Army Chief Warrant O cer 4 Garrett Illerbrunn of Pinehurst sits in a helicopter during his retirement ceremony and symbolic “ ni ight” on Sunday at the Pinehurst Harness Track. Illerbrunn, a helicopter pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, was severely injured in a drone attack on Erbil Air Base in Northern Iraq on Christmas Day 2023, sustaining a brain injury that left him con ned to a wheelchair and unable to y. The ceremony included a brief lifto of the helicopter and a water salute from two re trucks before Illerbrunn was presented with the Army Commendation Medal.
the BRIEF this week
Supreme Court begins term that will examine Trump’s presidential power
Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court has opened its new term. In its rst arguments on Monday, the court appeared to be inclined to rule against a criminal defendant from Texas in a case about the constitutional right to a lawyer. A major thrust of the next 10 months is expected to be the justices’ evaluation of President Donald Trump’s claims of presidential power. Pivotal cases on voting and LGBTQ rights also are on the agenda. On Tuesday, the justices heard arguments over bans passed by many states on therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.
Weiss named new editor-in-chief of CBS News after Paramount buys her website New York Paramount is buying the successful news commentary website The Free Press and installed its founder, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief of CBS News. The move, while anticipated, is a bold one for David Ellison, new corporate leader of Paramount and CBS. Weiss will report directly to Ellison and be responsible for shaping editorial priorities and driving innovation at CBS News. Ellison said he believes the majority of the country wants news that is balanced and fact-based, and he wants CBS to be their home. “I am con dent her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News.”
$2.00
Elections for city council, mayor fast approaching
Chatham County’s three main municipalities all have races on this year’s ballot
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS are fast approaching throughout the state, and Chatham County is no exception as each of its three main municipalities
(Pittsboro, Siler City and Goldston) will be holding elections for various o ces.
Speci cally, those residing in the following precincts will have municipal contests on the ballot: East Pittsboro, East Siler City, East Williams, Goldston,
Nov. 4
Election Day
Jordan Lake, West Pittsboro and West Siler City, While Election Day is ocially Nov. 4 from 6:30 a.m. to
7:30 p.m., Chatham County residents will also be able to vote earlier starting as early as this month.
For one, absentee voting by mail opened on Oct. 3, with the deadline to request ballots being Oct. 21 at 5 p.m.
Citizens can also take part in early voting starting on Oct. 16 through Nov. 1.
Those wishing to vote early will have the choice between two early voting locations: the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center (Oct. 16 -17; Oct. 20 to Nov. 1) and New Hope Baptist Church (Oct. 25 to Nov. 1)
House creates committee on involuntary commitment after Charlotte murder
The panel will study mental health policies and public safety
By A.P. Dillon Chatham News & Record
RALEIGH — North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall announced the formation, last
week, of a bipartisan committee to examine involuntary commitment policies following recent violent crimes involving individuals with mental illness.
The House Select Committee
on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety will study the intersection of mental health services, involuntary commitment processes and public safety. The 18-member panel was created in response to tragedies including the murder of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail system.
“Recent tragedies in our state,
Changes coming for Liberty Antiques Festival
“I’m
hoping someone local will want to do it.”
Vito Sico, festival organizer
The festival has drawn people from many states since the rst edition in 1991
By Bob Sutton Chatham News & Record
LIBERTY — The growth of the Liberty Antiques Festival has surprised Vito Sico, but now it has become too big for him to continue to handle.
Sico said he’ll step down from his role as operator of the biannual event as it reaches its 35th year, so he’s hoping a suitable replacement comes along.
The April 2026 festival will
be the nal one with him in charge, but he said he’s condent it will fall into good hands.
“We’ve got a lot of people interested,” he said. “I’m hoping someone local will want to do it.”
Sico, who turns 80 in January, said it’s time for him to back away. He helped formulate the festival, which is held on farm land outside Liberty, in September 1991.
“The aches and pains and headaches are getting harder to handle,” he said.
Some of the festivals have drawn more than 320 vendors,
like the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, have made it even more clear that we have to make sure local o cials are putting public safety rst,” Hall (R-Granite Falls) said. “The committee will work together with law enforcement, district
DAVID SINCLAIR FOR NORTH STATE JOURNAL
CRIME LOG
Sept. 29
• Amir Rasaun Turner, 22, of Goldston, was arrested for communicating threats.
• Carlos Cordero, 59, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny, second degree trespass and injury to personal property.
• Garry Wayne Goldston, 61, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and injury to real property.
Sept. 30
• Michael Nicholas White, 34, of Siler City, was arrested for possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, possession of rearm by felon, felony possession of marijuana, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling place for controlled substances and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
• Harley Kaye McNeill, 26, of Red Springs, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny.
• Rachel Diane Byrd, 25, was arrested for larceny from the person and simple assault.
Oct. 1
• Thomas Gregory Teague, 55, was arrested for felony death by vehicle.
Oct. 2
• Steve Zhiwen Niu, 62, of Siler City, was arrested for cruelty to animals.
• Erik Caballero Figueroa, 48, of Durham, was arrested for driving while impaired and no operator’s license.
• Denis Alexander Alfaro, 19, of Liberty, was arrested for assault by strangulation, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, communicating threats, assault on a female and assault on a pregnant woman.
• Lonnie Eugene Baldwin, 28, was arrested for nancial card theft, attempted obtaining property by false pretense and misdemeanor larceny.
Oct. 3
• Michael Isaiah White, 18, of Siler City, was arrested for breaking and entering, felony larceny, possession/receiving stolen certi cate and assault of an individual with a disability.
Goldston to hold 38th annual fall festival
The free event will have food, live demonstrations and activities for children
Chatham News & Record sta
THE GOLDSTON Lions Club will hold its 38th annual Old Fashion Day festival on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Goldston.
The free event will feature more than 125 vendors selling art, antiques, crafts, food, jewelry, fashion accessories, mums, candles, wreaths, pottery, home décor and clothing. County agencies will provide
HOUSE from page A1
attorneys, mental health professionals, and others, to come up with statewide solutions that will keep dangerous people o the streets of North Carolina.”
Reps. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke) and Tim Reeder (R-Pitt) will co-chair the committee.
“Iryna Zarutska should still be alive. Instead, her life was stolen by someone who should have been committed and receiving treatment,” Blackwell said. “We cannot allow these failures to continue. This committee exists
information on services available to families in Chatham County.
Food options will include barbecue, grilled chicken, sh sandwiches, chicken tenders, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, funnel cakes, fried apple pies and Lions Club ice cream.
Children’s activities will include a Fun Zone with petting zoo animals, in atables and oversized yard games from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Unlimited play wristbands cost $5 per child. Other activities include balloon animals, rock climbing walls, free pumpkin painting, fairy hair, face
to support law enforcement and x broken policies that put our families at risk.”
Reeder, an emergency physician, said the case highlights the real-world consequences of policy failures.
“The preventable murder of Iryna Zarutska is a stark reminder that these are not abstract policy debates; they are matters of life and death,” Reeder said. “Our committee will take a hard look at how we can improve involuntary commitment and close dangerous gaps in the system.”
The committee will review
painting and axe throwing. A portion of Main Street will be closed to tra c for a food court with seating.
Across Main Street, visitors can view antique equipment including tractors, engines, corn shellers and hand water pumps. A working blacksmith will also demonstrate his craft.
Handicap parking is available at Goldston Automotive.
Additional parking will be at Town Park, Goldston Fire Department and along Highway 1010.
The festival is located at exit 159 on Highway 421 between Sanford and Siler City. All proceeds bene t Goldston Lions Club community projects and aid to the blind and visually impaired. The Lions will collect eyeglasses and gently used coats at the ice cream tent or at Lizzie’s Grill in Goldston.
current laws, policies and practices governing involuntary commitment in North Carolina and make recommendations for legislative and policy changes.
The committee has an ocial listing on the General Assembly’s website but has not announced when it will hold its rst meeting. The announcement follows a preliminary State Auditor’s report on Charlotte Area Transit System, where Zarutska was killed. The audit found security personnel for CATS had been reduced by 40% between 2018 and 2025.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County.
Oct. 10
Hempsmith Runway Fashion Show
5-7 p.m.
The fth
celebrates eco-conscious design with runway presentations and a vendor market.
The Plant 1240 Farrington Road Pittsboro
Oct.11
Ancient Arts Festival
12-9 p.m.
Featuring live music, live paintings, tattoos and sideshow acts. Tickets are $25. For more information and tickets, visit Ancient Arts Festival tattoo and oddity expo.
Chatham County Agricultural Center 1192 U.S. 64 Bus. Pittsboro
Opinionation Trivia at House of Pops
6-8 p.m.
Two sessions of this “Family Feud” style game are held each Thursday evening, rst round at 6 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., o ering contestants two opportunities to win House of Hops gift cards worth $15 and $25 each.
12 Russet Run Suite 110 Pittsboro
Oct. 17 - 19
GreenWood Wrights’Fest
Traditional woodworking festival with workshops on spoon carving, bowl turning and basket weaving. The three-day gathering includes demonstrations by master craftspeople and keynote speaker Roy Underhill.
The Plant 1240 Farrington Road Pittsboro
Oct. 18
Chatham Mills Farmers Market
8 a.m. to noon
Producers-only farmers market o ering a wide variety of goods from fresh produce to other groceries, including eggs, cheese, meat, health and wellness items and crafts. Everything is created by the vendors themselves.
Lawn of the historic Chatham Mills
480 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro
Democrat in Virginia attorney general race apologizes for texts wishing death on Republicans
Jay Jones compared a political opponent to Hitler and Pol Pot
By Bruce Schreiner and Olivia Diaz
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”
The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.
Jones’ campaign didn’t challenge the accuracy of the texts, rst reported by The National Review, and he o ered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, the target of the messages. Jones said he took “full responsibility for my actions.” Gilbert was speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates at the time of the text messages but is no longer a legislator.
Jones has faced a torrent of bipartisan criticism since the messages surfaced. Jones is challenging Republican incumbent Jason Miyares for the job as Virginia’s top prosecutor. Miyares ripped into Jones on Saturday, questioning his challenger’s tness for the job.
“You have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to say what you said,” Miyares told reporters. “Not by a stranger. By a colleague. Somebody you had served with. Someone you have worked with.”
Jones and Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner spoke in a phone conversation following the text exchange, in which Jones described Gilbert’s children dying in the arms of their mother, according to the National Review’s report.
“I have been a prosecutor, and I have been obviously serving as attorney general,” Miyares said. “I have met quietly one-on-one with victims. There is no cry like the cry of a mother that lost her child. None.”
A spokesperson for the Virginia House Republican caucus, contacted on Saturday by The Associated Press, said Gilbert was not commenting on the text messages. Gilbert stepped down as a legislator to become a federal prosecutor
Church News
GLOVERS GROVE AME ZION CHURCH
Glovers Grove AME Zion Church located at 951 Glovers Grove Church Road, Siler City will celebrate their 125th church anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025 at 11 a.m. and at 2:30 p.m. The morning speaker will be Elder Ricky Frazier, Presiding Elder of the Durham District.
The afternoon program will be a singing program featuring the Robinson Family Singers from Winston Salem, Johnsonville AMEZ Zion Gospel Choir, Rev. Ann Glover, Pastor of House of Prayer, Goldston, Rosa Glover, Overcomers City Church, Sanford, Alana Moore and others. Remarks and acknowledgments from ministers and others about the history of the church will be made. Local o cials have been invited to attend.
Please come join the pastor, Rev. Edward Spence Jr., and the members of Glovers in the celebration of this monumental occasion.
“Three people two bullets ... Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot ... Gilbert gets two bullets
to the head.”
Texts from Jay Jones about Republican Todd Gilbert
this year but resigned a month later.
The revelation about the text messages shook up the campaign and comes as both parties seek advantage in statewide races being closely watched for trends heading into next year’s midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. And it comes amid an escalating threat of political violence in the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
In Virginia, other Democrats running for statewide ofce didn’t mince words in criticizing Jones.
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said in a statement last Friday that she “spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words.” She vowed to “always condemn violent language in our politics.”
Ghazala Hashmi, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, said “political violence has no place in our country and I condemn it at ev-
ery turn.” Hashmi added that “we must demand better of our leaders and of each other.” Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in Virginia.
The Republican Attorneys General Association said Jones should withdraw from the campaign for his “abhorrent” text messages. The group’s chairman, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, said the messages were unacceptable “from someone who wants to represent law enforcement.”
“There is no place for political violence, including joking about it — especially from an elected o cial,” Kobach said. Jones did not hold elected ofce when he sent the text messages about Gilbert to Coyner, who is seeking reelection in a competitive House district. Jones had formerly served as a state legislator and stepped down in 2021.
In his texts, Jones wrote: “Three people two bullets ... Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot ... Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Pol Pot was the leader of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.
In his statement last Friday, Jones said: “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry.”
“I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children,” he added. “I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and o er my sincere apology.”
often representing as many as 25 states. Last month’s edition attracted 290 dealers willing to set up spots on the grounds.
“A lot of people really enjoy it,” Sico said.
He said many of the dealers and other attendees come from 100 miles away to take part in the event. He said many of those people might spend an entire week in Randolph County or the area because of the festival.
“People spend a lot of money in the county,” he said of the festival’s impact.
Once established, the festival was held the nal Friday and Saturday each April and again the last Friday and Saturday every September. The Pike Farm Road site has a Staley address.
The rst festival attracted 81 vendors.
“Eighty-one seemed huge,” Sico said.
Part of the appeal has been the limited number of antique shows of this scale in this part of the country, Sico said.
Several days after the September event, Sico was still expressing concern about getting the property cleaned up so that the spring set-up will go smoothly.
Sico, who moved to Liberty from New Jersey in 1985, said he appreciates the assistance from numerous festival helpers through the years. Many of those people have reached the point where they can no longer handle a significant workload, he said. The last festival under Sico’s watch is scheduled for April 24-25.
PHOTOS BY PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Top, the fall version of the Liberty Antiques Festival drew more large crowds last month, but operations of the event will change hands. Bottom, vendors are spread out around a wide area of rural land for the Liberty Antiques Festival, which had its nal fall event under the current organizer.
ELECTIONS from page A1
Be sure to check the Chatham County Board of Elections’ website for the hours of operation. In terms of the o ces up for election, there are two races which have multiple candidates running. There are two seats up for grabs in the Pittsboro Town Commissioner race, with eight candidates who will be appearing on the ballot. The commissioner race is a nonpartisan election that will see the top two vote getters elected to serve four-year terms. Those who have led to run include Candace Hunziker, Alex M. Brinker, Freda Alston, Corey Forrest, Tiana Thurber, Nikkolas Shramek, Ashley Gross and Tobais Palmer. Currently serving Commis-
sioners Pamela Baldwin, who has served on the board since 2005, and James Vose did not le for reelection. There is also one seat up for grabs in the Siler City Town Commissioners at-large race. It is a two-person race, with incumbent Cindy B. Bray running against Kevin Manzanarez having both led to run.
Uncontested races include the three mayoral races: Pittsboro (Kyle Shipp), Siler City (Donald Matthews) and Goldston (Jonathen Hensley); Siler City Town Commissioner District 1 (Albert Alston) and District 5 (Michael Clark Feezor) seats; Goldston Town Commissioner At-Large (Daniel Sargent) and Ward 01 (Marvin Woody) and Chatham-Goldston Gulf Sanitary District Board (Mary Goldston).
FESTIVAL from page A1
WRIC VIA AP
Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones speaks with an interviewer Saturday about widely condemned text messages he sent in 2022.
THE CONVERSATION
Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
Sometimes it causes me to Trimble, Trimble
He is the youngest owner of a Ben & Jerry’s franchise, purchasing the iconic location on Franklin Street.
FORGET THAT OTHER sport with the pigskin and the high-pro le coach. Last Saturday was the Blue and White Game in the Dean Dome — the scrimmage for the Tar Heels men’s basketball team. Fans entered for free and could sit most anywhere. I’ve never been so close to action on the court.
In this age of the transfer portal, there were plenty of new players — six transfers paired with three incoming rst-years, the most hyped of whom was freshman Caleb Wilson. It was reported that Wilson even momentarily took the stage during the pregame concert of superstar Ludacris.
I know that, shortly after the opening tip in the Dean Dome, fans rose to their feet when Wilson stole the ball and raced for the basket. The freshman soared into the air … and missed the dunk!
In fairness, Wilson later scored several impressive goals driving to the basket, including a wicked one-handed slam o a rebound. But the freshman would do well to follow the example of a senior — Seth Trimble.
I’ve followed Trimble since his freshman
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
year (2022-23), when he was a reserve. Carolina had some outstanding guards ahead of him, but Trimble’s athleticism caught my attention. He improved his sophomore year and then had a terri c junior season in an otherwise disappointing campaign for the Heels. He won the Marvin Williams Carolina Way Award, given to the player who best exempli es playing hard, being unsel sh and putting the team rst.
Trimble has made news o the court as well. He is the youngest owner of a Ben & Jerry’s franchise, purchasing the iconic location on Franklin Street. He credits mentors in the local community for helping him become a savvy, precocious investor. Trimble played last Saturday’s scrimmage at point guard because a teammate was injured, and he demonstrated another aspect of his game’s maturation by hitting several 3-pointers. He still possesses the strength and fortitude to drive to the rim and nish against tra c, even when challenged by the athletic Wilson and the Tar Heels’ new 7-footer, Henri Veesaar. I’m glad the
big fella is normally on Trimble’s side! I’m no expert, but I think the Tar Heels men’s basketball season is promising. In addition to Wilson and Veesaar, there is sharpshooting Luka Bogavac. Local fans also welcome back Jarin Stevenson, who played in Chatham County at Seaforth High School.
I suspect, however, that the Tar Heels will go only as far as Trimble takes them. Wilson will likely play one year before leaving for the NBA, like Drake Powell, a former Northwood High School superstar. In an era when basketball players change universities more often than shoes, it’s refreshing to follow a young man’s career for four years and watch how he develops as a player and a leader. It’s obvious that I am a Tar Heels fan, but I believe all of us can appreciate Seth’s success as a role model. Even Dookies.
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.
If a rose by any other name is still a rose, is there nothing that isn’t a sport?
Other events may be a little i y about being de ned as sports. I think here of, say, horseshoes or darts.
LAST WEEK, if you made it through what was in this space, you learned more than you wanted to know about my grandchildren and their sports accomplishments. I hope you’ll forgive me for boring many of you to tears, but I’d like to say one more word about sports before I lose my remaining readers … both of them.
This time, however, I will not subject you to hearing more about my family’s accomplishments or even my own lack of same. Rather, I want to say a word about some things that pass for sport(s) these days and which are dutifully shown on television as soon as they can nd sponsors, even if it is the latest hemorrhoid treatment product.
No longer is it just football, basketball and baseball. Those standards have been joined in seasonal abundance by volleyball, track and eld, golf (which spelled backwards is ‘ og,’ which is what I did to the ball when I once played), soccer, tennis, hockey and softball. I have on occasion stumbled across a professional soccer match, primarily the ones in Europe, and always thought there was more action in the stands than on the eld, especially when a French team played one from Germany, for instance. I found it hard to get pumped up for a 0-0 score after an hour of players running around but did enjoy seeing the fans beating on each other in the stands and the time someone started a re in the bleachers.
The abundance of television coverage of those events has become standard fare these days, and that’s OK since they
are legitimate sports. Other events may be a little i y about being de ned as sports, although there is competition between competitors. I think here of, say, horseshoes or darts, in which I have participated before my shoulders went on strike.
However, and I know it may be everyone for his own poison, within a space of a single recent Saturday afternoon while strolling through 611 television channels, I came across three separate events which, to my little mind, stretched the limits of being de ned as sports. The only common denominator I could detect with them and baseball is there were sponsors so they were televised, there were competitors and folks were gathered in person to watch.
The rst was rock-skipping where folks lined up to toss a smooth, at, slick river rock across the top of a pond and see how many skips it took and how far it went before settling into a new home at the bottom of the drink. I was impressed by how anyone could keep up with the number of skips because those things were moving when they hit the water. I think the winner got something like 42, which was 40 more than I ever got when I tried the same thing as a boy. Mine mostly went “plunk,” but then again, I wasn’t using a smooth, at, slick specially made river rock. From the hushed tones of the play by play guy, you would have thought Mickey Mantle was in town to face Bob Gibson for the nal out of the Series.
That soon went o , only to be followed
by bed-racing, in which teams of four people of varying physical dimensions would run through the streets of a midwestern city which I can’t remember with one player on each corner of a bed with a passenger under the covers. I took that in for two races before changing the channel, but I do believe the 14 people lining the street enjoyed it. As I remember, this may have been advertised as the world’s championship race, but I did not see anyone from India there.
Interesting though those two were, the crowning event was the world’s … hang on … pillow ghting championship between two men with ve gallons each of tattoo ink across their bodies with names I couldn’t pronounce. It was in a boxing ring, with young ladies not in evening gowns parading around with cards informing which round was coming up. There was a play-by-play guy who went on marveling how Guacamole had slammed Ernest with a behind the back 360 wrist ip that earned him two points. You really had to see this one to appreciate it.
I did stay to the bitter end of this one and, thankfully, no blood was shed. But all that alternative sport got me to thinking, and I want to give you all fair warning.
If left-handed chicken leg eating ever makes it to the sports world, don’t bother signing up. I’m way ahead of you.
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
Let’s lighten that load
I’m limping through errands today because, well, my back appears to be experiencing a rebellious phase. Very rebellious. I’ve somehow been blessed with a spinal compression fracture.
AS I WAS meandering (a more genteel description for limping) toward the grocery store exit, it was clear that the young woman in front of me was anxiously angling to get that door open for this poor ol’ thing. (Oh, heavens, I might topple over!) I very amicably acceded to her generosity. Yep, those very much-resisted sixth grade Southern cotillion lessons on graciousness really paid o . (Somewhere, my mother is saying, “I told you so!” She’s entitled.)
Let’s backtrack a bit. I’m limping through errands today because, well, my back appears to be experiencing a rebellious phase. Very rebellious. I’ve somehow been blessed with a spinal compression fracture. I mean that sucker is just taking its own sweet time to heal. I don’t mean to be dim, but if the universe is sending me a speci c message regarding my back, I haven’t gotten it yet.
Hello?
Nonetheless, I continued to slowly move forward with my minimal shopping, ending at Walmart. Post-purchase, heading toward the exit, the omnipresent Walmart receipts checker saw me limping toward her and said, “No, dear, you’re ne. Just go right on out.”
Oh, my, that was it for this lil ol’ limping lady! I’d had enough! So well intended, but the concern and caring by others had taken on a su ocating air for my remaining aliveness (of which there is a hopping, considerable, amount.)
Ooooo, reality test, reality test! The caring folks around me were not the problem. I was the problem — yep, me — not those kind
COLUMN | IAN HAWORTH
others. For the sake of experiencing my own, gnarly, felt independence, I really needed a bu er between me and the assumption by folks that I was just going to keel over! (I wasn’t, for heaven’s sake!)
In response to the Walmart receipts checker giving me an easy bye, out popped “I bet it’s my white hair and the limp, right?” followed by a smile. I just couldn’t resist.
Meaning, this woman — you know, the one with the white hair and limp — is sharp and funny, even if she looks like she might tilt over! Suddenly, I felt reinvigorated, saucy and whole!
Yeah!
After my comment, the receipts checker stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. And continued laughing. Me, too. It was an unexpected moment of shared joy and mutual aliveness.
My current locomotion challenges are morphing into a door-opener for laughter, a merriment that is as essential to my existence as water and, of course, my fave, Diet Dr Pepper. I’ll continue to juice this situation for its inherent light. And, why not?
My physical vulnerability, by choice, can be a vibrant source of shared laughter with others, heightening my sense of felt independence. I just hope that folks on the other end of my, um, lame explanations, can join me in laughter. Let’s lighten life’s load.
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
Hamas doesn’t want peace
In a perfect world, this agreement appears to be a reasonable solution to a brutal war in Gaza.
THE POLITICAL WORLD is alight with anticipation and excitement after President Donald Trump released his 20-point peace proposal for Gaza, built around three central pillars: immediate de-escalation, humanitarian relief and redevelopment, and a long-term political framework.
First, the plan calls for a complete cease re and Israeli withdrawal from active operations in exchange for the release of all hostages held by Hamas — alive and dead — within 72 hours of Israel’s acceptance. This exchange would also include the return of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas members who renounce violence could receive amnesty or safe passage abroad, while those remaining would be required to decommission weapons under international monitoring. Importantly, the proposal sets a clear standard: Gaza must become a “terrorfree” zone with no militant infrastructure, with Israel committing not to annex or occupy Gaza once security conditions are met.
Second, the plan focuses heavily on humanitarian aid and economic revitalization. Aid would ow in immediately under international supervision, while a transitional governance system would be established — a technocratic Palestinian committee overseen by an international “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump, with gures like Tony Blair — yes, the man who set Iraq on re — also involved. This body would coordinate reconstruction, create a special economic zone and attract investment, modeled on other “miracle cities” in the Middle East, envisioning an international stabilization force to secure Gaza alongside newly trained Palestinian police, while Israel gradually withdraws. Finally, the proposal outlines a political horizon. Hamas would be excluded from governance, and Gaza’s future leadership would eventually transition to a reformed Palestinian Authority, with calls for regional guarantees, interfaith dialogue, and a U.S.-led process to de ne a path toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood.
BE IN TOUCH
In short, the proposal mixes carrots (aid, investment, amnesty, freedom of movement) with sticks (demilitarization, Hamas exclusion, security enforcement), aiming to end the war while positioning Trump as the central broker of Gaza’s future.
Sounds great! There’s only one small problem: The only sticks Hamas cares about are those that can be used to kill more Jews.
When it comes to Hamas — you know, the bloodthirsty terrorist group that started this war after committing the deadliest pogrom in history since the fall of Nazi Germany — the plan would allow any Hamas members who “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons” to receive amnesty and be permitted to leave safely, while preventing Hamas and other factions from maintaining any governing control over Gaza (guaranteed by regional partners).
Except ... Hamas has no intention of giving up any power, let alone peaceful coexistence with Jews.
Yes, in a perfect world, this agreement appears to be a reasonable solution to a brutal war in Gaza that, while entirely justi ed, has caused widespread su ering and destruction. But we do not live in a perfect world. Instead, we live in a world inhabited by the ideology of radical Islam that plays by entirely di erent rules and views the su ering of its own civilians as a crucial and bene cial strategy of war.
Even if Hamas agrees to this proposal — which they won’t — don’t be fooled: They will never accept defeat because to do so would be to accept that their entire worldview is bogus. When Hamas — with the continued support of the Palestinian people, lest we forget — is motivated by the destruction of Israel, anything less than the continuation of Oct. 7 is unacceptable.
We should all pray for peace, of course, but with the understanding that peace can only be achieved once we achieve something in nitely harder: the vanquishing of Palestinian terrorism. And for that, it’s going to take much more than pen, paper and Tony Blair.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist.
COLUMN
Obamacare is a massive failure; the GOP shouldn’t bail it out
SINCE DEMOCRATS have shut down the federal government because they want another $1.5 trillion bailout of Obamacare, it’s a good time to remind everyone that the law has been a wideranging and expensive asco.
Virtually every promise made by Democrats regarding the A ordable Care Act has failed to come true.
Sure, Barack Obama infamously promised that Americans could keep their preferred insurance if they desired. By the end of his second term, around 7 million people had been booted from their insurance because of the A ordable Care Act. Who knows how many have been dropped since.
But let’s also not forget that Obama pledged that the law would reduce family health insurance premiums by “up to” $2,500 annually by the end of his rst term. Premiums not only continued to rise during his presidency, but since 2010, they have spiked from $13,000 to nearly $24,000.
Democrats used to love to talk about “bending the cost curve.” Well, congrats.
Obama also promised that Obamacare’s state exchanges would enhance competition among insurers and lower costs. Taxpayers are now on the hook for 90% of the cost of those premiums. If the COVID-19-era Obamacare subsidies are allowed to sunset, taxpayers will be responsible for a mere 80%.
Without the subsidies, the Congressional Budget O ce predicted that 3.6 million users would leave the exchanges. Obamacare didn’t create better health care insurance options for consumers; it created millions of state dependents.
The Obamacare exchanges were sold as self-su cient engines of capitalism even as Democrats were doing everything to inhibit market competition. Many Obamacare exchanges now only have a single insurer. Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana have all basically abandoned them.
One of the most contentious debates over the A ordable Care Act was the cost. Democrats stressed that the project would cost less than a trillion dollars over a decade. On numerous occasions, Obama promised he would not add “one dime” to the debt. Democrats, in fact, guaranteed the A ordable Care Act would help reduce de cits. If you dared question the estimates, fact-checkers would swarm and call you a liar.
There’s no de nitive number on the debt added by Obamacare since its passage. It is likely in the hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions. Democrats promised that penalties on employers who failed to provide health insurance would bring in “substantial” revenue to allay costs. Once the A ordable Care Act was passed, Obama ignored the law by delaying implementation before “tweaking” the law without any constitutional authority. The employer mandate now brings in only a small fraction of promised returns.
Obama also kept delaying the A ordable Care Act’s “Cadillac tax,” a levy on alleged “gold-plated” private employee plans. The tax was meant to discourage upper- and middle-class workers from obtaining the types of plans Democrats deemed too generous as a way of lowering costs but also raising “revenue.” Once labor unions found out they also had “gold-plated” plans, well, Democrats dropped the idea, which was repealed in 2019. The individual mandate, which the Supreme Court miraculously transformed into a “tax,” now exists only in conceptual form despite Democrats’ promise that it would generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue. It brings in zero dollars.
So it’s no surprise that Democrats have been demanding Republicans bail out the poorly conceived law since its passage.
When Congress refused to pass new subsidies in 2013, the Obama administration, again without any constitutional authority, ordered the Treasury to create a $7 billion per year appropriation for insurance companies participating in the allegedly self-supporting exchanges.
When a district court ruled that the payments were unconstitutional, Obama ignored the decision. Don’t you love it when Democrats lecture people about norms?
When Democrats added new Obamacare subsidies to the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to fund those with incomes 400% over the federal poverty line, they sold it as a temporary measure to get through the COVID-19 economy.
Every Democratic leader referred to the subsidies as “a bridge” that was meant to help until the economy rebounded from the pandemic.
Here we are in 2025. You know what they say about temporary government programs.
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
Aside from all the failed promises, the passage of Obamacare broke American politics. For the rst time in U.S. history, a party rammed through a massive national reform without any input from half the country. In their e ort to appease a handful of moderates in their party, Democrats larded up Obamacare with unenforceable mandates, taxes and bureaucratic complexities that created the illusion of a ordability.
When they still couldn’t pass the bill using the traditional lawmaking process, they blew up a bunch of governing norms to do it.
Now Democrats have shut the government down to try and force Republicans to help prop up this disastrous law. The GOP would be nuts to help them.
David
Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.
obituaries
David Wayne Mabry
Oct. 5, 2025
David Wayne Mabry passed away on Sunday, October 5th, 2025 at First Health Hospice House in West End NC with his wife and daughter by his side. Wayne is the son of Kenneth and Mary Mabry.
Survived by: Wife of 24 years, Donna Bra ord Mabry; daughter, Erica Nicole Mabry Shoemaker (Ryan), sons, Casey Ray Foushee (Emily) and Nicholas Stephen Keifer (Hannah); parents, Kenneth & Mary Mabry; sister, Julia Gray (Austin); brother, Robert Hughey (Donna); grandchildren, Madison Prine, Aubrey Shoemaker, Emerson Keifer, Emery Keifer, Rylee Foushee and Landon Foushee; honorable mention Doug Combs (Crystal) and Chuck Fisher (Meghan).
Wayne was a graduate of Jordan Matthews High School, went on to serve in the US Air Force, after honorable discharge he continued his career in mechanics working at HXR automotive, Self employed ( Mabry Automotive) then to Cooper Ford in Pittsboro
and then Crossroads ford in Apex. He was a senior master transmission technician, training apprentices to follow in his footsteps, when he and his wife became empty nesters, Wayne went to work on school buses at Chatham County Bus Garage. Wayne retired June 13,2024. He enjoyed his brief retirement until becoming diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer. He fought the good ght, going home to meet Jesus.
Wayne was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church and Chatham County Gideons. He has served as a deacon, Gideon Chaplain and Church ministry.
His mission was to spread the good news of Jesus and told many that if thru his sickness one person could be saved it was worth the battle.
A visitation for Wayne will be Tuesday, October 7, 2025, from 6-8 pm, at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at 2 pm, at Fellowship Baptist Church with Rev. Jason Golden and Rev. Marc Sanders o ciating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with military rites presented by the Randolph County Honor Guard. In lieu of owers: contributions to Fellowship Baptist Church building fund or Chatham County Gideon Camp.
Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is honored to be assisting the Mabry family. Online condolences may be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Stanly News Journal at obits@chathamrecord.com
Jane Goodall, celebrated primatologist and conservationist, dead at 91
Her chimpanzee research changed the understanding of how apes live and interact
By Hallie Golden The Associated Press
JANE GOODALL, the intellectual, soft-spoken conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking, immersive chimpanzee eld research in which she documented the primates’ distinct personalities and use of tools, has died. She was 91.
The environmental advocate became a beloved household name who transcended generations through her appearances in documentaries and on television, as well as her travels to address packed auditoriums around the world.
The Jane Goodall Institute announced the primatologist’s death last Wednesday in an Instagram post. According to the Washington, D.C.-based institute, Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a U.S. speaking tour. Her discoveries “revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it said.
While living among chimpanzees in Africa decades ago, Goodall documented them doing activities previously believed to be exclusive to humans. Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans’ closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness.
“Out there in nature by myself, when you’re alone, you can become part of nature and your humanity doesn’t get in the way,” she told The Associated Press in 2021. “It’s almost like an out- of-body experience when suddenly you hear di erent sounds and you smell different smells and you’re actually part of this amazing tapestry of life.”
Goodall never lost hope for future
She had been scheduled to meet with students and teachers last Wednesday to launch the planting of 5,000 trees around wild re burn zones in the Los Angeles area. Organizers learned of her death as the event was to begin at EF Academy in Pasadena, said spokesperson Shawna Marino. The rst tree was planted in Goodall’s name after a moment of silence.
“I don’t think there’s any better way to honor her legacy than having a thousand children gathered for her,” Marino said.
Goodall in her later years devoted decades to education and advocacy on humanitarian causes and protecting the natural world. In her British accent, she was known for balancing the grim realities of the climate crisis with a sincere message of hope for the future.
From her base in the British coastal town of Bournemouth, she traveled nearly 300 days a year, even after she turned 90, for public speeches. Between more serious messages, her speeches often featured her whooping like a chimpanzee or lamenting that Tarzan chose the wrong Jane.
Tributes from animal rights organizations, political leaders and admirers poured in following news of her death.
“I’m deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Jane Goodall, our dear Messenger of Peace. She is leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity &
“What the chimps have taught me over the years is they’re so like us. They’ve blurred the line between humans and animals.”
Jane Goodall
our planet,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Nature broadcaster Chris Packham re ected on her relentless advocacy until the very end.
“In many ways Jane just died on the job,” he said. “The job that her life became. And that was protecting life on earth.”
Living among chimpanzees
While rst studying chimps in Tanzania in the early 1960s, Goodall was known for her unconventional approach. She didn’t simply observe them from afar but immersed herself in every aspect of their lives. She fed them and gave them names instead of numbers, which some scientists criticized.
Her ndings were circulated to millions when she rst appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1963 and then in a popular documentary. A collection of photos of Goodall in the eld helped her and even some of the chimps become famous. One iconic image showed her crouching across from the infant chimpanzee named Flint. Each has arms outstretched, reaching for the other.
In 1972, the Sunday Times published an obituary for Flo, Flint’s mother and the dominant matriarch. Flint died soon after showing signs of grief and losing weight.
“What the chimps have taught me over the years is they’re so like us. They’ve blurred the line between humans and animals,″ she said in 1997.
University of St. Andrews primatologist Catherine Hobaiter, who studies communication in chimpanzees, said that when she rst heard Goodall speak, it transformed her view of science.
“It was the rst time as a young scientist working with wild apes and wild chimpanzees that I got to hear that it was OK to feel something,” she said.
Goodall earned top civilian honors from a number of countries. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 by then-U.S. President Joe Biden and in 2021 won the prestigious Templeton Prize, which honors individuals whose life’s work embodies a fusion of science and spirituality.
Primatologist
Jane Goodall kisses Pola, a 14-month-old chimpanzee from the Budapest Zoo that she symbolically adopted in Budapest, Hungary, in 2004.
The Humane World for Animals said Goodall’s in uence on the animal protection community was immeasurable.
“Her work on behalf of primates and all animals will never be forgotten,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the group formerly the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International.
Charting course from early age
Born in London in 1934, Goodall said her fascination with animals began around when she learned to crawl. In her book, “In the Shadow of Man,” she described an early memory of hiding in a henhouse to see a chicken lay an egg. She was there so long her mother reported her missing to police.
She bought her rst book — Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes” — when she was 10 and soon made up her mind about her future: live with wild animals in Africa.
That plan stayed with her through a secretarial course when she was 18 and two di erent jobs. By 1957, she accepted an invitation to travel to a farm in Kenya.
There she met the famed anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey at a natural history museum in Nairobi. He gave her a job as an assistant secretary.
Three years later, despite Goodall not having a college degree, Leakey asked if she would be interested in studying chimpanzees in what is now Tanzania. She told the AP that he chose her “because he wanted an open mind.”
The beginning was lled with complications. British authorities insisted she have a companion, so she brought her mother. The chimps ed if she got within 500 yards of them. She also spent weeks sick from what she believed was malaria.
Eventually she gained the animals’ trust. By the fall of 1960 she observed the chimpanzee named David Greybeard make a tool from twigs to sh termites from a nest. It was previously believed that only humans made and used tools.
She also found that chimps have individual personalities and share humans’ emotions of pleasure, joy, sadness and fear. She documented bonds between mothers and infants, sibling rivalry and male dominance. She found there was no sharp line between humans and the animal kingdom. In later years, she discovered chimpanzees engage in a type of warfare, and in 1987 she and her sta observed a chimp “adopt” a 3-year-old orphan that wasn’t closely related.
BELA SZANDELSZKY / AP PHOTO
Judge rejects claims of racial gerrymandering in state Senate districts
It a ects lines going through some 20 counties in northeast N.C.
By Gary D. Robertson
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A pair of northeastern North Carolina legislative districts can remain intact, a federal judge ruled last week, rejecting black voters’ claims that state Republicans illegally manipulated the boundaries to prevent them from electing their favored candidates.
Ruling after a trial held nearly eight months ago, U.S. District Judge James Dever sided with GOP legislative leaders who were sued in November 2023 over two state Senate districts in a statewide map the General Assembly approved weeks earlier.
The two plainti s — one of them now a Democratic state House member — argued that the lines violated Section 2 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act through race-based discrimination, and that the lawmakers should have created a majority-black district instead.
The lines cover close to 20 counties that include a region known as the “Black Belt,” where the African American population is signi cant — reaching a majority in some
counties — and politically cohesive. Last November, white Republicans were elected to the two district seats.
The partisan makeup of the Senate is critical for the prospects of both parties. Republicans currently hold 30 of the 50 seats — the minimum required for a veto-proof majority. Senate Democrats could uphold Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes with one more seat.
In a 126-page order, Dever wrote that plainti s Moses Matthews and Rep. Rodney
Pierce lacked standing to challenge one Senate district because neither lived in that district. Otherwise, he said, they failed to provide enough evidence to prove that the lines diluted black voting power.
Dever said Republican lawmakers did not have access to racial data in their mapping computers in part because North Carolina redistricting litigation during the 2010s determined that racially polarized voting in the state was not legally signi cant.
“This case does not involve the General Assembly engaging in race-based districting or the odious practice of sorting voters based on race.”
U.S. District Judge James Dever
He noted that 2024 elections based on statewide House and Senate maps approved in 2023 resulted in African American candidates winning 38 of the 170 seats — a proportion in line with the state’s black population, he wrote.
“This case does not involve the General Assembly engaging in race-based districting or the odious practice of sorting voters based on race,” Dever wrote, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. He said the case record demonstrates northeastern North Carolina communities include black voting blocs that form coalitions with other racial and ethnic groups to elect their favored candidates.
“Black voters in northeast North Carolina and throughout North Carolina have elected candidates of their choice (both white and black) with
remarkable frequency and success for decades,” wrote Dever, who was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush. ”Plainti s ignore the progress that North Carolina has made over the past 60 years and seek to use Section 2 to sort voters by race in order to squeeze one more Democratic Senate district into the map.”
Attorneys for Pierce and Matthews didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the ruling, which could be appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2024, both Dever and a 4th District panel declined to block the use of the two districts while the case went to trial.
Republicans have said that lawfully partisan considerations inform their decision-making on redistricting.
Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger said on X that the court con rmed that the General Assembly “was right not to use race in its redistricting process” and that the Voting Rights Act “can’t be weaponized to make up for the shortcomings of the Democratic Party.”
The northeastern North Carolina Senate districts also are being challenged within a broader redistricting case that remains before a panel of three federal judges. The trial, which involved two lawsuits alleging racial gerrymandering in a handful of U.S. House and state Senate districts approved in 2023, concluded in July. No ruling has yet been entered. Candidate ling begins in December for General Assembly primary elections scheduled in March.
NC House forms committee to examine bitcoin, blockchain
The committee will be chaired by Reps. Allen Chesser (R-Nash) and David Willis (R-Union)
By A.P. Dillon Chatham News & Record
RALEIGH — A new North Carolina House Select Committee on Blockchain and Digital Assets was announced by House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) last Wednesday.
The committee will study “emerging technologies, evaluate their potential impact on North Carolina’s economy, and recommend policies that encourage innovation while protecting consumers,” according to Hall’s press release.
The committee will be cochaired by Reps. Allen Chesser (R-Nash) and David Willis (R-Union).
“We are honored to be appointed by Speaker Hall to serve on the House Select Committee on Blockchain and Digital Assets,” Chesser and Willis said in a joint press release. “North Carolina has an opportunity to be a leader in shaping policy around emerging technologies that will impact our economy, nancial systems, and the security of personal information.
“This committee’s work will focus on ensuring that innovation can thrive in our
“This committee’s work will focus on ensuring that innovation can thrive in our state while also providing appropriate safeguards for consumers and businesses.”
Committee statement
state while also providing appropriate safeguards for consumers and businesses. We look forward to working with our colleagues, industry experts, and stakeholders to develop thoughtful recommendations that will keep North Carolina at the forefront of emerging technologies and competitive in the global marketplace.”
Other members of the committee will include Reps. Celeste Cairns (R-Carteret), Neal Jackson (R-Moore), Mike Schietzelt (R-Wake), Stephen Ross (R-Alamance), Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg), Allison Dahle (D-Wake), Nasif Majeed (D-Mecklenburg) and Charles Smith (D-Cumberland). The new committee has not yet set a date for its rst meeting but does have a landing page on the General Assembly website under the committees menu.
HANNAH SCHOENBAUM / AP PHOTO
A sergeant-at-arms in the North Carolina Senate passes out copies of a map proposal for new state Senate districts during a committee hearing at the Legislative O ce Building in Raleigh in 2023.
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IN SEARCH OF SOMEONE
I met you at Dollar Tree in Siler City on 9/19/25. You paid for a Birthday Gift Bag I was getting. I want to meet you again to thank you. I live on Hwy.902 at 11348, Bear Creek, NC. My phone # is 919-837-5780. 2tp
Notice of Public Hearings
Town of Siler City The following items will be considered by the Siler City Board of Commissioners as legislative hearings. The hearings will be conducted during the Board of Commissioner’s regular meeting on Monday October 20, 2025, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the court room located in the Siler City Town Hall at 311 N. 2nd Ave. Legislative Public Hearings
CASE R25-0901: Request for Major Modi cation of previous Conditional Zoning Approval by applicant, CE Group, Inc, on behalf of the property owner Tim’s Farm & Forestry II, LLC. The modi cation request includes revisions to the approved conditions, development layout, and the uses permitted within the development. The property is identi ed as Parcel 13136 and 80302 and is located on West Third Street.
CASE R25-0902: Everest Park, LLC is requesting a Conditional Rezoning of approximately 27.17 acres from Agricultural – Residential (A-R) to the Agricultural – Residential – Conditional (A-R-C) zoning district for a proposed major subdivision with cluster option consisting of 18 single family residential lots and accessory recreational uses. The property is identi ed as Parcel Number 13858 by the Chatham County Tax Department.
CASE R25-0903: Ellis Development Group, on behalf of the property owners, is requesting a Conditional Rezoning of approximately 134.70 acres from Agricultural – Residential (A-R) and Residential 10 (R10) to the Residential 3 – Conditional (R-3-C) zoning district for a proposed major subdivision consisting of 371 residential units in a mix of detached single family residential lots and townhomes. The property is identi ed as Parcel Numbers 13797, 67887, 13796, 13782 and 83901 by the Chatham County Tax Department.
These items were reviewed by the Siler City Planning Board at their September 8, 2025, regular meeting. The proposed item is available for review by contacting Tim Garner at tgarner@silercity.gov or 919-726-8628. All persons interested in the outcome of this item are invited to attend the legislative hearing and present comments, testimony, and exhibits on the above referenced item. Interested parties may also submit written comments. Written comments can be submitted by email to tgarner@silercity.gov. Individuals desiring to speak may sign up by registering their name and information on the sign-up sheet, located outside the entry doors to the court room. The Town of Siler City will make appropriate arrangements to ensure that disabled persons are provided other accommodations, such arrangements may include, but are not limited to, providing interpreters for the deaf, providing taped cassettes of materials for the blind, or assuring a barrier-free location for the proceedings.
This information is available in Spanish or any other language upon request. Please contact Kimberly Pickard at 919-726-8620, 311 North Second Avenue, Siler City, North Carolina 27344, or kpickard@ silercity.org for accommodations for this request. Esta información está disponible en español o en cualquier otro idioma bajo petición. Por favor, póngase en contacto con Kimberly Pickard al kpickard@silercity.org o 919-726-8625 o en 311 North Second Avenue, Siler City, North Carolina 27344 de alojamiento para esta solicitud.
NOTICE
STATE OF NORTH CARONLINA, CHATHAM COUNTY THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE, SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ) ) FILE NO. 24E001684-180 ROBERT MICHAEL WELCH, ) Deceased.
)
ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE
Having quali ed as Executor/Administrator of the Estate of Robert Michael Welch, deceased, late of Carlsbad, New Mexico, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before December 31, 2025 (90 days date) or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate settlement. This the 2nd day of October, 2025. (1st Thursday Publication Date) Steven Michael Welch 1202 N. Shore Drive Carlsbad, NM 88220
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having quali ed on the 1st day of October 2025, as Administrator of the Estate of Shannon Lee BaileyHill, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 9th day of January, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment. This is the 2nd day of October 2025. Ariel Clower, Administrator of the Estate of Shannon Lee Bailey-Hill 19429 Elkhart Street Harper Woods, MI 48225
Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: October 9th, 16th,23rd and 30th 2025.
Chatham County Public Hearing Notice
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing to receive input on the requested for Chatham County to participate in the Commercial Property Assessed Capital Expenditure (C-PACE) program authorized by the State Legislature to provide commercial property owners a low-cost, long term nancing mechanism to fund qualifying energy e ciency, water conservation, renewable energy, and resiliency improvements to their properties on Monday, October 20, 2025, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse located at 9 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro NC 27312. Speakers are requested to sign up prior to the hearing on the county website or by contacting the Clerk to the Board at 919-542-8200 or boc.clerk@ chathamcountync.gov. If you have any questions or comments concerning the C-PACE program, please call the Chatham County Environmental Quality Director at 919-545-7875 or write to P.O. Box 1550, Pittsboro N.C. 27312.
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 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
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NC
On Monday, October 13, 2025 at 6:00 pm, the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will hold the following public hearing in person at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center at 1192 Hwy 64 Business West, Pittsboro, NC: A legislative public hearing on a voluntary, contiguous annexation petition (A-2025-04/PB-25468) from Reeves Farm Pittsboro, LLC. The applicant is requesting to annex 94.228 acres south of US Highway 64 and west of Old Goldston Road (Parcel ID 0006767 partial, 6738 partial, and 70127 partial).
PB-25-211 - A legislative public hearing on a Development Agreement from Reeves Farms Pittsboro, LLC. The applicant is requesting to develop 455.04 acres in the Neighborhood Mixed-Use Center District. (PID: 0006738) The applicant is proposing up to 1,700 residences and up to 1,012,000 square feet of retail and commercial uses on the property. A copy of the proposed Development Agreement may be obtained from Carrie Bailey, Town Clerk at cbailey@pittsboronc.gov or Randall Cahoon-Tingle, Planning Director at rcahoon-tingle@pittsboronc.gov.
PB-25-358 – 102 Park Drive General Rezoning –A legislative request by VRC Ltd (Janet Nichols), has been submitted petitioning a map amendment rezoning parcel 79930 from its current classi cation, R-12 (Medium Residential) to C-2 (Highway Business). The parcel is approximately 3.7280 acres and is located behind the Alpha Center. The property is currently vacant, and the owner intends to utilize this parcel for o ces and residential uses. The hearings will be held in person. The public can also watch the hearing live on the Town’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ townofpittsboronc/streams. Members of the public must attend in person if they wish to speak at any hearing. Contact the Town Clerk, Carrie Bailey, by 4 pm on October 13, 2025 with written comments or to sign up to speak at the hearing. You can contact Carrie Bailey at cbailey@pittsboronc.gov, (984) 282-6647, or PO Box 759, Pittsboro, NC 27312.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
North Carolina Chatham County File#25E000502-180
The undersigned, Helen Frazier having quali ed on the 10th day of September 2025 as EXECUTOR of the ESTATE of JUDITH RAYMOND BOYKIN, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to her on or before the 26th day of December 2025, or this notice will be in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned this the 25th day of September 2025. Helen Frazier – Executor 347 Meadow View Drive Moncure, NC 27559
Please publish the above notice on September 25, October 2nd, 9th and 16th 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 Personal Representative of the Estate of LINVILLE GARNER, deceased, late of CHATHAM County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at: 1917 BERNARD PURVIS RD BENNETT NC 27208 on or before the 5th day of JANUARY, 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and Corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This the 30th day of SEPTEMBER, 2025.
LARRY MATTHEW SAUNDERS
Personal Representative For the Estate of LINVILLE GARNER
Frank C. Thigpen Thigpen and Jenkins, LLP
Attorney for Estate PO Box 792
Robbins, North Carolina 27325
PUBLICATION DATES:
October 2, 2025
October 9, 2025
October 16, 2025
October 23, 2025
NOTICE OF SALE
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM ACE SELF STORAGE, PURSUANT TO NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES, CHAPTER 44A, SHALL CONDUCT A PUBLIC SALE OF THE UNITS LISTED BELOW AT IT’S FACILITY LOCATED AT 105 WEST FIFTH STREET, SILER CITY, NC AT 11:00AM ON OCTOBER 30, 2025 WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW ANY UNITS
FROM THE SALE. ALL SALES WILL BE CASH TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.
B-1 BARRY EDWARDS
B-2A BARRY EDWARDS
B-2B BARRY EDWARDS
B-2C BARRY EDWARDS
B-21B FRANKLIN BROWN B-13 BLAINE FIELDS B-21A NIKKI GOLDSTON
B-8 JEFF HARRIS
B4D PAUL JONES B-20 EARNEST ROSEBORO
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
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 TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000546-180 All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against Mary H. Hodges, deceased, late of Huntington, West Virginia, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 12th day of January, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 9th day of October 2025. Audy M. Perry, Jr., Ancillary Executor c/o Hemphill Gelder, PC PO Box 97035 Raleigh, NC 27624-7035
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
25E000472-180 ALL persons having claims against Judith-Ann Leporino, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Jan 02 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 2nd day of October, 2025. RENEE EASTMAN, Executor C/O Lenfestey, Maxie & Burger, PLLC 5640 Dillard Drive, Suite 101 Cary, North Carolina 27518 O2, 9, 16 and 23
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
24CV0000235-180 TO: UNKNOWN HEIRS OF GAITHER RODGERS, SR; UNKNOWN HEIRS OF FREEMAN THOMAS RODGERS Take notice that pleadings seeking relief against you have been led in the above-entitled civil action. The nature of the relief being sought is for the condemnation and appropriation, for highway purposes, of a certain interests or estates in that certain parcel of land lying and being in Center Township, Chatham County, North Carolina and being more particularly described as follows: Being that land identi ed as part of the Estate of Lillie Freeman Rodgers as set forth in the Estate of Lillie Freeman Rodgers, 83-E-213, Chatham County Clerk of Superior Court. Also, being that land identi ed as Tax Parcel ID No. 0075052 (PIN No. 9742-82-2831) containing approximately 1.300 acres and described as “K5-78K” and being located on the west side of Hillsboro Street/US Highway 15-501 immediately north of 50 Dark Oaks Drive, Pittsboro, NC, as is shown in the Chatham County Tax O ce. You are hereby required to make defense to
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM NEWS FILE#25000500-180 The undersigned, CAROLINE WOOD, having quali ed on the 10TH Day of SEPTEMBER, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of SUSAN WOOD, 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 2ND Day JANUARY, 2026, 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 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER 2025. CAROLINE WOOD, ADMINISTRATOR 1321 #2 CHILDS DRIVE HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27278 Run dates: O2,9,16,23p
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 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000510-180 The undersigned, JOANNE ALSTON AND JUDY C. REAVES, having quali ed on the 16TH Day of SEPTEMBER, 2025 as CO-ADMINISTRATORS of the Estate of HAYWOOD AL REAVES, 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 2nd Day JANUARY 2026, 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 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER 2025. *JOANNE ALSTON, CO-ADMINISTRATOR 45 DAISY SCURLOCK RD. MONCURE, NC 27559 JUDY C. REAVES, CO-ADMINISTRATOR 283 PINECREST DR. BEAR CREEK, NC 27207 Run dates: O2,9,16,23p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000542-180 The undersigned, RACHEL MITCHELL, having quali ed on the 29TH Day of SEPTEMBER, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of GERALDINE WALSER, 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 9TH Day JANUARY 2026, 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 9TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2025. RACHEL MITCHELL, EXECUTOR 3794 NC HWY 751 APEX, NC 27523 Run dates: O9,16,23,30p
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
NOTICE
NORTH
Kids in New York keep dying while ‘subway sur ng’ on top of trains — can they be stopped?
More than a dozen youths have been killed in the past few years
By Cedar Attanasio
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Ka’Von Wooden loved trains. The 15-year-old had an encyclopedic knowledge of New York City’s subway system and dreamed of becoming a train operator.
Instead, on a December morning in 2022, Ka’Von died after he climbed to the roof of a moving J train in Brooklyn and then fell onto the tracks as it headed onto the Williamsburg Bridge.
He is one of more than a dozen New Yorkers, many young boys, who have been killed or badly injured after falling o speeding trains. Other risks include being crushed between the train and tunnel walls and being electrocuted by high-voltage subway tracks.
“Subway sur ng” dates back a century, but it has been fueled by social media.
Two girls found dead Saturday
Early Saturday morning, New York City police found two girls dead — ages 12 and 13 — in what apparently was a subway sur ng game that turned out to be fatal, authorities said. Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement that “getting on top of a subway car isn’t ‘sur ng’ — it’s suicide.” Authorities have tried to address the problem with public awareness campaigns — including a new one featuring Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B — and by deploying drones to catch thrill-seekers in the act. But for some, a more fundamental question is not being addressed: Why are kids like Ka’Von able to climb on top of subway cars in the rst place?
“When Ka’Von died ... literally two weeks later, another child died. And another one. That makes no sense,” his mother, Y’Vonda Maxwell, told The Associated Press, saying transit and law enforcement o cials haven’t done enough. “Why should my child have not been the end?”
MTA says it’s studying issue
Making trains harder to climb and train surfers more easy to detect with cameras and sensors could be part of the solution, some experts say. The MTA, which operates the subway system, has said it is studying the issue. But it has yet to report any broad new rollout of technology or physical barriers that might make it harder for people to get on top of trains.
In June, Crichlow told a news conference to introduce a new public awareness campaign that the MTA was experimenting with pieces of circular rubber tubing designed to prevent a person from being able to climb between two cars to the top of a train.
It was being piloted in be-
tween two cars to make sure it would t into the tight spacing of the tunnels and that it wouldn’t break down or harm service or riders, he said.
“So far the equipment seems to be holding up,” he said.
Six deaths so far this year from subway sur ng
Six people died sur ng subway trains in the city last year, up from ve in 2023.
Tyesha Elcock, the MTA worker who operated the train Ka’Von rode the day he died, is among those who thinks more should be done to prevent deaths.
The rst sign of trouble that day was when the train’s emergency brake kicked in, she said.
Elcock discovered Ka’Von’s body between the train’s seventh and eighth cars. A group of sad-faced teens on the train made it clear what had happened. “Did y’all leave your friend back there?” she asked them.
Elcock said another operator traveling in the opposite direction saw Ka’Von on the train’s roof and reported it over a radio. Because of patchy radio service, she said, she didn’t get the warning.
But she thinks an even simpler solution could have saved Ka’Von’s life: locking the doors at the ends of subway cars. That would cut o access to the narrow gaps between train cars where subway surfers use handholds to hoist themselves onto the roof.
“Lock it when we’re in service so people can’t climb up and be on top of the train,” Elcock said.
The MTA’s leaders have said they are looking into possible ways to prevent subway surfing, including engineering solutions, but the agency declined to make any of its safety experts available for an interview.
In 2023, Richard Davey, then the head of buses and subways for the MTA, said ofcials were “weighing” the option of locking doors between cars — which is now done only on a handful of 1980s-era trains. But he said that locking doors “brings its own risk.”
Some New Yorkers have complained that locking the passageways between train cars might prevent them from escaping to another part of the train during an emergency.
Under questioning from City Council members and reporters last year, MTA o cials ruled out some other physical interventions, including building more barriers to prevent access to tracks or putting covers over the gaps between train cars to prevent would-be surfers from climbing up.
“Listen, you have to be able to do work on top of a train car,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said at a news conference, adding that you can’t “cover it with barbed wire.”
MTA asks social media companies to help stop trend
The MTA has asked social media companies to take down videos glamorizing subway sur ng and reported in
“Getting on top
of a
subway car isn’t ‘sur ng’ — it’s suicide.”
Crichlow,
Demetrius
MTA president
June that, in 2025, more than 1,800 videos had been taken down.
It’s also promoted public service announcements telling people to “Ride inside, stay alive,” in voices of local teens and, with the city’s schools, released a comic-book themed campaign this past summer designed to show the dangers of subway sur ng and impact on loved ones.
More than 300,000 New York City school children use the subway to get to and from school each day.
The NYPD reported that arrests of alleged subway surfers rose to 229 last year, up from 135 the year before. Most were boys, with an average age of around 14, according to police. The youngest was 9 years old.
Branislav Dimitrijevic, an engineering professor of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said retro tting trains to prevent roof access would be expensive.
“There’s so many stories in transportation where things can be xed, but they cost a lot of money,” Dimitrijevic said. “And then you ask the public, ’Are you willing to (pay) for us to x this? But your taxes would go up tremendously.’ And people say ‘no.’”
Dimitrijevic suggested the MTA might be able to install cameras and use arti cial intelligence to detect riders trying to climb a train. Andrew Albert, a nonvoting member of the MTA board, said he has been asking the agency about the plausibility of physical sensors but hasn’t gotten a response.
The NYPD has patrolled popular subway sur ng routes with eld response teams and drones, reporting in July that it had used them to make 200 rescues, mostly of teens. But the missions can’t be everywhere at once. They also say they make home visits to the homes of subway surfers they’ve identi ed.
Trains in some other cities, such as Hong Kong and Dubai, aren’t easily climbable. They have streamlined bodies, lack handles on the outside and don’t open between cars. Some rail systems have resorted to extreme tactics to keep people from riding on top of trains. In Indonesia, railway o cials once installed hanging metal ails to try and deter passengers from riding atop train cars to avoid overcrowding. They also tried spraying riders with red paint and hitting them with brooms.
The MTA purchased a few new subway cars that don’t have the outdoor gaps exploited by subway surfers, but they represent just a sliver of the number currently in service and won’t be deployed on lines popular for sur ng anytime soon.
NOTICE
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM
NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Wayne Paul Powers, a/k/a Wayne P. Powers, a/k/a Wayne Powers, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the address below on or before January 4, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 2nd day of October, 2025. Elaine P. Partin Executor of the Estate of Wayne Paul Powers a/k/a Wayne P. Powers a/k/a Wayne Powers The Chatham News & Record B. Pete Jarvis Tennant & Jarvis, P.C. PO Box 4585 Archdale, NC 27263 FOR PUBLICATION: October 2, October 9, October 16 and October 23, 2025
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 OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS
October 9, 2025 Town of Siler City P.O. Box 769 Siler City, NC 27344 TO ALL INTERESTED AGENCIES, GROUPS AND PERSONS: On or about October 21, 2025, the above-named town will request the NC Department of Commerce to release Federal Funds under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (PL 93-383) for the following project: Town of Siler City 2024 CDBG-NR, 23C-4174
Project activities include the rehabilitation or reconstruction of ve (5) low-income occupied dilapidated dwellings in scattered site locations in the Town of Siler City, NC. The proposed treatment will provide standard dwelling units for these households. Associated service delivery and administrative services necessary to accomplish the housing activities are included in the project scope. The properties are located 819 N. Fir Avenue,1309 Hodge Street, 911 14th Street, 58 Elder Road, and Alternate: 1123 N. 5th Avenue. Total Project Cost=$950,000; Total CDBG Cost=$950,000; CDBG/Total Cost Percent=100%. An Environmental Review Record applicable to the above project has been made by the above-named Town which documents the environmental review of the project. This Environmental Review Record is on le at the Town of Siler City, 311 N. Second Avenue, Siler City, NC. The ERR is available on weekdays from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. for public examination and copying, upon request and payment of any authorized copying charges. PUBLIC COMMENTS Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the Environmental Review Record to Sara Martin, Community Development Manager, Town of Siler City, P.O. Box 769, NC 27344. All comments received by October 17, 2025, will be considered by the Town prior to authorizing submission of a request for release of funds.
RELEASE OF FUNDS
The Town of Siler City will undertake the project described above with CDBG funds from the NC Rural Economic Development Division (REDD), under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The Town is certifying to REDD that Donald A. Matthews in his o cial capacity as Mayor of the Town of Siler City, consents to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal courts if an action is brought to enforce responsibilities in relation to environmental reviews, decision making, and action; and that these responsibilities have been satis ed. The legal e ect of the certi cation is that upon its approval, the Town of Siler City may use the Block Grant funds, and REDD will have satis ed its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and related laws and authorities.
OBJECTION TO RELEASE OF FUNDS
REDD will accept an objection to its approval of the release of funds and acceptance of the certi cation only if it is on one of the following bases: (A) That the certi cation was not in fact executed by the chief elected o cial or other o cer of the applicant approved by REDD; or (B) The Town has omitted a step or failed to make a decision or nding required by HUD regulations at 24 CFR Part 58; (C) the grant recipient has committed funds or incurred cost not authorized by 24CFR Part 58 before approval of a release of funds by REDD; or (D) another federal agency acting pursuant to 40 CFR Part 1504 has submitted a written nding that the project is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality. Objections must be prepared and submitted in accordance with the required procedure (24 CFR Part 58) and shall be addressed to REDD at 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 276014346. Objections to the release of funds on bases other than those stated above will not be considered by REDD. No objection received after November 5, 2025, will be considered by REDD. This information is available in Spanish or any other language upon request. Please contact Sara Martin, Community Development Manager, at 919-726-8625 or at 311 N. Second Avenue, Siler City, NC for accommodations for this request. Esta informacion esta disponible en espa ol o en cualquier otro idioma bajo peticion. Par favor, pongase en contacto con Sara Martin, Community Development Manager, at 919-726-8625 or at 311 N. Second Avenue, Siler City, NC, de alojamiento para esta solicitud.
NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHATHAM COUNTY, IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE, BEFORE THE CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT, FILE NO. 25SP000111180 FOR THE ADOPTION OF T.L.K. TO: THE UNKNOWN FATHER, of a male, caucasian child, born to Leslie Ann Pugh Moore on June 4, 2012 at UNC Hospital in Orange County, North Carolina, conceived approximately September 2011, and placed under the Guardianship of PETITIONER, Connie Lea Beal on December 9, 2016. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a petition has been led by the Petitioners, Connie Lea Beal and Ricky Lee Beal for the purpose of legally adopting
NOTICE
SALE
87 Major Lee road Pursuant to the Order for Possession, Custody, Control, and Sale of Real Property led on June 23, 2022, in the above captioned proceeding, NOTICE is hereby given that the subject properties described below will be put up for public sale on October 16, 2025 at 10:00
N, Pittsboro, NC 27312, Parcel #0005908 and are more particularly described as follows: TRACT 1: BEING ALL of that certain 1.50 acres, more or less, designated as “Tract D-1” on the plat hereinafter referred to,
SETH WENIG / AP PHOTO
A train arrives at a subway station in the Coney Island section of New York earlier this year.
CHATHAM SPORTS
Granados, set piece scores lead Los Jets over Northwood in conference opener
The Jets scored three goals o penalties
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — To no surprise, a rivalry game to begin Four Rivers 3A/4A conference play in boys’ soccer got physical.
Jordan-Matthews went on the road and scored three goals o penalties to beat Northwood 4-1 in its conference
opener Oct. 1. Sophomore Enrique Granados led the Jets with two goals. “The set plays really helped us tonight,” Jordan-Matthews coach Paul Cuadros said. “This year we’ve been on point in terms of set plays, and we’ve missed a couple of them. But we scored goals on set plays, so I’m really happy with that as well.”
After going up 2-0 in the rst half, the Jets knocked in two penalty kicks to seal the win. Three minutes into the
second half, sophomore Humberto Vargas was knocked down at the top of the penalty area, and on the ensuing penalty kick, he shot to the left of Northwood’s sophomore goalkeeper Calvin Britt to give the Jets a three-goal lead.
With just under 18 minutes left to play, Granados was tripped on the left side of the penalty area while chasing the ball. On the following penalty kick, Granados put the ball just out of Britt’s reach and in the bottom right corner.
Seaforth’s Duncan Parker (7) runs around Orange defenders in the Hawks’ conferenceopening win Friday. Parker scored the game-winning touchdown.
Parker’s game-winning score lifts Seaforth over Orange in thriller
Jaden Gregory scored two touchdowns on the ground
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — Responding to adversity has been a point of emphasis for Seaforth since this past o season. The Hawks’ (2-4) 29-22 win over Orange (0-6) on their homecoming night and Big Seven 4A/5A conference opener Friday showed why.
“We just keep preaching ‘respond,’ ‘compete,’ and these guys are starting to get that message.”
Tolbert Matthews, Seaforth coach
Down 22-21 late in the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Duncan Parker threw back-to-back interceptions deep in Panthers’ territory. The rst one thrown to Or -
Minutes prior to Granados’ goal, Britt blocked another penalty kick from Vargas after he was fouled on a slide tackle attempt.
“The fouls, we just kept our cool with that,” Granados said. “It was a tough game for us. Physical game. But other than that, we just kept our cool. Putting our body in front of the ball and taking our chances with the set pieces.”
A handball penalty called against Northwood three minutes into the game set up an
early score for Jordan-Matthews. At about 25 yards from the right side of the goal, Manolo Soto Cruz sent the ensuing free kick to the middle of the penalty area, and sophomore Manuel Estrada headed it in for a 1-0 lead. Jordan-Matthews maintained possession for the majority of the rst half, but Northwood, playing without freshman striker Johnny Santiago, began to create its own
ange’s Jaden Gregory resulted in no damage as sophomore linebacker Tyler Truesdale came up with a huge stop on third down to force a punt. However, the second one caught by Orange sophomore Markus Thomas at the Orange 21-yard line with 1 minute and 34 seconds left to play felt like the dagger. But the feeling was eeting. On the very next play, Orange quarterback Jackson Moody fumbled the snap, and Seaforth See SOCCER, page B2
FOOTBALL ROUNDUP J-M tops North Moore for rst time since 2010, eyes Northwood
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
Jordan-Matthews 12, North Moore 7
AFTER TAKING a dive with consecutive losses by more than 30 points, the Jets are back on the ascent with a Four Rivers 3A/4A conference-opening win.
Down 7-6 in the beginning of the third quarter, senior quarterback Kamarie Hadley ran in the go-ahead score with a 58-yard touchdown run to help Jordan-Matthews (5-2) beat North Moore (3-4) for the rst time since 2010 Friday. The Jets have won ve games for the rst time since 2013.
Junior Namir Wiley scored on a three-yard reception late in the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, Wiley chased down junior Stryker Murray after a long completion and forced a fumble recovered by the Jets. He also knocked down the Mustangs’ nal pass attempt in the end zone as time expired.
Jordan-Matthews returned to its ways from the rst four games of the season as its defense — especially linebackers Jakari Blue and Omar Sanford, and senior defensive end Deantaye Smith — came up with numerous stops in the run game. Late in the third quarter, North Moore had a fourth-and-short inside the Jordan-Matthews 10-yard line when sophomore defensive lineman Jose Patino took down the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. The Jets held North Moore, which didn’t score in the second half, to its lowest scoring output this season.
See ROUNDUP, page B5 See FOOTBALL, page B2
Straight wins for Northwood over Jordan-Matthews
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Three Northwood players try to defend against a Jordan-Matthews free kick in last week’s showdown. The Jets won this round, beating the Chargers, 4-1.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Cali O’Neill
COURTESY BRANDIN O’NEILL
Seaforth, girls’ soccer
Seaforth student Cali O’Neill earns athlete of the week honors for the week of Sept. 29.
O’Neill was named to the U.S. Under-17 Women’s FIFA World Cup roster on Sept. 30. Listed as a defender, O’Neill will represent the United States at the international soccer event in Morocco starting on Oct. 17. She was one of two North Carolina natives to make the team.
O’Neill has earned four caps in her international career. After graduating in the spring, she will continue her soccer journey at UNC.
defensive lineman Dylan Watkins recovered it at the same spot.
With one last chance to win the game, Seaforth put the ball back in its quarterback’s hands, and on the rst play of the possession, Parker broke a few tackles and ran to the outside for a 21-yard game-winning touchdown.
“We ran power, came through, cut back wide open, ran it all the way to the corner,” Parker said.
Said Seaforth coach Tolbert Matthews, “Bad turnover down in the fourth, but we got it right back by responding. And then we came down and put that thing in the box. All of these guys, again, we just keep preaching ‘respond,’ ‘compete,’ and these guys are starting to get that message, and you guys are starting to see what it looks like when they do those things.”
The nal moments were just the end to a long sequence of hardships Seaforth had to overcome.
After the Hawks picked up two ve-yard penalties — a delay of game and an illegal procedure — on the opening kicko , Orange took nearly 11 minutes o the clock with a seemingly unstoppable rushing attack and took a 6-0 lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Moody to junior Kayden Bradsher.
The Hawks responded on their rst drive, which spilled
SOCCER from page B1
scoring opportunities about halfway through. Northwood sophomore Miles Freuler ran behind the Jets’ defense and got two chances for a shot near the period’s halfway point, but both were denied by Jordan-Matthews defenders.
With 171⁄2 minutes left to play in the opening period, Granados gave the Jets some extra cushion. Estrada handled a pass to the penalty area, connected with senior Samuel Basilio to his right, and Basilio crossed the ball to Granados, who completed the impressive assist.
“When you put a goal like that together, it’s on point, it’s got good skills, got speed, it’s got a great nish — that’s a back breaker for any team,” Cuadros said. “Because you know that team is talented and can score.”
Scoring has been the Jets’ forte as of late.
As of Sunday, Jordan-Matthews, which moved to 9-4 after the win, has won eight of its last nine games by outscoring
over into the beginning of the second quarter, with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Parker to sophomore Mason Pooley, taking a 7-6 advantage. However, they couldn’t quite get control of the game.
Orange put together another long drive of physical runs, taking the ball down to within the Seaforth 20-yard line with under ve minutes left in the half. Seaforth forced a turnover on downs, and when it looked like the Hawks were about to swing the game back in their favor before the half, a 38-yard touchdown pass to Max Hinchman was called back due to o ensive pass interference.
After giving up more than 80 yards on the ground in only two rst half drives, Seaforth was able to get the necessary stops in the second half. The Hawks came away with another turnover on downs, two punts and a fumble recovery in the nal two quarters.
“We just came out more explosive,” senior linebacker Raiden Flowers said. “We did what we had to do. We knew what we had to x, and we just did it.”
Said Matthews, “It was more so for us to just relax. Get back to doing what we do.”
Matthews also credited the longer halftime from the homecoming festivities for allowing his defense to come out prepared in the second half.
Seaforth senior Nick Gregory got going in the run game
as he rushed for a 9-yard score and a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the Hawks up 21-14 entering the fourth. He nished the game with 74 rushing yards and 53 receiving yards on two receptions.
“During halftime, even just the whole game, I was just in my head like quiet,” Gregory said. “It was really just kill, dominate every time I touched the ball. Just do something with it.”
But that wasn’t without any setbacks, of course. A roughing the kicker penalty halfway through the third kept an Orange drive alive for an eventual 1-yard touchdown run for Moody, bringing the Panthers within one point.
Penalties also stalled late Seaforth drives, including a holding penalty that took back a 31-yard touchdown pass to Pooley in the fourth quarter.
Midway through the fourth, a poor tackling e ort on Seaforth’s part allowed Bradsher to run 19 yards to the end zone, and he scored the two-point conversion to put the Panthers ahead 22-21.
On Orange’s last chance following Parker’s game-winner, Flowers came up with a sack to help seal the deal.
Seaforth is now 4-0 all-time in conference openers.
For the second time this season, the Hawks’ task is to respond to success. They’ll get to do that Friday at Cedar Ridge at 7 p.m.
Jordan-Matthews’
defenders in a 4-1 conference-opening win. He scored the
goal
opponents 49-7 in that stretch.
The Jets have also collected six clean sheets in that run, and they would’ve had one against Northwood had sophomore goalkeeper Emilio Rocha, who saved multiple goals in the game, not dropped a long free kick that led to an easy score for junior Sam Bacheler.
“We’ve really come together as a team,” Cuadros said. “We work together and plan,
and we train. We train hard.” Northwood moved to 5-4-5 following the loss and a subsequent draw with Eastern Randolph on Oct. 2.
The Chargers are still looking for a spark in their o ense after scoring four goals in its last four games.
Jordan-Matthews will host Northwood for a rematch on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. Northwood last beat the Jets in 2014.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Manuel Estrada (8) runs past Northwood
rst
of the game.
Woods Charter volleyball clinches conference title
By Asheebo Rojas
Chatham News & Record
Volleyball
WOODS CHARTER extended its win streak to 14 with straight set wins over Central Carolina Academy on Sept. 30 and Clover Garden School on Oct. 1. The Wolves, who have clinched their third straight outright conference title, have not lost a set since their 3-1 victory over Burlington Christian Academy on Sept. 15.
Seaforth won back-to-back games for the rst time since Sept. 16 with a 3-0 win over J.F. Webb on Oct. 2. Senior Josie Valgus recorded a career-high 27 assists.
Northwood snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Jordan-Matthews on Sept. 30. The Chargers also beat North Moore 3-2 on Oct. 2, winning consecutive games for the rst time this season.
Chatham Charter picked up two straight set wins over Southern Wake Academy on Sept. 30 and River Mill on Oct. 2. The Knights climbed their way into third place in the Central Tar Heel 1A conference ahead of the last week of the season.
Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference)
Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Uwharrie Charter (19-3, 8-0); 2. Southwestern Randolph (13-9, 6-2); 3. North Moore (12-5, 4-4); T4. Eastern Randolph (5-11, 3-5); T4. Northwood (4-13, 3-5); 6. Jordan-Matthews (4-16, 0-8)
Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Woods Charter (15-1, 12-0); 2. Clover Garden School (13-6, 10 -2); 3. Chatham Charter (9-11, 6-5); 4. River Mill (9-11, 6-6); 5. Ascend Leadership (8-7, 5-6); 6. Southern Wake Academy (3-13, 2-10); 7. Central Carolina Academy (1-16, 0-12)
Greater Triad 1A/2A: T1.
South Stokes (14-6, 9-1); T1. Bishop McGuinness (14-4, 9-1); 3. Chatham Central (8-11, 6-4); 4. North Stokes (5-14, 5-5); T5. South Davidson (5-15, 3-7); T5. College Prep & Leadership (4 -14, 3-7); 7. Winston-Salem-Prep (216, 0-10)
Volleyball RPI rankings as of Sunday (playo brackets released on Oct. 16, top 48 make postseason)
1A: 2. Woods Charter (.66685); 23. Chatham Charter (.46743); 30. Chatham Central (.40949)
3A: 46. Northwood (.41343)
4A: 47. Jordan-Matthews (.37118)
5A: 11. Seaforth (.61105)
Boys’ soccer
Seaforth picked up its largest win of the year with a 9-0 victory over South Granville on Oct. 1. Sophomore Collin Atkinson recorded a hat trick, and senior Ryan Dibb scored two goals.
Woods Charter bounced back from its loss to Clover Garden School with a 2-0 win over River Mill on Oct. 1. Northwood responded to its conference-opening loss to Jordan-Matthews with a 2-2 draw with Eastern Randolph. Chatham Charter split the week with a 2-1 win at Phoenix Academy on Oct. 1 (two goals for sophomore Breylan Harris) and a 1-0 loss to Eno River Academy on Oct. 2.
Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference)
Four Rivers 3A/4A: T1. Southwestern Randolph (14-1, 3-0); T1. Jordan-Matthews (9 - 4, 1-0); 3. North Moore (4 -2-1, 1-1); T4. Northwood (5-4-5, 0-1-1); T4. Eastern Randolph (3- 6-3, 0-1-1); 6. Uwharrie Charter (1- 4, 0-2)
Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Clover Garden School (12-3, 7-0); 2. Woods Charter (6-2-1, 3-1); 3. Southern Wake Academy (8-3-1, 4-2-1); 4. Ascend Leader-
Goals for Collin Atkinson in Seaforth’s
ship (4 -5-2, 1-3-2); 5. River Mill (3-10, 2-5); 6. Chatham Charter (2-8-1, 1-4); 7. Central Carolina Academy (1-8-1, 0-3-1)
Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Orange (10-4, 4-0); 2. Carrboro (5-7-1, 3-1); 3. Seaforth (4-7-2, 2-2); T3. J.F. Webb (5-3-1, 1-1-1); 5. Cedar Ridge (5-5-1, 1-2-1); 6. Durham School of the Arts (2-11-1, 2-4); 7. South Granville (4-9-1, 1-4)
Girls’ tennis
Seaforth defeated South Granville 8-1 on Oct. 1, winning the third of its last four matches.
Chatham Charter won its second straight match with a 9-0 victory over Chatham Central on Sept. 24. The Knights are Central Tar Heel 1A conference champions for the second year in a row.
Northwood nished the regular season with back-to-back losses to Southwestern Randolph (9-0) and North Moore (5-1). Chatham Central fell to North Stokes and Bishop McGuinness by scores of 9-0 to end the regular season.
Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Uwharrie Charter (7-0, 7-0); 2. Southwestern Randolph (10 - 4, 5-2); T3. North Moore (4-9, 3-5); T3. Northwood (3-11, 3-5); 5. Jordan-Matthews (2-15, 0-6)
Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Chatham Charter (8-4, 4-0); 2. Clo-
Powell makes strides towards Nets debut
The Pittsboro native is expected to take the oor this weekend
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
THINGS ARE ramping up for Pittsboro native Drake Powell ahead of his rst NBA season.
After dealing with knee tendinopathy and missing Summer League action in July, Powell participated in the contact portion of the Brooklyn Nets’ training camp practice on Sept. 29, per ClutchPoints Nets reporter Erik Slater.
The former Northwood bas-
ketball star missed Brooklyn’s rst preseason game Saturday, but he is expected to make his Nets’ debut during one of the team’s two preseason games against Phoenix in China this weekend. Brooklyn and Phoenix will face o Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Both games will air on NBA TV.
Powell will compete for playing time in a deep wing rotation, including veterans Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann and Ziaire Williams.
“Just seeing the runs we have in open gym, just seeing their approach to the game, I think that’s pretty big,” Powell said about his veteran teammates.
“Speaking on Terance Mann speci cally, he’s been a great vet so far. He makes me get his towel sometimes when he’s done o the court. But the preparation that he has, I think it’s second to none, and I think he’s just a great guy to learn from which can be extremely bene cial. As far as MPJ, just his ability to shoot the basketball and the focus he has in the weight room, I think that that’s pretty big as well.”
He’s caught praise recently for his athleticism. Nets head coach Jordi Fernández said he believes Powell is the “best athlete in the draft.”
“I’ve been really impressed
with him,” Porter Jr., who won an NBA championship with the Nuggets in 2023, said. “I didn’t realize the athlete he was. I mean, he’s one of the most athletic dudes I probably have seen in terms of speed up and down the oor, vertical, move laterally. He’s a freak athlete, and he has the foundation to keep building on his skillset. So he’s obviously very young, very raw, but he’s comfortable in the midrange. He’s knocked down a few threes in a scrimmage.”
Powell will return to his home state for his rst NBA regular season game as the Nets will play the Hornets in Charlotte on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
ver Garden School (4-4, 2-2); 3. Southern Wake Academy (2-7, 0-4) Greater Triad 1A/2A: 1. Bishop McGuinness (10-4, 8-0); 2. North Stokes (12-2, 6-2); 3. South Davidson (7-5, 3-4); 4. South Stokes (2-11, 2-5); 5. Chatham Central (0-12, 0-8) Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Carrboro (19-1, 11-0); 2. Durham School of the Arts (12-8, 8-3); 3. Seaforth (10-6, 7-3); 4. Orange (12-5, 6-5); 5. South Granville (2-8, 2-8); 6. Cedar Ridge (6-8, 1-8); 7. J.F. Webb (0-11, 0-5) Girls’ tennis RPI rankings as of Sunday (top 48 teams make postseason) 1A: 5. Chatham Charter (.51945); 14. Chatham Central (.25058) 3A: 33. Northwood (.38673) 4A: 47. Jordan-Matthews (.30775) 5A: 17. Seaforth (.56254)
Cross-country
Top nishers at Greater Triad 1/A conference meet on Oct.1: Jackson Hughes (seventh, Chatham Central, boys, 20 minutes, 41.70 seconds); Ansley Pressler (seventh, Chatham Central, girls, 26:42); Heidi Vicente (12th, Chatham Central, girls, 31:18.50); Bree Thomas (15th, Chatham Central, girls 33:22.90)
Woods Charter’s Annabel Unah takes a swing while coach Amanda Gough, left, looks on during a game earlier this season. The Wolves are outright conference champs for the third straight time.
win over South Granville
JEFF DEAN / AP PHOTO
UNC’s Drake Powell celebrates with teammates during the NCAA First Four game against San Diego State.
SIDELINE REPORT
NCAA BASKETBALL
Tarleton State places Gillispie on leave after anonymous complaint
Stephenville, Texas
Tarleton State says it has placed men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie on temporary administrative leave after receiving an anonymous complaint. The former Kentucky coach who also led the programs at Texas A&M and Texas Tech has been at Tarleton State for ve seasons. Gillispie faced allegations of player mistreatment at Texas Tech, where he spent one season. Tarleton State said associate head coach Glynn Cyprien is lling in for Gillispie. The Texans open the regular season Nov. 3 at SMU.
NCAA FOOTBALL
Sanders “hurting like crazy,” believes he has more blood clots
Fort Worth, Texas Deion Sanders says he’s hurting like crazy and believes he has more blood clots in his leg. The Colorado football coach sat at times late in a loss at TCU on Saturday. Sanders says he’s not getting blood to his leg and that it’s throbbing. The 58-year-old Sanders spent time away from his team this summer as he went through treatment for bladder cancer. He had two toes amputated from his left foot in 2021 because of blood clot issues. He had a procedure in 2023 to remove a blood clot from his right leg.
FISHING
Georgia man indicted after Ala. shing tournament boat crash killed 3 Cullman, Ala.
A Georgia man has been indicted on manslaughter charges in Alabama after a boat wreck during a professional shing tournament in April killed three people and injured two others. Flint Andrew Davis faces multiple charges, including reckless manslaughter and rst- degree assault. Video shows the 22-year-old Davis’ boat speeding across Lewis Smith Lake, striking another boat. The crash killed three men and seriously injured two others. Investigators determined Davis was traveling at 67 mph but say speed didn’t cause the wreck. They say Davis wasn’t paying attention and lacked a boating license.
MLB Phillies star Harper announces birth of fourth child ahead of NLDS opener
Philadelphia Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper and wife, Kayla, have welcomed their fourth child, Hayes Three Harper, ahead of Saturday’s playo opener. The Harpers shared the news on Instagram, announcing their son was born last Thursday. Harper, a two-time National League MVP, was in the lineup for Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Earlier in April, Harper used a blue bat for a gender reveal during a game. Harper and Kayla already have three children: a son named Krew and two daughters, Brooklyn and Kamryn.
Champion boxer held by police at gunpoint
Police
By Margery A. Beck The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — The police chief of Nebraska’s largest city acknowledged that police nationwide are more likely to pull black people out of their cars at gunpoint than other racial groups as Omaha grapples with growing outrage over champion boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford being ordered out of his car at gunpoint only hours after the city held a downtown celebration in his honor.
“Quite frankly, that is generally a true statement. The number of stops are disproportionate. That is nationwide,” Police Chief Tobb Schmaderer said at a news conference to address an internal investigation into Crawford’s tra c stop.
The police confrontation with Crawford, who is black, has reignited long-simmering tensions between Omaha’s black community and its police force. Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, one of three black state lawmakers in the Nebraska Legislature and a vocal critic of Omaha police and the state’s justice system, said he was disappointed — but not surprised — by the police stop.
“I urge the people to keep speaking out and demanding real change boldly and unapologetically,” McKinney said in a
Facebook post last week. “Our lives are at risk, and we have endured oppression for far too long.”
Schmaderer has long been an advocate of community policing that aims to build trust between o cers and the public they patrol. He said he understands there is a lot of anger in the community over the treatment of Crawford — a favorite son of Omaha after making history by becoming the rst male boxer to capture three uni ed division titles.
“We understand the importance of this tra c stop to our community, and the implications and the impression it has given out,” he said.
But he said a nearly completed internal investigation into the tra c stop shows the o cers involved did not violate department policy.
According to their reports, the o cers spotted a high-performance sedan without license plates pull out of a downtown parking garage around 1:30 a.m. Sunday and quickly accelerate to more than twice the 25-mph speed limit. The ofcers did not know Crawford was driving the car, Schmaderer said, before they pulled it over. Two o cers approached it — one on the passenger side and another on the driver’s side.
Schmaderer said the initial interaction was cordial, which he assessed through body camera footage. Crawford, who was driving, told the o cer at his window that the car was new
“We understand the importance of this tra c stop to our community, and the implications and the impression it has given out.”
Tobb Schmaderer, Omaha Police chief
and “had gotten away from him.”
At that point, a member of Crawford’s security team who was in the passenger seat told the o cer at his window that he was carrying a legal handgun, Schmaderer said. Crawford, who was leaning over the car’s console, told that o cer he also had a legal rearm, but the o cer at the driver’s side window didn’t hear that exchange, Schmaderer said. That is when the o cer on the driver’s side spotted Crawford’s gun on the oorboard by his feet, pulled his service weapon and ordered Crawford and three other people out.
Schmaderer said Crawford and the others were handcu ed for about 10 minutes. Police conrmed all occupants of the vehicle were legally permitted to carry rearms and let them go after about 30 minutes, ticketing Crawford on suspicion of reckless driving.
Schmaderer said he will not be sharing police video of the stop unless Crawford agrees to it.
“We don’t have a fatality here. We don’t have an ofcer-involved shooting, and it’s generally not our protocol to release that footage under those circumstances,” he said.
Crawford’s stop by police came after the city held a parade through downtown streets in Crawford’s honor, followed by a party to celebrate his 38th birthday at a live music venue near where the stop occurred.
The celebration came after Crawford earned the unied super middleweight championship with his unanimous decision victory over Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. Crawford is 42-0 with 31 knockouts.
FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets have gone on sale
The rst round of ticket buyers were selected by lottery
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press
MIAMI — Not even half of the spots in the 48-team eld have been claimed. The schedule of matches won’t benalized until December. And other than host nations U.S., Canada and Mexico, nobody has any idea where or when they’ll be playing.
Millions of soccer fans worldwide evidently don’t seem to mind any of those points.
Tickets to next year’s FIFA World Cup o cially went on sale last Wednesday. The buyers will be those who were selected, out of 4.5 million applicants in a lottery that took place last month, to have the rst formal chance to purchase tickets. FIFA said lottery winners were informed by email.
There are unique questions for consumers heading into the tournament, particularly about how they’ll get visas, if necessary, to visit the U.S. as the country cracks down on immigration. There are also more traditional concerns such as who, when and where — and none of those will be answered until the draw on Dec. 5. FIFA knows many fans won’t fret about those answers; they just want tickets now and will gure out the rest later.
“These are not only outstanding gures, but also a strong statement,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on social media, reacting to the 4.5 million applicants for a spot in the purchase window that opened last Wednesday. “The whole world wants to be part of the FIFA World Cup 26, the biggest, most inclusive and most exciting event ever. From Canada, Mexico and the United States, to countries big and small across every continent, fans are proving once again passion for football truly unites.” In divided times, the notion of soccer being something that “truly unites” will be put to the test.
Here are some things to know as tickets go on sale.
What’s for sale?
Fans can purchase seats in one of four categories; Category 1 is the best seats, Category 4 is somewhere around the tops of stadiums. Ticket prices will range initially from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the nal but could — and almost certainly will — change as soccer’s biggest event utilizes dynamic pricing for the rst time.
Who’s in?
The U.S., Mexico and Canada all automatically quali ed as host nations. Also in so far: defending champion Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea, Brazil, Australia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Tunisia, Colombia, Paraguay and Morocco.
That leaves 30 spots still unclaimed.
FIFA said fans from 216 countries and territories applied to be part of the rst tick-
et lottery. The top three nations of interest, to no surprise, were the hosts: the U.S., Mexico and Canada, in that order. The rest of the top 10, also in order of application totals, were Germany, England, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Italy. Nobody has said how many tickets FIFA plans to sell in this rst window. Availability won’t be depleted; based on the listed stadium attendance gures, there are roughly 7.1 million seats to ll for the 104 matches around 16 North American venues, though it’s unknown how many of those seats will be available for sale to the public. The U.S. cities that are scheduled to host are East Rutherford, New Jersey; Inglewood, California; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Houston; Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Seattle; Santa Clara, California; Philadelphia; Kansas City, Missouri; and Miami Gardens, Florida.
What’s next?
A second phase, called an early ticket draw, likely will
“The world will come together in North America like never before.”
Gianni Infantino, FIFA president
run from Oct. 27-31, with purchase time slots from mid-November to early December. A third phase, termed a random selection draw, will start after the nal draw of teams Dec. 5 determines the World Cup schedule.
Tickets also will be available closer to the tournament “on a rst-come, rst-served basis.” FIFA also said it will start an o cial resale platform. Some tickets already have been snagged; hospitality packages have been sold since May.
“The world will come together in North America,” Infantino promised, “like never before.”
The tournament runs from June 11 through July 19.
STEFAN JEREMIAH / AP PHOTO
President FIFA Gianni Infantino speaks at an awards ceremony.
confronted him hours after the city held a celebration in his honor
REBECCA S. GRATZ / AP PHOTO
Terence “Bud” Crawford, left, ghts David Avanesyan during a WBO welterweight title boxing bout in 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska.
ACC bets on being 1st league in college football to bring TV viewers inside live replay reviews
Broadcasts allow fans to hear conversations between o cials in real time
By Aaron Beard The Associated Press
FLORIDA STATE and Virginia were locked in a double-overtime thriller as the ball headed to Seminoles receiver Duce Robinson in the end zone.
Robinson bobbled the catch, then continued that juggle through the back of the end zone and out of bounds. The call was a touchdown, the kind of narrow-margin play certain to get closer scrutiny in replay review.
Only now, TV viewers for ACC games get a clear window into how o cials decide to overturn or uphold those calls.
The ACC is the rst college league to let viewers listen live to reviews during select broadcasts. There’s no waiting for referees to take o their headset after a mystery- lled stoppage and deliver a verdict. Instead, viewers can hear frame-by-frame discussions between stadium ocials and the replay command center at the league headquarters in Charlotte.
It’s o ered a welcome dose of transparency, along with rave reviews for taking viewers somewhere they’ve never been before.
“You hear the whole conversation,” said Bryan Jaroch, ESPN vice president of sports production. “That transparency takes out any of the second-guessing of how they came to their decision. I would love to see this across every conference. We’re trying to push for that. But I think it’s exactly what we need to do.”
The rst run
The debut came with 6:34 left in the rst quarter of the Aug. 30 game between SMU and East Texas A&M on the ACC Network, a review that overturned a fumble call on Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings by ruling his arm was coming forward
ROUNDUP from page B1
Week 8: Jordan-Matthews at Northwood (Friday at 7 p.m.)
There’s a di erent feeling ahead of the old rivalry between Jordan-Matthews and Northwood Friday.
The Jets are entering a matchup against the Chargers with a winning record for the rst time since 2013. Northwood has controlled the series as of late, winning the last 11 dating back to 2012. Jordan-Matthews is coming o one of its best defensive performances of the year, while Northwood hasn’t yet been able to nd its o ensive identity.
The Chargers have also struggled against run-heavy teams this season. Jordan-Matthews could get a big night from its rushing tandem of Blue and Hadley if it’s able to control the line of scrimmage.
Regarding the conference standings, a win for the Jets will keep them in the running for a league title, while Northwood will look to avoid an 0-2 hole.
Eastern Randolph 38, Northwood 0
Eastern Randolph (5-2) outscored Northwood (1-5) 30-0 in the rst half on the way to handing the Chargers their rst shutout loss of the season Friday.
The Wildcats hit the Chargers with a balanced attack, picking up medium gains with both the pass and the run in their numerous successful drives.
Northwood, mixing up its looks and personnel to nd a spark o ensively, struggled with negative plays and falling behind the sticks. With the shutout, the Chargers, still without senior running back Robert Tripp, have scored no more than 15 points in ve games this season.
“You hear the whole conversation. That transparency takes out any of the secondguessing of how they came to their decision.”
Bryan Jaroch, ESPN vice president of sports production
for an incompletion. There have been seven games with the replay listen-in, generally earmarked for Friday night broadcasts on ESPN or ESPN2, as well as Saturday nights on the ACC Network. The ACC and ESPN, which have a media rights deal through the 2035-36 season,
are still tinkering with the visual presentation of video over
lays and graphics. But the experiment already has suc
ceeded in pulling back the curtain with reviews.
“I think, generally speaking, when people communicate, things get better,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “Because when people don’t communicate, then people assume, right? Our brains are designed to tell stories, so we either have the facts of the story or we make up the facts of the story.
Getting started
ESPN had experimented with providing access to replay-review conversations going back to XFL games in 2023. The broadcaster had worked with the ACC last year to have a rules analyst
listen to conversations between the on- eld referee, the stadium replay o cial in the booth and the Charlotte replay center.
Then ESPN suggested letting viewers listen in, too.
The ACC had been working with o -site replay assistance for roughly a decade back to its previous home in Greensboro. When it opened its current headquarters in Charlotte two years ago, the plan included a video feed in the new command center showing replay ocials huddling around monitors to study replays.
“We always say we have nothing to hide in that room,” said Michael Strickland, league senior vice president for football. “We wanted to put our money where our mouth was. So we started with the camera and that worked well. TV liked to use it.
College Prep and Leadership 20, Chatham Central 12
Chatham Central’s lack of depth (1-5) stunted its ability to overcome another close game in a 20-12 loss to College Prep and Leadership (1-5) Friday.
The Bears lost sophomore quarterback Brooks Albright due to a nger injury, and key weapons Nick Glover and Tyler Congrove got banged up, hurting an o ense that has scored at least 20 points four times this season.
Week 8: Chatham Central at Bishop McGuinness
Chatham Central will be met with arguably its biggest challenge of the year when it travels to Bishop McGuinness (6-1) Friday.
The Villains won their fth straight game in Week 7 against North Stokes 50-6. They have given up six points in each of their last four contests, which were all decided by double digits. Without Albright at quarterback, the Bears will have to make some changes to its offense and rely on other players to step up.
Defensively, Chatham Central will have to prepare for the Villains’ pass game led by senior quarterback Tristan Styers and senior receiver Henry Kyle.
Week 8: Seaforth at Cedar Ridge Seaforth (2-4) will look to
“This sharing of the audio is kind of just the next iteration of that underlying philosophy that we’ve had for quite a while. And it is re ective of the ACC being willing to be a rst mover in many di erent areas.”
Jaroch credited the ACC for making “a leap of faith” by putting those pressure-packed reviews on display. As he said: “Access always wins when it comes to fans.”
Strickland credited Commissioner Jim Phillips for signing o on the idea as good for the league and, more broadly, the sport.
“He could’ve easily said, ‘I don’t want to take that risk,’” Strickland said. “But he did not. He went the other route. It’s pretty awesome to work for somebody who believes in a group of people like he did and does.”
Northwood’s Finn Sullivan throws a pass in the Chargers’ 38-0 loss to Eastern Randolph.
Hawks should have a big night in Hillsborough. Defensively, Seaforth will have to key in on senior running back and receiver Isaiah Craig and senior receiver Mason Hughes, who have been Cedar Ridge’s most productive offensive weapons.
Conference standings (overall, conference)
win consecutive games for the rst time this season at Cedar Ridge (1-5) Friday. Cedar Ridge is coming four straight double-digit losses, including a 48-0 defeat to South Granville in Week 7.
The Fighting Red Wolves have struggled to stop the run as they’ve given up at least 250 rushing yards in three of their last four games, including 532 yards in a 62-19 loss to Northwest Halifax on Sept. 19. Seaforth found something with its rushing attack by having senior Nick Gregory share carries with quarterback Duncan Parker last week. If that once again leads to big gains and scores like it did against Orange, the
Four Rivers 3A/4A: T1. Eastern Randolph (5-2, 1-0); T1. Jordan-Matthews (5-2, 1-0); T3. North Moore (3-4, 0-1); T3. Northwood (1-5, 0-1); 5. Southwestern Randolph (4-2, 0-0) Greater Triad 1A/2A: T1. Bishop McGuinness (6-1, 3-0); T1. South Davidson (6-0, 2-0); 3. North Stokes (2-5, 2-1); 4. South Stokes (2-4, 1-1); 5. College Prep and Leadership (1-5, 1-2); T6. Chatham Central (1-5, 0-2); T6. Winston-Salem Prep (0-7, 0-3) Big Seven 4A/5A: T1. South Granville (2-4, 1-0); T1. J.F. Webb (4-2, 1-0); T1. Seaforth (2-4, 1-0); T4. Orange (0 - 6, 0-1); T4. Carrboro (0-6, 0-1); T4. Cedar Ridge (1-5, 0-1) Power Rankings (after Week 7)
Week 8 score predictions: Jordan-Matthews 27, Northwood 20 Seaforth 28, Cedar Ridge 14 Bishop McGuinness 48, Chatham Central 6 Prediction record (since Week 2): 12-7
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
AARON BEARD / AP PHOTO
Alberto Riveron, right, the ACC supervisor of football o cials, works in the league’s new gameday operations center Saturday in Charlotte.
Kidman, Urban le for divorce after 19 years of marriage
The couple had publicly but lovingly described some marital di culties
By Jonathan Mattise and Andrew Dalton The Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nicole Kidman has led for divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage, bringing a surprising end to a long and seemingly successful union that brought together two superstars from the worlds of movies and music.
The 58-year-old Oscar-winning actor petitioned last Tuesday to end her marriage to the 57-year-old Grammy-winning country singer in a Nashville court. The documents state the couple has undergone “marital di culties and irreconcilable di erences.”
Kidman and Urban, two of the biggest stars to come out of Australia in recent decades, have been red carpet xtures throughout their two-decade relationship, with Urban joining his wife at the Oscars and Kidman attending music events like the Academy of Country Music Awards. The lings include a marriage
dissolution and child care plan agreed on by the couple and submitted for a judge’s approval.
“The mother and father will behave with each other and each child so as to provide a loving, stable, consistent and nurturing relationship with the child even though they are divorced,” says the permanent parenting plan, using language common in the state’s divorces. “They will not speak badly of each other or the members of the family of the other parent. They will encourage each child to continue to love the other parent and be comfortable in both families.”
The plan asks that Kidman be the primary residential parent to the couple’s two daughters, ages 17 and 14, having them for 306 days per year with Urban taking them for the other 59.
The girls have lived in Nashville all their lives, and the documents give no indication that will change.
The marriage dissolution plan lays out a roughly equal division of joint assets, with each keeping all the assets that are in their own name, including the copyrights and royalties for their artistic work.
The detailed agreements suggest the divorce had been in the works for well over a month at
the least. Urban signed the parenting plan on Aug. 29, Kidman on Sept. 6. Both raised in Australia, Kidman and Urban met in 2005 at a Los Angeles event honoring Australians and were married in Sydney the following year.
The marriage was the rst for Urban and the second for Kidman, who was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. Kidman also has two older children with Cruise.
Last year at the premiere of the Net ix series “The Perfect Couple,” Kidman told The Associated Press the term didn’t apply to her and Urban.
“You’re heading for trouble if you consider yourselves the perfect couple,” she said. “I’m not a believer in perfect.”
Kidman’s lm roles have included “Days of Thunder,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Hours,” for which she won an Academy Award for playing author Virginia Woolf. She has more recently worked in television, including the series “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Big Little Lies.”
Urban has been a major country star since the 1990s and has won four Grammy Awards and more than a dozen ACM Awards.
Raymond Chandler’s ‘Nightmare’ revealed in rarely seen sketch
The author’s vision becomes darker as he learns of his likely fate
By Hillel Italie The Associated Press
NEW YORK
— In his dreams, Raymond Chandler could conjure tales as unsettling as some of his greatest novels, as if haunted by the spirits of Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe.
“Nightmare,” a brief and rarely seen sketch published this week in The Strand Magazine, nds the author of “The Long Goodbye,” “Farewell, My Lovely” and other crime ction classics imagining himself in prison “somewhere” for a murder he does not remember committing. His cellmates include two men he knows nothing about, a pregnant woman named Elsa, and a piano in the corner that must be played lying down after “nine o’clock.”
“As I was wondering, apparently rather audibly, about the date set for my execution, the guard said to me, ‘After a bit you’ll get a letter with the envelope addressed in your own writing. That will tell you the date for your hanging,’” Chandler wrote.
“Nightmare” was found recently among the papers of Chandler’s assistant, Jean Vound-
er-Davis, that were sold last year through the Doyle auction house. Other items included Chandler’s 1953 Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter, unpublished drafts of early novels, and a two-page list of 46 things he hated, among them “golf talk” and “novels about people who can’t make any money.”
Strand Managing Editor Andrew F. Gulli purchased “Nightmare” at auction but declined to say how much he paid. Writing in the current edition of The Strand Magazine, Gulli called the piece a perfect illustration of Chandler’s “ability to evoke so much with so
little.” He believes “Nightmare” was likely written in the early 1950s, before the death of Chandler’s wife, Cissy, whom the author mentions in a footnote. Cissy Pascal Chandler died in 1954, ve years before the death of Raymond Chandler. Chandler scholar Tom Williams, author of the 2013 biography “A Mysterious Something in the Light: The Life of Raymond Chandler,” places “Nightmare” in a special category of wry, eccentric and spontaneous notes the author left for Vounder-Davis. Williams found one part especially surprising and intriguing: Chandler follows the line about receiving the dreaded letter with a joke likening the experience to getting a notice of rejection.
“Chandler liked to imply that his success writing crime stories came easily, and he told a friend that his rst story, ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot,’ was picked up straightaway,” Williams told The Associated Press in a recent email. “But the note suggests he was more familiar with rejection, and it makes me wonder if the myth he spun about his success told the full picture. Was he rejected by the pulps at some point? Or was he referencing a rejection from an earlier part of his career? It’s impossible to know but it makes me want to nd out more.”
AP PHOTO
Mystery novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler poses for a press photograph in 1946.
this week in history
Marxist Che Guevara executed at 39, U.S. Naval Academy established
The Associated Press
OCT. 9
1910: A coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado killed 56 miners.
1962: Uganda won independence from British rule.
1967: Marxist guerrilla leader Che Guevara, 39, was executed by the Bolivian army a day after his capture.
OCT. 10
1845: The U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland.
1911: Chinese revolutionaries launched an uprising that led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.
1935: George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess,” featuring an all-black cast, opened on Broadway.
1966: The Beach Boys’ single “Good Vibrations” was released by Capitol Records.
1973: Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to income tax evasion amid bribery accusations.
OCT. 11
1906: The San Francisco Board of Education ordered Asian students segregated into their own school. The order was rescinded after President Theodore Roosevelt intervened and agreed to limit Japanese immigration.
1984: Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the rst American woman to walk in space.
1986: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev opened two days of arms control and human rights talks in Reykjavik, Iceland.
1991: Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
OCT. 12
1492: Christopher Columbus’ rst expedition made landfall on what is now San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.
1870: General Robert E. Lee, former overall commander of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, died in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63.
1984: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army
bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing ve people.
OCT. 13
1792: The cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid by President George Washington.
1943: Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.
1972: A Uruguayan ight with 45 people crashed in the Andes; 16 survivors were rescued after more than two months, having endured by eating the dead.
2016: Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in literature.
OCT. 14
1066: Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
1586: Mary, Queen of Scots, went on trial in England, accused of committing treason against Queen Elizabeth I. (Mary was beheaded in February 1587.)
1947: U.S. Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager became the rst person to break the sound barrier.
1964: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964: In one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history, American Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota, won the 10,000-meter race at the Tokyo Summer Games.
OCT. 15
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the South Atlantic Island of St. Helena, where he spent the nal 51⁄2 years of his life.
1954: Hurricane Hazel struck the Carolina coast as a Category 4 storm, killing about 1,000 in the Caribbean, 95 in the U.S. and 81 in Canada.
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ out now, breaking records
Swifties can collect vinyl and CD variants of the new album
By Maria Sherman The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Lights, camera, action. Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” has arrived. Are you ready for it?
Swift announced her latest era back in August, when she began teasing the release.
Here’s everything you need to know: how to stream, which variants exist and, of course, how the album came together. Enjoy the show!
How to listen to Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl”
“The Life of a Showgirl” is streaming on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Fans were able to presave the album ahead of its release on Oct. 3. Presaving ensures the new music automatically appears in a fan’s library the moment it is available. It is also a way for an artist to promote streams ahead of the drop date.
Spotify announced last Friday that Swift’s album surpassed 6 million presaves on their platform to become the most presaved album in its his-
“The Life of a Showgirl” broke the record for most streams in its rst 24 hours, globally.” Amazon Music
tory. The previous title holder? Her 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department.” “The Life of a Showgirl” also became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 — and in its rst 11 hours of release. Also last Friday, Amazon Music announced “The Life of a Showgirl” broke the record for most streams in its rst 24 hours, globally.
In addition to the many streaming options, there will also be a digital-download variant of “The Life of a Showgirl” available via iTunes, featuring a new cover image and a nearly three-minute “exclusive video from Taylor herself detailing inspirations behind the album” labeled “A Look Behind the Curtain.”
What physical variants are there?
Target is once again a major partner with Swift. Their stores are carrying three CD variants, titled as “It’s Frightening,” “It’s
solutions
Rapturous” and “It’s Beautiful” editions. There is also an exclusive vinyl release, “The Crowd Is Your King” edition in “summertime spritz pink shimmer vinyl.” Many Target locations will remain open past midnight on the day of release for superfans to pick up in real time.
There are a number of other vinyl variants as well: “The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection,” which features two vinyl variants described as “under bright lights pearlescent vinyl” and “red lipstick & lace transparent vinyl.” There is also “The Baby
That’s Show Business Collection,” in two colorways: “lovely bouquet golden vinyl” and “lakeside beach blue sparkle vinyl.” Then there’s “The Shiny Bug Collection” in “violet shimmer marbled vinyl” and “wintergreen and onyx marbled vinyl.”
AP PHOTO
Marxist guerrilla leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara, pictured with two babies and a farmer in Bolivia, was executed on Oct. 9, 1967.
JEFF CHIU / AP PHOTO
Amy Davis, left, and Jenni Boyer take photos before the o cial release of Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” at the AMC Metreon in San Francisco last Friday.
famous birthdays this week
John Mellencamp turns 74, Paul Hogan is 86, Rev. Jesse Jackson turns 84, Nona Hendryx is 81
The Associated Press
THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.
OCT. 9
Musician Nona Hendryx is 81. Musician Jackson Browne is 77.
Actor Robert Wuhl is 74. TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 73.
Actor Tony Shalhoub is 72. Actor Scott Bakula is 71. Film director Guillermo del Toro is 61.
OCT. 10
Actor Peter Coyote is 84. Entertainer Ben Vereen is 79. Actor Charles Dance is 79. Rock singer David Lee Roth is 71. Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre is 56. Actor/TV host Mario Lopez is 52. NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 51.
OCT. 11
Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 98. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 83. Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) is 79. Actor David Morse is 72. Football Hall of Famer Steve Young is 64.
Actor Joan Cusack is 63. Actor Jane Krakowski is 57.
OCT. 12
NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett is 93. Broadcast journalist Chris Wallace is 78. Singer-songwriter Jane Siberry is 70. Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 65. Jazz musician Chris Botti is 63. Actor Hugh Jackman is 57. Actor Kirk Cameron is 55.
OCT. 13
Gospel singer Shirley Caesar is 87. Singer-musician Paul Simon is 84. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is 83. Singer-musician Sammy Hagar is 78. Singer/ TV personality Marie Osmond is 66. Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is 63. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen is 54.
OCT. 14
Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 87. Fashion designer Ralph Lau-
Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer
Richard
ren is 86. Football Hall of Famer Charlie Joiner is 78. Musician Thomas Dolby is 67. Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi is 64. Actor Steve Coogan is 60.
OCT. 15
is 80. Musician
Carpenter is 79. Film director Mira Nair is 68. Chef Emeril Lagasse is 66. Actor Dominic West is 56. R&B singer Ginuwine is 55.
CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO Rock frontman Sammy Hagar turns 78 on Monday.
EVAN AGOSTINI / INVISION / AP PHOTO Designer Ralph Lauren turns 86 on Tuesday.
ALEX BRANDON / AP PHOTO
Actor Kirk Cameron, pictured in 2017 in Washington, D.C., turns 55 on Sunday.
the stream
John Candy, Victoria Beckham documentaries; ‘Family Guy’ gets spooky
Kathy Bates returns for Season 2 of “Matlock”
The Associated Press
DOCUMENTARIES ON comedian John Candy and pop artist-turned-fashion designer Victoria Beckham as well as a “Family Guy” Halloween special 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: Keira Knightley stars as a journalist in “The Woman in Cabin 10,” Electronic Arts is ready to get back in the ght with the game Battle eld 6, and hip-hop group Mobb Deep will release “In nite,” their ninth and nal album.
MOVIES TO STREAM
More than 30 years after his death at age 43, Candy might be even more beloved than he was during his all-to-short career. “John Candy: I Like Me” (Friday on Prime Video), a documentary directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, is a kind of eulogy and tribute to the actor of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck” and “Stripes.” The lm, made with the cooperation of the Candy family, includes many famous faces, from Bill Murray to Mel Brooks. In “The Woman in Cabin 10” (Friday on Net ix), Knightley stars as a journalist aboard a luxury yacht for an assignment. In the middle of the night, she sees a woman go overboard, but the ship has no record of her, and no one believes her. Simon Stone, who directed 2021’s underrated “The Dig,” directs this thriller, based on Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel. It being October, just about everything streaming service has by now trotted out their best horror o erings. But why mess around when you can go to the source? Or, at least, one of the richest B-movie legacies of synths and scares? In “Directed by John Carpenter,” the Criterion Channel gathers some of the lmmaker’s most vivid nightmares, including “The Fog,” “Escape Form New York” and “They Live.”
After the success of David Beckham’s Emmy Award-winning docuseries, Net ix is debuting a new three-part series about his wife, Victoria Beckham, beginning Thursday.
MUSIC TO STREAM
Mobb Deep hath returned.
On Friday, the hardcore New York hip-hop duo will release “In nite,” their ninth andnal album and rst since the death of Prodigy in 2017. It features P’s distinctive ow on a few posthumous tracks, produced by his other half Havoc and their frequent musical collaborator, the Alchemist. Indie fans might remember the upcoming and coming folk-rocker Avery Tucker from his previous project, the primitive punk duo Girlpool. His debut album, “Paw,” out Friday, couldn’t be further from that material — but both lead with the heart. Start with “Big Drops,” “Like I’m Young,” “Malibu” and the ascendant closer “My Life Isn’t Leaving You.” The album was co-produced by A. G. Cook, the hyperpop virtuoso best known to many as one of Charli XCX’s “Brat” collaborators.
It has been six years since Jay Som, the project of multiinstrumentalist, songwriter and pro -
ducer Melina Duterte, released a new album. On Friday, the wait is over. “Belong” is an expansion of her once nascent talents, a rush of electro-synths, punk-pop and other variously nostalgic indie genres, presented in a new way. Perhaps it has a little something to do with how Duterte has spent the last few years: ranking up production credits on a number of beloved albums, including the Grammy-winning boygenius’ “The Record” and Lucy Dacus’ “Forever Is A Feeling.”
SERIES TO STREAM
It’s spooky season, and “Family Guy” has a new Halloween special on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The episode, titled “A Little Fright Music,” features Brian and Stewie’s attempt to write a hit Halloween song while Peter learns about the dangers of lying about trick- or-treating. David Beckham’s 2023 Netix docuseries was both an Emmy Award winner and in-
ternet fodder thanks to a scene where he repeatedly told his wife, Victoria, to “be honest” about her family’s economic status as a child. It’s only tting that the lmmakers turned their sights on her next and she agreed. “Victoria Beckham” is a three-part docuseries launching Thursday on Net ix. Viewers will see the former pop star-turned-fashion designer share her story — and it is TBD whether David weighs in. On the subject of Emmys, Kathy Bates didn’t win this year for best actress in a drama series as predicted for her work on “Matlock.” The award instead went to Britt Lower for “Severance.” You can still watch the performance that got Bates nominated though when the show begins streaming its second season Friday on Paramount+. A third season of “Elsbeth” will also begin streaming then.
Another docuseries debuting Friday on Tubi also follows a celebrity, but this one’s on the come up. “Always, Lady Lon-
“In ‘Directed by John Carpenter,’ the Criterion Channel gathers some of the lmmaker’s most vivid nightmares, including ‘The Fog,’ ‘Escape Form New York’ and ‘They Live.’”
Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
don” features rising rapper Lady London as she records her rst album and gets ready to go on tour.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
When it comes to video-game warfare, there are two superpowers: Call of Duty and Battle eld. The latter hit a rough patch with its last major installment, 2021’s Battleeld 2042, but Electronic Arts is ready to get back in the ght with Battle eld 6. You are part of an elite Marine squad trying to stop a private military corporation in a single-player campaign that bounces around the globe. There’s plenty of gut-wrenching infantry combat, but you also get to drive tanks and y helicopters and ghter jets. And there will be the usual assortment of multiplayer mayhem, including the new Escalation mode, in which the territory shrinks every time a team captures a control point. Take up arms Friday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC. Bandai Namco’s Little Nightmares games specialize in the kind of things that terri ed when you were a kid, presenting them in a gloomy yet vivid world reminiscent of Tim Burton’s stop-motion animation. Little Nightmares III promises more of the same, with one major addition: You can now confront your night terrors with a friend in co-op play. Britain’s Supermassive Games, the studio that has taken over the series, is known for horror gems like Until Dawn and The Quarry, so don’t expect pleasant dreams. The haunting begins Friday on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One, Switch and PC.
AP PHOTO
“John Candy: I Like Me,” a new documentary about the beloved actor who died 30 years ago, premieres on Prime Video on Friday.
