North State Journal Vol. 9, Issue 18

inside

The NBA and NHL will both hold their drafts this week, and both present opportunity for the Hornets, who have the sixth overall pick, and the Hurricanes, who will be at The Sphere in Las Vegas for the two-day draft. See more in Sports.

the BRIEF this week

Plea agreement with U.S. would free Assange Melbourne, Australia

The U.S. Justice Department said in a court ling that Julian Assange, pursued for years over WikiLeaks’ publication of a trove of classi ed documents, had left a London prison and was expected to plead guilty to a charge under the Espionage Act. If a judge accepts the agreement, he could be freed and return to his home country of Australia. A plane chartered by Assange landed Tuesday in Bangkok as he heads to the Northern Mariana Islands, where he was expected to appear in a U.S. federal court on Wednesday. He is expected to plead guilty to a charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classi ed national defense information, the U.S. Justice Department said in a letter led in court. Assange is expected to return to Australia if a judge accepts the plea agreement.

Apple pausing work on RTP campus

Cupertino, Calif.

Apple’s plan to build a sprawling campus in Research Triangle Park is on hold, though the tech powerhouse says it is still committed to building the half-billion-dollar facility.

Apple told Triangle Business Journal that it is working with the state’s Department of Commerce and Gov. Roy Cooper to push the project’s timeline out four years. The state approved a package of $846 billion in incentives in 2021 to lure Apple to North Carolina.

“Apple has been operating in North Carolina for over two decades. And we’re deeply committed to growing our teams here,” the company said in a statement. “In the last three years, we’ve added more than 600 people to our team in Raleigh, and we’re looking forward to developing our new campus in the coming years.” The $552 million campus is expected to create at least 2,700 jobs, and Cooper is con dent the plans will still move forward. “I have spoken with o cials at Apple and they emphasized their commitment to build this transformative campus here in North Carolina,” Cooper said in a statement.

Folwell’s use of vehicles being investigated

The inquiry follows the hit-and-run indictment of former state auditor Beth Wood

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina law enforcement o cials are investigating the potential improper use of state vehicles by state Treasurer Dale Folwell, according to a local prosecutor and records.

State investigators launched a probe in March after a spot check conducted by the Department of Administration’s Motor Fleet Management division agged some 2022 trips, WRAL-TV reported on June 19.

At least three state vehicles operated by Folwell traveled to medical offices, a country club, fast-food offices, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and Republican Party offices, WRAL reported, citing a search warrant application filed last week in Wake County.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she asked the State Bureau of Investigation to probe Folwell’s use of state vehicles.

“As with all cases involving

public o cials, it is important that the public be able to trust that these sorts of matters are appropriately scrutinized,” Freeman said in a written statement. “We are at the beginning of what is a standard review.”

Folwell, a Republican who has served as treasurer since 2017, has not been charged with any crimes. State vehicles are only supposed to be used for state business or approved commuting.

Folwell told WRAL that he hadn’t seen search warrants, but that he believed he was compliant with state guidelines and that the trips would be considered approved use of a state vehicle. “But I’m not perfect,” he said.

“We have provided pages of documentation throughout the course of this review,” Folwell said in a statement released the same night as the WRAL report. “We look forward to continuing to cooperate (with Motor Fleet Management) to satisfactorily resolve this issue.”

Folwell is not seeking reelection this fall. He made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for gov-

See FOLWELL, page A2

House, Senate o

The House plan has $31.7 billion in adjustments, while the Senate’s has $31.4 billion

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Both chambers of the General Assembly have issued their budget adjustment proposals but disagree about the amount of spending and from what state reserves that spending will come. The state currently has a $1 billion projected surplus over the next scal year.

The House unveiled its $31.7 billion budget adjustments proposal (House Bill 286) on June 17, which will head through committees and a oor vote this week to send it to the Senate. The House approved its version on June 19 following approval of nine out of 20 amendments o ered.

proud that this budget has received bipartisan support in our chamber.”

The same day the House approved its version, the Senate released its own $31.4 billion proposal through a preferred committee substitute for House Bill 317. It is just 46 pages compared to the 271-page House plan.

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) previously said the Senate was not in agreement with drawing from state reserve funds and the $1.4 billion surplus for budget adjustments, expansions or “pork” projects.

“We have agreed to dip into the reserves, but not nearly to the tune of the House, and we’ve only done that to try to get a deal, and they continue to want to spend way too much money.”

“The House budget funds critical needs like child care, Opportunity Scholarships, and raises for our teachers and state employees,” said House Speaker Tim Moore in a statement following the June 19 vote. “I’m con dent that this scally responsible budget strikes the right balance of conservative spending and prioritizing our needs in (President Joe) Biden’s economy. I am

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden)

“The Senate has tried to work something out with the House,” Berger said during a press availability on June 18 before the issuance of the Senate’s proposal. “We have agreed to dip into the reserves, but not nearly to the tune of the House, and we’ve only done that to try to get a deal, and they continue to want to spend way too much money.” Berger added the Senate is planning to head home at the end of June “unless something changes drastically.”

A two-year budget was enacted last year, so the adjustments bill does not necessarily have to pass. If no agreement is reached, the previous budget’s spending will stand and stand-

BUDGET, page A2

Bill amendment adds regulation on vape products

The proposed change, which was criticized by lobbyists, would inact directory and certi cation mandates

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on June 19, an amendment to House Bill 900 was approved that would create a comprehensive regulatory and certication process for alternative nicotine and vapor products in North Carolina to be overseen by the Department of Revenue. The amendment was later approved by the committee as a preferred committee substitute (PCS) to House Bill 900. The PCS was sent to the Rules and Operations of the Senate which approved the measure the same day. Sen. Mike Lee (R-New Ha-

nover) introduced the 10-page amendment, describing it as “somewhat complicated” because it has a “federal overlay” with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process for regulating new tobacco products.

“But the amendment’s really simple because what it does in North Carolina is it creates a certi cation process and that certi cation process dovetails on the FDA approval,” Lee said during the committee meeting. “It’s managed by the Department of Revenue, and then once they’re certi ed, they’re listed on a directory”

Lee explained the directory would protect kids and others by allowing stores to check the list to see if their products are approved or not. If they’re not approved, stores have some time to sell what they have left or send it back. After that, they can’t sell these products anymore. He also said companies that break these rules will get “hefty nes.”

An amendment tacked onto an N.C. House Bill would create a regulatory and certi cation process for vaping and other alternative nicotine products.

See

See VAPE, page A8

TED SHAFFREY / AP PHOTO

JAMES SCHAEFFER / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL VIA AP

the

One of the divinest secrets of a happy life is the art of extracting comfort and sweetness from every circumstance. We must develop the habit of looking on the bright side. Those who take cheerful views nd happiness everywhere; and yet how rare is the habit.

There are those who take to gloom as a bat to darkness or a vulture to carrion. They appear to be conscientious grumblers, as if it were their duty to extract some essence of misery from every circumstance. Instead of being content in the state in which they are, they have learned to be discontented, no matter how happy their lot.

But there are rare people who always take cheerful views of life. They look on the bright side. They nd some joy and beauty everywhere. In the most disagreeable person, they discover some kindly trait or bud of promise. In the most disheartening circumstances, they nd something for which to be thankful.

Some people are born with sunny dispositions while others seem naturally disposed to gloom. Physical ailments can, no doubt, lead to discontent in many lives. Like the apostle Paul, we can train ourselves to take cheerful views of life, and to extract contentment and enjoyment from any circumstances.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again — Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4. This is clearly a most important part of Christian culture. Joyfulness is everywhere commended as a Christian duty. Discontent is a most detestable fault. We have no right to project the gloom of our discontent onto others.

What are some of the elements of this divine philosophy of living?

One is a patient submission to the ills and hardships of life, which are unavoidable. No person’s lot is perfect. No mortal has ever found a set of circumstances without some unpleasant feature. Sometimes it is in our power to modify the discomforts. Much of it needs only a little energetic activity on our part, to remove it. We are fools if we live amid ills and hardships which a reasonable industry would change to comforts, or even pleasures.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

But if there are unavoidable ills or burdens — which we cannot by any energy of our own remove or lighten — they must be submitted to without murmuring. What cannot be cured must be endured. But the very phrasing tells of an unyielding heart. There is submission to the inevitable — but no reconciliation to it.

We would also get far along toward contentment, if we ceased to waste time dreaming over unattainable earthly good. Only a few people can be rich or great; the mass must always remain in ordinary circumstances. Suppose that everyone was a millionaire; who could be found to do the work that must be done? Or suppose that all were great poets. Who would write the prose?

Our discontent also arises from our envy of those who have what we have not. If we could know the secret history of the life that we envy for its splendor and prosperity, perhaps we would not exchange for it our lowlier life, with its plain circumstances.

Cooper vetoes bill on masks during protests, campaign nance parity

The bill would require mask removal upon request by police, tra c obstruction penalties and PAC contribution changes

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed House Bill 237 on June 21, the 97th veto of his tenure.

“This legislation creates a gaping loophole for secret, unlimited campaign money in the middle of an election year,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “While voters are kept in the dark, this scheme allows anonymous out-of-state billionaires to ood North Carolina with campaign contributions to rescue extreme right-wing candidates that Republicans now fear will lose. The legislation also removes protections and threatens criminal charges for people who want to protect their health by wearing a mask.”

In a statement, Sen. Danny Earl Britt (R-Robeson) responded that lawmakers would override the veto.

“Bad actors have been using masks to conceal their identity when they commit crimes and intimidate the innocent,” Britt said. “Instead of helping put an end to this threatening behavior, the governor wants to continue encouraging these thugs by giving them more time to hide from the consequences of their actions.”

Britt added, “I look forward to casting a vote to override this

from page A1

alone bills will be needed for certain programs like private school grants. If an agreement is reached, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is likely to veto it, though Republicans hold a supermajority to override.

The House proposal includes just over $488 million for the Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP) and disabilities grants, apparently from the Lottery Fund, General Fund and reserve funds. Around $250 million would fully fund the OSP to eliminate a 55,000-deep appli-

veto and allowing those with actual health concerns to protect themselves and others.”

House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said the House will “swiftly override Governor Cooper’s veto of this legislation that prevents violent protestors from masking their identity and updates campaign nance law to even the playing eld for both political parties.”

The bill modi es exemptions for wearing masks, allowing medical-grade masks for disease prevention but requiring removal upon law enforcement request or for identi cation. This change aims to balance public health concerns with law enforcement needs.

Notably, the bill enhances punishments for crimes committed while wearing a mask or disguise to conceal identity. Such o enses will be upgraded by one class level, potentially resulting in more severe sentences for masked criminals.

To protect religious freedoms during emergencies, the bill prohibits government orders or regulations from imposing additional limitations on religious institutions that don’t apply to other businesses or organizations. This provision aims to ensure equal treatment of religious entities during crises.

The legislation signi cantly increases penalties for impeding tra c during demonstrations by elevating it from a Class 2 misdemeanor to a Class A1 misdemeanor if part of a planned demonstration. Repeat o enses raise the penalty to a Class H felony. Additionally, the bill creates civil liabili-

cant backlog, and $200 million would fund grants for 2024-25. The Senate agreed with the House on the OSP, including $463 million for those scholarships. The Senate previously passed a bill adding $463.5 million over two years, but it stalled in the House. Cooper has opposed OSP and over the last year has called for a moratorium on its funding. State employees would get an additional 1% raise on top of raises from last year’s budget. Correctional o cers would receive a 9% increase, and there’s a one-time 2% cost-of-living bo-

ty for demonstration organizers if emergency vehicles are obstructed resulting in injury or death.

The bill also makes substantial changes to campaignnance laws regarding federal political committees and organizations by allowing federal Super PACs and 527 committees to contribute to state political parties as long as corporate/union funds are kept separate.

While allowing more money from federal groups, the bill maintains donor disclosure requirements and bans on earmarking funds. Under the changes, federal committees only need to submit their existing FEC/IRS reports to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, not new reports. Additionally, Federal PACs would be able to donate to candidates during legislative sessions, subject to limits.

The changes are aimed at letting the Republican Governors Association’s Super PAC contribute directly to the state GOP, matching what the Democratic Governors Association has been doing through its non-Super PAC arm.

General Assembly Democrats staged a walkout opposing the changes, alleging they unfairly bene t Republicans for the 2024 elections.

Most provisions of the bill become e ective upon it be

coming law, with some sections having speci c e ective dates in late 2024. This staggered implementation allows time for a ected parties to adjust to the new regulations.

nus in the House plan. The Senate’s proposal o ers no pay increases beyond the previously enacted budget. The House proposal increases teacher pay by 4.4% this year. Beginning teachers would get a 12.8% raise, while veteran teachers with 15 or more years would see 2.6%. Starting salaries rise to $44,000. Master’s and advanced degree pay would be restored.

One-time funding of $35 million would go to school safety equipment, training and crisis mitigation. Recurring funds totaling $33 million aim to add

Contentment is not so apt to dwell in palaces or on thrones as in the homes of the humble. Why should I hide my one talent in the earth because it is not ten? Why should I make my life a failure in the place allotted to me, while I sit down and dream over unattainable things? Why should I miss my one golden opportunity — however small — while I envy some other one?

Another way to train ourselves to cheerful views of life is to refuse to be frightened at shadows or to see trouble where there is none. Many things that in the dim distance look like shapes of peril, when we draw near to them melt into harmless shadows or even change into forms of friendliness. No one can live without meeting discomforts, disappointments and hardships. No wisdom, no industry of ours can eliminate from our experience, all that is disagreeable or painful. But shall we allow the one discordant note in the grand symphony to mar for us all the noble music?

The faith of the Christian knows there is good in everything. There are reasons why no perfect happiness can be found in this world. Our Father makes our nest rough to drive us to a better one prepared for us by Him.

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God; to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

There is another purely Christian element in a culture of contentment: the more the heart becomes engaged with God the less it is disturbed by the roughness and hardships of earth.

Thus, we may train ourselves away from all gloomy and despondent habits and experiences, toward cheerfulness and hope. The lesson, well learned, will repay our greatest e orts. It will bring some new pleasure to every moment. It will make us sunny-hearted Christians — pleasing God, and blessing the world.

J. R. Miller (1840-1912) was a pastor and former editorial superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication from 1880 to 1911. His works are now in the public domain.

FOLWELL from page A1 ernor earlier this year.

ance audit. Once that documentation is compiled, I will have more to say.”

“As keeper of the public purse, I have done my best to safeguard taxpayer money and to prudently use — not abuse — state resources,” Folwell said in a formal statement issued June 20. I learned just yesterday that a state agency investigator believed it necessary to obtain search warrants to look into the use of my assigned state vehicle for the many public functions I routinely perform throughout the state, all of which are purposefully planned to accomplish the maximum job duties possible during the trips.

“As keeper of the public

purse,

I

have done my best to safeguard taxpayer money and to prudently use — not abuse — state resources.”

“I have tried to be very careful in following published guidance — including written communications from the N.C. Department of Administration stating that mileage logs were no longer necessary — and the instructions of our internal chief nancial ocer regarding the use of state vehicles. I enjoy the demanding workload, which involves much coordination to save time and money, and being accessible anytime and anywhere in the state. Sta is assisting in compiling documentation to fully answer any outstanding questions that might remain after our numerous phone calls and the records we previously submitted to the state agencies conducting the compli-

N.C. State Treasurer Dale Folwell

Over his two terms as treasurer, Folwell has been critical of the lack of transparency in health care pricing and billing. His o ce has issued several reports on health care costs in the state, including Folwell’s Clear Pricing Project, a 2023 report on NC hospitals suing patients over medical debt for judgments worth more than $57 million and, most recently, a report on N.C. hospitals vastly overcharging patients.

The investigation comes months after the resignation of State Auditor Beth Wood following a similar review that led her to plead guilty in Wake County court to two misdemeanors for misusing a state-issued vehicle for personal activities.

Wood, a Democrat, received unsupervised probation and paid restitution as part of her plea agreement last December. The investigation started after she crashed a state-owned car into a parked vehicle after a holiday party in December 2022. Folwell, a certi ed public accountant, previously served in government as a local school board member, state House member and head of then-Gov. Pat McCrory’s unemployment benets agency.

North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon contributed to this report.

more school resource o cers for elementary and middle schools. With federal child care stabilization grants expiring, the House included $135 million for child care centers. The Senate’s plan also overlaps on the issue, with $136.5 million. Another area where both the House and Senate plans agree is $150 million for road construction-related issues near the site of the new Toyota factory in Randolph County. Medicaid is also in both spending plans. Under the House, the Medicaid Contingency Reserve gets a $350 mil-

lion boost to address a funding shortfall. The same amount is found in the Senate plan for the Contingency Reserve. After years of calling Medicaid expansion a “nonstarter” and warnings that 39 other states have failed to keep expansion costs under control, lawmakers pushed through a Medicaid expansion bill that would add an estimated 600,000 North Carolinians to the federal program.

Medicaid Expansion has been one of Cooper’s top priorities since rst taking o ce in January 2017.

“Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich (1818) is a painting in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany.

BUDGET

Who does a vape registry really save?

RJ Reynolds. They will see increased sales in cigarettes when they wipe out the competition of e-cigarettes and vapes.

The new registry would only include 8 products!

4 of them are foreign-made by big tobacco companies with market domination.

Reject Vape Registry in North Carolina.

• The vape registry is not about protecting consumers or youth, it’s all about big business.

• According to the CDC, since 2019,e-cigarette use among students has plummeted by 60%, reaching its lowest level since 2014. The bill does nothing to address youth.

• Additional regulation requires big money to enforce. Are YOU going to put that on the taxpayer? For more information, visit nsbcpac.org

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Biden inflation mind games

In 1980, Ronald Reagan annihilated Carter in the Electoral College 489 to 49, the largest electoral defeat of any incumbent president in U.S. history.

IF A REGISTERED VOTER listens to the Biden spokespeople long enough, they will be led to believe if we just ignore the cost of everything, the U.S. in ation rate would be zero. Forget the fact that the cost of everything you buy at the grocery store is double, triple or quadruple the cost of what it was before Biden was sworn into o ce on Jan. 20, 2021.

The Biden team will swear there is absolutely no correlation between him getting elected president and the exorbitant prices everyone has to pay for milk, eggs, butter, fruit, vegetables and gasoline today. There’s not a nice way to say it except they are at-out lying. Some political “lies” are almost acceptable if they are related to overpromises made during a campaign.

But “lies” that result in direct pain to the American consumer and voter through their pocketbook are unforgivable ― and presidents who presided over high in ation have not been reelected for a second term.

In ation started to rear its ugly head during the OPEC oil embargo in October 1973, right about the same time President Richard Nixon started to become overwhelmed by the Watergate asco. By the time he was forced to resign in August 1974, in ation got as high as 12.3%. Nixon’s VP Gerald Ford inherited the hot potato of in ation and proceeded to campaign on a platform to Whip In ation Now (WIN) in the 1976 election.

The only thing that got whipped was his presidency.

His successor, Jimmy Carter, apparently didn’t learn anything from his predecessor. He and the Democrat-dominated Congress proceeded to pass almost as much wrongheaded legislation at precisely the wrong

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

time as President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress did in 1929-30, which turned a market crash into The Great Depression.

By the end of Carter’s term, Democrats had achieved what had previously been thought humanly impossible ― they pulled o the Misery Index Trifecta of 12.5% in ation, federal funds interest rate of 18% and an unemployment rate of 8.5% by the time Carter left o ce in 1981.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan annihilated Carter in the Electoral College 489 to 49, the largest electoral defeat of any incumbent president in U.S. history.

American voters can forgive almost every other foible in a president and their elected leaders. The one thing they cannot forgive is when their pocketbooks and bank accounts are devastated ― and they have been ravaged by virtually every economic policy the Biden administration has enacted.

On top of all that, due to changes made in the way the government measures CPI, the consumer price index, several conservative economists say the “o cial” in ation rate today is vastly understated relative to what it would be if calculated using previous formulas. Using the CPI formula from 1980, such analysts say the peak rate of in ation in 2023 would have registered at 18% instead of the “o cial” in ation rate of only 8% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To point out one glaring di erence, BLS reports “core in ation” today which excludes any changes in cost for energy or food prices.

Has anyone ever “excluded” the cost of food or gasoline from their monthly budget? The federal government assumes you did so they can report lower in ation rates.

Another problem has to do with housing

The first presidential debate promises to be a barnburner

If Biden has to avoid senior moments to prevent his reelection campaign from collapsing, then he ought to hang up his spurs now.

The last couple of weeks have seen a urry of activity ahead of the rst 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Among the more recent announcements has been learning who, via a coin ip, got the rst pick of podium side and who will o cially be allowed to have the last word. Biden, who is on the left side politically speaking, will get the podium on the right side of the stage. It will be Trump who gets the last word (his closing argument) of the night. There’s been a lot of talk, primarily in conservative circles, about how so much of the debate negotiations have gone Biden’s way, including on which networks get to host it (CNN for the rst one and ABC News for the second one), how there will be no audience, and on Trump agreeing with the stipulation that mics get cut once the candidate’s speaking time is up.

Media-friendly outlets in general just aren’t a thing for Trump, not even Fox News, so it was pretty much a given that there would be no outlet that would seemingly be less hostile to Trump hosting either debate.

As far as the no audience rule goes, the Biden campaign wanted that agreed to because they know Trump feeds o the audience and uses it to his advantage.

However, Trump also feeds o arguing with his opponent and the moderators, so there will be plenty of opportunities for sparring to try and get his points across.

On the mic cuts, there is also concern on the right that Trump will be prevented from being able to make his case, but there shouldn’t be too much worry there because Trump knows how to be loud and make himself heard, so a mic cut isn’t going to stop him if there’s something he really wants to get across to the TV audience.

The two 2020 debates between Trump and Biden were barnburners, and the one this week promises to be no di erent. This isn’t just because of Trump’s assertive, confrontational style of no-holds-barred debating but also because Joe Biden is prone to ts of yelling himself, as we’ve seen often during speeches and interviews he gives as well as past debates

Considering all the Biden demands that Trump agreed to, political observers have suggested that it is Biden who will have a distinct advantage going into the rst debate.

But the one thing Biden has to be the most careful not to do is the one thing he will have the most trouble avoiding, as MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan pointed out during a recent “Morning Joe” episode.

costs. In the 1980s, BLS o cials decided to take out the cost of buying a house — current mortgage rates, property taxes and home insurance — from their in ation- estimation formulas. In their place, they substituted a convoluted concept called “owner’s equivalent rent” which somehow divined what everyone’s housing costs would be if they were paying rent to a landlord instead of owning a home.

Have you recently thought about buying a home but decided not to because home prices were way too high and high interest rates made monthly payments impossible? Or decided against re nancing for the same reason?

The government doesn’t count those costs in their monthly reports on in ation. It is like they are just “not real.”

The totality of the past 42 months of the Biden administration does not seem real either. It is like they are playing mind games on the American public trying to make them believe everything they have done, from ooding the border with illegal immigrants to in ating the value of our money, has been “good” for us. It has not been good at all. Joe Biden deserves to be retired to the scrap heap of history just as his hero, Jimmy Carter, was summarily sent in 1980 because everything they touch turns into lead, not gold.

“[Biden] absolutely cannot have a senior moment at this debate,” she noted.

“I was in Wisconsin and Michigan two weeks ago for a lot of focus groups, and what I heard from voters, Democrats who support Biden, is just that they’re going to be watching and they want to make sure that he’s up to the task,” she also recalled.

“They might still be planning to vote for him, but they’re uncomfortable about the age. And it really is an albatross that is hanging around this candidate and campaign.”

If Biden has to avoid senior moments to prevent his re-election campaign from collapsing, then he ought to hang up his spurs now because every Biden public appearance usually includes at least one senior moment, often more than that.

In other words, expect a few senior moments from Biden. And though Trump is also a senior citizen, expect him to take full advantage of those moments from Biden to make the point about how he’s un t to serve another four years in the White House.

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

COLUMN | DAVID HARSANYI

Why the left hates it when you point out we’re ‘a republic, not a democracy’

“Democracy” isn’t even mentioned anywhere in any founding document, much less a direct one.

FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, the left has been sneering at anyone who points out that the United States is a republic, not a democracy. They nd the notion almost as unsophisticated and fascistic as ying a revolutionary-era ag. Others dismiss the democracy/republic debate as pedantic or a semantic distraction.

They shouldn’t.

The other day, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan tried to make Trump fans who repeat this factual contention look like a bunch of dumb, lockstepping authoritarians. To explain the problem, CNN even recruited “democracy” expert Anne Applebaum, who noted that, “America is a democracy. It was founded as a democracy. … The word ‘democracy’ and the word ‘republic’ have often been used interchangeably. There isn’t a meaningful di erence between them.”

Sure there is.

Ask the contemporary leftists who target virtually every protection we have against mob rule in the name of “democracy” — attacking the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, federalism, the libuster, the Senate and even the existence of states. They understand the di erence, even if just intuitively.

Ask leftists who treat the “popular vote” not as a wish-casting cope but as a means of legitimizing presidential elections. Those who want a few big states ruling the nation via a direct federal democracy are not interested in a “republic” that derives power from the governed but one that strips local control and individual rights from those they dislike.

Blunting the federal government’s power over states and the state’s power over individuals is an indispensable way to ensure a diverse people in a huge nation can govern themselves and live freely.

The “save democracy” types who refer to these long-standing federalist institutions as “minority rule” do not view “democracy” and a constitutional republic as interchangeable concepts.

Neither do smaller blue-state governors who sign a national vote compact that not only dilutes their state’s power but circumvents the Constitution. They love a direct democracy. A constitutional republic? Not so much.

When writers at The Atlantic, where Applebaum is a contributor, talk about “The Democrats’ Last Chance to Save Democracy,” they aren’t lamenting Biden’s unprecedented executive abuse but the “democratic de cits in the Senate and the Electoral College” — as if these institutions weren’t speci cally instituted to di use centralized control.

They know the di erence.

Democrats who want to “expand” the Supreme Court for failing to follow democratic trends don’t care about the “republic.” After all, many of the high court’s most historic decisions, including Dred Scott and Plessy, cut the legs out from under “democracy.”

Or take the so-called moderate Democrats who want to get rid of the libuster or use the slimmest of eeting majorities to shove through massive, generational federal “reforms” without

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

any national consensus — Obamacare or The De cit Reduction Act [sic]. They’re aware that “reforms” will overturn hundreds of state and local laws. They want local minorities subordinate to the whims and vagaries of national majorities.

Then again, the more “democracy” we have, the more demagoguery thrives. Of course they’re fans.

As it turns out, according to CNN several Trump supporters also understand the distinction even if they are unable to articulate it in poliscienti c terms.

Then again, if O’Sullivan wants to dunk on them, maybe he should take a civics refresher himself. “There is, of course, a legitimate debate to be had on what form of democracy we have here in the United States — direct democracy, representative democracy, in fact, constitutional republic, which you heard people mentioned in that piece, that is a form of democracy,” the CNN host explained.

There is, “of course,” zero “legitimate debate discussion” to be had over whether we are a “direct democracy.” Not today, nor ever. “Democracy” isn’t even mentioned anywhere in any founding document, much less a direct one. None of the framers entertained any notions about majoritarianism or federal power that would even loosely comport the ones now embraced by the left.

People will often tell me that, sure, we might be a republic, but we also have “democratic institutions.” Of course we do. We also have numerous nondemocratic institutions. The Bill of Rights, for instance, is largely concerned with protecting individuals from the state and the mob. The insistence that we only use “democracy” is meant to corrode the importance and acceptance of those countermajoritarian rules and traditions.

“For centuries,” insists O’Sullivan, “America has celebrated its democracy,” before playing clips of Ronald Reagan and others praising the notion of “democracy.”

Indeed, the word “democracy” — from “demos,” the people — has been used as a shorthand for self-rule since before Pericles. In the past, we’ve used it to convey respect for a set of liberal ideas about liberties and rights as well as self-determination. I’m sure I’ve used it in that way, too. No doubt, most Americans also comprehend the notion of “democracy” in the same, vague context.

These days, though, a bunch of illiberal progressives (and others) have taken universal notions that once fell under the umbrella of “democracy” and cynically distorted them to champion a hypermajoritarian outlook. It’s no accident the people who demand you call us a “democracy” also champion the idea that 50.1% of the country should be empowered to lord over the economic, religious, cultural and political decisions of 49.9%.

It’s the point.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of ve books

40 years later: a nation still at risk

Adjusted for in ation, per-pupil spending since 1960 quadrupled.

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR THE SUMMER, so now it is time to examine the state of our education system.

By any objective measure, our school performance is fair or poor for most children. Math scores hit a 20-year low. ACT scores dropped to a 30-year low last year. In dozens of schools throughout the country, not one child is reading or practicing math at grade-level pro ciency. Not one!

Some of this poor performance is due to the unforgivable mistake of shutting down our schools during COVID-19 — despite children being less vulnerable to the virus.

But our schools were in long-term decline before the pandemic.

One of the world’s top education scholars, Eric Hanushek, recently issued a report on the 40th anniversary of the famous federal study published in 1983 called “A Nation at Risk.” That study famously warned that “if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”

But tragically, nobody listened or paid attention to the warning. The unions kept pushing for more money with no accountability. Schools were turned into social welfare agencies instead of factories for learning. So they started to pursue both missions — poorly. In more recent years, educators decided their job was to teach about social justice, climate change radicalism, LGBTQ issues and “systemic racism.”

In many public schools, patriotism and love of country gave way to a “blame America rst” narrative.

Math, reading and science took a backseat.

But the taxpayer money poured in as if from a rehouse. Hanushek notes that, adjusted for in ation, per-pupil spending since 1960 quadrupled. Since 1980 the funding per student has doubled.

Yet over the past several decades, there isn’t much evidence of improvement (if any). In most school districts, the reverse is true.

The feds have kicked in hundreds of billions too. Yet there is virtually no evidence that Uncle Sam’s spending has added much value. Mostly it’s added more red tape. Test scores haven’t budged.

Still, President Joe Biden’s plan is to spend hundreds of billions more — mostly because the teacher unions are the strongest force in the modern Democratic Party. Unions. Not parents.

Finally, after 40 years of failure, parents are taking notice and taking action. The parental choice movement is gaining steam — especially in red states. Some 13 states in the last two years have added programs to allow education dollars to follow the kids — that means lower-income parents are provided the funding to send their kids to charter schools, Catholic schools or other alternatives.

This should hopefully provide incentives for the public schools to compete and improve.

One of Hanushek’s key conclusions provides some glimmer of hope. He nds “some evidence that spending more money can improve student learning in public schools.” But he adds conditionally that the dollars need to be tied to “rewarding performance.”

For example, incentivizing teacher excellence through pay for performance and getting rid of bad teachers — by eliminating or reforming tenure — can improve schools and throw a lifeline to kids.

Here’s the problem: the teacher unions are adamantly opposed to anyone measuring their performance.

They can grade the students, but no one dares to grade the teachers.

Back in 1983, the warning was that our schools had slipped into a cesspool of “mediocrity.” Here we are over 40 years later, and in too many cities and states, mediocrity would be a vast improvement.

Reforms are coming — but will they get here soon enough? We certainly can’t wait another 40 years.

Stephen Moore is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a senior economic adviser to Donald Trump.

MICHAEL BARONE

The numbers show voters don’t want an 8-year presidency

FOUR WEEKS after former President Donald Trump’s conviction in a muchcriticized Manhattan prosecution and a week before the rst and earliest-ever scheduled post-primary presidential debate, it’s a good time to look at how these two unusually elderly and oft-reviled candidates stand in the contest.

The big news is that there isn’t much big news. Trump’s lead over President Joe Biden in the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls was 0.9 percentage points when the verdict was handed down and 0.8 points as this is written. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other candidates included, Trump’s lead over Biden increased from 2.2 points to 2.4. In other words, no perceptible change. As Republican pollster Patrick Ru ni posts, contrary to interest, there is a “very real possibility that there will be very little of substance to talk about polling wise before Election Day.”

But there is a sharp change in poll numbers from the 2016 and 2020 cycles. During those races, Trump trailed Hillary Clinton for all but a couple of days and Biden for every single day in the 12 months before the election. On June 20 of those years, Clinton’s lead was 5.9 points and Biden’s 9.5 points, respectively.

Trump’s prospects this year look even better when you look at the polling in target states. RCP polling averages have him ahead by around 5 points in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — states he lost narrowly in 2020. If you add their 33 electoral votes to the 235 electoral votes in states Trump carried that year, you get 268 — just short of the necessary 270.

At the moment, these numbers look baked in. Biden hasn’t led in any poll in Arizona since April 2023, in Nevada since October 2023, and in Georgia since November 2023.

Moreover, the numbers here are consistent with national polling showing increased Trump support from non-collegegraduate Hispanics and blacks. The 2020 exit polls reported that 19% of voters in Arizona and 17% in Nevada were Hispanic and that 29% of voters in Georgia were black.

If you add the single electoral vote of Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which Biden won 52%-45% in 2020, and where sparse polling suggests a closer race, you have a 269-269 tie, to be broken in the House of Representatives, with each state’s delegation getting one vote. Republicans have 26 delegations and Democrats 22, with two evenly split, with the likeliest change being a GOP gain of North Carolina because of redistricting.

So an Electoral College tie probably means a second Trump term. So, too, would a Trump plurality in Pennsylvania, which he carried by 0.7 points in 2016 and lost by 1.2 points in 2020. The former president leads by 2.3 points in recent Pennsylvania polls, and Biden has led in no Pennsylvania polls in three months and only four of 23 this year.

Pennsylvania’s not anyone’s sure thing. But a ne-grained analysis by The Wall Street Journal’s liberal columnist William Galston provides reasons for taking these Keystone State poll numbers seriously. Trump has other possibilities. He has microscopic leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, which he carried in 2016 and lost in 2020. He ran even with Biden in two recent polls in Virginia (Biden +10 in 2020) and just 2 and 4 points behind in Maine (Biden +9 in 2020) and Minnesota (Biden +7 in 2020). Even more startling polls, which show Biden ahead by just 6 points in New York (Biden +23 in 2020) and Hawaii (Biden +29 in 2020), suggest a particularly strong swing toward Trump among noncollege Hispanics and Asians.

Those last results may turn out to be outliers, but if Biden’s support collapses this fall as former President Jimmy Carter’s did in 1980, they’ll look like harbingers. It’s harder to imagine Trump’s support plunging after it has persisted despite multiple prosecutions and a guilty verdict.

Let me conclude with the usual caution that poll numbers are subject to error and change — and with a novel theory to help explain how a Trump defeat could be followed by a Biden defeat in a rematch four years later. The theory is that both the 45th and 46th presidents have given voters good reasons to be reluctant to give either one an eight-year presidency. Shaking things up makes more sense.

The corollary is that an electorate that was willing to reelect, with just 49.2%, 50.7% and 51.1% of the popular vote, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama while they were in their 50s was not willing to do the same for either Trump at 74 or looks unwilling to do the same for Biden at 81. We’ll see how that theory stands up on Nov. 6.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime co-author of “The Almanac of American Politics.”

Fireworks in NC

Who does a vape registry really save?

RJ Reynolds. They will see increased sales in cigarettes when they wipe out the competition of e-cigarettes and vapes. The new registry would only include 8 products! 4 of them are foreign-made by big tobacco companies with market domination.

• The vape registry is not about protecting consumers or youth, it’s all about big business.

• According to the CDC, since 2019,e-cigarette use among students has plummeted by 60%, reaching its lowest level since 2014. The bill does nothing to address youth.

• Additional regulation requires big money to enforce. Are YOU going to put that on the taxpayer?

For more information, visit nsbcpac.org

NATION & WORLD

Planned Parenthood plans to spend $40M on election

North Carolina is among the states the reproductive health group will target as abortion becomes a main issue in the November elections

By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Planned Parenthood will spend $40 million ahead of November’s elections to bolster President Joe Biden and leading congressional Democrats, betting that voters angry at Republican-led e orts to further restrict access to abortion can be the di erence in key races around the country.

The political and advocacy arms of the nation’s leading reproductive health care provider and abortion rights advocacy organization will initially target eight states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Biden is seeking to defend 2020 victories, as well as North Carolina, which the Democratic president’s campaign hopes to ip after Republican Donald Trump won it four years ago, and Montana, New Hampshire and New York, which have races that could help determine control of the Senate and House.

The push will try to reach voters with volunteer and paid canvassing programs, phone

lating requirements. Additional costs are borne by manufacturers, which must provide copies of FDA orders/letters and pay a $2,000 initial fee plus a $500 annual fee per product certi ed. Per the amendment, products not on the directory could not be sold in the state after a 60-day grace period upon directory publication.

There are also provisions for unannounced compliance checks of retailers, distributors and wholesalers selling these products and it would also establish penalties for violations related to selling noncerti ed products.

Manufacturers would be required to appoint an agent for service of process in North Carolina, and the amendment directs the N.C. Department of Revenue to adopt rules for implementation and enforcement and to use the fees collected for those purposes.

If enacted, most of the provisions have an e ective date of Dec. 1, 2024.

During public comment, there was opposition to the amendment by lobbyists representing businesses in the state

discusses the group’s canvassing goal of knocking on 1 million doors during an Apri; 25 press conference at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh.

banking and digital, TV, and mail advertising.

“Abortion will be the message of this election, and it will be how we energize voters,” said Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes. “It will be what enables us to win.”

The spending plan is not an election cycle record for the group. It spent $45 million ahead of Biden defeating

that sell the products in question.

Nelson Freeman and Ches McDowell with Checkmate Government Relations spoke on behalf of Pyxus International, a 170-year-old N.C. tobacco products company, and “1,700 Asian-American owned convenience stores” in the state, respectively.

“The way that the convenience store industry works now is it’s not as pro table as it used to be, and this is one area where they’re able to actually make some money,” McDowell said, adding that “there’s 1,700 of these people in every one of your districts — real jobs, real families, real people.”

“What this bill does,” McDowell added, “will take hundreds of products o the shelf that these folks make money on and rely on to feed their families. So we ask that you take a harder look at this and what this does to our communities.”

Kevin Wilkinson, head of the North Carolina expansion of southeast lobbying giant The Southern Group, spoke against the amendment on behalf of the Vapor Technology Association and described the multimillion-dollar revenue

Trump in 2020 and $50 million before the 2022 midterms.

Planned Parenthood’s advocacy arms focused on pouring money into contests where access to abortion was on the ballot after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that created a constitutional right to have an abortion, a decision handed down two years ago Monday.

and wage impacts.

“As a result of the proposed bill, 2,095 jobs in North Carolina’s vapor industry would disappear,” said Wilkinson, which he said amounts to “52.1% lost jobs.”

“People working in vape shops for e-liquid manufacturers and rms that supply these companies or serve their employees would lose nearly $107 million in wages,” Wilkinson said. “And overall, the North Carolina economy would be $447.4 million smaller, and North Carolina would lose $105 million of state and local tax revenues.”

A Vapor Technology Association handout obtained by North State Journal argues vape registry bills are misguided, will increase cigarette use by removing vaping alternatives, and improperly involve states in a awed federal regulatory scheme that courts have found problematic.

The handout also argues the PMTA process is “broken and illegal” based on recent federal court rulings that struck down aspects of how the FDA has implemented it.

The 5th Circuit Court found the FDA acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” and its actions

“We continue to see the devastation that comes when anti-abortion politicians have power,” Lawson said of the years since. “It’s just gotten worse.”

Abortion continues to be one of the nation’s most important political issues, but dynamics around it have changed since the Supreme Court ruling. After the ruling, most Republican-controlled states imposed new abortion restrictions, including some bans at every stage of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, voters in seven states — California, Michigan and Vermont, as well as usually reliably Republican Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio — sided with abortion-rights supporters on ballot measures.

In November, voters in several other states, including battleground Arizona and Nevada, will have abortion referendums on the ballot, as will Florida, a onetime presidential bellwether that has gotten increasingly Republican in recent cycles but where Biden’s campaign is hoping turnout for the abortion ballot initiative can make things closer.

SBA Pro-Life America, one of the country’s most prominent groups opposed to abortion rights, announced in February that it plans to spend $92 million targeting voters in eight battleground states: Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Montana and Georgia.

In addition to national efforts, local Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations in California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio are planning advocacy campaigns ahead of November.

amounted to a “de facto avor ban” on e-cigarettes without proper notice. Similarly, the 11th Circuit also rejected some of the FDA’s PMTA decisions.

The amendment was added to House Bill 900, which seeks to let the State Board of Education approve new college partners for two special high schools in Wake County. The bill also allows these schools to keep running as special programs while looking for new college partners in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Lee’s amendment also pulled out House Bill 900’s $111,484 annual allotment to pay for tuition at Wake County’s special high schools.

The funding removal was questioned by Sen. Lisa Grafenstein (D-Wake), who asked Lee if some other provision would be made or if Wake County Public School System would have to “absorb the cost.”

Lee said it was another legislator’s bill so he was not “entirely sure,” adding that he knew, “Wake County and DPI and the board of education all kind of agree with this,” and said, “Hopefully, Wake County will step up and help these schools.”

Tra c fatalities decline 3% in Q1

Washington, D.C.

Tra c fatalities declined about 3% in the rst quarter, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Tra c Safety Administration. The organization said Monday that it estimates that 8,650 people died in tra c crashes in the rst three months of the year. That compares with 8,935 estimated fatalities in the year-ago period. It’s the eighth straight quarterly decline in tra c fatalities. The estimated fatality rate for the rst three months of the year fell to 1.13 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. That’s down from the projected rate of 1.18 fatalities during the same period a year earlier.

Canada looking into imposing surtax on Chinese EVs

Toronto Canada’s government is investigating whether to impose a surtax on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles. A 30day consultation on the issue will begin on July 2 to counter what Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday is a clear e ort by Chinese companies to generate a global oversupply. Canada’s move comes weeks after both the United States and the European Commission announced plans to impose higher import tari s on Chinese EVs this summer. The consultation will seek input on what is driving China’s surging EV exports, including unfair market practices as well as labor and environmental standards.

Dali leaves Baltimore 3 months after bridge collapse

Baltimore

The cargo ship Dali headed out of Baltimore for Virginia on Monday, nearly three months after it lost power and crashed into one of the Francis Scott Key bridge’s supporting columns, causing the bridge to collapse.

The U.S. Coast Guard is overseeing the voyage and providing a 500-yard safety zone around the Dali during its trip. The Dali is scheduled to go directly to Virginia International Gateway to o oad roughly 1,500 cargo containers and then will head to Norfolk International Terminal, where it is scheduled to undergo continued salvage and repairs from damage caused during the bridge collapse.

MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO

Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic organizer Emma Horst-Martz

VAPE from page A1

catastrophe

questions about when normal

shelter-in-place or stay-at-home

majority of Americans normal.” end of this month.

China lied about the origin of the tried to tell the world there were only worldwide panic, economic collapse and being thrown out of work.

taxpayer at least $2.4 trillion in added Reserve backup liquidity to the the U.S. dollar were not the reserve fund any of these emergency of rampant in ation and currency

we begin to get back to normal

The 3 big questions

The comfort

How China will pay for this COVID-19 catastrophe

fallen into place. I understand the seriousness of the virus and the need to take precautions, but I’m uneasy with how people who simply ask questions about the data, and when things can start getting back to normal are treated in some circles with contempt.

WITH MOST STATES under either shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders thanks to local or state governments, a majority of Americans are having to adjust to what is being called the “new normal.”

ONE THING IS CERTAIN; after this COVID-19 virus dissipates around the globe and in the United States, China will pay for this catastrophe one way or another.

The cavalier manner in virus, covered up its spread

business & economy

Cooper stated during know yet” if the asked as to the vague ones like “we of this state who undetermined thousands of cases asked and then questions about asked, there is people to treat those start getting back are people who sick. levels become a bad society were supposed course, is my family. I’m worried I will. After 2009 pandemic, of this brings up prefer not to repeat. most everyone has

Fixing college corruption

aberrant ways and decisions through Diplomacy has obviously not worked world of 21st century health, hygiene communist regimes never take the blame remorse, because that is not what take advantage of every weakness pushing until they win or the event happens such as the Chernobyl believe that event, not the Star Wars the dissolution of the Soviet Union Chernobyl.

Perhaps COVID-19 is China’s Chernobyl.

They’re treated as though we as a society simply must accept without question what the government tells us about when it’s safe to begin the process of returning back to normalcy.

No. The government works for us, and we have the right to ask those questions. And the longer stay-at-home orders are in place all over the country, and the stricter some of them get in states, such as Michigan, the more people, sitting at home feeling isolated and/or anxious about when they can get back to providing for their families, will demand answers.

AMERICA’S COLLEGES are rife with corruption. The nancial squeeze resulting from COVID-19 o ers opportunities for a bit of remediation. Let’s rst examine what might be the root of academic corruption, suggested by the title of a recent study, “Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship.” The study was done by Areo, an opinion and analysis digital magazine. By the way, Areo is short for Areopagitica, a speech delivered by John Milton in defense of free speech.

WaPo drama continues, new editor out n.c. FAST FACTS

Leaders at the local and state levels should be as forthcoming as they can be with those answers — and again, not vague answers, but answer with details that give their statements believability.

already talking about the possibility debt we owe them as one way to get they have caused the US. Don’t hold your “Jubilee” to happen but ask your elected accountable in tangible nancial ways for expected to operate as responsible citizens of nation.

North Carolina A&T appoints new chancellor

North Carolina A&T, the country’s largest historically black university, has a new chancellor after nearly nine months of searching.

Not one little bit.

It’s the latest upheaval in a reorganization plan that has gone wrong

Authors Helen Pluckrose, James A. Lindsay and Peter Boghossian say that something has gone drastically wrong in academia, especially within certain elds within the humanities. They call these elds “grievance studies,” where scholarship is not so much based upon nding truth but upon attending to social grievances. Grievance scholars bully students, administrators and other departments into adhering to their worldview. The worldview they promote is neither scienti c nor rigorous. Grievance studies consist of disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, gender studies, queer studies, sexuality and critical race studies.

By David Bauder The Associated Press

In order to put the crisis caused by China in perspective, zero worldwide pandemics can trace their source to the United States over our 231-year history. At least four in the 20th century alone can be directly traced to China: 1957 “Asian u,” 1968 “Hong Kong u,” 1977 “Russian u” and the 2002 SARS outbreak. There is evidence that the massive 1918 “Spanish u” pandemic also had its origins in China.

Virginia’s stay-at-home orders go into June.

We should all continue to do what we can to keep our families, ourselves, and our communities safe. But we should also still continue to ask questions about the data, because while reasonable stay-at-home measures are understandable, they should also have an expiration date.

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a bad thing? That is what free citizens living in a free society were supposed to do, last I checked.

This is all new to Americans, and it is not normal. Not in any way, shape, or form. So while we should remain vigilant and stay safe, at the same time we shouldn’t get comfortable with this so-called “new normal.”

The UNC Board of Governors unanimously named James Martin the next chancellor on Friday.

Martin was previously the vice chancellor of STEM research and innovation at the University of Pittsburgh, where he previously served as dean of the university’s engineering school.

Martin, who was UNC System President Peter Hans’ nominee, has worked primarily in civil engineering, a profession Hans said will help Martin with “leading a public institution through an unquiet era.”

seriousness of the virus and the need

uneasy with how people who simply ask when things can start getting back to with contempt.

Among the many challenges chancellors may face, Hans said maintaining “public con dence in an era of rising skepticism and polarization” will be one task for Martin to tackle.

In 2017 and 2018, authors Pluckrose, Lindsay and Boghossian started submitting bogus academic papers to academic journals in cultural, queer, race, gender, fat and sexuality studies to determine if they would pass peer review and be accepted for publication. Acceptance of dubious research that journal editors found sympathetic to their intersectional or postmodern leftist vision of the world would prove the problem of low academic standards.

NEW YORK — The Washington Post’s new editor, Robert Winnett, never returned to his job. He withdrew Friday and decided to stay in England in another upheaval at a news outlet where a reorganization plan had gone disastrously wrong. He had been the subject of several published reports — including one in the newsroom he sought to lead — questioning whether he followed an ethical and moral compass foreign to American journalists. The Post’s CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, announced Winnett’s decision in a note to sta and said a recruitment rm would be immediately hired to search for a new replacement.

Located in Greensboro, A&T has more than 13,000 students. It’s one of 10 historically black colleges and universities recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in North Carolina, which has the second-highest number of HBCUs behind Alabama.

a society simply must accept without tells us about when it’s safe to begin the normalcy.

Several of the fake research papers were accepted for publication. The Fat Studies journal published a hoax paper that argued the term bodybuilding was exclusionary and should be replaced with “fat bodybuilding, as a fat-inclusive politicized performance.” One reviewer said, “I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and believe it has an important contribution to make to the eld and this journal.”

us, and we have the right to ask those stay-at-home orders are in place all over the them get in states, such as Michigan, feeling isolated and/or anxious about providing for their families, will demand levels should be as forthcoming as they again, not vague answers, but answer statements believability. what we can to keep our families, safe. But we should also still continue because while reasonable stay-at-home they should also have an expiration date. and it is not normal. Not in any way, should remain vigilant and stay safe, at comfortable with this so-called “new

under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah RedState and Legal Insurrection.

“Our Struggle Is My Struggle: Solidarity Feminism as an Intersectional Reply to Neoliberal and Choice Feminism,” was accepted for publication by A lia, a feminist journal for social workers. The paper consisted in part of a rewritten passage from Mein Kampf. Two other hoax papers were published, including “Rape Culture and Queer Performativity at Urban Dog Parks.” This paper’s subject was dog-on-dog rape. But the dog rape paper eventually forced Boghossian, Pluckrose and Lindsay to prematurely out themselves. A Wall Street Journal writer had gured out what they were doing.

Some papers accepted for publication in academic journals advocated training men like dogs and punishing white male college students for historical slavery by asking them to sit in silence on the oor in chains during class and to be expected to

The nancially struggling Post had announced that Winnett would take over as editor of the core newsroom functions after the November presidential election. It was also setting up a “third newsroom” devoted to nding new and inventive ways for its journalism to make more money.

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a bad thing?

That is what free citizens living in a free society were supposed to do, last I checked.

3,341 related deaths has millions of Americans needlessly

Some of these orders extend at least through the end of this month.

THIS WEEK, according to members of and state and local governments, Americans the curve in the novel coronavirus outbreak. muted — after all, trends can easily reverse have abided by recommendations and orders. to stay at home; they’ve practiced social distancing; they’ve donned masks.

Here in North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper stated during a recent coronavirus press brie ng that “we just don’t know yet” if state’s stay-at-home orders will extend into May.

There is 100% agreement, outside of China, that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan Province probably from the completely unregulated and unsanitary wet markets. Some believe it came out of a biowarfare lab run by the communist Chinese army.

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

Three weeks ago, then-executive editor Sally Buzbee said she would quit rather than take a demotion to head this revenue-enhancement e ort. In addition to Winnett’s hiring, former Wall Street Journal editor Matt Murray was brought on as her interim replacement and future leader of the “third newsroom.”

“THIS IS in it” (Psalm I know that working from be glad” as the and dad, the have to be thankful pandemic.

The crisis has cost the debt plus trillions more in markets and nancial outlets. currency, we would not be measures without immediate depreciation.

Until China adopts rigorous veri able policing and regulation of their food safety and health protocols, American business has no other choice than to build redundant manufacturing plants elsewhere purely for national security and safety reasons as well as supply and delivery reliability concerns.

Since then, several published reports have raised questions about Lewis and Winnett’s journalistic ethics stemming from their work in England. For example, both men worked together in a series of scoops about extravagant spending activity by British politicians fueled by information they paid a data information company for — a practice frowned upon by American journalists.

If he does decide to extend it, questions should be asked as to the justi cation for it. And the answers should not be vague ones like “we must do this out of an abundance of caution.”

We need transparency and honesty from our scienti c experts — we need to know what they know, what they don’t and when they hope to know what they don’t.

The result: a reduction in expected hospitalization

According to the University of Washington Metrics and Evaluation model most oft cited Trump administration, the expected need peak outbreak was revised down by over 120,000, ventilators by nearly 13,000 and the number August by nearly 12,000.

The most direct way to make China “pay” for this disaster is to o er U.S. tax credits to companies who will source at least half of their production back in the United States. There is approximately $120 billion worth of American direct investment in plants and equipment in China. Chinese direct investment in the U.S. is about $65 billion by comparison.

It will need to be explained in detail to the people of this state who are being told to remain jobless and at home for an undetermined amount of time why models predicting hundreds of thousands of cases are reliable.

The New York Times wrote that both Winnett and Lewis were also involved in stories that appeared to be based on fraudulently obtained phone and business records.

It sparked a newsroom revolt at The Washington Post.

To date, I’ve gone along with what the state has asked and then mandated that we do, but along the way I’ve also had questions about the data. State Republican leaders have, too.

An investment tax credit of 30% on half of U.S. investment in China today, or $60 billion, applied to repatriated American manufacturing investment to the U.S. would cost the U.S. Treasury $18 billion in tax revenue spread over a few years. $18 billion in lost revenue is decimal dust compared to the $6 trillion+ Marshall Plan we are now undertaking to save our own economy, not of defeated enemies as in the past.

Here’s the problem: We still don’t know questions that will allow the economy to reopen.

Lenten and Easter seasons provide a message of hope that we will once again enjoy sporting events, concerts, family gatherings, church services and many more after our own temporary sacri ces are over.

China has to pay for their economic and nancial means. to bring China into the civilized and fair trade. Totalitarian or express sincere regret totalitarian governments they nd in adversaries and adversaries push back. That is, unless an exogenous meltdown in 1986. Some program of Reagan, led directly in 1989.

First, what is the true coronavirus fatality important because it determines whether be open or closed, whether we ought to pursue more liberalized society that presumes wide ought to lock down further.

Unfortunately, when certain types of questions get asked, there sometimes a disturbing tendency among some people to treat those simply questioning the data and asking when we can start getting to normal as though they are conspiracy theorists or are people who otherwise don’t care if they get themselves or others sick.

For me, my making. As Corinthians a iction, so a iction, with God.” If you are re ect on this God’s example this di cult con dent we In this same neighbors helping In Concord, money to buy health care workers

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a bad thing? That is what free citizens living in a free society were supposed to do, last I checked.

My rst concern as we go along in all this, of course, is my family. worried about them catching the virus, and I’m worried I will. After su ering from the H1N1 virus (swine u) during the 2009 pandemic, I’ve been trying to take extra precautions, because all of this brings way too many memories of a painful experience I’d prefer not to repeat.

We’ve seen case fatality rates — the number the number of identi ed COVID-19 cases and the denominator are likely wrong. We people have actually died of coronavirus. number has been overestimated, given that of death, particularly among elderly patients, sources suggest the number is dramatically many people are dying at home.

Perhaps COVID-19 is China’s Senators in Washington of China forgiving $1.2 trillion China to “pay” for the damage breath waiting for a Chinese representatives to hold China this disaster. It is about time they are the world like any other modern

Even more importantly, we have no clue actually have coronavirus. Some scientists of identi ed cases could be an order of magnitude number of people who have had coronavirus

But what also makes me lose sleep is how easily most everyone has

China has been cheating, stealing, pirating and pillaging American business now for the past 30 years. They have made no secret that they intend to replace the U.S. as the premier superpower in the world and replace the dollar as the reserve currency with their renminbi.

It’s okay to ask questions about when we begin to get back to normal

“The body is rejecting the transfusion.”

David Maraniss, The Washington Post

year, hired by billionaire owner Je Bezos to stem a costly exodus of readers. The Post had said it had lost around $77 million last year.

The comfort and hope

WITH MOST STATES under either shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders thanks to local or state governments, a majority of Americans are having to adjust to what is being called the “new normal.”

In a memo to key sta members earlier this week, Bezos assured them that journalistic standards and ethics at the newspaper would not change.

“THIS IS THE DAY the lord has made, in it” (Psalm 118:24).

Some of these orders extend at least through the end of this month. Virginia’s stay-at-home orders go into June.

“The body is rejecting the transfusion,” Maraniss wrote in a Facebook post.

Here in North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper stated during a recent coronavirus press brie ng that “we just don’t know yet” if the state’s stay-at-home orders will extend into May.

“I know you’ve already heard this from Will, but I wanted to also weigh in directly,” he wrote.

David Maraniss, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who has worked at the newspaper for more than four decades, said this week he did not know anyone there who thought the situation with the publisher and “supposed new editor” could stand.

Lewis, a former Wall Street Journal publisher and vice chairman of The Associated Press’ board of directors, started at The Post earlier this

I know that during this challenging time working from home or losing a job, it may be glad” as the Bible tells us to do. However, and dad, the Easter holiday has reminded have to be thankful and hopeful for, even pandemic.

If he does decide to extend it, questions should be asked as to the justi cation for it. And the answers should not be vague ones like “we must do this out of an abundance of caution.”

“To be sure, it can’t be business as usual at The Post,” Bezos wrote. “The world is evolving rapidly, and we need to change as a business.”

It will need to be explained in detail to the people of this state who are being told to remain jobless and at home for an undetermined amount of time why models predicting hundreds of thousands of cases are reliable.

To date, I’ve gone along with what the state has asked and then mandated that we do, but along the way I’ve also had questions about the data. State Republican leaders have, too.

fallen into place. I understand to take precautions, but I’m questions about the data, normal are treated in some They’re treated as though question what the government process of returning back No. The government works questions. And the longer country, and the stricter the more people, sitting at when they can get back to answers. Leaders at the local and can be with those answers with details that give their

For me, my faith is an important part of making. As I celebrated Easter with my family, Corinthians 1:4, which reminds us our Lord a iction, so that we may be able to comfort a iction, with the comfort which we ourselves God.”

If you are celebrating the Easter season, re ect on this message and be comforted, God’s example and comfort all those in need this di cult time. Through faith and by helping con dent we will emerge out of this pandemic

Unfortunately, when certain types of questions get asked, there is sometimes a disturbing tendency among some people to treat those simply questioning the data and asking when we can start getting back to normal as though they are conspiracy theorists or are people who otherwise don’t care if they get themselves or others sick.

Lenten and Easter seasons provide a message of hope that we will once again enjoy sporting events, concerts, family gatherings, church services and many more after our own temporary sacri ces are over.

In this same spirit, I continue to be inspired neighbors helping neighbors.

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a bad

We should all continue ourselves, and our communities to ask questions about the measures are understandable,

This is all new to Americans, shape, or form. So while the same time we shouldn’t normal.”

In Concord, a high school senior named money to buy a 3-D printer and plastic to health care workers out of his own home.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

WALTER E. WILLIAMS

COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior

GERALD HERBERT / AP PHOTO

The Washington Post’s new editor, Robert Winnett, withdrew Friday and decided to stay in England in the latest drama at the newspaper.

Obesity drugs may treat sleep apnea

Tirzepatide appears to reduce the severity of the late-night disorder

By Jonel Aleccia

The Associated Press

A POPULAR OBESITY drug may help treat a dangerous disorder in which people struggle to breathe while they sleep, a new study nds.

Tirzepatide, the medication in the weight-loss drug Zepbound and also the diabetes treatment Mounjaro, appeared to reduce the severity of sleep apnea along with reducing weight, improving blood pressure and other health measures in patients with obesity who took the drug for a year.

Eli Lilly and Co., the drug maker who paid for the research, has asked the Food and Drug Administration to expand the drug’s use to treat moderate to severe sleep apnea, in which people stop and start breathing during sleep, a spokesperson said Friday. A decision is expected by the end of the year.

But an outside expert cautioned in an editorial that more research will be needed to tell if the drug can be used as “a sole treatment” for obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when tissue in the throat relaxes and collaps-

es during sleep, fully or partially blocking the airway. It a ects an estimated 20 million Americans and can cause short-term issues such as snoring, brain fog and daytime sleepiness but also severe long-term issues such as heart disease, dementia and early death.

The research, published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a medical meeting, included nearly 500 people diagnosed with obesity and sleep apnea. Half of them used what’s typically known as a CPAP machine that feeds oxygen through a mask to keep airways open during sleep. The other group included people for whom a CPAP machine had failed or wasn’t tolerated.

The study found that patients in both groups who got weekly injections of tirzepatide reduced the number of episodes per hour in which their breathing slowed or stopped completely during sleep by about half to nearly 60%, compared to about 10% in people who got a dummy drug. According to the research, up to half of the patients taking tirzepatide reduced the apnea episodes enough to potentially resolve the disorder, compared with up to 16% of those using the placebo medication.

On average, patients who

took tirzepatide also lost between 18% and 20% of their body weight, showed improvements in blood pressure and a condition in which blood oxygen drops during sleep, and reported better sleep and fewer sleep disturbances.

The new research shows that tirzepatide is “a more e ective knife in the drawer” for treating sleep apnea, said lead author Dr. Atul Malhotra, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California, San Diego.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Sanjay Patel, a sleep med-

icine specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, cautioned whether tirzepatide could treat sleep apnea in real-world patients “remains unclear” because of how improvement is measured. He also noted that cost and access remain obstacles to using tirzepatide and that the addition of the drug as a treatment could exacerbate racial and other disparities in addressing sleep apnea.

Dr. Paul Peppard, a sleep medicine researcher at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the study, said losing weight has long been rec-

New EU digital competition rules target big

Apple has been facing pressure to tear down barriers around iPhone

By Kelvin Chan

The Associated Press

LONDON — European Union regulators leveled their rst charges on Monday under the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook, accusing Apple of preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The European Commission said, according to its preliminary ndings, the restrictions the iPhone maker imposes on developers using its mobile App Store breach the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

The rulebook, also known as the DMA, is a sweeping set of regulations to prevent tech “gatekeepers” from cornering digital markets under threat of heavy nancial penalties. It took e ect in March and opened an initial round of investigations, including a separate ongoing probe into whether Apple is doing enough to allow iPhone users to easily change web browsers and other cases involving Google and Meta.

Apple has been facing pressure on both sides of the Atlantic to tear down some competitive barriers around its lucrative iPhone franchise. The U.S. Justice Department has led a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple this year, accusing it of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market and boxing out competitors, sti ing innovation and keeping pric -

ommended to reduce the severity of sleep apnea by expanding lung capacity, reducing fat in the airways and improving oxygen usage. While diet and exercise can spur weight loss and reduce the consequences of the disorder, the ongoing obesity epidemic in the U.S. proves that shedding pounds is di cult for many people, he said. In such cases, medications such as tirzepatide can help.

“I expect that these drugs could be used as a tool to treat many of the established outcomes of obesity,” Peppard said.

tech, Apple rst

es arti cially high. App makers such as Spotify had complained for years about Apple’s requirement that subscriptions only be bought through iOS apps, allowing the company to take up to 30% commission.

Under the DMA’s provisions, app developers must be allowed to inform customers of cheaper purchasing options and direct them to those o ers.

The commission said App Store rules “prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for o ers and content.”

Apple now has a chance to re -

spond to the ndings. The commission must decide on Apple’s compliance by March 2025. The company could face nes worth up to 10% of its global revenue, which could amount to billions of euros or daily penalties.

Regulators zeroed in on a “core technology fee” of 50 euro cents (54 cents), which Apple now charges developers for each time their apps are downloaded and installed from outside Apple’s App Store. The DMA’s provisions allow alternative app stores to give consumers more choice.

The commission said the new terms are a “condition to access some of the new features enabled by the DMA.” Rivals had criticized the fee, saying it would deter many existing free apps, which don’t pay any fees, from jumping ship.

“We are concerned Apple’s new business model makes it too hard for app developers to operate as alternative marketplaces & reach their end users on iOS,” the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said. Apple Inc. said over the past several months, it “has made

“Apple’s new business model makes it too hard for app developers to operate as alternative marketplaces and reach their end users on iOS.” Margrethe Vestager, European commissioner for competition

several changes to comply with the DMA in response to feedback from developers and the European Commission.”

“We are con dent our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to Apple under the new business terms we created,” the company said in a statement. “All developers doing business in the EU on the App Store have the opportunity to utilize the capabilities we have introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete purchases at a very competitive rate.”

The company said it will “continue to listen and engage” with the commission.

The EU has been carrying out a similar investigation since 2020 into whether Apple’s inapp purchasing system and restrictions violated Brussels’ antitrust rules. However, “to avoid multiple investigations into the very same conduct,” the commission said Monday that the probe is being shut down to focus on the investigation under the DMA, which spells out what Apple can’t do.

REED SAXON / AP PHOTO

MATTHIAS SCHRADER

The National Association of Realtors said home sales fell 2.8% compared with May 2023.

US home sales down amid record high prices, mortgage rates

Sales also fell 2.8% compared with May last year

By Alex Veiga The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in May for the third month as rising mortgage rates and record-high prices discouraged prospective homebuyers during the busiest period of the housing market.

Existing home sales fell 0.7% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.11 million, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Sales also fell 2.8% compared with May last year. According to FactSet, the latest sales were slightly higher than the 4.07 million pace that economists expected.

“I thought that we would see a recovery this spring — we are not seeing it,” said the NAR’s

chief economist, Lawrence Yun.

Despite the pullback, prices climbed for the 11th month compared to a year earlier. The national median sales price rose 5.8% from a year earlier to $419,300, an all-time high on records from 1999. It’s also up 51% from ve years ago.

Home prices rose even as sales slowed and the supply of properties hit a four-year high.

“It’s a strange phenomenon,” Yun said. “We had low home sales activity, prices are hitting record highs, and homes look like they’re still getting multiple o ers.”

The U.S. housing market has slumped since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Existing home sales sank to a nearly 30-year low last year as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of 7.79%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

The average rate on a 30year mortgage has mostly hov-

ered around 7% this year. Stronger-than-expected reports on the economy and in ation have forced the Federal Reserve to keep its short-term rate at the highest level in more than 20 years.

Federal Reserve o cials said last week that in ation has fallen further toward their target of 2% in recent months and signaled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate once this year. The central bank had previously projected as many as three cuts in 2024, which raised expectations in the housing market for mortgage rates to have eased further by now.

“Maybe the Federal Reserve interest rate cut policy, which was projected to happen, but didn’t happen — it’s getting delayed and delayed and delayed —- maybe that’s causing the home sales recovery to be delayed,” Yun said.

The elevated mortgage rates keep many homeowners who

bought or re nanced more than two years ago from selling now because they don’t want to give up their xed-rate mortgages below 3% or 4% — a trend real estate experts call the “lock-in” e ect.

According to Realtor.com, as of the end of last year, more than 50% of homes with a mortgage had a rate of 4% or lower, and 87% had a rate of 6% or lower.

NAR said that at the end of last month, there were about 1.3 million unsold homes, an increase of 6.7% from April and up 18.5% from May last year. That translates to a 3.7-month supply at the current sales pace. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is a four- to ve-month supply.

First-time homebuyers with no home equity to put toward their down payment continue struggling to enter the housing market. They accounted for 31% of all homes sold last month, down from 33% in April but up from 28% in May last year. They’ve accounted for 40% of sales historically.

“Let’s wait to see if this leads to more home sales,” Yun said. “So far, that’s not the case, but at least the inventory is beginning to loosen up.”

How Nvidia took tech by storm, became an AI giant

The company is now worth more than $3.2 trillion

By Sarah Parvini The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — It began at a Denny’s in 1993. Three engineers — Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem — gathered at the breakfast diner in what is now the heart of Silicon Valley to discuss the creation of a computer chip that would make video game graphics more dynamic, faster and more realistic. That conversation led to the founding of Nvidia, the tech company that soared through the stock market ranks to brie y top Microsoft as the most valuable company in the S&P 500 last week.

The company is now worth more than $3.2 trillion, and its dominance as a chipmaker cements Nvidia’s place as the poster child of the arti cial intelligence boom — a moment that Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has dubbed “the next industrial revolution.” On a conference call last month, Huang predicted that companies using Nvidia chips would build an entirely new type of data center called “AI factories.” Huang added that training AI models is becoming faster as they learn to become “multimodal” — able to understand text, speech, images, video and 3D data — and also “to reason and plan.”

“People talk about AI as if Jensen just kind of arrived like in the last 18 months, like 24 months ago all of a sudden gured this out,” said Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group. “But if you go back in time and listen to Jensen talking about accelerated computing, he’s been sharing his vision for over a decade.”

The Santa Clara-based company’s 1999 invention of the graphics processor unit, or GPU, helped spark the growth of the PC gaming market and redened computer graphics. Now, Nvidia’s specialized chips are vital components that help power di erent forms of arti cial intelligence, including ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

“They took an architecture that was used for a single thing, to enhance gaming maybe, and they gured out how to network these things,” he said. “The GPU became the most compelling architecture for AI, going from gaming, rendering graphics and stu , to actually using it for data. ... They ended up creating a market that did not exist, which was GPUs for arti cial intelligence, or GPUs for machine learning.”

The company carved out an early lead in the hardware and software needed to tailor its technology to AI applications, partly because Huang nudged it into a nascent technology more than a decade ago.

“Nvidia has been working on di erent portions of this problem for over two decades. They have a deep innovation engine that goes back to the early 2000s,” said Chirag Dekate, a VP analyst at Gartner, a tech research and consulting rm. “What Nvidia did two decades ago is they both identi ed and they nurtured an adjacent market where they discovered that the same processors, same GPUs that they were using for graphics could be shaped to solve highly parallel tasks.”

At the time, he said, AI was only in its infancy. But Nvidia’s

Small Business Administration funds $30M to women’s businesses

New York

The Small Business Administration will o er $30 million in grant funding for Women’s Business Centers for various projects, including funding to open a center in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Eligible organizations that are selected will be awarded up to $150,000 to open and operate a Women’s Business Center. There are 152 in-person Women’s Business Centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. For the rst time, organizations that provide mostly virtual counseling and training services to women-owned small businesses across the country will be eligible for the grants.

Ford recalls more than 550K pickup trucks

Detroit Ford is recalling more than 550,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the transmissions can unexpectedly downshift to rst gear no matter how fast the trucks are going. The recall covers certain F-150 pickups from the 2014 model year. Ford says in documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators that the downshifting can cause drivers to lose control of the trucks, increasing the risk of a crash. Documents say the problem is caused by a lost signal between a transmission speed sensor and the powertrain control computer. There also could be corrosion and problems with connector pins. Dealers will update the powertrain control software at no cost to owners.

U.S. consumer con dence down in June

New York American consumers lost some con dence in June as expectations over the near-term future fell again. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer con dence index fell in June to 100.4 from 101.3 in May. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell to 73 from 74.9 in May. A reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. Consumers’ view of current conditions rose in June to 141.5, up from 140.8 in May.

understanding that graphics processor units would be central to AI development was “the fundamental breakthrough that was needed,” Dekate said.

“Until then, we would have been, I would say, in the analytic Dark Ages,” he said. “The analytics were there, but we could never bring these AI elements to life.”

Analysts estimate that Nvidia’s revenue for the scal year that ends in January 2025 will reach $119.9 billion. “My hypothesis is the kind of exponential growth that we’re seeing with Nvidia today is potentially a pattern that we’re going to see replicated more frequently in the decades to come,” he said. “This is the Golden Age, if you will. ... This is the best time to be an AI engineer.”apero voluptae dici

NCDOT CASH REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 21

Beginning Cash $2,423,224,948 Receipts (income) $87,924,002 Disbursements $147,861,296 Cash Balance $2,363,228,683

CHIANG YING-YING / AP PHOTO

Nvidia, led by CEO Jensen Huang, passed Microsoft on June 18 to become the most valuable company in the S&P 500.

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP PHOTO

build back smarter

Like a kid in the sandbox

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

PEORIA, Ill. — If I were 10 years old, Caterpillar’s Edwards Demonstration and Learning Center would be the greatest place on earth.

While the learning-focused classrooms, complete with giant screens for PowerPoint sessions on safety (that’s big here), aren’t particularly exciting, the massive demonstration area is best described as an enormous sandbox for some of the biggest toys on earth: dozens of examples of Caterpillar construction equipment.

I’d come to the midwest of the midwest to tag along with a bunch of Caterpillar’s best dealers and customers as the company demonstrated how its fanciest new tech helps build better bridges, roads, golf courses and anything else you might care to sculpt out of, or into, the earth.

If you’ve never operated an excavator, the one I played with had two joysticks, buttons, pedals and all manner of things. Move one stick one way and the bucket pivots to ll or dump. Move it the other way and the boom pivots at another joint to help you get the bucket exactly where you want.

And then, as if things weren’t complicated enough, the other joystick controls a third joint. In the hands of Caterpillar’s highly skilled demonstration team, it

looks like ballet. In my hands, it looked like what I probably look like trying ballet. Sure, I dug a hole and moved some dirt around, but what if there was a gas main 5 feet down and I needed to dig a 3-foot-deep trench? Luckily, Caterpillar has some whiz-bang cleverness to help me out. With a few taps of a screen, you can set virtual fences that the teeth of your bucket will refuse to cross. I adjusted my limits and was suddenly digging a perfect hole, precisely 3 feet deep. No matter what I did, the teeth wouldn’t go any deeper than that, keeping the imagi-

nary gas line safely intact.

Other electronic nannies prevent you from sending the bucket into the excavator’s cab, which is a terrifying thought I’d never considered. And you can set a virtual fence that prevents you from swinging the whole thing into an adjacent lane in a highway construction zone or up into overhead power lines.

And that’s just the start — the construction equipment equivalent of automatic emergency braking in an automobile.

While those features are focused on safety, a site engineer can (if you subscribe to the appropriate services that Cater-

pillar o ers for a price they declined to share with me) upload schematics and plans straight to a tablet in the cab. This allows an operator to see exactly what they’re supposed to be working on and will dynamically set a virtual fence so the bucket only digs where it’s supposed to.

Even a novice like me could easily dig a 50-foot-long, 3-footdeep trench if the schematics were correct. Anyone who has ever been involved in construction, whether at a house you were building or even just some landscaping project, knows that the risk of digging in the wrong place is real.

With Caterpillar’s cloud-connected 3D planning tech, the measure-twice is suddenly complete, and the operator is sent on to handle the cut once.

Di culties in attracting labor were a common theme throughout the event, and I asked an instructor if all this tech made it challenging to get operators into cabs. But I had it backward: The safety and 3D planning features made it so relatively unskilled operators could do complicated jobs that would have taken decades of experience to pull o if they needed to be done manually.

While I still couldn’t do ballet, Caterpillar o ered a pair of shoes that could handle the fancy footwork on my behalf.

And then they took me out of the cab entirely. Sometimes, there are places where you need to operate heavy equipment that isn’t entirely safe for a human being — an unstable hill-

side, perhaps, or when cleaning up a chemical spill.

That’s why Cat has all manner of remote controls for its equipment, everything from a belt-mounted “belly box” — a control console with joysticks that lets you walk around the machine, controlling it as if you were inside — to a screen- lled virtual setup that allows you to control a machine remotely from the other side of the world if you need to.

Sitting in an excavator all day, even one with comfortable seats and air conditioning on max, isn’t the most fun job in the world. But if you could do it from home, you might be more interested, which could help with the labor shortages.

Caterpillar reps told me, rightfully proud, of the job opportunities the remote setups can provide injured vets who can’t do physical construction work but could easily operate heavy machinery from a wheelchair.

Though I was happy to play in the giant sandbox for a day, I walked away with a lot of respect for those construction workers toiling away hour after hour, building new highways and byways. Surprisingly (or not), it takes a shocking amount of skill to move dirt just so.

Caterpillar’s fancy cloud connectivity and smarts lighten the load considerably and, perhaps, can help build that new highway a little bit faster, too.

I’m not 10 years old anymore, but even (and perhaps especially) for a 40-year-old, the sandbox is still a fun place to play.

PHOTOS BY JORDAN GOLSON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Hurricanes draft preview, B3

NHL Panthers avoid collapse, win Stanley Cup

Miami, Fla.

The Florida Panthers won their rst Stanley Cup on Monday. Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals as the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7. They avoided what would have been a historic collapse after leading the series three games to none before allowing Edmonton to tie the series at three games each.

NFL Barry Sanders says he experienced heart-related “scare”

Detroit Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders says he “experienced a health scare” involving his heart. The former Detroit Lions great posted a statement on social media, calling it a reminder to stay “vigilant about our physical well-being.” Sanders, 55, was a six-time All-Pro.

OLYMPICS

U.S., other teams to bring AC units to Paris, undercutting environmental plan

The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful of countries that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions. U.S. athletes said AC units were a high priority and something they felt was critical to their performance.

DARRON CUMMINGS / AP PHOTO

NC State’s Katharine Berko swims during the women’s 100 backstroke semi nal. Berko made the U.S. Olympic team after nishing second in the nals.

Local swimmers, divers qualify for Olympics, others shine in trials

Katharine Berko and Andrew Capobianco made their respective U.S. Olympic teams

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

WITH THE 2024 Summer Olympics just a month away, North Carolina natives and local athletes from the state’s college programs have been giving their all to become an Olympian. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for swimming, held in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and diving, held at the University of Tennessee, nished up Sunday, providing many of the state’s local hopefuls a chance at representing the country on the international stage.

Two local athletes quali ed for the U.S. Olympic swimming and diving teams.

Holly Springs native Andrew Capobianco earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic diving team after nishing rst in the men’s springboard event with a score of 971.80. This will be his second Olympics appearance after winning a silver medal in the 2020 Games for synchronized 3-meter diving despite entering the Games while dealing with a back injury.

After leaving Holly Springs High School in 2017 as a two-

57.91

Katharine Berko ’s time in the 100 backstroke nals, earning her a spot on the Olympic team

time state champion, Capobianco attended Indiana from 2017-22 where he was a threetime Big Ten Diver of the Year and a two-time NCAA 3-meter diving champion, winning in 2019 and 2021. He’ll join current Indiana diver Carson Tyler in continuing the program’s streak of producing an Olympic diver in every Summer Games since 1964.

NC State’s Katharine Berko secured her rst Olympic spot after nishing second in the women’s 100 backstroke nals with a time of 57.91 seconds. She nished behind Regan Smith, who shattered the world record with a time of 57.13. In the semi nal race, Berko swam the fourth-fastest women’s 100 backstroke time in history, clocking in at 57.83. Berko , the daughter of former American gold-medalist swimmer Dave Berko ,

See OLYMPICS, page B4

Hornets, local talent ready for NBA Draft

cerns over Ball’s health and future availability with him having missed lengthy amounts of time fairly consistently, and the guard depth for Charlotte is not great.

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

THE 2024 NBA Draft is set to take place Wednesday and Thursday, and the top of the draft is looking very French with many projecting fellow countrymen Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr to go be taken with the rst two picks, following in the footsteps of last year’s No. 1, Victor Wembanyama.

After that, though, there are several good players and a lot of potential volatility.

Let’s take a look at what potentially the Charlotte Hornets will be looking to do at #6 and what local talents are projected to hear their name called.

Hornets shouldn’t be picky

Despite nishing with the third-worst record in the league, the Hornets will be picking sixth overall after being leapfrogged in the Draft Lottery by the Atlanta Hawks (10th to rst), Houston Rockets (12th to third) and San Antonio Spurs ( fth to fourth).

So what does Charlotte need?

Well, the better question would be what don’t the Hornets need as the team has struggled for years on both sides of the ball.

Brandon Miller is looking to be the real deal and ideally would be great alongside LaMelo Ball, but there’s legitimate con-

Then there’s a big need for a physical, interior defender with size, such as UConn center Donovan Clingan, but there’s also a big hole for the Hornets on the wing.

Overall though, Charlotte can’t get caught up looking for a speci c position or t.

Instead, the Hornets should just look to pick the best talent available because with so many needs, just landing top talent is key.

The current odds-on favorite for the sixth overall pick per BetMGM is UConn guard Stephon Castle at +350.

LOCAL PRODUCTS

Rob Dillingham, Kentucky (Hickory) Potential lottery pick

The freshman guard from Hickory is the second Wildcat player projected to be taken o the board, with teammate Reed Shepard expected to go in the top ve.

Dillingham is a big scoring threat, averaging 15.2 points while getting just 23.3 minutes per game. He also averaged 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and just 2.0 turnovers while shooting 44.4% from beyond-the-arc.

There are concerns about his

The 2024 NBA Draft will take place Wednesday and Thursday of this week

JAMES CRISP / AP PHOTO

Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham dunks during a game against Vanderbilt in March. Mock drafts have the Hickory native being the second Wildcats player selected, but he’ll likely be taken before any UNC, Duke, NC State or Wake Forest players go o the board.

Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, left, and Jared McCain, right, walk o the court during a game against Louisville last season. Both players are potential lottery picks in this week’s NBA Draft.

BEN MCKEOWN / AP PHOTO

TRENDING

JJ Redick:

The former Duke star is reportedly being hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The 39-year-old Redick is an extraordinary choice by the Lakers, who hired a 15-year veteran with no coaching experience to lead a franchise with 17 NBA titles, one of the biggest brand names in world sports — and LeBron James, the top scorer in league history.

Christian Edwards:

The Chicago White Sox pitching prospect was suspended 80 games by MLB after a positive test for the performanceenhancing substance Boldenone under the minor league drug program. The 25-year-old right-hander was 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in 17 relief appearances this season for Kannapolis of the Class A Carolina League. He pitched 17 games for Kannapolis in 2022.

Mike Cragg:

The longtime administrator for Duke basketball is out as St. John’s athletic director in what the school describes as a mutual parting. Cragg was hired 2018 and hired Rick Pitino as men’s basketball coach last year. St. John’s won six Big East championships across various sports during Cragg’s tenure. He spent three decades in various roles for the Blue Devils.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

“I’m going to process everything and build myself back up.”

Rory McIlroy on social media, announcing he’s taking three weeks o following his collapse at the U.S. Open in Pinehurst.

“The Rockies and the Nationals are part of history. How about that?”

Colorado manager Bud Black after his team beat Washington on a bases loaded walk, where ball four was due to a pitch clock violation, the rst time an MLB game has ever ended that way.

PRIME NUMBER 38

Months since the last time Florida State beat UNC in baseball before last Tuesday’s 9 -5 Seminoles victory in Omaha sent UNC home from the College World Series.

NASCAR

Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup Series’ rst race ever to end with cars running on rain tires, pulling away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay at New Hampshire. Bell won his third Cup race of the season and swept the weekend, also winning Saturday in the X nity Series. Chase Briscoe was second and Josh Berry was third. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top ve.

Patrick Agyemang scored two goals — his rst multi-goal game in MLS — to help Charlotte FC beat Philadelphia Union 2- 0. Charlotte (9 - 6 -5) is unbeaten in four consecutive games. Agyemang slammed home a header to give Charlotte a 1- 0 lead in the 56th minute, then scored on a roller in the 63rd.

Ohio State hired longtime Campbell coach Justin Haire as its new baseball coach. Haire spent 10 years with the Camels. He won 317 games, posting seven 30 -plus win seasons and two with 40 wins. He was named Big South Conference coach of the year four times during his time at Campbell.

Cameron Young shot the 13th round of 59 or lower on the PGA Tour. Young made a pair of eagles for a 59 in the Travelers Championship. Young, a former college golfer at Wake Forest, had the rst sub- 60 round since Scottie Sche er at the TPC Boston in 2020. It’s the seventh sub- 60 round this year on tours around the world.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP PHOTO

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

SETH WENI / AP PHOTO

Hurricanes’ roster rebuild starts this weekend in Vegas

“The goal is to nd ways to keep getting better.”

Eric Tulsky, Hurricanes GM

Carolina has nine picks and lots of work to do at the draft

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — If you’re looking for a silver lining to the Carolina Hurricanes being eliminated in the second round of this year’s playo s, you can nd one at this week’s NHL Draft in Las Vegas.

The Hurricanes gave up Michael Bunting, three prospects and two conditional draft picks to acquire star winger Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline, hoping the bold move would bring the Stanley Cup back to Raleigh.

It didn’t, but by tacking conditions on the two draft picks earmarked for Pittsburgh in the Guentzel trade, Carolina hedged its bets. Because of it, new GM Eric Tulsky will have more ammunition in what gures to be a consequential weekend for the franchise.

The Hurricanes’ rst-round pick, which will be 27th overall, was part of the deal for Guentzel. But because Carolina didn’t advance to the Stanley Cupnal, the pick instead became a second-round selection — originally Philadelphia’s that was acquired in the trade that sent Tony DeAngelo to the Flyers in July 2022. Carolina also retained the conditional fthround pick that would have been sent to the Penguins had the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.

That leaves Tulsky and the

Igor Chernyshov, LW

6’3, 204 pounds • Dynamo (KHL)

Hurricanes with all seven of their picks, along with a pair of sixth-round selections acquired in trades with Ottawa (Jamieson Rees dealt to the Senators) and Toronto (salary retention as a third party in the Maple Leafs acquisition of Ilya Lyubushkin from Anaheim).

The biggest asset Carolina has, however, is restricted free agent Martin Necas. Necas, the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft, has averaged 26 goals and 62 points the last two seasons. But with Necas’ desire to move into a bigger role somewhere other than Raleigh, Tulsky and the Hurricanes’ front o ce are shopping the 25-year- old this o season.

And there’s no better place to get a deal done than at the draft. While Necas holds

After years of not drafting Russian players, the Hurricanes have picked nine in the past two seasons. Chernyshov already has NHL size and plays a north-south style that would t Carolina.

NSJ Rank: 24th

What they’re saying

Scott Wheeler, The Athletic: “He plays a straight-line game and has the individual skill and a quick release to go at defenders.”

Dobber Hockey: “Dominates the small-area game, and could develop into a top-six piece either at center or wing.”

Corey Pronman, The Athletic: “He’s a big, powerful winger who skates well and has a lot of o ensive creativity ... (who) sees the ice well and can create at the net.”

some leverage with arbitration rights, Carolina has plenty of suitors who would love to add the Czech winger’s combination of speed and skill to their roster.

“The goal is to nd ways to keep getting better,” Tulsky said at his introductory press conference. “And the good news for us is we are well-positioned to keep taking steps.”

So while Darren Yorke, the Hurricanes’ assistant GM, runs the draft from the team’s table at The Sphere on Friday and Saturday, Tulsky will be talking to his peers about Necas and all the other ways he can shape a roster with several holes.

As Tulsky said, “it’s a challenge” — and the rst test for a franchise looking to take the next step under new leadership.

NSJ’s 2024 NHL Draft Top 100 Prospects

1. Macklin Celebrini, C 2. Artyom Levshunov, D

3. Zeev Buium, D

4. Anton Silayev

5. Cayden Lindstrom, C

6. Ivan Demidov, RW

7. Zayne Parekh, D

8. Berkly Catton, C

9. Sam Dickison, D

10. Tij Iginla, C

11. Carter Yakemchuk, D

12. Beckett Sennecke, RW

13. Konsta Helenius, C 14. Cole Eiserman, LW

15. Trevor Connelly, LW

16. Michael Hage, C

17. Adam Jiricek, D

18. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW

19. Liam Greentree, RW

20. Sacha Boisvert, C

21. Jett Luchanko, C

22. Terik Parascak, RW

23. Cole Beaudoin, C

24. Igor Chernyshov, LW

25. Julius Miettinen, C

26. Ryder Ritchie, RW

27. Charlie Elick, D

28. Dean Letourneau, C

29. Matvei Gridin, RW

30. Leo Sahlin Wallenius, D

31. Emil Hemming, RW

32. Marek Vanacker, LW

33. EJ Emery, D

34. Adam Jecho, C

35. Sam O’Reilly, RW

36. Adam Kleber, D

37. Henry Mews, D

38. Linus Eriksson, C

39. Andrew Basha, LW

40. Maxim Masse, RW

41. John Mustard, C

42. Ben Danford, D

43. Stian Solberg, D

44. Aron Kiviharju, D

45. Dominik Badinka, D

46. Teddy Stiga, C

Eemil Veeni, G

6’3, 187 pounds • Kiekko-Pojat (Mestis)

The Hurricanes have drafted at least one goalie in nine of the past 10 years, so odds are they will pick one this weekend. Veeni has size and athleticism, but there are concerns about his maturity.

NSJ Rank: 76th

What they’re saying

Corey Pronman, The Athletic: “He has an NHL toolkit and could be a backup goalie ... whether he could be a long-term player, he’s too inconsistent at this point to say.”

The Hockey News: “Vinni has been on the radar in Finland for a while, and the past couple years have been up and down.”

Dobber Hockey: “A smooth skating, aggressive netminder that is prone to letting the leaky one through.” DRAFT

Aatos Koivu, C

6’, 170 pounds • Assat (Liiga)

The son of former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, the younger Koivu has the work ethic of his father along with a top-level shot. Carolina could also use more right-handed centers.

NSJ Rank: 94th

What they’re saying

The Hockey News: “Awesome one-timer is a weapon on the power play, and he plays a solid 200-foot game.”

Corey Pronman, The Athletic: “Koivu is a strong skater with a stride that will be able to move at an NHL pace. He has good hands, and uses his skill to attack at the net.”

Elite Prospects: “In addition to having the right habits away from the puck, Koivu has legitimate skill as a shooter.”

47. Nikita Artamonov, LW

48. Jesse Pulkkinen, D

49. Tanner Howe, LW

50. Cole Hutson, D

51. Harrison Brunicke, D

52. Lucas Pettersson, C

53. Luca Marrelli, D

54. Kamil Bednarik, C

55. Alfons Freij, D

56. Leon Muggli, D

57. Yegor Surin, C

58. Will Skahan, D

59. Spencer Gill, D

60. Lukas Fischer, D

61. Carter George, G

62. Max Plante, LW

63. Brodie Ziemer, RW

64. Colton Roberts, D

65. Justin Poirier, RW

66. Veeti Vaisanen, D

67. William Zellers, LW

68. Tomas Galvas, D

69. Eriks Mateiko, LW

70. Carson Wetsch, RW

71. Raoul Boilard, C

72. Colin Ralph, D

73. Simon Zether, C

74. Tomas Lavoie, D

75. Ollie Josephson, C

76. Eemil Veeni, G

77. Hagen Burrows, RW

78. Jack Berglund, C

79. Ondrej Kos, LW

80. Alexander Zetterberg, C

81. Luke Misa, C

82. Matvei Shuravin, D

83. Jacob Battaglia, RW

84. Mikhail Yegorov, G

85. Javon Moore, LW

86. Melvin Fernstrom, RW

87. Kasper Pikkarainen, RW

88. Noel Fransen, D

89. Tarin Smith, D

90. Miguel Marques, RW

91. Christian Humphreys, C

92. Mac Swanson, C

93. Ethan Procyszyn, C

94. Aatos Koivu, C

95. Timur Kol, D

96. Owen Allard, C

97. Clarke Caswell, LW

98. Sebastian Soini, D

99. Daniil Ustinkov, D

100. Pavel Moysevich, G

CORY LAVALETTE / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Eric Tulsky, the newly named Hurricanes general manager, could accomplish more than picking players at this weekend’s NHL Draft in Las Vegas.

MLB’s salute to Negro Leagues highlights issue with stat integration

You can’t lock someone out, then say most of what they did on the outside doesn’t count because “look who you played.” They played the only people they were allowed to.

WILLIE MAYS died last week, just before MLB was about to honor him at the special game saluting the Negro Leagues at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field. The day after Juneteenth, baseball brought together a large group of surviving Negro League players, as well as legendary African-American MLB stars such as Barry Bonds, Ken Gri ey Jr. and Reggie Jackson, in Mays’ hometown.

It was a time to look back at the contributions made by men who, for decades, weren’t welcome on MLB elds, and Mays’ death helped add to the feeling of loss.

Countless salutes to Mays have been written and recorded in the last week, and anyone who saw him would swear that his numbers, impressive as they are, don’t do him justice. He made 24 All-Star Games, had more than 3,200 hits and hit 660 home runs, which was third-most all time when he retired and is still No. 6.

In fact, I realized, he now has more than 660 home runs. Mays started playing in the Negro Leagues at age 17, had a walk-o hit in the playo s as a teenager, and logged three seasons with the Birmingham Black Barons before moving on to integrated baseball. MLB’s well-publicized decision last month to include Negro League statistics as part of the o cial record means those seasons now “count.”

I headed to the record book to see what Mays’ new career total was.

It’s 660 home runs.

According to the newly integrated record book, from 1948 to 1950, Mays played a total of 13 Negro League games that are considered Major League quality. Hank Aaron, who spent part of a season with the Negro League’s Indianapolis Clowns before moving on to MLB, also didn’t see his home run total change even though he reportedly hit at least ve and as many as eight

Local golfer competes for PGA Tour exemption

Duke grad Quinn Riley is seeking his fourth PGA Tour start

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

RALEIGH — Now two years into his professional career, Duke graduate and Raleigh-based golfer Quinn Riley is on the hunt to land his fourth PGA Tour start.

The 24-year-old competed at the Detroit Golf Club this past weekend in the John Shippen Men’s Invitational, a 36-hole stroke play event with a 14-player eld of top pro and amateur black golfers.

“The John Shippen Men’s Invitational provides a platform to showcase some of the best professional and amateur men’s lack golfers in the game, and we’re thrilled to grant the winner an exemption to the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic next month,” Jason Langwell, executive director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, said in a release. “This event not only celebrates golf’s storied legacy, but also champions a future where diversity and excellence thrive on the course.”

homers with the Clowns during his time there. None of his games count.

That’s because these seasons occurred after Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 1947. This led to the collapse of the Negro Leagues as the talent left for integrated baseball.

So even though Mays and Aaron played in the Negro Leagues, their leagues, teams and level of competition are not considered major league quality. So their stats still don’t count. This, despite the fact that a grand total of 11 black players set foot on MLB diamonds before the year 1950.

Now, if you took the top 11 players away from MLB today, it might lower the level of play somewhat, but it’s doubtful that it would be enough to stop considering it a major league. And, consider the fact that, despite the attrition of top players, the Negro Leagues still featured Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, as well as Ernie Banks, who spent two seasons with the Kansas City Monarchs. And, you guessed it, none of his stats count either.

Baseball hasn’t just turned a side-eye to postJackie Robinson Negro Leaguers, either. Josh Gibson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972. Often called the “Black Babe Ruth,” Gibson’s Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown says he hit “nearly 800 home runs.” Legend has it he once hit 84 in a season. Surely he should be at the top of the single-season and career home run lists.

Baseball Reference gives him credit for 166 home runs, never more than 20 in a season. That means that, in the o cial eyes of Major League Baseball, he’s more like the Black Joe Rudi.

Satchel Paige’s Hall of Fame plaque said he “won hundreds of games” in his career, which lasted from 1926 to 1965. O cially, he won 124 games that “count.” Cool Papa Bell, who, legend

PGA Tour events: the 2022 John Deere Classic, 2022 Shriners Children’s Open and 2023 Wells Fargo Championship.

Ahead of the Shippen tournament, Riley spoke to NSJ about how an early appreciation for Tiger Woods inspired him to pursue golf at a young age.

“I honestly got obsessed with it, just watching Tiger win. I started when I was like 5,” Riley said. “He was going on a run, just winning everything — winning four, ve, six times a year — and it became a pretty big deal, even if you weren’t a golfer. So that’s how I got really obsessed with golf as I was trying to be like him.”

By his high school days, Riley had become a three-time all-state rst-team selection at Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh.

He came into his own with the Blue Devils during his 2021-22 senior season when he had the third-best scoring average on the team and competed in 11 tournaments across the campaign. Additionally, he led Duke in his rst career ACC Championship with three consecutive rounds under par to place tied for 16th at 4 under.

has it, once stole 175 bases in a 200-game calendar year, had 285 steals over a 21-year career.

The problem with these career Negro Leaguers is the Negro League seasons, the only part of the schedule that MLB recognizes, were extremely short, often 40 to 70 games. The bulk of the Negro Leaguers’ games were in barnstorming trips. They traveled the country, playing each other, top local teams or all-star squads of major leaguers. And these games are considered exhibitions and ignored in the o cial record. Now, to be fair, white major league stars also went on barnstorming trips. The Bustin’ Babes (Ruth) and Larrupin’ Lous (Gehrig) traveled the country in the o season during the 1920s. No one is arguing that their barnstorming numbers should be a part of the o cial record.

That’s because they have an o cial record. They weren’t excluded from the games that “count.” They could a ord to play exhibitions. The Negro League players weren’t cashing in after a hard-fought season where they earned a living — they were attempting to earn a living because they were left out of the o cial games.

The result is lumping the MLB apples and Negro League oranges together, attempting to compare seasons of vastly di erent lengths. It undercuts and minimizes the accomplishments of Gibson, Paige, Mays, Banks and Aaron.

You can’t lock someone out then say most of what they did on the outside doesn’t count because “look who you played.” They played the only people they were allowed to. You’re the reason that their competition was at the level it was.

If we truly want to consider Negro Leaguers as a part of major baseball, then include it all — the post-Jackie seasons and the barnstorming tours. It’s where they played because there was nowhere else for them. It counted then, and it should count now.

ended up just working out. So I couldn’t ask for better timing, but it just happens to work that way a lot.”

Fresh out of Duke, Riley initially earned status on the APGA Tour — a developmental tour for black and other minority golfers — halfway through 2022 after nishing atop the Bridgestone APGA Collegiate Ranking.

Riley said he soon realized the world of mini tour golf in the APGA was more of a “smallscale business” model than he had realized at rst, especially compared to the PGA Tour environment where donors and sponsorships reign supreme.

As of late, his golf journey has taken him to new locations and courses he hasn’t seen or played at before, including a six-event stint in the 2024 PGA Tour Americas campaign.

“That was a really cool experience, getting to play some pretty tough competition, travel all throughout South America and Mexico, and kind of see where my game was at.”

size and defensive capabilities since he’s just 6-foot-1 and 176 pounds, but the o ensive upside that Dillingham showed has him as a potential lottery pick.

Jared McCain, Duke Borderline lottery/ mid rst-round pick

Another year, another Blue Devils one-and-done projected to go high in the draft.

The freshman guard averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and just 1.3 turnovers per game while shooting 46.2% from the eld and 41.4% from 3-point range. If there’s one thing that makes McCain special, it’s his ability to take over games.

McCain had multiple games where he looked unstoppable, making every shot no matter how tough. The freshman, however, also had multiple games where his shots just wouldn’t fall.

Leveling out those valleys will be one of his big areas to work on, but the potential upside with the California native remains high.

Although Riley fell short of the prize, it marked the third Shippen appearance for the 2023 Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour Rookie of the Year and 2024 PGA Americas member.

After graduating from Duke, he has since played in three

On Sunday afternoon, Shippen winner Willie Mack III came away with $13,200 and a sponsorship exemption into this weekend’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at the same location.

OLYMPICS from page B1

adds another signi cant milestone to her already decorated career. The graduate student out of Missoula, Montana, is a ve-time NCAA champion, winning the 2024 100 backstroke most recently, and she holds 30 All-America honors. Berko also holds or is part of NC State’s program records for the 50 and 100 freestyles, 100 backstroke, 200 and 400 medley relays, and 400 and 800 freestyle relays.

Berko wasn’t the only Wolfpack swimmer to do well at the Olympic Trials. In the same women’s 100 backstrokenal, NC State’s Kennedy Noble, Rhyan White and incoming freshman Leah Shackley nished third, fth and seventh, respectively. Raleigh native Claire Curzan, who is a silver medalist from the 2020

Summer Olympics and swims at Virginia, nished eighth in the race as well.

NC State’s Daniel Diehl and Hunter Tapp performed well in the men’s 200 backstroke event, nishing sixth and eighth, respectively, in the nals. Two more NC State swimmers, Ross Dant and Will Gallant, came in fth and seventh place, respectively, in the men’s 800 freestyle nal.

Kyle Ponsler, another NC State swimmer, nished sixth in the men’s 400 individual medley nal, clocking in at 4:16.53. Duke also had some athletes perform well in the swimming trials, with Kaelyn Gridley nishing fth in the women’s 100 breaststroke nal with a time of 1:07.38. Gridley also came in fth place in the 200 breaststroke nal with a time of 2:27.44.

Knowing that golf was something he wanted to continue to pursue after college, he sensed his nal season in Durham would be important in determining his own con dence in playing professionally.

“It was kind of an exit plan, like it’s now or never,” Riley said. “You had momentum heading into the senior year and now it was time to get it done. I waited until the very last year of my college golf career to start playing up to the standard of where I wanted to be, and things that

Duke’s Margo O’Meara made it to the women’s 3-meter springboard nal in the diving trials and nished 11th with a score of 507.

Jordan Willis, a rising senior at Marvin Ridge High School and the son of state Rep. David Willis (R-Union), also competed in the swimming trials, nishing fourth in his heat and 41st overall in the men’s 100 breaststroke preliminary race. Willis, 17, was one of eight junior swimmers to compete in the event. He was part of Marvin Ridge’s boys’ 200 medley relay team that won two straight state titles in 2023 and 2024. Prior to last week’s trials, some other local athletes already punched their tickets to Paris, but for other countries. Patrick Hussey, a swimmer at UNC, will represent Canada in the Olympics in the men’s 200 freestyle. This will be his

Referencing the swing mechanics of PGA Tour superstars like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Sche er, Riley said he’s been working on his golf swing, hoping to adjust his placement to be able to hit the ball higher.

“I’ve been putting in the time the last year and a half to increase the peak height and the angle of descent on the golf ball because I just think it’s that important,” he added. “My natural tendency is to really rotate hard and deloft the club, but to hit it high, you can’t deloft the club. You’re having to change the way that you apply force on the grip — it keeps me up at night.”

The next APGA event is set for July 7-9 in Cincinnati.

rst appearance in the Olympic Games, and he is UNC’s rst swimming Olympian since 2004.

North Carolina’s Aranza Vazquez will make her second Olympic appearance and represent Mexico in the women’s springboard events. In the 2020 Olympics, Vazquez became the rst female Olympic diver in UNC history and nished sixth in the women’s 3-meter springboard competition.

Incoming UNC swimmers Adam Maraana and Martin Kartavi also quali ed for the Olympics earlier this month and will represent Israel. Maraana will be the rst Arab-Israeli swimmer to represent the country as well as the rst Arab-Israeli Olympian to represent Israel since 1976. Maraana signed to the Tar Heels in November while Kartavi signed in February.

Kyle Filipowski, Duke Late rst-round/ second-round pick

There are a lot of things to like about a player like Filipowski who stands at nearly 7-feet tall with a full package of shooting, passing and ball skills.

The Blue Devils sophomore is a unique and versatile forward, and his o ensive upside makes him a more-than-likely rst-rounder.

Filipowski averaged 16.4 points while shooting 50.5% and also had 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. There are questions on where he might fall in the draft due to concerns over his compete level and ability to make the transition to a more physical league.

Harrison Ingram, UNC Second-round pick

It was a huge season for Ingram at Chapel Hill as he proved just how valuable of a support player he can be. The 6-foot-5 forward was a rebounding machine, averaging 8.8 boards per game with 2.6 of them being o the o ensive glass.

Ingram also showed huge growth as a defender with 1.4 steals per game to just 1.4 turnovers.

While he did improve almost all his numbers this year, his relatively spotty shooting numbers and weak free-throw percentage (61.2%) leave a bit to be desired. He could, however, be a good role player for the right team.

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP PHOTO

Quinn Riley reacts after a shot during the second round of the 2022 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

DRAFT

North Carolina Folk Festival turns 10

The 2024 event promises a spectrum of genres

By Dan Reeves North State Journal

THE NORTH CAROLINA Folk Festival is pulling out all the stops for its 10th anniversary celebration on Sept. 6-8. More than 45 bands will light up Greensboro for three days with a veritable heat map of spectacular artists performing on ve stages. And the best part? It’s all free.

Funk & Wagnalls dictionary de nes folk as “relating to the traditional art or culture of a community or nation.”

As a genre, folk music is often painted with a narrow brush, suggesting an old-time, acoustic, Peter Paul and Mary-like vibe. But “folk” and “folk music” are about self-expression through art, using any instrument, voice, artistic vision or recipe, and a community’s relishing of that expression together. NC Folk Festival goes by that de nition in spades. This year’s event promises a spectrum of genres, from gospel and jazz to bluegrass and funk, with all types from hither and yon to boot.

Many of the state’s beloved bands and artists are naturally in the festival lineup — more

than half. MIPSO, formed by UNC Chapel Hill students, has gained a following across North Carolina, the U.S. and Europe with its distinct Americana-rock sound. The band will close out the festival on Sunday, Sept. 8.

On a seemingly meteoric rise, Asheville’s Holler Choir combines all the elements of traditional Appalachian music yet de es easy genre classi cation, evading the con nes of folk, Americana, country or even bluegrass. Other N.C. acts in-

clude Sam Fribush Trio, which is Greensboro’s jazz organist Fribush with jazz guitar master Charlie Hunter and drummer Calvin Napper; Tae Lewis, a North Carolina native and former contestant on NBC’s “The Voice;” and Rissi Palmer, the “Color Me Country” podcast host, Durham resident and a performer at the Grand Ole Opry.

“We are so excited to bring in some of the best bands in North Carolina,” said Folk Fest executive director Jodee Rup -

pel. “We’re going to have a stage dedicated to North Carolina.”

Texican Rock trio Los Lonely Boys, from San Angelo, Texas, who topped the charts in 2004 with their hit single, “Heaven,” will perform at the festival on Saturday, Sept. 7. The War and Treaty, a husband-wife duo, takes the stage on Friday, Sept. 6. The pair earned a Grammy nomination for New Artist of the Year and have graced the stage at The Grammys and the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremonies. Their

Taylor kicks o UK ‘Eras’ shows, fans concerned

The Swifties wonder if they are witnessing the beginning of an extended goodbye

By Lisa Le The Associated Press

LONDON — Taylor Swift fans enjoy parsing the singer-songwriter’s lyrics for references to her romantic life and insights into her state of mind.

But the pop superstar’s fans in the U.K. did not have to listen closely to her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” to get the sense that Swift had soured on the country’s capital city after long making it a regular hangout and then her second home. The record’s fth track is titled “So Long, London.”

As Swift brought her blockbuster Eras Tour to London’s Wembley Stadium last weekend, some Swifties wonder if they are witnessing the beginning of an extended goodbye.

London isn’t quite ready to see her go. The area around Wembley was transformed for the shows, with fans posing in front of a giant mural of the singer and traveling stairs christened “Swiftie Steps,” along with several other tributes.

Swift announced that 88,446 people attended last Friday’s show in what she called “the most exhilarating city in the world.” Among the famous attendees was Prince William, who celebrated his 42nd birthday at the show and posed for a photo with Swift along with two of his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Swift gave fans a wink and a nod toward her London life during one of her two solo acoustic surprise songs: a pi-

ano medley that opened with the London set “The Black Dog” and segued into “Come Back, Be Here” and then “Maroon.”

In addition to last weekend’s shows, Swift will return to Wembley for ve more in August to close the tour’s European leg. London is the only city on the tour where Swift is stopping twice. Some worry the arrangement may represent a swan song, while others think it reects a new era in Swift’s bond with the Big Smoke. Whether “So Long, London” is a -

nal chapter or a bookend to her Valentine to the city, the song “London Boy” by Eras is arriving as an emotional milestone.

Taylor Swift had a series of romances with famous British citizens, including Harry Styles in 2012. She started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last year. There is speculation surrounding her breakup with English actor Joe Alwyn, whom she was with for more than six years. Alwyn is thought to have inspired her “London Boy” song from her 2019 album “Lover.” There were reports of

Swift spending time with Alwyn in north London during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sun newspaper reported in December that the multiple Grammy winner had bought a large property in the area and was remodeling it to be her base in Europe. After Swift released “The Tortured Poets Department” last month, a writer for the British edition of Elle magazine observed that Londoners had an opening “for an all-American A-lister who can slot into her place in our collective consciousness.”

hit song “Hey Driver,” recorded with country star Zach Bryan, was a massive hit last year, and they were selected to open for the Rolling Stones in July.

Among the expanding roster of artists, NC Folk Fest is bringing Richmond’s Puerto Rican powerhouse ensemble Bio Ritmo and must-see newcomer Abby Hamilton from Kentucky. Hamilton’s vocal prowess and captivating band invoke Lucinda Williams and The Velvet Underground, not to mention performances from the Pyschodelics and Susto of Charleston, South Carolina, and Olive and Klug of Portland, Oregon.

“This lineup is incredible, and we are ecstatic that we can o er this amazing music to everyone for free,” said Ruppel. “This is the ultimate festival for all music lovers, and we are excited to showcase all that folk music and the city of Greensboro has to offer. Folk is about the community coming together around music, art and food. We aim to introduce festival goers to all variations of folk while we push the boundaries of what is folk.”

In concert with a growing list of Greensboro’s community of restaurants, breweries, shops and volunteers eager to usher in NC Folk Festival’s 10th anniversary, Ruppel hopes to spotlight the city through music, art and the true de nition of “folk.”

To learn more about the 2024 NC Folk Festival and view the full artist lineup, visit ncfolkfestival.com and sign up for their e-newsletter.

“We had Swift before we lost her to her record-breaking, box o ce-breaking Eras Tour, and now, it would appear that her vacant position has been lled by Zendaya,” writer Naomi May playfully posited before listing the various locations the American actor had been spotted with her longtime boyfriend, British actor Tom Holland.

Before the end of August, Swifties can partake in a full diet of Swift-themed brunches and dance parties or ride the London Eye Ferris wheel accompanied by a string quartet playing her music. Souvenir stalls in Camden Market, one of the places mentioned in “London Boy,” are stocked up on Swift-speci c caps, T-shirts, bags and stickers in preparation.

Amy Unsworth, 34, from a small town near Manchester, England, born a month before Swift, said Friday that the singer’s ties to the United Kingdom and vice versa extend beyond the capital.

“I feel like as a Northerner I have an a nity with her,” Unsworth said, noting that Swift wrote many of the songs on her “Evermore” album while in England’s Lake District with Alwyn.

“It’s hard to know how she feels right now, being back, given her history.”

Unsworth isn’t worried Swift will turn her back on the U.K. Swift said from the stage that her British fans “have been some of the most supportive people in my corner since I started making music.” Swift performed in London for the rst time at age 17, when she appeared at the student union of Kings College London.

“Just be patient. Taylor likes to revisit things that have nished and has a good reason to be in London,” Zachary Hourihane, co-host of a Swift

podcast, said.

COURTESY SAVANNAH THORNE / NC FOLK FEST

Asheville’s Holler Choir performs at The Flat Iron in Greensboro.

COURTESY SAVANNAH THORNE / NC FOLK FEST

Left, Abby Hamilton and her band perform at a North Carolina Folk Festival preview show. Right, Greensboro’s Molly McGinn is one of several local artists playing at this year’s festival.

Je Nichols, left, writer/ director of “The Bikeriders,” poses with cast members Austin Butler, center, and Jodie Comer. The motorcycle is a 1965 Harley Davidson Pan Head that Butler rode in the lm.

1960s rebel cool captured in ‘The Bikeriders’

Writer and director

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

JEFF NICHOLS dreamed of making a lm about a 1960s motorcycle club for more than 20 years. The obsession started when he rst read Danny Lyon’s book “The Bikeriders,” a New Journalism-style account of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club in the mid-1960s. He saw it as a story about rebels, romantics, frauds and the end of an era.

But he didn’t realize just how terrifying it would be to lm the motorcycles in motion.

The bikes were vintage. The actors, including Austin Butler and

Tom Hardy, would ride at high speeds without wearing helmets.

At some point, one of his stunt coordinators just said, “There is no way to make this 100% safe.”

“The Bikeriders” (which raced into theaters nationwide last Friday ) is a rare summer gem: An original lm with stars (including Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus and Mike Faist), cool cred, pathos and a clear-eyed wistfulness for a brief moment and a type of guy.

“This is a lm that is really about nostalgia,” Nichols said. There is a sadness that comes along with that. But there’s also a joy in remembering it.”

Nichols has always had great luck with casting and getting movie stars in his lms right as they’re about to break big (like Jessica Chastain in “Take Shelter”).

For “The Bikeriders,” it was Butler. “Elvis “ had yet to come

Donald Sutherland dead at 88

His wry, arrestingly o -kilter screen presence spanned over half a century of lms from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games”

By Jake Coyle

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Donald Sutherland, the Canadian actor whose wry, arrestingly o -kilter screen presence spanned over half a century of lms, from “M.A.S.H.” to “Ordinary People” to “The Hunger Games,” has passed away. He was 88.

The tall and gaunt Sutherland, who ashed a grin that could be sweet or diabolical, was known for o beat characters like Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H.,” the hippie tank commander in “Kelly’s Heroes” and the stoned professor in “Animal House.”

“Donald was a giant, not only physically but as a talent,” Sutherland’s “M.A.S.H.” co-star Elliott Gould said in a statement to The Associated Press as many friends and colleagues paid tribute. “He was also enormously kind and generous.” Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, anti-establishment cinema of the 1970s. He never stopped working, appearing in nearly 200 lms and series. Over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down — but still eccentric — roles in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” and Oliver Stone’s “JFK.” More recently, he starred in the “Hunger Games” lms.

His breakthrough was “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), where he

played Vernon Pinkley, the ocer-impersonating psychopath.

1970 saw the release of the World War II yarns “Kelly’s Heroes” and “M.A.S.H.,” a smash hit that catapulted Sutherland to stardom.

“There is more challenge in character roles,” Sutherland told The Washington Post in 1970. “There’s longevity. A good character actor can show a di erent face in every lm and not bore the public.”

His career as a leading man peaked in the 1970s when he starred in lms by the era’s top directors — even if they did not always do their best work with him. Sutherland, who frequently said he considered himself at the service of a director’s vision, worked with Federico Fellini (1976’s “Fellini’s Casanova”), Bernardo Bertolucci (1976’s “1900”), Claude Chabrol (1978’s “Blood Relatives”) and John Schlesinger (1975’s “The Day of the Locust”).

One of his nest performances came as a detective in Alan Pakula’s “Klute” (1971). During lming, he met Jane Fonda, with whom he had a three-year relationship that began at the end of his second marriage to actor Shirley Douglas. He and Douglas divorced in 1971 after having twins Rachel and Kiefer, named after Warren Kiefer, the writer of Sutherland’s rst lm, “Castle of the Living Dead.” Nicolas Roeg’s psychological horror lm “Don’t Look Now” (1973) was another high point. Sutherland starred with Julie Christie as a grieving couple who move to Venice after their daughter’s death. The lm included a famous, explicit sex scene artfully edited.

“Nic and I thought that maybe I would die in the process of it, so much were we committed,” Sutherland once said. His admi-

out, but when he met him, he was certain: This is a movie star.

“I read a lot of scripts, and this one just felt di erent,” Butler said. “It felt full of humanity and these cinematic moments. … I felt like I was being invited into this other world. And he was one of the coolest characters I’ve ever read.”

Butler’s Benny is also the most enigmatic of the bunch: a guy whose face is never shown in Lyon’s book and who is never interviewed — just talked about.

“I love how Je talks about him as this empty cup everybody wants to ll with their expectations and responsibilities. He doesn’t want any of that,” Butler said. “That’s when he wants to cut loose and be free.”

Nichols wanted Benny bottled up until the end and remembered telling his star to “pull it back” a few times.

One of Nichols’ most signicant breakthroughs was realizing

that the narrator should be Kathy, who falls for Benny at rst sight and gets wrapped up in the club.

“She just pops o the page,” Nichols said. “She’s witty, she’s introspective, she’s self-deprecating, she’s infuriating at times. She is a real person.”

Comer saw in her a fascinating character, an “ordinary” but still extraordinary person who reminded her of women she knew growing up in Liverpool. She worked tirelessly to nail Kathy’s very speci c working-class Chicago accent.

But on another level, she was just a better voice for what he wanted to say.

“The ultimate truth, and a subtext of the lm, is that men are really bad at sharing their emotions,” he said. “Observing this group in the hands of a male narrator, I think, would be boring.”

Nichols mostly wanted to capture this time and culture and

evoke the feeling he got when he opened “The Bikeriders” many years ago. Nichols chose to make the lm in color instead of mimicking Lyon’s famous use of black-andwhite photography.

“They’re beautiful, but they are romanticized,” Nichols said. “I think they become less a ected when you put them in color. They become more realistic.”

Like Butler, Hardy came into the lm with some motorcycle know-how. But neither would describe it as a leg up — antique bikes are a di erent beast.

“It just happens to be a convenience because I can ride as opposed to lying about skiing,” Hardy said. Still, once they got it down, it could be rather exciting.

“It was exhilarating riding in a giant group,” Butler said. “You feel the energy of every motorcycle coming together.”

ration for the lm and Roeg was such that he and his next wife, actress Francine Racette, named their rst-born child Roeg. Sutherland married Racette in 1972 and remained with her. She survives him. They had two other children: Rossif, named after the director Frederic Rossif, and Angus Redford, named after Redford.

Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” (1980), starring Mary Tyler Moore, also dealt with losing a child. His directorial debut, starring Sutherland as the father of a family destroyed by tragedy, won four Oscars, including best picture. Sutherland was never nom-

inated for an Academy Award but received an honorary Oscar in 2017. He won an Emmy Award 1995 for “Citizen X,” and two Golden Globes — for “Citizen X” and the 2003 TV lm “Path to War.”

Sutherland’s New York stage debut in 1981, though, went terribly. He played Humbert Humbert in Edward Albee’s adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita,” and the reviews were merciless; it closed after a dozen performances. A down period in the ’80s followed, with failures like the 1981 satire “Gas” and the 1984 comedy “Crackers.” Sutherland was most familiar to a younger generation as

President Snow in “The Hunger Games” franchise beginning with the 2012 original. Sutherland sought out the part.

“The role of the president had maybe a line in the script. Maybe two. Didn’t make any di erence,” Sutherland told GQ. “I thought it was an incredibly important lm, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

In his nal years, the nonstop actor mused about actually dying onscreen, for real.

“I’m really hoping that in some movie I’m doing, I die — but I die, me, Donald — and they’re able to use my funeral and the co n,” Sutherland told the AP. “That would be ideal. I would love that.”

Je Nichols wanted to make the motorcycle lm for two decades

CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO

Donald Sutherland, pictured at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2017, died last week at 88.

CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP PHOTO

‘Inside Out 2’ scores $100M in record-setting second weekend

The extent of the Pixar lm’s success took Hollywood by surprise

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

NEW YORK —According to studio estimates on Sunday, the Pixar sequel “Inside Out 2” collected $100 million in ticket sales in its second weekend, setting a new record for an animated movie in its follow-up frame in theaters. The previous best second weekend for an animated title was the $92 million for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” Only six movies have ever had better second weekends.

In just a week and a half, “Inside Out 2” has become this year’s highest-grossing lm, raking in $724.4 million globally, including $355.2 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. That passes the $711.8 million worldwide total of “Dune: Part Two.” “Inside Out 2” is on course to blow through the $1 billion mark in about a week, making it the rst lm since “Barbie” to do so.

The extent of the “Inside Out 2” success took Hollywood entirely by surprise — it had grown accustomed to much lower expectations as the lm industry watched ticket sales this year slump about 40% below pre-pandemic totals, according to data rm Comscore before “Inside Out 2” came along.

The record haul for “Inside Out 2,” though, recalled past years when $1 billion grosses were more commonplace for the Walt Disney Co. It is also a much-needed blockbuster release for Pixar, which, after experimenting with direct-to-streaming releases, reconsidered its movie pipeline and approach to mass-audience appeal.

Now, “Inside Out 2,” which dipped a mere 35% from its $154 million domestic debut, is poised to challenge “The Incredibles 2” ($1.2 billion) for the alltime top-grossing Pixar release. It could also steer the venerated animation factory toward more sequels in the future. Among its upcoming lms is “Toy Story 5,” due out in 2026.

For theater and multipleplex

TAKE NOTICE

This weekend, the sci- horror prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1” will hope some of the “Inside Out 2” success rubs o on them.

cinema owners, “Inside Out 2” could hardly have been more needed. But it also reminded exhibitors of how feast-or-famine the movie business has become in recent years. Since the pandemic, movies like “Barbie,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Top Gun: Maverick” have pushed ticket sales to record heights, but fallow periods in between box-o ce sensations have grown longer. Dismal ticket sales over Memorial Day last month were the worst in three decades. Some of 2024’s downturn can be attributed to release-schedule juggling caused by last year’s

writers and actors strikes. The most signi cant new release over the weekend was Je Nichols’ motorcycle gang drama “The Bikeriders,” originally slated to open in 2023 before the actors’ strike prompted its postponement.

“The Bikeriders,” starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, came in on the high side of expectations with $10 million from 2,642 venues in its opening weekend. “The Bikeriders,” which cost about $35 million to produce, was originally to be released by Disney before New Regency took it to Focus Features last fall.

late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, Firms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 26th day of September, 2024 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This 27th day of June, 2024 Alicia Kidd Administrator/Executor 524 Donovan Street Fayetteville, NC 28301 Of the Estate of Irene M Cruz, Deceased

EXECUTOR NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE 24-E-512 State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of Raquel H. Dubreuil, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 1710 Belvue Drive, Forest Hill, Maryland 21050, on or before September 20, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This the 20th day of June, 2024. Jacinto Arnold Lord Executor of the Estate of Raquel H. Dubreuil, Deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC J. Duane Gilliam, Jr., Attorney PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305 06/20/2024, 06/27/2024, 07/04/2024 and 07/11/2024

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Ethel Evans, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before September 13, 2024, (which is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 13th day of June 2024 Shelly McNeil Administrator of the Estate 65 Marsh Creek Dr Garner, NC 27529

The vital business for “Inside Out 2” appeared to raise ticket sales generally. Sony Pictures’ “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” held well in its third week of release, collecting $18.8 million. It remained in second place. The “Bad Boys” sequel, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, has grossed $146.9 million domestically thus far. Next week, the sci- horror prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” will hope some of the “Inside Out 2” success rubs o on them.

Estimated ticket sales for Fri-

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF JOSEPH LEE PAGE

Cumberland County Estate File No. 24 E 914 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Joseph Lee Page, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Elijah Garrett, Executor, at 3102 Harrison Hollow Ln, Herndon, VA 20171, on or before the 28th day of September, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Executor named above.

This the 20th day of June, 2024. Elijah Garrett Executor of the Estate of Joseph Lee Page Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: June 27, July 4, July 11 and July 18, 2024

EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COU RT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE 22E743 State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of James Robert Strickland, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 1370 Live Oak Methodist Church Road, White Oak, North Carolina 28399, on or before September 20, 2024,

day through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

1. “Inside Out 2,” $100 million.

2. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $18.8 million.

3. “The Bikeriders,” $10 million.

4. “The Gar eld Movie, $3.6 million.

5. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $3.6 million.

6. “If,” $2.8 million.

7. “The Exorcism,” $2.4 million.

8. “Thelma,” $2.2 million.

9. “The Watchers,” $1.9 million.

10. “Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now,” $1.5 million.

Right, “Inside Out 2” has become the biggest hit of the summer so far. Left, Kevin Costner poses backstage before discussing the lm series “Horizon: An American Saga” at The 92nd Street Y on Monday.

EVAN AGOSTINI / AP PHOTO

CUMBERLAND WAKE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the ESTATE OF JENNIFER ELIZABETH VAHAMIKOS (aka Jennifer Vahamikos Guerra) (Estate File 24-E-568), Deceased, late of New Hanover County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the Estate to exhibit them to the Administrator, Helen D. Vahamikos, at 6733 Windyrush Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28226, on or before the 27th day of September, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the Estate will please make immediate payment to the above-named Administrator. This the 27th day of June, 2024. HELEN D. VAHAMIKOS, ADMINISTRATOR OF ESTATE OF JENNIFER ELIZABETH VAHAMIKOS

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Chad David Fountain, having quali ed on the 6th day of May 2024, as Executor of the Estate of Lynn David Fountain (2024-E-712), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 16th day of September, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address. This 13th day of June 2024. Chad David Fountain Executor ESTATE OF LYNN DAVID FOUNTAIN David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411

Publish: June 13, 2024 June 20, 2024 June 27, 2024 July 4, 2024

C. KRUSE c/o ROBERT H. HOCHULI, JR. 219 RACINE DR., SUITE #A6 Wilmington, NC 28405

NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Justin Todd Anderson, having quali ed on the 3rd day of May 2024, as Administrator of the Estate of William Thomas Anderson, Jr. (2024-E706), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 16th day of September, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address. This 13th day of June 2024. Justin Todd Anderson Administrator

ESTATE OF WILLIAM THOMAS ANDERSON, JR.

David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Kevin Lawrence Newcomb

Date of Birth May 16, 1968

To All Creditors: Capital One, P.O. Box 71087, Charlotte, North Carolina 28272

Pen Fed Credit Union, Box 1432, Alexandria, Virginia 22313

Notice To Creditors: The decedent, Kevin Lawrence Newcomb, who lived at 3015 Hayden Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina 28411 died November 14, 2023.

Creditors of the decedent are noti ed that all claims against the estate will be forever barred unless presented to Matthew Christian Newcomb, named personal representative or proposed personal representative, at 17358 CR -70, Andalusia, Alabama 36412, 4435547762 or to both the probate court and the named/proposed personal representative within 90 days after the date of publication of this notice.

Matthew Christian Newcomb, Personal Representative for the Estate 17358 CR -70 Andalusia, Alabama 36412 4435547762

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY

NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Justin Alan Thomas Donoghue, having quali ed on the 3rd day of May 2024, as Executor of the Estate of Sandra M. Sidwell (2024-E-701), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 23rd day of September, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address. This 20th day of June 2024. Justin Alan Thomas Donoghue Executor ESTATE OF SANDRA M. SIDWELL

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS THE UNDERSIGNED, Rigel Joseph Kishton, having quali ed on the 7th day of May 2024, as Personal

Representative of the Estate of Margaret C. Kishton (2024-E-718), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 23rd day of September, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address. This 20th day of June 2024. Rigel Joseph Kishton Personal Representative ESTATE OF MARGARET C. KISHTON David Anderson Attorney at Law 9111 Market St, Ste A Wilmington, NC 28411

Publish: June 20, 2024 June 27, 2024 July 4, 2024 July 11, 2024

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CABARRUS COUNTY 21SP000151-120 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY RYAN SMITHSON AND STACIE

SMITHSON DATED DECEMBER 20, 2007 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 7975 AT PAGE 95 IN THE CABARRUS COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the abovereferenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual

will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Cabarrus County courthouse at 11:00AM on July 3, 2024, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Lori Ann Negron and Michael C. Negron, dated May 4, 2005 to secure the original principal amount of $131,036.00, and recorded in Book 5947 at Page 157 of the Cabarrus County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 9615 Bellamy Pl NW, Concord, NC 28027 Tax Parcel ID: 46811754100000; real ID 03-016A-

place of sale at the Cabarrus County courthouse at 11:00AM on July 11, 2024, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Ryan Smithson and Stacie Smithson, dated December 20, 2007 to secure the original principal amount of $127,500.00, and recorded in Book 7975 at Page 95 of the Cabarrus County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 82 Paddington Drive SW, Concord, NC 28025 Tax Parcel ID: 55395873080000 Present Record Owners:

0492.00 Present Record Owners: Lori Ann Negron The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Lori Ann Negron. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property o ered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is subject to all prior liens and encumbrances and unpaid taxes and assessments including any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE

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

A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any resale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only

NEW HANOVER

RANDOLPH

to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the

in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Deshanna Blakeney to Jackie Biggs, Trustee(s), which was dated November 5, 2019 and recorded on November 5, 2019 in Book 7508 at Page 718, Union County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note

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

Said property is commonly known as 900 TJ Dr, Monroe, NC 28112.

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

Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on July 9, 2024 at 12:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Union County, North Carolina, to wit: Being all of Lot Number 14 of Southwinds Townhomes, as shown on those plats recorded in Plat Cabinet J at File Numbers 383, 384, and 385, Union County Register of Deeds, to which plats reference is hereby made for a more particular description.

23 SP 000715 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

NORTH CAROLINA, UNION COUNTY

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by J. C. Bivens a/k/a J. C. Bivens, Jr. to Laura Rosecrans, Trustee(s), which was dated September 21, 2012 and recorded on September 24, 2012 in Book 05830 at Page 0563, Union County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on July 2, 2024 at 12:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Union County, North Carolina, to wit:

BEGINNING at an iron stake on the western line of Hickory Lane and being located South 9 degrees 17 minutes West 185.0 feet from the point at which the western line of Hickory Lane intersects with the southern line of Springview Drive and forming the southwest intersection thereof, said beginning point also being a common corner with the southeast corner of Lot #6, Section One of Springview Estates as shown in Plat Book 7, Page 30, Union County Registry, and running thence with the western line of Hickory Lane, South 9 degrees 17 minutes West 140.0 feet to an iron stake; thence South 54 degrees 16 minutes West 245.46 feet to an iron stake, located on Lawrence McCue’s property line; thence with the two lines of McCue as follows: 1st, North 12 degrees 46 minutes West 75.0 feet to an iron stake, and 2nd, North 9 degrees 17 mintes East 190.0 feet to an iron stake, also a common corner with the Southwest corner of Lot #6, Plat Book 7, Page 30, Union County Registry; thence with the southern line of Lot #6, North 84 degrees 16 minutes East 208.80 feet to the point of BEGINNING and being the eastern portion of Lot #8 and a portion of the unnumbered property to the south of Lot #8, Section

the county courthouse for conducting the sale on July 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 23, Block C, as shown on the map or plat of ROBINWOOD SUBDIVISION, SECTION 1, which is duly recorded in Plat Book 1966, Page 90, Register of Deeds for Wake County, North Carolina, to which plat reference is hereby made for a more complete and accurate description thereof.

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

Said property is commonly known as 617 Ileagnes Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603.

A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater,

the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by James Curtis Lemon (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): James Curtis Lemon) to Pamela R. Williamson, Trustee(s), dated August 20, 2020, and recorded in Book No. 018029, at Page 01140 in Wake County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Wake County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the Wake County Courthouse door, the Salisbury Street entrance in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on July 8, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder

for cash the following real estate situated in Raleigh in the County of Wake, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Lying and being in the Town of Cary, Swift Creek Township, Wake County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows: All of Lot 40 in Pipers Crossing, as shown on the map recorded in Book of Maps 2018, Pages 391-395, Wake County Registry, to which map reference is hereby made for a more particular description. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 304 Fenella Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina.

SUBJECT TO that Rati cation and Correction of Recorded Map recorded in Book 17119, Page 1682, Wake County Registry.

Property Address: 304 Fenella Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606 PIN/PARCEL NUMBER: 0455405

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour

time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/ or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are DeShanna

One, Springview Estates, as shown on a plat recorded in Plat Book 7, Page 30, Union County Registry.

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

Said property is commonly known as 3610 Hickory Ln, Monroe, NC 28112.

A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property

will be required at the time of the sale.

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

THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Joan Kay

as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1). The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold

Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in

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

and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/ or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are JC BIVENS, JR.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental

If

mentioned plat. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 4004 Willow Oak Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.

A.P.N. # : 0013287

secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety

Antoine a/k/a Joan Hinton Antoine a/k/a Joan H Antoine. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 File No.: 24-07978-FC01

WAKE

JOHNSTON

Remembering the fallen

“The Wall That Heals,” a traveling 3/4-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., came to North Carolina last week. Above, Ken Watson, Martha Trogdon and Eddie Trogdon hold up a sign honoring fallen family member Ronald

Trogdon. Turn to page 2.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Briscoe tapped to replace retiring Truex at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing con rmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The annoucement came days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a press conference.

Briscoe is set to become the rst driver among the four at Stewart-Haas Racing to land a Cup ride for next season.

SHR announced last month it would close its organization at the end of this season. SHR this year elds Cup cars for Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Briscoe is 16th in the Cup points standings after a runner-up nish in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire.

Boy who died at nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in tentlike structure

Medical examiners say a boy who died while enrolled in a nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in the tentlike structure he was sleeping in.

The 12-year-old died in February in western North Carolina while participating in the Trails Carolina wilderness program for troubled youths.

An autopsy report was released Monday. It focused on the boy’s damaged bivy, or small camping enclosure. The bivy’s internal mesh door was torn, and a weather-resistant door was used instead to secure the opening.

Medical examiners noted that fully securing a bivy’s weather resistant opening can lead to “breathing restriction.”

Albemarle introduces new city manager

Todd Clark starts his new position in August

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

ALBEMARLE — Following

a nationwide search, Albemarle has found a new city manager.

On June 21, the Albemarle City Council announced that Todd Clark had been selected as its new city manager, with a start date set for Aug. 5.

“I am grateful to the city council for entrusting me with the position of city manager,” Clark said in a city press release. “Albemarle is a growing city with an impeccable reputation. I look forward to working with the Council, dedicated city sta , and citizens to provide the highest level of service possible.”

With more than 30 years of governmental experience, Clark — a Marion native — has

spent the past two years as the town manager for Beaufort following 14 years in that same position with Newton, three years in Maiden and four years in Catawba.

In 1990, he received an undergraduate degree from Appalachian State in community and regional planning. He later returned to ASU in 2005 and obtained a master’s degree in public administration.

Clark also has experience serving on the Board of Directors of ElectriCities of North Carolina, as well as time spent as the chairman of Municipal Power Agency One, a bulk power supplier for 19 cities throughout western North Carolina.

He is married with two adult children who also live in the state.

“Throughout the search process, the city council recognized Todd Clark’s experience and proven leadership as exemplary,” Albemarle Mayor Ron-

Quality Enclosures set to expand Albemarle facility

The Florida-based manufacturer has plans to create 36 new jobs

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

ALBEMARLE — Quality Enclosures announced last week that it plans to expand its existing Albemarle location to boost production capacity.

The shower enclosure and tempered glass manufacturer located at 1301 Mabry Dr. said it wants to invest $1.5 million and create 36 new jobs over the next ve years.

“Our investment in the Albemarle facility represents an expansion of our production capabilities and our commitment to the community and local econ-

omy,” Quality Enclosures CEO Steve Schwartz said in a press release. “By creating new jobs and utilizing the latest manufacturing technologies, we aim to enhance our service to customers while contributing positively to the area’s economic development. This initiative is a testament to our dedication to excellence and our belief in the potential of Stanly County as a pivotal location for the manufacturing sector.”

On June 20, the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority announced it had approved grant requests to local governments totaling $8.68 million for projects slated to create 802 jobs and will attract more than $474 million in public and private investment.

nie Michael said. “We know his skills will be essential to guiding our city as we experience continued growth and transformation through the city’s strategic plan.”

In his new role, Clark is tasked with overseeing the

city’s $83 million budget. He will also manage day-to-day operations of Albemarle’s electric system, water and wastewater system, and land ll facility. The city’s public housing department, parks and recreation department, police department and re department also fall under his jurisdiction.

Back in February, former Albemarle City Manager Michael Ferris retired, opening up a search for his replacement.

Assistant City Manager Darren Rhodes was soon appointed by the Albemarle City Council to an interim manager position while the city continued its search to ll the permanent role, which was given to Clark four months later.

Last week, Clark announced his resignation from his role as Beaufort’s town manager, allowing Albemarle’s city sta to o cially hire him.

THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

G.

COURTESY PHOTO

A Quality Enclosures distribution vehicle prepares a product shipment.

COURTESY PHOTO

Todd Clark

Albemarle’s new city manager

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

Neal Robbins, Publisher

Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Jesse Deal, Reporter P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager

THURSDAY

We stand corrected

To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline. com with “Correction request” in the subject line.

CLARK from page 1

“We are deeply saddened to hear that Todd is resigning,” Beaufort Mayor Sharon Harker said in a statement from the town on June 20. “His announcement is unfortunate, as the town has greatly bene ted from his 30-plus years of municipal experience. As a community, we are truly grateful for his professionalism and commitment to the Town of Beaufort, which have been exemplary, making him a tough act to follow. On a personal note, I will miss Todd greatly. He has been wonderful to work with and was an excellent t for Beaufort. I wish him and his family well on their new journey.” Clark will work his nal day on the job in Beaufort on Aug. 3 before transitioning to his new position in Albemarle.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@ stanlyjournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

WEDNESDAY JULY

Traveling Vietnam War Memorial makes stop in North Carolina

Visitors to “The Wall That Heals” bring sentiment and re ection

By Bob Sutton Stanly County Journal

ASHEBORO — They came for many reasons, but those gathering across several days at “The Wall That Heals” had something in common.

They wanted to recognize the sacri ces of Vietnam War veterans and pay tributes to the military in general.

“The Wall That Heals” was set up on the South Asheboro Middle School baseball eld from last Wednesday through early Sunday afternoon.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Shawn Parrish, a Randleman resident who had served in the Air Force.

Asheboro’s Carlene and Renee Corder arrived with a speci c purpose: to honor Charles R. Chriscoe, who grew up with Carlene in the Seagrove community.

“It’s a lot of names,” Carlene Corder said after nding Chriscoe’s name on the wall.

“The Wall That Heals” is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., that travels around the country. The names of 58,281 men and women who died in the Vietnam War are listed.

“It’s something you should come and see if you can’t go to Washington,” Renee Corder said.

Rita Honeycutt, a veteran service o cer for Randolph County Veterans Services, said having the wall in Randolph County was special.

“We’ve tried to push it out as much as possible to get the word out,” Honeycutt said. “A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

Honeycutt said state Sen. David Craven Jr., who spoke during the opening ceremony, was heavily involved in sup -

LOG

CRIME

June 18

• Kenneth David McDaniel, 54, was arrested for surrender by surety.

• Brianna Brooke Talbert, 30, was arrested for felony larceny.

• Arthur Eugene Wright, 49, was arrested for misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.

June 20

PJ WARD-BROWN / STANLY COUNTY JOURNAL

Clarence York of Asheboro and Edith Swear of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, examine “The Wall that Heals” in Asheboro last week.

porting the bid to bring the wall to Asheboro and obtaining corresponding sponsorships.

The grounds were open to visitors around the clock for 96 hours. Group tours with a short program were available — for instance, those were conducted at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday upon demand. It was free to attend.

More than 1,000 people visited “The Wall That Heals” and its museum and mobile education center, set up outside the middle school, during its rst two days in Randolph County. Using a database of deceased veterans, volunteers helped visitors locate speci c names on the wall.

• Stacey Lynn Bailey, 42, was arrested for simple assault.

JOBS from page 1

the company has also been awarded a $50,000 grant from the state’s One North Carolina Fund for the project. Originally based in Sarasota, Florida, the family-owned company has become one of the largest shower door manufacturers in the southeast with more than 60 years of industry experience. It is now aiming to enhance its delivery service to North Carolina, South Carolina, Vir-

June 21

• Bradley Austin Burris, 37, was arrested for felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.

• Stafford Labrad Davis, 44, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny.

• Charles William Johnson, 67, was arrested for resisting a public officer.

Honeycutt said the application process to have the wall visit Asheboro began in April 2023. Her o ce learned of the bid’s acceptance in November and has worked on many details since.

Earlier last week, “The Wall That Heals” was escorted by perhaps up to 200 motorcyclists representing American Legion Riders, Combat Veteran Riders, AmVet Riders and others from Creekside Park in Archdale to Asheboro, where it was assembled with the assistance of some Vietnam War veterans.

“I was always interested in going to the wall,” said Parrish, an Air Force veteran who visit-

ed with his son and daughter. Chris and Joanne Corsbie of Asheboro stopped by to re ect on that era and the commitments made by so many.

“We were both in high school during the Vietnam War, and we wanted to support this,” Joanne Corsbie said. “We knew people who fought. Fortunately, they came home.”

“What I really like about this is its continued recognition of these folks,” Chris Corsbie said. “I was very impressed.”

Asheboro was the only site in North Carolina for “The Wall That Heals” among 33 communities nationally in 2024. The next stop for the exhibit is in Biddeford, Maine.

June 22

• Richard Allen Little, 72, was arrested for felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.

ginia, Maryland and Delaware, with the added facility production in Albemarle on the way.

“Our residents told us in our most recent community survey that economic development should be a high priority,” said Albemarle Mayor Ronnie Michael. “Our support for Quality Enclosures’ expansion shows we’re listening to the community and taking action. We’re proud to work with local companies committed to creating new job opportunities for

• Eric Orlando Poole, 40, was arrested for resisting a public officer.

June 24

• Dustin Lee Smith, 31, was arrested for failing to appear on a release order.

• Jazmyne Luria Thomas, 30, was arrested for a parole violation.

the people who call Albemarle home.” Quality Enclosures opened its Albemarle location in late 2018, creating an expansion into the Charlotte area that had been in the works since 2015. Originally investing $3.3 million to turn a vacant building into a tempering facility, distribution center and national training center, the company’s move resulted in 65 fulltime jobs during the rst four years in Stanly County. The City of Albemarle and

• David Lawrence Wilson, 67, was arrested for failing to appear on a release order.

June 25

• Kellie Lenora Biles, 43, was arrested for resisting a public officer.

• Kristen Michele Fetzer, 45, was arrested on a detainer.

• Jim Foster Narcisse, 44, was arrested for felony possession of cocaine.

Stanly County, respectively, conducted recent public hearings on performance-based incentives agreed to by the manufacturer on May 6 and May 13.

“It’s always good to see one of our existing companies expand and invest, which will result in more jobs for our citizens,” said Bill Lawhon, Stanly County Board of Commissioners chairman. “Quality Enclosures has demonstrated their commitment to our community by investing additional resources in Stanly County.”

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

The House must repudiate the J6 Committee

Cheney’s hatred for Trump further drove her to a series of actions that violated House rules.

HOUSE ADMINISTRATION Committee Chairman Barry Loudermilk and his team’s hard work has proven that the Jan. 6 Committee operated completely outside the bounds of legitimacy.

The committee broke House rules, violated legal ethics, trampled the constitutional rights of witnesses, and established a systematic pattern of lying and misleading Congress and the nation.

The evidence Chairman Loudermilk has been developing further makes clear that Congresswoman Liz Cheney was a driving force in polluting the committee.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi picked all the members of the committee. It never met the House standards for genuine bipartisanship. The speed and recklessness with which it was established and populated further indicated that it was poisoned from the beginning.

On June 28, 2021, Speaker Pelosi introduced the resolution to establish the Select Committee to Investigate the Janu 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Two days later — in a largely partisan vote — the House passed it with a 222-190 vote. All the Democrats and only two Republicans, Reps. Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, voted to establish the committee. The other 190 Republicans present voted against it.

The next day, Speaker Pelosi appointed eight members: Reps. Bennie Thompson, Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schi , Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin, Elaine Luria and Cheney. The following month, she appointed Kinzinger, who was openly antiTrump and had voted to impeach him. He was a perfect t for the Pelosi-Cheney goal of having a one-sided investigation.

Then-Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy had previously named ve potential Republicans for the committee: Reps. Jim Banks, Jim Jordan, Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls. Neither Cheney nor Kinzinger were on McCarthy’s list. Of course, Pelosi had rejected Banks and Jordan, so McCarthy pulled all Republicans from the committee. So, Cheney and Kinzinger, at this point, were e ectively functioning as Democrats.

Great debates

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?”

“PRAY FOR JACK KENNEDY,” I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead “spinner” for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodru and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vicepresidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president, and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

“Does he really do that?” Bentsen asked. Eckart was well-prepared. He really does, we assured him.

“Well, with your permission,” the senator responded (as ever gracious, as if he needed my permission), if he does that in the debate, I’m going to call him on it. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. And he’s no Jack Kennedy.”

“Was he really a friend of yours (ever the fact-checker),” I responded.

“B.A. (his wife) and I went to his wedding.” From that moment on, we were praying for Jack Kennedy.

The rest is history. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” is one of the famous lines in the lore of great debates. It didn’t win the election for his running mate, Michael Dukakis (vice presidents rarely do), but it clearly won the debate. Indeed, the postdebate polls showed Bentsen handily ahead

By Sept. 2, 2021, Chairman Thompson had named Cheney as vice chair of the committee.

From Pelosi’s standpoint, Cheney was the perfect pick. Cheney’s rabid hatred of Trump had driven her from once being a rising star in the Republican Party to being a pariah who worked with Democrats.

The Wyoming Republican Party had censured Cheney over her anti-Trump mania. She had infuriated enough House Republicans to be ousted as Chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest minority party job. So, she went from that high-ranking post to becoming the vice chair of the select committee designed to help Democrats and attack Republicans.

On the committee, Cheney’s hatred for Trump further drove her to a series of actions that violated House rules and ignored legal ethics. She destroyed evidence to keep it from the House and manipulated information to prove her points — even when they were profoundly false. Throughout the process, she also knowingly violated the canon of ethics by manipulating witnesses without their attorney’s knowledge.

Cheney’s contempt for Republicans was clear when said to the committee in June 2022, “Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

I remember watching at the time and thinking what a deep level of anger and arrogance it must take to publicly condemn people who had once made you their third-ranking leader.

Then, it occurred to me: Pelosi was tactically attacking Trump as a current opponent — and strategically destroying a potential future rival in Cheney at the same time.

This only clari ed my belief that the Jan. 6 Committee was a calculated, partisan fraud solely focused on imposing a false narrative on the country to help elect Democrats.

As Chairman Loudermilk is proving in his investigation, the current Congress owes it to history and justice to repudiate the Jan. 6 Committee and declare its ndings, subpoenas, and other actions null and void.

of both Quayle and Betsen’s running mate, George H.W. Bush.

It doesn’t always work out the way you plan, of course. That same year, Bill Clinton and I had rehearsed over and over with Dukakis the answer to the “Willie Horton question” (Horton was a black convicted murderer who had raped a white woman while on a weekend furlough program) about crime.

I can still recite the answer we rehearsed in my sleep these many years later. It was to make clear that Dukakis was on the side of victims, not criminals. “I know what it’s like to be the victim of crime. My brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on his bike and left for dead at the side of the road. My father was beaten and tied up in his medical o ce by thugs who robbed him, looking for drugs.”

But that wasn’t the answer he gave when moderator Bernard Shaw asked him what he would do if someone raped and killed his wife. “Did we just lose the election?” Barry Diller leaned over and asked me as we sat in the holding room watching the debate.

There are moments in debates that get replayed constantly, which can make or break a candidate.

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?” candidate Ronald Reagan asked in the only debate that year against incumbent Jimmy Carter. I was in Florida working for Carter that year, and you could feel the oor cave in. Carter’s goal was to paint his challenger as a risk. Reagan handled it with aplomb (“There you go

again,” he said with a smile) and changed the subject. And a close race turned into a landslide.

Expectations matter. Having portrayed Joe Biden as too old and feeble to walk and talk, Republicans are reportedly worried that he has set the bar too low. Biden has set aside time to prepare the old-fashioned way, with a team who has prepared him in the past. Donald Trump has reportedly opted to use his rallies and interviews as his primary preparation. The danger for Biden is that he will come across as too prepared, too scripted, that he will sound like his talking points. The danger for Trump is that he will do what he does at rallies — go entirely o script and rant and rave about what a victim he is instead of running on the accomplishments of his rst term.

And this is, after all, television, and how you look counts. In her wonderful new book about the ’60s, Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how JFK won the rst televised presidential debate with Richard Nixon if you watched it on TV; Nixon fared better on the radio.

Not a coincidence. I heard Don Hewitt, the legendary “60 Minutes” producer who produced the debate for CBS, tell the story of how he arranged for a makeup artist to be available for the two candidates. When he asked them if they wanted makeup, JFK immediately declined, and then Nixon had little choice but to follow suit. Kennedy then went to his dressing room and put on makeup himself. Nixon looked swarthy and sweaty under the lights.

COLUMN | NEWT GINGRICH

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

STANLY SPORTS

Albemarle student-athlete awarded track scholarship

Recent graduate Miles Gregory is the state’s male honoree

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

ALBEMARLE — Through a partnership with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and the streaming service FloSports, a Stanly County student athlete was recently awarded a $1,000 outdoor track and eld scholarship.

Recent Albemarle High School graduate Miles Gregory is the male winner of the 2023 -24 FloSports Scholarship. He is set to attend UNC Chapel Hill, where he aims to study physical therapy or kinesiology.

On an annual basis, FloSports designates funds to be used toward scholarship support of one male and one female outdoor track and eld student athlete at NCHSAA member schools.

“I’m extremely honored to receive this award. Thank you to NCHSAA and FloSports,” Gregory said in a social media post.

This past school year, Gregory was a proli c member of the Bulldogs’ football, wrestling, and track and eld teams, earning the Male Athlete of the Year Award for his high school.

On the gridiron, he started all four years and made All-Conference three times. In his other athletic ventures, he nished as the runner-up in the wrestling regional and also quali ed for the indoor state championships in the shot put this winter.

“Deeply humbled and honored to be chosen as the Male

Miles Gregory wears his medal after winning the Yadkin Valley conference championship in shot put

Vincent Gregory

Athlete of the Year for Albemarle High School for 2023-24. Of all the awards I’ve received this year, this one is by far the most unexpected, and touched my heart,” Gregory said. “This honor is a beautiful culmination of my high school journey. A big thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. Here’s to the next chapter!”

Last year, Gregory was one of 24 NCHSAA Heart of a Champion Award winners in the state. The award recognizes student athletes who meet a high level of academic criteria, athletic involvement and sound character; Miles’ younger brother Vincent won the 2023-24 award. Gregory also volunteers as a Special Olympics coach, mentors with the Big Brother program, is a CTE ambassador, and he coaches at a youth league football camp.

His other accolades include being involved as a Chief Junior Marshal, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member, and Dean’s List member at Stanly Community College. He recently graduated from Albemarle with a 4.0 unweighted GPA as class valedictorian and made the President’s List at Stanly Community College with 44 college credit hours.

“Living with ADHD and SPD has been a challenge, but it has also made me more determined,” Gregory said in a statement given to NCHSAA. “I have learned to work hard, gain condence, and overcome my shyness. Today, I stand at the top of my class, a testament to my perseverance. If I could speak to my eight-year-old self, I would tell him to never give up, to keep pushing, and that he will rise to every occasion.”

Albemarle, track

Gregory was named Yadkin Valley All-Conference last season after recording 78 tackles, 48 solo and three tackles for loss. He also competes for the Bulldogs’ track team and ranks in the top 10 in school history for his times in the 400, 4x200 relay and 4x400 relay. He was recently named the winner of the NCHSAA’s Heart of a Champion award, which recognizes student athletes from NCHSAA member schools who have participated in at least one varsity sport or cheerleading and remained ejection-free during the school year while exemplifying outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship in their community.

Step down from elite college football, o cials pitch model for new sports landscape

UNC Asheville’s AD presented a new way to organize athletics at an online panel

By John Zenor The Associated Press

FACING UPHEAVAL on the way in college athletics, a handful of administrators and athletes from smaller schools have been working on a new model of governance.

The hope of members of the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I-AAA (programs without football) is to give their athletes more of a say and essentially treat them more like students than employees. It was a way to be proactive —

and potentially head o future lawsuits — amid seismic changes across college sports.

Janet Cone, the president of I-AAA athletic directors and the AD at UNC Asheville, joined colleagues to present their proposed model earlier this month at the annual convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and to others during an online panel organized by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“Our goal was to create a sustainable model that was philosophically and legally defensible and would keep our subdivisions competing in Division I,” Cone told the group.

There are 128 FCS programs that o er football,

from Abilene Christian to Youngstown State. There are another approximately 90 I-AAA schools without football that include basketball-focused athletic programs such as Gonzaga, Creighton and St. John’s.

Organizers say their plan would keep their schools at the D-I level while giving athletes more control over governance without resorting to legal action and perhaps provide them with a chance to earn credits toward a degree for athletics.

“I think that the response has been very positive,” said Tom Michael, athletic director at FCS school Eastern Illinois. “I think people believe that we’re down the right path. We understand we’re not at the nish line. Nobody has suggested that this

is the nal version of this model.

“I think that there’s an understanding that we need to be proactive on this and we can’t sit and wait for somebody else to try to point us in the direction or create the pathway for us.”

The group enlisted the Pictor Group as consultants last November. The plan has the stated mission of treating athletes more like other students and outlines a di erent role for coaches: Potential no-nos could include removing a player from a team as punishment or pressuring them to move into certain majors. Other proposals cover unreasonable time commitments, rules for appearance o the eld and testing for recreational drugs.

“Obviously there’s got to be

some kind of control to compete at a high level but not exerting control of everything they do,” Cone said of coaches. “Those pieces are really critical to our model where the student-athletes are going to be very involved.”

Former Abilene Christian football player Anthony Egbo Jr. and Radford volleyball player Meredith Page are among the athletes involved. They surveyed peers on what coaches expected of them and got some 100 responses to help formulate the model.

Egbo told the Knight Commission audience that the increased professionalizing of college sports has created more desire for athletes to have more say “in the development of policies that impact our experience.”

“The question that we’ve been asking is: What if there’s a better way for student-athletes to have in uence over their experience that didn’t have to go through judicial and third-party systems?” Egbo said.

GREGORY’S TWITTER/X ACCOUNT

COURTESY MILES GREGORY

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NCAA eyes expanding March Madness from current 68 teams

The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each eld at 68 teams. If approved, the NCAA would keep its 64 -team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds. The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season and more meetings are scheduled. The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams. The women’s tournament matched that in 2022.

OLYMPICS

Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd

Los Angeles

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced changes it says will create an estimated $156 million in savings and revenue increases. Swimming will be held at 38,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, basketball at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics at Crypto.com Arena. To accommodate the opening and closing ceremonies at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted. Athletics will move to the rst week of the games, while swimming will be held the second week. The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14-30, 2028.

MLB Yankees’ Stanton goes on injured list for 8th time in 6 seasons

New York New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list for the eighth time in six seasons, a day after straining his left hamstring. A 34-year-old former MVP, Stanton left Saturday night’s 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves and was set to undergo imaging Sunday. Stanton doubled o the center- eld wall in the fourth inning and winced when he rounded third base on Gleyber Torres’ double. Trent Grisham pinch hit for Stanton leading o the sixth. Stanton had missed 266 of 708 games in the past ve seasons.

SOCCER

Pelé’s mother dies at age 101 in Brazil Sao Paulo Celeste Arantes, the mother of late soccer great Pelé, died on Friday at age 101. Arantes spent the past ve years in a vegetative state and was not informed about her famous son’s death in 2022. The Brazilian Football Confederation says Arantes was hospitalized for the past eight days. The Pelé Foundation says on its social media channels that the mother of the only threetime World Cup-winning player was a role model. Pelé was one of Arantes’ three children. She was initially against her son becoming a professional footballer but gradually changed her views as her son became more successful.

Bell takes checkered ag in rainy New Hampshire

The race is the rst in Cup Series history to end with cars running on rain tires

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell raised a broom over his head and clutched a 24-pound lobster in Victory Lane all because he earned his third Cup win of the season in an outcome that would have been impossible before this NASCAR season.

Heck, it still looked pretty grim for most of Sunday at a rainy track.

Once the skies cleared, NASCAR busted out its latest creation it had saved for a rainy day — wet weather Goodyear tires that allowed the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to continue all the way to a thrilling end.

Bell mastered the Cup Series’ rst race that ended with cars running on rain tires and

pulled away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay to beat darkness and the eld and win Sunday at New Hampshire.

He also swept the weekend at New Hampshire following Saturday’s win in the X nity Series.

“Hopefully that was entertaining because it was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do,” Bell said. “The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

With darkness falling, Bell cruised past Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe and remained the driver to beat at New Hampshire. He has four wins in the X nity Series at Loudon and won a Cup race at the track for a second time.

This time, he won with 86 laps raced on the new tires.

“It was dark. It was very, very dark. That was creeping up in a hurry to being too dark to race,” Bell said. “Certainly there were

“It was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

Christopher Bell

dry parts on the track, but there were still a lot of wet parts on the track, too. I can’t tell you how far away it was, but in my opinion, I didn’t think it was ready for the dry tires yet.”

Briscoe was second and Berry third. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top ve.

“I think we could have probably started with the track a little bit wetter,” Briscoe said.

“The beginning was pretty fun.

We were all over the place. Five wide at times and slipping and sliding around.”

Even with the start of the race bumped up a half-hour, New Hampshire was a mess from the moment the green ag was dropped. The race was marred by wrecks that wiped some of NASCAR’s biggest stars out of contention — all while the rest of the eld tried to remain in contention and beat the looming rain that hovered over the entire weekend.

Tyler Reddick, who won at Talladega this season, held the lead when the race was redagged because of rain with 82 laps left in the scheduled 301lap race.

New Hampshire and NASCAR waited out a tornado watch, nearby lightning strikes and a severe thunderstorm warning before it could resume the race after a delay of more than two hours.

NASCAR let teams use wet-weather tires for the only second time in a points race this season. Teams had a maximum of four sets of wet-weather tires to race on the damp oval track. Teams had to take rain tires during pit stops and their position could not be a ected. They also had no choice of tire.

Lakers hire Redick as new head coach

The former Duke star and NBA veteran has no coaching experience

By Greg Beacham The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick has been hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports. The 39-year-old Redick is an extraordinary choice by the Lakers, who hired a 15-year veteran with absolutely no coaching experience to lead a franchise with 17 NBA titles, one of the biggest brand names in world sports — and LeBron James, the top scorer in league history. Redick was a pro cient outside shooter for six teams before his retirement in September 2021, when he moved into a career in broadcasting and podcasting. He joined ESPN’s lead commentary team earlier this year.

ESPN rst reported the decision. Before Redick nished broadcasting the NBA nals, he met with the Lakers last weekend and apparently did well enough to end the franchise’s lengthy coaching search. Less than two weeks after UConn coach Danny Hurley turned down the Lakers’ ardent advances, Redick accepted the job in a remarkable three-year journey from the court to the broadcast booth to the Lakers’ bench.

Redick replaces Darvin Ham, who was red May 3 despite leading the Lakers to two playo berths and a Western Conference nals appearance in 2023.

Redick began recording a regular podcast with James two months ago, and their “Mind the Game” collaboration is already wildly popular, with listeners often emerging impressed by the duo’s basketball acumen and high-level discussion of tactics and motivation.

Now these two minds will be working together for the Lakers, with Redick leading a roster headlined by James, who is six months younger than Redick. Everything is contingent on James deciding to return to play with Anthony Davis and the Lakers, of course. James, who will enter his 22nd NBA season this fall, could decline his $51.4 million contract option this month to become a free agent. But hiring Redick seems to be

another calculated move by the Lakers to maximize their chances of keeping the 20-time AllStar and the driving force behind their 2020 championship team.

Redick’s coaching experience is limited to his children’s youth teams, but he has been around the game his entire life. He is the leading scorer in the history of Duke, where he played four seasons under Mike Krzyzewski.

Redick’s arrival ends another unusual o season coaching search for owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers, who are hiring their eighth head coach since Phil Jackson’s nal departure in 2011, and their fourth since James arrived as a free agent in 2018.

Los Angeles needed six weeks to settle on Ham in the summer of 2022, but the longtime assistant coach was dismissed after the Lakers lost to defending champion Denver in the rst round of the Western Conference playo s. Ham led the Lakers to two winning seasons and a victory in the inaugural In-Season Tournament last year, but many fans and observers — and, clearly, the Lakers’ front o ce — were not impressed by his leadership or preparation.

Davis memorably said during the playo s that the Lakers “have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the oor.”

PHELAN M. EBENHACK / AP PHOTO

Former Orlando Magic guard JJ Redick leaves the court after being honored by the team earlier this season. The Lakers have hired Redick for his rst coaching job.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Christopher Bell, front left, holds up a lobster while standing with his wife Morgan, front right, as they celebrate his win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister recommited to “eliminating Hamas”

By Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy

The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease- re deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest ceasere proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the out-

lines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease- re proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes

and mistrust persist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent ceasere and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out an-

other Oct. 7-style assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of ghting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t

mean the war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington, D.C., with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conicts, including with Hezbollah.

Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic bu er zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the bu er zone will bring an end to that.

During the initial six-week phase of the proposed ceasere, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages including male soldiers and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary cease- re would become permanent.

Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable con rmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

Most of the victims were Chinese migrant workers

By Hyung-jin Kim

The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — A re likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, o cials said.

The re began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second oor of the factory in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., re o cials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The dead included 18 Chi-

nese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local re o cial

Kim Jin-young told a televised brie ng. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately veri ed. In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more a uent South Koreans.

Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.

The re started at one of the factory buildings owned by bat-

tery manufacturer Aricell. He said that authorities would investigate whether re extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer goods from laptops to cellphones. They can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to res and explosions and making them a hazard for shipment aboard aircraft.

The video of the incident showed the factory’s second oor being engulfed with blaze, about 15 seconds after a small amount of white smoke was seen billowing from a battery, senior re o cial Jo Seon-ho told a brie ng later Monday.

Jo, citing the footage, said workers at the site mobilized re extinguishers but failed to

put out the blaze. They later rushed to an area where there was no exit before they likely inhaled toxic smoke and lost consciousness, he said. The dead foreign workers were daily laborers, so they were likely unfamiliar with the building’s internal structure, he added. Fire o cials said a total of 102 people were working at the factory at the time of the re.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing a safety helmet and a mask, visited the site with other o cials. He expressed condolences to the dead and ordered o cials to put in place measures to e ectively deal with battery-related res, according to Yoon’s o ce.

Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, the country’s No. 2 o cial, and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min also came to

the site. Han asked o cials to provide government assistance for funeral services and support programs for victims’ relatives, according to his o ce.

Monday’s blaze is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years. In 2020, a re at a warehouse being built in Icheon City, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died after a re ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, 12 of them ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died after a re and accompanying explosions tore through a refrigerated warehouse in Icheon city.

South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that regard safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.

HONG KI-WONJ / YONHAP VIA AP

Fire ghters work at the site of a burnt lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.

LEO CORREA / AP PHOTO

People protest Saturday in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Barbara Jean (Taylor) Drye

Henry Darrell Caudle

April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023

June 6, 1951 – June 20, 2024

Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2023 at her home.

Henry Darrell Caudle, 73, of Albemarle, passed away peacefully Thursday, June 20, 2024, at his home, surrounded by family.

Barbara was born April 17, 1936 in North Carolina to the late Robert Lee Taylor and the late Eva Belle Watts Taylor. She was also preceded in death by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth Taylor.

Darrell was born June 6, 1951, in North Carolina to the late William Lynnington Caudle, Sr. and the late Lucy Geneva Caudle. He was also preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Donna Kay Caudle, brother; William L. Caudle, Jr (Buddy), and sisters; Linda Caudle Carpenter, Shirley Caudle Hicks and Nellie Ruth Caudle.

Survivors include children, Debbie (Mike) Williams of Albemarle, Teresa (Tom) Curry of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) Drye of Oakboro; grandchildren, Melissa (Don) Parrish of Albemarle, Samantha (Destiny) Smith of Oakboro, Bradley Smith of Oakboro, Jonathan Stover of Peachland, and Jessie Stover of Lylesville; sisterin-law, Beatrice Goodman; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved cats, Bo and Gar eld.

He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was a Christian man. Before his health declined, he loved to mow yards and work on lawn mowers. He always tried to help anyone in any way he could.

Barbara was a member of Oakboro Baptist Church for over 60 years. She worked over 30 years at Stanly Knitting Mills. After just two years of retirement, she began managing the Oakboro Senior Center and did that for 18 years until this past week. Barbara was known for her good cooking and always taking care of others. She also loved going on day long shopping trips - she could out walk and out shop people half her age. She kept her mind and body active through gardening, word searches, and various other hobbies.

The family will receive friends Friday June 28, 2024 from 11:00 AM until 12:00 PM at Edwards Funeral Home in Norwood. A graveside service will be held at 12:30 PM, at Faith Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery in New London. Pastor Thomas Andrufski will o ciate.

Survivors include, daughter, Gabby Vanhoy (Tim) of Albemarle, NC, and son Daniel Caudle (Savanna) of Albemarle, NC, grandchildren; TJ, Brettleigh, and Skyla Vanhoy and McKayla Carpenter, brothers; Cecil (Linda) Caudle and Ed (Pat) Caudle and numerous nieces, nephews and loved ones. Memorials may be made to Edwards Funeral Home

Dwight Farmer

James Roseboro

John B. Kluttz

Jacqueline Swicegood Williams

Leatha Rivers

June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023

January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023

Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.

November 16, 1950 –June 23, 2024

Dwight was born January 24, 1939 in Stanly County to the late Walter Virgil and Martha Adkins Farmer. He was a 1957 graduate of Norwood High School and was a United States Army Veteran.

Jacqueline Swicegood Williams, 73, of Concord, passed away Sunday, June 23, 2024 at home surrounded by loved ones.

Jackie was born November 16, 1950 in Iredell County, North Carolina, a daughter of the late Reid William Swicegood and Lily Anderson Swicegood.

He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he had served as church treasurer and choir member. He began his career with the Stanly County Sheri ’s Department moving to the Norwood Police Department and retiring as Chief of Police with the Town of Norwood after many years of service.

Dwight was an avid gardener, bird watcher and Carolina fan.

December 3, 1932 –June 21, 2024

James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.

On Friday June 21, 2024 the loving and sweet spirit of Leatha Rivers was called to eternal rest after 91 years on earth. We, the family and friends, truly thank God for our years shared together here on earth.

Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert and Delena Shipp Roseboro. He graduated from South Stanly High School and was employed by Triangle Brick. He enjoyed watching football and basketball, especially the Carolina TarHeels and Miami.

In addition to his parents he is preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Barbara Lee Roseboro, Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, Henrietta Ingram, and Harold Roseboro.

Luis Alberto Mesa Jr.

March 23, 1935 - January 9, 2023

September 6, 1977 –June 19, 2024

Garry Thomas Forrest

July 22, 1946 – June 19, 2024

October 11, 1944 - January 10, 2023

He is survived by his wife Hilda Whitley Farmer; one son D. Britten Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, NC; one daughter Sharon Farmer Lowe (David) of Norwood; one sister Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two grandchildren, Dwight Britten “Dee” Farmer III and Whitley Rose Hui Lowe.

He was preceded in death by his son Alex, brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Annabell, Glennie Mae, and Betty.

She was a graduate of North Mecklenburg High School. Jackie retired from the Cabarrus County School System where she was both a teacher assistant and Bus Driver. She was loved by the children she came in contact with and always had a smile that would light up any room. Jackie was a member of Independence Hill Baptist Church. She dearly loved her family, doing crafts and just helping others whenever possible.

Ms Rivers was born December 3, 1932 in Pageland, South Carolina to the late Robert Sr. and Alice Thomas Rivers. Her formal education was received in the public schools of Stanly County, graduating from Kingville High School, Albemarle, North Carolina were she was a majorette and a phenomenal basketball player. Her pride in her school led her to become a lifetime member of the Kingville Alumni Association. Ms. Rivers was a dedicated worker for Albemarle Spinning Mill before her retirement.

He is survived by his sisters: Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Albemarle, Mary Roseboro of Washington DC, and Marion Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: Thomas D. Roseboro of Charlotte, Robert Roseboro (Patricia) of Norwood, and Van Horne; a special friend of over 40 years, Michelle McLendon of the home; special nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya Little, and Laquanza Crump; special nephews: Robert Jr., Desmond Roseboro, and Marcus Lilly; and God daughter, Daphne Johnson; and special friends, Vetrella Johnson and Ben McLendon.

Memorials may be made to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Smith 36071 Rocky River Springs Road, Norwood, NC 28128.

The family will receive friends from 1pm -1:45pm on Wednesday, June 26,2024 at Independence Hill Baptist Church. The funeral service will follow at 2pm, o ciated by Pastor Frank Meyers . Burial will follow at the church cemetery

She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Robert Gary Williams; son, Je Williams(Melissa); son, Scott Williams ( Candance); daughter, Lisa Kelly (Brian); four grandchildren, Peyton Williams, Brennan Williams, Madison Williams, and Albany Williams; brothers, William Allen Swicegood, Danny Swicegood (Pamela), and a sister Tracie Michelle Swicegood.

Memorials may be shared to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Independence Hill Baptist Church, 10220 Independence Hill, Huntersville, NC 28078 Hartsell Funeral Home of Harrisburg is serving the Williams family.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in SCJ at obits@stanlyjournal.com

Leatha truly loved the Lord and was a devoted member of Union Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Albemarle for many years. Before her declining health, she served several positions in the church including being an usher and a deaconess. Leatha loved her family and nothing gave her more joy than attending these family events.

Heaven’s gate has opened and Leatha was welcomed to her eternal home and joined her parents, and her seven brothers: Sears Rivers, Charlie Rivers, Washington Rivers, Robert Rivers, Jr., Issac Rivers, Sr., Josephus and George Rivers, Sr., and one sister, Grace R. Pemberton to a place we are told is perfect in every way.

Darrick Baldwin

January 7, 1973 ~ January 8, 2023

Darrick Vashon Baldwin, age 50, entered eternal rest, Sunday, January 8, 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly County, North Carolina, Darrick was the son of Eddie James Baldwin Sr. and the late Phyllis Blue Baldwin. Darrick enjoyed life, always kept things lively and enjoyed making others smile. His presence is no longer in our midst, but his memory will forever live in our hearts.

Her life will forever be cherished and remembered by her great niece/goddaughter Lolita Rivers, Mebane, North Carolina; special nieces/ caregivers: Shirley Gould and Zelma (Eddie) Davis, both of Albemarle; special nephew/ caregiver: Zeke (Sarah) Allen of Badin; sisters-in-law: Bobbie Lee Rivers, Albemarle and Louis Mae Rivers, Charlotte, North Carolina; a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

He was educated in the Stanly County public schools and attended Albemarle Senior High School, Albemarle.

He was a great conversationalist and loved meeting people. Darrick never met a stranger and always showed love and compassion for his fellowman. He also loved his dog, Rocky.

He is survived by his father, Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: Crystal (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra (Stoney) Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; brothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton Baldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a host of other relatives and friends. A limb has fallen from our family tree. We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.

Luis Alberto Mesa Jr., a cherished son, husband, brother, and uncle, passed away on June 19, 2024, in Tulum, Mexico, at the age of 46. He was a man of few words but a heart that over owed with love and dedication to all he held dear. Luis found joy in simple pleasures, from ying his drone over stunning landscapes to spending lazy days shing or playing with his beloved fur companion, Bruno.

John grew up in the Millingport community where he drove a school bus and worked at the local gas station during his High School years. He graduated from Millingport High in 1954 and entered into service with the US Airforce immediately afterward. Upon return from the service, he and his high school sweetheart Julie were married in 1956. He graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College later in 1959 and began his career as a diesel mechanic at Mitchell Distributing Company, moving his growing family to Charlotte where they lived until their retirement.

Garry Thomas Forrest, 77, of Mt. Gilead, passed away Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at Atrium Health Cabarrus Hospital in Concord. Garry retired from Alcoa as a crane operator. He served in the Army in Korea. He enjoyed being on the river water skiing, doing outdoor activities and being with friends and family.

When John purchased his rst Model A Ford at the age of 17, he said that he took the car to the community mechanic when he had a small problem.The mechanic told him that if he was going to keep the car, he needed to learn to work on it. This is when John’s passion for Model A Fords began and how he spent his happiest days with his best friends from around the globe for the rest of his life!

Born on September 6, 1977, in California, Luis was known for his love of family gatherings, especially the Sunday get-togethers that brought laughter echoing through their home. His passion for travel, the ocean, and culinary delights like Tacos and “Tommy’s Burger” painted a picture of a man who reveled in life’s experiences.

A graduate of Canyon Springs High School, Luis carved out a successful career as an insurance agent for 19 years, showcasing his commitment and dedication to his work. His playful nature shone through in his interactions with his nieces, Andrea and Daniela, whom he loved to tease and share his humor with.

At age 50, after years as a Detroit Diesel Mechanic he and Julie decided to take the plunge and open a full Model A Restoration Shop. They thrived at their shop in Cornelius, NC until their retirement in 1998 when they moved back to Cabarrus County. John once again set up shop in his back yard garage where he attracted a loyal group of friends who visited almost daily. While on the farm in Gold Hill, John also began a lifelong love with Alis Chalmers tractors after he restored his Dad’s tractor and began amassing his collection of tractors as well.

John restored many cars of his own and had the crowning achievement of winning the most prestigious award from MARC, The Henry for a restoration that garnered top points. He was also presented with the Ken Brady Service Awardthe highest award given to members at the national level.

Luis leaves behind a gaping hole in the hearts of his devoted wife, Deya Mesa, his loving parents, Luis Sr. and Emilia Mesa, his sister Cyndee (Giovani) Solorzano, his nieces, Andrea and Daniela, father and mother in law, Eduwin and Yomarys Tun, brother-inlaw, Eduwin Tun, and sisterin-law, Grace Tun. The loss of Luis will be deeply felt by all who were fortunate enough to have known him.

Private services to celebrate the life of Luis Alberto Mesa Jr. will be held to honor and remember the beautiful soul that was Luis – a man whose memory will continue to bring warmth and joy to all our hearts.

This is what John’s Model A Community had to say upon learning of his death: He was an active member of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church where he loved serving as greeter on Sunday mornings. He also belonged to the United Methodist Men. John is survived by his wife Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 years of the home. He is also survived by a son John David Kluttz (Kim) of Oakboro, NC; two daughters, Sally Simerson of Denver, CO and Betsy Tusa (John) of Lafayette, CO; three grandchildren, Bonnie Kluttz Sammons (Ben) of Rich eld, NC John Alexander McKinnon (Sarah) of Asheville, NC and Seth William McKinnon (Amanda) of Germany; ve great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Meredith, Grant, Victoria and Ronan. John is also preceded in death by his parents, J.S. Kluttz and Mary Wyatt Clayton Kluttz; a large and loving group of brothers and sisters, Jack Methias Kluttz, Annie Lou Kluttz Honeycutt, Jake Nelson Kluttz, Julius Kluttz, Mary Patricia Phillips and a grandson, Kevin Fowler Kluttz.

Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, went home into God’s presence on January 10 after a sudden illness and a valiant week-long ght in ICU. Doris was born on October 11, 1944, in the mountains of Marion, NC while her father was away ghting in the US Navy during World War II. Raymond Jones was so proud to return after the war and meet his little girl! Doris grew up in Durham, NC and graduated from Durham High School. She furthered her studies at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1966.

Gary was born July 22, 1946, in North Carolina to the late Thomas Franklin Forrest and the late Lucille Mauldin Forrest. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Beaver Forrest.

Survivors include son, Kent (Belinda) Forrest of Advance, NC, daughter, Kendra Hope (Michael) Melton, Jr. of Mt. Gilead, NC., and brother, Phillip (Paula) Forrest of Denton, 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Hartsell Funeral Home of Albemarle is serving the Forrest family.

DEATH NOTICES

• Dalvin Watkins November 18, 1996 –June 16, 2024

Doris married Rev. Dr. Ted Coleman in 1966 and had two daughters Amy and Laura. Doris raised Amy and Laura in North Augusta, SC. Doris was an incredible neonatal intensive care nurse for most of her career, and this was her passion. The Augusta Chronicle did a feature on her in 1985. She was a clinical nurse manager in Augusta, Georgia at University Hospital NICU and worked there for 20 years. During this time, Doris mentored young nurses and assisted in saving the lives of so many babies. She also worked for Pediatrician Dr. William A. Wilkes in Augusta for several years prior to her NICU career. Doris retired from the mother/baby area at Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 years of nursing.

Dalvin ‘Duke’ Akeem Watkins, 27, of Norwood, passed away Sunday, June 16, 2024.

• Douglas Keith Weaver August 7, 1953 –June 19, 2024

Douglas Keith Weaver, 70, of Oakboro, passed away on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in his home.

Doris was a gentle and sweet spirit and loved her Lord. She never met a stranger, and she always left you feeling uplifted after talking with her. She would often claim that she had “adopted” friends into her immediate family, and honestly, she never made a distinction between the two. Positivity radiated from her like sunlight. She was sel ess, funny, smart, and sentimental. During her lifetime she was an active member of First Baptist Church of Durham, First Baptist Church of Augusta, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Augusta, and Palestine United Methodist Church in Albemarle. She especially loved helping at church with older adults, youth, and children.

She was especially talented at sewing from a young age and made gifts for friends, Christmas ornaments, Halloween Costumes, doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, out ts for Amy and Laura, and Christening gowns for each of her grandchildren.

Doris was preceded in death by her father Arthur Raymond Jones, her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Jones, and her sister Maryanne Jones Brantley. Survivors include her two precious daughters: Amy Cameron Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio (husband David) of Cincinnati, Ohio; seven grandchildren: Cameron David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Nicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.

Doris Jones Coleman

STATE & NATION

How swimmers can escape dangerous rip currents

There are 16 known deaths in U.S. waters this year

By Curt Anderson The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Stinging jelly sh, rays with whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year.

Six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama, o cials say.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association, and more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The National Weather Service lists 16 known deaths so far in 2024 from rip currents in U.S. waters, including the Florida fatalities as well as eight deaths in Puerto Rico and two in Texas.

Here are some things to know about rip currents: What is a rip current?

Rip currents are narrow col-

umns of water owing rapidly away from the beach, like a swift stream within the ocean. They don’t pull swimmers under water but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because

Bans on gender-a rming care by states to be heard by Supreme Court

The high court has rarely taken up cases involving transgender issues

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the ght over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-a rming care.

The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take e ect after they had been

blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)

“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal ling in support of Supreme Court review.

Arguments will take place in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-a rming medical care for transgender minors.

Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they had been blocked by lower courts.

At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. At least 11 states have

the surface water often appears calm.

The current can ow as swiftly as 8 feet per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you’re caught in one and you try to swim straight in, you’re not going to be able to,” said Daniel Barnickel of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue.

How can someone escape a rip current?

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to not panic and look for a chance to swim parallel to the shore until the swimmer is out of the rip current’s grip. It will eventually dissipate but might leave the swimmer out in deeper water.

It’s nearly impossible to ght the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say. If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

“Most of our rip current rescues happen outside the guarded areas because we’re not there to prevent it from happening,” Barnickel said.

What warning systems exist for rip currents?

Flags with di erent colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Three ags warn of surf and rip current conditions. Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There’s also purple for dangerous sea life, like jelly sh, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and

has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions are favorable for their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

“Before this, forecasters were manually predicting rip currents on a large section of the ocean twice a day and only a day or two into the future. The earlier prediction has potential to substantially increase awareness and reduce drownings,” said Gregory Dusek, a NOAA scientist who developed the model, in a post on the agency’s website.

High risk warnings were posted for most Florida beaches last week, when the drownings occurred.

Should someone attempt a rip current rescue?

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, o cials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It’s best to nd a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted. People on shore can also try to tell the person to swim parallel to shore.

“Never swim alone. And always make sure that there’s an adult. And make sure that you don’t overestimate your abilities. Know your limits,” Barnickel said.

adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities. The nation’s highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm. In 2021, the justices declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. At the time, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas noted they would have taken up the school board’s appeal.

NOAA VIA AP

Rip currents — highlighted in the image by using a green dye — are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.

MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that addresses gender-a rming care for minors.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Briscoe tapped to replace retiring Truex at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing con rmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The annoucement came days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a press conference.

Briscoe is set to become the rst driver among the four at Stewart-Haas Racing to land a Cup ride for next season.

SHR announced last month it would close its organization at the end of this season. SHR this year elds Cup cars for Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Briscoe is 16th in the Cup points standings after a runner-up nish in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire.

Boy who died at nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in tentlike structure

Medical examiners say a boy who died while enrolled in a nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in the tentlike structure he was sleeping in.

The 12-year-old died in February in western North Carolina while participating in the Trails Carolina wilderness program for troubled youths.

An autopsy report was released Monday. It focused on the boy’s damaged bivy, or small camping enclosure. The bivy’s internal mesh door was torn, and a weather-resistant door was used instead to secure the opening.

Medical examiners noted that fully securing a bivy’s weather resistant opening can lead to “breathing restriction.”

Traveling Vietnam War Memorial makes stop in North Carolina

Visitors to “The Wall That Heals” bring sentiment and re ection

By Bob Sutton Twin City Herald

ASHEBORO — They came for many reasons, but those gathering across several days at “The Wall That Heals” had something in common.

They wanted to recognize the sacri ces of Vietnam War veterans and pay tributes to the military in general.

“The Wall That Heals” was set up on the South Asheboro Middle School baseball eld from last Wednesday through early Sunday afternoon.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Shawn Parrish, a Randle -

man resident who had served in the Air Force.

Asheboro’s Carlene and Renee Corder arrived with a speci c purpose: to honor Charles R. Chriscoe, who grew up with Carlene in the Seagrove community.

“It’s a lot of names,” Carlene Corder said after nding Chriscoe’s name on the wall.

“The Wall That Heals” is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., that travels around the country. The names of 58,281 men and women who died in the Vietnam War are listed.

“It’s something you should come and see if you can’t go to Washington,” Renee Corder said.

“A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

Rita Honeycutt, Randolph County Veteran Services

porting the bid to bring the wall to Asheboro and obtaining corresponding sponsorships.

The grounds were open to visitors around the clock for 96 hours. Group tours with a short program were available — for instance, those were conducted at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday upon demand. It was free to attend.

“We’ve tried to push it out as much as possible to get the word out,” Honeycutt said.

“A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

Honeycutt said state Sen. David Craven Jr., who spoke during the opening ceremony, was heavily involved in sup -

Rita Honeycutt, a veteran service o cer for Randolph County Veterans Services, said having the wall in Randolph County was special.

More than 1,000 people visited “The Wall That Heals” and its museum and mobile education center, set up outside the middle school, during its rst two days in Randolph County. Using a database of deceased veterans, volunteers helped visitors locate speci c names on the wall.

See MEMORIAL, page 2

Commissioners approve 2024-25 budget

The budget maximized school funding while not raising the property tax rate

By Ryan Henkel Twin City Herald

WINSTON-SALEM — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met June 13, when the scal 2024-25 budget was approved.

The total county budget is nearly $584 million, with some $177 million allocated to the school system.

The property tax rate will remain at $0.6778 per $100 valuation despite an initial plan to raise it by $0.045; however, certain re tax districts will see a slight increase. Those districts include Clemmons (Up two cents to $0.08), Lewisville (up a halfcent to $0.09), Old Richmond

(up two cents to $0.115) and Grifth (up 2.5 cents to $0.11).

“This budget leaves the tax rate unchanged, and it substantially increases funding for our local public schools — which is a priority of everyone on this commission — by approximately $9 million in extra spending on school system priorities, more than half of which goes into the recurring budget for operational expenditures,” said Commissioner Dan Besse. “It also responds to the sheri ’s request to retain his JIT team, and it also makes other increases, substantial ones, for the sheri department’s budget for public safety.” He noted that the budget substantially increases funding for emergency services.

“I think while no budget is ever perfect, the essence of budgeting in a democracy is compromise,” Besse said. “I think this is a good budget that shores up pre-

vious weaknesses in our county spending.”

Board chair Don Martin, commissioners Tonya McDaniel, David Plyler and Besse supported the approved budget, while vice chair Gloria Whisenhunt and commissioners Malishai Woodbury and Richard Linville supported a di erent budget plan.

“Unfortunately, there’s no unanimous support for the overall budget, but I do want to say that we tried,” Woodbury said.

“The di erences are about special appropriations, but I’m so happy to let this community know that we worked together to maximize support for public school education.”

Woodbury said the special appropriations process was “woefully and unfairly” broken.

“That’s just the bottom line, and it hurts me to say right now that as we were going through this process, and you can be-

lieve me or not, one of the projects was highlighted by one of us as commissioner to not support it because there’s personal things going on behind special appropriations and all of us fall victim to it because we’re human,” Woodbury said. “Of course, I like some things more than others, but there is no substantial reason one should be over the other if we don’t have a process that attempts to neutralize our biases.”

The board then held a public

See BUDGET, page 2

PJ WARD-BROWN / TWIN CITY HERALD

Ken Watson, Martha Trogdon Watson and Eddie Trogdon hold up a sign honoring fallen family member Ronald G. Trogdon.

BUDGET from page 1

hearing to consider the expenditure of county funds for an economic development project with Excel Interior Door.

“As the name indicates, this company is an interior door manufacturer,” said Community and Economic Development Director Hasani Mitchell. “The company has experienced growth in product demand, and that growth requires them to add an additional facility. So they’re looking for a facility in a location that has strong production labor, a facility that is close to highways and that will also give them proximity to their existing customers along the east coast.”

The company is looking at building the facility in the Union Cross Industrial Center.

Excel Interior Door is considering a $10.5 million capital investment in real property, machinery and equipment, which would create 69 full-time jobs with an average salary of $51,268.

The proposed incentive package is for a ve-year term, with a maximum incentive from the county of $147,981, or 50% of the taxes that the company is expected to generate during that veyear period.

The estimated tax revenue over a 10-year period is $281,033.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet June 27.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: forsythcommunity@ northstatejournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

VinFast puts Chatham on hold, hopes tiny, sub-$10K EV will change its fortunes

The new car, aimed at Asian markets, could buy enough time to crack the U.S. market (maybe)

By Aniruddha Ghosal The Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnamese automaker VinFast, for a short time the third-most valuable car company in the world, has a big problem: It just can’t sell enough cars.

Idle factories bleed money and the company’s nancial health is at stake. After nding the U.S. market a tough nut to crack, VinFast is hoping its tiniest and cheapest car yet — a roughly 10-foot-long pure battery electric mini-SUV priced at $9,200 and called the VF3 — will become Vietnam’s “national car” and win over consumers in Asian markets.

Designed speci cally for the Vietnamese and other Asian markets, the VF3 is priced for “mass appeal,” according to VinFast. It expects bigger sales for it than from earlier models that were meant mainly for export to Western countries, Le Thi Thuy, Vingroup’s chairperson, said in an earnings call in April.

VinFast was dreaming of breaking into the big leagues of global automakers when it launched sales in the U.S. last year and listed its shares on the Nasdaq, where its market value brie y surpassed those of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in late August.

Investor enthusiasm has since cooled, and its shares are trading below $4 from a peak of $82.35.

VinFast is facing delays in construction of a $4 billion factory in Chatham County, where the company said in an email that it

is reviewing and evaluating “all aspects of the construction process.” It’s facing legal troubles over a crash that killed four people in California. It’s also dealing with allegations of patent infringement.

VinFast’s future matters for Vietnam, both because of its ambitions dovetail with the Communist Party’s own goals and because of parent company Vingroup’s large role in the Vietnamese economy. The conglomerate began as an instant noodle company in Ukraine in 1990s and now runs all sorts of businesses.

VinFast reported a net loss of $2.39 billion last year despite a 90% increase in revenue. To patch its tattered nances, Vingroup recently sold its pro table commercial property arm, Vincom Retail. Vingroup’s founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, has committed $1 billion of his personal wealth, on top of the $11.4 billion of nancing the parent company injected into VinFast in 2017-23, according to a ling to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We will never let VinFast go,” he told Vingroup shareholders at their annual general meeting in April, according to state media.

The VF3 initially will be sold in emerging markets in Asia, where car buyers graduating from motorcycles to four-wheelers might not be as nnicky as Americans, said Tu Le, the founder of the consultancy Sino Auto Insights.

Just 3.1 meters long, and 1.6 meters wide and high (10 feet long and 5.2 feet wide and high), it can squeeze into narrow lanes in Asian cities but still seats ve people.

VinFast aims to sell 20,000 of these cars in Vietnam this year,

and deliveries will begin in August. It’s being sold on the Southeast Asian e-commerce website Shopee, with an initial deposit of about $2,000. The company says more than 27,000 people applied to buy the car in the rst three days after orders opened on May 13.

Many, like Dieu Linh, 32, are rst-time car buyers. A businesswoman, she and her husband wanted to switch from motorbikes to a car, which is safer and more comfortable during extreme heat or rains.

“The VF3 price is tempting. But I’ll wait and see how it performs on the road before I make my deposit,” she said.

VinFast plans to start selling VF3s in the Philippines this year and in Indonesia, Thailand, the U.S. and Europe by next year.

It opened its rst showroom in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, in April and says it has sold about 600 SUVs to Indonesian companies. It has begun construction of a factory in India.

Even in Asian markets, VinFast faces plenty of competition, especially from Chinese EV maker BYD, which has already achieved a big enough scale for cost-e cient manufacturing. Chinese EV makers like BYD and Haima are rapidly expanding in Southeast Asia. But in Vietnam, VinFast’s near-monopoly over charging infrastructure — charging stations dot the country, not just in big cities but also in more remote hilly provinces — consumer mistrust of Chinese products and nationalist sentiment may give it an initial edge, said Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

BYD plans to launch three models — the Atto 3, Dolphin and Seal — in Vietnam next month.

VinFast must increase its sales to reduce per unit costs for its sprawling factory in northern Vietnam’s Haiphong province, which has the capacity to make around 250,000 EVs a year but is making a fraction of that.

“An idle factory just burns through money,” said Tu Le, the auto consultant.

India, the world’s third-largest car market by sales, o ers the promise of scale, but only if VinFast builds its own factory there to enable it to bene t from policies that protect local carmakers. High import taxes mean that even at $9,200, the VF3 would be too expensive for Indians, said Ishan Raghav, the managing editor of the Indian car magazine autoX.

The VF3 might appeal to Indian families looking for a compact car with a range suitable for getting around in India’s crowded cities. But newcomers have to set up broad sales and EV charging networks and that will take a few years, he said. “All of these — manufacturing, sales and service and charging networks — are capital intensive and take time,” he said.

Vingroup has launched a company called V-Green to build its own charging infrastructure in Vietnam and other key markets. In Thailand, it plans to build its own charging infrastructure, Vu Dang Yen Hang, chief executive o cer of VinFast Thailand, told The Associated Press in an interview in March.

VinFast is racing against time. Despite prioritizing sales in the U.S., bad reviews for its early models in the hypercompetitive market meant that it sold fewer than 1,000 cars in North America last year and only around 35,000 cars globally, below its target of at least 40,000 cars. About two-thirds of VinFast’s revenue in 2023 came from sales to a taxi service owned by Vingroup, according to a ling to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

VinFast’s main challenge is to improve its nancial performance, said Hiep.

“If they cannot sustain it long enough, they may go bankrupt,” he said.

MEMORIAL from page 1

Honeycutt said the application process to have the wall visit Asheboro began in April 2023. Her o ce learned of the bid’s acceptance in November and has worked on many details since. Earlier last week, “The Wall That Heals” was escorted by

perhaps up to 200 motorcyclists representing American Legion Riders, Combat Veteran Riders, AmVet Riders and others from Creekside Park in Archdale to Asheboro, where it was assembled with the assistance of some Vietnam War veterans.

“I was always interested in going to the wall,” said Parrish, an Air Force veteran who visited with his son and daughter. Chris and Joanne Corsbie of Asheboro stopped by to re ect on that era and the commitments made by so many.

“We were both in high school during the Vietnam War, and we wanted to support this,” Joanne Corsbie said. “We knew people who fought. Fortunately, they came home.”

“What I really like about this is its continued recognition of these folks,” Chris Corsbie said. “I was very impressed.” Asheboro was the only site in North Carolina for “The Wall That Heals” among 33 communities nationally in 2024. The next stop for the exhibit is in Biddeford, Maine.

PJ WARD-BROWN / TWIN CITY HERALD

Clarence York of Asheboro and Edith Swear of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, check “The Wall that Heals” in Asheboro.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

To Biden’s NC team

Please put away the punch bowl. Too many at the party have had way too much to drink.

DEAR NORTH CAROLINA Team Joe,

I recently read The Wall Street Journal article about Joe Biden’s big “investment” in North Carolina. As a retiring legislator from the other party, I want to o er you a warm Tar Heel welcome. I also want to encourage you to ask for a big raise.

In 2020, I was on the wrong side of a big “investment” by Democrats. Your bosses poured millions and millions of outof-state dollars into the state Senate district I represent. They convinced a “woke” true believer to uproot, move into a town, into a district in which she had never lived and spend a lot of time courting conservative voters. It was a big waste of their time and money. I still feel a little sick when I think about it.

Why was a North Carolina Senate seat worth so much to donors in New York and California? What did they tell my opponent to convince her to upend her life for this? And why in the world did anybody ever think that Davie County was going to vote for “woke”?

Most of you are fresh college graduates. You know what it looks like when somebody drinks too much punch. North Carolina is the sweetest punch for political consultants in Washington, D.C.

They know that trouble is brewing in former blue states like Pennsylvania and Michigan and that they need to hedge their bets. That is why they have already hired 60 of you across 16 o ces. Every morning, you can hear them take drink after drink on conference calls. They talk about Democrats’ “registration advantage.” They brag about the growth in blue cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. They do not mention (and probably do not even know) that the party has lost a population the size of Asheville since the day Joe Biden took o ce. Facts like that would kill the buzz.

You are the ones knocking on doors and talking to actual voters. Deep down, you know that the next morning is coming.

You hear from people who are angry that their electric bills are

Great debates

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?”

“PRAY FOR JACK KENNEDY,” I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead “spinner” for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodru and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vicepresidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president, and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

“Does he really do that?” Bentsen asked. Eckart was well-prepared. He really does, we assured him.

“Well, with your permission,” the senator responded (as ever gracious, as if he needed my permission), if he does that in the debate, I’m going to call him on it. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. And he’s no Jack Kennedy.”

“Was he really a friend of yours (ever the fact-checker),” I responded.

“B.A. (his wife) and I went to his wedding.” From that moment on, we were praying for Jack Kennedy.

The rest is history. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” is one of the famous lines in the lore of great debates. It didn’t win the election for his running mate, Michael Dukakis (vice presidents rarely do), but it clearly won the debate. Indeed, the postdebate polls showed Bentsen handily ahead

way up and people who say they will never be able to a ord to own a home. You are listening to heart-breaking stories about people who work two jobs but are worried about being able to put food on the table because the price of everything has doubled. You even hear from longtime Democrat voters who say they are voting for President Trump.

I’d be happy to play a voicemail that I received last week — a lifelong Democrat who has worked for presidential candidates and other Democrat candidates for many years. While crying on the phone, she said, “I nally realize that I have been voting for the unprotection of my children. I will work for Republicans, and I will never vote for another Democrat.” This is a well-informed, articulate, deeply involved former Democrat.

Your bosses never prepared you for that. They do not have a word to say about it. What can they say?

Political campaigning is one of the most challenging jobs there is. It is mostly unstable, low-paid manual labor. You spend most of your time knocking on doors and begging people to knock on doors. Occasionally, you put together signs and attend local events and fundraisers. Dinner is usually cold pizza, eaten while making calls to people who do not want to talk to you. The hours are brutal, and the pay adds up to pennies per hour. Then, in midNovember, you are unceremoniously let go.

You are compassionate and very hard-working young people. You are working for pennies per hour for an e ort that appears to be increasingly doomed. No big White House job will likely materialize from your work this summer and fall. Do not let yourself get taken advantage of.

Please put away the punch bowl. Too many at the party have had way too much to drink.

Get together and ask for a big raise.

Yours Truly,

Joyce

Sen. Joyce Krawiec has represented Forsyth County and the 31st District in the North Carolina Senate since 2014. She lives in Kernersville.

of both Quayle and Betsen’s running mate, George H.W. Bush.

It doesn’t always work out the way you plan, of course. That same year, Bill Clinton and I had rehearsed over and over with Dukakis the answer to the “Willie Horton question” (Horton was a black convicted murderer who had raped a white woman while on a weekend furlough program) about crime.

I can still recite the answer we rehearsed in my sleep these many years later. It was to make clear that Dukakis was on the side of victims, not criminals. “I know what it’s like to be the victim of crime. My brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on his bike and left for dead at the side of the road. My father was beaten and tied up in his medical o ce by thugs who robbed him, looking for drugs.”

But that wasn’t the answer he gave when moderator Bernard Shaw asked him what he would do if someone raped and killed his wife. “Did we just lose the election?” Barry Diller leaned over and asked me as we sat in the holding room watching the debate. There are moments in debates that get replayed constantly, which can make or break a candidate.

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?” candidate Ronald Reagan asked in the only debate that year against incumbent Jimmy Carter. I was in Florida working for Carter that year, and you could feel the oor cave in. Carter’s goal was to paint his challenger as a risk. Reagan handled it with aplomb (“There you go

again,” he said with a smile) and changed the subject. And a close race turned into a landslide.

Expectations matter. Having portrayed Joe Biden as too old and feeble to walk and talk, Republicans are reportedly worried that he has set the bar too low. Biden has set aside time to prepare the old-fashioned way, with a team who has prepared him in the past. Donald Trump has reportedly opted to use his rallies and interviews as his primary preparation. The danger for Biden is that he will come across as too prepared, too scripted, that he will sound like his talking points. The danger for Trump is that he will do what he does at rallies — go entirely o script and rant and rave about what a victim he is instead of running on the accomplishments of his rst term.

And this is, after all, television, and how you look counts. In her wonderful new book about the ’60s, Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how JFK won the rst televised presidential debate with Richard Nixon if you watched it on TV; Nixon fared better on the radio.

Not a coincidence. I heard Don Hewitt, the legendary “60 Minutes” producer who produced the debate for CBS, tell the story of how he arranged for a makeup artist to be available for the two candidates. When he asked them if they wanted makeup, JFK immediately declined, and then Nixon had little choice but to follow suit. Kennedy then went to his dressing room and put on makeup himself. Nixon looked swarthy and sweaty under the lights.

TRIAD STRAIGHT TALK | JOYCE KRAWIEC

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

Forsyth SPORTS

Mays was baseball’s greatest living Hall of Famer — his heir isn’t obvious

A look at who might step up as the face of the sport

By Noah Trister The Associated Press

AMID ALL THE tributes and memories about the legendary Willie Mays, consider this perspective on his greatness: He may have been baseball’s greatest living Hall of Famer — not just at the time of his death this week, but from the moment he was inducted in 1979.

Mays’ combination of hitting, baserunning and defensive brilliance was so extraordinary that simply calling him an all-time great feels insu cient. Some sort of superlative is warranted, and while “greatest living Hall of Famer” is obviously subjective, few would dispute that Mays had a strong case.

As for who deserves that title now — well, it’s a much tougher question.

If Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds, were in the Hall, he’d be a pretty easy choice as the game’s greatest living Hall of Famer, but PED-related controversy continues to keep him out. Here are a few other candidates for this uno cial but compelling honor:

Rickey Henderson

Henderson is the leader among living Hall of Famers in Baseball Reference’s wins above replacement, and while he’s known largely for his speed, at his peak he was an allaround o ensive force. Henderson dominated the 1989 playo s with Oakland and then won his lone MVP award the following year. He retired with a career on-base percentage of .401 and is still the all-time leader in

A memorial to Willie Mays is seen inside Rickwood Field before a baseball game between the St. Louis

and the San Francisco Giants in Birmingham, Alabama, last week.

stolen bases and runs.

Mike Schmidt

In a 13-year span from 197486, the Philadelphia third baseman won three MVPs, eight National League home run titles and 10 Gold Gloves. And his numbers — which included three straight on-base percentage titles and seven 100walk seasons — have aged well through the years. Schmidt struck out a lot and rarely had a high batting average, but modern stats only enhance his status as one of the most valuable sluggers of his era.

Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez

Take your pick from this trio of stellar pitchers who combined to win a dozen Cy Young Awards. Martinez’s 19972000 peak may have been the

best of the bunch, although Maddux’s incredible 1992-95 stretch was limited a bit by a couple strike-shortened seasons. Johnson pitched until he was 46, and only Nolan Ryan has more strikeouts than the 6-foot-10 left-hander.

Sandy Koufax

Koufax is one of Mays’ contemporaries, but he’s been tough to evaluate historically because of his early retirement due to arm problems. From 1963-66, Koufax posted an ERA under 2.00 three times and had over 300 strikeouts three times. Then his career ended at age 30.

Ken Gri ey Jr.

There’s a beautiful symmetry between Mays, the “Say Hey Kid,” and Gri ey, who was just “The Kid.” They’re even one spot apart on the career home run list. But after debuting at age 19 and combining elite slugging with electrifying play in center eld, Gri ey’s durability became an issue after he turned 30.

Honorable mention

Cal Ripken Jr. was more than just a popular player with a record-setting consecutive games streak. ... Carl Yastrzemski and Wade Boggs had similar career WAR numbers to Ripken. Yaz put up great o ensive stats during the pitcher-friendly late 1960s, and Boggs probably deserved more MVP consideration while winning ve batting titles in six years during the ’80s. ... Mariano Rivera never won a Cy Young Award or MVP, but he deserves a nod as the only player elected to the Hall unanimously.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Brady Marshall

Reagan, baseball

Brady Marshall is a rising junior on Reagan’s baseball team.

The Raiders went 22-5 this season, winning the Central Piedmont with a 14-2 league record. Marshall, a third baseman, was one of the key contributors, winning all-conference honors. He also was named to the 4A all-state team by the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association, which is voted on by coaches around the state.

Step down from elite college football, o cials

pitch model for new sports landscape

UNC Asheville’s AD presented a new way to organize athletics at an online panel

By John Zenor The Associated Press

FACING UPHEAVAL on the way in college athletics, a handful of administrators and athletes from smaller schools have been working on a new model of governance. The hope of members of the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I-AAA (programs without football) is to give their athletes more of a say and essentially treat them more like students than employees. It was a way to be proactive — and potentially head o future

lawsuits — amid seismic changes across college sports.

Janet Cone, the president of I-AAA athletic directors and the AD at UNC Asheville, joined colleagues to present their proposed model earlier this month at the annual convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and to others during an online panel organized by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“Our goal was to create a sustainable model that was philosophically and legally defensible and would keep our subdivisions competing in Division I,” Cone told the group.

There are 128 FCS programs that o er football, from Abilene Christian to Youngstown State. There are another approximately 90 I-AAA schools with-

out football that include basketball-focused athletic programs such as Gonzaga, Creighton and St. John’s.

Organizers say their plan would keep their schools at the D-I level while giving athletes more control over governance without resorting to legal action and perhaps provide them with a chance to earn credits toward a degree for athletics.

“I think that the response has been very positive,” said Tom Michael, athletic director at FCS school Eastern Illinois. “I think people believe that we’re down the right path. We understand we’re not at the nish line. Nobody has suggested that this is the nal version of this model.

“I think that there’s an understanding that we need to be proactive on this and we can’t sit and

wait for somebody else to try to point us in the direction or create the pathway for us.”

The group enlisted the Pictor Group as consultants last November. The plan has the stated mission of treating athletes more like other students and outlines a di erent role for coaches: Potential no-nos could include removing a player from a team as punishment or pressuring them to move into certain majors. Other proposals cover unreasonable time commitments, rules for appearance o the eld and testing for recreational drugs.

“Obviously there’s got to be some kind of control to compete at a high level but not exerting control of everything they do,” Cone said of coaches. “Those pieces are really critical to our model where the student-athletes

are going to be very involved.”

Former Abilene Christian football player Anthony Egbo Jr. and Radford volleyball player Meredith Page are among the athletes involved. They surveyed peers on what coaches expected of them and got some 100 responses to help formulate the model.

Egbo told the Knight Commission audience that the increased professionalizing of college sports has created more desire for athletes to have more say “in the development of policies that impact our experience.”

“The question that we’ve been asking is: What if there’s a better way for student-athletes to have in uence over their experience that didn’t have to go through judicial and third-party systems?” Egbo said.

REAGAN RAIDERS SOCIAL MEDIA

VASHA HUNT / AP PHOTO

Cardinals

ASHEVILLE ATHLETICS

UNC Asheville athletic director Janet Cone is taking on a leadership role as smaller schools try to nd a place in the new college athletics landscape.

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NCAA eyes expanding March Madness from current 68 teams

The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each eld at 68 teams. If approved, the NCAA would keep its 64 -team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds. The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season and more meetings are scheduled. The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams. The women’s tournament matched that in 2022.

OLYMPICS

Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd

Los Angeles

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced changes it says will create an estimated $156 million in savings and revenue increases. Swimming will be held at 38,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, basketball at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics at Crypto.com Arena. To accommodate the opening and closing ceremonies at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted. Athletics will move to the rst week of the games, while swimming will be held the second week. The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14-30, 2028.

MLB Yankees’ Stanton goes on injured list for 8th time in 6 seasons

New York New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list for the eighth time in six seasons, a day after straining his left hamstring. A 34-year-old former MVP, Stanton left Saturday night’s 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves and was set to undergo imaging Sunday. Stanton doubled o the center- eld wall in the fourth inning and winced when he rounded third base on Gleyber Torres’ double. Trent Grisham pinch hit for Stanton leading o the sixth. Stanton had missed 266 of 708 games in the past ve seasons.

SOCCER

Pelé’s mother dies at age 101 in Brazil

Sao Paulo Celeste Arantes, the mother of late soccer great Pelé, died on Friday at age 101. Arantes spent the past ve years in a vegetative state and was not informed about her famous son’s death in 2022. The Brazilian Football Confederation says Arantes was hospitalized for the past eight days. The Pelé Foundation says on its social media channels that the mother of the only threetime World Cup-winning player was a role model. Pelé was one of Arantes’ three children. She was initially against her son becoming a professional footballer but gradually changed her views as her son became more successful.

Bell takes checkered ag in rainy New Hampshire

The race is the rst in Cup Series history to end with cars running on rain tires

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell raised a broom over his head and clutched a 24-pound lobster in Victory Lane all because he earned his third Cup win of the season in an outcome that would have been impossible before this NASCAR season.

Heck, it still looked pretty grim for most of Sunday at a rainy track.

Once the skies cleared, NASCAR busted out its latest creation it had saved for a rainy day — wet weather Goodyear tires that allowed the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to continue all the way to a thrilling end.

Bell mastered the Cup Series’ rst race that ended with cars running on rain tires and

pulled away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay to beat darkness and the eld and win Sunday at New Hampshire.

He also swept the weekend at New Hampshire following Saturday’s win in the X nity Series.

“Hopefully that was entertaining because it was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do,” Bell said. “The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

With darkness falling, Bell cruised past Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe and remained the driver to beat at New Hampshire. He has four wins in the X nity Series at Loudon and won a Cup race at the track for a second time.

This time, he won with 86 laps raced on the new tires.

“It was dark. It was very, very dark. That was creeping up in a hurry to being too dark to race,” Bell said. “Certainly there were

“It was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

Christopher Bell

dry parts on the track, but there were still a lot of wet parts on the track, too. I can’t tell you how far away it was, but in my opinion, I didn’t think it was ready for the dry tires yet.”

Briscoe was second and Berry third. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top ve.

“I think we could have probably started with the track a little bit wetter,” Briscoe said.

“The beginning was pretty fun.

We were all over the place. Five wide at times and slipping and sliding around.”

Even with the start of the race bumped up a half-hour, New Hampshire was a mess from the moment the green ag was dropped. The race was marred by wrecks that wiped some of NASCAR’s biggest stars out of contention — all while the rest of the eld tried to remain in contention and beat the looming rain that hovered over the entire weekend.

Tyler Reddick, who won at Talladega this season, held the lead when the race was redagged because of rain with 82 laps left in the scheduled 301lap race.

New Hampshire and NASCAR waited out a tornado watch, nearby lightning strikes and a severe thunderstorm warning before it could resume the race after a delay of more than two hours.

NASCAR let teams use wet-weather tires for the only second time in a points race this season. Teams had a maximum of four sets of wet-weather tires to race on the damp oval track. Teams had to take rain tires during pit stops and their position could not be a ected. They also had no choice of tire.

Lakers hire Redick as new head coach

The former Duke star and NBA veteran has no coaching experience

By Greg Beacham The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick has been hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports.

The 39-year-old Redick is an extraordinary choice by the Lakers, who hired a 15-year veteran with absolutely no coaching experience to lead a franchise with 17 NBA titles, one of the biggest brand names in world sports — and LeBron James, the top scorer in league history.

Redick was a pro cient outside shooter for six teams before his retirement in September 2021, when he moved into a career in broadcasting and podcasting. He joined ESPN’s lead commentary team earlier this year.

ESPN rst reported the decision. Before Redick nished broadcasting the NBA nals, he met with the Lakers last weekend and apparently did well enough to end the franchise’s lengthy coaching search. Less than two weeks after UConn coach Danny Hurley turned down the Lakers’ ardent advances, Redick accepted the job in a remarkable three-year journey from the court to the broadcast booth to the Lakers’ bench.

Redick replaces Darvin Ham, who was red May 3 despite leading the Lakers to two playo berths and a Western Conference nals appearance in 2023. Redick began recording a regular podcast with James two months ago, and their “Mind the Game” collaboration is already wildly popular, with listeners often emerging impressed by the duo’s basketball acumen and high-level discussion of tactics and motivation.

Now these two minds will be working together for the Lakers, with Redick leading a roster headlined by James, who is six months younger than Redick. Everything is contingent on James deciding to return to play with Anthony Davis and the Lakers, of course. James, who will enter his 22nd NBA season this fall, could decline his $51.4 million contract option this month to become a free agent.

But hiring Redick seems to be

another calculated move by the Lakers to maximize their chances of keeping the 20-time AllStar and the driving force behind their 2020 championship team.

Redick’s coaching experience is limited to his children’s youth teams, but he has been around the game his entire life. He is the leading scorer in the history of Duke, where he played four seasons under Mike Krzyzewski.

Redick’s arrival ends another unusual o season coaching search for owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers, who are hiring their eighth head coach since Phil Jackson’s nal departure in 2011, and their fourth since James arrived as a free agent in 2018.

Los Angeles needed six weeks to settle on Ham in the summer of 2022, but the longtime assistant coach was dismissed after the Lakers lost to defending champion Denver in the rst round of the Western Conference playo s.

Ham led the Lakers to two winning seasons and a victory in the inaugural In-Season Tournament last year, but many fans and observers — and, clearly, the Lakers’ front o ce — were not impressed by his leadership or preparation.

Davis memorably said during the playo s that the Lakers “have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the oor.”

PHELAN M. EBENHACK / AP PHOTO

Former Orlando Magic guard JJ Redick leaves the court after being honored by the team earlier this season. The Lakers have hired Redick for his rst coaching job.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Christopher Bell, front left, holds up a lobster while standing with his wife Morgan, front right, as they celebrate his win in

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister recommited to “eliminating Hamas”

By Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy

The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease- re deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest ceasere proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the out-

lines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease- re proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes

and mistrust persist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent ceasere and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out an-

other Oct. 7-style assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of ghting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t

mean the war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington, D.C., with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conicts, including with Hezbollah.

Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic bu er zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the bu er zone will bring an end to that.

During the initial six-week phase of the proposed ceasere, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages including male soldiers and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary cease- re would become permanent.

Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable con rmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

Most of the victims were Chinese migrant workers

By Hyung-jin Kim The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — A re likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, o cials said.

The re began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second oor of the factory in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., re o cials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The dead included 18 Chi-

nese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local re o cial

Kim Jin-young told a televised brie ng. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately veri ed. In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more a uent South Koreans.

Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.

The re started at one of the factory buildings owned by bat-

tery manufacturer Aricell. He said that authorities would investigate whether re extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer goods from laptops to cellphones. They can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to res and explosions and making them a hazard for shipment aboard aircraft.

The video of the incident showed the factory’s second oor being engulfed with blaze, about 15 seconds after a small amount of white smoke was seen billowing from a battery, senior re o cial Jo Seon-ho told a brie ng later Monday.

Jo, citing the footage, said workers at the site mobilized re extinguishers but failed to

put out the blaze. They later rushed to an area where there was no exit before they likely inhaled toxic smoke and lost consciousness, he said. The dead foreign workers were daily laborers, so they were likely unfamiliar with the building’s internal structure, he added. Fire o cials said a total of 102 people were working at the factory at the time of the re.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing a safety helmet and a mask, visited the site with other o cials. He expressed condolences to the dead and ordered o cials to put in place measures to e ectively deal with battery-related res, according to Yoon’s o ce.

Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, the country’s No. 2 o cial, and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min also came to

the site. Han asked o cials to provide government assistance for funeral services and support programs for victims’ relatives, according to his o ce.

Monday’s blaze is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years. In 2020, a re at a warehouse being built in Icheon City, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died after a re ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, 12 of them ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died after a re and accompanying explosions tore through a refrigerated warehouse in Icheon city.

South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that regard safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.

HONG KI-WONJ / YONHAP VIA AP

Fire ghters work at the site of a burnt lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.

LEO CORREA / AP PHOTO

People protest Saturday in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

STATE & NATION

How swimmers can escape dangerous rip currents

There are 16 known deaths in U.S. waters this year

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Stinging jelly sh, rays with whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year.

Six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama, o cials say.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association, and more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The National Weather Service lists 16 known deaths so far in 2024 from rip currents in U.S. waters, including the Florida fatalities as well as eight deaths in Puerto Rico and two in Texas.

Here are some things to know about rip currents: What is a rip current?

Rip currents are narrow col-

How can someone escape a rip current?

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to not panic and look for a chance to swim parallel to the shore until the swimmer is out of the rip current’s grip. It will eventually dissipate but might leave the swimmer out in deeper water.

It’s nearly impossible to ght the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say. If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

“Most of our rip current rescues happen outside the guarded areas because we’re not there to prevent it from happening,” Barnickel said.

What warning systems exist for rip currents?

Flags with di erent colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions are favorable for their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

“Before this, forecasters were manually predicting rip currents on a large section of the ocean twice a day and only a day or two into the future. The earlier prediction has potential to substantially increase awareness and reduce drownings,” said Gregory Dusek, a NOAA scientist who developed the model, in a post on the agency’s website.

High risk warnings were posted for most Florida beaches last week, when the drownings occurred.

Should someone attempt a rip current rescue?

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, o cials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

umns of water owing rapidly away from the beach, like a swift stream within the ocean. They don’t pull swimmers under water but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because

Bans on gender-a rming care by states to be heard by Supreme Court

The high court has rarely taken up cases involving transgender issues

By Mark Sherman

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the ght over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-a rming care.

The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take e ect after they had been

blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)

“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal ling in support of Supreme Court review.

Arguments will take place in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-a rming medical care for transgender minors.

Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they had been blocked by lower courts.

At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. At least 11 states have

the surface water often appears calm.

The current can ow as swiftly as 8 feet per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you’re caught in one and you try to swim straight in, you’re not going to be able to,” said Daniel Barnickel of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue.

Three ags warn of surf and rip current conditions. Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There’s also purple for dangerous sea life, like jelly sh, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and

It’s best to nd a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted. People on shore can also try to tell the person to swim parallel to shore.

“Never swim alone. And always make sure that there’s an adult. And make sure that you don’t overestimate your abilities. Know your limits,” Barnickel said.

adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The nation’s highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm. In 2021, the justices declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. At the time, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas noted they would have taken up the school board’s appeal.

NOAA VIA AP

Rip currents — highlighted in the image by using a green dye — are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.

MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that addresses gender-a rming care for minors.

the stream

Hulu showcases fashion icon Von Furstenberg,

Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion”

The Associated Press

THIS WEEK, Megan Thee Stallion drops her new album, Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion,” and Apple TV+ debuts Eva Longoria as a woman whose life changes completely in “Land of Women.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion” (streaming on Prime Video), a lm chronicling the Canadian singer’s battle with Sti Person Syndrome. For the lm, director Irene Taylor spends time with Dion at home and in her personal life as she re ects on her career and discusses the di culties of her condition, a rare a iction that she rst divulged she was living with in 2022. Before Lily Gladstone was Oscar-nominated for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” she starred in the Sundance 2023 entry “Fancy Dance,” director Erica Tremblay’s drama about life on the Seneca-Cayuga Nation reservation in Oklahoma. The lm, which debuts Friday on Apple TV+, is about Jax (Gladstone), who searches for her missing sister with her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson).

The life and style of fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg are chronicled in directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton’s documentary “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” streaming on Hulu. The lm, which kicked o the recent Tribeca Festival, proles the Belgian designer whose huge in uence on 20th-century fashion is most notable for bringing the wrap dress to prominence in 1974.

SHOWS TO STREAM

After four years, the acclaimed and award-winning German series “Babylon Berlin” has a new season available in the United States. The show is set in the 1930s as the Nazis rose to power. The rst three

‘That ’90s Show’ returns

seasons of “Babylon Berlin” originally streamed on Net ix. Still, those episodes and a new fourth season are available exclusively in North America on the MHz Choice streaming service.

In “Land of Women,” Eva Longoria plays Gala, a New Yorker living the good life one day and the next is left with her husband’s massive debt after he disappears. She ees to northern Spain with her mother and teenage daughter. The sh-outof-water series is based on a famous novel created for TV by the proli c Spanish TV producer Ramón Campos. The dialogue combines English, Spanish and Catalan — a language spoken in northeastern Spain.

“One of the big sources of comedy is miscommunication, which is ripe for that,” Longoria told TV critics earlier this year. The “Land of Women” debuted Wednesday on Apple TV+. Much like Hulu’s take on Catherine the Great in “The Great,” a new Prime Video series called “My Lady Jane” is an irreverent telling of the story of Lady Jane Grey. At 17, Grey became Queen for nine days before her half-sister Mary stole her support and her crown. She was then sent to the Tower of London, where she was executed. “My Lady Jane” debuts

Thursday.

Hello again, Wisconsin! The second season of “That ’90s Show” debuts on Netflix on Thursday. Season one saw Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Prepon and Topher Grace reprise their roles. (Danny Masterson was written out of the show as he prepared for a rape trial that ended with his conviction and a 30-year prison sentence.) Prepon is the only one from the core group who will be back for season two. The sequel series stars Callie Haverda as Leia Forman, the daughter of Grace’s Eric and Prepon’s Donna, who is visiting her grandparents, Red and Kitty, played by Kurtwood Smith and Debora Jo Rupp. Ryan Serhant of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” is now fronting his Netflix show, “Owning Manhattan.” Cameras follow some of his Serhant real estate employees competing for expensive New York listings. Where Serhant pounded the pavement in “Million Dollar Listing,” the pressure is now on his staff instead. Serhant is more of a mentor in this role.

MUSIC TO STREAM

Grammy-award-winning

R&B singer Lucky Daye is preparing to release a new album on Friday titled “Algorithm.” (Think of the name as a creative reversal — he aims to make soulful music that extends beyond the predictability of machine learning.) His single “Soft” celebrates the vulnerabilities inherent in a new relationship atop big drum fills and heart-fluttering vocal harmonies.

“Megan” is Megan Thee Stallion’s third full-length album and the first to be self-released under her label, Hot Girl Productions; she promises to continue her reign as the sovereign of Hot Girl Summers. Independence looks good on her: From the raprock “COBRA,” with its fearless lyricism on everything from infidelity to depression, to the Gwen Stefani-sampling “BOA” – an imaginative take on 2004’s “What You Waiting For?” — it’s clear Megan is enjoying her creative autonomy. But don’t take it from us — a quick listen to “HISS,” an aggressive reclamation of her public image, makes it clear from the spoken-word intro.

Available on video-on-demand starting Friday, “Revival69: The Concert That Rocked the World” documents the 1969 Toronto Rock and

Roll Revival, a famous festival that featured the debut of The Plastic Ono Band — including video footage of John Lennon’s rst signi cant performance outside the Beatles, what many credit as a trigger for Lennon’s decision to leave the band. This doc o ers a behind-the-scenes look at the event and footage from its grounds, featuring talking head interviews with some musicians. And there’s a lot to celebrate with a lineup consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Doors, Alice Cooper and beyond.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Games don’t get much sillier than Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, the latest version of Sega’s most adorable franchise. The premise is simple enough: You control a monkey in a ball and zip around 3D mazes while collecting fruit and other goodies. You can compete against up to 15 other primates in various multiplayer games like “Ba-Boom!” — an explosive version of hot potato. You can also take on adventure mode, with more than 200 levels that you can explore solo or with up to three friends. It is out on Nintendo

Switch.

HULU/PRIME/ APPLE TV+ VIA AP

The documentary “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” left, the documentary “I Am Celine Dion,” center, and the lm “Fancy Dance” are all streaming this week.

RICHARD SHOTWELL / AP PHOTO

The cast of “That ’90s Show” arrives at a special screening in Los Angeles.

Randolph record

WHAT’S HAPPENING

WIC moves Archdale o ce to new address

The Women, Infants, and Children program o ce in Archdale has moved to a new location at 215 Balfour Drive.

The newly-relocated o ce will be open on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m.

WIC, part of Randolph County Public Health, will continue to provide services at the main program center at 1461 North Fayetteville St. in Asheboro.

That o ce is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Briscoe tapped to replace retiring Truex at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing con rmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The annoucement came days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a press conference.

Briscoe is set to become the rst driver among the four at Stewart-Haas Racing to land a Cup ride for next season.

SHR announced last month it would close its organization at the end of this season. SHR this year elds Cup cars for Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Briscoe is 16th in the Cup points standings after a runner-up nish in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire.

Traveling Vietnam War Memorial makes stop in Randolph County

Visitors to “The Wall That Heals” bring sentiment and re ection

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — They came for many reasons, but those gathering across several days at “The Wall That Heals” had something in common.

They wanted to recognize the sacri ces of Vietnam War veterans and pay tributes to the military in general.

“The Wall That Heals” was set up on the South Asheboro Middle School baseball eld from last Wednesday through early Sunday afternoon.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Shawn Parrish, a Randle -

man resident who had served in the Air Force.

Asheboro’s Carlene and Renee Corder arrived with a speci c purpose: to honor Charles R. Chriscoe, who grew up with Carlene in the Seagrove community.

“It’s a lot of names,” Carlene Corder said after nding Chriscoe’s name on the wall.

“The Wall That Heals” is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., that travels around the country. The names of 58,281 men and women who died in the Vietnam War are listed.

“It’s something you should come and see if you can’t go to Washington,” Renee Corder said.

“A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

porting the bid to bring the wall to Asheboro and obtaining corresponding sponsorships.

The grounds were open to visitors around the clock for 96 hours. Group tours with a short program were available — for instance, those were conducted at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday upon demand. It was free to attend.

“We’ve tried to push it out as much as possible to get the word out,” Honeycutt said.

“A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

Honeycutt said state Sen. David Craven Jr., who spoke during the opening ceremony, was heavily involved in sup -

Rita Honeycutt, a veteran service o cer for Randolph County Veterans Services, said having the wall in Randolph County was special.

More than 1,000 people visited “The Wall That Heals” and its museum and mobile education center, set up outside the middle school, during its rst two days in Randolph County. Using a database of deceased veterans, volunteers helped visitors locate speci c names on the wall.

Honeycutt said the applica-

See MEMORIAL, page 2

Asheboro budget won’t increase property tax

Water and sewer rates to go up

By Ryan Henkel Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The City Council met on June 6 and was presented with the recommended 2024-25 annual operating budget.

The budget totals $71.5 million and does not recommend a property tax increase, keeping the rate even at $0.71 per $100 valuation.

A large portion of the budget — just under $22 million — is set aside for public safety, with Asheboro police getting a $13 million allocation and re ghters nearly $8 million. The budget also includes a 2.5% cost-of-living increase for city employees, funding to implement seven new employees

and about $28 million for personnel.

“A budget is a checkbook, but it’s also a policy document where you lay out your tax rate and what you think the money should be spent for,” said City Manager John Ogburn. “Along with your zoning ordinance, your city code and your strategic plan, these are the major ways the council speaks to the public.”

Despite no change in the property tax rate, the council has, however, proposed implementing a 2% rate increase for water and sewer e ective July 1 as well as additional minimal increases in the future to help fund upcoming needed maintenance to the water and sewer infrastructure system.

According to Finance Director Deborah Reaves, Asheboro has one of the lowest rate structures in central N.C., and that

has presented challenges when applying for low-interest loans from the state.

The state won’t qualify Asheboro for those loans due to the city’s perceived inability to sustain new debt services due to the low rates. In addition, the city is also losing approximately $203,000 in revenue due to the annexation of the North Carolina Zoo, which changes its rate structure from the outside of the city limits rate to the inside city limits rate.

The budget is set to be adopted on June 27.

In addition, the board approved implementing a 25-mph speed limit in the Olde Towne Village subdivision and a resolution to petition Randolph County for a portion of their special intensity allocations.

“Under state law, council has the ability to grant special approval for projects that meet

certain criteria,” said Community Development Director Trevor Nuttall. “We are nearing the limit of what we can do within our jurisdiction and have approached the county about a potential arrangement that is allowed by state law that would grant us a portion of its jurisdictions so that we can continue to have an availability to consider economic development projects or other types of needed projects within those watershed areas.”

The Asheboro City Council will next meet July 11.

Rita Honeycutt, Randolph County Veteran Services

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Ken Watson, Martha Trogdon Watson and Eddie Trogdon hold up a sign honoring fallen family member Ronald G. Trogdon.

Retiring Randolph Electric CEO expresses pride, concerns

REMC’s Dale Lambert led his last meeting as CEO

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Dale Lam-

bert took part in his nal meeting as CEO of Randolph Electric Membership Corporation (REMC) on Friday night at Southwestern Randolph High School.

“I’m guessing most of us can agree on how quickly time goes by,” said Lambert, who spent more than 39 years with REMC. “Life is short, but eternity is long. I’ve had to make thousands of decisions through the years as your CEO.”

The meeting’s theme was “Powering the Journey Ahead,” with 339 registered members attending and 581 registered online.

“As we celebrate our 86th anniversary, we are proud that our member-owners have ranked REMC amongst the highest in the nation for member satisfaction among electric cooperatives,” Lambert said. “Since 1938, Randolph Electric has

LOG

June 17

• Christopher Dale Hogan was arrested by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony possession of methamphetamine. Bond was denied.

June 21

kept our member-owners as our top priority. We appreciate the vital role they play in the life of the cooperative.”

In his nal speech at an annual meeting, Lambert said he’s proud of the many challenges REMC has addressed and warned of “headwinds on the horizon” for the industry.

“Even with all these challenges, we’ve been able to keep rates more stable than some of our neighboring electric utilities,” he said. “But the electric utility industry is in a rising costs environment.”

Lambert said REMC has pushed hard against some new regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. He said the rules and the time frame for them to be in place are unrealistic.

“These nal rules, if implemented, will jeopardize reliability and result in more blackouts, higher costs and greater uncertainty for Randolph EMC members, American families and businesses,” Lambert said.

The REMC board of directors has selected Dennis Mabe as its next CEO. He will take over this week.

• William Chad Whitt, 46, was arrested by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony possession of a firearm by felon. He was issued a $100,000 secured bond.

June 22

• Christopher Allen Small was arrested by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony breaking and entering and felony larceny after breaking and entering. The magistrate

“Even though my career at Randolph EMC is coming to a close, I’m excited about the new chapter that’s unfolding,” Lambert said. “Your cooperative is blessed to have a highly experienced and strong employee and leadership team.”

Tammie Phillips, president of the REMC board of directors, said surveys completed by members across the past two years are critical to assessing the work of the cooperative.

“I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of our members who voluntarily participate in these surveys,” Phillips said. “This feedback is very important to us so that we know how to meet and exceed your expectations. Thank you for entrusting us with your energy delivery and for providing valuable data so we can enhance our services to you.”

During the business meeting, the membership elected three directors: Delbert Cranford to represent District 5, Steve Harris in District 8 and Billy Maness in District 9.

Phillips recognized Colton Freeman, a North Moore High School rising senior, as the REMC’s youth tourist.

denied bond.

June 23

• Jameal Shufon Matthews was arrested by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony fleeing/ eluding arrest with a motor vehicle and driving while license revoked (impaired revocation). He was issued no bond due to currently being out on pre-trial release. We stand corrected To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline. com with “Correction request” in the subject line.

MEMORIAL from page 1

tion process to have the wall visit Asheboro began in April 2023. Her o ce learned of the bid’s acceptance in November and has worked on many details since.

Earlier last week, “The Wall That Heals” was escorted by perhaps up to 200 motorcyclists representing American Legion Riders, Combat Veteran Riders, AmVet Riders and others from Creekside Park in

Archdale to Asheboro, where it was assembled with the assistance of some Vietnam War veterans.

“I was always interested in going to the wall,” said Parrish, an Air Force veteran who visited with his son and daughter.

Chris and Joanne Corsbie of Asheboro stopped by to re ect on that era and the commitments made by so many.

“We were both in high school during the Vietnam War, and we wanted to sup -

port this,” Joanne Corsbie said. “We knew people who fought. Fortunately, they came home.”

“What I really like about this is its continued recognition of these folks,” Chris Corsbie said. “I was very impressed.”

Asheboro was the only site in North Carolina for “The Wall That Heals” among 33 communities nationally in 2024. The next stop for the exhibit is in Biddeford, Maine.

Randolph Guide

The Randolph Guide is a quick look at what’s going on in Randolph County.

July 2-6

Southeast Old Threshers Reunion

8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

The annual event is the largest Antique Tractor and Engine Show in the South. Daily tickets are $18 for adults, Children 5-12 are $6, and children under 5 are free. Denton Farmpark, 1072 Cranford Rd. in Denton. For more information and full schedule visit dentonfarmpark.com or call 336-859-2755.

July 3

ZooKeepers Baseball & Fireworks

7 p.m.

Get ready for great Coastal Plain League baseball between the homestanding ZooKeppers and the Boone Bigfoots followed by the annual reworks show.

July

4

Fireworks and Food Trucks at Creekside Park

4 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Food trucks and music will begin at 4 p.m. for those who want to come grab some treats and enjoy great music before the reworks show after dusk. Creekside Park, 214 Park Dr. in Archdale.

July 5

Randleman Market & Music

5:30 p.m.

A Fun 5th Celebration to honor America at this month’s Market & Music. Food trucks roll in around 5:30 p.m. and music starts at 7 p.m. Commerce Square Park, 120 Commerce Square in Randleman

July 12

Asheboro Rock’n the Park 6:30 p.m.

Doug Brewin’s Tribute to Alan Jackson will perform with opening act Zinc Kings. Admission is free. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the music. Asheboro’s Bicentennial Park.

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Clarence York of Asheboro and Edith Swear of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, check “The Wall that Heals” in Asheboro.

Guide THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Delivering for Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers.

AS FORT LIBERTY/FORT

BRAGG’S congressman,

I know there is no investment more important than the one we make in the men and women stationed there, their families, and our veterans. They sacri ce so much to protect our nation and preserve the freedoms we hold so dear, and I am working to ensure they have the support and resources they deserve.

Many service members and their families are away from their communities for extended periods throughout the year and should have the best quality of life possible while they serve our country. This year’s Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for FY25 (NDAA), which the House recently passed, ensures just that.

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers. It also supports new military family housing and commits resources to housing maintenance so that sewage over ows, mold and bedbugs are quickly treated and prevented from reoccurring, an issue I have pushed for years now after hearing awful stories from our soldiers at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg. The NDAA further expands access to child care for military families and ensures our troops and their families receive the highquality health care they deserve.

I am especially proud that the bill includes big wins for our troops and their families at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg, including over $87 million for needed infrastructure and quality-of-life projects on the base, ranging from funding for the Child Development Center and the SOF arms room addition all the way to housekeeping items like generators

Great debates

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?”

“PRAY FOR JACK KENNEDY,” I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead “spinner” for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodru and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president, and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

“Does he really do that?” Bentsen asked.

Eckart was well-prepared. He really does, we assured him.

“Well, with your permission,” the senator responded (as ever gracious, as if he needed my permission), if he does that in the debate, I’m going to call him on it. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. And he’s no Jack Kennedy.”

“Was he really a friend of yours (ever the fact-checker),” I responded.

“B.A. (his wife) and I went to his wedding.” From that moment on, we were praying for Jack Kennedy.

The rest is history. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” is one of the famous lines in the lore of great debates. It didn’t win the election for his running mate, Michael Dukakis (vice presidents rarely do), but it clearly won the debate. Indeed, the post-debate

and water systems to keep the base clean and running. The bill also includes my provisions to strengthen oversight of military housing and prevent President Biden’s proposal to cut funding for our Special Forces unit at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg.

Funding important programs that help take care of those who have taken care of us — our nation’s veterans — is one of my top priorities. These heroes sacri ced so much to give us the freedoms that we have today, and we made a promise to ensure Washington works for them.

House Republicans delivered on that promise through recently passing this year’s Military Construction, Veterans A airs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act — a plan that honors our commitment to our veterans. This legislation in fact provides $30 billion more than last year’s enacted level for veterans. It fully funds veterans’ health care, bene ts and all other VA programs, including toxic exposure-related needs, while protecting their constitutional rights from Big Bureaucracy’s assault. In addition to these measures, I also worked to include funding for VA mental health programs like suicide prevention.

This year’s NDAA and MilConVA Appropriations package represent our unwavering commitment to the brave men and women who have answered the call to serve our nation. Rest assured, I am going to continue to ght for these heroes and make clear that they will always have my support.

Richard Hudson represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in Congress.

polls showed Bentsen handily ahead of both Quayle and Betsen’s running mate, George H.W. Bush.

It doesn’t always work out the way you plan, of course. That same year, Bill Clinton and I had rehearsed over and over with Dukakis the answer to the “Willie Horton question” (Horton was a black convicted murderer who had raped a white woman while on a weekend furlough program) about crime.

I can still recite the answer we rehearsed in my sleep these many years later. It was to make clear that Dukakis was on the side of victims, not criminals. “I know what it’s like to be the victim of crime. My brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on his bike and left for dead at the side of the road. My father was beaten and tied up in his medical o ce by thugs who robbed him, looking for drugs.”

But that wasn’t the answer he gave when moderator Bernard Shaw asked him what he would do if someone raped and killed his wife. “Did we just lose the election?” Barry Diller leaned over and asked me as we sat in the holding room watching the debate.

There are moments in debates that get replayed constantly, which can make or break a candidate.

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?” candidate Ronald Reagan asked in the only debate that year against incumbent Jimmy Carter. I was in Florida working for Carter that year, and you could feel the oor cave in. Carter’s goal was to paint his challenger as a risk. Reagan handled it with aplomb

(“There you go again,” he said with a smile) and changed the subject. And a close race turned into a landslide.

Expectations matter. Having portrayed Joe Biden as too old and feeble to walk and talk, Republicans are reportedly worried that he has set the bar too low. Biden has set aside time to prepare the old-fashioned way, with a team who has prepared him in the past. Donald Trump has reportedly opted to use his rallies and interviews as his primary preparation. The danger for Biden is that he will come across as too prepared, too scripted, that he will sound like his talking points. The danger for Trump is that he will do what he does at rallies — go entirely o script and rant and rave about what a victim he is instead of running on the accomplishments of his rst term.

And this is, after all, television, and how you look counts. In her wonderful new book about the ’60s, Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how JFK won the rst televised presidential debate with Richard Nixon if you watched it on TV; Nixon fared better on the radio.

Not a coincidence. I heard Don Hewitt, the legendary “60 Minutes” producer who produced the debate for CBS, tell the story of how he arranged for a makeup artist to be available for the two candidates. When he asked them if they wanted makeup, JFK immediately declined, and then Nixon had little choice but to follow suit. Kennedy then went to his dressing room and put on makeup himself. Nixon looked swarthy and sweaty under the lights.

COLUMN | RICHARD HUDSON

RandolpH SPORTS

Blackledge builds own career with ZooKeepers

Blackledge’s college season ending so late.

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — At about this time last year, Owen Blackledge had just left Omaha, Nebraska, where he was a member of a College World Series team.

While some goals and destinations have changed, Blackledge is now in the middle of his second season with the Asheboro ZooKeepers.

The rising senior out elder knows how to make adjustments. He once played collegiately for national power Texas Christian University and now has one year of experience at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne.

“I don’t really look at it as a tough thing because I loved TCU for what they had to o er and I love L-R for what it has to o er,”

Blackledge said.

He was a role player for Texas Christian, appearing in 14 total games across two seasons. He sought a more prominent role for the back half of his college days.

In between playing for teams in Fort Worth, Texas, and Hickory, he came to Asheboro to suit up for the collegiate summer team.

“He’s extremely humble,” ZooKeepers head coach Korey Dunbar said.

Last year was hectic, with

“I was kind of late getting the (transfer) portal at rst, kind of behind the 8-ball,” Blackledge said. “I just really didn’t have much lm, so I came to Asheboro to play.

“I’m just trying to nd a team to go play baseball. I’m just going to play as long as I can (last) summer and see what happens next. Lo and behold, L-R was the most attractive spot to me coming out of the portal.”

Having played for the Horned Frogs, who’ve made numerous CWS trips the past couple of decades, isn’t the only reason the out elder might be considered a high-pro le member of the ZooKeepers.

His father is former NFL quarterback Todd Blackledge, who has been a college football television analyst for 30 years. He was a national champion with Penn State.

The younger Blackledge said he holds visions of such success in athletics, just in a di erent sport.

“It’s kind of the reason I picked baseball,” he said. “He’s my greatest role model. I get it, with my dad you look up to someone who has played at the highest level. Oh, he’s got his life kind of gured out. … I love having him in my corner. It’s about as good of a resource as you could ask for.”

As one of four of Todd Blackledge’s sons, he had decorated youth baseball experience com-

ing out of North Canton, Ohio. Going to a big-time baseball school made sense.

“I want to make my own name,” he said. “I want to get into baseball and have people look at my dad and say, ‘Oh, you’re Owen Blackledge’s dad.’

… That has always been a driving force. Really respect and appreciate him as a role model, but let’s get out of his shadow.”

Part of that has been excelling in his second season the ZooKeepers. He entered this week as one of the leading hitters for the Coastal Plain League team.

“He brings a ton of energy,” Dunbar said. “Always locked in and wanting to get better every day.”

The change from TCU to Lenoir-Rhyne has seemed like the right t, Blackledge said.

“When I broke it down with my parents, it was more important to me to play somewhere where I thought I could try to win a championship,” Blackledge said. “That’s switching the destination a little bit. L-R denitely has the chance to make it to Cary (home of the Division II World Series) and win a conference instead of some (Division I) mid-major and we’re ghting to try to make the tournament.”

There are di erences, for sure, but he’s ne with that as he grinds away with the ZooKeepers.

“Sometimes it was just a little

See BLACKLEDGE, page 5

Tucker Batten

Providence Grove, football / tennis

He nished the school year as a multisport All-Piedmont Athletic Conference selection for his e orts in football and boys’ tennis.

Batten was the kicker for Providence Grove’s football team, connecting for several key kicks during the past couple of seasons. He was on the All-PAC football team as a junior and senior.

In tennis, Batten moved up to No. 1 singles for Providence Grove as a senior.

* During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

Stickle stays in groove with Post 45

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Some of the tension might have lessened since the thrilling baseball postseason in high school for Caleb Stickle.

But he said he doesn’t want his mindset to change with Randolph County Post 45.

Fresh of Uwharrie Charter Academy’s second consecutive Class 1A state championship, he has graduated. Last week, he committed to play for Guilford Tech.

“It was getting late,” he said of the desire to lock in a plan. “I knew I wanted to play.” Randolph County has had uctuating results the past few weeks. Stickle and other UCA players such as Trey Kenne-

dy and Grat Dalton missed the beginning of the American Legion season because of the high school state playo s. There generally has been a quieter tone so far with Post 45 compared to the playo s. Stickle said he maintains the same approach.

“I tend to follow what Coach (Rob) Shore would say to ‘mind between the lines’ when I’m here,” Stickle said, referring to his UCA coach.

Despite a brief break after UCA’s season, Stickle said he was intent on picking up where he left o .

“I really stayed in the groove,” he said. “I’m glad to be back out here.” Stickle, who’ll likely be a middle in elder for Guilford Tech, said his other options included Anna Maria College, a Division III school in Massachusetts, and Rockingham Community College. Meanwhile, Post 45’s Pierce

Leonard said he’s likely done after one season at Guilford Tech. He’s a former player for UCA and Eastern Randolph.

Around the diamonds …

Randolph County defeated Liberty Post 81 for the third time in three meetings this season Monday night. The 9-3 home victory at McCrary Park came with Parker Kines as the winning pitcher for the second time in eight nights vs. Liberty, logging ve innings.

Austin Lemons drove in three runs and Clay Hill and Samuel Asbill both had two hits for Post 45. That left Post 45 at 9-10 overall, 3-2 in Area 3 North Division. Liberty is 9-8, 1-4.

• Post 45 played ve games against out-of-state opponents and went 2-3 at McCrary Park.

The stretch began with an 11-1 midweek victory against Beverly-Lowell (Ohio) Post 389/750,

“I’m glad to be back out here.”

Caleb Stickle, Post 45

with Braxton Walker picking up the pitching victory and Jake Riddle supplying four hits. Dalton drove in three runs.

Randolph County won again by nipping Berkeley (W. Va.) Post 14 by 2-1 on Friday behind Drew Harmon’s two-hitter. He walked two and struck out eight.

“This was one of his best,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said. Harmon said he believes it’s the rst time he has pitched seven innings in a game on any level. He was aided by two innings when he needed only seven pitches. Stickle’s RBI groundout and Leonard’s sacri ce y accounted for the Post 45 runs.

St. Mary’s (Md.) Post 255 defeated Post 45 by 7-2 on Satur-

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD Caleb Stickle

day despite two hits each from Dalton and Harmon. Drake Purvis was the losing pitcher. Later in the day, Morgantown (W. Va.) Post 2 held o Randolph County’s comeback for a 9-6 victory. Brett Smith took the pitching defeat. On Sunday, St. Mary’s topped Randolph County 9-6, with Asbill taking the loss.

• Post 81 fell in last week’s 3-0 road loss to Garner Post 232. Then last Friday’s Area 3 home game vs. High Point was rescheduled to this week.

The son of a former NFL quarterback has made good use of his time in Asheboro

COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY OF ASHEBORO ZOOKEEPERS

Owen Blackledge has brought energy to the Asheboro ZooKeepers for a second summer.

Tucker Batten had good moments on the football eld for Providence Grove.

The UCA in elder made a college choice after winning a state title

Gainey set to take role as NCHSAA president

The superintendent of RCSS will become president of the state body

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Stephen Gainey has been connected to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association for a long time.

Now there’s something more for the superintendent of the Randolph County School System.

He’s the next president of the NCHSAA, which is the governing organization for sports in public schools in the state. He takes that position July 1.

“I love the North Carolina High School Athletic Association,” Gainey said. “I’ve been around it my whole life.”

That’s because his father was a former school principal and had advocated for sports.

Gainey is no newcomer to the NCHSAA. He has served on the board of directors for four years and most recently had been vice president.

If not moving into the additional leadership role, Gainey would have cycled o the board.

“I want to be around the organization as long as I can,” he said. “We want you to move it forward. It’s a way to say ‘thank you’ to those who’ve been here. When you get in these roles, push it forward.”

From an operational standpoint, the big topic for schools throughout the state is the impending conference realignments that will stem from expanding classi cations following the 2024-25 school. The NCHSAA is going from four to eight classi cations, with the groundwork for that expected to be vetted and put in motion in the coming months.

“It’s going to be a big challenge, but it’s going to be very historic because we’ve had four classi cations forever,” Gainey said.

Football went to eight classications for postseason play from 2002 through the revamped 2021 spring season, so there’s a model on how that might work.

“The extreme is going to be those other sports,” Gainey said.

Having grown up in Havelock and owning a background in the eastern part of the state (and an East Carolina graduate), Gainey was familiar with many of the key personnel related to athletics from many

of those communities. He said his time on the NCHSAA board has allowed him to become more familiar with folks from the West Region.

NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said Gainey has been an asset to the organization’s board.

“That’s a credit to his leadership skills,” Tucker said, expecting a seamless transition. “We already know him.”

The new vice president will be Mark Garrett, superintendent of Henderson County Public Schools.

Gainey, who has been with RCSS since 2013, said his interest in high school athletics is longstanding. As superintendent, he regularly attends competitions involving Randolph County teams, though he sees the events with a di erent perspective than as a youth.

“When I was little, I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to go to the Tuesday night basketball games, not just Friday nights,” he said.

Gainey said his goal is to maintain and foster the roles that athletics play as part of the student experience.

“They deserve great opportunities the athletic association provides,” he said.

Hazelwood looks to run at di erent pace

The area’s top distance runner capped his prep career at the state meet

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

GREENSBORO — Zach Hazelwood is looking forward to more relaxing runs after a stellar high school career as the area’s top distance runner. Hazelwood nished his senior year for Wheatmore and gured it’s time to back o from the running pace.

“I’m just about ready to be done,” he said following hisnal high school competition last month at North Carolina A&T’s track in Greensboro.

Hazelwood placed 10th in the 3,200 meters in the Class 2A state meet.

He said he wasn’t disappointed with how that ended, knowing some of the other runners were going to be faster than him.

“It was the same amount of

BOB SUTTON / RANDOLPH RECORD

fun,” he said. “A little sad because I won’t be doing this going forward.”

For much of the past three years, Hazelwood set the pace in the Piedmont Athletic Conference and Randolph County in distance events. Hazelwood, also an all-conference swimmer, said his favorite competitions came in cross country. He was a twotime PAC Runner of the Year in cross country and three-

Mid-Piedmont Conference top players honored

Randolph Record

Here’s a list of the Mid-Piedmont Conference’s major award winners plus Asheboro’s all-conference selections for spring

sports:

BASEBALL

Co-Players of the Year:

Justin Mabe (North Davidson), Dawson Shelton (Oak Grove)

Pitcher of the Year: Connor Adams (Asheboro)

Coach of the Year: Matt Gri n (North Davidson)

Asheboro: Connor Adams, Shane Immel

BOYS’ GOLF

Golfer of the Year: Lincoln Newton (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Will Essick (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: None

GIRLS’ SOCCER

O ensive Player of the Year:

Victoria Lockamy (Oak Grove)

Defensive Player of the Year: Reese Sullivan (North Davidson)

Coach of the Year: Emily Ramon (Asheboro)

Asheboro: Carlisle Dozer, Itzel Marcias, Jaira Arellano, Emma Julian, Penny Smith, Abby Becker

SOFTBALL

Co-Players of the Year: Carly White (Oak Grove), Bryton Zimmerman (North Davidson)

Pitcher of the Year: Mary Peyton Hodge (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Danielle DiLuzio (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: Addison Allen

BOYS’ TENNIS

Player of the Year: Logan

BLACKLEDGE from page 4

bit tough because of the lack of resources,” he said of going to a Division II program. “But at the end of the day I have a very strong relationship with God, so I don’t really try to look at it as being tough because I’m living out God’s journey. He clearly wants me to be in Hickory now playing baseball.” Or, for the next few weeks, in Asheboro.

About the games …

The ZooKeepers nished the CPL’s rst half with a 12-11 record, winning Saturday night at Holly Springs with a 5-4 decision in 10 innings. That put Asheboro fourth in the eightteam West Division.

Thoma (Ledford)

Coach of the Year: Caleb Robinson (Central Davidson)

Asheboro: Will Slate

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Sprinter of the Year: Markes Hardin (Oak Grove)

Distance Runner of the Year: Aiden Edwards (Oak Grove)

Field Events Performer of the Year: Lance Everhart (Asheboro)

Coach of the Year: Henry Bustle (Montgomery Central)

Asheboro: Lance Everhart, Valentino Mark, Kai Matthews, Elijah Woodle, Jaylin Moore, Jalial Timmons, Zacheus Jones, Luke Brumley, Alejandro Agosto, Cayne Duranceau

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Sprinter of the Year: Jalaya Showers (Asheboro)

Distance Runner of the Year: Jillian Parks (Central Davidson)

Field Events Performer of the Year: Cora Hadley (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Carl Weaver (Montgomery Central)

Asheboro: Jalaya Showers, Nyla Price, Lia George, Rebecca Wilson, Annissa Goldston, Ey’Mya Cheek, Sayre Smith, Sion Murrain, Sarah Reeder, Anna Grace Leroy, Andrea Carter

The ZooKeepers opened the second half with Sunday night’s 7-6 home loss to the Macon Bacon.

Last Thursday at Thomasville, Hunter Atkins pounded his rst CPL homer as the ZooKeepers hammered the High Point-Thomasville HiToms 13-2. Atkins, a former Randleman player, scored three runs. Teammate Jacob Dilley hit a threerun homer among his four hits. Asheboro was blanked 3-0 by the visiting Wilson Tobs on Friday night. Blackledge and Atkins had the only two hits for the ZooKeepers.

Atkins had four hits and drove in three runs in Asheboro’s 15-5 home whipping of Holly Springs last week. Zach Evans and Sam Seidel each had three hits.

Zach Hazelwood of Wheatmore relaxes after his nal high school race last month in the Class 2A state meet.

time state meet participant. Next, he’s heading to NC State, where he said he’ll be interested in participating with the club track team with “a little less stress.” Because Hazelwood was such an overwhelming winner in distance races, it’s unclear who’ll ascend to be the next top distance runner in Randolph County. He said he hopes it’s a runner representing Wheatmore.

JAMIE KENT / SPECIAL TO RANDOLPH RECORD

Stephen Gainey, right, presents an award to Southwestern Randolph pitcher Macie Crutch eld after the Class 2A softball state nals earlier this month in Greensboro.

PJ WARD-BROWN/RANDOLPH RECORD

Asheboro senior Abby Becker heads the ball during a girls’ soccer game against Oak Grove during the past season.

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister recommited to “eliminating Hamas”

By Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy

The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-monthlong war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” ceasere deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest cease- re proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed

late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease- re proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes and mistrust per -

sist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent cease- re and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out another Oct. 7-style assault. A

full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of ghting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the

Fire at South Korean lithium battery factory kills 22

Most of the victims were Chinese migrant workers

By Hyung-jin Kim

Associated Press

The

SEOUL, South Korea — A re likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, o cials said.

The re began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second oor of the factory in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., re o cials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The dead included 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local re o cial Kim Jin-young told a televised brie ng. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately veri ed. In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more a uent South Koreans.

Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.

The re started at one of the

factory buildings owned by battery manufacturer Aricell. He said that authorities would investigate whether re extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer goods from laptops to cellphones. They can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to res and explosions and making them a hazard for shipment aboard aircraft.

The video of the incident showed the factory’s second oor being engulfed with blaze, about 15 seconds after a small amount of white smoke was seen billowing from a battery, senior re o cial Jo Seonho told a brie ng later Monday.

Jo, citing the footage, said workers at the site mobilized

re extinguishers but failed to put out the blaze. They later rushed to an area where there was no exit before they likely inhaled toxic smoke and lost consciousness, he said. The dead foreign workers were daily laborers, so they were likely unfamiliar with the building’s internal structure, he added.

Fire o cials said a total of 102 people were working at the factory at the time of the re.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing a safety helmet and a mask, visited the site with other o cials. He expressed condolences to the dead and ordered o cials to put in place measures to e ectively deal with battery-related res, according to Yoon’s o ce.

Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, the country’s No. 2 o cial, and Interior and Safety Minis -

war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington, D.C., with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conicts, including with Hezbollah.

Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic bu er zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the bu er zone will bring an end to that.

During the initial six-week phase of the proposed ceasere, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages including male soldiers and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary ceasere would become permanent. Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable con rmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

ter Lee Sang-min also came to the site. Han asked o cials to provide government assistance for funeral services and support programs for victims’ relatives, according to his o ce. Monday’s blaze is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years.

In 2020, a re at a warehouse being built in Icheon City, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died after a re ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, 12 of them ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died after a re and accompanying explosions tore through a refrigerated warehouse in Icheon city. South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that regard safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.

LEO CORREA / AP PHOTO

People protest Saturday in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Dr. Robert E. Williford Jr.

April 7, 1929 – June 21, 2024

Dr. Robert Earl Williford passed away peacefully on Friday, June 21, 2024, at his residence.

Bob was born on April 7, 1929, in Sampson County, North Carolina to Robert Earl Williford, Sr., and Mable McDaniel Williford Darden. He attended Wake Forest College when it was located in the town by that name. There he made friends with Arnold Palmer, among many others, graduating in 1951. Wake Forest University later wrote an article acknowledging that soon after his graduation, it was Bob Williford that gathered the seeds from the magnolias on the old Wake Forest campus which were carried by his Aunt Monnie Louise Wiley to be planted on the new Wake Forest University campus in Winston-Salem. They grew to become the renowned trees in Magnolia Court behind Reynolda Hall.

After attended Medical School at Emory University graduating in 1955, Bob did his Internship at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1955-56. He served in the US Marines stationed in Camp Pendleton, and thereafter performed his Residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in 1958-59. Bob then practiced General Family Medicine in Asheboro where he cared for countless patients in his clinic for many decades.

Bob lived an exciting life. He loved women, his dogs, cars, and Wake Forest University! He was an avid Wake Forest sports fan. He touched the lives of so many people. He was much loved and left the world a much better place because of his presence.

Bob is survived by his caring companion, Sherrie Dunn of Asheboro; daughters, Katherine W. Yates and husband Dr., Mark Yates, Peggy D. Williford and companion Deb Crater, all of Greensboro; grandchildren, Charlie Yates and wife Melissa, John Yates and wife Emily; great-grandchild, Claire Yates; sisters, Martha W. Zollico er and husband John of Henderson, Marianna W. McCauley and husband Albert of Fayetteville and Wilmington, NC; together with several nieces and nephews.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m., Thursday, June 27, 2024, at Ridge Funeral Home, Asheboro.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Randolph, 416 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203; AMVETS Post 905, 142 Academy Street, Asheboro, NC 27203; or the charily of the donor’s choice.

obituaries

Betty Jean Younts

July 4, 1935 – June 22, 2024

Betty Jean Younts, born on July 4, 1935, went to her eternal home on June 22, 2024. She was the adored wife of the late Thomas Lee Younts and amazing, super Mom to four children: Risa Desko (Barry), Kerry Loewen (Steve), Shanna Younts, Lee-Brady Younts. Grandmother of six: Lindsey Loewen, Kailey Walker (Travis), Torey Lanier (Dillon), Brady Desko, Allie Desko, Tucker Desko and privileged greatgrandmother to Ayden Walker, Liam Walker, Adam Lanier and Isaac Lanier.

Our Mom was always very involved in church and was a dedicated prayer warrior. She was an avid reader and a master seamstress.

She loved deeply and made her family a priority.

A Memorial service will be held at Neighbors Grove Wesleyan Church, 1928 N. Fayetteville St., Asheboro, NC 27203, at 1:30 pm, Sunday, June 23, 2024.

In lieu of owers, please send donations to Your Choices Randolph, 110 E Walker Ave., Asheboro, NC 27203.

Brenda Jordan Holt

May 11, 1942 – June 21, 2024

Brenda Jordan Holt, 82, passed away Friday, June 21, 2024, at Hospice of Randolph in Asheboro, NC. She was born May 11th, 1942, in Randolph County, NC to Elmer Jordan and Bertha Jordan.

Brenda retired from K-Mart of Asheboro, NC. She loved her family and loved helping people. She loved watching westerns and reading books about westerns. She enjoyed listening to classic country music on cassette tape while she was getting ready for bed. She loved to bake apple pies and persimmon pudding.

Brenda is survived by her two children; son, Eric Holt and wife Lisa of Colorado City, Colorado; daughter, Jennifer Hill of Asheboro NC; 9 grandchildren and 4 greatgrandchildren with one on the way; sister, Wilma Jean Hill and husband Stewart.

A graveside service will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, June 28, 2024 at Randolph Memorial Park.

In lieu of owers the family ask for donations be made to Randolph Hospice House of 446 Vision Dr, Asheboro, NC 27203

Pugh Funeral Home is serving the Holt family.

H. Ferree Miller III

December 2, 1942 –June 20, 2024

Henry Ferree Miller III, 81, of Asheboro, died Thursday, June 20, 2024 at Hinkle Hospice House in Lexington. A funeral service will be conducted at 2:00 p.m., Monday, July 1, 2024, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Dave Cash o ciating. Burial will follow at Randolph Memorial Park.

Born in Portsmouth, VA, on December 2, 1942, Ferree was the son of Henry Ferree Miller, II and Sara Davis Miller. He was part owner of Uwharrie golf club for several years and was an avid golfer. Ferree proudly served in the U.S. Navy where served in Vietnam. Ferree was also a Mason and a Shriner. He loved being on the water, he enjoyed everything to do with the water. He was always working on something and nished the motor before Frankie could make it over.

In addition to his parents, Ferree was preceded in death by his brother, Philip Davis Miller.

He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Glenda Miller; sons, Freeman Miller, IV (Jacelyn), Keith Miller; stepdaughter, Kim Lewis Crowder (Dennis); stepson, Kent Lewis (Wanda); sister, Judy Miller Grubbs (Tommy); brother, Frankie Miller (Janet); and grandchild, Mikaela Driggers.

The family will receive friends from 12:45 until 1:45 p.m. at Ridge Funeral Home, Monday, prior to the service. Memorials may be made to First E&R United Church of Christ, PO Box 1002, Asheboro, NC 27204; Hospice of Davidson County, 200 Hospice Way, Lexington, NC 27292.

Lewis Raymond Britton

April 7, 1945 – June 21, 2024

Lewis Raymond Britton, 79, of Randleman passed away Friday, June 21, 2024. He was born April 7, 1945 in Burbank, CA to James M. Britton and Alice Douglas Britton.

Lewis was a beloved and caring husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and Serviceman. He proudly served his country during Vietnam in the Navy; two ships and one tour on the mainland for which he earned the Bronze Star. Upon returning, he worked 30 years in Maintenance Facilities for an Aerospace Engineering rm. Of his many qualities, he was known for being your typical service-oriented person,

Burnis Lee Cox

July 3, 1932 – June 21, 2024

Burnis Lee Cox, age 91, of Randleman passed away on June 21, 2024 at his home.

Mr. Cox was born in Randolph County on July 3, 1932. Burnis was a lifelong learner who always worked to learn and understand more. He was self-taught in a wide range of subjects from trigonometry to mechanical design and multiple building trades. He was happiest when he was using his mind to utilize tools and equipment to solve issues. After careers operating his own automotive repair business and later as a truck driver for Klopman Mills/Burlington Industries, he enjoyed working on his many projects on his own time frame. When not engaged in his work, he enjoyed spending time with his family.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Dolores Hooker Cox; sons, Je Cox and wife Belinda and Tracy Cox and wife Shelley; grandchildren, Kimberly Lewis and husband Josh, Kelly Hicks and husband Van, and Derrick Cox; great grandchildren, Madeline and Maddux Lewis and Marykatherine and Dalton Hicks; 5 brothers and three sisters. He was preceded in death by his parents and 1 brother.

A private service will be held with Pastor Chris Heppding o ciating.

The family requests no owers, but memorials may be made to Hospice of Randolph, 416 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203. Pugh Funeral Home in Asheboro is serving the Cox family.

Jesse Raiford Brown

October 8, 1936 –June 19, 2024

Jesse Raiford Brown, 87, of Asheboro, died Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at Randolph Hospital in Asheboro.

Funeral services will be conducted at 4:00 p.m., Monday, June 24, 2024, at Flag Springs United Methodist Church, Asheboro, with Rev. Je Garner o ciating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Born on October 8, 1936, in Randolph County, NC, Raiford was the son of the late Edwin Jesse and Nettie Newsom Brown. He graduated from Seagrove High School and retired from Mid-State Plastics in Seagrove. Raiford was a member of Flag Springs United Methodist Church for over 76 years. At the age of 10, he joined the church and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in a revival meeting.

Raiford started a basketball league at Seagrove School for young people and worked with Cub Scout Troop 513 and Boy Scout Troop 528. He enjoyed visiting people in the hospital and nursing homes. Raiford was a avid Tarheel sports fan since 1957.

In addition to his parents, Raiford was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Irma Jean Cox Brown, and eight siblings. Surviving are his sons, Dean Brown and Je Brown, both of Asheboro; brother, Cline Brown of Summerville, SC; grandsons, John Brown (Kendra) of Level Cross, Caleb Brown of the home; great grandchildren, Anna Brown and Jesse Brown, both of Level Cross; numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends from 3:00 until 3:45 p.m., Monday, prior to the service at the church.

Memorials may be made to Flag Springs United Methodist Church, Cemetery Fund, 5852 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC 27205; or to Hospice of Randolph, 416 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203.

had tattoos, honored his time of service by always wearing something Vietnam related, very unique, would help anyone in need, was an avid deer hunter, and loved collecting anything – so much stu he was on Roy’s Folks twice! But mostly he is remembered as being a strict, but loving father and grandfather. He will be missed by all who knew him. Lewis is survived by his wife of 57 years, Lynn Britton of the home; daughters, Mary B. Rodriques of Asheboro and Amy B. Latimer of Randleman; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; brother, Scott Britton (Lina) of Beaumont, CA. He is preceded in death by his parents, James and Alice Britton. The family will receive friends Tuesday, June 25, 2024 from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM at Pugh Funeral Home Chapel, 600 S. Main St, Randleman. Funeral services will follow on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 2:00 PM with Pastor Tim Isley o ciating. Interment will be at Randolph Memorial Park, Asheboro, NC.

In lieu of owers, to honor the memory of Lewis, the family asks that donations be made to any Veteran related cause of your choice. Pugh Funeral Home is serving the Britton family.

DEATH NOTICES

• Barbara Lee Nance

January 9, 1935 –June 21, 2024

Mrs. Nance, 89, of Asheboro passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her family.

• Jane Morgan Layne September 5, 1932 –June 20, 2024

Lois Jane Morgan Layne, 91, of Asheboro, went home to be with the Lord on June 20, 2024.

• Nancy Huggins Hammonds September 7, 1942 –June 20, 2024

Nancy Huggins Hammonds, 81, of Asheboro passed away on June 20, 2024 at Alpine Health & Rehabilitation.

• Linda Mae Boggs McDowell May 31, 1948 –June 20, 2024

Linda Mae Boggs McDowell, 76, of Asheboro passed away at Randolph Hospital.

• Dale Spainhour March 5, 1962 –June 19, 2024 Spainhour, 62, of Asheboro, passed away.

• Margaret Brown April 16, 1944 –June 23, 2024

Brown, 80, of Asheboro, passed away.

pen STATE & NATION

How swimmers can escape dangerous rip currents

There are 16 known deaths in U.S. waters this year

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Stinging jelly sh, rays with whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year.

Six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama, o cials say.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association, and more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The National Weather Service lists 16 known deaths so far in 2024 from rip currents in U.S. waters, including the Florida fatalities as well as eight deaths in Puerto Rico and two in Texas.

Here are some things to know about rip currents:

What is a rip current?

Rip currents are narrow col-

umns of water owing rapidly away from the beach, like a swift stream within the ocean. They don’t pull swimmers under water but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because

Bans on gender-a rming care by states to be heard by Supreme Court

The high court has rarely taken up cases involving transgender issues

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the ght over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-a rming care.

The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take e ect after they had been

blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)

“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal ling in support of Supreme Court review.

Arguments will take place in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-a rming medical care for transgender minors.

Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they had been blocked by lower courts.

At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. At least 11 states have

the surface water often appears calm.

The current can ow as swiftly as 8 feet per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you’re caught in one and you try to swim straight in, you’re not going to be able to,” said Daniel Barnickel of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue.

How can someone escape a rip current?

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to not panic and look for a chance to swim parallel to the shore until the swimmer is out of the rip current’s grip. It will eventually dissipate but might leave the swimmer out in deeper water.

It’s nearly impossible to ght the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say. If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

“Most of our rip current rescues happen outside the guarded areas because we’re not there to prevent it from happening,” Barnickel said.

What warning systems exist for rip currents?

Flags with di erent colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Three ags warn of surf and rip current conditions. Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There’s also purple for dangerous sea life, like jelly sh, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and

has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions are favorable for their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

“Before this, forecasters were manually predicting rip currents on a large section of the ocean twice a day and only a day or two into the future. The earlier prediction has potential to substantially increase awareness and reduce drownings,” said Gregory Dusek, a NOAA scientist who developed the model, in a post on the agency’s website. High risk warnings were posted for most Florida beaches last week, when the drownings occurred.

Should someone attempt a rip current rescue?

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, o cials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It’s best to nd a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted. People on shore can also try to tell the person to swim parallel to shore.

“Never swim alone. And always make sure that there’s an adult. And make sure that you don’t overestimate your abilities. Know your limits,” Barnickel said.

adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The nation’s highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm. In 2021, the justices declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. At the time, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas noted they would have taken up the school board’s appeal.

NOAA VIA AP

Rip currents — highlighted in the image by using a green dye — are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.

MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that addresses gender-a rming care for minors.

pen & paper pursuits

this week in history

First Walmart opens, iPhone debuts, Franz Ferdinand assassinated

Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Associated Press

JUNE 27

1957: Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm; the initial o cial death toll from the storm was placed at 390, although a variety of state, federal and local sources have estimated the number of fatalities at between 400 and 600.

1880: Author-lecturer Helen Keller, who lived most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

JUNE 28

1838: Britain’s Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were shot to death in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, an act that sparked World War I.

1919: The Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the First World War.

1939: Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service with a ight that departed New York for Marseilles, France.

JUNE 29

1613: London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a re sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of “Henry VIII.”

1953.

1776: The Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made governor.

2007: The rst version of the iPhone went on sale to the public; more than 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold to date.

2009: Disgraced nancier Bernard Mado received a 150year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. (Mado died in prison in April 2021.)

JUNE 30

1934: Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as the “Night of the Long Knives.”

1936: Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was released.

1958: The U.S. Senate passed the Alaska statehood bill by a vote of 64-20.

JULY 1

1867: The British North America Act made Canada a self-governing dominion of

Great Britain. Until 1982, the national holiday was called Dominion Day, but it is now known as Canada Day.

1903: The rst Tour de France began. (It ended on July 19; the winner was Maurice Garin.)

1997: Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British colony.

2004: Actor Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles at age 80.

JULY 2

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress prohibiting discrimination and segregation based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

1881: President James A. Gar eld was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Washington railroad station; Gar eld died the following September.

1937: Aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Paci c Ocean while attempting to make the rst ’round-theworld ight along the equator.

1962: The rst Walmart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas.

JULY 3

1863: The pivotal three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a signi cant victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.

1775: George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

AP PHOTO

Helen Keller is photographed in

AP PHOTO

Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up an Apple iPhone at the MacWorld Conference, Jan. 9, 2007, in San Francisco.

Artist’s pain captured, in icted in ‘Parade’

The book ushers in a series of painters, sculptors and other gures grappling with a transformation

By Helen Wie ering

The Associated Press

With her new novel “Parade,” writer Rachel Cusk returns with a searching look at the pain artists can capture and in ict. Never centered on a single person or place, the book ushers in a series of painters, sculptors and other gures, each grappling with a transformation in their life or work.

The novel opens by framing art as a subtle but piercing weapon. In one plot, the wife of the acclaimed painter “G” is deeply troubled by her husband’s urge to paint the world upside down. He also paints his wife’s nude gure upside down, making her ugly and grotesque. In another, the book’s narrator is walking on the street in a foreign city when a deranged woman punches her. In the weeks afterward, still stunned

by the blow, she begins to see her attacker as an artist: “She was making something there, something it would take several attempts to get right.”

“Parade” binds together scenes and voices like this throughout its short length, involving us in the questions and problems underlying art-making and human relationships.

Cusk asks: What are the consequences of making art on the people around it? Can an artist transcend the same constraints and trauma transcribed in their work?

Many characters are visual artists, all given the mysterious name of “G,” who have turned to art as a form of survival or escape. There is G, the Black painter excluded from most exhibitions in his lifetime; and G, the female sculptor who created forms of giant black spiders and tiny headless dolls. Curiously, the book spends little time exploring the literary arts beyond a husband who tells his poet wife that he’s quitting his job and can no longer support her work.

Cusk’s shapeshifting narrator guides us through these snapshots without claiming a

name or speci c history. We are anchored only by the most minor details of time and place — enough to locate us in a European city or a scenic island — but without the speci cs that might distract from the broader questions Cusk explores.

This is her distinct style — relinquishing the novel’s usual arc and instead trying to pierce some deeper truths through her characters. For that reason, “Parade” will resonate with fans of Cusk’s novels “Outline,” “Transit” and “Kudos,” which made waves for the same quiet but unrelenting voice.

But “Parade” is willing to go to darker places. The word “violence” reappears every few pages, applied to art, people and even the glinting face of a mountain that towers over the narrator’s seaside vacation. One of the book’s most engaging sections dissects a suicide that takes place at an art exhibit and raises the question of whether the art itself is implicated. Through her characters, Cusk shows us that art can be the site of violence, and also at times, the only medium through which to save oneself from it.

Dorothy’s hometown raising funds to buy ruby slippers back

The ruby slippers were at the heart of “The Wizard of Oz,” a beloved 1939 musical

The Associated Press

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.

— Judy Garland’s hometown in Minnesota, where she wore a pair of ruby slippers in “The Wizard of Oz,” is raising money to purchase the prized footwear. The footwear was stolen from a local museum and later turned over to an auction company.

Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where the late actress was born in 1922, is fundraising at its annual Judy Garland festival, which kicks o Thursday. The north Minnesota town is soliciting donations to bring the slippers back after an auction company takes them on an international tour before o ering them to prospective buyers in December.

“They could sell for $1 million, they could sell for $10 million. They’re priceless,” Joe Maddalena, Heritage Auctions executive vice president, told Minnesota Public Radio. “Once they’re gone, all the money in

the world can’t buy them back.”

The funds will supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to purchase the slippers.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions received the slippers from Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who originally owned the iconic shoes. Shaw had loaned them in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the sequins-and-beads-bedazzled slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty in October to theft of a major artwork. He admitted to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull o “one last score” after turning away from a life of crime. He was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health.

In March, a second man, 76-year-old Jerry Hal Saliterman, was charged in connection with the theft.

SOLUTIONS FOR THIS WEEK

The ruby slippers were at the heart of “The Wizard of Oz,” a beloved 1939 musical. Garland’s character, Dorothy, danced down the Yellow Brick Road in her shiny shoes, joined by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Garland, who died in 1969, wore several pairs during lming. Only four remain.

Maddalena, with Heritage Auctions, says he sold two other pairs of ruby slippers. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and a group of the actor’s friends purchased one set for the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.

He said advance notice could help venues like the Judy Garland Museum secure the slippers that will be auctioned in December. The museum, which includes the house where Garland lived, says it has the world’s largest collection of Garland and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia.

“We wanted to enable places that might not normally be able to raise the funds so quickly to have plenty of time to think about it and work out ways to do that,” Maddalena said. “That’d be an amazing story. I mean, if they ended up back there, that’d be a fantastic story.”

famous birthdays this week

Tom Cruise turns 57, Pamela Anderson turns 52, Mel Brooks hits 98

The Associated Press

June 27: Writer-director

J.J. Abrams (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Alias”) is 58. Actor Tobey Maguire is 49. Reality star Khloe Kardashian is 40.

June 28: Comedian-director Mel Brooks is 98. Actor Kathy Bates is 76. Actor John Cusack is 58. Actor Mary Stuart Masterson is 58. Singer and former “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler is 38.

June 29: Actor Gary Busey is 80. Drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple is 76. Singer Don Dokken of Dokken is 71.

June 30: Actress Nancy Dussault is 83. Singer Glenn Shorrock of the Little River Band is 75. Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is 68. Guitarist Hal Lindes of Dire Straits is 66. Actor David Alan Grier is 63. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 60.

Anderson,

in 2016, turns 52 on Monday.

July 2: Jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal is 89. Writer-comedian Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Seinfeld”) is 72. Keyboardist Roy Bittan of the E Street Band is 70. Actress Wendy Schaal (“American Dad,” “It’s a Living”) is 65. Model-actress Jerry Hall is 63.

July 3: Writer Dave Barry is 72. Talk show host Montel Williams is 63. Actor Tom Cruise is 57. Actress Yeardley Smith (“The Simpsons”) is 55.

July 1: Actress Olivia de Havilland is 103. Actress Leslie Caron is 88. Actor Jamie Farr is 85. Actress Jean Marsh (“Upstairs, Downstairs”) is 85. Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 74. Singer Fred Schneider of The B-52’s is 68. Actor Dan Aykroyd is 67. Actor Alan Ruck (“Succession,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day O ”) is 68. Actress Pamela Anderson is 52.

Comedian and director Mel Brooks, pictured here in 1966, turns 98 on Friday.

ARTHUR MOLA / AP PHOTO Pamela

pictured

the stream

Hulu showcases fashion icon Von Furstenberg,

Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion”

The Associated Press

THIS WEEK, Megan Thee Stallion drops her new album, Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion,” and Apple TV+ debuts Eva Longoria as a woman whose life changes completely in “Land of Women.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Celine Dion gets an intimate documentary portrait in “I Am Celine Dion” (streaming on Prime Video), a lm chronicling the Canadian singer’s battle with Sti Person Syndrome. For the lm, director Irene Taylor spends time with Dion at home and in her personal life as she re ects on her career and discusses the di culties of her condition, a rare a iction that she rst divulged she was living with in 2022. Before Lily Gladstone was Oscar-nominated for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” she starred in the Sundance 2023 entry “Fancy Dance,” director Erica Tremblay’s drama about life on the Seneca-Cayuga Nation reservation in Oklahoma. The lm, which debuts Friday on Apple TV+, is about Jax (Gladstone), who searches for her missing sister with her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson).

The life and style of fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg are chronicled in directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton’s documentary “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” streaming on Hulu. The lm, which kicked o the recent Tribeca Festival, proles the Belgian designer whose huge in uence on 20th-century fashion is most notable for bringing the wrap dress to prominence in 1974.

SHOWS TO STREAM

After four years, the acclaimed and award-winning German series “Babylon Berlin” has a new season available in the United States. The show is set in the 1930s as the Nazis rose to power. The rst three

‘That ’90s Show’ returns

seasons of “Babylon Berlin” originally streamed on Net ix. Still, those episodes and a new fourth season are available exclusively in North America on the MHz Choice streaming service.

In “Land of Women,” Eva Longoria plays Gala, a New Yorker living the good life one day and the next is left with her husband’s massive debt after he disappears. She ees to northern Spain with her mother and teenage daughter. The sh-outof-water series is based on a famous novel created for TV by the proli c Spanish TV producer Ramón Campos. The dialogue combines English, Spanish and Catalan — a language spoken in northeastern Spain.

“One of the big sources of comedy is miscommunication, which is ripe for that,” Longoria told TV critics earlier this year. The “Land of Women” debuted Wednesday on Apple TV+. Much like Hulu’s take on Catherine the Great in “The Great,” a new Prime Video series called “My Lady Jane” is an irreverent telling of the story of Lady Jane Grey. At 17, Grey became Queen for nine days before her half-sister Mary stole her support and her crown. She was then sent to the Tower of London, where she was executed. “My Lady Jane” debuts

Thursday. Hello again, Wisconsin! The second season of “That ’90s Show” debuts on Netflix on Thursday. Season one saw Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Prepon and Topher Grace reprise their roles. (Danny Masterson was written out of the show as he prepared for a rape trial that ended with his conviction and a 30-year prison sentence.) Prepon is the only one from the core group who will be back for season two. The sequel series stars Callie Haverda as Leia Forman, the daughter of Grace’s Eric and Prepon’s Donna, who is visiting her grandparents, Red and Kitty, played by Kurtwood Smith and Debora Jo Rupp. Ryan Serhant of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” is now fronting his Netflix show, “Owning Manhattan.” Cameras follow some of his Serhant real estate employees competing for expensive New York listings. Where Serhant pounded the pavement in “Million Dollar Listing,” the pressure is now on his staff instead. Serhant is more of a mentor in this role.

MUSIC TO STREAM

Grammy-award-winning

R&B singer Lucky Daye is preparing to release a new album on Friday titled “Algorithm.” (Think of the name as a creative reversal — he aims to make soulful music that extends beyond the predictability of machine learning.) His single “Soft” celebrates the vulnerabilities inherent in a new relationship atop big drum fills and heart-fluttering vocal harmonies.

“Megan” is Megan Thee Stallion’s third full-length album and the first to be self-released under her label, Hot Girl Productions; she promises to continue her reign as the sovereign of Hot Girl Summers. Independence looks good on her: From the raprock “COBRA,” with its fearless lyricism on everything from infidelity to depression, to the Gwen Stefani-sampling “BOA” – an imaginative take on 2004’s “What You Waiting For?” — it’s clear Megan is enjoying her creative autonomy. But don’t take it from us — a quick listen to “HISS,” an aggressive reclamation of her public image, makes it clear from the spoken-word intro.

Available on video-on-demand starting Friday, “Revival69: The Concert That Rocked the World” documents the 1969 Toronto Rock and

Roll Revival, a famous festival that featured the debut of The Plastic Ono Band — including video footage of John Lennon’s rst signi cant performance outside the Beatles, what many credit as a trigger for Lennon’s decision to leave the band. This doc o ers a behind-the-scenes look at the event and footage from its grounds, featuring talking head interviews with some musicians. And there’s a lot to celebrate with a lineup consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Doors, Alice Cooper and beyond.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Games don’t get much sillier than Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, the latest version of Sega’s most adorable franchise. The premise is simple enough: You control a monkey in a ball and zip around 3D mazes while collecting fruit and other goodies. You can compete against up to 15 other primates in various multiplayer games like “Ba-Boom!” — an explosive version of hot potato. You can also take on adventure mode, with more than 200 levels that you can explore solo or with up to three friends. It is out on Nintendo Switch.

HULU/PRIME/ APPLE TV+ VIA AP

The documentary “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge,” left, the documentary “I Am Celine Dion,” center, and the lm “Fancy Dance” are all streaming this week.

RICHARD SHOTWELL / AP PHOTO

The cast of “That ’90s Show” arrives at a special screening in Los Angeles.

HOKE COUNTY

Briscoe tapped to replace retiring Truex at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing con rmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season.

The annoucement came days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a press conference.

Briscoe is set to become the rst driver among the four at Stewart-Haas Racing to land a Cup ride for next season.

SHR announced last month it would close its organization at the end of this season. SHR this year elds Cup cars for Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Briscoe is 16th in the Cup points standings after a runner-up nish in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire.

Boy who died at nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in tentlike structure

Medical examiners say a boy who died while enrolled in a nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in the tentlike structure he was sleeping in.

The 12-year-old died in February in western North Carolina while participating in the Trails Carolina wilderness program for troubled youths.

An autopsy report was released Monday. It focused on the boy’s damaged bivy, or small camping enclosure. The bivy’s internal mesh door was torn, and a weather-resistant door was used instead to secure the opening.

Medical examiners noted that fully securing a bivy’s weather resistant opening can lead to “breathing restriction.”

Traveling Vietnam War Memorial makes stop in North Carolina

Visitors to “The Wall That Heals” bring sentiment and re ection

By Bob Sutton North State Journal

ASHEBORO — They came for many reasons, but those gathering across several days at “The Wall That Heals” had something in common.

They wanted to recognize the sacri ces of Vietnam War veterans and pay tributes to the military in general.

“The Wall That Heals” was set up on the South Asheboro Middle School baseball eld from last Wednesday through early Sunday afternoon.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Shawn Parrish, a Randleman resident who had served in the Air Force.

Asheboro’s Carlene and Renee Corder arrived with a speci c purpose: to honor Charles R. Chriscoe, who grew up with

Carlene in the Seagrove community.

“It’s a lot of names,” Carlene Corder said after nding Chriscoe’s name on the wall.

“The Wall That Heals” is a three-quarter scale replica of

the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., that travels around the country. The names of 58,281 men and women who died in the Vietnam War are listed.

“It’s something you should

come and see if you can’t go to Washington,” Renee Corder said.

Rita Honeycutt, a veteran service o cer for Randolph County Veterans Services, said having the wall in Randolph County was special.

“We’ve tried to push it out as much as possible to get the word out,” Honeycutt said. “A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.” Honeycutt said state Sen. David Craven Jr., who spoke during the opening ceremony, was heavily involved in supporting the bid to bring the wall to Asheboro and obtaining corresponding sponsorships.

The grounds were open to visitors around the clock for 96 hours. Group tours with a short program were available — for instance, those were conducted at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday upon demand. It was free to attend.

See MEMORIAL, page 2

Hoke schools shu e sta with transitions and promotions

The changes touch nearly every school

North State Journal sta

RAEFORD — Hoke County Schools announced several signi cant sta transitions and promotions across its district, a ecting leadership positions at multiple schools and district-level o ces.

Colleen Pegram-Wike, formerly the principal of SandHoke Early College High School, has been appointed as the new principal of Hoke County High School. She replaces Thomas Benson, who is moving to a district-wide role as the Title IX coordinator/hearing o cer. The high school will also see

a change in its athletic leadership. Antonio Covington has been named the new athletic director and dean of students, taking over from Gary Brigman, who is retiring after 39 years of service to Hoke County Schools.

Covington’s move created an opening at East Hoke Middle School, where he previously served as principal. This position will be lled by Katrenna Rich, who was promoted from her role as assistant principal at SandHoke Early College High School. West Hoke Middle School will be under new leadership as well, with Deidre Gales stepping up from her assistant principal role to become the school’s principal. She replaces Mary

These changes re ect a signi cant reshu ing of leadership within Hoke County Schools, aimed at leveraging internal talent and experience to bene t various schools and programs across the district. The transitions are expected to be completed in time for the upcoming school year.

McLeod, who is transitioning to a district position as the director of federal programs and school improvement. At the district level, Faydra Womble will assume the role of director of AIG and advanced placement on Aug. 1, replacing the retiring Linden Cummings. Womble brings experience from her previous roles as instructional coach, beginner teacher mentor and AIG specialist at SandHoke Early College High School. In a notable swap, Sherika Atkinson, currently the principal of Rock sh Hoke Elementary School, will become the new principal of West Hoke Elementary. Simultaneously, Pamela O’Brien will move from West Hoke Elementary to take over as principal at Rock sh Hoke Elementary.

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Ken Watson, Martha Trogdon Watson and Eddie Trogdon hold up a sign honoring fallen family member Ronald G. Trogdon.

PJ WARD-BROWN / NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Clarence York of Asheboro and Edith Swear of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., check The Wall that Heals in Asheboro.

“Join the conversation”

THURSDAY

MEMORIAL from page 1

More than 1,000 people visited “The Wall That Heals” and its museum and mobile education center, set up outside the middle school, during its rst two days in Randolph County. Using a database of deceased veterans, volunteers helped visitors locate speci c names on the wall.

Honeycutt said the application process to have the wall visit Asheboro began in April 2023. Her ofce learned of the bid’s acceptance in November and has worked on many details since.

Earlier last week, “The Wall That Heals” was escorted by perhaps up to 200 motorcyclists representing American Legion Riders, Combat Veteran Riders, AmVet Riders and others from Creekside Park in Archdale to Asheboro, where it was assembled with the assistance of some Vietnam War veterans.

“I was always interested in going to the wall,” said Parrish, an Air Force veteran who visited with his son and daughter.

Chris and Joanne Corsbie of Asheboro stopped by to reect on that era and the commitments made by so many.

“We were both in high school during the Vietnam War, and we wanted to support this,” Joanne Corsbie said. “We knew people who fought. Fortunately, they came home.”

“What I really like about this is its continued recognition of these folks,” Chris Corsbie said. “I was very impressed.” Asheboro was the only site in North Carolina for “The Wall That Heals” among 33 communities nationally in 2024. The next stop for the exhibit is in Biddeford, Maine.

Ozempic maker to create 1,000 jobs in Clayton

The Associated Press

CLAYTON — Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, announced on Monday that it plans to add 1,000 jobs when another company’s manufacturing plant is built in a Raleigh suburb to expand production of the very popular weight loss and diabetes medicines, as well as other treatments.

The Danish-based company said it will invest $4.1 billion on the new facility in Clayton. The 1.4 million-square-foot (130,000 square-meter) production space for manufacturing and nishing processes would double the combined

space that Novo Nordisk already has at its three plants in the Triangle area, news outlets reported. It employs nearly 2,500 workers in the region.

The announcement would mark the largest life sciences investment in state history, said Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the state’s independent nonprofit recruiting organization. The average salary for the new positions will be $70,000, which is above Johnston County’s average of $50,605, the partnership said in a news release.

The future production site, with construction to be com-

pleted in phases between 2027 and 2029, will be able to make multiple treatments, the company said. Novo Nordisk has been best known for making insulin to treat diabetes.

“The importance of this facility we’re making is ensuring that we are exible to both produce weight-loss products but also other chronic diseases,” Novo Nordisk vice president Niels Laurbjerg Nielsen said. Novo Nordisk opened more than 30 years ago its rst facility in Clayton, which is about 20

miles southeast of Raleigh. The drugmaker announced in 2015 plans to double facility space in Johnston County. That work was completed in 2020 and marked the company’s rst facility outside of Denmark to manufacture active drugs.

The Johnston County commissioners approved incentives for the project on Monday before the company’s public announcement. The company would receive cash grants equivalent to a percentage of property tax if it meets investment goals.

DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP PHOTO

Novo Nordisk makes the popular diabetes drug Ozempic.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | RICHARD HUDSON

Delivering for Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers.

AS

FORT LIBERTY/FORT BRAGG’S congressman,

I know there is no investment more important than the one we make in the men and women stationed there, their families, and our veterans. They sacri ce so much to protect our nation and preserve the freedoms we hold so dear, and I am working to ensure they have the support and resources they deserve.

Many service members and their families are away from their communities for extended periods throughout the year and should have the best quality of life possible while they serve our country. This year’s Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for FY25 (NDAA), which the House recently passed, ensures just that.

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers. It also supports new military family housing and commits resources to housing maintenance so that sewage over ows, mold and bedbugs are quickly treated and prevented from reoccurring, an issue I have pushed for years now after hearing awful stories from our soldiers at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg. The NDAA further expands access to child care for military families and ensures our troops and their families receive the highquality health care they deserve.

I am especially proud that the bill includes big wins for our troops and their families at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg, including over $87 million for needed infrastructure and quality-of-life projects on the base, ranging from funding for the Child Development Center and the SOF arms room addition all the way to housekeeping items like generators

Great debates

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?”

“PRAY FOR JACK KENNEDY,” I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead “spinner” for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodru and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president, and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

“Does he really do that?” Bentsen asked.

Eckart was well-prepared. He really does, we assured him.

“Well, with your permission,” the senator responded (as ever gracious, as if he needed my permission), if he does that in the debate, I’m going to call him on it. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. And he’s no Jack Kennedy.”

“Was he really a friend of yours (ever the fact-checker),” I responded.

“B.A. (his wife) and I went to his wedding.” From that moment on, we were praying for Jack Kennedy.

The rest is history. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” is one of the famous lines in the lore of great debates. It didn’t win the election for his running mate, Michael Dukakis (vice presidents rarely do), but it clearly won the debate. Indeed, the post-debate

and water systems to keep the base clean and running. The bill also includes my provisions to strengthen oversight of military housing and prevent President Biden’s proposal to cut funding for our Special Forces unit at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg.

Funding important programs that help take care of those who have taken care of us — our nation’s veterans — is one of my top priorities. These heroes sacri ced so much to give us the freedoms that we have today, and we made a promise to ensure Washington works for them.

House Republicans delivered on that promise through recently passing this year’s Military Construction, Veterans A airs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act — a plan that honors our commitment to our veterans. This legislation in fact provides $30 billion more than last year’s enacted level for veterans. It fully funds veterans’ health care, bene ts and all other VA programs, including toxic exposure-related needs, while protecting their constitutional rights from Big Bureaucracy’s assault. In addition to these measures, I also worked to include funding for VA mental health programs like suicide prevention.

This year’s NDAA and MilConVA Appropriations package represent our unwavering commitment to the brave men and women who have answered the call to serve our nation. Rest assured, I am going to continue to ght for these heroes and make clear that they will always have my support.

Richard Hudson represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in Congress.

polls showed Bentsen handily ahead of both Quayle and Betsen’s running mate, George H.W. Bush.

It doesn’t always work out the way you plan, of course. That same year, Bill Clinton and I had rehearsed over and over with Dukakis the answer to the “Willie Horton question” (Horton was a black convicted murderer who had raped a white woman while on a weekend furlough program) about crime.

I can still recite the answer we rehearsed in my sleep these many years later. It was to make clear that Dukakis was on the side of victims, not criminals. “I know what it’s like to be the victim of crime. My brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on his bike and left for dead at the side of the road. My father was beaten and tied up in his medical o ce by thugs who robbed him, looking for drugs.”

But that wasn’t the answer he gave when moderator Bernard Shaw asked him what he would do if someone raped and killed his wife. “Did we just lose the election?” Barry Diller leaned over and asked me as we sat in the holding room watching the debate.

There are moments in debates that get replayed constantly, which can make or break a candidate.

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?” candidate Ronald Reagan asked in the only debate that year against incumbent Jimmy Carter. I was in Florida working for Carter that year, and you could feel the oor cave in. Carter’s goal was to paint his challenger as a risk. Reagan handled it with aplomb

(“There you go again,” he said with a smile) and changed the subject. And a close race turned into a landslide.

Expectations matter. Having portrayed Joe Biden as too old and feeble to walk and talk, Republicans are reportedly worried that he has set the bar too low. Biden has set aside time to prepare the old-fashioned way, with a team who has prepared him in the past. Donald Trump has reportedly opted to use his rallies and interviews as his primary preparation. The danger for Biden is that he will come across as too prepared, too scripted, that he will sound like his talking points. The danger for Trump is that he will do what he does at rallies — go entirely o script and rant and rave about what a victim he is instead of running on the accomplishments of his rst term.

And this is, after all, television, and how you look counts. In her wonderful new book about the ’60s, Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how JFK won the rst televised presidential debate with Richard Nixon if you watched it on TV; Nixon fared better on the radio. Not a coincidence. I heard Don Hewitt, the legendary “60 Minutes” producer who produced the debate for CBS, tell the story of how he arranged for a makeup artist to be available for the two candidates. When he asked them if they wanted makeup, JFK immediately declined, and then Nixon had little choice but to follow suit.

Kennedy then went to his dressing room and put on makeup himself. Nixon looked swarthy and sweaty under the lights.

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

HOKE SPORTS

Hoke wrestling, youth softball have busy summer

Several area wrestlers are busy across the nation

North State Journal sta Softball

Hoke County sent a softball all-star team to the Dixie Youth tournament earlier this month.

The tourney, which was hosted by Hoke County, was double elimination, and the Hoke County 12U Softball All-Stars dropped their rst two games in the event.

In the rst game, Hoke fell to Moore County by a 23-6 score. That gave Hoke a date with the defending state champion, Lumberton, and the team

Peyton Hollingsworth heads to the plate during the Dixie Youth softball tournament.

lost again, this time by a 25-0 margin.

Even thought the team came out on the short end in its tournament experience, the Hoke All-Stars had plenty of impressive individual performances in the Dixie Youth tournament.

Peyton Hollingsworth, last week’s Athlete of the Week, contributed a hit and scored a run while playing rst base.

Gresmarie Pipela also had a hit and scored a run, as did Aalejah Calloway.

On the mound, Katie Gra had six strikeouts in ve innings pitched.

The Pembroke All-Stars ended up winning the 12U tournament, beating Lumberton in the nals, 11-7.

Wrestling

It’s been a busy summer for Hoke County wrestlers. Sara Warren was named to the Junior National Team and competed in the national freestyle and Greco-Roman duals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, rising Hoke freshman Elijah Danet was named to the U14 national team and competed in Pennsylvania.

A contingent of Hoke wrestlers also won the Newberry Vantage Dual meet. Hoke repeated as champions in the event, with Jekai Sedgwick, Samuel Aponte, Jaylen Bethea, Cedric Gri n Jr., Zaid Marjan and Kiyon Brown all posting wins.

Hoke County, softball

McKenzie Freeman is a rising sophomore catcher on the Hoke County softball team. Freeman won Athlete of the Week once during the regular season, as the Bucks posted an 11-11 record.

There was no AOTW jinx, as she kept up her strong play after being honored. She led the Bucks with 29 hits and seven doubles and was second on the team with a .358 average. Her .955 elding, 20 runs, 18 RBIs and .469 slugging were also second on the team.

Her outstanding season earned her another honor, when the North Carolina Softball Coaches Association named her to the all-district team for District 4.

Step down from elite college football, o cials pitch model for new sports landscape

UNC Asheville’s AD presented a new way to organize athletics at an online panel

By John Zenor The Associated Press

FACING UPHEAVAL on the way in college athletics, a handful of administrators and athletes from smaller schools have been working on a new model of governance.

The hope of members of the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I-AAA (programs without football) is to give their athletes more of a say and essentially treat them more like students than employees.

It was a way to be proactive — and potentially head o future lawsuits — amid seismic changes across college sports.

Janet Cone, the president of I-AAA athletic directors and the AD at UNC Asheville, joined colleagues to present their proposed model earlier this month at the annual convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and to others during an online panel organized by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“Our goal was to create a sustainable model that was philosophically and legally defensible and would keep our subdivisions competing in Division I,” Cone told the group. There are 128 FCS pro-

grams that o er football, from Abilene Christian to Youngstown State. There are another approximately 90 I-AAA schools without football that include basketball-focused athletic programs such as Gonzaga, Creighton and St. John’s.

Organizers say their plan would keep their schools at the D-I level while giving athletes more control over governance without resorting to legal action and perhaps provide them with a chance to earn credits toward a degree for athletics.

“I think that the response has been very positive,” said Tom Michael, athletic director at FCS school Eastern Illinois. “I think people believe that we’re down the right path. We understand we’re not at the nish line. No-

body has suggested that this is the nal version of this model.

“I think that there’s an understanding that we need to be proactive on this and we can’t sit and wait for somebody else to try to point us in the direction or create the pathway for us.”

The group enlisted the Pictor Group as consultants last November. The plan has the stated mission of treating athletes more like other students and outlines a di erent role for coaches: Potential no-nos could include removing a player from a team as punishment or pressuring them to move into certain majors. Other proposals cover unreasonable time commitments, rules for appearance o the eld and testing for recreational drugs.

“Obviously there’s got to be

some kind of control to compete at a high level but not exerting control of everything they do,” Cone said of coaches. “Those pieces are really critical to our model where the student-athletes are going to be very involved.”

Former Abilene Christian football player Anthony Egbo Jr. and Radford volleyball player Meredith Page are among the athletes involved. They surveyed peers on what coaches expected of them and got some 100 responses to help formulate the model.

Egbo told the Knight Commission audience that the increased professionalizing of college sports has created more desire for athletes to have more say “in the development of policies that impact our experience.”

“The question that we’ve been asking is: What if there’s a better way for student-athletes to have in uence over their experience that didn’t have to go through judicial and third-party systems?” Egbo said.

ZAC CHAMBLEE, SHOTS BY CHAMBLEE

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NCAA eyes expanding March Madness from current 68 teams

The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each eld at 68 teams. If approved, the NCAA would keep its 64 -team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds. The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season and more meetings are scheduled. The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams. The women’s tournament matched that in 2022.

OLYMPICS

Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd

Los Angeles The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced changes it says will create an estimated $156 million in savings and revenue increases. Swimming will be held at 38,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, basketball at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics at Crypto.com Arena. To accommodate the opening and closing ceremonies at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted. Athletics will move to the rst week of the games, while swimming will be held the second week. The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14-30, 2028.

MLB Yankees’ Stanton goes on injured list for 8th time in 6 seasons

New York New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list for the eighth time in six seasons, a day after straining his left hamstring. A 34-year-old former MVP, Stanton left Saturday night’s 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves and was set to undergo imaging Sunday. Stanton doubled o the center- eld wall in the fourth inning and winced when he rounded third base on Gleyber Torres’ double. Trent Grisham pinch hit for Stanton leading o the sixth. Stanton had missed 266 of 708 games in the past ve seasons.

SOCCER

Pelé’s mother dies at age 101 in Brazil

Sao Paulo Celeste Arantes, the mother of late soccer great Pelé, died on Friday at age 101. Arantes spent the past ve years in a vegetative state and was not informed about her famous son’s death in 2022. The Brazilian Football Confederation says Arantes was hospitalized for the past eight days. The Pelé Foundation says on its social media channels that the mother of the only threetime World Cup-winning player was a role model. Pelé was one of Arantes’ three children. She was initially against her son becoming a professional footballer but gradually changed her views as her son became more successful.

Bell takes checkered ag in rainy New Hampshire

The race is the rst in Cup Series history to end with cars running on rain tires

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell raised a broom over his head and clutched a 24-pound lobster in Victory Lane all because he earned his third Cup win of the season in an outcome that would have been impossible before this NASCAR season.

Heck, it still looked pretty grim for most of Sunday at a rainy track.

Once the skies cleared, NASCAR busted out its latest creation it had saved for a rainy day — wet weather Goodyear tires that allowed the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to continue all the way to a thrilling end.

Bell mastered the Cup Series’ rst race that ended with cars running on rain tires and

pulled away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay to beat darkness and the eld and win Sunday at New Hampshire.

He also swept the weekend at New Hampshire following Saturday’s win in the X nity Series.

“Hopefully that was entertaining because it was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do,” Bell said. “The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

With darkness falling, Bell cruised past Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe and remained the driver to beat at New Hampshire. He has four wins in the X nity Series at Loudon and won a Cup race at the track for a second time.

This time, he won with 86 laps raced on the new tires.

“It was dark. It was very, very dark. That was creeping up in a hurry to being too dark to race,” Bell said. “Certainly there were

“It was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

Christopher Bell

dry parts on the track, but there were still a lot of wet parts on the track, too. I can’t tell you how far away it was, but in my opinion, I didn’t think it was ready for the dry tires yet.”

Briscoe was second and Berry third. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top ve.

“I think we could have probably started with the track a little bit wetter,” Briscoe said.

“The beginning was pretty fun.

We were all over the place. Five wide at times and slipping and sliding around.”

Even with the start of the race bumped up a half-hour, New Hampshire was a mess from the moment the green ag was dropped. The race was marred by wrecks that wiped some of NASCAR’s biggest stars out of contention — all while the rest of the eld tried to remain in contention and beat the looming rain that hovered over the entire weekend.

Tyler Reddick, who won at Talladega this season, held the lead when the race was redagged because of rain with 82 laps left in the scheduled 301lap race.

New Hampshire and NASCAR waited out a tornado watch, nearby lightning strikes and a severe thunderstorm warning before it could resume the race after a delay of more than two hours.

NASCAR let teams use wet-weather tires for the only second time in a points race this season. Teams had a maximum of four sets of wet-weather tires to race on the damp oval track. Teams had to take rain tires during pit stops and their position could not be a ected. They also had no choice of tire.

Lakers hire Redick as new head coach

The former Duke star and NBA veteran has no coaching experience

By Greg Beacham The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick has been hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports.

The 39-year-old Redick is an extraordinary choice by the Lakers, who hired a 15-year veteran with absolutely no coaching experience to lead a franchise with 17 NBA titles, one of the biggest brand names in world sports — and LeBron James, the top scorer in league history.

Redick was a pro cient outside shooter for six teams before his retirement in September 2021, when he moved into a career in broadcasting and podcasting. He joined ESPN’s lead commentary team earlier this year.

ESPN rst reported the decision. Before Redick nished broadcasting the NBA nals, he met with the Lakers last weekend and apparently did well enough to end the franchise’s lengthy coaching search. Less than two weeks after UConn coach Danny Hurley turned down the Lakers’ ardent advances, Redick accepted the job in a remarkable three-year journey from the court to the broadcast booth to the Lakers’ bench.

Redick replaces Darvin Ham, who was red May 3 despite leading the Lakers to two playo berths and a Western Conference nals appearance in 2023.

Redick began recording a regular podcast with James two months ago, and their “Mind the Game” collaboration is already wildly popular, with listeners often emerging impressed by the duo’s basketball acumen and high-level discussion of tactics and motivation.

Now these two minds will be working together for the Lakers, with Redick leading a roster headlined by James, who is six months younger than Redick. Everything is contingent on James deciding to return to play with Anthony Davis and the Lakers, of course. James, who will enter his 22nd NBA season this fall, could decline his $51.4 million contract option this month to become a free agent. But hiring Redick seems to be

another calculated move by the Lakers to maximize their chances of keeping the 20-time AllStar and the driving force behind their 2020 championship team.

Redick’s coaching experience is limited to his children’s youth teams, but he has been around the game his entire life. He is the leading scorer in the history of Duke, where he played four seasons under Mike Krzyzewski.

Redick’s arrival ends another unusual o season coaching search for owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers, who are hiring their eighth head coach since Phil Jackson’s nal departure in 2011, and their fourth since James arrived as a free agent in 2018.

Los Angeles needed six weeks to settle on Ham in the summer of 2022, but the longtime assistant coach was dismissed after the Lakers lost to defending champion Denver in the rst round of the Western Conference playo s.

Ham led the Lakers to two winning seasons and a victory in the inaugural In-Season Tournament last year, but many fans and observers — and, clearly, the Lakers’ front o ce — were not impressed by his leadership or preparation.

Davis memorably said during the playo s that the Lakers “have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the oor.”

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Christopher Bell, front left, holds up a lobster while standing with his wife Morgan, front right, as they celebrate his win in

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

PHELAN M. EBENHACK / AP PHOTO

Former Orlando Magic guard JJ Redick leaves the court after being honored by the team earlier this season. The Lakers have hired Redick for his rst coaching job.

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister recommited to “eliminating Hamas”

By Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy

The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease- re deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest cease- re proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.

Netanyahu’s comments stood

in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease- re proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes and mistrust persist between Is-

rael and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent cease- re and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out another Oct. 7-style assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from

Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of ghting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of De-

Fire at South Korean lithium battery factory kills 22

Most of the victims were Chinese migrant workers

By Hyung-jin Kim

The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — A re likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, o cials said.

The re began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second oor of the factory in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., re o cials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The dead included 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local re o cial Kim Jin-young told a televised brie ng. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately veri ed.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer goods from laptops to cellphones. They can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to res and explosions and making them a hazard for shipment aboard aircraft.

The video of the incident showed the factory’s second oor being engulfed with blaze, about 15 seconds after a small amount of white smoke was seen billowing from a battery, senior re o cial Jo Seon-ho told a brie ng later Monday.

fense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington, D.C., with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conicts, including with Hezbollah. Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic bu er zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the bu er zone will bring an end to that.

During the initial six-week phase of the proposed ceasere, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages including male soldiers and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary cease- re would become permanent.

Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable conrmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

mask, visited the site with other o cials. He expressed condolences to the dead and ordered o cials to put in place measures to e ectively deal with battery-related res, according to Yoon’s o ce.

In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more a uent South Koreans.

Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.

The re started at one of the factory buildings owned by battery manufacturer Aricell. He said that authorities would investigate whether re extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

Jo, citing the footage, said workers at the site mobilized re extinguishers but failed to put out the blaze. They later rushed to an area where there was no exit before they likely inhaled toxic smoke and lost consciousness, he said. The dead foreign workers were daily laborers, so they were likely unfamiliar with the building’s internal structure, he added.

Fire o cials said a total of 102 people were working at the factory at the time of the re. President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing a safety helmet and a

Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, the country’s No. 2 o cial, and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min also came to the site. Han asked o cials to provide government assistance for funeral services and support programs for victims’ relatives, according to his o ce. Monday’s blaze is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years. In 2020, a re at a warehouse being built in Icheon City, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died after a re ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, 12 of them ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died after a re and accompanying explosions tore through a refrigerated warehouse in Icheon city.

South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that regard safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.

LEO CORREA / AP PHOTO

People protest Saturday in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

HONG KI-WONJ / YONHAP VIA AP

Fire ghters work at the site of a burnt lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.

Geraldine Locklear Pierce

October 4, 1951 –June 19, 2024

Mrs. Geraldine Locklear

Pierce, of Raeford, NC went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at the age of 72. She was born in Hoke County, NC on October 04, 1951 to the late Edmund and Martha Locklear.

Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Terry Locklear; and sisters, Mildred Locklear, Barbara Locklear, and Ruthy Lee Locklear.

Geraldine was a member of the Raeford Assembly of God Church in Hoke County. She was a “Domestic Engineer” for most of her life. She was a loving wife, and mother. She is survived by her husband of 17 years, Ronald Phillip Pierce, of Raeford, NC; sons, Clarence Bullard, of Raeford, NC and Jason Pierce (Tyann) of Bowie, MD; daughters, Jessica Locklear (Jimmy Wayne Locklear, Jr.) of Lumberton, NC and Marissa Pierce, of Raeford, NC; brothers, Edmund Locklear, Jr. (Wanda), Ronald Lee Locklear, and Robert Mitchell Locklear, all of Wagram, NC; sister, Bethenny Chavis (Phillip), of Raeford, NC; grandchildren, Dillon Hunt, Leta Hunt, Karissa Hunt, Zavion Bratcher, and Kendall Fairley; and a host of friends and relatives who will miss her very much.

Hazel Lathan

July 31, 1948 – June 21,2024

Hazel Lathan, 75 of Aberdeen, passed away on June 21, 2024 at her home.

Born on July 31, 1948, one of twelve children to the late Grover Sessoms and Mae Dunn. Hazel worked for many years at Golf World Magazine Company. She enjoyed crafting, especially crocheting and making decorative tissue boxes. She also enjoyed traveling, playing cards and most of all, time with her granddaughter. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by siblings, Lela Haywood, Mary Kathern Rogers, John W. Sessoms, Paul Sessoms, Abraham Sessoms, and David Sessoms.

She is survived by her loving husband of 52 years, William Lathan; one daughter, Amanda Hylton and her husband, Marcus; siblings, Sarah Rhoden, Ruby Locklear, Kathleen and DC Scott, Doris Jones, Jean and Jim Byrd; one granddaughter, Olivia Hylton; also survived by many nieces, nephews and other family and friends.

William “Bill” Morris Cameron

January 10, 1946 –June 16, 2024

William “Bill” Morris Cameron, 78, a lifelong Moore/ Harnett county resident, passed away peacefully at the Pinehurst Health & Rehab on Sunday, June 16th.

Bill was born in Durham, NC January 10, 1946, son of the late William Elmer and Catherine Cornelia Cameron. He grew up, working on the family farm and had attended Cameron High School. Bill went on to work for the North Carolina Natural Gas company before starting his own business, Cameron Heating & Air in 1980. No stranger to hard work, Bill joined the Circle V Fire Dept., working his way up to Assistant Chief while still running his own HVAC company. He was a man of a strong faith, a lifelong member of Cypress Church, now Cypress Springs Church in Cameron as well as having served as a church Elder. In between his jobs and work responsibility, he always made time for his greatest joy, his children, grandchildren and extended family. Bill also loved to travel, especially to the Tennessee mountains and was particularly fond of Dolly Parton.

Bill was the father of Michael Cameron, wife Keri, Keith Cameron, wife Lilia and Ian Cameron. He was the grandfather of Reece, Riley, Rebecca and Addison Cameron. Bill is also survived by his great grandchild Wyatt Cameron. In addition to his parents, he is predeceased by his sister Barbara Cameron McCormick.

A celebration of his life will be held at the Cypress Springs Presbyterian Church, 1220 Cypress Church Rd., Cameron, NC on Friday, June 28th. The family will receive friends at 10 AM, a service to be held at 11 AM and a fellowship reception after the ceremony.

Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in NSJ at obits@northstatejournal.com

STATE & NATION

How swimmers can escape dangerous rip currents

There are 16 known deaths in U.S. waters this year

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Stinging jelly sh, rays with whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year.

Six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama, o cials say.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association, and more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The National Weather Service lists 16 known deaths so far in 2024 from rip currents in U.S. waters, including the Florida fatalities as well as eight deaths in Puerto Rico and two in Texas.

Here are some things to know about rip currents: What is a rip current?

Rip currents are narrow col-

umns of water owing rapidly away from the beach, like a swift stream within the ocean. They don’t pull swimmers under water but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because

Bans on gender-a rming care by states to be heard by Supreme Court

The high court has rarely taken up cases involving transgender issues

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the ght over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-a rming care.

The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take e ect after they had been

blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)

“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal ling in support of Supreme Court review.

Arguments will take place in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-a rming medical care for transgender minors.

Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they had been blocked by lower courts.

At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. At least 11 states have

the surface water often appears calm.

The current can ow as swiftly as 8 feet per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you’re caught in one and you try to swim straight in, you’re not going to be able to,” said Daniel Barnickel of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue.

How can someone escape a rip current?

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to not panic and look for a chance to swim parallel to the shore until the swimmer is out of the rip current’s grip. It will eventually dissipate but might leave the swimmer out in deeper water.

It’s nearly impossible to ght the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say. If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

“Most of our rip current rescues happen outside the guarded areas because we’re not there to prevent it from happening,” Barnickel said.

What warning systems exist for rip currents?

Flags with di erent colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Three ags warn of surf and rip current conditions. Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There’s also purple for dangerous sea life, like jelly sh, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and

has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions are favorable for their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

“Before this, forecasters were manually predicting rip currents on a large section of the ocean twice a day and only a day or two into the future. The earlier prediction has potential to substantially increase awareness and reduce drownings,” said Gregory Dusek, a NOAA scientist who developed the model, in a post on the agency’s website.

High risk warnings were posted for most Florida beaches last week, when the drownings occurred.

Should someone attempt a rip current rescue?

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, o cials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It’s best to nd a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted. People on shore can also try to tell the person to swim parallel to shore.

“Never swim alone. And always make sure that there’s an adult. And make sure that you don’t overestimate your abilities. Know your limits,” Barnickel said.

adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The nation’s highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm. In 2021, the justices declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. At the time, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas noted they would have taken up the school board’s appeal.

NOAA VIA AP

Rip currents — highlighted in the image by using a green dye — are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.

MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that addresses gender-a rming care for minors.

MOORE COUNTY

for

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Briscoe tapped to replace retiring Truex at Joe Gibbs Racing

Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing con rmed that the NASCAR driver will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 Cup Series season. The annoucement came days after driver Christopher Bell accidentally spoiled the surprise at a press conference.

Briscoe is set to become the rst driver among the four at Stewart-Haas Racing to land a Cup ride for next season.

SHR announced last month it would close its organization at the end of this season. SHR this year elds Cup cars for Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Briscoe is 16th in the Cup points standings after a runner-up nish in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire.

Boy who died at nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in tentlike structure

Medical examiners say a boy who died while enrolled in a nature therapy camp couldn’t breathe in the tentlike structure he was sleeping in.

The 12-year-old died in February in western North Carolina while participating in the Trails Carolina wilderness program for troubled youths.

An autopsy report was released Monday. It focused on the boy’s damaged bivy, or small camping enclosure. The bivy’s internal mesh door was torn, and a weather-resistant door was used instead to secure the opening.

Medical examiners noted that fully securing a bivy’s weather resistant opening can lead to “breathing restriction.”

Paying respects

Brycen Mabe, 17, of Carthage, died June 10 at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill after sustaining serious injuries in an automobile crash.

Funeral services were held June 18 in the auditorium at Pinecrest High School where Mabe was a rising senior and defensive end on the football team.

After the service, football players and coaches walked to the stadium and lined up on the back goal — where they would wait for a game to begin — for a nal farewell.

Traveling Vietnam War Memorial makes stop in North Carolina

Visitors to “The Wall That Heals” bring sentiment and re ection

By Bob Sutton North State Journal

ASHEBORO — They came for many reasons, but those gathering across several days at “The Wall That Heals” had something in common.

They wanted to recognize the sacri ces of Vietnam War veterans and pay tributes to the military in general.

“The Wall That Heals” was set up on the South Asheboro

Middle School baseball eld from last Wednesday through early Sunday afternoon.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Shawn Parrish, a Randleman resident who had served in the Air Force.

Asheboro’s Carlene and Renee Corder arrived with a specific purpose: to honor Charles R. Chriscoe, who grew up with Carlene in the Seagrove community.

“It’s a lot of names,” Carlene Corder said after nding Chriscoe’s name on the wall.

“The Wall That Heals” is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.,

“A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.”

Rita Honeycutt, Randolph County Veteran Services

that travels around the country.

The names of 58,281 men and women who died in the Vietnam War are listed.

“It’s something you should come and see if you can’t go to Washington,” Renee Corder said.

Rita Honeycutt, a veteran service o cer for Randolph County Veterans Services, said having the wall in Randolph County was special.

“We’ve tried to push it out as much as possible to get the word out,” Honeycutt said. “A lot of veterans can’t get to Washington to experience it.” Honeycutt said state Sen. David Craven Jr., who spoke during the opening ceremony, was heavily involved in supporting the bid to bring the wall to Asheboro and obtaining corresponding sponsorships.

See MEMORIAL, page 2

Commissioners cut tax rate by two cents in new budget

The Moore County scal 2024-25 budget also includes full funding for police, re and schools

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

CARTHAGE — At a special meeting last Thursday, the Moore County Board of Commissioners signed o on the budget for the next scal year, beginning July 1.

The $230 million budget includes a property tax rate decrease of $0.02 — a penny more than originally recommended — for a rate of $0.31 per $100 valuation.

The budget increases school spending by 1.5% and, at $38.2 million, is roughly $1.6 million higher than the original sta recommendation.

“Education is one of our top priorities, and with the money we take from our citizens and give to the public schools, we have a lot of con dence in this elected board and their leadership and that they will use this

money for the furtherment of our citizens,” said Board Chair Nick Picerno.

Additional highlights of the budget include a 4% increase in employee salaries, a 5.6% decrease in total expenditures, full funding for the requests by both the sheri ’s o ce and re departments, funding for additional EMS and EMT positions and for a new station and quick response vehicle.

“The taxpayers win, education wins and public safety wins,” Picerno said. “Those are the types of wins that the board really likes to see happen.”

The board also met twice more in June for regular business meetings.

Following several public hearings on June 18, the board approved four separate text amendments to the Uni ed Development Ordinance.

Those amendments include allowing changes in the sizing of buildings that do not exceed 5% of the originally approved areas in property that is conditionally rezoned to be considered minor modi cations rather

than major to allow those decisions to be handled by sta , an exception for wireless telecommunication towers serving electrical substations from wireless communication facility standard requirements and various updates surrounding plat and subdivision requirements.

The board also approved a resolution requesting the NC General Assembly support and ratify HB1044, which would authorize a study of the current North Carolina county tier system. Currently, each county receives a tier designation from one to three – with one being the most distressed county and three being the least – and Moore County is a tier three county.

The current statute requires there to be 40 tier one, 40 tier two and 20 tier three counties in North Carolina. These tiers determine county eligibility for di erent programs and grants. HB1044 looks to revamp that system.

“I think this is very important because we have been ask-

ing for years and years and years for the tier system to be changed because it does not follow county lines,” Picerno said. “Poverty does not know borders. Some of the key items of this are that it potentially could change the criteria used to rank counties, change the way in which the designations are assigned, change the time frame in which counties are ranked, and it could also look at the programs that use the tier system.

“Right now, our tier status punishes us in certain ways, and it forces our taxpayers, while we have plenty of a uency in the county that can a ord,

See BUDGET, page 2

PHOTOS BY DAVID SINCLAIR FOR NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Left, Brycen Mabe’s mother, Patsy Odom, gets a hug from Pinecrest football head coach Nick Eddins. Right, Brycen Mabe (91) races

a sack at a home game against Knightdale last August. Pinecrest won 48-0.

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

Neal Robbins, Publisher Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter

P.J.

Ozempic maker to create 1,000 jobs in Clayton

Novo Nordisk already employs nearly 2,500 people in the Triangle

The Associated Press

CLAYTON — Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, announced on Monday that it plans to add 1,000 jobs when another company’s manufacturing plant is built in a Raleigh suburb to expand production of the very popular weight loss and diabetes medicines, as well as other treatments.

The Danish-based company said it will invest $4.1 billion on the new facility in Clayton. The 1.4 million-square-foot (130,000 square-meter) production space for manufacturing and nishing processes would double the combined space that Novo Nordisk already has at its three plants in the Triangle area, news outlets reported. It employs nearly 2,500 workers in the region.

cruiting organization. The average salary for the new positions will be $70,000, which is above Johnston County’s average of $50,605, the partnership said in a news release.

The future production site, with construction to be completed in phases between 2027 and 2029, will be able to make multiple treatments, the company said. Novo Nordisk has been best known for making insulin to treat diabetes.

We stand corrected

To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline.com with “Correction request” in the subject line.

Moore County Edition of North State Journal

CRIME LOG

June 18

• James Thomas Watkins, 46, was arrested by Robbins Police Department for driving while license revoked (impaired revocation).

• Jennifer Roxanne Lusk, 33, was arrested by Robbins Police Department for possessing methamphetamine.

• Patrick Kyle Green, 31, was arrested by Moore County Sheriff’s Office for breaking and entering.

June 20

•Chelsea Elizabeth Morgan, 36, was arrested by Robbins Police Department for possessing heroin.

June 21

• Mallina Jinae Sampson, 24, was arrested by Aberdeen Police Department for misdemeanor larceny.

June 22

• Arthur Jamar Bostic, 38, was arrested by Southern Pines Police Department for violating a domestic violence protection order.

• Savannah Lynn Ayers, 25, was arrested by Moore County Sheriff’s Office for communicating threats.

June 23

• Joshua K. Ross Ratliff, 26, was arrested by Aberdeen Police Department for possession of a firearm by a felon.

The announcement would mark the largest life sciences investment in state history, said Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the state’s independent nonpro t re-

BUDGET from page 1

we have those that cannot, and they’re forced to live under the same rules of the tier system when it comes to a lot of these programs.”

On June 6, Picerno also spoke on Trillium Health Resources, which recently acquired the Sandhills Center and implored people to start speaking out against the consolidation of mental health resources.

“Trillium has taken over the Sandhills Center that we have relied on being that it’s a local

MEMORIAL from page 1

The grounds were open to visitors around the clock for 96 hours. Group tours with a short program were available — for instance, those were conducted at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday upon demand. It was free to attend.

More than 1,000 people visited “The Wall That Heals” and its museum and mobile education center, set up outside the middle school, during its rst two days in Randolph County. Using a database of deceased veterans, volunteers helped visitors locate speci c names on the wall.

“The importance of this facility we’re making is ensuring that we are exible to both produce weight-loss products but also other chronic diseases,” Novo Nordisk vice president Niels

entity,” Picerno said. “I think it served around 11 counties in the area and that was easier to maintain and we could get services for those folks who were needing it. Now we’re a part of 40 plus. It’s just gotten so big and so unwieldy that now we have regional boards that go to a board of directors that then go to, and that was easier to maintain, an executive team that runs it all. It’s layered, and we’re probably running out of red tape on this one because there’s so much red tape.” He noted that governments are spending millions on bureaucracy rather

Honeycutt said the application process to have the wall visit Asheboro began in April 2023. Her o ce learned of the bid’s acceptance in November and has worked on many details since.

Earlier last week, “The Wall That Heals” was escorted by perhaps up to 200 motorcyclists representing American Legion Riders, Combat Veteran Riders, AmVet Riders and others from Creekside Park in Archdale to Asheboro, where it was assembled with the assistance of some Vietnam War veterans.

“I was always interested in going to the wall,” said Parrish, an Air Force veteran who visit-

Novo Nordisk makes the popular diabetes drug Ozempic.

Laurbjerg Nielsen said. Novo Nordisk opened more than 30 years ago its rst facility in Clayton, which is about 20 miles southeast of Raleigh. The drugmaker announced in 2015 plans to double facility space in Johnston County. That work was completed in 2020 and marked the company’s rst facility outside of Denmark to manufacture active drugs.

The Johnston County commissioners approved incentives for the project on Monday before the company’s public announcement. The company would receive cash grants equivalent to a percentage of property tax if it meets investment goals.

than actually helping people.

“The State of North Carolina is consolidating mental health services, and they’ve continued to consolidate from bigger entities to even bigger entities. What happens, though, is that people are getting lost in the shu e, and we have a mental health crisis in the United States of America. I question why we continue to make legislation that only weakens a solution to a problem we should be strengthening.”

The Moore County Board of Commissioners will next meet July 16.

ed with his son and daughter. Chris and Joanne Corsbie of Asheboro stopped by to re ect on that era and the commitments made by so many.

“We were both in high school during the Vietnam War, and we wanted to support this,” Joanne Corsbie said. “We knew people who fought. Fortunately, they came home.”

“What I really like about this is its continued recognition of these folks,” Chris Corsbie said.

“I was very impressed.”

Asheboro was the only site in North Carolina for “The Wall That Heals” among 33 communities nationally in 2024. The next stop for the exhibit is in Biddeford, Maine.

moore happening

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Moore County:

June 26-30

2024 NCHJA Annual Horse Show

7:30 a.m. daily

The North Carolina Hunter Jumper Association’s annual horse show draws hundreds of horses and riders each year. Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Rd., Raeford. For more information call 910-875-2074.

June 30

Independence Day Charcuterie Workshop 1 p.m.

Grab your tickets now for a mouthwatering Patriotic Charcuterie Workshop at Southern Pines Brewing Company on Penn. Elevate your Independence Day celebrations with a handson experience led by Salty Boards. You’ll learn the art of crafting the perfect charcuterie board on a star-shaped palm leaf tray. Southern Pines Brewing Company, 205 West Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Tickets $50. For more information call 910-365-9900.

July 4

Pinehurst 4th of July Parade 9:45 a.m.

The Village will host its annual Independence Day Parade. Come early for the Pet Parade. The patriotic pets will kick o the fun and lead the main parade. Stick around following the parade to enjoy the Sandhills Farmers Market in Tufts Memorial Park. James W. Tufts Memorial Park.

Moore County Concert Band: Happy Birthday America! 2 p.m.

The Moore County Concert Band is celebrating America’s Birthday with Community Congregational Church, 141 North Bennett St., Southern Pines. For more information call 910-215-0944.

Fun Family Fourth of July in Aberdeen 5 p.m.

Celebrate Independence Day with an evening of live entertainment, food vendors and activities for all ages. Kid Zone, sponsored by Fidelity Bank, allows children access to the rock-climbing wall, in atable slides, bounce houses and obstacle course. Grab your blankets and lawn chairs, and bring family and friends to enjoy one of the largest and most exciting reworks displays in the area. Pets, alcoholic beverages, personal reworks and coolers are not allowed. Aberdeen Lake Park.

DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP PHOTO

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | RICHARD HUDSON

Delivering for Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers.

AS

FORT LIBERTY/FORT BRAGG’S congressman,

I know there is no investment more important than the one we make in the men and women stationed there, their families, and our veterans. They sacri ce so much to protect our nation and preserve the freedoms we hold so dear, and I am working to ensure they have the support and resources they deserve.

Many service members and their families are away from their communities for extended periods throughout the year and should have the best quality of life possible while they serve our country. This year’s Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for FY25 (NDAA), which the House recently passed, ensures just that.

It provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% increase for all other servicemembers. It also supports new military family housing and commits resources to housing maintenance so that sewage over ows, mold and bedbugs are quickly treated and prevented from reoccurring, an issue I have pushed for years now after hearing awful stories from our soldiers at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg. The NDAA further expands access to child care for military families and ensures our troops and their families receive the highquality health care they deserve.

I am especially proud that the bill includes big wins for our troops and their families at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg, including over $87 million for needed infrastructure and quality-of-life projects on the base, ranging from funding for the Child Development Center and the SOF arms room addition all the way to housekeeping items like generators

Great debates

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?”

“PRAY FOR JACK KENNEDY,” I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead “spinner” for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodru and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president, and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

“Does he really do that?” Bentsen asked.

Eckart was well-prepared. He really does, we assured him.

“Well, with your permission,” the senator responded (as ever gracious, as if he needed my permission), if he does that in the debate, I’m going to call him on it. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. And he’s no Jack Kennedy.”

“Was he really a friend of yours (ever the fact-checker),” I responded.

“B.A. (his wife) and I went to his wedding.” From that moment on, we were praying for Jack Kennedy.

The rest is history. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” is one of the famous lines in the lore of great debates. It didn’t win the election for his running mate, Michael Dukakis (vice presidents rarely do), but it clearly won the debate. Indeed, the post-debate

and water systems to keep the base clean and running. The bill also includes my provisions to strengthen oversight of military housing and prevent President Biden’s proposal to cut funding for our Special Forces unit at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg.

Funding important programs that help take care of those who have taken care of us — our nation’s veterans — is one of my top priorities. These heroes sacri ced so much to give us the freedoms that we have today, and we made a promise to ensure Washington works for them.

House Republicans delivered on that promise through recently passing this year’s Military Construction, Veterans A airs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act — a plan that honors our commitment to our veterans. This legislation in fact provides $30 billion more than last year’s enacted level for veterans. It fully funds veterans’ health care, bene ts and all other VA programs, including toxic exposure-related needs, while protecting their constitutional rights from Big Bureaucracy’s assault. In addition to these measures, I also worked to include funding for VA mental health programs like suicide prevention.

This year’s NDAA and MilConVA Appropriations package represent our unwavering commitment to the brave men and women who have answered the call to serve our nation. Rest assured, I am going to continue to ght for these heroes and make clear that they will always have my support.

Richard Hudson represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in Congress.

polls showed Bentsen handily ahead of both Quayle and Betsen’s running mate, George H.W. Bush.

It doesn’t always work out the way you plan, of course. That same year, Bill Clinton and I had rehearsed over and over with Dukakis the answer to the “Willie Horton question” (Horton was a black convicted murderer who had raped a white woman while on a weekend furlough program) about crime.

I can still recite the answer we rehearsed in my sleep these many years later. It was to make clear that Dukakis was on the side of victims, not criminals. “I know what it’s like to be the victim of crime. My brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on his bike and left for dead at the side of the road. My father was beaten and tied up in his medical o ce by thugs who robbed him, looking for drugs.”

But that wasn’t the answer he gave when moderator Bernard Shaw asked him what he would do if someone raped and killed his wife. “Did we just lose the election?” Barry Diller leaned over and asked me as we sat in the holding room watching the debate.

There are moments in debates that get replayed constantly, which can make or break a candidate.

“Are you better o today than you were four years ago?” candidate Ronald Reagan asked in the only debate that year against incumbent Jimmy Carter. I was in Florida working for Carter that year, and you could feel the oor cave in. Carter’s goal was to paint his challenger as a risk. Reagan handled it with aplomb

(“There you go again,” he said with a smile) and changed the subject. And a close race turned into a landslide.

Expectations matter. Having portrayed Joe Biden as too old and feeble to walk and talk, Republicans are reportedly worried that he has set the bar too low. Biden has set aside time to prepare the old-fashioned way, with a team who has prepared him in the past. Donald Trump has reportedly opted to use his rallies and interviews as his primary preparation. The danger for Biden is that he will come across as too prepared, too scripted, that he will sound like his talking points. The danger for Trump is that he will do what he does at rallies — go entirely o script and rant and rave about what a victim he is instead of running on the accomplishments of his rst term.

And this is, after all, television, and how you look counts. In her wonderful new book about the ’60s, Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts how JFK won the rst televised presidential debate with Richard Nixon if you watched it on TV; Nixon fared better on the radio.

Not a coincidence. I heard Don Hewitt, the legendary “60 Minutes” producer who produced the debate for CBS, tell the story of how he arranged for a makeup artist to be available for the two candidates. When he asked them if they wanted makeup, JFK immediately declined, and then Nixon had little choice but to follow suit. Kennedy then went to his dressing room and put on makeup himself. Nixon looked swarthy and sweaty under the lights.

MOORE SPORTS

Moore County softball players earn all-district honors

Union Pines places four on the all-district list while North Moore has two

North State Journal sta

SIX MOORE COUNTY athletes made the North Carolina Softball Coaches Association’s all-district list for District 4.

The NCSCA released the all-district list on June 19. District 4 consists of Moore, Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Richmond, Robeson and Scotland counties.

Pinecrest was shut out of all-district honors, but both of the county’s other traditional high schools were represented.

Union Pines produced the most all-district athletes in the county, having four players make the 3A list. North Moore had two players make the 1A list, matching East Columbus for the most all-district honorees at that level.

Sydney Russell was a top player for North Moore both on the mound and at the plate.

The NCSA released the allstate list last Wednesday. Coaches from all four classications who are members of the NCSCA select the all-district teams. Here’s a rundown of every Moore County all-district athlete and their stats from 2024:

North Moore (1A):

Calissa Clendenin, junior, catcher/utility player: Clendenin placed second on the Mustangs with a .431 average, 28 hits and 18 RBIs. She led the team with .479 OBP and 10 doubles, and placed third on the squad with 22 runs and .584 slugging. She also went the entire season without committing an error.

Sydney Russell, junior pitcher/shortstop/utility: The twoway player led North Moore with a .443 average and a 2.70 ERA. She also led the way with 31 hits, 25 runs, 27 RBIs and six triples. Her 92 strikeouts on the mound also led the way.

Union Pines (3A):

Natalie Auman, senior, third baseman: An all-around player, she didn’t lead the team in any one o ensive category, but she was in the top three in just about everything, stealing 17 bases to go with a .412 average, .475 OBP, 35 hits and 26 runs.

Kileigh Cameron, sophomore, rst baseman: She was Union Pines’ leader with 27 runs scored. She added 31 hits, four homers and 25 RBIs, and she was among the top three Vikings in average, slugging and elding percentage.

Corryn McCutchen, senior, out elder: The team leader in OBP (.540) and triples (6) and stolen bases (19), she also had a .394 average and scored 25 runs.

Nicole Norman, senior, catcher: She led the Vikings in average (.451), slugging percentage (.780), hits (37), doubles (10) and elding (.986). She was also in the top three in OBP (.526), home runs (3) and triples (4).

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Bryant Kimbrell

Pinecrest, baseball

Bryant Kimbrell was a senior for the Pinecrest baseball team.

Kimbrell won Athlete of the Week after the Patriots got o to a 4-0 start to the season.

Neither he nor Pinecrest slowed down after that burst out of the gate. The Patriots nished with a 24-5 record and won the Sandhills with an 11-1 league record.

Kimbrell led the team with seven home runs, 35 RBIs and a .777 slugging percentage. He was also among team leaders in average and OBP. On the mound, he had an ERA below 1.00.

In addition to winning all-conference honors, Kimbrell was recently honored by the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association, who put him on their 4A all-state team.

Step down from elite college football, o cials pitch model for new sports landscape

UNC Asheville’s AD presented a new way to organize athletics at an online panel

By John Zenor

The Associated Press

FACING UPHEAVAL on the way in college athletics, a handful of administrators and athletes from smaller schools have been working on a new model of governance.

The hope of members of the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I-AAA (programs without football) is to give their athletes more of a say and essentially treat them more like students than employees.

It was a way to be proactive — and potentially head o future lawsuits — amid seismic changes across college sports.

Janet Cone, the president of I-AAA athletic directors and the AD at UNC Asheville, joined colleagues to present their proposed model earlier this month at the annual convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and to others during an online panel organized by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“Our goal was to create a sustainable model that was philosophically and legally defensible and would keep our subdivisions competing in Division I,” Cone told the group. There are 128 FCS programs that o er football, from Abilene Christian to Youngstown State. There are another approximately 90 I-AAA schools without football that in-

UNC ASHEVILLE ATHLETICS

schools try to nd a place in the new college

clude basketball-focused athletic programs such as Gonzaga, Creighton and St. John’s.

Organizers say their plan would keep their schools at the D-I level while giving athletes more control over governance without resorting to legal action and perhaps provide them with a chance to earn credits toward a degree for athletics.

“I think that the response has been very positive,” said Tom Michael, athletic director at FCS school Eastern Illinois. “I think people believe that we’re down the right path. We understand we’re not at the nish line. No-

body has suggested that this is the nal version of this model.

“I think that there’s an understanding that we need to be proactive on this and we can’t sit and wait for somebody else to try to point us in the direction or create the pathway for us.”

The group enlisted the Pictor Group as consultants last November. The plan has the stated mission of treating athletes more like other students and outlines a di erent role for coaches: Potential no-nos could include removing a player from a team as punishment or pressuring them to move into certain majors. Oth-

er proposals cover unreasonable time commitments, rules for appearance o the eld and testing for recreational drugs.

“Obviously there’s got to be some kind of control to compete at a high level but not exerting control of everything they do,” Cone said of coaches. “Those pieces are really critical to our model where the student-athletes are going to be very involved.”

Former Abilene Christian football player Anthony Egbo Jr. and Radford volleyball player Meredith Page are among the athletes involved. They surveyed

peers on what coaches expected of them and got some 100 responses to help formulate the model.

Egbo told the Knight Commission audience that the increased professionalizing of college sports has created more desire for athletes to have more say “in the development of policies that impact our experience.”

“The question that we’ve been asking is: What if there’s a better way for student-athletes to have in uence over their experience that didn’t have to go through judicial and third-party systems?” Egbo said.

CREDIT DAVID SINCLAIR

ASHEEBO ROJAS / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

UNC Asheville athletic director Janet Cone is taking on a leadership role as smaller

athletics landscape

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NCAA eyes expanding March Madness from current 68 teams

The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each eld at 68 teams. If approved, the NCAA would keep its 64 -team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds. The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season and more meetings are scheduled. The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams. The women’s tournament matched that in 2022.

OLYMPICS

Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd

Los Angeles The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced changes it says will create an estimated $156 million in savings and revenue increases. Swimming will be held at 38,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, basketball at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics at Crypto.com Arena. To accommodate the opening and closing ceremonies at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted. Athletics will move to the rst week of the games, while swimming will be held the second week. The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14-30, 2028.

MLB Yankees’ Stanton goes on injured list for 8th time in 6 seasons

New York New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton went on the injured list for the eighth time in six seasons, a day after straining his left hamstring. A 34-year-old former MVP, Stanton left Saturday night’s 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves and was set to undergo imaging Sunday. Stanton doubled o the center- eld wall in the fourth inning and winced when he rounded third base on Gleyber Torres’ double. Trent Grisham pinch hit for Stanton leading o the sixth. Stanton had missed 266 of 708 games in the past ve seasons.

SOCCER

Pelé’s mother dies at age 101 in Brazil

Sao Paulo Celeste Arantes, the mother of late soccer great Pelé, died on Friday at age 101. Arantes spent the past ve years in a vegetative state and was not informed about her famous son’s death in 2022. The Brazilian Football Confederation says Arantes was hospitalized for the past eight days. The Pelé Foundation says on its social media channels that the mother of the only threetime World Cup-winning player was a role model. Pelé was one of Arantes’ three children. She was initially against her son becoming a professional footballer but gradually changed her views as her son became more successful.

Bell takes checkered ag in rainy New Hampshire

The race is the rst in Cup Series history to end with cars running on rain tires

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell raised a broom over his head and clutched a 24-pound lobster in Victory Lane all because he earned his third Cup win of the season in an outcome that would have been impossible before this NASCAR season.

Heck, it still looked pretty grim for most of Sunday at a rainy track.

Once the skies cleared, NASCAR busted out its latest creation it had saved for a rainy day — wet weather Goodyear tires that allowed the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to continue all the way to a thrilling end.

Bell mastered the Cup Series’ rst race that ended with cars running on rain tires and

pulled away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay to beat darkness and the eld and win Sunday at New Hampshire.

He also swept the weekend at New Hampshire following Saturday’s win in the X nity Series.

“Hopefully that was entertaining because it was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do,” Bell said. “The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

With darkness falling, Bell cruised past Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe and remained the driver to beat at New Hampshire. He has four wins in the X nity Series at Loudon and won a Cup race at the track for a second time.

This time, he won with 86 laps raced on the new tires.

“It was dark. It was very, very dark. That was creeping up in a hurry to being too dark to race,” Bell said. “Certainly there were

“It was something di erent, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that gured it out the quickest were the most successful.”

Christopher Bell

dry parts on the track, but there were still a lot of wet parts on the track, too. I can’t tell you how far away it was, but in my opinion, I didn’t think it was ready for the dry tires yet.” Briscoe was second and Berry third. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher completed the top ve.

“I think we could have probably started with the track a little bit wetter,” Briscoe said.

“The beginning was pretty fun.

We were all over the place. Five wide at times and slipping and sliding around.”

Even with the start of the race bumped up a half-hour, New Hampshire was a mess from the moment the green ag was dropped. The race was marred by wrecks that wiped some of NASCAR’s biggest stars out of contention — all while the rest of the eld tried to remain in contention and beat the looming rain that hovered over the entire weekend.

Tyler Reddick, who won at Talladega this season, held the lead when the race was redagged because of rain with 82 laps left in the scheduled 301lap race.

New Hampshire and NASCAR waited out a tornado watch, nearby lightning strikes and a severe thunderstorm warning before it could resume the race after a delay of more than two hours.

NASCAR let teams use wet-weather tires for the only second time in a points race this season. Teams had a maximum of four sets of wet-weather tires to race on the damp oval track. Teams had to take rain tires during pit stops and their position could not be a ected. They also had no choice of tire.

Lakers hire Redick as new head coach

The former Duke star and NBA veteran has no coaching experience

By Greg Beacham The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick has been hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports.

The 39-year-old Redick is an extraordinary choice by the Lakers, who hired a 15-year veteran with absolutely no coaching experience to lead a franchise with 17 NBA titles, one of the biggest brand names in world sports — and LeBron James, the top scorer in league history.

Redick was a pro cient outside shooter for six teams before his retirement in September 2021, when he moved into a career in broadcasting and podcasting. He joined ESPN’s lead commentary team earlier this year.

ESPN rst reported the decision. Before Redick nished broadcasting the NBA nals, he met with the Lakers last weekend and apparently did well enough to end the franchise’s lengthy coaching search. Less than two weeks after UConn coach Danny Hurley turned down the Lakers’ ardent advances, Redick accepted the job in a remarkable three-year journey from the court to the broadcast booth to the Lakers’ bench.

Redick replaces Darvin Ham, who was red May 3 despite leading the Lakers to two playo berths and a Western Conference nals appearance in 2023.

Redick began recording a regular podcast with James two months ago, and their “Mind the Game” collaboration is already wildly popular, with listeners often emerging impressed by the duo’s basketball acumen and high-level discussion of tactics and motivation.

Now these two minds will be working together for the Lakers, with Redick leading a roster headlined by James, who is six months younger than Redick. Everything is contingent on James deciding to return to play with Anthony Davis and the Lakers, of course. James, who will enter his 22nd NBA season this fall, could decline his $51.4 million contract option this month to become a free agent. But hiring Redick seems to be

another calculated move by the Lakers to maximize their chances of keeping the 20-time AllStar and the driving force behind their 2020 championship team.

Redick’s coaching experience is limited to his children’s youth teams, but he has been around the game his entire life. He is the leading scorer in the history of Duke, where he played four seasons under Mike Krzyzewski.

Redick’s arrival ends another unusual o season coaching search for owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers, who are hiring their eighth head coach since Phil Jackson’s nal departure in 2011, and their fourth since James arrived as a free agent in 2018.

Los Angeles needed six weeks to settle on Ham in the summer of 2022, but the longtime assistant coach was dismissed after the Lakers lost to defending champion Denver in the rst round of the Western Conference playo s.

Ham led the Lakers to two winning seasons and a victory in the inaugural In-Season Tournament last year, but many fans and observers — and, clearly, the Lakers’ front o ce — were not impressed by his leadership or preparation.

Davis memorably said during the playo s that the Lakers “have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the oor.”

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Christopher Bell, front left, holds up a lobster while standing with his wife Morgan, front right, as they celebrate his win in

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

PHELAN M. EBENHACK / AP PHOTO

Former Orlando Magic guard JJ Redick leaves the court after being honored by the team earlier this season. The Lakers have hired Redick for his rst coaching job.

Netanyahu says he won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister recommited to “eliminating Hamas”

By Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy

The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-monthlong war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” ceasere deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest cease- re proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed

late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease- re proposal.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes and mistrust per -

sist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent cease- re and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out another Oct. 7-style assault. A

full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of ghting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the

Fire at South Korean lithium battery factory kills 22

Most of the victims were Chinese migrant workers

By Hyung-jin Kim

Associated Press

The

SEOUL, South Korea — A re likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, o cials said.

The re began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second oor of the factory in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., re o cials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The dead included 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local re o cial Kim Jin-young told a televised brie ng. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately veri ed. In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more a uent South Koreans.

Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.

The re started at one of the

factory buildings owned by battery manufacturer Aricell. He said that authorities would investigate whether re extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer goods from laptops to cellphones. They can overheat if damaged, defective or packaged improperly, leading to res and explosions and making them a hazard for shipment aboard aircraft.

The video of the incident showed the factory’s second oor being engulfed with blaze, about 15 seconds after a small amount of white smoke was seen billowing from a battery, senior re o cial Jo Seonho told a brie ng later Monday.

Jo, citing the footage, said workers at the site mobilized

re extinguishers but failed to put out the blaze. They later rushed to an area where there was no exit before they likely inhaled toxic smoke and lost consciousness, he said. The dead foreign workers were daily laborers, so they were likely unfamiliar with the building’s internal structure, he added.

Fire o cials said a total of 102 people were working at the factory at the time of the re.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing a safety helmet and a mask, visited the site with other o cials. He expressed condolences to the dead and ordered o cials to put in place measures to e ectively deal with battery-related res, according to Yoon’s o ce.

Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, the country’s No. 2 o cial, and Interior and Safety Minis -

war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington, D.C., with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conicts, including with Hezbollah.

Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic bu er zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the bu er zone will bring an end to that.

During the initial six-week phase of the proposed ceasere, the sides are supposed to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages including male soldiers and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary ceasere would become permanent.

Hamas appears concerned that Israel will resume the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned. And even if it doesn’t, Israel could make demands in that stage of negotiations that were not part of the initial deal and are unacceptable to Hamas — and then resume the war when Hamas refuses them.

Netanyahu’s remarks reinforced that concern. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “unmistakable con rmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

ter Lee Sang-min also came to the site. Han asked o cials to provide government assistance for funeral services and support programs for victims’ relatives, according to his o ce. Monday’s blaze is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years.

In 2020, a re at a warehouse being built in Icheon City, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died after a re ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, 12 of them ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died after a re and accompanying explosions tore through a refrigerated warehouse in Icheon city. South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that regard safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.

LEO CORREA / AP PHOTO

People protest Saturday in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

obituaries

Kelly Michael Yow

July 18, 1953 – June 20, 2024

Kelly Michael Yow, 70, passed away Thursday at his home in Asheboro, NC (Summit Apartments, 156 E. Academy St). The son of the late Fred L. and Edith C. Yow, Kelly worked in the timber industry as a sawyer for several years for family owned businesses, then worked for Triad Propane in Asheboro for many years. He also farmed with his brother Kenneth and enjoyed the outdoors working with their Oliver tractors.

Kelly was a simple fellow who enjoyed his many friends, loved going to the beach, and always kept his car or truck clean.

Kelly never married, and was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Lacy, and his brother Keith. He is survived by sister Jane Coker (Gene, deceased), brothers Kenneth (Dianne) and Dale (Anne), and sister Sherrie Perry (Steve), and several nieces and nephews. Kelly’s family wishes to acknowledge the kindness and help of special friends Lloyd Hunt, his friends and neighbors at Summit Apartments (Carla Morton, Manager), and his buddies at AmVets Post 905 in Asheboro.

Kelly’s last several years were di cult after he su ered strokes and severe arthritis. The family especially thanks Dianne Yow (sister-in-law) for her dedication in caring for him during this time.

Ruth “Geraldine” Buie Garner

December 17, 1937 –June 19, 2024

Ruth “Geraldine” Buie Garner, age 86, of Whispering Pines passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at FirstHealth Hospice House in Pinehurst surrounded by her family.

Geraldine was born in Moore County on December 17, 1937 to the late Johnny Duncan and Stella Westmoreland Buie. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Robert Thomas Garner; grandsons, Shane Martin, Stephen Martin and Tyler Garner; sister, Emily Michael; brothers, Johnny Buie, Teddy Buie and Bobby Buie.

She is survived by her sons, Ricky Garner of Whispering Pines, Pastor Mike Garner (Karen) of Whispering Pines; daughters, Cathy Martin (Ernie) and Teresa Knight (Billy) of Rockingham; grandchildren, Brandon Martin, Cody Garner and Hannah Wiseman (Collin); great-grandchildren, Abrielle Martin and Audric Martin; sisters, Joyce Chal inch of Robbins and Shirley Weatherspoon (Jimmy) of Southern Pines.

Geraldine was a long-time member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, and her faith was very evident throughout her life with her quiet and gentle spirit. Her testimony was her life and she lived it well. She was kind and loving, always ready to give a hug and a sweet smile which could make anyone’s day. She was well loved by her family and will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved her.

Carl David McMurray

July 9, 1947 – June 17, 2024

Carl David McMurray, 76, of Pinehurst, passed away peacefully at home on June 17, 2024. David was born on July 9, 1947 in Maumee, Ohio, to the late Carl and Maria (Lutsch) McMurray. He grew up in Maumee and graduated from Rogers High School in Toledo.

After high school, David enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a combat veteran of Viet Nam. He was with Delta Company, 1/7 Marines from 1966 to 1969, when he was honorably discharged after participating in many engagements. David was a long standing member of the Board of Directors of Delta Company 1/7 Marines Inc., and he also served as its Quartermaster. He was proud of his service, and wore a hat identifying the organization everywhere he went. He took a back seat to no one in his patriotism and love of country. In many ways, David’s military service de ned him: he was loyal, brave, determined and forthright, and he brought all those qualities to his ght with the diseases from which he su ered as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange. He survived the actual war, but ultimately succumbed to it.

David was an entrepreneur and with his brother in law Ed Carter, started up DMC & Associates, a company Representing manufacturers of cutting tools in Perrysburg Ohio. He retired in 2017 and continued on as a consultant until 2022. He then retired to Pinehurst, N.C. where he enjoyed living on the lake and gol ng with his buddies.

He married Judy Dippman, the love of his life, in 1974. They would have celebrated their 50th anniversary in September. They have one son, Daniel Michael, and one grandchild-Alexander David, who was David’s best buddy.

He is also survived by his siblings Joan McMurray, Patricia (Edward) Carter, Daniel (Jackie) McMurray and Sandy (Thomas) Race, with whom he shared many happy hours in Pinehurst.

A memorial service will be held at Boles Funeral Home, Pinehurst, Saturday July 6th. Visitation will be at 1:00 p.m., and the service will begin at 2:00 p.m. In keeping with David’s well-known wardrobe preferences, casual attire is encouraged.

Jose Antonio Lerma Avila, Jr.

October 15, 1981 –June 19, 2024

Jose Antonio Lerma Avila, Jr., 42, died Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC. He was born October 15, 1981 in Johnson City, TN to Jose Antonio Lerma Avila, Sr. and Mary Story Lerma Avila. He was a High School graduate and worked in construction as a plumber. He was preceded in death by his paternal and maternal grandparents.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by his children, Thomas Lerma and Shiann Lerma, his grandchildren, Mia and Chloe, his siblings, Esteban Lerma (Tricia), Anthony Lerma (Cassie), Blanca Gonsales (David), Sara Lerma (Steven), three special aunts, Noonie (aka Linda), Sissy (aka Brenda) and Patty, a special brother-in-law, Oscar Vivero and several nieces and nephews.

September 23, 1966 –June 19, 2024

Joseph “Mike” Black, 57 of West End, passed away on June 19, 2024 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

Born on September 23, 1966 in Greensboro, North Carolina to John Michael Black and Linda Ann Freeman. Joseph was a true outdoorsman. He enjoyed staying busy outside, shing and camping in his camper. He was a hardworking man that loved his family, and The Lord.

He is survived by his loving wife, Melissa Tyner Black; six children, Michael Black, Jasmine Kisner (Elijiah), Taylor Ray (Dakota), Joseph Black, Daniel Bailey (Taylor), and Samantha Black; one sister, Angela Mangun (Dale); two brothers, Chris Black and Ricky Freeman (Kimberly); also survived by six grandchildren, Aiden, Melody, Alaric, Regan, Beckham and Lorelei.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Joseph “Mike” Black

STATE & NATION

How swimmers can escape dangerous rip currents

There are 16 known deaths in U.S. waters this year

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Stinging jelly sh, rays with whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year.

Six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama, o cials say.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association, and more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The National Weather Service lists 16 known deaths so far in 2024 from rip currents in U.S. waters, including the Florida fatalities as well as eight deaths in Puerto Rico and two in Texas.

Here are some things to know about rip currents: What is a rip current?

Rip currents are narrow col-

umns of water owing rapidly away from the beach, like a swift stream within the ocean. They don’t pull swimmers under water but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because

Bans on gender-a rming care by states to be heard by Supreme Court

The high court has rarely taken up cases involving transgender issues

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the ght over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-a rming care.

The justices’ action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows. The administration and Democratic-led states have extended protections for transgender people, including a new federal regulation that seeks to protect transgender students.

The case before the high court involves a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed laws in Tennessee and Kentucky to take e ect after they had been

blocked by lower courts. (The high court did not act on a separate appeal from Kentucky.)

“Without this Court’s prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care,” lawyers for the transgender teens in Tennessee told the justices.

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people who joined a legal ling in support of Supreme Court review.

Arguments will take place in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-a rming medical care for transgender minors.

Most of the state restrictions face lawsuits. The justices had previously allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they had been blocked by lower courts.

At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. At least 11 states have

the surface water often appears calm.

The current can ow as swiftly as 8 feet per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“If you’re caught in one and you try to swim straight in, you’re not going to be able to,” said Daniel Barnickel of Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue.

How can someone escape a rip current?

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to not panic and look for a chance to swim parallel to the shore until the swimmer is out of the rip current’s grip. It will eventually dissipate but might leave the swimmer out in deeper water.

It’s nearly impossible to ght the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say.

If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

“Most of our rip current rescues happen outside the guarded areas because we’re not there to prevent it from happening,” Barnickel said.

What warning systems exist for rip currents?

Flags with di erent colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Three ags warn of surf and rip current conditions. Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There’s also purple for dangerous sea life, like jelly sh, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and

has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions are favorable for their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

“Before this, forecasters were manually predicting rip currents on a large section of the ocean twice a day and only a day or two into the future. The earlier prediction has potential to substantially increase awareness and reduce drownings,” said Gregory Dusek, a NOAA scientist who developed the model, in a post on the agency’s website.

High risk warnings were posted for most Florida beaches last week, when the drownings occurred.

Should someone attempt a rip current rescue?

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, o cials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It’s best to nd a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted. People on shore can also try to tell the person to swim parallel to shore.

“Never swim alone. And always make sure that there’s an adult. And make sure that you don’t overestimate your abilities. Know your limits,” Barnickel said.

adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The nation’s highest court has only rarely taken up transgender issues. In 2020, the justices ruled that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

In 2016, the court had agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, backed by the Obama administration, who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia high school. But the court dropped the case after a directive advising schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth, was scrapped in the early months of the Trump administration. The directive had been a key part of an appeals court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm. In 2021, the justices declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. At the time, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas noted they would have taken up the school board’s appeal.

NOAA VIA AP

Rip currents — highlighted in the image by using a green dye — are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.

MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a case that addresses gender-a rming care for minors.