North State Journal Vol. 8, Issue 9

BRIEF this week

Appeals court upholds Apple’s control of iPhone app store

Cary An appeals court on Monday upheld Apple’s exclusive control over the distribution of iPhone apps, rejecting the latest attempt to force one of the world’s most powerful companies to dismantle the digital walls protecting its most lucrative product.

The 92-page decision issued by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the findings of a lower-court judge who presided over a 2021 trial that revolved around an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game. Epic Games’ lawsuit alleged Apple’s app store — which was launched in 2008, a year after the first iPhone went on sale — had turned into an illegal monopoly that stifles innovation and competition while generating billions of dollars in profit for Apple.

The Cary-based company could still ask for a review before a larger panel of Ninth Circuit judges or file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lt. Gov. Robinson

announces appointments to NC Blockchain Initiative

Raleigh Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announced new appointments to the state’s Blockchain Initiative (NCBI).

“North Carolina is already home to many notable blockchain and FinTech startups, and we need to do all we can to keep our state competitive,” Robinson said. “We appreciate the incredible work this task force has done in researching this transformational technology, and we thank them for their continued service.”

“The passage of the bipartisan Sandbox Act of 2021 was a clear indicator North Carolina is working to be a leader in the ecosystem,” said Agnes Gambill West. Task Force co-chairs will include the reappointment of Washington-based Blockchain Association’s Dan Spuller along with six other individuals; Eric Proper, Stuart Russell, Agnes Gambill West, John Bridge, Faruk Okcetin and Jain Arun Singh.

NSJ STAFF

ReOpen NC protester suing Cooper, various officials, alleges violation of constitutional rights Raleigh

ReOpen NC protester Monica Ussery’s long battle with the state over her arrest in 2020 has entered a new chapter: A civil complaint against Gov. Roy Cooper and other top law enforcement officials.

In addition to Cooper, defendants named in the complaint include former N.C. Dept. Of Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, retired Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown, retired Raleigh Police Captain Dedric Brown, State Capitol Police Chief Roger “Chip” Hawley, North Carolina General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock, and Capitol Police Officers Derick Proctor and Tito Fink.

Ussery’s complaint accuses the defendants of violating her First Amendment right to freedom of speech and assembly and her 14th Amendment rights to due process — including a Brady violation for withholding the body cam footage.

A.P. DILLON

Robinson officially announces bid to

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

N.C. Association of Educators drops lawsuit against popular school choice program

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH

— The N.C. Association of Educators (NCAE) dropped its lawsuit against North Carolina’s popular Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), according to a filing with the Wake County Superior Court last week.

“Plaintiffs hereby notice the dismissal of all claims against all Defendants,” wrote Christopher Brook, the attorney representing NCAE. “Plaintiffs have consulted with all parties regarding costs, and all parties agree that each side will bear their own costs. Defendants reserve the right to pursue costs should Plaintiffs re-

file this lawsuit within one year of this filing.”

Brook had been appointed to the N.C. Court of Appeals by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2019. Brook, a Democrat, ran in 2020 to retain the seat but was defeated by Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican.

Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) has been a consistent supporter of the OSP and has helped families navigate the program for years. PEFNC’s President Mike Long was pleased the NCAE dropped the suit.

“The NCAE should have never filed this lawsuit in the first

See LAWSUIT, page A8

ALTAMAHAW — With storm clouds swirling overhead, supporters of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson were undeterred and headed into the stands at Ace Speedway, located in Altamahaw in Alamance County. With the stands packed with what the campaign estimated was around 1,000 people, the April 22 rally kicked off around 4 p.m.

The 54-year-old Robinson became the state’s first black lieutenant governor in 2020. He garnered national attention after video of his fiery 2018 speech defending gun rights at the Greensboro City Council went viral. That speech became a springboard for his 2020 campaign for office.

controversial gender identity ideology in schools.

Robinson has already gained support from powerful Republicans in the state. Video messages backing Robinson from U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-09) and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (RNC) were also played on the event’s giant video screen.

“We don’t need another politician who spent their life climbing the political ladder. We need a public servant. Someone who’s actually lived through the struggles of everyday North Carolinians.”

Robinson has been a target for Democrats and left-leaning activists over his pro-life positions and vocal opposition to indoctrination in the classroom, including taking on controversial issues like perceived inappropriate sexual topics and

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson

Bills protecting girls’ sports take center stage at General Assembly

Cotham (R-Mecklenburg), who recently left the Democratic Party, voted in favor of passage. She had also voted in favor of the bills in two committee meetings prior to the floor vote.

By A.P. Dillon North

State Journal

RALEIGH — After speeding through several committees, the North Carolina House and Senate each passed bills designed to protect girls’ sports last week in an emotional day at the General Assembly.

The NC House passed House Bill 574, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, on April 19. Athletic teams designated for women may not have members of the male sex and vice versa, according to the bill. The only exception is the case where there is no comparable sports team for females available and the sport in question is not a contact sport.

House Bill 574 passed by a vote of 73-39 and had bipartisan support as Reps. Garland Pierce (D-Scotland), Michael Wray (D-Northampton) and Shelly Willingham (D-Edgecombe) voted in favor. Rep. Tricia

As of this spring, around 21 states have either enacted or filed similar legislation. The House measure went through two committees and a floor vote with a noon press conference promoting its passage.

The same day House Bill 574 flew through committees to a passage vote, the Senate also advanced its companion bill, Senate Bill 631. The primary sponsors for the bill include Sens. Vicki Sawyer (R-Iredell), Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) and Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth).

On April 20, the Senate passed the bill by a party-line vote of 29-18.

During the debate in a Senate Education/Higher Education Committee meeting on April 18, things got a heated as Democrats repeatedly labeled the bill as “anti-trans.”

In response, Sawyer shot back, stating, “This bill is not about being anti-trans, this bill is about being

pro-woman.”

Primary sponsors of House Bill 574, Rep. Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), Kristin Baker, (R-Cabarrus) and Rep. Erin Pare (R-Wake), entered the House’s Judiciary Committee hearing with a special guest: Riley Gaines, a 12time All-American swimmer out of the University of Kentucky with five SEC titles and a two-time Olympic trial qualifier as well as being the SEC record holder in the 200 But-

Near the start of the rally, nearly two dozen legislators took the stage in support of Robinson’s announcement, including Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden).

“We in the House, we wholeheartedly endorse and we stand behind our friend, the next governor of the state of North Carolina, Mark Robinson,” Rep. Neal Jackson (R-Randolph) told the crowd.

Following the video endorsements, as Robinson took the stage the venue was flooded with the song “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. After thanking his family, supporters and volunteers, Robinson cut to the chase.

“Today, we make it official,” he

See ROBINSON, page A3

Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Iredell): “This bill is “pro-woman.”

become NC’s first black governor

“I felt betrayed and belittled and like my efforts and sacrifices I had made had been reduced to a photo op to validate the identity and feelings of a male.”

Riley Gaines

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson points to the crowd as he announces is run for governor on April 22, 2023 at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw.

“One of One”

Visit us online nsjonline.com

North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

There may be no Bible beatitude saying expressly, “Blessed are the unsuccessful,” but there are beatitudes, which are equivalent to this. We take these from our Lord’s own lips, “Blessed are those who mourn,” “Blessed are the poor,” “Blessed are those who are persecuted,” “Blessed are you when men shall revile you,” “Blessed are you when men shall hate you.”

Then many other Scripture passages have similar teaching. Evidently not all blessings lie in the sunshine; many of them hide in the shadows. We do not read far in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, without finding that earthly prosperity is not the highest good that God has for us. Our Lord speaks very plainly about the perils of worldly success.

The Bible is indeed a book for the unsuccessful. Its sweetest messages are to those who have fallen. It is the book of love and sympathy. Its pages teem with cheer for those who are discouraged. It sets its lamps of hope to shine in darkened chambers. It is full of comfort for those who are in sorrow. It is a book for those who have failed, for the disappointed, the defeated, and the discouraged.

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It is this quality in the Bible which makes it so dear to the heart of humanity. If it were a book only for the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unfallen, those who have no sorrow, who never fail, the whole, the happy—it would not find such a welcome wherever it goes in the world. So long as there are tears and sorrows, and broken hearts, and crushed hopes, and human failures, and lives burdened and bowed down, and spirits sad and despairing—so long will the Bible be a good book believed in as a God-inspired book, and full of inspiration, light, help, and strength for earth’s weary ones.

The God of the Bible is the God of those who have not succeeded. Wherever there is a weak, stumbling Christian, unable to walk alone—to him the divine heart goes out in tender thought and sympathy; and the divine hand is extended to support

terfly.

In recent months, Gaines has been a fixture in the headlines after a transgender swimmer named Lia Thomas was awarded the trophy at the March 2022 NCAA championship even though Thomas and Gaines had tied. Officials had told Gaines she had to go “empty-handed” because Thomas would get the trophy for “pictures.”

Gaines pushed back against being forced to compete against a biological male and began advocating to save women’s sports.

“I felt betrayed and belittled and like my efforts and sacrifices I had made had been reduced to a photo op to validate the identity and feelings of a male,” Gaines said in her testimony.

“But that is not all, in addition to being forced to give up out awards and titles and our opportunities, the NCAA forced female swimmers to share a locker room with Thomas — a 6-foot-4, 22-year-old male equipped with an exposing male genitalia — and a room full of vulnerable undressed women,” Gaines said. “Let me be clear: we were not forewarned about this arrangement, no one asks for our consent and we did not give our consent.”

Thomas competed in male swimming competitions at the University of Pennsylvania as Will, ranking 554th in the 200 freestyle and 65th in the 500 freestyle during the 2018-19 season — much lower than Thomas ranks in women’s competition.

Gaines was not the only athlete to testify. Joining her in the rounds of testimony given to various committees were former UNC women’s basketball coach and Hall of Famer Sylvia Hatchell; former ACC referee and supervisor of referees Judy Stroud; and Idaho legislator Barbara Ehardt, who founded the Save Women’s Sports movement.

Another athlete bringing her story to the General Assembly was Payton McNabb, a now-former volleyball player who gave testimony of how she was injured during a match between her school, Hiwassee Dam High School, and a team with a transgender athlete. She described how she was knocked unconscious and sustained a concussion after the transgender player spiked a ball directly into her head.

As a result of the incident, Cherokee County’s School Board voted to forfeit all future games against Highland or any team with a transgender athlete. The board cited concerns for the safety of the female athletes, but it also meant McNabb’s team wouldn’t be able to compete at state conferences due to the forfeitures.

McNabb also told committee

members she had to quit the rest of the season and is still enduring pain and other neurological injuries, and that she was now also having learning issues.

“I understand there was one report at a volleyball game where it’s unclear if the athlete was a trans athlete and if that was the reason, injuries happen,” Sen. Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg) said of McNabb’s injury during the April 18 Senate Education/Higher Edu-

him, and keep him from falling. Whenever a Christian has fallen, and lies in defeat or failure—over him bends the heavenly Father in kindly pity, to raise him up and to help him to begin again.

The world has honor enough for those who succeed. There are plenty of books about men and women who became famous. There is glory for those who began among the ranks of the poor, and climbed upward to the highest places. There are poets enough to sing the story of those who win in the battle. But the Bible wreaths its laurel chaplets for the unsuccessful. It sings the songs of those who fail. Its hands of help are under the fallen. Its brightest crowns are for those whom earth passes by. When the end comes, and

life’s revelations are all made—then it will appear that many who in this world have been thrust aside, or trampled down in the dust, or even burned at the stake, or nailed on crosses—have been exalted to highest honor in the life beyond earth. We would better, therefore, learn to measure life by true standards. No one has really failed—who has lived for God, who has lived according to God’s law, who has wrought on the temple of truth, in the cause of righteousness.

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. This passage is an edited version.

choice by withholding federal funding.

Testimony on the bill was also heard in the House Rules Committee. Gaines and McNabb also testified at that meeting, along with Evie Edwards, a cyclist who has competed on an international level.

“I am a liberal woman. I am a wife, mother and a registered Democrat,” Edwards told the Rules Committee members. “Most of the people I associate with are open-minded. But we tend to agree, from a practical standpoint, that the inclusion of male bodies in female sport is unfair.

“Policies that force this ideology on girls and women are wrong and need urgent discussion. This should not be a partisan issue. I’m encouraged by the support of Republicans and baffled and disappointed by the lack of support from my Democratic Party.”

Later in her testimony, Edwards underscored that this was about fairness in women’s competition, citing the biological advantages of males over females and stating that despite how a transgender may identify, “Bodies compete, identities don’t.”

In an interview with North State Journal, Edwards also said women’s sports are in danger but men’s sports aren’t, noting that female athletes and their families are kept in the dark if a transgender athlete is playing on a team or changing in the women’s locker rooms. She also referenced the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s “gender identity policy” that allows transgender athletes to participate in sports teams with no requirements other than “self-identification” and with no requirement documenting a medical transition or use of puberty blockers.

Opponents of the bill also gave remarks to the various committees, including representatives from national LGBTQ advocacy groups like The Human Rights Campaign and state-level groups like Equality NC.

Supporters of the bill outnumbered the opposition throughout the day, which included a large entourage with the conservative NC Values Coalition led by Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald.

cation Committee meeting. “I will point out injuries happen in sports all the time. We don’t need legislation to try to protect everyone and in every case.”

During the House Judiciary Committee meeting, Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guildford) made remarks similar to that of Marcus concerning McNabb’s injury but also called the bill a “solution looking for a problem” while citing a statistic that only one out of a dozen

or so transgender athletes who have applied to play sports in the state was actively playing.

Democrats in all committees where the bills were heard repeated the same talking points as well as claiming the bills would run afoul of expanded Title IX changes being proposed by the Biden administration that would essentially penalize any state or school not allowing biological males who identify as females to play on the team of their

“NC Values has been working for three years to advance a bill to guarantee a level playing field for girls in sports. Allowing biological males who identify as women to compete against girls in sports puts an end to women’s sports, takes away girls’ opportunities and jeopardizes their safety,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald’s organization also circulated results of a statewide poll showing just more than 71% of North Carolinians do not believe biological males should be allowed to play on female sports teams.

“Judah and Tamar” by Rembrandt (circa 1650) is a painting in the collection of the Residenzgalerie, Salzburg, Austria.

NCGA from page

AP DILLON | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Top: Riley Gaines speaks at a press conference at the North Carolina General Assembly on April 19, 2023. Bottom: A sign from the NC Values Coalition is displayed at the North Carolina General Assembly.

Local Government Commission approves $175M bond for Asheville Regional Airport

More than $168 million total approved for 15 other city and county projects

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Local Government Commission (LGC) approved the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority’s request for $175 million in transportation revenue bonds to be used for the airport’s expansion and modernization projects.

The LGC is chaired by State Treasurer Dale Folwell and is staffed by his department. The commission is tasked statutorily with approving most debt issued by units of local government and public authorities and monitoring the financial well-being of more than 1,100 local government units. Funding from the Federal Aviation Authority coupled with the revenue bonds will be used for a new air traffic control tower that is already being built.

The updates to the airport will double its square footage by updating the “single-story, seven-gate terminal built in the late 1950s to a modern, two-story, 12-gate terminal” according to a press release by Folwell’s office. Additionally, funds will go towards a ticketing lobby, TSA screening area, and baggage claim and concession areas.

The LGC approved multiple other spending requests at its monthly meeting on the UNC Wilmington campus on April 4.

Dare County: $49.2 million in limited obligation bonds to build a Dare County EMS facility/fire station in Kill Devil Hills; replace the Southern Shores EMS station; and construct a new Dare Med-

Flight airport hangar.

Catawba County: $43.5 million in limited obligation bonds to pay for the demolition of the three-story Maiden Elementary School that opened in 1926 to build a 93,000-square-foot elementary school and ancillary facilities.

City of Wilmington (New Hanover County): $30 million in limited obligation bonds to improve Water Street Park and Riverfront Park; perform street, sidewalk, streetscape and riverwalk improvements; build and equip a new fire station in the Riverlights community; and equip a sports complex.

The updates to the airport will double its square footage by updating the “single story, seven-gate terminal built in the late 1950s to a modern, twostory, 12-gate terminal.”

Durham Housing Authority: $21 million in conduit revenue bonds, proceeds of which will be loaned to Hardee Street Housing to pay for construction and equip -

FILE PHOTO

ping of a 132-unit multifamily rental housing development to be called Hardee Street Apartments.

Raleigh Housing Authority: $17 million in conduit revenue bonds to be loaned to KTJ 382, which will build and equip a 119-unit multifamily rental housing development called The Pines at Peach Pond.

Sanford (Lee County): $10.6 million in limited obligation bonds to improve its fire-fighting capabilities by building and equipping a new fire station for approximately $8 million and buying two new pumper trucks costing around $800,000 each.

Orange Water and Sewer Au-

thority (Orange County): $4 million from the state revolving fund to replace aging equipment, increase efficiencies and reduce the risk of failures at the Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Town of Oak Ridge (Guilford County): $3 million in financing to build Heritage Farm, a new town park with athletic fields, restrooms, picnic shelters, a playground and walking trails. Greenville (Pitt County): $2.5 million installment purchase approved by the LGC to replace 10-year-old police and fire department radio equipment.

Town of Wadesboro (Anson County): $2.2 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture revenue bonds to install water and sewer lines in order to reduce sanitary sewer overflows and to provide water to homes currently served by wells.

Carolina Beach (New Hanover County): $2 million installment purchase to acquire more than three acres of property on North Lake Park Boulevard to allow for storage of water and recreational facilities.

City of Newton (Catawba County): $1.9 million installment purchase to acquire a $255,050 garbage truck and $904,950 fire truck. Some of the funds will pay for a culvert replacement project to improve stormwater and water infrastructure.

Town of Fuquay-Varina (Wake County): $1.6 million in twothirds revenue bonds to pay for some costs of the planned Community Center North/Senior Center.

Albemarle (Stanly County): State revolving loan funds increased by $1.5 million to rehabilitate and replace 10,000 feet of 60-year-old sewer line. The original loan and the new funds bring the loan’s cost to $7.7 million. Rate increases will pay for the project, according to the press release.

Blowing Rock (Watauga and Caldwell Counties): $1.2 million installment purchase for 2,300 more technologically advanced water meters.

NC Department of Public Instruction reports K-3 literacy gains

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has reported mid-year testing shows gains in literacy for students in grades K-3.

According to an NCDPI press release, the percentage of K-3 students performing at or above the benchmark score of the 2022-23 school year was higher than assessment results from the beginning of the school year.

An example given was that of kindergarteners, which had the largest gains with the percentage of students meeting the bench-

mark nearly doubling; going from 28% to 56%.

“On top of all the other hard work that teachers do in their classrooms every day, they’ve been spending many hours outside the classroom learning to retool their instructional practices,” State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in the release. “They’re to be commended, as their work has helped improve literacy proficiency and outcomes for students across the state.”

The statewide mid-year results also show that fewer students were well below assessment benchmarks and in need of intervention and that “the mid-year gains made

by all student groups in North Carolina were greater than students given the same assessment in other states.” The release credits the second full year of the implementation of Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), a phonics-based approach tied to the “science of reading.”

LETRS has been an integral part of Truitt’s signature policy, Operation Polaris, which has entered its second iteration under Truitt’s tenure. Under Operation Polaris 2.0, 100% of the state’s school districts are participating in LETRS training.

LETRS training for all 44,000 elementary teachers is well underway; the first two cohort training groups began in 2021 and the third cohort in fall 2022. One of the goals sought by Operation Polaris 2.0 is to hire and assign early literacy specialists for each of the 115 districts in the state.

The mid-year results bolster the reading gains data shared by Truitt at a State Board of Education meeting held on Jan. 5. The data showed of the more than 454,000 students assessed at the beginning of the current school year, 27,970 more K-3 students were performing at or above benchmark levels compared to the previous school year.

“On top of all the other hard work that teachers do in their classrooms every day, they’ve been spending many hours outside the classroom learning to retool their instructional practices.”

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt

Robinson also said the state needs to better care for veterans.

said. “I am running for governor of North Carolina.

“So why am I running? I’m running for governor because we the people of North Carolina need someone who understands us. We don’t need another politician who spent their life climbing the political ladder. We need a public servant. Someone who’s actually lived through the struggles of everyday North Carolinians.”

Robinson, who is the ninth of 10 children in his family, went on to recount growing up in Greensboro with a father who abused his mother. He also spoke about being in fifth grade when his father died and it left him “terrified” of what would happen next because his father had been the only provider in the home.

He went on to say his mother went out and got a job as a custodian to provide for the five children she still had at home.

“I’ll never forget when she got her first paycheck and she brought home McDonald’s. Now to some of y’all, McDonald’s may not be a big deal, but that day, I ate a gourmet meal,” Robinson said. “I was so proud of my mom. She was and always will be my hero.”

Robinson touched on several topics including taxes, infrastructure, education, veterans’ health care and abortion.

“We must continue to be a state that encourages businesses to relocate here. But we need to ensure we are not just providing economic incentives to large corporations,” Robinson said of economic growth. “We must continue lowering taxes for everyone, not just for

22, 2023.

the benefit of those on Wall Street but for the benefit of those on your street so that hard-working North Carolinians have more money in their pockets as the prices of goods and services continue to rise under this terrible administration.”

On education, Robinson praised teachers and said to respect them “means treating them as professionals, protecting them as professionals and paying them as professionals, and holding them

to a professional standard.”

He also said the increase in verbal and physical assaults on teachers “has got to stop; it’s unacceptable.”

He went on to blame failures in public education on a big government.

“The vast majority of our parents, teachers and students have nothing to do with the failing of our education system,” Robinson said. “That failure can be placed

directly on the bloated bureaucratic system that is ineffective and does not serve the parents, teachers and students, but serves itself. That has got to stop.”

On abortion, Robinson said he wants to make the state a “destination for life” that includes “common-sense legislation to prevent abortions after a heartbeat is detected.” He also included the need to address child care issues, and the foster care and adoption systems.

“That means more than just paying them lip service,” Robinson said. “We need to make sure that the same way we spared no expense (in) sending them off the war, we spare no expense when they come home and need our help.”

Robinson also took aim at the media and those who oppose his candidacy.

“Make no mistake: Despite what you’ve heard here today, the media, radical left, will still try to destroy me,” said Robinson. “The road ahead of us is not just a challenge, but one of historic proportions.”

He added, “I terrify those on the left because I don’t fit in their narrative. The media despises me because I don’t fear you. The establishment hates me because I can’t be controlled.”

Near the end of his almost 40-minute speech, Robinson said his campaign would be releasing a platform detailing what he wants to tackle as governor.

The NC Democratic Party issued a press statement that said a truck with a mobile billboard opposing Robinson would “circle Ace Speedway” that day during the rally, however, no such truck was spotted.

Robinson will face two possible primary challengers: State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who announced his bid in March, and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, who has signaled he will likely be entering the race soon.

Attorney General Josh Stein is the only Democrat to announce so far.

Gov. Mark Robinson signs autographs for supporters at his kickoff announcement at Ace Speedway on April

This undated photo shows the entrance sign of Asheville Regional Airport

ROBINSON from page A1

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

North Carolinian aversion to centralized power

THE NORTH CAROLINA gubernatorial office has always been considered a constitutionally weak executive branch ― and Democrats dating back to the early days of the Republic have made darn sure it stayed that way.

they discovered the governor had escaped.

North Carolinians would, if a person asked them for help, willingly give them the shirt and coat off their back plus food and shelter to boot.

For good reason. Most of the hostility by North Carolinians towards governors came from the memory of over-bearing, arrogant colonial governors appointed by the King of England to rule over the early colonists in the Carolinas. However, as my father who was from Asheville was fond of pointing out, a lot of said hostility came from the temperamental ScotchIrish who moved to North Carolina and brought with them their religious fervor, independent streak and rebellious nature from Scotland and Ireland.

He described North Carolinians as people who would, if a person asked them for help, willingly give them the shirt and coat off their back plus food and shelter to boot. However, if someone told a North Carolinian to give them their food, clothing or shelter, they would tell them to go to hell and fight them every inch of the way until they got there.

Native-born or naturalized North Carolinians don’t cotton too well to anyone telling them to do anything. Make a harsh demand of one of them this week and see how they respond.

The thought of giving too much authority and power to a single person in the colonial governor’s mansion reeked too much of monarchial rule. North Carolinians of all stripes have rejected it ever since.

It wasn’t until 1996 that a governor could veto any bill passed by the General Assembly. North Carolina was the last state in the Union to grant such executive power over acts passed by the legislature ― 207 years after the United States of America began operation.

How’s that as testament to the North Carolinian aversion to concentrated power in one person?

Rule #1 in governing North Carolinians: Don’t side with or act like you love the trappings of “royalty.” Colonists tried to burn down buildings where colonial governors tried to hide and were sorely disappointed when

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

Gov. Roy Cooper is facing lame-duck status for the rest of his term after Republicans secured a veto-proof supermajority in both the House and Senate when Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham converted to the Republican Party. Some say after Republicans redraw legislative maps this summer, Democratic governors in North Carolina will be in “dead duck hospice care” in terms of advancing their gubernatorial agenda for the next decade at least.

There are fears in the press that the NCGA will take advantage of such weakened status and strip the governor of virtually every power including appointments to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and Trustees.

The governor shouldn’t take it too personally. It is just a fact of life in North Carolina that the NCGA, especially the constitutionally-powerful Senate, has always sought to keep power away from the executive branch and retain firm legislative supremacy in the state. Jim Gardner of Rocky Mount became the first Republican Lt. Gov. of North Carolina since Reconstruction in 1988. The Democrat-controlled Senate proceeded to take away every power previous Democratic lieutenant governors held which included active, not ceremonial, roles in the NC Senate.

Mr. Gardner said if the Senate had stripped him of the state trooper assigned to drive him around the state in an official state-owned vehicle, he would have had nothing to do as lieutenant governor for four years.

North Carolina is perhaps the last best example of a true “citizenlegislature”-governed state in the nation. We Tar Heels may be a valley of humility between two mountains of conceit ― but we really don’t want one person, no matter how great the elected official may be, making big decisions for the rest of us.

It just isn’t in our nature.

Fairness in Women’s Sports Act is the right thing to do for female athletes

LAST WEEK, the North Carolina General Assembly debated the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” ultimately passing it in both Republicancontrolled chambers.

One would think ensuring that women’s sports are reserved for women who are actually women would be something that everyone could get behind, especially considering the statements made by two female athletes, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and North Carolina high school volleyball athlete Payton McNabb.

Republican lawmakers were deliberately trying to hurt women with legislation designed to protect unborn life.

In fact, Sen. Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg) insulted the intelligence of female athletes everywhere when she not only downplayed McNabb’s major injuries but incredibly suggested that the discomfort female athletes felt playing around transgender women was “worth it.”

This is the real war on women, and yet it is Democratic women who are leading the fight to set female athletes back decades.

Gaines made headlines after speaking out on former Penn State swimmer Lia Thomas, someone who was born a man but who now identifies as a woman, after having to compete against Thomas. She and other swimmers had to watch as Thomas lapped the female swimmers, broke records, and won championships in what were clear strength advantages for Thomas.

“I felt betrayed and belittled and like my efforts and sacrifices I had made had been reduced to a photo op to validate the identity and feelings of a male,” Gaines told NC lawmakers. “But my feelings did not matter.”

“But that is not all,” Gaines went on to say. “In addition to being forced to give up out awards and titles and our opportunities, the NCAA forced female swimmers to share a locker room with Thomas — a six foot four 22-year-old male equipped with an exposing male genitalia — and a room full of vulnerable undressed women.”

McNabb, who was seriously injured during a September 2022 game after a transgender female player spiked the ball at what was reportedly a high rate of speed, with the ball hitting McNabb in the face, testified that her injuries included a concussion and neck damage.

But that wasn’t all.

“Other injuries I still suffer from today include impaired vision, partial paralysis on my right side, constant headaches as well as anxiety and depression,” McNabb stated. “My ability to learn, retain, comprehend has also been impaired and I require accommodations at school for testing because of this.”

They made powerful statements, but they apparently didn’t register with most Democrats in the House and none in the Senate, many of who in the past have latched on to phrases like “war on women” in order to suggest

“It might make other people a little uncomfortable in some cases but it’s worth it,” Marcus proclaimed while at varying points seeming to laugh over the entire debate. “I understand there was one report at a volleyball game where it’s unclear if the athlete was a trans-athlete and if that was the reason, injuries happen. I will point out injuries happen in sports all the time we don’t need legislation to try to protect everyone and in every case.”

It doesn’t matter if there was only “one report.” We pass laws in this state based on singular incidents all the time. And in this case, it’s especially necessary because the women who play on women’s sports teams do not do so with the intention of competing against members of the opposite sex who are stronger and faster than they are and who have the ability not only to take away their opportunities but to physically hurt them.

How many more similar injuries and lost opportunities would it take for Marcus to see the light on this issue?

This is the real war on women, and yet it is Democratic women like Marcus who are leading the fight to set female athletes back decades. Thankfully, laws here aren’t written to appease far-left lawmakers who care more about scoring points with woke mobs than actually doing things that are beneficial to the people of this state.

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

Real patriots cut taxes, not raise them

When I asked if they would comply with the tax rates as high as 90% voluntarily, there was an embarrassing silence.

ON TAX DAY THIS YEAR, about a dozen leftwing millionaires joined with some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress for a Washington, D.C., press conference. The luminaries included Abigail Disney, Walt Disney’s granddaughter, and former BlackRock whiz kid Morris Pearl.

The group argued that it wants to pay more taxes and urged new tax laws with a tax rate as high as 90% for the super-rich due to concerns, it said, about having too much money, which evidently contributes to income inequality.

This “tax me more” coalition calls itself the “Patriotic Millionaires.” Other prominent billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have made the same case that they think they should be paying more taxes.

To that, I say: Be my guest. That would be a patriotic act to help reduce our $31 trillion national debt. And by the way, hundreds of thousands of people do pay more than they owe because they are concerned about the financial condition of our country.

But when I showed up at the Patriotic Millionaires press conference, even though several speakers insisted, “I want to pay more taxes,” when I asked if they would comply with the tax rates as high as 90% voluntarily, there was an embarrassing silence. No one raised their hand.

They claimed that they want to “change the system” to force other rich people to pay more tax. Where is the patriotism in that? I’d argue that’s a very foolish policy.

It should be pretty clear that raising our tax rates to 70% or 80% or 90% would be an economic killer. Jobs, businesses and people would leave, or the rich would stop investing. We know that every time tax rates have been raised that high, as during the Great Depression and

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

in the 1970s, the economy crashed. Economist Arthur Laffer’s book “Taxes Have Consequences” proves this point fairly conclusively.

So, how would flattening the economy help reduce income inequality, other than by making virtually all Americans poorer?

The Patriotic Millionaires reply that they will pay higher taxes if everyone else does. But again, that isn’t patriotism.

It’s hypocrisy. At the time of our founding as a country, the real patriots who fought for our honor and the many who put up the money to help pay for it didn’t say, “I will give up my life and fortune — if the other guy down the road does.” Today, we have a voluntary military, and those who serve are patriots. They are protecting the rest of us thanks to their sense of duty and love of our country. It turns out the Patriotic Millionaires aren’t touting patriotism of that kind — or any kind. What they are promoting is a far left-wing agenda, not just in terms of raising taxes but in almost every other economic policy they espouse. They want more income redistribution and more social programs and green energy subsidies.

People can disagree about the wisdom of these policies. But what is for sure is that most of the ideas come out of the Bernie Sanders playbook, although even he doesn’t support 90% tax rates. I love my country, and I’m also solidly against raising tax rates on anyone — rich or poor. There. I said it. What I am for is letting people keep as much of the rewards of their labor as possible. That’s not being greedy or unpatriotic. It’s being smart. And it’s what makes America great.

Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.

The Left’s favorite lie: widespread white-on-black violence

It is a blatantly idiotic and devastatingly counterproductive lie.

LAST WEEK, a 16-year-old boy named Ralph Yarl — black — accidentally rang the doorbell of an 84-year-old white man, Andrew Lester. According to reports, Lester then shot Yarl twice through the door, wounding him in the head and the arm. According to Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson, “I can tell you there was a racial component.”

This fact pattern immediately sent the salivary glands of the media and the Biden administration into overdrive. Drooling with excitement, the media headlined the Yarl shooting for days; President Joe Biden himself immediately invited Yarl, who survived, to the White House. The reason for the journalistic and political feeding frenzy is clear: For the political Left, the narrative of white supremacy must be maintained. What’s more, shocking examples of that narrative must be found. Yarl’s shooting fit the bill. Americans are supposed to believe, as Yarl’s attorney put it, that “blackness is under attack.”

This is a lie. Not only is it a lie, it is a blatantly idiotic and devastatingly counterproductive lie. That lie provides the impetus toward undercutting police presence in high-crime areas; it provides the basis for racially discriminatory governmental policies; it provides the foundation for the argument that all disparities between the races are the result of white discrimination.

The truth is far more troubling: In America, while most violent crime is intra-racial (white on white or black on black, for example), in cases in which blacks and whites have violent interaction, blacks are overwhelmingly the perpetrators, not the victims.

In 2019, for example, 3,299 white Americans were murdered; 566, or 17%, were killed by black perpetrators. That same year, 2,906 black Americans were murdered; 246, or 8%, were killed by white perpetrators. Adjusted for population size — there are far more whites in America (235 million) than blacks (47 million) — this means that approximately one out of every million white Americans killed a black

BE IN TOUCH

A clean debt ceiling hike is a dirty deal

WHEN PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN and his team talk about a clean debt ceiling increase, it is one more example of Washington using language to deliberately mislead the American people.

They are using the word “clean” because it is a positive word. In everyday speech, it means “free of dirt, blemish, or unwanted matter.”

But in Washington-speak, “clean” means more spending, taxes, regulations, debt, and interest payments on the debt. It means weakening Medicare and Social Security, shrinking the economy, and lowering the American standard of living. A supposedly clean debt ceiling increase is the dirtiest option — and is enormously destructive.

Stopping the growing debt, widening deficits, and ballooning government are vital to the future of America. Having a clean debt ceiling deal removes one of Congress’s best tools to fix these problems. The chance for serious reform collapses if the debt ceiling is simply increased, because the pressure point disappears.

Historically, debt ceiling fights have been major opportunities to control spending, shrink projected growth in government, and insist on reforms. Caving in and giving Biden more money with no reforms eliminates the opportunity.

The Democrats’ use of “clean” is exactly what George Orwell warned about in his brilliant essay “Politics and the English Language.” Orwell — the frighteningly prescient author of the novels “1984” and “Animal Farm” — understood how dishonest politicians and bureaucrats could be while seeming to be candid and reassuring.

He wrote, “political speech and writing are largely the defence [sic] of the indefensible.…political language has to consist largely of euphemism, questionbegging and sheer cloudy vagueness.”

If our political system was honest, anyone who called Biden’s debt ceiling position “clean” would not be taken seriously.

person in 2019, while 12 out of every million black Americans killed a white person.

Such numbers are reflective of a norm: every year from 2001 on, the number of blackon-white killings has approximately doubled the number of white-on-black killings. When it comes to violent crime generally, the same sad truth applies. In 2019, there were 562,550 reported violent black/white incidents. 472,570 were black on white — 84%.

The media routinely ignore these facts, since they don’t fit the narrative. In fact, the media have a general tendency not to even mention the race of perpetrators of crimes if those perpetrators are black. The people harmed most by this narrative failure are not white Americans, but black Americans, who are predominantly the victims of black crime.

According to the Department of Justice, “In 2018, based on data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, black people were overrepresented among persons arrested for nonfatal violent crimes (33%) and for serious nonfatal violent crimes (36%) relative to their representation in the U.S. population (13%).”

The vast majority of victims were black.

Understanding the facts about interracial crime presents different solutions than the lies we hear about the prevalence of whiteon-black violence. Those solutions include encouraging fatherhood in the home. Only 37% of black children are living in a home with their biological parents; 72% of black fathers aren’t married to the mother of their children; and only 4.2% of black children grow up in areas with a poverty rate below 10% and over half of black fathers present in the community.

But such discussions never take place if we focus on a lie: the lie that black victims are disproportionately the victim of white evils. Those who promulgate that lie victimize all Americans, black and white.

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

Of course, being honest would doom Biden’s extreme position. It would make life much harder for those who favor higher taxes, bigger bureaucracies, and more spending than the American people support.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy has taken on the issue of controlling spending and proposed a serious, reasonable “reform debt ceiling increase” (to offer an alternative language).

Steve Moore in the Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline wrote:

“[McCarthy’s] plan is wise: it would suspend the debt ceiling for one year in exchange for common sense fiscal reforms…

“They are:

“1. One percent cap on domestic spending

“2. No funding for 87,000 IRS agents

“3. Cancel the hundreds of billions of unspent Covid money (the green new deal)

“4. Repeal Biden student loan bailouts

“5. Enact Reins Act requiring federal reg agencies to get congressional approval for new regulations.”

As Speaker McCarthy said of the Biden administration on the floor after announcing his plan, “They have no more excuse to refuse to negotiate.

“President Biden has a choice: come to the table and stop playing partisan political games, or cover his ears, refuse to negotiate, and risk bumbling his way into the first default in our nation’s history.”

The first bipartisan support for McCarthy’s reform debt ceiling deal came from West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. The New York Post reported that Manchin strongly criticized the White House for not playing ball with Republicans.

“While it is reasonable to sincerely disagree with any specific debt ceiling approach, we will achieve a historic default, and the economic whirlwind which follows, if President Biden continues to refuse to even negotiate a reasonable and commonsense compromise.

“To that end, I applaud Speaker McCarthy for putting forward a proposal that would prevent default and rein in federal spending.”

Ultimately, Manchin called Biden’s refusal to negotiate “a deficiency of leadership” and urged him to work with McCarthy.

“Failing to do so may score political points with the extremes of the Democratic Party, but make no mistake, it will be the American people — and our nation — who will pay the ultimate price if partisan politics continues to define our politics and policies.”

Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or 1201 Edwards Mill Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27607. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

Despite the bipartisan McCarthyManchin appeal, Politico reported that Biden is still refusing to negotiate — and leaning on congressional Democrats to do the same.

This approach is totally puzzling. As we reported at America’s New Majority Project, the Biden Democrats’ position is supported by only 24 percent of Americans. A much larger 45 percent would only raise the debt ceiling with spending cuts. Another 16 percent would not raise the debt ceiling — and force the government to quit going into debt.

If we accurately describe the Biden position as “a dirty debt ceiling deal,” I suspect the numbers would be even worse.

NATION & WORLD

US to begin training Ukrainian troops on Abrams tank

The Associated Press

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — The United States will begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use and maintain Abrams tanks in the coming weeks, as it continues to speed up its effort to get them onto the battlefield as quickly as possible, said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The decision comes as defense leaders from around Europe and the world are met at Ramstein Air Base, in the effort to coordinate the delivery of weapons and other equipment to Ukraine.

According to the officials, 31 tanks will arrive at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany at the end of May, and the troops will begin training a couple weeks later. Officials said the troop training will last about 10 weeks. The training tanks will not be the ones given to Ukraine for use in the war against Russia. Instead, 31 M1A1 battle tanks are being refurbished in the United States, and those will go to the frontlines when they are ready.

Germany, meanwhile, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Poland and Ukraine to set up a maintenance hub for Kyiv’s Leopard 2 tank fleet in Poland, near the Ukrainian border. Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, told reporters he expects the hub to cost $165-220 million per year, which “we will split fairly, like everything else.” He said he expects it to start work around the end of next month.

The announcement came as ministers and representatives from about 50 nations gathered

for the U.S.-led meeting of what’s called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Austin, speaking to reporters at the close of the meeting, said the delivery of training tanks in the next few weeks represents “huge progress.” He added, “I’m confident this equipment — and the training that accompanied it — will put Ukraine’s forces in a position to continue to succeed on the battlefield.”

The U.S. goal has been to have the Ukrainian troops trained by the time the refurbished Abrams tanks are ready so they can then immediately move to combat. The tanks are being refitted to meet Ukraine’s needs.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, add-

ed that he believes the American tanks will be very effective on the battlefield. “I do think the M1 tank will make a difference,” he said, while cautioning “there is no silver bullet in war.”

According to officials, about 250 Ukrainian troops will be trained — with some learning to operate the tanks and others learning to repair and maintain them. Additional training on how to fight and maneuver with the tanks could also be provided after the initial 10 weeks.

So far, the U.S. has trained 8,800 Ukrainian troops who have already returned to the battlefield, and an additional roughly 2,500 are in training now. Their training has included everything from basic weapons instruction to how

to conduct combat operations and maintain and repair equipment.

In other comments, Austin dismissed questions about providing fighter jets to Ukraine, saying the U.S. is giving Ukraine groundbased air defense capabilities, which he said is needed most.

President Joe Biden’s administration announced in January that it would send Abrams tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.

Under intense pressure from Ukraine and others to get the tanks into Ukraine faster, the Biden administration said last month that it would speed up the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster. The goal is to get the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone by the fall.

The U.S. also made clear at the time that it would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks and that the instruction would coincide with the refurbishment of the tanks, so that both would be ready for battle at the same time later this year.

At the same time, the Pentagon must make sure that Ukrainian forces have an adequate supply chain for all the parts needed to keep the tanks running.

The Russian and Ukrainian forces have been largely in a stalemate, trading small slices of land over the winter. The fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of dogged Ukrainian defense. But both sides are expected to launch more intensive offensives in the spring.

Biden formally announces 2024 reelection bid

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish this job” and extend the run of America’s oldest president for another four years.

Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting his first-term legislative achievements and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will count for more than concerns over his age. He faces a smooth path to winning his party’s nomination, but he’s set for a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.

In his first public appearance Tuesday since the announcement, Biden offered a preview of how he plans to navigate the dual roles of president and presidential candidate, using a speech to building trades union members to highlight his accomplishments and undercut his GOP rivals, while showing voters he remained focused on his day job. Greeted by a raucous crowd of building trades union members — a key base of Dem-

LAWSUIT from page A1 place,” Long said in a statement.

“Their political motivations were clear, despite the fact that the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Opportunity Scholarship Program in 2015. It was the NCAE President who said in a tweet that education is political, sadly in doing so she and NCAE choose to bully private schools in our state by dragging them through the legal process because of those political motivations.

“The good news, today, is that the thousands of parents, families, and students who have been empowered by an Opportunity Scholarship can once again have the confidence that this program is safe and secure and here to serve them. I am happy to report that North Carolina is a leader in parental school choice, while the

ocratic support — with “Let’s Go Joe” chants, Biden touted the tens of thousands of construction jobs being created since he took office that are supported by the legislation he signed into law.

“We — you and I — together we’re turning things around and we’re doing it in a big way,” Biden said. “It’s time to finish the job. Finish the job.”

The official announcement, in a three-minute video, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Biden declared for the White House in 2019, promising to heal the “soul of the nation” amid the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump — a goal that has remained elusive.

“I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,” Biden said. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.”

While the prospect of seeking reelection has been a given for most modern presidents, that’s not always been the case for Biden. A notable swath of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age — con-

NCAE acts as a politically motivated organization using children as political pawns in hopes to force them into a one-size-fits-all system.”

The OSP was created by the legislature in 2013 and offers funding to low-income families who meet certain income thresholds for tuition at eligible private and parochial schools in the state. Scholarship awards can total up to $6,168 depending on the income criteria of the applicants.

The OSP is utilized by more than 25,000 K-12 students in the state spanning 544 private schools. In the current academic calendar, the OSP awarded $133 million in scholarships to eligible students.

The NCAE’s lawsuit was likely on its way to becoming moot due to certain bills making their way through the General Assembly that would alter and expand the

“We — you and I — together we’re turning things around and we’re doing it in a big way. It’s time to finish the job.”

President Joe Biden

cerns Biden has called “totally legitimate” but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video.

Buoyed by the midterm results, Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls “ultra-MAGA” politics — a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan — regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot.

The president faces lingering criticism over his administration’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, which undercut the image of competence he aimed to portray, and he’s the target of GOP attacks over his

OSP.

Titled “Choose your School, Choose Your Future,” Senate Bill 406 was filed on March 29. If passed, the bill would alter the OSP by expanding funding to all North Carolina families using an income-based sliding scale. Senate lawmakers said if the bill is enacted it would be “the largest expansion of school choice since the program was created.”

House Bill 823 has the same title and is a companion bill to Senate Bill 406. The House version was filed on April 18 by primary sponsors Rep. Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg), David Willis (R-Union), Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain). The lawsuit, Kelly v. State of North Carolina, was filed by NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly and four other individuals in 2020. The lawsuit was the

Tourism booms in Jamaica after pandemic, overwhelms airport

Kingston, Jamaica

The number of tourists flocking to Jamaica’s sundrenched beaches soared nearly 100% in the first three months of the year, causing long queues and hourslong waits for arriving passengers at the island’s main airport.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told The Associated Press that the problem stemmed from a shortage of airport staff to process the unexpected volume of people flying into Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay since the end of the pandemic.

Bartlett told Parliament later that day that there were 1.18 million arrivals from January through March — 94% more than the same period of 2022 and a record high for Jamaica’s tourism high season.

“The recovery has been stronger than anticipated and everybody all over the world is having difficulty with their airports because … (many) of the workers have not come back,” Bartlett said.

He said authorities plan to spend more on technology as they strive to do away with paperwork at the airport, including ending a requirement for visitors to fill out a form upon arrival.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Longtime Trump

ally Laxalt joins PAC supporting DeSantis

Des Moines, Iowa

immigration and economic policies.

Aides acknowledge that while some in his party might prefer an alternative to Biden, there is anything but consensus within their diverse coalition on who that might be. And they insist that when Biden is compared with whomever the GOP nominates, Democrats and independents will rally around Biden.

Biden is not expected to dramatically alter his day-to-day schedule as a candidate — at least not immediately — with aides believing his strongest political asset is showing the American people that he is governing.

On Tuesday, Biden named White House adviser Julie Chávez Rodríguez to serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks, who ran Sen. Raphael Warnock’s reelection campaign in Georgia last year, to serve as principal deputy campaign manager. The campaign co-chairs will be Reps. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Jim Clyburn and Veronica Escobar; Sens. Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth; entertainment mogul and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Katzenberg; and Whitmer.

latest failed attempt to have the OSP dismantled. The N.C. Supreme Court had ruled against the NCAE’s 2015 attempt, stating they had failed to prove the program was unconstitutional.

The current lawsuit saw some tug-of-war over whether the case should be heard by a single judge or by a panel of judges. Ultimately, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled the case should stay with a three-judge panel.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a motion in March 2021 to dismiss the case. The dismissal motion cited the prior failed lawsuit the NCAE filed in 2015 involving the OSP but also that the NCAE’s claims are “barred by the doctrine of res judicata,” a legal measure that blocks a party from relitigating a claim where a court has previously issued a final order or judgment.

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a longtime Donald Trump ally, will help lead a political action committee encouraging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Laxalt, who roomed with DeSantis while in naval officer training, will serve as the chairman of the Never Back Down super PAC. He’s remained a close friend of DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a White House campaign soon. Both were Navy judge advocate generals and served in Iraq.

Never Back Down was started by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general who had a high-ranking role in Trump’s Homeland Security Department. The political group has already reported raising $30 million.

One wing of the group has been raising money that could be transferred to DeSantis should he enter the 2024 race. A different wing has begun running pro-DeSantis ads and pushing back aggressively against Trump in what’s increasingly become a bitter campaign.

Trump criticized DeSantis’ management of the state where they both live, saying that “Florida continues to tumble into complete and total delinquency and destruction.” Never Back Down responded on Saturday by offering “financial assistance” for Trump to move to California.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Guaidó travels to Colombia ahead of conference on Venezuela

Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Monday said he crossed the border into Colombia “on foot” to seek a meeting with international delegations gathering there for a conference focused on his country’s political crisis.

After the reelection of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2018 was deemed a sham by dozens of countries, Guaidó declared himself Venezuela’s interim president in 2019. However, his popularity has waned since then and opposition lawmakers voted in January to strip him of that role.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP PHOTO

From left, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov, attend the opening meeting of the ‘Ukraine Defense Contact Group’ at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Friday, April 21, 2023.

COLLEGE SPORTS

3rd ex-NC State athlete sues school in sexual abuse case

Raleigh A third former NC State athlete has sued the school alleging he was sexually abused by the Wolfpack’s former director of sports medicine under the guise of treatment. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court.

It accuses Robert Murphy Jr. of improperly touching the plaintiff’s genitals during two massages for hip and groin pain in early 2021. The complaint lists the plaintiff as a “John Doe” to protect anonymity and doesn’t specify his sport. Former Wolfpack soccer player Benjamin Locke was the first to sue in late August. He accused Murphy of improperly touching his genitals during roughly 75 to 100 massages that Locke said he later believed lacked “legitimate” medical necessity between August 2015 and May 2017. That lawsuit also alleged former head coach Kelly Findley told a senior athletics official in February 2016 that Murphy was “engaging in contact ... consistent with ‘grooming behavior’” but there was no follow-up action by the school. The second athlete sued in February, accusing Murphy of improperly touching the athlete’s genitals and elsewhere between two separate occasions in 2016.

MLS Swiderski, Marks

lead Charlotte FC over Columbus

Charlotte

Karol Swiderski scored in the first half and goalkeeper George Marks made it stand up as Charlotte FC edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday night. Charlotte (2-4-3) scored the game’s only goal in the 37th minute when Swiderski used passes from Kamil Józwiak and Bill Tuiloma to score his second goal of the season. Columbus (4-3-2) lost for just the sixth time in its last 31 regular season matches. Charlotte travels to play DC United on Saturday.

Is Bryce Young the man for the Panthers?

Carolina prepares to address its quarterback spot with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft

By Shawn Krest North State

Journal

THE SUSPENSE IS OVER. The pick is in.

With the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select …

Bryce Young, quarterback, Alabama.

We’ll know for certain when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell steps up to the podium on Thursday night, but — at least according to one longtime NFL insider, — there’s no question and never has been.

“There is only one great quarterback in the draft,” said Michael Lombardi. “And that’s Bryce Young.”

Lombardi spent 25 seasons in

the NFL as a scout, personnel director and general manager. He won a pair of Super Bowls, one with the 49ers and another with the Patriots — two of the biggest dynasties in league history. So he knows a little something about evaluating players and picking quarterbacks.

And Lombardi thinks the debate between the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft — Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson — has been settled for quite some time.

“Because of the tape — if you watch the tape,” Lombardi said. “At the end of the day, the better player, on tape, is Bryce Young.”

In Lombardi’s opinion, the Panthers had likely identified Young as their man when they swung the trade in March to vault Carolina to the first overall pick in the draft, despite what coach Frank Reich and the front office said about still evaluating options.

At the time of the trade, the pop-

ular narrative among NFL observers was that Stroud was the likely top pick following his impressive NFL Combine performance. Over the past month, however, Young has rocketed up draft boards and is now the consensus choice for the Panthers’ pick.

All of that, though, is either a smokescreen or the NFL media playing catch-up to what the decision-makers already knew.

“I don’t think the media is always in line to what is going on in the real world,” Lombardi said. “You can’t just go by what the media says. I’ve been saying it for a while — for the last month and a half, even back when the odds said that Bryce Young wasn’t even the favorite.”

What does Lombardi, and presumably Reich and the Panthers brass, see on the tape that makes this such an open-and-shut decision?

“His production, his instinct,

See PANTHERS, page B4

Transfer portal yields new-look for Wolfpack hoops

Coach Kevin Keatts also landed two four-star recruits

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

RALEIGH —NC State coach

Kevin Keatts managed to retool his roster on the fly last offseason through the NCAA transfer portal, taking his team from a lastplace finish in the ACC to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Bringing in players like Jarkel Joiner, DJ Burns and Jack Clark not only changed the trajectory of the program and returned the Wolfpack to relevance in the conference, but it also took the heat off Keatts after a 21-loss season.

Joiner and sophomore sensation Terquavion Smith immediately clicked, combining to form one of the strongest backcourts in the ACC, and Burns found himself as the team’s starting center after a season-ending injury to senior Dusan Mahorcic.

Keatts needed to again work that magic this offseason with only two starters — guard Casey Morsell and Burns, both with one year of eligibility remaining — projected to return.

The Wolfpack lost three starters with Joiner finishing up his eligibility, Smith declaring for the NBA Draft and Clark announcing his intent to transfer to Clemson, as well as three bench players — Greg Gantt to UNC Asheville, Ebenezer Dowuona to Georgia Tech and Dusan Mahorcic, who’s still in the portal — so the Wolfpack were going to need some help.

It appears Keatts has again worked his portal magic.

The key addition so far appears to be graduate transfer and Raleigh native DJ Horne.

NC State desperately needed a backcourt rebuild after the loss of Joiner and Smith, so the former Arizona State guard, who averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, fills a big hole. Horne helped lead the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament and will look to do the same with the Wolfpack next season.

“I’m excited to bring DJ back

to his hometown for his final season of collegiate eligibility,” Keatts said in a press release. “You watch him play and the first thing that jumps out to you is that he’s a shot maker, and he’s not afraid of taking the big shots in clutch moments. He’s averaged in double figures scoring his last three seasons so you know he can fill it up, but he’s more than just a shooter. He’s an intelligent player, and he can use his athleticism to create for himself and others.

“Off the court, DJ is a great

young man, and I think he will walk into our locker room and immediately be a leader and have a veteran presence that we need.” NC State also picked up commitments from guards MJ Rice — a Durham native who is transferring from Kansas, where he averaged 2.2 points in 7.5 minutes per game off the bench as a freshman — and Jayden Taylor, a junior transfer from Butler who averaged 12.9 points and 3.8 re -

VASHA HUNT | AP PHOTO

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is the frontrunner to be the first overall pick when the Panthers kick off the NFL Draft on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

D. ROSS CAMERON | AP PHOTO

Arizona State guard DJ Horne, right, is returning to his hometown, transferring to NC State for his final year of eligibility.

TRENDING

Nick Nurse:

The Raptors coach was fired four years after he led the franchise to its first and only NBA championship. Nurse went 227‑163 in his five seasons with Toronto, and his winning percentage of .582 is the best of any coach in team history. The Raptors missed the playoffs in 2021, lost in the first round last year, and couldn’t hold a 19‑point lead in the third quarter and lost 109‑105 in a home play‑in game against Chicago this season.

Lilia Vu:

The 25‑year‑old

Californian birdied the first playoff hole to win her first major at the Chevron Championship on Sunday after fellow American Angel Yin hit her approach shot into the water. Vu won for the second time on the LPGA Tour, posting birdies on her last two holes for a 4‑under 68 and a four‑day total of 10‑under 278 at Carlton Woods in Texas. Vu took home $765,000 for the win from a purse of $5.1 million, the largest ever for the event.

Trey Lance:

The 2021 third overall pick is not being shopped by the 49ers, general manager John Lynch said Monday. San Francisco has already proclaimed Brock Purdy the leader at quarterback if he recovers in time from his elbow injury, but the team is not yet ready to move on from Lance. The 49ers also signed former Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold in the offseason, and Purdy isn’t expected to be able to start throwing until June and might not be ready to play in Week 1. Lance has thrown only 420 passes the past five seasons combined in college and the pros.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

Kyle Busch won his second race of the season since joining Richard Childress Racing when he claimed victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. It was the second win for Busch at Talladega, coming 15 years after his first. He won last weekend when Bubba Wallace was spun by Ryan Blaney as Wallace tried to block Blaney. It triggered a race‑ending caution that gave RCR its 13th victory at NASCAR’s biggest track.

Hurricanes forward Mackenzie MacEachern after he had a goal and an assist in his debut with the team in Carolina’s 5‑2 Game 4 win over the Islanders on Sunday.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after signing a five‑year, $255 million contract with $179.3 million guaranteed.

PRIME NUMBER

31

Colorado football players who have entered the transfer portal since April 15, a mass exodus under new Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders that included the star from the spring game, receiver Montana Lemonious‑Craig.

Ime Udoka has been hired as the new coach of the Houston Rockets, according to reports. Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals last season but was suspended for this season after the disclosure of an inappropriate relationship with a female Celtics employee. He replaces Stephen Silas, who was fired after three seasons.

The Jets reportedly agreed on a deal to acquire four‑time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers from the Packers. New York will also receive the No. 15 overall pick and a fifth‑rounder this year from the Packers. In exchange, Green Bay will get the 13th overall selection and three other picks, including one that could become a second first‑rounder.

Rays left‑hander Jeffrey Springs, an Appalachian State graduate and Belmont native, underwent season‑ending Tommy John surgery on Monday. The 30‑year‑old Springs went 2‑0 with an 0.56 ERA during the Rays’ 13‑0 start to the season. Springs went 9‑5 with a 2.46 ERA in 33 games, including 25 starts, last season, his first in the Rays’ rotation. He signed a $31 million, four‑year contract in January.

MLB

NFL MIKE ROEMER | AP PHOTO

NBA

MORRY GASH | AP PHOTO

“Money is nice, championships are better.”

“I had a good amount of phone calls, good amount of texts.”

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO

MATT ROURKE | AP PHOTO

JOHN RAOUX | AP PHOTO

Stackhouse, Strange, Barnes headline 2023 NC Sports Hall of Fame ceremony

Fifteen basketball, football, tennis, golf and journalism legends were immortalized during an emotional induction weekend

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

RALEIGH — Before the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame inducted his aunt as part of the Class of 2023, Charles Griffin took a one-hour drive.

“Yesterday, I went to Snow Camp, where Ellen has resided for the last 36 years in the Friends Cemetery, to tell her about her award,” he said.

His aunt, Ellen Griffin, was a women’s golf pioneer. She founded the Women’s Professional Golf Association, which was a forerunner of the LPGA, and taught golf at UNC Greensboro for 28 years, earning the 1962 LPGA Teacher of the Year Award. Her teaching and coaching career earned her a spot as one of the 15 members of the 2023 induction class.

The class included Kinston native and Tar Heels basketball standout Jerry Stackhouse, who was a UNC All-American before his 18-year NBA career. Since retiring as a player, Stackhouse has embarked on a coaching career, first in the NBA G League and currently with the Vanderbilt Commodores, where he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors this season.

Stackhouse wasn’t the only college coach in Tennessee that was honored by his home state. Hickory native Rick Barnes, who has won a combined 779 games and counting at Providence, George Mason, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee, was also on hand to accept the honor.

As might be expected, the Hall

of Fame class was heavy on basketball. Also inducted was NC State women’s player Trudi Lacey, who scored 1,957 points with the Wolfpack from 1977-81 and won two regular season titles and an ACC Tournament championship.

She’s gone on to a career as a coach and administrator in college and the WNBA, and she is currently the athletic director for Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte.

“This is a time of celebration,”

Lacey said. “I don’t see it as a time to celebrate myself but a time to thank all the people that supported me.” That included late former NC State coach Kay Yow, herself a member of the NC Sports Hall.

East Carolina was represented by Rosie Thompson, the school’s

all-time scoring leader. She’s also the women’s program’s all-time leader in rebounding.

“What an awesome group,” Thompson said of the induction class. “I cannot believe how much these people have done. I never thought 40 years ago when I arrived at East Carolina University

that I would be standing before you to be honored for doing something I love — simply running up and down the basketball court, having a good time. I feel blessed to have had that opportunity to be a part of such a fine group of women when I played. I feel honored and privileged to have played for the East Carolina Pirates.”

Leicester’s Ronald Rogers was also inducted. He scored 1,960 points for Western Carolina and was All-Conference and NAIA All-American three straight years.

“My dad passed nine years ago,” said his daughter, Connie, who represented him at the ceremony. “He would have loved to have been here. I’m wearing his high school ring and my mom’s wedding ring,

Another domino falls on road to MLB expansion

Charlotte is rumored as a possible spot for a major league team

By Paul Newberry

The Associated Press

THE OAKLAND ATHLETICS will be packing their bags for Las Vegas, a long-expected move that will affect baseball’s fandom far beyond those two cities.

MLB is now a significant step closer to expansion, which will bring two more long-overdue franchises into the big leagues while also necessitating the creation of eight new minor-league teams around the country.

When the Athletics tidy up the multibillion-dollar details in Sin City, where they’re expected to reside by the 2027 season if not sooner, a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays will be the last hurdle to a 32-team major leagues.

For sure, the lobbying has already begun for cities like Nashville, Charlotte, Montreal, Portland and recently pitched expansion candidate Salt Lake City.

“The game is ready to grow its fan base,” said former big league pitcher Dave Stewart, one of the leaders of a Nashville expansion effort that already has nicknamed its potential team the Stars. “It’s trying to get today’s generation back at the ballpark and in the game. There’s a great light for expansion. I think baseball is ready for it.”

Stewart, a native of Oakland who pitched for the Athletics during a run of three straight AL titles that included the 1989 World Series championship, is sad that his former team is leaving his hometown. He hopes there

NC STATE from page B1

bounds per game. Both confirmed their commitments through social media accounts.

The Wolfpack also added some size through the portal. The school announced Tuesday that Clemson forward Ben Middlebrooks, who averaged 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 11.2 minutes off the bench, was transferring to

is still a way for the A’s to remain in the Bay Area, even though city officials say they have ended negotiations on a new stadium.

“The history, legacy and tradition of the Oakland A’s is no longer going to be there,” Stewart said Friday in a telephone interview. “That’s really heartbreaking for me and heartbreaking for the community.”

But with Las Vegas set to be the new home of the Athletics, a strong challenger to Nashville and any other expansion bid has been eliminated.

Here’s a look at the pros and cons of the expected expansion candidates, who all must come to the table with a deep-pocketed ownership group and firm plans for a new stadium.

Nashville

Pros: Instant rivalries with teams such as the Braves and Reds. A trendy city that has shown it can support big league sports with the NFL’s Titans and NHL’s Predators. A well-organized expansion group that includes Stewart, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and some big hitters from the music business. “This is a music hub, an entertainment hub,” Stewart said, noting that baseball has held its winter meetings in Nashville. “There’s tremendous growth from all across the country, people migrating here.”

Cons: A new stadium will have to be privately financed — a con for the potential ownership group, at least. Nashville already built a 30,000-seat facility for its Major League Soccer team and recently agreed to $1.2 billion in city and state funding to construct a new domed football arena for the Titans.

NC State.

“I’m excited to welcome Ben to our program,” Keatts said. “Obviously he is a player that we are familiar with from his time at Clemson. I really like his versatility as a player. He’s very strong, but he also moves really well for a big man. He can make plays on both ends of the court. He’s shown that he has a high basketball IQ and I think he’s going to be a valuable member of our front court rotation.”

Charlotte’s Truist Field is home to the Triple-A Knights, but the Queen City is aiming higher as a potential home to a major league expansion team.

Charlotte

Pros: The most populous U.S. metro area among the potential candidates at more than 2.7 million. A natural rival for the Braves but far enough away not to infringe on Atlanta’s attendance. Cons: MLB is not likely to add two Southern teams in such close proximity, and Nashville appears to have a head start on Charlotte.

Montreal

Pros: A storied history with the Expos, an MLB franchise from 1969-2004, and the minor league Royals, the team that Jackie Robinson played for on his way to becoming MLB’s first black player. The Expos had good fan support until financial issues led

Keatts also lured Missouri big man Mohamed Diarra, who averaged 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes as a reserve. Diarra confirmed his commitment through social media.

NC State struggled defending size when Burns was on the bench, so Middlebrooks and Diarra add more depth down low, especially with the departure of the only other two big men who saw significant minutes last season.

as well as Dad’s Western Carolina pins.”

Griffin was joined by two other golf legends with roots in the state. Curtis Strange, who led Wake Forest to a 1974 national title while also winning the individual championship before going on to star in the PGA, was also inducted. Strange won a pair of U.S. Opens and claimed 17 PGA Tour championships.

Tom Fazio, who has designed more than 200 golf courses, including 46 of Golf Digest’s top 200 courses in the country, rounded out the golf contingent in the class. His golf course design company has an office in Hendersonville and has added to the state’s golf offerings by designing Pinehurst 6 and 8 and Charlotte’s Quail Hollow.

Five football players were in the class, including Duke’s Clarkston Hines, who set ACC records for touchdown catches and 100-yard games. Former UNC offensive lineman Jason Brown, who played for the Baltimore Ravens before retiring to run a farm in Louisburg, and Clemson linebacker Jeff Davis, a Greensboro native and Dudley alum who helped lead the Tigers to the 1981 national title, were also honored.

The final two football players in the class were HBCU standouts — Winston-Salem State linebacker Donald Evans, who went on to play for the Rams, Steelers and Jets in the NFL, and Bob “Stonewall” Jackson, who was a four-time all-CIAA linebacker at NC A&T before becoming the first African American player from an HBCU to be drafted.

The final two members of the class were longtime NASCAR beat writer Tom Higgins and NC State tennis All-American John Sadri.

The 11 living members in the class were all in attendance, as were family members representing the four deceased Hall of Famers, including Griffin, who prepared for the evening with the graveside conversation with his aunt.

“She said, ‘Make sure to tell everyone I’m the world’s greatest friend,’” he said. “So, I’ve done it.”

Portland

Pros: The Pacific Northwest could use another MLB franchise to go along with the Seattle Mariners. There certainly appears to be room for a new team in Portland, which has only the NBA’s Trail Blazers and a pair of soccer clubs vying for pro sports dollars. An expansion team could be nicknamed the Mavericks, honoring the storied independent minor-league team from the 1970s.

Cons: Plans for a new stadium sure look good on paper, but the expansion group Portland Diamond Project will have to lock down a concept that relies mostly on private funding.

Salt Lake City

Pros: A growing city that, like Portland, would seem to have room for another team with only the NBA’s Jazz representing the Big Four sports. A new franchise would fill a gaping geographic hole between Denver and the Pacific Coast. A prospective ownership group recently unveiled plans for a new stadium.

2.7M

Population of the Charlotte metropolitan area, the most among the teams considered favorites to land an MLB expansion team

ownership to begin trading away their top players. Cons: A costly, retractable-roof stadium is a necessity given Montreal’s climate, and there seems little willingness to dole out tax dollars to build such a facility.

Add on top of that commitments from four-star recruits Trey Parker and Dennis Parker Jr., who signed their letters of intent with the Wolfpack, and the team is again set to have a lot of new faces. With a projected starting five made up of players who didn’t start their collegiate careers at NC State, Keatts will again need to meld together a new group to keep the Wolfpack in contention in the ACC.

Cons: By far the smallest of the prospective cities with a metro population of around 1.2 million, though expansion backers prefer to focus on the 2.7 million living along the Wasatch Front region stretching from Ogden in the north to Provo in the south.

So, who are the favorites?

We would love to see the Expos revived in Montreal, a city that truly got a bum deal during its first big league run, but it’s hard to envision any scenario where the locals agree to dole out hundreds of millions in Canadian dollars for a new stadium.

Therefore, we’re picking Nashville and Portland as the cities most likely to receive an expansion franchise.

12.5

Points per game last season for Arizona State guard DJ Horne, who is transferring to NC State for his final year of eligibility

“I don’t see it as a time to celebrate myself but a time to thank all the people that supported me.”

Trudi Lacey

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Former UNC basketball star and current Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse was one of 15 people inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame last week.

NC products may crash 1st round of NFL Draft

Former high school and college stars from the state wait to hear their name called

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

THIS YEAR’S NFL DRAFT is top-heavy with quarterbacks, with four passers likely to be taken early in the first round.

The fifth quarterback on the board, however, is also a possible impact player for a team that has an opening.

“I can make any throw,” Hendon Hooker said. “The way we run our offense, the wide splits, those are all grown-men throws. I’m not throwing any 5-yard outs. Those are all big-boy balls.”

As draft day looms on Thursday, mock drafts are split between Hooker as a first-rounder or second-rounder. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database, Hooker is a consensus No. 23 pick, and just over one out of every five mocks has him going in the first round, some as high as No. 11. That would make the Greensboro native and Dudley High alumnus the first player from North Carolina selected. Hooker left the state for Virginia Tech before transferring to Tennessee, where he became one of the top players in this year’s draft.

If Hooker isn’t the first player taken with North Carolina connections this year, then it will likely be UNC receiver Josh Downs, who left for the NFL after making 195 catches for 2,364 yards and 19 scores over the last two years. Downs is actually mocked in the first round more often than Hooker — he made it in 30% of all mocks — but his ceiling isn’t as high with most of the first-round mocks putting him in the late 20s.

Downs will likely be the first Tar Heel selected, but at least

three other teammates will be awaiting a call in the later rounds.

Offensive tackle Asim Richards is projected as high as the fifth round by some scouting services and as low as the seventh by others. Receiver Antoine Green and linebacker Noah Taylor are likely to be undrafted free agents, according to most projections.

Right behind Hooker and Downs on most draft boards is Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson. The Charlotte native and Mallard Creek alumnus left Clemson after his junior year, and many outlets have crowned him the best pure linebacker (as opposed to edge rusher) prospect in

“I’m not throwing any 5-yard outs. Those are all big-boy balls”

Hendon Hooker, Greensboro Dudley alumnus

the draft. About half of all mocks have him going in the first round, but the consensus is the second round.

One of Simpson’s teammates, K.J. Henry, an edge rusher formerly of Winston-Salem/West

Forsyth High, gives the Tigers a pair of N.C. high school products likely to be drafted. Henry has a wider variance on his selection, with one mock putting him in the top 10 picks. Most have him in the fourth through sixth rounds, with a good number pushing him up to the third.

After Simpson, the next most likely local player to hear his name called is Wake Forest receiver A.T. Perry. Most scouting services have him among the top10 pass-catching prospects in the draft, and many have him in the top 75 overall players, although CBS Sports puts him at No. 120. A handful of mocks have Perry

going in the first round, as high as the 18th pick. The consensus is that he’ll be a third-rounder. Teammate Kobie Turner, a defensive tackle, is expected to go in the fourth round, although a good number of mocks slide him to the sixth or seventh round. Tight end Blake Whiteheart is the next Deac on most boards, although most mocks have him going undrafted.

NC State is the next school likely to have a player selected in offensive lineman Chandler Zavala. Ranked right around No. 100 among this year’s draft prospects, Zavala also has a wide range of mocks, from the second round to undrafted. The consensus seems to be the fourth round, with a handful of mocks having him going to the Carolina Panthers in that round, where he’d be reunited with his Wolfpack offensive line teammate Ikem Ekwonu, who was taken in the first round last year. With a half dozen other Wolfpack players hoping to land with a team, State has the largest number of prospects in this year’s draft. Linebackers Isaiah Moore and Drake Thomas, corner Tyler Baker-Williams, defensive tackle Cory Durden and center Grant Gibson are all on various draft boards.

Moore has a handful of fourth through seventh round mocks, and Thomas has a few sixth and seventh round predictions. But for the most part, the rest of the Wolfpack contingent after Zavala is expected to be available as free agents after the draft, along with teammates Thayer Thomas and Tanner Ingle.

East Carolina’s running back Keaton Mitchell (fifth round projection), App State edge rusher Nick Hampton (sixth), Charlotte receiver Grant DuBose (sixth) and West Virginia receiver and Holly Springs alumnus Bryce Ford-Wheaton (sixth) are also projected to get selected.

49ers’ DuBose used odd jobs to carve out unusual path to NFL Draft

The receiver had 126 passes for 1,684 yards and touchdowns in two seasons at Charlotte

By Michael Marot The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Grant DuBose took the chances when nobody else would.

He accepted the only scholarship offer he had coming out of high school, from Division II Miles College in Alabama, less than two weeks before signing day. When the COVID-19 pandemic canceled his 2020 season, he juggled four jobs between workouts so he could pay bills. And at the urging of a friend, he left Miles in 2021 for a summer tryout with Division I Charlotte.

Now, after two strong college seasons, DuBose may be about to see the payoff — going from grocery bagger and Walmart employee to NFL Draft pick in three years.

“What it taught me about life?

Just the importance of hard work,” he said. “Going in, working those shifts and once I got off, finding time to put the extra work in, to go to the field and go to the gym. It taught me the process of hard work and working for the things you really want in life.”

The lanky receiver never doubted he could make it — if given the chance. Most did not.

College scouts visited Montgomery, Alabama, to see local stars such as quarterback James Foster, a Texas A&M recruit, or

PANTHERS from page B1 his arm talent,” Lombardi said. “I mean, the only thing that holds him back from anything is the fact that he’s 5-10. I think that’s the only hesitation.”

Young also tips the scales at just 194 pounds. The last time a quarterback less than 200 pounds was drafted in the first round was in 1960, and only three quarterbacks under 6 feet tall have been drafted in the first round since the 1970 merger — Kyler Murray, Michael Vick and Johnny Manziel.

The Panthers’ last franchise quarterback — Cam Newton,

linebacker Kevontae’ Ruggs, the younger brother of former NFL receiver Henry Ruggs and an Ole Miss recruit.

Even at Park Crossing High School, DuBose was overshadowed by higher-profile teammates such as quarterback Malik Cunningham, the Louisville star, or cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt of Nebraska.

Amid so much talent, DuBose got lost.

He finished his prep career as a zero-star recruit with the lone scholarship offer coming from the

drafted first overall in 2011 — had his Carolina career cut short by injury, and he has seven inches and 50 pounds on Young. So, should the Panthers be concerned about spending such a valuable pick on such a small quarterback?

“There’s really not a lot of history behind it,” Lombardi said. “But he’s played at a very high level at the same size. … He’s a really good player. I think he’s a winner. He’s won at every level. He has a great arm.”

The Panthers likely looked at each of the quarterback options available to them. Whether they saw the same thing as Lombardi did remains to be seen, but the for-

Historically Black College and University located in Fairfield, Alabama. DuBose struggled to break out there too, catching just eight passes for 104 yards and one touchdown as a backup in 2019.

Then came the COVID season and DuBose did whatever he could to survive.

“I bagged groceries, I had that job since I was 16,” he said, in addition to working at Walmart. “I worked at Hyundai Glovis, a manufacturing plant. I was responsible for basically getting the cars, loading them on the train. I also

mer NFL GM gave his opinion on each of the other top passers in the draft.

Lombardi created a stir in a recent podcast appearance when he brought up the coachability issue when discussing Stroud.

“I never said he wasn’t coachable,” Lombardi emphasized. “I didn’t say that in a quote direct from me. I just think you have to have a certain comfortability around C.J. Stroud. I think that’s something teams have to get comfortable with.

I think he’s kind of from a different perspective. C.J. Stroud is a kid that you’ve got to get to know.”

What Lombardi said, which was

did a little DoorDash for chump change.”

But DuBose’s real goal was playing football, so between shifts, he worked out with Foster, then enrolled at Charlotte and who keep insisting DuBose join him.

When DuBose finally agreed to give the 49ers a shot, it didn’t take coaches long to see what they had in the talented 6-foot-2, 201-pound newcomer.

“You see Grant, a guy that just doesn’t take it for granted and is so grateful for the opportunity and you just look at it like the dude fights his rear end off every day because he’s so excited about being here,” then-Charlotte coach Will Healy said after DuBose caught four catches for 118 yards and two scores in his Division I debut, a milestone win over Duke.

Things only got better from there. DuBose caught 126 passes for 1,684 yards and 15 scores in two seasons with the 49ers, finishing second in school history in all three categories.

But after Healy was fired in October, DuBose entered the transfer portal. Then, in January, he changed his mind.

“I was a little unsure of what I wanted to do with my future,” he said at the combine. “One morning, I woke up and I felt like I was ready and I decided to bet on myself and here I am today.”

DuBose, like the other roughly 300 combine invitees, didn’t make it to Indianapolis by chance.

What he showed scouts in March was similar to what the Charlotte coaches saw in 2021.

DuBose made quick cuts and

picked up by a newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, was “C.J. Stroud is an interesting guy. When you talk to people in the league, they will tell you C.J. Stroud is not — and this is not a knock, this is just a conversation — not an easy guy to coach. ...

I think the word that people use is he’s very not-believing in what you are saying. So he’s a little bit challenging to coach, so it’s not like he comes in and embraces it. He’s got a little bit of a different style to him.

… He thinks he knows a little bit better. He’s probably hard to coach.

… Would I pick him at two? I don’t know.” According to some mock drafts,

“One morning, I woke up and I felt like I was ready and I decided to bet on myself and here I am today.”

Charlotte receiver Grant DuBose on entering the NFL Draft

adjusted easily to pass coverage. Despite running a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, his 35-inch vertical jump and 10-foot, 5-inch broad jump tied first-round prospect Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And his 3-cone drill time, 6.89 seconds, ranked third among all receivers.

Now, DuBose eagerly awaits what might happen next weekend. The best projections list him as a third-day pick.

But DuBose has faced far greater challenges on his path to the draft, and even if he has to work his way into the mix as an undrafted rookie, DuBose understands better than most what it will take to make a roster — and perhaps even become an employee of the Walton family’s newest venture, the Denver Broncos.

“Actually, I had a chance to speak with the scouts from the Broncos at the Senior Bowl, and that’s where he told me the people who own the Broncos own Walmart,” DuBose said. “It’s a different (journey), different from a lot of guys at the combine. But I’m grateful for it because it’s made me who I am today.”

Kentucky’s Will Levis may have moved past Stroud on draft boards.

“Will Levis has great size, speed, athleticism,” Lombardi said. “A lot of it is, can he make good decisions at the right time?”

Florida’s Richardson wowed observers at the Combine with some of the best measurables of any quarterback prospect in history, but he’s believed to be the biggest gamble of the four.

“Richardson is a unique talent,” Lombardi said. “He didn’t play as well in college as I think people would have liked him to play.”

That seems to leave the Panthers with one obvious choice.

KARL B. DEBLAKER

UNC wide receiver Josh Downs, pictured during the Tar Heels’ Pro Day last month, could be a first round pick at this week’s NFL Draft.

CHRIS CARLSON | AP PHOTO

After two good seasons with the 49ers, Charlotte receiver Grant DuBose is again betting on himself by entering the NFL Draft.

New UAW leader already has issues with Detroit automakers

The Associated Press

$118,487,381

DOWNTOWNS from page B5

employers turn to hybrid work models, there’s the question of whether people will want to move to downtown areas if they’re not required to be there every day.

“You have to make downtown a neighborhood — somewhere that’s living and playful and active,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey told an panel at the United States Conference of Mayors meetings in Washington last January. “How do you make it a neighborhood that has a vibe where young people want to be?”

Jordan Woods, a 33-year-old federal government contractor, moved to an apartment in downtown Washington in 2019, attracted in part by the appeal of being able to walk to work. He said he was able to find dependable stores and restaurants that stayed open at night, but then the pandemic came and downtown became “like a moonscape” for more than a year.

“And even before the pandemic it was still missing basic stuff like playgrounds and dog parks and a normal non-Whole Foods grocery store that I could walk to,” Woods said. “I wouldn’t say I regret it, but if I was considering the same move right now, I’m not sure I would do it.”

Chuck D’Aprix, principal at Downtown Economics, a development consulting firm, said attracting new residents to a former downtown business district holds specific chicken-and-egg issues. The businesses that residents need are different from those of daytime office workers.

They include mid-size affordable grocery stores and day-care centers, pet supply shops, hardware stores and auto repair garages. And those places need to stay open past office hours.

“A lot of those services simply aren’t available right now in small city downtowns or mid-sized city downtowns, you know, they close up at night,” D’Aprix said.

But with vacancy rates at downtown office buildings continuing to rise, from 12.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 17.8% in the first quarter of 2023, according to the real estate firm CBRE, there’s an urgency to do something. Some of the hardest hit places include San Francisco with a preliminary vacancy rate of 29.4%, Houston 23.6%, Philadelphia at 21.7% and Washington at 20.3%.

In New York City, where the vacancy rate is 15.5%, Mayor Eric Adams announced in January a plan to bring 500,000 new homes to the city including what he calls rent-restricted units.

A key piece of that plan is to rezone parts of midtown Manhattan which currently only allow office and manufacturing spaces. Along with the rezoning, the mayor’s office is pushing bills in the legislature to approve tax breaks that would entice developers to invest in conversions that include affordable units as well as changes in the state’s multiple dwellings law that would allow buildings built through 1990 access to more flexible regulations that make conversions easier.

But conversions alone in New York and elsewhere are unlikely to bring back entire downtown neighborhoods, nor will they automatically put a dent in the affordable housing crisis.

“Converting buildings is not easy,” said Luke Bronin, the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut. “There are a lot of buildings that just aren’t conducive.”

DETROIT — To say that the new president of the United Auto Workers union is unhappy with Detroit’s three automakers would be an understatement.

Shawn Fain, who took office in March after workers voted to sweep out most of the union’s old leadership, listed grievances with Stellantis, General Motors and Ford in a wide-ranging talk Friday with reporters.

The disputes surely will become part of national contract talks between the union and the auto companies that will begin this summer. Agreements with all three expire on Sept. 14, and bargaining is expected to be contentious.

Speaking to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit, Fain said members are demanding that the union win back cost-of-living pay raises and pensions they lost, and the elimination of tiers of workers who are paid differently but do the same jobs. They also want assurances that good-paying union jobs will be preserved as the companies transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to those that run on electricity. Auto companies, he said, have made billions over the last decade but workers haven’t gotten their fair share since the companies got into financial trouble in 2009.

“I want to work with the companies. I want to have a good relationship,” Fain said. “But if they’re not going to treat our members with respect and not give them their due, then we’re going to have

issues.”

His biggest beef, though, seemed to be with Stellantis, which is moving to close a factory in Belvidere, Illinois. The company also failed to include the union when it announced a joint-venture electric vehicle battery factory in Kokomo, Indiana, Fain said.

Asked if closing the Belvidere plant was a red line for the union that would provoke a strike, Fain said he didn’t want to talk about the union’s plans.

“It’s unacceptable what they’ve done there,” he said. “And I’ve been very clear with the corporation that we expect things there to change.”

Stellantis placed the Belvidere

Haaland defends Willow, says US won’t end oil drilling

The Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended her department’s approval of the contentious Willow oil project on Friday, saying that despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands, “We’re not going to turn the faucet off and say we’re not drilling anymore.’’

Speaking to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Haaland said the Biden administration is “following the science and the law when it comes to everything we do, and that includes gas and oil’’ leases considered by her agency, which oversees U.S. public lands and waters.

Despite Biden’s pledge, “We’re not going to say we’re not going to use gas and oil. That’s not reality,’’ Haaland said. “So we are doing the best we absolutely can.’’

Haaland’s comments came after the administration faced sharp criticism from some of its strongest supporters — especial-

plant on “idle” in February and laid off most of its roughly 1,350 workers. The company wouldn’t comment on Friday.

All three companies have announced plans to build multiple joint-venture battery factories in the U.S., and only GM thus far has recognized the union to bargain for workers, at a plant near Warren, Ohio. Fain said. GM has two more battery plants in the works in Tennessee and Michigan, and Ford is planning an assembly plant in Tennessee and three new battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. Fain said he understands the need to form ventures to get access to technology, but “they can’t form

“I want to work with the companies. I want to have a good relationship. But if they’re not going to treat our members with respect and not give them their due, then we’re going to have issues.”

Shawn Fain, United Auto Workers president

joint ventures with the intents and purpose also of circumventing the commitment to our members and to agreements.”

He said there’s no reason the companies couldn’t form a joint venture with the union so workers have a place to go when plants that make things for internal combustion vehicles close. Fain said he expects change to happen now with the battery plants, but the companies may want to wait for the contract talks.

GM, he said, is offering $16.50 per hour with a top wage of $20 at the Ohio battery plant, even though it takes two years of training to do the jobs. Those wages, he said, would set members back 10 or 15 years. Production workers now make about $32 per hour.

“That is a race to the bottom,” Fain said of GM’s offer. “These should be higher wages than our production standards, not lower.” Ford and GM said in statements that they look forward to working with the union. Ultium Cells LLC, GM’s battery joint venture, wouldn’t comment on the bargaining but said it would work in good faith with the UAW to reach an agreement.

ly young climate activists — after Interior approved the $8 billion Willow project on March 13. The massive drilling plan by oil giant ConocoPhillips could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope.

Leaders of major environmental organizations and Indigenous groups had pleaded with Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet member, to use her authority to block the drilling project, which they say contradicts Biden’s agenda to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Environmental groups call Willow a “carbon bomb” and have mounted a social media #StopWillow campaign that has been seen hundreds of millions of times.

Haaland, who opposed Willow when she served in Congress, joked Friday that as Interior secretary, “often I don’t have personal feelings.’’ Still, Haaland’s views seemed apparent. She did not sign the secretarial order approving the project, leaving that

to her deputy, Tommy Beaudreau, and declined multiple opportunities to say she personally supported the decision.

In response to questions from hundreds of assembled journalists, Haaland said the Willow decision was countered by approval of a host of clean-energy projects, including a recent plan to produce “solar power from the deserts of Arizona to communities all over the West.’’

“We’re in a climate crisis everyone, and so we are taking that part very seriously,’’ she said.

In an online video released 10 hours after the March 13 decision was made public, Haaland said she and Biden, both Democrats, believe the climate crisis “is the most urgent issue of our lifetime.”

On Friday, Haaland called Willow “a very long and complicated and difficult decision to make,’’ and noted that ConocoPhillips has long held leases to drill for oil on the site, in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

“You know, legal, existing rights are a thing in this country. And so we have to honor those in some respects. What we did really try to do is make it smaller, right, to protect the stakeholders and do whatever we could to help the situation to be more amenable to the wildlife and the ecosystems in Alaska.’’

The final approval reflects a substantially smaller project than ConocoPhillips originally proposed and includes a pledge by

“You know, legal, existing rights are a thing in this country. And so we have to honor those in some respects. What we did really try to do is make it smaller … help the situation to be more amenable to the wildlife and the ecosystems in Alaska.’’

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

the Houston-based oil company to relinquish nearly 70,000 acres of leased land that will no longer be developed.

Biden said last month he had “a strong inclination to disapprove” Willow, but was given legal advice that the oil company could win in court. Instead, his team forced concessions that included conservation of millions of acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.

“And so I thought the better gamble — and a hell of a tradeoff — to have the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea and so many other places off limits (from oil drilling) forever now,’’ he said March 24 during a visit to Canada. “What I really want to do ... is conserve significant amounts of Alaskan sea and land forever.’’

AP PHOTO

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain addresses delegates at the union's 2023 Special Bargaining Convention, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Detroit.

AP PHOTO

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Boise, Idaho, on Friday, April 21, 2023.

Welcoming spring

Azalea Festival celebrates annual rites of spring

By Emmie Brooks North State Journal

WILMINGTON — Blooming

gardens, beautiful artwork, bustling streets, and homegrown entertainment are all beloved parts of North Carolina’s Azalea Festival.

The North Carolina Azalea Festival’s mission is to showcase the community’s rich array of artwork, gardens, history, and culture through recreational, educational, and family-oriented events. This special tradition began in 1934, and this year marked Wilmington’s 76th Azalea Festival.

“It [Azalea Festival] brings happiness, and smiles on people’s faces because it means spring has sprung, spring is here,” North Carolina’s Azalea Festival 2023 President, Denise Szaloky said. “The birds are chirping and the Azalea Festival azaleas are blooming.”

queen, the Azalea Festival president must also choose an artist to create an artistic representation of the festival. 2023’s chosen artist was Ana Brown.

“The official artwork was made out of oyster shells that she collected on Wrightsville Beach,” Szaloky said.

Thursday, April 13, was the celebrity guest reception, followed by a concert that evening.

“It [Azalea Festival] brings happiness, and smiles on people’s faces because it means spring has sprung, spring is here.”

The North Carolina Azalea Princess Pageant was held the first weekend of March, awarding over $14,000 in college scholarships to qualifying participants. The Azalea Festival week in April kicks off with the queen’s coronation on Wednesday of Azalea Festival week. This event helps create excitement around the community for the start of the festival each year.

Denise Szaloky, N.C. Azalea Festival 2023 president

“Thursdays are community days, so this year we started with school visits, then there’s the celebrity reception; we went to the hospital, and then we went and did a Naval Ship tour,” Szaloky said. “Naval week also corresponded with Azalea Festival week.”

The Friday of Azalea Festival weekend starts off with a ribbon cutting for the Cape Fear Garden Club, then the Airlee lunch and garden party, followed by another concert that evening. The following day, Saturday, holds the parade, a street fair, and the performing arts stage.

“This year what was different was we featured tunes and blooms at Greenfield Lake,” Szaloky said. “This was our second year with that but it highlights local in-area bands.”

“The president chooses a queen, and as I was showcasing everyone instrumental in the community, [I chose] Carli Batson – not only is she the first Wilmington born and native to be Queen Azalea, she began on the Azalea Youth Comittee, then she was a part of the Azalea Princess Court, then she became an invited guest on the Queen’s Court as Miss North Carolina, and now she has the title of Queen Azalea,” Szaloky said.

In addition to choosing the

The Azalea Festival Youth Comittee and many other volunteers spend months preparing for the busy weeks in spring.

“Without the volunteers we would not be where we were and are today,” Szaloky said. “They are literally the heart of the festival.”

North Carolina’s Azalea Festival continues to plan and strategize for its upcoming events. Through community engagement, scholarship money raised, and growth in ticket sales, North Carolina’s Azalea Festival will be a nationally recognized North Carolina signature event by 2024.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Clockwise from top, North Carolina’s Azalea Festival 2023 Queen, Carli Batson, spreading joy alongside members of the Boys & Girls Club; North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper presenting a proclamation announcing the 76th annual Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina; North Carolina’s Azalea Festival official artwork for 2023 painted by Ana Brown.

pen & paper pursuits

from April 19, 2023

COUNTY NEWS

Two Stanly stores fined over $30k for overcharging customers

Last week, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Standards Division collected fines from over 37 stores across 22 counties. Among the businesses fined in the state for “excessive price-scanner errors” were two stores in Stanly County. The Dollar General at 1920 B. U.S. 52 North in Albemarle was paid $1,845 in penalties.

The second business, the Family Dollar, located at 103 N. Main St. in Norwood, was required to pay $28,675 in penalties. The Family Dollar is set to be reinspected again soon. The department conducts periodic, unannounced inspections of price-scanner systems in businesses to check for accuracy between the prices advertised and the prices that ring up at the register. If a store has more than a %2 error rate on overcharges, inspectors discuss the findings with the store manager and conduct a more intensive follow-up inspection later.

Rise of canine influenza cases reported in North Carolina

Over the course of the last few weeks, veterinary officials in North Carolina have received multiple reports regarding the rise in cases of canine influenza. According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, cases of the Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC), which is caused by the H3N2 canine influenza virus, are currently being seen in both Durham and Moore counties. At this time, all of the official data concerning the spread of CIRDC directly involve boarding and daycare facilities in the state.

Veterinary professionals across North Carolina are warning pet owners about the possibility of infection and urging people to get their dogs vaccinated, as canine influenza is very contagious and can spread through the air. As we enter the warmer months and people begin preparing to travel for the summer, clinics are expecting to see the number of reported cases continue to rise.

Veterinary offices are currently experiencing a large number of scheduled appointments, so it is recommended that anyone who is interested in getting their dog vaccinated contact their local offices as soon as possible.

24th annual Kerri D. Efird Memorial Scholarship Bike Run approaches

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

OAKBORO — For the 24th consecutive year, local bikers will soon be gearing up and hitting the road to raise funds for a local charity that holds great importance to the community.

The 24th Kerri D. Efird Memorial Scholarship Bike Run is set to take place on Saturday, April 29, at West Stanly High School, with registration at 9 a.m. and kickstands up at 10 a.m. Donations from the annual bike run help support scholarships that are awarded to West Stanly seniors each year.

The rain-or-shine trip convoy will leave from the high school (306 E Red Cross Rd, Oakboro) for a one-hour drive up to Cox’s Harley Davidson (2795 NC-134, Asheboro) before returning back to West Stanly.

At the April 19 Stanly County Board of Commissioners meeting, Chairman Scott Efird addressed the event that is held in honor and memory of daughter Kerri, a West Stanly student who passed away at the age of 18 after a battle with cystic fibrosis in 1999.

“The following week has something that’s near and dear to me and my wife: the 24th annual Kerri D. Efird Memorial Scholarship Bike Run,” Efird said. “It’s at West Stanly on April 29. Registration is up at nine, and we leave at ten. If you don’t ride a motorcycle, you can come eat barbecue and have a raffle. It’s a good event, and we’ve given here today $114,000 in scholarships to seniors — thank you so much.”

Last year’s memorial bike run generated over $17,000 with over 100 bikers involved, allowing $1,000 scholarships to be given to

six different graduating seniors. In 2021, six $1,000 scholarships were also distributed from the fundraiser’s donations.

Upon returning back to the high school, all bikers and event attendees will have access to a barbecue dinner along with desserts and sno-cones. Collectable ride shirts and raffle prizes will also be available.

West Stanly has advertised the bike run online in a statement: “Help keep Kerri’s memory alive! Any senior interested in applying for this scholarship needs to see Ashley Britt in the counseling office immediately. Scholarship information is due to Mrs. Britt by May 2nd.”

For more information about the event, one can contact Scott and Tracy Efird at 980-581-1798, email kdescholarship@aol.com, or check out the scholarship’s web page at www.kerripooh.com.

North Carolina considers changing unsupervised driving rules

Board approves Legislative Agenda for 2023

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly would eventually change the mandatory supervised driving period for teens to nine months, less time than has been set in state law, but longer than a temporary relaxation of the learner’s permit rule first in effect during the pandemic. North Carolina teens can get a learner’s permit at age 15, but have to complete 60 hours of supervised driving by an adult — usually a parent — and be age 16 before they can drive by themselves with what’s called a limited provisional license. They also have to pass a road test.

The new legislation now heading to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk still would require the child be at least 16 to advance to the limited license. But it would eventually allow minors to complete the requirements and advance after just nine months.

Historically, state law has required a 12-month wait.

“This is not decreasing the amount of hours that they have to drive, but it is shortening the time period,” said Rep. Jeff McNeely, an Iredell County Republican, said during the House floor debate. He said it should also free up more young people to work because they’ll be able to drive themselves to and from jobs sooner.

The proposed measure extends and modifies a state law approved during the COVID-19 pandemic to address delayed driver’s education classes. Legislators say they’re still receiving complaints from parents whose children are trying to get to the next level of driving.

The new legislation would reinstate a six-month minimum that expired at the end of 2022 for the rest of 2023 before settling the time at nine months.

The bill gained final approval with a 92-15 vote in the House after the chamber rejected amendments from Rep. Carolyn Logan, a Mecklenburg County Democrat and retired state trooper.

She wanted to ultimately keep a 12-month training period, arguing that children need the extra time to learn a very serious skill like driving.

“Every month can make a difference,” Logan told colleagues. “I’m asking you to think about your children and other people out there they’ll be driving with.”

The bill, which already was approved by the Senate last month, also would slightly ease passenger constraints for a limited provisional licensee so that the person could drive someone unrelated to them to and from school.

Cooper can sign the bill, veto it, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.

“If you don’t ride a motorcycle, you can come eat barbecue and have a raffle.”

Chairman Scott Efird

“I’m asking you to think about your children and other people out there they’ll be driving with.”

Rep. Carolyn Logan

“Join

UnitedHealthcare drops protest appeal over NC State Health Plan administrator change

By A.P. Dillon North

Journal

State

RALEIGH — UnitedHealth-

care has apparently dropped its protest appeal over the change in third-party administration of the North Carolina State Health Plan.

With UnitedHealthcare (UMR, Inc.) dropping its appeal, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) remains the only party still engaged in litigation.

“We appreciate UnitedHealthcare’s efforts to win the TPA award for the Plan in 2025. We have a great relationship with them and hope that they will try to earn the business at some point in the future,” NC Treasurer Dale Folwell

said in a press release.

In January of this year, Folwell announced that Aetna would a ssume the State Health Plan’s Third-Party Administrative (TPA) Services Contract starting in 2025. The announcement came after a December 2020 unanimous vote by the State Health Plan Board of Trustees to award the TPA to Aetna following a competitive bidding process.

One of the aspects under consideration in choosing a new TPA w as reducing costs and increasing transparency. The full set of bidding contracts and other documents can be viewed on a portal hosted by the State Health Plan: https://www.shpnc.org/2025-tran-

“We appreciate UnitedHealth-care’s efforts to win the TPA award for the Plan in 2025.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell

sition-aetna-tpa.

In February, protests over the decision filed by BCBSNC and UMR, Inc. were rejected. That same month, BCBSNC notified the State Health Plan that it would pursue the matter in court and had filed a contested case hearing in the

North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings as well as a petition for judicial review in Durham C ounty Superior Court. According to Folwell’s office, the administrative law judge has ordered the case t o mediation.

“To sue until you are blue causes chaos and uncertainty; it is not w hat’s best for those that teach, protect and serve,” Folwell said of the legal actions.

A division of the treasurer’s office, the State Health Plan, provides health care coverage to around 740,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, current and former lawmakers, state university and community college personnel, and their dependents.

Stanly County Journal

WEEKLY CRIME LOG

♦ MOORE, ZANE CURTIS (W /M/28), ASSAULT ON FEMALE, 04/24/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ CLAY, DOMINIQUE (B /F/25), MAL CONDUCT BY PRISONER/THROW, 04/21/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ MCCLAIN, MICHAEL ANDRIAN (B /M/42), CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (M), 04/21/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ FAGGART, ISAIAH

DELANTE (B /M/26), HABITUAL FELON, 04/20/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ HOOKER, DEMECUS RHMAD (B /M/25),

FELONY PROBATION VIOLATION, 04/18/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ MAULDIN, SAMANTHA ELIZABETH (W /F/32),

FELONY PROBATION VIOLATION, 04/18/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

♦ OWENS, JOHNNIE WILLIAM (B /M/24), RESISTING PUBLIC OFFICER, 04/18/2023, Stanly County Sheriff’s Office

In this June 15, 2018, file photo, cash is fanned out from a wallet in North Andover, Mass.

How to protect parents from financial scams

The Associated Press

WHEN A SCAM ARTIST called Cameron Huddleston’s mom to tell her to wire money in order to claim a prize, Huddleston had to intercept the calls. Her mom, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was convinced she had to wire the money as soon as possible.

“That was a wake-up call for me. If you have any cognitive decline, you don’t see those red flags anymore,” says Huddleston, the director of education at Carefull, a service built to protect aging adults’ daily finances. She also wrote the book “Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk,” on how to have important conversations about money with your parents.

Scam artists often target older adults, partly because they have amassed greater wealth. “If you are thinking from a criminal’s perspective, which target will give you the greatest returns: a broke 20-something who is struggling with student loans or a baby boomer with a couple million dollars of retirement assets?” asks Marti DeLiema, assistant professor of social work at University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers age 60 and older filed 467,340 fraud reports in 2021, reporting total losses of more than $1 billion. Overall, consumers age 60 and older are less likely to report losing money to fraud than those age 18-59. But when they do report a monetary loss, it tends to be for more money — especially among

those 80 and older. They had the highest median loss of all groups, at $1,500. The FTC reports that older adults are more likely than younger adults to lose money on scams involving tech support, prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries, and family and friend impersonation.

Here are some steps fraud experts suggest taking to protect your parents and other older adults you care about from falling victim.

RAISE THE TOPIC

“Talking about scams can be one of the easier conversations because we’re all targeted,” Huddleston says. And you can use your own experiences or trending news to put it out there in a way that isn’t condescending. DeLiema says explaining specific scams — such as a stranger reaching out over social media saying they want to be friends then asking for money, or fake text messages claiming to be a grandchild who needs immediate help — can greatly reduce the chances that someone will fall for them.

“If you know about the scam first, you’re 80% less likely to respond,” she says.

LEAN ON ANTI-FRAUD TOOLS

A few simple steps can help avert fraud, such as setting phones to send unknown numbers to voicemail, using a credit freeze, and setting stricter privacy controls on social media, says Amy Nofziger, director of fraud

“If you are thinking from a criminal’s perspective, which target will give you the greatest returns: a broke 20-something who is struggling with student loans or a baby boomer with a couple million dollars of retirement assets?”

Marti DeLiema

victim support for AARP. “These are things we should all be doing,” she says, adding that you can set this up for yourself at the same time. It’s also relatively easy to sign up for financial account monitoring or to receive alerts for every transaction, Huddleston says. In some cases, it could make sense to allow adult children to also monitor those accounts, depending on the parents’ comfort level and support needs.

Legal tools such as a durable power of attorney, a guardianship or a revocable trust can be among the most effective ways to keep an older adult’s money safe from scammers, says James Ferraro, a vice president and trust counsel at Argent Trust Company, a wealth management firm headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.

“If you have funded a revocable trust, then you have a vehicle in place where you can quickly step in,” he says.

KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS

If an older adult is suddenly reluctant to talk about finances, has trouble paying for everyday expenses or has a high number of incoming phone calls or text messages, those are all potential signs of fraud, says John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Scammers are adept at creating a false sense of urgency, Breyault says, telling their targets that they must send funds immediately or the IRS or other authority will come. “They are incredibly inventive,” he adds, noting that methods and techniques are constantly evolving. The FTC reports that scam artists are even using artificial intelligence to mimic voices.

If fraud does occur, help the authorities track and prosecute it by reporting it, Nofziger says. Start by reporting to your local police department and using the FTC’s online reporting portal.

AVOID SHAMING

The shame and embarrassment people feel when victimized can make a stressful situation worse.

“Lead the conversation with kindness and empathy, not anger or belittlement,” says Nofzigar. “You can say, ‘I’m sorry this happened to you. Together we’ll figure out next steps. There is no problem that we can’t solve or recover from.’”

Reassuring words that can keep older adults, and their money, safer from scam artists in the future.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Slavery, the left, and truth

A GENERATION OF AMERICANS is being raised on half-truths and lies about the history of slavery in America.

They are given the impression that America was uniquely bad and that American slavery was uniquely bad. They learn nothing about slavery elsewhere. Among the many lies they are told are that “black slaves bult America” and that America is systemically racist.

From the beginning of Islam in the 7th century through the year 1600, the estimated number of Africans enslaved by Muslims was about 7 million.

Since the only mortal enemy of the Left is truth, here are some truths about slavery.

AMERICA’S SLAVERY COMPARED TO SLAVERY ELSEWHERE

If you are interested in morality and committed to truth, you do not ask, “Who had slaves?” You ask, “Who ended slavery?”

Who had slaves?

Every civilization throughout history had slaves: Asian societies, Africans, Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples around the world, and the Muslim/Arab world, which may have had the most slaves of all.

Who ended slavery?

There was only one thing unique about slavery in the West: It raised the issue of the morality of slavery, ferociously debated it and finally abolished it there, before it was abolished in any other civilization. If you care about moral truth rather than, for example, promoting America-hatred, you must recognize — and you must teach — that America was one of the first slave-holding societies to abolish slavery. This even includes Africa. Cornell professor Sandra Greene, a black scholar of African history, notes, “Slavery in the United States ended in 1865, but in West Africa it was not legally ended until 1875, and then it stretched on unofficially until almost World War I.”

The numbers of slaves

According to the authoritative SlaveVoyages. org, the total number of black slaves imported from Africa into America was 305,326. The number of black slaves other countries imported from Africa into the rest of the New World — i.e., into the Caribbean and South America — was 12,521,337. In other words, other countries imported 41 times the number of black slaves into the Western

Hemisphere than the United States did (including the years before American independence). Yet, the American Left never mentions this important moral point — because the Left-controlled education system suppresses facts it finds inconvenient, and the Left is not interested in morality or truth, but in vilifying America. And then there is Arab/Muslim enslavement of blacks. Professor Paul Lovejoy, in his “Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa” (Cambridge University Press, 2012), reveals that from the beginning of Islam in the 7th century through the year 1600, the estimated number of Africans enslaved by Muslims was about 7 million. After 1600, it was about a million per year. Do American students ever learn about the Arab/ Muslim slave trade? How many know, for example, that a great percentage of the African male slaves were castrated so that they could not have families?

“BLACK SLAVES BULT AMERICA.”

This is another lie of the Left.

Those who make this argument point to the lucrative cotton manufacturing and trade in the 19th-century — the industry in which black slaves were primarily used in the American South.

But University of Illinois professor of Economics, Deirdre McCloskey, answered this:

“Growing cotton, unlike sugar or rice, never required slavery. By 1870, freedmen and whites produced as much cotton as the South produced in the slave time of 1860. Cotton was not a slave crop in India or in southwest China, where it was grown in bulk... That slaves produced cotton does not imply that they were essential or causal in the production...

“The United States and the United Kingdom and the rest would have become just as rich without the 250 years of unrequited toil. They have remained rich, observe, even after the peculiar institution was abolished, because their riches did not depend on its sinfulness.”

But one need not know anything about cotton to understand how false “Black slaves built America” is. All you need is common sense.

First, even if slavery accounted for much of the wealth of the South, the Civil War that brought slavery to an end in the United States wiped out

nearly all of that wealth and cost the Union billions (in today’s dollars).

Second, if slavery built the American economy, the most robust economy in world history, why didn’t Brazil become an economic superpower?

Brazil imported four million black slaves, about 12 times as many as America. Why did the slaveowning American South lag so far behind the North economically? Why did England, which, though it played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade until the beginning of the 19th century, had almost no slaves, become the most advanced economy of the 19th century?

“Black slaves built America” is left-wing propaganda to vilify America and to discredit capitalism.

“America is systemically racist.”

This is the Great Left Lie.

Four million black people have emigrated to the United States since the 1960s — and tens of millions more would if they could. Are they all fools? Why would anyone move to a country that is systemically bigoted against them? Did any Jews emigrate to Germany in the 1930s?

Blacks have emigrated to the United States because they know what Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the black woman who fled her homeland of Somalia and who now writes and lectures in America, knows:

“What the media do not tell you is that America is the best place on the planet to be black, female, gay, trans or what have you.”

Blacks emigrating to America know what Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, writing in Le Monde and Le Point, knows:

“It is forbidden to say that the West is also the place to which we flee when we want to escape the injustice of our country of origin, dictatorship, war, hunger, or simply boredom. It is fashionable to say that the West is guilty of everything.”

As regards American slavery and everything else, always remember this: Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value. It is not a left-wing value.

Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist.

Republicans need to stop being cowards on abortion

HOW MANY VOTERS know that the Democratic Party supports legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy on demand for virtually any reason? How many voters know this position aligns with only six other countries in the world — three of them, not incidentally, being North Korea, Vietnam and China?

Youngkin, who supports 15week abortion limits, won.

How many voters know that Democrats want to pass a federal law banning states from stopping sex-selective abortions or the dismembering of the post-viable unborn or the requirement of parental and guardian notification for minors before getting abortions? How many know that Democrats want to strip medical workers of their conscience rights by compelling them to participate in the procedure or lose their jobs?

How many people know that Democrats want to eliminate the popular Hyde Amendment, which stops the federal government from funding abortions with taxpayer dollars?

Now, maybe a majority of voters aren’t aware of Democrats’ maximalist positions because the media endlessly lies and obfuscates them. And maybe pollsters rarely ask useful questions on the topic because the answers are a lot more complicated than they’d like. And, maybe, after the shock of Roe v. Wade being overturned — treated by Democrats as if it had been chiseled into magical stone tablets over the past 50 years — the energy and passion of the debate will temporarily reside on the pro-abortion side. And, maybe, if every voter knew all the facts, it still wouldn’t matter. Abortion is a complex and emotional issue.

None of that excuses the inability, or aversion, of national conservatives to make a coherent and compelling pro-life case. Sometimes it feels like Republicans are more terrified by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision than proabortionists. Even if pollsters were right about the unpopularity of abortion restrictions, there is this

crazy thing that politicians occasionally engage in called “persuasion.” Rather than just chasing around voters for approval, this entails convincing them with arguments.

The problem, it seems, is that too many in the GOP accept the media’s concern trolling or listen to risk-averse advice of the consulting class. Recently, for example, Janet Protasiewicz beat conservative Dan Kelly by 10 percentage points to flip Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Virtually every outlet treated the race as a national referendum on abortion. Anonymous consultants were recruited by one big media outlet after the next to offer offthe-record comments voicing their deep concern about the deleterious effects of the abortion issue.

Weird how this dynamic only works in one direction.

In 2020, Brian Kemp, who signed a heartbeat bill limiting abortion to the first six weeks a year earlier, easily defeated media darling Stacey Abrams to win the Georgia governorship (in a state that Donald Trump also lost). Abrams made abortion, along with guns, the central issue of her campaign, carpet-bombing the state with ads. In 2018, Terry McAuliffe also attempted to make abortion the dominant issue of his campaign against Glenn Youngkin. At the time, a Washington Post piece promised that the race was “our first big test of the new politics of abortion.”

Well, Youngkin, who supports 15-week abortion limits, won. Alas, there were no handwringing deep dives from the Post about abortion undermining Democrats.

Georgia and Virginia are swing states. Ohio, where Mike DeWine signed a six-week ban in 2019 and won the state by 10 points in 2022, was one not long ago, as well. This is the same state in which pro-life J.D. Vance easily beat “moderate” Tim Ryan. This week, the governor of Florida and prospective presidential candidate, Ron

DeSantis, signed a six-week ban on abortion. One imagines DeSantis will be just as popular among Republicans in his state since the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Florida Assembly. Of course, conventional wisdom says this hurts his presidential chances.

But Ohio, Virginia and Florida teach us nothing about abortion. Only the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, it seems, matters.

Whatever the case, the Republican nominee doesn’t need to impress California voters. They need to convince social conservatives in Virginia, Ohio and Florida to go out and vote. Does anyone really think DeSantis would be better off politically if he vetoed a pro-life bill?

Running from the abortion conversation, as so many Republicans seem to do, creates the impression they don’t really believe in their own stated position. Quite often, that’s probably the case. But if you’re going to run as a pro-lifer anyway, allowing the opposition to define your beliefs makes little sense. Especially when making a rational and moral case for protecting viable life, at the very least, isn’t particularly difficult — certainly not when contrasted with the left’s extremism.

Then again, if every Republican lost every race in the country over abortion, it still wouldn’t make killing human beings for convenience any less of a moral abomination or the fight to stop it any less important.

A majority position isn’t, by default, moral or decent — quite the contrary. And meaningful political fights aren’t predicated on short-term gains. Overturning Roe took 50 years. The political fight over abortion might take even longer.

David

Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist.

COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI

COLUMN | DENNIS PRAGER

SIDELINE REPORT

NBA

Markkanen named NBA’s most improved player New York

All-Star forward Lauri

Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was announced Monday night as the winner of the award. The selection is made by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The news came just past 2 a.m. Tuesday in Helsinki, where Markkanen is currently fulfilling the military service that is mandated for all Finnish men before they turn 30. He began his enlistment there earlier this month.

Markkanen beat out fellow finalists Jalen Brunson of New York and Shai GilgeousAlexander of Oklahoma City for the award. He averaged a career-best 25.6 points per game this season.

CYCLING

Pogacar undergoes wrist surgery after crash

Brussels

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar says he was lucky to escape from his weekend crash with only a broken left wrist. The injury is not expected to derail his Tour preparations. Pogacar was expected to travel home on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on the wrist in Belgium. The Slovenian rider’s team says the surgery to insert a screw to realign the fragments of his scaphoid bone went well. He was injured in a crash during the one-day Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic.

TRACK & FIELD

1948 Olympic bronze medalist Douglas dies at 101 Pittsburgh

Herb Douglas, who turned a chance encounter with Jesse Owens as a teenager into fuel to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 Olympics, has died at 101. The University of Pittsburgh, where Douglas starred on both the football and track teams before later serving in various roles for his alma mater, said Douglas died Saturday. Douglas was 14 when he met Owens in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Douglas grew up. Douglas was inducted into the inaugural Pitt athletics Hall of Fame class in 2018. The university is naming the 300-meter indoor track at its planned Victory Heights facility after Douglas.

MLB

A’s move Japanese rookie Fujinami to bullpen

Anaheim, Calif. Oakland Athletics rookie pitcher Shintaro Fujinami is being moved to the bullpen after struggling in his first four major league starts. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels that the Japanese right-hander would be available for relief duty starting Tuesday. Fujinami is 0-4 with a 14.40 ERA. He allowed eight runs on seven hits, with three walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in 2⅓ innings during Saturday’s 18-3 loss at Texas.

Busch helps RCR return to Victory Lane

Busch as payback for wrecking a Richard Childress Racing entry –a confrontation that earned Childress a $150,000 fine from NASCAR.

The Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. — There were many dark days last season for Kyle Busch as his long, successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end.

JGR had lost its sponsor for the two-time Cup Series champion and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer was an expensive free agent. He offered to lower his market value and scoured the garage looking for a seat, facing the harsh reality that with all his talent he might not land with a top team.

It was Austin Dillon who asked his grandfather to consider speaking with Busch and somehow forget a 2011 incident in which Richard Childress attacked Busch following a Truck Series race. Childress famously removed his wristwatch before pummeling

Dillon made a convincing argument and a pairing that once seemed unfathomable came to fruition as Busch left JGR and Toyota for a new job driving a Chevrolet for Childress.

Through 11 races, it is a partnership that is changing the Cup Series landscape.

Busch won his second race of the season on Sunday with a victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, where he milked every last drop of fuel in his tank to steal the win. Crew chief Randall Burnett had called Busch in for a splash of gas during overtime, a decision that came too late for Busch to make it to pit road. Busch was secretly pleased: by not pitting, he gambled that he’d have a shot at the win rather than just a reasonable finish.

“Rowdy” is on a mission this season to prove his value, reaffirm

he is still an elite racer and thank RCR for giving him a job when his prospects seemed so grim.

“They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that,” Busch said. “It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work. Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in this year than I have in the last four — just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.”

It goes both ways.

RCR had fallen on hard times

Rhule embrace of Huskers tradition fuels popularity — so far

The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has quickly endeared himself to one of the nation’s most ardent fan bases in the five months since his hiring.

Rhule has yet to coach his first game for the Cornhuskers, though, and the true test of his popularity will come in a year or two when his work to bring back one of college football’s biggest brands is fully underway.

So far, he’s proved to be a fast study and served up big portions of red meat, frequently referencing the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

Unlike some previous coaches, Rhule has made a point to pay homage to program standard-bearer Tom Osborne, the 86-year-old Hall of Fame coach who won national titles three of the four years before his retirement. Osborne has already done a roundtable discussion with Rhule and athletic director Trev Alberts and accepted Rhule’s invitation to be the featured speaker at the annual coaches clinic.

Rhule also played an important role in helping Alberts get former coach Frank Solich to agree to be honored at Saturday’s spring game. Solich, whose ties to the program date to the 1960s, has been mostly estranged since his controversial 2003 firing.

Rhule and Solich have known each other since Rhule’s time as an assistant at Temple (200611) when the Owls were in the Mid-American Conference along

with Solich’s Ohio team. Rhule later led Temple’s turnaround from 2013-16 in the American Athletic Conference.

“I was impressed with their program and what they were all about, so when he got the job at Nebraska, I felt like that was a good hire,” Solich said. “I know he contacted coach Osborne when he got here right away. Also, he’s been around the state visiting with tons of coaches and trying

over the last decade, and the Cup Series had seemed to pass by the proud organization that won six championships with the late Dale Earnhardt. RCR won just five races after Kevin Harvick left following the 2013 season but showed some promise last year with Tyler Reddick, who won three times.

Reddick decided he was leaving RCR at the end of the 2023 season to drive for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. With an opportunity for Reddick to move a year early, Dillon pushed his grandfather to consider Busch.

The first reward was Busch’s win earlier this season at Fontana, which earned him an automatic berth in the playoffs. Then came the win at Talladega, where Childress has 13 career victories as an owner and raced 19 times himself from 1969 through 1981. His career-best finish was sixth in 1980.

“I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be,” Childress said of Busch while making sure to credit his grandson for the hire.

to get a strong interest in Nebraska football and get himself and his staff known to the people of Nebraska.

“I think he’s making all the right moves and doing all the right things.”

Rhule has dropped references to the Huskers’ iconic red N on the helmet, his excitement about coaching in 100-year-old Memorial Stadium, and building depth with walk-ons and giving them real opportunities. He even promises to make the fullback part of the offense again.

The 48-year-old is a savvy user of social media and has appeared at events big and small, including last week’s nationally televised WWE SmackDown wrestling show in Lincoln where he enthusiastically shouted “Go Big Red!” into the camera.

Rhule took over a program that has won five national championships, the most recent in 1997, but hasn’t appeared in a bowl or finished higher than fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West since 2016.

“I want to make sure they know ... that we know how long they have waited for Nebraska football to play the way that we all believe it is capable of playing,” Rhule said of the fans. “We are not there yet, but we will try to honor their patience and their loyalty with our work.”

Rhule spent two-plus seasons as the Carolina Panthers coach, and he had left for the NFL after rebuilding Baylor following the scandal-filled Art Briles era. He was out of work less than two months after the Panthers fired him in October.

The unlikely pairing picked up a second win in just their 10th race together

The former Panthers coach was hired by Nebraska in late November

“It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work.”

Kyle Busch on joining Richard Childress Racing

AP PHOTO

Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

AP PHOTO

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule has endeared himself to Nebraska’s ardent fans, telling them what they want to hear when he says he wants to adopt the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

The NFL has suspended five players, inclduing Lions defensive back C.J. Moore, for violating the league’s gambling policy.

NFL suspends 5 players for violating gambling policy

The league punished four Lions and one player from the Commanders

The Associated Press

THREE NFL PLAYERS were suspended indefinitely last Friday for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season, while two other players, including the 12th overall draft pick a year ago, received six-game suspensions for betting on nonNFL games at a league facility.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus, Lions safety C.J. Moore and Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney are sidelined for the entire 2023 season and may petition for reinstatement afterward.

Lions wide receivers Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams each received a six-game suspension, though they will be able to participate in offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games. Their suspensions will start at the final roster cutdown.

The NFL said that a “league review uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way.”

Gambling incidents have been relatively rare for the NFL. Most recently, wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season for gambling on NFL games; he was later traded from

Atlanta to Jacksonville and was reinstated. In November 2019, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended for gambling on an NFL game; he has not played in the league since.

“I don’t think it’s a trend yet,” said Chris Altruda, a senior analyst for Sports Handle. “I do think the league has to do a better job messaging, and I think the teams have to do a better job of relaying that message as well.”

The Lions immediately released Cephus, who caught 37 passes in three seasons, and Moore, who started one game in four years.

Detroit executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes said the two “exhibited decision-making that is not consistent with our organizational values and violates league rules.”

Williams was the 12th overall pick in last year’s draft, but he played in just six games after returning from knee surgery. Alliance Sports, which represents Williams, said in a statement the player is “apologetic to the NFL, his teammates and the fans and city of Detroit.” It also noted Wil-

West Stanly boys’ tennis team caps off undefeated regular season

The Colts have won a school-record 16 matches this year

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

OAKBORO

— After a fiveyear lull during which the West Stanly boys’ tennis team combined for just 11 wins, the Colts flipped the script this year as they reeled off a school-record 16 wins — more than any other 2A or 3A school in North Carolina this season.

organic chemistry this year that is centered around a common goal of improving their playing abilities while not getting too lost in the details of technique repetition.

“A lot of people told me that I was inheriting a relatively good group,” he added. “They weren’t speaking necessarily in terms of skill level but the kids’ character, and I was excited about that. We just have fun. Now when it’s time to make sure we’re doing right, we’ll do right. But as long as the guys are having fun and playing loose, I don’t think we can be beat, honestly.”

liams’ suspension was for a “technical rule regarding the actual location in which the online bet was placed — and which would otherwise be allowed by the NFL outside of the club’s facility.”

Berryhill played in four games without a catch in his only season. Holmes said the Lions will work with both Berryhill and Williams “to ensure they understand the severity of these violations and have clarity on the league rules moving forward.”

Toney started one game in two seasons with the Commanders, who said they have “cooperated fully with the NFL’s investigation since receiving notice and support the league’s findings and actions.”

With the rise of sports betting across the U.S., some pro teams have a sportsbook in their stadiums — like the Washington Nationals (MLB) and the Phoenix Suns (NBA) as well as the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Others, like the Arizona Cardinals, have a sportsbook on the grounds of the stadium and many fans bet on their phones while attending games. Sports betting ads also permeate breaks during NFL games.

The NFL, along with other pro leagues, this week formed the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising, a group described as a voluntary alliance to control how consumers see advertising and to rein in “excessive” advertising.

The undefeated Colts (16-0, 8-0 Rocky River Conference), led by firstyear coach Spayne Furr, began RRC Tournament play on April 25 after sweeping the conference for the regular season title. The conference tournament will be followed by NCHSAA regionals (May 5-6) and the state tournament (May 12-13).

“We’re happy about it, but we’re not quite finished yet. We want to win the state title because that’s never been done,” Furr told SCJ on April 21.

“As long as the guys are having fun and playing loose, I don’t think we can be beat, honestly.”

Spayne Furr, West Stanly boys’ tennis coach

“We’ve had a really good team with four really good seniors as well as some underclassmen who came in and are playing well. We swept everybody, so that was really cool — my guys are awesome.”

Overall, West has been dominant with a 72-17 record in individual matches.

Seniors JT Barbee and Matthew Parker and freshman Nic Smith are all undefeated in singles play, while Barbee and senior Zak Bondurant join Parker and junior Nate Barringer as the Colts’ two undefeated doubles pairs. The Colts’ success serves as a reward for the team’s seniors who have had a different coach each year of high school.

Furr said his team has had an

Reflecting on his first year as a tennis coach, Furr is quick to mention his own experience as a Colts tennis player mentored by former West coach Keith Hinson, who passed away at the age of 83 in 2020. Hinson served West as both a coach and an unofficial skills trainer for many years, leaving behind a legacy as a kind and motivational mentor for both the Colts boys’ and girls’ teams.

He was my biggest influence in high school, as a coach now,” Furr said.

“When I signed to play football in college, he was in my Signing Day picture instead of a football coach. He was really important to me as I developed into a young man and athlete, and he’s still important to me to this day. I take a lot of my coaching style after him.”

Furr is currently petitioning to have the unnamed tennis courts on West’s campus named after Hinson, and he also plans to start the annual tradition of giving a Colts player the “Keith Hinson Award” to honor high character and work ethic.

But as for now, the Colts are aiming to continue their winning streak and take their unexpectedly perfect season as far as they can.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, center

his team standing next to assistant coach Tim Gleason during last Monday’s Game 1 of Carolina’s firstround playoff series against the New York Islanders.

Old-time hockey returns with coaches sniping in NHL playoffs

Officiating has been the main target of bench bosses’ griping

The Associated Press

NOT LONG AFTER Peter DeBoer quipped that Minnesota takes a lot of penalties, Dean Evason accused Dallas players of diving.

Sheldon Keefe suggested Tampa Bay players had manipulated referees during a fracas, prompting Jon Cooper to say he was confused by what his Toronto counterpart was getting at. Rod Brind’Amour sounded off about a missed call that left Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen with a broken hand, which surprised Lane Lambert after his Islanders got zero power plays in the game.

No one is standing on the benches and yelling at each other — yet — but the first round of the NHL playoffs is an old-school throwback to coaches of yesteryear having it out off the ice to set the tone for their teams during hard-fought series. The sniping is on full blast.

“I love it,” retired Stanley Cup-winning coach Ken Hitchcock said Monday. “It’s one-upmanship. You’re doing anything you can to get an edge on the other guy. There’s no back-off from some of the coaches that are in there right now.”

Hitchcock knows all about it from his warring words with everyone from Lindy Ruff and John Tortorella to late Hall of Famer Pat Quinn.

Ruff — older and more mild-mannered now coaching the

New Jersey Devils in the playoffs — in 2006 said Hitchcock’s Flyers “acted like idiots.” Tortorella — age 64 and back in the league with Philadelphia — in 2004 said Hitchcock “should shut his yap.”

“Is he back out of that gopher hole again?” Hitchcock replied during that Eastern Conference final. “I’m going to have to do that ‘whack-a-mole’ thing.” The back and forth this spring is significantly more subtle.

After his Stars evened their series against the Wild in a Game 2 that featured seven misconduct penalties, DeBoer made it a point to say: “Minnesota takes penalties. They’re the sixth-most penalized team in the league, so we’re ready for that.” Evason the next day said he and his staff watch every interview, adding Dallas “had

some bigger people probably go down pretty easy in that hockey game.”

DeBoer called it “deflection” by Evason.

“Listen, if I was coaching one of the most penalized teams in the league, I’d probably do the same thing,” DeBoer added. “That’s good coaching by him.”

The same night, Brind’Amour complained about a “tomahawk chop” by New York’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau that injured Teravainen and wasn’t called a penalty. Lambert called it a play that happens 25, 30 times a game and wasn’t done with an intent to injure.

Toronto’s Keefe applauded opponents Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for fighting Auston Matthews and Ryan O’Reilly during the Lightning-Leafs game

Saturday night, — “a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation.”

“Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation,” Keefe said. “It’s a free pass. You do what you want, and not only do they get out of it unscathed but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there in manipulating that situation.”

The next day, Tampa Bay’s Cooper seemed puzzled.

“Manipulated the referees? I’m not sure what that means,” Cooper said. He went on to say everyone watching figured his team would get a power play. The Lightning did not and then lost in overtime.

“I don’t think it’s a trend yet.”

Chris Altruda, senior analyst for Sports Handle

AP PHOTO

AP PHOTO

left, speaks to

States confront medical debt that’s bankrupting millions

The Associated Press DENVER — Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she’d had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills.

These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments.

Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the costs of care.

In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process.

If it became law, Colorado would join Arizona in having one

of the lowest medical debt interest rates in the country. North Carolina lawmakers have also started mulling a 5% interest ceiling. But there are opponents. Colorado Republican state Sen. Janice Rich said she worried that the proposal could “constrain hospitals’ debt collecting ability and hurt

their cash flow.”

For patients, medical debt has become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy, with an estimated $88 billion of that debt in collections nationwide, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Roughly 530,000 people reported falling into bankruptcy annually due partly to medical bills and time away from work, according to a 2019 study from the American Journal of Public Health.

Powers’ family ended up owing $250,000 for the 19 life-saving abdominal surgeries. They declared bankruptcy in 2009, then the bank foreclosed on their home.

“Only recently have we begun to pick up the pieces,” said James Powers, Cindy’s husband, during his February testimony in favor of Colorado’s bill.

In Pennsylvania and Arizona, lawmakers are considering medical debt relief programs that would use state funds to help eradicate debt for residents. A New Jersey proposal would use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to achieve the same end.

Bills in Florida and Massachusetts would protect some personal property — such as a car that is needed for work — from medical debt collections and force providers to be more transparent about costs. Florida’s legislation received unanimous approval in House and Senate committees on its way to votes in both chambers.

In Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress lawmakers are contemplating bills that would bar medical debt from being included

on consumer reports, thereby protecting debtors’ credit scores.

Medical debt isn’t a strong indicator of people’s credit-worthiness, said Isabel Cruz, policy director at the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

While buying a car beyond your means or overspending on vacation can partly be chalked up to poor decision making, medical debt often comes from short, acute-care treatments that are unexpected — leaving patients with hefty bills that exceed their budgets.

For both Colorado bills — to limit interest rates and remove medical debt from consumer reports — a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the governor will “review these policies with a lens towards saving people money on health care.”

While neither bill garnered stiff political opposition, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association said the organization is working with sponsors to amend the interest rate bill “to align the legislation with the multitude of existing protections.”

The association did not provide further details.

To Vance, protecting her credit score early could have had a major impact. Vance’s medical debt began at age 19 from the skateboard crash, and then was compounded when she broke her arm soon after. Now 39, she has never been able to qualify for a credit card or car loan. Her in-laws cosigned for her Colorado apartment.

“My credit identity was medical debt,” she said, “and that set the tone for my life.”

House Republicans, Manhattan DA end fight over Trump inquiry

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Manhattan

District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed Friday to let Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee question an ex-prosecutor about the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Under the agreement, committee members will be able to question Mark Pomerantz under oath next month in Washington. The deal resolves a lawsuit in which Bragg had sought to block Pomerantz from testifying, ending a legal dispute that escalated to a federal appeals court just weeks after Trump’s historic indictment.

Pomerantz will be accompanied by a lawyer from Bragg’s office, an accommodation the committee said it would have allowed even without Friday’s agreement.

Bragg’s office and the Judiciary Committee reached the agreement after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay Thursday that temporarily halted enforcement of a House subpoena which had called for Pomerantz to testify.

Bragg’s office said delaying Pomerantz’s testimony until May 12 preserves the district attorney’s “privileges and interests” in his ongoing Trump prosecution.

“Our successful stay of this subpoena blocked the immediate deposition and afforded us the time necessary to coordinate with the House Judiciary Committee on an agreement that protects the District Attorney’s privileges and interests,” Bragg’s office said in a statement.

“We are pleased with this resolution, which ensures any questioning of our former employee will take place in the presence of our General Counsel on a reasonable, agreed upon timeframe. We are gratified that the Second Circuit’s ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute,” Bragg’s office

said.

Bragg had appealed to the 2nd Circuit after a lower court judge ruled that there was no legal basis to block the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena and that Pomerantz’s deposition must go forward as scheduled.

Under the agreement, Bragg withdrew his appeal.

Russell Dye, a spokesperson for committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in a statement, “Mr. Pomerantz’s deposition will go forward on May 12, and we look forward to his appearance.”

Pomerantz once oversaw the yearslong Trump investigation but left the job after clashing with

Bragg over the direction of the case. He recently wrote a book about his work pursuing Trump and discussed the investigation in interviews on “60 Minutes” and other shows.

Bragg, a Democrat, sued Jordan and the Judiciary Committee last week seeking to block the subpoena. His lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, argued that seeking Pomerantz’s testimony was part of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” Bragg and that Congress was “invading a state” to investigate a local prosecutor when it had no authority to do so.

Boutrous said House Republicans’ interest in Bragg amounted

to Congress “jumping in and haranguing the D.A. while the prosecution is ongoing.”

The Judiciary Committee started scrutinizing Bragg’s investigation of the former president in the weeks that preceded his indictment. Jordan sent letters seeking interviews with Bragg and documents before subpoenaing Pomerantz. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, said in her ruling Wednesday that she would handle any legal fights that may arise from other subpoenas in the committee’s investigation of Bragg.

A committee lawyer, Matthew Berry, said at that hearing that Congress has legitimate legisla-

tive reasons for wanting to question Pomerantz and examine Bragg’s prosecution of Trump, citing the office’s use of $5,000 in federal funds to pay for Trump-related investigations.

Congress is also considering legislation, offered by Republicans in the wake of Trump’s indictment, to change how criminal cases against former presidents unfold, Berry said. One bill would prohibit prosecutors from using federal funds to investigate presidents, and another would require any criminal cases involving a former president be resolved in federal court instead of at the state level.

House Republicans, Berry said, want to protect the sovereignty and autonomy of the presidency, envisioning a scenario where the commander in chief could feel obligated to make certain decisions to avoid having local prosecutors in politically unfavorable jurisdictions charge them with crimes after they leave office.

For those reasons, Berry argued, Congress is immune from judicial intervention, citing the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution. Pomerantz could refuse to answer certain questions, citing legal privilege and ethical obligations, and Jordan would rule on those assertions on a case-by-case basis, Berry said, but he shouldn’t be exempt from showing up. If Jordan were to overrule Pomerantz and he still refused to answer, he could then face a criminal referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress, but that wouldn’t happen immediately, Berry said.

Trump was indicted last month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

AP PHOTO

FILE - Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

The gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol on March 23, 2023, in Denver.

STATE & NATION

Longtime education leader named North Carolina community college head

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — The incoming president of North Carolina’s community college system pledged Monday to work to advance people toward economic success through post-secondary education that will also meet employers’ needs for high-skilled labor.

Jeff Cox, the current president of Wilkes Community College, spoke at an introductory news conference three days after the state system’s board chose him as the top executive for the 58-college system, which educates nearly 600,000 students annually. He’s expected to officially begin the job on July 1. There’s been an interim president in place since last summer, when predecessor Thomas Stith resigned after 18 months. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and others attending the event called Cox a great person for the job, citing in part his career as a former public school teacher and principal, and as the head of Alleghany County schools before becoming the Wilkes president in 2014. Cooper and other speakers emphasized the need for K-12 schools and community colleges to work closely to train future workers.

“The guy that the board has hired knows it all,” Cooper said. “It makes sense that this board decided that he should lead this community college system into the future. I’m excited about your

tenure, Jeff.” State schools Superintendent Catherine Truitt, a Republican, also praised his hiring. An Alleghany County native, Cox talked about his commitment for the system to bring more North Carolina citizens out of poverty.

Across much of the state, he said, people who are born poor have a

two-in-three chance of staying poor as an adult.

“Our community colleges are at the very heart of changing that statistic and reversing that,” Cox said. “We’ve got businesses and industry who are yearning to have qualified employees, and we’ve got folks who are living in pover-

ty who are yearning for a better tomorrow.” At the same time, between 30% and 40% of the state’s high school graduates aren’t seeking any additional schooling, he said.

“We have to find a better way to connect with those young people and help them understand

their economic vitality depends on them getting that post-secondary credential,” he said.

Members of the State Board of Community Colleges, which hired him after a national search, appeared to be impressed with such efforts at Wilkes Community College. Friday’s news release announcing his hiring cited a student program completion rate that more than doubled over five years, record fundraising and the start of an initiative to guarantee students a chance to receive a tuition-free education.

A system spokesperson said Monday Cox will make $350,000 annually.

Cox’s hiring comes amid recent instability at the system office in Raleigh, high vacancy rates systemwide and efforts by Republican lawmakers to overhaul the system’s governance. Cox will be the fifth permanent system president since 2015.

The legislation, which could get a full Senate vote this week, would give the president’s position more power while eliminating the governor’s ability to appoint almost half of the state board and many local trustee board positions. The legislators ultimately would elect all state board members and pick most of the campus board members. Cooper’s office has said doing away with the governor’s appointments would “damage significantly” job-recruiting efforts.

Cox said he couldn’t respond to criticisms by GOP senators that there’s an impression campuses have fallen short in helping employers seek trained workers, saying he didn’t know specifics.

“We’ve got great presidents out there leading the 58,” he said. “I know their hearts are in it to fix it in their communities.”

Unprepared for long war, US Army under gun to make more ammo

The Associated Press SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the most important munitions of the Ukraine war comes from a historic factory in this city built by coal barons, where tons of steel rods are brought in by train to be forged into the artillery shells Kyiv can’t get enough of — and that the U.S. can’t produce fast enough.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is at the vanguard of a multibillion-dollar Pentagon plan to modernize and accelerate its production of ammunition and equipment not only to support Ukraine, but to be ready for a potential conflict with China.

But it is one of just two sites in the U.S. that make the steel bodies for the critical 155 mm howitzer rounds that the U.S. is rushing to Ukraine to help in its grinding fight to repel the Russian invasion in the largest-scale war in Europe since World War II.

The invasion of Ukraine revealed that the U.S. stockpile of 155 mm shells and those of European allies were unprepared to support a major and ongoing conventional land war, sending them scrambling to bolster production. The dwindling supply has alarmed U.S. military planners, and the Army now plans to spend billions on munitions plants around the country in what it calls its most significant transformation in 40 years. It may not be easy to adapt:

practically every square foot of the Scranton plant’s red brick factory buildings — first constructed more than a century ago as a locomotive repair depot — is in use as the Army clears space, expands production to private factories and assembles new supply chains. There are some things that Army and plant officials in Scranton won’t reveal, including where they get the steel for the shells and exactly how many more rounds

this factory can produce.

“That’s what Russia wants to know,” said Justine Barati of the U.S. Army’s Joint Munitions Command.

So far, the U.S. has provided more than $35 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

The 155 mm shell is one of the most often-requested and supplied items, which also include air defense systems, long-range missiles and tanks.

The rounds, used in howitzer systems, are critical to Ukraine’s fight because they allow the Ukrainians to hit Russian targets up to 20 miles away with a highly explosive munition.

The Army is spending about $1.5 billion to ramp up production of 155 mm rounds from 14,000 a month before Russia invaded Ukraine to over 85,000 a month by 2028, U.S. Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo told a symposium last month.

Already, the U.S. military has given Ukraine more than 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm ammunition, according to Army figures.

But even with higher near-term production rates, the U.S. cannot replenish its stockpile or catch up to the usage pace in Ukraine, where officials estimate that the Ukrainian military is firing 6,000 to 8,000 shells per day. In other words, two days’ worth of shells fired by Ukraine equates to the United States’ monthly pre-war production figure.

“This could become a crisis.

With the front line now mostly stationary, artillery has become the most important combat arm,” said a January report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Currently, the metal bodies for the 155 mm shells are made at the Army’s Scranton plant, operated by General Dynamics, and at a General Dynamics-owned plant in nearby Wilkes-Barre, officials say.

Together, the plants are under contract for 24,000 shells per month, with an additional $217 million Army task order to further boost production, although officials won’t say how many more 155 mm shells are sought by the task order.

The obstacles the U.S. faces in ramping up production can be seen at the Scranton plant.

The factory — built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad just after 1900, when the city was a rising coal and railroad powerhouse — has produced large-caliber ammunition for the military going back to the Korean War.

But the buildings are on the National Historic Registry of Historic Places, limiting how the Army can alter the structures.

Inside, the floor is crowded with piles of shells, defunct equipment and production lines where robotic arms, saws, presses and other machines cut, heat, forge, temper, pressure test, wash and paint the shells.

The plant is in the midst of $120 million in modernization plans and the Army hopes to open a new production line there by 2025.

Still, clearing space for it has been a complicated task while the military adds newer machinery to make existing lines more efficient.

“There’s a lot going on,” said Richard Hansen, the Army commander’s representative at the plant.

AP PHOTO

Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox, right, speaks as Gov. Roy Cooper, center, and State Board of Community Colleges Chair Burr Sullivan listen during a news conference at the North Carolina Community College System offices in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, April 24, 2023. Cox spoke three days after the State Board of Community Colleges approved him to become the next president of the 58-college system.

AP PHOTO

A steel worker moves a 155 mm M795 artillery projectile during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pa., Thursday, April 13, 2023.

Randolph record

COUNTY NEWS

Rise of canine influenza cases reported in NC

Over the course of the last few weeks, veterinary officials in North Carolina have received multiple reports regarding the rise in cases of canine influenza. According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, cases of the Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC), which is caused by the H3N2 canine influenza virus, are currently being seen in both Durham and Moore counties. At this time, all of the official data concerning the spread of CIRDC directly involve boarding and daycare facilities in the state. Veterinary professionals across North Carolina are warning pet owners about the possibility of infection and urging people to get their dogs vaccinated, as canine influenza is very contagious and can spread through the air. As we enter the warmer months and people begin preparing to travel for the summer, clinics are expecting to see the number of reported cases continue to rise. Veterinary offices are currently experiencing a large number of scheduled appointments, so it is recommended that anyone who is interested in getting their dog vaccinated contact their local offices as soon as possible.

Deputies locate wanted man sleeping in Randleman barn

Deputies from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office located a man with several warrants sleeping in a barn in Randleman earlier last week. According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, deputies responded to a call in the area of Stanton Farm Rd. and Hockett Dairy Rd. in Randleman after receiving word that a man was sleeping in the loft of a barn. Deputies arrested Steven Lamar Hughes Jr. without incident and took him to the Randolph County Detention Center, where he was served three orders for arrest out of Davidson County and given a $7,5000 secured bond. In addition, Hughes was also served with a Fugitive from Justice Order out of Georgia, where the magistrate issued a $50,000 secured bond for that charge. At this time, it is unknown if and when he will be extradited back to Georgia.

Randleman golf farm set stage for Hall of Fame

Former instructor created foundation for teaching, playing careers

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

RANDLEMAN — From what was farmland in Randleman to much bigger stages, Ellen Griffin helped grow the game of golf.

While that was decades ago, her legacy lives on.

“It’s unbelievable people still remember her,” said Charlie Griffin, her nephew.

Last week, Griffin was inducted posthumously into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame at Raleigh Convention Center.

She was a golf instructor and helped form many initiatives involving women’s golf.

So many of the stories associat-

ed with Griffin revolve around her teaching venue with a Randleman address.

It was far from what would be considered a conventional setup.

“It was pretty fascinating,” said Dot Germain, who became a golfer on the LPGA Tour. “She was turning this old farm into a golf facility. You would hit balls into the side of the barn.”

Former college golf coach Mary Beth McGirr also said the setting was different. But there was an appeal, largely because of Griffin.

“I would teach there in the summers,” McGirr said. “I kept coming back to the farm.”

Germain recalled that, along with the golf clubs, there were peacocks, turkeys, ducks, guinea hens and cows.

“Animals would follow her around,” Germain said.

Griffin typically donned painter

Ellen Griffin helped found the Women’s Professional Golf Association, the forerunner of the LPGA. Among many honors, she was named the 1962 LPGA Teacher of the Year.

pants, a flannel shirt and a bucket hat. “She was not a self-promoter,” Germain said. “She was one-of-akind.”

Charlie Griffin, now 72 and living in Washington, D.C, spent time on the farm during his teenage years. He saw what was happening with golf among the farm animals.

“She raised me in those very im-

portant years of high school,” he said.

He recalled what Ellen Griffin did on about 8 acres of land near N.C. 62. There were three holes and a sand trap.

“That’s where she set up her shop,” Charlie Griffin said.

She created an indoor hitting area and putting green.

Yet her influence was extensive, particularly on women’s golf.

McGirr credits Griffin with boosting her career, which included time as an award-winning coach at UNC Greensboro and an Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year at Wake Forest.

“She was really my teaching mentor,” McGirr said. “She was wonderful. She had a way of weaving life lessons into golf. She had a gift. She was particularly gifted with the kids. She wanted to have a positive influence in their lives, and she did.”

Part of what impressed McGirr was how Griffin was so steadfast in her teaching methods. And it didn’t matter if the student was from Randleman or a country club in Greensboro.

Much of Griffin’s background

See GRIFFIN, page 2

NC considers changing unsupervised driving rules

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly would eventually change the mandatory supervised driving period for teens to nine months, less time than has been set in state law, but longer than a temporary relaxation of the learner’s permit rule first in effect during the pandemic.

North Carolina teens can get a learner’s permit at age 15, but have to complete 60 hours of supervised driving by an adult — usually a parent — and be age 16 before they can drive by themselves with what’s called a limited provisional license. They also have to pass a road test.

The new legislation now heading to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk still would require the child be at least 16 to advance to the limited license. But it would eventually allow minors to complete the requirements and advance after just nine months. Historically, state law has required a 12-month wait.

“This is not decreasing the amount of hours that they have to drive, but it is shortening the time period,” said Rep. Jeff McNeely, an Iredell County Republican, said during the House floor debate. He said it should also free up more young people to work because they’ll be able to drive them-

selves to and from jobs sooner.

The proposed measure extends and modifies a state law approved during the COVID-19 pandemic to address delayed driver’s education classes. Legislators say they’re still receiving complaints from parents whose children are trying to get to the next level of driving. The new legislation would reinstate a six-month minimum that expired at the end of 2022 for the rest of 2023 before settling the time at nine months.

The bill gained final approval with a 92-15 vote in the House after the chamber rejected amendments from Rep. Carolyn Logan, a Mecklenburg County Democrat and retired state trooper. She wanted to ultimately keep a 12-month training period, arguing that children need the extra time to learn a very serious skill like driving.

“Every month can make a difference,” Logan told colleagues. “I’m asking you to think about

your children and other people out there they’ll be driving with.”

The bill, which already was approved by the Senate last month, also would slightly ease passenger constraints for a limited provisional licensee so that the person could drive someone unrelated to them to and from school.

Cooper can sign the bill, veto it, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Clockwise from top right; Ellen Griffin enjoys time at her farm and golf instructional center in 1977. Griffin poses with stock-car driving legend Richard Petty, who was at the Randleman farm to pick up a child after a golf lesson. A golf lesson by Ellen Griffin, left, had a duck sitting nearby.

AP PHOTO

This file photo shows rush-hour traffic on Interstate 40 near Research Triangle Park.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Results in our first 100 days

THERE IS ONE WORD that can sum up the first 100 days of the 118th Congress—Results.

Under Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans have passed more bills and had a more productive start than last Congress. And last Congress we had one-party in charge of the House, Senate, and the White House. Every day, House Republicans are delivering results and fighting for you.

lead on multiple pieces of legislation, including the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act, Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, and the HALT Fentanyl Act, which recently passed our committee and will move to a vote on the House floor.

Every day, House Republicans are delivering results and fighting for you.

From defunding President Joe Biden’s army of 87,000 IRS agents, ending the COVID-19 national emergency, eliminating unnecessary vaccine mandates, passing legislation to stop out of control bureaucrats, reversing President Biden’s anti-energy policies that are driving inflation, stopping dangerous soft-oncrime proposals, and just last week voting to protect women’s sports—House Republicans have followed through on the commitments we made to the American people. We are also holding the Biden administration accountable through more than 235 hearings and issuing more than 500 oversight letters and 34 subpoenas.

Last week, House Republicans outlined our plan to also address our nation’s debt. Two years of out-of-control government spending by President Biden and Washington Democrats have increased our national debt to the point that it is larger than the entire US economy—and you have been forced to pay the price.

Inflation continues to be a burden as you head to the grocery store and gas pump, with groceries up 20% from two years ago and the average gas prices in North Carolina up 30 cents from this time last month. Our plan will limit Washington’s irresponsible spending, save your tax dollars, and grow our economy—all while protecting Social Security and Medicare.

As your Congressman, I’m focused on legislation that will improve the quality of life for you and your family. I am proud to

I have also reintroduced the Next Generation 9-1-1 Act to help state and local governments modernize our nation’s aging 9-11 systems. We are blessed that our community has outstanding leadership that recognizes the importance of putting the right tools in the hands of our first responders and law enforcement. Earlier this month, I was able to visit the Moore County Department of Public Safety and meet with our incredible emergency telecommunicators to see firsthand how they serve when you and those you love need them most.

It is a privilege to be the voice in Congress supporting our region’s dedicated telecommunicators, medical professionals, and law enforcement who keep us safe.

House Republicans have delivered our “Commitment to America” to build an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future built upon freedom, and a government that’s accountable to the American people—and we are just getting started.

It is my hope that in the next 100 days, President Biden will work with Republicans on the issues you face every day. We will remain focused on solutions that grow our economy, keep us safe, fix the crisis at the border, and help you and every American family succeed.

Richard Hudson is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House and represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee.

Republicans need to stop being cowards on abortion

HOW MANY VOTERS know that the Democratic Party supports legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy on demand for virtually any reason? How many voters know this position aligns with only six other countries in the world — three of them, not incidentally, being North Korea, Vietnam and China?

How many voters know that Democrats want to pass a federal law banning states from stopping sex-selective abortions or the dismembering of the post-viable unborn or the requirement of parental and guardian notification for minors before getting abortions? How many know that Democrats want to strip medical workers of their conscience rights by compelling them to participate in the procedure or lose their jobs? How many people know that Democrats want to eliminate the popular Hyde Amendment, which stops the federal government from funding abortions with taxpayer dollars?

Now, maybe a majority of voters aren’t aware of Democrats’ maximalist positions because the media endlessly lies and obfuscates them. And maybe pollsters rarely ask useful questions on the topic because the answers are a lot more complicated than they’d like. And, maybe, after the shock of Roe v. Wade being overturned — treated by Democrats as if it had been chiseled into magical stone tablets over the past 50 years — the energy and passion of the debate will temporarily reside on the pro-abortion side. And, maybe, if every voter knew all the facts, it still wouldn’t matter. Abortion is a complex and emotional issue.

None of that excuses the inability, or aversion, of national conservatives to make a coherent and compelling pro-life case. Sometimes it feels like Republicans are more terrified by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision than pro-abortionists. Even

if pollsters were right about the unpopularity of abortion restrictions, there is this crazy thing that politicians occasionally engage in called “persuasion.” Rather than just chasing around voters for approval, this entails convincing them with arguments.

The problem, it seems, is that too many in the GOP accept the media’s concern trolling or listen to risk-averse advice of the consulting class. Recently, for example, Janet Protasiewicz beat conservative Dan Kelly by 10 percentage points to flip Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Virtually every outlet treated the race as a national referendum on abortion. Anonymous consultants were recruited by one big media outlet after the next to offer off-the-record comments voicing their deep concern about the deleterious effects of the abortion issue.

Weird how this dynamic only works in one direction.

In 2020, Brian Kemp, who signed a heartbeat bill limiting abortion to the first six weeks a year earlier, easily defeated media darling Stacey Abrams to win the Georgia governorship (in a state that Donald Trump also lost). Abrams made abortion, along with guns, the central issue of her campaign, carpet-bombing the state with ads. In 2018, Terry McAuliffe also attempted to make abortion the dominant issue of his campaign against Glenn Youngkin. At the time, a Washington Post piece promised that the race was “our first big test of the new politics of abortion.” Well, Youngkin, who supports 15-week abortion limits, won. Alas, there were no handwringing deep dives from the Post about abortion undermining Democrats.

Georgia and Virginia are swing states.

Ohio, where Mike DeWine signed a six-week ban in 2019 and won the state by 10 points in 2022, was one not long ago, as well. This is the same state in which pro-life J.D. Vance easily beat “moderate” Tim Ryan. This week,

the governor of Florida and prospective presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, signed a six-week ban on abortion. One imagines DeSantis will be just as popular among Republicans in his state since the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Florida Assembly. Of course, conventional wisdom says this hurts his presidential chances.

But Ohio, Virginia and Florida teach us nothing about abortion. Only the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, it seems, matters.

Whatever the case, the Republican nominee doesn’t need to impress California voters. They need to convince social conservatives in Virginia, Ohio and Florida to go out and vote. Does anyone really think DeSantis would be better off politically if he vetoed a pro-life bill?

Running from the abortion conversation, as so many Republicans seem to do, creates the impression they don’t really believe in their own stated position. Quite often, that’s probably the case. But if you’re going to run as a pro-lifer anyway, allowing the opposition to define your beliefs makes little sense. Especially when making a rational and moral case for protecting viable life, at the very least, isn’t particularly difficult — certainly not when contrasted with the left’s extremism.

Then again, if every Republican lost every race in the country over abortion, it still wouldn’t make killing human beings for convenience any less of a moral abomination or the fight to stop it any less important.

A majority position isn’t, by default, moral or decent — quite the contrary. And meaningful political fights aren’t predicated on short-term gains. Overturning Roe took 50 years. The political fight over abortion might take even longer.

COLUMN | U.S. REP. RICHARD HUDSON

COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI

Youngkin, who supports 15week abortion limits, won.

SIDELINE REPORT

NBA Markkanen

named NBA’s most improved player New York

All-Star forward Lauri

Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was announced Monday night as the winner of the award. The selection is made by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The news came just past 2 a.m. Tuesday in Helsinki, where Markkanen is currently fulfilling the military service that is mandated for all Finnish men before they turn 30. He began his enlistment there earlier this month. Markkanen beat out fellow finalists Jalen Brunson of New York and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City for the award. He averaged a career-best 25.6 points per game this season.

CYCLING

Pogacar undergoes wrist surgery after crash

Brussels

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar says he was lucky to escape from his weekend crash with only a broken left wrist. The injury is not expected to derail his Tour preparations. Pogacar was expected to travel home on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on the wrist in Belgium. The Slovenian rider’s team says the surgery to insert a screw to realign the fragments of his scaphoid bone went well. He was injured in a crash during the one-day Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic.

TRACK & FIELD

1948 Olympic bronze medalist

Douglas dies at 101 Pittsburgh

Herb Douglas, who turned a chance encounter with Jesse Owens as a teenager into fuel to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 Olympics, has died at 101. The University of Pittsburgh, where Douglas starred on both the football and track teams before later serving in various roles for his alma mater, said Douglas died Saturday. Douglas was 14 when he met Owens in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Douglas grew up. Douglas was inducted into the inaugural Pitt athletics Hall of Fame class in 2018. The university is naming the 300-meter indoor track at its planned Victory Heights facility after Douglas.

Busch helps RCR return to Victory Lane

The unlikely pairing picked up a second win in just their 10th race together

The Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. — There were many dark days last season for Kyle Busch as his long, successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end.

JGR had lost its sponsor for the two-time Cup Series champion and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer was an expensive free agent. He offered to lower his market value and scoured the garage looking for a seat, facing the harsh reality that with all his talent he might not land with a top team.

It was Austin Dillon who asked his grandfather to consider speaking with Busch and somehow forget a 2011 incident in which Richard Childress attacked Busch following a Truck Series race. Childress famously removed his wristwatch before pummeling Busch as payback for wrecking a Richard Childress Racing entry – a confrontation that earned Childress a $150,000 fine from NASCAR.

Dillon made a convincing argument and a pairing that once seemed unfathomable came to fruition as Busch left JGR and Toyota for a new job driving a Chevrolet for Childress.

Through 11 races, it is a partnership that is changing the Cup Series landscape.

Busch won his second race of the season on Sunday with a victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, where he milked every last drop of fuel in his tank to steal the win. Crew chief Randall Burnett had called Busch in for a splash of gas during overtime, a decision that came too late for Busch to make it to pit road. Busch was secretly pleased: by not pitting, he

gambled that he’d have a shot at the win rather than just a reasonable finish.

“Rowdy” is on a mission this season to prove his value, reaffirm he is still an elite racer and thank RCR for giving him a job when his prospects seemed so grim.

“They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that,” Busch said. “It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work. Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in

this year than I have in the last four — just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.”

It goes both ways.

RCR had fallen on hard times over the last decade, and the Cup Series had seemed to pass by the proud organization that won six championships with the late Dale Earnhardt. RCR won just five races after Kevin Harvick left following the 2013 season but showed some promise last year with Tyler Reddick, who won three times.

Reddick decided he was leaving RCR at the end of the 2023 season to drive for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. With an opportunity for Reddick to move a year early, Dillon pushed his grandfather to consider Busch.

The first reward was Busch’s win earlier this season at Fontana, which earned him an automatic berth in the playoffs. Then came the win at Talladega, where Childress has 13 career victories as an owner and raced 19 times himself from 1969 through 1981. His career-best finish was sixth in 1980.

“I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be,” Childress said of Busch while making sure to credit his grandson for the hire.

Rhule embrace of Huskers tradition fuels popularity — so far

The former Panthers coach was hired by Nebraska in late November

The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has quickly endeared himself to one of the nation’s most ardent fan bases in the five months since his hiring.

Rhule has yet to coach his first game for the Cornhuskers, though, and the true test of his popularity will come in a year or two when his work to bring back one of college football’s biggest brands is fully underway.

So far, he’s proved to be a fast study and served up big portions of red meat, frequently referencing the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

Unlike some previous coaches, Rhule has made a point to

pay homage to program standard-bearer Tom Osborne, the 86-year-old Hall of Fame coach who won national titles three of the four years before his retirement. Osborne has already done a roundtable discussion with Rhule and athletic director Trev Alberts and accepted Rhule’s invitation to be the featured speaker at the annual coaches clinic.

Rhule also played an important role in helping Alberts get former coach Frank Solich to agree to be honored at Saturday’s spring game. Solich, whose ties to the program date to the 1960s, has been mostly estranged since his controversial 2003 firing.

Rhule and Solich have known each other since Rhule’s time as an assistant at Temple (2006-11) when the Owls were in the Mid-American Conference along with Solich’s Ohio team. Rhule later led Temple’s turnaround from 2013-16 in the American Athletic Conference.

“I was impressed with their program and what they were all about, so when he got the job at Nebraska, I felt like that was a good hire,” Solich said. “I know he contacted coach Osborne when he got here right away. Also, he’s been around the state visiting with tons of coaches and trying to get a strong interest in Nebraska football and get himself and his staff known to the people of Nebraska.

“I think he’s making all the right moves and doing all the right things.”

Rhule has dropped references to the Huskers’ iconic red N on the helmet, his excitement about coaching in 100-year-old Memorial Stadium, and building depth with walk-ons and giving them real opportunities. He even promises to make the fullback part of the offense again.

The 48-year-old is a savvy user of social media and has appeared at events big and small, includ-

ing last week’s nationally televised WWE SmackDown wrestling show in Lincoln where he enthusiastically shouted “Go Big Red!” into the camera.

Rhule took over a program that has won five national championships, the most recent in 1997, but hasn’t appeared in a bowl or finished higher than fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West since 2016.

“I want to make sure they know ... that we know how long they have waited for Nebraska football to play the way that we all believe it is capable of playing,” Rhule said of the fans. “We are not there yet, but we will try to honor their patience and their loyalty with our work.”

Rhule spent two-plus seasons as the Carolina Panthers coach, and he had left for the NFL after rebuilding Baylor following the scandal-filled Art Briles era. He was out of work less than two months after the Panthers fired him in October.

AP PHOTO

Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Randleman claims PAC baseball crown

Randolph Record

RANDLEMAN — Randleman avenged a loss from three nights earlier to defeat visiting Trinity 6-1 on Friday night and secure another Piedmont Athletic Conference baseball championship.

The Tigers (17-4 overall, 10-2 PAC) won their regular-season home finale. They’ll be the top seed for the conference tournament as a prelude to their bid for a third consecutive Class 2-A state championship.

Second-place Trinity won 3-2 earlier last week behind Cade Hill’s complete-game pitching and Landon Mowery’s home run. The Bulldogs went up 3-0 on Randleman starter Seth Way and held on. Randleman has completed its regular-season conference schedule, while the other six teams all had two games to play entering this week. Trinity, Uwharrie Charter Academy and Providence Grove can all finish in second place.

** Providence topped Eastern Randolph 7-3 at home, with Tyler Foust going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs and Lemuel Coltrane driving in two runs. Three nights later, on the road, the Patriots upended Eastern Randolph 4-3. Andrew Thomas and Andrew Canter picked up the pitching victories as the Patriots reached the 12-win mark – two more than all of last season.

In between those outcomes, Providence Grove dropped an 8-3 home decision to Burlington Williams in non-league play.

** UCA beat Wheatmore twice last week, winning 1-0 at home

Conference races were decided in some cases prior to the last week of regularseason play. Baseball and softball league tournaments are slated for next week.

behind Jake Hunter’s three-hit pitching.

In the rematch, Carter Brown homered in a 7-2 road victory that included Brett Smith’s complete-game pitching.

In between, UCA’s Ben Medinger hit a two-run, first-inning home run in a 5-2 non-league home triumph against Ledford.

** In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Asheboro lost 1-0 at Ledford and then pulled out a 5-4 home victory against the same opponent. Tanner Marsh and Davis Gore homered in the Asheboro victory, which marked just the team’s second triumph in its last eight outings.

Softball

Southwestern Randolph suffered its first loss of the season with Friday night’s 3-0 home setback to Hickory Ridge.

It was a non-league showdown between teams that both held 16-1 records when the game was finished.

Hickory Ridge scored one run in the third inning and two more in the seventh.

Southwestern Randolph won the previous two days in PAC

play to clinch the regular-season crown. The Cougars topped host Eastern Randolph 4-0 and visiting Wheatmore 9-0. Macie Crutchfield struck out 13 Eastern Randolph batters, and Alyssa Harris fanned 12 Wheatmore batters.

** Skyler Pugh and Addie Flinchum homered as Eastern Randolph nipped host Uwharrie Charter Academy 9-8.

Also last week, the Wildcats defeated Wheatmore 7-0, with Flinchum hitting a home run and Logan Beaver scoring two runs. Pugh and Flinchum combined to strike out 19 batters.

** UCA had a better result with a 13-8 home victory against Randleman, with Kynley Brewer rapping three hits and scoring two runs. Also, UCA drubbed visiting Trinity 24-0, with Brewer homering and driving in three runs. Emory Johnson also homered, and Kaitlyn West was credited with a three-inning no-hitter.

** Providence Grove senior pitcher Emma Mazzarone eclipsed the 800-strikeout mark for her career while throwing a no-hitter in a 16-1 road romp against Trinity. She posted 12 strikeouts.

Providence Grove suffered a 5-4, eight-inning loss at Southern Guilford in a non-league game despite Gracie Smith’s two runs batted in. ** Asheboro’s 11-10 non-conference victory against visiting Wheatmore came with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Avery Dykes had four hits and scored two runs for Wheatmore.

Girls’ soccer

A matchup between the PAC first-place and second-place teams didn’t turn out to be much of a showdown as undefeated Wheatmore whipped host Providence Grove 10-1 last week. Summer Bowman scored five goals, and Ellie Garrison had four goals.

Ky Perdue

Southwestern Randolph, softball

Perdue had hits in all three of the Cougars’ games last week.

Southwestern Randolph is rated as one of the top Class 2-A teams in the state. Already having secured the Piedmont Athletic Conference title, the Cougars will be aiming for postseason success beginning next week. Perdue, a senior, has provided boosts throughout the season. She scored a run in each of the team’s victories in PAC games last week.

For the season, she entered this week among the Southwestern Randolph leaders in batting average (.358), on-base percentage (.433), runs (17), stolen bases (12) and doubles (3) in the first 17 games.

Asheboro runs away in Randolph County track and field championships

Numerous schools have stellar results for individuals

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Asheboro’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams were superior in the Randolph County Championships in last week’s meet.

Parks keeps producing for Cougars

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Tyler Parks is trying to make the most of his final games in high school baseball.

The Southwestern Randolph senior has quite a bit ahead of him, but there are immediate matters that are important for now.

“I just try to live in the moment and enjoy high school and not really think ahead,” Parks said. “I’m trying to just have as much fun as I can right now. Hopefully, we can get to win some games, and that will be a whole lot more fun for me.”

Parks, an infielder, is a North Carolina signee, so Division I baseball is in his future.

“He’s relaxed,” Southwestern Randolph coach Ethan Parks said. “He’s not worried about being the Carolina guy.”

Parks, who also has played for Randolph County Post 45 on the American Legion level, said he knows his status might gain him extra attention from opposing pitchers. He tries to stick with what works for him.

“The more I see pitching, the better I feel at the plate,” he said. “My pitch selection, going up there and finding the best pitch to hit, not wasting that pitch. It’s not settling for something I don’t really want to hit.”

Parks’ numbers look good going toward the final stretch of the season, with a .434 batting average and team-best marks in on-base percentage (.565) and runs batted in (22). He has homered twice, belted five doubles, scored 20 runs and recorded 11 stolen bases.

“He has been consistent,”

Marsh said.

That has come with holding a key spot in the heart of the team’s lineup.

“I see a lot of off-speed. That’s normal. That’s going to happen,” Parks said. “It’s a little different.

Sometimes it’s tough.”

Parks has played shortstop and has occasionally been a pitcher for Southwestern Randolph. On past summer teams, he usually played as a third baseman, second baseman or outfielder.

The Cougars entered the final week of the regular season with a 9-10 overall record. A four-game winning streak ended with last week’s 9-1 non-conference home loss to state power Orange.

“I think we’ve just got to find a way to put it together,” Parks said. “We’ve got a lot of

But the Blue Comets had plenty of company from entrants from other schools when it came to special individual performances.

On the girls’ side, Brecken Snotherly of Eastern Randolph won four events on the track, and Randleman’s Gracie Beane was strong in field events. Asheboro’s Jalaya Showers, Wheatmore’s Ariel Martin, and Trinity’s Kensley Fox also won multiple individual events.

In boys’ races, Southwestern Randolph’s Adam Cole was the top sprinter, Asheboro’s Nicolas Chavez claimed both hurdles events, Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood had huge successes in distance events, and Asheboro’s Lance Everhart was a two-event winner and a runner-up in two other events.

Asheboro’s girls compiled 145½ points to runner-up Wheatmore’s 118½ among the seven teams.

The Blue Comets, competing at their home facility (at South Asheboro Middle School), were more dominant in boys’ competition by winning seven events and racking up 186 points, while Trinity was second with 130.

Here’s a look at some highlights:

Girls

Snotherly, who scored 40 of her team’s 47 points, dominated in some events and had challenges in others. She was pushed in the 400 meters by Wheatmore’s Peyton Wilson. Snotherly maintained a slight edge down the stretch and finished in 1 minute, 4.42 seconds compared to Wilson’s 1:04.99.

In the 800, Snotherly (2:38.82) used a strong finish-

ing kick to overcome Southwestern Randolph’s Coley Shiflet (2:41.18).

Snotherly had no threats in cruising in the 1,600 (6:06.00) and 3,200 (13:25.19).

Showers, a freshman, won the 100 (12.69) and 200 (26.11)

Beane won the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches and the triple jump at 34-1¼. She was second in the long jump.

Martin won the 100 hurdles (19.01) and 300 hurdles (52.97).

Fox was the winner in the shot put (29-4½) and discus (86-8).

Asheboro’s Sion Murrain was the winner in the long jump (1510½). Teammate Lia George was the only entrant in the pole vault.

Asheboro’s girls won the 400 relay and 800 relay, while Wheatmore claimed the 1,600 relay and Providence Grove was first in the 3,200 relay.

Boys

Cole won the 100 (11.16) and 200 (22.76). Cole had 20 of Southwestern Randolph’s 51 points, plus he anchored the Cougars’ third-place 400 relay (that resulted in six more team points).

Chavez edged Everhart in the 110 hurdles in 16.07 and ran away in the 300 hurdles in 41.67.

Hazelwood won the 1,600 (4:51.52.) and 3,200 (10:55.65). He was second in the 800 behind Trinity’s Jose Castillo (2:12.80).

Everhart won two events by claiming the long jump (20-1) and pole vault (11-0). Teammate Kai Matthews was the 400 winner in 54.72.

In field events, Chase Farlow of Randleman won the high jump in competition that extended for a large portion of the meet. He cleared 6-2, with Everhart as the runner-up at 6-0.

Randleman had three other winners in field events: Amari Ferdna (triple jump, 40-3), Landon McGee (discus, 118-9) and Amarion Moton (shot put, 40-6¼).

Boys’ relay winners were: Asheboro in the 400 and 1,600 and Trinity in the 800 and 3,200.

young guys in the mix. Find a way to play clean defense and put the bats together and get it all rolling.”

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Southwestern Randolph’s Ky Perdue puts down a bunt earlier this season against Providence Grove. FILE PHOTO

Eastern Randolph’s softball team has had lots to cheer about this season despite last week’s loss to Southwestern Randolph.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL Tyler Parks of Southwestern Randolph makes a throw in the field earlier this season.

BOB SUTTON | RANDOLPH RECORD

Southwestern Randolph senior Tyler Parks

States confront medical debt that’s bankrupting millions

The Associated Press DENVER — Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she’d had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills.

These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments.

Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in the

costs of care.

In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process. If it became law, Colorado would join Arizona in having one of the lowest medical debt inter-

est rates in the country. North Carolina lawmakers have also started mulling a 5% interest ceiling.

But there are opponents. Colorado Republican state Sen. Janice Rich said she worried that the proposal could “constrain hospitals’ debt collecting ability and hurt their cash flow.” For patients, medical debt has become a leading cause of person-

al bankruptcy, with an estimated $88 billion of that debt in collections nationwide, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Roughly 530,000 people reported falling into bankruptcy annually due partly to medical bills and time away from work, according to a 2019 study from the American Journal of Public Health.

Powers’ family ended up owing $250,000 for the 19 life-saving abdominal surgeries. They declared bankruptcy in 2009, then the bank foreclosed on their home.

“Only recently have we begun to pick up the pieces,” said James Powers, Cindy’s husband, during his February testimony in favor of Colorado’s bill.

In Pennsylvania and Arizona, lawmakers are considering medical debt relief programs that would use state funds to help eradicate debt for residents. A New Jersey proposal would use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to achieve the same end.

Bills in Florida and Massachusetts would protect some personal property — such as a car that is needed for work — from medical debt collections and force providers to be more transparent about costs. Florida’s legislation received unanimous approval in House and Senate committees on its way to votes in both chambers.

In Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress lawmakers are contemplating bills that would bar medical debt from being included on consumer reports, thereby protecting debtors’ credit scores.

Medical debt isn’t a strong indicator of people’s credit-worthiness, said Isabel Cruz, policy director at the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

While buying a car beyond your means or overspending on vacation can partly be chalked up to poor decision making, medical debt often comes from short, acute-care treatments that are unexpected — leaving patients with hefty bills that exceed their budgets.

For both Colorado bills — to limit interest rates and remove medical debt from consumer reports — a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the governor will “review these policies with a lens towards saving people money on health care.”

While neither bill garnered stiff political opposition, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association said the organization is working with sponsors to amend the interest rate bill “to align the legislation with the multitude of existing protections.”

The association did not provide further details.

To Vance, protecting her credit score early could have had a major impact. Vance’s medical debt began at age 19 from the skateboard crash, and then was compounded when she broke her arm soon after. Now 39, she has never been able to qualify for a credit card or car loan. Her in-laws cosigned for her Colorado apartment.

“My credit identity was medical debt,” she said, “and that set the tone for my life.”

House Republicans, Manhattan DA end fight over Trump inquiry

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed Friday to let Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee question an ex-prosecutor about the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Under the agreement, committee members will be able to question Mark Pomerantz under oath next month in Washington. The deal resolves a lawsuit in which Bragg had sought to block Pomerantz from testifying, ending a legal dispute that escalated to a federal appeals court just weeks after Trump’s historic indictment.

Pomerantz will be accompanied by a lawyer from Bragg’s office, an accommodation the committee said it would have allowed even without Friday’s agreement.

Bragg’s office and the Judiciary Committee reached the agreement after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay Thursday that temporarily halted enforcement of a House subpoena which had called for Pomerantz to testify.

Bragg’s office said delaying Pomerantz’s testimony until May 12 preserves the district attorney’s “privileges and interests” in his ongoing Trump prosecution.

“Our successful stay of this subpoena blocked the immediate deposition and afforded us the time necessary to coordinate with the House Judiciary Committee on an agreement that protects the District Attorney’s privileges and interests,”

Bragg’s office said in a statement.

“We are pleased with this resolution, which ensures any questioning of our former employee will take place in the presence of our General Counsel on a reasonable, agreed upon timeframe. We are gratified that the Second Circuit’s ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute,” Bragg’s office said.

Bragg had appealed to the 2nd Circuit after a lower court judge ruled that there was no legal basis to block the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena and that Pomerantz’s deposition must go forward as scheduled.

Under the agreement, Bragg withdrew his appeal.

Russell Dye, a spokesperson for committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in a statement, “Mr. Pomerantz’s deposition will go forward on May 12, and we look forward to his appearance.” Pomerantz once oversaw the yearslong Trump investigation but left the job after clashing with Bragg over the direction of the case. He recently wrote a book about his work pursuing Trump and discussed the investigation in interviews on “60 Minutes” and other shows.

Bragg, a Democrat, sued Jordan

and the Judiciary Committee last week seeking to block the subpoena. His lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, argued that seeking Pomerantz’s testimony was part of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” Bragg and that Congress was “invading a state” to investigate a local prosecutor when it had no authority to do so.

Boutrous said House Republicans’ interest in Bragg amounted to Congress “jumping in and haranguing the D.A. while the prosecution is ongoing.”

The Judiciary Committee started scrutinizing Bragg’s investigation of the former president in the weeks that preceded his indictment. Jordan sent letters seeking interviews with Bragg and documents before subpoenaing Pomerantz. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, said in her ruling Wednesday that she would handle any legal fights that may arise from other subpoenas in the committee’s investigation of Bragg.

A committee lawyer, Matthew Berry, said at that hearing that Congress has legitimate legislative reasons for wanting to question Pomerantz and examine Bragg’s prosecution of Trump, citing the office’s use of $5,000 in federal funds to pay for Trump-related investigations.

Congress is also considering legislation, offered by Republicans in the wake of Trump’s indictment, to change how criminal cases against former presidents unfold, Berry

said. One bill would prohibit prosecutors from using federal funds to investigate presidents, and another would require any criminal cases involving a former president be resolved in federal court instead of at the state level.

House Republicans, Berry said, want to protect the sovereignty and autonomy of the presidency, envisioning a scenario where the commander in chief could feel obligated to make certain decisions to avoid having local prosecutors in politically unfavorable jurisdictions charge them with crimes after they leave office.

For those reasons, Berry argued, Congress is immune from judicial intervention, citing the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Pomerantz could refuse to answer certain questions, citing legal privilege and ethical obligations, and Jordan would rule on those assertions on a case-by-case basis, Berry said, but he shouldn’t be exempt from showing up. If Jordan were to overrule Pomerantz and he still refused to answer, he could then face a criminal referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress, but that wouldn’t happen immediately, Berry said.

Trump was indicted last month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

AP PHOTO

Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

The gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol on March 23, 2023, in Denver.

Pearl Lynn Satterfield

December 9, 1938 — April 23, 2023

Ollie Pearl Lynn Satterfield, age 84, formerly of Asheboro passed away on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at AuthoraCare Hospice in Burlington.

Mrs. Satterfield was born in Yanceyville on December 9, 1938 to Thomas and Annie Walker Lynn. Pearl was self-employed as a hairdresser and was a member of Reidsville Church of God. In addition to her parents, Pearl was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Carson Satterfield, daughter, Shirley Satterfield, son, Jacky Ray Satterfield, sister, Louise Ashley, and brothers, Ernest, Bryant, and Thomas Lynn. She is survived by her sister, Delois McKinney of Burlington; and step grandson, Jay Hill.

Patrick (Pat) Allen Henry

March 5, 1948 — April 21, 2023

Mr. Patrick Allen (Pat) Henry, age 75 of Asheboro passed away at his home on Friday, April 21,2023. Pat was born in Anson County on March 5, 1948 to Patrick and Pauline Henry.

Pat graduated from Asheboro High School in 1967 and from Asheboro Commercial College in 1969. He served his country in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army from 19691971. Pat worked in the telephone industry for 42 years where he retired from Century Link as a sales manager in 2013.

Pat is survived by his wife of 52 years, Beckie Parks Henry; son David Parks Henry and wife Angelica of Whitsett NC. Grandchildren Shai Tilman Henry, David Parks Henry II, Jozelyn Arianna Henry and Jayla Nashai Henry. Mr. Henry is also survived by his mother-inlaw Mary Edythe Parks; brother Michael Henry and wife Diane and nephew Greg Henry. Pat was preceded in death by his parents and his father-in-law Leonard Parks.

Virginia Mae Hancock

July 29, 1937 — April 21, 2023

Virginia Mae Hancock, 85, passed away on Friday, April 21, 2023, at her home.

Virginia was born on July 29, 1937, to June and Cassie Morgan Davis. She was a resident of Asheboro, where she retired from Elastic Therapy, Inc. Virginia was an avid reader and greatly enjoyed quilting. She loved the Lord. She is survived by her daughters, Charlene Bell Watson of Troy, and Elizabeth Jane Bell of Climax, along with her son, Dwight Lynn Bell of Asheboro. Stepdaughters: Debbie Hancock Felgenhauer of Oklahoma City, OK, Holly Hancock Delk of Asheboro, and Lisa Hancock Thrift of Elon. One stepson, Tim Hancock of Hiawassee, GA. Virginia is survived by 4 grandchildren, 7 step-grandchildren, 3 greatgrandchildren and 2 stepgreat-grandchildren. She is also survived by her half-brother, James Cecil “Bucky” Dennis of Asheboro, her aunt, Geneva Freeman of Star, and other extended family members in Montgomery County, NC.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Hancock is preceded in death by her husband, Darrell Hancock, and her half-sister, Mary Geraldine “Geri” Berry.

Kathleen V. Boyle Harris

August 10, 1945 — April 19, 2023

Kathleen V. Harris (nee Boyle), age 77 of Asheboro, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at her daughter's home.

Kathleen was born on August 10, 1945, in New Orleans, LA to James and Josephine (nee Landry) Boyle. Kathleen was a very devout Catholic and member at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Asheboro. She was very active in her church here and fulfilled numerous roles at her former church, Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, in New York. Kathleen had a very giving heart and was very generous and helpful to others. She was a powerhouse of faith and love with a huge spirit, all in a small package. The constant love and companionship of her dog Max brought her great joy. Her close friends meant the world to her. She was very proud of her Irish heritage and greatly enjoyed Irish music. She enjoyed crocheting and loved doing different arts and crafts activities. Most of all, Kathleen loved her family and was a loving wife, mother, Nana, and Granny. In addition to her parents, Kathleen is preceded in death by her husband, Robert L. Harris.

Kathleen is survived by her son, Scott A. Harris of Oneonta, NY; daughter’s, Victoria Harris (Kathleen Reilly) of Asheboro, Wendy Mager (Robert) of Concord, Jennifer Cartagena (Herman) of Mooresville; grandchildren, Robert J. Harris, Tracey A. Harris, Joseph F. Harris, Daniel Mager, Jamie Mager, Steven Harris, A.J. Cartagena, Raelee Cartagena; great grandchildren, Allie, Amelia, Nataleigh, Isabella, Aubrey, Jordan, Sophia, Linnea, Paison, and Phoenix; sister and brother in-law, Nancy and Frank Savona and her many cousins, notably, Daniel and Billy Boyle.

Robert Lyle Stover, Jr.

December 9, 1949 — April 17, 2023

Robert Lyle Stover, Jr., age 73 of Asheboro, N.C. passed away peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Monday, April 17, 2023, with family by his side. His health had been declining for the past two years. Robert was born on December 9, 1949, in Siler City, N.C. to Robert Lyle Stover, Sr. and Marie Ellis Stover. He was a 1968 graduate of Jordan Matthews High School where he played football and baseball. Robert retired from Georgia Pacific in Asheboro as HR Manager after 40 years of service. After retirement, he delivered medicine to group homes for Central Carolina Pharmaceutical Services for twelve years and was called the “Medicine Man” by patients. As a young man he coached Pony League baseball in Chatham County and Asheboro. Later he dropped down to Mustang League to coach his son Rob all the way through Colt League. He loved baseball and was a great influence on many of the players he coached. He especially enjoyed coaching his grandson, Lincon.

He also had a great sense of humor and enjoyed pulling pranks on others, especially his wife Nancy. Robert loved his family unconditionally and would do everything in his power to show his love and how proud he was of them. He was the best husband, dad, papa, friend, coach, fishing partner, and hunting partner our family could ever ask for. His grandchildren made his face light up and he was a very proud Papa. He was blessed with two children and four grandchildren.

Jerry Maxton Rollins

September 16, 1951 ~ April 17, 2023

Jerry Maxton Rollins, age 71, of Randleman passed away peacefully April 17, 2023 at Randolph Hospice House. He was born the son of the late Max and Iris Brown Rollins in Asheboro, North Carolina on September 16, 1951. He attended school in Randleman, NC. He was an auto mechanic by trade and was a Ford Technician for the last 30 years of his career. Jerry loved to fish and hunt. More than anything, he loved to spend time with his family, especially at Ocean Isle Beach. His two daughters were his pride and joy and his sons-inlaw were the sons he never had. His greatest joy in life was being a Pawpaw to his three beautiful grandchildren. He will always be remembered as an eternal kid at heart. After retirement he found enjoyment in spending time at the Randleman Community Center exercising, walking and playing cornhole with his dear friends.

Left to cherish his memory are his devoted wife, Ann Hutchens Rollins; Daughters, Libby Knutson (Brandon) and Kristine Bugno (Corey); grandchildren, Audrey Bugno, Aspen Knutson and Elsie Bugno; sisters, Sylvia McCollum (Lee) and Shirley Ludemann (Steve); brother, Joey Rollins (Kathy); brothers-in-law, Ken Hutchens (Wanda) and Ron Hutchens (Susan); devoted K-9 companion, Toby; and numerous nieces, nephews and other beloved family.

The family would like to thank all the doctors and staff at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Cancer Center and the nurses and staff at Hospice of Randolph for all their care during this time.

James "Jim" Bullins

February 18, 1935 - April 21, 2023

James Earl "Jim" Bullins, Jr., 88, of Asheboro, died Friday, April 21, 2023, at Brookdale Asheboro.

Born February 18, 1935, in Randolph County, Mr. Bullins was the son of the late J. Earl and Connie Luther Bullins. After graduating from Asheboro High School, he served in the US Marine Corps as a sergeant, then obtained diplomas from Nashville Auto-Diesel College and Asheboro Business College. He retired from Allstate Insurance as a Senior Claims Adjuster. Auto body restoration was a passion and his impeccable attention to detail was legendary in the community. He enjoyed bowling, golf, puttering around his pond, and relaxing at Ocean Isle Beach.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Bullins was preceded in death by his wife, Laristine "Tine" Bullins; brothers, David Bullins, Tom Bullins, Johnny Bullins; and sister, Nancy Brannon.

Surviving are his daughters, Jamie Kellner and husband, John, of Apex, Sherry Pyrtle and husband, Larry, of Asheboro, Fritzi Bullins-Jones and husband, Ken, of Greensboro, Andra Coleman and husband, Jerrell of Cary; grandchildren, Kevin Pyrtle and wife, Courtney, Gabriella Pyrtle Ingram and husband, Matt, Peyton Coleman, Jackson Coleman, Riley Jones and Cameron Kellner.

Paula Jean Johnson

June 15, 1950 - April 17, 2023

Paula Jean Johnson, 72, of Asheboro, passed away Monday, April 17, 2023, at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro.

Born June 15, 1950, in Randolph Co., NC, Ms. Johnson was the daughter of the late John Paul and Ollie Hall Johnson. She had retired from Energizer to help care for her mother. She worked at Randolph Hospital and later volunteered at Randolph Health and Hospice of Randolph. Paula refereed for school sports, played traveling softball, and loved the beach and the mountains. She was a huge UNC Tarheel fan and loved to watch all sports, but especially basketball. She was a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church. Paula especially loved cats.

In addition to her parents, Paula was preceded in death by her sisters, Alice Faye Johnson and Betty Jo Needham, and niece, Terri Christy. Paula is survived by her sister, Glenda Caylor (Hayden) of Murphy, NC; brother, Darrell T. Johnson (Brenda) of Asheboro; nieces and nephews, Lori Rollins, Heather Padgett, Frances Robinson, Joanna Bailey, Reid Needham, Emily Needham, Jennifer Phillips; and many great nieces and great nephews.

Robert is survived by his loving wife Nancy of 54 years who was his high school sweetheart. He is also survived by his beloved children, Sherri (Ralph) and Rob (Valerie); and precious grandchildren, Haley, Landon, Lincon, and Larkin; sisters, Nancy Robards of Pawley’s Island, S.C., Martha Stover of Broadway, N.C.; brothers, Danny Stover (Wanda) of Bear Creek, Tommy Stover (Shirley) of Greenville, T.N.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mary Ellen Parsons

Spivey

June 5, 1949 — April 17, 2023

Mary Ellen Parsons Spivey, 73, of Franklinville passed away April 17, 2023 at Universal Healthcare of Ramseur. She was born in Greensboro, NC to parents, Harold Wright Parsons and Verla Mae Patterson Parsons. Mary Ellen was a member of Fayetteville Street Baptist Church and was retired from Fidelity National Title Insurance Company. She is survived by her husband, Ronald "Ronnie" Spivey; Daughters, Kendra Wallace (Jeff) of Asheboro and Keri Beck (David) of Trinity; Grandchildren, Kayla, Logan, and Grant Wallace, Jada Beck, and Brent Cox; Sisters, Judith Thiede (Don) of Asheboro and Linda Morton (Wayne) of Farmer.

Randy Lee Luck

August 20, 1957 - April 18, 2023

Randy Lee Luck, 65, of Seagrove, died Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at his home.

Mr. Luck was born on August 20, 1957, in Randolph County. He was a loving dad, brother, son, and "Paw paw". Mr. Luck loved carpentry work, the outdoors, hunting, and fishing.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Gail Luck; and brother, Michael Luck.

Mr. Luck is survived by his son, Chad Luck of Seagrove; parents, Harvey and Coreen Luck of Seagrove; sister, Wanda Smith and husband Jackie of Seagrove; grandchildren, Landon Luck, and Serenity Luck.

STATE & NATION

Longtime education leader named North Carolina community college head

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — The incoming president of North Carolina’s community college system pledged Monday to work to advance people toward economic success through post-secondary education that will also meet employers’ needs for high-skilled labor.

Jeff Cox, the current president of Wilkes Community College, spoke at an introductory news conference three days after the state system’s board chose him as the top executive for the 58-college system, which educates nearly 600,000 students annually. He’s expected to officially begin the job on July 1. There’s been an interim president in place since last summer, when predecessor Thomas Stith resigned after 18 months.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and others attending the event called Cox a great person for the job, citing in part his career as a former public school teacher and principal, and as the head of Alleghany County schools before becoming the Wilkes president in 2014. Cooper and other speakers emphasized the need for K-12 schools and community colleges to work closely to train future workers.

“The guy that the board has hired knows it all,” Cooper said. “It makes sense that this board decided that he should lead this community college system into the future. I’m excited about your

tenure, Jeff.” State schools Superintendent Catherine Truitt, a Republican, also praised his hiring. An Alleghany County native, Cox talked about his commitment for the system to bring more North Carolina citizens out of poverty.

Across much of the state, he said, people who are born poor have a

two-in-three chance of staying poor as an adult.

“Our community colleges are at the very heart of changing that statistic and reversing that,” Cox said. “We’ve got businesses and industry who are yearning to have qualified employees, and we’ve got folks who are living in pover-

ty who are yearning for a better tomorrow.” At the same time, between 30% and 40% of the state’s high school graduates aren’t seeking any additional schooling, he said.

“We have to find a better way to connect with those young people and help them understand

their economic vitality depends on them getting that post-secondary credential,” he said.

Members of the State Board of Community Colleges, which hired him after a national search, appeared to be impressed with such efforts at Wilkes Community College. Friday’s news release announcing his hiring cited a student program completion rate that more than doubled over five years, record fundraising and the start of an initiative to guarantee students a chance to receive a tuition-free education.

A system spokesperson said Monday Cox will make $350,000 annually.

Cox’s hiring comes amid recent instability at the system office in Raleigh, high vacancy rates systemwide and efforts by Republican lawmakers to overhaul the system’s governance. Cox will be the fifth permanent system president since 2015.

The legislation, which could get a full Senate vote this week, would give the president’s position more power while eliminating the governor’s ability to appoint almost half of the state board and many local trustee board positions. The legislators ultimately would elect all state board members and pick most of the campus board members. Cooper’s office has said doing away with the governor’s appointments would “damage significantly” job-recruiting efforts.

Cox said he couldn’t respond to criticisms by GOP senators that there’s an impression campuses have fallen short in helping employers seek trained workers, saying he didn’t know specifics.

“We’ve got great presidents out there leading the 58,” he said. “I know their hearts are in it to fix it in their communities.”

Unprepared for long war, US Army under gun to make more ammo

The Associated Press SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the most important munitions of the Ukraine war comes from a historic factory in this city built by coal barons, where tons of steel rods are brought in by train to be forged into the artillery shells Kyiv can’t get enough of — and that the U.S. can’t produce fast enough.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is at the vanguard of a multibillion-dollar Pentagon plan to modernize and accelerate its production of ammunition and equipment not only to support Ukraine, but to be ready for a potential conflict with China.

But it is one of just two sites in the U.S. that make the steel bodies for the critical 155 mm howitzer rounds that the U.S. is rushing to Ukraine to help in its grinding fight to repel the Russian invasion in the largest-scale war in Europe since World War II. The invasion of Ukraine revealed that the U.S. stockpile of 155 mm shells and those of European allies were unprepared to support a major and ongoing conventional land war, sending them scrambling to bolster production. The dwindling supply has alarmed U.S. military planners, and the Army now plans to spend billions on munitions plants around the country in what it calls its most significant transformation in 40 years. It may not be easy to adapt:

practically every square foot of the Scranton plant’s red brick factory buildings — first constructed more than a century ago as a locomotive repair depot — is in use as the Army clears space, expands production to private factories and assembles new supply chains. There are some things that Army and plant officials in Scranton won’t reveal, including where they get the steel for the shells and exactly how many more rounds

this factory can produce.

“That’s what Russia wants to know,” said Justine Barati of the U.S. Army’s Joint Munitions Command.

So far, the U.S. has provided more than $35 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

The 155 mm shell is one of the most often-requested and supplied items, which also include air defense systems, long-range missiles and tanks.

The rounds, used in howitzer systems, are critical to Ukraine’s fight because they allow the Ukrainians to hit Russian targets up to 20 miles away with a highly explosive munition.

The Army is spending about $1.5 billion to ramp up production of 155 mm rounds from 14,000 a month before Russia invaded Ukraine to over 85,000 a month by 2028, U.S. Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo told a symposium last month.

Already, the U.S. military has given Ukraine more than 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm ammunition, according to Army figures.

But even with higher near-term production rates, the U.S. cannot replenish its stockpile or catch up to the usage pace in Ukraine, where officials estimate that the Ukrainian military is firing 6,000 to 8,000 shells per day. In other words, two days’ worth of shells fired by Ukraine equates to the United States’ monthly pre-war production figure.

“This could become a crisis.

With the front line now mostly stationary, artillery has become the most important combat arm,” said a January report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Currently, the metal bodies for the 155 mm shells are made at the Army’s Scranton plant, operated by General Dynamics, and at a General Dynamics-owned plant in nearby Wilkes-Barre, officials say.

Together, the plants are under contract for 24,000 shells per month, with an additional $217 million Army task order to further boost production, although officials won’t say how many more 155 mm shells are sought by the task order.

The obstacles the U.S. faces in ramping up production can be seen at the Scranton plant.

The factory — built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad just after 1900, when the city was a rising coal and railroad powerhouse — has produced large-caliber ammunition for the military going back to the Korean War.

But the buildings are on the National Historic Registry of Historic Places, limiting how the Army can alter the structures.

Inside, the floor is crowded with piles of shells, defunct equipment and production lines where robotic arms, saws, presses and other machines cut, heat, forge, temper, pressure test, wash and paint the shells.

The plant is in the midst of $120 million in modernization plans and the Army hopes to open a new production line there by 2025.

Still, clearing space for it has been a complicated task while the military adds newer machinery to make existing lines more efficient.

“There’s a lot going on,” said Richard Hansen, the Army commander’s representative at the plant.

AP PHOTO

Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox, right, speaks as Gov. Roy Cooper, center, and State Board of Community Colleges Chair Burr Sullivan listen during a news conference at the North Carolina Community College System offices in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, April 24, 2023. Cox spoke three days after the State Board of Community Colleges approved him to become the next president of the 58-college system.

AP PHOTO

A steel worker moves a 155 mm M795 artillery projectile during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pa., Thursday, April 13, 2023.

HOKE COUNTY

Tillis talks with Hoke students

Sen. Thom Tillis talked to students at Hoke County High School’s journalism class last week. “I enjoyed chatting with Hoke County High School’s journalism class and answering their questions about being a U.S. Senator,” said Tillis.

COUNTY NEWS

Former superintendent Dowless finds new employment at Robeson County Schools

The former superintendent at Hoke County Public Schools, Dr. Debra Dowless, has just been hired by Robeson County Public Schools. Dowless will be serving the school system as their new 3-5 Curriculum Supervisor. News of Dowless’ new role in Robeson County comes roughly two months after she announced her resignation during a Hoke School Board meeting on Monday, February 13.

According to the official resignation agreement from the Hoke County Board of Education, the Board paid Dowless a “onetime severance payment” of $153,000 after “the Board and Dr. Dowless agree[d] that it is in the best interest of the parties and of the school district to amicably and fairly conclude her employment.” Prior to her role as the superintendent, she served as the assistant superintendent of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction for Hoke County Schools. In addition, Dowless worked at the district level as a principal, assistant principal, and elementary instructor.

N Carolina considers changing unsupervised driving rules

The Associated Press RALEIGH — A bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly would eventually change the mandatory supervised driving period for teens to nine months, less time than has been set in state law, but longer than a temporary relaxation of the learner’s permit rule first in effect during the pandemic.

North Carolina teens can get a learner’s permit at age 15, but have to complete 60 hours of supervised driving by an adult — usually a parent — and be age 16 before they can drive by themselves with what’s called a limited provisional license. They also have to pass a road test.

“I’m asking you to think about your children and other people out there they’ll be driving with.”

Rep. Carolyn Logan

The new legislation now heading to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk still would require the child be at least 16 to advance to the limited license. But it would eventually allow minors to complete the requirements and advance after just nine months. Historically, state law has required a 12-month wait.

“This is not decreasing the amount of hours that they have to drive, but it is shortening the time period,” said Rep. Jeff McNeely, an Iredell County Republican, said during the House floor debate. He said it should also free up more young people to work because they’ll be able to drive themselves to and from jobs sooner.

The proposed measure extends and modifies a state law approved during the COVID-19 pandemic to address delayed driver’s education classes. Legislators say they’re still receiving complaints from parents whose children are trying to get to the next level of driving.

The new legislation would re -

UnitedHealthcare drops protest appeal over NC State Health Plan administrator change

By A.P. Dillon North

State Journal

RALEIGH — UnitedHealthcare has apparently dropped its protest appeal over the change in third-party administration of the North Carolina State Health Plan. With UnitedHealthcare (UMR, Inc.) dropping its appeal, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) remains the only party still engaged in litigation.

“We appreciate UnitedHealthcare’s efforts to win the TPA award for the Plan in 2025. We have a great relationship with them and hope that they will try to earn the business at some point in the future,” NC Treasurer Dale Folwell said in a press release.

In January of this year, Folwell announced that Aetna would assume the State Health Plan’s Third-Party Administrative (TPA) Services Contract starting in 2025. The announcement came after a

“We appreciate UnitedHealth-care’s efforts to win the TPA award for the Plan in 2025.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell

December 2020 unanimous vote by the State Health Plan Board of Trustees to award the TPA to Aetna following a competitive bidding process. One of the aspects under consideration in choosing a new TPA was reducing costs and increasing transparency. The full set of bidding contracts and other documents can be viewed on a portal hosted by the State Health Plan: https://www. shpnc.org/2025-transition-aetna-tpa.

In February, protests over the decision filed by BCBSNC and UMR, Inc. were rejected. That same month, BCBSNC notified the State Health Plan that it would pursue the matter in court and had filed a contested case hearing in the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings as well as a petition for judicial review in Durham County Superior Court. According to Folwell’s office, the administrative law judge has ordered the case to mediation.

“To sue until you are blue causes chaos and uncertainty; it is not what’s best for those that teach, protect and serve,” Folwell said of the legal actions.

A division of the treasurer’s office, the State Health Plan, provides health care coverage to around 740,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, current and former lawmakers, state university and community college personnel, and their dependents.

instate a six-month minimum that expired at the end of 2022 for the rest of 2023 before settling the time at nine months.

The bill gained final approval with a 92-15 vote in the House after the chamber rejected amendments from Rep. Carolyn Logan, a Mecklenburg County Democrat and retired state trooper.

She wanted to ultimately keep a 12-month training period, arguing that children need the extra time to learn a very serious skill like driving.

“Every month can make a difference,” Logan told colleagues. “I’m asking you to think about your children and other people out there they’ll be driving with.”

The bill, which already was approved by the Senate last month, also would slightly ease passenger constraints for a limited provisional licensee so that the person could drive someone unrelated to them to and from school.

Cooper can sign the bill, veto it, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.

US consumer confidence falls for 3rd time in 4 months

The Associated Press CONSUMER CONFIDENCE dipped again in April as anxiety over a slowing economy and possible recession weighed on American households.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 101.3 in April from 104 in March. It’s the third time in four months that overall U.S. consumer confidence has declined.

Optimism about current economic conditions ticked up again, although consumers are less positive about the short-term future.

The index remains below 2022’s average level of 104.5.

The business research group’s present situation index — which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — inched up to 151.1 from 148.9 last month.

The board’s expectations index — a measure of consumers’ six-month outlook for income, business and labor conditions — fell to 68.1 this month from 74 in March. A reading under 80 often signals a recession in the coming year. The Conference Board noted that reading has come in below 80 every month but one since February of 2022.

Consumer spending, which makes up about 70% of U.S. economic activity, has remained strong despite the Federal Reserve raising interest rates nine straight times since March of last year in its effort to cool the economy and bring down persistent, four-decade high inflation.

Those rate increases can raise the

cost of using credit cards or taking out a loan for a house, car or other purchases.

U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and food providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices. But prices still point to an elevated inflation rate far above the Fed’s 2% target and the central bank is expected to raise its main borrowing rate when it meets next month.

The board said consumer expectations about inflation remain elevated.

“Overall purchasing plans for homes, autos, appliances, and vacations all pulled back in April, a signal that consumers may be economizing amid growing pessimism,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics at The Conference Board.

Respondents to the Conference Board’s survey remained optimistic about the U.S. job market, which has held up well even as the Fed has ratcheted up its benchmark borrowing rate.

Last month, the government reported that employers added 236,000 jobs in March, fewer than in February and well off January’s huge gain but strong enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively to fight inflation. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%, just above a recent 53-year low of 3.4%.

With an average long-term U.S. mortgage rate of 6.39%, many potential homebuyers have been pushed to the sidelines because those higher rates mean hundreds of dollars a month in extra costs.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Results in our first 100 days

THERE IS ONE WORD that can sum up the first 100 days of the 118th Congress—Results.

Under Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans have passed more bills and had a more productive start than last Congress. And last Congress we had one-party in charge of the House, Senate, and the White House. Every day, House Republicans are delivering results and fighting for you.

lead on multiple pieces of legislation, including the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act, Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, and the HALT Fentanyl Act, which recently passed our committee and will move to a vote on the House floor.

Every day, House Republicans are delivering results and fighting for you.

From defunding President Joe Biden’s army of 87,000 IRS agents, ending the COVID-19 national emergency, eliminating unnecessary vaccine mandates, passing legislation to stop out of control bureaucrats, reversing President Biden’s anti-energy policies that are driving inflation, stopping dangerous soft-oncrime proposals, and just last week voting to protect women’s sports—House Republicans have followed through on the commitments we made to the American people. We are also holding the Biden administration accountable through more than 235 hearings and issuing more than 500 oversight letters and 34 subpoenas.

Last week, House Republicans outlined our plan to also address our nation’s debt. Two years of out-of-control government spending by President Biden and Washington Democrats have increased our national debt to the point that it is larger than the entire US economy—and you have been forced to pay the price.

Inflation continues to be a burden as you head to the grocery store and gas pump, with groceries up 20% from two years ago and the average gas prices in North Carolina up 30 cents from this time last month. Our plan will limit Washington’s irresponsible spending, save your tax dollars, and grow our economy—all while protecting Social Security and Medicare.

As your Congressman, I’m focused on legislation that will improve the quality of life for you and your family. I am proud to

I have also reintroduced the Next Generation 9-1-1 Act to help state and local governments modernize our nation’s aging 9-11 systems. We are blessed that our community has outstanding leadership that recognizes the importance of putting the right tools in the hands of our first responders and law enforcement. Earlier this month, I was able to visit the Moore County Department of Public Safety and meet with our incredible emergency telecommunicators to see firsthand how they serve when you and those you love need them most.

It is a privilege to be the voice in Congress supporting our region’s dedicated telecommunicators, medical professionals, and law enforcement who keep us safe.

House Republicans have delivered our “Commitment to America” to build an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future built upon freedom, and a government that’s accountable to the American people—and we are just getting started.

It is my hope that in the next 100 days, President Biden will work with Republicans on the issues you face every day. We will remain focused on solutions that grow our economy, keep us safe, fix the crisis at the border, and help you and every American family succeed.

Richard Hudson is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House and represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee.

Republicans need to stop being cowards on abortion

HOW MANY VOTERS know that the Democratic Party supports legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy on demand for virtually any reason? How many voters know this position aligns with only six other countries in the world — three of them, not incidentally, being North Korea, Vietnam and China?

How many voters know that Democrats want to pass a federal law banning states from stopping sex-selective abortions or the dismembering of the post-viable unborn or the requirement of parental and guardian notification for minors before getting abortions? How many know that Democrats want to strip medical workers of their conscience rights by compelling them to participate in the procedure or lose their jobs? How many people know that Democrats want to eliminate the popular Hyde Amendment, which stops the federal government from funding abortions with taxpayer dollars?

Now, maybe a majority of voters aren’t aware of Democrats’ maximalist positions because the media endlessly lies and obfuscates them. And maybe pollsters rarely ask useful questions on the topic because the answers are a lot more complicated than they’d like. And, maybe, after the shock of Roe v. Wade being overturned — treated by Democrats as if it had been chiseled into magical stone tablets over the past 50 years — the energy and passion of the debate will temporarily reside on the pro-abortion side. And, maybe, if every voter knew all the facts, it still wouldn’t matter. Abortion is a complex and emotional issue.

None of that excuses the inability, or aversion, of national conservatives to make a coherent and compelling pro-life case. Sometimes it feels like Republicans are more terrified by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision than pro-abortionists. Even

if pollsters were right about the unpopularity of abortion restrictions, there is this crazy thing that politicians occasionally engage in called “persuasion.” Rather than just chasing around voters for approval, this entails convincing them with arguments.

The problem, it seems, is that too many in the GOP accept the media’s concern trolling or listen to risk-averse advice of the consulting class. Recently, for example, Janet Protasiewicz beat conservative Dan Kelly by 10 percentage points to flip Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Virtually every outlet treated the race as a national referendum on abortion. Anonymous consultants were recruited by one big media outlet after the next to offer off-the-record comments voicing their deep concern about the deleterious effects of the abortion issue.

Weird how this dynamic only works in one direction.

In 2020, Brian Kemp, who signed a heartbeat bill limiting abortion to the first six weeks a year earlier, easily defeated media darling Stacey Abrams to win the Georgia governorship (in a state that Donald Trump also lost). Abrams made abortion, along with guns, the central issue of her campaign, carpet-bombing the state with ads. In 2018, Terry McAuliffe also attempted to make abortion the dominant issue of his campaign against Glenn Youngkin. At the time, a Washington Post piece promised that the race was “our first big test of the new politics of abortion.” Well, Youngkin, who supports 15-week abortion limits, won. Alas, there were no handwringing deep dives from the Post about abortion undermining Democrats.

Georgia and Virginia are swing states. Ohio, where Mike DeWine signed a six-week ban in 2019 and won the state by 10 points in 2022, was one not long ago, as well. This is the same state in which pro-life J.D. Vance easily beat “moderate” Tim Ryan. This week,

the governor of Florida and prospective presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, signed a six-week ban on abortion. One imagines DeSantis will be just as popular among Republicans in his state since the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Florida Assembly. Of course, conventional wisdom says this hurts his presidential chances.

But Ohio, Virginia and Florida teach us nothing about abortion. Only the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, it seems, matters.

Whatever the case, the Republican nominee doesn’t need to impress California voters. They need to convince social conservatives in Virginia, Ohio and Florida to go out and vote. Does anyone really think DeSantis would be better off politically if he vetoed a pro-life bill?

Running from the abortion conversation, as so many Republicans seem to do, creates the impression they don’t really believe in their own stated position. Quite often, that’s probably the case. But if you’re going to run as a pro-lifer anyway, allowing the opposition to define your beliefs makes little sense. Especially when making a rational and moral case for protecting viable life, at the very least, isn’t particularly difficult — certainly not when contrasted with the left’s extremism.

Then again, if every Republican lost every race in the country over abortion, it still wouldn’t make killing human beings for convenience any less of a moral abomination or the fight to stop it any less important.

A majority position isn’t, by default, moral or decent — quite the contrary. And meaningful political fights aren’t predicated on short-term gains. Overturning Roe took 50 years. The political fight over abortion might take even longer.

COLUMN | U.S. REP. RICHARD HUDSON

COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI

Youngkin, who supports 15week abortion limits, won.

SIDELINE REPORT

NBA

Markkanen named NBA’s most improved player New York

All-Star forward Lauri

Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was announced Monday night as the winner of the award. The selection is made by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The news came just past 2 a.m. Tuesday in Helsinki, where Markkanen is currently fulfilling the military service that is mandated for all Finnish men before they turn 30. He began his enlistment there earlier this month.

Markkanen beat out fellow finalists Jalen Brunson of New York and Shai GilgeousAlexander of Oklahoma City for the award. He averaged a career-best 25.6 points per game this season.

CYCLING

Pogacar undergoes wrist surgery after crash

Brussels

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar says he was lucky to escape from his weekend crash with only a broken left wrist. The injury is not expected to derail his Tour preparations. Pogacar was expected to travel home on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on the wrist in Belgium. The Slovenian rider’s team says the surgery to insert a screw to realign the fragments of his scaphoid bone went well. He was injured in a crash during the one-day Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic.

TRACK & FIELD

1948 Olympic bronze medalist

Douglas dies at 101

Pittsburgh

Herb Douglas, who turned a chance encounter with Jesse Owens as a teenager into fuel to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 Olympics, has died at 101. The University of Pittsburgh, where Douglas starred on both the football and track teams before later serving in various roles for his alma mater, said Douglas died Saturday. Douglas was 14 when he met Owens in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Douglas grew up. Douglas was inducted into the inaugural Pitt athletics Hall of Fame class in 2018. The university is naming the 300-meter indoor track at its planned Victory Heights facility after Douglas.

MLB

A’s move Japanese rookie Fujinami to bullpen

Anaheim, Calif.

Oakland Athletics rookie pitcher Shintaro Fujinami is being moved to the bullpen after struggling in his first four major league starts. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels that the Japanese right-hander would be available for relief duty starting Tuesday. Fujinami is 0-4 with a 14.40 ERA. He allowed eight runs on seven hits, with three walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in 2⅓ innings during Saturday’s 18-3 loss at Texas.

Busch helps RCR return to Victory Lane

Busch as payback for wrecking a Richard Childress Racing entry –a confrontation that earned Childress a $150,000 fine from NASCAR.

The Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. — There were many dark days last season for Kyle Busch as his long, successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end.

JGR had lost its sponsor for the two-time Cup Series champion and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer was an expensive free agent. He offered to lower his market value and scoured the garage looking for a seat, facing the harsh reality that with all his talent he might not land with a top team.

It was Austin Dillon who asked his grandfather to consider speaking with Busch and somehow forget a 2011 incident in which Richard Childress attacked Busch following a Truck Series race. Childress famously removed his wristwatch before pummeling

Dillon made a convincing argument and a pairing that once seemed unfathomable came to fruition as Busch left JGR and Toyota for a new job driving a Chevrolet for Childress.

Through 11 races, it is a partnership that is changing the Cup Series landscape.

Busch won his second race of the season on Sunday with a victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, where he milked every last drop of fuel in his tank to steal the win. Crew chief Randall Burnett had called Busch in for a splash of gas during overtime, a decision that came too late for Busch to make it to pit road. Busch was secretly pleased: by not pitting, he gambled that he’d have a shot at the win rather than just a reasonable finish.

“Rowdy” is on a mission this season to prove his value, reaffirm

he is still an elite racer and thank RCR for giving him a job when his prospects seemed so grim.

“They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that,” Busch said. “It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work. Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in this year than I have in the last four — just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.”

It goes both ways.

RCR had fallen on hard times

Rhule embrace of Huskers tradition fuels popularity — so far

The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has quickly endeared himself to one of the nation’s most ardent fan bases in the five months since his hiring.

Rhule has yet to coach his first game for the Cornhuskers, though, and the true test of his popularity will come in a year or two when his work to bring back one of college football’s biggest brands is fully underway.

So far, he’s proved to be a fast study and served up big portions of red meat, frequently referencing the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

Unlike some previous coaches, Rhule has made a point to pay homage to program standard-bearer Tom Osborne, the 86-year-old Hall of Fame coach who won national titles three of the four years before his retirement. Osborne has already done a roundtable discussion with Rhule and athletic director Trev Alberts and accepted Rhule’s invitation to be the featured speaker at the annual coaches clinic.

Rhule also played an important role in helping Alberts get former coach Frank Solich to agree to be honored at Saturday’s spring game. Solich, whose ties to the program date to the 1960s, has been mostly estranged since his controversial 2003 firing.

Rhule and Solich have known each other since Rhule’s time as an assistant at Temple (200611) when the Owls were in the Mid-American Conference along

with Solich’s Ohio team. Rhule later led Temple’s turnaround from 2013-16 in the American Athletic Conference.

“I was impressed with their program and what they were all about, so when he got the job at Nebraska, I felt like that was a good hire,” Solich said. “I know he contacted coach Osborne when he got here right away. Also, he’s been around the state visiting with tons of coaches and trying

over the last decade, and the Cup Series had seemed to pass by the proud organization that won six championships with the late Dale Earnhardt. RCR won just five races after Kevin Harvick left following the 2013 season but showed some promise last year with Tyler Reddick, who won three times.

Reddick decided he was leaving RCR at the end of the 2023 season to drive for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. With an opportunity for Reddick to move a year early, Dillon pushed his grandfather to consider Busch.

The first reward was Busch’s win earlier this season at Fontana, which earned him an automatic berth in the playoffs. Then came the win at Talladega, where Childress has 13 career victories as an owner and raced 19 times himself from 1969 through 1981. His career-best finish was sixth in 1980.

“I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be,” Childress said of Busch while making sure to credit his grandson for the hire.

to get a strong interest in Nebraska football and get himself and his staff known to the people of Nebraska.

“I think he’s making all the right moves and doing all the right things.”

Rhule has dropped references to the Huskers’ iconic red N on the helmet, his excitement about coaching in 100-year-old Memorial Stadium, and building depth with walk-ons and giving them real opportunities. He even promises to make the fullback part of the offense again.

The 48-year-old is a savvy user of social media and has appeared at events big and small, including last week’s nationally televised WWE SmackDown wrestling show in Lincoln where he enthusiastically shouted “Go Big Red!” into the camera.

Rhule took over a program that has won five national championships, the most recent in 1997, but hasn’t appeared in a bowl or finished higher than fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West since 2016.

“I want to make sure they know ... that we know how long they have waited for Nebraska football to play the way that we all believe it is capable of playing,” Rhule said of the fans. “We are not there yet, but we will try to honor their patience and their loyalty with our work.”

Rhule spent two-plus seasons as the Carolina Panthers coach, and he had left for the NFL after rebuilding Baylor following the scandal-filled Art Briles era. He was out of work less than two months after the Panthers fired him in October.

The unlikely pairing picked up a second win in just their 10th race together

The former Panthers coach was hired by Nebraska in late November

“It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work.”

Kyle Busch on joining Richard Childress Racing

AP PHOTO

Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

AP PHOTO

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule has endeared himself to Nebraska’s ardent fans, telling them what they want to hear when he says he wants to adopt the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

NFL suspends 5 players for violating gambling policy

The league punished four Lions and one player from the Commanders

The Associated Press

THREE NFL PLAYERS were suspended indefinitely last Friday for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season, while two other players, including the 12th overall draft pick a year ago, received six-game suspensions for betting on nonNFL games at a league facility.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus, Lions safety C.J. Moore and Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney are sidelined for the entire 2023 season and may petition for reinstatement afterward.

Lions wide receivers Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams each received a six-game suspension, though they will be able to participate in offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games. Their suspensions will start at the final roster cutdown.

The NFL said that a “league review uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was

used or that any game was compromised in any way.”

Gambling incidents have been relatively rare for the NFL. Most recently, wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season for gambling on NFL games; he was later traded from Atlanta to Jacksonville and was reinstated. In November 2019, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended for gambling on an NFL game; he has not played in the league since.

“I don’t think it’s a trend yet,” said Chris Altruda, a senior analyst for Sports Handle. “I do think the league has to do a better job messaging, and I think the teams have to do a better job of relaying that message as well.”

The Lions immediately released Cephus, who caught 37 passes in three seasons, and Moore, who started one game in four years.

Detroit executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes said the two “exhibited decision-making that is not consistent with our organizational values and violates league rules.”

Williams was the 12th overall pick in last year’s draft, but he played

in just six games after returning from knee surgery. Alliance Sports, which represents Williams, said in a statement the player is “apologetic to the NFL, his teammates and the fans and city of Detroit.” It also noted Williams’ suspension was for a “technical rule regarding the actual location in which the online bet was placed — and which would otherwise be allowed by the NFL out-

AP PHOTO

side of the club’s facility.”

Berryhill played in four games without a catch in his only season. Holmes said the Lions will work with both Berryhill and Williams “to ensure they understand the severity of these violations and have clarity on the league rules moving forward.”

Toney started one game in two seasons with the Commanders,

“I don’t think it’s a trend yet.”

Chris Altruda, senior analyst for Sports Handle

who said they have “cooperated fully with the NFL’s investigation since receiving notice and support the league’s findings and actions.”

With the rise of sports betting across the U.S., some pro teams have a sportsbook in their stadiums — like the Washington Nationals (MLB) and the Phoenix Suns (NBA) as well as the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Others, like the Arizona Cardinals, have a sportsbook on the grounds of the stadium and many fans bet on their phones while attending games. Sports betting ads also permeate breaks during NFL games. The NFL, along with other pro leagues, this week formed the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising, a group described as a voluntary alliance to control how consumers see advertising and to rein in “excessive” advertising.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, center left, speaks to his team standing next to assistant coach Tim Gleason during last Monday’s Game 1 of Carolina’s firstround playoff series against the New York Islanders.

AP PHOTO

Old-time hockey returns with coaches sniping in NHL playoffs

Officiating has been the main target of bench bosses’ griping

The Associated Press

NOT LONG AFTER Peter DeBoer quipped that Minnesota takes a lot of penalties, Dean Evason accused Dallas players of diving.

Sheldon Keefe suggested Tampa Bay players had manipulated referees during a fracas, prompting Jon Cooper to say he was confused by what his Toronto counterpart was getting at. Rod Brind’Amour sounded off about a missed call that left Carolina’s Teuvo Teravainen with a broken hand, which surprised Lane Lambert after his Islanders got zero power plays in the game.

No one is standing on the benches and yelling at each other — yet — but the first round of the NHL playoffs is an old-school throwback to coaches of yesteryear having it out off the ice to set the tone for their teams during hard-fought series. The sniping is on full blast.

“I love it,” retired Stanley Cup-winning coach Ken Hitchcock said Monday. “It’s one-upmanship. You’re doing anything you can to get an edge on the other guy. There’s no back-off from some of the coaches that are in there right now.”

Hitchcock knows all about it from his warring words with everyone from Lindy Ruff and John Tortorella to late Hall of Famer Pat Quinn.

Ruff — older and more mild-mannered now coaching the

New Jersey Devils in the playoffs — in 2006 said Hitchcock’s Flyers “acted like idiots.” Tortorella — age 64 and back in the league with Philadelphia — in 2004 said Hitchcock “should shut his yap.”

“Is he back out of that gopher hole again?” Hitchcock replied during that Eastern Conference final. “I’m going to have to do that ‘whack-a-mole’ thing.”

The back and forth this spring is significantly more subtle.

After his Stars evened their series against the Wild in a Game 2 that featured seven misconduct penalties, DeBoer made it a point to say: “Minnesota takes penalties. They’re the sixth-most penalized team in the league, so we’re ready for that.” Evason the next day said he and his staff watch every interview, adding Dallas “had

some bigger people probably go down pretty easy in that hockey game.” DeBoer called it “deflection” by Evason.

“Listen, if I was coaching one of the most penalized teams in the league, I’d probably do the same thing,” DeBoer added. “That’s good coaching by him.”

The same night, Brind’Amour complained about a “tomahawk chop” by New York’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau that injured Teravainen and wasn’t called a penalty. Lambert called it a play that happens 25, 30 times a game and wasn’t done with an intent to injure.

Toronto’s Keefe applauded opponents Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for fighting Auston Matthews and Ryan O’Reilly during the Lightning-Leafs game

Saturday night, — “a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation.”

“Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation,” Keefe said. “It’s a free pass. You do what you want, and not only do they get out of it unscathed but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there in manipulating that situation.”

The next day, Tampa Bay’s Cooper seemed puzzled.

“Manipulated the referees? I’m not sure what that means,” Cooper said. He went on to say everyone watching figured his team would get a power play. The Lightning did not and then lost in overtime.

The NFL has suspended five players, inclduing Lions defensive back C.J. Moore, for violating the league’s gambling policy.

States confront medical debt that’s

The Associated Press

DENVER — Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she’d had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills.

These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments.

Some of the bills would create medical debt relief programs or protect personal property from collections, while others would lower interest rates, keep medical debt from tanking credit scores or require greater transparency in

the costs of care.

In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process.

If it became law, Colorado would join Arizona in having one of the lowest medical debt interest

rates in the country. North Carolina lawmakers have also started mulling a 5% interest ceiling.

But there are opponents. Colorado Republican state Sen. Janice Rich said she worried that the proposal could “constrain hospitals’ debt collecting ability and hurt their cash flow.”

For patients, medical debt has become a leading cause of person-

al bankruptcy, with an estimated $88 billion of that debt in collections nationwide, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Roughly 530,000 people reported falling into bankruptcy annually due partly to medical bills and time away from work, according to a 2019 study from the American Journal of Public Health.

Powers’ family ended up owing $250,000 for the 19 life-saving abdominal surgeries. They declared bankruptcy in 2009, then the bank foreclosed on their home.

“Only recently have we begun to pick up the pieces,” said James Powers, Cindy’s husband, during his February testimony in favor of Colorado’s bill.

In Pennsylvania and Arizona, lawmakers are considering medical debt relief programs that would use state funds to help eradicate debt for residents. A New Jersey proposal would use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to achieve the same end.

Bills in Florida and Massachusetts would protect some personal property — such as a car that is needed for work — from medical debt collections and force providers to be more transparent about costs. Florida’s legislation received unanimous approval in House and Senate committees on its way to votes in both chambers.

In Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress lawmakers are contemplating bills that would bar medical debt from being included on consumer reports, thereby protecting debtors’ cred-

it scores.

Medical debt isn’t a strong indicator of people’s credit-worthiness, said Isabel Cruz, policy director at the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

While buying a car beyond your means or overspending on vacation can partly be chalked up to poor decision making, medical debt often comes from short, acute-care treatments that are unexpected — leaving patients with hefty bills that exceed their budgets.

For both Colorado bills — to limit interest rates and remove medical debt from consumer reports — a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the governor will “review these policies with a lens towards saving people money on health care.”

While neither bill garnered stiff political opposition, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association said the organization is working with sponsors to amend the interest rate bill “to align the legislation with the multitude of existing protections.”

The association did not provide further details.

To Vance, protecting her credit score early could have had a major impact. Vance’s medical debt began at age 19 from the skateboard crash, and then was compounded when she broke her arm soon after. Now 39, she has never been able to qualify for a credit card or car loan. Her in-laws cosigned for her Colorado apartment.

“My credit identity was medical debt,” she said, “and that set the tone for my life.”

House Republicans, Manhattan DA end fight over Trump inquiry

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Manhattan

District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed Friday to let Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee question an ex-prosecutor about the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Under the agreement, committee members will be able to question Mark Pomerantz under oath next month in Washington. The deal resolves a lawsuit in which Bragg had sought to block Pomerantz from testifying, ending a legal dispute that escalated to a federal appeals court just weeks after Trump’s historic indictment.

Pomerantz will be accompanied by a lawyer from Bragg’s office, an accommodation the committee said it would have allowed even without Friday’s agreement.

Bragg’s office and the Judiciary Committee reached the agreement after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay Thursday that temporarily halted enforcement of a House subpoena which had called for Pomerantz to testify.

Bragg’s office said delaying Pomerantz’s testimony until May 12 preserves the district attorney’s “privileges and interests” in his ongoing Trump prosecution.

“Our successful stay of this subpoena blocked the immediate deposition and afforded us the time necessary to coordinate with the House Judiciary Committee on an agreement that protects the District Attorney’s privileges and interests,” Bragg’s office said in a statement.

“We are pleased with this res-

olution, which ensures any questioning of our former employee will take place in the presence of our General Counsel on a reasonable, agreed upon timeframe. We are gratified that the Second Circuit’s ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute,” Bragg’s office said.

Bragg had appealed to the 2nd Circuit after a lower court judge ruled that there was no legal basis to block the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena and that Pomer-

antz’s deposition must go forward as scheduled.

Under the agreement, Bragg withdrew his appeal.

Russell Dye, a spokesperson for committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in a statement, “Mr. Pomerantz’s deposition will go forward on May 12, and we look forward to his appearance.” Pomerantz once oversaw the yearslong Trump investigation but left the job after clashing with Bragg over the direction of the

case. He recently wrote a book about his work pursuing Trump and discussed the investigation in interviews on “60 Minutes” and other shows.

Bragg, a Democrat, sued Jordan and the Judiciary Committee last week seeking to block the subpoena. His lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, argued that seeking Pomerantz’s testimony was part of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” Bragg and that Congress was “invading a state” to investigate a local prosecutor when it had no authority to do so.

Boutrous said House Republicans’ interest in Bragg amounted to Congress “jumping in and haranguing the D.A. while the prosecution is ongoing.”

The Judiciary Committee started scrutinizing Bragg’s investigation of the former president in the weeks that preceded his indictment. Jordan sent letters seeking interviews with Bragg and documents before subpoenaing Pomerantz. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, said in her ruling Wednesday that she would handle any legal fights that may arise from other subpoenas in the committee’s investigation of Bragg.

A committee lawyer, Matthew Berry, said at that hearing that Congress has legitimate legislative reasons for wanting to question Pomerantz and examine Bragg’s prosecution of Trump, citing the office’s use of $5,000 in federal funds to pay for Trump-related investigations.

Congress is also considering legislation, offered by Republicans in the wake of Trump’s in-

dictment, to change how criminal cases against former presidents unfold, Berry said. One bill would prohibit prosecutors from using federal funds to investigate presidents, and another would require any criminal cases involving a former president be resolved in federal court instead of at the state level.

House Republicans, Berry said, want to protect the sovereignty and autonomy of the presidency, envisioning a scenario where the commander in chief could feel obligated to make certain decisions to avoid having local prosecutors in politically unfavorable jurisdictions charge them with crimes after they leave office.

For those reasons, Berry argued, Congress is immune from judicial intervention, citing the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Pomerantz could refuse to answer certain questions, citing legal privilege and ethical obligations, and Jordan would rule on those assertions on a case-by-case basis, Berry said, but he shouldn’t be exempt from showing up. If Jordan were to overrule Pomerantz and he still refused to answer, he could then face a criminal referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress, but that wouldn’t happen immediately, Berry said.

Trump was indicted last month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

bankrupting millions

AP PHOTO

FILE - Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP

The gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol on March 23, 2023, in Denver.

YEARS

Terry Huttenstine

April 13, 1950 ~ April 22, 2023

On April 22, 2023, Sergeant First Class Terry Huttenstine retired from life at the age of 72 years old.

Terry began his service to God and Country on April 13, 1950, to Mildred Harris of Aledo, Illinois.

Terry retired from the U.S Army after 22 years of service and then retired from Campbell Soup Co. after the next 17 years.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Mildren Harris; stepfather, Lowell Harris; brothers, George, Ronnie, and Ike; daughter, Tiffany Renee Huttenstine; grandson, Gavin Quick; and in laws, Bobbie, and Gracie Milikin. Terry is survived by his wife of 39 years, Mona Lisa Huttenstine; children, William Quick, Robert Quick, Shannon Sutton, Stevin Huttenstine; siblings, Tony Huttenstine, and Beverly Carter; grandkids, Dakota Huttenstine, Caleb Huttenstine, Mahala Huttenstine, Makenna Huttenstine, Chayton Quick, Triston Quick, Deaglan Quick, Liam Quick, Sapphira Quick, Sarah Brown, Elijah Long, Israel Carter, and Sydney Carter; brother and sister in laws, Kay Swain, Earnest Swain, Phillip Millikin, and Wendy Millikin. Many nieces and nephews that were considered his own kids in his heart. Lastly, his best friend and brother in arms, Michael Jones and his family.

James (J.C.) Calvin Harris

July 27, 1936 ~ April 18, 2023

Mr. James Calvin (J.C) Harris, Sr. of Raeford, NC passed away peacefully at First Health Moore Regional Hospital, surrounded by his family at the age of 86.

J.C. was born in Hoke County, NC on July 27, 1936, to the late Robie Woodrow Harris and Mary Thelma Collier Harris.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Roy Harris; and two sisters, Bonnie McNeill, and Betty Currie.

J.C. was an avid fisherman. He retired from Burlington after 43 years.

He is survived by his companion, Mary Baxley, of Raeford; two daughters, Becky Harris, and Wanda Chavis, both of Shannon; son, James Calvin Harris, Jr., of Parkton; a brother, Ellis (Juice) Harris, of Raeford; a sister, Patsy Lockridge, of Raeford; six grandchildren; seventeen great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; a special niece, Melissa Cain and her daughter Justine Chavis; and two nephews, Timmy Cain and Shawn Baxley.

Akeem BriggsSmith

September 19, 1992 ~ April 16, 2023

Mr. Akeem Briggs-Smith age, 30 transitioned from earth to glory on April 16, 2023. He was preceded in death by his father Murdock Smith Jr. He leaves to cherish his loving memories his mother, Tonya Smith; step father, Rodney Reed Sr., sisters: Jasmine Briggs, Latifa Smith; aunts: Jawanna Briggs, Teyah Jones, Evelyn Guerard, Erica Smith Ratcliff; uncles: Murphy Smith, Alton Jarod Smith along with a host of other family and friends. Akeem will be greatly missed.

Ruth M Quick

May 16, 1934 ~ April 18, 2023

Ms. Ruth Quick age, 88 went home to rest with her Heavenly Father on April 18. 2023. She leaves to Cherish her loving memories her children: Mavis Julian, Solomon Quick; five grandchildren along with a host of other family and friends. Ruth will be greatly missed.

Ashanti Allen

August 7, 2003 ~ April 14, 2023

Ruegene Arbradella (Davis) Harmon

July 4, 1937 ~ April 9, 2023

Ms. Ruegene Davis Harmon age, 85 went home to rest with her heavenly father on April 9, 2023. She was the daughter of the late Phillip and Sallie Davis. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her children: Sheree Harmon Ramirez (Alex Ramirez), Justine Harmon, Vikki Harmon; sisters: Betty, Ila, Brenda, Naomi, Deborah; brothers: John, Tommy; eight grandchildren, one great grandchild along with a host of other family and friends. Ruegene will be greatly missed.

Ms. Ashanti Allen age, 19 transtioned from earth to glory on April 14, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her mother, Quinette McGougan; father, Bobby Allen; sisters: Akera Allen, Saniya Allen, Ayanna Allen, Amelia Allen; brothers: Corey Allen, Q'Monte Allen, Davyus Allen; aunts: Genise Minefield, Jackie McMillian; uncles: James Allen, William McGougan, Tony McGougan, Kevin Grace along with a host of other family and friends. Ashanti Will be greatly missed.

STATE & NATION

Longtime education leader named North Carolina community college head

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — The incoming president of North Carolina’s community college system pledged Monday to work to advance people toward economic success through post-secondary education that will also meet employers’ needs for high-skilled labor.

Jeff Cox, the current president of Wilkes Community College, spoke at an introductory news conference three days after the state system’s board chose him as the top executive for the 58-college system, which educates nearly 600,000 students annually. He’s expected to officially begin the job on July 1. There’s been an interim president in place since last summer, when predecessor Thomas Stith resigned after 18 months.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and others attending the event called Cox a great person for the job, citing in part his career as a former public school teacher and principal, and as the head of Alleghany County schools before becoming the Wilkes president in 2014. Cooper and other speakers emphasized the need for K-12 schools and community colleges to work closely to train future workers.

“The guy that the board has hired knows it all,” Cooper said. “It makes sense that this board decided that he should lead this community college system into the future. I’m excited about your

tenure, Jeff.” State schools Superintendent Catherine Truitt, a Republican, also praised his hiring. An Alleghany County native, Cox talked about his commitment for the system to bring more North Carolina citizens out of poverty. Across much of the state, he said, people who are born poor have a

two-in-three chance of staying poor as an adult.

“Our community colleges are at the very heart of changing that statistic and reversing that,” Cox said. “We’ve got businesses and industry who are yearning to have qualified employees, and we’ve got folks who are living in pover-

ty who are yearning for a better tomorrow.”

At the same time, between 30% and 40% of the state’s high school graduates aren’t seeking any additional schooling, he said.

“We have to find a better way to connect with those young people and help them understand

their economic vitality depends on them getting that post-secondary credential,” he said.

Members of the State Board of Community Colleges, which hired him after a national search, appeared to be impressed with such efforts at Wilkes Community College. Friday’s news release announcing his hiring cited a student program completion rate that more than doubled over five years, record fundraising and the start of an initiative to guarantee students a chance to receive a tuition-free education.

A system spokesperson said Monday Cox will make $350,000 annually.

Cox’s hiring comes amid recent instability at the system office in Raleigh, high vacancy rates systemwide and efforts by Republican lawmakers to overhaul the system’s governance. Cox will be the fifth permanent system president since 2015.

The legislation, which could get a full Senate vote this week, would give the president’s position more power while eliminating the governor’s ability to appoint almost half of the state board and many local trustee board positions. The legislators ultimately would elect all state board members and pick most of the campus board members. Cooper’s office has said doing away with the governor’s appointments would “damage significantly” job-recruiting efforts.

Cox said he couldn’t respond to criticisms by GOP senators that there’s an impression campuses have fallen short in helping employers seek trained workers, saying he didn’t know specifics.

“We’ve got great presidents out there leading the 58,” he said. “I know their hearts are in it to fix it in their communities.”

Unprepared for long war, US Army under gun to make more ammo

The Associated Press SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the most important munitions of the Ukraine war comes from a historic factory in this city built by coal barons, where tons of steel rods are brought in by train to be forged into the artillery shells Kyiv can’t get enough of — and that the U.S. can’t produce fast enough.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is at the vanguard of a multibillion-dollar Pentagon plan to modernize and accelerate its production of ammunition and equipment not only to support Ukraine, but to be ready for a potential conflict with China.

But it is one of just two sites in the U.S. that make the steel bodies for the critical 155 mm howitzer rounds that the U.S. is rushing to Ukraine to help in its grinding fight to repel the Russian invasion in the largest-scale war in Europe since World War II.

The invasion of Ukraine revealed that the U.S. stockpile of 155 mm shells and those of European allies were unprepared to support a major and ongoing conventional land war, sending them scrambling to bolster production. The dwindling supply has alarmed U.S. military planners, and the Army now plans to spend billions on munitions plants around the country in what it calls its most significant transformation in 40 years. It may not be easy to adapt:

practically every square foot of the Scranton plant’s red brick factory buildings — first constructed more than a century ago as a locomotive repair depot — is in use as the Army clears space, expands production to private factories and assembles new supply chains. There are some things that Army and plant officials in Scranton won’t reveal, including where they get the steel for the shells and exactly how many more rounds

this factory can produce.

“That’s what Russia wants to know,” said Justine Barati of the U.S. Army’s Joint Munitions Command.

So far, the U.S. has provided more than $35 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

The 155 mm shell is one of the most often-requested and supplied items, which also include air defense systems, long-range missiles and tanks.

The rounds, used in howitzer systems, are critical to Ukraine’s fight because they allow the Ukrainians to hit Russian targets up to 20 miles away with a highly explosive munition.

The Army is spending about $1.5 billion to ramp up production of 155 mm rounds from 14,000 a month before Russia invaded Ukraine to over 85,000 a month by 2028, U.S. Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo told a symposium last month.

Already, the U.S. military has given Ukraine more than 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm ammunition, according to Army figures.

But even with higher near-term production rates, the U.S. cannot replenish its stockpile or catch up to the usage pace in Ukraine, where officials estimate that the Ukrainian military is firing 6,000 to 8,000 shells per day. In other words, two days’ worth of shells fired by Ukraine equates to the United States’ monthly pre-war production figure.

“This could become a crisis. With the front line now mostly stationary, artillery has become the most important combat arm,” said a January report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Currently, the metal bodies for the 155 mm shells are made at the Army’s Scranton plant, operated by General Dynamics, and at a General Dynamics-owned plant in nearby Wilkes-Barre, officials say.

Together, the plants are under contract for 24,000 shells per month, with an additional $217 million Army task order to further boost production, although officials won’t say how many more 155 mm shells are sought by the task order.

The obstacles the U.S. faces in ramping up production can be seen at the Scranton plant.

The factory — built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad just after 1900, when the city was a rising coal and railroad powerhouse — has produced large-caliber ammunition for the military going back to the Korean War.

But the buildings are on the National Historic Registry of Historic Places, limiting how the Army can alter the structures.

Inside, the floor is crowded with piles of shells, defunct equipment and production lines where robotic arms, saws, presses and other machines cut, heat, forge, temper, pressure test, wash and paint the shells.

The plant is in the midst of $120 million in modernization plans and the Army hopes to open a new production line there by 2025.

Still, clearing space for it has been a complicated task while the military adds newer machinery to make existing lines more efficient.

“There’s a lot going on,” said Richard Hansen, the Army commander’s representative at the plant.

AP PHOTO

Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox, right, speaks as Gov. Roy Cooper, center, and State Board of Community Colleges Chair Burr Sullivan listen during a news conference at the North Carolina Community College System offices in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, April 24, 2023. Cox spoke three days after the State Board of Community Colleges approved him to become the next president of the 58-college system.

AP PHOTO

A steel worker moves a 155 mm M795 artillery projectile during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pa., Thursday, April 13, 2023.

PHOTOS BY SHAWN KREST | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

College greats enter NC hall

Former Wake Forest golfer and PGA legend Curtis Strange, bottom right, and Winston-Salem State football standout Donald Evans, top right, were inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend. Both men joined a star-studded class that included Jerry Stackhouse, Rick Barnes and a dozen others.

COUNTY NEWS

1 dead, 4 injured in shooting at park party

Forsyth County

One woman was fatally shot and four people injured when several people opened fire Saturday night at a large outdoor party in WinstonSalem.

Winston-Salem police arrived at Happy Hill Park to find multiple people with gunshot wounds and a crowd of about 200 fleeing from the pavilion where a party was held. Beatrice Knights, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police report released Sunday. No arrests had been made.

“Numerous” people fired weapons at the party, police said, but no one came forward with information identifying the shooters.

Police also found Latia Brown, 34, suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to the arm, leg and abdomen. Emergency medical services transported her from the park to a nearby hospital late Saturday.

Three other people with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds were driven by friends to various hospitals for medical attention. A hospital in Greensboro treated Maya Alston, 24, for a gunshot wound to the face. Alston has since been released, according to police.

Demaryo Gamble, 30, was being treated at a hospital in Clemmons for a gunshot wound to the leg, and 20-yearold Monique Griffin was being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm, police said.

Police were investigating the crime scene Sunday and the area surrounding Happy Hill Park was closed. AP

WSFCS presents initial proposal for 2023-24 school budget

WSFCS seeing strong support from local volunteers

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM — The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education met Tuesday, April 11 with a handful of programming updates on the agenda.

The board was first given an update on the state of the WS/FCS Volunteer Program after it was brought back in-house in 2020.

“This year, we’ve been in active conversation with over 95 partners on a variety of initiatives and projects,” said Executive Director of Community Engagement Mark Batten. “I also want to take a moment to acknowledge that there are hundreds if not thousands of other partnerships at work in our

schools through our PTAs, our PTOs, our athletic boosters, band boosters just to name a few.”

According to Batten, a large percentage of WSFCS community engagement connections include corporate partners, nonprofit partners, advocacy groups, higher education, faith communities and local government agencies. In addition, from those partners and additional sources, over 11,750 volunteers have been cleared since August 2022, with the top three interests being field trip chaperones (7,883), classroom helpers (4,844), and festivals and concessions (3,630).

“Our goal for community engagement is to cultivate long-term partnerships where partners are invested in the work over a longterm basis whether it be supporting our 95/25 goal, providing tangible resources or supporting academic and personal development for our students,” Batten

“Priority one is instruction, priority two is culture and priority three is talent”

Superintendent Tricia McManus

said. The board was also given its first look at the proposed FY 2024 budget update.

According to Chief Financial Officer Tommy Kranz, the initial projected request for FY 2024 is $173,733,015.29 from the county/local funds. The adopted budget for FY 2023 was $156,756,825 and so the additional impacts come from a 10% average pay increase, retirement rate increase, FICA and Worker’s Compensation, health insurance increase and custodial cost increases.

“There is a process to what we decide to fund in our district,” said Superintendent Tricia McManus. “It’s based on initiatives that have the greatest impact and are necessary to receive funding support. So basically, our 23-24 proposed budget, that’s what it’s about. It’s about looking at our five strategic goal plans that we base everything around but also our three main priorities. Priority one is instruction, priority two is culture and priority three is talent.”

One of the key areas that WSFCS is trying to work around within the proposed budget is a plan to provide funding to address salary compression and differential pay.

“Last year, the request was made for $4.34 million to address classified employee compression,” Kranz said. “The county elected not to fund that portion of our request. So what we’re trying to come up with is a plan that through managing our existing resources, we’re able to free up dollars.”

WSFCS plans to utilize savings generated from the management of the budget throughout the year, including lapse savings, vacancy

See BOE, page 2

The Winston-Salem Symphony Presents “The Music of Star Wars” John Williams and the Skywalker Saga

North State Journal

PICK UP YOUR LIGHTSABER and join the Winston-Salem Symphony on Saturday, May 6, to embark on a journey to that galaxy far, far away for an evening of music by legendary composer John Williams. Guest conductor Christopher James Lees will lead the Symphony through the soaring music from all three “Star Wars” trilogies.

The concert celebrates the music written by one of America’s most celebrated living composers, John Williams. The music from “Star Wars” is some of the most beloved in the history of film music, including “The Main Theme,” “The Imperial March,” and “Duel of the Fates.” Members of the Carolina Garrison of the 501st Legion of officially sanctioned “Star Wars” re-enactors will join the Symphony, allowing the audience to experience the entire Skywalker Saga, including the adventures of Anakin, Luke, Rey, and all their

friends.

“The Music of Star Wars” will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium at 301 North Hawthorne Road in Winston-Salem. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Box Office at 336-464-0145.

“A Young Padawan’s Concert” featuring “Star Wars” music is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium. This shorter concert is kid friendly and will feature a musical instrument petting zoo and other activities. The doors open an hour before the show starts for photos with costumed members of the 501st Legion.

Guest conductor Christopher James Lees has been the Resident Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra since 2018. He conducts more than 50 annual concerts with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra each year. Lees has appeared on stage as a guest conductor across the country with

the New York Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Locals may recognize Lees from his time on faculty with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

The 501st Legion is an all-volunteer organization formed to bring together costume enthusiasts under a collective identity within which to operate. The Legion seeks to promote interest in “Star Wars” by building and wearing professional quality costumes and to facilitate the use of these costumes for “Star Wars”-related events and contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work.

While a growing number of people are experiencing a reawakening of their Star Wars” fandom, new generations are seeking ways to celebrate their passion for George Lucas’s modern mythology. The 501st Legion brings these fans together, reinforcing the enduring longevity of the Star Wars saga.

#244 “Join the conversation”

Slavery, the left, and truth

A GENERATION OF AMERICANS is being raised on half-truths and lies about the history of slavery in America.

in the American South.

But University of Illinois professor of Economics, Deirdre McCloskey, answered this:

DEATH NOTICES

♦ Marilyn Joyce Sowers Boles, 80, of Lexington, died April 23, 2023.

♦ Mary Cherry, 76, died April 20, 2023.

♦ Ursula Field Clark, 93, of Bermuda Run, died April 21, 2023.

♦ Walter Emmett Gladstone III, 72, of Hendersonville, died April 19, 2023.

♦ Clarence J. Hart, 73, died April 20, 2023.

♦ Richard Everette “Zeke” Johnson, 70, of Winston-Salem, died April 21, 2023.

♦ Nick Glenn Miller Jr., 78, of Forsyth County, died April 19, 2023.

♦ Roger Lee Mozingo, 84, of WinstonSalem, died April 20, 2023.

♦ John Phillip Porcari, 91, of Advance, died April 19, 2023.

♦ Arlis Ray Poindexter, 66, of Clemmons, died April 23, 2023.

♦ James Wayne Stevens, 64, of Winston-Salem, died April 21, 2023.

♦ Odessa Beaver Stutts, 92 of Clemmons, died April 20, 2023.

♦ Mark Avett Swaringen, 77, of WinstonSalem, died April 21, 2023.

♦ Edward Lawrence Turner, 77, of Winston-Salem, died April 19, 2023.

♦ Francis Allen (Yank) Yancey, 95, of Winston-Salem, died April 21, 2023.

♦ Francis Allen (Yank) Yancey, 95, of Winston-Salem, died April 21, 2023. Bottom of Form

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savings, position attrition and the reallocation of salary costs to find the necessary funding.

“Once we build up enough we can start addressing our compression,” Kranz said. “You can address the differential pay. We’re going to compete with the Charlottes and the Guilfords and the Wakes that have a larger tax base than we do.”

The proposed budget will be an ongoing item, with a public hearing on it scheduled for April 25 and a potential vote scheduled for May 9.

Finally, the board approved the Philo-HillMagnet Academy guaranteed maximum price for construction at $41,887,239 in order to move the project along, the kitchen renovations at both Mount Tabor High School and Cook Elementary School, a resolution expressing board commitment to voluntary desegregation in four IB Magnet Schools in line with discussions from earlier in the month about seeking additional charter school funding, and the new bell times –from 7:55 to 2:25 – for Petree Elementary School. The WSFCS Board of Education will next meet April 25.

From the beginning of Islam in the 7th century through the year 1600, the estimated number of Africans enslaved by Muslims was about 7 million.

They are given the impression that America was uniquely bad and that American slavery was uniquely bad. They learn nothing about slavery elsewhere. Among the many lies they are told are that “black slaves bult America” and that America is systemically racist. Since the only mortal enemy of the Left is truth, here are some truths about slavery.

AMERICA’S SLAVERY COMPARED TO SLAVERY ELSEWHERE

If you are interested in morality and committed to truth, you do not ask, “Who had slaves?” You ask, “Who ended slavery?”

Who had slaves?

Every civilization throughout history had slaves: Asian societies, Africans, Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples around the world, and the Muslim/ Arab world, which may have had the most slaves of all. Who ended slavery?

There was only one thing unique about slavery in the West: It raised the issue of the morality of slavery, ferociously debated it and finally abolished it there, before it was abolished in any other civilization. If you care about moral truth rather than, for example, promoting America-hatred, you must recognize — and you must teach — that America was one of the first slave-holding societies to abolish slavery. This even includes Africa. Cornell professor Sandra Greene, a black scholar of African history, notes, “Slavery in the United States ended in 1865, but in West Africa it was not legally ended until 1875, and then it stretched on unofficially until almost World War I.”

The numbers of slaves

According to the authoritative SlaveVoyages.org, the total number of black slaves imported from Africa into America was 305,326. The number of black slaves other countries imported from Africa into the rest of the New World — i.e., into the Caribbean and South America — was 12,521,337. In other words, other countries imported 41 times the number of black slaves into the Western Hemisphere than the United States did (including the years before American independence). Yet, the American Left never mentions this important moral point — because the Left-controlled education system suppresses facts it finds inconvenient, and the Left is not interested in morality or truth, but in vilifying America.

And then there is Arab/Muslim enslavement of blacks. Professor Paul Lovejoy, in his “Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa” (Cambridge University Press, 2012), reveals that from the beginning of Islam in the 7th century through the year 1600, the estimated number of Africans enslaved by Muslims was about 7 million. After 1600, it was about a million per year. Do American students ever learn about the Arab/ Muslim slave trade? How many know, for example, that a great percentage of the African male slaves were castrated so that they could not have families?

“BLACK SLAVES BULT AMERICA.”

This is another lie of the Left.

Those who make this argument point to the lucrative cotton manufacturing and trade in the 19th-century — the industry in which black slaves were primarily used

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“Growing cotton, unlike sugar or rice, never required slavery. By 1870, freedmen and whites produced as much cotton as the South produced in the slave time of 1860. Cotton was not a slave crop in India or in southwest China, where it was grown in bulk... That slaves produced cotton does not imply that they were essential or causal in the production...

“The United States and the United Kingdom and the rest would have become just as rich without the 250 years of unrequited toil. They have remained rich, observe, even after the peculiar institution was abolished, because their riches did not depend on its sinfulness.”

But one need not know anything about cotton to understand how false “Black slaves built America” is. All you need is common sense.

First, even if slavery accounted for much of the wealth of the South, the Civil War that brought slavery to an end in the United States wiped out nearly all of that wealth and cost the Union billions (in today’s dollars).

Second, if slavery built the American economy, the most robust economy in world history, why didn’t Brazil become an economic superpower? Brazil imported four million black slaves, about 12 times as many as America. Why did the slave-owning American South lag so far behind the North economically? Why did England, which, though it played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade until the beginning of the 19th century, had almost no slaves, become the most advanced economy of the 19th century?

“Black slaves built America” is left-wing propaganda to vilify America and to discredit capitalism.

“America is systemically racist.”

This is the Great Left Lie.

Four million black people have emigrated to the United States since the 1960s — and tens of millions more would if they could. Are they all fools? Why would anyone move to a country that is systemically bigoted against them? Did any Jews emigrate to Germany in the 1930s?

Blacks have emigrated to the United States because they know what Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the black woman who fled her homeland of Somalia and who now writes and lectures in America, knows:

“What the media do not tell you is that America is the best place on the planet to be black, female, gay, trans or what have you.”

Blacks emigrating to America know what Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, writing in Le Monde and Le Point, knows:

“It is forbidden to say that the West is also the place to which we flee when we want to escape the injustice of our country of origin, dictatorship, war, hunger, or simply boredom. It is fashionable to say that the West is guilty of everything.”

As regards American slavery and everything else, always remember this: Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value. It is not a left-wing value. Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talkshow host and columnist.

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(F), 44) Fail To

COLUMN | DENNIS PRAGER

SIDELINE REPORT

NBA

Markkanen named NBA’s most improved player New York

All-Star forward Lauri

Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was announced Monday night as the winner of the award. The selection is made by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The news came just past 2 a.m. Tuesday in Helsinki, where Markkanen is currently fulfilling the military service that is mandated for all Finnish men before they turn 30. He began his enlistment there earlier this month.

Markkanen beat out fellow finalists Jalen Brunson of New York and Shai GilgeousAlexander of Oklahoma City for the award. He averaged a career-best 25.6 points per game this season.

CYCLING

Pogacar undergoes wrist surgery after crash

Brussels

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar says he was lucky to escape from his weekend crash with only a broken left wrist. The injury is not expected to derail his Tour preparations. Pogacar was expected to travel home on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on the wrist in Belgium. The Slovenian rider’s team says the surgery to insert a screw to realign the fragments of his scaphoid bone went well. He was injured in a crash during the one-day Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic.

TRACK & FIELD

1948 Olympic bronze medalist Douglas dies at 101

Pittsburgh

Herb Douglas, who turned a chance encounter with Jesse Owens as a teenager into fuel to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 Olympics, has died at 101. The University of Pittsburgh, where Douglas starred on both the football and track teams before later serving in various roles for his alma mater, said Douglas died Saturday. Douglas was 14 when he met Owens in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Douglas grew up. Douglas was inducted into the inaugural Pitt athletics Hall of Fame class in 2018. The university is naming the 300-meter indoor track at its planned Victory Heights facility after Douglas.

MLB

A’s move Japanese rookie Fujinami to bullpen

Anaheim, Calif.

Oakland Athletics rookie pitcher Shintaro Fujinami is being moved to the bullpen after struggling in his first four major league starts. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels that the Japanese right-hander would be available for relief duty starting Tuesday. Fujinami is 0-4 with a 14.40 ERA. He allowed eight runs on seven hits, with three walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches in 2⅓ innings during Saturday’s 18-3 loss at Texas.

Busch helps RCR return to Victory Lane

Busch as payback for wrecking a Richard Childress Racing entry –a confrontation that earned Childress a $150,000 fine from NASCAR.

The Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. — There were many dark days last season for Kyle Busch as his long, successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end.

JGR had lost its sponsor for the two-time Cup Series champion and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer was an expensive free agent. He offered to lower his market value and scoured the garage looking for a seat, facing the harsh reality that with all his talent he might not land with a top team.

It was Austin Dillon who asked his grandfather to consider speaking with Busch and somehow forget a 2011 incident in which Richard Childress attacked Busch following a Truck Series race. Childress famously removed his wristwatch before pummeling

Dillon made a convincing argument and a pairing that once seemed unfathomable came to fruition as Busch left JGR and Toyota for a new job driving a Chevrolet for Childress.

Through 11 races, it is a partnership that is changing the Cup Series landscape.

Busch won his second race of the season on Sunday with a victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, where he milked every last drop of fuel in his tank to steal the win. Crew chief Randall Burnett had called Busch in for a splash of gas during overtime, a decision that came too late for Busch to make it to pit road. Busch was secretly pleased: by not pitting, he gambled that he’d have a shot at the win rather than just a reasonable finish.

“Rowdy” is on a mission this season to prove his value, reaffirm

he is still an elite racer and thank RCR for giving him a job when his prospects seemed so grim.

“They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that,” Busch said. “It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work. Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in this year than I have in the last four — just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.”

It goes both ways.

RCR had fallen on hard times

Rhule embrace of Huskers tradition fuels popularity — so far

The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has quickly endeared himself to one of the nation’s most ardent fan bases in the five months since his hiring.

Rhule has yet to coach his first game for the Cornhuskers, though, and the true test of his popularity will come in a year or two when his work to bring back one of college football’s biggest brands is fully underway.

So far, he’s proved to be a fast study and served up big portions of red meat, frequently referencing the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

Unlike some previous coaches, Rhule has made a point to pay homage to program standard-bearer Tom Osborne, the 86-year-old Hall of Fame coach who won national titles three of the four years before his retirement. Osborne has already done a roundtable discussion with Rhule and athletic director Trev Alberts and accepted Rhule’s invitation to be the featured speaker at the annual coaches clinic.

Rhule also played an important role in helping Alberts get former coach Frank Solich to agree to be honored at Saturday’s spring game. Solich, whose ties to the program date to the 1960s, has been mostly estranged since his controversial 2003 firing.

Rhule and Solich have known each other since Rhule’s time as an assistant at Temple (200611) when the Owls were in the Mid-American Conference along

with Solich’s Ohio team. Rhule later led Temple’s turnaround from 2013-16 in the American Athletic Conference.

“I was impressed with their program and what they were all about, so when he got the job at Nebraska, I felt like that was a good hire,” Solich said. “I know he contacted coach Osborne when he got here right away. Also, he’s been around the state visiting with tons of coaches and trying

over the last decade, and the Cup Series had seemed to pass by the proud organization that won six championships with the late Dale Earnhardt. RCR won just five races after Kevin Harvick left following the 2013 season but showed some promise last year with Tyler Reddick, who won three times.

Reddick decided he was leaving RCR at the end of the 2023 season to drive for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. With an opportunity for Reddick to move a year early, Dillon pushed his grandfather to consider Busch.

The first reward was Busch’s win earlier this season at Fontana, which earned him an automatic berth in the playoffs. Then came the win at Talladega, where Childress has 13 career victories as an owner and raced 19 times himself from 1969 through 1981. His career-best finish was sixth in 1980.

“I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be,” Childress said of Busch while making sure to credit his grandson for the hire.

to get a strong interest in Nebraska football and get himself and his staff known to the people of Nebraska.

“I think he’s making all the right moves and doing all the right things.”

Rhule has dropped references to the Huskers’ iconic red N on the helmet, his excitement about coaching in 100-year-old Memorial Stadium, and building depth with walk-ons and giving them real opportunities. He even promises to make the fullback part of the offense again.

The 48-year-old is a savvy user of social media and has appeared at events big and small, including last week’s nationally televised WWE SmackDown wrestling show in Lincoln where he enthusiastically shouted “Go Big Red!” into the camera.

Rhule took over a program that has won five national championships, the most recent in 1997, but hasn’t appeared in a bowl or finished higher than fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West since 2016.

“I want to make sure they know ... that we know how long they have waited for Nebraska football to play the way that we all believe it is capable of playing,” Rhule said of the fans. “We are not there yet, but we will try to honor their patience and their loyalty with our work.”

Rhule spent two-plus seasons as the Carolina Panthers coach, and he had left for the NFL after rebuilding Baylor following the scandal-filled Art Briles era. He was out of work less than two months after the Panthers fired him in October.

The unlikely pairing picked up a second win in just their 10th race together

The former Panthers coach was hired by Nebraska in late November

“It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work.”

Kyle Busch on joining Richard Childress Racing

AP PHOTO

Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

AP PHOTO

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule has endeared himself to Nebraska’s ardent fans, telling them what they want to hear when he says he wants to adopt the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

STATE & NATION

Longtime education leader named North Carolina community college head

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — The incoming president of North Carolina’s community college system pledged Monday to work to advance people toward economic success through post-secondary education that will also meet employers’ needs for high-skilled labor.

Jeff Cox, the current president of Wilkes Community College, spoke at an introductory news conference three days after the state system’s board chose him as the top executive for the 58-college system, which educates nearly 600,000 students annually. He’s expected to officially begin the job on July 1. There’s been an interim president in place since last summer, when predecessor Thomas Stith resigned after 18 months. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and others attending the event called Cox a great person for the job, citing in part his career as a former public school teacher and principal, and as the head of Alleghany County schools before becoming the Wilkes president in 2014. Cooper and other speakers emphasized the need for K-12 schools and community colleges to work closely to train future workers.

“The guy that the board has hired knows it all,” Cooper said. “It makes sense that this board decided that he should lead this community college system into the future. I’m excited about your

tenure, Jeff.” State schools Superintendent Catherine Truitt, a Republican, also praised his hiring. An Alleghany County native, Cox talked about his commitment for the system to bring more North Carolina citizens out of poverty. Across much of the state, he said, people who are born poor have a

two-in-three chance of staying poor as an adult.

“Our community colleges are at the very heart of changing that statistic and reversing that,” Cox said. “We’ve got businesses and industry who are yearning to have qualified employees, and we’ve got folks who are living in pover-

ty who are yearning for a better tomorrow.”

At the same time, between 30% and 40% of the state’s high school graduates aren’t seeking any additional schooling, he said.

“We have to find a better way to connect with those young people and help them understand

their economic vitality depends on them getting that post-secondary credential,” he said.

Members of the State Board of Community Colleges, which hired him after a national search, appeared to be impressed with such efforts at Wilkes Community College. Friday’s news release announcing his hiring cited a student program completion rate that more than doubled over five years, record fundraising and the start of an initiative to guarantee students a chance to receive a tuition-free education.

A system spokesperson said Monday Cox will make $350,000 annually.

Cox’s hiring comes amid recent instability at the system office in Raleigh, high vacancy rates systemwide and efforts by Republican lawmakers to overhaul the system’s governance. Cox will be the fifth permanent system president since 2015.

The legislation, which could get a full Senate vote this week, would give the president’s position more power while eliminating the governor’s ability to appoint almost half of the state board and many local trustee board positions. The legislators ultimately would elect all state board members and pick most of the campus board members. Cooper’s office has said doing away with the governor’s appointments would “damage significantly” job-recruiting efforts.

Cox said he couldn’t respond to criticisms by GOP senators that there’s an impression campuses have fallen short in helping employers seek trained workers, saying he didn’t know specifics.

“We’ve got great presidents out there leading the 58,” he said. “I know their hearts are in it to fix it in their communities.”

Unprepared for long war, US Army under gun to make more ammo

The Associated Press SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the most important munitions of the Ukraine war comes from a historic factory in this city built by coal barons, where tons of steel rods are brought in by train to be forged into the artillery shells Kyiv can’t get enough of — and that the U.S. can’t produce fast enough.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is at the vanguard of a multibillion-dollar Pentagon plan to modernize and accelerate its production of ammunition and equipment not only to support Ukraine, but to be ready for a potential conflict with China.

But it is one of just two sites in the U.S. that make the steel bodies for the critical 155 mm howitzer rounds that the U.S. is rushing to Ukraine to help in its grinding fight to repel the Russian invasion in the largest-scale war in Europe since World War II. The invasion of Ukraine revealed that the U.S. stockpile of 155 mm shells and those of European allies were unprepared to support a major and ongoing conventional land war, sending them scrambling to bolster production. The dwindling supply has alarmed U.S. military planners, and the Army now plans to spend billions on munitions plants around the country in what it calls its most significant transformation in 40 years. It may not be easy to adapt:

practically every square foot of the Scranton plant’s red brick factory buildings — first constructed more than a century ago as a locomotive repair depot — is in use as the Army clears space, expands production to private factories and assembles new supply chains.

There are some things that Army and plant officials in Scranton won’t reveal, including where they get the steel for the shells and exactly how many more rounds

this factory can produce.

“That’s what Russia wants to know,” said Justine Barati of the U.S. Army’s Joint Munitions Command.

So far, the U.S. has provided more than $35 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

The 155 mm shell is one of the most often-requested and supplied items, which also include air defense systems, long-range missiles and tanks.

The rounds, used in howitzer systems, are critical to Ukraine’s fight because they allow the Ukrainians to hit Russian targets up to 20 miles away with a highly explosive munition.

The Army is spending about $1.5 billion to ramp up production of 155 mm rounds from 14,000 a month before Russia invaded Ukraine to over 85,000 a month by 2028, U.S. Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo told a symposium last month.

Already, the U.S. military has given Ukraine more than 1.5 million rounds of 155 mm ammunition, according to Army figures.

But even with higher near-term production rates, the U.S. cannot replenish its stockpile or catch up to the usage pace in Ukraine, where officials estimate that the Ukrainian military is firing 6,000 to 8,000 shells per day. In other words, two days’ worth of shells fired by Ukraine equates to the United States’ monthly pre-war production figure.

“This could become a crisis.

With the front line now mostly stationary, artillery has become the most important combat arm,” said a January report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Currently, the metal bodies for the 155 mm shells are made at the Army’s Scranton plant, operated by General Dynamics, and at a General Dynamics-owned plant in nearby Wilkes-Barre, officials say.

Together, the plants are under contract for 24,000 shells per month, with an additional $217 million Army task order to further boost production, although officials won’t say how many more 155 mm shells are sought by the task order.

The obstacles the U.S. faces in ramping up production can be seen at the Scranton plant.

The factory — built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad just after 1900, when the city was a rising coal and railroad powerhouse — has produced large-caliber ammunition for the military going back to the Korean War.

But the buildings are on the National Historic Registry of Historic Places, limiting how the Army can alter the structures.

Inside, the floor is crowded with piles of shells, defunct equipment and production lines where robotic arms, saws, presses and other machines cut, heat, forge, temper, pressure test, wash and paint the shells.

The plant is in the midst of $120 million in modernization plans and the Army hopes to open a new production line there by 2025.

Still, clearing space for it has been a complicated task while the military adds newer machinery to make existing lines more efficient.

“There’s a lot going on,” said Richard Hansen, the Army commander’s representative at the plant.

AP PHOTO

Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox, right, speaks as Gov. Roy Cooper, center, and State Board of Community Colleges Chair Burr Sullivan listen during a news conference at the North Carolina Community College System offices in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, April 24, 2023. Cox spoke three days after the State Board of Community Colleges approved him to become the next president of the 58-college system.

AP PHOTO

A steel worker moves a 155 mm M795 artillery projectile during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pa., Thursday, April 13, 2023.

MOORE COUNTY

Rise of canine influenza cases reported in North Carolina

Over the course of the last few weeks, veterinary officials in North Carolina have received multiple reports regarding the rise in cases of canine influenza. According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, cases of the Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC), which is caused by the H3N2 canine influenza virus, are currently being seen in both Durham and Moore counties. At this time, all of the official data concerning the spread of CIRDC directly involve boarding and daycare facilities in the state. Veterinary professionals across North Carolina are warning pet owners about the possibility of infection and urging people to get their dogs vaccinated, as canine influenza is very contagious and can spread through the air. As we enter the warmer months and people begin preparing to travel for the summer, clinics are expecting to see the number of reported cases continue to rise. Veterinary offices are currently experiencing a large number of scheduled appointments, so it is recommended that anyone who is interested in getting their dog vaccinated contact their local offices as soon as possible.

Moore authorities discover two bodies in four days

Last week, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office announced that they had discovered a body for the second time in the course of four days. According to Sheriff Ronnie Fields, the body of Christopher Damico was discovered in West End near Doubs Chapel Road. At this time, the cause of death of the 38-year-old has yet to determine the cause of his death. News of Damico’s death and discovery just days after deputies found the remains of 42-year-old Ashley Dale Spivey. Spivey’s remains were found on the train tracks in the Lakeview community. The Moore County Sheriff’s Office is requesting that anyone with information pertaining to either of these to please call the office’s Crime Tip Line at (910) 947-4444.

Moore County School board approves Parents Bill of Rights policy

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — At the April 17 regular meeting of the Moore County School Board, a Parents Bill of Rights policy was passed by a vote of 6-1.

Member Stacey Caldwell was the only member to vote against the policy. Later in the meeting, she said she agreed with most of what was in the policy but that she felt they “were targeting the LGBTQ community, and I will not be voting for this.”

The policy, first introduced in January of this year, outlines the role of parents in their child’s upbringing and education, and parents have the right to be informed about what their child is exposed to at school.

Broadly, the policy state that “Schools shall respect parents’ values and beliefs: Parents have the

right to instill in and nurture values and beliefs for their own children and make decisions concerning their children’s education and upbringing in accordance with their customs, faith, and family culture.”

A section of the Moore County Schools policy dealing with notifying parents if their child wants to use certain pronouns or gender identity “transition” while at school drew pushback from LGBTQ supporters:

“Parents are in the best position to work with their children and, where appropriate, their children’s health care providers to determine (a) what names, nicknames, and/ or pronouns, if any, shall be used for their child by teachers and school staff while their child is at school, (b) whether their child engages in any counseling or social transition at school that encourages a gender identity that differs

MCS approves proposed 2023-24 budget

Board approves new policy for additional reading requirements for students

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

ROBBINS — The Moore County Schools Board of Education met Monday, April 17, with policy revisions as the main agenda focus.

The board was first presented with the proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year.

“When we’re talking about the board of education’s budget, it’s really an articulation of the school district’s strategic plan,” said Superintendent Dr. Tim Locklair. “When we’re thinking about that, that budget drives that strategic plan forward and our work as a school district forward to improve outcomes for students, our parents and our community.”

According to Locklair, the budget contains three key narratives.

The first is fixed costs, so accounting for salary and benefit increases which are determined by the state budget.

“Taking care of our people so they can take care of our students,” Locklair said.

The second is potential expansion items brought forth by the board or staff, which includes additional resources to support the Community Learning Center at Pinckney, additional assistant principals, school police salary adjust-

ments, an IEP coordinator and bus driver incentive pay.

The third is the utilization and reinvestment of vacancy savings from vacant positions. The proposed 2023-24 budget totals $167,637,500, with a local expense request of $38,258,500 from the county commissioners.

“The revised format did have a slight increase in what would be our local request to the board of commissioners from what we brought to you in March,” Locklair said.

“That really represented updated forecasting or projections from

what we’re looking at the state budget to be. It also looked at some additional expansion items to consider.” Following the presentation, the board approved the proposed budget, which will be presented to the county commissioners in May.

The board also presented the second reading of eight new and revised policies, including a Parents’ Bill of Rights and Reading Requirements for Promotions, which requires four book reports to be completed in order to graduate to the next grade level, both of which

from their child’s biological sex, or

(c) whether their child expresses a gender identity that differs with their child’s biological sex while at school.”

During the public comments portion of the meeting, Amy Dahl, a North Moore High School teacher, accused the board of having policies that don’t just target gay and trans kids but all kids, stating, “what children seen done to their peers, they feel is done to them. Don’t target marginalized kids, and don’t pass policies that inhibit students from talking to teachers.”

She asked the board to “please center their focus on the well-being of children - take a cue from the medical profession, first, do no harm.” Alex Lafferty, a male 16-yearold Moore County student who identifies as a transgender female, claimed to be “terrified” by the policy.

were brought forth by Board Chair Robert Levy.

“We have a problem here in Moore County Schools and nationally,” Levy said. “The problem is that roughly half of our students are not reading on grade level. The bottom line is that this proposal, which goes through Grades 2-10, will have a group of students who get into the habit of reading. The policy is aimed at the students who are in the middle and sometimes below the middle. In order to bring up our test scores, we have to make sure those students are reading the books.”

The Parents’ Bill of Rights passed 6-1, with Stacey Caldwell the lone dissent.

The Reading Requirements passed 4-3, with Vice Chair David Hensley, Stacey Caldwell and Shannon Davis voting against it.

“As the policy is written, I do not support it,” Davis said on the Reading Requirements. “I do believe that the LETRS program that we’re implementing already is doing what it is you’re asking. Yesterday, I sat across the kitchen table from a lady who’s been teaching here in Moore County Schools for over 30 years with literally tears streaming down her face because of the pressure that this might put on them in addition to what they’re already doing.”

The board then tabled a device refresh for Pinecrest High School Teachers till June after concerns were raised by the board on the manufacturing of the devices.

“I continue to have concerns about privacy and other things related to IT, but on this one, I don’t mind paying more for equipment made outside of China,” Hensley

“I’m terrified. I am terrified for the future of women like me. Children like me. Human beings like me,” said Lafferty. “The parents’ bill of rights is unconstitutional, it’s un-American, and it is a pervasive and disgusting abuse of the Democratic system.”

Lafferty also told the board they don’t have “the authority to treat children this way, to treat trans people this way, to treat human beings this way” and that kids with unsupportive parents will be in danger. Lafferty didn’t elaborate on what would happen to a kid whose parents found out they may be transgender but claimed the “crimes, the inhumanities, will only increase” with a Parents Bill of Rights.

Later in the public comments portion, Lafferty’s mother, Erica, spoke. She said the policy “reeks of bias and subjective beliefs,” and the policy gives non-supportive parents “permission to reject their own children.”

Another student, claiming to be a 14-year-old transgender boy, said the Parents’ Bill of Rights was a “potential threat to all transgender

See PARENTS, page 2

said. “China is rattling their saber to go to war over Taiwan, they’re allying with France and Saudi Arabia to dump the petrodollar, and here we are spending the taxpayers’ money to enrich a country that is effectively at war with us. I personally try to avoid buying stuff made in China, and I will spend more if there are alternatives.”

The Moore County Schools Board of Education will next meet May 8.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Jackson backs Robinson for governor

Rep. Neal Jackson (R-Moore) speaks during Mark Robinson’s event at Ace Speedway on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Jackson is one of numerous Republicans backing the Lt. Gov. in his bid for governor in 2024.

AP PHOTO

This Sept. 11, 2019, file photo, shows rows of books at a library.

students,” that it was a “gateway to physical and emotional abuse,” and that “Us trans kids should have a right to keep our identity private if needed.”

Area citizen Steve Woodward said the bill will “restore an appropriate relationship between the underwriters of public education - taxpayers, and especially taxpaying parents.” He said it will stem the hijacking of classrooms by a fringe element that demonizes parents while grooming children and ignoring their mental health.

He said school employees complicit in hiding information from parents should be “weeded out” and “removed from their jobs.”

Another speaker, Hanna Parker, said she didn’t understand how those who object to the policy of returning rights to parents to oversee the well-being of their children were a problem. She said the teacher’s role is to teach that child.

“Teachers just agreeing with your lifestyle might not be the best thing for you,” Parker said. “And some parents are bad. I realize that. Some parents say they love God, and they won’t love you, and that’s wrong, and I’m sorry for that, but it is parents’ job to take care of their children.”

Parker added, “Living one way at school and another at home -

that will hurt you.”

Another supporter of the policy, former teacher Wendy Crespo, said the policy “is not a punishment for anyone, nor is it political or un-American. It is not a threat. It is about truly getting those serving our schools to work with our families. It is simply protecting the rights of parents themselves.”

Crespo went on to say that parents expect those who serve in schools to teach children the basics; reading, writing, arithmetic, true and accurate history, and science but “not to place undue influence on children about sex, sexual preferences, or even sexual confusion. None of that belongs in the classroom.”

The board’s vote on the policy took place near the end of the meeting, with Board Chair Robert Levy giving some remarks prior to the vote.

“We have to ask ourselves when we’re talking about a Parents Bill of Rights, who has the final say with regard to students?” Levy asked. “A lot of our teachers would love to say, “Well, I believe that they should be able to keep it a secret and confide in me.” We don’t have that right. That right is in the parents.”

The bottom line is we need to be open to everyone, and everyone means not just transgendered youth, not just LGBTQ youth, not

just non-believers, but also people of faith,” Levy said. “And we need to guarantee to parents that if you entrust your children to our schools, we’re going to make sure that we’re a partnership with you in raising those children and when it comes to critical things such as what people are now calling transgender transitioning, we will consult with you because they are your children, they are not our children. Even though we may have the best intentions, we still have to differ to you.”

Levy continued, “But if a teacher thinks that a child is going to be neglected or hurt under this policy, we are all mandated reporters. We have to call children services and let children services unravel and help protect the children. No one is here to endanger children, but we are here to assure parents that they can trust their schools to teach without usurping either their prerogatives or their religious beliefs or the like.”

The Moore School board’s approval of the policy comes as the Parents’ Bill of Rights passed by the Senate of the General Assembly appears to have stalled in a House committee. House K-12 Education Committee Co-Chair John Torbett (R-Gaston) told North State Journal earlier this year that the house may be submitting its own version of a Parents’ Bill of Rights.

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

April 27

Moore County Farmers Market

9am – 1pm

Enjoy the Moore County Farmers Market at the Armory Sports Complex.

Trivia Thursday at the Brewery 6pm

Come out for Trivia at the Southern Pines Brewery! Enjoy fun and prizes each Thursday.

April 28

Carthage Farmers Market

2pm – 6pm

Come out and support your local farmers at the brand-new farmers market in Carthage! The market features fresh produce, meats, eggs, and handmade goods! The market will be set up on S. Ray Street in the parking lot across from the post office.

April 29

SCC Bedding Plant Sale

9am – 12pm

show

♦

The Sandhills Community College Landscape Gardening department is holding their annual Bedding Plant Sale at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens

SIDELINE REPORT

NBA Markkanen

named NBA’s most improved player New York

All-Star forward Lauri

Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was announced Monday night as the winner of the award. The selection is made by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The news came just past 2 a.m. Tuesday in Helsinki, where Markkanen is currently fulfilling the military service that is mandated for all Finnish men before they turn 30. He began his enlistment there earlier this month. Markkanen beat out fellow finalists Jalen Brunson of New York and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City for the award. He averaged a career-best 25.6 points per game this season.

CYCLING

Pogacar undergoes wrist surgery after crash

Brussels

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar says he was lucky to escape from his weekend crash with only a broken left wrist. The injury is not expected to derail his Tour preparations. Pogacar was expected to travel home on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on the wrist in Belgium. The Slovenian rider’s team says the surgery to insert a screw to realign the fragments of his scaphoid bone went well. He was injured in a crash during the one-day Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic.

TRACK & FIELD

1948 Olympic bronze medalist

Douglas dies at 101 Pittsburgh

Herb Douglas, who turned a chance encounter with Jesse Owens as a teenager into fuel to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1948 Olympics, has died at 101. The University of Pittsburgh, where Douglas starred on both the football and track teams before later serving in various roles for his alma mater, said Douglas died Saturday. Douglas was 14 when he met Owens in the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Douglas grew up. Douglas was inducted into the inaugural Pitt athletics Hall of Fame class in 2018. The university is naming the 300-meter indoor track at its planned Victory Heights facility after Douglas.

Busch helps RCR return to Victory Lane

The unlikely pairing picked up a second win in just their 10th race together

The Associated Press TALLADEGA, Ala. — There were many dark days last season for Kyle Busch as his long, successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end.

JGR had lost its sponsor for the two-time Cup Series champion and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer was an expensive free agent. He offered to lower his market value and scoured the garage looking for a seat, facing the harsh reality that with all his talent he might not land with a top team.

It was Austin Dillon who asked his grandfather to consider speaking with Busch and somehow forget a 2011 incident in which Richard Childress attacked Busch following a Truck Series race. Childress famously removed his wristwatch before pummeling Busch as payback for wrecking a Richard Childress Racing entry – a confrontation that earned Childress a $150,000 fine from NASCAR.

Dillon made a convincing argument and a pairing that once seemed unfathomable came to fruition as Busch left JGR and Toyota for a new job driving a Chevrolet for Childress.

Through 11 races, it is a partnership that is changing the Cup Series landscape. Busch won his second race of the season on Sunday with a victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, where he milked every last drop of fuel in his tank to steal the win. Crew chief Randall Burnett had called Busch in for a splash of gas during overtime, a decision that came too late for Busch to make it to pit road. Busch was secretly pleased: by not pitting, he

gambled that he’d have a shot at the win rather than just a reasonable finish.

“Rowdy” is on a mission this season to prove his value, reaffirm he is still an elite racer and thank RCR for giving him a job when his prospects seemed so grim.

“They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that,” Busch said. “It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work. Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in

this year than I have in the last four — just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.”

It goes both ways.

RCR had fallen on hard times over the last decade, and the Cup Series had seemed to pass by the proud organization that won six championships with the late Dale Earnhardt. RCR won just five races after Kevin Harvick left following the 2013 season but showed some promise last year with Tyler Reddick, who won three times.

Reddick decided he was leaving RCR at the end of the 2023 season to drive for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. With an opportunity for Reddick to move a year early, Dillon pushed his grandfather to consider Busch.

The first reward was Busch’s win earlier this season at Fontana, which earned him an automatic berth in the playoffs. Then came the win at Talladega, where Childress has 13 career victories as an owner and raced 19 times himself from 1969 through 1981. His career-best finish was sixth in 1980.

“I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be,” Childress said of Busch while making sure to credit his grandson for the hire.

Rhule embrace of Huskers tradition fuels popularity — so far

The former Panthers coach was hired by Nebraska in late November

The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has quickly endeared himself to one of the nation’s most ardent fan bases in the five months since his hiring.

Rhule has yet to coach his first game for the Cornhuskers, though, and the true test of his popularity will come in a year or two when his work to bring back one of college football’s biggest brands is fully underway.

So far, he’s proved to be a fast study and served up big portions of red meat, frequently referencing the program’s traditional staples of hard work, physical practices and a pounding run game.

Unlike some previous coaches, Rhule has made a point to

pay homage to program standard-bearer Tom Osborne, the 86-year-old Hall of Fame coach who won national titles three of the four years before his retirement. Osborne has already done a roundtable discussion with Rhule and athletic director Trev Alberts and accepted Rhule’s invitation to be the featured speaker at the annual coaches clinic.

Rhule also played an important role in helping Alberts get former coach Frank Solich to agree to be honored at Saturday’s spring game. Solich, whose ties to the program date to the 1960s, has been mostly estranged since his controversial 2003 firing.

Rhule and Solich have known each other since Rhule’s time as an assistant at Temple (2006-11) when the Owls were in the Mid-American Conference along with Solich’s Ohio team. Rhule later led Temple’s turnaround from 2013-16 in the American Athletic Conference.

“I was impressed with their program and what they were all about, so when he got the job at Nebraska, I felt like that was a good hire,” Solich said. “I know he contacted coach Osborne when he got here right away. Also, he’s been around the state visiting with tons of coaches and trying to get a strong interest in Nebraska football and get himself and his staff known to the people of Nebraska.

“I think he’s making all the right moves and doing all the right things.”

Rhule has dropped references to the Huskers’ iconic red N on the helmet, his excitement about coaching in 100-year-old Memorial Stadium, and building depth with walk-ons and giving them real opportunities. He even promises to make the fullback part of the offense again.

The 48-year-old is a savvy user of social media and has appeared at events big and small, includ-

ing last week’s nationally televised WWE SmackDown wrestling show in Lincoln where he enthusiastically shouted “Go Big Red!” into the camera.

Rhule took over a program that has won five national championships, the most recent in 1997, but hasn’t appeared in a bowl or finished higher than fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West since 2016.

“I want to make sure they know ... that we know how long they have waited for Nebraska football to play the way that we all believe it is capable of playing,” Rhule said of the fans. “We are not there yet, but we will try to honor their patience and their loyalty with our work.”

Rhule spent two-plus seasons as the Carolina Panthers coach, and he had left for the NFL after rebuilding Baylor following the scandal-filled Art Briles era. He was out of work less than two months after the Panthers fired him in October.

AP PHOTO

Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Deborah Marie Hartzel

July 17, 1963 - April 15, 2023

Deborah Marie Hartzel. Age 59, of 2305 Nob Hill, Sanford, NC, went to the Lord on April 15, at First Health Hospice House in Pinehurst, NC. She fought a hard long fight of Anaplastic gliomas/glioblastoma for over 20 years.

Deborah was born in Philadelphia, on July 17, 1963, to Ralph R Routzahn Jr. and Dolores M Anderson. Deborah served in the Army, retired as Lieutenant Colonel in July 08, 2010. She attended Crossroads Ministries and was ordained through them.

Deborah is survived by her brother Scott Routzahn, brother Glenn Routzahn , Aunt/ Uncle Carol & Mark Sakaguchi and Many nieces and nephews.

Louise Ann Kauffman

October 7, 1930 - April 17, 2023

Louise Ann Kauffman, 92 of Seven Lakes West, passed away at FirstHealth Hospice House on April 17, 2023.

Louise was the beloved wife of the late Norman Kauffman, and the devoted mother to Linda (Larry) D’Amico, Michael (Shirley) Kauffman and Kenneth Kauffman. She is also survived by 4 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

Vernon Leroy Jackson

May 16, 1925 - April 20, 2023

Vernon Leroy Jackson, 97 passed away peacefully on April 20, 2023.

Born in Johnston County, NC he graduated from NC State with a degree in Agronomy and spent his working career helping farmers grow more productive crops. He served on many state and national boards related to agriculture and was a faithful member of the Methodist church. Leroy was a longtime resident of Raleigh and most recently Southern Pines. He is predeceased by his son James Leroy Jackson and survived by his wife Callie Marie of 68 years, son John and wife Heather of Carthage, grandson Matthew of Charlotte and many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank his many caregivers from Griswold, Comfort Keepers and Penick Village as well as the wonderful staff at First Health Moore Regional Hospital and First Health Hospice.

Esther Myers Sweeting

January 25, 1930 - April 22, 2023

Carolee Walker Ehnes

August 8, 1943 - April 20, 2023

Carolee “Carol” (Walker) Ehnes, 79 of Seven Lakes, NC, passed on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at the FirstHealth Hospice House in Pinehurst.

Mrs. Ehnes was born August 8, 1943, in Newton, New Jersey to the late Edward and Ruth (Brink) Walker. She attended college in New York and worked as a home health nurse for many years. She loved doting on her husband, children, and grandchildren, and she enjoyed shopping, traveling and solving puzzles. She especially liked to go to the beach and swim whenever possible. Over the years, she accumulated an incredible collection of Santa Claus figurines and carnival glassware.

Mrs. Ehnes is survived by her husband of 52 years, Gustave Anthony Ehnes, Jr. Two sons, Christopher Ehnes and wife Rebecca of Eustis, FL and Matthew Ehnes and wife Christina of Williamsburg, VA; a brother, Daniel Walker and wife Darlene of Delaware; two sisters, Kathy Kitchens and husband Donald of New Mexico and Ellen Mabey of South Carolina; two grandchildren, Christopher Ehnes and Kaitlyn Ehnes.

Mrs. Ehnes was preceded in death by a sister, Marilyn Boyer.

Esther Sweeting, 93, of Pinehurst passed peacefully at her home on April 22, 2023.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the daughter of the late Neta & Edward Myers. Esther was raised in Missouri and graduated from Rosevelt High School, class of 1948. Met and Married Don in 1949. She was active as a leader in Girl Scouts and a bible school teacher. Her work career was mainly service and 23 years in banking finishing at BB&T.

Esther was a member of Pinehurst United Methodist Church an avid golfer and bridge player. She was most proud of volunteer work with Bob Burell in starting the First Tee program many years ago, known as Coach Esther. She also volunteered for all of the championships at the resort.

Esther was the wife of the late Don Sweeting of Perry Illinois. She was the mother of Anita Thompson of Lynchburg, Virginia, Donna Butler of Carolina Beach, North Carolina and Don Sweeting of Aiken, South Carolina. She was the sister of Margie Smith. Esther is also survived by her 5 grandchildren: Charles Thompson, Lynn Engle, Chris Thompson, Ashley Eisenbrown and Trey Sweeting.

Kathleen Bessler

August 11, 1951 - April 21, 2023

Kathleen Hernecek Bessler, 71, of Carthage, NC passed away April 21, 2023 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC.

Kathleen was born August 11, 1951 in Cleveland, OH to the late Stanley and Rose Baginski Hernecek.

Kathleen is survived by her son, Charles McKinley Frum, II; grandson, Cade Frum; sister, Diane Rinaldi, brother, Kenneth Hernecek (Juanita); nieces and nephews, Cindy, Missy, Tori, Ken Jr., and Desiree.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Debbie Hernecek and brotherin-law Rich Rinaldi.