Job openings rose in April, signaling strong labor market
Washington, D.C.
U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in April, showing that the labor market remains resilient in the face of uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s trade wars. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in April, up from 7.2 million in March. Economists had expected openings to drift down to 7.1 million. But the number of Americans quitting their job — a sign of confidence in their prospects — fell, and layoffs ticked higher. Openings remain high by historical standards but have dropped sharply since peaking at 12.1 million in March 2022 when the economy was still roaring back COVID-19 lockdowns.
Dollar General sets record as bargain stores attract more buyers
Dollar General set a quarterly sales record of $10.44 billion and upgraded its annual profit and sales outlook as Americans tighten their budgets and spend more at dollar stores and off price retailers amid economic uncertainty. The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump’s trade wars disrupted business. Consumer spending also slowed sharply.
For the period ended May 2, Dollar General’s sales climbed 5%, better than expected by Wall Street analysts.
Stanly County commissioners tasked with board appointments
Membership decisions were made for three boards
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — The Stanly County Board of Commissioners recently made membership adjustments to three boards delegated to county approval.
At the commissioners’ meeting on Monday night, the board was presented with pending appointments for the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC), an extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) representative for the Norwood Planning and
Zoning Board, and the Stanly Community College (SCC) Board of Trustees.
Dolly Clayton, the county’s health and human services director, told the commission-
ers that Stanly County had membership applications for the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council for Kathy Johansen, Michael Hatley and Victoria Ramos.
Albemarle City Council passes proposed 2025-26 city budget
“It’s hard to fathom the dollar sign that you see in regard to what our people do for that number to keep it as low as it is.”
Councilmember Benton Dry
Councilmembers narrowly decided to keep the same property tax rate
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — At the Albemarle City Council meeting on Monday night, councilmembers voted 4-3 to pass their proposed 2025-26 city budget.
The budget will keep the property tax rate at 61 cents, which is 11 cents above the revenue-neutral rate of 50 cents following a property revaluation.
Although the rate itself remains unchanged, the revaluation means most property owners will see a tax increase resulting in higher property values and tax bills for residents.
Councilmember Chris Bramlett wasn’t on board with keeping the tax rate where it was, suggesting it needed to be lowered.
“I’d like to move an amend-
ment to the motion that instead of the rate being 61 cents, that it be 55 cents, and that the city manager be commissioned to adjust elements of the budget to bring it in line with a 55-cent assessment instead of the 61,” Bramlett said. City Manager Todd Clark originally brought the proposed 2025-26 city budget to the council on May 5; employee health insurance increases, the addition of 10 new firefighters funded through a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant, and three new patrol vehicles for the police department were among the new projects and expenditures included. The proposed fiscal year budget is $94.6 million, which represents a 13% increase of $11.4 million over the current fiscal year’s original budget. Bramlett’s motion received
“The Juvenile Crime Prevention Council is a voluntary council that is made up of about 20 members of different professions that are required by general statute, and there are a couple of public members as well,” Clayton said prior to the commissioners’ vote on the agenda item. The board unanimously voted to appoint Hatley and Ramos to the JCPC.
Next up, County Manager Andy Lucas presented the commissioners with the Town of Norwood’s request for Douglas Smith to be the county’s ETJ representative for the Norwood Planning and Zoning Board as
THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Dexter and Blanca exchange greetings at the Summer Sip Festival in Albemarle on Saturday. Turn to page A4 for more photos and coverage.
CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL
PHOTO VIA STANLYTV
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners approved county board appointments for three boards on June 2.
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North State Journal
(USPS 518620) (ISSN 2471-1365)
Neal Robbins, Publisher
Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers
Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor
Jordan Golson, Local News Editor
Shawn Krest, Sports Editor
Dan Reeves, Features Editor
Charles Curcio, Reporter
Jesse Deal, Reporter
PJ Ward-Brown, Photographer
BUSINESS
David Guy, Advertising Manager
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
The council approved a request to add wedding venus to the M-1 light manufacturing zone.
By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal
NORWOOD — The town of Norwood may soon get a new wedding and event center inside the city limits after a decision at Monday’s town council meeting. Council members voted unanimously to approve the addition of banquet halls and meeting facilities to the uses allowed in the M-1 light industrial zoning designation.
Michael Sandy presented the item during a public hearing Monday, saying most of the town’s M-1 zoned
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May 27
• Randall Lynn Oldaker, 38, was arrested for larceny by merchant product code fraud and possession of methamphetamine.
May 28
• Marcus Kevin Magness, 21, was arrested for possession of stolen motor vehicle, possession of firearm by felon, possession of weapon of mass destruction, possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, possession of burglary tools, carrying a concealed gun, possession of marijuana paraphernalia and resisting a public officer.
• Maggie Blake Wingler, 35, was arrested for possession of firearm by felon.
May 29
• James Rolland Rummel, 55, was arrested for felony possession of schedule II controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances and possession with intent to manufacture sell or deliver schedule II controlled substance.
• Khalil Daquez Davis, 26, was arrested for possession of firearm by felon, felony possession of schedule II controlled substance, possession with intent to manufacture sell or deliver marijuana, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances and misdemeanor child abuse.
• Phong Se Moua, 34, was arrested for felony possession of schedule I controlled substance.
June 1 •
areas are along the rail line.
Sandy added the town’s planning board and town staff both recommended making the change.
The changes came as the result of an applicant wanting to buy the old A.L. Lowder facility across from Darrell Almond Park.
Mayor Linda Campbell asked if other municipalities allowed such venues as a part of a light industrial zone, which Sandy said they did, mostly calling them “assembly” places.
“It could be used for a multitude of assembly purposes,” Sandy said. “It could be a church, a fraternal organization, a social club or an event facility. It really covers a lot of those things.”
The reason for not zoning
it as a highway business, Sandy added, was “there’s a multitude of uses in that zoning district. The building is built as an industrial building.”
Council member Keith Almond asked if a conditional use permit would be preferable to the text amendment change. Sandy said the text change would “allow something with a lot lighter usage to come into this and other properties. It’s a whole lot less intensive.”
Sandy later added conditional use would limit the building’s uses for a new owner should the current owner of any M-1 building wish to sell it.
Council member Robbie Cohen moved to approve the new text amendment, seconded by mayor pro tem James Lilly.
Shooting leaves 1 dead, 11 hurt on Hickory street during house party
At least 80 shots were fired just after midnight on Sunday
The Associated Press
HICKORY — Gunfire erupted around a house party near Hickory early Sunday and one person was killed and 11 others were hurt, some with gunshot wounds and others with injuries from fleeing the shooting in a usually quiet residential neighborhood, sheriff’s deputies said. Authorities said at least 80 shots were fired in the shooting that began at about 12:45 a.m. People reported running, ducking for cover and scrambling to their cars for safety. Hours later Sunday, law enforcement had made no arrests and was seeking
tips from the public in the case. A statement from the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office said a 58-year-old man, Shawn Patrick Hood, of Lenoir, was killed, the oldest of the victims who ranged in age from as young as 16. It said seven of the injured remained hospitalized late Sunday, though updates on their conditions were not immediately released. One of the victims was previously reported in critical condition.
Authorities believe there was more than one shooter, a sheriff’s spokesperson said. The agency said it was asking for people who attended the party to contact the office.
Sheriff’s office Maj. Aaron Turk aid at a news conference that the shooting occurred in a normally quiet neighbhoord
in southwest Catawba County about 7 miles south of Hickory. He said that about two hours before the shooting, someone in another home complained about noise from the party. He added that deputies responded but that investigators don’t believe the noise complaint was the motivation for the shooting. Turk said the crime scene spanned several properties along a neighborhood road, covering about two acres, and included outdoor and indoor areas.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Hickory Police Department are investigating the shooting. The FBI is also assisting in the case with a specialized evidence response team, officials said.
June
5
Pop-up
Veterans Memorial Park 8850 Fairview Road Mint Hill
June 7
Race to Remember: Alzheimer’s Charity Race 8-10 a.m.
Raise money with the Albemarle Rotary Club by joining the 5K Run/Walk or 1K Fun Walk. Registration ends June 6, $30.
Stanly County YMCA Park 115 C.B. Crook Drive Albemarle
June 8
Freedom! Concert by the Singing Americans 5-6 p.m.
A free concert by The Singing Americans of Stanly County, a group that has been presenting public concerts with a patriotic theme throughout the area for almost 50 years. This performance is part of a series celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and honoring veterans.
Badin Baptist Church –Better Badin 28 Falls Road Badin
THE CONVERSATION
Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
VISUAL VOICES
We have no constitutional or moral duty to subsidize
Harvard
DO TAXPAYERS have a constitutional duty to bankroll Harvard University?
On MSNBC, David French argued that the Trump administration’s defunding of Harvard is little more than “political retaliation.” In the United States, we don’t sentence people before hearing the verdict, The New York Times columnist said. Ignoring due process is “directly contrary to our constitutional principles.”
French might not be aware that in addition to the joint-government task force’s claim that Harvard leadership failed to meaningfully confront pervasive insults, physical assault and intimidation of Jewish students, there’s also a blistering internal university taskforce report that maintains that Harvard allowed antisemitism to permeate “coursework, social life, the hiring of some faculty members and the worldview of certain academic programs.” Harvard concedes, “members of the Jewish and Israeli communities at Harvard reported treatment that was vicious and reprehensible.”
The verdict is in.
But, I suppose, I’d pose the situation in another way: If a government investigation and internal review both found that white supremacists on Harvard campus were terrorizing black students and engaging in racist marchers and that their violent beliefs had found favor in the school’s curriculums and in social life, would anyone on MSNBC argue that the government had an obligation to keep funding this school until a civil lawsuit worked its way through the courts? One suspects not.
Now, I’m not accusing French of being blind to the struggles of Jewish students. I am accusing him of being blinded by the presence of Donald Trump. Are the president’s motivations political? Probably. So what? So are those of Harvard’s defenders.
Harvard, a private institution, can do as it likes. There’s nothing illegal about coddling extremists or pumping out
BEN CURTIS / AP PHOTO
A statue of John Harvard, the first major benefactor of Harvard College, is draped in the Palestinian flag at an encampment of students protesting against the war in Gaza at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in April.
credentialed pseudointellectuals. If the Trump administration failed to follow a bureaucratic process before freezing funds to the university, fine. Get it done. But what “constitutional principle” dictates that the federal government must provide this specific institution with $3 billion in federal contracts and grants? Giving it to them was a policy decision made by the executive branch. Withdrawing the funding is the same.
French reasons that the administration should, at very least, “target the entity and individuals responsible” for the bad behavior. Defund the Middle Eastern studies department, rather than, say, the pediatric cancer research department. I’m sympathetic to this idea. But funding, as we all understand, is fungible. Targeting one department will do nothing to change the culture.
Moreover, leadership is responsible for the
Abe Lincoln and the penny
Whatever it costs to make, the $5 bill won’t buy much of anything anymore. There’s nothing illegal about coddling extremists or pumping out credentialed pseudointellectuals.
THE PENNY, which costs more to make than it’s worth, will be going away. That’s a shocking reversal of government policy. Usually, the government doesn’t stop producing anything that’s overpriced or just plain worthless.
I’m just about old enough to remember little pieces of candy that sold for a penny at a little wooden-floored store near my house called “Mac’s.” The man behind the counter was, of course, Mac. If there was a woman behind the counter, it was Mrs. Mac.
I will still bend double to pick up a penny off the sidewalk, even in a snowstorm.
My wife thinks that’s funny.
“It’s cold as hell out here,” she says, running for the door of our house. “What are you doing?”
“Picking up a penny,” I tell her. “A hundred of them still make a dollar.” Pennies from heaven. A penny for your thoughts.
Some people think finding a penny is good luck, but some people think it’s good luck only if the penny is heads up. If the tail side of the coin is up, it’s bad luck.
President Abraham Lincoln’s head is on the penny. Lincoln freed the slaves. That’s a decision some people still don’t support. But there’s not much outrage about the
A five dollar bill and a penny.
Lincoln head penny being taken off the market.
Remember when they took Aunt Jemima off the bottle of pancake syrup? You could hear the howls of pain from the Gulf of America to Canada, America’s 51st state. Lincoln, though, we flush Lincoln like he was John McCain. Of course, Abe is still on the fin. Single. Deuce. Fin. Sawbuck. Double sawbuck. Half-a-yard. Yard.
Those are the slang names I learned for United States paper money. Lincoln is on the $5 bill, or fin. So, he’s probably OK for now, even though
culture. It allowed, nay, nurtured, a Middle East Studies department staffed by a slew of nutjobs. It’s not the only department. Think about it this way: There is a far higher likelihood of finding an apologist of Islamic terrorism than a Christian conservative on the Harvard faculty. Less than 3% of the Harvard faculty identify as conservative. There are real-world consequences for Harvard’s radicalism, as their grads are staffing newsrooms, influential law firms and government agencies without ever hearing a dissenting view. Anyway, if the school values its pediatric cancer research efforts so highly, why does it sacrifice grants and prestige by allowing bigoted bullies to run around campus targeting Jews? That’s a choice. As far as I can tell, not one student was expelled, much less suspended, for antisemitism in the two years since Oct. 7, 2023. If your answer is that the school feels a profound obligation to defend free expression, I suggest you speak to some pro-Israeli or pro-capitalist or pro-American or social conservative student on campus and see how comfortable they feel about airing opinions. Harvard finished last for the second year running in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s “College Free Speech Rankings” in 2024, along with Columbia University and New York University. The only speech Harvard values is the extremist variety. We should feel no patriotic imperative to fund speech we dislike, which is very different from the imperative of protecting speech we dislike. This distinction seems to be lost on many. Harvard, along with many left-wingers, argues that Trump’s funding freeze violates its First Amendment rights. Who knows what the courts will say? If they force the funding to continue, something is seriously wrong. Anyway, perhaps Harvard should dip into the $53 billion hedge fund it runs to backfill some of the funding. Or maybe it can hit up the Islamic sheiks of Qatar for some more cash. How about those Chicom apparatchiks? Maybe they can chip in. But taxpayers shouldn’t be compelled to subsidize an institution that almost exclusively teaches students to hate their values.
David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.
there’s just the single between him and the street. I’m worried, though. Whatever it costs to make, the $5 bill won’t buy much of anything anymore. How long before Lincoln gets “canceled” and we can forget that anyone freed the slaves, which would be a real boon to people who pay minimum wage?
People fought for Aunt Jemima because she was a “great woman erased from history” and because she was a comforting reminder of slavery and segregation’s upside, which was hog fat, handkerchief-on-the-head, happy Mammy taking care of her beloved white family and flipping flapjacks. Did she go rioting through the streets when a white cop killed her son? She did not. She didn’t sue anybody, either. She cried some, and she had a little talk with Jesus, and then she went out in the kitchen and whomped up another batch of them good ole flapjacks.
Lincoln, on the other hand, went rioting through the whole country, refusing to leave the Confederacy alone, freeing other people’s livestock and making Robert E. Lee sad. That Lincoln sounds like an outside agitator to me.
I don’t think anybody’s gonna miss Lincoln. He never cooked a flapjack in his life.
Slavery is the bone in America’s throat, and it won’t go down. I don’t know that it ever will. A flapjack, now, that goes down easy, and sweet with syrup.
Marc Dion’s latest book, a collection of his best columns, is called “Mean Old Liberal.”
COLUMN | MARC DION
COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI
summer sippin’
Albemarle wine festival celebrates 15 years with new name, new season
Summertime Sips was previously the Winter Wine Festival
By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — The annual downtown Albemarle celebration of local wineries this year was moved from February to this past weekend and rechristened the Summertime Sips Festival. Albemarle Downtown Development Corporation’s 15th annual event moved to Courthouse Plaza, where around 500 tickets were presold for the event with 10 different wineries represented.
Katie Lynn, ADDC’s Main Street manager and director, said the new location and time
of the year improved the annual event.
“We are excited to showcase the new Courthouse Plaza downtown and utilize it as a festival atmosphere,” Lynn said.
“We have plenty of space for our wineries, food trucks and artisan craft vendors. People are really having a great time outdoors here today, enjoying the beautiful weather.”
Festival goers got a break, weather wise, with partly cloudy skies, no rain after several days of flash flooding and temperatures in the mid 70s.
“With all the rain we have had, it’s nice to get a break,” Lynn said.
The Courthouse Plaza has been used previously for a fall festival, trick or treating and downtown Christmas, and was officially opened June 2024.
STANLY from page A1
a replacement for Walter Davis, who opted not to seek reappointment at the end of his three-year term. Commissioner Bill Lawhon made a motion to nominate Smith for the position: “He’s an upstanding citizen. I know the majority of the other peo -
ALBEMARLE from page A1
support from Councilmembers David Hunt and Bill Aldridge, falling just short of the 4-3 majority needed to pass the adjustment.
Following Bramlett’s motion,
ple that serve on that board are mainly citizens of Norwood, which they should be.”
The commissioners then voted 7-0 in favor of Smith’s nomination.
In the final board appointment agenda item of the night, Lucas told the commissioners that the SCC Board of Trustees had one available appoint -
the council voted on the original proposed budget with the 61-cent tax rate; Mayor Pro-Tem Martha Sue Hall and Councilmembers Dexter Townsend, Chris Whitley and Benton Dry each voted to pass the budget, while Bramlett, Hunt and
ment that needed to be filled; the decision was far from unanimous as Melvin Poole and Blake Underwood were both presented as nominees for the community college’s leadership role. Poole came out on top in the narrow voting lines.
Chairman Mike Barbee and Vice Chairman Brandon King
Aldridge remained opposed. Dry made the case that the tax rate needed to stay where it is, if not be raised even higher, in order to not “negate the opportunities of the city’s employees.”
“It’s hard to fathom the dollar sign that you see in regard
joined Commissioners Billy Mills and Patty Crump in voting for Poole, while Commissioners Lawhon, Scott Efird and Trent Hatley voted for Underwood.
“I would also like to say that we’ve lost four appointees to this board,” Barbee said after the vote. “The legislature took four governor appointments
to what our people do for that number to keep it as low as it is,” Dry said. “Quite honestly, we probably ought to be at 64 cents, and people have said to me that’s really getting out of line. But again, if we funded everything that this commu-
away from us, so to those who didn’t get on, please contact your representative or your senator and see if you can get added back there.”
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners is set to hold its next regular meeting on July 7 at 6 p.m. inside the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at Stanly County Commons.
nity would need to be substantial in what the community and citizens need, we’d be a lot more than where we are.”
The Albemarle City Council is set to hold its next regular meeting on June 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.
PHOTOS BY CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL
Festival goers enjoy the Cupid Shuffle during the Summertime Sips Festival last weekend.
Cherrelle Wall and Glasha get down to the music played by DJ Chris Lambert.
Left, four festival goers — from left, Salem Taylor, Liz Ritter, Joy Almond and Genny Jordan — dressed up as Mrs. Roper from the classic TV show “Three’s Company.” Center, from left, Amanda Dyer, Rebecca Dyer and Dillon Capps enjoy wine slushies and yuca fries from Lilo’s Cuban Cafe food truck. Right, Rock of Ages’ Madeline Hartman pours wine samples for Connor Matthews and Hailee Alvarez.
Taylor Swift has regained control of her music
She bought back the rights to her first six albums
By Maria Sherman The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work.
In a lengthy note posted to her official website last Friday, Swift announced: “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”
The pop star said she purchased her catalog of recordings — originally released through Big Machine Records — from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount.
In recent years, Swift has been rerecording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now,” Swift addressed fans in the post. “The best things that have ever been mine … finally actually are.”
“We are thrilled with this outcome and are so happy for Taylor,” Shamrock Capital said in a statement.
Swift’s rerecordings were in-
stigated by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun’s purchase and sale of her early catalog and represents Swift’s effort to control her own songs and how they’re used. Previous “Taylor’s Version” releases have been more than conventional rerecordings, arriving with new “from the vault” music, Easter eggs and visuals that deepen understanding of her work.
“I am happy for her,” Braun said Friday. She has also released new music, including last year’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” announced during the 2024 Grammys and released during her record-breaking tour. So far, there have been four rerecorded albums, beginning with “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021. All four have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Swift’s last rerecording, “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” arrived in October 2023, just four months after the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).” That was the same year Swift claimed the record for the woman with the most No. 1 albums in history. Fans have theorized that “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” would be next: On May 19, “Look What You Made Me Do
Tourists flock to see insect-eating Venus flytraps thrive in state park
A weekly hike lets state park visitors see them in the wild
By Erik Verduzco The Associated Press
CAROLINA BEACH — Park
ranger Jesse Anderson leads dozens of people on a weekly hike in North Carolina to see some of the most unique living things in the world — plants that supplement the nutrients they get from sunlight by digesting ants, flies and spiders.
But the Venus flytraps aren’t like the human-size, ravenous and cruel Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
In the wild, Venus flytraps are the size of a lima bean and pose no harm to anything other than insects. Their special hairs snap their leaves together when brushed — but only twice in about 20 seconds or less to reduce the amount of false alarms by dust or rain.
Once inside, the insect is doomed to become plant food, Anderson said.
“It continues to trigger those hairs and the trap slowly closes and eventually starts releasing digestive enzymes to start breaking down the insect. And because they’re in nutrient-poor environments, they supplement their food with insects,” Anderson said.
Anderson’s hike at Carolina Beach State Park on the southeast North Carolina coast also showcases other carnivorous plants. There are vase-shaped pitcher plants with liquid at the bottom that traps insects, then digests them. Butterworts and sundews attract insects with glistening leaves then secrete an adhesive to trap them in place. Bladderworts work similarly to Venus flytraps.
And the hike is one of the few places to see Venus flytraps. The plant only grows in
12 counties in southeast North Carolina near Wilmington and a few nearby places in South Carolina, which made the organism the state’s official carnivorous plant in 2023.
Now is an especially good time to take that hike. Venus flytraps bloom from about midMay to mid-June, Anderson said.
The flytrap is a fragile plant that needs fire to survive. Wildfires in the pine forests where they grow clear off the denser overgrowth to provide the abundant sunlight the plants need.
They face two big enemies — poachers and development.
Harvesting the plants without permission is a felony in North Carolina and a misdemeanor in South Carolina. In 2016, a man was sentenced to 17 months in prison for taking nearly 1,000 Ve-
(Taylor’s Version)” aired nearly in full during the opening scene of a Season 6 episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Prior to that, the song was teased in 2023’s Prime Video limited-series thriller “Wilderness” and in Apple TV+’s “The Dynasty: New England Patriots” in 2024. Also in 2023, she contributed “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” to Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
But according to the note shared Friday, Swift says she hasn’t “even rerecorded a quarter of it.” She did say, however, that she has completely rerecorded her self-titled debut album “and I really love how it sounds now.” Swift writes that both her self-titled debut and “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” “can still have their moments to reemerge when the time is right.”
Representatives for Swift and HYBE did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Park ranger Jesse Anderson
nus flytraps from game land in Hampstead.
And the flytraps live in one of the fastest-growing parts of the U.S., where neighborhoods and businesses have been built over their habitats. Most of the plants can now be found in preserves and other undisturbed areas.
Scientists counted only about 300,000 flytraps in the Carolinas several years ago.
While Anderson’s hike is one
of the few ways to see Venus flytraps in their natural environment, he said commercially grown plants can be found around in greenhouses and plant stores around the world and can thrive in homes in the right conditions
“They like nutrient-poor soils, and also they can’t stand typical well water or tap water. So they need things like rainwater or distilled water or versus osmosis,” Anderson said. Venus flytraps need abundant sunlight and soils that are moist but not drenched. And they don’t have to eat bugs if they can get enough nutrients from photosynthesis. Please don’t feed them hamburger meat — that’s not what they eat. And try not to trigger the leaves shut without something to digest. That takes a lot of energy the plant needs to replace.
STATE & NATION
As states roll out red carpets for data centers, some lawmakers push back
Taxes, utilities and red tape are significant blocks to development
By Marc Levy The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The explosive growth of the data centers needed to power America’s fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing platforms has spurred states to dangle incentives in hopes of landing an economic bonanza, but it’s also eliciting pushback from lawmakers and communities.
Activity in state legislatures — and competition for data centers — has been brisk in recent months amid an intensifying buildout of the energy-hungry data centers and a search for new sites that was ignited by the late 2022 debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Many states are offering financial incentives worth tens of millions of dollars. In some cases, those incentives are winning approval, but only after a fight or efforts to require data centers to pay for their own electricity or meet energy efficiency standards.
Some state lawmakers have contested the incentives in places where a heavy influx of massive data centers has caused friction with neighboring communities. In large part, the fights revolve around the things that tech companies and data center developers seem to most want: large tracts of land, tax breaks and huge volumes of electricity and water.
And their needs are exploding in size: from dozens of megawatts to hundreds of megawatts and from dozens of
acres up to hundreds of acres for large-scale data centers sometimes called a hyperscaler.
While critics say data centers employ relatively few people and pack little long-term job-creation punch, their advocates say they require a huge number of construction jobs to build, spend enormous sums on goods and local vendors and generate strong tax revenues for local governments.
In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are writing legislation to fast-track permitting for data centers. The state is viewed as an up-and-coming data center destination, but there is also a sense that Pennsylvania is missing out on billions of dollars in investment that’s landing in other states.
“Pennsylvania has companies that are interested, we have a labor force that is capable and we have a lot of water and natural gas,” said state Rep. Eric Nelson. “That’s the winning combination. We just have a bureaucratic process that won’t open its doors.”
It’s been a big year for data centers
Kansas approved a new sales tax exemption on goods to build and equip data centers, while Kentucky and Arkansas expanded preexisting exemptions so that more projects will qualify.
Michigan approved one that carries some protections, including requirements to use municipal utility water and clean energy, meet energy-efficiency measures and ensure that it pays for its own electricity.
Such tax exemptions are now so widespread — about three
dozen states have some version of it — that it is viewed as a must-have for a state to compete.
“It’s often a nonstarter if you don’t have them, for at least the hyperscalers,” said Andy Cvengros, who helps lead the data center practice at commercial real estate giant JLL. “It’s just such a massive impact on the overall spend of the data center.”
Zoning, energy fights often frustrate developers
In West Virginia, lawmakers approved a bill to create “microgrid” districts free from local zoning and electric rate regulations where data centers can procure power from standalone power plants.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, called the bill his “landmark policy proposal” for 2025 to put West Virginia “in a class of its own to attract new data centers and information technology companies.”
Utah and Oklahoma passed laws to make it easier for data center developers to procure their own power supply with-
out going through the grid while Mississippi rolled out tens of millions of dollars in incentives last year to land a pair of Amazon data centers.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster signed legislation earlier this month that eased regulations to speed up power plant construction to meet demand from data centers, including a massive Facebook facility.
The final bill was fought by some lawmakers who say they worried about data centers using disproportionate amounts of water, taking up large tracts of land and forcing regular ratepayers to finance the cost of new power plants.
“I do not like that we’re making customers pay for two power plants when they only need one,”
South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told colleagues during floor debate. Still, state Sen. Russell Ott suggested that data centers should be viewed like any other electricity customer because they reflect a society that is “addicted” to electricity and are “filling that need and that desire of what we all want. And we’re all
guilty of it. We’re all responsible for it.”
Some lawmakers are hesitant
In data center hotspots, some lawmakers are pushing back.
Lawmakers in Oregon are advancing legislation to order utility regulators to ensure data centers pay the cost of power plants and power lines necessary to serve them.
Georgia lawmakers are debating a similar bill.
In Virginia, the most heavily developed data center zone in the U.S., Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have forced more disclosures from data center developers about their site’s noise pollution and water use.
In Texas, which endured a deadly winter blackout in 2021, lawmakers are wrestling with how to protect the state’s electric grid from fast-growing data center demand.
Lawmakers still want to attract data centers, but a bill that would speed up direct hookups between data centers and power plants has provisions that are drawing protests from business groups.
Those provisions would give utility regulators new authority to approve those agreements and order big electric users such as data centers to switch to backup generators in a power emergency.
Walt Baum, the CEO of Powering Texans, which represents competitive power plant owners, warned lawmakers that those provisions might be making data center developers hesitant to do business in Texas.
“You’ve seen a lot of new announcements in other states and over the last several months and not as much here in Texas,” Baum told House members during a May 7 committee hearing. “I think everybody right now is in a waiting pattern and I worry that we could be losing to other states while that waiting pattern is happening.”
Trump withdraws nomination of Isaacman to lead NASA
The Elon Musk associate and astronaut was expected to get Senate approval within weeks
By Darlene Superville and Seung Min Kim
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C.
—
President Donald Trump said he is withdrawing the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, an associate of Trump adviser Elon Musk, to lead NASA, saying he reached the decision after a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations.”
It was unclear what Trump meant and the White House did not respond to an emailed request for an explanation.
“After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA,”
Trump wrote late Saturday on his social media site. “I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”
In response, Isaacman thanked Trump and the Senate, writing on X that the past six months were “enlightening
and, honestly, a bit thrilling.”
“It may not always be obvious through the discourse and turbulence, but there are many competent, dedicated people who love this country and care deeply about the mission,” he said. “That was on full display during my hearing, where lead-
“Leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they’re willing to fight for the world’s most accomplished space agency.”
Jared Isaacman
ers on both sides of the aisle made clear they’re willing to fight for the world’s most accomplished space agency.”
Trump announced in December during the presidential transition that he had chosen Isaacman to be the space agency’s next administrator. Isaacman, 42, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight on Musk’s SpaceX company in 2021. He is the CEO and founder of
Shift4, a credit card processing company. He also bought a series of spaceflights from SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk. SpaceX has extensive contracts with NASA.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved Isaacman’s nomination in late April and a vote by the full Senate was expected soon.
Musk appeared to lament Trump’s decision after the news broke earlier Saturday, posting on the X site that, “It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted.”
SpaceX is owned by Musk, a Trump campaign contributor and adviser who announced this week that he is leaving the government after several months at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump created the agency to slash the size of government and put Musk in charge.
Polaris Dawn Mission Commander Jared Isaacman climbs out of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule during the first private spacewalk last year.
JENNY KANE / AP PHOTO
Construction is seen at an Amazon Web Services data center in August 2024 in Boardman, Oregon.
STANLY SPORTS
Wampus Cats split home games over weekend
Uwharrie is scheduled to wrap up its homestand Wednesday and Thursday
By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — The Uwharrie Wampus Cats’ season continued last weekend with a pair of home games at Don Montgomery Park Saturday and Sunday. As part of the team’s youth camp, the Cats will host the rival Carolina Disco Turkeys at 11 a.m. Wednesday, then wrap up the homestand with a 7 p.m. game Thursday against the Greensboro Ducks.
Saturday Uwharrie 5, Greensboro Yard Goats 4
The Cats played an afternoon game Saturday as a part of downtown’s Summertime Sips Festival.
Uwharrie took an early lead against Greensboro, a men’s league baseball team, but saw the visitors come back to tie the game. The Cats walked it off in the bottom of the ninth to win the team’s third in a row.
Drew Holcomb earned the win in relief for Uwharrie (3-0), one of five pitchers in the game for the Cats. Malik Foster started for the hosts and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Blake McKinney and James Germosen put Uwharrie up in the bottom of the first 2-0 with a pair of RBI singles.
The score stayed the same until the top of the sixth when Greensboro drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the lead in half.
In the eighth, a two-RBI double put the Yard Goats ahead 4-2, but the Cats rallied in the
See WAMPUS CATS, page B2
Pfeiffer Athletics names new interim athletic director
Jeff Childress is the director of the Falcon Club and previously held the position from 1998-2003
By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal
A FAMILIAR FACE has taken the reins of the Pfeiffer University athletics program as interim athletic director.
Jeff Childress, who was the Falcons’ AD from 1998 to 2003, was already with the university as the director of the fundraising arm of the athletic program, the Falcon Club. Childress was a student-athlete at Pfeiffer, running cross-country and playing on the tennis team. He graduated in 1989. He coached men’s and women’s tennis at Catawba College, later serving Catawba as the associate athletic director for development.
“I am looking forward to getting back more involved with Pfeiffer athletics,” Childress said. “We have an outstanding coaching staff, and the number of our student-athletes just keeps growing.
“I will keep things together and moving forward until a full
“Athletics is a very special part of Pfeiffer University. Always has been. Always will be.”
time Director of Athletics can start. Athletics is a very special part of Pfeiffer University. Always has been. Always will be.” Childress added he was “looking forward to hosting the 2025 Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame on the Pfeiffer campus again this year.”
Albemarle pair win
titles at state track meet
Dre’ Davis repeated as a champion, while Amari Baldwin claimed the triple jump crown
By Charles Curcio Stanly News Journal
GREEENSBORO — The 2025 NCHSAA 1A state track meet took place May 16 at Truist Stadium on the North Carolina A&T Campus.
Albemarle had several athletes medal at the meet, including two athletes combining to win three state championships.
Senior Dre’ Davis repeated as the 1A 100-meter champion, finishing with a time of 10.74 seconds. He defeated Kymani Brown of South Stokes by .31 seconds.
Davis also made it two state championships by winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.70 seconds, beating Lucas Keller of Elkin by .41 seconds.
Albemarle senior Amari Baldwin, after setting a county scoring record during basketball season, earned the 1A women’s state title in the triple jump with a distance of 38 feet 0.5 inches. She beat Union Academy freshman Kennedy Ware, who jumped a distance of 35 feet, 7 inches. Baldwin also finished fourth in the long jump. In other results, the 4x100
See TRACK, page B2
CHARLES CURCIO / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL
Uwharrie Wampus Cats catcher Tomer Erel slides safely into second base in the second inning of the Cats’ home win Saturday versus Greensboro.
WARD-BROWN / STANLY NEWS JOURNAL
Outfielder Blake McKinney makes a catch for the Wampus Cats. McKinney’s bat also came up big last week.
Jeff Childress, Pfeiffer interim athletic director
COURTESY PHOTO
team of Davis, Cain White, Joneil Cabrera and Quron Pemberton came with .08 seconds of winning the state title, finishing second. Mountain Island Charter won the title with a time of 43.28 seconds.
Jasmine Brown finished second in the shot put with a distance of 37 feet, 9 inches. Eastern Randolph’s Mirianna Corea won the event with a throw of 38-6. Brown also finished third in the discus throw with a result of 110-6. Joss Stamper of Cherokee won with a distance of 129-11.
The event marks the hall’s 32nd annual induction ceremony
By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal
MISENHEIMER — The Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame will soon enshrine four new local athletes in its 2025 class of inductees as part of its 32nd annual induction ceremony.
The event’s dinner and banquet was set after press time for Tuesday at Pfeiffer University’s Merner Gymnasium.
This year’s inductees for the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 are Jack Gaster, Bill Mauldin, Darrell Mauldin and Fran Watson.
More than 60 men and women have been inducted into the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame to date.
Gaster led the Albemarle High
bottom of the frame. Tomer Erel’s RBI double pulled the Cats within a run, then Uwharrie tied it on a Carter Devore single to center. In the bottom of the ninth, McKinney singled and reached second on an error, then moved to third after a groundout. Will Brooks walked, bringing up Germosen. Uwharrie’s DH then grounded into a double-play chance, but the Yard Goats could not turn the double play at first, allowing McKinney to score the winning run.
3
Winning streak by Uwharrie that was snapped by Sunday’s loss
Sunday Marion Hungry Mothers 10, Uwharrie 8
The Wampus Cats hosted another independent college wood bat team Sunday evening out of Virginia.
School football team to a 121-25 record from 1993 to 2003, securing state 1AA championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Bill Mauldin, a graduate of Albemarle High School and Appalachian State, led Watauga High School to the NCHSAA 3A championship in 1978 and guided Catawba College to a South Atlantic Conference title in 1988. Darrell Mauldin, who graduated from North Stanly High School and Campbell University, was a two-time all-conference basketball player and the North Piedmont Conference MVP in 1976. During his 1978-79 season at Campbell, he topped the nation in free-throw percentage.
Watson set records as a basketball player at Richfield High School and Pfeiffer University.
After graduating, she pursued a career in education, becoming a longtime teacher and a highly successful coach for volleyball, basketball and softball teams at East Rowan High School.
Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame member Rod Broadway will serve as the event’s keynote speaker.
After a renowned high school football career at West Stanly, Broadway received All-ACC and All-American honors at
Named for Hungry Mother State Park, the new Marion team took a big lead in the middle innings and held off a late Uwharrie rally to end the Cats’ three-game win streak. Jett Thomas took the loss for the Cats (3-1), allowing four earned runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. All 10 runs allowed by the Uwharrie pitching staff were earned.
The Cats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a throwing error, then Marion tied the game on an error by Uwharrie in the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, the
1989
The first induction class of the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame, which has since enshrined more than 60 inductees.
UNC Chapel Hill. He then began a football coaching career at North Carolina Central, Grambling State and North Carolina A&T.
The Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame dates back to Jan. 23, 1989, when the event sponsored by the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce had its first induction ceremony; coaches Toby Webb and Frank Mabry made up the first class of inductees.
Over the years the Sports Hall of Fame committee — with the influence of Albemarle natives and famous ACC announcers Woody Durham (UNC) and Bob Harris (Duke) — has managed to land sports figures such as Roy Williams, Dale Jarrett and Mike Krzyzewski to serve as guest speakers.
Hungry Mothers scored five runs on five hits and led 6-1. Hayworth helped the Cats cut the lead in the sixth with an RBI single, but the Hungry Mothers added four more runs in the top of the seventh. Uwharrie matched Marion’s four runs with four of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Ben Mecimore had a sacrifice fly, then Germosen drove in two with a single to center. Hayworth added an RBI single to left to make it 10-6 Brooks’ two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth pulled the Cats to within two runs for the game’s final score.
Pfeiffer Falcon featured in 2025 USILA Senior All-Star Game
Recent graduate Mason Tardiff played on the South team
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
MISENHEIMER — A Pfeiffer
Falcon was the only player from the USA South Athletic Conference to participate in the recent United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) NCAA Division III Senior AllStar Game.
Joining the top DIII seniors, recent graduate and Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse standout Mason Tardiff played on the 30-player South team in the North-South exhibition All-Star Game on May 23 at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.
The North squad came away with an 18-13 victory in the contest.
Tardiff — a second-team AllUSA South selection as a midfielder — had a season to remember for the Falcons (15-4, 8-0 USA South), who notched their second consecutive unde-
feated mark in play and their third straight USA South tournament title last month.
The Peterborough, Ontario, native racked up 54 goals and added 27 assists this year, along with a team-best four game-winning goals. His 81 total points is the 13th-best single-season mark in program his-
tory; Tardiff now ranks 15th in program history with 148 career points after four seasons playing for Pfeiffer.
“Pumped for Mason, what an honor — so proud!” Pfeiffer coach Tucker Nelson posted on social media after Tardiff’s inclusion in the all-star game was announced May 22.
Tardiff’s 2025 season was his best campaign for the Falcons since coming to Misenheimer and joining the team for the 2022 season. Statistically, he set his personal records in games played (19), starts (17), goals (54), assists (27) and points (81), among several other individual categories.
Blaney opens Cup Series’ second half with first win of season at Nashville
The Team Penske driver’s breakthrough came after five top-five finishes
By Teresa M. Walker
The Associated Press
LEBANON, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney gave fans a burnout to celebrate kicking off the second half of the Cup Series season by running away down the stretch for his first Cup Series victory of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
“I’m ready to go celebrate,” Blaney said.
The 2023 Cup champ had been racing well with five top-five finishes over the first half of this season. He finally got to Victory Lane in the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske for his 14th career victory and first since Martinsville in November.
“I never gave up hope, that’s for sure,” Blaney said. “We’ve had great speed all year. It just hasn’t really been the best year for us as far as good fortune. But (No.) 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.”
He became the ninth different winner this season and the fifth driver to win in as many races at Nashville. He also gave Team Penske a second
straight Cup win at Nashville’s
1.33 -m ile concrete track.
Blaney, who started 15th, quickly drove his way to the front as he won the second stage. He easily held off Carson Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. Hocevar matched his career-best finish at Atlanta in February after complaining during the race that his No. 77
Chevrolet was undriveable.
“Either I’m really dramatic or they’re really good on adjustments,” Hocevar said. “Probably a little bit of both, but, yeah, proud of this group proud of this car. A place that is really, really difficult to pass, we’re able to go 26th to second.”
Denny Hamlin finished third
in his 700th career Cup Series race, matching the third-place finish by Jeff Gordon at Darlington in 2013 for the best finish in a driver’s 700th race.
Joey Logano, who won here last year, was fourth, followed by William Byron in fifth. Hamlin was hoping for one more caution that never came
“Pumped for Mason, what an honor — so proud!”
Pfeiffer coach Tucker Nelson
With an undefeated 8-0 conference record, the Falcons recorded their third consecutive USA South regular-season crown this season and had won 10 games in a row heading into the first round of the NCAA DIII Tournament.
While Pfeiffer eventually fell short in a 18-9 loss to St. Mary’s College of Maryland on May 7, the Falcons still managed to accomplish a program-record four DIII statistical championships in 2025; the team led the country in goals, assists, and points and scoring margins per game.
“Great team accomplishments! Cool to lead the country in four team categories,” Nelson posted on social media.
Next season, the Falcons will be aiming to reach their fourth straight conference title and hoping to make a longer run throughout postseason play. The team — under the leadership of Nelson — has advanced past the first round one time (2024) but has had several opportunities to make an extended NCAA Tournament run following strong regular-season campaigns.
after seven cautions for 35 laps.
“Just couldn’t run with the 12 there in the super long run,” Hamlin said. “After 40 laps, I could maintain with him. But then after that, he just pulled away and stretched it on us.”
There was a sprint to the finish under green forcing teams and drivers to pick and choose when to pit. Blaney had led 107 laps when he went to the pits under green flag on lap 248. Hamlin took the lead before going to pit road on lap 256. Brad Keselowski had the lead when he went to the pits on lap 269, and Blaney took the lead for the final 31 laps.
Waiting on a call
Hamlin raced Sunday night hoping to take advantage of his starting spot spot beside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe. Whether Hamlin would chase his third win this season had been in question with his third child, a boy, due the same day. Hamlin practiced and qualified well, so he drove his No. 11 Toyota even as Joe Gibbs Racing had Ryan Truex on standby in case Hamlin got the call that his fiancee was in labor. Hamlin won the first stage.
Tyler Reddick beat his boss Hamlin, a co-owner of his 23XI Racing team, to new parent status, which Reddick announced on social media earlier Sunday. His family welcomed their second son at 2:20 a.m. on May 25, then Reddick followed up hours later by finishing 26th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
Different paths, same destination for the Thunder, Pacers
Oklahoma City had a dominant regular season, while Indiana got hot at the right time
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY spent most of the regular season alone atop the Western Conference standings and just kept adding to its lead. Indiana didn’t spend a single day atop the Eastern Conference standings and was still under the .500 mark in early January.
Different paths, the same destination.
It will be the Thunder and the Pacers squaring off when the NBA Finals start in Oklahoma City on Thursday night, a matchup of two clubs that weren’t exactly on similar paths this season.
“When you get to this point of the season, it’s two teams and it’s one goal, and so it becomes an all-or-nothing thing,” Indi-
ana coach Rick Carlisle said.
“And we understand the magnitude of the opponent. Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long — with capital letters in the word ‘dominant.’ Defensively, they’re historically great and they got all kinds of guys that can score. It’s two teams that have similar structures, slightly different styles.”
The deep dives into the other side were beginning in earnest on Sunday, a day after the Pacers finished off their Eastern Conference title by ousting New York in six games. Indiana was taking a day off before getting set to return to work on Monday; the Thunder were practicing in Oklahoma City.
“We always talk about human nature in our locker room, and the human nature way of thinking about it is ‘four wins away, four wins away.’ You kind of lose sight of the fact that you’ve got to win one to get to four,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said Sunday. “You’ve got to stack wins. So, that’s how we’re looking at
it. Let’s get prepared for Game 1 now and just go from there. And I think that does make it a little easier now that we know who we’re playing.” The Pacers lost their 14th game of the regular season in early December; the Thunder lost 14 regular-season games this season, total. That would
make it seem like this was an unlikely finals matchup. But since Dec. 13, including regular-season and playoff games, the Thunder have the NBA’s best record at 61-13. The team with the second-most wins in the league over those last 51/2 months? That would be Indiana, going 52-21 over that span.
“We had expectations to be here, and this isn’t a surprise to any of us because of what we wanted to do,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “And I think obviously there’s a turning point there in December or January or whatever the case may be. But I just thought we did a great job of just being as present as possible, not living in the past, not worrying about what’s next, just worrying about what’s now.”
What’s now is the NBA Finals. The Pacers were a middleof-the-pack pick to start the season, with 50-1 preseason odds to win the title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Thunder were only 9-1 entering the season, behind Boston and New York out of the East — and Denver and Minnesota, two teams that the Thunder eliminated in this season’s West playoffs. “We’ve learned a lot,” Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein said. “We’ve had to learn how to handle a lot of situations. I think that’s going to help us now.”
COURTESY PFEIFFER ATHLETICS
Pfeiffer’s Mason Tardiff (71) stands next to lacrosse teammates Ethan Miles (87) and Khyler Johnson (18).
GEORGE WALKER IV / AP PHOTO
The pit crew for Ryan Blaney rushes to work on the car during his NASCAR Cup Series win Sunday at Nashville.
NATE BILLINGS / AP PHOTO
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, left, and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrate after winning the Western Conference finals.
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Donal Ryan’s spellbinding sequel in 21 voices continues saga of small town
Nenagh has weathered economic ruin only to face a new threat — drugs
By Ann Levin The Associated Press
IN 2014, Donal Ryan published a novel in the U.S. called “The Spinning Heart” about a rural Irish town after the 2008 financial collapse. It was narrated by a chorus of voices, one per chapter, and at the center was a good-hearted contractor, Bobby Mahon.
Ryan’s latest book is a spellbinding sequel, “Heart, Be at Peace,” that works just fine on its own. It chronicles the changes that have buffeted Nenagh, County Tipperary, in the decade since the recession. Once again, the story is told by 21 townspeople, including one who has died, and Bobby is in the middle of it all.
Over the years he has done well for himself with a “kitchen the size of a soccer pitch” and a “marble island in the middle of it that you could feed an army at,” as one envious frenemy grouses. But recently, Bobby has been having panic attacks because a compromising picture of him at a stag party in Amsterdam has
been making the rounds. Also, he is worried sick about the drug dealers lurking around town in cars with blacked-out windows, posing a threat to the children, including his own.
Another member of the chorus is Lily, who describes herself as “witch by training” and prostitute by inclination. She learned her magic from a Roma woman who settled in the town, “caught roots” and married a
local. Lily adores her beautiful granddaughter, Millicent — her long legs, blue eyes and “the shine off of her like the sun on the water of the lake.” They go for long walks in the meadows, gathering wild garlic, dock leaves and sorrel, but lately, the girl has fallen under the spell of Augie Penrose, the ringleader of the drug dealers, and Granny knows in her heart it will not end well.
Bobby, Lily, Millicent and all the others — each one sees the town and its residents, including the newcomers from Eastern Europe, from a different perspective. Together, they narrate a gripping story that is heartbreaking, funny and occasionally raunchy of a beaten-down but resilient community that embodies the best and worst of humanity. The book ends with a monologue from Bobby’s preternaturally wise and forbearing wife, Triona, who is puzzling over a dramatic plot development in the last chapter. “There’s more to that story, a lot more I’d say, but it’ll be told elsewhere, I’m sure.” If she is right, then perhaps Ryan is already planning the third installment of a trilogy. What a gift that would be for readers everywhere.
provided using SCUSA in Stanly County. Services are rendered by SCUSA. The total estimated amount requested in Stanly County for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 is $18,584 in federal support (80%) and $2,323 in state support (10%) with a required Monarch share of $2,323 (10%). This project totals $23,230. This application may be inspected at Monarch’s Administrative Offices, 350 Pee Dee Ave, Albemarle, NC 28001 from June 14 to June 19, 2025. Written comments should be directed to Carol Shinn by June 10, 2025.
Por la presente se informa al público que se realizará una audiencia pública sobre la Solicitud del Programa de Transporte Comunitario Monarch a ser presentado al Departamento de Transporte de Carolina del Norte a más tardar el 3 de octubre de 2025. La audiencia pública tendrá lugar el viernes, 20 de junio a las 9:00 a.m. ante la Junta de Directores de Monarch Albemarle City Hall, Ray Allen Community Room #118, 144 N. Second Street, Albemarle, NC 28001. Los interesados en concurrir a la audiencia pública y que necesiten ayudas y servicios auxiliares bajo la Ley de Norteamericanos con Incapacidades (ADA por sus siglas en inglés) o un traductor de idiomas deberán comunicarse con Carol Shinn antes del 14 de junio de 2025 inclusive, llamando al número de teléfono (704) 986-1853 o por correo electrónico a Carol.Shinn@ MonarchNC.org. El Programa de Transporte Comunitario provee asistencia para coordinar los programas existentes de transporte que operan en Condado de Moore así como provee opciones y servicios de transporte a las comunidades dentro de esta zona de servicios. Estos servicios son provistos actualmente usando transporte del SCUSA en el Condado de Stanly. Los servicios son prestados por transporte del SCUSA. El monto total estimado solicitado para el período 1 de julio de 2026 al 30 de junio de 2027 para esta Condado de Stanly es de $23,230 con apoyo federal de $18,584 y una participación de Monarch de $2,323. NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE STANLY COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000317-830 NOTICE TO
NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000117-830 NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Co-Executor of the estate of Albert R. Allen, Jr. aka Albert Ralph Allen, Jr., deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Albert R. Allen, Jr. aka Albert Ralph Allen, Jr. to present them to the undersigned on or before August 14, 2025, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 14th day of May, 2025 Co-Executor: Dana Jo Hepler aka Dana Allen Hepler 117 Logan Riley Road Thomasville, NC 27360 Co-Executor: Joel Shane Allen PO Box 267 Mt. Gilead, NC 27306 Publish: May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2025
NOTICE
NOTICE OF DISCHARGE OF UNTREATED WASTEWATER The City of Albemarle experienced the following sanitary sewer overflows at the following locations due to heavy rains.
On May 29th, 2025, an overflow at 42844 Vickers Store Road occurred due to heavy rains, which released approximately 9,700 gallons of untreated wastewater to Mt. Creek starting at 9pm and ending at 4am on 5-30-25. City crews were able to evacuate wastewater from an upstream manhole to stop and lessen the impact of the overflow. Crews then used city equipment to clean up spill area.
On May 29th, 2025, an overflow at 1313 North Sixth Street occurred due to heavy rains, which released approximately 3,900 gallons of untreated wastewater to Melchor Branch starting at 9:20pm and ending at 1am on 5-30-25. City crews were able to evacuate wastewater from an upstream manhole to stop and lessen the impact of the overflow. Crews then used city equipment to clean up spill area. On May 29th, 2025, an overflow near 429 Salisbury Ave occurred due to heavy rains, which released approximately 6,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to Little Long Creek starting at 9:26pm and ending at 4am on 5-30-25. City crews were able to evacuate wastewater from an upstream manhole to stop and lessen the impact of the overflow. Crews then used city equipment to clean up spill area. This notice is required by the North Carolina General Statutes Article 21 Chapter 143.215.C. For more information, contact The City of Albemarle Public Utilities Department at (704) 984-9605.
NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000257-830 NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Executor of the estate of Dolores Hart Carter, deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Dolores Hart Carter to present them to the undersigned on or before August 14, 2025 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 14th day of May 2025.
Executor: Christina M. Vanderburg aka Christina Marie Vanderburg 2207 Carolina Avenue Kannapolis, NC 28083 Publish: May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2025
NOTICE
The annual meeting of the Aquadale Volunteer Fire Department will be held on June 23, 2025 @ 7pm. The address is 11578 NC Hwy 138, Norwood NC 28128.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having qualified as Ancillary Administrator of the Estate of Donna L. Brandon, late of Stanly County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at P.O. Box 5994, Greensboro, North Carolina 27435, on or before the 14th day of August, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms, and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 14th day of May, 2025.
Melissa Brandon Ancillary Administrator of the Estate of Donna L. Brandon Jonathan M. Parisi
Attorney at Law Spangler Estate Planning P.O. Box 5994 Greensboro, NC 27435
Publish: 5/14, 5/21, 5/28, 6/4, 2025
NOTICE
IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000234-830
NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having qualified as Executor of the estate of Imogene S. Snuggs aka Imogene Sophia Snuggs, deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Imogene S. Snuggs aka Imogene Sophia Snuggs to present them to the undersigned on or before August 14, 2025, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 14th day of May, 2025.
Executor: Samuel D. Swaringen 604 Lexington Drive Albemarle, NC 28001 Publish: May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2025.
NOTICE
In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk File #- 25E000271-830
North Carolina Stanly County Notice to Creditors
Having qualified as Executrix of the Estate of Mickey Ronal Thompson, deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina. This is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Mickey Ronal Thompson to present them to the undersigned on or before August 22, 2025, of the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment.
This 21st day of May, 2025. Bonnie S. Dennis 43184 Vicker Store Road Albermarle, NC 28001
NOTICE
IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000214-830
NORTH CAROLINA
STANLY COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having qualified as Executor of the estate of Maxine Williams Spivey, deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Maxine Williams Spivey to present them to the undersigned on or before August, 22 2025, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 10th day of April, 2025. Executor: John Brady Sr. aka John Grover Brady, Sr. PO Box 57 Richfield, NC 28137 Publish: 5/21/25, 5/28/25, 6/4/25, 6/11/25
NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 25E000196-830 NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Administrator of the estate of Jane Irby Gillespie, deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Jane Irby Gillespie to present them to the undersigned on or before August 11, 2025, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 14th day of May, 2025. Administrator: Sherrie E. Wood 12448 NC 138 Hwy Norwood, NC 28128 Publish: May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2025.
NOTICE
The undersigned, having qualified as Co-Administrator of the Estate of Nila Lyn Elliott late of Stanly County, North Carolina, hereby notifies to all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before August 19, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 21st day of May, 2025. Ashley Grace Elliott Co-Administrator 102 Windmill Road Salisbury, North Carolina 28147 Alyvia Maurine Elliott Co-Administrator 825 19th Street South Arlington, VA 22202
Emily G. Thompson, Esq. Attorney for Co-Administrators Reed & Thompson, PLLC 204 Branchview Dr SE Concord, NC 28025 Estate File No.: 25E000290-830
NOTICE
The undersigned, having qualified as Executor of the Estate of Virginia Edith Peangatelli late of Stanly County, North Carolina, hereby notifies to all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before September 4, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 4th day of June 2025. Lori Ann Waugh, Executor 117 Lincolnshire Street Oxford, Pennsylvania 19363 Jordan Morris McIntyre, Esq. Attorney for Executor Reed & Thompson, PLLC 204 Branchview Dr SE Concord, NC 28025 Estate File No.: 25E000114-830
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Estate of: Sheila Diane Kimrey Taylor aka Sheila Diane Taylor File#25E000301830-Stanly County Clerk of Superior Court Date of Death: March 7,2025
Notice is hereby given that Letters For Administration have been issued to the undersigned on May 19th, 2025 in the matter of the estate of Sheila Diane Kimrey Taylor aka Sheila Diane Taylor, Deceased, by the Stanly County Clerk of Court. All persons, firms, and corporations having claims against the estate are required to present their claims in writing to the undersigned within 90 Days after the date of the first publication, (May 28, 2025) of this notice, or their claims may be forever
Nintendo’s Switch 2, Addison Rae album, ‘Presence,’ Ariana Madix returns to Fiji
The late Gene Hackman’s greatest films come to the Criterion Channel
By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A Shaquille O’Neal docuseries about his time at Reebok’s basketball division and Mario Kart World on Nintendo’s Switch 2 are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: Ariana Madix returns to Fiji as host of a new season of “Love Island USA.,” TikTok star Addison Rae offers her debut album “Addison,” and then there’s “Presence,” Steven Soderbergh’s movie entirely from the perspective a ghost.
MOVIES TO STREAM
“Presence,” one of two excellent Sodebergh-directed, David Koepp-scripted movies released this year, now streaming on Hulu. The film, a nifty, experimental little thriller, is filmed entirely from the perspective a ghost inside a home a family has just moved into. From a floating point of view, we watch as the mysterious presence, piecing together a past trauma while observing the unfolding a new one. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called “Presence” “a heady experiment that transcends the somewhat gimmicky-on-paper premise — something Soderbergh manages to do alarmingly well and regularly.”
Tyler Perry ‘s latest, “Straw,” stars Taraji P. Henson as a struggling single mother who, desperate for money to pay for her daughter’s prescriptions, robs a bank. The film, co-starring Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor and Sinbad, debuts Friday on Netflix.
For anyone still mourning the death of Gene Hackman, a new series streaming Thursday on the Criterion Channel collects some of the late actor’s best films. That includes William Friedkin’s seminal 1971 New York thriller “The French Connection,” Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 masterpiece “The Conversation” and Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums,” a movie in which Hackman’s strained relationship with the director has been a subject
of conversation following his death. But also, don’t miss Arthur Penn’s 1975 “Night Moves,” a quintessential ’70s neo-noir that gave Hackman one of his most indelible roles in the private eye Harry Moseby.
MUSIC TO STREAM
Has there been a more seamless transition from TikTok social media star to full-fledged pop music force than that of Rae? On Friday, she will release her debut LP “Addison,” one of the year’s most anticipated releases — from the Lana Del Rey-channeling “Diet Pepsi” to the trip-hop “Headphones On.” She’s managed to
To honor awardwinning actor Gene Hackman, who died earlier this year, the Criterion Channel is featuring a collection of some of his finest cinematic achievements.
tap into a kind of late-internet cool through a hybrid approach to pop music and a lackadaisical singing style. Could it be “Addison” summer? Only time will tell. Need your Cynthia Erivo fix between “Wicked” films? She’s got your back. The multihyphenate will release her sophomore LP, “I Forgive You,” on Friday, a collection of big belts and even bigger vulnerabilities, with gorgeous songs that sound as though they were ripped straight from Erivo’s diary. Listen closely and carefully for maximum enjoyment.
Anyone who thinks the mainstream music listening world has lost interest in rock bands
needs to simply look at Turnstile, the Baltimore hard-core punk band that could. They’ve largely left those harsh sounds behind and have opted for something more melodic and accessible — which is, arguably, part of the appeal for those curious parties — but they’ve maintained their hard-core ethos and edge. “Never Enough” is gearing up to be the biggest release of their career so far, and we say it’s time to get on board. And get in the pit.
TELEVISION TO STREAM
Madix has returned to Fiji as host of a new season of “Love Island USA.” The new episodes have big shoes to fill. Last season was the top-rated reality series of 2024. It also broke through the cultural zeitgeist with social media memes and water cooler conversation. Madix says she’s not worried about duplicating that success and wants the contestants to focus on “creating their own lane by being truly themselves and bringing themselves to it, you’ll never lose by doing that.” The show streams six nights a week on Peacock.
As a teenager, Kristin Cavallari was a breakout of the MTV reality series “Laguna Beach” because of her unfiltered honesty. She’s carried that with her throughout other reality shows
“(‘Presence’ is) a heady experiment that transcends the somewhat gimmicky-on-paper premise — something Soderbergh manages to do alarmingly well and regularly.”
and to her podcast “Let’s Be Honest.” Cameras rolled when Cavallari took the podcast on the road in March. That will air as the docuseries “Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour” is streaming on Peacock.
O’Neal also has his own docuseries now on Netflix called “Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal.” It’s an inside look at his efforts as president of Reebok’s basketball division. Allen Iverson is vice president. Both have a history with the brand. In 1992, O’Neal signed a deal with Reebok as a rookie playing for the Orlando Magic. Iverson famously inked a lifetime deal with the brand one year prior in 1991. The series will show the two pro ballplayers work to make Reebok Basketball cool and competitive in the sneaker market.
Get your feel-good TV fix with Apple TV+’s new show, “Stick.” It stars Owen Wilson as Pryce, a broke and divorced former pro golfer who could use a break. He finds it in a teen phenom named Santi and volunteers to be his coach. The show is about chosen family and second chances. “Stick” is streaming now.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
Nintendo fans worldwide are bracing themselves for the arrival of the Switch 2, a souped-up version of the eight-year-old console with new social features meant to draw players into online gaming. The highlight of the launch lineup is Mario Kart World, which features a Grand Prix for up to 24 drivers and introduces a sprawling open environment where “everywhere is your racecourse.” Other Day One arrivals include upgraded versions of the last two Legend of Zelda adventures and some popular third-party games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Split Fiction will be making their Nintendo debuts. The next generation takes the stage Thursday.
JUSTINE YEUNG / APPLE TV+ VIA AP
Owen Wilson, left, and Peter Dager appear in a scene from “Stick.”
NEON VIA AP
Chris Sullivan and Lucy Liu star in the thriller “Presence.”
