Raze and grind
The Paul Braxton Gym in Siler City was dismantled Monday after town officials decided it would be too expensive to repair. See
BRIEF this week
Wisconsin GOP proposes $10K income tax break for hurricane relocations
Madison People who lost their homes to Hurricane Helene or California wildfires could get a sizeable tax break to move to Wisconsin. State Rep. Cindi Duchow and state Sen. Dan Feyen are sponsoring a bill that would give anyone who moves to Wisconsin from North Carolina or Los Angeles County due to the hurricane or the fires a $10,000 income tax credit for 2025. Duchow and Feyen introduced the bill Tuesday. They say in a memo seeking co-sponsors that the bill could help alleviate chronic workforce shortages in Wisconsin. The bill’s prospects are unclear.
As egg prices soar, Trump admin plans new bird flu strategy Minneapolis With egg prices soaring, the Trump administration is planning a new strategy for fighting bird flu that stresses vaccinations and tighter biosecurity instead of killing off millions of chickens when the disease strikes a flock. The director of the National Economic Council said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that officials are moving away from the standard practice of destroying all the birds on a farm when an infection is detected. The culling of millions of chickens per month has caused egg prices to skyrocket. Some retailers are rationing sales. The official, Kevin Hassett, says the administration plans to announce further details soon.
FBI agents searched a neighborhood in Chatham County earlier this month where Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt had been renting homes.
Cultlike group with ties to Chatham linked to 6 deaths
At the middle of it all is “Ziz,” who appears to be the leader of the strange group, who called themselves “Zizians.”
A Vermont Border Patrol agent’s death is the latest in the case
By Holly Ramer Patrick Whittle and Mark Scolforo The Associated Press
IN THE WOODED outskirts of Chapel Hill, a perplexed landlord noticed odd sights at two of his rental properties.
Tenants wore long black coats and parked box trucks
outside the duplexes. They ran an electrical cord from one box truck into one of the condos and kept a stretcher inside another.
A neighbor remembers similarly dressed figures walking around at night holding hands. They never spoke a word.
By the time the FBI searched the property last week, one of the most recent tenants had been killed in a shootout with U.S.
See DEATHS, page A10
Some in Helene-ravaged NC embrace push to abolish FEMA
“Their attitude was, you know, this happened to you, but it’s up to you to fix it. And I ain’t the one who caused it.”
Danny Bailey, Buncombe County resident
Frustrated residents support the idea President Donald Trump floated
By Makiya Seminera The Associated Press
SWANNANOA — Emily Russell remembers feeling hopeful after she managed to get an appointment with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) not long after Hurricane Helene ripped though her home in Swannanoa.
But after several assistance requests were denied or left pending, Russell says the agency has been of “no help” to her family after the late September storm. Still reeling in a world turned upside-down by the most damaging storm in state history, she finds herself open to President Donald Trump’s suggestion
about “getting rid of” FEMA. That is a common sentiment in the mountains of western North Carolina, where living in a trailer with limited supplies for months can try anyone’s patience. Russell, who like many others did not have flood insurance, endured those stresses as she prepared for the birth of her son, but then volunteers stepped up to rebuild her home. Back there now, she can cradle her tiny infant in her arms on her newly constructed front porch — overlooking a heaping pile of rotting debris and two Trump-Vance signs posted to a pole in her yard. Frustration with stopgap relief efforts has been exacerbated by confusion over where long-term help should come from. FEMA is meant to be a
Pittsboro commissioners decry loophole in plans for Chatham Park
Lewis Freeman Park is beginning to take shape
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News and Record
PITTSBORO — The Town of Pittsboro continues to work to shape the massive Chatham Park planned development.
Approved in 2015, the 7,100-acre project has been an ongoing discussion amongst the town and the developer.
At the Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners’ Feb 10 meeting, the board held a public hearing for amendments to the Chatham Park affordable housing element, a part of the overall master plan. While the commissioners stated that the new amended element had “significant improvements” from the prior submitted one, there were still large
See COUNCIL, page A2
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CRIME LOG
Feb. 11
• Donald Ray Painter, 54, of Siler City, was arrested for felony conspiracy.
• Kerry Donnell Wright Jr., 32, of Siler City, was arrested for felony conspiracy.
• Christopher James Sheeley, 28, of Pittsboro, was arrested for possession of schedule 4 controlled substance and resisting a public officer.
• Gabriel Lee Savage, 30, of Bennett, was arrested for possession of dangerous weapon in prison, injury to real property and injury to personal property.
Feb. 12
• Joseph Alexander Sigman, 25, of Chapel Hill, was arrested for second degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
• Donald Ray Painter, 54, of Siler City, was arrested for trafficking cocaine and maintaining a place for controlled substances.
• Kerry Donnell Wright Jr., 32, of Siler City, was arrested for trafficking cocaine, possession with intent to sell/distribute cocaine, and maintaining a place for controlled substances.
• Cassie Danielle Jordan, 37, of Ramseur, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny and misdemeanor conspiracy.
Feb. 14
• Brittany Nicole Johnson, 34, of Bennett, was arrested for failure to appear and parole violation.
• Freddy Rodriguez-Aponte, 58, of Spring Lake, was arrested for driving with license revoked due to impaired revocation.
Feb. 15
• Caleb Joshua Sistare, 22, of Sanford, was arrested for domestic violence protective order violation.
• Andrew Charles Cook, 26, of Carrboro, was arrested for driving while impaired.
COUNCIL from page
concerns, especially over the language surrounding density credits.
Per the element, Chatham Park would be able to receive density credits to be used for additional housing units for each affordable housing unit that is built so long as those units are within a certain proximity to stores where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold, public schools, transit stops and/or employment centers.
Those density credits can be in a ratio as high as 8-to-1 if at least three of those four provisions are met.
The issue for the commissioners revolved around how that proximity was determined.
Initially, the element stated the proximity for each was based on the distance from the affordable housing dwelling unit, but the amended document stated the distance would be from “a boundary of a Lot on which or a Project in which [one of the stipulated locations] is located or is shown on a subdivision plan or site plan approved by the Town.”
“The language is a little permissive in that all these can be in proximity not to the boundary of the lot, but in proximity to the capital ‘P’ project,” said Commissioner John Bonitz. “I believe that if Chatham Park Investors sell a large extent of the 5,000 acres in the South Village, then that would be considered a project and it’d be really easy to find a lot
• 389 Dewitt Smith Road (Pittsboro), 9.109 acres, 3 bed/2 bath, $525,000
• 9550 Silk Hope Liberty Road (Siler City), 73.740 acres, 3 bed/3bath, $1,450,000
• 557 Olives Chapel Road (Apex), 12.802 acres, 3 bed/3 bath, $2,500,000
• 4147 Siler City Snow Camp Road (Siler City), 57.43 acres, 5 separate living spaces, $2,750,000 LAND
• 37 E Cotton Road (Pittsboro), 0.996 acres, $100,000
• 170 Cherokee Drive (Chapel Hill), 1.150 acres, $100,000
RESIDENTIAL
• 5515 Rives Chapel Church Road (Siler City), 2.607acres, 3 bed/2 bath, $295,000
• 1115 Manco Dairy Road (Pittsboro), 14 acres, 3 bed/1 bath, $500,000
• 873 Arrowhead Loop (Pittsboro), 11.06 acres, 3 bed/3.5 bath, $705,000
of locations within a mile of the boundaries of those 5,000 acres.”
According to Bonitz, the current amount of dedicated affordable housing units based on the 7.5% guarantee (1,650), could then result in eight times as many residential units being granted to the developers, transforming the project into a much larger one than initially anticipated.
“I think the important thing here is that we’re no longer talking about a 22,000unit residential project,” Bonitz said. “We’re talking about potentially a 35,000-unit residential project, and that’s a very significant change and because the language has been improved and refined from the last version, I believe that this is the intent.”
Bonitz also decried how those additional units would then dilute the initial promise of affordable housing units due to them being excluded from the affordable housing calculations.
“What this effectively means is that the original affordable housing commitment is going to be diluted from 7.5% down to 4.7%,” Bonitz said. “If this would be fair, then the public ought to get another 990 affordable units so that the overall commitment is still 7.5% through the life of the project.”
Following the hearing, the board voted to table the item to allow for the developers and town staff to work more on the agreement.
The board was also given an update on the initial plans for the proposed Lewis Freeman Park.
“Lewis Freeman was born in the late 1700s, and he was an enslaved person who secured his own freedom and went on to become a very prominent business owner and landowner in downtown Pittsboro,” said Chevon Moore of Hobbs Architects. “He was also able to secure the freedom of his family and went on to build his home in circa 1811 and still stands today.”
The park, to be located along Rectory Street between West Salisbury Street and West Street, will be one-third of an acre and include a shelter, picnic tables and a walking path.
The plan is to base the park shelter off of Freeman’s home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“We thought that what would be very nice to do with the park shelter is to orient people to what Mr. Freeman’s home would have been like at the time that he lived there,” Moore said. “It is roughly about 16-by-18 feet, and we’ve been looking at how we can position a shelter of that size on the site where a creek bed runs through it and which often floods its banks. So we want to be sure to locate the shelter outside the flooding area and also work with the existing trees throughout the site.”
The Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners will next meet March 10.
CHATHAM happening
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Chatham County:
Feb. 20
Chatham County Landscape and Green Industry Conference
7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Chatham Green Industry and Landscape Conference provides continuing education and recertification credits for green industry professionals, including landscapers, grounds and turf managers, and greenhouse and nursery producers. For more information and a schedule of events, visit go.ncsu.edu/ chatham-landscape.
NC Cooperative Extension, Chatham County 1192 U.S. 64W Business, Suite 400 Pittsboro
Anime, Ramen and Sake Watch Party
6-8 p.m.
Join Koshu Sake every Thursday, 6-8 p.m. for an Anime, Ramen and Sake Watch Party! Movie selections are announced a few days before each event on their Facebook page. You must be 21 with an ID to consume sake. Part of the Chatham County Craft Beverages & Country Inns Trail.
The Plant 220 Lorax Lane Pittsboro
Opinionation Trivia at House of Pops
• 188 Cherokee Drive (Chapel Hill), 1.150 acres, $100,000
• 327 Poplar Trail (Siler City), 5.022 acres, $150,000
• 9311 NC Highway 87 (Pittsboro), 4.602 acres, $225,000
• 9231 NC Highway 87 (Pittsboro), 5.630 acres, $250,000
• Tract 1 Robedo Road (Mount Gilead), 15.123 acres, $227,000
• Tract 2 Robedo Road (Mount Gilead), 17.425 acres, $262,000
• 323 Wagon Trace (Pittsboro), 10.255 acres, $325,000
• 83 Karen Calhoun Road (Pittsboro), 4.36 acres, 3 bed/2 bath, $800,000
LAND
• 0 Panama Terrace (Durham), 0.420 acres, $29,000
• 0 JB Morgan Road (Apex), 21 acres, $825,000
• 00 Hamlets Chapel Road (Pittsboro), 118.742 acres, $4,250,000
or Below Asking
• 639 Hills of the Haw Road (Pittsboro), 5.2470 acres, $450,000
• 0 Chatham Church Road (Moncure), 15.94 acres, $750,000
• 0 Pasture Branch Road (Rose Hill), 29 acres, $1,250,000
• 8636/8710 Johnson Mill Road (Bahama),182.888 acres, $3,240,000
• 0 US 64 W (Siler City), 9.670 acres, $4,500,000
• 0 Olives Chapel Road (Apex), 75.4330 acres, $17,000,000
COMMERCIAL IMPROVED
• 140 & 148 East Street (Pittsboro), 1.49 acres, $1,350,000
COMMERCIAL UNIMPROVED
• 10681 US Hwy 64 E (Apex), 3.97 acres, $1,000,000
• 1700 Hillsboro Street (Pittsboro), 29.79 acres, $4,500,000
6-8 p.m.
Join House of Hops every Thursday, 6-8 p.m. for Opinionation Trivia. This Family Feud-style trivia game is so much fun! Play at 6 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. for two chances to win $15 or $25 House of Hops gift cards. More events at House of Hops; part of Chatham County’s Craft Beverages and Country Inns Trail.
112 Russet Run Suite 110 Pittsboro
Feb. 26
Jazz Night at The Sycamore at Chatham Mills
6-9 p.m.
Every Wednesday night, from 6-9 p.m., the Sycamore at Chatham Mills hosts live Jazz Nights. The series features a rotating list of local musicians. The Sycamore also offers their Lounge Menu in the dining room on Wednesday nights. Reservations are highly recommended.
480 Hillsboro St. Suite 500 Pittsboro
Siler City razes historic 1930s gymnasium
Paul Braxton Gym served multiple purposes in Siler City for decades
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — Paul Braxton Gymnasium, the historic community staple for recreational sports and other uses, was demolished Monday.
The gym had various damages and needed repairs for its structure, the Town of Siler City said.
The town has started planning to build a new gym on the property, but it hasn’t set dates for construction.
The building was torn down less than a year after the town first proposed the idea to do so in May 2024.
In January 2024, the town hired an engineer to complete an analysis on the gym. The analysis was shared with the Chatham County Inspections Department, and afterward, the county gave the option to hire a design professional, obtain permits and complete recommended repairs or the building would likely be condemned.
In response, the board told then-Interim Town Manager Jack Meadows to seek estimates for the gym’s demolition.
Yet in an October board meeting, Meadows presented an update on the gym, confirming no findings of asbestos
in the building. The board directed the town staff to submit bid requests to contractors for the demolition of the gym.
In December, the board approved the gym’s demolition and selected North Carolina-based KBS Earthworks for the job.
Paul Braxton Gymnasium received recent interior renovations in 2021, including refinishing the hardwood floors, repainting court lines and remodeling the bathrooms (new floors, windows, baby changing stations and partitions).
Pictures taken from inside and outside of the gym will be framed in memorial. A location for the images has not been decided yet.
The gym has an extensive history.
It was built in 1930 and operated by the former Siler
City High School, now Braxton Manor, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places until 1956. From 1957 through 1977, the school and gym were used for elementary school grade levels and renamed in honor of Principal Paul Braxton, who served as principal for the high school and elementary school from 1931 to 1968.
According to the former Siler City High School’s National Register of Historic Places registration form, the first basketball game was played in the gym in 1934.
The town acquired the property in March 1994. Since then, it served multiple purposes, predominantly as a home for youth athletics but also for voting polls, homeschool recess, the Chatham County Senior Games and other local events.
Church News
NINTH
ANNUAL GOSPEL
SING AT NEW SALEM CHURCH
Sunday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Featuring:
• GOSPEL BAND
• Gospel Quartet
“Redeemed Harmony”
• Soloist and Groups
Plan to attend and invite a friend!
5030 Old Graham Road, Pittsboro 919-542-4832
www.visitnewsalem.com
Two Siler City men face cocaine charges
It’s a joint investigation between CCSO and Greensboro PD
Chatham News & Record staff
CHATHAM COUNTY sheriff’s deputies made several arrests last week in a monthslong narcotics investigation that resulted in two Siler City men facing cocaine trafficking charges. Kerry Donnell Wright Jr., 32, and Donald Ray Painter, 54, were taken into custody following a coordinated effort between the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and the Greensboro Police Department. The investigation, which began in November, led to a traffic stop on Feb. 6 where deputies discovered what they described as a “trafficking amount” of cocaine. Investigators then searched his apartment, finding additional cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Wright now faces a substantial list of charges: two counts each of trafficking cocaine, possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for controlled
Donald Ray Painter and Kerry Donnell Wright Jr. face multiple drug related charges after police seized a “trafficking amount” of cocaine.
substances, and felony possession of cocaine. Additional charges include one count of felony conspiracy and two misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia.
The court ordered Wright held without bond.
Painter’s charges include two counts of trafficking cocaine, one count of maintaining a dwelling for controlled substances, and one count of felony conspiracy. He was released after posting a $2,500 secured bond.
Both men are scheduled to appear in court Feb. 17 at the Chatham County Justice Center.
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Siler City demolished Paul Braxton Gymnasium on Monday.
THE CONVERSATION
Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
Rightly ordered love and immigration
Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” was not solely a suggestion for our fellow citizens.
I WRITE ON Valentine’s Day, aware that others will read my words several days later. But love has been in the news recently for misunderstood reasons. Vice President JD Vance offered an interpretation of ordo amoris (order of love) that dates to the work of influential Christian thinkers Augustine and Aquinas. Vance, a recently converted Roman Catholic, summarized the idea as a series of concentric circles radiating from an individual to family, friends, neighbors, fellow citizens and then the rest of the world.
I do think that our vice president’s “hierarchy of obligations” has a certain amount of “basic common sense,” as he claimed on social media. I give things to my own kids that I do not give to other children in my neighborhood, much less halfway around the world. Vance was suggesting that a democratic government behave according to the same criteria. But Vance made these comments in order to justify the harsh actions of ICE para-police forces raiding Christian churches and schools. He claimed such
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
faith organizations were only acting toward “their bottom lines” in securing federal funds. Vance’s mistake was to fail to comprehend that love takes many forms. This Valentine’s Day, I expressed romantic love for my spouse alone. There are other types of love for friends and for our country. But Jesus taught that whatever we do for “the least of these,” such as the poor, the hungry, the unsheltered and the immigrant, we also do for him (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus also commanded us to love even our enemies! Agape love, best defined as a willingness to self-sacrifice, encompasses individuals far beyond one’s immediate family. The concentric circle idea for love is mistaken because love is not a zerosum game, meaning that it is not to be parceled out according to citizenship status or other criteria of power and privilege. Love is actually the entire water that permeates everything, for “God is love” and “we live, move, and have our being in God” (1 John 4:16; Acts 17:28).
The same week that our vice president was making his argument on Fox News, I was listening to a worker from Church World Service in Durham, one of those organizations that receives federal funds to assist refugees. This CWS worker broke into tears while sharing the story of Afghan refugees. These men had come to America because they had risked their lives to help U.S. troops abroad. With the recent freeze of federal funds by executive order, our allies and their families are suddenly vulnerable. This is cruel, unjust and certainly unloving. Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” was not solely a suggestion for our fellow citizens. Whether in our private lives or in our nation’s public policy, the nature of agape love is to widen the circle, not limit it.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman’s newest book is This Is the Day. He serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church as well as a writer, pizza maker, coffee drinker and student of joy.
Remembering grammar not all that clear now
Some folks might say this is much to do about nothing; maybe so.
THEY SAY, whoever “they” are, that memory is the first thing to go when you get older.
I can’t remember what’s second.
This little issue rears its head from time to time when I try to remember just what my high school English teachers told me years ago about some things in the mother tongue when they were my high school English teachers because what I thought they told me then was not what they said they told me when years later, I asked them about what it was I thought they told me when I was their student.
Of course, they also would have told me not to write such long sentences, but that’s a different story.
One of those things had to do with capital letters, particularly those that start the words naming the four seasons — not the 1960s music group but those of the year. If I were a betting man, I would have just about bet the ranch — if I had one — that we were instructed, as part of good grammar (not good “grandma”), always to capitalize the seasons of the year, not just when they’re the first word of a sentence.
I’m pretty sure I had the best high school English teachers ever made — Mrs. Annie May for ninth and 11th grade and Mrs. Mary Strowd Rigsbee for 10th and 12th. If they were still teaching today, I’d go back to high school.
Mrs. May taught us how to diagram sentences; I still love to do that. I also like to color, too, so that may say more about me than I’d care to admit. I don’t think much time is spent in today’s curriculum on learning how to diagram sentences. Or on coloring.
And Mrs. Rigsbee, while we did do grammar, was my inspiration in her creative writing class that pushed me down the road to careers with words — newspapers and the pulpit.
For the longest time, when I wrote the words “spring,” “summer,” “fall” and
“winter,” I would capitalize the first letter. Spell Check — or however you spell it — in my word processing program always told me that was wrong and that I was a dodo. Yet that same program often told me the correction they said I should use for some words was a major mistake that would have earned me an “F’ from the aforementioned teachers.
In fairness, I’d also like to point out that those two ladies weren’t the only great teachers I had. The late Gene Brooks was not only my U.S. history teacher but became a good friend when we both had additional birthdays after 1966. It was helpful to be able to write complete, coherent sentences in his classes. And while the also late Mrs. Ethel Johnston was an outstanding algebra and trig teacher, I wasn’t such a good student.
I think that’s because we didn’t diagram too many sentences in her classes, or I tried to be creative with numbers.
Anyway, I sort of always took a bit of pride (ego, maybe) in my command of the English language and grades. And when my computer kept telling me not to capitalize the four seasons (again, not the singing group), I rebelled.
Thus, I finally took my question to those two ladies. To my surprise — shock, even — they told me the computer was right. And they told me they were pretty sure that’s what they were telling me and my running buddies about almost 60 years ago. I understood the part about when those words are at the first of a sentence but at other places, I thought there would be confusion without using capital letters. Take, for instance, the word that describes the period from about March 21 until June 21. With a capital letter, you could start a sentence about those three months by saying, “Spring is my favorite time of the year.” However, to me, without
that capital letter, that same word becomes a place where water comes up out of the ground, as in “When Grandpa (or Grandma) was young, they had to get water from the spring.”
And if you don’t capitalize the word when it means a season of the year, you have a sentence like this: “My favorite flowers grow in the spring,” which means to me you like your roses or daisies in 2 or 3 feet of water.
And I won’t even get into “fall,” which without the capital letter means what Uncle Benjamin (Ben) Dover does when he drinks too much of the recipe. Of course, I have been told that the proper word for the season is not “fall,” but it’s “Autumn.” Silly me! I thought that was a girl’s name.
Although I remained confused about it all, in deference to those two outstanding ladies who did their best to shepherd a crowd of sometimes unruly students, I began to drop the capital letters, although it still looks odd to me. I was also encouraged by Mrs. Riggsbee to stop using the capital letters in the second gentle reminder she mailed me one day. Some folks might say this is much to do about nothing; maybe so, especially if you’re one of those folks into ebonics or slang, both of which are among patterns of speech that are used by lots of folks and understood by many.
For instance, if I were to hear someone say, “He stay working,” I’d know that means he’s always at work on the job. Likewise, if I heard someone say, “She fell out of the top of an ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down,” I’d know what that meant. They would just be hard to diagram.
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
Welcoming Mary Poppins, incarnate
My drive toward Snickers intoxication is a function of “there’s a hole inside me and I desperately need to fill it.”
A GAS STATION beckoned. Not a gas tank refill, however. A different type of fuel was calling my name. My choice of fuel was a feature (and also a serious distraction) at gas stations. Rows, rows and more rows of candy. My chosen fuel? À Snickers! Yes, it’s true, I’m a food snob (with persnickety blood sugar issues) and can go years between ingestions of sugary but oh-so -nutty and chocolate-y Snickers bars. Years! And then … and then … this yawning maw of need pops up inside me, and I literally watch my car drive itself to any nearby purveyor of Snickers. I certainly don’t discriminate with regard to Snickers’ venues — gas stations, convenience stores, drug stores, wherever. Somehow, though, a gas station seems best. (Maybe because people I know are less likely to see my furtive Snickers buy.)
My guilty Snickers purchase is actually a red herring in this particular situation (albeit an incredibly delicious one.) My internal compass is pointing to the closest gas station, a dead giveaway that a Snickers acquisition has become my lodestar. And I’m off … Snickers as a red herring? What’s with that? (Oh, sure, tell me you’ve never experienced a Snickers-like yearning during trying times!) My drive toward Snickers intoxication is a function of “there’s a hole inside me and I desperately need to fill it.”
(With Snickers? Unabashedly, yes, Although in a pinch, a Milky Way would probably suffice. No requisite nutty crunchiness, but still chocolate and gooey and terrible for my blood sugar.)
My psychic emptiness? Well, you asked … This Snickers-driven desire to fill my emotional abyss is a result of feeling like
an out-of-control human in a pained and chaotic world. Oh, wait, I bet you are already aware of our pervasive Us vs. Them dynamic. Sadly, the “Them” in that equation is almost always painted as a villain.
I’m tired of floating alone in my little dingy. I have a hunger for connecting with the hearts of real live people, minus any of our usual (and divisive) designations of “red or blue?”
And then …
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor. COLUMN
Oh, thank heavens! Disney, come to life. An incarnate version of Mary Poppins appeared! My designated “spoonful of sugar” was in the guise of an 80-something, genteel, Southern woman dressed in her Sunday best (although it was Saturday), replete with high heels, a sweetly tilting hat and gloves. I was dressed for a quickie Snickers run, or a down and dirty trip to the recycling center.
My elderly Mary Poppins surrogate turned to me, as I stepped out of the candy-laden gas station, commenting how wonderful it is that we’re both still driving. (My preternatural white hair is a giveaway.) We slid into a sweet conversation about the peccadilloes of aging, truly enjoying making fun of ourselves.
Very different women. Whether red or blue, who cared? We had a wonderful time shooting the breeze. (How does one shoot the breeze, anyway?) I actually felt full without eating my emotional abyss-filler, Snickers.
But, hey, I’m also human and could not let a good Snickers go to waste. Yep, I ate it on the way home. Yummy!
Black students thrive in public charter schools
Black students in charter schools gained 29 days of learning in math and 35 days in reading.
AS WE CELEBRATE Black History Month, we reflect on the incredible legacy of black resilience, ingenuity and progress. From the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement to the modern-day triumphs of black scholars, activists, and leaders, black history is deeply woven into the fabric of America’s story. In North Carolina, black students in public charter schools represent the future of this legacy — pursuing educational excellence while overcoming the unique challenges that often accompany their experiences.
In this month of reflection and celebration, we must acknowledge not just the obstacles faced by black students, but also the opportunities, strengths and possibilities that public charter schools provide. Our state’s public charter schools offer a pathway toward success that empowers black students to thrive, innovate and contribute to a brighter tomorrow. Charter schools are public schools that allow families to choose an educational option that best fits the needs of their child. In addition, they are free and open to all students regardless of their school zoning. Nationally, black students comprise 24% of all public charter school students compared to 14% of students in traditional public schools. Since 2019, there has been a 6% increase in black student enrollment in public charter schools. Clearly, interest in public charter schools is increasing due to the varied educational opportunities they provide.
In 2022, a National Alliance for Public Charter Schools poll found that 71% of black parents strongly agree that one size does not fit all when it comes to educating children. The poll also found that 70% of black parents strongly agree that parents should be able to have a choice in where their children go to school. Further, a Democrats for Education Reform poll, in 2023, found that 77% of black parents hold a favorable view of charter schools.
Charter schools are creating learning environments where black students can thrive. According to the 2023 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, black students in charter schools gained 29 days of learning in math and 35 days in reading. Further, the CREDO study found that low-income black students gained 37 additional days of learning in reading and 36
additional days in math per year compared to their peers attending traditional public schools.
In reflecting on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results there is room for improvement, but also successes to celebrate for black students attending charter schools. Black charter school students were on par with their district peers on the Fourth grade math and reading assessments. However, eighth grade black charter school students outperformed their district peers in math and reading NAEP assessments.
There is increasing awareness of the advantages of teacher diversity, and in particular students being taught by teachers from the same racial or ethnic background. According to research from Thomas B. Fordham Institute, in 2019, “Several studies have shown that children who have at least one same-race teacher in primary school have fewer absences and suspensions, higher test scores, and are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college.” In North Carolina, charter schools have about 35% more black teachers than traditional public schools. In addition, “Black students in charter schools are more than 50 percent more likely to have a black teacher than their traditional public school counterparts,” thus they are more likely to gain the benefits of having at least one samerace teacher during their academic career.
As a lifelong North Carolina educator, over the past 25 years I’ve seen how commitment to diversity can affect the success of students of color as well as the recruitment of educators of color which are in desperate need. One of the top priorities of the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools is providing spaces and opportunities for honest conversations to find workable solutions. Our state’s students and educators of color deserve our best efforts.
As we reflect on the enduring legacy of black excellence, let us continue to support policies and initiatives that expand educational opportunities, foster diversity and ensure that every student, particularly black students, has the chance to reach their full potential and shape a brighter future for all.
Rhonda
Dillingham is executive director of the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools.
COLUMN SUSAN ESTRICH
Dear Secretary Kennedy, cure long COVID
YOU MADE IT. There are any number of reasons you should not have been confirmed, but Republicans were afraid to buck President Donald Trump. They voted in lockstep (except polio survivor Mitch McConnell, who Trump then ridiculed), and now you are the most powerful man in the world when it comes to health care.
There are many people — especially sick people — who are understandably concerned about what you are going to do with that power, especially since the administration has already made clear that it intends to cut funding for medical research. You have promised to make America healthy again. You have testified that we pay too little attention to chronic illness. Now is your chance. Prove it.
Cure long COVID.
Long COVID is an umbrella term for a host of symptoms that come after a COVID infection. Long COVID has many symptoms in common with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), dysautonomia and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Research estimates that half the people with long COVID meet ME/CFS diagnostic criteria. Let me put this in English. My daughter has it. It is a nightmare, and there is currently no cure. We need you, Secretary Kennedy. They changed the name of “chronic fatigue syndrome” to myalgic encephalomyelitis because CFS made it sound like you were just tired and needed a good night’s sleep. It’s more like you’re paralyzed and just can’t move. If you do too much — physically, intellectually or emotionally — you get post-exertional malaise (PEM), also known as “crashing.”
A crash comes 12 to 48 hours after you exert yourself too much, and it pretty much means that you are bed-bound. Doing too much doesn’t mean running a marathon; it may mean as little as taking a shower, brushing your teeth and getting dressed without taking a break in between to rest. POTS means that your heart rate goes up dramatically if you stand up and sit up straight. Your body thinks you’re running a marathon when you’re only walking the dog. And then you crash. Physical exercise — the answer for so many chronic conditions, including the depression that inevitably comes with long COVID — is often contraindicated. Estimates of how prevalent long COVID is vary widely. In 2022, researchers using data collected from nearly half a million Americans in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey found that 14% of the survey respondents reported suffering long COVID. A study last year found that some 8% of U.S. adults reported having long COVID, a huge number with enormous impact on our nation’s well-being and our economy. What are your chances of getting long COVID after a COVID infection?
Enough to be far more worried than most of us are today about getting COVID. According to the Mayo Clinic, researchers have found that 10% to 35% of people who have had COVID-19 went on to have long COVID. With time, some people recover. Many people don’t. Various medications help with some symptoms, but there’s no cure for ME/CFS. And the scariest part is that it can get worse. There are people with long COVID who literally find themselves spending their lives living in bed in a dark room. That can happen if you don’t “pace” yourself, which means living within the strict limits on normal life. It’s a terror that hangs over every person with long COVID. And getting help isn’t easy. While a number of major medical centers have established special programs for long COVID, most doctors still don’t recognize it for the serious illness it is. The first doctor my daughter went to see dismissed her symptoms by saying that everyone gets tired sometimes. Not OK.
Things got worse, and we managed to find a doctor who specializes in long COVID and immediately recognized her disease. But so far, he’s throwing spaghetti against the wall — using drugs developed for other purposes in the hopes that they will alleviate the symptoms — and cautioning her that given her compromised immune system, she has to take extraordinary steps to avoid getting another infection. It is no way to live.
Secretary Kennedy, I beg you. You have the ability to help millions of people. We came up with a cure for AIDS. We came up with a vaccine for COVID. We can do this. You will be a hero. I beg you.
Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.
BE IN TOUCH
Letters to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or mailed to 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.
Contact a writer or columnist: connect@northstatejournal.com
COLUMN | RHONDA DILLINGHAM
obituaries
George Kenneth Myers
Feb. 26, 1952 – Feb. 12, 2025
George Kenneth Myers, 72, of Cameron, NC, passed away on Wednesday, February 12th, 2025, surrounded by loved ones.
Kenneth was born February 26th, 1952, in Chatham County, to the late Nathan William Myers Sr. and Allie Lee Hart Myers. He was the youngest son of nine children. He is preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 36 years, Sherry Sue Ellis Myers; his sons, Kenneth Eugene Myers and Isaac Jordan; his brothers, Sonny, Earl, and Johnny Myers; and his sisters, Doris Ellis, Nancy Holder, Ann Josey,
IN MEMORY
and Betty Manness.
Kenneth loved to go fishing and teach others how to fish. He was a prankster with a good sense of humor. Kenneth was a hardworking man who worked every day to provide for his family. He loved his family, especially his grandkids. He loved watching them play sports. Kenneth was a huge Duke fan and loved watching whenever he could. He loved his ole mutt dog, Hemi.
Left to cherish Kenneth’s memory are his son, Travis Jordan and his wife, Kimberly; his sister, Helen Tharp; his stepdaughter, Christy Lynn Haire Mcguire; his grandchildren, Marshall, Jonathon, Matthew, Izzabella, and Kolton; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A private Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Myers family.
Online condolences can be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
BETTY MAE FIELDS NALL
FEB. 27, 1943 – FEB. 13, 2025
Betty Mae Fields Nall, 81, of Bear Creek, passed away Thursday, February 13, 2025 at Clapp’s Convalescent Nursing Home. The funeral service will be held on Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 3:00 pm at Fall Creek Baptist Church with Pastor Edwin Moore and Pastor George Townsend presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation will be prior to the service from 2:00-2:45 p.m.
Betty was born in Moore County on February 27, 1943 to James and Cora Chriscoe Fields. She was a member of Fall Creek Baptist Church where she sung in the choir and worked in the nursery. She was a homemaker and enjoyed cooking. She loved her family and friends and cherished the time spent with them.
In addition to her parents, Betty was preceded in death by her husband, John Walter Nall and brothers, J.C. Fields and Carl Fields.
Betty is survived by her daughter, Sharon N. Cagle (Alvin) of Randleman; grandchild, Shantel Lane Cagle, of Randleman; sisters: Esther Mashburn of Carthage, Elizabeth Jackson of Star; longtime friend Penny Garner; and a host of family and friends.
CHARLES EUGENE BREWER
DEC. 24, 1931 – FEB. 10, 2025
Charles Eugene Brewer, 93, of Bennett, passed away on Monday, February 10, 2025 at his home. The graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at Bennett Baptist Church with John Phillips presiding. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall prior to the service from 1:00- 1:45 p.m. They will return to the fellowship hall following the service. Joyce-Brady Chapel will be open from 1:00-5:00 pm on Friday, February 14, 2025 for friends to sign the register. Charles was born in Chatham County on December 24, 1931 to Will and Myrtis Presnell Brewer. He was a Veteran of the U.S. Navy. Charles was an avid golfer and enjoyed sitting on the porch and talking with his friends. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Blake Brewer; daughter-in-law, Anne Brewer; sister, Jane Brady and brothers, Vernon, Pete, Wade, Max and Jack Brewer. He is survived by his sons, William Ernest Brewer, of Greenwood, SC, Charles Michael Brewer, of Deland, FL and Dudley Kevin Brewer (Brenda), of Concord, NC; sister-in-law, Mildred Brewer, of Siler City; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and a host of family and friends. The family would like to thank the Bennett community for the food, prayers and visits to Charles and Barbara over the last few years. Your support is greatly appreciated. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bennett Baptist Church, P.O. Box 213, Bennett, NC 27208
Mary Frances Vestal Barker
Dec. 4, 1929 – Feb. 10, 2025
Mary Frances Vestal Barker, 95, of Siler City, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, February 10th, 2025, surrounded by family. Frances was born in
Janet “Jan” Bond Dewitt
Dec. 18, 1937 – Feb. 6, 2025
Janet “Jan” Bond DeWitt was a Christian artist. She passed away Thursday, February 6th, 2025. She enjoyed gardening and painting landscapes, but she was known for her portraits of prominent people, such as the Mayor of the Isle of Palms, SC, Richard Petty, and Jim Valvano. One of her commissioned portraits is on permanent display in the entrance of Smithfield
offer an on-site crematory with many options of Celebration of Life services, Traditional, and Green Burials. Call us to set an appointment to come by and learn more.
Chatham County on December 4th, 1929, to the late Sammy Ross and Mary Alice Cooper Vestal. She was a member of Staley United Methodist Church. She spent her life taking care of her family and friends. She enjoyed traveling with her husband, Bill, and working in her yard. She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, James William “Bill” Barker; sisters, Lois Pearce and Sue Mendenhall; and brothers, Samuel and James Vestal. Left to cherish her memory is her only son, Rick Barker, his wife, Patty of Aldie, VA, and grandchildren, Kyle, Dylan and Nicole. Her brother,
Manor in Smithfield, NC. She was born December 18th, 1937, to Vera Alethea and William Dennis Bond in Selma, NC and graduated from Selma High School. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she met her future husband, Thomas “Tom” Edgar DeWitt. They were married September 4th, 1960. She earned two other degrees: Master of Fine Arts from UNCG and a Masters at Duke University. Jan taught drawing and painting and art history for many years at Central Carolina Community College. She also had an art studio in Artspace in Raleigh, NC. She was an active member of Love’s Creek Baptist Church. On many Sundays, the congregation enjoyed flower arrangements cut from her yard.
Albert Vestal and his wife, Dorothy of Siler City, NC and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, at 11:00 am, at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow at Staley Cemetery in Staley NC.
Reverend Patrick Fuller will be officiating the service. The family would like to thank TerraBella of Asheboro and Hospice of Randolph for their compassion and care. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Barker family.
Online condolences can be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
Tom and Jan have two children, Thomas Edgar DeWitt Jr. and Susan “Susie” Bond Taylor: grandchildren, John Michael, Thomas William, Janet Grace, and Mela DeWitt of Altamonte Springs, FL and Ian Andrew Taylor of Charleston, SC.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, at 2 pm, at Love’s Creek Baptist Church with Reverend Kenny Black officiating. Memorials can be made to Love’s Creek Baptist Church, 1745 E 11th St., Siler City, NC 7344 and Golden Land Baptist Missions, c/o Lighthouse Baptist Church, 209 Gardner Rd., Horseheads, NY 14845. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the DeWitt family. Online condolences can be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
Democrat activist, ambassador Jeanette Hyde dead at 86
Bill Clinton appointed her as ambassador to several Caribbean countries
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — Jeanette Wallace Hyde, a longtime activist and fundraiser in North Carolina and national Democratic politics who served in the 1990s as the U.S. ambassador to several Caribbean countries, has died at age 86.
Hyde died last Monday at her Raleigh home following a period of declining health, family member Tom Hendrickson said.
Hyde and her late husband, Wallace, were a political power couple, opening their home to state and national Democratic candidates. Hendrickson said the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al Gore, as well as state political notables Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, Beverly Perdue and Roy Cooper, visited the Hyde home for fundraisers.
Hyde was also involved in Democratic political strategy, particularly efforts to boost women’s influence in politics,
“Ambassador Hyde was a force to be reckoned with in our party.”
Anderson Clayton, N.C. Democratic Party chair
as well as pushing for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, according to an obituary provided by the family. She served as a co-chair of the Clinton-Gore campaign in North Carolina in 1992.
Once president, Bill Clinton in 1994 appointed Hyde as ambassador to Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts and Nevis. The Hydes lived in Barbados for four years, with her ambassadorship ending in 1998.
“Ambassador Hyde was a force to be reckoned with in our party,” state Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said last Wednesday on X, adding that the state party “is a better place because of her
steadfast leadership and grit.” Hyde, who was born in Yadkin County in North Carolina’s mountains, had a varied career outside of politics, at one time teaching on the Greek island of Crete and working as a social worker and counselor with the North Carolina state courts system, the obituary said. She once operated multiple locations of her own clothing store in Fayetteville and was a cofounder of both Triangle Bank and North State Bank.
Hyde also served on many boards, including the state Board of Transportation. She received many awards, and her own education and philanthropic work was wide-ranging, with many links to Wake Forest University, where she once attended.
Wallace and Jeanette Hyde married in 1985. Wallace Hyde, whose career included work in the insurance field and education, died in 2013.
Jeanette Hyde’s survivors include four nieces, a nephew and a stepson. A memorial service was held last Tuesday at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.
Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Chatham News & Record at obits@chathamrecord.com
first line, providing temporary housing and funding for repairs while insurance foots most of the bill. It is not the message residents heard initially, when politicians, including then-President Joe Biden, who toured the damaged area, promised residents they would have whatever they needed. As more time passes, the reality of long-term recovery has gotten complicated.
To Russell and many others, Trump saying he would consider eliminating FEMA made sense. To some experts and officials, however, that could cause more problems than it would solve.
Days after Trump took office on Jan. 20, he surveyed the fallout from wildfires in California and the hurricane in North Carolina and suggested that states primarily manage the response to natural disasters. As a candidate, he had disparaged FEMA’s work in the Southern states hit by Helene. That criticism, which began almost as soon as the wind stopped blowing, has not stopped.
More recently, FEMA was criticized by Trump adviser Elon Musk over payments to reimburse New York City for hotel costs for migrants. Four FEMA employees were fired, accused of circumventing leadership to make the transactions, which have been standard for years through a program that helps with costs to care for a surge in migration.
North Carolina’s government estimated that Helene caused a record $59.6 billion in damages. FEMA has contributed almost $380 million through public assistance grants to the state
and local governments, as well as approximately $372 million directly to North Carolinians as of Feb. 11, according to the agency. FEMA’s responsibilities include direct financial assistance to individuals and reimbursements to governments for recovery tasks like debris removal and rebuilding roads.
Russell was confused when she was denied on her FEMA application, especially after she said an inspector told her the home was a complete loss. Rushing floodwaters tore off the side of her house, and heavy mud seeped inside, warping the floorboards and rendering most things unsalvageable. She thought the home she grew up in would be bulldozed.
Russell called FEMA and spoke with representatives in-person about her denied request. She said they told her she needed receipts for certain personal items, which she did not have.
“To keep being told it’s pending or not approved, it’s just, it’s just a devastating feeling,”
Russell said. “I mean, you just feel lost.”
In Buncombe County, where Russell lives, about 70% of homeowners who registered with FEMA received some level of assistance, according to the agency’s data. Approximately 91% of those approved received up to $10,000, while about 3.6% got between $25,000 and a maximum payment that would likely top out at a little over $40,000.
Danny Bailey, a 61-year-old Buncombe County retiree, said he received $42,500 after losing practically everything from flooding, including the trailer he lived in, his sister’s double-wide mobile home and a barn. His family had moved to the property in 1968.
Bailey already spent some of his money on necessities, such as propane to make it through the winter. He lives in a donated trailer on his property, now a muddy, rutted expanse, and said FEMA “should’ve done more.”
“If this is the way they are, he ought to do away with them,” Bailey said of Trump,
Chatham County Aging Services Weekly Activities Calendar
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Emily Russell stands on her new porch overlooking her front yard in Swannanoa earlier this month.
whose win in North Carolina helped propel him to victory in November.
Bailey ran into issues getting the money. A few days after Helene, he said a FEMA inspector came to his property and told him to go online to apply for disaster assistance, but Bailey had no computer or reliable cell service. He traveled almost 100 miles east to Statesville to use his nephew’s computer, Bailey said, and then had problems getting clear answers from FEMA on his application status. Eventually, he received his money.
“Their attitude was, you know, this happened to you, but it’s up to you to fix it. And I ain’t the one who caused it,” he said with a laugh.
Complaints about FEMA’s application process are common because of the administrative hurdles in place to ensure applicants’ eligibility, said Miyuki Hino, a city and regional planning professor at UNC Chapel Hill. People may also believe FEMA should provide more assistance when its role is mainly to meet immediate needs such as shelter, Hino said.
There always has been an underlying tension on the federal government’s role in natural disaster response, but Hino said the agency’s increasing politicization could be attributed to the rising frequency of expensive disasters caused by climate change. Dissolving FEMA could create issues when disasters extend beyond state lines or localities need expertise
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on disasters they are not used to confronting.
Overall, eliminating FEMA would likely slow the recovery process for future disasters, she said.
FEMA’s potential eradication worries Dalton George, the mayor pro tempore of Boone, a mountain town in Watauga County that was ravaged by Helene. Despite understandable frustrations, he said the agency moved quickly to help. It has contributed money for home restorations, as well as keeping several families in hotels under its transitory sheltering program, he said.
“It feels like people are more anti-FEMA than they are about actually solving some of these problems,” George said.
Responsibilities would be partly shifted onto local governments, and George said towns such as Boone do not have resources for that. Private organizations would need to step up more than they have, George said, and they already are overextended.
Vickie Revis relies heavily on private entities such as churches to supply almost everything on her property, including the trailer she stays in with her husband along the Swannanoa River. Her home of eight years was completely swept away by the river — something she used to associate with beauty and peace but now ties to “terror.”
“It’s like a friend that came in and robbed you of everything you have,” Revis said.
Her restoration process, however, will largely be funded by FEMA, as Revis said she received more than $40,000. Shesaid she had no issues withhowthe agency handled her situation.
Instead, Revis talked at length about the grief she still lives with: lost pets; meaningful possessions that disappeared; home expansion plans to accommodate more family members that will not happen. She said she rarely left her trailer until recently because she could not bear to face the devastation. Now, it is the rebuilding that keeps Revis going. How long will that go on?
“However long it takes,” she said.
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MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO
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AUCTIONS
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FOR SALE
FOR SALE: Dining Room Set w/China Cabinet, several Curio Cabinets, Treadmill, Sofa and 2 end tables, 2 upright freezers, dishes, Bedroom Suite, 2 Recliners, etc. 919-799-8243.
SERVICES
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JUNK CARS PICKED UP Free of charge. Due to many months of low steel prices and unstable steel markets, we cannot pay for cars at this time. Cars, trucks, and machinery will be transported and environmentally correctly recycled at no charge. 919-5422803.
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NOTICE
Diamond Towers V LLC proposes to build a 304-foot Guyed Communications Tower. Anticipated lighting application is medium intensity dual red/white strobes. The Site location is 1296 White Smith Road, Pittsboro, Chatham County, NC 27312. Lat: 35-47-22.56, Long: -79-1842.88. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Antenna Structure Registration (ASR, Form 854) filing number is A1308149. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS – Interested persons may review the application (www.fcc.gov/asr/applications) by entering the filing number. Environmental concerns may be raised by filing a Request for Environmental Review (www.fcc.gov/asr/ environmentalrequest) and online filings are strongly encouraged. The mailing address to file a paper copy is: FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554. HISTORIC PROPERTIES EFFECTS ‐ Public comments regarding potential effects on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Laura Elston, l.elston@trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Parkway, Building 400, Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, (678) 653-8673.
Notice to Creditors
Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of ALICE MARIE PARSONS, late of Chatham County, North Carolina (25E000026-180), the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before April 30, 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This is the 30th day of January, 2025. Rachel (Parsons) Klemek Executor of the Estate of Alice Parsons 17941 Sky Park Circle, Ste E Irvine, CA 92614 (For publication 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20/2025)
NOTICE OF TAX FORECLOSURE SALE
Under and by virtue of an order of the District Court of Chatham County, North Carolina, made and entered in the action entitled COUNTY OF CHATHAM vs. THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS AND DEVISEES OF WILLIE SYLVESTER FOX A/K/A WILLIE SYLVESTER FOXX and spouse, if any, which may include THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS AND DEVISEES OF VEATRICE M. FOX A/K/A VEATRICE M. FOXX and spouse, if any, CARL L. FOXX A/K/A CARL L. FOX and spouse, if any, GWENDOLYN F. HANNER and spouse, if any, DOROTHY CLEMONS A/K/A DOROTHY SHAMBURGER and spouse, if any, HATTIE LUCILLE HANNER and spouse, if any, MARY ANN WILLIAMS and spouse, if any, PAULINE HALL and spouse, if any, TONYA DAVIS and spouse, if any, THURMAN DAVIS, JR. and spouse, if any, WYTINA C. FOXX and spouse, if any, ARDEECE R. FOXX and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS AND DEVISEES OF MATTIE MILLER and spouse, if any, which may include BARBARA MARSH and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS AND DEVISEES OF BETTIE LUCILLE FOUST MCQUEEN A/K/A LUCILLE FOUST
MCQUEEN and spouse, if any, which may include TONIA CHEEK and spouse, if any, TAMAKIA HARRIS and spouse, if any, AMBER GOINS and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS, AND DEVISEES OF RALPH FOXX A/K/A RALPH FOX and spouse, if any, which may include CYNTHIA STALEY and spouse, if any, MILLICENT FOXX A/K/A MILLICENT FOX and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, JOE FOX, JR. A/K/A JOE FOXX, JR. and spouse, if any, and all possible heirs and assignees of JOE FOX, JR. A/K/A JOE FOXX, JR. and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, DOUGLAS FOX A/K/A DOUGLAS FOXX A/K/A TONY DOUGLAS FOX A/K/A
TONY DOUGLAS FOXX and spouse, if any, and all possible heirs and assignees of DOUGLAS FOX A/K/A DOUGLAS FOXX A/K/A TONY DOUGLAS FOX A/K/A TONY DOUGLAS FOXX and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, MICHAEL FOX A/K/A MICHAEL FOXX and spouse, if any, and all possible heirs and assignees of MICHAEL FOX A/K/A MICHAEL FOXX, and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, et al, 08 CvD 554, the undersigned Commissioner will on the 26th day of February, 2025, offer for sale and sell for cash, to the last and highest bidder at public auction at the courthouse door in Chatham County, North Carolina, Pittsboro, North Carolina at 12:00 o’clock, noon, the following described real property, lying and being in Bear Creek Township, State and County aforesaid, and more particularly described as follows: All that certain tract or parcel of land in Bear Creek Township, Chatham County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at an iron stake in the Northern margin of the hard surfaced Public Road leading from Bonlee West to Bennett, James F. Gilbert new corner; and running thence South 88 degrees West 10 poles to a stake in the Northern margin of said road; thence North
NOTICE For Immediate Release February 13, 2025 RE: NOTICE OF DISCHARGE OF UNTREATED WASTEWATER The Town of Siler City had an untreated wastewater overflow that occurred in the following area due to heavy rains:
Start Date: Estimated 02/13/2025
Start Time: Estimated 1:00am
End Date: 02/13/2025
End Time: 4:45am
Address: 198 Utility Drive Gallons: 10,000 1000 gallons reached the surface waters of Loves Creek.
Siler City staff evaluated the situation and took measures to address the issue. The Division of Water Resources has been notified of the event, on February 13, 2025. For questions call Chris McCorquodale, Director of Public Utilities, 919-726-8614
Chris McCorquodale Director of Public Utilities Town of Siler City
Notice to Creditors
Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of LOIS CAMILLA CHRIETZBERG, late of Chatham County, North Carolina (25E000032-180), 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 3rd day of May 2025 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 30th day of January 2025.
Aletha Chrietzberg Executor of the Estate of Lois Camilla Chrietzberg c/o Lisa M. Schreiner Attorney at Law P.O. Box 446 114 Raleigh Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 (For publication: 01/30, 02/6, 02/13, 02/20/2025)
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000062-180
The undersigned, JEFFREY S. LeGAY, having qualified on the 5TH Day of FEBRUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of SANDRA K. LeGAY, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 14TH Day of MAY 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025.
JEFFREY S LeGAY, EXECUTOR 140 LANDRUM CREEK DR. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: F13,20,27,M6p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000073-180 The undersigned, ANNE L. CAMPBELL, having qualified on the 5TH Day of FEBRUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of PEGGY LEWIS LINDLEY, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 14TH Day of MAY 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025.
ANNE L. CAMPBELL, EXECUTOR 635 SHEEP ROCK RD. SNOW CAMP, NC 27349 Run dates: F13,20,27,M6p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000044-180 The undersigned, JOANN THOMAS, having qualified on the 24TH Day of JANUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of MARGIE S. BOONE, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 30TH Day of APRIL 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 30TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2025. JOANN THOMAS, EXECUTOR 229 HILLSBORO ST. PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: J30,F6,13,20p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000035-180 The undersigned, MILDRED ELIZABETH RITTER, having qualified on the 21ST Day of JANUARY, 2025 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of DELMA EUGENE RITTER, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 30TH Day of APRIL 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 30TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2025. MIDRED ELIZABETH RITTER, ADMINISTRATOR 697 BISH ROAD STALEY, NC 27355 MAIL AFFIDAVIT TO: THE LAW OFFICE OF LEWIS FADELY, PLLC 119 N FIR AVE. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: J30,F6,13,20p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E001595-180 The undersigned, CATHERINE ANN DORIN-BLACK AND DANIEL BROOKS
DORIN, having qualified on the 7TH Day of JANUARY, 2025 as CO-EXECUTORS of the Estate of DENNIS DANIEL DORIN, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 7TH Day of MAY 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 6TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025.
CATHERINE ANN DORIN-BLACK, COEXECUTOR 1211 HUMMINGBIRD HILL RD.
CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517
DANIEL BROOKS DORIN, CO-EXECUTOR
5601 NORTH OCEAN BLVD., BOX 17
MYRTLE BEACH, SC 29577 Run dates: F6,13,20,27p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000058-180
The undersigned, GARY L. MARBRY, having qualified on the 30TH Day of JANUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of DONALD L. MARBRY, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 14TH Day of MAY 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025.
GARY L. MARBRY, EXECUTOR 1550 US 15-501 CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 Run dates: F13,20,27,M6p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000019-180
The undersigned, ROBERT JAMES CLARK, having qualified on the 27TH Day of JANUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of ELAINE THAIN, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 14TH Day of MAY 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025.
ROBERT JAMES CLARK, EXECUTOR 104 S DOGWOOD AVE. SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: F13,20,27,M6p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#25E000030-180
The undersigned, CYNTHIA F. MASON, having qualified on the 17TH Day of JANUARY, 2025 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of KAY ELKINS COOK, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 30TH Day of APRIL 2025, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 30TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2025.
CYNTHIA F. MASON, EXECUTOR 1613 RENO SHARPE STOR RD. BEAR CREEK, NC 27207 Run dates: J30,F6,13,20p
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF CHARLES MAURICE
BENNETT CHATHAM COUNTY FILE NO. 25E000028-180 All persons, firms, and corporations having claims against Charles Maurice Bennett deceased, Ancillary Administration in Chatham County, North Carolina are notified to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before May 2, 2025 or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 30th day of January, 2025. Lois E. Bennett, Ancillary Executor 193 Hampton Loop Davenport, FL 33837 Attorney, Daniel B. Finch Envisage Law 2601 Oberlin Road, Suite 100 Raleigh, NC 27608
EXECUTOR’S NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
All persons having claims against the estate of Pauline Ann Gergen, of Chatham County, NC, who died on December 1, 2024 are notified to present them on or before May 15, 2025 to Maria Gergen Teague, Executrix, c/o Maitland & Stiffler Law Firm, 2 Couch Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Michele L. Stiffler
MAITLAND & STIFFLER LAW FIRM 2 Couch Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Attorney for the Estate
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Charles Lee Moody, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 22nd day of May, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 11th day of February, 2025. Cathy L. Moody, Executor of the Estate of Charles Lee Moody 2090 Silk Hope Liberty Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Co-Executors of the Estate of Michael R. Ferguson, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 16th day of May, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 4th day of February, 2025. Jeffrey Ferguson, Co-Executor of the Estate of Michael R. Ferguson 1001 Bowers Store Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344
Heidi K. Faucette, Co-Executor of the Estate of Michael R. Ferguson 20 Harold Hackney Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629
SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Howard Billy Kidd, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 8th day of May, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 30th day of January, 2025. Sherry F. Kidd, Executor of the Estate of Howard Billy Kidd 1279 Bowers Store Road Siler City, North Carolina 27344 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629
SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, firms and corporations holding claims against Mairead Lockwood, deceased, of Chatham County, NC are notified to exhibit same to the undersigned on or before May 16, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 13th day of February 2025. Brian N. Lockwood, Exec., c/o Clarity Legal Group, PO Box 2207, Chapel Hill, NC 27515.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
25E000041-180 NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, David Cunningham, having qualified as Administrator of the Estate of Stephen H. Dorenkamp, deceased, late of Chatham County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the day of May 7th, 2025, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 6th of February, 2025. Administrator David Cunningham c/o Marie H. Hopper Attorney for the Estate Hopper Cummings, PLLC Post Office Box 1455 Pittsboro, NC 27312
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having qualified on the 30th day of January 2025, as Executor of the Estate of Bunni Susan Hall, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 6th day of April, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, firms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment. This is the 31st day of January 2025. Megan Bean, Executor of the Estate of Bunni Susan Hall 2350 Everette Dowdy Road Sanford, NC 27330 Attorneys: Law Offices of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: February 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th 2025.
NOTICE OF MEETING
FOR THE TOWN OF PITTSBORO BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Notice is hereby given that the Town of Pittsboro Board of Adjustment will conduct a meeting to be held on Thursday, March 16, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Town of Pittsboro Town Hall, 287 East Street, Suite 221, Pittsboro. The purpose of the meeting will be for the Board of Adjustment to participate in the following: Election of Officers Training For more information contact Carrie Bailey at cbailey@pittsboronc.gov, (984) 282-6647.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
The undersigned, having qualified as Executor of the Estate of John Richard Weston aka John Richard Weston-Jones, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against the estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the offices of Tillman, Whichard & Cagle, PLLC, 501 Eastowne Drive, Suite 130, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, on or before the 30th day of April, 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This 30th day of January, 2025. BRIAN FRANCIS WILKINSON, EXECUTOR ESTATE OF JOHN RICHARD WESTON AKA JOHN RICHARD WESTON-JONES
NOTICE OF TAX FORECLOSURE SALE Under and by virtue of an order of the District Court of Chatham County, North Carolina, made and entered in the action entitled COUNTY OF CHATHAM vs. THE HEIRS, ASSIGNS AND DEVISEES OF MARY EFFIE BRAFFORD
seeking relief against you has been filed in the aboveentitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Plaintiff seeks custody of and child support for Kinsley Rose Monroe, born January 26, 2023. You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than April 1, 2025
Border Patrol agents in Vermont, and a second was under arrest. A third, a shadowy figure known online as “Ziz,” remains missing after authorities linked their cultlike group to six deaths in three states.
Officials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of a Border Patrol trooper in Vermont during a traffic stop. Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs and became increasingly violent. Their goals aren’t clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.
At the middle of it all is “Ziz,” who appears to be the leader of the strange group, who called themselves “Zizians.” She has been seen near multiple crime scenes and has connections to various suspects.
She was even declared dead for a time before reappearing amid more violence.
Who is Ziz?
Jack LaSota moved to the San Francisco Bay area after earning a computer science degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2013 and interning at NASA, according to a profile on a hiring site for programmers, coders and other freelance workers. NASA officials did not respond to a request to confirm LaSota’s internship, but a Jack LaSota is listed on a website about past interns.
In 2016, she began publishing a dark and rambling blog under the name Ziz, describing her theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could hold separate values and genders and “often desire to kill each other.”
LaSota used she/her pronouns and in her writings says she is a transgender woman. She railed against perceived enemies, including so-called rationalist groups, which operate mostly online and seek to understand human cognition through reason and knowledge. Some are concerned with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
LaSota began promoting an extreme mix of rationalism, ethical veganism, anarchism and other value systems, said Jessica Taylor, an AI researcher who met LaSota both in person and online through the rationalist community and knew her as Ziz.
When LaSota left the rationalists behind, she took with her a group of “extremely vulnerable and isolated” followers, Anna Salamon, executive director of the Center for Applied Rationality, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Taylor said Ziz adherents use the rationalist ideology as a reason to commit violence. “Stuff like, thinking it’s reasonable to avoid paying rent and defend oneself from being evicted,” she said.
Poulomi Saha, a professor who has studied cults, said LaSota’s beliefs and writings may have made readers feel seen, an often central factor in the formation of groups commonly labeled cults. That’s especially true in the era of online communities, in which it’s easier for marginalized people to seek fellow believers.
“For the person who feels hailed by that blog post, there is likely to be a kind of dual experience,” said Saha, co-director of the program in critical theory at the University of California, Berkeley. “One where they feel like, ‘I have been saying this, or thinking this, all along, and no one has believed me.’”
LaSota, 34, has not responded to multiple Associated Press emails in recent weeks, and her attorney Daniel McGarrigledeclined to comment when asked whether she is connected to any of the deaths.
She was ordered held without bail Tuesday in Maryland, where she faces trespassing and other charges.
LaSota and two others arrested with her on Sunday appeared via videoconference for bail hearings in Allegany District Court. A judge ordered all three held without bail, describing them as dangerous flight risks. LaSota had asked for pretrial release, saying she was homeless with no means of traveling.
All three were charged with trespassing and obstructing law enforcement after a Frostburg, Maryland, resident told police that three “suspicious” people had parked two box trucks on his property and asked to camp there for a month. The trucks were found in a largely remote wooded area near the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, according to police. They were dressed in black and two wore gun belts holding ammunition, according to police. Officers found a rifle in the back of one truck and a handgun on the front floorboard.
Ziz and followers’ first run-in with the law
In November 2019, LaSota was arrested along with several other people at a protest outside a Northern California retreat center where the Center for Applied Rationality was holding an event. Sheriff’s deputies called in a SWAT team and armored vehicle after the mask-wearing group blocked the property’s exits and handed out fliers railing against the rationalist organization. The group said they were protesting sexual misconduct
inside the rationalist group.
The case against LaSota, Emma Borhanian, 31, Gwen Danielson and Alexander Leatham, 29, was pending in August 2022 when the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report that LaSota had fallen out of a boat in San Francisco Bay. Her body wasn’t found, but her mother confirmed the death and an obituary was published. It wasn’t long before Ziz surfaced again.
A landlord is attacked in California
By the autumn of 2022, LaSota had moved with other group members, including Borhanian and Leatham, into vans and box trucks on property owned by Curtis Lind in Vallejo, about 30 miles north of San Francisco.
“Emma’s van was amazing,” said someone who knew Borhanian. “It had a refrigerator and freezer and microwave. It was truly a work of art.”
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears for her safety, described Borhanian as a kind and loving young woman so smart that she worked at Google while in col-
lege. Google did not respond to an inquiry about Borhanian’s employment there. Prosecutors say she was among those who attacked Lind on Nov. 13 when he tried to evict the group for not paying rent.
Impaled by a sword and partially blinded, Lind fought back, fatally shooting Borhanian.
Concluding that Lind acted in self-defense, officials charged Leatham and Suri Dao, 23, with murder in Borhanian’s death, as well as attempted murder of Lind.
An elderly couple is killed in Pennsylvania
On New Year’s Eve of 2022, a couple was shot and killed in their home in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania.
A doorbell camera captured audio and video of a car pulling up to the home of Richard Zajko, 71, and his wife, Rita, 69.
A voice shouts “Mom!” and another voice exclaims, “Oh my God! Oh, God, God!” according to a Pennsylvania state police affidavit. Police found the couple shot in the head in an upstairs bedroom after they failed to show up to take care of Rita’s mother.
Police questioned the couple’s daughter, Michelle, at her home in Vermont, and a few weeks later, took her into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel. She wasn’t arrested or charged with anything. LaSota was at the hotel, too, and was arrested after refusing to cooperate with officers, charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct.
The landlord in California is found dead
Meanwhile, the case regarding the landlord in California was headed to trial. The landlord, who was 82, was the only eyewitness, and prosecutors wanted to hurry along the proceedings.
But on Jan. 17, Lind’s throat was cut, and he died not far from where he had survived the earlier attack. Maximilian Snyder, 22, who is charged with murder, appeared in court Feb. 6 only long enough to request a new attorney. It’s not clear how he was identified as a suspect; he has ties to a woman who just days later would be involved in a shootout.
A Border Patrol agent dies in a shootout Vermont
On. Jan 20 in Vermont, U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped a vehicle carrying two people connected to the Ziz group. A hotel worker had called authorities after seeing one of them, Teresa Youngblut, with a gun.
Youngblut was driving the car when it was pulled over on Jan. 20, and authorities say she quickly opened fire on officers. The passenger, Felix Bauckholt, a German national who is also listed in court documents as Ophelia, died, along with the border patrol agent, David Maland.
Youngblut was wounded and arrested, and she has pleaded not guilty to firearms charges. Authorities who searched the car found a ballistic helmet, night-vision goggles, respirators and ammunition, the FBI said. They also found twoway radios and used shooting range targets.
Youngblut applied for a marriage license with Snyder, the man accused of murdering the elderly landlord. He was a childhood friend; it was unclear if they were married. Authorities say the gun she was carrying was purchased by a person of interest in the Zajko killings.
Ziz in North Carolina
Youngblut and Bauckholt had been living at the two condos in North Carolina, where the landlord and neighbors now say they saw the odd behavior.
LaSota also had been living there as recently as this winter, said the landlord, who reviewed LaSota’s 2019 police booking photo. He spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he was concerned for his safety.
A neighbor who lived in the other side of Bauckholt’s duplex recalled seeing three people wearing long black robes and tactical clothes.
“They rarely came out during the day but would walk around the neighborhood and in the woods at night,” the former neighbor said. “Sometimes all three of them would go for a walk and they all held hands. They seemed to care for each other a great deal.”
MATT ROURKE / AP PHOTO
Richard and Rita Zajko were killed in their Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, home on New Year’s Eve in 2022.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY VIA AP
Left, FBI agents search a neighborhood in Chapel Hill on Feb. 5, where Teresa Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt, who were allegedly involved in the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont, had been renting homes, their landlord told The Associated Press. Right, Border Patrol Agent David Maland poses with a service dog.
AP PHOTO
This combination of images from top left to right shows 2019 Sonoma County Sheriff’s office booking mug shots of Jack LaSota, Alexander Leatham and Emma Borhanian, and at bottom left to right, Gwen Danielson, court appearance of Maximilian Snyder and a Newport City Inn surveillance video image of Teresa Youngblut. They are associates of LaSota, also known as “Ziz.”
WRAL-TV VIA AP
CHATHAM SPORTS
65-51.
Central’s Brennen Oldham (front) crashes to the floor after attempting a layup against Northwood
teams are preparing for the postseason, which we preview below.
Daniel White takes a cut for Seaforth during last season’s NCHSAA playoffs. Now a senior, White will take on a larger role for the Hawks.
Chatham diamond sports preview
Baseball and softball get started Monday
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
THE HIGH SCHOOL baseball and softball seasons are around the corner with the first games being played Monday. Here’s a preview of Chatham County’s teams.
Baseball
Things are looking up in Pittsboro ahead of the 2024-25 high school baseball season.
Last year turned out to be a break-out season for the young Seaforth program. The Hawks had by far the best season of their first three years, going 22-6 overall, winning the conference regular season and tournament titles and battling to their first two playoff wins.
Yet that may just be the beginning of more to come. Not much is changing by the lake as Seaforth lost four seniors from the 2023-24 squad, including
outfielder Dane O’Neill and first baseman Tanner Morgan. Many of the young standouts, like sophomore Bauer Bowling, and key upperclassmen, like utility player Daniel White, will return with a taste of what it takes to not only win in the regular season but also in the playoffs. And although former assistant coach Spenser Messmore replaced Landon Jones as the Hawks’ head coach, Jones will still be around as an assistant. Down the road at Northwood, the Chargers are ushering in a new era with Brent Haynes replacing Kyle Robinson as head coach. Haynes collected a playoff win in his lone season coaching at Williams in 2024, and he hopes to bring that same fortune to Northwood, which hasn’t won a playoff game since 2022.
Losing just three seniors, Northwood is also returning a significant portion of last year’s team, including standout pitcher Finn Sullivan, last season’s leader in batting average Kaleb Howell and another solid hitter in Camden Miller.
With the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference possibly coming down to Northwood and Seaforth like last year, the Chargers and Hawks will face off in a home and home series on March 25 and 28th.
On the other side of the county, the biggest thing will be replacing all-conference-caliber players that graduated.
Jordan-Matthews will look to fill the void of standout shortstop Ian McMillan, who was named the 2024 Mid-Carolina 1A/2A Conference Player of the Year.
At Chatham Central, one of the keys to a successful season will be replacing the impact of standout pitcher and hitter Anthony Lopossay, who led the Bears in batting average, on base percentage, hits, runs and earned run average in 2024. Chatham Central had five other seniors graduate from last year’s team, but there’s still a solid upperclassmen core returning that could make a solid playoff squad.
See DIAMOND, page B5
play continues
Chatham County prep basketball playoff preview
Local teams are hoping for deep runs in the state tournament
By Asheebo Rojas
Chatham News & Record
LESS THAN a week remains until Chatham County’s high school basketball playoff hopefuls gear up for another race toward a state title.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will begin the state playoffs Tuesday after seeding each classification’s bracket Sunday. This week, the county’s teams are battling in their respective conference
tournaments, pushing for better seeding and ramping up the intensity before the postseason. In both the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A and Central Tar Heel 1A conferences, there will be two automatic state playoff berths reserved for the regular season conference champion and the conference tournament champion or the regular season conference runner-up. The remaining nonautomatic qualifying teams will be determined by the ratings percentage index, or RPI, standings.
RPI considers the winning percentage of a team, its
Pollard boys, Horton girls win middle school basketball championships
The Chatham Charter’s girls won their conference tournament on Feb. 7
By Asheebo Roajs
Chatham News & Record
SILER CITY — Pollard Middle beat Horton Middle 48-22 to win the Chatham County Middle School Basketball Tournament championship and complete an undefeated season at Jordan-Matthews High School on Friday. Pollard guard Mason Walton, an eighth grader, scored a team-high 15 points to lead the
Mustangs to victory. He started the game with three straight made baskets to help Pollard jump out to a 10-0 lead near the end of the first quarter. Horton also didn’t have much of an answer for Pollard’s towering and dominant forwards Tolson O’Daniel, Finn O’Daniel and Colton Godwin. Tolson O’Daniel scored all seven of his points in the first quarter, helping lift Pollard to a 13-4 advantage over Horton going into the second quarter. “I think they just stay calm regardless of what they see,”
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham
while
behind him. Northwood won
Both
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Seaforth boys win indoor track state title
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
Indoor track
Seaforth won its first NCHSAA 1A/2A boys indoor track state championship Saturday. The Hawks took the title with a team score of 62 points. Salisbury was the next closest team with 31 points.
Senior Will Cuicchi set a new 1A/2A meet record to win the 1,000-meter run, finishing with a time of 2 minutes, 29.76 seconds. Jack Anstrom, also a senior, won the 3,200-meter run for the second year in a row with a time of 9:33.78. That win marks Anstrom’s seventh career state title across cross-country and indoor and outdoor track.
Senior Sebastian Calderon won the 500-meter dash state title with a time of 1:06.63. Junior Ryan Yoder also won a title for Seaforth, finishing first in pole vault with a mark of 14 feet and 7 inches.
The Hawks finished 12th in the girls’ results with a team score of 17.
Wrestling
Seaforth’s boys team won its second straight 2A Mideast regional Saturday with a score of 212.5. Northwood finished 14th, and Jordan-Matthews followed at 15th.
The Hawks had five wrestlers win their respective brackets, including Jordan Miller (113 pounds), Gabe Rogers (120), Layne Armstrong (132), Judge Lloyd (175) and Harrison Compton (190).
Chatham Central came in 13th place in the 1A East regional.
Here are the county wrestlers advancing to the individual state tournament at First Horizon Coliseum starting Saturday (school, weight class):
1A: Carson Williams (Chatham Central, 150); Stephen Silhan III (Chatham Central, 190)
2A: Jordan Miller (Seaforth, 113); Gabe Rogers (Seaforth, 120); Nermiah Page (Jordan-Matthews, 120); Layne Armstrong (Seaforth, 132); Chance Cody (Seaforth, 138); Benjamin Johnson (Seaforth,
TOURNAMENT from page B1
Pollard coach Liz Davis, who started coaching the team last season, said. “They treat it like a glorified practice. They’re prepared for this, and they aren’t really frazzled under pressure. It doesn’t matter how many people are in the gym or whatever, especially for Mason. He just plays like he always does, which is amazing,”
With a solid team defensive effort led by the big guys protecting the paint down low, Pollard held Horton to just 18 points in the first three quarters.
Finn O’Daniel and Godwin finished the night as Pollard’s third leading scorers with six points apiece. Eight different Mustangs recorded a point which was a result of solid ball movement and well-connectedness in the offense.
“We work on big-to-big passing, so not only are they looking to score, but they’re also looking to help out their teammates,” Davis said.
Said Davis, “I’m a teacher first, and so I think that really is a big part of my philosophy as a coach. It’s building a community and building a family, and no one is the single star. We pass the ball and we focus on making sure if it’s not my day, it’s going to be someone else’s day. I almost every game play every player to the best of my ability and make sure that everybody gets a piece of our win.”
Chatham County girls
Horton Middle defeated Chatham Middle 46-26 to capture the Chatham County Middle School Basketball Tournament title and complete an undefeated season Friday at Jordan-Matthews High School.
Horton forward Alaina Toomer, a seventh grader, was everywhere for the Wildcats, scoring
144); Elijah Farrow (Northwood, 165); Alex Hinchman (Seaforth, 165); Judge Lloyd (Seaforth, 175); Harrison Compton (Seaforth, 190); Jakari Blue (Jordan-Matthews, 190); Ethan Kuball (Seaforth, 215) Boys’ basketball
Northwood defeated second-place Chatham Central on the road in its regular season and Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference finale 65-51 on Feb. 11. Junior guard Cam Fowler scored a team-high 20 points, ending the regular season at 12 games with at least 20 points. The Chargers, conference champions for the sixth season in a row, finished conference play with a 16-0 record, achieving an undefeated regular season conference record for the fourth straight season (62 straight regular season conference wins dating back to the 2020-21 season).
Chatham Central ended the regular season with a 68-59 win over Jordan-Matthews on Feb. 12 and a close 66-60 victory over North Moore on Friday. Senior forward Brennen Oldham led the way over the Jets with 22 points, while senior guard Reid Albright recorded his ninth double-double of the season (19 points and 12 rebounds). Albright led the Bears with 25 points against North Moore, notching his 14th game of the year with at least 20 points.
Seaforth closed conference play with three straight blowout wins over Jordan-Matthews, Graham and Bartlett Yancey, securing its third winning season in its four years of existence. In a crucial battle for second place in the Central Tar Heel 1A conference, Chatham Charter tied Woods Charter for the runner up title with huge wins over River Mill and Ascend Leadership. The Wolves lost their footing in a blowout loss to firstplace Southern Wake Academy to end the regular season.
Final boys’ basketball power rankings: 1. Northwood; 2. Chatham Central; 3. Seaforth; 4. Chatham Charter; 5. Woods Charter; 6. Jordan-Matthews Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings (as of Sunday) (overall, conference): 1. North-
wood (22-2, 16-0); T2. Southeast Alamance (19-5, 13-3); T2. Chatham Central (20-3, 13-3); 4. Seaforth (13-11, 10-6); T5. Jordan-Matthews (9-14, 7-9); T5. Cummings (8-15, 7-9); 7. Bartlett Yancey (6-14, 3-13); 8. North Moore (5-17, 2-14); 9. Graham (2-20, 1-15)
Central Tar Heel 1A conference standings (as of Sunday): 1. Southern Wake Academy (22-4, 12-0); T2. Chatham Charter (189, 9-3); T2. Woods Charter (137, 9-3); T4. Clover Garden School (9-13, 5-7); T4. Triangle Math and Science (6-17, 5-7); T6. River Mill (2-23, 1-11); T6. Ascend Leadership (4-16, 1-11) Girls’ basketball
Seaforth bounced back from its first conference loss the previous week with two routs over Jordan-Matthews (53-14) on Feb. 11 and Graham on Feb. 12 (64-30). By winning out, the Hawks finished the regular sea-
son as conference co-champions with Southeast Alamance, failing to win their conference outright for the first time in program history.
After beating Chatham Central 53-28 on Feb. 11, Northwood closed its regular season with a 45-41 nonconference win over 3A opponent Carrboro Saturday. Junior forward Mikaylah Glover led the way with 12 points.
Chatham Central senior forward Karaleigh Dodson recorded her 12th and 13th double-doubles of the year in the Bears’ blowout wins over Jordan-Matthews (54-11) on Feb. 12 and North Moore (55-29) on Friday. Senior Chloe Scott scored a team-high 20 points in the win over the Mustangs.
Chatham Charter finished the regular season with two big wins over River Mill (44-25) on Feb. 12 and Ascend Leadership (74-31) on Feb. 13 to share the Central Tar Heel 1A conference title with Triangle Math
and Science. The Knights haven’t shared the conference title since the 2021-22 season. Final girls’ basketball power rankings: 1. Seaforth; 2. Northwood; 3. Chatham Central; 4. Chatham Charter; 5. Woods Charter; 6. Jordan-Matthews Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings (as of Sunday): T1. Southeast Alamance (21-2, 14-1); T1. Seaforth (21-2, 14-1); 3. Northwood (17-6, 11-4); 4. Chatham Central (14-8, 9-6); 5. Cummings (5-13, 5-10); 6. Graham (6-15, 4-11); 7. Jordan-Matthews (4-19, 4-11); 8. North Moore (5-14, 3-12); 9. Bartlett Yancey (0-12, 0-8) Central Tar Heel 1A conference standings (as of Sunday): T1. Chatham Charter (13-14, 10 -2); T1. Triangle Math and Science (14-9, 10-2); 3. Clover Garden School (16-7, 9-3); 4. Woods Charter (11-8, 6-6); 5. Southern Wake Academy (6-11, 4-8); 6. River Mill (3-22, 2-10); 7. Ascend Leadership (3-19, 1-11)
a team-high 15 points while also controlling the boards. With the help of two big 3s from Chatham’s Carmelina Beasley, the Rams trailed 13-10 at the end of the first quarter. A significant difference from the first two times the teams met this season when Chatham scored nine points and 19 points respectively, Horton coach Wanda Bland said she warned her team about the Rams coming to play hard for the occasion.
“I said they’re not going to lay down,” Horton coach Wanda Bland said. “They’re going to play us harder than they have played us before. We just got to play hard. We just got to finish. So I was trying to get girls hyped up saying, ‘Let’s go. I told y’all they were going to play us.’” Horton focused in on defense for the rest of the game, holding Chatham to single-digit points in the remaining three quarters while building a lead with
its own double-digit outputs. Kylee Moore also contributed in a huge way with 11 points, and Zadia Frazier scored nine.
The latest championship victory is one of many for Bland over her years of coaching at Horton. She credits the program’s success to the work the girls put in outside of the season.
“We just work hard,” Bland said. “Even during the offseason, I try to bring the girls in. We
work on your shots, putting up shots and stuff. And then when the season starts, we’re getting down to business.”
Mid-Piedmont Conference girls
The Chatham
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham Central senior forward Karaleigh Dodson (34) poses with her family on senior night.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
The Pollard boys celebrate their Chatham County Middle School basketball title.
Chatham schools affected in third NCHSAA conference draft
Local schools get new conference members in the latest draft
By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record
THE NCHSAA released the third draft of its proposed conferences last Friday, and there are changes for the conferences involving Chatham County schools, especially in the 1A classification.
The third draft is the final proposal from the realignment committee, and it reflects changes after schools appealed the second draft in person two weeks ago. Schools will have an opportunity to appeal the third draft to the NCHSAA Board of Directors before the conferences are approved.
After sharing the second draft’s 1A/2A Conference E with Chatham Charter and other schools in the Triad area, Chatham Central is now in the third draft’s 1A/2A Conference F alongside College Prep & Leadership (1A), North Stokes (1A), South Davidson (1A), Winston-Salem Prep (1A), Bishop McGuiness (2A) and South Stokes (2A).
Woods Charter went from being the only Chatham County school in a 10-member 1A Conference 2 in the second draft to once again joining Chatham Charter in the third draft’s 1A Conference 3 with Ascend Leadership, Central Carolina Academy, Clover Garden, River Mill Academy and Southern Wake Academy.
Carrboro, a 4A school, is no longer in the same 3A/4A conference with Jordan-Matthews (4A), Northwood (3A), Southwestern Randolph (4A), Uwharrie Charter (4A), Eastern Randolph (3A) and North Moore (3A) in the third draft. As the rest of the conference remained its own group (3A/4A Conference B) in the third draft, Carrboro joined the second draft’s 5A Conference 2 with Seaforth, Durham School of the Arts, Orange, South Granville and Webb to form a 4A/5A conference in the latest realignment proposal. The latest draft still isn’t perfect as there may be some travel issues that still need to be worked out. For instance, Chatham Central, one of the smallest traditional public high schools in the state, went from having one close conference opponent in Chatham Charter to having its closest opponent being about 45 minutes away. After the conferences are
the
Woods Charter
and Chatham Charter meet at the net in a volleyball showdown last fall. The two schools were initially separated in the conference realignment but now are back in the same league.
approved, the NCHSAA Bylaw Task Force will begin planning guidelines for playoff qualifiers, seeding and bracket size. There’s still much to consider before the new eight-class model goes into effect, such as state championship venues.
Seaforth, track
Seaforth senior Will Cuicchi earns athlete of the week honors for the week of Feb. 10.
At the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1A/2A Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, Cuicchi won the 1,000-meter run state title while setting a new 1A/2A meet record with a time of 2 minutes, 29.76 seconds. His latest win earned him a three-peat in the event as he won state for the same race in 2023 and 2024.
Cuicchi also took second in the 1,600-meter run, helping Seaforth’s boys’ track team capture its first indoor track state title.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham Central (right) and Northwood battle in a girls’ basketball game last week. According to
latest NCHSAA draft, this clash between Chatham County foes will no longer be a conference game.
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
(left)
SIDELINE REPORT
NBA
Mavericks suspend employee after arrest of assistant coach
Dallas
The Dallas Mavericks say they have suspended an employee they didn’t identify after assistant coach Darrell Armstrong was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Dallas police responded to a call in the predawn hours Saturday and say the 56-year-old Armstrong and the victim were arguing when Armstrong hit the victim with a gun and threatened to shoot the victim. Armstrong spent two seasons with the Mavericks during a 14-year playing career.
NCAA FOOTBALL
Ohio State hiring former Lions coach Patricia as defensive coordinator Columbus, Ohio Ohio State is hiring former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator. Coming off the national championship, Ohio State coach Ryan Day agreed in principle last year to a seven-year contract valued at $12.5 million per year. Day hired Patricia to fill the void left by defensive coordinator
Jim Knowles leaving for the same job at Penn State. The 50-year-old Patricia was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago.
SOCCER
Kane in NFL? Maybe, but he first wants trophies at Bayern Glasgow, Scotland England soccer captain Harry Kane scored another goal in the Champions League then reiterated his desire to one day take his kicking skills to the NFL. Kane netted what proved to be the winning goal for Bayern Munich in a 2-1 victory over Celtic in the Champions League playoffs. Kane was asked about his love for the NFL and says switching from soccer to American football “is something in the back of my mind.” Kane says “It’s something I’d like to explore in a future date.”
WNBA Collier takes home
$200K and Unrivaled 1-on-1 crown, beating Edwards in final Medley, Fla.
Napheesa Collier of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx took home $200,000 after she beat Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards in the final of Unrivaled’s 1-on-1 tournament. The winner’s check was the largest one-day prize in women’s basketball history. Collier is a co-founder of the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league and was a No. 1 seed in the 30-player tournament. She won the best-of-three series 2-1 over the eighth-seeded Edwards to become Unrivaled’s first 1-on-1 champion.
NBA Heat President Riley reveals where his ‘three-peat’ trademark revenues wind up
Miami Pat Riley’s three-peat trademarks could have led to the Miami Heat president getting a sizable payday if the Kansas City Chiefs had won their third consecutive Super Bowl. Turns out, the Basketball Hall of Famer actually doesn’t keep that money. Riley said he devotes his share of revenues gleaned from “three-peat” usage — he’s had trademarks on that term for about 35 years — to various charitable organizations.
NBA’s Silver surprised about the Doncic-Davis trade
The league commissioner urged angry Mavericks fans to keep the faith
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver has a message to those Dallas Mavericks fans who are still angry, two weeks later: He feels your pain.
That said, he’s also sure that the Mavericks believe that their decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis was — in their minds, at least — the best possible move for the franchise.
Silver, in his annual address at All-Star weekend on Saturday, said he had no advance word that the trade was looming and that he was surprised like everyone else. He also said he wasn’t going to second-guess Dallas’ decision.
“I can say one thing for sure: Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, they did what they thought was in the best interest of their organization,”
Silver said. “I have absolutely no knowledge or belief there were any ulterior motives, no doubt in my mind that the Dumont-Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they’re committed to the long-term success of that franchise.”
The Doncic-for-Davis trade sent shock waves across the NBA. It was the first midseason trade where All-NBA players were swapped for one another, and the angry fallout from fans in Dallas over trading a 25-year-old superstar and global icon hasn’t exactly subsided.
“I’m empathetic,” Silver said. “I understand it.”
San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama also understands how some Mavericks fans feel, even though he plays for the in-state rival Spurs.
“What really strikes me is how the Mavs’ fans are hurting, how they feel,” Wembanyama said Saturday. “It’s really something that I think was a really strong emotion. But otherwise, I think the Mavs are still contenders. The Lakers are contenders. It’s very competitive.
Bouchard crosses over to pro pickleball circuit
Tennis still remains in the former Wimbledon finalist’s plans
By Pat Graham The Associated Press
EUGENIE BOUCHARD already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She’s No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she’s always a big draw. Just to be absolutely clear, though, she’s not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (currently No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that’s caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to the pro pickleball scene in another chapter of their careers.
Bouchard’s yearlong changeover has been filled with lumps and losses in a very public setting as she learns the ins and outs of a game that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis.
“I’m on center court,” Bouchard explained. “Not because of my skill level in pickleball but because of what I achieved in tennis and what I’m bringing over from tennis to the pickleball world.
“I didn’t like it at first because I was losing, and I felt uncomfortable and awkward on the pickleball court. It was like, ‘Put me on the last court so no one sees the train wreck that’s about to happen.’ But I’ve slowly found my footing.”
Bouchard, who turns 31 on Feb. 25, was first approached by the Professional Pickleball Association Tour in 2023 while at the U.S. Open.
The pitch to Bouchard: Help grow pickleball. Bouchard had played the sport with friends, but that was about it.
“After we got off the phone, I was like, ‘She can make a difference in pickleball. She can really help bring us to another level as far as eyeballs,’” explained Connor Pardoe, the founder and CEO of the Carvana PPA Tour. “When we understood that this is something Genie felt she can make a difference in and something that she really wanted to pursue and she wanted to give full effort, for us it was a no-brainer.”
They traded for very good players. ... But two weeks after, it’s still the craziest trade I’ve ever seen.”
Further adding to the disappointment or frustration for some Dallas fans is the fact that Davis got hurt in his debut game with the Mavericks, one of many big-man injuries the team is currently grappling with.
“Time will tell whether it was a smart trade,” Silver said. “But they should believe in their organization.”
Details on why Steph vs. Sabrina II didn’t happen
All-Star Saturday last year was highlighted by the 3-point contest between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu.
Everyone left that night indicating that it would come back in 2025. But it didn’t happen — and Silver said the reason is simply that it might have been too good to do twice.
“Last year was so magical, that competition, that it started to feel forced. And I think there was concern from all of us that we just weren’t feeling it,” Silver said.
Rescinded Hornets-Lakers trade
A week after a trade between Charlotte and the Lakers fell through because of the results of Hornets center Mark Williams’ physical, Silver said the Hornets have not filed a formal appeal with the league.
The Lakers rescinded the deal.
“Let’s see what Charlotte decides to do here,” Silver said. “But I think either way, it’s gotten our attention. We understand that in the back and forth of teams and trades that the extent we can reduce uncertainty, that’s a positive thing.”
TV ratings
The NBA hasn’t hidden from the fact that its TV ratings aren’t where the league wants them to be, but Silver sees progress.
“I’ll begin with the state of our ratings right now as they’re conventionally measured,” he said. “They’re slightly down from last season. We had some weakness early in the season. We rebounded. The ratings are heading up right now. So, I see that as very positive.”
Bouchard signed a three-year deal — terms were not disclosed — that included provisions so she can compete in tennis events. She’s played a role in the popularity of the PPA Tour, which merged with Major League Pickleball in February 2024. The circuits saw more than 320,000 fans attend PPA Tour and MLP events last year.
Bouchard’s still looking for her first win on the tour. Her goals remain modest for pickleball, where she’s 18-19 in singles, 8-18 in doubles, and 8-19 in mixed doubles.
“Success is going to a tournament and leaving with at least a win,” said Bouchard. “For the first couple of tournaments, I would play singles, doubles and mixed doubles and be 0-3. There’s just something really defeating about flying to a city
and being on that plane back having not even won one match. You’re like, ‘What am I doing here?’ So thankfully I started getting wins.”
Tennis remains in the picture for Bouchard, who broke onto the pro scene as a teenager and rose to No. 5 in 2014. That was a season where she made the Wimbledon final, losing 6-3, 6-0 to Petra Kvitova.
Bouchard has earned $6.9 million in prize money over a tennis career that’s included plenty of highlights (semifinalist at the 2014 Australian Open and French Open, representing Canada at the 2016 Olympics) along with some difficult times.
“I wouldn’t say burned out,” Bouchard said when asked about why she decided to incorporate pickleball into her tennis career. “I was just excited about a new opportunity.”
CARVANA PPA TOUR VIA AP
Professional tennis player Eugenie Bouchard plays a shot during a pro pickleball match earlier this month.
GODOFREDO A. VÁSQUEZ / AP PHOTO
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks at the NBA All-Star Saturday night festivities in San Francisco.
opponents and its opponent’s opponents when determining how a team will be seeded.
The NCHSAA will seed 32 eastern and 32 western teams in each state bracket. Based on conference and RPI standings as of Monday, here’s a playoff outlook for the county teams projected to make the state tournament.
BOYS
Northwood
(2A East, automatic bid)
Conference/conference record/
finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 16-0, first place
RPI: 0.648425
Projected seed: 3
Northwood has played a step above its conference competition this season, finding ways to win even in the close games. The Chargers are also very experienced in the playoff environment, and if they earn a top-three seed, they can ride home-court advantage all the way to the regional final.
Seaforth (2A East)
Conference/conference record/
finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 10-6, fourth place
RPI: 0.516463
Projected seed: 24
Seaforth is on track to return the playoffs after missing it for the first time last season. The Hawks have competed well against some good playoff-level competition this season such as Southeast Alamance and Chatham Central, but they haven’t always been able to finish games.
Chatham Charter has huge shoes to fill after the departure of standout shortstop Aidan Allred and Jonah Ridgill, the only two seniors on the Knights’ roster last year. The Knights dominated the Central Tar Heel 1A conference once again in 2024, and with the rest of its young roster coming back with more experience, Chatham Charter could be in the running to threepeat as conference champions.
Here are a few interesting matchups to watch this season: Seaforth vs. Wake Forest (Feb. 25, 7 p.m.); Seaforth vs. Southeast Alamance (April 8, 7 p.m.); Chatham Central at Uwharrie Charter (March 4, 7 p.m.); Chatham Central vs. Jordan-Matthews (March 6, 6 p.m.); Northwood at Southeast Alamance (March 4,
On the road for the first round, Seaforth will have to play its best basketball for a full 32 minutes to advance.
Chatham Central (1A East, automatic bid)
Conference/conference record/ finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 13-3, tied second place (first place in 1A split)
RPI: 0.566849
Projected seed: 7
Chatham Central will likely get to host the first two rounds of the playoffs after battling to a top-three finish in the conference. The best version of the Bears can compete with just about anybody in the 1A East region, but they’ll have to be consistent, especially in later rounds on the road, for a deeper run than last year’s second round exit.
Chatham Charter (1A East)
Conference/conference record/ finish: Central Tar Heel 1A, 9-3, tied second place
RPI: 0.514900
Projected seed: 15
Chatham Charter ended the regular season on the right foot and clawed itself into better playoff position by tying Woods Charter for second in the conference.
A deep playoff run might not be in the cards for the Knights like it once was in recent memory, but they have a chance to improve on last year’s first-round exit.
Woods Charter (1A East)
Conference/conference record/ finish: Central Tar Heel 1A, 9-3, tied second place
RPI: 0.513333
Projected seed: 16
6 p.m.); Northwood at Glenn (April 19, 4 p.m.)
Softball
Chatham Central and Jordan-Matthews have historically battled for dominance since both teams were placed in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference a few seasons ago, being almost certain locks to finish in the top three each season.
However, it may not be as certain this year.
Jordan-Matthews has some significant voids to fill with the departure of star shortstop Logan Gunter, veteran catcher Reagan Smith, Korbyn Kirchner and Lia Carter. The Jets should still have a talented squad, though with pitcher Lilli Hicks, Sophia Murchison, Cassidy Graves and Marcy Clark having at least an-
Woods Charter made its first playoff appearance last season and kept building. Now the Wolves are looking for their first playoff win in program history after the best regular season they’ve ever had. Woods Charter could possibly host a playoff game should they earn a top 16 seed.
GIRLS
Seaforth (2A East)
Conference/conference record/ finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 14-1, tied first place
RPI: 0.650913
Projected seed: 3
After two straight trips to the re -
Chatham Central’s Brennan Oldham (4) puts up a shot against Northwood last week. The Bears will likely get to host games for the first two rounds of the playoffs.
gional finals, Seaforth has a state championship on its mind. Being able to host until the regional round will go a long way for the Hawks, especially when competition gets tough down the stretch.
Northwood (2A East)
Conference/conference record/finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 11-4, third place
RPI: 0.599715
Projected seed: 10
Northwood played a tough schedule and is battle tested for playoff-like competition. With a top-10 seed, the Chargers could be a tough out and find themselves still playing after the first
other year with the team. Hicks came up huge for the Jets last year on the mound as a sophomore, and another year with more experience should only help the Jets’ bullpen. Yet it won’t be easy replacing the impact Gunter had on both sides of the ball, especially when Jordan-Matthews needs a game-changing play.
Returning the 2024 Conference Pitcher of the Year in Maddie Kaczmarczyk and a plethora of key pieces from last year’s team, Chatham Central should feel good about this season. As a young team full of freshmen in 2024, Chatham Central wasn’t to be taken lightly as it won 19 games for the first time since the 2018 season. This year, the Bears should have an even better mix of youthfulness and experience as the
freshmen who have already made significant contributions will grow even further into their roles. Seniors Caleigh Warf and Emma Burke will also be key for the Bears as they can make huge plays while providing the veteran leadership the team needs. Chatham Charter will look to repeat as Central Tar Heel 1A conference champions, but it also must have players step up in the departure of Delana Loflin, Cassie McKeithan and Meah Brooks.
Senior Ella Ingle should be in for another huge year after leading the Knights in batting average, on base percentage, stolen bases, hits and runs last season. Chatham Charter is also in good position with other impactful players being young, like Kynzie Jordan and Allie McLeod, who found themselves pretty high in the team’s batting stats.
two rounds in a similar fashion to last season.
Chatham Central (1A East)
Conference/conference record/finish: Mid-Carolina 1A/2A, 9-6, fourth place
RPI: 0.524611
Projected seed: 17
Chatham Central’s record doesn’t reflect how well it can play back on the 1A level. Last year, the Bears found themselves in the third round after finishing fourth in the conference, but it may be tougher to repeat that type of run without key forward Landry Allen.
Chatham Charter (1A East) Conference/conference record/finish: Central Tar Heel 1A, 10-2, tied first place RPI: 0.478454
Projected seed: 27
Chatham Charter will likely get a low seed in the state tournament, which will make for a tough first-round matchup. The Knights did not play well outside of its conference this season, going 3-12 in nonconference play.
Woods Charter (1A East) Conference/conference record/finish: Central Tar Heel 1A, 6-6, fourth place RPI: 0.443955
Projected seed: 31
Woods Charter can squeeze into the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season in which it advanced to the second round. Winning on the road as a low seed this time will be a tall task, though.
Northwood and Seaforth both struggled last season and will look to make improvements in the win columns in 2025. The Chargers will see significant changes to their roster as they graduated five seniors last year.
Both teams had trouble limiting runs and preventing games from getting out of reach. Northwood, especially, will need more firepower on its bats after getting shut out in five games last year.
Here are a few interesting matchups to watch this season: Chatham Central vs. Southern Alamance (March 6, 6 p.m.); Jordan-Matthews vs. Chatham Central (March 13, 6 p.m.); Jordan-Matthews vs. Southwestern Randolph (April 9, 6 p.m.); Chatham Charter vs. Uwharrie Charter (March 5, 5 p.m.); Chatham Charter vs. Clover Garden School (March 18, 5 p.m.)
DIAMOND from page B1
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
this week in history
John Glenn orbits Earth, George Washington born, Malcolm X killed, WWII victory at Iwo Jima
The Associated Press
FEB. 20
1792: President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department, the predecessor of the U.S. Postal Service.
1907: President Theodore Roosevelt signed an immigration act which excluded “idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, epileptics, insane persons,” among others, from being admitted to the United States.
1962: Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
FEB. 21
1911: Composer Gustav Mahler, despite a fever, conducted the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in what turned out to be his final concert.
1916: The Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of World War I, began in northeastern France.
1965: Civil rights activist Malcolm X was shot to death in Harlem by three men identified as members of the Nation of Islam. He was 39.
FEB. 22
1732: George Washington was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.
1980: The “Miracle on Ice” took place at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviet Union, 4-3.
1997: Scientists in Scot-
ROBERT HAGGINS / AP PHOTO
Activist, Muslim minister and civil rights leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by members of the Nation of Islam on Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39.
land cloned an adult mammal for the first time, a sheep they named “Dolly.”
FEB. 23
1945: During World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags (the second flag-raising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.)
1954: The first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began.
1836: The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.
1861: President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington, D.C., to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.
FEB. 24
1942: The SS Struma, a charter ship attempting to carry nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Romania to British-man-
dated Palestine, was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea; all but one of the refugees perished.
1988: In a ruling that expanded legal protections for parody and satire, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $150,000 award that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had won against Hustler magazine and its publisher, Larry Flynt.
2020: Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted in New York on charges of rape and sexual assault involving two women.
FEB. 25
1901: United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.
1957: The Supreme Court, in Butler v. Michigan, overturned a Michigan statute making it a misdemeanor to sell books containing obscene language that would tend to corrupt “the morals of youth.”
1964: Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) became world heavyweight boxing champion as he defeated Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.
FEB. 26
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the Island of Elba, sailing back to France in a bid to regain power.
1919: President Woodrow Wilson signed an act making the Grand Canyon a national park.
1952: Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.
1993: A truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
AP PHOTO
The U.S. ice hockey team celebrates their 4-3 upset win over the Soviet Union, known as the “Miracle on Ice,” at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, on Feb. 22, 1980.
Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Phish get Rock Hall nominations
The 2025 inductees will be revealed in late April
By Mark Kennedy The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and Phish are some the 2025 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a list that also includes two sets of musical brothers who have had public feuds and recent reunions — the Black Crowes and Oasis.
The Hall revealed the list of 14 performer nominees last Wednesday, including Bad Company, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Maná, Soundgarden and the White Stripes.
Eight of the 14 nominees are on the ballot for the first time: Bad Company, the Black Crowes, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Maná, OutKast and Phish.
Two candidates this year — Carey and Checker — have had powerful impacts on the charts and culture. Carey has 19 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, while Checker’s recording of
“The Twist,” and subsequent “Let’s Twist Again” are considered among the most popular songs in the history of rock ’n’ roll.
Oasis was one of the dominant British acts of the 1990s, producing hits including “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Its sound was fueled by singalong rock choruses and the combustible chemistry between guitarist-songwriter Noel Gallagher and his brother Liam, the band’s singer. Their American equiva-
lent is the Black Crowes, who mix Southern boogie, stuttering stomp, blues harmonica, glam rock and ’70s harmonies starting with their debut album “Shake Your Money Maker.” For many years, singer Chris Robinson and his brother, guitarist Rich Robinson, did not speak. One word appeared on the band’s Instagram account after their inclusion in the Hall’s list: “Humbled.”
Lauper rose to fame in the 1980s with hits such as “Time After Time” and “Girls Just
Want To Have Fun” and went on to winning a Tony Award for “Kinky Boots.” OutKast, made up of André 3000 and Big Boi, have six Grammys and a reputation for pushing the boundaries of hip-hop.
The 2025 inductees will be revealed in late April, along with inductees entering the hall under three special committee categories: musical influence, musical excellence and the Ahmet Ertegun Non-Performer Award. Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. The induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall.
Nominees will be voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals. The selection criteria include “an artist’s impact on other musicians, the scope and longevity of their career and body of work, as well as their innovation and excellence in style and technique.”
Last year, Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton all were inducted.
Harry Connick Jr. to premiere composition at Carnegie Hall for 100th anniversary of mother’s birth
His mother died in 1981 when he was 13
By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Harry Connick Jr. will premiere a composition for the 100th anniversary of his mother’s birth for Carnegie Hall’s 2025-26 season, which celebrates the Declaration of Independence with a festival titled: “United in Sound: America at 250.” Connick has tentatively titled the work “Elaboratio,” wanting to musically elaborate on his mother’s life. He will play piano in the performance for his Carnegie main stage debut on May 22, 2026, exactly 100 years after the birth of Anita Frances Livingston. The program is to be repeated the following night.
His manager called Carnegie Hall executive director Clive Gillinson seven years ago to reserve the date.
“I just wanted to do something that I think would have made her proud and honor her memory by performing in a place that she always wanted me to play and to write something that’ll last forever in her honor,” Connick said during an
interview after last Wednesday’s news conference.
Connick’s mother died in 1981 when he was 13. He is still composing the
work, which will have three movements about each of the places she lived: New York; Nouaceur, Morocco; and New Orleans.
His only Carnegie appear-
ance has been in the smaller Zankel Hall in 2005.
Carnegie’s festival runs from January to July and will in-
clude at least 35 performances. Works by Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Philip Glass, Wynton Marsalis and Julia Wolfe are featured, as well as underrepresented composers such as Amy Beach, Florence Price and William Dawson. A March 2 concert starring J. Harrison Ghee and Betsy Wolf will feature “The Secret Life of the American Musical,” based on Jack Viertel’s book on the making of Broadway shows. Conductor Marin Alsop, pianist Lang Lang, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and violinist Maxim Vengerov will be the artists of Carnegie’s Perspectives series. Arvo Pärt, who turns 90 in September, will hold the Debs Composer’s Chair but will be not travel to New York because of his age, Gillinson said. In the first of more than 170 concerts, conductor Daniel Harding leads opening night on Oct. 7 with alumni of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America and pianist Yuja Wang. The program includes Bernstein’s selections from symphonic dances from “West Side Story,” Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No. 1 and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite.”
AP PHOTO
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees include Mariah Carey, Billy Idol and Cyndi Lauper.
BRYNN ANDERSON / AP PHOTO
Harry Connick Jr. performs prior to the NFL Super Bowl on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
*Must
famous birthdays this week
Cindy Crawford is 59, Kelsey Grammer turns 70, Drew Barrymore hits 50
The Associated Press THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week: FEB. 20
Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is 84. Actor Sandy Duncan is 79. Actor Peter Strauss is 78. Model Cindy Crawford is 59.
FEB. 21
Actor Gary Lockwood (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) is 88. Actor William Petersen (“CSI”) is 72. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 70. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 67. Singer Rhiannon Giddens is 48.
FEB. 22
Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 66. Comedian Rachel Dratch (“30 Rock,” “Saturday Night Live”) is 59. Actor Drew Barrymore is 50.
FEB. 23
Actor Patricia Richardson (“Strong Medicine,” “Home Improvement”) is 74. Actor Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) is 60. Actor Niecy Nash (“Claws,” “Reno 911!”) is 56.
FEB. 24
Actor Dominic Chianese (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos”) is 94. Singer Joanie Sommers is 84. Actor Edward James Olmos is 78. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 67.
FEB. 25
Actor Karen Grassle (“Little House on the Prairie”) is 83. Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 90. Writer Jack Handey (“Saturday Night Live”) is 76. Comedian Carrot Top is 60. Actor Sean Astin is 54.
FEB. 26
Singer Mitch Ryder is 80. Singer Michael Bolton is 72. Actor Jennifer Grant is 59. Singer Erykah
is
Badu
54.
EVAN AGOSTINI / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Actor Drew Barrymore celebrates 50 on Saturday.
CHARLES SYKES / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Dominic Chianese of HBO’s “The Sopranos” turns 94 on Tuesday.
JORDAN STRAUSS / INVISION / AP PHOTO
Model Cindy Crawford, pictured in 2022, turns 59 on Thursday.
the stream
‘1923’
returns, Tate McRae drops third album, ‘Baldwins’ reality show on TLC
“Suits” gets a spinoff in “Suits LA”
The Associated Press
A MODERN reimagining of the graphic novel “The Crow” starring Bill Skarsgård plus Canadian pop musician Tate McRae offering her third album are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time: NBC has a new “Suits” spin-off series, Robert De Niro stars in a limited series for Netflix called “Zero Day,” and there’s a full production of “Hamlet” inside the violent, bloody, video game world of Grand Theft Auto.
MOVIES TO STREAM
An inventive spin on the “pandemic production,” “Grand Theft Hamlet” finds two actors attempting to stage a full production of “Hamlet” inside the violent, bloody, video game world of “Grand Theft Auto.” Shot entirely inside the game, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s movie won the best documentary prize at the South by Southwest Film Festival. It begins streaming on Mubi on Friday.
The modern reimagining of the graphic novel “The Crow” starring Bill Skarsgård and directed by Rupert Sanders is streaming on Starz. It was not exactly well-received by critics when it debuted in the dregs of late August, overshadowed by the 1994 film starring Brandon Lee. Mark Kennedy wrote in his AP review that “’The Crow’ isn’t bad — and it gets better as it goes — but it’s an exercise in folly. It cannot escape Lee and the 1994 original even as it builds a more allegorical scaffolding for the smartphone generation.”
MUSIC TO STREAM
Canadian pop musician Tate McRae offers her third album, “So Close to What.” Her latest single, “Sports Car” follows “2 Hands” and “It’s Ok I’m Ok” which hit No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 15-track album also includes a collaboration with her boyfriend, The Kid LAROI, called “I Know Love” and there’s another collaboration with Flo Millo.
Roddy Ricch returns with his third album as well on Friday, Feb. 21. “The Navy Album.” The Compton rapper, who appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX,” has put out a few singles from the new collection, including “Survivor’s Remorse” and “911.” The lat-
Bill Skarsgård stars in “The Crow.”
est is “Lonely Road,” with a video of him cruising through the city seeing angels and the lyrics: “Roddy rap like the rent due/ Roddy tell ‘em the whole truth.”
SHOWS TO STREAM
Trouble once again finds Jack Reacher in season three of the popular Prime Video series, “Reacher,” based on novels by Lee Child. Alan Ritchson stars as a former U.S. Army military police officer who prefers to live life as a nomad with no permanent residence, no belongings (except a toothbrush) and no responsibilities. Reacher’s desire to be a loner is often derailed by his honor and aversion to bullies. He steps in to help others, getting mixed up in conspiracies
and cover-ups. The new season drops Thursday and is based on Child’s seventh novel about the character called “Persuader.” Robert De Niro stars in a new limited series for Netflix called “Zero Day,” premiering Thursday. Former NBC news president Noah Oppenheim and New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt are co-creators. The political conspiracy series is centered around a global cyberattack and features an impressive main cast including Angela Bassett, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Dan Stevens and Matthew Modine. Tom Hanks, also a two-time Oscar winner, narrates a 10-episode nature series for NBC called “The Americas.” From the
executive producers of “Planet Earth” and scored by Hans Zimmer, “The Americas” highlights the natural beauty and wildlife in North and South America. It took more than five years and 180 expeditions to complete the project, which debuts Sunday and streams on Peacock. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren reprise their roles of Jacob and Cara Dutton in season two of Taylor Sheridan’s “1923” for Paramount+ starting Sunday. The story is a prequel to “Yellowstone” about early members of the Dutton family laying claim to their Montana land. The new episodes come after a long wait due to the Hollywood strikes and will conclude this chapter in the Dutton-verse. NBC ordered a new “Suits” series after the original version that aired on USA became the most-streamed show of 2023 thanks to its availability on Netflix and Peacock. “Suits LA” stars Stephen Amell (“Arrow,” “Heels”) and centers on a successful law firm on the West Coast that specializes in entertainment and criminal cases. While this version does not feature former “Suits” cast member Meghan, Gabriel Macht does reprise his role as master negotiator and New York super lawyer Harvey Specter for a few episodes. “Suits LA” premieres Sunday. Alec and Hilaria Baldwin continue their push and pull with the spotlight with a new TLC reality series called “The Baldwins.” A trailer for the se-
ries shows the chaos of a family with seven kids under the age of 11, not to mention the emotional toll of a 2021 death on the New Mexico set of Baldwin’s movie “Rust.” Baldwin was rehearsing a scene when the gun he was holding fired, hitting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza. Hutchins died from her injuries and Souza was wounded. Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, and a judge dismissed the case last July. The actor has since filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations. “The Baldwins,” premieres Sunday on TLC and also streams on Max.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
Congratulations! You’ve been named the Aedyran envoy to a mysterious island called the Living Lands. The bad news is that a lot of its residents want nothing to do with you since your predecessors have been jerks about trying to colonize the place. Throw in a devastating plague called the Dreamscourge and you have an idea of the challenges that await in Avowed. It’s the latest adventure from Obsidian Entertainment, best known for the role-playing epics Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds. Avowed takes place in the Pillars fantasy world, so expect plenty of sword-and-sorcery action as you battle the island’s bloodthirsty scoundrels and mutated monsters. Your ship awaits on Xbox
and PC.
X/S
“Reacher,” “Zero Day” and “1923” are streaming this week on a device near you.
MUBI VIA AP
“Grand Theft Hamlet,” a film in which Shakespeare’s play is staged in the violent setting of video game “Grand Theft Auto,” streams Thursday on Mubi.