A great blue heron stakes out the edge of the railroad bridge below the Tillery Hydroelectric Development, where churning tailwater on the Pee Dee River makes for easy pickings.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
US and Iranian negotiators reach tentative deal to extend cease re and launch nuclear talks
Washington, D.C.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to extend the cease re by 60 days and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program. That’s according to a U.S. o cial familiar with the matter. The o cial, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump still needs to sign o on the emerging memorandum of understanding. Iran did not immediately con rm any deal with the United States.
Key in ation gauge worsens as Americans’ income and spending power erodes
Washington, D.C.
A key in ation gauge accelerated in April to the highest level in three years, the latest sign that spiking gas prices and higher food costs are squeezing Americans’ nances. In ation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% rise in March. The report showed that prices have risen for many items in addition to gas, a sign in ation could persist and pose problems for congressional Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.
Misenheimer extends search for village manager
Misenheimer has extended its village
to June 3.
Uwharrie
Free performance is set for Sunday at Uwharrie Brewing
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — The Uwharrie Players will take a di erent approach to community theater this weekend with a one-time reading of Neil Simon’s romantic comedy “Barefoot in the Park.”
Set for 3 p.m. on Sunday at Uwharrie Brewing in Albemarle, the performance will mark the Stanly County theater group’s rst production under the Uwharrie Reader’s
Theatre banner. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted.
Directed by James Cotton, the production marks the launch of a program designed to give both newcomers and longtime performers another way to take part in local theater.
“The Uwharrie Reader’s Theatre is The Uwharrie Players’ new program to give an easy way for new people to get involved, but also a fun way for regular members to get another way to perform,” Uwharrie Players said in a statement. Unlike a full stage produc-
Applications are open through June 3
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
MISENHEIMER — Misenheimer has extended its search for a new village manager as Anita Blair, the town’s longtime administrator and clerk, prepares to retire later this summer.
Blair’s retirement is e ective Aug. 1, ending a decade of service with the village.
The Misenheimer Village Council, working with the Centralina Regional Council, has extended the application period for Blair’s replacement from
“We can’t wait to share this hilarious journey with you.”
Uwharrie Players
its original May 15 deadline to June 3.
Blair joined the village in March 2016 as administrator/ clerk, becoming village manager in January 2025 after Misenheimer amended its charter to adopt the council-manager form of government.
In that role, Blair serves as Misenheimer’s chief administrator, carrying out the directives of the Village Council, managing nances and the budget, and overseeing day-today operations. Her duties also include administrative, managerial and supervisory responsibilities for the village’s departments under North Carolina law.
Mayor Michael Herron said Blair’s service has left a lasting mark on the community.
“The village is grateful to Manager Blair for her years of service and dedication,” Herron said. “She cares deeply for the community and brings a
THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
COURTESY VILLAGE OF MISENHEIMER
managerial application deadline
Stanly County residents 60 and older can enjoy nutritionally balanced lunches at ve locations Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to noon. First-time
Milli Vanilli and Morris Day say they won’t
perform
at Freedom 250’s National Mall shows
The performers say they were never asked to appear on the bill
By Hillel Italie The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A day after the President Donald Trump-a liated Freedom 250 announced the “ rst wave” of performers for “The Great American State Fair” shows on Washington’s National Mall in June and July, Milli Vanilli and Morris Day are among the scheduled acts who have said they will not be appearing.
Day and Young MC issued statements on social media disputing Wednesday’s announcement from Freedom 250, while Milli Vanilli singer Jodie Rocco told The Associated Press that neither she, her sister Linda Rocco nor any of the other group members had been asked to come.
“My sister and I were shocked
CRIME LOG
May 18
• David Eric Whitley, 56, was arrested for assault by strangulation, assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and other charges.
May 20
• Robert Dillon Beachum, 28, was arrested for driving while impaired, reckless driving and driving on a revoked license, and other charges.
• Benjamin McCray Holmes, 45, was arrested for communicating threats.
• Donnie Lee Parker, 27, was arrested for felony breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering and felony conspiracy.
May 21
to see our name, ‘Milli Vanilli’, as one of the performers,” Jodie Rocco wrote in an email.
A Freedom 250 spokesperson did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment. Freedom 250, which Trump launched late last year, describes itself as a “national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.” Trump appointed Keith Krach, who served as an under secretary of state during his rst term, as the organization’s CEO.
Trump and his supporters have long had a contentious relationship with the music community; Celine Dion, Elton John and Guns N’ Roses are among the many artists who have objected to their music being played at Trump rallies.
In an Instagram post, Young MC questioned whether the National Mall shows would be nonpartisan. “The artists were never told about any political
• Katherin Meleah Washington, 22, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon with a minor present, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and injury to personal property.
• Jamarquis Keshawn Morrison, 22, was arrested for assault on a female, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and communicating threats, and other charges.
• Ted Louis McManus, 33, was arrested for possession of a rearm by a felon, driving on a revoked license and open container after consuming alcohol, and other charges.
• Jesus Ezequi Gonzalez-Garcia, 26, was arrested for identity theft, larceny from a person and nancial card theft, and other charges.
May 22
• Darren Lynn Moore, 36, was arrested for tra cking opium or heroin, tra cking methamphetamine and conspiracy to tra c methamphetamine, and other charges.
involvement with the event,” he wrote, adding that he hoped to “perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.” Day posted on Instagram that “Contrary to rumor, Morris Day & The Time will not be performing at the ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR.”
Milli Vanilli and Young MC were to have appeared at an “I Love the 90s” concert on June 26. Day was listed for June 27. Other performers announced include the Commodores, Flo Rida and Martina McBride. The Great American State Fair is scheduled to run June 25July 10. At least one “I Love the 90s” act will be there: Vanilla Ice.
“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!” a representative for the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper wrote in an email to the AP. “Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA’s Birthday and our Freedom!”
• Tara Ledbetter Howell, 48, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
May 23
• Nicki Leann Woody, 40, was arrested for driving while impaired, unsealed wine or liquor in the passenger area and open container after consuming alcohol.
May 24
• Jason Robert DePasquale, 42, was arrested for felony breaking and entering, larceny by changing price tag and larceny by removing or deactivating an anti-theft device, and other charges.
• Hector Miguel Zaragoza Herrera, 43, was arrested for driving while impaired, driving on a revoked license and driving with a registration plate not displayed.
Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements to be published in Stanly News Journal. community@stanlynewsjournal.com Weekly deadline is Monday at noon
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Stanly County:
May 31
Uwharrie Players Reader’s Theatre: Barefoot in the Park 3 p.m.
The Uwharrie Players present a Reader’s Theatre staging of Neil Simon’s comedy “Barefoot in the Park” at Uwharrie Brewing in downtown Albemarle. Admission is free.
Uwharrie Brewing 121 N. Third St. Albemarle
June 5
Lights of Liberty Drone Show
9 p.m.
Stanly County’s America 250 signature event features hundreds of synchronized drones set to music above City Lake Park to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary. The event is free and open to the public.
City Lake Park 815 Concord Road Albemarle
June 6
Stanly County Food & Brews Festival 11 a.m.
The Stanly County Food & Brews Festival brings together food trucks, local craft vendors, adult beverages, a trucker hat bar and a kids zone for a familyfriendly day in Oakboro. Admission is free. The event runs through 7 p.m.
Oakboro Festival Grounds 722 S. Oak Ridge Road Oakboro
June 13
Race to Remember Alzheimer’s 5K and 1-Mile Walk 8 a.m.
The Albemarle Rotary Club presents its annual charity run through historic downtown Albemarle, with all proceeds bene ting Alzheimer’s and dementia research through Rotary’s C.A.R.T. fund. Awards are given to the top three nishers in each age group; a virtual option is also available. Stanly County YMCA Park 115 C.B. Crook Drive Albemarle
THE CONVERSATION
Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
VISUAL VOICES
Why anti-Trump Republicans keep losing
There’s a simple way for Republican incumbents to avoid losing in a primary — keep your promises to Republican voters.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP isn’t manipulating Republican voters. He’s empowering them to do something they’ve long wanted — elect strong conservatives, not fake ones.
On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, Ed Gallrein. In recent years, Massie morphed from a principled, limitedgovernment advocate to an anti-Trump gad y. He was one of only two House Republicans to vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill, which funded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and cut taxes, among other provisions. He started spouting nonsense about Israel. He insinuated that Trump was compromised by the Epstein les.
Trump wasn’t, but a number of powerful Democrats sure were.
He isn’t the only Trump opponent who’s recently gone down to defeat. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., recently nished third in his primary despite outspending his opponents. In 2021, Cassidy voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
After opposing a redistricting plan that Trump wanted, ve Indiana incumbent state senators lost to Trump-backed opponents. Defeating a single incumbent in a primary -- let alone several in di erent states -- is di cult. What Trump and others, including Turning Point Action, have done is an impressive display of political power. But the propaganda press is misreading
COLUMN | DAVID BLACKMON
what actually happened. “Trump exes grip over GOP with Massie’s defeat in Kentucky,” Bloomberg wrote.
“Cassidy loses his primary in Louisiana, as Trump vanquishes another G.O.P. foe,” the New York Times said.
“Trump exacts revenge in Indiana over redistricting vote,” NBC News reported.
These headlines make Republican voters appear to be little more than pawns Trump used to ful ll his personal vendettas.
But this perspective misreads why Trump succeeded. For decades, Republican voters have been frustrated by party leaders who only sound conservative in the months leading up to a primary election. After winning a primary, they run and govern from the center or left. There’s even a term for politicians like this: RINO, which stands for Republican in Name Only.
Republican voters despise RINOs as a category, but have long struggled to defeat them in individual primaries. Special interest lobbyists often support these RINOs, which helps them outraise their opponents. They hire talented consultants who know what rhetoric will resonate with conservative voters.
This disconnect led directly to Trump’s ascension. After the 2012 presidential election, the Republican establishment was in a panic. It is believed Republicans’ poor showing among minority voters would doom the party without a major course correction. Its post-election autopsy urged Republicans
Cuba’s o cially out of oil
It was the direct, deliberate result of the Trump administration’s energy policy, the “Donroe Doctrine.”
CUBA’S COMMUNIST government con rmed on Friday what many of us predicted months ago: The island nation has o cially run out of oil.
On May 14, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy delivered the stark admission: “We have absolutely no fuel oil, absolutely no diesel.” Blackouts in Havana now exceed 20-22 hours daily, with electricity returning for as little as 90 minutes. Power plants sit idle, reserves are exhausted and the socialist regime’s long-running energy crisis has reached its breaking point.
How did it happen? It wasn’t bad luck or an act of God. It was the direct, deliberate result of the Trump administration’s energy policy and the implementation of what has come to be referred to as the “Donroe Doctrine.”
For decades, Cuba survived on underpriced — sometime even free — Venezuelan crude shipped by the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela. That lifeline ended abruptly in January 2026 when the Trump administration removed Maduro, seized e ective control of Venezuela’s oil industry and redirected those resources toward legitimate hemispheric interests.
No more using Venezuelan oil to prop up another failed socialist dictatorship in America’s backyard.
The Trump administration followed with an e ective energy blockade. An executive order imposed tari s on any nation supplying oil to Cuba, e ectively slamming the door on workarounds from Mexico and elsewhere.
Cuba’s domestic production, always minimal and hampered by decades of mismanagement, couldn’t begin to ll the gap.
Crumbling Soviet-era infrastructure already began to collapse under the strain. President Donald Trump followed up with additional sanctions targeting the Cuban regime on May 1.
The regime’s own mismanagement, corruption and refusal to embrace market reforms sealed
the deal.
Some critics have called this cruelty, but what it really amounts to is strategic realism.
Previous U.S. administrations allowed Cuba to leech o other people’s energy while exporting repression, doctors-for-hire schemes and anti-American in uence throughout Latin America. The Donroe Doctrine ended that era of weakness.
It reasserts American primacy in the Western Hemisphere, expels Chinese, Russian and Iranian footholds, and secures reliable supply chains under U.S. leadership. Energy dominance isn’t just about American shale and LNG exports: It’s about geopolitical leverage.
What happens next? The regime is already blinking. Not-so-secret negotiations between Havana and Washington have been underway for weeks. The Cuban government itself announced that CIA Director John Ratcli e visited Havana this week.
Cuba’s goal is simple: Lift the blockade and restore the ow of cheap foreign oil. America’s goal is transformative: force the regime to loosen its stranglehold on the economy, end political repression, and move toward real reform that could enable the long-repressed nation to move into the modern world.
The U.S. leverage is enormous. With hospitals running on generators (when they have fuel), food spoiling, water systems failing and the private sector gasping for air, the pressure is mounting.
Protests are bubbling up. The regime knows it cannot sustain this inde nitely without serious concessions.
to “embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform.” That’s amnesty.
“New RNC report calls for embracing ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ “ Trump tweeted in 2013. “Does the RNC have a death wish?”
At that point, party leaders weren’t listening to him. In 2013, the “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill passed the Senate with more than a dozen Republicans voting yes. That gang included then-Senator Marco Rubio, who voted for the bill. It died after House Speaker John Boehner refused to bring it up for a vote. Now, that was an example of Republican leadership attempting to strong-arm Republican voters and pass something the base despised. Things like this have happened repeatedly, especially with social issues. Understanding this reveals the real story of these primary defeats. Trump isn’t controlling GOP voters. He’s using his platform and political organization to point them in the direction they were already trying to go. No wonder Republican voters love Trump so much.
This means there’s a simple way for Republican incumbents to avoid losing in a primary — keep your promises to Republican voters. No wonder the Republican establishment hates Trump so much.
Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the Sharpening Arrows podcast. Copyright 2026 creators.com
For America First advocates, this moment represents a historic opportunity. A postCastro Cuba aligned with free markets and U.S. interests could become a prosperous partner rather than the perpetual headache it has represented across the last 67 years. It would deny adversaries a platform in our hemisphere and open new avenues for American energy and investment.
Critics will decry the “humanitarian crisis,” ignoring that the true humanitarian disaster has been su ering under the yoke of communism for two-thirds of a century. The Cuban people have su ered under rationing, repression and poverty not because of U.S. policy, but because their government chose ideology over results.
Socialism always runs out of other people’s money – and oil, as it turns out – eventually. The Donroe Doctrine simply sped up the inevitable.
President Trump has made clear his intent to expel the Chinese/Russian in uence from the Western Hemisphere. The Donroe Doctrine puts American security, prosperity and dominance rst.
Cuba’s oil collapse is painful proof that the policy works. The coming weeks and months will test whether the regime chooses survival through reform or doubles down on failure.
One thing is certain: the lights may be out across Havana today, but the path to a brighter future for the Cuban people has never been clearer. Energy dominance delivered the pressure.
U.S. pressure and diplomacy can now deliver the change. Like it or not, The Donroe Doctrine is rewriting the future of the Americas.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications. Copyright 2026 Daily Caller Foundation.
COLUMN | VICTOR JOECKS
IN MEMORY
KATHY MORGAN ALLEN
OCT. 22, 1953 – MAY 25, 2026
Kathy Morgan Allen, 72 of Norwood, died Monday, May 25, 2026, surrounded by her family.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Kathy was born on October 22, 1953, in Stanly County to the late David and Audie Gudger Morgan. She was a retiree of Bethany Woods.
Dang Van Phuoc, AP photographer who lost eye covering Vietnam, dead at 91
Barbara Jean (Taylor) Drye
She found her greatest joy in spending time with her family, shopping and going out to eat.
April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023
Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2023 at her home.
Dwight Farmer
She is survived by her husband, Rex Allen, of the home. Her daughter, Lynsie Allen ( Rebecca) of Norwood and her stepdaughter, Shannon Baucom (Rick) of Oakboro. Her siblings, Diane Smith (Warren), Steve Morgan (Wanda), Shawn Reap (Mike) and Jon Derek Morgan (Susie). Four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Barbara was born April 17, 1936 in North Carolina to the late Robert Lee Taylor and the late Eva Belle Watts Taylor. She was also preceded in death by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth Taylor.
January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023
Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Edith Bowden. Memorials may be made to Tillery Compassionate Care,960 N. First Street, Albemarle, NC 28001.
Dwight was born January 24, 1939 in Stanly County to the late Walter Virgil and Martha Adkins Farmer. He was a 1957 graduate of Norwood High School and was a United States Army Veteran.
JUDITH “JUDY” ROMAIN BUCHANNON
AUG. 8, 1945 – MAY 26, 2026
Survivors include children, Debbie (Mike) Williams of Albemarle, Teresa (Tom) Curry of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) Drye of Oakboro; grandchildren, Melissa (Don) Parrish of Albemarle, Samantha (Destiny) Smith of Oakboro, Bradley Smith of Oakboro, Jonathan Stover of Peachland, and Jessie Stover of Lylesville; sisterin-law, Beatrice Goodman; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved cats, Bo and Gar eld.
Judith “Judy” Romain Buchannon, a woman whose life was marked by unwavering faith, sacri cial love, and devoted service to others, peacefully entered into her heavenly home on May 26, 2026. There, she experienced the longawaited reunion with the love of her life, her husband, Drewey Wayne Buchannon, who preceded her in death on March 25, 2011. Their love story, rooted in faith and commitment, now continues eternally in the presence of the Lord.
Barbara was a member of Oakboro Baptist Church for over 60 years. She worked over 30 years at Stanly Knitting Mills. After just two years of retirement, she began managing the Oakboro Senior Center and did that for 18 years until this past week. Barbara was known for her good cooking and always taking care of others. She also loved going on day long shopping trips - she could out walk and out shop people half her age. She kept her mind and body active through gardening, word searches, and various other hobbies.
He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he had served as church treasurer and choir member. He began his career with the Stanly County Sheri ’s Department moving to the Norwood Police Department and retiring as Chief of Police with the Town of Norwood after many years of service.
Dwight was an avid gardener, bird watcher and Carolina fan.
He is survived by his wife Hilda Whitley Farmer; one son D. Britten Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, NC; one daughter Sharon Farmer Lowe (David) of Norwood; one sister Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two grandchildren, Dwight Britten “Dee” Farmer III and Whitley Rose Hui Lowe.
Judy was a faithful and cherished member of Abundant Life Holiness Church, where she worshiped steadfastly under the pastoral leadership of her son, Rev. Cecil Buchannon. Her life was a testimony of holiness, humility, and dedication to the work of God. She faithfully supported her church from its beginning and was known as a pillar within the congregation — always willing to serve, encourage, pray, and give of herself to further the Kingdom of God. Even in her nal days, her heart remained focused on eternity, as some of her last words on this side of heaven were spent inviting others to church and encouraging them to make Heaven their home as well. “3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
He was preceded in death by his son Alex, brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Annabell, Glennie Mae, and Betty. Memorials may be made to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Smith 36071 Rocky River Springs Road, Norwood, NC 28128.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Drewey Wayne Buchannon; her mother, Redith Stevens; her father, Bill Stevens; and nephew, Je ery Stevens
Left to cherish her memory and continue her legacy are her 7 children: Rex (Brenda) Stevens of Monroe, NC; Rev. Ricky (Lorri) Lester of Townville, SC; Richard (Lisa) Lester of Gilbert, WV; Wendell “Bubby” (Jana) Lester of Albemarle, NC; Rev. Cecil (Joan) Buchannon of Badin, NC; Lisa (Densil) Lester of Monroe, NC; and Donna (Chaddrick) Starr of Badin, NC. She also leaves behind a treasured legacy through her grandchildren: Kenneth, Jennifer, Codey, Corey, Katie, Joshua, David, Caleb, Little Rick, Josie, Hunter, DD, Tali, Ani, Taylor, Emilee, Riley, Ava, Levi, Asher, and Miracle; three honorary grandchildren Parker, Gabriel, and Jordan; along with nine great-grandchildren Skyler, Adalynn, Weston, Cohen, Emersyn, Brooks, Lyla, Samuel, and Cheyenne whom she dearly loved. In addition to her children and grandchildren, she is survived by her brother, Rev. Larry (Patsy) Stevens of Vernor, WV.
Judy’s life was de ned by servitude. For many years, she faithfully worked third shift at Monroe Rehabilitation Center, retiring in 2012 after dedicating herself to caring for others during their times of recovery and need. Yet her greatest ministry was found at home and within her family. She gave sel essly, often doing without herself so others could have what they needed. Her kindness, compassion, and giving spirit re ected the love of Christ in everyday life.
To know Judy was to know a woman who loved deeply, prayed faithfully, served tirelessly, and believed wholeheartedly. Though she will be greatly missed here on earth, Heaven is sweeter because she is there.
Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in SCJ at obits@stanlyjournal.com
“Proverbs 31:28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
Funeral services will be entrusted to Stanly Funeral Home and will be held Saturday, May 30, 2026, at 12:00 PM. Services will be o ciated by Rev. Cecil Buchannon, Rev. Kevin Bloom eld, and Rev. Noah Phillips. Judy will be laid to rest at Suncrest Cemetery in Monroe, NC beside the love of her life, awaiting that glorious resurrection morning.
2 Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought a good ght, I have nished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…”
James Roseboro
The fearless photojournalist documented the war’s civilian toll after surviving ve combat wounds
June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023
James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.
By Gillian Flaccus
and Hannah Schoenbaum
The Associated Press
Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert and Delena Shipp Roseboro. He graduated from South Stanly High School and was employed by Triangle Brick. He enjoyed watching football and basketball, especially the Carolina TarHeels and Miami.
IRVINE, Calif. — Former Associated Press photographer Dang Van Phuoc, who was injured multiple times during the Vietnam War and returned to capture the action even after losing an eye in an explosion, has died. He was 91.
Doris Jones Coleman
October 11, 1944 - January 10, 2023
A wounded soldier is carried during ghting on Highway 13, north of Saigon, where government troops are trying to reopen road to the Lai Khe base, on Oct. 14, 1972.
In addition to his parents he is preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Barbara Lee Roseboro, Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, Henrietta Ingram, and Harold Roseboro.
Phuoc died Saturday in Southern California after collapsing suddenly, his nephew, Van Nguyen, said.
high school sweetheart Julie were married in 1956. He graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College later in 1959 and began his career as a diesel mechanic at Mitchell Distributing Company, moving his growing family to Charlotte where they lived until their retirement.
much,” Út said. “When I heard, I cried, ‘My brother, he’s gone.’”
He is survived by his sisters: Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Albemarle, Mary Roseboro of Washington DC, and Marion Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: Thomas D. Roseboro of Charlotte, Robert Roseboro (Patricia) of Norwood, and Van Horne; a special friend of over 40 years, Michelle McLendon of the home; special nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya Little, and Laquanza Crump; special nephews: Robert Jr., Desmond Roseboro, and Marcus Lilly; and God daughter, Daphne Johnson; and special friends, Vetrella Johnson and Ben McLendon.
Phuoc was hired in 1965 by AP’s former photo chief, Horst Faas, to replace another local hire who had been killed on assignment. He quickly gained a reputation among other journalists and the U.S. and South Vietnamese troops for his uncanny ability to nd the thick of the action.
Phuoc was born in a Vietnamese village near Quang Ngai, south of Da Nang, in 1935 and was the youngest of many siblings. When he was about 10, his father was killed by local members of the Viet Cong insurgency. A few years later, his mother died, leaving him homeless.
“He was a really very extraordinary man who grew up from very bad treatment when he was a boy,” Nguyen said.
As a young man, Phuoc volunteered to help carry equipment at a Saigon lm studio where Nguyen’s mother worked as a cook. It was there that Phuoc rst picked up a camera and taught himself photography, his nephew said.
Phuoc, who was dubbed the AP’s “secret weapon” by his boss, was known for walking with the “point man” on combat patrols, putting him in position to get excellent photographs — but also exposing him to grave danger.
Darrick Baldwin
January 7, 1973 ~ January 8, 2023
He was injured at least ve times during his 10 years with the AP in Vietnam, the rst time just ve months after he was hired. A grenade explosion left him with shrapnel in his chest and leg, but he was back on duty within a few months covering the drawn-out
Darrick Vashon Baldwin, age 50, entered eternal rest, Sunday, January 8, 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly County, North Carolina, Darrick was the son of Eddie James Baldwin Sr. and the late Phyllis Blue Baldwin. Darrick enjoyed life, always kept things lively and enjoyed making others smile. His presence is no longer in our midst, but his memory will forever live in our hearts.
County public schools and attended Albemarle Senior High School, Albemarle.
and loved meeting people. Darrick never met a stranger and always showed love and compassion for his fellowman. He also loved his dog, Rocky.
“Everyone loved him so much. When I heard, I cried, ‘My brother, he’s gone.’”
Huỳnh Công “Nick” Út, AP photographer
When John purchased his rst Model A Ford at the age of 17, he said that he took the car to the community mechanic when he had a small problem.The mechanic told him that if he was going to keep the car, he needed to learn to work on it. This is when John’s passion for Model A Fords began and how he spent his happiest days with his best friends from around the globe for the rest of his life!
Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, went home into God’s presence on January 10 after a sudden illness and a valiant week-long ght in ICU. Doris was born on October 11, 1944, in the mountains of Marion, NC while her father was away ghting in the US Navy during World War II. Raymond Jones was so proud to return after the war and meet his little girl! Doris grew up in Durham, NC and graduated from Durham High School. She furthered her studies at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1966.
civil war between the Communist forces of North Vietnam and the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese military.
In 1968, he sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a rocket while covering street ghting in Saigon. That same year, Phuoc risked sniper re to carry a wounded U.S. soldier to safety and received a commendation from the Ninth U.S. Army Infantry Division for saving the man’s life.
Phuoc lost his right eye in a grenade explosion in 1969 while on patrol with a Ranger battalion south of Da Nang, along Vietnam’s central coast. He learned to shoot with one eye and returned to work.
At age 50, after years as a Detroit Diesel Mechanic he and Julie decided to take the plunge and open a full Model A Restoration Shop. They thrived at their shop in Cornelius, NC until their retirement in 1998 when they moved back to Cabarrus County. John once again set up shop in his back yard garage where he attracted a loyal group of friends who visited almost daily. While on the farm in Gold Hill, John also began a lifelong love with Alis Chalmers tractors after he restored his Dad’s tractor and began amassing his collection of tractors as well.
In a 2011 interview for AP’s archives, Phuoc described the difculty of working with one eye when he had to look through the camera while also watching for silent hand gestures from the soldiers with whom he was patrolling.
John restored many cars of his own and had the crowning achievement of winning the most prestigious award from MARC, The Henry for a restoration that garnered top points. He was also presented with the Ken Brady Service Awardthe highest award given to members at the national level.
His colleague in AP’s Saigon bureau, Huỳnh Công “Nick” Út, described Phuoc as fearless and resourceful in the eld. Behind the scenes, he was a giving man and loyal friend who treated Út like a brother.
“Everyone loved him so
This is what John’s Model A Community had to say upon learning of his death: He was an active member of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church where he loved serving as greeter on Sunday mornings. He also belonged to the United Methodist Men. John is survived by his wife Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 years
Despite his reputation for shooting action, the photos that touched Phuoc were those that evoked the plight of civilians caught in the cross re. In the 2011 interview, he compared himself to a “small grain of sand” who used his pictures to bring their stories to the world.
Doris married Rev. Dr. Ted Coleman in 1966 and had two daughters Amy and Laura. Doris raised Amy and Laura in North Augusta, SC.
When Saigon fell in 1975, Phuoc ed with his family with little more than the clothes on their back and a bottle of milk. His family was rescued from a refugee camp in Guam with the help of AP reporter Linda Deutsch, who was covering the tent city, and own to Camp Pendleton.
Phuoc then returned to Asia and worked brie y for the AP in Hong Kong before leaving the company and settling permanently in Southern California with his family. He went on to become a professional portrait photographer in Orange County, which is home to Little Saigon, the largest single community of South Vietnamese refugees in the world.
Doris was an incredible neonatal intensive care nurse for most of her career, and this was her passion. The Augusta Chronicle did a feature on her in 1985. She was a clinical nurse manager in Augusta, Georgia at University Hospital NICU and worked there for 20 years. During this time, Doris mentored young nurses and assisted in saving the lives of so many babies. She also worked for Pediatrician Dr. William A. Wilkes in Augusta for several years prior to her NICU career. Doris retired from the mother/baby area at Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 years of nursing.
His great-nephew, Kim Nguyen, looked back Tuesday at the portraits Phuoc shot of him as a baby and reminisced about bringing his own son to see Phuoc’s work on display at a museum in Vietnam.
In California, Phuoc was a founding member of The Artistic Photography Association and trained young photographers. He also was a civilian volunteer for the Los Angeles County Sheri ’s Department and in 1994 was named the county’s volunteer of the year.
Doris was a gentle and sweet spirit and loved her Lord. She never met a stranger, and she always left you feeling uplifted after talking with her. She would often claim that she had “adopted” friends into her immediate family, and honestly, she never made a distinction between the two. Positivity radiated from her like sunlight. She was sel ess, funny, smart, and sentimental. During her lifetime she was an active member of First Baptist Church of Durham, First Baptist Church of Augusta, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Augusta, and Palestine United Methodist Church in Albemarle. She especially loved helping at church with older adults, youth, and children.
She was especially talented at sewing from a young age and made gifts for friends, Christmas ornaments, Halloween Costumes, doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, out ts for Amy and Laura, and Christening gowns for each of her grandchildren.
Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: Crystal (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra (Stoney) Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; brothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton Baldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a host of other relatives and friends. A limb has fallen from our family tree. We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.
Troops of the 1st Battalion 5th Cavalry land southeast of Khe Sanh, near Hill 549 in Vietnam, April 1968.
Doris was preceded in death by her father Arthur Raymond Jones, her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Jones, and her sister Maryanne Jones Brantley. Survivors include her two precious daughters: Amy Cameron Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio (husband David) of Cincinnati, Ohio; seven grandchildren: Cameron David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Nicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.
DANG VAN PHUOC / AP PHOTO
DANG VAN PHUOC / AP PHOTO
PRODUCTION from page A1
tion, Reader’s Theatre does not require actors to memorize their lines, though the group said rehearsals are still part of the process because the format remains a performance rather than a casual reading.
“No memorization is needed; you’ll be reading from the script,” the group said. “The Uwharrie Reader’s Theatre will also provide a chance to do some possibly more edgy plays and try out new plays before they go to the main stage with The Uwharrie Players.”
Simon’s classic comedy follows newlyweds Paul and Corie Bratter as they begin married life in a New York apartment that is too expensive, needs repairs and comes with more complications than expected.
The cast includes Rebekah Lanier as Corie, Bradley Eudy as Paul, Nancy Cottingham as Corie’s mother, Todd Basinger as Victor Velasco and Tyler Poplin as the telephone repairman.
The Uwharrie Players’ Bradley Eudy, from left, rehearses with Rebekah Lanier and Nancy Cottingham.
He quietly shaped American journalism while navigating the
By Scott Mayerowitz The Associated Press
“His voice was never the loudest in the room, but it was often the wisest.”
Louis D. Boccardi, Retired President and CEO, The Associated Press
The group’s summer production will move to the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center for “Footloose,” which runs July 2426 and July 31 through Aug. 2.
Performances will be held Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
The fall season will conclude
“Please join us in congratulating the talented individuals bringing this story to life,” Uwharrie Players said. “Get ready for an afternoon of laughter, romance and a few ights of stairs. We can’t wait to share this hilarious journey with you.”
with “Let’s Murder Marsha” at the Albemarle Neighborhood Theatre on Nov. 6-8 and Nov. 1315, following the same evening and matinee schedule.
Founded as an outgrowth of the Stanly County Arts Council, The Uwharrie Players has presented live dramas, comedies and musicals for Stanly County and surrounding communities since 1975.
NEW YORK — Donald E. Newhouse, president of one of the largest family-controlled publishing companies in the nation and a former board chairman of The Associated Press, died Tuesday. He was 96 and died at his home in New Jersey, his family said.
During his career, Newhouse served as president of the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey and head of Advance Publications’ newspaper group, which he navigated into the internet age.
“You reveled in his company. He lled you with energy and humor when you felt doubtful and weak,” said Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and Conde Nast’s chief content o cer.
“He was scrupulous about not interfering in editorial business, but if you turned to him for counsel, he invariably o ered judicious advice,” she said in an obituary released Tuesday night by the Newhouse family.
Newhouse, who lived in New York, spent nearly 50 years overseeing the 35 newspapers of Advance Publications, the media business started by his late father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., in 1922. His older brother, S.I. Newhouse Jr., was chairman of the company and oversaw Conde Nast magazines. He died in 2017.
Louis D. Boccardi, retired president and CEO of the AP, said Newhouse was an extraordinary chairman for the cooperative.
“His voice was never the loudest in the room, but it was often the wisest,” Boccardi said. Newhouse was instinctively private, but behind that, Boccardi said, was a generous man, at home anywhere and curious about everything.
“He could come across as self-e acing and deferential, but in Don’s skilled hands those were qualities that made him an enormously strong and e ective leader,” Boccardi said. “You don’t often see the adjective ‘warm’ attached to a titan of industry, but it applied to him.”
A man who didn’t chase the spotlight
Newhouse, born in 1929, was known for staying out of the public eye. A reporter once asked him to list the biggest chances he took in his career. The answer: “Inviting your questions.”
The usually reserved Newhouse did step into the spotlight when he took on the role of chairman of the Newspaper Association of America from 1993 to 1994 and then chairman of the AP board of directors from 1997 to 2002. He had served on the AP board for nine years before becoming its chairman.
“He was a smart and shrewd businessman but as thoughtful and kind a man as you’ll nd. Being in his presence was always a joy,” said Doug Clifton, editor of one of Newhouse’s papers, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, from 1999 to 2007.
Newhouse attended Syracuse University but never graduated, heading into the family’s newspaper business instead. He would regularly visit his newspapers but left the ultimate authority of running them to his publishers.
“Each of our newspapers operates independently, with publishers who are strong, who set policy for their individual organizations and who have the authority and responsibility of carrying out the policies they set,” he said in 1993 when taking over as chairman of the newspaper association.
Newhouse was known for spending money to make sure that papers got the best stories. Jim Willse, editor of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., from 1995 until 2010, said he would give “us all the resources we needed to make The Ledger really special.” Willse said Newhouse loved newspapers and newspaper people.
“He especially enjoyed it when we’d have a story about some politician caught with his hand in the cookie jar, or a spicy feature about stu ed shirts behaving badly,” Willse said.
Newhouse’s philosophy of spending money to produce quality coverage and a handso approach toward his editors led to many successes, including multiple Pulitzers.
Many of those newspapers were able to thrive and remain pro table because they dominated their market, but Newhouse said he was very much aware of what he called the “dramatically changing media landscape” and how people get their news.
“The 15th-century revolution was epitomized by the printing of the Gutenberg Bible; ours by Ted Turner’s cable news network and by webbased news sites — news in real time from anywhere to everywhere,” he said in 2004 at the rededication of a communications school named after his father at Syracuse University.
Three years later, he told one of his papers, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., that newspapers can survive “by producing content that is relevant, interesting, accurate and entertaining for newspapers and the internet.”
He steered through nancial struggles
Yet the papers did ultimately struggle nancially.
Advance was known in the industry for a pledge that employees who weren’t in a union would have jobs regardless of economic downturns or technological advances. In 2009, the company announced that the pledge would be withdrawn.
The company also moved away from daily publishing of several papers. In 2012, it announced that the Post-Standard; The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the Birmingham News, the Press-Register of Mobile and The Huntsville Times, all in Alabama, would cease daily publication and would only o er print editions on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Those changes were accompanied by hundreds of layo s.
“His conservative approach left both the papers and its employees somewhat unprepared for the realities of the internet,” said Thomas Maier, who wrote a 1994 biography of the family.
Newhouse’s eldest son, Steven, spearheaded the company’s growth on the Internet and on mobile devices.
“My dad spent his life in the newspaper business and was devoted to it, built it up and enjoyed many good years. When it became more challenging, he was rst in line to work through, nding solutions to keep the local journalism franchise going,” he said.
Newhouse is also survived by another son, Michael, daughter Katherine Mele and grandchildren. His wife, Susan, died in 2015.
COURTESY THE UWHARRIE PLAYERS
Challenges can resume once the administration formally implements the executive order
By Nicholas Riccardi
The Associated Press
A FEDERAL JUDGE has declined to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration’s contention that it was too early to block the order because it has yet to be implemented.
Nichols’ ruling leaves the door open for further challenges when the Trump administration moves to implement the
president’s directive. A separate lawsuit seeking to block the executive order is underway in Boston. No matter how rapidly the administration acts, no voting changes are expected during primary elections, which continue into next month.
“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a nal rule that directly a ects Plainti s or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit speci c individuals due to particularized aws,” Nichols wrote. “Plainti s may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plainti s cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”
The Trump administration has yet to formally issue lists of eligible voters, and those who led the initial request for a temporary halt said they’d be back if the administration moves in that direction.
“We are ready to resume the ght if and when the administration takes those next steps,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive o cer of the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the organizations
that sought the stay from Nichols.
Trump issued the order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list. Election o cials argued it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos, and the postal union has objected to the idea of mail carriers policing ballots.
Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year’s vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.
Democrats and civil rights groups argued it was urgent
that Nichols issue a restraining order in the midst of primary season and with states already gearing up for the fall midterm elections.
This was Trump’s second executive order seeking to overhaul elections and voting. His initial election executive order, issued just months after he took o ce in his second term, has been blocked by multiplefederal judges. That order sought to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other changes.
Supreme Court rules for Black death row inmate from Mississippi over racial bias in makeup of jury
By Mark Sherman The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who claims there was racial bias in the makeup of the jury that convicted him.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices sided with Terry Pitchford, who was sentenced to death for his role in the killing of a grocery store owner.
“In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices joined with Kavanaugh.
There were 11 white jurors and one Black juror in a trial with similarities to that of another Black man on Mississip -
pi’s death row, whose conviction the high court overturned seven years ago.
It’s unclear what happens next in Pitchford’s case. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who dissented, suggested the state still could argue Pitchford’s conviction should be sustained. If his conviction is overturned, the state could seek to retry him.
“Mr. Pitchford is now entitled to a fair trial in the state court,” Joseph Perkovich, who argued the case for Pitchford at the Supreme Court, wrote in an email.
Doug Evans, a now-retired prosecutor with a history of dismissing Black jurors for discriminatory reasons, had excused four other Black people at Pitchford’s trial. Black people make up more than 37% of Mississippi’s population.
The Supreme Court ruled 40 years ago in Batson v. Kentucky that jurors could not be
excused from service because of their race and set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claims of discrimination and the race-neutral explanations by prosecutors.
Pitchford’s case focused on whether his lawyers did enough to object to Judge Joseph Loper’s rulings and whether the state Supreme Court acted reasonably in ruling they had not.
Pitchford’s lawyers made the necessary arguments and the
state high court acted unreasonably, Kavanaugh wrote.
In dissent, Gorsuch wrote that Pitchford had to show that no fair-minded judge could rule as the Mississippi court did and that the record in the case was crystal-clear in his favor.
“As I see things, Mr. Pitchford has failed to satisfy either of these standards,” Gorsuch wrote, joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas.
In 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and conviction of Curtis Flowers, because of what Kavanaugh then described as a “relentless, determined e ort to rid the jury of Black individuals.” Evans was the prosecutor in that case, and Loper presided over thenal two of Flowers’ six trials.
Pitchford, now 40, was 18 when he and a friend decided to rob the Crossroads Grocery, just outside Grenada in north-
ern Mississippi. The friend shot store owner Reuben Britt three times, fatally wounding him, but was ineligible for the death penalty because he was younger than 18. Pitchford was tried for capital murder and was sentenced to death.
The case has been making its way through the court system for 20 years. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford’s conviction, holding that the trial judge did not give Pitchford’s lawyers enough of a chance to argue that the prosecution was improperly dismissing Black jurors.
Mills wrote that his ruling was partially motivated by Evans’ actions in prior cases. A unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling.
Evans did not respond to The Associated Press’ attempt to reach him for comment when he retired.
Gami cation and memes lure young people to sports wagering apps, prediction markets
Kalshi and Polymarket have brought a new dimension to gambling
By Kaitlyn Huamani
The Associated Press
When Rory McIlroy won the Masters for the second year in a row, Kalshi shared a photo of him on Instagram with the words, “Wait he’s goated.” When a video of NBA player Damian Lillard recovering from an injury circulated online, Kalshi’s main competitor Polymarket posted, “The league is cooked.”
If you don’t know what either of those phrases mean, it’s because you may not be the target audience.
The posts and hundreds of others like it are exposing younger people to prediction market platforms, where users can put money on the line for the outcomes of real-world events — or absurd ones like when the U.S. will con rm that aliens exist or whether Jesus Christ will return before 2027.
Once on the platforms, companies keep users hooked with what they market as low-stakes, casual opportunities to make an easy buck, creating an environment that some say feels more like a game and less like a risky nancial transaction with potentially harmful consequences. Indeed, recent academic research looking at 588 million trades on Polymarket found that pro ts were concentrated to just a very small group of top traders while the majority of users — 69% — lost money.
Kalshi, Polymarket and some sports wagering platforms are available to users starting at 18, mirroring the minimum age requirement for investing in the stock market but younger than the age limit of 21 for gambling in most U.S. states. That threeyear window is critical to cognitive development, according to some experts, who note that teens and young adults are more vulnerable to developing problematic gambling behavior and addiction than older adults.
“The adults in the room are not taking the fact this is meant to be an adult activity seriously, so when adults don’t take it seriously, why would the kids?” said Dr. Timothy Fong, an addiction psychiatrist and the co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, who notes that the “velocity of gambling” combined with the “frictionless” access to it creates a dangerous slope for young people.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., introduced legislation last week with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Con., that would bar social media companies and advertisers from showing sports
betting ads to minors. Blumenthal said sportsbooks and prediction markets are “treating young people like a gold rush, ooding the internet with advertisements and promotions to hook them on gambling when they’re young.”
Hot air balloon diving, chimps and memes
The humorous, meme-driven approach by both prediction markets and sports wagering platforms is not simply in pursuit of social media clout but a deliberate, carefully curated strategy to reach young people, says Jason Levin, the founder of Memelord Technologies. His company o ers marketing tools like meme templates he says both Polymarket and Kalshi have used.
“If you want to attract a younger audience, you’re going to use memes. You’re going to use unhinged humor,” Levin said. “You’re going to try to get in front of them by any means necessary.”
One recent Polymarket ad on Meta’s social media platforms shows an in uencer hanging o a hot air balloon before letting go and plummeting. Another from Kalshi shows chimpanzees wearing suits in party settings. And Fli — a free-toplay platform that calls itself a “social sportsbook” — uses a common meme template of a car dashing to make an exit on the highway. Ads for these platforms also appear on mobile games and in several other places online where they can reach young people.
Kalshi spokesperson Jack Such told The Associated Press memes are “just a part of corporate branding nowadays”
and their usage isn’t necessarily related to the age of potential viewers. The average age of a Kalshi user is 33, Such said. Polymarket declined to comment.
‘The hardest wager to get is the rst wager’
About 3 in 10 of American adults under 30 said they placed a sports bet in the past year, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in summer 2025. About 2 in 10 Americans under 30 — including 21% of men and 16% of women in that age group — said they wagered online in that period, up from 7% three years earlier.
Prediction markets have tried to distinguish themselves from gambling by emphasizing that their users aren’t placing bets; they’re making a prediction on the probable outcome of an event. And because the platforms are regulated by the federal government via the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, they are not subject to state-level restrictions or bans in place for traditional gambling and sports betting, including higher age limits. But even some online sports wagering platforms are open to users starting at 18, including Fli , which doesn’t require users to pay to participate, emphasizing the entertainment value instead. Many of these platforms operate on a sweepstakes-based model, making them accessible to users 18 and older in many U.S. states. Users are not technically required to pay to use these platforms but are often incentivized to do so if they want to see a real-money payout.
Stephen Findeisen, a YouTuber with more than 4 million subscribers who goes by Coffeezilla online and investigates internet scams, said the motivation behind appealing to young users is the possibility of gaining loyal, long-term customers.
“If you’re one of these platforms, you are incentivized to try to target them as soon as you can get them as a customer, so you can be the rst kind of business they engage with in that space,” Findeisen said.
Many platforms also o er a low monetary entry point for placing bets or making predictions to “lower the friction of getting involved” since “the hardest wager to get is the rst wager,” he said.
For young people, that can come with big downsides. Paris Woods, an author and nancial educator, said that around age 18 is the most important time to start becoming nancially stable and building longterm wealth. But gambling and trading on prediction markets can create a “cycle of addiction and debt.”
“It’s not just eroding the present and sort of taking their hard-earned money out of their hands at 18 or 19, but it’s actually taking money out of that 40 or 50-year-old version of themselves,” Woods said.
Borrowing from video game features
Risky nancial behaviors like sports wagering are reinforced by the rush of a win, or simply if they’re fun. Gami ed features such as leaderboards, challenges and rewards, and other video game-like tools are built into some sports wagering platforms. Those, in turn, keep
“Just a part of corporate branding nowadays.”
Jack Such
people on platforms longer and more intensely engaged, said Adrian Hon, a game designer and author of “You’ve Been Played.”
“They tighten the loop of setting a bet and getting the feedback,” Hon said. “And so it does make it more visceral. It makes it more exciting. It makes it more real-time.”
Fli , for instance, is designed with bright colors and engaging art. Users can customize an avatar to represent themselves and write a bio on their account page where their statistics are displayed. They can gain followers, chat with others, move up the leaderboard and earn achievement badges.
Fli said in a statement that it provides a “fun, social and rewarding experience” for users to compete in free-to-play games, while also “taking measures to ensure this activity is done responsibly.” The average age of a user who makes a purchase is 26, the company said.
The “social gaming experience” on Fli has many “nocost avenues for users to participate in predictions and engage in friendly competition,” the statement continued. “Our inapp social features are similar to those that exist more broadly within many consumer applications.”
Kalshi and Polymarket each have leaderboards on their platforms as well as comment sections where users can interact with each other through text and even GIFs. Kalshi’s Such said those functions help users make trades with as much information as possible and called them “core elements” of the platform.
The company has rejected proposals to include more gami ed features like confetti appearing on screen when a user con rms a trade, Such said. Kalshi has also put in safeguards to prevent kids from accessing the platform, including asking some new users for a live sel e before they are approved for an account and using facial recognition when signing in.
Intentional or not, wagering platforms and prediction markets expose young users to “highly stimulating, highly novel, highly intense things,” said Fong of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program — and that carries consequences.
“A young brain that’s not fully formed — that’s going to leave a signi cant mark,” he said. “And that brain is going to want it again.”
JENNY KANE / AP PHOTO
A phone displays crypto prices on the Kalshi app on April 16, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley puts the green jacket on Rory McIlroy after the Masters golf tournament last month.
ASHLEY LANDIS / AP PHOTO
Matthew Perry’s assistant gets more than 3 years in prison for central role in his ketamine death
The sentencing centered on how much responsibility an assistant bears for enabling addiction
By Andrew Dalton
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Matthew Perry’s live-in personal assistant, who had a central role in the “Friends” actor’s descent into ketamine addiction and injected him with a fatal dose of the drug, was sentenced Wednesday to three years and ve months in prison, bringing an end to the legal saga surrounding the death of one of the biggest TV stars of his generation.
“You were privy to his struggle with addiction,” said Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who handed down the sentence to the 60-year-old Kenneth Iwamasa in federal court in Los Angeles. “Your conduct was reckless, not just on the day of his death but in the days leading up to his death.”
Iwamasa was the last person sentenced of the ve who pleaded guilty in the investigation and prosecution that followed Perry’s death at age 54 on Oct. 28, 2023. The group included corrupt doctors and a major street dealer, “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha, whose 15-year sentence was the only one longer than Iwamasa’s.
The assistant was constantly at Perry’s side in his nal days, acting as the actor’s enabler, drug messenger and de facto doctor. He was the last person to see Perry alive, and he was the one who found him dead in his Jacuzzi. He would eventually become prosecutors’ most important informant.
How much blame for an assistant to an addict?
Wednesday’s nearly threehour hearing was largely a debate between lawyers for both sides, the judge and Perry’s loved ones over the level of responsibility that can be put on the employee of a powerful person when addiction is in the mix.
“His loyalty to Mr. Perry was paramount,” Iwamasa’s lawyer, Alan Eisner, told the judge. “He worshipped Mr. Perry, he looked up to Mr. Perry. All he did was please and accommodate Mr. Perry.”
Eisner argued for a sixmonth prison term with six months of home con nement.
“Mr. Perry was not blameless,” the lawyer said. “Nobody likes to hear that.”
When Eisner said Iwamasa was unable to act di erently than he did, the judge cut him o and said: “Unwilling. Not unable. He could have said no.”
Perry’s mother and sisters made it clear in letters to the judge that there is no one, not even Perry himself, who they blame for his death more than Iwamasa — a longtime friend they thought would help the actor maintain sobriety.
Perry’s stepfather, longtime “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison, spoke for the family at the sentencing.
MANAGER from page A1
level of professionalism and know-how that has improved our quality of life. We wish her the best on her well-earned retirement.”
During her time with the village, Blair has assisted Misenheimer through budget cycles, infrastructure and growth discussions, community improvement e orts and the village’s National Register of Historic Places designation.
Before joining Misenheimer, Blair worked as an accountant and later expanded her role as she gained experience in municipal operations.
The village is seeking to hire her replacement early this summer to allow time for training
2015.
“We really felt that he was part of the family,” Morrison said. “We trusted him implicitly.”
Morrison acknowledged the power imbalance, but said Iwamasa still had a choice.
“You did the injections. You could have made the phone call,” he said. “But you didn’t. Because you were living a dandy life.” He added, “You were in control of one of the most famous people in the world.”
‘The monster that killed him’
Lisa Ferguson, Perry’s business manager for most of his career and now his estate executor, painted a darker picture, saying Iwamasa deliberately drove out everyone else surrounding Perry, including sober-living companions and medical workers, to shore up his own power and in uence. She angrily said he used Perry’s addiction to his own advantage.
“What you are is the monster that killed him,” Ferguson said. She said he had shown “not a shred of guilt or remorse” since Perry’s death, and that he ought to “rot in prison.”
“Matthew deserved to live,” she said. “You don’t.”
Iwamasa looked right at Morrison and Ferguson throughout their remarks, and made the unusual move of facing Perry’s family and friends in the audience when he spoke.
“I’m horribly, horribly sorry, and I o er my condolences to you,” he said. “I’m just so sorry to have done these illegal acts that I will forever regret.”
Iwamasa wore a charcoal-gray suit, with his long white hair combed back. He had no visible reaction to the sentence. His father and brother sat in the audience with other supporters.
Iwamasa comes clean to police, faces the spotlight
Perry had hired Iwamasa in 2022, and he was paying him $150,000 a year. The broad criminal investigation began not long after Iwamasa returned from running errands to nd Perry dead. The LA County Medical Examiner found that ketamine was the primary cause of death. Drowning was a secondary cause.
At rst, Iwamasa lied to police and got rid of evidence of
“We want to nd the right t for our community.”
Mayor Michael Herron
and transition before her retirement takes e ect.
“It’s an important role,” Herron said. “We want to nd the right t for our community. Above all, we need a leader who aligns with our mission, vision and values, and demonstrates a strong interest in serving our people.”
According to the job description, Misenheimer is seeking an experienced professional to serve as village manager/ clerk under the direction of the
“You did the injections. You could have made the phone call. But you didn’t. Because you were living a dandy life.”
Keith Morrison, Perry’s stepfather
ketamine use. But after investigators served a search warrant on the house in January of 2024, he began coming clean. By that August he had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death.
That came quietly before any Perry-related indictments were announced, and Wednesday was Iwamasa’s rst time under the intense public spotlight surrounding the case. He stood in front of dozens of cameras outside the courthouse as Eisner spoke for him, saying that the sentence was excessive and didn’t re ect the dynamic between the two men.
“One person had the power. One person had no power,” the lawyer said.
Morrison said outside court he was satis ed that the family could get the sentencing behind them.
But, he added, “It doesn’t change the fact that we’ve lost him, that he’s dead, and that my wife is broken.”
The sentence was exactly what prosecutors sought, though Garnett disagreed with them on the details. She found Iwamasa did not abuse a position of trust, which could’ve brought more prison time, saying that category was generally reserved for professionals and experts. She found that he had not bene ted nancially from the crime, though acknowledged he did from the relationship with Perry.
She also told Iwamasa, “there is no hard evidence that you acted with malicious intent, though some would disagree.”
His sentence also included a $10,000 ne and two years of probation. He was ordered to report to prison on July 17.
Perry became a major TV star along with Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow on “Friends,” NBC’s megahit sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.
mayor and Village Council. The position includes carrying out local policies, enforcing municipal laws and regulations, overseeing village operations, managing nances, supporting community engagement and working with elected ocials, sta , residents and outside partners.
The village lists accounting, budgeting, nancial management, municipal administration and clerk experience among its desired quali cations. A bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration or a related eld is preferred. Those interested in the position and application process can visit villageofmisenheimernc.gov.
BRIAN ACH / AP PHOTO
Matthew Perry poses for a portrait in New York on Feb. 17,
STANLY SPORTS
Lowder takes step toward Reds return with simulated outing
The Albemarle native is working back from a shoulder injury
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
ALBEMARLE — Former North Stanly standout Rhett Lowder moved closer to a possible return to the Cincinnati Reds’ rotation this week.
Lowder, a 24-year-old Albemarle native, threw 45 pitches to hitters on Wednesday at Citi Field as he continues working back from a right shoulder injury that landed him on the injured
Pair
list earlier this month. “Feels good,” Lowder said. “I think we got a good grasp on it early.”
The simulated outing covered the equivalent of three innings and came against several Reds teammates as Cincinnati manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Derek Johnson observed his progress.
If Lowder responds well in the coming days, his next step is expected to be a minor league rehabilitation start for Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday at Memphis, a St. Louis Cardinals a liate. He would likely throw about 70 pitches in that outing.
Francona did not rule out the possibility of Lowder returning to Cincinnati’s rotation after one rehab start, though the Reds have not committed to a rm timeline.
“I think there’s a lot of possibilities. Don’t know that we need to put the cart ahead of the horse. Getting him healthy is what’s really important,” Francona said before the Reds’ seriesnale against the New York Mets.
Lowder said the recovery process has centered on targeted work after the team identi ed the issue early.
“We kind of got the problem and narrowed it down pretty
“I think we got a good grasp on it early.”
Rhett Lowder
early, so it was just hyper-specific work to do strengthening some areas,” Lowder said. “It’s going to be continuing to stay on that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Francona said Lowder has not needed a full buildup because he was sidelined only brie y from throwing.
of Pfei er men’s lacrosse players earn USILA All-America honors
Miles, Keane recognized after Falcons’ season
By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal
MISENHEIMER — A pair of Pfei er men’s lacrosse standouts have added national honors to a championship season for the Falcons.
On May 20, junior attacker Ethan Miles and junior defender Michael Keane were announced as honorable mention All-Americans by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association following Pfei er’s 16-3 campaign.
“We are so proud of Ethan and Mike’s accomplishments,” said Pfei er coach Tucker Nelson, who was selected as the USA South Coach of the Year.
“It took a ton of really good teammates to be able to gain this award. Both young men are tough and hardworking. We’re proud to represent Pfei er on a national level.”
Those individual honors came after another dominant season for the Falcons, who captured both the 2026 USA South regular-season and tournament championships.
After su ering a nonconference home loss on Feb. 21, the Falcons responded with a 13game winning streak as they went unbeaten in USA South play for the third straight season, extending their regular-season conference winning streak to 27 games.
Pfei er also added another
“The fact that he almost could keep throwing — I think he was out for only two or three days. That was all it was. So, he’s not building back up. They just really have been stressing and working on range of motion, activating the right muscles and trying to retrain that shoulder.”
Lowder exited his May 7 start against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning after experiencing discomfort and a clicking sensation in his right shoulder. An MRI showed no structural damage, but he was placed on the 15day injured list May 13, retroactive to May 10.
Lowder is 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA through eight starts this season. He opened the year with a 3.10 ERA over his rst ve starts before going 0-2 with a 12.54 ERA over his next three.
The former Wake Forest ace and seventh overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft debuted late in 2024, going 2-2 with a 1.17 ERA in six starts.
“We are so proud of Ethan and Mike’s accomplishments”
Pfei er coach Tucker Nelson
NCAA Tournament milestone, defeating Transylvania 15-8 at home on May 6 for the program’s second Division III national tournament win in the past four seasons. That NCAA run ended in the second round, where the Falcons fell 20-7 to Christopher Newport in Newport News, Virginia, on May 9. Miles, a Charlotte native, boosted the Falcons with 112 points, nishing the year with 55 goals and 57 assists. He also led the USA South Athletic Conference in points, goals and assists while earning rst-team All-USA South honors.
The junior attacker was named USA South Player of the Week three times and became the rst player in conference history to win USA South Player of the Year honors in back-toback seasons.
Keane, a defender from Somers, New York, also added to a decorated postseason, becoming the second Pfei er player to be named USA South Defensive Player of the Year, joining Tucker Hill, who won the award in 2022.
Keane nished among the conference’s top 10 in two defensive categories, ranking ninth in ground balls per game at 3.79 and fourth in caused turnovers per game at 2.43. He also earned rst-team All-USA South honors and was named USA South Player of the Week once. For the season, Keane led Pfei er with 74 ground balls and 42 caused turnovers.
The Falcons nished 16-3 in 2026 after winning both
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder throws against the Chicago Cubs during the rst inning of a baseball game earlier this month.
LSU has agreement to sign recent NBA G League pro Luis Jr.
Former NC State coach Will Wade is stirring up controversy with veteran acquisitions
By Brett Martel
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. — Recently re-hired LSU coach Will Wade is in the process of signing former professional player RJ Luis Jr., a person with knowledge of the move said Tuesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because LSU had not announced or acknowledged the move, which is expected to result in a petition to the NCAA to restore Luis’ eligibility.
Luis played three seasons in college — one at UMass and two at St. John’s. He declared for the NBA draft in 2025 after being named the Big East player of the year.
After going undrafted, the 6-foot-7 Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz and was traded to the Boston Celtics. However, Luis never appeared in a game in either the NBA or the G League, and that is expected to be element of his argument as to why the NCAA should allow him to suit up for Wade’s Tigers.
Luis played in 85 games with 52 starts and averaged 14.1 points per game during his college career. During hisnal season at St. John’s, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 47.5% overall and 33.6% from 3-point range.
While there is precedent for the NCAA granting eligibility to international students who have played professionally overseas, the NCAA last season denied former G League
player Charles Bediako’s bid to resume his college career at Alabama.
Bediako sued to have his eligibility restored and was able to play ve games for the Crimson Tide while a temporary restraining order was in e ect, but he was barred from nishing the season when a judge denied his petition for injunctive relief.
Wade, who was forced to take a year o from coaching at the college level after being red with cause by LSU in March of 2022, returned as the Tigers’ coach in March after coaching one season at NC State.
While Wade’s teams were successful on the court at LSU, his career was brie y derailed by a recruiting scandal surrounding payments to players that were not permitted at the time, but are now.
After Wade served his suspension, he was hired as the coach at McNeese in Louisiana. He led the Cowboys to two NCAA Tournament appearances before moving on to NC State.
Since coming back to the Bayou, Wade has gone about overhauling LSU’s roster.
“What
you’re doing is (messing) it up for everyone else.”
Anonymous college coach on Will Wade
While LSU currently is not listing any players on its 202627 roster, 22-year-old Mo Dioubate has announced his intention to transfer from Kentucky. And Wade reportedly is in the process of signing a half-dozen experienced players, including: 25-year - old Israeli pro Yam Madar; 23-year - old EuroLeague pro Brice Dessert of France; 23-year - old EuroLeague player Marcio Santos of Brazil; 23-year-old UTSA transfer Austin Nunez; 22-year-old Kansas State transfer Abdi Bashir; and 20-year-old Michigan State transfer Divine Ugochukwu. The moves have not been accepted with approval from Wade’s colleagues. One anonymous college basketball head coach told national writer Je Goodman that Wade was “ being an idiot ***hole for the sake of being an idiot ***hole. What you’re doing is f***ing it up for everyone else.”
Lone full-time spelling bee coach charges $180 per hour; champions say he’s worth it
Scott Remer has coached ve national champions
By Ben Nuckols
The Associated Press
WHEN DEV SHAH won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2023 and Faizan Zaki took the title last year, they posed for remarkably similar photos on the confetti-strewn stage. Standing next to them, beaming, was a bespectacled man in an aloha shirt, holding up a copy of his book “Words of Wisdom.”
For Scott Remer, the champion spellers’ coach, posing for a picture was more than just a celebration. It was a business necessity.
While nearly every National Spelling Bee champion over the past 15 years has worked with a coach, the 32-year-old Remer is the country’s only full-time, professional tutor for elite spellers. Most coaches are former spellers who are still in college or even high school.
“He’s probably one of the most in uential gures in spelling over the past 10 years,” said Shah, now 17.
Remer has coached ve national champions, and since the bee emerged from the pandemic disruptions of 2020 and ‘21, he has scaled up the coaching profession. He claims 34 spellers as his students this year and has worked with no fewer than 29 during each of the past four bees.
He charges more than other coaches: up to $180 for an hourlong private lesson. If spellers nish in the top 10 and earn a cash prize, he receives up to 10% of their winnings, which he called “a performance-based bonus.”
Many spellers and their families believe Remer is worth it — despite, or perhaps because of, the intense personality that
emerges during his lessons. Always earnest and gregarious on any spelling-related topic, Remer describes coaching as a passion that grew out of his disappointing fourth-place nish in 2008, his nal year as a speller. He says he’s motivated by sharing his knowledge, helping kids reach their potential and the challenge of discovering spelling bee-worthy words.
“This is really about the love of language and the love of the competition. Part of it is once you’re stung by the bee, there’s kind of no going back,” Remer
“Once you’re stung by the bee, there’s kind of no going back.”
Scott Remer
said. “I’m not going to deny that it pays well, because it does. But I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with that.” The last two champions he coached say he was crucial to their victories.
photo provided by spelling coach Scott Remer shows Remer and his student, Faizan Zaki, on May 31, 2024, the day after Faizan nished second in that year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.
roots, language patterns and the exceptions to those patterns. He seeks to instill a deep understanding of languages that will allow spellers to gure out a word even if they have never seen or heard it before, as Shah did with “rommack” in 2023.
But Remer’s pricing, and his coaching style, have led some spellers to seek help elsewhere.
“I found it prohibitively expensive,” said Navneeth Murali, a University of Pennsylvania student who competed through 2020 and now coaches spellers, charging roughly $50 for an hourlong lesson. “It wasn’t a realistic option for me.”
Remer said his goal is to be supportive while giving spellers the feedback they need to avoid repeating mistakes.
“I try to be tough but fair, and I also try to modulate my teaching methods, based on the kids’ needs and the kids’ personalities,” he said. “Whether I’m always successful at that is I guess an open question.”
From the Ivy League to fulltime spelling coach
Remer graduated from Yale in 2016 and earned a master’s degree from Cambridge a year later. His rst study guide, “Words of Wisdom: Keys to Success in the Scripps National Spelling Bee,” was published in 2010, when he was a teenager. That was also the year he coached his rst champion, Anamika Veeramani.
“Even though his classes are more expensive, it’s de nitely worth it,” Faizan said. “I saw results.” Faizan’s father, Zaki Anwar, said he negotiated a reduced rate of $120 an hour for Remer’s services because Faizan was already an accomplished speller. Remer took home 7% of the champion’s prize haul of $52,500 — a bonus of $3,675.
“After winning, it doesn’t really matter,” Anwar said. Expensive and demanding, Remer is not for everyone Remer drills his students on
Scripps, the Cincinnati-based media company that has run the bee for a century, does not endorse coaching, but Corrie Loefer, the bee’s executive director, described the practice as inevitable, given the intensity of the competition.
Loe er gently pushed back at the idea that any coach should claim credit for a speller’s success.
“It’s hard work, it’s study ethic, it’s perseverance,” she said. “These kids are doing pretty incredible things at a really high level, especially at a young age, and I want them to be able to take credit for that themselves, knowing that it’s a community and they’ve had so much support along the way.”
NOAH K. MURRAY / AP PHOTO
St. John’s guard RJ Luis Jr. want to join Will Wade and LSU.
MICHAEL JOHNSON / THE ADVOCATE VIA AP, FILE
Will Wade talks about his journey back to LSU as the men’s NCAA college basketball coach during an introductory news conference, March 30, 2026, in Baton Rouge, La.
SCOTT REMER VIA AP
This
Harvick, ’14 Cup Series champion, selected to NASCAR Hall of Fame
Je Burton and Larry Phillips will join him in January 2027 induction ceremony
By Steve Reed
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE — Kevin Harvick, who captured the 2014 Cup Series championship and won 60 races at the sport’s top level, was selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with former teammate Je Burton and Larry Phillips.
The induction ceremony is set for Jan. 22, 2027, bringing the total number of Hall of Fame inductees to 73.
Harvick received 46 of the 50 votes cast by the panel which included representatives from NASCAR, the Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and a nationwide fan vote.
Burton received the second-most at 32% to edge out Neil Bonnett, Randy Dorton and the late Greg Bi e for the second and nal spot on the modern ballot.
Phillips received 38% of the pioneer ballot votes.
“When you talk about your reputation and the respect factor I think that speaks volumes about the things you were able to accomplish,” Harvick said of receiving 92% of the votes. “I can say it now, I’m proud of that.”
Harvick’s career took an unexpected turn when he was selected by team owner Richard Childress to replace Dale Earnhardt after the seven-time champion was killed in a wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500.
Initially, Childress had planned to bring Harvick along slowly and have him gain experience at the sport’s lower level (then known as the Busch Series), but Earnhardt’s death accelerated his rise.
Driving the renumbered No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet, it took Harvick only three races to nd victo -
Harvick’s 60 Cup wins over 826 starts ranks 11th all-time. Burton, 58, was a teammate of Harvick’s at RCR for years.
Number of votes, out of 50, received by Kevin Harvick in the Hall of Fame balloting
ry lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2001, giving RCR an emotional victory. He went on to win NASCAR Rookie of the Year, establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in the sport for years to come.
Harvick said replacing Earnhardt was di cult at the time, but he and others within RCR buried themselves in their work and “hid” from harsh reality of the star’s death.
“I think the racer’s excuse is, ‘I have to go to a race,’” Harvick said. “Whether it’s with your wife or a terrible moment like we had with Dale, it was like, ‘Well, we gotta go to the race this week.’ We just booked like 70 or 80 races that year and we just kind of hid from everything that we did. ... (The racetrack) was really where everyone wanted to be so we didn’t want to address the other situation.”
Known as “The Closer,” Harvick, 50, went on to win the 2007 Daytona 500 and earned his only championship seven years after NASCAR turned to an elimination-style playo format.
The calmer of the two drivers, Burton won 21 Cup races over his 20-year NASCAR career in 695 starts. He was the 1994 Rookie of the Year and his career highlights include winning the Coca-Cola 600 twice and the Southern 500. He won six Cup races in 1999.
He said he was “playing a crappy round of golf” when he received a phone call informing him that he got it.
“The generations before us, they made it all possible,” Burton said. “So to be enshrined in something that my heroes are in, that just means a lot.”
As for Phillips, who died in 2004 at 62, nobody can say for sure how many races he won because he raced everywhere from dirt to asphalt and in places where record keeping wasn’t always a priority. His crew chief, James Ince, estimated Phillips won 1,000 times; maybe 2,000, according to NASCAR.
Landmark Award winner
Lesa France Kennedy, the executive vice chair of NASCAR, was selected as the Landmark Award winner for her contributions to the sport. Kennedy spearheaded the revitalization of Phoenix Raceway and the Daytona Rising project at Daytona International Speedway.
West Stanly, softball
Katie Broadaway is a junior on the West Stanly softball team. The Colts will play for a state title this weekend, and Broadaway helped earn them a spot there. In a win over Foard to clinch the best of three semi nal series, Broadaway pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, earning the win. She also was the hero at the plate, driving in four of West Stanly’s ve runs with two home runs in two at bats.
Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@stanlynewsjournal.com
Weekly deadline is Monday at noon
TERRY RENNA / AP PHOTO
Kevin Harvick celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship series in 2014.
MATT KELLEY / AP PHOTO
Kevin Harvick (4) steers out of Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sept. 3, 2023, in Darlington, S.C.
NOTICES
Let’s Work Together
Full-Time
• Associate Vice President, Administrative and Fiscal Services
• Coordinator, Clinical - LPN Program
• Coordinator, Clinical Nursing Level I (9 month)
• Coordinator, Customized Training Program
• Instructor, Plumbing (12-months)
• Program Head, Medical Assisting
• Vice President, Institutional Advancement & Executive Director, Foundation
Become part of something great...
We are eager to welcome individuals who are dedicated to our mission and committed to enhancing our community. Interested candidates are invited to browse our open full and part time positions via the website below to nd out how to apply for one of our job openings at SCC.
NOTICE OF LEGISLATIVE HEARING STANLY COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS STANLY COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA Notice is hereby given that the Stanly County Board of Commissioners will, on Monday, June 8, 2026, at 6:00 PM, hold a legislative hearing at the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room located at 1000 North First Street, Albemarle, NC to consider the following request: Item 1- CR 26-01 - Sims Bark requests a conditional rezoning of a 100 acre portion of an approximately 187 acre tract located on Airport Road, Albemarle (Tax Record # 22507; Owners Charlie and Tobi Smith). The request is to rezone the property from County M-1 (Light Manufacturing) to a Conditional M2 District (Heavy Manufacturing), in order to accommodate a sawmill operation. Persons interested in speaking for or against this item will be heard.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Having quali ed as Aministrator of the Estate of Robert James Tomasek SS# xxx-xx-1043, deceased, late of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them, duly veri ed, to the undersigned (at)(care of) Katharine S. Walker, P.C., K.S. Walker Law Group, 319 S. Sharon Amity Road, Suite 230, Charlotte, North Carolina 28211, on or before the 17th day of August 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate settlement with the undersigned. This the 17th day of May 2026. Jamie Tomasek Kent, Administrator File #: 26E000226-830
NOTICE
The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Marlene Ann Harp late of Stanly County, North Carolina, hereby noti es to all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before August 10, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 10th day of May, 2026. Chad Michael Harp Executor 64 Wineco Avenue NW Concord, North Carolina 28025 Emily G. Thompson, Esq. Attorney for Executor Reed & Thompson, PLLC 204 Branchview Drive SE Concord, NC 28025 Estate File No.: 26E000157-830
NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE STANLY COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK 26SP000053-830
MARK T. LOWDER, Administrator for the Estate of OCTAVIS PATRICIA COLSON, Deceased, Petitioner, vs. DEANGELO COLSON, Respondent.
NOTICE OF SALE
Under and by virtue of an Order of the Clerk of Superior Court of Stanly County, North Carolina, entered on the 15th day of April, 2026, made in the above captioned Estate, the undersigned, was by said Order appointed Commissioner to sell the land described in the Petition, and will on the 10th day of June, 2026, at 12:00 Noon at the Stanly County Courthouse, Albemarle, North Carolina, o er for sale to the highest bidder for cash, that certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in New London, Stanly County, North Carolina and being more particularly described as follows:
Tract One:
Being all of Tract 1 containing 1.000 acres more or less according to plat entitled “Boundary Recombination Survey for Walter Shankle*, said plat being recorded in Plat Book 22, Page 175, Stanly County Register of Deeds.
Tract Two:
Being all of Tract 2 containing 0.079 acres more or less according to plat entitled “Boundary Recombination Survey for Walter Shankle”, said plat being recorded in Plat Book 22, Page 175. Stanly County Register of Deeds. The property hereinabove described was acquired by Grantor by instrument recorded Book 335 page 172. A map showing the above described property is recorded in Plat Book 22 page 175. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the aforesaid lot or parcel of land and all privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging to The Grantee in fee simple. And the Grantor covenants with the Grantee, that Grantor is seized of the premises in fee simple, has the right to convey the same in fee simple, that title is marketable and free and clear of all encumbrances, and that Grantor will warrant and defend the title against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever, other that the following exceptions: Easements, Right(s) of Way, and Restrictions of record, if any.
For reference, see Deed Book 1355, Page 487, Stanly County Registry.
The Address of the property is: 35189 Dairy Farm Lane, New London, Stanly County, North Carolina
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 26E000244-830 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having quali ed as Executrix of the estate of Portia Ann Pettiford Morris deceased, of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said Portia Ann Pettiford Morris to present them to the undersigned on or before September 1, 2026 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate please make immediate payment. This the 31st day of May 2026. Constance Bianca Wells 6127 Ahoskie Drive Charlotte, NC 28215 Executrix
PUBLIC NOTICE
STANLY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY NOTICE OF RESCHEDULED REGULAR MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Stanly County Airport Authority has o cially rescheduled its regularly scheduled monthly meeting for June 2026. The meeting originally set for Tuesday, June 2, 2026, has been moved to the following date and time: Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2026 Time: 5:00 PM Location: Stanly County Airport Conference Room The purpose of this meeting is to conduct regular business. The meeting is open to the public. By Order of the Stanly County Airport Authority Posted this 28th day of May, 2026. Questions or comments should be directed to the attention of: Randy Shank Stanly County Airport Authority
The above-described real property will be sold subject to any and all liens or encumbrances, superior mortgages, deeds of trust liens, including, without limitation, easements, conditions, restrictions and matters of record, and any unpaid county and city ad valorem taxes, including those for the year 2026, and city assessments, if any. Subject to any encroachments. An earnest money deposit equal to ve percent (5%) of the bid price, or $750.00, whichever is greater, will be required from the highest bidder at the time of sale as evidence of good faith. This sale will be held open for ten (10) days for upset bids.
This the 17th day of April, 2026.
MARK T. LOWDER Commissioner
M.T. Lowder & Associates Attorneys at Law P.O. Box 1284 Albemarle, NC 28002 Telephone: 704-982-8558
Fax: 704-986-4808
PUBLISH: May 31 and June 7, 2026
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
The undersigned, having quali ed as the Administrator of the Estate of Walter Charles Rideout, late of Stanly County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the Estate to present such claims to the undersigned Administrator at 9512 Emory Grove Road, Gaithersburg, MD 28077-3502 on or before the 14th day of August, 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This the 29th day of April, 2026.
Lee Rideout Administrator of the Estate of Walter Charles Rideout 9512 Emory Grove Road Gaithersburg, MD 28077-3502
David A. Beaver Attorney for the Administrator 160 N. First Street (P.O. Box 1338) Albemarle, NC 28001 (28002) 704-982-4915
Dates of publication: May 9,16, 23 and 30, 2026
Notice of Public Hearing
Notice is hereby given per NCGS 15912 that the Board of Commissioners for the Town of Stan eld will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 7:00pm at the Town Hall to hear comments for or against the proposed 2026-2027 Budget for the Town of Stan eld. Copies are available at Town Hall. Wanda Yow Town Clerk Town of Stan eld
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given that the Village of Misenheimer Council will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, June 15, 2026 at 6PM at the Village Community Building located at 48903 Lions Club Rd. The purpose of the meeting is to receive public input from the citizens concerning the 2026/2027 proposed budget ordinance and budget memorandum. A copy of the 2026/2027 proposed budget ordinance and budget memorandum is available for review via the Village website (www. villageofmisenheimernc.gov) or by contacting the Village O ce at 704-4631234. The nal reading and adoption of the 2026/2027 budget ordinance and budget memorandum will occur at the regular
or his attorney. This the 5th day of May 2026. KENNETH E. FRICK Administrator CTA ESTATE OF LARRY KEN FRICK 620 Lisk Street Albemarle, NC 28001 CHARLES P. BROWN BROWN & SENTER, P.L.L.C. PO
400 Albemarle, North Carolina 28002-0400 Telephone: 704 982-2141 Facsimile: 704 982-0902 PUBLISH: May 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2026 NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 26E000223-830 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having quali ed as Executor of the estate of Heath Jerry Johnson a/k/a H. Jerry Johnson, deceased,
America’s tech- lled classrooms facing backlash against school-assigned devices
JUST A FEW YEARS ago, America’s public schools were rushing to get every child a laptop. Los Angeles middle school teacher Anna So er remembers it well: “The idea was that technology is the future, so we need to put tech in every child’s hands.”
Now, the conversation has ipped. After pouring billions of dollars into laptops, tablets and learning apps, many schools are facing a digital reckoning. Classrooms have become saturated with screens, and a growing number of parents, teachers and school districts are saying it is time to scale back.
“The Chromebook is just a world of distraction,” says Soffer, who teaches sixth grade English and history. She favors pen-and-paper assignments but is required to use laptops and online apps for certain activities. “Every day, I’m battling, ’Who would you rather listen to, Ms. So er or Minecraft?’”
The Los Angeles Uni ed School District, where So er teaches, recently became the rst major school district to say it will stop giving devices to its youngest students. It is part of a new screen time policy taking e ect in the fall across the country’s second-largest school system.
A sweeping resolution passed last month by the Los Angeles school board requires the district to eliminate devices until second grade; set daily and weekly screen limits for all higher grades; block YouTube on school devices; and ban the use of devices at lunch and recess in elementary and middle school. The district will also audit its education technology contracts, which the teachers’ union says amount to $1.6 billion.
The Los Angeles crackdown is adding momentum to calls for reform emerging around the country. In many cases, parents lobbied a few years ago for school cellphone bans, which have now become the norm. Realizing phones weren’t the only classroom distraction, they pivoted to a new target: school-issued devices.
The campaign for change is becoming a public policy issue. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia. The federal government issued an advisory last week warning that excessive screen use among youth is becoming a growing public health concern.
Parents say school-issued devices undermine screen limits at home
In Los Angeles, concerned parents last year formed a group, Schools Beyond Screens, and pressured the district by speaking out at school board meetings, on social media and in private talks with administrators. Many are frustrated by trying to curb screen time at home, only to have screens mandated by school.
As a mother of three, Katie Pace does everything in her power to limit screens. There is one family iPad and one television at home, no screen time during the week and no screens allowed in bedrooms. Her eighth grade daughter, Clementine, does not have a phone. But as soon as Clementine gets on the Wi-Fi-enabled school bus, her day takes a turn for the digital. For the 30-minute ride to school, Clementine watches YouTube videos on her school Chromebook.
In Spanish class, assignments are on the app Duolingo, but many students use Google Translate for answers, Clementine said. Often, kids are playing games on their phones, which are supposed to be locked away. In algebra, Clementine writes with her nger on a touch screen to solve equations. In history, quizzes, tests and writing assignments are on the computer.
Almost all homework is on-
“My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack.”
Katie
Pace,
Schools
Beyond Screens member
line. Until recently, Clementine would come home and read a book, her mother said, but not anymore. On her daughter’s device history, Pace sees she spends hours a day streaming music, making Spotify playlists, and watching makeup tutorials and cat videos on YouTube.
“It makes me furious,” said Pace, a member of Schools Beyond Screens. “My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack.”
The pandemic supercharged student access to devices
A push to put a device in every child’s hand and close the “digital divide” started over a decade ago, but it accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overnight, education shifted online in March 2020. Schools raced to get kids the devices needed to connect to school. When the 2021-2022 school year started, 96% of U.S. public schools reported they had given
digital devices to students who needed them, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Many schools switched funding away from textbooks, workbooks and paper printouts to digital alternatives. Educational technology, or “edtech,” exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry.
“During the pandemic, getting kids devices was a lifeline. Now, it’s time that we reset,” said Nick Melvoin, the LAUSD school board member who drafted the new resolution.
Melvoin estimates that few Los Angeles classrooms are using screens e ectively in ways that bene t learning. Too often, he said, teachers are replacing instruction with online apps and using screens “as a crutch.”
Some schools are introducing new limits
The challenge, educators say, is that technology has become so entwined with learning, especially for older students, that unplugging from screens at school is complicated.
In the a uent Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, parents launched a petition campaign for the right to opt their children out of digital devices during school, citing questions about edtech’s bene ts. The district has said that opting out is not possible.
“If there’s really no evidence that it helps, and in fact there’s evidence that it’s harmful, what
are we doing? Test scores are at their lowest point,” said Alex Bird Becker, one of the founders of the group PA Unplugged.
Other schools are nding that it makes nancial sense to stop sending a device home with every child.
Fresno Uni ed School District, the third-largest in California, is spending $4 million a year to repair and replace laptops. Partly to cut costs, the district has told its 40,000 elementary school students to return their take-home laptops and it will shift computer access to in-class only in the fall, spokesperson AJ Kato said.
The Simi Valley Uni ed School District, near Los Angeles, stopped sending devices home for its younger students this year, partly because of costly repairs but also because they were being used for “inappropriate Google searches” and video games, according to a memo to parents. The district now stores the devices in carts at school.
A group of parents in Arlington, Virginia, gathered on a recent Saturday night to share their children’s struggles with screen addictions and other side e ects of school-issued devices.
“None of us are Luddites. I know that technology adds value, but I also don’t want my son on YouTube all the time,” said LuAnn Oliver, who hosted the group in her living room. Her sixth grade son struggles to keep track of online assignments and resist the temptation the iPad offers for video games. “We get reports on websites he’s visited. He’s visiting a game site in nearly every class.”
The Arlington School District has stopped giving iPads out before rst grade and is setting new limits in elementary school, but students in sixth to 12th grades will still be required to have school-issued devices.
Another mother, Jenny Sullivan, said she has noticed her fourth grade son capitalizing random letters and not getting corrected because there is so little work on paper. She also worries about social implications: Her sixth grader doesn’t want to go to the after-school program because everyone is on their iPad. “I’d rather be home,” he tells his mother.
After a three-hour gathering, the parents made a plan to approach the school in the fall with a uni ed request to “opt out of technology and opt in to textbooks and paper.”
“Ten years from now,” said one of the mothers, Kristina Jackson, “I can’t imagine us looking back with any other reaction than: How could we have been so naive that we just handed these devices to our kids?”
KEVIN WOLF / AP PHOTO
LuAnn Oliver’s son demonstrates earlier this month how he uses an iPad for his classes during a meeting where a group of school parents discussed ways to push back against screen time at the children’s school in Arlington, Virginia.
JOE LAMBERTI / AP PHOTO
Members of the Lower Merion Board of School Directors speak with attendees at a school board meeting on Monday, May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa.
famous birthdays this week
Brooke Shields turns 61, Pat Boone hits 92, Morgan Freeman is 89, Actor Angelina Jolie turns 51
The Associated Press
THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week:
MAY 31
Actor- lmmaker Clint Eastwood is 96. Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath is 83. Actor Tom Berenger is 77. Actor-comedian Chris Elliott is 66. Actor Lea Thompson is 65. Musician Corey Hart is 64. Rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels is 62. Actor Brooke Shields is 61.
JUNE 1
Singer Pat Boone is 92. Actor Morgan Freeman is 89. Actor Brian Cox is 80. Actor Jonathan Pryce is 79. Rock musician Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones) is 79. Country singer-songwriter Ronnie Dunn is 73. Actor Lisa Hartman Black is 70.
JUNE 2
Actor Stacy Keach is 85. Filmmaker Lasse Hallström is 80. Actor Jerry Mathers is 78. Actor Joanna Gleason is 76. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is 74. Comedian Dana Carvey is 71. TV personality-producer Andy Cohen is 58.
JUNE 3
Former Cuban President Raúl Castro is 95. Basketball Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham is 83. Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin is 81. Singer Suzi Quatro is 76. Singer Deniece Williams is 76. Former rst lady Jill Biden is 75.
JUNE 4
Actor Bruce Dern is 90. Golf Hall of Famer Sandra Haynie is 83. Singer-actor Michelle Phillips is 82. Actor Keith David is 70. Actor Noah Wyle is 55. Actor Angelina Jolie is 51.
JUNE 5
USA Track & Field Hall of Famer John Carlos is 81. Musician-artist Laurie Anderson is 79. Finance author Suze Orman is 75. Musician Kenny G is 70. Actor Mark Wahlberg is 55.
JUNE 6
Sunday.
BRANDON DILL /
Actor Morgan Freeman turns 89 on Monday.
ROSS D. FRANKLIN /
NFL
CAMUS /
Actor Clint Eastwood turns 96 on Sunday.
Singer-songwriter Gary U.S. Bonds is 87. Civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman is 87. Actor Robert Englund is 79. Tennis Hall of Famer Bjorn Borg is 70.
Malek
explores art, love, death in Ira Sachs’
Cannes
entry ‘The Man I Love’
The lmmaker also directed “Passages” and “Love Is Strange”
By Jake Coyle The Associated Press
CANNES, France — In Ira Sachs’ 1980s-set drama “The Man I Love,” Rami Malek nds the most well-tailored role since his Oscar-winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
While Sachs’ lm, which is a competition entry at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, likewise centers on a performer dying of AIDS, it’s otherwise an altogether di erent and dramatically more personal tale about art, love and death.
“It took me a minute to realize it was more about life,” Malek said in an interview alongside Sachs on a terrace in Cannes. “There’s a threat looming throughout, but it’s an undercurrent. Throughout the lm there’s a cacophony of sound and imagery and beauty that is lling your soul.”
The lm, which is for sale in Cannes, has earned Malek — an actor who has sometimes struggled to nd well-suited roles since his breakout in “Mr. Robot” — some of
“It came straight from my soul.”
Rami Malek
the best reviews of his career.
Sachs, the New York indie lmmaker, knew he wanted an actor with an ine able star quality.
“What I saw in ‘Mr. Robot’ was a very natural actor and someone who has an ability where you don’t know how they get from one word to the next.”
In “The Man I Love,” Malek plays Jimmy George, a New York performance artist who’s trying to continue performing despite his illness. His partner (Tom Sturridge) diligently cares for him while a man (Luke Ford) who moves into the same building immediately falls for Jimmy.
It’s not a movie lled with medication and hospital visits. Instead, it captures a performer desperately trying to continue on.
Sachs said he wanted “a rapturous lm.”
“I wanted to make a lm that contained all the things that I’ll miss when I’m gone,” said the lmmaker. “I wanted it to be
su used with emotion and pain and skin. It’s a sexy lm. It has color and music. You could say it’s a list of pleasures or sins.”
Some of the movie’s most overwhelming scenes are of Jimmy rehearsing or performing. In a heartbreaking showstopper, he sings the 1970 Melanie hit “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” to his family.
“It came straight from my soul,” says Malek. “It’s a moment in the lm when Jimmy has some sense of clarity as to what’s coming. There is this stubborn refusal to keep creating in the most desperate of times that emanates through this lm. It imbued me with this sense of, ‘Oh, I can be dangerous. I can take things to a limit that I haven’t before.’”
The 1980s has deep importance to the 60-year-old Sachs, who began working in New York in 1984. He was inspired by the stories of performance artists like John Kelly and John Jesurun.
“They’re the ones who told me about the last night that the comedian Frank Maya was on stage and he lost the ability to nish his act,” Sachs says.
Malek calls Sachs “a library,” whose connection to the time of “The Man I Love” fueled his curiosity.
The event has been raising money and awareness since 1985
By Louise Dixon The Associated Press
ANTIBES, France — Actors and celebrities at the Cannes Film Festival were coaxed o the Croisette and up the French Riviera coast to Antibes on Thursday for dinner, performances and the annual amfAR Gala auction, which raised millions for AIDS research. Guests were treated to a lavish reception on the Hotel Du Cap, Eden Roc, lawn, followed by performances from Robbie Williams, Zara Larsson and Lizzo over dinner. The gala was hosted by Geena Davis, who appears on this year’s festival poster, a tribute to “Thelma & Louise.” Lizzo teased her new album on the red carpet. “I’m just so excited. I’m trying to bring back good, clean fun. Like, I just want to have fun again, people need to dance, people need to laugh.”
Other guests included Rami Malek who has a lm in competition in Cannes, Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum, So a Carson,
“I’m just so excited. I’m trying to bring back good, clean fun.” Lizzo
Natasha Poly and Bar Refaeli.
An array of art, jewelry and experiences were auctioned. Actor William Abadie auctioned o a walk-on part in “Emily in Paris” while con rming the sixth season will be the show’s last. After some enthusiastic bidding, two opportunities were given for a turn in the limelight, for $435,545 each. Some of the artwork raised the bar with a famed full set of Andy Warhol screen prints of Marilyn Monroe fetching $3,252,228.
Festival sponsor Chopard donated diamond earrings that sold for $696,906. And a limited-edition Audemars Piguet watch — one of only ve — went for an eye-watering $1,684,160. Williams performed a medley of his hits ending with “Angels” dedicated to his daughter.
A surprise lot of VIP concert tickets was split between two bidders at $255,527 each for two sets of tickets each.
Actor Brooke Shields turns 61 on
Hall of Famer Joe Namath turns 83 on Sunday. THIBAULT
Larsson closed the dinner with a high-energy performance that lured diners into dancing in front of the stage.
The guests then moved to the afterparty around the hotel’s pool to dance and celebrate. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million
Actor Geena Davis poses for photographers upon arrival at
amfAR Cinema Against AIDS bene t at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc during the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 21.
SCOTT A. GARFITT / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Rami Malek poses for portrait photographs for the lm “The Man I Love” at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 19.
this week in history
Lou Gehrig succumbs to ALS at 37, RFK killed, Allied forces storm beach at Normandy
The Associated Press
MAY 31
1889: More than 2,200 people died in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending a massive ood through the town.
1921: A two-day massacre began in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as white mobs looted and burned the black district of Greenwood; as many as 300 black residents were killed.
1949: Former State Department o cial Alger Hiss went on trial in New York on perjury charges; his rst trial ended in a hung jury, but he was later convicted.
JUNE 1
1813: Mortally wounded USS Chesapeake commander
Capt. James Lawrence urged his crew, “Don’t give up the ship,” during a losing battle with the British frigate HMS Shannon in the War of 1812.
1916: The Senate con rmed Louis Brandeis to the U.S. Supreme Court, making him the rst Jewish justice.
1962: Former Nazi o cial Adolf Eichmann was executed after being convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
JUNE 2
1924: Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, the Indian Citizenship Act, granting U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born within the country’s territorial limits.
1941: Lou Gehrig, baseball’s “Iron Horse,” died in New York of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS; he was 37.
1953: Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at age 27 at Westminster Abbey in London, 16
months after the death of her father, King George VI.
JUNE 3
1888: Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s poem “Casey at the Bat” was rst published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.
1943: An altercation in Los Angeles between U.S. Navy sailors and young Mexican Americans escalated into the Zoot Suit Riots, as white mobs attacked Mexican Americans across the city, injuring more than 150 people.
1989: Chinese army troops entered Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to begin a crackdown on student-led pro-democracy demonstrations, crushing their movement.
JUNE 4
1940: Allied forces completed the evacuation of more than 338,000 troops from Dunkirk, France, during World War II.
1940: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared to the House of Commons, “We shall ght on the beaches ... we shall never surrender.”
1989: Chinese troops
crushed pro-democracy demonstrations centered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds, and possibly thousands of protesters.
JUNE 5
1794: Congress passed the Neutrality Act, barring Americans from participating in military actions against nations at peace with the United States.
1967: The Six-Day War began as Israel launched preemptive airstrikes that largely destroyed Egypt’s air force.
1968: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
JUNE 6
1944: Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day, launching Operation Overlord to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
1966: Civil rights activist James Meredith was shot and wounded by a sniper during his march from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi.
UNIVERSITY OF TULSA MCFARLIN LIBRARY / DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES VIA AP Armed men walk away from a cloud of smoke during the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 31, 1921, in Tulsa, Okla.
AP PHOTO
Queen Elizabeth II is crowned at Westminster Abbey in London on June 2, 1953.
