North State Journal Vol. 8, Issue 2

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 2

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

PHOTO VIA AP

All smiles at State of the State address North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the N.C. General Assembly on Monday, March 6, 2023, in Raleigh, as, from left, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger look on.

the

Two counties per state senator? That’s what one lawmaker is proposing

BRIEF this week

500 jobs coming to Davidson County, Cooper announces Lexington Siemens Mobility, Inc., a global manufacturer of rail transportation vehicles and control systems, will build a major advanced manufacturing and rail services center in Davidson County. The company is expected to create 506 jobs, Gov. Roy Cooper announced, and invest $220 million in Lexington to create an East Coast hub.

“After four decades of manufacturing trains in America and on behalf of all 4,000 Siemens Mobility employees in the U.S., we are excited to announce that we will expand to our new east coast hometown in Lexington, North Carolina,” said Marc Buncher, CEO of Siemens Mobility North America.

The average salary for the new positions will be $51,568.

The current average wage in Davidson County is $49,956.

NSJ STAFF

Biden says new taxes can help save Medicare Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed new taxes to help fund Medicare, saying the plan would help to extend the insurance program’s solvency by 25 years and provide a degree of middle-class stability to millions of older adults.

Biden wants to increase the Medicare tax rate from 3.8% to 5% on income exceeding $400,000 per year, including salaries and capital gains. The proposal is a direct challenge to GOP lawmakers, who argue that economic growth comes from tax cuts. The conflicting worldviews on how taxes would impact the economy is part of a broader showdown.

Biden and Congress need to reach a deal to raise the government’s borrowing authority at some point this summer, or else the government could default and plunge the U.S. into a debilitating recession.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Order blocking Leandro funding transfer reinstated

by NC Supreme Court Motions filed in February seek to address unanswered issues; raise question of funding authority

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The long-running Leandro education funding case is still far from a resolution after the N.C. Supreme Court granted a motion by the state controller and reinstated an order blocking the funding transfer.

The attorney for the state controller’s office, former state Supreme Court Justice Robert Hunter, filed a motion in February on behalf of current Control-

ler Nels Roseland. Hunter had also represented the former controller, Linda Combs.

In a 5-2 decision, the Court granted the controller’s motion and reinstated a 2021 Writ of Prohibition issued by the Court of Appeals that halted a lower court’s order directing the transfer of certain funds in the case.

Both Democratic justices voted no.

The Supreme Court’s March 3 ruling said the controller “has made a sufficient showing of substantial and irreparable harm should the stay remain in effect,” and that Writ of Prohibition is restored “until this Court has an opportunity to address the remaining issues in this case.”

See LEANDRO, page A2

While a formal bill has yet to be drafted, the proposal would be a constitutional amendment put to the voters

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A proposal that would elect North Carolina’s 50 state senators from contiguous two-county districts will be finding its way into legislative discussion this session, according to Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba).

The proposal, which is still in the drafting process, would be in the form of a constitutional amendment that voters would have to approve.

In an interview with North State Journal, Adams said the Senate districts would “mimic the federal Senate arrangement” where there are two senators for every state and then the representation in the House is by population. He later added, “Wyoming has a population of less than 600,000 but got two senators.”

Adams said he has not analyzed the pairings nor has he created a map that that pairs the counties.

“My thinking would be that we would start from the east and the west and pair counties, and then as we got to the center, we would have

N. Carolina’s rape kit backlog persists

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — In 2017, North Carolina was number one in the nation for untested rape kits with a backlog of over 15,000. The state has made some headway into reducing the number of untested rape kits, but the backlog still hasn’t been cleared five years later.

The number of kits in inventory currently stands at 16,223, according to early March numbers posted on the N.C. Department of Justice’s (NCDOJ) data dashboard.

The dashboard says performs real-time updates and, as of March 6, the site says 8,918 kits have been tested, leaving 7,305 still in the inventory backlog. The NCDOJ’s dashboard also says 11,128 kits have been “submitted.”

The kits are further broken down into categories, such as 11,516 requiring a DNA test. Some 2,953 kits were apparently entered into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The dashboard says there have been 53 Arrests from CODIS hits and 105 arrests from CODIS hits across “all sexual assault cases.”

Recent misreporting has confused the total number of kits in the backlog with those currently awaiting testing.

One North Carolina media outlet reported that “North Carolina has about 1,800 kits waiting to be tested for DNA, according to the Attorney General’s Office.” That report was interpreted as “about 1,800 untested kits left in the state,” by End The Backlog, a national group tracking rape kit testing.

North State Journal contacted Stein’s office to clarify the matter.

“The 1,800 number was the number of kits pending testing at the State Crime Lab as of January 2023, not kits from the backlog of untested kits in law enforcement custody,” a communications spokesperson for Stein wrote in an email response. “These 1,800 were kits that were submitted dating back to September 2021. Currently, the Lab is testing kits dating back to January 2022 submissions.”

The spokesperson also wrote that “Of the backlog kit numbers on the dashboard, not all kits of the 16,000 inventory will be tested based on the criteria in the Survivor Act. The DNA test required number is the number of kits that law enforceSee BACKLOG, page A8

a little bit more of a challenge,” said Adams. “I think in the final analysis, the arguments would be what county is going to be associated with Mecklenburg and what county is going to be associated with Wake. I don’t think of these adjacent counties are going to willingly attach themselves, but we’ll see.”

Adams acknowledged this proposal will have significant hurdles, specifically, running afoul of a past U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

“My background is not political science. I’m just a politician,” said Adams. “But the point is I started thinking about ‘Well, why don’t we do that?’ And so I mentioned it to Rep. (Harry) Warren, chairman of the elections committee, and he said, ‘Well, that violates the oneman, one-vote principle.’”

The one-man, one-vote principle refers to a 1964 Supreme Court ruling under then-Chief Justice Earl Warren that said all state legislative races should be based on population.

While Adams finds the idea of challenging a Supreme Court ruling “daunting,” he pointed to a scholarly report examining the issue published by the University of the Pacific Law Review titled “Little Federal Model: One County, One Vote.”

“It was written a year ago and it See PROPOSAL, page A2

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

A2 WEDNESDAY

THE WORD: THE DIVINE ART OF SYMPATHY

3.8.23 #374

“One of One”

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are” Hebrews 4:15

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

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No books nor universities can teach us the divine art of sympathy.

We must be strongly tempted ourselves — before we can understand what others suffer in their temptations.

We must have deep sorrow ourselves — before we can be true comforters of others in their times of sorrow.

We must walk through the deep valley ourselves — before we can be guides to others in the same shadowy valleys.

We must feel the strain, and carry the burden, and endure the struggle ourselves — and only then can we be touched with the feeling of sympathy, or can give help to others in life’s stresses and overwhelming needs. So we see one compensation of suffering — it prepares us for being helpers to others.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

“Ruth in Boaz’s Field” (1828) is a painting by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld in the collection of the National Gallery, London.

Ruth was an example of person who shared and received sympathy. She famously follower her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem, saying, “for whither thou goest, I will go.” Ruth also received sympathy from Boaz when he allowed her to glean barley and wheat in his fields and later married her.

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony

PROPOSAL from page A1 talks about the rural/urban divide and the tensions that exist between the rural areas and the urban areas, which I think is probably most pronounced right now by what’s going on in Oregon,” Adams said.

“You got 63% of the state land area that’s trying to secede and attach itself to Idaho, and, interestingly, that 63% of the land area only represents 9% of their population.

So, there’s growing tensions in this area.”

Adams went on to list major cities that essentially run the states they are located in, such as Chicago and Denver, as well as the control certain counties have over a state like Maricopa County in Arizona.

The Catawba lawmaker said as he began to think about the topic, he thinks “it’s evolved to this point” in North Carolina and that the state does have an urban/rural divide.

“One senator represents 10 counties,” Adams said. “And I asked Sen. (Bobby) Hanig what that’s like, and he said, “Well, go and try to put up yard signs in 10 counties and see how you feel about it?” And then, Sen. (Kevin) Corbin in western North Carolina represents eight counties. Mean-

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

provided the parties an opportunity to brief issues arising out of their petitions and appeals from the writ of prohibition itself.”

The Supreme Court disagreed in part, writing that “this Court notes that legislative-intervenors properly intervened as of right in the related case, No. 425A21-2. However, they did not move to intervene in the case at hand, No. 425A21-1, and this Court’s 4 November 2022 order does not relieve them of this procedural requirement.”

Plaintiff attorneys had filed their own motions rejecting the Legislative-Intervenors and controller’s requests.

“The issues that Movants now ask this Court to rehear were raised and argued by the Movants, acknowledged and rejected with clear reasoning by the Court, and confronted by arguments made by the dissent,” wrote Melanie Dubois, attorney for the plaintiffs. “The Movants simply do not like the Court’s decision and prefer to bring the issues back up for rehearing, hoping for a ‘do over’ before a newly-constituted Court. Such relief is not permitted under our Rules of Appellate Procedure. Consequently, the Motions should be denied.”

Included in the motions objecting to those filed by lawmakers and the controller was a filing by N.C. Department of Justice attorney Amar Majmundar.

“This Court should reject Movants’ transparent attempt to evade the appellate rules,” Majmundar wrote. “Movants style their filings as motions for further briefing or for relief from a stay. But the substance of their motions merely asks this Court to reconsider the same questions that it already answered last November in Leandro IV. This Court should decline.”

Majmundar’s filing also argues the controller is dodging their responsibilities while appearing to ignore the outstanding legal authority question.

The Leandro case has been assigned to multiple judges over its 20-plus year history and now sits in the hands of Cumberland County Superior Court Judge James Ammons. The case is scheduled for a hearing on March 10 in Raleigh.

cult for senators with five or eight counties under their jurisdiction to engage the population that they represent because it’s so dispersed.

Such a bill would likely see challenges from the likes of Marc Elias, the go-to attorney for Democrats on election law and redistricting who has sued North Carolina on multiple occasions.

“Mark Elias? I’m not here for Mark, and Eric Holder — the team,” said Adams. “What I’m trying to do is offer an example of how we can mitigate the rural/urban divided not just in North Carolina.”

Adams also responded to questions about the rural focus of the new 25-year-old leader of the N.C. Democratic Party, Anderson Clayton.

“She’d have a whole lot more races,” Adams said. “If she wants to go for the rural areas, then she would all of a sudden have many more Senate races in the rural areas. All of a sudden, you’d have five Senate races in eastern North Carolina that you don’t have now and four Senate races in western North Carolina you don’t have now.”

Adams mused about how rural county residents would react to the fact that they now have a senator that represents their county governments if voters pass the mea-

sure.

“I wonder if it would engage them more in the political process,” said Adams, later adding that he thinks that regardless of what the outcome is, the discussion is going to be useful.

Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism dollars being the main drivers of the state’s economy are concerns of rural counties, and Adams agreed his measure would be advantageous in those regions in terms of more equitable representation.

Conversely, the five-term lawmaker also said he didn’t think his proposal would change the dynamic that Wake and Mecklenburg typically get about 80% of the funding for education, transportation and economic development.

“I don’t think that’s going to change because they have the greatest needs in those areas,” said Adams. “But if we have a Senate that’s populated with senators in the far east and far western part of the state and they vote on those things, they should get something in return for that vote.”

He went on to say there the logic for making those investments in the larger population centers can’t be denied, but “you spread the voting power more equitably across the state” with his proposal.

LEANDRO from page A1 The Associated Press reported that Ford Porter, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, said the governor “is shocked and disappointed” that Roseland “joined with Republican legislative leaders to hold up funding for the public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in line with decades of bipartisan rulings in favor of schoolchildren.”

Funding of the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan was first dictated in a lower court’s order for a transfer of $1.7 billion by three entities; the State Controller’s Office, the Office of Budget and Management, and the State Treasurer.

The total figure has shifted over time and currently sits at around $677.8 million.

The controller and lawmaker defendants have consistently argued that only the General Assembly can legally make such a transfer per the state constitution.

Last fall, the then-Democratically controlled Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s funding order, issuing its ruling down party lines just days before the 2022 midterm general election, after which the court’s makeup switched to a 5-2 Republican majority.

The previous Supreme Court’s ruling had ignored its own past decisions where it had affirmed the General Assembly retained “exclusive” control of expenditures under the appropriation clause of the state’s constitution.

Senate Leader Phil Berger

with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” 1 Peter 3:8

The North Carolina Supreme Court building in Raleigh.

FILE PHOTO

(R-Eden) criticized the previous court’s ruling in the case in February 2022.

“The former majority on the Supreme Court was as lawless as any group of judges in the history, not only of this state but of this country,” Berger said. “The fact that they would at one point sign on to an opinion that Justice (Sam) Ervin wrote saying that appropriations had to be authorized by the General Assembly and another lawsuit to then … in the Leandro lawsuit … to do a complete 180, it just boggles the mind.”

The March 3 decision denied a motion by Matthew Tilley, repre-

while, Mecklenburg has got five senators that can walk around their districts.

“So the further I thought about this, is it not a legitimate thing to think that each county government, all the municipalities in that county, the school boards, and everything — shouldn’t they get equivalent representation in the Senate? Is that an unreasonable thought?”

Adams also mentioned a past U.S. senator had tried to change the Warren Court’s ruling.

“If you go back and look at history, Sen. Everett Dirksen — who was minority leader in the Senate at the time, a senator from Illinois — he argued very strongly that this would be the result. That you would vest all the political power in the urban areas,” said Adams. “And he — for three times — he tried to run a constitutional amendment to neutralize the [Supreme] Court’s ruling and he died during his third effort. He was right.”

Adams concedes the plan isn’t right for every state.

“It’s not a solution for everybody, but for North Carolina it could be a solution,” he said.

He also said there was “no question” such a proposal would be challenged in the courts but called the proposal a “common-sense

senting legislative leaders Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain), that sought to allow briefings to commence that had not been addressed in the N.C. Supreme Court’s opinion issued last fall.

“The Court took these steps so that the trial court could order State officials to transfer money to fund Years 2 and 3 of a ‘Comprehensive Remedial Plan,’ which Plaintiffs and the Executive Branch contend is necessary to remedy alleged deficiencies in the State’s educational system,” Tilley’s motion stated. “However, in doing so, the Court recognized that it had not yet

“It’s not a solution for everybody, but for North Carolina it could be a solution.”

State Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) bill.”

“We know that, but I’ve talked to a number of senators about this, and they see that if you put five senators in one county and four in another county, then what you remain with in the rural areas is huge senatorial districts that are difficult to represent,” Adams said.

Since the proposal is in the beginning stages, Adams said he has not yet spoken with any members of the Senate’s elections committees nor with Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden). He said that he has several lawmakers who have indicated they wish to be a primary sponsor, including Reps. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) and Karl Gillespie (R-Macon). He also said that Rep. Carson Smith (R-Pender) has “absolutely insisted” to be a primary sponsor.

Adams said that it’s very diffi-

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

NCDOJ files motion to dismiss lawsuit against Governor’s School

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed late last year against the North Carolina Governor’s School.

The Governor’s School is a summer residential program lasting four weeks for “gifted and talented high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses.” Its operations are overseen by officials with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI).

The motion, filed on Feb. 16,

lists eight reasons for dismissing the suit, including “lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction, and because Plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”

The reasons listed also include a failure to provide a claim for relief and did “not plead sufficient facts to properly allege that his rights under the North Carolina Constitution were violated.”

Additionally, the motion states “Plaintiff failed to state a case upon which relief can be granted regarding continued employment at the Governor’s School, as his Complaint reveals that he has no cognizable property interest in contin-

ued employment with Defendant Department of Public Instruction.”

The lawsuit was filed in late December 2022 in Wake County by the Alliance for Defending Freedom on behalf of English professor Dr. David Phillips following his “mid-session” termination in 2021.

The 61-page lawsuit alleges that following the optional lectures, a group of students and staff members showed “open hostility, referencing race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion in their comments and questions.”

Phillips’ firing came after he spoke out about “the harms of the racially divisive ideology embraced by the school,” according to the law-

suit filing.

“Mr. Phillips was an employee of Governor’s School during summer 2021,” NCDPI Communications Director Blair Rhoades said in an email response to North State Journal last December. “The Department of Public Instruction maintains that it fully complied with all legal requirements. However, as this is a personnel matter, no additional information can be shared at this time.”

A subsequent letter sent on Dec. 28, 2022 to members of the General Assembly by Republican state Superintendent Catherine Truitt rebutted many of the claims made by the lawsuit.

“Like all of you, this story gave me great pause and concern,” Truitt wrote. “This was the first time I had ever heard about this situation because a) I very rarely get involved with HR matters as state superintendent, particularly for employees hired for limited periods of time;

A3 and b) the teacher in question had never reached out to me with a complaint.”

She also said that most, if not all of Phillips’ Critical Race Theory claims that allegedly took place happened before she made several changes that took effect in 2022.

Truitt, who is not named in the lawsuit, also refuted the allegations that she had directed the inclusion of any questionable materials.

“I want to assure you that the accusations of curriculum decisions prior to my administration have been addressed. It’s not possible for me to verify what did or did not happen under a previous State Superintendent’s watch, but wokeness and inappropriate materials for our students should never enter the classroom,” Truitt wrote.

She also added she was proud of the work done by her agency to clean up multiple divisions that lacked oversight under previous leadership.

Another bill filed blocking required COVID vaccinations for students

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A second bill has been filed in the North Carolina House blocking state agencies from requiring a COVID-19 vaccination to attend the state’s K-12 schools.

House Bill 222, “CV19 Vaccine Mandates for NC Students,” was filed on March 1 and would prohibit the NC Commission for Public Health (NCCPH) from requiring students to have a COVID-19 vaccination “for any reason.” The measure also bars state and local health officials from requiring students to have the vaccination.

The NCCPH is a division of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. (NCDHHS).

This is the second bill barring student vaccinations filed in house the last month.

The Medical Freedom Act was filed on Feb. 12. The measure bans COVID-19 vaccine requirements or mandates by the NCCPH, employers, and schools as well as prohibiting a person show proof of a vaccination. The bill includes language to bar public school units from instituting the use of face coverings and says healthy students cannot be quarantined.

Both bills appear to be prompted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adding COVID-19 vaccinations to its childhood immunization schedule. The CDC’s adoption of the

COVID-19 shots for kids 18 and under is not a law or mandate and states would be required to adopt the change to the schedule.

North State Journal has been tracking the activities of the NCCPH over the last year, including a vote taken in February 2022 on whether or not students age 17 and up should be required to get the vaccination to attend public schools and colleges.

The vote was based on a petition filed in the fall of 2021 by submitted by four professors from Appalachian State University (ASU).

The NCCPH unanimously voted down adding the vaccination at that time and rejection of the petition was bolstered by a letter to the chair from top NCDHHS officials calling the proposed action “premature.”

North State Journal reached out to NCDHHS to see of the NCCPH planned to take up the topic again at its upcoming May meeting.

NCDHHS Communications Manager Kelly Haight Connor confirmed that the CDC’s immunization schedule changes do not trigger changes in “state-level vaccine policy or requirements, including in North Carolina.”

Connor wrote in an email response that the CDC’s changes “simply formalize recommendations the CDC has already taken on COVID-19 vaccines, and assure that COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be provided free of charge to low income, uninsured

and underinsured children whose parents choose to vaccinate them.”

“State law grants the Commission for Public Health (CPH) authority to require immunizations of children in the state that are in the interest of the public health. CPH has taken no action to require or mandate COVID-19 vaccination for children,” Connor wrote.

Connor also included a summary confirming the actions by the NCCPH in turning down the previous petition request. In her response, she noted the COVID-19 vaccine requirements were not on the commission’s February agenda and “it is not anticipated to be on the agenda for their May meeting.”

She also said the NCCPH has “not received any other petitions on this matter. “ “NCDHHS has not identified a need to revisit the earlier recommendation that the Commission for Public Health not codify COVID-19 into the immunization schedule for children,” wrote Connor.

She added that “NCDHHS believes vaccinations are an important tool to protect the health and well-being of North Carolinians, including children and public employees — especially those who serve in direct care roles. Preserving the health and well-being of our residents and their communities with vaccines benefits the long-term health and success of all North Carolinians.”

In this April 26, 2021 file photo, a nursing student administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center at UNLV, in Las Vegas.

AP PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

Moravian cookies are shown at a bake shop in Clemmons.

NC may add state star and cookie to official symbols

By Emmie Brooks North State Journal RALEIGH — North Carolina has long had many official state symbols, from our state dog to our state tree, there may soon be an official state cookie and star, both of which represent our state’s culture and history. State Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford) has reintroduced the legislation to adopt the Moravian cookie and star to represent the state.

“This idea came up a few years ago when I received letters from a fourth grade class in Guilford County,” Hardister said. “The students had written letters to legislators in Guilford County, including myself, recommending that we adopt the Moravian cookie as the official state cookie.”

In 2019, a bill was run to designate the Moravian cookie as the N.C. official state cookie.

The bill passed the house with a unanimous vote but was never brought to a vote in the senate.

“I don’t believe anyone in the Senate was opposed to the bill, it just never got taken up,” Rep. Hardister said.

The Moravians were German settlers, acknowledged as the first Protestants, settling around what is now Winston-Salem in 1753. The Moravians brought with them the Moravian cookie when they immigrated.

“The Moravian cookie is very unique. It’s very thinly sliced,

which enhances productivity, they have spices in them which dating back to the 1700’s helps with preservation,” Hardister said. “They’re actually shipped around the world, people buy them all over the United States and also around the world, so they have a multimillion-dollar positive economic impact on the state of North Carolina.”

Old Salem Bakery and Dewey’s bakery, both located in Winston-Salem, are two of the most popular places to purchase the Moravian cookie.

“The Moravians have had an impact on our culture, on our economy, that when they came from Europe they predominantly went to Pennsylvania and North Carolina, they helped found Winston-Salem, and they still have a major impact on tourism with Old Salem and things like that.”

Old Salem Museums and Gardens offer events and tours emphasizing the cultural impact the Moravians had on North Carolina.

“Representative Donna White came to me and suggested including the Moravian star this time,” Hardister said.

The Moravian star originated in Germany in the 1830’s, it was used by Moravians in schools to teach geometry to young boys.

The traditional star itself is a 26-point star, often used for Christmas decor in North Carolina still today.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Murphy to Manteo

A5

Jones & Blount Medical marijuana, schools of deaf and blind bills head pass third readings

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A bill dealing with medical marijuana use and a bill reorganizing the governing structure of schools in the state for the deaf and blind have passed third readings and will head to the opposite chambers for further action.

Senate Bill 3, called the Compassionate Care Act, deals with the legalization of the use of marijuana and cannabis-infused products for medical purposes by patients with debilitating medical conditions.

Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) and Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) filed the measure, which was one of the many bills filed on the first day of business at the legislature this session.

The Compassionate Care Act cleared a second reading in the Senate with large bipartisan support on Feb. 18 by a vote of 36-10.

The 10 who voted no on the bill were all Republicans, including Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland), Jim Burgin (R-Harnett), Warren Daniel (R-Burke), Carl Ford (R-Rowan), Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson), Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth), Tom McInnis (R-Moore), Brad Overcash (R-Gaston), Norman Sanderson (R-Pamlico) and Eddie Settle (R-Wilkes).

The measure passed its third reading on March 1 and will head to the House for various committees to consider before a final vote is taken in

Greensboro Coliseum | Greensboro

Farewell Greensboro?

The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving its official headquarters from Greensboro to Charlotte.

Will the men’s basketball tournament permanently leave Greensboro as well?

The conference has not made an official announcement about where the league’s flagship event will be held beyond 2024, when it will emanate from the Capital One

WEST

Arena in Washington, D.C. The conference is taking office space in uptown Charlotte, and the main arena in the Queen City, Spectrum Center, has hosted the annual event just twice: in 2008 and 2019.

The venerable Greensboro Coliseum has held the men’s tournament on 28 occasions, more than double that of No. 2 on the list, Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

Buncombe County Asheville Regional Airport was one of five airports in the country to receive two grant awards from the FAA for terminal construction projects. Dallas-Fort Worth, Cleveland, Orlando and Philadelphia are the others. A $10 million grant will replace the existing 61-year-old terminal with new and expanded facility. It will expand the existing 115,000-square-foot terminal with five gates to a 275,000-square-foot terminal with 12 Passenger Boarding Bridge equipped gates.

Another $10 million will relocate the existing control tower.

Yancey County The Blue Heart Sanctuary in Green Mountain is facing the possible end of more than 20 years helping animals find refuge. The sanctuary has been a home to farm animals who no longer can be used for economic purposes at area farms, including pigs, horses, sheep, goats, chickens and ducks, as well as dogs and cats. The sanctuary has faced budgetary problems, however, and is scheduled to appear in foreclosure court on March 13. The sanctuary operator is still hopeful that someone will come forward to help financially.

WLOS

FAA.GOV

New K-9 officers join police force

Upper Pigeon River gets $2M to help prevent flooding Haywood County Over 60 communities around the state requested more than $80 million from North Carolina’s Department of Natural and Culture Resources’ Land and Water Fund.

A total of 17 awards totaling $15 million was approved, with the money earmarked to fund projects geared at lowering flood risks. The Haywood Waterways Association received a $2 million award to help with the Upper Pigeon River flood mitigation planning.

Spectrum Center | Charlotte

EAST

PIEDMONT

Longtime animal shelter faces foreclosure

Asheville airport gets two FAA grants

Reynolds Coliseum | Raleigh

Alleghany County The Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office and Regional Jail expanded their K-9 force. Deputy Joshua LaPrade joined the department along with his K-9 dog, Doc, a 15-month old German shepherd/Belgian Malinois. The pair have spent the last four weeks in training together at Highland Canine Training in Harmony. Doc is trained in narcotics detection, criminal apprehension and article searches. They are the third human/dog team in the department, joining Sgt. Curry and Rex, as well as Lt. Deem and Lucky.

NC.GOV ALLEGHANY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Family sues after nuclear physicist’s death in Virginia jail

Magnate remains free after new charges Durham County A business magnate remains free after he was indicted on charges he conspired to conduct a massive scheme to deceive insurance regulators and policyholders of insurance companies he controlled. Greg E. Lindberg of Durham was released on unsecured bond following his arraignment.

He also pleaded not guilty. A grand jury indicted Lindberg last week on 13 counts.

He’s already awaiting retrial on charges he attempted to bribe North Carolina’s insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business. His previous conviction was overturned in 2022, and he was released from prison. Lindberg denies wrongdoing in both cases.

Granville County The family of a nuclear physicist who committed suicide in a Virginia jail is suing the government after his psychotropic medicine was discontinued and he was denied admission to a medical prison. The federal lawsuit, filed in Alexandria, Virginia, on behalf of Christopher Lapp’s 16-year-old daughter, alleges a series of errors by prison officials led to Lapp’s 2021 death. Lapp was held in Alexandria even though a judge had ordered him sent to the federal medical prison center in Butner where physicians had medicated him and restored his mental health. Lapp had pleaded guilty to robbing a bank.

Lenoir County North Carolina’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced 17 grant awards totaling $15 million from the state’s Land and Water Fund to help communities around the state reduce flood risk. Two projects in Lenoir County received grant awards. The city of Kinston received a $2 million grant for the Adkin Branch Flood Mitigation Project. NC State University also received a grant award of $571,633 for the Caswell Farm Water Farming Demonstration and Research Project.

NC.GOV

Lumberton receives $2M to prevent flooding

Former BofA CEO Richard Rosenberg dead at 92

Catawba County It will be easier for students with an associate degrees to continue their education at Lenoir-Rhyne after the university signed a partnership agreement with 14 community colleges around the state last month. The Bear Bound program makes the transfer of community college credits to L-R easier, and the university will now accept general education core credits from the community colleges. Lenoir-Rhyne’s tuition will also be reduced by $13,000 for transfer students.

Mecklenburg County Richard Rosenberg, who doubled the size of Bank of America in the 1990s as chairman and CEO and started the bank on its path to becoming one of the world’s largest consumer banking franchises, died Friday, his family said in a statement. He was 92.

Rosenberg ran the Charlotte-based bank from 1990 to 1996, taking over at a time when regulators were allowing the first national banking chains to truly come into existence. Under his tenure, BofA grew to $225 billion in assets at the time and was rivaled only Citibank in size when he retired.

BofA is now more than $3 trillion in assets.

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Craven County A total of 99 airports around the country received grants from the FAA to help fund capital construction projects to improve terminal buildings. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funded the program, which distributed close to $1 billion in grant money. New Bern’s Coastal Carolina Regional Airport will receive $5 million to fund a portion of terminal expansion and improvements to include the addition of two passenger boarding bridges, expansion of hold rooms, improvements to passenger and baggage screening and handling areas, and upgrades to facilitate the post 9/11 passenger and baggage screening requirements.

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Lenoir-Rhyne partners with community colleges on transfer agreement

Coastal Carolina Airport to get $5M grant

Pair of grants help alleviate flood risk in area

Robeson County The North Carolina Land and Water Fund awarded 17 grants worth $15 million to communities around the state to help reduce the risk of flooding. The money helps fund projects designed to store floodwaters during major rain events, remove infrastructure from flood-prone areas, and restore wetlands, floodplains and other natural areas to better retain stormwater. The city of Lumberton received a $2 million grant for a project to reduce flooding risk at the Lumberton Loop Five Mile Branch and Saddletree Swamp Confluence.

NC.GOV

ECU gets $3.2M for mental health in underserved communities Pitt County The United Health Foundation awarded East Carolina University a $3.2 million grant. The money will be used to expand the school’s North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program at the ECU Center for Telepsychiatry. It currently serves six community-based clinics around the state, providing services to underserved areas in primary care and pediatric care. The grant will help ECU embed psychiatrists at the six clinics, begin using artificial intelligence to help with collaboration with patient families, and provide training and educational opportunities.

UNITED HEALTH FOUNDATION

that chamber.

House Bill 11, Schools for the Deaf and Blind, is a repeat bill from the previous session. The bill creates a board of trustees for each of the schools for the deaf and blind and provides for governance of those schools by the new boards. If passed, the change will take effect during the 2024-25 school year.

The bill passed its second and third readings on March 1 and will head to the Senate.

The second reading vote tally was 71-45 with three Democrats voting in favor: Tricia Cotham (Mecklenburg), Garland Pierce (Scotland) and Michael Wray (Northampton).

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper had vetoed the former version, Senate Bill 593. In his veto message, Cooper objected to a single part of the bill — the creation of a dedicated board of trustees for the school.

An override of the veto was not attempted despite lawmakers being urged to do so in a letter from State Superintendent Catherine Truitt. “[Cooper’s] rationale had nothing to do with the merits of the bill but was instead about the appointments process,” Truitt wrote in her letter to Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain).

This session’s version of the bill will likely result in another veto given the governor’s past protestations and Cooper’s recently formed governance board designed to challenge control over the UNC system appointments.

Budd backs bill to ban TikTok North State Journal RALEIGH — U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) has cosponsored a bill that would prohibit Chinese-based social media app TikTok from being downloaded and used commercially on all U.S. devices.

S.85, the No TikTok on United States Devices Act, was introduced

by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

“TikTok represents a massive threat to the personal privacy of every American, as well as our country’s national security,” Budd said in a statement. “The Chinese Communist Party must be stopped from cybersnooping and data mining. In order to protect the American people from this threat, the time has come to ban TikTok in the United States.”

The legislation, if passed

by Congress, would direct the president to act within 30 days to block transactions to evade the ban and require the director of National Intelligence to submit a report and brief Congress on the threats to national security posed by TikTok. The threats include the Chinese government’s access to U.S. user data, their ability to use U.S. user data for intelligence or military purposes, and ongoing efforts by the Chinese government to monitor or manipulate Americans using data accessed via TikTok. Many countries have banned the app on government devices already, such as the U.S., Canada and the European Union’s governing bodies.

India banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps in 2020 following skirmishes between the two countries in a mountainous border region.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Putting Russian militarism on the sidelines next to German and Japanese aggression

Americans have never led from behind — always from the front.

THE WORLD would be a far worse place without America. We all know that.

Would it be worse off if Russia didn’t exist any longer?

If militaristic Russia was somehow eliminated from the world scene this year, the immediate response would be raucous celebration and tears of joy. The three main products of Russia over centuries have been murder, mayhem and death. Vodka, great literature and oil follow, but the literature comes born of human suffering in the face of war, famine and gulags; the vodka was invented to deal with such sufferings, and oil is well, just oil.

If you were president of the United States today and had the chance to guarantee the world would be rid of brutal Russian bullying leaders forever, would you make every possible choice to do so?

Ronald Reagan hated communism and wanted to bring down the Soviet Union during his eight years in office. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 without U.S. soldiers having to fire one shot at a Soviet soldier anywhere in combat.

It happened because Reagan played every foreign policy, defense strategy and economic card possible to bring pressure on the Soviet Union from day one in office. U.S.-supplied Stinger missiles helped Afghan freedom fighters drive the vaunted Soviet Army out of Afghanistan in 1989 after a decade-long invasion. The Soviets under Mikhail Gorbachev realized they could not match U.S. defense or economic prowess and dissolved in 1991 without one American soldier firing one shot at a Soviet soldier on the field of battle.

Could it be that President Joe Biden is trying to play the same cards as Reagan when it comes to supplying Ukraine with the resources needed to defeat the Russian Army?

People forget German and Japanese armies have not conquered or terrorized any nation since 1945. That is because America and the Allies didn’t allow them to maintain any standing army after their unconditional surrender. The death and destruction caused by German and Japanese armies rival that of any other warlike culture or nation in history dating back to the ancient Babylonians ― and now they don’t threaten anyone.

This might be the most opportune time in history to completely hamstring and neuter belligerent warlike Russia and put them on the sidelines of military history next to Germany and Japan.

When Russian tanks, armed vehicles and supply trains formed a 41mile convoy aimed at Ukraine a year ago, all I could think of was why

don’t we order soldiers to launch thousands of drone-fired anti-tank missiles remotely from secure bunkers in Colorado and destroy each Russian vehicle before they cause any damage in Ukraine? Such an attack would cripple the Russian war machine and effectively end its land threats to neighboring countries overnight.

Perhaps instead of an immediate full-scale provocation, the Biden team is conducting a more mature and well-thought-out strategy of a slow and steady war of attrition where Russian tanks and armored vehicles are being taken out daily by drones and Javelin anti-tank missiles on loan to the Ukrainian army much like the Afghans took out Soviet tanks and helicopters. If the end goal is the depletion of the war-making capabilities of Vladimir Putin and Russia — and not solely defending the independence of Ukraine — then that is an effort to support.

But Biden needs to clearly articulate why first.

As we deliver continued assistance, America illustrates to other aggressive nations that we have not crawled into some shell, leaving them free to run roughshod over their neighborhoods around the globe.

Americans have never led from behind — whatever that means — always from the front. Now is the time for America to exert such bold principled leadership on the world stage, especially since NATO is fulfilling the reason it was created in the first place and clarifying that it cannot be intimidated by Russia withholding energy supplies.

There remains the issue of how to wrest control of 4,500 nuclear warheads still somehow possessed by Russia, even in the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

But a demilitarized Russia in economic decline and in need of food and assistance is in a far worse position to negotiate than the Russia before the invasion of Ukraine.

Is Biden up to the same task as Reagan was? Democrat Presidents FDR and Truman presided over the death of German and Japanese militarism. It would be quite an achievement in world history for Biden to preside over the destruction of Russian war-making capability forever.

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

Crime once again emerges as a campaign issue for Democrats

Democrats in battleground parts of the country trying to convince voters that they’re committed to keeping their communities safe will be a tough sell.

BACK IN NOVEMBER 2020, House Democrats paid the price for their association with the radical “Defund the Police” movement by losing 13 seats, while no Republican incumbent lost their respective race and the GOP gained a total of 14 seats in the process.

In the aftermath, centrist Democrats were heard on a well-publicized conference call blasting far-leftists in Congress for costing them seats in part by aligning themselves with groups who want to yank funding from police departments and reallocate it elsewhere, including social services programs.

Here we are in early 2023, just ahead of the start of the 2024 campaign season, and Democrats are once again dealing with the issue of being viewed as “soft on crime.” A decision made by President Joe Biden last week is proof of the extent Democrats worry about how voters will ultimately judge them on the crime issue.

Last Thursday, Biden announced that a Republican-led effort in the Senate to overturn the Washington, D.C. Council’s overhaul of their criminal code, which Republicans view as a “soft on crime” law considering it lowers penalties for some violent offenses, had his support should they have the votes in the Senate.

“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” Biden tweeted.

“If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”

Though Republicans are in the minority in the Senate, they reportedly have the support of at least one if not one or two more Democrats in the Senate, which would mean their resolution to overturn the law would likely pass if brought to a vote.

The GOP-controlled House already voted to overturn the law, with 31 House Democrats joining them.

Biden’s announcement was widely seen as a move to thwart alleged Republican attempts at forcing him into vetoing a resolution overturning the D.C. Council bill, which those same Republicans would turn around and use against him and the Democratic Party in future campaign ads.

But Biden siding with Republicans on this issue has had the effect of backfiring on him, as many of the House’s more “progressive” members

have lashed out and accused him of only supporting statehood for Washington, D.C., when it’s politically convenient.

In addition to this issue, Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot was ousted as mayor last week after failing to finish in the top two in her reelection bid. Many issues contributed to her defeat, including the fact that she was viewed as insufficiently supportive of police and soft on crime.

Other elections and recall efforts in Democrat-run cities over the last two years have produced similar results, as voters in San Francisco recalled soft-on-crime District Attorney Chesa Boudin in the summer of 2022. Democrats in New York City chose Eric Adams as their nominee in 2021 over other candidates who were supportive of defunding the police.

Adams went on to win in the general election.

The 2021 mayoral race in Buffalo was also an example of a soft-oncrime “Defund the Police” radical (and one endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) getting soundly rejected by voters in favor of the incumbent Democrat mayor.

Of course, only time will tell if this issue hurts Biden and vulnerable Congressional Democrats next year. But if what happened in 2020 and since then in local elections is a reliable indicator, Democrats in battleground parts of the country trying to convince voters that they’re committed to keeping their communities safe will be a tough sell, made all the tougher by Republicans who are already cueing up their campaign ads on this issue as we speak.

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

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023 COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

Questioning Biden’s Ukraine policy doesn’t make you an ‘isolationist’

DeSantis’ central criticism was that Ukraine has “a blank check policy with no clear strategic objective identified.”

IT’S NOT EXACTLY a sign of a healthy democratic discourse that it’s virtually impossible to ask a critical question about the United States’ role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict without being smeared as a Putin apologist or an “isolationist.”

We’ve been bombarded with bromides about a civilizational struggle that pits the forces of autocracy and liberalism against each other. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine,” President Joe Biden tells us.

“It’s about freedom of democracy at large.”

Yet Ukraine — which, before the war, regularly slotted in somewhere beneath Burma, Mexico and Hungary on those silly “democracy matrixes” leftwingers used to love — isn’t any kind of liberal democracy. Maybe one day it will be. Today Ukraine still shutters churches and restricts the free press.

Maybe you believe those are justifiable actions during wartime, but under no definition are they liberal.

Ukraine has never been a functioning “democracy.”

Its people defend its borders and sovereignty in the face of a powerful expansionist aggressor. That’s good enough.

But a person is capable of rooting for Vladimir Putin to be embarrassed, beaten and weakened, without accepting the historical revisionism and a highly idealized version of Ukraine. A person is fully capable of rooting for Putin to be embarrassed, beaten and weakened, and also asking questions about where this is all headed.

Last week on “Fox and Friends,” probable presidential candidate Ron DeSantis answered a few queries about the war. Perhaps one day the governor will morph into the next Charles Lindbergh, but none of his answers were remotely “isolationist,” despite the claims of media. Unless, that is, anything short of automatic, lock-stepping support for every foreign entanglement is considered “isolationist.”

DeSantis’ central criticism was that Ukraine has “a blank check policy with no clear strategic objective identified.” Is this contention even debatable? The administration has offered no identifiable endgame, other than “beating” Russia, which is fantastic. But what does that entail? Does it mean we keep sending weapons and billions of dollars until Russia is ejected from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine or until Volodymyr Zelensky takes back Crimea, as well — which would surely escalate the war into a new bloody phase? Or does beating Russia happen when Zelensky finally rides a Jeep up to the Kremlin? That might take a while.

At The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin (weirdly) accused DeSantis of pandering to “pro-Russian apologists” by dismissing the country as “a thirdrate military power.” The Biden administration apparently agrees that Russian tanks aren’t going to be rolling into Paris or Berlin or Poland any time

soon. Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl told Congress this week: “Ukraine is not going to lose.

There will be no loss in Ukraine. I think Vladimir Putin hoped that that would happen. It hasn’t happened. It’s not going to happen.”

MSNBC’s Steve Benen didn’t like that DeSantis criticized his “own country’s president” — so much for dissent being patriotic — and that he suggested that “his own country deserves part of the blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” But that’s not what DeSantis suggested. He suggested Biden deserved part of the blame. And maybe he does.

History did not begin in 2015. CNN, for instance, points out that DeSantis has changed his tone on the issue of Ukraine aid since 2012. Fair enough.

It is also true, and far more consequential, that Biden spearheaded “reset” efforts after eight years of purported Republican antagonism toward Russia. It was Biden who led the administration’s efforts to readmit Russia access to the World Trade Organization — one of “the most important item(s) on our agenda.” It was Biden who claimed Mitt Romney was “totally out of touch” on Russia. It was his boss Barack Obama who told Dmitry Medvedev that he’d have more flexibility after 2012. And it was Putin who likely saw all this as weakness and invaded Crimea. Obama didn’t arm that Ukrainian resistance back then, probably because he needed Russia to pursue the most important foreign policy agenda item: the Iran deal.

Perhaps history unfolds differently if the Obama administration hadn’t appeased Putin. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, a president with decades of foreign policy incompetence on his resume, only recently costing 13 American servicemen their lives in a botched Afghanistan withdrawal, should not be immune from debate or criticism.

And, no doubt, there are those on the right who are genuine isolationists. There are those who let politics cloud their assessment of Putin’s autocracy.

Then, there are those on the left who have allowed conspiracy theories that were cooked up during the 2016 election to warp their understanding of Russian power. You get the sense that if Trump had been more bellicose toward Putin, left-wing columnists would be clamoring to send him tanks.

Regardless, if Ukraine’s cause is righteous, and our opaque but open-ended commitment is necessary to save Western democracy, there should be no reason to chill debate.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist.

Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books — the most recent, “Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent.”

COLUMN | CARSON BUTTS

Blackouts should prompt energy market reform

North Carolina’s disastrous Christmas Eve blackouts prove the need for a fresh assessment of how we produce and deliver electricity across the state.

THE ROLLING power blackouts that left half a million North Carolinians in the frigid dark over the Christmas weekend have received widespread attention, including from several conservative commentators who misplaced blame for the outages.

Some have implied that North Carolina’s gradually increasing use of clean energy as part of its diverse mix of power sources caused or contributed to the unprecedented blackouts.

They’re wrong.

Duke Energy’s experts testified publicly to the N.C. Utilities Commission on Jan. 3 about the causes of the blackouts. Among them: Several of Duke’s coal and natural gas power plants failed amid the unusually cold temperatures, as did a key software system that helps regulate the flow of electricity.

Consumer power demand surged as people struggled to stay warm at home and at work.

Duke was unable to purchase energy from a regional private power market to the north, where other coal and gas plants failed amid similarly heavy demand for electricity.

The worst impacts of the power blackouts fell on the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who were without heat or light, especially vulnerable people in poor health and essential businesses that require a reliable energy supply at all times.

What was not to blame: solar or wind power produced by Duke or other energy providers. In fact, Duke explicitly noted that its solar sources operated well during the extreme cold.

More industrial-scale battery storage of power — whatever its sources — would help Duke and other utilities manage unusual demand surges.

But more than anything else, North Carolina’s disastrous Christmas Eve blackouts prove the need for a fresh assessment of how we produce and deliver electricity across the state.

North Carolina’s century-old system of monopoly energy production and distribution is a big part of the problem. Our archaic system is too centralized,

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too vulnerable, and too prone to cascading failures and dangerous service interruptions.

More competition and better consumer choices would make North Carolina’s energy network stronger, more resilient and more reliable. Now that it has reconvened, the N.C. General Assembly should respond to the blackouts by authorizing the Utilities Commission to conduct a thorough energy market reform study.

North Carolina’s voters — including conservatives — overwhelmingly want more reliable, more resilient and more affordable energy. According to Conservatives for Clean Energy’s 2022 North Carolina Energy Poll, four out of five conservative voters favor lawmakers who will pursue changes in our state’s policies to allow for more energy competition and better choices.

Conservatives know that monopolies are bad for consumers while competition and free markets are good. Three-fourths of conservatives favor studying alternatives to North Carolina’s outdated monopoly system to allow more consumer-friendly competition, the statewide poll found.

A growing number of visionary conservative state lawmakers are leading the charge for energy market reform and innovation. It’s time for others to join them for the good of our state’s almost 11 million people and its nearly 1 million businesses, all of which need affordable, reliable energy.

North Carolina’s voters are blessed with common sense, and they understand that the blackouts are an alarming harbinger of more suffering ahead without more energy competition and choices.

If more free enterprise, less red tape and more abundant consumer choices would improve health care, occupational licensing and many other regulated services, then surely they’re also appropriate for the vital energy on which we all depend, no matter the weather.

Carson Butts is the North Carolina state director of Conservatives for Clean Energy.

America’s $100B climate change flop FOR AT LEAST the last 20 years, politicians in Washington, at the behest of green energy groups, have spent some $100 billion of taxpayer money to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. How is that going for us so far?

A recent Associated Press story, based on the latest data on global carbon emissions, provides a pretty accurate report card: “Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reached a Record High in 2022.”

The article tells us: “Communities around the world emitted more carbon dioxide in 2022 than in any other year on records dating to 1900, a result of air travel rebounding from the pandemic and more cities turning to coal as a low-cost source of power. Emissions of the climate-warming gas that were caused by energy production grew 0.9% to reach 36.8 gigatons in 2022, the International Energy Agency reported Thursday. (The mass of one gigaton is equivalent to about 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers, according to NASA.)” You’ve got to almost shriek out loud when you read this line: “Thursday’s (IEA) report was described as disconcerting by climate scientists.”

Disconcerting? That’s putting it lightly.

We are the furthest thing from being climate change alarmists, but when you spend $100 billion of taxpayer money and achieve absolutely nothing, President Joe Biden and his green allies should be arrested for criminal fraud.

Where did all the money go? Tens of billions of dollars have lined the pockets of left-wing environmental and social justice groups that have been emitting a lot of hot air but no results. Green energy companies have milked taxpayers of tens of billions more, even as wind and solar only produce about 12% of our energy.

Is this the greatest rip-off of U.S. taxpayers in history?

I’ve often said that I doubt all the doomsday predictions of global warming are accurate, but if they are, we are goners. Because nothing the left is doing on climate change is making even the tiniest bit of difference, as the new report shows. What it is doing is giving politicians and activists a chance to virtue signal. Does it even matter to them that none of their schemes are working?

The most obvious flaw in the green strategy is that few, if any, of the big polluters are cooperating despite the assurances from Biden’s climate change ambassador John Kerry. For the umpteenth time: The United States is not the problem — China is. Its pollution levels are three times higher than ours. Soon India will surpass the U.S. in carbon emissions.

Even the top scientists who study climate change admit that without progress from China, nothing America does to reduce emissions will reverse the global trends. The U.S. has reduced our emissions more than any other nation, and the problem continues to get worse. And yet, the rest of the world blames the U.S. All we are accomplishing in the Biden war on fossil fuels is kneecapping our own domestic energy industry while the rest of the world consumes more fossil fuels than ever before.

Instead of the oil and gas produced in Texas or North Dakota, it’s coming from Russia, Iran and OPEC. The energy source that is growing the fastest now is coal.

The only way to combat climate change is not through more command-and-control government action. That never works.

The COVID-19 crisis and the incompetent government response should have taught us that lesson. We need more growth and better technology to deal with a changing climate.

The leftists want less growth and have even been backing “de-growth.” Since when is making America poorer the solution to any problem?

In the wake of this epic policy failure, the Democrats aren’t backing off. Biden’s latest budget calls for $500 billion more for climate change over the next decade. Talk about throwing good money after bad. We shouldn’t be too surprised because, as Milton Friedman used to remind us, anytime a government program isn’t working, the politicians’ response is: “We aren’t spending enough money.”

If congressional Republicans are smart (a big if), they will not appropriate one penny more for this epic public policy flop. If we want to save our country’s future for our children, the first step is to stop adding to our $32 trillion national debt.

Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an economist with FreedomWorks. His latest book is “Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government is Devouring our Economy.”

BE IN TOUCH

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

Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

NATION & WORLD Intel agencies: No sign adversaries behind ‘Havana syndrome’ The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. intelligence agencies cannot link a foreign adversary to any of the incidents associated with so-called “Havana syndrome,” the hundreds of cases of brain injuries and other symptoms reported by American personnel around the world.

The findings released by U.S. intelligence officials cast doubt on the longstanding suspicions by many people who reported cases that Russia or another country may have been running a global campaign to harass or attack Americans using some form of directed energy.

Most of the cases investigated appear to have different causes, from environmental factors to undiagnosed illnesses, said the officials, who say they have not found a single explanation for most or all of the reports.

Instead, officials say, there is evidence that foreign countries were not involved. In some cases, the U.S. detected among adversarial governments confusion about the allegations and suspicions that Havana syndrome was an American plot. And investigators found “no credible evidence” that any adversary had obtained a weapon that could cause the reported symptoms or a listening device that might inadvertently injure people.

The Biden administration has been under pressure to respond to Havana syndrome cases from government personnel who have reported injuries and their advocates, including members of Congress. President Joe Biden last year signed into law the HAVANA Act, which provided compensation to people deemed to have sustained injuries consistent with what the government calls “anomalous health incidents.”

Mark Zaid, a lawyer for more than two dozen people who have reported injuries, said the new assessment lacked transparency and left key questions unanswered.

“Until the shrouds of secrecy are lifted and the analysis that led to today’s assertions are available and subject to proper challenge, the alleged conclusions are substantively worthless,” he said in a statement. “But the damage it has caused to the morale of the

AP PHOTO

Tourists ride classic convertible cars on the Malecon beside the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. victims, particularly by deflecting from the government’s failure to evaluate all the evidence, is real and must be condemned.”

Two officials familiar with the assessment briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, under ground rules set by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

Investigators reviewed roughly 1,500 cases in 96 countries. Many of those cases, officials said, have been linked to other potential explanations aside from a foreign campaign: medical illnesses, malfunctioning air conditioning and ventilation systems, or electromagnetic waves coming from benign devices like a computer mouse. And some people may have come forward to report symptoms based on what they had heard about other cases or the exhaustive media reports about Havana syndrome, officials said.

A core group of roughly two dozen cases identified in an interim assessment published last year has been exhaustively studied, officials said. None of the cases was linked to an attack by an adversary.

The officials stressed their investigation was exhaustive, with participation from seven U.S. agencies. One official described reviewing a report from an American who reported having possibly been hit by a car while driving.

U.S. investigators tracked down the car and the driver and investigated that person’s family connections and any foreign travel, the official said.

Some leads were followed for as long as nine months, the official said.

Officials briefing reporters declined to say how the latest assessment may affect payments under the HAVANA Act. The State Department has compensated affected employees with onetime payments from $100,000 to $200,000.

Havana syndrome cases date to a series of reported brain injuries in 2016 at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. Incidents have been reported by diplomats, intelligence officers and military personnel in the Washington area and at global postings. Russia has long been suspected by some intelligence

officers of using directed energy devices to attack U.S. personnel.

But the CIA last year said it believed it was unlikely that Russia or another foreign adversary had used microwaves or other forms of directed energy to attack American officials. The agency has faced criticism from those who have reported cases and from advocates who accuse the government of long dismissing the array of ailments.

Even with the lack of answers and attributions of responsibility, officials have sought to stress their commitment to victims’ health.

“I want to be absolutely clear: these findings do not call into question the experiences and real health issues that U.S. government personnel and their family members — including CIA’s own officers — have reported while serving our country,” said CIA Director William Burns in a statement. “We will continue to remain alert to any risks to the health and wellbeing of Agency officers, to ensure access to care, and to provide officers the compassion and respect they deserve.”

BACKLOG from page A1 ment have reviewed and determined meet the criteria for testing.”

The large number of untested kits in North Carolina saw some movement pre-pandemic but hasn’t been addressed much in recent years.

In February 2018, N.C Attorney General Josh Stein released a report on the kit backlog which found 15,160 untested sexual assault kits in the custody of local law enforcement agencies at the end of 2017.

Two reports on the kits issued by Stein’s office included the Statewide Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Tracking and Inventory Management System (STIMS) report and the Annual Crime Lab (ACL) report.

The total of untested kits may have actually have been higher, due to the fact only 92% of law enforcement agencies responded to the inventory request and 46 agencies did not respond at all.

The following year, in September 2019, Stein’s office said 904 sexual assault kits had been tested “since January 2018.” A subsequent update

by Stein in December 2020 said 2,169 kits had been tested and 4,739 were either with a lab for testing or were being shipped for testing.

One of the barriers to clearing the backlog and speeding up testing has been cost.

According to statements by Stein in 2020, the price of testing kits at that time had increased by “nearly 80%.” Costs had gone from $695 per kit to roughly $1,245 per kit.

Lawmakers stepped in, creating the “Standing Up for Rape Victims Act of 2019,” also called the Survivor’s Act. The measure provided $6 million in funding and new reporting requirements for testing of sexual assault kits by law enforcement. Of the $6 million, half was allocated in nonrecurring funds for fiscal year 2019-2020 and the other half for fiscal year 2020-2021.

NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING MARCH 14 REGARDING TWO PROJECTS THAT WOULD ADD LANES ON I-40 BETWEEN THE I-40/I-440/U.S.1/U.S. 64 INTERCHANGE AND LAKE WHEELER ROAD AND RECONSTRUCT THE EXISTING I-40/I-440/U.S. 1/U.S. 64 INTERCHANGE

STIP Project Nos: I-5701 and I-5703

The N.C. Department of Transportation is proposing two projects in Wake County.

Project No I-5701 will add lanes on I-40 from the I-440/U.S. 1/U.S. 64 interchange to Lake Wheeler Road (S.R. 1370).

Project No. I-5703 will reconstruct the existing I-40/I-440/U.S.1/U.S. 64 interchange.

An open-house public meeting to present information on these projects will be held at Hope Community Church located at 821 Buck Jones Road in Raleigh from 4:00 -7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. The purpose of this meeting is to provide citizens the opportunity to review maps of the project, ask questions and provide feedback.

Interested citizens are encouraged to attend at any time between 4 and 7 p.m. Please note that there will be no formal presentation. Maps of the proposed improvements will be displayed at the meeting and staff of NCDOT will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

Maps of the proposals are available online at https://publicinput.com/40-440-US1Interchange.

For additional information please contact NCDOT Project Manager, Rachelle Beauregard, NCDOT Project Management Unit (919-707-6607 or rlbeauregard@ncdot.gov) Comments will be accepted at the meeting, on the project webpage, by mail or email, and should be submitted by March 28, 2023.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact NCDOT Senior Public Involvement Officer Diane Wilson at 919707-6073 or pdwilson1@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Those who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Aquellas personas no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

Chancellor Scholz: ‘consequences’ if China sends arms to Russia Berlin German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but he’s fairly optimistic that Beijing will refrain from doing so.

Scholz’s comments came in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, two days after he met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.

U.S. officials have warned recently that China could step off the sidelines and begin providing arms and ammunition to Moscow.

Ahead of his trip, Scholz had urged Beijing to refrain from sending weapons and instead use its influence to press Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Asked if he could imagine sanctioning China if it did aid Russia, Scholz replied: “I think it would have consequences, but we are now in a stage where we are making clear that this should not happen, but we will have to look at (it) and we have to be very, very cautious.”

He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the consequences.

Germany has Europe’s biggest economy, and China has been its single biggest trading partner in recent years.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan won’t challenge Trump in 2024 Annapolis, Md. Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland who positioned himself as one of his party’s fiercest critics of Donald Trump, said he will not challenge the ex-president for the GOP’s White House nomination in 2024.

“I would never run for president to sell books or position myself for a Cabinet role,” the 66-year-old Hogan wrote in The New York Times. “I have long said that I care more about ensuring a future for the Republican Party than securing my own future in the Republican Party. And that is why I will not be seeking the Republican nomination for president.”

Hogan served as governor for eight years in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin. He was Maryland’s second Republican governor ever to be reelected.

In the past two presidential elections, Hogan said he did not vote for Trump.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Walmart to expand health care centers in 2024 Bentonville, Ark. Walmart plans to add more than two dozen health care centers to some of its stores next year, as the retailer moves deeper into providing primary care and other services.

The company said it will open 28 centers in 2024, mostly in Dallas and Houston.

The new centers will be built inside Walmart Supercenters and offer primary and dental care, and behavioral health and audiology help, among other services. Walmart currently runs 32 centers and is adding 17 this year in Florida.

Walmart opened its first health care center in 2019 and will be operating more than 75 health centers by the end of next year. The retailer runs more than 4,700 stores in the United States and 600 Sam’s Club locations.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

What we learned at ACC women’s tourney, B4

CHRIS SEWARD | AP PHOTO

The NCAA Tournament fates of Jarkel Joiner and NC State along with Caleb Love and UNC will likley be determined at this week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro.

ACC Tournament starts early for NC teams Three of the four local teams begin play on Wednesday NFL

Panthers safety Chandler suspended for 2 games Charlotte The NFL has suspended Carolina Panthers reserve safety Sean Chandler without pay for the first two games of the 2023 regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance‑enhancing substances. Chandler will become an unrestricted free agent on March 15. The fifth‑year safety played in all 17 games last season, mostly on special teams. He is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games. He has spent the last two seasons with the Panthers.

MLS

Charlotte FC loses at St. Louis City St. Louis Eduard Lowen scored the go‑ahead goal on a penalty kick in the fifth minute of first‑half stoppage time and St. Louis City became the fourth expansion team to win its first two matches with a 3‑1 victory over Charlotte on Saturday night.

Playing its first home game, St. Louis joined the Chicago Fire (1998), the Seattle Sounders (2009) and Los Angeles FC (2018) as the only MLS teams to win their first two matches. Seattle is the only team to win its first three; Charlotte won for the first time last year in its inaugural season in its fourth match. Enzo Copetti gave Charlotte (0‑2‑0) the lead in the 25th minute. An own‑goal by Charlotte’s Bill Tuiloma knotted the score in the 41st minute. João Klauss capped the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 71st. St. Louis outshot Charlotte 11‑6 with a 5‑3 advantage in shots on goal.

Pablo Sisniega had three saves for Charlotte, which had lost its previous three matches by shutouts dating to last season and visits the LA Galaxy on Saturday.

By Shawn Krest North State Journal GREENSBORO — As the ACC regular season wound down, it appeared we might see a first in the upcoming conference tournament: All four North Carolina teams were on pace to play back-to-back-to-back-to-back in Wednesday’s second round.

We’ve seen all four local teams in action on the same day before, of course, it’s just usually in the Thursday quarterfinals. To see all of North Carolina’s teams playing

in what amounts to a preliminary round, before the big boys even show up, would have meant that all four teams missed out on the coveted double-bye into Thursday.

As it turned out, Duke finished on a six-game winning streak and grabbed the No. 4 seed in the tournament on the last day of the season, breaking up an AllN.C. Wednesday and keeping the state’s streak of at least one double-bye team intact.

Still, the close call, and the presence of three teams on Afterthought Wednesday, is a symbol of the shift in power the conference has seen. A year after Duke and Carolina played in the Final Four, both teams had growing pains as they adjust to life after their Hall of

but one contributor from a team that came 20 minutes away from a national title last year.

6

Turning Heel

Consecutive wins for Duke entering the ACC Tournament Fame head coaches. Rookie coach Jon Scheyer appears to have Duke pointed in the right direction, but UNC struggled through a soap opera season. Their coach called them soft, opposing fans spread rumors about player discord, and the team never seemed to click on the floor despite bringing back all

The Heels stagger into the tournament as the seventh seed and are currently listed as one of the last four teams out in ESPN’s bracket prediction. Conventional wisdom has the Tar Heels needing to win four games in four days to get the automatic bid or else they’ll miss the Big Dance.

But after a regular season-ending loss to Duke, coach Hubert Davis refused to accept any conventional wisdom at all, taking isSee ACC MEN, page B3

UNC Asheville beats Campbell, captures Big South title

GardnerWebb guard Jhessyka Williams drives to the basket while guarded by High Point guard Shakira Baskerville during the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ win in the Big South Tournament championship game Sunday in Charlotte.

The Bulldogs will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016

1:44 to play but the Fighting Camels would not score again.

Pember, who has attempted and made more free throws than anyone else in the country, sank a pair. Clemons was fouled but The Associated Press missed both free throws and CHARLOTTE — Drew Jones buried a 3-pointer to put Pember had 29 points, Tajion the Bulldogs on top 75-73 with 55 Jones scored 16 in the final 7:35 seconds left. The last time UNC and No. 1 seed UNC Asheville Asheville had the lead the score was 13-11. stormed back to beat Pember, the Big seventh-seeded CampSouth’s player of the bell 77-73 on Sunday, year, hit 9 of 19 shots but winning the Big South just 1 of 6 from 3-point Conference Tournarange. He made 10 of 12 ment championship foul shots. Jones sank and advancing to the 9 of 14 shots, including NCAA Tournament for Scoring run 5 of 8 from beyond the the fifth time. arc. They each grabbed Ricky Clemons hit a to close the jumper to give Campgame for UNC eight rebounds.

“No one’s more debell a 66-52 lead and then Jones took over. Asheville in the serving of that moment final 7:35 of than Tai,” Pember said.

The senior guard “He was here when they scored 10 straight the game won four games (in points for the Bulldogs 2018-19). He helped me (27-7) after Pember come here. He’s been made two free throws to cut their deficit to 68-64 with clutch all year. And a lot of the 3:41 to go. Clemons and Jones times people think I’m going to traded 3-pointers, and Pember get the ball; I want Tai to get the followed with a three-point play ball. He’s been phenomenal, and to get UNC Asheville within 71- (it’s) just a testament to his hard work and what he’s been doing all 70.

“He’s had more to do with the year for us.”

Jay Pal scored a career-high flipping of this program than I have,” UNC Asheville coach Mike 26 points to lead the Fighting Morrell said of Jones.

Clemons hit a jumper with See UNC ASHEVILLE, page B4

25-7

JACOB KUPFERMAN | AP PHOTO

Williams scores 33, Gardner-Webb women win Big South crown The Runnin’ Bulldogs will enter the NCAA Tournament on a 21-game winning streak The Associated Press CHARLOTTE — Jhessyka Williams scored 33 points, 20 in the second half, and top-seeded Gardner-Webb defeated No. 2 seed High Point 74-61 in the Big South Tournament championship game on Sunday night.

Gardner-Webb (29-4), the first team to go 18-0 in the Big South,

extended its winning streak to 21 games. The Runnin’ Bulldogs will make their second NCAA Tournament appearance and their first since 2011.

Williams, the regular season Big South most outstanding player, made 12 of 19 shots and had 11 rebounds. She surpassed 2,000 career points when she hit a long two-pointer in the first quarter.

Layken Cox had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Gardner-Webb and Ki’Ari Cain added 14 points.

See GARDNER-WEBB, page B4

B2

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

WEDNESDAY

3.8.23

TRENDING

Chase Elliott: The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion is out indefinitely after undergoing a three‑hour surgery to repair a fractured tibia, Hendrick Motorsports said. Elliott suffered the injury while snowboarding Friday in Colorado, and there is no timeline for his return. Josh Berry drove the No. 9 Chevrolet to a 29th‑place finish Sunday at Las Vegas, while the other three Hendrick cars swept the top three. Hendrick says the process has already begun to attain a waiver for Elliott to be eligible for this year’s playoffs.

Calvin Ridley: The wide receiver was reinstated by the NFL on Monday, clearing the way for him to join his new team in Jacksonville. Ridley had been suspended indefinitely since March 2022 for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. He is expected to join the Jaguars for offseason workouts beginning April 17.

The Jaguars traded a fifth‑round pick in 2023 and a conditional fourth‑rounder in 2024 to get Ridley from Atlanta at the trade deadline in November.

Tony Rossi: The Siena coach, the longest‑tenured in Division I baseball history, announced that he will retire later this month. Rossi — in his 54th season, all at Siena — will step down March 20, the school announced Monday.

The 79‑year‑old Rossi, who has a 936‑1,202‑8 record with the Saints, won six Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coach of the year awards, five conference titles, two NCAA berths and has seen 56 of his former players sign pro contracts.

Beyond the box score POTENT QUOTABLES

NASCAR

Hendrick Motorsports finished 1‑2‑3 at Las Vegas, led by William Byron picking up his fifth career Cup Series victory. Byron passed teammate Kyle Larson on the penultimate lap of overtime and led 176 overall. Larson was second, followed by teammate Alex Bowman, with Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell rounding out the top five. Bowman and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez are the only drivers with top‑10 finishes in all three Cup races this season.

DARRON CUMMINGS | AP PHOTO

“His strong hands really popped.”

ESPN.com’s Jordan Reid on UNC wide receiver Josh Downs’ performance on Day 3 of the NFL Combine.

ELLEN SCHMIDT | AP PHOTO

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

SOCCER

ADRIAN KRAUS | AP PHOTO

“Philip Rivers contacted both of them.”

Broadcaster Rich Eisen on his radio show saying the former NC State quarterback contacted both the Dolphins and 49ers about a return last season.

PRIME NUMBER

REED HOFFMANN | AP PHOTO

Texas Tech suspended coach Mark Adams over “an inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment” he made to a player. Adams reportedly referred to a Bible verse that addresses slaves serving their masters. The school says Adams addressed the matter with his team and apologized.

CHRISTOPHE ENA | AP PHOTO

Paris Saint‑Germain says Neymar will undergo season‑ending surgery on his right ankle and will be out for up to four months. Neymar was injured last month in a 4‑3 win over Lille in the French league. He also injured his right ankle in Brazil’s opening match at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.

NFL

7 Power play goals in nine opportunities for the Hurricanes since the acquisition of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who had two goals and two assists — all the power play — since coming to Carolina from the Coyotes.

MARK J. TERRILL | AP PHOTO

Days after meeting with the Panthers, former Raiders quarterback David Carr agreed to a four‑year contract with the Saints, Carolina’s NFC South rival.

New Orleans coach Dennis Allen was the Raiders’ coach when the team drafted Carr in 2014. Las Vegas released Carr on Feb. 14 to avoid guaranteeing him $40.4 million of his contract over the next two years.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B3

Bids await NC schools in conference tournaments The AAC, Atlantic 10, Conference USA and MEAC tournaments all take place this week. As teams start to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament, the remaining schools across the state are beginning their conference tournaments with a chance to extend their run in March Madness. While much of the attention will focus on the big conferences — namely the ACC — North Carolina’s mid-majors are hoping this week brings them a spot in the big dance.

Guard Brice Williams and Charlotte will likely need to go through Nicholas Boyd and top-seeded Florida Atlantic if they want to win the Conference USA Tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE One team stands alone at the top of the American Athletic Conference, and that’s the nation’s No.1 team, Houston.

It’s a long shot that the Cougars will be toppled in the AAC Tournament, though Memphis has put together a very solid season and are likely to earn an at-large bid based on the Tigers’ regular season.

East Carolina 15-16 overall, 6-12 AAC (9th) The Pirates had a disappointing regular season under first-year coach Michael Schwartz, finishing under .500 in both conference play and overall. A bit of bad luck was in play as well though as their leading scorer, sophomore guard Javon Small, missed half the season after sustaining a knee injury in January.

ECU had success on the boards, averaging 37 rebounds per game, but struggled with scoring and defending, ranking 230th in points scored (69.4) and 211th in points allowed (71.3).

The Pirates are staring down the barrel of a potentially 30-year tournament drought, not having made the NCAA Tournament since 1993.

NELL REDMOND | AP PHOTO

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE The Atlantic 10 is fairly wide open this season with seven teams having double-digit wins in conference play.

Top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth has three more wins than the next-best team, and last year’s tournament finalists are each in the bottom half of the conference.

This conference is primed to have an under-the-radar team make it into the NCAA Tournament.

Davidson 15-15 overall, 8-10 A-10 (8th) Things haven’t gone as well for the Wildcats under first-year coach Matt KcKillop as they did with his recently retired father, Bob McKillop.

Despite having two players averaging more than 15 points per game –—senior guard Foster Loyer (16.6) and junior forward Sam Mennenga (15.5) — Davidson hasn’t had enough scoring support to separate itself from the rest of the conference.

The Wildcats made the tournament last year and nearly pulled off an upset of seventh-seeded Michigan State, but they’re going to need a big run through the A-10 Tournament if they want to go dancing again this year.

CONFERENCE USA

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Conference USA has a couple of teams at the top looking to claim the bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Florida Atlantic currently sits atop C-USA with an 18-2 conference record and 28-3 overall record, but North Texas and UAB are right on their heels, each with more than 20 wins this season.

Howard enters MEAC Tournament as the conference’s top seed, but NC Central finished only one game behind them and enters the postseason on a seven-game winning streak.

Charlotte 18-13 overall, 9-11 C-USA (5th) Fifth-year coach Ron Sanchez has led the 49ers to their best record of his tenure, but that still doesn’t seem to be enough to bridge the gap with the stronger teams in the conference.

On the court, Charlotte is led by junior guard Brice Williams, who is averaging 13.5 points, and sophomore Aly Khalifa, who has 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

The 49ers have been to the NCAA Tournament 11 times, but their last bid came in 2005.

North Carolina Central 17-11 overall, 10-4 MEAC (2nd) Longtime head coach LeVelle Moton has the Eagles clicking at just the right time. NC Central heads into the MEAC Tournament as the conference’s hottest team.

Junior guard Justin Wright is doing it all for the Eagles, leading the team in points (16), ranking second in assists (2.1) and steals (1.4), and third in rebounds (5).

NC Central is also 63rd in the country in defensive scoring, holding its opponents to just 65.9 points per game while scoring 75.5 points per game.

This could be the year for the Eagles to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

ACC MEN from page B1

Jon Scheyer, right, enters his first ACC Tournament as Duke’s coach with a young roster, led by freshman Kyle Filipowski.

sue with questions about the Heels needing to win the ACC Tournament, UNC being on the bubble, the season being frustrating and, presumably, basketball players being tall and the sun being hot.

The Tar Heels will open with a winnable game against either Boston College or Louisville. The Heels declared themselves well again after beating those same two teams in back-to-back games in mid-January, only to lose five of six to open February. Assuming they survive that game, they’ll draw a Virginia team who has given them trouble in recent seasons.

The Tar Heels beat the Wahoos in Chapel Hill a week and a half ago, a game that accounts for UNC’s only Quad I win of the season in 10 attempts.

Prognosis: The Tar Heels will likely be deciding whether or not to accept an NIT bid by the time the ACCs hit the semifinals.

Pack mentality Things are a bit better for NC State, which appears to be in the tournament at the moment, although they’re currently tagged as one of the last four teams with a bye. That means a bad week in Greensboro could put the Wolfpack in jeopardy. State finished one spot ahead of UNC and beat the Tar Heels in Raleigh, but the Wolfpack finished the regular season with back-to-back losses to Clemson and Duke and lost three of their last five.

State plays the winner of Virginia Tech-Notre Dame on Wednesday. The Wolfpack beat both teams in their only meetings in the regular season. A win would earn them a quarterfinal date with No. 3 Clemson. The Tigers are one of the teams to step into the void left by the N.C. teams’ fall from grace, although Clemson is

JACOB KUPFERMAN | AP PHOTO

an extremely weak No. 3.

Despite winning 22 regular season games and 14 ACC contests, Clemson is currently on the wrong side of ESPN’s bubble and in worse shape than UNC. A series of bad losses, including Loyola, Louisville and Boston College, has damaged the Tigers’ resume. State has perhaps the best path of any in-state team to the ACC semifinals.

Prognosis: Look for NC State to make a run and firm up their NCAA ticket Desperate Deacons Wake Forest gets Wednesday’s party started with a noon game

against Syracuse. The Deacs will need to win the conference tournament to get an NCAA bid as they enter as the ninth seed. Wake went 18-13, 10-10 in the league but collapsed down the stretch, losing four of their last five and eight of their last 12. Wake lost to Syracuse in the regular season finale on Saturday, shooting 10 of 39 from 3-point range — an accuracy and shot selection that won’t win many games. They feature one of the conference’s best players in firstteam All-ACC guard Tyree Appleby, and if he gets hot, he could carry the team. If Wake beats the Orange on Wednesday, they’ll take on regular season champion Miami in the quarters.

Miami is not getting much respect nationally, something that every ACC team is coping with this season. The Canes are currently slated to be a fifth seed in the NCAAs. Still, it would be an eye-raising upset for Wake to take out the Canes.

Prognosis: It may be one-anddone for the Deacs Familiar face could await Duke Duke escaped Wednesday but has its work cut out for it. The Blue Devils will open with the winner of Pitt-Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is 15-17 overall, went 6-14 in the ACC and lost by 43 at Duke.

The Jackets, however, are on a roll,

winning four straight and six of the last seven. The bigger concern for the Blue Devils will be Pitt, led by fellow Mike Krzyzewski disciple Jeff Capel, who won ACC Coach of the Year in Jon Scheyer’s first season as Coach K’s replacement. Capel and Pitt gave Duke all it could handle in a game at Cameron in January, although the Blue Devils pulled out the win. Pitt was in contention for the regular season title before losing backto-back games to end the regular season. Still, that game promises to be intense and emotional for the Blue Devils Prognosis: Favored to make the semis but a first-game landmine awaits.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B4

ACC Women’s Tournament: What did we learn?

The NCAA picture is still unclear as teams wait for the selection committee

By Shawn Krest North State Journal VIRGINIA TECH stormed through the ACC Women’s Tournament with a dominant performance, stirring up a hornet’s nest of questions in the process.

The third-seeded Hokies blew out Miami by 26 before holding No. 2 seed Duke to 37 points in a 21-point win. They finished off their run by topping fourth-seed Louisville in the final, 75-67.

After five wild days in Greensboro, what have we learned? The main takeaway is we’re still not sure what’s going to happen when the selection committee unveils the NCAA brackets. The games have ended for ACC teams, but there’s still plenty that needs to be decided. Here’s a look at the top storylines scrambling the March Madness picture in the ACC. Who’s No. 1?

The ACC had plenty of candidates for a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs. Notre Dame has a lineup of stars and won the regular season. Duke and Virginia Tech were right behind the Irish.

The Hokies certainly looked the

part in the ACC Tournament, winning their three games by an average of 18.3 points and taking out two top-four seeds. Can they jump from a No. 3 in their conference tourney to a No. 1 in the Big Dance?

The Irish looked overmatched in a 64-38 loss to Louisville, and one of the key reasons why will be discussed a little later. Duke has also seemingly lost track of its offense — starting with the regular season finale, the Blue Devils have scored 41, 44 and 37 points.

The good news for the ACC is that most of the other power conferences also saw top seeds upset in their tournaments, so the committee could vault Tech to the top row or just ignore the tourney upsets entirely and reward Notre Dame, but the conference is hoping it’s not shut out from a top seed.

Who’s still standing?

ACC Rookie of the Year Ta’Niya Latson. Player of the Year runner-up Olivia Miles. All-ACC second-teamer Diamond Johnson. All of those top-shelf players earned ACC season honors last Tuesday, and that was the last they were heard of for the week. None of them saw the floor in the ACC Tournament due to injuries. It’s possible they were rested to prepare for an NCAA run, but it also

could be that the injuries will persist into next week and beyond.

The fates of Florida State, Notre Dame and NC State, respectively, will depend on how ready their stars are to play. The Irish looked good against a depleted Wolfpack team in the quarterfinals, as fellow All-ACC first teamer Sonia Citron was able to pick up the slack in Miles’ absence, but against a fully healthy Louisville team, the Irish were out of it early.

One of the reasons Tech was able to make its conference tourney run is that the Hokies were one of the few teams that had all their top players at 100%, including player of the year Elizabeth Kitley, first-teamer Georgia Amoore and sixth person of the year D’asia Gregg.

Several teams also saw players go down during the action in Greensboro. Wake point guard Kaia Harrison was limited to a handful of minutes in the Deacs’ three games after injuring her ankle, and Notre Dame — already down one starter and with another one, Dara Mabry, already out for the year from a late January knee injury — saw key reserve Natalija Marshall limited to a handful of minutes after suffering an elbow to the eye.

The ACC’s top teams need to get healthy in a hurry or the March run may be a short one for the con-

The Wolfpack will need guard Diamond Johnson, who missed the ACC Tournament with an injury, if it wants to return to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight NCAA Tournament.

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL | AP PHOTO

ference’s showcase teams. And, if all the injured players are back and ready to go for the Big Dance, some tough questions will need to be asked about whether sitting people out of the ACC Tournament is in the best interests of the league.

Who’s in, who’s out, who’s sweating The best bet at the moment is that Virginia Tech will be a top seed. According to ESPN’s predictions, the league won’t get a No. 2 seed but will have a pair of No. 3s in Duke and Notre Dame.

UNC, which beat Duke twice, is

Early deadline returns positive for Hurricanes Shayne Gostisbehere has been a perfect fit through two games, and Jesse Puljujarvi is expected to boost the team’s forward depth

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal RALEIGH — “Happy learned how to putt. Uh-oh.”

In the final act of the Adam Sandler golf comedy “Happy Gilmore,” the hockey-loving title character — known for his other-worldly length off the tee — fashions a putter into the shape of a hockey stick. Suddenly, his one weakness — ineptness on the greens — turns into a strength, clearing a path for him to beat villain Shooter McGavin and win the “gold jacket.”

Golf is the last thing hockey players want to think about this time of year, but the Hurricanes may have, like Happy, corrected their one fatal flaw at the trade deadline.

In two games since coming over from the Arizona Coyotes, Shayne Gostisbehere — one of the NHL’s top offensive-minded defensemen — has sparked a Carolina power play that sputtered much of the season.

A unit that was ranked 23rd in the NHL — last among teams in a playoff spot at the time — before Gostisbehere was acquired for a 2026 third round pick jumped all the way to 13th after going 7 for 9 in blowout wins over Arizona and Tampa Bay in the days after the March 3 deadline.

“The Hurricanes learned to

GARDNER-WEBB from page B1

The Panthers scored the last six points of the third quarter, taking a 49-48 lead when Jenson Edwards beat the buzzer with a mid-range jumper. But the Panthers missed their first eight shots of the fourth quarter and by the time Williams wrapped up a personal 10-0 run with 5:10 remaining, the Runnin’ Bulldogs led 60-49. The Panthers went six minutes without scoring before Skylar Curran hit two free throws and seven minutes without a field goal before Edwards made a layup.

Jenson Edwards scored 18 points, Nakyah Terrell 14, and Curran 11 for High Point (17-14).

Both teams relied heavily on their starters. Not only were there a total of two bench points in the game, but only three players scored in the second half for Gardner-Webb until Lauren Bevis made two free throws in the final minute.

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO

New Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has four points, including two power play goals, in his first two games with Carolina. power play. Uh-oh.”

Now at 22%, the Hurricanes’ power play is ahead of the Devils and within about a percentage point of some of the teams known for their lethal man-advantage attacks: the Bruins, Rangers and Avalanche.

No, the Hurricanes didn’t “win the deadline” by adding Gostisbehere and Jesse Puljujarvi, who finally joined the team Tuesday in Montreal after working out his

visa issues. Carolina even swung and missed on the biggest name on the market, making a competitive offer — one that some believe presented more value to the Sharks than what they accepted from New Jersey — for Timo Meier but then didn’t scramble for an alternative when they lost out.

The team also didn’t strike out on its other targets. Both Gostisbehere and Puljujarvi are seen by the front office as clear upgrades

to the bottom of the team’s lineup.

“The truth is going to come later, right?” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said following Sunday’s dominant 6-0 win over the Lightning. “But it’s nice to have an early impression like that and quiet people, not that we listen to it.

But now they can say, ‘Well, wait a minute, maybe this is the right fit’ and stop talking about it, I guess.

But the proof’s always gonna be later, as we know.”

expected to be a fourth seed and Louisville a 5.

Florida State and NC State appear to be safely in, with both expected to get 7 seeds according to ESPN’s bracketology, and Miami is on the right side of the bubble, avoiding the play-in round and getting a No. 9 seed if ESPN is to be believed.

Syracuse, which finished 18-12 and 9-9 in the league and lost its ACC Tournament opener to the Wolfpack, is predicted to be one of the first four teams out.

Of course, as last week showed, anything can happen, and developments over the next few days could scramble the picture further.

The Hurricanes also decided to stand pat at center, giving a vote of confidence to Jesperi Kotknaniemi as the second line pivot.

He responded against Tampa Bay with a career-high five points and now has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his last 14 games.

“I think he started just getting more strength to his game, started understanding how to play a little better,” said Brind’Amour, always quick to mention that Kotkaniemi is still just 22 years old.

“And obviously he’s playing with good players, and that helps.”

Kotkaniemi also helped out on the rejuvenated power play, picking up a goal and three assists over the last two games on the second group that features Gostisbehere at the point.

“A lot of goals,” was Kotkaniemi’s quick answer when asked what the 29-year-old defenseman adds to that unit. “You can tell he’s really calm at the blue line, he’s not in a rush. He makes great plays, he shoots the puck. I think that’s all we need.”

Teuvo Teravainen, who had a hat trick in the game, including two of that group’s power play goals, added: “It’s been really good start for him, so I’m sure he’s gonna help us a lot.”

All of that early success came without much time for Gostisbehere to acclimate to his new team and a system that is unique to others around the league.

“A lot of times they throw you into the fire like that,” Gostisbehere said Sunday. “Sometimes it’s a little easier, and fortunately for me, it’s gone pretty well the first few games.”

So far, so good.

“It’s what we needed, to have a quarterback back there — another one — to help facilitate that power play,” Brind’Amour said. “So he obviously knows what he’s doing.”

And maybe at the deadline, the Hurricanes did too.

UNC ASHEVILLE from page B1

UNC Asheville guard Tajion Jones celebrates near his team’s bench after making a seocnd half 3-pointer during of the Bulldogs’ win Sunday in Big South Tournament championship game against Campbell in Charlotte.

JACOB KUPFERMAN | AP PHOTO

Camels. The senior made 11 of 18 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. He added four assists and blocked two shots. Big South freshman of the year Anthony Dell’Orso scored 12 points — just two after halftime — and snagged seven rebounds. Clemons, a former walkon now a senior, hit two 3-pointers and scored 17 before fouling out.

Pal had 16 points and eight rebounds by halftime to guide Campbell to a 38-35 lead at intermission.

The Fighting Camels (16-18) made their only trip to the Big Dance in 1992, losing to eventual champion Duke in the first round 82-56. Campbell is the sixth No. 7 seed to advance to the Big South title game. All six lost to the top seed.

UNC Asheville sports a 2-4 record in its four previous NCAA tourney appearances.

The 3 big questions nob

A7

normal

WITH MOST STATES under either shelter-in-place or stay-at-home hina lied about the origin of the ONE THING IS CERTAIN; after thisthanks COVID-19 virus cavalierofmanner in which C orders to local ordissipates state governments,The a majority Americans THIS WEEK, virus, according to members ofTHE theand fede ed to tell the world there were only “THIS IS DA around the globe and in the United States, China will pay for this covered up its spread tr are having to adjust to what is being called the “new normal.” and state and local governments, Americans have ldwide panic, economic collapse and in it” (Psalm 118:24). catastrophe one way or another.

3,341 related deaths has led to wo Some of these orders extend at least through the end of this month. ce or stay-at-home fallen into place. I understand the seriousness of the virus thetoneed the curve in the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The e eing thrown out of work.

I know that during Inand order put the crisis causedVirginia’s

by Chinastay-at-home in perspective, zero millions of Americans needlessly orders go into June. ty of Americans to take precautions, but I’m uneasy with how people who simply ask muted — after all, trends can easily reverse — but ayer at least $2.4 trillion in added working from home worldwide pandemics can trace their source to theCarolina, United States over Gov.The has cost the U.S. taxp Here in North Democratic Roycrisis Cooper stated during normal.” questions about the data, and when things can start getting back to have abided by recommendations and orders.

The Reserve backup liquidity to the be glad” the Bible our 231-year history. At least fourainrecent the 20th century alone be that “we debt plus trillions more Federa coronavirus press can briefing just don’t know yet”asifin the of this month. are treated in some circles with contempt. to flu,” stay 1977 at home; they’ve practiced socialthe distancing hed U.S. dollar were notnormal the reserve and dad, Easter directly traced to China: 1957 “Asian flu,” 1968 “Hong Kong markets and financial outlets.

If th will extend into May. Since when did state’s stay-at-home orders They’re treated as though we as a society simply must accept flu” without they’ve donned masks. und any of these emergency have to be thankful “Russian and the 2002 SARS outbreak.

There is evidence that the currency, we would not be able toa Perhaps If he it, questions should be asked as to the Wedoes needdecide to extend WALTER E. WILLIAMS questioning per stated during question what the government tells us about when it’s massive safe to begin the The result: a reduction inwithout expected hospitalizati Lenten and of rampant inflation and currency pandemic.

1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic also had its origins in China. measures immediate fear justification for it. And the answers should not be vague ones like “we COVID-19 know yet” if the process of returning back to normalcy.

According to theseasons University of Washington Institu For me, my faith is government There is 100% agreement, outside oftransparency China, thatofCOVID-19 depreciation. must do this out an abundance Easter of caution.” is China’s No. The government works for us, and we have the right to ask those Metrics and Evaluation model most oft cited by m ant ways and decisions through making.

As I celebra and honesty originated in at Wuhan Province probably from the completely China has to pay for their aberr provide a all levels It will need to be explained in detail to the people of this state who sked as to the And the longer stay-at-home orders are in place all over and the unsanitary wet markets. administration, theand expected need for hosp plomacy has obviouslyquestions. not worked Corinthians 1:4, whi Chernobyl. unregulated believe it Trump came of at a home economic financial means.

D fromSome our to are being told remain joblessout and message offor an undetermined become a ue ones like “we country, and the stricter some of them get in states, such as Michigan, peak outbreak was revised down by over 120,000, orld of 21st century health, hygiene affliction, so that we biowarfare lab run by the communist Chinese army. to bring China into the civilized scientific amount of timeexperts why models predicting hundreds of cases w hope that we13,000 willof thousands bad thing? thethe more people, sitting at home feeling isolated and/or anxious about ventilators by nearly and the number of ov unist regimes never take blame affliction, withcomm the co Until China adopts rigorous verifiable policing and regulation of and fair trade.

Totalitarian are reliable.

— we need to once again enjoy of this state who when they can get back to providing for their families, will demand August by nearly 12,000. rse, because that is not what God.” That is what their food safety and health protocols, American business has no other or express sincere regret and rem To know date, what I’ve gone what the state has asked and then they along with ndetermined answers.

Here’s the problem: We still don’t know the answ sporting events, take advantage of every weakness If you are celebrat choice than tofree build redundant manufacturing totalitarian do. They citizens mandated thatplants we do,elsewhere but alongpurely the way I’ve also had governments questions about housands of cases Leaders at the local and state levels should be as forthcoming as they know, what they questions that will allow the economy to reopen. pushing until they win or the reflect on this concerts, family for national security safety reasons as well supply andleaders delivery they find in adversaries andmessa keep the data.

StateasRepublican have, too. living inand a free can be with those answers — and again, not vague answers, but concerns. answer First, what is the true coronavirus fatality and rate?c God’s example don’t and when reliability adversaries push back. gatherings, Unfortunately, when certain types of questions get asked, there is AMERICA’S COLLEGES are rife with society edhappens and then with details that give their statements believability. important because That it determines whether certain nt such asThe the Chernobyl this difficult Th The most direct waywere to make China “pay”hope for this is to offer is, unless an exogenous they to disaster corruption. financial squeeze resulting sometimes a disturbing tendency among people to treat thosetime. ev church some services questions about We should all continue to do what we can to keep our families, be open or closed, whether we ought to pursue — S elieve that event, not the Staropportunities Wars confident we will em supposed from COVID-19 offers for a U.S. tax credits to companies whosimply willknow source at least half of their meltdown in 1986.

Some experts what theythe data and asking questioning when we can start getting back and many more Sponsored by ourselves, and our communities safe.

But we should also still continue more liberalized society that presumes wide sprea Sponsored by the dissolution of the Soviet In thisled same spiritt bit of remediation.

Let’sUnion first examine what production back in the States.

There is though approximately programor of are Reagan, directly to do, lastUnited I to normal they are$120 conspiracy theorists people who don’t.as afterdown our own asked, there to of ask questions about the data, because while reasonable stay-at-home ought to lock further. neighbors helping ne mightisbe the root academic corruption, billion worth checked. of American direct investment in plants and equipment in 1989. otherwise don’t care if they get themselves or others sick. title of a recent study, to treatsuggested those by the measures are understandable, they should also have an date. direct investment in the U.S. is about $65We’ve seen rates — Concord, the number of Cd temporary hernobyl.

In a high inexpiration China. Chinese billion by case fatality Perhaps COVID-19 China’s Since when did questioning government at all levels become aisbad “Academic Grievance Studies and the North State Journal for Wednesday, April 15, 2020 start getting back This is all new to Americans, and it is not normal.

Not in any way, the number of identified COVID-19 cases — but bp ady talking about the possibility to buy aare 3-D sacrifices are society comparison.

Senators inmoney Washington alr thing? That is what free citizens living in a free were supposed Corruption of Scholarship.”

The study was we should remain vigilant and are people who shape, or form.

So while stay safe, at and the denominator are likely wrong.

We don’t kn debt we owe them as one way to get health$1.2 caretrillion workers An investment tax credit of 30% U.S. investment in China ino over. of China forgiving toon do,half lastof I checked. done by Areo, an opinion and analysis the same time we shouldn’t get comfortable with this so-called “newbillion, applied to repatriated American manufacturing people have actually died of coronavirus.

Some the sou yick. have caused the US. Don’t hold your today, or $60 China to “pay” for the damage State Employees’ digital magazine.

By the way, Areo is short My first concern as we go along in all this, of course, is my family. I’m see” become badbut ask normal.” number beenbreath overestimated, given that classifi to happen your elected foraAreopagitica, a speech delivered by investment to the U.S. would costworried the U.S.about Treasury billion in has waiting Ifor a Chinese them$18 catching the virus, and I’m worried will.

After “Jubi Credit Union y were supposed Not one little bit. of death, particularly among elderly patients, untableJohn in tangible financial Milton in defense ways of freefor speech. tax revenue spread over a few years. $18 billion lost revenue hold Chinacan acc suffering fromin the H1N1 virusis(swine flu) representatives during the 2009topandemic, Authors Helen Pluckrose, James A. sources suggest the number is dramatically under decimal dust compared to the $6 I’ve trillion+ Marshall Plan we are now this disaster. and foundation been trying to take extra precautions, because all of this brings up Lindsay and Peter Boghossian say has that also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah e, is my family.

Stacey Matthews manyas people are dying home. d to operate as I’m responsible citizens of undertaking to save our own economy, notmany of defeated enemies in the It is at about timenot they expect way too memories of a painful experience I’d prefer to are repeat. something has gone drastically wrong honored ed I will.

After and is a regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.

Even more importantly, we have no clue how ma ation. past. the world like any other modern n But what also makes me lose sleep is how easily most everyone has in academia, especially within certain 2009 pandemic, actually have coronavirus. Some scientists suggest China has been cheating, stealing, pirating and pillaging American fields within the humanities. They call RALEIGH – State of this brings up of identified business now for the past 30 years. They have made no secret that theycases could be an order of magnitude these fields “grievance studies,” where Employees’ Credit Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill,coronavirus senior opinion efer notscholarship to repeat. is not so much based upon number of people who have had and n intend to replace the U.S. as the premier superpower in the world and Union (SECU) and st everyone has finding truth but upon attending to replace the dollar as the reserve currency with their renminbi. the SECU Foundation were

business & economy

Fixingn.c. college corruption FAST

FACTS

A6

Approved Logos

north STA

social grievances. Grievance scholars first-place recipients of bully students, administrators and other two statewide Credit Union departments into adhering to their worldview.

The worldview they promote is Jason National Association neither scientific nor rigorous. Grievance EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS (CUNA) awards sponsored studies of disciplines by theconsist Carolinas Credit such as sociology, anthropology, gender studies, Union Foundation (CCUF) – COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON queer studies, sexuality and critical race the Louise A. Herring studies.

Award for Philosophy In 2017 and 2018, authors Pluckrose, in Action and the Lindsay and Boghossian started submitting bogusSocial academic papers to Dora Maxwell PHOTO VIA AP academic journalsAward, in cultural, queer, Responsibility race, gender, fat and sexuality studies An ironworker guides a beam during construction of a municipal building in Norristown, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. The strength respectively. to determine if they would pass peer of the American job market has consistently defied expectations throughout the economic tumult of the COVID years.

“THIS IS THEfallen DAYinto the lord has made, let usthe re seriousness of and the be virus and the review accepted for need publication.

WITH MOST STATES under either shelter-in-place or stay-at-home place.

I understand SECU the Acceptance of dubious research in it” (Psalm 118:24). y with how peoplereceived who simply ask that orders thanks to local or state governments, a majority of Americans to take precautions, but I’m uneas Louise Herring Award editors found sympathetic to their ter Hooper, an economist at Deutduring this challenging time of soc n thingsjournal can start getting back to are having to adjust to what is being called the “new normal.”I know that questions about the data, and whe for demonstrating the intersectional or postmodern leftist vision sche Bank.

“Before, we thought that working from home or losing a job, it may becircle diffi with contempt.

Some of these orders extend at least through the end of this month. normal are treated in some ofpractical the worldapplication would proveof thethe problem of were tells slowing down, the labe glad” asthings the Bible us to do. as However, as aasC a societylow simply muststandards. accept without Virginia’s stay-at-home orders go into June.

They’re treated we academic bor market was softening, wagethough and credit union philosophy of and dad, the Easter holiday hasthe reminded me oftelj s us about Several when it’s safefake to begin thepapers Here in North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper stated during question what government of the research price inflation was coming down.”

“People Helping People®” hopeful for, even m alcy. were accepted for publication. The Fat a recent coronavirus press briefing that “we just don’t knowhave yet”to if be thethankful of returning back to the norm Afterprocess theand slowdown 2022, the in through the beneficial Lenten and pandemic.GDP quickly s, and we have journal the right to ask those Studies published a hoax paper regained momenstate’s stay-at-home orders will extend into May. No. The government works for Since when did services by that argued the term was me, tum: my faith is an part my dai home orders are inprovided place all bodybuilding over the Easter seasons Itquestions. grew at aimportant solid annu-ofstay-atIf he does decide to extend it, questions should be asked asFor to the And3.2% the longer SECU*RE, Inc., the Credit questioning andas should be replaced al Irate from JulyEaster through Septemmaking.

As celebrated with my family, hem get exclusionary in states, such Michigan, justification for it.

And the answers should not be vague ones like “we country, and the stricter some ofI tr provide a Union’s wholly-owned with “fat bodybuilding, a fat-inclusive ber1:4, andthe a 2.7% rate fromus October Inflation is proving hard government Corinthians which reminds our Lord “com eling isolated and/or anxious as about must do this out of an abundance of caution.” more people, sitting at home f message of politicized performance.”

One reviewer property management through December.

Steady conthe Fed would likely keep raising to tame as the strength of affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those ng for their families, will demand at all levels It will need to be explained in detail to the people of this state who when they can get back to providi "Before [January] we said, “I thoroughly enjoyed reading this hope that we will sumer spending contributed heavirates — and keep them high — lonCredit Union Service sectors has are affliction, with the comfort which we ourselves ar toldassumed. to remain jobless at homethat for an undetermined article and believe it has an importantcertain economic become a ly to theanswers. growth. ger being than was Those ev-andthought things were Organization (CUSO). once again enjoy surprised officials.

God.” vels should be as forthcoming contribution to make to as thethey field and this amount of time why models predicting hundreds of thousands of cases Leaders the local Economists stillatforesee a and re- state le er-higher borrowing rates would SECU*RE was formed bad thing? slowing down, the labor If you are sporting events, celebrating thethis Easter season, again, not vague answers, but answer journal.” cession sometime year answers — they I—urge are reliable. can be with those and make it more probable that a recesin“Our 2013Struggle to preserve and Is My Struggle: Solidarity That is what reflect on this and be so that ents believability. market washas softening, wage concerts, family weremessage always skeptical ofcomforted, a soft landsion, with layoffs and along business fail-what To date, I’ve gone with the state asked and then with details that give their statem improve foreclosed Feminism anfamilies, Intersectional Reply to ing —and butWe now see it coming later ures, might that occur.we do, but along theand The Associated free Press citizens example comfort allall those in need arou at we can to keep as our mandated way I’ve also had questions should continue to do wh gatherings, price inflation wasGod’sabout residential real estate Neoliberal and Choice Feminism,” was than they’ d expected.

A survey of 48helping o Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned this difficult time.

Through faith and by fe. But we should also still continue the data.

State Republican leaders have, too. ourselves, and our communities s church services livingD.C. in a—free accepted for publication

by Affilia, a down." across North Carolina forecasters issuedout lastofweek by the WASHINGTON, For a Congress Tuesday that the central coming confident we will emerge this pandemic str cause while reasonable stay-at-home Unfortunately, when certain types of questions get asked, there is to ask questions about the data, b feminist journalCredit for social workers. The and many more National Association for Business few weeks in late Januarywere and early bank will have to raise interest rates whilehave helping society this same spirit, I continue to be inspired the by y shouldpaper also an expiration disturbing tendency some people to treatInthose measures are understandable, consisted in part of adate. rewritten February, the U.S. economy seemed sometimes Economics found that only a quareven higher athan it’s previously sig- among Union and community after our own Peter Hooper, Deutsche Bank neighbors helping neighbors. d it is not normal.

Not in any way,Two otherto have reachedsupposed passage from Mein Kampf. simply questioning the data and asking when we can start getting back This is all new to Americans, an ter of the respondents think a rea rare sweet spot. naled if inflation keeps running hot. members in stay needsafe, of safe temporary In Concord, a shape, high school senior named remainhoax vigilant and at includingInflation was steadily papers were published, to do, last I cession will have started by the endweTanner to normal as though they are conspiracy theorists or are people who Unsurprisingly, the stock market or form.

So while shoul slowing from and affordable “Rape Culture andhousing.

Queer Performativity a 3-D printer and plastic to make fa mfortable with this so-called “new sacrifices are sick. money to buy of March, from half who had has recoileddon’t at thecare prospect. painful heights.

And growth and otherwise if they get themselves or others thedown same time we shouldn’t get co checked.

Since then, SECU*RE at Urban Dog Parks.” Thishas paper’s subject soout in December. rantover. meals and entertainment Here’swhen a closer look at the econohiring remained surprisingly sturhealth carepredicted workers of his own home.

Since did questioning government at all levels become a bad normal.” continued to expand was dog-on-dog rape. Butits the dog rapedy despite ever-higher interest rates my’s vital signs at a perplexing time events. Inflationary pressures, too, thing? That is what free citizens living in a free society were supposed Not one little bit. paper eventually forced Boghossian, property renovation and of high interest rates, still-punish- have shifted from goods toward ser- JOBS imposed by the Federal Reserve. to do, last I checked.

Pluckrose and revitalization Lindsay to prematurely out “We were looking at landings ing inflation and surprisingly strong vices, where price acceleration can community under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah My firstgains. concern as we go along in this,tooftame. course, is my family. I’mThe Stacey Matthews has themselves.

A Wall Street Journal writer remarkable strength of also the written be all harder that were pillow-soft,’’ recalled Di- economic niche, providing affordable dState and Insurrection. hadLegal figured out what they were doing.ane Swonk, chief economist at the worried about them catching the virus, and I’m worried I will.

After and is a regular contributor to Re In part, that’s because chronic la- American job market has defied exrental housing to more than Some papers accepted for publication pectations throughout the econombor flu) shortages at the stores, restaurants, suffering from the H1N1 virus (swine during 2009 pandemic, INFLATION accounting giant KPMG. “There North Carolinians, in8,200 academic journals advocated training ic tumult of the COVID years. 2021 hotels and other service-sector in- up was a bit of glee about that.’’ been trying to take extra precautions, because all of this brings and since 2020, it has white maleThe financial markets roared I’veConsumer men like dogs and punishing and 2022 were the two best years dustries have ledI’many employers in inflation, notofmuch way too many memories a painful experience d prefer not to repeat. turnedstudents 32 of its into college forrenters historical slavery by those industries to keep raising pay a problem, on average, since the their approval in the first six weeks ofBut what also makes me lose sleep is how easily most everyone hasfor hiring in U.S. government reasking themhomeowners. to sit in silence on the floor first-time of in 2023, with stock prices surging early 1980s, started picking up in to attract or retain workers. Those cords dating to 1940. chains during class and to be expectedon toexpectations that the Fed might the spring of 2021 as the economy employers, in turn, have generalJob creation was expected to learn fromFoundation the discomfort.

Other papers soon pause and eventually reverse roared out of recession and Ameri- ly raised their prices to make up for slow this year. Not so far. In Januwon SECU celebrated morbid obesity as a healthythe lifeseries of aggressive rate hikes it cans spent freely again. their higher labor costs, thereby fu- ary, employers added a blistering the Dora Maxwell Award for choice and advocated treating privately 517,000 jobs, far surpassing DeBut the supply bottlenecks last- eling inflation. began nearly a year ago. its Mission Development conducted masturbation as a form of Then something went wrong. cember’s 260,000 gain. They likely ed longer than expected, and so did Grantviolence (MDG)against program, sexual women. Typically,It began on Valentine’s Day. The high inflation. Worse, Russia’s inva- THE OVERALL ECONOMY added nearly 208,000 more in Febwhich promotes local send and submitted academic journal editors ruary, according to a survey of foregovernment said its closely watched sion of Ukraine a year ago sent enpapers out to referees for review. In consumer price index had surged ergy and food prices rocketing. By community development.

The flipside of the disquieting casters by the data firm FactSet. recommending for publication, 0.5% from December to January — June 2022, consumer prices were inflation news is good news on the The Labor Department releases last Starting as a acceptance pilot in many gave these five times the increase from Novem- 9.1% higher than they’d been a year state of the economy — or what month’s job numbers on Friday.

2017,reviewers the program was papers glowing praise.

In January, the unemployment earlier — the hottest year-over-year would be considered good news in ber to December. designed to assist North Political scientist Zach Goldberg ran Over the next week and a half, inflation in more than four decades. normal times. Even burdened by rate reached 3.4%, its lowest levCarolina non-profits with certain grievance studies concepts through One concern is that this time, in- rising borrowing rates, the econo- el since 1969. There are now about two more government releases told organizational capacityto see how often the Lexis/Nexis database, essentially the same story: The Fed’s flation may prove harder to slow my has proved stronger and sturdi- two job openings, on average, for building to help them they appeared in our press over the years. fight to curb inflation wasn’t even than it was initially. Households er than most forecasters had imag- each unemployed American.

He found huge increases continue their missionin the usagesclose to being won.

But a robust job market also have increasingly shifted their ined. ofof“white privilege,” bias,” That realization brought a re- spending away from physical goods “This economy today looks very puts upward pressure on wages — serving others“unconscious with “critical race facilities theory” and “whiteness.” lated worry: If high inflation was like patio furniture and appliances different from where we thought expanded and All of this is being taught to college even stickier than we thought, then to experiences like traveling, restau- it was in mid-January,’’ said Pe- See ECONOMY, page B6 services. The Foundation students, many of whom become primary hassecondary since awarded 39 and school teachers who then MDG grants totaling indoctrinate our young people. more than $1.5 million to I doubt whether the coronaviruscaused financial will give college help so many, crunch including and administrators, theuniversity homeless, veterans, who are a crossbreed between a parrot and jellyfish, children experiencing food the guts and backbone to restore academic or clothing insecurity, respectability. Far too often, they get much in a tough position by saying that EPA said it would help states The Associated Press patients families ofand their politicaland support from campus such reporting should start immeand water systems with technineeding people hospitality grievance who are members of theWASHINGTON, D.C. — The cal know-how. The announcement "Cyberattacks against diately. houseand or hospice faculty diversity care and multiculturalBiden administration last week made no mention of new financial The American Water Works Ascritical infrastructure administrative services. Theoffices.

Foundation is sociation said training for states on said it would require states to re- assistance.

The best hope withMDGs boards of port on cybersecurity threats in cybersecurity risks was still ongoBiden administration officials facilities, including anticipating 20lies more trustees, though many serve as yes-men ing. their audits of public water sys- said recent surveys show that drinking water systems, are to be awarded by this for the university president. I think that a EPA’s memo came a day aftems, a day after it released a states are inconsistent in their efsummer. good start would be to find 1950s or 1960s ter the White House released a broader plan to protect critical in- forts to protect drinking water sys- increasing, and public water catalogs. Look at the course offerings at wide-ranging cybersecurity plan tems from cyberattacks — main- systems are vulnerable." frastructure against cyberattacks. recognize “These a time whenawards college graduates knew howThe Environmental Protection ly on the operational technology to counter rising threats to govprograms tomany read, great write and compute, and makeAgency said public water systems used for safe drinking water. The ernment agencies, private industhem curricula. that today’s exemplify how Another helpful try, schools, hospitals and other are increasingly at risk from cyber- EPA also said many water systems EPA Assistant Administrator tool would be to live giveout careful key infrastructure that are often attacks that amount to a threat to do not have cybersecurity practic- Radhika Fox credit unions theconsideration to‘People eliminating all classes/majors/minors breached. That plan also included es — and that voluntary measures public health.

Helping People’ containing the word “studies,” such as “Cyberattacks against critical have “yielded minimal progress.” measures to hold software compaphilosophy each and every women, Asian, black or queer studies. infrastructure facilities, includ- Experts have said many munici- itoring a plant console caught the nies responsible when their prodday,” said Leigh Brady, I’d bet that by restoring the traditionaling drinking water systems, are in- palities lack the money and exper- activity and stopped it. ucts fail to meet certain standards. chief operating officer. academic mission to colleges, they would Anne Neuberger, deputy naSome experts questioned creasing, and public water systems tise.

“We are honored tothe be COVID-19 are vulnerable,” said EPA Assisput a serious dent into In 2021, a hacker’s failed at- whether EPA’s approach would be tional security advisor for Cyber budget shortfall. by CCUF acknowledged and Emerging Technologies, said tant Administrator Radhika Fox. tempt to poison the water supply effective.

Mike Hamilton, former chief se- Friday that EPA’s memo for states “Cyberattacks have the potential of a small Florida city near Tampa for our dedication and Walter E. Williams is a professor of to contaminate drinking water.” raised alarms about the vulnera- curity officer for the city of Seattle, would establish minimum cybercommitment to making a economics at George Mason University. Fox said the EPA would assist bility of the nation’s 151,000 public said performing such assessments security measures for municipal positive difference for our states and water systems in build- water systems. Local officials said would be hard to do at scale across water systems after the adminismembers, communities, ing out cybersecurity programs, the intruder used a remote access water utilities, which vary great- tration previously did so for pipeand state through adding that states could begin us- program to increase the sodium ly in size and resources across the lines and the rail sector.

SECU*RE and the member“Americans deserve to have coning EPA’s guidance in their audits hydroxide — used to lower acidity, country. And Tracy Mehan, execufunded SECU Foundation.” right away. The agency did not re- but a burn risk in high concentra- tive director of government affairs fidence in their water systems’ respond immediately to questions tions — to be added to the water by at the American Water Works As- silience to cyberattackers,” Neua factor of 100. A supervisor mon- sociation, said the plan puts states berger said. about enforcement deadlines.

VISUAL VOICES

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

US economy sending mixed signals: Here’s what it all means

EPA mandates states report on cyber threats to water systems

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B6 NCDOT CASH REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAR 3

SoFi Bank sues to block Biden’s student loan payment pause

Total Cash & Bond Proceeds

$2,728,272,157 Add Receipts

$137,803,812 Less Disbursements

$133,576,692 Reserved Cash

$125,000,000 Unreserved Cash Balance Total

$6,773,020,462 Disaster reimbursements:

$0 ECONOMY from page B5

and therefore on prices. Which means further inflation.

CONSUMERS Their jobs secure, their bank accounts still bolstered by pandemic-era savings, Americans have continued to spend, shrugging off higher interest rates and prices.

In January, retail sales rose at their fastest pace in nearly two years, rebounding from a tepid holiday shopping season. Even after accounting for inflation, consumers spent their after-tax dollars at the fastest pace since March 2021. Consumer spending on services, ranging from health care to dinners out to airline tickets, last year accounted for 95% of the economy’s growth.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimates that consumers still have $1.5 trillion in “excess savings’’ — above what they’d have socked away if the pandemic hadn’t hit — from government aid and from cutting back while stuck at home at the peak of the pandemic.

Still, inflation continues to cause hardships for millions of households. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings have fallen for 22 straight months, government data shows.

Many low- and middle-income families are turning to credit cards to sustain their spending.

HOUSING The Fed’s rate hikes, which so far have had only a limited effect on the overall economy, have walloped one industry: Housing.

Residential real estate depends on the willingness of people to borrow for what’s typically the costliest purchase of their lives. As the Fed continually jacked up interest rates last year, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage topped 7% last fall — more than double where it began 2022 — before dropping back slightly.

The damage has been severe.

Sales of existing homes have dropped for a record 12 straight months, according to the National Association of Realtors.

And the government’s GDP report showed that investment in housing plunged at an annual rate of nearly 26% from October through December after having tumbled 18% from April through June and 27% from July through September.

The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — A private bank is trying to force the Biden administration to end its pause on federal student loan payments, arguing the moratorium has no legal basis and has cost the bank, known for its refinancing business, millions of dollars in profits.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday in Washington, SoFi Bank N.A. asked a federal judge to overturn President Joe Biden’s latest extension of the payment pause.

Student loan payments first were halted at the start of the pandemic

by President Donald Trump’s administration. The pause has been extended eight times over three years.

The bank says its federal student loan refinancing business has suffered because borrowers have little incentive to refinance while payments and interest remain on hold. At a minimum, the lawsuit asks a judge to limit the pause only to borrowers who would be eligible for Biden’s cancellation plan.

Biden’s latest extension, which was announced in November and could stretch as far as this summer, is unlawful on “multiple grounds,” the lawsuit claims.

AP PHOTO

General exterior view of SoFi Stadium before an NFL football game is shown on Sept. 13, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif.

Unlike the first seven extensions, which were meant to help borrowers struggling as a result of the pandemic, the latest one was enacted solely in response to legal challenges to Biden’s plan for widespread student debt forgiveness, the lawsuit says. The plan is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule by June.

“The eighth extension does not even attempt to redress harm from the pandemic at all, but rather to alleviate ‘uncertainty’ caused by the debt-cancellation litigation,” SoFi says in the lawsuit.

SoFi argues that isn’t a valid reason authorized by the HEROES Act, the federal law the Biden administration has invoked to continue the pause. The bank

also argues the extension violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the administration failed to invite feedback from the public.

The most recent extension has cost the bank at least $6 million in lost profits, SoFi says, and it could lead to a total of $30 million in losses if it continues through August.

“In essence, SoFi is being forced to compete with loans with 0% interest rates and for which any ongoing repayment of the principal is entirely optional,” the lawsuit says.

The Education Department defended the legality of the pause, calling the lawsuit “an attempt by a multi-billion dollar company to make money while they force 45 million borrowers back into repayment.”

“The department will continue to fight to deliver relief to borrowers, provide a smooth path to repayment and protect borrowers from industry and special interests,” the agency said in a statement.

The lawsuit drew swift condemnation from borrower advocates, who called it a money grab at the expense of those struggling with student debt.

“The real story here is the huge risk this poses to tens of millions of working people who SoFi would never lend to — families across the country that depend on the student loan payment pause to shield them from financial devastation,” said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center.

WeightWatchers gets into prescription weight loss business The Associated Press WeightWatchers shares soared Tuesday after the company said it was getting into the prescription drug weight loss business with the acquisition of Sequence.

Sequence, a telehealth operator, says that its specialists can prescribe medications under brand names including Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity.

Shares of WW International Inc. jumped more than 31% in morning trading.

WeightWatchers offers subscribers meal plans with the goal of losing excess weight. With the acquisition of Sequence, the company is tapping into a red-hot market for prescription drugs that address obesity, and broadening what it offers to customers.

“It is our responsibility, as the trusted leader in weight management, to support those interested in exploring if medications are right for them,” said CEO Sima Sistani said in a prepared statement late Monday.

Ozempic, also known as semaglutide, works by stimulating the body’s own insulin production and reducing appetite. While it is prescribed for diabetes, Ozempic can also help people lose weight. The weight loss side effect of Ozempic has recently caused the drug to go viral on social media, with some people now seeking prescriptions from their doctors for that off-label use.

Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk says that it’s not a weight loss drug. It’s used to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes, along with diet and exercise, but can also help patients lose some weight.

Novo Nordisk says some serious side effects of Ozempic include possible thyroid tumors, including cancer; pancreatitis; kidney problems and gallbladder problems. The most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach

MATT SAYLES | AP IMAGES FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS

At a WW GOOD wellness festival powered by Weight Watchers "WW" on the Santa Monica Pier on August 11, 2018, Los Angeles residents engage in a movement and meditation series ("LIFTED") led

by Celebrity Fitness Instructor Holly Rilinger. pain and constipation.

If it’s not treated, obesity can lead to lifelong health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes and depression.

Obesity prevalence rose from 30.5% from the 1999-2000 period to 41.9% for 2017 through March 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The prevalence of severe obesity surged from 4.7% to 9.2% for the same periods.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was

almost $173 billion in 2019 dollars, according to the CDC. Annual medical costs for adults who had obesity were $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight.

“This deal brings access to prescription drug solutions for weight loss to WW’s historical focus on behavior modification model,” wrote UBS analyst Michael Lasser. “This is a significant change in the business. While the deal could bring considerable upside, it also carries sizable risks.”

Lasser said that WW’s business has been disrupted over the last several years and is now trying to take big steps to course correct.

“We think it will take time to see if this action really produces a change in the company’s fortunes,” he said.

WW International, based in New York, will pay $106 million for Sequence, which served about 24,000 members across the U.S. as of February, with annual revenue of about $25 million.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fiscal second quarter.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B7

2023 Chevrolet Colorado

PHOTOS COURTESY CHEVROLET

The next-gen midsize truck

Chevrolet Colorado is first up.

The rework starts under the hood with a new 2.7-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine that comes in three flavors depending on how much power and torque you want. The base engine, standard in the entry-level Colorado Work Truck, makes 237 horsepower and 259 torque and has been stripped of much sound deadening and other more “refined” attributes to keep costs down.

It appears to have worked, as the WT starts decently equipped for just over $30,000. It reminds me of the Ford Maverick in this way, not in size, but in that the least expensive variant is still a competent truck.

Step up to the Z71 or Trail Boss trims, and a more powerful 310 hp and 390 lb-ft variant is under the hood. Also available is a high-output motor that increases torque up to 430 lb-ft, which is nice but un-

necessary.

The 2.7L has all manner of clever engineering fitted to it, and Chevy promises increased reliability and performance per dollar compared to the six-cylinder options in the prior Colorado. Truck purists will wail, I’m sure, about the “mere” four-cylinder engine, but progress comes for us all.

The interior of all Colorado models is a significant update, with a standard 8-inch dash cluster and 11-inch infotainment touchscreen, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto running on GM’s new Google Automotive platform. The new Silverado inspires it, and everything is thoughtfully laid out, with a wireless phone charger in front of the gearshift and well-placed dual cupholders in front of an ample center console bin. Two more cupholders sit behind the console bin for rear-seat passengers or folks making a coffee run for the rest of the landscaping team.

The Trail Boss adds a two-inch factory lift and a wider track for off-road adventures (or just a more aggressive look), and a Colorado ZR2 is coming later with a 3-inch lift and Multimatic DSSV dampers.

Finally, Chevrolet appears to have embraced advanced safety tech, with forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking (with pedestrian detection), lane

having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on March 13, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Stedman in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 45, in a Subdivision known as Revision of Lots 6, 7 and 8 of Bethany South Section Two and Bethany South, Section Three, and the same being duly recorded in Plat Book 90, Page 56, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 6700 Tennis Drive, Stedman, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by

having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on March 13, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Fayetteville in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot 5, Block “A” of H.R. Smith Property as reflected by plat recorded in Plat Book 15, Page 45, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 1617 Gilmore Street, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to

this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice

By Jordan Golson North State Journal SAN DIEGO — This will likely annoy a lot of people, but I’ve never been a particular fan of midsize pickup trucks.

Midsize trucks include vehicles like the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon, and the subject of this week’s review, the Chevrolet Colorado. The ride has been too trucklike, with a generally vague steering feel and lots of body roll. The engines don’t have enough oomph, and the pricing is far too close to that of fullsize trucks like the Ford F–150 or Chevy Silverado.

When you decide to buy a midsize truck, I figured you might as well go big or go home and get the big boy full-size rig. Of course, that’s not to say no one should buy a midsize truck. I can’t count the number of people I know who adore their Toyota Tacomas, but for me, I’d rather spend my money elsewhere.

That might all be changing. The full lineup of midsize trucks is in the midst of a complete overhaul, with a new Tacoma and Ranger coming later in the year — but the

keep assist, and automatic high beams included in all trims. Blindspot monitoring, adaptive cruise, a gorgeous 360-degree camera, and automatic rear collision braking are available. GM’s terrific Super Cruise hands-off driving system is notably unavailable in Colorado.

OnStar connectivity is standard, as is a 4G LTE data connection via AT&T ($20 per month for unlimited Wi-Fi hotspot). Hence, every trim of Colorado is ready to be your mobile office.

The exterior design doesn’t push convention, but it’s been tweaked and fits the truck. The side rails in the bed have been lowered slightly to make it easier for shorter folks to load and unload from the sides.

The tailgate has a cleverly hidden storage compartment that can be used to hide tools or for an optional speaker add-on that’s perfect for tailgating or camping.

If nothing else, the new Colorado excites me as the rest of the midsize truck lineup awaits its revamp.

Ranger has already been shown, and Tacoma is coming soon, as is Colorado’s sister truck, the GMC Canyon.

The new Colorado would be a perfect everyday driver for a weekend warrior or someone who wants to haul camping, hunting, or fishing gear regularly without needing to give up all those must-have creature comforts. Consider me a midsize pickup convert.

providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

TAKE NOTICE

CUMBERLAND AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 560 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Donnie Ratley (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Donnie Ratley) to Jennifer Fincher, Trustee(s), dated February 16, 2021, and recorded in Book No. 11027, at Page 0162 in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Cumberland County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 760 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by James Gibson, Jr. (Deceased) and Queen Cottrell (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Queen Cottrell and James Gibson, Jr., Heirs of James Gibson, Jr.: James Walter Gibson, Robert Gibson, Ann Elizabeth Gibson; Heirs of Queen Cottrell a/k/a Queen Gibson: Sylvia Maxwell) to Barfield and Jenkins, Trustee(s), dated February 10, 2000, and recorded in Book No. 5231, at Page 0771 in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Cumberland County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 7444 - 28389

of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 8938 - 35122

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B8 TAKE NOTICE

courthouse door in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on March 13, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Fayetteville in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Parcel ID#: 0437-02-4032 Being all of Lot 10, and a strip of land to the northwest of Lot 10, Block G, of Savoy Heights, Section 2 as per survey and map of the same prepared by Sol C. Rose, Registered Surveyor, dated April, 1960, and recorded in May 20, 1960, in Book of Plats 23, Page 34, in the office of the Register of Deeds for Cumberland County, North Carolina, such land being described by metes and bounds as follows: BEGINNING at an iron stake in the northeastern margin of Commerce Street, same being the northwestern corner of Lot No. 9 and running thence with the dividing line between Lots Nos. 9 and 10 North 56 degrees 13 minutes East 185.53 feet to an iron stake; and runs thence with the northern line of Lot No. 10 North 60 degrees 44 minutes West 89.85 feet to an iron stake, same being designated as a “control corner” on the aforesaid map; and runs thence South 56 degrees 13 minutes West 144.81 feet to an iron stake in the northeastern margin of Commerce Street; and runs thence with the northeastern margin of Commerce

Street South 33 degrees 47 minutes East 80.09 feet to the BEGINNING. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 732 Commerce Street, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. 7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said

property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed

on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

State of North Carolina Cumberland County

Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 7602 Owl Roost Ct., Wilmington, NC 28411, on or before May 22, 2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate

payment to the undersigned.

c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305

immediate payment to the undersigned.

The undersigned, having qualified as the Executor of the Estate of Charles Clennie Bartlett, late of

Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 3007 Bankhead Drive, Fayetteville, NC, 28306, on or before May 22, 2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of Tracie K McMillan, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit

them to the undersigned at 2517 Raeford Road, Fayetteville, NC 28305, on or before May 22, 2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms, and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. Dated this 8th day of March, 2023.

Walter Grover Keifer, Executor of the Estate of Tracie K. McMillan NICOLE A. CORLEY MURRAY, CRAVEN & CORLEY, L.L.P. N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of Robert William Rex, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to

exhibit them to the undersigned at 2517 Raeford Road, Fayetteville, NC 28305, on or before May 22, 2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms, and corporations indebted to the said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. Dated this 8th day of March, 2023.

Dominic Rex, Executor of the Estate of Robert William Rex NICOLE A. CORLEY MURRAY, CRAVEN & CORLEY, L.L.P. N.C. BAR NO. 56459 2517 RAEFORD ROAD

Administrator’s Notice

State of North Carolina Cumberland County

estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 23 E 316

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Chittester, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 2228 Winterlochen Road, Fayetteville, N.C., 28305 on or before June 1, 2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the

no responde dentro de 30 dfas, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informac/6n a continuaci6n.

puede llamar a un servicio d rem/s/6n a af)ogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legates gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de /ucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de /ucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org}, en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de Callfornia, (www. sucorte.ca.gov) o ponlendose en contacto con ta corte o el co/eglo de abogados locales. AV/SO: Por fey, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperaci6n de $10,000 6 mas de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesi6n de arbltraje en un caso de derecho civil.

Tiene que a ar el ravamen de ta corte antes de ue la corte ueda desechar el caso.

CUMBERLAND AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 834 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by James Easter, Jr. (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): James Easter, Jr., Heirs of James Easter, Jr.: Scentoria Yvette Diamond) to Thomas A. Vann, Trustee(s), dated November 30, 2007, and recorded in Book No. 7761, at Page 0812 and re-recorded in Book No. 7831, at Page 0540 in Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Cumberland County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the

Executor’s Notice IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 23 E 211

Executor’s Notice IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 23-E-149

Amended Notice to Creditors IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE # 21 – E – 1684

Amended Notice to Creditors IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE # 22 – E – 1403

SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) Notice To Defendant: (Aviso Al Demandado): Kristen Fuentes aka Kristen N. Fuentes aka Kristen Funtes, An Individual; Oscar Fuentes akaOscar J. Fuentes III, An Individual; The State Of California, Acting By And Through The California Department Of Motor Vehicles, A Government Entity; And Does 1 Through 20, Inclusive You Are Being Sued By Plaintiff: (Lo Esta Demandando El Demandante): The Golden 1 Credit Union, A California Corporation NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 22sp344

NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, having qualified as the Executor of the Estate of Kenneth Eugene Digby, late of

State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having qualified as the Administrator of the Estate of Gregory Neal

must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/se/fhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifomia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association.

NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. 1A VISO! Lohan demandado. Si

Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que le entreguen esta citaci6n y papeles legates para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una 1/ amada telef6nica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos tormularios de la corte y mas informaci6n en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www. sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de !eyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentaci6n, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exenci6n de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su sue/do, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.

Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendabfe que /lame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado,

This the 8th day of March, 2023.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 9749 - 39134

Lisa Digby Fox Executor of the Estate of Kenneth Eugene Digby, Deceased

This the 8th day of March, 2023.

c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305

Cassandra Faye Bartlett Executor of the Estate of Charles Clennie Bartlett, Deceased

This the 8th day of March, 2023.

FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990 COUNSEL FOR EXECUTOR 2/22, 3/1, 8, 15

FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28305 – 3007 (910) 483 – 4990 COUNSEL FOR EXECUTOR 2/22, 3/1, 8, 15

Chittester, Deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305

Kathleen Vi Holland Administrator of the Estate of Gregory Neal

The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es): SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 720 NINTH STREET, ROOM 102 SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintitt's

attorney, or plaintitt without an attorney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono de/ abogado de/ demandante, ode/ demandante que no tiene abogado, es): KAREL ROCHA 212413 Prenovost, Normandin, Dawe & Rocha 2122 N Broadway, Suite 200 Santa Ana, CA 92706 (714) 547-2444 DATE (FECHA): APR 6 2022 CLERK, BY (SECRETARIO): A. MOCANU (For Proof of Service of this summons, use Proof of Service of Summons Form POS-010.

(Para prueba de entrega de esta citacion use el formufario Proof of Service of Summons, (POS-010)).

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA Sacramento 04/06/2022 amocanu Case Number: 34-2022-00317695

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cumberland County courthouse at 11:00AM on March 20, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Robert L Evans and Aimee C Frisbee, dated February 29, 2012 to secure the original principal amount of $124,112.00, and recorded in Book 8844 at Page 844 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 3 4 3 2 Cornell Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28306 Tax Parcel ID: 0 4 3 4 -174906 Present Record Owners: The Estate of Robert L. Evans The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Estate of Robert L. Evans.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition

expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid.

The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for

Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 28, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS. com Posted: By:

in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cumberland County courthouse at 11:00AM on March 20, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Jobari L Prater and Patricia J. Prater, dated May 20, 2004 to secure the original principal amount of $91,850.00, and recorded in Book 6530 at Page 341 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 4 9 1 4 Southmill Dr, Hope Mills, NC 28348

Tax Parcel ID: 0423-556188 Present Record Owners: The Estate of Jobari L. Prater The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Estate of Jobari L. Prater.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens

and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of

the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 28, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com Posted: By:

of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cumberland County courthouse at 10:00AM on March 20, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Harold Thomas, dated April 5, 2011 to secure the original principal amount of $48,732.00, and recorded in Book 8620 at Page 891 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 2003 Shaw Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28311 Tax Parcel ID: 0 4 2 9 -176169

Present Record Owners: H a r o l d Thomas The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Harold Thomas.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or

seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental

agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 28, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com

of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cumberland County courthouse at 11:00AM on March 23, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Mary A. Autry and Travis Autry, dated November 4, 1999 to secure the original principal amount of $71,912.50, and recorded in Book 5189 at Page 40 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 7495 Beverly Dr, Fayetteville, NC 28314 Tax Parcel ID: 9486-488662

Present Record Owners: Mary A. Autry and Travis Autry The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Mary A. Autry and Travis Autry.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October

1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 9, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com Posted: By:

NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY

and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 22, 2023 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit:

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Eleaser Butler to Allan B. Polunsky, Trustee(s), which was dated June 23, 2017 and recorded on June 23, 2017 in Book 10117 at Page 414, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

BEING ALL OF LOT NUMBER 314 IN A SUBDIVISION KNOWN AS SOUTHVIEW, SECTION SEVEN, PART THREE AND THE SAME BEING DULY RECORDED IN BOOK OF PLATS 117, PAGE 14 CUMBERLAND COUTNY REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA.

($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual

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

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY ROBERT L EVANS AND AIMEE C FRISBEE DATED FEBRUARY 29, 2012 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 8844 AT PAGE 844 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED MARCH 30, 2017 IN BOOK 10063, PAGE 181 AND FURTHER MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED MARCH 12, 2018 IN BOOK 10266, PAGE 291 AND FURTHER MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED DECEMBER 10, 2020 IN BOOK 10959, PAGE 342 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINANOTICE OF SALE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 22sp158 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY JOBARI L PRATER AND PATRICIA J. PRATER DATED MAY 20, 2004 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 6530 AT PAGE 341 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED JANUARY 28, 2020 IN BOOK 10680, PAGE 499 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 22sp1210 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY HAROLD THOMAS DATED APRIL 5, 2011 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 8620 AT PAGE 891 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 19sp1568 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY MARY A. AUTRY AND TRAVIS AUTRY DATED NOVEMBER 4, 1999 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 5189 AT PAGE 40 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand

22 SP 801 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

Said property is commonly known as 5720 Crepe Myrtle Dr, Hope Mills, NC 28348.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are ELEASER BUTLER, SINGLE.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include,

22-113131

22-112844

22-115016

13-040889

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-08998-FC01

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B9

TAKE NOTICE

CUMBERLAND 20 SP 236 AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Ashley N. Lilly to A. Grant Whitney, Trustee(s), which was dated February 28, 2012 and recorded on March 1, 2012 in Book 08844 at Page 0532, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION 23SP114 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY LOUISE BRYANT DATED OCTOBER 15, 2012 RECORDED IN BOOK 9022 AT PAGE 52 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE FILE NUMBER: 22 SP 352 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust executed by HAROLD T. DILLARD payable to MORTGAGE INVESTORS CORP, Lender, to NATIONAL TITLE NETWORK, Trustee, dated April 5, 2011, and recorded in Book 8625,Page 790 of the Cumberland County Public Registry by Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, Substitute Trustee, default having been made in the terms of agreement set forth by the loan agreement secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, , having been substituted as Successor Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Official Records of Cumberland County, North Carolina, in Book 11442, Page 0172, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, on March 13, 2023 at 1:00 pm and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Cumberland,

22 SP 1114 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Felix Pollard to Hutchens Law Firm, Trustee(s), which was dated April 12, 2019 and recorded on April 15, 2019 in Book 10482 at Page 0358, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE FILE NUMBER: 22 SP 1213 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust executed by JOSEPH ROBERT CREVIER II payable to FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Lender, to H. TERRY HUTCHENS, ESQ., Trustee, dated January 16, 2020, and recorded in Book 10676, Page 0631 of the Cumberland County Public Registry by Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, Substitute Trustee, default having been made in the terms of agreement set forth by the loan agreement secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, having been substituted as Successor Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Official Records of Cumberland County, North Carolina, in Book 11599, Page 0088, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, on March 14, 2023 at 11:30 AM and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate

22 SP 462 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Jessica Colon-Hernandez and Anthony Hernandez to Devan L Shumway, Trustee(s), which was dated March 31, 2016 and recorded on April 1, 2016 in Book 09833 at Page 0807, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at

22 SP 959 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Patrick White to WFG National Title Insurance Company, Trustee(s), which was dated October 24, 2019 and recorded on October 24, 2019 in Book 10615 at Page 248, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY 21 SP 382 Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Mary Alice McDonald, in the original amount of $40,522.82, payable to CitiFinancial Services, Inc., dated June 19, 2002 and recorded on June 20, 2002 in Book 5774, Page 149, Cumberland County Registry.

Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Anchor Trustee Services, LLC having been substitutedasTrusteeinsaidDeedofTrustbyaninstrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Cumberland County, North Carolina, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door or other usual place of sale in Cumberland County, North Carolina, at 2:00 P.M. on March 14, 2023, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property, to wit:

DAVIDSON NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 23 SP 14 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Annemarie C. Markiet (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Annemarie C. Markiet) to Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, a Nebraska Corporation, Trustee(s), dated February 21, 2012, and recorded in Book No. 2047, at Page 2126 in Davidson County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Davidson County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said

Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 22, 2023 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING ALL OF LOT 14, BEAVER CREEK NORTH, SECTION ONE, PART TWO, ACCORDING TO A PLAT OF THE SAME DULY RECORDED IN BOOK PLATS 82, PAGE 192, CUMBERLAND COUNTY REGISTRY. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 5808 Hazelton Court, Fayetteville, NC 28304.

A certified check only (no personal checks) of five percent

(5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Ashley N. Lilly.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include,

but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 19-16155-FC01

debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cumberland County courthouse at 1:30 PM on March 22, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Louise Bryant, dated October 15, 2012 to secure the original principal amount of $78,700.00, and recorded in Book 9022 at Page 52 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 1 7 2 0 Renwick Drive, Unit 201, Fayetteville, NC 28304 Tax Parcel ID: 0406-40-

9782-201 Present Record Owners: William Bryant; Michael Bryant; Heirs of Louise Bryant The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are William Bryant and Michael Bryant and Heirs of Louise Bryant.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all

prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law.

After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is 27th day of February, 2023.

Grady I. Ingle, Attorney for Substitute Trustee Ingle Law Firm, PA 13801 Reese Blvd West Suite 160 Huntersville, NC 28078 (980) 771-0717 Ingle Case Number: 15850-22561

North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: PARCEL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER(S): 0406-94-7308 ADDRESS: 5302 N SUMAC CIR FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28304 BEING ALL OF LOT 1, BLOCK ‘A’, IN A SUBDIVISION KNOWN AS LAFAYETTE VILLAGE, SECTION ELEVEN, ACCORDING TO A PLAT OF SAME BEING DULY RECORDED IN BOOK OF PLATS 24, AND PAGE 57, CUMBERLAND COUNTY REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA. PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): HEIRS OF HAROLD T. DILLARD Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized

representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The

purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT

PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANK-RUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 15, 2023 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING ALL OF LOT NO. 1003, IN A SUBDIVISION KNOWN AS MIDDLE CREEK, SECTION ELEVEN, ACCORDING TO A PLAT OF SAME DULY RECORDED IN BOOK OF PLATS 82, PAGE 15, CUMBERLAND COUNTY REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 6611 Brannan Way, Fayetteville, NC 283140000.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time

of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are FELIX POLLARD, UNMARRIED. An Order for possession of the property may be issued

pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include,

but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-01831-FC02

situated in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Parcel Identification Number(S): 0502-49-4536 Address: 3313 Red Fox Road Spring Lake, Nc 28390 The Following Property Located In The City Of Fayetteville, County Of Cumberland, State Of North Carolina: Being All Of Lot 132 Deerfield, Section Two Revised, According To A Plat Of The Same Duly Recorded In Book Of Plats 50, Page 75, Cumberland County Registry.

Being A Portion The Same Property As Conveyed From Joseph Robert Crevier Ii, Who Acquired Title As Joseph R Creiver Ii Aka Joseph R Crevier, Unmarried To Joseph R Creiver Ii, Unmarried As Set Forth In Deed Book 10676 Page 0628 Dated 01/16/2020, Recorded 01/22/2020, Cumberland County, North Carolina.

Present Record Owner(S): Heirs Of Joseph Robert Crevier Ii Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS

IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the

loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination.

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANK-RUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 15, 2023 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 96, ·in a subdivision known as Lake Rim Estates, Section Three, Part Two, and the same being duly recorded in Book 55, Page 69, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Jessica Colon-Hernandez aka Jessica ColonVela and Anthony Hernandez.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser

and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of

a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-06741-FC01

Property Address: 3942 Watling Court, Fayetteville, NC 28311 Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 3942 Watling Ct, Fayetteville, NC 28311.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are

PATRICK WHITE, A SINGLE PERSON. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return

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

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-16269-FC01

Certain land described as follows: Cedar Creek Township, Cumberland County, North Carolina.

Beginning at the southeast corner of a tract of land described in a deed to Walter Holmes recorded in book 732, page 222, Cumberland County Registry, and running thence for a first call South 79 degrees 10 minutes West 73.9 feet to a point; thence North 9 degrees 56 minutes West 188.65 feet to a point in the northern line of the tract of which this a part; thence North 81 degrees 27 minutes East 71 feet to the northeast corner of the original tract; thence South 10 degrees 50 minutes East 183.3 feet to the beginning, and the being the eastern portion of the lands described in Book 732, Page 222, Cumberland County Registry.

Being the same property conveyed to Mary Alice McDonald, by fee simple deed from Walter Holmes and wife, Lula Holmes, as set forth in book 825, page 506, dated 05/18/1960 and recorded 05/30/1960. Hubert McDonald having conveyed his interest to Mary Alice McDonald, by fee simple deed, as set forth in Book 3405, Page 641, dated 07/29/1988 and recorded 07/29/1988, Cumberland County Records, state of North Carolina.

Together with improvements located hereon; said property

being located at 1605 Troy Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28312.

Tax ID: 0446-47-9194 Third party purchasers must pay the recording cost of the trustee’s deed, any land transfer taxes, the excise tax, pursuant North Carolina General Statutes §105-228.30, in the amount of One Dollar ($1.00) per each Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or fractional part thereof, and the Clerk of Courts fee, pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §7A-308, in the amount of Forty-five Cents (0.45) per each One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or fractional part thereof with a maximum amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). A deposit of five percent (5%) of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale and must be tendered in the form of certified funds. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts will be immediately due and owing.

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS WHERE IS. There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject

to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, special assessments, land transfer taxes, if any, and encumbrances of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owners of the property are Heirs/Devisees of Mary Alice McDonald.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination (North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.16A(b)(2)). Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of termination. If the Trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any

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

Anchor Trustee Services, LLC Substitute Trustee By: ________________________________________ John P. Fetner, Bar #41811 McMichael Taylor Gray, LLC Attorney for Anchor Trustee Services, LLC 3550 Engineering Drive, Suite 260 Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 404-474-7149 (phone) 404-745-8121 (fax) jfetner@mtglaw.com

indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Lexington, Davidson County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 11:30 AM on March 15, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Lexington in the County of Davidson, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Tax Id Number(s): 15029A0000213 Land Situated in the Township of Silver Hill in the County of Davidson in the State of NC BeingLotNo.213ofHi-RocShoresofNationalDevelopment Corporation Map 1, as shown on map recorded in Plat Book 8, Page 74, in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Davidson County, North Carolina. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 253 High Rock Shores Drive, Lexington, North Carolina.

Commonly known as: 253 High Rock Shores Drive, Lexington, NC 27292 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third

party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00),

whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice

of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

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

Said property is commonly known as 9590 Holbrook Ln, Fayetteville, NC 28314.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the

courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 15, 2023 at 01:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 429, in a subdivision known as Country Club North, Revised Section Seven “C”, Part Two, and the same being duly recorded in Plat Book 99, Page 6, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina.

Parcel

ID:

0439-17-4323

Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 110 Frederick St, Suite 200 Greenville, South Carolina 29607 Phone: (470) 321-7112, Ext. 204 Fax: 1-919-800-3528 RAS File Number: 22-020489

Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 110 Frederick St, Suite 200 Greenville, South Carolina 29607 Phone: (470) 321-7112, Ext. 204 Fax: 1-919-800-3528 RAS File Number: 22-025007

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 8832 - 34576

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B10 TAKE NOTICE

DAVIDSON IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION DAVIDSON COUNTY 23sp36 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY NELLIE R. VARNER DATED MARCH 20, 2017 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 2262 AT PAGE 299 IN THE DAVIDSON COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION DAVIDSON COUNTY 23sp27 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY LYNDA E BUCHANAN DATED SEPTEMBER 12, 2006 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 1735 AT PAGE 1176 IN THE DAVIDSON COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the

22 SP 546 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, DAVIDSON COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Patrick L. Graver and Maria L. Graver to Walter J Cook, Jr., Trustee(s), which was dated November 16, 2017 and recorded on November 16, 2017 in Book 2293 at Page 759, Davidson County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee

DURHAM NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, DURHAM COUNTY\ 21 SP 270 Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Michael E. Watson, in the original amount of $128,000.00, payable to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Gateway Financial Mortgage, Inc., dated March 30, 2007 and recorded on March 30, 2007 in Book 5555, Page 442, Durham County Registry.

Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Anchor Trustee Services, LLC having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Durham County, North Carolina, and the holder of the note evidencing

FORSYTH NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 842 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by April Warden and Buddy Warden (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): April M. Warden and Buddy W. Warden) to Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Trustee(s), dated December 19, 2017, and recorded in Book No. RE 3384, at Page 1 in Forsyth County Registry, North Carolina. The Deed of Trust was modified by the following: A Loan Modification recorded on March 1, 2021, in Book No. RE 3590, at Page 2433, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of

JOHNSTON AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22SP000343-500 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made

by Lindsay Stell and David Stell, Jr. (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Ammar Rahim) to Investors Title Insurance Company, Trustee(s), dated August 4, 2016, and recorded in Book No. 4809, at Page 130 in Johnston County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Johnston County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 577 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Paul Peter Powell(Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Paul Powell, Heirs of Paul Powell a/k/a Paul Peter Powell: Jordan Powell; Heirs of Jordan Powell: Kathleen C. Powell, Diana Powell, Kathleen Powell) to Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Trustee(s), dated February 2, 2022, and recorded in Book No. 6177, at Page 980 in Johnston County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Johnston County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Smithfield, Johnston County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 11:00 AM on March 21, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Selma in the County of Johnston, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as

ONSLOW NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 23 SP 5 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Jacob K. Mobley (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Jacob K. Mobley, Heirs of Jacob K. Mobley: Lisa Mobley, Caleb Henry Greyson Mobley) to Pamela S. Cox, Trustee(s), dated March 8, 2021, and recorded in Book No. 5404, at Page 39 in Onslow County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Onslow County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Davidson County courthouse at 10:00AM on March 13, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Davidson County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Nellie R. Varner, dated March 20, 2017 to secure the original principal amount of $339,000.00, and recorded in Book 2262 at Page 299 of the Davidson County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

573 Bringle Address of property:

Ferry Rd, Denton, NC 27239 09 027 0 000 Tax Parcel ID: 0029 Richard Keith Present Record Owners: Varner, Sharon Ayers, Valerie Sharma, and Christopher Clay Ayers The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Richard Keith Varner, Sharon Ayers, Valerie Sharma, and Christopher Clay Ayers.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities

arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing

at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 21, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com

agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Davidson County courthouse at 10:00AM on March 13, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Davidson County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Lynda E Buchanan, dated September 12, 2006 to secure the original principal amount of $39,800.00, and recorded in Book 1735 at Page 1176 of the Davidson County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 6 5 2 Widaustin Dr, Winston Salem, NC 27127

Tax Parcel ID: 1036700 Present Record Owners: Lynda K. Buchanan The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Lynda K. Buchanan.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments

including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of

the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 21, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com

will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 20, 2023 at 11:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Davidson County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING ALL OF LOT NO. 27 OF ASHFORD WOORDS, PHASE ONE, CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY .927 ACRES MORE OR LESS AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 49, AT PAGE 90-91, IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 142 Slatey Dr, High Point, NC 27265.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars

($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Patrick L. Graver and wife, Maria L. Graver.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return

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

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-09077-FC01

said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door or other usual place of sale in Durham County, North Carolina, at 10:00AM on March 15, 2023, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property, to wit: Lying at the southwestern intersection of Angier Avenue and Glenco Road, containing 0.877 acres (38,181 square feet), more or less, and being all of that property shown on a plat entitled Property of Arthur Clinton King, dated February 27, 1991, drawn

by James R. Hudson, Registered Land Surveyor of Southeastern Surveys, Inc., and being duly filed for record in Plat Book 124 at Page 191 in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Durham County, to which plat reference is hereby expressly made for a more particular description of same. This property was conveyed to Arthur Clinton King in deed recorded in Deed Book 406 at Page 840, Durham County Registry.

Together with improvements located hereon; said property being located at 4228 Angier Avenue, Durham, NC 27703. Tax ID: 164766 Third party purchasers must pay the recording cost

of the Substitute Trustee’s Deed, any land transfer taxes and the excise tax, pursuant North Carolina General Statutes §105-228.30, in the amount of One Dollar ($1.00) per each Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or fractional part thereof, and the Clerk of Courts fee, pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §7A-308, in the amount of Forty-five Cents (0.45) per each One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or fractional part thereof with a maximum amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). A deposit of five percent (5%) of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale and must be tendered in the form of certified funds. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts will be immediately due and owing.

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS WHERE IS. There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, special assessments, land

transfer taxes, if any, and encumbrances of record.

To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owners of the property is Michael E. Watson.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination (North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.16A(b)(2)).

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of termination. If the Trustee is unable to convey title to this property for

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

Anchor Trustee Services, LLC Substitute Trustee By: _____________________________________ ___ John P. Fetner, Bar #41811 McMichael Taylor Gray, LLC Attorney for Anchor Trustee Services, LLC 3550 Engineering Drive, Suite 260 Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 404-474-7149 (phone) 404-745-8121 (fax) jfetner@mtglaw.com

Deeds Forsyth County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Winston Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:15 PM on March 22, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Kernersville in the County of Forsyth, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: The land referred to herein below is situated in the County of Forsyth, State of North Carolina, and is described as follows:

27284

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior

encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk

of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in

this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fifty dollars

($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale.

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not

and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of

a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides

Being known and designated as Lot Number 22 as shown on the map of Linville Manor, as recorded in Plat Book 25, Page 79 in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Forsyth County, North Carolina, reference to which is hereby made for a particular description. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 405 Ja Mar Drive, Kernersville, North Carolina.

Parcel ID: 6855-76-7938.000 Commonly known as: 405 Ja Mar Drive, Kernersville, NC

Smithfield, Johnston County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 11:00 AM on March 21, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Zebulon in the County of Johnston, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot 1, Joseph Pointe Subdivision, Phase One, as shown on map recorded in Plat Book 82, Page 372, Johnston County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 16 Cotton Mill Drive, Zebulon, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer

follows: That certain lot or parcel of land situated in Johnston County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 21, Cades Landing Subdivision, as shown on a map recorded in Plat Book 86, Pages 218, and 219, Johnston County Registry, to which plat reference is hereby made for a fully and complete description of said Lot. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being being located at 55 Gatlin Drive, Selma, North Carolina.

The aforesaid real property is hereby conveyed and made subject to that declaration of covenants, Conditions and Restrictions that is recorded Hi Deed Book 5097, Page 205, Johnston County Registry.

Being the same property as conveyed to Paul Peter Powell from Seven Magnolias Construction, Inc., a North Carolina Corporation by that Deed dated 02/12/2020 and recorded 02/28/2020 in Book/Page/Instrument Number: 5534/320/2020648992 in the Johnston County Records.

Parcel ID(S): 12-N-11-021-B-

Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 10:00 AM on March 23, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Richlands in the County of Onslow, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING ALL OF LOT No. 22 of Duffy Field Place, Section II, as shown on a plat recorded in Map Book 41 at Page 72A of the Onslow County Registry.

Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 112 Indian Cave Drive, Richlands, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer

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

22-115206

22-115228

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 1286184 - 44548

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 9416 - 37359

more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 11958 - 51564

the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 11413 - 48958

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B11

TAKE NOTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK

RANDOLPH FILE NO: 22E277 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Administrator for the Estate of William Blount (aka William Curtis Blount; William C. Blount) of

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA GUILFORD COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION

FILE NO: 21E797 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK

22 SP 282 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, RANDOLPH COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Rickey Andre Lattimore and Latisha Nicole Lattimore to Parkway Title, LLC, Trustee(s), which was dated December 16, 2019 and recorded on December 16, 2019 in Book 2680 at Page 285, Randolph County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual

ROBESON NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE FILE NUMBER: 22 SP 309 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust executed by RICHARD W BRAYBOY AND EMILEE K BRAYBOY payable to USAA FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK, Lender, to MICHAEL J. BROKER , Trustee, dated April 5, 2007, and recorded in Book D1597 , Page 550 of the Robeson County Public Registry by Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, Substitute Trustee, default having been made in the terms of agreement set forth by the loan agreement secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, , having been substituted as Successor Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Official Records of Robeson County, North Carolina, in Book D 2362, Page 515, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Robeson County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, on March 16,

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE FILE NUMBER: 22 SP 250 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust executed by TISH MAYNOR payable to CITIFINANCIAL SERVICES,INC, Lender, to CECILE WELLBROCK , Trustee, dated April 30, 2007, and recorded in Book D1601, Page 834 of the Robeson County Public Registry by Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, Substitute Trustee, default having been made in the terms of agreement set forth by the loan agreement secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, , having been substituted as Successor Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Official Records of Robeson County, North Carolina, in Book D2363, Page 780, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door in Robeson County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, on March 20, 2023 at 11:30 am, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Robeson, North Carolina, and

UNION AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 455 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by James E. Moore, Jr. (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): James E. Moore, Jr., Heirs of James E. Moore, Jr.: April Moore, Maren Moore, Kellan Moore, Maxwell Moore, Scarlett Moore) to The Cheney Law Firm, Trustee(s), dated December 22, 2008, and recorded in Book No. 5024, at Page 274 in Union County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Union County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the Judicial Center in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:00 PM on March 23,

WAKE Notice to Creditors Notice to Creditors Having qualified as Administrator of the Estate of Leroy Blount, late of Wake County, North Carolina (2022-E-

Notice to Creditors

Having qualified as Administrator of the Estate of Carol Riddle Adams (23E001588-910), late of Wake County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all

22SP002488-910 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, WAKE COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Dorian R. Thomas to Jackie Biggs, Trustee(s), which was dated June 25, 2019 and recorded on June 25, 2019 in Book 17484 at Page 2763, Wake County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 15, 2023 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit: Unit No. 108 in Building 10, Cottages at Brier Creek, a Condominium, Phase 7, a residential condominium located in the County of Wake, State of North Carolina,

NORTH CAROLINA RANDOLPH COUNTY ESTATE OF MARY G. YORK EXECUTORS NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The UNDERSIGNED having qualified an Executor of the Estate of Mary G. York Deceased, late of Randolph County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the said Decedent to present the same to the undersigned on or before May 16, 2023, said date being at least three months from the date

of the first publication or posting of the Notice as indicated below, or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.

Name and Address of Executor Carolyn C. Tayloe 668 Turlington Rd. Suffolk, Virginia 23434

This Notice is given pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 28A14-1. This the 8th day of March 2023.

Dates of Publication: February 15, 2023; February 22, 2023; March 1, 2023; March 8, 2023.

Trinity, Randolph County, NC, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at P.O. Drawer 25008, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27114-5008, on or before the 16th day of May,

2023, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

All persons, firms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This the 8th day of March 2023.

Tasha Penkova

2033 Great Meadow Lane Brentwood, CA 94513 Send claims to: Estate of William Blount Tasha Penkova, Administrator

c/o Melissa L. McKinney Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros, P.A. P.O. Drawer 25008 Winston-Salem, NC 27114-5008 Dates of Publication: 2.22.23, 2/22/23, 3/1/23, 3/8/23

22 SP 1419

TAKE NOTICE that an Amended Petition for Adoption was filed by BARBARA HILL SMART AND KEELAN CHRISTOPHER SMART on the 2nd day of March, 2023, with the Clerk of Superior Court for Guilford County, Greensboro, NC, in the above-entitled special proceeding.

The Petition relates to a male child born on October 26, 2017, in Randolph Hospital, Randolph County, Asheboro, NC. The birth mother’s name is HARLEY MARIE DAVIS

ROARK.

decree of adoption.

TAKE NOTICE that you are required to make defense to such pleading no later than forty (40) days after the date of the first publication of this notice, exclusive of such date.

Upon your failure to do so, the Petitioner will apply to the Court for relief sought in the Petition. Any parental rights that you may have will be terminated upon the entry of the

This the 8th day of March, 2023.

Julia M. Pendleton Attorney for Petitioner NC Bar #34093 7 Corporate Center Court, Suite B Greensboro, NC 27408

of the Estate of Dorothy C. Powers, Deceased, late of Randolph County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the said Decedent to present the same to the undersigned on or before May 16, 2023, said date being at least three months from the date of the first publication or posting of the Notice as indicated below, or the same will be pleaded

in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.

6481 Bellcross Trail Whitsett, NC 27377

This Notice is given pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 28A14-1. This the 8th day of March 2023.

Dates of Publication: February 22, 2023; March 1, 2023; March 8, 2023; March 15, 2023.

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

pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

File No.: 22-14300-FC01

An Order for possession of the property may be issued

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the

2023 at 11:00 am, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Robeson, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Parcel Identification Number(S): 151202020 Address: 411 Carlonie Dr Pembroke, Nc 28372 Bounded On The Northeast By Lot No Two (2) Of The Leonard Jacobs Farm, On The Southeast By Noah Woods Estate Lands On The West By Lot No Six (6) Of Said Division Arid On The Northeast

By Lot No. Three (3) Beginning At A Stake In The Original Southeast Line Of The Leonard Jacobs Land And In The Line Of The Noah Woods Land And Runs North 27 Degrees West 3.15 Chains To A Stake, The Eastern Corner Of Lot No. Three (3), Thence The Dividing Line Between Lots Nos. Three (3) And Four (4) Of Said Division South 27 West 11 20 Chains To A Stake In The Eastern Line Of Lot No. Six (6); Thence South 14-30 East 4 Chains To A Stake In The Noah Woods Estate Line; Thence Along His Line North 27 East 12.55 Chains To The Beginning, Containing 3 Acres, More Or Less. See Book Of Deeds 10-K, Page 196, Robeson County Registry, From Which Said Lot Came See Also Book Of Deeds 11-P, Page 25, Robeson County Registry. Surveyed

By L.t. Bryan, Registered Surveyor, February, 1969.

Present Record Owner(S): Richard W Brayboy And Emilee K Brayboy Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S.

§45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental

agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

This is a communication from a debt collector. The purpose of this communication is to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

If you are under the protection of the bankruptcy court or have been discharged as a result of a bank-ruptcy proceeding, this notice is given to you pursuant to statutory requirement and for informational purposes and is not intended as an attempt to collect a debt or as an act to collect, assess, or recover all or any portion of the debt from you personally.

being more particularly described as follows: PARCEL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER(S): 933893995400 ADDRESS: 21 LATON STREET REDSPRINGS, NC 28377 ALL THAT CERTAIN LOT OR PARCEL OF LAND SITUATED IN THE CITY OF RED SPRINGS TOWNSHIP, ROBESON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA AND MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: ON THE NORTH SIDE OF LAYTON STREET IN THE TOWN OF RED SPRINGS, AND BEING ALL OF LOT NO. TWENTY ONE (21) AS SHOWN AND DESIGNATED ON A MAP ENTITLED “PROPERTY OF HEMP HOUSING COMPANY, RED SPRINGS, N. C. UNIT” PREPARED BY C. S. KIRBY, ENGINEER, AND RECORDED IN BOOK OF MAPS NO. 5, AT PAGE 25 IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF ROBESON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): TISH MAYNOR Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS

IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the

loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination.

Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANK-RUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Monroe in the County of Union, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being at a point in the center of the right of way of the cul=de=sac of Deerfield Driveof Parkwod Crossing Subdivision, Section II (Plat Cabinet C File 788, Union County Registry) said beginning point being a common corner ofLot 11, Lot 12 and Lot 13 of Parkwod Crossing Subdivision, Section II and running from said beginning point to new lines within Lot 13 as follows (1) North 54 degrees 51 minutes 24 seconds East (crossing an iron stake set on the northeastern boundary of the said Deerfield Drive cul-de-sac right of way at 50 feet) a total distance of 134 00 feet to a set iron (2) North 61 degrees 33 minutes 18 seconds East 1 99 61 feet to an iron found in the southwestern boundary line of teh property of Claud S Broome (now or formerly - Book251 at Page 287, Union County Registry) and said iron being an original common corner of Lot 12 and Lot 13 of said Subdivision, thence with the property of Claud S Broome, South 55 degrees 37 minutes 18 seconds East 19131feettoa29inchashtreeonthesouthbankofunamved creek, another original corner of Lot 12 of said subdivision, thence South 70 degrees 29 minutes 22 seconds West 210 00 feet to a found iron an original common corner of Lot 11 and Lot 12 of said Subdivision, thence with the common boundary line between Lot 11 and Lot 12 of said subdivision, North 73 degrees 50 minutes 04 seconds West (crossing

an iron found in the southeastern boundary of the right of way of the cul-de-sac of Deerfield Drive at 376 99 feet) a total distance of 426 99 feet to the point of beginning, and being all of Lot 12 (containing 1 96 acres) and a portion of Lot 13 (0 04 acres) of Parkwood Crossing Subdivision, Section II, as shown on copy of unrecorded Map of Survey prepared

by Walter L Gordon & Associates, MCRLS dated April 16 1992 Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 4340 Deerfield Drive, Monroe, North Carolina.

agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than

15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

FOR THE ADOPTION OF: MADDOX SPENCER SMART BY: BARBARA HILL SMART AND KEELAN CHRISTOPHER SMART TO: RICHARD ANTHONY VESTAL, JR., Respondent

NORTH CAROLINA RANDOLPH COUNTY ESTATE OF DOROTHY C. POWERS ADMINISTRATORS NOTICE TO CREDITORS The UNDERSIGNED having qualified an Administrator

and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 21, 2023 at 01:00 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Randolph County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING ALL OF LOT 45, OF JACKSON’S RUN, PHASE 2, AS PER PLAT THEREOF RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 159, PAGE 20, IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF RANDOLPH COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 2543 Leo Ln, Asheboro, NC 27203.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset

Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of Letha J. Shull, late of Wake County, North Carolina (2023-E-532), the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are RICKEY ANDRE LATTIMORE, AN UNMARRIED MAN AND LATISHA NICOLE LATTIMORE, AN UNMARRIED WOMAN JOINT TENANTS WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP.

Property Address 4340 Deerfield Dr Monroe, NC 28112 TAX ID 04279135 This is the same property conveyed to James E Moore Jr by Deed filed 12/13/06 in Book 4397 Page 850 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security

the 17th day of May 2023 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This the 8th day of March 2023.

2000), the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 17th day of May 2023 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and

corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 3rd day of June 2023 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make

immediate payment to the undersigned.

as designated under the provision of Chapter 47C of the North Carolina General Statutes in the Declaration of Condominium for The Cottages at Brier Creek, a Condominium, recorded 2-25-08 in Book 12967, Page 2163, supplemented by Supplementary Declaration of Condominium for Cottages at Brier Creek, a Condominium (Annexing Building 10) recorded in Book 15724, Page 658, Wake County Registry (together with all Amendments and Supplements thereto, the “Declaration”), together with a certain percentage undivided interest in the common areas and facilities declared therein to be appurtenant to said Unit, which undivided interest shall automatically change in accordance with the terms of said Declaration and in any Amendment or Supplement to the Declaration (an “Amendment”) filed of record pursuant to the provisions of the North Carolina Condominium Act, which undivided interest shall automatically be deemed to be conveyed effective on the recording of such Amendment as though conveyed hereby.

said land is also shown in Condominium File No. CM 2008, Pages 469 H2-I2, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Wake County, North Carolina, to which reference is also made for a more particular description.

The land upon which the buildings and improvements are located is situated in the County of Wake, State of North Carolina and is fully described in the Declaration, to which reference is hereby made for a more particular description of same. Said unit and

This the 8th day of March 2023.

This the 8th day of March 2023. /s/ Louis “Ben” Adams

Grantee, by accepting this Deed, hereby expressly assumes and agrees to be bound by and comply with all the covenants, terms, provisions and conditions set forth in the Declaration, the Articles and the Bylaws of The Cottages at Brier Creek and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder including, but not limited to, the obligation to make payments of assessments for the maintenance and operation of the condominium which may be levied against such unit. The unit conveyed hereby shall be used only for residential purposes.

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

Said property is commonly known as 10520 Sablewood Dr Unit 108, Raleigh, NC 27617.

A Certified Check ONLY (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due

Name and Address of Administrator Jeaninne Russell

Linwood Turlington Executor of the Estate of Letha J. Shull c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587

Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 110 Frederick St, Suite 200 Greenville, South Carolina 29607 Phone: (470) 321-7112, Ext. 204 Fax: 1-919-800-3528 RAS File Number: 22-047308

Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 110 Frederick St, Suite 200 Greenville, South Carolina 29607 Phone: (470) 321-7112, Ext. 52157 Fax: 1-919-800-3528 RAS File Number: 22-055480

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 8986 - 35379

114 Raleigh Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (For publication: 2/15, 2/22, 3/1, 3/8/2023)

Lillie M. Wilson Administrator of the Estate of Leroy Blount c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446

114 Raleigh Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (For publication: 2/15, 2/22, 3/1, 3/8/2023)

Administrator of the Estate of Carol Riddle Adams c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446 114 Raleigh Street

Fuquay Varina, NC 27526

and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Dorian R. Thomas, an unmarried man.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the

sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

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

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No.: 22-18847-FC01

(For publication: 3/1, 3/8, 3/15 and 3/22/2023)

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

B12

pen & paper pursuits

sudoku

solutions from March 1, 2023

WAKE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 21SP1685 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY DEBRA ANNE REDDEN DATED FEBRUARY 4, 2014 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 15579 AT PAGE 719 IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 22sp666 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY RONNIE A. GREGORY DATED MAY 4, 2021 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 18495 AT PAGE 1862 IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 2440 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Yarwo Joyce Bannerman and Howard D. Spruill (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Howard D. Spruill and Yarwo Joyce Bannerman, Heirs of Howard D. Spruill: Dexter Spruill, Trenna Spruill, Marilyn Davis Spruill) to Thompson & Saputo, Trustee(s), dated April 19, 2004, and recorded in Book No. 010782, at Page 01798 in Wake County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds Wake County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Wake County courthouse at 11:00AM on March 23, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Debra Anne Redden, dated February 4, 2014 to secure the original principal amount of $187,500.00, and recorded in Book 15579 at Page 719 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 5 8 2 1

Mapleridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27609 Tax Parcel ID: 0092352 Present Record Owners: The Estate of Debra Anne Redden The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are The Estate of Debra Anne Redden.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens

and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of

the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 30, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com :

agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Wake County courthouse at 10:00AM on March 22, 2023, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Ronnie A. Gregory, dated May 4, 2021 to secure the original principal amount of $80,000.00, and recorded in Book 18495 at Page 1862 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modified by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended.

Address of property: 4 9 0 0 Avenida Del Sol Dr., Unit 203, Raleigh, NC 27616 Tax Parcel ID: 1726554602

Present Record Owners: Ronnie A. Gregory The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Ronnie A. Gregory.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also,

if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is January 25, 2023. _____________________________________ Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Morgan R. Lewis, NCSB# 57732 Attorney for LLG Trustee, LLC, Substitute Trustee LOGS Legal Group LLP 10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 333-8107 | (704) 333-8156 Fax | www.LOGS.com

Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the Wake County Courthouse door, the Salisbury Street entrance in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on March 13, 2023 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Knightdale in the County of Wake, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEING all of Lot 30, Rutledge Landing Subdivision, Phase 1, as shown on a map recorded in Book of Maps 2001, Pages 1256-1258, Wake County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon said property being located at 5141 Julip Drive, Knightdale, North Carolina.

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

The property to be offered pursuant to

this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

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

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

Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice

of foreclosure sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days but not more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in this notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

21-111990

22-113004

SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC. SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE c/o Hutchens Law Firm P.O. Box 1028 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311 Phone No: (910) 864-3068 https://sales.hutchenslawfirm.com Firm Case No: 11955 - 51535

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 18 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 | STANLYJOURNAL.COM

THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

AP PHOTO

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger, left, speaks alongside House Speaker Tim Moore at a news conference about a Medicaid expansion agreement, Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

COUNTY NEWS Corn Growers Association of NC to hold referendum The Corn Growers Association of North Carolina will be conducting a referendum for the assessment of corn sold to first purchasers in North Carolina on March 14, 2023. Voting in Stanly County will take place at the County Extension office at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center during regular business hours (8:30 am until 5 pm) or at Nutrien in Norwood. The current assessment is 1.25 cents per bushel, and the Association is proposing to change the assessment to .30% of the settlement. This change is expected to bring the Association’s assessment in line with other row crop assessments across the state. If the Association realizes an increase in funds, they will be applied to an endowed chair position at NC State University for the Extension Cropping SpecialistCorn Position. Additionally, any increase in revenue will cover the increased cost of conducting research which benefits all North Carolina corn producers. The Corn Growers Association of North Carolina is governed by an all-volunteer board of farmers and industry representatives. For additional information, please contact Molly Alexi, Stanly County Extension Director, at (704) 9833987.

Lowcountry Voices to perform free show in Albemarle The Stanly County Arts Council and the Stanly County Concert Association will be hosting a free concert in the auditorium of Albemarle High School at 3 pm on April 29. The featured act will be North Charleston’s very own Lowcountry Voices, who will present a culturally influenced program entitled, “A Musical Collage: Lowcountry Style.” Lowcountry Voices is a multicultural and ethnically diverse performing arts organization known for its performances of AfricanAmerican and South Carolina Lowcountry traditional choral music. Its repertoire includes traditional and contemporary gospel music, spirituals, hymns, jazz, classical choral music, and music from the theater and movies. The Stanly County Arts Council is able to hold these concerts thanks to the support from private donors and the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Republican legislators reach Medicaid expansion deal The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina legislative leaders announced last Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate Leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

Expansion gained momentum last year when the GOP-controlled

state House and Senate approved, with strong bipartisan support, competing legislation addressing it, but they failed to reach a deal. The key differences stemmed around other initiatives Senate Republicans insisted were needed to increase the number of medical providers to cover the additional enrollees.

Under the new agreement, senators obtained the loosening or elimination of “certificate of need” laws that require health regulators to sign off on plans to offer hospital beds for mental health and substance abuse patients, build ambulatory surgery centers or purchase MRI machines. But their demand that advanced-practice nurses be able to treat patients without a doctor’s supervision was left out.

“There are still some things that need to be done, but this is our agreement and I’m very comfortable with it,” Berger said.

The negotiated measure, built in part on an expansion measure approved overwhelmingly by the House two weeks ago, was still being drawn up and will need affirmative votes in both chambers.

The federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid recip-

ients under expansion. Potentially 600,000 people in North Carolina could receive the benefit — those who make too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid but not enough to receive heavily subsidized health insurance that President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 law provides.

Under the agreement, the state’s 10% share would be paid through assessments paid by hospitals, which in turn benefit from getting reimbursed as they cover patients with Medicaid.

Officials say the state also would get an extra $1.8 billion over two years through a financial sweetener in a COVID-19 federal relief package from Congress for states that hadn’t accepted expansion.

And the package will include provisions that would result in higher reimbursements for hospital systems when they treat Medicaid patients — resulting in at least $3.2 billion in reimbursements during the next fiscal year for traditional Medicaid patients alone. That should help rural areas, where hospitals have closed or are in danger of closing.

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who has sought

expansion since taking office in 2017, would be asked to sign any final measure into law. He tweeted that the agreement “is a monumental step that will save lives” but wants it effective immediately to tap into more federal funds, making “sure we leverage the money that will save our rural hospitals and invest in mental health.”

Even if the law is approved this spring, Moore and Berger said it wouldn’t be effective until a separate state budget is enacted, likely by the early summer.

Cooper wasn’t involved in recent negotiations that lasted about four weeks and led to an agreement finalized late Wednesday, the legislators said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association, representing hospitals and health systems, commended legislators for Thursday’s agreement. The group backs certificate of need laws but offered some ways to scale them back in negotiations last year.

“Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, our economy and our entire health care system,” said Abby Emanuelson, executive director of Care4Carolina, a coalition of over 165 groups that has worked for expansion since 2014.

For years, Republicans in charge of the General Assembly since 2011 had been suspicious of expansion, even passing a 2013 law to block the executive branch from trying to accept expansion on its own.

See MEDICAID, page 2

Stanly commissioners pass resolution in support of Medical Freedom Act

By Jesse Deal North State Journal ALBEMARLE — With a 6-1 vote, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners recently approved a resolution in support of North Carolina House Bill 98 and Senate Bill 121, also known as the Medical Freedom Act. The proposed bill is currently sitting in committee at the state level.

On March 6, the board signaled its approval of the bill’s goals to prevent local governmental discrimination against people based on their refusal to provide proof of or submit to a COVID-19 vaccination.

The bill also prohibits public schools, state and local public health agencies, and local governments from requiring a COVID-19 vaccination, adopting mask policies, or quarantining healthy students.

“I teach my medical students that science is the knowledge of how things work, but wisdom is when you recognize the limitations of your science.”

Dr. Amir Koohestani Presented by Commissioner Patty Crump, the board’s near-unanimous resolution is a full-hearted endorsement of the bill.

“I talked with Wayne Sasser — our N.C. House representative — this past week,” Crump said. “He feels very strongly that this is going to be approved, possibly with a 72-vote majority, which would make it veto-proof which is excel-

lent for medical freedom,” Crump said. “But it always helps when our representatives can hear from county commissioners and other leaders and the voices of the people. I would like to present a resolution in order to give it teeth.”

Holding over 20 years of professional medical experience, Dr. Amir Koohestani joined Crump in support of the Medical Freedom Act. Koohestani is board certified in osteopathic family and functional medicine and currently serves as an associate professor of medicine at Campbell University Medical School.

“I teach my medical students that science is the knowledge of how things work, but wisdom is when you recognize the limitations of your science. And science has a lot of limitations,” Koohestani said. “In fact, science has See COMMISSIONERS, page 2

5

20177 52016 $0.50

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Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

2 WEDNESDAY

WEEKLY FORECAST

3.8.23 #279

WEDNESDAY

MAR 8

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Stanly County Journal ISSN: 2575-2278 Neal Robbins Publisher Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Griffin Daughtry Local News Editor Cory Lavalette Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor Lauren Rose Design Editor Published each Wednesday as part of North State Journal 1550 N.C. Hwy 24/27 W, Albemarle, N.C. 28001 TO SUBSCRIBE: 336-283-6305 STANLYJOURNAL.COM Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: North State Journal 1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

MEDICAID from page 1

But GOP lawmakers slowly came around as the Affordable Care Act and the 90% federal share didn’t get repealed by Congress, diminishing worries that state government would have to foot ever more of the costs. And local Republican county leaders endorsed expansion.

A turning point came last spring when Berger explained his switch to supporting it, adding at the time: “If there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”

North Carolina currently has 2.9 million Medicaid recipients.

The state Department of Health and Human Services has said up to 300,000 current beneficiaries could lose full coverage as states soon must conduct annual eligibility verifications again following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many being removed would requalify through Medicaid expansion, DHHS said.

61° 38° 0%

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BetterHelp shared users’ sensitive health data, FTC says The Associated Press THE ONLINE counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return $7.8 million to customers to settle with the Federal Trade Commission for sharing health data it had promised to keep private — including information about mental health challenges — with companies including Facebook and Snapchat. The proposed FTC order also limits how the California-based company may share consumer data in the future.

BetterHelp said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing and that the behavior for which it was sanctioned is standard for the industry.

Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, however, said BetterHelp betrayed consumers’ most personal health information for profit.

“When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counseling services will protect their privacy,” Levine said in a statement. Levine called the proposed order “a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritize defending Americans’ sensitive data from illegal exploitation.”

The enforcement action follows a similar one on Feb. 1 in which telehealth and prescription drug discount provider GoodRx Holdings was assessed a $1.7 million penalty for sharing users’ personal health data with Facebook, Google and other third parties without their consent.

COMMISSIONERS from page 1 thrived over the years because scientists have been allowed to ask questions.”

Koohestani provided his input that there isn’t a strong enough consensus in the medical community around COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness for the vaccines to be required by the government in certain public places. He also provided statistics indicating that the vaccines have led to higher rates of myocarditis and pregnancy complications.

When it came time for the vote,

AP PHOTO

The Federal Trade Commission building in Washington, D.C. The FTC has made it clear of its intent to crack down on the trafficking in sensitive health data by businesses not strictly classified as health care providers and thus not covered by HIPAA, the federal privacy rules that govern the health care industry.

BetterHelp provides online counseling, including services geared toward Christians, teens and the LGBTQ community. Customers interested in its services fill out questionnaires that ask for sensitive mental health information such as whether they have experienced suicidal thoughts and if they are on medication. They are then

matched with counselors.

During the signup process, customers were promised BetterHelp would not use or disclose their personal health data except for limited purposes such as to provide counseling, the FTC said.

The company nevertheless revealed data including email and IP addresses and questionnaire information to Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for advertising purposes, the FTC said in its complaint. It also accused BetterHelp of misleading customers and the public in 2020 by falsely denying news reports that it had revealed customers’ personal data to

third parties.

Under the proposed order, BetterHelp will provide partial refunds for customers who used the service from Aug. 1, 2017 until the end of 2020, the FTC said.

BetterHelp called the data-sharing practices for which it was sanctioned “industry-standard practice” that is “routinely used by some of the largest health providers, health systems, and healthcare brands.”

“Nonetheless, we understand the FTC’s desire to set new precedents around consumer marketing, and we are happy to settle this matter with the agency,” it added in a statement on its website.

the lone nay vote belonged to Commissioner Peter Asciutto, a community vaccine ambassador with Atrium Health and a longtime advocate for COVID-19 vaccines.

The commissioner brought up that just last week, the Stanly County Consolidated Health and Human Services Board voted 7-4 not to lend its endorsement to the Medical Freedom Act. Ascuitto then took issue with Koohestani’s claim that the vaccines were initially advertised to fully prevent virus transmission.

“I’ve never heard anybody say that if you take the vaccine, you’re

not going to get COVID. There’s always been a risk to everything,” Ascuitto said.

“What planet do you live on?”

Koohestani responded.

Back on March 30, 2021, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky contended that “Our data from the CDC today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that it’s not just in the clinical trials, but it’s also in real-world data.”

A few months later, President Joe Biden also suggested that fully vaccinated people don’t car-

ry COVID-19: “We’re making sure healthcare workers are vaccinated because if you seek care at a healthcare facility, you should have the certainty that the people providing that care are protected from COVID and cannot spread it to you.”

Following the 6-1 vote in favor of the resolution, a large portion of the crowd in attendance clapped in support.

The Stanly County Board of Commissioners will hold its next meeting on March 20 in the Gene McIntyre Room at Stanly Commons.

RANDOLPH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE QUESTIONS? CONTACT H. N. JOHNSON, RECRUITER, VIA EMAIL AT HEATHER.JOHNSON@RANDOLPHCOUNTYNC.GOV OR CALL 336-318-6764

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

OPINION

3

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | NEWT GINGRICH

The biggest scandal in American history

Fauci knew all this.

WE ARE LIVING THROUGH the largest, deadliest scandal in American history, but the elite media refuses to connect the dots and analyze it.

COVID-19, a disease no one disputes came from Wuhan, China, has killed more than 1.1 million Americans and more than 38 million people worldwide.

It has left millions of others with chronic health problems.

Because of the teachers’ unions and totally misguided, destructive public health policies, children who were under virtually no risk from COVID-19 have lost at least a year of education.

Many children are suffering from depression and other mental health challenges from the forced isolation and lack of social contact.

Now, it is becoming more clear that much of this pain was avoidable — and the result of powerful government employees protecting themselves. As Jarrett Stepman in The Daily Signal wrote: “In 2020, if you thought it was possible COVID-19 came from a lab in China you were labeled a conspiracy theorist, a peddler of misinformation, ‘bonkers,’ and a racist.

“Facebook and other social media removed the lab leak claim from their apps or slapped ‘misinformation’ labels on it. Facebook did so in lockstep with the government.

“So according to the standard set in 2020, the Department of Energy just came out as a racist purveyor of misinformation this week.

“The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that, according to a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and Congress, the Department of Energy concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic likely came from a lab leak. ‘”The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research,’ the Wall Street Journal report said.”

President Donald Trump called it “the Chinese Virus” and was intensely attacked. Somehow word “Chinese” was deemed racist. No one disputes that the virus originated in China. But calling it COVID-19 rather than the Chinese virus was more polite. (After all, it’s important to indicate an appropriate sensitivity to the totalitarian dictatorship that is trying to defeat the United States and become the world’s leading power).

We now know this censorship and speech silencing was part of a systematic effort of senior scientists to mislead the American people. When COVID-19 first became a threat in early 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci already knew the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had funded research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology via EcoHealth Alliance. He knew the WIV was a subgrantee of EcoHealth Alliance — and that EcoHealth Alliance was not in compliance with its grant reporting. Specifically, the organization was out of compliance for a project that NIAID knew could potentially make novel bat-borne coronaviruses much more dangerous.

Fauci knew all this.

According to Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, on Feb. 1, 2020, “Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins, and at least eleven other scientists convened a conference call to discuss COVID-19. On the conference call, Drs. Fauci and Collins were first warned that COVID-19 may have leaked from the WIV and may have been intentionally genetically manipulated.”

The scientists decided to remain silent to avoid controversy (which would have ultimately fallen back on themselves).

So, the same experts who are paid by the American people and given tens of billions of dollars to invest in research decided that they would deliberately mislead the American people.

This perfectly captures the arrogance of the aristo-bureaucrats, who believe they are intellectually and morally superior to the people to whom they are supposed to be accountable.

They believe they have the right and duty to censor what we think and say — and to feed us falsehoods in the name of some higher duty.

This scandal of many of our best professional researchers lying to the American people is compounded by the absolute failure of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why there has not been a scathing and thorough investigation — and set of hearings on the absolute inability of the bureaucrats in Atlanta to do their jobs — and the general failure of the public health system across the country is a mystery to me. This lack of introspection or investigation should itself be a scandal.

Driven by the economic impact of the Chinese virus, the American government spent trillions of dollars propping up the economy, sparking inflation, massively increasing the national debt, and permitting hundreds of billions in theft and corruption.

Finally, there has been no serious effort to hold the Chinese Communist dictatorship accountable for the damage it has done around the world. There is ample precedent for holding governments responsible for the damage they have done to others (the Lockerbie bombing, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, 9/11, and other cases).

The Chinese Communists have continuously focused on stopping us from understanding the origins of the pandemic. As Dave Boyer reported in the Washington Times, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray confirmed his agency believes the COVID-19 pandemic likely started from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. He told Fox News on Tuesday that “the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan… Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.

As Boyer reported, “Mr. Wray also slammed Beijing for stonewalling international efforts to find out what happened. ‘I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart, and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,’ he said.”

Clearly there ought to be a mechanism for making the Chinese Communist dictatorship pay COVID-19 victims for the disaster it caused. One step might be a COVID-19 tariff on all Chinese imports (the proceeds of which would go into a COVID-19 Compensation Fund that every American family affected by the pandemic could apply to).

Other countries could be urged to establish similar tariffs. Then Xi Jinping and his dictatorship would learn that lying, covering up, and hiding the truth has enormous costs for those guilty of killing millions and forcing the spending of trillions.

This scandal is so large, and covers so many areas, it will be a major factor in politics and government for the next decade. It will go down in history as a turning point in our lives and the life of our country.

We just need to decide what direction we turn: toward clarity and accountability, or toward lies and chaos.

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The greatest cover-up in human history

A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation.

FIRST, IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY a conspiracy theory.

Then, it was banned.

Finally, it was true.

The so-called “lab leak” theory of the origins of COVID-19 — the theory that COVID-19 originated in at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was unintentionally loosed — was always the most probable explanation for the outbreak of the deadly virus. After all, as Jon Stewart correctly joked in 2021, “’Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’ The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

But for well over a year, it was considered verboten to mention the lab leak theory. When Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posited the possibility of a lab leak in February 2020, he was roundly mocked by the media. The New York Times headlined, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Scientific American headlined — in March 2022! — “The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” Facebook actively quashed attempts to disseminate the theory; Dr. Anthony Fauci went on national television and downplayed the theory.

Why? Two reasons are obvious. The first: powerful institutions had a stake in downplaying the Chinese origins of the virus in order to shift blame to the rest of the world. Certainly, that was China’s game: In all likelihood, COVID-19 was spreading in China as early as October 2019, and the government covered it up for months. But that was also the game of the World Health Organization.

Members of the American government like Fauci also had a stake in smothering questions about American funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

Then there’s the second reason: all the wrong people were repeating the lab leak theory. As one of MSNBC’s resident hacks, Mehdi Hasan, admitted on Twitter, “The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab

leak’ theory is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists.” As Nate Silver correctly noted, “The Bad People thought the lab leak might be true, therefore as journalists we couldn’t be expected to actually evaluate the evidence for it.”

Herein lies a lesson: A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation. Claims are not to be evaluated on their own merits; instead, we can simply determine whether a claim ought to be supported based on those who posit it. This helps to explain why political crossover has become nearly impossible: We’re not judging the claims of our opponents; we’re judging each other. And this means that we can discard any argument simply by dint of the fact that we don’t like the person offering it.

Among members of the general population, this is a problem, but not a fundamental one. But among those who pose as “experts” — the people who are supposed to serve as guides for people who outsource their political information, from media to scientific institutions — it’s a fatal error. After all, experts are supposed to be impartial adjudicators of the evidence. That’s their entire job. We can evaluate on our own who we don’t like — but we often need help to determine whether an argument has merit or not. When experts become “just like us,” they undermine their raison d’etre.

And that’s precisely what happened with COVID-19. Whether it was ignoring the actual evidence regarding masks and mask mandates, the evidence regarding post-vaccination transmissibility or the evidence regarding the lab leak theory, experts decided that the (SET ITAL) wrong people (END ITAL) had to be ignored. But they were wrong. And now they have no credibility left.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

4

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Duke men return to AP Top 25 Indianapolis Duke returned to The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the first time since falling out in mid-January after opening the year at No. 7. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils (23-8) to six straight wins to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s win at North Carolina for a rivalry sweep that wounded UNC’s iffy NCAA Tournament hopes.

Duke was last ranked in the Jan. 9 poll. Houston remained No. 1, followed by UCLA, Kansas, Alabama and Purdue.

NFL

Seahawks, QB Smith agree on 3-year deal Renton, Wash.

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year contract that keeps the AP comeback player of the year in the Pacific Northwest.

NFL Network and The Score reported the deal could be worth up to $105 million.

Smith led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and a playoff berth as the last wild card in the NFC. He threw for a career-high 4,282 yards, setting a franchise record, with 30 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions, completed 399 passes and led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Iowa settles race bias lawsuit using taxpayer money Iowa City, Iowa Iowa taxpayers are on the hook for half of a $4 million settlement in the lawsuit brought by former Iowa football players who alleged racial discrimination in coach Kirk Ferentz’s program. A State Appeal Board voted 2-1 on Monday to approve the use of $2 million for the $4.175 million settlement over the objection of State Auditor Rob Sand, a board member who said athletic director Gary Barta should be fired for a series of lawsuits ending in settlements under his watch. The agreement calls for $2.85 million to be divided among 12 players and $1.9 million to go to Solomon-Simmons Law for fees and expenses.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Wisconsin fires Granato as men’s hockey coach Madison, Wis. Wisconsin fired Tony Granato as men’s hockey coach on Monday after a second straight losing season. Granato posted a 105-129-16 overall mark and 65-87-2 Big Ten record during his seven seasons.

Wisconsin ended a 13-23 season Saturday, losing to Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 before spending 13 seasons as an NHL player and 13 more as either an NHL head or assistant coach. He still ranks third in school history in career goals and fourth in points.

But he couldn’t make Wisconsin a consistent winner after returning to his alma mater as head coach.

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech forward Taylor Soule celebrates before cutting a piece of the net after the Hokies defeated Louisville to win the ACC Women’s Tournament on Sunday in Greensboro.

Virginia Tech beats Louisville for 1st ACC women’s title The Hokies have won 11 straight entering the NCAA Tournament The Associated Press GREENSBORO — Kenny Brooks walked over to an endzone section of Virginia Tech fans and gave a fist-pumping release as his players climbed steps to cut down a piece of the net.

A few minutes later, Brooks was up there himself, snipping down the final strand hanging from the rim before turning to Hokies fans and leading a “Let’s go Hokies!” chant.

The moment had finally arrived for Brooks and his eighthranked Hokies, who continued their late-season tear by beating Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win the program’s first Atlantic Coast

Conference Tournament title.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Brooks said on the court as his players celebrated around him.

It came with another strong scoring effort from Georgia Amoore, who scored 25 points and earned tournament MVP honors for the third-seeded Hokies (27-4).

There was two-time league player of the year Elizabeth Kitley adding another 20 points in her role as the inside constant. And there was Taylor Soule, emerging from a scoreless first half to provide the third-quarter lift that helped keep the Hokies on course for their 11th straight win.

Virginia Tech’s first trip to the ACC title game into a strong finishing act, pushing to a double-digit lead before halftime and keeping the Cardinals at arm’s distance the rest of the way. And that capped a three-game run in Greensboro in

“I think all of us knew we were going to win.”

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech center which the Hokies trailed for a total of 3 minutes, 15 seconds — all in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“I think all of us knew we were going to win,” Kitley said. “From the start of the tournament, we’ve been talking about it. Obviously we’ve been taking it day by day, game by game. But definitely throughout the game we all knew that we had it and we didn’t lose our cool, even when they were hitting big shots.”

Before Sunday, the Hokies had been as far as the ACC semifinals

only once since joining the league for the 2004-05 season — and that came last year. Now they’re celebrating a milestone victory under Brooks, who has built this program to the top of the league in Year 7.

When the horn finally sounded, Kitley and Kayana Traylor skipped to midcourt to meet the rushing mob of players and coaches from the Hokies sideline headed for a midcourt celebration as the streamers and confetti dropped from the Greensboro Coliseum rafters.Louisville made its closest push in the frantic final seconds to within 73-67 on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. But Kitley hit two critical free throws with 15.1 seconds to go that pushed the lead back to eight for what turned out to be the final margin.

This was the Cardinals’ fourth finals appearance, the first being a title win in 2018 followed by losses to Notre Dame in 2019 and North Carolina State on a late basket in 2021. Their first two wins came against Wake Forest and No. 10 Notre Dame, which had taken regular-season meetings against them.

Byron wins at Las Vegas as Hendrick dominates The team finished 1-2-3 despite being minus Chase Elliott The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — One way or another, a Hendrick Motorsports driver figured to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson nearly won the Pennzoil 400 in regulation, but a late caution put teammate William Byron in position to capture the checkered flag in overtime.

Byron took the lead on the penultimate lap of OT to put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron, Larson and Alex Bowman pushing their Chevrolets across the finish line in that order.

Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup seasons.

“I’ve led a lot of laps in a couple of races, but to be this good with this team is definitely a good sign,” Byron said. “It’s a different feeling for me having a team around me that can execute that well. That’s just a team effort.”

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps,” Larson said. “I don’t remember many

AP PHOTO

William Byron celebrates with his team after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas. of those working out in my favor.”

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota choosing to stay out. Byron, in the No. 24 Chevy, came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex after the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages for the first time in his career. Truex in 2017 and Kevin Harvick in 2018 also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win.

The fourth Hendrick driver and 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, will begin physical therapy Monday, his team owner Rick

Hendrick told Fox Sports.

Elliott had surgery Friday to repair a fractured tibia, and Hendrick said Elliott has returned to his home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident Friday. He and his family own a home in Vail, Colorado.

Elliott joked on Twitter “that the formal request I submitted for a slight edit to the March section of my script was indeed… declined.”

“In all seriousness, the support I’ve received over the last couple of days is far greater than I deserve,” he posted in a follow-up tweet. “I want to thank everyone who has

lended it over in any form!”

Josh Berry took Elliott’s seat in the No. 9 Chevy and finished 29th.

Hendrick general manager Jeff Andrews said a decision would be made on who drives that car next weekend at Phoenix.

Bubba Wallace, who drives the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota, finished fourth. He was the top finisher not part of the Hendrick garage.

“It was right there in the top seven or eight the whole time,” Wallace said. “I was going to settle for sixth and the caution came out.

My car fired off really, really good (on the restart), the best it had all race.”

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

5

Brady, Brown prove combine Previewing the 2023 flops can become NFL stars Stanly County softball season

Measurements and 40 times aren’t everything when it comes to evaluating talent

South Stanly and West Stanly are looking to defend their state titles

The Associated Press LONG BEFORE the NFL’s annual scouting combine became a prime-time football fix for fans ahead of free agency and the draft, Mike Mamula absolutely killed it as a combine trailblazer in 1995.

He was among the first players to train specifically for the staple of tests he’d face at the combine: the 40-yard dash that measures speed, the three-cone drill that calculates agility and the 225-pound bench press that gauges strength and stamina.

After his impressive showing in Indy, Mamula rocketed into the first round, where the Philadelphia Eagles traded the 12th overall pick and two second-round selections to Tampa Bay so they could move up five spots and get the Boston College defensive end at No. 7.

Mamula proved more of a workout warrior than Sunday star in his solid five-year career with the Eagles, illustrating the inexact nature of projecting professional success at the combine, where studs can eventually turn out to be duds and flops can turn out to be outstanding players.

Although some prospects skip certain components of the combine and choose to show off in more familiar surroundings at their college pro day or in visits with specific teams, the vast majority now target the week in Indianapolis just like Mamula did.

The only thing that went right for Oklahoma tackle Orlando Brown Jr. at the 2018 scouting combine was the vote of confidence from his Heisman Trophy-winning teammate.

“When are you ever going to watch Orlando Brown run 40 yards down the field?” quarterback Baker Mayfield asked that week. “You can watch last year’s tape and see he allowed zero

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal AS HIGH SCHOOL softball season returns, two schools in Stanly County will try and defend their state titles while other schools try to catch up to the championship programs.

West Stanly Colts (Rocky River Conference 2A/3A) 2022 Record: 29-4, 8-0

AP PHOTO

Oklahoma offensive lineman Orlando Brown participates in the 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. sacks. I’d say that’s pretty important for a left tackle.”

Measures matter, too, however, and he fell from a projected first-rounder to the third round of the draft, where the Baltimore Ravens took a flyer on him with the 83rd overall pick.

The nearly 6-foot-8, 345-pound left tackle managed just 14 reps on the 225-pound bench press, the lowest total of any lineman who lifted at the combine that year.

Things only got worse for the son of former Browns and Ravens right tackle Orlando Brown a day later when he lumbered through the 40-yard dash in 5.85 seconds.

Even by big O-linemen standards, that’s sloth-like slow, and it was the slowest of anyone at that year’s event.

Brown, whose broad and vertical jumps were also the lowest of all players, was undeterred by his wretched week at the combine.

“I’ve been fat my whole life,” he explained. “I wish I was fast.”

Brown, however, made the Pro Bowl in his second season and has made every one since. Last month

he won a Super Bowl ring while anchoring Kansas City’s stout offensive line, and he’s in line for another huge paycheck this spring.

Another player who looked overmatched at his combine was none other than seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.

We’ve all seen the official combine photo of the scrawny Brady with uneven bangs standing expressionless in baggy shorts at the 2000 combine where he was a late-round prospect hoping for a chance.

Brady ran the 40 in a turtle-like 5.28 seconds and posted an unimpressive 24 1/2-inch vertical jump.

The only radar he was on was that of the New England Patriots, where head coach Bill Belichick and general manager Scott Pioli were just months into their new jobs and targeted a QB in the later rounds.

They selected Brady in the sixth round after 198 other players were drafted, including seven quarterbacks.

Led by Emily Smith — now in her second season as coach — the reigning Rocky River Conference champions and three-time defending 2A state champions have put together quite a resume in the NCHSAA softball landscape with titles in 1997, 2013, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The drive for a sixth title is on track as the majority of last season’s team returns for another campaign. That includes senior pitcher Lily Huneycutt, who won 27 games with a 13.2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio last year.

With 11 upperclassmen on the roster, the Colts (1-1) opened this season with a 2-1 road loss to Southwestern Randolph on Feb. 28 and followed that with a 10-0 home win over Carson on March 1.

North Stanly Comets (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A) 2022 Record: 12-9, 4-6 Coach Phillip Speight and the Comets began last season with an eight-game winning streak, but North Stanly ended its season losing seven of eight.

After finishing fourth in the Yadkin Valley Conference last year, the Comets will look to emerge from the middle of the pack despite having a younger squad that only features three seniors.

On Feb. 28, North (1-2) began its 2023 campaign with a 5-2 road loss to East Rowan but recovered with a 19-1 road win over Forest Hills a day later. The Comets then dropped a 9-8 road matchup versus Anson on March 3.

South Stanly Rebel Bulls (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A) 2022 Record: 30-3, 10-0 Much like West’s softball program, South has also become a local powerhouse with a fierce reputation. Longtime coach David Poplin and his reigning 1A state and YVC champions battled back from the heartbreak of losing the 2021 state title by going right back and avenging their loss.

With a state title under its belt, South returns with five seniors who played a large role last season, including 2022 Yadkin Valley Conference Player of the Year Mattie Poulos.

The Bulls open their season at Anson on March 9 before traveling to Piedmont a day later. South is currently riding a 13-game win streak that dates to the middle of last season.

Gray Stone Day Knights (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A) 2022 Record: 11-11, 2-8 While the Knights reached a double-digit win total last year, they struggled in conference play and finished fifth in the YVC standings.

Coach Darrell Furr and his Gray Stone team (2-0) have already gotten off to a strong start this spring with a 7-4 home win over Mountain Island Charter on Feb. 27 and an 11-1 road win against West Cabarrus on March 1.

The Knights haven’t had a winning season since 2017 when they finished with a 21-7 record.

AP PHOTO

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was suspended by the team after a video on social media circulated that appeared to show him holding a gun at a club.

No timetable for Morant’s return during ‘healing process’ The NBA is investigating a social media post that showed the Grizzlies guard holding a gun The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — There’s no timetable for Ja Morant to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, and the AllStar guard knows he’s made “difficult decisions and poor choices” that he has to be accountable for, coach Taylor Jenkins said Sunday night.

Morant was not with the team in Los Angeles for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers

on Tuesday while the NBA investigates a social media post in which Morant appeared to be holding a gun.

“Very tough moment, for sure,” Jenkins said of the video.

Morant streamed the video on his Instagram account early Saturday of himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub, hours after playing in Denver. He said in a statement through the agency that represents him that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and that he was going to “take some time away to get help.”

On Monday, police in Colorado said they were investigating Mo-

rant’s actions and whether he may have broken any laws. Morant’s video is believed to have been filmed in Glendale, a small enclave surrounded by Denver and known for its strip clubs and shopping centers.

Capt. Jamie Dillon said police did not receive any calls or complaints about Morant’s actions but began looking into them Saturday after learning about the video circulating online.

The Grizzlies coach said Morant understands he’s made “some difficult decisions and poor choices in the past.”

“He’s definitely embracing the mistakes that he’s made, but only

time will tell,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to support him and we’re going to hold him accountable to make those changes.”

Jenkins declined to outline the steps Morant needs to take to rejoin the team, saying: “We love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. It’s going to be a difficult process, but we’ve got a great group to get through this.”

He called it “an ongoing healing process.”

The league, if it finds wrongdoing, could fine or suspend Morant.

Morant also was the subject of a league investigation after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led

to a friend of his being banned from home games for a year. That incident occurred after a game against the Indiana Pacers. Multiple media outlets reported that members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them, and a team security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.

The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.

“This is a tough time for a young kid that’s got to grow and get better,” Jenkins said. “He’s got huge responsibilities not just for the team, for the city, but I know how he’s built with that care factor and what steps he’s now taking. It’s a step in the direction of really being the best version of himself.”

6

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Murdaugh testimony only confirmed his guilt, jurors say The Associated Press WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh didn’t help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday.

Murdaugh’s testimony only managed to cement what they were already thinking — that he easily lied and could turn on and off his tears at will, the jurors said on the NBC Today show.

The key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty, they said, was a video on his son’s cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the same kennels near where the bodies were found at their sprawling estate in rural South Carolina.

Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video even though he insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night. Investigators didn’t see the video for more than a year before advances in hacking enabled them to unlock Paul Murdaugh’s iPhone.

They shared it with the defense ahead of the trial.

When he took the stand, the first thing Murdaugh did was admit he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

“The kennel video, that just kind of sealed the deal,” juror

AP PHOTO

Alex Murdaugh speaks with his legal team before he is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and son by Judge Clifton Newman at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, March 3, 2023 in in Walterboro, S.C. Gwen Generette said.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul, with two shotgun blasts and his 52-yearold wife, Maggie, with four or five rifle shots.

The now-disbarred lawyer maintained his innocence when he was sentenced Friday to spend

the rest of his life in prison for the murders.

Murdaugh was convicted in the same court circuit where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as the elected prosecutor for more than 80 years. Murdaugh’s family founded the area’s most powerful law firm a century ago. For decades, that meant that practically

anyone who ended up in court on either side of the law in Colleton or Hampton counties would have a Murdaugh watching their back or staring them down.

His background was part of the reason jurors didn’t find his testimony believable.

“We already know that he’s a lawyer. He’s able to be emotional with cases. He’s able to be emo-

tional with himself. He knows ... when to turn it on and off. So I think that we were able to read right through that,” juror James McDowell said.

Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty, and the judge handed down the harshest possible sentence he could — consecutive life sentences without parole.

Murdaugh admitted stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit. Before he was charged with murder, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 other charges, ranging from insurance fraud to tax evasion.

Defense attorneys said they will base an appeal largely on the judge’s decision to allow jurors to hear evidence of crimes Murdaugh has not been convicted of, which they say smeared his reputation.

After six intense weeks at the courthouse in Walterboro, key players returned to their normal lives.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters, whose love of the guitar was a favorite bit of chatter among true crime fans, tweeted a video of himself jamming. Judge Clifton Newman was seen in a courtside seat rooting for South Carolina to win the Southeastern Conference title in women’s basketball.

And defense lawyer Jim Griffin, admonished during the trial for tweeting an opinion piece criticizing the investigation, returned to Twitter with a post that said “Walterboro, you were a gracious host. Happy Trails.” He included a photo of his head stuck through the hole of a painting of a cowboy riding a chicken, with “I was at the Murdaugh trial” written at the top.

DeSantis, Trump set to visit Iowa, ramping up 2024 moves The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump are each headed to Iowa in the coming weeks, making their first trips of the year to the leadoff Republican voting state as the 2024 campaign ramps up.

DeSantis has scheduled events on March 10 in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport and the state capital, Des Moines, to promote his new book, “The Courage to be Free.” His plans were confirmed by two aides to Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because they were not authorized to preempt DeSantis’ announcement.

Trump’s campaign subsequently announced that the former president would be making an education policy speech in Davenport on March 13, his first Iowa visit since he launched his 2024 campaign in November.

“It’s going from ground zero right to the moon,” said Gloria Mazza, the Republican party chair in Polk County, Iowa’s most populous county. “It sure gets us excited.”

Although DeSantis is not yet a candidate, his trip is a significant step for a governor who has positioned himself as a top alternative to Trump. Until now, he has largely been content to lead conservative cultural fights on cable TV and from the Florida statehouse, where he is focused on expanding his rightward agenda in the legislative session that runs through May. The closely timed Iowa visits would draw the two leading Republicans closer toward direct competition. Trump has escalated

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla.

AP PHOTO

his attacks on DeSantis in recent months as he increasingly views him as a major threat, deriding the governor on social media and trying out insulting nicknames.

For his part, DeSantis responded to questions about one such Trump jab last month by saying he does not spend his time “trying to smear other Republicans.”

Trump attended events last month in early-voting states New Hampshire and South Carolina,

and this month’s Iowa visit would be his first trip to the state as an official 2024 candidate.

He would face pressure to do well in Iowa next year, having finished in second place in the 2016 caucuses en route to the Republican presidential nomination and carrying Iowa by healthy margins in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

After a quiet start to the year, Republican presidential prospects

have been flocking to Iowa in recent weeks and making plans for future visits.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her candidacy last month, was in Iowa in late February and plans to return next week to host two town halls and participate in a foreign policy event with Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in Des Moines.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is considering a bid,

was in the state last month rallying conservative parents against a gender-affirming policy in an eastern Iowa school district at issue in a federal lawsuit. Pence is expected back in Iowa on March 18.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another likely 2024 candidate, was in the Des Moines area last week to deliver a speech at Drake University and headline a Polk County Republican Party fundraiser.

7

obituaries obituaries Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Barbara Jean (Taylor) Drye April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023 Velma Barnes Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, Douglas

Dwight Farmer

January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023

Ikey Alexander Burnette

Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.

May 1928 - March March 12, 1935 - March 2, 2023 January 14, 11, 2023 at her home.5, 2023 Dwight was born January 24, Barbara was born April 17, 1936 1939Ikey in Stanly CountyBurnette, to the late87, of Velma RuthtoBarnes Alexander in North Carolina the lateDouglas Robert Walter Virgil and Martha peacefully the arms Locust passed away onAdkins March 2, Leepassed Taylor and the late into Eva Belle Farmer. was a 1957 graduate of her Lord and Savior Jesus 2023 He in Bethany Woods Nursing Watts Taylor. of and Norwood High School and was Christ at her home, Taylor House Rehabilitation Center in She was also preceded in death a United States Army Veteran.

Assisted Living of Albemarle, Albemarle. by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr He was a member on Sunday, March 5th, 2023, Born March of 12,Cedar 1935 Grove in Stanly Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee United Methodist Church surrounded by family.

County, NC, he was thewhere son ofhethe Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth served as church treasurer and Velma was born on May 11th, had late Flecus Alexander Burnette Taylor.

HeSimpson began hisBurnette. career 1928, in McDowell County West choir andmember.

Hattie M. Survivors children, with Mr. the Stanly County Sheriff’sby his Virginia include to the late James and Burnette is survived Debbie (Mike) Williams of was a Department to the Norwood Gertrude Barnes. She wife of 37 moving years, Margaret Hussey Albemarle, Teresa (Tom)daughter, Curry Police Department retiring loving and devoted Burnette, of the and home.

Otheras of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) of Police with the Town wife, mother, and grandmother. Chief survivors include two sonsofIkey Drye of Oakboro; Norwood after many years of service.

Velma enjoyedgrandchildren, her church Scott Burnette of Virginia and Melissa (Don) of Albemarle, family andParrish had a deep personal Tony Allen of Virginia, Dwight wasBurnette an avid gardener, Samantha (Destiny) Smith relationship with JesusofChrist. step children Wallace bird watcher andTeresa Carolina fan.

Oakboro, Bradley Smith Oakboro, She was a woman ofofgreat virtue (Dale) of Robbins, Randy Cagle He is survived by his wife Hilda Jonathan andher Whitley and a Stover friend of toPeachland, many during of Idaho, Violaone Maness Farmer; son D.(Donnie) Britten Jessie Stover of often Lylesville; life.

It was said sisterof Velma of Robbins, Bruce Cagle of Star, Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, in-law, thatBeatrice she wasGoodman; one of themany strongest NC; NC, oneAmanda daughterMcNeill Sharon (Arthur) Farmer nieces and nephews; andever her beloved women anyone had known, Lowe of Seagrove, Cagleone of (David) ofCasey Norwood; cats,and Bo and Garfield. her life made a lasting impact sister Locust, siblings Ted Burnette Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two Barbara wasThroughout a member ofher career grandchildren, on others. of Midland, Wade of DwightBurnette Britten “Dee” she was as a Church nurse’s aide and a Peachland, Eudy of Concord, Oakboro Baptist for over Farmer III andJudy Whitley Rose Hui homemaker. and Ann Simpson of Concord, 60 years.

She worked over 30 years Lowe.

Velma was preceded injust death step granddaughters Chelsey at Stanly Knitting Mills. After He was preceded in death by herofhusband, Roy asbegan well as andbrothers, Tiffany Allen and three twoby years retirement, she hisBlake son Alex, Tommy and her 5 children, Linda Acord, Jack Jimmy, step great-great grandchildren managing the Oakboro Senior sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Furrow, Jimmy Furrow, Judy Remington Blake, Levi Center and did that for 18 years Annabell, Glennie Mae, andAllen, Betty.and Pennington, and Bobby Douglas.

Peyton Allen.

He was preceded until this past week. Barbara was Memorials may be made to Cedar Shefor was also proceeded in death in death by his first wife Willie known her good cooking and Grove United Methodist Church, by ataking granddaughter Laurie Walters, brothers Charles, always care of others.

She also Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Furrow Drennen and a great Clarence, Floyd, Grady and sisters loved going on day long shopping Smith 36071 Riverstepson Springs Josh Lula, Faye Rocky and Mary, tripsgrandson - she could out Furr. walk and out Road, Norwood, NC 28128.

Velmahalf is survived by her Jeffrey Cagle and step grandson shop people her age. She kept grandchildren, Jackline Furrow Tyler Maness. her mind and body active through Fields, word and husband gardening, searches,John and of Albemarle, Shellie Furrow various other hobbies.

Almond and husband Jody of Albemarle and Brian Acord and wife Tonya of Bolt West Virginia.

She is also survived by 8 great grandchildren and 19 great-great grandchildren.

James Roseboro

June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023

Rodney Joe Morton

James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.

April 28, 1963 - March 1, 2023 Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert Rodney “Joe” Morton, 59, and Delena Shipp Roseboro. of Albemarle, passed awayHe graduated from South1,Stanly Wednesday, March 2023.

High School and was born employed Mr. Morton was Aprilby28, Triangle enjoyedNC watching 1963 in Brick.

StanlyHe County, to the football and basketball, especially the late Shirley Sue Overcash Morton Carolina TarHeels and Miami. and Robert Vance Morton. Joe In addition to histime parents hehis is enjoyed spending with preceded in death by his brothers grandchildren. andJoe sisters: Barbaraby Lee Roseboro, is survived his two Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, daughters, Leigh Locklear (Chris) Henrietta Harold of Locust,Ingram, NC andand Jody Lowder Roseboro.

(Scott) of Millingport; a brother, He is survived his sisters: John Morton ofby Albemarle, NC; three sisters, Darlene M. Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Norwood, NC, ofSmalling Albemarle, Mary Roseboro M. PageDC, (Floyd) of GA ofPurlie Washington and Marion and Susan Eury of Albemarle, Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: NC andD. seven grandchildren, Thomas Roseboro of Charlotte, Ethan Roseboro Locklear,(Patricia) Gavin Locklear, Robert of Addison Lowder, Jacob Lowder, Norwood, and Van Horne; a special Kayden Lowder, Ainsley Lowder friend of over 40 years, Michelle and Kynlee Mr. Morton McLendon ofLowder. the home; special was also preceded in death by two nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya brothers, Scott Morton and Bruce Little, and Laquanza Crump; special Eury andRobert a sister, Eury nephews: Jr.,Gaynail Desmond Hammonds a man who was Roseboro, andand Marcus Lilly; and as close to him as a Dad could God daughter, Daphne Johnson; be, and Marshall Ray Vetrella Andrews. special friends, Johnson and Ben McLendon.

BerniceBaldwin (Crump) Darrick January 7,Sides 1973 ~ January 8,

2023 August 3, 1932 ~ March 2, 2023

Russell "Rusty" Joe Hartsell

October 8, 1957 ~ March 1, 2023

Melvin Earl Stamper

March 30, 1954 ~ March 5, 2023

Russell "Rusty" Joe Hartsell, 65, of Locust, passed away Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at his home surrounded by family.

Rusty was born October 8, 1957 in Stanly County, NC to Betty Ruth Kluttz Hartsell and the late Fetzer Eugene Hartsell.

Survivors include wife, Karen Hartsell of Locust, NC; children, Angie (Dwain) Connell, John (Lesley) Hartsell, Amy (Mark) Lisk; grandchildren, Emily Connell, Katherine Connell, and Sarah Connell, Lukas Scott, Meadow Scott, and Maverick Scott, Eli Lisk, Everly Lisk, and Ava Lisk; mother, Betty Ruth Kluttz Hartsell; brother, Gary (Janet) Hartsell; sister, Beth Adkins; cousin who was a brother, Paul Kluttz; and many nieces and nephews.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in SCJ at obits@stanlyjournal.com

Melvin Earl Stamper, 68, of New London, passed away Sunday, March 5, 2023 at his home.

Melvin was born March 30, 1954 in North Carolina to the late Glenn Stamper and the late Odessia Mae Smith Stamper.

He was also preceded in death by sister, Claudia Calloway and brother, Tony Stamper.

Survivors include siblings, Jerry Stamper of Kannapolis, NC, Darlene Pressley of Kannapolis, NC, Carol Maness of Ashboro, NC, and Glenda Smith of Albemarle, NC; and many nieces and nephews.

Darrick ageof50, BerniceVashon CrumpBaldwin, Sides, 90, entered eternal rest, Sunday, Albemarle, Stanly County,January NC, 8,passed 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. away on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at her daughter's home Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly surrounded family. Darrick was County, Northby Carolina, Bernice wasJames born on August the son of Eddie Baldwin Sr. 3, 1932, inPhyllis Albemarle, to the late and the late Blue Baldwin.

Rosa Elmina Crump Darrick enjoyedMorton life, always kept and Cleveland Snowford Crump. things lively and enjoyed making In addition to her parents, she others smile. His presence is no was also preceded in death by longer in our midst, but his memory herforever husband, K. Sides; will live Donald in our hearts. brothers, Grover Monroe Crump, He was educated in the Stanly David Onan Crump, Lloyd County public schools and attended Richard Crump, Herman Allen Albemarle Senior High School, Crump, and Cicero Armstead Albemarle.

Crump; Mary Howe He wassisters, a great Lois conversationalist and Alice Rose Jones; and and loved meeting people.

Darrick granddaughter, Jennifer Stokes. never met a stranger and always Survivors include her children, showed love and compassion for his Marilyn (Bill) Cody, Lowell fellowman. He also loved his dog, (Buddy) Crawford (Debbie) Rocky.

Lowder, Nina (Terry) Underwood, survived byand hisCindy father,Politte allHe ofisAlbemarle Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: of Melbourne, FL; brother,Crystal Virgil (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra Chase (Nancy) Crump; (Stoney) nine Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; grandchildren; eighteen greatbrothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton grandchildren; two great-greatBaldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a grandchildren; special "daughter", host of other relatives andconstant friends. A Paula Earley; and her limb has fallen fromSam. our family tree. furry companion, We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.

John B. Kluttz

March 23, 1935 - January 9, 2023

Theresa Page Beck

7

Doris Jones Coleman October 11, 1944 - January 10, Calvin2023 Sams

John grew up in the Millingport August 6, where 1957 - he February 28, September 27, 1957 - February 28, community drove a school 2023 2023 Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, bus and worked at the local gas went home into God’s presence on station during his High School years.

Theresa Ann Page Beck, passed Calvin Sams, 65, passedillness and January 10 after a sudden He graduated from Millingport away on Tuesday, February 28, at away peacefully on Tuesday, a valiant week-long fight in ICU. High in 1954 and entered into the Grand Strand Medical Center, February 28, 2023, at October his home Doris was born on 11, service with the US in Myrtle Beach SC.Airforce in1944, Albemarle after a longofand in the mountains Marion, immediately afterward.

Upon Theresa was born August 6, courageous battle with NC while her father wascancer. away return theCounty, service, he and 1957, infrom Stanly NC, thehis Calvin was born to theduring late fighting in the US Navy high school Julie were daughter of sweetheart the late Raeford Page Willie Avra Sams and Madie World War II. Raymond Jones was married in 1956.

He graduated from Ethel Brewer Sams on September and Margaret Lucille Lorch Page. so proud to return after the war Nashville Diesel later in 27, 1957, in Montgomery Countyand She was a Auto graduate ofCollege Western meet his little girl! Doris grew up in 1959 andUniversity began his career a diesel North Carolina with aasBA Carolina.

Calvin was from Durham, NC and graduated mechanic Mitchell Distributing in Special at Education.

Theresa a Durham walking High miracle, surviving School. She furthered Company, moving his growing retired as an educator with the throat cancer and theHospital horrible her studies at Watts family to Charlotte where they lived aftereffects that left him Columbus County School System. speech School of Nursing in Durham and untilwas their retirement.

She a member of Believers impaired, He never quit fighting. graduated as a Registered Nurse in When John purchased his first Bible Chapel in Longs, SC. She Calvin was a true born-again 1966.

Model A fond Ford at age special of 17, he was very of the all her Christian, loved the Lord Jesus Doris Dr. Ted needs children and her Christ andmarried enjoyedRev. reading from said that he tookand theadults car to the Coleman in 1966 and had two granddaughter.

Her two favorite the Bible and learning from community mechanic when he had daughters and Laura.

Doris things spendingmechanic time with biblical Amy teachings.

We will a smallwere problem.The told the raised Amy and Laura in North her and to watching himgranddaughter that if he was going keep the never know the people that he Augusta, SC. her and grow.

She has touched from sharing his car,learn he needed to learn toalso workhad on Doris was an incredible neonatal ait.dog named Caroline that she testimony to anyone interested.

This is when John’s passion for intensive care nurse for most loved Calvin was a 1975 graduateofofher ModelasAwell.

Fords began and how he career, and this was her passion.

She is survived by her husband, East Montgomery High School. spent his happiest days with his best The Augusta Chronicle did a feature Joseph two proudly served his country in friendsGuy fromBeck, around thesons, globe for the He onU.S. her in 1985.

Sheaswas a clinical Joshua Guilife!

Beck of Tabor City, the Air Force a Weapons rest of his nurse manager Augusta, NCAt and Christian within the 406th Georgia ageJoseph 50, after years as Beck a Detroit Technician at University Hospital NICU and of Tabor City, NC, one daughter, Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed Diesel Mechanic he and Julie worked there for 20 years.

During Courtney Beck of Ash, NC, one in Zaragoza Spain.

Upon his decided to take the plunge and this time, discharge, Doris mentored young granddaughter, Christiana honorable he attended open a full ModelBrielle A Restoration nurses and assisted in saving the Beck and one sister, Denise Page Randolph Technical Institute Shop. They thrived at their shop in of Albemarle. She is predeceased Community College) lives of so many babies. She also Cornelius, NC until their retirement (Randolph by a sister, Brenda Cook, and a and Fayetteville Technical worked for Pediatrician Dr. William in 1998 when they moved back to brother Larry D. Page.

Institute (Fayetteville Community A. Wilkes in Augusta for several Cabarrus County. John once again College), graduating bothcareer. Doris years prior to her NICU set up shop in his back yard garage programs in the of his classes. retired from thetop mother/baby area at where he attracted a loyal group of Later in life Calvin graduated Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 friends who visited almost daily. from Montgomery Community years of nursing.

While on the farm in Gold Hill, College with Associate Degree Doris wasan a gentle and sweet John also began a lifelong love with in Gunsmithing in 2021, and spirit and loved her Lord.

She never Alis Chalmers tractors after he operated his gunand shop asalways his left met a stranger, she restored his Dad’s tractor and began health would let him. you feeling uplifted after talking amassing his collection of tractors Married to Katrina, theclaim love that with her. She would often as well. ofshe hishad life,“adopted” he leavesfriends behindinto hisher John restored many cars of son, Joshua Calvin Sams (Amelia) immediate family, and honestly, she his own and had the crowning and twomade grandchildren, Cayson never a distinction between achievement of winning the most and Asher, sister Loretta Sams, the two. Positivity radiated from her prestigious award from MARC, The adopted brother Tim Mauldin like sunlight. She was selfless, funny, Henry for a restoration that garnered (Anne) and many cousins and smart, and sentimental. During her top points. He was also presented friends. lifetime she was an active member with the Ken Brady Service Award of First Baptist Church of Durham, the highest award given to members First Baptist Church of Augusta, at the national level.

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church This is what John’s Model A in Augusta, and Palestine United Community had to say upon Methodist Church in Albemarle. learning of his death: She especially loved helping at He was an active member of church with older adults, youth, and Wesley Chapel Methodist Church November 1, 1945 ~ February 26, children. where he loved2023 serving as greeter on She was especially talented Sunday mornings. He also belonged at sewing from a young age and to the United Methodist Men. made gifts for friends, Christmas John isFrances survived by his wife77, of Mary Rabon, ornaments, Halloween Costumes, Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 yearsSunRichfield, NC passed away doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom of the home. He is 2023, also survived day, February 26, at home. dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, byFrances a son John David (Kim) 1, was bornKluttz November outfits for Amy and Laura, and 1945, in North to the late of Oakboro, NC;Carolina two daughters, Christening gowns for each of her Jessie Helms Hendley and the late Sally Simerson of Denver, CO and grandchildren.

Lois BetsyHendley.

Tusa (John) of Lafayette, CO; Doris was preceded in death by Shegrandchildren, was also preceded inKluttz death three Bonnie her father Arthur Raymond Jones, by husband, James Aaron "Big Sammons (Ben) of Richfield, NC A" her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Rabon and sister, Sylvia Hendley John Alexander McKinnon (Sarah) Jones, and her sister- February Maryanne28, February 27, 2023 McGuire. of Asheville, NC and Seth William Jones Brantley.

2023 Survivors include daughter, McKinnon (Amanda) of Germany; Survivors include her two Mitzi (Gerald) RabonCharlotte, Ridenfive great-grandchildren, precious daughters: Amy Cameron Nova Lynn Bartlett, was hour of Richfield, NC, sons, JaMeredith, Grant, Victoria and Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal born February 27, 2023 and mie (Kim) Rabon and Jeffrey Ronan. John is also preceded in Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and on February 28, 2023, Rabon; (Robdeath bygrandchildren, his parents, J.S. Ian Kluttz and passed of Bryant Bartlett and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio bi) Ridenhour, Mercedes Mary Wyatt Clayton Kluttz;Ridena large daughter Whitney Bowers ofofBiscoe, NC Ohio; (husband David) Cincinnati, hour, Madison (Colby) Ridenhour and loving group of brothers and granddaughter ofCameron Robin seven grandchildren: Hughes, Chloe Rabon, Laylla Ra- and sisters, Jack Methias Kluttz, Annie Wendell Bowers and Karen bon, Sydney Turner, Cole File; and David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Lou Kluttz Honeycutt, Jake Nelson great-grandchildren, Juniper Rid- Bartlett.

Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Kluttz, Julius Kluttz, Mary Patricia enhour, Lexie Hughes and Ronan Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Phillips and a grandson, Kevin Ridenhour; and many other beNicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Fowler Kluttz. loved family members.

Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.

Mary "Frances" (Hendley) Rabon

Nova Lynn Bartlett

Stanly County Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

8

STATE & NATION

GOP senators: Computer chip money underwriting ‘woke’ agenda The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican senators are accusing the Biden administration of using $39 billion meant to build computer chip factories to further “woke” ideas such as requiring some recipients to offer child care and encouraging the use of union labor.

The administration has countered that these elements of the funding guidelines announced Tuesday will improve the likelihood of attracting companies to build the semiconductor factories and people to work there — a key challenge that could determine the program’s success. It sees the guidelines as a starting point for working with companies to ensure value for taxpayers.

The tension is an example of the partisan mistrust that can arise in Washington even on an agenda item that lawmakers from both parties say is vital for U.S. national security. Republicans say the administration, in implementing the law, is trying to squeeze in priorities that please the Democratic base. They also argue that the guidelines will increase the cost of constructing semiconductor plants and will poison any sense of ongoing trust.

“What President Biden is doing by jamming woke and green agenda items into legislation we pass is making it harder for him to ever get legislation passed again,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who voted for the law.

But in the grand scheme, administration officials say, the guidelines can help to address two fundamental challenges to the government’s plans to transform the United States into the world leader in producing advanced computer chips: The companies need skilled labor and they need innovations that can reduce production costs.

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks during an event to support legislation that would encourage domestic manufacturing and strengthen supply chains for computer chips in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, March 9, 2022, in Washington, D.C. If the investments are going to succeed, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said, the companies must find and train tens of thousands of workers, from welders to electrical engineers. More importantly, the industry needs scientific breakthroughs to halve the cost of making chips so the U.S. can compete with Asia, Raimondo told The Associated Press in an interview before the guidelines came out.

“Innovation happens when you go to solve big fat problems like cutting the cost of chip production in half,” Raimondo said. “That’s what we have to do.”

The money for the factories

comes from the CHIPS and Science Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last August. It includes $11 billion for research, in addition to the $39 billion for building advanced computer chip factories. Tax incentives bring the total investment to $52 billion.

Chips are integrated circuits that are embedded in a semiconductor, a material — notably silicon — that can manage the flow of electric current. The terms “chip” and “semiconductor” are often used interchangeably. Computer chips are used in everything from autos to toys to advanced weapons, making them as fundamental for the digital era as iron and steel

were in the industrial age.

Administration officials said the factories could have an easier time attracting workers if child care is provided to parents at an “affordable” rate by companies that would receive $150 million or more in government backing. Similarly, companies seeking the money are given a preference if they use labor agreements for construction, a boost for building trade unions. The White House, in a 2022 executive order, said that can ensure projects are completed on time.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conver-

Federal Reserve officials sound warnings about higher rates The Associated Press A RUN OF STRONG economic data and signs that inflation remains stubbornly high could lead the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate higher in the coming months than it has previously forecast, several Fed officials say.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s influential Board of Governors, said last week that if the economy continued to show strength and inflation remained elevated, the central bank would have to lift its key rate above 5.4%.

That would be higher than Fed officials had signaled in December, when they projected it would peak at roughly 5.1% this year.

“Recent data suggest that consumer spending isn’t slowing that much, that the labor market continues to run unsustainably hot and that inflation is not coming down as fast as I had thought,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a business conference in Los Angeles.

His suggestion was in contrast to a speech he gave in January, titled “A Case for Cautious Optimism,” that captured a prevailing sentiment at the time that inflation had peaked and was steadily declining.

Even if data to be released lat-

AP PHOTO, FILE

In this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo, the seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C. er this month were to show hiring and inflation cooling again, Waller said, he would still favor raising the Fed’s rate to a range between 5% to 5.5%, up from about 4.6% now. And if the economic figures were to “continue to come in too hot,” he said, the Fed’s key rate “will have to be raised this year

even more to ensure that we do not lose the momentum that was in place” before the robust January economic reports.

Over the past year, the Fed has raised short-term rates at the fastest pace in four decades to try to curb the worst inflation since the early 1980s. Those hikes have led

to higher rates across the economy: Mortgage rates have nearly doubled, to 6.7%, and auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans have become more expensive.

The Fed’s goal is to cool the economy by raising the cost of borrowing and slowing business and consumer spending. More modest growth would likely help slow inflation to the Fed’s 2% target. Fed officials next meet March 21-22, when they are expected to raise their key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.9%.

In recent weeks, several reports suggested that the economy was stronger and inflation more persistent than previous data had indicated. The economy gained an enormous total of more than half a million jobs in January, and the unemployment rate reached a 53year low of 3.4%.

Inflation data was also revised higher and came in hotter than expected in January. Waller noted that for the final three months of last year, core inflation — which excludes the volatile food and energy categories — was revised up from an annual rate of 3.1% to 4.3%. It then rose to 4.6% in January.

“Although inflation has been coming down since the middle of

sations, said no prospective applicant has complained about the child care provision. The official added that TSMC and Samsung — two possible applicants — already provide child care at their facilities in Taiwan and South Korea, respectively.

Researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank focused on national security, described the child care provisions as necessary for the “fabs,” the chip industry’s term for factories.

“It is not, as some have wrongly argued, an issue of social policy,” wrote Sujai Shivakumar and Charles Wessner, both at CSIS. There are roughly 360,000 jobs in semiconductor production, according to the Labor Department.

Announced projects tied to the possibility of government support could add 200,000 more jobs, including 36,000 directly tied to computer chips, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

That same report noted that the U.S. leads in terms of designing chips and the equipment to manufacture them. But more than 70% of the chips produced globally come from China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea — an economic and military weakness for the U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the mandates for accessing government support would raise the cost of completing the factories planned by Intel, Micron and Wolfspeed, which plans to make silicon wafers in his state.

“What we’re beginning to do is discount the value of the investment that we’re making,” Tillis said. “I think that what we’re doing is social engineering.”

Raimondo, when asked if the law could get tripped up by politics, said: “You always worry.

Washington’s unpredictable. And politics is crazy.”

last year,” Waller said, “the recent data indicate that we haven’t made as much progress as we thought.”

Other Fed officials have also expressed unease about the reports showing higher inflation and hotter growth. Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, recently said, “I lean towards continuing to raise further.”

“These are concerning data points, suggesting that we’re not making progress as quickly as we would like,” Kashkari said.

And last Thursday, Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he supports pushing rates to about 5.1% in the coming months, the same as projected in December. He added that the Fed’s rate hikes may not start to bite until this summer, so the Fed needs to be cautious about tightening credit too far and causing a recession.

Yet Bostic also added, “There is a case to be made that we need to go higher.”

“Jobs have come in stronger than we expected,” Bostic said.

“Inflation is remaining stubborn at elevated levels. Consumer spending is strong. Labor markets remain quite tight.”

Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Bloomberg News that the Fed “needs to do a little more” to raise rates and to keep them elevated for an extended period.

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VOLUME 8 ISSUE 2 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 | RANDOLPHRECORD.COM

THE RANDOLPH COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Latest county commissioners’ meeting, page 8

Randolph record

AP PHOTO

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger, left, speaks alongside House Speaker Tim Moore at a news conference about a Medicaid expansion agreement, Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

COUNTY NEWS

Republican legislators reach Medicaid expansion deal

Randolph Health lifts flu season visitor restrictions

The Associated Press

On Tuesday, Randolph Health, along with Atrium Health, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Novant Health, Cone Health, and CaroMont Health, lifted their visitor restrictions that were put in place due to the seasonal flu. According to a press release from Randolph Health, each of these hospitals lifted their restrictions on the same date and time to prevent confusion among the public and to avoid a patchwork of varying restrictions.

Visitors, patients, and staff will still be required to wear masks in medical facilities in accordance with CDC and regulatory guidance.

Despite the decline in flu cases, healthcare providers have asked individuals of all ages who are experiencing flu-like symptoms to help control the spread of the illness by not visiting patients in the hospital.

These symptoms include fever, headaches/body aches, cough, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, chills, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. The emergency department should only be used for people who are very sick, such as those experiencing difficulty breathing, chest pains, confusion, severe vomiting, or signs of dehydration.

RALEIGH — North Carolina legislative leaders announced last Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion cover-

20177 52016 $1.00

8

stemmed around other initiatives Senate Republicans insisted were needed to increase the number of medical providers to cover the additional enrollees.

Under the new agreement, senators obtained the loosening or elimination of “certificate of need” laws that require health regulators to sign off on plans to offer hospital beds for mental health and substance abuse patients, build ambulatory surgery centers or purchase MRI machines. But their demand that advanced-practice nurses be able to treat patients without a doctor’s supervision was left out.

“There are still some things that need to be done, but this is

See MEDICAID, page 2

Archdale lands packaging company Location should bring more than 100 new jobs in Randolph County

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Eastern Randolph hopes to add state-championship hardware to the West Region prize claimed Saturday.

Wildcats aim for state basketball title

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

5

age to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate Leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

Expansion gained momentum last year when the GOP-controlled state House and Senate approved, with strong bipartisan support, competing legislation addressing it, but they failed to reach a deal. The key differences

our agreement and I’m very comfortable with it,” Berger said.

The negotiated measure, built in part on an expansion measure approved overwhelmingly by the House two weeks ago, was still being drawn up and will need affirmative votes in both chambers.

The federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid recipients under expansion. Potentially 600,000 people in North Carolina could receive the benefit — those who make too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid but not enough to receive heavily subsidized health insurance that President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 law provides.

Under the agreement, the state’s 10% share would be paid through assessments paid by hospitals, which in turn benefit from getting reimbursed as they cover patients with Medicaid.

Officials say the state also would get an extra $1.8 billion over two

RAMSEUR — Eastern Randolph’s bid for its first state championship in boys’ basketball comes in the Class 1-A final at noon Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum on the North Carolina State campus in Raleigh.

The Wildcats (29-2) meet East Region champion Wilson Prep (267) in the title game.

Eastern Randolph is coming off two comeback victories, winning Feb. 28 at South Stokes in the regional semifinal and then Saturday afternoon’s West Region final with

a 21-point second-half rally for a 62-59 decision against Bishop McGuinness at Morganton Freedom.

Wilson Prep, a 63-57 winner against Bertie in the East Region final, will meet Eastern Randolph for the first time.

Wilson Prep will be going for its second state title in three years. The Tigers won the Class 1-A championship in 2021 by defeating Lincoln Charter 65-58 in a game at Providence Grove to conclude the pandemic-altered season.

That was the only previous apSee WILDCATS, page 2

ARCHDALE — Archdale has another manufacturing operation coming that should boost jobs in the area.

Axium Packaging, a manufacturer of packaging and containers, will create 118 jobs in Randolph County across a three-year period, according to last week’s announcement from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office. The company will invest $32 million to build a manufacturing facility in Archdale.

“We’re really happy to see it,” Archdale mayor Lewis Dorsett said. “We’ve been working on getting that site ready for more than a year.”

Headquartered in New Albany, Ohio, Axium is a manufacturer of packaging for personal care, household chemical, over-thecounter pharmaceuticals, and food markets.

“Axium’s choice to come to Randolph County and join North Carolina’s manufacturing community underscores our reputation as the best state to do business,” Cooper said in a statement.

“We offer many advantages from collaborative workforce training to a well-maintained infrastructure that will help manufacturers thrive.”

Since 2011, the company has grown to 3,000 employees across 18 facilities. The 150,000-squarefoot facility in Archdale will be Axium’s first North Carolina site and 19th plant in North America.

This was a deal that was See ARCHDALE, page 2

Randolph Record for Wednesday, July 7, 2021

2

WEDNESDAY

2WEDNESDAY 7.21.21

7.7.21 #3

WEDNESDAY

#1

3.8.23

WEEKLY FORECAST Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023 WEEKLY FORECAST

WEDNESDAY

Randolph Record WEDNESDAY

JULY JUNE 30 21

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DEATH NOTICES CRIME LOG

♦ Christopher Enos Burris, ♦40, Brownie, Benjamin Thomas of Oakboro,X DEATH NOTICES

(M, 42), Arrested on charge of Misdemeanor Larceny, Assault on a Female, on89, of ♦ Georgia Bernice Siler, 2/22, at 486 Browns SilerCrossroads City, diedRd. July 15, 2021,

THURSDAY

whether you find one egg or 100, FRIDAY THURSDAY everyone will22 receive JULY a goody 2 JULY 1JULY

Guide

M

86° 84° HI HI 86° 81°HI 88° HI The Randolph Guide is a quick look at 62°LO LO 65° LO 69° what’s 62° going LOon in Randolph69° County.

43% PRECIP 32% 17% PRECIPPRECIP 24% 24% PRECIP

HI HI LO LO PREC PREC

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

JULY 23 JULY 3

LOOKING FOR a fami- bag at the end of the event. The times are set accordly-friendly event this Easter?

If egg HI78° HI hunt 88° HI HI89° HI HI 91° 88° HI 91° so, come out to the annual Eas- ing to age: Ages 1 to 4 years old LO 66° LO68° LO 70° LO 70° LO LO LO 67° 10 am, 5 to 7-year-olds at 11:15 ter Eggstravaganza on 67° Saturday, at am, and 8-10 year-olds at noon.

April 1, presented by Asheboro PRECIP 57% PRECIP PRECIP 15% PRECIP 20% PRECIP15% 13% PRECIPPRECIP 5% Cultural & Recreation Services! Please note that parents are This event is free and will take asked to remain outside of the place from 10 am until 12 pm egg hunting area while children at Bicentennial Park in down- are collecting their eggs. Finally, town Asheboro. This event will the Easter Bunny is also expecttake place rain or shine, so be ed to make a special appearance.

RANDOLPH For further information,COLLEGE please prepared to bring your umbrel-COMMUNITY las if need be. Children ages 1 contact Kelli King at (336) through 10 are eligible to partic- 626-1240 (ext. 5) or email her ipate in the easter egg hunt, and at kking@ci.asheboro.nc.us.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

SUNDAY

JULY 24 JULY 4

T

JJ

JULY 25 5 JULY

March 9

Asheboro City Council Meeting 7pm The Asheboro City Council Meeting will take place in the City Hall Council Chamber, which is located at 146 N. Church Street.

RCC pushes more MEETfor THE STAFFstudents as num FILE PHOTO

March 13

Teen BYOBook Club

PJ Ward-Brown sion, there’s enrollment of 915. before those classes start.

Williams said there’s an ef- That’s off slightly from the usual Mattfort to bolster enrollment. He cit- number that ranges up to 1,000, “ ed the RCC Commitment Grant, Williams said.

ASHEBORO — Enrollment Lauren b Traditional enrollment numat Randolph Community Col- a program designed as a funding March 15 flattened, but it’s the R lege isn’t likely to bounce back to mechanism to fill the gap that’s bers have Frank pre-pandemic levels right away not covered by federal or state aid number of high school students a Coryto students. in programs designed for dual endespite a school official pointing “There has never been a bet- rollment that has dropped, out unprecedented financial in“We’re just not seeing the level R ter opportunity to attend RCC centives for potential students.

Who is “Editor?”

Chad Williams, vice president and not have to worry about how of engagement that we had seen,” S

DEATH NOTICES

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record ♦ Wayne Craig Hartley, Sr. died Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

♦ Ruth Waltz Morrow, age 95 of Snow Camp, died at Alamance Regional Hospital on March 1., 2023.

4pm – 5pm

♦ Anthony George Allred, age 60 of Asheboro, died Thursday, March 2, 2023 at his home.

♦ Bill “Billy” Craddock Dalton, Jr., age 57 of Asheboro, died Monday February 27, 2023 at Randolph Hospital.

♦ Anthony Dillon Robert Muckenfuss, age 26 of Franklinville, died Friday, February 24, 2023 at his home.

♦ Jean Scheutzow, age 101 of Asheboro, died Friday, February 24, 2023 at Woodland Hills in Asheboro.

Have you been wanting to join a book club? Join the Bring Your Own Book Club at the Asheboro Public Library TeenZone!

World Tavern Poker at Carolina Tap House 7pm

Join America’s #1 Bar Poker League ♦ Ruth Ann Forster, age 90 of right in Asheboro at the Carolina ♦ Mark Howard Scheutzow, ♦ V. Kay Gatz Cahoon, age Randleman, died Saturday, Tap House! Entry is 100% free to the 65 ofpresident Asheboro, died 80 offor Asheboro, February public said. and games take place every to atpay for it,”age RCC Dr. Williams studentdied services at RCC, said25,a 2023 Universal Heath Care in Shackleford Friday, February 24, “We 2023 at Tuesday, February 28, school students Wednesday RCC held night! a one-week break Jr. said. decline in high in Robert Ramseur. his home.

2023, at Randolph Health in dual enrollment has been the big- meet students exactly where they earlier this month amid the sumAsheboro.

March 27 which began May are goJoasGrenon, far as age they64 mer semester, gest reason for a dip. ♦ Billy Nance Jr, age 66and of help♦them Tammy Sophia, died Saturday of Asheboro, died Thursday, ♦ Eileen Margaret 24 and concludes JulyMeeting 26. Late “Overall, we’re still seeing a de- can possibly go.”

Liberty Town Council February 25, his February 2023 at Frank Lamb, 75 of registration for the fall semester Beginning with the23,fall semescline inage enrollment comparing to 2023 at 5:30pm Hospice.

Franklinville, died Sunday, Aug. 10, with classfull-time students runs through previous years prior tohome. the pan- ter, qualifyingRandolph The Liberty Town Council will take February 26, 2023 at The es beginning Aug. 16.which is will be eligible for up to $1,000 demic,” Williams said.

“I don’t ♦ Raymond Glenn Saxton, place at the Town Hall, Randolph Hospice House in located at 239 S.with Fayetteville Street. age 65 of Mt Gilead, died Still dealing adjustments per semester. know if we’ll get to numbers we’ve Asheboro.

February 24, 2023 at That makes attending RCC made because of the coronavirus seen in previous fall semesters. …

Hospice. not29 all 2021 fall semesthe most enticing from a finan- pandemic, We’re reaching out to Randolph every stuMarch

will be in Day person. Some dent we can in every way we can.” cial standpoint in the 16 years ter classes Vietnam Veterans Breakfast a hybrid model with a A fall semester at the two-year Williams has been at the school, will use face-to-faces sessions school in Asheboro would often he said. He previously worked in mixture 9am –of 12pm and virtual sessions.

Many classhave 2,600 to 3,000 students en- RCC’s financial aid office.

The Randolph County Veteran WILDCATS from page 1 the 2007 NCAA Division II na- 3-A boys).

Services Office is showing their options “There’s never a better time to es provide students with rolled. At the beginning of this At the Smith Center in Chaptional championship game. appreciation for the county’s to attend and participate, go back to college,” heslate said. week, thatfinal number at about el Hill, the looks like this:on how Thomas heads back to N.C. pearance in a state for Wil-stood Vietnam Veterans and their spouses Panther Creek/Lake NormanWilliams State’s campus, he began son Prep.

Anthony said. the current summer ses1,900 withAtkinson aboutJr.a month to go where For by hosting a breakfast, a raffle, and remains as the team’s coach, while his collegiate playing career.

WEEKLY LOG The Eastern Randolph/Wilson Johnny Thomas is in hisCRIME first seaPrep matchup is the first of four son with Eastern Randolph.

Atkinson and Denishia Thomas have ♦ Williams, Lorrengames at Reynolds Coliseum, folsomething in common. They’re lowed by the Rocky Mount/West (B /F/30) Arrest on chrg of Rowan (Class 3-A girls), Chaboth past members of the Harlem WEEKLY CRIME 1) Pwimsd Marijuana (F), tham 2) LOG Charter/Bishop McGuinGlobetrotters.

Maintain Cs (Class 1-A girls), and NorthAtkinson madeVeh/dwell/place the winning ness shot in Barton victory (f) (F),College’s 3) Possess X in wood/Central Cabarrus (Class

♦ Boggs, Matthew Harrison (M, 39), Arrest on charge of Misdemeanor Larceny, at 2587 Wayne White Rd, Pleasant Garden, on 07/14/2021.

at her home.

♦ Buchanan, Madison Ivy (F, 28), Arrested charge of ♦ Harold Eugeneon “Gene” Simple Assault, on 2/22, at Anderson, 82, died 4357 Huntington Dr.at his

Randolph

Asheboro Easter Eggstravaganza set for April 1

(Class 4-A girls) at noon, followed

by Farmville Central/Reidsville (Class 2-A boys), Seaforth/Salisbury (Class 2-A girls) and Richmond Senior/Myers Park (Class 4-A boys).

For more on Eastern Randolph’s playoff run, see Page 5.

Arrest on charge of Resisting Public Officer, 321 Kings Ridge Rd, Randleman, on 07/14/2021.

gifts at their office! The Veteran Services Office is located at 158 Worth Street in Asheboro.

WEEKLY FORECAST SPONSORED BY

176 E. Salisbury St, Asheboro, on 07/13/2021.

♦ Millikan, Bobby Wayne (M, 33), that they needed to have a site Arrest on charge of Assault on a “I appreciate the ♦ collaboration Hazelwood,isElizabeth (F, 44), ready,”of Dorsett said. “We’ve been Female, at 8300 Curtis Power Rd, between state and local partners Arrest on chage Misdemeanor ♦ Bolton McKee, James Henry home on Monday, July 12, termed “Project Superman” in the to bring this project to North Car- working on that, and we have ♦ Compton, Dylan Turner (M, Hoover Hill Rd/Slick (M,of47), Arrest on charge ofsaid Paul Judge,Larceny, ready.

That’s the ad- Bennett, NC, on 07/14/2021. olina,” presidentat something recent City Archdale meeting 2021 in a tragic house fire.

30), Arrested on charge vantage.” of Axium Packaging.

“We’re grateminutes. City manager Zeb HoldRodk Mtn, on 07/14/2021.

Possession of Stolen Goods, at CALL OR TEXT of Assault on a Female, on The governor’s office said the♦ Passmore, en was instrumental in working ful for their support throughout Casey Lynn, Arrest on 336-629-7588 6469 Clyde King Rd, Seagrove, on ♦ Addie Mae Hunt McLeod,Dr. 2/22, at 4357 Huntington on the project, Dorsett and Arch- the expedited site selection pro- annual wage for the new positions charge of possession of marijuana ♦ Lynch, Detrick Lamont (M, 40), 07/15/2021. dale-Trinity Chamber of Com- cess, which helped us identify the would be $7,938, so that’s higher age 79, died July 11, 2021, at ♦ McDonald, Mickey Clevon Arrest on charge of Misdemeanor merce president Ashlee Willett right location for Axium’s expan- than Randolph County’s overall up to 1/2 oz., at Randolph Autumn Care in Biscoe.

(M, 46), Arrested on charge wage of about $43,000. sion.

We are excited toPossession begin op- average said. ♦ Pugh, Robert Daniel (M, WEDNESDAY MAR 8 Courthouse, on 7/13/2021. of Schedule VI CS, 39), of Possess Marijuana up to A performance-based grant of Dorsett said collaboration with erating in 2024.”

Possessiong of Stolen Motor charge of Simple ♦ Jonathan Edward Ferree, 50, RandolphArrest 1/2 oz, Possess Marijuana from the One North It’s the second significant posi- $365,000 Countyon commissioners HI 61 Paraphernalia, on 2/22, at Carolina Fund was part of the lure♦ Roark, Justin Steven (M, 30), tive regarding jobs in Archdale in and the Randolph County EcoVehicle, at I-85 Exit 111, on Assault (M), at 139 Drum St, of Black Mountain, formerly of 38 4449 Fox St. a matter of months. Late in 2022, for Axium. nomic Development Corporation, Arrest on charge LOW of Possession 07/13/2021.

Asheboro, on 07/14/2021.

Asheboro, died July 11, 2021. with business New N.C. Representative Brian of Meth, Possession recruitment direc- Sumitomo Forestry America’s PRECIP with 0% intent ♦ Primm, Tristan Aaron (M, tor Crystal Gettys leading the ef- announcement of establishing a Biggs said this is continued moto manufacture, sell or distribute ♦ McQueen, Jr and (M,investment 35), 26), Arrested on charge ♦ Richardson, Erwin Quint Jr (M, ♦ Mildred Mae Cozart Poole, mentumAllen for jobs manufacturing facility came with James fort, proved critical.

THURSDAY MAR 9of of Possess Meth, Possess in Randolph County. the expectation of 129 new jobs.

“This has been a huge work in heroin, Simple possession Arrest on charge of Possession 31), Arrest on charges of Felony ageHeroin, 85, ofon Asheboro, died July 2/22, at 1114 S “We’re excited to welcome AxDorsett said the key to pulling progress for Archdale,” said WilCS, Maintaining of Marijuana up 1/2 oz., said N.C. Sen- Schedule II, III, IVHI Larceny and Possession of Stolen See OBITS, 9, 2021.

Main St. page 7 totoArchdale,” the arrangement with ium lett, who took her position in early together 61 of Drug of drug Goods, atgroundwork 5471 Needhams Davidparaphernalia, W. Craven, Jr. “Plas- Place, Possession AxiumTrail, Packaging wasPossession having the ator January and said the LOW 43 ♦ Appadu, Ravindra Nicholas tics represents the second-largest 35-acre site ready for a company had been Seagrove, set well beforeon that.

Paraphernalia, at 1029 High Failure to appeal on felony, failure 07/14/2021.

PRECIP 3%Point (M, 27), Arrested on charge The location is a piece of desig- to build there. That process began manufacturing sector for RanRd, on 7/13/2021. to appear on misdemeanor, at of Possess Marijauana nated industrial land across from months ago, even without know- dolph County, which provides a Seibert, 32),would be a company booming cluster of plastic producParaphernalia, Misdemeanor there Thomas♦Built Buses.Sarah DorsettElizabeth said ing (F, FRIDAY MAR 10 See OBITS, page 7 Possess Schedule VI CS, on 2/23, at Trinity Blvd @ Elmwood St.

♦ Hall, Kristyanna K (F, 28), Arrested on charge of Possess Marijuana Paraphernalia, Possess Marijuana up to 1/2 oz, on 2/23, at Tom Hill Rd @ US 311.

♦

ARCHDALE from page 1

there had been abandoned residential buildings there in the past.

willing to occupy the location.

“The reason it moved so quick

ers and manufacturing excellence for the state.”

♦

♦

HI 53 LOW 40 PRECIP 56%

WWE leaves virtual reality behind in 1st tour sin MEDICAID from page 1

years through a financial sweetener in a COVID-19 federal relief package from Congress for states ♦ Harris, Joshua Milton (M, that hadn’t accepted expansion.

By Dan And the package will include 35), Gelston Arrested on charge of The Associated Press provisions that would result in Fail Register Sex Offender, higher reimbursements for hoson 2/23, at 300 Ardale Dr. when they treat PHILADELPHIA — Triple pital H systems ♦ McIntosh, John Levi (M, Medicaid patients — resulting walked hisonarms crossed like 33),with Arrested charge of in at least $3.2 billion in reimbursements during the next fisPossess Drug Paraphernalia, an X — his signature Degeneracal year for traditional Medicaid Possess Meth, on 2/23, at tion X symbol — with his 7-foot patients alone. That should help 1336 Koonce Dr. tag-team partner, Joel Embiid, rural to areas, where hospitals have ♦ Price, Kenyotta Denise (F, closed or are in danger of closing. ring a ceremonial bell last month 38), Arrested on charge of Democratic North Carolina before a Philadelphia 76ers playGov. Roy Cooper, who has sought Simple Assault on 2/23, at off game. expansion since taking office in Randolph Co Jail.

2017, would be asked to sign any His theme music blared ♦ St Clair, James Lawson (M, final measure into law. He tweetthrough the arena, and near55), Arrested on charge ed that the agreement “is a monly 19,000 fans hanging of Possess Stolen Motor from the umental step that will save lives” but wants it effective immediVehicle, on 2/23, at 4358 rafters roared when the wrestler ately to tap into more federal Finchhis Farmbad-guy Rd. hoisted weapon-offunds, making “sure we leverage choice sledgehammer and struck ♦ Boggs, Shania Lou (F, 32), the money that will save our ruArrested on charge of the bell. ral hospitals and invest in menMisdemeanor Child Abuse, tal health.”

Sure, the setting wasn’t WresEven if the law is approved this on 2/25, at 3361 Fulton Rd.

tleMania — though Triple H lost a match in the same building when the event was held there in 1999 — but for the superstar-turned-ex-

spring, Moore and Berger said it wouldn’t be effective until a separate state budget is enacted, likely by the early summer.

Cooper wasn’t involved in recent negotiations that lasted about four weeks and led to an agreement finalized late Wednesday, the legislators said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association, representing hospitals and health systems, commended legislators for Thursday’s agreement. The group backs certificate of need laws but offered some ways to scale them back in negotiations last year.

“Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, our economy and our entire health care system,” said Abby Emanuelson, executive director of Care4Carolina, a coalition of over 165 groups that has worked for expansion since 2014.

For years, Republicans in charge of the General Assembly since 2011 had been suspicious of expansion, even passing a 2013 law to block the executive branch

from trying to accept expansion on its own.

But GOP lawmakers slowly came around as the Affordable Care Act and the 90% federal share didn’t get repealed by Congress, diminishing worries that state government would have to foot ever more of the costs. And local Republican county leaders endorsed expansion.

A turning point came last spring when Berger explained his switch to supporting it, adding at the time: “If there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”

North Carolina currently has 2.9 million Medicaid recipients.

The state Department of Health and Human Services has said up to 300,000 current beneficiaries could lose full coverage as states soon must conduct annual eligibility verifications again following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many being removed would requalify through Medicaid expansion, DHHS said.

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

OPINION

3

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | NEWT GINGRICH

The biggest scandal in American history

Fauci knew all this.

WE ARE LIVING THROUGH the largest, deadliest scandal in American history, but the elite media refuses to connect the dots and analyze it.

COVID-19, a disease no one disputes came from Wuhan, China, has killed more than 1.1 million Americans and more than 38 million people worldwide.

It has left millions of others with chronic health problems.

Because of the teachers’ unions and totally misguided, destructive public health policies, children who were under virtually no risk from COVID-19 have lost at least a year of education.

Many children are suffering from depression and other mental health challenges from the forced isolation and lack of social contact.

Now, it is becoming more clear that much of this pain was avoidable — and the result of powerful government employees protecting themselves. As Jarrett Stepman in The Daily Signal wrote: “In 2020, if you thought it was possible COVID-19 came from a lab in China you were labeled a conspiracy theorist, a peddler of misinformation, ‘bonkers,’ and a racist.

“Facebook and other social media removed the lab leak claim from their apps or slapped ‘misinformation’ labels on it. Facebook did so in lockstep with the government.

“So according to the standard set in 2020, the Department of Energy just came out as a racist purveyor of misinformation this week.

“The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that, according to a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and Congress, the Department of Energy concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic likely came from a lab leak. ‘”The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research,’ the Wall Street Journal report said.”

President Donald Trump called it “the Chinese Virus” and was intensely attacked. Somehow word “Chinese” was deemed racist. No one disputes that the virus originated in China. But calling it COVID-19 rather than the Chinese virus was more polite. (After all, it’s important to indicate an appropriate sensitivity to the totalitarian dictatorship that is trying to defeat the United States and become the world’s leading power).

We now know this censorship and speech silencing was part of a systematic effort of senior scientists to mislead the American people. When COVID-19 first became a threat in early 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci already knew the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had funded research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology via EcoHealth Alliance. He knew the WIV was a subgrantee of EcoHealth Alliance — and that EcoHealth Alliance was not in compliance with its grant reporting. Specifically, the organization was out of compliance for a project that NIAID knew could potentially make novel bat-borne coronaviruses much more dangerous.

Fauci knew all this.

According to Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, on Feb. 1, 2020, “Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins, and at least eleven other scientists convened a conference call to discuss COVID-19. On the conference call, Drs. Fauci and Collins were first warned that COVID-19 may have leaked from the WIV and may have been intentionally genetically manipulated.”

The scientists decided to remain silent to avoid controversy (which would have ultimately fallen back on themselves).

So, the same experts who are paid by the American people and given tens of billions of dollars to invest in research decided that they would deliberately mislead the American people.

This perfectly captures the arrogance of the aristo-bureaucrats, who believe they are intellectually and morally superior to the people to whom they are supposed to be accountable.

They believe they have the right and duty to censor what we think and say — and to feed us falsehoods in the name of some higher duty.

This scandal of many of our best professional researchers lying to the American people is compounded by the absolute failure of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why there has not been a scathing and thorough investigation — and set of hearings on the absolute inability of the bureaucrats in Atlanta to do their jobs — and the general failure of the public health system across the country is a mystery to me. This lack of introspection or investigation should itself be a scandal.

Driven by the economic impact of the Chinese virus, the American government spent trillions of dollars propping up the economy, sparking inflation, massively increasing the national debt, and permitting hundreds of billions in theft and corruption.

Finally, there has been no serious effort to hold the Chinese Communist dictatorship accountable for the damage it has done around the world. There is ample precedent for holding governments responsible for the damage they have done to others (the Lockerbie bombing, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, 9/11, and other cases).

The Chinese Communists have continuously focused on stopping us from understanding the origins of the pandemic. As Dave Boyer reported in the Washington Times, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray confirmed his agency believes the COVID-19 pandemic likely started from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. He told Fox News on Tuesday that “the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan… Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.

As Boyer reported, “Mr. Wray also slammed Beijing for stonewalling international efforts to find out what happened. ‘I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart, and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,’ he said.”

Clearly there ought to be a mechanism for making the Chinese Communist dictatorship pay COVID-19 victims for the disaster it caused. One step might be a COVID-19 tariff on all Chinese imports (the proceeds of which would go into a COVID-19 Compensation Fund that every American family affected by the pandemic could apply to).

Other countries could be urged to establish similar tariffs. Then Xi Jinping and his dictatorship would learn that lying, covering up, and hiding the truth has enormous costs for those guilty of killing millions and forcing the spending of trillions.

This scandal is so large, and covers so many areas, it will be a major factor in politics and government for the next decade. It will go down in history as a turning point in our lives and the life of our country.

We just need to decide what direction we turn: toward clarity and accountability, or toward lies and chaos.

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The greatest cover-up in human history

A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation.

FIRST, IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY a conspiracy theory.

Then, it was banned.

Finally, it was true.

The so-called “lab leak” theory of the origins of COVID-19 — the theory that COVID-19 originated in at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was unintentionally loosed — was always the most probable explanation for the outbreak of the deadly virus. After all, as Jon Stewart correctly joked in 2021, “’Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’ The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

But for well over a year, it was considered verboten to mention the lab leak theory. When Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posited the possibility of a lab leak in February 2020, he was roundly mocked by the media. The New York Times headlined, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Scientific American headlined — in March 2022! — “The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” Facebook actively quashed attempts to disseminate the theory; Dr. Anthony Fauci went on national television and downplayed the theory.

Why? Two reasons are obvious. The first: powerful institutions had a stake in downplaying the Chinese origins of the virus in order to shift blame to the rest of the world. Certainly, that was China’s game: In all likelihood, COVID-19 was spreading in China as early as October 2019, and the government covered it up for months. But that was also the game of the World Health Organization.

Members of the American government like Fauci also had a stake in smothering questions about American funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

Then there’s the second reason: all the wrong people were repeating the lab leak theory. As one of MSNBC’s resident hacks, Mehdi Hasan, admitted on Twitter, “The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab

leak’ theory is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists.” As Nate Silver correctly noted, “The Bad People thought the lab leak might be true, therefore as journalists we couldn’t be expected to actually evaluate the evidence for it.”

Herein lies a lesson: A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation. Claims are not to be evaluated on their own merits; instead, we can simply determine whether a claim ought to be supported based on those who posit it. This helps to explain why political crossover has become nearly impossible: We’re not judging the claims of our opponents; we’re judging each other. And this means that we can discard any argument simply by dint of the fact that we don’t like the person offering it.

Among members of the general population, this is a problem, but not a fundamental one. But among those who pose as “experts” — the people who are supposed to serve as guides for people who outsource their political information, from media to scientific institutions — it’s a fatal error. After all, experts are supposed to be impartial adjudicators of the evidence. That’s their entire job. We can evaluate on our own who we don’t like — but we often need help to determine whether an argument has merit or not. When experts become “just like us,” they undermine their raison d’etre.

And that’s precisely what happened with COVID-19. Whether it was ignoring the actual evidence regarding masks and mask mandates, the evidence regarding post-vaccination transmissibility or the evidence regarding the lab leak theory, experts decided that the (SET ITAL) wrong people (END ITAL) had to be ignored. But they were wrong. And now they have no credibility left.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

4

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Duke men return to AP Top 25 Indianapolis Duke returned to The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the first time since falling out in mid-January after opening the year at No. 7. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils (23-8) to six straight wins to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s win at North Carolina for a rivalry sweep that wounded UNC’s iffy NCAA Tournament hopes. Duke was last ranked in the Jan. 9 poll. Houston remained No. 1, followed by UCLA, Kansas, Alabama and Purdue.

NFL

Seahawks, QB Smith agree on 3-year deal Renton, Wash.

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year contract that keeps the AP comeback player of the year in the Pacific Northwest. NFL Network and The Score reported the deal could be worth up to $105 million. Smith led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and a playoff berth as the last wild card in the NFC. He threw for a career-high 4,282 yards, setting a franchise record, with 30 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions, completed 399 passes and led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Wisconsin fires Granato as men’s hockey coach Madison, Wis. Wisconsin fired Tony Granato as men’s hockey coach on Monday after a second straight losing season. Granato posted a 105129-16 overall mark and 6587-2 Big Ten record during his seven seasons. Wisconsin ended a 13-23 season Saturday, losing to Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 before spending 13 seasons as an NHL player and 13 more as either an NHL head or assistant coach. He still ranks third in school history in career goals and fourth in points.

But he couldn’t make Wisconsin a consistent winner after returning to his alma mater as head coach.

Virginia Tech beats Louisville for 1st ACC women’s title The Hokies have won 11 straight entering the NCAA Tournament The Associated Press GREENSBORO — Kenny Brooks walked over to an end-zone section of Virginia Tech fans and gave a fist-pumping release as his players climbed steps to cut down a piece of the net.

A few minutes later, Brooks was up there himself, snipping down the final strand hanging from the rim before turning to Hokies fans and leading a “Let’s go Hokies!” chant.

The moment had finally arrived for Brooks and his eighth-ranked Hokies, who continued their late-season tear by beating Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Brooks said on the court as his players celebrated around him.

It came with another strong scoring effort from Georgia Amoore, who scored 25 points and earned tournament MVP honors for the third-seeded Hokies (27-4).

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech forward Taylor Soule celebrates before cutting a piece of the net after the Hokies defeated Louisville to win the ACC Women’s Tournament on Sunday in Greensboro.

There was two-time league player of the year Elizabeth Kitley adding another 20 points in her role as the inside constant. And there was Taylor Soule, emerging from a scoreless first half to provide the third-quarter lift that helped keep the Hokies on course for their 11th straight win.

Virginia Tech’s first trip to the ACC title game into a strong finish-

ing act, pushing to a double-digit lead before halftime and keeping the Cardinals at arm’s distance the rest of the way. And that capped a three-game run in Greensboro in which the Hokies trailed for a total of 3 minutes, 15 seconds — all in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“I think all of us knew we were going to win,” Kitley said. “From the start of the tournament, we’ve

been talking about it. Obviously we’ve been taking it day by day, game by game. But definitely throughout the game we all knew that we had it and we didn’t lose our cool, even when they were hitting big shots.”

Before Sunday, the Hokies had been as far as the ACC semifinals only once since joining the league for the 2004-05 season — and that came last year. Now they’re celebrating a milestone victory under Brooks, who has built this program to the top of the league in Year 7.

When the horn finally sounded, Kitley and Kayana Traylor skipped to midcourt to meet the rushing mob of players and coaches from the Hokies sideline headed for a midcourt celebration as the streamers and confetti dropped from the Greensboro Coliseum rafters.Louisville made its closest push in the frantic final seconds to within 73-67 on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. But Kitley hit two critical free throws with 15.1 seconds to go that pushed the lead back to eight for what turned out to be the final margin.

This was the Cardinals’ fourth finals appearance, the first being a title win in 2018 followed by losses to Notre Dame in 2019 and North Carolina State on a late basket in 2021. Their first two wins came against Wake Forest and No. 10 Notre Dame, which had taken regular-season meetings against them.

Byron wins at Las Vegas as Hendrick dominates The team finished 1-2-3 despite being minus Chase Elliott The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — One way or another, a Hendrick Motorsports driver figured to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson nearly won the Pennzoil 400 in regulation, but a late caution put teammate William Byron in position to capture the checkered flag in overtime.

Byron took the lead on the penultimate lap of OT to put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron, Larson and Alex Bowman pushing their Chevrolets across the finish line in that order.

Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup sea-

sons.

“I’ve led a lot of laps in a couple of races, but to be this good with this team is definitely a good sign,” Byron said. “It’s a different feeling for me having a team around me that can execute that well. That’s just a team effort.”

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps,” Larson said. “I don’t remember many of those working out in my favor.”

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota choosing to stay out. Byron, in the No. 24 Chevy, came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex after the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages for the first time in

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps.”

Kyle Larson his career. Truex in 2017 and Kevin Harvick in 2018 also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win.

The fourth Hendrick driver and 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, will begin physical therapy Monday, his team owner Rick Hendrick told Fox Sports.

Elliott had surgery Friday to repair a fractured tibia, and Hendrick said Elliott has returned to his home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident Friday. He and his family own a home in Vail, Colorado.

Elliott joked on Twitter “that

the formal request I submitted for a slight edit to the March section of my script was indeed… declined.”

“In all seriousness, the support I’ve received over the last couple of days is far greater than I deserve,” he posted in a follow-up tweet. “I want to thank everyone who has lended it over in any form!”

Josh Berry took Elliott’s seat in the No. 9 Chevy and finished 29th. Hendrick general manager Jeff Andrews said a decision would be made on who drives that car next weekend at Phoenix.

Bubba Wallace, who drives the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota, finished fourth. He was the top finisher not part of the Hendrick garage.

“It was right there in the top seven or eight the whole time,” Wallace said. “I was going to settle for sixth and the caution came out. My car fired off really, really good (on the restart), the best it had all race.”

RANDOLPH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE QUESTIONS? CONTACT H. N. JOHNSON, RECRUITER, VIA EMAIL AT HEATHER.JOHNSON@RANDOLPHCOUNTYNC.GOV OR CALL 336-318-6764

Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Huge comeback sends Wildcats to state final Randolph Record MORGANTON — Eastern Randolph rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to keep its season alive and advance to a state championship in boys’ basketball for the first time.

The Wildcats pulled out a 6259 victory against Bishop McGuinness in the Class 1-A West Region final Saturday afternoon at Freedom High School.

“As the coach, even I’m in awe at what they just did,” first-year Eastern Randolph coach Johnny Thomas said of his players.

Eastern Randolph (29-2) will face Wilson Prep (26-7), a 63-57 winner against Bertie in the East Region final, on Saturday for the state championship at North Carolina State’s Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

Fourth-seeded Bishop McGuinness led 41-20 at halftime before the third-seeded Wildcats stormed back. Eastern Randolph scored the first 13 points of the second half and was within 49-43 going to the fourth quarter.

“We ain’t going to lose here,” senior guard Pierce Leonard said.

“We’re too close to it. We traveled three hours to get up here.

We weren’t trying to go home like that.”

Leonard scored 24 of his 28 points in the second half.

Eastern Randolph had never been as far as the regional semifinals until this year, but it looked bleak midway through the regional final.

At halftime, Thomas had a message about trying to extend the team’s record-breaking postseason: “We’ve already made history. Now we’ve got to do it again.”

Eastern Randolph had never been as far as the regional semifinals until this year, but it looked bleak midway through the regional final.

The Villains (25-6) took three potential tying shots on the last possession and missed them all.

Long forgotten was their 11-0 lead to start the game.

Timothy Brower had 13 points, and Nicah Taylor posted 11 points for Eastern Randolph, which won its 10th game in a row.

And it was the Wildcats’ second second-half comeback of the week after winning the regional semifinal Tuesday night at South Stokes.

“I wasn’t really feeling any pressure because we still had plenty of time when they did foul out,” Leonard said. “Our bench players just had to really step up and do their part in the game.”

Three Eastern Randolph fouled out, including team scoring leader Davonte Brooks and reserve center Jani Norwood in the third quarter. Brooks had two points.

“With me in there, it would have made it a little bit easier,” Brooks said. “But my boys pulled through, came through with a ‘W’ my senior year. Now we’re going to the ‘ship.”

Brooks said the Wildcats, who were 6-for-8 on second-half 3-point attempts, remained motivated even as the challenge heightened throughout the first half.

“We just don’t want to lose,” Brooks said. “That’s what really jump-starts it.”

Leonard’s 3-pointer gave Eastern Randolph its first lead of the game at 54-51.

Thomas said without much of a basketball tradition, Eastern Randolph needed to overcome all sorts of obstacles against a Bishop McGuinness program that has played on similar stages in the past.

“They’ve been in this situation way more than we have,” he said.

Jamison Graves scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half for Bishop McGuinness, which shot 11for-25 on free throws.

5 BEST OVERALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Madison Varner

Regional semifinal At Walnut Cove, Leonard scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Eastern Randolph rallied past South Stokes for a 74-71 victory in the West Region semifinal Feb. 28.

“I told them, ‘I am proud of you.

We’ve had a long season, but this is not it,’” Thomas said.

Devonte Brooks scored 15 points despite foul trouble, Brower posted 10 of his 12 points in the second half, and Taylor finished with 11 points in Eastern Randolph’s first road game of the postseason.

“The whole season, we have built a foundation where we can play with or without Devonte,” Thomas said.

The Wildcats made enough plays down the stretch. The Sauras missed three potential tying 3-point shots in the final 12 seconds.

South Stokes (25-5) led 45-36 at halftime.

“It was just a simple adjustment of pride,” Thomas said.

Barry Hairston poured in 23 points for the Sauras.

Bishop McGuinness eliminated top-seeded Mountain Heritage 58-54 in the other semifinal.

RANDOLPH RECORD FILE PHOTO

Southwestern Randolph’s Madison Varner, shown here last season, is off to a good start to this softball season.

Southwestern Randolph, softball

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Left, Randolph’s Nicah Taylor makes a steal in front of Bishop McGuinness guard Andrew Schrage.

Right, Eastern Randolph’s Pierce Leonard goes up for a shot in front of Jamison Graves of Bishop McGuinness.

PREP ROUNDUP

Wheatmore girls start in good groove

Varner had a game-winning single in the ninth inning of the Cougars’ season-opening victory against visiting North Stanly.

Varner, a senior, is trying to help the Cougars to another winning season. She was a regular in the lineup a year ago.

This week, the Cougars begin Piedmont Athletic Conference play. They won their final five PAC regular-season games last spring.

Tigers fall in regionals to end girls’ season Randolph Record

Randolph Record

RANDLEMAN — Another stellar season for the Randleman girls’ basketball team came to a close short of the ultimate goal.

Top-seeded Randleman dropped a 49-42 decision to visiting East Burke in the Class 2-A West Region West Region semifinals Feb. 28.Gracyn Hall scored 12 points for Randleman (27-2), which led 24-21 at halftime before trailing 33-29 entering the fourth quarter.

With the Tigers facing a 4240 deficit, East Burke posted the

WHEATMORE OPENED the season with a 6-0 victory, with Ellie Garrison scoring four goals against visiting Ledford last week in girls’ soccer.

Natalie Bowman and Summer Bowman had the other goals.

It was a nice start for the Warriors, who were undefeated Class 2-A state champions with a 25-0 record last year.

Here are some other items of note from the opening week of the spring season:

next five points.

Randleman’s Elizabeth York and Audra Petty both notched nine points.

On Saturday, fifth-seeded East Burke (27-3) fell to third-seeded Salisbury (26-3) by a 43-37 score in the regional final at Greensboro Grimsley.

For Randleman, it was the second season in a row when the Tigers lost at home in the regional semifinal round. In 2022, they entered the postseason with an undefeated record.

Randleman’s two-season record is 52-3.

Baseball Randleman suffered an 11-0, six-inning loss on March 1 at Northwest Guilford. That marked the first setback for the Tigers to an in-state opponent since June 26, 2021, vs.

Rutherfordton-Spindale Central in Game 2 of the Class 2-A state championship series. The Tigers responded later that day to win Game 3 and claim the title.

Last week’s opener went better for the Tigers, who defeated visiting Asheboro 13-2. The game ended in the sixth inning on Hunter Atkins’ three-run home run that clicked in the mercy rule.

Eastern Randolph opened the season with an 8-3 home victory against Seaforth in coach Brent Haynes’ debut. In the Wildcats’ next game, Stratton Barwick struck out 10 batters in a 5-4 home loss to Eastern Guilford.

Uwharrie Charter Academy lost its first game under new coach Rob Shore. That setback came by 6-5 at Ledford, where Shore coached a few years ago.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Providence Grove’s Rori Luther makes a move with West Davidson’s Marly Gouker approaching during last week’s game.

West Davidson won 1-0.

Eli Gravely of Southwestern Randolph had a four-RBI outing in a 14-4 victory at Montgomery Central.

Providence Grove opened the season with two non-conference victories for the first time since 2018, defeating visiting Southern Guilford 7-6 in eight innings and host Seaforth 4-2. Lemuel Coltrane had the game-winning hit against Southern Guilford.

Parker Kines had 12 strikeouts in Wheatmore’s 10-0, five-inning victory against visiting Walkertown.

Softball Providence Grove has had a cou-

ple of challenging games to begin the season.

The Patriots opened with a 4-2 home victory against Southern Guilford. Emma Mazzarone struck out 17 in the two-hitter. Gracie Smith drove in two runs.

Then came a 7-0 home loss to Oak Grove.

Last year, Providence Grove built a 24-0 record before a loss in the Class 2-A state playoffs.

Southwestern Randolph went nine innings for a 2-1 victory against West Stanly, winning on Madison Varner’s game-ending single. Macie Crutchfield registered 17 strikeouts. The game was scoreless until the ninth inning.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Randleman’s Gracyn Hall takes a shot against East Rutherford in what became the Tigers’ final victory of the season.

Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

6 COLLEGE BASEBALL

Thomas notches pitching wins at UNCG

hitless innings at Gardner-Webb, and then he logged a shutout inning in a 10-3 victory against visiting Eastern Kentucky.

Gardner receives USA South honors

Gardner honored twice

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record SEVERAL ALUMS from Randolph County schools have produced notable opening stretches in their collegiate baseball careers.

Providence Grove alum Luke Thomas was the winning pitcher in his collegiate debut, throwing 1 2/3 shutout innings when UNC Greensboro defeated Northeastern on February 18 in the second game of the season. The Spartans scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The next day, Thomas took the loss when giving up four late-inning runs to Northeastern.

In the season’s second week, Thomas had two outings against

Notre Dame, throwing one hitless inning in the second game of the series and, the next day, three shutout innings with five strikeouts in the series finale.

He added his first collegiate save March 1 with two shutout innings in a 4-1 home victory against Elon.

Then this past weekend, Thomas was the winning pitcher when the Spartans began a three-game sweep of visiting Rutgers. Thomas threw two shutout innings in the 3-2 outcome.

In the series finale against Rutgers, Randleman alum Matt Kemp, a junior, improved to 2-0 this season with a shutout inning in the Spartans’ 10-9, 10-inning victory.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Left, Luke Thomas; Right, Brody Gardner pitched in the season opener for Western Carolina, making his collegiate debut vs. Akron. His stint came to begin the ninth inning, striking out his first batter.

But an error and a pair of walks preceded Ian Pennington’s game-tying grand slam. The Zips went on to win 14-12.

Last week, White posted 1 2/3

Caraway set to begin with Dogwood 250

is expected to enter along with past Caraway winner Gary Putnam plus Spencer Davis, Michael Ritch, and others.

2022 Caraway 602 Modified champion Carson Loftin is expected to be in action.

The speedway’s official 2023 season begins March 19 with racing in the track’s regular divisions – Late Models, Challengers, Modifields, Stock 4s, UCARs, Bootleggers, Legends, and Bandoleros. That also has a 2:30 p.m. start time.

Saturday night racing begins March 25.

Randolph Record SOPHIA — Caraway Speedway opens its 58th season of stock-car racing Sunday with the running of the Dogwood 250.

The Dogwood 250 will feature 100-lap features for the SMART Modified Tour and the speedway’s regular Late Models, plus a 50-lapper for the 602 Modifieds. Legend

White has mixed outings Randleman alum Ryan White

cars and Bandoleros also are on the card. Racing is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.

The speedway used the Dogwood 250 name to honor the early spring events once held at Martinsville Speedway in the heyday of Modified and Late Model sportsman racing, according to information from the speedway.

Many of the SMART Modified

Tour regulars will be on hand to compete for their season title. Tim Brown returns to Caraway Speedway in the Team 25 Racing seat vacated by Bobby Labonte’s move to Stanley-Sadler Racing.

2022 SMART champion Caleb Heady returns to defend his title.

2021 SMART champion Burt Myers and his brother Jason Myers should be entered. Matt Hirschman

Murdaugh testimony only confirmed his guilt, jurors say The Associated Press WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh didn’t help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday.

Murdaugh’s testimony only managed to cement what they were already thinking — that he easily lied and could turn on and off his tears at will, the jurors said on the NBC Today show.

The key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty, they said, was a video on his son’s cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the same kennels near where the bodies were found at their sprawling estate in rural South Carolina.

Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video even though he insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night. Investigators didn’t see the video for more than a year before advances in hacking enabled them to unlock Paul Murdaugh’s iPhone. They shared it with the defense ahead of the trial.

When he took the stand, the first thing Murdaugh did was ad-

AP PHOTO

Alex Murdaugh speaks with his legal team before he is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and son

by Judge Clifton Newman at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, March 3, 2023 in in Walterboro, S.C. mit he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

“The kennel video, that just kind of sealed the deal,” juror Gwen Generette said.

The jury deliberated for less

than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul, with two shotgun blasts and his 52-yearold wife, Maggie, with four or five rifle shots.

The now-disbarred lawyer maintained his innocence when he was sentenced Friday to spend the rest of his life in prison for the

murders.

Murdaugh was convicted in the same court circuit where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as the elected prosecutor for more than 80 years. Murdaugh’s family founded the area’s most powerful law firm a century ago. For decades, that meant that practically anyone who ended up in court on either side of the law in Colleton or Hampton counties would have a Murdaugh watching their back or staring them down.

His background was part of the reason jurors didn’t find his testimony believable.

“We already know that he’s a lawyer. He’s able to be emotional with cases. He’s able to be emotional with himself. He knows ... when to turn it on and off. So I think that we were able to read right through that,” juror James McDowell said.

Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty, and the judge handed down the harshest possible sentence he could — consecutive life sentences without parole.

Murdaugh admitted stealing millions of dollars from the family

Former Eastern Randolph baseball player Brody Gardner has had a strong start to his collegiate career with Greensboro College. The freshman outfielder was a two-time USA South Conference Rookie of the Week in February.

He received the conference’s first rookie honor of the season as a result of a .350 batting average and driving in two runs when the Pride won two of three games against Lynchburg.

The next week, Gardner batted .316 with three doubles, two runs batted in, and scored three runs when the Pride went 2-2. He has been in the lead-off spot in the batting order.

On Saturday, Gardner was 3-for-5 with two runs scored in a 7-5 victory at Berry (Ga.) College.

The speedway used the Dogwood 250 name to honor the early spring events once held at Martinsville Speedway in the heyday of Modified and Late Model sportsman racing.

firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit.

Before he was charged with murder, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 other charges, ranging from insurance fraud to tax evasion.

Defense attorneys said they will base an appeal largely on the judge’s decision to allow jurors to hear evidence of crimes Murdaugh has not been convicted of, which they say smeared his reputation.

After six intense weeks at the courthouse in Walterboro, key players returned to their normal lives.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters, whose love of the guitar was a favorite bit of chatter among true crime fans, tweeted a video of himself jamming. Judge Clifton Newman was seen in a courtside seat rooting for South Carolina to win the Southeastern Conference title in women’s basketball.

And defense lawyer Jim Griffin, admonished during the trial for tweeting an opinion piece criticizing the investigation, returned to Twitter with a post that said “Walterboro, you were a gracious host.

Happy Trails.” He included a photo of his head stuck through the hole of a painting of a cowboy riding a chicken, with “I was at the Murdaugh trial” written at the top.

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

7

obituaries

Judy Fogleman Walker

Robert "Bob" Clarence Hope

Betty Christine White Bowers

Bobby Eugene Cox

June 4, 1935 — March 3, 2023

May 28, 1943 — March 5, 2023

August 15, 1929 — March 4, 2023

June 22, 1927 — March 4, 2023

Judy Marie Fogleman Walker, 79, went to be with her Lord and savior on Sunday, March 5 2023 at her daughter's home. A lifelong resident of Randolph County.

Judy was born May 28, 1943 and was the twelfth child of thirteen children to Dewitt Talmadge and Moleta Dennis Fogleman of Randleman.

She attended Randleman High School and played basketball and softball. Judy worked many years in textiles as a sewing machine operator supervisor and later retired from Dart Container in quality control.

She is survived by her daughters Karen Denise Walker of Sophia and Deborah "Debbie" White (Ruben) of Trinity, and her loving sister Nancy Morgan of Seagrove, and her fiancé of 28 years, Bill Caulder whom she loved dearly, and “Mister,” her beloved dog. She is also survived by 5 grandchildren: Hattie Presnell (Jessie Kiker), Amelia Schrimsher, Joel White (Morgan), Alisa Gibson (Jordan), Bradley White (Joy), and 4 great grandchildren: Allie Schrimsher, Oliver White, Avery White, and Owen Gibson. Judy also had many beloved nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her siblings: Jack Fogleman, Sarah “Sis” Carter, Pat Lamb, Earman “O’Boy” Fogleman, J.W. Fogleman, Myra Jean Atkins, David “Bud” Fogleman, Oliver “Doc” Fogleman, Dorothy Jenkins, Dee Ann Julian, and Robert Dale Fogleman.

Robert "Bob" Clarence Hope, Ph.D. and Veteran of the U.S. Navy, died on March 4th 2023 in his Asheboro North Carolina home. He was 93-years old. He was born in Sampson County, North Carolina on August 15, 1929 to Robert Bernice Hope and Leona Potter Hope of Clinton, North Carolina.

Dr. Hope had many accomplishments in his life including receiving a Bachelor of Science from Duke University in 1954. In 1956, Dr. Hope received a Master of Science in Geological Engineering from North Carolina State University. He completed his Doctorate (Ph.D) from the University of South Carolina in 1975. Dr. Hope was the Director and a Professor of Geology at Campbell University where he worked and retired. Dr. Hope was also a consultant for Amoco Oil Company. He was a avid gardener and nature lover, making positive differences in the prevention against cruelty to animals. He is preceded in death by his parents, sister Daveda Mumford, and loving Aunt Addie Hope and Uncle Lewis Hope.

Dr. Hope is survived by his devoted and loving wife of 63-years, Peggy Whitfield Hope, granddaughter Diana Alease Boyette, daughter Suzanne Hope Egan and son-in-law Robert Joseph Egan. Also surviving Dr. Hope is his sister Christine Hope Smith and brother-in-law Earl Smith of Clinton, North Carolina, as well several nieces and nephews.

Betty Christine White Bowers, 95, died peacefully Saturday, March 4.

A longtime Randolph County resident, Christine was the wife of the late O. N. Bowers Jr. and the daughter of the late Newton William White and Huldah Frances Freeman White. She retired from Commonwealth Hosiery of Randleman, and enjoyed running a successful catering business. An active member of Midway Wesleyan Church, Christine was a former volunteer at Randolph Hospital.

Christine is survived by her three children: Neal (Rebecca) of Cartersville, GA; Craig (Darsi) of Angier, NC; and Annette (Randall) Welch of Seagrove, NC; three grandchildren: Jodie (Jason Highfill) of Asheboro, NC; Josh Bowers of Randleman; and Meka (Casey) Lamb of Randleman; five step grandchildren, Jessica Pruitt of High Point, NC, Justin Pruitt of Oklahoma, Trevor Johnson of Angier, NC, Jason Welch and Codey Welch, both of Seagrove, NC; great-grandsons, Benaiah Lamb and Zev Lamb, and greatgranddaughter Ella Highfill.

Bobby Eugene Cox, 87, met his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on March 3rd, 2023. He was born June 4, 1935 to Delton and Nellie Mae West Cox, of Asheboro.

He was an avid Atlanta Braves fan and also enjoyed basketball and football. Bobby enjoyed traveling and visited many places, but his favorite place to be was the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He loved to fish and play card games with his family and friends. He played a mean game of hearts, and rarely ever lost a game. He had a great sense of humor and loved a good laugh.

Bobby was a member of Amity Hills Baptist Church, Asheboro.

He loved Jesus and telling others about Him. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jim Cox. He is survived by his daughters, Lisa Serafini (Michael), of Greensboro, Kamala Holtz, of Archdale, along with many cherished friends and loved ones.

Robert Daniel "Danny" Keye

June 5, 1952 — March 3, 2023 Robert Daniel Keye "Danny", age 70, of Asheboro passed away on Friday, March 3, 2023 at his home.

Mr. Keye was born in Randolph County on June 5, 1952 to Joe and Mildred Burrow Keye. Danny served his country in the U.S. Army National Guard.

He retired, as an inspector, from Randolph County after 20 years of service and was the former owner of Keye's Plumbing Service. Danny was a member of Neighbors Grove Wesleyan Church. In addition to his father, Danny was preceded in death by his sister, Dale K. Kennedy.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Dolores A. Keye; sons, Joey Keye and wife Sherry of Asheboro and Scott Keye and wife Susan of Randleman; grandchildren, Brittany Linville and husband Zach of Winston-Salem, Shelby K. Davis and husband Landon of Pickens, SC, and Ethan, Lindsey, and Gage Keye all of Asheboro; great grandchildren, Braxton Lefler and Andy Linville both of Winston-Salem, and mother, Mildred B. Keye of Asheboro.

Jane Morris Kunz

October 4, 1946 — March 5, 2023

Ryder Lee BryantDevogt

March 27, 2021 — February 24, 2023

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Torin Alexander Phillips

July 18, 1990 — February 27, 2023

David Lewis Culler

September 23, 1952 — February 26, 2023 David Lewis Culler, 70, passed at Forsyth Medical on February 26, 2023. He was born on September 23, 1952 to Lewis and Helen Vestal Culler.

David was a native of Randolph County where he was married to his wife, Brenda, for 45 years. Him and his wife always loved camping with their son in earlier years. He loved his cheeseburgers, which is how he got the nickname, wimpy, from his sister-in-law, Betty Sue. He loved all his family. His is preceded in death by his parents.

David is survived by his wife, Brenda Little Culler, son, David Troy Culler, daughter, Patricia Mireles, sisters, Gail Brewer, and Lisa Hill, 5 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren.

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Torin Alexander Phillips, age 32, of Asheboro passed away on Monday, February 27, 2023.

Mr. Phillips was born in Randolph County on July 18, 1990 to Robert Lewis Phillips and Sally Anne Shuping Phillips.

Torin was a graduate of Asheboro High School and was a talented artist and writer. Torin was preceded in death by his father, and his sister, Sandra Daye Phillips Brady. He had a good sense of humor and was a friend to everyone. He enjoyed going to the beach. The last thing Torin did here was make a new friend before going to see his best friend.

He is survived by his mother, Sally Anne Shuping; brother, Kendall Monroe Phillips; sister, Andrea Elizabeth Christian Phillips; niece, Winter Beth Gaarn Barnes; nephew, Alxavier Angelito Bailon; aunts, Debbie Maness (Dale), Lisa Smith (Allen), Donna Potts (James), Susan Shuping (Alan) & (Thomas), and Martha Shuping; and uncle, Joe Shuping (Leanne).

Ryder Lee Bryant-Devogt, age 1, of Troy, passed away on February 24, 2023.

Ryder was born on March 27, 2021, in Stanly County to Brendon Bryant and Hannah Devogt.

He is survived by his mother, Hannah Devogt of Troy; father, Brendon Bryant of Rockingham; maternal grandmother, Jamie Schrum of Denton and maternal grandfather, Robbie Devogt of Troy; paternal grandfather, Michael Bryant Jr., and paternal grandmother, Maranda Cummings of Rockingham; great maternal grandparents, Jimmy and Susan Garris of Pinebluff; Lee and Rindia Devogt of Candor and great paternal grandparents, Virginia Tucker and Jerry Cummings of Rockingham and Pam McHugh Millan of Hamlet. Aunts and uncles, Hailey Devogt, Hunter Devogt, Breanna Cummings and Taylor Smith.

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Jane Morris Kunz, 76, of Siler City, passed away on Sunday, March 5, 2023.

Mrs. Kunz was born in Chatham County on October 4, 1946, the daughter of Clyde and Eva Smith Morris.

Jane loved her Carolina Panthers and Duke Blue Devils.

She cherished her family, especially her grandchildren and her great granddaughter. Jane liked to spend time reading a good book. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, Dick Kunz, and sister, Connie Morris Lineberry.

She is survived by her daughter, Sheila Joyce Hunt (Bobby) of Raleigh; son, James "Jamie" Hayes, II of Siler City; grandchildren, Kayla McMillan (Matt), Alaina Griffin (Chris), Austin Hunt, Summer, Skylar, Selena, and Chase Hayes; and great granddaughter, Emma McMillan; numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; and special friends, Chris and Chad Riddle.

Memorials may be made to the March of Dimes in honor of her "Sweet Pea" Emma Kayte McMillan, marchofdimes.org.

Elizabeth "Polly" Felton

December 1, 1948 — February 28, 2023 Elizabeth Pauline "Polly" Felton, age 74, of Biscoe, passed away on February 28, 2023 at First Health Moore Regional Hospital.

Polly was born on December 1, 1948, in Rockingham County, to Edgar and Mary Starnes Frick.

She was a retired hosiery mill employee and worked in the lunch room for Montgomery County Schools. She was a member of New Hope Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Richard Frick, Tony Frick and Jackie Frick; sister, Betty Vernon and grandson, Trace Felton.

She is survived by her husband, George Felton of the home; daughters, Lisa Felton (Mike) of Ellerbe; Torie Brown (Jay) of Biscoe; Chris Felton (Heather) of Colorado; sister, Mary Ann McNeill of Biscoe; brother, Bobby Frick of Star, Jimmy Frick of Texas; six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

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Randolph Record for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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STATE & NATION

Board of Commissioners approves Medical Assisted Therapy for addiction issues in Randolph County Detention Center Commissioners approve funding for Liberty Heritage Museum

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday, March 6, with various funding requests on the agenda for potential action.

The board first approved a contract amendment with Mediko for Medical Assisted Therapy in the Randolph County Detention Center.

“This is the use of medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, which is effective in the treatment of opioid use disorders and can help some people to sustain recovery,” said Chief Deputy Aundrea Azelton.

“Funding would provide the service of two MAT nurses to assist in the administration of the program.”

The medications included being Suboxone, which is a tablet that works by blocking the receptors in the brain that crave opioids without activating them; Sublocade, a monthly injection and a derivative of Suboxone; and Vivitrol, which is also a monthly injection and binds to opioid receptors in the brain and helps prevent relapses.

The contract is for $95,736 and will run from April to June, but will then be packaged in the contract renewal with Mediko in July.

The board was also presented with a funding request from Friends of the Historic Patterson Cottage Museum for $15,725 in strategic planning funds to help purchase materials needed to display artifacts in the Liberty Heritage Museum.

“The Friends is in the process of creating the Liberty Heritage Museum by remodeling the old Liberty Hardware building,” said Ad Hoc Board Member Warren Dixon. “While remodeling, we were hit by two unexpected expenses.”

“Currently, there are 12% of residents in Randolph County that suffer from food access issues, and 21% of children live in poverty.”

Cooperative Extension Director Kenny Sherin “The first was a new HVAC system. The hardware store had a heating unit that hung down from the ceiling. It turned out to be totally inadequate to heat the museum, plus it created a sight barrier and was a safety hazard. So we installed a new HVAC system at the cost of $16,125. Secondly, we didn’t plan on doing any immediate remodeling to the upstairs, which has a completely separate entrance from the street, but some of the

windows were faulty and were allowing birds and other critters and rain to enter the building. We were forced to replace the 21 windows at a cost of $12,000. These added unexpected expenses, over $28,000, have forced us to seek additional funds.”

Following the presentation, the board approved the funding request.

The board then approved the addition of two Cooperative Extension positions, Local and Community Food Systems Agent and Digital Literacy and Skills Agent, to the county budget. The positions had previously been funded through ARPA dollars, but the need arose to move them into the county budget.

“Currently, there are 12% of residents in Randolph County that suffer from food access issues, and 21% of children live in poverty,” said Cooperative Extension Director Kenny Sherin. “Our Local Food Systems agent has done an amazing job helping farmers connect

with markets and helping people connect with local healthy, fresh food.”

“There’s also recently been a study released by the National Skills Coalition called Closing the Digital Skill Divide. That study states that 92% of all jobs require some type of digital skills, meaning the ability to use computers.

About 75% of people have those skills, but there’s still a lot of room to make up in getting people the skills that are needed. So the Digital Literacy and Skills agent will help our Randolph County residents of all ages gain those digital skills to be able to earn, learn or be well in Randolph County.”

The final action that the board took was to postpone the public hearing for the Farmer Fire Tax District restructuring till the May meeting so that residents could be properly notified after an error occurred with the mailing lists.

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners will next meet April 6.

Federal Reserve officials sound warnings about higher rates The Associated Press A run of strong economic data and signs that inflation remains stubbornly high could lead the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate higher in the coming months than it has previously forecast, several Fed officials say.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s influential Board of Governors, said last week that if the economy continued to show strength and inflation remained elevated, the central bank would have to lift its key rate above 5.4%.

That would be higher than Fed officials had signaled in December, when they projected it would peak at roughly 5.1% this year.

“Recent data suggest that consumer spending isn’t slowing that much, that the labor market continues to run unsustainably hot and that inflation is not coming down as fast as I had thought,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a business conference in Los Angeles.

His suggestion was in contrast to a speech he gave in January, titled “A Case for Cautious Optimism,” that captured a prevailing sentiment at the time that inflation had peaked and was steadily declining.

Even if data to be released later this month were to show hiring and inflation cooling again, Waller said, he would still favor raising the Fed’s rate to a range between 5% to 5.5%, up from about 4.6% now.

And if the economic figures were to “continue to come in too hot,” he said, the Fed’s key rate “will have to be raised this year even more to ensure that we do not lose the momentum that was in place” before the robust January economic reports.

Over the past year, the Fed has raised short-term rates at the fastest pace in four decades to try to curb the worst inflation since the early 1980s. Those hikes have led to higher rates across the econo-

In this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo, the seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO, FILE

my: Mortgage rates have nearly doubled, to 6.7%, and auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans have become more expensive.

The Fed’s goal is to cool the economy by raising the cost of borrowing and slowing business and consumer spending. More modest growth would likely help slow inflation to the Fed’s 2% target. Fed officials next meet March 21-22, when they are expected to raise their key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.9%.

In recent weeks, several reports suggested that the economy was stronger and inflation more persistent than previous data had in-

dicated. The economy gained an enormous total of more than half a million jobs in January, and the unemployment rate reached a 53year low of 3.4%.

Inflation data was also revised higher and came in hotter than expected in January. Waller noted that for the final three months of last year, core inflation — which excludes the volatile food and energy categories — was revised up from an annual rate of 3.1% to 4.3%. It then rose to 4.6% in January.

“Although inflation has been coming down since the middle of last year,” Waller said, “the recent data indicate that we haven’t made

as much progress as we thought.”

Other Fed officials have also expressed unease about the reports showing higher inflation and hotter growth. Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, recently said, “I lean towards continuing to raise further.”

“These are concerning data points, suggesting that we’re not making progress as quickly as we would like,” Kashkari said.

And last Thursday, Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he supports pushing rates to about 5.1% in the coming months, the same as projected in December. He added that the Fed’s

rate hikes may not start to bite until this summer, so the Fed needs to be cautious about tightening credit too far and causing a recession.

Yet Bostic also added, “There is a case to be made that we need to go higher.”

“Jobs have come in stronger than we expected,” Bostic said.

“Inflation is remaining stubborn at elevated levels. Consumer spending is strong. Labor markets remain quite tight.”

Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Bloomberg News that the Fed “needs to do a little more” to raise rates and to keep them elevated for an extended period.

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HOKE COUNTY Lady Bucks off to a strong start The Hoke County Lady Bucks softball team is off to a 3-1 start this season. Natalie Williams pitches in the game last week against the Lumberton Pirates, which handed the Bucks their first loss. Hoke has three games this week vs. Scotland, Lee County, and Purnell Swett.

PHOTO BY TAMMY SUE

COUNTY NEWS

Republican legislators reach Medicaid expansion deal

FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital ranked as one of the state’s best hospitals

The Associated Press

FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, including its Hoke and Richmond campuses, has again been recognized as one of the state’s best hospitals and as a top hospital in patient satisfaction by Business North Carolina magazine. Moore Regional ranked No. 3 in the “best hospital” ranking and No. 2 in the “patient picks” list.

“We are thrilled to again be recognized by Business North Carolina magazine as one of the best hospitals in North Carolina and as a top hospital for patient satisfaction,” said Mickey W. Foster, MHA, chief executive officer for FirstHealth of the Carolinas. The success of our health system is built on the tremendous efforts of our exceptional employees, providers, and volunteers.

FirstHealth ranks among the very best because we have the very best team – one whose dedication to our core purpose, “To Care for People,” never wavers, even in the face of incredible challenges.

We are extremely proud of the team’s accomplishment.”

The Best Hospitals list uses a calculation of more than 25 healthcare metrics, including data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, patient satisfaction surveys, infections, readmissions, and mortality rates for common procedures. The “patient picks” list is a result of The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, which surveys hospital patients between 48 hours and six weeks after discharge.

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RALEIGH — North Carolina legislative leaders announced last Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate Leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but

“This is something that we can all be very proud of.”

House Speaker Tim Moore it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

Expansion gained momentum last year when the GOP-controlled state House and Senate approved, with strong bipartisan support, competing legislation addressing it, but they failed to reach a deal. The key differences stemmed around other initiatives Senate Republicans insisted were needed to increase the number of medical providers to cover the additional enrollees.

Under the new agreement, senators obtained the loosening or elimination of “certificate of need” laws that require health regulators to sign off on plans to offer hospital beds for mental health and substance abuse patients, build ambu-

latory surgery centers or purchase MRI machines. But their demand that advanced-practice nurses be able to treat patients without a doctor’s supervision was left out.

“There are still some things that need to be done, but this is our agreement and I’m very comfortable with it,” Berger said.

The negotiated measure, built in part on an expansion measure approved overwhelmingly by the House two weeks ago, was still being drawn up and will need affirmative votes in both chambers.

The federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid recipients under expansion. Potentially 600,000 people in North Carolina could receive the benefit — those who make too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid but not enough to receive heavily subsidized health insurance that President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 law provides.

Under the agreement, the state’s 10% share would be paid through assessments paid by hospitals, which in turn benefit from getting

Troops who refused COVID vaccine still may face discipline The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — The military services are still reviewing possible discipline of troops who refused the order to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defense officials told Congress on Tuesday, and they provided few details on how many of those who were forced out of the military would like to return.

Lawmakers expressed frustration with the news, questioning why service members should still face discipline since the vaccine requirement had been rescinded.

Gilbert Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel, told the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee that some service members who disobeyed the lawful order to get the vaccine — and did not seek any type of exemption — were still going through

the review process.

“In order to maintain good order and discipline, it’s very important that our service members go and follow orders when they are lawful,” said Cisneros, adding that military services were going through each case to evaluate what should be done.

The vaccine mandate divided Americans and has remained a contentious political issue. More than 8,400 troops were forced out of the military for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. Thousands of others sought religious and medical exemptions.

The Pentagon formally dropped the mandate in January, as a result of legislation signed into law in late December. But a number of discipline cases were pending when the requirement was rescinded.

Cisneros and top officials from the Army, Navy and Air Force told the subcommittee that in some cases troops may have committed other misconduct in addition to the vaccine refusal, so each case was being reviewed.

“What’s the point?” said Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., the subcommittee chairman. “We rescinded the mandate — what’s the point of continuing to review the cases?”

Banks said a number of lawmakers were “infuriated by the double standard and message you send for rescinding a policy and still punishing them for not taking the vaccine.”

Lawmakers also pressed the defense officials on whether troops who were discharged were being allowed to return to service.

See VACCINE, page 2

reimbursed as they cover patients with Medicaid.

Officials say the state also would get an extra $1.8 billion over two years through a financial sweetener in a COVID-19 federal relief package from Congress for states that hadn’t accepted expansion.

And the package will include provisions that would result in higher reimbursements for hospital systems when they treat Medicaid patients — resulting in at least $3.2 billion in reimbursements during the next fiscal year for traditional Medicaid patients alone. That should help rural areas, where hospitals have closed or are in danger of closing.

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who has sought expansion since taking office in 2017, would be asked to sign any final measure into law. He tweeted that the agreement “is a monumental step that will save lives” but wants it effective immediately to tap into more federal funds, making “sure we leverage the money that will save our rural hospitals and invest in mental health.”

Even if the law is approved this spring, Moore and Berger said it wouldn’t be effective until a separate state budget is enacted, likely by the early summer.

Cooper wasn’t involved in recent negotiations that lasted about four See MEDICAID, page 8

North State Journal for Wednesday, January 18, 2023 North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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“Join the “Join the conversation” conversation” Neal Robbins Publisher Neal Mercer RobbinsEditor Publisher Matt in Chief Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Griffin Daughtry Local News Editor Griffin Daughtry LocalEditor News Editor Cory Lavalette Sports Cory Lavalette Editor Frank Hill SeniorSports Opinion Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Lauren Rose Design EditorEditor Lauren Rose Design Editor Published each Wednesday Published each State Wednesday as part of North Journal as part of North State Journal 1201 Edwards Mill Rd. 1201 300 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607 Raleigh, NC 27607 TO SUBSCRIBE: 336-283-6305 TO SUBSCRIBE: 336-283-6305 HOKE.NORTHSTATEJOURNAL.COM HOKE.NORTHSTATEJOURNAL.COM Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Periodicals Postage Paid Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices. mailing offices.

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BOE from page 1 the actual number of students enrolled in school in Month 1 and Month 2 and whichever is greater is the number they used to determine if there will be a budget revision. Our actual ADM for month 1 was 8,498, and for Month Two, it was 8,665. Therefore the ADM for Month Two - 8,665 was used for our budget revision which is a difference of 423 students less than what was projected in our initial budget allotment.”

The difference accounts for about $804,520.52 in funding that will return to the state’s budget. According to Chavis, some of the differences in actual enrollment numbers can be attributed to an uptick

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in enrollment in charter schools.

Finally, the board approved a new partnership and contract with Global Teaching Partners for the acquisition of international teachers.

“This is a new organization that will be an international partnership that will sponsor our J-1 Visa teachers and international faculty, which was previously referred to as our visiting international faculty or VIF,” said Assistant Superintendent Shawn O’Connor.

According to O’Connor, Hoke County Schools currently has established partnerships with Participate (8 teachers in the district) and Education Partners Internationals (22 teachers), which are officially recognized cultural exchange programs by the US Department of

A weekly podcast getting to the facts across the state, around the world and at home HERE in Raeford, Hoke County, NC.

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State and provide J-1 Visas, meaning these teachers go through federal screening. These visas cover three years and can be extended for an additional two.

Some of the other services these partners cover are teaching experience reviews, educational program audits, instructional and behavioral interviews and observations, english language proficiency assessments, cultural adaptiveness assessments, state licensure reviews, international background checks, and specifically Global Teaching Partners helps provide specific NC teacher training.

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“We’re not just filling vacancies with these individuals,” O’Connor said. “The people that we have gotten, their attrition rate, which means they come back every year and don’t quit their job, is so much lower than all of our other teachers.

They typically stay their five years, and a lot of them are very effective teachers. These are quality individuals who want to be here to teach our kids, and with the J-1 Visa, they’re here for five years.”

Hoke County Schools currently has 30 international employees from eight different countries across nine different schools.

The Hoke County Board of Education will next meet February 14.

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VACCINE, from page 1

the chance to serve our United States military.”

Any move to provide back pay Erik Raven, the Navy undersecretary, was the only one who pro- or other retroactive benefits would vided any estimate, saying that have to be addressed through leg“we’ve had single digits in terms of islation.

Lawmakers also questioned numbers of individuals who have explored the option of returning to the impact of the discharges on service.” It wasn’t clear if those in- the military, including whether it dividuals had formally sought re- forced out many pilots. Jones said enlistment or merely asked about that only 40 Air Force officers were discharged for refusing the vaccine it.

Raven, along with Gina Or- order, and another 14 opted to retiz Jones, the Air Force undersec- tire voluntarily. All the rest were retary, and Gabe Camarillo, the enlisted personnel. Air Force pilots Army undersecretary, all told law- are all officers.

Overall, according to data commakers that service members can go through the regular process for piled by the military as of late last reinstatement. In most cases they year, the Marine Corps leads the will need to go to a review board services with 3,717 Marines disto have their discharge status charged for refusing to follow the changed, and then they can seek to vaccine order. There have been reenlist. They would have to meet 2,041 discharged from the Navy, 1,841 from the Army and 834 from all other enlistment standards.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., said he the Air Force. The Air Force data will push to allow those who were includes the Space Force.

Defense officials also sug“unlawfully in my opin-The Roundtable Join Ourpurged, Facebook Page: Talkhave Podcast ion, to be reentered into the mili- gested that in many cases those tary with their full benefits, their who refused the order and were back pay, and be granted what they discharged were in the very early should have been given, which is stages of their military enlistment.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

OPINION

3

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | NEWT GINGRICH

The biggest scandal in American history

Fauci knew all this.

WE ARE LIVING THROUGH the largest, deadliest scandal in American history, but the elite media refuses to connect the dots and analyze it.

COVID-19, a disease no one disputes came from Wuhan, China, has killed more than 1.1 million Americans and more than 38 million people worldwide.

It has left millions of others with chronic health problems.

Because of the teachers’ unions and totally misguided, destructive public health policies, children who were under virtually no risk from COVID-19 have lost at least a year of education.

Many children are suffering from depression and other mental health challenges from the forced isolation and lack of social contact.

Now, it is becoming more clear that much of this pain was avoidable — and the result of powerful government employees protecting themselves. As Jarrett Stepman in The Daily Signal wrote: “In 2020, if you thought it was possible COVID-19 came from a lab in China you were labeled a conspiracy theorist, a peddler of misinformation, ‘bonkers,’ and a racist.

“Facebook and other social media removed the lab leak claim from their apps or slapped ‘misinformation’ labels on it. Facebook did so in lockstep with the government.

“So according to the standard set in 2020, the Department of Energy just came out as a racist purveyor of misinformation this week.

“The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that, according to a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and Congress, the Department of Energy concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic likely came from a lab leak. ‘”The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research,’ the Wall Street Journal report said.”

President Donald Trump called it “the Chinese Virus” and was intensely attacked. Somehow word “Chinese” was deemed racist. No one disputes that the virus originated in China. But calling it COVID-19 rather than the Chinese virus was more polite. (After all, it’s important to indicate an appropriate sensitivity to the totalitarian dictatorship that is trying to defeat the United States and become the world’s leading power).

We now know this censorship and speech silencing was part of a systematic effort of senior scientists to mislead the American people. When COVID-19 first became a threat in early 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci already knew the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had funded research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology via EcoHealth Alliance. He knew the WIV was a subgrantee of EcoHealth Alliance — and that EcoHealth Alliance was not in compliance with its grant reporting. Specifically, the organization was out of compliance for a project that NIAID knew could potentially make novel bat-borne coronaviruses much more dangerous.

Fauci knew all this.

According to Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, on Feb. 1, 2020, “Dr. Fauci, Dr. Collins, and at least eleven other scientists convened a conference call to discuss COVID-19. On the conference call, Drs. Fauci and Collins were first warned that COVID-19 may have leaked from the WIV and may have been intentionally genetically manipulated.”

The scientists decided to remain silent to avoid controversy (which would have ultimately fallen back on themselves).

So, the same experts who are paid by the American people and given tens of billions of dollars to invest in research decided that they would deliberately mislead the American people.

This perfectly captures the arrogance of the aristo-bureaucrats, who believe they are intellectually and morally superior to the people to whom they are supposed to be accountable.

They believe they have the right and duty to censor what we think and say — and to feed us falsehoods in the name of some higher duty.

This scandal of many of our best professional researchers lying to the American people is compounded by the absolute failure of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why there has not been a scathing and thorough investigation — and set of hearings on the absolute inability of the bureaucrats in Atlanta to do their jobs — and the general failure of the public health system across the country is a mystery to me. This lack of introspection or investigation should itself be a scandal.

Driven by the economic impact of the Chinese virus, the American government spent trillions of dollars propping up the economy, sparking inflation, massively increasing the national debt, and permitting hundreds of billions in theft and corruption.

Finally, there has been no serious effort to hold the Chinese Communist dictatorship accountable for the damage it has done around the world. There is ample precedent for holding governments responsible for the damage they have done to others (the Lockerbie bombing, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, 9/11, and other cases).

The Chinese Communists have continuously focused on stopping us from understanding the origins of the pandemic. As Dave Boyer reported in the Washington Times, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray confirmed his agency believes the COVID-19 pandemic likely started from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. He told Fox News on Tuesday that “the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan… Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.

As Boyer reported, “Mr. Wray also slammed Beijing for stonewalling international efforts to find out what happened. ‘I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart, and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,’ he said.”

Clearly there ought to be a mechanism for making the Chinese Communist dictatorship pay COVID-19 victims for the disaster it caused. One step might be a COVID-19 tariff on all Chinese imports (the proceeds of which would go into a COVID-19 Compensation Fund that every American family affected by the pandemic could apply to).

Other countries could be urged to establish similar tariffs. Then Xi Jinping and his dictatorship would learn that lying, covering up, and hiding the truth has enormous costs for those guilty of killing millions and forcing the spending of trillions.

This scandal is so large, and covers so many areas, it will be a major factor in politics and government for the next decade. It will go down in history as a turning point in our lives and the life of our country.

We just need to decide what direction we turn: toward clarity and accountability, or toward lies and chaos.

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The greatest cover-up in human history

A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation.

FIRST, IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY a conspiracy theory.

Then, it was banned.

Finally, it was true.

The so-called “lab leak” theory of the origins of COVID-19 — the theory that COVID-19 originated in at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was unintentionally loosed — was always the most probable explanation for the outbreak of the deadly virus. After all, as Jon Stewart correctly joked in 2021, “’Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’ The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

But for well over a year, it was considered verboten to mention the lab leak theory. When Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posited the possibility of a lab leak in February 2020, he was roundly mocked by the media. The New York Times headlined, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Scientific American headlined — in March 2022! — “The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” Facebook actively quashed attempts to disseminate the theory; Dr. Anthony Fauci went on national television and downplayed the theory.

Why? Two reasons are obvious. The first: powerful institutions had a stake in downplaying the Chinese origins of the virus in order to shift blame to the rest of the world. Certainly, that was China’s game: In all likelihood, COVID-19 was spreading in China as early as October 2019, and the government covered it up for months. But that was also the game of the World Health Organization.

Members of the American government like Fauci also had a stake in smothering questions about American funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

Then there’s the second reason: all the wrong people were repeating the lab leak theory. As one of MSNBC’s resident hacks, Mehdi Hasan, admitted on Twitter, “The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab

leak’ theory is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists.” As Nate Silver correctly noted, “The Bad People thought the lab leak might be true, therefore as journalists we couldn’t be expected to actually evaluate the evidence for it.”

Herein lies a lesson: A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation. Claims are not to be evaluated on their own merits; instead, we can simply determine whether a claim ought to be supported based on those who posit it. This helps to explain why political crossover has become nearly impossible: We’re not judging the claims of our opponents; we’re judging each other. And this means that we can discard any argument simply by dint of the fact that we don’t like the person offering it.

Among members of the general population, this is a problem, but not a fundamental one. But among those who pose as “experts” — the people who are supposed to serve as guides for people who outsource their political information, from media to scientific institutions — it’s a fatal error. After all, experts are supposed to be impartial adjudicators of the evidence. That’s their entire job. We can evaluate on our own who we don’t like — but we often need help to determine whether an argument has merit or not. When experts become “just like us,” they undermine their raison d’etre.

And that’s precisely what happened with COVID-19. Whether it was ignoring the actual evidence regarding masks and mask mandates, the evidence regarding post-vaccination transmissibility or the evidence regarding the lab leak theory, experts decided that the (SET ITAL) wrong people (END ITAL) had to be ignored. But they were wrong. And now they have no credibility left.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

4

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Duke men return to AP Top 25 Indianapolis Duke returned to The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the first time since falling out in midJanuary after opening the year at No. 7. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils (23-8) to six straight wins to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s win at North Carolina for a rivalry sweep that wounded UNC’s iffy NCAA Tournament hopes. Duke was last ranked in the Jan. 9 poll. Houston remained No. 1, followed by UCLA, Kansas, Alabama and Purdue.

NFL

Seahawks, QB Smith agree on 3-year deal Renton, Wash.

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year contract that keeps the AP comeback player of the year in the Pacific Northwest.

NFL Network and The Score reported the deal could be worth up to $105 million.

Smith led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and a playoff berth as the last wild card in the NFC. He threw for a careerhigh 4,282 yards, setting a franchise record, with 30 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions, completed 399 passes and led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Iowa settles race bias lawsuit using taxpayer money Iowa City, Iowa Iowa taxpayers are on the hook for half of a $4 million settlement in the lawsuit brought by former Iowa football players who alleged racial discrimination in coach Kirk Ferentz’s program. A State Appeal Board voted 2-1 on Monday to approve the use of $2 million for the $4.175 million settlement over the objection of State Auditor Rob Sand, a board member who said athletic director Gary Barta should be fired for a series of lawsuits ending in settlements under his watch.

The agreement calls for $2.85 million to be divided among 12 players and $1.9 million to go to Solomon-Simmons Law for fees and expenses.

Virginia Tech beats Louisville for 1st ACC women’s title The Hokies have won 11 straight entering the NCAA Tournament The Associated Press GREENSBORO — Kenny Brooks walked over to an end-zone section of Virginia Tech fans and gave a fist-pumping release as his players climbed steps to cut down a piece of the net.

A few minutes later, Brooks was up there himself, snipping down the final strand hanging from the rim before turning to Hokies fans and leading a “Let’s go Hokies!” chant.

The moment had finally arrived for Brooks and his eighth-ranked Hokies, who continued their late-season tear by beating Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Brooks said on the court as his players celebrated around him.

It came with another strong scoring effort from Georgia Amoore, who scored 25 points and earned tournament MVP honors for the third-seeded Hokies (27-4). There

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech forward Taylor Soule celebrates before cutting a piece of the net after the Hokies defeated Louisville to win the ACC Women’s Tournament on Sunday in Greensboro. was two-time league player of the year Elizabeth Kitley adding another 20 points in her role as the inside constant. And there was Taylor Soule, emerging from a scoreless first half to provide the third-quarter lift that helped keep the Hokies on course for their 11th straight win.

Virginia Tech’s first trip to the

ACC title game into a strong finishing act, pushing to a double-digit lead before halftime and keeping the Cardinals at arm’s distance the rest of the way. And that capped a three-game run in Greensboro in which the Hokies trailed for a total of 3 minutes, 15 seconds — all in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“I think all of us knew we were

going to win,” Kitley said. “From the start of the tournament, we’ve been talking about it. Obviously we’ve been taking it day by day, game by game. But definitely throughout the game we all knew that we had it and we didn’t lose our cool, even when they were hitting big shots.”

Before Sunday, the Hokies had been as far as the ACC semifinals only once since joining the league for the 2004-05 season — and that came last year. Now they’re celebrating a milestone victory under Brooks, who has built this program to the top of the league in Year 7.

When the horn finally sounded, Kitley and Kayana Traylor skipped to midcourt to meet the rushing mob of players and coaches from the Hokies sideline headed for a midcourt celebration as the streamers and confetti dropped from the Greensboro Coliseum rafters.Louisville made its closest push in the frantic final seconds to within 7367 on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. But Kitley hit two critical free throws with 15.1 seconds to go that pushed the lead back to eight for what turned out to be the final margin.

This was the Cardinals’ fourth finals appearance, the first being a title win in 2018 followed by losses to Notre Dame in 2019 and North Carolina State on a late basket in 2021. Their first two wins came against Wake Forest and No. 10 Notre Dame, which had taken regular-season meetings against them.

Byron wins at Las Vegas as Hendrick dominates The team finished 1-2-3 despite being minus Chase Elliott The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — One way or another, a Hendrick Motorsports driver figured to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson nearly won the Pennzoil 400 in regulation, but a late caution put teammate William Byron in position to capture the checkered flag in overtime.

Byron took the lead on the penultimate lap of OT to put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron, Larson and Alex Bowman pushing their Chevrolets across the finish line in that order.

Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup seasons.

“I’ve led a lot of laps in a couple of races, but to be this good with this team is definitely a good sign,” Byron said. “It’s a different feeling for me having a team around me that can execute that well. That’s just a team effort.”

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps,” Larson said. “I don’t remember many of those working out in my favor.”

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. in

AP PHOTO

William Byron celebrates with his team after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas. his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota choosing to stay out. Byron, in the No. 24 Chevy, came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex after the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages for the first time in his career. Truex in 2017 and Kevin Harvick in 2018 also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win.

The fourth Hendrick driver and 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, will begin physical therapy Monday, his team owner Rick Hendrick told Fox Sports.

Elliott had surgery Friday to repair a fractured tibia, and Hendrick said Elliott has returned to his home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Elliott was injured in a snow-

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps.”

Kyle Larson boarding accident Friday. He and his family own a home in Vail, Colorado.

Elliott joked on Twitter “that the formal request I submitted for a slight edit to the March section of my script was indeed… declined.”

“In all seriousness, the support I’ve received over the last couple of

days is far greater than I deserve,” he posted in a follow-up tweet. “I want to thank everyone who has lended it over in any form!”

Josh Berry took Elliott’s seat in the No. 9 Chevy and finished 29th.

Hendrick general manager Jeff Andrews said a decision would be made on who drives that car next weekend at Phoenix.

Bubba Wallace, who drives the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota, finished fourth. He was the top finisher not part of the Hendrick garage.

“It was right there in the top seven or eight the whole time,” Wallace said. “I was going to settle for sixth and the caution came out.

My car fired off really, really good (on the restart), the best it had all race.”

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

5

Brady, Brown prove combine flops can become NFL stars Measurements and 40 times aren’t everything when it comes to evaluating talent The Associated Press LONG BEFORE the NFL’s annual scouting combine became a prime-time football fix for fans ahead of free agency and the draft, Mike Mamula absolutely killed it as a combine trailblazer in 1995.

He was among the first players to train specifically for the staple of tests he’d face at the combine: the 40-yard dash that measures speed, the three-cone drill that calculates agility and the 225-pound bench press that gauges strength and stamina.

After his impressive showing in Indy, Mamula rocketed into the first round, where the Philadelphia Eagles traded the 12th overall pick and two second-round selections to Tampa Bay so they could move up five spots and get the Boston College defensive end at No. 7.

Mamula proved more of a workout warrior than Sunday star in his solid five-year career with the Eagles, illustrating the inexact nature of projecting professional success at the combine, where studs can eventually turn out to be duds and flops can turn out to be outstanding players.

Although some prospects skip certain components of the combine and choose to show off in more familiar surroundings at their college pro day or in visits with specific teams, the vast majority now target the week in Indianapolis just like Mamula did.

The only thing that went right for Oklahoma tackle Orlando Brown Jr. at the 2018 scouting combine was the vote of confidence from his Heisman Trophy-winning teammate.

“When are you ever going to watch Orlando Brown run 40 yards down the field?” quarterback Baker Mayfield asked that week. “You can watch last year’s tape and see he allowed zero sacks. I’d say that’s pretty

important for a left tackle.”

Measures matter, too, however, and he fell from a projected first-rounder to the third round of the draft, where the Baltimore Ravens took a flyer on him with the 83rd overall pick.

The nearly 6-foot-8, 345-pound left tackle managed just 14 reps on the 225-pound bench press, the lowest total of any lineman who lifted at the combine that year.

Things only got worse for the son of former Browns and Ravens right tackle Orlando Brown a day later when he lumbered through the 40-yard dash in 5.85 seconds. Even by big O-linemen standards, that’s sloth-like slow, and it was the slowest of anyone at that year’s event.

Brown, whose broad and vertical jumps were also the lowest of all players, was undeterred by his wretched week at the combine.

“I’ve been fat my whole life,” he explained. “I wish I was fast.”

Brown, however, made the Pro Bowl in his second season and has made every one since. Last month

AP PHOTO

Oklahoma offensive lineman Orlando Brown participates in the 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. he won a Super Bowl ring while anchoring Kansas City’s stout offensive line, and he’s in line for another huge paycheck this spring.

Another player who looked overmatched at his combine was none other than seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.

We’ve all seen the official combine photo of the scrawny Brady with uneven bangs standing expressionless in baggy shorts at the 2000 combine where he was a late-round

prospect hoping for a chance.

Brady ran the 40 in a turtle-like 5.28 seconds and posted an unimpressive 24 1/2-inch vertical jump.

The only radar he was on was that of the New England Patriots, where head coach Bill Belichick and general manager Scott Pioli were just months into their new jobs and targeted a QB in the later rounds.

They selected Brady in the sixth round after 198 other players were drafted, including seven quarterbacks.

AP PHOTO

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was suspended by the team after a video on social media circulated that appeared to show him holding a gun at a club.

No timetable for Morant’s return during ‘healing process’ The NBA is investigating a social media post that showed the Grizzlies guard holding a gun The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — There’s no timetable for Ja Morant to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, and the AllStar guard knows he’s made “difficult decisions and poor choices” that he has to be accountable for, coach Taylor Jenkins said Sunday night.

Morant was not with the team in Los Angeles for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers

on Tuesday while the NBA investigates a social media post in which Morant appeared to be holding a gun.

“Very tough moment, for sure,” Jenkins said of the video.

Morant streamed the video on his Instagram account early Saturday of himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub, hours after playing in Denver. He said in a statement through the agency that represents him that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and that he was going to “take some time away to get help.”

On Monday, police in Colorado said they were investigating Mo-

rant’s actions and whether he may have broken any laws. Morant’s video is believed to have been filmed in Glendale, a small enclave surrounded by Denver and known for its strip clubs and shopping centers.

Capt. Jamie Dillon said police did not receive any calls or complaints about Morant’s actions but began looking into them Saturday after learning about the video circulating online.

The Grizzlies coach said Morant understands he’s made “some difficult decisions and poor choices in the past.”

“He’s definitely embracing the mistakes that he’s made, but only

time will tell,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to support him and we’re going to hold him accountable to make those changes.”

Jenkins declined to outline the steps Morant needs to take to rejoin the team, saying: “We love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. It’s going to be a difficult process, but we’ve got a great group to get through this.”

He called it “an ongoing healing process.”

The league, if it finds wrongdoing, could fine or suspend Morant.

Morant also was the subject of a league investigation after a Jan. 29 incident in Memphis that he said led

to a friend of his being banned from home games for a year. That incident occurred after a game against the Indiana Pacers. Multiple media outlets reported that members of the Pacers saw a red dot pointed at them, and a team security guard believed the laser was attached to a gun.

The NBA confirmed that unnamed individuals were banned from the arena but said its investigation found no evidence that anyone was threatened with a weapon.

“This is a tough time for a young kid that’s got to grow and get better,” Jenkins said. “He’s got huge responsibilities not just for the team, for the city, but I know how he’s built with that care factor and what steps he’s now taking. It’s a step in the direction of really being the best version of himself.”

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

6

Murdaugh testimony only confirmed his guilt, jurors say The Associated Press WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh didn’t help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday.

Murdaugh’s testimony only managed to cement what they were already thinking — that he easily lied and could turn on and off his tears at will, the jurors said on the NBC Today show.

The key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty, they said, was a video on his son’s cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the same kennels near where the bodies were found at their sprawling estate in rural South Carolina.

Murdaugh’s voice can be heard on the video even though he insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night. Investigators didn’t see the video for more than a year before advances in hacking enabled them to unlock Paul Murdaugh’s iPhone.

They shared it with the defense ahead of the trial.

When he took the stand, the first thing Murdaugh did was admit he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

“The kennel video, that just kind of sealed the deal,” juror

AP PHOTO

Alex Murdaugh speaks with his legal team before he is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and son by Judge Clifton Newman at the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday, March 3, 2023 in in Walterboro, S.C. Gwen Generette said.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul, with two shotgun blasts and his 52-yearold wife, Maggie, with four or five rifle shots.

The now-disbarred lawyer maintained his innocence when he was sentenced Friday to spend

the rest of his life in prison for the murders.

Murdaugh was convicted in the same court circuit where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as the elected prosecutor for more than 80 years. Murdaugh’s family founded the area’s most powerful law firm a century ago. For decades, that meant that practically

anyone who ended up in court on either side of the law in Colleton or Hampton counties would have a Murdaugh watching their back or staring them down.

His background was part of the reason jurors didn’t find his testimony believable.

“We already know that he’s a lawyer. He’s able to be emotional with cases. He’s able to be emo-

tional with himself. He knows ... when to turn it on and off. So I think that we were able to read right through that,” juror James McDowell said.

Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty, and the judge handed down the harshest possible sentence he could — consecutive life sentences without parole.

Murdaugh admitted stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit. Before he was charged with murder, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 other charges, ranging from insurance fraud to tax evasion.

Defense attorneys said they will base an appeal largely on the judge’s decision to allow jurors to hear evidence of crimes Murdaugh has not been convicted of, which they say smeared his reputation.

After six intense weeks at the courthouse in Walterboro, key players returned to their normal lives.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters, whose love of the guitar was a favorite bit of chatter among true crime fans, tweeted a video of himself jamming. Judge Clifton Newman was seen in a courtside seat rooting for South Carolina to win the Southeastern Conference title in women’s basketball.

And defense lawyer Jim Griffin, admonished during the trial for tweeting an opinion piece criticizing the investigation, returned to Twitter with a post that said “Walterboro, you were a gracious host. Happy Trails.” He included a photo of his head stuck through the hole of a painting of a cowboy riding a chicken, with “I was at the Murdaugh trial” written at the top.

DeSantis, Trump set to visit Iowa, ramping up 2024 moves The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump are each headed to Iowa in the coming weeks, making their first trips of the year to the leadoff Republican voting state as the 2024 campaign ramps up.

DeSantis has scheduled events on March 10 in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport and the state capital, Des Moines, to promote his new book, “The Courage to be Free.” His plans were confirmed by two aides to Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because they were not authorized to preempt DeSantis’ announcement.

Trump’s campaign subsequently announced that the former president would be making an education policy speech in Davenport on March 13, his first Iowa visit since he launched his 2024 campaign in November.

“It’s going from ground zero right to the moon,” said Gloria Mazza, the Republican party chair in Polk County, Iowa’s most populous county. “It sure gets us excited.”

Although DeSantis is not yet a candidate, his trip is a significant step for a governor who has positioned himself as a top alternative to Trump. Until now, he has largely been content to lead conservative cultural fights on cable TV and from the Florida statehouse, where he is focused on expanding

AP PHOTO

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. his rightward agenda in the legislative session that runs through May. The closely timed Iowa visits would draw the two leading Republicans closer toward direct

competition. Trump has escalated his attacks on DeSantis in recent months as he increasingly views him as a major threat, deriding the governor on social media and trying out insulting nicknames.

For his part, DeSantis responded to questions about one such Trump jab last month by saying he does not spend his time “trying to smear other Republicans.”

Trump attended events last

month in early-voting states New Hampshire and South Carolina, and this month’s Iowa visit would be his first trip to the state as an official 2024 candidate.

He would face pressure to do well in Iowa next year, having finished in second place in the 2016 caucuses en route to the Republican presidential nomination and carrying Iowa by healthy margins in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

After a quiet start to the year, Republican presidential prospects have been flocking to Iowa in recent weeks and making plans for future visits.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her candidacy last month, was in Iowa in late February and plans to return next week to host two town halls and participate in a foreign policy event with Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in Des Moines.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is considering a bid, was in the state last month rallying conservative parents against a gender-affirming policy in an eastern Iowa school district at issue in a federal lawsuit. Pence is expected back in Iowa on March 18.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another likely 2024 candidate, was in the Des Moines area last week to deliver a speech at Drake University and headline a Polk County Republican Party fundraiser.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

obituaries

Richard Earl Cummings

November 10, 1942 ~ March 5, 2023 Mr. Richard Earl Cummings, of Raeford NC, passed away on March 05, 2023, in his home, surrounded by his family.

Richard was born in Hoke County, NC on November 10, 1942, to the late Richard and Lanties Cummings.

He was preceded in death by his son, Delbert (Zack) Cummings, and daughter, Angela Cummings.

Richard started his own plumbing company in 1984, which has become a family business, run by his sons. He was a student pilot and enjoyed airplanes and airshows. He loved to travel and spending time with his grandkids.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Pauline Peavy Cummings; four children, David Earl Cummings (Leslie), Sharlene Cummings, Richard Earl Cummings, Brenda McKoy (Calvin); a multitude of grandchildren and greatgrandchildren; four sisters, and five brothers.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in NSJ at obits@northstatejournal.com

Carolyn Blue

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James Ely Jr.

March 6, 1955 ~ March 4, 2023

July 14, 1947 ~ March 2, 2023

Ms. Carolyn Blue age, 67 went home to rest with her heavenly father on March 4, 2023. She was the daughter of the late Willie and Leola Blue.

Carolyn leaves to cherish her loving memories her son, Howard Lamont Blue; sisters: Brenda L. Blue, Barbara A. McMillan, Dorothy McDaniel, Wanda Faye Blue; brother, Hundo L. Blue; aunt, Eva Mae Boykin; uncle, Clifton Smith; five grandchildren, four great grandchildren along with a host of other family and friends. Caroyln will be greatly missed.

Mr. James C. Ely Jr. age, 75 went home to rest with his heavenly father on March 2, 2023. He was the son of the late James Calvin Ely Sr. and Mary Lou Ely. He leaves to cherish his loving memories his wife, Ellen Ely; children: James Calvin Ely III, Calvin Donell Ely, Cassandra Ulonda-Ely McGregor; sister, Marilyn Pelzer, four grandchildren, one great grandchild along with a host of other family and friends. James will be greatly missed.

Zeb Vance Butler, Jr.

Karen Anita (Stokes) Goulart

May 10, 1938 ~ February 28, 2023

January 12, 1972 ~ February 26, 2023

Mr. Zeb Butler, Jr., of Raeford, passed away on February 28, 2023, in his home.

Zeb was born in St. Paul’s, NC on May 10, 1938, to the late Zeb, Sr. and Nettie Butler.

He grew up in Hoke County and enjoyed gardening and fishing. He was a member of the Raeford Evangelical Methodist Church.

Zeb is survived by his wife of 65 years, Faye Bruce Butler; 5 children, Sammy Butler (Joan), Tammy Burton (Tracy), Bruce Butler (Nan), Ronnie Butler, and Roger Butler (Pam).

Karen Anita Stokes Goulart, of Raeford NC, passed away on Sunday, February 26, 2023.

Karen was born in Cumberland County on January 12, 1972, to the late Billy and Leta Stokes.

She loved children and worked as a preschool teacher when she was younger. Karen often spoke of her two children being her biggest blessing in life. She was also a dog lover and volunteered with the local animal rescue. Karen struggled for many years with her health, but never gave up.

She is survived by her two children, Melissa Stokes, and Jacob Goulart; two siblings, Shelly Stokes, and Elizabeth Stokes- Kunts; two nieces, Shayla Stokes, and Regan Kunts; and one great niece, Mya Murray.

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North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

8

STATE & NATION GOP senators: Computer chip money underwriting ‘woke’ agenda The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican senators are accusing the Biden administration of using $39 billion meant to build computer chip factories to further “woke” ideas such as requiring some recipients to offer child care and encouraging the use of union labor.

The administration has countered that these elements of the funding guidelines announced Tuesday will improve the likelihood of attracting companies to build the semiconductor factories and people to work there — a key challenge that could determine the program’s success. It sees the guidelines as a starting point for working with companies to ensure value for taxpayers.

The tension is an example of the partisan mistrust that can arise in Washington even on an agenda item that lawmakers from both parties say is vital for U.S. national security. Republicans say the administration, in implementing the law, is trying to squeeze in priorities that please the Democratic base. They also argue that the guidelines will increase the cost

of constructing semiconductor plants and will poison any sense of ongoing trust.

“What President Biden is doing by jamming woke and green agenda items into legislation we pass is making it harder for him to ever get legislation passed again,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who voted for the law.

But in the grand scheme, administration officials say, the guidelines can help to address two fundamental challenges to the government’s plans to transform the United States into the world leader in producing advanced computer chips: The companies need skilled labor and they need innovations that can reduce production costs.

If the investments are going to succeed, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said, the companies must find and train tens of thousands of workers, from welders to electrical engineers. More importantly, the industry needs scientific breakthroughs to halve the cost of making chips so the U.S. can compete with Asia, Raimondo told The Associated Press in an interview before the guide-

lines came out.

“Innovation happens when you go to solve big fat problems like cutting the cost of chip production in half,” Raimondo said. “That’s what we have to do.”

The money for the factories comes from the CHIPS and Science Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last August. It includes $11 billion for research, in addition to the $39 billion for building advanced computer chip factories. Tax incentives bring the total investment to $52 billion.

Chips are integrated circuits that are embedded in a semiconductor, a material — notably silicon — that can manage the flow of electric current. The terms “chip” and “semiconductor” are often used interchangeably. Computer chips are used in everything from autos to toys to advanced weapons, making them as fundamental for the digital era as iron and steel were in the industrial age.

Administration officials said the factories could have an easier time attracting workers if child care is provided to parents at an “affordable” rate by companies that would receive $150 mil-

lion or more in government backing. Similarly, companies seeking the money are given a preference if they use labor agreements for construction, a boost for building trade unions. The White House, in a 2022 executive order, said that can ensure projects are completed on time.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said no prospective applicant has complained about the child care provision. The official added that TSMC and Samsung — two possible applicants — already provide child care at their facilities in Taiwan and South Korea, respectively.

Researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank focused on national security, described the child care provisions as necessary for the “fabs,” the chip industry’s term for factories.

“It is not, as some have wrongly argued, an issue of social policy,” wrote Sujai Shivakumar and Charles Wessner, both at CSIS. There are roughly 360,000 jobs in semiconductor production, ac-

cording to the Labor Department.

Announced projects tied to the possibility of government support could add 200,000 more jobs, including 36,000 directly tied to computer chips, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

That same report noted that the U.S. leads in terms of designing chips and the equipment to manufacture them. But more than 70% of the chips produced globally come from China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea — an economic and military weakness for the U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the mandates for accessing government support would raise the cost of completing the factories planned by Intel, Micron and Wolfspeed, which plans to make silicon wafers in his state.

“What we’re beginning to do is discount the value of the investment that we’re making,” Tillis said. “I think that what we’re doing is social engineering.”

Raimondo, when asked if the law could get tripped up by politics, said: “You always worry.

Washington’s unpredictable. And politics is crazy.”

Federal Reserve officials sound warnings about higher rates

ue to come in too hot,” he said, the Fed’s key rate “will have to be raised this year even more to ensure that we do not lose the momentum that was in place” before the robust January economic reports.

Over the past year, the Fed has raised short-term rates at the fastest pace in four decades to try to curb the worst inflation since the early 1980s. Those hikes have led to higher rates across the economy: Mortgage rates have nearly doubled, to 6.7%, and auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans

have become more expensive.

The Fed’s goal is to cool the economy by raising the cost of borrowing and slowing business and consumer spending. More modest growth would likely help slow inflation to the Fed’s 2% target. Fed officials next meet March 21-22, when they are expected to raise their key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.9%.

In recent weeks, several reports suggested that the economy was stronger and inflation more persistent than previous data had in-

dicated. The economy gained an enormous total of more than half a million jobs in January, and the unemployment rate reached a 53-year low of 3.4%.

Inflation data was also revised higher and came in hotter than expected in January. Waller noted that for the final three months of last year, core inflation — which excludes the volatile food and energy categories — was revised up from an annual rate of 3.1% to 4.3%. It then rose to 4.6% in January.

“Although inflation has been

coming down since the middle of last year,” Waller said, “the recent data indicate that we haven’t made as much progress as we thought.”

Other Fed officials have also expressed unease about the reports showing higher inflation and hotter growth. Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, recently said, “I lean towards continuing to raise further.”

“These are concerning data points, suggesting that we’re not making progress as quickly as we would like,” Kashkari said.

And last Thursday, Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he supports pushing rates to about 5.1% in the coming months, the same as projected in December.

He added that the Fed’s rate hikes may not start to bite until this summer, so the Fed needs to be cautious about tightening credit too far and causing a recession.

Yet Bostic also added, “There is a case to be made that we need to go higher.”

“Jobs have come in stronger than we expected,” Bostic said. “Inflation is remaining stubborn at elevated levels. Consumer spending is strong. Labor markets remain quite tight.”

Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Bloomberg News that the Fed “needs to do a little more” to raise rates and to keep them elevated for an extended period.

to scale them back in negotiations last year.

“Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, our economy and our entire health care system,” said Abby Emanuelson, executive director of Care4Carolina, a coalition of over 165 groups that has worked for expansion since 2014.

For years, Republicans in charge

of the General Assembly since 2011 had been suspicious of expansion, even passing a 2013 law to block the executive branch from trying to accept expansion on its own.

But GOP lawmakers slowly came around as the Affordable Care Act and the 90% federal share didn’t get repealed by Congress, diminishing worries that state government would have to foot ever

more of the costs. And local Republican county leaders endorsed expansion.

A turning point came last spring when Berger explained his switch to supporting it, adding at the time: “If there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”

North Carolina currently has 2.9 million Medicaid recipients.

The state Department of Health and Human Services has said up to 300,000 current beneficiaries could lose full coverage as states soon must conduct annual eligibility verifications again following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many being removed would requalify through Medicaid expansion, DHHS said.

The Associated Press A RUN OF STRONG economic data and signs that inflation remains stubbornly high could lead the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate higher in the coming months than it has previously forecast, several Fed officials say.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s influential Board of Governors, said last week that if the economy continued to show strength and inflation remained elevated, the central bank would have to lift its key rate above 5.4%.

That would be higher than Fed officials had signaled in December, when they projected it would peak at roughly 5.1% this year.

“Recent data suggest that consumer spending isn’t slowing that much, that the labor market continues to run unsustainably hot and that inflation is not coming down as fast as I had thought,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a business conference in Los Angeles.

His suggestion was in contrast to a speech he gave in January, titled “A Case for Cautious Optimism,” that captured a prevailing sentiment at the time that inflation had peaked and was steadily declining.

Even if data to be released later this month were to show hiring and inflation cooling again, Waller said, he would still favor raising the Fed’s rate to a range between 5% to 5.5%, up from about 4.6% now. And if the economic figures were to “contin-

MEDICAID from page 1 weeks and led to an agreement finalized late Wednesday, the legislators said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association, representing hospitals and health systems, commended legislators for Thursday’s agreement. The group backs certificate of need laws but offered some ways

In this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo, the seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO, FILE

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THE FORSYTH COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Deacs fall in ACC Hexes from the Demon Deacon mascot didn’t help, as the Wake Forest women’s basketball team fell in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Greensboro last week. The Deacs earned a spot in the quarters by beating Virginia and coming back from 18 points down to upset Florida State.

Wake now awaits a possible bid to the Women’s NIT to continue their season.

SHAWN KREST | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

COUNTY NEWS RJ Reynolds High School gets teaching garden grant Forsyth County The American Heart Association awarded 50 communities around the country with $2,500 grants to help expand their hands-on nutrition education programs with a teaching garden.

The fund will help create a garden on school grounds to provide healthy fruits and vegetables for lunches and snacks as well as being a teaching tool. The Heart Association said that the helps ” turn the outdoors into a classroom with an interactive nutrition curriculum to help kids make healthy food choices and build positive, lifelong nutrition habits.”

Winston-Salem’s RJ Reynolds High School PTSA was one of two recipients of a grant in North Carolina.

More than 250 communities applied for the Teaching Garden grants this year, the third year of the program. The Heart Association partnered with Caulipower, a producer of plantpowered food items, to provide the grants.

According to studies, children and teens have less than one serving of fruits and vegetables a day, on average, which puts them at higher risk for developing cardiovascular problems, childhood diabetes and high blood pressure.

Asheville’s Eliada Homes, a non-profit agency serving children and families in Western North Carolina, also received a $2,500 Teaching Garden grant.

HEART.ORG

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8

Annual audit report presented before Board of Commissioners Resolution to create and staff new animal services department officially approved

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal WINSTON-SALEM — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, February 16 with the annual audit report and various budgetary items on the agenda.

The meeting started with a presentation of the annual audit report.

“In terms of the financial statements in our government auditing standards report, we issued an unmodified opinion, which is the clean opinion and the highest level opinion that we can give under our auditing standards,” said Engagement Director Daniel Gougherty of Cherry Bekaert LLP, who performed the audit. “In terms of our compliance audit, that is still in the process of being completed and should be completed shortly.

We did have nine programs this year from federal and state dollars that needed to be tested and there’s one program that we’re still finishing up. But we intend

Area schools trail state, nation in reading and math Many parents not aware of children’s struggles at school The Associated Press HUGE NUMBERS of American schoolchildren are behind in school. Yet the vast majority of parents think their own child is performing at grade level.

The disconnect is not new, but after the COVID-19 school closures, the stakes for children have in many ways never been greater. Opportunities to catch up are available in some places, thanks to federal pandemic aid, but will likely dry up in the coming years.

It will take better communication with parents to help students get the tutoring, summer school and other support they need, experts say.

Schools have long struggled to communicate clearly with some parents about their children’s academic progress, especially when students aren’t doing well. That’s because teachers have historically not been trained to talk to parents and don’t feel supported by their principals to have difficult conversations with parents, experts say.

A 2022 survey of 1,400 public school parents around the country by Learning Heroes, a nonprofit, showed 92% believed their children were performing at grade level. But in a federal survey, school officials said half of all U.S. students started this school year behind grade level in at least one subject.

Things are even more dire in North Carolina, which saw a big drop in performance at grade level in reading and math from pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, a year before COVID-19 forced an interruption in the school year, North Carolina students were actually performing ahead of grade level, on average, in both reading an math. Scores showed that students were nearly a quarter of a year ahead of schedule at the time. Now, students are nearly half a year behind pace in math and a third of a year behind in reading. That translates to a drop of 0.71 grade levels in math over the last three years and of 0.53 grade levels in reading.

Black and Hispanic students saw a bigger drop than white students, but everyone fell behind grade level, based on the See SCHOOLS, page 2

issued later this fiscal year.”

The board also approved an amendment to the 2016 Forsyth Technical Community College Capital Projects Ordinance to align project costs.

“This aligns the project cost and so the item actually takes $32,500,000 out of reserved bond funds that were issued in subsequent years,” Watts said. “They are allocated to the Oak Grove project at $11.5 million, to the Learning Commons at $18,198,839 and to the Transportation Center at the amount of $2,801,161.”

The board approved three budget amendments, including $6,300 from the general fund to the Pay-Go Capital Project Ordinance to purchase security cameras at the recycling centers, $143,283 from the 2020 Motor Vehicles Mobile Equipment Re-

to issue an unmodified opinion on those reports..”

Following the audit report, the board approved various items, starting with the 2022 Capital Maintenance 2/3rds Bonds Capital Projects Ordinances.

“This has three parts,” said County Manager Dudley Watts.

“There’s $4 million for the county, $2 million for parts and $2 million for general services, the regular routine that’s performed every other year through these bond funds. The school’s component of it’s $10,235,000. And the community college’s portion of it is $2,300,000. These bonds will be See COMMISSIONERS, page 2

Republican legislators reach Medicaid expansion deal The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina legislative leaders announced last Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate Leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

Expansion gained momentum last year when the GOP-controlled state House and Senate approved, with strong bipartisan support, competing legislation

addressing it, but they failed to reach a deal. The key differences stemmed around other initiatives Senate Republicans insisted were needed to increase the number of medical providers to See MEDICAID, page 2

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

2 WEDNESDAY

WEEKLY FORECAST

3.8.23 #237

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“Join the conversation” Twin City Herald Neal Robbins Publisher Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Griffin Daughtry Local News Editor Shawn Krest Editor Cory Lavalette Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor Lauren Rose Design Editor

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DEATH NOTICES ♦ Ronald Alan Bartlett, 95, of Winston-Salem, died March 2, 2023. ♦ Virginia Stewart Bodsford, 89, of Lewisville, died March 2, 2023. ♦ Diane Buie Crichlow, 84, of Winston-Salem, died March 5, 2023. ♦ Alicia Michelle Pope Dye, 43, of Rowan County, died March 2, 2023. ♦ Stanley Eugene “Gene” Elmore, 83, of WinstonSalem, died March 1, 2023. ♦ Kenneth William Fahrbach, 96, of Winston-Salem, died March 3, 2023. ♦ Lavell Howard, 90, of Clemmons, died March 5, 2023. ♦ Luther Byrd Lott, 83, of Winston-Salem, died March 2, 2023. ♦ Richard Arthur Martin, 60, died March 1, 2023. ♦ Lindsey Pleban Miller, 40, of Winston-Salem, died March 2, 2023. ♦ Thomas Dorian Nelson, 45, died March 4, 2023. ♦ Harley “Bill” Lester Pennington, 91, of Lewisville, died March 3, 2023. ♦ Lenore Grace Warak Rohrer, 98, died March 4, 2023. ♦ Ian Charles Romaine, 8, died March 4, 2023. ♦ Henry Charles Sappington, 78, of Winston-Salem, died March 3, 2023.

SCHOOLS from page 1 latest data. Hisptanic students fell 0.89 grade levels, Blacks fell 0.86 and whites fell 0.66.

Area students trailed the rest of the state in the measures.

In Forsyth County/Winston-Salem schools, students fell 0.99 grade levels in math over the pandemic, starting at -.32 levels behind and finishing 1.31 grade levels off the pace. In reading, scores fell even more as students fell 1.07 grade levels, from 0.21 behind schedule to 1.28.

Again, Black and Hispanic students fell more than white students, and poor students saw bigger drops than nonpoor students, but every race and income level saw drops in performance over the three years that spanned the pandemic.

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COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The greatest cover-up in human history

Published each Wednesday as part of North State Journal 1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

FRIDAY

MAR 9

A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation.

FIRST, IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY a conspiracy theory.

Then, it was banned.

Finally, it was true.

The so-called “lab leak” theory of the origins of COVID-19 — the theory that COVID-19 originated in at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was unintentionally loosed — was always the most probable explanation for the outbreak of the deadly virus. After all, as Jon Stewart correctly joked in 2021, “’Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’ The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

But for well over a year, it was considered verboten to mention the lab leak theory. When Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posited the possibility of a lab leak in February 2020, he was roundly mocked by the media. The New York Times headlined, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Scientific American headlined — in March 2022! — “The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” Facebook actively quashed attempts to disseminate the theory; Dr. Anthony Fauci went on national television and downplayed the theory.

Why? Two reasons are obvious. The first: powerful institutions had a stake in downplaying the Chinese origins of the virus in order to shift blame to the rest of the world. Certainly, that was China’s game: In all likelihood, COVID-19 was spreading in China as early as October 2019, and the government covered it up for months. But that was also the game of the World Health Organization. Members of the American government like Fauci also had a stake in smothering questions about American funding for gain-offunction research in Wuhan.

Then there’s the second reason: all the wrong people were repeating the lab leak theory. As one of MSNBC’s resident hacks, Mehdi Hasan, admitted on Twitter, “The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab leak’ theory is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies.

Blame the conspiracy theorists.” As Nate Silver

MEDICAID from page 1

cover the additional enrollees.

Under the new agreement, senators obtained the loosening or elimination of “certificate of need” laws that require health regulators to sign off on plans to offer hospital beds for mental health and substance abuse patients, build ambulatory surgery centers or purchase MRI machines. But their demand that advanced-practice nurses be able to treat patients without a doctor’s supervision was left out.

“There are still some things that need to be done, but this is our agreement and I’m very comfortable with it,” Berger said.

The negotiated measure, built in part on an expansion measure approved overwhelmingly by the House two weeks ago, was still being drawn up and will need affirmative votes in both chambers.

The federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid recipients under expansion. Potentially 600,000 people in North Carolina could receive the benefit — those who make too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid but not enough to receive heavily subsi-

COMMISSIONERS from page 1

placement Projects Ordinance to the general fund to purchase non-capitalized equipment to upfit emergency vehicles and $121,850 from reserved Behavioral Health Services fund balance for repairs and updates to Sturmer House property to provide a 24-hour residential facility for qualifying youth in DSS custody.

The board also approved a resolution to create and staff a new animal services department for custody and care services at Forsyth County Animal Shelter with a half-year budget in the amount of $664,345.

The board then approved the ac-

correctly noted, “The Bad People thought the lab leak might be true, therefore as journalists we couldn’t be expected to actually evaluate the evidence for it.”

Herein lies a lesson: A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation. Claims are not to be evaluated on their own merits; instead, we can simply determine whether a claim ought to be supported based on those who posit it. This helps to explain why political crossover has become nearly impossible: We’re not judging the claims of our opponents; we’re judging each other. And this means that we can discard any argument simply by dint of the fact that we don’t like the person offering it.

Among members of the general population, this is a problem, but not a fundamental one. But among those who pose as “experts” — the people who are supposed to serve as guides for people who outsource their political information, from media to scientific institutions — it’s a fatal error. After all, experts are supposed to be impartial adjudicators of the evidence. That’s their entire job. We can evaluate on our own who we don’t like — but we often need help to determine whether an argument has merit or not.

When experts become “just like us,” they undermine their raison d’etre.

And that’s precisely what happened with COVID-19. Whether it was ignoring the actual evidence regarding masks and mask mandates, the evidence regarding post-vaccination transmissibility or the evidence regarding the lab leak theory, experts decided that the (SET ITAL) wrong people (END ITAL) had to be ignored. But they were wrong. And now they have no credibility left.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a threetime New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

dized health insurance that President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 law provides.

Under the agreement, the state’s 10% share would be paid through assessments paid by hospitals, which in turn benefit from getting reimbursed as they cover patients with Medicaid.

Officials say the state also would get an extra $1.8 billion over two years through a financial sweetener in a COVID-19 federal relief package from Congress for states that hadn’t accepted expansion.

And the package will include provisions that would result in higher reimbursements for hospital systems when they treat Medicaid patients — resulting in at least $3.2 billion in reimbursements during the next fiscal year for traditional Medicaid patients alone. That should help rural areas, where hospitals have closed or are in danger of closing.

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who has sought expansion since taking office in 2017, would be asked to sign any final measure into law. He tweeted that the agreement “is a monumental step that will save lives”

but wants it effective immediately to tap into more federal funds, making “sure we leverage the money that will save our rural hospitals and invest in mental health.”

Even if the law is approved this spring, Moore and Berger said it wouldn’t be effective until a separate state budget is enacted, likely by the early summer.

Cooper wasn’t involved in recent negotiations that lasted about four weeks and led to an agreement finalized late Wednesday, the legislators said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association, representing hospitals and health systems, commended legislators for Thursday’s agreement. The group backs certificate of need laws but offered some ways to scale them back in negotiations last year.

“Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, our economy and our entire health care system,” said Abby Emanuelson, executive director of Care4Carolina, a coalition of over 165 groups that has worked for expansion since 2014.

For years, Republicans in charge of the General Assembly

since 2011 had been suspicious of expansion, even passing a 2013 law to block the executive branch from trying to accept expansion on its own.

But GOP lawmakers slowly came around as the Affordable Care Act and the 90% federal share didn’t get repealed by Congress, diminishing worries that state government would have to foot ever more of the costs. And local Republican county leaders endorsed expansion.

A turning point came last spring when Berger explained his switch to supporting it, adding at the time: “If there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”

North Carolina currently has 2.9 million Medicaid recipients.

The state Department of Health and Human Services has said up to 300,000 current beneficiaries could lose full coverage as states soon must conduct annual eligibility verifications again following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many being removed would requalify through Medicaid expansion, DHHS said.

ceptance of two grants, one from the NC Department of Commerce for $2.4 million for a water and sewer infrastructure project in Tanglewood Business Park and a $72,000 One NC grant from the NC Department of Commerce to Nelipak Corporation that Forsyth County will act as the intermediary for.

The board also approved five ARPA funded projects including $601,898 to purchase a new HVAC system and resurface the facility playground at ABC of NC CHild Development Center, $150,000 for Piedmont Triad Regional Council to conduct research to address the crisis in I/DD housing and Wraparound services, $1 million to re-

place the HVAC system and add air filtration technologies at Hospice & Palliative Carecenter DBA Trellis Supportive Care to transition to a non-congregate setting for patients, $568,450 to Children’s Home Society of NC to open a Child First program, and $1.9 million to Horizons Residential Care Center for homes for clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “[The Horizons Residential Care Center funding] will purchase the construction of two, free-standing residential units housing six patients each at that campus,” Watts said In terms of contracts, the board authorized a $94,842.09 agree-

ment with West Chatham Warning Devices, Inc. to purchase equipment to upfit Ford Interceptors, a $85,000 agreement with Teledyne API to procure air pollution monitoring equipment, and a $621,700.50 agreement with Microsoft for management information services for three-years.

Finally, the board approved two property matters, including a lease agreement with Partners Health Management for county owned property located at 741 Highland Avenue and a revised contract with Ivy Lane to purchase real property at 7212 Doral Drive.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet March 2.

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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Duke men return to AP Top 25 Indianapolis Duke returned to The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the first time since falling out in mid-January after opening the year at No. 7. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils (23-8) to six straight wins to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s win at North Carolina for a rivalry sweep that wounded UNC’s iffy NCAA Tournament hopes.

Duke was last ranked in the Jan. 9 poll. Houston remained No. 1, followed by UCLA, Kansas, Alabama and Purdue.

NFL

Seahawks, QB Smith agree on 3-year deal Renton, Wash.

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year contract that keeps the AP comeback player of the year in the Pacific Northwest.

NFL Network and The Score reported the deal could be worth up to $105 million.

Smith led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and a playoff berth as the last wild card in the NFC. He threw for a career-high 4,282 yards, setting a franchise record, with 30 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions, completed 399 passes and led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Iowa settles race bias lawsuit using taxpayer money Iowa City, Iowa Iowa taxpayers are on the hook for half of a $4 million settlement in the lawsuit brought by former Iowa football players who alleged racial discrimination in coach Kirk Ferentz’s program. A State Appeal Board voted 2-1 on Monday to approve the use of $2 million for the $4.175 million settlement over the objection of State Auditor Rob Sand, a board member who said athletic director Gary Barta should be fired for a series of lawsuits ending in settlements under his watch. The agreement calls for $2.85 million to be divided among 12 players and $1.9 million to go to Solomon-Simmons Law for fees and expenses.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Wisconsin fires Granato as men’s hockey coach Madison, Wis. Wisconsin fired Tony Granato as men’s hockey coach on Monday after a second straight losing season. Granato posted a 105-129-16 overall mark and 65-87-2 Big Ten record during his seven seasons.

Wisconsin ended a 13-23 season Saturday, losing to Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 before spending 13 seasons as an NHL player and 13 more as either an NHL head or assistant coach. He still ranks third in school history in career goals and fourth in points.

But he couldn’t make Wisconsin a consistent winner after returning to his alma mater as head coach.

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech forward Taylor Soule celebrates before cutting a piece of the net after the Hokies defeated Louisville to win the ACC Women’s Tournament on Sunday in Greensboro.

Virginia Tech beats Louisville for 1st ACC women’s title The Hokies have won 11 straight entering the NCAA Tournament The Associated Press GREENSBORO — Kenny Brooks walked over to an endzone section of Virginia Tech fans and gave a fist-pumping release as his players climbed steps to cut down a piece of the net.

A few minutes later, Brooks was up there himself, snipping down the final strand hanging from the rim before turning to Hokies fans and leading a “Let’s go Hokies!” chant.

The moment had finally arrived for Brooks and his eighthranked Hokies, who continued their late-season tear by beating Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win

the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Brooks said on the court as his players celebrated around him.

It came with another strong scoring effort from Georgia Amoore, who scored 25 points and earned tournament MVP honors for the third-seeded Hokies (27-4).

There was two-time league player of the year Elizabeth Kitley adding another 20 points in her role as the inside constant. And there was Taylor Soule, emerging from a scoreless first half to provide the third-quarter lift that helped keep the Hokies on course for their 11th straight win.

Virginia Tech’s first trip to the ACC title game into a strong finishing act, pushing to a double-digit lead before halftime and keeping the Cardinals at arm’s

“I think all of us knew we were going to win.”

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech center distance the rest of the way. And that capped a three-game run in Greensboro in which the Hokies trailed for a total of 3 minutes, 15 seconds — all in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“I think all of us knew we were going to win,” Kitley said. “From the start of the tournament, we’ve been talking about it. Obviously we’ve been taking it day by day, game by game. But definitely throughout the game we all knew

that we had it and we didn’t lose our cool, even when they were hitting big shots.”

Before Sunday, the Hokies had been as far as the ACC semifinals only once since joining the league for the 2004-05 season — and that came last year. Now they’re celebrating a milestone victory under Brooks, who has built this program to the top of the league in Year 7.

When the horn finally sounded, Kitley and Kayana Traylor skipped to midcourt to meet the rushing mob of players and coaches from the Hokies sideline headed for a midcourt celebration as the streamers and confetti dropped from the Greensboro Coliseum rafters.Louisville made its closest push in the frantic final seconds to within 73-67 on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. But Kitley hit two critical free throws with 15.1 seconds to go that pushed the lead back to eight for what turned out to be the final margin.

This was the Cardinals’ fourth finals appearance, the first being a title win in 2018 followed by losses to Notre Dame in 2019 and North Carolina State on a late basket in

Byron wins at Las Vegas as Hendrick dominates The team finished 1-2-3 despite being minus Chase Elliott The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — One way or another, a Hendrick Motorsports driver figured to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson nearly won the Pennzoil 400 in regulation, but a late caution put teammate William Byron in position to capture the checkered flag in overtime.

Byron took the lead on the penultimate lap of OT to put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron, Larson and Alex Bowman pushing their Chevrolets across the finish line in that order.

Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup seasons.

“I’ve led a lot of laps in a couple of races, but to be this good with this team is definitely a good sign,” Byron said. “It’s a different feeling for me having a team around me that can execute that well. That’s just a team effort.”

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps,” Larson said. “I don’t remember many

AP PHOTO

William Byron celebrates with his team after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas. of those working out in my favor.”

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota choosing to stay out. Byron, in the No. 24 Chevy, came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex after the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages for the first time in his career. Truex in 2017 and Kevin Harvick in 2018 also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win.

The fourth Hendrick driver and 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, will begin physical therapy Monday, his team owner Rick

Hendrick told Fox Sports.

Elliott had surgery Friday to repair a fractured tibia, and Hendrick said Elliott has returned to his home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident Friday. He and his family own a home in Vail, Colorado.

Elliott joked on Twitter “that the formal request I submitted for a slight edit to the March section of my script was indeed… declined.”

“In all seriousness, the support I’ve received over the last couple of days is far greater than I deserve,” he posted in a follow-up tweet. “I want to thank everyone who has

lended it over in any form!”

Josh Berry took Elliott’s seat in the No. 9 Chevy and finished 29th.

Hendrick general manager Jeff Andrews said a decision would be made on who drives that car next weekend at Phoenix.

Bubba Wallace, who drives the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota, finished fourth. He was the top finisher not part of the Hendrick garage.

“It was right there in the top seven or eight the whole time,” Wallace said. “I was going to settle for sixth and the caution came out.

My car fired off really, really good (on the restart), the best it had all race.”

Twin City Herald for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

4

STATE & NATION

GOP senators: Computer chip money underwriting ‘woke’ agenda The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican senators are accusing the Biden administration of using $39 billion meant to build computer chip factories to further “woke” ideas such as requiring some recipients to offer child care and encouraging the use of union labor.

The administration has countered that these elements of the funding guidelines announced Tuesday will improve the likelihood of attracting companies to build the semiconductor factories and people to work there — a key challenge that could determine the program’s success. It sees the guidelines as a starting point for working with companies to ensure value for taxpayers.

The tension is an example of the partisan mistrust that can arise in Washington even on an agenda item that lawmakers from both parties say is vital for U.S. national security. Republicans say the administration, in implementing the law, is trying to squeeze in priorities that please the Democratic base. They also argue that the guidelines will increase the cost of constructing semiconductor plants and will poison any sense of ongoing trust.

“What President Biden is doing by jamming woke and green agenda items into legislation we pass is making it harder for him to ever get legislation passed again,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who voted for the law.

But in the grand scheme, administration officials say, the guidelines can help to address two fundamental challenges to the government’s plans to transform the United States into the world leader in producing advanced computer chips: The companies need skilled labor and they need innovations that can reduce production costs.

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks during an event to support legislation that would encourage domestic manufacturing and strengthen supply chains for computer chips in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, March 9, 2022, in Washington, D.C. If the investments are going to succeed, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said, the companies must find and train tens of thousands of workers, from welders to electrical engineers. More importantly, the industry needs scientific breakthroughs to halve the cost of making chips so the U.S. can compete with Asia, Raimondo told The Associated Press in an interview before the guidelines came out.

“Innovation happens when you go to solve big fat problems like cutting the cost of chip production in half,” Raimondo said. “That’s what we have to do.”

The money for the factories

comes from the CHIPS and Science Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last August. It includes $11 billion for research, in addition to the $39 billion for building advanced computer chip factories. Tax incentives bring the total investment to $52 billion.

Chips are integrated circuits that are embedded in a semiconductor, a material — notably silicon — that can manage the flow of electric current. The terms “chip” and “semiconductor” are often used interchangeably. Computer chips are used in everything from autos to toys to advanced weapons, making them as fundamental for the digital era as iron and steel

were in the industrial age.

Administration officials said the factories could have an easier time attracting workers if child care is provided to parents at an “affordable” rate by companies that would receive $150 million or more in government backing. Similarly, companies seeking the money are given a preference if they use labor agreements for construction, a boost for building trade unions. The White House, in a 2022 executive order, said that can ensure projects are completed on time.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conver-

Federal Reserve officials sound warnings about higher rates The Associated Press A run of strong economic data and signs that inflation remains stubbornly high could lead the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate higher in the coming months than it has previously forecast, several Fed officials say.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s influential Board of Governors, said last week that if the economy continued to show strength and inflation remained elevated, the central bank would have to lift its key rate above 5.4%.

That would be higher than Fed officials had signaled in December, when they projected it would peak at roughly 5.1% this year.

“Recent data suggest that consumer spending isn’t slowing that much, that the labor market continues to run unsustainably hot and that inflation is not coming down as fast as I had thought,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a business conference in Los Angeles.

His suggestion was in contrast to a speech he gave in January, titled “A Case for Cautious Optimism,” that captured a prevailing sentiment at the time that inflation had peaked and was steadily declining.

Even if data to be released lat-

AP PHOTO, FILE

In this Feb. 5, 2018, file photo, the seal of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System is displayed in the ground at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C. er this month were to show hiring and inflation cooling again, Waller said, he would still favor raising the Fed’s rate to a range between 5% to 5.5%, up from about 4.6% now. And if the economic figures were to “continue to come in too hot,” he said, the Fed’s key rate “will have to be raised this year

even more to ensure that we do not lose the momentum that was in place” before the robust January economic reports.

Over the past year, the Fed has raised short-term rates at the fastest pace in four decades to try to curb the worst inflation since the early 1980s. Those hikes have led

to higher rates across the economy: Mortgage rates have nearly doubled, to 6.7%, and auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans have become more expensive.

The Fed’s goal is to cool the economy by raising the cost of borrowing and slowing business and consumer spending. More modest growth would likely help slow inflation to the Fed’s 2% target. Fed officials next meet March 21-22, when they are expected to raise their key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.9%.

In recent weeks, several reports suggested that the economy was stronger and inflation more persistent than previous data had indicated. The economy gained an enormous total of more than half a million jobs in January, and the unemployment rate reached a 53year low of 3.4%.

Inflation data was also revised higher and came in hotter than expected in January. Waller noted that for the final three months of last year, core inflation — which excludes the volatile food and energy categories — was revised up from an annual rate of 3.1% to 4.3%. It then rose to 4.6% in January.

“Although inflation has been coming down since the middle of

sations, said no prospective applicant has complained about the child care provision. The official added that TSMC and Samsung — two possible applicants — already provide child care at their facilities in Taiwan and South Korea, respectively.

Researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank focused on national security, described the child care provisions as necessary for the “fabs,” the chip industry’s term for factories.

“It is not, as some have wrongly argued, an issue of social policy,” wrote Sujai Shivakumar and Charles Wessner, both at CSIS. There are roughly 360,000 jobs in semiconductor production, according to the Labor Department.

Announced projects tied to the possibility of government support could add 200,000 more jobs, including 36,000 directly tied to computer chips, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

That same report noted that the U.S. leads in terms of designing chips and the equipment to manufacture them. But more than 70% of the chips produced globally come from China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea — an economic and military weakness for the U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the mandates for accessing government support would raise the cost of completing the factories planned by Intel, Micron and Wolfspeed, which plans to make silicon wafers in his state.

“What we’re beginning to do is discount the value of the investment that we’re making,” Tillis said. “I think that what we’re doing is social engineering.”

Raimondo, when asked if the law could get tripped up by politics, said: “You always worry.

Washington’s unpredictable. And politics is crazy.”

last year,” Waller said, “the recent data indicate that we haven’t made as much progress as we thought.”

Other Fed officials have also expressed unease about the reports showing higher inflation and hotter growth. Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, recently said, “I lean towards continuing to raise further.”

“These are concerning data points, suggesting that we’re not making progress as quickly as we would like,” Kashkari said.

And last Thursday, Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he supports pushing rates to about 5.1% in the coming months, the same as projected in December. He added that the Fed’s rate hikes may not start to bite until this summer, so the Fed needs to be cautious about tightening credit too far and causing a recession.

Yet Bostic also added, “There is a case to be made that we need to go higher.”

“Jobs have come in stronger than we expected,” Bostic said.

“Inflation is remaining stubborn at elevated levels. Consumer spending is strong. Labor markets remain quite tight.”

Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Bloomberg News that the Fed “needs to do a little more” to raise rates and to keep them elevated for an extended period.

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VOLUME 8 ISSUE 2 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 | MOORE.NORTHSTATEJOURNAL.COM | SUBSCRIBE TODAY: 336-283-6305

MOORE COUNTY COUNTY NEWS FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital ranked as one of the state’s best hospitals FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, including its Hoke and Richmond campuses, has again been recognized as one of the state’s best hospitals and as a top hospital in patient satisfaction by Business North Carolina magazine.

Moore Regional ranked No. 3 in the “best hospital” ranking and No. 2 in the “patient picks” list. “We are thrilled to again be recognized by Business North Carolina magazine as one of the best hospitals in North Carolina and as a top hospital for patient satisfaction,” said Mickey W. Foster, MHA, chief executive officer for FirstHealth of the Carolinas. The success of our health system is built on the tremendous efforts of our exceptional employees, providers, and volunteers. FirstHealth ranks among the very best because we have the very best team – one whose dedication to our core purpose, “To Care for People,” never wavers, even in the face of incredible challenges. We are extremely proud of the team’s accomplishment.”

The Best Hospitals list uses a calculation of more than 25 healthcare metrics, including data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, patient satisfaction surveys, infections, readmissions, and mortality rates for common procedures.

The “patient picks” list is a result of The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, which surveys hospital patients between 48 hours and six weeks after discharge.

Six arrested following West End drug search Six individuals were arrested this past Thursday after deputies from the Moore County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in the West End area. According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, the search warrant was issued for a home in the 1500 block of Murdocksville Road.

Upon conducting the investigation, deputies located methamphetamine, oxycodone, buprenorphine, naloxone, nontaxpaid alcohol, drug paraphernalia, and items of marijuana paraphernalia.

Among those arrested for various drug-related charges included 67-yearold Daniel Craig Blue, 52-year-old Phillip Travis Blue, 49-year-old Cynthia Ann Thomas, 53-yearold John Wayne Lea Jr., 45-year-old Richard Paul Holder, and 48-year-old Brian Alexander Black.

Each of these individuals was from the West End area. Defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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AP PHOTO

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger, left, speaks alongside House Speaker Tim Moore at a news conference about a Medicaid expansion agreement, Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Republican legislators reach Medicaid expansion deal The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina legislative leaders announced last Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate Leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

Expansion gained momen-

“This is something that we can all be very proud of.”

House Speaker Tim Moore tum last year when the GOP-controlled state House and Senate approved, with strong bipartisan support, competing legislation addressing it, but they failed to reach a deal. The key differences stemmed around other initiatives Senate Republicans insisted were needed to increase the number of medical providers to cover the additional enrollees.

Under the new agreement, senators obtained the loosening or elimination of “certificate of need” laws that require health regulators to sign off on plans to offer hospital beds for mental health and substance abuse patients, build ambulatory surgery centers or purchase MRI machines. But their demand that advanced-practice nurses be able to treat patients without a doctor’s supervision was left out.

“There are still some things that

need to be done, but this is our agreement and I’m very comfortable with it,” Berger said.

The negotiated measure, built in part on an expansion measure approved overwhelmingly by the House two weeks ago, was still being drawn up and will need affirmative votes in both chambers.

The federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid recipients under expansion. Potentially 600,000 people in North Carolina could receive the benefit — those who make too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid but not enough to receive heavily subsidized health insurance that President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 law provides.

Under the agreement, the state’s 10% share would be paid through assessments paid by hospitals, which in turn benefit from getting reimbursed as they cover patients with Medicaid.

Officials say the state also would get an extra $1.8 billion over two years through a financial sweetener in a COVID-19 federal relief package from Congress for states that hadn’t accepted expansion.

And the package will include provisions that would result in

higher reimbursements for hospital systems when they treat Medicaid patients — resulting in at least $3.2 billion in reimbursements during the next fiscal year for traditional Medicaid patients alone. That should help rural areas, where hospitals have closed or are in danger of closing.

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who has sought expansion since taking office in 2017, would be asked to sign any final measure into law. He tweeted that the agreement “is a monumental step that will save lives” but wants it effective immediately to tap into more federal funds, making “sure we leverage the money that will save our rural hospitals and invest in mental health.”

Even if the law is approved this spring, Moore and Berger said it wouldn’t be effective until a separate state budget is enacted, likely by the early summer.

Cooper wasn’t involved in recent negotiations that lasted about four weeks and led to an agreement finalized late Wednesday, the legislators said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association, representing hospitals and health systems, commended legislators for Thursday’s agreement. The group backs certificate of need laws but offered some ways to scale them back in negotiations last year.

“Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, See MEDICAID, page 2

Pinehurst Resorts to construct new golf course in Aberdeen Town board approves economic development on Iron Horse Property

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal ABERDEEN — The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, February 27, with various property matters on the agenda.

The board was presented with two annexation petitions, one by Willow Birch, LLC, for 0.58 acres of land located generally south of US 15-501 and east of US 1 South and an annexation petition by Coca-Cola Bottling for approximately 52.37 acres located west of Carolina Road and south of NC Highway 211, and they approved both.

The next piece of business brought before the board was a rezoning request by Pinehurst Country Club Realty to rezone 10 parcels of property located north of NC 5 Highway and totaling 919.8 acres from R-10, R-20, and Light Industrial to a planned development zoning district.

“Pinehurst last appeared before this board 23 years ago with a vision for a new golf village, multiple courses, shopping, and hotel, but that project was canceled in 2001 after the events of September 11,” said Pinehurst Resort President Tom Pashley. “The Pit Golf Links opened in 1985 and thrived for decades as a bold alternative to tra-

“We have a wonderful opportunity to start from scratch and incorporate the type of variety that attracts today’s traveling golfers.”

Tom Pashley ditional golf offerings in the area.

It closed in 2010 after the Great Recession as interest in golf was waning. Twice, golf was conceived and operated on this land, yet uncontrollable factors made those visions unsustainable. But we all know what they say about a third time.”

“In Aberdeen, on this site, we have a wonderful opportunity to start from scratch and incorporate the type of variety that attracts today’s traveling golfers. We have no desire to build the 2,500 homes that are allowed with the current zoning; rather, we envision a combination of golf courses, short courses, golf cottages, and facilities that celebrate the beautiful land and showcase the unique history of the site.”

According to the submitted plans, the golf courses and resort is projected to take 10-15 years to fully build out, but the first course is projected to be finished by 2024.

Following the public hearing, the board approved the rezoning

request, paving the way for the development.

The town board then approved an agreement with Partners in Progress for the spending of $200,000 of public monies for the purpose of economic development, including property acquisition, property development, and other related improvements to the property known as the Iron Horse Property located off of Highway 211 and Carolina Road.

The property will be cleared of trees and will have a road built through it in order to attract potential buyers.

At last month’s meeting, Partners in Progress Executive Director Natalie Hawkins described the property as “the best industrial land that we have in Moore County.

The board then approved a budget amendment in the amount of $3,400 for a zero-turn mower for the planning department and approved the reduction of the speed limit in Fairway Cove Court from 25 mph to 15 mph.

“It’s a traffic circle, basically one big loop,” said Police Chief Carl Colasacco. “I went out there and looked at the loop, and it is very tight, and there are also no sidewalks. So I think the 15 mph speed limit would be sufficient for that area given that it’s a tight roadway and that there’s no access to sidewalks.”

The Aberdeen Town Board will next meet March 27.

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

2 WEDNESDAY

3.8.23

“Join the conversation” Neal Robbins Publisher Matt Mercer Editor in Chief Griffin Daughtry Local News Editor Cory Lavalette Sports Editor Frank Hill Senior Opinion Editor Lauren Rose Design Editor Published each Wednesday as part of North State Journal 1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607 TO SUBSCRIBE: 336-283-6305 MOORE.NORTHSTATEJOURNAL.COM Annual Subscription Price: $50.00 Periodicals Postage Paid at Raleigh, N.C. and at additional mailing offices.

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COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The greatest cover-up in human history FIRST, IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY a conspiracy theory.

Then, it was banned.

Finally, it was true.

The so-called “lab leak” theory of the origins of COVID-19 — the theory that COVID-19 originated in at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was unintentionally loosed — was always the most probable explanation for the outbreak of the deadly virus. After all, as Jon Stewart correctly joked in 2021, “’Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’

The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

But for well over a year, it was considered verboten to mention the lab leak theory. When Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posited the possibility of a lab leak in February 2020, he was roundly mocked by the media.

The New York Times headlined, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Scientific American headlined — in March 2022! — “The LabLeak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” Facebook actively quashed attempts to disseminate the theory; Dr. Anthony Fauci went on national television and downplayed the theory.

Why? Two reasons are obvious. The first: powerful institutions had a stake in downplaying the Chinese origins of the virus in order to shift blame to the rest of the world. Certainly, that was China’s game: In all likelihood, COVID-19 was spreading in China as early as October 2019, and the government covered it up for months. But that was also the game of the World Health Organization. Members of the American government like Fauci also had a stake in smothering questions about American funding for gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

Then there’s the second reason: all the wrong people were repeating the lab leak theory. As one of MSNBC’s resident hacks, Mehdi Hasan, admitted on Twitter, “The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab leak’ theory is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists.” As Nate

Silver correctly noted, “The Bad People thought the lab leak might be true, therefore as journalists we couldn’t be expected to actually evaluate the evidence for it.”

Herein lies a lesson: A huge number of people have decided that there are a cadre of people who are so vile that any opinion they touch is immediately toxified beyond investigation. Claims are not to be evaluated on their own merits; instead, we can simply determine whether a claim ought to be supported based on those who posit it. This helps to explain why political crossover has become nearly impossible: We’re not judging the claims of our opponents; we’re judging each other. And this means that we can discard any argument simply by dint of the fact that we don’t like the person offering it.

Among members of the general population, this is a problem, but not a fundamental one. But among those who pose as “experts” — the people who are supposed to serve as guides for people who outsource their political information, from media to scientific institutions — it’s a fatal error. After all, experts are supposed to be impartial adjudicators of the evidence. That’s their entire job. We can evaluate on our own who we don’t like — but we often need help to determine whether an argument has merit or not. When experts become “just like us,” they undermine their raison d’etre.

And that’s precisely what happened with COVID-19.

Whether it was ignoring the actual evidence regarding masks and mask mandates, the evidence regarding postvaccination transmissibility or the evidence regarding the lab leak theory, experts decided that the (SET ITAL) wrong people (END ITAL) had to be ignored. But they were wrong. And now they have no credibility left.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.

MEDICAID, from page 1 our economy and our entire health care system,” said Abby Emanuelson, executive director of Care4Carolina, a coalition of over 165 groups that has worked for expansion since 2014.

For years, Republicans in charge of the General Assembly since 2011 had been suspicious of expansion, even passing a 2013 law to block the executive branch from trying to accept expansion on its own.

But GOP lawmakers slowly came around as the Affordable Care Act and the 90% federal share didn’t get repealed

by Congress, diminishing worries that state government would have to foot ever more of the costs. And local Republican county leaders endorsed expansion.

A turning point came last spring when Berger explained his switch to supporting it, adding at the time: “If there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”

North Carolina currently has 2.9 million Medicaid recipients. The state Department of Health and Human Services has said up to 300,000 current beneficiaries could lose full coverage as states soon must conduct annual eligibility verifications again following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many being removed would requalify through Medicaid expansion, DHHS said.

moore

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

March 9 Blood Drive 11am – 4pm FirstHealth Fitness is holding a blood drive at 170 Memorial Drive in Pinehurst on March 9!

Donors receive a $20 eGift Card, a St. Patrick’s Day shirt, and a wellness checkup!

Trivia Thursday at the Brewery 6pm Come out for Trivia at the Southern Pines Brewery!

Enjoy fun and prizes each Thursday. Southern Pines Brewing Company is located at 565 Air Tool Dr., Southern Pines, NC.

March 10 Southern Pines Spring Fling 2023 5:30pm Children ages 3-12 are invited to welcome the season at the annual Spring Fling with the Southern Pines Parks and Recreation Department!

Kids can enjoy many games and a chance to win tickets for prizes!

TUNE INTO The John and Maureen show

Sundays

March 11

1 - 2PM

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser 8am – 10am

WEEB 990 AM 104.1 and 97.3 FM

Join the Moore Philharmonic Orchestra as they host their annual Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser at Kickbacks Jacks in Southern Pines!

Enjoy pancakes, a side, and a drink for $10!

MOORE CITIZENS FOR FREEDOM

MOORE COUNTY

March 12 Sipping on Sunday 2pm

Remember that we live in the best country, the best state, and by far the best county.

MOORE COUNTY, WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE!

The Triangle Wine Company, located at 144 Brucewood Road in Southern Pines, is hosting Sipping on Sunday wine tastings! Wine down on your Sunday and enjoy sipping on a great selection!

Blazer 9mm Magpul Ever wish you had a 115gr, FMJ Brass Cased

PMAGs

$299/case 10 for $90 or $16/Box

local store which has • The Best Prices on Cases of Ammo?

• The best selection of factory standard capacity magazines?

• An AWESOME selection of Modern Sporting Weapons from Leading Manufactures Like, Sig, FN, S&W, etc?

• Flamethrowers & Gatlin Guns?

• All at better than on-line prices?

You Do! Del-Ton M4 With Full Length Rail!

9796 Aberdeen Rd, Aberdeen On Rt 211 just inside Hoke County. With Quantico Tactical

Store Hours: Tue - Fri: 11am – 4pm 910.637.0500 www.ProvenOutfitters.com

$499

Made in NC!

Polish Radom AK-47

$649

Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact

$449

With Light!

38” Tactical Rifle Case: $20

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

3

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Duke men return to AP Top 25 Indianapolis Duke returned to The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the first time since falling out in mid-January after opening the year at No. 7. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils (23-8) to six straight wins to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s win at North Carolina for a rivalry sweep that wounded UNC’s iffy NCAA Tournament hopes. Duke was last ranked in the Jan. 9 poll. Houston remained No. 1, followed by UCLA, Kansas, Alabama and Purdue.

NFL

Seahawks, QB Smith agree on 3-year deal Renton, Wash.

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year contract that keeps the AP comeback player of the year in the Pacific Northwest. NFL Network and The Score reported the deal could be worth up to $105 million. Smith led the Seahawks to a 9-8 record and a playoff berth as the last wild card in the NFC. He threw for a career-high 4,282 yards, setting a franchise record, with 30 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions, completed 399 passes and led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Wisconsin fires Granato as men’s hockey coach Madison, Wis. Wisconsin fired Tony Granato as men’s hockey coach on Monday after a second straight losing season. Granato posted a 105129-16 overall mark and 6587-2 Big Ten record during his seven seasons. Wisconsin ended a 13-23 season Saturday, losing to Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 before spending 13 seasons as an NHL player and 13 more as either an NHL head or assistant coach. He still ranks third in school history in career goals and fourth in points.

But he couldn’t make Wisconsin a consistent winner after returning to his alma mater as head coach.

Virginia Tech beats Louisville for 1st ACC women’s title The Hokies have won 11 straight entering the NCAA Tournament The Associated Press GREENSBORO — Kenny Brooks walked over to an end-zone section of Virginia Tech fans and gave a fist-pumping release as his players climbed steps to cut down a piece of the net.

A few minutes later, Brooks was up there himself, snipping down the final strand hanging from the rim before turning to Hokies fans and leading a “Let’s go Hokies!” chant.

The moment had finally arrived for Brooks and his eighth-ranked Hokies, who continued their late-season tear by beating Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Brooks said on the court as his players celebrated around him.

It came with another strong scoring effort from Georgia Amoore, who scored 25 points and earned tournament MVP honors

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech forward Taylor Soule celebrates before cutting a piece of the net after the Hokies defeated Louisville to win the ACC Women’s Tournament on Sunday in Greensboro. for the third-seeded Hokies (27-4).

There was two-time league player of the year Elizabeth Kitley adding another 20 points in her role as the inside constant. And there was Taylor Soule, emerging from a scoreless first half to provide the third-quarter lift that helped keep the Hokies on course for their 11th straight win.

Virginia Tech’s first trip to the ACC title game into a strong finish-

ing act, pushing to a double-digit lead before halftime and keeping the Cardinals at arm’s distance the rest of the way. And that capped a three-game run in Greensboro in which the Hokies trailed for a total of 3 minutes, 15 seconds — all in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“I think all of us knew we were going to win,” Kitley said. “From the start of the tournament, we’ve been talking about it. Obvious-

ly we’ve been taking it day by day, game by game. But definitely throughout the game we all knew that we had it and we didn’t lose our cool, even when they were hitting big shots.”

Before Sunday, the Hokies had been as far as the ACC semifinals only once since joining the league for the 2004-05 season — and that came last year. Now they’re celebrating a milestone victory under Brooks, who has built this program to the top of the league in Year 7.

When the horn finally sounded, Kitley and Kayana Traylor skipped to midcourt to meet the rushing mob of players and coaches from the Hokies sideline headed for a midcourt celebration as the streamers and confetti dropped from the Greensboro Coliseum rafters.Louisville made its closest push in the frantic final seconds to within 73-67 on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. But Kitley hit two critical free throws with 15.1 seconds to go that pushed the lead back to eight for what turned out to be the final margin.

This was the Cardinals’ fourth finals appearance, the first being a title win in 2018 followed by losses to Notre Dame in 2019 and North Carolina State on a late basket in 2021. Their first two wins came against Wake Forest and No. 10 Notre Dame, which had taken regular-season meetings against them.

Byron wins at Las Vegas as Hendrick dominates The team finished 1-2-3 despite being minus Chase Elliott The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — One way or another, a Hendrick Motorsports driver figured to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson nearly won the Pennzoil 400 in regulation, but a late caution put teammate William Byron in position to capture the checkered flag in overtime.

Byron took the lead on the penultimate lap of OT to put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron, Larson and Alex Bowman pushing their Chevrolets across the finish line in that order.

Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup sea-

sons.

“I’ve led a lot of laps in a couple of races, but to be this good with this team is definitely a good sign,” Byron said. “It’s a different feeling for me having a team around me that can execute that well. That’s just a team effort.”

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps,” Larson said. “I don’t remember many of those working out in my favor.”

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota choosing to stay out. Byron, in the No. 24 Chevy, came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex after the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages for the first time in

“I feel like I could have eight or 10 more Cup wins if it wasn’t for cautions in the last five laps.”

Kyle Larson his career. Truex in 2017 and Kevin Harvick in 2018 also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win.

The fourth Hendrick driver and 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, will begin physical therapy Monday, his team owner Rick Hendrick told Fox Sports.

Elliott had surgery Friday to repair a fractured tibia, and Hendrick said Elliott has returned to his home in Dawsonville, Georgia. Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident Friday. He and his family own a home in Vail, Colorado.

Elliott joked on Twitter “that

the formal request I submitted for a slight edit to the March section of my script was indeed… declined.”

“In all seriousness, the support I’ve received over the last couple of days is far greater than I deserve,” he posted in a follow-up tweet. “I want to thank everyone who has lended it over in any form!”

Josh Berry took Elliott’s seat in the No. 9 Chevy and finished 29th. Hendrick general manager Jeff Andrews said a decision would be made on who drives that car next weekend at Phoenix.

Bubba Wallace, who drives the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota, finished fourth. He was the top finisher not part of the Hendrick garage.

“It was right there in the top seven or eight the whole time,” Wallace said. “I was going to settle for sixth and the caution came out. My car fired off really, really good (on the restart), the best it had all race.”

RANDOLPH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE QUESTIONS? CONTACT H. N. JOHNSON, RECRUITER, VIA EMAIL AT HEATHER.JOHNSON@RANDOLPHCOUNTYNC.GOV OR CALL 336-318-6764

North State Journal for Wednesday, March 8, 2023

4

obituaries

Eduard Anthony Gomez

Robert John "Bob" Wharton

February 13, 1989 - March 1, 2023

February 22, 1947 - March 4, 2023

Eduard "Eddie" Anthony Gomez, 34 of Eagle Springs, N.C. went to be with our Lord and Savior on March, 1st 2023.

Eddie was preceded in death by his Mother, Anna Moll Gomez.

Survived by his Father Ivan Gomez, brother Joseph Gomez, and sister Samantha Gomez Eddie was a once in a lifetime person. He knew no stranger and made friends wherever he ventured.

He was a man of God. Obedient and faithful to the Lord. He was a helper to all. If you needed something he was there. He valued family the most.

He loved so deeply. The ones he loved and held the closest was the love of his life, Ashley, their daughters, Anna who had him wrapped around her finger, Alexis, Kileigh, and his son the one who made him a father first, Anthony.

Eddie was the backbone of his family, their provider, and their protector. Eddie ALWAYS showed up for the ones he loved.

Robert John “Bob” Wharton, age 76, of Pinehurst, North Carolina passed away March 4, 2023 in his home. He was born February 22, 1947 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Harry and Martha Wharton. Upon graduation, he served as a sergeant in the US Army and was stationed in South Korea. On September 18, 1971 he married Kathleen “Kathy” McCarthy in Clark, New Jersey.

Upon retirement, Bob and Kathy moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Retirement for Bob meant finding a new way to work, as a golf course ranger and starter at top rated courses like Palmetto Hall and Haig Point. Bob and Kathy moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina in 2013 to be closer to their three children.

He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Wharton of Pinehurst, North Carolina; daughter Kristen Dibble and husband, Ed of Charlotte, North Carolina; son Thomas Wharton and wife, Mindy, of Cary, North Carolina and their daughter, Veronica Wharton; sister-in-law Maureen Vincent of New Jersey; and many other loving family members and friends.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Martha Wharton, his daughter, Jean Wharton, his brother, James Wharton, and sister-in-law Elisabeth Wharton.

SPONSORED BY BOLES FUNERAL HOMES & CREMATORY

Adrian Jerome Dean

Christopher O'Neal Kershaw

May 6, 1941 - February 28, 2023 Adrian Jerome Dean, 81, went to be with the Lord on February 28, 2023. He died peacefully in his sleep in Pinehurst, NC. He is survived by his wife, Dian Tucker Dean, of the home; daughter Dede Dean Foody and her husband Paul of Charlotte; granddaughter Morgan Foody Brookman (Carter) of Charlotte; grandson Luke D Foody of Washington DC and great granddaughter Collins Brookman of Charlotte.

Adrian and Dian had a wonderful life together and were inseparable for 59 years. He was a devoted husband, father and friend.

He was predeceased by his parents, Elmer L Dean and Ruth Morgan Dean; sisters Doris Dean Simpson and Barbara Dean Bull.

Adrian was born in Colfax, NC where he was a graduate of Colfax High School. Adrian was an outstanding athlete in high school playing basketball and baseball.

He later obtained an Associate Degree in business. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam war in the 502nd Military Police division stationed in Ft. Hood, TX. He loved to talk about the great people he met, and the memorable stories made while playing golf. In Pinehurst, he enjoyed the local restaurants, not because of Dian’s cooking, but it was a social time to talk with regulars.

June 27, 1935 - February 27, 2023 Christopher O’Neal Kershaw, 87, of Southern Pines and formerly New Haven, CT., passed peacefully at his home on Monday February 27, 2023.

Born in Florence, SC, June 28, 1935, he was the son of the late Christopher Columbus and Vera Montgomery Kershaw. Christopher’s family moved to Connecticut when he was young and he spent his childhood split between in Florence, SC and New Haven, CT. After his high school graduation, he joined the U.S. Army, serving as an MP during the Korean War. Upon his honorable discharge, Christopher returned home to Connecticut and married his long time sweetheart, Janice Rogers. Christopher graduated from Hill House High School in New Haven, Connecticut. He went on to earn his BS in Human Services at New Hampshire University and his MS in School Counseling from Southern Connecticut University. Christopher’s career was always in education.

Christopher was the loving husband of the late Janice Rogers Kershaw. He was the father of Cheryl Kershaw, Vera Rosemond and Christine Kershaw - Hobson. He is also survived by his 2 grandchildren: Aja Rosemond Marks and Eric Colacino Rosemond as well as his 2 great grandchildren: Malcolm John Marks and Travis Christian

Judith K. Peshkopia

September 16, 1946 ~ March 2, 2023 Dori Pawlowski of Jackson Springs passed away on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the age of 76.

Doris was born in Orange County, Florida on September 16, 1946, to the late John Blanton, Jr. and Retha Hamilton Blanton.

She went on to obtain two associate's degrees and later worked for Western Carolina University until her retirement.

After her retirement, she enjoyed the simple things in life such as traveling. She especially loved to travel to go shopping. Sewing was Doris's passion. She enjoyed making clothes for her children and taking walks with her family.

Along with her parents, Doris is preceded in death by her sisters, Nancy Blanton and Sarah Paglino.

She leaves behind her daughters, Lori Smith and her spouse, David of Franklin, and Shari Nuttall and her spouse Donnie of Jackson Springs; seven grandchildren, Michael, Ryan, A.J., Josh, Zach, Jeremy, Alexis; six great-grandchildren, Averlyn, Eleighen, Levi, Elizabeth, Elijah, and Mykelti.

James Bruce Patterson

July 9, 1939 - February 26, 2023 Judith K. Peshkopia, 83 of Wagram NC (Deercroft) passed away at home on Sunday, February 26, 2023 after a short illness.

Judy was born in Detroit, MI but lived in Dearborn and Beverly Hills Michigan before moving to NC. Judy was a CPA. She graduated from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration with a Bachelor of Accountancy with distinction and a master in Taxation.

She worked for the largest law firm in Michigan, Miller Canfield, LLC in their tax and estate planning group.

Judy is survived by her husband, Hektor Peshkopia; son, Kevin (Shannon) Peshkopia of Maryland; daughters, Stacy (Wayne) Temple of San Diego and Kay (Will) McCutchen of Wagram; grandson, Colin McCutchen and brother, Thomas Zell of Livonia, MI.

Doris Pawlowski

January 11, 1959 ~ February 24, 2023

Celebrate the life of your loved ones.

Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in NSJ at obits@northstatejournal.com

James "Bruce" Patterson of Vass passed away on Friday, February 24, 2023, at the age of 64.

Bruce was born in Moore County on January 11, 1959, to the late James and Rebecca Knight Patterson. He grew up and attended Moore County Schools and worked at JP Stevens for 25 years. Bruce led a very quiet life, and he was a caring person. He enjoyed collecting guns and swords.

He leaves behind his sisters Barbara Rutledge (Jim) of Jacksonville, and Joann Wood (Frank) of Carthage; his brother, Johnny Patterson of St. Pete, FL; his sister, Marie Reynolds (Terrell) of Whispering Pines; his brother, Mack Patterson of Vass; his sister, Jerri Hickin (Kevin) of Cattaraugus, New York; many nieces and nephews.

Proudly supporting you every step of the way on your grief journey.

CONTACT

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