North State Journal Vol. 10, Issue 18

A

show of power and protest

A B-2 bomber, top, arrives Sunday at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri after returning from a strike on Iranian nuclear sites the day before. In Tehran, protesters chant as one holds up a poster of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the day following the attacks.

Read President Donald Trump’s speech on Iran on A8.

Mailers headed to 200K N.C. voters for registration info

Raleigh North Carolina election

o cials will send mailers to about 200,000 voters asking them to provide information missing from their state registration records, seeking to address a Republican concern raised during a protracted legal ght over a state Supreme Court seat and a recent U.S. Justice Department lawsuit. The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to begin contacting voters whose records lack a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Last month, the Justice Department sued state election o cials, alleging the board had violated federal law by failing to collect the identifying information.

Trump administration lawmaker Iran brie ngs

Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration on Tuesday postponed classi ed brie ngs for Senate and House members as lawmakers look for more answers about President Donald Trump’s directed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend and his announcement on Monday that the two countries had reached a cease re agreement. The Senate brie ng has been rescheduled for Thursday so that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio can attend. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on social media that the House brie ng will now be held on Friday, “details to follow.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said it is “outrageous” that the administration postponed the brie ngs.

Bill altering emissions reductions awaits signature the BRIEF this week

Stein vetoes immigration, rearms bills

General Assembly leaders promised to override the vetoes

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

Elections board shifts certain voters’ registrations

Four parties will be moved to una liated status

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Voters registered under four political parties in the state will be shifted to una liated status due to the loss of o cial party recognition, the North Carolina State

Board of Elections announced.

“New voters and voters who update their registrations are no longer able to a liate with the Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels, or We the People parties,” Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a press release. “These parties may be recognized again if they meet the requirements for a political

RALEIGH — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein issued his rst vetoes on a permitless concealed carry bill and two immigration bills.

The vetoed bills include Senate Bill 50, Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 318.

The governor also signed one bill, House Bill 126, which modernizes voluntary agricultural districts.

Senate Bill 50 would allow those 18 and older in the state to carry a concealed rearm without a permit. If enacted, North Carolina would join 29 other states with similar laws on the books.

Senate Bill 153 would tighten up requirements for state law enforcement to formally cooperate with federal immigration authorities on de-

tained illegal immigrants. It also restricts state-funded bene ts and housing for noncitizens and penalizes local governments and UNC institutions for adopting sanctuary policies.

House Bill 138 closes loopholes in existing laws regarding illegal immigrants in custody by requiring local connement facilities to verify the legal residency status of prisoners charged with speci c offenses and notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if a detainer and administrative warrant are issued. It also mandates that prisoners subject to an ICE detainer be held until transferred to ICE custody or released under speci c conditions, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) has backed both bills from his chamber, including being the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 153. House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) is the primary

“If our state wants to remain competitive globally, we need to take steps now to keep our energy sources reliable and least-cost.”

Sen. Tim Mo tt (R-Henderson)

Senate Bill 266 changes emissions reductions to 70% by 2050 instead of 2030

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A bill altering the schedule for reduction in emissions in the state has been sent to Gov. Josh Stein for his signature.

Senate Bill 266, led by Sens. Tim Mo tt (R-Henderson), Warren Daniel 9R-Burke) and Danny Britt (R-Robeson), unanimously passed the Senate on May 7 by a vote of 47-0.

The centerpiece of the bill eliminates the previous schedule in a 2021 law that ordered a 70% emissions reduction by 2030 and

replaces it with a goal of 2050. According to the Senate’s press release, the changes made by the bill will save North Carolinians an estimated $15 billion.

“If our state wants to remain competitive globally, we need to take steps now to keep our energy sources reliable and least-cost,” Moftt said in a press release. “By taking these proactive steps, our residents and job creators can con dently build a future here knowing that blackouts and astronomical bills won’t plague North Carolina.”

The bill was originally a piece of legislation dealing with building code ood plain exemptions.

“Our residents shouldn’t

DAVID SMITH AND VAHID SALEMI / AP PHOTOS

the word | Negative and positive living

Our happiness and joy in life depend largely on our attitude of mind and heart. If we take a positive attitude toward ourselves and life in general, and if we approach our problems and work with the right mental outlook, we will have already taken a major step toward success. But if we hold a negative attitude, life becomes a struggle, and we will miss the joyful life God intends for us.

Many Christians live defensively. They are always facing an enemy, either outside or within. They see everything as against them. They expect circumstances to hinder them and look ahead with misgivings. Will they succeed? Can they overcome the obstacles and enemies they face?

Some are in constant fear of the devil. Even at night, they think of him and are afraid. They see life as a continual struggle against his power. They envision enemies on every side. Within, they nd a similar discouraging outlook. Life becomes a battle of self-repression, forcing themselves into rigid behavior and thinking patterns.

Their main question is: Can I conquer myself? Can I keep the unruly parts of me in check? They anticipate an endless struggle with self, always afraid of doing or saying something wrong. They feel their own weakness and tremble at what each day may bring. They scrutinize their conduct and emotions to the smallest detail. They are never at peace. If not troubled about the past, they are anxious about the future. Constant selfexamination of actions and emotions leads to bondage, not freedom or happiness.

Many who desire to serve the Lord see it as a constant cycle of denial and repression. Their lives hold more fear than joy, more trembling than rejoicing and more doubt than trust. But this negative life is not what the Bible teaches. A negative outlook contradicts the Christian life described in Scripture. “Be anxious for

Bill barring disaster aid political discrimination sent

Any violations would be a Class I felony

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A North Carolina House bill making it a felony to discriminate based on political a liation or speech when it comes to disaster aid or assistance is headed to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk.

“No United States citizen, United States national, or quali ed alien as de ned in U.S.C. § 1641 shall be denied or discriminated against by the State or its agencies and employees for disaster recovery assistance on the basis of political a liation or political speech,” the bill states.

The bill would make it a

party as speci ed in state law.” Under this shift, approximately 34,000 North Carolina voters will see their registrations automatically changed to una liated status beginning June 24. North Carolina law mandates that political parties must secure at least 2% of votes cast in either the gubernatorial or presidential races to maintain their recognized status.

While the Green Party also fell short of the 2% threshold in both contests, it successfully retained its o cial standing. The State Board of Elections (NCSBE) determined the Green Party quali ed for continued recognition because its presidential candidate appeared on ballots in at least 70% of states nationwide during the 2024 election cycle. Voters registered as Green Party will keep that status as a result.

The state now recognizes four o cial political parties: Democratic, Green, Libertarian and Republican.

Class I felony for “knowingly” violating the law.

House Bill 251 was introduced in late February by Rep. Kelly Hastings (R-Gaston).

The bill rst passed the House on April 1 by a vote of 106-10.

The Senate made some changes and passed a substitute version of the bill on June 10 by a unanimous vote of 43-0.

The House voted to concur with the Senate substitute on June 17 by a vote of 113-1. The lone “no” vote came from Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford).

The latest version of the bill also says no one applying for state emergency assistance grants can be required to provide personal demographic information “unless such information is necessary to award the grant or is otherwise required by law.”

nothing” is the message of the Bible. God calls us to live positively and to be on the o ensive.

Christianity is not so much about not doing, as it is about doing. It is less about restraint and more about channeling our energies in the right direction. We are called to look away from ourselves — our weaknesses, faults, and failures — and to look to Christ, the life-giver; the Holy Spirit, the power-giver; and God, our merciful Father, watching over us for good. There will be things in our lives to repress and guide, and enemies to face, but these should not be our main focus. Our attention should be on constructive work for God. We are to use our abilities, not merely restrain them from wrong. It is our privilege to be courageous, con dent, and expectant of victory.

God wants us to be serene, without anxiety. He said, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” Do you have rest in

your soul? If not, perhaps it is because you are straining and struggling when you should be trusting and resting in con dent assurance in God. When we rest in faith on God’s promises, we become conscious of divine help. We must keep our hearts open to God’s power, not trusting in ourselves but in His su ciency. His grace is o ered to us, and His power will be supplied for every need. In Him, we can rest with full assurance there will be no lack of what is necessary to make us overcomers in any situation.

This positive life is the way of happiness and victory.

Charles Wesley Naylor is considered one of the most proli c and inspiring songwriters of the Church of God. He was bedridden for much of his adult life but wrote eight books, a newspaper column and more than 150 songs. Many of his writings are in the public domain.

Additionally, the bill raises the penalty for looting by one felony level to a Class H. Looting of property from a temporary housing location would be a Class F felony.

“One of the key provisions that the Senate helped put in

had to do with a situation in Yancey County, in Pensacola,” said Hastings of the time he and other lawmakers spent with the Yancey County sheri following Hurricane Helene.

“And as we were viewing the devastation, he pointed out one of

his constituents whose wife was killed in the storm,” said Hastings. “And he also made a note that this gentleman’s home was looted, and so, this (bill) would also raise the class of felony if a person’s property is looted following a natural disaster.”

PUBLIC DOMAIN

“Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze (1851) is a painting in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

Drew Lischke, co-chair of the Justice for All Party of North Carolina, speaks during a June 2024 news conference outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

GARY D. ROBERTSON / AP PHOTO

People hold yard signs as Donald Trump passes by during a visit to areas impacted by Hurricane Helene on Oct. 4.

Stein, SC governor call on Trump administration to keep o shore drilling moratorium intact

Former Gov. Roy Cooper was also opposed to resource exploration o the coast

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — North Caro -

lina Gov. Josh Stein and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called on the Trump administration to keep in place an oshore drilling moratorium that was issued in 2020.

Stein is a Democrat and McMaster is a Republican.

The governors made the request to keep the moratorium in place in a June 15 letter to Kelly Hammerle of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

“We write on behalf of our states of North Carolina and South Carolina in response to the Request for Information and Comments on the Preparation of the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program to urge you to maintain the existing moratorium on o shore oil and gas exploration, development, and production o our coasts,” the governors wrote.

The governors’ letter urges BOEM to maintain the existing moratorium on o shore oil and gas exploration, development, and production o their states’ coasts, as established by President Donald Trump’s memoranda in September 2020,

BILLS from page A1

sponsor of House Bill 318.

On his veto of Senate Bill 50, Stein wrote, “This bill makes North Carolinians less safe and undermines responsible gun ownership. Therefore, I am vetoing it.”

Stein also objected to the lack of training required by the bill, the reduction of the age for concealed carry from 21 to 18 years of age and said the bill would make the job of law enforcement more di cult.

On Senate Bill 153, Stein also claimed the measure would “make us less safe.”

“At a time when our law enforcement is already stretched thin, this bill takes state law enforcement o cers away from their existing state duties and forces them to act as federal immigration agents,” Stein wrote. “Furthermore, under current law, people without lawful immigration status already are prevented from receiving Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8, and other bene ts.”

The governor’s statement on House Bill 318 said he was vetoing it because “it is unconstitutional,” but he supports the bill’s e ort to require sheri s to contact ICE or other immigration authorities about individuals in custody who have committed “dangerous crimes.”

“People who commit these crimes should be held accountable, whether or not they are here without legal authorization, and those charged with serious o enses ought to receive increased scrutiny from feder-

EMISSIONS from page A1 be saddled with higher power bills to satisfy arbitrary targets,” Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said. “Senate Bill 266 ensures that North Carolina will have reliable energy at competitive prices to serve our citizens and businesses. Gov. Stein must sign this bill immediately.”

On June 5, the House introduced a committee substitute, which was later passed by that body in a 75-36 vote June 10. The Senate concurred with the House’s version on June 19 by a vote of 29-11. Democrat Sens. Dan Blue (Wake), Paul Lowe (Forsyth) and Joyce Waddell (Mecklenburg) voted in favor of passage.

The measure also allows North Carolina electric utili-

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to expand the o shore drilling moratorium o the East Coast at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum in September 2020.

which protect the waters until June 30, 2032. Stein and McMaster emphasized the economic and environmental importance of the North and South Carolina coastal zones, which support industries like tourism, shing and shipbuilding.

“In 2021 alone, North and South Carolina’s coastal economy contributed $9.6 billion to the GDP, supported more than 125,000 jobs and provided $3.8 billion in wages, led by robust tourism and recreation, shipbuilding, shing, and marine transportation industries,”

Stein and McMaster wrote.

“These industries, which are the economic lifeblood of our coastal communities, are also highly vulnerable to disruption from o shore oil and gas exploration, development, and production.”

The two governors also raised the issue of the military installations in their shared coastal area.

“Our coasts are also home to critical military installations that are vital to national security,” wrote the governors. “O shore oil and gas infrastructure and activities, including seismic testing, can interfere with these operations,

weakening our national defense.”

The letter also noted that every coastal municipality in both states has passed resolutions opposing o shore drilling and seismic testing.

Stein’s predecessor, former Gov. Roy Cooper, also strongly opposed any o shore drilling activities.

“These industries, which are the economic lifeblood of our coastal communities, are also highly vulnerable to disruption from o shore oil and gas exploration, development, and production.”

Govs. Josh Stein and Henry McMaster, in a letter to the Trump administration calling for the continuation of a moratorium on o shore drilling

“It’s clear that opening North Carolina’s coast to oil and gas exploration and drilling would bring unacceptable risks to our economy, our environment and our coastal communities — and for little potential gain,” said Cooper during a July 20, 2017, press event. “As governor, I’m here to speak out and take action against it. I can sum it up in four words: not o our coast.” Cooper continued to keep up the pressure through January 2018, including participating in a joint letter with seven other coastal Atlantic state governors to then-Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is now a congressman from Montana. The letter asked for exemptions from o shore drilling exploration for those states, similar to one granted to Florida by the Trump administration. By September that year, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis announced that Trump would “extend the o shore drilling moratorium to North Carolina.”

al immigration o cials,” wrote Stein.

“My oath of o ce requires that I uphold the Constitution of the United States. Therefore, I cannot sign this bill because it would require sheri s to unconstitutionally detain people for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released,” Stein wrote in his veto of House Bill 318. “The Fourth Circuit is clear that local law enforcement ocers cannot keep people in custody solely based on a suspected immigration violation.”

Stein added, “But let me be clear: anyone who commits a serious crime in North Carolina must be prosecuted and held accountable regardless of their immigration status.”

Stein’s press release also included comments from select sheri s and citizens object-

ties to recover nancing costs (around 5%) for construction work in progress on baseload electric generating facilities, such as nuclear or natural gas plants, through base rate increases. Those costs can be passed on to customers but are subject to annual oversight by the state’s Utilities Commission. Additionally, recovery is limited to nancing costs on approved construction expenses, with a sunset provision for natural gas facilities after Dec. 31, 2033. It is unclear what action Stein will take on the measure. His predecessor, Roy Cooper, signed the 2021 legislation. Cooper sought a 70% reduction in energy producer carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, aiming to achieve “zero-net” CO2 emissions by 2050.

ing to the three vetoed bills.

In his press release, Berger issued statements about the Senate bill vetoes.

“Today, Gov. Stein proved where his allegiances are. He’d rather prioritize his far-left donors and their dangerous open-border policies over the citizens of North Carolina who are desperately pleading for us to put an end to the illegal immigration crisis,” said Berger of the veto of Senate Bill 153.

“Law-abiding North Carolinians shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to e ectively exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Berger said of the Senate Bill 50 veto. “It’s past time for us to join the majority of states that recognize Constitutional Carry.”

On both bills, Berger said, “I look forward to the Senate

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Eden), pictured last month in Raleigh, said Republicans in the General Assembly plan to override Gov. Josh Stein’s three vetoes.

overriding Gov. Stein’s veto.”

Hall also issued a press release on the veto of House Bill 318.

“Governor Stein has made one thing clear today: he stands with criminal illegal aliens and the most radical elements of his party’s base over the safety and security of North Carolinians,” said Hall. “Make no mistake, the NC House will override the Governor’s veto at the earliest opportunity.”

Hall’s press release included a link to a prior statement that included endorsement of the bill by the N.C. Sheri ’s Association, the N.C. Troopers Association, the N.C. Fraternal Order of Police and the N.C. Police Benevolent Association.

Stein’s vetoes received praise from N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton.

“All of these bills would have put law enforcement and North Carolinians at risk by opening up untrained people, including teenagers, to secretly carry concealed rearms, ask sheri s to take unconstitutional acts, and have our law enforcement bail out the federal government for their inaction on immigration,” Clayton said in a press release.

The N.C. Republican Party also released a statement criticizing Stein.

“It’s disappointing, but not surprising Gov. Stein vetoed legislation to complement the e orts of President Trump to secure the Southern border. After all, he famously has said he doesn’t think Sanctuary cites are real,” said the NCGOP statement.

“Here’s what is real: without passing a single new federal law, President Trump has secured our border. Just last month, not a single illegal immigrant was released in the U.S. homeland. Contrast that with May 2024, when the derelict Biden-Harris Administration released 64,000 illegal immigrants into our country. Instead of cooperating with federal agencies, Gov. Stein is apparently opposed to keeping North Carolina families safe.” On the veto of Senate Bill 50, the NCGOP said, “Our Second Amendment preserves rights of North Carolinians and SB 50 simply brings our laws in line with twenty-nine other states. Republicans will always ght for the Constitution and the rights of lawful gun owners.”

CHUCK BURTON / AP PHOTO

A bill headed to Gov. Josh Stein would push back emissions standards that were signed into law in 2021.

GARY D. ROBERTSON / AP PHOTO

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | NEAL ROBBINS

If Republicans hated ice cream

The political left has entered its own Da y Duck moment, re exively shouting the opposite of whatever their nemesis Trump supports.

AS A PARENT and fan of classic cartoons, I am accustomed to the frequent and comical use of reverse psychology.

Consider two scenes. First, you want your child to eat their vegetables instead of wanting ice cream. Nearly all parents have deployed the “You won’t like this food — it’s for big kids.”

Ultimately, the child eats the food to prove their maturity or just to “stick it to the man.”

Second, let’s head to a console television and recall that classic argument between Bugs Bunny and Da y Duck directly in front of a trigger-happy Elmer Fudd:

Da y: It’s wabbit season! Bugs: It’s duck season.

Da y: Wabbit season!

Bugs: Duck season.

Da y: Wabbit season! Bugs (with a fourth wall-breaking eyebrow raise): Wabbit season!

Da y (without skipping a beat): Duck season!

Bugs: Wabbit season.

Da y: I say it’s duck season, and I say, “ re!”

Elmer Fudd: (Boom!) They run it back, twice, with even more explosive results.

While Democrats spend $20 million studying how to appeal to young male voters, maybe Republicans could save the money and just troll them into agreement. It appears many on the left are opposing anything — regardless of its logical basis or popular support — if Donald Trump and the Republicans support it.

Supporting Israel and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army even has former Democratic darling Sen. John Fetterman in hot water from the left because he is not condemning everything Trump supports. The left has vili ed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — no less than the heir to a dynastic Democratic royal family — because

he dares to agree with Trump on issues.

The political left has entered its own Da y Duck moment, re exively shouting the opposite of whatever their nemesis Trump supports. In a nation where political re exes often override reasoning, maybe it’s time for Republicans to lean in. Reverse psychology isn’t just for toddlers or Saturday morning cartoons — it might now de ne our political discourse. What if the GOP came out in full support of eating ice cream?

Imagine the possibilities. A TV talking head dissecting the historical inequities of frozen desserts. An expert-class panelist seriously debating the merits of pasteurized cookie dough and the imperialist past of the vanilla trade. At least a few brands would come out refusing service to Republicans, and there would be at least one group of professors on a rotation of podcasts and substacks exploring the social justice implications of sprinkles. It sounds ridiculous, but it tracks. If Trump says the sky is blue, the left rushes outside to insist it’s beige. If Republicans say school choice is a civil right, the left shouts it’s an act of sabotage. Reverse psychology works best on the proudly oppositional. The more blinded by opposition in the face of logic, the easier it is to lead them into a logical trap — and then pretend to be surprised when they spring it.

So why not push it further? The problem in implementing this strategy lies in the Republicans’ ability to break the fourth wall like Bugs Bunny did with his eyebrow raise. They’d have to let the American people in on the joke. It could become reverse, reverse psychology. When I tell my tablemates, “This ice cream is terrible, you wouldn’t like it,” they all catch the joke.

If the left can be led by opposition alone, then maybe the GOP could serve them policies they can’t refuse — by pretending to reject them. The GOP could come out against Israel, in favor of open borders and supportive of all types of illogical and nonsensical positions. Then we would see the media remembering prior statements of support by Democrats for Israel’s right to self-defense, Bill Clinton’s position against illegal immigration (and support for law enforcement), support for women’s sports, etc.

The problem is deciding which way to go. If the left is strictly the voice of opposition to any position Trump and Republicans take, how do we get the political class to agree on the broad set of issues on which a large majority of Americans agree? The Republicans could try to force the left into increasingly absurd positions by taking the 80% side of almost every 80-20 issue and continue to score points. Alternatively, if the Republicans use reverse psychology to get the left back to reasonable positions, the Republicans themselves might lose ground with voters who miss the eyebrow raise.

Neither would result in consensus between a center-right government and a left-wing coalition of academics, media and anti-American groups bent on opposition.

But this isn’t a Saturday morning cartoon or a sweet treat. This is politics, where the most e ective use of reverse psychology may be tactical, not principled. And in this game, one side may be crafty enough to play Br’er Rabbit — instead of Bugs Bunny — baiting their opponent into throwing them into the briar patch they wanted all along.

Neal Robbins is publisher of North State Journal and lives in Asheboro.

Newsom is desperate or, in modern slang, “thirsty” for national attention ahead of 2028.

DONALD TRUMP is only six months into his second term in o ce, and already, chatter is running wild about potential 2028 presidential contenders.

With Trump being unable to run again thanks to term limits, Vice President JD Vance will presumably be the GOP presidential nominee, with nearly four years of experience as the nation’s second-in-charge under his belt by the time the next presidential election rolls around.

On the Democrat side, we’ve seen several potential contenders try to elevate their pro les on the national stage, with 2024 Democrat vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker among those already testing the waters, positioning themselves as the Trump Resistance leader they think the country needs.

But California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the one who perhaps wants his party’s nomination the most, putting out feelers during Joe Biden’s presidency and laying the groundwork at the time as a possible alternative to Biden in the event he dropped out of the race (which he eventually did).

Though Newsom didn’t get the 2024 nomination, he has continued to make himself a xture in news reports about 2028, with his long-running feud with Trump on issues like energy policy and illegal

immigration only fueling his aspirations for higher o ce.

The ICE immigration sweeps in Los Angeles and the riots that followed have seen more chippiness between Trump and Newsom, with the governor accusing Trump of stoking division and being an “authoritarian” with his decision to send in National Guard troops, and Trump calling out Newsom for his many leadership failures, which span the nearly three decades he has been a political power player in the Golden State.

While Trump has moved on for the time being, with the Iran-Israel war and the United States joining the air campaign against Iran’s nuclear sites being front and center on his mind, Vance has stepped in, providing a possible preview of the 2028 presidential campaign season.

Vance recently visited Los Angeles to thank the ICE agents for their hard work and the National Guard for doing their part to try and help keep the peace. He, too, has accused California Democrats, including Newsom, of choosing to engage in self-serving political theater over a desire to actually help the people he is supposed to represent and protect.

This has further enraged Newsom, who on social media has challenged Vance to a debate, apparently forgetting how such a challenge back red on him when he called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to debate him in 2023,

which ultimately did not go well at all for Newsom.

Newsom is desperate or, in modern slang, “thirsty” for national attention ahead of 2028. Seemingly, he views Vance as a political lightweight, an overrated asset for Trump. Accordingly, he is going to be in for a rude awakening in the event that debate ever happens because it didn’t take long for Vance to establish himself last summer as a solid wingman for Trump, someone who could hold his own against his critics and then some, cleaning Walz’s clock in the vice presidential debate and repeatedly setting the record straight with receipts in hand to counter the media’s anti-Trump narratives. We’ve seen more of the same from Vance since taking o ce, and he’ll have three more years of experience to help guide him when the 2028 general election campaign season rolls around, which will be bad news for Newsom (assuming he’s made it past the primaries) but good news for anyone eager to see Newsom’s massive ego cut down to size.

Politically speaking, be careful of what you wish for with Vance, Gavin Newsom, or you just might get way more than you bargained for.

North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.

How deportations help American workers

Since Trump took o ce, blue-collar workers have enjoyed their fastest wage growth in more than half a century.

IF YOU’RE concerned about income inequality, you should be a fan of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Trump has been racking up wins on immigration. In May 2024, the Biden administration released more than 62,000 illegal immigrants into the country. Last month, the Trump administration released none. Would-be illegal immigrants know the border is closed, too. In May 2024, Border Patrol encountered almost 118,000 aliens on the southwest border. Last month, it was 8,725. That’s a 92.6% decline. Illegal immigrants in the United States are leaving, too. Over Trump’s rst four months in o ce, Don Luskin with Trend Macro estimated that the foreign-born population had dropped by a bit under 800,000.

Not everyone is a fan of enforcing immigration laws. Companies in many industries are panicking about losing workers. Earlier this month, they even appeared to convince Trump.

“Our great Farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote on Truth Social. He pledged, “Changes are coming!”

Hours later, Trump reversed himself.

“I campaigned on, and received a Historic Mandate for, the largest Mass Deportation Program in American History,” he wrote.

“Polling shows overwhelming Public Support for getting the Illegals out, and that is exactly what we will do.”

That’s a good thing.

Since Trump took o ce, blue-collar workers have enjoyed their fastest wage growth in more than half a century. There are many factors in that statistic, and reducing immigrant labor is one of them.

Here’s an example of why. In a Washington Post interview, Rachel Blumberg, the CEO of a Florida retirement community, said she anticipates losing almost 40 workers due to Trump’s immigration policies. She plans to use higher wages, costing her company $600,000,

to recruit new employees. In other words, as immigrant labor declines, wages for Americans go up. It’s basic supply and demand.

Think about the trade-o s involved when an in ux of illegal immigration pumps millions of unskilled workers into the labor force. Economically, this is great for many wealthy Americans. Business owners and CEOs who need to hire low-skilled workers can lower their labor costs. They’re likely to earn higher pro ts or bonuses for reducing expenses. They can hire nannies and gardeners for less. Cheaper labor can reduce the cost of things like food and hotels.

Now, imagine that you’re a low-skilled worker. The same in ux of illegals that generates more income for some at the top hurts you economically. Your wages and potential job options plummet. This is why labor unions once opposed illegal immigration. You’re more likely to disengage from the workforce, limiting future opportunities. As a nal insult, the sudden increase in demand helps push home prices even further out of reach.

For many low-skilled Americans, the message of illegal immigration is that you aren’t needed. America’s elitists will import a cheap, foreign labor force to replace you. Little wonder that a 2024 Pew poll found less than 40% of low-income Americans believe the American Dream is possible.

It shouldn’t be like this, and what Trump has accomplished shows it doesn’t have to be. This dynamic helps explain Trump’s popularity among blue-collar workers, especially among men.

The left constantly rails against the rich and for redistributionist policies. The irony here is that Trump’s anti-illegal immigration e orts will shrink the wealth gap that the left claims to be so concerned about.

If you want to help low-income American workers, deport the illegal immigrants who undercut their wages.

Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the ”Sharpening Arrows” podcast.

Congress should keep premium tax credits for individual health insurance

For rural hospitals like the one I led, this dynamic creates nancial instability and threatens the viability of the very institutions that communities count on in times of crisis.

AFTER TWO DECADES leading the Blue Ridge Regional Hospital system and now serving on boards focused on economic development locally and across North Carolina, I see health care as critical for our communities for two reasons: It cares for the well-being of our people, and it serves as a critical piece of infrastructure that sustains our local economies.

This is why I’m concerned about some provisions in the U.S. House reconciliation bill (H.R. 1) that would destabilize our health care system. These provisions would weaken the individual health insurance marketplace and, in doing so, threaten our state’s economic resilience.

Over the past 50 years, here in western North Carolina, a lot of our economy has changed. We’ve seen our larger manufacturing facilities replaced with small businesses. Many of these smaller businesses, as well as our farmers and other working families, often don’t have access to employer-sponsored health care coverage, so the individual marketplace is a critical lifeline for many of these folks who purchase their own health insurance.

These hardworking North Carolinians who use the marketplace for care often rely on the enhanced premium tax credits, which keep a ordable health care within reach for many people by keeping premiums low. H.R. 1 does not extend these tax credits.

In fact, more than 900,000 North Carolinians rely on these tax credits. For a working family of four earning around $64,000 annually, the loss of these credits could mean premiums that more than double — an increase of over $2,500 a year. That’s not theoretical. That’s rent, groceries or a college credit. And it could drive many to drop coverage altogether.

Western North Carolina is already struggling with signi cant scal challenges due to ongoing Hurricane Helene recovery e orts. Now is not the time to hit workers and families with higher health insurance premiums that could, for many rural and low-income households, put health care coverage out of reach.

I’ve seen what happens when people lose

their coverage. Inevitably, they delay care until it becomes an emergency, driving up costs and straining emergency departments that are already overextended. For rural hospitals like the one I led, this dynamic creates nancial instability and threatens the viability of the very institutions that communities count on in times of crisis.

This is a health crisis in the making. It’s also setting the stage for an economic crisis. As a board member of two economic development organizations, I work to attract new investment to our region and support the small businesses that are the backbone of our state economy. Health care access is a top concern for small businesses, farmers and entrepreneurs. Without stable and a ordable coverage options, it becomes harder for small business owners to stay a oat.

H.R. 1 also proposes unnecessary administrative hurdles, like funding cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, eliminating auto-enrollment, and imposing strict income-veri cation rules that make it harder for people to sign up and stay covered. These are not “cost-saving measures,” as they are called. They are arbitrary barriers that inject chaos into a system that needs stability, especially in rural America.

We don’t need new obstacles to a ordable health care — we need commonsense policy. Extending the enhanced tax credits keeps people insured, reduces uncompensated care, and supports the nancial health of rural hospitals and small businesses alike. It’s best for health. And it’s the scally responsible thing to do.

I urge Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd — and all members of Congress — to reject this harmful provision in H.R. 1 and stand up for the working families, small business owners and rural hospitals that depend on a stable, a ordable health care system. Health care is critical for North Carolina’s economic infrastructure. We must protect it.

Keith Holtsclaw is the former CEO of the Blue Ridge Regional Hospital and now serves as a board member for local and state economic development organizations.

No kings is a bad strategy

FIVE MILLION people across America gathered earlier this month for so-called No Kings rallies.

It was an impressive organizational feat. Some wealthy left-wing Americans clearly put up a lot of money to organize, get demonstration permits, reach out to activists and create a national event.

No Kings was a clear contrast to the Army’s 250th anniversary parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. The parade was an expression of historic patriotism and pride in America’s past. The No Kings demonstrations were bitter rejections of the current government and anger over Democrats losing in the 2024 elections.

Democrats still haven’t seemed to learn that constantly being negative and hostile — especially during a patriotic moment — is a bad strategy. The majority of Americans see it as an a ront to their patriotic instincts.

Patriotism is a powerful and widespread emotion among Americans. The Pledge of Allegiance, the American ag and “The Star-Spangled Banner” evoke deeply positive feelings for most. A huge majority of Americans are, in Lee Greenwood’s words, “proud to be an American.” Indeed, the continuing popularity of Greenwood and his song is a good reminder of how much support there is for the sentiments he expresses.

The various coverage about the No Kings rallies around the country was striking. It was clear that the protestors are frightened and feel that their way of life is deeply threatened.

The Army parade, its reworks and Greenwood’s music were optimistic, positive examples of a healthy America with a deep belief in its own strength — and a better future ahead. The No Kings rallies represented a commitment to a dark vision of an America with a grim future that is teetering on the brink of an imagined dictatorship.

Interviews with various negative, hostile, angry people at the No Kings rallies further drove home the message: “This is not a group I would want to hang out with.”

This lurch to the left was compounded by the even nuttier strategy of having elected Democrats take on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and try to impede agents from enforcing the law.

The image of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla being arrested and put in handcu s by ICE o cers was horrifying to Democrats. However, if you saw the footage of Padilla rejecting direct instructions and physically struggling with ICE o cers as they tried to move him out of a room, it looked like what would normally happen in that situation.

Across the country, Democrats have begun showing up at ICE o ces, detention centers and other sites to get publicity for supposedly holding ICE accountable.

The footage reminds most Americans of how consistently Democrats have been anti-police and pro-criminal. Most Americans oppose illegal immigration. Most Americans also support legal immigration.

Being for illegal immigration, riots and lawlessness only further alienates the Democratic Party.

Rallying for a ordable housing might work. Rallying for better jobs might work. Rallying for a better education system might work (although it would arouse deep hostility from the teachers unions). There are many positive, solution-oriented topics that might justify organizing rallies around the country and earn support from most Americans. But Democrats are instead choosing to indulge their anger and hatred.

Finally, only the most rabid, out-of-touch left-wingers believe America is in danger of President Donald Trump trying to become a king.

For all his sometimes-noisy, unconventional tactics, Trump has clearly fought within the court system. He is also deeply invested in the constitutional and legislative processes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be spending an enormous amount of time trying to get the Big Beautiful Bill through the House and Senate.

The Democrats’ rallies and publicity stunts only emphasize their alienation from most Americans. We are watching a reversion to George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign of appeasing radicals. Recall that McGovern carried only one state. He lost in one of the greatest landslides in American history. Nixon earned 60.7% of the vote. McGovern earned only 37.5%.

No Kings could end up meaning no elected Democrats in 2026 if they continue down the path of blind opposition.

Newt Gingrich was the 50th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Murphy to Manteo

Murphy to Manteo

A trip for the senses

Along with seasonal delights like strawberries and honeysuckles, North Carolina’s native lavender is hitting its peak right now, making a trek to one of the state’s lavender farms a great family activity. Most of these farms o er additional experiences and local products besides all the fresh lavender you can cut. Lavender blooms between the months of May and September, and according to state agriculture o cials, the best time to see and pick them is typically in June. Lavender is an e cient herb with many uses, including medicinal, body and bath products, cooking and baking, and more. Since ancient times, lavender has been used to help with many physical ailments, and it is also a natural deterrent to insects such as mosquitos and ies, and creatures like moles and deer.

Man dead after ring on rst responders

Catawba County A man is dead after he shot a woman multiple times and red at rst responders, prompting police to shoot him in Catawba

Good Ashe Lavender Farm

Lavender Lane Farm

Jones & Blount

Proposed state constitutional amendment would block noncitizen voting

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

May 24. House Bill 1073 proposes adding an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution on the upcoming November 2024 ballot that “only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age and otherwise possessing the quali cations for voting shall be entitled to vote at 20 any election in this State.”

PIEDMONT

EAST

in

and

Watauga County Gov. Josh Stein announced last week that more than $3 million was approved by the Rural Infrastructure Authority for rural communities across the state, which the governor says will attract more than $52 million in additional investments. Nearly $1 million of the $3 million will come to two mountain counties, and the grant money will be applied in both private and public settings. Nature Trails LLC, an outdoor recreation business in Brevard, announced that as a result of receiving a $75,000 grant, it would be reusing a 4,100-square-foot building. Stein’s office said in a news release that the project is expected to create 16 jobs. Boone will receive an $850,000 grant to help the town prioritize pedestrian safety. The town will convert the westbound lane of Howard Street from Appalachian Street to Burrell Street into a pedestrian- and bicycle-only corridor.

“Don’t forget to come hungry and support our concessions.” The post reminds patrons that gates open at 6 p.m., and the theater is cash only with an admission cost of $25 per carload. Owners say the movie screen will be lit at sundown, usually around 8:45 p.m. NSJ

WLOS

Winston-Salem among nation’s least-polluted cities

World Ninja Championship comes to Greensboro

Guilford County

Forsyth County Virginia Beach, Virginia, was named the cleanest city for the second year in a row, and the nation’s top honors also included Winston-Salem, Fremont, California, and Des Moines, Iowa.

These cities were recognized for their low pollution levels and high consumer satisfaction in a recent study by LawnStarter, a national lawn care provider, of 150 cities across the country, based on CDC data regarding local pollution, living conditions, infrastructure and resident satisfaction.

Thousands of people are expected in the Triad this weekend for the World Ninja League Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Complex. City leaders estimate the event will bring in about $5 million to the local economy, offering a lifeline for many small businesses during a quieter summer month. More than 2,600 athletes from around the world are competing this weekend, and event organizers tell local outlets the tournament has grown into a global sporting event. The competition runs through Monday.

WFMY

NSJ

Man sentenced to prison for multicounty high-speed chase

Triad cemetery receives historic marker

Randolph County

Forsyth County

A Winston-Salem landmark has been honored for its historic place in the black community. Happy Hill Cemetery was established in the late 1890s in the first African American neighborhood in Winston-Salem. The cemetery has been the final resting place for roughly 1,500 people, representing generations of people who’ve lived in Winston-Salem, but only 115 of them have marked graves. Family members told local outlets that last week’s ceremony brought awareness to the importance of restoring and identifying the gravesites.

An Asheboro man who led deputies on a 75-mile high-speed chase in September was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison. Adam Clodfelter, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute meth. According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, a judge gave him 151 months in prison, which is roughly 12½ years. The chase spanned across Randolph and Chatham counties on Sept. 3, 2023.

Authorities said he had no license plate and was recklessly switching lanes while reaching speeds exceeding 150 mph.

WXII

WFMY

Missing woman found as victim of murder-suicide

Kings Mountain casino nearing completion

Cleveland County Significant construction has been completed during the first year of work on the $1 billion Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort. The Catawba Nation reported last week that the foundations for its permanent casino complex and hotel off Interstate 85 were completed several months ago, while the casino complex is at its full height, and steel continues to rise for the 24-story, 385-room hotel. The hotel tower framing is now 10 stories high, and the tribe says there’s an additional floor being added nearly every week. It will eventually be connected to the casino complex. The introductory casino, set to open in spring 2026, will include 1,350 slot machines, 20 table games, a 40-seat restaurant, bar and sports betting kiosks. The introductory casino will replace the current temporary (prelaunch) casino on the Catawba property. The main casino complex, totaling more than 2 million square feet, is slated to open in 2027.

Davie County Local investigators have con rmed the death of a Davie County woman — who went missing last week and set o an Ashanti Alert and a statewide search — was the result of a murdersuicide. Deputies were called to do a welfare check on Cynthia “Cindy” Roberson Gobble, 60, of Mocksville last week after family members reported they had not been able to contact her. Investigators say that she was in the process of an ongoing separation and divorce from Gregory Wayne Gobble, 59, of Mocksville. Deputies found evidence that she had not left on her own, with clues prompting o cials to identify Gregory as the suspect in her disappearance. Over the weekend, o cials were alerted that two bodies had been found in a wooded area in Iredell County. The pair was ultimately identi ed as Cynthia and Gregory Gobble, who had died of gunshot wounds with the weapon at the scene, according to Davie County o cials.

WGHP

NSJ

ECU’s social work program earns recognition

Man shot by stray bullet from target shooting

Lenior County

Pitt County

A 22-year-old man was injured by a stray bullet while working in his yard this weekend, according to Lenior County deputies. Officials say the injured man was shot in the head by a bullet from a target shooting session across the wood line at 6960 Skeeter Pond Road. It was reported that a family member of the victim confronted the six individuals who were target shooting. The individuals left the area before deputies arrived, but four were subsequently located and charged.

Counseling Psychology has named ECU’s master’s of social work program a top three in North Carolina for 2024, according to a press release from ECU. The rankings are based on a multifaceted assessment process that has several key criteria to evaluate the overall impact, quality and e ectiveness of the program. The release noted that the designation “is a re ection of ECU’s faculty and students who contribute to making this program one of the best in the state.”

WITN

NSJ

Goats complete mowing project at Dix Park

Downtown Morehead City receives national designation

Foundation donates $50K for mammograms

Father charged after sending child to school with backpack full of drugs

Pitt County The Cancer Services of Eastern North Carolina has received a $50,000 grant from The Camber Foundation. The grant will help people in rural areas receive mammograms. The Camber Foundation’s goal is to help serve the citizens of eastern North Carolina. Camber also donated a $35,000 grant to the Cancer Services of ENC last year, funding 232 mammograms in 2024. Officials say the goal for 2025 is 400 mammograms for people who would otherwise not have access.

Johnston County School administrators discovered multiple bags of marijuana, weighing almost 2 pounds, in the backpack of a child at Cleveland Elementary according to the Johnston County Sheri ’s O ce. After reviewing school security footage, the sheri ’s o ce determined a father could be seen walking his child inside and handing the child a backpack, and believe he “mistakenly gave his child the wrong backpack” when leaving home. The father was detained and now faces multiple drug charges.

WNCT

WNCN

Wake County Two weeks after Goats on the Go began their journey to help clear invasive plants and tall grass from an area of Dorothea Dix Park, the goats have completed their mission to make the large hill a safer landscape. In a collaborative effort with the City of Raleigh Parks Department, 32 lawnmowing goats cleared the area that was full of bushy grass and weeds near a small playground in Dix Park. According to a social media post from Goats on the Go, the area was infested by Kudzu, porcelain vine and other overgrown vegetation that was more than 6 feet high. The project started at the beginning of June on the hill just south of the new Gipson Play Plaza and now offers a better view of the downtown Raleigh skyline. The herd is known as Goats on the Go Raleigh-Durham, which can be hired to address invasive species and grasses in challenging locations that average machinery can’t mow. NSJ

Carteret County Downtown Morehead City has been designated as a 2024 Accredited Main Street America program for demonstrating exceptional performance in the six standards of community evaluation as outlined by the MSA Program. Each year, Main Street America and its state partners announce the list of accredited programs to recognize each local community’s commitment to preservation-based, economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach. Downtown Morehead City’s performance is evaluated annually by the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center, which helps to identify which local programs meet these national performance standards. In the 2022-23 Fiscal Year, a total of $33 million was generated in local reinvestment, 20 new businesses opened, 58 new full and part-time jobs were created, 26 facade improvements were completed, and 987 volunteer hours were contributed — all in the Downtown Morehead City area from 18th to 4th streets, according to local o cials.

NSJ

“Tightening our elections laws so that only U.S. citizens are voting in this country ensures that those making decisions about our country’s future have a vested interest in its well-being,” said Hall. “Voting is a fundamental right and privilege reserved for citizens of the United States, and I am proud to support this e ort to ensure the integrity of our elections.”

An identical bill, House Bill 1073, was led on the same day and has advanced to the

“I just don’t think we should continue to give folks the impression that we’re working towards getting a budget done — it’s pretty clear that we are not going to do so.” Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden)

Transgender rights supporters rally outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

NATION & WORLD

U.S. Supreme Court transgender law ruling should have NC implications

A lawsuit against the State Health Plan will likely be resolved following the high court’s ruling

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The Supreme Court upheld the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling involving a Tennessee law banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors, a decision that could a ect a lawsuit in North Carolina.

In its 6-3 ruling in USA v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court rejected the plainti ’s central argument that the law violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

“This case carries with it the weight of erce scienti c and policy debates about the safety, e cacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving eld. The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts for the majority. “The Equal Protection

Clause does not resolve these disagreements. Nor does it afford us license to decide them as we see best.”

The ruling also rejected the application of the case Bostock v. Clayton County, stating that the reasoning does not apply, as changing a minor’s sex or transgender status does not alter the Tennessee law’s application.

Democratic Justice Sonya Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan all dissented.

“In today’s historic Supreme Court win, the common sense of Tennessee voters prevailed over judicial activism,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a press statement. “A bipartisan supermajority of Tennessee’s elected representatives carefully considered the evidence and voted to protect kids from irreversible decisions they cannot yet fully understand.”

The high court’s ruling in Skrmetti has implications for a 2019 lawsuit led against the North Carolina State Health Plan (SHP).

“The Court’s ruling in Tennessee’s equal protection case

Transcript of Trump’s speech on US strikes on Iran

The president spoke Saturday after the bombings three nuclear facilities

The Associated Press

A transcript of President Donald Trump’s speech on U.S. airstrikes on Iran on Saturday as transcribed by The Associated Press:

THANK YOU very much.

A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive, precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime. Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East,

must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier. For 40 years, Iran has been saying, “Death to America, death to Israel.” They have been killing our people, blowing o their arms, blowing o their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who ew those magni cent machines tonight, and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

upholds our arguments in the long-running Kadel v. Folwell case here in North Carolina,” said North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner in a press release. “In its simplest form, this case has always been about ensuring that the State Health Plan can conduct its business in a manner that best serves the members of the Plan. We are thankful that the Supreme Court has a rmed the ability of the Plan to do just that.”

The Kadel v. Folwell case was led over the SHP’s exclusion of coverage for medications and treatments related to gender transition surgeries. The exclusion dates back to the 1990s, with a one-year window in 2016 during which the exclusion of those treatments was not enforced.

Like Skrmetti, the plainti s in Kadel had also invoked the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

“Based on the decision in Skrmetti today, it is expected the Supreme Court will issue an order in the Plan’s appeal in Kadel reversing the decision of the 4th Circuit and remanding the case,” Briner’s press release stated. “It is anticipated this or-

der will also remove the injunction against the Plan.”

The treasurer’s release also says that after the Supreme Court issues an order in the Kadel case, the SHP will “evaluate the order and work with Aetna, Caremark and the Plan’s other vendors to guarantee the Plan is following the law.”

In June 2023, 21 states joined an amicus brief in support of the SHP’s position, a number that grew to 23 the following year in an additional amicus support brief.

The Supreme Court’s ruling will also likely impact a complaint challenging a 2023 law enacted that bans gender surgeries for minors. The Biden administration had intervened in the case in October 2023, but the Trump administration withdrew the government’s participation this February.

Including North Carolina, 27 states have some form of law banning gender-a rming care, such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers and transition surgeries for minors. According to The New York Times, 19 of the bans have been legally challenged with “mixed results.”

CARLOS BARRIA / AP PHOTO

President Donald Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House on Saturday after the U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear and military sites. Trump is anked, from left to right, by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that’s so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Sta , Gen. Dan “Razin’” Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack. With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most di cult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with pre-

6 dead, 2 missing after boat capsizes on Lake Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Six people were con rmed dead and two others were missing after a boat capsized on Lake Tahoe in California during a powerful weekend thunderstorm that whipped up high waves, o cials said. The U.S. Coast Guard and the El Dorado County Sheri ’s O ce responded Saturday afternoon to D.L. Bliss State Park following reports of 10 people in the water. Two people were rescued and taken to a hospital. Winds of about 30 knots and swells of up to 8 feet were reported around the time the 27-foot vessel ipped over, Coast Guard o cials said.

S.C. Juneteenth shooting leaves 1 dead, 9 wounded Anderson, S.C.

One woman was killed and at least nine others were wounded during a shooting at a Juneteenth celebration in South Carolina, authorities said. More than 100 law enforcement o cers and rescue workers responded Saturday night to the outdoor event in Anderson, South Carolina, according to the sheri ’s o ce. No arrests had been reported by Sunday afternoon. Laporshia Janae Gray Cobb, 35, died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to the county coroner’s o ce. Nine others were taken to area hospitals, two with severe injuries. O cials said a parking lot ght escalated into the shooting.

Suicide bomber kills 22 in church in Syria

Dweil’a, Syria A suicide bomber in Syria opened re then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church lled with people praying on Sunday, killing at least 22 and wounding 63 others, state media reported. The attack took place on the outskirts of Damascus inside the Mar Elias Church, according to state media SANA, citing the Health Ministry for the toll of dead and wounded. The attack on the church was the rst of its kind in Syria in years and comes as Damascus, under its de facto Islamist rule, is trying to win the support of minorities.

U.K. lawmakers back euthanasia bill

London

cision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago. Tomorrow, Gen. Caine (and) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon. And I want to just thank everybody. And, in particular, God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

U.K. lawmakers have backed a bill to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives in a historic vote in Parliament that takes it a step nearer to becoming law. Members of Parliament voted 314-291 on Friday to back the bill following an impassioned debate. It now goes to the unelected House of Lords. That body can amend or delay policy but can’t overrule the lower chamber. The bill would allow terminally ill adults over age 18 in England and Wales who are deemed to have less than six months to live to apply for an assisted death.

JOSE LUIS MAGANA / AP PHOTO

Ford recalls nearly 200K Mustang Mach-E’s Detroit Ford Motor Co. is recalling nearly 200,000 electric Mustangs because the door latches could falter, potentially trapping passengers in the back seat. The National Highway Tra c Safety Administration said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford is recalling 197,432 Mustang Mach-E midsize SUVs, model years 2021-25. The government agency that regulates automobile safety said that the electronic door latches may remain locked after a driver or front seat passenger exits the vehicle and shuts the door, potentially trapping a child or other passenger who is unable to use the interior door releases. A x is expected to be available by late September.

A ac warns of suspicious hacking activity in its network Columbus, Ga.

A ac says it identi ed suspicious activity on its network in the U.S. that may impact Social Security numbers and other personal information, calling the incident part of a cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry. The company said last Friday that the intrusion was stopped within hours. “We continue to serve our customers as we respond to this incident and can underwrite policies, review claims, and otherwise service our customers as usual,” A ac said in a statement.

Google hits setback in EU antitrust case

London Google faces a big setback in its attempt to overturn a multibillion-dollar European Union antitrust penalty involving Android after a top court’s legal adviser sided with regulators. The European Court of Justice’s advocate general recommended in a preliminary opinion that Google’s appeal against the ne worth more than $4.7 billion should be dismissed. The case dates back to 2018, when the EU’s executive Commission slapped Google with the ne. After Google led an initial appeal, a lower court trimmed the penalty, which the company also appealed to the Court of Justice. Kokott advised that the Court of Justice con rm the ne and uphold the lower court’s judgment, according to a press release summarizing her opinion.

Redemption becomes western U.S.’s rst black-owned bank Salt Lake City Redemption Holding Company acquired Utah-based Holladay Bank & Trust, becoming the rst bank to be owned by a black-led investment group in the western U.S. Now called Redemption Bank, it will be headquartered in Salt Lake City. Bernice A. King, the youngest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is expected to serve as senior vice president and serve on the company’s advisory board.

Fed’s Bowman says rate cut should be on table in July

Compared to last year, prices rose 2.4% in May, up from 2.3% in April

By Christopher Rugaber

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman on Monday said the central bank should consider cutting its key interest rate as soon as its next meeting in July, underscoring deep divisions among Fed o cials as they endure sharp criticism from the White House.

Bowman said that President Donald Trump’s tari s have so far not caused the jump in ination that many economists feared, and any upcoming increase in prices would likely be just a one-time rise.

“It is likely that the impact of tari s on in ation may take longer, be more delayed, and have a smaller e ect than initially expected,” Bowman said in a speech Monday in Prague. “Should in ation pressures remain contained, I would support lowering the policy rate as soon as our next meeting,” which is scheduled for July 29-30.

Bowman, who was appointed to the Fed’s board of governors by Donald Trump in 2018, is the second high-pro le ocial to express support for a potential July cut in as many days.

On Friday, Christopher Waller, also a Trump appointee to the Fed’s board, said in a television interview that the Fed should consider cutting borrowing costs next month.

The blunt calls for rate cuts by Waller and Bowman di er from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s suggestion in a news conference last week that the central bank would monitor the

“It is likely that the impact of tari s on in ation may take longer, be more delayed, and have a smaller e ect than initially expected.”

Michelle Bowman, Federal Reserve governor

maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting, because we don’t want to wait until the job market tanks before we start cutting,” Waller said. Still, at last week’s Fed meeting, seven of the 19 o cials who participate in the central bank’s interest-rate decisions supported keeping rates unchanged for the rest of this year, and two penciled in just one cut.

NCDOT CASH REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 20

Beginning Cash

$2,958,127,373

Receipts (income)

$87,967,211

Disbursements

$216,144,832

Cash Balance

$2,829,876,899

economy over the summer and see how in ation responded to tari s before deciding whether to reduce borrowing costs.

The comments arrive as Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell for not cutting rates, calling the Fed chair a “numbskull” and a “fool” for not doing so, raising concerns about the Fed’s independence from politics. The president claims Fed cuts would reduce the government’s borrowing costs, though the rates the government pays are mostly set by market forces, not the Fed. Bowman appeared particularly dismissive toward the threat of tari s, which many economists say could slow growth, particularly if companies absorb the cost of the duties rather than passing them on to consumers. Doing so would cut their pro t margins, which would reduce their ability to hire and invest in new business.

“Small and one-o price increases this year should translate only into a small drag on

real activity,” Bowman said.

“I also expect that less restrictive regulations, lower business taxes, and a more friendly business environment will likely boost supply and largely oset any negative e ects on economic activity and prices.”

When the Fed lowers the short-term interest rate it controls, it often reduces borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. Yet sometimes nancial markets keep longer-term rates higher: The Fed cut its rate a full percentage point last year, to about 4.3%, but mortgage rates only declined slightly.

Last Friday, Waller told CNBC that with in ation remaining tame and the economy potentially slowing, the Fed should consider a rate cut next month. He pointed to rising unemployment among recent college graduates as a sign of possible weakening in the economy, and said it was better to cut before the labor market noticeably worsened.

“I’m all in favor of saying

In ation has steadily cooled this year despite widespread concerns among economists that Trump’s tari s would boost prices. The consumer price index ticked up just 0.1% from April to May, the government said last week, a sign that price pressures are muted. Prices for some goods rose last month, but the cost of many services, such as air fares and hotels, fell, o setting any tari impact.

Trump has slapped a 10% duty on all imports, along with an additional 30% levy on goods from China, 50% on steel and aluminum, and 25% on autos.

Still, many economists say it is likely that tari s could push in ation higher in the coming months. Powell suggested at a news conference last week that the central bank wants to closely monitor how in ation evolves over the next few months before deciding whether to cut rates.

Also last Friday, Mary Daly, president of the Fed’s San Francisco branch, said on CNBC that she looked “more to the fall” as an appropriate time to cut rates.

Tesla launches long-promised robotaxis

Elon Musk hopes to kick o a new era for his electric car rm

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

TESLA CEO ELON Musk promised in 2019 that driverless Tesla “robotaxis” would be on the road “next year” — and he’s reiterated that promise seemingly every year since. Next year is nally here.

Over the weekend in Austin, a select group of VIPs and Tesla in uencers were invited to begin using a Tesla robotaxi service that Musk promises will eventually o er rides from millions of cars anywhere in the country.

The vehicles use a version of the company’s Full Self-Driving software, navigating a around a modest section of Austin, Texas, near the Tesla’s enormous GigaFactory where the Model Y and CyberTruck are assembled.

Riders use a new Robotaxi app to summon their driverless-vehicles, an app that appears little di erent from those used by Uber or Lyft.

Waymo, an autonomous ride-share company owned by the same parent as Google, also operates in Austin, as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and, the company announced this week, Atlanta.

Though the cars don’t have anyone in the driver’s seat (and riders are forbidden from sitting there), there is a safety supervisor in the front passenger seat, hovering their thumb over the door-open button that doubles as a “pull over” signal to the vehicle.

The rollout was largely smooth, according to many videos posted to social media, with the Model Y vehicles — labeled on the side with the word Robotaxi in a futuristic font — mostly successful at navigating around Austin landmarks.

The famous Terry Black’s Barbecue posted a video of the Tesla Robotaxi (led by a

Waymo robotaxi, interestingly) making a pickup, calling its parking lot the “Final Boss” of self-driving cars.

Waymo recently completed its 10 millionth paid ride and is doing hundreds of thousands of rides a week, even in just a handful of cities, showing the promise of such services.

Last year, Tesla showed o its purpose-built Cybercab and Robovan, a pair of vehicles designed from the ground up to move people and cargo autonomously, though neither was part of the initial Robotaxi launch this weekend.

The Cybercab, a futuristic gold vehicle with only two seats — and no steering wheel — will be built in Austin, with Tesla having plans to build millions of them eventually.

Designing a car that can drive itself, handling anything from emergency vehicles to trains to wayward pedestrians, is only part of the challenge of launching a taxi service.

Tesla will also need to ensure that the cars can charge

themselves and gure out a way to keep them clean.

The Cybercab is slated to have a wireless charging system, and preliminary plans led with planning departments have shown parking garages lled with in- oor chargers for future Robotaxi service.

Tesla also showed o robots that can clean vehicle interiors autonomously, picking up trash and vacuuming debris while cars charge up ahead of their next ride.

Tesla shares have, as ever, seen signi cantly volatility in recent months, but Wall Street reacted positively to the Robotaxi debut, with the stock rising nearly 10% on Monday before giving back a bit of the gains on Tuesday. Musk seemed jubilant Sunday morning, posting on X, “The @Tesla_AI robotaxi launch begins in Austin this afternoon with customers paying a $4.20 at fee!”

The $4.20 fee is signi cantly below what competitors charge and is likely tempo-

rary, though it re ects Musk’s unique sense of humor, as it’s a head-nod to a marijuana-related joke.

The rollout is slow, with Tesla remotely monitoring vehicles and the monitor in the passenger seat in case of trouble. The number of Teslas deployed will also be small — just 10 or 12 vehicles — and will only pick up passengers in a limited, geofenced area.

But Waymo, the most successful robotaxi service in the country, started similarly, though Tesla is starting a little more aggressively, operating without someone in the driver’s seat like Waymo had in the beginning.

How quickly the Robotaxi expands, both in Austin and elsewhere, will determine whether the project can generate returns for Tesla. Some nancial analysts have estimated that the Robotaxi business could be worth as much as $1 trillion to the company’s value.

That’s roughly what the whole company is worth today.

FEDERAL RESERVE VIA WIKIPEDIA

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, left, swears in Michelle Bowman, right, for her second term, accompanied by Wes Bowman, as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 2020.

ERIC GAY / AP PHOTO

A rider boards a driverless Tesla robotaxi Sunday in Austin, Texas.

features

Asheville-based band Wednesday delivers more alt-country indie rock

The band’s sixth album, “Bleeds,” drops on September 19

By Maria Sherman

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A pit bull puppy peeing o a balcony. Mounted antlers in the kitchen on a crooked nail. Pink boiled eggs stay a oat in the brine. For its dedicated audience, the North Carolina alt-countrymeets-indie rock band Wednesday is an exemplar in evocative songwriting, where whole worlds are found in short lyrical lines.

And that says nothing of what they sound like. The most exciting band in contemporary indie rock is informed by DriveBy Truckers and Pavement in equal measure, a distinctive sonic fabric of lap steel, guitar fuzz, folksy and jagged vocals.

On Sept. 19, they will release their sixth and most ambitious full-length, “Bleeds.”

“My songwriting is just better on this album,” Wednesday’s singer and songwriter Karly Hartzman explained. “Things are said more succinctly. ... The immediacy of these songs was the main growth.”

Wednesday began as Hartzman’s solo project, evidenced in 2018’s sweet-sounding “yep de nitely.” They became a full band on 2020’s “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone,” a dive into guitar distortions, and 2021’s “Twin Plagues,” a further re nement of their “creek rock” sound. The lineup consists of Hartzman, bassist Ethan Baechtold, lap steel player Xandy Chelmis, guitarist Jake Lenderman and drummer Alan Miller. Some also tour with Len-

derman’s solo project, MJ Lenderman. (Hartzman and Lenderman previously dated.)

Wednesday’s last album, the narrative “Rat Saw God,” was named one of the best albums of 2023 by The Associated Press partially for its uncanny ability to dive into the particularities and complications of Southern identity. “Bleeds” sharpens those tools.

On “Bleeds,” a band evolves

“Originally, I was going to call it ‘Carolina Girl,’ but my bandmates did not like that,’” Hartzman joked.

“Bleeds” comes from the explosive opening track, “Reality TV Argument Bleeds.”

“Originally, I was going to call it ‘Carolina Girl,’ but my bandmates did not like that.”

Karly Hartzman

ing movie released in 2010 —

Storytelling through song

“Bleeds” manages cohesion across a variance of sound. “Wasp” is hard-core catharsis; lead single “Elderberry Wine” drops guitar noise for shimmery, fermented country. “Wound Up Here (By Holding On),” which references the Appalachian poet Evan Gray, is a pretty indie rock track about a hometown hero who drowns.

The quietest moment on the album, the plucked “The Way Love Goes,” was written as “a love song for Jake when we were still together. ‘Elderberry Wine’ as well.’” Hartzman explained.

“‘Elderberry Wine’ is kind of talking about me noticing slight changes in a relationship.”

These are not breakup songs; they exist right before the point of dissolution. “Sweet song is a long con / I drove ya to the airport with the E-brake on,” she sings on the latter.

Later: “Sometimes in my head I give up and / Flip the board completely.”

“I’m understanding how sound creates emotion. That’s what I’m learning over time,” Hartzman said of her musical growth. “I’m also listening to more music with every year that passes. So my understanding of what’s possible, or what I can be inspired by, shifts.”

A number of the songs pull from childhood memory, as they always have across Wednesday’s discography.

“I think about growing up a lot,” she said. “When I think of trying to tell ... a story that’s vivid and intense, that’s just the easiest time in my life, where everything felt vivid and intense.”

She likes how the band name and album title sound together — “‘Wednesday Bleeds,’ which I feel like I do, when I play music. ... I’m almost, in a way, bloodletting and exorcising a demon.”

a kind of speci city born from Hartzman’s writing practices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and Lenderman “wrote 20 lines of writing each day,” a practice adopted from Silver Jews’ David Berman. She’s also a documentarian of memory: She takes notes of things her friends say and images that are a ecting, later collaging them together in songs.

Lyrically, “Bleeds” features some of Wednesday’s best work — even in the revisiting of an older song, “Phish Pepsi,” that hilariously references both the jam band and the most disturb-

“The well never runs dry,” Hartzman said. “Because I’ve admitted not everything can come from inside. I need to look outward outside of myself for inspiration.”

Remembering, she says, “is the goal for most of the (expletive) I do. ... I care. I want stories to persist.”

Longtime fans of the band will nd recurring themes and characters from past songs. For example, “Gary’s” from their 2021 album returns as the “Bleeds” closer in “Gary’s II,” where he gets into a bar ght.

“In a way, I’m writing the same songs over and over, but I’m just trying to make them better,” she said.

‘28 Years Later’ reanimates epic zombie franchise

The original lm in the series was released in 2002

By Bob Garver The Sun

IT HAS BEEN 23 years (not 28, somewhat frustratingly) since British audiences were rst introduced to the mind-andbody-ravaging Rage virus in “28 Days Later.” The virus turned everyone it a ected into zombies, known as The Infected, obsessed not so much with feeding as with turning more people into zombies. The lm’s heroes had a hard time evading The Infected, and then just when it looked like they were safe, they had to deal with the degenerate humans who had appointed themselves to power after the collapse of civilization. The Infected were still at large ve years later in “28 Weeks Later,” and humanity was more monstrous than ever. Nothing interesting must have happened 28 months later from the events of that lm, because the series skipped right over it. Instead, it jumps to 28 years later, when older children and even adults have never known a world not a ected by The Infected. Teenager Spike (Al e Williams) lives what passes for a normal life on an island o the coast of Scotland that can’t be reached by The Infected because of high tides. His father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), is a hero to both family and community, going on dangerous missions to the mainland to gather supplies and kill Infected, who are just as ravenous as ever. His mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), is bedridden with an illness di erent than the Rage virus yet still causing her great su ering both physically and mentally. She desper-

ately needs a doctor, but there isn’t one on the island, and Jamie warns Spike not to seek out the one setting res on the mainland. Jamie takes Spike to the mainland, where he tries to train his son to fend o and kill Infected as best he can. Unfortunately, the Infected are so ag-

gressive and numerous that the lesson has to be cut short in the name of just trying to stay alive. The two barely make it back to the island. Spike failed at every turn during the excursion, but Jamie tells the town that his son was competent and brave. At rst, Jamie’s lies putting over his son don’t seem so

“28 Years Later” is the third lm in the series.

bad, but then Spike catches on to more lies, and the bond of trust is broken. Thinking that his father might also be lying about the trustworthiness of the doctor, Spike persuades Isla to come with him to the mainland, even though he has minimal survival training. Will Spike and/or Isla sur-

vive long enough to reach the doctor? Ralph Fiennes is billed in the lm’s advertising, and he doesn’t seem to be playing a resident of the island, so … he’ll probably turn out to be the doctor, which means at least one character will have to meet him.

That predictable aspect aside, this is a movie worth taking seriously. Director Danny Boyle is just as good with his world-building here as he was with a ransacked London over 20 years ago. “28 Days Later” was my first exposure to eventual Oscar-winner Boyle (and eventual Oscar-winning star Cillian Murphy, for that matter), and even with a genre that doesn’t usually lend itself well to awards, he still managed to immediately prove to me that he was one of the most gifted filmmakers in the industry. The glut of zombie media since then has oversaturated me on the concept, which is why I couldn’t work up the same enthusiasm for this film that I could for the original, even though Boyle hasn’t lost a single step. “28 Years Later” is still visually spectacular, excitingly edited, occasionally funny and touching, and successfully scary. I know that a follow-up called “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is scheduled for next January, so I won’t have to wait long, but if I didn’t know about that film, I’d say that I didn’t want to wait another 28 years to get another one of these.

Grade: B

“28 Years Later” is rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language and brief sexuality. Its running time is 115 minutes.

CHRIS CARLSON / AP PHOTO

Karly Hartzman of the band Wednesday poses for a portrait earlier this month in Greensboro.

COURTESY IMDB

NHL Draft Preview, B3

the Thursday SIDELINE REPORT

NWSL Betfort completes comeback for Courage

Cary Hannah Betfort scored the winning goal in the North Carolina Courage’s 2-1 comeback victory at home Saturday against the Houston Dash. The Courage (5-5-3) are on a two-game winning streak and are up to ninth in the NWSL standings. It was the second consecutive game head coach Sean Nahas missed due to a medical issue, but he watched from the stands.

NHL Stanley Cup damaged as Panthers celebrate second straight championship

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Stanley Cup is banged up after the Florida Panthers’ celebration of back-toback titles. The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. The Panthers won their second consecutive championship, beating Edmonton in six games, then partied with the Cup. The 131-year-old Cup has been damaged many times and is fairly easy to repair.

NFL Browns rookie

QB Sanders twice ticketed for speeding this month

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been ticketed for speeding twice this month in Ohio. Sanders was accused of driving a Dodge pickup 101 mph in a 60-mph zone on a suburban Cleveland interstate last week. That ticket came after he was stopped by the Ohio State Patrol on June 5 in Brunswick Hills, Ohio for going 91 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Charlotte Checkers come up short, bested in six

The Abbotsford Canucks rallied from a 2-0 hole to capture the franchise’s rst Calder Cup

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Checkers came up short in their pursuit of a second Calder Cup, falling in six games to the Abbotsford Canucks.

The Checkers took a 2-0 lead in Game 6 at Bojangles Coliseum on Monday, hoping to force a Game 7, but the Canucks ipped the script, scoring three straight goals to secure their rst championship in franchise history.

“You gotta give Abbotsford a ton of credit,” said Charlotte coach Geordie Kinnear. “Looking at their group, they’re very well built, built for the playo s. a dangerous team o the rush that is able to make plays, well

coached. They deserve a ton of credit.”

“We were up 2-0,” said Checkers forward Rasmus Asplund. “We should be able to handle that a little better, but it is what it is. No excuses. We came up short.”

Charlotte had hoped to follow in their parent club’s footsteps, as the Florida Panthers took home their second straight Stanley Cup earlier this month, but it it was not meant to be.

The Canucks had a long road to the Calder Cup, with tight series against the Tucson Roadrunners, Coachella Valley Firebirds, Colorado Eagles and Texas Stars, but it was against Charlotte that they really showed their mettle.

“The whole season was a learning experience for these guys,” rst-year Abbotsford coach Manny Malhotra told the media afterward. “Obviously there were a lot of ups

“We were up 2-0. We should be able to handle that a

and downs as the season went on, but as we started coming down toward the playo s and throughout this whole playo run, I just realized how committed these guys were, how motivated they were to win and how committed they were to one another.”

For Malhotra, an NHL veteran with more than 900 games of experience, it’s his second Calder Cup, having won one 25 years ago in 2000 with the Hartford Wolfpack.

“It’s extremely special,” Malhotra said. “Obviously a di erent feeling as a coach, but to

Thunder crowned NBA champions; teams might be just getting started

Oklahoma City return their core and could add to it during the o season

By Tim Reynolds

The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — The promise came three years ago from Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti. It might have been overlooked for a couple of reasons. One, the Thunder were awful at the time.

Two, he was speaking Latin.

“Labor omnia vincit,” Presti said after the 2021-22 season, quoting a motto of Oklahoma. Depending on how Presti was translating it, it could have been “hard work conquers all” or “slow work conquers all.” Either way, it applies to the Thunder. They did hard work. They did slow work. They conquered all.

The Thunder — three years removed from winning 24 games — won 84 games this

season and are NBA champions after beating the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game NBA Finals slugfest. For the rest of the NBA, this should be a scary

development. They have the MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He and all of Oklahoma City’s key players are under contract for next season, there’s

watch the journey of this team over the course of the year and to watch them grow as players and watch us grow as a team, it’s such an unbelievable feeling as a coach.”

Canucks forward Linus Karlsson, who appeared in 23 NHL games this season with Vancouver, scored the eventual game-winner, slamming home a backdoor feed from Arshdeep Bains.

Karlsson led the AHL in goals this postseason, scoring 14 en route to the title.

“I just tried to play my game,” Karlsson said. “I played with good people out there. Everyone I played with, they helped me a lot to score. I have to thank them.”

Abbotsford goaltender Arturs Silovs, who posted a 16-7 record with a 0.931 save percentage and ve shutouts in the playo s after spending time up in the NHL during the regular season, won the Jack A. Buttereld Trophy as the postseason MVP.

“We just managed to raise the level,” Silovs said. “It’s hard, especially when you want to shut a team down in a clinching

See CHECKERS, page B4

a 2024 lottery pick in Nikola Topic who didn’t even play this season because of a torn ACL and the Thunder currently have two picks in the top 24 in this year’s draft as well. They are young; their starters, right now, are 27, 26, 26, 24 and 23. They are bold. And they might — should — be contending for a while.

“We de nitely still have room to grow,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, the league’s scoring champion and now, an NBA champion as well. “That’s the fun part of this. So many of us can still get better. There’s not very many of us on the team that are in our prime or even close to it. We have a lot to grow, individually and as a group. I’m excited for the future of this team. This is a great start, for sure.”

And the timing of them hitting this sort of stride is pretty good, too.

Plenty of teams have questions going into next season. Oklahoma City isn’t one of them. Jayson Tatum in Boston, Damian Lillard in Milwaukee and now Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana all have Achilles

JULIO CORTEZ / AP PHOTO

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center, holds up the Finals MVP trophy as he celebrates with his team after they won the NBA title with a Game 7 victory against the Indiana Pacers.

Charlotte Checkers’ Will Lockwood (10) passes the puck while being hit by Abbotsford Canucks’ Christian Wolanin (86) behind Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs, left, during the third period in Game 5 of the AHL Calder Cup nal.

little better.” Rasmus Asplund, Charlotte Checkers forward

TRENDING

Trent Thornton:

The Seattle Mariners reliever and former UNC and Charlotte Ardrey Kell High standout got sick while playing in the extreme heat in Chicago on Saturday. Thornton pitched scoreless innings against the Cubs before departing in the eighth. The 31-year-old right-hander had to be helped from Dan Wilson called it “a little bit of a heat-related illness.”

Stanley Borden:

player still in college to have played for Mike Krzyzewski is transferring to UTSA from Duke. The 7-foot Borden was a walk-on for the Blue Devils, joining the team in 2021 — the last of the Hall of Fame coach’s career. Borden has one year of eligibility left after he didn’t play his junior year because of injuries

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:

The hall of fame driver won his NASCAR national series debut as a crew chief Series at Pocono Raceway. Pressed into unexpected service, team owner Earnhardt called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch and landed in Victory Lane. Earnhardt stepped in with normal crew chief Mardy Lindley suspended one race because of a lug nut infraction

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

“The other school was too dumb to play him.”

NC State basketball coach Will Wade on Ven-Allen Lubin, who transferred to the Wolfpack from UNC.

“Nothing more specia l than any other home run that I hit.”

Rafael Devers after homering against his former team, the Red Sox, in his second game since being traded to the Giants.

NASCAR Chase Briscoe returned to Victor y Lane at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel

in NA SCAR 2023 when Martin Truex Jr had the ride.

Paul Gervase became the fourth member of the 2025 Durham Bulls to make his MLB debut with the Rays this season. The and Pitt Community College right-hander threw two scoreless innings against the Tigers without allowing a hit.

The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed depth forward Eric Robinson to a four-year contract worth $6.8 million. Robinson will count $1.7 million against the salar y cap through 2028-29 Robinson set career highs with 14 goals, 18 assists and 32 points last season after joining Carolina as a free agent.

The pay increase this season for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

The cheerleaders have been pushing for raises for years. In 2019, the Cowboys settled a lawsuit with a former cheerleader that led to the squad doubling the per-game pay, from $200 to $400 The latest raise is four times that.

Jaire Alexander has signed with the Baltimore Ravens less than two weeks after the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback wa s released by the Green Bay Packers. Alexander wa s one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks before injuries limited his availability The 28-year-old Charlotte native and Rocky River High alum reportedly received a one-year deal worth $4 million with $2 million in incentives.

DERIK HAMILTON / AP PHOTO

MIKE ROEMER / AP PHOTO

Hurricanes have ability to bolster team at NHL Draft

Carolina has six selections this weekend

By Cor y Lavalette North State Journal

The Hurricanes’ draf t pick in the this weekend’s NHL Draft.

RALEIGH — The Hurricanes entered last year’s NHL Draft hoping to re-sign Jake Guentzel Necas.

Neither happened, as Guentzel’s rights were instead traded to Tampa Bay — where he signed a monster seven-year, $63 million extension — and Necas’ demonths later when he was dealt to Dallas in the ill-fated trade for Mikko Rantanen.

New year, new opportunities.

GM Eric Tulsky, in his second year running Carolina’s front ofmiddle of everything, only this time the Hurricanes are loaded with draft capital, cap space and an even bigger desire to improve after being ushered out of eventual champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference

On the surface, it doesn’t look like Carolina is that loaded with draf t picks.

Due to reaching the conferround, and the team also holds its fourth, sixth and seventh round choices.

Carolina also has Tampa Bay’s third- and sixth-round picks (acquired in trades involving Guentzel and prospect Lucas Mercuri, respectively).

That’s six draft choices in all,

Joshua Ravensbergen, G

Hurricanes genera l manager Eric Tulsky speak s during a June 3 end-of-season press conference in Raleigh. Carolina could be one of the busier teams during this weekend’s NHL Draft.

but the Hurricanes also have surplus picks from Rantanen’s trade to Dallas — conditional and a second-round pick in 2027.

All of that ammunition, coupled with nearly $27 million in salary cap space — currently the fourth most in the NHL and an amount that exceeds any oth-na a chance to improve its roster during the weekend’s draft.

What remains to be seen is how this year’s decentralized draft — instead of gathering at the host city, which is Los Angeles this year, teams will set up draft war rooms at home — will impact negotiations between teams.

While being in one location on facilitate discussion, it also lacks

desire when exploring trades.

As for the actual draft, the Hurricanes haven’t made a pick earlier than 30th since 2020, when they selected Seth Jarvis 13th overall with a pick previously acquired from Toronto.

Don’t be surprised if they do it again — Carolina has traded the last four drafts, on top of giv-

Af ter this weekend, the Hurricanes will shift their focus to free agency, but the draft is where teams are built — Carolina’s top three scorers last season were drafted by the franchise. Whether the Hurricanes can make sweeping, immediate changes via trade or solely bolster their prospect pool, the weekend will shape the team’s future.

NSJ’s 2025 NHL Draft Top 100 Prospects

1. Matthew Schaefer, D 2. Michael Misa, C

3. James Hagens, C

4. Porter Martone, RW

5. Anton Frondell, C

6. Caleb Desnoyers, C

7. Jake O’Brien C

8. Victor Eklund, RW

9. Roger McQueen, C

10. Radim Mrtka, D

11. Brady Martin, C

12. Kashawn Aitcheson, D 13. Jackson Smith D

14. Carter Bear, LW

15. Justin Carbonneau, RW 16. Braeden Cootes, C 17. Lynden Lakovic, LW

18. Logan Hensler, D

19. Milton Gastrin C

20. Cole Reschny C

21. Jack Nesbitt, C

22. Malcolm Spence, LW

23. Cameron Reid, D

24. Sascha Boumedienne D

25. Benjamin Kindel, C

26. Blake Fiddler D

27. Cullen Potter C

28. Henry Brzustewicz, D

29. Joshua Ravensbergen, G

30.

31. Jakob Ihs-Wozniak RW

32. Bill Zonnon, RW

33. Jack Murtagh, LW

34. Eric Nilson, C

35. William Moore, C

36. Ryker Lee, RW

37. Eddie Genborg, RW

38. Mason West, C

39. Alexander Zharovsky, RW

40. Cole McKinney, C

41. Simon Wang, D

42. Ivan Ryabkin, C

43. Vaclav Nestrasil RW

44. Cameron Schmidt RW

6’5, 191 pounds • Prince George (WHL) prospect, and most consider Ravensbergen the best in this year’s draft. He’s big and athletic, but had a mediocre draf t year.

NSJ Rank: 29th

What they’re saying

Scott Wheeler, The Athletic: “The tools are all there. He’s got the highest ceiling of the goalies in this class.”

Chris Peters, FloHockey: “Ravensbergen . shows good athleticism and is close to 6-foot-5, giving him the size teams covet.”

Elite Prospects:cause he’s always in the right position. He simply engulfs the entire net because of his size.”

Simon

Wang, D

6’6, 222 pounds • Oshawa (OHL)

There might not be a bigger wild card in the draft. Born in China, talent. He could be a steal or a failed gamble.

NSJ Rank: 41st

What they’re saying

The Hockey News: “Talk about being a unicorn. The skills have gotten better . But I wonder about his hockey sense.”

“The raw talent is there. You just might need some patience.”

Scott Wheeler, The Athletic: remains quite raw. . He covers a lot of ground quickly and is cast in a mold that teams are excited about.” DRAFT PROSPECT SPOTLIGHT

Vaclav Nestrasil, RW

6’6, 185 pounds • Muskegon (USHL)

Don’t worr y: Vaclav Nestrasil is not the son of former Hurricanes forward Andrej Nestrasil — we’re all not that old yet — but he is his younger brother. The younger Nestrasil tall lanky and a bit of a project, but he is full of potential.

NSJ Rank: 43rd

What they’re saying

The Hockey News: “The size skill and skating are all there, and he’s a big guy with lots of upside.”

Corey Pronman, The Athletic: “He competes well, can kill penalties, and will be a player that coaches tend to trust.”

“Once he adds some muscle to his game, he could become quite the power forward.”

45. Vojtech Cihar LW

46. Matthew Gard, C

47. Ethan Czata, C

48. Theo Stockselius C

49. Jacob Rombach, D

50. Carter Amico, D

51. Daniil Prokhorov, RW

52. Luca Romano, C

53. Charlton Tretheway, D

54. Nathan Behm, RW

55. Ben Kevan, RW

56. Tomas Poletin, LW

57. Lasse Boelius D

58. Viktor Klingsell, RW

59. Shane Vansaghi, RW

60. Kurban Limatov, D

61. Max Psenicka D

62. Hayden Paupanekis C

63. Peyton Kettles, D

64. Kristian Epperson, LW

65. Tyler Hopkins, C

66. Brandon Gorzynski, C

67. Conrad Fondrk C

68. Theodor Hallquisth D

69. Alex Huang, D

70. Lucas Beckman, G

71. Filip Ekberg RW

72. Luka Radivojevic D

73. Adam Benak C

74. Semyon Frolov, G

75. David Lewandowski, LW 76. Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, D

77. Bryce Pickford D

78. L.J. Mooney, C

79. Mateo Nobert, C

80. Carlos Handel, D

81. Jan Chovan, C

82. Sean Barnhill, D

83. Malte Vass, D

84. Matous Kucharcik, C

85. Lev Katzin C

86. Drew Schock, D

87. Maxim Agafonov D

88. Gustav Hillstrom C

89. Michal Svrcek LW

90. Mason Moe, C

91. Philippe Veilleux, LW

92. Owen Martin, C

93. Reese Hamilton, D

94. David Bedkowski, D

95. Owen Conrad, D

96. Carter Klippenstein, C

97. Brady Peddle, D

98. Evan Passmore, D

99. Aleksei Medvedev, G

100. Tomas Pobezal, C

AARON BEARD / AP PHOTO

Locals make debuts, put on career-performances in opening weeks of WNBA regular season

Former UNC guard

Allisha Gray is elevating her game this year

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

THE NBA SEASON is over, and the dog days of the college basketball o season are here. But for basketball fans, there’s no reason to complain.

The WNBA is well into its 2025 campaign with all 13 teams having played at least 13 games as of Monday. As the league moves into the second quarter of its season, the ladies are hooping, and the storylines are brewing.

For local viewers, the same can be said about North Carolina’s own talent in the league.

This season has brought the professional debuts of former NC State stars Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers, who have both been impactful for their respective squads.

James, a guard for the 12th-place Dallas Wings, didn’t see much action to start her rookie year, but she has worked her way into a starting role, nonetheless. The former Wolfpack standout is averaging 4.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 32.7% from the oor in 11 outings.

After a scoreless WNBA debut against the Lynx on May 16, James didn’t play again until a matchup against Rivers and the

Sun on May 27. James scored her rst professional points that night, notching nine points (all in the second quarter) in nine minutes and helping the Wings get their rst win of the year. She failed to shoot well from that point, though, making six eld goals across the next six games. But as the Wings continued to underperform as a team, Dallas coach Chris Koclanes decided to make a change and start James over a struggling DiJonai Carrington. James made her rst start in a win against the Valkyries on June 17, scoring three points on a 1-for-6 night. However, she bounced back in the two games prior to Monday. She helped the Wings win two games in a row with a career-high 17 points against Connecticut Friday, and she followed that with 11 points (two made 3s) in an over-

Dallas Wings guard Aziaha James plays against the Minnesota Lynx last month. The rookie out of NC State has worked her way into the starting lineup.

time loss to the Mystics Sunday.

Rivers has seen big minutes for the last-place Sun right away, making nine starts and playing at least 20 minutes in every game as of Monday. The Wilmington native is averaging 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per outing while shooting 33.7% from the oor. Her best game of the season came in a 85-83 win over the Caitlin Clark-less Fever on May 30. Rivers notched career-highs in points (12) and assists (6) on 50% shooting, and she knocked down three triples. She’s second on the team in assists per game. In regard to the veterans, former UNC guard Allisha Gray is having the best season out of all local WNBA players. In her third season with Atlanta, Gray is averaging career-highs in points (20.1), assists (4.1) and eld-goal per-

centage (49.2%). Gray has scored in double gures in every game this season, including a career-high 32 points in a blowout win over the Mystics on June 15.

Leading the Dream to a 10-4 record as of Monday (fourth in the WNBA), Gray looks to be on track to her third all-star appearance. Former Wake Forest forward Dearica Hamby is also o to a solid start to the season, averaging 16.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game in her third season with the Sparks. After logging three 20-point games and three double-doubles in May, including a 28-point explosion against the Dream on May 27, Hamby has slowed down as of late. In Los Angeles’ three-game losing streak prior to Monday, Hamby has recorded her three lowest scoring totals, including eight points in a blowout loss to the Storm on June 17.

Chelsea Gray, the former Duke standout, is another veteran having a solid individual season in her fth year with Las Vegas. Gray is averaging 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals. She helped the Aces snap a three-game losing streak against the Fever Sunday, contributing 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

Cary native and former Duke forward Azura Stevens is having a career year in her third

season with the Sparks. The 6-foot-6 paint protector is averaging career-highs in points (13.4), rebounds (8.8) and steals (1.6). She’s recorded ve double-doubles, including a 23-point, 17-rebound performance in a close loss to the Mercury on May 21. There are a handful of other locals making waves in the WNBA this season.

Former Duke forward Elizabeth Williams is averaging 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with the Chicago Sky.

Charlotte native Ti any Mitchell has come o the bench for the Aces this season and is producing 3.7 points and two rebounds per night.

Former Duke forward Haley Peters is averaging 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds while coming o the bench for the Connecticut Sun.

Maya Caldwell, another Charlotte native, has posted 2.9 points an 1.9 rebounds per outing with the Dream this year.

Lexie Brown, the former Duke guard, is averaging career-lows in points (1.1) and rebounds (0.5) in 7.8 minutes per game with the Storm.

Greensboro native Elizabeth Kitley made her WNBA debut against the Liberty on May 17 and scored two points in one minute. She’s seen much more action since then and is averaging 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in her rst season since tearing her ACL in 2024.

Duke baseball hires Wake Forest assistant as new coach

Corey Muscara was the Demon Deacons’ pitching coach for four seasons

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

DURHAM — Duke Universi-

ty’s baseball program has its 26th head coach in school history.

The Blue Devils announced on June 19 that four-year Wake Forest pitching coach Corey Muscara has been hired to lead Duke’s baseball team for the 2026 season, bringing 15 years of collegiate coaching experience to Durham.

With former coach Chris Pollard leaving Duke after 13 years in early June to accept the head-coaching position in Virginia, Muscara emerged as a candidate for the open job given his ability to develop elite pitching in ACC-level programs.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to join the Duke community and lead the Blue Devils’ baseball program,” Muscara said in a university press release.

“This is a truly special opportunity to build on the program’s success and compete for champi-

CHECKERS from page B1

game. You know you have to give everything, but I just felt like I was in my comfort zone.”

Charlotte’s ultimate demise came from an inability to protect leads.

They blew a 3-1 lead in Game 1, ultimately losing in double overtime at home; gave away two separate leads in Game 2 — still managing to se-

THUNDER from page B1

injuries and gure to miss most if not all of next season. The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James will be going into his 23rd season. Golden State’s Stephen Curry is turning 38 next season. Kevin Durant, now of Houston (in a trade that’s going to be ocial in the coming weeks), is going into his 18th season. Philadelphia’s hopes hinge on Joel Embiid coming back healthy. New York will be dealing with a coaching change.

Oklahoma City seems to have everything right in place.

onships at one of the premier academic and athletic institutions in the country. I want to thank President Vincent Price, Nina King and Brad Berndt for their trust and belief in me. I’m eager to get to work with our student-athletes and to represent Duke with pride.”

While in Winston-Salem, the recent D1Baseball Assistant Coach of the Year winner helped guide the Demon Deacons to a program-record 54 wins in 2023 as they led the nation in ERA (2.83), hits allowed per nine innings (6.59), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.26) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.1), along with reaching the College World Series for the rst time in 68 years.

He will now use the rst head-coaching role of his career to aim at engineering Duke’s fourth-consecutive winning season.

“We are thrilled to welcome Corey Muscara as the next head coach of Duke baseball,” Duke athletic director Nina King said.

“Corey is one of the most respected pitching minds in the country, and his track record of developing elite student-athletes while competing at the highest lev-

cure an overtime winner though to tie up the series; scored rst again in Game 3 before allowing six straight goals against; had two separate leads again in Game 5; and then ultimately having the 2-0 lead in Game 6 before an untimely penalty eventually cost them.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better start from the group,” Kinnear said. “We were outskating, got to our agenda. You

“They have a lot of great players on this team,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all seem to enjoy playing with and o one another, none of them caring who gets credit. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein t seamlessly into the roles the Thunder asked them to play. Luguentz Dort is a defensive machine and has come to realize that most people don’t have the ability to appreciate how good he is at that end. It’s not just the players who don’t care about pu ng out their

“I am incredibly honored and excited to join the Duke community and lead the Blue Devils’

baseball program.”

Corey Muscara

els speaks for itself. His passion, energy and commitment to excellence align perfectly with the values of Duke athletics. I am con dent Corey will build upon the strong foundation of our program and lead Duke baseball to sustained success on and o the eld.”

The Demon Deacons averaged 43 wins per season during Muscara’s four-year stint in Winston-Salem, with the team consistently putting together notable pitching sta s under his leadership.

Wake recorded 11.9 and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings the past two seasons — good for the second-and eighth-best rates in the country — while Muscara’s sta was also fth nationally with seven shutouts in its most

look at the over-the-glass penalty. One of their players who’s won a Stanley Cup (Sammy Blais) made a shot on the power play, an elite shot, an elite play, and that kind of set us back a little bit because before that, I thought we were in complete control. We never really got it back at all after that.”

On the ip side, the Canucks were just a team that never seemed to get rattled, always

own chests. Same goes for the leadership.

“You’re not guaranteed anything in the league,” Caruso said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that happens year to year that people forget about. Any moment your team can change with a trade, with an injury, with something that’s out of your control. To be able to get to the pinnacle of this sport and win it is nothing short of extraordinary. To think that you can just walk in and do it every single year is a little bit naïve. Rest assured, we’ll show up Day 1 next year ready to get better

recent season that wrapped up this spring.

Prior to coming to Wake Forest, Muscara was Maryland’s pitching coach between 2018 and 2021, o ering a guiding hand in molding the Terrapins’ seventh-ranked recruiting class in 2020.

He had previously been an assistant coach at St. John’s for ve seasons, where his Red Storm made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and nine of his pitchers played their way into MLB Draft selections; St. John’s led the Big East in strikeouts in 201 4 and ranked eighth nationally in ERA in 2017.

His coaching career set its roots at Southern New Hampshire 15 years ago after his time pitching at Siona and wrapping up his collegiate years as a team captain at Franklin Pierce.

Now in Durham, Muscara has the tall order of following up Pollard’s high bar of being Duke’s all-time winningest baseball coach with a 418-293 tally and continuing the Blue Devils’ recent success that has led to 40-21 and 41-21 records in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Pollard was responsible for

able to roll with the punches and counter attack when they needed a big goal.

“The word that’s come up over and over for us in the playo s is resilience,” Malhotra said. “Obviously going down 2-0 is not the way you want to start a game, but as we’ve done throughout the course of the season and playo s, we just found a way to claw our way back into the game and get our-

and ready to chase this again.”

Presti, the architect of it all, rarely speaks publicly. Same goes for Clay Bennett, the owner. And coach Mark Daigneault is the calm in the eye of any storm, the perfect driver of the Thunder bus.

“There’s no guarantee you end it the way that we did,” Daigneault said. “I just wanted it so bad for them. I was just so thrilled that we were able to get that done and they get to experience this because they deserve it. The way they approach it, the professionalism, competitiveness, team- rst nature, like I

leading Duke to four NCAA Super Regionals (2018, 2019, 2023 and 2025) and two ACC Tournament titles (2021 and 2024), bringing a resurgence of attention to a baseball program that hadn’t won a conference crown since locking down the ACC’s regular-season championship back in 1961.

His public decision to exit Duke and relocate to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the next phase of his coaching career came less than 24 hours after the Blue Devils lost a Super Regional series with Murray State at Durham’s Jack Coombs Field.

Former Blue Devils out elders AJ Gracia and Zach Jackson, in elders Noah Murray and Sam Harris, and pitchers Henry Zatkowski, Max Stammel and Kyle Johnson each transferred from Duke to Virginia alongside their coach.

In total, nearly two dozen Blue Devils entered the transfer portal following the 2025 season.

A pair of graduate transfers — former Davidson catcher Noah Jouras and former Columbia pitcher Andy Leon — are Duke’s only two incoming transfers as of late June.

selves a lead. But when you’re able to close games out – there were some hairy situations in the third — you take a lot of pride in that.”

The newly crowned champions also feature a trio of former Carolina Hurricanes as Malhotra (2013-14), goaltending coach Justin Pogge (2010-11) and forward Phil Di Giueseppe (2013-19) all spent time within the Hurricanes organization.

said, I wanted it so bad for them.”

The journey isn’t over for the Thunder. It’s just starting. Presti has a war chest lled with draft picks and the team has some nancial exibility to add a piece if it so chooses. And now there’s a title to defend. Labor omnia vincit. There’s more work to do.

“We have a lot of hard work in front of us,” Presti said that day in 2022. “We have to grind in and do it. That’s what the state is about. That’s what the history of the community is about. That’s what the basketball team here is about.”

BRANDON WADE / AP PHOTO

present them to the undersigned on or before September 5, 2025 (which is three (3) months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to

to exhibit them to the undersigned at 65 White Birch Ln Angier NC on or before September 19, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate are asked to make immediate payment. This the 13th day of June 2025. Charlanta Anescar

Executor/Administrator of the Estate of Julia Experience 65 White Birch Ln Angier, NC 27501

NOTICE In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File No. 25E000820-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY

ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Kimberly Ann Howard, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 12th day of September, 2025, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This is the 12th day of June, 2025.

Montanna Christine Howard 3125 Nontucket Lane Hope Mills, NC 28348 Administrator of the Estate of Kimberly Ann Howard, deceased Publish June 12, 19, 26 and July 3, 2025.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS ESTATE OF RICKY DENNIS HUFF CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 25E000971-250 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Ricky Dennis Hu deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Denver Ralph Hu , Administrator, at 2919 Breezewood Ave., Suite 100, Fayetteville, NC 28303, on or before the 27th day of September 2025 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above.

This the 19th day of June, 2025. Denver Ralph Hu Administrator of the Estate of Ricky Dennis Hu Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: June 26, July 3, July 10 and July 17, 2025

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA In the General Court of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File #25E000885-250 Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Wilbur Duke Johnson, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 12th day of September, 2025, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 12th day of June, 2025. Marsha Denise Johnson 25173 Aleppo Way, Moreno Valley, CA 92553 Of the Estate of Wilbur Duke Johnson, Deceased.

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File # 25E000931-250 State of North Carolina Cumberland County Administrator’s Notice

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Don Del-Raye Jones, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before 22nd day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of thier recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 22nd day of June 2025. Dayana M. Jones 540 E. Benton St Benson NC 27504 Administrator of the Estate

Notice to Creditors

Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Barbara Ann Joyner, deceased, Cumberland 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 on or before the 12th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This is the 6th day of June, 2025. Lashaunda Jackson, Administrator of the Estate 265 Fieldspar Lane, Clayton NC 27520 Publication Dates: 6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/3.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS ESTATE OF PATRICIA ANN LEWIS CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 25E000594-250 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Patricia Ann Lewis, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Davis W. Puryear, Administrator, at Hutchens Law Firm, LLP, 4317 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28311, on or before the 20th day of September (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Executor/ Administrator named above. This the 16th day of June, 2025. Davis W. Puryear Administrator of the Estate of Patricia Ann Lewis Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: June

NOTICE CUMBERLAND NOTICE

of the Estate of Deborah Lynn Horne Deborah Lynn Locke, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, the undersigned does here y notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at 5431 Marsh Road, Fayetteville, NC 28306 on or before September 12, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. Dated this 12th day of June, 2025. Donna Jackson, Executor of the Estate of Deborah Lynn Horne Deborah Lynn Locke 5431 Marsh Road Fayetteville, NC 28306

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NUMBER: 25E000857-250 In the Matter of the Estate of: APRIL MARIE MASSENGILL Deceased. ))))) ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of April Marie Massengill, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before September 5, 2025 (which is three (3) months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. THIS the 2nd day of June, 2025.

James Larry Massengill, Administrator of the Estate of April Marie Massengill, Deceased c/o J. Thomas Neville Yarborough, Winters & Neville, P.A. P.O. Box 705 Fayetteville, NC 28302-0705

Publish: 06/05/2025, 06/12/2025, 06/19/2025 and 06/26/2025

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

In the General Court of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File# 25E000883-250

Administrator’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Timothy Carl McNeill, deceased late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before 5th day of September, 2025, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All debtors of the decedent are required to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 5th Day of June 2025 Vickie M. Crocker, Administrator 641 Fearrington Post Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312

NOTICE

In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File 25E000762-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTICE

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Joyce Tucker Pittman, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 26th day of September, 2025, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 18th day of June, 2025. Administrator of the Estate of Joyce Tucker Pittman Linda Ward Johnson 7600 Autryville Road Autryville, NC 28318 Executor

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Estate File#25E000922-250 County of Cumberland The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Doris Sykes deceased,late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before

three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above. This

2nd

of June, 2025. Kostas T. Poulos Administrator of the Estate of Tom Kostas Poulos Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: June 5, June, 12, June 19 and June 26, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE NO. 25E000856-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Giovanni R. Quevedo, late of Cumberland 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 2517 Raeford Road, Fayetteville, NC 28305, on or before September 12, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of

to

rms, and

will

to the undersigned. Dated this 12th day of June, 2025. Reyna Quevedo, Executor of the Estate of Giovanni R. Quevedo NICOLE A. CORLEY MURRAY & CORLEY, P.A. N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990 COUNSEL FOR EXECUTOR

DURHAM

NOTICE

rms and corporations

will please make immediate payment to the above-named Executor. Kendall H. Page 210 N Columbia Street Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Bar # 14261 Notice to Run: 6/19/2025,6/26/2025, 7/03/2025 & 7/10/2025

NEW HANOVER

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY FILE# 25E001778-640 Having quali ed on June 3, 2025 as Administrator of estate for CYNTHIA ANN CARLTON, deceased, of New Hanover County, N.C. does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the said estate to present such claims to the undersigned LARRY NEEDHAM BROWN, at 205 Maultsby Road, Delco, NC 28436 on or before September 26, 2025. Run dates: June 26, July 3, 10,17.

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Lynn S. Stepnowski, having quali ed on the 15th day of May 2025, as Executor of the Estate of Gale A. Durham (25E001646-640), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 22nd day of September, 2025, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address. This 19th day of June 2025. Lynn S. Stepnowski Executor ESTATE OF GALE A. DURHAM David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411 Publish: June 19, 2025 June 26, 2025 July 3, 2025 July 10, 2025

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, DEBRA A. LOVE, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of CAROL A. GREGORY, Deceased, hereby noti es all persons, rms or corporations having claims against the Decedent to exhibit

Beatin’ the heat

Temperatures soared into the triple digits across the eastern U.S. this week, setting all-time records in dozens of cities. Above, Dory, an explosives certi ed dog, cooled down in front of a fan outside of Bank of America Stadium before the start of a FIFA Club World Cup game on Tuesday in Charlotte.

the BRIEF this week

N.C. Senate takes on transgender issues

Raleigh

The state Senate advanced two bills that deal with transgender issues as lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by this week’s end. The rst bill passed by the Senate on Monday bars parents from being cited for abuse or neglect for raising their child consistent with their sex assigned at birth. That bill now heads to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk. The second bill has several provisions, including restrictions on using state money to fund gender-a rming care for prisoners and a resolution a rming there are only two sexes. The state House must approve of the second bill.

Court issues mixed ruling on governor’s appointment powers

Raleigh State trial judges have issued a mixed ruling for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders in litigation over recent law changes that eroded gubernatorial powers. A three-judge panel on Tuesday unanimously struck down as unconstitutional a law that placed some limits on whom the governor could choose to ll vacancies on appellate courts. But the judges let stand provisions that take away some of Stein’s appointments to the state Utilities Commission and Building Code Council. The order can be appealed.

‘Revenue

neutral’ property tax rate in

uenced by how its calculated

Siler City’s neutral rate is arti cially low because of incentive plans

By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record

SILER CITY — At the Town of Siler City Board of Commissioner’s June 16 meeting, Commissioner Alec Hauser o ered

further clarity on the town’s decision to maintain its current tax rate.

Along with the vote to approve the 2025-26 budget at its June 2 meeting, the board also approved maintaining Siler City’s current tax rate of $0.54 per $100 valuation.

The county had its property appraised this year — per North Carolina law, property is required to be revalued every eight years, and Chatham County is on a four-year cycle — and from that, it was determined that the revenue neutral tax rate for Siler City, or the rate at which the town would have been able to collect the same amount of revenue as the prior scal year, would be $0.27 per $100 valuation. According to Hauser, the rea-

son for the drastic di erence comes from how the rate is calculated and doesn’t necessarily re ect how much revenue is actually currently available to the town.

“When you see a number that low, it looks really misleading,” Hauser said. “Like the municipal government is operating at

See TAX RATE, page A3

Chapel Hill adopts 2025-26 town budget

The budget comes with a tax rate nearly six cents above the revenue neutral rate

By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record

CHAPEL HILL — The Chapel Hill Town Council has adopted its latest budget, which will

cover the next year of operations for the town.

The council approved the 2025-26 budget ordinance at its June 18 meeting, a decision that also comes with what could be a signi cant tax increase for town residents.

The budget sets a property tax rate of $0.50 per $100 valuation, and while this rate is technically lower than the previous one ($0.092 lower), it is $0.058 higher than the revenue neutral tax rate, or the rate that would generate the same amount of revenue as the prior year with the newly revalued properties.

Flooding, rock slides close part of I-40

About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.

in Smoky Mountains

The same area was shut down following Hurricane Helene

The Associated Press HARTFORD, Tenn. — Heavy rain, ooding and a rock slide have again closed a section of the major cross-country highway Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains, with engineers expecting the road closed for at least two weeks. The slide and ood happened last Wednesday afternoon around mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said on social media.

Engineers have found signi cant damage on both the highway and nearby ramps which was more extensive than originally thought, Republican Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison said on social media.

“Several areas remain under water, and there are potentially compromised slopes. Geotechnical engineers are on-site today to assess the stability of those slopes,” wrote Faison, who represents the area.

Tennessee transportation o cials estimate it will take at least two weeks to drain the water, make sure the slopes are safe and repair the highway.

The damaged section is part of 12 miles of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee

Due to the property revaluations that occurred this year — Orange County is on a fouryear cycle — the county saw an approximate 50% increase in See BUDGET, page A3

THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

We stand corrected To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline.com with “Correction request” in the subject line.

CRIME LOG

June 17

• Joshua Luke Brady, 37, of Bear Creek, was arrested for resisting a public o cer, driving without liability insurance, and driving with an expired registration.

• Orzy Latipov, 45, of Chapel Hill, was arrested for violating a domestic violence protective order.

June 19

• Christopher Lee Carroll, 61, of Siler City, was arrested for statutory sexual o ense with a child and taking indecent liberties with a child.

June 22

• Christopher Laurice Williams Jr., 36, of Siler City, was arrested for carrying a concealed rearm, using a ctitious or altered registration card, and possessing an open alcohol container.

• Kenneth Marvel Reaves Jr., 47, of Pittsboro, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny.

• Tyler Lang Martin, 31, of Pittsboro, was arrested for possessing a rearm with a defaced serial number, assault by strangulation, and assault by pointing a rearm.

SLIDE from page A1

that was washed away or heavily damaged by ooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September. Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March. The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high that had to be removed to let vehicles stuck by the ooding and rock-

slide to turn around and go the other way. About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.

The permanent x to stabilize what’s left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road, lling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cli face to hold them in place. It will take years.

I-40 runs from Wilmington to Barstow, California, and

any detour around the Great Smoky Mountain section is dozens of miles. Trucks have gotten stuck on twisty narrow mountain roads and are banned on another major highway through the area U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The o cial detour takes drivers heading west on I-40 up Interstate 26 at Asheville to Johnson City, Tennessee, and then south down Interstate 81 back to I-40.

TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION VIA AP Interstate 40 remains closed near the Tennessee-North Carolina state line due to ooding and a rockslide on June 18.

CHATHAM happening

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:

June 27

MOSAIC’S Summer Jam Music Series: The Embers in Concert

7-9 p.m.

Philip H. Kohl MOSAIC Family Commons 457 Freedom Parkway Pittsboro

June 28

Chatham Mills Farmers Market

8 a.m. to noon

This weekly outdoor farmers market is a producers-only market, which means the wide variety of goods o ered there, from fresh produce to other groceries, including eggs, cheese and meat, along with health and wellness items and crafts, are produced or created by the vendors themselves.

Lawn of the historic Chatham Mills 480 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro

Computer Skills for Job Seekers

10 a.m. to noon

This class is for adults with intermediate computer skills and covers a broad range of topics. Those who complete the class will receive a free refurbished computer.

June 29

Praise and Worship Through Song 6:30 p.m.

Soloists and choirs are welcome.

Gum Springs Baptist Church 227 Gum Springs Church Rd. Moncure

July 2

Jazz Night at The Sycamore at Chatham Mills

6-9 p.m.

Every Wednesday night, from 6-9 p.m., The Sycamore at Chatham Mills hosts live Jazz Nights. The series features a rotating list of local musicians. The Sycamore also o ers its Lounge Menu in the dining room on Wednesday nights. Reservations are highly recommended.

480 Hillsboro St. Suite 500 Pittsboro

COURTESY

New rules at Ramseur Lake lead to some big sh catches

New regulations for watercraft on the lake were met with skepticism by some shermen

By Bob Sutton Chatham News & Record

RAMSEUR — New rules for Ramseur Lake have been good for shing, town o cials said.

Mayor Hampton Spivey said the recreational area has seen steady use since it opened for the year in March.

“The lake is rather busy,” Spivey said. “It’s pretty steady.”

Starting this year, gas-powered motors are no longer allowed on the lake. So watercraft must be powered by electric motors or man powered.

“Some of the shermen who were opposed to (the new wa-

tercraft regulations) told me it’s the best thing we ever did,” Spivey said.

The elimination of gas-powered motors was announced prior to the 2024 opening of the lake. That provided boat users a full year notice prior to the implementation of the new rules.

There were largemouth bass caught up to 10 pounds this spring. Ricky Turpin of Asheboro pulled in a 10-pound largemouth June 4 after previously making a 9-pound catch.

LeAnn Thompson, the warden at the lake, said crappie have been caught at 3 pounds.

There also have been athead cat sh, bluegill and shellcrackers caught, Thompson said.

“There’s a little bit of everything,” she said.

The man-made lake has existed since the 1970s.

“So there’s pretty big sh out there,” Spivey said.

There’s also other wildlife. Thompson said an 80-pound snapping turtle was caught this spring.

The West side of the park was closed when the park opened for the season. Both sides are now open.

Paddle boats and kayaks, along with electric-only powerboats, are available to rent.

Ramseur Lake, also known as Kermit G. Pell Water-Based Recreation Facility, is one of the two main recreation areas in Ramseur. The other is Leonard Park.

Hours for Ramseur Lake for May through August are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hours vary in other months, while the facility is closed in December, January and February.

Pilot killed in Mocksville plane crash was trying to avoid turtle

A preliminary crash report from the NTSB shed light on the incident

The Associated Press

MOCKSVILLE — The pilot of a small plane that crashed near a Davie County airport earlier this month had raised a wheel after landing to avoid hitting a turtle on the runway, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report.

The pilot of the Universal Stinson 108 and a passenger were killed in the June 3 crash near Sugar Valley Airport in Mocksville, o cials said. A second passenger was

seriously injured in the crash.

A communications operator looking out the airport ofce window advised the pilot that there was a turtle on the runway, according to the report released this week. The operator reported that the pilot landed about 1,400 feet down the 2,424-foot runway, then lifted the right main wheel to avoid the turtle. The operator heard the pilot advance the throttle after raising the wheel, but the airplane left her view after that.

A man cutting the grass at the end of the runway reported seeing the pilot raise the right wheel to avoid the turtle, then the wings rocked back and forth and the plane took o again, according to the report.

get your applications

Teachers, are you looking for new opportunities to fund projects for your classroom? Central Electric is awarding up to $15,000 in Bright Ideas education grants to local educators in K-12 classrooms for the 2025-2026 school year.

The man lost sight of the plane and then heard a crash and saw smoke.

The plane crashed in a heavily forested area about 250 feet from the runway and caught re, o cials said. The plane was wedged between several trees and remained in one piece except for a few pieces of fabric found in a nearby stream. It came to rest on its left side with the left wing folded underneath the fuselage and the right wing bent toward the tail.

Preliminary reports contain facts collected on scene but don’t speculate on probable causes, according to the NTSB’s website. Those are included in nal reports, which can take one to two years to complete.

Church News

GUM SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH

You’re invited to join community churches for an evening of praise and worship, primarily through song on Sunday, June 29 at 6:30 p.m. Soloist and choirs are welcome. The church is located at 227 Gum Springs Church Road in Moncure.

EBENEZER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Ebenezer United Methodist Church will have a summer gospel concert on Sunday, June 29 at 5 p.m. Please join us for a worship service in song. The church is located at 724 Beaver Creek Road in Apex.

BUDGET from page A1

property values, and so residents will more than likely be seeing higher tax bills because of the drastic increase.

“At a time of economic instability, we also have a lag in sales tax, permit revenues and, as an extra bonus, we got hit with a revaluation that has shifted much of the bigger part of the cost of government onto our residents,” said Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan. “So even with no increase in our revenue, residents are going to be seeing an average of about 15% increase in their tax bill.”

“It is not the cost of maintaining our town operations that has caused the extreme in all of our home values,” said council member Elizabeth Sharp. “It’s actually the commodi cation of real estate in the American capitalist economy over which we have no control.”

The budget is balanced at nearly $164 million, a 4% increase over the prior year’s budget.

Budget highlights include a 5% market pay increase for employees — including the mayor and council members — $1.5 million for operating budget focus areas, $18.7 million for the police, $12.6 million for re, $1.3 million for a ordable housing and community connections, $5 million for library and nearly $9.7 million for parks and recreation.

“This budget provides resiliency to handle an unpredictable future, it covers the signi cant decline we’re seeing in sales tax revenues, it reduces the town’s reliance on fund balance as we continue to see declines in personnel and other savings each year, it addresses the increased cost to carry out services provided by the town and transit, and it maintains the town’s funding commitment to our outside agencies,” said interim town manager Mary Jane Nirdlinger.

e nal deadline for all grant applications is Sept. 15, but don’t wait to apply. Applications submitted prior to the early-bird deadline on Aug. 15 will be entered to win one of ve $100 Visa gi cards. Scan the QR code or visit NCBrightIdeas.com for more information or to apply!

While the budget is an increase overall, that mostly accounts for things such as ination, increases to the cost of doing business and higher personnel costs.

“We all worked really, really hard to identify any kinds of mismanagement or ineciencies in our town operations, hoping that there would be some way that we could retreat from the recommend-

TAX RATE from page A1

some scale which it shouldn’t be operating at. We only get a small fraction of the property taxes and that $0.27 neutral rate is based on if we took the full allotment from Wolfspeed and the CAM site, which is not happening now due to the incentive agreement that we signed back in 2023.”

Part of the agreed uponnancial incentive package for Wolfspeed included a drastically reduced property tax rate, which sees only a 10% collec-

“Residents are going to be seeing an average of about 15% increase in their tax bill.”

Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan

ed tax raise,” Sharp said. “Instead, we found falling sales tax revenues, we found employee pay salaries that are double-digit percentages below neighboring towns and we found a signi cant backlog of maintenance needs.”

The nal vote for approval of the budget was 5-2, with Mayor Jessice Anderson and Ryan voting against it mainly due to the impact on property owners. Council members Karen Stegman and Adam Searing were absent from the meeting.

“We need to be willing to adjust to changing circumstances to make hard choices for our government, not just our taxpayers,” Ryan said. “Things will not be easier next year or the year after or the year after. We need to recognize that reality and make sure one of the realities re ected in our budget is not pricing residents out of the town. I don’t see that in this budget.”

“It brings me no pleasure to not be able to vote for this budget because there are a lot of really important things in there, but that’s the decision I’ve come to,” Anderson said.

“I’m deeply concerned that we’re putting an extra burden on our residents at a time of great uncertainty. We can’t make up for all the cuts that we’re experiencing by raising property taxes on people.”

While most every council member expressed discontent with the burden being placed on residents, a few noted the necessity of it, especially given the current needs of the town.

“Failing to approve a budget that doesn’t address our significant backlog of maintenance needs and our severe employee pay shortfall doesn’t just delay the inevitable, it exacerbates it, and I don’t see wisdom in prolonging the painful process of rightsizing our town budget nor have we been able to nd any place that would provide signi cant relief to homeowners by doing so,” Sharp said.

tion rate for the rst four years of the project.

The collection rate will slowly increase over the 20 year period, capping out at a 50% reduction in the nal four years of the project before the full tax allotment is actually realized.

“I want to make sure the constituents really understand so there’s full transparency from your government,” Hauser said.

The Town of Siler City Board of Commissioners will next meet July 21.

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

The pier at Ramseur Lake draws some people to sh. Changes at the lake this year have been notable.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

On measuring time

Another wonderful way to measure time is with service.

ON MARCH 30, 1973, a gentleman wrote to E.B. White expressing his frustration and despair. This man was losing his faith in humanity. White, the inimitable author and editor, responded, “Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”

I realize that few of us still wind our clocks, yet I commend the idea of doing something small with intentionality. Bring a sense of order, if only to the chaos immediately surrounding you. How can hope spring eternally if it is stuck? Weed the ower bed or sweep the front porch.

What’s more, get outside. Get outside yourself. Listen to the songbirds or the wind in the trees. Another friend says that something beautiful and true can always be found in a 10-minute walk. Down the street from my house, a gaggle of four goslings waddles down a bank and wades into the pond. I am in the habit of taking pictures of them, so I know for a fact that they have lost their grey

fuzzy feathers in favor of the plumage of their parents in only 26 days! While we no longer wind clocks, the growth of a gosling is a meaningful way to measure time.

Just remember, you don’t need to live near a pond or be a poet to understand that beauty is truth and truth is beauty. The weeds that emerge from the cracks in a sidewalk or an abandoned lot often inspire me. Life consistently nds a way. You can nd something to do for someone else: buy groceries for a food pantry, cook for those who are unsheltered, volunteer at your local library or community center, open doors for people and o er to carry their groceries to their cars. Another wonderful way to measure time is with service.

I am not denying the problems. We appear headed for yet another senseless war, which Congress neither advised nor authorized. At home, our soldiers have been deployed against our citizens, and our elected o cials have been brutally murdered. So far,

Looking for a connection between age and wisdom

And I know I’m on the way because my hair and beard are starting to turn gray and because the youth of today say “Sir” to me or o er the senior adult discount without asking for proof.

LONG AGO and far away, when dinosaurs roamed the world and I was a wee young lad — well, at least a young lad — I was often not very fond, detested at times even, hearing much in the way of conversation, more speci cally advice, from the older generation.

The reason or reasons were many, but the most obvious was, ‘I’m young and hip, part of the new and now generation, and what could those old fogeys possibly tell me about the world and the shape of things?’

“Plenty” would be today’s answer to that question.

Let me hasten to say here that I did not ignore all counsel in those days. Actually, I took a great deal of it to heart, although some of the lessons and instructions had to be veri ed the hard way.

For instance, when my mama said not to touch her spray and steam iron, I should have heeded her. And the day one of my dad’s friends told me, while we were standing in his small engine repair shop, not to touch the spark plug of an idling lawn mower with the screwdriver I had just picked up, I should have listened.

The larger issues of life, however, weren’t necessarily wrapped up in those minor events, although I have come to learn the principles there apply to larger considerations. And

that principle is this: Experience is a good teacher, and if wisdom comes along with that experience, it’s a wise boy who pays attention to the experience and wisdom of his elders. All throughout the Book, especially in Proverbs, are jewels of wisdom, and lately I have begun to note that many of them have a home in the minds and hearts of those senior adults. Snow white hair on its own does not necessarily a wise person make, but it can be a sign that you’re in the presence of one.

As I think about that, I think of a little lady I knew almost 60 years ago. Mrs. Mary Shotts was the guidance counselor at Pittsboro High School as I was coming through, maybe the rst ever, at least o cially in title. She was a kind and gentle lady, and I became very fond of her, except when she wouldn’t let me sign up for a class in advanced PE my senior year in high school. Her reasoning was that a class period devoted to picking up rocks on the football eld or cleaning trash from under the bleachers would not be as bene cial in the long run as would a class in, say, algebratrigonometry or what we called “typing,” which later became known as ‘keyboarding.’

Of course, the fact I barely passed algebra/trig doesn’t matter anymore. At least she saved me from picking

2025 feels like the Year of Spiral. But that assumes that I know where we are headed.

Another friend pointed out that people with power talk about the future as if it were actual reality. I’m not against making plans, but no one knows what tomorrow or even the next minute will bring. What we have is this moment.

To the gentleman spiraling with his faith in humanity, White contended, “As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate.”

Be that upright, compassionate person. Measure time in love, and receive in return “a good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38).

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.

up rocks, a task I still don’t like.

Mrs. Shotts had that silver and snow-white hair, years of experience and wisdom. Nowadays, I also think not only of her but also of Dr. Chevis Horne, my professor of preaching at seminary. A wise elder statesman, he served one church his entire professional life, rst as its associate pastor. Then, after a stint as a eld chaplain in Sicily during World War II, he came back to that parish as its senior pastor and served 30 years before retiring and turning to teaching.

Since those days, it’s been my desire to emulate those folks, to become them. And I know I’m on the way because my hair and beard are starting to turn gray and because the youth of today say “Sir” to me or o er the senior adult discount without asking for proof.

That other part — the wisdom part — however, I’m not so sure of, and as I meander through my biblical “three score and ten,” I can only hope some of the other will come along.

Maybe it will ...

Here’s hoping.

Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.

COLUMN | ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN

COLUMN | BOB WACHS

COLUMN CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

My weekend with Brian Wilson

In shock, I decided to spend my weekend rediscovering Brian Wilson’s music. Yep, just me, my ear buds, iPhone and Amazon Unlimited music. ’Twas a cheap, but ultimately ful lling, date.

WHO KNEW I was in love with the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson? Not me.

The delightful teeny-bopping days of Beach Boys’ music just slithered right o my cli in the late ’60s. My age-related a nity for sun and surf tunes cratered, totally cratered, making way for the heartfelt rock protest anthems of the Vietnam War.

Oh, wait, I do recall listening to the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” ’round about ’67. Luscious sounding music, but geez, it was the Beach Boys, for heaven’s sake! Sun and surf versus all the lives being decimated in Vietnam? No contest.

Wilson’s mental health struggles occasionally erupted in the news. His decline morphed into a public soap opera, often used as clickbait for popular magazines. He lost his way for a period. It wasn’t pretty.

Wilson died earlier this month. The accolades came rolling in. Brian Wilson? Of surf ’n’ sun fame? Respected and emulated by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and a holy host of other musical talents? You’ve got to be kidding! Really?!

“Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition and mastery of recording techniques, Brian Wilson is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative and signi cant songwriters of the 20th century.”

Yep. That Brian Wilson. This is your news junkie talking. Excuse me, but where the hell have I been?

Great question. In shock, I decided to spend my weekend rediscovering Wilson’s music. Yep, just me, my ear buds, iPhone and Amazon Unlimited music. ’Twas a cheap, but ultimately ful lling, date.

I scored. Dropping into Wilson’s musical smorgasbord left me with a sense of wonder.

COLUMN | MARC DION

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer.

You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can a ord a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house res in which no one was injured, tra c pileups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything

Really. I had no idea. None. The very lushness of his arrangements, poignant lyrics, particularly in “Love and Mercy.” OK, OK, I was now sold on Wilson as the real deal … but stuck, still stuck, as to how and why I’d forcibly locked him out of my musical world for so long. Years and years and years. The answer arrived via one of his newly discovered (to me, anyway) songs: “That’s Why God Made The Radio.” Just a tiny, tiny snippet of a lyric, “when I lift up my antenna.” Lifting up my own antennae allows me greater focus on the world around me. Like many of us regular ol’ humans, I have a great capacity to tune out, yep, just tune right out, anyone or anything I’ve judged negatively. I excel in that particular arena.

In the era between my teens and my (oh, so grownup) 20s, I closed the door on Wilson. Moved on. The Vietnam War brought turbulent times. Across the board, cultural change occurred, including to our music. Bye, Brian, I’m o to a protest now, leaving you to all your sur ng songs.

And I did. Left all of Wilson’s bewitching and growing musical oeuvre behind in my exploration of growing up. Retrospectively, a super, major ouch.

Today, I’m celebrating the luscious, newto-me Brian Wilson music just added to my playlists. I’m also celebrating unearthing my lifelong inclination to slam doors shut, based on my judgments, not realizing how much light I may be losing from the closed-o side. Hard to break these old habits, but “Hey, Brian,” wherever you are, I’m trying. Thanks.

Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies in uenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is de ned by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper o ce and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual ower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

But the reality is that males and females are inherently di erent. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the di erences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders de ning sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certi cates. At least eight states de ne male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was led earlier this year. The legislation de nes “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certi cates and driver’s licenses to re ect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

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

obituaries

Royce Dillard Chambers

Sept. 9, 1953 –June 18, 2025

Royce Dillard Chambers, age 71, of Chapel Hill, died Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at the SECU Jim & Betsy Bryan UNC Hospice House.

Royce was born in Wake County on September 9, 1953, to the late Dillard Chambers and Rebecca Mae Snow Chambers.

Surviving relatives include

IN MEMORY

two brothers: Floyd “Bob” Calvin Chambers of Chapel Hill and Donald Wayne Chambers and ancé Nicole Suzanne Boten of Chapel Hill. Royce proudly served our country in the United States Army.

A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at 2:00PM at Merritt’s Chapel UMC with Rev. Benji Kelly presiding. Inurnment will immediately follow in the church cemetery. Following the inurnment the family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall.

In lieu of owers, the family asks for donations to be made in Royce’s memory to Merritt’s Chapel UMC 1090 Farrington Point Road Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Condolences may be made at www.donaldsonfunerals. com.

Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the Chambers family.

SISTER BRENDA JEAN RICHARDSON

DEC. 9, 1953 – JUNE 20, 2025

Sister Brenda Jean Richardson was born to the late Jethro Brower and Evangelist Alberta Richardson on December 9, 1953, in Moore County, North Carolina, and departed this life on Friday, June 20, 2025, at Dahila Garden Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Aberdeen, North Carolina. Brenda Jean, as she was often called, was educated in the Moore County public school system. She attended Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, North Carolina until the school was redistricted and then attended North Moore High School in Robbins, North Carolina. And was employed with Clayson Knitting Company in Star, North Carolina for over twenty plus years. Sister Brenda accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and was a faithful member of Zion Grove AME Zion Church in Eagle Springs, North Carolina. She preached her trial sermon on Sunday, October 27, 2002. She was loved for her strong powerful sermon that was only ten minutes long when she preached. She taught Sunday School and Bible Study and help assist her pastor with morning worship service. Brenda Jean loved to sing, her signature song was “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus.” she was a member of the Zion Grove Young Adult Choir, Voices of Reunion Choir, help managed the Junior Choir, sung with the Robbins Mass Choir, Fayetteville State University Mass Choir, and the Choir of Praise of Asheboro, North Carolina

JOSEPH CECIL CALENDINE, SR. JUNE 18, 1935 – JUNE 18, 2025

Joseph Cecil Calendine, Sr., passed away on his 90th birthday, June 18, 2025, in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Born on June 18, 1935, in Canton, Ohio, Joseph lived a full and faithful life marked by service, quiet strength, and devotion to his family. He proudly served his country in the United States Air Force before building a long and respected career as a facilities engineer. Known for his steady hands and creative mind, Joe had a special love for all things mechanical. He found great joy working on and driving Volkswagens, lawn mowers and golf carts, and spending countless contented hours in his backyard shed — his happy place. He served the Lord as choir director in several local churches; he so enjoyed playing the organ and singing hymns. Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Bertha and Delmer Calendine, his brother, Daniel Calendine, and his sister, Jean Schwing. Joe was a loyal fan of Duke University basketball, and he cheered on NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. He enjoyed classic episodes of Star Trek, delighted in helping with Operation Christmas Child, and, above all, cherished every moment spent with his wife, his children, and his grandchildren. His kindness to others was legendary; his ready smile and cheerfulness made the people in his daily walk feel as though they’d met a friend.

We offer an on-site crematory with many options of Celebration of Life services, Traditional, and Green Burials. Call us to set an appointment to come by and learn more.

FedEx founder Fred Smith, Marine Corps veteran

who

revolutionized package delivery, dead at 80

He leveraged his Marine experience into a world-changing logistics business

The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.

FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman.

Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo ights centered on a main hub, a “hub and spokes” system, as it became known.

The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses.

Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured.

At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn’t work out.

In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport ying packages to 25 U.S. cities.

Smith’s father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was com-

missioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat.

He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale.

Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business, and the company had to have a eet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go.

Smith was a minority owner of the Washington Commanders NFL team until 2021, when owner Daniel Snyder and his family bought out the shares held by Smith, Dwight Schar and Bob Rothman. His son Arthur was a head coach with the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons and is currently the o ensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Though one of Memphis’ best-known and most prominent citizens, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family.

Despite his low pro le, Smith made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie “Castaway” starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island.

“Memphis has lost its most im-

portant citizen, Fred Smith,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing Smith’s support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city’s zoo. “FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.” Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM.

“The thing that’s interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition,” Smith said at the time. Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, he said, “America is the most generous country in the world. It’s amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year. Everything from the smallest things to these massive health care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between.

“I think if you’ve done well in this country, it’s pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.”

"Healing

Police vehicles escort FedEx trucks carrying giant pandas to the National Zoo after they arrived at Dulles International Airport from China on in October 2024.

Kenneth Farrell

ANDREW HARNIK / AP PHOTO FedEx CEO Fred Smith appears at a signing ceremony where President Donald Trump signed an executive order that establishes a National Council for the American Worker in the East Room of the White House in July 2018.

KEVIN WOLF / AP PHOTO

Pastor says God, heroic security team prevented mass shooting at Detroit-area church

A late-arriving churchgoer hit the gunman with his truck

By Ed White and Holly Ramer The Associated Press

WAYNE, Mich.

— A pastor said Monday that the “hand of God” prevented a mass shooting at his Detroit-area church when an armed man was struck by a pickup truck and fatally shot by security sta before he could enter and attack more than 100 people.

On Monday, a day after the thwarted attack, the leader of CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne praised the actions of the security team, which has been in place for more than 10 years. Pastor Bobby Kelly said he had met the gunman three times in the past.

“I can’t say for sure what was in his heart or in his mind because he’s never threatened me in any way,” Kelly told The Associated Press. “This young man was de nitely struggling mentally. He thought he was hearing from God. We had some conversations about that.”

Children from the church’s vacation Bible school were leading Sunday’s worship and were nishing a song when the congregation heard gun re outside. Kelly, who was poised to start his sermon, initially thought the noise was coming from a construction crew.

A member of the security team rushed in and told everyone to get out. A livestream video shows people carrying children or directing them to get down and move away.

Kelly said a church member arriving late had spotted Brian Browning driving recklessly and called out to the gunman as he exited his car wearing a tactical vest and carrying a rie and a handgun. The church member struck him with his pickup truck.

Browning, 31, began ring as he approached the church, striking one person in the leg. At least two sta members shot him, Wayne police Chief Ryan Strong said.

“He is a hero,” Kelly said of the pickup driver. “I think that was the Lord leading him to do that. He hit this individual with his car, drove right on the

Your Journey Starts Here...

Get your learner’s permit this summer! Teenagers at 14 ½ years old may enroll in our teen class which includes 30 hrs of in-class instruction, and 6 hrs of behind-the-wheel lessons, and vision/medical screening before getting the learner’s permit.

Contact & Operating Hours centralcarolinadrivingschool@gmail.com | 984-315-0430 M-F 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Weekends by appointment only. Visit our website www.centralcarolinadrivingschool.com

grass because he was shooting at the building at the time. And that certainly helped the team to be able to respond.”

Browning did not have any previous contacts with police but may have been su ering a mental health crisis, police said.

The “heroic actions of the church’s sta members” saved many lives, Strong said Sunday night.

Wayne is about 25 miles west of Detroit. Police found additional ri es, handguns and a large amount of ammunition during a search of Browning’s house nearby in Romulus.

Browning’s mother occasionally attended the church services but was not there Sunday. The pastor said he spoke to her after the shooting.

“To console her, to let her know that she shouldn’t feel guilty about his actions ... and that we still are there for her as well,” Kelly said. “She is a grieving mom right now because of this tragedy.”

Dustin Fuoco was managing the church audio equipment. When the congregation dashed for the doors — “instant panic” — he anxiously looked for his wife and son and found them safe outside in a wooded area.

“It sounded like a jackhammer,” Fuoco said of the shots. “Twenty seconds later, we ended up hearing that same round of 10 shots. And that’s when the realization sunk in that this was a shooter.”

The pastor said the church had a security team even before he arrived in 2016, introduced by the previous church leadership in response to shootings that had happened elsewhere.

“Most people would never even know if they came to our church,” Kelly said. “Some that are armed and some that are not. But they are trained.”

He had intended to preach about God’s “hand of deliverance” and His ability to protect. In drawing up the church calendar, Kelly had planned to have two outdoor services in June but months ago decided only on one.

“We weren’t outside yesterday when we would have been,” he said. “We were denitely protected by the hand of God, there is no question about it.”

ED WHITE / AP PHOTO

Pastor Bobby Kelly of CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, speaks to reporters on Monday.

CLASSIFIED ADS

REAL ESTATE

LEARN ABOUT LAND - Chatham Land Experts, www.learnaboutland.com919-362-6999.

JY2,tfnc

FOR RENT

POWELL SPRINGS APTS. Evergreen Construction introduces its newest independent living community for adults 55 years or older, 1 and 2 bedroom applications now being accepted. O ce hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 919-533-6319 for more information, TDD #1-800735-2962, Equal housing opportunity, Handicapped accessible. A2,tfnc

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS now for one-bedroom apartments, adults 55 years or older. Water included, appliances furnished, on-site laundry, elevator, keyless entry. Section 8 accepted. No security deposit. Application fee $25 per adult. Call Braxton Manor, 919-663-1877. Handicap accessible. Equal Housing Opportunity. J14,tfnc

AUCTIONS

RICKY ELLINGTON AUCTIONEERS

- Equipment, business, liquidation, estates, land, houses, antiques, personal property, coins, furniture, consignments, bene ts, etc., NCAL #7706, 919-548-3684, 919-663-3556, rickyellingtonauctions@yahoo.com. Jy6,tfnc

SERVICES

RAINBOW WATER FILTERED VACUUMS, Alice Cox, Cox’s Distributing - Rainbow - Cell: 919-548-4314, Sales, Services, Supplies. Serving public for 35 years. Rada Cutlery is also available. A26,tfnc

JUNK CARS PICKED UP Free of charge. Due to many months of low steel prices and unstable steel markets, we cannot pay for cars at this time. Cars, trucks, and machinery will be transported and environmentally correctly recycled at no charge. 919-542-2803.

A2,tfnc

LETT’S TREE SERVICE - tree removal, stump grinding, lot clearing. Visa & Master Card accepted. Timber. Free estimates. 919-258-3594. N9,tfnc

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against Louise Barrett Derr, deceased, of Pittsboro, Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to present such claims to Diane Adkins, Executor/Personal Representative of the estate, at P.O. Box 2651, Taos, NM, 87571, on or before September 13, 2025. All claims not presented within this time will be forever barred.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Nellie D. Tripp, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are hereby noti ed to present them to April Tripp Parker, Executrix of the Estate of Nellie D. Tripp, Estate File Number: 25E000251-180, on or before September 29, 2025, in care of the below address, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to Nellie D. Tripp, please make immediate payment.

Publication dates: June 26. 2025, July 3, 2025, July 10, 2025, and July 17, 2025. This 26th day of June, 2025 April Tripp Parker, Executrix c/o Lisa K. Vira, Attorney at Law The Vira Law Firm, P.A. 205 West Main Street, Suite 207 Carrboro, NC 27510

919-918-8000 (telephone)

919-919-7887 (facsimile) info@vira-law.com

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Graham Camp Oldham, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 19, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This June 19, 2025. c/o Shea Maliszewski, Barringer Sasser, LLP, 111 Commonwealth Court, Suite 101, Cary, NC 27511.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Robert D. Shinney, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 12, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This June 12, 2025. c/o Shea Maliszewski, Barringer Sasser, LLP, 111 Commonwealth Court, Suite 101, Cary, NC 27511.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

25E000289-180 NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

The undersigned, Lori Delbridge, having quali ed as Limited Personal Representative of the Estate of Barbara Ann Headen, deceased, late of Chatham County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the day of September 10, 2025, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 12th day of June, 2025.

Lori Delbridge Limited personal Representative Marie H. Hopper Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post O ce Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312

CREDITOR’S NOTICE

Having quali ed on the 23th day of May 2025, as Administrator of the Estate of Rachel Hudson, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 3rd day of September 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment.

This is the 27th day of May 2025.

Danny Hudson, Administrator of the Estate of Rachel Hudson 292 George Hudson Road Siler City, NC 27344

Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: June 5th, 12th, 19nd and 26th. NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY

HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Paul David Justice late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

This the 12th day of June, 2025.

Vicky P. Justice, Executor of the Estate of Paul David Justice 1353 Siler City Glendon Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp

NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY

HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Norva Marie Fisher late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 12th day of June, 2025. Mary Lois Oldham, Executor of the Estate of Norva Marie Fisher 1450 Reno Sharpe Store Road Bear Creek, North Carolina 27207 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE

ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Judith J. Milikofsky aka Judith June Milikofsky, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ces of Tillman, Whichard & Cagle, PLLC, 501 Eastowne Drive, Suite 130, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, on or before the 12th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This 12th day of June, 2025.

DENA ROBIN SPECTOR, EXECUTOR ESTATE OF JUDITH J. MILIKOFSKY AKA JUDITH JUNE MILIKOFSKY

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

All persons having claims against Rolf Peter Lynton of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present them to Rebecca Nandani Lynton, Executor of the Estate of Rolf Lynton, at NextGen Estate Solutions, 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 or before September 26, 2025. Failure to present a claim in timely fashion will result in this Notice being pleaded in bar of recovery against the estate, the Executor, and the devisees of Rolf Peter Lynton. Those indebted to Rolf Lyton are asked to make prompt payment to the Estate.

This the 26th day of June, 2025. Rebecca Lynton, Executor C/O Brittany N. Porter, Attorney NextGen Estate Solutions 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE

25E000315-180

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Loretta

Bernice Chegash, also known as Loretta B. Chegash and Loretta Chegash, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Daniel E. Chegash Sr. as Executor of the Estate of Loretta Bernice Chegash on or before September 22, 2025, c/o Thomas J. Neagle, Attorney at Law, 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104, Carrboro, North Carolina 27510, or this notice will be pled in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor.

This the 19th day of June, 2025.

Daniel E. Chegash Sr., Executor c/o Thomas J. Neagle, Attorney 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104 Carrboro, North Carolina 27510

Attorney for Estate: Thomas J. Neagle Neagle Law Firm, PC 605 W. Main Street, Suite 104 Carrboro, North Carolina 27510 (919) 368-3536 For Publication: June 19, 26, July 3, 10, 2025

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE# 25E000303-180

The undersigned, CATHERINE A. HELMEKE, having quali ed on the 5th Day of JUNE, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of KERRY DEAN HELMEKE, deceased of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to her on or before the 12th Day of SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 12th DAY OF JUNE 2025.

CATHERINE A. HELMEKE, EXECUTOR

1302 Ventnor Pl Cary, NC 27519 Run dates: June 12, 19, 26, July 3p.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Probate #25E000174-180_____

All persons, rm and corporations having claims against Earl S. Settlemire, late of Chatham County, North Carolina are hereby noti ed to present them to Kendall H. Page, as Executor of the decedent’s estate in care of Kendall H. Page, Attorney, 210 N Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 on or before the 19th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the above-named Executor.

Kendall H. Page

210 N Columbia Street Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Bar # 14261

Notice to Run: 6/19/2025,6/26/2025, 7/03/2025 & 7/10/2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA Chatham COUNTY

25E000296-180 All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against William Lambert Jernigan, deceased, late of Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 13th day of September, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 12th day of June 2025. Rachel Lee Jernigan, Executor c/o Hemphill Gelder, PC PO Box 97035 Raleigh, NC 27624-7035

Chatham News and Record June 12, 19, 26, 2025 and July 3, 2025

NOTICE

ALL PERSONS, rms, and corporations having claims against [Donna Marie Spring Ring, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 26th, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 26th of June, 2025. Michelle Lynn Ring Romanowicz, Administrator of the Estate of [Donna Marie Spring Ring, c/o Amanda Honea, Attorney, 1033 Wade Avenue, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27605.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

25E000250-180 ALL persons having claims against THOMAS HUGH THOMPSON, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Sep 05 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.

This the 5th day of June, 2025.

KARLA LACKORE THOMPSON, Executor

C/O Jones Branz & Whitaker LLP

4030 Wake Forest Rd. Ste. 300 Raleigh, NC 27609 J5, 12, 19 and 26

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

25E000288-180 ALL persons having claims against Benjamin Wayne Barber aka Benjamin Barber, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Sep 05 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.

This the 5th day of June, 2025. Cameron Barber, Administrator C/O Kerr Law, PLLC P.O. Box 10941 Greensboro, NC 27404 J5, 12, 19 and 26

NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF Suzanne Simmons Daily All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Suzanne Simmons Daily, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Kathryn Daily as Executor of the decedent’s estate on or before September 13th, 2025, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor. This the 12th day of June, 2025. Kathryn Daily, Executor c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS COUNTY OF CHATHAM THE UNDERSIGNED, having quali ed on the 22nd day of May 2025, as Executor of the ESTATE OF PASCAL PIGLIA, 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 20th day of September 2025 or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 19th day of June 2025. Lisa M. Ferrari Executor Estate of Pascal Piglia c/o Richard G. Long III, Attorney Walker Lambe, PLLC Post O ce Box 51549 Durham, North Carolina 27717

NOTE: For publication in the Chatham News on the following dates: June 19, 26, July 3, 10, 2025. Please send the Statement and Proof of Publication to Walker Lambe, PLLC, Post O ce Box 51549, Durham, North Carolina 27717-1549.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000291-180 The undersigned, MATTHEW JOHNSON AND BELINDA C. MURRAY, having quali ed on the 2ND Day of JUNE, 2025 as CO-EXECUTORS of the Estate of RANDY LYNN JOHNSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 12TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 12TH DAY OF JUNE 2025. MATTHEW JOHNSON, CO-EXECUTOR 1104 BOWERS STORE RD. SILER CITY, NC 27344 BELINDA C. MURRAY, CO-EXECUTOR 95 NC HWY 22/42 BENNETT, NC 27208 Run dates: J12,19,26,Jy3p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#24E001582-180 The undersigned, BONNIE LYNN LEONARD, having quali ed on the 6th Day of NOVEMBER, 2024 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of OLLIE WALTER WRENN, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 26th Day OF SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 26th DAY OF JUNE 2025. BONNIE LYNN LEONARD, EXECUTOR 637 SILVERBERRY PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: J26, Jy3,10,17p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#24E001437-180 The undersigned, PAMELA KITZMAN, having quali ed on the 10th Day of SEPTEMBER, 2024 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of ELIZABETH E. JOHNSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 26th Day OF SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 26th DAY OF JUNE 2025. PAMELA KITZMAN, EXECUTOR 1096 EPPS CLARK RD. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: J26, Jy3,10,17p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000033-180

The undersigned, CARLA PETERS, having quali ed on the 25TH Day of APRIL, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of BAILEY LOUIS PIGFORD, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to him on or before the 5TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 5TH DAY OF JUNE 2025 CARLA PETERS, EXECUTOR 11801 US 421 GOLDSTON, NC 27252 Run dates: J5,12,19,26p

NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF William Brent Sutton All persons, rms and corporations having claims against William Brent Sutton, late of Chatham, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Deborah Moyer or Rebecca Shelton as Administrator CTA of the decedent’s estate on or before

This the 5th day of June, 2025. Deborah Sutton Moyer, Administrator CTA Rebecca Elizabeth Sutton Shelton, Administrator CTA c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

All persons having claims against Paul Franklin Stiller, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present them to Susan Morrow, Executor of the Estate of Paul Franklin Stiller, at NextGen Estate Solutions, 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 or before September 19 , 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 Paul Stiller. Those indebted to Paul Stiller are asked to make prompt payment to the Estate.

This the 19th day of June, 2025. Susan Morrow, Executor C/O Brittany N. Porter, Attorney NextGen Estate Solutions 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY 25E000299-180

ALL persons having claims against Jacqueline O’Gorman, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Sep 26 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.

This the 26th day of June, 2025.

PATRICIA HURLMAN, Co-Executor DENISE M NOWAK, Co-Executor C/O Brown Estate Planning and Elder Law P. O. Box 920 Graham, NC 27253

J26, 3, 10 and 17

Telescope with largest digital camera ever built releases rst shots of universe

An image shows a

By Adithi Ramakrishnan The Associated Press

Left,

separate images

just over seven hours of observing time are combined in a

tion and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory’s rst look features the vibrant Tri d and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects.

The e ort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the rst tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.

PHOTOS BY NSF-DOE VERA C. RUBIN OBSERVATORY VIA AP

678

taken by the observatory in

way that reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Tri d nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. Right, a small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.

CHATHAM SPORTS

Carolina Magic brings high-level opportunity for middle school girls’ basketball players

The program has seen signi cant growth and improvement since 2023

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

SHOOTING STARS move fast, and they also bring light.

Just like its logo, a rapidly rising travel basketball program based out of Siler City is doing the same thing. Carolina Magic, a travel basketball program for middle school-aged girls founded and run by brothers Jarred and Ryan Siler, has brought an opportuni-

ty for elite competition to Chatham County and is quickly gaining a reputation of one of the top travel teams in the state.

The Siler brothers came up with the idea of a local travel team three years ago after their daughters, Selena and Kaylee, nished their rec ball seasons.

The girls, spending a lot of time outside shooting hoops, shared a love for the game — just like their fathers who played at Jordan-Matthews — but didn’t have a nearby option to keep playing through the spring and summer.

“There’s no options out there, man,” Jarred said. “We’re just going outside, hitting the Paul

“You can actually tell that program actually cares about the girls.” Shaun Bennett

Braxton outside court, getting some shots up and stu . We got this idea, like man, they really love it like that. Ain’t no sense of waiting around until next October to sign back up for rec. Let’s invest in it.”

Jarred and Ryan started garnering interest for the pro -

ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Seaforth’s Will Cuicchi raced for multiple state titles at the 2025 NCHSAA outdoor track and eld state championship meet. He competed in the 800-meter run at the New Balance Nationals on June 22.

Local athletes compete in New Balance Nationals

Three Seaforth state

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

A FEW TRACK and eld state champions competed for national titles over the weekend.

Jack Anstrom, Will Cuicchi and Sebastian Calderon, all graduating

2025 Seaforth boys’ indoor and outdoor track and eld state championship teams, participated in the New Balance Nationals outdoor meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia from June 19 through Sunday. Cuicchi nished the highest out of the group, coming in 18th place in the championship boys’ 800-meter race with a time of

Distance Carnival on April 26. Competing against the likes of Olympic gold-medalist Quincy Wilson, Calderon nished 65th in the championship boys’ 400 race with a time of 48.47. He ran a sub-49 race for the second time since the end of the high school season, notching a personal-best of 48.33 at the Music City Track Carnival in May. Anstrom competed in thenal and fastest heat of the

gram during the next rec season, telling parents of players that played with their daughters about their plans and vision for a travel team.

“We had an open tryout to everybody that wanted to try out,” Ryan said. “We ended up keeping everybody. And that’s when Carolina Magic came in in 2023.”

The team saw its rst action in more than a dozen tournaments from March to June 2023.

“We knew where we were at starting o ,” Jarred said. “We kept it local and really focused on the fundamentals, the basics. We de nitely took our

bumps and bruises, for sure.”

The team improved over time and started winning at local tournaments. By the next season, Carolina Magic started to play year-round and set its eyes toward national competition.

In June 2024, Carolina Magic’s fth and sixth grade teams played at the National Travel Basketball Association Nationals in Myrtle Beach. Both teams made the gold bracket but were eliminated.

“It was an eye-opener,” Ryan said. “Jarred’s daughter came back from nationals. She was

page B3 See LOCALS, page B5 See NATIONALS, page B2

A look back at local pro athletes as Powell prepares to join NBA

Chatham County has produced numerous draft picks across baseball and football

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

FORMER NORTHWOOD basketball star

Drake Powell looks to further cement his name into Chatham County athletics history this week. As he can become the rst Chatham County high school graduate to be drafted into the NBA, Powell can join a list of local athletes who made it to the pro level in other sports.

Across football, baseball and car racing, the county has been represented at the highest levels. Here’s a reminder of some Chatham natives who made the big leagues and how they got there.

Baseball

Prior to a professional baseball career that spanned over a decade, Austin Brice became a star in his four seasons at Northwood from 2007-10. He played a variety of positions, but he made his name as a pitcher, earning all-state and all-conference honors in his junior and senior seasons.

Brice, who was once clocked at throwing 97 mph in high school, earned o ers from programs such as UNC Wilmington and NC State before committing to Appalachian State. But instead of playing in college, he was drafted in the ninth round of the 2010 MLB Draft and elected to sign with the Florida Marlins.

4

champions took their talents to the national stage

members of the

ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Coach Jarred Siler talks to the Carolina Magic seventhgrade team during a game at the Teammate Nationals on June 20.

Northwood baseball players drafted to MLB

Daniel White

Chatham Post 305’s Daniel White earns athlete of the week honors for the week of June 16.

With Chatham leading Liberty Post 81 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, White hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run to extend Post 305’s lead to seven. He nished the game 2 for 5 with a team-high four RBIs despite the 10-8 loss.

White was a powerful hitter throughout his career at Seaforth. He earned rst-team all-conference honors in 2025.

NATIONALS from page B1

championship boys’ mile race, but he did not cross the nish line. He said he’d been dealing with an ankle injury throughout the season, and it was “too much” to endure during Saturday’s race.

The end of the New Balance Nationals marked the end of the outdoor season for the three standouts. The next stop is their respective colleges.

Anstrom, who’s preparing to run at NC State, continued

to etch his name in the record books after his nal high school season. In the HOKA Festival of Miles on June 5, Anstrom ran a personal-best 4:02.43 full mile with a 1,600-meter split of 4:00.99, notching the second-fastest outdoor 1,600 time in North Carolina history.

During the high school season, Anstrom broke the Apex Lions’ Relays’ 1,600 record by 1.14 seconds. That record stood for 10 years.

Anstrom also competed in

Cartrette commits to Guilford Tech

The standout pitcher threw 97 strikeouts as a senior

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

ZACH CARTRETTE, the Chatham Charter pitcher who graduated this spring, committed to Guilford Technical Community College on June 14.

“I’d like to thank Coach Wharton for this opportunity,” Cartrette said in a post on his X account. “I’d also like to thank Joe Mullins for the mentorship and support along the way. Also, to Brandon Golden for helping me take my game to the next level. As well as Coach McNeely for helping me through my recruitment.”

Cartrette completed his four years on the mound at Chatham Charter with a 25-7 record, a 2.45 ERA, 249 strikeouts, 72 walks and 133 hits in 1741⁄3 innings pitched. He was lights out as a senior, achieving career bests in ERA (1.33) and strikeouts (97). He also pitched a no-hitter in the spring. At the plate, Cartrette recorded a .399 batting average, 112 hits, 76 runs, 88 RBIs and three home runs in his career. He logged 22 hits and 19 RBIs as a senior, including four doubles.

As one of three seniors on the Knights’ young 2025 team, Cartrette helped lead Chatham Charter to its second third-round appearance in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association playo s.

“I’d like to thank Coach Wharton for this opportunity.”

Zach Cartrette

He joins fellow senior Luke Johnson in committing to a college program. Johnson signed to Mid-Atlantic Christian University in April.

Cartrette will join a Guilford Tech program that went 12-31 in its rst season under coach TJ Wharton in 2025. The Titans, who are a Division II program in the National Junior College Athletic Association, went 11-23 in Region 10 play.

“My pitching coach that I go work with in High Point, he actually recommended it for me,” Cartrette said. “I talked to the coach. I liked him a lot. I liked the campus. It’s a good area, and it’s close to home. So it’s honestly a pretty easy decision.”

Cartrette said he plans to major in general business.

the Brooks PR Invitational after the high school season, nishing eighth in the two-mile nals.

Cuicchi also had a successful summer, smashing his outdoor 1,600 personal-best with a 4:13.93 time in the RunningLane Track Championships in May. He also competed in the Brooks PR Invitational and nished ninth in the 800 nals. Cuicchi will continue his running career at UNC Charlotte.

Calderon’s personal-best time

in the 400 at the Music City Track Carnival earned him a second-place nish. He will run at Campbell next season. The trio nished theirnal high school outdoor season with multiple individual state championships this spring.

Anstrom defended his titles in both the 1,600 (4:19.27) and the 3,200 (9:36.80), capping o his high school career with nine individual titles across cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

Calderon won his first outdoor state title as part of Seaforth’s 4x400 relay team.

Cuicchi, the anchor leg of that 4x400 relay win, also defended his 800 title with a time of 1:55.32. In addition to taking the lead in the final 200 meters of the 4x400 relay, Cuicchi put on another heroic effort in the 4x800 finals, willing the Hawks from the fourth position to a second-place finish as the anchor leg.

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Zach Cartrette res a pitch for Chatham Charter during the 2025 season.

Post 305 snaps losing streak with win over Moore County Post 12

Chatham won for the rst time since May 31

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

ROBBINS — Chatham Post 305 notched four hits and scored two runs in the top of the fth inning to beat Moore County Post 12 4-3 and snap a ve-game losing streak.

Post 305’s last win was on May 31, also against Post 12. “Tonight, we came out here and did business early,” Post 305 coach Bryce Marsh said. “Stayed with it, stayed locked in, got behind our pitcher and had some good at-bats.”

Center elder Matt Murchison went for at the plate and recorded two runs. Third baseman Colin Dorney also had an e cient o ensive night, going 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Up 2-0, Murchison started the fth inning with a double to right eld, and after a line out by Landon Moser, Dorney also doubled to right eld to score Murchison.

“I knew he was down on the count, so I knew a fastball was coming,” Murchison said. “I was kind of sitting on the fastball, got a little bit out front of it, sent it down the line. I knew if I got on second, my boy Colin was going to come up and nish the job for me.”

“Tonight, we came out here and did business early.”

Post 305 coach Bryce Marsh

Shortstop Ian McMillan then knocked Dorney home with a single, giving Chatham a four-run lead.

Chatham took advantage of early Moore County mistakes, taking a 1-0 lead after Murchison scored from third on a wild pitch.

Back-to-back errors by the Post 12 defense allowed McMil-

BASKETBALL from page B1

like, ‘Man, those girls are good.’

Like I said, I watched it for myself. Selena was outside waking up at 6 in the morning just dribbling for two hours, constantly.”

Said Ryan, “I saw it with her, and then my daughter got into it, and she wanted to come aboard. Then a couple of players that we always had, Talayah and Delilah, they wanted to work more and practice more. So we just had a great group of girls that just wanted to get better.”

The girls started making a name for themselves, taking home rst-place trophies in tournaments around the state.

In April, both the sixth grade and seventh grade teams (sixth grade players also played on the seventh grade level) won their gold brackets at the LaMelo

Ball Invitational in Charlotte.

The sixth grade team won every game by more than 25 points.

At the Teammate Basketball National Championship this weekend in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the seventh grade team nished as runners-up in the gold bracket. After winning three pool games by more than 30 points, the Carolina Magic National sixth grade team lost in the second round of its gold bracket as a time con ict with a seventh grade game took some of its starters away.

But the team isn’t just for girls already ahead with their basketball skills — it’s for anyone that wants to put the work in to be successful.

The Carolina Magic Showcase sixth grade team, a developmental squad, took the sil-

lan to reach third base before scoring Chatham’s second run.

Post 305 pitcher Zach Cartrette had a solid night on the mound, pitching nearly a complete game with nine strikeouts, three walks and six hits. Completing four four-batter innings, Cartrette said it felt like “everything” was working on the mound.

“My fastball was getting away from me a little bit, but my slider really kept me in the game,” Cartrette said.

After giving up Moore County’s rst run of the night with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Daniel White came in as a relief.

Post 12’s Chandler King

then scored on a wild pitch, and Dylan Benedict made it a one-run game on a passed ball. With Dom Inocencio, the tying run, on second base, Austin Patterson grounded to Dorney who then tagged Inocencio out in a pickle.

“It was a slow chopper down the line, and Bryce was yelling at me to throw it to rst,” Dorney said. “I saw that he was charging to go to third, so I pump faked and threw to second. Made sure to get the lead runner.”

Andrew Moore ied out to Murchison in center eld for the nal out, ending Post 12’s late-game surge. White threw 10 strikes on 17 pitches.

Chatham moved to 3-8 on the season, and Moore County fell to 8-9.

After a double-header at home against Aberdeen Post 72 on Tuesday, Post 305 will host Randolph County on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Post 12 will play at Aberdeen on Thursday at 7 p.m.

ver bracket crown after beating DYB Elite Hoop Dreams from South Carolina 34-11. One of the players on that team, Genesis Benitez, is playing basketball for the rst time.

“It’s a fun experience, and you get included in everything,” Benitez said. “Your teammates try to make you better, and they say it’s better if we work hard on defense; o ense will lead up to it.”

Said Jarred, “We’ll meet anybody wherever they’re at and have a team for them.”

As Carolina Magic has become a close option for local players, the growing buzz around the team has attracted players from outside the area and even out of state.

Shaun Bennett, whose daughter Ava plays on the sixth grade national team and the

seventh grade team, brought his daughter to Carolina Magic from Greenville, South Carolina. They heard about the program after their daughter’s old team beat Carolina Magic in a previous tournament. Now, they, along with Ava’s talented best friend, Morgan Pierotti, make hourslong drives for team practices and games whenever they can.

“You can actually tell that program actually cares about the girls,” Bennett said. “Even though they were losing, he was still coaching. Both of them. Very knowledgeable about the game. Just talking to them, they won us over. They won my wife over. All the girls made our little girl feel like home, so for us, it was an easy transition.”

The sky’s the limit for the

Carolina Magic program as it begins to pick up steam in the travel basketball landscape. The team has even hosted tournaments in its short history, bringing not just individual players but teams to Chatham County.

Decisions have yet to be made to make it o cial, but the program has also been presented an opportunity to play in one of the highest-level travel basketball circuits in the nation just two years after its rst tournaments.

“That’s how fast things are moving for us right now, man,” Jarred said. “We’re just blessed.”

Carolina Magic will be back on the road at the AAU World Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Thursday through Sunday.

PHOTOS BY ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Left, Zach Cartrette loads up before a pitch against Post 12 on June 23. He nished the game with nine strikeouts. Right, Matt Murchison gets ready to drive in his fth-inning double against Post 12 on June 23.

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA FOOTBALL

Wisconsin, NIL collective sue Miami, allege tampering, NIL inducements

Madison, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have sued the University of Miami, saying it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this fall. The suit could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The case describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced plans to leave the Badgers. Miami did not have an immediate comment.

NHL Blackhawks acquire Burakovsky from Kraken in exchange for Veleno

Chicago The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for fellow forward Joe Veleno. Chicago also placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on unconditional waivers for purposes of buying out his contract. The 30-year- old Burakovsky had 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games with Seattle last season. A Stanley Cup champion with Washington in 2018 and Colorado in 2022, he has 153 goals and 234 assists in 696 regular-season games over 11 NHL seasons. The acquisition of Burakovsky gives Chicago some additional size and scoring and creates more salary cap exibility for Seattle.

PGA Clark “deeply regrets” damaging Oakmont locker during U.S. Open Cromwell, Conn.

Wyndham Clark apologized for the damage done to the century- old locker he was using at Oakmont during the U.S. Open. It’s the second time this year Clark has caused damage out of anger during a major. He also slung his driver, which damaged a sign on the tee during the PGA Championship. Clark missed the cut by one shot at the U.S. Open. He says he deeply regrets the mistake.

NCAA BASEBALL

Arkansas shortstop Aloy wins Golden Spikes Award as nation’s top amateur player

Cary Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy received the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the nation. Aloy is the third Arkansas player to take home the prize, joining Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2021, and the 12th winner from the Southeastern Conference. Aloy was the SEC player of the year and led the Razorbacks in almost every major o ensive category.

NFL Former Jets, Ravens linebacker Mosley announces retirement

C.J. Mosley, a ve-time Pro Bowl selection during an 11-year NFL career with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, announced he’s retiring from playing football. Mosley was released by the Jets in March after playing four games last season because of a toe injury and later a herniated disk in his neck. Mosley made his announcement with a video post on his Instagram page that included highlights of his playing career. Mosley was the 17th overall pick by Baltimore in the 2014 draft out of Alabama.

For back-to-back champion Panthers, celebrations go on before key o season

The team is celebrating harder than after last season’s rst Cup

By Alanis Thames The Associated Press SUNRISE,

Fla. — The Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd sur ng, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen; a few team dinners and a boat ride.

That’s just so far. They insist they’ve got more in them.

“We’re not toning it down,”

defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We just won two Stanley Cups in a row. We deserve to have a good time.”

The Panthers also partied hard after winning the franchise’s rst title a year ago. But some players have described those days as a surreal whirlwind of rst-time experiences. This time around, the celebra-

tions are di erent, as the reality of what they accomplished set in.

“There’s a di erent feeling to it,” coach Paul Maurice said during the team’s exit interviews on Saturday. “Last year was more of a dream. ... That’s the right word. It was a dream come true. It was euphoric. This year, it was an achievement. It was hard. It was hard all year. It was hard at camp. There were just so many places that if we had broken at that point or failed we would’ve all understood — ‘OK, we did our best. We just couldn’t get it done.’ We never let that happen.”

The coaches’ celebrations, Maurice noted, have been much more subdued compared to last year: They had their rst post-championship dinner as a sta last Friday night. They joined some players on a boat ride.

“I haven’t had a hangover yet,” Maurice said, “so way ahead of where I was last year.”

Maurice heard about his players’ celebrations from his

wife, who has shown him a few viral social media posts here and there.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said they’re giving themselves “permission” to celebrate more freely this year because they have already been through the experience.

“And don’t get me wrong, it’s still amazing,” he added, “but now everyone knows how to sit back a little and enjoy it because last year was so hectic. Like it happened to you for the rst time ever, and you had been dreaming about it for so long.” The Panthers in fact celebrated so hard that the Stanley Cup itself got a little banged up. The silver chalice was cracked at the bottom of the bowl, though Barkov noted the team hasn’t received any harsh reprimands from the keepers of the Cup or the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I think they’ve seen worse,” he quipped. “I think every year they have to x some part of it. But yeah, don’t be stupid. Don’t take it to the ocean, stu

Smith looks like Rule 5 hit for rebuilding Chicago White Sox

The former Wake Forest pitcher is nally getting an opportunity in MLB

By Jay Cohen The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Shane Smith pitched a total of 101⁄3 innings during his college career at Wake Forest. He had a shoulder operation as a freshman, and his sophomore year was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then he had elbow surgery.

At that point, even Smith began to wonder if baseball was going to work out for him.

“My dream of playing professional baseball, to say it didn’t waver would probably be lying,” he said. “But I knew there was an avenue somehow.”

There sure was.

Smith has turned into a pleasant surprise for the last-place Chicago White Sox after he was selected by the team in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rule 5 draft provides an opportunity for players left o a big league team’s 40-man rosters after several minor league seasons. Teams pay $100,000 to select a player in the major league portion. The players must stay on the active 26man major league roster all season or else clear waivers and be o ered back to their orig-

inal organization for $50,000. Between 10 and 20 players are selected in the big league Rule 5 draft most seasons, but most don’t actually stick with their new clubs. Even fewer develop into All-Star-worthy contributors. Hall of Fame outelder Roberto Clemente and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana are two of the most famous Rule 5 success stories. So far, it looks as if Smith is going to stick with the rebuilding White Sox. Smith has a 2.37 ERA in 681⁄3 innings over 13 starts. Smith very well could repre-

sent the last-place White Sox at next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. Dan Uggla with the Florida Marlins in 2006 is the only player to be named an All-Star in the season after he was selected in the Rule 5 draft. Smith went right into Chicago’s rotation during spring training — an unusual spot for a Rule 5 player. Since 2016, Luis Perdomo, Brad Keller and Mitch Spence are the only pitchers who made at least 20 starts in the majors in the season after they were selected in the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Keller began the 2018 season in Kansas City’s bullpen be-

like that. We should know the rules by now.”

The Panthers’ championship parade was on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday — one of their last opportunities to celebrate together before the players disperse for the summer and general manager Bill Zito begins an important o season. Free agency begins July 1, and while a good chunk of Florida’s core — including Barkov and stars Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart — are already under long-term contracts, a few key contributors are set for free agency in Marchand, Ekblad and playo MVP Sam Bennett.

“You’re going to have a different roster each and every year,” he said, “but hopefully the core of guys, we can continue building. With that being said, we’ve got some unbelievable players that are up for contracts that I hope they get every single cent they can because that’s what you want for your best friends. It’s time to cash in for some of those boys. Hopefully it’s here.”

fore moving into the rotation in late May. He nished his rookie year with a 9-6 record and a 3.08 ERA in 20 starts and 21 relief appearances.

“I think you de nitely pull for all the Rule 5 guys because I feel like, not to say this in a bad way, but Rule 5 guys kind of get a bad rap, right?” said Keller, a key reliever for the Chicago Cubs. “It’s like they’re like nobody’s got a chance. That’s not true. Some organizations are in di erent situations where they can’t protect guys that they want to.” Smith had been in Milwaukee’s organization since he signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, just weeks after he had Tommy John surgery. He had a 3.05 ERA in 32 appearances over two minor league stops last season, nishing the year with Triple-A Nashville.

Smith has a big four-seam fastball that gets into the high 90s to go along with a good slider and curveball. But the biggest key to his success this year has been the development of a nasty changeup that really came together in the o season after years of work.

Fortunate timing for Smith and the White Sox.

“For a guy that hasn’t really pitched above Double-A, he had some innings in Triple-A, but to come here and pitch the way that he does, it just speaks to his ability and his con dence and also speaks to the group of players and sta here to support him,” general manager Chris Getz said. “Shane is doing really well and we expect him to have a really productive, healthy season for us.”

DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP PHOTO

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith throws against the Houston Astros during a game earlier this month.

JOE CAVARETTA / SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL VIA AP

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front, and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup nal.

Briscoe holds o teammate Hamlin to win at Pocono

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. — Chase

Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold o Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his rst win with his new race team.

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playo s with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its rst victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR eld.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, ap-

peared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the nal, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win.

“It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his nal pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his nal stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the rst-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

Briscoe, who won an X nity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and rst since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth

“To get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight o my shoulders.”

Chase Briscoe

top-10 nish over the last six races, including a seventh-place nish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City. He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver eld with nine races left until the eld is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s nal winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.” Hamlin nished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top ve. Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in Victory Lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight o my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To nally come here and do it, it has been a great day.”

The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green ag dropped. Briscoe

led 72 laps and won the second stage.

Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.

Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse threatened to beat up his racing rival after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar nished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

After spending six seasons in the minors, Brice made his MLB debut with the Marlins on Aug. 12, 2016, striking out two batters in one inning against the White Sox. He became the rst Hong Kong-born player to appear in the major leagues. Brice appeared in 14 more games that season and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in January 2017.

Brice spent two seasons with the Reds before being claimed o waivers by the Marlins in 2019. That year, he made a career-high 36 appearances and achieved career bests in ERA (3.43) and strikeouts (46). Brice was traded to the Red Sox in 2020 and made his nal MLB appearance with the Pirates in 2022. He retired from professional baseball in 2024.

Greg Harris, a Jordan-Matthews graduate, also made some major league appearances on the mound after being drafted by the Padres in the 10th round in 1985. Harris also played for the Rockies and the Twins in his eight-year career, nishing with a 45-64 regular season record. After a solid career on the mound at UNC, Davis Palermo, a 2018 Northwood graduate, was drafted in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Palermo is in his fourth minor league season, playing with the Spokane Indians in the High-A Northwest League. As of Monday, he’s achieved a 1-2 record with a 2.50 ERA.

Benji Johnson, another Tar Heel out of Northwood (class of 2004), was drafted in the 17th round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. After helping UNC to two straight runner-up nishes in the College World Series, Johnson

played four seasons in the minors.

Woods Fines, also a former Charger, played one season at Louisburg College before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 14th round of the 2004 MLB Draft. He played four seasons in the minors before retiring in 2010.

Casey Golden was an elite o ensive threat for the Jordan-Matthews baseball team, hitting .488 with 16 home runs in his varsity career. After earning all-state honors as a senior in 2013, Golden played four seasons at UNC Wilmington, where he became a key member of Seahawks’ program. In 2017, Golden was named the Colonial Athletic Association (now Coastal Athletic Association) Player of the Year after totaling in 21 home runs. Following that season, Golden was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 20th round of the MLB Draft. He played four seasons in the minors and was named a Pioneer League All- Star. As a member of the

Asheville Tourists in 2018, Golden won South Atlantic League MVP honors.

Football

Eddie Mason was a star linebacker at Jordan-Matthews from 1986-90, earning multiple all-conference and all-state honors. He played for Mack Brown at UNC for ve seasons as he redshirted in his rst year, spent two years as a reserve and started on the Tar Heels’ defense as a junior and senior. Mason had a huge game in the 1994 Sun Bowl, logging eight tackles, an interception and two pass breakups in UNC’s 35-31 loss to Texas. Following that performance, the New York Jets drafted him with the 178th overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft.

As a rookie, Mason recorded 25 tackles on kicko and punt coverage and was named the Jets’ special teams MVP. A season-ending knee injury in thenal preseason game the follow-

ing year kept him away from football until 1998 when he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He played in six games with the Jaguars, including two playo games. Mason spent the last four years of his career with Washington, where he notched career highs of 32 tackles and two tackles for loss in 2000. He retired in 2003.

Tobias Palmer was an all-around athlete at Northwood, starring in football and track. On the eld, he rushed for more than 4,700 yards and scored over 80 all-purpose touchdowns before graduating in 2008. Palmer was a two-time conference o ensive player of the year, and he was rated as a three-star recruit (No. 41 cornerback in the country) by Scout.com. ESPN rated him as the No. 27 athlete in the nation. That also showed on the track as he won the 2A 100-meter dash state title as a senior.

After two productive seasons at Georgia Military College, Palmer signed with NC State. He redshirted in 2010, and in 2011, he became the second-leading receiver on the team in yards (496) with 37 receptions and ve touchdowns. The next season, Palmer hauled in a team-high 54 catches for 781 yards and six touchdowns. Against Wake Forest in 2012, he took a kick return 100 yards to the house.

Palmer signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He landed with numerous NFL teams, including a practice squad stint with the Chargers and a two-year contract with the Bills. Palmer also spent two o seasons in the Canadian Football League and nished his professional career with the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football in 2019.

Before becoming a longtime

NFL coach, George Edwards, a Siler City native, played high school ball at Jordan-Matthews. He went on to be a standout linebacker and four-year letterman at Duke. In college, Edwards was a two-year special teams captain and an All-ACC honorable mention selection in 1989.

Edwards began his coaching career at the college level, holding assistant positions at Florida (1991), Appalachian State (1992-95), Duke (1996) and Georgia (1997). He started his NFL coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1998 as a linebackers coach. Across his decades-long career, Edwards has held three defensive coordinator positions in Washington (2003), Bu alo (2010-11) and Minnesota (2014-19). He is currently the pass game coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Other notable pro-level athletes include David Gaines, a Goldston native who raced in the NASCAR Limited Sportsman Division. Gaines, a 1986 graduate of NC State, started dirt track racing while in college, picking up three wins and 11 second-place nishes on dirt tracks and short asphalt ovals. He died in 1990 at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a NASCAR Sportsman Division practice session crash.

Siler City native David Mote was a NASCAR Grand National (now the NASCAR Cup Series) driver in the 1968 season. He logged 396 laps in seven races that year.

Lowell Bailey, another Siler City native, became the rst American in history to win a biathlon world championship in 2017, taking gold in the men’s 20-kilometer individual competition in Hoch lzen, Austria. He competed in four Winter Olympics Games (2006-2018).

PATRICK SEMANSKY / AP PHOTO

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Austin Brice throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals in 2019. Brice starred at Northwood before beginning his pro baseball career.

LOCALS from page B1

The win is his rst with Joe Gibbs Racing

DERIK HAMILTON / AP PHOTO

Chase Briscoe celebrates with a burnout after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway

Tom Cruise nally getting an Oscar — as will Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen, Wynn Thomas

Last year’s recipients included the late Quincy Jones

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS after Tom Cruise received his rst Oscar nomination, he’s nally getting a trophy. It’s not for his death-defying stunts, either. At least, not exclusively.

Cruise, choreographer Debbie Allen and “Do The Right Thing” production designer Wynn Thomas have all been selected to receive honorary Oscar statuettes at the annual Governors Awards, the lm academy said. Dolly Parton will also be recognized with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her decades-long charitable work in literacy and education.

“This year’s Governors Awards will celebrate four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our lmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact,” Academy

President Janet Yang said in a statement. Most recipients of the prize historically have not yet won a competitive Oscar themselves. Cruise, 62, has been nominated four times, twice for best actor in “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Jerry Maguire,” once for supporting actor in “Magnolia” and once for best picture with “Top Gun: Maverick.” He’s also championed theatrical moviegoing and big-scale Hollywood production through the coronavirus pandemic.

Yang spotlighted Cruise’s “incredible commitment to our lmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community.” Allen, 75, has never been nominated for an Oscar. But the multihyphenate entertainer — she also acts and produces — has played an integral role in the Oscars show, having choreographed seven ceremonies over the years. Four of those were nominated for prime-time Emmy awards. A nomination had also eluded Thomas, a leading production

designer whose lms have often gone on to best picture nominations and even one win, for Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind.” Thomas is most known for his long-term collaboration with lmmaker Spike Lee, from “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Malcolm X” through “Da 5 Bloods.” Parton has been nominated twice for best original song, for “9 to 5” and, in 2006, “Travelin’ Thru” from the lm “Transamerica.” But her honor celebrates her humanitarian e orts over the years, through organizations like the Dollywood Foundation and the literary program “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.” Yang said Parton “exempli es the spirit” of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The awards will be handed out during an untelevised ceremony on Nov. 16 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.

Recipients of the prizes, which honor lifetime achievement, contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences and service to the academy are selected by the lm academy’s board of governors.

New biography goes deep on rise, fall of Talking Heads

The band o cially broke up in 1991

By Ann Levin

The Associated Press

TALKING HEADS FANS, re-

joice! Hard on the heels of the rerelease of “Stop Making Sense,” the 1984 Jonathan Demme lm widely considered the best concert movie ever made, Jonathan Gould has published a comprehensive biography of the seminal band that injected an art school vibe into popular music and forever changed rock ’n’ roll.

Gould, the author of well-received books on Otis Redding and the Beatles, chronicles in meticulous detail the rise and fall of the band that got its start in New York City’s underground punk scene and ended up touring the world with a repertoire shaped by blues, funk and jazz.

He begins “Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock” with a vivid description of the drizzly June night in 1975 when the original trio — singer/songwriter David Byrne, bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz — made its debut at the seedy club CBGB in downtown Manhattan, opening for the Ramones before a handful of patrons. With

MARINER BOOKS VIA AP

“Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene that Transformed Rock” by Jonathan Gould chronicles the iconic band.

their “unremarkable haircuts” and “nondescript casual clothes,” they o ered a sharp contrast to the “baroque turn” that rock fashion had taken in the 1970s, Gould observes.

“The qualities that characterized this neophyte group in their rst public performance centered on the awkward, disquieting intensity of their singer-guitarist, David Byrne, their sketchy, skeletal arrangements,

and the quirky intelligence of their songs,” Gould writes. “Tall and thin, with a long neck and an anxious, wide-eyed stare, Byrne stood sti y at the microphone, his upper body jerking and jiggling like a shadow puppet as he scratched out chords on his guitar. … Instead of doing his best to command the stage and the room, Byrne looked trapped by his surroundings, as if he were prepared, at any moment, to make a break for the door.”

Within a couple years of their zeitgeist-changing performances, they enlisted keyboardist/ guitarist Jerry Harrison, adding a much-needed dose of professionalism to the band. Gould, a former professional musician, writes exceedingly well about music but su ers from a kind of completism, cramming in an almost mind-numbing level of detail including the name of the elementary school in Pittsburgh where a young Frantz rst took up drums to every military posting of Weymouth’s naval aviator father.

Though much of the material is fascinating, including his observations about how Byrne’s then-undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome may have in uenced his music and relationships with the other band members, it is likely to be a bit too much for all but the most diehard fans.

this week in history

Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot, Globe Theatre burns, Apple’s iPhone debuts, Battle of Gettysburg begins

JUNE 26

1917: U.S. troops entered World War I as the rst troops of the American Expeditionary Force landed in Saint-Nazaire, France.

1963: President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he delivered his famous speech expressing solidarity with the city’s residents, declaring: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”).

2015: In its 5-4 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the country.

JUNE 27

1844: Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.

1957: Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm, causing as many as 600 deaths.

1991: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the rst black jurist to sit on the na-

1934: Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as the “Night of the Long Knives.”

1936: Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was released.

JULY 1

1863: The pivotal, three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, began in Pennsylvania.

tion’s highest court, announced his retirement.

JUNE 28

1914: In an act that sparked World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were shot to death in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

1919: The Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the World War I.

JUNE 29

1613: London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a re sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of Henry VIII.

1767: Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies.

1776: The Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made governor.

2007: The rst version of the iPhone went on sale to the public; more than 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold since.

JUNE 30

1918: Labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs was arrested in Cleveland, charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for a speech he’d made two weeks earlier denouncing U.S. involvement in World War I.

Comedian Je Ross to make Broadway debut this summer in one-man

It’s far from a celebrity roast

By Mark Kennedy

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Je Ross, a comedian known for hosting brutal roasts of celebrities, is coming to Broadway this summer with a one-man autobiographical show that will o er fans a softer, more intimate side.

“The hard part for me is letting go of a bit of my armor — of my roastmaster persona — and letting the audience get to me so that I can then get them,” he said ahead of a formal announcement last Wednesday. “I think it’s healthy to change it up and surprise people.”

“Je Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride” will play the Nederlander Theatre starting Aug. 5 for an eight-week engagement through Sept. 29.

The show will explore Ross’ close relatives, especially his grandfather on his mother’s side — Ross calls him “the hero of my childhood” — who stepped up after the comedi-

1867: Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect. The national holiday is now known as Canada Day. 1903: The rst Tour de France began.

JULY 2

1776: The Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

1881: President James A. Gar eld was shot by Charles J. Guiteau.

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the civil rights bill passed by Congress, prohibiting discrimination and segregation based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

show

an’s parents died when he was a teenager.

“It’s very autobiographical, but it’s also not really about just me. It’s about all of us. When I talk about my uncle or my mom, I want you to see your uncle and your mom in the stories. That’s

solutions

really important to me,” Ross says. The title comes from the days when Ross was living with his grandfather in New Jersey. The younger man would take his grandfather to doctor visits or visit him in the hospital during

the day and at night go into New York for open-mic nights.

“My grandfather would always give me money for the bus and a banana, and he’d say, ‘Take a banana for the ride.’ I reluctantly took it, and more often than not, I’d be stuck in traf-

c, or I’d get low blood sugar, and that banana would be a lifesaver,” says Ross.

“But it was really his way of saying, ‘Be ready for anything’ and also, ‘I can’t go with you but I’m there with you in spirit.’ So, it was an emotional thing, it was a practical thing. It’s something that I still do.”

Ross is known as “The Roastmaster General” for his incendiary takedowns of Justin Bieber, Rob Lowe, Alec Baldwin and Tom Brady, among many others.

The seeds for “Je Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride” were planted in the mid-1990s when Ross gathered jokes and stories about his grandfather for an hourlong set. But digging up the past proved too much.

“I couldn’t sustain it emotionally. It was just too much for me as a 30-year-old guy,” Ross says.

“But now, 30 years later, I can dig in and look back and add a layer of experience over it all.”

He was spurred on in large part to losing three comedic friends — Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried and Norm Macdonald — within eight months. “That motivated me to look back at the old show from decades earlier and rewrite it completely for my current brain and my current skill set.”

Ross will be the latest comedian to come to Broadway, following John Mulaney, Keegan-Michael Key, Rachel Dratch, Billy Crystal and Colin Quinn.

MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS VIA WIKIPEDIA

Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was published on June 30, 1934. The 1939 lm adaptation would go on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time when adjusted for in ation.

EVAN AGOSTINI / INVISION / AP PHOTO

Je Ross performs at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2023.

*Must set up Auto Draft for 2nd Month.

valid through February 1st 2024.

famous birthdays this week

THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

JUNE 26

Jazz musician-composer Dave Grusin is 91. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer is 72. Musician Mick Jones (The Clash) is 70. Musician Chris Isaak is 69. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson is 55. Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is 51.

JUNE 27

Musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 83. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 76. Actor Julia Du y is 74. Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai is 63. Writer-producer-director J.J. Abrams is 59. Actor Tobey Maguire is 50.

JUNE 28

Filmmaker and comedian Mel Brooks is 99. Actor Kathy Bates is 77. Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 65. Actor John Cusack is 59. Business executive Elon Musk is 54. Country singer-TV personality Kellie Pickler is 38.

JUNE 29

Actor Gary Busey is 81. Former actor and congressman and now radio host Fred Grandy is 77. Drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple is 77. Singer Don Dokken of Dokken is 72. Actor Maria Conchita Alonso is 70.

JUNE 30

Actor Nancy Dussault (“Too Close for Comfort”) is 89. Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is 74. Guitarist Hal Lindes of Dire Straits is 72. Actor David Alan Grier is 69. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 66.

JULY 1

Actor Jamie Farr is 91. Actor Genevieve Bujold is 83. Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 80. Stage actor Terrence Mann is 74. Singer Fred Schneider of The B-52′s is 74. Actor Dan Aykroyd is 73. Actor Pamela Anderson is 58.

JULY 2

Actor Robert Ito (“Quincy”) is 94. Actor Polly Holliday (“Alice”) is 88. Writer-director Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Seinfeld”) is 78. Model-actor Jerry Hall is 69.

CHARLES SYKES / INVISION / AP PHOTO Actor-comedian David Alan Grier turns 69 on Monday.

JOEL C RYAN / INVISION / AP PHOTO

Deborah Harry, singer in the new wave band Blondie, turns 80 on Tuesday.

RICHARD SHOTWELL / INVISION / AP PHOTO

Legendary lmmaker and comedian Mel Brooks, pictured in 2017, turns 99 on Saturday.

AMY HARRIS / INVISION / AP PHOTO

Country singer and Albemarle native Kellie Pickler, seen at the 2022 CMA Awards, turns 38 on Saturday.

the stream

76th Emmy Awards in 2024. All 10 episodes of the

‘The

Bear,’ new Lorde album, ‘Nosferatu,’

‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Nelly and Ashanti

The “F1 The Album” includes songs from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran and more

The Associated Press

THE JACK Black-led movie phenomenon “A Minecraft Movie” and Lorde’s fourth studio album, “Virgin,” 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: All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” drop Wednesday, Nelly and Ashanti get their own reality show, and Bill Skarsgård leads an update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

The Porky Pig and Da y Duck movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” is coming to HBO Max on Friday (it will also broadcast on HBO on Saturday at 8 p.m.). Reviews were a little mixed but mostly positive for the full-length animated feature.

Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother Jayne Mans eld, “My Mom Jayne,” will also be streaming on HBO Max on Friday. The Hollywood bombshell died in a car accident at 34 when Hargitay was only 3. La-la-la-lava, ch-ch-ch-chicken, Steve’s lava chicken is now streaming on HBO Max, as is the rest of “A Minecraft Movie.” A box o ce phenomenon with over $950 million in worldwide ticket sales and counting, this movie adaptation of the popular game stars Black and Jason Momoa. In his AP review, Mark Kennedy wrote that “the Jared Hess-directed action-adventure artfully straddles the line between delighting preteen gamers and keeping their parents awake. It’s an often-bananas adaptation, with bizarre digressions into turquoise blouses and tater tot pizzas. It has Jennifer Coolidge being very Jennifer Coolidge. Need we say more?” Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård lead

Lily-Rose Depp appears in a scene from “Nosferatu.”

the Robert Eggers-directed update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu,” streaming on Prime Video starting Friday. Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her AP review that “it will chill you to the bone” but that “it may not terrify you.” Everything, she adds, in Eggers “faithful, even adoring remake... looks great. But with its stylized, often stilted dialogue and overly dramatic storytelling, it feels more like everyone is living in a quaint period painting rather than a world populated by real humans (and, well, vampires) made of esh and, er, blood.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

What will the next era of Lorde look like? “What Was That,” the singer’s rst new single in four years, recalls the clever synth-pop of her 2017 album “Melodrama,” casting aside the folk detour of 2021’s “Solar Power.” The song that followed, “Man of the Year,” is stripped and spare — just Lorde and a sorrowful bass. Who knows

what will come next? Listeners will have to wait until Friday when she releases her fourth studio album, “Virgin.”

The “F1” movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, is quickly gearing up to be a summer tentpole. Naturally, the lmmakers knew its sound had to be massive, too. That arrives via a score by the many-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and a huge soundtrack releasing as “F1 The Album” via Atlantic Records, the team behind the award-winning “Barbie” album — with bespoke tracks from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Myke Towers, Blackpink’s Rosé, Tate McRae and many more. Learn all about how the soundtrack came together here.

On Friday, arty alt-rock legends Failure will receive documentary treatment in “Every Time You Lose Your Mind: A Film about Failure,” available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The unorthodox and in uential band nally gets their due in the project, direct-

ed by frontman Ken Andrews. Some of the featured voices in the documentary certainly will be Paramore’s Hayley Williams, actor Jason Schwartzman, comedian Margaret Cho, legendary producers Steve Albini and Butch Vig and many more participate.

SERIES TO STREAM

All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” are ready to watch on Hulu. Viewers will nd out if Michelin-starred chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) can successfully run an acclaimed and pro table ne dining restaurant in Chicago. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural,” “Tracker”) stars in a new crime thriller series for Prime Video called “Countdown.” Ackles plays a LAPD detective assigned to a task force investigating the murder of a government o cial. Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” also stars. It is streaming now. Ben A eck and Jennifer Lo -

pez’s second shot at love didn’t work out, but there’s another celebrity couple who has rekindled a past ame. Recording artists Nelly and Ashanti were an item for more than 10 years before their breakup in 2013. They got back together in 2023 and are now married with a son. The pair are the subject of their own reality show called “Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together.” It debuts Thursday on Peacock.

Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star in the new thriller “Smoke” for Apple TV+ as investigators working together to catch two serial arsonists. It’s created by Dennis Lehane and based on a true story where an arson investigator turned out to be a serial arsonist. “Smoke” reunites Egerton and Lehane who worked on the Apple limited series “Blackbird.” John Leguizamo and Greg Kinnear also appear in “Smoke,” out Friday.

“Nautilus,” a reimagining of Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” comes to AMC+ on Friday. It’s an origin story of the character known as Captain Nemo and portrayed by Shazad Latif. Nemo is an Indian prince whose birthright was stolen from him and he’s on a mission for revenge.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

In 2019’s Death Stranding, a courier named Sam worked to reconnect survivors in a postapocalyptic America beset by “beached things,” gooey monsters trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sam is back in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but now he faces a question we’ve all asked in the internet age: Was connecting everyone really such a good idea? The series is the brainchild of legendary “Metal Gear Solid” mastermind Hideo Kojima, and fans know they can expect a complex story, amboyant graphics and some o -the-wall gameplay ideas. Norman Reedus of “The Walking Dead” returns as Sam, and yes, he’s still carrying a baby who has psychic powers. Embrace the weirdness Thursday on PlayStation 5.

Jeremy Allen White accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “The Bear” at the

show are now streaming on Hulu.

Duplin Journal

Suspect in deadly hit-and-run identi ed

Beulaville

A Sanford man has been identi ed as the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run last Saturday. Court documents obtained by Duplin Journal revealed that an arrest warrant for Bryan Lawrence Cox, 41, was issued June 23 in connection with the death of 25-year-old Noah Garret Inman. Cox was subsequently arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in the death of Inman. Additionally, Cox faces charges for failing to report the accident and has been placed on a $25,000 secured bond. The warrant states the accident caused property damage to a 2019 Ford F-350 truck, amounting to $1,000 or more. According to authorities, Inman’s body was discovered in a ditch Monday morning after a postal worker alerted the Duplin County Sheri ’s O ce of a man laying along N.C. 24.

Boil water advisory in e ect for Magnolia

Magnolia

A boil water advisory is currently in e ect in Magnolia after a re hydrant was struck June 19, causing the town’s water tank to empty completely. The situation has prompted the implementation of emergency protocols, including the advisory, to ensure public safety. As of press time, the advisory remained in e ect. Mayor Dawn Ward emphasized that the precaution is necessary to prevent health risks from potential water contamination. She also noted that the advisory will remain in place until the town receives o cial clearance from the state con rming that the water is safe to drink.

Two killed in head- on collision

Pink Hill

Two people were killed last week in a headon vehicle collision on Highway 111. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Nathaniel Sullivan, 21, of Kenansville, was traveling north near N.C. 903 on the evening of June 9 at a high rate of speed when he crossed the centerline and struck a vehicle driven by 50-year-old Odilon Velasquez-Lopez. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene. Two passengers in Velasquez-Lopez’s vehicle sustained serious injuries.

$2.00

Juneteenth takes center stage in rst countywide celebration

Attendees at the Duplin County Juneteenth Celebration stand as Mya Sloan sings “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on Friday at the Duplin Events Center in Kenansville. The song became known as the black national anthem during the Civil Rights Movement. Juneteenth featured local and national talent, including comedian Charles Pickett, DJ Jsmooth, actress Christianee Porter and musical performer 803 Fresh. Turn to page A6 for more.

Damaged utility poles prompt public outcry

After a year of inaction, Duke Energy stepped in to remove hazardous poles

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

WALLACE — A few Wal-

lace-area residents used social media recently to discuss their concerns over damaged utility

poles in the area that appear to be dangerous. Two postings on the Nextdoor app said people had spoken with Duke Energy and town o cials, but those contacts had yet to result in any action. Duplin Journal reached out to

Site work underway for new $3M shell building

By Curt Simpson For Duplin Journal

Duke Energy spokesperson Logan Stewart, who investigated the issue and contacted the company’s local team.

“Both of the poles that were damaged were the result of tra c accidents,” Stewart said. “Those types of accidents happen to be the No. 1 cause of power outages in the state, mainly from drivers texting while driving or some other distraction, by the way.”

Those concerned about the utility poles noted that at least one of them, beside the rear parking lot of Piggly Wiggly near the corner of West Southerland Street and North College Street, was damaged in an accident that occurred more than a year ago.

backs on the county- owned property in the SouthPark Business and Industry Center. The move makes room for the new building. It was unanimously approved.

Duplin County aims to attract industry with a new high-ceiling shell facility at Wallace’s industrial park See UTILITY, page A5 See INDUSTRIAL, page A2

tomization. Water, wastewater, electricity and data are all in place at SouthPark and ready to be extended to the building with relative ease.”

An a rmative zoning vote from the Wallace Town Council on June 12 cleared the nal hurdle for the project to begin.

Duplin County Economic Development Director Scotty Summerlin requested the variance to allow smaller side set-

WALLACE — Trees are already coming down and earth is being moved on a 5 -acre parcel of land in a Wallace’s industrial park. The work is being done to make room for what economic development o cials hope will be Duplin County’s next big business.

Summerlin said Friday that the 50,000 -square -foot building at 160 SouthPark Drive will be attractive to industries looking for a place to do business. The building’s 30 -foot clear-span ceiling height means the building can be used in many ways.

“The attractive shell building will be partially completed inside in order to be nished to meet the future owner’s speci c needs,” Summerlin said. “All the strong bones will be in place to be built upon for complete cus-

Commissioners tackle road safety, pass FY 2025-26 budget without tax hike

“When they nish cutting it, some of that debris, heavy chunks of that grass, is blown back into the highway.”

A.J. Connors, Warsaw mayor

O cials cited hazards from uncleaned mowing debris; the budget includes capital upgrades

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — Con-

cerns about hazardous road conditions and infrastructure needs took center stage on June 16 as county commissioners met to approve the FY 2025–26 budget.

One signi cant concern raised was the accumulation of grass clippings on roadways after state- contracted mowing. Mayor A.J. Connors voiced the dangers posed by thick grass left on highways,

especially after rainfall, which can make roads slippery and hazardous.

“I know the DOT contracts individuals to cut the grass on the side of the road, but by the time they come to cut, that grass is tremendously high, and when they nish cutting it, some of that debris — heavy chunks of that grass — is blown back into the highway. Yet they do not have a sweeper behind them to blow it o ,” Connors explained. He speci cally noted that contractors often leave grass debris on the pavement, particularly on Carrolls Road near Highway 24, instead of blowing it onto the shoulder.

The shell building will cost approximately $3 million, and it’s made possible by a state- directed grant from the legislature, he said. Daniels and Daniels Construction, a company based in Goldsboro, will be building the facility and local subcontractors will also be used.

“Clearing and early site work is underway,” Summerlin said. “We expect the rst phase of the shell building to be complete and ready for up t in January

MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

CRIME LOG

June 16

• Mitchell Terrell Crumpler, 55, was arrested by Wallace PD for possessing an open container of alcohol and driving while impaired.

• Hakeem Dashawn Nickelson, 33, was arrested by DCSO for possessing drug paraphernalia and damaging personal property.

• Chad Cleveland Wagsta , 48, was arrested by DCSO for possessing a stolen motor vehicle.

June 17

• Kayla Elizabeth Evans, 33, was arrested by DCSO for forging an endorsement, conspiring to obtain property by false pretense, tra cking in methamphetamine, possessing methamphetamine with intent to sell or deliver, felony possession of methamphetamine, and possessing drug paraphernalia.

• Jay Allen Houston, 30, was arrested by DCSO for communicating threats.

• Micheal Alexander SantosHernandez, 23, was arrested by Warsaw PD for possessing marijuana, possessing marijuana paraphernalia, possessing an open container of alcohol, resisting a public o cer, and driving without a license.

• Jashan Shamario Tylee-Harvey, 25, was arrested by DCSO for possessing drug paraphernalia and domestic violence.

June 18

• Antwan Gregory Carr, 20, was arrested by Wallace PD for simple assault and possessing drug paraphernalia.

• Samantha Loritara Faircloth, 24, was arrested by North Carolina Highway Patrol for speeding and driving with a revoked license.

• Jabez Allen Williams, 31, was arrested by DCSO for littering, possessing methamphetamine, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, obstructing justice, possessing drug paraphernalia, driving with a revoked license, disguising a registration plate, and having an improper mu er.

June 19

• Michael Renee Artis, 49, was arrested by DCSO for manufacturing a Schedule II controlled substance, selling a Schedule II controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, possessing a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver, possessing drug paraphernalia, and possessing a controlled substance on jail premises.

THURSDAY JUNE 26

FRIDAY JUNE 27

SATURDAY JUNE

SUNDAY JUNE 29

MONDAY JUNE 30

Duplin County Schools launches summer meals to combat food insecurity

The program will expand its summer meals to community organizations starting July 1

Duplin Journal sta KENANSVILLE — The Duplin County Schools Child Nutrition Department recently announced the start of its summer meals program. The initiative aims to address food insecurity by providing free, healthy meals for children and teens aged 18 and under now through Aug. 22.

“Meals include a nutritious lunch and the next day’s breakfast,” explained Lindsay M. Skidmore with Duplin County Schools. Extra meals for the weekend will be provided on designated pick-up days at eight school sites across Duplin County to ensure children have access to nourishing food every day of the week, even when school is not in session.

Meals can be picked up at the following school sites: Rose Hill-Magnolia Elementary, Kenansville Elementary, Beulaville Elementary, Warsaw Elementary, North Duplin Elementary, Wallace Elementary, B.F. Grady Elementary, and Wallace -Rose Hill High School.

The schedule changes slightly throughout the summer to better serve families.

Now through June 30, meals can be picked up Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m., with Friday pick-ups including meals for Saturday and Sunday.

From July 1-31, pick-up will be Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Additionally, Thursday pick-up will in-

BOARD from page A1

“It is a concern because it does get very slippery, as bad as it’s been raining lately,” said Connors.

Commissioner Elwood Garner relayed a resident’s complaint regarding water backing up into a yard on Tram Road.

“Don’t know if it’s a culvert stop or an out ow stop, but water is backing up in his yard next to the highway,” he told the board.

Chairman Dexter Edwards also relayed a resident’s complaint. This was about White Flash Road, where a beaver dam was removed a few months ago. Residents have noted that water is once again backing up toward the road.

“I’ve not been over to see it, but that’s what residents

INDUSTRIAL from page A1

2026. Once sold, total buildout of the building could be completed in three to six months. Alternatively, the county may entertain a lease.”

The county Economic Development Commission is working with North Carolina’s Southeast, a regional body that helps to promote economic development in a 20 - county area, to nd a buyer for the building that will bring more

COURTESY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE

Summer meals help kids and teens thrive in the summertime and beyond, making it easier to get nutritious food when school is out.

“Meals include a nutritious lunch and the next day’s breakfast.”

Lindsay M. Skidmore, Duplin County Schools

clude meals for Friday through Sunday.

Lastly, from Aug. 1-22, meal boxes will be distributed on Mondays only, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with seven-day meal boxes packed with breakfast and lunch for the entire week.

According to the announcement, starting July 1, the program will expand meal access

called and told me. … Sounds like the beavers have gone back to work,” said Edwards.

County Manager Bryan Miller was asked to forward these issues to the Department of Transportation for further investigation.

The board then reviewed the scal year 2025–26 Duplin County budget. Miller explained to the board that since the public hearing on June 2, an additional $471,794 was added and o set by ad valorem revenue. This amount will be allocated primarily for insurance, equipment, personnel and a capital improvement project at Duplin Commons — while maintaining the current tax rate of $0.58 per $100 valuation and fund balance of $7.7 million. The board adopted the budget unanimously.

jobs to Wallace and the region, Summerlin said.

Economic Development Commission Chairman Charley Farrior thanked the council for their vote on the zoning variance and expressed his optimism about the new site. He pointed out that Wayne County recently sold two similar shell buildings to one industry.

The rapid growth in housing and commercial development in Wallace in recent years highlights the need for

to local churches and community organizations. Speci c site details will be made available on the Duplin County Schools website. Organizations interested in hosting a meal site can call L’nette Stokes at 910-296-8786 for more information. Menus are designed to be both nutritious and appealing to children, ensuring they receive the essential vitamins and minerals they need. Families can collect meals for one child or multiple children. Menus and food safety guidelines will be posted at each meal site and online at duplinschools.net. No prior sign-up, identi cation or payment is required to receive meals.

In other business:

• Miller shared that ticket sales for the Aug. 22 concert featuring Scotty McCreary at the Duplin Events Center are strong.

• The board authorized the county manager to sign an amendment to the Daniels and Daniels agreement for two shell buildings at the airport and SouthPark. The amendment sets a guaranteed project maximum amount of $5.6 million based on contractor bids, which have already been received.

• The board voted to reschedule their rst July meeting to July 14.

more employment, he added.

“We are con dent that the SouthPark Shell Building is ideally situated to add to that economic growth,” he said.

“Secondly, we have a strong focus on further developing the county’s industrial parks. A similar building will be constructed at the Duplin County AirPark in Kenansville, which will be leased. As buildings are sold or leased, more buildings may be constructed in the future.”

DUPLIN happening

June 26

June 27

165 Agriculture Drive, Kenansville

Live music with Old School

Join the party at the Mad Boar Pub this Friday, June 27 at 8 p.m. for a live performance by Old School. No cover charge — just good vibes and great music.

111 River Village Place, Wallace

June 28

Farm Swap Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Spring has sprung, making it the ideal time to add more critters to your farm. Swing by The Hay Loft to browse feed, hay and animals, and connect with fellow farmers and producers in the community. The Farm Swaps occur on the last Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., weather permitting.

514 N Norwood St., Wallace

June 29

Freedom Festival

Join the Richlands Chamber of Commerce on June 29 to celebrate America’s 249th birthday at the Freedom Festival. The

SPONSORED BY

Duplin County livestock agent garners statewide accolade

Jessica Hall was recognized for excellence in livestock programming

and producer impact

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — What started as a college internship for Jessica Hall has developed into a rewarding career supporting livestock producers. Now serving as a livestock agent at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Duplin County Center, her commitment to the eld has recently been recognized with one of the highest honors for young professionals — the NCACAA Young Agent Award.

“I really love the work that I do and the people I get to work with — both sta and livestock/ forage producers,” Hall told Duplin Journal.

Raised on a small hobby farm in Benson, Hall brings a deep-rooted passion for agriculture to her role. She helps Duplin County producers navigate modern farming challenges with condence and care.

For Hall, the award represents more than just recognition; it’s a tangible acknowledgment of her impact.

“It’s nice to know that everyone sees value in the work that we do. I love what I do, and I’m honored to be recognized for it,” Hall shared. “I’ve tried to expand on the existing programs while adding several new ones to serve new populations. I like to think that those e orts have been e ective.”

In the last few years, the ex-

Growing up in the heart of Johnston County, Jessica Hall’s childhood was shaped by early mornings in the barn, afternoons in the saddle, and weekends spent competing in rodeos and horse shows. Today, Hall lives in Pink Hill with her husband, Josh, at Greenhorn Ranch. Hall graduated from NC State in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in animal science with a minor in ag business and erned her master’s degree in 2021 in youth, family and community sciences. She joined the Duplin County Extension in January 2022. Her deep roots in agriculture, combined with her background, have made Hall a vital resource for local producers. Duplin Journal recently interviewed Hall about the challenges local farmers are facing, how she’s making a difference through her extension work, and what advice she offers to producers navigating today’s ever- changing landscape.

tension o ce has introduced programming for horses, sheep, goats and dairy cattle. These additions have helped attract new audiences and deepened engagement within the community. Collaboration with other agents and university specialists has been central to Hall’s approach, creating more robust and meaningful learning opportunities for producers.

“I really love when I get to partner with other agents and specialists to bring more

Q: What are the biggest challenges producers are currently facing in Duplin County?

Money, weather and pests. Input costs are high and rising; weather is unpredictable and has not been kind to farmers of nearly any crop here over the last couple of years; pests are showing up earlier, staying around longer and causing more issues than we’ve seen before. This past fall, it was armyworms that caused signi cant damage to forage resources. Right now, I’m seeing Bermuda grass stem maggots early and often.

Can you share a success story where your extension e orts made a signi cant impact on a local farm or producer?

Most recently, I was called out to a farm for an issue in several hay elds of a client who produces a large quantity of very high-quality Bermuda grass hay. He had some thinning of the

depth to a program because I always end up learning a lot, too,” said Hall.

Partnerships with county departments and local businesses have also enabled the creation of innovative events, such as equestrian clinics and AI certi cation courses, aimed at enhancing producer education and operational success.

“We have an amazing team of researchers and specialists at the university that are great about keeping agents updat-

stand and spotting. As we talked through his production methods and reviewed his soil samples and fertilizer applications, it was clear that he was doing everything right based on our current recommendations, so we started walking through the elds. It didn’t take us long to nd those aggravating little stem maggots, like many other elds have already been invaded by this year. We got up with a local chemical dealer, and this producer immediately had a plan in place to manage his elds. The chemical dealer and I were aware of this issue in some parts of the county, but now we know it’s widespread all across Duplin and surrounding counties. The dealer can make sure to keep the pesticides needed in stock for others as the season continues, and I can make sure to alert other hay producers about the stem maggots so they can be proactive in scouting their elds. I hope that this encounter was able to help this producer in the treatment and recovery of his elds, but also proactively help others.

ed on new things as they come out and o ering us training that we can take out into our communities.”

Among the most impactful initiatives are innovative programs such as the Small Ruminant Field Day and the Cattle Reproduction School. These efforts combine academic expertise, practical skills, and producer participation to provide cutting-edge knowledge and hands-on experience.

Supporting a wide range of

farm operations requires adaptability and a deep understanding of her clients. Whether through text, phone calls, email or even Snapchat, she meets producers where they are and customizes her outreach accordingly.

“Every farm is di erent. Whether a huge commercial farm, small homestead, or something in between, it’s about getting to know the people and the operation,” Hall explained. “Our favorite answer in Extension is ‘it depends,’ so I get to say that a lot, but the fun part is diving deeper to help producers identify the factors at play and eventually getting them to the answer they need.” Her work emphasizes building strong relationships, understanding individual farm goals, and providing practical, research-backed recommendations that align with their realities.

Looking ahead, she believes that producers must remain vigilant and adaptable. Rising input costs, pest pressures, shrinking farmland and unpredictable market trends are all likely to shape the next ve years. Yet, she sees promise in emerging technologies like drones and AI in breeding. Hall also stressed the importance of turning to credible sources like the Cooperative Extension for support.

Hall’s growth as an agent is fueled by ongoing education, including her pursuit of a doctorate. She credits both Extension’s training resources and her clients’ lived experiences as essential to her development.

“It’s nice to work somewhere that encourages you to continue learning,” said Hall. “My clients have also been a huge part of my growth as an agent. Some of these guys have been farming longer than I’ve been alive, so while I may be able to help them out with some things, they’re teaching me, too. That wisdom is invaluable to me.”

Jessica Hall, a livestock agent at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Duplin County Center, recently received the Young Agent Award from the North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agents. Hall, second from left, poses with Mark Blevins, Sarah Kirby and Matthew Vann.

Q&A WITH JESSICA HALL: Supporting Duplin farmers

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

All public education is local

The members of our county school board make important decisions that a ect not only the students and teachers in our schools, but the fabric of our community and the quality of our lives.

“ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL.” Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neill did not coin that phrase, but he was well known for using it to describe the work of the House. As one source puts it, “Ultimately, constituents and voters are concerned most about issues that a ect their personal lives and home communities, and they vote accordingly.” Thus, the idea behind “All politics is local.”

In a similar way, we might say, “All public education is local.” The North Carolina State Board of Education oversees public education and sets educational standards and policies for the entire state. However, the Duplin County Board of Education has the responsibility for implementing those standards and policies and for the day-to - day operations of our schools. The members of our county school board make important decisions that a ect not only the students and teachers in our schools, but the fabric of our community and the quality of our lives.

School let out for the summer about a month ago. We hope all of our students will have a fun and safe summer and our teachers will enjoy some relaxation before they begin planning for the 2025-26 school year. However, just because the halls of our 13 schools aren’t lled with children and young people, that doesn’t mean education has stopped in Duplin County for the summer.

According to the 2024 -25 Duplin County Schools Organizational Chart, our schools have almost 9,900 students enrolled. Under the direction of the school board’s ve members and our Superintendent Austin Obasohan, 33 professionals who are committed to

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can a ord a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house res in which no one was injured, tra c pile-ups and bone- crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two -lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read. She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

educational excellence work tirelessly to achieve the vision “to become an exemplary school system where all students and sta excel in a globally competitive society” and to ful ll the mission “to work collaboratively with the community to prepare all students for career, college, and life success.”

That is why public education is local. An organizational chart and sta directory are helpful, but they don’t give you the full sense of the people involved in educating our students. The 600 -plus teachers, along with the administrative sta , are our neighbors. We go to church with them on Sundays. You may coach their children in youth sports programs. Perhaps they coach your children. Many of our teachers and sta are graduates of our local schools, as are so many members of our community. Maybe you taught them when they were in school. There is a good chance they are teaching your children and grandchildren now.

All of this is to say, “All public education is local” because the folks who have accepted the awesome responsibility of educating our students are local. They are concerned about the very same issues that a ect our lives and communities. They work year-round guided by the Duplin County Schools motto, “A Uni ed Approach to Academic Excellence.” So don’t forget to thank these good local folks and let them know how much you appreciate their commitment to public education in Duplin County.

Philip Gladden lives in Wallace and writes on behalf of Duplin County Schools.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle- class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year-old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper o ce and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual ower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one- eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

COLUMN | MARC DION

Warsaw man turns plant passion into business

Lyndon McCall cultivates exotic and carnivorous plants from a sustainable greenhouse

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

WARSAW — You never know when a small gesture can spark big inspiration. That’s what happened to Lyndon McCall of Warsaw.

When McCall was 8 years old growing up in the mountain town of Brevard, an 80 -year-old woman named Galloway gave him a small cactus. That gift created a lifelong passion for plants.

Moving to southeastern North Carolina to attend the UNC Wilmington, McCall began growing orchids. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology. Most of his studies naturally centered on plants.

After graduating from UNCW, McCall returned to Brevard and took a job with an orchid grower for a couple of years. He met his now wife, Sarah.

“I got married and began a family,” McCall said. “I had to get a real job.”

He took a job in contract sales. Eventually, his work landed him and his family in Oak Island, near Southport. He began to notice what scientists call Dionaea muscipula, commonly known as Venus ytrap, growing in the wild. His lifelong interest in plants kicked in, and he started researching what is involved in growing carnivorous plants. McCall admits his interest in plants is not for what most people plant in their gardens.

“I guess you can say I grow ‘weird’ plants,” he said. “I don’t try to grow the common stu too much.”

After retiring, McCall and his wife decided they wanted to move to the area where Sarah had grown up — Warsaw. That’s where Nahunga Creek Tropicals, an exotic plant farm, was born.

UTILITY from page A1

In addition to the two damaged poles, others expressed concern about two trees that were lying across power lines in the area that also appeared to need attention. One of those is located on South Rock sh Street near the corner of West Cli Street. At that location, a large, damaged tree is leaning on a line facing the road. Another tree is leaning on a line that runs along N.C. Highway 41 between Walmart and I-40.

After speaking with a Duke Energy team in the area, Stewart told Duplin Journal that in the cases of the two damaged poles, a new pole had been erected after the accidents, but the damaged poles had yet to be removed because they contained lines belonging to communications companies that rent the pole space from Duke Energy. It is their responsibility to move their lines before Duke Energy can remove the damaged poles, Stewart said.

Despite that responsibility, Duke Energy has decided to hire a contractor at its expense to move the communication lines

Southeastern North Carolina and a small area of northern South Carolina are the only places on the planet where the Venus ytrap grows in the wild. As a result, it is considered a protected species. Therefore, it is illegal to dig them up from their natural habitat. However, independent growers can produce the plants with restrictions.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture requires a certi cate of origin for anyone selling Venus ytraps.

“The Department of Agriculture keeps track of how many plants you have,” McCall said. “As you replicate the vines, they come at least once a year to look at the inventory so they can calibrate your certi cate of origin to match the volume of plants.”

Venus ytraps fall into the category of temper carnivorous plants, meaning they have adapted well to the change of seasons in the area. They go dormant in the winter, and that’s when McCall can take baby plants from existing ytraps that have been through a season of growing. They can be grown in unheated areas because of their adaptation to the area’s environment.

“In my operation, I provide some cover just for the rain, but it’s not a heated section of the greenhouse,” McCall explained. “If it gets super cold, I do drop the curtains. I usually don’t have to do that but once or twice a year. They do go dormant in the winter months, but in the spring, they’re like a daffodil and all comeback.”

McCall also grows another type of carnivorous plant known as the pitcher plant. These plants thrive in tropical climates and naturally grow in countries like Brazil. As a result, they are housed in a section of the greenhouse that is heated during the winter months.

To heat the greenhouse, McCall uses used motor oil that he collects from local auto service stations, which set the oil aside

to the new poles so the damaged poles can be removed, according to Stewart. The trees that are leaning on lines in the area are also the responsibility of the communication companies, as the trees are leaning on their lines, not power lines belonging to Duke Energy, according to Stewart.

“This is retirement fun, not retirement work.”

Lyndon

for him to pick up. His greenhouse furnace is designed speci cally to burn this used oil. His system is a win-win for his operation and the area service stations. Since McCall picks up the oil, the stations do not have to pay the fees required for disposing of it.

McCall’s interest in carnivorous plants did not end his interest in orchids. His Nahunga Creek Tropicals greenhouse contains impressive orchids he has grown.

The way McCall sells his plant products depends on the plant. They each have unique fans. Because of the Venus ytrap’s popularity in the Wilmington area, he makes a weekly trip to regular customers, stores and shops to deliver his ytraps wholesale. The plants are very popular with tourists.

Since orchids have di erent fans, he sells them wholesale to various retailers and on Wednesdays at the Poplar Grove Farmers Market in Wilmington. McCall usually has plenty of inventory of Venus ytraps because they thrive so well in his greenhouse. Orchids are a di erent matter.

“I don’t have enough orchids to supply the demand by any means,” McCall said.

Nahunga Creek Tropicals welcomes visitors to the greenhouses by appointment. He has had orchid society groups and school eld trips tour his operation.

McCall and his wife run the operation as a business, but it’s one he enjoys because of his lifetime love of plants.

“This is retirement fun, not retirement work,” McCall said.

MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Above, a damaged tree rests on a power line near a utility pole on South Rock sh Street near the corner of Cli Street. Left, a damaged utility pole on Raleigh Road in Wallace is a source of concern with people who live nearby. While Duke Energy placed a new pole beside the damaged one, it did not remove the damaged pole because it contains communication and cable lines that do not belong to the power company.

McCall, Nahunga Creek Tropicals

PHOTOS BY MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Above, Lyndon McCall loads his plant delivery van at his greenhouse in Warsaw with Venus ytraps headed to shops in the Wilmington area. Below center, Venus ytraps, at various stages of growth, in McCall’s greenhouse. Bottom, since most of the plants McCall grows thrive in moist, bog-type environments, he recommends displaying them in a similar environment. The solar panels power a pump that keeps the plants well irrigated.

Juneteenth celebration brings music, comedy, community to Duplin County

Organizers announced that Grammy-winning soul legend Al Green will headline next year’s event

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — Duplin

County celebrated Juneteenth with a vibrant event Friday evening at the Duplin Events Center in Kenansville. The event featured live music, comedy, dance performances and special guest appearances honoring the holiday’s legacy of freedom and resilience.

Organizer Antron Hayes said a Juneteenth celebration had been held in the past in Warsaw, but this was the rst countywide event.

“I was born and raised in Duplin County,” Hayes said. “This kind of event is past due.”

In his opening remarks, Hayes shared that plans are already underway for another celebration in

2026. He announced to the crowd that music legend Al Green will be the headline performer next year. Green is renowned for his many soul hits from the 1970s. The event was emceed by Charles Pickett, a native of the area. He is now a professional comedian who appears frequently on the BET network. Another native performer appearing at the event was DJ Jsmooth.

A special guest at the event was Atlanta-based actress Christianee Porter, well-known for her portrayal as Ms. Shirleen on “The Christi Show” and in Tyler Perry’s lms as a sidekick to Perry’s Madea. The special guest musical performer was 803 Fresh, the force behind the hit song “Boots on the Ground.” The Wallace-based Silver & Gold Steppers, a line dance group, also performed. They are led by Stephanie Fennell. Others on the program included Arthur Young and Grandaddy Harvey.

TOWN OF WARSAW – JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Parks & Recreation Assistant - The Town of Warsaw, population ~ 2,800 seeks to hire a motivated, energetic, creative and detail-oriented individual to assist the Parks & Recreation Director with planning, organizing, and implementing a variety of programs and events for the residents of Warsaw and neighboring communities. Candidate will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of youth and adult sports. Assists with training of sta . Assists the director with department budget preparation. Manages social media marketing for the department and maintains

the department Facebook page. Ability to maintain con dentiality of sensitive information. Required exibility of night and weekend hours based on sports or gym rental. Experience and functional knowledge of Word, Excel and the ability to learn and implant new software programs. Ability to work with the general public in a respectful, tactful manner. Application Process: Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their quali cations and experience to Lea, Turner, Town Manager, P.O. Box 464, Warsaw 28398; fax (910) 293-7701. Open until lled. EOE.

Comedian Charles Pickett entertained the crowd at the Duplin County Juneteenth Celebration at the Duplin Event Center last Friday. Pickett is a native of Duplin County. He appears frequently on the BET network.

Left, Duplin County Juneteenth Celebration organizer Antron Hayes, right, interacts on stage with one of the performers, DJ JSmooth, a native of Duplin County. Right, Mya Sloan, from Kenansville, sings “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the opening of last Friday’s Juneteenth event at the Duplin Event Center. She is currently going to nursing school in California.

PHOTOS BY MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Duplin County Sheri Stratton Stokes, left, speaks with Commissioner Wayne Branch at the Duplin County Juneteenth Celebration held at the Duplin Events Center on Friday evening.

DUPLIN SPORTS

Miranda Roblero had the kind of nish to her prep career that most players won’t experience: scoring big goals in big-time games at the end of the season to lead ED on a long playo run.

Roblero’s playo magic rewrites postseason script for Panthers

ED’s Miranda Roblero burned the net for six goals in her nal seven games, including four scores in three playo matches

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — The East Duplin girls’ soccer team had at least three di erent versions of how its season would end.

Literally nothing went as it was scripted, and yet the Panthers wound up advancing into the fourth round of the postseason.

One of the more interesting developments centered around a good player, but not one many would pick to be the Panthers’ star booter.

Nearly everyone thought, or at least predicted, it would be Anamaire Rodriguez, a sophomore sensation who had a 20-goal season in 2024 but missed several games this spring because the ED basketball team also dashed its way to the fourth round of the 2A playo s.

She returned and scored 12 goals in nine games.

Order was restored in Pantherland, even though ED was stripped of its ECC title via Southwest Onslow. Panic was rampant when the news came out saying Rodriguez would likely have to have ACL surgery on her knee.

Any hope of a long playo run, like the Panthers had in 2024, surely set on ED’s season. Until senior mid elder Miran-

Top-scoring Enamorado puts Tigers on her wings

Katherine Enamorado’s 33 goals pushed the Tigers to their best mark since 2017

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

WARSAW — Playing “keep away’ was the best way to defend Katherine Enamorado.

When the James Kenan striker had control of the ball, she weaved her way through a defense like an Alpine slalom skier.

The Tigers’ senior slammed in 33

goals in a giant season to become the O ensive Player of the Year.

James Kenan went 9-6 for its best mark since 2017 and rst back-to -back winning seasons in more than a decade.

That happened because Enamorado dropped in 25 goals her junior campaign to pace the Tigers.

But a 6-4 mark in the ECC this spring was an improvement over 2024’s mark of 3-6-1 as the Tigers swept rival Wallace-Rose Hill.

She was the spark for a four-game

See ENAMORADO, page B2

da Roblero kicked up her game with clutch goals.

While the Panthers were making adjustments on the defensive end because of two more injuries to starters, Roblero rushed to the forefront to score ve goals in the rst three rounds of the playo s.

Timing and execution in pressure situations were in the fabric of Ms. Soccer.

“It’s hard to deny her of it because of when she scored her goals,” said Panthers head coach Joey Jones, whose team won 12 of their nal 14 matches.

Roblero had the lone goal when the Panthers slipped past Camden County in the playo opener. She found the back of the net in

See ROBLERO, page B2

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

Katherine Enamorado, JK’s Female Athlete of the Year, will play soccer at Cape Fear Community College next season after leading the Tigers to two winning campaigns.

Bulldogs’ Flores, Panthers’ Jones played with passion on pitch

East Duplin’s Katelyn Jones played hurt and got respect from her teammates, while co-recipient Bayleen Flores put her teammates rst and was also rewarded with success

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — Few players outwork Katelyn Jones on a soccer eld.

She has size, speed and is physical.

And this season, the East Duplin striker played with and through injuries.

Heck, she almost had to because the injury bug took down at least ve players.

Over in Teachey, Bayleen Flores found giving can lead to major gifts on the soccer pitch.

Both players are Heart of a Champion winners during a season in which both WRH and James Kenan inched closer to East Duplin and Southwest Onslow, the major players in the ECC the past four seasons.

Flores, who scored ve times as an upstart freshman, red in 17 this season and added four assists.

The Bulldogs needed every goal the sophomore directed in, and much of that happened because of her sel ess play and by how hard she hits it on the pitch.

“She’s one of our hardest workers in the school on the eld and in the weight room,” said WRH head coach Jordan Boser, an assistant football coach who knows how lifting can transform a player. “On the eld she’s able to control the ball and create opportunities for herself to score and also sel essly nd ways to create chances for her teammates.”

Boser said she doesn’t get pushed around.

“In a county where tough girls who play soccer is the standard, she is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen,” he said. “And like all our other Lady ’Dawgs have this year, she’s pushed herself in the classroom.”

Jones was one of the Panthers who held the team — and herself — together during adversity,

She scored 10 goals and tallied four assists following a 19-goal campaign in 2024 when she worked so well with Anamarie Rodriguez (20 goals).

But Rodriguez only played in nine games, though scoring 12 goals, leaving the tandem’s working relationship on the sideline.

Jones, who had 37 career goals, scored or had an assist in 10 matches this spring.

She missed a few games in early April, but that didn’t stop her game approach.

“She had a good career here,” said her coach, who is not related to the Panthers graduate.

WRH sophomore Bayleen Flores knocked in 17 goals and had four assists.

ED graduate striker Katelyn Jones scored 29 goals in the past two seasons.

PHOTOS BY EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

SPONSORED BY BILL CARONE

Eli Avent

James Kenan, senior

Eli Avent is a “Boys of Summer” throwback, though he may have never heard of the Brooklyn Dodgers nor sang Don Henley’s 1984 pop song.

Avent, a rising senior at James Kenan, has been the kind of player for Beulaville Post 511 that he was when he wore a Tigers jersey in the spring.

Avent rallied the American Legion team from a 7-2 de cit to a 9-8 win over Tabor City Post 507 last Friday night by cracking a pair of hits and driving in two runs.

Avent, who will be a rst-team all-Duplin selection when it is announced in the July 3 issue of Duplin Journal, hit .500 for James Kenan with an on-base mark of .630 and 31 stolen bases.

He will switch uniforms in August and return to his role as quarterback of the football team.

/ 919.658.6027 www.kornegayinsurance.com

COACH

Jones leads upstart Panthers to gates of promised land

The veteran ED soccer coach Joey Jones has virtually seen it all on the pitch, sans watching his underdog team ght its way to the fourth round of the 2A playo s

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — Joey Jones lost the best soccer player he’s coached at East Duplin in the rst week of April when Anamarie Rodriguez injured her knee. It wasn’t the rst time Jones had to shu e his lineup. Injuries to Zoey Cavanaugh and Savannah Hill also made him scramble.

The longest-tenured soccer coach in Duplin County looked like Manchester United’s Sir Michael Ferguson, a 13-time Premier League champion who won with David Beckman and Ryan Griggs and without them.

Ferguson and others like him — Pep Guardiola, Rinus Michels and Vittorio Pozzo, the only coach to lead two World Cup winners — made adjustments on the y and also got reserves to play to a high level.

For Jones, it was a combination of his moves and condence in his players and how the Panthers stepped up that made a di erence.

East Duplin was going nowhere fast most of the season, and it looked as if they were resigned to quit and regroup for the next spring.

Jones, who for years coached both the girls and boys after he retired as a teacher, was as pleasantly surprised as anyone when the Panthers started to roll. He saw players such as Tabor, Anastan Holley, Bella Gaby, Kaydance Drinkwater, Kayleigh Chase and Claire Beth Bradshaw all make signi cant contributions to match the work by more veteran player such as Miranda Roblero, Isla Miller, Katelyn Jones and Ashleigh Sarmiento. With its new con gura-

winning streak to end the regular season, scoring six goals and adding two assists.

“With the ball on her foot, she’s the best player in the conference and county,” said JK head coach Kenny Williams. “She’s quick and always nds that extra gear. Her quick feet and acceleration,

the second round when ED upset Princeton 3-2 in Johnston County.

Four days later, Roblero banged in a pair as ED topped Washington for its third consecutive road upset.

The Hollywood ending for the No. 26 Panthers was cut short when No. 2 Roanoke Rap-

tion, ED won eight of its nal 10 matches before falling 5-0 to No. 2 Roanoke Rapids in the fourth round of the 2A playo s.

But the bigger happening was the No. 19 Panthers traveling 571 miles for roundtrip road wins over No. 14 Camden County, No. 3 Princeton and No. 6 Washington. This was not the same club that was 0-4-2 on March 8.

Perhaps the NCHSAA bracket-makers did East Duplin a favor as ECC champ Southwest Onslow and Clinton, both of whom had beaten the Panthers convincingly during the regular season, had tougher roads. Hogwash, say Panthers fans. And they have a point. Of all games, soccer is the one in which a team can score and defend like the National Guard. From there, any odd bounce could turn a match around.

Yet for a couple of decades, defense has been Jones’ calling card as a coach.

excellent ball skills and powerful shooting leg made her a threat to score from nearly anywhere on the o ensive end.”

Enamorado, who led Duplin and the ECC in scoring, will play soccer at Cape Fear Community College.

“Katherine was a joy to coach, and her ability to control the ball and score against multiple defenders was unmatched in our conference this year,” Williams said. “I loved seeing her quick bursts into the open.”

ids pushed its way to a 5-0 triumph in the fourth round.

Roblero netted six goals and an assist in her nal seven matches and led the Panthers in assists with nine.

Sounds like the perfect description for a senior to nish a prep career.

No one saw her coming in three playo games until the damage was done.

James Kenan started to jell when wings Arely Patino and Yaneidi Cruz were able to get the ball into Enamorado, who captured the school’s Kenan Cup as the best female athlete in 2024-25.

In a season in which Rodriquez, striker Katelyn Jones, goalie Isla Miller or even James Kenan’s Katherine Enamorado (33 goals) could and maybe should have been the biggest soccer star in Duplin, Roblero was in middle of the biggest spotlight.

Roblero had nine goals as a junior, including a score in the rst two playo wins.

TOWN OF WARSAW – JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Chief Of Police – Warsaw, pop. ~2,800, is seeking applications & resumes for the Chief of Police position. Town seeks chief who is both motivated & an innovative leader to perform admin., supervisory, mgmt., & leadership functions w/in the department. Must possess excellent communication skills & demonstrate ability to work e ectively w/ other depts. as part of the town’s management team & take pride in the position, as well as, lead by example. Must have the ability to make the department as e cient/e ective as possible when ful lling the commitment to serve & protect, develop & maintain budget, e ectively operate computer, possess exp. to seek grant-funding opportunities, as well as, establish & maintain e ective community & public relations. Quali ed candidate must also have skills in managing H.R. aspects of the job including the recruitment/hiring of promising o cers, as well as, carrying out disciplinary actions when necessary. Must be able to work varying shifts as needed which could include occasional nights & weekends. Desired education. & experience: Minimum of ten years

experience in law enforcement to include signi cant supervisory experience of a progressive responsible nature, completion of high school supplemented by extensive law enforcement training and course work, with an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree in criminal justice or related subject preferred, or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities. Must possess NC BLET certi cation, valid NC Drivers License; be able to pass thorough background investigation, psychological & medical evaluations. Salary range is DOQ. Town provides competitive salary along with excellent bene t package which includes NC local gov’t retirement system and 401(k) match, medical insurance, etc. Detailed resume, town application, salary history, and notarized CJTS Form F-3 must be submitted to: Lea Turner, Town Manager, PO Box 464, Warsaw, NC 28398. The position is open until lled. Required applications can be obtained at www.townofwarsawnc.com or by calling the Warsaw Town Hall at (910) 293-7814. EOE.

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

ROBLERO from page B1

ENAMORADO from page B1

POHTOS BY EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

ED head coach Joey Jones said he’s never had a striker as fast and skilled as Anamarie Rodriguez, who was sidelined with an injury during the Panthers’ playo run. Nearly every player stepped up.

Joey Jones guided ED into the fourth round of the 2A playo s, a season away from a third-round exit. Both were high marks for the Panthers.

Gaby, Holley twins crash onto rst team after Panthers’ run

A redesigned East Duplin defense limited opponents to four goals in nine games leading up to its fourth-round 2A playo visit

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — Anastan and Tabor Holley played their way onto the all-Duplin County rst team with their heady play in the playo s.

While the Panthers made goalie Isla Miller the team MVP, the defense in front of her was superb in the nal month of the season.

The Holleys, whose father is iconic prep football coach Battle Holley, formed the triangle of doom for foes with senior Bella Gaby at the other point. She is the sister of former Panthers football greats Avery Gaby (’22 state title) and Russell Gaby, both all-county rst-team running backs.

Before falling to No. 2 Roanoke Rapids in the fourth round, East Duplin had allowed just four goals in its previous nine matches.

The Panthers’ four top defenders were rst-team selections. Wallace-Rose Hill and James Kenan each nailed down three spots, with North Duplin landing its star striker to the elite list of 13. Here are the individual marquee winners, who are also on the squad, which features a mix of six seniors, six sophomores and a junior. (See B1 for stories on the marquee winners, which includes the Coach of the Year.)

FIRST TEAM

Ms. Soccer Miranda Roblero, ED, Sr., MF

O ensive Player of the Year

Katherine Enamorado, JK, Sr, F

Co-Heart of a Champion:

Katelyn Jones, ED, Sr., F/MF

Bayleen Flores, WRH, So., F/MF

Isla Miller, ED, Sr., GK

Panthers coach Joey Jones liked the resiliency and maximum e ort of Miller, whose 120 saves amounted to ve per match.

Tristen Stemmler, ND, Sr., F

Stemmler put new life into the Rebels’ program with her scoring touch.

A month into the season, she led the team in goals as North Duplin (8-8) won more matches than it did in 2023 and 2024 combined.

Bella Gaby, ED, Sr., D

Aside from an all-star goalie, no player in the county played the physical style of Gaby, who had a goal, ve assists and whose ip kicks from the sideline confused the opposition.

Gaby often caught her own team by surprise with the serving.

“She could get it out there 40 yards, and it’s an impressive weapon,” Jones said. “The latter part of the season I told her to aim for the goal.”

And Gaby wasn’t the type of player to get pushed around.

“I mean this in the best possibly way: She’s one of the toughest players I’ve seen,” said WRH coach Jordan Boser.

Anastan Holley, ED, So., MF/D

Injuries to defenders Savannah Hill and Zoey Cavanaugh left a void in the Panthers, which was answered by Holley, who up until that time played all over the eld. She scored three goals and had four assists.

Cavanaugh or Hill might have made the rst team, but Holley was the one who owns it because of her play in the nal weeks of the season.

“She was literally learning the sweeper back position,” said ED coach Joey Jones. “Anastan was the o ensive one

“It was up for grabs early, and she took it,” Jones said. “I knew she had the speed to get the job done. She and Anastan are balanced athletes, and that they’ve taken dance, gymnastics and cheer is a bonus I can see in their play.”

Aleyah Wilson, JK, So., MF/F/GK

Bella Gaby was a steady force on the ED defense all season.

when they came and Tabor more of a defender. I don’t like to put slow people on defense, and we saw that in a few playo teams and capitalized on it. She’s really fast and helped us tremendously.”

Gaby Debman, WRH, So., MF/F

Debman punched in a team-high 10 goals in 2024 and connected for 10 scores this spring as WRH had its best back-to-back seasons in school history. The Bulldogs were 9-9 in the spring after going 10-8 during Boser’s sixth season as head coach.

Tabor Holley, ED, So., D Holley was the right outside back in the Panthers defense.

Need a spot lled anywhere on the pitch? Dial up Wilson. The Tigers sophomore is an excellent athlete who can ll in and play nearly anywhere she is needed. She even got called upon right before gametime to play goalie at Wallace and delivered a 1-0 shutout.

Anamarie Rodriguez, ED, So., F

While most all-star teams would leave o Rodriguez, since she played in limited matches, it’s hard to imagine many other players making that much noise in nine games (12 goals).

Rodriguez is the fastest player on grass in Duplin County and beyond.

CB Aycock, a 3A school in Wayne County, tied ED 2-2 early in the spring without Rodriguez.

She returned to score ve times when the Panthers smacked the Falcons

Arely Patin, JK, Jr., MF

Able to play nearly any position on the eld, Patin’s move to center-mid halfway through the season was pivotal to JK’s late season push. Although the position doesn’t lend itself to bulky stats, it is among the most important to team success. Patino’s combination of size, speed and relentless motor strengthened the Tigers’ ability to control the center of the eld and also bolstered the defense, which allowed only ve goals over the last month of the regular season.

Top left, ED’s Kaleigh Chase, left, and WRH’s Bri Maradeiaga battle for control of the ball early in a close match.

Top right, ED’s Isla Miller scored a goal and stopped 120 shots directed at her in the cage.

Bottom left, ED’s Anastan Holley, right, is a speedy player who isn’t afraid to mix it up, especially when marking a top -scoring striker.

Bottom center, Tristen Stemmler was the scoring punch that led ND to its best record in years.

right, the Panthers celebrated three playo upsets.

PHOTOS BY EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

Bottom

Briscoe holds o teammate Hamlin to win at Pocono

The win is his rst with Joe Gibbs

Racing

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. — Chase

Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold o Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his rst win with his new race team.

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playo s with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its rst victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR eld.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, ap-

peared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the nal, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win. “It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his nal pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his nal stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the rst-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

Briscoe, who won an X nity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and rst since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth

“To get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight o my shoulders.”

Chase Briscoe

top-10 nish over the last six races, including a seventh-place nish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City. He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver eld with nine races left until the eld is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s nal winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.” Hamlin nished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top ve. Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in Victory Lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight o my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To nally come here and do it, it has been a great day.”

The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green ag dropped. Briscoe

led 72 laps and won the second stage.

Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.

Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse threatened to beat up his racing rival after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar nished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

DERIK HAMILTON / AP PHOTO

Chase Briscoe celebrates with a burnout after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway

obituaries

Doris Ann (West) Phipps

Sept. 26, 1950 – June 18, 2025

Doris Ann West Phipps, 74, passed from her earthly life on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at home.

She was born September 26, 1950 in Bennettsville, SC, the daughter of Thomas E. West and Sarah Louise Stevens Hookom. In addition to her parents Doris was preceded in death by her

April 4, 1967 – June 17, 2025

Amanda Wheeler Muzio, age 58, ew on the wings of an angel to her heavenly home on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.

She was born April 4, 1967, in Fort Benning, Georgia, the daughter of Jimmie Melvin Wheeler and Glenda Susie Anna Moore Lewis. In addition to her parents, Amanda was preceded in death by her son, Roman Turner.

Amanda is survived by her husband, Daniel Robert Muzio; sons, Isaac Turner (Sarah) and Jax Muzio; grandchildren, Cameron Adams, Aidan Turner, Teagan Turner, and Emilia Turner; brothers, Jimmie Wheeler, Joel Wheeler, Leland Lewis, and Jason Wheeler; sister, Lisa Walker (David); stepmother, Cheri Wheeler; many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, extended family; and friends.

For many years, Amanda took great care of others as a Certi ed Nurse Assistant. Most recently, many remember Amanda as she continued taking care of folks in the food restaurant business. She always had a beautiful smile and a kind word to greet you.

Most important in Amanda’s life were her grandchildren, who were the sunshine and joy in her life. She enjoyed gardening and was an expert seamstress. Amanda was a sharing, giving, caring lady who will be greatly missed by her beloved family and many friends.

Memorial service will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at Quinn-McGowen Funeral Home, Burgaw Chapel, with visitation following the service. The Rev. Dean Walker will conduct the service.

Shared memories and condolences may be sent to the family by selecting Tribute Wall. A service of Quinn-McGowen Funeral Home, Burgaw Chapel.

McKinsey

Annette Harper

daughter, Kathy Dyson.

Doris is survived by her loving husband of 45 Years, George Lenwood Phipps; sons, Steve Hayes (Marla) and Bobby Hayes (Sonia); grandchildren, Logan, Ryan, Jonathan, Kayla (Justin), Summer (Cameron), and Krysia; great grandson, Kane; sister, Frances Morgan; brother, Kenny West (Debbie); half-brother, Terry Raspberry; several nieces and nephews; many extended family members and friends.

Doris loved and cared for her family. She was a quiet lady with lots of love in her heart. In years passed Doris enjoyed motorcycle riding and camping with George, what a good time they had. She also enjoyed dropping a hook in the water to catch a sh. Most recently Doris enjoyed watching a good wrestling match. Her sweet smile and gentle nature will surely be missed. Shared memories and condolences may be sent to the family by selecting Tribute Wall. A service of Quinn-McGowen Funeral Home, Burgaw, NC.

Wade Francis Baker

Oct. 13, 1959 – June 21, 2025

Wade Francis Barker, age 65, died Saturday, June 21, 2025, at home. He is survived by his daughter, Kalene Barker of Chinquapin; son, Brett Barker of OK; Mother Patricia Barker of OK; sisters, Janie Barker of OK, Joann Barker of OK; brothers John Mathis of FL, and Shane Barker of OK.

James Franklin Elliot

July 19, 1948 – June 21, 2025

Faison- Mr. James Franklin Elliot, age 76, A remarkable man of strength and resilience, passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at ECU Health in Greenville, North Carolina. The arrangements are incomplete at this time. We extend our deepest condolences to the family, and may we continue to keep them lifted up in prayer during their time of bereavement.

Helen C. Harris

Nov. 12, 1942 – June 22, 2025

Dudley - God in his in nite wisdom, saw t to take from this world of su ering, the soul of our beloved Ms. Helen C. Harris, 82, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. The arrangements are incomplete at this time.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family. Please keep the family in your prayers during their time of bereavement. Services of caring, compassionate and distinguished class have been entrusted to the management and sta of J.B. Rhodes Funeral Home and Cremations.

Lorraine Lewis Lee

Oct. 8, 1962 – June 17, 2025

Dudley - With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Ms. Lorraine Lewis Lee, 62, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at UNC Medical Center, Chapel Hill, NC. Arrangements are incomplete at this time.

We extend our deepest condolences to the family, and please keep the family in your prayers during their time of bereavement. Services of caring, compassionate and distinguished class have been entrusted to the management and sta of J.B. Rhodes Funeral Home and Cremations.

Delores McKoy Brown

Nov. 8, 1942 – June 17, 2025

Delores McKoy Brown, 82, passed peacefully into Glory on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at home surrounded with love by her loving family. She was born November 8, 1942, in Pender County, one of eleven children born to Henry Burton Ramsey and Henrietta Murray Ramsey. She was preceded in death by her husband, the love of her life, Tim Je erson McKoy and nine siblings.

Delores is survived by her daughters, Cherryl M. Hansen (Darrin), Donna M. Murphrey (Bob), and Kimberly M. Caison (Je ); son, David J. McKoy; grandchildren, Ben Murphrey (Brooks), Brianna Ward (Jonathan), Connor Hansen, Stephanie Burns (Chris), Samantha Caison (Austin), Lauren McKoy, Blake McKoy, and Braxton McKoy; great grandchildren, Liza Gray, Rookie, Wrenn, Luke, Eddie, and Maverick; sister, Carolyn Batts (Ronald); special friend, Dawn Austin; numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family members, and friends – all who dearly loved Delores.

Delores was a lady of many talents as she could and did x anything from knocking down walls/putting them back up to plumbing, painting and you name it Delores could do it. Delores also was a gifted seamstress, ower gardener, and fabulous cook. No one ever left her home without being fed. A strong Christian faith de ned Delores and her faith never wavered. Without a doubt Delores was a wonderful homemaker, who treasured her family above all else. Her presence in our lives will truly be missed.

The family will receive friends 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 20, 2025 at Quinn McGowen Funeral Home Burgaw Chapel with funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. The Rev. Roger Barnes will conduct the service. Burial will follow at Red Door Cemetery.

Shared memories and condolences may be sent to the family by selecting Tribute Wall

A service of Quinn-McGowen Funeral Home Burgaw Chapel.

Barbara “Barbara Jean” Brown Capps

July 24, 1937 – June 18, 2025

Barbara Brown Capps (Barbara Jean), 87, of Wilmington entered her heavenly home on June 18, 2025.

Barbara was born July 24, 1937, in the Catherine Lake area of Onslow County, to the late Admiral Dewey Brown and Christine Stephens Brown. She remained a lifelong resident of southeastern North Carolina.

In June of 1954, she wed her beloved husband, Cecil Graham Capps. They remained devoted to each other until his passing in 2019. Their 65 years of marriage serves as a testament to the strength of a Godly marriage, and an inspiration to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. In addition to her husband, Barbara is preceded in death by her mother and father; along with siblings Helen Fountain, Laura Cochrane, Charles Brown, and David Brown. She is survived by her adoring children, Sue Capps Hunley (Thomas) and Michael Capps (Robbin); grandchildren, Melissa Maillard (Steve), Amanda Koester

Willie Alton “Billy” Brown Jr.

May 7, 1938 – June 18, 2025

Willie Alton “Billy” Brown Jr. of Rose Hill, NC, quietly left for his eternal life on the evening of June 18, 2025, at his home. Born May 7, 1938. He is the son of the late Willie Alton Brown Sr. and Nealie Dew Brown. Billy is predeceased by rst wife- Retha Dixon Brown; second wife – Elizabeth Marie Healy Brown; children – Cheryl and David Brown; stepson – Glenn Thibault; and siblings – Homer Brown, Clarence Brown, Mildred Williams, Ruth Norris, and Thelma Sitgreaves. Cherishing his memory are his daughter – Debbie Williams and husband Kevin of Rose Hill; daughter-in-law Karen Grucci Brown of Fletcher; stepchildren – Norman Thibault and wife Megan of Washington, UT and Shannon Giresi of Wake Forest; grandchildren – Everett Williams

Audreay McKinnie Hunter

Jan. 25, 1943 – June 19, 2025

Goldsboro - It is with deep sorrow and humble hearts that we announce the passing of Ms. Audreay McKinnie Hunter, age 82, who entered into eternal rest on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at her residence. The arrangements are incomplete at this time. We extend our deepest condolences to the family, and please continue to keep the family in your prayers during their time of bereavement.

(Andy), Amy Richardson (Brandon) and Stephen Capps (Justine); great grandchildren, Mason, Sam, Austin, Wesley, Luke, Carsyn, Marra and Caiden; and brother, Graham Brown (Alice). Although she will be missed immensely, she leaves us with a legacy of steadfast faith, unconditional love, and the knowledge that we will see her again one day.

As an employee of New Hanover and Onslow County schools, Barbara was able to put her nurturing nature and notoriously kind heart to use by impacting many young minds over the years. She retired in 1998 with 32 years of service to her community. On Sunday mornings, you could nd her in the choir loft at First Christian Church of Wilmington, where she has made a joyful noise since 1972. She was an active member of her church community, serving in many di erent capacities over her 50 years of attendance.

In lieu of owers the family asks that donations be made in Barbara’s memory to First Christian Church of Wilmington, 2035 Oleander Drive, Wilmington NC or to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to Barbara’s long term care giver, Wendy, their “angel on earth.”

Her funeral service will be at 11 am on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at The First Christian Church in Wilmington with Rev Brad McDowell o ciating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Entombment will follow at Oleander Memorial Gardens in Wilmington. Shared memories and condolences may be sent to the family by selecting the Tribute Wall above. Quinn McGowen Funeral Home of Wilmington is serving the family.

and wife Candace of Penderlea, Hailey Watkins and husband Justin of Pink Hill, Haven Bowles and husband Stancil of Warsaw, Connor and Jillian Brown of Fletcher; step grandchildren- Quinn, Cole, Sophia and Olivia Giresi; and great grandchildren – Ryleigh Williams and Ellie and Kinley Watkins.

“Billy” was a man of strength, dedication, and quiet generosity. A proud Navy veteran, he served his country with honor and carried that same commitment into every part of his life.

After his service, Billy built more than a business – he built a legacy. As co-owner of Brown’s Builders Supply, he o ered not just materials, but trust, reliability and a helping hand. Through hard work and integrity, he became a cornerstone of his community.

More than a veteran or businessman, Billy was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend – steadfast and always ready with a story, a smile, or a word of wisdom. He found peace in a quiet river morning, the thrill of a good hunt and the laughter of loved ones.

His life was guided by faith, shaped by love and de ned by purpose. Though he may no longer walk beside us, his laughter, lessons, and legacy live on in every heart he touched.

A service to celebrate his life is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, 2025, in the Rose Hill Baptist Church, with visitation one hour prior to the service at 10 a.m. Interment will follow in the Riverview Memorial Park near Watha.

Amanda Wheeler Muzio

Gladys Baysden Melton

Oct. 3, 1940 – June 19, 2025

Gladys Baysden Melton, 84, passed away on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at her home.

Funeral Service:

Thursday, June 26, 2025

7 p.m.

Followed by Visitation

Community Funeral Home, Beulaville, NC

Graveside Service: Friday, June 27, 2025

10 a.m.

Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, Jacksonville, NC

Survivors:

Sister: Jean Maples (Ray), Beulaville, NC

Community Funeral Home of Beulaville is honored to serve the Melton family.

Linda Trnacek Ball

May 10, 1951 – June 21, 2025

Linda Ball, 74, passed gently from her earthly life on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at Poplar Grove in Burgaw.

She was born May 10, 1951, in Bethel, NC, the daughter of John Joseph Trnacek and Annie S. Coleman. In addition to her parents, Linda was preceded in death by her sister, Phyllis Potter. Linda is survived by her sisters, Janie Know, Martha Evans, Ann Yopp (Danny), and Margaret Futch; many nieces and nephews, including a special nephew, Joe Knox, who has helped to look after Linda for the past 12 years.

Many will remember Linda working at DuPont in the seventies and eighties. She was a Christian giving lady who was always ready to lend a helping hand when needed. Linda was gifted in crocheting and basket making out of grape vines. She often entered her handmade items in the New Hanover County Fair and won best show for her grape vine baskets. In years past, Linda enjoyed Cat shing and duck hunting as she loved being outdoors in God’s wonderful world of nature. Linda will truly be missed. Following Linda’s request, there will be no formal service, and her ashes will be scattered as she instructed.

Shared memories and condolences may be sent to the family by selecting Tribute Wall.

A service of Quinn-McGowen Funeral Home, Burgaw, NC.

University of Mount Olive grad helps farmers protect land, legacy

The young conservationist is leading e orts to restore NC waterways

Duplin Journal sta

WITH MUD on his boots and a eld guide in hand, Sullivan Barnes is rede ning what it means to care for the land in rural North Carolina. Just months after graduating from the University of Mount Olive, the 22-year-old conservationist is already leading e orts to restore creeks, combat erosion and help farmers adopt sustainable practices. He is demonstrating that real change often begins in the elds, not in a boardroom.

Currently, Barnes is involved in a state-funded Stream Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP), working with Nash County Soil and Water to restore more than 3.5 miles of creek by clearing obstructive debris from above the waterline.

“This reduces ooding risk for local communities and improves watershed health,” he explained. “But we’re careful to leave submerged trees that support aquatic life and help prevent erosion.”

The outdoor learning laboratory at UMO provided Barnes with practical skills in wetland science, wildlife management and forestry.

“My hands-on experience there shaped my interest in natural resource conservation,” Barnes said. “The Herring Farm was my favorite place to go during class.”

Barnes thrived in the program’s immersive eldwork, learning from dedicated faculty and forming a close-knit ac-

ademic community that fueled his growth. Faculty members like Jared Locklear, Jason Davis, and Scott Tilley mentored him, in uencing his academic path, with Tilley’s soil science course particularly igniting his interest in soil health.

“Sully was one of the hardest-working students I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring,” said Locklear, an assistant professor. “He exempli es what it means to turn passion into purpose.”

Now in the heart of North Car-

olina’s agricultural belt, Barnes plays a critical role helping landowners protect soil, water and wildlife habitats while maintaining productive operations.

“One day I might be out in the field talking to farmers about erosion control, and the next, I’m at a training with USDA partners,” he said. “The most rewarding part is knowing that the work I help with today will benefit both the environment and future generations of landowners.”

His work encompasses everything from educational outreach to facilitating conservation cost - share programs. Barnes personable style effectively bridges the gap between environmental goals and agricultural productivity.

“The most rewarding part is knowing that the work I help with today will benefit both the environment and future generations of landowners,” said Barnes.

Educational leader achieves doctorate degree

James “Bo” Mullins, chief of sta for the North Carolina Cyber Academy, recently earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Liberty University. Mullins began his career as a high school agriculture teacher and Future Farmers of America adviser before transitioning into administrative roles. He has served as a school administrator, district elementary education director and assistant superintendent with Duplin County Schools. As principal of Clement Elementary in neighboring Sampson County, he received several honors, including Principal of the Year awards, and helped lead the school to achieve National Blue Ribbon status.

TOWN OF WARSAW – JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Town Planner/Code Enforcement O cer – Warsaw, pop. 2738.

The Town of Warsaw is located in western Duplin County. US Route 117 passes through the center of town and leads north 30 miles to Goldsboro and south 19 miles to Wallace. NC Highway 50 intersects US 117 at the north end of town and leads east 8 miles to Kenansville, the Duplin County seat. Interstate 40 passes to the south and west of Warsaw, with easy access to Wilmington or Raleigh. Warsaw is known for its designation for the Oldest Consecutive Veterans Day Parade: Job Responsibilities: Enforces and administers the Town’s local zoning ordinances, codes and regulations. Coordinate, attend and facilitate evening meetings of the Planning Board and Board of Adjustments. Oversee urban planning initiatives, including land use planning, environmental studies, and development proposals. Investigate and address complaints related to zoning violations, conducting site inspections when necessary. Issue notices of violation and citations and follow through with appropriate enforcement actions. Collaborate

with property owners, developers, and the community to ensure compliance with zoning regulations. Maintain detailed records of enforcement actions and urban planning activities. Prepare and present reports to the town board and other stakeholders. Stay updated on changes in local, state and federal laws a ecting municipal government and planning. Develop and implement strategies for e ective zoning enforcement and urban planning. Performs related special projects and activities as required; Minimum Quali cations: Bachelors degree in urban planning, public administration, or related eld; Signi cant experience in urban planning, code enforcement, or municipal government. Interested individual must also be in possession of, or have the ability to obtain, a valid North Carolina driver’s license. Salary: $60,000$75,000 DOE. Application Process: Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their quali cations and experience to Lea Turner, Town Manager, P.O. Box 464, Warsaw 28398; fax (910) 293-7701. Open until lled. EOE.

COURTESY JAMES “BO” MULLINS

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT OLIVE

Sullivan Barnes, a 2024 University of Mount Olive graduate, serves as a Natural Resources Conservationist with Nash County Soil and Water.

Stanly NewS Journal

Making the grade

The Williams Brothers, Jack and Eli, recently completed a 300-foot mural on the wall of

a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Stanly ham radio

operators to host event

Albemarle

Ham radio operators from the Stanly County Amateur Radio Club (K4OGB) will participate in a national amateur radio exercise Saturday from 2-6 p.m at the Stanly County YMCA Park on North First Street in Albemarle. The event is ARRL Field Day, an annual amateur radio activity rst organized in 1933. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network which includes alternative energy sources such as generators, solar panels and batteries to power their equipment. The public is invited to attend.

Stanly to host N.C. Democrats Listening Tour

Albemarle

The North Carolina Democratic Party will bring its statewide ”Rural Listening Tour” to Stanly County on Thursday, July 10 at 6 p.m. in the Atrium Health Stanly — Special Events and Education Center. Hosted by NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton, the Rural Listening Tour town hall event brings statewide Democratic candidates and elected o cials to every stop to allow folks across our state to meet and discuss issues directly with the Party. Special guests will include state Supeme Court

Senior Associate Justice Anita Earls and First Vice Chair Jonah Garson. Event parking is located in the parking deck o Hawthorne Avenue.

funded

NC re marshal gives update on Emergency Training Center

Expenses for the project total $87 million so far

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — North Carolina Fire Marshal Brian Taylor attended and gave a brief presentation at the Albemarle City Council’s recent meeting on June 16 as the leading representative of the O ce of State Fire Marshal (OSFM).

On behalf of his o ce, Taylor provided updates on the construction process for the N.C. Emergency Training Center located at the Stanly County Airport in New London and also

presented a successful request for a one-time waiver for an initial ve million gallons of water.

Plans for the 911 center, operated by the OSFM in partnership with the N.C. Air National Guard Fire Department and Stanly County, were originally established in 2017 and given nancial assistance four years later with the help of a bipartisan state budget bill.

“We have just completed part of the facility, and we hope to be done with phase one by September,” Taylor told the council. “Today, we are at $87 million investment in this, and that is just the start of it.

See CENTER, page A4

Rich eld commissioners debate police contract amid mayor’s resignation

“Rather than continue in a role where I feel I have limited in uence, I felt it was best to make space for someone who’s fully aligned with the current board and can give the position their full attention.”

Ian Focht, Rich eld mayor

The board heard concerns about sheri ’s deputy coverage and rising costs

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

RICHFIELD — Members of the Rich eld Town Commission addressed rumors circulating on social media Monday night about whether the town would keep its current full-time sheri ’s deputy.

Commissioner Barry Byrd acted as mayor pro tem for the meeting after Mayor Ian Focht emailed his resignation last week. In a message to Stanly News Journal on Tuesday, Focht cited growing professional responsibilities and

family priorities, including a baby due in early August, as reasons for stepping down.

“Rather than continue in a role where I feel I have limited in uence, I felt it was best to make space for someone who’s fully aligned with the current board and can give the position their full attention,” Focht said.

The board has not formally accepted Focht’s resignation.

Two commissioners, Kevin Almond and Mike Beaver, did not attend the meeting, leaving the board without a quorum — the minimum number of members required to conduct o cial business. Without a quorum, the board could not vote on any matters or follow the agenda. In-

THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

See RICHFIELD, page A4

Webb Field at Central Elementary School,

by

CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL

COURTESY CITY OF ALBEMARLE

North Carolina Fire Marshal Brian Taylor gave an N.C. Emergency Training Center presentation at the Albemarle City Council’s June 26 meeting.

North State Journal

(USPS 518620) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Neal Robbins, Publisher

Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Charles Curcio, Reporter

Jesse Deal, Reporter

PJ Ward-Brown, Photographer BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager

POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to: North State Journal

1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

June 18

• Christy Jane Fraley, 40, was arrested on a child support warrant.

• Zachary Tyler Capel, 39, was arrested for felony possession of Schedule II controlled substance.

• Joshua Dallas Capel, 41, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

• Bernard McMillan, 56, was arrested for tra cking opium or heroin, possession with intent to sell Schedule II controlled substance, driving while license revoked, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, providing ctitious information to an o cer, and felony possession of Schedule II controlled substance.

• Joseph Demond Little, 27, was arrested for assault by strangulation, assault on a female, misdemeanor domestic violence, and driving while license revoked.

June 20

• Mekhi Kaleek Rivers, 22, was arrested for felony possession of Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

June 21

• Marquis Daquinn Bordeaux, 31, was arrested for felony possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license revoked, local ordinance violation, and possession of unsealed alcohol in passenger area.

• Walter Eric Fleming, 59, was arrested for possession of rearm by felon, resisting a public o cer, possession of drug paraphernalia, and carrying a concealed weapon.

June 22

• Jose Maria Vargas-Hernandez, 29, was arrested for driving without a license, failure to maintain lane control, reckless driving, improper display of registration plate, driving while impaired, and expired registration.

• Amanda Nicole Hickey, 31, was arrested for possession with intent to sell Schedule II controlled substance, maintaining a place for controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of heroin.

THURSDAY

Locust to kick o 2025 Summer Concert Series

The music series spans from June to September

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

LOCUST — This weekend, the backyard of Locust City Hall will be lled with music during the rst installment of the annual Summer Concert Series presented by the City of Locust. The free four-concert event series is set to kick o on Saturday night with Remington Cartee and will continue throughout the summer with Poison’Us (July 26), The Tim Clark Band (Aug. 23) and The Tams (Sept. 27). Each of the performances will run from 7-10 p.m., with the concert experience also featuring food trucks, craft and business vendors, as well as free activities for children such as bounce houses, rock wall climbing and GellyBall.

Following the conclusion of the Sept. 27 concert, event attendees can sit back and enjoy a reworks show.

“Get ready for the ultimate summer vibe. Mark your calendars for the fourth Saturday of June, July, August, and September, and join us in the backyard of Locust City Hall for our free Summer Concert Series,” City of Locust announced. “Thanks to our gold level sponsors — Whitley Automotive of Locust, Ready Mix of the Carolinas, and Visit Stanly County — as well as our other supporting sponsors.”

The available food trucks for this weekend’s concert are J&M Food Shack, Tacoland, PoppBelly Soul Food, Wilson’s Famous Funnel Cakes, Bayou Sno, and Cascade Creek Co ee.

PapaSmoke BBQ, Lief Cafe, Bayou Sno, and Treasured Treats are among the other food trucks that will be on hand during the rest of

the Summer Concert Series nights.

Saturday’s performer, Remington Cartee, is a country and Southern rock singer-songwriter out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who has toured the Carolinas and released his original music professionally since 2022.

“We look forward to it! See you all soon,” Cartee said of his upcoming show in Locust.

Looking ahead, the Charlotte-based tribute act Poison’Us will make a stop at Locust City Hall on July 26, playing the hair metal cover songs made popular by Poison and Bret Michaels Band.

On Aug. 23, Summer Concert Series attendees will hear from The Tim Clark Band out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; the variety act plays popular hits from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and today.

The Tams — a vocal group from Atlanta — will close out the concerts on Sept. 27 with their famous blend of R&B and soul that they have toured the country with since their inception in 1960.

The 2025 Locust Summer Concert Series is sponsored by Whitley Automotive of Locust, Ready Mix of the Carolinas, Visit Stanly, Rock Therapy, and Stanly Community College, among others.

STANLY happening

June 28

community@stanlynewsjournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

Locust City Hall Backyard 186 Ray Kennedy Drive Locust

June 30

Color & Connect: Drop In 9:30-11:30 a.m. For those who need some relaxing “me” time. Come to the library and enjoy co ee or tea while you get a little creative. Supplies are provided, or feel free to bring your own.

Main Library

133 E. Main St. Albemarle

July 2

Storytime (upstairs) 10-10:30 a.m.

Social group for children 3-plus for story, singing and dancing time! Children must be accompanied by parents at all times.

133 E. Main St. Albemarle

Locust Farmers Market

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This producers-only market o ers fresh produce, homemade foods and crafts by local creators. Conveniently located across the street from Locust Elementary School. Open May through September. Corner of 24/27 and Vella Drive Locust

COURTESY CITY OF LOCUST

Event attendees enjoy

reworks show during a previous Summer Concert Series night outside Locust City Hall.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can a ord a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house res in which no one was injured, tra c pile-ups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper o ce and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual ower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

I experienced the disappearance of women’s spaces

But the reality is that males and females are inherently di erent. Sex is not a matter of feelings, but a biological fact.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies in uenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is de ned by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

But the reality is that males and females are inherently di erent. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the di erences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders de ning sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certi cates. At least eight states de ne male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was led earlier this year. The legislation de nes “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certi cates and driver’s licenses to re ect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

COLUMN | CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

COLUMN | MARC DION

CENTER from page A1

I’m very proud of this facility.”

Designed to provide re ghters and rescue members with specialized training, the project is positioned to evolve into the most advanced emergency training ground in the country with a state-of-the-art Aircraft Fire Fighting ight-crash simulator.

Swift water rescue, aircraft re ghting, urban search and rescue, hazmat and re investigation technician courses are

RICHFIELD from page A1

stead, Byrd and commissioners

Cynthia Heglar and Christy NeCaise answered questions from the standing-room-only crowd and discussed the town’s contract with the Stanly County Sheri ’s O ce. Commissioners o cially recessed the meeting until 7 p.m. next Monday, which coincides with the deadline for the town to sign the sheri ’s ofce contract.

Byrd said the original 2019 contract between the town and sheri ’s o ce cost $80,000 annually for one deputy working 40 hours a week, plus a new police vehicle. None of the current board members were serving when that contract was signed, he noted.

This year’s contract would increase to $118,000, including one-fourth of a new car’s cost and one deputy working 40 hours weekly. Stanly County Sheri Je Crisco said the increase re ects standard salary and bene t adjustments.

Byrd said the sheri had verbally committed to adding a second o cer but later removed that provision from the contract without informing the board until “the last four or ve months.”

Starting a new police department would cost $375,000 “for a minimum police force, and

among the training areas that the facility will focus on.

“There is a sister water rescue facility in Oriskany, New York, but what makes this one di erent and unique than any other in the country is that we’ll be able to put motorized boats in this facility,” Taylor said. “By having this here, it’s a controlled environment. And as we have seen in Albemarle alone over the last couple of months, the re department has responded with its water rescue equipment here in town for urban water rescue.”

Taylor explained that after a series of hurricanes over the past decade, many rst responders in the state have reaped the material bene ts of boat grants but still lack the resources needed for extended training sessions.

“We were not properly trained, so this was a priority to build a facility to get our rst responders properly trained in swift water,” he added. “The aircraft rescue is completed, and we will start additional training. We did some train-

ing so far, but it is live now as of today, and we’re pulling in folks from around the state for their FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) annual certi cations.”

“We have just completed

Following his informational brie ng, Taylor asked the Albemarle City Council if it could sign o on a waiver fee for more than $16,000 for 5 million gallons of water to get the water rescue facility “up and operational.” Councilmembers voted 7-0 in favor of upholding the OSFM’s request. The Albemarle City Council is set to hold its next regular meeting on July 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.

Brian

that would have your taxes for the citizens of Rich eld probably double just to be able to afford it,” Byrd said. Byrd questioned how much time the deputy spent within city limits, saying information gathered suggested “the ofcer was extended at least 50%

of the time in the greater Richeld community.”

Crisco said in a phone interview Tuesday that the contract requires the o cer to spend 80% of his time within Rich eld city limits, though the o cer responds to calls if he’s the closest available unit.

Heglar said this was the commission’s rst discussion about changing the sheri ’s ofce contract.

An exchange between Byrd and resident Jennifer Lehn became heated when she asked about the town’s increased parks and recreation budget.

Byrd said the town faces “a very large issue” at Rich eld Park that may require two-thirds of the $360,000 budget, but he declined to provide speci cs.

“We haven’t gotten contracts and haven’t done our due diligence,” Byrd said. “I’d really rather not disseminate information with this crowd that is not 100% accurate.

“This park right here, I promise you, only 5% of the residents of Rich eld use that park. The rest of it is the North Stanly area and community that uses it, but we’re furnishing all the money and the upkeep.”

He added to Lehn, “You’re here, so you’ve got an interest in (the deputy) keeping his job.”

“I never said anything about him. You’re making a huge assumption,” she responded.

Many residents praised Deputy Danny Belcher by name for keeping the community safe while on duty in Rich eld.

Byrd said Almond is expected to attend Monday’s meeting, providing a quorum for a vote.

“The citizens of Rich eld pay an extra tax, and that money comes back to the town,” Byrd said. “Once again, we’re doing what we think is our due diligence and responsibility as a commission to be as frugal and responsible as we can.”

Crisco said he plans to attend Monday night’s recessed board meeting.

Stanly hosts second annual Make Music Day

Children enjoyed music classes at locations across the county

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

THE SOUNDS of drums hitting buckets, ukuleles being plucked and singers belting out their best could be heard across Stanly this past Saturday.

Stanly’s second annual Make Music Day festival celebrated all aspects of music in locations around the county.

The celebration locally was a part of the international music celebration formed by the Make Music Alliance, which started 43 years ago in France. The movement is now in more than 2,000 cities worldwide.

Children in Stanly took lessons from Music on Main instructor Kurt Varney on drumming, using buckets and drumsticks, at the Court-

house Square Park in Albemarle.

Heather Almond taught classes on how to play ukulele and how stringed instruments

Children celebrated the holiday competing for prizes wearing traditional clothing to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The spirit and joy of the annual Juneteenth celebrations nationwide were celebrated with a special event in Albemarle this past Saturday.

The Niven Community Center on East Main Street hosted a Juneteenth youth pageant where contestants dressed in traditional African apparel and performed for the audience.

Hosted by Ms. Black

work, along with a kazoo-making class.

Numerous groups gave free live performances, like the Stan-

ly County Chorale, while members of the Stanly County Concert Band had a “petting zoo” for instruments at the Albemarle Music Store.

A two-hour organ crawl between four Albemarle churches (First Presbyterian, First Baptist, First Lutheran and Central UMC) also took place.

The Stanly County History center had a oor piano for kids to try out as well.

“With over 25 free workshops and over 30 free performances happening, the second annual Make Music Day Stanly County had something for everyone,”

Stanly County Arts Council director Renee Van Horn said.

“The new event for 2025 — the Organ Crawl — was a huge hit. It o ered an opportunity for the public to learn and hear the organs at four of the downtown churches in Albemarle.”

Van Horn added, “An organ concert at First Presbyterian in Norwood was also well attend-

Charlotte USA 2024 Lakeva Keel-Ferreria, the pageant celebrated Father’s Day with a special award for a father-daughter performance along with several individual award winners.

DJ Small Wonda from Winston-Salem provided the soundtrack of the event as contestants competed while enjoying dancing, food and other festivities celebrating the 160th anniversary of the last group of slaves, freed in 1865 in Galveston, Texas.

Kelsie Sellers, the event coordinator, reported that the audience was very receptive, describing it as “the best Juneteenth pageant I’ve ever had.”

“Contestant participation was lower than normal, but I

“I aspire for us to always remember our history as a whole society, but especially AfricanAmericans, so that Juneteenth is not a ‘fad’ but a meaningful day for our culture.”

Kelsie Sellers

believe that was due to it being Father’s Day weekend. Considering kids just got out for summer break, folks likely had vacation plans,” Sellers said.

To incorporate fathers into the pageant, the special father-daughter performance award went to Marcio Crockett and his daughters, Aria Crockett and Kyla Hilton, from Lancaster, South Carolina.

Sellers said she wants to continue the pageant to “inspire youth to know their culture and history that we don’t get introduced to nowadays. I as-

pire for the youth to continue to possess skills and talents, and thrive in societ with con dence in pageantry.”

Sellers added, “I aspire for us to always remember our history as a whole society, but especially African Americans, so that Juneteenth is not a ‘fad’ but a meaningful day for our culture.”

The winners from the pageant included:

• Miss Juneteenth Karsynn Broadway

• Miss Unity and Pride Aria Crockett

• Miss Juneteenth Jewel Candace DuBose

• Infant Miss Skylar Borden

• Baby Miss Luna Lockwood

• Young Miss Journie Harrington

• Jr. Miss Bella Duncan

• Teen Miss Brooklyn Ware

ed, with attendees hearing their new organ.”

The director talked about one couple from out of town and their reaction to the event.

“A couple from Reno, Nevada, was so impressed with the event that they wanted to know how to start it in their own community,” Van Horn said.

“Each year, this event grows because of the commitment of our music studios, music teachers, music organizations, community parks and recreation departments, libraries, and more.

Plans are underway for next year’s event, Van Horn said, with some timely additions.

“I can’t wait for next year’s event. It will be extra special with events for dads for Father’s Day and a patriotic twist to celebrate our nation’s 250thbBirthday, as well as everyone’s favorite workshops and performances.

What a great way to celebrate the longest (often hottest) day of the year.”

Left, from left, Marcio Crockett, Aria Crockett and Kyla Hilton won the daddy-daughter award.

Top, Cherish Littlejohn performs a praise dance.

Bottom, the winners at the Juneteenth pageant posed for a photo.

COURTESY PHOTOS

CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL

Brooke Burridge and Brooke Hodson learn about drumming from instructor Kurt Varney, right.

Jo Anne Ragsdale

March 3, 1936 – June 21, 2025

Jo Anne Ragsdale, 89, passed away peacefully on June 21, 2025, at Woodhaven Court in Albemarle, NC. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at Fairview Memorial Park, o ciated by Pastor Ben Floyd.

Born on March 3, 1936, to the late Thomas William Ward and Velna Davis Ward, Jo Anne grew up in a home full of purpose and community—literally on the grounds of East Albemarle Elementary School, where her father served as principal. That early exposure to education shaped the course of her life and inspired a career dedicated to teaching and nurturing young minds.

Jo Anne graduated from Albemarle High School in 1954 and went on to earn a degree in Elementary Education from Pfei er College in 1958. She taught in several Stanly County schools—Endy, Stan eld, and ultimately East Albemarle Elementary, where she retired after a ful lling career teaching 4th through 6th grades. She had an incredible memory for the names and faces of every student she taught and brought energy and joy to her classroom, even during PE time, where she preferred to join in the games rather than watch from the sidelines.

Jo Anne was a woman of deep faith and commitment to her church community. She played the organ and taught Sunday School at Parkway Methodist in Albemarle and later became a devoted member of Main Street United Methodist Church in 1978, where she served faithfully on various committees for decades.

She found great joy in life’s simple pleasures, gardening, sewing, reading, and reconnecting with former students. Her sense of humor and playful spirit were best seen when she was teasing her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly.

Jo Anne is survived by her sons, Curtis G. Ragsdale Jr. and wife Stacy of Albemarle, and Christopher T. Ragsdale and wife Lisa of Sylva, NC; grandchildren Brandon Ragsdale and wife Alexis of Albemarle, and Madison Ubaldo and husband Manuel of Albemarle; and one greatgrandchild, Wade, who brought a new light to her later years. Her life was one of quiet strength, devoted service, and heartfelt connections. She leaves behind a legacy of learning, laughter, and love.

Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is serving the Ragsdale family.

OBITUARIES

MARGIE MARTIN HATHAWAY

MARCH 17, 1941 – JUNE 20, 2025

Margie Martin Hathaway, 78, of Stan eld, passed away peacefully at her home on June 20, 2025. A service to celebrate her life will be held at a later date in Pitt County, North Carolina.

Born on October 2, 1946, in Pitt County, Margie was the daughter of the late Johnny Martin I and Louise Ramsey Martin Wilson. A devoted homemaker, Margie poured her heart into raising her family and caring for others. Her loved ones remember her as caring, intelligent, strongwilled, and deeply dedicated to those she loved. She was known for her generous spirit and unwavering willingness to make sacri ces for her family.

Margie had a passion for reading and a deep interest in genealogy and history. She especially loved spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she took great pride in being a caregiver to those in need.

She was preceded in death by her husband of many years, Marvin Earl Hathaway, in 2016, and by her brother, Johnny Martin II.

Margie is survived by her three sons: Marvin Todd Hathaway and wife Jodey of Dickinson, TX; Timothy Macklin Hathaway and wife Bridget of Red Oak, NC; and Terence Martin Hathaway and wife Amanda of Stan eld, NC; and daughter-in-law Maggan Hathaway of Greenville, NC. She is also survived by her sister, Barbara Williams of Greenville, NC; ten grandchildren: Jessica, Nikki, Mitchell, Jeremy, Teresie, Erykah, Emarion, K.J., Jazz and Summer; and seven great-grandchildren, who brought her immense joy.

In lieu of owers, please make memorials to Shriners Children’s Hospital (donate.lovetotherescue.org) or Children’s Miracle Network (give.lifesong.org >donate>orphan-charity).

Margie’s legacy of love, resilience, and devotion will live on through the generations she so cherished.

BARBARA FURR BARNETT

OCT.15, 1944 – JUNE 20, 2025

Barbara Furr Burnett, 80, of Albemarle, peacefully passed away on Friday, June 20, 2025, at Atrium Health Stanly. A woman of unwavering faith, deep love, and quiet strength, Barbara lived a life of service to her family, her church, and her community.

A visitation will be held on Monday, June 23, 2025, from 10-10:45 a.m. at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle. A funeral service, o ciated by Pastor Wayne Lisenby, will follow at 11 a.m. in the Stanly Funeral Home Chapel. Barbara will be laid to rest at Salem Methodist Church Cemetery.

Born on October 15, 1944, in Stanly County to the late Arthur and Hazel Furr, Barbara spent her life rooted in the values of love, kindness, and devotion. She is lovingly survived by her husband of 40 years, Jerry Burnett, with whom she shared a deeply committed and nurturing marriage.

Barbara’s legacy lives on through her children: Jann Mills (Randy) of Oakboro, Sherrie Harrington (David) of Albemarle, and Wesley Cates (Dena) of Albemarle. Her grandchildren, Dana Parah, Grant Harrington, and Michaela Zepeda (Levin) and her great-grandchildren, Brooklyn, Isabella, Julian, Greyson, Annalaya, and Ayden, will forever cherish the warmth, wisdom, and unconditional love she so freely gave.

She is preceded in death by her brother, Eddie Ray Furr.

Barbara was a faithful and dedicated pianist for over 25 years, sharing her musical gifts with her congregation and bringing joy through worship. She loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and was a devoted member of her church, where she was known for her kind spirit, giving nature, and encouraging words.

Her passions included the beach, hummingbirds, and red birds— symbols of the peace and beauty she saw in the world. Above all, Barbara was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend who found joy in caring for others, especially her beloved husband, Jerry.

Her presence will be missed, but her legacy of grace, generosity, and faith will live on in all who had the privilege to know her.

Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is serving the Burnett family.

BEATRICE DRYE GOODMAN

OCT. 23, 1933 – JUNE 21, 2025

Beatrice Drye Goodman, 91, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at her home, surrounded by the love and comfort of her family.

Born in Stanly County on October 23, 1933, Beatrice was the daughter of the late Eli and Lena Drye. She lived a life marked by quiet strength, unwavering love, and deep devotion to her family and faith. Beatrice was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jack Goodman, in 2015.

She is survived by her four devoted children: Renee Watkins (Bobby), Brian Goodman (Betty), Carol Kiker, and Kim Goodman; her cherished grandchildren: Joseph Watkins (Staci), Jenny Mabry (Stuart), Ashlea Mooney (Jordan), Christopher Kiker, and Denise Trevino; and her treasured great-grandchildren: Jax, Essa, Iris, Miles, Kayla, Elijah, Julianna, Kray, and Kailey. She also leaves behind one great-greatgrandchild, Savannah, who brought her special joy.

Beatrice will be remembered for her love of reading, her knack for word searches, and most of all, the joy she found in time spent with her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who were the light of her life.

The family will receive friends on Monday, June 23, 2025, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle. A funeral service celebrating Beatrice’s life will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Oakboro, o ciated by Pastor Jonathan Waits and Rev. Dr. Terrell Watts. Burial will follow at Oakboro Cemetery.

In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to the Building Fund at First Baptist Oakboro, 322 N Main St./PO Box 10, Oakboro, NC 28129. Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is honored to serve the Goodman family.

JAMES DEAN HOPPER

JULY 4, 1951 – JUNE 21, 2025

James Dean Hopper, age 73, of Badin, North Carolina, passed away on June 21, 2025. Born on July 4, 1951, Humboldt, Tennessee, Dean lived a life marked by service, devotion to family, and quiet strength.

Dean attended K.D. McKellar Elementary School and graduated from Milan High School, where he met the love of his life, Jody Rhoades. The two married in December 1969 and shared 55 devoted years together. They raised one daughter, Terrace, born in 1973. During his lifetime, Dean formed many strong, lifelong friendships that remained meaningful to him throughout his life.

The same year he married, Dean began a distinguished 20 year career in the United States Air Force. He served with honor in the variety of global posts, including Newfoundland, England, Norway, and Colorado, where he was stationed at NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). A signi cant portion of his career was also spent at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Throughout his service, Dean was known for his reliability, humility, and steadfast dedication to his country and colleagues.

After retiring from the Air Force, Dean pursued his passion for education and history, earning the admiration of students and peers alike as a history teacher at both Seventy- First High School and Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The family will receive friends from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at Christ Episcopal Church of Albemarle. A Celebration of Life will follow at 4 p.m., o ciated by Rev. Chip Long.

Dean was preceded in death by his parents, Morris Alvin Hopper and Era Ophelia Hopper, as well as his brothers Alvin Ray Hopper and Daniel Houston Hopper.

He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Jody Hopper, daughter, Terrace Brykit (Steve); and his brothers, Benny Hopper and Tommy Hopper, also many loving nieces, nephews and friends.

Dean will be remembered for his quiet strength, quick wit, and unwavering commitment to family, service, and education. His Legacy lives on in the many lives he touched, both in and out of the classroom. His favorite saying and belief was “ Nature never betrayed the heart that loved her.”

In lieu of owers, the family requests that donations be shared to Tillery Compassionate Care or Christ Episcopal church of Albemarle. Hartsell Funeral Home of Albemarle is serving the Hopper family.

JERRY W. RUSSELL MAY 30, 1954 – JUNE 22, 2025

Jerry W. Russell passed away at his home on June 22, 2025, at the age of 71. He is predeceased by his parents James Haywood Russell and Nell Burr Russell.

Jerry is survived by his loving wife, Madeline Little Russell.

He will be lovingly remembered by his children Matt Russell (Kelly) and Meredith Lowder (Ken, Jr.) both of Norwood. He leaves behind his ve grandchildren, Bailey Russell, Karley Hurley (Dustin), Matthew Russell, Summer Lowder and Russell Lowder.

Jerry was born on May 30, 1954. He graduated from Forest Hills High School in 1972 and went on to earn a bachelor’s in education from Western Carolina University in 1976. He worked as a teacher and coach for 28 years with Stanly County Schools.

Jerry enjoyed thrift shopping, watching movies, and riding around the community in his golf cart with his dog Little Bit. He was an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Tar Heels.

A gathering of friends will be held at Silver Springs Baptist Church following the funeral service.

The funeral service will be held at Silver Springs Baptist Church located at 16072 NC 138, Norwood, NC 28128, on Wednesday, June 25, at 11 a.m. with Reverend Mark Little o ciating. Interment to follow in the church cemetery. The family requests that, due to the heat, you dress comfortably. Absolutely no suits or ties.

In lieu of owers, donations may be made to Silver Springs Baptist Church to be utilized to purchase Bibles through Gideons International.

DONALD STOKES HICKS

JULY 12, 1954 – JUNE 22, 2025

Donald S. Hicks, 70, of Norwood; passed away Sunday, June 22, 2025; at Atrium Health Pineville surrounded by his family.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 2-4 p.m. at Edwards Funeral Home in Norwood. A private burial will follow.

Donald was born on July 12, 1954, in Albemarle, to the late Preston and Maxine Hicks. He spent his days painting and installing wallpaper for over 50 years.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his brother, Bobby Hicks.

Donald is survived by his loving wife of 52 years: Debbie Hicks, of the home; his daughter: Keysha Harrington (Brent), Son: Jason Hicks (Ryan), and grandchildren: Alaina Kimrey (Hunter), Matthew Harrington and Hunter Hicks (Ashlyn). He is also survived by his sister, Carolyn Hicks.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Stanly News Journal at obits@northstatejournal.com

STANLY SPORTS

Former Pfei er pitcher makes MLB debut

Paul Gervase played for the Falcons in 2019 and made his debut Saturday with the Tampa Bay Rays

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

A FORMER PFEIFFER

baseball player made his Major League Baseball debut Sunday. Paul Gervase, who played the 2019 season with the Falcons, got the news last Friday night he

was being called up from AAA Durham to the Tampa Bay Rays. He debuted Saturday against Detroit and pitched two scoreless innings with one strikeout in an 8-3 win for the Rays.

“It was really cool. I’ve waited my whole life to be able to do that. … Just to get out there and pitch well and help the team win; that’s all I could ask for,” Gervase told the media after the game.

Gervase is in his fourth year of playing pro ball, having appeared for the Bulls 23 times this

season. With Durham, he is 2-3 with a 3.78 ERA, walking 10 and striking out 50 in 331⁄3 innings pitched.

The Fuquay-Varina native pitched in 2019 with the Falcons for one season, appearing in nine games while starting three. He had a 4.19 earned-run average that season with 15 walks and 17 strikeouts in 191⁄3 innings, hitting seven batters and allowing nine earned runs.

Gervase went on to pitch at Wake Tech Community Col-

lege in Raleigh in 2020 and Pitt Community College the next season.

The 6-foot-10 pitcher’s nal season came at LSU, where he graduated and was then selected in the 12th round by the New York Mets in the 2022 MLB Draft.

In 2023, Gervase put up strong numbers for the Mets’ high-A team in Brooklyn and AA franchise in Binghamton.

Last season, he was traded in July to Tampa Bay for another relief pitcher, Tyler Zuber.

Pfei er releases soccer schedules for 2025 season

The regular season begins the nal weekend of August

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

MISENHEIMER — Pfei er University revealed its 2025 schedules for its men’s and women’s soccer programs on Monday.

The Falcons teams will each begin their upcoming season with a pair of scrimmages in the second half of August before launching into their regular-season and USA South Athletic Conference matchups.

The rst round of the conference tournament is scheduled for Nov. 1, with semi nals and a championship game soon to follow.

Ninth-year coach Tony Faticoni and his men’s team are set to open their preseason with a home scrimmage at Misenheimer’s Lefko-Mills Field against Montreat on Aug. 20 before heading to Belmont Abbey for a Aug. 26 road scrimmage.

Looking to upgrade upon last season’s 4-8-3 (1-5-1 USA South) record, the Falcons’ regular-season opener will be at Guilford on Aug. 29, while game two is slated to be a road trip to Averett on Sept. 3.

Pfei er then has a Sept. 9 home opener against Piedmont at Lefko-Mills Field, which is followed by three more home matchups: Shaw (Sept. 12), Randolph (Sept. 17) and Carolina University (Sept. 20).

The matchup with Carolina serves as Pfei er’s homecoming game for the men’s and women’s teams.

Next up, the Falcons have a four-game stretch of road contests, traveling to Virginia State (Sept. 24) before open-

Lefko-Mills Field in Misenheimer is the home of the Pfei er Falcons’ soccer and lacrosse programs.

ing USA South play at NC Wesleyan (Sept. 27) and Methodist (Sept. 30).

The team will face Carolina again (Oct. 4) before returning to Misenheimer on Oct. 8 for William Peace. Pfei er will host Greensboro on Oct. 11 and Warren Wilson on Oct. 15 as the team prepares for its nal trio of regular-season conference games: Mary Baldwin (Oct. 18) on the road, and both Southern Virginia (Oct. 25) and Brevard (Oct. 29) at home. For the Falcons women’s squad, third-year coach Acasio Roche III is hoping his group can improve upon a 3-12 (1-8 USA South) record it put together last year.

heimer against Eastern Connecticut State four days later.

Pfei er is set to begin its regular season at home versus Averett (Aug. 29) before heading to Piedmont (Sept. 6) and returning home for Bob Jones (Sept. 9) and Shaw (Sept. 12).

The Falcons’ preseason consists of a road matchup at Spartanburg Methodist on Aug. 19 and a home game in Misen-

After that, the Falcons will travel to Johnson and Wales (Sept. 17) prior to a trio of home contests: Carolina (Sept. 20), William Peace (Sept. 23) and Greensboro (Sept. 27). USA South play begins on Oct. 4 with a road trip to NC Wesleyan followed by Salem (Oct. 7) at home, and both Meredith (Oct. 11) and Methodist (Oct. 15) on the road. The Falcons will host Southern Virginia (Oct. 18), Warren Wilson (Oct. 21) and Mary Baldwin (Oct. 15) before closing out the regular season at Brevard (Oct. 29).

JASON BEHNKEN / AP PHOTO

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Paul Gervase throws during the sixth inning of his MLB debut Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.

GERALD HERBERT / AP PHOTO Paul Gervase

with a strikeout. Starter Malik Foster threw four scoreless innings with three walks, three hit batters and six strikeouts.

balk issued in the bottom of the ninth tied the game and sent it into extra innings.

Uwharrie earned a second walk-o victory ahead of an 11-inning tie and a pair of losses

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The

Uwharrie Wampus Cats may need to be the next in a long line of teams named “The Cardiac Cats.”

Uwharrie’s season continued this past weekend with four home games in three nights, including a win, a rare tie and a pair of losses.

Uwharrie has a pair of home games this week. The Cats host the Mooresville Spinners Thursday night and the Central Davidson Swamp Donkeys Friday. Both games will start at 7 p.m.

FRIDAY’S GAME

Uwharrie 4, Carolina Ducks 3

The Wampus Cats walked o another one-run home win Friday night. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Uwharrie

pushed two runs across to improve to 6-3 on the season.

Uwharrie loaded the bases in the ninth with a single and two batters hit by pitches. Blake McKinney scored on a passed ball to tie the game, then after an intentional walk, Rhett Barker singled to third, scoring Sam Schwamb with the winning run.

Tomar Erel put the Cats up 1-0 in the bottom of the fth with a two-out RBI single to left.

Schwamb made it 2-0 Uwharrie an inning later with an RBI groundout before the Ducks responded.

A two-RBI single and later a sacri ce y put the visitors ahead in the top of the eighth, 3-2.

Brooks Farrell won the game in relief for the Wampus Cats, pitching a scoreless ninth inning

SATURDAY’S GAME

Uwharrie 6, Carolina Disco Turkeys 6 (11 innings)

The Disco Turkeys hosted the rival Wampus Cats on Saturday, but the host team had just 10 players dressed.

The game was declared a tie after 11 innings when Carolina ran out of pitchers and position players.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Uwharrie took the lead with two runs. Mecimore delivered with an RBI in eld single and Lindsey scored on a passed ball to put the Cats up 2-1.

Lindsey made 3-1 in the bottom of the fth with an RBI groundout, but the Turkeys responded in the seventh. An RBI double cut the Cats’ lead to 3-2.

Osborne’s RBI single up the middle pushed Uwharrie’s lead back to two runs 4-2.

The Disco Turkeys scored three unearned runs in the top of the ninth and led 5-4, but a

Both teams scored a run in the 10th inning, then the game ended after a scoreless 11th.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Game 1

Carolina Ducks 5, Uwharrie 4

In the rst game of a doubleheader, Uwharrie led 3-1 after three innings but the Ducks rallied for two runs in the eighth and held o the Cats in the bottom of the frame for the win.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Carson Whitehead singled and Anderson Moreno doubled. With two on and no outs, Nathan Hayworth delivered an RBI groundout, scoring Whitehead, then Moreno scored on a elding error to put the Cats in the lead. Will Brooks then singled to left to score Connor Lindsey, putting Uwharrie ahead, 3-1.

The Ducks added two runs in the fth to tie the game then added two in the eighth on a single and later a elding error.

Lindsey got the Cats within one with a sac y in the bottom of the eighth, but Uwharrie got no closer.

Uwharrie sees mixed 4-game weekend homestand 2

Game 2

Marion Hungry Mothers 4, Uwharrie 3

The second game of the twinbill pitted the Cats against Marion, to whom the team had lost earlier this season, 10-8. Marion took a two run lead but Uwharrie stormed back early to lead by one. Two runs in the fth by the Hungry Mothers led to a loss for Uwharrie (6 -5-1).

In the top of the rst, Marion drove in two runs with a one -out, two-RBI single to right after a single and a hit batter. Uwharrie’s McKinney got the hosts on the board with a sac bunt, scoring Carter Devore. An RBI single from Jett Thomas and an RBI groundout by Ben Mecimore put Uwharrie in front after two innings, 3-2. A elding error in the top of the fth allowed two Hungry Mothers to score to give the visitors the lead and eventually the win.

The Wampus Cats line up for the national anthem before a game earlier this month.

Wampus Cats walk-o home wins this season

Stanly YMCA summer sports camps continue

Parents can sign up for the camps on the YMCA’s website starting at $65

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — While the Stanly County Family YMCA has already held its volleyball and ag football camps for the summer, it is still o ering registration signups for its upcoming soccer and basketball camps next month.

Located at 427 N. First St. in Albemarle, the Stanly YMCA Summer Sports Camps aim to provide an opportunity for children to improve their athletic skills in the o season.

“We believe that every child deserves a great summer,” Stanly YMCA said in a camp advertisement. “Summer camp is a time for amazing experiences, new memories and days lled with lots of fun and laughter! Through interactions with other children and leadership driven sta , your child has the opportunity to develop lifelong skills that will help them tackle their future.”

Each camp runs 9 a.m. to noon with fees that vary based on membership status; fees are $65 for existing YMCA family members, $65 for existing YMCA youth and teen members, and $95 for nonmembers.

Camp drop-o is from 8:30 -9 a.m., while pick-up is from noon to 12:15 p.m. The last day of both camps will feature a swimming and pizza party inside the YMCA swimming facility.

“Our goal over the summer is to ensure child and parent satisfaction,” Stanly YMCA added. “Your child will expe -

sideline report

NCAA FOOTBALL

Wisconsin, NIL

collective sue Miami, allege tampering, NIL inducements

Madison, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have sued the University of Miami, saying it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this fall. The suit could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The case describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced plans to leave the Badgers. Miami did not have an immediate comment.

rience days lled with creativity, learning, active interaction, and friendships. Making new friends, having fun, experiencing positive role models, great times and the opportunity to learn new skills should be available to each child.”

The YMCA has soccer camps at Central Elementary School’s Webb Field from July 7-10 divided up into three age ranges:

NHL Blackhawks acquire Burakovsky from Kraken in exchange for Veleno

Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for fellow forward Joe Veleno. Chicago also placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on unconditional waivers for purposes of buying out his contract. The 30-year- old Burakovsky had 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games with Seattle last season. A Stanley Cup champion with Washington in 2018 and Colorado in 2022, he has 153 goals and 234 assists in 696 regular-season games over 11 NHL seasons. The acquisition of Burakovsky gives Chicago some additional size and scoring and creates more salary cap exibility for Seattle.

“We believe that every child deserves a great summer.”

Stanly YMCA

ages 5 to 7, 8 to 10, and 11 to 13.

During the soccer camps, participants — campers should bring cleats, shin guards, water

NCAA BASEBALL

Arkansas shortstop Aloy wins Golden Spikes Award as nation’s top amateur player

Cary Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy received the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the nation. Aloy is the third Arkansas player to take home the prize, joining Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2021, and the 12th winner from the Southeastern Conference. Aloy was the SEC player of the year and led the Razorbacks in almost every major o ensive category.

bottle and soccer ball — will work on passing, dribbling, shooting, ball handling and defensive drills, as well as individual and team skills.

From July 14-17, the YMCA is o ering a basketball camp for ages 5 to 11 and a separate camp for middle school students.

Campers are advised to bring shoes, water bottle and a towel, campers will focus on

Registration is currently available for the local YMCA’s soccer and basketball summer camps.

learning to improve shooting, defense and overall teamwork skills. At the conclusion of the camp, YMCA camp leaders will host a tournament where campers can showcase what they have practiced during the program. Summer camp registration and more information about the Stanly County Family YMCA is online at stanlyymca.org.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to the general public that the City of Albemarle City Council will conduct public hearing(s) concerning the item(s) listed below at the dates, times, and location provided herein:

ZMA 25-01- a public hearing will be held to consider a request to rezone a 0.48 acre +/parcel at 936 N 5th St., tax record 13381 from R10 General Residential to HMD Hospital Medical District.

The hearing(s) will be conducted in the City Council Chambers of City Hall, located at 144 N Second St., Albemarle, N.C. 28001 at the following time(s): Monday, July 7th, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.

All interested parties are invited to attend the hearing. Anyone wishing to speak for or against this action shall adhere to applicable City policies and statutes regarding open meetings. The City Council approved agenda can be found on the city’s website, www.albemarlenc.gov

Publish: Wednesday June 25, 2025, Saturday June 28, 2025.

COURTESY STANLY COUNTY FAMILY YMCA

HELP WANTED

Seeking skilled artist with an eye for color matching to do art restorations. I anticipate work will require acrylics and some airbrush. No deadlines. Call or text 704-322-1376. Email bdavis34@carolina.rr.com.

Let’sWorkTogether

Full-Time

Full-Time

Coordinator, Clinical-LPNProgram

Coordinator, Fire/Rescue/EmergencyManagement TrainingPrograms

Coordinator, Clinical - LPN Program Coordinator, Fire/Rescue/Emergency Management Training Programs

Director, CampusFoodServices

Instructor, Business Administration (9-month) - ACI

Director, NursingProgram

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

25SP000025-830

Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Karmen N. Smith (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Karmen N. Smith) to John B. Third, Trustee(s), dated March 15, 2021, and recorded in Book No. 1734, at Page 702 in Stanly County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Stanly County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door in Albemarle, Stanly County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 11:00 AM on July 9, 2025 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Norwood in the County of Stanly, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Lying and being in the City of Norwood,

Instructor, BusinessAdministration(9-month)-ACI

O cer, Security ProgramHead, Accounting ProgramHead, ElectricalLineWorker

O cer, Security Program Head, Accounting Program Head, Electrical Line Worker

Part-Time

Part-Time

Adjunct Instructor, Carolina Auction Academy

AdjunctInstructor, CarolinaAuctionAcademy

Adjunct Instructor, Carpentry/Building Construction

AdjunctInstructor, Carpentry/BuildingConstruction

Adjunct Instructor, Electrical Systems Technology

AdjunctInstructor, ElectricalSystemsTechnology

AdjunctInstructor, EMS(EMTContinuingEd)

Adjunct Instructor, Nurse Aide I & II Programs

AdjunctInstructor, EMSClinicalPracticum

Adjunct Instructor, Plumbing

AdjunctInstructor, NurseAideI&IIPrograms

Adjunct Instructor, Real Estate

AdjunctInstructor, Plumbing

Assistant, Eagle’s One Stop

AdjunctInstructor, RealEstate

Housekeeping

Specialist, AlliedHealthLearning(Part-Time)

Specialist, Learning Revised

Sta , FoodService

TutoringSpecialist, AcademicSupportCenter

Tutoring Specialist, Academic Support Center

Jobdescriptionsareonourwebsite. Pleasecompleteanonlineapplicationat

www.stanly.edu/college-information/ employment-opportunities.

NOTICES

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE STANLY COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION 25CVSNOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

JOSEPH B. MCMANUS (Unmarried), Plainti , JAMES A. PHILLIPS, JR., Guardian, Ad Litem for All Persons, Firms and Corporations, As Well As For All Lien Creditors, Including But Not Limited To Any Defendants Herein Referenced (Male, Female or Fictitious Entity Such As A Corporation, Limited Liability Company, Limited Partnership And The Like) Who Or Which May Be Under A Disability At Law (Including Incompetency, Minority Or Corporate/Company Suspension), As Well As All Persons En Ventre Sa Mere And All Persons, Firms or Corporations Who Or Which May Have

CAROLINA STANLY

OF

DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000326-830 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Bobby Reid Rushing, deceased, late of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the Estate of said decedent to present them to the undersigned on or before August 12, 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 11th day of June, 2025. Executor: Mary Rushing Stewart Rollirewood Ave. China Grove, NC 28023 (GS 28A-14-1)

Notice of Meeting Change

The New London Town Board Meeting has been changed from Tuesday, July 1st to Tuesday, July 8th at 7:00 pm at the Community Center located at

and Rene Gardine Davenport aka Rene S. Davenport, in the original amount of $30,000.00, payable to National Equity Corp., dated September 9, 1997 and recorded on October 23, 1997 in Book 0645, Page 0635, Stanly County Registry. Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Anchor Trustee Services, LLC having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds of Stanly County, North Carolina, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door or other usual place of sale in Stanly County, North Carolina, at 2:00PM on July 10, 2025, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property, to wit: Being all of that certain 1.218 acre parcel of land on the South side of Rocky River Springs Road (State Road #1940) as shown on a plat of Boundary Survey dated July 26, 1995 by Charles E. Moon, North Carolina Registered Land Surveyor of property of James D. and Rene S. Davenport; and being further described as follows: Beginning at a railroad spike in the centerline of Rocky River Springs Road a new corner with James Davenport, located two calls from

NOTICE

NORTH

SUPERIOR

DIVISION BEFORE

FILE

Having quali ed as EXECUTOR of the estate of Hollie Keath Vanhoy deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, This is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Hollie Keath Vanhoy to present them to the undersigned on or

NOTICE NORTH

Old Whitney Road New London North Carolina 28127 Executor

NOTICE The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Virginia Edith Peangatelli late of Stanly County, North Carolina, hereby noti es to all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present

NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY IN THE

the Estate of said Grover Wayne Mauldin to present them to the undersigned on or before Sept 26, 2025, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This 20th day of June, 2025 Rodney Wayne Mauldin 216 N. Main Street New London, North Carolina 28127 Executor

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE STANLY COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000297-830 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having quali ed as executor of

(fax) dneill@mtglaw.com

the stream

76th Emmy Awards in 2024. All 10 episodes of the

‘The Bear,’ new Lorde album, ‘Nosferatu,’

‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Nelly and Ashanti

The “F1 The Album” includes songs from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran and more

The Associated Press

THE JACK Black-led movie phenomenon “A Minecraft Movie” and Lorde’s fourth studio album, “Virgin,” 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: All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” drop Wednesday, Nelly and Ashanti get their own reality show, and Bill Skarsgård leads an update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

The Porky Pig and Da y Duck movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” is coming to HBO Max on Friday (it will also broadcast on HBO on Saturday at 8 p.m.). Reviews were a little mixed but mostly positive for the full-length animated feature.

Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother Jayne Mans eld, “My Mom Jayne,” will also be streaming on HBO Max on Friday. The Hollywood bombshell died in a car accident at 34 when Hargitay was only 3. La-la-la-lava, ch-ch-ch-chicken, Steve’s lava chicken is now streaming on HBO Max, as is the rest of “A Minecraft Movie.” A box o ce phenomenon with over $950 million in worldwide ticket sales and counting, this movie adaptation of the popular game stars Black and Jason Momoa. In his AP review, Mark Kennedy wrote that “the Jared Hess-directed action-adventure artfully straddles the line between delighting preteen gamers and keeping their parents awake. It’s an often-bananas adaptation, with bizarre digressions into turquoise blouses and tater tot pizzas. It has Jennifer Coolidge being very Jennifer Coolidge. Need we say more?” Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård lead

the Robert Eggers-directed update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu,” streaming on Prime Video starting Friday. Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her AP review that “it will chill you to the bone” but that “it may not terrify you.” Everything, she adds, in Eggers “faithful, even adoring remake... looks great. But with its stylized, often stilted dialogue and overly dramatic storytelling, it feels more like everyone is living in a quaint period painting rather than a world populated by real humans (and, well, vampires) made of esh and, er, blood.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

What will the next era of Lorde look like? “What Was That,” the singer’s rst new single in four years, recalls the clever synth-pop of her 2017 album “Melodrama,” casting aside the folk detour of 2021’s “Solar Power.” The song that followed, “Man of the Year,” is stripped and spare — just Lorde and a sorrowful bass. Who knows

what will come next? Listeners will have to wait until Friday when she releases her fourth studio album, “Virgin.”

The “F1” movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, is quickly gearing up to be a summer tentpole. Naturally, the lmmakers knew its sound had to be massive, too. That arrives via a score by the many-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and a huge soundtrack releasing as “F1 The Album” via Atlantic Records, the team behind the award-winning “Barbie” album — with bespoke tracks from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Myke Towers, Blackpink’s Rosé, Tate McRae and many more. Learn all about how the soundtrack came together here.

On Friday, arty alt-rock legends Failure will receive documentary treatment in “Every Time You Lose Your Mind: A Film about Failure,” available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The unorthodox and in uential band nally gets their due in the project, direct-

ed by frontman Ken Andrews. Some of the featured voices in the documentary certainly will be Paramore’s Hayley Williams, actor Jason Schwartzman, comedian Margaret Cho, legendary producers Steve Albini and Butch Vig and many more participate.

SERIES TO STREAM

All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” are ready to watch on Hulu. Viewers will nd out if Michelin-starred chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) can successfully run an acclaimed and pro table ne dining restaurant in Chicago. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural,” “Tracker”) stars in a new crime thriller series for Prime Video called “Countdown.” Ackles plays a LAPD detective assigned to a task force investigating the murder of a government o cial. Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” also stars. It is streaming now. Ben A eck and Jennifer Lo -

pez’s second shot at love didn’t work out, but there’s another celebrity couple who has rekindled a past ame. Recording artists Nelly and Ashanti were an item for more than 10 years before their breakup in 2013. They got back together in 2023 and are now married with a son. The pair are the subject of their own reality show called “Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together.” It debuts Thursday on Peacock.

Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star in the new thriller “Smoke” for Apple TV+ as investigators working together to catch two serial arsonists. It’s created by Dennis Lehane and based on a true story where an arson investigator turned out to be a serial arsonist. “Smoke” reunites Egerton and Lehane who worked on the Apple limited series “Blackbird.” John Leguizamo and Greg Kinnear also appear in “Smoke,” out Friday.

“Nautilus,” a reimagining of Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” comes to AMC+ on Friday. It’s an origin story of the character known as Captain Nemo and portrayed by Shazad Latif. Nemo is an Indian prince whose birthright was stolen from him and he’s on a mission for revenge.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

In 2019’s Death Stranding, a courier named Sam worked to reconnect survivors in a postapocalyptic America beset by “beached things,” gooey monsters trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sam is back in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but now he faces a question we’ve all asked in the internet age: Was connecting everyone really such a good idea? The series is the brainchild of legendary “Metal Gear Solid” mastermind Hideo Kojima, and fans know they can expect a complex story, amboyant graphics and some o -the-wall gameplay ideas. Norman Reedus of “The Walking Dead” returns as Sam, and yes, he’s still carrying a baby who has psychic powers. Embrace the weirdness Thursday on PlayStation 5.

Jeremy Allen White accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “The Bear” at the

show are now streaming on Hulu.

Solution to last week’s puzzle

Solution to this week’s puzzles

Welcome to The Show

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Chase Burns walks onto the field before his MLB debut. The former Demon Deacon was the second overall pick in last year’s draft. He pitched five innings and struck out eight against the Yankees.

WHAT’S

HAPPENING

N.C. Senate takes on transgender issues

Raleigh

The state Senate advanced two bills that deal with transgender issues as lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by this week’s end. The first bill passed by the Senate on Monday bars parents from being cited for abuse or neglect for raising their child consistent with their sex assigned at birth. That bill now heads to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk. The second bill has several provisions, including restrictions on using state money to fund gender-affirming care for prisoners and a resolution affirming there are only two sexes. The state House must approve of the second bill.

Court issues mixed ruling on governor’s appointment powers

Raleigh State trial judges have issued a mixed ruling for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders in litigation over recent law changes that eroded gubernatorial powers. A three-judge panel on Tuesday unanimously struck down as unconstitutional a law that placed some limits on whom the governor could choose to fill vacancies on appellate courts. But the judges let stand provisions that take away some of Stein’s appointments to the state Utilities Commission and Building Code Council. The order can be appealed.

$2.00

Commissioners approve rezoning of former ballfield

The prospective buyer of the nearly seven acre property plans to build a single-story home

By Ryan Henkel Twin City Herald

WINSTON-SALEM — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met June 19 with an agenda mostly comprised of routine business.

The board did, however, hold a public hearing for a rezoning request for nearly seven acres of property located at the western terminus of Stunstall Road and north of Sahabu Road from Highway Business to Residential Single Family (RS-40).

“There has been a baseball field with parking and concessions and other things on the property since the mid-1970s,

and it was formalized in 1987 by a rezoning from the county commissioners,” said Planning Director Chris Murphy

According to Nikki Rottweiler, the real estate agent representing the client (Kernersville Little League), there is already an interested buyer lined up for the property who plans to construct one single-level home on it.

Following the hearing, the board approved the request for rezoning.

“I have no reason to argue that it is fair that the property owner should have greater restrictions on the size of the lots than the neighbors around them.”

Commissioner Dan Besse

“We have no way to guarantee over time whether that will remain a single lot or if it will be developed for a small number of additional lots,” said Commissioner Dan Besse. “However, I also have no reason to argue that it is reasonable or fair that the property owner should have greater restrictions on the size of the lots than the neighbors around them have now.”

The board also approved a variety of contractual items, including:

• A renewal of its fire and rescue service agreements with the Town of Rural Hall and the Beeson Crossroads, Belews Creek, City View, Clemmons, Forest Hill, Griffith, Gumtree, Horneytown, King, Lewisville,

Flooding, rock slides close part of I-40 in Smoky Mountains

The same area was shut down following Hurricane Helene

The Associated Press

HARTFORD, Tenn. —

Heavy rain, flooding and a rock slide have again closed a section of the major cross-country highway Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains, with engineers expecting the road closed for at least two weeks.

The slide and flood happened last Wednesday afternoon around mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, the Tennessee Department of Trans-

portation said on social media.

Engineers have found significant damage on both the highway and nearby ramps which was more extensive than originally thought, Republican Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison said on social media.

“Several areas remain under water, and there are potentially compromised slopes. Geotechnical engineers are on-site today to assess the stability of those slopes,” wrote Faison, who represents the area.

Tennessee transportation officials estimate it will take at least two weeks to drain the water, make sure the slopes are safe and repair the highway.

The damaged section is part of 12 miles of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that

was washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September.

Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March.

The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high that had to be removed to let vehicles stuck by the flooding and rockslide to turn around and go the other way.

About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.

The permanent fix to stabilize what’s left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road,

Mineral Springs, Mount Tabor, Northeast, Piney Grove, Talley’s Crossing, South Fork, Suburban, Triangle, Union Cross, Vienna, and West Bend volunteer fire departments.

• A three-year contract in an amount not to exceed approximately $425,000 with EPR Systems for records management software for 14 of the 16 fire departments that contract with the county.

• A purchase order in an amount not to exceed $170,000 with Storr Office Environments for the purchase and installation of furniture at the new Tanglewood Clubhouse.

• A $288,000 purchase order with Spartan Fire and Emergency for a Demers MX170 Ford E450 ambulance unit with graphics and the installation of a Stryker Powerload for the Emergency Services Department.

• A contract just under $3.2 million for the purchase of brand-name, generic and overthe-counter pharmaceuticals for the county’s limited-formulary retail pharmacy.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet July 24.

About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.

filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years.

I-40 runs from Wilmington to Barstow, California, and any detour around the Great Smoky Mountain section is dozens of miles. Trucks have gotten stuck on twisty narrow mountain roads and are banned on another major highway through the area U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The official detour takes drivers heading west on I-40 up Interstate 26 at Asheville to Johnson City, Tennessee, and then south down Interstate 81 back to I-40.

JOSHUA A. BICKEL /

“Join the conversation”

North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Neal Robbins, Publisher Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager

Published each Thursday as part of North State Journal

1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

TO SUBSCRIBE: 919-663-3232

NSJONLINE.COM

Annual Subscription Price: $100.00

Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, NC and at additional mailing offices

POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to: North State Journal

1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

Pastor says God, heroic security team prevented mass shooting at Detroit-area church

A late-arriving churchgoer hit the gunman with his truck

By Ed White and Holly Ramer The Associated Press

WAYNE, Mich. — A pastor said Monday that the “hand of God” prevented a mass shooting at his Detroit-area church when an armed man was struck by a pickup truck and fatally shot by security staff before he could enter and attack more than 100 people.

On Monday, a day after the thwarted attack, the leader of CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne praised the actions of the security team, which has been in place for more than 10 years. Pastor Bobby Kelly said he had met the gunman three times in the past.

“I can’t say for sure what was in his heart or in his mind because he’s never threatened me in any way,” Kelly told The Associated Press. “This young man was definitely struggling mentally. He thought he was hearing from God. We had some conversations about that.”

Children from the church’s vacation Bible school were leading Sunday’s worship and were finishing a song when the congregation heard gunfire outside. Kelly, who was poised to start his sermon, initially thought the noise was coming from a construction crew.

A member of the security team rushed in and told everyone to get out. A livestream video shows people carrying children or directing them to get down and move away.

Kelly said a church member arriving late had spotted Bri-

an Browning driving recklessly and called out to the gunman as he exited his car wearing a tactical vest and carrying a rifle and a handgun. The church member struck him with his pickup truck. Browning, 31, began firing as he approached the church, striking one person in the leg.

At least two staff members shot him, Wayne police Chief Ryan Strong said.

“He is a hero,” Kelly said of the pickup driver. “I think that was the Lord leading him to do that. He hit this individual with his car, drove right on the grass because he was shooting at the building at the time. And

that certainly helped the team to be able to respond.”

Browning did not have any previous contacts with police but may have been suffering a mental health crisis, police said.

The “heroic actions of the church’s staff members” saved many lives, Strong said Sunday night.

Wayne is about 25 miles west of Detroit. Police found additional rifles, handguns and a large amount of ammunition during a search of Browning’s house nearby in Romulus.

Browning’s mother occasionally attended the church services but was not there Sunday. The pastor said he spoke to her after the shooting.

“To console her, to let her know that she shouldn’t feel guilty about his actions ... and that we still are there for her as well,” Kelly said. “She is a grieving mom right now because of this tragedy.”

Dustin Fuoco was managing the church audio equipment. When the congregation dashed for the doors — “instant panic” — he anxiously looked for his wife and son and found them safe outside in a wooded area.

“It sounded like a jackhammer,” Fuoco said of the shots. “Twenty seconds later, we ended up hearing that same round of 10 shots. And that’s when the realization sunk in that this was a shooter.”

The pastor said the church had a security team even before he arrived in 2016, introduced by the previous church leadership in response to shootings that had happened elsewhere.

“Most people would never even know if they came to our church,” Kelly said. “Some that are armed and some that are not. But they are trained.”

He had intended to preach about God’s “hand of deliverance” and His ability to protect. In drawing up the church calendar, Kelly had planned to have two outdoor services in June but months ago decided only on one.

“We weren’t outside yesterday when we would have been,” he said. “We were definitely protected by the hand of God, there is no question about it.”

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: forsythcommunity@ northstatejournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

Supreme Court widens options for vape companies fighting FDA rules

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. sued to stop an e-cigarette crackdown

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court sided with e-cigarette companies last Friday in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the multibillion-dollar vaping market. The 7-2 opinion comes as companies push back against a yearslong federal regulatory crackdown on electronic cigarettes. It’s expected to give the companies more control over which judges hear lawsuits filed against the agency.

The justices went the other way on vaping in an April decision, siding with the FDA in a ruling upholding a sweeping block on most sweet-flavored vapes instituted after a spike in youth vaping.

The current case was filed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., which had sold a line of popular berry and menthol-flavored vaping products before the agency started regulating the market under the

Tobacco Control Act in 2016.

The agency refused to authorize the company’s Vuse Alto products, an order that “sounded the death knell for a significant portion of the e-cigarette

market,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion.

The company is based in North Carolina and typically would have been limited to

challenging the FDA in a court there or in the agency’s home base of Washington, D.C. Instead, it joined forces with Texas businesses that sell the products and sued there. The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to go forward, finding that anyone whose business is hurt by the FDA decision can sue.

The agency appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that R.J. Reynolds was attempting to find a court favorable to its arguments, a practice often referred to as “judge shopping.”

The justices, though, found that the law does allow other businesses affected by the FDA decisions, like e-cigarette sellers, to sue in their home states.

In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said she would have sided with the agency and limited where the cases can be filed.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called the majority decision disappointing, saying it would allow manufacturers to “judge shop,” though it said the companies will still have to contend with the Supreme Court’s April decision.

Attorney Ryan Watson, who represented R.J. Reynolds, said that the court recognized that agency decisions can have devastating downstream effects on retailers and other businesses, and the decision “ensures that the courthouse doors are not closed” to them.

ED WHITE / AP PHOTO

Pastor Bobby Kelly of CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, speaks to reporters on Monday.

PAUL SANCYA / AP PHOTO

Police walk by a vehicle near CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, on Sunday.

JORDAN GOLSON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer.

You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can afford a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house fires in which no one was injured, traffic pile-ups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper office and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual flower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

I experienced the disappearance of women’s spaces

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings, but a biological fact.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies influenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is defined by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the differences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders defining sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certificates. At least eight states define male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was filed earlier this year. The legislation defines “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

COLUMN | CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

COLUMN | MARC DION

Republican tax bill would ease regulations on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, shotguns

It would drop the $200 NFA tax stamp for silencers and SBRs

By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The massive tax and spending cuts package — the “Big Beautiful Bill” — that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill.

The guns provision was first requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers — more accurately called “suppressors” — from a 1930s National Firearms Act or NFA law that regulates certain types of firearms, eliminating a $200 tax and considerable paperwork.

The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport.

“Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting American gun owners’ hearing,” said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like an assault rifle on his suit lapel.

Democrats are fighting to stop the provision, which was unveiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through the Senate. They argue

that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons.

“Parents don’t want silencers on their streets, police don’t want silencers on their streets,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Many European countries, even those with strong gun control laws, require silencers to be used when hunting to cut down on noise pollution.

The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants.

Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House

“Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting American gun owners’ hearing.”

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.)

and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take firearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools.

Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it was the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades.

Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime

Gun

on

priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called “beautiful.”

“I’m glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our Constitution, and I will continue to fight for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year.

If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel rifles and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about mafia violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other gun purchases and transfers.

Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues

Telescope with largest digital camera ever built releases first shots of universe

The observatory is built on a mountaintop in Chile

By Adithi Ramakrishnan The Associated Press

THE LARGEST digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe on Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the U.S. National Science Founda-

that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. “All it’s ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to hearing safe levels,” Keane says.

Speaking on the floor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Second Amendment rights from “over 90 years of draconian taxes.” Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill “with the purest of motive.”

“Who asked for it? I asked,” said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added.

Clyde was responding to Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 28-year-old Florida Democrat, who went to the floor and demanded to know who was responsible for the gun provision. Frost, who was a gun-control activist before being elected to Congress, called himself a member of the “mass shooting generation” and said the bill would help “gun manufacturers make more money off the death of children and our people.”

Among other concerns, control advocates say less regulation for silencers could make it harder for law enforcement to stop an active shooter.

“There’s a reason silencers have been regulated for nearly a century: They make it much harder for law enforcement and bystanders to react quickly to gunshots,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Schumer and other Democrats are trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian to drop the language as she reviews the bill for policy provisions that aren’t budget-related.

“Senate Democrats will fight this provision at the parliamentary level and every other level with everything we’ve got,” Schumer said earlier this month.

However, as the primary mechanism of the law is a $200 tax stamp, it’s likely that the language will pass parliamentarian muster.

tion and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory’s first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects.

The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

JOHN LOCHER / AP PHOTO

An image shows a small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.

PHOTOS BY NSF-DOE VERA C. RUBIN OBSERVATORY VIA AP

Left, 678 separate images taken by the observatory in just over seven hours of observing time are combined in a way that reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. Right, a small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.

silencers

display at the Sig Sauer booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016.

Forsyth SPORTS

Olympic president Coventry starts work with strong IOC, challenges for Los Angeles Summer Games

An in-person meeting with President Donald Trump is a priority for the first female IOC president

By Graham Dunbar

The Associated Press

GENEVA — The world

Kirsty Coventry walks into as the International Olympic Committee’s first female and first African president is already very different to the one she was elected in three months ago.

Take Los Angeles, host of the next Summer Games that is the public face and financial foundation of most Olympic sports.

The city described last week as a “trash heap” by U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome teams from more than 200 nations in July 2028.

Most of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches and officials who will take part in the LA Olympics will have seen images of military being deployed against the wishes of city and state leaders.

A growing number of those athletes’ home countries face being on a Trump-directed travel ban list — including Coventry’s home Zimbabwe — though Olympic participants are promised exemptions to come to the U.S. Several players from Senegal’s women’s basketball team were denied visas for a training trip to the U.S., the country’s prime minister said.

A first face-to-face meeting with Trump is a priority for the new IOC president, perhaps at a sports event. Welcome to Olympic diplomacy, the outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach could reasonably comment to his political protégé Coventry.

The six Olympic Games of Bach’s 12 years were rocked by Russian doping scandals and military aggression, Korean nuclear tensions, a global health crisis and corruption-fueled Brazilian chaos.

Still, Coventry inherits an IOC with a solid reputation and finances after a widely praised 2024 Paris Olympics, plus a slate of summer and winter hosts for the next decade. Risks and challenges ahead are clear to see.

For the two-time Olympic champion swimmer’s first full day as president Tuesday she has invited the 109-strong IOC membership to closed-doors meetings about its future under the banner “Pause and Reflect.”

“The way in which I like to lead is with collaboration,” said Coventry, who was sports minister in Zimbabwe for the past seven years, told reporters.

Many, if not most, members

want more say in how the IOC makes decisions after nearly 12 years of Bach’s tight executive control. It was a theme in manifestos by the other election candidates, and the runner-up in March, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will lead one of the sessions.

“I like people to say: ‘Yes, I had a say and this was the direction that we went,’” Coventry said. “That way, you get really authentic buy-in.”

In an in-house IOC interview, Coventry also described how she wanted to be perceived: “She never changed. Always humble, always approachable.”

That could mean more member input, if not an open and contested vote, to decide the 2036 Olympics host.

At some point in Coventry’s presidency, Russia could possibly return fully to the Olympic family. It is unclear exactly when less than eight months before the 2026 Winter Games opening ceremony in Milan.

Russian athletes have faced a wider blanket ban in winter sports than summer ones during the military invasion of Ukraine. Even neutral status for individual Russians to compete looks elusive.

Vladimir Putin offered “sincere congratulations” on Coventry’s election win, with the Kremlin praising her “high authority in the sporting world.”

However, there seems little scope for the IOC to lift its formal suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee imposed in 2023 because of a territorial grab in sports administration. Four regional sports bodies in eastern Ukraine were taken under Russian control.

Coventry said she will ask a task force to review IOC policy relating to athletes from countries involved in wars and conflicts.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Jake Smith

This week’s Athlete of the Week is Jake Smith, shortstop for the Uwharrie Wampus Cats.

Smith, the Winston-Salem native who plays baseball collegiately with Tusculum, had a huge game in the Wampus Cats’ 13-2 win last Saturday versus the Troutman Dawgs.

The Uwharrie shortstop went 4 for 4 at the plate with three singles, a home run and three RBIs.

Smith’s day at the plate lifted the Wampus Cats to a 5-3 record this season and ended a two-game slide.

Briscoe holds off teammate Hamlin to win at Pocono

is

By Dan Gelston

The Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. — Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team.

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR field.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, ap-

peared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win.

“It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his final pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his final stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the first-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

Briscoe, who won an Xfinity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth

“To get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders.”

Briscoe

Chase

top-10 finish over the last six races, including a seventh-place finish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City. He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver field with nine races left until the field is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s final winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.” Hamlin finished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top five.

Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in Victory Lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To finally come here and do it, it has been a great day.”

The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green flag dropped. Briscoe

led 72 laps and won the second stage. Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.

Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse threatened to beat up his racing rival after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar finished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

CHARLES CURCIO / TWIN CITY HERALD

THANASSIS STAVRAKIS / AP PHOTO

Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in March.

The win

his first with Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe celebrates with a burnout after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA FOOTBALL

Wisconsin, NIL collective sue Miami, allege tampering, NIL inducements

Madison, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have sued the University of Miami, saying it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this fall. The suit could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The case describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced plans to leave the Badgers. Miami did not have an immediate comment.

NHL Blackhawks acquire Burakovsky from Kraken in exchange for Veleno

Chicago The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for fellow forward Joe Veleno. Chicago also placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on unconditional waivers for purposes of buying out his contract. The 30-year- old Burakovsky had 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games with Seattle last season. A Stanley Cup champion with Washington in 2018 and Colorado in 2022, he has 153 goals and 234 assists in 696 regular-season games over 11 NHL seasons. The acquisition of Burakovsky gives Chicago some additional size and scoring and creates more salary cap flexibility for Seattle.

PGA

Clark “deeply regrets” damaging Oakmont locker during U.S. Open Cromwell, Conn. Wyndham Clark apologized for the damage done to the century- old locker he was using at Oakmont during the U.S. Open. It’s the second time this year Clark has caused damage out of anger during a major. He also slung his driver, which damaged a sign on the tee during the PGA Championship. Clark missed the cut by one shot at the U.S. Open. He says he deeply regrets the mistake.

NCAA BASEBALL

Arkansas shortstop Aloy wins Golden Spikes Award as nation’s top amateur player

Cary Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy received the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the nation. Aloy is the third Arkansas player to take home the prize, joining Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2021, and the 12th winner from the Southeastern Conference. Aloy was the SEC player of the year and led the Razorbacks in almost every major offensive category.

NFL Former Jets, Ravens linebacker Mosley announces retirement

C.J. Mosley, a five-time Pro Bowl selection during an 11-year NFL career with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, announced he’s retiring from playing football. Mosley was released by the Jets in March after playing four games last season because of a toe injury and later a herniated disk in his neck. Mosley made his announcement with a video post on his Instagram page that included highlights of his playing career. Mosley was the 17th overall pick by Baltimore in the 2014 draft out of Alabama.

For back-to-back champion Panthers, celebrations go on before key offseason

The team is celebrating harder than after last season’s first Cup

By Alanis Thames The Associated Press

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd surfing, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen; a few team dinners and a boat ride.

That’s just so far. They insist they’ve got more in them.

“We’re not toning it down,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We just won two Stanley Cups in a row. We deserve to have a good time.”

The Panthers also partied hard after winning the franchise’s first title a year ago. But some players have described those days as a surreal whirlwind of first-time experiences. This time around, the celebra-

tions are different, as the reality of what they accomplished set in.

“There’s a different feeling to it,” coach Paul Maurice said during the team’s exit interviews on Saturday. “Last year was more of a dream. ... That’s the right word. It was a dream come true. It was euphoric. This year, it was an achievement. It was hard. It was hard all year. It was hard at camp. There were just so many places that if we had broken at that point or failed we would’ve all understood — ‘OK, we did our best. We just couldn’t get it done.’ We never let that happen.”

The coaches’ celebrations, Maurice noted, have been much more subdued compared to last year: They had their first post-championship dinner as a staff last Friday night. They joined some players on a boat ride.

“I haven’t had a hangover yet,” Maurice said, “so way ahead of where I was last year.”

Maurice heard about his players’ celebrations from his

wife, who has shown him a few viral social media posts here and there.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said they’re giving themselves “permission” to celebrate more freely this year because they have already been through the experience.

“And don’t get me wrong, it’s still amazing,” he added, “but now everyone knows how to sit back a little and enjoy it because last year was so hectic. Like it happened to you for the first time ever, and you had been dreaming about it for so long.”

The Panthers in fact celebrated so hard that the Stanley Cup itself got a little banged up. The silver chalice was cracked at the bottom of the bowl, though Barkov noted the team hasn’t received any harsh reprimands from the keepers of the Cup or the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I think they’ve seen worse,” he quipped. “I think every year they have to fix some part of it. But yeah, don’t be stupid. Don’t take it to the ocean, stuff

Smith looks like Rule 5 hit for rebuilding Chicago White Sox

The former Wake Forest pitcher is finally getting an opportunity in MLB

By Jay Cohen The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Shane Smith pitched a total of 101/3 innings during his college career at Wake Forest. He had a shoulder operation as a freshman, and his sophomore year was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then he had elbow surgery.

At that point, even Smith began to wonder if baseball was going to work out for him.

“My dream of playing professional baseball, to say it didn’t waver would probably be lying,” he said. “But I knew there was an avenue somehow.”

There sure was.

Smith has turned into a pleasant surprise for the last-place Chicago White Sox after he was selected by the team in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rule 5 draft provides an opportunity for players left off a big league team’s 40-man rosters after several minor league seasons. Teams pay $100,000 to select a player in the major league portion. The players must stay on the active 26man major league roster all season or else clear waivers and be offered back to their orig-

inal organization for $50,000. Between 10 and 20 players are selected in the big league Rule 5 draft most seasons, but most don’t actually stick with their new clubs. Even fewer develop into All-Star-worthy contributors. Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana are two of the most famous Rule 5 success stories. So far, it looks as if Smith is going to stick with the rebuilding White Sox. Smith has a 2.37 ERA in 681/3 innings over 13 starts. Smith very well could repre-

sent the last-place White Sox at next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. Dan Uggla with the Florida Marlins in 2006 is the only player to be named an All-Star in the season after he was selected in the Rule 5 draft. Smith went right into Chicago’s rotation during spring training — an unusual spot for a Rule 5 player. Since 2016, Luis Perdomo, Brad Keller and Mitch Spence are the only pitchers who made at least 20 starts in the majors in the season after they were selected in the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Keller began the 2018 season in Kansas City’s bullpen be-

like that. We should know the rules by now.”

The Panthers’ championship parade was on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday — one of their last opportunities to celebrate together before the players disperse for the summer and general manager Bill Zito begins an important offseason. Free agency begins July 1, and while a good chunk of Florida’s core — including Barkov and stars Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart — are already under long-term contracts, a few key contributors are set for free agency in Marchand, Ekblad and playoff MVP Sam Bennett.

“You’re going to have a different roster each and every year,” he said, “but hopefully the core of guys, we can continue building. With that being said, we’ve got some unbelievable players that are up for contracts that I hope they get every single cent they can because that’s what you want for your best friends. It’s time to cash in for some of those boys. Hopefully it’s here.”

fore moving into the rotation in late May. He finished his rookie year with a 9-6 record and a 3.08 ERA in 20 starts and 21 relief appearances.

“I think you definitely pull for all the Rule 5 guys because I feel like, not to say this in a bad way, but Rule 5 guys kind of get a bad rap, right?” said Keller, a key reliever for the Chicago Cubs. “It’s like they’re like nobody’s got a chance. That’s not true. Some organizations are in different situations where they can’t protect guys that they want to.” Smith had been in Milwaukee’s organization since he signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, just weeks after he had Tommy John surgery. He had a 3.05 ERA in 32 appearances over two minor league stops last season, finishing the year with Triple-A Nashville.

Smith has a big four-seam fastball that gets into the high 90s to go along with a good slider and curveball. But the biggest key to his success this year has been the development of a nasty changeup that really came together in the offseason after years of work.

Fortunate timing for Smith and the White Sox.

“For a guy that hasn’t really pitched above Double-A, he had some innings in Triple-A, but to come here and pitch the way that he does, it just speaks to his ability and his confidence and also speaks to the group of players and staff here to support him,” general manager Chris Getz said. “Shane is doing really well and we expect him to have a really productive, healthy season for us.”

DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP PHOTO

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith throws against the Houston Astros during a game earlier this month.

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front, and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

the stream

Emmy Awards in 2024. All 10 episodes of the

‘The Bear,’ new Lorde album, ‘Nosferatu,’

‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Nelly and Ashanti

The “F1 The Album” includes songs from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran and more

The Associated Press

THE JACK Black-led movie phenomenon “A Minecraft Movie” and Lorde’s fourth studio album, “Virgin,” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” drop Wednesday, Nelly and Ashanti get their own reality show, and Bill Skarsgård leads an update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

The Porky Pig and Daffy Duck movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” is coming to HBO Max on Friday (it will also broadcast on HBO on Saturday at 8 p.m.). Reviews were a little mixed but mostly positive for the full-length animated feature.

Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother Jayne Mansfield, “My Mom Jayne,” will also be streaming on HBO Max on Friday. The Hollywood bombshell died in a car accident at 34 when Hargitay was only 3. La-la-la-lava, ch-ch-ch-chicken, Steve’s lava chicken is now streaming on HBO Max, as is the rest of “A Minecraft Movie.” A box office phenomenon with over $950 million in worldwide ticket sales and counting, this movie adaptation of the popular game stars Black and Jason Momoa. In his AP review, Mark Kennedy wrote that “the Jared Hess-directed action-adventure artfully straddles the line between delighting preteen gamers and keeping their parents awake. It’s an often-bananas adaptation, with bizarre digressions into turquoise blouses and tater tot pizzas. It has Jennifer Coolidge being very Jennifer Coolidge. Need we say more?” Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård lead

the Robert Eggers-directed update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu,” streaming on Prime Video starting Friday. Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her AP review that “it will chill you to the bone” but that “it may not terrify you.” Everything, she adds, in Eggers “faithful, even adoring remake... looks great. But with its stylized, often stilted dialogue and overly dramatic storytelling, it feels more like everyone is living in a quaint period painting rather than a world populated by real humans (and, well, vampires) made of flesh and, er, blood.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

What will the next era of Lorde look like? “What Was That,” the singer’s first new single in four years, recalls the clever synth-pop of her 2017 album “Melodrama,” casting aside the folk detour of 2021’s “Solar Power.” The song that followed, “Man of the Year,” is stripped and spare — just Lorde and a sorrowful bass. Who knows

what will come next? Listeners will have to wait until Friday when she releases her fourth studio album, “Virgin.”

The “F1” movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, is quickly gearing up to be a summer tentpole. Naturally, the filmmakers knew its sound had to be massive, too. That arrives via a score by the many-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and a huge soundtrack releasing as “F1 The Album” via Atlantic Records, the team behind the award-winning “Barbie” album — with bespoke tracks from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Myke Towers, Blackpink’s Rosé, Tate McRae and many more. Learn all about how the soundtrack came together here.

On Friday, arty alt-rock legends Failure will receive documentary treatment in “Every Time You Lose Your Mind: A Film about Failure,” available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The unorthodox and influential band finally gets their due in the project, direct-

ed by frontman Ken Andrews. Some of the featured voices in the documentary certainly will be Paramore’s Hayley Williams, actor Jason Schwartzman, comedian Margaret Cho, legendary producers Steve Albini and Butch Vig and many more participate.

SERIES TO STREAM

All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” are ready to watch on Hulu. Viewers will find out if Michelin-starred chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) can successfully run an acclaimed and profitable fine dining restaurant in Chicago. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural,” “Tracker”) stars in a new crime thriller series for Prime Video called “Countdown.” Ackles plays a LAPD detective assigned to a task force investigating the murder of a government official. Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” also stars. It is streaming now. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lo -

pez’s second shot at love didn’t work out, but there’s another celebrity couple who has rekindled a past flame. Recording artists Nelly and Ashanti were an item for more than 10 years before their breakup in 2013. They got back together in 2023 and are now married with a son. The pair are the subject of their own reality show called “Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together.” It debuts Thursday on Peacock.

Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star in the new thriller “Smoke” for Apple TV+ as investigators working together to catch two serial arsonists. It’s created by Dennis Lehane and based on a true story where an arson investigator turned out to be a serial arsonist. “Smoke” reunites Egerton and Lehane who worked on the Apple limited series “Blackbird.” John Leguizamo and Greg Kinnear also appear in “Smoke,” out Friday.

“Nautilus,” a reimagining of Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” comes to AMC+ on Friday. It’s an origin story of the character known as Captain Nemo and portrayed by Shazad Latif. Nemo is an Indian prince whose birthright was stolen from him and he’s on a mission for revenge.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

In 2019’s Death Stranding, a courier named Sam worked to reconnect survivors in a postapocalyptic America beset by “beached things,” gooey monsters trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sam is back in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but now he faces a question we’ve all asked in the internet age: Was connecting everyone really such a good idea? The series is the brainchild of legendary “Metal Gear Solid” mastermind Hideo Kojima, and fans know they can expect a complex story, flamboyant graphics and some off-the-wall gameplay ideas. Norman Reedus of “The Walking Dead” returns as Sam, and yes, he’s still carrying a baby who has psychic powers. Embrace the weirdness Thursday on PlayStation 5.

Jeremy Allen White accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “The Bear” at the 76th

show are now streaming on Hulu.

Lily-Rose Depp appears in a scene from “Nosferatu.”

STATE & NATION

Pair of enormous flagpoles installed at White House

President Donald Trump praised the “beautiful pole” at a ceremony

By Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The American flag has long flown from a pole on the White House roof, but that’s always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful.

Last week, massive new flagpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House.

“It’s such a beautiful pole,” Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addi-

Statehouse security tightens after Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The shootings happened at home, adding a layer of complexity

By Scott Bauer The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis.

— Anxious lawmakers convened last week under heightened security in Wisconsin’s state Capitol, one of the most publicly accessible statehouses in the country, days after a legislator and her husband in neighboring Minnesota were shot and killed at their home and others were targeted.

The tension playing out in Wisconsin and other states after the Minnesota killings pits those who want to keep state capitols as open and accessible as possible against those concerned about increasing threats and acts of violence against officeholders.

Other states take action

Numerous states took action this week to protect personal information of lawmakers after the targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers. The second legislator and his wife sustained serious injuries in the shootings last Saturday morning. A suspect, Vance Boelter, surrendered to police on the next day.

Prosecutors say Boelter had dozens of additional potential targets. They included state and federal officeholders in Wisconsin.

Legislatures in most states are done meeting for the year, but those like Wisconsin that are still in session are taking emergency action to bolster security.

The police chief at the North Carolina General Assembly said Monday in an email to legislators that “we are working on enhanced security plans and are doing our best to keep everyone safe.” But further details haven’t

been released and there’s been no significant change seen in security on the surface. In Arizona, more state troopers were assigned to the state Senate building, said Senate GOP Spokesperson Kim Quintero.

Security bolstered in Wisconsin

Security changes for Wednesday’s meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature were mostly out of sight.

Visitors to the Capitol could still enter the building without going through a metal detector, but anyone wanting to watch in the Senate’s public gallery had to go through an additional security check. Those wishing to watch the Assembly session from the gallery could do so, but they were encouraged to instead view it from another room.

In a more visible sign of force, there were state patrol officers in the building and around both legislative chambers in addition to the usual Capitol Police.

There were new security screenings for reporters attending a news conference in the Senate parlor, and the Democratic Assembly leader’s door that is

typically open was locked with a sign saying anyone with an appointment could knock to gain entry.

“I feel safe in our Capitol building,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said before session began Wednesday.

Not everyone felt the same way.

“We need to have a higher level of security,” Republican Sen. Chris Kapenga told WISN-TV. He supports adding metal detectors and banning guns for anyone in the building except for lawmakers. He said he always carries a gun in the Capitol.

“We should not be worried about our lives walking into that building,” Kapenga said.

Prior security concerns

Wisconsin is a presidential battleground state used to high-stakes political fights and frequent large protests both inside and outside of the Capitol.

Two years ago, a man armed with a loaded handgun came into the Wisconsin Capitol looking for Gov. Tony Evers, who was not there at the time.

Wisconsin is one of seven states where concealed weapons are allowed in the Capitol, according

tion to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the first time.

The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modification to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building.

He’s already updated the Oval Office, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building

more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

The president made time to watch one of the flagpole installations despite the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel in the days before the U.S. bombed three nuclear sites.

“I love construction,” said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. “I know it better than anybody.”

He talked about how the pole went down 9 feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, “you hear that rope, banging.”

“This is the real deal,” he said. “This is the best you can get. There’s nothing like this.”

to a 2021 report by the Council of State Governments. Thirty-six states ban concealed weapons in their capitol buildings.

There have been some visible security increases at the Wisconsin Capitol in recent months. Anyone attending oral arguments of the state Supreme Court, which meets in a room just around the corner from the legislative chambers, must go through a metal detector.

That was added after a retired judge was shot and killed in a targeted attack at his home in 2022 and amid increasing threats to members of the judiciary. Evers and other lawmakers were also on a list that gunman had.

No metal detectors

The Wisconsin Capitol has its own police force housed in the basement, but the building is not protected by metal detectors, screening checkpoints or X-rays.

Anyone can walk in off the street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week and go straight to the offices of state lawmakers and others.

The Wisconsin Capitol is one of 11 state capitols that does not have metal detectors, a state au-

dit found last year. It is one of 19 states without X-ray machines to scan items people bring into the building, the audit found.

Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol in late February 2011 at the height of protests over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, later signed into law, that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. They were removed four months later under an agreement reached between Walker’s administration and the state employees union, which sued to get the Capitol reopened without metal detectors.

State Capitol security concerns were raised again after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But at the time, the Wisconsin Capitol was closed to the general public due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that it was important to “take a breath” and not have a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Minnesota shootings. “Trying to make the Capitol into a fortress” is not the answer, he said.

“The thing that’s most scary is this didn’t occur in a Capitol,” Vos said, “it occurred in someone’s home.”

Left, a Capitol police officer, left, stands with a Wisconsin state patrol officer at the top of the public gallery in the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday. Right, staff search visitors entering the Wisconsin Senate gallery in the state Capitol on Wednesday in Madison, Wis.

SCOTT BAUER / AP PHOTO

TODD

RICHMOND / AP PHOTO

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

A new flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House flies an American flag last Wednesday.

Randolph record

WHAT’S HAPPENING

N.C. Senate takes on transgender issues

Raleigh The state Senate advanced two bills that deal with transgender issues as lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by this week’s end.

The rst bill passed by the Senate on Monday bars parents from being cited for abuse or neglect for raising their child consistent with their sex assigned at birth. That bill now heads to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk. The second bill has several provisions, including restrictions on using state money to fund gendera rming care for prisoners and a resolution a rming there are only two sexes. The state House must approve of the second bill.

Court issues mixed ruling on governor’s appointment powers

Raleigh

State trial judges have issued a mixed ruling for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders in litigation over recent law changes that eroded gubernatorial powers. A three-judge panel on Tuesday unanimously struck down as unconstitutional a law that placed some limits on whom the governor could choose to ll vacancies on appellate courts. But the judges let stand provisions that take away some of Stein’s appointments to the state Utilities Commission and Building Code Council. The order can be appealed.

New rules at Ramseur Lake lead to big sh catches

New regulations for watercraft on the lake were met with

skepticism by some shermen

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

RAMSEUR — New rules for

Ramseur Lake have been good for shing, town o cials said.

Mayor Hampton Spivey said the recreational area has seen steady use since it opened for the year in March.

“The lake is rather busy,” Spivey said. “It’s pretty steady.”

Starting this year, gas-pow-

ered motors are no longer allowed on the lake. So watercraft must be powered by electric motors or man powered.

“Some of the shermen who were opposed to (the new watercraft regulations) told me it’s the best thing we ever did,” Spivey said.

The elimination of gas-powered motors was announced prior to the 2024 opening of the lake. That provided boat users a full year notice prior to the implementation of the new rules.

There were largemouth bass caught up to 10 pounds this spring. Ricky Turpin of Asheboro pulled in a 10-pound large-

“There’s a little bit of everything.”

LeAnn Thompson, Ramseur Lake warden

mouth June 4 after previously making a 9-pound catch.

LeAnn Thompson, the warden at the lake, said crappie have been caught at 3 pounds.

There also have been athead cat sh, bluegill and shellcrackers caught, Thompson said.

“There’s a little bit of everything,” she said.

Commissioners approve 2025-26 county budget

Nearly 50% of the budget is comprised of salaries and bene ts for county employees

By Ryan Henkel Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners adopted the scal year 2025-26 budget at its June 16 meeting.

The budget is balanced at approximately $202.3 million, a roughly 5.4% increase from the prior year’s total.

“This board and the sta have done an excellent job at presenting a budget that we can live with, that we can pay for and maintain most of, if not all of, our services,” said Chairman Darrell Frye. “It may not be everything you asked for, but we didn’t take anything away and that’s what we’ve always done.”

According to Frye, the county did not cut any of the

departmental budgets this year in a time when many surrounding counties and municipalities are seeing signi cant cuts to services.

“In this county, you can know what you have and you can know that it’s not going to be taken away,” Frye said. “We always go forward. That’s been the philosophy of this board. We don’t spend money we don’t have, and we don’t go into a lot of debt until we’ve paid most of the debt we have o . We’ve maintained a pretty steady tax rate, and we’ll continue to be committed to that as we go forward.

“This budget includes every dollar of property tax that we think we can reasonably expect to receive. We have used every dollar of projected sales tax revenue that is available to this county. The last two years, the sales tax revenue has been trending down. We have used all of the land ll money that, since its inception, we have used for strategic planning

“We always go forward. That’s been the philosophy of this board.”

Chairman Darrell Frye

items in Randolph County. All of those revenues are included in this budget.” Highlights include a 3% cost of living adjustment for employees, a 2% retention adjustment for sheri ’s department employees, nearly $60 million for public safety, $42 million for education and $39 million for human services.

“This budget is aimed at doing all of those things for this county, and nothing is more important than the employees that deliver the services to the citizens of this county,” Frye said. “We are always, rst and foremost, sensitive to that. According to the chair -

The man-made lake has existed since the 1970s.

“So there’s pretty big sh out there,” Spivey said.

There’s also other wildlife. Thompson said an 80-pound snapping turtle was caught this spring.

The West side of the park was closed when the park opened for the season. Both sides are now open.

Paddle boats and kayaks, along with electric-only powerboats, are available to rent.

Ramseur Lake, also known as Kermit G. Pell Water-Based Recreation Facility, is one of the two main recreation areas in Ramseur. The other is Leonard Park.

Hours for Ramseur Lake for May through August are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hours vary in other months, while the facility is closed in December, January and February.

men, the budget also includes $91.8 million for salaries and bene ts, which accounts for 45.4% of the budget.

“It has a salary increase and for the rst time, it has a longevity pay increase for the employees of this county in addition to the additional positions that we’re adding,” Frye said. “We’re very sensitive to the needs of our employees and we’ll continue to be.”

In addition, the property tax rate will also remain the same at $0.50 per $100 valuation, which is the same rate over the last two years.

Additional tax rate changes include a $0.01 supplemental school tax rate increase for the Archdale-Trinity attendance area to fund SRO o cers for all ve elementary schools and various re tax district rate increases for Climax, East Side, Level Cross, Randleman and West Side.

“There are some things I’d love to have been done a little di erently in the budget, but overall, I think it’s a pretty good budget,” said council member David Allen. “This is the best I think we can do going forward.”

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners will next meet July 7.

THE RANDOLPH COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

The pier at Ramseur Lake draws some people to sh. Changes at the lake this year have been notable.

THURSDAY

6.26.25

Country store in Liberty closes

The business had operated for 13 years along N.C. 49

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

LIBERTY — Art’s Town and Country, a store that provided a variety of goods on the outskirts of Liberty, has closed. The last day of business apparently was May 31. Owner Art Jordan was unable to be

reached for comment as the phone number for the store is no longer in service.

The store had been in operation for 13 years at 6976 N.C. 49 North.

In a social media post from the store, the management expressed appreciation for the loyalty and support from customers.

“We have fostered many friendships and observed numerous children grow into mature adults,” the post also said. “Liberty is what small town

living is all about so please continue to shop local. We will keep you posted on what door opens next and we’ll see you around town!” The store was described as an old-fashioned country store. There was an array of products from crafting supplies, seasonal decorations and antiques to candy, meats and glass bottled drinks.

There was a push to sell items in advance of the store’s closing, based on social media announcements in May.

The building that used to house Art’s Town and Country is now vacant.

Pilot killed in Mocksville plane crash was trying to avoid turtle

A preliminary crash report from the NTSB shed light on the incident

The Associated Press

MOCKSVILLE — The pilot of a small plane that crashed near a Davie County airport earlier this month had raised a wheel after landing to avoid hitting a turtle on the runway, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report.

The pilot of the Universal Stinson 108 and a passenger were killed in the June 3 crash near Sugar Valley Airport in Mocksville, o cials said. A second passenger was seriously injured in the crash.

CRIME LOG

June 12

• John Douglas Canoy, Jr., 48, of Archdale was arrested by Randolph County Sheri ’s O ce for assault in icting serious injury, assault on a female, injury to personal property, and interfering with emergency communication.

June 15

• Kevin Milton Udofa, 35, was arrested by Randolph County Sheri ’s O ce for breaking and entering, larceny after breaking

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Randolph County:

June 27

Pop-up Picnic in the Park Date Night 1-5 p.m.

Each pop-up picnic sunset date night for couples is self-guided, allowing you to attend at the time of your choice. All you need is a mobile device and an Internet connection to access your Digital Date Nite Box. Guided activities included are Quality Time with a discount code for food delivery to the park; Acts of Service with custom couple-coupons; Gifts featuring a “Digital Love Jar,” a Couple Games App and more!

N. Asheboro Park 1939 Canoy Drive Asheboro

Friday Night Sunset Series: Held every Friday, May-August 5:30-8:30 p.m.

A communications operator looking out the airport o ce window advised the pilot that there was a turtle on the runway, according to the report released this week. The operator reported that the pilot landed about 1,400 feet down the 2,424-foot runway, then lifted the right main wheel to avoid the turtle. The operator heard the pilot advance the throttle after raising the wheel, but the airplane left her view after that.

A man cutting the grass at the end of the runway reported seeing the pilot raise the right wheel to avoid the turtle, then the wings rocked back and forth and the plane took o again, according to the report. The man lost sight of the plane and then heard a crash and saw smoke.

degree trespassing, and misdemeanor larceny.

June 16

• Reynaldo Zosimo DimasIsley, 19, of Pleasant Garden was arrested by RCSO for breaking and entering with intent to terrorize or injure and assault on a female.

• Christopher Roger Todd, 42, of Trinity was arrested by RCSO for eeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of

The plane crashed in a heavily forested area about 250 feet from the runway and caught re, o cials said. The plane was wedged between several trees and remained in one piece except for a few pieces of fabric found in a nearby stream. It came to rest on its left side with the left wing folded underneath the fuselage and the right wing bent toward the tail. Preliminary reports contain facts collected on scene but don’t speculate on probable causes, according to the NTSB’s website. Those are included in nal reports, which can take one to two years to complete.

a rearm by a felon.

June 17

• Heather Anne Prince, 43, was arrested by RCSO for obstruction of justice and resisting, obstructing, or delaying.

June 22

• Thomas Olen Burrell, 55, of Asheboro was arrested by RCSO for discharging a weapon into occupied property, discharging a rearm in an enclosure to cause fear, and assault on a female.

Admission for 21-plus is $8 per person. A variety of homemade concessions are available for purchase, including hard cider, local wine, craft beer and a variety of seasonal cocktails. Admission does not include food or drink but does cover musical performances. Millstone Creek Orchards 506 Parks Crossroads Church Road Ramseur

June

28, July 1 & 3

City of Asheboro Farmers Market

7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Fresh seasonal produce, farm-fresh products, baked goods, and a variety of owers and plants are available for purchase directly from local farmers. Open weekly on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of October.

134 S. Church St. Asheboro

June

30 & July 2

Liberty Farmers Market

4-7 p.m.

Purchase a wide array of high-quality, fresh produce from local farmers and growers at this convenient downtown location. Open every Monday and Wednesday through the end of October.

423 W. Swannanoa Ave. Liberty

July 3

Thrifty Thursday Movie: “Protocol”

1 p.m.

The rst Thursday of every month, enjoy $5 admission and a fun-size popcorn and drink. Those who are 50 and older are admitted free.

Sunset Theatre 234 Sunset Ave. Asheboro

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can a ord a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house res in which no one was injured, tra c pile-ups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper o ce and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual ower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

I experienced the disappearance of women’s spaces

But the reality is that males and females are inherently di erent. Sex is not a matter of feelings, but a biological fact.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies in uenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is de ned by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

But the reality is that males and females are inherently di erent. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the di erences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders de ning sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certi cates. At least eight states de ne male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was led earlier this year. The legislation de nes “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certi cates and driver’s licenses to re ect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

COLUMN | CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

COLUMN | MARC DION

Republican tax bill would ease regulations on suppressors, short-barreled ri es, shotguns

It would drop the $200 NFA tax stamp for silencers and SBRs

By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The massive tax and spending cuts package — the “Big Beautiful Bill” — that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of ri es and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill.

The guns provision was rst requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers — more accurately called “suppressors” — from a 1930s National Firearms Act or NFA law that regulates certain types of rearms, eliminating a $200 tax and considerable paperwork.

The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled ri es and shotguns.

Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport.

“Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting American gun owners’ hearing,” said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like

an assault ri e on his suit lapel.

Democrats are ghting to stop the provision, which was unveiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through the Senate. They argue that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons.

“Parents don’t want silencers on their streets, police don’t want silencers on their streets,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Many European countries, even those with strong gun control laws, require silencers to be used when hunting to cut down on noise pollution.

The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson (RLa.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) work to set-

tle di erences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants.

Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take rearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools.

Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it

was the most signi cant legislative response to gun violence in decades.

Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called “beautiful.”

“I’m glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our Constitution, and I will continue to ght for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year.

If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel ri es and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about ma a violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other gun purchases and transfers.

Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. “All it’s ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the rearm to hearing safe levels,” Keane says.

Speaking on the oor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Sec-

The observatory is built on a mountaintop in Chile

By Adithi Ramakrishnan

The Associated Press

THE LARGEST digital camera ever built released its rst shots of the universe on Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the U.S. National Science Founda-

ond Amendment rights from “over 90 years of draconian taxes.” Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill “with the purest of motive.”

“Who asked for it? I asked,” said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added.

Clyde was responding to Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 28-year-old Florida Democrat, who went to the oor and demanded to know who was responsible for the gun provision. Frost, who was a gun-control activist before being elected to Congress, called himself a member of the “mass shooting generation” and said the bill would help “gun manufacturers make more money o the death of children and our people.”

Among other concerns, control advocates say less regulation for silencers could make it harder for law enforcement to stop an active shooter.

“There’s a reason silencers have been regulated for nearly a century: They make it much harder for law enforcement and bystanders to react quickly to gunshots,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Schumer and other Democrats are trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian to drop the language as she reviews the bill for policy provisions that aren’t budget-related.

“Senate Democrats will ght this provision at the parliamentary level and every other level with everything we’ve got,” Schumer said earlier this month.

However, as the primary mechanism of the law is a $200 tax stamp, it’s likely that the language will pass parliamentarian muster.

tion and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory’s rst look features the vibrant Tri d and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects.

The e ort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the rst tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

JOHN LOCHER / AP PHOTO

Gun silencers on display at the Sig Sauer booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016.

obituaries

Ray Nell

“Smith” Crook

Aug. 18, 1927 – June 17, 2025

Ray Nell Smith Crook, 97, of Ramseur, died Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro. Graveside Services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, June 20, 2025, at Patterson Grove Christian Church, Ramseur.

O ciating, Rev. Steve House. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Ray Nell was born in Thomasville on August 18, 1927, and was a long-time resident of Ramseur. She worked for many years at the John Plant in Ramseur, where she proudly sewed over 100 dozen gloves per day. She was a faithful friend and was always intentional in calling and checking in on her friends and family. Ray Nell was quiet in her generosity and prayed for her loved ones every night. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and loved them deeply. In her free time, she enjoyed doing word searches and watching Billy Graham on TV. Ray Nell loved the Lord and was a longtime member of Patterson Grove Christian Church. Mrs. Crook was preceded in death by her parents, George and Bertha Williams Smith, her husband of 70 years, George Crook, her twin brother, Ray Von Smith, and her brother Boyd Smith.

Survivors: daughter, Jettie Crook House and husband Steve of Ramseur, grandchildren, Daniel House and wife Bethany, and Brittany Townsend and husband Jason, both of Forest, VA, greatgrandchildren, Hallie Townsend, Lincoln House, Logan Townsend, Colton House, Taylor Townsend, and Everly Townsend.

Mrs. Crook will lie in repose from 1-5 p.m., Thursday, June 19, 2025, at Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur.

Arrangements by Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur.

Memorials may be made to Gideons International, P.O. Box 97251, Washington, DC 200907251.

Hal W. Winslow

Oct. 14, 1935 – June 18, 2025

Quote by Dr. Colin Murray Parkes:

“The pain of grief is just as much part of life as the joy of love: it is perhaps the price we pay for love…”

Hal W. Winslow, 89, of Asheboro, passed away on June 18, 2025, leaving behind a rich legacy of service, love, and unwavering devotion.

Born on October 14, 1935, in Randolph County to Sandy C. and Gertrude Lowe Winslow, Hal was a proud Farmer High School graduate of the Class of 1954. His parents and brother, Jasper C. Winslow, preceded him in death.

Hal honorably served in the United States Navy, retiring as Chief Warrant O cer 4 (CWO4) after 25 years of dedicated service. Following his military career, he became an instructor at Randolph Community College, imparting his knowledge to countless students over 18 years. His commitment to service was exempli ed through his signi cant involvement with the Randolph County Honor Guard, where he served for over 20 years, including 13 years as Commander. Under his leadership, the organization expanded from a small group providing honor funerals in Asheboro to a multicounty service, assisting hundreds of veteran families each year.

In his spiritual life, Hal was a devoted member of Asheboro Friends Meeting, where he served as Clerk of Monthly Meeting and taught Sunday School until health challenges limited his attendance. His faith was a foundational aspect of his life, and he treasured his close relationship with Christ.

Hal is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Jan Winslow (née Robbins), and their three daughters: Lisa Winslow Howard (Carson), Donda Winslow Yamarino (Tony), and Cheryl Winslow. His brother, Wm, also survives him. Claude Winslow, along with ve grandchildren: Kristen Bazata (Nick), Ryan Liles (Julie), Michael Yamarino (Erin), April Hooper (Eddie), and Nathan Howard (Nicky), as well as three great-grandchildren: So a Yamarino, Louie Hooper and Athena Howard.

Hal cherished moments spent with family, often sharing stories of his travels and experiences in the Navy. His warmth, humor and love will be profoundly missed by all who knew him.

The family will receive visitors at Ridge Funeral Home, Asheboro, on Friday, June 20, from 6-8 p.m. Services will be held at Asheboro Friends Meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, 2025, with Pastor David Millikan, Pastor Daniel Thames, Pastor Pat Thames and Rev. Tom Barton o ciating. Internment at Oaklawn Cemetery immediately following the service. Military honors will be provided by the Randolph County Honor Guard.

Expressions of sympathy are welcome, and those wishing to honor Hal’s memory may consider donating to the Randolph County Honor Guard, P.O. Box 1672, Asheboro, NC, 27204.

AnnaMarie Theresa Kopco Ondick

Oct. 13, 1942 – June 23, 2025

AnnaMarie Theresa Kopco

Ondick, age 82, of Randleman, NC,

Wanda Jean “Lanier” Stout

May 21, 1945 – June 19, 2025

Wanda Jean Stout, 80, of Ramseur, passed Thursday, June 19, 2025, at her residence.

Funeral Services, 3 p.m., Sunday, June 22, 2025, at Antioch Christian Church, Seagrove.

O ciating, Rev. Bryan Maness, Rev. Gerald Ward.

Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Mrs. Stout was born in Davidson County on May 21, 1945, and was a graduate of Farmer School. She worked for many years at

Thomas William “Bill” Farlow

July 3, 1939 – June 23, 2025

Thomas William “Bill” Farlow, 85, of Asheboro, died Monday, June 23, 2025, at Alpine Health and Rehabilitation in Asheboro.

Funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m., Thursday, June 26, 2025, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, Asheboro. Burial will follow at Randolph Memorial Park.

Born on July 3, 1939, in Randolph County, NC, Bill was the son of the late Thomas Raiford Farlow and Katherine Geering Farlow. He retired from the NC Department of Transportation.

Crystal K.

“Chris” Osborne

Nov. 9, 1961 – June 19, 2025

Crystal K. Osborne of Asheboro, NC, passed away Thursday, June 19, 2025, at Randolph Hospital following a short illness. She was born to Troy and Dorothy Carter on November 9, 1961, in Logan County, WV. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother Seaburn Carter, her sister Georgia Hall, and her beloved

passed away peacefully at home on June 23, 2025. AnnaMarie was born on October 13, 1942, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to Andrew Joseph Kopco and Anna Theresa Churney. She worked for 17 years at Shoppers Food Warehouse in Maryland before moving to North Carolina, where she continued serving her community for another 19 years at Harris Teeter. AnnaMarie lived a full and vibrant life. She enjoyed gardening, playing golf, crocheting, baking, and traveling to the beach. She was happiest when surrounded by her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, and she cherished the friendships she built through her time spent at the Randleman Senior Center. Her warmth, kindness, and deep love for her family left a lasting impact on

Stedman Manufacturing as well as Elastex. Jean enjoyed the simple things in life and loved spending time gardening. She was a faithful member of Antioch Christian Church of Seagrove, where she taught Sunday School for many years. Mrs. Stout was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Madge Lanier, husband, Alton Stout, son, Tim Stout, and brothers, Roger Lanier and Clark Lanier. Survivors: son, Chris Stout of the home, sisters-in-law, Joyce Goss and husband Danny of Ramseur, Barbara Street and husband David of Redding, CA, and Mary Lou Lanier, brothers-in-law, Nathan Stout and wife Connie of Ramseur and Royce Stout and wife Marilyn of Seagrove, as well as many neices, nephews and cousins. Visitation, 2 to 2:45 p.m., Sunday, Antioch Christian Church, Seagrove. Condolences may be made online at www. lo infuneralservice.com. Arrangements by Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur. Memorials may be made to Antioch Christian Church, 5789 Antioch Church Rd., Seagrove, NC 27341.

Bill was a man whose spirit was as wild and free as the caves and trails he loved to explore. A true adventurer at heart, he found joy and peace underground, navigating the hidden beauty of the earth with awe and respect. Caving wasn’t just a hobby of his; it was a passion. To know him was to be inspired by his sense of adventure, his love for nature and his love for his cat, Tiger. He lived fully and left a lasting impression on everyone lucky enough to walk part of life’s path with him.

Bill was a long-term member of the National Speleological Society and Der Flittermouse Grotto. He discovered and mapped multiple North Carolina caves and even dug his own cave as a child.

We will carry his love for life, the outdoors, and his friends in our hearts, honoring his memory with every adventure we undertake. He will be deeply missed but never forgotten.

The family will receive friends from 6 until 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at Ridge Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to the National Speleological Society, 6001 Pulaski Pike, Huntsville, AL 35810-1122.

brother-in-law Ron Green. She is survived by her husband and best friend, Johnny Osborne, her loving son, Murhl Osborne (Kiesha), her grandson, Dylan Osborn, her sister, Paula Green, her nephew, Ronnie Green, along with many other loving family members and friends. Crystal, better known as Chris, was a wonderful and talented person. She played guitar, wrote songs, and sang beautifully. She was also a very gifted poet and artist. Many people in town knew her from the auto parts industry where she worked for many years at Advance Auto, Auto Zone, and Car Quest. Chris was the commercial parts manager at Auto Zone for many years and forged lasting friendships with her customers. She will be missed by everyone who has ever had the pleasure of knowing her.

The visitation for Crystal K Osborne will be held Tuesday afternoon, June 24, from 1-3 p.m. at the Pugh Funeral Home, 437 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC. Pugh Funeral Home of Asheboro is proudly serving the Osborne family.

everyone who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Stephen Ondick; her parents; and her brother, William Kopco. AnnaMarie is survived by her daughters, Pamela Heider (John) of Smith Mountain Lake, VA, and Kimberly Barbour (Brian) of Apex, NC; her grandchildren, Matthew Wilson (Brittany), Nicole Wells (Jake), Kaitlyn Barbour, and Hailey Barbour; and her greatgrandchildren, Ryatt Wilson, Mallory Wells, and Everett Wells. She is also survived by her siblings, Robert Kopco (Carol) and Barbara Bodenschatz (Raymond).

AnnaMarie was a devout Catholic and will be remembered for her generous spirit, strong work ethic, and the love she gave so freely to her family and friends.

Carolyn Richardson Pearce

Feb. 3, 1944 – June 20, 2025

Carolyn Richardson Pearce, 81, passed away suddenly on June 20, 2025, at High Point Regional Hospital, surrounded by her loving family.

Carolyn was born on February 3, 1944, to Leslie Leroy Cranford and Mary Magdalene Richardson. She grew up in Randolph County, NC, where she raised ve wonderful children. Carolyn was known as a mama and Nana to everyone; her door was always open, and she was a steady, loving presence in the lives of her family and friends.

She is survived by her children: son, Bobby Wayne Pearce (Anna) of Randleman, daughter, Starla Dawn Massey (Mike) of Asheboro, and sons, Mark Je ery Pearce (Jennifer) of Randleman, Christopher Alan Pearce (Michelle) of High Point, and Brock Lee Pearce (LeKessa) of Gibsonville. Her loving grandchildren, Amber Medley (Harley), Ryan Pearce (Casey), Mark Bowman (Rebecca), Chase Pearce, Je ery Pearce, Joshua Williams (Ashley), Hannah Garren, Tina Koser, Suzannah Koser, Ceaira Williams, Brock Lee Pearce II, Seth Pearce, Josie Pearce, Tajaun Eubanks-Scales, Serenity Eubanks, Dallas Pearce, Bobby Pearce, Kaydence. Greatgrandchildren: Cameron Tanner, Evan Sharpe, Riley Sharpe, Alaina Sharpe, Lilly Sharpe, Edison Pearce, Oakley Medley, Parker Medley, Baxleigh Pearce, Emmi Medley. She is also survived by her sisters, Geraldine Dennis and Bobbie Jean Pearce.

In addition to her parents, Carolyn was preceded in death by her husband, Bobby Pearce, as well as her sister, Marcella Fowler.

Carolyn’s family will receive friends at a public visitation on Friday, June 27, 2025, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Pugh Funeral Home in Randleman, 600 S. Main St., Randleman, NC 27317. A funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. with Rev. Lee Carter o ciating, concluding with burial at Randolph Memorial Park, 4538 US Hwy 220 Bus. N. Asheboro, NC 27203. In lieu of owers, donations may be made in Carolyn Pearce’s honor to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Pugh Funeral Home in Randleman is honored to be serving the Pearce family during this time.

STATE & NATION

Pair of enormous agpoles installed at White House

President Donald Trump praised the “beautiful pole” at a ceremony

By Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The American ag has long own from a pole on the White House roof, but that’s always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful.

Last week, massive new agpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House.

“It’s such a beautiful pole,” Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addi-

Statehouse security tightens after Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The shootings happened at home, adding a layer of complexity

By Scott Bauer The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis.

— Anxious lawmakers convened last week under heightened security in Wisconsin’s state Capitol, one of the most publicly accessible statehouses in the country, days after a legislator and her husband in neighboring Minnesota were shot and killed at their home and others were targeted.

The tension playing out in Wisconsin and other states after the Minnesota killings pits those who want to keep state capitols as open and accessible as possible against those concerned about increasing threats and acts of violence against o ceholders.

Other states take action

Numerous states took action this week to protect personal information of lawmakers after the targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers. The second legislator and his wife sustained serious injuries in the shootings last Saturday morning. A suspect, Vance Boelter, surrendered to police on the next day.

Prosecutors say Boelter had dozens of additional potential targets. They included state and federal o ceholders in Wisconsin.

Legislatures in most states are done meeting for the year, but those like Wisconsin that are still in session are taking emergency action to bolster security.

The police chief at the North Carolina General Assembly said Monday in an email to legislators that “we are working on enhanced security plans and are doing our best to keep everyone safe.” But further details haven’t

been released and there’s been no signi cant change seen in security on the surface.

In Arizona, more state troopers were assigned to the state Senate building, said Senate GOP Spokesperson Kim Quintero.

Security bolstered in Wisconsin

Security changes for Wednesday’s meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature were mostly out of sight.

Visitors to the Capitol could still enter the building without going through a metal detector, but anyone wanting to watch in the Senate’s public gallery had to go through an additional security check. Those wishing to watch the Assembly session from the gallery could do so, but they were encouraged to instead view it from another room.

In a more visible sign of force, there were state patrol o cers in the building and around both legislative chambers in addition to the usual Capitol Police.

There were new security screenings for reporters attending a news conference in the Senate parlor, and the Democratic Assembly leader’s door that is

typically open was locked with a sign saying anyone with an appointment could knock to gain entry.

“I feel safe in our Capitol building,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said before session began Wednesday.

Not everyone felt the same way.

“We need to have a higher level of security,” Republican Sen. Chris Kapenga told WISN-TV. He supports adding metal detectors and banning guns for anyone in the building except for lawmakers. He said he always carries a gun in the Capitol.

“We should not be worried about our lives walking into that building,” Kapenga said.

Prior security concerns

Wisconsin is a presidential battleground state used to high-stakes political ghts and frequent large protests both inside and outside of the Capitol.

Two years ago, a man armed with a loaded handgun came into the Wisconsin Capitol looking for Gov. Tony Evers, who was not there at the time.

Wisconsin is one of seven states where concealed weapons are allowed in the Capitol, according

tion to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the rst time.

The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modi cation to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building.

He’s already updated the Oval O ce, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building

more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

The president made time to watch one of the agpole installations despite the escalating con ict between Iran and Israel in the days before the U.S. bombed three nuclear sites.

“I love construction,” said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. “I know it better than anybody.”

He talked about how the pole went down 9 feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, “you hear that rope, banging.”

“This is the real deal,” he said. “This is the best you can get. There’s nothing like this.”

to a 2021 report by the Council of State Governments. Thirty-six states ban concealed weapons in their capitol buildings.

There have been some visible security increases at the Wisconsin Capitol in recent months. Anyone attending oral arguments of the state Supreme Court, which meets in a room just around the corner from the legislative chambers, must go through a metal detector.

That was added after a retired judge was shot and killed in a targeted attack at his home in 2022 and amid increasing threats to members of the judiciary. Evers and other lawmakers were also on a list that gunman had.

No metal detectors

The Wisconsin Capitol has its own police force housed in the basement, but the building is not protected by metal detectors, screening checkpoints or X-rays. Anyone can walk in o the street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week and go straight to the o ces of state lawmakers and others.

The Wisconsin Capitol is one of 11 state capitols that does not have metal detectors, a state au-

dit found last year. It is one of 19 states without X-ray machines to scan items people bring into the building, the audit found.

Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol in late February 2011 at the height of protests over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, later signed into law, that e ectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. They were removed four months later under an agreement reached between Walker’s administration and the state employees union, which sued to get the Capitol reopened without metal detectors.

State Capitol security concerns were raised again after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But at the time, the Wisconsin Capitol was closed to the general public due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that it was important to “take a breath” and not have a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Minnesota shootings. “Trying to make the Capitol into a fortress” is not the answer, he said.

“The thing that’s most scary is this didn’t occur in a Capitol,” Vos said, “it occurred in someone’s home.”

Left, a Capitol police o cer, left, stands with a Wisconsin state patrol o cer at the top of the public gallery in the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday. Right, sta search visitors entering the Wisconsin Senate gallery in the state Capitol on Wednesday in Madison, Wis.

SCOTT BAUER / AP PHOTO TODD RICHMOND / AP PHOTO

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

A new ag pole on the South Lawn of the White House ies an American ag last Wednesday.

RandolpH SPORTS

ZooKeepers produce hot stretch as season heats up

That stretch was capped by a pair of weekend road victories as part of three road games in a three-night span.

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The Asheboro ZooKeepers have clicked at home and on the road during the rst few weeks of the Coastal Plain League baseball season, and the results back those up.

The American Legion team has played some games with only nine players in uniform

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

RAMSEUR — The victories have started to add up for Liberty Post 81 even if the nightly roster numbers haven’t.

But the American Legion baseball team is making the best of the recent situation, winning ve games in a row through the weekend.

“We’re just barely making it through,” Post 81 player Chance Holdaway said. “Sometimes everybody shows up. Sometimes only nine people show up. We just got to play with what we got.” Liberty has gone into several recent games with nine players, but the team has gured out how to make it work.

Post 81 swept Chatham County Post 305 by winning 4-1 on Friday night at home and 10-8 in eight innings Saturday in Siler City.

“Just trusting the players you got,” out elder Bryson Marley said. “When it comes to games, we have who we have.”

While out elder Kruise Newman racked up one of the special accomplishments in all of the CPL, the ZooKeepers as a whole have been doing much the same. Asheboro won ve of six games across an eight-day period to improve to 13-5.

As for Newman, he hit for the cycle in a 6-3 home loss to the Forest City Owls on June 14. He’s the rst CPL player since 2019 to hit for a cycle. He was 4 for 4 and scored three runs in that game. Newman kept it going by driving in four runs the next

Lately, they’ve had enough. The low numbers have struck for a variety of reasons. Manager Nate Cockman said he understands there are con icts and other commitments for many of the players. “We got 18 on the roster, doesn’t seem like we have them all here at the same time,” Cockman said. “We do have a core group who is really showing up. That’s the key to having success. … As long as we have

enough, we’re going to compete.” Cockman said the team has three or four reliable starting pitchers and a few others for relief. Current or former Eastern Randolph players comprise a chunk of the roster, while players from Faith Christian, Chatham Charter, Southern Alamance and Providence Grove also compete. Catcher Eli Holland, a 2024 Southern Alamance

day in a 12-2 rout of host Martinsville. He had a home run and double in that game. Teammate Cole Kitchens smacked a three-run homer. Connor Darling and Caden Barnett combined on a ve-hitter in what became an eight-inning game.

More recently, Newman homered and doubled as the ZooKeepers topped the visiting Holly Springs Salamanders 5-1 last week. Seojun Oh and Boaz Harper also homered for Asheboro. Shane Keup was the winning pitcher with three shutout innings of relief. And Gavin Marley notched the last four outs for a save.

In a 13-3, seven-inning romp past the visiting Boone Bigfoots, Nathan Chrismon drove in

four runs, Yariel Diaz knocked in three runs and Sal Laimo scored three runs. That pushed Asheboro’s winning streak at McCrary Park to three games before the ZooKeepers hit the road.

They lost 12-5 at Forest City despite Harper’s three runs batted in and Rafael Soto’s three hits.

The ZooKeepers got back on track with Saturday night’s 6-5, 10-inning victory against the Peninsula Pilots. On Sunday, Asheboro trounced the Tri-City Chili Peppers 16-5 by scoring in all seven innings that were contested. Rylen Stockton drilled a three-run

Randolph County Post 45’s Jake Riddle delivers a pitch during a game last week at McCrary Park.

Randolph County entered a glutton of Area 3 games on a winning streak

Randolph Record sta

ASHEBORO — Randolph County Post 45 played six times across a seven-day stretch and won each one of those games. That creates momentum for the American Legion baseball team as it enters the teeth of its Area 3 schedule.

Braxton Walker drove in three runs and pitched thenal two innings as Randolph County began the stretch with a 9-6 home victory against Chatham County Post 305.

Post 45 notched the game’s nal six runs. Jake Riddle and Clay Hill both scored twice, while Jackson Hill knocked in two runs. Elijah Prince was the winning pitcher in relief. A 5-4 victory against Beverly-Lowell (Ohio) Post 389/750 began ve consecutive days

WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Sal Laimo of the Asheboro ZooKeepers beats the throw to rst base last week against the Holly Springs Salamanders at McCrary Park.

Asheboro has been one of the top teams in the Coastal Plain League with a variety of key contributors

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

Eastern Randolph rising juniors Cade McCallum, left, and Chance Holdaway have been key players for Liberty Post 81.

RECORD

Gracie Hodgin

JANN

Gracie Hodgin was a key member of volleyball teams for Southwestern Randolph.

Southwestern Randolph, volleyball, basketball, track and eld

Hodgin had a busy career in high school athletics, concluding that during the spring season in track and eld. She received All-Piedmont Athletic Conference honors three times, specializing as a 400-meter runner, long jump and triple jump. Hodgin was a volleyball standout, receiving All-PAC recognition for four seasons (including as a freshman with Wheatmore). As a senior, she led Southwestern Randolph in kills. She also was a member of Southwestern Randolph’s girls’ basketball team, which went undefeated in the 2024-25 regular season.

During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

Free admission available for Caraway card

The Grand National Super Series will hold a pair of races at the track in Randolph County Randolph Record sta

SOPHIA — There will be free grandstand admission for North Carolina residents Saturday night at Caraway Speedway, where the Grand National Super Series will make a stop.

A 15-car eld is expected for the twin 50-lap races in the Grand National Super Series. Points leader A.J. Hendriksen

leads Jeremy May eld, a former NASCAR Cup Series regular, in the season standings. Drivers Kody Brusso, Chris Burns and Bob Schacht also are contending for the top spot.

The Chargers division race will be a 50-lap version with $1,000 to the winner. Matthew Smith leads the track’s standings in that division.

UCARs will have twin 12-lap features, while Crown Vics will race for 10 laps. This will be the rst of three race cards in eight nights at the track, with the CARS Tour set for July 2 and the Rusty Harpe Memorial on July 5.

Ex-UCA pitcher nds new team after college closes

Colt Wilkins has a season of baseball eligibility remaining and will use it at Catawba

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

FORMER Uwharrie Charter Academy pitcher Colt Wilkins became a baseball player without a school or a team this spring.

“It’s probably the craziest thing that has happened to me in my life,” Wilkins said. “You don’t hear about colleges closing down.”

That’s what happened when school o cials at Limestone announced this spring that the university would close at the end of the school year last month because of nancial problems.

Wilkins, a right-hander, still has another season of college eligibility remaining.

“Thankfully, I had good numbers and I had a lot of schools reaching out,” he said.

One of them was Division II power Catawba. Wilkins is lined up to play his nal season for the school in Salisbury. Wilkins, 21, played his rst college season for Divi-

sion II UNC Pembroke before transferring to Limestone, a Division II school in South Carolina.

This year, he posted a 6-4 record with a 3.26 earned run average in a team-high 14 starts. He struck out 60 batters across 80 innings.

Wilkins threw a ve-hitter in the Saints’ 2-0 victory against Coker in a South Atlantic Conference Tournament game in early May on Catawba’s eld. That turned out to be the Limestone program’s second-to-last victory. He said he’s concerned that

Asheboro had multiple all-conference selections in baseball, girls’ soccer and track and eld

Randolph Record sta

HERE’S A LIST of the Mid-Piedmont Conference’s major award winners plus Asheboro’s all-conference selections for spring sports.

BASEBALL

Player of the Year: Cooper Beck (Central Davidson)

Pitcher of the Year: Justin Mabe (North Davidson)

Coach of the Year: Matt Gri n (North Davidson)

Asheboro: Cohen Caviness, Shane Immel

BOYS’ GOLF

Player of the Year: Aidan Wilson (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Will Essick (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: Brayden Davis

GIRLS’ SOCCER

O ensive Player of the Year: Victoria Lockamy (Oak Grove)

Defensive Player of the Year: Lily Sullivan (North Davidson)

Coach of the Year: Allen Reavis (Central Davidson)

Asheboro: Penny Smith, Chloe Chanmaly, Jaira Arellano, Emma Julian

SOFTBALL

Player of the Year: Leah Leonard (Ledford)

Pitcher of the Year: Mary Peyton Hodge (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Kristen Faircloth (Asheboro)

with games. Post 45 was boosted by Drew Harmon’s two-run single to support pitching from Sean Jennison and Riddle. Post 45 played its rst Area 3 game that counts in the division standings by winning 2-1 at Aberdeen Post 72 as Cohen Caviness drove in both runs. Brett Smith and Tate Andrews got the job done from the mound.

“Thankfully, I had good numbers and I had a lot of schools reaching out.” Colt Wilkins, college pitcher

not all his Limestone teammates will be as fortunate as him.

“Now all those guys are in the (transfer) portal,” he said. “I feel bad for the guys not getting looks.”

Wilkins said he was bummed to have to move out at Limestone for a couple of months at home before moving again to go to Catawba.

From an academic perspective it should work out for the exercise science major.

“They’re taking all my credits,” he said. The 6-foot-1 Wilkins said he won’t pitch this summer because of his busy workload during the past season.

Wilkins is also a former American Legion player for Randolph County Post 45. His younger brothers, Walker Wilkins and Logun Wilkins, have been on recent Class 1A state championship teams with UCA.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Swimmer of the Year: Luis Broome (North Davidson)

Coaches of the Year: Caleb Robertson (Central Davidson), Luke Sealey (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: Will Slate

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Runner of the Year: Hunter Creech (Oak Grove)

Field Events Athlete of the Year: Aaron Tyson (Asheboro)

Coaches of the Year: Calvin Keller (Oak Grove), Deneal McNair (Asheboro)

In the rematch the next day, Randolph County edged Aberdeen 5-3 at home by scoring three sixth-inning runs. Ben Luck crossed the plate twice, while Lincoln Coble was the winning pitcher in relief. Then came a couple of games against out-of-state opponents on the weekend. Post 45 nipped Maryland Blue 4-3 before capping the stretch with Sunday afternoon’s 10-0 whipping of St. Mary’s (Maryland).

Asheboro: Elijah Woodle, Jalial Timmons, Aaron Tyson, Jorge Dominguez Caceres, Boone Hinesley, Juan Pablo Munoz, 400 relay, 800 relay

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Runner of the Year: Jillian Parks (Central Davidson)

Field Events Athlete of the Year: Emma Hadley (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Trey Crook (Central Davidson)

Asheboro: Jalaya Showers, Nyla Price, Rebecca Wilson, 400 relay

In Saturday’s game, Parker Kines and Grat Dalton combined to handle Post 45’s pitching, withstanding 10 hits allowed. Randolph County wiped out a 3-0 hole with a four-run fourth inning. Zack Scruggs and Carter Brown each had three hits and Brown and Luck scored twice in Sunday’s romp. Riddle threw a six-inning ve-hitter, nishing with seven strikeouts.

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD Colt Wilkins

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Asheboro’s Penny Smith heads the ball during the girls’ soccer season.

pen & paper pursuits

this week in history

Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot, Globe Theatre burns, Apple’s iPhone debuts, Battle of Gettysburg begins

JUNE 26

1917: U.S. troops entered World War I as the rst troops of the American Expeditionary Force landed in Saint-Nazaire, France.

1945: The charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco.

1948: The Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the Soviet Union cut o land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin.

1963: President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he delivered his famous speech expressing solidarity with the city’s residents, declaring: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”).

2015: In its 5-4 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the country.

JUNE 27

1844: Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.

1950: The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on member nations to help South Korea repel an invasion from the North.

1957: Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm, causing as many as 600 deaths.

1991: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the rst black jurist to sit on the nation’s highest court, announced his retirement.

JUNE 28

1914: In an act that sparked World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his

Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was published on June 30, 1934. The 1939 lm adaptation would go on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time when adjusted for in ation.

wife, Sophie, were shot to death in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

1919: The Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the World War I.

1940: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Alien Registration Act, also known as the Smith Act, which required adult foreigners residing in the U.S. to be registered and ngerprinted.

JUNE 29

1613: London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a re sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of Henry VIII.

1767: Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies.

1776: The Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made governor.

2007: The rst version of the iPhone went on sale to the public; more than 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold since.

JUNE 30

1918: Labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs was arrested in Cleveland, charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for a speech he’d made two weeks

earlier denouncing U.S. involvement in World War I.

1934: Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as the “Night of the Long Knives.”

1936: Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was released.

JULY 1

1863: The pivotal, three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, began in Pennsylvania.

1867: Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect. The national holiday is now known as Canada Day.

1903: The rst Tour de France began.

JULY 2

1776: The Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

1881: President James A. Gar eld was shot by Charles J. Guiteau.

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the civil rights bill passed by Congress, prohibiting discrimination and segregation based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

The Berlin Airlift began after Soviet authorities blocked all road and water access to West Berlin during the early stages of the Cold War.

ZOOKEEPERS from page B1

home run among his three hits, while Sam Hunter and Jake Gri th, who also homered, also produced three hits and Harper drove in four runs.

Hiroyuki Yamada threw a complete game for the ZooKeepers.

Early this week, Asheboro had a couple of games on the docket against the High Point-Thomasville HiToms. The ZooKeepers are slated to close out June with three home games — Thursday, Saturday and Monday — amid a ve-game span.

They open July’s schedule with next Wednesday night’s home game against the Florence Flamingos. That night (July 2) will involve an Independence Day celebration with postgame reworks.

POST 81 from page B1

graduate, has handled a bulk of the work behind the plate.

The players understand the predicament, but they’re not overwhelmed by it.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we got. That’s all that matters,” shortstop/pitcher Cade McCallum said. “With what we’ve got, we’ve got a good team.” Cockman said if he knows in advance about a player’s likely absence, it helps him prepare and be certain there are enough for games. In the meantime, there’s plenty of opportunities for those who are in uniform on a regular basis.

“I love playing baseball,” Holdaway said. There aren’t many options when lling out a lineup card some nights.

“You show, you’re playing,” Marley said. “You’re not sitting.”

Last Friday against Chatham County, starting pitcher Mark King threw six shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

Chatham County scored an unearned run o Luke Johnson in the seventh before loading the bases. Mason Taylor was summoned to the mound and struck out both batters he faced to end the game.

Post 81 made the most of four singles, including two by McCallum, and King’s sacri ce y to score in four separate innings.

Then in the rematch Saturday night, Liberty rallied with seven seventh-inning runs to pull even at 7-7 and went on to win in the next inning. Holland nished with three hits and two walks, King, Holdaway and Noah Lester all drove in two runs, and McCallum and Marley each scored twice. Taylor notched the pitching victory in relief.

Earlier last week, Post 81 topped host Moore County Post 12 by 12-5 with Lester driving in three runs and Marley, who combined with King for the pitching, knocking in two runs.

In a 14-1 pounding of host Aberdeen Post 72, winning pitcher Lucas Smith, Lester and King all homered.

MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS VIA WIKIPEDIA

HENRY BURROUGHS / AP PHOTO

Tom Cruise nally getting an Oscar — as will Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen, Wynn Thomas

Last year’s recipients included the late Quincy Jones

By Lindsey Bahr

The Associated Press

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS after Tom Cruise received his rst Oscar nomination, he’snally getting a trophy. It’s not for his death-defying stunts, either. At least, not exclusively.

Cruise, choreographer Debbie Allen and “Do The Right Thing” production designer Wynn Thomas have all been selected to receive honorary Oscar statuettes at the annual Governors Awards, the lm academy said. Dolly Parton will also be recognized with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her decades-long charitable work in literacy and education.

“This year’s Governors Awards will celebrate four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our lmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact,” Academy

President Janet Yang said in a statement.

Most recipients of the prize historically have not yet won a competitive Oscar themselves. Cruise, 62, has been nominated four times, twice for best actor in “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Jerry Maguire,” once for supporting actor in “Magnolia” and once for best picture with “Top Gun: Maverick.” He’s also championed theatrical moviegoing and big-scale Hollywood production through the coronavirus pandemic.

Yang spotlighted Cruise’s “incredible commitment to our lmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community.”

Allen, 75, has never been nominated for an Oscar. But the multihyphenate entertainer — she also acts and produces — has played an integral role in the Oscars show, having choreographed seven ceremonies over the years. Four of those were nominated for prime-time Emmy awards.

A nomination had also eluded Thomas, a leading production designer whose lms have

often gone on to best picture nominations and even one win, for Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind.” Thomas is most known for his long-term collaboration with lmmaker Spike Lee, from “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Malcolm X” through “Da 5 Bloods.”

Parton has been nominated twice for best original song, for “9 to 5” and, in 2006, “Travelin’ Thru” from the lm “Transamerica.” But her honor celebrates her humanitarian e orts over the years, through organizations like the Dollywood Foundation and the literary program “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.” Yang said Parton “exemplies the spirit” of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The awards will be handed out during an untelevised ceremony on Nov. 16 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.

Recipients of the prizes, which honor lifetime achievement, contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences and service to the academy are selected by the lm academy’s board of governors.

Tom Cruise appears at the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick” at the 75th international

festival in Cannes in 2022.

New

biography goes

deep on rise,

The band o cially broke up in 1991

By Ann Levin

The Associated Press

fall of Talking Heads

TALKING HEADS FANS, rejoice! Hard on the heels of the rerelease of “Stop Making Sense,” the 1984 Jonathan Demme lm widely considered the best concert movie ever made, Jonathan Gould has published a comprehensive biography of the seminal band that injected an art school vibe into popular music and forever changed rock ’n’ roll.

Gould, the author of well-received books on Otis Redding and the Beatles, chronicles in meticulous detail the rise and fall of the band that got its start in New York City’s underground punk scene and ended up touring the world with a repertoire shaped by blues, funk and jazz.

He begins “Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock” with a vivid description of the drizzly June night in 1975 when the original trio — singer/songwriter David Byrne, bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz — made its debut at the seedy club CBGB in downtown Manhattan, opening for the Ramones before a

handful of patrons. With their “unremarkable haircuts” and “nondescript casual clothes,” they o ered a sharp contrast to the “baroque turn” that rock fashion had taken in the 1970s, Gould observes. “The qualities that characterized this neophyte group in their rst public performance centered on the awkward, disquieting intensity of their singer-guitarist, David Byrne, their sketchy, skeletal arrangements, and the quirky intelligence

SOLUTIONS FOR THIS WEEK

of their songs,” Gould writes. “Tall and thin, with a long neck and an anxious, wide-eyed stare, Byrne stood sti y at the microphone, his upper body jerking and jiggling like a shadow puppet as he scratched out chords on his guitar. … Instead of doing his best to command the stage and the room, Byrne looked trapped by his surroundings, as if he were prepared, at any moment, to make a break for the door.”

Within a couple years of their zeitgeist-changing performances, they enlisted keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison, adding a much-needed dose of professionalism to the band. Gould, a former professional musician, writes exceedingly well about music but su ers from a kind of completism, cramming in an almost mind-numbing level of detail including the name of the elementary school in Pittsburgh where a young Frantz rst took up drums to every military posting of Weymouth’s naval aviator father. Though much of the material is fascinating, including his observations about how Byrne’s then-undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome may have in uenced his music and relationships with the other band members, it is likely to be a bit too much for all but the most diehard fans.

VIANNEY LE CAER / INVISION / AP PHOTO

lm

MARINER BOOKS VIA AP

“Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene that Transformed Rock” by Jonathan Gould chronicles the iconic band.

BOOK REVIEW

THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

JUNE 26

Jazz musician-composer Dave Grusin is 91. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer is 72. Musician Mick Jones (The Clash) is 70. Musician Chris Isaak is 69. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson is 55. Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is 51.

JUNE 27

Musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 83. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 76. Actor Julia Du y is 74. Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai is 63. Writer-producer-director J.J. Abrams is 59. Actor Tobey Maguire is 50.

JUNE 28

Filmmaker and comedian Mel Brooks is 99. Actor Kathy Bates is 77. Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 65. Actor John Cusack is 59. Business executive Elon Musk is 54. Country singer-TV personality Kellie Pickler is 38.

JUNE 29

Actor Gary Busey is 81. Former actor and congressman and now radio host Fred Grandy is 77. Drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple is 77. Singer Don Dokken of Dokken is 72. Actor Maria Conchita Alonso is 70.

JUNE 30

Actor Nancy Dussault (“Too Close for Comfort”) is 89. Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is 74. Guitarist Hal Lindes of Dire Straits is 72. Actor David Alan Grier is 69. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 66.

JULY 1

Actor Jamie Farr is 91. Actor Genevieve Bujold is 83. Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 80. Stage actor Terrence Mann is 74. Singer Fred Schneider of The B-52′s is 74. Actor Dan Aykroyd is 73.

the stream

76th Emmy Awards in 2024. All 10 episodes of the

‘The Bear,’ new Lorde album, ‘Nosferatu,’ ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Nelly and Ashanti

The “F1 The Album” includes songs from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran and more

The Associated Press

THE JACK Black-led movie phenomenon “A Minecraft Movie” and Lorde’s fourth studio album, “Virgin,” 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: All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” drop Wednesday, Nelly and Ashanti get their own reality show, and Bill Skarsgård leads an update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

The Porky Pig and Da y Duck movie “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” is coming to HBO Max on Friday (it will also broadcast on HBO on Saturday at 8 p.m.). Reviews were a little mixed but mostly positive for the full-length animated feature.

Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother Jayne Mans eld, “My Mom Jayne,” will also be streaming on HBO Max on Friday. The Hollywood bombshell died in a car accident at 34 when Hargitay was only 3. La-la-la-lava, ch-ch-ch-chicken, Steve’s lava chicken is now streaming on HBO Max, as is the rest of “A Minecraft Movie.” A box o ce phenomenon with over $950 million in worldwide ticket sales and counting, this movie adaptation of the popular game stars Black and Jason Momoa. In his AP review, Mark Kennedy wrote that “the Jared Hess-directed action-adventure artfully straddles the line between delighting preteen gamers and keeping their parents awake. It’s an often-bananas adaptation, with bizarre digressions into turquoise blouses and tater tot pizzas. It has Jennifer Coolidge being very Jennifer Coolidge. Need we say more?” Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård lead

the Robert Eggers-directed update of the 1922 silent vampire classic “Nosferatu,” streaming on Prime Video starting Friday. Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her AP review that “it will chill you to the bone” but that “it may not terrify you.” Everything, she adds, in Eggers “faithful, even adoring remake... looks great. But with its stylized, often stilted dialogue and overly dramatic storytelling, it feels more like everyone is living in a quaint period painting rather than a world populated by real humans (and, well, vampires) made of esh and, er, blood.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

What will the next era of Lorde look like? “What Was That,” the singer’s rst new single in four years, recalls the clever synth-pop of her 2017 album “Melodrama,” casting aside the folk detour of 2021’s “Solar Power.” The song that followed, “Man of the Year,” is stripped and spare — just Lorde and a sorrowful bass. Who knows

what will come next? Listeners will have to wait until Friday when she releases her fourth studio album, “Virgin.”

The “F1” movie, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, is quickly gearing up to be a summer tentpole. Naturally, the lmmakers knew its sound had to be massive, too. That arrives via a score by the many-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and a huge soundtrack releasing as “F1 The Album” via Atlantic Records, the team behind the award-winning “Barbie” album — with bespoke tracks from Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Myke Towers, Blackpink’s Rosé, Tate McRae and many more. Learn all about how the soundtrack came together here. On Friday, arty alt-rock legends Failure will receive documentary treatment in “Every Time You Lose Your Mind: A Film about Failure,” available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The unorthodox and in uential band nally gets their due in the project, direct-

ed by frontman Ken Andrews. Some of the featured voices in the documentary certainly will be Paramore’s Hayley Williams, actor Jason Schwartzman, comedian Margaret Cho, legendary producers Steve Albini and Butch Vig and many more participate.

SERIES TO STREAM

All 10 episodes of season four of FX’s “The Bear” are ready to watch on Hulu. Viewers will nd out if Michelin-starred chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) can successfully run an acclaimed and pro table ne dining restaurant in Chicago. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural,” “Tracker”) stars in a new crime thriller series for Prime Video called “Countdown.” Ackles plays a LAPD detective assigned to a task force investigating the murder of a government o cial. Eric Dane of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” also stars. It is streaming now. Ben A eck and Jennifer Lo -

pez’s second shot at love didn’t work out, but there’s another celebrity couple who has rekindled a past ame. Recording artists Nelly and Ashanti were an item for more than 10 years before their breakup in 2013. They got back together in 2023 and are now married with a son. The pair are the subject of their own reality show called “Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together.” It debuts Thursday on Peacock.

Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star in the new thriller “Smoke” for Apple TV+ as investigators working together to catch two serial arsonists. It’s created by Dennis Lehane and based on a true story where an arson investigator turned out to be a serial arsonist. “Smoke” reunites Egerton and Lehane who worked on the Apple limited series “Blackbird.” John Leguizamo and Greg Kinnear also appear in “Smoke,” out Friday.

“Nautilus,” a reimagining of Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” comes to AMC+ on Friday. It’s an origin story of the character known as Captain Nemo and portrayed by Shazad Latif. Nemo is an Indian prince whose birthright was stolen from him and he’s on a mission for revenge.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

In 2019’s Death Stranding, a courier named Sam worked to reconnect survivors in a postapocalyptic America beset by “beached things,” gooey monsters trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sam is back in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but now he faces a question we’ve all asked in the internet age: Was connecting everyone really such a good idea? The series is the brainchild of legendary “Metal Gear Solid” mastermind Hideo Kojima, and fans know they can expect a complex story, amboyant graphics and some o -the-wall gameplay ideas. Norman Reedus of “The Walking Dead” returns as Sam, and yes, he’s still carrying a baby who has psychic powers. Embrace the weirdness Thursday on PlayStation 5.

Jeremy Allen White accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “The Bear” at the

show are now streaming on Hulu.

Lily-Rose Depp appears in a scene from “Nosferatu.”

HOKE COUNTY

Beatin’ the heat

Temperatures

into the

the

U.S. this week,

WHAT’S HAPPENING NC Senate takes on transgender issues

Mamdani shocks Cuomo in NYC’s Democratic mayoral primary

New York

Zohran Mamdani has declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset. The race’s ultimate outcome will still be decided by a ranked choice count, but Mamdani was in a commanding position after polls closed Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old democratic socialist was virtually unknown outside of political circles a year ago. Cuomo was trying to make a comeback from a sexual harassment scandal. He told supporters that he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.

NATO leaders agree to hike military spending, restate commitment’ to collective defense

The Hague, Netherlands NATO leaders have agreed on a massive hike in defense spending after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and expressed their “ironclad commitment” to come to each other’s aid if attacked. The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”

However, some countries have already warned that they will struggle to meet the target.

One bill was sent to the governor, another sent to the house

By Makiya Seminera The Associated Press

RALEIGH — Legislation much in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda on transgender rights squeezed through the North Carolina Senate this week, as state lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by the week’s end.

A measure approved Tuesday — despite heightened tensions in the Senate — offers protections for women and minors in pornography but had various provisions related to transgender people tacked on in a Senate committee last week. In its original form, the bill passed unanimously through the House last month before the changes, which caused a stir among Democrats who have said the bill was hijacked.

“It didn’t just distract from the problem, they made it im-

possible to solve,” Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said on the chamber floor Tuesday.

The other bill passed Monday, entitled the Parents Protections Act, blocks certain abuse and neglect charges for

parents raising transgender children. That bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk for his impending veto or approval. But the bill is on track to become law even if Stein vetoes it as previous Democratic support in the House will give

Republicans the supermajority necessary to override a veto.

Among the many priorities unveiled by the Trump administration over the past six months, pressing back against the rights and recognition of transgender people has been at the forefront. The administration’s policies include restricting passport sex markers for many transgender people, signing off on an executive order to recognize just two sexes and banning transgender troops — actions that had mixed approval from Americans as of last month.

The bills passed by the Senate reinforce the Trump administration’s attitude toward transgender issues. But they are also an extension of legislation already approved in North Carolina. Last legislative session, the GOP-dominated General Assembly cleared bills that largely banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports at the

State court issues mixed ruling on governor’s appointment powers

Gov. Josh Stein and legislative Republicans split wins in the decisions

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina trial judges issued a mixed ruling Tuesday for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders in Stein’s litigation over recent law changes that eroded the governor’s powers to appoint members to state boards and to fill appeals court vacancies.

A three-judge panel unanimously sided with Stein and struck down as unconstitutional a portion of a law that placed

some limits on whom the governor could choose to fill vacancies on the seven-member state Supreme Court and 15-member intermediate-level Court of Appeals. But the Superior Court judges let stand a pair of provisions that take away some of Stein’s appointments to the state Utilities Commission and Building Code Council.

In a brief order issued after two hours of arguments earlier in the day, Superior Court Judges James Ammons, Graham Shirley and Imelda Pate wrote that Stein “failed to demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt,” that the alterations involving the two state boards were unconstitutional.

The order, which can be appealed, is the latest result from lawsuits that Stein or his fellow Democrat and predecessor Roy Cooper filed in recent years to attempt to counter measures approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that they say weaken gubernatorial control and the separation of powers between government branches. Several lawsuits have focused on the State Board of Elections. The state constitution says the governor fills appellate court vacancies. Appointees must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina.

But the law approved last December directed the governor to fill such a vacancy from a list of

three people offered by the political party with which the departing judge or justice was affiliated when elected. That limitation wouldn’t apply if the court judge was unaffiliated at the time, or if the party didn’t provide the list quickly. Stein attorney Daniel Smith told the judges that legal scholars — among them the current chief justice — have said the governor has an “unfettered power of appointment” for these vacancies, which fill positions until the next statewide election.

Shirley pushed back on arguments by Noah Huffstetler — an attorney for House Speaker

THE HOKE COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO

Sen. Amy Galey speaks in favor of a bill that would shield parents from certain abuse and neglect charges for raising their transgender child in accordance with their sex assigned at birth on the North Carolina Senate floor on Monday.

soared

triple digits across

eastern

setting all-time records in dozens of cities. Above, Dory, an explosives certified dog, cooled down in front of a fan outside of Bank of America Stadium before the start of a FIFA Club World Cup game on Tuesday in Charlotte.

ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO

6.26.25

SENATE from page A1

middle school, high school and collegiate levels.

Tuesday’s approved bill includes an array of provisions pertaining to transgender people, such as disallowing state-funded gender transition procedures or gender-affirming hormone therapy for prisoners. It also requires the state to officially attach a transgender person’s new birth certificate to their old one if they change their sex assigned at birth, as well as affirms Trump’s executive order recognizing only two sexes.

Republican Sen. Buck New-

RULINGS from page A1

Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger — that since the constitution doesn’t specifically forbid conditions on these appointments, the legislature can act to add some.

The panel declined to block the latest changes to the Utilities Commission, which regulates electricity, natural gas and other public utilities. Beginning next month, the commission will decrease to five members.

Without the December law, the retooled commission would be composed of three members appointed by the governor and two by the General Assembly. But the challenged law gave

ton said the reason for pushing the bill with new provisions was to address the issue of women being “systemically erased from our language.” He referenced terms such as “pregnant person” as evidence of that.

In the bill’s original form that passed through the House, it solely focused on curbing sexual exploitation of women and minors by implementing age verification and consent requirements for people who appear on pornography websites. It also outlines a process to remove content from those websites if a performer requests it, regardless of age and consent.

While those provisions re-

one of the governor’s three appointments to the elected state treasurer, currently Republican Brad Briner. His nominee is set to take his post in July.

Stein’s attorneys argued that the change would dilute the governor’s powers and prevent him from controlling the commission to make sure utilities regulations are enforced. But GOP leaders countered that they can assign duties to other statewide elected executive officials known as the Council of State.

Briner, who joined the case to help defend the law, said Tuesday’s decision affirms that “the governor does not have ultimate authority over other duly elected members of the Council of State

main in the bill, many Senate Democrats expressed their dissatisfaction by sending forth a barrage of amendments and abstaining from voting while remaining in the chamber — a rare move used in protest.

The parliamentary maneuvers caused discussion on the bill to last over two hours, but it ultimately passed.

Because the bill was changed in the Senate, it must now go back to House to approve of the alterations before it can go to the governor’s desk.

The Parents Protections Act would shield parents, guardians and caregivers from being cited for child abuse or neglect

to carry out their roles and responsibilities as members of the executive branch.”

The panel also let stand General Assembly changes to the Building Code Council, whose members have been appointed solely by the governor.

Under the new law, the governor still would appoint seven of the 13 members, with legislative leaders choosing six. Stein’s lawyers say he’ll lack sufficient control over the revised board because code changes and other action couldn’t be approved unless nine members agree. Stein said late Tuesday on social platform X that the judges’ decision on judicial vacancies “maintains our state’s separa-

because they “raise a juvenile consistent with the juvenile’s biological sex,” according to the legislation. That includes making reference to the child, as well as making mental health or medical decisions, based on their sex assigned at birth.

Adoptive agencies also wouldn’t be permitted to deny someone from adopting a child because of their unwillingness to allow the child to transition.

Nine House Democrats voted in favor of the legislation last week, meaning a potential veto from Stein would easily be overridden if those margins remain and allow the bill to become law.

tion of powers.” Stein said he was disappointed that they failed to follow similar principles in ruling on the Utilities Commission and Building Code Council.

Pate is a registered Democrat, while Ammons is unaffiliated. Shirley ran unsuccessfully for another court term in 2024 as a Republican. He became a special Superior Court judge this year.

Just last week another threejudge panel dismissed a lawsuit filed by Stein that challenged another law from December directing that current State Highway Patrol Col. Freddy Johnson remain patrol commander until 2030.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer.

You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can afford a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house fires in which no one was injured, traffic pile-ups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper office and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual flower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

I experienced the disappearance of women’s spaces

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings, but a biological fact.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies influenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is defined by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the differences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders defining sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certificates. At least eight states define male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was filed earlier this year. The legislation defines “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

COLUMN | CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

COLUMN | MARC DION

Republican tax bill would ease regulations on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, shotguns

It would drop the $200 NFA tax stamp for silencers and SBRs

By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The massive tax and spending cuts package — the “Big Beautiful Bill” — that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill.

The guns provision was first requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers — more accurately called “suppressors” — from a 1930s National Firearms Act or NFA law that regulates certain types of firearms, eliminating a $200 tax and considerable paperwork.

The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport.

“Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting American gun owners’ hearing,” said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like an assault rifle on his suit lapel.

Democrats are fighting to stop the provision, which was unveiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through

the Senate. They argue that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons.

“Parents don’t want silencers on their streets, police don’t want silencers on their streets,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Many European countries, even those with strong gun control laws, require silencers to be used when hunting to cut down on noise pollution.

The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson (RLa.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants.

Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the cli-

mate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take firearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools.

Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it was the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades.

Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called “beautiful.”

“I’m glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our Constitution, and I will continue to fight

for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year.

If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel rifles and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about mafia violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other gun purchases and transfers.

Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. “All it’s ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to

Telescope with largest digital camera ever built releases first shots of universe

An image shows a small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster.

The observatory is built on a mountaintop in Chile

By Adithi Ramakrishnan The Associated Press

THE LARGEST digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe on Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the U.S. National Science Founda-

hearing safe levels,” Keane says.

Speaking on the floor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Second Amendment rights from “over 90 years of draconian taxes.” Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill “with the purest of motive.”

“Who asked for it? I asked,” said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added.

Clyde was responding to Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 28-yearold Florida Democrat, who went to the floor and demanded to know who was responsible for the gun provision. Frost, who was a gun-control activist before being elected to Congress, called himself a member of the “mass shooting generation” and said the bill would help “gun manufacturers make more money off the death of children and our people.”

Among other concerns, control advocates say less regulation for silencers could make it harder for law enforcement to stop an active shooter.

“There’s a reason silencers have been regulated for nearly a century: They make it much harder for law enforcement and bystanders to react quickly to gunshots,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Schumer and other Democrats are trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian to drop the language as she reviews the bill for policy provisions that aren’t budget-related.

“Senate Democrats will fight this provision at the parliamentary level and every other level with everything we’ve got,” Schumer said earlier this month.

However, as the primary mechanism of the law is a $200 tax stamp, it’s likely that the language will pass parliamentarian muster.

tion and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory’s first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects.

The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

Integrity Open Arms Residents of the Month

Integrity Open Arms Employee of the Month

Robin Jacobs

Robert General has been a resident at Open Arms since August 2021. He was born in South Carolina, relocated to Richmond Virginia and later moved to North Carolina. Robert enjoys BINGO, church and knitting. He is a joy to have here at Open Arms Retirement Center.

Robin has been with Integrity Open Arms for a little over a year. On her time away from work she enjoys shing, working in the garden, cooking and spending time with family. Residents enjoy Robin and every holiday she brings surprises and gifts for the residents.

Integrity Open Arms would like to THANK ROBIN for a job well done!

Mrs. Florence Herbert has been a resident here since May 2021. She moved to North Carolina from Pennsylvania to escape the bad weather. Florence enjoys word searches, BINGO, watching TV and spending time with her friends on the Special Care Unit at Integrity Open Arms.

RESIDENT OF THE MONTH

Joyce Stryder

Mrs. Betty Purcell is from Raeford, North Carolina. She moved into our assisted living this past June. Besides being the mother of two, she worked for many years at Burlington Mills. Betty enjoys church, watching youtube and doing word searches.

to discuss your needs or

We are happy to discuss your needs or questions. We’re here to help!

JOHN LOCHER / AP PHOTO

Gun silencers on display at the Sig Sauer booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016.

HOKE SPORTS

Year in review: Sandhills Community College athletics

The school’s sports teams delivered a national title and several top-six finishes

North State Journal staff

A GOLF TITLE for the men’s team capped a successful year for the Sandhills Community College athletics program.

The men captured their fifth straight NJCAA championship with a record-setting performance. The golfers were the last of the school’s five intercollegiate sports teams to finish play for the 2024-25 school year. Here’s a look at the other teams.

Men’s basketball: The Flyers finished a 28-8 record with a sixth-place finish in the nation-

players (left to right) Tre’ Williams, Mike Fee and Xavion White will continue their college careers at Methodist.

al tournament. Damien Robinson (Overhills), who scored 1,000 points in his SCC career and won regional player of the year honors as well as making the all-tournament team, will move on to continue his college career at Chowan. The school also named him its male athlete of the year.

The entire graduating class found homes at four-year schools, as Vander “Tre” Williams (Westover), Michael Fee (Providence Grove) and Xavion White (Mooresville) all committed to continue their careers at Methodist.

Women’s beach volleyball: The Flyers reached their second straight NJCAA Tournament and finished in sixth place nationally for the second year in a row. Sophomore Aydan Bull-

ard (Lumberton) was honored for having a breakout season, while the duo of Reagan Smith (Jordan-Matthews) and Lainey Mullins (Pinecrest) was named the best pair. Sophomore Caroline Bradford (Pinecrest) was named the school’s female athlete of the year.

Women’s volleyball: The Flyers also turned in a sixth-place national finish on the volleyball court, going 37-7 on the year. Sophomore Kristin Dobbs (West Johnston) was named the team’s impact player, while sophomore Zoey Hall (North Mecklenburg) won the hustle award.

Men’s golf: Vegas Melen, who won the individual national title, was given the team’s High Flyer award, while Will Dement took home the Iron Man award.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Damien Robinson

Damien Robinson is a 2025 graduate of Sandhills Community College. The 6-foot-6 forward led the Flyers in scoring at 18.1 points and rebounding at 11.8. He scored his 1,000th career point and finished with more than 1,100, winning the regional player of the year award and getting named to the all-tournament team in the NJCAA championships. Robinson was named Sandhills Community College’s male athlete of the year and has signed to continue his playing career at Division II Chowan, becoming the fourth SCC product to move on to Chowan.

Briscoe holds off teammate Hamlin to win at Pocono

By Dan Gelston

The Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. — Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team.

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR field.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, ap-

peared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win.

“It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his final pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his final stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the first-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

Briscoe, who won an Xfinity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth

“To get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders.”

Chase Briscoe

top-10 finish over the last six races, including a seventh-place finish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City. He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver field with nine races left until the field is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s final winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.” Hamlin finished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top five.

Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in Victory Lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To finally come here and do it, it has been a great day.”

The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green flag dropped. Briscoe

led 72 laps and won the second stage.

Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane. Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse threatened to beat up his racing rival after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar finished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

COURTESY SANDHILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Flyers basketball

COURTESY

The win is his first with Joe Gibbs Racing

Olympic

An in-person meeting with President Donald Trump is a priority for the first female IOC president

By Graham Dunbar

The Associated Press

GENEVA — The world Kirsty Coventry walks into as the International Olympic Committee’s first female and first African president is already very different to the one she was elected in three months ago.

Take Los Angeles, host of the next Summer Games that is the public face and financial foundation of most Olympic sports.

The city described last week as a “trash heap” by U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome teams from more than 200 nations in July 2028.

Most of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches and officials who will take part in the LA Olympics will have seen images of military being deployed against the wishes of city and state leaders.

A growing number of those athletes’ home countries face being on a Trump-directed travel ban list — including Coventry’s home Zimbabwe — though Olympic participants are promised exemptions to come to the U.S. Several players from Senegal’s women’s basketball team were denied visas for a training trip to the U.S., the country’s prime minister said.

A first face-to-face meeting with Trump is a priority for the new IOC president, perhaps at a sports event.

Welcome to Olympic diplomacy, the outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach could reasonably comment to his political protégé Coventry.

The six Olympic Games of Bach’s 12 years were rocked by Russian doping scandals and military aggression, Korean nuclear tensions, a global health

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA FOOTBALL

Wisconsin, NIL collective sue Miami, allege tampering, NIL inducements

Madison, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have sued the University of Miami, saying it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this fall. The suit could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The case describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced plans to leave the Badgers. Miami did not have an immediate comment.

NHL

Blackhawks acquire Burakovsky from Kraken for Veleno

Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for fellow forward Joe Veleno. Chicago also placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on unconditional waivers for purposes of buying out his contract. The 30-year- old Burakovsky had 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games with Seattle last season. A Stanley Cup champion with Washington in 2018 and Colorado in 2022, he has 153 goals and 234 assists in 696 regular-season games over 11 NHL seasons. The acquisition of Burakovsky gives Chicago some additional size and scoring and creates more salary cap flexibility for Seattle.

for Los Angeles Summer Games

crisis and corruption-fueled Brazilian chaos.

Still, Coventry inherits an IOC with a solid reputation and finances after a widely praised 2024 Paris Olympics, plus a slate of summer and winter hosts for the next decade. Risks and challenges ahead are clear to see.

For the two-time Olympic champion swimmer’s first full day as president Tuesday she has invited the 109-strong IOC membership to closed-doors meetings about its future under the banner “Pause and Reflect.”

“The way in which I like to lead is with collaboration,” said Coventry, who was sports min-

PGA

Clark “deeply regrets” damaging Oakmont locker during U.S. Open

Cromwell, Conn. Wyndham Clark apologized for the damage done to the century- old locker he was using at Oakmont during the U.S. Open. It’s the second time this year Clark has caused damage out of anger during a major. He also slung his driver, which damaged a sign on the tee during the PGA Championship. Clark missed the cut by one shot at the U.S. Open. He says he deeply regrets the mistake.

NCAA BASEBALL

Arkansas SS Aloy wins Golden Spikes Award as nation’s top amateur player

Cary Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy received the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the nation. Aloy is the third Arkansas player to take home the prize, joining Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2021, and the 12th winner from the Southeastern Conference. Aloy was the SEC player of the year and led the Razorbacks in almost every major offensive category.

ister in Zimbabwe for the past seven years, told reporters.

Many, if not most, members want more say in how the IOC makes decisions after nearly 12 years of Bach’s tight executive control. It was a theme in manifestos by the other election candidates, and the runner-up in March, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will lead one of the sessions.

“I like people to say: ‘Yes, I had a say and this was the direction that we went,’” Coventry said. “That way, you get really authentic buy-in.”

In an in-house IOC interview, Coventry also described how she wanted to be perceived: “She

never changed. Always humble, always approachable.”

That could mean more member input, if not an open and contested vote, to decide the 2036 Olympics host.

At some point in Coventry’s presidency, Russia could possibly return fully to the Olympic family. It is unclear exactly when less than eight months before the 2026 Winter Games opening ceremony in Milan.

Russian athletes have faced a wider blanket ban in winter sports than summer ones during the military invasion of Ukraine. Even neutral status for individual Russians to compete looks elusive.

Vladimir Putin offered “sincere congratulations” on Coventry’s election win, with the Kremlin praising her “high authority in the sporting world.” However, there seems little scope for the IOC to lift its formal suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee imposed in 2023 because of a territorial grab in sports administration. Four regional sports bodies in eastern Ukraine were taken under Russian control.

Coventry said she will ask a task force to review IOC policy relating to athletes from countries involved in wars and conflicts.

THANASSIS STAVRAKIS / AP PHOTO

Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in March.

Laquevius Smith

May 20, 1993 – June 20, 2025

Mr. Laquevius Smith, age 32, transitioned from Earth to Glory on June 20, 2025.

The Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, June 27, 1 p.m. at the Cape Fear Conference B Headquarters. Laquevius will be greatly missed.

obituaries

James Earl Cummings

March 14, 1968 –June 22, 2025

Mr. James Earl Cummings, age 57 of Maxton, North Carolina, was born on March 14, 1968, to the late Henry Hodges Cummings and Mary Mageline Bryant in Robeson County, North Carolina. He departed this life on June 22, 2025, at Morrison Manor, Laurinburg, North Carolina. Along with his father, he was preceded in death by a son, Cedrick E. Bennett, his siblings, Anthony Bryant, Foster Cummings and Kay Cummings.

Mr. James leaves to cherish his memories his wife: Monica Bennett Cummings of the home, his children: Richard Cummings, India Cummings, Timisha Flowers, James E. Cummings Jr., James J. Cummings, Alliyah Cummings, Ambriray Cummings, Jeremiah Cummings, his mother: Mary Mageline Bryant, sisters: Nadine Cummings, Quanita Cummings, Cindy Haire (Jerry), twenty-six grandchildren, seventeen nieces and nephews, thirty-seven great nieces and nephews, father-inlaw and mother-in-law: Ronson and Geraldine Bennett, sister-inlaws: Marion Bryant, Camisha Galloway (Cedric). Roxie Franklin (Edward), special relatives: Jamie Chavis, Dixie Jones, Nathan Bryant, along with a host of other relatives and friends.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in NSJ at obits@northstatejournal.com

FedEx founder Fred Smith, Marine Corps veteran who revolutionized package delivery, dead at 80

He leveraged his Marine experience into a world-changing logistics business

The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.

FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman.

Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a “hub and spokes” system, as it became known.

The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses.

Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up

operation with a future far from assured.

At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn’t work out.

In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 U.S. cities.

Smith’s father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat.

He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale.

Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business, and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go.

Smith was a minority owner of the Washington Commanders NFL team until 2021, when owner Daniel Snyder and his family bought out the shares held by Smith, Dwight Schar and Bob Rothman. His son Arthur was a head coach with the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons and is currently the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Though one of Memphis’ best-known and most prominent citizens, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, de-

voting his energies to work and family.

Despite his low profile, Smith made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie “Castaway” starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island.

“Memphis has lost its most important citizen, Fred Smith,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing Smith’s support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city’s zoo. “FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.”

Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM.

“The thing that’s interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition,” Smith said at the time.

Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, he said, “America is the most generous country in the world. It’s amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year. Everything from the smallest things to these massive health care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between.

“I think if you’ve done well in this country, it’s pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.”

Anne Burrell, TV chef who

coached ‘Worst Cooks in America,’ dead at 55

She starred on Food Network for two decades

By Jennifer Peltz The Associated Press

NEW YORK — TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of “Worst Cooks in America,” died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55.

The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on “Iron Chef A merica” and went on to other shows, confirmed her death. The cause was not immediately clear, and medical examiners were set to conduct an autopsy. Police were called to her address before 8 a.m. Tuesday and found an unresponsive woman who was soon pronounced dead. The police department did not release the woman’s

name, but records show it was Burrell’s address. Burrell was on TV screens as recently as April, making chicken Milanese cutlets topped with escarole salad in one of her many appearances on NBC’s “Today” show. She faced off against other top chefs on the Food Network’s “House of Knives” earlier in the spring.

“Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent — teaching, competing and always sharing the importance of food in her life and the joy that a delicious meal can bring,” the network said in a statement.

Known for her bold and flavorful but not overly fancy dishes, and for her spiky platinum-blonde hairdo, Burrell and various co-hosts on “Worst Cooks in America” led teams of kitchen-challenged people through a crash course in savory self-improvement. On the first show in 2010, con-

testants presented such unlikely personal specialties as cayenne pepper and peanut butter on cod, and penne pasta with sauce, cheese, olives and pineapple. The accomplished chefs had to taste the dishes to evaluate them, and it was torturous, Burrell confessed in an interview with The Tampa Tribune at the time.

Still, Burrell persisted through 27 seasons, making her last appearance in 2024.

“If people want to learn, I absolutely love to teach them,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 2020. “It’s just them breaking bad habits and getting out of their own way.” Burrell was born Sept. 21, 1969, in the central New York town of Cazenovia, where her parents ran a flower store. She earned an English and communications degree from Canisius University and went on to a job as a headhunter but hated it, she said in a 2008 interview with The Post-Standard of Syracuse. Having always loved cooking, she soon enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, for which she later taught. She graduated in 1996, spent a year at an Italian culinary school and then worked in upscale New York City restaurants for a time.

FedEx CEO Fred Smith appears at a signing ceremony where President Donald Trump signed an executive order that establishes a National Council for the American Worker in the East Room of the White House in July 2018.

“Anytime Anne Burrell gets near hot oil, I want to be around,” Frank Bruni, then-food critic at The New York Times, enthused in a 2007 review.

By the next year, Burrell was hosting her own Food Network show, “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,” and her TV work became a focus. Over the years she also wrote two cookbooks, “Cook Like a Rock Star” and “Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower,” and was involved with food pantries, juvenile diabetes awareness campaigns and other charities.

Burrell’s own tastes, she said, ran simple. She told The Post-Standard her favorite food was bacon and her favorite meal was her mother’s tuna fish sandwich.

“Cooking is fun,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be scary. It’s creating something nurturing.”

Survivors include her husband, Stuart Claxton, whom she married in 2021, and his son, her mother and her two siblings.

“Anne’s light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world,” the family said in a statement released by the Food Network.

ANDREW HARNIK / AP PHOTO

ANDY KROPA / INVISION / AP

Chef Anne Burrell attends an event in New York in April.

STATE & NATION

Pair of enormous flagpoles installed at White House

President Donald Trump praised the “beautiful pole” at a ceremony

By Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The American flag has long flown from a pole on the White House roof, but that’s always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful.

Last week, massive new flagpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House.

“It’s such a beautiful pole,” Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addi-

Statehouse security tightens after Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The shootings happened at home, adding a layer of complexity

By Scott Bauer The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis.

— Anxious lawmakers convened last week under heightened security in Wisconsin’s state Capitol, one of the most publicly accessible statehouses in the country, days after a legislator and her husband in neighboring Minnesota were shot and killed at their home and others were targeted.

The tension playing out in Wisconsin and other states after the Minnesota killings pits those who want to keep state capitols as open and accessible as possible against those concerned about increasing threats and acts of violence against officeholders.

Other states take action

Numerous states took action this week to protect personal information of lawmakers after the targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers. The second legislator and his wife sustained serious injuries in the shootings last Saturday morning. A suspect, Vance Boelter, surrendered to police on the next day.

Prosecutors say Boelter had dozens of additional potential targets. They included state and federal officeholders in Wisconsin.

Legislatures in most states are done meeting for the year, but those like Wisconsin that are still in session are taking emergency action to bolster security.

The police chief at the North Carolina General Assembly said Monday in an email to legislators that “we are working on enhanced security plans and are doing our best to keep everyone safe.” But further details haven’t

been released and there’s been no significant change seen in security on the surface.

In Arizona, more state troopers were assigned to the state Senate building, said Senate GOP Spokesperson Kim Quintero.

Security bolstered in Wisconsin

Security changes for Wednesday’s meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature were mostly out of sight.

Visitors to the Capitol could still enter the building without going through a metal detector, but anyone wanting to watch in the Senate’s public gallery had to go through an additional security check. Those wishing to watch the Assembly session from the gallery could do so, but they were encouraged to instead view it from another room.

In a more visible sign of force, there were state patrol officers in the building and around both legislative chambers in addition to the usual Capitol Police.

There were new security screenings for reporters attending a news conference in the Senate parlor, and the Democratic Assembly leader’s door that is

typically open was locked with a sign saying anyone with an appointment could knock to gain entry.

“I feel safe in our Capitol building,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said before session began Wednesday.

Not everyone felt the same way.

“We need to have a higher level of security,” Republican Sen. Chris Kapenga told WISN-TV. He supports adding metal detectors and banning guns for anyone in the building except for lawmakers. He said he always carries a gun in the Capitol.

“We should not be worried about our lives walking into that building,” Kapenga said.

Prior security concerns

Wisconsin is a presidential battleground state used to high-stakes political fights and frequent large protests both inside and outside of the Capitol.

Two years ago, a man armed with a loaded handgun came into the Wisconsin Capitol looking for Gov. Tony Evers, who was not there at the time.

Wisconsin is one of seven states where concealed weapons are allowed in the Capitol, according

tion to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the first time.

The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modification to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building.

He’s already updated the Oval Office, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building

more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

The president made time to watch one of the flagpole installations despite the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel in the days before the U.S. bombed three nuclear sites.

“I love construction,” said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. “I know it better than anybody.”

He talked about how the pole went down 9 feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, “you hear that rope, banging.”

“This is the real deal,” he said. “This is the best you can get. There’s nothing like this.”

to a 2021 report by the Council of State Governments. Thirty-six states ban concealed weapons in their capitol buildings. There have been some visible security increases at the Wisconsin Capitol in recent months. Anyone attending oral arguments of the state Supreme Court, which meets in a room just around the corner from the legislative chambers, must go through a metal detector.

That was added after a retired judge was shot and killed in a targeted attack at his home in 2022 and amid increasing threats to members of the judiciary. Evers and other lawmakers were also on a list that gunman had.

No metal detectors

The Wisconsin Capitol has its own police force housed in the basement, but the building is not protected by metal detectors, screening checkpoints or X-rays.

Anyone can walk in off the street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week and go straight to the offices of state lawmakers and others.

The Wisconsin Capitol is one of 11 state capitols that does not have metal detectors, a state au-

dit found last year. It is one of 19 states without X-ray machines to scan items people bring into the building, the audit found.

Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol in late February 2011 at the height of protests over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, later signed into law, that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. They were removed four months later under an agreement reached between Walker’s administration and the state employees union, which sued to get the Capitol reopened without metal detectors.

State Capitol security concerns were raised again after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But at the time, the Wisconsin Capitol was closed to the general public due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that it was important to “take a breath” and not have a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Minnesota shootings. “Trying to make the Capitol into a fortress” is not the answer, he said.

“The thing that’s most scary is this didn’t occur in a Capitol,” Vos said, “it occurred in someone’s home.”

Left, a Capitol police officer, left, stands with a Wisconsin state patrol officer at the top of the public gallery in the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday. Right, staff search visitors entering the Wisconsin Senate gallery in the state Capitol on Wednesday in Madison, Wis.

SCOTT BAUER / AP PHOTO TODD RICHMOND / AP PHOTO

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

A new flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House flies an American flag last Wednesday.

MOORE COUNTY

Beatin’ the heat

Temperatures soared into the triple digits across the eastern U.S. this week, setting all-time records in dozens of cities. Above, Dory, an explosives certified dog, cooled down in front of a fan outside of Bank of America Stadium before the start of a FIFA Club World Cup game on Tuesday in Charlotte.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Mamdani shocks Cuomo in NYC’s Democratic mayoral primary

New York

Zohran Mamdani has declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset. The race’s ultimate outcome will still be decided by a ranked choice count, but Mamdani was in a commanding position after polls closed Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old democratic socialist was virtually unknown outside of political circles a year ago. Cuomo was trying to make a comeback from a sexual harassment scandal. He told supporters that he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.

NATO leaders agree to hike military spending, restate commitment’ to collective defense

The Hague, Netherlands NATO leaders have agreed on a massive hike in defense spending after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and expressed their “ironclad commitment” to come to each other’s aid if attacked. The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”

However, some countries have already warned that they will struggle to meet the target.

$2.00

NC Senate takes on transgender issues

One bill was sent to the governor, another sent to the house

By Makiya Seminera The Associated Press

RALEIGH — Legislation much in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda on transgender rights squeezed through the North Carolina Senate this week, as state lawmakers prepare for their anticipated summer recess by the week’s end.

A measure approved Tuesday — despite heightened tensions in the Senate — offers protections for women and minors in pornography but had various provisions related to transgender people tacked on in a Senate committee last week. In its original form, the bill passed unanimously through the House last month before the changes, which caused a stir among Democrats who have said the bill was hijacked.

“It didn’t just distract from the problem, they made it im-

possible to solve,” Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said on the chamber floor Tuesday.

The other bill passed Monday, entitled the Parents Protections Act, blocks certain abuse and neglect charges for parents raising transgender chil-

dren. That bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk for his impending veto or approval. But the bill is on track to become law even if Stein vetoes it as previous Democratic support in the House will give Republicans the supermajority neces-

sary to override a veto.

Among the many priorities unveiled by the Trump administration over the past six months, pressing back against the rights and recognition of transgender people has been at the forefront. The administration’s policies include restricting passport sex markers for many transgender people, signing off on an executive order to recognize just two sexes and banning transgender troops — actions that had mixed approval from Americans as of last month.

The bills passed by the Senate reinforce the Trump administration’s attitude toward transgender issues. But they are also an extension of legislation already approved in North Carolina. Last legislative session, the GOP-dominated General Assembly cleared bills that largely banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels.

State court issues mixed ruling on governor’s appointment powers

Gov. Josh Stein and legislative Republicans split wins in the decisions

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Caroli-

na trial judges issued a mixed ruling Tuesday for Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and Republican legislative leaders in Stein’s litigation over recent law changes that eroded the governor’s powers to appoint members to state boards and to fill appeals court vacancies.

A three-judge panel unanimously sided with Stein and struck down as unconstitutional a portion of a law that placed

some limits on whom the governor could choose to fill vacancies on the seven-member state Supreme Court and 15-member intermediate-level Court of Appeals. But the Superior Court judges let stand a pair of provisions that take away some of Stein’s appointments to the state Utilities Commission and Building Code Council. In a brief order issued after two hours of arguments earlier in the day, Superior Court Judges James Ammons, Graham Shirley and Imelda Pate wrote that Stein “failed to demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt,” that the alterations involving the two state boards were unconstitutional.

The order, which can be appealed, is the latest result from lawsuits that Stein or his fellow Democrat and predecessor Roy Cooper filed in recent years to attempt to counter measures approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that they say weaken gubernatorial control and the separation of powers between government branches. Several lawsuits have focused on the State Board of Elections. The state constitution says the governor fills appellate court vacancies. Appointees must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina.

But the law approved last December directed the governor to fill such a vacancy from a list of

three people offered by the political party with which the departing judge or justice was affiliated when elected. That limitation wouldn’t apply if the court judge was unaffiliated at the time, or if the party didn’t provide the list quickly.

Stein attorney Daniel Smith told the judges that legal scholars — among them the current chief justice — have said the governor has an “unfettered power of appointment” for these vacancies, which fill positions until the next statewide election.

Shirley pushed back on arguments by Noah Huffstetler — an attorney for House Speaker

MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO

Sen. Amy Galey speaks in favor of a bill that would shield parents from certain abuse and neglect charges for raising their transgender child in accordance with their sex assigned at birth on the North Carolina Senate floor on Monday.

ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO

“Join the conversation”

North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Neal Robbins, Publisher

Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter

P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager Published each Thursday

THURSDAY

POSTMASTER:

Send

SENATE from page A1

Tuesday’s approved bill includes an array of provisions pertaining to transgender people, such as disallowing state-funded gender transition procedures or gender-affirming hormone therapy for prisoners. It also requires the state to officially attach a transgender person’s new birth certificate to their old one if they change their sex assigned at birth, as well as affirms Trump’s executive order recognizing only two sexes.

Republican Sen. Buck Newton said the reason for pushing the bill with new provisions was to address the issue of women being “systemically erased from our language.” He referenced terms such as “pregnant person” as evidence of that.

In the bill’s original form that passed through the House, it solely focused on curbing sexual exploitation of women and minors by implementing age verification and consent requirements for people who appear on pornography websites. It also outlines a process to remove content from those websites if a performer requests it, regardless of age and consent.

While those provisions remain in the bill, many Senate Democrats expressed their dissatisfaction by sending forth a barrage of amendments and abstaining from voting while remaining in the chamber — a rare move used in protest. The parliamentary maneuvers caused discussion on the bill to last over two hours, but it ultimately passed.

Because the bill was changed in the Senate, it must now go back to House to approve of the alterations before it can go to the governor’s desk.

The Parents Protections Act would shield parents, guardians and caregivers from being cited for child abuse or neglect because they “raise a juvenile consistent with the juvenile’s biological sex,” according to the legislation. That includes making reference to the child, as well as making mental health or medical decisions, based on their sex assigned at birth.

Adoptive agencies also wouldn’t be permitted to deny someone from adopting a child because of their unwillingness to allow the child to transition.

Nine House Democrats voted in favor of the legislation last week, meaning a potential veto from Stein would easily be overridden if those margins remain and allow the bill to become law.

Flooding, rock slides close part of I-40 in Smoky Mountains

The same area was shut down following Hurricane Helene

The Associated Press

HARTFORD, Tenn. —

Heavy rain, flooding and a rock slide have again closed a section of the major cross-country highway Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains, with engineers expecting the road closed for at least two weeks.

The slide and flood happened last Wednesday afternoon around mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said on social media.

Engineers have found significant damage on both the highway and nearby ramps which was more extensive than originally thought, Republican Tennessee Rep. Jeremy

RULINGS from page A1

Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger — that since the constitution doesn’t specifically forbid conditions on these appointments, the legislature can act to add some.

The panel declined to block the latest changes to the Utilities Commission, which regulates electricity, natural gas and other public utilities. Beginning next month, the commission will decrease to five members.

Without the December law, the retooled commission would be composed of three members appointed by the governor and two by the General Assembly. But the challenged law gave one of the governor’s three appointments to the elected state treasurer, currently Republican Brad Briner. His nominee is set to take his post in July.

Stein’s attorneys argued that the change would dilute the

June 16

• Dennis Alan Cameron, 72, was arrested by Moore County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) for felony larceny.

• Jesus Abreu, 30, was arrested by MCSO for felony larceny.

• Andrea Rashad Thomas, 32, was arrested by MCSO for

Faison said on social media.

“Several areas remain under water, and there are potentially compromised slopes. Geotechnical engineers are on-site today to assess the stability of those slopes,” wrote Faison, who represents the area.

Tennessee transportation officials estimate it will take at least two weeks to drain the water, make sure the slopes are safe and repair the highway.

The damaged section is part of 12 miles of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that was washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September.

Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March.

The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high that had to be removed to let vehicles stuck by the flooding and rockslide to turn

governor’s powers and prevent him from controlling the commission to make sure utilities regulations are enforced. But GOP leaders countered that they can assign duties to other statewide elected executive officials known as the Council of State.

Briner, who joined the case to help defend the law, said Tuesday’s decision affirms that “the governor does not have ultimate authority over other duly elected members of the Council of State to carry out their roles and responsibilities as members of the executive branch.”

The panel also let stand General Assembly changes to the Building Code Council, whose members have been appointed solely by the governor.

Under the new law, the governor still would appoint seven of the 13 members, with legislative leaders choosing six. Stein’s lawyers say he’ll lack sufficient

driving while impaired.

June 19

• Exavier McLeod, 33, was arrested by MCSO for carrying a concealed weapon.

June 20

• Roberto Chote Zeferino, 47, was arrested by Pinebluff PD for driving while impaired.

around and go the other way.

About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service.

The permanent fix to stabilize what’s left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years. I-40 runs from Wilmington to Barstow, California, and any detour around the Great Smoky Mountain section is dozens of miles. Trucks have gotten stuck on twisty narrow mountain roads and are banned on another major highway through the area U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The official detour takes drivers heading west on I-40 up Interstate 26 at Asheville to Johnson City, Tennessee, and then south down Interstate 81 back to I-40.

control over the revised board because code changes and other action couldn’t be approved unless nine members agree.

Stein said late Tuesday on social platform X that the judges’ decision on judicial vacancies “maintains our state’s separation of powers.” Stein said he was disappointed that they failed to follow similar principles in ruling on the Utilities Commission and Building Code Council.

Pate is a registered Democrat, while Ammons is unaffiliated. Shirley ran unsuccessfully for another court term in 2024 as a Republican. He became a special Superior Court judge this year.

Just last week another three-judge panel dismissed a lawsuit filed by Stein that challenged another law from December directing that current State Highway Patrol Col. Freddy Johnson remain patrol commander until 2030.

June 21

• Kendrick Lamont McRae, 29, was arrested by Southern Pines PD for driving while impaired.

June 22

• Syncere Shauntez Carter, 22, was arrested by Southern Pines PD for resisting a public officer.

moore happening

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Moore County:

June 26-28

Moore County Historical Association: Shaw House and Property Tours

1-4 p.m.

The Moore County Historical Association’s Shaw House grounds and properties are open for tours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons. Tours are free and open to all ages. Enjoy learning about the impressive history of Moore County.

Shaw House 110 Morganton Road Southern Pines

June 27

Tony Prine –Live in Concert

7 p.m.

General admission tickets are $25 each. VIP tickets are $79 per person, including pre-show dinner, drinks, and lounge access. Contact 910-692-3611 for more information.

Sunrise Theatre 250 NW Broad St. Southern Pines

June 27-28

Cosmic Bowling

6-11:55 p.m.

Sandhills Bowling Center presents an evening of Cosmic Bowling every Friday and Saturday night. Enjoy two hours of bowling for between $5.50 and $17 per person based on age. Free shoe rental.

Sandhills Bowling Center 1680 N.C. Highway 5 Aberdeen

June 28

Moore County Farmers Market

8 a.m. to noon

A vast and varied selection of fresh produce, canned goods, including honey and fruit preserves and baked goods has earned this producers-only farmers market a reputation as one of the best in the region. Visitors are treated to musical performances and complimentary appetizers prepared by local chefs from fresh regional ingredients every Saturday in the summer.

156 SE Broad St. Southern Pines

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The fifth estate

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer.

You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party.

IF YOU’VE BEEN a reporter long enough, you learn that when people say you’re a “member of the Fourth Estate,” they mean to insult you and to let you know they read a book once.

The only exception is lawyers, who use the term the same way they use Latin, as a way to remind you that they’ve read a lot of books.

And in America, we can afford a Fifth Estate, which is bloggers, Substack geniuses, “citizen journalists” and “independent journalists.”

A citizen journalist is someone who has nothing on his/her resume except being born in America. An independent journalist is someone who can’t get a job in news. Both of them write stories that are more than half their own opinion, and both of them desperately need an editor. Their battle cry is, “They tried to silence me.”

You read their stories, and you get the feeling that they never spent any time as a reporter, covering cheap shootings, house fires in which no one was injured, traffic pile-ups and bone-crunchingly dull meetings of a suburban zoning board.

So it’s no surprise that they were all over the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was alleged to have drunkenly hit her equally drunk cop boyfriend with her SUV and then left him to die on the ground in a blizzard.

The prosecution said she hit him like you’d hit a possum on a state two-lane. The defense said she was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy dreamed up by equally drunken cops who beat the guy to death, dragged him outside to die in the snow and then framed Read.

She was found not guilty of everything except the drunk driving charge.

Drunk driving is the judicial equalizer. You go into a courtroom to wait for an arraignment, and the most middle-class person in the courtroom is some suburban drunk who got caught driving home drunk after a gender reveal party. Everyone else has another case hanging, is on probation or parole, or has at least done county time.

The poor do not embarrass the criminal justice system. They get arrested, they take the deal or they get convicted.

If everyone in the Read case wasn’t white and making a couple bucks, you couldn’t have gotten the story on the front page for more than a couple of days at the beginning and then another day for the verdict.

None of the independent journalists are going to be too interested in “justice” for some black woman from the projects who ran her boyfriend over with a 12-year- old Toyota while high on crack.

I’ve left that kind of trial with the verdict safe in my notebook and limped back to the newspaper office and had an editor remind me that the Garden Club was having its annual flower show in a week, and I needed to write 700 words about that by the end of the week.

The fewer newspapers we have in this country, the more people we have who call themselves “journalists.”

Like a lot of people, my grandmother Grace used to say that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Turns out that in the country of the blind, if you’re blind but you have a pretty good sense of smell, you can be king.

Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”

I experienced the disappearance of women’s spaces

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings, but a biological fact.

A NORTH CAROLINA high schooler was confused and scared. Upon entering the girl’s bathroom at her local high school, she encountered a boy. She went into the stall, locked the door and waited. The boy stood outside her stall for two minutes before leaving. Later when she left the bathroom, he was waiting for her there too. Experiences like this continued throughout her junior and senior year at a public high school in Wilmington in New Hanover County.

When she told her teacher, she was told, “Unfortunately, that’s how it is.” She then sought help from the principal, but no action was taken. The student felt vulnerable in her own school over a period of two years, but the adults in charge were either unwilling or unable to help her. Interestingly, to her knowledge, the male student she encountered in the bathroom did not claim a transgender identity. But he was allowed to do what he was doing.

Sadly, this story is not unique. In recent years, many female spaces have been accessed by males due to policies influenced by gender ideology. During my own college search, while touring the dorms at Appalachian State University, the tour guide said, “These are the dorms for those who identify as female” — meaning that at this public state university, biological men are allowed to live in female dorm rooms with female roommates.

Today’s youth — my generation — have grown up in a culture that is saturated by gender ideology. One in four Gen Z Americans now identify as LGBTQ — more than any generation before. These ideas, widely shared on social media, have come to shape how many young people think. To be transgender, activists say, is to “live your truth,” and many teens believe that gender is defined by feelings. Young women these days simply accept the fact that young men are entering their private spaces because they believe that opposing it is hateful to the LGBTQ community.

But the reality is that males and females are inherently different. Sex is not a matter of feelings but a biological fact. Equating sex to self-perception disregards objective reality and erases the differences between men and women. And when these facts get confused, harm occurs. Allowing males to identify as female robs women and girls of privacy, safety and well-being. And it opens women up to sexual assault, abuse and harassment.

To address this issue, steps have been taken at both the federal and state level. Early in his presidency, President Donald Trump issued executive orders defining sex by biology and banning biological males from participating in female sports. Eight states do not allow for sex to be changed on birth certificates. At least eight states define male and female by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate at least some private spaces for women.

In North Carolina, The Women’s Safety and Protection Act — Senate Bill 516 and House Bill 791 — was filed earlier this year. The legislation defines “male” and “female” by biology rather than by identity in the law and designates private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, public institutions of higher education, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. And it requires the sex on birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect biological sex.

In a time of cultural confusion surrounding gender, it is critical to take action on legislation like the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Women deserve to be respected, and that starts with acknowledging that to be a woman is to belong to a distinct, biological category. And we must also protect women and girls in private spaces.

Charlotte Russell is a student at the Helms School of Government at Liberty University from Charlotte.

COLUMN | CHARLOTTE RUSSELL

COLUMN | MARC DION

Republican tax bill would ease regulations on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, shotguns

It would drop the $200 NFA tax stamp for silencers and SBRs

By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The massive tax and spending cuts package — the “Big Beautiful Bill” — that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill.

The guns provision was first requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers — more accurately called “suppressors” — from a 1930s National Firearms Act or NFA law that regulates certain types of firearms, eliminating a $200 tax and considerable paperwork.

The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport.

“Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting American gun owners’ hearing,” said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like an assault rifle on his suit lapel.

Democrats are fighting to stop the provision, which was un-

veiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through the Senate. They argue that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons.

“Parents don’t want silencers on their streets, police don’t want silencers on their streets,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Many European countries, even those with strong gun control laws, require silencers to be used when hunting to cut down on noise pollution.

The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson (RLa.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants.

Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take firearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools.

Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it was the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades.

Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called “beautiful.”

“I’m glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our

Constitution, and I will continue to fight for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year.

If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel rifles and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about mafia violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other gun purchases and transfers.

Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. “All it’s ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to

hearing safe levels,” Keane says.

Speaking on the floor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Second Amendment rights from “over 90 years of draconian taxes.” Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill “with the purest of motive.”

“Who asked for it? I asked,” said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added.

Clyde was responding to Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 28-year-old Florida Democrat, who went to the floor and demanded to know who was responsible for the gun provision. Frost, who was a gun-control activist before being elected to Congress, called himself a member of the “mass shooting generation” and said the bill would help “gun manufacturers make more money off the death of children and our people.” Among other concerns, control advocates say less regulation for silencers could make it harder for law enforcement to stop an active shooter.

“There’s a reason silencers have been regulated for nearly a century: They make it much harder for law enforcement and bystanders to react quickly to gunshots,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Schumer and other Democrats are trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian to drop the language as she reviews the bill for policy provisions that aren’t budget-related.

“Senate Democrats will fight this provision at the parliamentary level and every other level with everything we’ve got,” Schumer said earlier this month. However, as the primary mechanism of the law is a $200 tax stamp, it’s likely that the language will pass parliamentarian muster.

tion and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory is built on a mountaintop in Chile

By Adithi Ramakrishnan

The Associated Press

THE LARGEST digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe on Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the U.S. National Science Founda-

The observatory’s first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects. The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

JOHN LOCHER / AP PHOTO

Gun silencers on display at the Sig Sauer booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016.

MOORE SPORTS

Post 305 snaps losing streak with win over Moore County Post 12

Chatham won for the first time since May 31

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

ROBBINS — Chatham Post

305 notched four hits and scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to beat Moore County Post 12 4-3 and snap a five-game losing streak.

Post 305’s last win was on May 31 also against Post 12.

“Tonight, we came out here and did business early,” Post 305 coach Bryce Marsh said.

“Stayed with it, stayed locked in, got behind our pitcher and had some good at-bats.”

Centerfielder Matt Murchison recorded two runs, and third baseman Colin Dorney also had an efficient offensive night, going 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Up 2-0, Murchison started the fifth inning with a double to right field, and after a line out by Landon Moser, Dorney also doubled to right field to score Murchison.

Matt Murchison gets ready to drive in his fifth-inning double against Post 12 on Monday.

“I knew he was down on the count, so I knew a fastball was coming,” Murchison said. “I was kind of sitting on the fastball, got a little bit out front of it, sent it down the line. I knew if I got on second, my boy Colin was going to come up and finish the job for me.”

Shortstop Ian McMillan then knocked Dorney home with a single, giving Chatham a four-run lead.

Chatham took advantage of early Moore County mistakes, taking a 1-0 lead after Murchison scored from third on a wild pitch.

Back-to-back errors by the Post 12 defense allowed McMillan to reach third base before scoring Chatham’s second run.

Post 305 pitcher Zach Cartrette had a solid night on the mound, pitching nearly a complete game with nine strikeouts, three walks and six hits. Completing four four-batter innings, Cartrette said it felt like “everything” was working on the mound.

“My fastball was getting

away from me a little bit, but my slider really kept me in the game,” Cartrette said.

After giving up Moore County’s first run of the night with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Daniel White came on in relief.

Post 12’s Chandler King then scored on a wild pitch, and Dylan Benedict made it a one-run game on a passed ball. With Dom Inocencio, the tying run, on second base, Austin Patterson grounded to Dorney who then tagged Inocencio out in a pickle.

“It was a slow chopper down the line, and Bryce was yelling at me to throw it to first,” Dorney said. “I saw that he was charging to go to third, so I pump faked and threw to second. Made sure to get the lead runner.”

Andrew Moore flied out to Murchison in center field for the final out, ending Post 12’s late-game surge. White threw 10 strikes in 17 pitches.

Moore County fell to 8-9.

Post 12 will play at Aberdeen Thursday at 7 p.m.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Colby Wallace

Colby Wallace is a 2023 graduate of Pinecrest, where he was a two-time all-state pitcher and a three-time conference pitcher of the year while leading the Patriots to three conference titles and one berth in the state championship game.

Wallace completed his sophomore season at East Carolina earlier this month. He was named to the All-AAC Conference first team as a utility player and also made the AAC All-Tournament team. He also pitched, tying for the team lead with three saves.

Wallace’s 3.78 GPA also earned him another postseason honor, as he was one of five Pirates named to the Academic All-District team.

Briscoe holds off teammate Hamlin to win at Pocono

The win is his first with Joe Gibbs Racing

By Dan Gelston

The Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. — Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team.

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR field.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, ap-

peared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win.

“It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his final pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his final stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the first-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

Briscoe, who won an Xfinity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth

“To

get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders.”

Chase Briscoe

top-10 finish over the last six races, including a seventh-place finish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City. He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver field with nine races left until the field is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s final winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.” Hamlin finished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top five.

Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in Victory Lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To finally come here and do it, it has been a great day.” The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green flag dropped. Briscoe

led 72 laps and won the second stage. Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.

Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse threatened to beat up his racing rival after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar finished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

DAVID SINCLAIR FOR NORTH STATE JOURNAL

ASHEEBO ROJAS / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

DERIK HAMILTON / AP PHOTO

Chase Briscoe celebrates with a burnout after winning

Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA FOOTBALL

Wisconsin, NIL collective sue Miami, allege tampering, NIL inducements

Madison, Wis.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective have sued the University of Miami, saying it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this fall. The suit could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The case describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced plans to leave the Badgers. Miami did not have an immediate comment.

NHL Blackhawks acquire Burakovsky from Kraken in exchange for Veleno

Chicago The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for fellow forward Joe Veleno. Chicago also placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on unconditional waivers for purposes of buying out his contract. The 30-year- old Burakovsky had 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games with Seattle last season. A Stanley Cup champion with Washington in 2018 and Colorado in 2022, he has 153 goals and 234 assists in 696 regular-season games over 11 NHL seasons. The acquisition of Burakovsky gives Chicago some additional size and scoring and creates more salary cap flexibility for Seattle.

PGA

Clark “deeply regrets” damaging Oakmont locker during U.S. Open Cromwell, Conn. Wyndham Clark apologized for the damage done to the century- old locker he was using at Oakmont during the U.S. Open. It’s the second time this year Clark has caused damage out of anger during a major. He also slung his driver, which damaged a sign on the tee during the PGA Championship. Clark missed the cut by one shot at the U.S. Open. He says he deeply regrets the mistake.

NCAA BASEBALL

Arkansas shortstop Aloy wins Golden Spikes Award as nation’s top amateur player

Cary Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy received the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the nation. Aloy is the third Arkansas player to take home the prize, joining Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2021, and the 12th winner from the Southeastern Conference. Aloy was the SEC player of the year and led the Razorbacks in almost every major offensive category.

NFL Former Jets, Ravens linebacker Mosley announces retirement

C.J. Mosley, a five-time Pro Bowl selection during an 11-year NFL career with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, announced he’s retiring from playing football. Mosley was released by the Jets in March after playing four games last season because of a toe injury and later a herniated disk in his neck. Mosley made his announcement with a video post on his Instagram page that included highlights of his playing career. Mosley was the 17th overall pick by Baltimore in the 2014 draft out of Alabama.

For back-to-back champion Panthers, celebrations go on before key offseason

The team is celebrating harder than after last season’s first Cup

By Alanis Thames The Associated Press

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd surfing, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen; a few team dinners and a boat ride.

That’s just so far. They insist they’ve got more in them.

“We’re not toning it down,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We just won two Stanley Cups in a row. We deserve to have a good time.”

The Panthers also partied hard after winning the franchise’s first title a year ago. But some players have described those days as a surreal whirlwind of first-time experiences. This time around, the celebra-

tions are different, as the reality of what they accomplished set in.

“There’s a different feeling to it,” coach Paul Maurice said during the team’s exit interviews on Saturday. “Last year was more of a dream. ... That’s the right word. It was a dream come true. It was euphoric. This year, it was an achievement. It was hard. It was hard all year. It was hard at camp. There were just so many places that if we had broken at that point or failed we would’ve all understood — ‘OK, we did our best. We just couldn’t get it done.’ We never let that happen.”

The coaches’ celebrations, Maurice noted, have been much more subdued compared to last year: They had their first post-championship dinner as a staff last Friday night. They joined some players on a boat ride.

“I haven’t had a hangover yet,” Maurice said, “so way ahead of where I was last year.”

Maurice heard about his players’ celebrations from his

wife, who has shown him a few viral social media posts here and there.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said they’re giving themselves “permission” to celebrate more freely this year because they have already been through the experience.

“And don’t get me wrong, it’s still amazing,” he added, “but now everyone knows how to sit back a little and enjoy it because last year was so hectic. Like it happened to you for the first time ever, and you had been dreaming about it for so long.”

The Panthers in fact celebrated so hard that the Stanley Cup itself got a little banged up. The silver chalice was cracked at the bottom of the bowl, though Barkov noted the team hasn’t received any harsh reprimands from the keepers of the Cup or the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I think they’ve seen worse,” he quipped. “I think every year they have to fix some part of it. But yeah, don’t be stupid. Don’t take it to the ocean, stuff

Smith looks like Rule 5 hit for rebuilding Chicago White Sox

The former Wake Forest pitcher is finally getting an opportunity in MLB

By Jay Cohen The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Shane Smith pitched a total of 101/3 innings during his college career at Wake Forest. He had a shoulder operation as a freshman, and his sophomore year was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then he had elbow surgery.

At that point, even Smith began to wonder if baseball was going to work out for him.

“My dream of playing professional baseball, to say it didn’t waver would probably be lying,” he said. “But I knew there was an avenue somehow.”

There sure was.

Smith has turned into a pleasant surprise for the last-place Chicago White Sox after he was selected by the team in the Rule 5 draft.

The Rule 5 draft provides an opportunity for players left off a big league team’s 40-man rosters after several minor league seasons. Teams pay $100,000 to select a player in the major league portion. The players must stay on the active 26man major league roster all season or else clear waivers and be offered back to their orig-

inal organization for $50,000. Between 10 and 20 players are selected in the big league Rule 5 draft most seasons, but most don’t actually stick with their new clubs. Even fewer develop into All-Star-worthy contributors. Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana are two of the most famous Rule 5 success stories. So far, it looks as if Smith is going to stick with the rebuilding White Sox. Smith has a 2.37 ERA in 681/3 innings over 13 starts. Smith very well could repre-

sent the last-place White Sox at next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. Dan Uggla with the Florida Marlins in 2006 is the only player to be named an All-Star in the season after he was selected in the Rule 5 draft. Smith went right into Chicago’s rotation during spring training — an unusual spot for a Rule 5 player. Since 2016, Luis Perdomo, Brad Keller and Mitch Spence are the only pitchers who made at least 20 starts in the majors in the season after they were selected in the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Keller began the 2018 season in Kansas City’s bullpen be-

like that. We should know the rules by now.”

The Panthers’ championship parade was on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday — one of their last opportunities to celebrate together before the players disperse for the summer and general manager Bill Zito begins an important offseason. Free agency begins July 1, and while a good chunk of Florida’s core — including Barkov and stars Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart — are already under long-term contracts, a few key contributors are set for free agency in Marchand, Ekblad and playoff MVP Sam Bennett.

“You’re going to have a different roster each and every year,” he said, “but hopefully the core of guys, we can continue building. With that being said, we’ve got some unbelievable players that are up for contracts that I hope they get every single cent they can because that’s what you want for your best friends. It’s time to cash in for some of those boys. Hopefully it’s here.”

fore moving into the rotation in late May. He finished his rookie year with a 9-6 record and a 3.08 ERA in 20 starts and 21 relief appearances.

“I think you definitely pull for all the Rule 5 guys because I feel like, not to say this in a bad way, but Rule 5 guys kind of get a bad rap, right?” said Keller, a key reliever for the Chicago Cubs. “It’s like they’re like nobody’s got a chance. That’s not true. Some organizations are in different situations where they can’t protect guys that they want to.” Smith had been in Milwaukee’s organization since he signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, just weeks after he had Tommy John surgery. He had a 3.05 ERA in 32 appearances over two minor league stops last season, finishing the year with Triple-A Nashville.

Smith has a big four-seam fastball that gets into the high 90s to go along with a good slider and curveball. But the biggest key to his success this year has been the development of a nasty changeup that really came together in the offseason after years of work.

Fortunate timing for Smith and the White Sox.

“For a guy that hasn’t really pitched above Double-A, he had some innings in Triple-A, but to come here and pitch the way that he does, it just speaks to his ability and his confidence and also speaks to the group of players and staff here to support him,” general manager Chris Getz said. “Shane is doing really well and we expect him to have a really productive, healthy season for us.”

DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP PHOTO

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith throws against the Houston Astros during a game earlier this month.

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front, and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

Johnny Bradburn

May 27, 1943 – June 19, 2025

Johnny Bradburn, a gifted musician, athlete, and loving father, passed away on June 19, 2025, at the age of 82.

Born in Sylva, Johnny grew up in Western North Carolina surrounded by music and family.

Johnny’s early passion for music was nurtured by his mother, Helen, a pianist and singer, and his grandfather, JB, a doctor with a deep love of opera. After his mother’s passing, Johnny’s grandmother introduced him to shaped-note singing, a tradition that remained close to his heart.

In Brevard, Johnny balanced athletics and music, lettering in multiple sports and quarterbacking the Brevard High School football team to a state championship. He was honored in 1961 as the Best High School Athlete in Western North Carolina. During these years, he also served as organist at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Johnny then studied organ at Brevard College, going on to earn his B.A. in Music from Furman University. Shortly after, he left for New York City, where he earned a master’s degree from Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music.

Johnny’s distinguished and long career as an organist and choirmaster took him to churches in Worcester, Charlotte, Greensboro, and finally Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Southern Pines, where he served until retiring in 2010. Johnny

obituaries

was a visionary and charismatic church musician, forming choirs, bell choirs, drama groups, and musical outreach programs. Noteworthy accomplishments include being named the associate conductor with the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston, MA, and the Cecilia Society in Cambridge, MA, founding Music for a Great Space at Christ United Methodist Church in Greensboro, NC, and conducting major choral works at all his churches. His work inspired generations of musicians and brought sacred music to life through memorable performances and community engagement.

Outside of his music, Johnny led a full and unique life, spending equal time mastering golf, squash and tennis and crisscrossing the country pursuing his beloved hobby of bird watching. He will be greatly missed by many.

Johnny was preceded in death by his wife, Betsey Bradburn; parents, Wayne and Helen Bradburn; and stepbrother Larry Blanton. He is survived by his children, Jeff Bradburn (Karen) of Winston-Salem, NC, Jenni Faires (Billy) of Roanoke, VA, Julie Bradburn Klink (Rob) of Raleigh, NC, and Katie Wie (Ben) of Anderson, SC; sister, Lynne Smoak of Salisbury, MD; and five grandchildren (Avery, Arden, Turner, Mitchell and Wilson).

The family would like to extend their greatest appreciation to Johnny’s care team, who provided him compassionate and dedicated care. They are an extension of our family and we are so grateful.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church this Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 11 a.m., with prelude music beginning at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Music Fund at Emmanuel Episcopal Church or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

Kathryn Colburn

Sept. 28, 1949 –June 21, 2025

Kathryn Colborn, 75, died Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the FirstHealth Hospice house in Pinehurst.

Funeral Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the Ashley Heights Baptist Church, Pastor Christopher Sanderson officiating. The family will receive friends from 1-2 p.m. before the service at the church. Burial will follow the service at Ashley Heights Cemetery.

Mrs. Colborn was the sweetest, sassiest fashionista that you could ever meet. She loved God, her family and friends. She enjoyed the beach, sewing, riding motorcycles with her husband, styling/cutting hair, being with family and shopping. She was always a listening ear and loved everyone she met.

She is survived by her husband, Arthur Colborn of Aberdeen, her brother Duane Abbott of Connersville, Indiana. She is survived by six children, 11 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her mother, Vernon Abbott, father Thomas Brady, sister, Mona Fish, brother, Larry Abbott, daughter, Mariah Gordon and mother-in-law, Wilma Alsup.

Service arrangements have been entrusted to Boles Funeral Home.

Cynthia Jayne Bibey McGill

Oct. 8, 1955 – June 20, 2025

Cynthia Jayne Bibey McGill, age 69, went to be with the Lord on June 20th, 2025. A native of Moore County, Jayne graduated from Union Pines High School in 1973 and went on to attend Appalachian State University and Sandhills Community College. She was an avid college sports fan and cherished her Duke Blue Devils.

Jayne was a devoted mother, sister, and Mimi. She is survived by her daughter Jaime, son Brent, daughterin-law Hilary, granddaughter Harper, and grandson Gunner; siblings Dianne Dupree, Pam Taylor, Gwen Laskowski, Steve Bibey, Jerry Bibey, Rick Bibey, their spouses, many beloved nieces and nephews, and her precious grand dogs.

Jayne was a 35-year employee of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in the Food and Nutrition Department. She was loved by her fellow co-workers, and was known for her positive spirit, kindness, and generosity to others. She was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Nancy Bibey.

Jayne was known for her kind and loving heart and will be missed by all who knew her. A memorial service date will be announced in the coming days. Online condolences can be left at PinesFunerals.com

The care of Jayne has been entrusted to Fry and Prickett Funeral Home.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in NSJ at obits@northstatejournal.com

Geneva Rose

Aug. 9, 1962 – June 21, 2025

Geneva Brewster Rose, age 62, of Vass, passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, surrounded by family and friends.

A Graveside Service will be held on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at noon at Highland Baptist Church Cemetery with Pastor John Brown officiating.

Geneva was born in West Virginia on August 9, 1962, to the late Archie Brewster and Frances Hardy Brewster. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Goldie Page, brothers, Frazier, Eugene, James and Frankie Brewster.

She was an avid NASCAR fan and loved Elvis, going to the beach, and dancing but most of all she loved her family. She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her children, Tony Fowler of Vass, Crystal Brewster of California; grandchildren, Darrel, Rebecca, Johnathan Patterson; sisters, Lena Witt (Robert) of Virginia, Faye Tyree of Sanford. Condolences may be sent to www.coxmemorialfuneralhome. com.

Cox Memorial...”Serving GOD, by serving families in a time of need.”

Linda Musson Guipe

Aug. 25, 1940 –June 21, 2025

Linda M. Guipe (nee Musson), age 84, of Pinehurst, North Carolina, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Born in Fremont, Ohio, and having lived in Richmond, Indiana, and Sidney, Ohio, prior to moving to Pinehurst.

STATE & NATION

Pair of enormous flagpoles installed at White House

President Donald Trump praised the “beautiful pole” at a ceremony

By Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The American flag has long flown from a pole on the White House roof, but that’s always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful.

Last week, massive new flagpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House.

“It’s such a beautiful pole,” Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addi-

Statehouse security tightens after Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The shootings happened at home, adding a layer of complexity

By Scott Bauer The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis.

— Anxious lawmakers convened last week under heightened security in Wisconsin’s state Capitol, one of the most publicly accessible statehouses in the country, days after a legislator and her husband in neighboring Minnesota were shot and killed at their home and others were targeted.

The tension playing out in Wisconsin and other states after the Minnesota killings pits those who want to keep state capitols as open and accessible as possible against those concerned about increasing threats and acts of violence against officeholders.

Other states take action

Numerous states took action this week to protect personal information of lawmakers after the targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers. The second legislator and his wife sustained serious injuries in the shootings last Saturday morning. A suspect, Vance Boelter, surrendered to police on the next day.

Prosecutors say Boelter had dozens of additional potential targets. They included state and federal officeholders in Wisconsin.

Legislatures in most states are done meeting for the year, but those like Wisconsin that are still in session are taking emergency action to bolster security.

The police chief at the North Carolina General Assembly said Monday in an email to legislators that “we are working on enhanced security plans and are doing our best to keep everyone safe.” But further details haven’t

been released and there’s been no significant change seen in security on the surface.

In Arizona, more state troopers were assigned to the state Senate building, said Senate GOP Spokesperson Kim Quintero.

Security bolstered in Wisconsin

Security changes for Wednesday’s meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature were mostly out of sight.

Visitors to the Capitol could still enter the building without going through a metal detector, but anyone wanting to watch in the Senate’s public gallery had to go through an additional security check. Those wishing to watch the Assembly session from the gallery could do so, but they were encouraged to instead view it from another room.

In a more visible sign of force, there were state patrol officers in the building and around both legislative chambers in addition to the usual Capitol Police.

There were new security screenings for reporters attending a news conference in the Senate parlor, and the Democratic Assembly leader’s door that is

typically open was locked with a sign saying anyone with an appointment could knock to gain entry.

“I feel safe in our Capitol building,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said before session began Wednesday.

Not everyone felt the same way.

“We need to have a higher level of security,” Republican Sen. Chris Kapenga told WISN-TV. He supports adding metal detectors and banning guns for anyone in the building except for lawmakers. He said he always carries a gun in the Capitol.

“We should not be worried about our lives walking into that building,” Kapenga said.

Prior security concerns

Wisconsin is a presidential battleground state used to high-stakes political fights and frequent large protests both inside and outside of the Capitol.

Two years ago, a man armed with a loaded handgun came into the Wisconsin Capitol looking for Gov. Tony Evers, who was not there at the time.

Wisconsin is one of seven states where concealed weapons are allowed in the Capitol, according

tion to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the first time.

The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modification to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building.

He’s already updated the Oval Office, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building

more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

The president made time to watch one of the flagpole installations despite the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel in the days before the U.S. bombed three nuclear sites.

“I love construction,” said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. “I know it better than anybody.”

He talked about how the pole went down 9 feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, “you hear that rope, banging.”

“This is the real deal,” he said. “This is the best you can get. There’s nothing like this.”

to a 2021 report by the Council of State Governments. Thirty-six states ban concealed weapons in their capitol buildings. There have been some visible security increases at the Wisconsin Capitol in recent months. Anyone attending oral arguments of the state Supreme Court, which meets in a room just around the corner from the legislative chambers, must go through a metal detector.

That was added after a retired judge was shot and killed in a targeted attack at his home in 2022 and amid increasing threats to members of the judiciary. Evers and other lawmakers were also on a list that gunman had.

No metal detectors

The Wisconsin Capitol has its own police force housed in the basement, but the building is not protected by metal detectors, screening checkpoints or X-rays.

Anyone can walk in off the street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week and go straight to the offices of state lawmakers and others.

The Wisconsin Capitol is one of 11 state capitols that does not have metal detectors, a state au-

dit found last year. It is one of 19 states without X-ray machines to scan items people bring into the building, the audit found.

Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol in late February 2011 at the height of protests over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, later signed into law, that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. They were removed four months later under an agreement reached between Walker’s administration and the state employees union, which sued to get the Capitol reopened without metal detectors.

State Capitol security concerns were raised again after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But at the time, the Wisconsin Capitol was closed to the general public due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that it was important to “take a breath” and not have a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Minnesota shootings. “Trying to make the Capitol into a fortress” is not the answer, he said.

“The thing that’s most scary is this didn’t occur in a Capitol,” Vos said, “it occurred in someone’s home.”

Left, a Capitol police officer, left, stands with a Wisconsin state patrol officer at the top of the public gallery in the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday. Right, staff search visitors entering the Wisconsin Senate gallery in the state Capitol on Wednesday in Madison, Wis.

SCOTT BAUER / AP PHOTO TODD RICHMOND / AP PHOTO

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

A new flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House flies an American flag last Wednesday.