North State Journal Vol. 8, Issue 5

Biden visits Wolfspeed in effort to boost economic policies

Durham President Joe Biden visited semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed to spotlight the impact legislation passed earlier in his administration is having on the U.S. economy and contrast his vision with that of Republicans as they square off on budget priorities.

Biden’s visit follows the Durham-based company’s announcement last September to build a $5 billion manufacturing facility in Chatham County that is expected to create 1,800 new jobs.

The White House says Biden while in North Carolina will highlight that his legislative efforts have spurred $435 billion in private-sector manufacturing commitments since he took office.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. renewable electricity surpassed coal in 2022

Washington, D.C.

Electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday.

Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation in 2022 after first doing so last year.

Growth in wind and solar significantly drove the increase in renewable energy and contributed 14% of the electricity produced domestically in 2022.

California produced 26% of the national utility-scale solar electricity followed by Texas with 16% and North Carolina with 8%.

The EIA report found the country remains reliant on fossil fuels. Coal-fired generation was 20% of the total electric sector in 2022, a decline from 23% in 2021. Natural gas was the largest source of electricity in the U.S. in 2022, generating 39% last year compared to 37% in 2021.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Agreement signed to protect eastern NC land

Raleigh State officials have signed an agreement with Weyerhaeuser that protects more than 1,600 acres of environmentally rich land across eastern North Carolina.

The largest private landowner in North Carolina, Weyerhaeuser has agreed to voluntarily set aside eight tracts of land in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain for the conservation of rare species and highquality natural communities, such as Tidal Swamps and Bottomland Hardwood Forests.

“Natural Heritage Registry agreements are voluntary, developed between landowners and the state to manage and protect properties with rare plants, animals or other outstanding natural elements,” said NCDNCR secretary Reid Wilson. “This agreement will help protect several rare and endangered plants and animals in the Coastal Plain.”

The eight sites to be added to the registry are located in Pender, Sampson, Beaufort, Brunswick, Bertie and Hyde Counties.

NSJ STAFF

Folwell announces gubernatorial bid, Robinson announcement scheduled for April

NC’s first black lieutenant governor picks symbolic venue for announcement

By A.P. Dillon

North State Journal

RALEIGH — N.C. State

Treasurer Dale Folwell will run for governor in 2024, he announced while speaking at the Forsyth County GOP Convention in Clemmons on March 25.

“I chose this event out of respect for those whose shoulders have carried me in my political career,” said Folwell. “The root word of governor is to govern, and I am uniquely qualified to be the CEO of the largest business in North Carolina.”

Folwell also said his campaign motto will be, “The best governor money can’t buy.”

Some believe Folwell can win,

Ignoring warnings, Republicans pass Medicaid expansion

By Matt Mercer North State Journal

RALEIGH — North Carolina

Republicans made it official last Thursday, passing a massive Medicaid expansion bill that will add as many as 600,000 able-bodied North Carolinians to federal health care rolls.

The final passage of the bill, HB 76, was celebrated by Republicans, Democrats and hospital leaders, as billions in federal funds will now be used to cover nearly 4 in 10 citizens in the state.

such as Brent Woodcox, the senior policy counsel to Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden).

“If @DaleFolwell were to be the Republican nominee for Governor in 2024, he would essentially be the definition of ‘generic Republican.’ And you know what happens to generic Republicans in statewide races in NC? They win,” tweeted Woodcox.

Others, such as Sen. Danny Britt (R-Robeson), expressed concern the state would lose a good treasurer in a race that will be a “stomp down.”

“100$ side bet there is not a soul that can beat Lt. Governor (Mark) Robinson in a primary. We will lose what has been a fiscally strong Treasurer who will be nothing more than a speed bump in the primary. It will be a

See ELECTION, page A3

At a ceremony Monday at the Executive Mansion, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper basked in the glow of realizing one of his top priorities since becoming governor. The scene featured dozens of legislators, doctors and stagecraft touting the measure.

Republicans, which began in 2022, completes a long-sought goal of Democrats and hospital leaders. While legislative leaders’ support made the deal fait accompli, fiscal conservatives still sounded alarms before passage.

One of the leading groups opposing the efforts was the Foundation for Government Accountability, which warned state leaders that 39 other states have tried — and failed — to keep costs associated with expansion reined in.

“For years, the fiscally conservative legislature has stuck to sound economic principles. Their assertions that expansion will end if it becomes fiscally untenable is a pipe dream.”

“Medicaid expansion is a once-in-a-generation investment that will strengthen our mental health system, boost our rural hospitals, support working families and so much more,” said Cooper. “This is a historic step toward a healthier North Carolina that will bring people the opportunity of better health and a better life.”

JLF President Donald Bryson

“Every state that has expanded Medicaid has seen a huge influx of able-bodied adults crowding their programs,” the FGA noted. “In all these states, total enrollment far exceeded what expansion advocates estimated. What would make North Carolina any different?”

The group gave two examples. In Virginia, initial projections for expansion enrollment were 300,000 people. Enrollment sits at more than 730,000 people, crowding out budget resources for essential services such as roads, law enforcement and schools, according to research. In addition, a ballot initiative in Idaho expanded the program, which quickly

The swift turnaround of state

Bill would bar purchase of NC farmland, land near military bases by certain foreign governments

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — N.C. House

Majority Leader Rep. John Bell (R-Wayne) announced the filing of a bill to protect North Carolina farmland and land near military installations from being purchased by “adversarial” foreign entities.

“Allowing foreign adversaries to purchase farmland is a legitimate concern in rural North Carolina and poses a serious risk to our national and food security,” Bell said in a press release. “By putting a halt to these land grabs, this bill will protect our state’s most precious natural resources while further safeguarding our military installations. It is critical that we act now to mitigate this unnecessary threat to our state and nation.”

House Bill 462, the N.C. Farmland and Military Protection Act, would prohibit China, Russia, Iran and other foreign adversaries and state-controlled entities from purchasing agricultural land in

AP PHOTO

North Carolina Republican Senate leader Phil Berger, left, and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper shake hands at a ceremony celebrating Medicaid expansion Monday, March 27, 2023, at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh

39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

This is the record of our Savior’s Gethsemane experience. Like a bright lamp, this Scripture shines amid the olive trees of that garden — to show us the path to comfort in our time of sorrow. Never before nor since, has there been such grief as the Redeemer’s that night — -but He found comfort in His prayer. His agony lessened as He prayed, until at last its bitterness was all gone — and sweet, blessed peace took its place.

The “gate of prayer” is one of comfort. There is no other place for true comfort and help. We learn from our Lord’s Gethsemane agony — how to pray in our own Gethsemanes.

God never blames us for asking to have the bitter cup removed, nor for the intensity of our prayers; but we must always pray with submission to His will. When we sincerely pray, “not my will, but thine, be done” — comfort comes, and then peace.

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

grew from 62,000 to over 120,000 able-bodied adults and continues to increase.

The John Locke Foundation, a North Carolina-based think tank, called the deal “the largest expansion of entitlements in state history.”

“This course reversal on Medicaid expansion is hugely disappointing,” said JLF President Donald Bryson. “For years, the fiscally conservative legislature has stuck to sound economic principles. Their assertions that expansion will end if it becomes fiscally untenable is a pipe dream. Expanding entitlements while cutting taxes is a recipe to turn North Carolina from the national tax reform model to the disappointment of Kansas’s fiscal failures.

“In addition, their failure to meaningfully address supply-side

LAND from page A1

MEDICAID from page A1 purchase, acquire, lease, or hold any interest in the following: (1) Agricultural land. (2) Land situated within a 25-mile radius of a military base, military installation, or military airport.”

An adversarial foreign government is defined in the bill as a “state-controlled enterprise or the government of a foreign nation that has received a designation under 15 C.F.R § 7.4 from a determination by the United States Secretary of Commerce that the entity has engaged in a longterm pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or security and safety of United States persons.”

According to Bell’s release, the bill has the support of the North Carolina Farm Bureau.

The measure also has the support of N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

problems will only exacerbate the statewide healthcare shortage and drive up wait times and costs for the general public.”

The think tank has spent decades advocating for Certificate of Need reforms, a few of which are included in HB 76. Those laws, instituted in 1978, require state regulatory approval for health care and hospital providers to build new facilities, enter new markets, and a host of other actions that are limited in state law.

The CON changes would remove psychiatric beds and facilities, chemical dependency treatment beds and facilities, replacement equipment up to $3 million, and various pediatric treatment services from review under the law.

In addition, the bill exempts ambulatory surgical centers from CON review if they are licensed by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS),

ture,” Troxler added. “Ensuring we have the natural resources necessary to feed ourselves and our country is a matter of national security and I strongly believe we need to invest now in securing farm and forestlands in North Carolina for the future. I thank Representative Bell for introducing this bill.” House Bill 462 follows the filing of national-level bipartisan legislation to block adversaries of the U.S. from buying or leasing farmland by Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), John Tester (D-MT), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

“North Carolina stands to lose over 1 million acres of farm and forestland to development by 2040 based on a recent report by the American Farmland Trust.”

Troxler in email response to NSJ

“We are losing farmland every day in North Carolina in a variety of ways — development, purchase by foreign entities, solar installations. North Carolina stands to lose over 1 million acres of farm and forestland to development by 2040 based on a recent report by the American Farmland Trust,” Troxler said in an email response to North State Journal. “We need focused efforts to slow the loss of farm and forestland as this loss takes valuable land out of food production forever.”

“I support this measure along with increased recurring funding for farmland preservation that I have asked for from the legisla-

According to background in Braun’s press release, “U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland increased from $81 million in 2010 to $1.8 billion in 2020.” Entities that would be blocked include “those associated with the governments of Iran, North Korea, China and Russia.”

Last October, 128 House Republicans led by Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking for an investigation into foreign investment in U.S. farmland, including land acquired by China. Most of North Carolina’s Republican representatives signed off on the letter.

Foreign investors held 37.6 million acres of U.S. agricultural land at the end of 2020, per the USDA’s most recent data. The USDA data shows Canadian investors owned the largest portion — 12.4 million acres, or 32%, of all foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land.

are located in a county with a population greater than 125,000 and commit 4% of their total earned revenue to charity care. The measure also removes MRI machines in counties with a population over 125,000 from CON review. According to population estimates, 23 of North Carolina’s 100 counties would meet that threshold.

In a 2022 press conference, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said he believed it was time to launch expansion in the state, saying he was convinced the 90% portion the federal government pays wouldn’t change. He added at the time that there was “no fiscal risk” to the state budget. State economists back that claim up based on the available numbers.

The expansion’s Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) will increase Medicaid hospital reimbursements for services provided to enrollees. HASP

is funded with new receipts from hospital assessments and transfers, and NC Health Works, the expansion vehicle, is funded with a combination of departmental receipts from a new hospital assessment structure and increased gross premiums tax revenues.

Republicans are taking advantage of the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, which passed in March 2021, to receive an increased match for the first two years of the program. The ARP offers an additional 5% on the state’s federal Medicaid match to be applied to the existing Medicaid population for two years. That is expected to result in an additional $912 million per year for those two years.

Those figures, though, are based on projections. As the FGA has noted, every state expanding Medicaid has seen higher than projected enrollment and costs.

One well-known Republican operative in the state told North State Journal there will be electoral consequences for the deal.

“Adopting Democratic talking points to deliver a victory for Democrats will do more to destroy the base’s trust in Republican leaders than it will ever improve health care access in North Carolina,” the operative said.

That statement was echoed by Americans for Prosperity’s state chapter.

“After a decade of opposing mandates from Washington, lawmakers in Raleigh — with encouragement from Washington — abandoned innovative solutions in exchange for taxpayer handouts from D.C.,” said Americans for Prosperity North Carolina Deputy State Director Tyler Voigt. “Lawmakers should note this vote will be scored on our annual scorecards.”

Cooper vetoes firearms package bill

The veto is Cooper’s 76th as governor

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Democratic

Gov. Roy Cooper issued the 76th veto of his tenure on March 24, blocking a bill containing multiple firearms law changes such as a repeal of the pistol permit purchase system and a firearms safety awareness campaign.

Senate Bill 41, titled “Guarantee 2nd Amend Freedom and Protections,” was filed earlier this year by Sen. Danny Britt (R-Robeson), along with Sens. Warren Daniel (R-Burke) and Jim Perry (R-Lenoir).

“Eliminating strong background checks will allow more domestic abusers and other dangerous people to own handguns and reduces law enforcement’s ability to stop them from committing violent crimes. Second Amendment supporting, responsible gun owners know this will put families and communities at risk,” Cooper said in his veto message of the bill.

The measure passed the Senate down partisan lines, 29-19. Republicans hold a veto-proof supermajority in that chamber.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 70-44 with three House Democrats reaching across the aisle to vote for the measure: Reps. Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland), Shelly Willingham (D-Edgecombe) and Michael Wray (D-Northampton).

An override will be coming as soon as this week, according to Britt, and it may be successful if the three House Democrats

stick to their passage votes.

“When given the opportunity to guarantee Second Amendment protections in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper chose to maintain our duplicative gun laws and infringe on our constitutional rights,” Britt said in a statement on Cooper’s veto.

“I look forward to a swift veto override in the Senate.”

The bill consolidates provisions from other gun bill measures filed this session, and the name was changed from “Protect Religious Meeting Places” to the current title via a preferred committee substitute on Feb. 14.

The pistol permit purchase process is repealed by the bill, and the repeal has the backing of the N.C. Sherriff’s Association.

Under the bill, a person with a valid concealed handgun permit or who is exempt from obtain-

ing that permit will be allowed to carry a handgun in a place of religious worship that is also educational property but with certain qualifiers.

The property can’t be owned by a local board of education or county commission and can’t be a public or private institution of higher education. There must be no posted prohibition for carrying a concealed handgun on the premises and the handgun can only be on the property outside of school hours.

The bill allows for concealed carry by certain law enforcement facility employees like security guards.

The final section of the bill would create a statewide firearm safe storage awareness initiative, facilitate the distribution of gun locks and a toolkit for municipalities to launch a local firearm safe storage program.

“Christ in Gethsemane” (1886) is a painting by Heinrich Hofmann in the collection of the Riverside Church, New York.

A man fires his pistol at an indoor shooting range during a qualification course in this 2022 file photo.

K-12 scholarship programs consolidated under House bill

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Two scholarship programs would be consolidated under a recently filed House bill. House Bill 420, titled “Expand & Consolidate K-12 Scholarships,” was filed on March 22 by Reps. Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston), David Willis (R-Union) and John Bradford (R-Mecklenburg).

The bill changes the name of Personal Education Student Accounts (PESA) for Children with Disabilities to just PESA and the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), which offers funds for low-income students to attend the participating private school of their choice, will be consolidated under PESA.

The result will be two sets of scholarships offered under PESA — one for students with disabilities and one available to all students. Unlike the current OSP criteria, there will be no family income threshold restrictions to be eligible to apply for PESA.

The OSP’s funds are separate from the state’s education budget but that will change under the bill. According to the bill, all OSP funds will revert to the General Fund “No later than November 1, 2026.”

The General Assembly had increased OSP funding for the next 15 years as well as raised the income eligibility threshold in the 2022-23 budget that was signed by Gov. Roy Cooper. The annual appropriation to the OSP reserve

The General Assembly had increased OSP funding for the next 15 years as well as raised the income eligibility threshold in the 2022-23 budget that was signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.

fund was increased from $255.54 million to $311.54 million.

There were 25,429 scholarships awarded through the OSP in 202223, representing $131,913,162 in grants. The program currently has 544 schools that are participating.

PESA state funding is currently

$48.9 million. The consolidation of the PESA and OSP would raise that to $326.2 million for the next fiscal year. Funding for newly consolidate PESA scholarships would reach $1.5 billion by the 2032-33 fiscal year. The NC State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) will still oversee the funding for the scholarships, per the proposed bill.

Full-time private school students served under the current OSP would go from 33% to 66% of state per-pupil ADM funding for public school students set aside in the prior year. Part-time student funding would also increase from 17% to 33%.

Homeschool students are included in the bills and could get up to 28% of the average state per-pu-

pil ADM allotment for the prior fiscal year. Parents will have to sign written agreements for the proper use of the funds for the specified education purposes in the bill, which will be transferred electronically. Scholarship awards for students with disabilities would be $9,000 for an eligible full-time student or (ii) $4,500 for an eligible parttime student. If that eligible student with disabilities has more than one of the named disabilities, the funding may increase to $17,000 for a full-time student or $8,500 for a part-time student. The named disabilities include autism, hearing impairment, moderate or severe intellectual disability, orthopedic impairment and visual impairment.

ELECTION from page A1

complete stomp down,” tweeted Britt in a thread about Folwell’s announcement.

The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) attacked Folwell’s candidacy using similar “extreme and anti-LGBTQ” claims that the party has used against Robinson, North Carolina’s first black lieutenant governor who will be formally announcing his bid to become the state’s first black governor in April.

“Dale Folwell has used the Treasurer’s office to target LGBTQ state employees for political points and advance his own extreme views — putting job-killing divisiveness ahead of the people of North Carolina,” the NCDP’s tweet reads.

Folwell appears to have the backing of the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC), an organization that in past years has applauded the treasurer’s work. SEANC represents and protects the rights and benefits of 46,000 active and retired state employees.

amance County. The choice of Ace Speedway as the venue is symbolic and highlights Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s broad use of executive orders to shutter schools businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2020, Cooper and then-N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen shut down Ace Speedway, an open-air venue, through a temporary restraining order issued by a Cooper-appointed judge.

“If @DaleFolwell were to be the Republican nominee for Governor in 2024, he would essentially be the definition of ‘generic Republican.’

And you know what happens to generic Republicans in statewide races in NC? They win.”

The 64-year-old Folwell ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2012 before being elected treasurer in 2016. and he was reelected to the post in 2020. He also spent four terms in North Carolina House that included a term as speaker pro tempore.

Tweet by Brent Woodcox

Folwell’s entry into the race sets the stage for a primary with Robinson and perhaps former Rep. Mark Walker, who has also shown interest in making a bid for governor.

On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein announced he would run earlier this year. Gaston County Libertarian Mike Ross has also said he will be running. Folwell is starting from behind in terms of money. Campaign filings show Robinson has amassed around $2.2 million, whereas Folwell only had around $47,000 as of December 2022.

Robinson will hold a rally to make his announcement on April 22 at Ace Speedway in Al-

The shutdown of the speedway came after Cohen issued an initial abatement order to close down t he speedway for allegedly violating Cooper’s order restricting mass gatherings. Ace Speedway did not let the shutdown go unchallenged and appealed the ruling.

Chuck Kitchen, the attorney for the speedway, has argued that Cooper personally targeted the racetrack and in past filings cited several other racetracks were operating unfettered by the governor.

In January 2021, a trial court judge ruled against an attempt to dismiss the case based on the speedway’s claim the shutdown had violated certain constitutional rights. Cohen’s successor, Kody Kinsley, is now named in the case.

North Carolina Court of Appeals three-judge panel unanimously upheld a trial court’s order in August 2022, ruling that the case of Kinsley v. Ace Speedway Racing can proceed.

“In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether Ace has presented colorable constitutional claims for which our courts could provide a remedy. We hold that Ace pled each of its constitutional claims sufficiently to survive the Secretary’s motion to dismiss,” Griffin wrote. “We affirm the trial court’s order.”

Griffin also noted. “This case makes us consider the use of overwhelming power by the State against the individual liberties of its citizens and how that use of power may be challenged.”

The N.C. Supreme Court has been asked to take on the case, but it has yet to be added to the court’s docket.

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

CHAPEL HILL — At a March 22 meeting of the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees (UNC BOT), a resolution was approved that supports a recent policy change to curb “compelled speech.”

UNC BOT member and Strategic Initiatives Committee Chair Perrin Jones introduced and read the resolution supporting the amendment of UNC Policy Section 300.5.1. The approved policy revision in that section restricts “vague or ideologically motivated statement policies of any kind across UNC campuses” in admissions, employment and professional advancement.

“Make no mistake, compelled speech is compelled thought,” Perrin said during his remarks. “Forcing statements, regardless of the goodness of their intent, is wrong, as it violates an individual’s right to think, speak, and act in an honest and open manner.”

The resolution also asks that the “Chancellor inform the Board of the progress” of items referenced in the document at the UNC BOT’s May 2023 meeting.

Provost and Chief Academic Officer at UNC Chapel Hill Chris Clemens told the UNC BOT that the changes to various applications, hiring and promotion areas touched by the policy change “will mostly be completed within a month.”

In an interview with Jones before the resolution was introduced, he told North State Journal the language of the resolution “broadly

restates state law, federal law and UNC Board of Governors policy.”

“The resolution is standing in appreciation of the chancellor and the provost and their commitment to the principle of not allowing compelled speech on campus and also implementing the BOG policy on campus,” said Jones.

When asked if he thought the policy and resolution would be picked up by other UNC System schools, Jones said he believes in free speech and that “compelled speech is compelled thought.”

“In that regard, I would hope that all universities would share the same values in terms of protecting freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of conscience on their campus,” Jones said.

The revisions to Policy 300.5.1, “Political Activities of Employees,” was first introduced at a meeting of the UNC Board of Governors (BOG) Committee on University Governance held on Jan. 18 of this year and was approved on Feb. 23 by the UNC BOG.

“University shall neither solicit nor require an employee or applicant for academic admission or employment to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles regarding matters of contemporary political debate or social action as a condition to admission, employment, or professional advancement,” the revision states. “Nor shall any employee or applicant be solicited or required to describe his or her actions in support of, or in opposition to, such beliefs, affiliations, ideals,

or principles.”

The policy revision also bars “solicitations or requirements for statements of commitment to particular views on matters of contemporary political debate or social action contained on applications or qualifications for admission or employment.”

The support resolution builds on a free speech resolution passed by the UNC BOT in July 2022 that confirmed the board’s commitment to “institutional neutrality” as described in the Kalven Committee Report produced by the University of Chicago.

A motion was made during the meeting to add a reference to the three-page memo issued by the UNC System Division of Legal Affairs on March 17. The memo outlines the “implementation of policy on compelled speech.”

“The Amendment strikes a content-neutral balance,” the guidance reads in part. “Nothing in the Amendment prohibits open-ended questions of candidates that could elicit any number of voluntary responses.

“On the other hand, the Amendment prohibits leading questions that could signal to the candidate that the questioner prefers a particular answer. Leading questions about a candidate’s beliefs on matters of contemporary political debate or social action destroy the core notion of voluntariness driving the Amendment because the questions signal an expected orthodoxy or conformity from the responding candidate.”

UNC Board of Trustees approves resolution in support of policy curbing ‘compelled speech’

FILE PHOTO

AP PHOTO

A student walks by the Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a rotunda and campus landmark at the southern end of McCorkle Place.

The entrance to the NC Legislative Building is pictured in this file photo.

north STATEment

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

THE SCARIEST PROFESSOR I had in college at UNC was Dr. Daniels.

He taught French 40 ― existential literature. I hated it.

Everyone else loved him. He had a reputation for being lenient in grading ― if a student went to his office to chat with him 3-4 times during the semester, they were pretty much guaranteed to get an A.

fellow student tried to pressure me to believe one way or the other about anything. There was pure opportunity to freely inquire and ask as many questions as I desired without any fear of ridicule, ostracism or embarrassment.

There was pure opportunity to freely inquire and ask as many questions as I desired.

Except for the semester I had him. There was an unfortunate cheating scandal during the first exam, so he decided to make every other test extremely difficult ― if a name was mentioned one time in any of the books, it was fair game for the remaining exams.

Since it was dark French fiction from Camus and Sartre, it became a nightmare for someone like me who loved nonfiction and history far more than the depressing existentialism of mid-20th century France.

“Life is so depressing,” Dr. Daniels said one day early in the semester. “You are born. You live. You eat. You marry a woman with hairy armpits. And then you both die and are buried in the ground where worms eat your flesh.”

It was also about this time halfway through my junior year that I was experiencing what I came to realize was an “agonizing reappraisal” of my worldview, faith and life in general. Call it ‘the loss of innocence,” “selfactualization” or plain growing up, take your pick, but it was an intense time of soul-searching and decision-making for me personally.

Did I want to have all of my childhood beliefs and patterns of life challenged in college? Heck no. Did I wish someone had told me not to take French 40 because it was dark, depressing existentialism? I sure did.

But I am glad I took it. It forced me to ask a lot of questions. I talked to a Catholic nun for a long time in the middle of the main quad at 2 a.m. one night who “just happened to be there,” for goodness’ sake.

I wanted to change my major ― for the fifth time ―before my senior year. My faculty adviser said that was sort of nuts since I would have to take seven religion classes out of the last nine I had left to complete at Chapel Hill to major in religion ― but I did it anyway.

I got to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s books. I examined as many of the world religions as I could during that short year. No professor or

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

For as long as I can remember, Republican women have been attacked by the “tolerant” Left regarding how they must hate themselves for continuing to vote for Republicans.

The argument recently resurfaced in a tweet posted by John Pavlovitz, a former North Carolina megachurch pastor who was fired in 2014 “for being outspoken in matters of inclusion, equality, and diversity,” according to his account of what allegedly happened.

It wasn’t until I met with the dean of Duke Chapel, James T. Cleland, one brilliant spring day that I could say my agonizing reappraisal was about to end. “Look at the sun and sky outside, Mr. Hill!” Dean Cleland said in his delightful Scottish brogue as he flung open two iron-gated windows in his office. “Do you think all these trees and birds are here by mistake?” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Later after graduation, I was riding my bike in Chapel Hill for some reason (I lived in Durham) and I just happened ― providentially, again ― to stop at a stop light near the law school on Ridge Road right next to dear old Dr. Daniels.

“Do you really believe all that French existentialism stuff, Dr. Daniels? It is so darned depressing,” I plaintively asked.

“Mr. Hill, I have been teaching Sunday School for the past 40 years!” he said raucously with a hearty laugh as he manually rolled up his window and blithely drove away.

Coach Herman Boone had some good advice about dealing with young people. In the movie “Remember The Titans,” he said to Coach Yost: “I don’t give a damn about how sensitive these kids are, especially the black kids. You ain’t doin’ these kids a favor by patronizing them. You are crippling them; You are crippling them for life.”

Faculty and administrators who seek to shield college students from all viewpoints and facts are coddling them and crippling them for life. They do not know how to debate well or respond when their beliefs are directly challenged in the real world after college.

They need open inquiry on campus to help shape them into the people they were meant to be.

Treating them like they should vote solely based on their lady parts is, well, kinda sexist.

A darling of leftist Christians and secularists who view him as a hero and icon for standing his ground and becoming even more “woke” in the aftermath of the alleged firing, Pavlovitz took to the Twitter machine earlier this month and accused women who vote for Republicans of having “internalized misogyny.”

“Aside from internalized misogyny, why do any women still vote Republican?” Pavlovitz, who paints himself as a compassionate liberal man of faith whose goal it is to bring people together, asked.

He posted a similar tweet nearly a year prior.

“I can’t fathom the mind of a woman who still votes Republican,” Pavlovitz, the author of a book titled “If God Is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk,” wrote at the time.

“I can only feel sorry for whatever story they tell themselves.”

Honestly, every time this argument is made, the people making it are actually doing conservative women a favor by confirming what we have known all along about the condescending, misogynistic tendencies of our supposed intellectual betters in the Democratic party.

I mean, in essence, they’re kind of making our arguments for us, even though they don’t realize it.

In their view, women who don’t toe the far left’s line on issues like abortion and motherhood are inauthentically female, are slaves to the demands of the men in their lives, and are poorly educated and/or unable to think for themselves.

Here’s a newsflash for self-styled progressives like Pavlovitz: It’s actually OK for women to have differing viewpoints, including on the

hot-button issues that are so near and dear to modern “feminists” (both female and male), and just because they do doesn’t mean they hate themselves and/or are being mindlessly subservient to the patriarchy or whatever.

Not only that, but women actually care about other issues including the ones that are not exclusive to women, so treating them like they should vote solely based on their lady parts is, well, kinda sexist.

One Twitter user put it a little more bluntly in their response to Pavlovitz’s tiresome but predictable argument on “internalized misogyny.”

“You know why I continue to vote Republican?” the Twitter user wrote. “Because of gross misogynists like you. You treat us like brainless reproductive organs with legs and then when we don’t vote the way you want you spew hateful sexist garbage like this.”

To be fair, both major parties have their share of problems on several fronts. But I’ll take my chances with the one that at the very least can identify what a woman is and which refuses to bow to the naive sentiment that allowing men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports is the right thing to do.

The side benefit to these pointless debates on social media and elsewhere is that they help further expose the left’s duplicitous nature when it comes to their supposed commitment to diversity in thought.

For that, we should thank the John Pavlovitzes of the world for saying the quiet part out loud in telling us again who Democrats really are.

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.

VISUAL VOICES

About that ‘Republican women must hate themselves’ argument

College students are crippled by faculty patronizing them

What does it mean to be a refugee?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be a refugee?

That is a question I used to be embarrassed to answer.

I came to America as a 5-year-old refugee, but now at 20 years old, I identify as a North Carolinian and an Asian American citizen who calls America her home.

Refugee Hope Partners did that for me. They are doing it for hundreds of other refugee families in the Triangle area as well.

The people around me whom I now call family have welcomed me with love and open arms.

The return of Moderate Joe

I was 5 when my family and I were finally able to leave the refugee camps in Thailand where my parents had been for more than 10 years. We lived at Cedar Point Apartments across Falls of the Neuse Road where both of my parents’ first jobs were at North Ridge Country Club. We were one of the very first Karen (pronounced “KUHren”) refugees (from the Karen State in Myanmar, formerly Burma) to settle in these apartments in 2007.

Being a refugee means being forced to grow up at a very young age. I had to take on more responsibilities than I could ever imagine. After three years, my father took my two younger brothers back to Thailand because he did not like life in America.

My mother had to work harder to provide for my two sisters and me even if that meant working out of town most of the time.

American 5-year-olds are taught by their parents how to read and write and receive basic training in life. My parents didn’t know English and didn’t understand American culture, so they struggled with navigating life in just about every way.

I had to learn how to do everything on my own while teaching my mother along the way. I had to translate for my family, fill out paperwork, file taxes, make doctor appointments and work harder to help my family pay the bills while also being a full-time student. I have moved at least 10 times, whether that meant living with my immediate family, my older siblings, close friends or alone.

Refugee Hope Partners has changed my life. As a young woman in a country full of dreams and ambitions, I was stuck because I didn’t know where to start looking for my career path.

The Bridge Program, a branch of Refugee Hope

COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE

Partners, filled that void. Anna Puryear, my mentor and friend, has helped many like me get on the right career path.

I graduated from Sanderson High School in 2020 right when the pandemic got worse. I went to Wake Tech Community College for two years to save money and become eligible to transfer to NC State University. Studying and working hard at Wake Tech blessed me to be accepted as one of the Dr. Jim and Ann Goodnight Scholars. I’m in my junior year of college now at NCSU studying animal science with a veterinary bioscience concentration. This summer I’ll have the opportunity to study abroad and go back to my home country, Thailand, and work with Asian elephants in Chiang Mai. I will also have the opportunity to travel to Koh Tao (Turtle Island) to work as a conservationist while scuba diving alongside marine animals.

Refugee Hope Partners has made my dreams come true. The people around me whom I now call family have welcomed me with love and open arms. They have taught me how to thrive in this new world — how to live my life to the fullest and how to give back to my community. They have shown my family so much grace and kindness.

I have seen with my own eyes people who may not have the same supportive community struggle to adapt to American life. They have not had the advantage of people such as Refugee Hope Partners and Pat and Don Rayle to come around them and help them not only survive but thrive. The Rayles are my American grandparents who have taken us on family vacations, spent holidays with them and truly become a big part of their family.

Refugee families are forced, many times, to spend many hours working hard to support their families, which means less time to become fully acclimated to American life.

Refugee Hope Partners strive to engage, equip and encourage refugee families as their motto states, “So That All May Thrive.”

I am living proof of this mission.

Eh Taw Boe (pronounced “EH-ta-bo”) is a junior Goodnight Scholar at NC State University majoring in animal science.

America seems to go crazy every 50 years or so

AMID NEWS that Donald Trump is about to be indicted by a hyperpartisan prosecutor and of his hysterical responses, and prompted by vagrant reading about the War of 1812 and Woodrow Wilson’s violations of civil liberties in World War I, a thought occurred to me.

America seems to go crazy every 50 years or so.

Another symptom of America going crazy is presidential dysfunction.

Start with the War of 1812, about 50 years after colonies’ Stamp Act protests. There’s a touch of absurdity here. Because of the slowness of transAtlantic communication, Congress declared war because of British restrictions on neutral shipping six days after the British repealed them. Americans won their major land victory in New Orleans, 15 days after the peace treaty had already been signed in Ghent.

The Americans’ strategy was based on a delusion — that Canadians would welcome American conquest — and American tactics were riddled with blunders. Detroit was surrendered without a shot, and Washington was left undefended, allowing the British to burn the White House. The treaty left in place the status quo, and the positive response was psychological, verging on delusional. In historian Gordon Wood’s words, this inconclusive war “did finally establish for Americans that independence and nationhood of the United States that so many had doubted.”

Almost exactly 50 years later, the U.S. plunged into civil war, which outgoing President James Buchanan might have prevented by sending troops to secessionist South Carolina as his mentor Andrew Jackson had done almost 30 years earlier. But the differences were fundamental. Democrats supported the “liberty” of slaveholders to retain their “property” anywhere in a nation where an increasing number of citizens regarded slavery as intolerable. Republicans were determined to deploy the federal government to put slavery, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “on the path to extinction.”

Winfield Scott, a young officer in 1812, provided Lincoln with the Anaconda strategy, squeezing the South by blockade until Grant and Sherman could defeat the Confederate armies. The result wasn’t crazy — slavery was abolished in an ultimately intact Union. But it all came at a crazy cost, with some 600,000 lives in a nation of 38 million lost.

Fast forward 50 years to the only American president who spent his boyhood in the Confederacy, watching Sherman march into South Carolina, Woodrow Wilson. After Congress, with 56 dissenters, voted to enter World War I, Wilson superintended the overbroad 1917 Espionage Act. As Adam Hochschild vividly recounts in “American Midnight,” the Wilson administration imprisoned those who spoke against the war or the draft, including Socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debs. Wilson deported aliens supposedly involved in radical activities under the supervision of the 20-something J. Edgar Hoover. He censored the press, stamping out what liberals today call “misinformation,” and cooperated with local efforts to suppress German cultural organizations.

As Hochschild makes clear, it wasn’t only the Wilson administration that went crazy. Radical anarchists set off deadly bombs on Wall Street, at Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s house and across the street from Assistant Navy Secretary

Franklin Roosevelt.

The much-derided “Red Scare” was a response to fears raised by the takeover of the larger and more populous Russia by a handful of Bolsheviks, whose murderous and squalid regime ended up lasting 70 years. Americans a century ago didn’t know that this wasn’t going to happen here.

Sometimes people can learn from mistakes.

In World War II, FDR, who witnessed Wilson’s excesses up close, didn’t seize the railroads or shipyards. With the important exception of the Japanese American internments, he also didn’t violate civil liberties as Wilson had.

Unfortunately, sometimes people don’t learn. Fifty years ago, America saw a tripling, roughly, of violent crime and welfare dependency in a decade, even as prison populations were reduced and police delegitimized. A rash of hundreds of violent bombings was followed by serious government misconduct.

Ironically, after the 1964-68 Civil Rights acts changed America for the better, there were cries that racist treatment of blacks was as bad as ever. America was going crazy again, on schedule.

And so it has in the last few years. After the election and reelection of the first black president, we heard Black Lives Matter, like the Black Panthers 50 years before, proclaim that America was even more racist than it ever had been. Since the “mostly peaceful” riots of summer 2020, there have been sharp increases in violent crime and moves to defund and delegitimize police departments which are, in fact, far less racist than in the 1960s.

America went crazy too over COVID, in my view, by treating a virus fatal to just a small segment of the population as if, like Ebola, it had an infection fatality rate of around 50%. Authorities imposed lockdowns and mandates while ignoring economic costs and lasting collateral damage, like adults missing cancer screenings and children missing first and second grade.

Like Woodrow Wilson’s propagandist George Creel, government agencies suppressed as “misinformation” speech and arguments, including many that turned out to be accurate.

Another symptom of America going crazy is presidential dysfunction. Fifty years ago, the highly intelligent and experienced Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were ousted at ages 60 and 61 because of Vietnam and Watergate. Now, despite repeated stumbles, the inexperienced and distractable Donald Trump and the (according to bipartisan Defense Secretary Robert Gates) nearly-always-wrong Joe Biden are seeking second terms they would complete at ages 82 and 86, respectively. Having witnessed and written for publication during two 50-years-apart episodes of craziness, I seek consolation from Adam Smith’s reflection, after Britain lost the 13 colonies, that “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” But I hope America will do a better job, 50 years hence, of learning from this episode’s mistakes.

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

DO YOU REMEMBER Moderate Joe, the guy who ran for president from his basement in 2020? He’s back, determined to make Americans forget his doppelganger, President Biden, who in two short years has spent trillions of dollars we don’t have for programs we don’t need.

So, what inspired Moderate Joe to come back to the political arena after he retired on Inauguration Day in 2021? Could it possibly have been the midterm elections in November? The Republicans were supposed to sweep both houses of Congress and enjoy large majorities that would weaken the Biden administration, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, the Democrats gained seats in the Senate. And while the Republicans did win control of the House, they had a very public battle over the election of Kevin McCarthy as its speaker. McCarthy eventually won the speakership, but his party gave itself a black eye in the process. Did these events make Biden decide to run for reelection in 2024? In the days immediately following the midterms, he displayed a confidence he had not shown lately, perhaps because he was afraid of a Republican landslide. When this landslide didn’t materialize, Biden saw this failure as a sign that he should run again.

There is, however, one obvious problem with Biden’s decision: After two years in office, Biden has shown us what kind of “leader” he is. Because he is beholden to the radical left for helping to put him in the White House, he has shaped his agenda according to their wishes, and Americans are suffering as a result. Biden’s economic policies have created the highest inflation we have seen in the last 40 years; his policies on foreign affairs have weakened our standing on the world stage, especially after our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan; and his immigration policy has resulted in borders that are neither safe nor secure. Could there be a better time to pull Moderate Joe out of the basement?

One of the first indications that Biden is pivoting to the political center is his recent decision not to veto a measure passed by both houses of Congress to block revisions to the D.C. criminal code, which had been approved by the D.C. Council. These revisions included reducing the maximum penalties for robbery, burglary and carjacking. Congress also blocked a new law proposed by the council that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. While many Democrats are outraged that Biden took this stance, Moderate Joe knows how important it is to convince voters that he does not support the “Defund the Police” wing of his party.

Moderate Joe also knows his administration’s energy policies, which have suppressed the fossil fuel industry for the past two years, need a makeover for the 2024 presidential campaign. As luck would have it, Biden found a solution to this problem: The Willow Project. Recently, Biden approved this project, allowing ConocoPhillips to drill oil in northwestern Alaska and produce an estimated 180,000 barrels per day.

This decision infuriated Biden’s progressive base, so he had to placate them. Almost immediately, the Department of the Interior announced that it would block 2.8 million acres from oil and gas development in the Beaufort Sea, which is located north of Alaska and is part of the Arctic Sea. It also announced that it would propose drilling limitations for 13 million acres within the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, which is a section of land on the Alaska North Slope.

The problem with attempting to be Moderate Joe after two years of being Progressive Biden is that the president must find a way to appeal to political groups simultaneously who are very different from one another. His Jekyll and Hyde handling of the Willow Project is a perfect example of the kind of pivoting he will need to do if he wants to be reelected. Whether or not he can stay on this political tightrope without falling off is anyone’s guess. After all, look at how hard it is for him to stay on a bicycle.

Mary Zahran lives in Fayetteville.

Letters addressed to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline. com or 1201 Edwards Mill Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27607. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

NATION & WORLD House GOP to subpoena Blinken over Afghanistan dissent cable

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Republicans plan to deliver a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken for classified cables related to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking an unprecedented effort to force the release of sensitive documents to Congress.

Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press on Monday that he had spoken with Blinken the day when he was notified the agency would not be turning over a so-called dissent cable written by diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul shortly before the August 2021 withdrawal.

“We have made multiple good faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information,” McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee.”

The July 2021 communication warned Blinken about the potential fall of Kabul via a special “dissent channel,” which allows State Department officials to issue warnings or express contrarian views directly to senior agency officials, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The State Department made a direct offer last week — before McCaul made his subpoena threat about the dissent cable in partic-

ular — to share the substance of the cable via a briefing, according to a March 22 letter obtained by the AP.

“The Department is prepared to discuss a path that would communicate to you the circumstances and substance of the requested cable exchange, as an extraordinary accommodation,” the letter read. “The Department trusts that this accommodation will address the Committee’s request for information while preserving the confidential nature of the Dissent Channel.”

The effort to force the release of the cable is the latest in a series by McCaul and other House Repub -

licans to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a “stunning failure of leadership” after Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out.

Kabul’s fall turned the West’s withdrawal into a rout, with Kabul’s airport the center of a desperate air evacuation guarded by U.S. forces temporarily deployed for the task. A single explosive device that day killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members.

McCaul made the Afghanistan-related document requests

in January, upon becoming chairman of the committee, but has said he faced pushback from the department as he pursued his investigation into the withdrawal.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday that while he recognizes “the importance and the keen interest in this cable,” it would be a rare move for any secretary to turn over those documents to Congress.

“It is a unique way for anyone in the department to speak truth to power as they see it without fear or favor. And they do it by the regulations we have established for these cables in a privileged and confidential way,” Patel said. “It’s vital to us that we preserve the integrity of that process and of that channel.”

Since the Dissent Channel was created in 1971, in part to address U.S. diplomats’ concerns over the Vietnam War, the State Department has held communications closely. Nearly all such cables are classified to protect the integrity of the process and the identities of dissenting Foreign Service officers. They are not generally intended for public consumption, however, some have been leaked to the press, often by their authors.

According to the National Security Archives at George Washington University, at least 123 Dissent Channel cables have been sent since 1971. The vast majority of those have remained classified and the State Department has long objected to efforts to force their release.

The basic contents of some Dissent Channel cables have become public, including in the Afghanistan withdrawal case. One of its authors was given an award for “Constructive Dissent” in 2022 by the union that represents U.S. diplomats.

Honduras establishes ties with China after Taiwan break

The Associated Press BEIJING — Honduras established diplomatic ties with China on Sunday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which is increasingly isolated and now recognized by only 13 sovereign states.

Foreign ministers from China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing — a decision the Chinese Foreign Ministry hailed as “the right choice.”

The diplomatic victory for China comes as tensions rise between Beijing and the United States, including over China’s increasing assertiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan, and signals growing Chinese influence in Latin America. The new China-Honduras relationship was announced after the Honduran and Taiwanese governments made separate announcements that they were severing ties.

China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” policy.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and refuses most contacts with countries that maintain formal ties with the island democracy. It threatens retaliation against countries merely for increasing contacts.

China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the establishment of ties proved that adhering to “one China” policy is winning people’s hearts and is “the general trend.”

“We inform sternly the Taiwan authorities that engaging in separatist activities for Taiwan independence is against the will and interests of the Chinese nation and against the trend of history, and is doomed to a dead end,” he said.

The Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Twitter that its government recognizes “only one China in the world” and that Beijing “is the only legitimate government that represents all of China.”

It added that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference Sunday that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to “safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.”

Wu said that Honduran Presi-

dent Xiomara Castro and her team always had a “fantasy” about China and had raised the issue of switching ties before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021. Relations between Taiwan and Honduras were once stable, he said, but China had not stopped luring Honduras.

Honduras had asked Taiwan for billions of dollars of aid and compared its proposals with China’s, Wu said. About two weeks ago, the Honduran government sought $2.45 billion from Taiwan to build a hospital and a dam, and to write off debts, he added.

“The Castro government dismissed our nation’s longstanding assistance and relations and carried out talks to form diplomatic ties with China. Our government feels pained and regretful,” he said.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen said her government would not “engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China.”

“Over these past few years, China has persistently used various means to suppress Taiwan’s international participation, escalate military intrusion, and disrupt peace and stability in the region,” she said in a recorded video.

Her office spokesperson Olivia Lin said in a statement that relations between the sides had lasted for more than 80 years.

Analysts have warned about the

implications of the newly formed ties between China and Honduras. Political analyst Graco Pérez in Honduras said Beijing’s narrative would highlight the benefits, including investment and job creation, “but that is all going to be illusory.”

Pérez noted that some other countries have established such relations, but “it didn’t turn out to be what had been offered.”

For decades China has funneled billions of dollars into investment and infrastructure projects across Latin America. That investment has translated to rising power for China and a growing number of allies.

In Honduras, it has come in the form of the construction of a hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras built by the Chinese company SINOHYDRO with about $300 million in Chinese government financing.

Honduras is the ninth diplomatic ally that Taipei has lost to Beijing since the pro-independence Tsai first took office in May 2016.

Taiwan still has ties with Belize, Paraguay and Guatemala in Latin America, and Vatican City. Most of its remaining partners are island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific, along with Eswatini in southern Africa.

Some of these diplomatic recognitions were earned through Taiwan’s financial and technical

Vice President Harris’ trip aims to deepen US ties in Africa

Washington, D.C.

Vice President Kamala Harris will try to deepen and reframe U.S. relationships in Africa during a weeklong trip that is the latest and highestprofile outreach by the Biden administration as it moves to counter China’s growing influence.

Harris plans to visit Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, focusing on economic development, climate change, food security and a rising youth population. She is scheduled to arrive in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Sunday. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is traveling with her.

Her itinerary also includes several less traditional stops intended to highlight the dynamic future of a continent where the median age is just 19.

Senior administration officials have been careful not to portray Harris’ trip as another move in a geopolitical rivalry, an approach that could alienate African leaders who are wary of taking sides between global superpowers.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Putin says Russia will station tactical nukes in Belarus

Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a warning to the West as it steps up military support for Ukraine.

Putin said the move was triggered by Britain’s decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over those it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.

The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by tactical aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.

“We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews,” Putin said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

aid in the 1980s and ’90s following its exceptional economic growth, Lorenzo Maggiorelli, a professor at the political science and international relations department of Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá, Colombia, wrote in his research.

In 1998, Taiwan set up a $240 million aid fund for its Central American allies in a hope of retaining their support. Taiwanese businesses were also encouraged to invest in Central America to consolidate political ties, Maggiorelli wrote.

Tsai is set to begin a 10-day trip on Wednesday with visits to Guatemala and Belize. Her delegation will also stop in New York and Los Angeles, Lin said last week. Taiwan’s Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Yui earlier said the purpose of Tsai’s trip is to highlight the island’s friendship with the two Latin American countries.

Wu said he did not have any evidence that the timing of the announcement was related to Tsai’s trip but noted “China seems to be doing this intentionally.”

Despite China’s campaign of isolation, Taiwan retains robust informal ties with more than 100 other countries, most importantly the United States. The U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has maintained that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific.

Scotland gets 1st Muslim leader as SNP elects Yousaf

London

Scotland’s governing party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader, making him the first person of color and the first Muslim to lead the country of 5.5 million people.

Yousaf narrowly defeated rival Kate Forbes after a bruising five-week contest that exposed deep fractures within the pro-independence Scottish National Party as it faces an impasse in its quest to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom.

The 37-year-old Glasgowborn son of South Asian immigrants is set to be confirmed as first minister during a session of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

Yousaf, who currently is Scotland’s health minister, beat two other Scottish lawmakers in a contest to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. She unexpectedly stepped down last month after eight years as leader of the party and of Scotland’s semiautonomous government.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP PHOTO

Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina Garcia, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang raise a toast following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, at a ceremony in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Sunday, March 26, 2023.

AP PHOTO

Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, left, and Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., attend a full committee hearing about China, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

NBA Hornets sign Richards to contract extension

Charlotte The Hornets signed center Nick Richards to a multiyear contract extension. The 2020 second-round pick has averaged 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game through 60 games, including seven starts, this season. The 7-foot Richards played three seasons at Kentucky before joining the Hornets.

NWSL

NC Courage open season with 1-0 win

Cary Forward Mille Gejl scored North Carolina’s lone goal in the 23rd minute and the Courage opened the NWSL season with a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Current in Cary. Gejl’s shot from distance bounced into the lower left corner just past Current goalkeeper Adrianna Franch. The Danish forward joined North Carolina this season after spending the last two years in Sweden. Her goal was assisted by another Courage newcomer, Japanese midfielder Narumi Miura.

MLS Own-goal helps Charlotte notch draw with Red Bulls

Charlotte

An own-goal by New York’s Andrés Reyes late in the second half helped Charlotte FC earn a 1-1 draw with the Red Bulls. Elias Manoel scored in the 43rd minute to give the Red Bulls (1-13) a 1-0 lead at halftime. Charlotte (1-3-1) pulled even in the 74th minute on an own-goal by Reyes. New York outshot Charlotte 9-6 with a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal. George Marks finished with five saves for Charlotte. Carlos Coronel saved one shot for the Red Bulls, who have faced just seven shots on target through five matches. Charlotte plays at Toronto FC on Saturday.

Aho chugs along as Hurricanes’ top player

With Andrei Svechnikov out for the season, all eyes will be on Carolina’s No. 1 center this postseason

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — Andrei Svech-

nikov started 2022-23 with eight goals in the Hurricanes’ first nine games of the season and earned his first All-Star selection, winning the fastest skater competition for good measure.

Martin Necas has nearly matched his goal output from the two previous seasons combined, scoring 27 times to emerge as a force up front for Carolina.

Brady Skjei has totaled 16 goals — seven more than the then-ca-

reer-best nine he had last season to become one of the NHL’s top goal-scoring defensemen.

Brent Burns, who just turned 38 years old and is in his first season in Raleigh, continues to add to his Hall of Fame resume, registering 54 points through 72 games while maintaining his Ironman streak. So folks can be forgiven if they overlook the season Sebastian Aho is having.

For the sixth straight season, Aho is between 2.8 and 3.2 points per 60 minutes played. His 33 goals entering Tuesday night have him on pace to match his career high of 38 from 2019-20.

For all of the hand-wringing about Carolina’s need for consistent scoring, few have been as reliable as Aho throughout his career.

Goals in the third period or overtime for Sebastian Aho this season, including five of his game-winning goals.

On top of notching his fourth career 30-goal season, Aho’s shooting percentage is at 16.7% — the same as it was last season and just slightly higher than his 16.2% from the 56-game COVID season the year before.

Most encouraging for the Hurricanes is how Aho has elevated his game in the absence of Svech-

49ers caps season with CBI title

Charlotte defeated Eastern Kentucky in the postseason tournament’s title game

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

CHARLOTTE — Despite starting the 2022-23 season with 11 wins in 14 games, the Charlotte 49ers extended their men’s NCAA Tournament drought to 18 years, putting further in the past the program’s glory days when it made eight trips to the Big Dance from 1995 to 2005. This year’s team finished fifth in Conference USA play with a 9-11 record and was knocked out in the first round of the conference tournament following a one-point loss to Middle Tennessee State.

But that wasn’t the end of the season for fifth-year coach Ron Sanchez and the 49ers.

“As a whole, the group wanted to keep the season going and they didn’t want it to end there,” Sanchez said of the loss to the Blue Raiders. “We set some goals for ourselves to send our seniors on a good note and try to end the season not only with a victory but with a nice win streak.”

They did just that.

It culminated March 22 when third-seeded Charlotte beat eighth-seeded Eastern Kentucky 71-68 to win the College Basketball Invitational tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Six-foot-11 sophomore forward

Aly Khalifa had a game-high 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the

title game, and Huntersville junior wing Brice Williams was named CBI Most Valuable Player after averaging 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in the tournament.

“When there’s an individual award, the individual gets the credit, but it’s really the team,” Sanchez said of Williams. “People see the scoreboards and the baskets, but when you have individuals who are willing to do the little things, that’s the real important part. As important as it is to have a guy that gets an award, it’s more important that you have a group of guys around him that put him

Ron Sanchez, Charlotte men’s basketball coach

in a position to shine and use his talents.” To reach the title game, Charlotte first overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 14 Western Carolina 65-56 score in the CBI’s first round. Sanchez said

nikov.

Svechnikov was lost for the season after tearing his right ACL on March 11, and Aho was in a fourgame point drought when his frequent linemate went down. Aho had three more games without a point — the seven games were his longest drought since his rookie season — but in the five following games had six goals and an assist.

And he did it in dramatic fashion.

Aho busted out of his funk on March 18 in Philadelphia, scoring in the first and second periods before undressing former teammate Tony DeAngelo in overtime to win the game for Carolina.

After being held without a point in the Hurricanes’ win in

See HURRICANES, page B3

the comeback win over the Catamounts set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

That game was a little nerve-wracking because it was an in-state rival, and I think emotionally it was just one of those types of games. But it was fun,” he said. “Playing four games in five days is really challenging overall, so you have to get past that first game so you can prepare yourself for what’s coming.”

The Niners followed up that first-round victory with wins over No. 11 Milwaukee and No. 10 Radford in the second and third rounds, respectively.

In the championship game, the Niners saw a 20-point lead nearly disappear as Eastern Kentucky climbed within one point with 51 seconds remaining.

The 49ers responded when sophomore guard Isaiah Folkes passed to senior guard Montre’ Gipson, who converted a layup to give Charlotte a three-point lead with 18 seconds left. Williams then blocked EKU’s Cooper Robb on his attempt to force overtime to give Charlotte the title.

The win was the 49ers’ 22nd of the season, the most for the program since it reached the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

“We had been playing really good basketball, but we had just come up short or someone had made some spectacular play,” Sanchez said of the team’s season. “I think they were always encouraged even when we lost to UAB in double-overtime by two and then lost to Middle Tennessee by one.

“They wanted to continue playing, and it ended in a positive way. … It was awesome for our guys and our staff. It was a neat experience.”

“They wanted to continue playing, and it ended in a positive way.”

MATT SLOCUM | AP PHOTO

Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho celebrates the first of his three goals in Carolina’s overtime win over the Flyers on March 18 in Philadelphia.

NELL REDMOND | AP PHOTO Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez, pictured during a game in February, led the 49ers to the College Basketball Invitational last week.

TRENDING

Anthony Volpe:

The 21‑year‑old will be the Yankees’ opening day shortstop on Thursday against the Giants. Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on‑base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple‑A. He beat out Oswald Peraza and Isiah Kiner‑Falefa. Kiner‑Falefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp, and Peraza was optioned to Triple‑A Scranton/Wilkes‑Barre on Sunday evening.

Rodney Terry:

The Texas interim men’s basketball coach reached an agreement with the school to lead the Longhorns full time. Terry led Texas to the Elite Eight before losing to Miami on Sunday. He took over the Longhorns as acting head coach when Chris Beard was first suspended on Dec. 12 after a felony domestic violence arrest. Terry was giving the title of interim head coach when Beard was fired Jan. 5.

Luka Doncic:

The Mavericks star avoided a one‑game suspension after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season. The technical came in the third quarter of Dallas’ 110‑104 loss to the Hornets when Doncic argued a no‑call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket. It’s the second time Doncic has had a technical foul rescinded this season. A player who totals 16 technical fouls during the regular season automatically receives a one‑game suspension. The player would then continue to receive one‑game suspensions each time they are accessed two technicals.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

Tyler Reddick scored his first victory with 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. Reddick’s victory, the fourth of his Cup career, was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co‑owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. Three of Reddick’s career wins have come on a road course.

Former Creighton associate head coach Alan Huss after he was named High Point’s next men’s basketball coach.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young on dinner with a dozen Panthers officials, including owner David Tepper and coach Frank Reich, following the Crimson Tide’s pro day last week.

PRIME NUMBER

10

Three‑pointers on 11 attempts for former Duke standout and Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard last Friday, becoming the second player in NBA history to have a 30‑point game with every point coming on a 3‑pointer. Minnesota’s Malik Beasley scored 33 points on 11‑of‑17 3‑point shooting earlier in the month.

The Panthers traded kicker Zane Gonzalez to the 49ers, agreeing to exchange a conditional swap of late‑round picks in the 2025 draft to complete the deal pending a physical. Carolina had re‑signed kicker Eddy Piñeiro and planned to release Gonzalez before reaching the deal with San Francisco.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Darlington Raceway has signed Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall to an NIL deal for a second straight year. McCall, an Indian Trail native who went to Porter Ridge High School, first partnered with the track a year ago to help promote the Southern 500. McCall is a three‑time Sun Belt Conference player of the year.

The family of former UNC big man Eric Montross (00) says he has begun treatments for cancer. Montross, 51, is a radio analyst for UNC game broadcasts and works for the Rams Club. He was a two‑time Associated Press second‑team All‑American and part of UNC’s 1993 NCAA title winner. Montross was a first‑round draft pick in 1994 who played eight seasons in the NBA.

NASCAR

STEPHEN SPILLMAN | AP PHOTO

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

STEW MILNE | AP PHOTO

NFL

JACOB KUPFERMAN | AP PHOTO

“A big feeling‑out process.”

“We are going to play incredibly free.”

CHRIS MACHIAN | AP PHOTO

VASHA HUNT | AP PHOTO

BOB JORDAN | AP PHOTO

Final Four newcomers: Grab your name tag at the door

Just one school among the men’s semifinalists, UConn, has reached this stage previously

By Eddie Pells

The Associated Press

EVERYONE’S HEARD of UConn. All these other guys? They’ll need name tags at the Final Four.

When they travel to Houston next week to play for the national title, Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami will be making their first appearances at college basketball’s grand finale, the first time since 1970 that three first-timers all showed up in the same year. If the unfamiliar names — to say nothing of the seedings — are any indication, fans might look back on 2022-23 as the season when true parity finally sunk deep into the bones of America’s favorite basketball tournament and turned March Madness into a total free-for-all, all the way to the last weekend.

There will be no No. 1 seed at the Final Four for the first time since 2011. Instead, there will be a No. 9 seed in Florida Atlantic, a pair of fifth seeds in SDSU and Miami, and a fourth-seeded UConn. The combined seed total of the four teams is 23, the second-highest total since the seeding began in 1979. This marks the first time that not a single top-three seed made it.

The matchups for Saturday: San Diego State against FAU, in a not-so-classic 5-vs.-9 matchup.

(San Diego State, a 57-56 winner over Creighton on Sunday, is a 1½-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.) Who saw that coming?

In the later game, it’s the Hurricanes as 5½-point underdogs against UConn, which is the prohibitive favorite, at minus-135, to bring a fifth national title home.

If UConn does win, it will join Kentucky, UNC and Kansas as the fourth school to win the championship under three or more coaches. Dan Hurley would join Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie in the winner’s circle for the Huskies.

In the past, some of the upheaval in the brackets could have been pinned on the single-elimination

Unbeaten Gamecocks, Iowa’s Clark star in women’s Final Four

Virginia Tech and LSU round out the national semifinals

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

SEATTLE — An undefeated South Carolina team led by star Aliyah Boston and guided by vaunted Dawn Staley, an Iowa squad that features high-scoring Caitlin Clark, and the return of LSU and flashy coach Kim Mulkey headline the women’s Final Four this weekend.

State in overtime.

“It is like a storybook, but it’s kind of been like that for us all year long,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I mean, we have had — honestly, we keep talking about destiny and how it’s supposed to happen and it is happening. But I’m so happy for Caitlin. I can remember sitting in her living room and her saying, ‘I want to go to a Final Four.’ And I’m saying, ‘We can do it together.’ And she believed me. And so I’m very thankful for that.”

format and the tournament selection committee, which sometimes overvalues its top seeds — this year, that included first-round loser Purdue and seven-loss defending-champion Kansas — while clearly underrating others.

No team got undervalued more than UConn (29-8), which had 25 wins coming in, a No. 8 standing in the NET rankings — which looks at quality wins among other factors — and the still-developing potential of junior Adama Sanogo, who has averaged 20 points and just a touch under 10 rebounds in four tournament games. But all the other factors upending college sports — namely, NIL deals and the transfer portal — played a role here, too.

Heading into the Elite Eight, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga — who brought George Mason to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed 17 years ago — said the portal was the basketball equivalent of speed dating. It worked for him: The third- and fourth-leading scorers for the Hurricanes (29-7), Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier, both came to The U from the portal.

Also down in South Florida, FAU got three key players, including 7-foot-1 Russian center Vladislav Goldin, from elsewhere. All moved to the campus in Boca Raton after less-than-successful

stays at big-conference schools. No one was quite sure how coach Dusty May would blend all these new faces from different places. Turns out, he did pretty well. At 35-3, nobody has more wins this season than the Owls.

“We already had a good chemistry last year, and the pieces that we added just complemented everything we had going on,” said Bryan Greenlee, in his second year at FAU after coming over from Minnesota.

A longtime power in the Mountain West Conference, San Diego State was 30-2 and projected for a No. 1 seed in 2020 when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three years later, the Aztecs (31-6) are two wins away from the title. Their top two scorers, Matt Bradley and Darrion Trammell, are — you guessed it — products of the transfer portal, though coach Brian Dutcher brought them in as much for defense as scoring. SDSU made it this far behind a defense that held top-seeded Alabama to 32% shooting in the Sweet 16 and limited Creighton to 11% from 3-point range in Sunday’s win.

Asked what to expect from the Aztecs in Houston next week, Dutcher said, “I would think pretty good defense, to start with.”

HURRICANES from page B1 New York, Aho scored two nights later in a home loss to the Rangers.

On Saturday at PNC Arena, Aho answered Auston Matthews’ controversial late game-tying goal with his own 32 seconds later, stunning the Maple Leafs in a 5-3 win.

That goal was Aho’s ninth game-winning tally of the season, behind only Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Driasaitl, both with 10, for the most in the NHL.

The next day against the mighty Bruins, Aho tied the game in the third period, helping Carolina erase a two-goal deficit to earn a point in a shootout loss.

In all, the Hurricanes are 172-6 when Aho scores this season,

Virginia Tech is the newcomer to the group as the Hokies are making their first appearance in the national semifinals. Hokies coach Kenny Brooks became the third black male coach to take a team to the Final Four in women’s basketball history.

All of the women’s basketball world will descend on Dallas this week as the Division I, II and III championships will be held there. It’s only the second time that all three divisions will have their title games in the same place.

“It

Lisa Bluder, Iowa coach

Staley and the Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten and the first to repeat as champions since UConn won four in a row from 2013-16. South Carolina advanced to its third consecutive national semifinals and fifth since 2015 thanks to another superb effort by Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year. The threetime All-American had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Maryland on Monday night.

Next up for the Gamecocks is Iowa and the sensational Clark. She helped the Hawkeyes reach their first Final Four in 30 years with a game for the ages in the regional semifinals on Sunday night. The junior guard had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the win over Louisville.

The Gamecocks have the experience edge having reached the Final Four so often with this group. No one on Iowa’s roster was alive the last time the team advanced to the game’s biggest stage. C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team in 1993 that reached the Final Four before losing to Ohio

The other game will pit LSU against Virginia Tech. The Tigers are making their first trip to the national semifinals since 2008 when Sylvia Fowles dominated the paint. Now LSU is led by another stellar post player in Angel Reese. She broke Fowles’ record for double-doubles in a season earlier this year and was key in the Tigers win over Miami in the Elite Eight. Reese, who transferred in this season from Maryland, has made Mulkey’s second season at the school a special one. She came to LSU with a resume headlined by three NCAA titles from her time at Baylor along with some flamboyant sideline looks such as her silver-shimmering jacket with white pants that she wore in the Elite Eight game Sunday.

“What really makes me smile is not cutting that net down,” Mulkey said. “It’s looking around out there at all those LSU people, looking at that team I get to coach experience it for the first time.”

LSU’s opponent is also making its first appearance at the Final Four. The Hokies have had the best season in school history, winning the ACC crown as well under Brooks. He joined former Syracuse Quentin Hillsman and Cheyney State’s Winthrop “Windy” McGriff.

The significance has not been lost on Brooks, who hopes he can inspire other black male coaches to get more opportunities.

The Hokies’ run to the national semifinals has been led by star post Elizabeth Kitley and sharpshooter Georgia Amoore. The pair combined for 49 points in the win over Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

and without Svechnikov he will need to continue doing it — especially in crunch time.

Twenty-eight of Aho’s 62 points and 13 of his goals have come in the third period or overtime, including five game-winning goals.

In his postseason career, Aho has totaled 18 goals and 46 points in 48 career playoff games, numbers that mirror his production in the regular season. But since Carolina’s run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, Aho has struggled after the first round.

After putting up three goals and eight points in a three-game sweep of the Rangers in the bubble in 2020, Aho was limited to just three assists in a five-game exit to the Bruins.

The next year he posted five goals and seven points in a sixgame series win over Nashville.

But despite his two-goal, one-assist Game 3 in Tampa Bay, Aho was limited to just four total points in a 4-1 series loss to the Lightning in 2021.

Aho had five points, including a two-goal Game 2, in helping Carolina exorcise its demons against the Bruins in a seven-game win over Boston in the first round last year. His numbers were even better in Round 2 against the Rangers (two goals and four assists), but he didn’t score in the final five games of the series in a seven-game ouster.

While Aho has had his typically great season without much fanfare, Carolina’s best player will be judged on how he plays when it means the most — in the postseason. Perhaps his play of late is a sign of things to come.

is like a storybook, but it’s kind of been like that for us all year long.”

CHARLIE RIEDEL | AP PHOTO

Coach Jim Larranaga led Miami to its first Final Four and his second — he guided George Mason to the national semifinal in 2006 as a Cinderella No. 11 seed.

CAEAN COUTO | AP PHOTO Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore holds a regional championship trophy above her head while celebrating after the Hokies defeated Ohio State on Monday in Seattle, earning a spot in the Final Four.

PAUL SANCYA | AP PHOTO

Center Vladislav Goldin and Florida Atlantic have 35 wins this season, more than any other team in Division I.

MARY ALTAFFER | AP PHOTO

Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his career.

Trea Turner leads impressive group of NC products on major league rosters

NC State, UNC and ECU are well-represented as opening day nears

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

ONE OF THE BIGGEST stories of the World Baseball Classic was new Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. Among the biggest free agency signings in the offseason, Turner showed what all the offseason fuss was about by setting Team USA records with five home runs and 11 RBIs in six WBC games, earning a spot on the All-WBC team.

The NC State product is just one of the big storylines as this year’s Major League Baseball season begins this weekend, and many of those storylines have roots in North Carolina.

Turner’s NC State teammate, pitcher Carlos Rodon, was another big offseason pickup, signing with the New York Yankees. While Turner signed with the Phillies for 11 years and $300 million, Rodon inked a six-year deal with New York for $162 million. He will start the season on the injured list, however, although it appears the arm trouble is not serious and will just result in a slight delay for his Yankees debut.

The Wolfpack will likely have a third alumnus on opening day rosters as Andrew Knizner is poised to be the backup catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

UNC is also expected to have three players in the big leagues when play begins. Zac Gallen has been named the opening day pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and catcher Jacob Stallings will be splitting catching duties with the Miami Marlins. Daniel Bard is also expected to be in the Colorado Rockies’ bullpen, although his WBC experience wasn’t as positive

as Turner’s. The control problems that caused a long delay in his MLB career appeared to return as he broke the hand of Houston’s Jose Altuve with an errant pitch. He has continued to struggle with command back in Rockies camp.

The other school that can boast three big leaguers is East Carolina. Like NC State, one of them will start the year on the injured list as Tampa’s Shawn Armstrong has been sidelined all spring with neck problems. Slugger Alec Burleson has been told he’ll make the Cardinals’ opening day roster, and Jeff Hoffman is battling for a

$300M

spot in the Twins’ bullpen.

Four other colleges in the state are expected to have multiple big leaguers. Cedric Mullins will be a bright spot on an up-and-coming

Baltimore Orioles team after starring alongside Turner in the WBC. He’s joined by fellow Campbell Camels alumnus Ryan Thompson, who will be a factor in the Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen.

Elon will be represented by a pair of promising pitchers. Reliever John Brebbia hopes to follow up on a breakout 2022 season with the Giants, while George Kirby looks ready to earn a spot as a starting pitcher for the Mariners.

UNC Wilmington will also have two big leaguers. Ryan Jeffers is expected to split time at catcher with the Twins, while

Evan Phillips will continue to be a high-leverage reliever in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Wake Forest rounds out the N.C. schools that could end up with more than one major leaguer on opening day. Gavin Sheets is a power threat for the White Sox, although he’s recently been rumored to be involved in a possible trade to Philadelphia. Outfielder Stuart Fairchild is in the running for the final spot on the Cincinnati Reds’ roster.

Other products of North Carolina colleges include Duke’s Marcus Stroman, who will start for the Cubs on opening day; App State’s Jeffrey Springs, who will be in the Rays’ rotation after signing a large offseason contract extension; Belmont Abbey and Gardner-Webb product Emilio Pagan, who is expected to be in the Twins’ bullpen, although a rough spring has put his spot in a bit of jeopardy; and UNC Greensboro’s Andrew Wantz won the final spot in the Angels’ bullpen.

Several players who grew up or played high school ball in North Carolina but didn’t attend a college in the state are also expected to make a big splash in MLB this season. Catcher Cal Raleigh (Sylva) was a breakout star for the Mariners in last year’s postseason. Wil Myers (Thomasville) is with a new team after joining the Reds over the winter. Corey Seager (Concord) is in his second year with the Rangers after he was one of the top free agent shortstops prior to last season. Madison Bumgarner (Hickory) will continue to be one of the key components of the Diamondbacks’ starting pitching rotation. Alex Wood (Charlotte) will start for the Giants.

Whit Merrifield (Mocksville) will be a veteran presence on a promising young Blue Jays team. Other North Carolina products on big league rosters are Washington starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore (Whiteville), teammate and reliever Hunter Harvey (Catawba), Brewers reliever Bryse Wilson (Durham), Pirates reliever Duane Underwood (Raleigh) and Joel Kuhnel (Goldsboro), who is in the running to make the Reds’ bullpen.

Team transfer portal: UNC’s offseason roster makeover begins

A half-dozen Tar Heels plan to leave by transfer

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

IN HIS FIRST 17 years as UNC head coach, Roy Williams had a total of five players transfer out to play at other schools.

It’s clearly a whole new world in Chapel Hill.

In the first few weeks following the conclusion of Hubert Davis’ second season leading the Tar Heels, a total of six players entered the transfer portal in the hopes of leaving to finish their college careers elsewhere.

Part of that is due to the new environment in college basketball, where the transfer portal, NIL payments and loosened transfer rules have turned changing schools into the equivalent of NBA free agency. A record 170 players entered the portal on the first day it was open in March, and the number of players looking to transfer is now well over 1,000.

Still, losing a half-dozen members of the roster with some players’ decisions still pending is a level of instability usually reserved for programs undergoing an unexpected coaching change, not one a year removed from the national championship game with its nucleus still largely intact.

The biggest name among the departing Tar Heels is the latest to make his announcement. Guard Caleb Love, whose game-clinching shot against Duke in last season’s Final Four victory over the Blue Devils earned him a spot in UNC lore forever, entered the portal at the start of this week and became one of the biggest prizes on the open market.

When he’s on, Love can hit from anywhere on the court. On the flip side, he is often a bit too convinced he’s about to have one of his legendary hot streaks and has taken his share of ill-advised shots. On a UNC team that appeared to be wracked by chemistry problems this past season, Love was thought to be one of the players at the center of the conflict.

Davis frequently complained about unnamed players being too concerned about getting their own stats and their own NIL money and not being willing to sacrifice for the team, comments that were

thought to be at least partly targeted at the mercurial junior. In his announcement of his decision to transfer, Love thanked Davis and the coaching staff for “constantly challenging me,” perhaps implying that he also thought the comments were directed at him.

Regardless of what went on behind the scenes, Love’s departure leaves Carolina without its leading scorer (16.7 points per game) and, despite complaints about shot selection and selfishness, the team’s most prolific 3-point shooter and second-leading assists man. With 1,476 career points in Carolina blue, he also becomes the highest-scoring player ever to leave by transfer, topping Garrison Brooks, who left for his final extra COVID season after scoring 1,276.

The other five players leaving by transfer appear to be related to coach Davis’ unwillingness to play his bench over his first two seasons.

The UNC starting five played 81% of all minutes this past season, and the Tar Heels ranked in the bottom five nationally in bench minutes played. That was thought to be the reason that Justin McKoy (59 minutes played and 22 DNPs), Dontrez Styles (89 minutes, 18 DNPs), Tyler Nickel (150 minutes and 8 DNPs) and Will Shaver (6 minutes in an injury-shortened freshman year) all chose to leave. Puff Johnson, who averaged 10 minutes a game but has battled injury during his time at Chapel Hill, was a bit of a

surprise when he entered the portal. Johnson followed his brother Cam to Chapel Hill and was expected to play a major role next year, perhaps even starting.

Nickel, a four-star recruit who left after one year, has reportedly heard from Virginia Tech, Iowa, Mississippi State and Penn State, among the nearly three dozen schools to reach out. Styles, who departs after two seasons, has heard from Illinois, Pitt, Georgetown, Maryland and Texas A&M, and he took a visit to rival NC State. Johnson has been contacted by Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Pitt, among others. The news hasn’t been all bad for the Tar Heels. All-ACC big man Armando Bacot announced he planned to return for his extra COVID season, and he’ll be joined by guard RJ Davis, giving UNC two of their top three scorers from last season. The Heels also got

their first incoming transfer, showing the portal flows both ways. Paxson Wojcik, a graduate transfer from Brown University, committed to Davis and the Tar Heels for next season. He’s the son of Doug Wojcik, a UNC assistant under Matt Doherty. He shot 38% on 3-pointers last season, which would have easily led the Tar Heels, and averaged 14.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He scored 14 points with six rebounds against UNC at the Smith Center in Davis’ second game as UNC coach.

“It’s been my dream school,” Wojcik, who started his college career at Loyola, Illinois, said of UNC.

It’s the first step in what promises to be a long offseason journey for the Tar Heels staff. Davis will need to continue to mine the transfer portal as he looks to reassemble his roster heading into next season.

Total value of the 11-year contract Trea Turner signed with the Phillies during the offseason

“It’s been my dream school.”

Paxson Wojcik, UNC

incoming transfer

MARK TAYLOR | THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

Former NC State star Trea Turner, who signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies this offseason, will make his regular season debut with his new team when Philadelphia opens its season at the Rangers on Thursday.

MICHAEL CATERINA | AP PHOTO

The Tar Heels will look dramatically different next season, but record-setting big man Armando Bacot will be returning for one more year.

Push in states for $20 minimum wage as inflation persists

The Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. — Just years after labor activists persuaded a handful of states to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour, workers initially thrilled with the pay bump are finding their hardwon gains erased by inflation.

New York, California and Massachusetts are among states where pro-labor forces are now pushing proposals that, if approved, would boost minimum wages to $20 or more in the coming years.

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$0

concerned about the health and safety of the financial system.”

He said his general message to people is: “Your deposits will be fine. You will be fine. This really is a crisis of large institutional shareholders of banks that are worried” about losing their money. Phillips said the next big step will be to see if Congress does anything to broaden deposit protections for customers at banks.

Amanda Agati, chief investment officer of PNC Asset Management Group, looks at the banking industry’s struggles through the eyes of an investor, and she sees more pain coming. She just doesn’t know exactly how much and from where.

Interest rates have leaped over the last year as the Fed tries to get high inflation under control, and that’s squeezing the system and causing weak links to crack. “It’s highlighting increased stress in the system,” she said, and it could lead banks to lend less, which would put more pressure on the economy.

The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates again last week, and Agati said what it does going forward will likely have a greater impact on markets and the economy than which bank could be next to see its stock drop.

As for the First Citizens-Silicon Valley Bank deal, she said: “I don’t think it moves the needle at all in terms of the market overall.”

Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, California, collapsed March 10 in a bank run after customers rushed to withdraw money due to fears over the bank’s solvency. It was the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history after the 2008 failure of Washington Mutual. Two days later, New York’s Signature Bank was seized by regulators in the third-largest bank failure in the U.S.

Customers of Silicon Valley Bank will automatically become customers of First Citizens, which is headquartered in Raleigh. The 17 former branches of SVB will open as First Citizens branches Monday, the FDIC said. First Citizens Bank, which was founded in 1898, saw its shares surge following the deal’s announcement. They were up a little more than 55% in late-day trading.

NSJ staff contributed to this report.

Inflation has meant that something that cost $15 in 2012 — when labor activists adopted the “Fight for $15” slogan in a push for wage hikes — would probably cost almost $20 today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But opponents to the wage hikes say they can be detrimental to small businesses, which already took a major hit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cindy Lee, the owner of a bowling alley in Endicott, New York, said she’s struggling to pay off loans taken out during the pandemic that kept her business afloat.

“All this cost all at once is just going to kill us. I definitely will have to cut corners somewhere with employees if wages are raised,” said Lee, adding that she’d also have to increase prices on bowling, food and liquor.

The federal minimum wage in the United States has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009, but

states and some localities are free to set higher amounts. Thirty states have chosen to do so.

Over the past decade, labor groups held out $15 as the target that would let low-paid workers sustain themselves within the 40hour workweek. A growing number of states across the political spectrum have passed legislation that will take their minimum wage above that amount in the next few years, including Florida, Nebraska and Illinois. Eleven states have phased in wage increases of $5 or more within the past decade.

Yet those gains were almost immediately tempered. Inflation in the United States hit a new 40-

year high last summer after prices for basic necessities like gas and food soared. Supply chain issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, combined with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have disrupted gas and food supplies, sending those prices skyward.

Labor activists are pressing for a new round of wage increases even as the old ones are still being phased in.

A bill in New York would raise the state’s minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026, and then adjust it each year going forward for inflation. Right now, minimum wage workers in New York City get paid $15, while the rest of the state is at

$14.20.

In Massachusetts, one bill proposes to raise the wage every year until it hits $20 in 2027, up from $15 now.

And in California, where the minimum wage is currently $15.50 for all workers, legislation signed in September would have set the state on a path to raise wages for fast-food workers to $22 per hour.

The law was met with heavy opposition from restaurant industry groups who led a successful effort to force it into a referendum vote in 2024.

Backers of a proposed wage increase in New York say they hope it will pass as part of the state budget, which is expected to be finalized in early April.

“You can’t tell us that after the pandemic, that $15 is going to still be enough for us to keep food on our tables,” said state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Democrat who represents parts of Queens, said at a rally in Albany. “That’s why we want $21.25, nothing less. The price of everything is going up except for wages.”

In her executive budget proposal, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, proposed tying minimum wage increases to inflation, but with a cap on how much wages could rise in any one year.

Barry Nicholson, the owner of four retail businesses in Corning, a city by the Finger Lakes in New York, said a wage increase to $21.25 would be “a smack in the face to small businesses.”

“There is just no way I could handle that,” said Nicholson, who owns two UPS stores, and women’s accessories and modern home furnishings stores. “When you look at retail hospitality, we live and die by a couple of points at the end of the day. We’re not the big corporations everyone talks about.”

Credit card debt is at record high as Fed raises rates again

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again, credit card debt is already at a record high, and more people are carrying debt month to month.

The Fed’s interest rate increases are meant to fight inflation, but they’ve also led to higher annual percentage rates (APRs) for people with credit card debt, which means they pay more in interest.

The Fed announced Wednesday that it would increase rates another quarter of a point.

With inflation still high, people are leaning on their credit cards more for everyday purchases.

“It’s the economy, inflation, gas prices, and food costs,” said Lance DeJesus, 46, kitchen manager at the Golden Corral in York, Pennsylvania. “A year ago, you could go to the grocery store with a hundred bucks and come out with a bunch of bags. Now, I come out with just one bag.”

DeJesus said he carries a credit card balance of roughly $2,600 from month to month over several cards, which have interest rates from 16.99% to 21.99%.

Early in the pandemic, when DeJesus lost his job, he said that unemployment payments, stimulus checks, and child tax credits (which went to his household via his wife, who has three children) all helped him stay afloat. Now, with COVID-era emergency relief and stimulus policies ending, he uses credit for emergencies.

He’s not alone: 46% of people are carrying debt from month to month, up from 39% a year ago, according to Bankrate.com, an online financial information site.

Bankrate says the average credit card interest rate, or annual per-

centage rate, has reached 20.4% — the highest since their tracking began in the mid-1980s.

A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 35% of U.S. adults report that their household debt is higher than it was a year ago. Just 17% say it has decreased.

Roughly 4 in 10 adults in households making under $100,000 a year say their debt is up, compared with about a quarter in households making more than that. About half of Black and Hispanic adults say their household debt has increased, compared with about 3 in 10 white adults.

Data also shows more people are now falling behind on payments, according to Bankrate analyst Greg McBride. He sees this as

evidence of a so-called “K-shaped recovery” from the pandemic, in which the distance between the haves and the have-nots grows larger.

“The more than half who pay in full each month are clearly doing a lot better than the almost half who don’t,” McBride said. “Those who tend to carry balances tend to be younger people, people making lower incomes, and those with lower credit scores. Another factor contributing to rising debt is inflation, which means the cost of day-to-day living is outpacing paychecks.”

Typically, on a national scale, it takes something pretty extraordinary for credit card balances to fall, economists agree. The Great Recession, beginning in 2008,

“A year ago, you could go to the grocery store with a hundred bucks and come out with a bunch of bags. Now, I come out with just one bag.”

consumer Lance DeJesus

and COVID, beginning in 2020, are two periods when they fell sharply.

During the early pandemic, credit card debt dipped 17%, Bankrate said — thanks in part to stimulus programs, emergency relief, and a decrease in consumer spending.

But in the last three months of 2022, credit card balances in the U.S. increased $61 billion to $986 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of $927 billion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Using a credit card can provide protections for people who can pay off the balance every month. But the cost for those who can’t is high.

“What’s not good is carrying balances, paying interest, and falling behind,” McBride said. “No one wants to be paying 20% every month.”

Credit card rates are one of the fastest ways higher interest rates hit consumers.

“Most car loans and mortgages are fixed-rate. So if you’re new to the market, it has a big effect, but if you have an existing loan, it’s not affecting you,” McBride said. “With credit cards, the higher interest rate gets passed through pretty much right away.”

2023 Chevrolet Suburban

The ultimate road trip chariot

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

VEGAS

LAS

— The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is not particularly memorable, scenic, or fun.

It’s a four-hour rip through the desert surrounded by terrible drivers, half of whom seem perfectly content to sit in the passing lane going slower than everyone else and then act bewildered when passed on the right. It is perhaps best experienced behind the wheel of a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban equipped with Super Cruise, GM’s terrific hands-off driver assist feature.

Super Cruise is a mind-blowing technology that allows the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel entirely and trust the car to manage steering and throttle inputs. It might sound like a self-driving car, but it very much is not — the driver is fully involved and monitored the entire time by eye-tracking cameras to ensure they’re paying attention.

This might seem counterintuitive: Super Cruise allows you to drive without touching the wheel or the pedals, so isn’t the car driving itself? No.

It’s relatively simple (at least compared to other driving situations) to have a computer manage

steering and throttle on a mostly-straight highway where there isn’t likely to be much cross traffic or pedestrians. But when things get weird, the driver is there to step in.

Sitting atop the steering column is a small nub with an infrared camera that monitors the driver’s eyes to ensure they aren’t wandering away from the road and down to a smartphone. Look away for more than a few moments, and Super Cruise disengages with an audible beep, flashing red light, and seat vibration to get your attention.

The reaction is always the same when I tell people about Super Cruise. Do you trust that thing? While the first five minutes behind the wheel with Super Cruise turned on are bizarre, you fall into a rhythm after a little bit. Many vehicles are already equipped with lane tracing or active lane centering technology, and I’ve heard far too many folks describe that as their car “driving itself.” Those systems — including ones from Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and countless more — require constant input on the steering wheel to confirm that

the driver is paying attention, and they are not in any way designed to be “hands-off” even though you might be able to do that for 10–15 seconds at a time.

Super Cruise, and similar technologies like Ford’s BlueCruise, are specifically designed to operate without any direct steering input from the driver. Adaptive cruise control uses sensors to monitor how fast the car in front of you is driving and adjusts your speed to match, so imagine that but for steering.

So, how is it not self-driving if I don’t need to touch the wheel or the pedals as we drive down the interstate? Though the car does most of the work, you must still supervise everything. It’s like watching your teenager use a chainsaw. As long as nothing weird happens and nothing goes wrong, the car is perfectly capable of handling the steering. But if another driver suddenly cuts you off, jumping in and taking over would be prudent as the car won’t necessarily react quickly enough.

Even more exciting is the latest update to Super Cruise that adds an automatic lane change function. The car can recognize when the person in the lane ahead of you is going below your set speed, and it will automatically — without any intervention on your part — activate the turn signal, check that it’s safe, and move left into the passing lane. All you need to do is keep an eye on things.

At many points on the journey, I

didn’t touch the steering wheel for twenty or thirty minutes at a time. I’ll admit that resisting the urge to trust the system and reach for your phone is tricky. After a while, you begin to trust Super Cruise more and more, and it’s easy to believe it can handle whatever is coming your way — but it’s essential to pay attention to what’s happening. That’s why eye-tracking is so important. An actual self-driving car would allow you to take a nap. This does not.

That’s Super Cruise, and it’s incredible and must be seen to be believed. But what about the rest of the car? My fully-loaded Suburban High Country runs well over $90,000 and is a highway-cruising monster with endless leather, legroom, and luxury.

Seat-mounted screens allow back-seat passengers to stream Netflix or YouTube from their captain’s chairs, while even third-row passengers have copious amounts of legroom. The driving position and sightlines are terrific, while the 6.2L V8 creates a more than adequate 400 horsepower — though I’d much prefer the more fuel-efficient Duramax Diesel option.

But Super Cruise is the star of the show. If you drive long distances and want to use technology to make your life easier and more comfortable, you can’t do better than to buy a Suburban or one of the other full-size GM trucks and SUVs equipped with Super Cruise.

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.

PHOTOS COURTESY CHEVY

COUNTY NEWS

Kinetic brings fast fiber internet to New London

Kinetic is bringing fast fiber internet to New London, making good on its commitment to bring exceptional high-speed internet to customers. At a ribboncutting ceremony celebrating the company’s latest investment in North Carolina, officials announced that 2,200 customer locations, or approximately 50% of New London, will now have access to Kinetic’s fast and affordable fiber internet.

Since 2018, Kinetic has invested $21 million to bring gig speed to 75,000 locations across the Tar Heel State.

“At Kinetic, we love having the ability to enhance the day-to-day life of our customers,” said Kinetic state operations president Stacy Hale. “We pride ourselves on our fast fiber internet and are excited to bring our fastest speeds and best internet experience to more homes and businesses in New London. In addition to providing gig speeds up to 1,000 megabits a second, we’ll also provide the peace of mind that comes with our services.”

New London Mayor Tate Daniels and Stanly County Commissioners Bill Lawhon, Patty Crump, and Brandon King celebrated the new services at New London Memorial Park Monday along with Hale.

“Kinetic’s reliable, high-speed internet will have an incredible impact on our community,” said New London Mayor Tate Daniels. “Upgrades like these are critical to keeping our town relevant and attracting new people and businesses to our region.”

The project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital investment strategy to dramatically expand gigabit internet service across Kinetic’s 18-state footprint. Working to close communication gaps that many Americans in rural communities face, the reliable fiber ensures customers can conduct work and school from home, all while streaming their favorite movies and television shows, as well as gaming with no lag times.

“We appreciate Kinetic by Windstream’s commitment to expanding affordable high-speed internet service to the residents of New London,” said Nate Denny, N.C. Department of Information Technology deputy secretary of broadband and digital equality.

“This project will help more North Carolinians connect to vital online services to work, learn, access telehealth, and connect with one another.”

NC congressional delegation honors Coble

Members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation donned their madras jackets on Friday, March 24, to honor the late Howard Coble on his 92nd birthday.

A Republican who lived in Greensboro, Coble served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years representing the Triad and surrounding areas. He died in 2015.

Coble was a graduate of Appalachian State University and earned his law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. He served in the Coast Guard and served two terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives following a stint as the state’s Revenue secretary.

Rep. Richard Hudson (NC09) organizes the bipartisan recognition each year to honor the memory of Coble, who he called a good friend and mentor, and to keep his legacy alive.

Joining Hudson were Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08), Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-02), Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Rep. Kathy Manning (NC-06), and Rep. David Rouzer (NC-07).

NC treasurer running for governor in 2024

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced on Saturday he will run for governor in 2024, a bid that will likely require him besting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to earn the Republican nomination.

While Republicans have controlled North Carolina’s legislature since 2011 and won a majority on the state Supreme Court last November, they have struggled to enter the Executive Mansion. The GOP has won just one gubernatorial general election since 1992, and 2012 winner Pat McCrory served for just four years.

Folwell, a former legislator,

school board member and state unemployment office chief who was first elected treasurer in 2016, said he would bring competence to operating government in a fiscally sound manner and look out for working people if elected.

“The root word of ‘governor’ is to govern, and what that means is to be the CEO of the biggest business in the state,” Folwell told The Associated Press in an interview. “And based on my track record of saving lives, minds and money, I’m uniquely qualified to do that.”

The state constitution prevents Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper from seeking a third consecutive term.

Folwell had said in September

“The root word of the ‘governor’ is to govern, and what that means is to be the CEO of the biggest business in the state.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell

that he was strongly considering a run for governor after encouragement from several Republicans. He revealed his plans first at Saturday’s Republican Party convention for Forsyth County, where he lives.

The disclosure came two days

Locust Police Department’s K-9 Rico to receive body armor donation

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

LOCUST — Now in his second full year of duty serving the Locust Police Department’s canine unit, K-9 Rico will soon be sporting some new protective gear thanks to a charitable donation from the Vested Interest in K-9s non-profit organization.

The LPD announced that — in a delivery span of eight to ten weeks — its four-legged police officer will receive a bullet and stab protective vest sponsored by Robert Willens LLC of New York, NY, that will be embroidered with the words “Honoring those who served and sacrificed.”

Rico’s upcoming body armor shipment is U.S.-made, custom-fitted, NIJ-certified, and specifically designed to provide potentially life-saving technology to its wearer.

“We have been elated with the contributions that Rico has made to our department both in enforcement efforts and with community relationship building,” Locust Police Chief Jeff B. Shew said in a press release. “Rico is a vital member of our department, and we are so appreciative of Vested Interest in K-9s for their donation of body armor for Rico to help keep him safe during the course of duty.

It’s an outstanding organization for what they do for law enforce -

ment K-9s.”

Established 13 years ago, Vested Interest in K-9s, Inc. is a charity that aims to donate protective vests to dogs of law enforcement

Rico, part of the K-9 unit at Locust Police Department, is the lucky recipient of new protective gear courtesy of Vested Interest in K-9s.

and related agencies throughout the country. It has provided over 4,970 vests to K-9s in all 50 states at a value of $6.9 million, thanks to a combination of private and cor-

after Robinson said he’d hold an April 22 rally at an Alamance County race track, where he’d make a “special announcement” about 2024.

Robinson’s campaign adviser declined to reveal his specific plans, but Robinson has said previously that he was fairly certain that he’d run for governor.

Robinson, who was elected the state’s first black lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first run for office, released an autobiography last year and is a popular speaker at conservative churches and events.

Attorney General Josh Stein announced his bid for the Dem-

porate donations.

The program is open to U.S. dogs that are at least 20 months old and actively employed and certified in law enforcement. Rico, now approaching his third birthday later this year, is a chocolate Labrador Retriever who was born in The Netherlands and joined the LPD back on Oct. 22, 2021. He was bought from the Ventosa Kennel training facility located in Scotland Neck, NC, and has since trained under handler Cpl. Dwayne Dietz as the first LPD K-9 member in over 15 years.

In Rico’s current role, he specializes in opioid, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine detection

See RICO, page 2

PHOTO VIA LOCUST POLICE DEPARTMENT

COURTESY PHOTO

“Join

What to know about new research on coffee and heart risks

The Associated Press

COFFEE LOVERS — and their doctors — have long wondered whether a jolt of java can affect the heart. New research finds that drinking caffeinated coffee did not significantly affect one kind of heart hiccup that can feel like a skipped beat.

But it did signal a slight increase in another type of irregular heartbeat in people who drank more than one cup per day. And it found that people tend to walk more and sleep less on the days they drank coffee.

Coffee is one of the most common beverages in the world. In the U.S., two-thirds of Americans drink coffee every day, more than bottled water, tea or tap water, according to the National Coffee Association, a trade group. Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant, which is widely regarded as safe for healthy adults at about 400 milligrams per day, or roughly the equivalent of four or five cups brewed at home.

Coffee has been associated with multiple health benefits and even a lower risk of dying, based on large

We stand corrected:

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

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studies that observed participants’ behavior. Despite research that has shown moderate coffee consumption doesn’t raise the risk of heart rhythm problems, some professional medical societies still caution against consuming caffeine.

The latest research:

The experiment

Researchers outfitted 100 healthy volunteers with gadgets that continuously monitored their heart function, daily steps, sleep patterns and blood sugar. The volunteers, who were mostly younger than 40, were sent daily text messages over two weeks instructing them to drink or avoid caffeinated coffee on certain days. The results were reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. This type of study, which directly measures the biological effects of drinking or not drinking caffeinated coffee in the same people, is rare and provides a dense array of data points, said study co-author Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in treating heart arrhythmias.

The findings

Researchers found that drinking caffeinated coffee did not result in more daily episodes of extra heartbeats, known as premature atrial contractions. These extra beats that begin in the heart’s upper chambers are common and typically don’t cause problems.

But they have been shown to predict a potentially dangerous heart condition called atrial fibrillation.

They also found slight evidence of another kind of irregular heartbeat that comes from the lower heart chambers, called premature ventricular contractions.

Such beats are also common and not usually serious, but they have been associated with a higher risk of heart failure. The researchers found more of these early beats in people on the days they drank coffee, but only in those who drank two or more cups per day.

The volunteers logged about 1,000 more steps per day on the days they drank coffee — and they slept about 36 minutes less, the study found. There was almost no difference in blood sugar levels.

One interesting result: People

and their children.

with genetic variants that make them break down caffeine faster experienced less of a sleep deficit, while folks with variants that lead them to metabolize caffeine more slowly lost more sleep.

What it means for you

Because the study was performed in a small number of people over a short period of time, the results don’t necessarily apply to the general population, said Dr. Dave Kao, a cardiologist and health data expert at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. However, the study is consistent with others that have found coffee is safe and it offers a rare controlled evaluation of caffeine’s effect, Kao added.

Co-author Marcus cautions that the effects of drinking coffee can vary from person to person. He said he advises his patients with heart arrhythmias to experiment on their own to see how caffeine affects them.

“They’re often delighted to get the good news that it’s OK to try coffee and drink coffee,” he said.

FOLWELL from page 1 RICO from page 1

ocratic nomination for governor in January, taking direct aim at Robinson for speeches in which critics say he disparaged LGBTQ+ people, women and abortion rights.

Folwell criticized Robinson’s governing style months ago. With his announcement, Folwell pointed out that the public didn’t even know who Robinson was a few years ago. Since then, Folwell told AP, Robinson has “spent all this time attacking people instead of attacking the important problems that our citizens are facing.”

Folwell, meanwhile, said he’s attractive to voters because they feel like as an elected official “I’m doing the right thing on their behalf.”

“They’re going to respond to somebody who speaks to them like adults,” he added.

Folwell said his timing to get in the race had nothing to do with Robinson’s upcoming announcement — he wanted to re -

veal his plans first to his fellow local Republicans.

Robinson or his campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email Saturday seeking comment about Folwell’s entry.

Folwell, 64, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2012 before winning his current statewide job four years later.

While treasurer, he’s focused upon efforts to curb health care costs for state employees and retirees and for the poor as a way to improve their well-being. As McCrory’s unemployment office chief he helped carry out system reforms and implement new technologies.

The state treasurer manages the state’s investments and its massive government employee pension funds. His office also oversees the health insurance program for state workers and teachers and their dependents.

The State Health Plan has been sued over its decision — defended by Folwell — to decline covering gender-affirming treatments for transgender employees

While delivering the Republican response to Cooper’s State of the State address earlier this month, Robinson focused on his life story while promoting fiscal responsibility and respect for law enforcement and public school teachers.

Folwell also talks about growing up in poverty. Folwell said his young adulthood included working as a trash collector and in motorcycle shops before going to college and becoming a CPA. He then worked for an investment firm.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., also has expressed interest in a gubernatorial bid. Candidate filing for the March 2024 primary is held in December, but anyone else seeking to challenge Robinson will feel pressure to enter this spring.

At the end of 2022, Folwell reported $47,000 in cash in his campaign account, compared to $2.2 million held by Robinson’s campaign, according to state filings.

while also possessing an ability to track searches for victims and suspects with a high level of accuracy. He has participated in multiple community events, school field trips and presentations throughout the year as a public ambassador for the LPD — even serving as the 2022 Locust Christmas Parade Grand Marshall.

Last November, Rico was successful in tracking down a fleeing suspect from the Locust Walmart who was later charged with felony larceny, felony conspiracy, habitual larceny, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, first-degree trespass, and resisting a public officer. The 20-minute track and search led to Reed Mine Road, where Rico apprehended the suspect without incident.

Along with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 Luka, Stanfield Police Department’s K-9 Tango, and Oakboro Police Department’s K-9 Joker, Rico has become another vital member of Stanly County’s burgeoning K-9 police presence.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Sex ed is getting too extreme

THE FACTS of life haven’t changed, but sex education is entirely different now from what you likely learned in school.

Sex ed in middle school now includes graphic lessons on anal sex, oral sex and masturbation, with stick figures to illustrate body positions. Supplemental reading in middle school libraries includes “Sex, Puberty, and All That Stuff,” a book explaining foreplay and how to rub the clitoris to produce pleasure. Massachusetts’ curriculum tells seventh graders how to use cling wrap as a dental dam around their teeth for safe oral sex.

What the curriculum stresses is pleasure.

A majority of states now require sex education be labeled as “comprehensive,” thanks to aggressive lobbying by activists. Planned Parenthood, the largest producer of sex ed curriculum for public schools, argues that children are entitled to know how to “experience different forms of sexual pleasure.”

Eugene, Oregon, high schoolers were recently assigned to write a sexual fantasy featuring massage oil, flavored syrup, a candle, music, feathers or a boa. How about teaching them math and English instead?

Nationwide, these racy lessons are outraging parents. Last week, protests forced the Gwinnett County, Georgia, school board to shelve voting on a proposed sex ed curriculum. Holly Terei, a parent, explained that it’s one thing to monitor social media and the movies kids watch, and it’s another to have to worry about “our children being exposed to curriculum that teaches them how to perform sexual acts.”

Sex ed is the most controversial issue in many school board elections. Contests are nominally nonpartisan, but generally, Republicans are demanding parental controls. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is becoming the poster child for adolescent promiscuity.

Expect this to be a defining issue in next year’s national elections. In Iowa last week, former President Donald Trump warned the crowd that schools “are focused on sexualizing our children.”

Most sex ed lessons are not published by textbook companies. Instead, sex ed has been hijacked by left-wing, well-funded groups with their own agendas. These include Sex Ed for Social Change, Advocates for Youth (an LGBTQ group) and the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues that children have sexual rights. They all press for Comprehensive Sexuality Education. The word “comprehensive” is misleading.

What the curriculum stresses is pleasure.

Many Massachusetts districts use Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real” curriculum. The eighth-grade teacher’s manual suggests discussing a hypothetical scenario about two middle school boys who “enjoy the sexual part of their relationship.”

In Florida, the Leon County School Board tabled voting on a sex ed curriculum early this month when parents like Brandi Andrews objected. She says a cartoon video of a laughing clitoris, part of the curriculum, would encourage young girls to be promiscuous.

Advocates for CSE argue that “how-to” information about sex keeps children safer. Don’t believe it. A review of 60 studies of sex education in U.S. schools, published in the scholarly journal Issues in Law and Medicine, found that comprehensive sex education more often resulted in more harm, including more unplanned pregnancies and STDs.

Those are physical harms. Kids can also suffer emotional and spiritual harm. Educators in Fairfax County, Virginia, want to teach middle school sex ed in co-ed classes. Parents know better — a staggering 84% oppose this. What about modesty? What about embarrassment for the kids who are developing the fastest?

The backlash against extreme sex ed is exploding. Proponents insist they just want to provide information. Nonsense. When lessons include more than biology, someone’s values are being imposed.

Comprehensive sex education is an ideology or religion, stressing gender fluidity, sexual experimentation and pleasure seeking, while repudiating parents’ roles and traditional values. Some families share those views, and many don’t.

Recently, hundreds of Muslim Americans protested a Dearborn, Michigan, school board meeting, holding signs with messages such as “Keep your porno to yourself.” Christians, Jews and Muslims have all been told they must keep their religious teachings out of public schools.

Allowing CSE in school is no different from entrusting sex education to a priest or a rabbi, to the exclusion of all other views.

Parents, it’s time to take control of what our kids are being taught.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

The Trump-DeSantis primary fight begins

The way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.

Last week, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg considered indicting former President Donald Trump on a flimsy felony charge over a seven-year-old hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump placed his focus on the man he perceives as the truest threat to his political dominance: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump backers demanded that DeSantis sound off on the looming indictment; after a few days, DeSantis did, but not in ways that pleased Trump’s base. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”

DeSantis’ harsh words for Bragg were insufficient, according to Trump, because he mentioned the rationale for Trump’s legal difficulties: his unfortunate penchant for sexual profligacy. This prompted Trump to take to Truth Social to accuse DeSantis of grooming underage girls and/or boys: “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!).”

This was only the beginning. On Tuesday evening, excerpts broke from a DeSantis interview with Piers Morgan, in which DeSantis criticized Trump’s choices as president. “(T)he way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said. He added that he “would have fired” Dr. Anthony Fauci, contra Trump, who made Fauci into the face of the federal government’s pandemic response.

So, the fight is on.

Right now, the advantage lies with Trump. He’s the center of gravity for all of politics. DeSantis led Trump 39% to 26% in the Monmouth poll in December 2022 — shortly after Trump’s candidates in Senate races lost across the board, while DeSantis cleaned up in Florida — but now trails Trump by a margin of 27% to 41% in the same poll.

Dealing with Trump will be difficult for any Republican candidate, for two specific reasons. First, many Republican voters have bought into the myth that Trump is not subject to political gravity: In the aftermath of the 2012 Obama reelection, widespread political sentiment held that Democrats would never lose another presidential election, and yet Trump somehow beat Hillary Clinton while saying anything and everything on his mind. Many Republicans still think of Trump as a winner, even after his losses in the 2018 midterm election, 2020 presidential election, 2021 Georgia Senate races and 2022 midterms. When they don’t, he drops in the polls, as in December 2022.

Second, Republicans rally to Trump whenever he is attacked by the Left. That’s right and proper when it comes to unjust prosecutions by rogue DAs. But many Republican voters have generalized to the extent that Trump is now considered off-limits to attack even by other Republicans, since the Left might use such attacks as a rationale to attack Trump, too. This is a nearly impossible needle to thread. How do you critique Trump without the base feeling that your attacks are helping the Left? Meanwhile, Trump has been granted the soft bigotry of low expectations by many voters: He can say literally anything about other candidates, and no one blinks an eye. It’s Marquess of Queensberry rules for Trump’s opponents, WWE folding-chair-to-the-back-of-the-head smackdowns for Trump himself.

So, what can DeSantis do? The answer: It’s not really up to DeSantis. It’s up to Republican voters. It will be DeSantis’ job to remind Republican voters that Trump has won precisely one election in the last seven years; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that reality. It will be DeSantis’ job to point out that Trump didn’t clean out the executive branch and gave Fauci power; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that such criticisms aren’t “unfair attacks.” It will be DeSantis’ job to remind voters of his record; it will be the job of Republican voters to look to record rather than tweetstorms for policy victory.

Will Republican voters use their heads rather than their hearts?

We’ll find out soon enough.

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

COLUMN | BETSY MCCAUGHEY

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

SIDELINE REPORT

PGA

Wallace uses late birdie run to capture 1st PGA Tour title

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Matt Wallace made four birdies down the stretch in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to earn his PGA Tour victory.

He shot a 66 and won by one shot over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. The Dane had a chance to force a playoff on the last hole but missed a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory doesn’t get the Englishman into the Masters because it was held opposite the WGC-Match Play in Texas, but he is set for the PGA Championship.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Villanova AllAmerican Siegrist declares for WNBA draft

Villanova, Pa.

Villanova star and AP AllAmerican Maddy Siegrist will not return for a fifth season and has declared for the WNBA draft.

Siegrist led Villanova to a 30-7 overall record and the Sweet 16 for the second time ever this season. She led the country in scoring at 29.2 points per game and averaged 9.2 rebounds. The two-time Big East Player of the Year played four seasons and is the career leading scorer in Villanova basketball history for both men and women with 2,896 points. The WNBA draft is April 10.

HORSE RACING

Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts

Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field took another step forward with the launch of a new antidoping program. It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, while doling out uniform penalties to horses and trainers that will replace the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act known as HISA began the anti-doping program Monday. But there are ongoing legal issues that won’t allow the anti-doping program to immediately start in every state.

NBA Nets aren’t expecting Simmons to return this season

Miami

The Brooklyn Nets are not expecting guard Ben Simmons to play again this season, though no final decision will be made until the threetime All-Star meets with a back specialist, coach Jacque Vaughn said Saturday. Simmons is currently sidelined with what the Nets say is a nerve impingement — the condition where tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers — in his back.

Saturday’s game at Miami marked the 16th in a row that Simmons has missed and his 32nd absence in 74 Nets games this season.

Reddick wins COTA crashfest in triple OT

It’s his first win with 23XI Racing and fourth of his career

The Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick had the lead and the fastest car on the track when calamity nearly struck. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart.

Enough slowdowns to make a driver lose his mind.

Or at least his cool.

Reddick handled it nearly to perfection Sunday, earning his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.

“Didn’t quite get the restarts perfectly, but we got the one that

mattered,” Reddick said. “The last one.” Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series win, third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. This one might have been the most nerve-wracking. Reddick had to hold the front through the elevated, switchback left hand turn that saw the field bunch up and smash each other time after time on the restarts. The race had eight cautions for 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps past the scheduled distance. Hamlin said Reddick showed poise to match talent that could lead to a whole lot of victories. He got Reddick to agree to sign with

3

Road course victories for Tyler Reddick among his four career Cup Series wins

23XI with a full year remaining on his RCR contract, and then he was able to secure Reddick early for 2023 when Kurt Busch was forced to retire because of lingering concussion issues.

“I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it and it cost me a lot of money to do it,” Hamlin said. “You have to have that driver you feel can carry you to championships. ... I feel like we have that guy.”

Kyle Busch, who pushed Red-

dick through the final three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.

Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports.

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted post-race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez over the aggressive nature of the race. Suarez also exchanged words with Bowman. NASCAR may take action against Suarez for using his car to bump both Bowman and Chastain on pit road.

William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske.

The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond.

Lamar Jackson says he has requested trade from Ravens

The Baltimore quarterback has continued to negotiate with the team

The Associated Press

LAMAR JACKSON said Monday he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.

“As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value,” Jackson said on Twitter. “Any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl.”

Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team. The nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes.

The decision to make the trade request public may be an attempt to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants out of Baltimore.

If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke extensively about Jackson on Monday at the league’s owners meetings in Phoenix.

“I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process,” Harbaugh said. “I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.”

Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. His passing and running ability make him one of the game’s biggest stars. At age 25, he already is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. Jackson has been hurt at the end

of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he remains with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator. The Ravens hired Georgia’s Todd Monken for that position after the end of last season.

Harbaugh said he anticipates Jackson being Baltimore’s quarterback at the start of next season.

“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure,” Harbaugh said.

“But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar

that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

Harbaugh tried to stay upbeat about the prospects of Jackson’s return. If Jackson does come back and play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag, it could certainly be an awkward situation, and the coach will have his work cut out for him trying to soothe any hard feelings.

“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.

AP PHOTO

Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

AP PHOTO Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted that he has asked the team to trade him.

No. 12 Pfeiffer softball opens conference play with doubleheader wins

The Falcons are on top of the USA South East early in the season

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

MISENHEIMER — Now ranked 12th in the latest NFCA Division III Top 25 poll, the Pfeiffer softball team won its first two USA South conference games over visiting N.C. Wesleyan in a doubleheader March 25 at Jack Ingram Field.

New-look MLB readies for opening day

Updated rules, the big money Mets and Ohtani’s walk year highlight the start of season

The Associated Press BASEBALL HAS transformed in the 145 days since Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros sealed the franchise’s second title in six seasons. As New York Mets owner Steve Cohen dominated an offseason that saw billions spent, the sport braced for a new world that includes pitch clocks, bigger bases, limits on defensive shifts and pickoff throws, and an overarching attempt to reverse decades of lengthening games and the Analytics Era domination of the Three True Outcomes — strikeouts, walks and home runs.

“Late-inning relievers more than anyone will have to figure some things out and make some adjustments,” Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Left-handed hitters, it’s going to help them, period.”

Last year’s average game time was 3 hours, 4 minutes after the introduction of the PitchCom

electronic device to signal pitches, down from a record 3:10 in 2021. MLB’s average was 2:46 in 2005 and 2:33 in 1981. A pitch clock of 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners is designed to cut game times considerably.

Higher pitch velocity and increased shifts led to the major league batting average dropping to .243, its lowest since 1968. The only seasons with lower averages were the record bottom of .237 in 1968 along with 1967 and the dead-ball era seasons of 1884, 1888 and 1908.

Over the objections of players, the sport’s 11-man competition committee adopted a rule that two infielders are required to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Bases were increased from 15-inch squares to 18-by-18, which shorten the distance by 4½ inches and may lead to increased stolen bases.

In spring training through Sunday, games time averaged 2:35 in a drop from 3:01. Runs fell from 10.6 per game to 10.2 and batting average from .259 to .256, but bat-

ting average on balls in play rose to .325 from .314 for lefty hitters while remaining .311 for righties.

No player will be watched more closely this season than Shohei Ohtani, a two-way megastar in the final year under contract with the Los Angeles Angels. He and three-time MVP teammate Mike Trout have not played in a postseason game together. Ohtani has made it clear he wants to win. A taste of October might be needed to persuade the Japanese sensation to remain with the franchise.

Other storylines to watch include Aaron Judge’s ascent to Yankee captaincy — the first since Derek Jeter — after his 62-homer season; Fernando Tatis Jr., set to return from a drug suspension on April 20, teaming with Manny Machado to try leading the Padres to their first World Series title; and can Carlos Correa remain healthy with Minnesota after San Francisco and the Mets backed out of deals with the AllStar shortstop?

The Mets raised their payroll to a projected $370 million and are set to shatter the record, set by the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers at $291 million, while also paying a luxury tax on track to be $116 million.

With the 3-0 and 5-0 victories over the Bishops (13-8, 0-2), the Falcons (14-8, 2-0) have won four games in a row and five of their last six. Following a back-and-forth start to the season, eighth-year coach Monte Sherrill’s Falcons are beginning to emulate last year’s 35-10 campaign when the team took home the USA South East Division regular season title.

Pfeiffer, which has eight consecutive winning seasons, is entering the meat of its conference schedule.

In the first game of the doubleheader against NCWU, sophomore catcher Emma Chopko gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with an RBI single. Pfeiffer then went up 2-0 later in the inning following a throwing error from the Bishops.

Sophomore outfielder Gracie Griffin increased the Falcons’ lead to 3-0 with an RBI single that scored senior shortstop Kyndell Warren in the fifth inning. Sophomore pitcher Kenzi Lyall recorded a complete game shutout win, improving her record to 8-6 overall. Through a team-high 68 2/3 innings pitched, Lyall has a 2.34 ERA and 60-31 strikeoutto-walk ratio.

Runs allowed in Pfeiffer’s two-game sweep of N.C. Wesleyan

In game two of the doubleheader, junior pitcher Kali Morton (6-2) had one of her best performances for the Falcons, notching a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts and only a pair of NCWU hits allowed. The Mooresville native holds a team-best 2.07 ERA through 44 innings and has held batters to a .242 average at the plate.

Lyall and Warren each knocked in RBI singles early in the game, while Chopko connected on her second home run of the season to put the Falcons up 4-0 in the sixth inning; Warren made it a 5-0 game later in the inning with an RBI double.

The Falcons hit the road on March 28 for their first USA South trip of the season as they traveled to Raleigh for a doubleheader with William Peace. Pfeiffer’s road trip will continue with a visit to Southern Virginia on March 31 and Mary Baldwin on April 1 before returning home to face Salem on April 8.

The Falcons sit atop the early USA South standings as the only team out of 10 with two conference wins — only Greensboro (16-4, 0-0) has more overall wins at this point of the season. Pfeiffer and Greensboro are set to square off on April 22 with a crucial pair of games that could determine the final seeding for the USA South Tournament set for May 4-6.

Carlos Alcaraz returns a shot against Daniil Medvedev during his men’s singles final win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians at Olympics

The special rapporteur says Russian military members should, in most cases, be allowed to compete

The Associated Press GENEVA — Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee.

The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian

military members implicated in “allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war” should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games.

Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country’s recent Olympic medalists were affili-

ated with the military.

Xanthaki wrote on her official Twitter account Sunday her view that “an athlete who has participated in war would be included” for neutral status to compete in sports without national symbols such as flags and anthems.

The Greek lawyer later clarified it was usual that “men all around the world are conscripted to take part in wars” and have to follow orders, including killing. She also referred to “illegal aggressive” conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Israel and Iraq. “We cannot hold all men who participate in illegal wars by their states following orders responsible. Those who perform crimes, we must,” Xanthaki wrote.

It is unclear how far the IOC will follow her advice ahead of its executive board meeting Tuesday. It is due to discuss “solidarity with Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia and Belarus, and the status of athletes from these countries.”

The IOC’s initial advice to sports bodies within days of the war starting last February was to exclude athletes from Russia and ally Belarus. It cited Russia’s “extremely grave violation” of the Olympic Truce in place for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, plus the integrity and security of sports events.

Since January, the IOC has pushed for finding a path to reintegrate Russians and Belarusians into world sports. It pointed to ad-

vice from Xanthaki and another U.N. expert that excluding athletes based only on their passport would be discrimination that breached their human rights.

Xanthaki on Friday briefed members of official athlete panels from most national Olympic bodies, including Ukraine, in a twohour call hosted by the IOC.

The Ukrainians “ferociously disagreed with my analysis,” she acknowledged in a Twitter exchange, adding that athletes taking part from countries in the Global South agreed with her.

“It makes no sense in terms of sport,” Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, a two-time Olympian, told The Associated Press on Monday about Xanthaki’s views on the call and the difficulty of proving an athlete’s links to war crimes.

Members of the Geneva branch of Ukrainian society in Switzerland protest during a rally Saturday to urge the International Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision of participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under white neutral flag at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

North Carolina auditor pleads guilty to hit-and-run

The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina’s elected auditor pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a December crash in which she drove her state-owned vehicle into a parked car.

Four-term Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood told a judge she made a “grave mistake” and should have remained at the accident to let the process play out.

“I am a public servant elected by the people of North Carolina. I am human. I am not perfect,” she said in a Wake County courtroom.

“I apologize to the people of North Carolina who have trusted me.”

District Court Judge Louis Meyer sentenced Wood, 68, to about $300 in fines and court costs, noting that Wood already had personally paid well over $11,000 to cover damages and other costs with both cars.

Still, Meyer told Wood, “This was a glaring incident of poor judgment.”

Wood, who was first elected auditor in 2008, had previously said publicly that she erred by leaving the scene of the Dec. 8 accident in downtown Raleigh as she left a holiday party.

No one was hurt in the accident in which Wood was driving her state-assigned vehicle, a 2021

Toyota Camry. Photos and 911 calls reported on by media outlets showed that part of her car was on top of the parked vehicle. In court, Wood said that she had been drinking alcohol at the party.

“I was not impaired, but given the positioning of the two cars and the fact that I had had two glasses of wine at this event, I made an error in judgment in the moment,” she said. “And if I made the right decision, we would not be here today.”

Wood’s appearance came days after two men also were charged with assisting her in avoiding police or fleeing the scene.

Wood left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. Attorney Roger Smith Jr. said he believed that Wood was treated like any other defendant given the circumstances and the lack of a criminal record.

The state auditor, one of 10 members of the North Carolina

Council of State, performs financial reviews of state agencies, as well as performance audits and other studies sought by the General Assembly. Wood’s position is up for reelection in 2024.

While Wood hasn’t said specifically whether she will seek reelection next year, she has talked after the accident about her commitment to continuing her duties.

The state Republican Party has called for Wood’s resignation. Top elected Democrats have said they wanted to see the case played out.

Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said videos from area businesses helped police identify Wood as the driver. She was charged several days after the accident with the property-only hitand-run count as well as another traffic-related charge that was dismissed Thursday. Freeman told Meyer that her office and the owner of the private vehicle were satisfied with Wood’s plea and damage payments.

Last Friday, Raleigh police cited Jonah Richard Mendys and Ryan Scott McGurt both of Chapel Hill, with misdemeanors related to the accident’s aftermath, according to court documents and an official. Their court dates are April 20.

A citation accuses Mendys of failing to report Wood’s crash and helping her flee the scene and into

a nearby building out of the site of police. And police allege McGurt drove Wood away in his pickup truck. Both men face obstruction of justice charges. Mendys is also accused of a passenger’s failure to give information following an accident, while McGurt is accused of being an accessory after the fact, court records show.

Freeman said in an interview Wednesday the additional citations came about from Raleigh police “following up on leads that

came to light as they continue to investigate the accident.”

An attorney for Mendys didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Voting records identify a Ryan Scott McGuirt as living at the same street and address number listed for McGurt in the court records. Attempts to reach McGuirt by text and email weren’t immediately successful.

In court, Wood said she regretted that the men also had been charged.

Utah social media law means kids need approval from parents

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Children and teens in Utah would lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don’t have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive platforms.

Two laws signed by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox Thursday prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and open the door to lawsuits on behalf of children claiming social media harmed them. Collectively, they seek to prevent children from being lured to apps by addictive features and from having ads promoted to them.

The companies are expected to sue before the laws take effect in March 2024.

The crusade against social media in Utah’s Republican-supermajority Legislature is the latest reflection of how politicians’ perceptions of technology companies has changed, including among typically pro-business Republicans.

Tech giants like Facebook and Google have enjoyed unbridled growth for over a decade, but amid concerns over user privacy, hate speech, misinformation and harmful effects on teens’ mental health, lawmakers have made Big Tech attacks a rallying cry on the campaign trail and begun trying to rein them in once in office. Utah’s law was signed on the same day TikTok’s CEO testified before Congress about, among other things, the platform’s effects on teenagers’ mental health.

But legislation has stalled on the federal level, pushing states to step in.

Outside of Utah, lawmakers

in red states including Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana and blue states including New Jersey are advancing similar proposals. California, meanwhile, enacted a law last year requiring tech companies to put kids’ safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.

The new Utah laws also require that parents be given access to their child’s accounts. They outline rules for people who want to sue over harms they claim the apps cause. If implemented, lawsuits against social media companies involving kids under 16 will shift the burden of proof and require social media companies show their products weren’t harmful — not the other way around.

Social media companies could

have to design new features to comply with parts of the laws that prohibit promoting ads to minors and showing them in search results. Tech companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, make most of their money by targeting advertising to their users.

The wave of legislation and its focus on age verification has garnered pushback from technology companies as well as digital privacy groups known for blasting their data collection practices.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation earlier this month demanded Cox veto the Utah legislation, saying time limits and age verification would infringe on teens’ rights to free speech and privacy. Moreover, verifying every users’ age would empower social media platforms with more data, like the government-issued iden-

tification required, they said.

If the law is implemented, the digital privacy advocacy group said in a statement, “the majority of young Utahns will find themselves effectively locked out of much of the web.”

Tech industry lobbyists decried the laws as unconstitutional, saying they infringe on people’s right to exercise the First Amendment online.

“Utah will soon require online services to collect sensitive information about teens and families, not only to verify ages, but to verify parental relationships, like government-issued IDs and birth certificates, putting their private data at risk of breach,” said Nicole Saad Bembridge, an associate director at NetChoice, a tech lobby group.

What’s not clear in Utah’s new law and those under consideration elsewhere is how states plan to enforce the new regulations. Companies are already prohibited from collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent under the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. To comply, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up to their platforms — but children have been shown to easily get around the bans, both with and without their parents’ consent.

Cox said studies have shown that time spent on social media leads to “poor mental health outcomes” for children.

“We remain very optimistic that we will be able to pass not just here in the state of Utah but across the country legislation that significantly changes the relationship of our children with these very destructive social media apps,” he said.

The set of laws won support from parents groups and child advocates, who generally welcomed

them, with some caveats. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on kids and technology, hailed the effort to rein in social media’s addictive features and set rules for litigation, with its CEO saying it “adds momentum for other states to hold social media companies accountable to ensure kids across the country are protected online.”

However, Jim Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense, said giving parents access to children’s social media posts would “deprive kids of the online privacy protections we advocate for.” Age verification and parental consent may hamper kids who want to create accounts on certain platforms, but does little to stop companies from harvesting their data once they’re on, Steyer said. The laws are the latest effort from Utah lawmakers focused on the fragility of children in the digital age. Two years ago, Cox signed legislation that called on tech companies to automatically block porn on cellphones and tablets sold in the state, after arguments about the dangers it posed to children found resonance among Utah lawmakers, the majority of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Amid concerns about enforcement, lawmakers ultimately revised that legislation to prevent it from taking effect unless five other states passed similar laws.

The regulations come as parents and lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about kids and teenagers’ social media use and how platforms like TikTok, Instagram and others are affecting young people’s mental health. The dangers of social media to children is also emerging as a focus for trial lawyers, with addiction lawsuits being filed thorughout the country.

“I apologize to the people of North Carolina who have trusted me.”

State

Auditor Beth Wood

AP PHOTO

North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood makes an appearance in Wake County court on Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Raleigh

AP PHOTO

Gov. Spencer Cox signs two social media regulation bills during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

STATE & NATION

Biden approval dips near lowest point: AP-NORC poll

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Approval of President Joe Biden has dipped since a month ago, nearing the lowest point of his presidency as his administration tries to project a sense of stability while confronting a pair of bank failures and inflation that remains stubbornly high.

That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which shows there have been modest fluctuations in support for Biden over the past several months. The president notched an approval rating of 38% in the new poll, after 45% said they approved in February and 41% in January. His ratings hit their lowest point of his presidency last July, at 36%, as the full weight of rising gasoline, food and other costs began to hit U.S. households.

In recent months, approval of Biden had been hovering above 40%.

Interviews with poll respondents suggest the public has mixed feelings about Biden, who is expected to announce a reelection bid by this summer. When it comes to the president, people generally do not swing between the extremes of absolute loyalty and aggressive loathing that have been a feature of this era’s divided politics.

“Neutral towards approve,” An-

drew Dwyer, 30, said of Biden. “I don’t think he’s the best at representing my position and issues. But I know being president involves compromises.”

Dwyer, a data analyst in Milwaukee, said he voted for the president in 2020 and considers himself to be liberal. He acknowledged the recent failures of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature

Bank, but he said that the economy is adjusting to higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation.

“We all got so used to cheap debt and the ability to throw money around,” Dwyer said. He said there were “pain points” caused by higher borrowing costs but that he thinks the process will “ultimately” lead to a healthier econ-

omy. Just 31% approve of Biden’s stewardship of the national economy, about where it’s been over the course of the last year. His handling of the nation’s economic fortunes has been a weak point at least since late 2021, when the inflation that the administration had suggested was transitory became a bigger pain point for businesses and families.

Michael McComas, 51, voted Republican in 2020 and described Biden as “not great — average, I guess.” A resident of Westland, Michigan, he noted that it will take years to determine whether federal infrastructure spending fulfills the promises made by Biden.

McComas said he believes inflation is the direct result of government spending to counter the pandemic, a claim that Biden has personally rejected when asked by reporters.

“We poured so much money into the system — that’s a little frustrating that we were shocked that we got hit by inflation when a lot of our policies were inflationary,” McComas said.

The difference between Biden’s approval overall and his approval on the economy is driven largely by Democrats, 76% of whom say they approve of how he’s handling his job as president while 63% approve of his handling of the economy. Few Republicans approve of Biden on either count.

Democrats under the age of 45 feel less positive about Biden, causing a drag on his approval ratings. Just 54% approve of the president’s economic leadership, compared to 72% of Democrats older than 45. Similarly, just 66% of Democrats under 45 approve of Biden overall, compared to 85% of older Democrats.

Only about a quarter of Americans say the national economy is good or that the country is headed in the right direction, the poll shows. Those numbers have also fluctuated only slightly over the last few months.

Ratings of Biden’s handling of foreign policy (39%) and climate change (41%) are about on par with his overall approval ratings. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 9% of Republicans approve of Biden on foreign policy, while 67% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans approve of his handling of climate change.

Theresa Ojuro, a 29-yearold doctoral student in Rochester, New York, said she “expected more” from Biden — “just a little bit more stability with the economy.” Ojuro, who voted for Biden in 2020, also noted that the bank failures are dragging down her sentiment, but she worries about how high taxes are in New York state relative to the benefits provided.

“If Biden is doing his job, why in a state like this can you see people really suffering?” Ojuro said.

DeSantis team welcomes contrast with Trump ‘chaos’ candidacy

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim McKee is standing at the end of a line that snakes through five aisles of fiction inside the Books-A-Million store in Florida’s capital city.

He is smiling because in a matter of minutes, the book he’s holding will be signed by its author, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor who McKee believes should be the nation’s next president. But as a former Donald Trump loyalist, the 44-year-old Tallahassee attorney almost whispers when he first says it out loud.

“Personally, I’d rather see DeSantis win the Republican primary than Trump,” McKee says softly, having to repeat himself to be heard. His voice soon grows louder. “Trump has upset so many people,” McKee says. “DeSantis is more palatable. He has a good story to tell.”

Indeed, conversations throughout Tallahassee’s book stores, conference rooms, state house offices and sports bars reveal that DeSantis’ allies are gaining confidence as Trump’s legal woes mount. The former president faces a possible indictment in New York over his role in a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter, which he denies.

The optimism around DeSantis comes even as an unlikely collection of establishment-minded Republican officials and Make America Great Again influencers raise concerns about the Florida governor’s readiness for the nation-

al stage. DeSantis has stumbled at times under the weight of intensifying national scrutiny as he builds out his political organization and introduces himself to voters in key primary states.

DeSantis’ allies privately scoffed at recent reports of anonymous concerns over the direction of his campaign, noting there is no campaign. The 44-year-old governor isn’t expected to launch his White House bid for at least two more months. And the first presidential primary contest is roughly 10 months away.

For now, DeSantis’ team, headquartered here on the front edge of Florida’s Panhandle, believes he holds a position of strength among Republican voters. And as Trump fights to undermine DeSantis, his strongest Republican rival, the Florida governor’s growing coalition is eager to highlight the contrast between the two men.

On one side stands Trump, a twice-impeached former president carrying a new level of turmoil into the 2024 presidential contest. On the other is DeSantis, a big-state governor coming off a command-

ing reelection, who is a far more disciplined messenger and hyperfocused on enacting conservative policies.

“Of all the things that Donald Trump has done and accomplished in his life, it’s just constant chaos.

And I think the American people are just tired of it,” said Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a former Trump supporter who thinks DeSantis would be “a very formidable presidential candidate.”

The politics are murky at best.

Should Trump be charged, DeSantis supporters concede that

Trump would likely benefit politically — in the short term, at least — as the GOP base rushes to defend their former leader from what they see as a weaponized justice system. But in the long term, DeSantis’ team believes primary voters will view Trump’s legal challenges as an acute reminder of his extraordinary baggage that could lead to another Republican disappointment in 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump is using his mounting legal challenges as a cudgel to force Republican rivals to line up the GOP behind him. It’s the same playbook he employed successfully last summer after the FBI raided his Florida estate to seize classified documents and during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

DeSantis condemned the New York prosecutor’s potential indictment over the last week under intense pressure from MAGA influencers and after other White House prospects had offered their own criticism.

“I hope it doesn’t come to where you end up seeing this going forward,” DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. “People see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it’s fundamentally wrong to do that.”

“DeSantis will not shrink from the fight. That’s not how he’s operated in Florida politics to this point,” said Matt Caldwell, a former state representative who shared the statewide ballot with DeSantis in 2018 as a candidate for state agriculture commissioner. “One could argue that he’s got the upper hand, so he’s only engaging when he has to.”

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, March 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets supporters at a book signing event, Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Tallahassee, Fla.

Randolph record

Guests

at

COUNTY NEWS

Asheboro to host lifeguard classes this spring

The Asheboro Cultural and Recreation Services Department is providing Blended Learning American Lifeguard Training this spring to prepare for the Summer. To take part in these training sessions, each participant must meet and pass all of the prerequisites set by the American Red Cross, as well as pay $225 to cover the cost of classes. The prerequisites for participation include being a minimum age of 15, being able to complete a 300-meter swim, retrieve and return a 10-pound object from an 8-foot depth, and being able to tread water without the use of hands for two minutes. Classes will be held on the following dates: April 6, 7, and 8; April 13, 14, and 15; or May 18, 19, and 20. Individuals seeking employment are encouraged to submit an application to become an ACRS lifeguard. Applications can be found online or at the ACRS office on Sunset Avenue. For more information or to register for your prerequisite skill test, please contact Jessica Kuebuafor at (336) 318-1075 or at jkuebuafor@ ci.asheboro.nc.us.

Woman wanted in 3 counties arrested at traffic stop in Trinity

A suspect who was wanted in three separate counties in connection with larceny charges was arrested last Monday following a traffic stop in the area of Kennedy Road in Trinity. According to a press release from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy noticed that a vehicle in the area matched the description of a suspect vehicle involved in a recent larceny investigation. Upon approaching the vehicle, the deputy recognized and placed Shavon Melissa Kennedy under arrest, despite her attempts to give the officers a false name. Kennedy was transported to the Randolph County Jail, where she was served charged for several crimes in Randolph, Stokes, and Rockingham counties, including felony identity theft, felony possession of stolen goods, misdemeanor resisting public officer, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a vehicle without liability insurance or a license, felony forgery of instrument, misdemeanor larceny, and failure to appear in court on misdemeanor charges. Kennedy received a total secured bond of $56,000.

NC Zoo evacuated due to bomb threat

Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The North Carolina Zoo closed Monday because of a security threat, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and zoo reported.

A bomb threat had been received at about 10:47 a.m. through electronic means and reported to law enforcement by a representative of the North Carolina Zoo.

A juvenile has been identified as the subject of the threat.

Visitors and staff were evacuated. Later, zoo officials announced that 1,372 guests were evacuated.

Emergency crews were called to the zoo. Law enforcement officials conducted a search of the zoo grounds. By 1:39 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office completed its work at the scene.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office’s bomb squad was asked to standby but wasn’t asked to respond to the scene.

The Sheriff’s Office said that all “units are working with Zoo Park Rangers to secure the zoo perimeter and evacuate all patrons.”

Guests who spoke to reporters said they were asked to leave because of a “security incident.”

Among the visitors were students from Guilford County on a field trip.

“All school groups have been successfully evacuated from the zoo campus following a security threat,” according to a statement from North Carolina Zoo.

Based on online reports from visitors, the process was orderly and calm in assisting with patrons

leaving the zoo grounds.

By Monday afternoon, North Carolina Zoo announced that normal operations would resume Tuesday.

Randolph County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations division identified the origin of the threat. A juvenile petition will be filed with the Department of Juvenile Justice, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office had five search teams on the scene to check all public areas of the zoo.

Zoo officials will provide refunds or return tickets. They also said they hope to reschedule school groups.

Zoo officials also said that their caretakers have continued animal care. “We are prioritizing ongoing animal care based on medical needs,” the statement said.

Randolph Health lifts mask mandate

Fees set for Summer

2023 Reading Camp for proficient students

By Ryan Henkel Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Randolph Health announced Monday that it will lift universal masking requirements for patients, visitors and team members at all facilities effective at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

According to a release from Randolph Health, the decision to make masks optional was made in collaboration with other regional healthcare systems, including Novant Health, Atrium Health, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, CaroMont Health, and Cone Health. Patients may request their care teams to wear masks during treatment and clinic visits.

While universal masking will no longer be required, certain exceptions apply, including wearing masks when respiratory vi-

rus symptoms are present and in treatment areas for high-risk patients, including those in isolation.

Zoo officials later announced that 1,372 guests were evacuated.

SCOTT PELKEY | RANDOLPH RECORD

wait

a bus stop for the parking lot shuttle outside the Africa entrance at the NC Zoo after a bomb threat triggered an evacuation.

EMMIE BROOKS | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Members of the Sheriff’s Office, Randolph County EMS, and East Side Fire Department gather at a command post setup in the Africa parking lot at the NC Zoo.

AP PHOTO

Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs and COVID-19 clinical response leader at the University of Mississippi Medical School, holds on to the face mask he wears while on campus.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Protecting your rights and privacy

WHAT WOULD the Founding Fathers think if they were here today?

In my opinion, it wouldn’t be self-driving cars or the internet that would surprise them the most. I think it would be the size of our government.

safety and mental health.

Our system of checks and balances was not set up to have unelected bureaucrats making laws and rules that impact the everyday lives of you and your family.

The entire executive branch used to fit inside of the White House. Yet today, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards and commissions fill hundreds of buildings with millions of bureaucrats constantly seeking to expand their power. Our government is meant to be responsive to the people. Our system of checks and balances was not set up to have unelected bureaucrats making laws and rules that impact the everyday lives of you and your family.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden presented his budget to Congress. This reckless budget will grow the size of government even further and proposes trillions in new spending and higher taxes for you and families across the country. It will further increase our national debt and your cost of living—at a time when we suffer a $31 trillion debt and an inflation crisis.

This radical budget spends $16.5 billion on the climate and $3 billion for gender equity, yet just $40 million to combat the fentanyl crisis that is killing thousands of Americans. It also contains a staggering $1.9 billion to fund the ATF—directly declaring war on your Second Amendment rights. I was proud to introduce a resolution last week to prevent the ATF from enforcing an unconstitutional pistol brace rule that targets law-abiding citizens and combat-wounded veterans. As this bill is considered by the House, I will continue to support efforts to defend your constitutional rights, just as I continue my work to expand school

In the Energy and Commerce Committee last week, I had the opportunity to question the CEO of TikTok and express my concerns with the social media app. As a parent, I’m very concerned about the ways in which social media companies impact our children’s behaviors and mental health. While many might consider TikTok to be just another video-sharing app, in reality, it’s likely it has been functioning as a massive Chinese Communist Party surveillance program—and it is all in the palm of your hand.

As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, I have serious concerns about the opportunities TikTok gives the CCP to access non-public sensitive data from our military families. I asked the TikTok CEO if the company can access other devices on your home Wifi to collect data. He could not give me a straight answer. It should concern every American that his answer wasn’t “No.” I look forward to further addressing the threat this app presents to our national security in order to create a strong national data privacy standard that will put you back in charge of your data.

From reckless spending to threatening your constitutional rights, to refusing to stand up to the Chinese Community Party, the Biden administration is a threat to the freedoms you hold so dear.

As your Congressman, I never stop working to solve problems facing you and your family.

Richard Hudson is serving his fifth term representing North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and in House leadership as the Republican Conference Secretary.

The Trump-DeSantis primary fight begins

LAST WEEK, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg considered indicting former President Donald Trump on a flimsy felony charge over a seven-year-old hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump placed his focus on the man he perceives as the truest threat to his political dominance: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.

Trump backers demanded that DeSantis sound off on the looming indictment; after a few days, DeSantis did, but not in ways that pleased Trump’s base. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”

DeSantis’ harsh words for Bragg were insufficient, according to Trump, because he mentioned the rationale for Trump’s legal difficulties: his unfortunate penchant for sexual profligacy. This prompted Trump to take to Truth Social to accuse DeSantis of grooming underage girls and/or boys: “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!).”

This was only the beginning. On Tuesday evening, excerpts broke from a DeSantis interview with Piers Morgan, in which DeSantis criticized Trump’s choices as president. “(T)he way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said. He added that he “would have fired” Dr. Anthony Fauci, contra Trump, who made Fauci into the face of the federal government’s pandemic response.

So, the fight is on.

Right now, the advantage lies with Trump. He’s the center of gravity for all of politics. DeSantis led Trump 39% to 26% in the Monmouth poll in December 2022 — shortly after Trump’s candidates in Senate races lost across the board, while DeSantis cleaned up in Florida — but now trails Trump by a margin of 27% to 41% in the same poll.

Dealing with Trump will be difficult for any Republican candidate, for two specific reasons. First, many Republican voters have bought into the myth that Trump is not subject to political gravity: In the aftermath of the 2012 Obama reelection, widespread political sentiment held that Democrats would never lose another presidential election, and yet Trump somehow beat Hillary Clinton while saying anything and everything on his mind. Many Republicans still think of Trump as a winner, even after his losses in the 2018 midterm election, 2020 presidential election, 2021 Georgia Senate races and 2022 midterms. When they don’t, he drops in the polls, as in December 2022.

Second, Republicans rally to Trump whenever he is attacked by the Left. That’s right and proper when it comes to unjust prosecutions by rogue DAs. But many Republican voters have generalized to the extent that Trump is now considered off-limits to attack even by other Republicans, since the Left might use such attacks as a rationale to attack Trump, too. This is a nearly impossible needle to thread. How do you critique Trump without the base feeling that your attacks are helping the Left? Meanwhile, Trump has been granted the soft bigotry of low expectations by many voters: He can say literally anything about other candidates, and no one blinks an eye. It’s Marquess of Queensberry rules for Trump’s opponents, WWE folding-chair-to-the-back-of-the-head smackdowns for Trump himself.

So, what can DeSantis do? The answer: It’s not really up to DeSantis. It’s up to Republican voters. It will be DeSantis’ job to remind Republican voters that Trump has won precisely one election in the last seven years; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that reality. It will be DeSantis’ job to point out that Trump didn’t clean out the executive branch and gave Fauci power; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that such criticisms aren’t “unfair attacks.” It will be DeSantis’ job to remind voters of his record; it will be the job of Republican voters to look to record rather than tweetstorms for policy victory. Will Republican voters use their heads rather than their hearts? We’ll find out soon enough.

COLUMN | U.S. REP. RICHARD HUDSON

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

SIDELINE REPORT

PGA

Wallace uses late birdie run to capture 1st PGA Tour title

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Matt Wallace made four birdies down the stretch in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to earn his PGA Tour victory. He shot a 66 and won by one shot over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. The Dane had a chance to force a playoff on the last hole but missed a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory doesn’t get the Englishman into the Masters because it was held opposite the WGC-Match Play in Texas, but he is set for the PGA Championship.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Villanova All-American Siegrist declares for WNBA draft

Villanova, Pa.

Villanova star and AP AllAmerican Maddy Siegrist will not return for a fifth season and has declared for the WNBA draft. Siegrist led Villanova to a 30-7 overall record and the Sweet 16 for the second time ever this season. She led the country in scoring at 29.2 points per game and averaged 9.2 rebounds. The two-time Big East Player of the Year played four seasons and is the career leading scorer in Villanova basketball history for both men and women with 2,896 points. The WNBA draft is April 10.

HORSE RACING

Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts

Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field took another step forward with the launch of a new antidoping program. It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, while doling out uniform penalties to horses and trainers that will replace the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act known as HISA began the anti-doping program Monday. But there are ongoing legal issues that won’t allow the anti-doping program to immediately start in every state.

It’s his first win with 23XI Racing and fourth of his career

The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick had the lead and the fastest car on the track when calamity nearly struck.

Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart.

Enough slowdowns to make a driver lose his mind. Or at least his cool.

Reddick handled it nearly to perfection Sunday, earning his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.

“Didn’t quite get the restarts perfectly, but we got the one that

Lamar

The Baltimore quarterback has continued to negotiate with the team

The Associated Press

LAMAR JACKSON said Monday he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.

“As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value,” Jackson said on Twitter. “Any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl.”

Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team. The nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes. The decision to make the trade request public may be an attempt to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s

mattered,” Reddick said. “The last one.”

Reddick wins COTA crashfest in triple OT 3

Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series win, third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing.

This one might have been the most nerve-wracking.

Reddick had to hold the front through the elevated, switchback left hand turn that saw the field bunch up and smash each other time after time on the restarts. The race had eight cautions for 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps past the scheduled distance.

Hamlin said Reddick showed poise to match talent that could lead to a whole lot of victories. He got Reddick to agree to sign with

Road course victories for Tyler Reddick among his four career Cup Series wins

23XI with a full year remaining on his RCR contract, and then he was able to secure Reddick early for 2023 when Kurt Busch was forced to retire because of lingering concussion issues.

“I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it and it cost me a lot of money to do it,” Hamlin said. “You have to have that driver you feel can carry you to championships. ... I feel like we have that guy.” Kyle Busch, who pushed Red-

dick through the final three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.

Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports.

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted post-race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez over the aggressive nature of the race. Suarez also exchanged words with Bowman. NASCAR may take action against Suarez for using his car to bump both Bowman and Chastain on pit road.

William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske.

The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond.

says he has requested trade from Ravens

rushing. Jackson has been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he remains with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator. The Ravens hired Georgia’s Todd Monken for that position after the end of last season.

Harbaugh said he anticipates Jackson being Baltimore’s quarterback at the start of next season.

“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure,” Harbaugh said. “But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants out of Baltimore. If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks. Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke extensively about Jackson on Monday at the league’s owners meetings in Phoenix. “I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process,” Har-

baugh said. “I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.” Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. His passing and running ability make him one of the game’s biggest stars. At age 25, he already is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000

Harbaugh tried to stay upbeat about the prospects of Jackson’s return. If Jackson does come back and play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag, it could certainly be an awkward situation, and the coach will have his work cut out for him trying to soothe any hard feelings.

“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.

AP PHOTO Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted that he has asked the team to trade him.

Jackson

Cougars stay on rise in softball

Randolph Record

Southwestern Randolph’s softball team has been listed among highly ranked teams in the state, and the Cougars have the results to back that up.

Southwestern Randolph won 1-0 in 10 innings against visiting Oak Grove last week as Carleigh Whitson drove in Kami Dunn to end the game. Macie Crutchfield had a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts for the Cougars, who entered this week with an 8-0 overall record.

In the Piedmont Athletic Conference, Southwestern Randolph stopped host Wheatmore 12-0 with Alyssa Harris firing a five-inning no-hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks.

** At Randleman, Providence Grove claimed a 6-2 road victory against the Tigers as Peela Von Der Hey had three hits, and Emma Mazzarone struck out 17 with two walks.

Earlier in the week, Providence Grove won 4-0 vs. visiting Uwharrie Charter Academy as Mazzarone posted 15 strikeouts.

Also, Randleman collected a 16-0 PAC road romp past Trinity as Saniyah Deloatch knocked in three runs.

Baseball

Uwharrie Charter Academy delivered the first PAC loss on Trinity with Friday night’s 12-2 home victory, boosted by Jake Hunter’s three hits and two runs scored.

That result gave the Eagles three wins in a four-game stretch.

The Bulldogs (6-5, 5-1) had scored in double figures in their first four PAC games and then defeated visiting UCA 3-0 in last week’s first meeting. Trinity’s runs in that victory came on Jake Little’s two-run home run and Landon Mowery’s solo shot to support pitcher Cade Hill’s six-hitter.

Randleman’s Hunter Atkins takes a swing during a game earlier this season at Eastern Randolph.

Also, Ben Medinger homered twice as UCA won a non-conference road game against Caldwell Academy by 17-5.

Trinity suffered a 16-6 nonleague road loss to Asheboro in a game reduced to six innings when Josh Meadows homered to cause the mercy rule to be activated. Meadows drove in four runs and scored four runs. Connor Adams also drove in four runs for the Blue Comets, while Cohen Caviness homered.

Providence Grove won 4-3 against visiting Northwood in a non-conference game on JC Cruz’s game-winning pinch-hit single in the seventh inning.

Wheatmore swept two PAC games from Eastern Randolph, winning 5-2 at home and 9-4 on the road.

Track and field

At Troy, Randleman’s high jump-

Tyler Kimball

ers were among the top finishers from Randolph County entrants in Saturday’s Timberwolf Invitational at Montgomery Central.

Chase Farlow of Randleman won the boys’ competition with a leap of 6 feet. Randleman’s Ava Jones placed second in the girls’ high jump at 4-6. Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood was the runner-up in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10 minutes. 53.60 seconds. Hazelwood placed third in the 1,600 in 4:54.38.

Other area entrants did well in field events.

In the boys’ long jump, Randleman’s Tristan Chriscoe was second at 19-4. Randleman’s Amarion Moton claimed fourth in the boys’ shot put at 40-3. Rylee Reidling of Wheatmore was fourth in the girls’ shot put with a toss of 30 feet, and Alexis Vaughn of Randleman was sixth at 27-2.

Chloe Gentry of Wheatmore was fifth in the girls’ triple jump at 28-9.

Wheatmore, baseball

Kimball has been a boost at the plate for the Warriors in their quest for a turnaround season. Wheatmore won three of four games in a seven-day span.

That included two victories against Eastern Randolph in Piedmont Athletic Conference play and a non-league triumph at West Davidson.

Earlier this month, Kimball, a senior, had a hit in each game against Randleman. He homered in one of those two games.

The Warriors, who haven’t had a winning season since 2018, entered this week with a 5-5 overall record.

Homecoming goes sour for Eastern Randolph baseball coach

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

Tigers adopt new script, keep on winning in baseball

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The script looks a bit different, but Randleman’s baseball team has kept the winning formula.

The two-time reigning Class 2-A state champions are cranking out victories on a regular basis.

“We’ve had some tough games that we’ve battled through,” shortstop Hunter Atkins said. “We’ve just been competing. It’s just about competing when it comes down to it. Our team has the grit.”

And Randleman owns an 8-2 overall record. The Tigers have made it halfway through their 12game Piedmont Athletic Conference schedule with a perfect mark.

“You’re learning all the time,” coach Jake Smith said. “Guys are getting challenged; just facing adversity. Everything hasn’t gone all hunky-dory. We’ve had to compete and play seven innings.”

The latest success came with Friday night’s 12-5 victory at Southwestern Randolph.

While last year the Tigers frequently had shortened games because of blowouts that resulted in the mercy rule, they’re on the field longer these days.

“It’s something getting used to, playing full seven innings – not going five innings and getting out,”

catcher Caleb Dunn said. “Our hard work is going to put us over, and we will be able to finish out these games that are longer.”

The past couple of seasons were defined by a roster that included eventual Boston Red Sox draft pick Brooks Brannon at catcher and a roster stacked with college prospects. Now, it’s what Smith calls “back to normal.”

For the Tigers, the good thing is that it includes winning games.

“We’ve got the guys this year that need to get the job done,” Atkins said. “Just getting after it. That’s how we roll. We just get after it.”

Randleman’s Austin Lemons threw five innings Friday night. Smith said he liked Lemons’ outing even though the right-hander wasn’t always smooth. He was forced to work out of jams.

“Kind of grew up,” Smith said.

Lemons allowed three runs, but only one was earned. He walked four and struck out seven.

“He had a good night,” Dunn said. “He can do better, though. I know he can.”

Seth Way has been the team’s top starting pitcher. The Tigers are waiting for the return of Drake Purvis, who’s rehabbing from an elbow injury. Purvis said he could be on the mound within a couple of weeks.

Randleman’s results have been

nice validation through four weeks of the season.

“We really worked hard in this preseason, and I think that really helped us in that way, getting our confidence up,” Dunn said. “Playing great competition as many times as we can a week is really good for us, and I think that can really help us out throughout the season.”

The Tigers have remaining PAC series left against Uwharrie Charter Academy, Providence Grove and Trinity.

“Going through the conference undefeated right now is definitely a good feeling,” Atkins said. “Can’t ask for much more.”

Randleman’s five-run first inning came in handy against Southwestern Randolph. Chesney Welch had an RBI double, and Seth Way, Shawn Miller and Dunn all drove in runs.

The Cougars scored two runs in the second. Adam Cole’s triple drove in a run in the third, and then Southwestern Randolph loaded the bases with no outs. Lemons struck out the next three batters.

“That was the chance to get back in the game,” Southwestern Randolph coach Ethan Marsh said.

The Tigers were back at it in the fifth, scoring on John Kirkpatrick’s two-out single. Way provided an RBI single in the three-run sixth before Atkins’ two-run home run in the seventh. Atkins scored four runs. Earlier in the week, Randleman defeated the Cougars 6-0 at home as Way pitched six innings with 15 strikeouts. Atkins and Way homered in that game.

MT. HERMON — Brent Haynes took his Eastern Randolph baseball team to face his alma mater last week, but he was watching from a distance for the final few innings.

So, the outcome didn’t go as preferred for the Wildcats, who had late-game struggles in a 17-11 road loss to Southern Alamance.

A controversial play in the bottom of the fourth inning stirred emotions after what already was shaping up as a high-scoring game. Haynes, a first-year coach, was dismissed by the umpires as part of the fallout.

Then, Southern Alamance’s nine-run sixth inning turned out to be the big blow.

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Haynes said of the situation in general, calling out the two-man umpiring crew. “It’s tough to come back here and get run.”

Eastern Randolph appeared to escape the bottom of the fourth inning when Southern Alamance’s Nathan Teague was called out on an attempted steal of third base. The umpires conferred and changed the call, so the Wildcats had to go back onto the field following a prolonged argument.

Tensions grew when Southern Alamance’s Braxton Cain extended the inning with a two-run single to trim Eastern Randolph’s lead to 9-8.

“There’s no way a home plate umpire can overturn a stolen base,” Haynes said.

Before the top of the fifth, Eastern Randolph assistant coach Logan Beasley was eject-

ed. Per high school rules, that led to the disqualification of Haynes as well.

“I hate that it went down like that,” said Southern Alamance coach Jason Smith, who was Haynes’ high school coach.

The game already had various twists and turns.

Starting pitcher Lucas Smith of Eastern Randolph hit a tworun home run in the second inning.

The Wildcats trailed 6-2 before rallying with two outs in the third. Alex Kivett provided a tworun single on a full-count pitch before a pair of wild pitches allowed Eastern Randolph to tie the score.

Pierce Leonard’s three-run double with two outs in the fourth put the Wildcats on top 9-6.

Later, Leonard was hit by a pitch to force in a run in the sixth for a 10-8 lead before Southern Alamance’s big uprising.

Haynes, who was a member of Southern Alamance’s 2005 state championship team, had been an assistant coach with the Patriots. Last summer, he left to take the Eastern Randolph job.

“I’m glad to be in Randolph County with different umpires,” Haynes said.

At the time, Eastern Randolph had lost five games by three runs or less.

“We’re the best 1-8 team in the state,” Haynes said. “We should be sitting in a lot different situation than we are. … We’re right there. It hasn’t completely gotten there yet.”

Southern Alamance’s four pitchers issued a combined 13 walks. The Patriots improved to 5-4.

SCOTT PELKEY | RANDOLPH RECORD

Wheatmore’s Skylar Pittman tags Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Kenzie Hill at second base during Friday’s softball game. UCA won 11-1 in the home game. FILE

Tyler Kimball takes a swing for Wheatmore during a baseball game last season.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Ward secures victory in SMART Modified Tour

Randolph Record

SOPHIA — Brandon Ward of Winston-Salem bumped his way past Joey Coulter with eight laps remaining to take the victory in the Warrior 100, an event that was part of the SMART Modified Tour, on Saturday night at Caraway Speedway.

Bobby Measmer Jr. placed third, followed by Jonathan Brown and Zach Brewer. Former NASCAR Cup Series standout Bobby Labonte placed 11th. Measmer led qualifying with a lap at 16.171 seconds, but the topeight redraw put Tim Brown and Burt Myers on the front row.

In other open-wheel action, Jeremy Gerstner stepped into the seat of the second Lowder Racing 602 Modified and took the measure of the field in the 40-lapper. Gerstner slipped past Justice Calabro on lap 25 and held off Jaxson Casper. Calabro took third.

In Mini Stocks, A.J. Sanders showed up late for practice but returned to his winning ways after 40 laps. Tyler Bush led the first four laps before Chuck Wall took over the top spot for four laps.

In the Challenger feature, Allen Vance made short work of the field while claiming his second win in as many weeks in the 40lap race. Brodie Duggins notched his best Caraway Speedway finish in the runner-up slot.

In UCARs, Steven Collins fended off Ron Mock to take his second victory of 2023 with a wire-to-wire effort in the 15-lap race. In Bootleggers, Jon Morton made it two victories in a row.

This Saturday, all regular divisions at the speedway will have twin features, including two 35-lappers for Late Models.

Randolph Record HERE’S A LIST of the Piedmont Athletic Conference’s major award winners and all-conference selections for winter

sports:

Boys’ basketball

Player of the Year: Dominic

Payne (Trinity)

Coach of the Year: Matt Kiser (Southwestern Randolph)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Eastern Randolph: Davonte Brooks, Timothy Brower, Pierce Leonard, Nicah Taylor

S outhwestern Randolph: Sean Adkins, Nathan Ellis, Thomas

Leal, Landon Williamson.

Trinity: Brandon Campbell, Dylan Hodges, Dominic Payne.

Randleman: Tyshaun Goldston, Greg Price.

Uwharrie Charter Academy: Ashton Troutman. Providence Grove: Chase Whitaker.

Girls’ basketball

Player of the Year: Brecken

Snotherly (Eastern Randolph) Coach of the Year: Brandon Varner (Randleman)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Randleman: Gracie Beane, Gracyn Hall, Audra Petty, Elizabeth York.

Eastern Randolph: Brecken Snotherly, Kenly Whitaker.

Southwestern Randolph: Jordin

George, Caressa King. Wheatmore: Brianna Hill, Kynndi Routh.

Uwharrie Charter Academy: Ashara Spruill, Savannah Surratt

Trinity: Autumn Gentry, Kennedy Jackson.

Providence Grove: Allie Frazier.

Boys’ swimming

Swimmer of the Year: Chris Hall (Trinity) Co-Coaches of the Year: Michelle Hinson (Wheatmore), Tammie Swaim (Trinity)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Wheatmore: Thomas Crews, Aiden Dean, Jace Leonard, Jude

Leonard, Alexis Vega-Torres.

Providence Grove: Hayden

Parker, Ashton Taylor, Austin

Williams.

Trinity: Chris Hall.

Girls’ swimming

Swimmer of the Year: Samantha Marin (Randleman)

Co-Coaches of the Year: Michelle Hinson (Wheatmore), Tammie Swaim (Trinity)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Wheatmore: Emily Cribbs, Sydney Hall, Paisley Hollifield, Victoria Joyce, Ava Williamson.

Randleman: Emma Herring, Kendall Fortson, Samantha

Marin, Mackenzie Roach.

Trinity: Callie Jones.

Wrestling

Lower Weight Wrestler of the

Year: Aldo Hernandez (UCA)

Upper Weight Wrestler of the

Year: Grayson Roberts (UCA)

Coach of the Year: Chris Waddell (UCA)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Uwharrie Charter Academy: Lorenzo Alston, Corbin Grissom, Aldo Hernandez, Ethan Hines, Jadon Maness, Jack McArthur, Grayson Roberts, Carson Robinson, Jair Ulloa, Brennan Worrell.

Trinity: Lawson Coltrane, Levi Dennis, Brayden Hall, Gavin Hardister, Spencer May, Gavin McCall, Bear Schaefer, Joey Smith, Edgard Mora Vasquez.

Southwestern Randolph: Jose Flores, Erick Lopez, Luke White.

Wheatmore: Dominic Hittiepole, Trey Swaney. Providence Grove: Ross

Allred, Colton Wood. Eastern Randolph: Bryce Foland, Adrian Lopez. Randleman: Caden Thorne, Braxton Walker

North Carolina auditor pleads guilty to hit-and-run

The Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina’s elected auditor pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a December crash in which she drove her stateowned vehicle into a parked car.

Four-term Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood told a judge she made a “grave mistake” and should have remained at the accident to let the process play out.

“I am a public servant elected by the people of North Carolina. I am human. I am not perfect,” she said in a Wake County courtroom.

“I apologize to the people of North Carolina who have trusted me.”

District Court Judge Louis Meyer sentenced Wood, 68, to about $300 in fines and court costs, noting that Wood already

had personally paid well over $11,000 to cover damages and other costs with both cars.

Still, Meyer told Wood, “This was a glaring incident of poor judgment.”

Wood, who was first elected auditor in 2008, had previously said publicly that she erred by leaving the scene of the Dec. 8 accident in downtown Raleigh as she left a holiday party. No one was hurt in the accident in which Wood was driving her state-assigned vehicle, a 2021 Toyota Camry. Photos and 911 calls reported on by media outlets showed that part of her car was on top of the parked vehicle.

In court, Wood said that she had been drinking alcohol at the party.

“I was not impaired, but given

the positioning of the two cars and the fact that I had had two glasses of wine at this event, I made an error in judgment in the moment,” she said. “And if I made the right decision, we would not be here today.”

Wood’s appearance came days after two men also were charged with assisting her in avoiding police or fleeing the scene.

Wood left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. Attorney Roger Smith Jr. said he believed that Wood was treated like any other defendant given the circumstances and the lack of a criminal record.

The state auditor, one of 10 members of the North Carolina Council of State, performs financial reviews of state agencies, as well as performance audits and

other studies sought by the General Assembly. Wood’s position is up for reelection in 2024.

While Wood hasn’t said specifically whether she will seek reelection next year, she has talked after the accident about her commitment to continuing her duties.

The state Republican Party has called for Wood’s resignation. Top elected Democrats have said they wanted to see the case played out.

Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said videos from area businesses helped police identify Wood as the driver. She was charged several days after the accident with the property-only hitand-run count as well as another traffic-related charge that was dismissed Thursday. Freeman told Meyer that her office and the owner of the private vehicle were satisfied with Wood’s plea and damage payments.

Last Friday, Raleigh police cited Jonah Richard Mendys and Ryan Scott McGurt both of Chapel Hill, with misdemeanors related to the accident’s aftermath, according to court documents and an official. Their court dates are April 20.

A citation accuses Mendys of failing to report Wood’s crash and helping her flee the scene and into a nearby building out of the site of police. And police allege McGurt drove Wood away in his pickup truck. Both men face obstruction of justice charges. Mendys is also accused of a passenger’s failure to give information following an accident, while McGurt is accused of being an accessory after the fact, court records show. Freeman said in an interview Wednesday the additional citations came about from Raleigh police “following up on leads that came to light as they continue to investigate the accident.”

An attorney for Mendys didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Voting records identify a Ryan Scott McGuirt as living at the same street and address number listed for McGurt in the court records. Attempts to reach McGuirt by text and email weren’t immediately successful.

In court, Wood said she regretted that the men also had been charged.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Left, Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly goes up for a shot vs. Wheatmore during this past season. Snotherly was named the Player of the Year in Piedmont Athletic Conference girls’ basketball. Right, Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Grayson Roberts pins South Davidson’s Jesse Pope during the Class 1-A East Regionals. Roberts was voted as the top upper-weight wrestler in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

Johnny Wayne Campbell

December 8, 1948 — March 24, 2023

Johnny Wayne Campbell, age 74, of Asheboro passed away peacefully on March 23, 2023, at Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro.

Johnny was born on December 8,1948 in Danville County, Pennsylvania to Grover Lee Campbell and Hala Mabry Campbell, who has preceded him in death.

Mr. Campbell retired from Ramtex as a fixer and cared deeply about his family. He was a great provider, husband, grandfather, and great grandfather. Johnny enjoyed spending time at home with his family around him.

Johnny is survived by his wife of 33 years: Cynthia Campbell of the home, children: Tina Kinney (Kevin) of Seagrove, Jeff Nixon (Tammy) of Franklinville, and Chris Nixon (Ginger) of Franklinville; Grandkids: Travis and Lindsey Kinney of Wilson, Aaron Nixon (Emily) of Sophia, Lindsay Nixon of Franklinville, Kassie Kinney (Dakota) of Seagrove and Cole Nixon of Franklinville; great grandkids: Jersey, Kailyn, Rhyson, Willow, and Reemie.

Charlie Ray Joyce

November 27, 1927 — March 23, 2023

Charlie Ray Joyce, age 95, of Seagrove passed away on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at his home.

Mr. Joyce was born in Stokes County, NC on November 27, 1927 to Silas and Annie Pruitt Joyce. He served his country in the U.S. Air Force and was a member of the Military Police. Charlie Ray was employed with the Asheboro Police Department for 5 years and served as Chief Deputy with the Randolph County Sheriff's Department. Upon leaving the Sheriff's Department in 1967, Charlie Ray was an officer with Randolph County Schools until 1974. Charlie Ray was a lifelong farmer and was a member of Seagrove Christian Church. He loved spending time with his grandchildren and politics. In addition to his parents, Charlie Ray was preceded in death by his wife, Vern Ann Stuart Joyce, daughter, Vicki Pearce, grandsonin-law, Chad Brady; and siblings, George Joyce, Alma Cockman, Mae Gibson, Reid Joyce, John Joyce, Calvin Joyce, Codell Joyce, and Pearl Patterson.

He is survived by his son, Charles Joyce (Vickie) of Seagrove; son-in-law, Mike Pearce of Asheboro; grandchildren, Tammy Brady of Asheboro, Travis Joyce of Seagrove, and Hannah Joyce of Seagrove; great grandson, Clay Brady (Samantha) of Asheboro; and sisters, Sarah Oliver, Patsy "Pat" Brown, and Jearl Purvis.

The family would like to express a special thank you to the staff of the Fresenius Kidney Care Center for the loving care given to Charlie Ray for the past five years.

Karen Lee Kaupie Swallow

March 24, 1943 — March 18, 2023

Karen Lee Swallow was born to Helen Marie Kaupie and John Stanley Kaupie on March 24th, 1943 at St. Mary's Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin. She lived in Racine through her sophomore year of high school and then moved to Lombard, Illinois and started her junior year. She attended college at Northern Illinois University and graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. She taught for five years in the state of Illinois. She married her husband of 53 years in 1966. She was a teacher assistant for fourteen years before becoming a teacher for eleven years in the Asheboro, North Carolina city school system. She is survived by her sister, Debra Oakley, and brothers Gary and Greg Kaupie. One brother, Ron Kaupie is deceased. Surviving also are two daughters, Aleta Marie Dozier and Jacinda Ann Swallow. One son, Tyson Thomas Swallow, is deceased. Her husband, Roger Thomas Swallow died in 2020. She enjoyed her ten grandchildren. She was a loving Sister, Mother and Grandmother and went above and beyond loving her family and friends. She will be greatly missed.

Lucille (Lou) Thompson Russell

September 17, 1935 — March 23, 2023

Lucille (Lou) Thompson Russell, 87, of Asheboro, NC passed away on March 23, 2023.

Lou was born in Asheboro, NC to Aggie Louise Tysinger Thompson and Reverend Henry Harrison Thompson on September 17, 1935. She attended Asheboro High School. After sending her three daughters to college, Lou decided to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse.

After nineteen years of service at Randolph Hospital, she retired to spend more time enjoying her other life’s joys of grandchildren, golf (a hole-in-one At Pine Knolls Golf Club on October 23, 2001), jogging, playing bridge with friends, past president of the Reviewer’s Book Club (20082009), and entertaining family and friends in her home for holidays and birthdays. Lou had a beautiful alto voice and sang gospel music with her sisters Hellen Thompson Barrett and Faye Thompson Whiting and her brother, Dempsey Thompson, and nephew, Mike Thompson.

Lou is survived by her three daughters, Donna Barnes (Keith) of Wilmington, NC, Karen Parker (R.V.) of Greenville, NC and Teen Dunn of Asheboro, NC; her grandchildren, Abigail Elmore (Joseph) of Greensboro, NC, Kaitlyn Bradford (Cory) of Garner, NC, Jon Dunn of Asheboro, NC, Kelsey Dunn (fiancé Hunter Anthony) of Winston-Salem, NC; great grandchildren Parker Elmore, Josie Elmore, and Faye Elmore of Greensboro, NC, Charlotte Bradford of Garner, NC; sisters Ruby Hill of Asheboro, NC, Gladys Smith of Sophia, NC, Faye Thompson Whiting (Jeff) of Greensboro, NC and Hellen Barrett (Frank) of Asheboro, NC, and many nieces and nephews who were an important part of her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Margie Thompson, brothers Dempsey Thompson and David Thompson, and son-in-law Chris Dunn.

Larry Elwood Wood

January 21, 1947 — March 19, 2023

Larry Elwood Wood, 76, died on March 19, 2023. Larry was born on January 21, 1947 in Randolph County to Wayfield and Opal Siler Wood.

Larry was a native of Randleman where he operated and retired from his own business digging septic tanks, and grading. When he was younger, he liked riding dirt bikes. He loved riding the roads and looking for tractors. He enjoyed going down to Seagrove for the fiddlers convention. He was always at the ball field and enjoyed fishing. He loved his dogs and had over 100 at one time. Larry is preceded in death by his parents, wife of 40 years, Barbara Wood, sons, David and James Wood, and grandsons, Christopher Knox, and Kevin Bulla.

He was survived by his children, Ruth Bulla, Ricky Bulla (Melinda), Timmy Wood, and Gisela Cribb (Kevin); grandchildren, Christina, TW, Jessica, and John Wood, Brandon Varner, April Bulla, Calvin “Monkey”, and Susanne “Sissy” Cribb and special friend Bertha Allred; and brother, Alford Wood.

Patricia "Patti" Stiles

Benedict

October 11, 1958 — March 17, 2023

Patricia L. Stiles Benedict (Patti) went to be our Lord on March 17, 2023. She was predeceased by her parents, David and Marjorie (Carey) Stiles, and her brothers, Paul, Thomas, and Daniel Stiles.

Patti is survived by her husband, Thomas (Tom) Benedict of Asheboro; her daughter, Jill Benedict and grandson, Austin Benedict both of Asheboro; her brothers, Robert and Rose Stiles of Homer, NY, Mark and Linda Stiles of Greeneville, TN, and Michael and Mary Kay Stiles of Marathon, NY; Also surviving are many nieces, nephews, and cousins, and her dear and best friend, Joanne Dean of Preston, NY.

Patti is a 1976 graduate of Oxford Academy and a 1977 graduate of CCBI in Syracuse, NY.

Gary Vincent Shaver

December 20, 1952 — March 21, 2023

Gary Vincent Shaver of Randleman, NC, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 after tenaciously battling COPD for nearly 10 years.

Gary was born in Greenville, SC on December 20th, 1952, to Shirley and Gerald Shaver. After traveling with his mother and father in his early years, he began his lifelong passion as an automobile mechanic after graduating from Alamance Community College in Graham, NC. He worked for many years as an auto mechanic with J.C. Penney in Greensboro, NC, then helped his mother and father start and operate a textile machine and machine parts business in Greensboro. After becoming established as a quality source for textile parts, Gary became sole owner of Shaver Supplies and Services in Randleman, NC. He ran the business successfully until 2019.

Gary loved people and wanted them to know that he appreciated them. One of his favorite joys was baking homemade pound cakes and giving them to people who he felt went out of their way for others, whether it be his doctors and nurses to cashiers and other workers at supermarkets. He enjoyed his soap operas, long talks with his brother and being a mentor and great friend to his next door neighbors.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his brother, Steve, and his wife Karen of Tennessee, his sister Suzanne of Florida, and his nephew, Daniel who is currently in medical school in New York City. His dearest friends were his Randleman next door neighbors, Randy and Kelly Smith, and the wonderful caregivers at Hospice of Randolph, in Asheboro, NC… all of whom made him feel loved and appreciated.

Dorothy Loggins

October 14, 1933 — March 18, 2023

Dorothy Ann Rosson Loggins, 89, of Asheboro passed away at her home on March 18, 2023.

Dorothy was born on October 14, 1933 to Cecil and Jeanette Rosson. She earned her degree from Woman’s College (UNCG) in business. She was a hardworking and was dedicated to her position at NC Zoological Park as the Directors Administrative Assistant and retired after 28 years.

Dorothy sat on the Board of Directors of Mainstream for Disadvantaged Adults for over 20 years. Also, she sat on the Board for Exceptional Children at Guy B. Teachey School. She was a kind and caring woman who loved to travel and spend time with her family and friends.

Dorothy was a member of First United Methodist Church since 1956 and co-founder of the Young Married Couples group. She was a great person, who loved people and her family. They were so fortunate to have such a loving, funny and compassionate role model.

In addition to her parents, Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Loggins; daughter, Alecia Ann Lilly, PhD; sisters, Susan Rosson, Barbara Gunther.

She is survived by her daughter, Marcella Lilly-Harris and husband Scott Harris; grandchildren, Cameron Brown (Brittany), Nicolas McNeill (Chloe), Katy Marse; stepgrandchildren, Kristie Toriello (Chris), Lindsay Harris; great grandson, David Cameron Brown; nieces, Laura Scalari (Brad), Lynn Sherrill, Chrys McDowell Farley (Mack); great niece, Stephanie Pegram and close family friend, Linda Elliott.

James "Clyde" Williams

March 7, 1940 — March 22, 2023

James "Clyde" Williams, age 83, passed away on March 22, 2023 at Autumn Care.

Mr. Williams was born on March 7, 1940, in Moore County to Claude and Lessie McKenzie Williams. He was a retired truck driver and he enjoyed fishing, gardening and was a big NASCAR fan.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Carol Hussey Williams; sisters, Johnsie Johnson and Mildred Baxter and brother, Earl Williams.

He is survived by his brothers, Billy Williams (Maybelle) of Robbins; Wayne Williams of Eagle Springs and Glen Williams (Janice) of Star; sisters, Pearl Shepard (Ronald) of Star; Doris Brewer (Wilmer) of Robbins and Helen Greene of Eagle Springs and sister-in-law Judy Saunders of Biscoe.

Roger Dean Ring

September 16, 1958 — March 24, 2023

Roger Dean Ring, 64, of Siler City passed away Friday, March 24, 2023 at his home.

Mr. Ring was born in Bloomington Illinois on September 16, 1958, son of Richard and Marilyn Weaver Ring. Roger was an avid golfer and also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and gardening. If Roger was spending time outdoors, he was happy. Roger was preceded in death by his father.

Mr. Ring is survived by his wife of 42 years, Donna Spring Ring of the home; mother, Marilyn Weaver Ring; daughter, Michelle Ring of Florida; son, Tony Ring of Florida; grandchildren, Logan Mead, Lucas Mead, Mia Romanowicz, Rylan Ring and Mason Ring; sister, Rebecca Ring of Florida; and brothers Rodney and Randall Ring, both of Florida.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mt. Vernon Springs Presbyterian Church, PO Box 971 Siler City, NC 27344 or to Liberty HomeCare and Hospice 1005 Carthage Street Sanford, NC 27330.

Biden approval dips near lowest point: AP-NORC poll

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Approval of President Joe Biden has dipped since a month ago, nearing the lowest point of his presidency as his administration tries to project a sense of stability while confronting a pair of bank failures and inflation that remains stubbornly high.

That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which shows there have been modest fluctuations in support for Biden over the past several months. The president notched an approval rating of 38% in the new poll, after 45% said they approved in February and 41% in January. His ratings hit their lowest point of his presidency last July, at 36%, as the full weight of rising gasoline, food and other costs began to hit U.S. households.

In recent months, approval of Biden had been hovering above 40%.

Interviews with poll respondents suggest the public has mixed feelings about Biden, who is expected to announce a reelection bid by this summer. When it comes to the president, people generally do not swing between the extremes of absolute loyalty and aggressive loathing that have been a feature of this era’s divided politics.

“Neutral towards approve,” An-

drew Dwyer, 30, said of Biden. “I don’t think he’s the best at representing my position and issues. But I know being president involves compromises.”

Dwyer, a data analyst in Milwaukee, said he voted for the president in 2020 and considers himself to be liberal. He acknowledged the recent failures of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature

Bank, but he said that the economy is adjusting to higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation.

“We all got so used to cheap debt and the ability to throw money around,” Dwyer said. He said there were “pain points” caused by higher borrowing costs but that he thinks the process will “ultimately” lead to a healthier econ-

omy. Just 31% approve of Biden’s stewardship of the national economy, about where it’s been over the course of the last year. His handling of the nation’s economic fortunes has been a weak point at least since late 2021, when the inflation that the administration had suggested was transitory became a bigger pain point for businesses and families.

Michael McComas, 51, voted Republican in 2020 and described Biden as “not great — average, I guess.” A resident of Westland, Michigan, he noted that it will take years to determine whether federal infrastructure spending fulfills the promises made by Biden.

McComas said he believes inflation is the direct result of government spending to counter the pandemic, a claim that Biden has personally rejected when asked by reporters.

“We poured so much money into the system — that’s a little frustrating that we were shocked that we got hit by inflation when a lot of our policies were inflationary,” McComas said.

The difference between Biden’s approval overall and his approval on the economy is driven largely by Democrats, 76% of whom say they approve of how he’s handling his job as president while 63% approve of his handling of the economy. Few Republicans approve of Biden on either count.

Democrats under the age of 45 feel less positive about Biden, causing a drag on his approval ratings. Just 54% approve of the president’s economic leadership, compared to 72% of Democrats older than 45. Similarly, just 66% of Democrats under 45 approve of Biden overall, compared to 85% of older Democrats.

Only about a quarter of Americans say the national economy is good or that the country is headed in the right direction, the poll shows. Those numbers have also fluctuated only slightly over the last few months.

Ratings of Biden’s handling of foreign policy (39%) and climate change (41%) are about on par with his overall approval ratings. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 9% of Republicans approve of Biden on foreign policy, while 67% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans approve of his handling of climate change.

Theresa Ojuro, a 29-yearold doctoral student in Rochester, New York, said she “expected more” from Biden — “just a little bit more stability with the economy.” Ojuro, who voted for Biden in 2020, also noted that the bank failures are dragging down her sentiment, but she worries about how high taxes are in New York state relative to the benefits provided.

“If Biden is doing his job, why in a state like this can you see people really suffering?” Ojuro said.

DeSantis team welcomes contrast with Trump ‘chaos’ candidacy

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim McKee is standing at the end of a line that snakes through five aisles of fiction inside the Books-A-Million store in Florida’s capital city.

He is smiling because in a matter of minutes, the book he’s holding will be signed by its author, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor who McKee believes should be the nation’s next president. But as a former Donald Trump loyalist, the 44-year-old Tallahassee attorney almost whispers when he first says it out loud.

“Personally, I’d rather see DeSantis win the Republican primary than Trump,” McKee says softly, having to repeat himself to be heard. His voice soon grows louder. “Trump has upset so many people,” McKee says. “DeSantis is more palatable. He has a good story to tell.”

Indeed, conversations throughout Tallahassee’s book stores, conference rooms, state house offices and sports bars reveal that DeSantis’ allies are gaining confidence as Trump’s legal woes mount. The former president faces a possible indictment in New York over his role in a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter, which he denies.

The optimism around DeSantis comes even as an unlikely collection of establishment-minded Republican officials and Make America Great Again influencers raise concerns about the Florida governor’s readiness for the nation-

al stage. DeSantis has stumbled at times under the weight of intensifying national scrutiny as he builds out his political organization and introduces himself to voters in key primary states.

DeSantis’ allies privately scoffed at recent reports of anonymous concerns over the direction of his campaign, noting there is no campaign. The 44-year-old governor isn’t expected to launch his White House bid for at least two more months. And the first presidential primary contest is roughly 10 months away.

For now, DeSantis’ team, headquartered here on the front edge of Florida’s Panhandle, believes he holds a position of strength among Republican voters. And as Trump fights to undermine DeSantis, his strongest Republican rival, the Florida governor’s growing coalition is eager to highlight the contrast between the two men.

On one side stands Trump, a twice-impeached former president carrying a new level of turmoil into the 2024 presidential contest. On the other is DeSantis, a big-state governor coming off a command-

ing reelection, who is a far more disciplined messenger and hyperfocused on enacting conservative policies.

“Of all the things that Donald Trump has done and accomplished in his life, it’s just constant chaos.

And I think the American people are just tired of it,” said Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a former Trump supporter who thinks DeSantis would be “a very formidable presidential candidate.”

The politics are murky at best.

Should Trump be charged, DeSantis supporters concede that

Trump would likely benefit politically — in the short term, at least — as the GOP base rushes to defend their former leader from what they see as a weaponized justice system. But in the long term, DeSantis’ team believes primary voters will view Trump’s legal challenges as an acute reminder of his extraordinary baggage that could lead to another Republican disappointment in 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump is using his mounting legal challenges as a cudgel to force Republican rivals to line up the GOP behind him. It’s the same playbook he employed successfully last summer after the FBI raided his Florida estate to seize classified documents and during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

DeSantis condemned the New York prosecutor’s potential indictment over the last week under intense pressure from MAGA influencers and after other White House prospects had offered their own criticism.

“I hope it doesn’t come to where you end up seeing this going forward,” DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. “People see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it’s fundamentally wrong to do that.”

“DeSantis will not shrink from the fight. That’s not how he’s operated in Florida politics to this point,” said Matt Caldwell, a former state representative who shared the statewide ballot with DeSantis in 2018 as a candidate for state agriculture commissioner. “One could argue that he’s got the upper hand, so he’s only engaging when he has to.”

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, March 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets supporters at a book signing event, Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Tallahassee, Fla.

COUNTY NEWS

Hudson announces 2023 Congressional Art Competition

U.S. Representative

Richard Hudson (RNC) announced on Monday that his Southern Pines and Fayetteville office will be accepting submissions from North Carolina’s 9th District for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. “The Congressional Art Competition is a great way to showcase the talent of our District’s high school students, and I look forward to seeing this year’s submissions,” said Hudson. The 2023 Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students from North Carolina’s 9th District. The overall winner of the district’s competition will have their artwork displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol.

In addition, the second and third-place winners will have their artwork displayed in Hudson’s offices. Art entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches when framed and may be up to 4 inches in depth.

Types of artwork accepted include paintings (oil, acrylics, and watercolor), drawings (pastels, pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers), prints (lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints), mixed media, collages, computergenerated art, and photography. Artwork must be submitted to the Southern Pines or Fayetteville District Offices by 5 pm on Friday, April 28, with a completed 2023 Student Release Form, which can be found online at https://hudson. house.gov/services/artcompetition.

HOKE COUNTY

Rockfish Speedway hot with races

Top: Steven Dunn from Fuquay-Varina N.C. captured the win in the Mod-Lite division at Rockfish Speedway last weekend on a last-lap pass for the win. Rockfish Speedway is located off Lindsay Road in Hoke County, and this was their second race of the season at the 1/5th mile clay oval dirt track. Bottom, Wesley “Blaze” Sweatman, age 12, from Bonneau S.C., finished in 8th place out of 20 cars in the 600’s Unrestricted Modified Division. Wesley started out racing Go Karts and Micro’s in 2019, and this was his very first race in the 600 Modified A division.

New high school plan adjusted to fit within budgetary constraints

By Ryan Henkel North

State Journal

RAEFORD – The Hoke County Board of Education met Tuesday, March 14, with changes to the new high school plans, the key item on the agenda.

The board kicked off the meeting by recognizing the 100% inspection rating earned by East Hoke Middle School.

“East Hoke Middle School is the school that received the 100% rating from our Environmental Health Inspector from our county office,” said Executive Director of Child Nutrition Deborah Carpenter. “They inspect quarterly, and

they really are very tough. The Cafeteria Manager, Fonnie Collins, came on new, and she had an entire new team, except one person, and that person was not at East Hoke last year. So we are excited that she came in and worked so hard because this is something that she told me from the very beginning. She said, ‘I’m going to make you proud, and we’re going to get our 100.”

The board then approved an amendment to the new high school project budget to reflect the updated plans.

In order to fit within the budgetary parameters, the plan by SfL+a Architects was amended,

removing some of the project’s overall square feet and capacity.

“Due to inflation and other factors, you can see the original program budget was only for 144,000 square feet, and the project was at 153,000 square feet, so to try and bring that back in line, we amended the plan which also helps realign with the capacity projections,” said SfL+a Architect and Project Manager Michael Holborn. “We’ve heard loud and clear that we have a budget and to not go over it, and this is trying to kind of realign things.”

Initially, the project had a total square footage of 153,332 and supported a total capacity of

2,924 students, but the reduction brings the total square footage down to 141,337 and the student capacity to 2,440, which is in line with the district’s projections for 2029-30.

“If you upped your utilization to 85%, say you did the 20-30 predicted student count, this campus could still house 2,765 at just an 85% utilization rate,” Holburn said. “So we feel that the capacity of this project could still handle lots of students 10-15 years out based on the predictions that we have from the school board.”

In total, 16 classrooms were removed from the final plan, but none of the core spaces were affected.

“In order to bring us back within our budget, that’s what they had to do,” said Board Chair Angela Southerland. “They had to make those changes. We’re not

See BOE, page 2

North Carolina treasurer running for governor in 2024

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina

State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced on Saturday he will run for governor in 2024, a bid that will likely require him besting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to earn the Republican nomination.

While Republicans have controlled North Carolina’s legislature since 2011 and won a majority on the state Supreme Court last November, they have struggled to enter the Executive Mansion. The GOP has won just one gubernatorial general election since 1992, and 2012 winner Pat McCrory served for just four years.

Folwell, a former legislator, school board member and state unemployment office chief who was first elected treasurer in 2016, said he would bring competence to operating government in a fiscally sound manner and look out for working people if elected.

“The root word of ‘governor’ is to govern, and what that means is to be the CEO of the biggest business in the state,” Folwell told The Associated Press in an interview. “And based on my track record of saving lives, minds and money, I’m uniquely qualified to do that.”

The state constitution prevents Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper from seeking a third consecutive term.

Folwell had said in September that he was strongly considering a run for governor after encourage-

ment from several Republicans. He revealed his plans first at Saturday’s Republican Party convention for Forsyth County, where he lives.

The disclosure came two days after Robinson said he’d hold an April 22 rally at an Alamance County race track, where he’d make a “special announcement” about 2024.

Robinson’s campaign adviser declined to reveal his specific plans, but Robinson has said previously that he was fairly certain that he’d run for governor.

Robinson, who was elected the state’s first black lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first run for office,

released an autobiography last year and is a popular speaker at conservative churches and events.

Attorney General Josh Stein announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in January, taking direct aim at Robinson for speeches in which critics say he disparaged LGBTQ+ people, women and abortion rights.

Folwell criticized Robinson’s governing style months ago.

With his announcement, Folwell pointed out that the public didn’t even know who Robinson was a few years ago. Since then, Folwell told AP, Robinson has “spent all this

time attacking people instead of attacking the important problems that our citizens are facing.”

Folwell, meanwhile, said he’s attractive to voters because they feel like as an elected official “I’m doing the right thing on their behalf.”

“They’re going to respond to somebody who speaks to them like adults,” he added.

Folwell said his timing to get in

See FOLWELL, page 2

PHOTO VIA AP

N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell announces his run for governor during the Forsyth County Republican Party’s 2023 Precinct Meeting on Saturday, March. 25, 2023, in Clemmons.

PHOTOS COURTESY CHRISTINE MCCARRELL OF TRACKSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY

our budget revision which is a differ ence of 423 students less than what was projected in our initial budget allotment.”

The difference accounts for about $804,520.52 in funding that will return to the state’s budget. Ac cording to Chavis, some of the dif ferences in actual enrollment num bers can be attributed to an uptick

in enrollment in charter schools.

Finally, the board approved a new partnership and contract with Global Teaching Partners for the acquisition of international teachers.

“This is a new organization that will be an international partnership that will sponsor our J-1 Visa teachers and international faculty, which was previously referred to as our visiting international faculty or VIF,” said Assistant Superintendent

According to O’Connor, Hoke County Schools currently has established partnerships with Participate (8 teachers in the district) and Education Partners Internationals (22 teachers), which are officially recognized cultural exchange programs by the US Department of

State and provide J-1 Visas, meaning these teachers go through federal screening. These visas cover three years and can be extended for an additional two.

North Carolina and South Carolina.

the race had nothing to do with Robinson’s upcoming announcement — he wanted to reveal his plans first to his fellow local Republicans.

Robinson or his campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email Saturday seeking comment about Folwell’s entry.

Folwell, 64, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2012 before winning his current statewide job four years later.

Some of the other services these partners cover are teaching experience reviews, educational program audits, instructional and behavioral interviews and observations, english language proficiency assessments, cultural adaptiveness assessments, state licensure reviews, international background checks, and specifically Global Teaching Partners helps provide specific NC teacher training.

Global Teaching Partners, however, is located in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, and they do all of their business only in

While treasurer, he’s focused upon efforts to curb health care costs for state employees and retirees and for the poor as a way to improve their well-being. As McCrory’s unemployment office chief he helped carry out system reforms and implement new technologies.

The state treasurer manages the state’s investments and its massive government employee pension funds. His office also oversees the health insurance program for state workers and teachers and their dependents.

The State Health Plan has been

able to go back to the county commissioners and get money, so this is what we have to do. We’re not going to give up any more than what’s on this paper. $78,406,025. We’re not going to pay any more, so they had to cut something out to get us back under the budget.”

Along with the project, the board approved the selection of MBP for construction management services. A finalized contract will come before the board at a later date once negotiated.

“At the request of the superintendent, we were contacted to take a look at the project you had and the scope of work that you had and to provide back a service to keep the project on budget and make sure that all of the items are addressed properly,” said MBP Project Manager Mike Burriss. “Things have changed quite a bit as far as inflation. Building costs have gone up. It’s also a good idea to go ahead and look at the total project budget. Everything else you’re going to need to buy and everything needs to be under that cap that we had.

“We walked through each one of the line items that we had, made sure that we addressed capacity and how we could address it in an easy way so that if there’s a

“We’re not just filling vacancies with these individuals,” O’Connor said. “The people that we have gotten, their attrition rate, which means they come back every year and don’t quit their job, is so much lower than all of our other teachers. They typically stay their five years, and a lot of them are very effective teachers. These are quality individuals who want to be here to teach our kids, and with the J-1 Visa, they’re here for five years.”

sued over its decision — defended by Folwell — to decline covering gender-affirming treatments for transgender employees and their children.

While delivering the Republican response to Cooper’s State of the State address earlier this month, Robinson focused on his life story while promoting fiscal responsibility and respect for law enforcement and public school teachers. Folwell also talks about growing up in poverty. Folwell said his young adulthood included working as a trash collector and in motorcycle shops before going to college and becoming a CPA. He then worked for an investment firm.

Hoke County Schools currently has 30 international employees from eight different countries across nine different schools. The Hoke County Board of Education will next meet February 14.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., also has expressed interest in a gubernatorial bid. Candidate filing for the March 2024 primary is held in December, but anyone else seeking to challenge Robinson will feel pressure to enter this spring. At the end of 2022, Folwell reported $47,000 in cash in his campaign account, compared to $2.2 million held by Robinson’s campaign, according to state filings.

future change or future need, that it gives flexibility to the board to make that modification, whether that’s investing in this building and adding more additions or at least expanding through capacity utilization.”

To go forward with MBP through the remainder of the project, the proposal would have to go through the pre-construction and construction phases, and the total cost is projected to be $296,250.

The board then approved the staff recommendation of Toshiba Business Solutions to provide printing services for the district at a cost of $237,596.

The board was also given an update on the School Safety Grant they received earlier in the school year.

“We wrote the grant last Fall from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for the Center for Safer Schools,” said Executive Director of Student Support Services Dr. Peggy Owens. “We were actually awarded a total of $278,885. With that breakdown, it was $44,000 for a resource officer, $159,885 for school safety equipment, and $75,000 for Students in Crisis.”

The Hoke County Schools Board of Education will next meet April 11.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Protecting your rights and privacy

WHAT WOULD the Founding Fathers think if they were here today?

Our system of checks and balances was not set up to have unelected bureaucrats making laws and rules that impact the everyday lives of you and your family.

In my opinion, it wouldn’t be self-driving cars or the internet that would surprise them the most. I think it would be the size of our government. The entire executive branch used to fit inside of the White House. Yet today, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards and commissions fill hundreds of buildings with millions of bureaucrats constantly seeking to expand their power. Our government is meant to be responsive to the people. Our system of checks and balances was not set up to have unelected bureaucrats making laws and rules that impact the everyday lives of you and your family.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden presented his budget to Congress. This reckless budget will grow the size of government even further and proposes trillions in new spending and higher taxes for you and families across the country. It will further increase our national debt and your cost of living—at a time when we suffer a $31 trillion debt and an inflation crisis.

This radical budget spends $16.5 billion on the climate and $3 billion for gender equity, yet just $40 million to combat the fentanyl crisis that is killing thousands of Americans. It also contains a staggering $1.9 billion to fund the ATF—directly declaring war on your Second Amendment rights. I was proud to introduce a resolution last week to prevent the ATF from enforcing an unconstitutional pistol brace rule that targets law-abiding citizens and combat-wounded veterans. As this bill is considered by the House, I will continue to support efforts to defend your constitutional rights, just as I continue my work to expand school

safety and mental health.

In the Energy and Commerce Committee last week, I had the opportunity to question the CEO of TikTok and express my concerns with the social media app. As a parent, I’m very concerned about the ways in which social media companies impact our children’s behaviors and mental health. While many might consider TikTok to be just another video-sharing app, in reality, it’s likely it has been functioning as a massive Chinese Communist Party surveillance program—and it is all in the palm of your hand.

As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, I have serious concerns about the opportunities TikTok gives the CCP to access non-public sensitive data from our military families. I asked the TikTok CEO if the company can access other devices on your home Wifi to collect data. He could not give me a straight answer. It should concern every American that his answer wasn’t “No.” I look forward to further addressing the threat this app presents to our national security in order to create a strong national data privacy standard that will put you back in charge of your data.

From reckless spending to threatening your constitutional rights, to refusing to stand up to the Chinese Community Party, the Biden administration is a threat to the freedoms you hold so dear.

As your Congressman, I never stop working to solve problems facing you and your family.

Richard Hudson is serving his fifth term representing North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and in House leadership as the Republican Conference Secretary.

The Trump-DeSantis primary fight begins

LAST WEEK, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg considered indicting former President Donald Trump on a flimsy felony charge over a seven-year-old hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump placed his focus on the man he perceives as the truest threat to his political dominance: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.

Trump backers demanded that DeSantis sound off on the looming indictment; after a few days, DeSantis did, but not in ways that pleased Trump’s base. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”

DeSantis’ harsh words for Bragg were insufficient, according to Trump, because he mentioned the rationale for Trump’s legal difficulties: his unfortunate penchant for sexual profligacy. This prompted Trump to take to Truth Social to accuse DeSantis of grooming underage girls and/or boys: “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!).”

This was only the beginning. On Tuesday evening, excerpts broke from a DeSantis interview with Piers Morgan, in which DeSantis criticized Trump’s choices as president. “(T)he way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said. He added that he “would have fired” Dr. Anthony Fauci, contra Trump, who made Fauci into the face of the federal government’s pandemic response.

So, the fight is on.

Right now, the advantage lies with Trump. He’s the center of gravity for all of politics. DeSantis led Trump 39% to 26% in the Monmouth poll in December 2022 — shortly after Trump’s candidates in Senate races lost across the board, while DeSantis cleaned up in Florida — but now trails Trump by a margin of 27% to 41% in the same poll.

Dealing with Trump will be difficult for any Republican candidate, for two specific reasons. First, many Republican voters have bought into the myth that Trump is not subject to political gravity: In the aftermath of the 2012 Obama reelection, widespread political sentiment held that Democrats would never lose another presidential election, and yet Trump somehow beat Hillary Clinton while saying anything and everything on his mind. Many Republicans still think of Trump as a winner, even after his losses in the 2018 midterm election, 2020 presidential election, 2021 Georgia Senate races and 2022 midterms. When they don’t, he drops in the polls, as in December 2022.

Second, Republicans rally to Trump whenever he is attacked by the Left. That’s right and proper when it comes to unjust prosecutions by rogue DAs. But many Republican voters have generalized to the extent that Trump is now considered off-limits to attack even by other Republicans, since the Left might use such attacks as a rationale to attack Trump, too. This is a nearly impossible needle to thread. How do you critique Trump without the base feeling that your attacks are helping the Left? Meanwhile, Trump has been granted the soft bigotry of low expectations by many voters: He can say literally anything about other candidates, and no one blinks an eye. It’s Marquess of Queensberry rules for Trump’s opponents, WWE folding-chair-to-the-back-of-the-head smackdowns for Trump himself.

So, what can DeSantis do? The answer: It’s not really up to DeSantis. It’s up to Republican voters. It will be DeSantis’ job to remind Republican voters that Trump has won precisely one election in the last seven years; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that reality. It will be DeSantis’ job to point out that Trump didn’t clean out the executive branch and gave Fauci power; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that such criticisms aren’t “unfair attacks.” It will be DeSantis’ job to remind voters of his record; it will be the job of Republican voters to look to record rather than tweetstorms for policy victory. Will Republican voters use their heads rather than their hearts? We’ll find out soon enough.

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

COLUMN | U.S. REP. RICHARD HUDSON

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

SIDELINE REPORT

PGA

Wallace uses late birdie run to capture 1st PGA Tour title

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Matt Wallace made four birdies down the stretch in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to earn his PGA Tour victory.

He shot a 66 and won by one shot over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. The Dane had a chance to force a playoff on the last hole but missed a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory doesn’t get the Englishman into the Masters because it was held opposite the WGC-Match Play in Texas, but he is set for the PGA Championship.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Villanova AllAmerican Siegrist declares for WNBA draft

Villanova, Pa.

Villanova star and AP AllAmerican Maddy Siegrist will not return for a fifth season and has declared for the WNBA draft.

Siegrist led Villanova to a 30-7 overall record and the Sweet 16 for the second time ever this season. She led the country in scoring at 29.2 points per game and averaged 9.2 rebounds. The two-time Big East Player of the Year played four seasons and is the career leading scorer in Villanova basketball history for both men and women with 2,896 points. The WNBA draft is April 10.

HORSE RACING

Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts

Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field took another step forward with the launch of a new antidoping program. It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, while doling out uniform penalties to horses and trainers that will replace the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act known as HISA began the anti-doping program Monday. But there are ongoing legal issues that won’t allow the anti-doping program to immediately start in every state.

NBA Nets aren’t expecting Simmons to return this season

Miami

The Brooklyn Nets are not expecting guard Ben Simmons to play again this season, though no final decision will be made until the threetime All-Star meets with a back specialist, coach Jacque Vaughn said Saturday. Simmons is currently sidelined with what the Nets say is a nerve impingement — the condition where tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers — in his back.

Saturday’s game at Miami marked the 16th in a row that Simmons has missed and his 32nd absence in 74 Nets games this season.

Reddick wins COTA crashfest in triple OT

It’s his

The Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick had the lead and the fastest car on the track when calamity nearly struck. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart.

Enough slowdowns to make a driver lose his mind.

Or at least his cool.

Reddick handled it nearly to perfection Sunday, earning his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.

“Didn’t quite get the restarts perfectly, but we got the one that

mattered,” Reddick said. “The last one.” Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series win, third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. This one might have been the most nerve-wracking. Reddick had to hold the front through the elevated, switchback left hand turn that saw the field bunch up and smash each other time after time on the restarts. The race had eight cautions for 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps past the scheduled distance. Hamlin said Reddick showed poise to match talent that could lead to a whole lot of victories. He got Reddick to agree to sign with

3

Road course victories for Tyler Reddick among his four career Cup Series wins

23XI with a full year remaining on his RCR contract, and then he was able to secure Reddick early for 2023 when Kurt Busch was forced to retire because of lingering concussion issues.

“I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it and it cost me a lot of money to do it,” Hamlin said. “You have to have that driver you feel can carry you to championships. ... I feel like we have that guy.”

Kyle Busch, who pushed Red-

dick through the final three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.

Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports.

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted post-race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez over the aggressive nature of the race. Suarez also exchanged words with Bowman. NASCAR may take action against Suarez for using his car to bump both Bowman and Chastain on pit road.

William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske.

The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond.

Lamar Jackson says he has requested trade from Ravens

The Baltimore quarterback has continued to negotiate with the team

The Associated Press

LAMAR JACKSON said Monday he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.

“As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value,” Jackson said on Twitter. “Any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl.”

Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team. The nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes.

The decision to make the trade request public may be an attempt to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants out of Baltimore.

If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks. Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke extensively about Jackson on Monday at the league’s owners meetings in Phoenix.

“I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process,” Harbaugh said. “I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.”

Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. His passing and running ability make him one of the game’s biggest stars. At age 25, he already is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. Jackson has been hurt at the end

of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he remains with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator. The Ravens hired Georgia’s Todd Monken for that position after the end of last season.

Harbaugh said he anticipates Jackson being Baltimore’s quarterback at the start of next season.

“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure,” Harbaugh said.

“But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar

that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

Harbaugh tried to stay upbeat about the prospects of Jackson’s return. If Jackson does come back and play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag, it could certainly be an awkward situation, and the coach will have his work cut out for him trying to soothe any hard feelings.

“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.

first win with 23XI Racing and fourth of his career

AP PHOTO

Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

AP PHOTO Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted that he has asked the team to trade him.

New-look MLB readies for opening day

Updated rules, the big money Mets and Ohtani’s walk year highlight the start of season

The Associated Press BASEBALL HAS transformed in the 145 days since Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros sealed the franchise’s second title in six seasons. As New York Mets owner Steve Cohen dominated an offseason that saw billions spent, the sport braced for a new world that includes pitch clocks, bigger bases, limits on defensive shifts and pickoff throws, and an overarching attempt to reverse decades of lengthening games and the Analytics Era domination of the Three True Outcomes — strikeouts, walks and home runs.

“Late-inning relievers more than anyone will have to figure some things out and make some adjustments,” Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Left-handed hitters, it’s going to help them, period.”

Last year’s average game time

was 3 hours, 4 minutes after the introduction of the PitchCom electronic device to signal pitches, down from a record 3:10 in 2021.

MLB’s average was 2:46 in 2005 and 2:33 in 1981. A pitch clock of 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners is designed to cut game times considerably.

Higher pitch velocity and increased shifts led to the major league batting average dropping to .243, its lowest since 1968. The only seasons with lower averages were the record bottom of .237 in 1968 along with 1967 and the dead-ball era seasons of 1884, 1888 and 1908.

Over the objections of players, the sport’s 11-man competition committee adopted a rule that two infielders are required to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Bases were increased from 15-inch squares to 18-by-18, which shorten the distance by 4½ inches and may lead to increased stolen bases.

In spring training through Sun-

day, games time averaged 2:35 in a drop from 3:01. Runs fell from 10.6 per game to 10.2 and batting average from .259 to .256, but batting average on balls in play rose to .325 from .314 for lefty hitters while remaining .311 for righties.

No player will be watched more closely this season than Shohei Ohtani, a two-way megastar in the final year under contract with the Los Angeles Angels. He and three-time MVP teammate Mike Trout have not played in a postseason game together. Ohtani has made it clear he wants to win. A taste of October might be needed to persuade the Japanese sensation to remain with the franchise.

Other storylines to watch include Aaron Judge’s ascent to Yankee captaincy — the first since Derek Jeter — after his 62-homer season; Fernando Tatis Jr., set to return from a drug suspension on April 20, teaming with Manny Machado to try leading the Padres to their first World Series title; and can Carlos Correa remain healthy with Minnesota after San Francisco and the Mets backed out of deals with the AllStar shortstop?

Members of the Geneva branch of Ukrainian society in Switzerland protest during a rally Saturday to urge the International Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision of participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under white neutral flag at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The Mets raised their payroll to a projected $370 million and are set to shatter the record, set by the

2015 Los Angeles Dodgers at $291 million, while also paying a luxury tax on track to be $116 million.

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians at Olympics

The special rapporteur says Russian military members should, in most cases, be allowed to compete

The Associated Press GENEVA — Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee.

The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian

military members implicated in “allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war” should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games.

Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country’s recent Olympic medalists were affili-

ated with the military.

Xanthaki wrote on her official Twitter account Sunday her view that “an athlete who has participated in war would be included” for neutral status to compete in sports without national symbols such as flags and anthems.

The Greek lawyer later clarified it was usual that “men all around the world are conscripted to take part in wars” and have to follow orders, including killing. She also referred to “illegal aggressive” conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Israel and Iraq.

“We cannot hold all men who participate in illegal wars by their states following orders responsible. Those who perform crimes, we must,” Xanthaki wrote.

It is unclear how far the IOC will follow her advice ahead of its executive board meeting Tuesday. It is due to discuss “solidarity with Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia and Belarus, and the status of athletes from these countries.”

The IOC’s initial advice to sports bodies within days of the war starting last February was to exclude athletes from Russia and ally Belarus. It cited Russia’s “extremely grave violation” of the Olympic Truce in place for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, plus the integrity and security of sports events.

Since January, the IOC has pushed for finding a path to reintegrate Russians and Belarusians into world sports. It pointed to ad-

vice from Xanthaki and another U.N. expert that excluding athletes based only on their passport would be discrimination that breached their human rights.

Xanthaki on Friday briefed members of official athlete panels from most national Olympic bodies, including Ukraine, in a twohour call hosted by the IOC.

The Ukrainians “ferociously disagreed with my analysis,” she acknowledged in a Twitter exchange, adding that athletes taking part from countries in the Global South agreed with her.

“It makes no sense in terms of sport,” Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, a two-time Olympian, told The Associated Press on Monday about Xanthaki’s views on the call and the difficulty of proving an athlete’s links to war crimes.

AP PHOTO

Carlos Alcaraz returns a shot against Daniil Medvedev during his men’s singles final win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

North Carolina auditor pleads guilty to hit-and-run

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s elected auditor pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a December crash in which she drove her stateowned vehicle into a parked car.

Four-term Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood told a judge she made a “grave mistake” and should have remained at the accident to let the process play out.

“I am a public servant elected by the people of North Carolina. I am human. I am not perfect,” she said in a Wake County courtroom.

“I apologize to the people of North Carolina who have trusted me.”

District Court Judge Louis Meyer sentenced Wood, 68, to about $300 in fines and court costs, noting that Wood already had personally paid well over $11,000 to cover damages and other costs with both cars.

Still, Meyer told Wood, “This was a glaring incident of poor judgment.”

Wood, who was first elected auditor in 2008, had previously said publicly that she erred by leaving the scene of the Dec. 8 accident in downtown Raleigh as she left a

holiday party. No one was hurt in the accident in which Wood was driving her state-assigned vehicle, a 2021 Toyota Camry. Photos and 911 calls reported on by media outlets showed that part of her car was on top of the parked vehicle.

In court, Wood said that she had been drinking alcohol at the party.

“I was not impaired, but given the positioning of the two cars and the fact that I had had two glasses of wine at this event, I made an error in judgment in the moment,” she said. “And if I made the right decision, we would not be here today.”

Wood’s appearance came days after two men also were charged with assisting her in avoiding police or fleeing the scene.

Wood left the courthouse with-

out speaking to reporters. Attorney Roger Smith Jr. said he believed that Wood was treated like any other defendant given the circumstances and the lack of a criminal record.

The state auditor, one of 10 members of the North Carolina Council of State, performs financial reviews of state agencies, as well as performance audits and other studies sought by the General Assembly. Wood’s position is up for reelection in 2024.

While Wood hasn’t said specifically whether she will seek reelection next year, she has talked after the accident about her commitment to continuing her duties.

The state Republican Party has called for Wood’s resignation. Top elected Democrats have said they wanted to see the case played out.

Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said videos from area businesses helped police identify Wood as the driver. She was charged several days after the accident with the property-only hitand-run count as well as another traffic-related charge that was dismissed Thursday. Freeman told Meyer that her office and the owner of the private vehicle were satis-

fied with Wood’s plea and damage payments.

Last Friday, Raleigh police cited Jonah Richard Mendys and Ryan Scott McGurt both of Chapel Hill, with misdemeanors related to the accident’s aftermath, according to court documents and an official. Their court dates are April 20.

A citation accuses Mendys of failing to report Wood’s crash and helping her flee the scene and into a nearby building out of the site of police. And police allege McGurt drove Wood away in his pickup truck.

Both men face obstruction of justice charges. Mendys is also accused of a passenger’s failure to give information following an accident, while McGurt is accused of

being an accessory after the fact, court records show.

Freeman said in an interview Wednesday the additional citations came about from Raleigh police “following up on leads that came to light as they continue to investigate the accident.”

An attorney for Mendys didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Voting records identify a Ryan Scott McGuirt as living at the same street and address number listed for McGurt in the court records. Attempts to reach McGuirt by text and email weren’t immediately successful.

In court, Wood said she regretted that the men also had been charged.

Utah social media law means kids need approval from parents

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Children and teens in Utah would lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don’t have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive platforms.

Two laws signed by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox Thursday prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and open the door to lawsuits on behalf of children claiming social media harmed them. Collectively, they seek to prevent children from being lured to apps by addictive features and from having ads promoted to them.

The companies are expected to sue before the laws take effect in March 2024.

The crusade against social media in Utah’s Republican-supermajority Legislature is the latest reflection of how politicians’ perceptions of technology companies has changed, including among typically pro-business Republicans.

Tech giants like Facebook and Google have enjoyed unbridled growth for over a decade, but amid concerns over user privacy, hate speech, misinformation and harmful effects on teens’ mental health, lawmakers have made Big Tech attacks a rallying cry on the campaign trail and begun trying to rein them in once in office. Utah’s law was signed on the same day TikTok’s CEO testified before Congress about, among other things, the platform’s effects on teenagers’ mental health.

But legislation has stalled on the

federal level, pushing states to step in.

Outside of Utah, lawmakers in red states including Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana and blue states including New Jersey are advancing similar proposals. California, meanwhile, enacted a law last year requiring tech companies to put kids’ safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.

The new Utah laws also require that parents be given access to their child’s accounts. They outline rules for people who want to sue over harms they claim the apps cause. If implemented, lawsuits against social media companies involving kids under 16 will shift the burden of proof and require social media companies show their products weren’t harmful — not the other way around.

Social media companies could

have to design new features to comply with parts of the laws that prohibit promoting ads to minors and showing them in search results. Tech companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, make most of their money by targeting advertising to their users.

The wave of legislation and its focus on age verification has garnered pushback from technology companies as well as digital privacy groups known for blasting their data collection practices.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation earlier this month demanded Cox veto the Utah legislation, saying time limits and age verification would infringe on teens’ rights to free speech and privacy. Moreover, verifying every users’ age would empower social media platforms with more data, like the government-issued identification required, they said. If the law is implemented, the

digital privacy advocacy group said in a statement, “the majority of young Utahns will find themselves effectively locked out of much of the web.”

Tech industry lobbyists decried the laws as unconstitutional, saying they infringe on people’s right to exercise the First Amendment online.

“Utah will soon require online services to collect sensitive information about teens and families, not only to verify ages, but to verify parental relationships, like government-issued IDs and birth certificates, putting their private data at risk of breach,” said Nicole Saad Bembridge, an associate director at NetChoice, a tech lobby group.

What’s not clear in Utah’s new law and those under consideration elsewhere is how states plan to enforce the new regulations. Companies are already prohibited from collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent under the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. To comply, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up to their platforms — but children have been shown to easily get around the bans, both with and without their parents’ consent.

Cox said studies have shown that time spent on social media leads to “poor mental health outcomes” for children.

“We remain very optimistic that we will be able to pass not just here in the state of Utah but across the country legislation that significantly changes the relationship of our children with these very destructive social media apps,” he said.

The set of laws won support from parents groups and child advocates, who generally welcomed them, with some caveats. Common

Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on kids and technology, hailed the effort to rein in social media’s addictive features and set rules for litigation, with its CEO saying it “adds momentum for other states to hold social media companies accountable to ensure kids across the country are protected online.”

However, Jim Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense, said giving parents access to children’s social media posts would “deprive kids of the online privacy protections we advocate for.” Age verification and parental consent may hamper kids who want to create accounts on certain platforms, but does little to stop companies from harvesting their data once they’re on, Steyer said.

The laws are the latest effort from Utah lawmakers focused on the fragility of children in the digital age. Two years ago, Cox signed legislation that called on tech companies to automatically block porn on cellphones and tablets sold in the state, after arguments about the dangers it posed to children found resonance among Utah lawmakers, the majority of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Amid concerns about enforcement, lawmakers ultimately revised that legislation to prevent it from taking effect unless five other states passed similar laws.

The regulations come as parents and lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about kids and teenagers’ social media use and how platforms like TikTok, Instagram and others are affecting young people’s mental health. The dangers of social media to children is also emerging as a focus for trial lawyers, with addiction lawsuits being filed thorughout the country.

“I apologize to the people of North Carolina who have trusted me.”

State Auditor Beth Wood

AP PHOTO

North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood makes an appearance in Wake County court on Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Raleigh

AP PHOTO

Gov. Spencer Cox signs two social media regulation bills during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Melissa Ann (Robinette) Buschhardt

September 8, 1968 ~ March 21, 2023

Mrs. Melissa Ann Robinette Buschhardt, of Raeford, NC passed away on March 21, 2023, in her home, surrounded by her family.

Melissa was born in Scotland County, NC on September 08, 1968, to Helen Robinette and the late Orville Robinette, Jr. She enjoyed bird watching, gardening, crafting, and spending time with her grandbabies.

Melissa is survived by her husband of 31 years, Mike Buschhardt; three children, Christopher Buschhardt (Kaitlyn), Amber Trebat (Vincent), and Mikayla Buschhardt; her mother Helen Robinette; brother, Robbie Robinette III; sister Christy Johns (Michael); four grandbabies, Makenzie Buschhardt, Ian Trebat, Parker Buschhardt, and Alison Trebat; and several nieces and nephews.

Intel co-founder, philanthropist Gordon Moore dies at 94

The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Gordon Moore, the Intel Corp. co-founder who set the breakneck pace of progress in the digital age with a simple 1965 prediction of how quickly engineers would boost the capacity of computer chips, has died. He was 94.

Moore died Friday at his home in Hawaii, according to Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Moore, who held a Ph.D. in chemistry and physics, made his famous observation — now known as “Moore’s Law” — three years before he helped start Intel in 1968. It appeared among a number of articles about the future written for the now-defunct Electronics magazine by experts in various fields.

The prediction, which Moore said he plotted out on graph paper based on what had been happening with chips at the time, said the capacity and complexity of integrated circuits would double every year.

Strictly speaking, Moore’s observation referred to the doubling of transistors on a semiconductor. But over the years, it has been applied to hard drives, computer monitors and other electronic devices, holding that

roughly every 18 months a new generation of products makes their predecessors obsolete.

It became a standard for the tech industry’s progress and innovation.

“It’s the human spirit. It’s what made Silicon Valley,” Carver Mead, a retired California Institute of Technology computer scientist who coined the term “Moore’s Law” in the early 1970s, said in 2005. “It’s the real thing.”

Moore later became known for his philanthropy when he and his wife established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which focuses on environmental conservation, science, patient care and projects in the San Francisco Bay area. It has donated more than $5.1 billion to charitable causes since its founding in 2000.

“Those of us who have met and worked with Gordon will forever be inspired by his wisdom, humility and generosity,” foundation president Harvey Fineberg said in a statement.

Intel Chairman Frank Yeary called Moore a brilliant scientist and a leading American entrepreneur.

“It is impossible to imagine the world we live in today, with computing so essential to our lives, without the contributions

of Gordon Moore,” he said.

In his book “Moore’s Law: The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley’s Quiet Revolutionary,” author David Brock called him “the most important thinker and doer in the story of silicon electronics.”

Moore was born in San Francisco on Jan. 3, 1929, and grew up in the tiny nearby coastal town of Pescadero. As a boy, he took a liking to chemistry sets. He attended San Jose State University, then transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry.

After getting his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1954, he worked briefly as a researcher at Johns Hopkins University. His entry into microchips began when he went to work for William Shockley, who in 1956 shared the Nobel Prize for physics for his work inventing the transistor. Less than two years later, Moore and seven colleagues left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory after growing tired of its namesake’s management practices.

The defection by the “traitorous eight,” as the group came to be called, planted the seeds for Silicon Valley’s renegade cul-

ture, in which engineers who disagreed with their colleagues didn’t hesitate to become competitors.

The Shockley defectors in 1957 created Fairchild Semiconductor, which became one of the first companies to manufacture the integrated circuit, a refinement of the transistor.

Fairchild supplied the chips that went into the first computers that astronauts used aboard spacecraft.

In 1968, Moore and Robert Noyce, one of the eight engineers who left Shockley, again struck out on their own. With $500,000 of their own money and the backing of venture capitalist Arthur Rock, they founded Intel, a name based on joining the words “integrated” and “electronics.”

Moore became Intel’s chief executive in 1975. His tenure as CEO ended in 1987, thought he remained chairman for another 10 years. He was chairman emeritus from 1997 to 2006.

He received the National Medal of Technology from President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2002.

Despite his wealth and acclaim, Moore remained known for his modesty. In 2005, he referred to Moore’s Law as “a lucky guess that got a lot more publicity than it deserved.”

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Betty, sons Kenneth and Steven, and four grandchildren.

Alfred Galloway Jr.

March 20, 1959 ~ March 24, 2023

Mr. Alfred Galloway Jr. age, 64 transitioned from earth to glory on March 24, 2023.

Clyde Nettles Sr.

May 6, 1945 ~ March 23, 2023

Mr. Clyde Nettles Sr. age, 77 went home to rest with his heavenly father on March 23, 2023.

STATE & NATION

Biden approval dips near lowest point: AP-NORC poll

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Approval of President Joe Biden has dipped since a month ago, nearing the lowest point of his presidency as his administration tries to project a sense of stability while confronting a pair of bank failures and inflation that remains stubbornly high.

That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which shows there have been modest fluctuations in support for Biden over the past several months. The president notched an approval rating of 38% in the new poll, after 45% said they approved in February and 41% in January. His ratings hit their lowest point of his presidency last July, at 36%, as the full weight of rising gasoline, food and other costs began to hit U.S. households.

In recent months, approval of Biden had been hovering above 40%.

Interviews with poll respondents suggest the public has mixed feelings about Biden, who is expected to announce a reelection bid by this summer. When it comes to the president, people generally do not swing between the extremes of absolute loyalty and aggressive loathing that have been a feature of this era’s divided politics.

“Neutral towards approve,” An-

drew Dwyer, 30, said of Biden. “I don’t think he’s the best at representing my position and issues.

But I know being president involves compromises.”

Dwyer, a data analyst in Milwaukee, said he voted for the president in 2020 and considers himself to be liberal. He acknowledged the recent failures of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature

Bank, but he said that the economy is adjusting to higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation.

“We all got so used to cheap debt and the ability to throw money around,” Dwyer said. He said there were “pain points” caused by higher borrowing costs but that he thinks the process will “ultimately” lead to a healthier econ-

omy. Just 31% approve of Biden’s stewardship of the national economy, about where it’s been over the course of the last year. His handling of the nation’s economic fortunes has been a weak point at least since late 2021, when the inflation that the administration had suggested was transitory became a bigger pain point for businesses and families.

Michael McComas, 51, voted Republican in 2020 and described Biden as “not great — average, I guess.” A resident of Westland, Michigan, he noted that it will take years to determine whether federal infrastructure spending fulfills the promises made by Biden.

McComas said he believes inflation is the direct result of government spending to counter the pandemic, a claim that Biden has personally rejected when asked by reporters.

“We poured so much money into the system — that’s a little frustrating that we were shocked that we got hit by inflation when a lot of our policies were inflationary,” McComas said.

The difference between Biden’s approval overall and his approval on the economy is driven largely by Democrats, 76% of whom say they approve of how he’s handling his job as president while 63% approve of his handling of the economy. Few Republicans approve of Biden on either count.

Democrats under the age of 45 feel less positive about Biden, causing a drag on his approval ratings. Just 54% approve of the president’s economic leadership, compared to 72% of Democrats older than 45. Similarly, just 66% of Democrats under 45 approve of Biden overall, compared to 85% of older Democrats.

Only about a quarter of Americans say the national economy is good or that the country is headed in the right direction, the poll shows. Those numbers have also fluctuated only slightly over the last few months.

Ratings of Biden’s handling of foreign policy (39%) and climate change (41%) are about on par with his overall approval ratings. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 9% of Republicans approve of Biden on foreign policy, while 67% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans approve of his handling of climate change.

Theresa Ojuro, a 29-yearold doctoral student in Rochester, New York, said she “expected more” from Biden — “just a little bit more stability with the economy.” Ojuro, who voted for Biden in 2020, also noted that the bank failures are dragging down her sentiment, but she worries about how high taxes are in New York state relative to the benefits provided.

“If Biden is doing his job, why in a state like this can you see people really suffering?” Ojuro said.

DeSantis team welcomes contrast with Trump ‘chaos’ candidacy

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim McKee is standing at the end of a line that snakes through five aisles of fiction inside the Books-A-Million store in Florida’s capital city. He is smiling because in a matter of minutes, the book he’s holding will be signed by its author, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor who McKee believes should be the nation’s next president. But as a former Donald Trump loyalist, the 44-year-old Tallahassee attorney almost whispers when he first says it out loud.

“Personally, I’d rather see DeSantis win the Republican primary than Trump,” McKee says softly, having to repeat himself to be heard. His voice soon grows louder. “Trump has upset so many people,” McKee says. “DeSantis is more palatable. He has a good story to tell.”

Indeed, conversations throughout Tallahassee’s book stores, conference rooms, state house offices and sports bars reveal that DeSantis’ allies are gaining confidence as Trump’s legal woes mount. The former president faces a possible indictment in New York over his role in a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter, which he denies.

The optimism around DeSantis comes even as an unlikely collection of establishment-minded Republican officials and Make America Great Again influencers raise concerns about the Florida governor’s readiness for the nation-

al stage. DeSantis has stumbled at times under the weight of intensifying national scrutiny as he builds out his political organization and introduces himself to voters in key primary states.

DeSantis’ allies privately scoffed at recent reports of anonymous concerns over the direction of his campaign, noting there is no campaign. The 44-year-old governor isn’t expected to launch his White House bid for at least two more months. And the first presidential primary contest is roughly 10 months away.

For now, DeSantis’ team, headquartered here on the front edge of Florida’s Panhandle, believes he holds a position of strength among Republican voters. And as Trump fights to undermine DeSantis, his strongest Republican rival, the Florida governor’s growing coalition is eager to highlight the contrast between the two men.

On one side stands Trump, a twice-impeached former president carrying a new level of turmoil into the 2024 presidential contest. On the other is DeSantis, a big-state governor coming off a command-

ing reelection, who is a far more disciplined messenger and hyperfocused on enacting conservative policies.

“Of all the things that Donald Trump has done and accomplished in his life, it’s just constant chaos.

And I think the American people are just tired of it,” said Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a former Trump supporter who thinks DeSantis would be “a very formidable presidential candidate.”

The politics are murky at best.

Should Trump be charged, DeSantis supporters concede that

Trump would likely benefit politically — in the short term, at least — as the GOP base rushes to defend their former leader from what they see as a weaponized justice system. But in the long term, DeSantis’ team believes primary voters will view Trump’s legal challenges as an acute reminder of his extraordinary baggage that could lead to another Republican disappointment in 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump is using his mounting legal challenges as a cudgel to force Republican rivals to line up the GOP behind him. It’s the same playbook he employed successfully last summer after the FBI raided his Florida estate to seize classified documents and during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

DeSantis condemned the New York prosecutor’s potential indictment over the last week under intense pressure from MAGA influencers and after other White House prospects had offered their own criticism.

“I hope it doesn’t come to where you end up seeing this going forward,” DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. “People see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it’s fundamentally wrong to do that.”

“DeSantis will not shrink from the fight. That’s not how he’s operated in Florida politics to this point,” said Matt Caldwell, a former state representative who shared the statewide ballot with DeSantis in 2018 as a candidate for state agriculture commissioner. “One could argue that he’s got the upper hand, so he’s only engaging when he has to.”

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, March 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets supporters at a book signing event, Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Tallahassee, Fla.

Meet the press

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Education Committee, talks to reporters after the House narrowly passed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights Act,” at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Friday, March 24, 2023.

COUNTY NEWS

Wake N Shake raises

nearly $250K

Forsyth County

Wake Forest University held its largest annual student-led philanthropic event on campus last weekend when students took to the dance floor for the Wake N Shake. More than a thousand students participated in the 12-hour day-and-night dance marathon to raise money for cancer research.

Dancers raised a total of $248,234.50 during the noon-tomidnight event, which included dancing, singing, games and guest speakers. The goal of the participants is not to sit down for the full 12 hours in honor of the people who are standing up to cancer.

The event has been held annually since 2006. That first year 300 dancers raised $30,000. Funds raised go to the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, named after a former Wake Forest football player whose battle with the disease inspired the movie “Brian’s Song.” The fund allows the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist to look at innovative programs in cancer research.

WXII

North Carolina treasurer running for governor in 2024

Clemmons North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced on Saturday he will run for governor in 2024, a bid that will likely require him besting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to earn the Republican nomination.

Folwell, a former Forsyth County legislator, school board member and state unemployment office chief who was first elected treasurer in 2016, said he would bring competence to operating government in a fiscally sound manner and look out for working people if elected.

Commissioners table updates to UDO to address protections against harmful industrial uses

County to uses ARPA funding to help support 250 individuals through Salvation Army

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, March 16 with a public hearing for updates to the UDO as well as multiple financial items.

The first item of business was a public hearing submitted by the Planning and Development Services Staff to amend chapters 5 and 11 of the UDO in order to add use-specific standards for pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical manufacturing, explosives and pyrotechnics manufacturing.

“This is a text amendment that was prepared in response to the Winston Weaver Fire, aimed at achieving greater land use pro -

tections for potentially harmful industrial uses,” said City/Council Planning Director Chris Murphy.

“The proposed regulations follow extensive research and discussions with both the Public Works Committee, which was the Winston Weaver Task Force, and with the Planning Board.

“The Winston Weaver plant fire was in early January, 2022 which led us to assess the City’s current land use regulations for such facilities,” Murphy said.

According to Murphy, Forsyth County staff researched how peer counties in NC addressed these plants and found that fertilizer plants are only allowed in most surrounding communities in heaviest Industrial zoning districts and are classified as some form of chemical or high impact or hazardous manufacturing. Additional use restrictions in those counties include special use permit approval, enhanced setbacks from residential, perimeter security wall/fence, hazardous mate-

My concern is the size. It seems, to me, excessive or extreme Commissioner Richard Linville

rials management plan and water supply watershed restrictions.

In line with those findings, the proposed regulations for Forsyth County from staff for new manufacturing uses would apply just to chemical manufacturing uses that may involve ammonium nitrate and would involve being only used in GI zoning through the issuing of a special use district permit, a hazardous materials management plan will need to be submitted prior to the issuance of a building permit, they won’t be allowed in designated public surface water supply watersheds, there will be a required

minimum site size of 25 acres, a minimum setbacks of 400 feet, and a minimum of six foot security fencing or wall, with exterior landscaping outside of that security fencing.

However, concerns over the limitations of all these regulations were brought up by some of the commissioners.

“My concern is the size,” said commissioner Richard Linville. “It seems, to me, excessive or extreme. Also the process in which fertilizer is made, primarily one is a blended process that just takes natural products and mixes them together and then the one that burned. Those are two different processes. So that’s my concern.”

The staff had originally modified the recommended regulations as previous versions included the same restrictions for battery manufacturers who utilize lithium, but that was removed after concerns by the county com-

See COMMISSIONERS, page 2

Board of Education approves RFQ list for summer programming

Board approves MOU with Heart Math Tutoring

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM — The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education met Tuesday, March 14 with multiple potential contracts up for review.

The board was first presented with the 2021 School Performance Recognitions for schools that met or exceeded academic growth.

“As we’re all aware, the 2021 school year was not without challenge, but our schools did what they always do, they educated all of our children,” said Deputy Superintendent of Schools Dr. Fabby Williams.

In total, 52 schools within the district were recognized for meeting or exceeding academic growth and graduation rates.

The board then approved the RFQ review and list of recommended service providers and academic enrichment activities for summer programs.

“The RFQ for a service provider was for an organization that had the capacity to help cooperate with a summer program with us,” said Chief Academic Officer Dr. Paula Wilkins. “They would be responsible for providing the staffing, the enrichment, of course we’d run all the background checks and ensure compliance. An enrichment provider could be a smaller organization who doesn’t have that staffing capacity, but could come provide an activity or facilitate a support service.”

According to Wilkins, the providers could either use their own facilities or could potentially use a WSFCS site with permission.

The goals for the 2023 Summer Programs, as described by Wilkins, were to create joy and exploration through enrichment experiences that allow students to engage in passions and cultivate new skills, provide targeted interventions to our students who need it the most, reduce the impact of “summer slide” and learning loss, and begin restructuring the function summer school serves for our children and teachers into one fo -

cused on cultivation of thinking, reasoning, and a love of learning beyond assessment outcomes.

“Our request was for service providers who could best enhance services including enrichment activities and field trips on Fridays, request for enrichment providers that could assist with support with on-campus field trips, activities, and services to promote inquiry and engagement of students in WS/FCS summer programs,” said Procurement Services Director John Mann.

The enrichment providers in the recommendation were Axiom Learning, Crossnore Community for Children, Emmanuel Baptist Church, EmpowerU Community Services and Living Rhythms.

The board also approved an MOU with the Heart Math Tutoring Program.

“Unfortunately, we have very few volunteers that engage as mathematics tutors and the second part of that is thinking about the infrastructure and actual programming that can be provided to support math,” Wilkins said. “So

♦ BARNES, CHAMPAYNE TALEA was arrested on a charge of ADW - INFLICT INJURY at 3731 PROSPECT DR on 3/26/2023

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23:47.

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♦ Bryantcrump, Jevante Jevante (M/30) Arrest on chrg of 1) P/w/i/s/d Marijuana (F), 2) Poss Marijuana Fel (F), 3) Drug Paraphernalia (M), 4) Fail To Appear/compl (M), and 5) Fail To Appear/compl (M), at E Clemmonsville Rd/ Eb40, Winston-salem, NC, on 3/24/2023 15:43.

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ARREST at 2399 DACIAN ST/E

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ADW/SER INJURY at 1306

HARDESTY LN on 3/26/2023

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♦ Foley, Terrille Dwayne (M/49)

Arrest on chrg of 1) Fugitive (F), 2) Fail To Appear/compl (M), 3)

Fail To Appear/compl (M), and 4)

Fail To Appear/compl (M), at 3011

Martins Dairy Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 3/26/2023 23:44.

♦ GARCIAHERNANDEZ, KEVIN

ALEXIS was arrested on a charge of PROBATION VIOLATION at 1200 S MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

DR on 3/26/2023

♦ Hairston, Justin Caleb (M/26)

Arrest on chrg of Resisting Arrest (M), at 5165 Reidsville Rd, Walkertown, NC, on 3/24/2023

15:13.

♦ Hairston, Justin Caleb (M/26)

Arrest on chrg of Probation

Violation (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston-salem, NC, on 3/24/2023 15:13.

♦ HAMMEL, RACHEL FAITH was arrested on a charge of

DRUGS-POSS SCHED IV at 5901

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COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

The Trump-DeSantis primary fight begins

The way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.

Last week, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg considered indicting former President Donald Trump on a flimsy felony charge over a seven-year-old hush-money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump placed his focus on the man he perceives as the truest threat to his political dominance: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump backers demanded that DeSantis sound off on the looming indictment; after a few days, DeSantis did, but not in ways that pleased Trump’s base. “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.” DeSantis’ harsh words for Bragg were insufficient, according to Trump, because he mentioned the rationale for Trump’s legal difficulties: his unfortunate penchant for sexual profligacy. This prompted Trump to take to Truth Social to accuse DeSantis of grooming underage girls and/ or boys: “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!).”

This was only the beginning. On Tuesday evening, excerpts broke from a DeSantis interview with Piers Morgan, in which DeSantis criticized Trump’s choices as president. “(T)he way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said. He added that he “would have fired” Dr. Anthony Fauci, contra Trump, who made Fauci into the face of the federal government’s pandemic response.

So, the fight is on.

Right now, the advantage lies with Trump. He’s the center of gravity for all of politics. DeSantis led Trump 39% to 26% in the Monmouth poll in December 2022 — shortly after Trump’s candidates in Senate races lost across the board, while DeSantis cleaned up in Florida — but now trails Trump by a margin of 27% to 41% in the same poll. Dealing with Trump will be difficult for any Republican

♦ Leola Shore Barr, 94, of Yadkin County, died March 27, 2023.

♦ Peggy Lucille Morrow Beasley, 92, of Winston-Salem, died March 23, 2023.

♦ Chris Gowain Clodfelter, 78, died March 24, 2023.

♦ Paul Joseph Colburn, 81, of Winston-Salem, died March 23, 2023.

♦ Ermitaño Agapito Olivos Falla, 70, of Winston-Salem, died March 22, 2023.

BOE from page 1

what we were introduced to with Heart Math is their programming and operation. It’s small scale, we’d start with one elementary school, and then work on our implementation, our training of volunteers, the support at the school site and then work over time to grow it.”

“We see ourselves as a link between schools and students and volunteers, knowing that it really takes a lot of work and infrastructure to be able to plug volunteers in effectively and that schools may not have the bandwidth to do

COMMISSIONERS from page 1

missioners.

But due to the questions remaining, the board voted to table the matter for at least another two weeks in order for answers to be provided.

“There’s still some questions that the commissioners have on the UDO,” said commissioner Gloria Whisenhunt. “I do appreciate that you have removed the battery component of it, but there is still a few more questions.”

The board then approved three amendments, the first being to the 2022 Pay-Go Projects Ordinance to transfer $250,000 for the purchase of an ambulance and another being an amendment to the FY 2022-23 Budget Ordinance to appropriate $7,847 in revenue from the Juvenile Crime Prevention

♦ Wilburn Larry Fishel, 73, of Winston-Salem, died March 24, 2023.

♦ Homer Kerns Freeze III, 60, of Clemmons, died March 24, 2023.

♦ Albert “Bud” Lionel Harmon, 84, of Walkertown, died March 22, 2023.

♦ Carolyn Estelle Atkins Lawson, 88, of Colfax, died March 23, 2023.

♦ Henry Leo Manning, 89, of Forsyth County, died March 24, 2023.

that, but of course believing that many people would want to help students if given the opportunity,” said Heart Math Tutoring CEO Emily Gaffney.

According to Gaffney, Heart Math also provides a program coordinator who acts as the liaison between the school and the volunteers and provides training for all volunteers.

“We are a non-profit and our mission is around helping students build a strong foundation in math and enthusiasm for academics, so we measure their math skills, but also that confidence piece,” Gaff-

Council Grantees to reimburse unspent funds from FY 2022 to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, “Although it’s seemingly a small amount, knowing that we have a juvenile crime problem here in Forsyth County, again, I have a little bit of unreadiness about this,” said commissioner Tonya McDaniel. “I just want it to be heard that in the future, we’re making better decisions relative to the vendors that we’re using and if they can’t utilize these support fundings, then we need to make better decisions in terms of what we’re going to do in the future.”

The final amendment was to the FY 2022-23 Budget Ordinance to increase revenues and appropriations by $4,504 for the Forsyth County Department of Public Health from the Community Nu-

candidate, for two specific reasons. First, many Republican voters have bought into the myth that Trump is not subject to political gravity: In the aftermath of the 2012 Obama reelection, widespread political sentiment held that Democrats would never lose another presidential election, and yet Trump somehow beat Hillary Clinton while saying anything and everything on his mind. Many Republicans still think of Trump as a winner, even after his losses in the 2018 midterm election, 2020 presidential election, 2021 Georgia Senate races and 2022 midterms. When they don’t, he drops in the polls, as in December 2022.

Second, Republicans rally to Trump whenever he is attacked by the Left. That’s right and proper when it comes to unjust prosecutions by rogue DAs. But many Republican voters have generalized to the extent that Trump is now considered off-limits to attack even by other Republicans, since the Left might use such attacks as a rationale to attack Trump, too. This is a nearly impossible needle to thread. How do you critique Trump without the base feeling that your attacks are helping the Left? Meanwhile, Trump has been granted the soft bigotry of low expectations by many voters: He can say literally anything about other candidates, and no one blinks an eye. It’s Marquess of Queensberry rules for Trump’s opponents, WWE folding-chair-to-theback-of-the-head smackdowns for Trump himself.

So, what can DeSantis do? The answer: It’s not really up to DeSantis. It’s up to Republican voters. It will be DeSantis’ job to remind Republican voters that Trump has won precisely one election in the last seven years; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that reality. It will be DeSantis’ job to point out that Trump didn’t clean out the executive branch and gave Fauci power; it will be the job of Republican voters to acknowledge that such criticisms aren’t “unfair attacks.” It will be DeSantis’ job to remind voters of his record; it will be the job of Republican voters to look to record rather than tweetstorms for policy victory.

Will Republican voters use their heads rather than their hearts? We’ll find out soon enough.

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+.

♦ Margie Nichols Simpson Marion, 87, of Winston-Salem, died March 24, 2023.

♦ Mary Kathleen Ladd Millsaps, 91, of Winston-Salem, died March 25, 2023.

♦ Loretta Hine Parnell, 87, of Kernersville, died March 23, 2023.

♦ Ann Hine Snipes, 91, of WinstonSalem, died March 22, 2023.

♦ James Wayne Southard, 70, of Forsyth County, died March 24, 2023.

ney said.

“I really like the comments that a tutors job is not only to deliver curriculum, but positive influence, giving encouragement and building relationships with students,” said Board Chair Emily Kaplan.

“And that’s greatly needed here.”

The board then approved the purchase of Anatomage tables for the districts CTE classes, the dates for the 2022-23 Summer Retesting Program – June 12th remediation with June 13th and 14th Re-Administration of 4-8 ELA, 3-8 Math, 5th and 8th Science EOGs, Math I, Math III, English

trition Services/Women, Infants

and Children Section of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, bringing the program total to $1,895,653.

The board then approved the ratifying and execution of an interlocal agreement and acceptance of a grant for $29,555 from the Appalachian District Health Department for the Forsyth County Department of Public Health for the purchase of furniture, water fountains and first-aid training.

Next, the board approved two ARPA funded projects, the first being a resolution for the execution of an agreement for $75,000 with Moji Coffee and More to provide workforce development to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a the second being a resolution approving the execution of an agreement

♦ Llewellyn “Lou” Baldwin Tannery, 87, of Forsyth County, died March 25, 2023.

♦ Rhonda Gayle Bradley Watson, 64, of Belews Creek, died March 24, 2023.

♦ Karen Leigh Rathbone Willard, 61, of Winston-Salem, died March 23, 2023.

♦ George Walter Woodward, Jr., 80, died March 23, 2023.

II, Biology EOCs – and a contract with Education Resource Group for professional development for staff at Mineral Springs Middle School.

The board also approved a $50,000 seed funding for the WSFCS Education Foundation, the election of Marilyn Parker as the Board of Education representative for the Education Foundation, the extension of agreements with Appalachian State University for Lab School and an easement grant to Duke Energy. The WSFCS Board of Education will next meet March 28.

for $330,000 with the Salvation Army to provide Emergency Financial Assistance to disproportionately impacted residents to support 250 individuals.

The board finally approved two contracts, one an amendment to the behavioral health crisis services revenue agreement between Forsyth County and the State of North Carolina, Department of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services to extend the length of time the funds can be used through 2026 and the second authorizing a contract in an amount not to exceed $65,764 between Forsyth County and EPR Systems USA Inc. in order to use Fireworks Records Management software. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet March 30.

“Join the conversation”

SIDELINE REPORT

PGA

Wallace uses late birdie run to capture 1st PGA Tour title

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Matt Wallace made four birdies down the stretch in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to earn his PGA Tour victory.

He shot a 66 and won by one shot over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. The Dane had a chance to force a playoff on the last hole but missed a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory doesn’t get the Englishman into the Masters because it was held opposite the WGC-Match Play in Texas, but he is set for the PGA Championship.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Villanova AllAmerican Siegrist declares for WNBA draft

Villanova, Pa.

Villanova star and AP AllAmerican Maddy Siegrist will not return for a fifth season and has declared for the WNBA draft.

Siegrist led Villanova to a 30-7 overall record and the Sweet 16 for the second time ever this season. She led the country in scoring at 29.2 points per game and averaged 9.2 rebounds. The two-time Big East Player of the Year played four seasons and is the career leading scorer in Villanova basketball history for both men and women with 2,896 points. The WNBA draft is April 10.

HORSE RACING

Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts

Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field took another step forward with the launch of a new antidoping program. It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, while doling out uniform penalties to horses and trainers that will replace the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act known as HISA began the anti-doping program Monday. But there are ongoing legal issues that won’t allow the anti-doping program to immediately start in every state.

NBA

Reddick wins COTA crashfest in triple OT

It’s

The Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick had the lead and the fastest car on the track when calamity nearly struck. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart.

Enough slowdowns to make a driver lose his mind.

Or at least his cool.

Reddick handled it nearly to perfection Sunday, earning his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.

“Didn’t quite get the restarts perfectly, but we got the one that

mattered,” Reddick said. “The last one.” Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series win, third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. This one might have been the most nerve-wracking. Reddick had to hold the front through the elevated, switchback left hand turn that saw the field bunch up and smash each other time after time on the restarts. The race had eight cautions for 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps past the scheduled distance. Hamlin said Reddick showed poise to match talent that could lead to a whole lot of victories. He got Reddick to agree to sign with

3

Road course victories for Tyler Reddick among his four career Cup Series wins

23XI with a full year remaining on his RCR contract, and then he was able to secure Reddick early for 2023 when Kurt Busch was forced to retire because of lingering concussion issues.

“I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it and it cost me a lot of money to do it,” Hamlin said. “You have to have that driver you feel can carry you to championships. ... I feel like we have that guy.”

Kyle Busch, who pushed Red-

dick through the final three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.

Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports.

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted post-race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez over the aggressive nature of the race. Suarez also exchanged words with Bowman. NASCAR may take action against Suarez for using his car to bump both Bowman and Chastain on pit road.

William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske.

The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond.

Lamar Jackson says he has requested trade from Ravens

The Baltimore quarterback has continued to negotiate with the team

The Associated Press

LAMAR JACKSON said Monday he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

Nets aren’t

expecting Simmons to return this season

Miami

The Brooklyn Nets are not expecting guard Ben Simmons to play again this season, though no final decision will be made until the threetime All-Star meets with a back specialist, coach Jacque Vaughn said Saturday. Simmons is currently sidelined with what the Nets say is a nerve impingement — the condition where tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers — in his back.

Saturday’s game at Miami marked the 16th in a row that Simmons has missed and his 32nd absence in 74 Nets games this season.

In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.

“As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value,” Jackson said on Twitter. “Any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl.”

Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team. The nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes.

The decision to make the trade request public may be an attempt to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants out of Baltimore.

If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks. Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke extensively about Jackson on Monday at the league’s owners meetings in Phoenix.

“I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process,” Harbaugh said. “I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.”

Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. His passing and running ability make him one of the game’s biggest stars. At age 25, he already is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing. Jackson has been hurt at the end

of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he remains with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator. The Ravens hired Georgia’s Todd Monken for that position after the end of last season.

Harbaugh said he anticipates Jackson being Baltimore’s quarterback at the start of next season.

“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure,” Harbaugh said.

“But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar

that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

Harbaugh tried to stay upbeat about the prospects of Jackson’s return. If Jackson does come back and play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag, it could certainly be an awkward situation, and the coach will have his work cut out for him trying to soothe any hard feelings.

“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.

his first win with 23XI Racing and fourth of his career

AP PHOTO

Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

AP PHOTO Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted that he has asked the team to trade him.

Biden approval dips near lowest point: AP-NORC poll

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Approval of President Joe Biden has dipped since a month ago, nearing the lowest point of his presidency as his administration tries to project a sense of stability while confronting a pair of bank failures and inflation that remains stubbornly high.

That’s according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which shows there have been modest fluctuations in support for Biden over the past several months. The president notched an approval rating of 38% in the new poll, after 45% said they approved in February and 41% in January. His ratings hit their lowest point of his presidency last July, at 36%, as the full weight of rising gasoline, food and other costs began to hit U.S. households.

In recent months, approval of Biden had been hovering above 40%.

Interviews with poll respondents suggest the public has mixed feelings about Biden, who is expected to announce a reelection bid by this summer. When it comes to the president, people generally do not swing between the extremes of absolute loyalty and aggressive loathing that have been a feature of this era’s divided politics.

“Neutral towards approve,” An-

drew Dwyer, 30, said of Biden. “I don’t think he’s the best at representing my position and issues. But I know being president involves compromises.”

Dwyer, a data analyst in Milwaukee, said he voted for the president in 2020 and considers himself to be liberal. He acknowledged the recent failures of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature

Bank, but he said that the economy is adjusting to higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation.

“We all got so used to cheap debt and the ability to throw money around,” Dwyer said. He said there were “pain points” caused by higher borrowing costs but that he thinks the process will “ultimately” lead to a healthier econ-

omy. Just 31% approve of Biden’s stewardship of the national economy, about where it’s been over the course of the last year. His handling of the nation’s economic fortunes has been a weak point at least since late 2021, when the inflation that the administration had suggested was transitory became a bigger pain point for businesses and families.

Michael McComas, 51, voted Republican in 2020 and described Biden as “not great — average, I guess.” A resident of Westland, Michigan, he noted that it will take years to determine whether federal infrastructure spending fulfills the promises made by Biden.

McComas said he believes inflation is the direct result of government spending to counter the pandemic, a claim that Biden has personally rejected when asked by reporters.

“We poured so much money into the system — that’s a little frustrating that we were shocked that we got hit by inflation when a lot of our policies were inflationary,” McComas said.

The difference between Biden’s approval overall and his approval on the economy is driven largely by Democrats, 76% of whom say they approve of how he’s handling his job as president while 63% approve of his handling of the economy. Few Republicans approve of Biden on either count.

Democrats under the age of 45 feel less positive about Biden, causing a drag on his approval ratings. Just 54% approve of the president’s economic leadership, compared to 72% of Democrats older than 45. Similarly, just 66% of Democrats under 45 approve of Biden overall, compared to 85% of older Democrats.

Only about a quarter of Americans say the national economy is good or that the country is headed in the right direction, the poll shows. Those numbers have also fluctuated only slightly over the last few months.

Ratings of Biden’s handling of foreign policy (39%) and climate change (41%) are about on par with his overall approval ratings. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 9% of Republicans approve of Biden on foreign policy, while 67% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans approve of his handling of climate change.

Theresa Ojuro, a 29-yearold doctoral student in Rochester, New York, said she “expected more” from Biden — “just a little bit more stability with the economy.” Ojuro, who voted for Biden in 2020, also noted that the bank failures are dragging down her sentiment, but she worries about how high taxes are in New York state relative to the benefits provided.

“If Biden is doing his job, why in a state like this can you see people really suffering?” Ojuro said.

DeSantis team welcomes contrast with Trump ‘chaos’ candidacy

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim McKee is standing at the end of a line that snakes through five aisles of fiction inside the Books-A-Million store in Florida’s capital city.

He is smiling because in a matter of minutes, the book he’s holding will be signed by its author, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor who McKee believes should be the nation’s next president. But as a former Donald Trump loyalist, the 44-year-old Tallahassee attorney almost whispers when he first says it out loud.

“Personally, I’d rather see DeSantis win the Republican primary than Trump,” McKee says softly, having to repeat himself to be heard. His voice soon grows louder.

“Trump has upset so many people,” McKee says. “DeSantis is more palatable. He has a good story to tell.”

Indeed, conversations throughout Tallahassee’s book stores, conference rooms, state house offices and sports bars reveal that DeSantis’ allies are gaining confidence as Trump’s legal woes mount. The former president faces a possible indictment in New York over his role in a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter, which he denies.

The optimism around DeSantis comes even as an unlikely collection of establishment-minded Republican officials and Make America Great Again influencers raise concerns about the Florida governor’s readiness for the nation-

al stage. DeSantis has stumbled at times under the weight of intensifying national scrutiny as he builds out his political organization and introduces himself to voters in key primary states.

DeSantis’ allies privately scoffed at recent reports of anonymous concerns over the direction of his campaign, noting there is no campaign. The 44-year-old governor isn’t expected to launch his White House bid for at least two more months. And the first presidential primary contest is roughly 10 months away.

For now, DeSantis’ team, headquartered here on the front edge of Florida’s Panhandle, believes he holds a position of strength among Republican voters. And as Trump fights to undermine DeSantis, his strongest Republican rival, the Florida governor’s growing coalition is eager to highlight the contrast between the two men.

On one side stands Trump, a twice-impeached former president carrying a new level of turmoil into the 2024 presidential contest. On the other is DeSantis, a big-state governor coming off a command-

ing reelection, who is a far more disciplined messenger and hyperfocused on enacting conservative policies.

“Of all the things that Donald Trump has done and accomplished in his life, it’s just constant chaos.

And I think the American people are just tired of it,” said Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a former Trump supporter who thinks DeSantis would be “a very formidable presidential candidate.”

The politics are murky at best.

Should Trump be charged, DeSantis supporters concede that

Trump would likely benefit politically — in the short term, at least — as the GOP base rushes to defend their former leader from what they see as a weaponized justice system. But in the long term, DeSantis’ team believes primary voters will view Trump’s legal challenges as an acute reminder of his extraordinary baggage that could lead to another Republican disappointment in 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump is using his mounting legal challenges as a cudgel to force Republican rivals to line up the GOP behind him. It’s the same playbook he employed successfully last summer after the FBI raided his Florida estate to seize classified documents and during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

DeSantis condemned the New York prosecutor’s potential indictment over the last week under intense pressure from MAGA influencers and after other White House prospects had offered their own criticism.

“I hope it doesn’t come to where you end up seeing this going forward,” DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. “People see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it’s fundamentally wrong to do that.”

“DeSantis will not shrink from the fight. That’s not how he’s operated in Florida politics to this point,” said Matt Caldwell, a former state representative who shared the statewide ballot with DeSantis in 2018 as a candidate for state agriculture commissioner. “One could argue that he’s got the upper hand, so he’s only engaging when he has to.”

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Department of the Interior, March 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets supporters at a book signing event, Thursday, March 23, 2023 in Tallahassee, Fla.

COUNTY NEWS

Hudson announces

2023 Congressional

Art Competition

U.S. Representative

Richard Hudson (RNC) announced on Monday that his Southern Pines and Fayetteville office will be accepting submissions from North Carolina’s 9th District for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. “The Congressional Art Competition is a great way to showcase the talent of our District’s high school students, and I look forward to seeing this year’s submissions,” said Hudson.

The 2023 Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students from North Carolina’s 9th District. The overall winner of the district’s competition will have their artwork displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol.

In addition, the second and third-place winners will have their artwork displayed in Hudson’s offices. Art entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches when framed and may be up to 4 inches in depth.

Types of artwork accepted include paintings (oil, acrylics, and watercolor), drawings (pastels, pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers), prints (lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints), mixed media, collages, computergenerated art, and photography. Artwork must be submitted to the Southern Pines or Fayetteville District Offices by 5 pm on Friday, April 28, with a completed 2023 Student Release Form, which can be found online at https://hudson.house.gov/ services/art-competition.

MOORE COUNTY

PHOTOS BY DAVID SINCLAIR

The SpongeBob Musical brings Bikini Bottom to Moore County

Last Friday Night, the North Moore High School Theatre Department performed The SpongeBob Musical. This musical is based on the hit Nickelodeon television series by Stephen Hillenburg, as well as the book by Kyle Jarrow, for which he was nominated for a Tony, Drama Desk, and Out Critics Circle Awards.

Pinehurst approves various policy updates

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

PINEHURST – The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, March 14, with multiple house cleaning resolutions and ordinances on the agenda.

The council approved a resolution to amend terminology in the Fund Balance Policy in accordance with the Government Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 98, which changed specific language “in response to concerns raised by stakeholders that the common pronunciation of the acronym for comprehensive annual financial report sounds like a profoundly objectionable racial slur.”

“This resolution is a minor change to the Fund Balance Policy just to update the reference to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report that is currently in the policy and change that to the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which that terminology was changed by the Government Accounting Standards Board who governs the accounting for the Village,” said Financial Services Director Dana Van Nostrand. “This is just to be consistent with that change in terminology and also to make sure that we are addressing the inclusive issue that is at the basis of the change.”

The next resolution the council approved was the adoption of a

Grants Allowable Costs and Cost Principles Policy in order to be compliant with federal grant requirements.

“This resolution is to adopt a Grants Allowable Costs and Cost Principles Policy,” Van Nostrand said. “When we accepted the ARPA funds, there were a number of policies that are required by the Federal Grant Compliance requirements to be written. This is one of them, and it’s the only one that was not already addressed by written policies in the Village. We need to adopt this policy in order to fully comply with the requirements of the ARPA funds that we have received.”

The final financial services mat-

ter the council took action on was to pass an ordinance amending and closing the ARPA Special Revenue Fund.

“We have fully expended the total award amount of over $5.2 million using salary and benefit expenditures from the general fund for general government services as allowed by the grant,” Van Nostrand said. “The original budget ordinance that was passed establishing the special revenue fund had an estimated budget at the time of over $4.8 million, so we need to increase that budget in the special revenue fund to accommodate the full amount of the award

See PINEHURST, page 2

North Carolina treasurer running for governor in 2024

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated

Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina

State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced on Saturday he will run for governor in 2024, a bid that will likely require him besting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to earn the Republican nomination.

While Republicans have controlled North Carolina’s legislature since 2011 and won a majority on the state Supreme Court last November, they have struggled to enter the Executive Mansion. The GOP has won just one gubernatorial general election since 1992, and 2012 winner Pat McCrory served for just four years.

Folwell, a former legislator, school board member and state unemployment office chief who was first elected treasurer in 2016, said he would bring competence to operating government in a fiscally sound manner and look out for working people if elected.

“The root word of ‘governor’ is to govern, and what that means is to be the CEO of the biggest business in the state,” Folwell told The Associated Press in an interview. “And based on my track record of saving lives, minds and money, I’m uniquely qualified to do that.”

The state constitution prevents Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper from seeking a third consecutive term.

Folwell had said in September that he was strongly considering a

“The root word of the ‘governor’ is to govern, and what that means is to be the CEO of the biggest business in the state.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell

run for governor after encouragement from several Republicans. He revealed his plans first at Saturday’s Republican Party convention for Forsyth County, where he lives.

The disclosure came two days after Robinson said he’d hold an April 22 rally at an Alamance County race track, where he’d make a “special announcement” about 2024.

Robinson’s campaign adviser declined to reveal his specific plans, but Robinson has said previously that he was fairly certain that he’d run for governor.

Robinson, who was elected the state’s first black lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first run for office, released an autobiography last year and is a popular speaker at conservative churches and events.

Attorney General Josh Stein announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in

January, taking direct aim at Robinson for speeches in which critics say he disparaged LGBTQ+ people, women and abortion rights.

Folwell criticized Robinson’s governing style months ago.

With his announcement, Folwell pointed out that the public didn’t even know who Robinson was a few years ago. Since then, Folwell told AP, Robinson has “spent all this time attacking people instead of attacking the important problems that our citizens are facing.”

Folwell, meanwhile, said he’s attractive to voters because they feel like as an elected official “I’m doing the right thing on their behalf.”

“They’re going to respond to somebody who speaks to them like adults,” he added.

Folwell said his timing to get in the race had nothing to do with Robinson’s upcoming announcement — he wanted to reveal his plans first to his fellow local Republicans.

Robinson or his campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email Saturday seeking comment about Folwell’s entry.

Folwell, 64, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2012 before winning his current statewide job four years later.

While treasurer, he’s focused upon efforts to curb health care costs for state employees and retirees and for the poor as a way to

improve their well-being. As McCrory’s unemployment office chief he helped carry out system reforms and implement new technologies.

See FOLWELL, page 2

PINEHURST, from page 1

and expenditures and then authorize the transfer of all of those funds from the special revenue fund to the general fund to reimburse the general fund essentially for the governmental services, salaries, and benefits.

“In addition, there was over $100,000 in investment income earned on the $5.2 million to date through February that we are also allowed to use to support those expenditures.”

Village Manager Jeff Sanborn further clarified, “Instead of expending our General Fund funds for this, we used the ARPA funds for the salaries and benefits, which left an equal amount of general fund funds unspent.”

Along with the acceptance of the ordinance, council member Lydia Boesch made sure to emphasize the needs the Village may have regarding this extra funding.

“I don’t want to lose sight of the

FOLWELL, from page 1

The state treasurer manages the state’s investments and its massive government employee pension funds. His office also oversees the health insurance program for state workers and teachers and their dependents.

The State Health Plan has been sued over its decision — defended by Folwell — to decline covering gender-affirming treatments for transgender employees and their children.

While delivering the Republican response to Cooper’s State of the State address earlier this month, Robinson focused on his life story while promoting fiscal responsibility and respect for law enforcement and public school teachers.

Folwell also talks about growing up in poverty. Folwell said his young adulthood included working as a trash collector and in motorcycle shops before going to college and becoming a CPA. He then worked for an investment firm.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., also has expressed interest in a gubernatorial bid. Candidate filing for the March 2024 primary is held in December, but anyone else seeking to challenge Robinson will feel pressure to enter this spring.

At the end of 2022, Folwell reported $47,000 in cash in his campaign account, compared to $2.2 million held by Robinson’s campaign, according to state filings.

fact that we got a whole lot of money from the government that is still available for use for capital needs because we all know that we have some significant capital needs on the horizon, and this can be used for that,” Boesch said. “I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we got a whole lot of money from the government, and it’s still there to be used for beneficial projects.”

The final action time the council was presented with was an ordinance amending Chapter 31 of the Pinehurst Municipal Code.

The initial request by Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Pizzella was to clarify in the municipal code that a member of the Planning and Zoning Board must be a full-time resident of the Village for the duration of their term, or else their term would terminate.

“We had a minor suggestion with regards to some of the language pertaining to the qualifications for people to serve on our advisory boards, which are con-

tained in Chapter 31 of the Municipal Code,” Sanborn said. “As we started digging through the language in that chapter, we were reminded that there’s a whole host of other inconsistencies and points of confusion in the existing language that we ought to be taking the opportunity to clean up and clarify as well.”

The updated document included a plethora of additional language and definition changes, but due to the length of time that the council would require to review the changes, the council decided not to take action at this time and instead bring it back down the line.

“I understand the point of trying to save some time, but I think we need to make sure our ‘t’s are crossed and the ‘i’s are dotted, and so it should come back to us for a quick action next time,” said Mayor John Strickland.

The Pinehurst Village Council will next meet March 28.

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Moore County:

March 30

Moore County Farmers Market

9am – 1pm

Enjoy the Moore County Farmers Market at the Armory Sports Complex, which is located at 604 W. Morganton Road in Southern Pines!

Trivia Thursday at the Brewery

6 pm

Come out for Trivia at the Southern Pines Brewery! Enjoy fun and prizes each Thursday.

March 31

Friends of the Library Fundraiser at Petros

11am – 7:30pm

Petro’s Chili & Chips in Southern Pines is hosting a fundraiser for The Friends of the Aberdeen Library! On Friday, between 11 am and 7:30 pm, Petro’s will donate 30% of the meal price to the library.

April 1

Sandhills Open Air Flea Market

9am – 2pm

Come out for the Sandhills Open Air Flea Market, located at 5200 US 1 in Vass! Enjoy shopping from local craftsmen, vintage items, farmer’s market goods, and more!

Southern Pines Egg-Stravaganza

10am – 11:30am

The Southern Pines Parks & Recreation Department is holding their annual Easter EggStravaganza at the Campbell House Park! Children ages 12 and under can enjoy egg hunts, fun activities, crafts, and more! This event is free and open to the public.

SPORTS SIDELINE REPORT

PGA

Wallace uses late birdie run to capture 1st PGA Tour title

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Matt Wallace made four birdies down the stretch in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to earn his PGA Tour victory. He shot a 66 and won by one shot over Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. The Dane had a chance to force a playoff on the last hole but missed a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory doesn’t get the Englishman into the Masters because it was held opposite the WGC-Match Play in Texas, but he is set for the PGA Championship.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Villanova All-American Siegrist declares for WNBA draft

Villanova, Pa.

Villanova star and AP AllAmerican Maddy Siegrist will not return for a fifth season and has declared for the WNBA draft. Siegrist led Villanova to a 30-7 overall record and the Sweet 16 for the second time ever this season. She led the country in scoring at 29.2 points per game and averaged 9.2 rebounds. The two-time Big East Player of the Year played four seasons and is the career leading scorer in Villanova basketball history for both men and women with 2,896 points. The WNBA draft is April 10.

HORSE RACING

Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts

Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field took another step forward with the launch of a new antidoping program. It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, while doling out uniform penalties to horses and trainers that will replace the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act known as HISA began the anti-doping program Monday. But there are ongoing legal issues that won’t allow the anti-doping program to immediately start in every state.

It’s his first win with 23XI Racing and fourth of his career

The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Tyler Reddick had the lead and the fastest car on the track when calamity nearly struck.

Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart. Caution. Restart.

Enough slowdowns to make a driver lose his mind.

Or at least his cool.

Reddick handled it nearly to perfection Sunday, earning his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.

“Didn’t quite get the restarts perfectly, but we got the one that

Lamar

The Baltimore quarterback has continued to negotiate with the team

The Associated Press

LAMAR JACKSON said Monday he has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.

“As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value,” Jackson said on Twitter. “Any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl.”

Jackson may not need a trade to join a new team. The nonexclusive franchise tag allows him to negotiate with other clubs. However, it also gives Baltimore a chance to match any agreement he makes. The decision to make the trade request public may be an attempt to deter the Ravens from matching another team’s

mattered,” Reddick said. “The last one.”

Reddick wins COTA crashfest in triple OT 3

Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series win, third on a road course. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. This one might have been the most nerve-wracking. Reddick had to hold the front through the elevated, switchback left hand turn that saw the field bunch up and smash each other time after time on the restarts. The race had eight cautions for 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps past the scheduled distance.

Hamlin said Reddick showed poise to match talent that could lead to a whole lot of victories. He got Reddick to agree to sign with

says

dick through the final three restarts, finished second in the Chevrolet for RCR that became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.

Road course victories for Tyler Reddick among his four career Cup Series wins

23XI with a full year remaining on his RCR contract, and then he was able to secure Reddick early for 2023 when Kurt Busch was forced to retire because of lingering concussion issues.

“I knew he was going to be the most coveted free agent in a very, very, very long time. That’s why I got the jump on it and it cost me a lot of money to do it,” Hamlin said. “You have to have that driver you feel can carry you to championships. ... I feel like we have that guy.” Kyle Busch, who pushed Red-

Alex Bowman, who had a chance to win on the final lap at COTA last season, was third in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports.

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner, finished fourth and was confronted post-race inside his car by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez over the aggressive nature of the race. Suarez also exchanged words with Bowman. NASCAR may take action against Suarez for using his car to bump both Bowman and Chastain on pit road.

William Byron finished fifth for Hendrick and Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford driver in sixth for Team Penske. The series moves to short track racing next Sunday at Richmond.

has requested trade from Ravens

rushing. Jackson has been hurt at the end of the past two seasons, and the Ravens haven’t reached the AFC championship game with him. If he remains with Baltimore, he’ll have a new coordinator. The Ravens hired Georgia’s Todd Monken for that position after the end of last season.

Harbaugh said he anticipates Jackson being Baltimore’s quarterback at the start of next season.

offer — or an attempt to spur more interest among other teams by declaring that he wants out of Baltimore. If Jackson makes a deal with another team and the Ravens don’t match, that team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks. Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke extensively about Jackson on Monday at the league’s owners meetings in Phoenix. “I haven’t seen the tweet. That’s an ongoing process,” Har-

baugh said. “I’m following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I’m excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We’re building our offense around that idea.” Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP. His passing and running ability make him one of the game’s biggest stars. At age 25, he already is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000

“You’ve got to plan for all the contingencies for sure,” Harbaugh said. “But I’m pretty fired up about Lamar Jackson. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a great player. Lamar came back in great shape last year. He’s fired up to play. That’s the Lamar that I’m looking forward to seeing. Can’t wait to get back on the grass and go to work, and I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

Harbaugh tried to stay upbeat about the prospects of Jackson’s return. If Jackson does come back and play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag, it could certainly be an awkward situation, and the coach will have his work cut out for him trying to soothe any hard feelings.

“Nothing’s changed in terms of the relationships, how we feel about Lamar, how we want to build our team,” Harbaugh said.

AP PHOTO Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted that he has asked the team to trade him.

Jackson

he

Foster Freeman Prevatt

April 1, 1941 - March 20, 2023

Foster Freeman Prevatt, age 81 of Southern Pines, NC passed away at FirstHealth Hospice House on March 20, 2023. Foster was born in Kinston, NC on April 1, 1941 to Foster Freeman Prevatt II and Louise Vernon Wilder Prevatt.

Foster spent his childhood in Wilmington, NC where he relished his role as the oldest of 4 children. He was very responsible from an early age whether it was managing his paper route or lending a hand on his extended family’s farm. After graduating from Campbell University he came back to the Wilmington area where he met the love of his life, Marjorie, in Wrightsville Beach. After less than a year of courtship, they married in 1966.

Foster and Marjorie settled into the Southern Pines area in 1968, where he opened the first Occupational Rehabilitation Office. After a few years, his career path changed and he found a passion for selling footwear. He managed Sullivan’s Foot Gear in downtown Southern Pines and was affectionately known as “the man with the beard”. He could quickly assess someone’s shoe size just by looking at their feet. When Rack Room Shoes bought Sullivan’s, he rose through the ranks and became a district manager, then a regional manager and retired after his last role as the Training Director.

Foster was a devout Christian and faithful worshipper that studied the Bible with a keen ability to quote scripture. After retirement he spent his time on the golf course where it was hard to determine what his handicap really was. He may have been a man of God, but he could shuffle a ball closer to the hole without a moment of remorse. While Foster was not gifted athletically, he enjoyed watching sports and wore out the remote control flipping between sporting events. He was a frugal man, which lead to his love of all you can eat buffets and scouring the newspaper for restaurant coupons. While he was frugal with most things in his life, he had a unrelenting passion for Sansabelt pants and outlandish sport coats, which he is dressed in for his final resting place.

Foster is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marjorie Chandler

Prevatt; sons, David (Abbie)

Prevatt, Christy (Todd) Williams, Jeffrey (Betty-Shannon) Prevatt; grandchildren Zack Prevatt (Hunter), Andrew Prevatt, Jacob Prevatt, Lauren Prevatt, Colby Williams, Sierra Williams, Will Prevatt and Wilder Prevatt; great grandchild Hudson Prevatt; brother, Bob Prevatt; sister, Nancy Madison. Foster was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Mary Tepper.

Levonde Caldwell Gentry

September 9, 1929 - March 22, 2023

Levonde Caldwell Gentry of Woodlake, Vass NC, formerly of Lumberton, NC transitioned into eternal life on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. She was a dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and aunt. She served as a grade parent, den mother for the cub scouts and chauffer for their many activities. She had breakfast on the table first thing every morning, with bacon and eggs for her husband Bill and “coffee milk” and “cowboy cereal” for the children.

A native of Lumberton, she played trumpet in the Lumberton High School band, and cultivated her talent for visual art. After graduating from Lumberton High, she attended Queen’s College in Charlotte, where she majored in art. She demonstrated her talent over the years with a number of drawings and paintings, including a nativity scene which she painted one Christmas on the picture window of the family home on 18th Street. In the early 1980s, she left her beloved home and hometown to make another home in Vass, NC in the Woodlake community when Bill’s work called for him to be closer to the Sanford area. She hosted many family gatherings at Christmas and other holidays, ensuring that there were gifts for everyone and plenty of food for her “always hungry” family.

Levonde made friends easily, and often had them over for hot tea and cake. She loved her Lord. She joined a Bible study group and was a faithful participant for many years. After attending several churches in the Vass area. She, along with husband Bill and a group of Christian friends united to found a Christian Missionary Alliance Church. They were both active in the church until health concerns prevented them from active service.

In her earlier years, Levonde carefully attended the plants in her yard. In later years, when she was unable to maintain that work, family members knowing her love for plants brought them to her. She continued to enjoy viewing them, along with many species of birds, even from her bed. She also loved dogs, and dogs loved her.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, William Gentry of Lumberton, Wayne Gentry of Vass, Warren Gentry (Linda) of Raleigh, Patricia Gibson (Steve) of Vass. In addition, six grandchildren: Paige Gentry of Raleigh, Allyson Stanton (Tyler) of Raleigh, Danielle Gaither (Sandlin) of Asheville, Laura Marshall (Robert) of Charlotte, and Stephanie Heisinger (Joe) of Vass and eleven great grandchildren.

Alan Charles Langley

April 18, 1937 - March 22, 2023

Alan Charles Langley passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on March 22, 2023.

Alan was born in the East End of London on April 18, 1937 and grew up in the borough of Hackney during the Second World War with his younger brother Kenny. Raised by his father Charlie, a London fireman, and his mother Rose, a seamstress, Alan finished his formal education at Parmiter’s School in 1953. After his national service in the RAF he went to work in the foreign banking division of Barclay’s Bank. Alan had a successful career in international finance.

Upon his retirement Alan and his family moved from New Jersey to Pinehurst in 1995. Alan enjoyed gardening and playing golf, volunteering with different local organizations, singing with the Golf Capital Chorus, and playing tournament croquet.

Alan will always be remembered as a loving husband and caring father and is survived by his wife of 55 years Maggie and his two sons Matt (Lorraine) and Simon (Samantha).

Margaret Mary Nick

February 23, 1954 - March 22, 2023

Margaret Mary Nick., age 69 of Jackson Springs, NC passed away at First Health Hospice House on March 22, 2023. Margaret was born in Erie, PA on February 23, 1954 to Frank Zalewski and Irene Robasky Zalewski.

Margaret loved the Lord with all her heart. She enjoyed ministering with her beautiful voice and leading worship with her husband in several Moore County evangelical churches. Margaret was the publisher for the Community Presbyterian Church in Pinehurst for 11 years. She also worked at the Sandhills Community College for 7 years as a librarian. Together with Steve, they were foster parents for 5 years. Above all, Margaret loved her family and extended family. She would do anything for anybody and will be missed by all who knew her.

Margaret is survived by her husband Steven Nick; brother Jerry Zalewski of Georgia and sister Judy Zimmerman of Erie, PA; sons, TJ Sandell and Luke Sandell; stepdaughters, Danielle Junker, Tonya Murrell, Bethany McGinty; stepson Kyle Nick; grandchildren, Gabriel Counasse, Liam Counasse, Elliot Counasse, Walker Grech, Twins, Cate and Quinn McGinty; step grandchildren Lily, Keelin and Ariana Murrell. She loved them all unconditionally. Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Irene; nephew Mark Zimmerman Jr.

Robert Gene "Eastwood" King

December 14, 1962 - March 16, 2023

Robert Gene “Eastwood” King, passed away suddenly on Thursday, March 16, 2023 in West End.

Robert was born in Fort Sill, OK to Elizabeth and Gene King on December 14, 1960, which was their wedding anniversary.

He is survived by his wife Carla King; daughter Christa King, two step-sons, Billy Hewett and Jamie Hewett; 4 siblings, Carol King, Sandy King, Charlie King and Richard King; 5 nieces and nephews and his aunt Nancy Garflo.

Robert was a family man and true friend. He lived life to the fullest, loved fishing, music, the beach, bonfires, family gatherings and a little sip or more. He never met a stranger human or animal and was always willing to help. He had a heart of gold.

Sarah M. Wiggins

March 9, 1944 - March 23, 2023

Sarah Tyner Wiggins, 79, of West End, NC passed away Thursday, March 23, 2023 at FirstHealth Hospice House in Pinehurst.

Sarah was born March 9, 1944 in Bennettsville, SC to the late Carl and Mahaley Bell Tyner. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, John Wesley Wiggins; daughter, Donna Livengood (Bobby Jr.), son, John Wiggins Jr. (Judy Barton), and son, Richard Wiggins (Tracey); nine grandchildren, Colt Livengood, Cable Livengood, Mandy Wiggins, Jonathan Wiggins, Trevor Wiggins, Caleb Wiggins, Hunter Wiggins, Skylar Wiggins, and Megan Oaks; and nine great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Juanita Boles and Mildred Vaughn; and a host of other extended family.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by two brothers, Lonnie Tyner and Ray Tyner; one sister, Sheba Tyner McKenzie; and one great-grandchild, Bentley Kage Wiggins.

Sarah was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She enjoyed going to the beach and was an excellent seamstress. She liked watching Walker Texas Ranger and Matt Dillon on TV. Most of all she enjoyed spending time with her family, especially the grandchildren and her dog Baby. After the kids started to school, she worked for 20 years at Candor Hosiery Mill. She was a faithful member of Fairview Baptist Church.