North State Journal Vol. 6, Issue 51

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 51

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Beasley favors eliminating filibuster Raleigh In a recent interview with a Raleigh television station, Democratic U.S. Senate frontrunner Cheri Beasley said she favored scrapping the Senate’s filibuster entirely.

When asked what changes she would favor, Beasley responded, “We should eliminate it.”

That answer is her strongest wording yet on the topic. She first said she did not favor scrapping the filibuster last August, but reversed course just a few months later after criticism from former Democratic rival Erica Smith.

In response, RNC spokeswoman Alex Nolley said, “Cheri Beasley has caved to the radical left and will do anything – including nuking the filibuster – to keep the favor and funding of Democrats like (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer.”

NSJ STAFF

January wholesale inflation surged 9.7% from a year ago

AP PHOTO

Students read together in a second grade class at Raices Dual Language Academy, a public school, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022.

Washington, D.C. Wholesale inflation in the United States surged again last month, rising 9.7% from a year earlier in a sign that price pressures remain high at all levels of the economy.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — jumped 1% from December. The year-over-year increase was down from the record 9.8% recorded in both November and December but was well above what economists had been expecting.

Excluding food and energy prices, wholesale inflation rose 0.8% from December and 8.3% from January 2021.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Charlotte’s ‘Racial Equity Initiative’ director resigns 10 days after starting job Charlotte The person hired to run a controversial public-private partnership to address “racial equity” in Charlotte resigned following an investigation into her previous job in the state of Ohio.

Axios Charlotte and WCNC reported that Kimberly Henderson resigned on Sunday, Feb. 13. She was the subject of a criminal investigation of her handling of unemployment money with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, where she previously worked.

Ohio’s attorney general specified concerns about more than $400 million in taxpayer money.

The initiative has been fraught with concerns about transparency.

Charlote Mayor Vi Lyles, who kept the city council in the dark on discussions concerning the effort, apologized to the city council in November. The initiative has a budget of $250 million, made up of taxpayer and private funds.

NSJ STAFF

Senate confirms Biden’s FDA pick despite political divisions Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voting 50-46 for Dr. Robert Califf, a longtime Duke University cardiologist and medical researcher to lead the agency, which he briefly headed during the end of President Barack Obama’s administration.

The FDA hasn’t had a permanent leader in over a year despite playing a central role in the COVID-19 response.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., urged senators to oppose Califf, saying he bears “a great deal of responsibility” for many of the drug overdose deaths that have occurred in the years since his first stint as FDA commissioner.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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K-12 toolkit keeps masking in place, alters quarantine and contact tracing requirements You’ve been served: How citizens are using insurance liability policies to check school board power Complaints filed against school boards in Catawba, Dare, Iredell, Johnston and Wake Counties

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

against Wake County School Board members last month with a main demand that the district remove “all enforcement of policies that require universal masking/masking without parental consent.”

After being served by citizens in the district, at its Jan. 24 meeting the Catawba bord voted 4-3 to make masks optional starting the following day.

Iredell’s school board was served at the conclusion of its meeting on Feb. 7 demanding an end to masking, quarantining exclusion rules, and pornographic materials in the district’s schools. On Feb. 14, the board voted to make masks optional on the recommendation of their superintendent.

In Dare County, the school board was served at its Feb. 8 meeting with 28 Notices of Intent against the district’s Linebacker Errors & Omissions liability policy by the Dare County Citizens for Constitutional Rights (DCCR). At that same meeting, the Dare Board voted six to one to make masks optional effective immediately.

Facing complaints to be filed by citizens, the Johnston County School board voted 6-1 on Feb. 8 to make masks optional beginning Feb. 21 and will be decided school by school based on positivity rates. At a special called board meeting on Feb. 14, the board revised that decision to simply move the district to mask optional, dropping the previous additional stipulations.

There is currently no indoor statewide mask mandate in North Carolina, however the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ (NCDHHS) StrongSchools NC toolkit tells districts they “should” require masks for all children ages 5 and up.

Legislation passed in 2021 also requires districts to adopt a mask policy and to decide on a monthly basis whether or not to alter that policy. The vast majority of districts adopted a policy

RALEIGH — Parents and citizens in North Carolina and multiple states around the country have taken to filing complaints against their local school boards through surety bonds and other insurance policies in order to see changes in masking and school materials policies.

On Jan. 27, all 10 members of the school board in Scottsdale, Arizona, were served with 10 Notices of Intent each for practicing medicine without a license, child abuse, and inappropriate sexual material in school libraries. Each claim has a liability value of up to $100,000.

Similarly, last October an Ohio man named Steve Socha told the Indian Creek school board he intended to file a claim against their bonds unless they lifted the mask mandate for students.

“Either stand down or I personally assure you I’m going to (take action),” Socha said per reporting by the Herald Star. “The wheels of justice will be brought before you. Many of you could be in violation under the laws and statutes. This ends tonight.”

At its meeting in November, the Indian Creek board dropped the mask policy.

Parents in North Carolina have taken notice of the bond complaint strategy, and school boards in a handful of districts have been served with complaints, including Catawba, Dare, Iredell, Johnston and Wake counties. Of those districts, only Wake County has resisted changing to a mask-optional policy.

A parent group in Guilford County tells North State Journal they also have plans to file similar measures against its school board.

Notices of Intent were filed See INSURANCE page A2

Speaker Tim Moore says House will advance legislation to end school mask mandates

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — On Feb. 10, North Carolina’s K-12 COVID-19 guidance was changed to drop contact tracing and altered some quarantine policies but kept indoor mask usage in place for all children 5 and up.

In a press release, interim N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley said the updates are “the right approach for this point in the pandemic” and said it “includes flexibility for local schools and health departments to use data to

make informed decisions and respond to local conditions.”

The main update to the StrongSchools NC Toolkit says, “Individual contact tracing and exclusion from school of asymptomatic people after an identified exposure is no longer recommended statewide in K-12 schools.”

Additionally, students and staff are no longer required to stay home from school following a COVID-19 exposure, unless they test positive or have symptoms. All of the toolkit’s updates are effective Feb. 21.

The masking requirements still apply to all students ages 5 and up. The NCDHHS toolkit is still tying mask wearing to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) definitions of “substantial” or “high” community See MASKS, page A2

North Carolina voting maps hang in balance after redraw ordered Appeal to US Supreme Court possible

By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — On Feb. 4, the Democratic majority on the N.C. Supreme Court blocked the legislative and congressional maps drawn by the state General Assembly from being used due to alleged partisan gerrymandering they said would illegitimately give extra power to Republican voters.

Now legislative Republicans are attempting to draw new maps by Feb. 18 while considering other options.

New maps will also be accepted from the left-wing voting groups who were plaintiffs in the case. Legal experts suggest the maps from the General Assembly will be given more weight than those from activist groups due to the legislature’s constitutionally delineated responsibility over the process.

After the maps from all parties are accepted, a special master, yet to be determined, will judge whether the maps have sufficiently responded to the court’s concerns on fairness and partisan balance.

In the court’s full decision, deSee VOTING, page A2

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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THE WORD: OUR THORN

2 Corinthians 12:7

2.16.22 #321

“To keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud.”

We do not know how much of Paul’s rich, beautiful life, and his noble work for his Master — he owed to his thorn. Just so, we do not know how much we are indebted to our sufferings and sorrows. Our richest lessons — are the fruit of pain, of weakness, of sorrow.

There is not one of us who has not his own thorn. With one it may be a bodily infirmity or weakness. With another it is some disfigurement which cannot be removed. It may be some difficulty in circumstances, something which makes it hard to live beautifully.

The Master told Paul that his thorn was necessary to him — to save him from becoming proud.

We may think of our thorn, too — as something we need. Instead of allowing it to irritate us or to spoil our life — its mission is to make us sweet, patient, loving. Many people beseech the Lord to take away their thorn. Yet it may be, that the prayer is not answered, will not be answered, should not be answered. It may be, that the thorn is necessary to keep them humble at God’s feet.

God sends some of our best blessings to us in our thorns, and it will be a sad thing if we thrust them away and miss them.

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“Liberty’s story” Visit us online nsjonline.com

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North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365) Neal Robbins Publisher Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Cory Lavalette Managing/Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor Emily Roberson Business/Features Editor David Larson Associate Editor Lauren Rose Design Editor Published each Wednesday

by North State Media, LLC 3101 Industrial Dr., Suite 105 Raleigh, N.C. 27609 TO SUBSCRIBE: 704-269-8461 or online at nsjonline.com Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices.

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PUBLIC DOMAIN

“Apostle Paul” by Rembrandt (circa 1633) is a painting in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

INSURANCE from page A1 requiring masks for all staff and students.

What are surety bonds?

Surety Bonds are financial guarantees that bondholders will uphold terms of contracts specified in the bond agreement.

All elected officials are required to be bonded and the idea behind these bonds is to protect the public from malpractice or fraud by the officials covered by the bond.

While complaints in other states have involved surety bonds, North Carolina has no statutory requirement that local board of education members must have a surety bond.

Instead of holding individual bonds, North Carolina G.S. 115C-42 allows local boards of education to hold liability insurance, and therefore waive its governmental immunity, to cover damages caused by certain actions of agents or employees of the local board.

That same statute additionally allows for local boards to purchase insurance to cover the payment of claims or judgments against an individual board member when the claim or judgment arises out of acts or omissions made within the scope of the person’s duty as a member of the board.

A website called “Bonds for the Win” outlines the surety process, including state codes and violations that can be used in complaints.

There are three parties involved in a surety bond: the principal, the company offering the bond and the obligee.

A principal is the organization or person purchasing the bond and accepting the obliga-

MASKSfrom page A1 transmission rates.

The toolkit update comes as states such as Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, and Virginia have all moved to make masks in schools optional. In Virginia, bipartisan legislation was passed this week that would prohibit schools from implementing a mask mandate.

Some districts in the state are not waiting for the toolkit to catch up. More than 40 of the state’s 115 districts have some type of mask-optional policy in place as of the week ending Feb. 11.

NCDHHS rolled out the update a few hours after House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) made public a letter sent to Gov. Roy Cooper calling for an end to forced masking in K-12 schools, which said in part that young children “continue to pay the heaviest

tion to adhere to the terms. If the principal fails to adhere to the terms, the surety can be held contractually liable.

The obligee is the person or entity covered by the bond. In most cases, the obligee is a local, state or public official, but it can also be companies or their officials, unions and even contractors.

To file a surety bond complaint, a Notice of Intent to file a complaint which includes specific violation claims is sent to the bondholder. Typically, the notice gives a short timeframe for a response.

If the entity served with the notice doesn’t correct the violations within the specified response time, the next step can be filing a “Color of Law” violation notice. The federal Color of Law statute Title 42, U.S.C., Section 14141 is designed to defend the civil rights of citizens and to keep any authority from using its power to willfully deprive a person of their constitutionally protected rights and privileges.

Once the claim against the surety bond is filed, the company that issued the bond investigates. If the claim is found valid, the official the claim is filed against can submit a defense or they can provide a solution to the issues raised that includes financial compensation to the claim filer.

Filing 10 or more separate complaints against the bondholders can result in bond cancellation and make getting a new bond harder. For some elected officials, being unable to obtain a new bond can mean removal from office.

Read the extended version of this article at https://nsjonline. com/article/author/apdillon/

price” of pandemic policies.

Following NCDHHS’ release of the updates, Moore called the updates “simply not strong enough,” and said that the General Assembly would take action.

“As soon as redistricting is completed, we will be advancing legislation in the House to give parents the ability to opt-out of mask requirement,” Moore said. “Virginia is already advancing a bipartisan bill just like this. It is parents, not politicians, who should decide whether or not to mask their children.”

In a statement, Moore also called out “the Governor’s endless state of emergency and ongoing mandates and restrictions.” Cooper’s pandemic statewide state of emergency order is over 700 days old and will turn two years old next month on March 10.

Prior to the toolkit updates being released, Cooper was asked about K-12 mask mandates while

MASKS from page A1 livered on Feb. 14, Justice Robin Hudson, who wrote for the majority, said, “Despite the dissenters’ repeated assertions, we seek neither proportional representation for members of any political party, nor to guarantee representation to any particular group. We are only upholding the rights of individual voters as guaranteed by our state constitution.”

In the dissenting opinion — written by Chief Justice Paul Newby and signed onto by the other two Republican justices, Phil Berger Jr. and Tamara Barringer — Newby disagrees, writing that “The majority simply rules that the North Carolina Constitution now has a statewide proportionality requirement for redistricting. In doing so, the conclusion magically transforms the protection of individual rights into the creation of a protected class consisting of members of a political party, thereby subjecting a redistricting plan to strict scrutiny review. The majority presents various general views about what constitutes unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering and provides a variety of observations about what the constitution requires.”

Newby also notes that “Absent from the opinion is what is meant by ‘substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation.’”

With the court’s majority saying they do not require proportionality but they do require “substantially equal” partisan power based on voter affiliation statewide, GOP legislators have begun drawing new maps with the help of Democratic leaders at the General Assembly.

The Associated Press reports that House Speaker Tim Moore

“As soon as redistricting is completed, we will be advancing legislation in the House to give parents the ability to opt-out of mask requirement.”

N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) touring a daycare facility in Goldsboro.

“I’m pleased and hopeful we can get back to our normal lives with the understanding that we’re all going to need to do things to make sure we protect ourselves dependent on the risk,” said Cooper. “They’re reviewing that policy right now, but what I think is more important is that we continue to

J.R. Miller was a pastor and former editorial superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication from 1880 to 1911. His works are now in the public domain.

expects votes in his chamber on maps this week. Moore spokesperson Demi Dowdy also said that House Democrats and Republicans are being given equal access to rooms with map-drawing computers.

A joint statement released last week by Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, a Democrat, said, “Over the next few days, Republican and Democratic legislators will work together in hopes of reaching a negotiated end product. Legislators will share that end product with the public and the court as early as practicable. Given the workload and complexity of the mathematical analyses required by the court, this work will likely continue into late next week.”

“The more the new maps appear to be drawn with both R and D input, the more likely they are to be upheld,” Gregory Wallace, a Campbell University Law School professor who teaches on constitutional law, told NSJ on Feb. 14. “Because the Republicans have the majority in the General Assembly, the maps should be expected to reflect that majority. It would be both unreasonable and partisan for the N.C. Supreme Court to expect otherwise.”

Wallace said that this decision from the N.C. Supreme Court was anticipated, given the court’s earlier rulings on partisan gerrymandering and the partisan split on the court. He pointed out, though, that gerrymandering happens all over the country and it has been difficult for courts to arrive at a “judicially-workable standard for judging when there’s too much partisan gerrymandering.”

“That’s why the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately concluded that claims of partisan gerrymandering are nonjusticiable political

questions,” he said. “I’m not sure the N.C. Supreme Court has come up with a workable standard.”

In addition to the question of whether the new maps presented by the legislature will be accepted, there is also a potential for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over the original maps being struck down. Because the state Supreme Court is considered the highest authority on the state Constitution, some elements of the case would not be considered by federal courts.

“They would have to appeal on federal constitutional grounds, not state law grounds,” Wallace said.

“The argument would be that the N.C. Supreme Court’s decision usurped the power of the state legislature to set the rules for congressional elections in Article I, section 4, of the U.S. Constitution.”

Wallace said appeals based on racial gerrymandering are different, though, because it is illegal under federal law. So the U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases on those grounds, even if state courts are the final word on partisan gerrymandering.

Another consideration is whether Republicans might be able to reverse elements of the decision if they were to flip the state Supreme Court in the 2022 elections. Right now, the court is 4-3 in favor of Democrats, but the only two seats up in 2022 — those of Sam Ervin and Robin Hudson — are currently held by Democrats. If Republicans take even one, they will have the majority.

State Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) hinted in a press release after the court’s decision that if the court’s balance shifts, Democrats might not be happy with the increasing politicization of the courts, saying, “I’m certain Democrats will come to regret it.”

watch the trends and make sure we’re coming down significantly.”

Cooper cited the number of hospitalizations and said he was going to “rely on our health officials and their recommendations before making any announcements” about K-12 masking.

Union County Public Schools has already dropped contact tracing and quarantine policies. That district has maintained mask-optional policies throughout in-person instruction and had previously been threatened by former NCDDHS Secretary Mandy Cohen for attempting to do so.

Cohen had dodged answering questions by lawmakers on the legality of the toolkit at a hearing late last year, but Kinsley has recently stated it is not a “legally enforceable document.”

“The Toolkit itself is not a legally enforceable document, but rather strong recommendations for schools on how to reduce the

spread of COVID-19,” wrote Kinsley in response to a letter from state Sen. Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga) about Test to Stay protocols.

As for the CDC, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is sticking to required masking of K-12 students amid half a dozen states dropping the requirement. At a Feb. 8 press update, Walensky said, “Right now our CDC guidance has not changed,” and “We continue to endorse universal masking in schools.”

The CDC and Walensky drew criticism after emails obtained by a watchdog group called Americans for Public Trust showed the agency’s K-12 mask guidance had been influenced by teacher unions.

Earlier last year, teacher unions were also found to have collaborated with the White House and CDC on reopening schools to in-person instruction, with some suggestions from the teacher union being adopted almost verbatim.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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Drug-related government programs see renewed scrutiny

By Matt Mercer North State Journal

WCTI-TV VIA AP

Law enforcement get ready for a search after a small plane crash in Carteret County, N.C., on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.

Crashed plane carried 4 teens who’d been on hunting trip The Associated Press FOUR TEENAGERS and four adults returning from a hunting trip were on board a small plane that crashed off the coast of North Carolina over the weekend, authorities announced Tuesday.

One body has been pulled from the Atlantic Ocean by search crews combing the area and there is no indication that anyone survived the crash, Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck said Monday.

Everyone on board the plane was from North Carolina, and most lived in Carteret, a coastal county of nearly 70,000 people that includes the southern edge of the Outer Banks.

The sheriff’s office identified the adult victims as pilot Ernest Durwood Rawls, 67, of Greenville; Jeffrey Worthington Rawls, 28, of Greenville; Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42, of Sea Level; and Douglas Hunter Parks, 45, of Sea Level.

The teenage victims were identified as Jonathan Kole McInnis, 15, of Sea Level; Noah Lee Styron, 15, of Cedar Island; Michael Daily Shepard, 15, of Atlantic; and Jacob Nolan Taylor, 16, of Atlantic.

Carteret County includes communities such as Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach as well as the Cape Lookout National Seashore and its iconic Outer Banks light-

“We’ve got an all-handson-deck event going on here. ... And we want the citizens of Carteret County and eastern North Carolina to know that your Coast Guard is out there doing our absolute best alongside our partners.”

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Matthew J. Baer house, which has a black-andwhite diamond pattern.

“We are incredibly saddened and join with the Down East and Eastern North Carolina community as we await official word on the airplane crash,” the Carteret County Public Schools said in a statement early Monday afternoon. “Crisis teams are on school campuses to support students, staff and families.”

Search crews were still looking for the main body of the plane on Monday. Authorities had identified three debris fields, which had been moving farther off shore into the Atlantic Ocean.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Matthew J. Baer told reporters Monday that multiple vessels from various agencies were continuing the search for the plane. In a

tweet Monday night, the Coast Guard said a cutter would remain on the scene overnight.

“We’ve got an all-hands-ondeck event going on here,” Baer said. “And we want the citizens of Carteret County and eastern North Carolina to know that your Coast Guard is out there doing our absolute best alongside our partners.”

The Coast Guard said in a news release that it received a report of a possible downed aircraft on Sunday about 4 miles east of Drum Inlet from a Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point air traffic controller. The air traffic controller reported that the aircraft was behaving erratically on radar, then disappeared from the screen.

The single-engine Pilatus PC-12/47 crashed into the water approximately 18 miles northeast of Michael J. Smith Field in Beaufort, about 2 p.m. Sunday, according to an email from the Federal Aviation Administration. A preliminary accident notification on the FAA’s website noted that the aircraft “crashed into water under unknown circumstances.”

FlightAware listed a departure for that plane from Hyde County Airport at 1:35 p.m. Sunday and noted it was last seen near Beaufort at 2:01 p.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

THE BIDEN administration’s support of government programs to give “safer” options for drug users was met with renewed backlash when news reports shed light on the matter.

Last week, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was set to spend $30 million on a “harm reduction” grant program that would reimburse local governments that provide “smoking kits” for users of crack cocaine and other illicit substances.

Following that report, one of the most controversial aspects of the plan was apparently dropped – the inclusion of glass pipes in the kits.

The story caught the attention of Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-09), who, along with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO-03), planned to introduce the HUNTER Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The HUNTER Act, which stands for the Halting the Use of Narcotics Through Effective Recovery Act, is named after President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who has admitted to prolific drug use throughout his life.

“Congressman Bishop and I are standing up and saying, heck no,” Boebert said in a Feb. 11 interview with Fox News. “Our tax dollars should not be funding the death and destruction of crack addicts. Democrats are always putting the American taxpayer last, and Republicans just want to give people in need a good job. Democrats want to give them crack pipes.”

One critic of the federal government’s program is Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who told North State Journal the Biden administration’s “Harm Reduction Program” is sure to cause more harm than good.

“That the federal government wants to aid and enable drug users is baffling. President Biden continues to show a lack of support for our law enforcement officials with this program, who risk their lives every day to keep deadly drugs off our streets,” said Robinson.

“While North Carolina struggles with the loss of almost 4,000 of its citizens to drug overdose deaths in 2021, President Biden’s answer to this crisis is to facilitate an increase in the demand for dangerous drugs by giving out taxpayer-funded crack pipes and needles,” Robinson said.

“Meanwhile, the complete failure of his Administration to secure our southern border invites murderous cartels to increase the supply.”

Robinson went on to say that “This combination results in more

“While North Carolina struggles with the loss of almost 4,000 of its citizens to drug overdose deaths in 2021, President Biden’s answer to this crisis is to facilitate an increase in the demand for dangerous drugs by giving out taxpayer-funded crack pipes and needles.”

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson deadly poison flowing into our communities and more dead North Carolinians. We can do better.”

In North Carolina, a 2016 law created hypodermic syringe and needle exchange programs.

According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, any governmental or nongovernmental organization “that promotes scientifically proven ways of mitigating health risks associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors” can start a syringe exchange program. The law does not allow the Division of Public Health or NCDHHS to operate syringe exchanges.

The program allows for the distribution of sterile syringes and new injection supplies at no cost and in sufficient quantities to prevent sharing or reusing, detailed plans provided to local police and/or sheriff’s departments within whose jurisdictions they operate, and educational materials.

The organizations providing syringe exchanges must also register with the Department of Public Health and submit annual reports.

Currently, there are 42 programs in operation across the state. In a 2020-21 annual report, the program served 26,596 unique individuals, an increase of 73% from the last report.

In a step beyond syringe exchanges and harm reduction, the U.S. Department of Justice appears poised to allow the opening of safe injection sites.

The department, which in the last year of the Trump administration argued against the opening of the sites, which serve as safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics, said it is “evaluating” such facilities and talking to regulators about “appropriate guardrails.”

Such sites exist in Canada, Australia and Europe and have been discussed for years in New York and some other U.S. cities and states.

New York opened two facilities in late November 2021, The Associated Press reported.

Pressure mounts on Congress to curb lawmaker stock trading The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid a steady drip of damaging headlines, pressure is building for Congress to pass legislation that would curtail lawmakers’ ability to speculate on the stock market.

Trading in Congress has long been criticized by government watchdogs, who say the access to nonpublic information creates a temptation for lawmakers to prioritize their own finances over the public good.

But public anger has mounted since the first tremors of the pandemic, when some lawmakers were caught buying and selling millions of dollars worth of stock after being warned about the coming disruption from the virus. The pandemic’s arrival tanked markets and caught many Americans by surprise.

Now, with November elections fast approaching and members of both parties embracing reform, congressional leaders are getting on the bandwagon, expressing their willingness to toughen the rules. After a spate of controversies over suspiciously timed trades and undisclosed transactions, few lawmakers are defending the status quo, raising hopes that a significant ethics package is within reach.

“This isn’t going to solve all of America’s problems. But it’s a substantive reform that three-fourths of the country supports,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is sponsoring a bill that would require lawmakers and their spouses to sell off stocks or place such assets in a blind trust.

There’s reason for skepticism.

Past efforts to tighten ethics rules have fallen short of lawmakers’ lofty declarations. And in the end, the task of writing ethics rules

HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP, FILE

In this image from video, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2020. governing Congress is left to the lawmakers themselves, creating a conflict that often results in easily evaded restrictions.

But progress is apparent. A raft of bills have been introduced, some by lawmakers at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Senators are working on a compromise.

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband is a prolific trader, is on board with the legislative push, though she has advocated a more restrained approach.

Pelosi supports strengthening an existing law, the Stock Act, which requires lawmakers to disclose their stock sales and purchases. She has also called for extending stock trading disclosure requirements

to members of the judiciary, while stiffening penalties for members of Congress who flout the rules.

“It’s complicated,” Pelosi said last week. “What we’re trying to build is consensus.”

Her stance has evolved since December, when Pelosi reacted to a question about lawmaker trades by saying there is a “free market” that members of Congress “should be able to participate in.”

Past ethics reforms demonstrate the challenge ahead.

The Stock Act was signed into law in 2012. At the time, lawmakers and government watchdogs predicted that public disclosure would shame lawmakers out of actively buying and selling stock.

That hasn’t happened. A decade later, trading continues apace and no one has been prosecuted under the law.

Several lawmakers have come under fire for their stock portfolios.

Last year, The Associated Press reported that Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey repeatedly failed to disclose trades worth as much as $1 million in medical and tech companies that had a stake in the virus response.

He now supports efforts to curtail lawmakers’ trading.

Former Sens. Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both Georgia Republicans, lost their runoff bids for the Senate last year after their own stock trades became a campaign

issue. Both were investigated by the Justice Department and ultimately cleared.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina drew perhaps the most scrutiny for his trades. He stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after the FBI obtained a search warrant to seize a cellphone.

Burr and his wife sold $1.6 million in early 2020 just before the market began to dive, according to court records. The Justice Department investigated Burr’s actions, but did not file charges and closed the case. The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to probe the matter.

Drafting the legislation presents a challenge. Difficult questions remain, such as whether lawmakers who sell their assets would be required to pay capital gains tax, whether the proposed ban would apply to spouses and children and whether stocks purchased before serving in Congress would be exempt. But supporters of the effort say the rules need to be as tight as possible.

“I think that the worst possible thing that Democratic leadership could do would be to put forth a bit of a hand-wave effort,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va. “That would be so outrageously insulting to the American people.”

Spanberger is sponsoring a bill with Texas Republican Chip Roy that would require lawmakers to place assets like stock in a blind trust.

The issue has broad support from the public. Republicans and Democrats alike point to recent polling, which they say indicates as much as three-quarters of the electorate supports action.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Murphy to Manteo

Jones & Blount State’s tax collections soaring above expectations again

Sweetpotatoes in North Carolina

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

This graphic shows the top sweetpotato-producing North Carolina counties, with four: Johnston, Nash, Sampson, and Wilson, accounting for about half of the state’s supply.

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PIEDMONT

Boy, 8, killed after running into traffic

Hiker with impaled foot rescued from North Carolina mountain Burke County Rescuers helped retrieve an injured hiker, whose foot had been impaled on a tent stake, from the top of a North Carolina mountain.

Burke County Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post that they received a report of an injured hiker on top of Shortoff Mountain Thursday night shortly before midnight.

The rescuers were able to reach the hiker by about 2 a.m. Friday, when they discovered the hiker’s foot had been impaled. Over the course of the next eight hours, the rescuers helped the hiker get down the mountain safely.

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Burke County An 8-year-old boy was hit by a car and killed at his school bus stop on Thursday after he darted out into the road. Several children were waiting on their school bus at a home in Burke County. The unidentified boy ran out in front of oncoming traffic. The school bus was not at the stop when the accident occurred. The boy was taken initially to a Morganton hospital before he was airlifted to a Charlotte hospital. He died around 10:45 a,m. A trooper said he doesn’t expect charges will be filed.

AP

EAST

Former deputy convicted of falsifying records

13-year-old dies in Chapel Hill hotel balcony fall Orange County A teenager has died after falling from a hotel balcony in North Carolina.

Chapel Hill Police say the 13-year-old fell from a fifth-floor balcony at the Graduate Hotel on West Franklin Street Saturday just before 11 p.m. The child landed on the third floor. The cause of the fall is under investigation. In a press release Sunday, police did not release the name of the teen or any other details about the incident. Once known as the Franklin Hotel, it reopened as the Graduate Hotel in 2020.

AP

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Granville County A jury found a former sheriff’s deputy guilty of falsifying training and qualification requirements for a former sheriff. Chad Coffey was facing 24 felony charges. He was found guilty of 12 counts of obstructing justice and acquitted on 12 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. A judge sentenced Coffey to five to 15 months in prison. At most, he will serve six months since post-release supervision is required for the last nine months of such sentences.

Coffey then faces two years of supervised probation. Coffey was in charge of the Granville County sheriff’s office training program.

AP

Sheriff: 3rd escapee from Tennessee found in North Carolina New Hanover County An inmate who escaped from a Tennessee jail with two others has been arrested in North Carolina. Johnny Shane Brown, 50, was taken into custody without incident at a residence in Wilmington. Two others who escaped from the Sullivan County jail with Brown last week died in Wilmington. Tobias Wayne Carr, 38, and Timothy Allen Sarver, 45, led authorities on a pursuit following a convenience store robbery in another part of North Carolina, and the vehicle was disabled. No other details on the deaths were released. Brown will be held at the New Hanover County Detention Center pending extradition.

Swinson appointed to District Court Jones County Governor Roy Cooper appointed Morgan Swinson to District Court Judge. Swinson will serve in Judicial District 4 serving Duplin, Jones, Onslow and Sampson counties. She will fill the vacant seat created by the retirement of Judge Sarah Seaton.

Since 2019, Swinson has served as an attorney for the Onslow County Department of Social Services. Previously, she was a managing partner and attorney at Swinson & Atkinson, and a principal attorney at Morgan H. Swinson, Swinson has also served as an assistant district attorney in the Fourth Judicial District.

RALEIGH — North Carolina government tax collections have soared above expectations so far this fiscal year, as the state’s pandemic-rebounding economy has pumped consumer spending and edged the jobless rate close to preCOVID-19 levels.

Through Jan. 31, state revenues are already almost $1.4 billion ahead of the total anticipated by the executive and legislative branches, the state budget office said Friday.

The revenue surge in state government’s first seven months of the fiscal year is happening in every major tax category, according to a summary provided by the Office of State Budget and Management.

Corporate and franchise taxes, along with taxes related to alcoholic beverage and real estate transactions, are among those seeing the highest percentage growth.

The office said it now estimates overcollections will reach $2.4 billion by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The two-year state budget law that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed in November spends $25.9 billion in state dollars this year, but it set aside well over $2 billion above and beyond the latest additional collections that will help cover next year’s budget expenses. And the totals don’t include billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 recovery dollars received.

The budget law, developed largely

by Republican lawmakers, included individual income tax reductions that began Jan. 1. Those changes are reflected in the numbers released Friday.

If the projections hold to form, the surplus will mean the Republicancontrolled legislature and Cooper will again have more with which to compete on as it relates to priorities for the excess money when budget adjustments are made later this year. That could include

more spending, further tax cuts, or both.

The state unemployment rate for December was 3.7%, the lowest since February 2020. More than 138,000 additional people were working as of December compared with 12 months earlier, according to state employment data.

“Our decisive actions and resilient communities have helped us manage the pandemic and power a booming economy across North Carolina,” Cooper said in an emailed statement. “We need to make more investments in our workforce, education and health care that will strengthen our communities and economy for all North Carolinians.”

The Office of State Budget and Management and the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division agreed with the yearto-date numbers, state budget director Charlie Perusse said. His office said individual income tax revenues were $766 million above projected figures through January, while sales and use tax collections are $330 million above expectations.

Corporate income and franchise tax collections were 23% higher than expected, while alcoholic beverage taxes were up 20% and real estate taxes up 52%, the budget office said.

The projected $2.4 billion in overcollections remains well below the additional $6.2 billion that the state’s coffers took in during the fiscal year that ended last June 30. But Perusse noted that the previous year’s surplus was supersized in part because of a conservative forecast following shortfalls in the first months of the pandemic in spring 2020.

January’s tax collections create a stronger barometer of the state’s fiscal picture because it includes December holiday sales tax collections and individual and corporate tax payments for the three months ending Dec. 31, according to Perusse.

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AP

Woman dies in house fire ruled accidental Caldwell County A North Carolina woman has died in a house fire being blamed on smoking materials, officials said Friday. Emergency crews in Caldwell County responded to the home around 7:24 a.m. Friday with a report that a person was trapped inside. Sarah Richardson, 64, was found dead during a search of the home. The fire originated in the living room, and investigators said improperly discarded smoking materials ignited the blaze. The fire was judged to be accidental. Several agencies, including the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, are looking into the fire.

AP

Culture center celebrating 129 years with $5M renovations

Police shoot person trying to run over officer

Buncombe County As the YMI Cultural Center in downtown Asheville celebrates 129 years, it’s preparing to move out of its historic building, temporarily, to make way for $5 million of renovations of the 1893 English Tudor style building. Fundraising has a $6.2 million fundraising goal. $4.7 million will go to building renovations, and the rest to operations and growing capacity. The center raised $1.8 million, including $800,000 in hotel tax grant funds from the county’s Tourism Development Authority, and $500,000 in grants from the National Park Service. The center applied for $3.4 million in grants and $1 million in ARPA funding.

Gaston County Police officers shot and seriously wounded a car driver after authorities say he hit the officers with his vehicle. Officers received reports of a suspicious vehicle near an apartment complex on Friday. Officers were talking with the man when the driver put the car into reverse and struck both officers. The officers responded by firing their weapons.

The driver was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The two officers were released from the hospital after receiving treatment. Mount Holly Police will conduct an internal affairs investigation.

AP

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NY flight to Florida diverted over ‘disruptive passenger’ Wake County A disruptive passenger prompted a flight from New York to Florida to divert to RDU airport Wednesday. Frontier Airlines flight 1335 left LaGuardia and was headed to Orlando International Airport when it was diverted around 8:15 p.m. Airport law enforcement, fire-rescue and Wake County EMS responded. The flight departed for Orlando around 9:40 p.m. The man claimed people were touching him and trying to stick him with needles to collect his DNA and threatened everyone on the plane. Several men stood up and took off their belts to restrain the man.

AP

Man sentenced for pipe bombs, meth trafficking

Quite a dill: Mt. Olive Pickle expanding Wayne County Mt. Olive Pickle Co. announced it will expand near its headquarters with more production lines, along with warehouse and distribution operations. The company’s decision to invest more than $35 million at two sites in Goldsboro will create 167 jobs in Wayne County. Mt. Olive Pickle will get a $600,000 grant from the state’s One North Carolina Fund if it meets job-creation and investment goals. The average salaries for the new jobs — forklift and truck drivers, manufacturing staff and managers among them — will be about $41,400, which is above the Wayne County average of $38,400.

AP

Duplin County A federal judge sentenced Victor Gonzales, 35, of Duplin County, to almost 12 years in prison for trafficking methamphetamine and possession of pipe bombs and firearms.

The Duplin County Sheriff’s Office made two controlled purchases of two ounces of methamphetamine from Gonzales. In a van, officers found digital scales and 146 grams of methamphetamine. The residence contained a homemade pipe bomb. An AR-15 rifle was found in a car. A search of a second property found six pipe bombs and two pistols.

Gonzales is associated with the SUR 13 gang and distributed more than a kilogram of methamphetamine.

AP

FILE PHOTO

The Legislative Building in Raleigh is pictured in this undated file photo.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

GUEST OPINION | VIRGINIA FOXX

Unleash Hell

The Real BBB: Biden’s Border Bungle

THE NORTH CAROLINA SUPREME think the political tide is going against COURT overturned a lower court which Democrats this year anyway so they were previously had ruled that redistricting willing to simultaneously bite the bullet maps drawn by the North Carolina General and fall on their sword to win one last big Assembly for the 2022 elections court case for their liberal socialist were constitutional. The strictly Democratic team supported by partisan 4-3 decision by the millions of dollars from George Democratic majority on the court Soros and directed by Eric Holder. could turn this fall’s election into If there ever was a chance for the most contentious election a justice to exhibit “fairness and cycle in North Carolina since the impartiality” in their application 1984 Hunt-Helms U.S. Senate of constitutional principles, this race. redistricting case was it.

When I saw the news, my first Both failed to do so.

If judges at any thought was, “Have any of the Alexander Hamilton, no hearty Democratic majority on the bench level want to defender of state supremacy draw legislative ever read the U.S. and North himself, argued during the New maps, they Carolina state constitutions?”

York ratifying debates “…the true Anyone who can read can clearly principle of a republic is, that the should resign see in both constitutions that the people should choose whom they and run for the right to draw maps is delegated to please to govern them.” state legislature state legislatures. Not the judicial “People” meaning voters, and so they can branch. “whom they choose” meaning draw maps as The second thing that flashed representatives and senators, not duly-elected into my mind came from the judges. The majority of North opening scene from “Gladiator” Carolina voters in 2020 decided to constitutional where fictional Roman general representatives elect 69 Republican House members Maximus, played by Russell and 28 Republican senators to serve of the people.

Crowe, says to Quintus before in the NCGA. They were elected to their final battle to defeat the draw new maps, not the Supreme remaining Germanic hordes: “At Court justices. If judges at any my signal, unleash hell.” level want to draw legislative maps, Lee Atwater was the general consultant they should resign and run for the state for the 1986 re-election campaign of legislature so they can draw maps as dulyCongressman Alex McMillan for whom elected constitutional representatives of the I worked for a decade. Were Lee alive people. today, he would convene a mass meeting of The two state Supreme Court campaigns political campaign managers, pollsters and are now front-and-center for conservative strategists, many of whom cut their teeth on Republican campaign strategists, operatives the 1984 campaign cycle, and tell them to and contributors. “unleash hell at his signal” as a result of this Judicial races have their own code of North Carolina Supreme Court decision. conduct about what each candidate can say It is one thing to fight it out on the political about themselves and their opponents. Not battlefield and let the best organized side so with hundreds of independent committees win. It is entirely another thing to have four which will be flooding the state with attack judges make up constitutional law out of ads and money from now until November. thin air and, at the same time, subvert and They can say anything they want about override legislative authority granted by both judges up for re-election and the impact of the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions. their judicial over-reach on the state.

Such judicial activism infuriates And they will. conservatives, especially conservative Expect to see an overdose of ads and political operatives. They are going to do mailers decrying the encroachment of such everything possible to win the two Supreme Democratic judicial overreach and what it Court seats now held by Democrats Sam means for future cases brought before the Ervin and Robin Hudson to make sure this court on crime, public education and and never happens again. voter ID. Perhaps both justices believe — By the time all hell is unleashed, the mistakenly — that only Republicans draw Hunt/Helms 1984 campaign may look like a unfair redistricting maps. Perhaps both church picnic in the rearview mirror.

FOR OVER A YEAR, President Biden has searched far and wide for the elusive “root cause” of his selfinflicted border crisis — never once thinking to look at himself in the mirror.

From the very start, Americans have taken his quest with a grain of salt — and rightfully so. His weak policies led to two million illegal immigrants crossing the southern border in one year. That’s almost equal to the entire population of North Carolina’s 5th District crossing the border illegally three times. Not to mention that more illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border in the last three months than in all of fiscal year 2020.

Entering year two, it’s a wonder that we even have a border left. Like a cancer, this problem continues to metastasize at an uncontrollable rate. In the last week of January, two Department of Homeland Security officials announced that there could be as many as 9,000 arrests per day at the southern border by spring.

Border officials even estimated that nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants have already escaped into the United States.

Those numbers are damning.

President Biden is breaking records, but not ones that he can hang his hat on. As if things could not get worse, scores of single adult illegal immigrants are being funneled across the United States on flights that are headed to a variety of destinations — Miami, Houston, and Atlanta to name a few. It has gotten to the point where this administration will do everything it can to hide its failures — even if it means protecting the very people who broke our nation’s laws in the first place.

Has the principle of law and order been stripped from this nation’s fabric entirely? Where is the unwavering commitment to protecting the integrity of America’s national security posture? What message is this administration sending to the rest of the world? These are the questions that everyday Americans are asking.

This administration, however, is refusing to provide answers.

President Biden does not need to peer into a crystal ball to find out how to solve this border crisis — the answer is right in front of his face. If he had upheld the Remain in Mexico policy from day one, continued construction of the border wall, and had he not watered down the Title 42 COVID-19 order for migrants, every state would not have become a border state.

Instead, he has chosen to double down on his openborder policies. When it comes to common sense, you’d be hard pressed to find it at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Either this crisis is nipped in the bud now or we’ll reap the ultimate consequence of what President Biden has sown: irreparable damage to this great country.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is Republican Leader of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

In school mask controversy, Stacey Abrams reminds us who she really is

People wanted to know why Abrams, a staunch proponent of indoor masking, was not abiding by the rules she demands others follow.

EARLIER THIS MONTH, 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams paid a visit to Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur to take part in the school’s third annual “African-American Read-In” as part of Black History Month.

Nothing wrong with that, but during her appearance, Abrams was seen maskless in multiple photos while literally everyone around her, including young schoolchildren, was wearing a mask.

The school’s principal, Holly Brookins, tweeted out several photos of the event, including three of Abrams. One was of Abrams sitting maskless in front of masked children; one was of her standing next to Brookins without a mask, and one was of her speaking at the podium without a mask.

At some point, Abrams retweeted the photos from her Twitter account, and that’s when the outrage started.

People wanted to know why Abrams, a staunch proponent of indoor masking, was not abiding by the rules she demands others follow. And why were the children forced to wear masks around Abrams even though they’re at much lower risk of catching COVID than adults are?

Not long after, not only did Abrams delete her tweet, but Brookins deleted hers as well. In fact, as of this writing, Brookins’ Twitter account appears to have been deleted in the aftermath.

The way Abrams and her team handled the backlash was all wrong, but it was pretty predictable coming from a woman who has spent the last three years-plus alleging — without evidence — that the 2018 Georgia governor’s race was “stolen” from her because her Republican opponent Brian Kemp deliberately suppressed the black vote, although Georgia broke their all-time record for the number of votes cast that year.

See, it’s okay for Abrams to question election results. But when it comes to Republicans doing so, it’s an affront to democracy according to Abrams, other Democrats, and the media.

But I digress.

Instead of addressing the mask issue directly, Team Abrams initially engaged in pathetic “whataboutism” while trotting out the race card, bizarrely using the fact that it was Black History Month to allege that there was some type of correlation between the criticism she faced over her appearance at the school and the month that has been designated to

showcase black history on a national stage.

They also accused conservative critics of hypocrisy, which was silly since the issue was about Abrams not practicing what she preaches.

Apparently, they think it’s a winning look to appear willfully ignorant of the fact that conservatives are actually okay with people not wearing masks as long as they’re not doing so while demanding those around them follow a different set of rules.

Making matters worse, her campaign specifically noted that Abrams appearing maskless during the event was conditional on everyone around her masking up. So what was done was intentional on Abrams’ part.

Perhaps sensing that she and her campaign had completely botched the response to the controversy, Abrams appeared on CNN a few days later and apologized.

“In the excitement after I finished, because it was so much fun working with those kids, I took a picture. And that was a mistake.” She went on to say, “Protocols matter, and protecting our kids is the most important thing. And anything perceived as undermining that is a mistake, and I apologize.”

The problem here is that it wasn’t just one photo. It was multiple photos making it look like Abrams was maskless for most of the event, and not just for pictures.

Abrams isn’t the first Democrat to get caught in mask hypocrisy, and she won’t be the last. But in an election year where more people are seeing through the mask theater and want things to get back to normal, her blunder on masks just may come back and haunt her in November, assuming she wins her primary.

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

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | JULIE ROSS

COLUMN | TED BUDD

Cementing the legacy of Rev. Billy Graham REV. BILLY GRAHAM lived his life spreading the Gospel to people around the world. His death in 2018 was an enormous loss felt by people around the world, especially in his home state of North Carolina. Although he may have been called home to heaven, his work on Earth is not yet done.

Rev. Graham’s ministries still reach people around the world by proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel that, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV). Rev. Graham’s mission was to tell people that Jesus is the promised savior and son of God who took our place on the Cross and through Jesus’ atonement, we may have eternal fellowship with God. Billy Graham believed fervently in spreading this Good News through every possible means and in equipping others to do the same. Throughout his extraordinary ministry, Rev. Graham used the radio to preach weekly sermons and he went on weeks-long crusades that drew tens of thousands of people to hear the Gospel and know Christ. He traveled the globe and across America, speaking about God’s grace through Jesus’ everywhere from local churches to the White House, where he prayed with and encouraged Presidents across the political spectrum.

He was an outspoken advocate for equality during the Civil Rights Movement, serving alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his fight for justice and encouraging racial integration at his events. He was also a fervent opponent of the evils of communism, which violate the God-given rights of men and women wherever it exists.

But Billy Graham loved no place more than North Carolina. He made it his home and raised a family there.

Nowhere else in the world did he have such a profound impact than the communities of our great state. The career he built and the legacy he left behind earned him the right to be the first private North Carolina citizen to lie in honor at the Capitol.

In 2018, it was my honor to lead the entire North Carolina Congressional delegation to introduce and pass the House Resolution to honor Billy Graham. Showing our state’s support for his venerable legacy is the least we can do to pay respect to his century of life as a servant of God. Today, I am looking to accelerate the recognition of

Rev. Graham’s life in Congress and forever memorialize him with a statue in the Capitol just outside the House Chamber. According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, donations from individuals in support of this statue were collected in record time, from all 50 states, and all 100 counties in North Carolina.

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy of the government has slowed this process down considerably. According to the Architect of the Capitol, each state is authorized to designate “two statues of notable citizens for display in the United States Capitol.” A state is allowed to replace a statue by requesting the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library. On October 2, 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a request to the Committee to approve the replacement of the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock with one of Reverend Graham. The General Assembly began the replacement process in 2018, and the artist submitted his design for approval in 2020. But the Committee waited over a year to give its approval to this step, and there are still two more steps that require the Committee’s approval.

It is time to break through the bureaucratic logjam of the federal government and see his statue displayed.

With the support of the North Carolina Congressional delegation, I hope to see this done without any further delay. That’s why I’ve introduced legislation that would require the Committee to approve or deny the final two steps (the full-sized clay model and final statue) within 30 days of submission by the North Carolina General Assembly.

As a proud North Carolinian and American, it is important to me that we cement Billy Graham’s image and legacy in the Capitol as a reminder of one of the greatest men North Carolina has ever produced.

Passing by the statue of Rev. Graham as lawmakers go in and out of the House Chamber will remind every other member of Congress to remember his ministry and what he taught us about the power of the Gospel. God’s grace is undeserved but freely given, and it’s through his saving grace that we have the power to treat others with respect, and work to make America, and the world, a better place.

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd represents North Carolina’s 13th Congressional Distric and is a candidate for the US Senate.

COLUMN | STEPHEN WILEY

Goodbye Mrs. Brown IN MY EARLY 20s, I felt far from the Christian faith in which I had grown up. I was at best a lukewarm Christian. I eventually started going to the church of my teenage years, sneaking in right after the service started to find a spot in the back corner to avoid being seen. The anonymity along with the comforting rhythms of an Anglican church service helped me slowly move back towards my faith.

After over a year of sneaking-in-and-out of church, I was asked by someone who knew me, despite my best efforts at anonymity, if I could drive a woman in her 80s, Mrs. June Brown, to and from church on Sundays.

I agreed, thinking it would be a way to avoid being asked to be more involved in more formal ministries.

Mrs. Brown had other plans.

She called me the day before and asked when I would pick her up. With church starting at 10, I suggested a time I thought would be early enough to account for traffic and arrive just in time.

She politely let me know I would actually need to pick her up at 9 am, so she had plenty of time to visit with her friends before church began.

So much for hiding in the back.

The first Sunday as I slowly pulled forward during a break in traffic she sharply said, “This car does come with a gas pedal, you know.”

There were a few basic facts about Mrs. Brown that anyone knew within five minutes: She was a Republican, she would never change her mind, she loved her son, she loved organizing parties, and she hated yankees.

Mrs. Brown found out I had a job at the NCGA, working for a Republican. My job was mostly administrative, and I wasn’t particularly good at it.

Even still, she was thrilled to hear every Sunday about which legislator I spoke to the previous week. She was proud of me for making a difference, no matter how small. I think she would have been just as proud of me if she found out I was working for a Democrat, even if she would never say it.

Mrs. Brown organized monthly “Dinner Clubs.”

She meticulously planned rides for those who couldn’t drive themselves, seating charts for dinner based on who would be best suited to speak to who, planting conversational seeds in advance, and which meal each person should order.

Her recommendations were always correct, her plans always well laid. I’ve only ever met one other person who had a talent for planning a dinner to that degree, and they were one of the most successful politicians in North Carolina history. Mrs. Brown was that good.

Mrs. Brown loved to work. She worked five days a week until she was 87. In her 60s she was hired by an insurance company to call every client and wish them a happy birthday. They soon found out Mrs. Brown could keep someone on the phone until they paid past due bills, using her grandmotherly voice to sweetly ask, “Would you like to pay in full now, or set up a payment plan with the first half today?”

Mrs. Brown loved being active, going to the gym six days a week until she was in her late 80s.

She hated slowing down. It was surreal to see her in her final years nearly blind and unable to walk more than a few feet without assistance.

She loved to take me to lunch after church, buying my lunch every week while I struggled financially. The first time I was able to buy her lunch meant more to me than any gift I ever could have received, and it meant a lot to her too knowing that I had found my feet.

On a hard Christmas I would have otherwise spent alone, she told me to drive her to an Italian restaurant where we could enjoy a meal together. I’ll never forget her asking me to pass her the bread, because she was “so full of wine, if I lean near this candle I may light up.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about the final gift she sent me, a small wedding gift to me and my wife she was never able to meet because of COVID restrictions, and how she prayed with me for years through times of loneliness and financial hardship.

There will never be another June Brown, and I am so glad my path crossed hers.

An open letter to Guilford County Schools DEAR DR. CONTRERAS and the Guilford County Schools Board of Education, For months, we have pleaded through emails, letters and in public comments at the school board meetings to end the compulsory masking of our children. We have informed you of the risks of prolonged use of face coverings on our children, who are wearing masks 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

We have given you facts and studies that masks are ineffective for airborne viruses and can cause more harm than good. You have declined religious exemptions and you have made it extremely difficult to get a medical exemption. Within our parent communities, we have heard horror stories of our precious children who are suffering due to prolonged face coverings; headaches due to loss of oxygen, breathing and asthmatic issues, mouth/face lesions, dental issues, and mental health declines of self-harm and suicidal contemplations.

But you failed to listen.

In July of 2021, the school board voted to make it mandatory to test “unvaccinated” students who participate in sports and extra-curricular activities.

By your own words on the Covid-19 Consent Form, any unvaccinated student who does not consent to the testing will “forfeit the privilege to participate in sports or other select activities sponsored by the school and/or Guilford County Schools.”

Coercion by loss of privileges is not consent. The covid tests are still under Emergency Use Authorization and have issues with false positive and false negative results. It was reported that PCR tests cannot differentiate between the flu and covid. We asked you to cease and desist the discriminatory testing requirement on unvaccinated student athletes.

But you failed to listen.

The testing of unvaccinated student athletes began in January in our schools. We immediately emailed you to inform you of the multiple problems with the testing procedures to include but not limited to the following: • Student athletes are being discriminated. Studies have shown that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people can get and spread the covid virus. But GCS is only testing the unvaccinated student athletes.

• Student athletes’ medical privacy is being violated.

Students are being called out during class to report to a “testing room” in which multiple students are waiting.

This process identifies the student as “unvaccinated” to their classroom peers and teachers. This is a clear violation of FERPA. • Student athletes are missing important instructional time, taking up to 45 minutes, because testing is being facilitated during normal school hours.

• And most importantly, student athletes are experiencing additional stress and anxiety, making them feel segregated and unworthy.

But you failed to listen.

Instead of halting the testing program immediately, at the most recent board meeting you voted to continue the testing program despite these damaging issues.

You have turned our schools into medical facilities by having testing centers and vaccine clinics onsite.

Parents throughout Guilford County are aware that in early August, a student who was to be tested for covid at Northwest High School instead got inoculated with the EUA covid vaccine without informed consent and without parental consent. Parents are rightfully concerned about medical malpractice and any possible injuries as a result of the tests and/or an adverse reaction such as myocarditis or death from the vaccine.

But you failed to listen.

You are not our medical providers. However, you are treating our children as if they are your patients, mandating face coverings without parental consent.

Even if you were our medical provider, according to the Patient’s Bill of Rights, we have the right to refuse any medical treatment including compulsory face coverings.

Parents are aware of the conditions tied to the $300 million dollars in ESSER funds that were awarded to GCS. These conditions include strict mask policies, quarantine, tracing and tracking, vaccine clinics on school grounds and testing requirements. In essence, you took money from the federal government in exchange to mask our children, test them, trace them, quarantine them, and coerce vaccination on them.

You sold out our children.

You signed an Oath of Office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and the North Carolina Constitution.

However, you have violated your oath by striping our children of their constitutional rights and used our children as pawns in your efforts to receive ESSER funds.

Because you have failed to listen, Guilford County residents intend to file individual claims for the physical and mental-emotional injuries you have caused our children due to your unconstitutional policies and inequitable, discriminatory requirements.

As tax-paying residents of Guilford County, you needed to listen to us. But you didn’t.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

NATION & WORLD Turkey’s flag flies high as Erdogan’s Dubai trip marks reset The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Turkey’s red flag illuminated buildings in the United Arab Emirates and flew high in a ceremony in Dubai on Tuesday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spent a second day in the once adversarial country mending relations and deepening commercial ties.

The new page in UAE-Turkey relations points to a wider reset in regional strategies following a decade of strained ties and proxy wars that played out between the two countries. Turkey’s support for Islamists during Arab Spring protests roiled Abu Dhabi’s leadership, which views the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots as an existential threat to its style of autocratic hereditary rule. So deep was their animosity that Ankara suspects the UAE backed a network behind the failed coup targeting Erdogan in 2016.

In other signs of a political shift, Erdogan has plans to visit Saudi Arabia sometime in February following a deep strain in ties and will welcome Israel’s president next month.

The pomp and Turkish flag-waving cavalry that greeted Erdogan a day earlier for his meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and de facto leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, continued on in Dubai, which positions itself as the UAE’s globally alluring tourism and finance hub.

Erdogan was greeted by Dubai ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

EBRAHIM NOROOZI | AP PHOTO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a visit to the Dubai Expo 2020 for a Turkish national day ceremony, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.

Al Maktoum at the emirate’s multibillion-dollar Expo site to celebrate Turkish culture and history at the World’s Fair. Visitors at Expo were given Turkey’s red and white crescent-and-star flag to wave as Erdogan toured Turkey’s pavilion following a Turkish musical performance under the fair’s main dome.

Standing before a select audience, Erdogan praised the UAE for being the first Arab country to host the World’s Fair.

It’s a stark pivot from only a year or so ago, when it was anyone’s guess whether Turkey would even have a presence at Dubai’s Expo.

As relations soured, prominent officials and government supporters from both sides traded jabs and insults over social media and in statealigned press outlets.

Now, these same social me-

dia accounts are tweeting under hashtags hailing the renewed ties, sharing videos of Emiratis speaking Turkish and championing a performance in Turkish by the Emirates’ most famous singer Hussain al-Jasmi at the piano. The world’s tallest tower, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, lit up in the colors of the Turkish flag to mark Erdogan’s visit while commuters on Dubai’s main highway drove under a sign praising the bilateral ties.

Senior Emirati diplomat and advisor, Anwar Gargash, noted on Twitter that the warm reception Erdogan has received is a result of the “fruits of the hard work undertaken by the UAE to promote an agenda of stability and prosperity.”

The reset in ties was undertaken by the UAE following a Saudi-led rollback last year of an unprece-

dented and largely unsuccessful embargo of Qatar over its support for Islamists in the region and its ties with Iran. Qatar was supported by Turkey, which beefed up its troop presence in the country. Like Iran, Turkey rushed to support the tiny but wealthy gas-rich Gulf Arab state with essential imports in the first days of the economic and political boycott.

The rebuilding of ties with Turkey signals a wider UAE strategy to use economic cooperation, and its oil wealth, as a main tool to recalibrate its foreign policy posture, particularly in the face of continued tensions with Iran and a new administration in Washington seeking to re-enter nuclear talks.

For Erdogan, it comes as Turkey faces an economic crisis and a depreciating currency. Help could come in the form of more Gulf Arab tourists. Dubai’s low-cost carrier flydubai announcing Tuesday it would expand the number of flights to Istanbul from seven to 12 per week.

Speaking to investors and business people in Abu Dhabi, Erdogan said Turkey and the UAE had a “common will” to increase trade and investments, following the signing of 13 agreements Monday.

Erdogan said the UAE was Turkey’s top trade partner in the Gulf.

“Even during the period when our bilateral relations experienced a pause, our commercial relations retained its volume and partnerships of our private sectors maintained their vitality,” he said.

The UAE had agreed in January to a currency swap deal of nearly $5 billion to boost Turkey’s depleted foreign exchange reserves. During the Abu Dhabi crown prince’s breakthrough visit to Turkey last fall, Emirati officials said the UAE would set aside $10 billion for investment in Turkey.

Portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il sit in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, on Dec. 19, 2018.

Study: Fewer crashes after Utah sets strictest DUI law in US Salt Lake City Traffic deaths decreased in Utah after the state enacted the strictest drunken driving laws in the nation five years ago, new research published by a U.S. government agency shows.

In the study published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, researchers wrote that, in the years after Utah changed the drunken driving threshold from .08% to .05% bloodalcohol content, the number of crashes and fatalities fell even though drivers logged more miles.

“Changing the law to .05% in Utah saved lives and motivated more drivers to take steps to avoid driving impaired,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, the agency’s deputy administrator.

The findings mark a triumph for Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature, which voted to decrease the legal limit in 2017 over concerns it could discourage prospective new residents and tourists.

They and other opponents argued it would be ineffective and would turn off the growing number of visitors and residents who aren’t part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Utah, where about 60% of the population are members of the faith, has long enforced some of the nation’s strictest liquor laws.

In response to the study, Jackson Shedelbower of the American Beverage Institute said the NHTSA was presenting selective information.

“The cause-and-effect explanation from NHTSA is cherry picking data. Utah has experienced a drop in alcoholrelated traffic fatalities, but so have more than 30 other states. Three other small population states enjoyed bigger declines than Utah without dropping their 0.08 (blood-alcohol content) law,” he said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

US aims to counter China by opening Solomon Islands embassy

DITA ALANGKARA | AP PHOTO

UN experts: North Korea stealing millions in cyber attacks The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — North Korea is continuing to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms and exchanges, illicit money that is an important source of funding for its nuclear and missile programs, U.N. experts said in a report quoting cyber specialists.

The panel of experts said that according to an unnamed government, North Korean “cyber-actors stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia, probably reflecting a shift to diversify its cybercrime operations.”

And the experts said in the report’s section on cyber activities obtained Sunday by The Associated Press that an unidentified cybersecurity firm reported that in 2021 the North’s “cyber-actors stole a total of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency through seven intrusions into cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms.”

These cyberattacks “made use of phishing lures, code exploits, mal-

ware, and advanced social engineering to siphon funds out of these organizations’ internet-connected ‘hot’ wallets into DPRK-controlled addresses,” the panel said, using the initials of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The cryptocurrency funds stolen by the DPRK cyber actors “go through a careful money laundering process in order to be cashed out,” the panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.

A year ago, the panel quoted an unidentified country saying North Korea’s “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million.”

In the executive summary of the new report, the experts said North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

“Although no nuclear tests or launches of ICBMs were reported, DPRK continued to develop its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials,” the panel said.

Those fissile materials — uranium or plutonium — are crucial for a nuclear reaction.

The experts noted “a marked acceleration” of North Korean missile launches through January that used a variety of technology and weapons. The experts said North Korea “continued to seek material, technology and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.”

A year ago, the panel said North Korea had modernized its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by flaunting United Nations sanctions, using cyberattacks to help finance its programs and continuing to seek material and technology overseas for its arsenal including in Iran.

“Cyberattacks, particularly on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important revenue source” for Kim Jong Un’s government, the experts monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the North said in the new report.

In addition to its recent launches, North Korea has threatened to lift its four-year moratorium on more serious weapons tests such as nuclear explosions and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and toughened them in response to further nuclear tests and the country’s increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The panel of experts said North Korea’s blockade aimed at prevent-

ing COVID-19 resulted in “historically low levels” of people and goods entering and leaving the country.

Legal and illegal trade including in luxury goods “has largely ceased” though cross-border rail traffic resumed in early January, it said.

The panel has previously made clear that North Korea remains able to evade sanctions and to illicitly import refined petroleum, access international banking channels and carry out “malicious cyber activities.”

U.N. sanctions ban North Korean coal exports and the experts said in the new report that although coal exports by sea increased in the second half of 2021, “they were still at relatively low levels.”

“The quantity of illicit imports of refined petroleum increased sharply in the same period, but at a much lower level than in previous years,” the panel said, adding that direct deliveries by non-North Korea tankers has ceased and only tankers from the North delivered oil, “a marked change of methodology” probably in response to COVID-19 measures.

The experts said North Korea also continues to evade maritime sanctions “by deliberately obfuscated financial and ownership networks.”

While the humanitarian situation in the country continues to worsen, the panel said the almost complete lack of information from the country makes it difficult to determine the “unintended humanitarian consequences of U.N. sanctions affecting the civilian population.”

Wellington, New Zealand The U.S. says it will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, laying out in unusually blunt terms a plan to increase its influence in the South Pacific nation before China becomes “strongly embedded.”

The plan was confirmed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a weekend visit to Fiji, part of a Pacific tour that began in Australia.

Blinken later landed in Hawaii, where he hosted the foreign ministers from Japan and South Korea to discuss the threat posed by North Korea.

The State Department said Solomon Islanders cherished their history with Americans on the battlefields of World War II, but that the U.S. was in danger of losing its preferential ties as China “aggressively seeks to engage” elite politicians and business people in the Solomon Islands.

The U.S. previously operated an embassy in the Solomons for five years before closing it in 1993.

Since then, U.S. diplomats from neighboring Papua New Guinea have been accredited to the Solomons, which has a U.S. consular agency.

The embassy announcement fits with a new Biden administration strategy for the Indo-Pacific that emphasizes building partnerships with allies in the region as a way to counter China’s growing influence and ambitions.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASCAR Cup Series preview, B3

MICHAEL WOODS | AP PHOTO

NC State pitcher Sam Highfill will be a key component in the Wolfpack’s efforts to return to the College World Series and finish what they started last season.

NC State baseball looks for redemption

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Antonelli voted into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Knoxville, Tenn.

Former NC State player and Cary native Debbie Antonelli is part of the eight-person Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Antonelli, who has been a college basketball television analyst for 34 years, is being honored as a contributor to the game. She has also helped start numerous in-season tournaments around the country and been the play‑by-play voice of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever since 1996. The other members of the class, which will be inducted June 11, are Becky Hammon, Penny Taylor, Doug Bruno, Alice “Cookie” Barron, Delisha Milton-Jones, Paul Sanderford and Bob Schneider.

Sanderford guided Louisburg College to the JUCO national championship in 1981 before leading Western Kentucky to three Final Fours.

Duke men drop to No. 9 in AP poll Indianapolis Duke fell two spots to ninth in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll released Monday.

The Blue Devils (21‑4, 11‑3 ACC) lost last Monday at home to Virginia but bounced back with road wins over Clemson and Boston College. Gonzaga returned to No. 1 for the first time since Jan. 17 after Auburn, the top-ranked team the last three weeks, was upset at Arkansas. Wake Forest (20‑6, 10‑5 ACC) received one vote in this week’s poll.

NC State women move up to No. 4; UNC down to 24th Indianapolis NC State moved up one spot to No. 4 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll this week. The Wolfpack (23‑3, 14‑1 ACC) had wins over then‑No. 11 Georgia Tech, Boston College and Duke. UNC (19‑5, 9‑5 ACC) fell one spot to No. 24 after losing Sunday at Virginia Tech. South Carolina, Stanford and Louisville remained the top three teams for the second straight week.

COVID-19 derailed the Wolfpack in last year’s College World Series; they’ll look to return, while Duke and East Carolina try and reach Omaha

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal

PHOTO COURTESY OF BULL STOCK MEDIA

The Professional Bull Riders Team Series’ Carolina Cowboys are based in Winston-Salem and owned by Richard Childress Racing.

RCR brings bull riding to Winston-Salem The NASCAR team and its owner, Richard Childress, have an N.C.-based team competing in the new Professional Bull Riders Team Series

By Brett Friedlander North State Journal BRISTOL MOTOR Speedway is known as “The Bullring” because of its small circumference and the massive 150,000-plus seat structure that surrounds it.

Come this summer, legendary NASCAR owner Richard Childress will also operate a team that performs in an actual bullring.

It’s called the Carolina Cowboys, one of eight franchises in the upstart Professional Bull Riders Team Series that will begin competition in June. The team, one of only two located east of the Mississippi, will be based in Winston-Salem with its home events held at Wake Forest’s Joel Coliseum.

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon, Childress’ grandson and driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet in NASCAR’s Cup Series, will serve as its general manager.

According to Chad Blankenship,

PBR senior vice president for marketing, the association with RCR and a former Daytona 500 winner will give the local franchise instant credibility in an area already proven to be fertile for bull riding events.

“Over the last 29 years, PBR has had dozens of successful events across the Carolinas,” Blankenship said. “In all the aspects of running a sports team, RCR has proven to be extremely successful and has very strong brand recognition and resonance across the Carolinas, which we absolutely believe as a league is going to help the team be really successful.”

Although Childress is best known as a NASCAR Hall of Famer whose team has won six Cup championships, all with the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr. behind the wheel, he’s also a successful businessman whose ventures range from a winery to a Black Angus ranch located in his Davidson County hometown of Welcome.

His participation in the new bull riding league stems from a longtime interest in the sport, a passion he has passed down to younger members of his family. ”I’ve always had an interest See BULL RIDING, page B4

THE STING from NC State’s controversial exit from the College World Series last summer won’t soon go away for coach Elliott Avent. But if there’s anything that can at least partially salve the still-open wound, it’s the fresh start the beginning of a new season brings.

“I never put anything behind me, so that’s a long way from being behind me. Trust me,” Avent said as he approaches his 26th season in charge of the Wolfpack. “But I always love opening up. I always love getting started, love practice, love starting with new guys. We’re just excited to get started.”

Avent and his players, along with every other Division I team in the country, are scheduled to get the new season underway this weekend.

Although the team State puts on the field for its opening series against Evansville will return only five regulars from the one that came within one win of the NCAA’s championship series last year, it will begin its quest to get back to Omaha ranked in the top 10 of multiple preseason polls.

The Wolfpack had its 2021 title hopes dashed after a rash of positive COVID tests prompted NCAA officials to send the team home. A bad situation was made even worse when the NCAA chose to inform State of its ouster by way of a text sent at 2 a.m. local time.

As much frustration as the unprecedented episode caused, and continues to cause, Avent insists that “one year doesn’t really factor into the other.” So he doesn’t plan to use last season’s disappointment as a source of motivation for his current team.

His returning players are buying into that approach, although senior outfielder Devonte Brown did admit that “of course everybody wants to go back to Omaha. … Eventually, that will be the end goal.”

With Brown (.252, 13 HR, 40

RBIs) and second baseman J.T. Jarrett (.251, 11 2B, 23 RBIs) as the only veteran bats in the lineup, the Wolfpack will have to rely heavily on a pitching staff anchored by hard-throwing righthander Sam Highfill.

The star of last year’s postseason run, Highfill (9-2, 3.66 ERA) projects to be joined in the weekend rotation by a pair of fellow sophomores — left-hander Chris Villaman (5-2, 4.35) and righty Matt Willadsen (5-3, 4.73).

Among the newcomers most likely to make immediate contributions are transfers Josh Hood (Penn) and Gino Groover (Charlotte), along with incoming freshman catcher Jacob Cozart and highly regarded shortstop Payton Green.

Like the Wolfpack, Duke and East Carolina also enter the season with legitimate College World Series aspirations.

The Blue Devils are coming off their first ACC championship since 1961, a title they won with a 1-0 victory against State in the conference tournament final.

Senior right-hander Cooper Stinson, who pitched the first six innings of that game, is back, as is power-hitting senior outfielder RJ Schreck, who hit .337 with 18 homers in 54 games last season.

In addition to a solid core of returners, including closer Marcus Johnson — who is scheduled to move into a starting role — coach Chris Pollard has added a recruiting class ranked No. 10 nationally

by D1Baseball.com. The cream of that crop includes shortstop Alex Mooney, catcher Andrew Yu, outfielder Devin Obee and two-way player Jonathan Santucci.

They are additions Pollard hopes will help his program take the next step after falling just short of the College World Series in each of the past two NCAA Tournaments.

“We’ve gotten close, but we haven’t been able to push through that door to get to Omaha,” said Pollard, who was recently elected the Division I chairman of the American Baseball Coaches Association. “There are guys on this team that have been to two championship games of two super regionals, one win away from going to the College World Series.

“We live with that sting of getSee BASEBALL, page B4

B2

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

WEDNESDAY

2.16.22

TRENDING

Joe Dailey: The former Tar Heels player was hired by the Panthers as wide receivers coach.

Dailey played at UNC in 2006 and 2007 after transferring from Nebraska, starting seven games at quarterback in his first season in Chapel Hill before moving to receiver in his senior year. Dailey comes from Boston College, where he was wide receivers coach the last two seasons. Former App State assistant Robert Kugler was also hired by the Panthers as assistant offensive line coach.

Eduardo Romero: The Argentine golfer who won European Tour events over three decades has died. He was 67. Nicknamed “El Gato,” Romero was best known for winning eight titles on the tour between 1989 and 2002. He won more than 80 tournaments in South America, and represented Argentina in international play.

He transitioned successfully to the senior circuit, winning major titles at the Tradition in 2006 and the U.S. Senior Open in 2008.

Tyreke Evans: The 2009 fourth overall pick is eligible to return to the NBA after he was reinstated by the league and the National Basketball Players Association on Monday.

The 32-year-old, who was drafted by the Kings, was dismissed and disqualified from the league in May 2019 for testing positive for a prohibited substance under the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. The 6-foot-6 Evans, who averaged 10.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 69 games with the Pacers in 2018, will become an unrestricted free agent Friday.

Beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES

NFL

Los Angeles wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. celebrates after the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl 56 on Sunday. It was the second Super Bowl title for the franchise, which won its other title in 1999 when the team was in St. Louis. Beckham had a first quarter touchdown reception but then left the game with a knee injury with under four minutes remaining in the first half.

JACOB KUPFERMAN | AP PHOTO

“This is the most fun I had playing this game in a while.”

New Hornets forward Montrezl Harrell, in a tweet, following his first game with Charlotte.

LYNNE SLADKY | AP PHOTO

NHL

NBA

KEN RUINARD | AP PHOTO

“That was one of the most dangerous plays I’ve ever seen.”

Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski on the hard foul Clemson’s David Collins delivered to Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. last Tuesday.

PRIME NUMBER

JACK DEMPSEY | AP PHOTO

It came five weeks before the trade deadline, but the Flames became the latest team to make a move with their sights set on the postseason.

Calgary acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Canadiens, reuniting the winger with Darryl Sutter, who coached the Kings team Toffoli played on to the 2014 Stanley Cup.

MATT SLOCUM | AP PHOTO

The Ben Simmons saga in Philadelphia is over. The 76ers sent Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond to the Nets for 32-year-old James Harden.

Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP, struggled in Brooklyn, and the Nets have hovered near .500 with Kyrie Irving missing time while refusing to be vaccinated.

Simmons hasn’t played this season.

NFL

2 Players in NFL history to win Super Bowl MVP and AP Offensive Player of the Year in the same season after Rams receiver Cooper Krupp accomplished the feat.

He joins Joe Montana, who did it in 1989 with the 49ers.

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ | AP PHOTO

Former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson received the 2022 Bart Starr Award on Saturday, an award that honors the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership. He and his wife, Ciara, started the Why Not You Foundation and the Why Not You Academy, a nonprofit high school dedicated to fighting poverty through education, among other charitable causes.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B3

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Preview Cup Series has old faces in new places Keselowski will look to get Roush back to Victory Lane

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal All of the talk heading into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season has been about the Next Gen car’s arrival, so it’s been easy to overlook the drivers who have landed in new rides.

A pair of former Cup Series champions are with new teams this season, the 2020 Xfinity champ is finally getting his shot, NASCAR’s oldest team has again decided to bank on a rookie driver, and a few other outfits made decisions on their charter teams.

Brad Keselowski 6 • RFK Racing • Ford

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ | AP PHOTO

Kyle Larson, pictured driving the Next Gen car in the exhibition Busch Light Clash on Feb. 6 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, will begin his title defense this week at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Next Gen car brings even more change to NASCAR

Austin Cindric 2 • Team Penske • Ford Keselowski’s departure finally opened the door for Cindric to get a full-time Cup ride. The 2020 Xfinity Series champion, who will take over Team Penske’s famed No. 2, got a sevenrace preview last season, finishing ninth at the Indianapolis road course for his best finish.

The 23-year-old won 11 races the last two years in the Xfinity Series, including five last season when he finished second in the standings and just missed repeating as champion.

The long-awaited car made its debut at The Clash and will arrive for real at Sunday’s Daytona 500

By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Larson balanced a car seat on a suitcase while the thick strap from another bag pulled tight around his neck. Both his kids were spinning on the metal stanchions outside LAX and Larson couldn’t find the bus to the rental cars.

“Just what a champion looks like, huh?” he laughed.

The NASCAR champ. He’s just like us.

NASCAR throws its version of the Super Bowl this Sunday to open the 2022 Cup Series season. The Daytona 500 is the official kickoff, though NASCAR opened two weeks before “The Great American Race” with a star-studded, experimental exhibition inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Clash for more than four decades opened “Speedweeks,” which has now been whittled down to just six days of cars on the track. NASCAR’s decision to move the event away from Daytona International Speedway, its only home since 1979, angered purists but it was a smashing success and NASCAR must now figure out how to take advantage of the buzz through Daytona and the next 37 weeks of racing.

Larson will be a key player in NASCAR’s push to widen its reach to a younger and more racially diverse audience. The reigning champion returned to the series last year to drive for Hendrick Motorsports following a nearly yearlong 2020 suspension for using a racial slur.

Larson had an unbelievable return, winning 10 times, the Cup Series title and the All-Star race, all while also crisscrossing the country to run a sprint car in his spare time. Larson is a fan favorite and represents the kind of grassroots racer NASCAR fans have long embraced.

But many others relate to the 29-year-old for other reasons: He’s a father and a family man, a symbol of redemption, a changing of the guard. Larson is also half-Japanese and the first Cup champion to emerge from NASCAR’s diversity program.

He will again visit pockets of the country where folks don’t make it to many NASCAR races as part of his packed 2022 extracurricular schedule. But his goals? Larson hasn’t set any just yet.

“Ultimately the goal is always to win the championship,” Larson said. “As far as numbers of wins, I don’t ever really set a goal until we get a month or so into the season. That’s when you get an idea of where your cars are stacking up against the competition and what sort of potential you have.”

Even that’s not a foolproof

It’s hard to believe Jack Roush hasn’t been to Victory Lane since 2017. Once one of NASCAR’s top teams, the two-car stable has fallen on hard times. That led to Roush pursuing a former Cup Series champion, offering Keselowski an ownership stake to drive the team’s flagship No. 6.

Rebranded as RFK Racing (a combination of Roush Fenway and Keselowski), the team heads into 2022 with optimism.

The 38-year-old Keselowski, who replaces Ryan Newman in the No. 6, was series champion in 2012 and has won a race in 11 straight seasons, all with Team Penske, and has 35 career victories.

A win this year would get the No. 6 to the playoffs — somewhere Roush hasn’t been in a long time.

Kurt Busch 45 • 23XI Racing • Toyota The 2004 Cup Series champion will pilot the new second car in Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing. Busch joins Bubba Wallace on a second-year team that struggled in Year 1 but still managed to get a historic win at Talladega.

Busch, 43, won a championship in 2004 and has 33 career wins — including one in each of the last eight seasons. He won the Daytona 500 in 2017.

Ross Chastain 1 • Trackhouse Racing • Chevrolet

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ | AP PHOTO

Austin Cindric, pictured during qualifying for the Busch Light Clash, takes over Team Penske’s No. 2 this season and will be a front-runner for the Cup Series’ top rookie. method this year.

This season, at last, marks the debut of the Next Gen, a new car years in development and built to address many headaches. The Next Gen was a collaborative project between NASCAR and its stakeholders, and the car is designed to cut costs, help smaller teams close the gap on the big guys, make it cost capable for new ownership to enter the sport and give the manufacturers greater brand identity.

The pandemic delayed the car a year and the Next Gen didn’t see racing action until the Coliseum, where it ran just fine. The car held up well in car-to-car contact — “we can bump and bang,” Clash winner Joey Logano declared — but it’s still a wild card.

NASCAR held an industry crisis meeting in Nashville in December to hash out driver concerns about performance, and many of those same drivers now sit on a seven-person board of directors of a “Driver Advisory Council” announced last week.

The council gives the drivers an organized voice to push for tweaks or change.

“Communication from drivers to other stakeholders in our industry has been a challenge for years. This will most definitely help clarify feedback from drivers,” said Logano, a board member. “Safety, fan experience and a great on-track product are just some of the goals.”

The fan experience will be critical as NASCAR navigates its new identity. The Cup Series has made so many changes over the last several years that many of its loyalists no longer recognize the sport that started with Southern bootleggers outrunning the authorities in their cars full of moonshine.

The Confederate flag has been banned, and Ice Cube performed a halftime set at the Coliseum in a

never-before-seen pause of a race for a hip-hop show. NASCAR has said it wants to be apolitical but has long been intertwined with religion and politics.

The “Let’s Go Brandon” derisive chant about President Joe Biden evolved from a NASCAR race, and Brandon Brown — the Xfinity Series driver at the center of the brouhaha — had an offseason faceoff with NASCAR over sponsorship associated with the LGB sensation.

Brown ultimately won’t showcase the cryptocurrency associated with the chant on the car fielded by his family team in NASCAR’s second-tier series.

So many NASCAR decisions seem foreign to longtime fans — a dramatic overhaul to last year’s schedule put six road courses on the schedule and turned Bristol into a dirt track for its spring race — and NASCAR this year added Gateway outside St. Louis to the calendar and will continue to explore nontraditional venues after pulling off The Clash.

It’s a time of change for the stock car series, which needs new fans alongside its loyal base.

Steve O’Donnell, executive vice president of NASCAR and chief racing development officer, acknowledged differences between series leadership and the drivers that made discussions “tough at times.”

But dialogue has improved since the December meeting, and O’Donnell said trust has been built and the industry was buzzing with excitement as NASCAR left Los Angeles last week.

“I really do feel like we’ve got a much better relationship in terms of listening, but also having an understanding when we make a certain decision, there is some reason behind it,” O’Donnell said. “Because we went left, you wanted to go right, doesn’t mean we didn’t listen.”

Chastain was with Chip Ganassi Racing last season when the team was sold to Trackhouse, and he stays with the operation but moves to the No. 1 vacated by Busch.

Chastain, 29, is looking for his first Cup Series win but had his best season last year, posting three top-five finishes and eight top-10s. He will team up with Daniel Suarez, who drove the No. 99 last season for Trackhouse.

Ty Dillon 42 • Petty GMS Motorsports • Chevrolet The grandson of Richard Childress gets a second chance at a full-time Cup ride with another team associated with a NASCAR legend. Richard Petty in the offseason sold a majority interest in his longtime team, which rebranded as Petty GMS Motorsports.

The 29-year-old Dillon, a native of Lewisville, is a veteran of 166 Cup Series races, posting two top-five finishes and six top-10s in his career. He will drive the No. 42, joining the famed No. 43 that will again be piloted by Erik Jones.

Harrison Burton 21 • Wood Brothers Racing • Ford Speaking of old-time teams, Wood Brothers Racing picked Huntersville’s Harrison Burton to drive its iconic No. 21 in 2022. The 21-year-old won four times in the Xfinity Series in 2020 but was kept out of Victory Lane last year.

Over 68 years, the Wood Brothers have 99 wins. But the No. 21 has taken the checkered flags just once in the last 11 seasons, by Ryan Blaney in 2017. The car led just 11 laps in all of 2011, but one of them was the final one at that year’s Daytona 500 when Trevor Bayne won The Great American Race. Could lightning strike again for the Wood Brothers with a rookie?

Justin Haley 31 • Kaulig Racing • Chevrolet Haley moves from Kaulig Racing’s Xfinity team back to the Cup Series, driving the team’s main No. 31. The 22-year-old has 36 races of experience in the Cup Series, even winning the rain-shortened summer race at Daytona in 2019, and he won four times over the past two seasons in the Xfinity Series.

The Indiana native drove in 31 Cup races last year, posting two top-10s for Spire Motorsports.

Todd Gilliland 38 • Front Row Motorsports • Ford Gilliland makes the jump to stock cars after racing in the Camping World Truck Series the past five seasons, including a full-time ride the last three. The Sherrills Ford native has two Truck wins in his career and had his best season last year, winning once and posting 10 top-fives and 16 top-10s to finish seventh in the standings.

The son of NASCAR driver and owner David Gilliland, the 21-year-old is a third-generation driver who will join last year’s surprise Daytona 500 winner, Michael McDowell, under the Front Row banner.

B4

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

UNC relying on Leaky Black’s dominating defense The senior is also emerging offensively as the season hits the stretch run

By Shawn Krest North State Journal IN A PRO-CLEMSON crowd at Littlejohn Coliseum, one voice stood out above all the others.

As the Tar Heels were battling toward a two-point win on the road, one extremely vocal UNC fan could be heard clearly on the TV broadcast chanting “Defense” every time Clemson had the ball.

It took less than 20 minutes of game time for social media to identify the culprit — none other than Carla Black, mother of UNC senior Leaky.

“I got on my phone after the game and saw ‘Leaky’s Mom’ was trending,” Black said. “She’s like that every game. She just happened to be right behind the announcers this time, so everyone got to hear it. But that’s just been my life since I’ve been playing basketball.”

He has clearly been listening to Mom. Black has established himself as one of the best defenders in the ACC this season.

His victims read like a who’s who of the conference’s scoring leaders list. Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe is third in the ACC at 18.6 points per game. With Black on him, he shot 6 of 13 for

GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO

UNC guard Leaky Black, left, has become one of the ACC’s top defensive players and is deployed against the opponent’s best offensive players by coach Hubert Davis.

15 points in the first game, then 1 of 2 for two points and six turnovers in the rematch.

Right behind Devoe is NC State’s Dereon Seabron, at 18.2 points. Black held him to 1 of 6 for two points.

Duke freshman Paolo Banchero scored five of the Blue Devils’ first eight points, hanging two early fouls on his defender, UNC big man Armando Bacot. That’s when coach Hubert Davis made a switch and put Black on the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Banchero.

Despite giving up two inches and 50 pounds, Black held Banchero to 3-of-11 shooting and eight points the rest of the way, far below his 17-point average.

“I feel like I can guard everyone, one through five,” Black said.

Davis has been vocal about Black’s value as a defender — not Leaky’s mom vocal, but effusive nonetheless.

“I am so proud of Leaky,” Davis said early in the season. “More than probably anyone on the team, he has settled into his role

the quickest and the best. He’s really taken pride in being a really good defensive player.”

Later in the season, Davis declared, “I can’t think of anyone in the country who is playing as well as he is on the defensive end.”

Davis has also declared that Black should be the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year and predicted that he’ll have a role in the NBA as a defensive specialist.

His teammates have also noticed.

“The team highly appreciates Leaky,” RJ Davis said. “For him to guard the best (perimeter scorer) every night and do a great job on them, making it tough for them to make shots, making them frustrated, that’s something that goes around the locker room and something that we notice.”

A player often gets the title of defensive specialist in large part because he doesn’t contribute much on the offensive end. Black seemed destined for that fate as well. He’s averaged just 5.0 points per game over his career, including 4.7 points this season.

“I feel like I’m very comfortable with my role, honestly,” Black said earlier this season.

“We obviously have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball and can score it in many different ways.

I don’t have to do much on that end. I just have to do my job to get them open. On the other end, that’s where I kind of pick up my

role and take pride in that and try to be a leader.”

After guard Anthony Harris and wing Dawson Garcia were lost for the season, however, Black saw his role change. With fewer options on the roster, Black needed to step up as a contributor on the offensive end as well.

Of his 112 points scored on the season, he’s scored half — 56 — over the last seven games, including three double-figure scoring games. He’d had just three in his previous 42 games. He’s hit eight of his 15 3-point attempts over that span after hitting just 2 of 10 threes up until that point this season.

“I feel like my confidence has always been there,” Black said.

“I’ve never been the type to force anything. I just let the game come to me. Lately, I’ve had my opportunity to step up, and I’ve been hitting the shots.”

If anything, Black’s offensive emergence has caused him to find another level on the defensive end. Against Louisville, Davis said, “Everybody that was hot on the perimeter, we switched him (to cover). I told him the other day, I’m trying to find a way to divide him into three so I can put him on three perimeter players.”

And, of course, if Black forgets his primary role, there’s a loud voice somewhere in the stands who will continue to remind him of what’s important.

The Tournament: 10-part documentary gives rich history of ACC’s signature event More than 160 interviews highlight the ACC Network’s four-year effort

By Shawn Krest North State Journal FOR NEARLY seven decades, the ACC Tournament has featured some of college basketball’s best players, top coaches and biggest personalities.

The ACC Network is tackling telling the story of the conference’s signature event with a 10-part documentary series, “The Tournament: A History of ACC Men’s Basketball.”

The series debuted last week, and the network plans to release two one-hour episodes each week for five weeks as it tells a rich story with a deep dive into the conference’s history.

“We got over 160 interviews for this series, which is an awful lot of people,” said John Dahl, the executive producer of “The Tournament,” “and remember, of course, most of them were done during a pandemic.”

Virtually every major character from the conference’s history is heard from, either with new interviews or archival footage. While many of the contributors from the conference’s early days are no longer with us, Dahl’s team was able

BULL RIDING from page B1 in the business side of sports, so I’m thrilled to get a chance at being the general manager of a PBR team alongside my grandfather,” Dillon, who will continue to drive full-time on stock car racing’s top circuit, said in a statement. “I grew up watching bull riders with my grandfather, so it’s special to be able to share this interest with him in our home state of North Carolina.”

The local connection with the team isn’t limited to RCR. Its name, originally slated to be the Carolina Chaos, was changed to

BASEBALL from page B1 ting close but not getting over the hump, and I think there’s a hunger there to push through.”

At ECU, the Pirates are also looking for a breakthrough after making it to two straight super regionals.

Coach Cliff Godwin’s team is the preseason favorite to win its third consecutive American Athletic Conference regular season championship and is ranked among the top 15 nationally on the strength of sophomore All-American arms Carson Whisenhunt and C.J. Mayhue.

Whisenhunt went 6-2 with a

to talk to 1959 ACC Player of the Year Lou Pucillo as well as three starters from UNC’s 1957 national championship team.

The project has been four years in the making. Dahl said he was still putting finishing touches on the ninth and 10th episodes when the first hit the air as he tries to include as much detail about the conference tournament as he can fit.

“It was originally going to be six parts,” Dahl said. “Summer of 2019, we had a rough cut of the first episode, and it was like 15 minutes heavy.”

As he looked to make cuts, the significance of the story he was telling became clear.

“I’m like, ‘We can cut this,’” he recalls. “And I’m like — interviews from (1957 Player of the Year) Lennie Rosenbluth and (member of the All-ACC team in the league’s first year) Vic Molodet and all these guys from the ’50s,” he said.

That’s when the decision was made to add another four episodes.

“You know, if we don’t bring it to the screen, who will?” he said. “We have the ACC Network. It’s our responsibility.”

Dahl has deep ACC roots. He grew up in Maryland as a fan of the Terrapins, attended Duke’s basketball camp as a young player, then worked for the Tar Heel Sports Network while a student at UNC. “Even after college, I moved to

Atlanta, which was part of the ACC footprint with Georgia Tech, and I went to the ’89 ACC final while living in Atlanta,” he said. “So my formative years, my allegiances, are all in ACC country.”

Since the focus of the documentary is the ACC Tournament, the conference’s long history of success in the NCAA Tournament is downplayed, which may seem like a peculiar decision on the surface, but even 10 hours wasn’t enough to include that.

“We thought telling the story of the tournament will get a history of ACC men’s basketball, and so we try to stay focused on the ACC Tournament,” Dahl said. “NCAA Tournament appearances, really the only ones we really did a little more with were Virginia and their championship run after getting knocked out in the first round and North Carolina and ’57. Because it was the first national championship for the ACC, it was like part of the whole package. But with Duke, we really don’t spend any time on the (Christian) Laettner shot against Kentucky.”

The epic 1974 championship game between Maryland and NC State, which pushed the NCAA to change its rule and allow multiple teams from a conference to receive bids, receives a full episode. Generally considered the greatest game ever played, the 103-100 overtime win that launched NC State to a

national title still stirred emotions nearly a half-century later.

“The memories are strong,” said Dahl. “When John Lucas talks about that final game, you can tell there’s still frustration. John said he’s never watched the game since that day because it’s too painful.

John Lucas definitely brings it.”

The early episodes tell the stories of the birth of the conference, Everett Case’s early dominance and Dean Smith’s arrival at UNC. The series seems to hit its stride with the 1974 episode as the ACC takes its place as the nation’s best basketball conference. Ralph Sampson, Michael Jordan and Jim Valvano are all featured heavily.

The final four hours will take viewers from 1983 to present day.

The documentary’s strength

the Carolina Cowboys after Jerome Davis was named its first coach.

Davis, an Archdale native known throughout the bull riding world as the Carolina Cowboy, is a former world champion. Although he is confined to a wheelchair because of an accident while competing, he runs a school for aspiring riders while also operating a livestock business that raises some of the bulls used by PBR. “Jerome Davis is an absolute icon of bull riding in the same way that Richard Childress is in the world of motorsports,” Blankenship said.

Besides the Carolina Cowboys, the other teams in the league are

the Ariat Texas Rattlers, based in Fort Worth, the Arizona Ridge Riders, the Austin Gamblers, the Kansas City Outlaws, the Missouri Thunder, the Nashville Stampede and the Oklahoma Freedom.

The teams will compete in a 10-event regular season, with each hosting one weekend-long event in their home arena and televised live by CBS Sports Network. Two neutral site events will also be held, followed by a postseason playoff scheduled for T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas the weekend of Nov. 4-6.

The PBR Team Series will use the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified eight-second

bull rides as its individual competitions.

Events will feature a tournament-style format in which all teams will compete in head-tohead matchups against different opponents each day of the threeday event. Five riders per team will participate in each event with their aggregate scores determining the winner.

Full rosters will feature seven riders and three practice squad members.

“Part of what makes this PBR Team Series really special is that, for the first time ever, there’s going to be a dedicated bull riding team

league,” Blankenship said. “Part of the design is that we want to enjoy the benefits that team sports have that individual sports don’t always enjoy.

“For example, there are many people across the Carolinas who are big fans of select bulls and the same is true of individual riders, similar to having a favorite NASCAR driver. But what bull riding and Western sports have lacked is that team dynamic, where I can get behind the whole team of athletes.

This team is based in Winston-Salem and is the team for the Carolinas. We’re really excited about that.”

3.77 ERA in a starting role while Mayhue led the AAC with eight saves. They’re backed by a veteran lineup poised to make another serious postseason run behind the bats of senior outfielder Bryson Worrell (.262, 9 HR, 38 RBIs), sophomore third baseman Zach Agnos (.268, 6. 43) and sophomore utility man Alec Makarewicz (.295, 6, 33).

“You have to go to Omaha through the front door,” Godwin said. “You can’t go in the backdoor.

Everybody has to know that you’re coming. I don’t know when it’s going to be, but I know we are doing things the right way, and if we continue to do that, we’re not just going to go to the World Series, we’re go-

ing to win a national championship as well.”

Among the other state teams entering the new season with high hopes, second-year North Carolina coach Scott Forbes has moved to improve an offense that ranked 11th in the ACC last season by signing Alberto Osuna, the 2021 National Junior College Player of the Year.

Fellow JUCO transfer, left-hander Brandon Schaeffer, and graduate righty Shaddon Peavyhouse from Coastal Carolina are solid additions to the pitching staff.

Wake Forest should have no problem scoring runs with the return of third baseman Brock Wilken, who tied a freshman school

record with 17 homers last season, and shortstop Michael Turconi (.292, 8, 30). But to make a jump up the ACC standings and contend for an NCAA Tournament berth, the Deacons will have to improve on a pitching staff that had the highest ERA in the league against conference competition.

Charlotte, coming off its NCAA regional appearance since 2011, looks to preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Austin Knight to lead it to another postseason berth.

Knight, a junior third baseman, led the nation with 29 doubles while hitting .342 with 63 RBIs. Campbell is the favorite in the Big South Conference for the

fourth straight year with infielder Zach Neto (.405, 12, 58) and right-hander Thomas Harrington (6-3, 3.45) named as the preseason player and pitcher of the year.

Gardner-Webb was picked to finish fifth in the league, followed by High Point eighth, UNC Asheville ninth and NC A&T 10th.

Western Carolina was picked to finish third in the Southern Conference with shortstop Pascanel Ferreras (.329, 15, 56) chosen as the league’s top player, while UNC Greensboro was picked to finish fifth.

Finally, Appalachian State ranked 10th in the preseason Sun Belt Conference poll.

JOHN BAZEMORE | AP PHOTO

From left to right foreground, Duke ‘s Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson celebrate after winning the ACC Tournament in 2009. A new ACC Network 10-part series chronicles the history of the ACC Tournament.

is in capturing the urgency that comes with tournament season, from the early days of the league, when only the winner could move on to the NCAAs, to present day, when it provides teams with one last chance to earn a win over its rival. The seventh episode will focus on UNC-Duke as the two teams battle in the 1988 and 1989 finals.

“To tell a history of ACC men’s basketball, it was just important to me to differentiate what is unique about the ACC,” Dahl said. “We quickly settled on the tournament.

It’s the conference tournament. …

That’s how we tell the history of the conference and men’s basketball there, through that prism of the revolutionary, groundbreaking ACC Tournament.”

The 3 big questions nob

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Pluckrose and Lindsay to prematurelyThe out Associated Press network in rural areas and in disstruction this fall if they focus from EVs in principle than 96.7% of owners believe under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah My first concernroutes, as we go along in all this, of course, is my family. I’m Staceycommunities, Matthews has also written themselves.

A Wall Street Journal writer advantaged which first on highway rather those who drive the longest dState and Legal Insurrection. people who had figured outreceive what they were doing. WASHINGTON, D.C. — States worried about them catching the virus, and I’m worried I will.

After and is a regular contributor to Re currently are less likely to own than neighborhoods and shopSome papers accepted for publication distances, often rural unemployment benefits fromthat thecan H1N1 virus (swine flu) during the our 2009 pandemic,the higher-priced electric vehiping centers, allow peoare getting the go-ahead to build suffering in academic journals advocated training cles. States failing to meet all the ple been to take their electric vehia nationwide network of electric I’ve trying to take extra precautions, because all of this brings up should present evidence Americans.” men like dogs and punishing white male federal requirements risk delays cles too longmany distances.

Each of station vehicle charging stations that way memories a painful experience I’ d prefer not to repeat. they looked for work, college students for historical slavery by need to have at least four would place new or upgraded would But what also makes me lose sleep is how easily most everyone hasin getting approval from the Fedwhile them 83.9% oppose asking to sit in silence on the floor in every 50 miles (80 kilome- fast-charger eral Highway Administration or ports, which enable U.S. Transportation Secretary ones chains during classbenefits and to beto expectedters) to along interstate highways as drivers to fully recharge their ve- Pete Buttigieg workers’ comp not getting money at all. learn fromwho the discomfort.

Other papers Biden also has set a goal of part of the Biden administration’s hicles in about an hour. workers test positive celebrated morbid obesity as a healthyplan life to spur widespread adoption Many technical details are to Transportation Secretary Pete 50% electric vehicle sales by for COVID-19. choice and advocated treating privately be worked out, and the admin- Buttigieg, who will have final si- 2030, part of a broader effort to of the zero-emission cars.

The ballot also found conducted masturbation as a form of The administration an- istration acknowledges it will gnoff over most aspects of the become zero emissions econosexual that: violence against women. Typically, my-wide by 2050. nounced last week the availabil- take work to persuade drivers ac- funding. academic editors send submitted Electric vehicles amounted to Buttigieg made the announceity of $5 billion in federal mon- customed to gas-powered cars, 83.8%journal of North papers out to referees for review. In ey to states over five years under particularly in rural areas. The ment in front of the Transpor- less than 3% of U.S. new auto Carolina members recommending acceptance for publication, President Joe Biden’s infrastruc- money is far less than the $15 bil- tation Department along with sales last year, but forecasters exwho reviewers completed the many gave these papers glowing ture law, sketching out a vision lion that Biden had envisioned White House officials, flanked pect big increases in the next deballot believe businesses praise. of seamless climate-friendly car to fulfill a campaign promise of by a pair of black Ford Mustang cade. Consumers bought about Political scientist ZachtoGoldberg ran 500,000 charging stations by Mach-E SUVs in the federal gov- 400,000 fully electric vehicles. should have access travel from coast to coast. certain grievance studies concepts through North Carolina currently has 2030, and it may take substantial ernment’s growing electric fleet According to a Consumer Rethe information needed the Lexis/Nexis database, to see how often 1,542 miles of pending and ready private investment to make the that he and Energy Secretary ports survey, anxiety about limto repair equipment and they appeared in our press over the years.

Jennifer Granholm drive. The ve- ited range and the availability EV corridors. With addition- plan work. electronic devices they He found huge increases in the usagesal discretionary funding provid“A century ago, America ush- hicle’s retail price starts around of charging stations were among of “white privilege,” “unconscious bias,” own. ed under the infrastructure law, ered in the modern automotive $44,000 and climbs to $60,000- the top concerns consumers had “critical racethink theory” “whiteness.” North Carolina will have the op- era; now America must lead the plus including options, and they 72.2% theand state All of this is being taught to college portunity to significantly ex- electric vehicle revolution,” said are currently made in Mexico.

See EV, page B6 should eliminate the become sales primary students, many of whom taxsecondary on equipment and and school teachers who then indoctrinate our young people. systems necessary to I doubt whether the coronavirusoffset a lack of qualified caused financial crunch will give college from the strategic plan and not imworkers.

“This is a and university administrators, who are a pose burdensome new regulations growing problem small crossbreed between afor parrot and jellyfish, on credit unions that are supportthe guts and backbone to restore academic businesses here and ing farmers, ranchers, agri-busirespectability.

Far too often, they get much nesses and rural communities. throughout the country,” of their political support from campus “American farmers, ranchers and Thompson said.

“Owners grievance people who are members of the producers across the country work are increasing wages and faculty and diversity and multicultural tirelessly to grow the highest qualadministrative benefits but offices. still have ity, lowest cost food supply in the bership and institutional perforBy Emily Roberson The best hope with boards of North State Journal world,” the members of Congress mance,” the document reads. “Efpositions theylies can’t fill.

“Placing increased trustees, though many serve as yes-men wrote. “We are concerned that reforts to combat climate change Without enough workers, for the university president. I think that aWASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. will likely give rise to new regula- regulations on those that cent actions and statements by the businesses have tofind reduce good start would be to 1950s or 1960s NCUA could lead to the establishSenator Thom Tillis (R-NC) re- tions, potentially increasing costs serve the agricultural their hours catalogs.

Lookof at operation the course offerings at ment of a regulatory environment cently pressed the National Cred- for credit unions as they adapt and aand timecan’t whenalways college graduates industry will threaten to that threatens the ability of farmprovide knew how it Union Administration (NCUA) respond.” to read, write and compute, and maketo continue supporting agriculers, ranchers, agri-businesses and Farmers rely on access to credthe goods and services restrict access to credit them today’s curricula. Another helpful rural communities to access credture producers’ access to credit. In it to produce food and support the their customers and tool would be to giveneed careful consideration it… Placing increased regulations a letter to NCUA Chairman Todd U.S. and global economy. In North in rural communities, expect.” to eliminating all classes/majors/minors on those that serve the agriculturHarper, Tillis and his colleagues Dakota, for example, the state’s 34 which could have serious containing theowners word “studies,” 70.1% of would such asquestioned language included in credit unions hold nearly $1 billion al industry will threaten to restrict consequences for an women, Asian, black or queer studies.the NCUA’s Draft Strategic Plan in agricultural loans. access to credit in rural communisupport legislation I’d bet that by restoring the traditionalthat could lead to regulatory disties, which could have serious conFarmers are part of the answer to industry that is already to definemission seasonable academic to colleges, they would sequences for an industry that is crimination against credit unions climate change and should be treatemployment and put a serious dent intoexempt the COVID-19 that lend to farmers, ranchers, and ed as such, said Jeff Olson, pres- facing high inflation and already facing high inflation and budget shortfall. seasonable workers from increased input costs.” agricultural businesses in the name ident and CEO of Dakota Credit increased input costs.”

The signatories represent agriof addressing “climate-related fi- Union Association. unemployment benefits.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of nancial risks.” culture-producing states and in“North Dakota’s farmers are the The National Federation economics at George Mason University. The NCUA strategic plan, re- answer to climate change, not a excerpt from letter to NCUA clude Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), of Independent Business Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) John leased last month, lays out the problem to be overcome,” he said is the nation’s leading agency’s proposed goals and objec- in a statement. “Our farmers and federal regulatory agency does not Thune (R-N.D.), Kevin Cramer ranchers are the original conser- fully understand or simply refuses (R-N.D.), and John Inhofe (R-Okl.) tives for the next five years. small business advocacy and Representatives Kelly Armvationists and implement practices to acknowledge.”

“Credit unions need to consider organization.

business & economy

Fixingn.c. college corruption FAST

FACTS

A6

Approved Logos

north STA

VISUAL VOICES

It’s okay to ask questions about when The we begin to get back to comfort normal and hope

States get go-ahead to build electric car charging stations

Tillis supports access to credit for farmers and ranchers

climate-related financial risks and how they could affect their mem-

every day that enhance climate resiliency; this is something that our

Members of Congress urged Harper to remove this language

strong (R-N.D.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.).

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B6

For the week ending 2/11

Total Cash & Bond Proceeds

$2,601,160,664 Add Receipts

$232,845,405 Less Disbursements

$84,212,156 Reserved Cash

$125,000,000

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL | AP PHOTO

A flock of young turkeys stand in a barn at the Moline family turkey farm after the Mason, Iowa farm was restocked on Aug. 10, 2015.

Unreserved Cash Balance Total

$6,228,965,464 Loan Balance:

$420.3M

EV from page B5 about owning an EV. Biden hopes to do even more to promote electric vehicles, including a provision in his stalled social and environmental bill for a $7,500 tax credit for people who buy electric vehicles.

“It’s going to help ensure that America leads the world on electric vehicles,” Biden said this week about American companies expanding EV infrastructure.

“China has been leading the race up to now, but this is about to change,” he said. “Because America is building convenient, reliable, equitable national public charging networks. So wherever you live, charging an electric vehicle will be quick and easy.”

Granholm described the initial $5 billion investment as creating “the spine” of the national network. Alluding to surging gasoline prices, said the aim of the new stations is to build “the necessary infrastructure for drivers across America to save money and go the distance.”

The environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council praised the administration’s quick start but said much work remains to be done. It said states, utilities and private companies will need to step up and fill gaps in funding to ensure a full public charging system by 2035, estimated to cost as much as $39 billion.

“We have no time to lose,” the group said in a statement.

Currently, electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles at home 80% of the time, making the need for EV charging stations at colleges, apartment building parking lots or even public streets less urgent. But that is likely to change as more people who don’t have a garage to house a charging station buy EVs. Under the Transportation Department plan, states would be eligible to build out EV stations in neighborhoods and cities once FHWA and Buttigieg certify they have done their part to fulfill commitments to the highway EV charging network, known as alternative fuel corridors.

Direct-current fast chargers, which can charge a car up to 80% of its battery capacity in 20 to 45 minutes, are quite expensive, costing $40,000 to $100,000, limiting the number that can be built, but they enable drivers to quickly get back on a road such as a highway.

Jessika Trancik, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies EV charging, called the administration’s approach a good first step.

She said a successful strategy to spur wider EV use will require charging stations in a host of different locations, including faster charging along highways and slower charging near homes and workplaces.

Even with limited resources, she said, federal money could be distributed to accelerate private investment, with greater government incentives for areas that might otherwise be underserved by the private sector.

“It’s not about government going out and installing every one of these chargers themselves,” she said. “It’s also about nudging private sector investment.”

NSJ staff contributed to this report.

US bird flu case puts chicken, turkey farms on high alert The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa — Farms that raise turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs are on high alert and taking steps to increase biosecurity, fearing a repeat of a widespread bird flu outbreak in 2015 that killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.

The new fear is driven by the discovery announced Feb. 9 of the virus infecting a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. The 29,000 turkeys in the flock were killed to prevent the spread of the virus.

The poultry industry and government officials say they have plans to more quickly stop the spread that were learned from 2015, but they’re urging caution since the virus strain is potentially deadly to commercial poultry. Egg, turkey and chicken prices could rise and availability could drop if birds at enough farms were to be infected.

“It’s definitely considered a period of high risk now that we have a confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the commercial poultry industry,” said Dr. Denise Heard, a poultry veterinarian and vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. “I feel positive that we can tackle this situation better and I have my fingers crossed that this

will be an isolated case, however, I would hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.”

Health officials say no human cases of avian influenza viruses have been detected in the U.S. and the disease doesn’t present an immediate public health concern.

The virus can spread from infected birds to people but such infections are rare and haven’t led to sustained outbreaks among humans.

The 2015 outbreak led producers to kill 33 million egg-laying hens in Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer, and 9 million birds in Minnesota, the nation’s leading turkey producer, with smaller outbreaks in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The disease caused egg and turkey prices across the country to soar for months, with the cost of eggs up 61% at one point and prices for boneless, skinless turkey breasts rising 75% between May and July 2015.

The outbreaks were deemed the most expensive animal health disaster in U.S. history, costing the government nearly $1 billion for removal and disposal of infected birds and government indemnity payments to producers for the lost birds.

The strain now circulating is H5N1 and is related to the 2015 virus. It has been circulating for months in Europe and Asia and was found in wild birds in Canada

a few weeks ago and in a commercial flock in Canada a week before the U.S. case was identified.

Migratory wild birds often carry strains of avian influenza and they’re often low pathogenic, which means they don’t kill the birds. Sometimes those strains can get into domestic flocks and mutate into more deadly viruses. The H5N1 now spreading from wild birds is already highly pathogenic, which means it is deadly from the start, said Dr. Yuko Sato, a veterinarian and assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University.

U.S. surveillance efforts have identified the virus in wild birds in recent weeks in New Hampshire, Delaware, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and South Carolina, making it apparent that it is in the environment broadly.

The virus spreads easily from wild bird droppings and can be carried into commercial flocks on the feet of workers or on equipment, which is why high-level biosecurity protocol has been activated across the country in commercial operations. They’ve enacted new safeguards to prevent deadly bird flu infections, often referred to as HPAI, and isolate them when they occur.

“With the increased preparatory efforts USDA and its partners have

put into place since the 2015 HPAI outbreak, we are fully prepared to handle this detection,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at USDA, which deals with outbreaks on U.S. Federal and state officials are working with the poultry industry and have initiated steps such as an immediate quarantine that restricts movement of poultry and equipment used to move birds in and out of specified perimeters around an infected barn — usually around 6 miles (10 kilometers) initially — and eradication of the virus by killing and removing birds at the infection site. Testing occurs in the quarantine area of both wild and domestic birds. Disinfection is done to kill the virus at the affected farm and testing is used to confirm it’s free of the virus.

Producers who want to ensure eligibility for government indemnity payments in case of disaster must have a biosecurity protocol on hand that is updated regularly. To help with that, the USDA has developed a 14-point biosecurity plan for producers, which is audited yearly and reviewed every two years by state agriculture agencies, Sato said.

In Iowa, a state with 49 million chickens, egg farmers are working with state and federal authorities to keep the disease out of their flocks, said Kevin Stiles, executive director of the Iowa Poultry Association and the Iowa Egg Council.

“IPA is maintaining open communications specifically related to biosecurity best practices and is offering surveillance testing. We are confident in our producers preparedness and ability to manage their flocks,” he said.

Mexico says conspiracy behind avocado ban; US cites violence The Associated Press MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president said Monday the U.S. suspension on avocado imports and recent environmental complaints are part of a conspiracy against his country by political or economic interests.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador put forward the conspiracy theory after the U.S. suspended imports of Mexican avocados on the eve of the Super Bowl following a threat against a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico.

In fact, the U.S. measure was due to years of worries that drug cartel violence in the western Mexico state of Michoacan — where gangs extort money from avocado and lime growers by threatening to kidnap and kill them — has spilled over to threats against U.S. inspectors.

The out-of-control violence in Michoacan reached a new height Monday, when prosecutors said they were investigating what appears to be the first civilian death caused by land mines being planted by warring drug gangs.

The state prosecutor’s office said the 79-year-old farmer was killed in the front-line township of Tepalcatepec when his pickup truck drove over an improvised explosive device over the weekend. His 45-year-old son was wounded.

The cartels fighting for control of Michoacan — the only state that exports avocados to the U.S. — have already used trenches, pillboxes, homemade armored cars, rocket-propelled grenades

and drones modified to drop small bombs.

But last week an army vehicle was disabled by an IED planted on a road, and 10 soldiers were injured by the mine or other weapons. That was the first known successful use of IEDs against a military target in Mexico.

López Obrador has downplayed the violence, and he sought to do the same with the avocado ban, saying Monday that avocados for game day itself had already been shipped north and consumed.

“The truth, the Mexican avocados have already been exported,” he said at his daily news briefing.

“They already enjoyed the avocados.”

On the other hand, he said producers who wanted to compete with Mexican products, or political factors, played a role in the decision.

“In all of this there are also a lot of political interests and political interests, there is competition; they don’t want Mexican avocados to get into the United States, right, because it would rule in the United States because of its quality,” López Obrador said.

He did not explain what those interests were, but noted ominously, “There are other countries that are interested in selling avocados, as in the case of other farm products, so they lobby, they look for senators, professional public (relations) people and agencies, to put up obstacles.”

In fact, the U.S. grows about half the avocados it consumes and to protect domestic orchards from

FERNANDO LLANO | AP PHOTO

A client chooses fresh avocados at Michoacan market in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. pests, inspects imported avocados — nearly 90% of which came from Mexico in recent years.

It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.

The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.

On Saturday, the U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after one of those inspectors in Mexico received a threatening message.

Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement that “U.S. health authorities ... made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.

U.S. officials say the security-related suspension of inspections doesn’t necessarily suspend all exports. Theoretically, Mexican avocados that were already inspected before Saturday could still be ex-

ported.

Avocado growers in Mexico have been the victims of drug cartel turf battles and extortion in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.

After a similar incident in 2019, the USDA warned Mexico it would suspend the program if the inspectors’ safety wasn’t guaranteed.

But the avocado ban was just the latest of several actual or potential sanctions last week on Mexican exports stemming from the Mexican government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.

On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.

And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B7

2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid A best-seller for a reason A reliable family runabout

By Jordan Golson North State Journal SAN DIEGO — As much as I like reviewing stunning rides from Rolls-Royce or Aston Martin, the real value is evaluating the most popular cars to understand better why people are buying them.

It’s not possible to review cars in a vacuum. You have to understand what people are looking for and their priorities when choosing a new vehicle. Generally, I think people want to get from point A to point B reliably and without any fuss.

For every person who wants to show off with the new Corvette, 10 or 20 or 50 more who just want to get the kids to school or have a comfortable commute.

That’s why I was so excited to get behind the wheel of the Honda CR-V Hybrid, my test car this week.

Along with the Toyota RAV4, the CR-V is one of the best-selling vehicles that isn’t a pickup truck over the past few years.

My review car was a fully-loaded Hybrid Touring edition priced at $37,920, including destination.

That’s a lot, especially for a crossover that starts in the high $20,000’s, but it includes many appealing features, especially in the tech and luxury realm.

Bumping up to the Touring from the lower trims gives you things like a wireless phone charger, 19inch wheels, parking sensors, and a few other niceties. But the Hybrid EX and EX-L, which start around $32,000 and $35,000 respectively, are potentially better buys than the fully-loaded Touring.

That’s especially true since they use the same all-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain with terrific fuel economy. The hybrid CR-V certainly isn’t a speed demon, offering just 212 horsepower from its 2.0L four-cylinder engine.

It’s not fast, but it’s both quieter and smoother than the non-hybrid option and delivers terrific fuel economy at an EPA-estimated 40/35/38 city/highway/combined.

The comprehensive HondaSense safety package is standard, including automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation, and adaptive cruise control. However, I continue to be disappointed with the experience of using Honda’s adaptive cruise control.

The system appears confused when following another vehicle, trying extremely hard to stay the perfect distance away from the for-

ward car. This means it’s constantly on and off the brake and throttle, which can be moderately annoying if you notice it happening, but it certainly isn’t a safety issue. It reminds me a little bit of a new driver, trying to figure out how much pedal input to use.

The CR-V is pleasant enough to look at on the outside if you don’t mind having the same car as lots of other people. Make sure you remember where you parked because CR-Vs are everywhere, which I had never really noticed before I was driving it. At one point, there were four CR-Vs in the same lane going down the highway nose to tail.

Inside, I found the cabin layout curiously designed but highly functional. Buttons for shifting into Park or Drive are mounted up on the dash, below the climate controls and the infotainment screen. This frees up space between the seats for cupholders, a wireless phone charger, and ample storage.

The Honda does have wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but I found the CarPlay challenging to keep connected. At one point, I had to reset the stereo entirely (press and hold the volume knob for 10 seconds) to get it to reconnect to my iPhone. The 7-inch infotainment screen is adequate, but the soft-touch buttons to the left of the screen (labeled Home, Map, Audio, Phone, Back) are a bit of a waste of space.

I love the climate controls, though, with giant knobs to control the temperature and easy-to-find buttons for the heated seats.

Other creature comforts with the Hybrid CR-V include standard remote start, a clever auto-locking feature when you walk away from the vehicle, and a (non-panoramic) moonroof.

Between the reasonable pricing and the terrific fuel economy, the CR-V achieves the everyman goals of hauling you and your stuff from point A to point B. It’s easy to see why Honda sells so many of them, and the ruggedized Toyota RAV4 strikes a big contrast to the Honda product.

I suspect folks who check out both will have strong feelings about which one appeals more, which is a testament to both companies since the crossovers are so similar on paper.

I wish Honda would offer a plugin hybrid version of the CR-V, like Toyota does with the RAV4 Prime, but perhaps that’s coming down the line. If you’re on the market for a compact crossover, the Honda CR-V Hybrid is (unsurprisingly given the sales success) worth a look.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HONDA

B8 Gallery Spotlight:

Charlotte Russell Contemporary

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

features

2012 A Fairvew Road, Raleigh, NC 27608 There’s no questioning gallery owner Charlotte Russell’s love for the arts.

“My parents are art collectors, so growing up we spent a lot of time in museums and gallery in our hometown, San Francisco, and around the world,” Russell said.

“I loved the experience of seeing art as a child and was instantly drawn to the art world.”

Russell is the founder of Charlotte Russell Contemporary, a fine art gallery located in Raleigh.

Though not an artist herself, Russell’s bachelor’s degree in art history at the University of Virginia and master’s degree in exhibition and museum studies from San Francisco Art Institute have led her to experience “various capacities in the contemporary art world, from art galleries to nonprofits to auction houses, for the last 13 years.”

Russell noted that it was her passion for art and sharing works of art with others that was the main reason for opening her gallery.

“The thread between all of my roles in the arts is my love for showcasing amazing artists,” Russell said.

“When the pandemic hit, I was offered an unbelievable opportunity to open a pop-up gallery space in the Village District. The success was immediate, and I knew I needed to open a permanent gallery space.

“I opened my Fairview Road location in September 2021 with the vision of having a space to exhibit local and national contemporary art.”

For the gallery, Russell is “drawn to process-driven work, vibrant colors, and interesting stories behind the pieces and the artists.

“There are so many amazing artists working in the Triangle. ... If you check out any of my exhibitions, the artists I exhibit are the ones I have my eye on,” she said.

To learn more about the Charlotte Russell Contemporary fine art gallery and the works represented, visit charlotterussellcontemporary.com or visit the gallery at 2012 Fairvew Rd. in Raleigh.

Current and upcoming events:

Color Focus at Sertoma Now - Feb. 27 “Color Focus,” on view at Sertoma Arts Center, showcases five artists living and working in the Triangle. The featured artists explore and push the boundaries of color with their unique media, concept and process. charlotterussellcontemporary.com/ exhibitions/

Change in Perspective at Hartwell Now - April 29 Featured artists on view at “Change in Perspective” at Hartwell include Mar Hester, Tacey Hesmer, Nan Jones and Mayanthi Jayawardena.

Solo Exhibit of King Nobuyoshi Godwin March 4 - April 6 A solo exhibition of artwork by Raleigh-based artist King Nobuyoshi Godwin Opening reception March 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

ARON RANEN | AP PHOTO

Congregation members worship at The Refuge Church in Kannapolis, on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022.

Racial unity: Merged Southern congregation sets an example The Associated Press KANNAPOLIS — Troy Savage says Martin Luther King Jr.’s decades-old criticism of the racial divide in the U.S. church still rings true today.

“It’s been said that the most segregated hour in America is Sunday morning at 11 … it’s true,” said Savage, adding that people of different races, ethnicities and cultures regularly work and socialize together. “And then on Sunday morning, we do this -- we go our separate ways.”

But Savage does not think it has to stay that way. He and his family of four, who are African American, attend The Refuge Church just outside of Charlotte. It is one of the churches trying to diversify Sunday mornings in America.

“When we think about racial reconciliation, really our goals should be to do what Jesus wanted us to do, which was to be one — to be unified,” said April Savage, his wife. “That’s really what The Refuge is trying to do. They want to bring together people … where we’re not just existing in the same church, but we’re celebrated in the same church.”

In November 2016, The Refuge Church, a mostly white multisite congregation, merged with a predominantly Black church and hired its pastor, the Rev. Derrick Hawkins, to its ministry staff. The Rev. Jay Stewart, the lead pastor of The Refuge Church, and Hawkins, who is now one of the executive pastors, detailed the merger in the book, “Welded: Forming Racial Bonds That Last.”

“A part of our purpose is be a demonstration of unity, a demonstration of racial reconciliation in a nation that has been so divided for way too long. And we get the privilege of walking out this purpose,” Stewart said.

Over the last two decades, the

ethnic diversity of U.S. congregations has grown, the 2021 National Congregations Study states.

Predominantly Black congregations continue to account for about 20%, but the proportion of predominately white congregations in America has shrunk although the minority presence within those has grown, the study states.

About 15% to 20% of those who worship at The Refuge Church’s Kannapolis campus are African American, said Stewart, who considers that increase in the congregation’s diversity a big success.

“It’s a challenge in the South to see what you saw today — that’s a huge challenge,” Stewart said on a recent Sunday. “Six years ago, you would not have seen that here, but today you saw diversity that’s trending in the right direction.”

Decades have passed since civil rights activists desegregated lunch counters across the Jim Crow South and a landmark federal voting rights act went into law. Today, race relations in North Carolina continue to be impacted by national policy debates and state political fights ranging from how police treat Black people to what students are taught about Black history to disputes over gerrymandering and voting rights.

On a recent Sunday at The Refuge Church’s Kannapolis campus, a band played contemporary Christian songs, and worshippers — Black and white — grasped their hands in prayer and a steady stream of churchgoers were summoned to the stage for spiritual healings.

Jonathan and Summer Daniel, who are white and joined the congregation before the merger, welcomed the change. “Psalm 133 says that unity is where the Lord commands blessing,” said Jonathan, who only heard positive feedback from his friends about the merger.

That wasn’t the case for April

Savage. “Not everybody understands it,” she said.

“Some people they may not say it out of their mouth, but they feel like, oh, like you abandoned your people. Because you’re going to this, predominantly white ministry, or whatever, however you want to classify it. But we choose to not look at it that way. We choose to look at it as this is the kingdom of God, and it’s the kingdom that brings us together. We all believe the same.”

Of Black adults who attend religious services in the U.S., 25% say they go to houses of worship with multiracial congregations and clergy, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center report. Far more — 60% — say they attend religious services where most or all of the congregation and clergy are Black.

The Rev. Abdue Knox, pastor of Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charlotte, cautioned pastors of interracial congregations not to disregard the experiences of their Black members.

“We really have to do what’s best for our family, and if it’s best for our family to worship in a interracial setup, that’s great. But as a pastor to another interracial pastor, don’t forget, and don’t leave out and don’t neglect the struggle, the Black struggle. We have to include that as a part of our faith formation,” he said.

Compared to those who attend multiracial or white churches, or houses of worship with other racial makeups, Black adults who go to Black Protestant churches are more likely to say they hear about issues like race relations and criminal justice reform from the pulpit, the Pew report states.

Historically Black churches have long been a core part of the spiritual lives of Black Americans as well as a center of social and cultural support, and the push for racial equality.

“Faith in the African American community has always been all we had. And so we lean to what I knew to do … seeking the Spirit of God for unity,” Stewart said.

“We can’t do it in our own ability.

There’s never been a policy created, any speech that’s able to unite — it’s only the power and the presence of God that unites us.”

“A part of our purpose is be a demonstration of unity, a demonstration of racial reconciliation in a nation that has been so divided for way too long.

And we get the privilege of walking out this purpose.”

Rev. Jay Stewart

Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes to host Oscars The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — After three years without a host, the Oscars are making up for lost time with three hosts for this year’s awards: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are set to host the 94th Academy Awards, producer Will Packer said Tuesday.

Reports say that each actor will be responsible for one hour of the three-hour broadcast, airing live on ABC on March 27.

“This year’s show is all about uniting movie lovers,” Packer said in a statement. “It’s apropos that we’ve lined up three of the most dynamic, hilarious women with very

different comedic styles.”

Packer has worked with Hall several times as the producer of films like “Girls Trip,” “Think Like a Man” and “Little.”

The show is hoping to rebound from the dismal viewership of last year’s broadcast, which was both an all-time low and the norm for pandemic-era awards shows. In addition to bringing back starry hosts and bumping the best picture nominees to a set ten, the Academy is also hoping to spike interest through social media voting for a “fan favorite” movie that will be announced during the show, as well as a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles for the ceremony.

“We’re invigorated by Will’s vision for this year’s Oscars: celebrating movie lovers alongside moviemakers and spotlighting fan favorites that prove how cinema can unite us all,” said Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson in a statement.

It’s the first time hosting for all three women and the first time in 35 years since there has been this many hosts for one broadcast.

Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, added that they are “Thrilled to have them at the helm to deliver an incredible show full of unforgettable moments and laughter.”

“We’re invigorated

by Will’s vision for this year’s Oscars.”

Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson in a statement

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B9

New this week: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ Kanye and ‘From The Associated Press Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES — Directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah chart Kanye West’s fascinating journey over 20 years in the new multi-part documentary, “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,” which is being rolled out in installments on Netflix. In part one, hitting Netflix on Wednesday, Ye is not yet famous and trying to make a name for himself, while his friends document his every move and his sweet relationship with his late mother Donda before his life changed with the release of “College Dropout” in 2004. Also coming to Netflix on Wednesday is a new “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” in which Leatherface returns after 50 years to terrorize some new unlucky souls starring “Eighth Grade” breakout Elsie Fisher.

— Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg star as members of

a wealthy family on vacation at a luxurious resort near Acapulco in Michel Franco’s “Sundown,” which comes to VOD on Thursday.

A family tragedy cuts the holiday short, but Roth’s character Neil stays behind, saying he’s left his passport at the hotel. But it soon becomes clear he has no intention of going back to real life. The film is intentionally withholding with the most basic information, but Franco does a tremendous job balancing beachside ennui with escalating tension. It’s “The White Lotus” meets “Somewhere.”

— Matthew Vaughn continues his Kingsman series with a prequel, “The King’s Man,” which is every bit as manic, vulgar and violent as the others, but now just based in and around World War I and starring the always delightful Ralph Fiennes. It is a marked improvement over the off-the-walls sequel in which Julianne Moore feeds someone a human burger that she’s freshly ground and grilled herself, but also straddles the uneasy line of using a real historic context for its own irreverent sensibility. But you can decide for

yourself when it comes to Hulu on Friday.

from it. I think it’s too good to be ignored,” Gibbard tells The AP.

MUSIC

TELEVISION

— Texas rock rules on Friday.

Singer and songwriter Leon Bridges from Fort Worth, and Houston trio Khruangbin rejoin for the release of “Texas Moon,” a follow-up EP to their acclaimed “Texas Sun” project in 2020. Bridges calls it “more introspective,” while Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee says it “feels more night time.” Bridges brings his soulful voice and the mostly instrumental trio offer everything from reggae to surf rock, especially on the funky, ultra-cool “B-Side.”

— Yoko Ono turns 89 on Friday and some admirers have a birthday gift: “Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono,” a 14-track album of covers from such artists as David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, Sharon Van Etten, Japanese Breakfast and The Flaming Lips. It’s been organized by Ben Gibbard, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie.

“I have a hard time believing that when people hear this music that they will just shrug and walk away

— “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” returns Friday for its pandemic-delayed fourth season on Amazon Prime Video, which means standup Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) can attempt her own comeback. When last seen she’d been abruptly fired from a gig, but is ready to reclaim her mojo. “You know what’s great about me? It’s when I’m ME,” she tells manager Susie (Alex Borstein). “Every single show, I’m gonna say exactly what’s on my mind.” The Emmy-winning series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino is reunion central for stars of her “Gilmore Girls,” with Kelly Bishop and, perhaps briefly, Milo Ventimiglia the latest alumni to join the Maisel fun.

— A little attention, please, to two of the presidents who make possible a three-day weekend for a grateful America. “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” out Friday on Apple TV+, promises to examine “a complicated man in the context of his time” and tell

the story of those caught in slavery.

Jeffrey Wright is the narrator with Bill Camp voicing Abraham Lincoln and Leslie Odom Jr. as abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Skip to the 20th century for CNN”s “LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy,” a two-part documentary on Lyndon Baines Johnson airing at 9 p.m. EST Sunday and Monday, Feb. 20 and 21. Archival broadcast material, audio tapes of the president and interviews with those close to him tell the story of Johnson’s groundbreaking social policies and wartime disaster.

— Actor Harold Perrineau of “Lost” had luck with a single-word titled series before, so maybe the combo sci-fi and horror series “From” will follow suit. Characters in the Epix drama debuting Sunday are anything but fortunate: Trapped in a middle American town described as “nightmarish,” they also face scary creatures who emerge after dark from surrounding woods. There are “Lost” alumni among the producers as well, Jack Bender and Jeff Pinker. The ensemble cast headed by Perrineau includes Catalina Sandino Moreno, Eion Bailey and Hannah Cheramy.

AMAZON/CNN/EPIX VIA AP

This combination of photos shows promotional art for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” premiering Feb. 18 on Amazon, “LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy,” a two-part documentary on Lyndon Baines Johnson airing Feb. 20 and 21 on CNN and the sci-fi and horror series “From,” debuting Feb. 20 on Epix.

TAKE NOTICE

CABARRUS AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 19 SP 41 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Jean R. Cook and Michael Hancock (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Michael A. Hancock and Jean Cook, Heirs of Jean Cook a/k/a Jean R. Cook: Kellie J. Hancock a/k/a Kellie Hancock) to PRLAP, Inc., Trustee(s), dated August 15, 2003, and recorded in Book No. 4775, at Page 187 in Cabarrus County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register

CUMBERLAND IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 20sp96 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY ANTHONY JEFFREY TODARO AND CHRISTY L. TODARO DATED JULY 18, 2013 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 9250 AT PAGE 240 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 21SP674 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY LINDA JOYCE COUNCIL DATED MARCH 29, 2012 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 9492 AT PAGE 222 IN THE CUMBERLAND 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 the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 21SP785 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY CATHERINE L. GRAHAM DATED FEBRUARY 2, 2006 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 7140 AT PAGE 827 IN THE CUMBERLAND 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 the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the

of Deeds Cabarrus 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Concord, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on February 28, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Kannapolis in the County of Cabarrus, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot 112 of Manchester Place, Phase 1, Map 2 as the same is shown on a map thereof recorded in Map Book 37 at Page 110 in the Cabarrus County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2214 Oakhurst Court, Kannapolis, North Carolina.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars

($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in

the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 10:00AM on February 28, 2022 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Anthony Jeffrey Todaro and Christy L. Todaro, dated July 18, 2013 to secure the original principal amount of $163,844.00, and recorded in Book 9250 at Page 240 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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: 3017 High Plains Dr, Hope Mills, NC 28348 Tax Parcel ID: 0 4 24 - 5 79681Present Record Owners: W a l t o n Organization, LLC And Being more commonly known as: 3017 High Plains Dr, Hope Mills, NC 28348 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Walton Organization, LLC. The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either 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 being offered 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 made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, to be effective 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 notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is December 29, 2021.

LLG Trustee LLC Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 20-109014

and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 10:30AM on February 21, 2022 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Linda Joyce Council, dated March 29, 2012 to secure the original principal amount of $180,000.00, and recorded in Book 9492 at Page 222 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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: 7307 Roslin Farm Rd, Hope Mills, NC 28348

Tax Parcel ID: 0 4 2 1- 071843 Present Record Owners: Linda Joyce Council And Being more commonly known as: 7307 Roslin Farm Rd, Hope Mills, NC 28348 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Linda Joyce Council.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either 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 being offered 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 made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are

a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, to be effective 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 notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 10, 2022.

LLG Trustee LLC Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 21-111915

secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 10:30AM on February 24, 2022 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Catherine L. Graham, dated February 2, 2006 to secure the original principal amount of $138,800.00, and recorded in Book 7140 at Page 827 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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.

Graham

assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

to be effective 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 notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Address of property: Warner Ct, Hope Mills, NC 28348 Tax Parcel ID: 3554 Present Record Owners:

4242

Pete

0414-61Catherine L.

And Being more commonly known as: 4242 Pete Warner Ct, Hope Mills, NC 28348 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Catherine L. Graham.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either 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 being offered 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 made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord,

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 1261786 - 10730

The date of this Notice is January 25, 2022.

LLG Trustee LLC Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 19-105942

Parkway,

Suite

400

THE RANDOLPH COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 51 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022 | RANDOLPHRECORD.COM

Randolph record

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

High school basketball Asheboro’s Tramir Martin takes a shot during a victory against Montgomery Central last week at the Asheboro Recreation Center in Asheboro. Read more about prep sports on Pages 5-6.

COUNTY NEWS

Asheboro City Schools drop mask mandate In Asheboro, the city school district reported seven positive cases among faculty and 28 student cases. Additionally, 58 students were in quarantine for in-school and non-school related reasons.

According to sources within Randolph County Schools, contact tracing and quarantines are still significant causes of student and faculty absences.

In neighboring Stanly County, the school system superintendent cited COVID-related quarantines as the reason for a spike in teacher absences and a lack of available substitutes.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services updated guidance on quarantines in January to allow students and staff who had a close contact to remain in school if they had not developed symptoms or tested positive. That policy — known as “test to stay” — had been under consideration by NCDHHS months before the CDC announced test to stay in December. The Department added the option in January.

Updates added to the toolkit in

February include dropping contact tracing and alterations to some quarantine policies but kept indoor mask usage in place for all children five and up.

In a press release, interim NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley said the updates are “the right approach for this point in the pandemic” and said it “includes flexibility for local schools and health departments to use data to make informed decisions and respond to local conditions.”

The main update to the StrongSchools NC Toolkit says, “Individual contact tracing and exclusion from school of asymptomatic people after an identified exposure is no longer recommended statewide in K-12 schools.”

Asheboro’s move brings the system in line with a growing number of public school districts around the state.

“I am thrilled with our decision to finally move forward with mask optional,” school board member Hailey Lee said. “This decision gives students and parents the choice to do what they feel is best

Trindale teacher tabbed for Presidential Award

at the back table), engaged in a rigorous mathematics discussion as they unpacked a challenging misconception.”

The award is the highest award K-12 teachers can receive for instruction in those two subjects by the federal government. Andi Webb, a K-2 teacher and instructional coach at Forest Hills Global Elementary School in New Hanover County, was selected for science instruction.

Math became Remery’s main interest in school. The idea of teaching was part of it.

“I actually was not a great math student at the beginning,” she said.

“I had some really great teachers growing up.”

Remery said the idea is to have students embrace math. She said she understands that testing for math can be “its own beast,” adding it’s important for students not to be intimidated by math.

Remery, 32, is from Marietta, Ga. She graduated from Mercer University in 2012 as an elementary teaching major. A college friend from Archdale led her to North Carolina.

“There happened to be an opening and I followed some open

Randolph Record staff

Toyota expands electric car parts production at 2 US plants Toyota Motor Corp. announced Friday that it will further expand production of electric vehicle parts at plants in West Virginia and Tennessee in a $90 million investment. The announcement comes three months after the Japanese automaker said it would invest $240 million to add a production line dedicated to hybrid powertrains at its facility in Buffalo, West Virginia. The automaker said it is committed to offering electric vehicles across its lineup of Toyota and Lexus vehicles by 2025.

In December, Toyota said it will build a new $1.29 billion factory in Randolph County to manufacture batteries for hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

COVID cases decline after January spike After seeing nearly 600 cases in a single day in late January, positive cases are down dramatically in Randolph County. The daily average of cases for the seven days ending Feb 13 was less than 100, showing a 50% drop in cases from the prior week and a 75% drop in cases from one month ago. Twelve people were hospitalized last week with COVID, which represented a 61% decrease in hospitalizations versus the prior week. Over 68% of the county’s adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and 95% of the citizens over 65 have received a vaccine dose.

5

20177 52016 $1.00

8

ASHEBORO — On the day North Carolina’s Speaker of the House called for an end to K-12 masking and quarantine policies, Asheboro City Schools took a first step.

In a 10-1 vote, the city schools voted Thursday night to drop mask requirements. The change will go into effect Feb. 21.

Randolph County Schools dropped mask rules in November.

The Union County School Board voted last week to end contact tracing and quarantines. Randolph County had previously voted to limit contact tracing by school system personnel in November.

School board member Fred Burgess championed the move to report positive cases to the health department saying at the time, “We are not supposed to do contact tracing. It is the health department that does contact tracing.” State law requires schools to report information on certain communicable diseases to the local health director.

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record ARCHDALE – Trindale Elementary School teacher Sarah Remery is the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The fourth-grade teacher’s specialty has been math, and it was under that category that she was selected for this national distinction.

“Math can be a very scary thing,” Remery said. “I try to tell my students, ‘This is the year you’re going to be a math student.’”

Dr. Ana Floyd, the K-6 lead teacher for math and science in the Randolph County School System, recommended Remery for the Presidential Award.

“Her lessons are well planned and highly engaging for students,” Floyd wrote. “In developing lessons, she follows state and local curriculums for alignment and employs best practices. … She is creative

FILE PHOTO

as she plans her daily lessons and is willing to implement new ideas and a variety of instructional resources. This is evident when I visit her classroom during instructional walkthroughs.”

Floyd said she has observed Remery “seated in the middle of a group of students (on the carpet or

See REMERY, page 2

for themselves.”

Lee was elected in November.

Before voting, the board heard public comments. One parent, Rachel Haggerty, said she pulled her children from public schools due to mask mandates.

Haggerty said her second grader was suffering mentally and academically during the 2020-21 school year.

“She began falling extremely behind in school, so much so that we are repeating second grade this year,” Haggerty said. “As a mother, I know her troubles were from three things: masks, social distancing in school, and virtual learning.”

The change in Asheboro comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance that said cloth masks — which have been the requirement promoted by Gov. Roy Cooper in his executive orders — are the least effective at preventing COVID-19 transmission.

School board member Gwen Williams was the lone vote to continue a mask mandate in Asheboro City Schools.

Randolph Record for Wednesday, July 21, 2021

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022 Randolph Record for Wednesday, July 7, 2021

WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY

7.21.21 7.7.21 2.16.22 #3

WEEKLY FORECAST

4-H groups show appreciation to community leaders with Valentine gifts

WEEKLY FORECAST

#1

conversation” Stanly County Journal ISSN: 2575-2278 North NorthState State Journal Journal (USPS 20451) (USPS 20451) Publisher (ISSN 2471-1365) (ISSN 2471-1365) Neal Robbins

Editor

Publisher Publisher Xxx

Neal NealRobbins Robbins Sports Editor Cory Lavalette Editor Editor

Matt Mercer Matt Mercer Senior Opinion Editor Frank Hill Sports Editor Sports Editor

Design Editor Cory Lavalette Cory Lavalette Lauren Rose

Senior Opinion Opinion Editor Editor Senior

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DEATH NOTICES

♦ Christopher Enos Burris, WEEKLY FORECAST 40, of Oakboro,X DEATH NOTICES SPONSORED BY ♦ Georgia Bernice Siler, 89, of Siler City, died July 15, 2021, at her home. ♦ Harold Eugene “Gene” Anderson, 82, died at his home on Monday, July 12, 2021 in a tragic house fire.

CALL OR TEXT 336-629-7588 ♦ Addie Mae Hunt McLeod, age 79, died July 11, 2021, at Autumn Care in Biscoe.

WEDNESDAY FEB 16

♦ Jonathan Edward Ferree, 50, of Black Mountain, formerly of Asheboro, died July 11, 2021.

HI 57

♦ Mildred Mae Cozart Poole, LOW 33 age 85, of Asheboro, died July PRECIP 7% See OBITS, page 7 9, 2021.

THURSDAY FEB 17 See OBITS, page 7

HI 58 LOW 30 PRECIP 7%

Guide

FRIDAY SATURDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY SUNDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY SUNDAY 23Christians bers the community such service, helping By McKenna JULYof24 JULY JULY 27 JULY JULY 25as5 2 JULY JULY 3 JULY JULY 26 6 JUNE 30 21 Gardner JULY 1JULY 22itaryJULY JULY 4 escape Roman prisons and gen- the Asheboro Fire Department, For the Randolph Record The Randolph HI78° love to 89° Department, 86°Police HI 87° GuideHIis 88° erally showing HI 91° 88° 86° HI HIothers.

81°HI Asheboro HI 88° HI 89° HI HI 91° 88° HI HI 84° HI a quick look at what’s Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, The 4-H-ers sought to rekindle ASHEBORO — Modern LO 66° LO68° 62°LO 65° LO 67° LO LO 70° 67° LO LO 69° 62° LO LO LO LO 69° LO 69° LO 70° 67° 69° Randolph County Maintenance the in-person America has turned Valentine’s PRECIP 57% fellowship PRECIP 43% PRECIP 32% 17% PRECIP going on in24% Randolph PRECIP 15% PRECIP 24% PRECIP PRECIP 20%of ValPRECIP 24% PRECIP 24% PRECIP 24% PRECIP15% 13% PRECIPPRECIP 5% Day into a commercial holiday entine’s Day where students ex- Workers, County Commissioners County. with expensive jewelry, heart- changed Valentine cards, selected and more. The 4-H youth filled shaped chocolates and reserva- candy for their friends and en- gift bags with treats and unique tions three months in advance. joyed Valentine’s Day parties. For cards for valued community One group sought to bring back kids, Valentine’s Day wasn’t love members. For some of the larger RANDOLPH COMMUNITY COLLEGE the childhood magic of Valen- letters and flowers but friendship organizations, the group packed tine’s Day with service to the and making everyone feel appre- baskets of goodies adorned with kind messages and well wishes ciated. community.

Randolph County 4-H hosted for those involved.

Randolph County 4-H held a Korean Influence The Valentine’s Day goodies Valentine’s Community Service an in-person Valentine’s CommuPottery Exhibit Night on February 8. The inten- nity Service Night for youth aged were distributed to the recipients tion was to return to the roots 5-19 last week. This program took this week. The goal was to create 9am-4pm of the holiday, which has various place on the evening of February an atmosphere of joy and celebraBy Bob Sutton sion, there’s enrollment of 915. before those classes start. legends related to its origin. The 8 at the Randolph County Coop- tion for the 4-H participants and The influence of Korean Randolph Recordrecognizes at erativeWilliams That’s offand slightly from ef- who serve protect Ran-the usual Extensionsaid officethere’s at 1003an those Catholic Church ceramics North “Thereonhas never been a numberinthat ranges fort to bolsterStreet enrollment. dolph County varying waysup ev-to 1,000, Fayetteville in Ashe-He citleast three different saints named South Carolina’s pottery ery day.Williams said. edPizza the RCC Commitment was provided for allGrant, ASHEBORO — Enrollment Valentine or Valentinus.

The sto- boro. better opportunity to attend Gardner enrollment is a 4-H numand parents or as guardries saints de-Col-children Traditional a program designed a fundingMcKenna at surrounding Randolph these Community tradition is a relatively RCC and not haveItto worry Program Assistant with the N.C. in attendance.

Thethe goal of that’s scribe priests willing to perform bers have flattened, but it’s the to fill gap lege isn’t likely to bounce back toiansmechanism recent development.

Ser- students about how to pay for it.” service night to create marriages for soldiers were number of Extension high school covered bywas federal or state State aid Cooperative pre-pandemic levels who right awaythisnot has its origins in some Day cards for mem- vice. in programs designed for dual enforbidden marry official while inpointing mil- Valentine’s to students. despite atoschool WEDNESDAY

“Join the “Join the “Join the conversation” conversation”

Randolph

February 5 – June 25

RCC pushes more MEETfor THE STAFFstudents as numbers lag

PJ Ward-Brown Matt Lauren Frank Cory “There has never been a betout unprecedented financial inter to attend RCC centives for potential students.

Who isopportunity “Editor?”

Chad Williams, vice president and not have to worry about how for student services at RCC, said a decline in high school students in dual enrollment has been the biggest reason for a dip.

“Overall, we’re still seeing a decline in enrollment comparing to previous years prior to the pandemic,” Williams said. “I don’t know if we’ll get to numbers we’ve seen in previous fall semesters. …

We’re reaching out to every student we can in every way we can.”

A fall semester at the two-year school in Asheboro would often have 2,600 to 3,000 students enrolled. At the beginning of this week, that number stood at about 1,900 with about a month to go

of the designs Jacques rollment that has dropped, RCC incorporated president Dr. Robert Busbee “We’re just not seeing the level Valentine’s when he started of engagement that we had seen,” Shackleford Jr. Day goodies to pay for it,” RCC president Dr. Williams said.

Jugtown Pottery in are apictured RCC held one-week break Robert Shackleford Jr. said. “We 1917, most notably Feb. 8amid the summonth meet students exactly where they earlier thisin a Korean bowl form. photo taken in are and help them go as far as they mer semester, which began May Asheboro.

Examples of modern 24 and concludes July 26. Late can possibly go.” works, as well as a few Beginning with the fall semes- registration for the fall semester ter, qualifying full-time students runs through Aug. 10, with classearly examples from will be eligible for up to $1,000 es beginning Aug. 16.

Jugtown Pottery, will Still dealing with adjustments per semester. be highlighted in this That makes attending RCC made because of the coronavirus show. Featured artists the most enticing from a finan- pandemic, not all 2021 fall semesinclude: Kyle Carpenter, cial standpoint in the 16 years ter classes will be in person. Some will use a hybrid model with a Wen Liu, Ben Owen Williams has been at the school, Po he said. He previously worked in mixture of face-to-faces sessions III, Benjamin Owen IV, and virtual sessions. Many classRCC’s financial aid office.

Pam Owens, Phillip “There’s never a better time to es provide students with options Pollet, David Stuempfle, on how to attend and participate, go back to college,” he said.

Ben Winslow.

COURTESY PHOTO Williams said.

For the current summer ses-

WEEKLY CRIME LOG

February 26

♦ Williams, Denishia Lorren (B /F/30) Arrest on chrg of REMERY from CRIME page 1 WEEKLY 1) Pwimsd Marijuana (F), 2) LOG leagues, calling her an outstanding mentor. She said the teacher Maintain Veh/dwell/place Cs has taken part in numerous prodoors,” said. X (f) (F),she 3) Possess

pandemic. There will be a virtual recognition ceremony Feb. 24.

Asheboro Ducks In 2017, Remery was named the Banquet ♦ Whitehead, George Alan (M, 52), 176 E.Elementary Salisbury St, Asheboro, onUnlimited Arrest on charge opportuniof Resisting Outstanding ♦First, Boggs, Matthew Harrison Math development there were four years(M, as a39),fessional Teacher 07/13/2021. of the Year for both her Arrest on charge of Misdemeanor Arrest chargeDrive of Misdemeanor teacher aton Liberty Elemen- ties. Public Officer, 321 Kings Ridge Rd, 5pm was involvedon in07/14/2021. a math and school and the RCSS. The followtaryLarceny, School at in2587 Thomasville.

She’sRd, SheRandleman, Possession of Schedule IV CS, Wayne White ♦ Millikan, Wayne (M, 33), Annual she wasBobby selected as a finow in her sixth year on at Trindale.

Possession Stolen motor Pleasant Garden, 07/14/2021. science partnership grant from ing year, event forofDucks on charge ofof Assault ♦ Hazelwood, (F, 44), the RCSS Teacher the on a CarolinaElizabeth Department of nalist forArrest “I still wanted to be able to teach the North vehicle, imporoper use of a dealer Unlimited at Pinewood Instruction known as Tools Year Award. fourth grade,” she James said. “IHenry thought PublicArrest Female, at 8300 Curtis Power Rd, on chage of Misdemeanor ♦ Bolton McKee, tag, failure to deliver Country Club. More title, failure to Truitt, North CaroliTeachers.

That Hill providthis(M, was47), myArrest chanceon tocharge do a little Bennett, NC, on 07/14/2021.

Larceny, at Hoover Rd/Slick Catherine of bit for NC appear on felony, at I-85 Exit 111, information and tickets to help within RCSS na’s Superintendent of Public Inmore with math.”

Rodk Mtn, on 07/14/2021.

Possession of Stolen Goods, at ed resources on 07/13/2021. struction, said the selections from as well as demonstrated a role in She was slotted as a math and ♦ Passmore, Casey Lynn, Arrest on at randolphrecord.com/ 6469 Clyde King Rd, Seagrove, on will help the pace of formarijuana ♦ Cheek, Helenia Spinks (F, 64), a statewide science teacher for three years, making of set possession ♦ Lynch, Detrickimpact, LamontFloyd (M, 40),the state charge 07/15/2021. ducksunlimited2022 teaching up andtolearning and but now teaches all subjects to a said. Arrest on charge of Misdemeanor 1/2 oz., in at math Randolph Arrest on charge of Assault by North Carolina.

When she learned she had won, fourth-grade class of 29(M, students on 7/13/2021.

Possession of Schedule VI CS, science inCourthouse, ♦ Pugh, Robert Daniel 39), pointing a gun, Discharging a “Today’s students need a strong Remery said she was humbled. at the school in Archdale.

Possessiong of Stolen Motor Arrest on charge of Simple firearm to cause fear, Reckless of math and science “It’s still a little surreal,” she command The award process stretched ♦ Roark, Justin Steven (M, 30), Lee Greenwood at Vehicle, at I-85 Exit 111, on Assault (M), at 139 Drum St, driving to endanger, Seagrove, on before,” said, “and out, beginning in early 2020 pri- said. “It has taken a regular week like neverArrest onTruitt charge of Possession Liberty Showcase Asheboro, on 07/14/2021.

07/12/2021. and Andi Webb totally different direction. I Sarah Remery or to the pandemic.

It included a into a07/13/2021. of Meth, Possession with intent Theater video of a lesson presented to stu- have worked with so many good are helping to lay a solid foundato manufacture, sell or distribute ♦ McQueen, James Allen Jr (M, 35), ♦ Richardson, Erwin Quint Jr (M, ♦ Helms, Chad Lee (M, 37), Arrest dents. By December 2020, Rem- people and good teachers. I know tion for students in the elementaheroin, Simple possession of 7pm on charge of Felony Sexual Arrest on charge of Possession 31), Arrest on charges of Felony ery was one of three state finalists there are so many good teachers ry grades.”

Schedule II, III,named IV CS, Maintaining of Marijuana up to 1/2 oz., Larceny Exploitation of a minor in the President Joe Biden 117 on the mathand side.Possession of Stolenout there.”

Country music icon Possession of Drug Possession of drugattend paraphernalia, Goods, at 5471 Needhams Trail, mentors and mentoring Normally, recipients a teachers,Place, Floyd said she appreciates the second degree (10 counts), 727 Lee Greenwood Paraphernalia, at of 1029 High Point Failure appeal on felony, Seagrove, on 07/14/2021. organizations as recipients these intoWashington, D.C.,failure relationships that Remery has ceremony McDowell Rd,has Asheboro, NC, on to appear on misdemeanor, on hold because of the at awards. Rd, on 7/13/2021. formed with students and col- but that’s embarked on his 40th 07/12/2021. ♦ Seibert, Sarah Elizabeth (F, 32),

DEATH NOTICES

anniversary tour with a stop in Randolph County. Tickets start at $50. More information and tickets at thelibertyshowcase. com.

WWE leaves virtual reality behind in 1st tour since 2020 FRIDAY FEB 18

Sarah Pike Siler Gardner, 64, of Siler City, died on Friday, February 11, 2022 at UNC Hospice in Pittsboro.

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

Russell Jerry Johnson, 85, of Siler City died Friday, February 11, HI 61 2022 at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital.

LOW 40 PHILADELPHIA — Triple H

walked with his arms crossed PRECIP 7% like an X — his signature Degeneration X symbol — with his 7-foot tag-team partner, Joel Embiid, to 19 month ringSATURDAY a ceremonial FEB bell last before a Philadelphia 76ers playoff game.

His theme music blared HI 65 through the arena, and near38 from the ly 19,000 fansLOW hanging 6% rafters roaredPRECIP when the wrestler hoisted his bad-guy weapon-ofchoice sledgehammer and struck the bell.

SUNDAY FEB 20 Sure, the setting wasn’t WrestleMania — though Triple H lost a match in the same building when HI 46 the event was held there in 1999 — but for the superstar-turned-exLOW 23 ecutive, the frenzied atmosphere PRECIP 21% was a reminder of what WWE lost during the 16 months it ran without live events and raucous MONDAY FEB 21 crowds.

“It was a fun opportunity to get back into an arena packed full of fans and have them HI 48go nuts,” said Triple H, known these days as LOW 25 Levesque.

WWE executive Paul PRECIP 19% “That adrenaline rush, there’s nothing like it.”

WWE hasn’t been the same without its “Yes!” chants or “This TUESDAY FEB 22 is Awe-some!” singsongs once the pandemic relegated the company to running empty arena matchHI with 50 a piped-in es every week soundtrack and virtual LOW 27 fans.

No more. PRECIP 2% With most American sports leagues settled in to their old routines, WWE ditched its stopgap home in Florida and resumed touring last Friday night with “Smackdown” from Houston, a

Helen Faye Brady Councilman, 92, of Bear Creek, died on Sunday, February 6, 2022 at Chatham Hospital, Inc. Margaret “Estelle” Mabe, age 81, died on February 10, 2022 at First Health Moore Regional Hospital.

Amaryllis Nichols Camp, age 92, died on February 9, 2022 at her home.

Annie “Ruth” Yow, age 85, died on February 9, 2022 at her home.

Hospital.

Christa Wilson Griffin, age 58, died on Thursday, February 10, 2022.

Ruby Mae Jernigan, age 90, died on Friday, February 4, 2022, at her home.

Ray Steven “Sig” Sigmon, 63, of Randleman died Thursday, February 3, 2022 at his home.

Connie Ann Wheeler Sanderson, 78, of Asheboro, died on February 14, 2022 at Randolph Hospital.

William “Bub” Gordon Pierce, 95, of Sophia died Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at the home of his daughter.

Mary Marine Graves York, 96, of Asheboro, NC, died Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at The Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro.

4” Ad

Asheboro, died Sunday, February 6, 2022 after a two month illness in Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Jessica Lynn Wager, 27, of Lexington, died Saturday, February 5, 2022 at High Point Medical Center in High Point.

Bruce Allen Bunting, 70, of Ramseur, NC, died Saturday, February 5, 2022 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC. Raymond Rufus Gooch, 69, died, Thursday, February 10, 2022.

Alex Troy Owens, III, 50, of Asheboro died on February 7, 2022 Hilda Faye Dunning, 82, died Sunday, February 6, 2022 at Clapp’s Nursing Home in Asheboro.

ple cheering over him, or booing

over him or going into different March 12 directions over him,” have benefit-

ed,Movie Levesque said. “But that’s the Pops: Muse beauty of what we do, to go be en-

7:30pm tertained, however you want to be entertained. As a performer,

The sometimes Carolina that’s difficult.”

Philharmonic returns WWE’s July 5 “RAW” on USA hit 1.472 million viewers, for aNetwork live performance the lowest in the 28-plus year hisin Owens Auditorium tory of the show. in Pinehurst.

The oneLevesque, WWE EVP of globnight alshow talentfeatures strategy and developgrand cinematic ment, said thescores company would hard and look” at how it can with“take videoa clips attract more fansreels to the product behind-the-scenes each week.

WWE from classic films. can only hope

the combination of live crowds and the return of box office attracWilliam “Ralph” Bruce, age 73, died tions such as Becky Lynch, GoldElizabeth Ruiz Ruiz, 20, died on Sunday, February 6, 2022 at berg, and Cena can ignite interest February 3, 2022 in Asheboro.

First Health Richmond Memorial and grow ratings during the build Tonya Michelle Rich Auman, 49, of to the marquee Aug. 21 SummerJames SlamE.atHolshouser, the home of the Las VeJr. Lecture gas Raiders.

“It never is one thing,” Levesque 7pmsaid. “We see this as a moment in WEEKLY CRIME LOG timeCarson, to shift everything.

I think Dr. Ben former Bunch, Joshua Clay (M, 34), Arrested charge of Assault on a Female, on Sprinkle, Daniel Christian (M, 31), you’ll see it in just the layout of evHousing Secretary on charge of Resisting Public Officer 2/9/22, at 2000 Low Bridge Rd. Arrested on charge of Assault on erything, the set designs, the way PHOTO BYor WILLY SANJUAN/INVISION/AP (2 counts), Injury to Personal a Female, Breaking Entering, on under President Donald it’s presented.

There’s a greater Lockamy, Brandon Lee (M, Property, Ficticious Info to Officer, 2/10/22, at 4647 Poplar Ridge Rd. Trump and candidate emphasis on utilizing the spacIn this Jan. 9, 2018, file photo, Paul “Triple H” Levesque participates in the “WWE Monday Night 28), Arrested on charge of Failure to Burn Headlamps, DWLR, es that we have and the TV aspect Raw: 25th Anniversary” panel during the NBCUniversal Television Critics Association Winter Press for President, will speak Communicating Threats, on 2/9/22, Hatley, Masha Ann Green (F, 59), Failure to Appear on Felony, on of it while still engaging the fans.

Tour in Pasadena, Calif. at 5118 Jordan Valley Lot 90.

Arrested on charge of Possession of 2/9/22, at 1299 Cloverfield Rd. at Owens Auditorium Marijuana, Posession of Marijuana A lot of that comes from the time in Pinehurst.

More Mitchell, Damien Von (M, 24), Arrested Cheek, Joshual Allen (M, 20), Arrested Paraphernalia, on 2/8/22, at 4663 we had to experiment inside the on charge of Possession of Meth, information and tickets on charge of Disorderly 220 Bus S. moved to its in-house ThunderDome.”

WWE then pay-per-view SundayConduct, in Texas and former,” Reigns said. “As a liveUS Hwy Possession of Heroin, Possession of Assault on a Female, Simple Assault at jehlectures.com.

The first start is putting fans performance center in Florida on performer, that simultaneous reDallas on Monday for the flagship Drug Paraphernalia, on 2/9/22, at Julian, Roger Dale (M, 52), Arrested on (2 counts), on 2/9/22, at RCJ. — holding their homemade signs March 13, before setting up what sponse keeps you sharp.

We had “Raw” TV show on USA. WWE 3065 Old Coleridge Rd. charge of Communicating Threats, it dubbed ThunderDome -- and wearing their catchphrase spruced up sets,Ashley brought back old to adjust and adapt to the timesDomestic Henderson, Rhonda (F, 54), Criminal The Trespass, (M, 24), Arrested T-shirts — back in the seats. whereBreaking fans or registered thatCaleb wereHunter in front of us.” stars and theofreset button Arrested onhit charge Larceny from onReeder, Attempted Entering for spots Larceny of a Firearm (2 house, “When we have that live crowd, on LED digital videoboards — for WithofHulk Hogan in the TV programming with on charge the Person, on 2/9/22,humbled at RCJ. Building, on 2/8/22, at Staleys Farm Motor Vehicle, on sometimes they almost become Rd. stretches in Florida at the Amway WWELarceny held oftheir only Wrestlerecord-low ratings and a strong counts), Little, Dean stars.

(M, 64), Arrested on 2/9/22, Maniaat RCJ. with fans this past April Center, Tropicana Field and the the cameras for a lot of the perneedLarry for new formers,” Reigns said. “But when “I do think if we were doing this 10 and 11 at Raymond James Sta- Yuengling Center.

“People like Roman have been you don’t have that real-time, flesh in front of the live crowd, it would dium. WWE last ran a weeknight have been a situation that would televised event with a paid crowd able to emotionally bring a per- interaction, the red light becomes have made me an even better per- on March 9, 2020, in Washington. formance that, maybe with peo- the focal point for the performer.”

March 18

Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

OPINION Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON

Rules for thee but not for me

It’s time to scrap these mandates and give parents the freedom to choose what’s best for their children.

THIS HAS BECOME A common theme for too many politicians who want to control your life. From mayors to governors to the president, these hypocrites who want to force mandates on you are being caught violating those very policies.

The latest example came last week from activist and perennial candidate for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams. During an elementary school visit, Abrams was photographed maskless while surrounded by children forced to keep their masks on. Abrams initially claimed she only removed her mask for a photo, until other pictures showed her maskless throughout the school. She since called the episode a “mistake.”

To be clear, making a mistake is understandable. We are all human.

What is wrong, however, is the double standard applied to mandatepushing politicians like Stacey Abrams.

On Thursday, for example, just one day before Abrams’ classroom photo shoot, a 12-year-old student in our community decided not to wear his mask to school, with support from his dad. The student explained his difficulty breathing in a mask, especially when forced to wear it even while running during gym class. Guess what — the student was written up and kicked out for insubordination.

After the student’s father appealed the decision, the school lowered its infraction. I am glad that since this news broke, the Cabarrus County School Board voted to make masks optional. However, too many students continue to face severe consequence in the face of mask mandates.

In Cumberland County, the school board also voted last week to make masks optional. However, the decision was blocked by a Cumberland County Health Department’s order which requires masks indoors. On Friday, I requested the health director immediately revise the order so the school board’s decision for optional masks can proceed.

As a member of Congress, and most importantly as a dad of a kindergartner, I am as frustrated by these mandates as many of you.

I’m frustrated because throughout the pandemic, bureaucrats lectured us to just “follow the science.” Well thankfully, two years into

this pandemic, we now have science behind masking and the impacts of COVID-19 on children.

First, we have learned that COVID, and especially the Omicron variant, do not pose an extreme threat to children. Second, we have learned from the CDC that cloth masks are not effective, and instead proper ventilation is critical to limit spread in a classroom. Third, mask mandates are impacting our student’s development and contributing to a skyrocketing mental-health crisis among children and teens.

What we have also known all along is how important it is for children to see faces and lips to develop. Even the World Health Organization acknowledges this. Yet even with this data, many school mask mandates remain in place.

One thing is certain — keeping our kids safe should be everyone’s top priority. This is why Congress has approved nearly $200 billion for schools to respond to the pandemic. Every school should now have the resources it needs to keep kids safe and in school — without mask mandates.

As many school districts and leaders continue to ignore the actual science and consequences of long-term masking, I cosponsored the Unmask Our Kids Act. This commonsense bill directs federal education funding only to school districts that provide in-person education and allow parents to opt their children out of mask mandates. If parents want their child to wear a mask at school, that should also be their option.

Unfortunately, last week House Democrats blocked consideration of my bill, even as governors from both parties begin to drop mandates across the country.

I will continue fighting for the Unmask Our Kids Act and other commonsense solutions that respect science and protect children.

Too many politicians like Stacey Abrams who have violated their own mandates have forgotten that parents also have rights. It’s time to scrap these mandates and give parents the freedom to choose what’s best for their children. If it’s good enough for the politicians, it’s good enough for our kids.

COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE

Lamentations about redistricting ending democracy prove hypocritical — and wrong In contrast, the Republicanmajority Ohio Supreme Court has overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

MASKS WERE NECESSARY, especially in schools, to prevent mass deaths. Or so we were told, at great and tedious length — until suddenly, in the last 10 days, they weren’t.

The Democratic governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and California followed the lead of the newly-installed Republican governor of Virginia and revoked mask mandates. Or until, if I may say so, my Washington Examiner column last week titled “Returning to normalcy on school masks.”

Let’s pivot now to another subject on which liberal commentators were raising alarms. Getting rid of gerrymandering, they claimed, was necessary to preserve democracy and prevent its overthrow by the forces of repression and one-party dictatorship.

It turns out that those alarms are suddenly, to borrow a Watergate word, inoperative. The turning point may have come last week when David Wasserman, the Cook Political Report’s ace redistricting honcho, tweeted that his state-by-state accounting showed Democrats with a two- to threeseat gain in U.S. House redistricting in the cycle following the 2020 census.

So much for the lamentations, coming from Democrats such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, that Republican redistricting would guarantee one-party control for another decade or even, according to leftwing tweeters, forever. Republicans control legislatures and governorships in states with more House districts than Democrats. But they are failing to make the redistricting gains they did following the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

Why haven’t things been panning out that way?

One reason is that Democratic redistricters have been more ruthless than Republicans, starting with Illinois and its early filing deadline on March 14. Democrats drew “bacon-strip” districts heading 100 miles out from Chicago wards to the open prairie and downstate districts that stitch together small factory or university towns along highway rights of way.

They increased Democrats’ edge from 13-5 to 14-3.

New York Democrats did even better. Their edge went from 19-8 to 224, thanks to a plan that linked conservative Staten Island with Brooklyn’s trendy Park Slope and gave House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler a district that snakes from the palisades of Upper Manhattan to the beaches of Bensonhurst.

This seems in violation of New York law, but those familiar with how New York courts handle election law, such as Wasserman, have little doubt it will stand. Similarly, the Democratic-majority North Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a Republican redistricting plan based on the court’s 2019 criteria on an entirely inconsistent theory.

“Heads I win, tails you lose.”

In contrast, the Republican-majority Ohio Supreme Court has

overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

Texas Republican legislators concentrated on strengthening Republican incumbents rather than ousting Democrats.

You see similar inconsistency in interpreting the Voting Rights Act. Black politicians and Republican strategists long argued that it required maximizing the number of majority-Black districts, which resulted in electing more Black members and in strengthening Republicans in adjacent districts. Democrats taking that view prevailed in federal court in challenging Alabama’s districts, a decision stayed last week pending full review by the Supreme Court.

But in other cases, Democrats have argued that the act requires only a large percentage of Black voters, an arrangement that tends to elect more Democrats. It’s possible that the Supreme Court in the Alabama case may clear up the muddle of current Voting Rights Act jurisprudence that has been exploited by both parties.

The creation of purportedly nonpartisan redistricting commissions — a favorite proposal of those few liberals, like the Washington Post editorialists, who lament partisan redistricting — doesn’t end partisan gerrymanders. Democrats have succeeded in gaming supposedly neutral commissions this cycle in California (52 districts), Michigan (13) and New Jersey (12).

Those who have lamented that partisan redistricting means oneparty control do have some historic precedent for their argument. As I documented in successive editions of “The Almanac of American Politics,” Democrats’ partisan redistricting helped them maintain majorities in the House of Representatives from the Supreme Court’s one-person, one-vote decision in 1964 through 1992.

That hasn’t worked for Republicans. Starting in 1995, neither party has maintained majorities over a 10-year intercensal period. Political realignments have frustrated even the most ruthless redistricters and may do so again. The waning prominence of Donald Trump may turn some affluent districts who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 Republican again. Or the post-Biden emergence of someone like the 1992 Bill Clinton may turn some populist Trump 2020 districts once again Democratic. Or voters could start splitting their tickets again.

My prediction is that by 2030, masking of schoolchildren will be seen as a vestige of a remote and superstitious past, and that the partisan redistrictings of political parties and “apolitical” commissions alike will have been rendered nugatory by the voters.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics.

3

Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

4

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT NHL

Eichel to make Vegas debut Wednesday Las Vegas Jack Eichel will make his debut with the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, playing for the first time since being acquired from Buffalo and since he became the first NHL player to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck in November. Eichel, 25, was acquired on Nov. 4 in a trade with Buffalo for a package including forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. Then he had surgery on Nov. 12 and began practicing with the Golden Knights on Jan. 11.

TENNIS

Djokovic could skip French Open, Wimbledon London Novak Djokovic said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he is prepared to skip the French Open and Wimbledon if vaccination against the coronavirus is required for him to play.

Speaking to the BBC, the 20-time Grand Slam champion said he is not vaccinated and added that missing the next two majors and other tournaments is “the price that I am willing to pay. … I understand the consequences of my decision. I understand that not being vaccinated today, you know, I am unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment.”

NBA

Cavs’ Allen named All-Star replacement for Harden Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will replace an injured James Harden at this year’s All-Star Game in Cleveland and give the Cavaliers two All-Stars for the first time since 2018.

Allen’s strong second season with the Cavs has helped push them among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The 6-foot10 Allen was rewarded Monday by being chosen to take Harden’s place by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Allen will join teammate Darius Garland for this year’s event at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Both will play for Team LeBron (James), which will be coached by Phoenix’s Monty Williams.

GOLF

Scheffler wins Phoenix Open playoff for first win Scottsdale, Ariz.

Scottie Scheffler made a 25-foot birdie putt on the third hole of Sunday’s playoff with Patrick Cantlay to win the WM Phoenix Open for his first PGA Tour title. Scheffler closed with a 4-under 67 to match Cantlay at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale. Cantlay, playing a group ahead of Scheffler, had a bogey-free 67. Scheffler broke through in his 71st tour start. Before Sunday, the 25-year-old former Texas star’s biggest highlight was beating Jon Rahm in September in the United States’ Ryder Cup victory.

GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO

Coach Hubert Davis has the Tar Heels on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in his first season in Chapel Hill.

Bubble watch: Memphis rounding into form at right time UNC has won six of seven to make its case for a bid The Associated Press THE KNOCK ON Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.

The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.

Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston on Saturday. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier in the week and have won five straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.

“We came in locked and focused all week,” Hardaway said. “I was trying to keep the guys focused on Tulane, but I could tell they were antsy to get to this game because Houston has been the standard in our league.”

Hardaway has secured some of

the nation’s best recruiting classes during his four seasons in Memphis but has yet to turn all that talent into consistent results.

Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament in each of Hardaway’s first three seasons despite winning at least 20 games in each.

The Tigers entered this season with plenty of hype, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 and with a roster that included the nation’s top recruiting class.

Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.

Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (14-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars’ 37-game home winning streak.

There’s still work to do, but the

34 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances for UNC in its history, tied with UCLA for the second most to Kentucky’s 44 Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.

RISING FAST Rutgers (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten). An overtime loss to Northwestern hurt the Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament chances, but three straight wins over ranked opponents was massive.

North Carolina (18-7, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels were blown out by rival Duke but have won six of seven, including a blowout of Florida State. Avoid any big slipups and

Russian figure skater Valieva dodges doping disqualification The 15-year-old women’s figure skating favorite failed a pre-Olympics drug test The Associated Press BEIJING — Russian teenager Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics despite failing a preGames drug test, setting her up for an attempt at a second gold medal.

Whatever happens on the ice, Valieva will not get a medal ceremony moment in Beijing. Nor will any skater who finishes in the top three with her.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Valieva to skate less than 12 hours after a hastily arranged hearing that lasted into early Monday morning. A panel of judges ruled that the 15-yearold Valieva, the favorite for the women’s individual gold, does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation.

The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she is a minor, known in Olympic jargon as a “protected person,” and is subject to different rules from an adult

BERNAT ARMANGUE | AP PHOTO

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete in the women's individual competition despite failing a drug test.

athlete.

“The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said.

Now, Valieva and her fellow Russian skaters can aim for the first podium sweep of women’s

figure skating in Olympic history. The event starts with the short program Tuesday and concludes Thursday with the free skate.

The International Olympic Committee said Monday afternoon that if Valieva finishes in the top three, there will be no medal ceremony during the Games.

There will also be no ceremony for

they could find themselves in the bracket in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach.

Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference). The Vols have bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to No. 5 Kentucky with seven straight SEC wins. Tennessee gets another shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday.

FADING HOPES Oregon (16-7, 9-3 Pac-12). The Ducks typically get better as the season progresses under coach Dana Altman. That appeared to be the case when Oregon reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, but a lackluster 78-64 loss to California on Saturday may have put it back on the edge of the bubble.

Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten).

A win over then-No. 2 Purdue was a huge boost. The Wolverines followed that up with a loss to No. 16 Ohio State. A team that was once No. 4 in the country, Michigan may need a strong finish to the season to get into the field of 68.

Iowa State (16-,9 3-9 Big 12).

Once 12-0, the Cyclones are now last in the Big 12 and on a fourgame losing streak after an overtime loss to Kansas State. They need to get it turned around in a hurry to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.

the team event won by Valieva and the Russian team a week ago.

“It would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony,” the IOC said.

Valieva landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics as the Russian team won gold in a dominant performance.

The decision not to award medals also affects Nathan Chen and the rest of the second-place American team, who will leave Beijing unsure if they won silver or gold.

It would be Chen’s second gold of the Games. If Valieva and Russia are disqualified, Japan moves up to silver and Canada wins bronze.

“We are devastated that they will leave Beijing without their medals in hand, but we appreciate the intention of the IOC to ensure the right medals are awarded to the right individuals,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

Valieva tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on Dec. 25 at the Russian nationals, but the result from a Swedish lab didn’t come to light until a week ago, after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team gold.

The Valieva case means Russian doping has been a major theme for a six straight Olympic Games.

“This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport

by Russia,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.

Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Patriots produce first league crown Providence Grove boys grow into championship unit

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record CLIMAX – As the season approached, Providence Grove boys’ basketball coach Wes Luther wasn’t sure if his team was of championship caliber.

“On Nov. 1, we would have been happy with a top-three finish,” Luther said of the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

The Patriots sure were happy Thursday night, but it was for a historic reason.

They’re conference champions.

It’s the school’s first outright league title in boys’ basketball, secured with a 63-49 victory against visiting Wheatmore.

“It’s such a great feeling finally getting one,” said senior guard Luke Thomas, a multi-sport standout.

Thomas had been part of a conference championship as a freshman in baseball. So this was a special occasion, not to mention the clincher came on Senior Night.

“That team bond is right there,” said Michael Fee, another senior.

Providence Grove might tend to operate a bit under the radar.

The publicity doesn’t flow naturally toward the Patriots.

“Having this finally gets us some,” Thomas said. “I feel like we’re so overlooked and underrated. Even this season, we had a great season. … We like it here.

We feed off that.”

The core of seniors Fee, Thomas and Zane Caudle provided the foundation for Luther, who’s in his third season with the Patriots.

Fee and Thomas have been there all along.

“They’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly,” Luther said. “Now they’ve seen the great.”

Caudle, a guard who attended middle school in the Providence Grove district, had been playing for Uwharrie Charter Academy in high school. He opted for his senior season closer to home.

“We play together,” Caudle said.

“After the first game, I sensed that we were going to be pretty good.

We all went after that (championship).”

Providence Grove shared a regular-season title in 2009-10 when Jim Young was coach. This championship belongs solely to the Patriots (17-7, 10-2 PAC), who’ll be the top seed for the PAC Tournament.

“Their team chemistry has been through the roof,” Luther said.

The Patriots had a rotation that went nine players deep during a majority of the game.

“We play so much as a team. I

had zero points and we won by almost 20,” Thomas said. “You just do your individual jobs. We got Zane and Mike on our team, you’re going to be fine. I promise.”

The title margin was a onegame edge on Trinity. The Patriots won their last three games to secure the title.

“It was great to be able to control our own destiny,” Luther said.

“We just had to win.”

Providence Grove, which has won five of its past six games, has posted comebacks and fantastic finishes at times.

“We’re trying to get out of that habit of playing from behind,” Fee said.

Against Wheatmore, the Patriots appeared on a mission, building a 19-8 lead after one quarter and extending that to 36-16 by halftime.

But the gap shrunk to 41-33 late in the third quarter. That’s when Chase Whitaker got rolling, scoring seven of Providence Grove’s next nine points as the spread went to 50-35.

The three seniors were out of the game when the final buzzer sounded, then embraced Luther in a group hug.

Fee and Caudle both racked up 17 points and Whitaker finished with 13. Fee pulled in 12 rebounds.

Jagur Williams posted 14 points and Kaleb Lockwood had 11 points for Wheatmore (8-12, 3-8).

This week, after a bye in the quarterfinals, Providence Grove was set for Wednesday night’s matchup at home with fourth-seeded Randleman in the PAC Tournament.

5

BEST OVERALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Spencer Hall

FILE PHOTO

Wheatmore,

boys’ swimming Hall capped his high school swimming career that included a spot in the state meet in all four seasons.

The senior’s last visit to Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary resulted in last week’s third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in Class 1-A/2-A. He posted a time of 53.51 seconds in the final.

Also in the meet, Hall posted a time of 22.11 seconds for a fifth-place spot in the 50 freestyle.

He has signed to compete in college for Milligan.

PREP ROUNDUP

AHS triple jumper takes 3rd at state meet Randolph Record staff

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Providence Grove’s Luke Thomas lays the ball up against Eastern Randolph’s Connor Carter during a Piedmont Athletic Conference game last week at Ramseur.

PREP BASKETBALL

PAC finals to be played at Randleman Randolph Record staff RANDLEMAN – Randleman will be the site for Friday night’s finals in the Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournaments for boys’ and girls’ basketball.

As the regular-season champion on the girls’ side, Randleman was selected as the host school for the finals. Quarterfinals were held Monday night, with semifinals set for Wednesday at the site of the higher-seeded teams.

Undefeated Randleman is the favorite in the girls’ bracket.

After a bye, the Tigers were set for a semifinal encounter with fourth-seeded Wheatmore, which eliminated fifth-seeded Eastern

Randolph 54-46. The other semifinal pitted third-seeded Uwharrie Charter Academy, a 40-22 winner against Providence Grove, against second-seeded Southwestern Randolph, which topped seventh-seeded Trinity 50-37.

On the boys’ side, regular-season champion Providence Grove was set for a semifinal encounter with Randleman, which edged fifth-seeded Southwestern Randolph 66-64.

Randleman won on Baylor Petty’s 3-pointer in the waning seconds, supporting Dylan Wheatley’s 21-point outing.

The other side of the bracket had second-seeded Trinity, an 8960 winner against seventh-seed-

ed Eastern Randolph, set to take on second-seeded UCA, which blew past sixth-seeded Wheatmore 72-43.

Trinity was boosted by Dominic Payne’s 26 points and Trace Moffitt’s 23 points. Ashton Troutman led UCA’s victory with 18 points.

Mid-Piedmont Conference Semifinals were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at Oak Grove, with the finals on Friday. Quarterfinals were slated for home sites Tuesday.

Asheboro’s boys hold the No. 3 seed in the six-team field. Asheboro’s girls were seeded fifth.

SENIOR ARIANNA Lovingood-Smith of Asheboro claimed third place in the Class 3-A girls’ triple jump in the indoor track and field state championships Saturday at the JDL Fast Track Indoor Facility in Winston-Salem.

Lovingood-Smith had a mark of 34 feet, 10 inches.

Cramer’s Alexis Willis won the event with an effort of 3710, while Lovingwood-Smith was just 2 inches off the mark from runner-up Gisele Dulnuan-Kersey of Franklinton.

On Friday in Class 1-A/2-A, Randleman had two solid finishes in the girls’ shot put.

Iniyah Mitchell was fifth in 31-5¾ and Kyle Vaughn placed seventh at 30-1.

In the boys’ 55-meter hurdles, Chris Gentry of Randleman was seventh in 8.82.

Swimming At Cary, senior Spencer Hall of Wheatmore placed third in the

PREP NOTES

Tears flow at Senior Night ceremony Randolph Record staff

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Elizabeth York of undefeated Randleman goes up for a shot during a Piedmont Athletic Conference girls’ basketball game.

boys’ 100-yard butterfly in 53.51 seconds and fifth in the 50 freestyle in 22.11 seconds in the Class 1-A/2-A portion of the state meet at Triangle Aquatic Center.

The Wheatmore 400 freestyle relay of Hall, Porter Grims, Thomas Crews and Jude Leonard was 19th in the preliminaries in 3:57.47.

Also in Class 1-A/2-A, freshman Sydney Hall of Wheatmore missed a spot in the girls’ 100 butterfly final by one position. Her time of 1:07.30 was the 17th-best mark in the preliminaries. She also competed in the 200 freestyle, ending up 21st (2:15.25).

In Class 3-A, Asheboro freshman Maci Columbia notched an eighth-place finish in the girls’ 100 breaststroke in 1:15.59. Columbia was 12th in the 500 freestyle in 5:32.35.

Columbia also was part of Asheboro’s 400 freestyle relay, which was 17th (4:21.00). She was joined by Madison Burnette, Fiona Wolfe-Roberts and Sara Cornelison.

EMOTIONS FLOWED in a special manner on Senior Night at Providence Grove.

Thursday night’s ceremony between the girls’ and boys’ basketball games against Wheatmore included recognition of senior basketball players and cheerleaders.

Cheerleading and boys’ basketball seniors were honored before the girls’ basketball seniors.

The final of those recognitions drew a tearful standing ovation.

That’s when the parents of the late Lily Butler came onto the court. Butler, who had been a member of the girls’ program, died in July at age 17. She also had been on the cross country team.

Her parents, Chip and Carol Butler, received numerous hugs as the ceremony concluded. It was an emotional moment for seniors Maddie King, Reanna Saunders and Edi Austin as well.

Baseball Saturday at Ramseur, the Grady Lawson Memorial Baseball Classic is scheduled with scrimmages involving several teams at Eastern Randolph.

The matchups at Grady Lawson Field are slated to involve Eastern Davidson vs. Providence Grove at 11:30 a.m., Lee County vs. Southwestern Randolph at 2 p.m. and Jordan-Matthews vs.

Eastern Randolph at 4:30 p.m.

Proceeds will go to the Grady Lawson Memorial Scholarship Fund.

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

6 PREP WRESTLING

UCA rolls in 1-A with seven regional champs Coliseum. All divisions finish Saturday in the three-day event.

Randolph Record staff SEVEN WRESTLERS from Uwharrie Charter Academy won individual championships in the Class 1-A regional, which was held Friday and Saturday at Rosewood.

The Eagles soared to the regional championship and built all sorts of momentum heading to the state tournament. Thirteen of the team’s wrestlers will head to states.

UCA’s champions were freshman Brandon Jordan at 113 pounds, junior Aldo Hernandez at 132, senior Byan Lackey at 138, sophomore Carson Robertson at 152, junior Grayson Roberts at 160, senior Doug Bowles at 170 and senior Jaden Marion at 220.

They’ll all be among the top seeds for the state tournament.

Jordan became UCA’s first freshman regional champion.

Bowles moved to 104 career pins, one away from the school record of 105 held by three-time state champion Hayden Waddell.

Bowles’ pins in the regional included a 38-second flattening of Jordan Ruedi of Voyager Academy in the final. His other two matches lasted 51 and 17 seconds.

Bowles and Roberts are both listed with 45-4 records this season. Roberts recorded two first-period pins before a 10-3 decision against Union Academy’s Isaac Williams in the final.

Hernandez is 46-3 and Marion is 30-3.

UCA’s 290 points gave it an overwhelming margin in the

Class 2-A

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Uwharrie Charter Academy’s wrestling team gathers for a photo after finishing as the runner-up in the Class 1-A dual team state playoffs, falling to Avery County on Feb. 5. A week later, the Eagles were overwhelming champions in a Class 1-A regional. team standings. Rosewood was second with 189.

Wrestlers finishing in the top four in the regionals move on to states.

So regional runner-up Ethan Hines (106) and Jaden Maness

(182) of UCA will join third-place finishers Jack McArthur (126), Aiden Carter (195) and Jake Morin (285) along with fourth-place finisher Jair Ulloa (145) at the state tournament.

Eastern Randolph will send

Adrian Lopez (126) and Bryce Foland (170) to states based on their fourth-place spots in the regional.

The Class 1-A states begin Friday afternoon, while other classes start Thursday at the Greensboro

Asheboro’s Santos finds wrestling niche, wins regional

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record GIBSONVILLE – Xavier Santos was relatively late to find wrestling as a preferred sport. But he’s finding it to be a good time.

The Asheboro junior secured a regional championship at 113 pounds Saturday, and he’ll lead a contingent of Blue Comets to the Class 3-A state tournament.

Santos won all three bouts in the two-day Midwest Regional at Eastern Guilford. The last of those was a pin in 1:12 of the regional final against Oak Grove’s John Courson.

The Blue Comets will send five wrestlers to states this week at the Greensboro Coliseum, with twin brothers Luke Lambeth (160 pounds) and Logan Lambeth (182) placing second in the regional and Diego Gutierrez (126) and Michael Brady (195) grabbing

RANDOLPH RECORD STAFF

Xavier Santos third-place finishes.

Santos began wrestling as an eighth-grader upon the recommendation of Gutierrez. He’s been hooked ever since.

“He said, ‘You should try it,’” Santos said. “I just decided to try it and (it worked out).”

Santos began the season in the weight class before dropping down. Yet at 5-foot-6, he said he often is taller than opponents in the division.

“I try to use it to my advantage that I’m tall and a little bit long,” he said.

Santos moved up to the No. 1 seed in the regional when the favorite didn’t make weight. He took care of business from there.

“Xavier has come on real strong,” Asheboro coach Wes Berrrier said. “He has definitely set himself up for (the state tournament).”

Santos (35-6) recorded a first-period pin in the quarterfinals, a technical fall in the semifinals before the pin in the final.

Berrier said Santos has developed several moves that he can use to his benefit.

“He’s just a well-rounded kid,” Berrier said. “It’s not just one

thing.”

Santos reached the 2021 state tournament, losing his only bout.

It was a restructured tournament because of the pandemic.

“Hope to at least place this time,” Santos said.

The Lambeth brothers each reached the finals before losing.

Luke Lambeth lost to Central Academy’s Aiden Curry by a 13-4 decision. Lambeth’s record is 365.

Logan Lambeth had a tough time against Central Academy’s Brady Ross, becoming a pin victim at 5:16. Ross was the Class 2-A state champion at 170. Lambeth (41-3) reached the final with a pair of first-period pins and a technical fall.

Gutierrez and Brady had a busy day moving through the consolation bracket for their third-place spots.

Gutierrez finished by defeating

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Financial Advisor 211 Worth St Asheboro, NC 27203-5557 336-328-0416

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Member SIPC

At Concord, Trinity teammates Spencer May and David Makupson and Providence Grove’s Colton Wood claimed titles in the Midwest Regional at the Cabarrus County Arena.

May, a sophomore, won all three of his bouts at 113, with a pin of Mount Pleasant’s Trent Almond in the title bout to improve to 41-4.

Makupson, a senior with a 46-1 record this season, was 4-0 at 138, including a technical fall in the final against Eden Morehead’s Cole Pritchard.

Wood, a junior, was unbeaten in four matches at 285. He notched three pins and then won by a forfeit in the final.

Trinity has three others going to states. Casey Hohn (152) and Gavin Hardister (182) placed third, while Brayden Hall (106) was fourth. Hardister won the third-place bout against Providence Grove’s Brooks Freeman, also a state qualifier.

Southwestern Randolph will send three to states with Luke White (132) taking third place and Clay Sugg (195) and Jose Flores (220) ending up in fourth place in the regional.

Trinity was the team runner-up with 127 points, behind only Surry Central’s 153. Southwestern Randolph was eighth with 69.5 and Providence Grove was 10th with 63.5.

Sam Workman of Central Cabarrus 8-5 in the third-place bout, fending off a late-match move after building a lead. Brady finished the regional with a pin of Carson’s Ian Shue in 2:24 to secure third place.

“Those kids fought back, and taking third place is something you like to see,” Berrier said.

The big bummer for the Blue Comets came at heavyweight.

Fourth-seeded Arhman Tyson won his opening match Friday. But Saturday morning in the quarterfinals, he suffered what Berrier referred to as a fractured ankle. So Tyson endured an injury disqualification and was eliminated from the tournament, ending his senior season with a 36-6 record.

Christian Diaz of Asheboro won three matches at 152, but failed to crack the top four.

Asheboro was fourth in the team with 128 points behind Central Academy (158.5), Eastern Guilford (145) and Parkwood (141).

Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

7

obituaries

Louise Yow Cole

Ralph Lee Blackwell

Garrett Craven

1929 - 2022

1933 - 2022

Mary Louise Yow Cole, age 92, of Asheboro passed away on Saturday, February 12, 2022 at Randolph Hospital.

Mrs. Cole was born in Asheboro on November 25, 1929 to James Arlie and Bessie Molene Trotter Yow. She was retired from AcmeMcCrary Corporation after 60 years of service. In addition to her parents, Louise was preceded in death by her husband, Clyde Coppedge Cole, sisters, Joanne Cranford and Mary Brantley Ludlum, and brother, Robert Yow. Louise was a very loving grandmother and sister. She loved to clean and cook!

She is survived by her son, Wayne Cole; grandson, Alexander Wayne Cole; sister, Betty Yow McMillon; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 1:00 pm in the Pugh Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Rick Davis officiating.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memorial Giving, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 or Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, 950 West Faris Rd., Greenville, SC 29605.

Angelika Froyd

Charles Dwight Whittington

1967 - 2022

1947 - 2022

Angelika Froyd, age 54, of Seagrove, passed away on February Ralph Lee Blackwell, age 74, 6, 2022 at Randolph Hospital . of Asheboro passed away on She was born in Berlin, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at Germany on May 5, 1967 and was the Randolph Hospice House. employed with Energy Solutions of Ralph was born in Spartanburg, Asheboro. Angelika was preceded SC on October 30, 1947. He was in death by her father: Joachim a graduate of Asheboro High Klatte; brother: Claus Dieter; and School. Ralph was formerly her oldest son: Robby Froyd. employed with Coca-Cola, Angelika is survived by her Harrelson Rubber, Pugh Funeral significant other and companion Home, Hedgecock Builders of 23 years, Timothy Smith of Supply, Stuart-Bowman Auto, the home; son, Timothy Smith, Strider Buick, and O’Reilly Auto Jr. of Seagrove; daughter, Jessica Parts. Ralph was preceded in death Garfinkle of Statesville; mother, by his parents, Bill and Guynell Gerlinde Klatte of Berlin, Germany.

Hunt and grandchildren, Anna Hunter and Silas Sechriest. Ralph enjoyed Carolina Tarheels basketball, spending time with his family, and going to the beach.

He is survived by his wife, Lorrie Blackwell; children, Candy Hunter (Ryan) of Asheboro, Carla Hardee of Sanford, Tripp Robinson (Stephanie) of Charlotte, and Tabitha Robinson of High Point; grandchildren, Madison Hardee, Jake Hunter, Asher Sechriest, Zoey and Noah Robinson, and Peyton Whitaker; and sister, Kim Presnell (Randy Nance) of Asheboro.

Garrett Craven passed away on February 11, 2022, at his home.

Mr. Craven was born on January 26, 1933, to parents Mary and Claude Craven. He served in the United States Army from 1954 until 1956, aiding overseas in Germany. Following his military service, he worked for many years at Walker Shoe Company, where he eventually retired.

Garrett was a lover of work and took great joy in helping others.

He was an outdoorsman and spent many years camping with his beloved wife.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Craven was preceded in death by his sisters, Edyth Craven and Sadie Swing, as well as his brothers, Ray Craven, Exton Craven, Seth Craven, Clotus Craven, Hollis Craven and Dempsey Craven.

He is survived by his wife, Peggy Craven; son, Richard Craven; sisters-in-law Rebecca Craven and Jo Harris; nephew Mitch Harris, and numerous other nieces and nephews.

1950 - 2022

Charles Dwight Whittington, age 71, of Franklinville passed away Sunday, February 13, 2022 at Moses Cone Hospital.

Dwight was a native of Randolph County and a self employed Sub Contractor to Vernon Wilson for many years. He supported Whitehall Evangelical Methodist Church. Dwight is preceded in death by his parents, Eugene and Hazel Whittington, sister, Patsy Fruitt, and brothers, Jerry and Harry Whittington.

Dwight is survived by his wife of 49 years, Jennie Burnett Whittington, sons: Michael and wife Linda Whittington of Asheboro, and Chris Whittington of Randleman; grandchildren: William, Marissa and Michael “Spike” Whittington; great grandchild, Serenity Whittington; sister, Mary Idol of Randleman; brother, Gene and wife Linda Whittington of Franklinville; half sister, Mary Frances Rigsby of Ellerbe and Diane Whittington of Randleman.

The family will receive friends Friday, February 18, 2022 at Whitehall Evangelical Methodist Church, from 1:00 -2:00 pm with the funeral service following at 2:00 pm with Rev. Harold Thompson officiating. The burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Whitehall Evangelical Methodist Church, 3335 Wesleyan Rd., Randleman, NC 27317.

Janet Trogdon Hoogkamp 1938 - 2022

Janice Marie Stutts 1959 - 2022

Sue Groce Glenn 1935 - 2022

Sue Groce Glenn passed away peacefully at her home Sunday morning, February 6, 2022, with her family by her side. Sue was a native of Randleman, NC. She attended Randleman High School, graduating with Class of 1953. Sue retired from Energizer, after 16 years of service.

Sue was preceded in death by her parents, J. Boyd & Eula Groce, brother Jimmy Groce (Bonnie), and her daughter n’ law, Rhena Glenn.

Sue is survived by her husband of 67 years, Bill Glenn, son, David Glenn, daughter, Starla Dawn Glenn. Granddaughter, Nikki Callicutt (Jeff), and three greatgranddaughter’s, Lauren, Taylor and Kathryn Callicutt. Aunt Sue was loved by many nieces and nephews. Snuggles, her 20 year old cat companion, will miss his “lap time” with Mother Sue. Sue loved working in her flower gardens and spending time in her kitchen with old and new recipes.

The family would like to thank Ann Yow-Hunt, and all the surrounding neighbors for their extended love, joy, and friendship to Sue throughout the years.

Thank you to Hospice of Randolph, for their exceptional care for Sue and her family.

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Janice Marie Parkerson Stutts, age 62 of Troy, passed away on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital after a lengthy illness.

Janice was born in Jacksonville FL on March 20, 1959 to the late Lowell B. Parkerson and Lataine Beauregard Parkerson of Georgia.

Janice enjoyed her career as an LPN for 20 years. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and daughter. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She loved Pepsi, watching NCIS, and Law and Order.

She enjoyed cooking things from scratch and always helping others.

She is survived by her husband of 25 years, James K. Stutts of Troy; daughters: Brooke Castaneda (Mario) of Asheboro, Kelly Kennedy (Dave) of Candor, Shannon Taylor (Jeffrey) of GA; grandchildren: Brynna Kennedy, Aiden Ayers, Connor Castaneda, Kayci Hood, Kayge Hood, Kyler Hood, Cheiss Crosby, and Paige Giddens; two great -grandchildren; mother: Lataine Parkerson of GA; brothers: Tony Parkerson, Benjie Parkerson, Michael Parkerson, and Lynn Meeks; sisters: Kathy Morlan and Beverly Mahurin. She was preceded in death by her daughter Mandi Dixon, father: Lowell Parkerson, and brother: Steve Parkerson.

A visitation will be held on Friday, February 18, 2022 from 5:00 PM WEDNESDAY to 7:00 PM at Pugh Troy Funeral Home, 211 N. Main St., Troy, NC. WEDNESDAY Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

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7.21.21 7.7.21 #3 #1

Martha Jeanette “Janet” Trogdon Hoogkamp went home to be with the Lord on February 5, 2022. Her loving and devoted husband of over six decades was at her side.

Mrs. Hoogkamp was born on May 2, 1938, to Ivan and Edith Trogdon. Her birthday was extra special to her family because she shared it with her older sister. She graduated from Seagrove High School in 1956. In October of the same year, she married Daniel 1932 – 2022 Hoogkamp. Over the course of her life she worked at Bossong Hosiery Lillian Elizabeth Allen Overton, Mill, General Electric, Olde age 89 of Troy, NC passed away on Monday, February 7, 2022 at Clapps Towne Deli and eventually retired from Randolph County Schools Nursing Center, Inc. in Pleasant after working in the cafeteria at Garden, NC. Southwest Middle School.

Lillian was born in Montgomery Janet was a true example of County to the late Causey William servanthood. For most of her adult Allen and Lula Russell Allen. She life, she took an active role in the was a graduate of High Point 1961 – 2022 church as a song leader, a member College earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Education. She was a 2nd of trios, quartets and choirs, and Gary “Putt-Putt” Wayne grade teacher for 32 years at Farmer looked forward to every cantata McKinnon, age 60, of Mt. Gilead, or special singing opportunity!

Elementary School in Randolph passed away on Saturday, February Her love for the Lord rang from County. She was a lifelong 5, 2022 at FirstHealth Moore every note that came from her member and pianist for Macedonia Regional Hospital, ,Pinehurst, NC. tenor voice. Once she and Danny United Methodist Church in Gary was born in Montgomery were both retired, they spent all Eldorado. Lillian enjoyed traveling County on July 3, 1961 to the late day on Mondays visiting shutwith her family and friends.

Thaddeus McKinnon and Peggy ins and nursing homes and even Lillian is survived by her Beane McKinnon. He loved his volunteering at Clapps Nursing husband of 65 years, Max Overton; dogs and loved coon hunting.

Home. daughters: Lydia Bulla (Don) of He is survived by his sister: Janet was preceded in death High Point and Julie McCaskill Kathy McKinnon Moody of Mt. by her parents, Ivan and Edith (Tim) of Biscoe; grandchildren: Gilead and great nephew Brandon (Varner) Trogdon, her sister, Nola Jessi, Gracie, Sara, Max, and Mary Eugene Chappell of the home. In Ann Smith, and her brother, Beth. In addition to her parents, addition he is survived by several Lillian was preceded in death by her Randall Ivan Trogdon. nieces and nephews and thirteen She is survived by her husband, siblings, Lula Belle Finlay, Howard great nieces and nephews.

Randolph Record for Wednesday, July Daniel Hoogkamp of Asheboro; Allen, and Robert Allen. sons, Wyatt (Jane) Hoogkamp Services for Lillian will be and Brad (Kim) Hoogkamp; private. daughter, Tina (Bruce) Williams; Memorials may be made to Randolph Record for Wednesday, July 7, 2021 grandchildren, Bethany Macedonia United Methodist (Wes) Adams, Brett (Natalie) Church, 4302 N.C. Hwy. 109N, Hoogkamp, Hunter (fiance, Cassi) Troy, NC 27371 Hoogkamp, Anna (Andrew) WEEKLY FORECAST Smith and Trapper Hoogkamp; great grandchildren, Maggie WEEKLY FORECAST Adams, Molly Adams, Tate Adams and Beckett Hoogkamp.

She captured the hearts of a number of beloved nieces, nephews and cousins!

Lillian Elizabeth Overton

Gary Wayne McKinnon

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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STATE & NATION

Border Patrol agents frustrated at working conditions, record encounters

By Ben Fox The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — A strained Border Patrol is getting increased attention from the Biden administration after tense meetings between senior officials and the rank and file while the agency deals with one of the largest spikes in illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border in decades.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Border Patrol, laid out 19 ways to address working conditions after frosty receptions by agents, said Chris Magnus, the new commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

Mayorkas also pledged in a memo to push for more prosecutions of people accused of assaulting CBP personnel in the course of their duties, an issue raised at a recent meeting in Laredo, Texas, and elsewhere, Magnus said.

“That’s something that agents in the field want to hear because assaults are on the uptick,” Magnus told The Associated Press. “We are not just seeing folks who are fleeing to the U.S. to get away from conditions. We are seeing smugglers, members of cartels, and drug organizations that are actively engaged in doing harm.”

Efforts to deal with working conditions for agents come as President Joe Biden has been criticized across the political spectrum over immigration. He has sought to reverse many policies of his predecessor but has come under fire over the situation at the border that could cause trouble for Democrats in the midterm elections.

PATRICK SEMANSKY | AP PHOTO

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus speaks during an interview in his office with The Associated Press, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington, D.C. CBP encountered migrants from all over the world about 1.7 million times along the U.S.-Mexico border last year, among the highest in decades. Magnus said the agents, and the administration, are just trying to manage a complicated situation.

“We’re seeing folks that are encountering political conditions and violence, unsafe conditions to live and work, at unprecedented levels,” the former police chief of Tucson, Arizona, said in an interview, the first since he was sworn in Friday. “We’ve seen, for example, in places, earthquakes or other en-

vironmental conditions. We’re seeing unprecedented levels of poverty. All of these are things that are in many ways, you know, pushing migrants again at high levels to this country.”

The administration has sought to address the cause of migration, including by increasing aid to Central America and re-starting a visa program that was ended under President Donald Trump. It has also sought assistance from other countries, including Mexico, to do more to stop or take in migrants.

As the overall numbers have increased, and the administration

has decided to allow many families to stay and seek asylum in a process that can take years, some Border Patrol agents have grown disenchanted as they spend their shifts processing and transporting people, not out in the field.

That frustration boiled over in Laredo as agents met late last month with Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who acknowledged morale was at an “alltime low,” according to a leaked video published by the Washington Examiner. One agent complained about “doing nothing” except releasing people into the United

States, referring to the practice of allowing migrants to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court.

At another meeting, in Yuma, Arizona, Mayorkas told agents he understood that apprehending families and children “is not what you signed up to do” and that their jobs were becoming more challenging amid an influx of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, according to video published by the conservative website Townhall.

One of the agents turned his back on the secretary.

Magnus has heard similar concerns raised in meetings. “I think it has been difficult for many of them who spent most of their careers or anticipated that their careers would be largely working in the field, on the border,” he said.

The commissioner declined to specify the 19 areas where Mayorkas “wants to see improvement,” because they have not been publicly released. But another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said they include expanding the role of a new class of civilian employees to add tasks such as transporting migrants to medical facilities so agents can return to other duties.

Another point calls for faster decisions on asylum cases at the border. Agents have expressed frustration that asylum-seekers are freed in the U.S., often for years, while their claims make their way through a system backlogged with about 1.6 million cases.

Magnus said he hopes to expand mental health services for agents and provide additional resources to help them and their families cope with a stressful job that requires them to move often.

“There is never one simple solution to addressing morale at any organization, but I absolutely appreciate the very challenging conditions that the men and women of the Border Patrol and CBP in general have been have been working under,” he said.

Largest US public power company launches new nuclear program

By Jennifer McDermott The Associated Press The largest public power company in the U.S. is launching a program to develop and fund new small modular nuclear reactors as part of its strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The board for the Tennessee Valley Authority authorized the program to assess moving forward with new nuclear technology, with up to $200 million to be spent for the first phase. The TVA wants the technology to be available to help power the grid in the 2030s if it proves cost-effective and necessary, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves. The board met at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The federally owned utility provides electricity to seven states. It has the first U.S. permit for a suitable site for small modular reactors in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the Clinch River Nuclear Site. By 2050, it hopes to hit its goal of net-zero emissions, which means the amount of greenhouse gases produced is no more than the amount removed from the atmosphere.

“Our objective isn’t to build one nuclear plant,” TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said in an inter-

MARK HUMPHREY | AP PHOTO

In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, a man fishes at William B. Ladd Park near the Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tenn. view. “Our objective is to reach net zero carbon, to support economy-wide decarbonization, and to do it at a price and a level of reliability that people can count on.

And this is a part of doing that.”

A recent Associated Press survey of the energy policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that a strong majority — about two-thirds — say nuclear, in one fashion or another, will help take the place of fossil fuels.

Roughly one-third of the states

and the District of Columbia have no plans to incorporate nuclear power in their green energy goals, instead leaning heavily on renewables to try to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet.

The split over nuclear power in U.S. states mirrors a similar debate unfolding in Europe, where countries including Germany are phasing out their reactors while others, such as France, are sticking with the technology or planning to build more plants.

Lyash said the TVA can reduce carbon emissions by about 80% using solar and wind power, existing nuclear plants and hydroelectric dams, and by reducing demand through energy efficiency efforts, without sacrificing reliable, resilient, low-cost power.

But the smaller nuclear reactors that companies are developing now are crucial to getting the rest of the way and increasing electricity production, along with other new technologies, he added. The utility now operates three nuclear plants — the nation’s third largest nuclear fleet — to supply more than 40% of the region’s energy.

Lyash told the board that for the Clinch River site, the TVA is focused on GE Hitachi’s design for a small modular reactor that uses light water like all U.S. commercial reactors. The TVA is also collaborating with Kairos Power to build a test reactor, a demonstration project that wouldn’t be for commercial use, in Oak Ridge.

The TVA had plans decades ago to build 17 large reactors at seven sites. The utility sank more than $8 billion in the 1970s and 1980s into 10 nuclear reactors that were canceled before they were finished — scrapping most of what then was the nation’s most costly and ambitious nuclear program.

Lyash said they’re now taking a far more conservative approach: They’re not launching into a program to build multiple reactors on multiple sites because they’ve learned many lessons over 50 years. If one reactor can’t be planned and built on schedule and on budget, they won’t scale up, he added.

The initial funding will be used for the design, licensing and project development to potentially build GE Hitachi’s reactor.

State-regulated utilities could face skepticism over the potential cost to customers of nuclear reactors, though. Two more-traditional large nuclear reactors being built in Georgia have more than doubled in overall cost, to more than $28 billion. Similar reactors that were under construction in South Carolina were scrapped, driving a utility to be sold in distress and resulting in a criminal conviction of the former CEO for fraud.

The NRC has approved just one of the new, small modular reactor designs: from an Oregon company called NuScale Power, in August 2020. Several other companies are planning to apply for their designs. That includes a project by Bill Gates’ company, TerraPower, in Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal-producing state.

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Stanly County Journal

STEVE LUCIANO | AP PHOTO

Hill, Bengals fall short in Super Bowl LVI Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard (94) and B.J. Hill (92), graduate of West Stanly High School, celebrate a play against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of Super Bowl 56, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, CA.

WHAT’S HAPPENING Hudson nominates students for U.S. Service Academies

Would allow open alcohol containers in designated zones

Stanly County U.S. Congressman Richard Hudson met with students from Cabarrus and Stanly counties recently to congratulate them on being nominated for U.S. Service Academies. The two Stanly County students were Liam Barbee, of Charlotte Catholic High School and The Loomis Chaffee School; and Ruby Eason, of South Stanly High School. Both Barbee and Eason were nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In a Feb. 14 press release, Hudson said, “Nominating students to a service academy is one of my most important duties.” The nominated students will hear from the academies within the next few weeks on whether they will be appointed to the schools.

SCJ

Teacher suspended after gun found in classroom Montgomery County A high school teacher was suspended without pay after a search of his classroom found a loaded gun, knives and ammunition.

Jason Hensley, 47, was suspended by Montgomery County Schools. A search of Hensley’s desk at Montgomery Central High School turned up a loaded .380-caliber handgun. An additional investigation of the classroom turned up concealed knives and ammunition. Hensley, who is a health-science teacher, is a part-time police officer with the town of Mount Gilead.

While he may have been in violation of school system policy, there was nothing illegal about having the gun in the classroom.

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20177 52016 $0.50

Albemarle moves forward on downtown ‘social district’

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By David Larson Stanly County Journal ALBEMARLE — In a recent meeting, the Albemarle City Council determined that planning for a “social district,” which would simplify alcohol permitting and regulation in certain downtown zones, can proceed.

“City council approved for me to move forward with implementation of a social district,” Joy Almond, Albemarle’s Main Street manager, told SCJ on Feb. 14.

She made clear, though, that this would not be fully approved until a public-input session and a city staff session were completed. After that, an ordinance draft would still need to be presented to and approved by the city council.

“We were just going through some questioning as to how we handled licensing through the ABC office,” Almond said on how restaurants and bars license for outdoor events that take place downtown. “Having that social district in place would eliminate those headaches of trying to figure

“There is no BYOB [bring your own beer] with a social district.”

Joy Almond, Albemarle’s Main Street manager out which businesses are responsible for licensing. So that was the driving force, at least for Albemarle, in terms of implementation of a social district.”

Almond said that these districts have been used successfully in other cities to simplify everything from big outdoor events to an average night of people socializing downtown. She cited Kannapolis as one local area that uses a social district for their downtown alcohol licensing.

“Basically, how it works is there is a boundary,” Almond said.

“That’s where most of the work is going to come into play, and where getting that input session and getting that public feedback is going to come into play, is establishing the boundary of the district or districts.”

She said that within the boundary, businesses will be allowed to

sell alcohol to consumers who do not plan on staying on premises. If there is music outside, or if they just want to talk with someone on the sidewalk, that is fine as long as they purchased the alcohol from one of the businesses within the boundary and it is consumed within the boundary. As Almond said, “There is no BYOB [bring your own beer] with a social district.”

“There’s also the matter of the beverage containers,” she said.

“You have to use a uniform beverage marker for every business that participates — whether they all have the same color cup or if it’s a sticker. I know that other places that have social districts, they’ll use their plastic cup and everyone has the same branded sticker where they write the date and time and stick it on the cup. So there’s a couple different options that we need to explore there as well.”

Another element that will be considered is the day and time.

She said that some places, like Kannapolis, allow their social district to operate seven-days-a week, but only during certain times of day. Other cities only allow certain days in general.

“That public input and getting

that feedback from our downtown stakeholders will determine and firm-up those dates and times that we would allow the social district to take place,” she said.

Almond said she plans on holding the public-input sessions in April but does not have a firm date set yet. But in terms of the feedback she is receiving so far, she says it is almost entirely positive.

“Overall, they’re favorable,” Almond said of initial feedback from establishments downtown. “I think that a lot of them see this as something that could be a potential economic driver for our downtown. So they seem to be, for the most part, pretty open to exploring this and implementing the social district.”

When asked if she’s received any negative feedback from those who may be worried about the impact of increased public drinking, she said, “Not really.” But Almond said she would speak with the police during the city staff sessions to see what their thoughts are, adding that “the police department will have a major role in enforcing the social district” and that other departments will be involved in putting up display signage.

“But overall, pretty much positive feedback as far as implementing the social district.” she said.

“People seem to be excited about it.”

Almond said she is also planning a field trip to Kannapolis to learn more about how they’ve implemented it, adding, “They have really invested in revitalization, and it shows.”

Two arrested following fatal shooting in Albemarle Stanly County Journal staff ALBEMARLE — On Saturday evening, a traffic stop in Albemarle resulted in the arrest of two people wanted in connection with a murder that occurred earlier that night.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Stanly County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a home at 21615 Singlewood Rd. after receiving a report of a shooting.

Upon arriving at the scene of the crime, responding officers located David Edward Perry, 42, who had been shot and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Detectives took out murder warrants for 53-year-old Watson Deondra Brooks, of Albemarle; and 51-year-old Sabrina Lavette Wallace, of Kannapolis, after obtaining evidence during the investigation process. Both Brooks and

Wallace were soon taken into custody during a traffic stop and then transported to the Stanly County Ralph McSwain Detention Center.

Brooks has been charged with first degree murder and is set to appear in court on Feb. 21. He is being held without bond.

In 2004, he was previously found guilty of two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon after robbing a restaurant employee who was attempting to leave work following a shift.

On Monday afternoon, Capt.

Chris Huneycutt of the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to SCJ that his staff met with the District Attorney’s Office to decide how to move forward with Wallace’s case. While she was initially given the same murder charge as Brooks, her charge has now been modified to an accesso-

ry-after-the-fact felony charge.

Now facing a $100,000 bond, Wallace had her first court appearance on Monday.

North Carolina state law dictates that an accessory-after-the-fact felony charge is applicable when a person knows that a felony was committed and acts specifically to aid or assist the felon. The charge also applies to those who give aid or assistance for the purpose of helping the felon avoid conviction or apprehension.

According to Huneycutt, the shooting on Saturday night stemmed from a verbal dispute between cousins Brooks and Perry until their argument escalated to an act of fatal violence. After the incident, it didn’t take long for officers to find Brooks and Wallace on the road.

“It was pretty cut and dry,”

“We were able to locate the vehicle, and we conducted a vehicle stop. They were both taken into custody without incident.”

Capt. Chris Huneycutt of the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office Huneycutt told SCJ. “We were able to locate the vehicle, and we conducted a vehicle stop. They were both taken into custody without incident.”

Anyone with any further details pertaining to this incident is advised to contact the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office at 704986-3714.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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The Associated Press BEIJING — First there was the explosive hip-hop beat drop, then a bold rap verse proclaiming, “The greatest of all time!”

It couldn’t have described Nathan Chen any better.

On the barren sheet of ice, matching the fierceness of that energy at the Beijing Olympics, was the typically reserved U.S. figure skater, wrapping up a near-perfect, gold-winning free skate to cap his historic run at the Winter Games.

As he flaunted through the last minute of his program at Capital Indoor Stadium with such joy and personality, it was clear the 22-year-old American’s diverse musical selections — in this case, a remixed, Elton John-heavy “Rocketman” medley of classic rock, pop, hip-hop and rap — marked a new, edgier dawn for winning performances.

“I’ve historically skated to pretty slower pace, more classical pieces, and so bringing in this faster pace (was) very exciting,” said Chen, a classically trained pianist who’s been spending his free time in Beijing strumming his Stratocaster.

“It was like, something that totally just made sense, and it was just so

much fun to skate to and practice.”

Traditional figure skating music is often classical or instrumental — Boléro, Swan Lake, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 — or expansive movie scores from films like “Gladiator,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Moulin Rouge.”

But the Beijing Olympics has witnessed the rise of more current, mainstream and offbeat music that first took hold four years ago in Pyeongchang, the first Winter Games in which lyrics were allowed. The eclectic mix of genres seen so far have produced a new tone in the most stylish of performances, which are being heavily rewarded by the judges.

Adam Rippon, a member of the American bronze medal team at the 2018 Olympics, called Chen’s performance a watershed moment for the sport and predicts that his soundtrack will inspire a new and different generation of athletes.

“It’s edgy, it’s fun, it’s young,” said Rippon, who helps to coach figure skater Mariah Bell, one of Chen’s closest friends on the American team. “When that hip-hop beat drops, he’s gotten through all the technical elements and he can just show off his personality and that changes your view of what you think skating is.”

WEEKLY CRIME LOG

♦ Sybil Jean Simpson Aldridge, 80, of Oakboro, died February 7.

♦ Wallace, Sabrina Lavette (B /F/51) Arrest on chrg of Accessory After The Fact (f) (F), at 126 South Third Street, Albemarle, NC, on 2/14/2022

♦ Blalock, Michael Lewis (W /M/60) Arrest on chrg of Assault With Deadly Weapon (m) (M), at 513 Jaycee Hut Rd, Norwood, NC, on 2/12/2022

♦ Williams, Crystal Dawn Efird (W /F/48) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F), 2) Simple Possess Sch Vi Cs (m) (M), and 3) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), at 28252 Flint Ridge Rd, Albemarle, NC, on 2/14/2022

♦ Wallace, Sabrina Lavette (B /F/51) Arrest on chrg of First Degree Murder (F), at 1135 E Main St/ arey Av, Albemarle, NC, on 2/12/2022

♦ Jeff Phylas Hartsell, 81, of Albemarle, died February 8. ♦ Judith Lynn Kimmell Cope, 81, of Locust, died February 8. ♦ Joyce Paul Mauldin, 76, of New London, died February 9. ♦ Grace Drye Simon, 64, of Albemarle, died February 9. ♦ Robert Allon Richardson, 80, of Albemarle, died February 10. ♦ Billie Butner Sherin, 79, of Albemarle, died February 10. ♦ Donald King Aldridge, 81, of Oakboro, died February 10. ♦ Randy Dwain Holt, 64, of Albemarle, died February 11. ♦ Lucille Gray Furr, 74, of Stanfield, died February 13. ♦ Peggy Sue Watson Edge, 81, of Albemarle, died February 13.

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Nathan Chen demonstrates new era of music in figure skating

DEATH NOTICES

♦ Mary Belle Stancil Grice, age 78, died February 8.

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♦ Rogers, Amber Michelle (W F, 22) Arrest on chrg of Identity Theft (M), at 781Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 02/12/2022 ♦ Suarez, Isrrael Lenin (W /M/43) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F) and 2) Dwlr Not Impaired Rev (M), at Hwy 49 At County Line, Albemarle, NC, on 2/14/2022 ♦ Allen, Leon (B /M/27) Arrest on chrg of Assault Phy Inj Detention Emp (F), at 126 South 3rd St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/13/2022 ♦ Hodge, Taylor John (W /M/34) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F), 2) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), and 3) Fta - Criminal Summons Or Citation (M), at Shell Station Locust, Locust, NC, on 2/13/2022

♦ Castillo, Daniel Enrique (U /M/39) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possession Of Controlled Sub Prison/jail (F), 2) Felony Possession Of Cocaine (F), 3) Simple Possess Sch Vi Cs (m) (M), 4) Fail Yld Stopsign/flsh Red Lgt (i) (M), 5) Flee/ elude Arrest W/mv (M), 6) Fail To Heed Light Or Siren (M), 7) Reckless Driving To Endanger (M), and 8) Speeding (M), at NC 24/27/ sam Furr Rd, Albemarle, NC, on 2/12/2022 ♦ Brooks, Watson Deondra (B /M/53) Arrest on chrg of First Degree Murder (F), at E 2nd St/arey St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/12/2022 ♦ Snuggs, Charles Eric (W /M/33) Arrest on chrg of Awdwikisi (F), at 126 South 3rd St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/11/2022 ♦ Hill, Christopher Lee (W /M/39) Arrest on chrg of Fail Register Sex Offender(f) (F), at 126 W South St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/11/2022

JAE C. HONG | AP PHOTO

Nathan Chen, of the United States, competes in the men’s free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing.

M, 20) Arrest on chrg of Possess Marijuana Up To 1/2Ounce, M (M), at 1224 Ridge St/park Ridge Rd, Albemarle, on 02/12/202 ♦ Osborne, Philiip Dean (W /M/53) Arrest on chrg of 1) Resisting Public Officer (M), 2) Possess Methamphetamine (F), 3) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), and 4) Impede Traffic Sit/stand/ lie (M), at 36824 Nc 8-49 Hwy, New London, NC, on 2/9/2022 ♦ Gibson, Joseph Logan (W /M/30) Arrest on chrg of 1) Felony Probation Violation (F) and 2) Felony Probation Violation (F), at 126 South Third St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/9/2022 ♦ Burleson, Joshua Brandon (W /M/30) Arrest on chrg of Child Abuse (m) (M), at 126 South 3rd St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/8/2022 ♦ Waldroup, Justin Wayne (W /M/36) Arrest on chrg of 1) Possess Methamphetamine (F), 2) Possess Marijuana Up To 1/2 Ounce (M), 3) Felony Possession Sch Ii Cs (F), 4) Possess Marijuana Up To 1/2 Ounce (M), 5) Simple Possess Sch Vi Cs (m) (M), 6) Possess Drug Paraphernalia (M), and 7) Felony Probation Violation (F), at St Martin Shell Station, Albemarle, NC, on 2/8/2022

♦ Earnhardt, Larry Wayne (W /M/41) Arrest on chrg of First Degree Burglary (F), at 24941 S.business 52, Albemarle, NC, on 2/13/2022

♦ Hill, Christopher Lee (W /M/39) Arrest on chrg of Indecent Liberties With A Child (F), at 126 South Third St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/10/2022

♦ Olsen, Bradley Matthew (W /M/36) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault On Female (M) and 2) Communicate Threats (M), at 38065 Nc Hwy 740, New London, NC, on 2/8/2022

♦ Morse, Marcus Kevin (W /M/46) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 44185 Dennis Rd, Albemarle, NC, on 2/13/2022

♦ Colson, Travis Devon (B /M/37) Arrest on chrg of Detainer (F), at 126 South Third St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/9/2022

♦ Britt, Blia Xiong (U F, 50) Arrest on chrg of Simple Assault (M), at 126 South 3rd St,Albemarle, on 02/08/2022

♦ Beachum, Robert Dillon (W /M/24) Arrest on chrg of Intoxicated And Disruptive (M), at 245 Allenton St, Norwood, NC, on 2/9/2022

♦ Fleming, Joseph Ryan (W M, 23) Arrest on chrg of Possess Stolen Motor Vehicle (F),at 100 Rock Creek Dr, Albemarle, on 02/08/2022

♦ Kendall, Devan Lamar (B

♦ Barona, Carlos (W M, 45)

♦ Robbins, Bobby Randall (B /M/57) Arrest on chrg of Possess Heroin (F), at 209 Us 52 North/efird St, Albemarle, NC, on 2/13/2022

Arrest on chrg of Felony Conspiracy (F), at 781 LeonardAv, Albemarle, on 02/13/2022 ♦ Thompson, Jeffery Allen (W M, 18) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 1246E Cannon Av, Albemarle, on 02/ ♦ Bruer, Robert Harold (W M, 47) Arrest on chrg of Uttering Forged Instrument, F (F),at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 02/09/2022 ♦ Little, David Levander (B M, 35) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female, M (M), at 140Coggins Av, Albemarle, on 02/09/2022 ♦ Bruer, Robert Harold (W M, 47) Arrest on chrg of Obtain Property False Pretense (F),at 126 S Third St, Albemarle, on 02/09/2022 ♦ Allen, Jennifer Nicole (W F, 43) Arrest on chrg of Uttering Forged Instrument, F (F),at 126 S Third, Albemarle, on 02/10/2022 ♦ Talbert, Derek Ryan (W M, 32) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 609Parker St, Albemarle, on 02/12/2022. ♦ Terhune, Daniel Dupres (W M, 32) Arrest on chrg of Simple Possess Sch Vi Cs (m),M (M), at 633 Wall St/ thomas St, Albemarle, on 02/12/2022 ♦ Collins, Jeremiah Samuel (W M, 45) Arrest on chrg of Felony Possession Of Cocaine(F), at 804 Coble Av/nc 24-27 Bypass W, Albemarle, on 02/13/2022 ♦ Vazquez, Roberto Pascual (W M, 31) Arrest on chrg of Obtain Property FalsePretense, F (F), at 781 Leonard Av, Albemarle, on 02/13/202 ♦ Oxendine, Kissy Dewrene (B F, 44) Arrest on chrg of Habitual Larceny (F), at 1139Gibson St/arey Av, Albemarle, on 02/13/2022

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

OPINION Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON

Rules for thee but not for me

It’s time to scrap these mandates and give parents the freedom to choose what’s best for their children.

THIS HAS BECOME A common theme for too many politicians who want to control your life. From mayors to governors to the president, these hypocrites who want to force mandates on you are being caught violating those very policies.

The latest example came last week from activist and perennial candidate for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams. During an elementary school visit, Abrams was photographed maskless while surrounded by children forced to keep their masks on. Abrams initially claimed she only removed her mask for a photo, until other pictures showed her maskless throughout the school. She since called the episode a “mistake.”

To be clear, making a mistake is understandable. We are all human.

What is wrong, however, is the double standard applied to mandatepushing politicians like Stacey Abrams.

On Thursday, for example, just one day before Abrams’ classroom photo shoot, a 12-year-old student in our community decided not to wear his mask to school, with support from his dad. The student explained his difficulty breathing in a mask, especially when forced to wear it even while running during gym class. Guess what — the student was written up and kicked out for insubordination.

After the student’s father appealed the decision, the school lowered its infraction. I am glad that since this news broke, the Cabarrus County School Board voted to make masks optional. However, too many students continue to face severe consequence in the face of mask mandates.

In Cumberland County, the school board also voted last week to make masks optional. However, the decision was blocked by a Cumberland County Health Department’s order which requires masks indoors. On Friday, I requested the health director immediately revise the order so the school board’s decision for optional masks can proceed.

As a member of Congress, and most importantly as a dad of a kindergartner, I am as frustrated by these mandates as many of you.

I’m frustrated because throughout the pandemic, bureaucrats lectured us to just “follow the science.” Well thankfully, two years into

this pandemic, we now have science behind masking and the impacts of COVID-19 on children.

First, we have learned that COVID, and especially the Omicron variant, do not pose an extreme threat to children. Second, we have learned from the CDC that cloth masks are not effective, and instead proper ventilation is critical to limit spread in a classroom. Third, mask mandates are impacting our student’s development and contributing to a skyrocketing mental-health crisis among children and teens.

What we have also known all along is how important it is for children to see faces and lips to develop. Even the World Health Organization acknowledges this. Yet even with this data, many school mask mandates remain in place.

One thing is certain — keeping our kids safe should be everyone’s top priority. This is why Congress has approved nearly $200 billion for schools to respond to the pandemic. Every school should now have the resources it needs to keep kids safe and in school — without mask mandates.

As many school districts and leaders continue to ignore the actual science and consequences of long-term masking, I cosponsored the Unmask Our Kids Act. This commonsense bill directs federal education funding only to school districts that provide in-person education and allow parents to opt their children out of mask mandates. If parents want their child to wear a mask at school, that should also be their option.

Unfortunately, last week House Democrats blocked consideration of my bill, even as governors from both parties begin to drop mandates across the country.

I will continue fighting for the Unmask Our Kids Act and other commonsense solutions that respect science and protect children.

Too many politicians like Stacey Abrams who have violated their own mandates have forgotten that parents also have rights. It’s time to scrap these mandates and give parents the freedom to choose what’s best for their children. If it’s good enough for the politicians, it’s good enough for our kids.

COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE

Lamentations about redistricting ending democracy prove hypocritical — and wrong In contrast, the Republicanmajority Ohio Supreme Court has overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

MASKS WERE NECESSARY, especially in schools, to prevent mass deaths. Or so we were told, at great and tedious length — until suddenly, in the last 10 days, they weren’t.

The Democratic governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and California followed the lead of the newly-installed Republican governor of Virginia and revoked mask mandates. Or until, if I may say so, my Washington Examiner column last week titled “Returning to normalcy on school masks.”

Let’s pivot now to another subject on which liberal commentators were raising alarms. Getting rid of gerrymandering, they claimed, was necessary to preserve democracy and prevent its overthrow by the forces of repression and one-party dictatorship.

It turns out that those alarms are suddenly, to borrow a Watergate word, inoperative. The turning point may have come last week when David Wasserman, the Cook Political Report’s ace redistricting honcho, tweeted that his state-by-state accounting showed Democrats with a two- to threeseat gain in U.S. House redistricting in the cycle following the 2020 census.

So much for the lamentations, coming from Democrats such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, that Republican redistricting would guarantee one-party control for another decade or even, according to leftwing tweeters, forever. Republicans control legislatures and governorships in states with more House districts than Democrats. But they are failing to make the redistricting gains they did following the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

Why haven’t things been panning out that way?

One reason is that Democratic redistricters have been more ruthless than Republicans, starting with Illinois and its early filing deadline on March 14. Democrats drew “bacon-strip” districts heading 100 miles out from Chicago wards to the open prairie and downstate districts that stitch together small factory or university towns along highway rights of way.

They increased Democrats’ edge from 13-5 to 14-3.

New York Democrats did even better. Their edge went from 19-8 to 224, thanks to a plan that linked conservative Staten Island with Brooklyn’s trendy Park Slope and gave House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler a district that snakes from the palisades of Upper Manhattan to the beaches of Bensonhurst.

This seems in violation of New York law, but those familiar with how New York courts handle election law, such as Wasserman, have little doubt it will stand. Similarly, the Democratic-majority North Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a Republican redistricting plan based on the court’s 2019 criteria on an entirely inconsistent theory.

“Heads I win, tails you lose.”

In contrast, the Republican-majority Ohio Supreme Court has

overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

Texas Republican legislators concentrated on strengthening Republican incumbents rather than ousting Democrats.

You see similar inconsistency in interpreting the Voting Rights Act. Black politicians and Republican strategists long argued that it required maximizing the number of majority-Black districts, which resulted in electing more Black members and in strengthening Republicans in adjacent districts. Democrats taking that view prevailed in federal court in challenging Alabama’s districts, a decision stayed last week pending full review by the Supreme Court.

But in other cases, Democrats have argued that the act requires only a large percentage of Black voters, an arrangement that tends to elect more Democrats. It’s possible that the Supreme Court in the Alabama case may clear up the muddle of current Voting Rights Act jurisprudence that has been exploited by both parties.

The creation of purportedly nonpartisan redistricting commissions — a favorite proposal of those few liberals, like the Washington Post editorialists, who lament partisan redistricting — doesn’t end partisan gerrymanders. Democrats have succeeded in gaming supposedly neutral commissions this cycle in California (52 districts), Michigan (13) and New Jersey (12).

Those who have lamented that partisan redistricting means oneparty control do have some historic precedent for their argument. As I documented in successive editions of “The Almanac of American Politics,” Democrats’ partisan redistricting helped them maintain majorities in the House of Representatives from the Supreme Court’s one-person, one-vote decision in 1964 through 1992.

That hasn’t worked for Republicans. Starting in 1995, neither party has maintained majorities over a 10-year intercensal period. Political realignments have frustrated even the most ruthless redistricters and may do so again. The waning prominence of Donald Trump may turn some affluent districts who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 Republican again. Or the post-Biden emergence of someone like the 1992 Bill Clinton may turn some populist Trump 2020 districts once again Democratic. Or voters could start splitting their tickets again.

My prediction is that by 2030, masking of schoolchildren will be seen as a vestige of a remote and superstitious past, and that the partisan redistrictings of political parties and “apolitical” commissions alike will have been rendered nugatory by the voters.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics.

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Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT NHL

Eichel to make Vegas debut Wednesday Las Vegas Jack Eichel will make his debut with the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, playing for the first time since being acquired from Buffalo and since he became the first NHL player to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck in November. Eichel, 25, was acquired on Nov. 4 in a trade with Buffalo for a package including forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. Then he had surgery on Nov. 12 and began practicing with the Golden Knights on Jan. 11.

TENNIS

Djokovic could skip French Open, Wimbledon London Novak Djokovic said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he is prepared to skip the French Open and Wimbledon if vaccination against the coronavirus is required for him to play.

Speaking to the BBC, the 20-time Grand Slam champion said he is not vaccinated and added that missing the next two majors and other tournaments is “the price that I am willing to pay. … I understand the consequences of my decision. I understand that not being vaccinated today, you know, I am unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment.”

NBA

Cavs’ Allen named All-Star replacement for Harden Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will replace an injured James Harden at this year’s All-Star Game in Cleveland and give the Cavaliers two All-Stars for the first time since 2018.

Allen’s strong second season with the Cavs has helped push them among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The 6-foot10 Allen was rewarded Monday by being chosen to take Harden’s place by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Allen will join teammate Darius Garland for this year’s event at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Both will play for Team LeBron (James), which will be coached by Phoenix’s Monty Williams.

GOLF

Scheffler wins Phoenix Open playoff for first win Scottsdale, Ariz.

Scottie Scheffler made a 25-foot birdie putt on the third hole of Sunday’s playoff with Patrick Cantlay to win the WM Phoenix Open for his first PGA Tour title. Scheffler closed with a 4-under 67 to match Cantlay at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale. Cantlay, playing a group ahead of Scheffler, had a bogey-free 67. Scheffler broke through in his 71st tour start. Before Sunday, the 25-year-old former Texas star’s biggest highlight was beating Jon Rahm in September in the United States’ Ryder Cup victory.

GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO

Coach Hubert Davis has the Tar Heels on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in his first season in Chapel Hill.

Bubble watch: Memphis rounding into form at right time UNC has won six of seven to make its case for a bid The Associated Press THE KNOCK ON Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.

The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.

Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston on Saturday. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier in the week and have won five straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.

“We came in locked and focused all week,” Hardaway said. “I was trying to keep the guys focused on Tulane, but I could tell they were antsy to get to this game because Houston has been the standard in our league.”

Hardaway has secured some of

the nation’s best recruiting classes during his four seasons in Memphis but has yet to turn all that talent into consistent results.

Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament in each of Hardaway’s first three seasons despite winning at least 20 games in each.

The Tigers entered this season with plenty of hype, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 and with a roster that included the nation’s top recruiting class.

Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.

Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (14-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars’ 37-game home winning streak.

There’s still work to do, but the

34 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances for UNC in its history, tied with UCLA for the second most to Kentucky’s 44 Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.

RISING FAST Rutgers (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten). An overtime loss to Northwestern hurt the Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament chances, but three straight wins over ranked opponents was massive.

North Carolina (18-7, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels were blown out by rival Duke but have won six of seven, including a blowout of Florida State. Avoid any big slipups and

Russian figure skater Valieva dodges doping disqualification The 15-year-old women’s figure skating favorite failed a pre-Olympics drug test The Associated Press BEIJING — Russian teenager Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics despite failing a preGames drug test, setting her up for an attempt at a second gold medal.

Whatever happens on the ice, Valieva will not get a medal ceremony moment in Beijing. Nor will any skater who finishes in the top three with her.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Valieva to skate less than 12 hours after a hastily arranged hearing that lasted into early Monday morning. A panel of judges ruled that the 15-yearold Valieva, the favorite for the women’s individual gold, does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation.

The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she is a minor, known in Olympic jargon as a “protected person,” and is subject to different rules from an adult

BERNAT ARMANGUE | AP PHOTO

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete in the women's individual competition despite failing a drug test.

athlete.

“The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said.

Now, Valieva and her fellow Russian skaters can aim for the first podium sweep of women’s

figure skating in Olympic history. The event starts with the short program Tuesday and concludes Thursday with the free skate.

The International Olympic Committee said Monday afternoon that if Valieva finishes in the top three, there will be no medal ceremony during the Games.

There will also be no ceremony for

they could find themselves in the bracket in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach.

Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference). The Vols have bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to No. 5 Kentucky with seven straight SEC wins. Tennessee gets another shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday.

FADING HOPES Oregon (16-7, 9-3 Pac-12). The Ducks typically get better as the season progresses under coach Dana Altman. That appeared to be the case when Oregon reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, but a lackluster 78-64 loss to California on Saturday may have put it back on the edge of the bubble.

Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten).

A win over then-No. 2 Purdue was a huge boost. The Wolverines followed that up with a loss to No. 16 Ohio State. A team that was once No. 4 in the country, Michigan may need a strong finish to the season to get into the field of 68.

Iowa State (16-,9 3-9 Big 12).

Once 12-0, the Cyclones are now last in the Big 12 and on a fourgame losing streak after an overtime loss to Kansas State. They need to get it turned around in a hurry to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.

the team event won by Valieva and the Russian team a week ago.

“It would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony,” the IOC said.

Valieva landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics as the Russian team won gold in a dominant performance.

The decision not to award medals also affects Nathan Chen and the rest of the second-place American team, who will leave Beijing unsure if they won silver or gold.

It would be Chen’s second gold of the Games. If Valieva and Russia are disqualified, Japan moves up to silver and Canada wins bronze.

“We are devastated that they will leave Beijing without their medals in hand, but we appreciate the intention of the IOC to ensure the right medals are awarded to the right individuals,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

Valieva tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on Dec. 25 at the Russian nationals, but the result from a Swedish lab didn’t come to light until a week ago, after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team gold.

The Valieva case means Russian doping has been a major theme for a six straight Olympic Games.

“This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport

by Russia,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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Slafkovsky, 17, among standout Albemarle girls cruise to home win over stars in hockey at Olympics Knights Former Hurricanes forward Lucas Wallmark has been among the top players in Beijing

The Bulldogs won 55-28 for their fourth straight win

The Associated Press BEIJING — The best player so far in the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics is also the youngest.

Juraj Slafkovsky of Slovakia is six weeks away from his 18th birthday and already drawing comparisons to Jaromir Jagr.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound forward is tied for the most goals at the Olympics with four. Slovakia coach Craig Ramsay said Slafkovsky actually reminds him of New York Islanders great and Hall of Famer Clark Gillies.

“He’s big and he’s strong, he skates well and he’s a great kid,” Ramsay said. “Slavy has the obvious advantage that he’s so big and strong, but he has good feet. He’s not just a slug that’s big. He can skate, he can jump, he can handle the puck and now that he’s shooting the puck a little bit more, you’re starting to see some good things happen.”

Slafkovsky, U.S. forward Sean Farrell and Sweden center Lucas Wallmark have been the standout stars of the tournament so far. Wallmark, a 2014 draft of the Carolina Hurricanes who played parts of four seasons in Raleigh, matched Slafkovsky in goals, and Farrell leads the Olympics with six points.

“I feel good,” said Farrell, who plays at Harvard. “I’ve found chemistry with my linemates, (Noah) Cates and (Ben) Meyers, right away, and I think we’ve been playing well 5-on-5 and causing a lot of havoc in the O-zone and fortunately we’ve been able to bury our chances.”

Farrell has scored on all three of his shots on goal. Ramsay is just happy that Slafkovsky — who is projected to be a top-10, if not a top-five, pick in the NHL Draft this summer — is putting the

MATT SLOCUM | AP PHOTO

Former Hurricanes forward Lucas Wallmark celebrates after scoring a goal for Sweden against Latvia during last week’s preliminary round game at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“I’m just trying to find the net, and when you’re playing with good players, it makes it a lot easier.”

Former Hurricanes forward Lucas Wallmark on his success at the Olympics with Sweden puck on net instead of deferring.

Through the first three games, Slafkovsky had all of Slovakia’s goals.

“Before the tournament, if someone would tell me that I would score even one or two goals, I would laugh,” Slafkovsky said. “But actually it’s happening, and I’m pretty happy.”

While Slafkovsky has surprised himself, Ramsay expect-

ed this kind of performance from the 17-year-old. Put Slovakia general manager Miroslav Satan in the impressed department.

“I am enjoying his game,” said Satan, who scored scored nine goals in eight games at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics as a 19-year-old. “He’s two years younger than I was at my first Olympics. It was about time he’s showing he can be a goal scorer.”

So is Wallmark, who scored only 24 goals in 204 NHL regular season and playoff games with Carolina, Florida and Chicago.

Three of his four at the Olympics have come on the power play.

“I didn’t play that much power play over there, so of course that helps,” Wallmark said. “Just trying to get open and want the puck in the offensive zone. I’m just trying to find the net, and when you’re playing with good players, it makes it a lot easier.”

ingen had a team-high eight points for Gray Stone, and freshman Mary Church posted six points.

With the regular season finBy Jesse Deal ished, the Yadkin Valley ConStanly County Journal ference postseason tournament ALBEMARLE — The Al- was set to begin Tuesday with the bemarle varsity girls’ basket- championship game scheduled ball team jumped to an early for Friday.

The top two teams in the con11-point lead over the Gray Stone Day Knights and didn’t look ference, No. 1 North Stanly (18-2, back, closing out its regular sea- 10-0) and No. 2 Albemarle, each son schedule with a 55-28 home received first-round byes, while No. 3 Mount Pleasant win on Friday.

(9-12, 5-5) was sched“Overall, we were uled to play No. 6 Union pretty good,” AlbeAcademy (3-18, 0-10) marle coach Eric Daand No. 4 Robinson (8vis said. “We came out “We came 13, 4-6) hosted No. 5 flat in the second half, out flat in Gray Stone. but we’re a really good The semifinals and fidefensive team and we the second nals will both be played keep getting better.” half, but at Mount Pleasant — Star freshman point North Stanly is set to guard Amari Baldwin we’re a face the winner of Robscored a game-high 22 really good inson and Gray Stone points for the Bulldogs defensive on Wednesday at 6 (16-6, 7-3 Yadkin Valp.m., while Albemarle ley), who have won four team and we will meet with the winconsecutive contests keep getting ner of Mount Pleasant and six of their last sevbetter.” and Union Academy on en.

Thursday at 6 p.m.

“She’s been doing In the YVC’s boys’ that all season and she’s Eric Davis, bracket, No. 1 Robinbeen extremely conson (20-3, 12-0) is the sistent in averaging 19 Albemarle points,” Davis said of girls’ basketball only team with a firstround bye. Three games Baldwin. “For her being coach were scheduled for Tuesa freshman, she’s done a day: No. 2 North Stanlot this year — it comes ly (17-6, 10-2) hosted No. very natural here.”

Baldwin scored 10 of her team’s 7 Gray Stone (0-18, 0-12), No. 3 15 points in the second quarter, Mount Pleasant (14-9, 8-4) hostcreating most of her shots with ed No. 6 Union Academy (5-19, a half-court steal followed by a 3-9), and No. 4 Albemarle hosted quick layup. Freshman Jasmine No. 5 South Stanly (5-19, 4-8).

Robinson will play the winner Brown added nine points and Albemarle freshman Bianca Robin- of Albemarle and South Stanly on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., while son had seven.

The Knights (8-10, 4-6 YVC) the winners of the other two firstbegan the second half trailing 31- round contests meet on Thurs11 and managed to keep up with day at 7:30 p.m. The boys’ tourthe Bulldogs the rest of the game nament bracket will conclude but were unable to make up any with a Friday night championship ground. Sophomore Mylee Swar- matchup at 7:30 p.m.

MATT ROURKE | AP PHOTO

Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp eyes a pass in the end zone as Bengals cornerback Eli Apple attempts to cover him during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Kupp caps triple crown season with Super Bowl MVP The Rams receiver led the NFL in receptions, yards receiving and receiving touchdowns

The Associated Press INGLEWOOD, Calif. — When Cooper Kupp walked off the Super Bowl field three years ago with an injured knee that didn’t allow him to play, he said he had a vision of coming back and winning the MVP. “It was as clear as day,” Kupp said. “I turned around before walking back through the tunnel and it just hit me. It was as clear as I can see right now. Pretty incredible.”

Incredible describes Kupp’s play all season as he capped off his triple crown performance in fitting fashion with a Super Bowl MVP award after carrying the Los Angeles Rams on the final drive.

Kupp beat Eli Apple for a back-shoulder 1-yard touchdown catch with 1:25 remaining to give the Rams their first Super Bowl title ever in Los Angeles with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.

“I just don’t feel deserving of this,” Kupp said. “I’m just so thankful for the guys I get to be around, for the coaches, for my family. I just don’t have words, I’m just so thankful for everyone, everyone that’s been in my life and has encouraged me, has

pushed me, has been there for me every step of the way.”

The Rams put together the game-winning drive after barely being able to move the ball in their first seven drives after Kupp’s running mate Odell Beckham Jr. went down with a knee injury. That allowed the Bengals to focus their coverage on Kupp and slow him down, but the Rams didn’t care when the game was on the line.

“That’s hard work, that’s hours together,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “I just thank Coach (Sean McVay) for putting it ... ‘Hey, Matthew, you and Coop go get this thing done.’ He kept calling plays for him, kept finding ways to get him the ball. He made unbelievable

plays, that’s what he does.”

Kupp caught four passes for 39 yards on the game-winning drive, converted a fourth-and-1 with a 7-yard run and drew three penalties near the goal line to set the stage for his game-winning catch. It was a fitting end to one of the greatest seasons and postseason runs ever for a wide receiver.

Kupp joined Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992) and Steve Smith (2005) as the only players since the merger to lead the NFL in receptions, yards receiving and receiving yards in the same season when he had 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns to win the AP Offensive Player of the Year.

The performance in the Super

Bowl was just as good when he had eight catches for 92 yards and the two TDs to go along with his key run. About the only thing Kupp didn’t do came when he missed Stafford on a pass on a trick play in the second half.

It’s quite a ride for someone who played his college ball at lower-level Eastern Washington before coming into the NFL as a third-round pick in 2017.

“I don’t really think about it. It was part of my journey,” Kupp said about becoming a star after getting no scholarship offers coming out of high school. “I don’t have any regrets or feel any grudge toward anyone. I’m just thankful for the path that I’ve been on.”

6

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

NC court overturns conviction on racial bias in picking jury

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Supreme Court overturned the robbery conviction of a black man on Friday, determining that prosecutors wrongly blocked a potential juror from his trial based on racial bias.

The 4-3 ruling marks the first time in state history, according to legal authorities, that a criminal conviction was invalidated because of a prosecutor’s unlawful exclusion of a black juror through a process developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986.

“We are so relieved to see our state’s highest court finally acknowledge this important violation of civil rights,” said Elizabeth Hambourger with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, calling the discrimination against black jurors “rampant “ in the state. She argued for defendant Christopher Anthony Clegg in a lower court and assisted with the appeal.

In 2016, the jurors hearing Clegg’s criminal trial found him guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon. Now 27, Clegg served more than four years in prison and completed parole in August, according to correction records.

Clegg’s case hinged on the use of what’s called a “Batson challenge” because Clegg’s counsel believed during his trial that two poten-

N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls is shown in this photo from the N.C. Judicial Branch

tial female jurors — both black — were dismissed by prosecutors due to their race. When a judge accepts such a challenge, the prosecutor then must present a “race-neutral” reason for dismissal.

According to Friday’s ruling, the two black jurors were among only three people of color within a prospective jury pool of 22 for Clegg’s trial. He was accused of robbing a Wake County sweepstakes parlor in 2014 while pointing a gun at an employee’s stomach and on her neck.

One potential juror, Gwendolyn Aubrey, was excluded by a prosecutor who cited her body language and a lack of eye contact. The prosecutor also mentioned her answer of “I suppose” in response to a question asking whether she could be fair and impartial.

Analyzing the challenge of the two jurors’ dismissals, Wake Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ruled that Clegg’s counsel had failed to establish that race was a significant factor in the peremptory strikes.

The state Court of Appeals upheld Ridgeway’s decision in 2017, even when it was made clear that a prosecutor had mischaracterized in court the interaction with Aubrey. According to the court transcript, she actually had responded “I suppose,” to the question of whether she was confident that she could focus on the trial.

At first, the state Supreme Court told the trial court to reexamine the challenges in light of a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

In 2019, Ridgeway declared that the two race-neutral justifications against Aubrey failed scrutiny, citing in part the prosecutor’s “misremembering” of the question. But still the judge said he couldn’t conclude that the state had “engaged in ‘purposeful discrimination.’”

Associate Justice Robin Hudson, writing Friday’s prevailing opinion, said Ridgeway got it wrong by holding Clegg to an “improperly high burden of proof.”

The judge also should have better considered the disparate questioning between white and Black potential jurors, according to Hudson. Aubrey was the only one among 15 who received follow-up questioning about an ability to focus on the case.

Associate Justice Anita Earls wrote another opinion, saying she also would have overturned the preemptive strike from the jury pool of the other black juror. The state had justified removing her in part because of her previous employment at a state mental hospital. Clegg had mental health issues, her opinion says.

“When racial bias infects jury

selection, it is an affront to individual dignity and removes important voices from the justice system,” Earls wrote.

The court’s three Republican justices said they would have upheld Ridgeway’s ruling, which in turn would have left the conviction intact.

Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr., a former district attorney writing the dissenting opinion, said the majority refused to give deference to Ridgeway, who as a trial judge was uniquely positioned to review the evidence. Instead, Berger wrote, the other four justices jumped to the wrong conclusion based on the prosecutor’s mistaken comments about the question to Aubrey.

“The mistaken explanation provided by the prosecutor cannot, by definition, be purposeful discrimination,” Berger wrote, adding there was no doubt to Clegg’s guilt.

Earls’ opinion cited a 2016 law review article that said the state Supreme Court had adjudicated 81 claims of criminal defendants alleging racial discrimination against minority jurors since 1986. None of the cases had resulted in a Batson violation. Earls said that had still been the case until Friday.

Hambourger, the lawyer who assisted Clegg, said late Friday in an interview that she wasn’t immediately aware of any recourse Clegg could take to address the prison sentence he served. While the conviction was vacated, she said, the Wake County district attorney still would have to formally act to dismiss charges against Clegg.

From campus to Congress, colleges urged to end legacy boost

By Collin Binkley The Associated Press AMERICA’S ELITE colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least.

Ivy League students are pressing administrators to abandon the policy. Yale’s student government took a stance against the practice in November. A recent vote of Harvard students found that 60% oppose it. Hundreds of students and alumni across 30 colleges have promised to withhold financial donations over the issue.

Civil rights groups are increasingly adding their support, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which is tackling legacy preferences as part of a campaign against what it calls “systematic racism.”

And a bill in Congress aims to eliminate the practice.

The proposal from Democrats would outlaw preferences for children of alumni or donors at colleges that receive federal money. It’s being pushed by the party’s progressive wing but has gained support from some conservative activists who want college admissions to be based on merit alone.

Legacy preferences give an extra boost to predominantly white and wealthy legacy students, while “leaving out millions of black and brown kids,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a sponsor.

“There has been a shift in the consciousness of the country around issues of inequity and inequality,” Bowman said in an interview. “There’s a real yearning to right the wrongs of our past.”

In the heavily guarded world

CHARLES KRUPA | AP PHOTO

A gate opens to the Harvard University campus, on Dec. 13, 2018, in Cambridge, Mass. of college admissions, it’s hard to know exactly how many legacy students get a nudge. But at some of the most selective colleges, students with family ties make up 10% to 20% of the latest incoming class, according to data released by colleges in response to an Associated Press request.

On many campuses, the opposition is being led by students of color and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

They say legacy status is one more advantage for students who are already more likely to have access to tutoring, test prep and other help applying to college.

Many prestigious colleges defend legacy admissions, saying it helps build an alumni community and encourages donations. Officials at Harvard and other schools argue that legacy status is just one of many factors considered in admissions, along with grades, test scores and pursuits outside school.

At most, they say, it can provide a slight tip in a student’s favor.

Still, two colleges have ended the practice recently, giving opponents hope that others will follow.

Amherst College in Massachusetts dropped the policy in October, saying it “inadvertently limits educational opportunity.” Johns

Hopkins University announced in 2020 that it had phased out legacy preferences. Since then, the school has drawn growing numbers of black and Hispanic students, along with those from low-income families.

The pushback against legacy preferences is advancing amid a broader debate over fairness in college admissions.

Last month the Supreme Court agreed to review whether colleges can consider applicants’ race as a way to expand diversity. The court will take up lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chap-

el Hill discriminate against Asian American applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic students.

In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, the conservative strategist behind those suits voiced support for the Democrats’ bill against legacy benefits. In a statement, Edward Blum said too many colleges “lower the admissions bar for the children of their alumni.”

Most schools are not required to disclose how many legacy students they enroll, and many keep it private. Among the nation’s 30 most selective colleges, only eight provided basic data on the subject in response to an AP request.

At those colleges, the share of legacy students in this year’s freshman class averaged 12%. The lowest share was at Rice University in Houston, where 4% of this year’s first-year class had legacy status.

The University of Notre Dame said legacy students have averaged 23% of the student body over the past decade.

Student activists say they continue to face resistance from school leaders who defend the policy. But at a time of rising populism in the United States, colleges are unlikely to find allies in Congress and other halls of power, said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank in Washington.

Especially in the wake of the Varsity Blues admissions scandal, he said, it’s becoming more difficult for colleges to defend policies that benefit the wealthy.

“They are clearly vulnerable on this issue,” he said.

In the wake of that scandal, Colorado became the first state in the nation to outlaw legacy preferences at public colleges. California lawmakers required colleges to disclose how many legacy students get accepted.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

7

obituaries

Peggy Sue Watson Edge

July 7, 1940 – February 13, 2022 Peggy Sue Watson Edge, 81, of Albemarle, passed away Sunday, February 13, 2022 at Atrium Health Stanly. Her funeral service will be 2pm Thursday, February 17, 2022 at West Albemarle Baptist Church with Rev. Adam Hatley officiating.

Burial will follow in Stanly Gardens of Memory.

Mrs. Edge was born July 7, 1940 in Mitchell County, NC to the late Carol Watson and Gertie Watson. She retired from Stanly County Schools as an Assistant Manager for Central Elementary School Cafeteria. Peggy enjoyed bird watching and loved spending time with her family.

Peggy was preceded in death by her husband, John Charles Edge. She is survived by a son, Charles Anthony (Tony) Edge (Edna) of Locust, NC; two grandchildren, Dillon Charles Edge and Brandon Kyle Edge both of Locust, NC; a sister, Carolyn Watson Covil (Dean) of Albemarle, NC and sister in law, Vicki Pitman of Texas. Mrs. Edge was also preceded in death by a brother, JB Pitman.

Michael Dwayne Austin

Danny Wayne Hopkins

Sybil Jean Simpson Alridge

Donald King Alridge

February 9, 1975 – February 11, 2022

July 26, 1962 – February 12, 2022

February 9, 1941 – February 7, 2022

March 15, 1940 – February 10, 2022

Michael Dwayne Austin, 47, of Marshville, passed away Friday, February 11, 2022 at Atrium Health Union in Monroe.

Michael was born February 9, 1975 in North Carolina to Royce Vance Austin and Cynthia Thomas Austin.

He was also preceded in death by aunt, Joyce Austin and uncle, James Thomas.

The family will receive friends from 12:00 pm - 1:45 pm, Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church-Marshville. The funeral service will follow Wednesday at 2:00 pm at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church-Marshville officiated

by Rev. Bruce League and Rev. John Miller. Burial will follow at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery at 7002 Pleasant Hill Church Rd., Marshville.

Survivors include mother, Cynthia Thomas Austin, father, Royce Vance Austin, fiancé, Lisa Little, children, Kayla Pennington (Kyle), Alyssa “Sam” Austin, Michael Austin, Alyssa Little, and Jordyn “Bug” Little, siblings, Ricky Austin (Amy) and Alana Payne (Bradley), niece, Kelsi Payne and nephews, Dylan Payne, Drake Austin, and Colton Austin, and fur-baby, Blue.

Danny Wayne Hopkins, 59, of Midland passed away Feb 12, 2022 in his home. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Born July 26, 1962 in Stanly County, NC he was the son of Sam Hopkins of Midland and the late Jane Burnett Hopkins.

Danny was a grave digger with Hartsell Funeral Home for many years and later worked in landscaping. He loved fishing, watching NASCAR and spending time with his family.

He is survived by his wife Rhonda Jane Simpson Hopkins of the home, son Josh Barnhardt (Carla) of Mt. Pleasant, brother Robert Hopkins (Angie) of Stanfield, 3 grandchildren Lawson, Haley, and Austin Barnhardt.

Sybil Jean Simpson Aldridge, 80, of Oakboro, passed away Monday, February 7, 2022 at Atrium Health Cabarrus. Her service will be held at a later date.

Mrs. Aldridge was born February 9, 1941 in Stanly County, NC to the late Robert Hugh Simpson and Mary Frone Burris Simpson. She retired as a Intensive Care Nurse at Stanly Memorial Hospital. Jean was a collector and producer of Pottery. She loved her family and enjoyed time with her grandchildren and luncheons with her sisters.

Jean was survived by her husband, Donald King Aldridge of the home. She is also survived by two sons, Cory Lang Aldridge of Ware Shoals, SC and Trevor Hugh Aldridge (Jennifer) of Charlotte, NC; two grandchildren, Calvin Aldridge of Monroe, NC and Elise Aldridge of Charlotte, NC; a brother, Mahlon Simpson of Norwood, NC; two sisters, Mamie Coley of Albemarle, NC and Bert Liles of Locust, NC. She was also preceded in death by a brother, Bob Simpson and a sister, Phylis Simpson.

Donald King Aldridge, 81, of Oakboro, NC, passed away Thursday, February 10, 2022 at Atrium Health Cabarrus. His service will be held at a later date.

Mr. Aldridge was born March 15, 1940 in Cabarrus County, NC to the late Jason George Aldridge and Ruby Adelaid Scarboro Aldridge.

He earned a BS in Accounting from UNCC and graduated from Kings Business College. Mr. Aldridge was a former photographer with the Charlotte Observer and accountant.

He last, owned and operated a Green House business.

Donald was preceded in death by his wife, Sybil Jean Aldridge. He is survived by two sons, Cory Lang Aldridge of Ware Shoals, SC and Trevor Hugh Aldridge (Jennifer) of Charlotte, NC; two grandchildren, Calvin Aldridge of Monroe, NC and Elise Aldridge of Charlotte, NC and a sister in law, Esther Aldridge of Oakboro, NC. He was also preceded in death by a brother, Joe Aldridge.

Jeff Phylas Hartsell

June 12, 1940 – February 8, 2022

Robert Allon Richardson

April 11, 1941 – February 10, 2022 Robert Allon Richardson, 80, of Albemarle, passed away February 10, 2022 at Atrium Health Stanly in Albemarle. His funeral service will be Thursday, February 17, at 2 PM in the Stanly Funeral & Cremation Care Chapel in Albemarle. The family will receive friends from 12:30 till 2 prior to the service.

Burial will follow in the Red Cross Baptist Church Cemetery.

Born April 11, 1941 in Stanly County, he was the son of the late Quinton Smith and the late Robbie Dixon Richardson. Robert is survived by his wife Anita of the home, son, Billy Richardson of Salisbury, and daughters, Barbara Richardson Lowder of Locust and Robbie Bennett of Salisbury. He is also survived by his brother, Troyce Richardson (Gladys) of Louisiana, step-sons, Dennis Lambert (Susanne) of Albemarle and Lee Lambert (Jill) of China Grove, step-daughter, Tabitha Gerber of Albemarle, nine grandchildren and his great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, Robert is preceded in death by a grandson, Mark Lowder.

Billie Butner Sherin

August 19, 1942 – February 10, 2022 Billie Butner Sherin, 79, of Albemarle passed away Thursday, February 10, 2022 at home.

Born August 19, 1942 in Badin, Billie is the daughter of the late Virgin Butner and the late Valerie Gainey Butner. She is survived by her son Tracey Bell of Albemarle and daughter Rhonda Bell of Albemarle. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Misty Palmer (Steven), Matthew Bell (Taylor), and great-grandchildren, Carson and Ethan Palmer and Amberley and Elara Bell.

In addition to her parents, Billie is preceded in death by her daughter Darlene Bell, sister Rosalee Butner and brother Don Butner.

She attended Freedom Holiness Church in Albemarle.

Billie loved Jesus, life, her family, and her cats.

A greatly loved son, brother, husband, father and grandfather, Jeff Phylas Hartsell, 81, of Albemarle passed away peacefully with his wife Jane and family members by his side on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

Jeff was born June 12, 1940, in Albemarle, North Carolina.

He was preceded in death by his father, Miller James Hartsell, his mother, Louise Richardson Hartsell, and his sister, Sandra Suzanne Hartsell.

Jeff represented The Citadel in the NCAA Division 1 National Championship in Oregon, where he made it to the quarter finals and was ranked 17th nationally. In 2016, 54 years after his graduation, Jeff was inducted into The Citadel’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Jeff is survived by his loving wife and dance partner of 51 years Jane Lowder Hartsell, sons James (Diana) Fuller, Miller Jeff Hartsell, Coburn Phylas (Ayla) Hartsell, daughters Carrie Louise Hartsell and Louisa Jane Hartsell.

He is also survived by grandsons, Talon, Grant, and Benjamin, and granddaughters Degan, Lillian Jane, Ana Louise, Millie, and Olivia Grace.

The funeral service, officiated

by Rev. Jeremy Hyde, will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2022, at 11:00 AM in Hartsell Funeral Home’s Lefler Memorial Chapel, Albemarle.

Joyce Paul Mauldin

Randy Dwain Holt

June 25, 1957 – February 11, 2022 Randy Dwain Holt, 64, of Albemarle passed away Friday, February 11, 2022, at Atrium Health Cabarrus in Concord, NC. His funeral services will be Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 2 pm in the Stanly Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Jeremy Blake officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 12-1:30 pm at the Funeral Home prior to the hour of service.

Born June 25, 1957, in Stanly County NC he was the son of the late Kenneth Dwain Holt and Edith Malone Smith Holt. He was an auto-body technician at Jerry Rhynes Collision Center.

He enjoyed car shows, old cars and traveling. Mr. Holt loved his family and his work family as well as telling jokes and ‘Facebooking’.

Mr. Holt is survived by his wife Carla Huneycutt Holt of the home, two sons Kenny Holt (Michela) of Albemarle, and Bryan Holt of Albemarle, daughter Stephanie Holt Dillingham (Tony) of Garner, NC. He had six grandchildren, Carter Holt, Mia Holt, Ellie Dillingham, Abby Dillingham, and Zoe Dillingham and Asher Cauble.

May 5, 1945 – February 9, 2022 Joyce Paul Mauldin, 76, of New London passed away on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

Born May 5, 1945 in Stanly County, NC she was the daughter of the late Carl Paul and Pearl Wasiner Paul. She was a member of Poplin’s Grove Baptist Church and retired as a supervisor with Collins and Aikman. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was a great cook and was known for her taters and her biscuits.

She is survived by her husband Bobby Richard Mauldin of the home. Other survivors include Angela Mauldin Mesimer (Chris) of New London and Lisa Mauldin Hill (Tavares) of New London, seven grandchildren Randie Overcash, Sarah Wilkinson (Richard), Kirstie Hatley (Kirk), Emily Mesimer (Jeffery), Breanna Hill (Marque), Austin Hill, and Camden Hill, 15 greatgrandchildren: Chastity, Harmony, Dalton, Kaelyn, Kamryn and Piper Overcash, Rylan and Peytin Wilkinson, Kash and T. K. Hatley, Miley and Jaeda Miller, Prince, Rayden, and Kayden Chandler and 1 great-great grandchild.

A daughter Sherry Diane Mauldin preceded her in death.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

8

STATE & NATION

Border Patrol agents frustrated at working conditions, record encounters

By Ben Fox The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — A strained Border Patrol is getting increased attention from the Biden administration after tense meetings between senior officials and the rank and file while the agency deals with one of the largest spikes in illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border in decades.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Border Patrol, laid out 19 ways to address working conditions after frosty receptions by agents, said Chris Magnus, the new commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

Mayorkas also pledged in a memo to push for more prosecutions of people accused of assaulting CBP personnel in the course of their duties, an issue raised at a recent meeting in Laredo, Texas, and elsewhere, Magnus said.

“That’s something that agents in the field want to hear because assaults are on the uptick,” Magnus told The Associated Press. “We are not just seeing folks who are fleeing to the U.S. to get away from conditions. We are seeing smugglers, members of cartels, and drug organizations that are actively engaged in doing harm.”

Efforts to deal with working conditions for agents come as President Joe Biden has been criticized across the political spectrum over immigration. He has sought to reverse many policies of his predecessor but has come under fire over the situation at the border that could cause trouble for Democrats in the midterm elections.

PATRICK SEMANSKY | AP PHOTO

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus speaks during an interview in his office with The Associated Press, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington, D.C. CBP encountered migrants from all over the world about 1.7 million times along the U.S.-Mexico border last year, among the highest in decades. Magnus said the agents, and the administration, are just trying to manage a complicated situation.

“We’re seeing folks that are encountering political conditions and violence, unsafe conditions to live and work, at unprecedented levels,” the former police chief of Tucson, Arizona, said in an interview, the first since he was sworn in Friday. “We’ve seen, for example, in places, earthquakes or other en-

vironmental conditions. We’re seeing unprecedented levels of poverty. All of these are things that are in many ways, you know, pushing migrants again at high levels to this country.”

The administration has sought to address the cause of migration, including by increasing aid to Central America and re-starting a visa program that was ended under President Donald Trump. It has also sought assistance from other countries, including Mexico, to do more to stop or take in migrants.

As the overall numbers have increased, and the administration

has decided to allow many families to stay and seek asylum in a process that can take years, some Border Patrol agents have grown disenchanted as they spend their shifts processing and transporting people, not out in the field.

That frustration boiled over in Laredo as agents met late last month with Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who acknowledged morale was at an “alltime low,” according to a leaked video published by the Washington Examiner. One agent complained about “doing nothing” except releasing people into the United

States, referring to the practice of allowing migrants to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court.

At another meeting, in Yuma, Arizona, Mayorkas told agents he understood that apprehending families and children “is not what you signed up to do” and that their jobs were becoming more challenging amid an influx of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, according to video published by the conservative website Townhall.

One of the agents turned his back on the secretary.

Magnus has heard similar concerns raised in meetings. “I think it has been difficult for many of them who spent most of their careers or anticipated that their careers would be largely working in the field, on the border,” he said.

The commissioner declined to specify the 19 areas where Mayorkas “wants to see improvement,” because they have not been publicly released. But another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said they include expanding the role of a new class of civilian employees to add tasks such as transporting migrants to medical facilities so agents can return to other duties.

Another point calls for faster decisions on asylum cases at the border. Agents have expressed frustration that asylum-seekers are freed in the U.S., often for years, while their claims make their way through a system backlogged with about 1.6 million cases.

Magnus said he hopes to expand mental health services for agents and provide additional resources to help them and their families cope with a stressful job that requires them to move often.

“There is never one simple solution to addressing morale at any organization, but I absolutely appreciate the very challenging conditions that the men and women of the Border Patrol and CBP in general have been have been working under,” he said.

Largest US public power company launches new nuclear program

By Jennifer McDermott The Associated Press The largest public power company in the U.S. is launching a program to develop and fund new small modular nuclear reactors as part of its strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The board for the Tennessee Valley Authority authorized the program to assess moving forward with new nuclear technology, with up to $200 million to be spent for the first phase. The TVA wants the technology to be available to help power the grid in the 2030s if it proves cost-effective and necessary, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves. The board met at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The federally owned utility provides electricity to seven states. It has the first U.S. permit for a suitable site for small modular reactors in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the Clinch River Nuclear Site. By 2050, it hopes to hit its goal of net-zero emissions, which means the amount of greenhouse gases produced is no more than the amount removed from the atmosphere.

“Our objective isn’t to build one nuclear plant,” TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said in an inter-

MARK HUMPHREY | AP PHOTO

In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, a man fishes at William B. Ladd Park near the Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tenn. view. “Our objective is to reach net zero carbon, to support economy-wide decarbonization, and to do it at a price and a level of reliability that people can count on.

And this is a part of doing that.”

A recent Associated Press survey of the energy policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that a strong majority — about two-thirds — say nuclear, in one fashion or another, will help take the place of fossil fuels.

Roughly one-third of the states

and the District of Columbia have no plans to incorporate nuclear power in their green energy goals, instead leaning heavily on renewables to try to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet.

The split over nuclear power in U.S. states mirrors a similar debate unfolding in Europe, where countries including Germany are phasing out their reactors while others, such as France, are sticking with the technology or planning to build more plants.

Lyash said the TVA can reduce carbon emissions by about 80% using solar and wind power, existing nuclear plants and hydroelectric dams, and by reducing demand through energy efficiency efforts, without sacrificing reliable, resilient, low-cost power.

But the smaller nuclear reactors that companies are developing now are crucial to getting the rest of the way and increasing electricity production, along with other new technologies, he added. The utility now operates three nuclear plants — the nation’s third largest nuclear fleet — to supply more than 40% of the region’s energy.

Lyash told the board that for the Clinch River site, the TVA is focused on GE Hitachi’s design for a small modular reactor that uses light water like all U.S. commercial reactors. The TVA is also collaborating with Kairos Power to build a test reactor, a demonstration project that wouldn’t be for commercial use, in Oak Ridge.

The TVA had plans decades ago to build 17 large reactors at seven sites. The utility sank more than $8 billion in the 1970s and 1980s into 10 nuclear reactors that were canceled before they were finished — scrapping most of what then was the nation’s most costly and ambitious nuclear program.

Lyash said they’re now taking a far more conservative approach: They’re not launching into a program to build multiple reactors on multiple sites because they’ve learned many lessons over 50 years. If one reactor can’t be planned and built on schedule and on budget, they won’t scale up, he added.

The initial funding will be used for the design, licensing and project development to potentially build GE Hitachi’s reactor.

State-regulated utilities could face skepticism over the potential cost to customers of nuclear reactors, though. Two more-traditional large nuclear reactors being built in Georgia have more than doubled in overall cost, to more than $28 billion. Similar reactors that were under construction in South Carolina were scrapped, driving a utility to be sold in distress and resulting in a criminal conviction of the former CEO for fraud.

The NRC has approved just one of the new, small modular reactor designs: from an Oregon company called NuScale Power, in August 2020. Several other companies are planning to apply for their designs. That includes a project by Bill Gates’ company, TerraPower, in Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal-producing state.

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VOLUME 4 ISSUE 21 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Twin City Herald

CHRIS O'MEARA | AP PHOTO

Tough ending for former Deac

Cincinnati Bengals free safety Jessie Bates III (30) walks off the field after losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif.

WHAT’S HAPPENING 2 killed in overnight shootings

Governor Cooper appoints two district court judges The Associated Press

Forsyth County Two people were killed in separate shootings, but police don’t think the incidents are related. WinstonSalem officers responded to multiple reports of gunshots on the north side of the city Thursday night. They found Laruin Frederick Crockett, 46, unresponsive on a sidewalk. Crockett was pronounced dead on the scene. Later Thursday, officers were called to a local hospital about an unresponsive man with a gunshot wound. Darryl Wayne Smith, 56, may have been on the west side of the city before he was shot. He died at the hospital.

RALEIGH — Governor Roy Cooper announced two District Court Judge appointments.

“These appointees bring years of experience and leadership to the bench,” said Governor Cooper. “I am confident that they will serve their districts with dedication and honor.”

Kristin Kelly Broyles will serve as District Court Judge in Judicial District 21 serving Forsyth County. She will fill the vacancy that opens at the end of the month after the retirement of Judge Gor-

don Miller. Since 2016, she has served as a Partner at Halvorsen Family Law Group. Previously, she was a Partner at Kelly & Payne, PLLC, an Adjunct Professor at Forsyth Technical Community College and a Staff Attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Juris Doctor at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Broyles was selected to Rising Stars for 2016 - 2022. This peer designation is awarded only to a select number of accomplished

attorneys in each state. The Rising Stars selection process takes into account peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors. She has been honored as Woodward & White’s Best Lawyers in America, Legal Elite in Business North Carolina magazine and Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers in Charlotte magazine.

She is a member of the Family Law Section at the North Carolina Bar Association and a former section chair and CLE chair for the Family Law section of the North Carolina Academy of Trial

Lawyers.

Morgan Swinson will serve as District Court Judge in Judicial District 4 serving Duplin, Jones, Onslow and Sampson counties.

She will fill the vacant seat created by the retirement of Judge Sarah Seaton. Since 2019, Swinson has served as an Attorney for the Onslow County Department of Social Services. Previously, she was a Managing Partner and Attorney at Swinson & Atkinson, Attorneys at Law and a Principal Attorney at Morgan H. Swinson, Attorney at Law, P.A. Swinson has also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Fourth Judicial District and an Attorney Advocate for the Duplin and Sampson County Guardian Ad Litem Program. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at North Carolina State University and her Juris Doctor at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Kristin Kelly Broyles (left) and Morgan Swinson both received district court judge appointments from the governor.

AP

Juvenile accused in fatal shooting at ATM Forsyth County Police charged a 14-yearold with first-degree murder after a man was shot and killed outside of a store.

High Point police officers responded early Monday to a convenience store parking lot after they were advised of a shooting. They found Rodney Rhoades, 46, of High Point, who had been shot one time.

He was pronounced dead on the scene. A 14-year-old was identified as a person of interest, police said.

The suspect was arrested on charges unrelated to Rhoades’ death during an incident in another location.

Officers are still looking for a second suspect believed to have been involved.

AP

5

20177 52016 $0.50

8

FILE PHOTOS

N. Carolina couple jailed for child abuse, attempted murder The Associated Press SALISBURY — Police have arrested a North Carolina couple on multiple charges, including attempted murder and felony child abuse, after their adopted son was hospitalized for a series of health issues.

Reed Karriker and Georgianna Karriker, both 42, of Salisbury were jailed Wednesday for the second time during an investigation into treatment of the 11-year-old boy.

Reed Karriker took the unresponsive boy to the hospital on Jan. 21. He was found to have sepsis, hypothermia and open wounds, and an affidavit for a search warrant said the boy also had an unknown mass in his stomach.

Warrants served Wednesday

also said the boy suffered from respiratory failure, acute kidney injury, septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome and skin lesions.

The Karrikers were each jailed on a $300,000 bond when the new charges were filed. In late January, they were charged with felony child abuse for neglect. The new child abuse charge is for causing their adopted son’s injuries.

The judge set additional conditions on the Karrikers’ bond. If either is released, they are not allowed to be alone with anyone under the age of 18 and can’t leave Rowan County except for a medical emergency or to visit their attorney, Jay White, who has an office out of the county, in Concord.

Salisbury police spokesman Lt. Justin Crews said the boy is still

recovering and will be placed in the care of the department of social services. The boy’s siblings have been placed in protective custody, Crews said.

Police found video and photos demonstrating “ongoing abuse” of the boy during a search of the residence on Thursday. One photo showed him naked and bruised while lying in a chest. A video showed him locked in a room, with the door held shut by a strap.

The boy told police he was forced to run on a treadmill, and the Karrikers would hit him with a belt while he was running. Reed allegedly increased the speed of the treadmill, causing the boy to fall.

TCH staff contributed to this report

The Karrikers were each jailed on a $300,000 bond when the new charges were filed. In late January, they were charged with felony child abuse for neglect. The new child abuse charge is for causing their adopted son’s injuries.

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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DEATH NOTICES ♦ Vickie Lynn Lake Ashworth, 64, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Jerry Hunter Canady, 84, of Stanleyville, died Feb. 10, 2022. ♦ Joseph Francis Clarke, 83, of Clemmons, died Feb. 11, 2022.

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COLUMN | JOYCE KRAWIEC

Should parenthood be abolished?

IT’S NOT a well-kept secret that many on the left have been trying for some time to diminish the family as a unit. It is the one thing that stands in the way of socialist government control. I have written about this before and my fears keep getting reinforced on a regular basis.

I have talked about how moms and dads are no longer the overseers of their own children, in many cases. But none of it makes any sense. For example, a child cannot get an aspirin or go on a field trip, without permission, but they can have abortions and it is perfectly okay. Students can be taught about every aspect of sexuality without parents knowing. They can even be given vaccines without parental consent or even knowledge.

It appears that parents are the Sleeping giants and they have been awakened.

Now they have insomnia and appear to be fighting back. I am sure you’ve seen the outraged parents at school board meetings around the country. Particularly in Virginia, there have been some very rowdy school board meetings. Many think that the past election in Virginia, sweeping in Republicans, was a result of the shenanigans going on in schools there. The comments from the Governor that parents had no right to say what their children were being taught didn’t help the situation at all.

The Biden Administration even threatened to label them domestic terrorists. That didn’t go over well, and the White House quickly tried to downplay that one.

Parents of a 12-year-old girl in Florida, have filed a lawsuit after the daughter attempted suicide twice at school. The

girl had been having secret meetings for months with the school counselor. The counselor told the parents the reason their daughter tried to kill herself was because of a “gender identity” issue. The complaint states that over months of these private meetings, the counselor endorsed the fact that the child “could be a boy.” While agreeing that she would not tell the child’s parents, she did begin using the male name and new pronouns in classroom. This caused embarrassment and escalated bullying by classmates.

Eventually this child attempted to hang herself, twice, in the bathroom.

The counselor told the parents that the daughter felt they would not agree with these changes because of their Christian beliefs. The child was taken to a behavioral health facility with little access to visits from parents. Regardless of how one feels about this issue, I think we can all agree that parents should have been involved before this became a crisis.

A school district in Boston is facing a federal lawsuit. Parents claim their children were discriminated against. The district held racially segregated events, certain students were invited, and white students were specifically excluded.

As you know, California leads the way on craziness. Remember when we used to hear about things happening in the Golden State and we just knew it would never happen here. Well not any longer.

Just be sure that the left coast is the birthing ground, and those crazy ideas will be coming soon to an area near you.

Recently two teachers in California changed a 12-year-old child’s gender without telling her parents. The school changed her name and pronouns and reported the parents to Child Protective

Services because they refused to use the correct name and pronouns.

USA today has published a piece advocating for abolishing parenthood in California. I swear it’s true. Nobody could make this stuff up. The article was titled, “California should abolish parenthood in the name of equity.” The piece argued for “equity” to be considered the states’ “highest value.” The editor even said that parents should be stripped of their “power” over children.

The article has some of the craziest thoughts you can imagine. Excerpts follow: “Fathers and mothers with greater wealth and education are more likely to transfer these advantages to their children, compounding privilege over generations. As a result, children of less advantaged parents face an uphill struggle, social mobility has stalled, and democracy has been corrupted.

My solution - making raising your own children illegal – is simple, and while we wait for the legislation to pass, we can act now: the rich and poor should trade kids, and homeowners might swap children with their homeless neighbors.”

At first, I thought this was some kind of sick joke. The author can’t possibly have children to even think up such a plot. I’m wondering if he even had parents to be able to concoct this idea. Maybe he was found in a cabbage patch.

Some think that children are just possessions to be discarded when inconvenient. Most parents would give their lives and all their possessions for their children. There is nothing more important than the happiness and security of our children. Give them up?

Over our DEAD BODIES!

♦ Laruin Fredrick Crockett, “Fred”, 46, died Feb. 10, 2022. ♦ Mary Jones Hege, 82, of Forsyth County, died Feb. 11, 2022.

WEEKLY CRIME LOG

♦ John Henry Hemrick, III, 74, of Germanton, died Feb. 9, 2022.

♦ ABBITT, TROY DAMENTRICE was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 1824 N JACKSON AV on 2/12/2022

♦ GREENE, MARCELL DAVID was arrested on a charge of ADWINFLICT INJURY at 115 HICKS ST on 2/13/2022

♦ BELLAMY, IYANA LATRICE was arrested on a charge of DISCH FA/OCC DWELL at 2425 LIMNER LN on 2/13/2022

♦ HOLSCLAW, MARTY JOE was arrested on a charge of RESISTING ARREST at 4150 KESTER MULL RD on 2/13/2022

♦ Brian Wayne Jennings, 54, of Jonesville, died Feb. 12, 2022. ♦ Joan Griffin (Crews) Jones, 83, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Ruth Dalton Ketner, 85, of Forsyth County, died Feb. 13, 2022. ♦ Betty Jane Tyner Mack, 84, of Robeson County, died Feb. 11, 2022. ♦ Gayl Barbara Surridge Nifong, 80, of Winston-Salem, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Mack William Phipps, 78, of Ashe County, died Feb. 11, 2022. ♦ Ruby Doris Cook Pulliam, 97, of Winston-Salem, died Feb. 10, 2022. ♦ Robert “Bob” Carroll Ramsey, 79, of Winston-Salem, died Feb. 11, 2022. ♦ Eric David Stiff, 57, of WinstonSalem, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Eileen J. Tackett, 73, died Feb. 12, 2022. ♦ Johnnie Monroe Tally, 80, of Lewisville, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Lucia Ann Blackmon Teague, 83, of Winston-Salem, died Feb. 11, 2022. ♦ Alvin Tew, 70, Eden, died Feb. 10, 2022. ♦ Mary Logan Weaver, 98, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Myrtle Mae Stone Williams, 103, of Forsyth County, died Feb. 12, 2022. ♦ Larry Thomas Wilmoth, 68, of Forsyth County, died Feb. 9, 2022. ♦ Bessie “Loraine” Petree Wise, 96 of Winston-Salem, died Feb. 11, 2022.

♦ CASHATT, ELIZABETH AYERS was arrested on a charge of AFFRAY at 5195 WINSTER DR on 2/12/2022 ♦ CONRAD, EARL DOUGLAS was arrested on a charge of DRUNK / DISRUPTIVE at OLD RURAL HALL/LANLEY ST on 2/13/2022 ♦ Draughn, Dawson Andrew (M/18) Arrest on chrg of Damage To Land, M (M), at 8300 Gauldin Rd/pine Hall Rd, Walnut Cove, NC, on 2/11/2022 04:22. ♦ EDWARDS, DESHAWN EUGENE was arrested on a charge of CCW at 1209 S MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DR/S RESEARCH PW on 2/13/2022 ♦ FARMER, JAMES ROY was arrested on a charge of 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS at 640 LINVILLE RD on 2/12/2022 ♦ Ferguson, Devarya Jarae (M/24) Arrest on chrg of 1) Cyberstalking (M) and 2) Vandpersonal Prop (M), at 2901 Reynolda Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/9/2022 12:24.

♦ Hunt, James Raeford (M/27) Arrest on chrg of 1) Make False Statement Over Phone W/intent To Abuse, Harass (M) and 2) Harassing Phone Calls (M), at 4520 Hampton Rd, Clemmons, NC, on 2/9/2022 13:39.

martins Trail Ln, Walkertown, NC, on 2/11/2022 07:40. ♦ LINDSEY, HAUSHIEN RONELL was arrested on a charge of CCW at 201 N CHURCH ST on 2/12/2022 ♦ LORENZO, USIEL OLMEDO was arrested on a charge of DRUGS-POSS SCHED II at 725 N CHERRY ST on 2/13/2022 ♦ MACEMORE, MEGHAN DANIELLE was arrested on a charge of PROBATION VIOLATION at 4550 KESTER MILL RD on 2/13/2022

♦ HYATT, WADE JULIAN was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 2209 SILAS CREEK PW on 2/13/2022

♦ Marion, Jessie (M/22) Arrest on chrg of 2nd Degree Trespass (M), at 1710 Grant Av, Winstonsalem, NC, on 2/10/2022 18:33.

♦ Johnson, Demario Andrew (M/31) Arrest on chrg of 9095h2 Traff Methaq (F), at 3610 Baden Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/14/2022 14:08.

♦ MILEY, DESHUN KEONJARREL was arrested on a charge of VIO. PROTECTIVE ORDER BY COURTS ANOTHER STATE/ INDIAN TRIBE at UNIVERSITY/ WEST HANES MILL on 2/13/2022

♦ Johnson, Rico Oljawon (M/20) Arrest on chrg of 1) Speeding To Elude Arrest (F), 2) Unlawful To Dwlr, After Notification, Or While Disquailified (M), 3) Reckless Driving (M), 4) Stop Light Violation (M), 5) Speeding - Posted (M), and 6) Drive Wrong Side - Drive On Right Side Of Highway (M), at 2799 N Patterson Av/e Twenty-eighth St, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/9/2022 22:10.

♦ GILLILAND, DANIEL GAGE was arrested on a charge of B&E-PREP/POSS TOOL at OAK GROVE CHURCH RD on 2/12/2022

♦ KIRBY, ADRIENNE MIKHAEL was arrested on a charge of VIO. PROTECTIVE ORDER

BY COURTS ANOTHER STATE/ INDIAN TRIBE at 126 CHARLESTON CT on 2/11/2022

♦ Grant, Alford King (M/30) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault On Female (M), 2) Weap-poss By Felon (F), 3) Fail To Appear/compl (F), 3) Ofa-fta-felony Probation Violation (M), 4) Fail To Appear/ compl (M), and 5) Fail To Appear/compl (M), at 1910 Nc 66 South, Kernersville, NC, on 2/12/2022 17:06.

♦ Lash, Tony Dale (M/50) Arrest on chrg of 1) P/w/i/s/d Cocaine (F), 2) Maintain Vehicle (F), 3) Possession Marijuana (M), 4) Poss Cocaine Fel (F), 5) Drug Paraphernalia (M), 6) Drug Paraphernalia (M), and 7) Resisting Arrest (M), at 3618 Martins Trail Cr, Walkertown, NC, on 2/11/2022 07:00.

♦ GRAY, KEVIN CHRISTOPH was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 126 CHARLESTON CT on 2/11/2022

♦ Lash, Tony Dale (M/50) Arrest on chrg of Vand-personal Prop, M (M), at 3699 Martins Trail Cr/

♦ PETTIFORD, DERRICK ULANDUS was arrested on a charge of WEAP-POSS BY FELON at 725 N CHERRY ST on 2/12/2022 ♦ PURVIANCE, AUSTIN COLBY was arrested on a charge of ASSLT ON OFF/ST EMP at 915 BROOKSTOWN AV on 2/12/2022 ♦ Scales, Terail Mantre (M/19) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault On Female (M), 2) Assault On Female (M), 3) Battery On An Unborn Child (M), 4) Communicate Threats (M), 5) Communicate Threats (M), 6) Larceny/misdemeanor (M), 7) Larceny/misdemeanor (M), 8) Vand-real Property (M), and 9) Vand-personal Prop (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/9/2022 10:45. ♦ Sells, Kyle Alexander (M/29) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault On Female (M) and 2) Interfering With Emergency Communication (M), at 5645 June Ln., Winston Salem, NC, on 2/14/2022 00:41. ♦ Simon, Jose Mendez (M/62)

Arrest on chrg of 1) Hit & Run (M), 2) Ndl - Suspended / Revoked (M), and 3) Row Intersection Turning Left (M), at 202 Meadowbrook Park Dr, Kernersville, NC, on 2/12/2022 10:04. ♦ SINGLETARY, DELWANN MARQUIS was arrested on a charge of OFA/FTA-DV PROTECTIVE ORDER VIOL at 201 N CHURCH ST on 2/11/2022 ♦ Slavin, Christopher Vincent (M/43) Arrest on chrg of 1) Fugitive (F) and 2) Fugitive (F), at 5800 Robinhood Rd, Winstonsalem, NC, on 2/10/2022 09:48. ♦ Stubbs, Devon Montrez (M/28) Arrest on chrg of 1) Fail To Appear/compl (F), 2) Fail To Appear/compl (M), and 3) Probation Violation (F), at 1988 Twin Pines Dr, Kernersville, NC, on 2/11/2022 13:55. ♦ TORREY, JOHN MICHAEL was arrested on a charge of VANDPERSONAL PROP at 2721 FONDLY RD on 2/14/2022 ♦ TRUITT, MAJESTAN TUSHUNN was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 2700 REYNOLDA RD on 2/12/2022 ♦ UTLEY, MARY ALISON was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT-SIMPLE at 918 FRANKLIN ST on 2/14/2022 ♦ WALACAVICZ, ANNLEA DIXON was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT-SIMPLE at 2209 SILAS CREEK PW on 2/13/2022 ♦ Wallace, Charles Lamont (M/41) Arrest on chrg of Fail To Register - Sex Offender Registra (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/12/2022 13:30. ♦ Wardlow, Raymond Lamonte (M/40) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault On Female (M) and 2) Fail To Appear/compl (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 2/10/2022 12:11. ♦ WILLIAMS, RANDALL LONORRIS was arrested on a charge of 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS at 1730 LINK RD on 2/14/2022

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

3

SPORTS

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SIDELINE REPORT NHL

Eichel to make Vegas debut Wednesday Las Vegas Jack Eichel will make his debut with the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, playing for the first time since being acquired from Buffalo and since he became the first NHL player to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck in November. Eichel, 25, was acquired on Nov. 4 in a trade with Buffalo for a package including forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. Then he had surgery on Nov. 12 and began practicing with the Golden Knights on Jan. 11.

TENNIS

Djokovic could skip French Open, Wimbledon London Novak Djokovic said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he is prepared to skip the French Open and Wimbledon if vaccination against the coronavirus is required for him to play.

Speaking to the BBC, the 20-time Grand Slam champion said he is not vaccinated and added that missing the next two majors and other tournaments is “the price that I am willing to pay. … I understand the consequences of my decision. I understand that not being vaccinated today, you know, I am unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment.”

NBA

Cavs’ Allen named All-Star replacement for Harden Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen will replace an injured James Harden at this year’s All-Star Game in Cleveland and give the Cavaliers two All-Stars for the first time since 2018.

Allen’s strong second season with the Cavs has helped push them among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The 6-foot10 Allen was rewarded Monday by being chosen to take Harden’s place by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Allen will join teammate Darius Garland for this year’s event at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Both will play for Team LeBron (James), which will be coached by Phoenix’s Monty Williams.

GOLF

Scheffler wins Phoenix Open playoff for first win Scottsdale, Ariz.

Scottie Scheffler made a 25-foot birdie putt on the third hole of Sunday’s playoff with Patrick Cantlay to win the WM Phoenix Open for his first PGA Tour title. Scheffler closed with a 4-under 67 to match Cantlay at 16-under 268 at TPC Scottsdale. Cantlay, playing a group ahead of Scheffler, had a bogey-free 67. Scheffler broke through in his 71st tour start. Before Sunday, the 25-year-old former Texas star’s biggest highlight was beating Jon Rahm in September in the United States’ Ryder Cup victory.

GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO

Coach Hubert Davis has the Tar Heels on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in his first season in Chapel Hill.

Bubble watch: Memphis rounding into form at right time UNC has won six of seven to make its case for a bid The Associated Press THE KNOCK ON Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.

The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.

Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston on Saturday. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier in the week and have won five straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.

“We came in locked and focused all week,” Hardaway said. “I was trying to keep the guys focused on Tulane, but I could tell they were antsy to get to this game because Houston has been the standard in our league.”

Hardaway has secured some of

the nation’s best recruiting classes during his four seasons in Memphis but has yet to turn all that talent into consistent results.

Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament in each of Hardaway’s first three seasons despite winning at least 20 games in each.

The Tigers entered this season with plenty of hype, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 and with a roster that included the nation’s top recruiting class.

Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.

Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (14-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars’ 37-game home winning streak.

There’s still work to do, but the

34 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances for UNC in its history, tied with UCLA for the second most to Kentucky’s 44 Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.

RISING FAST Rutgers (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten). An overtime loss to Northwestern hurt the Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament chances, but three straight wins over ranked opponents was massive.

North Carolina (18-7, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels were blown out by rival Duke but have won six of seven, including a blowout of Florida State. Avoid any big slipups and

Russian figure skater Valieva dodges doping disqualification The 15-year-old women’s figure skating favorite failed a pre-Olympics drug test The Associated Press BEIJING — Russian teenager Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics despite failing a preGames drug test, setting her up for an attempt at a second gold medal.

Whatever happens on the ice, Valieva will not get a medal ceremony moment in Beijing. Nor will any skater who finishes in the top three with her.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Valieva to skate less than 12 hours after a hastily arranged hearing that lasted into early Monday morning. A panel of judges ruled that the 15-yearold Valieva, the favorite for the women’s individual gold, does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation.

The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she is a minor, known in Olympic jargon as a “protected person,” and is subject to different rules from an adult

BERNAT ARMANGUE | AP PHOTO

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete in the women's individual competition despite failing a drug test.

athlete.

“The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said.

Now, Valieva and her fellow Russian skaters can aim for the first podium sweep of women’s

figure skating in Olympic history. The event starts with the short program Tuesday and concludes Thursday with the free skate.

The International Olympic Committee said Monday afternoon that if Valieva finishes in the top three, there will be no medal ceremony during the Games.

There will also be no ceremony for

they could find themselves in the bracket in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach.

Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference). The Vols have bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to No. 5 Kentucky with seven straight SEC wins. Tennessee gets another shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday.

FADING HOPES Oregon (16-7, 9-3 Pac-12). The Ducks typically get better as the season progresses under coach Dana Altman. That appeared to be the case when Oregon reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, but a lackluster 78-64 loss to California on Saturday may have put it back on the edge of the bubble.

Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten).

A win over then-No. 2 Purdue was a huge boost. The Wolverines followed that up with a loss to No. 16 Ohio State. A team that was once No. 4 in the country, Michigan may need a strong finish to the season to get into the field of 68.

Iowa State (16-,9 3-9 Big 12).

Once 12-0, the Cyclones are now last in the Big 12 and on a fourgame losing streak after an overtime loss to Kansas State. They need to get it turned around in a hurry to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.

the team event won by Valieva and the Russian team a week ago.

“It would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony,” the IOC said.

Valieva landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics as the Russian team won gold in a dominant performance.

The decision not to award medals also affects Nathan Chen and the rest of the second-place American team, who will leave Beijing unsure if they won silver or gold.

It would be Chen’s second gold of the Games. If Valieva and Russia are disqualified, Japan moves up to silver and Canada wins bronze.

“We are devastated that they will leave Beijing without their medals in hand, but we appreciate the intention of the IOC to ensure the right medals are awarded to the right individuals,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

Valieva tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on Dec. 25 at the Russian nationals, but the result from a Swedish lab didn’t come to light until a week ago, after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team gold.

The Valieva case means Russian doping has been a major theme for a six straight Olympic Games.

“This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport

by Russia,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.

the bett ing to e stitution don’t kn now.”

The o for mil taking while a about t

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

4

STATE & NATION

Border Patrol agents frustrated at working conditions, record encounters

By Ben Fox The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — A strained Border Patrol is getting increased attention from the Biden administration after tense meetings between senior officials and the rank and file while the agency deals with one of the largest spikes in illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border in decades.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Border Patrol, laid out 19 ways to address working conditions after frosty receptions by agents, said Chris Magnus, the new commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

Mayorkas also pledged in a memo to push for more prosecutions of people accused of assaulting CBP personnel in the course of their duties, an issue raised at a recent meeting in Laredo, Texas, and elsewhere, Magnus said.

“That’s something that agents in the field want to hear because assaults are on the uptick,” Magnus told The Associated Press. “We are not just seeing folks who are fleeing to the U.S. to get away from conditions. We are seeing smugglers, members of cartels, and drug organizations that are actively engaged in doing harm.”

Efforts to deal with working conditions for agents come as President Joe Biden has been criticized across the political spectrum over immigration. He has sought to reverse many policies of his predecessor but has come under fire over the situation at the border that could cause trouble for Democrats in the midterm elections.

PATRICK SEMANSKY | AP PHOTO

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus speaks during an interview in his office with The Associated Press, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington, D.C. CBP encountered migrants from all over the world about 1.7 million times along the U.S.-Mexico border last year, among the highest in decades. Magnus said the agents, and the administration, are just trying to manage a complicated situation.

“We’re seeing folks that are encountering political conditions and violence, unsafe conditions to live and work, at unprecedented levels,” the former police chief of Tucson, Arizona, said in an interview, the first since he was sworn in Friday. “We’ve seen, for example, in places, earthquakes or other en-

vironmental conditions. We’re seeing unprecedented levels of poverty. All of these are things that are in many ways, you know, pushing migrants again at high levels to this country.”

The administration has sought to address the cause of migration, including by increasing aid to Central America and re-starting a visa program that was ended under President Donald Trump. It has also sought assistance from other countries, including Mexico, to do more to stop or take in migrants.

As the overall numbers have increased, and the administration

has decided to allow many families to stay and seek asylum in a process that can take years, some Border Patrol agents have grown disenchanted as they spend their shifts processing and transporting people, not out in the field.

That frustration boiled over in Laredo as agents met late last month with Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who acknowledged morale was at an “alltime low,” according to a leaked video published by the Washington Examiner. One agent complained about “doing nothing” except releasing people into the United

States, referring to the practice of allowing migrants to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court.

At another meeting, in Yuma, Arizona, Mayorkas told agents he understood that apprehending families and children “is not what you signed up to do” and that their jobs were becoming more challenging amid an influx of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, according to video published by the conservative website Townhall.

One of the agents turned his back on the secretary.

Magnus has heard similar concerns raised in meetings. “I think it has been difficult for many of them who spent most of their careers or anticipated that their careers would be largely working in the field, on the border,” he said.

The commissioner declined to specify the 19 areas where Mayorkas “wants to see improvement,” because they have not been publicly released. But another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said they include expanding the role of a new class of civilian employees to add tasks such as transporting migrants to medical facilities so agents can return to other duties.

Another point calls for faster decisions on asylum cases at the border. Agents have expressed frustration that asylum-seekers are freed in the U.S., often for years, while their claims make their way through a system backlogged with about 1.6 million cases.

Magnus said he hopes to expand mental health services for agents and provide additional resources to help them and their families cope with a stressful job that requires them to move often.

“There is never one simple solution to addressing morale at any organization, but I absolutely appreciate the very challenging conditions that the men and women of the Border Patrol and CBP in general have been have been working under,” he said.

Largest US public power company launches new nuclear program

By Jennifer McDermott The Associated Press The largest public power company in the U.S. is launching a program to develop and fund new small modular nuclear reactors as part of its strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The board for the Tennessee Valley Authority authorized the program to assess moving forward with new nuclear technology, with up to $200 million to be spent for the first phase. The TVA wants the technology to be available to help power the grid in the 2030s if it proves cost-effective and necessary, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves. The board met at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The federally owned utility provides electricity to seven states. It has the first U.S. permit for a suitable site for small modular reactors in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the Clinch River Nuclear Site. By 2050, it hopes to hit its goal of net-zero emissions, which means the amount of greenhouse gases produced is no more than the amount removed from the atmosphere.

“Our objective isn’t to build one nuclear plant,” TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said in an inter-

MARK HUMPHREY | AP PHOTO

In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, a man fishes at William B. Ladd Park near the Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tenn. view. “Our objective is to reach net zero carbon, to support economy-wide decarbonization, and to do it at a price and a level of reliability that people can count on.

And this is a part of doing that.”

A recent Associated Press survey of the energy policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that a strong majority — about two-thirds — say nuclear, in one fashion or another, will help take the place of fossil fuels.

Roughly one-third of the states

and the District of Columbia have no plans to incorporate nuclear power in their green energy goals, instead leaning heavily on renewables to try to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet.

The split over nuclear power in U.S. states mirrors a similar debate unfolding in Europe, where countries including Germany are phasing out their reactors while others, such as France, are sticking with the technology or planning to build more plants.

Lyash said the TVA can reduce carbon emissions by about 80% using solar and wind power, existing nuclear plants and hydroelectric dams, and by reducing demand through energy efficiency efforts, without sacrificing reliable, resilient, low-cost power.

But the smaller nuclear reactors that companies are developing now are crucial to getting the rest of the way and increasing electricity production, along with other new technologies, he added. The utility now operates three nuclear plants — the nation’s third largest nuclear fleet — to supply more than 40% of the region’s energy.

Lyash told the board that for the Clinch River site, the TVA is focused on GE Hitachi’s design for a small modular reactor that uses light water like all U.S. commercial reactors. The TVA is also collaborating with Kairos Power to build a test reactor, a demonstration project that wouldn’t be for commercial use, in Oak Ridge.

The TVA had plans decades ago to build 17 large reactors at seven sites. The utility sank more than $8 billion in the 1970s and 1980s into 10 nuclear reactors that were canceled before they were finished — scrapping most of what then was the nation’s most costly and ambitious nuclear program.

Lyash said they’re now taking a far more conservative approach: They’re not launching into a program to build multiple reactors on multiple sites because they’ve learned many lessons over 50 years. If one reactor can’t be planned and built on schedule and on budget, they won’t scale up, he added.

The initial funding will be used for the design, licensing and project development to potentially build GE Hitachi’s reactor.

State-regulated utilities could face skepticism over the potential cost to customers of nuclear reactors, though. Two more-traditional large nuclear reactors being built in Georgia have more than doubled in overall cost, to more than $28 billion. Similar reactors that were under construction in South Carolina were scrapped, driving a utility to be sold in distress and resulting in a criminal conviction of the former CEO for fraud.

The NRC has approved just one of the new, small modular reactor designs: from an Oregon company called NuScale Power, in August 2020. Several other companies are planning to apply for their designs. That includes a project by Bill Gates’ company, TerraPower, in Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal-producing state.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B10 TAKE NOTICE

CUMBERLAND 19 SP 853 AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Loretta A Wilburn a/k/a Loretta W Wilburn to BB&T Collateral Service Corporation, Trustee(s), which was dated May 5, 2008 and recorded on May 14, 2008 in Book 7887 at Page 0483 and rerecorded/ modified/corrected on January 23, 2017 in Book 10023, Page 0516, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee

21 SP 763 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Jack A McClure And Jill M McClure to David W. Allred, Trustee(s), which was dated December 4, 2012 and recorded on December 10, 2012 in Book 09061 at Page 0656, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 2, 2022 at 01:30 PM, and will

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 19sp1719 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY RICHARD T. HARVATIN DATED OCTOBER 13, 2016 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 09968 AT PAGE 0433 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA *102.19-108594.FC01.202* 19-108594 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 769 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Tanya Chew (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Tanya Chew) to William R. Echols, Trustee(s), dated April 6, 2017, and recorded in Book No. 10068, at Page 0736 in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Cumberland 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on February 21, 2022 and will

DAVIDSON NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 69 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by William O. Brame and Dorothy A. Brame (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): William O. Brame and Dorothy A. Brame, Heirs ofWilliamO.Brame:MarquintaCharahnneBrame-Jefferys, Tammara Knatashia Brame Cappell; Heirs of Dorothy A. Brame: Dorothy Clayborn Allen; Heirs of Dorothy Clayborn Allen: Betty A. Dickey, Willis L. Allen, Jr., Alfonzo M. Allen, Vickie D. Anderson, Thomas Nathaniel Allen, Sr.; Heirs of Thomas Nathaniel Allen, Sr.: Romelia Mason Allen, Romelia Marchesa Allen, Thomas Nathaniel Allen, Jr.) to Fidelity National Title Insurance Co., Trustee(s), dated December 24, 2013, and recorded in Book No. 2128, at Page 2399 in Davidson County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Davidson 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Lexington, Davidson County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for

FORSYTH AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 357 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by John R. Chambers and Nan T. Chambers (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): John R. Chambers and Nan T. Chambers) to William R. Echols, Trustee(s), dated May 22, 2013, and recorded in Book No. RE 3125, at Page 1980 in Forsyth County Registry, North Carolina. The Deed of Trust was modified by the following: A Loan Modification recorded on April 2, 2019, in Book No. RE 3453, at Page 578 , default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Forsyth 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, or the

ONSLOW NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 474 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Geoffred E. Gatlin and Diana L. Gatlin (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Geoffred E. Gatlin and Diana L. Gatlin) to National Title Network, Trustee(s), dated November 26, 2011, and recorded in Book No. 3689, at Page 146 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 524 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Alexis K. Bedoya and Ruben Bedoya (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Alexis K. Bedoya and Ruben Bedoya) to The Law Offices of Daniel A. Fulco, PLLC, Trustee(s), dated January 12, 2007, and recorded in Book No. 2802, at Page 962 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville,

will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 2, 2022 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: Being all of Tract Number 1 of the Frank K. Patterson Estate as recorded in Plat Book 122, Page 11, Cumberland County Registry, and being a portion of the same property described in deed recorded in Book 2125, Page 387, Cumberland County Registry, and being the same property designated as Lot Nos. 1,2,3 and 4 of the Frank K. Patterson Estate as recorded in Plat Book 59, Page 29, Cumberland County Registry.

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

Said property is commonly known as 6744 Old Plank Rd, Parkton, NC 28371.

A certified check only (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars

sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 3 in a subdivision known as WILLOW OAKS, and the same being duly recorded in Book of Plats 110, Page 38, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 6450 Willow Oaks Dr, Stedman, NC 28391.

($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 offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered 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 offered for sale. 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 Loretta W. Wilburn.

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

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered 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 offered for sale. 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 Jack A. McClure and wife, Jill Marie McClure.

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 effective 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 effective date of the termination.

Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 20-06738-FC01

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC

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 effective date of the termination.

5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 21-07218-FC01

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

A certified check only (no personal checks) of five 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.

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 effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the

19sp1719 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY RICHARD T. HARVATIN DATED OCTOBER 13, 2016 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 09968 AT PAGE 0433 IN THE CUMBERLAND 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 Cumberland County courthouse at 10:30AM on February 28, 2022, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Richard T. Harvatin, dated October 13, 2016 to secure the original principal amount of $145,268.00, and recorded in Book 09968 at

Page 0433 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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.

3329 Cornell Address of property: Dr, Fayetteville, NC 28306 0434-08Tax Parcel ID: 6251T Present Record Owners: h e Unknown Heirs of Richard T. Harvatin The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Unknown Heirs of Richard T. Harvatin.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, 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 offered 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 five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. 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 re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the

sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Fayetteville in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot No. 2 on a plat entitled “RECOMBINATION & SUBDIVISION of the PROPERTY OF CHARLES A. JORDAN AND WIFE, BIRGIT C. JORDAN” duly recorded in Book of Plats 118, Page 96, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2200 Ney Court, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. 45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security

agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior

to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not

foreclosure sales, at 11:30 AM on February 23, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Clemmons in the County of Davidson, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Beginning at an old axle in the western line of the Jesse Best Craver property as described in Deed Book 98, Page 245, said iron being the northeast corner of the E.E. Farmer property as described in Deed Book 338, Page 437, thence from said beginning point along Farmer’s north line, North 86 deg. 00’ 00” West 250 feet to an iron (said iron being located South 86 deg. 00’ 00” rest 45 feet from a stone marking the northwest corner of the Farmer property); thence North 05 deg. 36’ 20” East 208 feet to an iron; thence South 86 deg. 00’ 00” East 250 feet to an iron in the west line of Jesse Best Craver; thence along Craver’s line South 05 deg. 35’ 20” West 208 feet to the point and place of beginning containing 1.19 acres. All according to Survey of Ronald V. Swicegood dated July 27, 1985, said property being carved from the Southeasternmost corner of the Doris W. Hart property as described in Deed Book 345 Page 458. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 153 Pinwheel Lane, Clemmons, North Carolina.

Together with a non-exclusive easement of ingress, egress and regress being 30 feet in width leading from the northeastern corner of the above-described property to the centerline of another non-exclusive easement of ingress, egress and regress leading from the terminus of this easement to Frye Bridge Road, said centerline being described as follows: Beginning at a point in the north line of the above-described property, said point being located North 86 deg. 00’ 00” West 15.01 feet from an iron, the northeast corner of the

above-described property; thence North 05 deg. 36’ 20” East 136.99 feet to the centerline of the aforementioned 50-foot easement, the terminus of said 30-foot easement.

Together with a another non-exclusive easement of ingress, egress and regress having a width of 50 feet and leading from the northern terminus of the aforementioned 30-foot easement to Frye Bridge Road, the centerline of which is described as follows: Beginning at a point, said point being located North 86 deg. 00’ 00” West 35.01 feet, and North 05 deg. 36’ 20” East 136.99 feet from the northeast corner of the abovedescribed property; thence from said beginning point, South 86 deg. 18’ 06” East 162.50 feet to the western rightof-way line of Frye Bridge Road, the terminus of said 50-foot easement.

The grantor herein expressly reserves unto herself, her heirs and assigns, a non-exclusive easement along the easternmost 30 feet of the above-described property and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point in the northern line of the abovedescribed property, said point being located North 86 deg.

00’ 00” West 15.01 feet from the northeast corner of the above-described property; thence South 05 deg. 36’ 20” West 208 feet to a point in the northern line of E.E. Farmer’s property as described in Book 338, Page 437, the terminus of said 30-foot easement.

Being the same premises conveyed unto William O. Brame and wife, Dorothy A. Brame, by virtue of deed from Lillian C. Lodge (widow) dated January 11, 2007, recorded January 12, 2007 in Book 1757 Page 803, Davidson County, N.C. Parcel ID# 0301500000073 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may

customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:15 PM on March 2, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Winston Salem in the County of Forsyth, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: All that certain lot or parcel of land situated in Winston Township, Forsyth County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows: Being known and designated as Lots No. 7 & 8, Block 4, on the map showing a portion of Merry Acres, recorded in Plat Book 24, at Page 1, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Forsyth County, North Carolina. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2786 Robinhood Road, Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Save and Except for the 23,980.688 square foot tract of land conveyed to John Robert Chambers and wife, Nan Tyler Chambers in Deed Book 2127, Page 1427, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Forsyth County, North Carolina, said property being more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a one-half inch existing iron pipe located in the southern right of way line of Robinhood Road said point being also the northeast corner of Lot 7 as shown on the Map of Merry Acres as recorded in Plat Book 24, Page 1 Forsyth County Registry; running thence along the eastern line of said Lot 7 South 01 degrees 46 minutes 00 seconds West 186.69 feet to a one-inch existing iron pipe located in the southeast corner of said Lot 7; running thence along the southerly line of said Lot 7 South 76 degrees 23 minutes 50 seconds West 115.92 feet to a point, said point being the

southwest corner of said Lot 7 and the southeast corner of Lot 8 as shown on the Map of Merry Acres (Plat Book 24, Page 1); running thence along a new line North 08 degrees 53 minutes 00 seconds West 180.59 feet to a new iron pipe located in the southern right of way line of Robinhood Road; running thence along the southern right of way line of Robinhood Road North 76 degrees 22 minutes 56 seconds East 150.55 feet to the point and place of beginning, and containing 23,980.688 square feet as shown on the survey prepared by Harris Baker Gupton, PLS, dated June 5, 2000.

The above-described tract consists of the major portion of Lot 7 as shown on the Map of Merry Acres as recorded in Plat Book 24, Page 1, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Being the same premises conveyed to John R. Chambers and wife, Nan T. Chambers, by deed from Sara P. Chambers, widow, dated 11/22/2005, and recorded 11/28/2005, in Deed Book 2620, Page 1841, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor

the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real

that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on March 3, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Hubert in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: The Land referred to herein below is situated in the County of Onslow, State of North Carolina, and is described as follows: City of Hubert; Township of Swansboro, County of Onslow; State of North Carolina Being all of Lot 8 as shown on map entitled “Final Plat Creeker Town South Subdivision” dated October 20, 2005 and recorded in Map Book 50 Page 1 Slide L-1099 Onslow County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 115 Spain Drive, Hubert, North Carolina.

Parcel ID: 067862 Commonly known as 115 Spain Drive, Hubert, NC 28539 However, by showing this address no additional coverage is provided.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on March 3, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Midway Park in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 12 B, Block A, as shown on a plat entitled “Section I, The Glen of Hunters Creek” as recorded in Map Book 22, Page 153, Onslow County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 1954 Heather Loop, Midway Park, North Carolina.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and

conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for

any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by

providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC

deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Attorney for the Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 19-108594 The date of this Notice is February 8, 2022.

19-108594

cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 5454 - 21546

request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 3963 - 13757

Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 4581 - 16933

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 5385 - 21256

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 5466 - 21591

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

B11

TAKE NOTICE

ONSLOW NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 21 SP 432 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Colton L. Reid and Jacqueline A. Reid (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Colton L. Reid and Jacqueline A. Reid) to Pamela S. Cox, Trustee(s), dated August 30, 2017, and recorded in Book No. 4667, at Page 446 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow County, North Carolina and the holder of

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 19 SP 748 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Keon Devontae Pondexter and Grace Shaisha Pondexter (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Keon Devontae Pondexter and Grace Shaisha Pondexter) to Donald P. Eggleston, Trustee(s), dated February 23, 2015, and recorded in Book No. 4267, at Page 468 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 19 SP 690 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Kerrianne S. Palmer and Daniel M. Becker (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Kerrianne S. Palmer and Daniel M. Becker) to James R. Seely, Trustee(s), dated August 29, 2018, and recorded in Book No. 4834, at Page 173 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow 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 offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on February 17, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated

STANLY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION STANLY COUNTY 19SP155 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY STARRA KAY ROBINSON DATED APRIL 17, 2007 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 1173 AT PAGE 793 IN THE STANLY COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA *102.11-012242.FC04.202* 11-012242

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION 22SP3 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY STANLY IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY TIM RILEY HARWOOD AND MARY V. HARWOOD DATED SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 RECORDED IN BOOK 1252 AT PAGE 534 IN THE STANLY 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 therein contained 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 NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 21 CVS 10266 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION COMPLAINT TO QUIET TITLE

OF

DARRIN FENWAY MCCLAIN and BRENDA FAYE MCCLAIN Petitioners,

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 10SP701 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY VIVIAN C. SAMUEL DATED MARCH 29, 2006 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 11882 AT PAGE 1114 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED DECEMBER 3, 2007 IN BOOK 12859, PAGE 1022 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 the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 19SP2731 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY WILMA O. ZIPF AND DONALD JOSEPH ZIPF, JR. DATED OCTOBER 6, 1995 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 6704 AT PAGE 51 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 the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained

21 SP 1647 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, WAKE COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Nathan David Farcasin to Gold Law PA, Trustee(s), which was dated June 7, 2019 and recorded on June 7, 2019 in Book 017467 at Page 00795, Wake County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 2, 2022 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit:

the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2022 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Richlands in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 47 as shown on that plat entitled, “Final Plat - Revised Ashbury Park Section III” as recorded in Map Book 57, Page 201, Onslow County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 312 Snow Bell Court, Richlands, North Carolina.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by

providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

Jacksonville in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: All that certain lot or parcel of land situate in the County of Onslow, State of North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows:BEING all of Lot 78E as shown on the plat entitled “FINAL PLAT THE VILLAGE AT THE GLEN SECTION II-B AT CAROLINA FOREST” as recorded in Map Book 66, Page 8, Onslow County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 110 Waterstone Lane, Jacksonville, North Carolina.**FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY**THE improvements thereon being known as 110 Waterstone Lane, Jacksonville, NC 28546Tax ID No. 157532THE ABOVE DESCRIBED PROPERTY WAS TAKEN IN FEE SIMPLE.BEING the same property which, by General Warranty Deed dated June 4, 2014, and recorded on June 5, 2014 among the Land Records of the County of Onslow, State of North Carolina, in Deed Book 4159, Page 686, was granted and conveyed by Carolina Forest Developers, LLC unto Keon Devontae Pondexter and Grace Shaisha Pondexter.BEING the same property which, by General Warranty Deed dated September 29, 2011, and recorded on October 6, 2011 among the Land Records of the County of Onslow, State of North Carolina, in Deed Book

3661, Page 333, was granted and conveyed by Garland W. Tuton and Sue C. Tuton unto Carolina Forest Developers, LLC. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said

property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

in Richlands in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot 3, containing 4.24 acres, as shown on that plat recorded in Map Book 43, Page 131, Slide K-1558, Onslow County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 580 Haw Branch Road, Richlands, North Carolina. SUBJECT to that certain 1.58 acre tract denoted as a conservation easement conveyed to the State of North Carolina by document entitled “Permanent Conservation Easement” and recorded in Book 2772, Page 195 of the Onslow County Registry and which 1.58 acre tract is shown as Tract D in that Map Book 52, Page 51 & 51A of the Onslow County Registry.

to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.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 foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement,

the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and

conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, 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 being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION STANLY COUNTY 19SP155 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY STARRA KAY ROBINSON DATED APRIL 17, 2007 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 1173 AT PAGE 793 IN THE STANLY 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 Stanly County courthouse at 10:00AM on February 24, 2022, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Stanly County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that

certain Deed of Trust executed Starra Kay Robinson, dated April 17, 2007 to secure the original principal amount of $126,900.00, and recorded in Book 1173 at Page 793 of the Stanly County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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.

757 Faith St, Address of property: Oakboro, NC 28129 Tax Parcel ID: 559404623634 Starra Kay Present Record Owners: Robinson The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Starra Kay Robinson.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, 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 offered 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 five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. 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 re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Stanly County courthouse at 12:00 PM on March 2, 2022, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Stanly County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Tim Riley Harwood; Mary V. Harwood, dated September 26, 2008 to secure the original principal amount of $101,246.00, and recorded in Book 1252 at Page 534 of the Stanly County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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: Harwood Rd, New London, NC 28127 Tax Parcel ID: 662003000802 Present Record Owners: Riley Harwood

2 8 0 2 4

Heirs of Tim

The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Heirs of Tim Riley Harwood.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, 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 offered 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 five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or

seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 5001 - 18977

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 1282223 - 10335

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 1281945 - 13007

deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 4, 2022.

Attorney for the Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 11-012242

may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is 2nd day of February, 2022.

Posted: By:

__________________ __________________

Grady I. Ingle, Attorney for Substitute Trustee Ingle Law Firm, PA 13801 Reese Blvd West Suite 160 Huntersville, NC 28078 (980) 771-0717 Ingle Case Number: 5453-6450

Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of DAVID STEWART LEE, late of Wake County, North Carolina (Wake 2022-E-000187), the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the

estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before April 29, 2022, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate

payment to the undersigned.

This 16th day of February 2022.

William Thomas Lee, Executor, c/o Lisa M. Schreiner,

Senter Stephenson Johnson, PA, PO Box 446, FuquayVarina, NC 27526.

For Publication: North State Journal: January 26, 2022, February 2, 9, 16, 2022.

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF

Elizabeth Powell, Baron Powell, James Powell, David Powell, Mitchell Powell, Lewis Powell, Barbara Powell and Albert Powell : PLEASE TAKE NOTICE a complaint has been filed claiming that you have no right, title, or interest in the following property in Wake County and described as follows:

shown on a map recorded in Book of Maps 1999 pg. 1842, WCR, for further reference.

Tel: 888-443-1446 Email: cameron@hemphillgelderlaw.com

You must respond in writing to the address below by March 29, 2022 or your default will be entered and judgment rendered declaring that you have no right, title or interest in this property.

STAM LAW FIRM, PLLC S/ Paul Stam, Attorney for Petitioner P.O. Box 1600 Apex, NC 27502 Tel: 919-642-8971 Fax: 919-387-7329 Email: paulstam@stamlawfirm.com

COMPLAINT TO QUIET TITLE HENRY POWELL SMITH, et al, including the UNKNOWN HEIRS OF AFFIE “EFFIE” SMITH POWELL, WILLIAM ATLAS POWELL, NITA POWELL, ETHELENE POWELL, CAROLYN POWELL, ELIZABETH POWELL, BARON POWELL, JAMES POWELL, DAVID POWELL, MITCHELL POWELL, LEWIS POWELL, BARBARA POWELL, and ALBERT POWELL, Respondents.

To the unknown heirs of Affie “Effie” Smith Powell, William Atlas Powell, Nita Powell, Ethelene Powell, Carolyn Powell,

perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 11:00AM on February 25, 2022 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Vivian C. Samuel, dated March 29, 2006 to secure the original principal amount of $301,500.00, and recorded in Book 11882 at Page 1114 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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: Raleigh, NC 27613 Tax Parcel ID:

10313 Ray Rd, 0110314

and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 11:00AM on March 4, 2022 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Wilma O. Zipf and Donald Joseph Zipf, Jr., dated October 6, 1995 to secure the original principal amount of $119,920.00, and recorded in Book 6704 at Page 51 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified 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: Woodbrook Way, Garner, NC 27529 Tax Parcel ID:

1

1

2

9

0134424

BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF NEW BERN AVENUE ROAD, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTH-EAST CORNER OF LOT NO. 17; RUNNING THENCE IN A SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION ALONG THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN LOTS 17 AND 18, A DISTANCE OF 155 FEET TO THE CENTER OF A BRANCH; THENCE SOUTHEASTERLY ALONG THE CENTER OF SAID BRANCH A DISTANCE OF 42 FEET TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF LOT NO. 19; THENCE NORTHEASTERLY ALONG THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN LOTS NO. 19 AND NO. 18, A DISTANCE OF 171 FEET TO A POINT ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF NEW BERN AVENUE ROAD; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN LINE OF NEW BERN AVENUE ROAD, A DISTANCE OF 40 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING; BEING LOT NO. 18 ACCORDING TO A MAP OF BATTERY HEIGHTS, WHICH MAP IS RECORDED IN BOOK OF MAPS 1911, PAGE 23, OFFICE OF REGISTER OF DEEDS, WAKE COUNTY, N. C. AND BEING THE SAME LOT OF LAND CONVEYED TO E.H. BROUGHTON BY FRED F. DRAKE AND WIFE, BY DEED DATED AUGUST 11, 1942, AND RECORDED IN BOOK 451, AT PAGE 72, IN THE REGISTRY

BEING that tract of land containing 0.55 acres, more or less, with an address of 2249 E. Williams St., Apex, NC 27539, and bounded on the west by the eastern right of way of N.C. Hwy 55, on the north by other property of the Plaintiffs, see Deed Book 18425 pg. 2211, WCR, on the south by Equity Trust Co., Custodian—Wake ID # 56638, and on the east by Lots 206, 207, and 208 of Sunset Hills Phase 3 Section 1, as

Present Record Owners: Samuel

Vivian

C.

And Being more commonly known as: 10313 Ray Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Vivian C. Samuel.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either 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 being offered 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 made subject to Present Record Owners: Wilma O. Zipf

The Estate of

And Being more commonly known as: 1129 Woodbrook Way, Garner, NC 27529 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Estate of Wilma O. Zipf.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered 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 officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either 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 being offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition OF WAKE COUNTY. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 1504 Poole Rd, Raleigh, NC 27610.

A certified check only (no personal checks) of five 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 offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered 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 offered for sale. This sale is made subject to

This the 16th day of February, 2022.

HEMPHILL GELDER P.C. S/ Cameron Stanton Guardian Ad Litem for Unknown Heirs P.O. Box 31205 Raleigh, NC 27622

all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or expressly are disclaimed. This sale is made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory 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 re-sale. 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, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the 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 Nathan David Farcasin.

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 effective 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 effective date of the termination.

after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, to be effective 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 notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 12, 2022.

LLG Trustee LLC Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 10-000550

Parkway,

Suite

400

purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, to be effective 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 notice of termination is provided. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 31, 2022.

LLG Trustee LLC Substitute Trustee 10130 Perimeter Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 19-107715

Parkway,

Suite

400

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 21-06648-FC01

B12

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

pen & paper pursuits

sudoku

solutions From February 9, 2022

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 51 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022 | MOORE.NORTHSTATEJOURNAL.COM

TO SUBSCRIBE: 704-269-8461

MOORE COUNTY

DAVID SINCLAIR | FOR THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Pinecrest Senior J.J. Goins (5) shoots a freethrow during a home game Thursday against Union Pines. The Pinecrest Patriots topped the visiting Union Pines Vikings 68-54 Thursday in varsity boys basketball. The Patriots improved to 18-4 on the season while the Vikings now have a 17-6 record.

COUNTY NEWS

Moore County Schools drops mask mandate North State Journal staff

COVID cases decline after January spike After seeing nearly 450 cases in a single day in late January, positive cases are down dramatically in Moore County.

The daily average of cases for the seven days ending Feb 13 was 50, showing a more than 50% drop in cases from the prior week and a 79% drop in cases from one month ago. Forty-five people were hospitalized last week with COVID, which represented a 53% decrease in hospitalizations versus the prior week. Over 95% of the county’s adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and 90.5% of the citizens over 65 are considered fully vaccinated by the CDC.

Volunteers sought for US Adaptive Open The USGA has established the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, a new national championship that will showcase the world’s best golfers with disabilities. The inaugural competition will be conducted on Course No. 6 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club July 1820. The announcement of the championship follows through on a 2017 pledge by the USGA to establish a championship for the adaptive golf community.

The championship will be contested over 54 holes of stroke play and is open to males and females, professionals and amateurs, with either physical impairment, sensory impairment, or intellectual impairment. The field will consist of 96 players. The USGA and Pinehurst are seeking local volunteers to assist with the tournament.

Montgomery Co. teacher suspended after gun found in classroom A high school teacher was suspended without pay after a search of his classroom found a loaded gun, knives and ammunition. Jason Hensley, 47, was suspended by Montgomery County Schools. A search of Hensley’s desk at Montgomery Central High School turned up a loaded .380-caliber handgun.

An additional investigation of the classroom turned up concealed knives and ammunition. Hensley, who is a health-science teacher, is a part-time police officer with the town of Mount Gilead. While he may have been in violation of school system policy, there was nothing illegal about having the gun in the classroom.

CARTHAGE — A week after North Carolina’s Speaker of the House called for an end to K-12 masking and quarantine policies, Moore County Schools took a first step.

In a 6-1 vote, the county school board voted Monday night to drop mask requirements. The change went into effect Tuesday. Masks will still be required for school buses due to CDC and other federal rules.

The change in Moore County comes as many other school districts around the state are adapting to new variants and emerging scientific findings that cloth masks are less effective than many had hoped. The Union County School Board voted last week to end contact tracing and quarantines and Asheboro City Schools also ended mask mandates.

Randolph County had previously voted to limit contact tracing by school system personnel

in November. School board member Fred Burgess championed the move to report positive cases to the health department, saying at the time, “We are not supposed to do contact tracing. It is the health department that does contact tracing.” State law requires schools to report information on certain communicable diseases to the local health director.

According to sources within Randolph County Schools, contact tracing and quarantines are still significant causes of student and faculty absences.

In Stanly County, the school system superintendent cited COVID-related quarantines as the reason for a spike in teacher absences and a lack of available substitutes.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services updated guidance on quarantines in January to allow students and staff who had a close contact to remain in school if they had not developed symp-

Moore County Schools launches investigation into sex ed allegations Radio host brought allegations to light

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The Moore County public school district has launched an investigation after allegations of explicit remarks made by a New Century Middle School teacher during a course on reproductive health and safety.

Radio show host J.D. Zumwalt highlighted the allegations during his Jan. 27 broadcast and prefaced his comments by telling his audience to change the channel because none of what he was about to say should be heard by children.

Zumwalt referenced two children who heard the alleged remarks. One was an 11-year-old female student in sixth grade and the other was allegedly a 13-year-old.

The 11-year-old came home and told her mom about what happened at school and was nervous and uncomfortable about it. Zumwalt said on this show that the girl was so distraught she had to spell out the word that was discussed instead of saying it.

The teacher’s remarks alleged-

ly included descriptions of sex acts and body fluids.

A woman named Jan Nichols McClay, who self-identified herself as the mother of a child at New Century, said in a Facebook post, “I am mortified and flabbergasted and sad and mad and all sorts of things.

I haven’t slept since I found out.

“She had held it in and was so afraid to tell me as she really likes her teacher and she knows that retaliation is a possibility,” wrote McClay about her daughter finally telling her about what happened.

“What a horribly sad situation for a child to be in — asking herself, do I do what is right and rat out my teacher that I like or just keep it all bottled up inside.”

McClay also wrote that she wants to go to the school for answers “as to why/how this happened” and to “work together to make sure this never happens again not as a mob with pitchforks but community with solutions.”

McClay declined further comment to North State Journal, pending the school district’s investigation.

North State Journal asked the district about the alleged incident.

MCS Communications Director Catherine Nagy emailed back a

toms or tested positive. That policy — known as “test to stay” — had been under consideration by NCDHHS months before the CDC announced test to stay in December. The Department added the option in January.

Updates added to the state toolkit in February include dropping contact tracing and alterations to some quarantine policies but kept indoor mask usage in place for all children 5 and up.

In a press release, interim NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley said the updates are “the right approach for this point in the pandemic” and said it “includes flexibility for local schools and health departments to use data to make informed decisions and respond to local conditions.”

The main update to the StrongSchools NC Toolkit says, “Individual contact tracing and exclusion from school of asymptomatic people after an identified exposure is no longer recommended statewide in K-12 schools.”

statement on Friday, January 28.

“The school system is aware of the statements made on the radio.

To the best of our knowledge, there have been no such complaints or concerns of any kind expressed to the school, and the school system currently has no reason to believe the allegations are true. Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, the school system is investigating these concerns per its personnel policies and practices.

“The school system asks that members of the public refrain from judgment as to what are, at this point, nothing more than unverified and anonymous hearsay allegations. The school system takes all allegations of misconduct by employees very seriously, even hearsay, and will review these concerns fairly, carefully, and with respect for the employee’s due process rights.

MCS has outstanding, professional educators which is why the district takes any allegations of misconduct seriously.

“To correct misinformation being circulated related to these allegations, parents of any students enrolled in the puberty units of the Healthful Living and physical education courses must ‘opt-in’ their child for the course. This is an important distinction in that students are not automatically enrolled in those courses. Parents opt-in their child by responding to a ‘Reproductive Health and Safety’ letter sent home prior to the start of instruction. Parents are able to view the materials for the coursework at any time upon request by visiting their See SEX ED, page 2

Moore County’s move brings the system in line with a growing number of public school districts around the state. As of Tuesday, 69 public school districts required masks with 46 not requiring them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance that said cloth masks — which have been the requirement promoted by Gov. Roy Cooper in his executive orders — are the least effective at preventing COVID-19 transmission.

School board member Ed Dennison was the lone vote to continue a mask mandate for Moore County Schools. He cited new variants and vaccination rates as his reasons to keep masks on students, staff and visitors.

Board member David Hensley, who consistently voted to make masks optional, pointed out the changing stances on masks, quarantines and contact tracing by many government agencies. “The science didn’t change, the political science changed,” said Hensley.

5

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

2 WEDNESDAY

WEEKLY FORECAST

2.16.21 #321

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“Join the conversation” North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365) Publisher Neal Robbins

Editor Matt Mercer

Sports Editor Cory Lavalette

Senior Opinion Editor Frank Hill

Design Editor Lauren Rose Published each Wednesday

by North State Media, LLC 1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607 TO SUBSCRIBE: 704-269-8461 or online at nsjonline.com Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: North State Journal

1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

WEEKLY CRIME LOG ♦ LADAY, DEJARIAN JERRON RASHA (W, M, 18) of Jackson Springs, arrested 2/15/2022 on charges of Possession of Marijuana up to 1/2 oz, Possession of Marijuana Paraphernalia by Moore County Sheriff. Bond: $500 Secured. Next Court Date: 44637. ♦ BROMELL, ANTONIO MAUICE (B, M, 36) of Sanford, arrested 2/15/2022 on charges of Possession of firearm by felon, Possess controlled substance on jail premises, possession of Schedule II Controlled Substance

by Southern Pines PD. Bond: 7500 Secured. Next Court Date: 44616. ♦ BARBER, KELSEY DAVIS (W, F, 32) of West End, arrested 2/15/2022 on charges of Misdemeanor Larceny by Moore County Sheriff.

Bond: $1,000 Secured. Next Court Date: 44629. ♦ YOW, ROY DALE (W, M, 35) of Robbins, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Obtain property false pretense, larceny of motor vehicle, possession of stolen goods/ property, obtain property false pretense, larceny of motor vehicle, obtain property false pretense, resisting public officer, carrying concealed weapon, drive while license revoked not impaired rev based, fict/alt title/reg card/tag, light bar lighting device, criminal contempt, felony probation violation, felony probation violation, felony probation violation, felony probation violation, criminal contempt by Moore County Sheriff.

Bond: 25000 Secured. Next Court Date: 44608. ♦ QUICK, WILLIE BRYAN (B, M, 60) of Hamlet, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Habitual Larceny (2 Counts) by Moore County Sheriff.

Bond: $1,000 Secured. Next Court Date: 44634. ♦ LEE, DONALD EUGENE (W, M, 66) of Cameron, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (15 Counts)

by Moore County Sheriff. Bond: None. Next Court Date: N/A. ♦ KING, NEELEY EDWARD (W, M, 35) of Robbins, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Assault on a Female

by Robbins PD. Bond: $1,000 Secured. Next Court Date: 44630.

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Sandy Hook families settle for $73M with Remington

SEX ED from page 1 child’s school. Material for the course can also be found on the NC DPI standard course of study webpage.”

School districts are required by state statute §15C-81.30 to provide a reproductive health and safety education program commencing in the seventh grade. The same statute also requires each lo-

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moore

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

The Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. — The families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting announced Tuesday they have agreed to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit against the maker of the rifle used to kill 20 first graders and six educators in 2012.

The case was watched closely by gun control advocates, gun rights supporters and manufacturers, because of its potential to provide a roadmap for victims of other shootings to sue firearm makers.

The families and a survivor of the shooting sued Remington in 2015, saying the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public.

Gun rights groups said the settlement will have little effect on rifle sales and gun makers, who continue to be shielded from liability in most cases under federal law. But some experts said it may prompt insurers to pressure gun makers into making some changes.

The settlement is not the first between victims and a gun manufacturer. Families of eight victims of the Washington, D.C.-area

MONDAY

February 19 The Carolina Philharmonic 7:30pm PHOTO VIA AP

A parent walks away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with her children following a shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, 2012. snipers won a $2.5 million settlement in 2004, with $550,000 coming from Bushmaster Firearms Inc. and the rest from the gun dealer. But Lytton said the impact of the Sandy Hook settlement could be greater because it is so much higher.

As part of the settlement, Remington also agreed to allow the families to release numerous documents they obtained during the lawsuit including ones showing how it marketed the weapon, the families said. It’s not clear when those documents will be released.

Remington had argued there was no evidence to establish that its marketing had anything to do with the shooting.

The company also had said the lawsuit should have been dismissed because of the federal law that gives broad immunity to the gun industry. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Remington could be sued under state law over how it marketed the rifle, under an exception to the federal law. The gun maker appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.

cal board of education to adopt a policy and provide a mechanism to allow a parent or a legal guardian to withdraw his or her child from instruction on sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptives, sexual assault and sex trafficking.

State law also requires that school districts give parents and legal guardians of students an opportunity to review the objectives and materials for reproductive health

and safety courses at least 60 days before the curriculum and materials are used.

North State Journal has submitted public records requests to the Moore County School district asking for e-mails and other documents to determine when the school administration became aware of these allegations and to ascertain the status of the school system’s investigation.

TUNE INTO The John and Maureen show

Sundays

1 - 2PM WEEB 990 AM 104.1 and 97.3 FM

MOORE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release February 5, 2022

MOORE COUNTY GOP OPENS NOMINATIONS FOR APPOINTMENT TO VACANCY MOORE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Republican Moore County Board of Commissioner, District II, Louis Gregory has announced his intention to resign his seat effective February 16, 2022.

♦ JENNINGS, BLAKE COVINGTON (W, M, 35) of Fuquay Varina, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Possession of Stolen Goods

by Moore County Sheriff. Bond: $8,000 Secured. Next Court Date: 44636.

Pursuant to North Carolina laws governing vacancies in office, and the Moore County GOP Plan of Organization, Moore County GOP Chairman Tom Beddow announces that the Moore County GOP will hold a vote to nominate a replacement for Moore County Commissioner on February 18, 2022, at Village of Pinehurst Assembly Hall, 395 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst North Carolina 28374 at 6:30 PM.

♦ HAYES, KEITH LASHAUN (B, M, 39) of Southern Pines, arrested 2/14/2022 on charges of Assault

by Pointing a Gun (5 Counts), Assault on a Female, Assault by Strangulation by Richmond County Sheriff. Bond: $22,000 Secured.

Next Court Date: 44608.

Minimum qualifications are: 18 years old, resident of Commissioner District II, and registered Republican.

Individuals seeking the nomination should email a Letter of Intent, and any supporting documentation of qualifications, to Moore County GOP Secretary Maureen Krueger at gop.mcrp@gmail.com no later than noon on February 15, 2022. Please call (910) 585-2274 for additional questions or information.

The Bradshaw Performing Arts Center hosts “Presidential Keys,” featuring David Osborne. From classical to pop to Broadway to classical, David Osborne has performed for Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush ‘41, Clinton, Bush ‘43 and Obama multiple times at the White House.

February 20 Champions for a Cure Tournament 3pm Sponsored by Horizon Therapeutics, this two-day event at Pinehurst No. 2 supports children with rare genetic diseases.

On Sunday evening, enjoy a live kick-off concert from Casey McPherson and Abigail Dowd. On Monday, see if your team will be the Champion of our Champions for a Cure Tournament. The event concludes with a celebratory Awards dinner. More details at tocurearose.org/golf

March 4-6 Always, Patsy Cline 7:30pm/2pm Sandhills Repertory Theatre along with Temple Theatre Company present the musical theater production featuring Peggy Tophorn, Lisa Domes and a sixpiece band at Owens Auditorium.

March 12 Pops: Movie Muse 7:30pm The Carolina Philharmonic returns for a live performance in Owens Auditorium.

The one-night show features grand cinematic scores with video clips and behindthe-scenes reels from classic films.

North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

OPINION Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | ROBERT LEVY

When will they ever learn?

With bayonets. tear gas and only Major Dwight Eisenhower in opposition, Hoover ordered General Douglas McArthur and Major George Patton to evict the protestors.

As I explore the present, I can’t avoid comparing it to the past. The names change. The places and faces are never identical. But like a false backdrop behind the camera in a Zoom call, it’s only cosmetic. Essential reality never changes.

For instance, on March 7, 1965, a group of voting rights demonstrators blocked traffic as they walked across Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. The marchers did not have a permit; so, the police ordered them to disperse. The marchers disobeyed the police and marched anyway. The result was called Bloody Sunday.

Similarly, a group of Canadian truckers blocked the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. They were protesting for the restoration of their fundamental freedom to determine the extent of their own medical care. As this column is written, the authorities, perhaps less violently than in 1965 but just as decisively, are preparing to break up the truckers’ protest.

Will it be another Bloody Sunday? No one knows. Yet, that is not the point.

As on Bloody Sunday the ruling class will try to crush the flowering working class in the name of “democracy.” So, we ask as Pete Seeger asked, “When will they ever learn?”

The Bible warns government in Psalms 37:11, “The meek shall inherit…”

The result will be “the abundance of peace,” not burning down buildings like ANTIFA did or deploying “Billy clubs” and handcuffs like Trudeau’s paramilitary. Unfortunately, the ruling elite always default to “knocking heads” or simply denying the meek their essentials such as food, gasoline and the freedom to honk a horn in peaceful protest.

Should we vilify government? Government controllers are acting as they have always done. American Homeland Security is joining with Facebook and Twitter in a Fascist union of government and industry to block the working-class protesters on both sides of the Great Lakes. Nothing is new.

On July 28, 1932, a group of World War I veterans called “Bonus Marchers” converged on Washington, D.C. They were peacefully demanding what we would call today a “stimulus payment” to blunt the reality of the Great Depression.

Like today’s Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, yesterday’s Herbert Hoover had

enough of what he considered an occupation of Washington, D.C. With bayonets. tear gas and only Major Dwight Eisenhower in opposition, Hoover ordered General Douglas McArthur and Major George Patton to evict the protestors. MacArthur was convinced that it was a Communist-inspired “insurrection” attempting to overthrow the federal government. Hence, Hoover and MacArthur felt justified in the resulting 55 injuries, 135 arrests and two deaths.

No, 1932 is not 2022. But, in 1932 as part of that Bonus March Insurrection, police officer George Shinault shot and killed two veteran “trespassing protestors.” That event was all too similar to the killing of veteran Ashli Babbit by a Capitol police officer on January 6, 2021. Do those events foretell the manner in which the American and Canadian governments will treat the truckers today?

It’s not all that complicated. As songwriter Noel Harrison wrote, such events are “like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel.” They rarely change. The formula is the same. 1) The meek challenge the land of the elite; 2) the elite label the meek as ‘insurrectionists” — “communists in 1932”, Nazi racists in 2022 — and, 3) the elite then utilize their police power together with their monopoly on legally-carried firearms to crush the protest.

The formula rarely varies. Only history judges the result.

At present, those results are mixed. In the case of the violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, history quickly condemned the beatings on Bloody Sunday. Unfortunately, that same history never quite caught up with Patton or MacArthur. When it comes to Ashli Babbit and January 6, the “jury is still out.”

So, what about the truckers? Well, most of us who read the Bible want to side with the meek. Even agnostics would rather be a trucker than a “thug” for Justin Trudeau. Most of us believe in free speech and the right to peaceably assemble. Most of us will support those rights. But as for the government, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau should remember that those, like Hoover, who support the wrong side of freedom generally lose the next election.

“When will they ever learn?”

COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE

Lamentations about redistricting ending democracy prove hypocritical — and wrong In contrast, the Republicanmajority Ohio Supreme Court has overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

MASKS WERE NECESSARY, especially in schools, to prevent mass deaths. Or so we were told, at great and tedious length — until suddenly, in the last 10 days, they weren’t.

The Democratic governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and California followed the lead of the newly-installed Republican governor of Virginia and revoked mask mandates. Or until, if I may say so, my Washington Examiner column last week titled “Returning to normalcy on school masks.”

Let’s pivot now to another subject on which liberal commentators were raising alarms. Getting rid of gerrymandering, they claimed, was necessary to preserve democracy and prevent its overthrow by the forces of repression and one-party dictatorship.

It turns out that those alarms are suddenly, to borrow a Watergate word, inoperative. The turning point may have come last week when David Wasserman, the Cook Political Report’s ace redistricting honcho, tweeted that his state-by-state accounting showed Democrats with a two- to threeseat gain in U.S. House redistricting in the cycle following the 2020 census.

So much for the lamentations, coming from Democrats such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, that Republican redistricting would guarantee one-party control for another decade or even, according to leftwing tweeters, forever. Republicans control legislatures and governorships in states with more House districts than Democrats. But they are failing to make the redistricting gains they did following the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

Why haven’t things been panning out that way?

One reason is that Democratic redistricters have been more ruthless than Republicans, starting with Illinois and its early filing deadline on March 14. Democrats drew “bacon-strip” districts heading 100 miles out from Chicago wards to the open prairie and downstate districts that stitch together small factory or university towns along highway rights of way.

They increased Democrats’ edge from 13-5 to 14-3.

New York Democrats did even better. Their edge went from 19-8 to 224, thanks to a plan that linked conservative Staten Island with Brooklyn’s trendy Park Slope and gave House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler a district that snakes from the palisades of Upper Manhattan to the beaches of Bensonhurst.

This seems in violation of New York law, but those familiar with how New York courts handle election law, such as Wasserman, have little doubt it will stand. Similarly, the Democratic-majority North Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a Republican redistricting plan based on the court’s 2019 criteria on an entirely inconsistent theory.

“Heads I win, tails you lose.”

In contrast, the Republican-majority Ohio Supreme Court has

overturned a partisan Republican map based on similar provisions.

Texas Republican legislators concentrated on strengthening Republican incumbents rather than ousting Democrats.

You see similar inconsistency in interpreting the Voting Rights Act. Black politicians and Republican strategists long argued that it required maximizing the number of majority-Black districts, which resulted in electing more Black members and in strengthening Republicans in adjacent districts. Democrats taking that view prevailed in federal court in challenging Alabama’s districts, a decision stayed last week pending full review by the Supreme Court.

But in other cases, Democrats have argued that the act requires only a large percentage of Black voters, an arrangement that tends to elect more Democrats. It’s possible that the Supreme Court in the Alabama case may clear up the muddle of current Voting Rights Act jurisprudence that has been exploited by both parties.

The creation of purportedly nonpartisan redistricting commissions — a favorite proposal of those few liberals, like the Washington Post editorialists, who lament partisan redistricting — doesn’t end partisan gerrymanders. Democrats have succeeded in gaming supposedly neutral commissions this cycle in California (52 districts), Michigan (13) and New Jersey (12).

Those who have lamented that partisan redistricting means oneparty control do have some historic precedent for their argument. As I documented in successive editions of “The Almanac of American Politics,” Democrats’ partisan redistricting helped them maintain majorities in the House of Representatives from the Supreme Court’s one-person, one-vote decision in 1964 through 1992.

That hasn’t worked for Republicans. Starting in 1995, neither party has maintained majorities over a 10-year intercensal period. Political realignments have frustrated even the most ruthless redistricters and may do so again. The waning prominence of Donald Trump may turn some affluent districts who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 Republican again. Or the post-Biden emergence of someone like the 1992 Bill Clinton may turn some populist Trump 2020 districts once again Democratic. Or voters could start splitting their tickets again.

My prediction is that by 2030, masking of schoolchildren will be seen as a vestige of a remote and superstitious past, and that the partisan redistrictings of political parties and “apolitical” commissions alike will have been rendered nugatory by the voters.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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obituaries

SPONSORED BY BOLES FUNERAL HOMES & CREMATORY

DEATH NOTICES ♦ Thomas Toohey Brown, 73, of Pinehurst passed away Friday, February 11, at his home.

Janis Lynn Wagoner

Phillip “Phil” G. Phillips

Nov. 12, 1950 – Jan. 8, 2022

February 9, 2022

Janis Lynn Wagoner, 71, passed away at her home, Saturday January 8, 2022.

She was born in Litchfield, Illinois, on Nov. 12, 1950 to the late Alfred R. and Mary Sieveking Wagoner. She called her hometown as Lincoln, Illinois in her youth.

Jan graduated from Lincoln Community High School in 1968 and Illinois Wesleyan University in 1972.

Jan was very talented with the arts, loved her pottery and family.

Jan worked at True Value, Pinehurst and formerly at Lowes Home Improvement. She loved her friends and adopted family.

She is survived by her four legged children, Maggie and Tucker, adopted family of Lea Chandler, dear close friends, church friends and coworkers.

Jan’s life will be celebrated Wed, Feb. 23rd at 1:00 pm at the Christ Community Church, 220 Campground Rd. West End 27376

Phillip “Phil” G. Phillips, 84, of Southern Pines, passed away Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

Phil was born in Ravenswood, WV. He graduated from Akron University with a BS Business Administration and Marketing Degree, completed a Master’s program and then went on to earn a Ph.D. Phil worked in the chemical business with an emphasis in Powder Coatings his entire career and later on began his own consulting business.

He is survived by the love of his life, Patricia “Pat” of 41 years, his three children, Mark and his husband, Grant, of New York, John and his wife, Lorraine, of Pinehurst, and Matthew of Florida. Phil is also survived by his brother, Paul, of Wisconsin and his wife, Carole, brother-in-law, Michael Chiello and his wife, Julie, of Florida, 8 nieces, 2 nephews, three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Norris Wayne “Norry” Camaren October 13, 1941 – January 26, 2022

Norris Wayne “Norry” Camarena, 80, of Southern Pines, NC passed away on Wednesday January 26, 2022, at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

Born on October 13, 1941, in Merced Falls, CA, Norry was a son of the late Louis and Iba Lois Camarena. He is predeceased by brothers Larry, Robert, Jesse, and sister Mary Lou Graves all of California, brother Jack Barron of Southern Pines, and by a son, Michael Phelan.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Carolyn Smith Camarena; son Norris Phelan and his wife Lisa of Montana; daughter Jill Bundy Kidd and her wife Kathy of Raleigh, NC; step-son Todd Hahn and his wife Miranda of Charlotte, NC; a sister Gloria Barron of San Filipe, Mexico; 8 grandchildren; 6 great grandchildren; close niece and nephew Tammy and Jeff McDonald of Cape Coral, FL as well as many other nieces and nephews.

John Wesley Wright Jr. February 11, 2022

John Wesley Wright Jr. was 59 when he died at Peak Resources near Pinehurst, NC on February 11, 2022.

He moved to Pinehurst from Virginia in 2002. He loved music and singing in the choir at First Baptist Church of Southern Pines. He also enjoyed playing golf. He is well remembered as the receptionist at Sandhills Accounting Services, LLC in Southern Pines. He brought laughter and love to all those that he knew.

He is survived by Pat (sister) and Bob Shenkle, Pinehurst; Sue (sister) and Don Williams of Jacksonville TX and their children; Kathy (sister) and Kent Scott of Medway, MA and their children; Cindy Wright (sister) of Weaverville, NC; and Sandy (sister) and Jay Perez of Fairfax Station, VA and their daughter.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Robert Wiley Carrington, Jr. Robert Wiley Carrington, Jr., 87, of Southern Pines, NC passed away on Friday, February 11, 2022 at First Health Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC. Born November 23, 1934 in Pinebluff, NC, Robert was a son of the late Robert Wiley Carrington, Sr., and the late Jessie McCaskill Carrington.

Robert grew up in Moore County and graduated from Aberdeen High School. He met Mary Frances Pohl in the seventh grade. They quickly became sweethearts and later married in 1957. Robert served his country for four years in the U.S. Air Force and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Elon College. He was a very resourceful entrepreneur, owning and operating Aberdeen Produce with his children for many years. He enjoyed owning farms and raising cattle, horses and other farm animals. Beyond being a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, his legacy includes being a supportive and generous person to his employees and acquaintances in need.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Mary Frances Carrington; their children, Elizabeth Carrington Dodge (Will), Robert “Bobby” Carrington, III (Mary), and Catherine Carrington Hinton (Hugh); grandchildren Sarah Carrington, Robert “Rob” Carrington, IV., Anna Carrington Tew (Arthur), Lizzie Smith, Marshall Smith (Rachel), Mary Catherine Dodge Clodfelter (David) and Ann Dodge; greatgrandchildren Harriette, Lydia, and Ambrose Tew; and a sister Elizabeth “Betty Raye” Harrington.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three brothers Ted, Kenneth and Sterling Carrington.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 1:00 pm at Boles Funeral Home in Southern Pines, NC 28387, with Pastor Michael Owens officiating.

The family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 12:00 pm. Graveside service will follow at Bethesda Cemetery in Aberdeen.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Eugene De Santis March 29, 1928 – February 6, 2022

Eugene De Santis died peacefully on February 6, 2022.

Gene was born in Worcester, MA on March 29, 1928. After High School he served in US Navy from 1946 to 1948. He settled in Westchester County, NY where he raised his family and operated his own business for many years.

He retired to Southern Pines, NC and subsequently moved to Aberdeen, NC. Gene was an avid golfer and a longtime member of The Hyland Hills Golf Club where he gained the nickname; “Speedy”. He enjoyed cooking and was known for his many special culinary dishes. He loved sharing a meal with family and friends and he loved a party.

Gene is survived by his daughter, Diane De Santis; grandchildren, Scott and Charlotte De Santis; sister, Virgilia Costanzo; nieces, Michele, Corinne, Andrea; nephew, Ron and his wife, Margaret.

Gene was predeceased by his son, Alan.

Thomas Michael “Mick” Magers Dunedin, FL- Thomas Michael “MicK” Magers, 94, formerly of Whispering Pines, died Wednesday, February 2, 2022 in Dunedin. FL. A Graveside service with military honors will be conducted at 1:00 PM Sunday, February 13,2022 at Bethesda Cemetery in Aberdeen with Rev. Archie Stevens officiating.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Beverly Magers and his second wife Cookie Magers.

He is survived by his sister-inlaw, Joanne Barshis of Pinehurst, a niece Debra Kidd and husband Ron, great nieces Ashley Matthews and husband Derrick and their daughter Emma, Christine Southern and husband Tyler.

Services have been entrusted to Boles Funeral Home.

Barbara DuBois Cole November 19, 1944 – February 7, 2022

Barbara DuBois Cole, 77, of Pinehurst, NC entered Heaven on Monday, February 7, 2022 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC. The daughter of Howard and Grace Sitley DuBois, she was born November 19, 1944 in Camden, NJ. Her parents gifted her with a life-long love of the ocean, a passion for finding the joy and adventure in every day, and a faithful devotion to God, family, and service.

After graduating from Thiel College, she relished the chance to work with new technology, teaching French to high school students across the region by video and in-person lessons. She married the love of her life, Neil D. Cole Jr., in 1968 and, throughout their 53 years of marriage, always kept a special smile for him.

After being a French teacher and then ‘domestic engineer’ in many different states and Singapore, Barbara and her husband settled down and became co-owners of Sandhills Office Supply in Southern Pines in 2000. She also treasured her time teaching at Sandhills Classical Christian School and remained active in supporting it. Before her health turned, she relished road trips, word games, gardening, daily Bible studies, and fellowshipping with her friends and family.

Most recently, she attended Pinehurst United Methodist Church but had also been a part of Trinity Christian Fellowship. Barbara had a true servant’s heart as she was happiest when helping others.

She is survived by her husband Neil Cole, their three daughters Michele, Helene, and Jeannine Cole, and many extended family members who will miss her dearly.

A memorial service is being planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Barbara’s name to Sandhills Classical Christian School.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

Proudly supporting you every step of the way on your grief journey.

CONTACT

www.bolesfuneralhome.com Email: md@bolesfuneralhome.com Locations in: Southern Pines (910) 692-6262 | Pinehurst (910) 235-0366 | Seven Lakes (910) 673-7300

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