North State Journal Vol. 10, Issue 23

Raleigh chosen as USDA hub in reorganization

Spring eld, Ill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to move thousands of employees out of Washington, D.C., aiming to save money and bring them closer to farmers and ranchers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced last Thursday that around 2,600 workers will relocate to ve hubs, including one in Raleigh. The plan is part of President Donald Trump’s e ort to make the federal government more e cient. The goal is to resize the department so that costs don’t outstrip available nances, as well as eliminate layers of management and consolidate redundant functions, the statement said.

The department expects the plan to take several months. It follows a workforce reduction of more than 15,000 department-wide through voluntary retirements earlier this year.

Nickel exits U.S. Senate race

Cary Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel abandoned his bid to replace Sen. Thom Tillis in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, a day after fellow Democrat Roy Cooper announced his candidacy. Nickel endorsed fellow Cooper, citing leadership and inspiration by the former two-term governor. Cooper launched his run Monday, and his campaign said the following day that the Nash County native had raised more than $3.4 million in the day since he announced his candidacy. Nickel, who didn’t run for reelection in the U.S. House last year due to redistricting, will reportedly pivot and run for attorney general in Wake County.

Board of Elections approves changes the BRIEF this week

Cooper enters Senate race to replace Tillis

The former governor joins RNC Chair Michael Whatley as the biggest names vying for the seat

America250 NC holds latest legislative meeting

Mile markers and civic engagement opportunities were discussed

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly’s Centennial Committee met on July 24 to discuss preparations for America’s 250th anniversary.

Amber McClure, senior di-

State

2001,000

Estimated “never resident” voters in North Carolina

rector of Civic Engagement for the YMCA of the Triangle and state director of NC Youth & Government, gave a presentation on the importance of civic participation and proposed initiatives such as civic community celebrations, youth civic “Bees” and writing contests, as well as virtual eld trips.

The committee reviewed the highway marker program, discussing how a broader

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — Former Gov. Roy Cooper made o cial what has been speculated since his second term in the Executive Mansion ended: He’s running for U.S. Senate.

“I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina,” Cooper said in a Monday morning post on X with an accompanying video.

The 68-year-old Democrat will be vying for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who announced in late June that he would not seek reelection in 2026 for a third term in Washington.

Cooper was governor of North Carolina from 2017 un-

til January, when his second term ended. Governors are limited to two terms in North Carolina. His run as governor came after he served 16 years as the state’s attorney general, a decade in the state Senate — where he was majority leader from 1997 to 2001 — and four years in the state House. Since he rst ran and won a seat in the General Assembly in 1987, Cooper has not lost an election.

“There is no one who loves North Carolina more than Roy Cooper,” North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a statement. “From expanding Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, to working across the aisle to balance the budget and bring good-paying jobs to our state, to taking on scammers and criminals as attorney general, Governor Cooper has always put us rst. Roy Cooper is one of the best champions North Carolina has ever had, and we are

Changes include overseas and military voting, same-day voter registrations, and “never resident” voters

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Board of Elections made several signicant changes to requirements for voting at its July 21 meeting, including overseas and military photo ID, same-day voter registration and “never resident” voting.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), which has a 3-2 Republican majority, also dismissed

a complaint against Cumberland County Board of Elections Chair Linda Devore regarding her role at the NCGOP Convention, nding no legal violations.

The NCSBE voted unanimously to approve changes to overseas and military voting that require photo ID in municipal elections starting this year. Overseas and military voters can upload their ID using an online portal or mail a copy.

The NCSBE also unanimously approved continuation of its current process for same-day voter registration, citing federal litigation over 2023 legislative changes. NCSBE General Counsel

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Roy Cooper, pictured in November at an election night party in Raleigh, announced Monday he is running for U.S. Senate.

the word | You have

This article is not for those who feel themselves strong, competent, and able to meet whatever comes. It is for those who know they are weak — those who look toward life ahead and see di culties and dangers and the need of more strength than they possess. It is for those who sometimes say with Paul, “Who is su cient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16). Paul knew he was weak. He wrote to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Paul was not naturally a weakling. He had strong qualities of leadership, yet he said, “We are weak” (4:10).

Paul’s profession of weakness was not a pretense; he was not saying it merely for e ect; he felt that he was weak. He was not ashamed to admit that he was weak; in fact, he gloried in his weakness. His weakness served an excellent purpose in his life; for by recognizing it, he could be made strong. We are told of those who out of weakness were made strong, and did great and valiant deeds. Paul said, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my in rmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in in rmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10) His recognition of his weakness brought him into an attitude that prepared him to receive the power of God. Yes, we are weak — but what of it? Paul says our weakness merely gives God his opportunity to assist us. He did not lament his weakness; it cleared the way of all pride of self, of all trusting in his own strength, of all self-su ciency. It made him rely utterly upon Christ, and doing so he was neither afraid of his weakness nor of life, but con dent and victorious for both the present and the future.

Paul said that God made us the weak human beings we are, for a purpose: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God,

a little strength

DOMAIN

“The Conversion of Saint Paul” is a painting by Caravaggio (c. 1600) in the Odescalchi Balbi Collection in Rome. It is the lesser known of two paintings by Caravaggio on the subject of the conversion of Paul. The other is “The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus” in the Cerasi Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo.

and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Then

Paul illustrated by his own experience what he meant: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (vss. 8-9). Paul had many troubles — but there was the power of God upholding, strengthening, and making him able for whatever came.

To the church in Philadelphia came this message: “You have a little strength” (Rev. 3:8). The members of this church were not strong and mighty, but they were not altogether without strength. Their little strength had made them able to do two things: they had kept God’s word, and had not denied his name. They had only a

Education Department releases remaining $5.5B in funding

North Carolina is earmarked for $130 million

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The U.S. Department of Education has released the remainder of the funds that had been withheld for review to the states.

On July 14, N.C. Attorney General Je Jackson joined a 25-state coalition lawsuit over the U.S. Department of Education’s freezing of $6.8 billion pending a review of ve speci c grant programs in the Every Stu-

“This ends weeks of uncertainty. Our schools can now plan and hire for a strong year ahead.”

Je Jackson, N.C. attorney general

dent Succeeds Act. Of that total, $168.7 million was due to North Carolina schools.

A week later, on July 21, a block of $1.3 billion in funding was unfrozen, of which $35.7 million went to North Carolina for 21st Century Community

Learning Centers funding. That left a balance due to the state of around $130 million.

On July 25, the Department of Education unfroze the remaining $5.5 billion.

“This ends weeks of uncertainty. Our schools can now plan and hire for a strong year ahead,” said Jackson in a post on X. “My absolute best wishes to NC’s 1.5m students who are ready to make this their best year yet.”

“It is good to see that the federal government is honoring its commitment to release $130 million in approved federal funds to North Carolina students, educators and schools next week,” North Carolina Superinten-

little strength, but that little strength was su cient for success.

Did you ever hear of trigger action? Where great potentials of electricity are used, there is often a great switch which would be very dangerous for one to handle because of the electric arc formed when it is thrown — so a little switch is rigged up which controls the larger switch. This switch, placed in a safe place, serves as a trigger to actuate and to control the master switch. The so-called electric eyes are sensitive to light, and light falling upon the bulb causes a small electric current to ow according to the intensity of the light. This small current of electricity is often used as a control to turn on or o the lights of a great city, and as a control for power in many other ways.

That little electric current produces enormous results. It has only a little strength, as you and I have. Our little strength, like the little strength actuating the relay, can control an immense amount of spiritual power. In other words, our little strength turns on the power of God, which is waiting to operate when the occasion demands. You may be weak, you may have but a little strength, but you do have that. You have some faith, some knowledge, some ability in many directions. We are too prone to think that we have to do everything that is done, that it all depends upon our strength. Then if we feel weak, we know that we can accomplish little. So we shrink before our tasks, we tremble before responsibilities, we draw back from di culties, and say, “Oh, I am so weak — how can I go on? How can I be victorious?” Just in one way: by using your strength, not to do the task, but to turn on God’s power. Use your strength as a relay. Paul said, “It is God who works in you.”

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.

dent Mo Green said in a separate statement, which thanked Jackson for his e orts. “I hope this resolution marks

a return to the predictable, reliable federal partnership that our schools need to serve students effectively,” Green said.

State Auditor’s O ce adds internal budget dashboard

The online tool will track revenues, expenses and spending

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The N.C. O ce of the State Auditor has launched a public-facing dashboard that tracks the o ce’s internal budget and spending.

con dent he will ip this seat in 2026.” North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon reported July 8 on X that Cooper, a Nash County native, was expected to enter the race.

The former governor’s decision sets the stage for what could be the most expensive Senate race in American history. Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel — who bowed out of the race Tuesday — had been the only Democrat to pursue the seat, while President Donald Trump has backed Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to be his party’s nominee.

Three other Republicans have led paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for the seat: Triad area businessman

“By opening access to our ofce’s spending, we’re leading the charge to create a more transparent government in North Carolina,” N.C. State Auditor Dave Boliek said in a press release. “This resource is easily accessible online and should be a new standard of government transparen-

Andy Nilsson, attorney and former JAG O cer Don Brown and Brooks Agnew, an author and former manufacturing engineer. But a Cooper-vs.-Whatley matchup seems inevitable. Whatley — a Watauga County native who led the North Carolina Republican Party until Trump tapped him to run the RNC with the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump — has never held public o ce.

Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, was the president’s top choice to succeed Tillis, but the Wilmington native — who no longer lives in the state — announced last week she would not run.

Political consultant Paul Shumaker has speculated the race could exceed $1 billion as

cy. The O ce of the State Auditor has a mission to hold government accountable, and that includes shining a light on our own o ce.”

The dashboard can be accessed either on the new dashboards tab or on the main page of the state auditor’s website. The data will be “updated periodically,” according to the press release. Data in the dashboard will in-

Democrats try to wrestle control of the Senate back from Republicans, who have majorities in both houses of Congress.

Carter Wrenn, a longtime Republican political consultant, told North State Journal in February that Cooper would be a formidable candidate for Democrats.

“He’s got a unique kind of strength as a candidate,” Wrenn said. “People like him.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are already on the o ensive in trying to discredit Cooper.

“Roy Cooper can run, but he can’t hide from his 40-year radical record,” North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons said in a two-part statement on X. “From raising taxes, closing schools, pardoning violent criminals, and fail-

clude the o ce’s revenue sources, expenses by category and by division, as well as spending on vendors for the state’s 2025 scal year.

Additionally, data will include how much the auditor’s o ce receives from audit fees, appropriations to the o ce and state funds to be carried forward to the following year.

“Roy Cooper is one of the best champions North Carolina has ever had, and we are con dent he will ip this seat in 2026.”

Anderson Clayton, N.C. Democratic Party chair

ing during hurricane recovery, he has consistently sided with left-wing interests over families and small businesses.

“He will do everything he can to work against President Trump in the U.S. Senate. We won’t let that happen and we

“We’re leading the charge to create a more transparent government in North Carolina.”

Dave Boliek, N.C. State auditor

will keep this seat for Republicans in 2026.”

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican Super PAC, launched RadicalRoy.com — a website that accuses Cooper of “woke” politics, weakness on crime and immigration, and higher taxes for citizens and small businesses.

In a fundraising email, Gov. Josh Stein — who succeeded Cooper both as attorney general and governor — pledged his support to his predecessor.

“I could not be more ready to support him. … I am proud to call Gov. Cooper a friend, and grateful for the lifetime of service he’s already given to North Carolina,” Stein said.

A.P. Dillon contributed to this report.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP PHOTO

Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke last Friday at the National Governors Association meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

PUBLIC

New documents show coordination on Garland memo targeting parents

The White House received an advanced copy of a National School Board Association letter

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — New documents obtained by America First Legal show the Biden White House coordinated on former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memo targeting parents who protested at school board meetings.

On July 18, America First Legal (AFL) released documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request detailing the events surrounding the October 2021 parent memo issued by Garland.

“The Biden Administration appears to have engaged in a conspiracy that was ultimately aimed at depriving parents of two fundamental rights — the right to speak, and the right to direct the upbringing of their children,” AFL President Gene Hamilton said in a press release. “They did so with political intentions, most immediately by attempting to in uence the Virginia gubernatorial election, and to more broadly chill dissent across the United States.”

The Garland parent memo was based on a letter from the National School Board Association, which referred to alleged threats to school board members and labeled some parents as potential “domestic terrorists.”

The FOIA documents show coordination over the Garland parent memo by the White House, under then-President Joe Biden, while bypassing objections of longtime U.S. Department of Justice sta ers.

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a let-

CHANGES from page A1

Paul Cox noted that litigation is still ongoing but that a recent consent agreement in the case included keeping the current process in place.

Under the existing process, voters who register during early voting receive address verication cards. If one comes back undeliverable, they get another opportunity to resolve the issue before removing their ballot and registration.

Additionally, the NCSBE adopted changes for “never residents” — individuals with family ties to North Carolina who have never lived in the state themselves. Under the changes, these individuals can no longer vote in state and local elections but retain the right to vote in federal contests.

During the discussion on “never residents,” Cox clari ed that a state court of appeals ruled such voters were ineligi-

MEETING from page A1

publicity campaign for upcoming markers could raise awareness of the anniversary’s signi cance and increase local engagement. Updates on the committee’s website, promotional “swag” items and a video project were shared, highlighting e orts to increase public awareness through digital platforms, branded merchandise and short videos featuring General Assembly members.

The Foundation Forward organization’s “Charters of Freedom” displays, which replicate founding documents to promote and support civic education, particularly among youth, were praised as impressive, “uplifting” and “truly patriotic” by Sen. Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland), one of the committee’s co-chairs.

NC250 Executive Director Troy Kickler provided updates on partnerships with organizations interested in participating in the celebrations, including the North Carolina Symphony. The symphony is interested in holding a patriotic concert and potentially partnering with the Town

ter on Sept. 29, 2021, to Biden requesting federal intervention, including invoking the Patriot Act, to address perceived threats from parents protesting at school board meetings.

The NSBA letter was prompted by concerns over parent backlash against polarizing educational policies — such as critical race theory (CRT), diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and gender identity — rather than COVID-related protests.

On July 15 of that year, NSBA Interim Executive Director Chip Slaven reported focusing on countering critics of CRT and transgender policies, noting “hostile situations” for school board members. By Sept. 9, Slaven had directed Deborah Rigsby, NSBA’s director for federal legislation, via Jane Mellow, to draft the letter to Biden requesting a threat assessment. Slaven, Rigsby and Mellow nalized the letter Sept. 17, removing a section requesting National Guard and

ble for voting in state and municipal races.

“There is a state law that says if you are one of these people or a child of a North Carolinian who has never resided here, but you are a U.S. citizen, there is a state law that says you can vote in our elections,” Cox said. “What the court of appeals in the (Je erson) Gri n case said, we’re looking at that state law and we’re saying, ‘Well, that’s not true for state elections.’”

Cox noted the Court of Appeals ruling cited residency requirements in the state constitution, and he said the court had left in place the ability for “never residents” to vote in federal elections.

The NCSBE estimated there are 200 to 1,000 “never resident” voters.

One additional measure adopted by the NCSBE involved municipal election administration. The change allows county boards to extend candidate l-

“The Biden Administration appears to have engaged in a conspiracy that was ultimately aimed at depriving parents of two fundamental rights — the right to speak, and the right to direct the upbringing

of their children.”

Gene Hamilton, America First

Legal president

military police deployment to school board meetings.

Mary Wall, White House senior adviser to the president, requested an advance copy of the letter for White House and U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) colleagues on Sept. 21. Slaven sent the nalized let-

ing periods by ve days for nonpartisan contests with insucient candidates.

The municipal election administration changes also include shortening the canvas periods for September and October municipal elections from 10 days to seven. Speci c deadlines for county early voting (EV) plan submissions to the NCSBE were also approved. For September elections, the county board EV submission date is “no later than” July 29; for October elections, the date is Aug. 8.

Most of the major approvals made by the NCSBE during its meeting track back to election challenges led by Gri n, a Republican, during his 2024 state Supreme Court Race against incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs.

Gri n, who conceded after a six-month legal battle, challenged photo ID requirements for military and overseas voters, “never resident” ballots,

ter to Biden on Sept. 29, which also went to Wall and top Biden advisers Julie Rodriguez, Katherine Pantangco, Aaliyah Samuel and Kimberly Watkins-Foote.

The FOIA documents show that on Oct. 1, Tamara Matthews-Johnson, a top aide to Garland, forwarded NSBA letter-related press clips to Kevin Chambers in the Deputy Attorney General’s O ce, checking if he was aware of the letter.

Within 35 minutes, Chambers responded, noting the challenge of nding a “federal hook” but con rming White House inquiries about DOJ assistance.

A day later, Sparkle Sooknanan, who then worked in the Associate Attorney General’s O ce, emailed Civil Rights Division (OCR) attorneys requesting a weekend turnaround to identify enforceable authorities to address the issue. Biden later appointed Sooknanan to the Washington, D.C., federal district court.

Robert Moossy, a 30-year veteran attorney in the OCR, responded that he read the NSBA letter and wrote, “It appears to me that the vast, vast majority of the behavior cited cannot be reached by federal law,” that most of the language used is protected by the First Amendment, and disruptions to school board meetings were covered by local trespass laws.

“So it seems that we are ramping up an awful lot of federal manpower for what is currently non-federal conduct,” Moossy wrote. “If they want to have an impact, maybe they could try to fashion something like the FACE Act for schools and school meetings, criminalizing physical obstruction of schools and school board meetings. “

The FACE Act refers to the federal law banning interference with anyone seeking or

and voters missing driver’s license and Social Security data required under state and federal law.

The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gri n on photo ID, and it said overseas and military voters needed to follow the same rules as civilian voters and provide photo ID in nonfederal elections. The court also found that “never residents” were not eligible to vote in state and municipal elections under the N.C. Constitution’s residency requirements.

On the same day the NCSBE met, a lawsuit surrounding the use of electronic voter ID ended in a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice, with the NCSBE agreeing not to accept such IDs unless the legislature takes steps to authorize them.

Currently, state law doesn’t explicitly prohibit the use of electronic IDs, and the NCSBE’s voter ID page does not mention their use.

providing reproductive health services, or activities that interfere with religious worship. Despite these concerns, Deputy Attorney General’s O ce sta er Myesha Braden circulated an amended draft memo at 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 4, removing election integrity language after the Criminal Division objected, worried that including it could appear partisan.

Four minutes later, Shaylyn Cochran from the OCR shared the draft with Moossy and others, asking for concerns. Later that day, the Department of Justice published Garland’s memo, directing the FBI, U.S. Attorneys and law enforcement to address threats against school o cials.

On Oct. 5, Biden called Slaven and NSBA President Viola Garcia to thank them for the letter. A few weeks later, Garcia was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board by then-Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

Backlash to Garland’s parent memo ensued, and by Oct. 22, the NSBA had issued an apology, renouncing and removing the letter from its website.

The AFL FOIA documents are additional con rmation to a May 2022 report released by an NSBA-hired law rm that showed the Biden White House and USDOJ’s involvement in the letter’s development. That report noted White House ofcials, including Wall, had advanced knowledge and discussed the letter with USDOJ o cials before its nalization. Garland refused to rescind the letter despite pressure from Congressional Republicans, and no apology was issued. Under Garland, the USDOJ opened 25 assessments based on a tip line set up, but only one investigation was initiated. There have been no prosecutions. Following the election of President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revoked the Garland parent memo this Feb. 5. Bondi’s revocation cited the memo’s inappropriate targeting of parents expressing good-faith concerns at local government meetings.

The case was brought by the Republican National Committee and N.C. Republican Party against the NCSBE, the Democratic National Committee and the Marc Elias-represented Affirmative Action Coalition after the then-Democratically controlled NCSBE approved using UNC Chapel Hill’s Mobile One Card during the 2024 election cycle.

The former NCSBE’s decision to allow those IDs during the 2024 election cycle was blocked by a N.C. Court of Appeals panel last September after Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory had upheld their use.

Before the court of appeals ruling, an affidavit filed in the case by an individual named Jeffrey Moore detailed how he could easily alter the UNC Chapel Hill Mobile One card using two online apps in about an hour.

of Cary, which has a concert as part of its July 4 celebration at Koka Booth Amphitheater.

The American Battle eld Trust was also mentioned as potentially hosting a Revolutionary War kiosk at the General Assembly.

Kickler is heading to Washington, D.C., to attend a “America250 States and Territories” convening to coordinate celebration e orts.

Finally, there were discussions on future interactive exhibits, such as one in Charlotte covering the entirety of the American Revolution with a special breakout room dedicated to the Southern campaign.

Other upcoming events mentioned included the Liberty Mountain Revolutionary Drama to be held in Kings Mountain this September and October.

All meeting les and presentation materials can be accessed on the committee’s legislative page on the North Carolina General Assembly website. The committee also has an o cial webpage with contact information, timelines and a suggestions portal.

Aside from the committee’s plans, the N.C. State Fair has

announced competitions and events using the theme “America 250 — Celebrating The Great American State Fair.”

Contests will include decorated Christmas trees, fresh ow-

er arrangements, 4-H haybales, a Home Chef Cake Decorating Challenge and several other competitions honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial. There is also an open essay

competition for sixth through eighth grade students on “Why American State Fairs are Important to Our Communities.” America250 kicked o a nationwide storytelling tour Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. According to the America250 website, “Our American Story” will be an “oral and visual storytelling project aimed at collecting and preserving our nation’s stories.” The website allows the public to submit nominations for a living individual who has a story that should be shared and archived at the Library of Congress. The project’s launch will include speeches by America250 Chair Rosie Rios and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. Additionally, there will be a live preview of the mobile Airstream recording studios, and it will also feature story recordings from America250 commissioners and other leaders. For additional North Carolina America250 information, visit america250.nc.gov. National America250 information can be found at america250.org.

EVAN VUCCI / AP PHOTO

Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, listens as

President Joe Biden speaks during a White House meeting in November 2023.

COURTESY AMERICA250.GOV

America250 kicked o a nationwide storytelling tour Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

The Russian collusion lie is dead; now what?

THE WORST THING in politics, and life in general, is having someone looked up to and followed blindly by thousands, if not millions, of followers who never question their words and pronouncements.

That is the very de nition of why we exist as Americans: to think independently and question everything anyone says or does.

Aristotle set the standard for such rational thought more than 2,000 years ago when he said, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”

Where we run into major problems in our democratic republic is when voters blindly follow a candidate solely based on looks, personality, charisma, and campaign slogans, photos and videos. The problem is compounded when voters don’t take the time to think seriously about the issues and challenge their favored candidates on the merits of the issue and the solutions they want to provide.

With the revelation that the entire Russian collusion attack on Donald Trump as a candidate in 2016 was a pure hoax conducted under the guidance and purview the FBI and CIA under and with the full knowledge of President Barack Obama, pretentions by American voters about the sanctity of American political candidates should be thrown out the window forever.

When talk show host Oprah Winfrey essentially laid her hands on Obama and

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

declared him to be “The Chosen One” to lead our country to glory, no one in the media or Democratic Party challenged her presumptiveness. A close observer of politics could just feel the line being crossed between politics and blind spiritual leadership. And blind spiritual followership in politics can lead to disaster unless ended by the leader in charge early on.

their party in control of our government.

As the 2016 campaign wore on, followers of the “we are gonna change America” Obamanites became increasingly frightened Donald Trump might actually reverse their dreams of a massive socialist monolithic state forever. They and their campaign sta and political operatives adopted a strategy of complete warfare and decided to adopt whatever method it would take to defeat the hated Trump and his policies. Sadly, now it is coming clear from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Obama and his henchmen knew about Russian collusion from the beginning and supported it every step of the way.

The left-wing press was and still is so far left politically, it didn’t provide the oversight or insight into what was going on and report it in an unbiased manner so American voters could make their own decisions about whether they wanted to vote for anyone willing to engage in such unscrupulous behavior to keep

Stage being set in 2026 North Carolina Senate race

It’s going to be really interesting to see how this one plays out between now and November 2026. Everyone who defended these actions while in o ce or on talk shows and social media should be ostracized and never asked to comment on political a airs again.

THE 2020 SENATE race between Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and his Democratic challenger, former North Carolina state Sen. Cal Cunningham, ended up being the most expensive one in American history, with Tillis emerging victorious after Cunningham’s disastrous freefall due to revelations of an a air.

While that record was soon eclipsed by races in other states that came after, the 2026 race to replace Tillis, who in June announced he would not be seeking a third term after a brief public battle with President Donald Trump over the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” undoubtedly will be a contender to shatter all previous records.

Democrats are desperate to take back control of the United States Senate. They need four seats to do that. The roadmap they’ve laid out to try and make that happen involves North Carolina, which they see as a “ripe” pick-up opportunity, considering the ever-shifting political landscape of the state.

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced his candidacy this week. Former Rep. Wiley Nickel had declared his intention to run earlier this year, but in light of the Cooper news, he plans to drop out to run for Wake County district attorney, according to local reports.

Cooper reportedly was heavily recruited, with Democrats believing that being elected to two gubernatorial terms, not to mention his previous stint as state attorney general, will give them the fast track to nally winning a North Carolina Senate race after several cycles where Republicans have been victorious.

On the Republican side, after Tillis announced his retirement, Wilmington native and former Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, a Fox News weekend show host and the daughterin-law of President Donald Trump, was said to be contemplating a run for the seat. Though POTUS indicated “she would always” be his rst choice, he also pointed out she is currently a Florida resident.

In other words, it probably was not going to happen.

Late last week, Lara Trump posted on social media, “After much consideration and heartfelt discussions with my family, friends, and supporters, I have decided not to pursue the United States Senate seat in North Carolina at this time.”

Not so coincidentally, her decision was shared on the same day it was widely reported that RNC chairman Michael Whatley would soon enter the race with “the blessing” of the president.

I am no constitutional lawyer — or plain lawyer — so it is up to others to decide if people in the Obama White House should be charged for criminal actions or treason. But at the very least, the best thing that can and should happen is that everyone who defended these actions while in o ce or on talk shows and social media should be ostracized and never asked to comment on political a airs again because what they engaged in, at the very least, should be categorized as unethical — if not criminal — behavior by every serious citizen who cares about our political process.

Being excluded from the public dialogue, especially without pay, should be a su cient penalty and send a message to others who have not seen anyone be punished or pay a price for using the levers of our government against another citizen of our country running for public o ce.

Sending people to prison for such behavior may satisfy some on the right about the outcome of the Russian collusion hoax. But the real way to stop it from happening again on either side would be to institute real nancial pain to anyone in the future who might be tempted to not do the right thing in a political contest, along with reimposing shame and dishonor once again on the bad perpetrators once they are identi ed and made public.

As detailed by POLITICO, “Trump is optimistic that Whatley, who ran the state party in North Carolina before becoming RNC chair, has the knowledge of the state, the national pro le and the network of relationships to mount a strong campaign.” Whatley also led the North Carolina GOP in 2022 and was instrumental in the statewide red wave that year, when the national red wave widely predicted for that midterm election cycle fell far short of expectations.

It’s going to be really interesting to see how this one plays out between now and November 2026. As I’ve said elsewhere, Cooper got away with quite a bit during his two terms as governor here, thanks partly to a dutifully compliant left-wing N.C. political press corps.

But this time around, the stakes are even higher and priorities have changed; su ce it to say that much tea will be spilled about Cooper’s reign of error in the coming months as the race continues to heat up.

Stay tuned.

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.

Should we tax AI bots?

Isn’t it time to evaluate how AI will impact the future of our county’s foundational income and health security safety nets?

GLOBAL CEOS have been speaking quite frankly recently about arti cial intelligence’s impact on their future workforce needs. The common theme, which was previously only whispered in boardrooms: We won’t need you. At a summer Aspen Institute gathering, the CEO of Ford Motor Company shared that he believes AI will replace nearly half of all white-collar workers in the U.S. IBM has eliminated hundreds of human resource jobs by levering AI. Several CEOs have estimated that AI, even at this state of infancy, can help reduce headcount by 10%-20%. The CEO of Shopify won’t let managers hire new people unless they can prove that the job cannot be done using AI. That’s a pretty scary impact of a technology just beginning to walk.

If this technology will have such a profound impact on employment, isn’t it time to evaluate how AI will impact the future of our country’s foundational income and health security safety nets?

Currently, employees and their employers pay taxes to the federal government to fund Social Security and Medicare. Called FICA taxes, an employee and that person’s employer both pay 6.2%, totaling 12.4%, to the Social Security Trust Fund (up to an income limit of $176,100 in 2025). Each also pays 1.45% to the Medicare Trust Fund on

all their wages, with higher earners paying an additional 0.9% surcharge into Medicare. These funds are structured to ensure the taxes paid by current workers cover the costs of people receiving Social Security and Medicare bene ts.

The problem is, 60 years ago there were four workers for every bene ciary. In 2023, there were only 2.7 workers for every bene ciary. As more people reach retirement age and the employment pool declines, Social Security and Medicare solvency is in jeopardy. In fact, trustees of the funds report that Social Security and Medicare will only be able to pay 100% of bene t obligations for the next eight years. After that, there will not be enough money in the fund to pay full bene ts.

So what happens if AI reduces the workforce, as some leading CEOs predict? That’s roughly 19 million to 38 million fewer contributors to the bene t programs. Bene ts for retirees will need to be cut, or taxes will need to be raised signi cantly on the remaining workforce to meet the promised obligations.

Or perhaps there’s another solution: Tax the AI bot that replaces you.

Doug Miskew is the founder of Public Sector Group, a consulting rm in Raleigh.

Beyond the August recess

Republicans should point out that passing the budget bill was a critical step toward a much better future for America.

WHEN CONGRESS recesses for summer, Republican members and senators have an opportunity to really shift the national dialogue about spending, savings, de cits and taxes.

This is their rst post-One Big Beautiful Bill Act opportunity to bring Americans together around the bene ts the new law will deliver. Because Republicans passed the bill, and President Donald J. Trump signed it, Americans will bene t from lower taxes, less waste and fraud in our biggest programs, and a more streamlined government.

Importantly, Republicans should point out that passing the budget bill was a critical step toward a much better future for America. It laid the predicate for reaching a balanced budget — with lower in ation, greater a ordability, more jobs and more secure retirements.

The American people will be eager for this dialogue.

As America’s New Majority Project reported: “A balanced budget amendment requiring Congress to balance the budget every year has majority support among all voting groups. Overall, 70% support a balanced budget amendment, with just 13% opposed. Democrats (67-16), Independents (70-11), and Republicans (74-11), Blacks (66-14), Hispanics (62-18), and Whites (73-12) all support a balanced budget amendment.”

Simply put: This issue has 70% positive support. Republicans should talk about the good things they just did (passing the budget bill) and then join with their constituents in setting a goal to balance the budget in ve to seven years.

In the 1990s, we found that talking about the need for a balanced budget increased support — and the intensity of support from the public. This is a great opportunity to begin unifying the country on an issue in which two-thirds of Democrats agree. There’s an almost 11:1 majority among Republicans. This issue has 5:1 support among African Americans and a 3.5:1 support among Hispanic Americans.

After making certain that Americans know how vital the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was, members should return with a commitment to plan hearings, new legislation, appropriations and future reconciliation bills within a framework of getting to a balanced budget.

To balance the budget in the 1990s, we did the same thing. We cut taxes and regulations to increase economic growth, seriously reformed expensive systems and frugally focused on every dollar that came from American families through their taxes. This

BE IN TOUCH

created the only four balanced budgets in the last century. Members, senators, their sta s and committee sta s should study this path. These are principles that work. They are not theoretical. The danger in Washington is that current challenges drive out thinking about what really matters in the long run. Years ago, Sen. Jesse Helms warned me that in Washington, the urgent drives out the important. He said my job was to get up every morning and focus on the important for as long as I could until the urgent forced its way through. I had a similar conversation with thenGen. Colin Powell in 1987, when he was President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Adviser. We were in his o ce in the White House. I knew that as a brilliant Army o cer, he knew all about planning and thinking through future activities. I naively asked him what his planning system was. He looked at me with a grin, laughed, and said, “Newt, my planning document is the front page of The Washington Post. It decides every morning what I have to focus on.”

Every member of the House and Senate will understand the reality that daily activities drive out strategic thinking and strategic planning.

After years of trying, we discovered in 1994 that the immediate had to be guided by the important or nothing serious could get done. We proved that model with the Contract with America. This led to legislative e orts to balance the budget, reform welfare, telecommunications and the FDA, and invent Medicare Advantage. (Telecomm reform was fundamental to the development of the internet. Democratic Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee John Dingle said he had tried for 20 years and never thought it would get done.)

With courageous, steady leadership, we will get to a balanced budget with lower taxes, more economic growth, higher takehome pay, and more a ordability. Prosperity will generate revenues to support Social Security and other vital programs.

The time to start thinking and learning from the American people is the August recess. The time to start doing is Sept.1. It will take cheerful persistence and a lot of calm, steady courage — but it can be done.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren — and our country’s future — to get our scal house in order. Balancing the budget is the key.

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

How to keep kids from killing kids

WHAT ONCE WOULD have shocked the conscience is now forgotten by the end of the article. Consider these recent stories on juvenile homicides.

In Southern Nevada last October, 17-yearold Keanu Enright left his home to play video games. Police said a group of friends ended up “handling a gun.” A 15-year-old boy then shot and killed Enright. Police arrested the boy for open murder. Enright’s family wanted the shooter to be tried as an adult. Prosecutors said they couldn’t prove the shooting was intentional. The boy pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and entered a youth prison.

“The juvenile system, in theory, is designed to rehabilitate kids,” Brigid Du y, director of the Juvenile Division at the Clark County District Attorney’s O ce, said.

That doesn’t appear to have happened. The killer is already out of custody. Thomas Enright, the victim’s father, showed the Las Vegas Review-Journal screenshots of an Instagram story from the teenager. It appeared to show a teenager with a handgun. The caption read, “We beat murder charges, who’s next?”

That is sociopathic behavior. It’s not mental illness, it’s evil.

Yet it’s hard to be outraged because shocking criminal behavior is increasingly common. North Las Vegas police recently arrested a 17-year-old for shooting another teen outside a convenience store earlier this summer. Earlier this month, a 12-year-old girl in North Las Vegas was sent to juvenile detention for stabbing her father to death. Last month, prosecutors said they were considering the death penalty for a 19-year-old accused of shooting and killing someone in the Aliante hotel-casino earlier this year.

“Unfortunately, we have seen a huge rise in kids committing o enses with guns,” Du y said.

This re ects a national trend. Homicides by children jumped by 65% from 2016 to 2022. “Juvenile crime surges,” The Wall Street Journal wrote in 2023.

The crisis is obvious, but pointing out its causes isn’t politically correct.

First, kids who grow up in broken homes are more likely to commit crimes. Consider the 12-year-old who killed her father. Her mom said Child Protective Services took the girl out of her home because she, the mother, used drugs. CPS placed the girl with her father.

“Cities with high levels of single parenthood have 118% higher rates of violence and 255% higher rates of homicide,” a 2023 report from the Institute of Family Studies found.

Discussing this obvious reality is largely taboo on the left because the rate of single motherhood is disproportionately high among African Americans. Unsurprisingly, black males commit a disproportionate number of murders.

Think about this. Promoting marriage would disproportionately bene t black Americans, but the left isn’t interested.

Next, many children learn little about virtue. Many boys don’t have a father in the home to model what it means to be a man.

Schools kicked out God, replacing moral instruction with nihilism. Rather than personal responsibility, kids wrap their identities around their diagnoses. The former is something you control. The latter is a doctor’s job to x. Even atheists can nd purpose in patriotism, but students learn that America is evil, not the greatest country in human history.

Finally, as the building blocks of selfgovernance crumble, laws remain to keep the peace. Swift and strict punishment can hide the fruit of this societal rot, although it won’t cure it. But leniency abounds both in schools and for juvenile o enders. And teenagers know it.

Police have since arrested the boy who killed Enright for violating his probation. They visited the boy’s house and found a gun. Since he only received around eight months for killing a boy, however, the killer likely believes that he’ll only receive another slap on the wrist. He’s probably right.

Until one of these factors changes, kids will keep killing kids.

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

Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or 1201 Edwards Mill Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27607. 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

Murphy to Manteo Jones & Blount

World’s best junior golfers in Pinehurst

EAST

PIEDMONT

United Way hosting school supply drive for Forsyth students

SBI sending K-9 teams to help with Texas ood recovery Buncombe County Four K-9 teams with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are helping with recovery e orts in Texas after deadly ooding earlier this month. The SBI said four K-9 teams left for Texas over the weekend. Two teams traveled from Asheville Regional Airport, while two other teams left via Raleigh-Durham International Airport. “North Carolina has been devastated by hurricanes and other natural disasters in the past, and our friends from many other states have always come to our aid,” SBI Director Chip Hawley told local outlets. The K-9 teams will help in recovery e orts, as people are still missing after the catastrophic ooding that left more than 100 people dead in Texas. The teams’ base of operations will be in the Kerrville, Texas, area, according to the SBI, operating with the resources supplied by the North Carolina legislature and its law enforcement partners.

NSJ

Forsyth County United Way of Forsyth County is hosting its rst back-to-school supply drive in a decade, and it is asking members of the community to donate school supplies to help hundreds of families. The organization is seeking donations such as backpacks, notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons and hand sanitizer. The backpacks will then be lled with school supplies based on their grade level. The event will be held Saturday, Aug. 2 at 11 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church on New Walkertown Road.

WXII

Mobile clinics set up for back-to-school health checks

Greensboro man wanted for car, dog theft

Rockingham County Madison police were searching this week for a 39-year-old Greensboro man accused of stealing a car Saturday evening and possibly a dog. The suspect, Kevin Duane Mitchell, was last seen driving a burgundy 2015 Chevrolet Malibu with N.C. license plate TLX2472. Authorities said the vehicle has since been recovered, but Mitchell remained at large. Mitchell is described as 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair, and several tattoos.

WFMY

Guilford County The Guilford County Division of Public Health will host upcoming back-toschool and community mobile clinics, available to all county residents. Clinic services include MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccinations for children and adults, COVID-19 vaccinations, Mpox vaccinations, A1C tests, blood pressure checks, and back-to-school vaccinations for rising seventh and 12th graders. North Carolina law requires all incoming seventh graders to receive a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine and an MCV (meningococcal conjugate vaccine) by the start of the school year. All incoming 12th graders are required to receive a second dose of the MCV by the start of the school year. A parent or guardian will need to be present at the visit. The mobile clinics will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Hayes-Taylor Memorial YMCA on July 23 and Glenwood Branch Library on July 30.

NSJ

New Civil War museum comes to Fayetteville Cumberland County Construction is set to begin in the coming days for the nearly $90 million North Carolina History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction Museum. The nearly 60,000-square-foot building will have classrooms, exhibit rooms, a cafe, gift shop, a rotating gallery and other attractions. It’s the rst and only museum in the state that focuses on reconstruction after the Civil War, designed to tell the stories of all 100 North Carolina counties during and after the con ict.

NSJ

Woman missing since November found in Colo.

Convenience store Wawa opens 2 N.C. locations this week

Johnston County Two new Wawa stores opened on consecutive days in North Carolina last week — including the rst for Johnston County. Wawa now has 12 stores in North Carolina — with a Pitt County location opening in Greenville last Wednesday,

Onslow County An Onslow County woman who was missing for nine months has been found alive in Colorado, authorities con rmed last week. Kelsey Pittman, 33, was reported missing by her family in November after she lost contact with them, according to a press release from the Inyo County Sheri ’s O ce in California. In February, the sheri ’s o ce said someone reported a suspicious vehicle near “The Pads,” also called “Slab City,” an unincorporated, o -the-grid community in California. When deputies arrived, they con rmed the car belonged to Pittman. Between the time her vehicle was found in February and June, multiple law enforcement agencies worked on a search-and-rescue mission around the California site but did not locate her. Authorities did not provide details about how she vanished or about her discovery three states away.

NSJ

Students, faculty and members of the

NATION & WORLD

After Columbia settlement, White House seeks nes in deals with Harvard, others

The government is investigating campus antisemitism at several schools

By Collin Binkley The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House is pursuing heavy nes from Harvard and other universities as part of potential settlements to end investigations into campus antisemitism, using the deal it struck with Columbia University as a template, according to an administration o cial familiar with the matter.

Fines have become a staple of proposed deals in talks with Harvard and other schools, according to the o cial, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The new strategy was rst reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Federal civil rights investigations into schools and universities almost always have been resolved through voluntary settlements, yet they rarely include nancial penalties. The Biden administration reached dozens of such deals with universities, and none included nes.

Columbia’s settlement with the Trump administration included a $200 million ne in exchange for regaining access to federal funding and closing investigations accusing Columbia of tolerating harassment of Jewish students and employees.

The agreement announced last Wednesday also orders Columbia to ensure its admissions and hiring decisions are “merit-based” with no consideration of race, to hire more Jewish studies faculty and to reduce

the university’s reliance on international students, among other changes. It places Columbia under the watch of an independent monitor and requires regular disclosures to the government.

The agreement deal includes a clause forbidding the government from directly dictating decisions on hiring, admissions or academics. Columbia leaders said it preserves the university’s autonomy while restoring the ow of federal money.

The Trump administration is investigating dozens of universities over allegations they failed to address campus antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war, and several institutions have faced federal funding freezes, like those at Columbia and Harvard.

The federal government has frozen more than $1 billion at Cornell University and $790 million at Northwestern University.

Suspect in Mich. knife attack to face terror, assault charged

Bradford Gille allegedly stabbed 11 people

The Associated Press

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. —

A man accused of entering a Walmart in Michigan and randomly stabbing 11 shoppers before being detained by bystanders in the store parking lot is expected to face terrorism and multiple assault charges, authorities said Sunday.

Grand Traverse County Sheri Michael Shea said a motive behind the attack by Bradford Gille, 42, of Afton, Michigan, remains unclear. Gille, who Shea said had “prior assaultive incidents as well as controlled substance violations,” said very little as he was arrested. The man is expected to be charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder.

Shea praised the quick response by law o cers who arrived within three minutes of receiving the call about the stabbing — as well as a group of bystanders who intervened and detained Gille in the parking lot of the store in Traverse City. The community of about 16,000 people is along Lake Michigan.

Gille entered the store at 4:10 p.m. and remained there for some time before the attack began, authorities said. Calls began coming in to authorities at 4:43 p.m. on Saturday and a sheri ’s deputy arrived at 4:46 p.m. He said the “remarkable” efforts likely prevented others from being harmed, adding a 3½-inch cutting blade was used in the attack.

“I cannot commend everyone that was involved enough,” Shea said at a news conference. “When you stop and look from the time of call to the time of actual custody, the individual was detained within one minute.”

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg told reporters that the terrorism charge will be brought due to the fact that the attack impacted the community, rather than one individual.

“It’s something that is done not to individual people, not to those individual victims — obviously they are most a ected — but it is, we believe, in some ways done to a ect the entire community, to put fear in the entire community and to change how maybe we operate on a daily basis,” Moeggenberg said. “So that

is why we are looking at that terrorism charge.”

Shea said the 11 victims were both men and women ranging in age from 29 to 84 and included one Walmart employee. Munson Medical Center Chief Medical O cer Dr. Tom Schermerhorn, speaking at Sunday’s news conference, said one patient was treated and released; two were in serious condition; and the rest are in fair condition. All were expected to survive.

Steven Carter was loading his truck in the Walmart parking lot when he saw a man with a knife stab a woman in the throat. About ve minutes later, he said, the attacker was surrounded by shoppers in the parking lot, including one who was holding a gun. The group

Santos reports to N.J. federal prison

New York

Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos reported to a federal prison in New Jersey on Friday to begin serving a seven-year sentence for the fraud charges that got him ousted from Congress. The federal Bureau of Prisons con rmed that the New York Republican was in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey. Santos pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for deceiving donors and stealing people’s identities to fund his congressional campaign. Santos, 37, will serve his time in a minimum security camp at the allmale facility, which also includes a larger medium security prison, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Kansas deputy shot, killed during domestic disturbance call

In announcing the Columbia settlement, administration ocials described it as a template for other universities. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it a “roadmap” for colleges looking to regain public trust, saying it would “ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

As Trump departed the White House last Friday, he told reporters that Harvard “wants to settle” but that Columbia “handled it better.” The president said he is optimistic his administration will prevail in Harvard’s legal challenge — at least on appeal — and suggested Harvard may never regain the level of federal funding it received in the past.

“The bottom line is we’re not going to give any more money to Harvard,” he said. “We want to spread the wealth.”

of ve or six people kept yelling to the man to “drop the knife,” he said, and the man responded: “I don’t care, I don’t care.” He kept backing away from the crowd before someone tackled and subdued him.

“At rst, it was disbelief. I thought maybe it was like a terror attack,” said Carter, who delivers customer orders from Walmart. “And then it was fear, disbelief, shock. And that was, it was just amazing. And it all happened fast. Like he was totally subdued on the ground by the time police arrived.”

Emergency vehicles and uniformed rst responders gathered in the parking lot of the shopping center that houses several other retail stores. Authorities also were seen interviewing employees, still wearing blue uniform vests and name tags as the investigation unfolded.

Ti any DeFell, 36, who lives in Honor, about 25 miles from Traverse City, said she was in the store’s parking lot when she saw chaos erupt around her.

“It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,” she said. “This is something you see out of the movies. It’s not what you expect to see where you’re living.”

Shea said the weapon involved appeared to be a folding-style knife, adding that the stabbing started near the checkout counter of the store and that his victims were “not predetermined.”

Walmart said in a statement that it would continue to work closely with law enforcement in the investigation. It said store associates would be paid while the store remains closed and that counseling services would be made available to them. It wasn’t known when the store would reopen.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a social media post that bureau o cials were responding to “provide any necessary support.

Kansas City, Kan.

A sheri ’s deputy has died after being shot multiple times while responding to a domestic disturbance call in Kansas City, Kansas, authorities said. Wyandotte County Deputy Elijah Ming, 34, and a Kansas City, Kansas, police o cer were approaching a home at about 3:45 p.m. Saturday when a 38-year-old man inside opened re, o cials said. Ming, a nine-year veteran of the sheri ’s department, died several hours later of his injuries after being taken to a hospital. The suspect was also shot and reported in good condition after being taken to a hospital.

At least 3 killed in German train derailment

Berlin

A passenger train derailed in southern Germany on Sunday, killing at least three people and seriously injuring others, authorities said. Federal and local police said the cause of the crash near Riedlingen, about 100 miles west of Munich, is under investigation. Roughly 100 people were onboard the train when at least two carriages derailed in a forested area around 6:10 p.m. Storms passed through the area before the crash, and investigators were seeking to determine if the rain was a factor. Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s main national railway operator, said in a statement that it was cooperating with investigators.

25 feared dead in Nigerian boat capsizing Abuja, Nigeria

A boat transporting passengers to a market in north-central Nigeria capsized, killing at least 25 people, authorities said Sunday. The accident happened Saturday near Gumu village in the Shiroro area of Niger state, an o cial said. Search-andrescue e orts were limited because armed gangs mostly control the area. The number of casualties may rise, o cials said. The accident is the latest in a series of deadly boat accidents on Nigerian waterways, where accidents are common in remote communities, especially during the rainy season, due to overloaded and poorly maintained vessels.

RYAN SUN / AP PHOTO

Law enforcement investigates outside of a Michigan Walmart on Sunday, a day after multiple people were stabbed at the store in Traverse City.

Harvard University community rally in April on the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

AP PHOTO

Allianz con rms data breach a ecting 1.4M U.S. customers

Minneapolis Hackers have accessed the personal data of most of the 1.4 million customers of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. The company con rmed the breach on Saturday. Allianz Life, based in Minneapolis, said the breach occurred July 16. It says a “malicious threat actor” accessed a third-party, cloudbased system, but not its own systems. The company has noti ed the FBI and is reaching out to a ected individuals.

Allianz Life is a subsidiary of the Munich, Germany-based global nancial services group Allianz SE. It says the incident involves only Allianz Life in the U.S., not other Allianz corporate entities.

UnitedHealth under federal investigation

Minnetonka, Minn.

UnitedHealth Group says it is cooperating with federal criminal and civil investigations involving its market-leading Medicare business. The health care giant said last Thursday that it had contacted the Department of Justice after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain elements of its business. The Wall Street Journal has been reporting that federal o cials had launched investigations in to how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage plans. Those are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over. UnitedHealth runs the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage business.

Meta removes 635K accounts that sexualize children

Menlo Park, Calif.

Instagram parent company

Meta has introduced new safety features aimed at protecting teens who use its platforms, including information about accounts that message them and an option to block and report accounts with one tap. The company also announced it has removed thousands of accounts that were leaving sexualized comments or requesting sexual images from adult-run accounts of kids under 13. The heightened measures arrive as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platform a ects younger users’ mental health and well-being.

In-N-Out Burger CEO to leave California

Los Angeles

The billionaire CEO of the prominent California chain

In-N-Out Burger is moving to Tennessee, where the company is establishing o ces. Lynsi Snyder announced last week on the podcast “Relatable” that doing business in California “is not easy.” The company announced in 2023 that it planned to open a corporate o ce in Tennessee and restaurants in and around Nashville. Snyder becomes the latest high-pro le business gure to leave California. Other departures have included Charles Schwab and Chevron.

US automakers say Trump-Japan tari deal puts them at disadvantage

A $550 billion foreign investment in the U.S. is planned under the new agreement

By Josh Boak and Alexa St. John The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. automakers worry that President Donald Trump’s agreement to tari Japanese vehicles at 15% would put them at a competitive disadvantage, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors.

“We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tari s on Japanese autos with no U.S. content,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Big 3 American automakers, General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis.

Blunt said in an interview that U.S. companies and workers “de nitely are at a disadvantage” because they face a 50% tari on steel and aluminum and a 25% tari on parts and nished vehicles, with some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into e ect in 2020.

The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump’s promises there can be genuine tradeo s from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and identity.

The United Auto Workers said in a statement it was “deeply angered” by the deal. “A better deal would have held

Japanese automakers to the same standards U.S. workers have fought for at GM, Ford, and Stellantis,” the UAW said.

“If this becomes the blueprint for trade with Europe or South Korea, it will be a major missed opportunity,” the union added. “We need trade deals that raise standards — not reward the race to the bottom. This deal does the opposite.”

Trump portrayed the trade framework as a major win after announcing it last Tuesday, saying it would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy and open the Japanese economy in ways that could close a persistent trade imbalance. The agreement includes a 15% tari that replaces the 25% import tax the Republican president had threatened to charge starting on Aug. 1. Japan would also put together $550 billion to invest in U.S. projects at the “direction” of the president, the White House said.

The framework with Japan will remove regulations that prevent American vehicles from being sold in that country, the White House has said, adding that it would be possible for vehicles built in Detroit to be shipped directly to Japan and ready to be sold.

But Blunt said that foreign auto producers, including the U.S., Europe and South Korea, have just a 6% share in Japan, raising skepticism that simply having the open market the Trump administration says will exist in that country will be su cient.

“Tough nut to crack, and I’d be very surprised if we see any meaningful market penetration in Japan,” Blunt said.

Asked at last Wednesday’s brie ng about whether Trump’s sectoral tari s such as those on autos were now subject to possible change, White

House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the issue had been going through the Commerce Department.

The framework with Japan was also an indication that some nations simply saw it as preferential to have a set tari rate rather than be whipsawed by Trump’s changes on import taxes since April. But for the moment, both Japan and the United Kingdom, with its quotas on auto exports, might enjoy a competitive edge in the U.S.

“With this agreement in place, it provides Japan with a near-term operating cost advantage compared to other foreign automakers, and even some domestic U.S. product that uses a high degree of both foreign production and parts content,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “It will be interesting to see if this is the rst domino to fall in a series of foreign countries that decide long-term stability is more important than

short-term disputes over speci c tari rates.”

Autos Drive America, an organization that represents major Japanese companies Toyota, Honda and Nissan and other international automakers, said in a statement it is “encouraged” by the announced trade framework and noted its members have exceeded domestic automaker production for the past two years.

The statement urged “the Trump administration to swiftly reach similar agreements with other allies and partners, especially the European Union, South Korea, Canada and Mexico.”

The Japanese framework could give automakers and other countries grounds for pushing for changes in the Trump administration’s tari s regime. The president has previously said that he values exibility in negotiating import taxes. The USMCA is up for review next year.

NCDOT CASH REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 25

Beginning Cash

$2,901,902,284

Receipts (income)

$293,355,728

Disbursements

$175,422,005

Cash Balance

$3,019,739,892

Tesla

pro t plunges again as fallout from Musk’s politics repels buyers

Tesla generated $439 million from credit sales, down from $890 million a year ago

By Bernard Condon The Associated Press

NEW YORK — The fallout from Elon Musk’s plunge into politics a year ago is still hammering his Tesla business as both sales and pro ts dropped sharply again in the latest quarter.

The car company that has faced boycotts for months said last Wednesday that revenue dropped 12% and profits slumped 16% in the three months through June as buyers continued to stay away.

“The perception of Elon Musk, its chief executive, has rubbed the sheen right out of what once was a darling and soaring automotive brand,” wrote Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee in an email. Tesla is “a toxic brand that is inseparable from its leader.”

Quarterly pro ts at the electric vehicle, battery and robotics company fell to $1.17 billion, or 33 cents a share, from $1.4 billion, or 40 cents a share. That was the third quarter in a row that pro t dropped. On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned 40 cents a share, matching Wall Street estimates.

Revenue fell from $25.5 billion to $22.5 billion in the April through June period, slightly above Wall Street’s forecast.

Musk spent the company’s earnings conference call talking less about car sales and more about robotaxis, automated driving software and robotics, which he says are the future of the company. But those businesses have yet to take o , and the gap between promise and pro t was apparent in the second quarter.

“It appears management’s focus will now shift to robotaxis and away from deliveries growth,” said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein, referring to car sales.

A big challenge is that potential buyers, not just in the U.S. but also in Europe, are still balking at buying Teslas. Musk alienated many in the market for cars in Great Britain, France, Germany and elsewhere by embracing far-right politicians there. And rival electric vehicle makers such as China’s BYD and Germany’s Volkswagen have pounced on the weakness, stealing market share.

Tesla began a rollout in June of its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and hopes to introduce the driverless cabs in several other cities soon. Musk has said he expects to have hundreds of thousands of the cabs on U.S. roads by the end of next year.

In the post-earnings call, Musk said the service will be available to probably “half of the population of the U.S. by the end of the year — that’s at

least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals.”

He added, “We are being very cautious. We don’t want to take any chances.”

The test run in Austin has mostly gone o without a hitch, though there have been a few alarming incidents, such as when a robotaxi went down a lane meant for opposing tra c.

With autonomous taxis, though, the billionaire who upended the space race and EV manufacturing faces tough competition. The dominant provider now, Waymo, is already in several cities and recently logged its ten-millionth paid trip.

Meanwhile, other threats loom. The new federal budget recently passed by Congress eliminates a credit worth as much as $7,500 for buying an electric car. It also wipes out penalties for car makers exceeding carbon emission standards. That threatens Tesla’s business of selling its “carbon credits” to traditional car companies that regularly fall short of those standards.

“We’re in this weird tran-

“I think my control over Tesla should be enough to ensure that it goes in a good direction, but not so much control that I can’t be thrown out if I go crazy.”

sition period where we’ll lose a lot of incentives in the U.S.,” Musk said, predicting several rough quarters ahead. He added, though, “Once you get to autonomy at scale in the second half of next year, certainly by the end of next year, I would be surprised if Tesla’s economics are not very compelling.” Musk also said he expected regulatory approval to introduce its so-called Full Self-Driving software in some parts of Europe by the end of the year. Musk had previously expected that to happen by March of this year. The feature, available in the U.S., is a misnomer because it is only a driver-assistance feature.

Musk said he expects explosive growth in the robot business as Tesla ramps up production of its humanoid Optimus helpers to 100,000 a month in ve years.

“We’ll go from a world where robots are rare to where they’re so common that you don’t even look up,” he said. Asked whether he would want more than his current 13% stake in Tesla to keep control, Musk said he did want more but not too much.

“I think my control over Tesla should be enough to ensure that it goes in a good direction,” he said, “but not so much control that I can’t be thrown out if I go crazy.”

CARLOS OSORIO / AP PHOTO

Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis may be hit with higher import taxes on steel, aluminum and auto parts than rival automakers.

MIKE STEWART / AP PHOTO

Tesla’s pro ts have dropped signi cantly since owner Elon Musk entered the political spotlight.

Elon Musk

features

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ scores Marvel’s rst $100M opening of 2025

‘Superman” fell to second place, earning $24.9 million

By Lindsey Bahr and Itzel Luna The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Marvel’s rst family has nally found box o ce gold. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the rst lm about the superheroes made under the guidance of Kevin Feige and the Walt Disney Co., earned $118 million in its rst weekend in 4,125 North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That makes it the fourth biggest opening of the year, behind “A Minecraft Movie,” “Lilo & Stitch” and “Superman,” and the biggest Marvel opening since “Deadpool & Wolverine” grossed $211 million out of the gate last summer. Internationally, “Fantastic Four” made $100 million from 52 territories, adding up to a $218 million worldwide debut. The numbers were within the range the studio was expecting.

The lm arrived in the wake of another big superhero reboot, James Gunn’s “Superman,” which opened three weekends ago and has already crossed $500 million globally. That lm, from the other main player in comic book lms, DC Studios, took second place with $24.9 million domestically.

The box o ce success of “First Steps” and “Superman” means “the whole notion of superhero fatigue, which has been talked about a lot, can I think be put to rest. I always say it’s bad movie fatigue, not superhero fatigue,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data rm Comscore.

“First Steps” is the latest attempt at bringing the superhuman family to the big screen, following lackluster performances of other versions. The lm, based on the original Marvel comics,

is set during the 1960s in a retro-futuristic world led by the Fantastic Four, a family of astronauts-turned-superhuman from exposure to cosmic rays during a space mission.

The family is made up of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who can stretch his body to incredible lengths; Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who can render herself invisible; Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who transforms into a ery human torch; and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who possesses tremendous superhuman strength with his stone-like esh.

The movie takes place four years after the family gained powers, during which Reed’s inventions have transformed technology and Sue’s diplomacy has led to global peace.

Both audiences and critics responded positively to the lm, which currently has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and promising exit poll responses from opening

weekend ticket buyers. An estimated 46% of audiences chose to see it on premium screens, including IMAX and other large formats.

The once towering Marvel is working to rebuild audience enthusiasm for its lms and characters. Its two previous o erings this year did not reach the cosmic box o ce heights of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which made more than $1.3 billion, or those of the “Avengers” era. But critically, the lms have been on an upswing since the poorly reviewed “Captain America: Brave New World,” which ultimately grossed $415 million worldwide. “Thunderbolts,” which jumpstarted the summer movie season, was better received critically but nancially is capping out at just over $382 million globally.

Like Deadpool and Wolverine, the Fantastic Four characters had been under the banner of 20th Century Fox for years. The studio produced two critical-

ly loathed but decently pro table attempts in the mid-2000s with future Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch. In 2015, it tried again (unsuccessfully) with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. They got another chance after Disney’s $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019.

The “Fantastic Four’s” opening weekend results were a little less than some rival studio projections, Dergarabedian said. Nonetheless, the lm is expected to carry movie theater earnings well into August.

Holdovers dominated the top 10, but one other newcomer managed to make the chart. The dark romantic comedy “Oh, Hi!” earned $1.1 million from 866 screens.

“Jurassic World Rebirth” landed in third place in its fourth weekend with $13 million, followed by “F1” with $6.2 million. The Brad Pitt racing movie also passed $500 million globally.

Dark comedy about modern dating in sharp, (knowingly) silly ‘Oh, Hi!’

The lm debuts with quirky charm and cult callbacks

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

THE MODERN dating scene is not a healthy one. Perhaps it never really was and everyone is nostalgic for something that didn’t exist. But you don’t need to be on the apps to sense the anxiety around. Just open the New York Times Magazine site and scroll through the 1,200 comments on Jean Garnett’s “The Trouble With Wanting Men,” in which she examines unful lled desire and the idea of “heterofatalism.”

We wonder what happened to the romantic comedy. Maybe we’re all to blame. How can we have fun with stories about romance when it is so bleak out there? But thank goodness for the lmmakers who are trying to, if not make sense of it all, talk about it. Celine Song did it in her own way with “Materialists,” and now comes Sophie Brooks’ “Oh, Hi!” about a new-ish couple on their rst weekend away together. These movies are not at all similar, and yet both speak to the current mood in valuable ways. In “Oh, Hi!” Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) seem to be very much in sync as a pair, singing in the car together, laughing about a little accident that results in the purchase of hundreds of strawberries and excitedly exploring the very nice

house they’ve rented for this romantic getaway. The chemistry is there: There’s humor, wit, conversation and attraction. They’re even on the same page on more intimate matters. It is a terri c opening — nothing is really happening, and yet it’s pleasant to just be in the moment with them. But then things take a turn. We know they’re headed south from the rst frame when a distraught Iris greets her friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) at

the country home late one night. We’re trained to expect that it’s all leading to a ght or a breakup. “Oh, Hi!,” however, has other things up its sleeve.

Note to new couples: Best not to de ne a relationship while one is chained to the bed after a bit of experimentation. Granted, neither thought they needed to have this conversation, but it quickly becomes clear that they both heard things di erently. Iris thought they were ex-

clusive. Isaac thought it was perfectly clear that they weren’t and aren’t. But why, Iris asks, are they doing this at all after four months? Why are they on this trip? Why did he make her scallops? It’s enough to make anyone go a little mad, which Iris does, deciding that she’s going to keep Isaac chained up until they talk it through to her satisfaction.

“Smurfs” rounded out the top ve with $5.4 million in its second weekend.

The box o ce is currently up over 12% from last year.

Top 10 movies by domestic box o ce

1. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” $118 million

2. “Superman,” $24.9 million

3. “Jurassic World Rebirth,” $13 million

4. “F1: The Movie,” $6.2 million

5. “Smurfs,” $5.4 million

6. “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” $5.1 million

7. “How to Train Your Dragon,” $2.8 million

8. “Eddington,” $1.7 million

9. “Saiyaara,” $1.3 million

10. “Oh, Hi!,” $1.1 million

“Oh, Hi!” follows this path to extreme ends as Iris involves Max and her boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds), who are all trying to gure out how to get out of the situation without going to jail. It’s admirable how ardently they commit to making this outlandish premise as realistic as possible.

The lm loses the plot a bit when Max and Kenny get involved and things get extra silly. It might have been better had it stayed with Iris and Isaac to the bitter end. Gordon, who cowrote the story with Brooks, is a huge reason it works at all. She somehow keeps Iris grounded and relatable throughout, which is no small feat after she makes her big mistake. At times, that epic misstep made me think that “Oh, Hi!” might be the female “Friendship.” And while Lerman gets substantially less to do, you come out feeling for both characters, trapped in anxieties of their own making and a social structure in which neither romance nor commitment seems to be a priority. At least this lm lets us laugh about it a little bit.

And lest you think people in relationships have it easier, just wait until “Together” arrives next week.

“Oh, Hi!” a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “language, sexual content and some nudity.” Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.

It’s a kind of over-the-top, “Misery”-styled meditation on entrenched gender cliches in heterosexual dating. The women are crazy and needy. The men are jerks and aloof. And no amount of rational discussion on either side will end the stalemate. Iris believes that if he just gets to know her a little better, perhaps he’ll change his mind. She goes long on her biography in a funny little sequence, but the monologuing doesn’t help Isaac gure out how to escape. It just goes on.

MARVEL / DISNEY VIA AP

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS VIA AP

Logan Lerman and Molly Gordon star in the comedy “Oh, Hi!”

Pedro Pascal plays Reed Richards, a man who can stretch his body to incredible lengths, in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ preFleetwood Mac album, which was a critical op but became a Holy Grail for record collectors, is being reissued.

‘Buckingham Nicks’ bombed in 1973; it became used vinyl treasure

The reissue drops in all formats on Sept. 19

By Ben Finley and Kristin M. Hall

The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They were in love once.

Four years before Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” became one of the best breakup records of the 1970s — and, many might say, all time — Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were relative unknowns, a young couple putting out their own album, posing nude on the cover like a Laurel Canyon version of Adam and Eve.

Released as “Buckingham Nicks,” the 1973 album has for decades maintained somewhat of a holy grail status in the dusty bins of record stores, selling for $20 to $90 depending on its condition. Now, in addition to new vinyl, it will be available on streaming and CD for the rst time when it’s reissued Sept. 19 on Rhino, Warner Music Group announced last Wednesday.

“It’s one of those records that everybody has heard of but not that many people have actually heard,” said Brian Mans eld, a music historian, journalist and record collector in Nashville, Tennessee. “Especially before everything got put onto YouTube, very few people had heard it because it had never been on CD. But it had this iconic cover that everybody recognized.”

“Buckingham Nicks” featured the duo’s iconic harmonies and Buckingham’s distinct guitar sound, which later fueled Fleetwood Mac’s ability to sell tens of millions of records. But “Buckingham Nicks” bombed upon release and Polydor dropped them from the label, prompting Nicks’ return to waitressing and Buckingham to brie y tour with Don Everly.

The rest of the story is enshrined in lore: Drummer Mick Fleetwood heard “Frozen Love”

from the album when he visit-

ed the studio where it was recorded, Sound City. After guitarist Bob Welch left the band, Fleetwood invited Buckingham to Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham insisting Nicks join too.

The band also included the late Christine McVie on keyboards and John McVie on bass.

Generations of avid Fleetwood Mac fans have tattooed their lyrics or analyzed them at a forensic level, enshrining the tumultuous relationship between Buckingham and Nicks in pop culture. The upcoming reissue of “Buckingham Nicks” is a reminder of the couple’s musical beginnings and the special status their only joint album has held among fans and record collectors.

“As soon as we put it out, it goes that day,” said Michael Bell, owner of North Carolina’s Hunky Dory Records, which has locations in Raleigh, Durham and Cary.

“Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles”

Nicks and Buckingham met during high school at a local church in Northern California where young musicians gathered on a school night, according to Stephen Davis’ “Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks.”

Buckingham played the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” on piano, prompting Nicks to chime in, singing Michelle Phillips’ high harmony.

“They glanced at each other; she noticed his eyes, cold blue like lake ice,” Davis wrote.

“They sang the whole song while the room went quiet, everyone mesmerized.”

After high school, Nicks joined the band Buckingham was in, Fritz, which would open for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They eventually split o as a duo, started dating and moved to Los Angeles.

Nicks said she loved Buckingham before he was a millionaire, according to Davis’ book, and “washed his jeans and embroidered stupid moons and stars on the bottom of them.”

The rst track on “Buckingham Nicks,” “Crying in the Night,” has “a sense of Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles,” Davis wrote. “Frozen Love” closed out side two, with “layers of strings and synthesizers and a major Lindsey Buckingham rock guitar symphony.”

“No one seemed to like the record,” Davis wrote. “Polydor executives hadn’t even wanted to release it.”

A review in The Pittsburgh Press said Nicks and Buckingham produced “a pleasant, albeit a whiny vocal blend on some pretty fair songs.”

“And if you don’t like the record,” the review concluded, “you might like the costumes they’re wearing on the cover — a couple of those oh-so-chic birthday suits.”

Interest in the record only grew following the new Fleetwood Mac lineup. That incarna-

tion’s rst record in 1975, “Fleetwood Mac,” contained the songs “Landslide,” “Rhiannon” and “Monday Morning.”

“Rumours” came two years later.

Record store rarity

Bob Fuchs, retail manager of record store Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, said the shop gets in about two to four of the original vinyl a year. Those go on its collectible wall that showcases hard-to- nd titles. He said the album sells for between $40 to $90, depending on its condition.

“You put it up on a Saturday morning, and it’s gone by Saturday at noon. So it lasts about two hours,” he said.

Fuchs never bought the album himself because “every time I came in, it was $60 or $80. ... So I’ll probably end up picking up a reissue.”

Across the river at the St. Paul, Minnesota, location of Cheapo Discs, though, worker Geo Good said people rarely came in looking for the original. He does expect the reissue

to juice sales. He has the original, which he bought in 1974 or 1975, in his collection.

“The songwriting is really good, the harmonies are good, Lindsey Buckingham is an amazing guitar player,” he said. Mans eld, the Nashville historian, randomly found a copy two weeks ago in a neighborhood garage sale, just days before hints that a reissue was coming.

He has no idea why “Buckingham Nicks” hasn’t been reissued more considering the steady demand. For him, it’s a good album but not one that reached the heights of what was to come.

“It’s de nitely not there yet,” he said. “I don’t know that there’s anything on this album that would have made a Fleetwood album.”

The romantic relationship between Buckingham and Nicks would end around the making of “Rumours.” Nicks and Buckingham would shoot eye daggers at each other onstage in packed stadiums, while Buckingham would roll his eyes during Nicks’ MusiCares speech in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. Buckingham would eventually be kicked o the band’s tour in 2018, prompting a lawsuit that was later settled.

But this month, Buckingham and Nicks seemed to be operating in perfect symmetry — at least on Instagram. Each posted half a line from “Frozen Love,” — with Nicks writing “And if you go forward…” and Buckingham responding, “I’ll meet you there.” Last Wednesday, they shared the same video of a billboard being put up to advertise the reissue of “Buckingham Nicks.” They may have made the album more than 50 years ago, Buckingham said in announcing its reissue, “but it stands up in a way you hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work.”

and Book 3105 Page, 733, Book 3210, Page 570, Book 3227 Page, Page 33, and any other amendments of record, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina. Parcel Identi cation No. 0418-77-9889.089

The property address is 1825-03 Tryon Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28303. The street address of said property is 182503 Tryon Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28303. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in NCGS §45-21.23.

KRISTIN M. HALL / AP PHOTO

Music historian and journalist Brian Mans eld holds an

original pressing of the “Buckingham Nicks” vinyl record at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, last week.

KRISTIN M. HALL / AP PHOTO

The Miz crashes the MLB All-Star Game, B4

the Thursday SIDELINE REPORT

MLS Toklomati, Vargas score goals to help Charlotte beat Toronto 2-0 for 4th straight win

Charlotte Idan Toklomati and Kerwin Vargas each scored a second half goal, Kristijan Kahlina had three saves and Charlotte FC beat Toronto FC 2-0 Saturday to win its fourth game in a row. Kahlina has six shutouts this season for Charlotte (12-11-2), which is unbeaten in ve straight. Brandt Bronico chipped an entry from the right corner of the box to the back post and a wide-open Toklomati has ve goals in his last seven contests.

NASCAR NASCAR will hold rst street race on active military base at Naval Base Coronado in 2026

Charlotte NASCAR will hold a street race on Naval Base Coronado in Southern California next June as a replacement for its downtown Chicago event that ran the last three years. The move will allow NASCAR to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy by hosting all three of its national series over a three-day weekend on June 19-21.

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL

Venezuelan baseball team denied visas into U.S., Little League International says Williamsport, Penn.

A Venezuelan team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year’s Senior Baseball World Series. The team from Maracaibo was scheduled to participate after winning the Latin American championship. The team called the denial “a mockery.” Venezuela is one of the countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries.

Belichick transforming UNC football with pro in uence

The Tar Heels hope their NFL approach translates to the eld

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

CHARLOTTE — Coach interviews in the ACC Kicko breakout room are usually a free-for-all a air for the media. If you have a question, you re away — unless there’s a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach at the podium. With dozens of reporters seated, dozens more standing behind them with raised cameras and crowds of media representatives surrounding the ACC backdrop, a soundbite from UNC football coach Bill Belichick required a raised hand and a lucky selection at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown last week.

Even though he’s stepped into the world of college athletics, the glow of the NFL has never left his person. Belichick’s presence and the attention that followed was a reminder that what’s brewing in Chapel Hill is far from amateur.

It assured that the professional transformation of UNC football is in full swing.

The process has already hinted at itself the past few months. The heightened attention, a roster overhaul, the hiring of new sta — including general manager Michael Lombardi — and the “Practice Like a Pro” session in April were all signs of a program operating under a di erent energy.

But now a month away from the season opener against TCU in Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels are looking to bring the professionalism to gamedays.

“That exactly what we’re trying to do,” Belichick said when asked about his philosophy on teaching NFL concepts to college players. His answer prompted laughter

See BELICHICK, page B3

Claiborne brings country toughness to Wake

The Deacs’ leading rusher is just trying to work as hard as his mother

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

THE UNINCORPORATED

township of Aylett, Virginia, has a population of 8,203. That means if everyone in his hometown made the trip to Winston-Salem to show up at one of Demond Claiborne’s home games this year, they’d ll just over a quarter of the stadium — which is one of the smaller ones in the ACC.

Numbers aren’t the best way to describe a town like Aylett, though. Perhaps Claiborne has a better way.

“Yeah, country, country, country,” he said. “Really country. We got cows at my school, chickens at my school, turkeys at my school.”

Claiborne certainly wasn’t poking fun at the small town he calls home. In fact, the ACC’s second-leading returning rusher credits his roots for his success.

“Growing up in that environ-

ment de nitely was cool,” he said, “but those country folks — they teach you how to work and go get it. That’s de nitely something that’s embedded in me, and I’m ready to continue to roll with how I was taught coming from the country.”

And Aylett really isn’t all that small. There’s a DoubleTree Inn within a 45-minute drive. And a Sheraton hotel. And a JCPenney department store.

Claiborne knows this because his mother, Tomeka worked at all three — at the same time.

“My mom was de nitely,” he began, searching for the right word, “she’s gritty. My mom worked three jobs to this day, you know. So my mama texted me every morning, ‘Hey, son, I love you. About to go to work. Have a great day.’”

Like many players, Claiborne has a list of goals going into each season. Near the top of that list, every year, is a simple goal, “Never let my mom outwork me.”

A single mom raising ve sons

— Demond is the second oldest — Tomeka also serves as the role model for Claiborne’s work ethic.

“Having that mindset to not let my mom outwork me is denitely something that’s allowed me to be in this position I am today,” he said. “You know, I told my mom not too long ago that eventually I’m getting her out of this situation. I just told her to stay down with me. And, you know, she always texts back like, ‘I got you, son, I love you. Have a great day,’ you know? So Ma

Dukes is de nitely the reason why I continue to do this.”

Claiborne’s country upbringing taught him more than just a work ethic. He also learned loyalty.

Claiborne rushed for 1,049 yards last season, and his 11 rushing touchdowns tied for second most in a season in school

CHUCK BURTON / AP PHOTO

Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne (1) runs past an Ole Miss linebacker during a game last September.

AARON BEARD / AP PHOTO

UNC coach Bill Belichick speaks with a full house of reporters at the Atlantic Coast Conference’s media days.

AARON BEARD / AP PHOTO

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick makes a point at last week’s ACC Kicko event.

TRENDING

Herb Sendek:

The Santa Clara basketball coach signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season Sendek, hired in 2016, is entering his 10th season with the Broncos and has a 161-120 record He went 191-132 in 10 seasons at NC State Sendek’s team has won at least 20 games

six seasons He reached the NCAA Tournament in his with the Wolfpack and once at Arizona State but hasn’t led the Broncos to the Big Dance

Chris Paul:

The former Demon Deacon is returning to the Los Angeles Clippers and will wear his iconic No. 3 jersey

Bradley Beal newly acquired by the team, agreed to give up the number he’s worn his entire NBA career as soon as he heard Paul might join the team Paul, known as CP3 has worn No 3 since entering the NBA in 2005

CC Sabathia:

The six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame Sabathia pro season with Burlington in 1998 and also spent parts of two seasons with Kinston He was inducted along with Dave Parker, who played a seaason in Monroe as well as Ichiro Suzuki relief pitcher Billy Wagner and Dick Allen

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

“Sometimes you are g iven time a s a head coach, and sometimes you ’ re not ”

Stanford coach Frank Reich on his brief tenure as Carolina Panthers losing 10 of 1 1 games

“We’re

just tr y ing to focus on what’s going on here ”

Washing ton Commanders GM Adam Peters on President Donald Trump calling for the team to go back to the Redskins nickname

hard-charg ing

Former App State football coach Eli Drinkw itz received a second contract ex tension from Missouri in less than t wo years The ex tension keeps him w ith the Tigers through the 2029 season and adds more money to his salar y pool for assistants Drinkw itz signed an ex tension in December 2023 pay ing him $46 million through 2028

Virg inia Tech is looking into allegations by NC Central coach Trei Oliver that a Hokies assistant improperly tried to lure r unning back J’Mari Taylor into the transfer por tal last season Oliver said he discovered a Hokies assistant on the sideline at a 2024 game tr y ing to contact Taylor, who eventually transferred to Virg inia

The approximate number of players along w ith t wo dozen club employees for v iolating leag ue policy by scalping Super Bowl tickets The players the face value and can’t buy tickets for the nex t t wo Super Bowls unless they are play ing in it Club employees were value

Nick Kur tz of the Athletics became the histor y to hit four home r uns in a game

The former Wake Forest slugger also matched the MLB record w ith 19 total ba ses Kur tz also doubled and singled on his 6 for 6 night It wa s the 20th four-homer game in major leag ue histor y and second this sea son

DARRON CUMMINGS

Hurricanes sign Blake to 8-year extension

The rookie had 17 goals and 34 points in his rst season

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes have locked up another of their young forwards.

The Hurricanes announced Thursday night they signed right wing Jackson Blake to an eightyear, $45 million contract extension starting in 2026-27.

“Jackson had an outstanding rookie season, and we think he is just scratching the surface of the player he can be,” Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “His tenaciousness on the puck and competitiveness match our team’s culture and we’re excited about his future with our club.”

Blake won a roster spot during last year’s training camp after being a Hobey Baker nalist as college hockey’s top player the year before at North Dakota. He scored 17 goals with 34 points in 80 games in his rookie season with Carolina, nishing ninth in Calder Trophy voting.

Blake also had some of the best underlying numbers in the NHL last season. Among forwards with at least 200 minutes played at 5-on-5 last season, Blake led the league in Corsi For percentage (61.23), Shots For percentage (61.45) and Scoring Chances For percentage (61.63), according to Natural Stat Trick Carolina also converted those chances when Blake was on the

second round series May 10 in Raleigh.

ice. The Hurricanes outscored opponents 38-27 at 5-on-5 with Blake on the ice despite having a PDO — which measures a team’s shooting percentage vs. its save percentage — of .990. While he had success in the regular season, Blake struggled in the playo s. After registering a goal and three assists in ve games in Carolina’s rst round win over the Devils, Blake was held without a 5-on-5 point for the nal 10 games of the postseason, scoring one power play

goal against both Washington and Florida in those ve-game series. Blake’s new deal will run through the 2033-34 season and averages $5.625 million annually, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Blake accepted deferred money in the deal, which will drop his cap hit into the range of $5.1 million. Deferred money contracts will not be allowed in the recently agreed-upon collective bargaining agreement that will go

into e ect in 2026-27, nor will eight-year contracts; players will be able to sign for a maximum of seven years under the new deal. Either way, the contract should look good for the Hurricanes as the league’s salary cap ceiling continues its upward climb. The salary cap jumped $7.5 million this summer, from $88 million to $95.5 million, and is already locked in to increase even more over the next two seasons. The cap ceiling

Duke football looking to take big step in 2025

The program is looking to improve on a 9-4 nish in Manny Diaz’s rst season

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

THE DUKE BLUE Devils will be looking to continue its stay near the top of the ACC football standings as the program enters into its second season under coach Manny Diaz.

After a 9-4 nish last season, the Blue Devils hope to improve on their conference record (5-3) as they pursue their rst ACC Championship appearance since 2013.

Duke will be looking for a big season from new starting quarterback Darian Mensah, who transferred in from Tulane.

The sophomore had a strong rst collegiate season last year, totaling 2,700-plus yards and 22 touchdowns.

“Just the opportunity to compete in an elite conference like the ACC, under an elite head coach with Manny and an offense where you spread people out and throw vertically,” Mensah said on his decision to transfer, “I think those were some of the key factors.”

The Blue Devils will also be hoping that the defense can maintain its dominance as it was one of the top blitzing

from page B1

among the reporters. “It’s a pro program. Practice, training, food, schemes, terminology. It’s all pro-programmed. Not to the extent that we did it in the NFL. There will be fewer plays, fewer adjustments. But it will be along those lines.” Belichick is far from alone in installing pro tendencies. He has eight other individuals with NFL coaching or player experience on his sta , including his respective o ensive and defensive coordinators, Freddie Kitchens and Steve Belichick.

Kitchens spent the last two seasons as UNC’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator. Before becoming a senior analyst for South Carolina in 2022, he gained 16 years of NFL coaching experience, holding offensive position and coordinator jobs for four di erent teams.

Transfer quarterback Gio Lopez, who was the only Tar Heel

units in the country last season, ranked third overall for sacks per game (3.31).

“This is the strongest team we’ve had at Duke in the last four years; this is the fastest team we’ve had,” Diaz said at ACC Kicko . “The issue is that we have a football season coming up, and so the question now is, ‘Will our football team be able to sustain their standard of work?’”

Here are three of the biggest games on the Blue Devils’ 2025 schedule.

quarterback at ACC Kicko , described how his new coordinator’s “NFL-like” o ense comes with di erent preparation. “It’s di erent when you’re at South Alabama, and you’re watching tape, and they’re bringing up South Alabama tape,” Lopez said. “When you turn on tape with Kitchens, it’s the Patriots or when he was the head coach with the Browns. You’re like, ‘Wow.’ I’m watching NFL guys, that’s where I want to be. I’m watching them execute this play. So it’s been awesome learning from him.”

Sophomore receiver Jordan Shipp, who caught nine passes for 114 yards and a score last season, said Kitchens’ o ense will be “unique” with its variety of personnel and motions. He hopes the unit is explosive in 2025. Defensively, the pro in uence comes from the head of the operation. Belichick, one of the game’s greatest defensive minds, his sons Steve and

At Tulane (Sept. 13)

Who doesn’t love a game with a bit of a storyline?

After transferring from the Green Wave in December, Mensah will now have to face his former squad just three weeks into the season.

This current age of college football is seeing more player movement than ever before, but this will still certainly be a game with a ton of emotions in it for the young quarterback.

Brian (UNC’s defensive backs coach) and Super Bowl-winning All-Pro linebacker Jamie Collins (inside linebackers coach) are bringing the Patriots’ championship pedigree to Chapel Hill. With all three of the Belichicks on the Patriots’ coaching sta from 2017-23, New England made two Super Bowl appearances and nished top 10 in both passing and rush yards allowed twice (2019 and 2023). Steve’s defense at Washington in 2024 nished second in passing yards allowed per game in all FBS.

“It’s great to have Brian and Stephen on the sta ,” Belichick said. “They’ve been not only great coaches for me but been a big help in terms of just organization and, I’d say, (keeping) me in check on some things that they’ve noticed through the years that now for some reason I’m starting to do a little bit di erently.”

For transfer cornerback

will be $104 million (an $8.5 million hike) in 2026-27, when Blake’s new contract begins, and go up another $9.5 million, to $113.5 million, in 2027-28. It is expected to grow further from there as the league’s revenues grow.

Blake’s deal will take up just under 5% of Carolina’s cap space in 2026-27, and that number will dip to closer to 4.5% the following year. At last season’s $88 million cap ceiling, the contract would be the equivalent of a $4.4 million and $3.96 million cap hit, respectively.

The Hurricanes struck a similar deal this summer with their other rookie forward from last year’s team, signing Logan Stankoven to an eight-year, $48 million contract on July 1, the rst day Stankoven was eligible to sign an extension. His deal will also begin in 2026-27. Carolina enters the 2025-26 season with most of its roster under contract through at least the 2026-27 season. The only player in a full-time role last season whose contract will expire after next season is goalie Frederik Andersen. Depth players Mark Jankowski and Tyson Jost will also be unrestricted free agents after next season, as will recently signed defenseman Mike Reilly.

The biggest order of business is now defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who made his NHL debut last season in the playo s. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights following next year and is due a new contract.

over Clemson would certainly help that along.

“Those are my guys over there, and I’m excited for that matchup,” Mensah said. “They have a talented squad, but just going to approach it like any other game.”

But the stakes aren’t just with Mensah though, as his new squad wants to get him the win just as much as his old team wants to prove he made the wrong decision to transfer.

Not to mention that Tulane was the AAC runner-up last season and was ranked as high as No. 17 in Week 14.

It looks to be a matchup with a ton of potential intrigue.

At Clemson (Nov. 1)

The Blue Devils will have a chance to face last season’s ACC champs in Week 8.

While the Tigers hold a signi cant edge in the alltime matchup (37-17-1), Duke smashed Clemson in their last meeting, a resounding 28-7 season-opening win in 2023.

The biggest di culty this year will be playing at Memorial Stadium, a place the Tigers rarely lose, hence the moniker “Death Valley.”

The Blue Devils will certainly have their work cut out for them, but if they want to continue taking steps as a program hungry for an ACC championship, a marquee win

Thaddeus Dixon and the two other defensive transfers from Washington (linebacker Khmori House and defensive back Peyton Waters), Belichick’s presence has somewhat put them on common ground with the players not familiar with Steve. The Belichick in uence is layered now with Bill adding new nuggets on top of what his son instills.

“Coach Belichick has taught me a lot about fronts and taught me that guys like Ty Law and Darrelle Revis would always take everything into account in the defense,” Dixon said. “Not just what we’re doing at corner but knowing what everybody’s doing in the defense.” Senior defensive back Will Hardy, who has played at UNC his entire career, said he and the returning players are “excited” for the fresh energy as the defense looks to change its yearslong narrative as the Tar Heels’ weak unit.

“The whole goal is to end up in Charlotte that rst week in December,” Diaz said. “The big message in our program this year is, ‘Don’t tell me a lot about your goals or your expectations, tell me about your standards to reach those goals.’”

At UNC (Nov. 22)

While Duke has four intrastate matchups on the calendar this season (Elon, NC State, Wake Forest), the biggest of them all looks to be the Week 11 game against the UNC Tar Heels.

Last season, the Blue Devils snapped the Tar Heels’ ve-season win streak, claiming the Victory Bell for the rst time since 2018 thanks to a comeback victory during which Duke scored 21 straight points in a 21-20 win.

Every time these two teams square o , no matter the sport, the rivalry always delivers, and this season, the stakes feel even higher given the arrival of Bill Belichick in Chapel Hill.

And everyone at Duke would love to start o Belichick’s foray into the rivalry by handing him a loss.

With it being the penultimate game on each team’s schedule, the stakes could certainly be high for two programs with aspirations of nishing at the top of the conference.

And as UNC hits the eld for training camp this weekend, that energy alone should bring another whi of the pros.

Many of UNC’s new additions this o season came after spring and will get their rst opportunity to make their mark in the coming weeks. Unlike the media in Belichick’s availability last week, no one will be picked from a crowd. Instead, starting spots, even the quarterback position, are for the taking.

“A little bit like a military boot camp or training camp where you learn to work with your teammates pretty quickly or somebody else is working with them,” Belichick said. “It’s not that di erent from the NFL as I was saying in there. We, a lot of times, had 40, 45 new players, 35 new players, whatever it was. It’s a lot. But again, time together, if it’s really important to you and they work hard at it, then you see improvement quickly.”

KARL DEBLAKER / AP PHOTO

Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake watches his shot make its way into the net behind Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson during Game 3 of the teams’

BEN MCKEOWN / AP PHOTO

Duke fans prepare to run onto the eld to celebrate a victory over Clemson in the 2023 season opener. The rematch will take place this season in Death Valley.

BELICHICK

The Miz makes a splash in the majors

The former Carolina Mudcats pitcher made the All-Star team after ve starts in the bigs

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

ATLANTA — In his last start before an unlikely All-Star appearance, Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski got a preview of the game.

The Miz, whose combination of size, velocity and dominance has quickly captured the sport’s attention, was facing the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The rst three batters he would face were former league MVPs, as was his counterpart on the mound for the Dodgers — starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

In just his fth career start, Misiorowski opened the game with a matchup against the biggest star in the game — Shohei Ohtani.

The Miz was ready to show Ohtani what he had. He started him with a fastball that clocked in at 100.3 mph. Ohtani watched it go by. Strike one. Then Misiorowski broke o a 90-mph curve that Ohtani swung at and missed. Strike two. It was time to put him away. Misiorowski dialed up another curve and let it y.

Fly it did. The ball left his hand at 88 mph, left Ohtani’s bat at 108 and landed in the stands in center eld, 431 feet away. “I was like, ‘OK. There it is,’” Misiorowski recalled. “I got

it out of the way pretty quick. Now we’re just throwing the ball. I realized, ‘OK. Now we go. Now it starts.’ I don’t think it changed anything. That’s just how it worked.”

It was one of the few setbacks in a debut season in MLB that couldn’t have been drawn up much better. The Miz, who pitched for the Carolina Mudcats on his way up the Brewers chain in 2022 and 2023, striking out 49 in 281⁄3 innings and allowing less than one baserunner an inning, won his rst three big league starts and entered

the week at 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA.

While the numbers are impressive, the eye test is what really has observers excited. Misiorowski is an imposing 6-foot-7, and his fastball regularly reached 103.

He struck out 12 Dodgers in six innings, earning a win in the start that began with Ohtani taking him deep. The performance earned him a spot on the National League All-Star team as a late replacement. He set a record as the least-experienced All-Star in history, getting the call after just ve games in the bigs.

“You’re never gonna say no

to one of these things,” he said, “but if was de nitely not on the bucket list for 2025.”

“It’s been a whirlwind,” he added. “It’s been crazy. It’s just been one of those things that you can’t really think about. You’re just going day to day and trying to stay on an even level.”

The selection raised a controversy. Some commenters pointed out that other worthy players had paid their dues and deserved the All-Star spot ahead of the hotshot rookie.

The Miz shrugs o the critics, however.

“I think it was just one of those things,” he said. “The way it happened, it was not really anything I’d done (wrong). I’m not gonna say no to MLB. The other All-Stars have been great. They’re not upset with me. It’s nothing I did. They’re all nice to me. The clubhouse has been good.”

NL manager Dave Roberts had the rookie’s back.

“I think for me, kind of my North Star is the All-Star Game should be the game’s best players,” he said. “It’s about the fans and what the fans want to see. So for this young kid to be named All-Star, I couldn’t be more excited for him. He’s thrilled to be here.”

Roberts was in the Dodgers dugout just before the All-Star Break and watched his leado hitter take The Miz out of the yard. He also saw Ohtani’s second at-bat, two innings later.

Again, Misiorowski got two quick strikes on Ohtani. The veteran fouled o several pitches and worked the count before the kid went back to the curve ball. The ball dove down into the dirt, but Ohtani had already taken the bait. He swung above it and headed back to the dugout, the victim of a strikeout. Ohtani walked in his third and nal at-bat of the evening against the Miz.

A week later, Ohtani was already nished with his All- Star evening by the time Misiorowski entered the game for a scoreless fth. So there would be no rematch between the two on that night. However, the day before, a Japanese journalist asked him about the prospect of facing Ohtani in the game.

“It’d be cool,” he said. “I mean, I faced him already. So I think we both know each other pretty well now — three at-bats.”

Appalachian State’s must-win games for 2025 season

The Mountaineers have a new coaching sta this year

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

THE UPCOMING 2025 campaign marks a season of change for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who are now under the leadership of new coach Dowell Loggains.

Despite generating a 40 -24 record in ve seasons, former coach Shawn Clark was red in December after the 2024 season following the team’s rst losing record (5-6, 3-5 Sun Belt) since 2013. In many matchups, the team started strong but zzled out in the second half, blowing multiple leads en route to a ve-win disappointment.

The program chose to go a di erent direction with Loggains, who was South Carolina’s o ensive coordinator for the last two seasons following 16 years as an OC and quarterbacks coach in the NFL.

“The best part of our program is our players,” Loggains said. “We’re excited about what we’ve been able to put together in the rst year. We have kids that do things the right way and make great decisions. … We have 54 new players: 36 from the transfer portal and 18 freshmen, and we’re excited about the way we’re recruiting. Our sta busts their tails in recruiting, and we’re doing a great job of the high school recruiting, which will always be a big part of our brand.”

With a portal-heavy roster of Boone newcomers, App State will now look for a bounce-back year as it plays its hand in the competitive Sun Belt East Division race. The Mountaineers were ranked third in the Sun

CLAIBORNE from page B1

history. At a time when football stars in the most stable programs are hearing whispers of the NIL money they could make with a trip to the transfer portal, the rising senior saw longtime coach Dave Clawson step down. No one would have blamed him for shopping for a better situation.

Belt Preseason coaches poll for the East, behind projected front-runners James Madison and Georgia Southern.

Here are a trio of key matchups on App’s schedule that could de ne conference positioning and bowl eligibility for the Mountaineers.

Vs. Coastal Carolina (Oct. 18)

App State’s rst Sun Belt home game of the season in Kidd Brewer Stadium provides the team with an important midseason opportunity to claim a homecoming victory over a divisional opponent and to build con dence prior to a tough road stretch.

The Mountaineers hold a 7-4

From the day he arrived for his introductory press conference, however, new Wake coach Jake Diekert made it clear that keeping Claiborne was a major priority.

edge in the all-time series between the two teams, although Coastal has won the past three matchups; last season’s contest was a 38-24 nish in Conway, South Carolina.

The Chanticleers are coming o a 6-7 (3-5 Sun Belt) season where they had their worst conference performance since 2019. Much like the Mountaineers, they are aiming to improve across the board this year, returning to the level of play their fans have become accustomed to over the years. With redshirt junior running back Kanye Roberts handling the bulk of the carries, App will look to establish the run early to control tempo and keep Coastal’s o ense o the eld. The Chanticleers will be led on o ense by

“I think when we (Claiborne and Dickert) met, it was solely o of can he help me on the personal aspect of life,” he said. “A lot of coaches during that time when Coach Clawson stepped down were calling my phone asking if we could give you this amount of money to come here or if we could do this for you. Coach Dickert came and his message was, ‘How can I help you as a man o the eld?’ So that’s something that stuck out to me. When I rst met him, I hit the ground running. I wanted to make a statement with him, and we made it happen.”

Maryland transfer quarterback MJ Morris and returning wideout Jameson Tucker.

vs. Georgia Southern (Nov. 6)

App’s rst contest of November will be the latest installment in the “Deeper Than Hate” rivalry series between the Mountaineers and the Georgia Southern Eagles of the Sun Belt East. Coming o an 8-5 season and showing promise under coach Clay Helton, Georgia Southern is ready to push for another top-tier nish after recording six conference wins last season — the most the Eagles have totaled in a season since 2018. The Thursday night prime-time matchup at The

Rock could be the latest in a long line of head-to-head games between the two teams that have gone down to the wire. The Mountaineers hold a 21-18-1 all-time advantage and have won three of the past ve after last year’s 29-20 loss in Statesboro, Georgia. By this point in the season, the Mountaineers should have an idea of what kind of production they’re getting in the battle between quarterback transfers JJ Kohl (Iowa State) and AJ Swann (LSU). They’ll both be hoping to develop a rapport with Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team O ense wide receiver Dalton Stroman, who was the only Mountaineer to win a preseason award.

At James Madison (Nov. 15)

This road contest at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is likely a game where App State will not be favored to win, but it’s still an important East Division decider in its own right.

JMU, which has emerged over the years as one of App’s ercest foes in the division, is the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt East coaches poll with 94 points and 11 rst-place votes.

The Dukes (9-4, 4-4 Sun Belt) are fresh o a Boca Raton Bowl-winning season despite falling short to App in a 34-20 matchup in Boone last year. The Mountaineers have won 14 of their 19 meetings, including the past two games.

Depending on how the conference standings shake up, a road loss at JMU cost App State the division crown and a spot in the Sun Belt championship game. The Dukes are no slouch on their home eld, generating a 13–2 home record since joining the Sun Belt three years ago.

“He’s one of the rst players to say, ‘I believe in this new era of Wake Forest football,’” Diekert said. As the Demon Deacons go through a transition, they’ll be leaning heavily on their running back with roots in country toughness and grit. Even if Claiborne doesn’t accomplish his most important goal.

“Ma Dukes is gonna outwork me every time,” he said, “but I ain’t gonna let it stop me from continuing to try to reach that goal. I mean, my mom raised ve boys, so her story is just a little di erent. Regardless, she’s gonna be the hardest working person I’ve ever come in contact with. So I don’t know if I’ll ever reach that goal, but it’s not gonna stop me from trying to.”

LINDSEY WASSON / AP PHOTO

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski reacts after getting a strikeout to retire the side in a recent start.

MIKE CAUDILL / AP PHOTO

Appalachian State running back Kanye Roberts (14) runs for a gain during a game against Old Dominion.

CUMBERLAND

NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

Having quali ed as Ancillary Executor of the estate of Shirley A. Abraham deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned at 829 Spellman Drive Indian Land, SC 29707 on or before October 9, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate settlement with the undersigned. This the 10th day of July, 2025. Pamela Abraham Hambleton, Ancillary Executor 25E000948-250 (Order number) (July 10, 2025) (July 17, 2025), (July 24, 2025), (July 31, 2025)

Notice to Creditors

The undersigned , having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Alvin Henry Hill, 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 24day of October, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All debtors of the descendent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 24 day of July , 2025. Jacqueline Hill, 3305 Lake Bend Drive,, Fayetteville, NC 28311 of the estate of Alvin Henry Hill, Deceased.

NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND IN THE MATTER OF THE ) ESTATE OF MARK D. LEVINE, ) DECEASED. ) The undersigned, having heretofore quali ed as Ancillary Executor of the Estate of Mark D. Levine, deceased, late of Cobb County, Georgia, hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before October 24, 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of any recovery thereon. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 24th day of July, 2025. Risa G. Levine, Ancillary Executor Estate of Mark D. Levine, Deceased c/o Keith A. Wood, Esq. Carruthers & Roth, P.A. Attorneys & Counselors at Law 235 North Edgeworth Street Post O ce Box 540 Greensboro, North Carolina 27402 July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE NO. 24E001552-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Richard Patrick Salazar, 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 October 10, 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 10th day of July, 2025. Michael Anthony Salazar, Administrator of the Estate of Richard Patrick Salazar

NICOLE A. CORLEY

MURRAY & CORLEY, P.A.

N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD

FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990

COUNSEL FOR ADMINISTRATOR

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF WAYNE CHARLES ZINSSER

CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 24E002997-250 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Wayne Charles Zinsser, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Barbara Zinsser, Executor, at 199 Wingstone Dr., Ponte Vedra, FL 32081, on or before the 25th day of October, 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 Executor named above. This the 21st day of July, 2025. Barbara Zinsser Executor of the Estate of Wayne Charles Zinsser Davis W.

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 October 10, 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 10th day of July, 2025. Brian Haden, Administrator of the Estate of Leona Leslie Briody

NICOLE A. CORLEY MURRAY & CORLEY, P.A. N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990

COUNSEL FOR ADMINISTRATOR

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE NO. 25E001015-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Levie Caligan Cameron, Jr., 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 October 10, 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 10th day of July, 2025. Karen Denise Cameron, Administrator of the Estate of Levie Caligan Cameron, Jr.

NICOLE A. CORLEY

MURRAY & CORLEY, P.A.

N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD

FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990 COUNSEL FOR ADMINISTRATOR

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CROLINA In The General Court of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File 25E000012-250 Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Nervin J. DeDeaux, 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 24th day of October, 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 payments to the undersigned. This 24th day of July, 2025. Nicole DeDeaux Administrator/Executor 3207 Barksdale Rd. Fayetteville, NC 28301 Of the Estate of Nervin J. DeDeaux, Deceased

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 25E001099-250 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF: MARIAN JACQUELYN HARGIS ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE The undersigned, having quali ed as the Administrator of the estate of Marian Jacquelyn Hargis, 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 10th of November , 2025, (which is three months after the the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 25th of July, 2025. David Hargis 933 E. Winds Ln, Fayetteville, NC 28311 Administrator of the estate of Marian Jacquelyn Hargis, deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF STANLEY HIRD HOLGATE

CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 25E001038-250

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Stanely Hird Holgate, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to John Ragland, Executor, at 507 Cloverleaf Ct., Naperville, IL 60565, on or before the 18th day of October 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 Executor named above.

This the 8th day of July, 2025. John Ragland Executor of the Estate of Stanley Hird Holgate Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: July 17, July 24, July 31 and August 7, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF DANIEL VERNON KINLAW

CUMBERLAND County

25E000967-250

Estate File No.

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Daniel Vernon Kinlaw, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Daniel Watson Brown, Executor, at 1500 Old Lamplighter Way, Wilmington, NC 28403, on or before the 25th day of October, 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 Executor named above.

This the 15th day of July, 2025.

Daniel Watson Brown Executor of the Estate of Daniel Vernon Kinlaw Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: July 24, July 31, August 7 and August 14, 2025

Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

The undersigned having quali ed as the Administrator/Executor of the Estate of Gary J. Lewis AKA Gary Lewis, 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 10th day of October 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 8th day of July, 2025. Jennifer L. Thomas Administrator/Executor 140 Zaharias Circle Daytona Beach, Florida 32124 Of the Estate of Gary J. Lewis AKA Gary Lewis, Deceased

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA In The General Court Of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court

Division Estate File # 25E000924-250 Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Noel Antonio Rosado, 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 17th day of October, 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 17th day of July, 2025. Georgia Kasey Rosado Administrator/Executor 2218 Meadow Wood Road Fayetteville, NC 28303 Of the Estate of Noel Antonio Rosado, Deceased

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND

COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NUMBER: 25E001081-250 In the Matter of the Estate of: LARRY WASHINGTON Deceased, ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Larry Washington, 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 October 17, 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 17th day of July, 2025.

Felicia Washington, Administrator of the Estate of Larry Washington, Deceased c/o J. Thomas Neville Yarborough, Winters & Neville, P.A. P.O. Box 705 Fayetteville, NC 28302-0705 Publish: 07/17/2025, 07/24/2025, 07/31/2025 and 08/07/2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF RUTH S WOODARD FILE NO. 2024 E 001117

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Ruth S Woodard, deceased, a resident of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 17th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 17th day of July, 2025. Monica Rosier, Executor 810 Running Horse Ln Hope Mills, NC 2834

Notice to Creditors

Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of SUSAN DIANE STANLEY, late of Durham County, North Carolina (25E000951-310), 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 3rd day of November 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 31st day of July 2025. Candace S. Slate Administrator of the Estate of Susan Diane Stanley c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446 114 Raleigh Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (For publication: 07/31, 08/07, 08/14, 08/21/2025)

MOORE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Co-Administrators of the Estate of THOMAS JAY TUCKER, late of Moore County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of the decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of Ivey & Eggleston, Attorneys at Law, 111 Worth Street, Asheboro, North Carolina 27203, on or before November 1, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate should make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 31st day of July, 2025 GARY THOMAS TUCKER AND CHRISTOPHER JAY TUCKER Co-Administrators of the Estate of THOMAS JAY TUCKER MARION “BETH”MCQUAID, Attorney IVEY & EGGLESTON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW 111 Worth Street Asheboro, NC 27203 (336) 625-3043

PUBL/DATES: 07/31/25 08/07/25 08/14/25 08/21/25

NEW HANOVER

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Joseph Alan Baggett, Jr., having quali ed on the 26th day of June 2025, as Administrator of the Estate of Joseph Alan Baggett (25E001525-640), 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 3rd day of November, 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 31st day of July 2025. Joseph Alan Baggett, Jr. Administrator ESTATE OF JOSEPH ALAN BAGGETT David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411

Publish: July 31, 2025 August 7, 2025 August 14, 2025 August 21, 2025

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned,KAREN SELZ, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of WAYNE RICHARD CHALMERS, Deceased, hereby noti es all persons, rms or corporations having claims against the Decedent to exhibit same to the said KAREN SELZ, at the address set out below, on or before October 31, 2025, or this notice may be pleaded in bar of any payment or recovery of same. All persons indebted to said Decedent will please make immediate payment to the undersigned at the address set out below. This the 22nd day of July, 2025. KAREN SELZ Executor of the Estate of WAYNE RICHARD CHALMERS c/o ROBERT H. HOCHULI, JR. 219 RACINE DR., SUITE #A6 Wilmington, NC 28405

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS

Having quali ed as Personal Representative of the Estate of Joan Miastkowski, deceased, late of New Hanover County, North Carolina, the undersigned hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned, care of their attorney, on or before October 10, 2025(which date is at least three (3) months from 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 settlement with the undersigned, care of their attorney. This the 10th day of July, 2025. Janet Chetti, Executor of the Estate of Joan Miastkowski c/o Randall S. Hoose, Jr. Hoose Law, PLLC 705 Princess Street Wilmington, NC 28401-4146 Please publish 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31

NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, JILL SANDERS having quali ed as the Administrator of the Estate of CAROL WILLIAMS, Deceased, hereby noti es all persons, rms or corporations having claims against the Decedent to exhibit same to the said JILL SANDERS, at the address set out below, on or before October 16 , 2025, or this notice may be pleaded in bar of any payment or recovery of same. All persons indebted to said Decedent will please make immediate payment to the undersigned at the address set out below. This the7th day of July, 2025 JILL SANDERS Administrator of the Estate of CAROL WILLIAMS c/o ROBERT H. HOCHULI, JR. 219 RACINE DR., SUITE #A6 Wilmington, NC 28405

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS

Having quali ed as Personal Representative of the Estate of John Miastkowski, deceased, late of New Hanover County, North Carolina, the undersigned hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned, care of their attorney, on or before October 10, 2025(which date is at least three (3) months from 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 settlement with the undersigned, care of their attorney. This the 10th day of July, 2025. Janet Chetti, Executor of the Estate of John Miastkowski c/o Randall S. Hoose, Jr. Hoose Law, PLLC 705 Princess Street Wilmington, NC 28401-4146 Please publish 7/10, 7/17,

NC 28405

NOTICE

Princess Street Wilmington, NC 28401-4146 Please publish 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31

NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Susan Leemhuis, having quali ed on the 23rd day of June 2025, as Executor of the Estate of Elisa M. Strong (25E001829-640), 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 27th day of October, 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 24th day of July 2025. Susan Leemhuis Executor ESTATE OF ELISA M. STRONG David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411 Publish: July 24, 2025 July 31, 2025 August 7, 2025 August 14, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS Having quali ed as Personal Representative of the Estate of Phillip Dean Sasser, deceased, late of New Hanover County, North Carolina, the undersigned hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned, care of their attorney, on or before October 10, 2025(which date is at least three (3) months from the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded

result in the taking of money or property or other relief requested in the Complaint.

3. If you intend to seek the advice of an attorney in this matter, you should do so promptly so that your response may be led on time. 4. The State of Nevada, its political subdivisions, agencies, o cers, employees, board members, commission

default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of ALLEN RITTER MCNEILL, late of Randolph County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of the decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of Ivey & Eggleston, Attorneys at Law, 111 Worth Street, Asheboro, North Carolina 27203, on or before October 24, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate should make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 24th day of July, 2025 ALLEN RAY MCNEILL Executor of the Estate of ALLEN RITTER MCNEILL S. SCOTT EGGLESTON, Attorney IVEY & EGGLESTON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW 111 Worth Street Asheboro, NC 27203 (336) 625-3043

PUBL/DATES: 07/24/25 07/31/25 08/07/25 08/14/25

NOTICE

Having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Gladys Parks aka Gladys Johnson Parks, late of Randolph County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of the decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of TAYLOR B.

CALLICUTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW, PO Box 2445, Asheboro, North Carolina 27204, on or before October 13, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate should make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This 10th day of July, 2025 Gary Howard Parks, Administrator of the Estate of Gladys Parks aka Gladys Johnson Parks, deceased TAYLOR B. CALLICUTT ATTORNEY AT LAW PO Box 2445 Asheboro, NC 27204 (336) 953-4661

PUBL/DATES: 07/10,25 07/17/25 07/24/25 07/31/25

ATTENTION ITEMS FOR SALE

Two Cemetery Plots for sale at Randolph Memorial Park in the Grandview Section. Cemetery charges $3979 for one plot. We are selling two plots for $5000. Selling because we no longer need plots as we are going to be cremated. Contact Joyce Tucker at 336-9633471 if you are interested.

the county courthouse for conducting the sale on August 11, 2025 at 01:00 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, to wit: THAT CERTAIN TRACT OF LAND LYING AND BEING IN THE COUNTY OF CABARRUS, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:

BEING ALL OF LOT 231 OF BRANDON RIDGE SUBDIVISION, PHASE II, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF, RECORDED IN MAP BOOK 47, PAGES 51 AND 52, A REVISION OF MAP BOOK 47, PAGES 28 AND 29. IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF CABARRUS COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 3951 Kellybrook Drive, Concord, NC 28025.

A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater,

following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Katherine H. Kiker, dated August 4, 2009 to secure the original principal amount of $23,388.00,

but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 13215 Peppercorn Lane, Midland, NC 28107 Tax Parcel ID: 55443395470000 Present Record Owners: The Estate of Katherine H. Kiker The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Estate of Katherine H. Kiker.

on August 12, 2025, the

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Robert L. Wheeler, late of Randolph 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 P.O. Box 5994, Greensboro, North Carolina 27435, on or before the 31st day October 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 31st day of July 2025. Brenda G. Fales Executor of the Estate of Robert L. Wheeler Jonathan M. Parisi Attorney at Law Spangler Estate Planning P.O. Box 5994 Greensboro, NC 27435

WAKE

Notice to Creditors

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of TAMMY LEIGH BAKER, late of Wake County, North Carolina (25E002711-910), 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 3rd day of November, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 31st day of July 2025. Leigh Vondus Baker, III Executor of the Estate of Tammy Leigh Baker c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446 114 Raleigh Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (For publication: 07/31, 08/07, 08/14, 08/21/2025)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF RICHARD EUGENE DUCHARME WAKE County Estate File No. 24E001360-910 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Richard Eugene Ducharme, deceased, of Wake County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Cynthia M. Coats, Executor, at 8228 Cedar Falls Dr., Wake Forest, NC 27587, on or before the 11th day of October 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 Executor named above. This the 7th day of July, 2025. Cynthia M. Coats Executor of the Estate of Richard Eugene Ducharme Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: July 10, July 17, July 24 and July 31, 2025

will be required at the time of the sale.

Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Mario Giura.

An Order for possession of the property

The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property o ered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not

may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor

be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome

The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees,

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

NORTH CAROLINA, IREDELL COUNTY 25 SP 158

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Gere V. Boggs, Jr., Mortgagor(s), in the original amount of $920,000.00, to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), as bene ciary, as nominee for Nexera Holding, LLC dba New Lending, Mortgagee, dated June 18th, 2021 and recorded on June 24th, 2021 in Book 2825, Page 1954, as instrument number N/A, Iredell 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 Iredell 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 Iredell County, North Carolina, at 2:00 PM on

greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said

August 5th, 2025, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property, to wit: Tract 1: BEGINNING at an existing iron in the eastern margin of the right of way of Queens Circle, the northwest corner of Belk (Deed Book 727, Page 183 and Deed Book 825 at Page 504) and running thence with the eastern margin of the right of way of Queens Circle a chord bearing N 00-40-20 E a distance of 23.99 feet with radius chord bearing N 19-36-20 E a distance of 50.20 feet with a radius of 50.00 feet and an arc length of 52.59 feet to an existing iron, the southwest corner of Cullinan (Deed Book 765 Page 59); thence with Cullinan`s line N 86-31-00 E 179. 79 feet to an existing iron and N 87-30-00 E 170.45 feet to an existing iron; thence N 8730-00 E42.51 feet to a point in Lake Norman; thence S 06-54- 30 W 52.60 feet to a point in Lake Norman; thence S 07-25-35 W 35.26 feet to a point in Lake Norman; thence S 22-09-50 W 27.67 feet to an existing iron in Belk`s line; thence with Belk`s line N 8651-20 W 385.40 feet to the point and place of beginning, containing 36,530.5 square feet more or less and being according to a survey of Robert J. Wilkins, RLS on October 25, 1993. Tract 2: BEGINNING at a point, common corner of Lots 1 and 2 of Queens Cove, Section 1 as recorded in Map Book 16 at Page 5 of the Iredell County Registry. contour elevation

760 feet mean sea level Lake Norman and runs thence with the southern boundary of Lot 1 and said contour elevation N 05-3830 W 113 feet with said contour to a corner of Lot 1; thence leaving said contour and running thence S 87-38-27 E348.33 feet to a point in Lake Norman; thence S03-5553W 145.92 feet to a point in Lake Norman; thence N 81-44-22W 338.35 feet to the point and place of beginning. Together with improvements located hereon; said property being located at 318 Queens Cove Rd, Mooresville, NC 28117 Tax ID: 4645-45-4750-000 Third party purchasers must pay the recording costs of the trustee’s deed, any land transfer taxes, the excise tax, pursuant North Carolina General Statutes §105228.30, in the amount of One Dollar ($1.00) per each Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or fractional part thereof, and the Clerk of Courts fee, pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §7A-308, in the amount of Forty- ve Cents (0.45) per each One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or fractional part thereof with a maximum amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts will be immediately due and owing.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS WHERE IS. There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, special assessments, land transfer taxes, if any, and encumbrances of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Gere V. Boggs, Jr. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination (North Carolina General Statutes §4521.16A(b)(2)). Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the

County Registry, reference to said map being hereby made for a more particular description. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 906 Litch eld Way Apt L, Wilmington, NC 28405. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars

($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY

PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/ or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the

which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in

directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property o ered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or

20SP001155-910 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY EDWARD G. JOHNSON, JR. AND KELLY O. JOHNSON DATED MARCH 30, 2007 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 12485 AT

2365 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED JULY 25, 2019 IN BOOK 17516, PAGE 404 AND FURTHER MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED JUNE 19, 2020 IN BOOK 17922, PAGE 947 IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Wake County courthouse at 11:00AM on August 14, 2025, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Edward G. Johnson, Jr. and Kelly O. Johnson, dated March 30, 2007 to secure the original principal amount of $190,400.00, and recorded in Book 12485 at Page 2365 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 1004 Santa Rosa Dr, Apex, NC 27502 Tax Parcel ID:

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 16SP002399-910

IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY WILLIAM F. HARDWICK, III AND ANGELA DAVIS HARDWICK DATED OCTOBER 4, 2006 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 12205 AT PAGE 212 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED ON JULY 2, 2014 AT BOOK 15709, PAGE 911 IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA

NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Wake County courthouse at 11:00AM on August 14, 2025, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed William F. Hardwick, III and Angela Davis Hardwick, dated October 4, 2006 to secure the original principal amount of $359,176.00, and recorded in Book 12205 at Page 212 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 399 Virginia Water Dr, Rolesville, NC 27571 Tax Parcel ID: 0332406 Present Record Owners: William Hardwick, III and Angela Davis Hardwick The record owner(s) of the property,

Declaration of Condominium establishing Sandy Creek Condominiums under the provisions of Chapter 47A of the North Carolina General Statutes (the “Declaration”) dated April 11, 1974, and recorded in Book 2237, Page 415, of the Wake County Registry, as amended, (See Condominium Plan File Number 5, Wake County Registry, for plans), together with a 0.66 per cent undivided interest in the limited and general common areas and facilities declared therein to be appurtenant to said unit, which percentage shall automatically change in accordance with amended declarations as the same are led of record pursuant to the provisions of the Declaration, and together with additional common areas as such amended declarations are led of record, in the percentages set forth in such amended declarations, which percentages shall be deemed to be conveyed e ective on the recording of each such amended declaration as though conveyed hereby. The land upon which the buildings and improvements are located and situated is in the City of Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, and is fully described in the Declarations, said Declarations being

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0213222 Present Record Owners: Edward G. Johnson, Jr. and Kelly O. Johnson The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Edward G. Johnson, Jr. and Kelly O. Johnson. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property o ered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any resale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the

according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are William Hardwick, III and Angela Davis Hardwick. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property o ered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the

incorporated herein by reference. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any resale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee,

Said property is commonly known as 7387 Sandy Creek Dr Unit 2, Raleigh, NC 27615. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/ or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Albert Work eld. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. Pursuant to NCGS §45-21.25A,

WAKE

Wet hot American summer

Folks are doing whatever they can to stay cool, with heat indexes soaring well into the triple digits across the region and heat warnings issued for several days. These youngsters found a respite from the hot temps at the Asheboro-Randolph YMCA’s splash pad. In Chatham County, the Knight Farm Community Park Splash Pad is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 362 Vine Parkway in Pittsboro.

the BRIEF this week

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE

New York Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters in the building. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces on Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake

Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over the July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. More than 160 people are known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

In mobile home parks, clean, safe tap water isn’t a given

Seventy percent that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules

By Michael Phillis, Travis Loller and M.K. Wildeman

Associated Press

The

THE WORST WATER Colt

Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drink-

ing Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state o cials discovered the contamination. The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as

10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

“The Health Department refers it to us like, ‘Why aren’t you guys regulating it?’ We had no idea it existed,” he said.

More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections. A review by The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running

See WATER, page A10

Lumbee tribe sees politics snarl recognition by Washington

By Graham Lee Brewer The Associated Press

SINCE THE 1980S, the Lumbee Tribe has lobbied Congress to acknowledge it as a sovereign

nation. There was renewed hope last year when both major party candidates in the presidential election promised to intervene on behalf of the Lumbee.

In his rst week in o ce, Pres-

ident Donald Trump appeared to be making good on his endorsement. He issued an executive order directing the Interior Department to create a plan for federal recognition, a move Lumbee Chairman John Lowery called a “signi cant step forward.” But several months later,

Group of volunteers repair by hand parts of Appalachian Trail damaged by Helene

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Appalachian Trail.”

Jake Stowe, Appalachian Trail Conservancy

There are still signi cant detours in several places along the trail

By Erik Verduzco and Makiya Seminera The Associated Press

UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn.

— In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root ball, is roughly the size of a large kiddie pool. The collection of volunteers and sta from the Appalachian

Trail Conservancy and local organizations, doesn’t plan to move the tree. Instead, their job is lling the gaping holes left by it and many other downed trees along iconic East Coast trail. Almost a year since Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains of the Southeast, restoration is still ongoing. In places like the Appalachian Trail, it’s powered primarily by volunteers at a time when federal resources are strained and uncertain. That labor, made up of people spanning several generations and continents, aims to not only return the trail to its

it remains unclear if Trump will take further action.

The plan was submitted to the White House in April, according to the Interior Department. However, a White House o cial told The Associated Press last week that the Lumbee will have to achieve its goal through legislation — which the Interior Department also con rmed.

“We anticipate the tribe will work with Congress on a path forward to be formally recognized,” Interior spokesperson Elizabeth

See LUMBEE, page A7

The tribe is struggling to get recognized by Congress

THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

LOG

July 21

• Jacob Ray Phillips, 31, of Bear Creek, was arrested for possessing a stolen motor vehicle, larceny of a motor vehicle, purchasing a rearm in violation of a domestic order, nancial card fraud, and identity theft.

• Billy Tanner Gray, 33, of Ramseur, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill causing serious injury, assault causing serious injury in the presence of a minor, and assault with a deadly weapon in the presence of a minor.

• Ricky James Graves, 57, of Siler City, was arrested for possessing marijuana paraphernalia, possessing cocaine with intent to sell or distribute, selling cocaine, delivering cocaine, tra cking cocaine, and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances.

July 25

• Billy Tanner, 33, of Ramseur, was arrested for second-degree trespassing.

• Martavelin Paul Witherspoon, 23, of Siler City, was arrested for possessing marijuana with intent to sell or distribute, possessing up to ½ ounce of marijuana, and possessing marijuana paraphernalia.

Flight attendant sentenced to 18 years for recording girls in airplane bathroom

Police said the man had recordings of ve girls between 7 and 14

By Leah Willingham and Michael Casey The Associated Press

BOSTON — A ight attendant accused of taping his cellphone to the lid of an airplane toilet to secretly lm young girls was sentenced to just under 20 years in prison last Wednesday.

Former American Airlines ight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III received a sentence of 181⁄2 years, followed by ve years of supervised release. Boston U.S. District Court Judge Julia Kobick called his behavior “appalling” and said child victims’ “innocence has been lost” because of his actions.

Thompson was arrested and charged in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, after authorities said a 14-yearold girl on his ight discovered his secret recording setup in the lavatory. He was indicted last year on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of pos-

PHOTO

Estes Carter Thompson III

session of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor.

He apologized in court last week, describing his actions as “sel sh, perverse and wrong.”

Police alleged Thompson, of Charlotte, had recordings of four other girls between the ages of 7 and 14 using aircraft lavatories over a 9-month period.

In a sentencing memorandum submitted in court, U.S. government attorneys

He “robbed ve young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it, instead leaving them with fear, mistrust, insecurity, and sadness.”

DOJ sentencing memorandum

said Thompson “robbed ve young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it, instead leaving them with fear, mistrust, insecurity, and sadness.”

Thompson, who will serve his sentence at FMC Butner in North Carolina, intends to undergo sex o ender-speci c treatment, his attorneys said.

A lawyer for Thompson said via email last Wednesday he wouldn’t be commenting.

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

July

31

Opinionation Trivia at House of Pops

6-8 p.m.

Two sessions of this “Family Feud”-style game are held each Thursday evening, rst round at 6 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., o ering contestants two opportunities to win House of Hops gift cards worth $15 and $25 each.

12 Russet Run Suite 110 Pittsboro

Aug. 1

Neville’s Quarter at Bynum Front Porch

7-8:30 p.m.

Free musical performance: donations are welcome. This is a family-friendly event with food and beverages available for purchase on-site.

Front Porch, Bynum General Store 950 Bynum Road Bynum

Aug. 2

Chatham Mills

Farmers Market

8 a.m. to noon

Producers-only farmers market o ering a wide variety of goods from fresh produce to other groceries, including eggs, cheese, meat, health and wellness items, and crafts. Everything is created by the vendors themselves. Lawn of the historic Chatham Mills 480 Hillsboro St.

Photographing the Haw 10-11 a.m.

Presentation by Dr. Kevin Ricker of his nature photographs taken at the Haw River. This event is free, open to the public and cosponsored by Friends of Lower Haw River and the Chatham Community Library. Chatham Community Library Holmes Family Meeting Room 197 N.C. Highway 87 N Pittsboro

Aug. 6

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

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

USDA to establish regional hub in Raleigh, relocate thousands from DC

By Jordan Golson Chatham News & Record

RALEIGH — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will relocate thousands of employees from Washington, D.C., to ve regional hubs across the country, including Raleigh, as part of a reorganization plan announced Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins.

The move will shift approximately 2,600 workers — more than half of USDA’s Washington workforce — to hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City. The department will also maintain two additional administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler welcomed the announcement, noting the state’s existing partnership with the USDA.

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub,” Troxler said. “We have a long-standing partnership with USDA with National Agricultural Statistics Service o ces housed in our building for many years, and we look forward to continuing to build on this partnership.”

The reorganization aims to bring USDA closer to the farmers, ranchers and rural communities it serves while reducing costs associated with the living in the nation’s capital, where federal employees receive a locality pay adjustment of 33.94%. By comparison, the Raleigh area’s locality rate is 22.24%.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long

past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement. “President (Donald) Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country.”

The reorganization follows four key principles: ensuring the workforce size aligns with nancial resources, bringing USDA closer to its customers, eliminating management layers and consolidating redundant support functions.

As part of the management restructuring, several USDA agencies will see signi cant changes. The National Agricultural Statistics Service will consolidate its 12 existing regions into ve aligned with the new hubs over a multiyear period. The Food and Nutrition Service will reduce from seven regions to ve, while the Forest Service will phase out nine regional ofces over the next year.

The department expects to retain no more than 2,000 employees in the Washington area after the reorganization is complete. The plan will unfold over several months, with senior USDA leadership providing more details to a ected o ces in the coming weeks.

Beyond the relocation, the plan follows a voluntary workforce reduction earlier this year in which 15,364 USDA employees elected deferred resignation through the Deferred Retirement Program. O cials emphasized this was completely voluntary and that the reorganization is not conducting a large-scale workforce reduction.

Troxler said having more USDA sta in North Carolina could bene t the state’s $111 billion agriculture industry.

“Agriculture production and

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needs are di erent across the country, and I think it will be bene cial to our agriculture industry to have more USDA sta and contacts in our state,” he said. “We will work with them on whatever they need.”

The reorganization also calls for vacating several Washington-area buildings with signi cant deferred maintenance costs. Beyond the South Building, which has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and operates well below capacity, USDA will also vacate Braddock Place and eventually the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The department will retain the Whitten Building as its headquarters, along with the Yates Building and National Agricultural Library.

Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have raised concerns about the plan, arguing it could disrupt services and disconnect the agency from Congress. The union noted that 95% of USDA employees already work outside of Washington, D.C.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, called it a “half-baked proposal” and demanded department o cials appear before the Senate to explain their reasoning.

USDA o cials said critical functions will continue uninterrupted during the transition, including wild re response, food safety inspections and other essential services. The department speci cally exempted 52 position classi cations carrying out national security and public safety functions from earlier hiring freezes to ensure these services remain fully sta ed, though these employees may still be subject to relocation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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!

like shovels, rakes and pruners to do the job, rather than heavy equipment.

former glory but make it more resilient against future inclement weather.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Appalachian Trail,” said Jake Stowe, a program support specialist with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Stretching more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, the trail attracts over 3 million people every year, according to the conservancy. Some committed hikers traverse its entire length to cross it o their bucket list. Others visit sporadically just to indulge in its scenic views.

Last September, Helene killed more than 200 people and wrecked entire towns. Many rural businesses have struggled due to the drop in tourism, Stowe said, such as in places seeing fewer trail hikers. Directly after the storm, more than 430 miles of the trail were closed, the conservancy said. That’s down to 5 miles today. Hikers still have to take detours around two damaged sections of the trail, both in Tennessee, according to the conservancy.

One spot where a bridge collapsed requires a 3.6-mile walking detour. The other location is near the destroyed Cherry Gap Shelter, where an Associated Press journalist accompanied volunteers this week making the area passable again for visitors who currently have to take a 6-mile detour.

Fixing trails is hard work

Local groups typically take on day-to-day trail maintenance, such as hacking back plant overgrowth, Stowe said.

Larger organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy step in to assist with severe damage, although in Helene’s case, safety concerns delayed restoration.

“At the time, we weren’t really in the position to put people in the woods,” Stowe said.

“It was such bad damage that it was just — you couldn’t safely do that.”

The area near Cherry Gap has already been “sawed out,” meaning downed trees that blocked the trail have been cut and moved out of the way. But root balls are still a major problem because of how labor-intensive it is to deal with them.

When a tree tips over, the root ball lifts a big chunk of earth with it. Filling that hole can sometimes take a week, said Matt Perrenod, a crew leader with the conservancy. The trail runs along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, and the rough terrain means crews must rely on hand tools

The conservancy also has to consider more sustainable improvements to the trail, such as building steps or features like water bars, which are essentially little ditches that divert rainfall o the side of the trail.

It’s a slow process, Perrenod said, but a worthwhile venture to improve the experience of hikers.

“You don’t actually want to think about the thing you’re walking on very much. You just want to walk on it,” said Perrenod, who hiked the Appalachian Trail’s entirety about a decade ago. “Well, if we don’t do the work, you won’t be able to do that. You’ll spend all your time climbing over this tree and walking around that hole.”

Volunteers travel the world to help out

Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service has long been a critical component of preserving the Appalachian Trail. Through contracts, Perrenod said the agencies fund equipment, gas and the wages of some Appalachian Trail Conservancy sta members like himself. The Forest Service also helps the group lug their gear up to the trail, he said.

That’s why Perrenod says it’s imperative the federal government does not slash those agencies’ budgets and workforces. Disrupting support for volunteers could be detrimental for the trail’s restoration, as volunteers provide “a lot of muscle” to complete the vast majority of its maintenance, he said.

In Helene’s aftermath, volunteerism across the region was “super high” because everyone wanted to help, Stowe said. This year, interest in volunteering has dipped, Stowe said, but he’s heard from people all over the country — and the world — who cited Helene as a major reason they wanted to come out and help.

Among the volunteers on the July maintenance trip were three visitors from Japan who work on long-distance trails back home. They were enthusiastic to learn about best practices for improving trail longevity and take those ideas back to Japan.

The trio was also motivated by their own experience with natural devastation. After Japan’s massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, volunteer Kumi Aizawa said people from across the globe came to rebuild.

By restoring part of the Appalachian Trail, she’s returning the favor.

TRAIL from page A1

The Agriculture Department says the move will bring the agency closer to farmers

A John Deere cotton picker picks cotton at a farm in Dundarrach in November 2023.

ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO Japanese volunteers Shin Hasegawa, left, and Kumi Aizawa, walk to their camp site carrying tools.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

A sweet lesson on tasting time

Time, paradoxically, not only progresses forward but also curves back to its beginning like a circle.

HOROLOGY is the study of time, which can refer to the art of making clocks and watches. However, I had a lesson of another kind upon returning for Homecoming Sunday at the church I once served as pastor.

Just before I left eight years ago, the congregation had cut down three dying trees right outside the sanctuary and replanted three saplings in their place. Standing at the pulpit last Sunday, I could see that the young trees had grown into view through the sanctuary windows. I thought there was a sermon in that.

The congregation noticed the growth of my three kids, the youngest of whom was a baby when we left. In turn, I saw that their children were now teenagers and their teenagers were adults, some of whom had kids of their own. Fathers were now grandfathers, and grandmothers were great-grandmothers.

There were also people missing from the

pews whose bodies and ashes rested in the cemetery on the other side of those trees.

The passage of time results in change, and with change comes loss and grief.

After the worship service, we gathered for a potluck feast on the lawn outside the sanctuary. Tables had been set up end to end and heavy-laden with food: fried chicken, ham biscuits, mac and cheese, deviled eggs, green bean salads, slabs of watermelon and a smorgasbord of desserts — apple pie, strawberry cake, cookies, brownies, lemon bars and homemade ice cream. The youngest children needed help scooping food on their plates, while adult children escorted their elderly mothers through the potluck line and lled their plates in a comparable way to how their moms had assisted them many decades ago. Time, paradoxically, not only progresses forward but also curves back to its beginning like a circle. For example, I

noticed that both the very young and very old skipped right to the desserts!

I took a seat at one of the tables that had been set up around the magni cent oak tree, which has shaded homecoming potlucks for generations. It seems like this venerable tree will last forever, but I know that is not true.

A mother, whose children are now grown, spoke of that sermon I’d preached about my rstborn. When he was a toddler with only a handful of words, he used to point at the church and declare, “Food!” I’d forgotten that story, but it rushed back as sweet as the taste of the homemade banana pudding, and, for a moment, I was once again a young dad.

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.

Today’s tools bring back a ‘voice’ from long ago

It still amazes and amuses me to see people walking around, thumbing away on their gadget, oblivious to anyone or anything around them.

FROM TIME TO TIME, I have used this space to moan about how technology is, in my opinion, often taking us places we don’t — or shouldn’t, if we really thought about it — want or need to go.

I don’t mean that to mean such things as the advances in medical science, for instance, like the kind that took away my back pain and sti hip, and such. Rather, I mean society’s growing love and dependence on the latest communication device.

Seemingly, many people simply cannot live without them. It still amazes and amuses me to see people walking around, thumbing away on their gadget, oblivious to anyone or anything around them. I wonder why more people don’t walk into other people, columns, brick walls or in front of a semi hauling a load of hogs. And how many folks are there who cannot eat dinner without their trusty device next to their plate?

Having said all that now and at other times, let me do a complete about-face on a certain part of today’s technology that I do nd not only fascinating but maybe a bit overwhelming, namely the internet.

I know years ago Al Gore said he invented the internet, and maybe he did and maybe he didn’t, but I do know that it’s one amazing thing. And I know there are advances and changes that make Facebook look like something Christopher Columbus might have used. And no ... I haven’t just discovered that. I have, instead, come to realize more and more the good stu that is on it.

There is, of course, a lot of really rotten stu . That’s another story. And I still wonder who puts all the stu that’s on there on there.

Among the really good things and places, I think, is the discovery of such things as clips of Otis Redding singing “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and all sorts of renditions of “City of New Orleans,” not to mention Warren Zevon performing “Werewolves of London.”

I also use it to look up people. For instance, did you know that there is a fellow with my same exact name who, according to the info out there, is a college basketball coaching “legend” in North Dakota? And I not so long go reconnected with a good buddy from my college days who now lives in Georgia.

And before I let Doc cut on my back recently, I read countless articles about what he would be doing … and did. All that and much more is really engrossing, but it’s the history that’s out there that pulls me in so far.

A cousin who is far more technically literate than I am lit a re under me some time ago when he presented me with some research on an uncle of ours who made the supreme sacri ce in World War II. He lost his life when his Army Air Corps B-29 bomber crashed in Kansas on a night training ight. Four years after that day, my mama named me after him in his honor and memory.

I’d always known some few details of that event from family stories. And for the longest time in my childhood years, my folks had a humongous jigsaw puzzle of such a plane, and I used to look at the gun turret in which he sat and wonder how he did it. And these days I see his grave often, there beside his parents and other of my family members, in the little cemetery of a local church.

But I never knew until my cousin gave

me a few key words to use in looking up some reports on the crash that his plane went down in ames and crashed into a farmhouse, taking the lives of two people inside the house.

For the longest time I sat and read and reread the newspaper account of that night and I wondered ... wondered what was going through the minds, in those last moments, of the teenage servicemen on that plane and my 23-year-old never-to-know Uncle Bob and the young pilot who had the same last name as my uncle, wondered what kind of chaos there was at the house where a young mother lost the infant she and her overseas Army Air Corps pilot husband had loved for only a few months, wondered what my grandparents did during the days between the crash and when the men in uniform drove up to their Bynum home, the rst notice they had that something wasn’t right.

I know hundreds of thousands of families lost sons and daughters and husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters in that con ict — and all those since — but for just a moment, it was like I was in that Kansas farm community that night and I wondered who my uncle was and what he was like.

That, my dear readers, is power ... and powerful. And in that way, it’s a good thing, if for no other reason than it helps us treasure today.

Try it yourself, if you haven’t already ... and don’t forget to tune in Otis when you look up “The Andy Gri th Show” and you’re visiting Mayberry.

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

COLUMN | BOB WACHS

Nightmare at the checkout counter

Such an incredible sigh of relief and, yes, accomplishment. Know that feeling?

STOP WITH THIS scanning stu ! Please! Just stop, already. What’s with this drama-laden storyline? It began with the hum-drum task of food shopping. Groceries in the cart, I headed for self-checkout. Electronically scanned each item (correctly, the rst time, I might add). Turned my attention to paying. No, sorry, I’m jumping ahead of myself. Apologies. The rst step to completing a purchase is deciphering all the hieroglyphics on the little doo-hickey payment module that o ers you 4,000-plus di erent ways to pay. Here we go! Um… well, gee, I failed at credit card “tapping” last time (I mean, where do you tap?) Let’s give Apple Pay a try. With bated breath and holding my iPhone at the appropriate distance, zing, it took! (Yay, Jan!) Such an incredible sigh of relief and, yes, accomplishment. Know that feeling?

Uh-oh, apparently, my sigh of relief is an abbreviated one. (I just knew it!) The purchase process suddenly becomes a continuous stream of text on the payment module, reading “scanning, scanning, scanning …”

And that “scanning” text just keeps scrolling merrily along. Not merrily for me, however. I’m looking around, in bewilderment, rather like the demonically possessed character whose head spins 360 degrees in the classic movie “The Exorcist.”

| SUSAN ESTRICH

Did I do something wrong? I was so proud of myself up until this juncture. Seriously … Apparently, my head-turning confusion garnered the interest of the self-checkout agent. She came over, ostensibly, to o er rst aid for what appeared to be my purchasing trauma. I pointed to the electronic module doo-hickey thing and shared my frustration about the endlessly scanning loop. In a very matter-of-fact voice, she said, “They’re communicating with each other.” Excuse me? “They’re communicating with each other.” I don’t know, maybe I really did fall into “The Exorcist.” It turns out this is AI — arti cial intelligence — and thank heavens, not “The Exorcist.” The payment module doo-hickey is communicating with some nearby deus ex machina (god in the machine) in order to tabulate my purchases. You’d think a “god in the machine” would take pity on this confused human and make this whole damn thing easier. I mean, you’d think, wouldn’t you?

Have I mentioned that feeling embarrassed, in public, is my middle name? Oy! Now I just can’t wait for my next interaction with that payment module doo -hickey thing. Sure. Right. You bet.

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

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce,

understanding — rightly — that Trump, once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did.

In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate.

This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

JOE BIDEN WAS both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear. According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slowmoving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history. The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it. Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump? Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ coverup of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN

JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP PHOTO

Former President Barack Obama talks with President-elect Donald Trump before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in January.

obituaries

Teresa Hrabak Cooper

July 20, 2025

In Loving Memory of Teresa Hrabak Cooper Passed peacefully on July 20, 2025

It is with deep love and sorrow that we announce the passing of Teresa Hrabak Cooper, who left us on Sunday, July 20, 2025.

Teresa was a woman whose heart beat strongest for her family, especially her

Peter Anthony Krupp

Jan. 26, 1955 –July 22, 2025

Peter Anthony Krupp, 70, died unexpectedly at home Tuesday, July 22, 2025. He was born on January 26, 1955, in the Bronx, New York to Felix and Mary Krupp.

Pete graduated from Manhattan College in 1976 with a degree in accounting. After marrying his wife, Kathy, in 1980, they started their family while continuing to live in the Bronx. In 1987, life took them down South, and they moved their family to Pittsboro, NC after buying a plot of land on a whim. During the transition of moving, Pete decided to become a Duke fan so as not to choose sides during a job interview in North Carolinaa loyalty he held for the rest of his life. He worked as a nancial investigator for the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Medicaid Investigations Division until his retirement in 2020. His role perfectly blended his love for crunching numbers and true crime. Upon retirement as the unit’s Deputy Director, he was honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor

beloved grandchildren. She took immense joy in their laughter, their milestones, and the everyday moments spent together.

She will be remembered for her kindness and the strength she carried through life.

Teresa’s greatest legacy lives on in the love that she so freely gave to those around her.

She is survived by her husband, Buddy Cooper, children, Justin Cooper and Ashley Cooper, grandchildren Mariah Rone and Bryson Totten, her brother, Michael Hrabak, and sister Donna Gates.

She is preceded in death by her parents Donald and Dorothy Hrabak, sister-in-law

Tracy Hrabak and brother-inlaw Billy Gates.

A Celebration of Life will be held on September 20, 2025, at 4:00pm at the home of Ashley Cooper. We encourage family and friends to come together to honor Teresa’s memory.

Roy Cooper for his many years of service to the state of North Carolina.

In retirement, Pete embraced his favorite role: Dadu. He was an avid reader and a passionate sports fan (especially of Yankees baseball and Notre Dame football). He loved to bake, have a beer on the beach with friends, great music (especially Motown cassette tapes), schweinshaxe, playing the lottery, tinkering in his garage, and sharing a good laugh. Known a ectionately as “Sweetie Petey,” he never met a stranger and was always ready to lend a hand.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Andrew, and his sister Teresa Orsogna. He is lovingly remembered by his wife, Kathy Wegman Krupp; his children, Kristina and Jason Miles, and Andrew and Dyane Krupp; his sister, Mary Pinto; his brother Arthur and Nancy Krupp; and his favorites, his granddaughters, Olive and Vera Miles.

In lieu of owers Pete’s family asks that donations be made to the Brave Like Gabe Foundation, PO Box 6227 Minneapolis, MN 55406 (https://www. bravelikegabe.org/donate), a foundation that was near and dear to his heart during his own cancer battle with the motto “Running on Hope”, or donate to a charity of your choice that supports humanitarian e orts in today’s world.

A celebration of Pete’s life will be held this Fall. Please come ready to share your favorite stories. Pete would want nothing more than to be remembered with a smile and a beer in hand.

Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the Krupp Family.

Jay Herbert Gatlin

Nov. 2, 1942 – July 24, 2025

Jay Herbert Gatlin, 82, of Sanford, North Carolina, passed away peacefully on July 24, 2025, surrounded by his loving children and listening to the music of his favorite artist, Neil Diamond.

Born in Sedalia, Missouri, on November 2, 1942, Jay was the son of the late Frances and Herbert Gatlin. He proudly served four years in the United

Andrea Claudine Forster

Feb. 1, 1969 – April 8, 2025

Andrea “Andy” Forster, of Siler City, North Carolina, formerly of Albany, Oregon, passed away at the age of 56.

Born in Albany, Andy graduated from South Albany High School in 1987, where she played varsity

IN MEMORY

States Air Force, stationed in Bermuda. After his service, he continued his commitment to public service with the United States Weather Bureau, including a year-long assignment in the Arctic.

Jay eventually settled in Siler City, North Carolina, where he launched and ran a successful desktop publishing business before retiring. He was a dedicated member of the Siler City Rotary Club, serving as president and earning the honor of Rotarian of the Year.

An avid UNC Tar Heels fan, Jay rarely missed a March Madness tournament, always cheering passionately for his team. He found joy in the outdoors— tending to his yard, shing in the lake, and simply being in nature. Jay had a deep love for animals, a quick sense of humor, and an endless curiosity for learning. More than anything, he cherished time with his family.

Jay is survived by his beloved wife, Diane; son Brian (Kris

basketball and softball. She was known for her bright spirit, athletic drive, and active life.

In her youth, Andy was a member of the Albany Boys and Girls Club and enjoyed soccer, softball, and basketball. She had a lifelong love of the outdoors, especially beachcombing, boating, shing, and walking along the ocean with her beloved dogs.

Andy worked for UPS in Corvallis before moving to Portland, where she bartended and hosted at local venues.

In 2003, she moved to North Carolina to be near her mother, later joining the U.S. Postal Service as a rural carrier—a job she loved deeply, along with her coworkers, customers, and their pets.

A passionate animal lover, Andy supported rescue e orts and was known for taking in stray dogs and caring for them like children. She was adventurous,

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.

Risi); daughters Wendy and Kelli; stepson Gary (Debi); granddaughter Jayden; stepgrandchildren Laina, Christina, Julie, Tyler, April, and Daniel; brother Carl and sister Linda. He was preceded in death by his parents and his stepdaughter Lenore.

Jay’s compassion, warmth, and wit touched everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed.

A Memorial Graveside service will be held 11:00AM, Saturday, August 9, 2025 at Chatham Memorial Park in Siler City, NC.

In lieu of owers, the family asks that donations be made in Jay’s honor to AFRP of Greensboro to support animal rescue and care—an organization close to his heart.

Donate here: https://www. arfpnc.com

Smith & Buckner is assisting the Gatlin family.

Online condolences may be made at: www.smithbucknerfh. com

compassionate, and full of life, with a love of music—especially the Grateful Dead—and made everyone feel welcome.

She is survived by her father, Jerry Forster of Albany, OR; her mother, Linda Forster of Siler City, NC; her sister Cindy (Rob) Orahood of Keizer, OR; her niece Kristen (Tyler) Beyer of Salem, OR; and her goddaughter Harley Dority of Siler City, NC. She was preceded in death by her sister Daphne Forster. Andrea will be remembered for her kindness, her beauty inside and out, and the love she gave so freely. She will be deeply missed and forever held in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.

A celebration of life will be at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home, Siler City, NC, on August 16, at 1:00 PM. Then, a memorial at the Liberty Tavern, Liberty, NC, at 5:00 PM, where refreshments will be served.

WILLIAM RAY NEWBY

JULY 7, 2025

William Ray Newby passed away on Monday, July 7th, 2025 at Beacon Place, AuthoraCare Collective, in Greensboro, NC. He was born in Siler City, NC and graduated from Chatham High School in 1968.

William was the son of the late Thomas and Willa Newby. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Janice Lee, and brother Winford Terry Newby.

A memorial service will be held at Genesis Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC on August 1, 2025 at 1:00pm.

RUSSELL ODELL COX

JULY 11, 1938 – JULY 24, 2025

Russell Odell Cox, age 87, of Bennett, passed away on July 24, 2025. He was born on July 11, 1938, in Chatham County, North Carolina, to Robert and Annie Belle Phillips Cox. He spent his life surrounded by the land and community he loved where he formed long and enduring friendships with his neighbors.

Russell was a man of simple joys and strong roots. He found happiness in the outdoors. He was an avid hunter who enjoyed quail hunting and running his coon hounds and beagles. Russell also found pleasure in tending his garden or sharing the fruits of his labor with neighbors and friends. A country ham biscuit with hot black co ee and a side of blackberry jelly was his idea of a perfect morning. He had a deep appreciation for bluegrass and gospel music and would often be found at a local singing. He was a devoted member of Riverside Baptist Church.

Russell’s quiet strength, kindness, and devotion to his family and community will be remembered always. He leaves behind a legacy of hard work, faith, and love for the land.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Kathy Maness Cox; brother, Frank Cox and great-nephew, Casey Jones.

Russell is survived by his daughters, Vickey Cox Wright and Teresa Cox Smith (David); son, Randy Cox; sisters, Mary Joyce Auman (Dalton), Paulette Brechtel (Jack), Joleen Webster (Kenneth); brothers, Pete Cox (Sylvia) and Roy “Bud” Cox; grandchildren, Leslie Smith, Ryne Smith (Kristen) and Amanda Smith; great-grandchildren, Mattie, Kamryne, Jamie, Rylane and Rynslee; special friend, Joyce Deaton; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of family and friends.

Debbie Horton

CHARLES ARTHUR COOPER

SEPT. 11, 1942 – JULY 26, 2025

Charles Arthur Cooper, 82, of Pittsboro, NC, passed away peacefully in his home on July 26, 2025.

Born on September 11, 1942, in Pittsboro, Charles was a talented mechanic and musician. He was known for his generosity and love for God and family.

He is survived by his wife Brenda Cooper; children Je rey and Julia, six grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Charles was predeceased by his parents Eddie London and Irene Cooper and brothers Tave Cooper and Eddie Cooper Jr. A Graveside service will be held at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery on July 30, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. with Pastor Jerry L. Sanders o ciating.

In lieu of owers, donations may be made to Solid Rock Baptist Church, 3903 US Hwy 64 West, Pittsboro NC 27312.

ROBERT “ROB” HENRY COX JR. JAN. 7, 1958 – JULY 26, 2025

Robert “Rob” Henry Cox Jr., 67, of Goldston, passed away on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at his home surrounded by his family. The memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, 2025 at Antioch Baptist Church with Pastor Josh Conrad and Pastor Doug Gri th presiding. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall following the interment and at other times at the home of Ronnie and Bonnie Scott. Rob was born in Taylor County, WI on January 7, 1958 to Robert Henry Cox Sr. and Margaret Clanton Cox. He was a member of Antioch Baptist Church and a Veteran of the US Navy. Rob was a former deputy in Davidson County and a call assistant at Joyce-Brady Chapel. He was a volunteer reman with the Bennett Fire Department. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by an infant son. Rob is survived by his wife of 20 years, Stephanie Scott Cox, of the home; children, Shannon Cleaton (Jamie), of Charlotte, Coleene Cox, Graham Cox, Caleb Cox, Ryan Cox, Alex Cox, Gabriel Cox and Lindsay Cox, all of the home; grandchild, Stella Cleaton; mother-in-law and fatherin-law, Ronnie and Bonnie Scott, of Goldston, sisters in-law, Allison Hussey (Je ), of Seagrove and Megan Saunders (Ryan), of Goldston; numerous nieces and nephews; faithful fur baby, Mocha and a host of family and friends.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Stanly News Journal at obits@chathamrecord.com

from page A1

Peace said in a statement.

Federal acknowledgement comes with a bevy of resources owed to tribal nations through treaty rights and acts of Congress, including health care through the Indian Health Service, access to certain federal grants, and the ability to create a land base such as reservations through the land-to-trust process.

Many of the 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. have been acknowledged through legislation. Dozens more have been recognized through the O ce of Federal Acknowledgement, which determines if applicants have a documented history of political and social existence as a tribe.

Critics of the Lumbee Tribe, including several tribal nations, argue it has not been able to prove its historic and genealogical claims and it should do so

through the formal federal process. The tribe is recognized by the state of North Carolina.

“The gaps in the Lumbee’s claims are staggering,” said Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Principal Chief Michell Hicks. He said the Lumbee have yet to show who they descend from and recognizing them through legislation would open the door for fraudulent groups to gain federal acknowledgement. “Congress wouldn’t be recognizing a tribe, it would be manufacturing one,” he said.

Lowery argues that the Lumbee can prove who they descend from but that the application and vetting process through the Ofce of Federal Acknowledgement is too long and arduous and could take decades complete. He has been working closely with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to pass a bill that would federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe.

“For anyone, from any tribe, to

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somehow think that a tribe that receives federal recognition via legislation is somehow circumventing the process,” Lowery said, “is being disingenuous.”

The Lumbee Tribe applied for recognition in 1987. But Arlinda Locklear, a Lumbee attorney who has worked on the issue for decades, said sta at the O ce of Federal Acknowledgement o ered con icting opinions because a 1956 congressional act acknowledged the Lumbee exist but denied them access to federal resources. She said they asked the o ce to issue a formal opinion regarding the 1956 bill.

“If we’re not eligible then tell us at the beginning so we can ask for it from Congress,” she said.

The O ce of Federal Acknowledgement determined the Lumbee Tribe was ineligible for recognition, but that decision was reversed in 2016 by Interior’s Ofce of the Solicitor. Despite being allowed to reapply since 2016,

both Locklear and Lowery said that process remains too lengthy and have opted instead to urge Congress to pass legislation. That could prove di cult in the current climate, as Trump and Republicans lawmakers are slashing federal spending. In 2011, the Congressional Budget O ce estimated that recognizing the Lumbee Tribe and providing the necessary federal resources would cost the U.S. more than $840 million in the rst four years. A 2022 CBO estimate put that number at more than $360 million. This month, a Brookings Institution report found that the Trump administration’s directive to freeze federal grants could disrupt $24 billion that go to tribes.

Tillis, the author of the bill, has also been the subject of the Trump’s ire recently, after he voted against the president’s tax bill in June. Trump threatened to campaign against him, and Tillis said he would not seek reelection.

His bill, the Lumbee Fairness Act, was referred to the Senate Committee on Indian A airs in January.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who chairs the committee, said she will work with Tillis on the bill.

David Wilkins, a Lumbee author and professor at the University of Richmond, has advocated for federal recognition for decades. But he said the Lumbee face opposition across Indian Country, and he’s concerned that gaining it with Trump’s endorsement will add to that.

“The way he’s battering Indian Country with his cuts or with his layo s,” Wilkins said. “If we do slip through because Trump convinces his secretary of Interior to either expedite the acknowledgement process or get Congress to nd a move on the Lumbee bill and get it through, I worry about how that’s going to be received in Indian Country.”

LUMBEE

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NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

25E000371-180

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

LEGAL

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of James E Beatty late of Chatham County, NC this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before October 27, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate are noti ed to make immediate payment.

This is the 27th day of July, 2025 James A Beatty 5200 Beechwood Road Milford, OH 45150 Send claims to: Wells Law, Attorneys at Law 380 Knollwood Street, Suite 710 Winston-Salem, NC 27103

336.793.4378 July 24, 31 Aug 7, 14, 2025

NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Muriel Crowley Harris, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned at 344 West John Street, Matthews, NC 28105, on or before October 18, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate settlement with the undersigned. This the 17th day of July, 2025. John T. Harris, Executor of the Estate of Muriel Crowley Harris, Chatham County File No. 24E001335-180, c/o Garrity & Gossage, LLP, 344 West John Street, Matthews, NC 28105.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Chatham County 25E000382-180

Having quali ed as Co-Executors of the Estate of Kaja Finkler aka Kay Finkler aka Kaile Nehame Dvora Finkler, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned do hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claim against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned c/o Guido De Maere, P.A. at 100 Europa Drive, Suite 160, P.O. Box 3591, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 on or before the 31st day of October, 2025, 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 31st day of July, 2025. Guido De Maere and Dan Oren, Co-Executors of the Estate of Kaja Finkler aka Kay Finkler aka Kaile Nehame Dvora Finkler Attorney for the Estate: Guido De Maere, P.A.

P.O. Box 3591 Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3591

To be published: July 31, August 7, 14 & 21, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of RICHARD JAMES MARION, 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 Munson Law Firm PLLC, P.O. Box 1811 Pittsboro, NC 27312, on or before the 24th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This 24th day of July, 2025.

LYNN MARION, ADMINISTRATOR ESTATE OF RICHARD MARION

NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Margot Ann Friedrich, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned at 344 West John Street, Matthews, NC 28105, on or before October 17, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate settlement with the undersigned. This the 17th day of July, 2025. Heather N. Anschuetz-Je ers, Executor of the Estate of Margot Ann Friedrich, Chatham County File No. 25E000357-180, c/o Garrity & Gossage, LLP, 344 West John Street, Matthews, NC 28105.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS

CHATHAM COUNTY

HAVING QUALIFIED as Administrator CTA of the Estate of Richard Drayton Peter 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 16th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 9th day of July, 2025. Linda P. Crabtree, Administrator CTA of the Estate of Richard Drayton Peter 25 Joe Brown 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

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25E000314-180

The undersigned, HOLLY MEREDITH O’NEILL, having quali ed on the 23RD Day of JUNE, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JESSE KENNETH BOGGS, JR., 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 31ST Day OF OCTOBER 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 31st DAY OF JULY 2025.

HOLLY MEREDITH O’NEILL, EXECUTOR 427 MILLINGPORT LANE NEW LONDON, NC 28127

Run dates: Jy31,A7,14,21p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Co-Executors of the Estate of Eleanor Joyce Moore, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, do 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 24th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment.

This 24th day of July, 2025.

JENNIFER JOYCE MOORE AND SUSANNA MCHUGH

MOORE, CO-EXECUTORS, ESTATE OF ELEANOR

JOYCE MOORE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Jacobus E. de Vries aka Jacobus Egbert de Vries, 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 24th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment.

This 24th day of July, 2025.

SARAH ELIZABETH TILLMAN, EXECUTOR

ESTATE OF JACOBUS E. DE VRIES AKA JACOBUS

EGBERT DE VRIES

EXECUTOR’S

NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA

CHATHAM COUNTY All persons having claims against the estate of Nancy Meltzer, of Chatham County, NC, who died on July 11, 2022 are noti ed to present them on or before October 15, 2025 to Robert N. Maitand, II, Executor, c/o Maitland & Sti er Law Firm, 2 Couch Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Michele L. Sti er MAITLAND & STIFFLER LAW FIRM 2 Couch Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Attorney for the Estate

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Nina W. Moore quali ed before the Chatham County Clerk of Court on July 17, 2025 as The Executor of The Estate of Richard Devon Moore, 11229 Siler City Glendon Road, Bear Creek, NC 27207. This is to notify all persons, rms and corporations, as required by NCGS 28A-14-1, having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the attorney designated below on or before the 31st Day of October, 2025 or this notice will be pled in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payments to the undersigned. Payments and claims should be presented to M. Andrew Lucas, P.O. Box 1045, Sanford, NC 27331-1045.

Please Publish: July 31st, August 7th, 14th, 21st, 2025

Notice to Creditors

NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY

HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Nancy Paschal Price 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 16th day of October, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 9th day of July, 2025.

Thomas King Price, III, Executor of the Estate of Nancy Paschal Price 301 South Dogwood Siler City, North Carolina 27344 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp

Notice to Creditors

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Edith Fomby Gibbons, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before October 20, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 17th day of July, 2025. Donna M. Beaudoin, Administrator c/o W. Thomas McCuiston 200 Towne Village Drive Cary, NC 27513

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHATHAM COUNTY VIRGINIA LYNN NEAL, Petitioner v. TIMOTHY MICHAEL HOGAN and AMY FORDHAM COOK, Respondents (25SP000046-180) TO: AMY FORDHAM COOK Take notice that a petition seeking relief against you was led on March 19, 2025 in the above partition action. The nature of this action is as follows: petition for partition and sale of real property. You are required to make defense to such petition no later than 40 days after the date of the rst publication of this Notice and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought. Wesley A. Stewart, Esq., 5410 Trinity Rd., Ste. 210, Raleigh, NC, 27607, Petitioner’s Attorney. J24, 31 and 7

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

25E000323-180 ALL persons having claims against Darrell Lloyd Cole, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Oct 24 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 24th day of July, 2025.

Alesia J Purvis, Executor C/O Bowen Law Firm PC 590 New Waverly Pl Ste 120 Cary, NC 27518 J24, 31, 7 and 14

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25E000365-180

The undersigned, MELYNNA JOHNSON DOWD, having quali ed on the 9th Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of FAYDEENE R. 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 17TH Day OF OCTOBER 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 17TH DAY OF JULY 2025.

MELYNNA JOHNSON DOWD, EXECUTOR

148 VALLEY OAK COURT

LEXINGTON, NC 27295

Run dates: Jy17,24,31A7p

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NC

On Monday, August 11, 2025, at 6:00 pm, the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will hold the following public hearing in person at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center at 1192 Hwy 64 Business West, Pittsboro, NC: A RESOLUTION OF INTENT TO PERMANENTLY

CLOSE A PORTION OF SUTTLES ROAD IN THE TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

WHEREAS, it appears that permanently closing a portion of Suttles Road within the Town of Pittsboro is not contrary to the public interest and that no individual owning property in the vicinity of said portion of Suttles Road proposed to be closed would thereby be deprived of reasonable means of ingress and egress to his or her property; NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Pittsboro as follows: That pursuant to Section 160A-299 of the North Carolina General Statutes, the Town intends to permanently close that portion of Suttles Road containing 57,853 square feet (1.328 acres) that is depicted on a survey by Thomas M. Grzebien, Professional Land Surveyor entitled “Right Of Way Abandonment Exhibit Suttles Road Adjacent Property Owned By Chatham Park Investors LLC”, dated 6/6/25, revised 6/23/25, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, and that is described by metes and bounds in a description attached hereto as Exhibit B. This portion of Suttles Road to be closed is part of “New Tract 12” on a plat recorded in the o ce of the Register of Deeds for Chatham County, North Carolina in Plat Slide 2020, Pages 50 through 56, and it connects the road known as Chatham Park Way to the remaining portion of Suttles Road (North Carolina Secondary Road No. 1809), which is a service road for U.S. Highway 64 Bypass in the right of way of U.S. Highway 64 Bypass. That a public hearing on the issue of such road closure be, and it hereby is, scheduled for August 11, 2025. That a copy of this Resolution shall be published once a week for four (4) successive weeks prior to the hearing. That a copy of this Resolution shall be sent by registered or certi ed mail to all owners of property adjoining said portion of Suttles Road to be closed as shown on the Chatham County tax records, and a notice of said proposed road closure and the public hearing thereon shall be prominently posted in at least two (2) places along said portion of Suttles Road to be closed. Adopted this 14th day of July, 2025.

TOWN OF PITTSBORO

By: Kyle Shipp

Mayor ATTEST: Carrie Bailey Town Clerk

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25000253-180

The undersigned, JEROME LEE FORSTER, having quali ed on the 6th Day of MAY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of ANDREA CLAUDINE FORSTER, 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 24TH Day OF OCTOBER 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 24TH DAY OF JULY 2025.

JEROME LEE FORSTER, EXECUTOR 261 JIM GILLILAND RD. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: Jy24,31,A7,14p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against RICKEY MICHAEL RIDDLE, deceased, of Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before October 17, 2025, or this notice will pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 17th day of July, 2025. Nicholas Michael Riddle, Executor, c/o Elizabeth K. Arias Esq., Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, 555 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1100, Raleigh, NC 27601.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25E000306-180 The undersigned, RICHARD DAVID WOOD, having quali ed on the 2ND Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of RICHARD JOHN WOOD, 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 31ST Day OF OCTOBER 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 31st DAY OF JULY 2025. RICHARD DAVID WOOD, EXECUTOR 65571 AVENIDA CADENA DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA 92240

Run dates: Jy31,A7,14,21p

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NC

On Monday, August 11, 2025 at 6:00 pm, the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will hold the following public hearings in person at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center at 1192 Hwy 64 Business West, Pittsboro, NC:

1. A legislative public hearing on a voluntary, contiguous annexation petition (A-2025-02/PB25-278) from Chatham Park Investors, LLC. The applicant is requesting to annex 12.999 acres at Hillway Road and North Village Parkway (Parcel ID 0094479, partial).

2. A legislative public hearing on a voluntary, contiguous annexation petition (A-2025-03/PB25-275) from Chatham Park Investors, LLC. The applicant is requesting to annex 15.040 acres east of Chatham Park Way and north of Business 64 East (Parcel ID 00095803).

The hearings will be held in person. The public can also watch the hearings live on the Town’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ townofpittsboronc/streams. Members of the public must attend in person if they wish to speak at a hearing.

Contact the Town Clerk, Carrie Bailey, by 4 pm on August 11, 2025 with written comments or to sign up to speak a hearing. You can contact Carrie Bailey at cbailey@pittsboronc.gov, (984) 282-6647, or PO Box 759, Pittsboro, NC 27312.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25E000317-180

The undersigned, JENNIFER LEE GOODSPEED, having quali ed on the 11th Day of JUNE, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JUDITH KAYE BREYER, 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 10TH Day OF OCTOBER 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 10TH DAY OF JULY 2025. JENNIFER LEE GOODSPEED, EXECUTOR 697 FEARRINGTON POST PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: Jy10,17,24,31p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#23E000694-180 The undersigned, ANGELA VENDEN WALKER, having quali ed on the 16th Day of JULY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JOYCE LILIAN BERRY, 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 31ST Day OF OCTOBER 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 31ST DAY OF JULY 2025. ANGELA VENDEN WALKER, EXECUTOR 955 BEAVER DAM RD. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 Run dates: Jy31,A7,14,21p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION COUNTY OF CHATHAM FILE NO. 25CV000703-180

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION GILDA H. LAMBERT, Plainti , vs. JOHN DOE and MRS. JOHN DOE, if married, and other UNKNOWN OWNERS, in esse and not in esse, being the owners of the Property described herein unknown to the Plainti , together with all assignees, heirs at law, and devisees of MARY LEE HORTON, together with all of her creditors, and lienholders regardless of how or through whom they claim, and any and all persons claiming any interest in the estate of MARY LEE HORTON Defendants. TO: JOHN DOE and MRS. JOHN DOE, if married, and other UNKNOWN OWNERS, in esse and not in esse, being the owners of the Property described herein unknown to the Plainti , together with all assignees, heirs at law, and devisees of MARY LEE HORTON, together with all of her creditors, and lienholders regardless of how or through whom they claim, and any and all persons claiming any interest in the estate of MARY LEE HORTON Take notice that a Complaint has been led in the above entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is to quiet title and obtain a declaratory judgment on real property in Chatham County, North Carolina described in the Complaint. You are required to le a response to the Complaint not later than the 26th day of August, 2025, said date being 40 days from the rst publication of this notice in order to participate in and receive further notice of the proceeding, including notice of the time and place of any hearing, and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought.

This the 11th day of July, 2025. GUNN & MESSICK, PLLC By: /s/ Paul S. Messick, Jr. N.C. State Bar No. 2979 Post O ce Box 880 Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312 Telephone: (919) 542-3253 Facsimile: (919) 542-0257 Email: pm@gunnmessick.com Attorney for Plainti

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION 25CV014284-910

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

Pursuant to N.C.G.S. §1A-1, Rule 4(j1) ULADA ANDREYEVNA HARANINA, Plainti , vs.

NICHOLAS JAMES DANIEL, DEFENDANT.

TO: NICHOLAS JAMES DANIEL, Defendant Pursuant to N.C.G.S §50-6, take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is an absolute divorce.

You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than September 14, 2025, and upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought. This the 31th day of July, 2025. Ulada Haranina Plainti 316 Fayetteville St, Raleigh, NC 27601 Telephone: 336-639-2817 July 31, August 7, 14; 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000215-180 The undersigned, PENNY REDDY, having quali ed on the 16th Day of APRIL, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of MUTYALA KRISHNA REDDY, 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 10TH Day OF OCTOBER 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 10TH DAY OF JULY 2025. PENNY REDDY, ADMINISTRATOR 125 CEDAR ELM RD. DURHAM, NC 27713 Run dates: Jy10,17,24,31p

their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules in the past ve years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. And the problems are likely even bigger because the EPA database doesn’t catch all parks.

Even where parks get water from an outside source — such as a city — the clean water coming in can become contaminated if it passes through problematic infrastructure before reaching residents’ taps. Because the EPA doesn’t generally require this water to be tested and regulated, the problems may go unseen. Utah is one of the few states to step in with their own rules, according to an AP survey of state policies.

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works,” Smith said. The challenge of being “halfway homeowners”

In one Colorado mobile home park, raw sewage backed up into a bathtub. In a Michigan park, the taps often ran dry and the water resembled tea; in Iowa, it looked like co ee — scaring residents o drinking it and ruining laundry they could hardly a ord to replace. In California, boxes of bottled water crowd a family’s kitchen over fears of arsenic.

Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. Some are comfortable Sun Belt retirees. Many others have modest incomes and see mobile homes as a rare opportunity for home ownership.

To understand how water in the parks can be so troubled, it’s useful to remember that residents often own their homes but rent the land they sit on. Despite the name, it’s di cult and expensive to move a mobile home. That means they’re “halfway homeowners,” said Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver who lived in several mobile home parks as she researched a book. Residents often put up with “really egregious” property maintenance by landlords because all their money is tied up in their home, she said.

Pamela Maxey, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, said she had forgotten what it was like to have reliable, clean water until she traveled to her state Capitol last year to advocate for better mobile home park protections and stayed in a hotel. By then, she had spent eight years in a park where sewage backed up into homes and the ow of tap water was sometimes weak or discolored.

“It wasn’t until I went into the bathroom to take a shower that I realized, ‘I don’t have to jump in here and squint my eyes closed the entire time and make sure water doesn’t get in my mouth because I don’t know what’s in it,’” she said. “I went to brush my teeth, and I just turned the faucet on and I brushed my teeth from the water coming from the faucet. I haven’t been able to do that for over a year.”

Victoria Silva, a premed student in Fort Collins, Colorado, estimates the water in Harmony Village Mobile Home Park where she lives went out or lost pressure 20 to 30 times over roughly three years there.

“People don’t realize how much water they need until the

water is out for ve minutes when they need to ush, when they need to rinse something o their hands, when they need to make some pasta,” Silva said.

The park’s owner says a licensed professional ensures water is maintained and tested, and outages are minimized.

Small water companies, serial problems

The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to nd expert sta and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out.

The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant, or failed to properly report the results, in the past ve years. And they are far more likely to be repeat o enders of safe drinking water rules overall.

But that’s only part of the story. The true rates of mobile home park violations aren’t knowable because the EPA doesn’t track them well. The agency’s tap water violation database depends on information from states that often don’t properly categorize mobile home parks.

When Smith rst searched Utah’s database in response to an AP request for data from all 50 states, he found only four small water systems identi ed as belonging to mobile home parks. With some keyword searches, he identi ed 33 more.

Other parks aren’t in the databases at all and may be completely unregulated.

One July day in 2021, o cials with the EPA were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern California desert when they realized the problem went way beyond just one place.

“It was literally us driving around and going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a bunch of mobile home parks!’” said Amy Miller, who previously served as EPA’s

JAE C. HONG /

Gerardo Sanchez, an outreach coordinator with the immigrant and farmworker justice group TODEC, helps deliver bottled water to mobile home residents in Oasis, California, in April.

head of enforcement for the Paci c Southwest region.

The water in these other parks had been o their radar. At some, testing found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that had been provided to residents for years.

It’s impossible to know how many unnoticed parks are out there. Most states aren’t actively looking for them and say they nd very few. In Colorado, after the state passed a new law to require water testing at all mobile home parks, o cials uncovered 79 parks with their source of water unknown. That’s about a tenth of the total parks in the state.

Pipes “like spaghetti” in the ground

Many parks are decades old with aging pipes that can cause chronic water problems, even if the water that supplies the park is clean when it enters the system.

Jake Freeman, the engineering director at Central States Water Resources, a Missouri-based private utility company that specializes in taking over small water systems in 11 states, said substandard and poorly installed pipes are more common to see in mobile home parks.

“A lot of times, it’s hard to nd the piping in the mobile home parks because if there’s any kind of obstruction, they just go around it,” he said. ”“It’s like spaghetti laying in the ground.”

After a major winter storm devastated Texas in 2021, Freeman said, the company found pipes at parks it had taken over that “were barely buried. Some of them weren’t buried.”

When pipes break and leak, the pressure drops and contaminants can enter water lines. In addition, parks sometimes have stagnant water — where pipes dead-end or water sits unused — that increases the risk of bacterial growth.

Rebecca Sadosky is public water supply chief in North Carolina, where mobile home communities make up close to 40% of all water systems. She said owners don’t always realize when they buy a park that they could also be running a mini utility.

“I think they don’t know that they’re getting into the water business,” she said.

It doesn’t have to be like this

Utah is a rare state that enforces safe drinking water standards even within mobile home

parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP’s survey of states. A small number of other states like New Hampshire have taken some steps to address water safety in these parks, but in most states frustrated residents may have no one to turn to for help beyond the park owner. In Colorado, when Silva asked o cials who enforces safe drinking water rules, “I just couldn’t get clear answers.”

Steve Via, director of federal regulations at the American Water Works Association utility group, argued against regulating mobile home parks that get their water from a municipality, saying that would further stretch an already taxed oversight system. And if those parks are regulated, what’s to stop the rules from extending to the privately owned pipes in big apartment buildings — the line has to be drawn somewhere, he said.

Via said residents of parks where an owner refuses to x water problems have options, including going to their local health departments, suing or complaining publicly.

Silva is among the advocates who fought for years to change Colorado’s rules before they succeeded in passing a law in 2023 that requires water testing in every mobile home park. It gives health o cials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it’s not a health risk. The state is now a leader in protecting mobile home park tap water.

Smith, the Utah environmental scientist, said stopping the contaminated water owing into the mobile home park and connecting it to a safe supply felt like a career highlight.

He said Utah’s culture of making do with scarce water contributed to a willingness for stronger testing and regulations than the federal government requires.

“There’s sort of the communal nature of like, everybody should have access to clean water,” he said. “It seems to transcend political ideologies; it seems to transcend religious ideologies.”

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Residents at Oasis Mobile Home Park walk past water tanks in Thermal, California, in April.

CHATHAM SPORTS

Woods Charter student Miles Brown eld zooms by in his kart during a race.

Woods Charter student blazes path in kart racing

Miles Brown eld won his rst national heat this summer

By Asheebo Rojas

Chatham News & Record

SOMETIMES A NAME can tell you all about a person.

For local 9-year-old Miles Brown eld, that couldn’t be truer.

Brown eld, a student at Woods Charter, puts in the miles as a competitive kart racer who’s been making a name for himself around the country. Sporting the No. 26, his favorite number, he competes locally at Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville, and he’s raced at national events held in Char -

lotte Motor Speedway, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Earlier this summer, Browneld won his rst national heat at the 2025 Cup Karts North America Summer Nationals in Cincinnati amongst some of the best racers in the country. He edged out Drew Schneider by .014 seconds at the nish line, and in the nal race, he nished fth (third on the track) after a penalty.

Throughout this year, he’s racked up more wins at Atlanta Motorsports Park, Carolina Motorsports Park and Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia.

“When I get the wins, it makes me feel really good because I know that a lot of my hard work has paid o ,” Brown eld said.

The grind from Chatham County to the other parts of the country started with a Christmas present four years ago.

“When I was 5, for Christmas, Dad got me my kart,” Brown eld said. “I was just like, ‘Let’s try it out,’ and when we did, I really liked it.”

Brown eld, a fan of Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton with dreams of driving race cars around the world, unknowingly took his kart exactly where he needed to go. He went to Trackhouse Motorplex, the closest track to his home, just to test it out.

“We didn’t know it at the time, but it’s also the hardest club race series in the country in terms of the competition,” Sam Brown eld, Miles’ father

Dave Doeren speaks at the 2025 ACC Kicko on July 24.

“When I get the wins, it makes me feel really good because I know that a lot of my hard work has paid o .” Miles Brown eld

said. “So we kind of jumped right into the deep end on that.”

Brown eld spent much of his rst year in the sport practicing his skills and getting up to speed.

“For the rst year, we were doing kid kart, which is restricted power, and they only go about 36 miles an hour,”

Sam Brown eld said. “And

then when he was 7, we started doing cadet kart, which is the next step up, where they get up to about 60 miles an hour, and that’s when it kind of got real.”

As he moved into the next level, Brown eld found a coach in Dalton Hanes, a kart racer who won an IAME Grand National Championship in 2023. The connection started when Miles’ mother, Kathryn, crossed paths with Hanes’ mom in the Trackhouse lobby and found out Hanes was starting to give lessons.

“Ever since then, Miles has been working with him as much as we can because every time Miles works with Dalton,

KART, page B2

Volleyball schedules out for high school teams

Chatham County teams will begin play Aug. 12

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

THE NORTH CAROLINA High School

Athletic Association volleyball season is set to begin Aug. 11. Here are the schedules for the local teams taking the court this fall.

Seaforth

Doeren speaks on Ritchey, Mann at ACC Kicko

The former Chargers will team up for the Wolfpack this fall

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

CHARLOTTE — In the midst of countless questions about his team and its 2025 expectations at ACC Kicko last week, NC State coach Dave Doeren made time for a couple of local guys.

Former Northwood standouts Gus Ritchey and Jake Mann will run with the Wolfpack this fall. Ritchey is entering his freshman season as a tight end, and Mann, a redshirt senior, is returning as a long snapper. When asked about his rst impressions of Ritchey, Doeren praised his work ethic.

“We’re excited Gus is in the program,” Doeren said. “He’s a young guy that’s developing. He works hard. Has a great at-

titude. Very high-spirited kid that’s going to keep getting better.”

Ritchey joins six other tight ends on the NC State roster, and he and Preston Douglas are the only two true freshmen in the position group. He’ll follow the lead of returning starter Justin Joly, who had 43 receptions for 661 yards and four touchdowns in 2024.

Joly said Ritchey’s versatility

Aug. 12 at Apex Friendship; Aug. 13 vs. Northwood; Aug. 20 —at Northwood; Aug. 23 vs. Cleveland; Aug. 26 at Carrboro*; Aug. 27 at Chapel Hill; Aug. 28 at Cedar Ridge*; Sept. 2 at Durham School of the Arts*; Sept. 3 vs. Ayden-Grifton; Sept. 4 vs. Cardinal Gibbons; Sept. 9 vs. J.F. Webb*; Sept. 11 at South Granville*; Sept. 16 at Orange*; Sept. 17 at Green Level; Sept. 18 vs. Carrboro*; Sept. 23 vs. Cedar Ridge*; Sept. 25 at Durham School of the Arts*; Sept. 29 vs. Union Pines; Oct. 2 — at J.F. Webb*; Oct. 7 vs. South Granville*; Oct. 9 vs. Orange* Northwood

Aug. 12 at Union Pines; Aug. 13 at Seaforth; Aug. 14 at Lee County; Aug. 18 vs. Southern Lee; Aug. 20 vs. Seaforth; Aug. 21 vs. Lee County; Aug. 25 vs. Durham School of the Arts; Aug. 27 at Southeast Alamance; Sept. 3 vs. Southeast Alamance; Sept. 9 vs. Eastern Randolph8; Sept. 11 at Jordan-Matthews*; Sept. 16 at North Moore*; Sept. 18 at Southwestern Randolph*; Sept. 23 vs. Uwharrie Charter*; Sept. 25 at Eastern Randolph*; Sept. 30 — vs. Jordan-Matthews*; Oct. 2 vs. North Moore*; Oct. 7 vs. Southwestern

VOLLEYBALL, page B3 See ACC, page B4

COURTESY SAM BROWNFIELD

Nine-year-old

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Carson Jackson

Chatham Central, baseball

Chatham Central’s Carson Jackson earns athlete of the week honors for the week of July 21.

Jackson played for Chatham County’s Colt 16U East Zone Championship team last week. In a 12-6 loss to Greensboro White, Jackson had the best day at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two runs and a walk.

Jackson is entering his junior year at Chatham Central. Last season, he saw signi cant varsity action for the rst time and recorded 14 hits, 10 runs and nine RBIs. On the mound, he made seven appearances, striking out 12 batters and walking 24.

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he gets faster,” Sam Brown eld said. “He’s a great coach and a great guy.”

Brown eld’s training and preparation for races takes a lot of forms. Sometimes he’s on the track, working to improve his tendency to overdrive, or he and his team look at data to nd ways to change driving styles.

Other times, he’s racing against British adults on an at-home race car simulator as a challenge and a way to get some racecar experience before he makes it big.

“It helps me with not overdriving, and the long races help build endurance,” Brown eld said.

Another key factor to being successful in racing is branding and money. With the main-

Laros, Harrington both receive preseason all-conference honors

The former Chargers are looking to make big plays this fall

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL season is a month away, which means preseason awards are rolling in for local players.

Former Northwood linebacker Brendan Harrington was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt First Team defense, and former Northwood punter Aidan Laros earned a nod to preseason All-SEC Third Team.

Harrington, a seventh-year newcomer at Georgia Southern, earned preseason all-conference awards from the league for the second time in his career. He has two postseason All-Sun Belt honorable mention selections in his six seasons at App State. In 2024, Harrington had one of his best seasons with a career-high 66 tackles, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

Wearing No. 2 this season, Harrington will make his debut with the Eagles at Fresno State on Aug. 30 at 9:30 p.m.

Laros, entering his senior season at Kentucky, was selected to the preseason All-SEC team for the rst time after joining the Wildcats in 2024. Last season, Laros had 49 kicko s for 3,064 yards and 32 touchbacks. He was the primary punter in the last nine games of the season, and he recorded 1,453 yards, three touchbacks, 10 fair catches and a 45.4-yard average on 32 punts.

Prior to Kentucky, Laros was a standout specialist at UT Martin in the 2023 season. That year, he was named the Big South-OVC Football Association Special Teams Player of the Year after leading the FCS with an average of 47.3 yards per punt.

Before UT Martin, Laros spent the rst two seasons of his college career at Charlotte. He

tenance of gear, the kart and travel, racing can be expensive.

Brown eld has built quite the following on Instagram with more than 5,000 followers, and he’s picked up sponsorships from various business such as The Pig, Lady Edison Country Ham, Rocket Wraps and Tints, Nextzett USA and Rocky River Hemp.

“Heart goes a long way, but it won’t help you beat money,”

Kentucky punter Aidan Laros (48) warms up during halftime of a game against Florida last season. The Northwood grad earned a spot on the All-SEC team this preseason.

45.4

Yards per punt for Laros in 2024

redshirted his freshman season in 2021, and he handled all the 49ers’ kicko duties in 2022. Earlier this month, Laros used a “Happy Gilmore” reference to poke fun at his tough-

Sam Brown eld said. “So we’re always kind of trying to gure out new partnerships, how to grow the program. So we’ve been focused on social media in a lot of ways.”

Brown eld doesn’t often have as much funding as the other teams, especially in the national races, but he still competes like it.

He also keeps those who have helped him along the way

ness rating of zero on EA Sports College Football 26. In a video posted to Kentucky football’s social media accounts, the punter lined up in front of the jugs machine and took footballs to his chest.

When a teammate asked what he’s doing he responded, “364 days until next year’s college video game. Got to toughen up.” Laros will put his toughness to the test when Kentucky opens the season at home against Toledo on Aug. 30 at 12:45 p.m.

in mind. His dream to become a worldwide racecar driver isn’t just for him — Brown eld said it’s “our” goal in reference to him and his dad. His name isn’t Miles because of racing, but it ts him anyway.

“His mom came up with the name Miles, and I thought it was a pretty awesome name because it means gentle — gentle warrior,” Sam Brown eld said.

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

KART

GARY MCCULLOUGH / AP PHOTO

Brown named East-West All-Star Game head coach

The Chargers’ coach will lead the East next summer

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

NORTHWOOD BOYS ’ basketball coach Matt Brown will coach more than just his Chargers next year.

Brown was named the head coach of the East for the 2026 men’s basketball North Carolina East-West All-Star Game, per a release by the N.C. Coaches Association on Monday. The three-time state runner-up will have Southern School of Energy and Sustainability coach Greg Motley by his side. Eastern Guilford coach Joe Spinks will lead the West team with Lavar Batts of Jay M. Robinson as his assistant.

The game will take place on

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Randolph*; Oct. 9 at Uwharrie Charter*

Jordan-Matthews

Aug. 12 at Asheboro; Aug. 13 at Chatham Central; Aug. 18 at Wheatmore; Aug. 19 vs. Providence Grove; Aug. 21 vs. Chatham Central; Aug. 25 vs. Phoenix Academy; Aug. 27 at Providence Grove; Aug. 28 vs. Asheboro; Sept. 3 at Union Pines; Sept. 4 vs. East Davidson; Sept. 8 at Phoenix Academy; Sept. 9 at North Moore*; Sept. 11 at Northwood*; Sept. 16 vs. Southwestern Randolph*; Sept. 17 at Southern Lee; Sept. 18 at Uwharrie Charter*; Sept. 23 vs. Eastern Randolph*; Sept. 25 vs. North Moore*; Sept. 30 vs. Northwood*; Oct. 2 at Southwestern Randolph*; Oct. 6 vs. Southern Lee; Oct. 7 vs. Uwharrie Charter*; Oct. 9 at Eastern Randolph*

Chatham Central

Aug. 12 vs. Western Harnett; Aug. 13 vs. Jordan-Matthews; Aug. 14 at Eastern Randolph; Aug. 18 vs. Eastern Randolph; Aug. 20 at Lee County; Aug. 21 at Jordan-Matthews; Aug. 25 at North Stokes*; Aug. 27 vs. Lee County; Aug. 28 at Wheatmore; Sept. 2 at Carolina Prep and Leadership Academy*; Sept. vs. Wheatmore; Sept. 9 at South Stokes*; Sept. 11 vs.

Wins for the Chargers in their 2024-25 campaign

July 20, 2026, at the Novant Health Field House in Greensboro. The men will tip o at 8:30 p.m. Brown is coming o his winningest season as Northwood’s coach. In the winter, the Chargers went 30-3 overall and 16-0 in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference (62 straight regular season conference wins dating back to 2021) with a state title appearance. Northwood won 26 games by a double-digit margin, including four victories by at

South Davidson*; Sept. 16 vs. Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy*; Sept. 17 at Western Harnett; Sept. 18 vs. North Stokes*; Sept. 22 vs. Bishop McGuinness*; Sept. 24 vs. North Moore; Sept. 25 vs. Carolina Prep and Leadership Academy*; Sept. 30 at Bishop McGuinness*; Oct. 2 vs. South Stokes*; Oct. 6 at North Moore; Oct. 7 at South Davidson*; Oct. 9 at Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy*

Woods Charter

Aug. 13 at Oxford Prep; Aug. 15 vs. Raleigh Charter; Aug. 18 vs. Cary Academy; Aug. 19 vs. River Mill*; Aug. 21 at Chatham Charter*; Aug. 25 vs. Eno River Academy; Aug. 28 at Ascend Leadership*; Sept. 2 vs Leadership Academy; Sept. 4 at Central Carolina Academy*; Sept. 9 vs. Clover Garden School*; Sept. 11 at Southern Wake Academy*; Sept. 15 at Burlington Christian Academy; Sept. 18 vs. Chatham Charter*; Sept. 19 at River Mill*; Sept. 22 at Leadership Academy; Sept. 25 vs. Ascend Leadership*; Sept. 26 vs. Southern Wake Academy*; Sept. 30 vs. Central Carolina Academy*; Oct. 1 at Clover Garden School*; Oct. 8 vs East Wake Academy

Chatham Charter

Aug. 12 vs. North Moore; Aug. 14 vs. Providence Grove; Aug. 15 at Research Trian-

least 15 points in the playo s.

Brown took over the program in 2017 after the Chargers won eight games the year prior. After a 9-16 campaign in his rst season, Brown led Northwood to a 19-10 record and the playo s in his second year. From that point, the Chargers have yet to lose more than four games in a season nor miss the playo s. In Brown’s third season, Northwood made a regional nal appearance, and it went on to make the state championship in 2021 and 2023.

Over the years, Brown has coached several Division I players, including Drake Powell (now a Brooklyn Net), Max Frazier (Central Connecticut), Kenan Parrish (Harvard), Fred Whitaker Jr. (ETSU) and Jarin Stevenson (UNC) when he was a freshman.

Seaforth and Chatham Central face o in a conference match in

in di erent conferences this season.

gle; Aug. 18 vs. Phoenix Academy; Aug. 19 at North Moore; Aug. 21 vs. Woods Charter*; Aug. 26 vs. Central Carolina Academy*; Aug. 28 at Providence Grove; Sept. 2 vs. Clover Garden School*; Sept. 4 at

Southern Wake Academy*; Sept. 9 at River Mill*; Sept. 11 at Ascend Leadership*; Sept. 15 at Phoenix Academy; Sept. 17 vs. Eastern Randolph; Sept. 18 at Woods Charter*; Sept. 23 vs. Central Carolina Acade -

my*; Sept. 25 at Clover Garden School*; Sept. 26 at Bethany Community School; Sept. 30 vs. Southern Wake Academy*; Oct. 2 vs. River Mill*; Oct. 6 at Eastern Randolph; Oct. 7 vs. Ascend Leadership*

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Matt Brown looks on as his team battles SouthWest Edgecombe in a 2025 playo game.

VOLLEYBALL

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

2024. The two schools will be

Suzuki, Sabathia join Hall of Fame

The Japanese star and longtime ace are part of the ve-man class of 2025

By Mark Frank The Associated Press

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. —

Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19-year Major League Baseball career. For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much.

“Of course, I’m nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the eld, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,” Suzuki said through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement.

Suzuki is the rst Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He was joined by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen were honored posthumously.

Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball

“This is the place where I’d come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again.”

Ichiro

Suzuki on Cooperstown

Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%.

Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outelder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami.

He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with a season-record 262 hits in 2004.

Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is di erent.

“I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts,” he said.

“This time around, though, I didn’t come to have one purpose to see something. I just want-

ed to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That’s the di erence this time around.

“This is the place where I’d come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again.”

For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY.

A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia “thought I wanted to be close to home,” but his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers.

“My wife was the one that said ‘You’re trying to do all these different things, gure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That’s the one place they try to win every single year.’ When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,” Sabathia said.

“And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yankees. He passed

Wallace becomes rst black driver to win major race on Indianapolis’ oval

Ty Gibbs clinched the In-Season Challenge

By Michael Marot The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his sts, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory.

He deserved every minute of it.

The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the rst black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval. No black driver has won the Indianapolis 500 or Formula 1 raced on the track’s road course.

“This one’s really cool,” Wal-

ACC from page B1

and play making ability has stood out this o season.

“He made some good catches,” Joly said. “He’s got some hands.”

Said Joly, “Gus has been doing good. Sometimes, I’ve got to get on his back just because I love him. I want him to succeed.”

Ritchey rose as a highly touted recruit at Northwood and played his senior season at Cary. At 6 feet, 2 inches, Ritchey played both sides of the ball, causing trouble to opposing secondaries as well as opposing back elds as a defensive end.

On the o ensive side, Ritchey had 104 receptions for 2,100 yards and 22 touchdowns. As a defensive end, he totaled 255 tackles, 28 sacks, 75 tackles for loss and nine forced fumbles.

During his recruitment, Ritchey received other offers from schools across multiple power conferences, notably Georgia, Oregon, Miami, Notre Dame and Michigan, to name a few. He initially committed to UNC in August 2023, but weeks later, he ipped to the Wolfpack.

“He’s a great t here,” NC State football coach Dave Doeren said about Ritchey after signing day. “I always felt when I rst got to know Gus that this was the right school for him.

lace said. “Coming o Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.” His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace’s rst win in the series’ four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100-race win-

“He’s got some hands.”

Justin Joly on Gus Ritchey

You could tell he’s a tough, blue-collar guy. He loves contact. He’s physical. He’s been at every game we’ve played for two years. Getting around his family, it’s a great t.”

Doeren also spoke on Mann at ACC Kicko , saying he “looks forward to having him back.”

Mann, a 2021 graduate of Northwood, served as the long snapper for punts in every game last fall, and he took over as the snapper for eld goals and PATs against Cal. He’ll once again contribute a veteran presence on special teams this fall.

While at Northwood, Mann played both football and lacrosse. He was ranked the No. 1 long snapper in his class by ESPN and Kohl’s.

Mann began his college career at Oklahoma, where he redshirted and saw action in one game.

He then transferred to App State and made an immediate impact. In 2022, Mann snapped every punt and kick in all 12 of the Mountaineers’ games. The following season, Mann didn’t see any action and transferred again to NC State ahead of last fall.

less streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playo spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021.

The nal gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced.

Larson cut a 5.057-second de cit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow ag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to

a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy.

“The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Are we going? Are we not?’” he said. “I will say, I leaned more towards, ‘I know we’re going to go back racing. Be ready. Don’t get complacent here.’”

Wallace made sure of it.

He beat Larson through the second turn on the rst restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to nish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel.

In Wallace’s mind, there was no choice.

“The rst thing that went through my mind was, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “But then I said, ‘I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.’ Here we are.”

He beat Larson o the restart again and pulled away, pre-

away when I was 23, so he wasn’t there to tell me it was OK if I failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.”

Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees.

venting Larson from becoming the race’s fourth back-to-back winner.

The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session.

On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status.

“Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs, and I was telling myself, ‘You won’t be able to do it,’” Wallace said. “Once I’d seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year, and he’s arguably the best in the eld. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.”

The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs nished 21st to win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize.

GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Gus Ritchey (19) makes an athletic grab during a game against Cummings in 2023.

SETH WENIG / AP PHOTO

Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki speaks to reporters during a news conference in Cooperstown.

DARRON CUMMINGS / AP PHOTO

Bubba Wallace kisses the “Yard of Bricks” after winning Sunday’s Brickyard 400.

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA BASKETBALL

Kansas basketball

coach Self released from hospital after heart procedure

Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas basketball coach

Bill Self was released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, two days after having two stents inserted to treat blocked arteries. “I feel strong and am excited to be home,” Self said. The 62-year-old felt ill after having run Kansas’ nal practice of its summer session. He missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA tournaments because of a heart condition, getting a standard catheterization and having two stents inserted to help treat blocked arteries. Self led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022, and he is the school’s career victory leader.

MLS

MLS suspension of Messi, Alba “draconian,” Inter Miami owner says Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The owner of Inter Miami called Major League Soccer’s suspension of Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for skipping the All-Star Game a “draconian” punishment. Owner Jorge Mas said Messi and Alba don’t understand the one-game suspensions. They did not suit up for the match between the MLS and Liga MX of Mexico despite being voted to the game. Messi wanted to rest amid a packed schedule, and Alba was dealing with a previous injury. Mas said the club made the decision for Messi and Alba to sit out of the All- Star Game.

SWIMMING

American team battles case of “acute gastroenteritis,” a ecting performance

Singapore The United States team at the swimming world championships in Singapore is battling a case of “acute gastroenteritis” that compromised performances on the opening day of eight days of competition in the pool. Nikki Warner, the spokeswoman for USA Swimming, con rmed the outbreak and said it had its roots at a training camp the American team held in Phuket, Thailand, before arriving in Singapore. She said all American swimmers had traveled to Singapore. Warner declined to say how many had been a ected above the three that are known.

MLB Orioles, Rockies keep playing after fans evacuated seats

Baltimore The Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies played through rain even after fans were told to move due to potential lightning. The game at Camden Yards continued because the decision to clear fans and the decision to pause the game are made by di erent authorities. The umpires didn’t see lightning close enough to stop play. Fans were moved around the sixth inning but could return by the end of the seventh.

Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino praised the decision to prioritize fan safety. The game was never delayed.

5 new coaches readying for rst time leading NFL team in 2025

Each longtime assistant faces distinct challenges

By Dennis Waszak Jr. The Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. —

Aaron Glenn has been mapping out exactly how he wants to lead an NFL team for a few

years.

Before he was hired as the New York Jets’ head coach in January, Glenn spent four seasons as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator and was empowered by coach Dan Campbell to make some crucial calls for the team o the eld.

“He allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position,” Glenn said.

Glenn is one of ve rst-time head coaches in the league. All ve are longtime assistants who now each face distinct challenges and must balance the responsibilities of managing an entire roster and sta .

Aaron Glenn, Jets

Background: Jets’ rstround pick (No. 12 overall) in 1994 out of Texas A&M. Played 15 seasons in the NFL, then served as the general manager of the Houston Stallions of the indoor Texas Lone Star Football League in 2012. He had stints as an assistant with Cleveland, New Orleans and Detroit. Task: He and new GM Darren Mougey focused on making the Jets’ roster younger. Glenn, who considers his former coach Bill Parcells a mentor, spoke often during the oseason about changing the Jets’ culture. Ending their long postseason drought will help and there’s key foundational talent, but the youth movement could temper some rst-year expectations.

Liam Coen, Jaguars

Background: Played quarterback at UMass. Spent last

season as Tampa Bay’s o ensive coordinator before being hired by Jacksonville in January to replace the red Doug Pederson. Coen had two stints with the Los Angeles Rams, including serving as Sean McVay’s o ensive coordinator in 2022.

Task: Coen was hired for his o ensive prowess after he helped Baker May eld to the best season of his career with the Buccaneers. Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, has not yet fully lived up to expectations, and that will be the focus for Coen.

Ben Johnson, Bears

Background: A former backup QB at UNC, Johnson was Detroit’s o ensive coordinator the past three years and helped Jared Go and the Lions lead the league in scoring.

Task: The Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year, and Chicago is hoping Johnson will be

“He allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position.”

Jets coach Aaron Glenn

able to develop the quarterback into a playmaking star. Getting Williams to get rid of the ball faster and improve on his accuracy should help.

Kellen Moore, Saints

Background: A former backup quarterback with Detroit and Dallas over six NFL seasons, Moore was long considered a head coaching candidate during his stops as an offensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Chargers and Eagles. In his only season in Philadelphia, he guided a high-scoring o ense that powered the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Task: Moore doesn’t have the talent-rich roster he had last season. He also isn’t quite sure who his quarterback will be. The o ense has some talent, but the defense needs to improve after allowing the second-most rushing yards.

Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys

Background: The son of the late Marty Schottenheimer was a surprise pick by Jerry Jones. But the younger Schottenheimer has a lengthy resume in both the pros and at the college level, with stints as an o ensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams and Jets among them.

Task: Schottenheimer will need to build a rapport with quarterback Dak Prescott. The coach made some headlines during the o season when he said Prescott is still “in the developmental phase” of his career and the team is tweaking some things with him.

Jones, Richardson begin competition to be Colts QB1

The former Duke and Giants passer looks to start in the NFL again

By Michael Marot

The Associated Press

WESTFIELD, Ind. — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson insists he’s healthy.

Daniel Jones embraces the chance to compete for a starting job. And coach Shane Steichen has a broad outline of how he intends to split the snaps over the next several weeks, with no timetable to make a decision, as the competition began in earnest at Indy’s training camp.

“And just with the way the reps are going to play out, those guys are going to get the same amount of reps . We’ll ip both to get reps with the ones every day,” Steichen said. It’s the second time in Steichen’s three years with the Colts he’s presided over a quarterback competition. The rst ended after one preseason game in 2023 with Steichen selecting Richardson, then a rookie, the starter over Gardner Minshew. In addition to splitting snaps with the starters at practice, general manager Chris Ballard said he wants to see both quarterbacks in action against other teams. It remains to be seen if the scheduled joint practices against Baltimore and Green Bay can provide enough information to produce a decision or whether Richardson and Jones may play in the less controlled environment of preseason games. If rst impressions suggest anything, there wasn’t much di erence on the eld.

Each struggled against Indy’s defense, which knocked away multiple passes thrown by both in 11-on-11 drills. Jones also threw an interception on what he described as a “bad decision” before throwing a pretty completion on a long ball to Anthony Gould near the end of practice.

“I think like any Day 1, there was some good, some bad,” Jones said. “There are always things to clean up. We’ll look back at the tape and then improve on it, but I thought for Day 1, we did a lot of things that you look for on Day 1.”

Jones has been around long enough to understand expectations.

The New York Giants made him the No. 6 overall draft pick out of Duke in 2019. He became the starter in Week 3 of his rookie season and, after struggling for three years, led the Giants to the playo s in 2022. New York rewarded Jones with a four-year, $160 million con-

tract, but Jones made only six starts in 2023 and threw eight TD passes and seven interceptions last season before he was released by New York and signed by Minnesota.

Now he’s back, looking to start again.

“There’s so much work to do, especially for me — learning the system, getting to know the guys, learning communication with the coaches,” Jones said. “It’s a long process. There’s a lot of work ahead of us, but kind of the way you go about it is focusing on that day, that practice, that meeting or whatever at the moment.”

Richardson’s injury history, meanwhile, has limited him to just 15 starts over the past two seasons, and he missed the team’s nal minicamp practice because of a sore throwing shoulder.

He also acknowledged he did not throw to his teammates when they worked out in California this summer.

“I had surgery a year and a half ago, so I’ve been dealing with on and o soreness with that,” Richardson said, noting he thought it was just a normal part of the recovery process.

“But it was something else, and I wouldn’t necessarily worry about it. I was just trying to do what I could do to help the team.” Richardson also has struggled with accuracy, completing just 50.6% of his throws, including 47.7% last season when he had the lowest completion rate of any regular starter in the league.

Richardson pronounced himself healthy and ready to win yet another quarterback competition.

“Everybody wants success like right here, right now,” he said. “There were de nitely things I could have worked on last year, so I’m trying to improve on that and make sure I’m just available for the team whenever they need me.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks Daniel Jones, left, and Anthony Richardson Sr. throw during practice at training camp.

DAVID BANKS / AP PHOTO

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson talks to the media before practice during training camp.

Indiana Jones whip snaps up $525K at auction

Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” went for $32.5 million last year

By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A

whip wielded by Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” that once belonged to Princess Diana has sold at auction for $525,000.

Last Thursday’s sale came a day after the Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane” went for a staggering $14.75 million, making it one of the priciest props in movie history.

They were part of the Summer Entertainment Auction being held all week by Heritage Auctions.

Heritage says the overall take has made it the second-highest grossing entertainment auction of all time, and there’s still a day to go.

Yet to be up for bids are Macaulay Culkin’s knit snow cap from “Home Alone,” a Kurt Russell revolver from “Wyatt Earp,” a pair of “Hattori Hanzo” prop swords from “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and a rst edition set of Harry Potter novels signed by J.K. Rowling.

“The bullwhip is the iconic symbol of an iconic character of cinema history, Indiana Jones, and has been a highlight of this auction.”

Joe Maddalena, Heritage Auctions VP

The whip sold last Thursday was used during the Holy Grail trials that Ford’s character goes through at the climax of 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Ford gave it to then-Prince Charles at the lm’s U.K. premiere. It was given as a gift to Princess Diana, who gave it to the current owner, who was not identi ed. The buyer also was not identi ed.

“The bullwhip is the iconic symbol of an iconic character of cinema history, Indiana Jones, and has been a highlight of this auction,” Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The $525,000 price includes the “buyer’s premium” attached to all auction items for the house that sells it.

Heritage said the nearly $15 million bid for the Rosebud sled puts it second only to the $32.5 million that Judy Gar-

land’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched in December. Neither of those buyers were identi ed either.

The sled was sold by longtime owner Joe Dante, director of lms including “Gremlins.”

“Rosebud” is the last word spoken by the title character in director Orson Welles’ 1941 lm “Citizen Kane,” and the hunt for its meaning provides the lm’s plot. Many critics have regarded it as the best lm ever made.

Long thought lost, the sled is one of three of the props known to have survived. Dante stumbled on it when he was lming on the former RKO Pictures lot in 1984. He wasn’t a collector but knew the value of the sled and quietly preserved it for decades, putting it as an Easter egg into four of his own lms.

Dante’s friend and mentor Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 for another of the sleds in 1982, and an anonymous buyer paid $233,000 for the third in 1996.

The whip wielded by Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was sold at auction for $525,000.

HERITAGE AUCTIONS VIA AP

this week in history

MTV debuts, Jesse Owens takes Berlin Olympics, U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima

The Associated Press JULY 31

1715: A eet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank during a hurricane o the east Florida coast.

1777: The 19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette received a commission as major general in the Continental Army.

2012: At the London Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps won his 19th medal, becoming the most decorated Olympian in history.

AUG. 1

1876: Colorado was admitted as the 38th state in the Union.

1936: Adolf Hitler presided over the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Berlin.

1966: Charles Whitman, 25, killed 14 people in a shooting spree from the University of Texas clock tower in Austin.

1981: MTV launched its U.S. broadcast, debuting with “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.

AUG. 2

1921: A jury in Chicago acquitted seven former members of the Chicago White Sox baseball team and two others of conspiring to defraud the public in the notorious “Black Sox” scandal.

1790: The rst United States Census began under the supervision of Thomas Jefferson.

1876: Frontiersman “Wild Bill” Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, by Jack McCall.

AUG. 3

1492: Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on his rst voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.

1916: Irish-born British diplomat Roger Casement, a strong advocate of independence for Ireland, was hanged for treason.

1936: Jesse Owens of the United States won the rst of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.

AUG. 4

1790: President George Washington signed a law au-

AUG. 5

1936: Jesse Owens won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals.

1962: Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home from probable suicide by acute barbiturate poisoning.

1962: South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested for inciting a strike and leaving the country without a passport — marking the start of his 27-year imprisonment.

AUG. 6

thorizing revenue cutters to enforce tari s and prevent smuggling, laying the foundation for the U.S. Coast Guard.

1944: Fifteen-year-old Anne Frank was arrested with her family and others by the Gestapo after two years in hiding in Amsterdam.

1964: Forty-four days after their murders, the bodies of missing civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were found in Mississippi.

1806: Emperor Francis II abdicated, marking the end of the Holy Roman Empire after nearly a thousand years.

1945: During World War II, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people.

1962: Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom.

1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.

1991: The World Wide Web debuted to the public as a way to access webpages via the Internet.

Pee-wee’s bike is at the Alamo, but not where you think

Actor Paul Ruebens died in 2023 at age 70

By Andrew DeMillo The Associated Press

IT TOOK 40 YEARS, but Pee-wee’s bike is now at the Alamo. Just not the basement.

The Alamo announced last week it had acquired and would display the iconic bike from the 1985 Tim Burton lm, “Pee -wee’s Big Adventure.”

The San Antonio landmark plays a key role in the lm chronicling Pee-wee Herman’s search for his stolen bicycle when a devious fortuneteller tells him the bike is located in the Alamo’s basement. Pee-wee, played by the late Paul Reubens, learns the Alamo doesn’t have a basement, but that hasn’t stopped tourists from tongue-in-cheek inquiries.

“It’s the most common question our guest services team hears is, ‘Where is the basement at the Alamo?’” said Jonathan Huhn, senior communications director for the Alamo Trust, Inc., the nonpro t organization that oversees the Alamo’s operations. “It’s an iconic piece of Alamo pop-culture history.”

The red-and-white bike — or, as Pee-wee calls it in the movie, “the best bike in the whole world” — is adorned with streamers on the handle -

“It’s an iconic piece of Alamo pop-culture history.”

Jonathan Huhn, Alamo Trust, Inc.

bars and a lion emblem at the front. Huhn said it was acquired from an auction in Los Angeles.

The bike will serve as a centerpiece in the Mays Family Legacy Gallery, which examines the Alamo’s cultural impact, part of a new visitor center and museum slated to open in fall 2027. It will join other pop culture items including memorabilia from the 1960 movie about the Alamo that starred John Wayne.

“It’s really a pop culture bridge” that will bring people to learn about the Alamo’s history, Huhn said.

But before then, the bike will go on display for a limited time at the Ralston Family Collections Center. The Alamo also plans to host a free public screening of “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” in Plaza de Valero. More details about dates for the display and the screening will be released later.

Unlike the Alamo, the building where Pee-wee’s bike will eventually be located does have a basement. But, before you ask, that’s not where the bike will be.

solutions

AP PHOTO

Actor Marilyn Monroe, pictured with Joe DiMaggio in 1955, was found dead at her Los Angeles home on Aug. 5, 1962.

THE ALAMO TRUST, INC. VIA AP

Pee-wee Herman’s original stunt bike from the 1985 lm, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” is displayed in San Antonio.

*Must

famous birthdays this week

Blues guitarist Robert Cray is 72, former Tar Heels coach Roy Williams turns 75, lifestyle icon Martha Stewart hits 84

The Associated Press THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

JULY 31

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is 67. Rock musician Bill Berry (R.E.M.) is 67. Jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan is 66. Actor Wesley Snipes is 63. Author J.K. Rowling is 60.

AUG. 1

Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is 75. Blues musician Robert Cray is 72. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 66. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 65.

AUG. 2

Actor Mary-Louise Parker is 61. Filmmaker Kevin Smith is 55. Actor Sam Worthington is 49. Actor Edward Furlong is 48.

AUG. 3

Actor Martin Sheen is 85. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 84. Film director John Landis is 75. Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady is 48. AUG. 4

Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is 76. Actor-screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 70. Former President Barack Obama is 64.

AUG. 5

Actor-singer Maureen McCormick is 69. Author David Baldacci is 65. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing is 63. Director-screenwriter James Gunn is 59.

AUG. 6

Actor Michelle Yeoh is 63. Basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson is 60. Movie writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is 55. Actor Soleil Moon Frye is 49.

JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP PHOTO

Former President Barack Obama turns 64 on Monday.

RICHARD SHIRO / AP PHOTO

Former UNC basketball coach Roy Williams turns 75 on Friday.

EVAN AGOSTINI / INVISION / AP PHOTO Martha Stewart attends the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art in 2023. The lifestyle guru turns 84 on Sunday.

the stream

Reneé Rapp,

‘The

Phoenician Scheme,’ Elvis’ rarities, Anthony Mackie and Jason Momoa

Criterion Channel series spotlights ’90s lms with unforgettable soundtracks

By Jocelyn Noveck

The Associated Press

BENICIO DEL TORO starring in Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and Reneé Rapp’s second studio album are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: Jason Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+, there’s a coxy Hobbit video game in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, and “Project Runway” tries out a new network home for its 21st season.

MOVIES TO STREAM

Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” (streaming now on Peacock) stars Del Toro as Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda, a wealthy and unscrupulous European industrialist. After the latest assassination attempt on his life, he decides to leave his estate to one of his many children, Lisel (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate. Michael Cera co-stars as a Norwegian insect expect named Bjørn. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the lm nds Anderson “becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

The Net ix romance “My Oxford Year” (streaming Friday) follows a young American student named Anna (So a Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University. Corey Mylchreest co-stars as a local love interest in the lm directed by Iain Morris.

Movie soundtracks once played so much more of a role in popular culture. A new series on the Criterion Channel collects some of the lms from the soundtrack’s heyday, the 1990s, when songs from movies like “Trainspotting” (1996) and “Singles” (1992) dominated the airwaves and MTV. Also running this month on Criterion are “Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997), “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (1993) and “Judgement Night” (1993).

MUSIC TO STREAM

The King of Rock ’n’ Roll has returned. On Friday, to celebrate what would’ve been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday year, a massive collection of 89 rarities will

So a Carson appears in a scene from the lm “My Oxford Year.”

“The Phoenician Scheme nds Anderson becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

Jocelyn Noveck, AP Film Writer

be released as a ve-disc CD boxset — and on all digital platforms. Titled “Sunset Boulevard,” the series pulls from Presley’s 1970-75 Los Angeles recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s studios. There is no greater gift for the Elvis a cionado. Rapp will release her second studio album on Friday, the appropriately titled “Bite Me.” The 12-track release is imbued with Rapp’s edgy, lighthearted spirit — catchy R&B-pop songs about bad breakups and good hook-

ups abound. It’ll put some pep in your step.

SERIES TO STREAM

“Project Runway” has had quite a life since it debuted in 2004 on Bravo. After its rst six seasons, the competition show is about fashion design moved to Lifetime for 11 seasons, then back to Bravo for a few years, and its new home for season 21 is Freeform. Christian Siriano — who won the show’s fourth season — is an executive producer, mentor and judge. He joins “Project Runway” OG host Heidi Klum, celebrity stylist extraordinaire Law Roach and fashion editor Nina Garcia. It premieres Thursday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.

Comedian Leanne Morgan stars in her own multicam sit-

com for Net ix called “Leanne,” debuting Thursday. Inspired by her own stand-up, Morgan plays a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman after more than three decades of marriage. Morgan stars alongside sitcom vets Kristen Johnston and Tim Daly. Anthony Mackie’s “Twisted Metal” is back on Peacock for a second season beginning Thursday. The show is adapted from a popular video game franchise and picks up about seven months after the events of season one. Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+ on Friday. Set in the late 18th century, Momoa plays Kauai, a nobleman and warrior, who plays a major part in the uni cation of the Hawaiian Islands. The series is based on true events

and is told from an Indigenous point- of-view.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Games set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth usually want to drag us back to Mount Doom for another confrontation with the Dark Lord. But what if you’re a Hobbit who just wants to hang out with your friends in your peaceful village? That’s your mission in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. It’s a cozy sim from Weta Workshop, the company behind the special e ects in Peter Jackson’s lms. You can grow a garden, go shing, trade with your neighbors and — most important for a Hobbit — cook and eat. It’s about as far from Mordor as it gets, and you can start decorating your own Hobbit Hole now on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

Te Kohe Tuhaka, from left, Jason Momoa and Siua Ikale’o star in the series “Chief of War.”

CHRIS BAKER / NETFLIX VIA AP

Duplin Journal

7 arrested during saturation patrols

Duplin County Seven individuals were arrested during a targeted saturation patrol operation conducted on July 24 by the Duplin County Sheri ’s O ce in the northern part of the county. Deputies stopped 47 vehicles, issuing 27 citations, one written warning, and more than 25 verbal warnings. Saturation patrols are commonly used to address concerns such as impaired driving, drug activity and tra c violations. The operation was part of a proactive strategy to increase law enforcement visibility and deter criminal activity.

Women’s Care open house set for July 31

Kenansville

ECU Health Women’s Care is holding an open house July 31 from 5:30-7 p.m. to celebrate the opening of its new, larger clinic located at 750 S. Kenansville Bypass in Kenansville. Guests can meet the care team, tour the facility and learn about available women’s health services. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, call 910 -296 -2815.

Teen Court seeks volunteers

Kenansville

Duplin County Teen Court is looking for volunteer ambassadors to support its peer-led justice program while building leadership, communication and critical thinking skills. For more information, call 910-275- 0003 or email teencourt@mceconline.org.

Blood drive at ECU Health Duplin Hospital

Kenansville

ECU Health Duplin Hospital will host its next blood drive on Aug. 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the hospital grounds at 401 N. Main St. in Kenansville.

Wallace Parks launches Co ee and Community program

Wallace Wallace Parks and Recreation will kick o a new Co ee and Community program Friday, Aug. 8 for adults at the Clement Park Community Center. The initiative is designed to combat loneliness and help build connections among adults who may feel isolated or lack a strong support system. With nearly 45% of Duplin County residents aged 45 and older, the program responds to a growing need for social engagement. Enjoy a cup of co ee or tea, meet your neighbors, and take part in activities like puzzles, card games, adult coloring, arts and crafts, and more. For more information, contact Kate at 910-285-2905.

$2.00

Wallace Police train for real-world threats

A Wallace police o cer confronts an “armed” intruder during active threat training at Wallace Elementary School, last week. Live-action drills teach o cers to act quickly and decisively when lives are on the line. Turn to A6 to read the story.

Dixon announces bid for 9th term in state House

The District 4 representative dismissed speculation about his retirement

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

VETERAN LAWMAKER and Duplin County farmer

Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin) has announced his decision to seek reelection to the North Carolina House of Representatives, ending recent speculation about a potential retirement and aiming for a ninth two-year term representing District 4. In an exclusive interview with Duplin Journal, Dixon re ected on his tenure with characteristic humility and humor, acknowledging the personal sacri ces that come with public service, particularly the time spent away from his grandchildren.

“Probably the thing I’m most proud of is that my

See DIXON, page A6

Duplin County Schools superintendent dies

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — Austin

Obasohan, the longtime superintendent of Duplin County Schools (DCS) and a voice for equity and innovation in rural education, died July 24 after serving 15 years at the helm of the district. He was 65.

His leadership reshaped local schools and left a lasting mark on students, educators and the community.

“We are all truly saddened,” said Board of Education Chair Brent Davis, who con rmed the news. “He was such an amazing leader and wonderful person.”

Originally from western Africa, Obasohan brought a global perspective and a strong belief in the power of education to shape lives. During his tenure, DCS underwent several key changes, including the

Duplin Elections Board sworn in

“We want to have fair, true elections that nobody has a question about transparency.”

Ann Henderson

O cials work to verify 900 voter registrations as part of preparations for upcoming elections

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — On July 22, the Duplin County Board of Elections meeting room was a full house for the swearing-in of new and returning board members.

Duplin County Register of Deeds Anita Savage administered the oath of o ce to three returning board members — Ann Henderson of Wallace, Angela Mainor of Warsaw, and Vickie Ezzell of Rose Hill — along with new member Roland Perry of Beulaville. A fourth returning member, Michael Lynch of Wallace, was unable to attend the ceremony and was sworn in later that day by Board of Elections Director Carrie Sullivan.

Henderson was elected as the new chair of the board, replacing Mainor, who will now serve as secretary after many years as chair.

Following the ceremony, board members introduced themselves to those in attendance, with their comments centered on the importance of open and transparent elections.

“We want to have fair, true elections that nobody has a question about transparency,” board chair Henderson said.

“Regardless of who’s in control, quote, unquote, it’s still a bipartisan board,” Ezzell said. “There’s no room in this o ce for partisanship. The voters of the county are our most important priority.” Mainor added, “I look forward to being nonpartisan. I don’t see people as Republicans. I don’t see people as Democrats. I don’t see people

consolidation of schools from 16 to 13. The district adopted the STEAMA framework, which expands the traditional STEM model to include the arts and agriculture.

“This innovative approach not only broadened students’ exposure to diverse career pathways but also connected classroom learning to real-world experiences, especially in a rural, agriculturally rich community like Duplin County,” Duplin County Schools shared in a public statement.

Under Obasohan’s leadership, the district also launched early college high school programs, positioning Duplin County as a national model for expanding access to postsecondary education. Guided by faith and a sense of purpose, he viewed public education

See OBASOHAN, page A2

“As the leader of our school family and a deeply cherished, godly friend, he held a special place in our hearts. His absence will be felt profoundly.” Carol Wimmer

Austin Obasohan guided Duplin County Schools through signi cant growth, challenges and innovation

Austin Obasohan

Rep. Jimmy Dixon

Allison Batts Advertising Representative

Loretta Carey O ce Manager

O ce Phone: 910 463-1240

To place a legal ad: 919 663-3232; Fax: 919 663-4042

CRIME LOG

July 21

• Mark Novak, 44, was arrested by the Duplin County Sheri ’s O ce (DCSO) for possession of a rearm by a felon, possession of marijuana up to half an ounce, and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

July 22

Gilmo E Lainez-Guevara, 27, was arrested by DCSO for assault on a female, communicating threats, driving while impaired, and no operator’s license.

July 23

• Roberto Garza, 50, was arrested by Wallace PD for driving while license revoked (not impaired revocation).

July 24

Matthew Harris, 21, was arrested by DCSO for crime against nature.

• Jack Hernandez, 36, was arrested by DCSO for possessing methamphetamine and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Micheal Brandon Murphy, 48, was arrested by DCSO for obstructing justice and identity theft.

July 25

• Ezekiel Zechariel Williams, 30, was arrested by DCSO for driving while impaired, misdemeanor child abuse, no liability insurance, driving with no vehicle registration, reckless driving to endanger, and modi ed utility vehicle helmet violation.

Frankie Maurice Williams, 49, was arrested by Wallace PD for discharging a weapon into occupied property, possession of a rearm by a felon, going armed to the terror of people, assault with a deadly weapon, and discharging a rearm in city limits.

July 26

• Tawanda Jentilla Smith, 36, was arrested by DCSO for being intoxicated and disruptive and resisting a public o cer.

• Candice Caonia Cline, 37, was arrested by Wallace PD for second-degree trespass and possessing drug paraphernalia.

THURSDAY

SUNDAY AUG. 3

Rotary Club honors late Rotarian with donation to youth sports

The club helped fund football safety equipment in memory of Ken Williams

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

WALLACE — The Wallace Rotary Club presented a check for $1,725 to the Wallace Parks and Recreation Department at its meeting last Wednesday at the Mad Boar. The check was given in memory of a longtime Rotarian, Ken Williams.

“Last year we had a ra e to raise money for equipment for the Wallace Recreation Center,” Wallace Rotary Club president Paul Izzo explained. “It was in honor of one of our former Rotarians who passed away. Ken was an incredible

“It was in honor of one of our former Rotarians who passed away.”

Paul Izzo

Rotarian for over 25 years. We wanted to honor him.”

Izzo said the Wallace Parks and Recreation Department would decide how to spend the money.

Williams’ wife, Joan, was in attendance at the meeting to see the check presented in her husband’s name.

“I’m just so overwhelmed,” she said. “He would be so grateful. He was a wonderful man and loved sports.”

Williams said she and her husband moved to the Wal-

lace area after living in Ohio. Her husband and a longtime friend provided high school football play-by-play in Ohio for 19 years.

David Bizzell, director of the Wallace Parks and Recreation Department, accepted the check.

“It’s great the Rotary shows support for the town and the parks,” Bizzell said, adding the money would go to the football program. “Football is one of the most expensive sports. Helmets and equipment for safety are very expensive. That’s our main concern during football season, keeping everybody safe.”

With football season around the corner, Bizzell said the check presentation was very good timing for the department.

as a calling and a platform to serve children, whom he referred to as “God’s most precious gifts.”

“I believe that God has a master plan for our lives, and I am thankful that He called me to serve in the eld of education,” Obasohan told Duplin Journal in a 2024 special interview.

Throughout his time as superintendent, Obasohan addressed challenges facing the district, including those that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also advocated for strong partnerships between schools and families, and a collaborative approaches to student well-being and achievement.

“His leadership was never one of command but of service, always focused on uplifting and guiding us all,” the Duplin County Board of Education said in a statement. “Through his kindness, wisdom and humility, he touched the lives of each of us, creating an environment where we could all thrive and grow together as ‘One Family.’”

Obasohan consistently advocated for restoring respect to the teaching profession and stressed the importance of recruiting and retaining highly quali ed educators. He pointed

out that teachers often take on multiple roles beyond instruction, including those of mentor, counselor and caregiver.

He began his higher education journey in Nigeria and later continued his studies in England, gaining valuable exposure to international educational systems and philosophies. This experience laid the groundwork for his transition to the United States, where he earned advanced degrees, including a doctorate in educational leadership from Appalachian State University.

Over more than 30 years in public education, he held numerous positions across multiple states, ranging from teacher to superintendent. His impact extended beyond Duplin County, where he received national recognition from Education Week in 2013 and 2022. Despite such accolades, he remained focused on local outcomes, centering his work on the needs of students and the community.

“Dr. Obasohan’s unwavering dedication to the students, sta , and families of Duplin County has left a lasting impact on our school system,” Davis said on behalf of the Board of Education. “His commitment to operational e ectiveness, continuous improvement, and unity has helped

shape a brighter future for our community. We have been so fortunate to have him as our leader and friend for over 15 years.”

“As the leader of our school family and a deeply cherished, godly friend, he held a special place in our hearts,” said Carol Wimmer, DCS chief assistant to the superintendent. “His absence will be felt profoundly,” Wimmer also shared a heartfelt message written by Obasohan prior to his death, re ecting on his years of service and the deep love he had for his students and community.

“It has been a profound blessing and a true honor to serve this district and to provide educational guidance to every precious student that God entrusted to my care, students that I have come to love as if they were my own children,” the letter said. “Over the past 15 years, God has surrounded me with committed board members, dedicated educators, compassionate sta , loyal community partners, men and women of faith, and supportive families. Together, as ‘One Family,’ we have strengthened our schools, broadened opportunities for our students, and faced challenges with unity and resilience. I love you. God bless you all.” Obasohan is survived by his wife and three children.

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

Aug. 1

Paint Party

11 a.m.

Join the Duplin County Library for a colorful morning at Paint Party with Erica Maready happening at the Ed Emory Auditorium. Call 910-296-2117 for more details. 165 Agriculture Drive, Kenansville

Aug. 1

4H EGG-cellent Egg Contest

Don’t miss the 4H EGGcellent Egg Contest. Open to active 4-H members with laying hens, the contest challenges participants to submit up to two sets of eggs judged on uniformity and quality — inside and out. The registration deadline is Aug. 1. To sign up, visit go.ncsu. edu/2025eggcontest. Winners will be announced Sept. 30.

Aug. 2

Backstreet Music Festival 10 a.m.

Get ready to groove at the BackStreet Street Music. The event aims to bring the community together, promote local history and conservation, and raise funds for Tri-County Youth Services. The event will feature live music from the 919 GoGo Band. The event will also feature an Elvis Presley impersonator, dance groups, arts and crafts, vendors and the Queen City Baggers bike show.

208 SW Railroad St., Wallace

Aug. 9

Back-to-School

Community Day

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Get ready for Back-to-School

Community Day on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Duplin Events Center in Kenansville. Duplin County students Pre-K-12 can receive free school supplies while they last. The child must be present. Come rain or shine, enjoy a day packed with free food, games, rides, bouncy houses, crafts and more.

195 Fairgrounds Drive, Kenansville

MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

The Wallace Rotary Club presents a check for $1,725 to the Wallace Parks and Recreation Department in honor of the late Ken Williams. Left to Right: Paul Izzo, Joan Williams, David Bizzell and Paul Espag.

OBASOHAN from page A1

New hangar plans take ight

The Airport Commission approved a $2 million change order for the spec hangar project

By Rebecca Whitman Cooke For Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — The Duplin County Airport Commission meeting last Tuesday night included discussions of a multimillion-dollar project.

After Gage King was welcomed to his rst o cial meeting, Airport Director Joshua Raynor presented a new $2 million change order to the board for approval for the new spec hangar and rehab project. Justin Wright of Daniels and Daniels was present to explain the project.

“These design-to-build projects are built to have transparency,” Wright said. “We are in this business to build a quality product and hopefully move on to do more projects with you knowing you can trust us.”

King probed Wright to clarify the larger line items of the budget, including electrical, plumbing and metal building. The board discussed whether or not lightning protection should be added to the project for $40,000. Lightning is a considerable problem at airports, but protection does not necessarily prevent all damage.

Wright and the board discussed that systems could be retro tted at a later date but will never be cheaper than they are during initial construction. Wright also conrmed that every part of the building will have grounding as part of the already planned construction.

The choice between polished and epoxy ooring was also discussed for the project. Some expressed concern about the longevity of maintenance on epoxy oors, but others praised how it contributed to the all white, clean and bright interiors in the hangars. The board decided to leave the plan as is with epoxy ooring but with a contingency to change to polished oors at a later date if they want to change it.

The location of air conditioning units was also discussed. Once all concerns were addressed, the board voted to approve the change order to release the rest of the construction funding for the spec hangar and rehab project.

Wright clari ed that geo checking is not part of the

Airport Director Joshua Raynor, sitting at the head of the table presented a $2 million change order for the new spec hangar and rehab project, to the board during the July 22 meeting.

budget. Raynor suggested that the best way to use the rehab budget is to replace roofs and insulate all existing hangars to become weatherproof. He suggested letting Daniels and Daniels handle the larger portion of the work will allow them to purchase in bulk, take advantage of discounts and maximize the use of available funding. The board plans to continue discussing how to best use the rehab portion of the project’s funding.

The board then discussed an update on the Connector Taxiway A3 construction. A few lights remain, as well as new larger taxiway designations with updated aviation standard call signage. A change order was needed to allow for $10,000 in additional funding for soil-related changes and updated LED lighting voltage. It was clari ed that the funding was available within the existing grant, so the board approved the change order for the additional taxiway costs.

Raynor gave an update on the Fuel Farm. He said he received an award letter from the Department of Transportation for part of the funding, and he is still waiting on the rest. An update was also given on the apron rehab project. The scope of the work — set to include updating the approach — has been presented to the Department of Aviation. It will then come to the board for approval. Funding for the Apron Rehab project has already been secured.

An update on the runway rejuvenation project was also given. Raynor said the airport still plans to close from Aug. 4-10 but may reopen sooner depending on surface drying time.

Raynor then discussed capital improvement funding.

“The next ve years of projects using federal dollars have to be secured to allocate funding,” Raynor said.

Preapplication forms have to be submitted for each project by Aug. 15. Two of the projects include the taxiway design and a fencing update. State funding will still be pursued for available projects in addition to the federal funding. The board discussed the fact that the Strategic Planning Committee has not met yet. They plan to wait until after the rst of the year to have clarity on what funds are available.

The airport operations dudget was discussed, including $132,000 needed to meet the 10% required match on all the current projects and $41,000 for a new passenger golf cart and leased vehicles.

“The county and a lot of towns are going to leasing vehicles instead of owning them. That’s what we do in Warsaw,” Mayor A.J. Connors explained.

Fuel sales reportedly collected 81% of what was budgeted and overall operations for the month were 319 activities requiring airport services.

Raynor presented an idea to change the entry roundabout. Instead of grass, he suggested a agpole surrounded by commemorative bricks. The board liked the idea of a ag pole but asked for more thought to be given to the design.

Raynor then presented a sta ng issue. Full-time and substitute airport technicians are needed, but open positions have not been lled. Therefore, the airport has to adjust its scheduled hours to open at 8 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. every other Monday.

The Water Department’s new o ce will o er drive-thru services

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — With a unanimous vote, Duplin County o cially put its nancial playbook in writing, establishing guidelines for how it budgets, borrows and saves for the future. The new policy, adopted last week, aims to enhance transparency, protect reserves and ensure that taxpayers understand how their money is managed.

Presented by Ty Wellford from Davenport and Company, the policy outlines long-term scal guidelines, including best practices for budgeting, cash management, reserve levels and debt limits.

“I think the timing is great for you all because you’re in a tremendous nancial position right now, and that’s something that we did look at in greater detail,” said Wellford. He emphasized that the policy formalizes existing management practices, providing stability during transitions or economic changes.

“It just ensures the county is operating on sound nancial footing,” Miller told Duplin Journal. “And the decisions that are made are made with, at rst, our residents in mind, but the nancial position of the county as well.”

Key elements of the nancial policy include prohibiting one-time revenues from funding ongoing expenses, requiring board approval for budget amendments and mandating quarterly nancial reporting.

The policy sets a minimum reserve level of 25% of annual expenditures and outlines a balanced debt management approach, with metrics ensuring debt does not exceed 2.5% of the tax base and annual debt service remains below 15% of the operating budget. It also addresses compliance with state laws and liquidity for cash and investments.

“This is just cementing some of the things that you’re already doing very well,” said Wellford.

The commissioners asked questions to clarify the exibility of the new policies, par-

“This is just cementing some of the things that you’re already doing very well.”

Ty Wellford

ticularly concerning fund balance thresholds and the process for making amendments. Wellford explained that while there is no rigid recovery roadmap, the policy requires that a plan be developed, ideally within a three-year window or a time frame deemed reasonable.

He also emphasized that the policy’s exibility allows future boards to amend it if needed.

In other business

Commissioners addressed ooding and drainage complaints from residents, particularly in Cedar Fork Church Road and Tram Road. County Manager Bryan Miller said he will follow up about those issues with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. After a public hearing, the board approved a request from Louis Costello to name a private lane DC Heights Drive in Warsaw.

The board appointed Commissioner Jesse Dowe as Duplin County’s voting delegate for the upcoming North Carolina Association of County Commissioners conference, with Commissioner Wayne Branch serving as the alternate voting delegate.

Miller provided an update on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Neighborhood Revitalization program, which is entering a new cycle. He encouraged the commissioners to contact Chris Hatcher in the planning department if they knew someone who was in need of their services.

The CDBG program awards funds to local governments for projects that enhance housing, infrastructure and economic development, with a focus on bene ting low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The program often assists homeowners in addressing health and safety hazards.

The grant will help students stay in school and prepare for meaningful careers

Duplin Journal sta

KENANSVILLE — For many students in Duplin County, achieving a college degree can be challenging. Some are the rst in their families to attend college, while others balance work, caregiving responsibilities or manage life with a disability. Thanks to a renewed federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant of more than $416,000 awarded to James Sprunt Community College,their journeys have just become a bit easier.

Candice Faison, director of TRIO SSS Programs at JSCC, said the grant will enhance the college’s ability to support underrepresented students by providing them with the tools and knowledge necessary to graduate.

“Student Support Services helps level the playing eld and equips our students with the tools and con dence to graduate and lead,” Faison said.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the program was designed to help low-income, rst-generation and disabled students stay on track, graduate and achieve their goals. Through TRIO SSS, students receive one-on-one guidance on various topics, in-

cluding nancial aid, scholarships, academic coaching, career planning and personal support. The resources can make a signi cant di erence — potentially deciding whether a student drops out or earns their degree.

“This vital program makes all the di erence for nearly a million students each year across the country,” said Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education in a news release.

According to the announcement, TRIO SSS programs at JSCC have supported more than 4,000 students since

1990. For more than three decades, the program has served as more than just an academic resource; it has been a lifeline for students who might otherwise struggle to succeed.

The announcement also highlighted national data demonstrating the e ectiveness of TRIO SSS programs.

A 2019 federal study found that participants in these programs at two-year colleges were 48% more likely to earn an associate degree or transfer to a four-year institution, underscoring the signi cant impact that TRIO SSS can have on student outcomes.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@duplinjournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at noon

REBECCA WHITMAN COOKE FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

COURTESY JAMES SPRUNT COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Left to right: Marsha Hicks, Candice Faison, Ananda Farland and Caroline Czarkowska, all with James Sprunt Community College, pose for a photo at the college.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

‘Retired, but not nished’

Harvey Knowles nears 95 with a harmonica, a mission and a legacy

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

HARVEY KNOWLES reached into his pocket and retrieved his simple ip phone. After punching in a number, he activated the speaker phone and waited. When someone answered, Knowles didn’t say anything. Instead, he began playing “Happy Birthday” on his harmonica.

As he approaches his 95th birthday on Aug. 3, it is impossible to guess just how many times he has played the song for everyone from family and friends to friends of friends on their birthdays. It’s just one of many ways he stays active in serving the community.

Knowles grew up in Wallace and did not have an easy childhood. His father was very hard on him, especially after drinking. When his older brother turned 18, he signed up for the military. That meant he would be on his own with his dad at 15 years old. His mother had moved to Richlands to live with Harvey’s half-brother.

During those days, a recruiter would come to Wallace once a week. Knowles tried to sign up like his brother did, only to be told he was not old enough. Not deterred by the rejection, he went on a mission.

“I traveled all the way to the courthouse in Kenansville and went to the clerk of court’s ofce,” Knowles said. “I told them the doctor in Wallace had delivered a bunch of babies over the weekend and asked me to come get him some blank birth certi cates.”

In those simpler days, there was no reason to doubt the word of a young boy who claimed to be running an errand for a doctor. With blank certi cates in hand, he snuck into school to access a typewriter and created a new birth certi cate for himself, messing up a few before creating one saying he was 17 years old, the minimum age in those days to sign up.

There was just one problem: There was a section on the form for a notary signature. When Knowles found out what that was and that the father of a friend was a notary, he went to visit. He distracted his friend so he could use his dad’s stamp on his certi cate. He also forged his mother’s name on the birth certi cate.

The next time a recruiter came to Wallace, Knowles told Duplin Journal he was

from page A1

as Libertarian. I see people as people.” Henderson said the board will be very busy.

“We have a long list of things that have to be accomplished between now and November,” she said. “This team will keep us on track. We answer to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.”

One item on that list is conrming the identity of some voter registrations. Prior to the

Health Center last November.

there with his new birth certi cate in hand. The next day, he was on a bus to Fort Bragg for basic training. After basic training and paratrooper school, he found himself being deployed on a ship to Japan. He was, in reality, still 15 years old.

Knowles shared that shortly before he turned 17, while serving in Japan, when an o cer began questioning him about his age and discovered the story about his enlistment at 15. The questioning began after Harvey’s mother was speaking to someone in Wallace and said she had not heard from Harvey in a while. That led to a search for Harvey, and word eventually made its way to Japan.

The Army sent him home, saying his enlistment had been fraudulent. Knowles explained that because of his reputation, he was given an honorable discharge and sent back to North Carolina. He was only home for a few weeks before he o cially turned 17 and he simply reenlisted. This time, he eventually became a member of Special Forces.

With tensions rising in Vietnam, Knowles was trained to speak Vietnamese and Laotian. He was deployed to Southeast Asia. Once he was there, he embarked on an undercover mission. Knowles told Duplin Journal he was issued a new I.D., with a new name, along with civilian clothes, and sent into Laos, pretending to be a businessman. While in Laos, he was shot. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Retiring from the Army as a major, Knowles said he had no intention of remaining inactive. He went to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture

ceremony, Sullivan told Duplin Journal that her o ce is currently working to verify approximately 900 voter registrations with missing identi cation information. If the Duplin County Board of Elections ofce is unsuccessful in reaching the voters a ected, those names will be forwarded to the North Carolina Board of Elections, which will send letters to the voters to give them the opportunity to bring their registrations into compliance with state law.

as an investigator, primarily going undercover to nd those engaged in food stamp fraud.

During one investigation, Knowles told Duplin Journal he wanted to be deliberately arrested by a small police force in a town west of Wilmington so he could have the chance to talk with a jail inmate he knew had inside information about a big-time fraudster. To maintain his cover, he could not reveal his true identity to local law enforcement.

“I found an o cer sitting in his car on the edge of the road,” Knowles said. “I sped past him and he did nothing. I turned around and drove even faster and he still ignored me. The third time by him, I slowed down and made a gesture to him most people nd objectionable. That time, he arrested me.”

He was taken to the county jail and placed in the same cell with the guy he wanted to talk to. Mission accomplished. That work eventually led to the arrest of the man they wanted for food stamp fraud.

Knowles returned to Wallace, where he still serves people through his volunteer efforts with the WoodmenLife chapter he is president of and with the Masons.

He and his wife, Candace, can be found on independent missions as well, like serving pizza to local police o cers during active threat training and helping at various church events.

While Knowles will soon turn 95, those who know him see no sign of him slowing down. As his business cards say, identifying him as “Happy Harve,” the line below that reads, “Retired, but not nished.”

In other business, the board voted to change the time the board meets on the rst Thursday of each month. Lots of discussion regarding the meeting time centered on giving more opportunity for citizens to work during the day to attend the meetings. After a discussion about making meetings more accessible to working citizens, the board agreed to hold meetings at 5:30 p.m. for the next six months on a trial basis.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 7.

Inside Kenansville’s oldest Masonic lodge

St. John’s Lodge No. 13 holds centuries of tradition and one man’s lifelong connection

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE — It’s only natural that Charles Ingram of Kenansville would take an interest in the long history of the town’s Masonic lodge.

“As long as I can remember, I was brought to this lodge,” Ingram said during an interview with Duplin Journal inside the historic building. “My father was the master of the lodge in 1948, the year I was born.”

Ingram’s exposure to Freemasonry began early. As a boy, he regularly attended public events hosted at the lodge.

“Every year, the lodge has had an open installation of o cers. That happens the rst Thursday in January, even if it’s New Year’s Day,” said Ingram, a retired attorney. “My mother and father would attend those installations. There is a lot of tradition in Freemasonry, but especially with this lodge.”

The Masonic Lodge in Kenansville, o cially known as St. John’s Lodge No. 13, has deep historical roots. It was o cially chartered on Nov. 20, 1788 — ve months before George Washington’s inauguration as the rst president of the United States. In fact, the charter was approved while North Carolina was still an independent state as it had not yet rati ed the U.S. Constitution, a decision it would make in November 1789.

In 1941, the lodge held what it believed to be its sesquicentennial celebration, based on the mistaken belief that the lodge was chartered in 1791. That assumption later proved incorrect when historical research uncovered the accurate charter date of 1788 — meaning the true 150th anniversary would have occurred in 1938.

The members and leadership of the lodge read like a “who’s who” in Kenansville’s rich history, beginning with the rst grand master, Gen. James Kenan. Born in 1740 in Turkey in Sampson County, Kenan went on to be elected sheri of Duplin County in 1762 and later commanded the Duplin Regiment during the Revolutionary War. He played a key role leading a group of volunteers against Scottish loyalists during the Battle of Moore’s Creek in 1776.

While the 1941 program offered a brief historical overview

of the lodge, Ingram took the initiative to compile a more complete record. In 2003, he created an updated history record which included past masters of the lodge. Ingram appears on that list and would later serve in higher positions statewide.

“In 1991, I was appointed junior grand steward of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina,” Ingram said. “That set me on a path so that in 1999, I was elected grand master of North Carolina.”

Other prominent local leaders who have served as masters of St. John’s Lodge No. 13 include Dr. Guy Gooding, who was director of the Duplin County Health Department in the early 1930s, and Faison McGowan, who was the Duplin County accountant in the 1930s. Ingram said during those days, there was not a county manager, so the county accountant served in that role.

In 1945, Duplin County School Superintendent Owen Johnson was elected master of the lodge. He was a graduate of Trinity College, which would eventually be renamed Duke University.

The lodge met in various locations over the years until the current lodge building was completed in 1860. The prominent two-story white structure has been a xture in downtown Kenansville ever since. However, its position on the property has changed. Originally built on the side of the lot, the lodge voted in the 1970s to move the building to the center. The structure was carefully jacked up and relocated to its present spot, where it now holds a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building has served multiple community purposes. Its bottom oor was once used by the local Women’s Club and, at one point, even functioned as a classroom. Today, the walls of that lower level are adorned with photographs of past grand masters with the exception of some photos that were lost to damage caused by Hurricane Florence.

The Masons of Kenansville have had active roles in the community and have also supported various groups and organizations.

“Freemasons are not a charity, but we are charitable,” Ingram said describing their help in the community.

Ingram continues to be a member of the lodge and is always on the lookout for new tidbits about the history surrounding the Masons of Duplin County and the contributions they have made to the community.

MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Maj. Harvey Knowles, U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.), prepares the American ag for raising at a Veterans Day program at the Wallace Rehabilitation and

MARK GRADY FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Charles Ingram shows a 1941 program that commemorated the history of the lodge.

BOARD

Wallace police train for the worst case

Police undergo realistic, scenario-based drills to respond swiftly

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

WALLACE — A law enforce-

ment o cer receives a call to respond to a public location, such as a school, where someone is making threats to others. Often, calls to 911 regarding these situations are quick and without details.

That means the o cer is walking into a situation blind, not knowing what or who they are about to encounter.

It’s that kind of call Wallace police o cers were preparing for last week at Wallace Elementary School. The training is commonly known as active shooter training, but today it is more frequently referred to as “active threat” training, according to Wallace Police Chief James Crayton.

“What we see across the country, and across the world, is that it’s not always a gun,” Crayton told Duplin Journal. “It could be a knife. It could be a baseball bat. We train at the school because this is where our most vulnerable population is, Monday through Friday. We want to familiarize our guys with this building.”

While the training took place at a school, Crayton emphasized that the training is for anywhere there is an active threat.

“It could be at a home or a business o ce,” he said. “The tactics and training are applicable across an array of locations.”

Specialized instructors were brought in for the training from

family still loves me,” he joked before discussing what he considers to be his most signi cant accomplishments.

“But seriously, there are two special accomplishments that stand out,” Dixon said.

The rst, he explained, was restoring a ve-district format for two county governing boards, a change he believes will bring lasting electoral stability to local government.

Equally important, Dixon noted, is that District 4 has a strong, sustained presence in Raleigh, which ensures that the needs of his constituents are addressed in critical decisions related to agriculture, education, energy and the state budget.

The Duplin County Republican currently serves as senior chair of the House Agriculture and Environment Committee and the Agriculture and Cultural Resources Appropriations Committee, and vice chair of the Full Appropriations Committee. His in uence extends across many of the legislature’s most consequential bodies, in-

the Knightdale and Youngsville police departments. One of the instructors, J.G. Whitley, also serves as chief of police in Youngsville. He told Duplin Journal this type of training evolved out of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, when two seniors at the school killed 12 fellow students and a teacher.

“There were a lot of mistakes made during Columbine,” Whitley said. “The training at that time was that we contained and controlled the environment, meaning the perimeter of the building. Then we called in a specialized tactical unit, a SWAT team.”

Whitley said that the Columbine tragedy proved that waiting for a SWAT team could be too late.

“What we found out was much of the damage had already taken place before law enforcement got into the building,” Whitley

cluding the Rules and Operations of the House, Elections, Redistricting, Energy and Regulatory Reform committees. He also serves as co-chair of the Environmental Review Commission, the Joint Agriculture and Natural Economic Resources Oversight Committee, and the Agriculture and Forestry Oversight Commission.

Dixon has championed

stronger Right to Farm protections and played a central role in updating North Carolina’s Right to Farm statutes to help protect rural landowners and agricultural operations as the state’s population continues to shift outward from urban areas.

“This is very important as we continue to experience outow from urban to nonurban areas,” Dixon said. “Fifty years ago, people tried their best to get out of the country and into the towns. They messed up the cities, and now they want to get back to the country.

“We have to manage that movement with strong Right to Farm messages to those who don’t know where food comes from.”

said. “Now o cers are learning to make an initial assessment when they arrive on the scene. If it’s determined a threat exists in the building, they immediately enter.”

Whitley said that in smaller police departments, such as Wallace and Youngsville, this could mean a single o cer may have to quickly assess the situation on their own, emphasizing the need for this reality-based training.

Duplin Journal was granted access to observe one of the realistic training scenarios. The ocers participating in the training were not informed about the events occurring in a classroom, requiring them to arrive, assess the situation and determine the best response. In this particular scenario, an armed intruder was threatening a teacher, both portrayed by actors. The intruder was wielding a knife. After the scene played out,

“It is hard to control how the government spends money, so let’s limit how much of our money we letthe government take from us.”

Rep. Jimmy Dixon

Dixon has also been vocal about the importance of improving workforce participation, particularly in encouraging individuals to reenter the labor force.

“Getting the younger, single males who can work to actually go back to work has been my desire,” Dixon said. “It is hard to control how the government spends money, so let’s limit how much of our money we let the government take from us. No tax on tips and overtime will incentivize people who want to work to work.”

He has expressed skepticism about current renewable energy development in eastern North Carolina, suggesting that it is

Whitley and Crayton provided feedback to the o cers on their responses. They stressed the criteria for justifying the use of deadly force, explaining that such force is warranted only when a person’s life is threatened with serious bodily harm or death.

Whitley said there was also training on when crisis negotiation or deescalation tactics may be the preferred solution to a threat.

“The goal here is to deescalate without them having to use force,” Whitley said. “They will be in scenarios (during training) where they will not have to use their weapons and crisis negotiation will save the day.”

Crayton noted that this type of training cannot be e ectively conducted in a traditional classroom setting, making scenario-based or reality-based training the most e ective approach.

in uenced more by political interests than practical needs.

“Renewable energy under the current models is a hoax of grand proportions that one day will be exposed as greed for money, not workable plans to solve our increased energy needs,” he said. “Natural gas, nuclear and clean coal will rule the day when some of the crazies run out of other people’s money to spend.”

Earlier this year, Dixon sponsored H.B. 729, the Farmland Protection Act, aimed at changing how large-scale solar energy projects are handled, particularly in rural areas. The legislation would reduce the property tax break that solar companies receive, eventually phasing it out entirely, redirecting the extra revenue to support local counties.

“If it weren’t for that exclusion (in property taxes on solar facilities), the revenue for Duplin County would have been $1.3 million more than what it is, which would not be bad news for building schools or other things,” he noted during a Duplin County Commissioners meeting earlier this year.

“You can’t do this verbally,” Crayton said. “The skills learned and the skills put to use are invaluable when you do them live-action as opposed to just talking about it. People learn best by doing.”

One of the Wallace police ofcers in training, Christopher Braswell, emphasized the importance of this type of preparation.

“I think the scenarios are great because it puts you in the mindset as if you are in a real scenario,” Braswell said. “It allows the o cer to immerse himself into a real event he may eventually deal with. I think this training is very, very important.”

While everyone hopes the community will never face tragedies like a school shooting or stabbing, being prepared is essential.

“You train for the worst day and hope it never comes,” Crayton said.

The bill also includes provisions for preserving farmland by allowing solar installations only on brown elds, nonagricultural land or cleared timberland.

The pending legislation would also require decommissioning plans and nancial guarantees for new and expanded solar projects to ensure that landowners and taxpayers are not burdened with the responsibility.

In recent weeks, speculation has swirled in local circles about whether Dixon would seek another term in o ce. In response, he stated he will continue to serve as long as he is able and as long as he has the community’s support.

“Recently, some of the current Duplin County Republican so-called leaders have speculated about my intentions to run again,” Dixon said. “When folks with real interest and concern ask me how long I plan to serve, I quickly point to Heavenward and say, ‘As long as He blesses me with the strength to do so and the people of District 4 give me their con dence with their vote.”

TOWN OF TEACHEY – JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Assistant Town Clerk/Utility Clerk Job Description

General Statement of Duties:

• The Assistant Town Clerk/Utility . Candidate will be responsible for overseeing. Utility Clerk to input correct and timely billing information for all utility services water, sewer, and sanitation services for the Town of Teachey, to produce monthly invoices and accurate revenue reports, and to use approved methods to prevent delinquent accounts. This includes but is not limited to:

• Establishing and maintaining a cooperative communication system with all co-workers within a professional environment to initiate and generate the required duties of the Assistant Town Clerk/Utility Clerk.

• Collects a variety of fees and municipal payments, post taxes and utility bill payments.

• Has overall responsibility for the utility billing system to include actual performance in the review of consumption reports for high/low variation and recommends appropriate action; requests for utility bill adjustments and posts change as appropriate; posting utility nonrefundable application fees and payments; preparing and entering customer account changes in the computer and posting same; enrolls new customers; prepares service orders and forwards same to eld personnel; prepares the cut-o list.

• Prepare daily bank deposits.

• Helps and works with Town Clerk in generating, securing, and protecting all reports and records for conducting annual independent audit.

• Helps maintain Town of Teachey website, Facebook page, and any advertisement need for the local newspaper.

• Become familiar with Town of Teachey’s ordinances and assist the Zoning & Public Works personnel with administrative task.

• Maintaining con dentiality of all records and information.

• Make trips to the bank and post o ce as needed.

• Answering telephone, ling, mail distribution, customer service, cross training when necessary and various other duties as directed by Town Clerk.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to communicate e ectively with council, town attorney, accountant, and sta .

• Knowledge of the operation and use of common o ce-based equipment including personal computers, printers, and audio-video recording devices.

• Ability to establish and maintain e ective working relationships with public o cials, employees, and the public; ability to exhibit a professional demeanor when interacting with citizens, public o cials, and the news media.

• Ability to make math calculations, proof-read, and create rough drafts of memos and reports.

Physical Requirements:

• Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible

amount of force constantly to move objects.

• Employee is required to have visual acuity to determine the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of the work assigned and to make general observations of facilities or structures and to perform activities such as: preparing and analyzing data and gures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading.

Working Conditions:

• Employee is subject to both environmental conditions: Activities occur inside and outside.

Special Requirements:

• Valid North Carolina Driver’s license.

• Pass reference veri cation.

• Pass background check.

• Pass drug screening.

Pay

• $16-$18 Depending on experience

Disclaimer: This classi cation speci cation has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classi cation. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and quali cations required of employees to perform the job. The Council reserves the right to assign or otherwise modify the duties assigned to this classi cation.

PHOTOS

Left, active threat training instructor Greg Whitley briefs Wallace police o cers prior to beginning reality-based training at Wallace Elementary School last week. Right, a Wallace police o cer participating in

threat training confronts an armed intruder as part of the training.

DIXON from page A1

DUPLIN SPORTS

Wallace’s Diamond Youth World Series title quest

The run by the 8U team left players, coaches and fans with lifelong memories

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

DUNN — Duplin County embraced the run of a youth baseball team much the same as it would if a football team surged into the statenals in the second week of December.

Wallace’s 8U Diamond Youth Coach Pitch team’s push to the World Series had folks cheering each time the “little boys of summer” stroked a hit, made a defensive play or scored.

To quote a country grandma, many fans yelled just because they were just “so darn cute. They had the look of mini-MLB players with sunglasses and …

“Swag is what they call it,” said Cory Lovelace, an uno cial coach who is Wallace-Rose Hill’s athletic director, assistant football coach and head softball coach. His son Carter is one of many stars that fans gawked over.

Yet everyone fell for the Wallace squad.

Grandmothers and grandfathers.

Moms, dads and “step” versions of both.

Uncles, aunts and cousins caught the fever as well.

Townies of all types in Wallace and throughout the county joined in.

Wallace nished second in its Diamond Youth Association district yet made it to the World Series last week at Clarence Lee Tart Memorial Park in Dunn on a mission to continue to play baseball in front of an excited backing crowd.

It was simply too hard not to pull for this bunch, some of which have played together for more than two years.

“That’s been helpful,” said head coach Bubba James, also an assistant coach in two sports at WRH and whose son Baylor is on the team. “And many played fall ball together in Burgaw. That familiarity makes for better team play. And all these players are Wallace kids.”

Wallace fell to Riegelwood 13-9 in extra innings in its World Series opener last Friday but rebounded with an 8-1 win over Mississippi on Saturday before getting eliminated from the double-elimination tournament following a 14-2 setback to Florida on Sunday.

COLUMN MICHAEL JAENICKE

Former Clinton coach Johnson chokes away wins from two schools

KENANSVILLE — A prep football coach can inspire his players and engage a community en route to making a trip to the state nals.

After he’s accomplished that, he can also rip the foundation o a proud football school by leaving and taking players and coaches with him to another state, where he makes a playo run and then sees it all go down the drain because of his brash and illegal moves.

Ask former Clinton and current Marlboro County (Bennettsville, South Carolina) coach Cory Johnson, and he’ll likely de ect and when asked again he’s likely to say it was “just a small paperwork oversight incident.”

It all played out last year after Johnson guided Clinton to a 15-1 mark, calling his team the 910 All-Stars early in the summer of 2024. That’s when football fans began to say, “What?”

After going 15-1, Cory Johnson stormed out of state with Dark Horse players and coaches from across N.C. only to get sanctioned by S.C. for use of transfer players.

Indeed, Johnson, who got his rst head coaching job at Clinton in 2018 at the age of 27, was actually red by Clinton before taking the head coaching position at Marlboro. Johnson bolted with Dark Horse transfer players that included quarterback Nydarion Blackwell, Josiah Robinson and Jakarrion Kenan and eight coaches from his ties with Scotland County, Lumberton and Ryan Hunt from his Clinton sta . Yes, Clinton lost more than 20 seniors, but the disruption caused by Johnson bled to the program and new coach Johnny Boykin, a former Dark Horses player.

Here’s a quick how-it-went-down summary.

• Johnson wins fth straight conference title and interviews for the Marlboro County position • Clinton nds out about it and res him • Johnson starts earlier than expected (March 3)

JAENICKE, page B4

The Beulaville gang topped ve-time state champ Wilmington to win Area 2 and then puts up a strong showing at N.C.’s elite eight in Cherryville

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

CHERRYVILLE — Brandon

Thipgen believed it was possible to eld a team that could compete with the strong American Legion teams in the state.

“I’m not sure they could see it, but they felt it in Cherryville,” said Thigpen after his Beulaville Post 511 beat power Wilmington Post 10 to became the No. 1 seed in Area 2.

“We put together a quality team and felt we could take baby steps to be a consistent force,

and one way to do that is to keep winning.”

Last Wednesday came the biggest victory in forever for a Duplin-connected Legion team. Five Post 511 hurlers Jaxson Smith, Cole Jarman, Christian Wooten, Kyle Kern and Austin Clements combined to limit Post 10 to two hits in the 1-0 upset. The lone run came when Christian Couples reached rst base via a dropped third strike. He stole second base, went to third on an in eld single to short

See POST 511, page B3

Belleville Post 511 was one of eight teams to play at the American Legion State Tournament in Cherryville.

CLINT COOPER FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL

Grayson Donnelley isn’t worried about getting his uniform dirty.

Eli Avent

Post 511, baseball

Eli Avent was the leado hitter for Beulaville Post 511, which won the Area 2 title to advance to the American Legion State Tournament last week in Cherryville.

Avent hit .353 and had an on-base-percentage of .669. He stroked 17 hits with three doubles.

He paced James Kenan’s baseball team by hitting .500 with 31 stolen bases to become an all-ECC and rst-team pick for the All-Duplin team.

He’s taking snaps under center this week after combining for more than 1,300 yards and 20 touchdowns with his passing and running the football when the Tigers went 12-2, grabbed a share of the ECC title and lasted until a 46-28 fourth-round loss to East Region winner Northeastern.

from page B1

Lovelace’s spirit echoed the county’s reaction to the team.

“I was an uno cial coach, so I had to stay behind the dugout and coach kids up since we were only allowed to have four coaches,” he said.

The smaller Lovelace and James models were not the only players that made Wallace roar.

Walker Rivenbark became a power hitter in the postseason by going 13 for 13 at the plate.

Johnny Cooper went from a center elder to a catcher and was “really good at the end,” according to his head coach.

Xander Peterson showed he could short-hop balls at rst base, while across the diamond, William Blackwell was

a slick elder at the hot corner.

Axton Pickett’s best moments came with his bat in the state tournament.

Bryson Powell and Nathaniel Paylor could both have another season at the Coach Pitch level after showing promise.

And it’s hard to forget Tate Bradshaw, one of the smallest players on the team but with one of the biggest hearts that “makes him play as though he were the biggest guy out there,” James said.

Grayson Donnelly also had his share of moments as well.

Assistant coaches Steven Paylor, Blake Peterson and Cory Blackwell also had sons on the team. Blackwell was the team’s designated pitcher.

The Coach Pitch diamond

Let the Big Sweat begin: Fall sports practices start

Football, volleyball and soccer teams started practicing for their upcoming seasons

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

WALLACE – “Summer is over.”

Well, almost anyway, despite the slightly misleading protest yell from a parent exiting her nal youth baseball game of the summer.

Prep soccer and volleyball matches start in 10 days.

Football scrimmages in eight, and Wednesday was the rst o cial day to conduct practices.

It’s a new season, in part due to changes made via the realignment process that increases the classi cations from four (1A to 4A) to eight (1A to 8A).

OK, but there’s more.

New playo format allows more schools in postseason

The playo system was changed and approved by the NCHSAA Board of Directors.

Forty-eight schools in 1A to 7A will make the playo s, with the top 16 teams earning a rst-round bye. There will still be six playo rounds, yet seeds will be rewarded slightly di erent. First, conference champs won’t earn automatic bids and second-place teams in conferences won’t necessarily be seeded below the conference champs.

The RPI system will determine seeds. The RPI formula bases its nal number on a team’s winning percentage (40%), the winning percentage of its opponents (40%) and the winning percentage of its opponents’ opponents (20%).

Fans will be asked to fork out more money to see the playo s as tickets for the rst two

has 60-foot basepaths, and the distance from the pitching rubber to home plate is 46 feet.

Players get a maximum of ve pitches and must swing at the nal pitch. There are no walks, but a hitter can strike out.

“Eight of our players may move up to kid pitch this year,” James said. “They have a love for baseball, and this group found ways to build upon one another. So while ve of us had sons on the team, it was about 12 kids working for common goals.

“We were good. We got better. It happened in part because of this (unity).”

And the Wallace 12 did their best to unite a community and county, likely not knowing just how much they would be supported.

rounds and increases thereafter up to $20 for a ticket for the state nals in football and basketball.

It also held its line not allowing cheaper tickets for students through presale programs.

Schools must also allow older adults and others without bank cards and computer skills to purchase tickets with cash.

Fans might also be leaving games earlier. The state reduced the numbers on its mercy rule.

In football, the clock can now run continuously after halftime when a team is ahead by 35 or more points. It was 42 last season.

In basketball, the mercy-rule lead went from 40 to 35, which many feel is still too lenient for the eventual losing team.

Board votes down several talked-about proposals

Yet not everything on the

board’s drawing board passed through to become new policy.

There was discussion about having the realignment process every two years instead of every four, which was sent back to the subcommittee level.

The N.C. Basketball Coaches’ suggestion to allow a pilot program for the shot clock was likewise voted down.

Flag football talks are o the table until at least December.

A nal gridiron note

Additionally, the white-hot subject of what is a legal hit and what is targeting remains a subject the NCHSAA and others consider a hot-button issue, though it’s clearly not well de ned.

And nally, the NFHS, prep sports’ organizing and sanctioning body, has changed a longstanding rule. In 2025, a ball fumbled out of bounds will return to the line of scrimmage. See ya at the yardsticks.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Adoption of the Town of Rose Hill Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Notice is hereby given that the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Rose Hill, North Carolina, will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, at 6:00 PM or shortly thereafter, to consider adoption of the Town of Rose Hill Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The meeting will be held at

the Rose Hill Town Hall, 103 SE Railroad Street, Rose Hill, North Carolina. All interested citizens are encouraged to attend.

Copies of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan are available for review by the public at Town Hall during normal o ce hours. The public is encouraged to review the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and to attend the public hearing. For additional information, please contact the Town at 910-289-3159.

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL Schools cannot have full contact in football until the sixth full day of practice, but there’s plenty of drills to keep players busy at James Kenan and Duplin Journal’s other ve schools.

WALLACE

CLINT COOPER FOR DUPLIN JOURNAL Johnny Cooper originally played in the out eld but became at starting catcher.

Eli Avent and Jake Howard were the only other Post 511 players to crack a hit as eight players had a strikeout. Smith earned a spot on rst base via the lone walk given up by Post 10 pitchers.

“It was a big win, no doubt,” Thipgen said. “They are a well established team.”

And year in and year out, Post 10 contends for titles. As of Monday, the club was one of two teams left in the winner’s bracket.

Keeping up with western N.C. in the state tournament

From there it was on to Cherryville and a rst-round matchup against Pitt County Post 39, which rallied for a 9-6 win by scoring three times in the eight and once in the ninth.

Avent singled and scored via a hit by Clements in the opening frame. An Avent hit in the second drove home Blayden Priden the following inning for a 2-0 lead.

Down 5-2 in the fth, William Bass knocked in Gage Howard and Jarman, who had singled and walked, respectively.

Post 511 knotted the game at 5-5 in the sixth on hits by Jake Howard and Avent, while Couples drove in a run in the sixth to give Beulaville its rst lead at 6-5.

“It was a game we should have won, and we had nothing left when we played Rowan County (Post 342),” Thig-

WRH’s Alex Zepeda, Duplin County’s lone representative, left the game with an injury

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

GREENSBORO — Two squads played for more nearly 45 minutes without a celebration of scoring a goal.

Each more than made up for its lack of o ense as fans were treated to a urry of late goals as the East rallied to tie the West 2-2 at the North Carolina Coaches Association’s East-West boys’ game last Tuesday at Grimsley High School.

Wallace-Rose Hill’s Alex Zepeda played the bulk of the rst half before leaving with an injury. Yet the two-time Mr. Soccer in Duplin County got to cheer on his mates from the sidelines during a epic battle.

The East has lost just once (4-1-2) in the series since 2018 and avoided a setback when JH Rose’s Landon Lucas’ free kick from about 20 yards out nestled into the right corner of the cage at the 78:18 mark of the match.

The remaining clock ran o faster than NASCAR mile.

Croatan’s Jaden Hilliard broke the deadlock early in the second half by chasing down a ball and slipping it into the back of the cage at the 44:52 mark.

But the West came ght-

pen said. “We lost this game, and I’ve told our kids all summer that most games are lost and not won.”

Rowan scored 13 times in the rst two innings en route to a 17-1 win in ve innings. Avent lashed three hits and Jake Howard two in a Sunday loss that didn’t faze Thigpen, who said the state tournament experience was exciting and about more than just what happens between the lines.

“American Legion baseball in western North Carolina is huge, and we need it that way in eastern North Carolina,” he said. “Additionally, travel baseball teams have watered down many Legion teams. It’s just a fact. I’m not trying to make anyone upset.

“But this entire thing for us was about showing ourselves and others we can compete and beat quality teams. I couldn’t be prouder of our players and coaches. It’s a hot, grueling time, and we go against some of the best players and teams.”

Beulaville got a late start to nish 12-6. All but one other team in the elite eight had 20 or more wins during the regular season.

Post 511 had several players from South Lenoir, the ECC champs that advanced to the 2A nals, and thus the late beginning.

Thigpen led the Panthers to a 13-9 overall mark playing a competitive schedule. ED was 9-3 in the league and tied with North Lenoir for second place in a quality baseball conference. It helped Thigpen and the Panthers recover from its rst los -

ing back behind Angel Ortiz-Osorno, the all-star game’s MVP who was also named the top player in the 1A nals for Mount Airy.

His shot de ected o the East goalie before tying the match at 1-1 with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Two minutes later, Ortiz-Osorno headed in a goal to put the West in control. It came o a corner kick by Charlotte Catholic’s Keane LoCascio that was rst headed by AC Reynolds’ Logan Grasso.

That left the nal blow to Lucas, who stopped and gaged himself before kicking the nal equalizer that left two all-star teams with positive vibes, even though ties are viewed at by competitive players as “unsatisfactory outcomes.”

Jacksonville’s Joey Mahouchick was the head coach for the East squad.

Other regional players WRH, James Kenan, East Duplin and North Duplin might recognize included Hobbton’s Henry Jorge-Garcia, White Oak’s Tanner Farner, Jacksonville’s Haydon Huddleston and Swansboro’s Chase Grogg.

The all-star match was thenal prep soccer game for players who graduated in June.

MVP Grier scores two late goals to forge 3-3 draw

The girls’ all-star game at the same venue was equally thrilling.

The East led 3-1 with eight minutes to play before a pair of goals by South Mecklenburg’s Julia Grier forged a 3-3 draw and allowed her to walk o with MVP honors.

The Wo ord recruit came through with two cage ringers in less than a minute.

There were no Duplin players in the match.

It’s the second time the teams have tied, with the East winning ve of the other six matches in the series.

JK grad Byrd named grid coach for E-W football game

James Kenan graduate Pat Byrd was named to replace Westover coach Ernest King as a football coach at the EastWest All-Star game in December classic. Byrd is currently the o ensive coordinator at Jacksonville. Last season, he guided Richlands to a 9-2 mark.

Byrd played for his father Billy Byrd (119 - 68), the Tigers’ second all-time winningest coach, and has learned the game from other respected coaches, such as Wallace-Rose Hill’s Kevin Motsinger (174-85) and Jacksonville’s Beau Williams (113 - 69).

ing season since he took over in 2016.

He didn’t have time to compose a roster until he nished being a coach for the Region 2 team at the Bodyarmor State Games in Charlotte.

“We started (at East Duplin) the rst week of January, so it’s been a long yet rewarding stretch,” said Thigpen, who played for the Panthers and at Methodist University for four years.

“The past two months, our kids learned American Legion is about playing for something other than yourself. It’s about the team, though it develops young players. Our players felt and saw what goes on at that level of baseball, from how it’s played to the other attractions and important things associated with that brand of baseball.”

Thigpen’s assistant coaches included Roy Jarman (SWO head coach, who like Thigpen has more than 100 career wins), South Lenoir’s Camden Noble (who played on Thigpen’s Duplin-Sampson Legion team), former Panthers star Travis Aldridge and Jake Brinkley, East Duplin’s junior varsity coach.

by Reed Davis and scored on a wild pitch.

POST 511 from page B1

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

Alex Zepeda scored 48 goals his senior season and led WRH to a 22-win season.

Players enjoy the view during a parade in Cherryville, site of the American Legion State Tournament.

Byrd

5 new coaches readying for rst time leading NFL team in 2025 season

Each longtime assistant faces distinct challenges

By Dennis Waszak Jr.

The Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. —

Aaron Glenn has been mapping out exactly how he wants to lead an NFL team for a few years.

Before he was hired as the New York Jets’ head coach in January, Glenn spent four seasons as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator and was empowered by coach Dan Campbell to make some crucial calls for the team o the eld.

“He allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position,” Glenn said.

Glenn is one of ve rst-time head coaches in the league. All ve are longtime assistants who now each face distinct challenges and must balance the responsibilities of managing an entire roster and sta .

Aaron Glenn, Jets

Background: Jets’ rstround pick (No. 12 overall) in 1994 out of Texas A&M. Played 15 seasons in the NFL, then served as the general manager of the Houston Stallions of the indoor Texas Lone Star Football League in 2012. He had stints as an assistant with Cleveland, New Orleans and Detroit.

Task: He and new GM Darren Mougey focused on making the Jets’ roster younger. Glenn, who considers his former coach Bill Parcells a mentor, spoke often during the oseason about changing the Jets’ culture. Ending their long post-

“He allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position.”

Jets coach Aaron Glenn

season drought will help and there’s key foundational talent, but the youth movement could temper some rst-year expectations.

Liam Coen, Jaguars

Background: Played quarterback at UMass. Spent last season as Tampa Bay’s o ensive coordinator before being hired by Jacksonville in January to replace the red Doug Pederson. Coen had two stints with the Los Angeles Rams, including serving as Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator in 2022.

Task: Coen was hired for his o ensive prowess after he helped Baker May eld to the best season of his career with the Buccaneers. Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, has not yet fully lived up to expectations, and that will be the focus for Coen.

Ben Johnson, Bears

Background: A former backup QB at UNC, Johnson was Detroit’s o ensive coordinator the past three years and helped Jared Go and the Lions lead the league in scoring.

Task: The Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year, and Chicago is hoping Johnson will be

able to develop the quarterback into a playmaking star. Getting Williams to get rid of the ball faster and improve on his accuracy should help.

Kellen Moore, Saints

Background: A former backup quarterback with Detroit and Dallas over six NFL seasons, Moore was long considered a head coaching candidate during his stops as an offensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Chargers and Eagles. In his only season in Philadelphia, he guided a high-scoring o ense that powered the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Task: Moore doesn’t have the talent-rich roster he had last season. He also isn’t quite sure who his quarterback will be. The o ense has some talent, but the defense needs to improve after allowing the second-most rushing yards.

Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys

Background: The son of the late Marty Schottenheimer was a surprise pick by Jerry Jones. But the younger Schottenheimer has a lengthy resume in both the pros and at the college level, with stints as an o ensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams and Jets among them.

Task: Schottenheimer will need to build a rapport with quarterback Dak Prescott. The coach made some headlines during the o season when he said Prescott is still “in the developmental phase” of his career and the team is tweaking some things with him.

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson talks to the media before practice during training camp.

NCAA BASKETBALL

Kansas basketball coach Self released from hospital after heart procedure

Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self was released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, two days after having two stents inserted to treat blocked arteries. “I feel strong and am excited to be home,” Self said. The 62-year-old felt ill after having run Kansas’ nal practice of its summer session. He missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA tournaments because of a heart condition, getting a standard catheterization and having two stents inserted to help treat blocked arteries. Self led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022, and he is the school’s career victory leader.

MLS

MLS suspension of Messi, Alba “draconian,” Inter Miami owner says Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The owner of Inter Miami called Major League Soccer’s suspension of Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for skipping the All-Star Game a “draconian” punishment. Owner Jorge Mas said Messi and Alba don’t understand the one-game suspensions. They did not suit up for the match between the MLS and Liga MX of Mexico despite being voted to the game. Messi wanted to rest amid a packed schedule, and Alba was dealing with a previous injury. Mas said the club made the decision for Messi and Alba to sit out of the All- Star Game.

and Marlboro also hires Matt Quinn as its athletics director at the same time.

• But in June, Quinn accepts the head football position at Chester eld and Johnson takes over his AD duties.

• Marlboro wins its rst three games, the last of which is against Scotland County, but there were rumblings from fans and the media about Johnson’s use of transfers and how he operated outside the lines.

• They would only become louder after a bye week and wins over Conway, Aynor and Georgetown. Even a loss to Dillion on Oct. 18 wasn’t a big concern since the Bulldogs were 3-8 the previous season and 15-35 the past four years. They were winning, and the parents, school and fans were thrilled.

• Sitting at 6-1, Marlboro County was to square o against Loris in Bennettsville in a game that would determine the AAA Region 5 title. But the game was canceled suspiciously for what the school said was problems with the “lights at the stadium.”

• When the South Carolina High School League, the state’s governing body, and the Marlboro County School District collided, all hell broke loose, and there were no winners, though Johnson — and others, too — were not held fully accountable for his actions.

The charges were reduced from eight ineligible athletes to two, though the public nds it hard to believe there is Canadian wild re-like smoke and only a small camp re.

The Marlboro School District lost its appeal against the SCHL, and the Bulldogs were o cially 0-11 because of the sanctions.

The Bulldogs, who have not had a banner season since 2013’s 12-3 run, were miles away from their state crowns in ’98 and ’01 when Johnson took over.

No one is saying he can’t coach the X’s and O’s of the game. Yet questions over his integrity remain in the clouds that are 97 miles from his rst

NOTICES

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Executors of the Estate of Glenda Kay Davis Brown, of Pink Hill, NC, Duplin County, deceased, 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 October 31st, 2025. This the 31st day of July, 2025. Je rey Lynn Davis {Co-Executor} 281 Burncoat Rd Pink Hill NC 28572 Wayland Thomas Davis Jr. {CoExecutor} 249 Burncoat Rd Pink Hill NC 28572

Clinton went 2-8 after Cory Johnson left for Marlboro County, which had to forfeit all of its games after being a win away from a AAA Region 5 title in Bennettsville, South Carolina.

head coaching assignment and the Bulldogs practice eld.

Clinton had disastrous and mind-boggling 2-8 campaign in 2024, which tarnished a program that has captured ve state titles.

The Dark Horses opened the season by losing to Northside-Jacksonville, Wallace-Rose Hill, Lumberton and Whiteville by a combined total of 146-7. Their only victories came against winless West Bladen and two-win Fairmont.

And it was at this point every team that Clinton “ran the score up on” felt warm and fuzzy feelings, knowing the Dark Horses were the embarrassed foe on Friday nights in ’24.

Part of that is jealousy, of course, yet the other part is clearly about Johnson and how others view him as a coach and leader of young men.

He was 61-12 in six years at Clinton, but that is not his complete “record” in a place where Bob Lewis (three state titles, two runner-up nishes) set the standard. He was 157-27 at Clinton and 334-153 overall.

For those unaware, South Carolina pays its coaches well, especially in comparison to North Carolina, and schools in the Palmetto State will cherry pick Tar Heel prep coaches hoping to turn around struggling programs.

Former national champion and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton is the Bulldogs’ most famous alumni.

Clinton will no doubt rebound after getting smacked in the mouth by Johnson as he was cleaning out his locker. The less it says about Johnson the better and school o cials have rmly stood behind the policy: “We don’t discuss personnel decisions.”

Yet the things he did were wrong in the eyes of so many coaches and fans.

And what he did to the Dark Horses was disrespectful to a school that gave him a chance to coach at a football power.

He repaid them by essentially throwing the program under the bus and driving over the costume of the mascot on his way out of town.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA DUPLIN COUNTY FILE#25E001266-300 The undersigned, ANGELA N. GLASPIE, having quali ed on the 7TH DAY of JULY, 2025, as EXECUTOR of the Estate of EMMA MOORE GLASPIE, deceased, of DUPLIN 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 17TH Day of OCTOBER 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 17TH Day of

JAENICKE from page B1

EDWARDO PUAC / DUPLIN JOURNAL

DAVID BANKS / AP PHOTO

obituaries

Evelene Hatcher Cavenaugh

March 25, 1940 – July 25, 2025

Evelene Hatcher Cavenaugh, 85, of Wallace, North Carolina, left this earthly life on Friday, July 25, 2025, to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, forevermore.

She was born on March 25, 1940, in Duplin County and was the daughter of the late Lee and Magaline Brown Hatcher. Mrs. Cavenaugh was also preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Billy Holmes Cavenaugh; her son, Billy Warren Cavenaugh, and a sister, Marsha Mercer.

She was a life-long and devoted member of Northeast Pentecostal Free Will Church.

Surviving to cherish her memory are her two daughters Tammy C. Parker and husband C.E. of Beulaville and Paula C. Lee of Clinton; grandchildren Josh Cavenaugh, Will Cavenaugh and ancé Sarah Pearl Farrior, Amanda Jones, Riley Pate and husband Stephen, Ellis Parker and wife MaKayla, Kyle Lee and special friend Cassie Bradshaw and Megan Crespo and husband Manuel “Sparky”; great grandchildren Corbin, Bennett, Oakley, Eli, Axel, Brantley, Cooper, Wyatt, Stetson and Charlie; siblings Durwood Hatcher and wife Peggy of

Wade Francis Barker

Oct. 15, 1959 – July 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.

Wyoma Quinn Thomas

Oct. 4, 1928 – July 24, 2025

Wyoma Quinn Thomas, age 96, died Thursday, July 24, 2025, at her home. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rolin James Thomas; parents, Leon and Dolly Susan Edwards Quinn; sisters, Susan Iris Quinn Thigpen, Lorraine Quinn Gri n, Betty Gould Quinn Rhodes; and brothers, James Elwood Quinn, Clifton Lee Quinn, Maurice Quinn and Cecil Durwood Quinn.

Mrs. Thomas is survived by her sons, Michael Quinn Thomas and wife Sherri Anderson Thomas, Morris Jerome Thomas and wife Marie Thomas, and three grandchildren.

In lieu of owers, donations may be made to the Beulaville Baptist Church for the Memorial Fund, PO Box 394, Beulaville, NC 28518.

Clayton, Charles Hatcher and wife Ruth of Penderlea, Marie Davis of Wallace and Debbie Usher of Teachey; daughter-in-law Allison Cavenaugh of Wallace; her feline furry friends “Pete” and “Sue”; numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends that loved Evelene dearly.

Evelene was a loving mother and caring grandmother and sister. She was a simple woman who enjoyed the simple things in life but her greatest joy was her family, especially her grandchildren. She was always a hard worker who made sure that her family was taken care of. . She was a diligent homemaker and with a joyful spirit she lled her home with love and welcomed all who entered. With a love for the Lord, Evelene was very active in her church over the years. She served in various ministries such as Sunday school teacher, worked in the nursery Women’s Ministries, Senior Citizen group. She was also active in serving in her community. Evelene truly had a servant’s heart. All in all, Evelene was a Proverb 31 woman who love her Lord Jesus, her family and her fellowman. She will surely be missed but never forgotten.

Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 28, 2025, at Northeast PFWB Church with Pastor Kevin Peterson o ciating.

The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m., one hour prior to the service at the church.

Burial will follow the service at Cavenaugh Cemetery, NC Hwy 41, Wallace, NC 28466.

The family gives special thanks to Deanne and Shanda and the sta of ECU Hospice for the love and great care you gave to Evelene during her illness. In lieu of owers, memorial donations may be given in memory of Evelene Cavenaugh to Northeast PFWB Church, 4910 NC-41, Wallace, NC 28466.

Niasia Shanae Allen

May 20, 1993 – July 19, 2025

Niasia Shanae Allen, 32, of Warsaw, NC, passed away on July 19, 2025. Funeral service will be 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at First Missionary Baptist Church of Warsaw. Public viewing will be from noon to 1 p.m. (one hour prior to service).

Interment following the service at Blackmore Family Cemetery in Warsaw, NC. In lieu of owers, the family is requesting donations to cover funeral expenses.

Molly Jo Williams Jarman

Aug. 26, 1938 – July 24, 2025

Molly Jo Williams Jarman, 86, passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at her home.

All services are private. She is preceded in death by a grandchild.

Survivors: Daughters: Judy Barber, Kenansville, NC; Sue Sanders, Jacksonville, NC; Donna Whaley, Beulaville, NC

Grandchildren: 4

Great-Grandchildren: 6

Great-Great-Grandchildren: 4

Community Funeral Home of Beulaville is honored to serve the Jarman family.

Austin Nosakhare Obasohan

Aug. 18, 1959 - July 24, 2025

Austin Nosakhare Obasohan (a ectionately known as “Dr. O”), 65, of Wallace, passed away in Durham on July 24, 2025. To honor Dr. Obasohan’s life and legacy, the following services have been scheduled:

Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1 at New Christian Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, located at 2283 NC-11 Rose Hill. The funeral service will be on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 1 p.m. at the Wallace-Rose Hill High School Fine Arts Center, located at 602 High School Rd., Teachey. Interment following the service will be at Rock sh Cemetery in Wallace.

Peggy Irene Henderson

June 27, 1937 – July 22, 2025

Peggy Irene Henderson, born June 27, 1937, died on July 22, 2025, at Autumn Village in Beulaville, NC.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Archie and Vera Henderson, brothers Bobby, Jerry and Tommy Henderson of Beulaville, and Sisters Janice Jones and Sue Sheppard of Pink Hill. Survived by sisters, Betty Jarman (Henry), Kay Evans and Cindy Henderson of Beulaville. Graveside Service: Thursday, July 24, 2025 11 a.m. East Duplin Memorial Gardens, Beulaville, NC Community Funeral Home of Beulaville is honored to serve the Henderson family.

Daniel “Pap Pap” Eugene Ramsey

Feb. 9, 1951 – July 25, 2025

Daniel “Pap Pap” Eugene Ramsey, 74, passed away on Friday, July 25, 2025, in ECU Health Medical Center, Greenville, NC. Arrangements will be held at a later date.

Survivors: Spouse: Peggy Ramsey, Pink Hill, NC

Daughters: Heather Helsel, Pink Hill, NC

Jennifer Ramsey, Pink Hill, NC

Grandchildren: Rodney Helsel, Hayley Libby, Jasmine McCurdy, Gabriella McCurdy and Destiny McCurdy

Great-Grandchildren: Paisley and Raelee Pittman Community Funeral Home of Beulaville is honored to serve the Ramsey family.

SPONSORED BY

QUINN MCGOWEN FUNERAL HOME

Amy Marie Hall Quinn

May 20, 1979 – July 26, 2025

Amy Marie Hall Quinn, 46, passed away Saturday, July

Evelyn Whaley

Oct. 20, 1947 – July 24, 2025

Faye Whaley, age 77, of Kenansville, having fought valiantly since being diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer, which had already metastasized to her liver, spleen, lungs, and lymph nodes in April of 2024, is now whole and completely healed and completely at peace with her Lord and Savior, Jesus!

Faye was born on October 20, 1947, in Magnolia, North Carolina, the second daughter of Clarence and Louise Whaley who, no doubt, along with her sister, Helen, who also preceded her in death, welcomed her home with arms wide open!

Faye worked loyally for many years as a paralegal – rst, for Graham Philips in Wallace, NC, then, Bruce Robinson, also in Wallace, NC, then, for Brock, Scott, & Engleson, and Calder and Calder – both in Wilmington, NC. Finally, she worked for Anita Powers in Wallace, NC before retiring from paralegal work in 2018. She then began caring for Billy Stephens (“Mr. Billy” as she so fondly called him), of Kenansville, NC, until his passing in November 2023. She then worked part-time brie y for Pearl West in Warsaw, NC, until she learned of her diagnosis on April 23, 2024. Surviving are sisters, Betty Murray (Joe) of Wallace, NC, Barbara Weaver (Andy) of Raleigh, NC, Karen Sholar (David “Butch”) of Rose Hill, NC, and Sharon Seagle (Donnie) of Beverly Hills, FL, nieces Angela Boone (Gene) of Warsaw, NC, Christen Weaver (Zach) of Wilmington, NC, Chelsea Dowling (Thomas) of Hernando, FL, and nephews, Craig Usher of Rocky Point, NC and Brady Weaver (Brittany) of Cibolo, TX. Faye is also survived by grandnieces Mary Allison Sigmund (Justin), Faith Weaver, Anna Dowling, and Serena Weaver, as well as grandnephews Benjamin Boone, Carsten Dowling, Joseph Weaver, Laken Dowling, and David Weaver. She also leaves behind a great-grandniece, June Sigmund and a greatgrandnephew, Robert Sigmund –all of whom she enjoyed spoiling immensely and loved deeply as she would her very own! Faye was a very loving and devoted daughter, sister, aunt, and great aunt and was “mother” to many she adopted along the way. She was also a true friend to many. She enjoyed traveling and was “game” for almost any “adventure.” More than anything, Faye loved her family! She especially loved shopping with her mom and sister, Betty. Though Faye loved all her sisters deeply, she and Betty enjoyed a very close and special bond and were the truest of “partners in crime.”

“Lucy and Ethel” nor “Thelma and Louise” nor “Frick and Frack” had anything on the two of them! They enjoyed many adventures and many misadventures together and made more happy memories than could ever be recounted!

26, 2025, at ECU Health Duplin Hospital in Kenansville, NC. Amy was born May 20, 1979, in Duplin County, NC, to Lee Roy Hall III and Julia Marie Garvey Hinnant. Amy is survived by parents, Lee Roy Hall, III and wife, Ginger of Magnolia and Julia Hinnant and husband, Carlton “Bud” of Hampstead; son, Ethan Robert Quinn of Rose Hill, daughter, Emily Caroline Quinn of Warsaw, step brother, Dean Chestnutt of Asheville, and sisters, Amanda Bradshaw and husband, Jona DeVone of Clayton and Karen Renee Hinnant of Hampstead. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in the Watson Family Cemetery, Waycross, NC.

Faye loved everyone and was a truly generous soul. She literally gave the shirt o her back several times! Just admiring anything she had made you the new owner! She thoroughly enjoyed giving to others. She funded many of her parents’ home projects including replacing windows, having their carport made into a garage, and having a storage building constructed. Having no children of her own, she bought elaborate gifts for her parents and all her sisters, nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. She rented a place at the lake or the beach each summer for many years for the entire family –complete with oats and anything that might make the experience more memorable including tickets to local attractions – often having to work during the day herself and only joining the family in the evenings. She never missed a family event – except one oneyear-old birthday party. She started but snow and ice made the roads impassable. She called crying to share that she wasn’t going to make it. She was a huge support through many emotional and nancial crises. She was always “there” ready and willing to help in any way she could and not only for immediate family, but for extended family and many, many friends and acquaintances. Probably more tting than all that could be said of Faye is that she was truly “all heart!” She gave BIG of her time and resources – whatever she had -- without thought of herself – sacri cing so incredibly much! Faye would tell you that, though not without its pain and hardships, she had a really great life and felt incredibly blessed by the many people who enriched her life. More than anything, Faye would want you to know that she was most grateful for Jesus and her salvation and redemption through His death and resurrection. Faye’s faith made it possible for her to trust God through all the trials of her life including the rape and murder of her oldest sister, Helen, when Helen was 20 and Faye was just 17. I’m sure only Faye knew the full extent of the impact that traumatic event had on her. Faith helped her through a broken engagement soon after the loss of her sister, Helen, and then, when she married and her new husband joined the Air Force and took her 1,500 miles from home, God saw her through living so far from family. Faith brought her through the disappointment of learning that her husband couldn’t have children, and then, through losing the opportunity to adopt a little two-year-old girl they had fostered for just shy of a year. Faith brought her through in delity and a painful divorce, and it carried her as she cared for ailing parents and through the loss of rst, her dad to Alzheimer’s, and then, her mom to a stroke. Faye’s faith gave her strength to battle cancer courageously and without fear, and nally, faith carried Faye straight into the arms of her Savior and Friend, Jesus. We grieve our loss – and it’s a great, great loss, but our dear Faye is wearing that beautiful, wide grin that warmed the hearts and lifted the spirits of countless souls throughout her life, and she is reveling BIG at hearing the words she’s longed all her life to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou has been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter though into the joy of thy Lord.”

Robert Allen Wells

Aug. 5, 1959 – July 24, 2025

Mr. Robert Allen Wells, aka “Pony”, age 65, of Teachey, NC, passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at ECU Medical Center in Greenville.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at noon at the Rose Hill Funeral Home Chapel in Rose Hill, NC. Burial will be on Monday, August 4, 2025, at noon at Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Goldsboro, NC.

Left to cherish his precious memories are his children: Rahshad K. Wells and Rasheeda Sampson, both of Trenton, NJ; three brothers: George Bobby Davis (Toni) of Brooklyn, NY, George Keith of Wallace, NC and King S. Davis (Geraldine) of Teachey, NC; three sisters: Marilyn R. James of Teachey, NC, Emilee West of Wallace, NC and Sharon Wells of Teachey, NC; three grandchildren: Aniyah, Nazire and AHmir; one aunt, Annie R. Hayes of Willard, NC; one brother-in-law; Willie D. Horne of Teachey, NC; special friends: Barbara Jean Cauthen of Pennsylvania and Stevie Carr of Teachey, NC; Special Nephew: Chris James(Tammi); Special Niece: Yaiko Keith; Special Friend: Rodney Twitty; many special nieces, special nephews, cousins and friends that will miss him dearly.

Please send potted owers or make monetary donations in lieu of standing sprays.

*THE VETERAN CEMETERY WILL NOT ACCEPT THEM*

Mildred Batts Brinson

Dec. 26, 1935 – July 22, 2025

Mrs. Mildred Batts Brinson, age 89, of Warsaw, NC, passed away at home on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.A visitation of family and friends will be held on Friday, August 1, 2025, from 5-6 p.m. at Rose Hill Funeral Home in Rose Hill, NC. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 3 p.m. at New Christian Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 2283 S NC 11 Hwy., in Rose Hill, NC. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.

Left to cherish her precious memories are her husband, Roman Lee Brinson of Warsaw, NC; three sons: Alfred Batts and Larry Farrior (Laura), both of Leland, NC and Johnnie W. Herring (Angelia) of Durham, NC; step-children, Addie Brinson and Sheila Johnson (Leroy) and Roman Brinson, Jr. adopted daughter, Edell Blakney; sister, Lucille Hill (Robert); four grandchildren: Marcus Batts, Tocarra Barnes, Byron Farrior and Brandon Farrior; three greatgrandchildren: Ryon Batts, Maxwell Barnes and Gisella Barnes; ve step-grandchildren; eight step, great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law: Edna Batts and Ethel Batts; a host of nieces, nephews cousins and friends that will miss her dearly.

Sowing seeds of opportunity

Real-world experience fuels passion for policy change in food systems

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

FOR MANY VISITORS, the North Carolina State Farmers Market is simply a place to pick up fresh produce and enjoy local avors.

For Alexis Sanchez, it’s a launchpad for something far greater — a career in agricultural policy and a mission to connect people with the systems that feed them.

As a summer intern with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the University of Mount Olive (UMO) junior is leveraging communications and outreach to make agriculture more accessible and community-driven.

Sanchez didn’t follow the traditional path into agriculture. His earliest exposure came from his mother’s backyard garden.

“Over time, I realized I wanted to be involved in agriculture, not just the farming side, but also in the politics that inuence food systems and pricing,” said Sanchez.

At the market, Sanchez’s role blends strategy and storytelling. He’s responsible for crafting social media content, designing promotional materials and assisting vendors.

“It’s been eye-opening to see how much time and planning go into every aspect of the market, from vendor setups to operations at the on-site restaurants and garden shop,” Sanchez said. “And meeting professionals in downtown Raleigh has given me a clearer picture of what a career in ag policy might look like.”

But what sets Sanchez apart is how he approaches the work — with the mindset of a listener and bridge-builder. He walks the market daily, talks with vendors and learns their stories.

“My mission is to earn the trust and respect of the vendors,” Sanchez said. “It’s

“My goal is to create programs that support farmers while reducing costs for consumers, especially in rural areas.”

Alexis Sanchez

about building relationships.”

That relationship-driven approach not only strengthens market operations but also reects his broader goal: to bring the public closer to the people behind their food.

“The eld experience and leadership skills I gained through clubs and class projects gave me the con dence to collaborate e ectively and work on time-sensitive projects,” Sanchez noted, adding that courses in agricultural economics and graphic design have prepared him to contribute meaningfully. Still, it’s his leadership and adaptability that have impressed his supervisors most.

“He’s come in ready to dive in head rst with any project we’ve put in front of him,” said Monica Wood, market manager at the State Farmers Market and

Sanchez’s internship supervisor. “We’ve been so impressed.”

Sanchez’s internship has been extended due to his outstanding contributions, including a collaboration with the market’s art department that brought a concept from idea to printed reality.

Looking ahead, Sanchez hopes to tackle challenges like food insecurity and rural resource gaps. Whether through a future role at the USDA or continued work at the state level, he envisions developing programs that support both ends of the food chain — empowering farmers while ensuring affordable access for consumers.

“Too often, healthy food is priced higher than unhealthy options,” he said. “My goal is to create programs that support farmers while reducing costs for consumers, especially in rural areas.”

In the meantime, he’s also building a presence online, documenting his journey.

“My videos help others like me see that you don’t need a farm background to thrive in ag,” he explained. “I want to make agriculture relatable and exciting for everyone.”

For Sanchez, it’s about growing opportunity, connection and change.

Stanly NewS Journal

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE

New York Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters in the building. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces on Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL. Among those killed was an o -duty police o cer working security.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake

Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over the July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. More than 160 people are known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

Subway restaurant reopens in Albemarle

An experienced franchise owner took over two locations

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — A cionados of the sandwiches from Subway in Albemarle now have a favorite location back up and running.

The Subway location on N.C. Highway 52, which had been closed for approximately six weeks, reopened Friday, according to the new franchisee, Regan Bigford.

Bigford has been in the Subway system since 2002 and became a franchisee in 2012.

As of Friday, Bigford assumed control of the Albemarle franchise on Highway 52 and the Mount Pleasant location on Highway 49, both of which are now open.

Bigford’s rst franchise was in Troy, but she now has 10 Subways, including nearby lo -

cations in Midland, Denton, Locust and Biscoe.

The original franchises were started by Ken Lancaster, but 18 months ago a new franchise owner named William Parish took those over.

According to Bigford, Parish owned both Albemarle franchises, including at Eastgate Plaza, Highway 52, Mount Pleasant, Rich eld and two in Concord.

Bigford took over the Albemarle and Mount Pleasant locations from Parish, who is under investigation by the Morganton Department of Safety, according to a report from WSOC-TV.

According to the report, Parish has been accused of issuing payroll checks that were not paid because of insu cient funds. Warrants were issued for Parish on nine counts of worthless checks.

“I kind of sandwiched this other franchisee,” Bigford said. “Whereas I am a new franchisee of these stores, I’m not a new

“I have a history of bringing back distressed stores. So this is not the rst time we’ve done this, and we’re very proud we’ve done a good job with it up till now. We’re determined to succeed again.”

Regan Bigford

franchisee. I’m well-seasoned and proven.”

From a consumer’s point of view, she noted the local franchises under Parish were not open often and thought they “were seriously understa ed and frequently out of product.”

Regarding her stores, Bigford talked about what she had done in the past 13 years with them.

“I have a history of bring-

ing back distressed stores,” she said. “So this is not the rst time we’ve done this, and we’re very proud we’ve done a good job with it up till now. We’re determined to succeed again.”

She further explained how she had improved stores that were in trouble previously.

“No. 1, you have to be there,” Bigford said. “If you tell the customer that you’re going to be open, then you have to be open.”

Customer service, she added, is the next reason, saying, “When you’re nice to people, they tend to come back.”

The last part of being successful, she said, is having enough supplies to meet the customer demands.

She said her locations “have to have what they came for, so the store has to stay stocked.”

While the Albemarle and Mount Pleasant locations recover in terms of sales, Bigford said, her other eight stores will help them out by getting the locations the needed supplies.

“We will be stocked,” she said. “We will be open. We will be sta ed. We will be friendly. We will be clean. Those are extremely important.”

She did not accept the four other franchises o ered to her, including Rich eld and Eastgate Plaza.

The event was held at the Farm Bureau Livestock Arena

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The fu-

ture of Stanly County’s public school district was discussed at the Better Stanly County Schools Forum in Albemarle last Thursday night. Organized by the “Reclaiming Greatness in Stanly County Schools” community group, the forum brought together an assortment of county leaders, teachers and parents to exam-

ine the local school system’s plans.

The event, held at the Farm Bureau Livestock Arena, was attended by three members of the Stanly County Board of Education — Meghan Almond, Carla Poplin and Bill Sorenson — along with County Commissioners Brandon King, Patty Crump and Billy Mills.

“I appreciate you all being here tonight,” Poplin said. “It’s good to get to hear what the community is feeling and thinking.”

Much of the discussion

“We must somehow come together with the school board, commissioners and the public for our children.”

Billy Mills, Stanly County commissioner

THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL

The Subway location on N.C. Highway 52 in Albemarle is open.

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

Published Wednesday and Sunday as part of North State Journal

1548 NC 24-27 BYP W Albemarle, NC 28001 TO SUBSCRIBE:

704-982-2121

The Duke’s Feast returns to downtown Albemarle

The Restaurant Week event runs through Sunday night

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — Follow-

ing an introduction last August and a return in January, a dining promotional event is back in downtown Albemarle to combine great food with a boost to the local economy.

The Duke’s Feast, presented this week by Albemarle Downtown Development Corporation, is the city’s signature Restaurant Week event, where local restaurants o er exclusive dine-in dinner specials as a xed-price, three-course menu alongside their regular items.

Albemarle’s Five Points Public House and The Courthouse Tavern and Table will host the event through the end of Sunday night with Duke’s Feast dinners available after 4 p.m. for $25 and $35, respectively.

“The Duke of Albemarle invites you to The Duke’s Feast for Albemarle Downtown’s Restaurant Week,” Albemarle Downtown announced.

“Enjoy a specially priced, three-course meal t for royalty. While you’re downtown, don’t forget to visit our wonderful local shops and support Albemarle’s small businesses.”

Coinciding with the end of July as Independent Retailer Month, The Duke’s Feast was created to encourage residents and visitors to dine locally and nancially back the city’s businesses, o setting a

The Square, The Courthouse at 114 South Second St. provides Southern dining staples as well as craft cocktails and a wide wine selection.

time of year when a slowdown in sales is not uncommon.

Five Points — a local favorite at 304 East Main Street — o ers an upscale pub atmosphere with a rotating selection of craft, draft and local beer; its $4 draft beer feature for the week is Uwharrie Brewing Liquid Art Kolsch.

For The Duke’s Feast menu, the restaurant will have the choices of ahi tuna, house salad, Caesar salad or watermelon summer salad for the rst course, followed by grilled salmon, blackened snapper, New York strip or blackened chicken alfredo as entrees.

Five Points’ dessert options are cookie crumble sundae and brownie crumble sundae. Formerly known as O

The restaurant has the choices of a Caesar salad, Courthouse salad or soup of the day for the rst course, along with entree choices of grilled sirloin steak, grilled pork tenderloin, blackened chicken alfredo, butcher block of the day or catch of the day.

The Courthouse’s dessert options are strawberry shortcake and chocolate mousse cheesecake.

“Our friends at Albemarle Downtown have come up with a plan for a feast,” the Stanly County Convention and Visitors Bureau said in an advertisement. “Treat yourself to a fantastic time and a magni cent culinary feast in beautiful downtown Albemarle.”

The full list of Duke’s Feast menu items and descriptions are available for viewing at albemarledowntown.com.

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Stanly County:

Aug. 1

Food Truck Fridays at City Lake Park

5:30-9 p.m.

Enjoy food and beverages from the variety of food trucks on site while being entertained by the singing of Chris Taylor and the Rumor.

815 Concord Road Albemarle

Aug. 4

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

Main

Aug. 6

Sprinkle &

10

Free

in

July 23

• Andrea Nichole Davis, 37, was arrested for communicating threats.

• Katlyn McKenize Burleson, 29, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny.

• Darius Anthony Gatewood, 19, was arrested for possessing marijuana paraphernalia,

The Stanly County Veterans Meeting will be held on Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. at VFW Post 2908 in Albemarle. All veterans are welcome to attend the meeting and voice any concerns. The Veterans Day Parade and the activities planned for the Veterans Weekend will be discussed. Any business, organization or clubs that wish to be in the parade can contact the council at 704-438-8286.

breaking and entering a motor vehicle, resisting a public o cer, simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, attempted larceny, using a ctitious or altered title/registration card/tag, eeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, felony conspiracy, reckless driving with wanton disregard, and reckless driving to endanger.

Children

and participate in fun yard games. Be dressed to get wet and be sure to bring sunscreen, a chair/blanket and everything else you’ll need. 240 Lions Club Drive Locust

Aug. 7

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

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s Attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The ve-month school covers all aspects of law enforcement training

Stanly News Journal sta

ALBEMARLE — At a recent ceremony, Stanly Community College honored a new class of Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) on the Albemarle campus.

Chief Ryan Manley of the Albemarle Police Department served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony.

The BLET program at SCC spans over ve months teaching the skills for entry-level law en-

forcement jobs, which total 880 instruction hours. The increase in hours came in aligning with updated state standards.

Students in the BLET program receive instruction in ofcer wellness communication, deescalation tactics and rearms training. “Our Basic Law Enforcement Training program produces more than graduates — it produces leaders,” said SCC President John Enamait. “These individuals have committed themselves to serving and protecting our communities with integrity, courage and a deep understanding of the responsibility that comes with wearing

the badge. Completing nearly 900 hours of intensive training is no small feat — it’s a testament to their discipline, heart, and resilience.”

During the graduation ceremony, Michael Honeycutt served as the class speaker.

In order for cadets to enter the BLET program, they must have a sponsorship from a law enforcement agency including graduates from this year’s class going to Mint Hill Police Department, Alcohol Law Enforcement, Stanly County Sheri ’s Department, Albemarle Police Department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Several outstanding perfor-

mance awards were presented to graduates at the event for the following speci c areas:

Top Academic Award: Nicholas Rosario

Top Shooter/Firearms Award: Eli Hudson

Top Driver Award: Nicholas Rosario

Leadership Award: Michael Honeycutt

Additionally, the Damon Smith Award was presented to Blake Moore. The award was established in memory of

“Our Basic Law Enforcement Training program produces more than graduates — it produces leaders,” John Enamait, SCC President

Officer Damon Smith of the Oakboro Police Department, who lost his life in the line of duty.

Graduates of this BLET class earned a 100% pass rate on the state certi cation exam, which is mandated by the North Carolina Criminal Jus

tice Education and Training Standards Commission and/ or the North Carolina Sheri s’ Education and Training Standards Commission.

SCC’s next BLET class will begin in January 2026.

-

Back row (left to right): Calvin Tisdale Jr., Michael Honeycutt, Johnny Guedert and Eli Hudson; Front row (left to right): David Hunt (Quali ed Assistant), Justis Dorsett, Sophie Dean, Blake Moore, Nicholas Rosario, Ethan Ivey and David Esposito

The Kingville Alumni Association commemorates 46 years of service

Educational scholarships were awarded to eight local college students

By Melinda Burris Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The Kingville Alumni Association celebrated its 46th anniversary with a host of activities the weekend of July 11-13 at the E.E. Waddell Community Center in Albemarle, the site of its former alma mater, Kingville High School, which closed in 1969 when Stanly County Schools were integrated.

The festivities commenced on Friday, July 11 with the annual indoor picnic, which included a cornhole tournament, hula hoop contest, dancing, bingo and other games.

Anthony J. Davis, the 13th and current president of Livingstone College, served as the keynote speaker for the event. A philanthropic leader with a career spanning almost three decades, Davis has dedicated himself to supporting nonpro t educational, community and social justice causes. His e orts have resulted in procuring more than $500 million in gifts and grants, with a special emphasis on major gifts and planned giving.

On Sunday, the event concluded with a special presentation sponsored by the Stanly County Historical Society and the Kingville Alumni Association, delivered by local historians and authors Lewis P. Bramlett and Brenda Stanback, “Celebrating the History of Kingville.”

“We want to continue to be the foundation to open doors for our young people to be the best they can be,” Stanback said. “Our goal is to increase the number of scholarships given each year and to reactivate the Young Adult Alumni.”

Graduates of 1955, 1965 and

FORUM from page A1

concerned Stanly County Schools’ Capital Improvement Planning Committee, which has targeted a facilities consolidation plan that could shufe around the district by combining individual high schools into a larger school, among other changes.

Population growth and the advanced ages of the county’s existing high schools have been cited as primary reasons for enacting facility changes.

“They brought in a demographer in May, and that demographer gave our CIP three scenarios to choose from,” Almond said. “One is a two-high school system, one is a one-high school system, and the other is a three-high school system. My personal opinion is that they

1975 were honored for 70, 60 and 50 years of graduation, respectively. Although the class of 1975 did not graduate from Kingville High School, they did attend Kingville Elementary School. Graduates in attendance were issued certi cates of recognition. In alignment with its mission statement, to encourage and inspire young people to reach for the stars and appreciate their ancestors’ history and legacy, the Kingville Alumni Association has a long history of year-round fundraising for educational scholarships.

would want to combine North Stanly, South Stanly and Albemarle, and then the other one would be West Stanly.”

Under that plan, a proposed “Eastern Stanly High School” merger of the three high schools would be built to contain around 1,400 students.

Crump took issue with the school board’s recent approach of discussing the details of school consolidation in closed sessions, rather than during the open sessions in front of the public.

“If you want to sell something and it’s worth selling, there’s no reason to hide it,” she said.

“You’re going to put glitter on it, you’re going to put it out there at the front of the store because you want your product sold. So why, if they believe in consolidation, is this not being packaged and put out there for you?”

The nonpro t has engaged in awarding educational funding for 32 years. From 2011 to 2025, the organization has awarded $26,610 in scholarships.

This year, eight $1,000 scholarships were presented to the following: Makaylah Barger, who will be attending Guilford College; Layla Ellis, for her studies at North Carolina Central University; Natalie Green, attending the University of UNC Greensboro; Chancellor McInnis, Central Piedmont Community College; Randall Perkins, Johnson C. Smith University; Jahmar Sellers, attend-

ing Stanly Community College; Giannie Small, Sandhills Community College; and Clair Watkins, for her studies at the UNC Chapel Hill. The alumni association was honored to have family members of the late E.E. Waddell, for whom the Waddell Community Center is named, in attendance, including his daughter, Debra Waddell, and his nephew, Kermit Waddell. Waddell’s granddaughter, Kristen Williams, and Marcus Reid catered the picnic and banquet.

Elbert Edwin Waddell was

COURTESY ANDREW MULLIS

Stanly County Commissioner Billy Mills speaks at the Better Stanly County Schools Forum in Albemarle on July 24.

Multiple forum attendees discussed the importance of prioritizing community schools with smaller class sizes, while others

brought up the idea of SCS reopening Ridgecrest Elementary School, which closed in 2012. A shared sentiment through-

born in South Carolina in 1922. After earning his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T University, he received his doctorate from Duke University.

He began his career as an educator, teaching math at Kingville High School, and in 1944, he became one of the youngest principals in the state when he was chosen to lead the school.

To honor Waddell’s service to the South Albemarle area, the Kingville School building was renamed the E.E. Waddell Community Center in 1986.

out the meeting by attendees was that the community needed to be more involved with school facility planning and that the school board needed to be more transparent along the way.

“We must somehow come together with the school board, commissioners and the public for our children,” Mills said. “We should always desire to have a voice and to be allowed to participate in our children’s education. That’s why you’re here. We will stand a very good chance of losing our next generation if we are prevented from having a parent involved.”

The Stanly County Board of Education will hold its next regular meeting on Aug. 5 at 6:15 p.m. in the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at Stanly County Commons.

COURTESY PHOTO

Left to right: Jimmy Brooks, scholarship committee member; Archie Sellers, grandfather of Jahmar Sellers; father of Randall Perkins; Chancellor McInnis; Natalie Green; Giannie Small; Keondra Ellis, mother of Layla Ellis and Mary Robinson, chairman of the scholarship committee, for Makaylah Barger, receive scholarship awards.

Melvin “Dwight” Eudy

Nov. 26, 1946 – July 27, 2025

Melvin “Dwight” Eudy, of Albemarle, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on July 27, 2025, at the age of 78.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, July 31, 2025, from 6-8 p.m. at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle.

Born on November 26, 1946, in Stanly County, Dwight was the son of the late Charlie Clay Eudy

OBITUARIES

and Auta B. McLester Eudy. He honorably served in the Army National Guard as part of the Armored Division.

Dwight spent much of his career working in customer service at Crook Motor Company and was also a former driver for Smith Furniture in Albemarle.

A man of Baptist faith, he had a deep appreciation for classic cars and could often be found at local car shows and cruise-ins. He also enjoyed collecting antiques, a hobby that re ected his love for preserving history and tradition.

He is survived by his devoted wife of 60 years, Vicky Pennington Eudy; his son, Chad Eudy of Albemarle; his brother, Clegg Eudy (Elaine) of Mooresville; and his sisters, Josephine Huneycutt (Bob) of Albemarle and Melinda Drake (JR) of New London. In lieu of owers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made to the American Diabetes Association, Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is serving the Eudy family.

ELLA RUTH STIPE

NOV. 3, 1944 – JULY 27, 2025

Ella Ruth Stipe, 80, of Norwood, passed away Sunday, July 27, 2025, at Stanly Manor in Albemarle. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Edwards Funeral Home in Norwood; Rev. Mark Little will o ciate. The family will receive friends one hour prior.

Ella was born on November 3, 1944, to the late Graham and Sara Preslar. She was a graduate of South Stanly High School, class of 1963. Ella wrote the article “From the Pew” for the Norwood News for many years. She was a longtime member of Calvary Baptist Church.

Ella Ruth was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother. She spent her days taking care of children and supporting her family in every way. Ella was a wonderful soul.

In addition to her parents, Ella was preceded in death by her brothers, George and David Preslar.

Ella is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Glenn Stipe, of the home; four sons: Glenn Stipe Jr. (Virginia), Steven Douglas Stipe (Wendy), Timothy Allen Stipe (Kim), and Eddie Stipe; all of Norwood. She is also survived by two sisters, Margie Mauldin and Becky Scott, and a brother, Joseph Preslar, all of Mount Gilead, as well as 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dead at 71

He was a massive celebrity in and out of wrestling

By Curt Anderson and Ed White The Associated Press

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his in uence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died last Thursday in Florida at age 71.

Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said.

“There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the rst WrestleMania in 1985 and was a xture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.

But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about blacks. He apologized and said his words were “unacceptable.”

Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company’s weekly live television program, “Raw,” which debuted in January on Net ix.

“He was a trailblazer, the first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,” McMahon said of Hogan.

Hogan’s own brand of passion

“Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”

President Donald Trump

MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”

Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April to serve as the rst commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the “ rst unscripted pro wrestling” league in the world. The rst event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University.

“The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them,” Hogan said.

“People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.”

The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan’s legacy “and we intend to honor it.”

Broken leg and a new attitude

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Stanly News Journal at obits@ northstatejournal.com

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid-1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a ag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24-inch pythons.” Crowds were hysterical when he ripped o his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing a tan, sculpted body.

Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, “Hogan Knows Best.”

In recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE maneuvers with then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president.

“Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd.

He ripped o a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move.

“We lost a great friend today, the ‘Hulkster,’” Trump said last Thursday on Truth Social. “Hulk Hogan was

Hogan was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in the Tampa, Florida, area. He recalled skipping school to watch wrestlers at the Sportatorium, a professional wrestling studio in Tampa.

“I had been running my mouth, telling everybody I’m going to be a wrestler, and in a small town, the word gets out,” Hogan told the Tampa Bay Times in 2021. “And so when I went down there, they were laying low for me. They exercised me till I was ready to faint.”

The result: a broken leg and a subsequent warning from his dad.

“Don’t you ever let anybody hurt you again,” Hogan recalled his father saying. “So I went back four or ve months later with a whole new attitude. The rest is history.” Hogan rst became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took o from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndor in the main event. He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage — perhaps his

greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further. Hogan was a central gure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW’s favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings.

He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his “bad guy” character, was seen as a passing of the torch.

Hogan was perhaps as well known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his inring exploits. He was beloved for his “promos” — hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play o his interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews o with, “Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!”

Outside the ring

He crossed over into movies and television as well. He was Thunderlips in the movie “Rocky III” in 1982.

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in a lawsuit against Gawker Media and then added $25 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 obtained and posted video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. He said the post violated his privacy.

Hogan ended up settling the case for millions less after Gawker led for bankruptcy. There was other fallout. The litigation led to the discovery that Hogan had used racial slurs on the tape.

“It was unacceptable for me to have used that o ensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it,” Hogan said.

After Hogan was booed at the premiere of Net ix’s new WWE show in January, former WWE wrestler Mark Henry, who is black, said that the scandal was a “dark cloud” over Hogan’s career. Henry said he believes in second chances but that Hogan “never wanted to go forward and x it.”

Outside Hogan’s Hangout, his restaurant in Clearwater Beach, people talked about their admiration for Hogan as news of his death spread. Rich Null of St. Louis said the two men worked out together.

“Thirty minutes into our workout in the gym, he said, ‘Cut the Hulk Hogan crap, call me Terry,’” Null said. “He was a really super nice guy, and we’re gonna miss him.”

JORDAN GOLSON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Hulk Hogan appeared at a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York last fall.

STANLY SPORTS

Albemarle High School hosts

AML Wrestling

Former WWE and current TNA star Matt Hardy appeared in the main event

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — America’s

Most Liked Wrestling put on this month’s event, called Battle Scars, Sunday afternoon at the AHS gym.

Around 900 tickets were sold for the event, with, according to promoter/owner Tracy Myers, more than 150 fans turned away at the gate because the building was at capacity.

The main event featured WWE tag-team legend Matt Hardy, from up the road in Cameron, teaming with George South to defeat Brock and C.W. Anderson. Brock is the son of WWE Hall of Famer, and member of the Four Horsemen, Arn “The Enforcer” Anderson.

Wampus Cats wrap up third regular season with three games

Uwharrie was scheduled to open the Blue Ridge Invitational Tournament on Tuesday afternoon

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

THE THIRD regular season for the Uwharrie Wampus Cats collegiate wood-bat team wrapped up this past week with games.

Uwharrie will play three more games in a four-team event starting Tuesday in Rich Park, the Blue Ridge Invitational Postseason Tournament. The round-robin format will have the Cats playing the Hungry Mothers on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., the Carolina Disco Turkeys on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and the Catawba Valley Stars on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The championship will be determined rst by head-to-head record and then by the number of runs allowed.

Thursday’s game Carolina Disco Turkeys 8, Uwharrie 4

Another big rst-inning effort for the Wampus Cats put the hosts up early, but the Disco Turkeys rallied to take an advantage in the season series with a win.

Uwharrie jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the rst. With two on and no outs, Jett Thomas doubled to left eld to score both runners. Blake McKinney later scored on a passed ball to put the Cats up 3-0.

A two-RBI single in the next half-inning cut Uwharrie’s lead to one, then the Cats lost the

lead in the top of the sixth on a pair of hits, each driving in a run.

Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Thomas drove in another RBI with another double to left.

The Turkeys added one run in the eighth and two in the ninth to go on to the victory.

Thomas was 2 for 3 at the plate for Uwharrie, while McKinney added a double of his own.

Rylan Furr took the loss in relief for Uwharrie. Brooks Farrell started for the Wampus Cats and allowed two earned runs on three hits in ve innings of work with four strikeouts.

Friday’s game Uwharrie 17, Disco Turkeys 10 The o ense for the Wampus

the stage this September for the annual Stanly County Dancing with the Stars program.

“We could not have been happier with the turnout that Stanly County gave our event,” Mike Hatley said.

“The fact that next year we will need a bigger venue means we can treat more people to AML Wrestling and raise more funds for a great cause, the Butter y House.”

“The fact that next year we will need a bigger venue means we can treat more people to AML Wrestling and raise more funds for a great cause, the Butter y House.”

Sunday’s event was a bene t Mike and Jill Hatley put on as part of their fundraising e orts for the Butter y House, Albemarle’s children’s advocacy center. Proceeds from the event will be part of the Hatleys’ money raised when the couple takes to

Mike Hatley

Hatley added people questioned whether the event would be a success, asking, “Why wrestling?” and saying, “Albemarle never supports anything; it won’t draw.”

“We showed that when you put out a great family-friendly product at a family-friendly price, Stanly County will de nitely show up … and have a great time,” Hatley said.

“It was an electric, standing-roomonly crowd,” Myers said. “The re marshal gave us a number not to exceed, so we stopped selling tickets when we hit that number. … The only way it could have been better would have been to have a larger venue to accommodate more fans.

See WRESTLING, page B3

Pfei er names assistant women’s lacrosse coach

Johnson has been added to the coaching sta

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

MISENHEIMER — Pfei er University announced the hiring of a new assistant coach for its women’s lacrosse program.

On Friday, the Falcons athletic department revealed that Chloë Johnson has been named as an assistant on coach Julia Barbato’s sta moving forward into the 2026 season that begins in February.

The Falcons are hoping to improve from a 2-11 (1-8 USA South) record they posted during the 2025 season.

“Pfei er women’s lacrosse is excited to welcome Chloë Johnson as our new assistant coach,” Pfei er Athletics announced on Friday. “Originally from Derwood, Maryland, and a record-setting athlete from Ohio State University, Chloë brings elite playing credentials, valuable coaching experience, and a strong commitment to leadership and inclusion to the Falcon family.”

As a former Buckeyes standout player, Johnson brings an accomplished playing background to Pfei er’s program, highlighted by national and conference recognition throughout her collegiate career.

“Now, as a coach, Chloë brings that same intensity, IQ, and passion to developing our student-athletes — on and o the eld,” the Falcons athletic department said of the two-time Big Ten Mid elder of the Week selection. “Join us in welcoming coach Chloë to Pfei er.”

She ranks rst in Ohio State’s record book with a pro-

gram-best 243 draw controls and record-setting season total of 124, along with 61 points, 48 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers over 63 games. Johnson earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse Women and USA Lacrosse Magazine, was named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association First Team All-Region and secured a spot on the All-Big Ten Second Team. Pfei er’s women’s lacrosse coaching sta has taken shape heading into the future.

The university announced in May that Barbato, a 2024 Pfei er graduate, had been elevated to lead the university’s women’s lacrosse program in a full capacity following her time as an interim head coach during the 2025 season.

After a four-year career with the Falcons where she scored 153 career goals and had 73 career assists (226 points), Barbato began her interim coaching tenure in the summer of 2024 following a comprehensive restructuring of the program.

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Pfei er will aim to achieve its rst winning season since 2019.

The Wampus Cats’ Brendan Fulcher rounds third and heads home to score during the rst inning of Friday’s home game with the Disco Turkeys.

CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL

Matt Hardy hoists George South onto the top rope and throws him o for a senton bomb onto Brock Anderson.

Chloë

COURTESY PFEIFFER

Chloë Johnson

Bryan Blanton is approaching his 30th birthday and is still sporting a 96-mph fastball in the pro ranks

By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal

GASTONIA — One former Albemarle High School baseball standout continues to ply his trade at the professional level and just set a record this season.

Bryan Blanton, a right-handed pitching standout for the Bulldogs, just set a record for most career strikeouts with the Gastonia Ghost Peppers, an independent pro team a liated with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs.

The Ghost Peppers play a 126-game schedule, and Blanton is in his third season with the team.

On July 16, Blanton recorded his 167th career strikeout for the Ghost Peppers in a 12-11 loss to the Lexington Legends.

“It’s been great,” Blanton said about playing for the Ghost Peppers. He credits manager Mauro “Goose” Gozzo and pitching coach Tony Fossas, along with general manager Brady Salisbury, for their e orts with him over the past three seasons.

“I’ve made some good friendships here,” Blanton said. “We’ve had a winning tradition. This year is a little di erent, but we’re starting to head in the right direction in the second half.”

The Ghost Peppers went 28 -35 in the rst half of the season, nishing last in the ve -team South Division, but currently sit around three games out of rst place in the second half.

Blanton said he lives about 25 minutes from the Caromont Health Park in a Charlotte apartment, which he likes.

This season with the Ghost Peppers, the reliever has made 30 appearances, pitching in 41 innings while leading the team with 60 strikeouts to 35 walks.

After playing baseball for Albemarle and in college at Catawba, he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 21st round of the 2017 draft.

He pitched in the rookie Gulf Coast and Appalachian leagues, making it as high as the advanced Class A Hudson Valley Renegades of the South Atlantic League.

After being released by the Yankees in 2022, the reliever kept on pitching. His rst season playing independently took him north of the border to Winnipeg and the Goldeyes of the American Association.

“That was a little di erent, playing indie ball and being in Canada,” Blanton said.

When the 2023 Peppers sea-

son nished, Blanton was asked to play winter baseball for Leones del Caracas in Venezuela.

“It’s a di erent game of baseball,” Blanton said about playing for the Leones and then the following summer with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League.

He explained that the leagues he played in during his time in Mexico and Latin America were the big leagues of those countries.

“The fans are very passion-

ate, especially when I was in Caracas,” Blanton said. “We had thirty-some thousand fans

at some games. That’s their big leagues down there. The game is a little faster paced.”

Playing development baseball, Blanton said, was “all about playing to develop. When I got to independent ball, it’s about playing to win. … It’s about winning at all costs, and there is a lot of experience down there.”

When he played a liated ball, Blanton said, he would only throw about every three or four days and knew exact-

ly how many innings or pitches he would throw, which was not the case in independent ball, he added.

“I threw like 70% of the time in games my rst year at Winnipeg,” Blanton said.n“Once you get to independent ball, there’s no moving guys up or down. It’s play to win every day. It’s a di erent mindset as a team and personally.”

He added, “The dream of everybody playing in the majors is how things start, but I enjoy the baseball more when it’s on the winning side. You have a lot more fun than having scheduled throw days.”

In terms of specialized relief pitching, Blanton, whose fastball gets up to 96 mph and is complemented with a good slider, has done it all. He has been a closer, worked in middle and long relief, including a three-inning, 45-pitch stint earlier this season.

“I de nitely felt that for the next day or two,” Blanton said. “It’s been about six years since I went three innings.”

Last season, he was also throwing a changeup and a curveball, but the Ghost Peppers’ sta said he should focus on two pitches, which he said has worked.

“I’ve de nitely made my slider a lot better this year,” Blanton said.

Blanton has posted many videos of his bullpen sessions on social media over the years, showing people what a 96-mph fastball looks like.

However, the opportunities he has had to play internationally came through the friendships he forged with other baseball players, he said.

Blanton said he keeps himself going every day because of his love of the game.

“It’s hard to give it up when you still love it and you’re still competing every day,” Blanton said. “When you don’t have that competition in your life, it feelslike you’re missing something.”

In ve months, Blanton will turn 30, and he admits to having some thoughts of this year being his last.

“I’ve had some better numbers this year as far as hits per nine (innings) and strikeouts per nine, which kind of makes you rethink how much longer you want to play,” Blanton said.

His hits per nine innings in 2025 is down to 5.3, one of the lowest marks in his career, while the strikeouts ratio is up to 13.2, the highest in his career.

“As long as I can nancially a ord to play, still love the game and perform well enough, I’ll try to give it some more,” he said.

He added playing ball in the winter and in the Mexican summer league helped him nancially.

In his career in the minors and independent leagues, he has appeared in a total of 334 games as of Friday night, earning 44 saves while pitching 3781⁄3 innings in his career with a lifetime 4.14 ERA.

Wallace becomes rst black driver to win

major race on Indianapolis’ oval

Ty Gibbs clinched the In-Season Challenge

By Michael Marot

The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Bub -

ba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his sts, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory.

He deserved every minute of it. The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the rst black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5mile oval. No black driver has won the Indianapolis 500 or Formula 1 raced on the track’s road course.

“This one’s really cool,” Wallace said. “Coming o Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace’s rst win in the series’ four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked

WRESTLING from page B1

When asked about returning to Stanly, he added, “We always go where we’re wanted, and it sure seems that we are wanted there.”

In other matches, Gustvo succesfully defended his AML Championship versus Fodder, while AML Prestige Champ Diego Hill survived a fatal four-way match to keep his belt. The husband-and-wife team of Brad and Amy Attitude got some revenge, winning a mixed-tag match against another husband-and-wife team, JAC and Clara Carter.

Also, the tag-team champions, A.J. Francis and Bojack of Money ENT, retained their tag belts despite losing via disquali cation.

WAMPUS from page B1

Cats exploded for 18 hits on the road at Wake Forest on Friday night as visiting Uwharrie never trailed the Disco Turkeys.

Aiden Wilson had a monster night for Uwharrie at the plate, going 5 for 5 with a double and six RBIs. Bryant McKinney drove in three runs for the Cats, and Jett Thomas had a pair of doubles, going 3 for 4 while scoring ve runs and plating two RBIs. Pfei er catcher Carson Whitehead was 2 for 5 for the Wampus Cats with a double and two RBIs.

up a playo spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021.

The nal gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced.

Larson cut a 5.057-second de cit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow ag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy.

“The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Are we going? Are we not?’” he said. “I will say, I leaned more towards, ‘I know we’re going to go back racing. Be ready. Don’t get complacent here.’”

Wallace made sure of it.

He beat Larson through the second turn on the rst restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to nish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel.

In Wallace’s mind, there was no choice.

“The rst thing that went through my mind was, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “But then I said, ‘I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.’ Here we are.”

He beat Larson o the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race’s fourth back-to -back winner.

“I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

Bubba Wallace

The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session.

On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status.

“Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs, and I was telling myself, ‘You won’t be able to do it,’” Wallace said.

“Once I’d seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year, and he’s arguably the best in the eld. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.”

The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs nished 21st to win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize.

North Stanly enters T-Mobile 5G Lights contest

The school will be eligible for a $5,000 weekly sweepstakes

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

NEW LONDON — North Stanly High School’s football program has announced its entry into T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights contest for the upcoming 2025 season.

With more than $4 million in total prizes awarded, the national competition is designed to highlight high school football throughout the country by rewarding schools with funding and facility upgrades.

The Comets have joined hundreds of hopeful high schools vying for prizes that range from $5,000 weekly sweepstakes grants to a $1 million football eld transformation package.

“We entered the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights contest,” North Stanly’s athletic department revealed Monday afternoon. “They’re celebrating small-town high school football, giving upgrades to schools and awarding a $1 million game-changing grand prize.”

According to contest guidelines, all U.S. high schools located in towns with populations under 150,000 are eligible to apply now through Sept. 12; all entries must be submitted by an authorized school representative like a principal, athletic director, coach or teacher.

T-Mobile’s “nationwide movement to fuel school pride, performance and possibility” initiative debuted in 2024, with nearly 1,750 high schools nationwide participating from all 50 states.

“Last year, we saw what happens when small towns get the spotlight they deserve, and the response blew us away,” said Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile‘s Consumer Group. “So this year, we’re turning it up. With T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights, we’re backing schools and programs that build leadership, con dence and connection — and showing up for the communities that always show up for their kids.”

For this coming season, 450 schools will win $5,000 on $5K Fridays in the weekly draw, beginning with 100 schools in Week 1; 50 winners will then be named each week for the remaining seven weeks.

After the initial contest, 25 nalists — named by a judging panel based on storytelling, community impact and school spirit — will each win $25,000 to upgrade their programs.

From there, the 25-school public voting process will begin on Sept. 25 and run through Oct. 24 as one school will be crowned the grand prize winner on Oct. 30, receiving a $1 million football eld makeover, a new weight room from Gronk Fitness and an all-expenses-paid trip for up to 16 school representatives to the SEC Championship Game.

Seamus Gallagher earned the win on the mound for Uwharrie, allowing one earned run on one hit in ve innings of work with three walks and two strikeouts.

The Wampus Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Disco Turkeys scored two in the bottom of the second. Uwharrie scored at least one run in the team’s next four innings at the dish and led 11-3 through six innings. Both teams scored four runs in the ninth inning.

Despite the win, the rival Turkeys took the regular-season series against Uwharrie, 5-4. The

two teams will meet again this Friday in the tournament.

Saturday’s game

Greensboro Yard Goats 4, Uwharrie 3

The Cats wrapped up the regular season Sunday against the adult leaguers from Greensboro.

A close game the whole way, the Yard Goats scratched a run across in the top of the ninth to end the Cats’ regular season on a down note.

A walk and a one-out hit batter set the table in the ninth for

the Goats, then an RBI single to left put the visitors out front.

Uwharrie had two on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but the last batter grounded out to rst to end the game. Rylan Furr took the loss in relief for Uwharrie. Malik Foster started for the Cats and struck out seven, allowing two earned runs in 32⁄3 innings of work with two walks and seven strikeouts. Caleb Collinger threw 31⁄3 innings in relief of Foster, allowing one earned run on two hits with a walk and six K’s.

After three scoreless innings, the Yard Goats got a two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead.

Rhett Barker, with one swing of the bat, put Uwharrie on top in the bottom of the fth. With two on and two out, Barker drove the pitch over the center eld fence at Don Montgomery Park for a three-run homer.

Greensboro got a solo home run in the top of the sixth to tie the game, 3-3, before taking the lead in the ninth.

CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL

Matt Hardy twists the arm of Brock Anderson

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Employment Readiness (IDD)

Become part of something great... We are eager to welcome individuals who are dedicated to our mission and committed to enhancing our community. Interested candidates are invited to browse our open full and part time positions via the website below to nd out how to apply for one of our job openings at SCC.

NOTICES

NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE STANLY COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK 19-SP-64

NOTICE OF SERVICE PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

In The Matter Of MARK T. LOWDER, Public Administrator of the Estate of, BETTY TURNER, Deceased, Petitioner, vs. MARY HELEN WRIGHT WILLIAMS; EUNICE WRIGHT KENDALL; BONNIE WRIGHT HINSON; Heirs of James Wright Heirs of Diane Brown Wright; JAMES SWARINGEN; Heirs of Bobby Ray Wright: JOWANNA FISHER; AUSTRALIA WRIGHT; Heirs of William Earl Wright: EARL JUNIOR WRIGHT; Heirs of William Emanuel Wright: WILLIAM JAMIA WRIGHT; TYSEAN WRIGHT; WILHEMINA W. GREEN; DENISE W. HARRIS; RACHEL W. THREADGILL; Heirs of Clark Oliver Wright, Sr.: MARY TYSON WRIGHT (wife of Clark Oliver Wright, Sr. CLARK WRIGHT, JR.; AARON WRIGHT; EARL O. WRIGHT; LADEBORAH W. BRUTON; BERNICE W. WANCHIA; ANGEL W. JOHNSON; Heirs of MARTHA ELLEN WRIGHT; Heirs of Mae Esther Wright Martin:

TORRENCE LOUIE FUNDERBURK; TORRENA FUNDERBURK SMITH; Heirs of Connie Wright Rushing:

BOBBY RUSHING, JR.; Heirs of Timothy Boyd Rushing:

TIMOTHY RUSHING, JR.; MIRANDA RUSHING; ERNEST B. RUSHING; TRAVIS L. RUSHING; MARY R. STEWART; Heirs of Elijah Wright; Heirs of Lois Wright Bennett: JAMES W. BENNETT, JR; KAREN RENA BENNETT; DAREN BENNETT; CHRISTOPHER S. BENNETT; and those persons born, unborn, and/or minors of BETTY TURNER, interested in the premises hereinafter described whose names are unknown to and cannot, after due diligence, be ascertained by the Petitioner, Respondents. TO:

MARY HELEN WRIGHT WILLIAMS

EUNICE WRIGHT KENDALL

BONNIE WRIGHT HINSON

JAMES SWARINGEN

JOWANNA FISHER

AUSTRALIA WRIGHT

EARL JUNIOR WRIGHT

WILLIAM JAMIA WRIGHT

TYSEAN WRIGHT

WILHEMINA W. GREEN

DENISE W. HARRIS

RACHEL W. THREADGILL

MARY TYSON WRIGHT

CLARK WRIGHT, JR.

AARON WRIGHT

EARL O. WRIGHT

LADEBORAH W. BRUTON

BERNICE W. WANCHIA

ANGEL W. JOHNSON

TORRENCE LOUIE FUNDERBURK

TORRENA FUNDERBURK SMITH

BOBBY RUSHING, JR.

TIMOTHY RUSHING, JR.

MIRANDA RUSHING

ERNEST. B. RUSHING

TRAVIS L. RUSHING

MARY R. STEWART

JAMES W. BENNETT, JR.

KAREN RENA BENNETT

DAREN BENNETT

CHRISTOPHER S. BENNETT

TAKE NOTICE that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the aboveentitled Special Proceeding. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Petition for sale of real estate located at 242 Pearl Street, Albemarle, North Carolina to make assets.

Petition for sale of real estate located at Vacant O NC 740 Hwy, Badin, North Carolina to make assets.

You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than September 2, 2025 and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought. A hearing shall be held at 10:00 A.M. September 3, 2025 in the o ce of the Clerk of Superior Court, Room #301 of the Stanly County Courthouse, 201 S. Second St., Albemarle, NC 28001. All interested parties should appear. This the ____ day of

NOTICE

NOTICE

Reneé Rapp, ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ Elvis’ rarities, Anthony Mackie and Jason Momoa

By Jocelyn Noveck

The Associated Press

BENICIO DEL TORO starring in Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and Reneé Rapp’s second studio album are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: Jason Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+, there’s a coxy Hobbit video game in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, and “Project Runway” tries out a new network home for its 21st season.

MOVIES TO STREAM

Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” (streaming now on Peacock) stars Del Toro as Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda, a wealthy and unscrupulous European industrialist. After the latest assassination attempt on his life, he decides to leave his estate to one of his many children, Lisel (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate. Michael Cera co-stars as a Norwegian insect expect named Bjørn. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the lm nds Anderson “becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

The Net ix romance “My Oxford Year” (streaming Friday) fol-

lows a young American student named Anna (So a Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University. Corey Mylchreest co-stars as a local love interest in the lm directed by Iain Morris.

Movie soundtracks once played so much more of a role in popular culture. A new series on the Criterion Channel collects some of the lms from the soundtrack’s heyday, the 1990s, when songs from movies like “Trainspotting” (1996) and “Singles” (1992) dominated the air-

So a Carson appears in a scene from the lm “My Oxford Year.”

waves and MTV. Also running this month on Criterion are “Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997), “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (1993) and “Judgement Night” (1993).

MUSIC TO STREAM

The King of Rock ’n’ Roll has returned. On Friday, to celebrate what would’ve been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday year, a massive collection of 89 rarities will be released as a ve-disc CD boxset — and on all digital plat-

forms. Titled “Sunset Boulevard,” the series pulls from Presley’s 1970-75 Los Angeles recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s studios. There is no greater gift for the Elvis a cionado. Rapp will release her second studio album on Friday, the appropriately titled “Bite Me.” The 12-track release is imbued with Rapp’s edgy, lighthearted spirit — catchy R&B-pop songs about bad breakups and good hookups abound. It’ll put some pep in your step.

SERIES TO STREAM

“Project Runway” has had quite a life since it debuted in 2004 on Bravo. After its rst six seasons, the competition show is about fashion design moved to Lifetime for 11 seasons, then back to Bravo for a few years, and its new home for season 21 is Freeform. Christian Siriano — who won the show’s fourth season — is an executive producer, mentor and judge. He joins “Project Runway” OG host Heidi Klum, celebrity stylist extraordinaire Law Roach and fashion editor Nina Garcia. It premieres Thursday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.

Comedian Leanne Morgan stars in her own multicam sitcom for Net ix called “Leanne,” debuting Thursday. Inspired by her own stand-up, Morgan plays a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman after more than three decades of marriage. Morgan stars

alongside sitcom vets Kristen Johnston and Tim Daly.

Anthony Mackie’s “Twisted Metal” is back on Peacock for a second season beginning Thursday. The show is adapted from a popular video game franchise and picks up about seven months after the events of season one.

Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+ on Friday. Set in the late 18th century, Momoa plays Kauai, a nobleman and warrior, who plays a major part in the uni cation of the Hawaiian Islands. The series is based on true events and is told from an Indigenous point- of-view.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Games set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth usually want to drag us back to Mount Doom for another confrontation with the Dark Lord. But what if you’re a Hobbit who just wants to hang out with your friends in your peaceful village? That’s your mission in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. It’s a cozy sim from Weta Workshop, the company behind the special e ects in Peter Jackson’s lms. You can grow a garden, go shing, trade with your neighbors and — most important for a Hobbit — cook and eat. It’s about as far from Mordor as it gets, and you can start decorating your own Hobbit Hole now on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

ADOPTABLE FRIENDS

NICOLA DOVE / APPLE TV+ VIA AP

Te Kohe Tuhaka, from left, Jason Momoa and Siua Ikale’o star in the series “Chief of War.”

CHRIS BAKER / NETFLIX VIA AP

Solution to last week’s puzzle

Solution to this week’s puzzles

Wet hot American summer

Folks are doing whatever they can to stay cool, with heat indexes soaring well into the triple digits across the region and heat warnings issued for several days. These youngsters found a respite from the hot temps at the Asheboro-Randolph YMCA’s splash pad. In Forsyth County, there are more than a dozen splash pads and swimming pools run by the City of Winston-Salem open daily.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE

New York

Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces on Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake

Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over the July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

Commissioners approve rezoning for new public charter school

The Legacy school will be located in Clemmons and serve K-8 students

By Ryan Henkel Twin City Herald

WINSTON-SALEM — Forsyth County will soon have a new K-8 charter school choice.

At the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ July 24 meeting, the board held a public hearing for a rezoning request for about 20 acres of property located west of Lewisville-Clemmons Road at the Holder Road intersection from Residential (RS-30) to Institutional and Public (IP-S) and Highway Business (HB-S) for the site of the proposed school.

“This is a two-phase rezoning, which means that the developers have a site plan for part of the site, but they haven’t gured out yet who the tenants are going to be on the eastern portion of the site,” said Deputy Planning Director Kirk Ericson. “The bulk of the site would

“This is not, by law, a referendum on whether we think we need more charter schools in Forsyth County.”

Commissioner Dan Besse

be taken up by the Legacy charter school.”

Legacy Traditional Schools is a network of 20-plus tuition-free, public charter schools across the United States. The site in Clemmons will be the company’s rst foray into North Carolina, and the campus has already been approved by the state regulator for up 1,200 K-8 students.

The eastern portion of the property will be dedicated to mixed-use commercial.

According to Ericson, the site would add an estimated $4.5 million to the local tax base and create approximately 145 jobs.

Not all commissioners were in support of the new charter school, however.

“I can appreciate and am a proponent of choice, but looking at the makeup of the demographics of the schools that you already have in this country, it concerns me greatly because here in Forsyth County, we’re trying to make sure that our schools are representative of the county that we are, which is a multicultural county,” said Commissioner Malishai Woodbury.

“A rezoning petition, I believe, by law, is supposed to be based on whether or not it meets the requirements of the UDO,” said Commissioner Dan Besse. “This is not, by law, a referendum on whether we think we need more charter schools in Forsyth County. If it were a referendum on that question,

I would vote ‘no,’ quite frankly, but that is not the issue before us.”

Following the hearing, the board voted 6-1 in favor of the rezoning, with Woodbury the lone dissent.

The board also held a second public hearing for a site plan amendment for approximately 25 acres of property located on the east side of South Main Street and the north side of Jones Road for a 94-lot, single-family planned residential development. According to Ericson, the development was previously approved last September, however, per a request by the N.C. DOT, the developers are removing a point of ingress/egress connected to South Main Street. The proposed amendment will now have just one entrance/exit connected to Jones Road.

Following the hearing, the board unanimously approved the request.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet Aug. 14.

In mobile home parks, clean tap water isn’t a given

Seventy percent that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules

By Michael Phillis, Travis Loller and M.K. Wildeman The Associated Press

THE WORST WATER Colt Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drinking Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state o cials discovered the contamination.

park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

“The Health Department refers it to us like, ‘Why aren’t you guys regulating it?’ We had no idea it existed,” he said.

More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections.

A review by The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules in

See WATER, page A4 $2.00

The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as 10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Gerardo Sanchez, an outreach coordinator with the immigrant and farmworker justice group TODEC, helps deliver bottled water to mobile home residents in Oasis, California, in April.

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

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North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Neal Robbins, Publisher

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter

P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

BUSINESS

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Published

USDA to establish regional hub in Raleigh, relocate thousands from Washington

The Agriculture Department says the move will bring the agency closer to farmers

By Jordan Golson Twin City Herald

RALEIGH — The U.S. De-

partment of Agriculture will relocate thousands of employees from Washington, D.C., to ve regional hubs across the country, including Raleigh, as part of a reorganization plan announced Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins.

The move will shift approximately 2,600 workers — more than half of USDA’s Washington workforce — to hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City. The department will also maintain two additional administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler welcomed the announcement, noting the state’s existing partnership with the USDA.

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub,” Troxler said. “We have a long-standing partnership with USDA with National Agricultural Statistics Service ofces housed in our building for many years, and we look forward to continuing to build on this partnership.”

The reorganization aims to bring USDA closer to the farmers, ranchers and rural communities it serves while reducing costs associated with the living in the nation’s capital, where federal employees receive a locality pay adjustment of 33.94%. By comparison, the Raleigh area’s locality rate is 22.24%.

“We

Steve

North Carolina Agriculture commissioner

The reorganization follows four key principles: ensuring the workforce size aligns with nancial resources, bringing USDA closer to its customers, eliminating management layers and consolidating redundant support functions.

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“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement. “President (Donald) Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country.”

As part of the management restructuring, several USDA agencies will see signi cant changes. The National Agricultural Statistics Service will consolidate its 12 existing regions into ve aligned with the new hubs over a multiyear period. The Food and Nutrition Service will reduce from seven regions to ve, while the Forest Service will phase out nine regional o ces over the next year.

The department expects to retain no more than 2,000 employees in the Washington area after the reorganization is complete. The plan will unfold over several months, with senior USDA leadership providing more details to a ected ofces in the coming weeks.

Beyond the relocation, the plan follows a voluntary work-

force reduction earlier this year in which 15,364 USDA employees elected deferred resignation through the Deferred Retirement Program. O cials emphasized this was completely voluntary and that the reorganization is not conducting a large-scale workforce reduction.

Troxler said having more USDA sta in North Carolina could bene t the state’s $111 billion agriculture industry.

“Agriculture production and needs are di erent across the country, and I think it will be bene cial to our agriculture industry to have more USDA sta and contacts in our state,” he said. “We will work with them on whatever they need.”

The reorganization also calls for vacating several Washington-area buildings with signi cant deferred maintenance costs. Beyond the South Building, which has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and operates well below capacity, USDA will also vacate Braddock Place and eventually the Beltsville Agricultural Re-

search Center. The department will retain the Whitten Building as its headquarters, along with the Yates Building and National Agricultural Library.

Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have raised concerns about the plan, arguing it could disrupt services and disconnect the agency from Congress. The union noted that 95% of USDA employees already work outside of Washington, D.C.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, called it a “half-baked proposal” and demanded department o cials appear before the Senate to explain their reasoning.

USDA o cials said critical functions will continue uninterrupted during the transition, including wild re response, food safety inspections and other essential services. The department specifically exempted 52 position classi cations carrying out national security and public safety functions from earlier hiring freezes to ensure these services remain fully sta ed, though these employees may still be subject to relocation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Flight attendant sentenced to 18 years for recording girls in airplane bathroom

Police said the man had recordings of ve girls between 7 and 14

By Leah Willingham and Michael Casey The Associated Press

BOSTON — A ight attendant accused of taping his cellphone to the lid of an airplane toilet to secretly lm young girls was sentenced to just under 20 years in prison last Wednesday. Former American Airlines ight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III received a sentence of 181⁄2 years, followed by ve years of supervised release. Boston U.S. District Court Judge Julia Kobick

He “robbed ve young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it, instead leaving them with fear, mistrust, insecurity, and sadness.” DOJ sentencing memorandum

called his behavior “appalling” and said child victims’ “innocence has been lost” because of his actions.

Thompson was arrested and charged in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, after authorities said a 14-year-old girl on his ight discovered his secret recording setup in the lavatory. He was indict-

ed last year on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor. He apologized in court last week, describing his actions as “sel sh, perverse and wrong.” Police alleged Thomp -

son, of Charlotte, had recordings of four other girls between the ages of 7 and 14 using aircraft lavatories over a 9-month period.

In a sentencing memorandum submitted in court, U.S. government attorneys said Thompson “robbed ve young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it, instead leaving them with fear, mistrust, insecurity, and sadness.” Thompson, who will serve his sentence at FMC Butner in North Carolina, intends to undergo sex o ender-speci c treatment, his attorneys said. A lawyer for Thompson said via email last Wednesday he wouldn’t be commenting.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

the past ve years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. And the problems are likely even bigger because the EPA database doesn’t catch all parks.

Even where parks get water from an outside source — such as a city — the clean water coming in can become contaminated if it passes through problematic infrastructure before reaching residents’ taps. Because the EPA doesn’t generally require this water to be tested and regulated, the problems may go unseen.

Utah is one of the few states to step in with their own rules, according to an AP survey of state policies.

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works,” Smith said.

The challenge of being “halfway homeowners”

In one Colorado mobile home park, raw sewage backed up into a bathtub. In a Michigan park, the taps often ran dry and the water resembled tea; in Iowa, it looked like co ee — scaring residents o drinking it and ruining laundry they could hardly a ord to replace. In California, boxes of bottled water crowd a family’s kitchen over fears of arsenic.

Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. Some are comfortable Sun Belt retirees. Many others have modest incomes and see mobile homes as a rare opportunity for home ownership.

To understand how water in the parks can be so troubled, it’s useful to remember that residents often own their homes but rent the land they sit on. Despite the name, it’s di cult and expensive to move a mobile home. That means they’re “halfway homeowners,” said Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver who lived in several mobile home parks as she researched a book. Residents often put up with “really egregious” property maintenance by landlords because all their money is tied up in their home, she said. Pamela Maxey, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, said she had forgotten what it was like to have reliable, clean water until she traveled to her state Capitol last year to advocate for better mobile home park protections and stayed in a hotel. By then, she had spent eight years in a park where sewage backed up into homes and the ow of tap water was sometimes weak or discolored.

“It wasn’t until I went into the bathroom to take a shower that I realized, ‘I don’t have to jump in here and squint my eyes closed

the entire time and make sure water doesn’t get in my mouth because I don’t know what’s in it,’” she said. “I went to brush my teeth, and I just turned the faucet on and I brushed my teeth from the water coming from the faucet. I haven’t been able to do that for over a year.”

Victoria Silva, a premed student in Fort Collins, Colorado, estimates the water in Harmony Village Mobile Home Park where she lives went out or lost pressure 20 to 30 times over roughly three years there.

“People don’t realize how much water they need until the water is out for ve minutes when they need to ush, when they need to rinse something o their hands, when they need to make some pasta,” Silva said.

The park’s owner says a licensed professional ensures water is maintained and tested, and outages are minimized.

Small water companies, serial problems

The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to nd expert sta and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out.

The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant, or failed to properly report the results, in the past ve years. And they are far more likely to be repeat o enders of safe drinking water rules overall.

But that’s only part of the sto -

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works.”

Colt Smith, Utah Division of Drinking Water

ry. The true rates of mobile home park violations aren’t knowable because the EPA doesn’t track them well. The agency’s tap water violation database depends on information from states that often don’t properly categorize mobile home parks.

When Smith rst searched Utah’s database in response to an AP request for data from all 50 states, he found only four small water systems identi ed as belonging to mobile home parks. With some keyword searches, he identi ed 33 more.

Other parks aren’t in the databases at all and may be completely unregulated.

One July day in 2021, o cials with the EPA were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern California desert when they realized the problem went way beyond just one place.

“It was literally us driving around and going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a bunch of mobile home parks!’” said Amy Miller,

who previously served as EPA’s head of enforcement for the Paci c Southwest region.

The water in these other parks had been o their radar. At some, testing found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that had been provided to residents for years.

It’s impossible to know how many unnoticed parks are out there. Most states aren’t actively looking for them and say they nd very few. In Colorado, after the state passed a new law to require water testing at all mobile home parks, o cials uncovered 79 parks with their source of water unknown. That’s about a tenth of the total parks in the state.

Pipes “like spaghetti” in the ground

Many parks are decades old with aging pipes that can cause chronic water problems, even if the water that supplies the park is clean when it enters the system.

Jake Freeman, the engineering director at Central States Water Resources, a Missouri-based private utility company that specializes in taking over small water systems in 11 states, said substandard and poorly installed pipes are more common to see in mobile home parks.

“A lot of times, it’s hard to nd the piping in the mobile home parks because if there’s any kind of obstruction, they just go around it,” he said. ”“It’s like spaghetti laying in the ground.”

After a major winter storm devastated Texas in 2021, Freeman said, the company found pipes at parks it had taken over that “were barely buried. Some of them weren’t buried.”

When pipes break and leak, the pressure drops and contaminants can enter water lines. In addition, parks sometimes have stagnant water — where pipes dead-end or water sits unused — that increases the risk of bacterial growth.

Rebecca Sadosky is public water supply chief in North Carolina, where mobile home communities make up close to 40% of all water systems. She said owners don’t always realize when they buy a park that they could also be running a mini utility.

“I think they don’t know that they’re getting into the water business,” she said. It doesn’t have to be like this

Utah is a rare state that enforces safe drinking water standards even within mobile home parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP’s survey of states. A small number of other states like New Hampshire have taken some steps to address water safety in these parks, but in most states frustrated residents may have no one to turn to for help beyond the park owner.

In Colorado, when Silva asked o cials who enforces safe drinking water rules, “I just couldn’t get clear answers.”

Steve Via, director of federal regulations at the American Water Works Association utility group, argued against regulating mobile home parks that get their water from a municipality, saying that would further stretch an already taxed oversight system. And if those parks are regulated, what’s to stop the rules from extending to the privately owned pipes in big apartment buildings — the line has to be drawn somewhere, he said.

Via said residents of parks where an owner refuses to x water problems have options, including going to their local health departments, suing or complaining publicly.

Silva is among the advocates who fought for years to change Colorado’s rules before they succeeded in passing a law in 2023 that requires water testing in every mobile home park. It gives health o cials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it’s not a health risk. The state is now a leader in protecting mobile home park tap water.

Smith, the Utah environmental scientist, said stopping the contaminated water owing into the mobile home park and connecting it to a safe supply felt like a career highlight.

He said Utah’s culture of making do with scarce water contributed to a willingness for stronger testing and regulations than the federal government requires.

“There’s sort of the communal nature of like, everybody should have access to clean water,” he said. “It seems to transcend political ideologies; it seems to transcend religious ideologies.”

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Residents at Oasis Mobile Home Park walk past water tanks in Thermal, California, in April.

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Cases of bottled drinking water are stored under a kitchen counter in the home of Agustin and Ricarda Toledo in Oasis, California, last October.

Forsyth SPORTS

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Abiel Lopez-Dominguez

West Forsyth, boys’ soccer

Abiel Lopez-Dominguez is a 2025 graduate from the West Forsyth boys’ soccer team.

The striker ranked in the top three in the Central Piedmont 4A conference in points and goals last season.

Lopez-Dominguez was one of two members of the West Forsyth soccer class of 2025 chosen for the NC Soccer Coaches Association’s East-West All-Star Game — Ryan Penaloza was the other.

Abiel played 60 minutes in the All-Star Game, getting o one shot on goal as his West team tied the East, 2-2.

BULLS, BANDS & BARRELS

The Bulls, Bands & Barrels tour came to Winston-Salem on July 26. The unique event combined a rodeo competition, barrel racing and country music. Julia Beaty took the prize in barrel racing. Caleb Cantrell won the bull riding competition, while Jacorey Golden recorded his third bull ghting win of the season. Kameron Marlowe and Fox N’Vead then hit the stage for some music.

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA BASKETBALL

Kansas basketball

coach Self released from hospital after heart procedure Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self was released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, two days after having two stents inserted to treat blocked arteries. “I feel strong and am excited to be home,” Self said. The 62-year-old felt ill after having run Kansas’ nal practice of its summer session. He missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA tournaments because of a heart condition, getting a standard catheterization and having two stents inserted to help treat blocked arteries. Self led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022, and he is the school’s career victory leader.

MLS

MLS suspension of Messi, Alba “draconian,” Inter Miami owner says Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The owner of Inter Miami called Major League Soccer’s suspension of Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for skipping the All-Star Game a “draconian” punishment. Owner Jorge Mas said Messi and Alba don’t understand the one-game suspensions. They did not suit up for the match between the MLS and Liga MX of Mexico despite being voted to the game. Messi wanted to rest amid a packed schedule, and Alba was dealing with a previous injury. Mas said the club made the decision for Messi and Alba to sit out of the All- Star Game.

SWIMMING

American team battles case of “acute gastroenteritis,” a ecting performance

Singapore The United States team at the swimming world championships in Singapore is battling a case of “acute gastroenteritis” that compromised performances on the opening day of eight days of competition in the pool. Nikki Warner, the spokeswoman for USA Swimming, con rmed the outbreak and said it had its roots at a training camp the American team held in Phuket, Thailand, before arriving in Singapore. She said all American swimmers had traveled to Singapore. Warner declined to say how many had been a ected above the three that are known.

MLB Orioles, Rockies keep playing after fans evacuated seats

Baltimore The Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies played through rain even after fans were told to move due to potential lightning. The game at Camden Yards continued because the decision to clear fans and the decision to pause the game are made by di erent authorities. The umpires didn’t see lightning close enough to stop play. Fans were moved around the sixth inning but could return by the end of the seventh. Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino praised the decision to prioritize fan safety. The game was never delayed.

5 new coaches readying for rst time leading NFL team in 2025

Each longtime assistant faces distinct challenges

By Dennis Waszak Jr. The Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. —

Aaron Glenn has been mapping out exactly how he wants to lead an NFL team for a few years.

Before he was hired as the New York Jets’ head coach in January, Glenn spent four seasons as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator and was empowered by coach Dan Campbell to make some crucial calls for the team o the eld.

“He allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position,” Glenn said.

Glenn is one of ve rst-time head coaches in the league. All ve are longtime assistants who now each face distinct challenges and must balance the responsibilities of managing an entire roster and sta .

Aaron Glenn, Jets

Background: Jets’ rstround pick (No. 12 overall) in 1994 out of Texas A&M. Played 15 seasons in the NFL, then served as the general manager of the Houston Stallions of the indoor Texas Lone Star Football League in 2012. He had stints as an assistant with Cleveland, New Orleans and Detroit.

Task: He and new GM Darren Mougey focused on making the Jets’ roster younger. Glenn, who considers his former coach Bill Parcells a mentor, spoke often during the oseason about changing the Jets’ culture. Ending their long postseason drought will help and there’s key foundational talent, but the youth movement could temper some rst-year expectations.

Liam Coen, Jaguars

Background: Played quarterback at UMass. Spent last

season as Tampa Bay’s o ensive coordinator before being hired by Jacksonville in January to replace the red Doug Pederson. Coen had two stints with the Los Angeles Rams, including serving as Sean McVay’s o ensive coordinator in 2022.

Task: Coen was hired for his o ensive prowess after he helped Baker May eld to the best season of his career with the Buccaneers. Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, has not yet fully lived up to expectations, and that will be the focus for Coen.

Ben Johnson, Bears

Background: A former backup QB at UNC, Johnson was Detroit’s o ensive coordinator the past three years and helped Jared Go and the Lions lead the league in scoring.

Task: The Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year, and Chicago is hoping Johnson will be

“He

allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in this position.”

Aaron Glenn, Jets coach

able to develop the quarterback into a playmaking star. Getting Williams to get rid of the ball faster and improve on his accuracy should help.

Kellen Moore, Saints

Background: A former backup quarterback with Detroit and Dallas over six NFL seasons, Moore was long considered a head coaching candidate during his stops as an offensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Chargers and Eagles. In his only season in Philadelphia, he guided a high-scoring o ense that powered the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Task: Moore doesn’t have the talent-rich roster he had last season. He also isn’t quite sure who his quarterback will be. The o ense has some talent, but the defense needs to improve after allowing the second-most rushing yards.

Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys

Background: The son of the late Marty Schottenheimer was a surprise pick by Jerry Jones. But the younger Schottenheimer has a lengthy resume in both the pros and at the college level, with stints as an o ensive coordinator with the Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams and Jets among them.

Task: Schottenheimer will need to build a rapport with quarterback Dak Prescott. The coach made some headlines during the o season when he said Prescott is still “in the developmental phase” of his career and the team is tweaking some things with him.

Jones, Richardson begin competition to be Colts QB1

The former Duke and Giants passer looks to start in the NFL again

By Michael Marot

The Associated Press

WESTFIELD, Ind. — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson insists he’s healthy.

Daniel Jones embraces the chance to compete for a starting job. And coach Shane Steichen has a broad outline of how he intends to split the snaps over the next several weeks, with no timetable to make a decision, as the competition began in earnest at Indy’s training camp.

“And just with the way the reps are going to play out, those guys are going to get the same amount of reps . We’ll ip both to get reps with the ones every day,” Steichen said. It’s the second time in Steichen’s three years with the Colts he’s presided over a quarterback competition. The rst ended after one preseason game in 2023 with Steichen selecting Richardson, then a rookie, the starter over Gardner Minshew. In addition to splitting snaps with the starters at practice, general manager Chris Ballard said he wants to see both quarterbacks in action against other teams. It remains to be seen if the scheduled joint practices against Baltimore and Green Bay can provide enough information to produce a decision or whether Richardson and Jones may play in the less controlled environment of preseason games. If rst impressions suggest anything, there wasn’t much di erence on the eld.

Each struggled against Indy’s defense, which knocked away multiple passes thrown by both in 11-on-11 drills. Jones also threw an interception on what he described as a “bad decision” before throwing a pretty completion on a long ball to Anthony Gould near the end of practice.

“I think like any Day 1, there was some good, some bad,” Jones said. “There are always things to clean up. We’ll look back at the tape and then improve on it, but I thought for Day 1, we did a lot of things that you look for on Day 1.” Jones has been around long enough to understand expectations.

The New York Giants made him the No. 6 overall draft pick out of Duke in 2019. He became the starter in Week 3 of his rookie season and, after struggling for three years, led the Giants to the playo s in 2022. New York rewarded Jones with a four-year, $160 million con-

tract, but Jones made only six starts in 2023 and threw eight TD passes and seven interceptions last season before he was released by New York and signed by Minnesota. Now he’s back, looking to start again. “There’s so much work to do, especially for me — learning the system, getting to know the guys, learning communication with the coaches,” Jones said. “It’s a long process. There’s a lot of work ahead of us, but kind of the way you go about it is focusing on that day, that practice, that meeting or whatever at the moment.”

Richardson’s injury history, meanwhile, has limited him to just 15 starts over the past two seasons, and he missed the team’s nal minicamp practice because of a sore throwing shoulder.

He also acknowledged he did not throw to his teammates when they worked out in California this summer.

“I had surgery a year and a half ago, so I’ve been dealing with on and o soreness with that,” Richardson said, noting he thought it was just a normal part of the recovery process.

“But it was something else, and I wouldn’t necessarily worry about it. I was just trying to do what I could do to help the team.” Richardson also has struggled with accuracy, completing just 50.6% of his throws, including 47.7% last season when he had the lowest completion rate of any regular starter in the league.

Richardson pronounced himself healthy and ready to win yet another quarterback competition.

“Everybody wants success like right here, right now,” he said. “There were de nitely things I could have worked on last year, so I’m trying to improve on that and make sure I’m just available for the team whenever they need me.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks Daniel Jones, left, and Anthony Richardson Sr. throw during practice at training camp.

DAVID BANKS / AP PHOTO

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson talks to the media before practice during training camp.

the stream

Reneé Rapp, ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ Elvis’ rarities, Anthony Mackie and Jason Momoa

Criterion Channel series spotlights ’90s lms with unforgettable soundtracks

By Jocelyn Noveck

Associated Press

The

BENICIO DEL TORO starring in Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and Reneé Rapp’s second studio album are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: Jason Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+, there’s a coxy Hobbit video game in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, and “Project Runway” tries out a new network home for its 21st season.

MOVIES TO STREAM

Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” (streaming now on Peacock) stars Del Toro as Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda, a wealthy and unscrupulous European industrialist. After the latest assassination attempt on his life, he decides to leave his estate to one of his many children, Lisel (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate. Michael Cera co-stars as a Norwegian insect expect named Bjørn. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the lm nds Anderson “becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

The Net ix romance “My Oxford Year” (streaming Friday) follows a young American student named Anna (So a Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University. Corey Mylchreest co-stars as a local love interest in the lm directed by Iain Morris.

Movie soundtracks once played so much more of a role in popular culture. A new series on the Criterion Channel collects some of the lms from the soundtrack’s heyday, the 1990s, when songs from movies like “Trainspotting” (1996) and “Singles” (1992) dominated the airwaves and MTV. Also running this month on Criterion are “Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997), “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (1993) and “Judgement Night” (1993).

MUSIC TO STREAM

The King of Rock ’n’ Roll has returned. On Friday, to celebrate what would’ve been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday year, a massive collection of 89 rarities will

So a Carson appears in a scene from the lm “My Oxford Year.”

“The Phoenician Scheme nds Anderson becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

Jocelyn Noveck, AP Film Writer

be released as a ve-disc CD boxset — and on all digital platforms. Titled “Sunset Boulevard,” the series pulls from Presley’s 1970-75 Los Angeles recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s studios. There is no greater gift for the Elvis a cionado. Rapp will release her second studio album on Friday, the appropriately titled “Bite Me.” The 12-track release is imbued with Rapp’s edgy, lighthearted spirit — catchy R&B-pop songs about bad breakups and good hook-

ups abound. It’ll put some pep in your step.

SERIES TO STREAM

“Project Runway” has had quite a life since it debuted in 2004 on Bravo. After its rst six seasons, the competition show is about fashion design moved to Lifetime for 11 seasons, then back to Bravo for a few years, and its new home for season 21 is Freeform. Christian Siriano — who won the show’s fourth season — is an executive producer, mentor and judge. He joins “Project Runway” OG host Heidi Klum, celebrity stylist extraordinaire Law Roach and fashion editor Nina Garcia. It premieres Thursday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.

Comedian Leanne Morgan stars in her own multicam sit-

com for Net ix called “Leanne,” debuting Thursday. Inspired by her own stand-up, Morgan plays a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman after more than three decades of marriage. Morgan stars alongside sitcom vets Kristen Johnston and Tim Daly. Anthony Mackie’s “Twisted Metal” is back on Peacock for a second season beginning Thursday. The show is adapted from a popular video game franchise and picks up about seven months after the events of season one. Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+ on Friday. Set in the late 18th century, Momoa plays Kauai, a nobleman and warrior, who plays a major part in the uni cation of the Hawaiian Islands. The series is based on true events

and is told from an Indigenous point- of-view.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Games set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth usually want to drag us back to Mount Doom for another confrontation with the Dark Lord. But what if you’re a Hobbit who just wants to hang out with your friends in your peaceful village? That’s your mission in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. It’s a cozy sim from Weta Workshop, the company behind the special e ects in Peter Jackson’s lms. You can grow a garden, go shing, trade with your neighbors and — most important for a Hobbit — cook and eat. It’s about as far from Mordor as it gets, and you can start decorating your own Hobbit Hole now on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

Te Kohe Tuhaka, from left, Jason Momoa and Siua Ikale’o star in the series “Chief of War.”

CHRIS BAKER

STATE & NATION

Shaq has been refurbishing basketball courts for 30 years

The big man knows the impact new courts can have

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL knows exactly how much refurbishing a basketball court can mean to a community and the kids who play on it.

He learned rsthand from his former Boston Celtics teammate Marquis Daniels. He was a teenager three decades ago when O’Neal was playing with the Orlando Magic and rebuilt a court in the inner city area where Daniels was growing up.

“It was big. He was somebody growing up that I looked up to, he was the tallest person I had ever seen,” Daniels told The AP. “He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Years later when they were teammates in Boston, Daniels reminded the Hall of Famer that he had been at that court dedication and how it helped change his life. After a 10-year career in the NBA, Daniels has been working as a coach at his alma mater Auburn since 2018.

O’Neal recalled Daniels telling him the story.

“He said, ‘You don’t remember me?’” O’Neal said while in Rockwell, Texas, to refurbish another court near his new home. “I said no, and he said, ‘Well, I was one of the kids that

grew up in Orlando, and you xed up a court. Because you xed it up, I’m here.’” Refurbishing courts is commonplace around the NBA and

WNBA. The Indiana Fever unveiled a new Legacy Court at a local park in Indianapolis during All-Star weekend, and the league has an initiative this

year to put down orange lines across the country to inspire young players with a WNBA 3-point arc on outdoor courts. The renovated court at Glo -

“He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Marquis Daniels, former NBA player

ria Williams park is now part of a collection of Comebaq Courts, a joint venture by Icy Hot and the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation to build well- equipped and safe courts for kids across the country.

“They found this court that hasn’t been refurbished in a while and that’s historical with the city,” O’Neal said.

Renovating one in Rockwall was actually the idea of Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale. She’s played her entire career in Dallas and wanted to do something for the community.

“This is like my second home. I’ve been here my whole career, so this initiative with Icy Hot and Shaq was a no-brainer,” she said. “Just to give back to the youth that pours into us and my teammates every night is special.”

It’s special to O’Neal also as he plans to spend a lot of his time in the Texas city.

“I’ll get on my little scooter or motorcycle and just ride by and see what’s going on with the kids,” he said. “I work in Atlanta, but it’s only an hour ight, and I’m sure at some point this will be my permanent home.”

O’Neal, who is the president of Reebok Basketball, also donated basketball shoes to all the members of the Boys & Girls Club kids who were at the event.

Vance hits the road to sell Republicans’ big new tax law

The vice president was in his home state of Ohio on Monday

By Julie Carr Smyth

and Seung Min Kim

The Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance used a speech in his home state on Monday to promote the GOP’s sweeping tax-and-border bill.

Vance spoke to a crowd of steel workers in neon green, orange, yellow and red hardhats and safety glasses gathered inside a rolling mill at Metallus Inc. in Canton, about 60 miles from Cleveland. It was his second trip this month as chief promoter of the hodgepodge of conservative priorities that Republicans have dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Echoing themes expressed at an industrial machine shop

in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance said American workers should be able to keep more of their pay in their pockets and U.S. companies should be rewarded when they grow. He highlighted the law’s new tax deductions on overtime and its breaks on tipped income.

Vance decried Democrats — including U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, whose competitive House district he was visiting — for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year.

The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled Congress by the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump’s immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps.

The White House sees the new law as a political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing

congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year. In a navy jacket and white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, Vance leaned into folksy

word choices and characterized the administration’s immigration crackdown as an e ort to keep gangs tra cking deadly fentanyl out of the country.

Vance’s decision to visit Sykes’ district comes as the National

Republican Congressional Committee has named her narrowly split district as a top target this cycle. His northeastern Pennsylvania stop was in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a rst-term lawmaker who knocked o a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called his visit “another desperate attempt to lie to Ohioans about the devastating impact the Big, Ugly Law will have on working families.” in a statement.

In the statement, Katie Smith said Sykes “fought tooth and nail against this disastrous law.”

Polls before the bill’s passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.

LAUREN LEIGH BACHO / AP PHOTO

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Metallus plant Monday in Canton, Ohio.

RICH SCHULTZ / AP PHOTO

Boston Celtics’ Marquis Daniels (8) and Shaquille O’Neal (36) walk onto the court during a 2010 NBA game at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Randolph record

Construction work has been ongoing at

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE New York Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters in the building. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces on Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL. Among those killed was an o -duty police o cer working security.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over the July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. More than 160 people are known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

$2.00

Work continues on project at South Asheboro Middle School

The upgrades are part of another multiyear building renovation within the district

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The largest current facilities project involving Asheboro City Schools is ongoing at South Asheboro Middle School.

The district’s board of education approved a contract amendment with Bobbitt Construction during the spring for the next phase of work.

Based on information provided by Chandra Manning, director of communications and talent development for Asheboro schools, this project is the focal point of the district’s active projects. She said there are no minor projects of note for this summer. The work at the middle school

is extensive, including work scheduled for this summer.

“We’re going to do the majority of the construction during the summers,” said Baxter Hammer, chair of the Asheboro City Board of Education. “The downside of this is it’s going to take longer.”

But there should minimal interruptions to the daily routines on the campus.

Hammer said there are indications that the work is ahead of schedule even though it will involve parts of three summers. He said this set-up allows the district to avoid leasing mobile units to use as classrooms, something that is an expense without long-term value.

A contract with Bobbitt Construction previously only included design and testing expenses. The amended contract includes the entire construction expenses, Manning said.

That includes installation of

“We’re going to do the majority of the construction during the summers.”

Baxter Hammer, school board chair

a new elevator (perhaps in early August) and installation of a new staircase to the second oor from the gym lobby.

The project list also includes the beginning of exterior curtain wall replacement, continued demolition of classroom ooring on the second oor and installation of new case work and renovation of the mechanical and electrical systems and ceilings on that oor.

Meanwhile, expansion of the cafeteria has commenced

In mobile home parks, clean, safe tap water isn’t a given

Seventy percent that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules

By Michael Phillis, Travis Loller and M.K. Wildeman The Associated Press

THE WORST WATER Colt Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drinking Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state o cials discovered the contamination.

The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as 10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural

park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

“The Health Department refers it to us like, ‘Why aren’t you guys regulating it?’ We had no idea it existed,” he said.

More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections.

and will continue through the upcoming school year. That part of the project includes the addition of a second- oor lounge. Water fountains are to be replaced throughout the building.

The full project will span ve phases, with completion expected by summer 2027.

The middle school project comes on the heels of a yearslong renovation of Asheboro High School, which is located across the street from the middle school. That renovation was large in scale, and completion of the work extended beyond the originally stated time frame.

Hammer said delays were largely tied to available materials during the pandemic. He said the district received a funding grant from the state to help in launching the middle school project.

tory of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works,” Smith said.

The challenge of being “halfway homeowners”

In one Colorado mobile home park, raw sewage backed up into a bathtub. In a Michigan park, the taps often ran dry and the water resembled tea; in Iowa, it looked like co ee — scaring residents o drinking it and ruining laundry they could hardly a ord to replace. In California, boxes of bottled water crowd a family’s kitchen over fears of arsenic.

Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. Some are comfortable Sun Belt retirees. Many others have modest incomes and see mobile

“If you look back at the his-

A review by The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules in the past ve years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. And the problems are likely even bigger because the EPA database doesn’t catch all parks. Even where parks get water from an outside source — such as a city — the clean water coming in can become contaminated if it passes through problematic infrastructure before reaching residents’ taps. Because the EPA doesn’t generally require this water to be tested and regulated, the problems may go unseen. Utah is one of the few states to step in with their own rules, according to an AP survey of state policies.

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

South Asheboro Middle School as part of an Asheboro City Schools project.

North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Randolph Record (ISSN 2768-5268)

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

Bob Sutton, Randolph Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter

P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

David Guy, Advertising Manager

Asheboro embarks on switchover for water treatment

City residents might experience slight changes in water for a few weeks

Randolph Record sta

ASHEBORO — The annual process for the City of Asheboro to switch to free chlorine as its primary disinfection treatment will have begun by the end of this week, according to information from the city. This change in treatment is necessary to ensure optimum water quality throughout the distribution water mains, the city’s memo said. Residents might initially detect a slight increase in chlorine taste or smell as the switchover in treatment processes occur. Customers who use city drinking water for certain special purposes, includ-

ing kidney dialysis, may need to make adjustments because the chlorine disinfection process will change some characteristics of the water.

This change in treatment will last several weeks before a switch back to the customary chloramine treatment process.

Notices have been sent to the city’s water customers.

The City will continue to ensure optimum water quality ushing of the water mains by releasing water from re hydrants. Questions regarding water disinfection process should be directed to the Water Treatment Plant manager at 336-626-1215.

Services and fees

Here’s a reminder about services and fees that were updated as of the beginning of 2025.

The Asheboro City Coun-

cil approved changes to building inspection, re prevention, and planning and zoning fees last year with adoption of the scal year 2024-25 budget. As part of that transition while allowing time for Community Development Division customers to adjust, the city council directed implementation of the new fees to be delayed from the start of the scal year (July 2024) to Jan. 1, 2025. One change to the fee structure involved the calculation of residential building permit fees. Formerly calculated on a project cost basis, residential building permit fees will now be calculated based on square footage.

Additionally, the commercial building permit fee will allow inspections sta to consider the International Code Council’s current “Building Valuation Data” to ensure applicant-reported project costs are consistent with market conditions.

The city doesn’t assess separate plan review fees and will continue to provide the service at no additional cost to applicants, distinguishing Asheboro from some other jurisdictions, according to information from the city.

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

Aug. 1

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

The Randolph County Economic Development Corporation has hit the 40-year mark

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Crystal Get-

tys of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation was named the 2025 Economic Developer of the Year by the North Carolina Economic Development Association.

The association pointed to Gettys’ more than 25 years of transformative impact on economic development across the state.

“She was recognized for leading the e ort to bring the Ross Stores distribution center to Randolph County and the City of Randleman — a $450 million, 852-job project,” said Kevin Franklin, president of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation. “Crystal worked for four years on the site, ensuring that it was ready to go when Ross Stores became ready, and that’s the work we should be celebrating from our economic developers.”

Gettys is business recruitment director for RCEDC. She’s a former consultant with Sanford Holshouser Economic Development and former president of the Wayne County Development Alliance.

“Economic development is never done alone — it takes vi-

sion, partnerships, and community trust,” Gettys said. “I’ve been fortunate to work alongside incredible people who care deeply about the places they call home.”

The statewide association said Gettys played a central role in the development of other landmark sites such as the Airlie Business Park and the Goldsboro Industrial Campus. Her civic leadership includes service on numerous boards and committees, including the North Carolina Southeast Partnership, Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, and the Military A airs Committee at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. She has also served as board chair for the Downtown Development Association in Lincolnton and has been a volunteer with Junior Achievement.

RCEDC celebrates 40 years

At its 40th annual meeting, RCEDC recognized The Timken Co., winner of the 2025

Outstanding Industry Award and Baxter Hammer as 2025 Industry Leader Awardee. Milestones for RCEDC were celebrated, including: Completion of Randleman dam in 2024 for the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority; formation of I-73/74 and U.S. 64 bypass; Greensboro-Randolph megasite; Ross Stores project; workforce initiatives with Apprenticeship Randolph and recent launching of “Ride the Rise” campaign’ and NC Carolina Core branding.

“I acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe to our core legacy — our industrial, business, and agricultural communities — and to the entrepreneurial spirit of those who have sustained our economy through successes, economic downturns, and even a global pandemic,” said Fred Smith, board chairman of the RCEDC. “Whether no longer with us or ourishing today, we honor these companies and citizens with sincere appreciation and admiration.”

Shannon Morrow, senior manager at Rheem Manufacturing and Jamie Halstead of Toyota Battery Manufacturing-North Carolina, were appointed to the RCEDC board of directors. Frank Edmondson of Schwarz Properties was reappointed.

A presentation on developing water infrastructure to accommodate business and community growth for the decades ahead concluded the program.

Friday Night Sunset Series: Held every Friday, May-August 5:30-8:30 p.m.

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

Aug. 2, 5 & 6

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

Aug. 4-6

SUNDAY AUG. 3

MONDAY AUG. 4

TUESDAY AUG. 5

WEDNESDAY AUG.

July 21

• Dasean Antonio Nicholson, 29, of Mount Gilead was arrested for breaking and entering, trespassing, possessing stolen goods and stealing property.

• Essie Natasha Marie McKenzie, 41, of Liberty was arrested for resisting an o cer.

July 23

• Nikki Leann Arm eld, 43, of Thomasville was arrested for possessing methamphetamine, possessing drug paraphernalia and

• Sara Elizabeth Adams, 35, of Ramseur was arrested for identity theft, stealing property, possessing stolen goods and resisting an o cer.

• Virginia Letita Richardson, 41, of Thomasville was arrested for stealing property, shoplifting and possessing stolen goods.

• Charles Burton Roberts-Hill, 42, of Asheboro was arrested for possessing methamphetamine, possessing a rearm as a felon and possessing drug paraphernalia.

July 24

• Samantha Lea Luther, 45, of Franklinville was arrested for possessing a controlled substance, possessing marijuana and possessing marijuana paraphernalia.

• Samuel Clifton Bump, 59, of Asheboro was arrested for resisting an o cer.

July 25

• Gregory Lopez Tadeo, 32, of Asheboro was arrested for stealing property, possessing stolen goods, possessing methamphetamine and possessing drug paraphernalia.

• Danny Emmanuel Sturdivant, 35, of Asheboro was arrested for resisting an o cer.

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

Aug. 5

Making Art with the Masters

11 a.m. to noon

Art classes each Tuesday for ages 8-12 that teach history, theory and practice. 11 a.m. classes are for ages 10-12 and 3:30 p.m. classes are for ages 8-9.

Asheboro Public Library 201 Worth St. Asheboro

COURTESY

Crystal Gettys

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

Cecil Roger Bouldin

March 2, 1954 – July 20, 2025

Cecil Roger Bouldin, 71, of Asheboro, died Sunday, July 20, 2025, at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro.

Funeral Services, 11 a.m. on Friday, at Lo in Funeral Home Chapel, Ramseur.

O ciating, Rev. Kenneth Bouldin and Rev. Larry Andrews.

Burial will follow at New Hope Memorial Gardens, Asheboro. Roger was a native of Chatham County, born March 2, 1954, and was a long-time resident of Asheboro. He was the owner and operator of PM Repair Service of Seagrove and was a certi ed diesel mechanic for many years. Roger loved old cars and enjoyed attending car shows. He loved his family and was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Maggielene Amick Bouldin. Survivors: wife of 45 years, Martha Hussey Bouldin, of the home, son, Matthew Bouldin, of Greensboro, sister, Janice Carmac and husband, Chris, of Asheboro, brother, Mark Bouldin, of Coleridge, step-daughter, Stacie Kivett and husband, Tim, of Wilmington, grandchildren, Mason and Mackenzie of Greensboro and Chance Kivett and Brice Dalke, both of Asheboro.

Visitation, 9:45-10:45 a.m., Friday, Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur. Arrangements by Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur.

Linda Jane Moger

Dec. 6, 1940 – July 26, 2025

Linda Jane Moger, 84, of Ramseur, entered into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at Faith Baptist Church, Ramseur. The family will receive friends following the service in the Faith Christian School Gym.

O ciating, Rev. Gary Moger.

A Private Family Committal Service will be held on Monday, July 28, at Fairfax Memorial Park in Virginia.

Linda was a native of Washington, DC, and a long-time resident of Fairfax, Virginia, and more recently, Ramseur. She worked as a Budget Specialist for Fairfax County before retirement and was a member of Faith Baptist Church in Ramseur. She was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Linda was preceded in death by her husband, Gary Moger, her parents, Charles and Marjorie Thompson Fentress, her sister, Charlieann Phares and her brother-in-law, Bob.

Survivors: daughter, Kathy Sha er and husband Chad, of Carl Junction, Missouri, sons, Gary Moger and wife Tamra, of Ramseur, North Carolina and Tom Moger and wife Heather, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, six grandchildren, eighteen greatgrandchildren, several nieces and nephews.

Arrangements by Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur.

In lieu of owers, memorials can be made to Faith Christian School, 5449 Brookhaven Road, Ramseur, NC 27316.

Betty Donese

Norman

Aug. 9, 1954 – July 23, 2025

Betty Donese Carden Norman, age 70, of New London, NC, passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

Betty was born in Thomasville, NC, to the late Jessie James Carden and the late Ruth Maebelle Wilson. Betty grew up in Thomasville. She was a seamstress and sewed furniture fabric samples. She rst sewed for Carolina Underwear in Thomasville and later for S&S Samples also in Thomasville. Betty loved to cook and was known for her banana pudding,

Betty Jean Owens

Aug. 13, 1955 – July 21, 2025

Betty Jean Owens, age 69, a lifelong resident of Randolph County but spent her last days in Brunswick County, passed away peacefully at her home on July 21, 2025.

Born on August 13, 1955, in Randolph County, she was the daughter of the late Ira F. Johnson and Nancy Trogdon.

Betty was a woman who never met a stranger and gave freely of her time to help anyone in need. She loved her family deeply, especially her children and grandchildren, and was a devoted caretaker throughout her life. Known for her sass and sense of humor, Betty brought warmth and light into every room she entered. Though she had a strong dislike for water, she absolutely loved to sh. Her chicken casserole was a favorite at family gatherings. She was a woman of faith who cherished her church and the community within it. Betty had friends from all walks of life and lived simply but meaningfully, always putting family rst.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Jane Burrow; her brother, Mike Johnson; and her grandson, Brannon Tyson. Left to cherish her memory are her children: Karen Feaster (Ray), Nancy Owens, Terry Owens (Christal), and Scottie Owens (Stephanie); grandchildren: April Owens, Seth Feaster, Micandria Feaster, Brittanica Feaster, Jalen Davis, Kelsea Owens, Garrett Owens, Reagan Owens, Jonah Owens, Bentley Owens, and Lincoln Owens; and her lifelong friend, Duckie Callicutt.

The family will receive friends Friday, July 25, 2025 from 12:00 - 1:50 PM at Pugh Funeral Home, 600 S. Main Street. Funeral services will follow at 2:00 PM in the Eddie Pugh Memorial Chapel. Burial will conclude at Country Holiness Cemetery. Pugh Funeral Home in Randleman is honored to serve the Owens family.

her mac & cheese, and her fried potatoes. Betty loved her family and her Lord. She was very dedicated member of Faith Baptist Church in West End, NC.

Betty is survived by her husband of 46 years: Roger Norman; children: Je Norman, New London, Chris Morris (David) of Candor, Crystal Adams (Tim) of Sophia, Tracy Kinley (Sandra) of Thomasville, and Peggy Sexton (Scotty) of Robbins; fourteen grandchildren, 10 greatgrandchildren; and brother Tony Carden (Lou) of Trinity. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Judy Boles, brother Harvey Carden, and infant brother Roger Dale Carden.

A Funeral Service will be held Sunday, July 27, 2025, at Faith Baptist Church, 2180 Carthage Road, West End, NC, at 2 p.m., with Dr. Chad Nall o ciating. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 1-1:50 p.m. Burial will be at Center Methodist Church Cemetery, 125 Center Methodist Church Road, Troy, NC, following the service.

Memorials may be made to Faith Baptist Church, 2180 Carthage Road, West End, NC 27376, or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Minerva Walker Mo tt

July 9, 1929 – July 21, 2025

Asheboro- Minerva Walker Mo tt passed away peacefully on Monday, July 21, 2025, at the age of 96.

Mrs. Mo tt was born in Robbins, NC. Upon graduating from Elise Academy and marrying Harold Vickers Mo tt, she embarked on several interesting jobs until she found her passion as a cosmetologist. She operated a salon for most of her life, where she met and cultivated many relationships. With her vast experience in cosmetology, she was o ered a position with G.E., working directly with the engineers to develop the blow dryer and other hair appliances.

After retiring, she and her husband took many trips in their Airstream exploring the US with other Airstream buddies.

She is preceded in death by her parents, George E. Walker and Minnie Mae Walker of Robbins, her husband, Harold V. Mo tt, her sister, Helen Walker Bullard and brother-inlaw, J.D. Bullard. Her survivors are son, Walker B. Mo tt and wife Joanne, grandson, W. Bryan Mo tt and wife Christen and granddaughters, Charlotte, Callie, and Campbell. She is also survived by nephews, John Bullard (Kay) and Mike Bullard (Dora) and great nephews, Paul Bullard, Dr. Scott Bullard (Shannon), Patrick Bullard (Katrina) and great niece, Robin Stan eld. She was a long-time member of Central Methodist Church in Asheboro. The family wishes to thank the sta of Clapps Nursing Home for their wonderful care this past year. In lieu of owers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Praise Team at Central Methodist Church, 300 S. Main Street, Asheboro, NC 27203. A private service will be held at a later date.

Beverly Ann Rice Barnhart

Sept. 23, 1934 – July 21, 2025

Beverly Ann Rice Barnhart, 90, of Randleman, died Monday, July 21, 2025, at High Point Medical Center. A memorial service will be conducted at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 25, 2025, at Friendship Baptist Church of Level Cross, with Pastor Brian Clark o ciating. Born in Depression-era Binghamton, New York, on September 23, 1934, to the late Charles Leroy Rice and Elsie May Layman Rice, Beverly knew hardship early - but also the joy of summer days on her aunt’s farm. She married, nding a new life full of hope, but quickly chose to sacri ce those dreams to care for ailing parents in Florida, without complaint. She lost them too young — then returned with her husband and three children to the Northeast, where she stitched heavy tents in a factory to help make ends meet for that family. Once her children were grown, she happily chose to follow them to Asheboro, North Carolina, where she devoted herself to becoming a second mother to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, while continuing to chip in as the phone operator at Walmart. During her nal years, she fought debilitating illness until her last breath, and even that was doneas much for others. But through it all, Beverly always found a way to do one thing for herself. Whether it was church every Sunday, reading her Daily Bread every night before bed, or a moment to say grace over every meal - she lived in full faith. Beverly was con dent that when her day nally came, heaven would welcome her home. But even with God, she is quite likely still guiding and sacri cing for all those she loved...

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Barnhart was preceded in death by her husband, Dariel E. Barnhart, and brother, Charles B. Rice.

She is survived by her sons, Kevin Barnhart, of Randleman, NC, Dale Barnhart (Stephanie) of Thomasville, NC; daughter, Connie Jones (Calvin) of Randleman, NC; sisters, Theodora Clark, Nancy Shidagis; grandchildren, Chris, Stephen (Sarah), Christian (Rachel), James Michel (Brianna), Savannah (Nic), Nikki; great grandchildren, Sutton, Jonas, Harper, Liv, Parker, a host of nieces and nephews; special friends, Becky, Martha, Jerry, Ruth, and many others at the Randleman Senior Center; and her beloved pet, “Stella.”

The family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall following the service.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.

Chad Douglas Wilson

Feb. 7, 1980 – July 21, 2025

Chad Douglas Wilson, 45, of Randleman, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, July 21, 2025. He was born February 7, 1980, in Guilford County to Jimmy Douglas Wilson and Brenda Jane Routh Wilson.

Chad was a character from the day he was born. He loved hard and played harder. Chad loved his boys, the Tarheels, and his mom. His favorite pastime was to pick on and argue with anyone, but most of the time it was playful banter ending in laughter. Chad attended Randleman, Grays Chapel, Eastern Randolph, and Fayetteville Christian Schools, where he excelled at sports, especially football, baseball, and basketball. Chad was a good-hearted man, and if you were his friend, he would do anything in his power to keep you laughing and on your toes with aggravation. He will be missed and loved by all who knew him. Chad is survived by his children; sons, Judah Wilson of Sophia; son, Bentley Wilson and Megan Gibbs of Kernersville; girlfriend Jordan Newby of Sophia; parents, Jimmy and Brenda Wilson of Randleman; sisters, Wendy Owen (Tommy) of Randleman, Jamie Heaton (Arthur) of Randleman; nieces, Destaney, Miranda, Lindsey; big brother, Michael Wilson (Jennifer), Mychal, Jr., and Haydon of High Point. He will be missed by his cousins, aunts, uncles and countless friends who loved him dearly.

The family will receive friends on Monday, July 28, 2025, from 6-8 p.m. at Pugh Funeral Home in Randleman. A graveside service will follow on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 10 a.m.at Bethany Community Methodist Church Cemetery with Reverend Billy Myers o ciating. Pugh Funeral Home in Randleman is honored to serve the Wilson family.

May 15, 1940 – July 26, 2025

Leola Evelyn Hug Wilsey, age 85, of Randleman, NC, passed away on July 26, 2025, in Randolph County.

She was born on May 15, 1940, in Williams County, Ohio, to the late Herman Hug and Inez Leatherman.

Leola was a passionate sports enthusiast who found joy in nearly every sport—from basketball and football to racing. She was a devoted fan of Duke basketball and the Carolina Panthers, and she never missed a chance to cheer on Richard Petty during race season. A loving and playful spirit, she enjoyed playing cards with her children and grandchildren. Her home was always full of laughter and activity, especially as she opened doors to neighborhood children, often babysitting and caring for many. Her presence brought warmth, joy, and an unshakable sense of love to everyone around her.

Pugh Funeral Home of Randleman is honored to serve the Wilsey family.

Leola Evelyn Wilsey

Linda Kay Cranford

May 1, 1957 – July 22, 2025

Linda Kay Hoover Cranford, age 68, of Asheboro, passed away July 22, 2025, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was born May 1, 1957, in Randolph County, North Carolina, the daughter of the late Fred Maness and Hazel Hoover.

Linda developed a profound appreciation for life. She found solace in traveling with friends and family to the mountains, especially cherishing moments spent at Mabry Mills in Floyd County, Virginia. The picturesque surroundings provided her with a perfect backdrop to relax and embrace the beauty of each passing season, particularly the vibrant tapestry of autumn leaves along the Blue Ridge Mountains. She dedicated herself to caring for others as a home health caretaker, where her commitment and kindness left an indelible mark on all who had

March 14, 1948 – July 23, 2025

Lake Waldo Matthews, 77, of Franklinville, passed away on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at High Point Regional Hospital in High Point.

Funeral Services, 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at Lo in Funeral Home Chapel, Ramseur.

O ciating, Pastor Clyde Scotton, Rev. Charles Woody. Burial, Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Asheboro.

Waldo was born March 14, 1948 in Randolph County, son of the late James and Lizzie Elizabeth Reives Matthews. He was a 1966 graduate of Randolph High School and a member of Butler’s Chapel Baptist Church. He retired from Energizer after 30-plus years of service. He also worked with the Randolph County School System as a bus monitor and driver as well as

Bobby Lee Rowland

June 25, 1965 – July 23, 2025

Bobby Lee Rowland, age 60, of Seagrove, passed away July 23, 2025, at his home. He was born June 25, 1965, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Lois Ruth Mitchell Rowland and the late Charles Lee Rowland.

Bobby was a man of immense dedication and love for his country and family. He was a proud veteran, having served as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during Desert Storm. His bravery and commitment were recognized with the National Defense Service Medal and Combat Aircrew Insignia; honors he obtained through combat service. Following his military service, Bobby transitioned to a career in construction and job safety oversight. He created

the privilege of knowing her. Her nurturing spirit touched many lives, always attentive and ready to lend a helping hand.

Linda’s close-knit group of family and friends were more than just companions; they became her chosen family. Together, they shared countless meals, cookouts, and gatherings lled with laughter. Her sense of humor, unwavering compassion, and generosity towards those in need became her hallmarks.

Linda reveled in celebrating the holidays. She adorned her home with seasonal decorations, eagerly placing pumpkins on her front porch as she prepared for upcoming festivities. Her joy in these traditions was infectious, spreading warmth and delight to all who crossed her path. Linda was an animal lover and enjoyed spoiling her two beloved dogs, Reesie and Scooter.

Linda lived a life full of love, laughter, and light. Her memory will forever inspire those who were fortunate enough to know her, reminding us all of the profound impact of kindness.

Left to cherish her memory are her son, Steven Garner; grandchildren, Kelsie and Brandon; numerous greatgrandchildren; sister, Nancy Garner; special niece, Katrina Gailey; close friends, Patricia Overton, Geraldine Morgan and Tammy Morgan; beloved canine companion, Reesie the Chihuahua; and numerous other beloved family and friends. A private celebration of life will be held at a later date.

driving for JR Transportation Services. Waldo loved people and never met a stranger. You could always see his beautiful smile and hear his laughter. He laughed so loud that other people would laugh even though they did not know what he was laughing at. Waldo loved helping people and telling stories with his friends. He loved bowling when he was younger and watching westerns in his spare time, even while in the hospital. Waldo was a ectionately known as the “Mayor” of Franklinville by his many friends. He enjoyed going out to eat, especially with his best friends, Daryle and Tabitha Isom. If it were a restaurant in Asheboro or Randolph County, you would see Waldo there! He will be missed by everyone who was fortunate to have known him. He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Elizabeth Reives Matthews, his sister, Dorothy Green, and his brothers, Tony Matthews, James “T-Bone” Matthews, and his niece, Toni Marie Matthews. Survivors: special friend, Bobbie Jean Graham, of the home, brothers, Randy Lee Matthews, of Liberty, and David Lynn Matthews, of Greensboro, sister-in-law, Martha Matthews, of Franklinville and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

Visitation, 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur, and other times at the home of Susie Butler after 5 p.m.

his own consulting business, CHK Construction Safety. He excelled as a supervisor and superintendent for various companies. His work ethic and knowledge were unmatched, and he found great ful llment in his professional endeavors. Yet, it was his role as a devoted husband and father that truly de ned him. Bobby had a profound appreciation for the outdoors and spent many cherished moments hunting.

However, nothing brought him more joy than spending time with his family. His warmth, strength and unwavering dedication will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Left to cherish his memory are his beloved wife of thirteen years, Renee Richardson Rowland; children, Kaydee Grace Rowland, Chelsey Poole and husband Landon, Hagen Auman, and Nikki Brennan and husband Mark; mother, Ruth Rowland; grandchildren, Cashton Poole, Michael Brennan and Mikayla Brennan; sisters, Alice Bowles, Rosa Collins, April Jolly, Sarah Campbell, Barbara Rowland, Laura Rowland, Beth Rogers and Terri McGinn; brother, Terry Rowland; and numerous other beloved family and friends.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 9, 2025, at New Testament Baptist Church, 2230 North Moore Road, Robbins, NC.

Elbert “Elmer” Eugene Goins

July 10, 1927 – July 24, 2025

Elbert “Elmer” Eugene Goins, 98, of Asheboro, passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro.

Funeral Services, 4 p.m.on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Antioch Christian Church in Seagrove, with Pastor Bryan Maness and Rev. Gerald Ward o ciating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends on Saturday afternoon from 2-3:45 p.m. in the church sanctuary. Elmer was a native of Stokes County and attended Francisco School. He was creative and talented with his hands, having retired from Klaussner Furniture after twenty-two years of service and also working in construction at di erent times. Elmer was a member of Antioch Christian Church in Seagrove for nearly twenty- ve years and enjoyed shing when he could. He was preceded in death by his wife, Annie Pearl Brown Goins, his parents, Charlie Edgar and Cora Bell Goins, as well as his siblings, Dallas Goins, Myrtle Owens, Edgar Goins and Ruth Lineberry. Survivors: sons, Dallas and Royce Goins, both of Ramseur, step-daughter, Mary Ann Hayes, of Seagrove, his brother, James Kenneth “J.K.” Goins, of Pisgah, grandchildren, Ellen Wright, Kevin Goins, Annette Chavis, Sherry Keener, John Stanley, great-grandchildren, Cody Wright, Dylan Wright, Ashley Goins, Jordan Cummins, Kurstie Goins, Bailey Chavis, Chesney Chavis, Dayton Chavis, Skylar Chavis, as well as many greatgreat grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Arrangements by Lo in Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ramseur.

Memorials may be made to Antioch Christian Church Cemetery Fund, 5789 Antioch Church Road, Seagrove, NC 27341, or to Hospice of Randolph, 416 Vision Dr., Asheboro, NC 27203.

Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dead at 71

He was a massive celebrity in and out of wrestling

By Curt Anderson and Ed White The Associated Press

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his in uence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died last Thursday in Florida at age 71.

Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said.

“There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the rst WrestleMania in 1985 and was a xture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.

But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about blacks. He apologized and said his words were “unacceptable.” Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company’s weekly live television program, “Raw,” which debuted in January on Net ix.

“He was a trailblazer, the rst performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,” McMahon said of Hogan.

Hogan’s own brand of passion

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a ag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24-inch pythons.” Crowds were hysterical when he ripped o his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing a tan, sculpted body.

Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, “Hogan Knows Best.”

to serve as the rst commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the “ rst unscripted pro wrestling” league in the world. The rst event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University.

“The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them,” Hogan said. “People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.”

The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan’s legacy “and we intend to honor it.”

Broken leg and a new attitude

Hogan was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in the Tampa, Florida, area. He recalled skipping school to watch wrestlers at the Sportatorium, a professional wrestling studio in Tampa.

“I had been running my mouth, telling everybody I’m going to be a wrestler, and in a small town, the word gets out,” Hogan told the Tampa Bay Times in 2021. “And so when I went down there, they were laying low for me. They exercised me till I was ready to faint.”

The result: a broken leg and a subsequent warning from his dad.

“Don’t you ever let anybody hurt you again,” Hogan recalled his father saying. “So I went back four or ve months later with a whole new attitude. The rest is history.” Hogan rst became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took o from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndor in the main event.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Randolph Record at obits@ randolphrecord.com

In recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE maneuvers with then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president.

“Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd.

He ripped o a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump-Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move.

“We lost a great friend today, the ‘Hulkster,’” Trump said last Thursday on Truth Social. “Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”

Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April

He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage — perhaps his greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further.

Hogan was a central gure in what is known as the Monday Night Wars. The WWE and World Championship Wrestling were battling for ratings supremacy in 1996. Hogan tilted things in WCW’s favor with the birth of the Hollywood Hogan character and the formation of the New World Order, a villainous stable that put WCW ahead in the ratings.

He returned to the WWE in 2002 and became a champion again. His match with The Rock at WrestleMania X8, a loss during which fans cheered for his “bad guy” character, was seen as a passing of the torch. Hogan was perhaps as well known for his larger-than-life personality as he was his inring exploits. He was beloved for his “promos” — hype sessions he used to draw fans into matches. He often would play o his interviewer, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, starting his interviews o with, “Well, lemme tell ya something, Mean Gene!”

Lake Waldo Matthews

JORDAN GOLSON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Hulk Hogan appeared at a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York last fall.

homes as a rare opportunity for home ownership.

To understand how water in the parks can be so troubled, it’s useful to remember that residents often own their homes but rent the land they sit on. Despite the name, it’s di cult and expensive to move a mobile home. That means they’re “halfway homeowners,” said Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver who lived in several mobile home parks as she researched a book. Residents often put up with “really egregious” property maintenance by landlords because all their money is tied up in their home, she said.

Pamela Maxey, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, said she had forgotten what it was like to have reliable, clean water until she traveled to her state Capitol last year to advocate for better mobile home park protections and stayed in a hotel. By then, she had spent eight years in a park where sewage backed up into homes and the ow of tap water was sometimes weak or discolored.

“It wasn’t until I went into the bathroom to take a shower that I realized, ‘I don’t have to jump in here and squint my eyes closed the entire time and make sure water doesn’t get in my mouth because I don’t know what’s in it,’” she said. “I went to brush my teeth, and I just turned the faucet on and I brushed my teeth from the water coming from the faucet. I haven’t been able to do that for over a year.”

Victoria Silva, a premed student in Fort Collins, Colorado, estimates the water in Harmony Village Mobile Home Park where she lives went out or lost pressure 20 to 30 times over roughly three years there.

“People don’t realize how much water they need until the water is out for ve minutes when they need to ush, when they need to rinse something o their hands, when they need to make some pasta,” Silva said.

The park’s owner says a licensed professional ensures water is maintained and tested, and outages are minimized.

Small water companies, serial problems

The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to nd expert sta and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out.

The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant, or failed to properly report the results, in the past ve years. And they are far more likely to be repeat o enders of safe drinking water rules overall.

But that’s only part of the sto -

ry. The true rates of mobile home park violations aren’t knowable because the EPA doesn’t track them well. The agency’s tap water violation database depends on information from states that often don’t properly categorize mobile home parks.

When Smith rst searched Utah’s database in response to an AP request for data from all 50 states, he found only four small water systems identi ed as belonging to mobile home parks. With some keyword searches, he identi ed 33 more.

Other parks aren’t in the databases at all and may be completely unregulated.

One July day in 2021, o cials with the EPA were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern California desert when they realized the problem went way beyond just one place.

“It was literally us driving around and going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a bunch of mobile home parks!’” said Amy Miller, who previously served as EPA’s head of enforcement for the Paci c Southwest region.

The water in these other parks had been o their radar. At some, testing found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that had been provided to residents for years.

It’s impossible to know how many unnoticed parks are out there. Most states aren’t actively looking for them and say they nd very few. In Colorado, after the state passed a new law to require water testing at all mobile home parks, o cials uncovered 79 parks with their source of water unknown. That’s about a tenth of the total parks in the state.

Pipes “like spaghetti” in the ground

Many parks are decades old with aging pipes that can cause chronic water problems, even if the water that supplies the park is clean when it enters the system.

Jake Freeman, the engineering director at Central States Water Resources, a Missouri-based private utility company that specializes in taking over small water systems in 11 states, said substandard and poorly installed pipes are more common to see in mobile home parks.

“A lot of times, it’s hard to nd the piping in the mobile home parks because if there’s any kind of obstruction, they just go around it,” he said. ”“It’s like spaghetti laying in the ground.”

After a major winter storm devastated Texas in 2021, Freeman said, the company found

pipes at parks it had taken over that “were barely buried. Some of them weren’t buried.”

When pipes break and leak, the pressure drops and contaminants can enter water lines. In addition, parks sometimes have stagnant water — where pipes dead-end or water sits unused — that increases the risk of bacterial growth.

Rebecca Sadosky is public water supply chief in North Carolina, where mobile home communities make up close to 40% of all water systems. She said owners don’t always realize when they buy a park that they could also be running a mini utility.

“I think they don’t know that they’re getting into the water business,” she said.

It doesn’t have to be like this

Utah is a rare state that en-

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works.”

Colt Smith, Utah Division of Drinking Water

forces safe drinking water standards even within mobile home parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP’s survey of states. A small number of other states like New Hampshire have taken some steps to address water safety in these parks, but in most states frustrated residents may have no one to turn to for help beyond the park owner.

In Colorado, when Silva asked o cials who enforces safe drinking water rules, “I just couldn’t get clear answers.”

Steve Via, director of federal regulations at the American Water Works Association utility group, argued against regulating mobile home parks that get their water from a municipality, saying that would further stretch an already taxed oversight system. And if those parks are regulated, what’s to stop the rules from extending to the privately owned pipes in big apartment buildings — the line has to be drawn somewhere, he said.

Via said residents of parks where an owner refuses to x water problems have options, including going to their local health departments, suing or complaining publicly.

Silva is among the advocates who fought for years to change Colorado’s rules before they succeeded in passing a law in 2023 that requires water testing in every mobile home park. It gives health o cials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it’s not a health risk. The state is now a leader in protecting mobile home park tap water.

Smith, the Utah environmental scientist, said stopping the contaminated water owing into the mobile home park and connecting it to a safe supply felt like a career highlight. He said Utah’s culture of making do with scarce water contributed to a willingness for stronger testing and regulations than the federal government requires.

“There’s sort of the communal nature of like, everybody should have access to clean water,” he said. “It seems to transcend political ideologies; it seems to transcend religious ideologies.”

BRITTANY PETERSON / AP PHOTO

Cases of bottled drinking water are stored under a kitchen counter in the home of Agustin and Ricarda Toledo in Oasis, California, last October.

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Gerardo Sanchez, an outreach coordinator with the immigrant and farmworker justice group TODEC, helps deliver bottled water to mobile home residents in Oasis, California, in April.

RandolpH SPORTS

How sports became a refuge for county teen

Without his natural parents, a multisport athlete from Wheatmore went through many life changes prior to and during high school

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

TRINITY — When Johnathan Kelly tried to plow his way through the line of scrimmage for Wheatmore’s often-overwhelmed football team and was pushed back, the thing he wanted most was another chance.

When he came o the wrestling mat following a match cut short by a bigger opponent, he looked forward to another bout with a better outcome.

He had learned to overcome obstacles and trauma in a childhood that could have led down a less-inviting path.

Instead, he did more than endure: He often excelled.

Kelly, as a member of the Class of 2025, completed a high school athletic career that at one time included four varsity sports. It was such a combination that as a junior he competed in basketball and wrestling during the same season — who does that?

But football was always the activity that provided the greatest satisfaction and a much-needed outlet.

His time as a determined athlete in Wheatmore’s athletics department came following a challenging childhood. Boths parents died from what were described as overdoses.

His father died in 2015, followed by his mother’s death in May 2020.

Kelly found the right family with Chris and Holly Strickland and their three children, including twin sons in the same grade as Kelly.

He also had the desire to play football.

“When you talk perseverance, he’s that kid,” said Wheatmore football coach Jacob Shefeld, who was in his rst season in 2024. “The things he has experienced in his very young life.”

After contemplating going to a Division III school to play

“The world is not going to stop. It’s going to keep happening.”

Johnathan

Kelly, former Wheatmore athlete

football, he has opted for another route. He has committed to four years in the Marines, expecting to report later this summer. That will be the next chapter in a life that has been stocked with countless life experiences. Kelly, 18, nished at Wheatmore touting a grade point average above 3.0 — and a hefty list of admirers.

“It’s amazing he has turned out as well as he has,” said Rick Halo, an assistant football coach and former athletics di-

rector. “He’s one of the best kids we have at the school. He could have a grudge.”

Kelly moved beyond that.

“Football helps,” he said. “You don’t think about anything else. You just play.”

Because of football, he created his own type of o ensive line to block out negative in uences.

In earlier, more chaotic years, he was faced with decisions.

“I would see how they were acting,” he said of those around him. “They would o er me the blunts. I would say ‘no.’ I wanted to play football.”

He was outside riding a bicycle when the incident occurred that led to his mother’s death.

“It wasn’t the rst time my mom had an overdose,” he said. “I knew. I wasn’t dumb. She probably didn’t know I knew, but it was obvious.”

Then it was clear that there would be more changes for Kelly, who was a middle schooler at Uwharrie Ridge Six-Twelve. He might have been pegged to advance to Southwestern Randolph before another route developed.

Learning curves

The Stricklands were available to help. He had spent chunks of time at their home, so there was a familiarity.

“I was staying with them,”

he said. “After a few weeks, my (older) sister was good with that.”

As the process unfolded, they became his legal guardians.

“It wasn’t a hard decision to make at all,” Holly Strickland said. “We already had three (children), so we learned to make it work. … He was always with us, so when his mother passed …”

During that ensuing process, there was a session in court as legal custody was approved.

“In front of a judge, it was kind of weird,” Kelly said. Holly Strickland recognized the awkwardness of court for a child.

“He had to watch us talk about all that,” she said.

Holly is an apartment manager in Greensboro. Chris has a construction company.

The Stricklands appreciate that they had the opportunity for a heightened role. They know what Kelly faced before that wasn’t easy.

“Looking back, if he had taken that one wrong turn at that

RANDOLPH RECORD FILE PHOTO

Wheatmore athlete Johnathan Kelly, here as a sophomore vs. Asheboro, made an impact with the Warriors football team for four seasons as a running back.

COURTESY PHOTO Johnathan Kelly was playing football since his early years.

PHOTOS BY BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

Top, Wheatmore’s Johnathan Kelly controls Bartlett Yancey’s Aric Lipscomb before nishing the match with a pin in the state tournament. Bottom, Kelly, left, other Wheatmore seniors and coach Kyle Spencer pose for photos after the nal home meet.

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD Johnathan Kelly poses after competing in the wrestling regional.

Bo Earnhardt

Trinity, boys’ golf

Bo Earnhardt was a four-year regular in Trinity’s lineup for the boys’ golf team.

He was the top nisher among Randolph County entrants in this spring’s Class 2A Midwest Regional after placing fourth in the Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament. He was the runner-up in the PAC in 2024.

He’s a three-time All-PAC member, including the only Trinity representative on the boys’ golf list the past two seasons.

During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

Athletes set to head in various directions for college

There are a variety of college programs selected by standouts from Randolph County schools

Randolph Record sta

HERE ARE SOME of the area athletes from the Class of 2025 and their announced destinations to compete in collegiate athletics.

Players are listed with their sport and college (commitments for some other athletes were previously published).

From Asheboro

Diego Bustamante (soccer, Chowan), Cameron Letterlough (soccer, Chowan), Quincey Lee (football, Greensboro College), Emarion Manley (football, Greensboro College), Jorge Dominguez (track and eld, Lees-McRae), Osiris Rodriguez (basketball, Guilford Tech), Ben Luck (baseball, Ferrum), Cohen Caviness (baseball, Pfei er).

From Eastern Randolph

Timothy Brower (basketball, Catawba Valley Community College), Desean Shamberger (football, Guilford College), Lucas Smith (football, Guilford College), Will Stalker (football, Guilford College), Rayden West (football, Guilford College).

From Randleman

Camryn Vickery (volleyball, Barton)

From Southwestern Randolph

Macy Allred (soccer, Pfei er),

Macie Crutch eld (softball, Catawba), Jonah Campbell (baseball, Brevard), Kam Carter (baseball, Carolina University)

From Trinity

Noah Bradley (football, North Carolina Wesleyan), Daniel Rogers (football, Greensboro College), Gabe Gri ths (baseball, Robeson Community College), Ethan Willard (baseball, Pfei er), Riley Foster (soccer, Patrick & Henry Community College), Karrington Batten (volleyball, Davidson-Davie Community College), Kaitlyn McCoy (volleyball, Davidson-Davie Community College), Faith Powell (volleyball, Davidson-Davie Community College), Desiree Rondon (softball, Cleveland Community College), Lawson Coltrane (wrestling, Roanoke), Bliss Joyce (wrestling, Frostburg State).

From Uwharrie Charter Academy

Jaylan Brown (basketball, Pfei er), Aaron Brown (basketball, Guilford Tech), Braeden Lamb (basketball, Guilford Tech), Kayden Faglier (volleyball, Johnson & Wales), Macy Hartley (tennis, Salem College), Abbie Gudino (soccer, Pfei er).

From Wheatmore baseball

Ashtin Bennett (football, Greensboro College), Noah Browning (football, Brevard), Caleb Coggins (baseball, Guilford College), Sean Jennison (baseball, Methodist), Maddie Nichols (softball, Louisburg College)

ZooKeepers aim for spot in new CPL playo format

Asheboro has been in the mix in the tight West Division standings

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The Coastal Plain League’s new playo format could impact the Asheboro ZooKeepers as they’re a contending team in the West Division.

The revised format, which was unveiled last fall, will involve six playo teams — three in each division.

The ZooKeepers entered the last week of the regular season in fourth place.

The rst round will be single-elimination with the second-place and third-place teams in each division playing, with the No. 2 seeds the hosts, Aug. 3.

The winner will take on the divisional champion in a bestof-three series Aug. 5-7, with the single-elimination winner the host for Game 1. The regular-season divisional champion will be home for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3.

The two division champions meet in the CPL championship series Aug. 9-11, beginning with Game 1 at the team with the

The

home nale is scheduled for Friday night vs. the

lower winning percentage and the rest of the best-of-three series at the higher-seeded team.

CPL commissioner Chip Allen said the altered format largely stemmed from last year when a team with the best overall record in a division was left out of the postseason because it didn’t win either half of the split-season format.

With the CPL regular season consisting of fewer than 50 games, a split season wasn’t necessary, and it also led to unbalanced schedules in terms of who a certain team might face in each half.

The regular season ends Saturday with Asheboro visiting the High Point-Thomasville HiToms. The ZooKeepers’ home nale is scheduled for Friday night vs. the Forest City Owls. The Owls entered this week in rst place in the West Division, followed by the Lexington County Blow sh and Boone Bigfoots.

ZooKeepers stay in contention

Asheboro went 3-2 in a weeklong span, capped by Sunday’s 13-7 home victory against the Martinsville Mustangs.

But with a 23-20 record and in fourth place, there was work to do to qualify for the postseason.

Hunter Atkins, a Catawba out elder from Randleman, rejoined the ZooKeepers to help with relief pitching after it appeared his season was done because of a heel ailment. He notched a save with two shutout innings in a 5-3 victory at Martinsville after Billy Rozakis logged seven innings.

In an 11-10 home victory against the High Point-Thomasville HiToms, Nick O’Brien’s two-run single capped a six-run 10th inning. Davis Germann drove in four runs and collected four hits.

Germann homered in Asheboro’s 10-5 road setback to Lexington County on Saturday. He drove in two more runs in Sunday’s 13-7 home victory against Martinsville, with David McGeorge working 51⁄3 innings of relief without allowing an earned run.

Post 45 to meet Alabama team in rst regional game

Asheboro

Randolph County Post 45 will take on the state champion from Alabama when the American Legion’s Southeast Regional is contested next week at McCrary Park.

Randolph County will play in the nightcap of the four rst-day games at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Post 45 (23-8) received an automatic spot in the eight-team eld because it’s the regional host. It’s a doubleelimination regional, with the winner advancing to the American Legion World Series in Shelby.

The North Carolina champion, which is being determined this week in Cherryville, will meet the South Carolina runner-up in the third game of the regional’s opening day.

Davidson lands top-10 nish in Carolinas Amateur

Pinehurst

Sam Davidson of Asheboro shared 10th place in this month’s Carolinas Amateur at Pinehurst No. 7.

Davidson nished at 5-under-par 283 with rounds of 66, 73, 71 and 73. Chandler Mulkey of Johns Island, South Carolina, was the champion with 14-under 274, one stroke better than Davis Womble of Winston- Salem. Davidson tied for sixth place in the North Carolina Amateur last month at the Cardinal in Greensboro. He shot rounds of 71, 69, 69 and 67. The winner was Jackson Spires of Apex with a four-round total of 9-under-par 271 for a two-shot victory on Misha Golod of Chapel Hill.

Asheboro soccer standout withdraws from all-star event

Asheboro

Asheboro’s Cam Letterlough was selected for the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game for boys’ soccer, but he didn’t play in last week’s game in Greensboro because of a scheduling con ict.

Letterlough, who was the leading scorer for the Blue Comets on their way to a 2024 Class 3A runner-up nish in the state, is planning to play collegiately for Chowan.

COURTESY PHOTO

Bo Earnhardt

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Davis Germann had key production at the plate for the Asheboro ZooKeepers during the past week as the Coastal Plain League season winds down.

ZooKeepers’

Forest City Owls.

AREA SPORTS BRIEFS

age, it could have been a bad road,” Chris Strickland said.

Yet it wasn’t always an easy transition. He wasn’t used to living with them full time, and it took time before his behavior fell in line.

“It was something we never expected and kind of took things as it comes,” Chris Strickland said of adding to the family.

“He came from a house he could do what he wanted,” Holly said. “We learned each other’s ways. He has de nitely taught us things and we’ve taught him things. It has been a journey.”

A few years later, the networking of teenagers connected to the Stricklands had bloomed tremendously, much because of Kelly’s rising list of friends.

“He’s a blender because he blends with everybody,” Chris Strickland said.

One of those friends was classmate Drew Hammonds, who recalled meeting Kelly in middle school. They were in the eighth grade when his new friend visited his home for the rst time.

“We were talking and he told me about his life story,” Hammonds said. “I thought, ‘How is he this strong to handle all this?’”

Fixation on football

Football became an outlet since he was signed up to play on the pee wee level.

“That rst year, I did not like to get hit,” Kelly said. “The second year, I was practicing all the time.”

That’s also how he became acquainted with the Stricklands, though they weren’t always on the same side. Chris Strickland was a youth coach, and it became clear to him that Kelly was going to be a menace on the eld.

“He was a big kid,” Holly Strickland said. “Before I ever knew him, he gave (our son) Gavin his rst-ever concussion.”

When he joined his new family, he became even bigger, but not how he preferred.

“That eighth grade year I was distracted, got chubby,” he said, noting his weight grew to 210 pounds. “My body wasn’t used to eating that much, and I eat a lot. I got big.”

But in high school his conditioning improved, and it became evident he could help the Warriors.

“I always say the football eld was his happy place,” Holly Strickland said. Kelly was so essential to Wheatmore’s football program that he was making major impacts as a freshman.

That continued all the way to the nal games of his career last fall. He ran 99 yards for a touchdown against Providence Grove on a night he hadn’t been feeling well. He arrived back on the sideline, and puked.

“All right, you’re back on defense,” She eld said in response.

Wheatmore was the constant underdog, but Kelly said he couldn’t be consumed with that.

“I just got to play. I got to try to perform. Can’t let it bring you down,” he said. “I didn’t think about the score when I play. I just keep playing.”

Dominic Hittepole, who became a state champion wrestler for Wheatmore, is a year younger than Kelly. He happened to play the same positions on the football eld.

“My freshman year in football, he mentored me,” said Hittepole, who realized all the way through the 2024 season why he had limited playing time. “He never subs out. I was behind him but didn’t get in.”

Upon taking the job, Shefeld quickly discovered Kelly had special traits.

“He makes me laugh and even chuckle a little bit,” the coach said. “You get one every so often at the school you’re at. He’s that kid you want to pull for.”

Two for one

The winter sports season of 2023-24 was without rest for Kelly.

Coming o football season and before track and eld season, he had plenty going on. He had been in the basketball program, but the wrestling team needed someone in the upper weights.

“He did it. He would literally come to wrestling practice after school every day and from

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

there go straight to basketball practice,” wrestling coach Kyle Spencer said. “If he had a game or something, he would practice for a little while with us and go get ready for his game. We just kind of worked around it. It worked out good in our favor.”

By his senior season, he put basketball on pause. He opted for wrestling as a winter sport.

“You can’t train the heart, you can’t train the hard work, what he has put in,” Spencer said. “That’s why he has gotten so much better since last year.”

At the wrestling team’s Senior Night, there was a trio of dual meets. Kelly weighed in at 193 pounds to compete in the 215 class.

“People came to watch me,” he said, appreciating the support.

After a loss against Greensboro Page, it took Kelly less than a minute to atten a Bishop McGuinness opponent, albeit with an unorthodox maneuver.

Then came an encounter with Greensboro Grimsley strongman Andrew Hassard, an eventual state quali er in Class 4A. A few youngsters gathered in front of the bleachers to o er encouragement.

Their message: “You got this JK! You got this JK!” Kelly rode him hard from the top in the third period but couldn’t get a turn and lost by decision.

He walked o the mat, tossed down his headgear and exited to the lobby. A few minutes later, back in the team bench area, he had his arms around Hammonds and Hittepole.

“I need that. It still sucks,” he said. “Ain’t nothing wrong with it. I needed the conditioning.”

Yet moments like that added to his internal re and to his collective experiences on the mats.

Hittepole and Kelly were frequent practice partners.

“I try to get him prepared,” Hittepole said. “Sometimes it’s not fun for him. Sometimes it’s not fun for me.”

A few weeks later in the Class 2A Mideast Regional in Lexington, Kelly was a signi cant underdog. Only the top four nishers advance to the state tournament. He was seeded eighth.

By the time he knocked o the top seed and then avenged a loss from earlier in the season in the semi nals, he had clinched a state-tournament berth.

“I was hyped,” he said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make states this year. I was worried. I came in here and I just wrestled.

“I bet a bunch of people didn’t think I was going to make it. Because I was the 8 seed and I had almost 20 losses. They probably just look at that and say, ‘Oh, he’s not good.’ But record don’t mean anything.” Kelly lost in the regionalnal, but his season was extended. He said it’s paramount to never lose sight of goals.

“Last year, I couldn’t make a six-minute match,” he said. “I’d be dead after the rst or second period. This year, I’ve had a bunch of ride-outs where I’d ride him out to win. Six minutes. … Coaches and teammates, really. They push you through practice and make you get better. It’s really all them, honestly. They help you with a lot, so much.”

There was barely time for re ection on this Saturday in

Johnathan Kelly makes a gamewinning catch in the nal minute at Asheboro as a freshman in a 2021 game.

mid-February. In a sport that had been an afterthought until the past couple of years, he was suddenly going to compete in the state tournament.

“No giving up. Got that grit,” he said outside the gym.

Where do you think that came from?

“My mom. She wouldn’t quit whatever she was doing,” he said. “I’d say I got it from her. … Got to show them what she gave me.”

Hittepole said Kelly’s rise in wrestling seemed out of the ordinary.

“I got him to wrestle last year,” he said. “This year, he’s a state quali er. He won when it really mattered.”

Kelly split two matches on the rst day of the state tournament. The next day, he trailed an elimination bout vs. Joseph Spencer of Manteo by 6-0 going to the third period. It was 10-10 late in the match before his career on the mats ended in a 13-10 defeat.

That came almost nine hours after he arrived at the coliseum.

“So close. I don’t know how I didn’t nish,” he said. Lasting impact

After the basketball/wrestling combination, it wasn’t surprising that Kelly’s track and eld pursuits came as a thrower of the discus and shot put and as a sprinter — another unconventional combination.

He left an impression along the way at Wheatmore.

“When you talk about John Kelly, you talk about someone who has every reason in the world to be mad at it,” Coach Spencer said. “You have no reason to respect elders, no reason to really feel like he owes anybody anything. That’s a complete opposite of what he represents. He is all about helping people, serving people, doing what he’s asked and then going above and beyond that anytime the opportunity presents itself.

“Everybody loves JK. Everybody loves him. That’s because of his personality.”

Spencer said there was much more than the athletics.

“He’s a peer tutor in one of our special needs classes,” he said. “That’s pretty awesome. He could have taken that period o and just not had class and took some other elective that was easier. But he chose to do that to be in that class with those kids.”

So Kelly’s impact also spread to those who know him well.

“It made me to appreciate things in life,” Hammonds said, knowing what his friend had been through.

Kelly was selected by school sta as a Senior of Valor, a special distinction at the school. The rst attempt at the group photo had to be taken a second time.

“I was the only one mean mugging ’em,” he said. “So they were telling me to smile, so I smiled. Just mugshot. That’s how I am, just be normal. Just straight-facing it.”

Kelly said personal losses as a young child and those in sports competitions have all made a di erence in his life.

“I can’t complain if I’m losing because I’m getting better,” he said. “The world is not going to stop. It’s going to keep happening.”

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

Johnathan Kelly receives treatment at halftime of a football game last September at East Davidson.

Indiana Jones whip snaps up $525K at auction

Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” went for $32.5 million last year

By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. —

A whip wielded by Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” that once belonged to Princess Diana has sold at auction for $525,000.

Last Thursday’s sale came a day after the Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane” went for a staggering $14.75 million, making it one of the priciest props in movie history.

They were part of the Summer Entertainment Auction being held all week by Heritage Auctions.

Heritage says the overall take has made it the second-highest grossing entertainment auction of all time, and there’s still a day to go.

Yet to be up for bids are Macaulay Culkin’s knit snow cap from “Home Alone,” a Kurt Russell revolver from “Wyatt Earp,” a pair of “Hattori Hanzo” prop swords from “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and a rst edition set of Harry Potter

“The bullwhip is the iconic symbol of an iconic character of cinema history, Indiana Jones, and has been a highlight of this auction.”

Joe Maddalena, Heritage Auctions VP

novels signed by J.K. Rowling.

The whip sold last Thursday was used during the Holy Grail trials that Ford’s character goes through at the climax of 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Ford gave it to then-Prince Charles at the lm’s U.K. premiere. It was given as a gift to Princess Diana, who gave it to the current owner, who was not identi ed. The buyer also was not identi ed.

“The bullwhip is the iconic symbol of an iconic character of cinema history, Indiana Jones, and has been a highlight of this auction,” Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The $525,000 price in-

cludes the “buyer’s premium” attached to all auction items for the house that sells it.

Heritage said the nearly $15 million bid for the Rosebud sled puts it second only to the $32.5 million that Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched in December. Neither of those buyers were identi ed either.

The sled was sold by longtime owner Joe Dante, director of lms including “Gremlins.”

“Rosebud” is the last word spoken by the title character in director Orson Welles’ 1941 lm “Citizen Kane,” and the hunt for its meaning provides the lm’s plot. Many critics have regarded it as the best lm ever made.

Long thought lost, the sled is one of three of the props known to have survived. Dante stumbled on it when he was lming on the former RKO Pictures lot in 1984. He wasn’t a collector but knew the value of the sled and quietly preserved it for decades, putting it as an Easter egg into four of his own lms.

Dante’s friend and mentor Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 for another of the sleds in 1982, and an anonymous buyer paid $233,000 for the third in 1996.

HERITAGE AUCTIONS VIA AP

The whip wielded by Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was sold at auction for $525,000.

BOOK REVIEW

‘The Tilting House’ explores coming of age in communist Cuba

The story is rich with historical detail from a

By Anita Snow The Associated Press

YURI IS A 16-year-old orphan who lives simply with her religious aunt in a big, old house in communist Cuba in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Yuri’s parents had named her after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin, hoping that one day she would grow up to be a famous female astronaut. Yuri now has vague hopes of being accepted into the Lenin school, Cuba’s prestigious preparatory.

Yuri and her Aunt Ruth’s quiet lives are suddenly turned upside down when an unexpected visitor from “la Yuma” — slang for the United States — shows up at their Havana home with a camera swinging from her neck and announcing she is family. Ruth later tells Yuri that 34-year-old Mariela is her daughter and that when Mariela was an infant, she sent her to live with a family in the United States through Operation Pedro Pan, a U.S. government program in which thousands of unaccompanied children were sent from Cuba to Miami in the early 1960s.

“The Tilting House,” by Miami-based writer Ivonne La-

COUNTERPOINT VIA AP

“The

mazares, is an a ecting and sometimes amusing coming- of-age novel set in a country that few have had the opportunity to visit despite its proximity to the U.S. It’s a study of hidden family secrets, the unhealed wound of losing a mother and the quest for home.

Lamazares, who was born in Havana, knows her homeland well, and her book is rife with description and historic detail that only someone with rsthand knowledge could provide. Lamazares left Cuba for the

SOLUTIONS FOR THIS WEEK

United States in 1989 during a period of shortages and deprivation known as “The Special Period in Time of Peace.” Her rst novel, “The Sugar Island,” also set in Cuba, was translated into seven languages.

In “The Tilting House,” Yuri is quickly pulled into Mariela’s chaotic world, and her absurd art projects, which include a tragicomic funeral for Ruth’s dead dog, Lucho, in a public park using highly illegal homemade reworks. Ruth, already viewed as suspect by the government as a member of the small Jehovah’s Witnesses group, is arrested and sent to jail on unexplained charges.

Mariela later tells Yuri they aren’t cousins but sisters, and that their now-dead mother gave birth to her as a teenager.

Mariela insists their Aunt Ruth “kidnapped” her and sent her to live in the U.S., where she was raised on a farm in Nebraska.

More harebrained projects follow, and the family’s tilting house nally tumbles after neighbors and acquaintances slowly chip away at the building to repurpose many of the structure’s materials.

Yuri later emigrates to the U.S., where she studies and starts a career that allows her to make a return visit to the island. On that trip her past becomes clearer, and she reaches something approaching closure and forgiveness.

former Havana resident

Tilting House” by Ivonne Lamazares follows the life of a 16-year-old orphan growing up in communist Cuba.

JULY 31

AUG.

the stream

Reneé Rapp,

‘The

Phoenician Scheme,’ Elvis’ rarities, Anthony Mackie and Jason Momoa

Criterion Channel series spotlights ’90s lms with unforgettable soundtracks

By Jocelyn Noveck

The Associated Press

BENICIO DEL TORO starring in Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and Reneé Rapp’s second studio album are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: Jason Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+, there’s a coxy Hobbit video game in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, and “Project Runway” tries out a new network home for its 21st season.

MOVIES TO STREAM

Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” (streaming now on Peacock) stars Del Toro as Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda, a wealthy and unscrupulous European industrialist. After the latest assassination attempt on his life, he decides to leave his estate to one of his many children, Lisel (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate. Michael Cera co-stars as a Norwegian insect expect named Bjørn. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the lm nds Anderson “becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

The Net ix romance “My Oxford Year” (streaming Friday) follows a young American student named Anna (So a Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University. Corey Mylchreest co-stars as a local love interest in the lm directed by Iain Morris.

Movie soundtracks once played so much more of a role in popular culture. A new series on the Criterion Channel collects some of the lms from the soundtrack’s heyday, the 1990s, when songs from movies like “Trainspotting” (1996) and “Singles” (1992) dominated the airwaves and MTV. Also running this month on Criterion are “Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997), “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (1993) and “Judgement Night” (1993).

MUSIC TO STREAM

The King of Rock ’n’ Roll has returned. On Friday, to celebrate what would’ve been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday year, a massive collection of 89 rarities will

So a Carson appears in a scene from the lm “My Oxford Year.”

“The Phoenician Scheme nds Anderson becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.”

Jocelyn Noveck, AP Film Writer

be released as a ve-disc CD boxset — and on all digital platforms. Titled “Sunset Boulevard,” the series pulls from Presley’s 1970-75 Los Angeles recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA’s studios. There is no greater gift for the Elvis a cionado. Rapp will release her second studio album on Friday, the appropriately titled “Bite Me.” The 12-track release is imbued with Rapp’s edgy, lighthearted spirit — catchy R&B-pop songs about bad breakups and good hook-

ups abound. It’ll put some pep in your step.

SERIES TO STREAM

“Project Runway” has had quite a life since it debuted in 2004 on Bravo. After its rst six seasons, the competition show is about fashion design moved to Lifetime for 11 seasons, then back to Bravo for a few years, and its new home for season 21 is Freeform. Christian Siriano — who won the show’s fourth season — is an executive producer, mentor and judge. He joins “Project Runway” OG host Heidi Klum, celebrity stylist extraordinaire Law Roach and fashion editor Nina Garcia. It premieres Thursday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.

Comedian Leanne Morgan stars in her own multicam sit-

com for Net ix called “Leanne,” debuting Thursday. Inspired by her own stand-up, Morgan plays a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman after more than three decades of marriage. Morgan stars alongside sitcom vets Kristen Johnston and Tim Daly. Anthony Mackie’s “Twisted Metal” is back on Peacock for a second season beginning Thursday. The show is adapted from a popular video game franchise and picks up about seven months after the events of season one. Momoa brings his passion project “Chief of War” to Apple TV+ on Friday. Set in the late 18th century, Momoa plays Kauai, a nobleman and warrior, who plays a major part in the uni cation of the Hawaiian Islands. The series is based on true events

and is told from an Indigenous point- of-view.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Games set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth usually want to drag us back to Mount Doom for another confrontation with the Dark Lord. But what if you’re a Hobbit who just wants to hang out with your friends in your peaceful village? That’s your mission in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. It’s a cozy sim from Weta Workshop, the company behind the special e ects in Peter Jackson’s lms. You can grow a garden, go shing, trade with your neighbors and — most important for a Hobbit — cook and eat. It’s about as far from Mordor as it gets, and you can start decorating your own Hobbit Hole now on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

Te Kohe Tuhaka, from left, Jason Momoa and Siua Ikale’o star in the series “Chief of War.”

CHRIS BAKER /

HOKE COUNTY

Wet hot American summer

Folks are doing whatever they can to stay cool, with heat indexes soaring well into the triple digits across the region and heat warnings issued for several days. These youngsters found a respite from the hot temps at the Asheboro-Randolph

the 211 Sports Complex Splash Pad is open daily at 3195 Red Springs Road.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE New York Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters. Investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. More than 160 people are known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

In mobile home parks, clean, safe tap water isn’t a

Seventy percent that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules

By Michael Phillis, Travis Loller and M.K. Wildeman The Associated Press

THE WORST WATER Colt Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drinking Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state o cials discovered the contamination.

The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as 10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

“The Health Department re-

fers it to us like, ‘Why aren’t you guys regulating it?’ We had no idea it existed,” he said.

More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections.

A review by The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules in the past ve years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. And the problems are likely even

given

USDA to establish regional hub in Raleigh, relocate thousands from Washington

The Agriculture Department says the move will bring the agency closer to farmers

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

RALEIGH — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will relocate thousands of employees from Washington, D.C., to ve regional hubs across the country, including Raleigh, as part of a reorganization plan announced Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins. The move will shift approximately 2,600 workers — more than half of USDA’s Washington workforce — to hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt

Lake City. The department will also maintain two additional administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler welcomed the announcement, noting the state’s existing partnership with the USDA.

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub,” Troxler said. “We have a long-standing partnership with USDA with National Agricultural Statistics Service ofces housed in our building for many years, and we look forward to continuing to build on this partnership.”

The reorganization aims to bring USDA closer to the farmers, ranchers and rural communities it serves while reducing costs associated with the living in the nation’s capital,

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub.”

Steve Troxler, N.C. Agriculture Commissioner

where federal employees receive a locality pay adjustment of 33.94%. By comparison, the Raleigh area’s locality rate is 22.24%.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement. “President (Donald)

Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country.”

The reorganization follows four key principles: ensuring the workforce size aligns with nancial resources, bringing USDA closer to its customers, eliminating management layers and consolidating redundant support functions.

As part of the management restructuring, several USDA agencies will see signi cant changes. The National Agricultural Statistics Service will consolidate its 12 existing regions into ve aligned with the new hubs over a multiyear period. The Food and Nutrition

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Gerardo Sanchez, an outreach coordinator with the immigrant and farmworker justice group TODEC, helps deliver bottled water to mobile home residents in Oasis, California, in April.

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

YMCA’s splash pad. In Hoke County,

7.31.25

THURSDAY

USDA from page A1

Service will reduce from seven regions to ve, while the Forest Service will phase out nine regional o ces over the next year.

The department expects to retain no more than 2,000 employees in the Washington area after the reorganization is complete. The plan will unfold over several months, with senior USDA leadership providing more details to a ected o ces in the coming weeks.

Beyond the relocation, the plan follows a voluntary workforce reduction earlier this year in which 15,364 USDA employees elected deferred resignation through the Deferred Retirement Program. O cials emphasized this was completely voluntary and that the reorganization is not conducting a large-scale workforce reduction.

Troxler said having more USDA sta in North Carolina could bene t the state’s $111 billion agriculture industry.

“Agriculture production and needs are di erent across the country, and I think it will be bene cial to our agriculture industry to have more USDA sta and contacts in our state,” he said. “We will work with them on whatever they need.”

The reorganization also calls for vacating several Washington-area buildings with signi cant deferred maintenance costs. Beyond the South Build-

ing, which has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and operates well below capacity, USDA will also vacate Braddock Place and eventually the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The department will retain the Whitten Building as its headquarters, along with the Yates Building and National Agricultural Library. Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have raised concerns about the plan, arguing it could disrupt services and dis-

connect the agency from Congress. The union noted that 95% of USDA employees already work outside of Washington, D.C. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, called it a “halfbaked proposal” and demanded department o cials appear before the Senate to explain their reasoning. USDA o cials said critical functions will contin-

ue uninterrupted during the transition, including wild re response, food safety inspections and other essential services. The department specifically exempted 52 position classi cations carrying out national security and public safety functions from earlier hiring freezes to ensure these services remain fully sta ed, though these employees may still be subject to relocation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

bigger because the EPA database doesn’t catch all parks.

Even where parks get water from an outside source — such as a city — the clean water coming in can become contaminated if it passes through problematic infrastructure before reaching residents’ taps. Because the EPA doesn’t generally require this water to be tested and regulated, the problems may go unseen.

Utah is one of the few states to step in with their own rules, according to an AP survey of state policies.

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works,” Smith said. The challenge of being “halfway homeowners”

In one Colorado mobile home park, raw sewage backed up into a bathtub. In a Michigan park, the taps often ran dry and the water resembled tea; in Iowa, it looked like co ee — scaring residents o drinking it and ruining laundry they could hardly a ord to replace. In California, boxes of bottled water crowd a family’s kitchen over fears of arsenic.

Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. Some are comfortable Sun Belt retirees. Many others have modest incomes and see mobile homes as a rare opportunity for home ownership.

To understand how water in the parks can be so troubled, it’s useful to remember that residents often own their homes but rent the land they sit on. Despite the name, it’s di cult and expensive to move a mobile home. That means they’re “halfway homeowners,” said Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver who lived in several mobile home parks as she researched a book. Residents often put up with “really egregious” property maintenance by landlords because all their money is tied up in their home, she said.

Pamela Maxey, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, said she had forgotten what it was like to have reliable, clean water until she traveled to her state Capitol last year to advocate for better mobile home park protections and stayed in a hotel. By then, she had spent eight years in a park where sewage backed up into homes and the ow of tap water was sometimes weak or discolored.

“It wasn’t until I went into the bathroom to take a shower that I realized, ‘I don’t have to jump in here and squint my eyes closed the entire time and make sure water doesn’t get in my mouth because I don’t know what’s in it,’” she said. “I went to brush my teeth, and I just turned the faucet on and I brushed my teeth from the water coming from the faucet. I haven’t been able to do that for over a year.”

Victoria Silva, a premed student in Fort Collins, Colorado, estimates the water in Harmony Village Mobile Home Park where she lives went out or lost pressure 20 to 30 times over roughly three years there.

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works.”

Utah Division of Drinking Water

“People don’t realize how much water they need until the water is out for ve minutes when they need to ush, when they need to rinse something o their hands, when they need to make some pasta,” Silva said.

The park’s owner says a licensed professional ensures water is maintained and tested, and outages are minimized.

Small water companies, serial problems

The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to nd expert sta and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out.

The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant, or failed to properly report the results, in the past ve years. And they are far more likely to be repeat offenders of safe drinking water rules overall.

But that’s only part of the story. The true rates of mobile home park violations aren’t knowable because the EPA doesn’t track them well. The agency’s tap water violation database depends on information from states that often don’t properly categorize mobile home parks.

When Smith rst searched Utah’s database in response to an AP request for data from all 50

states, he found only four small water systems identi ed as belonging to mobile home parks. With some keyword searches, he identi ed 33 more.

Other parks aren’t in the databases at all and may be completely unregulated.

One July day in 2021, o cials with the EPA were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern California desert when they realized the problem went way beyond just one place.

“It was literally us driving around and going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a bunch of mobile home parks!’” said Amy Miller, who previously served as EPA’s head of enforcement for the Paci c Southwest region.

The water in these other parks had been o their radar. At some, testing found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that had been provided to residents for years.

It’s impossible to know how many unnoticed parks are out there. Most states aren’t actively looking for them and say they nd very few. In Colorado, after the state passed a new law to require water testing at all mobile home parks, o cials uncovered 79 parks with their source of water unknown. That’s about a tenth of the total parks in the state.

Pipes “like spaghetti” in the ground

Many parks are decades old

Integrity Open Arms Residents of the Month

Frederick Lee Faison

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.

with aging pipes that can cause chronic water problems, even if the water that supplies the park is clean when it enters the system.

Jake Freeman, the engineering director at Central States Water Resources, a Missouri-based private utility company that specializes in taking over small water systems in 11 states, said substandard and poorly installed pipes are more common to see in mobile home parks.

“A lot of times, it’s hard to nd the piping in the mobile home parks because if there’s any kind of obstruction, they just go around it,” he said. ”“It’s like spaghetti laying in the ground.”

After a major winter storm devastated Texas in 2021, Freeman said, the company found pipes at parks it had taken over that “were barely buried. Some of them weren’t buried.”

When pipes break and leak, the pressure drops and contaminants can enter water lines. In addition, parks sometimes have stagnant water — where pipes dead-end or water sits unused — that increases the risk of bacterial growth.

Rebecca Sadosky is public water supply chief in North Carolina, where mobile home communities make up close to 40% of all water systems. She said owners don’t always realize when they buy a park that they could also be running a mini utility.

“I think they don’t know that they’re getting into the water business,” she said.

It doesn’t have to be like this

Utah is a rare state that enforces safe drinking water standards even within mobile home parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP’s survey of states. A small number of other states like New Hampshire have taken some steps to address water safety in these parks, but in most states

frustrated residents may have no one to turn to for help beyond the park owner.

In Colorado, when Silva asked o cials who enforces safe drinking water rules, “I just couldn’t get clear answers.”

Steve Via, director of federal regulations at the American Water Works Association utility group, argued against regulating mobile home parks that get their water from a municipality, saying that would further stretch an already taxed oversight system. And if those parks are regulated, what’s to stop the rules from extending to the privately owned pipes in big apartment buildings — the line has to be drawn somewhere, he said.

Via said residents of parks where an owner refuses to x water problems have options, including going to their local health departments, suing or complaining publicly.

Silva is among the advocates who fought for years to change Colorado’s rules before they succeeded in passing a law in 2023 that requires water testing in every mobile home park. It gives health o cials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it’s not a health risk. The state is now a leader in protecting mobile home park tap water.

Smith, the Utah environmental scientist, said stopping the contaminated water owing into the mobile home park and connecting it to a safe supply felt like a career highlight.

He said Utah’s culture of making do with scarce water contributed to a willingness for stronger testing and regulations than the federal government requires.

“There’s sort of the communal nature of like, everybody should have access to clean water,” he said. “It seems to transcend political ideologies; it seems to transcend religious ideologies.”

Frederick Lee Faison is a housekeeper with Integrity Open Arms Retirement Center and has been with the company for a little over a year. During his time off he enjoys gardening, studying the bible and working with his dogs. Frederick loves to interact with the residents as if they were his adopted aunts, uncles and grandparents, which fills his day with a sense of accomplishment.

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.

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.

THANK YOU, Frederick, for a job well done!

to discuss your needs or questions. W here to help!

Cases of bottled drinking water are stored under a kitchen counter in the home of Agustin and Ricarda Toledo in Oasis, California, last October.

Colt Smith,

HOKE SPORTS

Padres fall short in Dixie World Series

North State Journal sta

THE HOKE County 14U all-stars traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to play for the national title in the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series last weekend.

The Padres rolled to the state title with a dominant 4 - 0 win over Duplin. Justin Womack hurled a one-hitter to earn the trip to Mississippi.

Once the team arrived in Hattiesburg, Womack kept the heroics going, winning the 14U

Home Run Derby. Womack also won the 12U state home run derby last year, when Hoke made it to the North Carolina title game before missing on a trip to the World Series.

The tournament got o to a rough start. Tristan Locklear supplied the o ense in the opener with a two-run homer, but Hoke fell 13-5 to a team from Virginia and headed to the losers’ bracket in the double-elimination event. In an elimination game, Hoke

stayed alive by sending the Florida team back to the Sunshine State with a 9-5 victory. Braylen Newkirk was the hero in the win, getting three hits, including an inside-the-park home run in the second inning. He also came up big on defense with a diving catch in the out eld.

That brought Hoke to a true road game, against host team Hattiesburg. The Padres’ magical season came to an end with a 19 -2 loss to the Mississippi team.

14U

Braylen Newkirk hit a home run to start a three-hit day in Hoke’s winning e ort at the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series.

Suzuki, Sabathia join Hall of Fame

The Japanese star and longtime ace are part of the ve-man class of 2025

By Mark Frank The Associated Press

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19 -year Major League Baseball career.

For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much.

“Of course, I’m nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the eld, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,” Suzuki said through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement.

Suzuki is the rst Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He was

joined by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen were honored posthumously.

Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%.

Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10 -time All-Star and Gold Glove outelder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami.

He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with a season-record 262 hits in 2004.

Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is di erent.

“I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts,” he said.

“This time around, though, I didn’t come to have one purpose to see something. I just wanted to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That’s the di erence this time around.

“This is the place where I’d come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again.”

For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY.

A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia “thought I wanted to be close to home,” but his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers.

“My wife was the one that said ‘You’re trying to do all these different things, gure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Justin Womack

Hoke County 14U all-stars, baseball

Justin Womack is a pitcher and rst baseman on the Hoke County 14U All Stars. Last year, he pitched the 12U team to the state championship game and won the 12U home run derby prior to the title game.

Now on the 14U team, not much has changed. Womack’s one-hit shutout wrapped up the state title two weeks ago, and, at the Dixie Baseball World Series in Mississippi last weekend, Womack won the 14U home run derby crown.

is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That’s the one place they try to win every single year.’ When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,” Sabathia said.

“And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yankees. He passed away when I was 23, so he wasn’t there to tell me it was OK if I

failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.” Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees.

SETH WENIG / AP PHOTO

Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki speaks to reporters during a news conference in Cooperstown.

Ty Gibbs clinched the In-Season Challenge

By Michael Marot The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his sts, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory.

He deserved every minute of it.

The 31-year- old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18 -minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard- charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to -back restarts to become the rst black driver to win a major race on Indianap -

“I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

Bubba Wallace

olis Motor Speedway’s 2.5 -mile oval. No black driver has won the Indianapolis 500 or Formula 1 raced on the track’s road course.

“This one’s really cool,” Wallace said. “Coming o Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace’s rst win in the series’ four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Co -

ca- Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100 -race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playo spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021.

The nal gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced.

Larson cut a 5.057-second de cit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow ag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy.

“The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Are we going? Are we not?’” he said. “I will say, I leaned more towards, ‘I know we’re going to go back racing. Be ready. Don’t get complacent here.’”

Wallace made sure of it.

He beat Larson through the second turn on the rst restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to nish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel.

In Wallace’s mind, there was no choice.

“The rst thing that went through my mind was, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “But then I said, ‘I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.’ Here we are.”

He beat Larson o the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race’s fourth back-to-back winner. The victory also alleviated

the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session.

On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co - owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status.

“Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs, and I was telling myself, ‘You won’t be able to do it,’” Wallace said. “Once I’d seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year, and he’s arguably the best in the eld. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.”

The other big race — the In- Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs nished 21st to win the inaugural March Madness-like single - elimina-

SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA BASKETBALL

Kansas basketball coach Self released from hospital after heart procedure

Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self was released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, two days after having two stents inserted to treat blocked arteries. “I feel strong and am excited to be home,” Self said. The 62 -yearold felt ill after having run Kansas’ nal practice of its summer session. He missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA tournaments because of a heart condition, getting a standard catheterization and having two stents inserted to help treat blocked arteries. Self led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022, and he is the school’s career victory leader.

MLS MLS suspension of Messi, Alba “draconian,” Inter Miami owner says Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The owner of Inter Miami called Major League Soccer’s suspension of Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba for skipping the All- Star Game a “draconian” punishment.

Owner Jorge Mas said Messi and Alba don’t understand the one -game suspensions. They did not suit up for the match between the MLS and Liga MX of Mexico despite being voted to the game. Messi wanted to rest amid a packed schedule, and Alba was dealing with a previous injury. Mas said the club made the decision for Messi and Alba to sit out of the All-Star Game.

SWIMMING

American team battles case of “acute gastroenteritis,” a ecting performance

Singapore

The United States team at the swimming world championships in Singapore is battling a case of “acute gastroenteritis” that compromised performances on the opening day of eight days of competition in the pool. Nikki Warner, the spokeswoman for USA Swimming, con rmed the outbreak and said it had its roots at a training camp the American team held in Phuket, Thailand, before arriving in Singapore. She said all American swimmers had traveled to Singapore. Warner declined to say how many had been a ected above the three that are known.

MLB Orioles, Rockies keep playing after fans evacuated seats

Baltimore

The Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies played through rain even after fans were told to move due to potential lightning. The game at Camden Yards continued because the decision to clear fans and the decision to pause the game are made by di erent authorities. The umpires didn’t see lightning close enough to stop play. Fans were moved around the sixth inning but could return by the end of the seventh. Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino praised the decision to prioritize fan safety. The game was never delayed.

Wallace kisses the “Yard of Bricks” after winning Sunday’s Brickyard 400.

Bubba

Freddie Lee Lowery

June 10, 1966 – July 21, 2025

Mr. Freddie Lee Lowery, age 59, of Pembroke, North Carolina, was born on June 10, 1966, to the late Udell Lowery and the late Annie Ruth Locklear Lowery in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He departed this life on July 21, 2025, at UNC Health Southeastern, Lumberton, North Carolina. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Cheryl Lowery and Carol Bell McBryde.

Mr. Freddie loved working on cars.

Mr. Freddie leaves to cherish his memories one son: Frederick Lowery of Lumberton, North Carolina, two daughters: Jessica Lowery of Red Springs, North Carolina, Christine Lowery of Raeford, North Carolina, one brother: Richard Lowery of Lumberton, North Carolina, three sisters: Lorrie Lowery of New York, Janice Lowery of Lumberton, North Carolina, Paula Locklear of Red Springs, North Carolina, seven grandchildren: Austin Oxendine, Aubree Oxendine, Jayda Oxendine, Jayden Oxendine, Calista Lowery, Justina Ivey, Arianna Ivey, along with a host of other relatives and friends.

Agnes L. Walters

Sept. 22, 1946 – July 27, 2025

Ms. Agnes L. Walters passed away on Sunday, July 27th, 2025, at the age of 78. She was born in Scotland County, NC, on September 22, 1946, to the late Cameron and Georgia Locklear.

Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Horace B. Walters Jr.

She was a faithful member of the Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Raeford. She was known for her love of her grandchildren, her great cooking, and her tenacious spirit.

Agnes is survived by her son, Keith Walters (Allison); her grandchildren, Jordan (Samantha), Hope, and Luke; her siblings, Cameron Weldon Locklear (Pat), Maxine Allen, Carolyn Barnes (Fletcher), and Christine Locklear; her sisters in law, Gloria Walters, and Lorena Propst; her brothers in law, Bruce Walters (Paula), and James Riley; and several nieces and nephews. A visitation will be held from 10-11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at Shiloh Presbyterian Church.

A service will follow at 11 a.m. with Reverend Dr. Rufus McLean o ciating.

Burial will be in the church cemetery.

In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to Shiloh Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 1496, Raeford, NC 28376.

Online condolences may be made on the Crumpler Funeral Home Website.

obituaries

Sandra Wiggins

Oct. 15, 1946 – July 28, 2025

Mrs. Sandra Floyd Wiggins, of Raeford, NC, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, July 28, 2025, at the age of 78.

She was born in Sumter County, South Carolina, on October 15, 1946, to the late Heddie and Doris Floyd.

Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Vance “Zeke” Leonard Wiggins; her granddaughter, Michaela Leigh Moore; her siblings, Kenny Floyd, Jackie Williams, and Dennis Floyd. Sandra was a faithful member of Antioch Presbyterian Church. She loved working outside with her owers, cooking, shing, and shopping. She enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. She retired from a lifelong career with the Raeford News-Journal.

Sandra is survived by her daughter, Jennifer Wiggins Bucciarelli (Vincent); her granddaughter, Shannon Pettit (Joshua); her great grandchildren, Isaiah Evans, and Micah Pettit; her godchildren, Candace Loyd (Mike) and Joshua Hu man (Mattie); her sister, Linda Hodgin (David); her nephews, Chad Hodgin (Elizabeth), and Jeremy Williams (Sara); her nieces, Dodi Beshilas (John), Lisa Lovelace, and Connie Dial (Terry); her great nieces and nephews, Mary Katherine Hodgin, Zoe Beshilas, Will Hodgin, Emmett Williams, and Nicolas Beshilas; her best friend, Robin Hu man (Chris); her special cousin, Ronnie Floyd; and numerous other family members and friends.

A visitation will be held from 12:30-1:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at Antioch Presbyterian Church, 6583 Red Springs Road, Red Springs, NC 28377.

A service will follow at 1:30 p.m. with Pastor Kenneth Fore o ciating. Burial will be held in the Raeford City Cemetery. Online condolences may be made on the Crumpler Funeral Home Website.

Ida Mae McKoy

Feb. 17, 1938 – July 23, 2025

Mrs. Ida Mae Graham McKoy, age 87, of Red Springs, North Carolina, was born on February 17, 1938, to the late Jim Graham and the late Elizabeth Fairley in Robeson County, North Carolina. She departed this life on July 23, 2025, at her home surrounded by her family. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by three brothers, Arthur Graham, Weldon Graham, and Archie Lee Graham; three sisters, Lizzie Graham, Mary Bell Clark, and Nazareth Graham; two brothers-in-law, William Jr. McKoy and Curtis McKoy; and a sister-in-law, Geraldine Clark.

Mrs. Ida leaves to cherish her memories her husband: Dupree McKoy of the home, three sons: David Graham, Larry Graham, Tony Townsend (Ophela) all of Raeford, North Carolina, three daughters: Joyce Ray (Roosevelt) of Raeford, North Carolina, Largirtha Graham Brown (Larry) of Red Springs, North Carolina, Gloria Graham of Raeford, North Carolina, three sisters: Isabelle Ellerbe of Red Springs, North Carolina, Hattie Graham of Parkton, North Carolina, Annie McLean of Fayetteville, North Carolina, a special friend: Sydell A. Jackson of Atlanta, Georgia, fteen grandchildren, eighteen great grandchildren, along with a host of other relatives and friends.

James William McDonald

July 18, 1944 – July 26, 2025

With his family by his side, James William McDonald, 81, of Raeford, passed away Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Autumn Care of Raeford.

William was born July 18, 1944, in Hoke County. William retired from the Hoke County Finance O ce in January 2025 after 18 years of service. His career also included time at House of Raeford, Lumbee Farms, Farm Chemicals Inc. and as a volunteer re ghter at Puppy Creek.

William was a member (and deacon) of Raeford Presbyterian Church, a past President of the Raeford Jaycees, Past President of Hoke County Habitat for Humanity, and Boy Scouts leader. William never met a stranger and was a friend to all. William was someone who would do anything for anybody.

He was preceded in death by his father, Paul Clark McDonald, brothers David and Paul McDonald, and a sister, Nancy McMillian. Survivors include his wife, Grace O. McDonald, sons Jim McDonald of Raleigh and David McDonald of Charlotte, brother Steve McDonald of Monona, Wisconsin, and grandchildren Daniela, James, Josh, Maris, and Chase, and great-grandchild Shay McDonald. A graveside funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 2, at Raeford Cemetery, with Dr. Jason Clark, Pastor, o ciating. The family will receive friends immediately following the graveside service.

In lieu of owers, please consider memorials in memory of William McDonald to Raeford Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 1570, Raeford, NC 28376.

Noah Paul Locklear

Aug. 29, 2021 – July 22, 2025

Noah Paul Locklear (Boss Baby), age 3, of Red Springs, North Carolina, departed this earthly home into his heavenly home on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at Duke University Center. Noah Paul was born on August 29, 2021, in Cumberland County. He is preceded in death by Uncle Paul Henderson and Aunt Sheena Locklear.

He leaves to cherish his memories, his mother, Frances Locklear of the home, two brothers, Isaiah Williams and Jakoby Williams of the home, his nana, Angela Deese of Wagram, his mimi, Amy Henderson of Red Springs, North Carolina, grandfather, Daniel Locklear (Cathy) of Ashley Heights, North Carolina; uncles: Brandon McNeill of Fayetteville, North Carolina; Daniel Locklear of Georgia, aunt, Starla Schultz of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina; his GG, Lizzie Fenton of Wagram, North Carolina; great uncle, Pastor Randy Henderson (Victoria), of Wagram, North Carolina; great Aunt, Helen Carthens of Raeford, North Carolina; Great Aunt: Sarah Henderson, Special sister, Kayana Woods, a world of family and friends.

Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dead at 71

He was a massive celebrity in and out of wrestling

By Curt Anderson and Ed White The Associated Press

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep -busting icon of professional wrestling who turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his in uence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act, died last Thursday in Florida at age 71.

Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital less than 90 minutes after medics in Clearwater arrived at his home to answer a morning call about a cardiac arrest, police said.

“There were no signs of foul play or suspicious activity,” Maj. Nate Burnside told reporters.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the rst WrestleMania in 1985 and was a xture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co -founder Vince McMahon.

But outside the the ring, Hogan also found trouble. WWE in 2015 cut ties with him for three years, even removing him from

its Hall of Fame, after it was reported that he was recorded using racial slurs about blacks. He apologized and said his words were “unacceptable.”

Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and millions of fans have watched the company’s weekly live television program, “Raw,” which debuted in January on Net ix.

“He was a trailblazer, the rst performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into a global phenomenon,” McMahon said of Hogan.

Hogan’s own brand of passion

“Hulkamania,” as the energy he created was called, started running wild in the mid1980s and pushed professional wrestling into the mainstream. He was a ag-waving American hero with the horseshoe mustache, red and yellow gear and massive arms he called his “24 -inch pythons.” Crowds were hysterical when he ripped o his T-shirt in the ring — a trademark move — revealing a tan, sculpted body.

Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, in-

cluding a reality show about his life on VH1, “Hogan Knows Best.”

In recent years, Hogan added his celebrity to politics. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, he merged classic WWE maneuvers with then- candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric to passionately endorse him for president.

“Let Trumpamania run wild brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” Hogan shouted into the raucous crowd.

He ripped o a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of himself on a motorcycle to reveal a bright red Trump -Vance campaign shirt underneath. Trump stood to applaud the move.

“We lost a great friend today, the ‘Hulkster,’” Trump said last Thursday on Truth Social. “Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”

Hogan lately began to invest in alternatives to theatrical, professional wrestling, announcing plans in April to serve as the rst commissioner for the Real American Freestyle organization, which describes itself as the “ rst unscripted pro wrestling” league in the world. The rst event is Aug. 30 at Cleveland State University.

“The idea was so exciting that I get a chance to be involved with all these young people and help guide them in any way, especially to make them huge stars and create a future for them,” Hogan said. “People might be surprised, but wrestling is wrestling, brother.”

The league released a statement, saying it is now part of Hogan’s legacy “and we intend to honor it.”

Hogan rst became champion in what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and pro wrestling took o from there. His popularity helped lead to the creation of the annual WrestleMania event in 1985, when he teamed up with Mr. T to beat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndor in the main event.

He slammed and beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987, and the WWF gained momentum. His feud with the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage — perhaps his greatest rival — carried pro wrestling even further.

JORDAN GOLSON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Hulk Hogan appeared at a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York last fall.

STATE & NATION

Shaq has been refurbishing basketball courts for 30 years

The big man knows the impact new courts can have

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL knows exactly how much refurbishing a basketball court can mean to a community and the kids who play on it.

He learned rsthand from his former Boston Celtics teammate Marquis Daniels. He was a teenager three decades ago when O’Neal was playing with the Orlando Magic and rebuilt a court in the inner city area where Daniels was growing up.

“It was big. He was somebody growing up that I looked up to, he was the tallest person I had ever seen,” Daniels told The AP. “He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Years later when they were teammates in Boston, Daniels reminded the Hall of Famer that he had been at that court dedication and how it helped change his life. After a 10 -year career in the NBA, Daniels has been working as a coach at his alma mater Auburn since 2018.

O’Neal recalled Daniels telling him the story.

“He said, ‘You don’t remember me?’” O’Neal said while in Rockwell, Texas, to refurbish another court near his new home. “I said no, and he said, ‘Well, I was one of the kids that

grew up in Orlando, and you xed up a court. Because you xed it up, I’m here.’” Refurbishing courts is commonplace around the NBA and

inspire young players with a WNBA 3 -point arc on outdoor courts. The renovated court at Glo -

“He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Marquis Daniels, former NBA player

ria Williams park is now part of a collection of Comebaq Courts, a joint venture by Icy Hot and the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation to build well-equipped and safe courts for kids across the country.

“They found this court that hasn’t been refurbished in a while and that’s historical with the city,” O’Neal said.

Renovating one in Rockwall was actually the idea of Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale. She’s played her entire career in Dallas and wanted to do something for the community.

“This is like my second home. I’ve been here my whole career, so this initiative with Icy Hot and Shaq was a no -brainer,” she said. “Just to give back to the youth that pours into us and my teammates every night is special.”

It’s special to O’Neal also as he plans to spend a lot of his time in the Texas city.

“I’ll get on my little scooter or motorcycle and just ride by and see what’s going on with the kids,” he said. “I work in Atlanta, but it’s only an hour ight, and I’m sure at some point this will be my permanent home.”

O’Neal, who is the president of Reebok Basketball, also donated basketball shoes to all the members of the Boys & Girls Club kids who were at the event.

Vance hits the road to sell Republicans’ big new

The vice president was in his home state of Ohio on Monday

By Julie Carr Smyth and Seung Min Kim

The Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance used a speech in his home state on Monday to promote the GOP’s sweeping tax-and-border bill.

Vance spoke to a crowd of steel workers in neon green, orange, yellow and red hardhats and safety glasses gathered inside a rolling mill at Metallus Inc. in Canton, about 60 miles from Cleveland. It was his second trip this month as chief promoter of the hodgepodge of conservative priorities that Republicans have dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Echoing themes expressed at an industrial machine shop in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance said American workers should be able to keep more

Vance is promoting the One Big Beautiful Bill in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year.

of their pay in their pockets and U.S. companies should be rewarded when they grow. He highlighted the law’s new tax deductions on overtime and its breaks on tipped income.

Vance decried Democrats — including U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, whose competitive House district he was visiting — for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year.

The legislation cleared the GOP- controlled Congress by the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also

sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump’s immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps.

The White House sees the new law as a political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing congressional districts that will determine whether

Republicans retain their House majority next year.

In a navy jacket and white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, Vance leaned into folksy word choices and characterized the administration’s immigration crackdown as an e ort to keep gangs tra cking dead-

tax law

ly fentanyl out of the country.

Vance’s decision to visit Sykes’ district comes as the National Republican Congressional Committee has named her narrowly split district as a top target this cycle. His northeastern Pennsylvania stop was in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a rst-term lawmaker who knocked o a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called his visit “another desperate attempt to lie to Ohioans about the devastating impact the Big, Ugly Law will have on working families.” in a statement.

In the statement, Katie Smith said Sykes “fought tooth and nail against this disastrous law.” Polls before the bill’s passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.

WNBA. The Indiana Fever unveiled a new Legacy Court at a local park in Indianapolis during All- Star weekend, and the league has an initiative this year to put down orange lines across the country to

LAUREN LEIGH BACHO / AP PHOTO

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Metallus plant Monday in Canton, Ohio.

RICH SCHULTZ / AP PHOTO

Boston Celtics’ Marquis Daniels (8) and Shaquille O’Neal (36) walk onto the court during a 2010 NBA game at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

MOORE COUNTY

Wet hot American summer

Folks are doing whatever they can to stay cool, with heat indexes soaring well into the triple digits across the region and heat warnings issued for several days. These youngsters found a respite from the hot temps at the Asheboro-Randolph YMCA’s splash pad. In Moore County, splash pads at J. Pleasant Hines Park, Moore County Sports Complex and Rassie Wicker Park are

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gunman who killed 4 in N.Y. was trying to get to NFL o ces, claimed to have CTE New York Police say a gunman who killed four people in a Manhattan skyscraper before taking his own life claimed to have a brain disease linked to contact sports and was trying to target the National Football League’s headquarters. Investigators believe the gunman wanted to get up to the NFL’s o ces Monday but entered the wrong elevator. Police say Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, had a note in his wallet that suggested he had a grievance against the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. He played high school football in California but never played in the NFL.

Brain-eating amoeba kills boy swimming in S.C. lake Columbia, S.C.

A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a South Carolina lake over July Fourth weekend. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and causes a fatal brain infection. Fewer than 10 cases are reported annually in the U.S., but almost all are deadly. More than 160 people are known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. The boy’s parents were unaware of the amoeba when they let their son swim in Lake Murray. The amoeba is common, even if the infections caused by it are rare. Other dangers in lakes include E.coli and harmful algae, which can cause severe health issues.

In mobile home parks, clean, safe tap water isn’t a given

Seventy percent that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules

By Michael Phillis, Travis Loller and M.K. Wildeman The Associated Press

THE WORST WATER Colt Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drinking Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state o cials discovered the contamination.

The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as 10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

“The Health Department refers it to us like, ‘Why aren’t you guys regulating it?’ We had no idea it existed,” he said.

More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those basic protections.

A review by The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules in the past ve years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection

USDA to establish regional hub in Raleigh, relocate thousands from Washington

The Agriculture Department says the move will bring the agency closer to farmers

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

RALEIGH — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will relocate thousands of employees from Washington, D.C., to ve regional hubs across the country, including Raleigh, as part of a reorganization plan announced Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins. The move will shift approximately 2,600 workers — more than half of USDA’s Washington workforce — to hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt

Lake City. The department will also maintain two additional administrative support locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler welcomed the announcement, noting the state’s existing partnership with the USDA.

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub,” Troxler said. “We have a long-standing partnership with USDA with National Agricultural Statistics Service ofces housed in our building for many years, and we look forward to continuing to build on this partnership.”

The reorganization aims to bring USDA closer to the farmers, ranchers and rural communities it serves while reducing costs associated with the living in the nation’s capital,

“We are certainly tickled to be selected as a regional hub.”

Steve Troxler, N.C. Agriculture Commissioner

where federal employees receive a locality pay adjustment of 33.94%. By comparison, the Raleigh area’s locality rate is 22.24%.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement. “President (Donald)

Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country.”

The reorganization follows four key principles: ensuring the workforce size aligns with nancial resources, bringing USDA closer to its customers, eliminating management layers and consolidating redundant support functions.

As part of the management restructuring, several USDA agencies will see signi cant changes. The National Agricultural Statistics Service will consolidate its 12 existing regions into ve aligned with the new hubs over a multiyear period. The Food and Nutrition

See USDA, page A4

JAE C. HONG / AP PHOTO

Gerardo Sanchez, an outreach coordinator with the immigrant and farmworker justice group TODEC, helps deliver bottled water to mobile home residents in Oasis, California, in April.

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

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Volunteers repair Helene-damaged parts of Appalachian Trail by hand

There are still signi cant detours in several places along the trail

By Erik Verduzco and Makiya Seminera The Associated Press

UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn.

— In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root ball, is roughly the size of a large kiddie pool.

The collection of volunteers and sta from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and local organizations, doesn’t plan to move the tree. Instead, their job is lling the gaping holes left by it and many other downed trees along iconic East Coast trail.

Fixing trails is hard work

walking around that hole.”

moore happening

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Moore County:

July 31, Aug. 1 & 2

Moore County Historical Association: Shaw House & Property Tours

1-4 p.m.

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

July 22

• Karen Tyner Zenns, 53, was arrested by Moore County Sheri ’s O ce (MCSO) for shoplifting.

• Trandon Shamar Thomas, 44, was arrested by MCSO for resisting a public o cer.

• Rickell Sade Jones, 36, was arrested by MCSO for driving while license revoked.

July 23

Cecily Ann Powell, 37, was arrested by MCSO for simple possession of a controlled substance.

July 24

• Je rey Brain Dunbar, 41, was arrested by MCSO for misdemeanor domestic violence.

July 25

• Kenneth Ray Stroud, 59, was arrested by MCSO for misdemeanor domestic violence.

Kyle Alexander McMillion, 20, was arrested by MCSO for second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

• Stanley Dashawn McGilvary, 29, was arrested by MCSO for common law robbery.

Jazmine Shantelle Dial, 30, was arrested by Aberdeen PD for violating a domestic violence protection order.

Almost a year since Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains of the Southeast, restoration is still ongoing. In places like the Appalachian Trail, it’s powered primarily by volunteers at a time when federal resources are strained and uncertain. That labor, made up of people spanning several generations and continents, aims to not only return the trail to its former glory but make it more resilient against future inclement weather.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Appalachian Trail,” said Jake Stowe, a program support specialist with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Stretching more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, the trail attracts over 3 million people every year, according to the conservancy. Some committed hikers traverse its entire length to cross it o their bucket list. Others visit sporadically just to indulge in its scenic views.

Last September, Helene killed more than 200 people and wrecked entire towns.

Many rural businesses have struggled due to the drop in tourism, Stowe said, such as in places seeing fewer trail hikers. Directly after the storm, more than 430 miles of the trail were closed, the conservancy said. That’s down to 5 miles today. Hikers still have to take detours around two damaged sections of the trail, both in Tennessee, according to the conservancy.

One spot where a bridge collapsed requires a 3.6-mile walking detour. The other location is near the destroyed Cherry Gap Shelter, where an Associated Press journalist accompanied volunteers this week making the area passable again for visitors who currently have to take a 6-mile detour.

Local groups typically take on day-to-day trail maintenance, such as hacking back plant overgrowth, Stowe said. Larger organizations like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy step in to assist with severe damage, although in Helene’s case, safety concerns delayed restoration.

“At the time, we weren’t really in the position to put people in the woods,” Stowe said. “It was such bad damage that it was just — you couldn’t safely do that.”

The area near Cherry Gap has already been “sawed out,” meaning downed trees that blocked the trail have been cut and moved out of the way. But root balls are still a major problem because of how labor-intensive it is to deal with them.

When a tree tips over, the root ball lifts a big chunk of earth with it. Filling that hole can sometimes take a week, said Matt Perrenod, a crew leader with the conservancy. The trail runs along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, and the rough terrain means crews must rely on hand tools like shovels, rakes and pruners to do the job, rather than heavy equipment.

The conservancy also has to consider more sustainable improvements to the trail, such as building steps or features like water bars, which are essentially little ditches that divert rainfall o the side of the trail.

It’s a slow process, Perrenod said, but a worthwhile venture to improve the experience of hikers.

“You don’t actually want to think about the thing you’re walking on very much. You just want to walk on it,” said Perrenod, who hiked the Appalachian Trail’s entirety about a decade ago. “Well, if we don’t do the work, you won’t be able to do that. You’ll spend all your time climbing over this tree and

Volunteers travel the world to help out

Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service has long been a critical component of preserving the Appalachian Trail. Through contracts, Perrenod said the agencies fund equipment, gas and the wages of some Appalachian Trail Conservancy sta members like himself. The Forest Service also helps the group lug their gear up to the trail, he said.

That’s why Perrenod says it’s imperative the federal government does not slash those agencies’ budgets and workforces. Disrupting support for volunteers could be detrimental for the trail’s restoration, as volunteers provide “a lot of muscle” to complete the vast majority of its maintenance, he said.

In Helene’s aftermath, volunteerism across the region was “super high” because everyone wanted to help, Stowe said. This year, interest in volunteering has dipped, Stowe said, but he’s heard from people all over the country — and the world — who cited Helene as a major reason they wanted to come out and help.

Among the volunteers on the July maintenance trip were three visitors from Japan who work on long-distance trails back home. They were enthusiastic to learn about best practices for improving trail longevity and take those ideas back to Japan. The trio was also motivated by their own experience with natural devastation. After Japan’s massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, volunteer Kumi Aizawa said people from across the globe came to rebuild. By restoring part of the Appalachian Trail, she’s returning the favor.

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

Aug. 1-2

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

Aug. 2

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 farmer’s 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

U Pick Lavender at Lazy Fox Lavender Farm

11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Spend the day in the country exploring the farm and enjoy seeing chickens and sheep. Visitors enjoy the beauty and scent of fresh lavender, which can be cut and purchased by the bundle. A gift shop and an ice cream truck are also on the grounds. Admission is $5 each for adults and kids 2-plus. (Children under the age of two are admitted for free.)

272 Edgewood Road Cameron

ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO

Japanese volunteers Shin Hasegawa, left, and Kumi Aizawa, walk to their camp site carrying tools.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Trump’s attack on President Obama

Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies.

IT’S NOT JUST Trump being Trump. We — and by “we,” I mean both the public and the media — have gotten so used to President Donald Trump repeating outrageous lies that we tend to dismiss them out of hand. But this is much, much worse. For Trump and his top o cials to accuse former President Barack Obama of treason, much less to call for an investigation by the Justice Department (his puppet, Attorney General Pam Bondi, has already announced the formation of a “strike force,” whatever that is) is a plain abuse of power.

Trump’s most recent attack on Obama came after last weekend, when he posted an AI-generated video of Obama supposedly being arrested by the FBI. Not funny. Then Tulsi Gabbard, struggling to get back on Trump’s good list after annoying the president with a self-serving video she made on her trip to Asia (after which she was excluded from some critical meetings) took to the podium at a White House brie ng to call on the Justice Department to investigate what she called the “treasonous conspiracy” relating to the investigation of Russian e orts to in uence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. It worked. Referring to Gabbard, Trump said: “She’s, like, hotter than everybody. She’s the hottest one in the room right now.”

As for who should be the target of the Justice Department and what should be the focus, Trump left no doubt: “It would be President Obama. He started it. ... This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries.”

That’s just another lie. The investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election focused on the Russian hacking and dissemination of Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails — something Trump well knows, since he referred to those emails on the campaign trail. The only thing Obama did was to encourage his intelligence o cers to complete their investigation before he left o ce, understanding — rightly — that Trump,

once he took o ce, could not be trusted not to interfere or block it. Telling a federal agency to nish its work is not a crime. Indeed, every investigation of the 2016 election found exactly what the Obama investigation did. In 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee “found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling,” according to then-senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which is precisely what the Obama team found. Treason, the only crime de ned by the Constitution, requires that one give “aid and comfort” to our enemies. It is punishable by execution. Of course, because of the Trump Supreme Court decision a ording the president near-absolute immunity for “o cial acts” (which Trump desperately needed to hide behind to escape responsibility for inciting a riot on Jan. 6), the Justice Department investigation of Obama is a useless task and a waste of time and money. But Obama, unlike Trump, doesn’t need the shield of immunity. There are no facts supporting Gabbard’s charges and nothing for the Justice Department’s strike force to investigate. This isn’t about real wrongdoing. It certainly isn’t about treason. Gabbard made these charges to earn her way back into Trump’s good graces. And what better way to do it than to play to Trump’s worst instincts — his desire for vengeance and his willingness to weaponize the entire federal government to get even with his enemies. Obama is smarter, more popular and more respected than Trump will ever be. And Trump, desperate to bury his ties to Je rey Epstein, desperate to change the subject after playing ridiculous, self-serving games attacking his other predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to release the Epstein les, was only too willing to applaud Gabbard, to put pressure on his attorney general and to suggest that Obama should be subject to execution. He has no shame and no limits.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

Four big questions about Joe Biden’s health cover-up

The fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed.

JOE BIDEN was both senile and cancer-ridden during the last years of his presidency. That much is absolutely clear.

According to “Original Sin,” the new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden was exhibiting signs of senility for years; his sta worked to cover it up, and a compliant media did its least to investigate. This week, we found out that Biden also has stage four prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones. There is virtually no way that nobody knew about the cancer until this week; prostate cancer is a slow-moving cancer that is easily detected by routine PSA tests.

This is, to put it mildly, one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The scandal raises a series of serious questions.

The rst is obvious: Who the hell was running the White House while Biden’s brain wasn’t working? The obvious suspects include Jill Biden, who must have known about Biden’s senility and yet continued to press him to run for president; Mike Donilon, former Biden adviser; Je rey Zients, Biden’s chief of sta ; and even Hunter Biden, President Biden’s closest con dante. In fact, according to “Original Sin,” the answer appears to be the convicted felon and former crack addict: Tapper explained this week, “He was almost like a chief of sta . ... It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions.” Well, yes.

The second question is similarly obvious: How long did the Biden family know about Biden’s in rmity? Where the hell was Jill? Where was Hunter? Or were they all so focused on grifting o the family name that they couldn’t be bothered to truly care for their ailing patriarch? That question turns extraordinarily dark when we consider the question of Biden’s cancer. Was Biden deprived of necessary treatment? Did he go undiagnosed because the family didn’t want to know the answer? We do know that the Biden family has covered up cancer before: When Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, was su ering from brain cancer, the family worked to lie about it.

Then there’s a third question: Where the hell was the legacy media while all of this was happening? The job of the media is

to investigate signs and symptoms of corruption or misconduct. It was perfectly obvious to everyone with a prefrontal cortex and working retinas that Biden was in dire mental condition by 2022. Why weren’t the media demanding answers? Were they so committed to the defeat of Donald Trump and the Republicans that they decided to simply look the other way ... until precisely the moment Biden’s condition became undeniable, the rst debate with Trump?

Finally, there’s a fourth question: Who can be trusted at this point? It’s easy to point to the Democrats’ cover-up of Biden’s ailments as proof of their unique dishonesty. But the reality is less comforting: Self-interest and malfeasance are human universals — and if the American public are entitled to know the truth about any of their elected o cials, they require systems that demand answers. This means, at the very least, that Congress ought to immediately pass a bill demanding yearly complete and transparent physical and mental tests on the president. Our government was not built on trust; it was built on checks and balances. And the fact that the president of the United States was not the president for years, in the face of the blaring light of public attention, shows that our checks and balances have utterly failed. The greatest sign of an imperial presidency is that the president is so unanswerable that he can be nearly clinically dead in public without serious repercussion. Enough is enough. Americans’ trust has been abused over and over and over again over the course of the last decade. And it’s not enough simply to blame those who abused that trust. It’s time to rebuild systems that verify. And that requires actual forethought, honesty and realism about the aws in human nature — and the willingness of the politically motivated to justify just about anything in the name of desired ends.

Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

Agency data. And the problems are likely even bigger because the EPA database doesn’t catch all parks.

Even where parks get water from an outside source — such as a city — the clean water coming in can become contaminated if it passes through problematic infrastructure before reaching residents’ taps. Because the EPA doesn’t generally require this water to be tested and regulated, the problems may go unseen.

Utah is one of the few states to step in with their own rules, according to an AP survey of state policies.

“If you look back at the history of the Safe Drinking Water Act, like in the ’70s when they were starting, it was, ‘Well, as long as the source … is protected, then by the time it gets to the tap, it’ll be ne.’ And that’s just not how it works,” Smith said.

The challenge of being “halfway homeowners”

In one Colorado mobile home park, raw sewage backed up into a bathtub. In a Michigan park, the taps often ran dry and the water resembled tea; in Iowa, it looked like co ee — scaring residents o drinking it and ruining laundry they could hardly a ord to replace. In California, boxes of bottled water crowd a family’s kitchen over fears of arsenic.

Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. Some are comfortable Sun Belt retirees. Many others have modest incomes and see mobile homes as a rare opportunity for home ownership.

To understand how water in the parks can be so troubled, it’s useful to remember that residents often own their homes but rent the land they sit on. Despite the name, it’s di cult and expensive to move a mobile home. That means they’re “halfway homeowners,” said Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver who lived in sev-

Service will reduce from seven regions to ve, while the Forest Service will phase out nine regional o ces over the next year.

The department expects to retain no more than 2,000 employees in the Washington area after the reorganization is complete. The plan will unfold over several months, with senior USDA leadership providing more details to a ected o ces in the coming weeks.

Beyond the relocation, the plan follows a voluntary workforce reduction earlier this year in which 15,364 USDA employees elected deferred resignation through the Deferred Retirement Program. O cials emphasized this was completely voluntary and that the reorganization is not conducting a large-scale workforce reduction.

Troxler said having more

eral mobile home parks as she researched a book. Residents often put up with “really egregious” property maintenance by landlords because all their money is tied up in their home, she said.

Pamela Maxey, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, said she had forgotten what it was like to have reliable, clean water until she traveled to her state Capitol last year to advocate for better mobile home park protections and stayed in a hotel. By then, she had spent eight years in a park where sewage backed up into homes and the ow of tap water was sometimes weak or discolored.

“It wasn’t until I went into the bathroom to take a shower that I realized, ‘I don’t have to jump in here and squint my eyes closed the entire time and make sure water doesn’t get in my mouth because I don’t know what’s in it,’” she said. “I went to brush my teeth, and I just turned the faucet on and I brushed my teeth from the water coming from the faucet. I haven’t been able to do that for over a year.”

Victoria Silva, a premed student in Fort Collins, Colorado, estimates the water in Harmony Village Mobile Home Park where she lives went out or lost pressure 20 to 30 times over roughly three years there.

“People don’t realize how much water they need until the water is out for ve minutes when they need to ush, when they need to rinse something o their hands, when they need to make some pasta,” Silva said.

The park’s owner says a licensed professional ensures water is maintained and tested, and outages are minimized.

Small water companies, serial problems

The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to nd expert sta and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But

USDA sta in North Carolina could bene t the state’s $111 billion agriculture industry.

“Agriculture production and needs are di erent across the country, and I think it will be bene cial to our agriculture industry to have more USDA sta and contacts in our state,” he said. “We will work with them on whatever they need.”

The reorganization also calls for vacating several Washington-area buildings with signi cant deferred maintenance costs. Beyond the South Building, which has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and operates well below capacity, USDA will also vacate Braddock Place and eventually the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The department will retain the Whitten Building as its headquarters, along with the Yates Building and National Agricultural Library.

even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out.

The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant, or failed to properly report the results, in the past ve years. And they are far more likely to be repeat o enders of safe drinking water rules overall.

But that’s only part of the story. The true rates of mobile home park violations aren’t knowable because the EPA doesn’t track them well. The agency’s tap water violation database depends on information from states that often don’t properly categorize mobile home parks.

When Smith rst searched Utah’s database in response to an AP request for data from all 50 states, he found only four small water systems identi ed as belonging to mobile home parks. With some keyword searches, he identi ed 33 more.

Other parks aren’t in the databases at all and may be completely unregulated.

One July day in 2021, o cials with the EPA were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern California desert when they realized the problem went way beyond just one place.

“It was literally us driving around and going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a bunch of mobile home parks!’” said Amy Miller, who previously served as EPA’s head of enforcement for the Paci c Southwest region.

The water in these other parks had been o their radar. At some, testing found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that had been provided to residents for years. It’s impossible to know how many unnoticed parks are out there. Most states aren’t actively looking for them and say they nd very few. In Colorado, after the state passed a new law to require water testing at all mobile home parks, o cials uncovered 79 parks with their source of water unknown. That’s about

Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have raised concerns about the plan, arguing it could disrupt services and disconnect the agency from Congress. The union noted that 95% of USDA employees already work outside of Washington, D.C.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, called it a “half-baked proposal” and demanded department o cials appear before the Senate to explain their reasoning.

USDA o cials said critical functions will continue uninterrupted during the transition, including wild re response, food safety inspections and other essential services. The department speci cally exempted 52 position classi cations carrying out national security and pub

a tenth of the total parks in the state.

Pipes “like spaghetti” in the ground

Many parks are decades old with aging pipes that can cause chronic water problems, even if the water that supplies the park is clean when it enters the system.

Jake Freeman, the engineering director at Central States Water Resources, a Missouri-based private utility company that specializes in taking over small water systems in 11 states, said substandard and poorly installed pipes are more common to see in mobile home parks.

“A lot of times, it’s hard to nd the piping in the mobile home parks because if there’s any kind of obstruction, they just go around it,” he said. ”“It’s like spaghetti laying in the ground.”

After a major winter storm devastated Texas in 2021, Freeman said, the company found pipes at parks it had taken over that “were barely buried. Some of them weren’t buried.”

When pipes break and leak, the pressure drops and contaminants can enter water lines. In addition, parks sometimes have stagnant water — where pipes dead-end or water sits unused — that increases the risk of bacterial growth.

Rebecca Sadosky is public water supply chief in North Carolina, where mobile home communities make up close to 40% of all water systems. She said owners don’t always realize when they buy a park that they could also be running a mini utility.

“I think they don’t know that they’re getting into the water business,” she said.

It doesn’t have to be like this

Utah is a rare state that enforces safe drinking water standards even within mobile home parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP’s survey of states. A small

number of other states like New Hampshire have taken some steps to address water safety in these parks, but in most states frustrated residents may have no one to turn to for help beyond the park owner.

In Colorado, when Silva asked o cials who enforces safe drinking water rules, “I just couldn’t get clear answers.”

Steve Via, director of federal regulations at the American Water Works Association utility group, argued against regulating mobile home parks that get their water from a municipality, saying that would further stretch an already taxed oversight system. And if those parks are regulated, what’s to stop the rules from extending to the privately owned pipes in big apartment buildings — the line has to be drawn somewhere, he said.

Via said residents of parks where an owner refuses to x water problems have options, including going to their local health departments, suing or complaining publicly.

Silva is among the advocates who fought for years to change Colorado’s rules before they succeeded in passing a law in 2023 that requires water testing in every mobile home park. It gives health o cials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it’s not a health risk. The state is now a leader in protecting mobile home park tap water.

Smith, the Utah environmental scientist, said stopping the contaminated water owing into the mobile home park and connecting it to a safe supply felt like a career highlight.

He said Utah’s culture of making do with scarce water contributed to a willingness for stronger testing and regulations than the federal government requires.

“There’s sort of the communal nature of like, everybody should have access to clean water,” he said. “It seems to transcend political ideologies; it seems to transcend religious ideologies.”

lic safety functions from earlier hiring freezes to ensure these services remain fully sta ed, though these employees may

still be subject to relocation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

USDA from page A1

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

A John Deere cotton picker picks cotton at a farm in Dundarrach in November 2023.

MOORE SPORTS

Let the Big Sweat begin: Fall sports practices start

Football, volleyball, soccer teams started practicing with matches and scrimmages that begin the second week of August

By Michael Jaenicke North State Journal

WALLACE — “Summer is over.”

Well, almost anyway, despite the slightly misleading protest yell from a parent exiting hernal youth baseball game of the summer.

Prep soccer and volleyball matches start in 10 days.

Football scrimmages in eight and today was the rst o cial day to conduct practices.

It’s a new season, in part due to changes made via the realignment process that increases the classi cations from four (1A to 4A) to eight (1A to 8A). OK, but there’s more.

New playo format allows more schools in postseason

The playo system was changed and approved by the NCHSAA Board of Directors.

Forty-eight schools in 1A to 7A will make the playo s, with the top 16 teams earning a rstround bye. There will still be six playo rounds, yet seeds will be rewarded slightly di erent.

First, conference champs won’t earn automatic bids and nor will second-place teams in conferences necessarily be seeded below the conference champs.

The RPI system will determine seeds. The RPI formula bases its nal number on a team’s winning percentage (40%), the winning percentage of its opponents (40%) and the winning percentage of its opponents’ opponents (20%).

Fans will be asked to fork

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

North Moore makes its entrance before a game against Southwest Randolph last year. The fall sports teams for all North Moore schools will be making their entrances soon.

out more money to see the playo s as tickets for the rst two rounds and increases thereafter to $20 for a ticket for the state nals in football and basketball.

It also held its line not allowing cheaper tickets for students through pre-sale programs.

Schools must also allow older adults and others without bank cards and computer skills to purchase tickets with cash.

Fans might also be leaving games earlier. The state reduced the numbers on its mercy rule.

In football, the clock can now run continuously after halftime when a team is ahead by 35 or more points. It was 42 last season.

In basketball, the mercy-rule lead went from 40 to 35, which many feel is still too lenient for the eventual losing team.

Board votes down several talked-about proposals

Yet not everything on the board’s drawing board passed

Suzuki, Sabathia join Hall of Fame

The Japanese star and longtime ace are part of the ve-man class of 2025

By Mark Frank The Associated Press

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.

— Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19-year Major League Baseball career. For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much.

“Of course, I’m nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the eld, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,” Suzuki said through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement.

Suzuki is the rst Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He was joined by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen were honored posthumously.

Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%.

Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outelder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami.

“This is the place where I’d come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again.”

Ichiro Suzuki on Cooperstown

He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with a season-record 262 hits in 2004. Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is di erent.

“I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts,” he said. “This time around, though, I didn’t come to have one purpose to see something. I just wanted to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That’s the di erence this time around.

“This is the place where I’d come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again.”

For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY.

A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia “thought I wanted to be close to home,” but his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers.

“My wife was the one that said ‘You’re trying to do all these di erent things, gure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That’s the

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Ashley Lee

through to become new policy.

There was discussion about having the realignment process every two years instead of four years, which was sent back to the sub-committee level.

The NC Basketball Coaches’ suggestion to allow a pilot program for the shot clock was likewise voted down.

Flag football talks are o the table until at least December.

A nal gridiron note

Additionally, the whitehot subject of what is a legal hit and what is targeting remains a subject the NCHSAA and others consider a hot button, though it’s clearly not well de ned.

And nally, the NFHS, prep sport’s organizing and sanctioning body, has changed a longstanding rule. In 2025, a ball fumbled out of bounds will return to the line of scrimmage.

See ya at the yardsticks.

Pinecrest, girls’ golf

Ashley Lee is a rising sophomore on the Pinecrest girls’ golf team. In addition to being a part of the defending state champions on the links, she also plays softball for the Patriots. In July, the Pinecrest girls nished third in the National High School Golf Invitational, which the school hosted. Lee tied for third place overall, two strokes o the tournament lead. She shot a rst-round 72, a second-round 67 and nished with a 68 on the nal day.

one place they try to win every single year.’ When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,” Sabathia said.

“And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yan-

kees. He passed away when I was 23, so he wasn’t there to tell me it was OK if I failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but

I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.” Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy

19

DAVID SINCLAIR FOR NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Johnson and Steve Carlton, during

seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees.

SETH WENIG / AP PHOTO

Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki speaks to reporters during a news conference in Cooperstown.

Lauramae Smith

Sept. 10, 1926 – July 19, 2025

Lauramae Smith, 98, of Southern Pines, passed peacefully at her Pine Knoll residence on July 19, 2025.

Lauramae was born in Kewanee, Ill., on September 10, 1926, to Arthur Sr. and Lilian Kopp Whited. She grew up on the family farm, where as a teenager she refused to clean the chicken coup. After her graduation from Wethers eld High School, Lauramae went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University. She later moved to Evanston, Ill., and raised three children. For 26 years, she worked as a business librarian for McKinsey & Company’s Chicago o ce before retiring in 1991. Lauramae was an avid card player, (mediocre) golfer, Cubs fan, and keen crossword puzzle solver (using a pen). She enjoyed reading romance novels, watching Jeopardy, watching golf tournaments (Tiger Woods and Scottie Sche er were her favorites), and cooking for her children. She was also prone to playful cussing.

She is survived by two sons, Eric Smith of Newburyport, Mass., and Alex Smith of Highland Park, Ill., and three grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, two sisters, and daughter, Jennifer Smith Lu . Per Lauramae’s request, no services are planned at this time.

Andrew Bobby Britt

Jan. 26, 1935 – July 27, 2025

Andrew Bobby Britt, 90, passed away Sunday, July 27, 2025.

Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at Smyrna Church, with the Reverend Farrell Hussey O ciating. Burial with military honors will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends following the service in the Smyrna Family Life Center.

A complete obituary will be posted when available.

Kennedy Funeral Home is honored to serve the Britt family.

Lois Rae Gunnison

Nov. 13, 1953 – July 19, 2025

It’s with great sadness that Lois Rae Gunnison passed away on July 19, 2025, at First Health Hospice. Her husband Jon was near her side when she passed. A cancer survivor several years ago this second battle with cancer was just too much to overcome. Lois and her husband, Jon Lee Gunnison, were married just shy of 42 years.

Lois was born in Columbia, Missouri, on 11/13/1953, the daughter of LaRae and Louis Thomure. Lois spent her younger years in Shelton and Lacey, Washington. Lois also loved spending time in her early years with her grandparents on their small farm in Washington.

Lois attended Eastern Washington University before starting her 30-plus years in the nancial and banking industry.

Starting as a teller in a small bank, Lois’ knack and determination saw her rise through other nancial responsibilities at several banks and retired at age 62 as a Vice President in Commercial Lending at Bank of America.

In retirement Lois enjoyed playing golf and traveling, venturing from Hawaii to the Caribbean and points in between.

One of Lois’ best memories was going to Augusta National for the Inaugural Women’s Amateur! Lois also had a creative side taking great joy crafting and making all her creations by hand using a variety of tools, inks and dyes. It made her happy and she shared her creativity with her friends and family. Lois was also an avid reader, spending time outside relaxing and reading! Being a cat family, Lois loved being with and taking care of the family cats, Casey, Missy and Sweetie. Lois is survived by her husband Jon and has nieces and nephews on the West Coast. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents and two brothers.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

Wendy Whitney Raphael

June 16, 1953 – July 21, 2025

Wendy Whitney Raphael, age 72, of Whispering Pines, NC, passed away peacefully at home with her family on July 21, 2025. Wendy was born in Essex County, NJ, on June 16, 1953, to Charles Kloss and Kathryn Hadsell.

Wendy was an avid collector, phenomenal baker and cook, and lover of nature and animals. She was vivacious and loving, exceptionally generous. Wendy easily connected with people from all walks of life and had a remarkable way of making everyone feel loved and special.

Wendy is survived by her husband James Raphael, her daughters Elizabeth and Rebecca Raphael, sisters Holly Shute and Dorothy Kloss, niece Kathryn Shute and nephew Kyle Shute. Wendy was preceded in death by her mother, Kathryn Hadsell Kloss and her father

Charles Kloss

A funeral ceremony will be held on Monday, July 28, 2025, at Boles Funeral Home, Southern Pines, at 1 p.m. Burial will follow at Pinelawn Memorial Park. Memorial contributions can be made to Best Friends Animal Society or the World Wildlife Fund. Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Christopher McLean

Aug. 9, 1972 – July 25, 2025

Christopher McLean, 52, of Wagram, departed this life on July 25, 2025. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Spring Branch Missionary Baptist Church. Interment will follow in the Hillside Memorial Park. A viewing and visitation will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Friday, August 1, 2025, at Purcell Funeral Home. Services are entrusted to Purcell Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Marjorie McDermott Gump

April 7, 1950 – July 25, 2025

Marjorie McDermott Gump, age 75, of Southern Pines, NC, passed away at her home on July 25, 2025. An only child, Marjorie was born in Kane, PA, on April 7, 1950, to Edward Thomas McDermott and Dorothy Jane Nash.

A graduate of Edinboro University, Marjorie worked as the Head of Student Services at Mercyhurst College in Erie PA before moving to Toronto. There she embarked on a career in business that included Director of Training with a major hospital, and management consulting specializing in executive development, and outplacement. She moved to North Carolina when she was selected to set up an outplacement center for Duke Medical in 1994. Following that, she spent fteen years doing consulting and training in her husband’s management consulting rm, particularly enjoying the experience of working internationally in Australia, Canada, and Europe.

Marjorie is survived by her husband of thirty years, Henry Franklin Gump, two stepchildren, Tyler and Karli, and four step-grandchildren as well as three cousins, Patsy, Martha, and Marilyn. A magnetic, engaging personality, Marjorie also leaves behind a great many close friends from her early childhood, her university years, and her almost thirty years in Pinehurst and Southern Pines. Marjorie was preceded in death by her parents and other family members. Memorial contributions can be made to First Health Palliative and Hospice. Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

John A. Richardson

June 11, 1957 – July 23, 2025

John A. Richardson, 68, of Carthage, N.C., passed away on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at Peak Resources-Pinelake in Carthage, N.C. Funeral Services will be held at a later date.

Elizabeth “Betty” Haddock Foster

April 11, 1944 – July 24, 2025

Elizabeth “Betty” Haddock Foster, 81, of Vass, North Carolina, passed away peacefully on July 24, 2025, surrounded by the family she loved so deeply. Betty married the love of her life and had a lifelong partnership de ned by hard work, devotion, and joy. Together, they raised four children: Lynette (Chan), Karen (Phillip), Scott, and Jonathan (Sarah). She was a proud grandmother to Lee, Jaime, Michael, Charles, Sam, Kaleigh, Megan, and Jon Glenn and great-grandmother to Jaylee, Gavin, Laila, Maddie, and Michaela.

Betty and Glenn were true partners not just in love, but in life and work. Over the years Glenn worked for the railroad while she ran an antique store, together they farmed tobacco, baled pine straw, sold Christmas trees, and shared their bounty at the farmers market. Betty especially found joy and brought joy to the community with her beloved “Betty’s Garden.”

She was a gifted cook who never needed a recipe, and a “doit-yourself” woman long before it was trendy. Her creativity, resilience, and independence were admired. Betty lived her life authentically, with a love for adventure, a strong sense of family, and a fondness for a good meal and a Coca-Cola.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Glenn Foster; her brother, Bobby Haddock; and her parents, Lillian Marks Godek, Frank Godek (stepfather), and John Lewis Haddock. Her legacy lives on through the generations she nurtured and the lives she touched with her warmth, wit, and unshakable spirit.

A service will be held at Johnson Grove Cemetery, 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. In lieu of owers, the family encourages you to donate to the Vass United Methodist Church. Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Wade Glenn Motsinger

July 28, 1933 – July 26, 2025

Wade Glenn Motsinger, 91, of Carthage, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on 26 July 2025. Born on July 28, 1933, in Moore County, Wade was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Maude Motsinger.

He proudly served his country in the United States Army for six years, including during the Korean Con ict. Following his military service, Wade built an exceptional career in engineering and communications.

As a Civil Engineer for the United States Federal Government, Wade taught guided missile communications to NATO soldiers and members of the Japanese Military. His expertise and hard work later led him to work with RCA, where he played a vital role in satellite communications throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. He also contributed to launching RCA SATCOM operating systems and working on NASA projects, including communications support during the era of the

Barbara Blue Greer

April 24, 1933 – July 28, 2025

Barbara Blue Greer, of Aberdeen, age 92, passed away on July 28, 2025. Barbara Blue Greer was born on April 24, 1933, to Walter H. Blue and Odessa L. Blue at Moore County Hospital.

Barbara graduated from Women’s College in Greensboro, NC, and obtained her Master’s Degree at the University of North Carolina.

Barbara married John Greer on May 15, 1956. They were married 60 years. She taught high school at Union Pines, Rockingham High School, and Richmond Senior High in Rockingham.

She loved to travel, and she and Jay travelled extensively with their family. She was active in Walter Hines Page Book Club and the Cardinal Book Club for over 60 years.

Barbara is survived by her daughter, Laura Shafer, and husband, Dr. William M. Shafer; her sons, David Greer and wife, Ellen, and Stephen Greer and wife, Julia. She and Jay had eight grandchildren: John Shafer and wife Bailey, Matthew Shafer and wife Erin, Gregory Greer and wife Brittany, Richard Greer and wife Alyse, John Greer and his wife Kassi, Rachel Greer Bishop and her husband Matthew, Rebecca Hirth and her husband Chase, and Sarah Greer. Barbara has sixteen great-grandchildren.

A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, August 2, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the Page United Methodist Church, 115 W. Main St., Aberdeen. The family will receive friends at the church prior to the ceremony, starting at 1:30 p.m. Memorials may be made to Page Memorial Methodist Church, PO Box 695, Aberdeen, NC 28315.

Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Space Shuttle Challenger in 1985.

Wade was known not only for his technical brilliance and dedication to national defense but also for the deep love and care he showed to those around him. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather who held his family and friends close to his heart. His warmth, wisdom, and unwavering support will be missed beyond measure but remembered always.

In addition to his parents, Wade was preceded in death by his rst wife, Masae, and his son, David; sisters: Doris and Mildred; brothers: Ray, Eugene, Spencer and Fuller.

He is survived by his loving wife, Maxine; sister, Violet; his son, Paul Motsinger, and wife Maria; granddaughter Claire; and grandson Gabrielle of Santa Fe, New Mexico; stepchildren: David Sanders and wife Candice, Sarah Dube and husband Anthony, Rebecca Dean and husband Thomas. Wade also leaves behind 12 grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren, each a source of pride and joy in his life.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at 3 p.m. at Bethlehem Baptist Church with Pastor Goard and Bill Monroe o ciating. The service will conclude in the church cemetery with military honors. The family will receive friends starting at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Online condolences may be o ered at www.PinesFunerals. com.

Fry & Prickett Funeral Home is honored to serve the Motsinger family.

Robert Scott Burnette Sr.

Oct. 31, 1946 – July 25, 2025

Robert Scott Burnette Sr., age 78, of Cameron, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 25, 2025, at his home, surrounded by his loving family.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 2 p.m. at Cox Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor John Brown and Pastor Bill Altman o ciating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home from 1-2 p.m. Robert was born in Moore County on October 31, 1946, to the late Raymond Scott Burnette and Florence Medlin Burnette. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Ruby Carlyle and E e Marks, and three brothers, James Ray Burnette, Bruce Medlin and Junior Burnette.

He was an avid Duke fan and always dressed in Duke apparel.

He enjoyed farming and tractors, mainly Fords and spending time on his backhoe and bulldozer.

He also enjoyed the game of golf especially wrecking golf carts with his friends Tony, Larry, Archie, Soul, Danny and Steve. Robert loved cars, and working on motors, bodywork and painting. His wife, Mary, was the love of his life. He was always spoiling her with gifts.

He also loved his children and grandchildren, and he was a father gure to many. Robert loved his friends being around him, telling jokes and laughing. He was a great man, a provider and a father. He will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Oakley Burnette; children, Donna Fipps and husband Terry of Tabor City, NC, Robert “Bobby” Scott Burnette Jr. and wife Mary of Wilmington, NC; grandchildren, Houston Davis, Victoria Stalls and husband Jay, Austin Burnette, Jacob Burnette and wife Payton, Kyrstin Harootian and husband Dakota; great-grandchildren, Preston, Jade, Blakely, Atleigh, Boston.

Raymond G. Washington Sr.

Aug. 20, 1936 – July 26, 2025

Raymond G. Washington Sr., surrounded by his loving family, died Saturday, July 26, 2025. Raymond was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, to the late Eliza and Clayton Washington Sr., and was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 43 years, Arnetta Washington. He is survived by his son, Dr. Raymond G. Washington Jr. (Dr. Toni Anne), two grandchildren, Jackson and Mia Washington of Pinehurst, North Carolina, and his brother Stephen Washington (Carol). He was preceded in death by his brother Clayton Washington. In the days preceding Raymond’s death, Raymond Jr. easily wrote down the top 50 things his dad taught him. Here are the rst twenty: know right and wrong, speak to everybody, love your family more than you love yourself, make your kids believe they can do anything, don’t second guess your decisions, take care of your possessions, love your wife, pray, save your money, laugh, help others, travel, dream big, be rm, demand excellence, praise those you love, value education, be present, go to funerals, and value family over career. Those who knew Raymond knew he lived by these and so many other truths. He instilled these values not only into his son and grandchildren, but into anyone who encountered him.

Raymond’s accolades are numerous. He held a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Blue eld State College, a Master of Science in Education from Indiana University, and a Certi cate of Advanced Graduate Studies from The College of William and Mary. He began his career as a counselor for the Neighborhood Youth Corps and quickly rose to become director. From there, he worked his way up through Hampton City Schools, from Industrial Arts teacher to assistant principal, then principal, and later held several assistant superintendent roles. Though he turned down multiple o ers to become superintendent to watch his son play basketball, in 1984, he accepted and became the rst African American superintendent of Hampton City Schools. He retired in 1991 and worked as an education consultant for many years. A quote he worked by was: “A good boss is someone who takes a little more blame than his share and a little less than his share of the credit.”

Raymond was a dedicated servant in the community. He served on the boards of the Hampton YMCA, Boo Williams Basketball League, Citizen’s Boys Club, Junior League of Hampton Roads, Achievable Dream, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Sandhills Community College. Raymond was a lifelong member of First Baptist Church in Hampton, Virginia and later First Baptist Church of Southern Pines, North Carolina. He was a lifetime member of the Omega Psi Phi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.

He was honored with numerous awards, including Role Model of the Year, Distinguished Virginian Award, and Thomas Nelson Person of the Year.

Raymond lived by Luke 12:48: “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” “When the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat on this train of life, we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who continue to travel… I close by thanking you for being one of the passengers on my train.”

In lieu of owers, gifts can be given to the Early Childhood Education Department at Sandhills Community College.

Make checks payable to: SCCF

Attn: Sandhills Community College Foundation

3395 Airport Road Pinehurst, NC 28374

Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Mary Worden

Oct. 5, 1927 – July 21, 2025

Mary Worden of Mattapoisett passed away peacefully on July 21 in Pinehurst, NC. Hers was a joyful life- lled with art, music, and theater-dedicated to educating and serving others and being with her family.

Born in Nantucket in 1927, Mary was the daughter of immigrants Kathleen Cronin Moriarty and Alan Moriarty. After a childhood in Nantucket and New Bedford, she attended Emmanuel College and graduated with a BA in Social Sciences. She later received an MA in Religious Education from Emmanuel and an MEd from Bridgewater State College.

After teaching several years in the New Bedford public school system Mary wanted to see more of the world, so she taught one year in Madrid, Spain and another year in Etajima, Japan. Her plan to spend a year teaching in Alaska changed because she met Vincent Worden, whom she married in 1959. Forever after it was his fault that she never made it to Alaska. For the last twenty years of her career, Mary was the principal of Dunbar Elementary School. Her art program there won a national award and the musicals she directed had huge casts that included all students.

For decades, Mary and Vincent helped run bingo at St. James. Each year they also hosted four Bingo Parties for the volunteers. Their grandest celebration was a sit-down dinner for 112, possible because dinner was served on the patio and in every hallway and bedroom of the house; having ve children and four Moriarty cousins with years of experience serving at these parties helped as well. Mary organized the Brandt Beach celebrations of the 4th of July, including the parade and the races on the beach. She also began the annual summer show and directed

Gary James Cummings

Sept. 5, 1950 – July 27, 2025

On July 27, 2025, we said goodbye to a truly remarkable soul. Gary James Cummings was more than a husband, father, grandfather, and community servant — he was the embodiment of quiet strength, steadfast loyalty, and heartwarming generosity. Born to Warren “Buddy” Cummings and Rosa Hamlin, Gary was the eldest of three children. He grew up in Vass, NC, attended Vass- Lakeview Elementary, Union Pines High School, NC State and Sandhills Community College. He followed his father’s path into farming, cultivating tobacco, soybeans, hay, and becoming a topproducing chicken farmer with skill and pride. Gary’s excellence and innovation in agriculture earned him the respect of peers across the region.

His roots run deep, not only in the earth but in the lives he nurtured. Gary’s sense of duty extended far beyond the farm. As a committed member of the Vass Rescue Squad, he rose to the rank of captain, where he initiated 911 addressing to ensure responders could reach homes more e ciently during emergencies, transforming public safety in the region. Gary served as a past President of the Moore County Captains Association,

it until her daughter was old enough to direct the show herself. Camp Worden hosted grandchildren in the summertime who needed to follow the “Rules for Campers” posted by their grandmother. Mary was quite happy with this system until her grandchildren reached adolescence and followed her example by posting “Rules for Grandma.”

After retiring, Mary taught theater, art, and music at St. James-St. John School and served as the Director of Religious Education at St. James Parish for 20 years. She taught public speaking, art, theater, and mock trial at the Nativity Preparatory School for 15 years. She was also an active member of Voice of the Faithful and the Women’s Circle of Sacred Threads.

Mary was an accomplished painter who took art classes at UMass Dartmouth and RISD. She sketched, painted, and traveled extensively in most of Europe including Russia, China, Thailand, Mexico, and other countries, but never made it to Canada. Her artwork was sold in a gallery in New York, but the most fervent collectors of her paintings are her children and grandchildren. Mary was predeceased by her husband Vincent Worden, her sister Kate Ackerman, and her brother Chris Moriarty. She is lovingly remembered by her children Mary Kate (Douglas) DeSimone of Charlottesville, VA; Ann (Kevin) Fitzpatrick of Pinehurst, NC; Margaret of Hanover, NH; William (Deirdre Gilligan) of Tuscaloosa, AL; and Alan (Victoria Powers) of Bethesda, MD. She has also left wonderful memories for her fteen rule-following grandchildren: Michael, Tim, Mary, and Will DeSimone; Meghan, Kathleen, and Sean Fitzpatrick; Eamon and Liam Worden; John and Kate Worden; and Henry, Charlie, Alexandra, and Isabelle Worden. A funeral service will be held at St. Cecilia Parish in Boston on Friday, August 1 at 10 a.m. Then there will be a graveside ceremony at St. Mary’s Cemetery in New Bedford at 12:45 p.m.followed by a reception. In lieu of owers, please consider making a memorial donation to the Nativity Preparatory School of New Bedford.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

contributing his time and wisdom to shaping local emergency services. He was honored as Young Farmer of the Year and a lifelong member of the Vass Rescue Squad.

Gary’s warmth and devotion radiated through his family. He is survived by his loving wife, Portia Marsh Cummings; devoted daughters Angela Thompson (Kenny) and Krystal Martin (Matthew); adoring grandchildren Cecilia Rose, Kally Wyn, Carissa Leigh, Hatch Grey, Braelyn Vale, Adelyne Joelle, and Korbin Boyd; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Buddy and Rosa, his brother, David J. Cummings, and a sister, Vickie J. Hicks — losses that left deep marks but also inspired Gary to live each day with tenderness and courage.

Gary found joy in life’s simple pleasures. He savored dark chocolate, was an avid NC State fan, and could be found watching golf or on the golf course with his buddies. He also loved traveling with friends and family, creating cherished memories wherever the road took him. His life was a testament to quiet heroism. He may have worked the land with his hands, but he lifted hearts with his presence. Gary’s legacy will continue to bloom — in stories, in values, and in all those who were lucky enough to call him family and friend.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at Cox Memorial Funeral Home from 6-8 p.m. and at other times at the home.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, August 1, 2025, at 11 a.m. at New Home Baptist Church with Pastor Andrew Butner o ciating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of owers, memorials may be made in Memory of Gary Cummings to New Home Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1169, Vass. NC 28394.

STATE & NATION

Shaq has been refurbishing basketball courts for 30 years

The big man knows the impact new courts can have

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL knows exactly how much refurbishing a basketball court can mean to a community and the kids who play on it.

He learned rsthand from his former Boston Celtics teammate Marquis Daniels. He was a teenager three decades ago when O’Neal was playing with the Orlando Magic and rebuilt a court in the inner city area where Daniels was growing up.

“It was big. He was somebody growing up that I looked up to, he was the tallest person I had ever seen,” Daniels told The AP. “He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Years later when they were teammates in Boston, Daniels reminded the Hall of Famer that he had been at that court dedication and how it helped change his life. After a 10-year career in the NBA, Daniels has been working as a coach at his alma mater Auburn since 2018.

O’Neal recalled Daniels telling him the story.

“He said, ‘You don’t remember me?’” O’Neal said while in Rockwell, Texas, to refurbish another court near his new home. “I said no, and he said, ‘Well, I was one of the kids that

grew up in Orlando, and you xed up a court. Because you xed it up, I’m here.’”

Refurbishing courts is commonplace around the NBA and

WNBA. The Indiana Fever unveiled a new Legacy Court at a local park in Indianapolis during All-Star weekend, and the league has an initiative this

Vance hits the road to sell

The vice president was in his home state of Ohio on Monday

By Julie Carr Smyth

and Seung Min Kim

The Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance used a speech in his home state on Monday to promote the GOP’s sweeping tax-and-border bill.

Vance spoke to a crowd of steel workers in neon green, orange, yellow and red hardhats and safety glasses gathered inside a rolling mill at Metallus Inc. in Canton, about 60 miles from Cleveland. It was his second trip this month as chief promoter of the hodgepodge of conservative priorities that Republicans have dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Echoing themes expressed at an industrial machine shop in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance said American work-

Vance is promoting the One Big Beautiful Bill in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year.

ers should be able to keep more of their pay in their pockets and U.S. companies should be rewarded when they grow. He highlighted the law’s new tax deductions on overtime and its breaks on tipped income.

Vance decried Democrats — including U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, whose competitive House district he was visiting — for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year.

The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled Congress by

year to put down orange lines across the country to inspire young players with a WNBA 3-point arc on outdoor courts. The renovated court at Glo -

“He was playing with my home team, the Orlando Magic, and giving back to the community and showing his appreciation. For kids like me to have a court in the inner city was huge.”

Marquis Daniels, former NBA player

ria Williams park is now part of a collection of Comebaq Courts, a joint venture by Icy Hot and the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation to build well- equipped and safe courts for kids across the country.

“They found this court that hasn’t been refurbished in a while and that’s historical with the city,” O’Neal said.

Renovating one in Rockwall was actually the idea of Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale. She’s played her entire career in Dallas and wanted to do something for the community.

“This is like my second home. I’ve been here my whole career, so this initiative with Icy Hot and Shaq was a no-brainer,” she said. “Just to give back to the youth that pours into us and my teammates every night is special.”

It’s special to O’Neal also as he plans to spend a lot of his time in the Texas city.

“I’ll get on my little scooter or motorcycle and just ride by and see what’s going on with the kids,” he said. “I work in Atlanta, but it’s only an hour ight, and I’m sure at some point this will be my permanent home.”

O’Neal, who is the president of Reebok Basketball, also donated basketball shoes to all the members of the Boys & Girls Club kids who were at the event.

Republicans’ big new tax law

the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump’s immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps.

Vance’s decision to visit Sykes’ district comes as the National Republican Congressional Committee has named her narrowly split district as a top target this cycle. His northeastern Pennsylvania stop was in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a rst-term lawmaker who knocked o a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called his visit “another desperate attempt to lie to Ohioans about the devastating impact the Big, Ugly Law will have on working families.” in a statement.

In a navy jacket and white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, Vance leaned into folksy word choices and characterized the administration’s immigration crackdown as an e ort to keep gangs tra cking deadly fentanyl out of the country.

The White House sees the new law as a political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year.

In the statement, Katie Smith said Sykes “fought tooth and nail against this disastrous law.” Polls before the bill’s passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.

LAUREN LEIGH BACHO / AP PHOTO

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Metallus plant Monday in Canton, Ohio.

RICH SCHULTZ / AP PHOTO

Boston Celtics’ Marquis Daniels (8) and Shaquille O’Neal (36) walk onto the court during a 2010 NBA game at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.