birth, death, marriage, graduation and other announcements to community@chathamnewsrecord.com. Weekly deadline is Monday at noon.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:
Sept. 25
Pittsboro Farmers Market
3-6 p.m.
This year-round growers-only market o ers fresh produce, owers, eggs, meats and artisan goods from farms within a 50-mile radius. Live music often accompanies the weekly gathering under the solar panels.
The Plant 220 Lorax Lane Pittsboro
Sept. 26
Live Music at Roost Beer Garden
5-7 p.m.
Enjoy wood- red pizzas and local brews while listening to Bill Baucom perform at Fearrington Village’s outdoor venue. The beer garden o ers a relaxed atmosphere with views of the countryside and resident Belted Galloway cows.
Roost Beer Garden at Fearrington Village 2000 Fearrington Village Center Pittsboro
Sept. 27
Henry David Thoreau: A Yogic Life 1-3 p.m.
Explore the philosophical and spiritual side of the famous naturalist in this free presentation examining Thoreau’s connections to Eastern philosophy and meditation practices. The program includes discussion and Q&A in the library’s meeting room.
Chatham Community Library 197 N.C. Highway 87 N. Pittsboro
Sept.
28
Poetry Reading Series 2-3 p.m.
McIntyre’s Books hosts the monthly North Carolina Poetry Society reading featuring poets Claudine Moreau, Liz Wol Francis and Lola Haskins. The free event celebrates local and regional literary talent in an intimate bookstore setting.
McIntyre’s Books 500 Village Center Fearrington Village
Sept. 30
Public Input Session on Regional Hazards 6 p.m.
Share your concerns and ideas about natural disaster preparedness as the county updates its hazard mitigation plan. Community input helps shape strategies for reducing risks from oods, storms and other potential emergencies.
Chatham County Emergency Operations Center 112 Innovation Way Pittsboro
Hurricane Helene hit a year ago; some students never returned to school
More than 2,500 students became homeless after the storm
By Makiya Seminera, Laura Hackett and Jose Sandoval
The Associated Press
SWANNANOA — When
12-year-old Natalie Briggs visited the ruins of her home after Hurricane Helene, she had to tightrope across a wooden beam to reach what was once her bedroom. Knots of electrical wires were draped inside the skeleton of the house. Months after the storm, light ltered through breaks in the tarps over the windows. “All I could think of was, ‘This isn’t my house,’” said Natalie, who had been staying in her grandparents’ basement.
Thousands of students across western North Carolina lost their homes a year ago when Helene hit with some of the most vicious oods, landslides and wind ever seen in the state’s Appalachian region, once considered a “climate haven.” Across the state, more than 2,500 students were identi ed as homeless as a direct result of Helene, according to state data obtained by The Associated Press.
At school, Natalie sometimes had panic attacks when she thought of her ruined home in Swannanoa.
“There were some points where I just didn’t want people to talk to me about the house — or just, like, talk to me at all,” Natalie said.
While storm debris has been mostly cleared away, the impact of the displacement lingers for the region’s children. Schools reopened long before many students returned to their homes, and their learning and well-being have yet to recover.
The phenomenon is increasingly common as natural disasters disrupt U.S. communities more frequently and with more ferocity.
In the North Carolina mountains, the challenge of recovery is especially acute. After all, many families in rural, low-income areas already deal with challenges such as food insecurity and rent a ordability, said Cassandra Davis, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill public policy professor.
“I would almost argue that they don’t get the opportunity to recover,” Davis said.
Finding stable housing became all-consuming
After Helene ooded her rental home in Black Mountain, Bonnie Christine Goggins-Jones and her two teenage grandchildren had to leave behind nearly all their belongings.
“They lost their bed, clothes, shoes, their book bag,” she said.
The family lived in a motel, a leaky donated camper and another camper before moving into a new apartment in June.
Goggins-Jones, a school bus aide at Asheville City Schools, struggled to heat the camper during winter. Her grandchildren kept going to school, but it wasn’t top of mind.
The area around Asheville, western North Carolina’s largest city, still has a signi cant housing shortage a year after the storm.
The family of America Sanchez Chavez, 11, had to split up to nd housing. Helene left their
trailer home in Swannanoa uninhabitable, and money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn’t enough to cover the renovations.
America and some relatives went to stay at her grandmother’s apartment, while her older brother lived at a friend’s house. Eventually, America moved with her mother to a room at a Black Mountain hotel where she works.
America said she is still frightened by rain or thunder.
“At one point when the rain actually got, like, pretty bad ... I did get scared for a while,” she said.
Helene damaged more than 73,000 homes, knocking out electricity and water for weeks if not months. The destruction of local infrastructure also closed schools for large stretches of time, and a barrage of snow days exacerbated the time out of class even more. In rural Yancey County, which has approximately 18,000 residents, students missed more than two months of school last year.
Displaced students spread across North Carolina
After natural disasters, it’s common to see a surge in students living in unstable, temporary arrangements, such as sleeping on a couch, staying in a shelter, or doubling up with another family, according to research from UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools. Those arrangements qualify students as homeless under federal law.
In Puerto Rico, more than 6,700 students were identi ed as homeless in Hurricane Maria’s aftermath during the 2017-18 school year, the study found. Hawaii saw a 59% increase in its homeless student population following the 2023 Maui wild res.
In Helene’s aftermath, student homelessness spiked in several hard-hit counties, according to AP’s analysis of data from the North Carolina Homeless Education Program.
Yancey County saw the region’s highest percentage increase. The number of homeless students went from 21 in the 2023-24 school year to 112 last school year. All but 15 were homeless due to Helene.
Some students enrolled in other school systems, at least temporarily. Others never returned.
Terri Dolan of Swannanoa sent her two young children to stay with her parents in Charlotte ahead of the storm. After seeing the extent of the devastation, Dolan had them enroll in school there. They stayed over a month before returning home.
“My job is to make money for our family, and their job is to go
to school,’” Dolan says she’d always told her kids. “Just because the school wasn’t open here, I felt like they needed to go to school and do their job.”
Some districts receive federal money for services such as transporting homeless students to their usual school buildings and providing tutoring under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. But districts must apply in a competitive process, and they can’t request more money immediately after a natural disaster until the next application cycle. Many miss out on McKinney-Vento funding entirely.
Helene-impacted students made up at least a fth of the homeless population in 16 counties, but only six counties received McKinney-Vento money last funding cycle. Nationally, only 1 in 5 school districts receives McKinney-Vento money due to limited funds, said Barbara Du eld, executive director of Schoolhouse Connection, a nonpro t that advocates for homeless students.
“If there’s a disaster, it’s going to involve districts that don’t get money from McKinney-Vento,” Du eld said.
Housing instability has lasting impact
Gwendolyn Bode, a prelaw student at Appalachian State University, had to leave her mudwrecked apartment complex after Helene. Told she couldn’t get campus housing, she found an Airbnb where she could stay at until her FEMA housing application went through, and then she moved into a hotel.
She felt like she was drowning as she tried to keep up with her classes and a part-time job.
“I can’t tell you what I learned,” Bode said. “I can’t even tell you when I went to class because (mentally) I wasn’t there.” She found more stability after moving into an apartment for the spring semester.
For Natalie Briggs, now 13, the grief of losing almost everything, coupled with the tight quarters in her grandparents’ basement, sometimes got to her — and to her mother, Liz Barker. Barker said it felt like a “time with no rules” because there was so much to deal with on top of her job as a health care worker.
The circumstances sometimes led to friction. But Barker said overall, she and Natalie had “done pretty well” together.
“She’s been a little bit more loving since all of this happened,” Barker said, smiling at her daughter.
“I give her hugs and stu ,” Natalie said, “and I’ll tell her I love her, more than I did.”
industrial, so it makes sense that the parcel that they expand onto would have the same zoning,” Robinson said. Also according to Robinson, if approved, the applicants predict that in the next 12-24 months, the business would expand production enough to add an additional 10-15 full-time employees.
There were, however, community concerns raised about the impact of tra c on Campbell Road and the noise generated from the facility.
The item will be further discussed by the Chatham County Planning Board, who the commissioners recommended the item to after the hearing.
The planning board meets on the rst Tuesday of every month.
The second hearing was for the adoption of a resolution certifying its commitment for the provision of $31,000 to Aging Services. The money is a 10% match from the county as part of the application for the North Carolina Department of Transportation 5310 Grant.
“This will enable our department to continue partnering with Chatham Transit Network and providing essential transportation services for individuals 60 years of age or greater,” said Aging Services Deputy Director Zach Deaton. “Services include rides to and from our centers for active living where we o er congregate nutrition and daily wellness programming, grocery trips and medical appointments as funding allows.”
The nal hearing was to further push back the implementation of the Uni ed Development Ordinance by another year to Dec. 31, 2026.
“There has been no movement regarding the legislature on the down-zoning issues that are prohibiting us from implementing our UDO,” said Chance Mullis, assistant planning director. “At this point, there are many other communities in the same boat as us, and we think it’s just the right time to try and move that e ective date yet again.
“This will allow more time to hopefully see some sort of positive repeal of the down-zoning law that is in place.”
The board also was presented with a subdivision rst plat review for the Meadow Pointe Subdivision.
The development is a 40-lot, approximately 202-acre neighborhood located o of N.C. Highway 87.
According to the site plan, the development will also be a gated community that utilizes private roads as well and septic for its water and wastewater.
Following the presentation, the board recommended the item to the planning board for further review.
“I’m concerned about any large development,” said Commissioner Amanda Robertson. “I really want to make sure that we take every opportunity to advocate for greater conservation measures, particularly when we get into the rural parts of the county.”
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will next meet Oct. 20.
CHOOSE: GOD’S SHEEP OR DEVIL’S GOAT
Bible study: Matthew 25:31-46 Church of Living Water; Pastor: James Mitchell.
We are all asking, oh God, how could this happen to such a wonderful servant as Charlie Kirk? He opened so many blinded minds to see what Jesus did for all sinners who truly turn from their evil ways. He was also truly America First, on the right side of life. He brought so many into the MAGA movement. We don’t burn down cities or shoot/kill those who disagree with those on the right side. The extreme left has been taken over by demonic spirits. These evil spirits are laughing, mocking, and rejoicing that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. We have never seen such evil in America as today. God’s Word tells us this will be happening in the last days. God told me, “Charlie had Sleeping Giant has awakened because of Charlie’s service. Those evil left-wing haters will be brought to justice. God said, “Vengeance belongs to Him, and them to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All of you on the left, repent and come to the right side of life before it’s too late. Those on the right will inherit the Kingdom of God. Those on the left will be cursed, into God will forgive you of all your sins! What a loving, merciful Father! So, all mankind can choose to be a sheep serving God or a goat serving the devil. I pray all blind souls see God’s truth, in Jesus’ name
PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH / AP PHOTO
Piles of debris sit in front of homes in Swannanoa on Dec. 3, 2024, after damage from Hurricane Helene.
Nicole Schoychid, left, and Rebekah Canu, cofounders of Wildwood Agile Leaning Center, embrace inside the schoolhouse, which was damaged by ooding in Hurricane Helene, as they are surrounded by debris and mud on Dec. 5, 2024, in Boone.
THE CONVERSATION
Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
COLUMN | ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN
On canceling free speech
America today needs voices of civility and humor who seek to ease tensions rather than fan the ame.
I FIRST LEARNED of Charlie Kirk a couple of years ago. I tuned into a podcast, and Kirk made a derogatory comment about Muslims that I considered ignorant and o ensive. He may have been joking, but I didn’t consider it funny. I clicked o the podcast.
But I did not think Kirk should be canceled. In fact, I was originally interested in his platform because I heard he was an advocate for free speech.
Following Kirk’s assassination, there were tasteless and obscene online remarks about his tragic death. The internet can be a cesspool. However, it distresses me that the apparent fallout of Kirk’s killing is the restriction of the First Amendment to free speech and free press, which is not only a fundamental right but also a freedom that, as I’ve already mentioned, Kirk tried to uphold. While conservative commentators may stress they are not calling for more “cancel culture,” methinks they doth protest too much.
America today needs voices of civility and humor who seek to ease tensions rather than fan the ame. As was noted long ago, words are powerful enough to set a forest on re by a small spark (James 3:5). For instance, I can understand how Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue could be perceived as in ammatory, ignorant or o ensive by some.
But at no point do we need a restriction of freedoms. We certainly do not need the chair of the Federal Communications Commission to sound like Tony Soprano: “Look, we can do this the easy way, or we
can do this the hard way.” Sen. Ted Cruz called this statement by FCC Chair Brendan Carr “unbelievably dangerous” and noted it could back re if the opposing political party were to regain power.
Note that before he became a conservative politician, Cruz clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Rehnquist’s most famous (infamous) opinion regarding free speech was the 1988 decision that Larry Flynt of “Hustler Magazine” had the right to parody the Rev. Jerry Falwell. This decision sparked a restorm of protest from the Religious Right, but I don’t believe Rehnquist had sympathies for the publisher of a sex magazine over a pastor. Rehnquist’s 1994 ruling upheld the right of anti-abortion protesters to gather and display signs outside an abortion clinic. Neither ruling sided with one side of a cultural war but sought to uphold the First Amendment. If something o ends you, change the channel, but let’s keep the government out of the censorship business. There is no universal remote that can easily change the whims of the prevailing political party. The ideal of free speech was wonderfully articulated to me years ago by an elderly farmer who said, “I’ll grant you the right to be wrong as long as you’ll give me the same.”
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.
Breakfasts of the past gone with the wind
To combat the urge to skip breakfast or eat at the drivethru, cereal companies are beginning to tout that it’s cheaper to eat at home.
IT’S BEEN SAID we are what we eat.
If that’s so, I’m in trouble.
Although I have been trying recently, albeit not always successfully, to eat just half of a chicken instead of the whole bird, at times the issue has often been not the amount of the meal but its content.
For instance, as a child, one of my favorite dishes was a bologna, peanut butter, cheese and catsup sandwich consumed with a cold bellywasher. Most everyone I mention that to these days usually says something like “Ugh.” I’m not sure if that comment is a re ection of the food or they don’t want to wind up with a gure like mine, created in part by the consumption of a signi cant number of those sandwiches.
While it’s been a while since I’ve had one — or two — of those delightful creations, there are some other combinations no one else in my family seems to like as much as I do. For instance, mixing scrambled eggs, grits, cheese, bacon or sausage and toast in a bowl, topped with catsup, comes to mind as one. I’m beginning to think it may be the love of catsup that other folks don’t have that drives them away. Our friends in Washington say catsup is a vegetable, so I’m sure I’m getting my recommended daily allowance of something.
Anyway, I ran across a story in the Sunday paper a little while back that said a childhood favorite was in the ght of its business life. Cereal, the story said, was in a pitched battle for its life on two fronts: competition from granola bars and yogurt and juice on one, and behavior habits — not everyone gets up in time for a “good breakfast” — on the other.
More and more folks, especially the millennials — those folks between 14 and 32 — are giving up on Cap’n
Crunch and having a bowl of dirt or rocks or whatever is the fad of the day, if they eat breakfast at all. If not that, they’re having a homemade glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice from organic carrots grown in Lower Slobovia by a group of left-handed, bald Philistine monks or driving through their local fast food for whatever is on the dollar menu.
Many of them are not eating at all or waiting until 11. So sitting down with Snap, Crackle and Pop around the breakfast table with Mom and Dad and Billy and Sally and don’t forget Rover — like they did in “Father Knows Best” — isn’t the highlight of the day for them.
Granted, there are a few of the boxes on the cereal aisle that should be named “Tons O’Sugar” or something similar. And I can appreciate the need to avoid so much of that stu as my body, which is now older than my mind, tries to maintain a measure of stability. And I must confess, I nd it hard to pay $8 for a 12-ounce box of crumbs that settled during shipping.
To combat the urge to skip breakfast or eat at the drive-thru, cereal companies are beginning to tout that it’s cheaper to eat at home. But until that $8.00 box starts going for $4.50, that may be a hard sale.
The reality is this: things — taste, cost, tradition — change. If I could still down half a pound of bacon with a setting of eggs, a pan of biscuits and a pot of grits, there’s no doubt what my breakfast habits would be; forget the cost. It’s just that my doctor won’t let me. But so far, catsup is not on the endangered list.
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
COLUMN | JAN HUTTON
My personal bandit
Desperation drove my persistence. And, damn, after about a week’s worth of bungee failures, success!
I loved my bird feeder. An incredibly resourceful raccoon also fell in love with my bird feeder. Winter, fewer available food sources, but wait … there’s Jan’s bird feeder!
Oh, whoopee! Easy din-din.
No “whoopee” from my end, though. For almost a month, Ms./Mr. Raccoon put me to shame. Picture me shaking my head in abject frustration, morning after morning, when I discovered the bird feeder dislodged from its deck pole and dragged up to 20 feet away. Twenty feet!
Help!
Oh, wait, maybe I can nd a proper angle to safely secure the bird feeder to the deck railing … but doing so calls for spatial intelligence. Uh oh, I’m absolutely ummoxed by spatial intelligence situations: building or assembling things, seeing in 3D. Please, please, in my next life, may I have the gift of spatial intelligence!
Given the social isolation of the pandemic, my lifelong tactic for coping with spatial intelligence challenges, asking for inperson help from friends, was o the table. Somewhere, the gods were chuckling at my predicament.
I explored Dr. Google every which way for solutions that were not of the spatial intelligence variety. The only good outcome from all those attempts was that I now had an excellent bottle of Sriracha hot sauce, which, fortunately, does have other
| J. MARC WHEAT
applications beyond being smeared on a bird feeder as a (nonproductive) raccoon deterrent. Hey, I take my blessings wherever I can nd them.
Dr. Google options exhausted. Desperate idea! Bungee cords attached to the bird feeder and the deck rail as a raccoon pilfering deterrent. But wait! Using bungee cords and nding the appropriate angles for e ectively attaching them to the bird feeder is spatial intelligence!
Showdown at the Hutton corral! Just me (the spatial intelligence-challenged one), Ms./Mr. Raccoon and the bungee cords.
Desperation drove my persistence. And, damn, after about a week’s worth of bungee failures, success! Ms. Spatially Challenged gured out the bungee cord angle that best inhibited the raccoon from its nightly burglaries. I did it! My smile was as wide as the horizon and bright enough to light up a small village.
Kudos to the raccoon and, yes, that awful pandemic, for nudging (well, actually, shoving) me in a direction I’d been actively resisting for years. Completing a spatial intelligence task on my own. Me, the spatial intelligence-challenged human! Returning to my grin as wide as the horizon …
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
Government lists are a threat to free association
Without clearly showing cause, no government o cial should have the power to scour a private organization’s records.
NO GOVERNMENT o cial needs to know what organizations you nancially support. And no state attorney general should have access to Americans’ sensitive personal information without clearly showing cause or in the absence of criminal proceedings. Yet wielding state power for his own political agenda, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin asked a court to force First Choice Women’s Resource Centers to disclose donor information about nearly 5,000 contributions (see AAF’s amicus brief in First Choice Women’s Resource Center v. Platkin).
Similar disclosures in the past have not fared well for Americans. In 2014, Mozilla forced their new chief executive, Brendan Eich, the founder of JavaScript, to resign after discovering that Eich had donated $1,000 six years earlier to a campaign that supported Proposition 8, the voter-approved California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In the late 1950s during the Civil Rights Movement, Alabama attempted to use disclosure requirements to prevent the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from conducting business, which included the Montgomery Bus Boycott and funding programs for African American students wishing to attend the state university (see NAACP v. Alabama).
Today, big government agencies already have large databases on Americans’ private information. Plenty of people have not told their best friend or neighbors how much they earn. Yet the government — only trusted by 22% of Americans to do the right thing always or most of the time — knows.
Thanks to the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), the federal government also compiles a list linking your every purchase and sale in the stock market to your sensitive, personal information (see AAF’s amicus brief challenging CAT in Davidson v. Gensler). With the Supreme Court tailoring opt-outs for gender ideology in schools to religious exemptions, the government could seize the opportunity to create yet another list, this time of religious parents.
As explained in AAF’s amicus brief in Platkin, “No government o cial should be
able to use his legitimate law enforcement power to pursue those with whom he disagrees politically.” The latter would reduce our constitutional protections to be the “mere parchment barriers” that our framers feared. Regardless of whether the court rules against Platkin, he will have taken time and resources away from First Choice’s mission of helping mothers and saving babies.
Without clearly showing cause, no government o cial should have the power to scour a private organization’s records. Even the threat of disclosure threatens freedom of speech and association, which are the cornerstones of the American tradition.
In America’s earliest days, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the “art of association then becomes … the mother science; everyone studies it and applies it” (quoted in AAF’s amicus brief First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin). Where “all citizens are independent and weak” and “can hardly do anything by themselves,” Americans must coordinate to e ect change. The latter is an intentional feature of our constitutional system that protects minority opinions from suppression and ensures power remains derived from the people.
Platkin is not a uke or merely a result of one bad actor. In October, the Sixth Circuit will hear a similar freedom of association case, Buckeye Institute v. IRS, where the federal government defends its practice compelling nonpro t organizations to disclose private donor information.
President Ronald Reagan said the scariest words in the English language were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” When the government collects information, Americans are threatened by the abuse of that information. For that reason, the government should only be collecting information it absolutely needs. The courts in these cases must ensure that governments are not storing up information and, in so doing, exposing Americans to harassment by government agents.
Marc Wheat is the general counsel of Advancing American Freedom. This column was rst published by Daily Caller News Foundation.
Charlie Kirk: American patriot and Christian martyr
I WROTE THESE words on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, Sept. 14 — a day meant for rest and worship yet overshadowed by tragedy. It came in the shadow of the cold-blooded assassination of Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus. Like millions of others, I nd myself wrestling with anger, sorrow, grief and confusion — searching for meaning in a moment that de es it.
He spoke for millions of young people desperate for clarity.
We have long known that we live in a fallen, godless and debauched age. Yet two weeks ago, that grim truth was displayed in stark relief on a college campus — an institution that should nurture learning and virtue but instead became the stage for barbarity.
I call Charlie a martyr because he was killed for his convictions — for his un inching defense of truth and his fearless witness to Christ. He spoke for millions of young people desperate for clarity in a world where woke classrooms and even woke pulpits leave them spiritually starved. Charlie was not an elected o cial, yet he carried himself with a statesman’s brilliance. A masterful debater, he could summon Scripture and the Constitution from memory. Many of us believed he had the intellect, vision and courage that could have carried him to the presidency one day.
The radical left saw the same potential — and feared it. They recognized that Charlie was a singular gure: principled, persuasive and deeply rooted in faith. His integrity and God-given ability to connect with young people threatened the woke ideological stranglehold on our culture. That was a threat his enemies could not tolerate. Now it falls on us to carry forward his ght with sharper minds, stouter hearts and steel spines.
Charlie was vili ed because he loved the Bible, loved his country and stood for objective truth. Above all, he was hated because he followed Jesus Christ. As John’s Gospel reminds us, the world loves darkness and rejects the light. Christ himself warned in John 15 that his followers would be hated and silenced precisely because they proclaim the truth of God’s word.
Across America and around the world, Christians are asking today: What will we do with this moment? How will we respond?
First, pray for Charlie’s wife, Erika, and their children, whose loss is beyond words. They will grow up without their father, unable yet to grasp the hatred that stole him away.
Second, recognize the danger we face. To be a faithful Christian who engages the public square is now to risk one’s life. Charlie’s murder was not random — it was a warning to silence truthtellers. In such times, we must pray for courage and boldness to speak God’s truth without fear.
Third, plead with God for mercy on our broken nation. As Romans 8 declares, creation itself “groans.” We saw that groaning in the vile ood of comments that mocked and even celebrated Charlie’s death.
Fourth, pray for leaders — that they will have the moral clarity to bring justice to the wicked and ful ll their God-given charge to punish evil and protect the righteous.
No single column can capture the life, goodness, and impact of Charlie Kirk. More must be written, and will be. For now, let us bear one another’s burdens and so ful ll the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).
May we never again witness such a week in America — or endure another Lord’s Day clouded by such tragedy.
Sam Currin is a former judge, U.S. attorney and law professor. He holds degrees from Wake Forest University, UNC School of Law and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Letters to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or mailed to 1201 Edwards Mill Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27607. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.
Contact a writer or columnist: connect@northstatejournal.com
COLUMN
obituaries
Mary John Mashburn Scott
March 15, 1948 –Sept. 20, 2025
Mary John Mashburn Scott, 77, of Staley, died Saturday, September 20, 2025.
Mary was born in Chatham County on March 15, 1948, to John Linen Mashburn and Bertha Lewis Mashburn Winslow. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, George Scott; son, Elvis Moser; grandson, Jericho Moser; sisters, Lessie Selig and Mertie Smith; and brother,
Mary Robinson Parks
Aug. 25, 1946 –Sept. 23, 2025
Mary Robinson Parks, 79, of Siler City, went to her Heavenly home on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025, at her home surrounded by family.
Mary was born in Pike County, KY on August 25th, 1946, to the late Rufus and Annie Robinson. She is preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband, Terry Lane Parks; her six brothers; and seven sisters.
She was a coal miner’s daughter growing up and loved bluegrass and gospel music. She loved playing the guitar, being outdoors, being at home, and spending time
Woodrow Mashburn.
Mary attended Calvary Faith Baptist Church. She was a hard worker, working many years at Charles Kraft in Siler City and later at Spindale in Sanford. Mary enjoyed gardening and playing card games; her favorite being Bingo.
Mary is survived by her granddaughter, Morgan Moser; sister, Norma Baum; brothers Harold David Mashburn and Jessie Roland Mashburn and wife Karen; special friend Roger Nunnery; and several nieces and nephews.
Mary will lie in repose on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, from noon to 5:00 pm at Smith and Buckner Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 11:00 am, at Carbonton Community Church with Rev. Tony Bra ord o ciating. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is serving the Scott family. Online Condolences may be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
with her grandbabies and her family. Mary was a truck driver alongside her husband, Terry, for 16 years. She was a member of Moon’s Chapel Baptist Church and loved her church family.
Left to cherish Mary’s memory are her two daughters, Cheryl Ann Green and her husband, Eddie of Mebane, and Christie Michelle Klink and her husband, John of Siler City; her grandchildren, Chelsea Wicker, Austin Wicker, Grayson Green, Garrett Klink, and Carson Klink; and her two sisters, Bessie Dulaney of Ohio, and Helen Adkins of Illinois.
Funeral service will be held Friday, September 26th, 2025, at 2 pm, at Moon’s Chapel Baptist Church. Visitation will be held one hour prior at the church and burial will follow in the church cemetery. Services will be o ciated by Reverend John Klink and Reverend Scott Faw.
Memorials can be made to Moon’s Chapel Cemetery Fund, 175 Moon’s Chapel Rd., Siler City, NC 27344. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Parks family.
Online condolences can be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
Frances Jean Porter
Oct. 13, 1935 –Sept. 18, 2025
Frances Jean Todd Porter, 89, of Siler City, died Thursday, September 18, 2025, at the First Health Hospice Home in West End.
Mrs. Porter was born October 13, 1935, in Horry County, SC, the daughter of Homer Bert Todd and E e Mae Thompkins Millikan.
For 30+ years, she packaged and shipped apparel at A.J.
Charlene Margaret Gaddy-Elder
Jan. 30, 1962 –Sept. 12, 2025
Charlene Margaret GaddyElder, 63, of Siler City, went to her Heavenly home on September 12th, 2025, at the home of her son.
Charlene was born January 30th, 1962, in Chatham
Shniersons textile plant, until their closing, then went to work at Roses in Siler City, until their closing and nally helped serve meals to kids in the Chatham County School System. Frances was active in her church. On Saturday nights, she made pound cakes and had Sunday dinners ready for her family after church. She was a beautiful, sweet lady who always had a smile.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Porter was preceded in death by her husband, Wilbur J. Porter, her daughter, Brenda Gail Porter; her granddaughter, Melissa Ann Dixon; her sisters, Merlyn Bass and Betty Ann Benton; and her brothers, Benny Todd, Billy Todd, Clarence Todd, Douglas Edward Todd, Homer B. Todd and Clyde Todd.
She is survived by her daughter, Cindy Dixon (Eddie) of Siler City; her son, Greg (Kim) of Siler City; her grandchildren, Amanda Dixon Thompson (Josh), Adam Dixon (Sophia)
County, to the late Charles Thomas and Margaret Anderson Gaddy. She is preceded in death by her parents; her life partner, Andy Elder; and her brother, Terry Gaddy.
Charlene was a 1980 graduate of Jordan Matthews High School and a 1984 graduate of Louisburg College. She was employed as an O ce Administrator at a Sprinkler Installation business. Charlene played the piano for 25 years and was very talented. She was a member of Piney Grove Methodist Church where she was the church treasurer, youth leader, and was in the church choir. In her spare time, she loved working in her yard and feeding deer and birds. She also loved traveling with youth. Left to cherish her memory are her son, Charles David Elder and his wife, Stephanie of Castle Hayne, NC;
and Ethan Porter; her greatgrandchildren, Kayla Dixon, Dakota Dixon, Taylor Thompson and Logan Thompson; and her sister, Bertie Faye King, of Shallotte, NC.
The family will receive friends 6-8:00 PM, Saturday, September 20, 2025 at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home, 230 North Second Avenue, Siler City, NC 27344. The funeral will be 3:00 PM Sunday, September 21, 2025 at Mt. Vernon Springs Presbyterian Church, 1225 Mt. Vernon Springs Church Rd., Siler City, NC 27344. Elder Jimmy Coore and Dr. William Browder will o ciate the service. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Memorials may be made to Mt. Vernon Springs Presbyterian Church, Building Fund, P.O. Box 971, Siler City, NC 27344 or to First Health Hospice P.O. Box 3000 Pinehurst, NC 28374
Online condolences may be made at www. pughfuneralhome.com.
her grandson, Tatum Elder; and her sister-in-law, Diane Elder Johnson.
A Celebration of Life service will be held Friday, September 19th, 2025, at Piney Grove Methodist Church at 2 pm with Reverend Jim Folks and Reverend Andreas Kjernald o ciating. Inurnment will be at Chatham Memorial Park at a later date. Visitation will be held Wednesday, September 17th and Thursday, September 18th, 2025, from 3-7 pm at Terry and Cindy Ellington’s home, 183 Issac Drive, Siler City, NC 27344. Memorials may be made to Piney Grove Methodist Church Music Fund, PO Box 9, Siler City, NC 27344. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Gaddy-Elder family. Online condolences can be made at www.smithbucknerfh. com
North Dakota columnist who wrote viral Olive Garden review dead at 99
By Jack Dura The Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. — Marilyn Hagerty, a North Dakota newspaper columnist whose earnest review of her local Olive Garden restaurant became a social media sensation, died Tuesday. She was 99.
Hagerty died at a hospital in Grand Forks from complications related to a stroke, according to her daughter Gail Hagerty. She remembered her mother as a journalist at heart who was more interested in giving readers an honest assessment of what to expect from a restaurant than in being critical.
Her 2012 Olive Garden piece was “unique and authentic, coming from a grandmother in North Dakota,” Gail Hagerty said.
In the review, she famously wrote in praise of the chain’s chicken Alfredo as “warm and comforting on a cold day.”
“As I ate, I noticed the vases and planters with permanent ower displays on the ledges,” she wrote. “There are several dining areas with arched doorways. And there is a replace that adds warmth to the decor.”
It spread on social media and drew national media attention to Hagerty.
“She was everywhere and she loved it and it was a wonderful experience, although she had
MARK LENNIHAN / AP PHOTO
Marilyn Hagerty samples a Lays potato chip during an interview with The Associated Press in March 2012 in New York.
to ask my brother what does it mean if you go viral. She didn’t know that,” Gail Hagerty said.
“She used to say that if you were going to have 15 minutes of fame and if you were 86, you had to do it soon. You couldn’t wait.”
The media attention even drew in famed chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain, who defended Hagerty on Twitter from those who ridiculed her embrace of the Olive Garden chain’s food. He met with her and went on to publish a book of her columns, also writing its foreword.
In a 2014 interview conducted by oral historian Teri
Finneman, Hagerty said the response to her review was unbelievable, including countless emails and phone calls as well as TV interviews and a tour of New York City.
“But most of all, it was people feeling in defense and people praising me for the way I write the Eatbeat. And — I wrote that Eatbeat column so fast one day that I never expected it to be repeated all over the country, but that’s what happened,” she said in the interview.
Hagerty was born May 30, 1926, in Pierre, South Dakota. Her newspaper career began while she was in high school, when she assisted the editor of the Pierre Capital Journal and wrote city briefs, according to her oral history.
She earned a journalism degree from the University of South Dakota, of which she was quite proud, her daughter said. She added that Hagerty was a journalist at heart who took the e ort to get to know people and the community and was actively writing for more than 70 years.
Hagerty was beloved in Grand Forks due to her long career and community involvement, and in 2002 a lift station was dedicated and named in her honor. Hagerty arrived at the ceremony on a restaurant owner’s motorcycle, her daughter said.
“I’m going to leave some owers there this evening,” Gail Hagerty said.
Hagerty was writing at least occasionally for the Grand Forks Herald until last year.
The beloved journalist wrote restaurant reviews for more than 70 years
Rome’s airport opens luxurious dog hotel with pampering services
Sta will even meet owners in the airport’s terminals to drop o dogs
By Francesco Sportelli
The Associated Press
FIUMICINO, Italy — Dog owners often face a dilemma before traveling: leave your beloved pet with a sitter or at a kennel? Both require quite some planning and logistics, which can be stressful and time-consuming for fur parents.
Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport has sought to streamline the process by opening one of the rst on-site hotels at a major European airport, following a similar initiative in Frankfurt. Dog Relais’ workers even retrieve pups from the terminal so travelers can proceed straight to their ight.
“This project is tting into a strategy to provide a very immersive experience to passengers,” said Marilena Blasi, chief commercial o cer at Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages the Italian capital’s two airports. “In this case, we provide services to dogs and the owners of the dogs.”
Basic rooms at the dog hotel cost about €40 ($47) and feature temperature-controlled oors and private gardens. More timid or solitary dogs can
be placed in kennels at the edge of the facility, where they interact with sta rather than other dogs in the common grass pens. At night, ambient music that has a frequency with a low, soft tone — 432 hertz — designed for relaxation is piped in through the rooms’ speakers.
There are optional extras that range from the usual grooming, bathing and cleaning teeth ser-
vices, to the more indulgent, such as aromatherapy with lavender or peppermint scents to help induce calm, or arnica cream rubbed into aching muscles and joints.
Owners unsatis ed with standard-issue webcams for checking in on their canines from afar can spring for a €60 (about $70) premium room equipped with a screen for
‘Dickie’ Bird, charismatic former cricket umpire, dead at age 92
The legendary English o cial was known for eccentricities and warmth
By Steve Douglas The Associated Press
HAROLD “DICKIE” Bird, the charismatic and much-loved former cricket umpire from England who o ciated in 66 test matches and three World Cup nals, has died. He was 92.
Bird’s death was announced Tuesday by English club Yorkshire, his home county where he was made president in 2014. Yorkshire said he died “peacefully” at his home.
Yorkshire called Bird a “national treasure” who was “known not only for his umpiring excellence but also for his eccentricities and warmth.”
“He leaves behind a legacy of sportsmanship, humility, and joy — and a legion of admirers across generations.”
Bird’s rst-class playing career, which included spells with his beloved Yorkshire and Leicestershire, was cut short by injury at the age of 32 with an average of 20.71.
He went on to become arguably the world’s most famous
umpire, standing in an English county match for the rst time in 1970 and his rst test three years later.
In 1975, Bird took charge of the inaugural men’s Cricket World Cup nal. At his nal test in 1996, a guard of honor by the players of England and India at Lord’s reduced him to tears.
“Dickie enjoyed an illustrious career as an umpire,” the Lord’s-based Marylebone Cricket Club said, “and was one of the most popular o cials in the history of the game.”
An umpire long before the introduction of technology to cricket, Bird — whose name resonated beyond the world of cricket — was renowned for being cautious with his decisions and making few clear mistakes, telling the BBC that his parents “installed this mental strength to believe in myself.”
In his pomp — and in his later years — he was as popular as the players he o ciated, never refusing to sign an autograph and often seen waiting patiently to do so even when lines were long. His autobiography chalked up more than a million sales, becoming Britain’s biggest-selling sports book in the process.
It was his idiosyncrasies that made him so loved — the way he raised his nger to give a batter out, his warmth and conversational approach with players, his grin, his stooping gait, how he twitched his arms and tugged at his umpire’s jacket.
Bird listed Gar eld Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards and Dennis Lillee as the best players he ever umpired.
“Remembered for your fairness, integrity, humour, and true Yorkshire spirit,” former India player Dinesh Karthik posted on X. “A legend forever.”
In his post-umpire life as after-dinner speaker and occasional TV personality, he wasn’t short of anecdotes — not least when he was in the middle when the pitch at Yorkshire’s home ground, Headingley, once ooded because of a problem with the drainage system — and he remained a proud Yorkshireman to the end.
His one regret in life, Bird told The Guardian newspaper in 2013, was not having a family.
“I gave my life to cricket, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “I never got married because I was married to the game.”
“Since I’ve been able to bring Nina to this dog hotel, my life, and the balance between my personal and professional life, have changed because it allows me to enjoy my working day and my personal travels in total peace and tranquility.”
Alessandra Morelli
around-the-clock videocalls.
They can even pamper their pet by tossing a treat via an application connected to a dispenser.
The facility not only provides its services to travelers, but also to dog owners who need day care.
Working in human resources for Aeroporti di Roma, Alessandra Morelli regularly leaves her 2-year-old, chocolate-colored Labrador retriever there.
“Since I’ve been able to bring Nina to this dog hotel, my life, and the balance between my personal and professional life, have changed because it allows me to enjoy my working day and my personal travels in total peace and tranquility,” said Morelli, 47.
Dario Chiassarini, 32, said he
GREENWAY from page A1
started bringing his Rottweiler puppy, Athena, to Dog Relais for training, another service on o er, because it’s clean, well-organized and its location was easily accessible. And he said he plans to check his beloved pup into the hotel whenever he and his girlfriend need to travel.
“We will rely on them without hesitation and without doubt — both because we got to know the people who work here, which for us is essential, and because of the love they have for animals and the peace of mind of knowing who we are entrusting Athena to,” said Chiassarini, who works in car sales. “It is certainly a service that, if we should need it, we will make use of.”
The dog hotel has proved popular so far. All 40 rooms were occupied in August, when Italians take their customary summer vacation and millions of passengers come through Fiumicino. Occupancy averaged almost two-thirds since doors opened in May, said Blasi.
The same month the dog hotel opened, Italy’s commercial aviation authority changed rules to allow large dogs to y inside plane cabins for domestic ights, provided they are inside secured crates. The rst such ight will take o on Sept. 23, according to transport minister, Matteo Salvini.
Salvini admits that while many are happy with having their pups on the plane, others may feel annoyed. However, at a pet conference on Sept. 16, he said: “We always have to use judgment, but ... for me it’s a source of pride, as well as a step forward from the point of view of civilization.”
master plan and other larger comprehensive planning e orts, so feasibility studies let us dive deep into speci c corridors, understand the opportunities, the constraints and set up for successful construction projects.”
The primary ndings from the study were focused on potential areas for extension of the paved greenway trail, additional access points, bringing more awareness to the greenway along with better and additional signage and branding to help make the greenway feel more like an o cial park.
The rm did have conversations about connecting the trail through the culvert under U.S. 421, which was a popular idea with the public due to the wanted access to Walmart via the greenway, however, the area was too small (not enough vertical clearance) to support an extension.
Instead, McAdams presented four priority projects to the board for consideration in four phases, with the rst being the Downtown Sidewalk Connector.
“Originally, this was not part of the study area, but it was so evident that folks wanted to make this connection to downtown,” Washam said.
The connector would link up the existing half-mile of sidewalks to downtown and add pedestrian signal crossings, signalized intersections, way nding signage, improved crosswalk markings and a new downtown trailhead.
The two potential locations for consideration of the trailhead are Chatham Arts Center and Collins Park.
This phase is priced at about $460,000, but according to Washam, 80% of that cost is associated strictly with tra c signal improvements.
The second phase of the project would be the Jordan Matthews Connector, which would connect the greenway to Jordan-Matthews High School.
The project is projected to have a 2028 build and would cost approximately $2.9 million.
The associated costs include the construction of a new, 100-foot steel and concrete bridge, 225 to 250 feet of boardwalk in the wetland areas behind the school and elevation raising on the existing greenway trail.
The third phase is dubbed the Eastern Extension and involves connecting the greenway from Pony Farm Road to Loves Creek, traveling along the existing sewer easement.
The 0.5-mile expansion is anticipated to cost around $1.3 million, with a build out in 2030.
Finally, the fourth phase would be the U.S. 64 Connection, which would construct a new 165-foot bridge over Loves Creek and connect up to U.S. 64.
“With these top four priority projects, we developed an escalated cost table to make sure projects are funding ready for grants,” Washam said. “We took the construction cost estimates and escalated to a future build year. We all know there’s in ation year after year, so we don’t want these cost estimates to get old. We included the engineering and design services cost estimates, construction, engineering and inspection, and some project contingency.”
Following the presentation, the board endorsed the study, and the recommendations will be considered in future budget cycles.
The Town of Siler City Board of Commissioners will next meet Oct. 6.
“It was so evident that folks wanted to make this connection to downtown.” Will Washam, McAdams greenway planner
ANTHONY DEVLIN / PA VIA AP
Former umpire Dickie Bird attends the rst day of the rst Test match at Lord’s cricket ground in London on May 21, 2015.
ALESSANDRA TARANTINO / AP PHOTO
Manolo Fiorenzi, a dog trainer, caresses Otto, a cocker dog, in one of the rooms of the Dog Relais, a hotel for dogs at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport.
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NOTICE OF ELECTION
CHATHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
The municipal general election for Town of Apex, Town of Cary, Town of Goldston, Town of Pittsboro, and the Town of Siler City will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
Voters will be asked to show photo ID when they vote. All voters will be allowed to vote with or without ID. Voters who lack ID can get one for free from their county board of elections. Find out more at ncsbe. gov/voter-id.
Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
Early voting will be held at the following locations from Thursday, October 16, 2025, to Saturday, November 1, 2025:
County Board of Elections o ce In Lieu of Site, Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, 1192 U.S. Hwy 64 West Business, Pittsboro, NC 27312
New Hope Baptist Church, 581 New Hope Church Rd, Apex, NC 27523
Dates, Hours and Times fo r In Lieu of Site
October 16, 2025 – October 29, 2025 Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm October 30, 2025, - October 31, 2025 8:00 am – 6:00 pm.
Saturday October 25, 2025 & November 1, 2025 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, Sunday, October 26, 2025 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
Dates, Hours and Times for New Hope Baptist Church Site
Opens, October 25, 2025 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Ends Saturday, November 1, 2025 8:00 am – 3:00 pm. Sunday, October 26, 2025 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Monday – Friday, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm. Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters who have requested them beginning October 3, 2025. A voter can ll out an absentee ballot request at votebymail. ncsbe.gov, or by lling out a request form provided by the board of elections. The request must be received through the website or by the Chatham County Board of Elections by 5 p.m. October 21, 2025.
Registered voters who live within the boundaries of Apex, Cary, Goldston, Pittsboro, Siler City, or the Goldston Gulf Sanitary District may vote in the municipal election. Municipal contests include Apex Town Council, Cary Town Council at large, Goldston Mayor, Town Commissioner at large, Town Commissioner Ward 1, Pittsboro Mayor, Town Commissioner, Siler City Mayor, Town Commissioner at-large, Town Commissioner District 1,Town Commissioner District 5, and Goldston Gulf Sanitary District Board Member.
The voter registration deadline for this election is 5 p.m. Friday, October 10, 2025. Eligible individuals who are not registered by that deadline may register and vote at any early voting site during the early voting period. New registrants will be required to provide documentation of their residence. Questions? Call the Chatham County Board of Elections O ce at 919-545-8500 or send an email to elections@chathamcountync.gov.
Tad VanDusan, Chairman Chatham County Board of Elections
TRUST NOTICE
To all persons regarding Mary Anna Andrews, deceased, who died on or about July 18, 2025: You are hereby noti ed that Gail Greogry is the Trustee of the Rolland Andrews and Mary Anna Andrews Revocable trust dated March 3, 2010. Any action to contest the validity of the trust must be brought in the District Court of Chatham County, North Carolina, within the later to occur of four (4) months from the date of second publication of this notice, or thirty (30) days from the date of mailing this notice to all heirs of the decedent, spouse of the decedent, and bene ciaries under the trust whose identities are reasonably ascertainable. Any suit not led within this period shall be forever barred. Notice is further given that any persons indebted to the decedent or to the trust are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned trustee.
Notice is further given that any person or entity possessing a claim against the trust must mail proof of the claim to the trustee at the address listed below via certi ed mail, return receipt requested, by the later to occur of four (4) months from the second publication of this notice or thirty (30) days from the date of mailing this notice if required or the claim shall be forever barred unless paid or otherwise satis ed. Dated this 17th day of September, 2025. Rolland Andrews and Mary Anna Andrews Revocable trust dated March 3, 2010. Gail Gregory, Trustee 125 Bellemont Rd Pittsboro NC 27312 Attorney for Trustee: Vanessa M.Y. Willman Pin# AT0011731 Foss, Kuiken, Cochran, Helling & Willman PC P.O. Box 30 Fair eld, Iowa 52556 Date of second publication: _____ day of _________ 2025.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having quali ed as Personal Representative of the Estate of FRADYA SARAH BLUESTEIN, deceased of Chatham County, North Carolina, on the 18th day of September, 2025, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of the attorney for the estate on or before the 27th day of December, 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 25th day of September, 2024.
John Michael Cullen, Personal Representative, c/o Anthony D. Nicholson, Attorney for the estate, McPherson, Rocamora, Nicholson & Hinkle, PLLC, 3211 Shannon Road, Suite 400, Durham, NC 27707. September 25, October 2, 9, 16 2025
NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Karen Bruck, Deceased Date of Death: August 14, 2025 • Chapel Hill, North Carolina
First Publication Date: September 18, 2025
Claims Deadline: December 18, 2025
All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against Karen Bruck, deceased, are hereby noti ed to present them to the undersigned Personal Representative of the Estate of Karen Bruck on or before December 18, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate are requested to make immediate payment. Submit claims to: Personal Representative for: Karen Mary Bruck
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 97
City/State/ZIP: Flagsta , AZ 86002
Email: drsarahazel@gmail.com
Phone: 602-478-7239
This the 18th day of September, 2025.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against Nancy H Dixon, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claim to Rebecca Morley at 1330 Songbird Ct, Boulder CO 80303 on or before December 20, 2025.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of James Denson Jones, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of the decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of Ivey & Eggleston, Attorneys at Law, 111 Worth Street, Asheboro, North Carolina 27203, on or before December 13th, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate should make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This 11th day of September, 2025.
Rebecca Fields Jones Executor of the Estate of James Denson Jones
BENJAMIN SCOTT WARREN, Attorney IVEY & EGGLESTON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW 111 Worth Street Asheboro, NC 27203 (336) 625-3043
PUBL/DATES: 09/11/25 09/18/25 09/25/25 10/02/25
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Frankie C. Mueller 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 4th day of December, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 28th day of August, 2025.
Je Mueller, Executor of the Estate Of Frankie C. Mueller 170 Dewitt Smith Road Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
EXECUTOR’S NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
All persons having claims against the estate of Anhelica Maria Mata, of Chatham County, NC, who died on October 6, 2024, are noti ed to present them on or before December 25, 2025 to David Plowman, Administrator, c/o Maitland & Sti er Law Firm, 2 Couch Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Michele L. Sti er MAITLAND & STIFFLER LAW FIRM 2 Couch Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Attorney for the Estate
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Administrator of the Estate of Billy Gene Brewer 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 December, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 18th day of September, 2025.
Patricia S. Brewer, Administrator of The Estate of Billy Gene Brewer 5 Bennett-Siler City Road Siler City, NC 27344 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED, as Executrix of the Estate of Floyd Teague, Jr., late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before October 15, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 3rd day of September, 2025.
Diane T. Campbell, Executrix 1982 Epps Clark Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344 (919) 663-2533
NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000415-180 ALL persons having claims against Patricia Byrne Terry, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Dec 04 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 4th day of September, 2025. Christina T. Morris, Executor C/O Privette Legacy Planning 1400 Crescent Green, Suite G-100 Cary, NC 27518 S4, 11, 18 and 25
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000463-180
ALL persons having claims against John Charles Angelillo, Jr., deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Dec 04 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.
This the 4th day of September, 2025.
JOSEPH A. ANGELILLO, Administrator C/O Howard Stallings Law Firm PO Box 12347 Raleigh, NC 27605 S4, 11, 18 and 25
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000395-180
The undersigned, SUSAN BOND TAYLOR, having quali ed on the 5TH Day of SEPTEMBER, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR CTA, of the Estate of JANET BOND DEWITT, 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 18TH Day DECEMBER 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 18TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025.
SUSAN BOND TAYLOR, ADMINISTRATOR CTA
382 PINE LAKE DR. SILER CITY, NC 27344 *THE LAW OFFICE OF LEWIS FADELY, PLLC
119 N FIR AVE. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: S18,25,O2,9p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000464-180
The undersigned, CRAIGORY DUNN AND STEPHANIE DUNN, having quali ed on the 22ND Day of AUGUST, 2025 as CO-ADMINISTRATORS of the Estate of GWENDOLYN BRYANT DUNN, 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 11TH Day DECEMBER 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 11TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025.
CRAIGORY DUNN, CO-ADMINISTRATOR PO BOX 37 SILER CITY, NC 27344
STEPHANIE DUNN, CO-ADMINISTRATOR
2530 KINGFISHER RD., APT.207 GRAHAM, NC 27253 Run dates: S11,18,25,O2p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000470-180
The undersigned, CINDY S. STUYVESANT, having quali ed on the 25TH Day of AUGUST, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of GERALD K. STUYVESANT, 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 4TH Day DECEMBER 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 4TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025.
CINDY S. STUYVESANT, EXECUTOR 6320 N KOLMAR AVE.
CHICAGO, IL 60646 Run dates: S4,11,18,25p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#2023 E 000668
The undersigned, JEFFREY HOLDER, having quali ed on the 8TH Day of APRIL, 2024 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of BETTY GUNTER HOLDER, 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 18TH Day DECEMBER 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 18th DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025.
JEFFREY HOLDER, ADMINISTRATOR 1321 ASBURY CHURCH RD. SANFORD, NC 27330 Run dates: S18,25,O2,9p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000417-180
ALL persons having claims against Harold Fredric Terry, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Dec 04 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 4th day of September, 2025. Christina T. Morris, Administrator CTA C/O Privette Legacy Planning 137 Highpointe Drive Pittsboro, NC 27312 S4, 11, 18 and 25
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000473-180
ALL persons having claims against Stephen Earl Rosenthal, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Dec 18 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 18th day of September, 2025.
JOAN SOBEL ROSENTHAL, Executor C/O Lenfestey, Maxie & Burger, PLLC 5640 Dillard Drive, Suite 101 Cary, North Carolina 27518 S18, 25, 2 and 9
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations holding claims against Stephanie Ramos, deceased, of Chatham County, NC are noti ed to exhibit same to the undersigned on or before December 7, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 4th day of September 2025. Nilda Ramos, Admin., c/o Clarity Legal Group, PO Box 2207, Chapel Hill, NC 27515.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
All persons having claims against Shelly Ray Skalicky, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present them to Daniel Long, Executor of the Estate of Shelly Ray Skalicky, at NextGen Estate Solutions, 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 or before December 18th, 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 Shelly Ray Skalicky. Those indebted to Shelly Ray Skalicky are asked to make prompt payment to the Estate.
This this 18th day of September, 2025. Daniel Long, Executor of the Estate of Shelly Ray Skalicky Brittany N. Porter, Attorney NextGen Estate Solutions 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
25E000480-180 NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, Christopher Solow, having quali ed as Limited Personal Representative of the Estate of June R. Solow, deceased, late of Chatham County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the day of December 10, 2025, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 11th day of September 2025. Christopher Solow Limited Personal Representative Marie H. Hopper Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post O ce Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312
FORECLOSURE
23-116053 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CHATHAM COUNTY 24sp000022-180 IN THE MATTER OF
their communities,” the campaign wrote in a statement, and his career has included “keeping thousands of criminals o the streets and behind bars.” It cites Cooper signing a 2023 law that toughened pretrial release rules.
The clash has sent early signals of just how heated the North Carolina Senate race will be. It already was anticipated to be a key 2026 Senate race for Democrats seeking to claim a Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections and now could be among the most expensive Senate campaigns in U.S. history.
Democrats see the popular former governor’s bid for the open North Carolina seat as one of their best pickup opportunities in a landscape that largely favors Republicans. They need four Senate seats to claim a majority.
Tragic ashpoint emerges
Both candidates have expressed sorrow over the death of the 23-year-old Zarutska, whose horri c attack was caught on camera. But public outrage that suspect Decarlos Brown Jr. had been previously arrested more than a dozen times and had been recently released on a charge without bond prompted accusations by Whatley and allies that Cooper has pushed soft-on-crime policies.
“It’s pretty simple: A vote for Roy Cooper is a vote for more crime, more violence, more criminals,” Whatley said in the rst days after the release of the surveillance video.
Cooper pushed back hard.
“I’ve been Attorney General and Governor, dedicating my career to putting violent criminals behind bars and keeping them there,” Cooper, who was the state attorney general for 16 years before eight as governor, wrote on X. In turn, he accused Whatley, also a recent state GOP chairman whom President Donald Trump encouraged to enter the race, of looking to take
advantage of Zarutska’s death.
“Only a cynical DC insider would think it’s acceptable to use her death for political points,” he said on X.
More Republicans soon chimed in on social media, including Vice President JD Vance and Trump, who posted that “her blood is on the hands of the Democrats” and named Cooper speci cally.
The killing, which t neatly into Trump’s tough-oncrime agenda in big cities, gave Whatley a clear opening, said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.
“People don’t know who he is. He doesn’t have high name recognition,” said Cooper, who is not related to the former governor. “So he is trying to de ne himself for North Carolinians, and he’s trying to rede ne Roy Cooper.”
2 candidates on collision course
Both Cooper and Whatley got in the race this summer, within weeks of GOP Sen. Thom Tillis announcing that he would not seek reelection. Cooper had always been considered a potential Senate candidate in 2026. Whatley announced when Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, declined to jump in.
With no other high-prole candidates currently in the race, the parties’ primaries seem unlikely to head o a Cooper-Whatley general election battle.
Some pundits think spending in next year’s race could reach $1 billion, blowing past the $515.5 million spent overall on a U.S. Senate race in Georgia in 2020 won by Democrat Jon Osso in a runo , according to data from Open Secrets, which tracks political spending.
The campaign pits Cooper, a proven winner for Democrats in a Southern state, against rst-time candidate Whatley. Whatley’s deep loyalty to Trump — who won the state’s electoral votes all three times he ran for president — and fundraising skills make him
a formidable opponent in the closely divided state.
Suspect’s criminal history, release ignite criticism
Brown, who was indicted for rst-degree murder this month in state criminal court, also faces a federal charge in Zarutska’s death. He could face the death penalty if convicted. Calls to the Mecklenburg County public defender’s o ce, seeking someone who could comment on Brown’s behalf, previously were unanswered.
A magistrate earlier this year allowed Brown, who in September 2020 completed more than ve years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon, to be released without bond on a nonviolent misdemeanor charge, according to court records. Brown was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation after his latest arrest.
The panel Cooper established as governor in June 2020, the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, o ered dozens of recommendations, including eliminating the need for people
accused of most misdemeanors to post a cash bond unless doing so would endanger someone else.
But Cooper wasn’t a task force member, and the panel had no authority to enact cash bail recommendations or release people from prison. And the task force’s December 2020 recommendations — most of which were ignored by Republican lawmakers — were released after Brown left prison.
State Senate leader Phil Berger said at a news conference with Whatley earlier this month that task force recommendations reected “an attitude on criminal justice” that informs magistrates to make bond decisions like the one Brown received. The GOP-controlled General Assembly is expected to take up criminal justice reform now that it is back in session.
Whatley also criticized Cooper for a 2021 lawsuit settlement that required his administration to release 3,500 o enders within state custody over several months. The state NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and others had sued to
Homes, Townhomes & Villas
&
address prison conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooper pushes back on canceled federal grants
Fighting back, Cooper’s campaign has tried to link Whatley to April’s cancellation of hundreds of U.S. Department of Justice grants for programs supporting violence reduction and crime victims. Whatley has expressed broad support for government e ciency e orts in the Trump administration, although there’s nothing to indicate he actively backed these cancellations.
Chris Cooper, the Western Carolina professor, said Whatley’s strategy on crime is likely to be repeated — attempting to connect any order or action in Roy Cooper’s long career to a negative outcome. It should make for a long, drawn-out contest.
“We live in a time of essentially a constant campaign,” Chris Cooper said. “And if anything, the temperature is only going to rise between now and next November.”
GARY D. ROBERTSON AND ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO
Former Gov. Roy Cooper, left, and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley are vying for the open U.S. Senate seat up for vote next fall.
CHATHAM SPORTS
a pass
Chargers’
Girls’ ag football has rst games
Each team picked up a win in the rst week
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
MEBANE — High school football fans don’t have to wait until Friday to see their favorite teams play anymore.
The girls are now bringing the action to Wednesday nights. Jordan-Matthews, Seaforth and Northwood opened their
girls’ ag football seasons at Eastern Alamance on Sept. 17. Each of the teams played two games, battling each other and the league’s two other teams, Eastern Alamance and Southeast Alamance. Thanks to a working connection between quarterback Emma Grace Hill and receiver Annika Johansson, Seaforth won its rst game over Jordan-Matthews in an overtime battle 15-14. Down 14-8 at mid eld with 10 seconds left to play, Johans-
son caught a deep ball from Hill and scored to tie the game at the buzzer.
“We were like, ‘Well, if we go short, they’re all in the middle,’” Hill said. “So they were just going to get the ags. But if we go long, there’s only like two people there.”
Said Johansson, “I ran a post or something. It kind of worked out perfectly because I was right in the middle. Nobody was there.”
The Hawks failed to take the win on the ensuing ex-
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM
Providence Grove’s Nick Straughn runs through the JordanMatthews defense in a 47-8 win over the Jets on Sept. 19.
Jordan-Matthews su ers rst loss, beaten 47-8 by Providence Grove
The Patriots scored 47 unanswered points
“We’ve got three really good backs plus a quarterback that we feel like can run it around too.”
Cody Moran
(3 -2) scored 47 unanswered points to hand the Jets their rst loss of the season 47-8.
“I just made my space, and I just swerved through everybody.”
Noelle Whitaker
tra point. But in the exchange of extra point tries from the 10 -yard line in overtime, Johansson caught a touchdown on the rst try, and the defense sealed the win with a pass
FOOTBALL RECAP
break-up on the Jets’ following attempt.
After giving up two early touchdown runs in a 18-12 loss to Southeast Alamance to start the night, Northwood bounced back with a 14-0 win over Seaforth.
Northwood receiver Noelle Whitaker got things started with a long catch and run for a touchdown to give the Chargers an 8-0 advantage.
“I just made my space, and I
Local teams go 0-4 for the rst time this season
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
North Moore 37, Seaforth 20
North Moore (3-2) dominated Seaforth (1-4) in the run game, rushing for 261 yards while holding the Hawks to 38 yards on the ground.
Senior quarterback Brady Atkinson led the way for the Mustangs with 64 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Senior Joseph Dunn rushed for a team-high 93 yards, and sophomore Micah Morrison also contributed a touchdown.
The game was tied 6-6 at the end of the rst quarter. Seaforth then committed a series of miscues that led to a 27-6 de cit at the half. Early in the second quarter, senior Trace Shaw blocked a punt, and sophomore Blake Pennington took it to the house to give North Moore a 12-6 lead. A mishandled punt snap deep in Seaforth territory set up a Mustangs score, and with two seconds left in the rst half, North Moore capitalized on Kenyen Noah’s rst of two interceptions on the night with another touchdown.
Senior Nick Gregory was a bright spot for Seaforth with a receiving touchdown and a 77-yard kicko return touchdown.
3
Local teams with byes in Week 6
By
Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — The Jets donned camou age jerseys for their military appreciation night Friday, but like any occasion honoring veterans, the moment belonged to the Patriots. After Jordan-Matthews (4-1) marched down the eld on its opening drive and took an early lead thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by Jakari Blue, Providence Grove
Senior quarterback Jackson Lawver, who rushed for 85 yards, was responsible for three touchdowns, including two on the ground and one in the air to junior Connor Tozer. Yet junior running back Nick Straughn was the engine behind the Patriots’ o ensive success. Straughn rushed for 106 yards on 17 carries, and he scored Providence Grove’s rst touchdown on a 17-yard run in the rst quarter. In the rst half,
Week 6: Bye
North Surry 42, Northwood 15
Northwood (1-4) had no answer for North Surry’s (4-1) senior receiver Fisher Leftwich. Leftwich hauled in ve passes for 139 and two receiving touchdowns, both of which came in the rst half. With the Greyhounds up 14-3 late in the second quarter,
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Northwood’s Ella Hickey (16) throws
during the
rst girls’ ag football game.
Addison Goldston
Chatham Central, volleyball
Chatham Central sophomore Addison Goldston earns athlete of the week honors for the week of Sept. 15.
Goldston helped Chatham Central extend its win streak to four last week with a combined 35 kills in two games. She led the team with 20 kills in a 3-1 win over Western Harnett on Sept. 17, and she followed with 15 kills in a 3-2 win over North Stokes the next day.
As of Sunday, Goldston leads the Bears in kills (156) and digs (189). She’s recorded two games with more than 20 kills twice this season.
Chatham Central, Woods Charter volleyball extend win streaks
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
Volleyball
Seaforth won two of its three games last week. The Hawks edged Orange 3-2 on Sept. 16 thanks to a combined 37 kills from senior Josie Valgus (20) and freshman Naomi Stevenson (17). Seaforth’s three-game win streak ended with a 3-0 loss to undefeated 8A opponent Green Level the next day. Stevenson ended the week strong with 18 kills in a 3-0 bounce back win over Carrboro ( fth straight conference win) on Sept. 18.
Woods Charter kept the good times rolling with back-to-back straight-set conference wins over Chatham Charter on Sept. 18 and River Mill on Friday. The Wolves have won 10 games in a row as of Sunday.
Chatham Central extended its win streak to four and climbed back to .500 with a 3-1 victory over Western Harnett on Sept. 17 and a 3-2 win over North Stokes on Sept. 18. Sophomore Addison Goldston led the Bears with a combined 35 kills in the two games.
Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference)
Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Uwharrie Charter (14-3, 4-0); 2. North Moore (9-2, 3-1); 3. Southwestern Randolph (9-8, 2-1); T4. Eastern Randolph (3-9, 1-3); T4. Northwood (2-11, 1-3); 6. Jordan-Matthews (4-11, 0-3)
Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Woods Charter (12-1, 8-0); 2. Clover Garden School (11-3, 7-1); 3. River Mill (7-8, 5-4); 4. Chatham Charter (6-9, 3-4); 5. Ascend Leadership (5-6, 3-5); 6. Southern Wake Academy (3-9, 2-6); 7. Central Carolina Academy (1-13, 0-8)
Greater Triad 1A/2A: 1. Bishop McGuinness (11-2, 6-0); 2. South Stokes (10-6, 6-1); 3. Chatham Central (7-7, 5-1); 4. North Stokes (3-10, 3-4); 5. South Davidson (4-12, 2-4); T6. College Prep and Leadership (1-11, 0-6); T6. Winston-Salem Prep (2-12, 0-6) Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Cedar Ridge (13-0, 7-0); 2. Seaforth (10-5, 6-1); 3. Orange (6-7, 4-3); 4. Carrboro (6-8, 3-4); T5. South Granville (4-11, 2-5); T5. Durham School of the Arts (6-9, 2-5); 7. J.F. Webb (7-8, 0-6) Boys’ soccer
Jordan-Matthews dominated Phoenix Academy 9-0 on Sept. 15 and won 2-0 over Lee County on
Kills by Chatham Central’s Addison Goldston in the Bears’ two wins last week
Sept. 18 to extend its win streak to six. As of Sunday, the Jets have shut out ve opponents in a row, and they haven’t given up a goal since Aug. 27. Seaforth opened conference play with a 2-0 loss to Carrboro on Sept. 15. The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak with its rst conference win over Cedar Ridge 3-1 on Sept. 17. After a 1-1 tie with Northern Durham on Sept. 15, Woods Charter picked up another win against American Leadership Academy-Johnston 4-1 on Friday. Northwood struggled in nonconference matchups last week, falling to East Chapel Hill 4-0 on Sept. 16 and Carrboro 2-1 on Friday. The Chargers split the losses with a 3-0 win over Southern Lee on Sept. 18. Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Southwestern Randolph (10-1, 0-0); 2. Jordan-Matthews (7-3, 0-0); 3. North Moore (3-1-1, 0-0); 4. Northwood (5-3-3, 0-0); 5. Uwharrie Charter (1-2, 0-0); 6. Eastern Randolph (2-5-2, 0-0) Central Tar Heel 1A: T1. Clover Garden School (9-1, 5-0); T1. Woods Charter (4-1-1, 2-0); 3. Southern Wake Academy (5-3-1, 2-2-1); 4. Chatham Charter (15-1, 1-2); 5. River Mill (2-8, 1-3); T6. Ascend Leadership (3-3-1, 0-1-1); T6. Central Carolina Academy (1-6, 0-3) Big Seven 4A/5A: T1. Carrboro (4-6-1, 2-0); T1. Orange (7-4, 1-0); T3. Seaforth (3-6-1, 1-1); T3. Durham School of the Arts (18-1, 1-1); T3. South Granville (46-1, 1-1); T6. Cedar Ridge (4-5,
Woods Charter huddles up during a win over Clover Garden. The Wolves have won 10 in a row.
0-2); T6. J.F. Webb (4-3, 0-1) Girls’ tennis
Chatham Charter fell to two nonconference opponents last week, losing 8-1 to Burlington Christian Academy on Sept. 15 and 9-0 to Montgomery Central on Sept. 18. The Knights defeated Southern Wake Academy 9-0 on Sept. 17. After a 7-2 loss to Carrboro on Sept. 15, Seaforth won back-to-back games over Cedar Ridge 9-0 and The O’Neal School 7-2. Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Uwharrie Charter (4-0, 4-0); 2. Southwestern Randolph (8-3, 3-1); 3. Northwood (2-8, 2-3); 4. North Moore (2-6, 1-2); 5. Jordan-Matthews (2-13, 0-4) Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Chatham Charter (6-4, 4-0); T2. Clover Garden School (2-4, 0-2); T2. Southern Wake Academy (1-4, 0-2) Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Carrboro (15-1, 8-0; 2. Seaforth (9-5, 6-2); T3. Durham School of the Arts (7-7, 4-2); T3. Orange (9-2, 4-2); T5. Cedar Ridge (5-6, 1-6); T5. South Granville (1-6, 1-6); 7. J.F. Webb (0-8, 0-6)
Cross-country
Seaforth sophomore Samuel Neil nished 16th out of 286 runners in the boys’ 5,000-meter run at the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary. Northwood junior Ashley Perry nished 17th out of 226 runners in the girls’ race. Neil’s fourth-place nish (senior Waylon Vose also in the top 10) at the Big Seven 4A/5A conference meet on Sept. 16 helped Seaforth nish second as a team. Freshman Madison Putnam, freshman Chloe Freeman and senior Katie Leonard nished in the top three in that order to give Seaforth’s girls the top team score in the conference meet.
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Jordan-Matthews gives makeover to gym oor
The new-look court features new colors and touches
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — A major upgrade to the Jordan-Matthews athletic facilities is complete.
Jordan-Matthews unveiled its refurbished basketball court at a reception held in the Frank N. Justice Gymnasium before Friday’s varsity football game.
The court, installed in the early 2000s, was sanded, cleaned and stained by Raleigh-based ooring company Royalwood Associates. The new-look oor features a bright tan color outside of the 3-point arcs and in the keys with a darker, contrasting color inside the 3-point line. There’s a larger “J-M” logo at the half court circle, and the “Jets” logo is printed in front of the free -throw line. A large, capitalized print of “Jordan-Matthews” runs along the sideline near the home stands, and “John Phillips Court” remains on the right side of each half court.
The process started Sept. 2, and the court was ready for use Monday. The project cost around $27,700, and Chatham County Schools covered the majority of the price.
Jordan-Matthews Athletic Director Barry West said he can’t thank Chatham Coun-
Leftwich scored on a 96-yard kicko return.
Senior running back Zamarri Sweatman contributed 105 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Northwood trailed 29-3 at halftime, and Sweatman put the game away with a short run to the end zone early in the third quarter.
Senior running back Leo Mortimer and junior receiver Raje Torres scored the Chargers two touchdowns in the second half.
Without senior running back Robert Tripp, the Chargers struggled getting the ball in scoring range. Northwood has scored less than 20 points in four games this season, all losses.
Week 6: Bye
North Stokes 27, Chatham Central 26
Chatham Central’s (1-4) push for a conference-opening win came just short against North Stokes (1-4) on Friday.
The Vikings took advantage of a Chatham Central coverage bust late in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Chatham Central failed to score on its nal possession.
Former Jordan-Matthews
the school’s new-look oor.
ty Schools Superintendent Anthony Jackson and Assistant Superintendent and District
Athletic Director Chris Blice enough.
“We just put in a request for capital outlay, and the Lord blessed us, and the district approved it,” Jordan-Matthews Athletic Director Barry West said. “It was really a shot in the dark.”
The Bears put on one of their best o ensive performances of the year as sophomore quarterback Brooks Albright completed 23 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 115 yards. Sophomore receiver Gavin Williams hauled in seven passes for 102 yards and two scores, but it wasn’t enough. North Stokes also had themselves a night through the air with senior quarterback Noah Bennett completing 25 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Aiden Bennett (nine receptions), junior Jackson Bodenhamer (three receptions) and sophomore Zach Taitt (three receptions) each caught a touchdown.
The Vikings also forced more negative plays for the Bears’ offense. North Stokes nished the night with six sacks as Bodenhamer led the way with two.
Chatham Central is now 1-2 this season in games decided by one possession.
Week 6: Bye
Week 6: American Leadership Academy-Johnston at Jordan-Matthews (Friday at 7 p.m.)
Jordan-Matthews (4-1) will
and
West said bringing the project to life was a collaborative effort between himself, the boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches, Rodney Wiley and Lamont Piggie, former principal April Burko and current principal Adam Lutterloh.
“We needed to do something,” West said. “The colors were faded. I’m a boomer, so nothing against the ’70s,
but it was very 1970s before.”
That tracks with the general rst impressions of the court from others seeing it for the rst time at the reception. Along with current coaches and sta , those in attendance included former Jordan-Matthews basketball player and coach PJ Lowman, former basketball star and Jets Hall of Famer Terrence Newby and the man after
be the only Chatham County team taking the eld Friday as it hosts 2A opponent American Leadership Academy-Johnston (3-2).
For the Jets, their nal nonconference bout will be a chance to shake o its worst game of the season before the competition really heats up.
The Patriots are coming o back-to-back losses, including a 49-14 defeat to Wake Prep on
Sept. 12 and a 41-21 loss to East Carteret on Friday.
For the most part, ALA-Johnston’s o ense relies on the run game, especially senior running back Anthony Jimenez. Jimenez has rushed for 951 yards and 12 touchdowns in the Patriots’ rst ve games this season, averaging 9.7 yards per carry.
Defensively, stopping the run has been a struggle for the Pa-
“I got here in the fall of 1984, and it’s the best it’s ever looked.”
John Phillips
whom the court is named, former coach and athletic director John Phillips.
“I like it,” Lowman, who coached on the old version of the oor for 12 years, said. “It feels simple and classic, but it’s still a little modern too.”
“It looks more modern. It’s more bright,” Newby said. Said Phillips, “I got here in the fall of 1984, and it’s the best it’s ever looked. So how’s that? And it’s not close.”
Phillips took the honors of making the rst basket on the new oor with a layup. Lowman had the court dedicated to Phillips in 2011.
The new gym oor is one of numerous upgrades to the Jordan-Matthews athletic facilities done since West took over as the athletic director in 2023.
The school has renovated its outdoor track, weight room and installed new scoreboards, wall pads and banners in its gym in the past two years.
“I always feel like I’ve got to give the kids something to be proud of, they can take ownership of,” West said. “Everything we do, everything the coaching sta does is for these kids.”
triots. ALA-Johnston gave up
373 yards (12.4 yards per carry)
Friday and 205 yards (11.4 yards per carry) against Wake Prep.
Just like the Jets, ALA-Johnston has yet to beat a team with a winning record.
To put points on the board, Jordan-Matthews will need a resurgence of its rushing attack led by senior Jakari Blue. That’ll start with controlling the line of scrimmage like the Jets did in their rst four games. Tackling will have to be better for the Jets’ defense in order to prevent another running back from dictating the game.
Power rankings (after Week 5)
1. Jordan-Matthews
2. Seaforth
3. Northwood
4. Chatham Central
Last week’s rankings: 1. Jordan-Matthews; 2. Seaforth; 3. Northwood; 4. Chatham Central
Week 6 score predictions
Jordan-Matthews 34, ALA-Johnston 21 Prediction record (since Week 2): 10-4
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
coach
Athletic Director John Phillips stands behind his name on
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Jordan-Matthews’ Nolan Mitchell runs for extra yards against Providence Grove on Sept. 19.
NASCAR Blaney opens 2nd round of Cup with New Hampshire win
The Penske driver advanced to Round 3
The Associated Press
LOUDON, N.H. — In a race in which Fords were fastest at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney barely was best in class for the second-round opener of the NASCAR Cup Series playo s.
The 2023 Cup champion led 116 laps in his No. 12 Mustang, including the nal 39, but still had to fend o a furious charge by runner-up Josh Berry, who closed within a few car lengths with 10 laps left before overdriving a corner.
Blaney pulled away to win by 0.937 seconds Sunday for his third victory of the season and 16th of his career.
“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove,” the Team Penske driver said. “I was trying to kind of bide my stu and pull Josh a little bit, then he really started coming. It was all I could do to hold him o , trying new lanes. That was good and clean racing. I appreciate Josh for not throwing me the bumper when he could have.
“What a cool day, what a cool weekend. Super fast car. Really have been strong through the playo s. It’s great to get a win in the rst race of the round.”
Blaney, who is trying to reach the Championship 4 seasonnale for the third consecutive year, became the rst driver to advance into one of the eight available spots in the third round of the Cup playo s.
Berry, whose No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford has a competitive alliance with Penske, overcame a spin on the 82nd lap and rebounded from his rst-round elimination after nishing last in each of the rst three races in the playo s. “It was de nitely an awesome day,” said Berry, who led 10 laps. “Hats o to Ryan at the end. All our cars were really strong, and Ryan did a great job there. I was honestly surprised I was able to keep him honest at the end.
Seaforth’s Annika Johansson throws a pass against JordanMatthews in the girls’ ag football season opener.
“That was probably the hardest 20 laps that I drove.”
Ryan Blaney
“Just a shame to nish second, but after the last couple of weeks, it feels good. This is denitely what we’re capable of, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Fords backed up their impressive performances in qualifying Saturday when Penske star Joey Logano won the pole position to cap a sweep of the top three starting spots with Blaney and Berry. The same trio led 273 of 301 laps Sunday.
William Byron was the highest- nishing Chevrolet driver in third.
“It was a good day overall,” said Byron, who is the highest-ranked driver behind Blaney in the playo standings with two races left in the second round. “Penske guys were super fast. I felt like they were in another ZIP code.”
Logano took fourth after leading a race-high 147 laps in the No. 22 Ford. The Middletown, Connecticut, native started from the pole for the rst time at New Hampshire, which he considers his home track.
“(Blaney) was wicked fast in practice, and he showed that again in the race,” Logano said. “We obviously got a ton of points today, so we did what we needed to do, but I’d rather win. That’s just the greed in me, especially when it’s home.”
After qualifying 27th, last among the 12 playo drivers, Chase Elliott raced to a fth-place nish.
Christopher Bell took sixth as the top nishing Toyota driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, which went undefeated in the rst round of the playo s.
Kyle Larson took seventh, and Ross Chastain was ninth as playo drivers took eight of the top 10 spots on the 1.058-mile oval.
Straughn broke four runs of more than 10 yards, wearing down the Jets’ defense with his physical running style.
“Last week against Eastern Randolph we got away from the run a little bit,” Providence Grove coach Cody Moran said. “Realized we need to get back to it. We’ve got three really good backs plus a quarterback that we feel like can run it around too. So just giving those guys the opportunity, and they made the most of it.”
On the other side of the ball, Providence Grove shut down Jordan-Matthews’ rushing attack and sent constant pressure in the face of senior quarterback Kamarie Hadley. Blue, who rushed for more
than 85 yards in each of the Jets’ rst four games, mustered six yards. Providence Grove recorded ve sacks, including three from sophomore Conner Haithcock. As time expired in the third quarter, Haithcock came away with a sack fumble in the end zone, and Straughn recovered it for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 43-8 lead. Arguably the most important defensive play of the night came in the second quarter. Up 14-8 with just over a minute left in the rst half, the Patriots stopped a driving Jordan-Matthews o ense by recovering a backward pass on the Jets’ 44-yard line. Providence Grove made it down to the 3-yard line with 10 seconds left, and Lawver ran in a score to put the Pa -
triots ahead 21-8 before the break.
“This week, we had a spy call because we knew (Hadley) could run it around pretty good,” Moran said. “Our defensive line and our outside backers played really good.”
From an execution standpoint, Jordan-Matthews had a disastrous night.
Its defense had a chance to force a punt with a thirdand-long on Providence Grove’s rst possession, but Lawver broke multiple tackles on a 19 -yard run and allowed for a short fourth down conversion. The Patriots went on to score on that drive.
The Jets were agged 12 times, including eight penalties in the second quarter. Jordan-Matthews forced a fourth
just swerved through everybody,” Whitaker said.
In the second half, receiver Synai Palmer used her speed to run in a score and extend Northwood’s lead.
The Chargers’ defense excelled at disrupting Seaforth’s pass attempts. Safety Kelis Watson snagged an interception late in the rst half against the Hawks. She also picked o a pass in the loss to Southeast Alamance.
Watson said her ability to pick o those passes came down to watching players’ hips and eyes.
Jordan-Matthews responded well to the heartbreaking loss to Seaforth with a 20-8 win over Eastern Alamance. The Eagles couldn’t keep up with Genesis Granados, who sped around defenders for a rushing touchdown late in the rst half. On the ensuing two -point attempt, Granado ran to her right, changed direction and outran defenders going left to give the Jets a 14-0 lead.
“I de nitely practiced my twirls a lot,” Granados said
down on the Patriots’ second possession of the game, but a roughing the kicker call gave them an automatic rst down and a touchdown later in the drive.
Following a 34-yard completion to freshman Jaden Fisher to put the Jets deep in Providence Grove territory, multiple false starts halted what could’ve been a game-tying drive late in the second quarter. Jordan-Matthews turned the ball over on downs for the second time, coming up empty on the Patriots’ 20-yard line.
Late in the game, two bad snaps over Hadley’s head resulted in two safeties.
“We just couldn’t stack enough good plays,” Jordan-Matthews coach Kermit Carter said.
about evading defenders. “And my karaoke a lot.”
Jordan-Matthews also found success in a trick play in which two hando s were made before a pass down the eld. The rst attempt resulted in a touchdown for receiver Lizzie Alston for a 6-0 lead. The Jets made another huge gain when running the play again during the game.
Alston thinks the team’s chemistry is why the play works so well.
“That’s the main thing we were focused on throughout practices,” Granados said. “And I think we nally got it down because in the rst game, we fooled the girls.” After playing its second round of games at Southeast Alamance on Monday, the local teams will hit the eld again Wednesday at Seaforth. Competition will start at 6:30 p.m. The rest of the schedule includes games on Oct. 8 at Southeast Alamance (7 p.m. start time), Oct. 15 at Northwood (6:30 p.m.) and Oct. 22 at Jordan-Matthews (6:30 p.m.). The playo s will be held on Oct. 29 at Eastern Alamance at 6:30 p.m.
Providence Grove responded well to a blowout loss to Eastern Randolph on Sept. 12 as the Patriots’ 47 points were the most they scored in a game since 2022.
For the rst time this season, the Jets will need a bounce-back performance to clean up the costly mistakes made Friday. The road will only get tougher from here as four of Jordan-Matthews’ next ve opponents have winning records.
“We’re still growing,” Carter said. “We’re still learning stu . We’re going to have these hiccups. We’re still learning and growing.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids, and sometimes you learn a lot of good stu out of getting your butt beat.”
J-M from page B1
FLAG from page B1
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
CHARLES KRUPA / AP PHOTO
Ryan Blaney celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playo race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
SIDELINE REPORT
NCAA BASKETBALL
Florida restores Maxwell’s college stats, again program’s leading scorer again
Gainesville, Fla.
Florida has formally restored basketball great Vernon Maxwell’s nal two years of college statistics. The move once again makes him the program’s all-time leading scorer. The 60-year-old Maxwell celebrated the turnabout during a program reunion. Maxwell scored 2,450 points during his four seasons at Florida in the late 1980s. But he also was the focus of an NCAA investigation that ultimately placed the Gators on unsanctioned probation. Florida was forced to vacate three NCAA Tournament victories in which Maxwell participated. Then-Florida AD Bill Arnsparger stripped Maxwell’s stats from the record books for those two years.
MLB Kershaw to retire after 18 years with Dodgers, more than 3,000 strikeouts
Los Angeles Clayton Kershaw, a threetime Cy Young Award winner, says he’s retiring at the end of this season, capping an 18-year career all spent with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 37-year- old left-hander, an 11-time All-Star and 2014 NL MVP, won World Series championships in 2020 and 2024. Kershaw has a career record of 222-96 and 15 shutouts, leading active major league players. His 2.54 ERA is the lowest of any pitcher in the live ball era since 1920.
NHL
Kings captain Kopitar plans to retire after upcoming 20th season
Los Angeles Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar says he will retire from his 20-year NHL career after the upcoming season. The 38-year-old Kopitar made the announcement last Thursday following the rst practice of training camp with the Kings. The Slovenian center has spent his entire adult life with the Kings since making his NHL debut in October 2006. He is a ve-time NHL All-Star, a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward, and a three -time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanlike play.
BOXING
Ali’s unsigned draft card to be auctioned
Muhammad Ali’s refusal to sign his military draft card upended his life and added a powerful voice to the antiwar movement. That piece of history is coming up for sale. The online sale by Christie’s will take place Oct. 10-28. The auction house says the card comes from descendants of Ali. There’s a blank line on the card where Ali was supposed to sign in 1967 but refused to do so as the Vietnam War raged on. It triggered a chain of events that disrupted his boxing career but immortalized him as a champion for peace and social justice.
NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ celebrates 20 years of prime-time
The broadcast has been the top-rated show for 14 straight years
By Joe Reedy The Associated Press
DICK EBERSOL HELPED change comedy and late-night television when he teamed up with Lorne Michaels to create “Saturday Night Live” in 1975.
When it comes to sports television, Ebersol’s creation of “Sunday Night Football” on NBC in 2006 also has had a signi cant impact.
It is tting then that both are celebrating milestones this year. “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 50th season in February, while “Sunday Night Football” is in its 20th season.
“We were really aware that we weren’t just doing a football game, we were doing an important football game, that we would have all the bells and whistles,” Ebersol said about “Sunday Night Football”.
“Sunday Night Football” has been the highest-rated prime-time show for 14 consecutive seasons. The next closest was “American Idol”, which had a six-year streak from 2005-06 through the 2010-11 television season.
NBC’s rst three games this season — including the Sept. 4 NFL Kicko game — are averaging 24.9 million viewers for its best start since 2015.
The Sunday night package put NBC back in the NFL. NBC was without pro football for eight seasons, from 1998 to 2005, after CBS took over the AFC package.
“I think it’s exceeded everyone’s even very high expectations going in, and they’ve gone through the roof,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution. “They’ve really never stopped innovating and focused on how to make Sunday night feel like a huge event and a great way to end the day.”
Mike Tirico called “Monday Night Football” on ESPN from 2006 through ’15 before joining NBC in 2016. He was the host of “Football Night in America” until taking over as the play-by-play announcer from Al Michaels in 2022. Cris Collinsworth, who got
“I think ‘Sunday Night Football’ has become everything ‘Monday Night Football’ was and more.”
Mike Tirico
his start at NBC after retiring as a player, returned to the network in 2006. He was on the studio show for three years before moving into the booth in 2009 after John Madden’s retirement.
Even though MNF had a 35-plus-year head start as the NFL’s seminal prime-time package, Tirico said it didn’t take long for SNF to supplant it because of the matchups and feel of the broadcast.
“I think ‘Sunday Night Football’ has become everything ‘Monday Night Football’ was and more now in a much more saturated TV environment,” Tirico said. “So I think without Monday night, you don’t have what Sunday night has, but it
took a special group of people, great planning and purpose to get Sunday night to where it is now. This run of being the No. 1 show in prime-time television for almost a decade and a half now, that’s extraordinary.”
Fred Gaudelli, who produced “Sunday Night Football” from 2006 through 2022 after working on “Monday Night Football” for ve years, said the success of Sunday night’s package at the start was due to Ebersol’s constant attention to the game schedule.
“There’s never been a network president, I’m very condent in saying this, that made the schedule a bigger priority than Dick Ebersol did,” said Gaudelli, the executive producer for the past three seasons. “If you check our schedules like the rst ve or six years, I think we had (Tom) Brady versus (Peyton) Manning four of the ve times, and we had all the big Cowboys games. So all of a sudden, every Sunday night is a big game. Monday night was ingrained in the American culture, but literally within two
or three years, we had reversed it.”
Something that Gaudelli sold Ebersol on, though, was having a musical open to the show, especially when Gaudelli mentioned how much NBC could earn from having a sponsor.
Gaudelli went to his iPod, heard Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” and started to come up with lyrics that have been a staple of the show. Pink performed “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” before it switched to Faith Hill and now Carrie Underwood.
“I’ve had a front-row seat as the team created a sports presentation that went far beyond sports, with the integration of storytelling, pop culture and a musical show open that has become iconic,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said. NBC has aired Sunday night games from 40 stadiums, with Dallas playing in the most games in the series at 61. The most-viewed game was the 2012 season nale between the Cowboys and Washington, which averaged 30.3 million.
The former Wake Forest golfer will represent the U.S. on a familiar course
By Doug Ferguson The
Associated Press
NAPA, Calif. — Bethpage
Black is a big ballpark on Long Island that made the boy feel even smaller. He was holding his father’s hand on Father’s Day in 2002 as they watched the U.S. Open won by Tiger Woods. It was Cameron Young’s rst glimpse of golf at the highest level.
“That golf course is where our state Open was every year. That was the big tournament for me at that point,” Young said, who in 2017 became the rst amateur to win the New York State Open with a course-record 64 at the Black.
“I knew that golf course was a major championship golf course, and that was my route to play it.”
But a Ryder Cup?
“At the time it was like, ‘That’s where I’d like to be,’” he said, pausing to smile. “So it’s been a long time coming.”
New York homecoming
Young is every bit of New York. He is the son of Sleepy Hollow’s longtime professional. He took
the train to school at Fordham Prep in the Bronx. He was all about the Yankees, Rangers and Giants as a kid who played hockey and baseball when he wasn’t pounding golf balls.
“We’re very proud to have a New Yorker on our team and represent his country at Bethpage Black,” Keegan Bradley said when he announced Young as one of his captain’s pick.
It might have been years in the making, but this really transpired over three months.
Young was at No. 67 in the world at the start of May, not even eligible for the nal two majors of the year. He was nowhere near the conversation to be in the Ryder Cup, yet no less determined for his one shot at a Ryder Cup in his native New York.
Big pressure required small steps.
“Break par for a couple of days in a row, hit some good shots, put together a week,” Young said. “We started doing those little things better and better and built some belief.”
He had his rst top 10 in four months in May at the Truist Championship. A month later as a U.S. Open quali er, he birdied three of his last four holes to get into a 5-for-1 playo and then made a 12-foot birdie to earn his
“This
Ryder Cup in particular — in New York, at Bethpage — is so special to me.”
Cameron Young
way to Oakmont, where he tied for fourth. He also tied for fourth in Canada to earn a spot in the British Open. And then came his rst PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship in August when he won by six shots.
“I had to win something just to put myself in the question,” Young said.
The answer became increasingly obvious when Young followed that win with three strong performances in the postseason. Then came that call from Bradley with the best news of his career, better in
his mind than winning for the rst time on tour.
“This Ryder Cup in particular — in New York, at Bethpage — is so special to me,” Young said the day he was chosen. “I’ve been picturing the moment that I can possibly get a call to play on the team for a very, very long time.”
Young is 28, an old soul who doesn’t say much but always gets to the point. He is living in south Florida with his wife and three children, ages 3, 2 and 1. He isn’t on social media and doesn’t bother with it. His phone is primarily used to check his tee times and text his wife.
“I prefer things to be simple,” he said. “My attention is either on my children or on my job.”
Now the attention is on winning Ryder Cup points at Bethpage Black, a course an hour away from where he grew up, a course he rst saw at age 5 and has loved ever since.
BARBARA YOUNG / AP PHOTO
Cameron Young, 5, holds his father’s hand at Bethpage Black during the nal round of the U.S. Open in 2002.
JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO
NBC Sports play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico, left, sits next to color commentator Cris Collinsworth before a Sunday night game.
Theater award honoring Philip Seymour Ho man, Adam Schlesinger turns 10
The American Playwriting Foundation gives out the prize
By Mark Kennedy The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Many times in his life, playwright David Bar Katz didn’t know how he was going to pay the bills. These days, he’s helping the next generation of artists facing that same dilemma.
Katz oversees The Relentless Award, the largest annual cash prize in American theater to a playwright in recognition of a new play. It’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and, as always, seeking submissions that “exhibit fearlessness.” The award also honors musical theater.
“Being able to create undernancial stress is so di cult, and so anything we can do to give artists a little breathing room is what we want,” says Katz.
The award was inspired by Katz’s friend and collaborator Philip Seymour Ho man, the late actor who was described as relentless in his pursuit of truth in his art. A musical theater honor was added after the 2020 death of another of Katz’s friends, Fountains of Wayne co-founder Adam Schlesinger.
“To me, a big aspect of the award — the musical and the straight play — is not merely honoring Phil and Adam, but the idea of expanding their artistic legacies,” says Katz.
Some of the plays that have
“To me, a big aspect of the award — the musical and the straight play — is not merely honoring Phil and Adam, but the idea of expanding their artistic legacies.”
David Bar Katz
been recognized have gone on to great success, like Aleshea Harris’ 2016 winner “Is God Is,” which has been made into a movie starring Janelle Monáe, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown and Kara Young.
“Aleshea typi es the whole point of the award,” says Katz.
“I think at a moment in her life where she, like so many of us other artists, had kind of had it, she won the award and that was incredibly meaningful in her career.”
Other successes include Sarah DeLappe’s “The Wolves” and Clare Barron’s “Dance Nation” — joint winners in 2015 — who have gone on to become Pulitzer Prize nalists. “The impact, especially of those three plays, has been profound in theater,” Katz says.
The musical and the playwriting honors alternate each year. The winner this year is Jack D. Coen, who created the musical comedy “Jo Jenkins Before the Galactic High Court of Consciousness.”
Coen will receive $65,000, and his musical — as well as the works of the nalists — will be honored at a ceremony and performance Oct. 12 at Build-
ing for the Arts’ multitheater complex, Theatre Row. Chris Collingwood, of Fountains of Wayne, will be performing as well.
The Relentless Award seeks full-length works by American applicants who haven’t previously been produced. All submissions are judged anonymously.
The Relentless Award’s selection committee this year consisted of Katz, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator Rachel Bloom, Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown, Emmy Award-winner David Javerbaum, songwriter and producer Sam Hollander, composer and arranger Laura Grill Jaye, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, musician and writer Brontez Purnell and Obie-winning playwright Lucy Thurber.
“The rst step was getting this money to artists that need it and giving them a launching place and some notoriety. But the dream was also then to be able to put it up because that is the hardest thing to get done now,” Katz says. “Everybody has readings, and no one has a production.”
VICTORIA WILL / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Actor Philip Seymour Ho man, who died in 2014 at 46, inspired playwright David Bar Katz to create The Relentless Award for his uncompromising pursuit of truth in art.
this week in history
Warren Commission released, penicillin discovered, Ali defeats Frazer in “Thrilla in Manila”
The Associated Press
SEPT. 25
1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the rst European to sight the Paci c Ocean from the New World.
1789: The rst U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for rati cation.
1956: The rst trans-Atlantic telephone cable o cially went into service with a threeway ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.
SEPT. 26
1777: British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
1986: William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.
2024: Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, hit Florida’s Big Bend and tore through
the Southeast, unleashing historic ooding in western North Carolina and Tennessee that caused $78 billion in damage and 219 deaths.
SEPT. 27
1779: John Adams was named by Congress to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain.
1939: Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
1940: Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, formally allying the World War II Axis powers.
1964: The government publicly released the report of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.
SEPT. 28
1781: American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French eet, began their successful siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
1924: Three U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle, completing the rst round-theworld trip by air in 175 days.
1928: Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming
Johnson signed an act creating the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.
SEPT. 30
1777: The Continental Congress — forced to ee advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania, after briefly meeting in Lancaster.
1791: Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” premiered in Vienna, Austria.
1947: The World Series was broadcast on television for the rst time, as the New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-3 in Game 1.
1949: The Berlin Airlift came to an end after delivering more than 2.3 million tons of cargo to blockaded residents of West Berlin over the prior 15 months.
discovered penicillin, the rst broadly e ective antibiotic.
SEPT. 29
1789: Congress o cially established a regular army under the U.S. Constitution.
1938: British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.
1965: President Lyndon
1955: Actor James Dean was killed at age 24 in a two - car collision.
OCT. 1
1890: Yosemite National Park was established by the U.S. Congress.
1908: Henry Ford introduced his mass-produced Model T automobile to the market. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford would build more than 15 million Model T cars.
Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ release party coming to theaters
The new album drops Oct. 3
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Taylor Swift is heading back to the big screen next month, and fans are already lining up for tickets.
AMC Theatres announced on Friday that it will host a release party for Swift’s 12th studio album, “ The Life of a Showgirl,” which is set to debut Oct. 3.
The nearly-90-minute show, aptly titled “The O cial Release Party of a Showgirl,” will play at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. from Oct. 3-5, the company said. AMC will also air the show that weekend in Mexico, Canada and across Europe.
“Looks like it’s time to brush o that Eras Tour out t or orange cardigan,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post, later adding: “Dancing is optional but very much encouraged.”
“The Life of a Showgirl “ follows last year’s “ The Tortured Poets Department” and Swift’s record-breaking tour, which raked in more than $2.2 billion across two years and ve continents, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Following the tour, Swift partnered with AMC and released a concert movie, which had the biggest opening for a concert lm to date. By working directly with AMC The-
“Dancing is optional but very much encouraged.”
Taylor Swift
atres, she circumvented Hollywood studios. This time around, AMC will be releasing a music video for one of her new album tracks, “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Moviegoers will also get to see behind-the-scenes footage of Swift, who is known for creating intricate music videos. Other lyric videos and “Taylor’s never-before-seen personal reections on songs” will also be aired, according to AMC.
Tickets are available online.
“The Life of the Showgirl” is Swift’s rst release since she regained control over her entire body of work. The pop star said in May that she purchased the catalog of recordings of her rst six albums from private equity rm Shamrock Capital, their most recent owner.
Swift’s ancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, helped roll out the new album by hosting her on their podcast “New Heights” in August.
Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement later that month.
solutions
SCOTT A GARFITT / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium in London on June 21, 2024, as part of her Eras Tour. Her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” debuts Oct. 3, and AMC Theatres will host watch parties leading up to the release.
WARNER BROS. VIA WIKIPEDIA
Actor James Dean, pictured in a promotional still for “Rebel Without a Cause,” died in a car crash on Sept. 30, 1955. He was 24.
*Must set up Auto Draft for 2nd Month.
famous birthdays this week
The Associated Press THE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.
SEPT. 25
Basketball Hall of Famer Hubie Brown is 92. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 81. Model Cheryl Tiegs is 78. Actor Mark Hamill is 74. Actor Heather Locklear is 64. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is 60. Actor Will Smith is 57. Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones is 56.
SEPT. 26
Country singer David Frizzell is 84. Television host Anne Robinson is 81. Singer Bryan Ferry is 80. Author Jane Smiley is 76. Singer-guitarist Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) is 71. Actor Linda Hamilton is 69. Actor Jim Caviezel is 57. Tennis player Serena Williams is 44.
SEPT. 27
Musician Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 82. Actor Liz Torres is 78.
Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt is 76. Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron is 62. Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is 53.
Musician-actor Carrie Brownstein is 51. Musician Avril Lavigne is 41.
SEPT. 28
Actor Brigitte Bardot is 91. Filmmaker John Sayles is 75. Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent is 71. Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier is 68. Actor Mira Sorvino is 58. Actor Naomi Watts is 57.
SEPT. 29
Former NASA administrator and ex-Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is 83. Actor Ian McShane is 83. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 83. Retired TV journalist and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel is 77. Rock musician Les Claypool is 62.
SEPT. 30
Actor Angie Dickinson is 94. Singer Johnny Mathis is 90. Actor Len Cariou is 86. Actor Barry Williams is 71. Country musician Marty Stuart is 67. Actor Eric Stoltz is 64. Rock singer
OCT. 1
Actor-singer Julie Andrews is 90. Film director Jean-Jacques Annaud is 82. Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew is 80. Actor Randy Quaid is 75. Retired MLB All-Star Mark McGwire is 62. Actor Zach Gali anakis is 56.
Trey Anastasio (Phish) is 61. Actor Tony Hale is 55. Actor Kieran Culkin is 43.
AMY HARRIS / INVISION / AP PHOTO Tennis champion Serena Williams, pictured at the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage during the 2025 BottleRock Napa Valley, turns 44 on Friday.
JORDAN STRAUSS / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Zach Gali anakis arrives at the premiere of “Only Murders in the Building” at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles in 2024. The actor-comedian and Wilkesboro native turns 56 on Wednesday.
JOHN SALANGSANG / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Cheryl Tiegs arrives at the Global Green USA’s 12th Annual Pre-Oscar Party at the Avalon Hollywood in 2015. The former supermodel turns 78 on Thursday.
the stream
Mariah Carey, ‘Superman,’ ‘Slow Horses,’
Jesse Williams, Cher drops ’02 tour on
“House of Guinness” land on Net ix
By Jake Coyle The Associated Press
DOJA CAT’S 15-track album
“Vie” and James Gunn’s “Superman” ying to HBO Max 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 this week: the fth season of the mis t espionage drama “Slow Horses,” a sequel to the 2020 indie megahit video game Hades and Mariah Carey will release her rst new album in seven years.
MOVIES TO STREAM
After notching one of the summer’s biggest box-o ce hauls, Gunn’s “Superman” has own to HBO Max and is available there now. The lm, the rst from a rebooted DC Studios, stars David Cornswet as the Man of Steel, alongside Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor and Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terri c. After grossing some $615 million in ticket sales, a sequel has already been greenlit for “Superman.”
In my review, I praised Gunn’s light and earnest touch: “For anyone who found Zack Snyder’s previous administration painfully ponderous, this ‘Superman,’ at least, has a pulse.” Brett Goldstein is better known for another Apple TV+ release, “Ted Lasso,” but in “All of You” (streaming Friday), he stars alongside Imogen Poots in a tender and heartbreaking romance. Goldstein, who co-wrote the script with director William Bridges, is about a pair of best friends who haven’t worked up the courage to confess their feelings to the other. Set in the near future, a matchmaking service that identi es soul mates further complicates matters.
Not much that Nicolas Cage does ies below the radar, but Lorcan Finnegan’s psychological thriller “The Surfer” (Thursday on Hulu) deserved a wider audience. It’s one of Cage’s best recent performances. He plays a man who returns to the Australian beach of his childhood with dreams of buying a house nearby. But after being accosted by pushy local surfers, his world quickly disintegrates. In my review, I wrote: “For a long, sun-addled stretch, Lorcan Fin-
negan’s beach-set ‘The Surfer’ simmers as a deliciously punishing nightmare, driving Nicolas Cage into his most natural state: a boil.”
MUSIC TO STREAM
Two years ago, the chameleonic Doja Cat released a stellar fourth full-length album, the take-no-prisoners “Scarlet.” It was an aggressive collection, a hard pivot away from the glossy pop of her last two albums, 2021’s “Planet Her” and 2019’s “Hot Pink.” On Friday, she’ll release her fth, the 15-track “Vie.” Little is known about it beyond the single “Jealous Type,” which appears to channel her previous cheeriness. She brought back her disco-pop, now front-loaded with ’80s synths. But is that the direction of the full release?
Only time will tell.
In 2002, Cher embarked on “Living Proof: The Farewell Tour.” At the time, it was the highest grossing tour by a female artist — a massive glob -
al undertaking of 325 shows. A live album, appropriately titled “Live! The Farewell Tour,” was released to CD shortly thereafter. But on Friday, it will hit streaming and receive a vinyl release. Just, you know, newly remastered and with three bonus tracks: “Save Up All Your Tears,” “We All Sleep Alone” and “Di erent Kind of Love Song.” Your eyes are not deceiving you. Carey will release her rst new album in seven years, “Here for It All,” on Friday. Start with “Sugar Sweet,” featuring Shenseea and Kehlani. Or “Type Dangerous,” with its sample of Eric B. & Rakim’s “Eric B. Is President.” Start anywhere — and expect smooth R&B-pop bliss.
SERIES TO STREAM
A fth season of the mist espionage drama “Slow Horses” is on Apple TV+. Based on novels by Mick Herron, it’s about a group of MI-5
agents whose mistakes have sent them to spy purgatory, but they nevertheless nd themselves embroiled in highstakes cases. Their leader is the brash, messy, seemingly uninterested Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman. Critically acclaimed, the show is already renewed through a seventh season.
If you’ve got to work on location, former “Grey’s Anatomy” star Jesse Williams found a pretty sweet deal. His new show, “Hotel Costiera” is set on Italy’s Amal Coast where he plays Daniel De Luca, a “ xer” for a luxury hotel. When the resort’s guests have problems, De Luca solves them. At the show’s recent premiere in Rome, Williams described the show to the AP as “a kind of international, old school, caper show that is smart.” It is streaming now on Prime Video. Net ix’s new historical drama “House of Guinness” tells the story of the famed brewing company. Set in the 19th century, it’s
vinyl
“For a long, sun-addled stretch, Lorcan Finnegan’s beach-set
‘The Surfer’ simmers as a deliciously punishing nightmare, driving Nicolas Cage into his most natural state: a boil.”
Jake Coyle, AP lm writer
like “Succession”-meets-beer where the Guinness family patriarch had died and his adult children battle over the company. Anthony Boyle, Louis Patridge, James Norton and David Wilmot star. The eight-episode series debuts Thursday.
Also new on Net ix on Thursday is “Wayward,” starring Toni Collette as the leader of Tall Pines Academy, a boarding facility for troubled teens. Its practices come under question after Alex, a former cop (played by creator Mae Martin) moves with his pregnant wife Laura (Sarah Gadon) to her small town. Laura is a former student at the school and has a creepy familial relationship with Collette’s Evelyn. Alex quickly picks up on the weirdness of it all and starts to investigate.
Tsukasa Hojo’s popular manga series from the 1980s called “Cat’s Eye” has been adapted into a new, 12-part anime series for Hulu premiering Friday, Sept. 26. It follows three sisters who run a cafe by day and then steal art at night. One of the sisters also happens to be dating a detective looking into the theft.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY A di erent kind of hell is the setting for Hades II, Supergiant Games’ sequel to its 2020 indie megahit. The protagonist this time is Melinoe, Princess of the Underworld. She’s on a mission to conquer Chronos, the Titan of Time, before he can escape Hades and wage war on Mount Olympus. The witch Hecate is around to teach you how to wield ancient magic, and you can expect guest appearances from other charac
ters in Greek mythology. Fans will want to start digging in as soon as it arrives Thursday on Switch and PC.
-
CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO
Cher, pictured accepting the Icon Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, will release “Live! The Farewell Tour” on streaming and vinyl this week.
JORDAN STRAUSS / INVISION FOR THE TELEVISION ACADEMY / AP CONTENT SERVICES
Actor Gary Oldman participates in the FYC presentation of “Slow Horses” during Televerse 25. The espionage drama is back for its fth season on Apple TV+.