North State Journal Vol. 9, Issue 25

the BRIEF this week

Cooper: All qualifying hospitals joining debt-reduction e ort

Raleigh

All qualifying North Carolina hospitals have agreed to participate in a rst-ofits-kind initiative that will give them higher Medicaid payments if medical debt of low- and middle-income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liabilities, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Monday. Cooper and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled six weeks ago a proposal submitted to federal Medicaid regulators that they said could help about 2 million people in the state get rid of $4 billion in debt held by hospitals, which usually only can recoup a small portion. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed o last month on the plan details, which build on a Medicaid reimbursement program started recently for 99 acutecare, rural or universityconnected hospitals. The hospitals were asked to make their participation decisions known by late last week.

Burglary reported at Trump campaign o ce in Virginia

Ashburn, Va.

A burglary was reported over the weekend at a Virginia campaign o ce for former President Donald Trump, and authorities are investigating whether anything was stolen. It happened Sunday at an o ce in Ashburn being leased by the Trump for President 2024 campaign that also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee, according to a news release from Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County Sheri ’s O ce. The sheri ’s o ce was contacted around 9 p.m. Sunday. The o ce said it has surveillance video that shows someone wearing dark clothing with a dark cap and carrying a backpack. An investigation continues. The video shows a person breaking in and going through the o ce, sheri ’s o ce spokesperson Thomas A. Julia said in an email Tuesday. O cials expect to issue an update once more is known, Julia said. The Trump campaign and 10th District Republican Committee did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Stay gold

Stephen Curry sank four consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch to lead the U.S. to its fth consecutive gold in Olympics men’s basketball. The former Davidson star from Charlotte had 24 points — all on 3s — to beat France on its home court Saturday in Paris.

Treasurer warns of State Health Plan insolvency

Dale Folwell pointed to COVID-19 expense reimbursements and a lack of funding from the General Assembly

UNC interim chancellor Roberts approved for permanent job

The Duke grad succeeds Kevin Guskiewicz to become the 13th person to hold the position

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — After several months of speculation over who would ll the chancellorship at North Carolina’s agship university, interim leader Lee Roberts has been picked to be the 13th chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Roberts was approved Friday by the University of North Car-

olina Board of Governors. The announcement means the end of yet another highly anticipated chancellor search in the state’s public university system, which has lled four other vacancies in the past year.

UNC System President Peter Hans, who was charged with nominating a chancellor pick for the board to vote on, said UNC needs a “set of fresh eyes” to chart the university’s path forward during a turbulent time for higher education. He called Roberts “the right leader for this moment in Carolina’s history.”

“I have a deep respect for

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell has raised alarm bells about scal solvency issues with the State Health Plan.

During his monthly call with reporters, Folwell warned that the North Carolina State Health Plan (SHP) is on track to become insolvent, projecting that it will “go below our statutory minimums in 2025.”

Folwell emphasized the precarious position of the plan, stating, “We’re one pandemic away from not being able to pay our bills.”

The root of the problem, according to Folwell, lies in insu cient funding from the legislature coupled with rapidly rising health care costs and interest rates.

Folwell said “prescription and health costs are going up at least twice a higher rate than the amount of funding that the General Assembly has chosen to give us.”

The treasurer also cited from the legislature.

“It’s my understanding that we have received less than half of the $500 million of COVID-related expenses. So we’re looking for another $250 million,” said Folwell.

“We’re one pandemic away from not being able to pay our bills.”

N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell

Bushes, Obamas named honorary co-chairs for America250

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome President George W. Bush, Mrs. Laura Bush, President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama to the America250 family.”

Rosie Rios, America250 chair

North Carolina will have three events this month

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and their wives, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, have been named “honorary national co-chairs” for the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebrations, according to America250, a nonpartisan nonpro t working on the anniversary alongside the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome President George W. Bush, Mrs. Laura Bush, President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama

to the America250 family,” said America250 Chair Rosie Rios in a press release. “As Presidents and First Ladies of the United States, their stories are foundational to the American story. We hope that their unique voices will help encourage everyone to participate in this pivotal commemoration.”

Established by Congress in 2016, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission is tasked with the planning of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Semiquincentennial Commission is made up of 16 private citizens, four U.S. representatives, four senators and 12 ex-o cio members from the three branches of the federal government and its independent agencies.

The appointees were selected by the leadership of both parties in the U.S. House and Senate.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and U.S. Reps. Don Davis (D-NC-01), Valerie Foushee (D-NC-04), Richard Hudson (R-NC-09) and David Rouzer (R-NC-07) are part of the Congressional America250 Caucus.

In addition to the national commission, the North Carolina General Assembly

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

the word | Doing something worthwhile

We all like to feel that what we are doing counts for something — that it is really worthwhile. We know that much labor is lost in the world, and we do not want ours to be lost. We naturally feel that when we do something, we want it to be something that people can see and value. Some think, “If I could just preach — I wouldn’t mind working for the Lord. But, I can do so little — nothing worth the e ort. What can my feeble e orts accomplish, anyway?”

Others think if they could go to a foreign land, draw people to Christ there, send home great reports of accomplishments and have their names published in the paper —then that would be worthwhile. But since they are only ordinary people and can do only ordinary things — it seems to them that it hardly pays to try. They will just follow the line of least resistance and do things the easiest way. Of course they want to do what they can for God — but they also want to do something really great. What is really worthwhile in life? Is it only those things that make a great show? Things the world counts as great? A sister said to me recently in a letter, “I used to think that I could do nothing worthwhile, but I have found that just simply living as a true Christian before people, is a great work.” Now, that sister has learned a wonderful lesson. She has found a truth so great, that most people do not recognize it as truth when they do nd it.

Simply living as a true Christian before people is one of the very greatest things that an individual has ever done in this world. Talk is cheap, and many people can talk all day — yet scarcely say anything worthwhile. Some can sway great crowds and accomplish wonderful things — but still they do not live as a true Christian. There is no power so great in this world — as the simple power of a holy, quiet life.

was hardly worthwhile. He was just taking care of the sheep — out to the pasture and back to the fold, seven days a week, and nothing more.

The work did not look great to others, but it did to God. God thought it worth so much, that he kept him at that work for forty years. At the age of eighty, when it looked as if he were about done with this world, Moses was called to go to do something for the Lord. That forty years in the wilderness counted now. It had given him experience that helped to qualify him for the work to which God had called him. He was worthwhile — because he had done something worthwhile in those years. He had learned about God and now he was ready to put that knowledge into practice.

Sometimes our lives take us into the wilderness — when it seems God has let us be put in a corner — where our tasks seem to count for little. But the tasks and the time count for us — if they do not count anywhere else.

Faithfulness stands out above all others in human life. Regardless of our situation, if we are faithful, it is sure to count.

The sister mentioned can never hope to do great things. She is frail and isolated and cannot attend meetings. She cannot preach but she has learned the great fact that she is not shut out from doing a grand work.

If all God’s people learned that it really counts just simply to live a holy life, it would change their lives. It would exalt the common service, it would shed a halo over their lives, and they would not feel discouraged.

When Moses was at Pharaoh’s court, I suppose he thought that he was doing something really worthwhile. He amounted to something there. But when the Lord let him be driven away from that court out into the wilderness, he likely thought his occupation there

AMERICA250 from page A1

formed a semiquincentennial committee chaired by Sen. W. Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland) and Rep. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke). The committee will oversee the distribution of individual grants to counties and municipalities drawn from a $1 million budget. The committee’s next meeting is Aug. 22 at 2 p.m.

“As America prepares for our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are proud to serve our country once again as Honorary National Co-Chairs of America250,” the Bushes said. “This milestone is an opportunity to re ect on our history and recommit to our country’s founding values. We look forward to working with America250 and our fellow citizens to celebrate the goodness and greatness of the United States of America.”

“America is not the same country it was 250 years ago — but there are threads that tie us back to the very beginning of it all,” the Obamas said. “Our history plays a big role in shaping the kind of future we hope to create. That’s why we could not be more thrilled to serve as Honorary National Co-Chairs of America250. We look forward to celebrating the Semiquincentennial and sharing the remarkable stories that make our nation the place it is today.”

America250 recently launched three initiatives: Our American Story, a national oral history project seeking nominations for stories to preserve;

America’s Field Trip, a student contest re ecting on America’s meaning, o ering winners behind-the-scenes experiences at historical sites. Seventy- ve rst-place winners from 27 states were selected in the pilot year; America Gives, an upcoming program to promote charitable giving, volunteering and public service, including military service.

For more information on America250 and planned national activities, visit America250.org

In North Carolina, celebrations and events have already begun, with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) coordinating the state’s e orts. Two main concepts chosen by the department to serve as themes are “Revolutionary N.C.” and “When Are We US?” Commemoration activities kicked o this past April with the “Halifax Resolves Days: Prelude to Revolution.”

On July 4, the America250 NC Airstream trailer visited the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, bringing with it soldiers dressed in Revolutionary War garb, musical performances and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Upcoming America250 NC events include activities at Tryon Palace, Camp Flintlock and Horne Creek Living Historical Farm.

• 250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves; Aug. 24, 9:30 to 11 a.m.; Tryon Palace: A patriotic event

commemorating the New Bern Resolves featuring a parade with historical reenactors, civic groups, patriotic organizations, historic weapons demonstrations and a chance to see the America250 NC Airstream trailer. Additional events are planned for the New Bern area that day. For more information, go to visitnewbern.com.

• Camp Flintlock Colonial Faire at Camp Flintlock; Aug. 24; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The event boasts activities for the whole family, including a colonial store, making Native Americanstyle necklaces, a children’s parade at noon, tomahawk throwing and more. This is a ticketed event. For more information, visit camp intlock. com/pages/colonial-faire.

• “Where the Water is Shallow, and the Current is Strong: Stone Fish Weirs of the Yadkin River”; Aug. 24; Horne Creek Living Historical Farm: Assistant State Archaeologist David Cranford will give a talk outlining how important sh were to Native Americans and early settlers of the Yadkin Valley region.

DNCR will hold its quarterly stakeholder Zoom meeting on Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. for those interested in getting involved in America250 NC. For meeting information and to become a stakeholder, contact Leigh Humen at america250nc@dncr.nc.gov.

The one thing we can all do is be faithful to the Lord. Do what he wants us to do. Live pure, holy, unde led, and keep shining every day — no matter the circumstances. Keep shining. That is the thing that counts. There is no greater or more necessary work in the world than putting the truth of God into visible form, in a pure and quiet life.

Charles Wesley Naylor is considered one of the most proli c and inspiring songwriters of the Church of God. He was bedridden for much of his adult life but wrote eight books, a newspaper column and more than 150 songs. Many of his writings are in the public domain.

“This is money that the General Assembly and the state of North Carolina has received from the federal government for COVID-related expenses, and we spent that money for COVID-related expenses. And so we’re looking at well over quarter of a billion dollars.”

The widening gap between expenses and revenues has led to increasing de cits, with projections showing a loss of $80 million for 2024, escalating to $824 million by 2027.

During his comments, Folwell underscored that both the pension and state health plans face similar challenges due to their maturity, with more people drawing bene ts than actively contributing to the plans.

“The General Assembly fully funds the pension plan based on the cost,” said Folwell. “We need them to fully fund the State Health Plan based on the cost. Period. And that is the long-term solution.”

To address the issues facing the SHP, Folwell is advocating for several corrective measures. Chief among these is the implementation of reference-based pricing, which he believes could signi cantly reduce costs while still providing hospitals with a fair pro t margin.

“If we got reference-based pricing, which would give the hospitals 100% pro t. … “We’ve got a shot at keeping the plan solvent,” Folwell said.

Another area of concern is the high cost of certain medications, particularly GLP1 drugs used for weight loss. Folwell pointed out the stark price disparities, stating, “Americans get charged up to 15 times more for GLP-1s than peers in Canada, Japan or Europe.”

Folwell didn’t mince words when criticizing hospital practices and medical debt, two topics his o ce has issued reports on in recent years.

“These billion, these multibillion-dollar corporations who disguise themselves as nonpro ts, have made these billions of dollars on the backs of sick people,” said Folwell while calling for greater transparency in hospital billing and executive compensation.

To ensure the long-term viability of the SHP, Folwell proposed matching charity care with tax bene ts received by hospitals, repealing certi cate of need laws and putting an end to aggressive debt collection practices against patients.

The Treasurer’s O ce and SHP Board of Trustees are also exploring various strategies to balance the budget, including cost reduction measures such as negotiating lower provider rates and managing pharmacy costs. Additionally, they are seeking increased employer contributions and reimbursement for COVID-related expenses.

Per the July presentation to the SHP Board of Trustees, recent actions taken include adjustments to 2025 funding, with increased retirement system contributions and premium increases for certain groups. However, Folwell stressed that without signi cant action, the plan may be unable to pay its bills by fall 2026.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

“Moses before the Burning Bush” by Domenico Fetti (circa 1615) is a painting in the collection of The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

FOLWELL from page A1

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS / AP PHOTO

From left to right, Laura Bush, George Bush, Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, pictured in 2016, were all named honorary co-chairs for America250, a nonpro t preparing for the United State’s 250th anniversary.

Perry cites focus on family for departing NCGA

The former state senator talked about his daughter’s leg amputation and also his time in the legislature

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Former state Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir) has been focusing on family since he departed the legislature on July 2.

Perry, who announced last December 2023 he wouldn’t run for reelection this year before resigning his seat early, has shifted his attention from public service to home, including helping his 22-year-old daughter Reagan, who had a leg amputated after dealing with tumors since she was 15.

“We have a lot going on between the issues that Reagan’s been facing, my mom’s memory issues, you know, I’ve got some health things I need to get taken care of and not put o any longer,” Perry said of his decision to leave the General Assembly. “And the timing’s right to do it, having nished up the short session and being able to cut down on those obligations is a good thing.”

Perry said he’s been able to spend time with Reagan while also educating himself about the challenges amputees face.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research and learning a lot about prosthetics and insurance coverage for amputees and how they’re treated,” he said. “And this been very, very eye-opening for me.”

Perry said he had a newfound passion for raising awareness

about issues faced by amputees, particularly the medical andnancial implications.

“There are some issues,” Perry said. “And there’s treatment of amputees, as an example. If you tear your ACL, the standard is to get you back up to your highest level of mobility. So if you could run before, your surgery is going to be covered to get you back up to where you were. And that’s not true with amputees.”

As for his time at the legislature, Perry said his most memorable and rewarding work was done in the areas of ood mitigation and hurricane relief.

“For my district, my area of the state, I think we did a really good job of raising awareness about our resiliency needs and ooding issues in the eastern part of the state,” Perry said. “And in talking to our fel-

“This been very, very eye-opening for me.”

Former state Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir)

low lawmakers, we were able to communicate the importance to them and got them to commit to over a billion dollars of funding since I’ve been in the General Assembly to address issues of that nature. I think that is something that’s huge.”

Perry, a native of Kinston, also underscored having a role in establishing a roadmap for how to spend the ood mitigation money on speci c projects.

“We had to work on establishing that blueprint. … You don’t just want to spend mon-

ey needlessly,” he said. “And the blueprint that we’re working on would kind of give us a pathway of the most e cient way to roll out those ood mitigation e orts.

“Because if you don’t connect the right way or if you don’t go in the proper sequence, you haven’t really moved any water. You moved it away from one town, but until you get that stu out through the ocean, you haven’t really nished the job.”

He also said he was frustrated with the slow pace of hurricane relief e orts.

“We’ve had a terrible effort as a state when it comes to helping those hurricane victims, so that’s been a big issue for me, and I think we’ll continue to be for anyone moving forward who’s in the east,” Perry said.

“It’s 1,000% still ongoing. (We’ve) still got people out of their homes for six years,” Perry said. “And I will grant to them, it is incredibly complicated when you have that intersectionality of federal law dealing with the FEMA dollars and state law. So it is clearly complicated, however, anybody (who) thinks this is acceptable, I just can’t understand where they’re coming from to think that this is OK.”

His successor, Bob Brinson, is poised to take up the ood mitigation and hurricane relief mantle. Brinson was installed in a ceremony at the legislature on Aug. 2. Perry had been popular with the voters in his district, winning the 2020 Republican primary with 66% of the vote before winning the general election with 86% of the vote in

his home county of Lenoir. Appointed to the state Senate in 2019 to replace Louis Pate, Perry served as majority whip for the 2021-22 biennium. He also held leadership positions, including co-chairman of the Senatenance committee and chairman of several other committees.

Perry considers tax reform and scal responsibility some of the key accomplishments during his tenure. He also stressed the importance of agriculture and the military industry for his district.

“Always proud of our tax reform,” said Perry. “I worked hard on that as a nance chair and got some additional tax cuts programmed in the future based upon revenue, and by raising the standard deduction, it gave everybody a tax break in the state who was paying taxes.”

In looking back over his service to his district, Perry was grateful for his time spent in the legislature with an emphasis on the importance of constituent services.

“I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to serve,” he said, “and I certainly learned a lot about what it takes to not only function at the General Assembly and pass legislation or amend legislation but what constituent services look like and how much time that takes.”

Perry said he did not expect to return to the legislature in the future, but he also didn’t completely close the door.

“I’m too old to say never because I think people always eat their words, but I can’t see that happening,” he said. “It’s so demanding, and I do think that we bene t from having new thoughts and new ideas up there and just a new mixture of people.”

Judges rule in two NC third party certi cation cases

The We The People Party and Justice For All Party will both appear on November ballot

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Two rulings were handed down on Aug. 12 related to lawsuits led over the certi cations of third parties by the North Carolina Board of Elections.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory, an appointee of Gov. Roy Cooper, issued a ruling from the bench against the North Carolina Democratic Party in its attempt to remove We The People Party from the November ballot.

“It would be unconscionable for this court to attempt to tell a candidate who has decided to use one of two methods that the method that he used was a subterfuge, when in fact, if it is or it isn’t, he still complied with the requirements,” Gregory

ROBERTS from page A1

those who invite dissenting opinions and make a point of engaging with thoughtful critics, and Roberts has demonstrated that instinct time and again,” Hans said during the meeting.

Roberts — the son of journalists Steven and Cokie Roberts — was announced as interim chancellor in December after previously serving on the UNC Board of Governors since 2021. His experience has been primarily focused on nance, ranging from his position as the state budget director for former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to the founder of an investment rm in Raleigh.

Roberts’ leadership at UNC was put on national display during tense campus protests against the war in Gaza, which resulted in several arrests. His actions — which included reraising the American ag taken down by demonstrators — were celebrated by Republican leaders such as Senate President Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, who publicly encouraged the university system to give him the UNC chancellorship.

said in court on Monday.

The N.C. Democratic Party (NCDP) sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections after the board voted 4-1 to certify We The People Party (WTP) as an alternative party with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as its presidential candidate.

The NCDP argued the NCSBE’s certi cation of Kennedy’s party was “Allowing una liated candidates to masquerade as political parties.”

As an alternative party, We the People needed to collect at least 13,865 signatures from registered voters to qualify, a number the party surpassed. If Kennedy had run as an independent candidate, We The People would have needed more than 83,000 petition signatures to qualify.

“My plain reading of the letter, which was part of everything that was sent to me, was that the party felt as though, based on party a liation, that they were not going to receive fair treatment,” Gregory said with regard to a July 1 letter sent to the NCS -

“Nobody promised me anything. The process felt pretty rigorous from my standpoint as a participant in the process,” Roberts told reporters after his rst public appearance following the vote.

Now, Roberts will continue to lead the university during a time of major adjustments, including navigating the ongoing upheaval of the university system’s former diversity policy. Among the priorities he mentioned for his rst semester on the job was ensuring UNC excels in athletics and making progress on the School of Civic Life and Leadership.

The former chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, left his post in January to become president of Michigan State University. During his ve-year tenure, Guskiewicz led the university through a tumultuous period — ranging from grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic to the very public dispute between the university’s board of trustees and Nikole Hannah-Jones, a prominent Black journalist who was denied tenure.

A search committee of 13 voting members formed in February to seek candidates for the

BE by WTP’s legal team. “When you make those kinds of statements and you set the parameters to say well, if you’re a Democrat or you’re a Republican, you’re going to be this way, then you lay the groundwork, unfortunately, for what we have here now.”

“It’s unbe tting of the name of the Democratic Party,” Oliver Hall, attorney for WTP, said after the ruling. “They are trying to suppress voter choice. They are doing so by resorting to the courts by making extremely novel if not totally unfounded claims here and elsewhere.”

The NCDP did not immediately issue a statement on the ruling, and it’s unclear if it will appeal the ruling. If an appeal is coming, it needs to happen quickly as absentee ballots will start going out to voters on Sept. 6. A second lawsuit against the NCSBE also saw a conclusion on Aug. 12.

The Justice For All Party (JFA), which is running Cor-

role. Due to a systemwide policy, chancellor searches are kept mostly con dential. All candidate identities, including those of nalists, are not available to the general public and are not subject to public records.

Search committee meetings began to ramp up over the summer, with candidate interviews conducted last week. The UNC Board of Trustees approved no less than three nalists on Monday, which was sent to Hans for his selection.

One of the search committee’s major concerns during the search process was competing in what Laurie Wilder, head of search rm Parker Executive Search, called a “war for talent” in a July meeting. Almost half of the top public and private universities have conducted their own leadership searches in the last few years, she said, which resulted in a “very competitive national market.” Committee leaders also lauded the diverse backgrounds of the candidates. Wilder said they had reached out to candidates who were provosts and research leaders, as well as those with corporate and military backgrounds.

“It’s unbe tting of the name of the Democratic Party.” Oliver Hall, attorney for the We The People Party

nel West as a presidential candidate, was handed a victory after it sued the NCSBE for its refusal to certify the party despite JFA meeting petition requirements.

Judge Terrance Boyle of the U.S. District Court for the North Carolina Eastern District granted JFA’s motion to intervene and ordered the NCSBE to certify JFA and place the party’s candidates on the November ballot. Boyle was appointed to the bench in 1984 by former President Ronald Reagan.

Boyle found that the NCSBE’s application of the state law imposed a “severe burden” on First Amendment rights by excluding JFA from the ballot.

“The Board e ectively disen-

franchised over 17,000 North Carolina voters who signed petitions to certify JFA as a new political party on awed, highly suspect grounds,” Boyle wrote in his order.

Boyle also concluded the board’s actions were not “narrowly tailored” to serve the state’s interests and relied on awed reasoning.

“Narrow tailoring requires a scalpel; the Board used a blunt instrument,’ wrote Boyle. Boyle criticized the use of a single survey used by the NCSBE to investigate JFS petition signatures.

“This survey — conducted months after petitions were collected and based on an exceedingly small percentage of petition-signers — is woefully insu cient to support the Board’s decision as narrowly drawn,” Boyle wrote. “Instead, the Board could have simply excluded the signatures from petitioners who claimed they either didn’t sign or were not told JFA’s purpose and intent.”

“Not every great leader has gone through exactly the pipeline that maybe one would have thought 20, 30, 50 years ago. But we’re excited to have the variability to nd the best leader to carry our university forward,” search committee chair Cristy Page told reporters in July.

Some candidates — particularly those with political backgrounds — have previously caused outcry on university cam-

puses. In 2022, the University of Florida was met by signi cant pushback when it named a sitting Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, Ben Sasse, as the sole presidential nalist.

Citing his wife’s health issues, Sasse recently resigned after spending less than two years in the position, which now sends Florida’s agship university back into the presidential search process.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Former state Sen. Jim Perry has shifted attention to his family since resigning for the legislature in early July.

MAKIYA SEMINERA / AP PHOTO

Lee Roberts, who was approved as the 13th chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill, delivers public remarks on the decision at the Kenan Center in Chapel Hill last Friday.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Oh, to be ‘unburdened’ by progressive socialists any longer

“The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.”

Karl Marx

NO, I AM NOT the new president of a resurrected John Birch Society.

But unless a well-respected and trusted older mainline nonprogressive socialist Democrat can prove the following comments are not valid, I am not going to close the door to such a nomination.

Kamala Harris quotes communist doctrine way too much to become president of the United States of America.

Her favorite catchphrase ― “I can see … what can be, unburdened by what has been” ― sounds so poetic, uplifting and oh so inspiring to the young people of the nation! It has become the target of social media ridicule to conservatives as another one of her trademark “word salads.”

However, upon further inspection, her go-to phrase has a far more sinister implication than being merely inspirational or a late-night joke.

“Unburdened by what has been” can be interpreted by those so inclined as an indictment against America’s inherently racist history. In their view, America was founded as a slaveocracy which has made little, if any, progress since 1619.

If race was all she talked about, many would agree America still has work to do to become a country where everyone has access to equal opportunity and civil rights. However, she uses the phrase all the time ― whether she is talking about climate change, electric vehicles, child care or abortion.

Ewan Palmer of Newsweek did some research and found quotes from Karl Marx that sound similar to being “unburdened” by history. In “The Communist Manifesto,”

EDITORIAL | MICHAEL POLIAKOFF

written in 1848, Marx wrote:

“In bourgeois society, therefore, the past dominates the present; in communist society, the present dominates the past.”

Marx later wrote in his 1852 essay, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte”:

“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.

“The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.”

Much of the language of uber-far-left progressive socialist liberals today clangs like a gong on the American ear ― mainly because so much of it is drawn from Marxist doctrine.

There’s no secret Democrats want to expunge U.S. history of any references with which they disagree or which make them feel “uncomfortable.” Cancel culture, desecration of American monuments, replacing Western civilization history and philosophy classes on campuses with books written by critical race theorists such as Ibram Kendi all follow the same path: Past history in America written by white men based on Judeo-Christian values and Western civilization norms is bad; current enlightened thought “unburdened” by any such historical foundation is good.

Democrats since 2008 have turned their backs on everything considered basic to our shared common life together in America. They have neutered and defunded police enforcement;

University trustees should not be potted plants: the UNC example

UNC trustees voted unanimously to divert $2.3 million from diversity, equity and inclusion programming to public safety.

THE FISH STINKS from the head, goes the old saying.

Presidents of elite universities have been at the head of the failed response to a rash of antisemitic harassment and chaos on too many campuses. Yet college presidents are not alone. Those responsible for governing these institutions, their boards of trustees, have also failed to rise to the moment, doing little or nothing to address the crisis.

But it is not the fate of all university board members to be potted plants. A small minority of American university trustees have demonstrated that it is possible for boards to lead the way in restoring fundamental values that allow higher education to ourish: free inquiry, civil discourse, intellectual diversity and sanity.

At the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the board of trustees has taken bold action over the last two years to rehabilitate the prestigious public university. This earned it the Jerry L. Martin Prize for Excellence in College Trusteeship, awarded annually by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. It has also earned the board a reputation for visionary leadership among academic reforms.

The UNC board’s work predates the convulsions of October 2023. In 2022, it forti ed its commitment to robust and open debate by adopting both the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression and a policy of institutional neutrality as laid out by the Kalven Report developed at the University of Chicago in 1967.

Per the report, institutional neutrality “arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints” and militates “against the university taking collective action or expressing opinions on the political and social issues of the day.” Now other universities are following suit, having paid a dear price for their delay. Harvard University just announced it would stop issuing political statements last month — nearly two years after the UNC board’s action. Having laid the groundwork with the Chicago Principles and institutional neutrality, the board turned to developing institutional infrastructure aimed at fostering a healthy diversity of opinion on campus. In early 2023, it voted unanimously to establish and fund the School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL), a new academic unit that aims to promote civic engagement and discourse, welcoming heterodox faculty and visiting scholars. It o ers a Civic Life and Leadership Minor as well as varied courses on topics including scienti c knowledge, classical philosophy, political psychology and microeconomics. The core of SCiLL’s mission is to expose students to diverse points of view, equipping them with the core competencies necessary to be good citizens.

In the face of irresponsible partisan criticism, the board stood tall, explaining the soundness of its decision. As Chairman John Preyer wrote in Business North Carolina, the board worked with the support of then-chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and other university leaders, including College of

appointed liberal judges who have let thousands of convicted people out of prison unilaterally; ung wide open our southern border to let another 10 million people enter illegally; canceled tens of billions of dollars of federal student debt without legislative approval; and spent trillions in federal dollars on unnecessary programs which have jacked up prices of everything to unreasonable heights through rampant in ation.

When Barack Obama declared “Change has come to America!” the night he was elected in 2008, he was not kidding. They have spent the last 16 years doing it.

If Kamala Harris had been born to a Southern Baptist minister, her favorite catchphrase could charitably be interpreted as an allusion to Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

Christians across the nation would acknowledge her prayer for a Fifth Great Spiritual Reawakening in America, one they would fully embrace.

But she is not the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister. She is the daughter of an avowed Marxist communist economics professor at Stanford. The catchphrases she picked up had to come from somewhere. There can be little doubt they came from conversations around the dinner table with her parents about how great communism was and how terrible America was for being a capitalistic society.

In 1884, when urged to run for president, former Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman said, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.”

Unless a senior Democrat can prove that Kamala Harris rejects any and all communist tenets, it will be di cult to declare the same when the John Birch Society comes a-knocking.

Arts and Sciences Dean Jim White, to develop a nonpartisan school committed to forming an educated citizenry, which is a core function of higher education in a free society.

Success at faculty recruitment has already vindicated the board’s approach: Jed Atkins, the distinguished scholar and teacher of classical studies at Duke University and director of Duke’s Civil Discourse Project, has now come to Chapel Hill as SCiLL’s inaugural dean.

UNC trustees took steps to enshrine meritocratic and race-neutral principles in university policy, as well. Following the Supreme Court decision ending the discriminatory practice of race-based admissions, the UNC board passed a resolution a rming compliance with the court’s ruling, extending its logic from admissions to hiring and warning admissions o cers not to nd proxies for race to work around the decision.

In response to the recent havoc that spread across American campuses as pro-Hamas radicals and outside agitators erected encampments, occupied buildings and harassed Jewish students, trustees voted unanimously to divert $2.3 million from diversity, equity and inclusion programming to public safety. UNC chose to preserve order and protect the safety of its students instead of funding programs that promote far-left ideology and virulent antisemitism.

Supported by the trustees’ strong leadership, Chancellor Lee Roberts was able to respond decisively to the Jihadist radicals, calling in law enforcement to clear the illegal encampment. And when protesters took down the American ag at UNC, Chancellor Roberts personally led law enforcement to restore it.

Trustees elsewhere should take note. This is what leadership looks like.

Michael B. Poliako is president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

COLUMN

How not to pick a Jew for vice president

LAST WEEK, Kamala Harris chose her vicepresidential running mate.

She could have picked the wildly popular, semimoderate swing state governor from Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has a 62% approval rating in the state, which is ranked by Nate Silver as the most important election bellwether. Shapiro is charismatic, smart and bridges the gap between radical Democratic social policy and heterodox moderate views on education and Israel.

Instead, she chose the radical leftist candidate from the non-swing state of Minnesota who presided over the burning down of Minneapolis during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.

Interesting choice.

Shapiro seemed to be the obvious pick.

But there was one overriding problem with Josh Shapiro in the age of the Squad: Josh Shapiro is a Jew.

And there will be no Jewish vice president for Kamala Harris.

All of which tells you a lot about Kamala Harris, as both a candidate and as a person.

As a candidate, she’s a coward. She is in commanding position within her own party — a party desperate to prevent a loss to the dreaded scourge of Donald Trump. The base is once again enthused about her, despite her dreadful electoral history, mainly because they no longer have to pretend enthusiasm for the moldering corpse of President Joe Biden. Her own approval ratings have ticked up from the mid-30s to the low50s. Whereas only 58% of black voters said they would de nitely vote in July — when Biden was the nominee — now some 74% say they will vote. Instead of trailing Trump by several points, Harris now leads him by a slim margin nationally, and is within the margin of error in all of the swing states.

Yet Harris is terri ed of the pro-Hamas contingent within her own party: the people who are chanting in solidarity with Hezbollah on campus, who declaim their

COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE

enthusiasm for the cause of a Palestinian population that, by polling data, supports terrorism and murder by an 8-2 margin. Harris is frightened of a messy Democratic National Convention, in which Hamas ags y while American ags are burned. She wanted to paper over her party’s dyspepsia on Israel — and she couldn’t have a Jew on the ticket. Because the rift in the Democratic Party isn’t truly about Israel: Tim Walz, her actual VP pick, has positions on Israel nearly identical to those of Shapiro. It’s about one thing and one thing only: Josh Shapiro is a Jew. And a signi cant segment of her base doesn’t like Jews.

That’s true gutlessness.

And then there’s Harris as a person.

Harris wants to portray herself as a moderate. She wants to jettison her prior political positions for the sake of winning, hoping that the media will continue to allow her to escape all scrutiny. Yet when it came down to it, she chose the Marxist from Minnesota — a man who has said that “one person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness” — over the moderate from Pennsylvania. She hasn’t been captured by the radicals in her party. She is a radical. She always was. Her entire record says so. She herself has said so. The Walz pick was comfortable for her because she is more comfortable with Walz’s extremism than with Shapiro’s pseudo-moderation.

So what should Harris’ pick tell us, in the end? That she’s a radical, and that she’s a coward. That she will always, when given the opportunity, side with the most extreme in her party — and that she is afraid enough of them that she’s willing to engage in the most cynical bigotry in order to curry their favor. That’s the kind of person who certainly should not be president of the United States.

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

The symmetrical vice-presidential picks

THERE IS AN UNCANNY symmetry in the two presidential candidates’ choice of vice-presidential running mates. There are a few super cial di erences — Republican J.D. Vance is 40, Democrat Tim Walz 60. Vance is bearded, Walz is balding.

The similarities are greater, and they go beyond the fact of their military service. Both were chosen by principals in moments of exuberance: former President Donald Trump after he’d walloped President Joe Biden in debate and survived an assassination attempt; Vice President Kamala Harris after she’d outperformed expectations and surged to a lead in the polls.

Each might have re ected that poll leads can vanish and that, in any case, theirs were not so impressive. Trump never quite reached 50% against Biden, and Harris’ numbers remain well short of Biden’s 4.5-percentage-point popular vote lead that enabled him to win an Electoral College majority by only 42,918 votes in three states.

As it often does with politicians, optimism prevailed. Each nominee — Harris has been nominated preconvention over the internet — chose a candidate whose record accentuated the ticket’s di erences from earlier party traditions — and who has seemed less likely than possible alternatives to appeal to voters dismayed by both alternatives.

Vance is a convert, from a 2016 sco er at Trumpism to a true believer, in a demotic Republican Party that re ects the cultural discontents and economic grievances of a workingclass majority — “demotic” comes from the same Greek root as “democracy.” He articulately defends tari s, sco s at Ukraine aid, and celebrates family values not just abstractly but with provocative references to “childless cat ladies.” Walz, despite his roots in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, and occasional centrist congressional votes, has come to represent a metropolitan Democratic Party, whose big majorities in million-plus metro areas owe less to racede ned minorities and more to white college graduates in each electoral cycle.

He was sympathetic to rioters in May 2020 — he hesitated before sending in the National Guard. He has called for a “working cease re” in Gaza and signed a bill putting menstrual pads in fourth- to 12th-grade boys’ bathrooms.

For both sides, the vice-presidential nominees have been target-rich environments. Walz, predesignation, led Democrats in labeling Vance “weird,” and Republicans will undoubtedly respond with gusto.

And the candidates at the top of the tickets provide more targets. Trump inexplicably attacked the Republican governor in target state Georgia and suggested he didn’t realize Harris was black, while Harris, if she ever allows questions from reporters, may have to explain why she ordered campaign aides to tweet renunciations of her 2019 support of abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, banning fracking and abolishing private health insurance.

In the short term, the Vance and Walz picks increase the chances the other party will achieve the trifecta — majorities in both houses of Congress and the White

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House — which both parties have plausibly sought in every presidential year this century. Democrats achieved it in 2008 and 2020, Republicans in 2004 and 2016.

Their 2022 election results suggest that neither vice presidential candidate’s electoral performance adds anything — zero, zip, nada — to each party’s appeal.

Vance won his Senate seat in Ohio with 53% of the vote, exactly the same as Trump’s percentage there in 2020. His percentages in metro Cleveland-Akron (43%) and Columbus (45%) were identical to Trump’s. He ran 1 point better, 54%, in metro Cincinnati, which includes his boyhood home of Middletown.

Walz’s boosters make much of his 2006-16 wins in a mostly non-million-plus metropolitan congressional district, although one reason was his success in Olmsted County, the upscale high-education home of the Mayo Clinic. Statewide, in races for governor, his percentage actually dropped from 54% in 2018 to 52% in 2022. That drop was greatest in the 38% of the state outside metro Minneapolis-St. Paul, from 46% to 40%.

These numbers suggest we continue to live in an era of straight-ticket voting, with a close balance between the two parties, as they have come to be de ned — and reinforced by the Vance and Walz selections.

Traditionally, incumbents under 50% were considered vulnerable, but maybe not in a straight-ticket environment, where personal qualities matter less than party identi cation. If so, Democrats have hopes of holding on to a 50-50 split, with a Vice President Walz casting a tiebreaker. Their hopes for a trifecta, seemingly defunct a few weeks ago, seem alive.

So do Republicans, however. Hopes of retaining their current narrow House majority look a bit better as more Republican than Democratic votes were cast this week in the Democratic-held 3rd congressional districts of Michigan and Washington, which also doesn’t have party registration.

Republicans’ hopes of achieving a trifecta appear better than Democrats’ — but far from assured. Underlying poll questions suggest most voters have a more positive view of the Trump presidency than of what Republicans are calling the Biden-Harris presidency, that in ation and immigration remain problems for Democrats, and that foreign policy doesn’t seem to help the incumbent party or its nominee.

Counterbalancing factors include the determination of most of the press to help Harris defeat Trump, evidenced most recently in the complacency at Harris’ unwillingness to answer questions or speak extemporaneously. And, of course, Trump’s undisciplined alarums and excursions, which helped defeat many Republicans in 2018, ’20, ’21 and ’22, may help defeat the nominee himself in a year when his polling, even with the Harris boom, continues to be stronger than in 2016 or 2020. It’s not over.

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

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.

HAVE YOU HEARD about Tim Walz’s folksiness?

Surely you’ve noticed the “folksy demeanor” and “folksy manner” and “folksy appeal” and “folksy mannerisms” of this “folksy former soldier”? If you somehow missed it, the “folksy governor of Minnesota” exudes a “folksy ... informal vibe” and “folksy relatability.” But don’t forget his “folksy rebukes” and “folksy plain-spoken and sharp-tongued approach,” either.

All these quotes are taken from major media outlets.

Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential pick is a dedicated cultural and economic leftist who happens to inhabit the body of an average middle-aged bowling team drinking buddy. And because he doesn’t live in D.C. or NYC, the political media has settled on a nonthreatening description. Who doesn’t like folksy?

Virtually every major media piece on Walz is identical in its glowing tone and content, stressing his down-home everyman appeal while deemphasizing his insane record. Then again, as Walz says, “one person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”

When Trump announced JD Vance as his veep pick, the stories painted a picture of a dour weirdo who was “radicalized” into an “ideological ally” and “zealous follower of the former president.” Walz, on the other hand, had merely “evolved” into his “progressive” positions, as one does.

The word “folksy” typically has two de nitions. One denotes having the characteristics of “traditional culture and customs, especially in a contrived or arti cial way.” The other is to act in an “informal and unpretentious” manner. It’s certainly fair to say that Walz is a more relaxed and unpretentious authoritarian than his tautologyspouting running partner.

In this case, though, folksiness has a third euphemistic meaning: “not the Jewish guy.”

Has anyone o ered a single convincing reason — other than the obvious — for why Harris picked Walz for the national ticket over Josh Shapiro, the popular governor of a must-win state with more working-class voters than Minnesota? It is highly unlikely that anyone wins 2024 without Pennsylvania.

Democrats are gambling that the Jewish vote is secure enough to withstand the rampant antisemitism that’s taken hold on the progressive Left. It’s not a terrible bet, sadly. In Walz, Harris believes she can placate the activist base and growing pro-Hamas wing of the party while media covers her running mate as a folksy moderate.

It’s no accident that Squad members like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar were rst out of the gate celebrating the Walz pick. Bernie Sanders loves it. Hamas apologists like The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah were tweeting like giddy teenagers, “TEAM WALZ!!!!!!!!!! ITS OUR TIME!!”

What about moderates and independents? It seems counterintuitive for Harris, who has accumulated a grand total of zero primary votes, to tap one of the most brazenly left-wing governors in the country as she attempts to walk back a raft of unpopular positions that were staked only a few years ago.

Like Harris, the folksy Minnesota governor has proposed socializing health insurance and eliminating fossil fuels. Like Harris, Walz wants to e ectively decriminalize illegal immigration by signing laws to pay for the health care and tuition of illegals, and allow them to have driver’s licenses. Like Harris, Walz has taken a maximalist position on abortion, signing a bill codifying the procedure as a “fundamental right” into the ninth month, on demand, with no questions asked. Walz also signed a bill that lets children with gender dysphoria be mutilated by doctors.

Aside from all of that, Minnesota has seen a string of scandals and scal mismanagement under Walz.

Walz, who set up a snitch line to report COVID rule violators, watched as minority neighborhoods in Minnesota were being burned during the Black Lives Matter riots. When asked to call in the National Guard, Walz responded, “I will not patronize you as a white man without living (your) lived experiences.” He speaks just like the average American!

Perhaps none of that will matter because vice presidents rarely matter. Some writers have speculated that Harris believed Shapiro, a more moderate political gure, would outshine her. Walz, it is true, has never made anyone look bad.

But it’s also clear that the Left is hoping voters will ignore the real Tim Walz and fall for the contrived harmless folksy fella of their imagination.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist.

UNC chancellors

The University of North Carolina (UNC) System is a historic public institution dedicated to serving the people of North Carolina through world-class teaching, research and community engagement. It oversees 16 universities across the state, collectively enrolling nearly 250,000 students with the mission of fostering academic excellence and accessibility for all. In 2024, ve institutions welcomed new chancellors, with NC State’s Chancellor Randy Woodson earning distinction as the state’s current longest-serving school leader. Woodson will retire after the upcoming school year. Below is a list of current UNC System chancellors.

1. Western Carolina University: Dr. Kelli R. Brown (2019)

2. UNC Asheville: Kimberly van Noort (interim, 2023)

3. Appalachian State University: Dr. Heather Hulbert Norris (2024)

4. UNC Charlotte: Dr. Sharon L. Gaber (2020)

5. Winston-Salem State University: Bonita J. Brown (2024) UNC School of the Arts: Brian Cole (2020)

6. UNC Greensboro: Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. (2015) North Carolina A&T University: Dr. James R. Martin II (2024)

WEST

Internal investigation probes why man responsible for wrong-way crash wasn’t in custody

Buncombe County An internal investigation into Buncombe County’s Pretrial Services Program is underway and one of its employees has resigned. Buncombe County personnel records show Nelly Vargas turned in her resignation last week after Ryan Ricky Houston’s path of chaos that left three people — a mother, a retired police chief and Houston — dead. Buncombe County is moving forward with an internal investigation of personnel and its pretrial services, with questions raised by o cials regarding the series of events that started 14 months ago when a Buncombe County grand jury indicted Houston for the attempted murder of a Buncombe County Sheri ’s O ce deputy but released him on bond as he awaited trial. Records obtained by local outlets indicated Houston’s electronic monitoring device stopped working the night before he was involved in the tragic fatalities stemming from a wrong-way crash earlier this month.

WLOS

into it. The death has been ruled a suicide. NSJ

Franklin County’s Winslow named new conference chair

10. Fayetteville State University: Darrell T. Allison (2021)

11. UNC Pembroke: Dr. Robin G. Cummings (2015)

12. UNC Wilmington: Dr. Aswani K. Volety (2022)

13. East Carolina University: Dr. Philip G. Rogers (2021)

14. Elizabeth City State University: No current chancellor

PIEDMONT

N.C. Zoo named top zoo in nation

Randolph County Despite competing against beloved parks like the Bronx Zoo in New York City and the San Diego Zoo, the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro took the top spot in Newsweek’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards, saying, “From the Endangered Species Carousel and Air Hike Ropes Course to zookeeper talks and guided golf-cart tours, there’s a lot to experience at the North Carolina Zoo.

A Zoofari trip will take you onto a 40acre expanse for a free-roaming look at rhinos, ostriches and herding animals.” NSJ

Teen girl’s body found in reservoir

Stanly County

A teenager was found dead at the Tuckertown Reservoir in New London in Stanly County late last week. Montgomery Emergency Services searched for a missing 19-year-old girl who jumped into the reservoir during the day and did not resurface. O cials would not release the speci c location where the girl jumped into the water. Montgomery Emergency Services found the girl’s body later in the evening. Emergency o cials have not released further information on the circumstances of the girl’s death. WBTV

New cell phone policy greets students headed back to school

Forsyth County

A new cell phone policy is being implemented throughout WinstonSalem/Forsyth County Schools in an e ort to prevent students from being distracted during class. The school board approved the new policy in June.

“From the very start of the school year, we are asking school leaders and teachers to set expectations for no cell phone use during the school day,” WS/ FCS Chief O cer of Equity, Access and Acceleration E e McMillian told local news outlets. Students will likely notice new signs and posters around their schools forbidding the use of cell phones and other wireless devices, and not have them visible during instruction time. “Even though the use of cell phones has been discouraged, this year, we are implementing a policy saying no wireless communication devices should be used during the instructional day,” McMillian said. However, for high school students, there will be designated lunch periods and times they’ll be allowed to use their devices.

WXII

EAST

Kinston sees increased mail theft, stolen checks

Lenior County

The Kinston Police Department is advising residents to monitor nancial accounts due to a spike in recent mail thefts involving checks being stolen after being mailed to a number of businesses in Kinston. Authorities are urging residents to use caution and utilize proactive measures to avoid becoming a victim of check fraud, encouraging residents to hand-deliver payments and closely monitor nancial accounts to help reduce the risk and closely monitor nancial accounts for any unauthorized transactions.

WCTI

Parents charged for leaving child in car at bar

Wake County A man and woman are in trouble after their 1-year-old child was left alone in a car outside a bar Saturday night, Garner police told local outlets Monday. According to police, Arron and Dayna Fuller were each charged with misdemeanor child abuse, and child protective services were noti ed. The child was checked by EMS crews, who said the child had no injuries, police said. It’s not clear how long the child was alone in the car.

NSJ

Swimmers urged to stay out of coastal waters after Debby Dare County North Carolina o cials are still advising against swimming in some areas on the coast after Tropical Storm Debby hit the state last week, impacting water quality along beaches. Before the storm hit, state recreational water quality o cials advised against swimming for a large area of the North Carolina coast after the storm passed. This weekend, o cials told local outlets that the no-swimming advice is still valid on beaches from the Wright Memorial Bridge in Kitty Hawk down south to the South Carolina state line. “The precautionary advisory will remain in place until samples collected are within a safe swimming standard,” said Erin Bryan-Millush, manager of the N.C. Recreational Water Quality Program. Heavy rains negatively impact coastal waters through stormwater runo that can contain elevated levels of harmful bacteria that drain into coastal surf, she said. More than 10 inches of rainfall at the coast caused street ooding along with over owing waters into homes, businesses and yards.

WNCN

NATION & WORLD

Debby leads to ooding, 2 deaths in NC

The storm caused damage up and down the East Coast

By Ron Todt and Holly Ramer The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — The weather system previously known as Hurricane Debby moved out of the United States and into Canada, leaving damage throughout the East Coast and threats of more ooding as other storm systems roll through the Southeast.

Authorities in Lumberton said in a Facebook post Saturday that one person died after driving into oodwaters on a closed road and getting swept away. O cials didn’t identify the driver but said that what they hoped would be a poststorm rescue quickly turned into a recovery.

“It bears repeating,” the agency said in the post. “Nev-

er drive into ooded roadways and obey road closed signage.”

It was the ninth death attributed to Debby and the second in North Carolina — Hilda Windsor Jones, 78, was killed last Thursday when a tree fell on her mobile home in Brown Summit in Rockingham County. In New Bern, business was brisk at the Halftime Pub and Grub restaurant Sunday afternoon just after a ash ood warning was issued, said server Chastity Bettis.

“Right now, it’s thundering, sprinkling and pretty dark so I’d say it’s going to start raining hard here pretty soon,” she said.

“If you live here, you’re pretty used to hurricane season and it being like this, but the last week or two we’ve been getting it pretty rough.”

Debby’s last day and night over the U.S. inundated parts of New York, Pennsylvania and New England with rain and ash ooding last Friday, prompting evac-

uations and rescues.

Stacey Urban, whose family owns the Moss Vanwie Farm in Canisteo, New York, said the oodwaters destroyed about three-fourths of the 1,200-acre farm, including about 400 acres of corn, 200 acres of soybeans and hundreds more acres of hay used to feed their cows and other animals.

“This is complete and total devastation,” she said by phone Sunday as re department ofcials were bailing out the home’s ooded basement. “We never thought this would happen.”

Urban said the family, which has operated the farm for about 37 years, hasn’t had a chance to take a full accounting of the damage but said all their 150 cows and 200 youngstock are safe and all farm equipment has been recovered.

“Whether it all works is another thing,” she said. “The water came in fast.” New York’s Steuben Coun-

ty, located along the Pennsylvania state line, declared a state of emergency last Friday and ordered several towns evacuated as ood waters engulfed homes, farms and roadways. The area has been hit by devastating ash oods in prior storms, including in 2021.

“Twice in three years the Tuscarora Creek turned from a gentle stream into a raging beast,” county o cials wrote in a post on the government’s Facebook page Sunday afternoon. “It’s just too much. The sun still rose Saturday. Volunteers xed breakfast. People from all four towns rolled up their sleeves, took a deep breath.”

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is tracking another potential tropical storm in the Atlantic. O cials said a tropical depression is likely to form within the next day or two and could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week.

Zelenskyy

acknowledges military incursion onto Russian soil

Ukrainian forces have advanced into the border region near Kursk

By Samya Kullab

The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Days after Ukraine began a surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has broken the government’s silence on it by indirectly acknowledging the ongoing military actions to “push the war out into the aggressor’s territory.”

Zelenskyy’s comment came in his nightly address late Saturday.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia continued for a sixth day Sunday. It’s the largest such attack since Moscow launched its fullscale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, and is unprecedented for its use of Ukrainian military units on Russian soil. Ukraine’s raid into Russia caught Moscow unaware and was an embarrassment to Russian military leaders who have scrambled to contain the breach.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday that its forces engaged Ukrainian troops in Tolpino, Zhuravli and Obshchy Kolodez, the o cial Tass news agency reported. Tolpino is 15 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Evacuation of civilians living in Russia’s border areas with Ukraine continued Sunday. Russian state television aired footage of evacuees at a tent camp in the city of Kursk. According to the report by RTR, more than 20 temporary accommodation centers have been set up in the region. The exact aims of the operation remain unclear, and Ukrainian military o cials have adopted a policy of secrecy, presumably to ensure its success. Military experts have said it is likely intended to draw Russian reserves away from the intense ghting in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. A presidential

adviser suggested that it may strengthen Kyiv’s hand in any future negotiations with Russia.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday that Ukraine “understands perfectly well” that the recent attacks “make no sense from a military point of view.”

“The Kyiv regime is continuing its terrorist activity with the sole purpose of intimidating the peaceful population of Russia,” she added.

Meanwhile, a re in the vicinity of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Power Plant was reported by Ukrainian ocials late Sunday. According to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head

Quake felt from LA to San Diego, no major damage

Los Angeles A 4.4 magnitude earthquake was strongly felt Monday afternoon from the Los Angeles area all the way to San Diego, swaying buildings, rattling dishes and setting o car alarms, but no major damage or injuries were immediately reported. The quake was felt from greater Los Angeles south to San Diego and east to the Palm Springs desert region, according to the USGS community reporting page. A small number of reports were led from the southern San Joaquin Valley about 100 miles northwest of LA.

Puerto Rico prepares as Tropical Storm Ernesto approaches

San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico activated the National Guard and canceled the start of classes in public schools as forecasters warned that the U.S. territory would be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. Tropical storm warnings were in e ect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten. Ernesto is the fth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said more than 200 personnel with the National Guard were activated.

of the military administration of Nikopol, which is across the river from occupied Enerhodar where the plant is located, Russian forces set re to automobile tires in the cooling towers to make it appear as though a re had broken out.

“Perhaps this is a provocation or an attempt to create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir,” he said. Zelenskyy also said Russia was using the plant to blackmail Ukraine and playing on Western fears of escalation. Yevhen Balytskyi, the Russia-appointed governor of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant and causing the re. He provided no evidence for the claim.

Belarus said it was sending more troops to its border with Ukraine on Saturday, saying Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace as part of Kyiv’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said air defense forces destroyed dozens of targets ying from Ukraine over the Mogilev region, which borders Russia, on Friday evening.

“The Ukrainian armed forces violated all rules of conduct and violated the airspace of the Republic of Belarus. In the eastern direction, very close to us in the Kostyukovichi district,” Lukashenko said at a meeting in Minsk on Saturday.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said the government regards the violation of its airspace as a provocation and is “ready for retaliatory action.”

Federal o cials investigating Md. gas explosion that killed 2 Annapolis, Md. The National Transportation Safety Board, which has jurisdiction over pipelines, is investigating a natural gas explosion at a home in Bel Air, Maryland, that killed two people, the agency said Monday. Meanwhile, state o cials have identi ed the two people who died, and the state re marshal’s o ce said they are focusing on accidental causes because there is no evidence of criminal activity. Ray Corkran Jr., the 73-year- old homeowner, died in the Sunday morning explosion, o cials said. Jose Rodriguez-Alvarado, a 35-year-old contracted utility employee with Baltimore Gas and Electric, also died, the state re marshal’s o ce said.

Thousands protest lithium mining in Serbia

Belgrade, Serbia

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied on Saturday against lithium mining in Serbia despite o cials’ warnings of their alleged plot to topple populist President Aleksandar Vučić and his government. Vučić said earlier he had been tipped o by Russian intelligence services that a “mass unrest and a coup” were being prepared in Serbia by unspeci ed Western powers that wish to oust him from power. After one of the biggest protests in downtown Belgrade in years ended, some people in the crowd marched toward the capital’s two main railway stations, pledging to block train tra c until their demands that lithium mining be o cially banned are met.

JOHN MINCHILLO / AP PHOTO

Randy Sikes speaks to his relatives on a mobile phone as he stands in residual rainwater ooding downtown Bladenboro caused by Tropical Storm Debby last Thursday.

AP PHOTO

People walk near a damaged apartment building Sunday in Kursk, Russia, after shelling by Ukraine.

catastrophe

questions about when normal

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

shelter-in-place or stay-at-home majority of Americans “new normal.” end of this month.

taxpayer at least $2.4 trillion in added Federal Reserve backup liquidity to the the U.S. dollar were not the reserve to fund any of these emergency fear of rampant in ation and currency aberrant ways and decisions through Diplomacy has obviously not worked world of 21st century health, hygiene communist regimes never take the blame remorse, because that is not what They take advantage of every weakness keep pushing until they win or the event happens such as the Chernobyl experts believe that event, not the Star Wars to the dissolution of the Soviet Union Chernobyl.

we begin to get back to normal

How China will pay for this COVID-19 catastrophe

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

WALTER E. WILLIAMS

The 3 big questions

The comfort

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

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

business & economy

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

Fixing college corruption

Perhaps COVID-19 is China’s Chernobyl.

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

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

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

Sponsored

by

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

Federal funding to remove N.C. dams, restore river habitats

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

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a

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

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

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

Not one little bit.

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

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

BOONE — An infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars from a federal infrastructure law is helping expedite e orts to remove dams around the country. Advocates expect the law will provide more than $2 billion to repair and remove dams and other barriers. Many groups are already using that money to remove mostly small dams from North Carolina to California. Advocates argue removing these structures, many of which have outlived their usefulness and are in desperate need of repair, can return rivers to their natural state and bolster biodiversity. Others are being removed to reduce the risk of oods and revive river economies.

the seriousness of the virus and the need uneasy with how people who simply ask when things can start getting back to circles with contempt. as a society simply must accept without tells us about when it’s safe to begin the normalcy. for us, and we have the right to ask those stay-at-home orders are in place all over the them get in states, such as Michigan, feeling isolated and/or anxious about providing for their families, will demand levels should be as forthcoming as they and again, not vague answers, but answer statements believability. what we can to keep our families, safe. But we should also still continue because while reasonable stay-at-home they should also have an expiration date. and it is not normal. Not in any way, should remain vigilant and stay safe, at comfortable with this so-called “new

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

North Carolina — which had the second-largest collection of dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition — set aside $7.2 million for the removal of Watauga County’s Shulls Mill Dam and at least ve others in the western part of the state.

Removal of this privately owned hydropower dam in western North Carolina will allow the river to ow freely for nearly 80 miles, a boon for rafters, kayakers and tubers. But the biggest bene ciary may be a strange, ancient creature known as the eastern hellbender salamander.

written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah RedState and Legal Insurrection.

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

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

Sometimes called a snot otter or Allegheny alligator, it’s North America’s largest salamander and can reach two feet in length. However, the salamander’s range in places such as southern Appalachia has shrunk, and its numbers have decreased by 70% over the past 50 years.

“What’s so important about the hellbender is they need special habitat — clear, clean, cold, heavily oxygenated water,” said Andy Hill, a Watauga Riverkeeper with MountainTrue, which teamed up with American Rivers to remove the dam in July. “The hellbender is kind of a keystone species for a mountain stream ecosystem, and removal of this dam will create a new habitat.”

The cavalier manner virus, covered up its spread 3,341 related deaths has millions of Americans

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

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

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

We need transparency and honesty from our

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

Lenten and Easter seasons provide a message of

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

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

The result: a reduction in expected hospitalization

Vaccine and antiviral sales have fallen, sending the stock price tumbling

By Matthew Perrone The Associated Press

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

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Demolition of Shulls Mill Dam is part of a national trend to return rivers to their natural state by removing aging, sometimes derelict structures that once powered mills, irrigated farmland or impounded water. Aimed at boosting biodiversity, improving water quality and strengthening ood protection amid worsening storms, the campaign to demolish dams dates back several decades. Still, it has intensi ed with a once-in-a-generation funding infusion from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Appalachian State University’s Michael Ganglo , coordinating biological monitoring at the Shulls Mill site, said the free- owing river should improve water quality and become more attractive to salamanders. Sediment will be ushed downstream, he said, exposing larger rocks and boulders where salamanders live, lay eggs and raise young.

Two years ago, P zer was the envy of the pharmaceutical world with more than $100 billion in annual sales from its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral Paxlovid.

Some papers accepted for publication in academic journals advocated training men like dogs and punishing white male college students for historical slavery by asking them to sit in silence on the oor in chains during class and to be expected to learn from the discomfort. Other papers celebrated morbid obesity as a healthy life choice and advocated treating privately conducted masturbation as a form of sexual violence against women. Typically, academic journal editors send submitted papers out to referees for review. In recommending acceptance for publication, many reviewers gave these papers glowing praise.

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

Today, CEO Albert Bourla is trying to turn the page from that success story, which has turned into more of a nancial headache for the global drugmaker.

Lofty expectations for continuing sales of vaccines and antivirals have fallen, sending P zer’s stock price tumbling to about half its peak during the pandemic. Bourla has responded with a $3.5 billion cost-cutting e ort, including layo s and new investments in drugs for cancer and obesity. The transition hasn’t been

Political scientist Zach Goldberg ran certain grievance studies concepts through the Lexis/Nexis database, to see how often they appeared in our press over the years. He found huge increases in the usages of “white privilege,” “unconscious bias,” “critical race theory” and “whiteness.” All of this is being taught to college students, many of whom become primary and secondary school teachers who then indoctrinate our young people.

Companies say customers are seeking cheaper alternatives

By Christopher Rugaber The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

I doubt whether the coronaviruscaused nancial crunch will give college and university administrators, who are a crossbreed between a parrot and jelly sh, the guts and backbone to restore academic respectability. Far too often, they get much of their political support from campus grievance people who are members of the faculty and diversity and multicultural administrative o ces.

“We should see better habitat conditions around the dam and, in 10 to 15 to 20 years, it will be hard to tell there was a dam there,” Ganglo said.

The great in ation spike of the past three years is nearly over, and economists credit American consumers with helping to slay it.

The best hope lies with boards of trustees, though many serve as yes-men for the university president. I think that a good start would be to nd 1950s or 1960s catalogs. Look at the course o erings at a time when college graduates knew how to read, write and compute, and make them today’s curricula. Another helpful tool would be to give careful consideration to eliminating all classes/majors/minors containing the word “studies,” such as women, Asian, black or queer studies. I’d bet that by restoring the traditional academic mission to colleges, they would put a serious dent into the COVID-19 budget shortfall.

Some of America’s largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers increasingly seek cheaper alternative products and services, search for bargains or avoid items they deem too expensive. Consumers aren’t cutting back enough to cause an economic downturn. Rather, economists say, they appear to be returning to prepandemic norms when most companies felt they couldn’t raise prices very much without losing business.

“While in ation is down, prices are still high, and I think consumers have gotten to the point where they’re just not accepting it,” Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said last week at a conference

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

The crisis has cost the debt plus trillions more markets and nancial currency, we would not measures without immediate depreciation. China has to pay for economic and nancial to bring China into the and fair trade. Totalitarian or express sincere regret totalitarian governments they nd in adversaries adversaries push back.

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

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

To date, I’ve gone along with what the state has asked and then mandated that we do, but along the way I’ve also had questions about

Here’s the problem: We still don’t know questions that will allow the economy to First, what is the true coronavirus fatality important because it determines whether be open or closed, whether we ought to more liberalized society that presumes

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

That is, unless an exogenous meltdown in 1986. Some program of Reagan, led

AFor me, making. As Corinthians a iction, a iction, God.” If you are re ect on God’s example this di cult con dent In this same neighbors In Concord, money to health care

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

April 15,

Since when did questioning government at all levels become a thing? That is what free citizens living in a free society were supposed

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

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

Hill, senio

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

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

The comfort and hope

Q&A: P zer CEO on cancer, obesity treatments

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

easy. Company shares dropped again in December when P zer said it would abandon its twice-a-day formulation of an obesity pill due to an unacceptably high rate of side effects. The company continues to study a once-a-day version.

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

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

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

Bourla spoke to The Associated Press about the company’s COVID-19 business and his e orts to move beyond it.

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

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

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

Q: How important are COVID-19 vaccines and Paxlovid to P zer’s future?

I think the two products you mentioned will continue to be very important for P zer because COVID-19 will continue to be important. Those products will continue to o er the best solution in the minds of most people. They’re not going to be as big as we thought last year when we gave an expectation of approximately $20 billion in revenue. The reality was that they were closer to $10 billion. However, that di erence was not because we miscalculated the COVID-19 epidemiology; it came out exactly

as we had thought. But what happened was that they decided to challenge many of the contracts that governments had with us. And although they didn’t have any legal merit, we felt it was not right to take governments to court. So we decided to settle with that.

fallen into place. I understand to take precautions, but questions about the data, normal are treated in some They’re treated as though question what the government process of returning back No. The government questions. And the longer country, and the stricter the more people, sitting when they can get back answers.

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

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

Q: What is P zer getting from its $43 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker Seagen?

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

They have an antibody system programmed to identify the cancer cells among the billions of cells in our body and attach to them. It just goes to them, and the drug is like the warhead on the tip of the missile. With Seagen, we have not one but four products already in the market, 13 programs in clinical trials that will become products, a set of patents and intellectual properties and, of course, thousands of extremely skilled scientists.

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

Q. Where does P zer’s pill version of popular obesity injections t into the marketplace?

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

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

Seagen is the leading company in a new technology called ADC, antibody-drug conjugate. Let me try to use military terms to describe it. Cancer is the enemy. In the past, we were ghting this disease with methods like those used in the Second World War. So the Allies would bomb the entire place, hoping that they would hit the most important targets. This is how chemotherapy works. We release chemotherapy into the body, and it attacks the cancer cells while at the same time attacking the healthy cells. The ADCs are more like modern warfare, with GPS-guided missiles.

Faced with in ation and high prices, American consumers continue to search for less expensive options.

of business economists. “And that’s what you want: The solution to high prices is high prices.” A more price-sensitive consumer helps explain why in ation has appeared to be steadily falling toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. This ended a period of painfully high prices that strained many people’s budgets and darkened their outlooks on the econo -

my. In ation also assumed a central place in the presidential election, leading many Americans to turn sour on the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the economy. Other factors have also helped tame in ation, including the healing of supply chains, which has boosted the availability of cars, trucks, meats and furniture, among other items, and the high in-

If you are celebrating the Easter season, re ect on this message and be comforted, God’s example and comfort all those in this di cult time. Through faith and by con dent we will emerge out of this pandemic In this same spirit, I continue to be inspired neighbors helping neighbors. In Concord, a high school senior named money to buy a 3-D printer and plastic health care workers out of his own home.

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

Leaders at the local can be with those answers with details that give their We should all continue ourselves, and our communities to ask questions about measures are understandable, This is all new to Americans, shape, or form. So while the same time we shouldn’t normal.”

Of course, everybody wants to lose weight, but if they have an option, many people would choose a pill. It remains to be seen, but based on the data from our Phase 2 studies, we believe we’ll have good tolerability and e cacy. It’s important to note that danuglipron has been studied in more than 1,400 patients globally, so we know a lot about the molecule. And now, we are looking to develop the once-a-day pill.

Not one little bit.

Stacey Matthews has also and is a regular contributor

terest rates engineered by the Fed, which slowed sales of homes, cars and appliances and other interest rate-sensitive purchases. Still, a key question is whether shoppers will pull back so much as to put the economy at risk. Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of economic activity. With evidence emerging that the job market is cooling, a drop in spending could derail the economy. Such fears caused stock prices to plummet a week ago, though markets have rebounded.

This week, the government will provide updates on in ation and the health of the American consumer. On Wednesday, it will release the consumer price index for July. It’s expected to show that prices — excluding volatile food and energy costs — rose just 3.2% from a year earlier. That would be down from 3.3% in June and the lowest yearover-year in ation gure since April 2021.

On Thursday, the government will report last month’s

COLUMN | REP. RICHARD HUDSON

JENNI SOHN / AP ILLUSTRATION

P zer CEO Albert Bourla focuses on specialty cancer drugs and obesity treatments for the pharmaceutical giant.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP PHOTO

Colleges, universities slash programs due to nancial stress

Two public universities were given the green light to eliminate several programs

By Heather Hollingsworth

The Associated Press

WHEN SHE STARTED studying at St. Cloud State University, Christina Westman dreamed of working as a music therapist with Parkinson’s disease and stroke patients.

However, her schooling was upended in May when administrators at the Minnesota college announced a plan to eliminate its music department as it slashes 42 degree programs and 50 minors.

It’s part of a wave of program cuts in recent months as U.S. colleges, large and small, try to make ends meet. Among their budget challenges: Federal COVID relief money is gone, operational costs are rising, and fewer high school graduates are going straight to college.

The cuts mean more than savings or even job losses. Often, they create turmoil for students who chose a campus because of certain degree programs and then write checks or sign up for student loans.

“For me, it’s been anxiety-ridden,” said Westman, 23, as she began the e ort that ultimately led her to transfer to Augsburg University in Minneapolis. “It’s just the fear of the unknown.”

At St. Cloud State, most students will be able to nish their degrees before cuts kick in, but Westman’s music therapy major was a new one that hadn’t ocially started. She has spent the past three months trying to nd work in a new city and sublet her apartment in St. Cloud after signing a lease. She was moving into her new apartment on Friday.

For years, many colleges held o making cuts, said Larry Lee, who was acting president of St. Cloud State but left last month to lead Blackburn College in Illinois.

He said college enrollment declined during the pandemic, but o cials hoped the gures would recover to pre-COVID levels. They had used federal relief money to prop up their budgets.

“They were holding on, holding on,” Lee said, noting colleges must now face their new reality.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data showed that higher education made up some ground last fall and in the spring semester.

But the trend for four-year colleges remains worrisome. Even without growing concerns about the cost of college and the long-term burden of student debt, the pool of young adults is shrinking.

Birth rates fell during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and never recovered. Now, those smaller classes are prepar-

University student Christina Westman poses at St.

recently cut 42 degree programs and 50 minors.

ing to graduate and head o to college.

“It’s very di cult math to overcome,” said Patrick Lane, vice president at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, a leading authority on student demographics.

The federal government’s chaotic overhaul of its nancial aid application complicates the situation. Millions of students entered summer break still wondering where they were going to college this fall and how they would pay for it. With jobs still plentiful, although not as many as last year, some experts fear students won’t bother enrolling.

“This year going into next fall, it’s going to be bad,” said Katharine Meyer, a fellow in the Governance Studies program for the Brown Center on Education Policy at the nonpro t Brookings Institution. “Many colleges are concerned they won’t meet their enrollment targets.”

Many colleges, like St. Cloud

State, had already started plowing through their budget reserves. The university’s enrollment rose to around 18,300 students in the fall of 2020 before steadily falling to about 10,000 in the fall of 2023.

Lee said St. Cloud State’s student population has stabilized, but spending was far too high for the reduced number of students.

The college’s budget shortfall totaled $32 million over the past two years, forcing the sweeping cuts.

Some colleges have taken more extreme steps, closing their doors. That happened at the 1,000-student Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, the 900-student Fontbonne University in Missouri, the 350-student Wells College in New York and the 220-student Goddard College in Vermont.

Cuts are more commonplace.

Two of UNC System schools — UNC Greensboro and UNC

Asheville — were given the green light last month to eliminate more than a dozen degree programs, ranging from ancient Mediterranean studies to physics. Three of the 64 colleges in the State University of New York system have cut programs amid low enrollment and budget woes.

Other schools slashing and phasing out programs include West Virginia University, Drake University in Iowa, the University of Nebraska campus in Kearney, North Dakota State University and, on the other side of the state, Dickinson State University.

Experts say it’s just the beginning. Even schools that aren’t immediately making cuts are reviewing their degree offerings. At Pennsylvania State University, o cials are looking for duplicative and under-enrolled academic programs as the number of students shrinks at its branch campuses.

Google, Gomez partner to fund teen mental health in classrooms

The actress’ Rare Impact Fund, which seeks to drive more money into this “underfunded eld,” received $1.25 million

By James Pollard

The Associated Press

THE UNPRECEDENTED mental health crisis for children in the United States often surfaces where they spend much of their days: school. With that in mind, Google’s philanthropic arm funds high school well-being projects on a classroom crowdfunding platform.

On Monday, Google.org funded all mental health-related listings on DonorsChoose, an online charity where members help purchase supplies requested by public school teachers. With $10 million in new gifts and the help of actress Selena Gomez, the Silicon Valley giant hopes to center mindfulness as an educational goal at the start of the academic calendar.

Districts have turned to teachers for psychological help after the coronavirus pandemic brought alarming levels of childhood depression, anxiety and ghts. However, experts say increased attention has not translated to more philanthropic money toward mental health overall.

Google.org committed earlier this year to backing nonprofits that support kids’ mental health and online safety. Monday’s announcement—which will also provide $500 vouchers for eligible DonorsChoose campaigns in the near future — ups

INFLATION from page A9

retail sales, which are expected to have climbed a decent 0.3% from June. Such a gain would suggest that while Americans have become vigilant about their money, they are still willing to spend.

Many businesses have noticed.

“We’re seeing lower average selling prices ... right now because customers continue to trade down on price when they can,” said Andrew Jassy, CEO of Amazon.

Selena Gomez participates in the “Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real On Mental Health” session in Austin. Google.org, the technology giant’s philanthropic arm, is donating $1.25 million to Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund as part of its recent commitment to nonpro ts focused on youth mental health.

that pledge to $25 million. The move comes amid widespread criticism and lawsuits claiming Google-owned YouTube and other social media sites have fueled the childhood mental health crisis by deliberately designing addictive features.

Justin Steele, Google.org’s director for America, said the initiative highlights Google’s e orts to lead this “important conversation” and “contribute to positive solutions.”

Its internet browser’s data has showcased the rising interest; Steele said searches for “teen mental health” doubled over the last four years.

“We want people to be able to take advantage of all the amazing things technology has to offer,” Steele said. “But we also

David Gibbs, CEO of Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, told investors that a more cost-conscious consumer has slowed its sales, which slipped 1% in the AprilJune quarter at stores open for at least a year.

Gibbs said, “Ensuring we provide consumers with a ordable options has been an area of greater focus for us since last year.”

Other companies are cutting prices outright. Dormify, an online retailer selling dorm supplies, o ers comforters starting

want them to be able to do it in a healthy and safe way.”

Google.org is giving $6 million overall to DonorsChoose. The technology company also announced $1.5 million in donations to the Jed Foundation, the Steve Fund and Child Mind Institute — groups focused on emotional well-being among young adults, people of color and children, respectively. The organizations will design halfhour training sessions to help educators navigate new mental health challenges. Teachers can earn $200 DonorsChoose credits upon course completion.

Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund, which seeks to drive more money into this “underfunded eld,” receives $1.25 million.

The “Only Murders in the Building” star has been vocal

at $69, down from $99 a year ago. According to the Fed’s “Beige Book,” an anecdotal collection of business reports from around the country released eight times a year, companies in nearly all 12 Fed districts have described similar experiences. “Almost every district mentioned retailers discounting items or price-sensitive consumers only purchasing essentials, trading down in quality, buying fewer items or shopping around for the best deals,” the Beige

“As

young people nd their way through the world, it’s crucial that they get guidance in building healthy, positive and productive mental health habits.” Selena Gomez

about her bipolar diagnosis.

In a Monday blog post, Gomez said she knows rsthand that “caring adults” can make a big di erence for teenagers.

“As young people nd their way through the world, it’s crucial that they get guidance in building healthy, positive and productive mental health habits,” Gomez wrote. “Few people are better positioned to help do this than teachers.”

A recent report from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further emphasized the need to address behavioral issues in high school. Students said they faced bullying and missed school due to safety concerns at higher rates than in previous years in data released on August 6.

Yes, Mindful Philanthropy Executive Director Alyson Niemann acknowledged the greater focus on mental health has brought minimal funding boosts for nonpro ts in this space. But she said the dollars don’t match the new levels of awareness. According to Niemann, one major barrier is that donors don’t know which solu-

Book said last month.

Most economists say consumers are still spending enough to sustain the economy consistently. Barkin said most of the businesses in his district — which covers Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North and South Carolina — report that demand remains solid, at least at the right price.

“The way I’d put it is, consumers are still spending, but they’re choosing,” Barkin said. In a speech a few weeks ago, Jared Bernstein, who leads the

tions work. School-based mental health support is one of the most e ective remedies, she said. Many students begin the path to treatment there and nd trusted adults in teachers or coaches.

DonorsChoose CEO Alix Guerrier emphasized that teachers are not substitutes for mental health professionals. But he said DonorsChoose has seen a fourfold increase in the number of mental health submissions over the past four years. Such requests include saucer chairs for a “calm corner” and meditative stu ed animals that guide deep breathing.

“There is no limit to teachers’ creativities,” Guerrier said. Mental health has long been a priority for Aileen Gendrano Adao in her Los Angeles classrooms. The high school English teacher said she asks students to ground themselves with three deep breaths at the start of class. Wall posters a rm students’ self-worth.

She said DonorsChoose gives her the freedom to creatively engage with students — especially when districts lack the money to meet needs that emerge in real-time. As Asian Americans faced racially motivated attacks during the pandemic, she obtained graphic novels about Asian American identity.

She hopes this additional funding encourages educators to prioritize mental health.

“Schools are transforming in a way that’s needed and necessary to heal from post-pandemic chaos,” she said. “There’s an investment. People are seeing us and wanting us to be better and whole again.

Biden administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, mentioned consumer caution as a reason why in ation is nearing the end of a “round trip” back to the Fed’s 2% target level. According to Bernstein, Emerging from the pandemic, consumers were ush with cash after receiving several rounds of stimulus checks and slashed their spending on in-person services. Their improved nances “allowed certain rms to ex a pricing power that was much less prevalent prepandemic.”

ADAM BETTCHER / AP PHOTO

Cloud State University in July. The school

JACK PLUNKETT / AP PHOTO

Budget-conscious summer tourists ock to boardwalks, piers

The a uent are spending freely while lower-income vacationers stick to carefully planned budgets

By Mae Anderson The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Small businesses along popular vacation destinations like boardwalks and piers in the U.S. say the number of tourists ocking to the waterfront is back to normal, meaning pre-2020 levels. But while the a uent are spending freely, lower-income vacationers stick to carefully planned-out budgets.

Sean Bailey, marketing manager of the SkyWheel observation wheel by the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Boardwalk and Promenade, said ticket sales for the 13-yearold attraction have exceeded 2019 levels since 2021. So far this year, it is tracking slightly above 2023 levels.

Bailey has noticed that tourists buying the cheaper tickets — which increased from $18 to $21 this year — are planning and buying online instead of walking up to the 200-foot attraction. A regular ride, or “ ight,” on the SkyWheel, which has glass-enclosed gondolas for up to six, takes 10 to 15 minutes.

Costlier tickets have become more popular on the other end of the spectrum. There are $35 sunrise tickets and $109 VIP tickets, which include up to four people and get the buyer a ight that lasts 30 minutes. SkyWheel also o ers a $250 gender reveal package, including a light show and a ride for up to six.

“People are looking for more enhanced experiences beyond

just the regular ight,” Bailey said.

According to the U.S. Travel Association’s forecast, 2024 tourism volume is expected to top 2019’s numbers for the rst time since the pandemic began, with 2.45 billion trips taken, up from 2.38 billion in 2023 and 2.40 billion in 2019. Domestic tourism is rebounding faster than international tourism. U.S. domestic travel spending, which includes general travel spending and passenger fares, is expected to be $975.6 billion in 2024, 98% of 2019 levels. International travel spending of $153.9 billion is about 83% of 2019 levels. Both are adjusted for in ation, per the USTA. Similar to the CEOs of large, consumer-focused companies, owners of small businesses say they see a divide in spending between a uent Americans, who have maintained their spending levels, and those in lower income brackets who are being more careful. Wall Street racked up double-digit gains last year

and this year — even with recent volatility — while wage increases have slowed, and ination remains a burden even though price pressures on consumers have eased.

At Navy Pier, which juts out into Lake Michigan in Chicago, Robin Harris, owner of Con dence Apparel, which sells clothing with a rmations on it, says foot tra c and sales are up this year compared with last year. She says customers are becoming more conscious about spending, picking things they can wear more than once and choosing quality over quantity. Her top sellers are a $30 T-shirt in various colors that says “Inhale con dence, exhale doubt,” and a $75 jacket with a recipe-like list of ingredients including “Love, kindness, courage and resilience.”

“(Customers) are starting to be a little bit more intentional about what they purchase instead of just purchasing anything and everything,” she said.

Elsewhere on Navy Pier,

Robert Gomez owns Beat Kitchen Cantina, a Mexican concession stand, and Bar Sol, a full restaurant with a patio. He says sales at the concession stand are up 30% compared with last year, with customers content to spend $8 on a taco, up $1 from last year.

Gomez expanded his more upscale restaurant, Bar Sol, and made other improvements so sales weren’t comparable.

Gomez also owns two live music venues that serve food, located away from the touristy areas. He said that while tourists on the Pier seem more than happy to pay $40 for an entrée at Bar Sol, those neighborhood restaurants, which mainly attract local Chicagoans, aren’t seeing the same level of spending.

“Tourists come in (to Bar Sol) expecting to spend too big, whereas a local patron is looking for better deals,” he said.

“It’s much more price sensitive, almost the other extreme. And so, it’s been a struggle for me with the neighborhood businesses in comparison.”

Michelle Rutkowski, who owns Boardwalk Best and Five Mile Marketplace on the Wildwood, New Jersey, boardwalk, which sells beach goods and souvenirs, has seen business ebb and ow for decades since her family has had businesses there since the 1980s.

Rainy weekends slowed business in April and May. But things have picked up since, particularly once school ended in mid-June.

“People have allotted a reasonable budget for vacation, and they’re spending it,” she said. “Maybe this won’t be the year for back to 100% of that where it was, but we are on that trajectory.”

Warship production worst in quarter century; labor shortage, Navy cited as cause

The U.S. is behind China in the number of ships at its disposal — and the gap is widening

By David Sharp The Associated Press

THE NAVY’S ability to build lower-cost warships that can shoot down Houthi rebel missiles in the Red Sea depends partly on a 25-year-old laborer who previously made parts for garbage trucks.

Lucas Andreini, a welder at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin, is among thousands of young workers who’ve received employer-sponsored training nationwide as shipyards struggle to hire and retain employees.

The labor shortage is one of myriad challenges that have led to ship production and maintenance backlogs at a time when the Navy faces expanding global threats. Combined with shifting defense priorities, last-minute design changes and cost overruns, this has put the U.S. behind China in the number of ships at its disposal — and the gap is widening.

Navy shipbuilding is currently in “a terrible state” — the worst in a quarter century, says Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget O ce. “I feel alarmed,” he said. “I don’t see a fast, easy way to escape this problem. It’s taken us a long time to get into it.”

Marinette Marine is under contract to build six guided-missile frigates — the Navy’s newest surface warships — with options to build four more. However, according to Labs, it only has enough workers to produce one frigate yearly. One of the industry’s chief problems is the struggle to hire and retain laborers for the challenging work of building new ships as graying veterans retire, taking decades of experience with them.

Shipyards nationwide have created training academies and partnered with technical colleges to provide workers with the skills they need to construct high-tech warships. Submarine builders and the Navy formed an alliance to promote manufacturing careers, and shipyards o er perks to retain hired workers.

Andreini trained for his job at Marinette through a program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Before that, he spent years as a production line welder, making components for garbage trucks. He said some of his buddies are held back by the stigma that shipbuilding is a “crappy work environment, and it’s unsafe. “But that’s not the reality,” he said. His health bene ts are better than at his previous job, he’ll be getting a pension for the rst time, and he can acquire skills even more advanced than he received during training.

Much of the blame for U.S. shipbuilding’s current woes lies with the Navy, which frequently changes requirements, requests upgrades and tweaks designs after shipbuilders have begun construction.

That’s seen in cost overruns, technological challenges and

delays in the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ford; the spiking of a gun system for a stealth destroyer program after its rocket-assisted projectiles became too costly; and the early retirement of some of the Navy’s lightly armored littoral combat ships, which were prone to breaking down.

The Navy vowed to learn from those past lessons with the new frigates they are building at Marinette Marine. The frigates are prized because they’re less costly to produce than larger destroyers but have similar weapon systems.

The Navy chose a ship design already used by navies in France and Italy instead of starting from scratch. The idea was that 15% of the vessel would be updated to meet U.S. Navy speci cations, while 85% would remain unchanged, reducing costs and speeding construction.

Instead, the opposite happened: The Navy redesigned 85% of the ship, resulting in cost increases and construction delays, said Bryan Clark, an analyst at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute.

Complicating matters further is beyond the Navy’s control: the changing nature of global threats.

Ford, Mazda warn drivers of dangerous Takata airbag in ators

Detroit Ford and Mazda are warning the owners of more than 475,000 older vehicles in the U.S. not to drive them because they have dangerous Takata airbag in ators that have not been replaced. The warning issued Tuesday covers more than 374,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles from the 2004 through 2014 model years and nearly 83,000 Mazdas from the 2003 through 2015 model years. The National Highway Tra c Safety Administration says the in ators can explode with too much force in a crash, blowing apart a metal canister and shooting fragments that can severely injure or kill people. All were recalled previously but repairs have not been completed. The government says 27 people have been killed in the U.S. by the in ators.

Starbucks names Chipotle chief new CEO

Newport Beach, Calif Starbucks, struggling with weak demand and disgruntled investors, said Tuesday that CEO Laxman Narasimhan is stepping down after a little more than a year in the job. The Seattle co ee giant said Brian Niccol, the chairman and CEO of Chipotle, will become Starbucks’ chairman and CEO on Sept. 9. Starbucks shares jumped more than 13% before the market opened. Narasimhan, a longtime PepsiCo executive, became Starbucks’ CEO in March 2023. He succeeded Howard Schultz, the longtime Starbucks leader and chairman emeritus who came out of retirement in 2022 to serve as the company’s interim CEO. Niccol has been CEO of Chipotle since 2018.

Home Depot trims outlook for 2024

A Navy warship is pictured under construction in July at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. Production is at a 25-year low.

Home Depot’s secondquarter sales rose slightly as the nation’s biggest home improvement retailer booked gains from a recent acquisition. Still, customers reined in spending because of broadly higher costs and elevated interest rates. Sales edged up to $43.18 billion from $42.92 billion. However, the company is now expecting scal 2024 sales at stores open at least a year to decline between 3% and 4%. Its previous outlook was for a decline of approximately 1%.

Home Depot expects fullyear earnings per share to fall between 2% and 4%. Previously, the company projected earnings per share growth of about 1%.

Throughout its history, the Navy has had to adapt to varying perils, whether it be the Cold War of past decades or current threats, including war in the Middle East, growing competition from Chinese and Russian navies, piracy o the coast of Somalia and persistent attacks on commercial ships by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

And that’s not all. The consolidation of shipyards and funding uncertainties have disrupted the cadence of ship construction and stymied long-term investments and planning, says Matthew Paxton of the Shipbuilders Council of America, a national trade association.

“We’ve been dealing with inconsistent shipbuilding plans for years,” Paxton said. “When we nally start ramping up, the Navy is shocked that we lost members of our workforce.”

The Navy insists it’s taking the shipbuilding problems seriously. “The Navy’s role in defending our nation and promoting peace has never been more expansive or mattered more,” said Lt. Kyle Hanton, Del Toro’s o ce spokesperson. “We continue to work with our industry partners to identify creative solutions to solving our common challenges.”

NCDOT CASH REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING AUG. 9

Beginning Cash $2,482,609,975

Receipts (income) $84,851,521 Disbursements $134,291,394 Cash Balance

$2,433,186,091

MATT ROURKE / AP PHOTO

Visitors stroll past arcades on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey, last Friday.

MIKE ROEMER / AP PHOTO

What the cybertruck?

WORDS BY JORDAN GOLSON

Tesla’s Cybertruck is so divisive it makes American political campaigns look tame. There’s no middle ground: You either love it or hate it. With that in mind, here are dueling reviews — by the same writer — of Elon Musk’s controvers-o-pickup that are sure to please everyone, no matter where you stand.

IF YOU LOVE IT IF YOU HATE IT

The Cybertruck looks like nothing else on the road, and that’s awesome. The stainless steel body, which I was skeptical about in pictures, actually looks fantastic in person. Early reports suggest it’s quite strong and resistant to dings. Plus, you can clean it with the same stu you use on your refrigerator.

Even better, for a few thousand dollars, you can have a wrap put on and have any color vehicle you want. You can even change colors every year with a new wrap. Most people don’t realize that one of the most di cult and expensive parts of building a car is painting it, and with the Cybertruck, that challenge simply disappears. I bet this isn’t the last vehicle Tesla will make out of stainless steel.

In the bed, there’s a power retractable tonneau cover that improves aerodynamics and keeps your stu safe and dry. When it’s up, it does block your rear window entirely, but Tesla has tted the Cybertruck with a rear-view camera to compensate.

The spacious sub-trunk underneath the bed oor means this is actually a practical pickup truck. You can load it full of stu , close the cover and keep everything safe and dry. This addresses one of the biggest requests that Ford heard from truck buyers when it was developing its F-150 Lightning electric pickup: a place to keep their stu safe from thieves and the elements.

The inside of the Cybertruck is almost unremarkable, but in a good way. There’s a large screen in the center, ve seats (four heated, front ones ventilated) and all the traditional Tesla gimmicks like watching Net ix on the giant screen when you’ve stopped to charge.

It has incredible acceleration, regardless of whether you get the dual-motor or the bonkers tri-motor Cyberbeast, and fantastic visibility in almost every direction thanks to that enormous windshield and transparent roof.

But the Cybertruck’s most impressive parts are beneath the stainless steel. It uses steer-by-wire technology, eliminating the physical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels. It has a fully 48-volt electrical system, enabling features like the massive single windshield wiper. The Cybertruck also uses something called automotive ethernet, replacing miles of complicated (and expensive) wiring with a simple communication ring. These hidden innovations amount to impressive cost savings and enable all kinds of new features that were never before possible in a car, all while staying out of the way to such an extent that you’d never know anything had changed.

At the end of the day, the Cybertruck feels like it was designed by someone who had never seen a pickup truck before but had only had it described to them. And that’s perfect for someone who has never owned a pickup, never thought they would own a pickup and never wanted a pickup. That’s why it’s a Cybertruck. It’s something new and di erent, and that’s why some people love it.

The Cybertruck has my vote. It’s a bold step into the future of automotive design and technology, and for those who appreciate innovation and aren’t afraid to stand out, it’s the perfect vehicle.

The Cybertruck’s stainless steel is cold and mechanical, with sharp edges that can literally cut or poke you if you hit them at the wrong angle. It feels easily dented and scratched, and every Cybertruck looks the same. How boring. Sure, you can wrap it, but that costs extra. Shouldn’t a car just come with paint?

It looks angry and aggressive, impractical in so many ways. The design feels un nished and overwrought, as if it’s trying too hard to be di erent.

Trucks are built to haul things, but the Cybertruck wastes a lot of space on unnecessary features. The powered retractable tonneau cover is just one more thing to break. The crazy angles make it di cult, if not impossible, to load things into the bed from the sides — instead, you have to go from the back, which means you can’t reach all the way to the front of the bed without climbing in.

The front trunk is much smaller than the one in the Ford F-150 Lightning, a vehicle much better suited to being a traditional pickup truck. The Lightning is easier to get in and out of, hauls more stu and is half the price.

The heavily slanted and massive front windshield and rear deck are going to get covered in snow in such a way that it will be impossible for anyone shorter than 6-foot-4 to clear o . If you live in snow country, you better have a garage.

Inside, the cold practicality continues. Yes, the seats are comfortable and there’s plenty of legroom, but you still feel like you’re in a shbowl. There’s so much distance to the base of the windshield that it feels like it will be almost impossible to clean, and the front dash is large enough for a medium-sized dog to curl up and nap.

It looks enormous and feels enormous to drive. Even with rear-wheel steering, which makes for a tighter turning circle, the steer-by-wire system (with no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels) makes steering feel almost twitchy. It’s too excited to turn sharply even while you’re driving down the road. Hopefully, this is something they can x with a software update, but as it is, the Cybertruck feels a little on edge.

Yes, you can get it with 1,000 horsepower and 0-60 in 4-point-something seconds, but why do you need that in a vehicle this big, this heavy and this absurd? The whole thing is unnecessary, unattractive, and given its $100,000 price tag, rather unobtainable as well.

Pickup trucks are supposed to be the practical vehicle of the masses, whereas this feels like the pickup truck of someone who would y to the moon for fun.

It feels absurd to call the Cybertruck a pickup truck. “Cybertruck” is the perfect name because it’s not really a truck at all. It’s a vanity project, a monument to excess and a sign that Tesla has lost touch with what everyday truck buyers actually need and want in a vehicle.

For those who value practicality, a ordability and tried-and-true design, the Cybertruck represents everything wrong with modern automotive trends. No thanks.

Legendary UNC women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance retires

NFL Receiver Downs leaves Colts training camp practice early after su ering ankle injury

Indianapolis Indianapolis Colts receiver Josh Downs needed help to get o the eld after injuring his ankle in practice. He left the eld on a golf cart. The former UNC standout was injured on a play when he was tackled from behind by safety Nick Cross, who was scolded by coach Shane Steichen after the play. Downs has been expected to play a key role in Indy’s receiving group after a breakout rookie season in 2023.

MLB Bristol Motor Speedway to host Reds-Braves MLB game next season

Bristol, Tenn.

Bristol Motor Speedway will host an MLB game between Cincinnati and Atlanta in 2025. It will be the longtime NASCAR track’s latest e ort to multitask after hosting two college football games in consecutive weeks in 2016. O cials from the track and its owner, Speedway Motorsports, have a press conference planned Friday to discuss the 2025 schedule. The game between the Reds and Braves is slotted for Aug. 2.

NASCAR

Wilson to retire as Toyota racing’s president, Gibbs set to succeed him

Plano, Texas David Wilson will retire as Toyota Racing Development’s president and group vice president in December after leading the U.S. motorsports arm for the past 11 of 35 years with the Japanese automaker. General manager Tyler Gibbs will succeed Wilson upon his departure on Dec. 16. Wilson was appointed to the position in January 2014. Gibbs, who joined the company in 1996, will oversee engineering and administration in the company’s operations in California and North Carolina.

The only coach Carolina women’s soccer has ever had won 22 national titles from 1979-2023

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

ARGUABLY THEgreatest coach in the history of college athletics has said goodbye to nearly half a century of dominance.

Anson Dorrance, the longtime UNC women’s soccer coach and 21-time NCAA national champion, announced his retirement just days before the start of the new season, per a release by UNC Athletics on Sunday.

“I am a proud son of the University of North Carolina,” Dorrance, 73, said in a press conference Monday. “I have loved every day that I’ve been here, and I’ve appreciated everyone that’s made a contribution to allowing me to be a part of this extraordinary community.”

According to the release, Dorrance told UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham his intention to retire Friday, and he told the team Sunday afternoon. He said in the

Matt Kuchar nished the tournament on Monday morning due to darkness

The Associated Press

GREENSBORO — Aaron Rai took advantage of Max Greyserman’s late meltdown to win the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his rst PGA Tour title.

Rai closed with a 6-under 64, with the 29-year-old Englishman making a 61⁄2-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th to post at 18-under 262 in the regular-season nale at Sedge eld Country Club.

“It truly is a dream come true,” said Rai, a two-time winner on the European tour. “So many people have played a huge role in me being at this point.”

Greyserman, the 29-yearold former Duke player, shot 69 to nish two strokes back on a day when everyone played 36 holes and some a few more in the event washed out by rain Thursday and delayed

Friday and Saturday.

Rai was four strokes back after Greyserman holed out from 91 yards for eagle on the par4 13th, then had an unexpected share of the lead a hole later when Greyserman drove outof-bounds and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on 14.

“If that does not hit the cart path, we’re probably in a different situation,” Greyserman said. “That doesn’t mean that that one bounce is the reason that I didn’t win.”

Greyserman — who shot 60 in the second round — birdied the par-5 15th to pull a shot ahead, then four-putted the par-3 16th for a double bogey and parred the last two holes.

“Played good enough to kind of run away with it.” Greyserman said. “Obviously, stu happens in golf that sometimes it’s not meant to be.”

Rai didn’t know where he stood on the leaderboard during the round.

“I didn’t really look and didn’t ask to know that infor-

press conference that he waited to tell the team because Lee Roberts was announced as the UNC’s new chancellor Friday, and the university wanted to avoid competing news cycles.

The Tar Heels opened their

season Thursday at Denver with associate head coach Damon Nahas taking over as the interim head coach. Nahas will ful ll the interim role for the rest of the year.

In a statement included in the release, Dorrance said he went by his mentor and former UNC men’s basketball coach Dean Smith’s thinking on his decision to retire.

“He would reevaluate his tenure not after the season, but after he had time to recharge his batteries prior to the next season,” Dorrance said. “When he didn’t, he retired. After last season, I initially was excited about the chance to bolster our roster, which we most certainly have done, but as preseason training camp went on, I realized I didn’t have the same energy it takes to give 100% to this year’s team.” Said Dorrance, “The players and sta , the university, Carolina athletics and our

See DORRANCE , page B3

mation,” Rai said. “I think that was probably a good thing that helped me just to focus on the golf. I was playing well and I knew that if I nished o well, then you never know what can happen.”

and Ryo Hi-

“It’s

J.J. Spaun (64)

satsune (67) tied for third at 15 under.

Amateur Luke Clanton bogeyed the nal two holes for a 69 to tie for fth with Austin Eckroat (67) at 14 under.

exhausting. I’m exhaust-

PHOTO COURTESY UNC ATHLETICS

Anson Dorrance stands on the UNC sideline, where he spent nearly a half century.

CHUCK BURTON / AP PHOTO

Aaron Rai, of England, reacts on the 18th hole after winning the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro on Sunday.

BARRY THUMMA / AP PHOTO

President George H.W. Bush heads a soccer ball while hosting the 1991 Women’s World Cup soccer champions at the White House. Anson Dorrance, who coached of the national team in the inaugural Women’s World Cup, is at center. Dorrance announced Monday that he was retiring as UNC’s women’s coach.

TRENDING

Kenny Blakeney:

The Howard University’s men’s basketball coach and former Duke Blue Devil is reportedly pitching a proposal to investors in which a 33% stake of the program could be sold for $100 million.

Blakeney told The Washington Post: “College athletics is a full- edged business now.”

He has met with a private equity rm and spoken with investors.

Hendon Hooker:

The Greensboro native and Dudley High graduate was still in the Detroit Lions’ concussion protocol three days after he was injured in a preseason game against the New York Giants. The Lions are looking into signing another quarterback for this week’s game. Hooker, who was hurt in the third quarter on a run, was playing for the rst time since he had a knee injury 21 months ago.

Connor Zilisch:

The 18-year-old Charlotte native will race full-time in JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevy in NASCAR’s X nity Series next season, the next step for the Trackhouse Racing development driver.

Zilisch turned 18 on July 22 to become eligible for the second-tier series and will make the rst of four stretch-run starts for former NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt Jr. next month at Watkins Glen.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

“I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am quali ed.”

Imane Khelif, who won gold in women’s boxing despite accusations that she was not a female.

“To me, silver is not something I would get super drunk for.”

Norway’s Karsten Warholm on his plans to celebrate winning the silver in the 400 hurdles.

NASCAR

Austin Dillon earned his rst NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the nal lap to win in overtime at Richmond. Dillon had just two top-10 nishes this year and entered the race 32nd in the standings. Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the nal restart. Then Dillon came up behind Logano and spun him.

The National Women’s Soccer League and its players’ union have agreed to a collective bargaining agreement that will run through 2030. The North Carolina Courage compete in the league. The new agreement will go into e ect before the current CBA expires after the 2026 season. That current deal was negotiated in 2022.

Coastal Carolina’s football team left campus to continue fall camp at NC State in advance of Tropical Storm Debby. The Chanticleers arrived in Raleigh last Tuesday and worked out there for the week. Second-year Coastal coach Tim Beck (pictured) was o ensive coordinator for the Wolfpack before joining the Chants.

Population of Bangladesh as of its last census in 2022. The country got shut out in Paris, keeping its dubious title as the most populous nation never to win an Olympic medal.

The Carolina Panthers were unharmed after their Delta Airlines ight veered o the taxiway and got stuck in the mud at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The team was returning from a 17-3 preseason loss at New England at 2:35 a.m.. The plane got stuck in the mud and couldn’t move, forcing passengers to have to deplane via stairs and be transported to the terminal.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

MICHAEL DWYER / AP PHOTO

Unheralded Panthers players get opportunities in preseason opener

With the starters benched, late draft picks and depth position battles were featured

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

THE CAROLINA Panthers opened the 2024 preseason with a rainy 17-3 loss last Thursday to New England.

There are plenty of questions about the latest edition of the Panthers that need answering this preseason: How will the o ensive line, rebuilt through free agency, protect second-year quarterback Bryce Young? How do the new Panthers receivers look? Will turnover on defense impact what was the most reliable unit for Carolina last year?

Unfortunately, most of those questions went unaddressed in the opener as the Panthers opted to sit out their starters. Of the two dozen players listed on the top line on the team’s depth chart, Carolina played one offensive starter (receiver Jonathan Mingo) two on defense (DJ Johnson and Dane Jackson), long snapper JJ Jansen and punter Johnny Hekker. Everyone else was on the sidelines in street clothes, including Young, the entire o ensive and defensive lines, former Steeler receiver Diontae Johnson, acquired in a headline-grabbing trade, and top draft pick Xavier Leggette.

While fans will need to wait a little longer to get a read on those new-look areas of the team, there were plenty of rookies and players involved in position or roster battles who were able to take advantage of their expanded playing time. Here’s a look at what we learned in the preseason opener.

Draft pick report

While Leggette, the South Carolina receiver who Carolina made the 22nd overall pick, and second-round pick Jonathan Brooks, a running back out of Texas, both sat out, the Panthers’ other ve choices all saw action in the game.

Linebacker Trevin Wallace, a third-rounder out of Kentucky, got the start and logged 28 snaps, second most in the Panthers’ 2024 draft class. He showed good pursuit on a couple of early plays, including one where he was able to clean up after a missed tackle by defensive back D’Shawn Jamison, pre-

venting a long gain. He didn’t do anything to hurt himself, although he also didn’t jump o the game lm. Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, a fourth-rounder from Texas, did jump o the lm. Thought to be a pass-catching tight end coming out of college, Sanders showed o his blocking ability, both in pass protection and on run plays, clearing the path, sealing the edge or clearing out defenders on the backside. With Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas sitting out the preseason opener, Sanders made a strong case for playing time at the position.

Cornerback Chau Smith-

North Carolina plays big part in 2024 Olympic Games

With the 2024 Paris Olympics having come to a close, it’s clear that North Carolina certainly showed o

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

THE 2024 PARIS Olympics came to a close on Sunday where it was again a tight race till the end, but eventually Team USA did indeed prevail.

While the Americans nished in a tie with China for the most gold medals with 40 each, the USA ended up taking home the most medals overall with 126 total (40 gold, 44 silver, 42 bronze), and local athletes played a big part in that victory.

In total, North Carolina contributed to six gold and 14 total medals for Team USA in thenal count between the 30-plus athletes with local ties that ended up qualifying for the games, but overall 24 medals were awarded to local athletes across 17 di erent events.

The most decorated N.C. athlete was Charlotte native Kaylyn Brown, who took home gold as part of the women’s 4x400 meter relay team and silver in the 4x400 meter mixed relay.

great fans deserve more, and the respect I have for the amazing legacy the current and former players have built led me to make this decision at this time.” When he did have the energy, Dorrance coached with one of the greatest competitive spirits ever seen in athletics.

As the rst and only women’s soccer coach at UNC, Dorrance had a 934-88-53 record across 45 seasons from 1979 -2023. The women’s soccer team won 22 national titles, including the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championship in 1981 and

Also part of that women’s 4x400 relay team was Livingstone College alumna Quanera Hayes, who ran in the rst leg of the relay helping send Team USA to the gold medal round.

One of the biggest events of the Olympics — at least based on the fact that its nal game averaged 19.5 million viewers in the U.S. — was men’s basketball.

A country that’s no stranger to Dream Teams, the Americans had a triumphant run led by

21 NCAA championships. Dorrance’s NCAA championship count is the most by a head coach in any Division I sport in college athletics history. Alongside his wins and national championships, Dorrance’s 147 NCAA Tournament wins and 31 College Cups are the most in women’s soccer history. Dorrance coached 19 players who won National Player of the Year. From 1977-88, Dorrance was also the head coach of the men’s soccer team, achieving 172 wins and an ACC title and NCAA Final Four appearance in 1987. “The numbers and accomplishments are staggering and

the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and North Carolina’s own Stephen Curry teaming up to win gold with a 98-87 victory over France in the nal.

Curry led the way in the last two matches, dropping 36 against Serbia and 24 points against France, shooting a combined 17-for-27 from deep between the two games.

Along with Curry, Bam Adebayo, who grew up in Pinetown, and Jayson Tatum, who played at

will be hard for any coach or program to replicate or exceed,” Cunningham said.

Even with all he accomplished at one school, Dorrance’s impact on women’s soccer goes well beyond Chapel Hill and college athletics.

Dorrance, who coached the United States Women’s National Team from 1986-94, led Team USA to a win in the rst Women’s World Cup in China in 1991, and 59 Tar Heels ended up playing for the USWNT.

Part of those 59 were all-time greats, including Cindy Parlow Cone (current and rst female president of U.S. Soccer), Kristine Lilly, Heather O’Reilly and Mia Hamm.

a good push up the middle and showing that he might be able to contribute this season. On his eighth snap, however, he went down and had to be carted o . He’s been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and will miss time.

Linebacker Michael Barrett, a Michigan seventh-rounder, didn’t get in until the fourth quarter and appeared on 10 defensive snaps. He got a tackle on a run play in his only moment in the sun.

Position battle updates

The team is looking for receiver depth, but no one leapt forward. Mingo and Terrace Marshall had drops. Ihmir Smith-Marsette botched a jet sweep, leading to a fumble. Veteran David Moore didn’t get much time until late and had a couple questionable fair catches on punt returns. Undrafted free agent Jalen Coker had about the best day, but he was far enough down the depth chart that it may not shake up the pecking order.

Wade, a fth-rounder out of Washington State, had 30 snaps, the most of any new Panthers draftee. He had several moments on defense, getting a pair of solo tackles. He also excelled on special teams, making a good block on one punt return and getting to the return man before anyone else on punt coverage. He whi ed on downing a punt near the end zone, surrendering a touchback, but that may have been due to a bad bounce. He was in position to make the play. Defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy, a sixth-rounder out of Mississippi State, got the start and was holding his own, getting

Duke, also took home gold medals as a part of Team USA. The USA women’s basketball team also won gold — their eighth straight — with a 67-66 victory also over France, and Duke alum Chelsea Gray captured her second consecutive gold as part of the squad. Current Duke head coach Kara Lawson was also an assistant on the team.

The women’s soccer team did their country proud as well with yet another gold medal, their fth time as Olympic champs, with a 1-0 win over Brazil. Former UNC soccer players Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox both were a part of the victorious squad.

In the pool, NC State alumni Katharine Berko and Ryan Held each took home a gold medal, with Berko winning her gold as part of the women’s 4x100 meter medley relay team — she also won bronze in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.98 — and Held took gold as part of the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay team.

Additional medaling athletes from North Carolina for Team USA included Cornelius’ Erika Connolly, who won silver in the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay; Queens University of Charlotte alumnus Seth Rider and former Blue Devil Morgan Pearson, who took silver in the triathlon mixed relay; Fayetteville native and Army captain Sammy Sullivan and Beaufort-native Naya Tapper, who both helped Team USA win its rst ever medal in women’s rugby sevens as they took home the bronze with a last-second victory over Australia; Charlotte-native Cierra Burdick and

And in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Dorrance had two former Tar Heels, mid elder Crystal Dunn and defender Emily Fox, play the entire gold medal match for the USWNT as it beat Brazil, 1-0.

“We have had some amazing athletes come here to represent this great university,” Dorrance said. “I’ve loved every single day of watching them achieve their potential.”

Prior to coaching, Dorrance played on the UNC men’s soccer team under coach Marvin Allen, who Dorrance credits for setting the standard for which he followed. He was a threetime All-ACC selection from 1971-73 and graduated in 1974.

At linebacker, Johnson had a handful of good plays as one of the few starters in the game. The two emerging names to watch were both edge rushers — Eku Leota and K’Lavon Chaisson. Leota had just 20 defensive snaps, but he seemed to make a play on more than half of them. In one threeplay stretch to start the second half, he made the tackle on the third-quarter kicko , got held rushing the passer on the rst defensive play, then got a tackle for loss on the next one.

Chaisson got the start and was a factor creating pressure early in the game.

At corner, journeymen Jamison and Lamar Jackson were both targeted often by New England passers and held up well, displaying good, tight coverage. Jamison tended to take risks, breaking early to try to get pick-sixes twice — resulting in a pass breakup and a long gain. Both showed they’re ready to step in if a starter goes down.

The total number of medals won by athletes with ties to North Carolina

Wake Forest alum Dearica Hamby, who claimed bronze in the women’s 3x3 basketball; Bryson City’s Evy Leibfarth, who captured bronze in the women’s canoe single; and Tommy Paul of Greensboro, who won bronze in men’s tennis doubles.

Outside of Team USA, there were also quite a few international athletes with local ties who performed well at the Olympic Games.

NC State’s Diana Shnaider won silver in women’s tennis doubles as an Individual Neutral Athlete as she is Russian-born and athletes from Russia are currently barred from representing their country.

The Wolfpack also added another swimming medal to its count as David Betlehem won a bronze medal for Hungary in the men’s 10-kilometer marathon race.

UNC’s Kristen Siermachesky was an alternate for the Canadian women’s rowing team that took silver, and while he didn’t medal, Cary native Jesse Ssengonzi set a new Ugandan record in the men’s 100 butter y with a time of 53.76 seconds, breaking his own record set last year.

Dorrance assured attendees of Monday’s press conference that the Tar Heels will be in good hands following his retirement.

“Damon Nahas is the best coach I’ve ever seen,” Dorrance said. “I think he’s the best soccer coach in the country, and I include myself in that circle.” Nahas’ brother Sean has been coach of the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage since 2021.

Dorrance said he’s going to be “heavily” involved with UNC women’s soccer immediately after his retirement.

“I’m going to be supporting Damon and these extraordinary women,” Dorrance said.

MARK STOCKWELL / AP PHOTO

Carolina Panthers linebacker Eku Leota reacts after making a play during the second half the preseason opener in New England last Thursday.

MATTHIAS SCHRADER / AP PHOTO

Charlotte’s Kaylyn Brown runs a leg in the women’s 4x400 meter relay heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Brown and the rest of the U.S. team won gold in the event.

Winston-Salem Open set to return this weekend

The ATP World Tour 250 event is in its 13th year

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM — As the latest Winston-Salem Open kicks o this weekend at the Wake Forest University Tennis Complex, local tennis fans in the Triad will be treated to some of the top professional men’s tennis players in the world.

This year’s open — set for Aug. 17-24 — includes 35 players inside the top 75 of the ATP 2024 world rankings, including 15 ranked inside the top 50.

Since 2011, the award-winning ATP World Tour 250 event has served as the nal men’s tournament prior to the U.S. Open, hosting a 48-player draw in singles and 16 teams in doubles with prize money totaling more than $700,000.

The tournament was previously staged in New Haven and known as Pilot Pen Tennis before it was sold and relocated to Winston-Salem, creating a new event.

“Imagine being among the 75 best people in the world at your job. That’s what we will have on display next month at the Winston-Salem Open,” tournament director Je Ryan said in a press release. “Some of the absolute best athletes in the world will be here, and it really is going to be an incredible experience.”

Returning to defend their 2023 Winston-Salem Open titles, Argentinian singles winner Sebastian Baez (No. 20) and

American doubles champions Nathaniel Lammons (No. 28) and Jackson Withrow (No. 28) will be back in town to compete.

“It’s great to see both our singles and doubles champions returning to Winston-Salem,” Ryan said. “I think it’s a testament to the strength of our sta , our facilities and our volunteers. This is an easy place to navigate around. The people are friendly. The atmosphere is great, and the courts are so similar to those in New York, that our players have the perfect opportunity to get primed for this last major of the year.”

Marcos Giron (No. 45), Bran-

don Nakashima (No. 49) and Alex Michelsen (No. 57) are the three players in the singles eld who will represent the United States.

The singles eld will also be highlighted by Arthur Fils (No. 23), Jack Draper (No. 27), Adrian Mannarino (No. 33), Luciano Darderi (No. 34), Tomas Martin Etcheverry (No. 37), and Mariano Navone (No. 38).

Joining Lammons and Withrow, Rajeev Ram (No. 5) and Austin Krajicek (No. 15) are the two other Americans in the doubles eld.

On Aug. 3, Ram and Krajicek

came away from the 2024 Paris Olympics with the silver medal in men’s tennis doubles as Team USA fell short to Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers.

In Winston-Salem, Ram will pair with Joe Salisbury (No. 6) of Great Britain and likely enter as the top seed, continuing a duo that has claimed 14 titles together dating back to 2019.

Krajicek is set to team up with former Winston-Salem Open champion Jean-Julien Rojer (No. 29) of the Netherlands as the two look to achieve their rst title together. The doubles eld also in-

The future was then: Henderson meets former roommate atop the AL East

Gunnar Henderson has Baltimore ghting for a title, with a little help from Adley Rutschman

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

GUNNAR HENDERSON planned to go to Auburn University. The high school baseball star and Alabama resident committed to the Tigers during his sophomore year. Instead, however, the Orioles drafted him in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and he signed with the organization.

Rather than heading o to campus, Henderson found himself in Sarasota, Florida, playing for the Orioles’ rookie ball team in the Gulf Coast League. He may not have been in a dorm in the shadow of Toomer’s Corner, but he still had to deal with living away from home and sharing space with a roommate.

Henderson’s Rookie League roommate? The guy the Orioles had selected one round before him in the 2019 Draft, rst overall, catcher Adley Rutschman.

“I’ve seen him grow up, man,” Rutschman said.

“That was a long time ago,” said Henderson, looking back from his current grizzled age of 23 years old. “2019. Five years ago. That’s a long time. Being able to have those memories is very special.”

In Henderson’s defense, plenty has happened over those ve years. The duo struggled in Sarasota — Henderson had as many strikeouts as hits and nine errors in 21 games. Rutschman hit just .143.

As the Orioles’ rst two picks

WYNDHAM from page B1

ed,” said Clanton, set to begin play Monday in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

“Thirty-nine holes of golf is no joke.” The tournament that wasn’t o cially in the books until Matt Kuchar nished on Monday morning.

It was a peculiar ending, and Kuchar apologized to the tournament o cials after he nished the 18th hole with a scrambling

in that draft, Henderson and Rutschman knew they were the future of the franchise and that both were biding time until they got promoted to Camden Yards.

“Obviously, there’s a little bit more that goes into it,” Henderson said. “But, yeah, we ultimately wanted to be there as quick as we can because we wanted to help the team win.”

The following year, the minor league season was wiped out by the COVID pandemic, so the pair worked out with the Orioles prospects at the Florida complex. By the time the games resumed in 2021, the two prospects were on di erent paths. Rutschman headed to Double-A

par to tie for 12th, seven shots out of the lead. But he explained what went into his decision to stop playing Sunday night, wanting to set a precedent for rookie Max Greyserman if he also wanted to wait until Monday morning with so much riding on the outcome.

One problem — Kuchar didn’t know Rai had made birdie in the group ahead of him to take a twoshot lead, making it improbable for Greyserman to catch him.

“I’m guring no way Max is go-

Bowie and would be in the majors a little over a year later. Henderson, younger and less experienced, started out in Low-A and was brought along more slowly.

By the end of last year, however, the pair were reunited in Baltimore, and this season, with the Orioles battling for rst place, both Rutschman and Henderson were in the starting lineup at the All-Star Game.

“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind,” Henderson said of his AllStar experience, which included lasting a round in the Home Run Derby — he was one of the MLB leaders in homers at the break as well as an MVP candidate.

He also got to lead o the

ing to nish out with a chance to win a tournament,” Kuchar said.

“I thought Max, for sure, had a shot to win and I thought, ‘No way in this situation do you hit this shot. You come back in the morning 100% of the time. And so I said, ‘Well, Max will stop, I’ll stop, kind of make it easy on him.’”

Kuchar was in the last group as the 36-hole leader. He thinks the darkness played a role in Greyserman four-putting the 16th green in a wild nish for

cludes Mate Pavic (No. 7), Marcelo Arevalo (No. 8), Michael Venus (No. 11), Harri Heliovaara (No. 12), and Austin Krajicek (No. 15).

The Winston-Salem Open will also feature a return to the Wake Forest University Tennis Complex after six years for Italian Matteo Berrettini (No. 42), who is on the comeback trail from hand surgery. The 28-year old rose to No. 6 in the world in early 2022 and is now moving through the ranks again as he leaves his injury in the rearview.

Re ecting on the current state of the pro tennis world, Ryan said that an event like the Winston-Salem Open is a prime opportunity for a player on the rise to gain experience and upon their resume.

“It can be a tough sell, we know, because people want to hear all the big names and that’s what they know.”

While a casual fan of the sport might not recognize some of the event participants, a future star in the making could have a strong showing at the North Carolina tournament.

Ryan continued: “We are kind of going through a changing of the guard right now — with icons like Roger, Rafa and Andy retiring — but it’s important to note Winston-Salem has been a springboard for some of the sport’s best. In fact, 11 of the top 15 guys in the current rankings have come through or even won here. So, the big question now is, ‘Who will be next?’” Tickets for the event are available at winstonsalemopen.com.

leave the mustache.’ I started doing pretty good to start the year, so I might as well leave it.”

“Might as well leave it,” has also been the Orioles’ strategy toward developing a contender. The team had a farm system stocked with some of baseball’s top prospects, thanks to several years of last-place nishes giving them high draft picks. Rather than dealing some of the minor leaguers to acquire veterans, the team decided not to mortgage its future, instead letting the kids grow up together. Now they’ve all arrived in Baltimore, including the two former Gulf Coast roommates.

“We didn’t really talk about it back then,” Henderson said of sharing his rst All-Star stage with Rutschman. “But we felt like we could. We both knew we could. And to build up and get our rst start together after ve years — that’s pretty special.” Henderson didn’t recall any speci c roommate squabbles or hijinks — at least none he was willing to share.

“I don’t really have one speci c memory,” he said. “Just the good times — how our relationship kind of developed over the years, and especially just staring there and being able to ultimately continue that at the bigleague level.”

All-Star Game against Pirates’ rookie Paul Skenes. They had a tting opening for the Midsummer Classic, matching up two of the game’s most exciting young stars, as well as two of the players who are helping to bring the mustache back into fashion.

“I do notice more ’staches, now,” Henderson said, while grinning behind his own facial hair. “I’ve started rating then on other guys when I see them.” He declined to share his opinion on Skenes’ stache, however.

“Out of spring training, I had the goatee,” Henderson said of his own mustache origin story.

“I was going to shave it, just because, but my ancée said, ‘Just

the rookie. Kuchar teed o on the 18th while the group ahead was still in the fairway, an indication he was determined to nish. He said he saw a pink shirt on the 18th green and assumed it was Billy Horschel, who was in Rai’s group. Kuchar went so far left he was over by the 10th hole. He felt it already was too dark for normal play.

“Had I had been in the fairway with the normal shot, I probably would have attempted to nish,”

Now that Henderson and Rutschman have teamed up for the All-Star Game, October is next on the agenda. Can the pair reach the World Series together?

“I feel like we embrace it,” Henderson said of the pressure of playing for a contender at such a young age. “Just being able to enjoy the times that we kind of thought about this, going through the minor leagues together and then getting here now, just being able to embrace that, enjoy it and be aware of where we’re at. Just trying to get better.”

Now that the former roommates have reached the highest level of the sport, that’s all they can do.

Kuchar said. “But I had just seen Max four-putt the 16th hole. If there was daylight on that green, does he four-putt? I don’t know.” Kuchar said while he felt bad for anyone who had to return Monday morning to close out the tournaments.

Kuchar’s tie for 12th meant he will miss the FedEx Cup playo s for the rst time since they began in 2007. But he moved up 10 spots to No. 103 and now has the fall to secure a full card for next year.

TERTIUS PICKARD / AP PHOTO

Sebastian Baez of Argentina plays a shot during a tournament in Brisbane, Australia, in January. Baez, the defending Winston-Salem Open champion, will return to defend his title.

MICHAEL WYKE / AP PHOTO

Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman (35) and Gunnar Henderson (2) celebrate a home run by Henderson earlier this season.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF CHESTER RAYMOND BOLTON, JR.

Cumberland County

Estate File No. 24 – E - 792

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Chester, Raymond Bolton, Jr., deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Pamela J. Lopez, Administrator, at 8 Windy Knl., Columbia, SC 29229, on or before the 9th day of November, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above.

This the 5th day of August, 2024.

Pamela Jane Lopez Administrator of the Estate of Chester Raymond Bolton, Jr.

Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm

Attorneys for the Estate

4317 Ramsey Street

Fayetteville, NC 28311

Run dates: August 8, August 15, August 22 and August 29, 2024

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF Janet Marie Brickman

Cumberland County Estate File No. 24 E 427 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Janet Marie Brickman, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Teresa McFadden Elliott, Executor, at 6224 Kirkwall Rd., Fayetteville, NC 28311, on or before the 2nd day of November 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to

NC 28311 Run dates: August 1, August 8, August 15 and August 22, 2024

OF NORTH CAROLINA In The General Court Of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File# 24E986 Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator/Executor of the estate of Irene M Cruz, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, Firms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 8th day of November, 2024 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 8th day of August, 2024

Alicia Kidd Administrator/Executor 524 Donovan Street

Fayetteville, NC 28301

4127799799

Of the Estate of Irene M Cruz, Deceased

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Mary Ann McNeill, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of November 2024, (which is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decendent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This 15th day of August, 2024

Paula McNeill, Administrator/Executor

P. O. Box 87702

Fayetteville, NC 28304

Of the Estate of Mary A. McNeill, Deceased

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF CATHERINE DAY/CATHERINE MCKOY/CATHERINE

MCSWAIN

CUMBERLAND County

Estate File No. 24 E 1206

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Catherine Day aka Catherine McKoy aka Catherine McSwain deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Hiawatha Blunt and Brenda Hawkes, Co-Administrators, at 1403 Aurora Way, Jamestown, NC 27282, on or before the 1st day of November, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Co-Administrators named above.

This the 29th day of July, 2024.

Hiawatha Blunt Brenda Hawkes

Co-Administrators of the Estate of Catherine Day Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm

Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311

Run dates: August 1, August 15, August 22 and August 29 , 2024

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File #24E1204 State of North Carolina

Cumberland County Administrator Notice

The undersigned having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of, Linda Underco er Dickens, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 10th day of November, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make payment to the undersigned. This is the 30th day of July, 2024. Administrator of the Estate of Linda Underco er DIckens Christopher Michael Smith P.O.

24 E 1258

persons, rms and corporations

claims against Noah

deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are

to present their claims to Sandy Barton, Administrator, at 2601 Adkins Hill Dr., Fayetteville, NC 28306, on or before the 16th day of November (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Executor/Administrator named above. This the 6th day of August, 2024. Sandy Barton Administrator of the Estate of Noah Grossman Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm

Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: 8/15, 8/22, 8/29 and 9/5/2024

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMERBLAND IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 23E779 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ARCHIE LEE

HATCHER ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the estate of Archie Lee Hatcher, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 28th day of October, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 25th day of July, 2024. Cecil Freeman Hatcher 1001 Fleetwood Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28305 Administrator of the estate of Archie Lee Hatcher, deceased Publication Dates

NOTICE

In the General Court Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File # 2024E 001001 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE The undersigned having quali ed as EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE of Annie Hobbs deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 25th day of 0ctober 2024,( which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 19th day of July,2024. Betty Hobbs-Madden 3232 Innovative ct. Fayetteville, NC 28312 Administrator of the Estate of Annie Hobbs, Deceased 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF SUNNY LOBRED CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 24 E 1018

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Sunny Lobred, deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Davis W. Puryear, Administrator, at HUTCHENS LAW FIRM, LLP, 4317 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28311, on or before the 25th day of October, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above. This the 18th day of July, 2024. Davis W. Puryear Administrator of the Estate of Sunny Lobred Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: July 25, August 1, August 8 and August 15, 2024

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File # 2024 E 001222 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of KENNETH C LOVETT, deceased late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the, 1st day of November,2024,(which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make payment to the undersigned. This 29th day of July,2024 Executor, Kenneth C Lovett II 535 Anson Dr. Fayetteville NC 28311 Of the Estate of Kenneth C Lovett, Deceased

NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE #24E 1062

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Administrator’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Claudia T. Simpson, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before November 6, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make payment to the undersigned.

Dated this 24rd day of July 2024

Pauline H. Hart, Administrator 414 Barbour Court Fayetteville, NC 28301 Administrator of the Estate of Claudia T. Simpson, Deceased

EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE 24-E-1169

State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of Alton Earl Smith, Jr., late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 6735 Fire Department Road, Hope Mills, North Carolina 28348, on or before November 15, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 15th day of August, 2024. Rose Smith Kennedy aka Lila Rose Kennedy Executor of the Estate of Alton Earl Smith, Jr., Deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC J. Duane Gilliam, Jr., Attorney PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305

08/15/2024, 08/22/2024, 08/29/2024 and 09/05/2024

ADMINISTRATOR CTA’S NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE 24-E-1176

State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, having quali ed as the Administrator CTA of the Estate of Richard E. Washburn, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at Post O ce Box 53555, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28305, on or before November 08, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 8th day of August, 2024. J. Duane Gilliam, Jr. Administrator CTA of the Estate of Richard E. Washburn, Deceased

c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC J. Duane Gilliam, Jr., Attorney PO Box 53555

Fayetteville, NC 28305

08/08/2024, 08/15/2024, 08/22/2024 and 08/29/2024

EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 24-E-1175

State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, having quali ed as the Executor of the Estate of Janet Eva St. Armour, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 5604 Golden Drive, Killeen, Texas 76542, on or before November 1, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 1st day of August, 2024. Sheila Lowell Executor of the Estate of Janet Eva St. Armour, Deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC J. Duane Gilliam, Jr., Attorney PO Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305 08/01/2024, 08/08/2024, 08/15/2024 and 08/22/2024

ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE 24E001178 State of North Carolina Cumberland County NOTICE TO CREDITORS The undersigned, having quali ed as the Administrator of the Estate of Jane Foxworth Suggs, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms, or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before November 1, 2024, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 1st day of August, 2024. Administrator of the Estate of Jane Foxworth Suggs Nancy J. Suggs 1913 Wyatt Street Fayetteville, NC 28304 08/01/2024, 08/08/2024, 08/15/2024, 08/22/2024

NOTICE In the General Court Justice Superior Court Division Before the clerk le 2024E 001011 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Robert Terry Jr., deceased Late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all person having a claim against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the October 25, 2024 or this notice will Pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment the undersigned. This 25th day of July 2024 Latisha Davis 209A US Highway 22 East Green Brook, NJ 08812 Administrator of the Estate of Robert Terry Jr.

ADMINISTRATOR’S/EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Tommy Williams, deceased late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 8th day of November, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 31st day of July 2024. Twana Williams Administrator/Executor 3939 Dickens Ave Hope Mills NC 28348

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA In The General Court of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File # 24 E 1220 Administrator’s/ Executor’s Notice

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Larry David Wimert, deceased, late of Cumberland County, herby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 13th day of November, 2024, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 8th day of August, 2024. David Allen Wimert Administer/Executor 704 Carthage Lane NE Leland, North Carolina 28451 Of the Estate of Larry David Wimert, Deceased

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Estate File # 2024E000617 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

The undersigned having quali ed as Ronald K. McEachern of the Estate of Gwendolyn Joyce McEachern, deceased, Late of Cumberland County, hereby Noti es all persons, rms, and corporations Having claims against said estate to present Their claim to the undersigned on or before the 17th day of November, 2024, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 15th day of August, 2024. Ronald K. McEachern 114 Pendelton Street New Haven, CT 06511 Of the Estate of Gwendolyn Joyce McEachern, Deceased

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS

THE UNDERSIGNED, Dana Roland, having quali ed on the 1st day of July 2024, as Collector of the Estate of Ralphanne Benoy (2024-E-970), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC,

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS

THE UNDERSIGNED, Stephen L. Malpass, having quali ed on the 8th day of July 2024, as Executor of the Estate of Margie R. Olive (2024-E-389), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 28th day of October, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address.

This 25th day of July 2024. Stephen L. Malpass Executor ESTATE OF MARGIE R. OLIVE

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

Publish: July 25, 2024 August 1, 2024 August 8, 2024 August 15, 2024

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA NEW HANOVER COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS

THE UNDERSIGNED, Eric M. Cardamone, having quali ed on the 1st day of July 2024, as Executor of the Estate of Louis Cardamone (2024-E-969), deceased, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at DAVID E. ANDERSON, PLLC, 9111 Market Street, Suite A, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28411, on or before the 4th day of November, 2024, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make prompt payment to the undersigned at the above address.

This 1st day of August 2024.

Eric M. Cardamone

Executor

ESTATE OF LOUIS CARDAMONE

David Anderson

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

Publish: August 1, 2024 August 8, 2024 August 15, 2024 August 22, 2024

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The undersigned, EMMETT V. RICHARDSON, III, having quali ed as the Executorof the Estate of SYLVIA TRUMAN GENTRY RICHARDSON , Deceased, hereby noti es all persons, rms or corporations having claims against the Decedent to exhibit same to the said EMMETT V. RICHARDSON, III, at the address set out below, on or before November 6, 2024, or this notice may be pleaded in bar of any payment or recovery of same. All persons indebted to said Decedent will please make immediate payment to the undersigned at the address set out below.

This the 30th day of July, 2024.

EMMETT V. RICHARDSON, III

Executor OF THE ESTATE OF SYLVIA TRUMAN GENTRY RICHARDSON c/o ROBERT H. HOCHULI, JR. 219 RACINE DR., SUITE #A6 Wilmington, NC 28405

CABARRUS

24 SP 204

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

NORTH CAROLINA, CABARRUS COUNTY

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Paul J. Winterhalter and Jenifer Winterhalter to Morrison Law, Trustee(s), which was dated February 28, 2013 and recorded on March 1, 2013 in Book 10409 at Page 0044, Cabarrus County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on August 21, 2024 at 01:00 PM, and

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 22 SP 64

Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Lizzie B. White (Deceased) and John White (Deceased) (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Lizzie

B. White and John White, Heirs of Lizzie

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as (executor (administrator) on the estate of Rachel Nance Westmoreland, deceased, late of Randolph County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 5658 Starmount Road, Liberty, NC 27298 on or before the 13th day of November, 2024 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment. This 8th day of August 2024.

Joyce W. Casstevens Executor/Administrator of the Estate of Rachel Nance Westmoreland

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA RANDOLPH COUNTY In the General Court of Justice District Court Division File No. 24 CVD 1408 Penny Elaine Miller Isom, Plainti , vs Jimmy Lee Isom, et als., Defendants. To: Jimmy Lee Isom Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the aboveentitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Declaratory

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF SHIRLEY C. BRYAN ONSLOW County Estate File No. 24 E 1688

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Shirley Jeannette Campbell Bryan aka Shirley C. Bryan, deceased, of Onslow County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to Margaret Bryan, Administrator, at 2110 Lake Shannon Dr., Fayetteville, NC 28312, on or before the 9th day of November, 2024 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above.

This the 31st day of July, 2024.

Margaret Bryan Administrator of the Estate of Shirley C. Bryan

Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311

Run dates: August 8, August 15, August 22, and August 29, 2024

will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, to wit: LYING AND BEING in the Number Six (6) Township, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and lying on the north side of Gold Hill Road, and being more particularly described as follows:

BEGINNING at a set 1/2 inch rebar in the property line of James D. Bowles (DB 8854, Page 301), corner of Richard and Laura Tolbert (DB 9756 Page 62); and running thence with line of Bowles N 3854-19 E 221.69 feet to an existing iron; thence S 34-37-05 E 234.40 feet to a C.P. in the centerline of Gold Hill Road; thence along the centerline of Gold Hill Road S 50-20-15 W 196.70 feet to a set mag nail; thence along the line of Tolbert N 39-3945 W 189.62 feet to a set 1/2 inch rebar, the point of BEGINNING, containing 1.000 acres, more or less, as shown on a survey by AccuTech Surveying and Mapping, LLP, for Richard Tolbert and wife Laura Tolbert dated February 6, 2012.

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

Said property is commonly known as 4545 Gold Hill Rd, Concord, NC 28025.

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

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

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy

thence along the line of the property of C.K. Cook N. 14-43 West 133.6 feet to an iron stake on South side of Mona Street; thence along the South side of Mona Street N. 80-22 E. 80 feet to an iron stake corner of C.K. Cook; thence another line of C.K. Cook property S. 14-43 E. 133.8 feet to the point of beginning. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 1226 Holland Street, Kannapolis, North Carolina.

Being the same property conveyed by fee simple Deed from C.K. Cook and, Wife Wynell G. Cook to John White and Lizzie b. White, by Quit Claim Deed dated

B. White a/k/a Elizabeth B. White: Grace McNeal a/k/a Grace McNeil, Barbara Reid, Janice Barnes, Ronald White, Regina Barnes, Dwayne White; Heirs of Ronald White: Sarah Russell White, Ronald White, Jr., Rolonda Morgan) to D. Storey, Trustee(s), dated January 11, 2006, and recorded in Book No. 6484, at Page 322 in Cabarrus County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Cabarrus County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door in Concord, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 12:00 PM on August 26, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Kannapolis in the County of Cabarrus, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: That certain parcel of land lying and being in the County of Cabarrus and State of North Carolina and more particularly described as follows. Lying and being in No. 4 Township Cabarrus County, N.C., on the South side of Mona Street adjoining the property of C.K. Cook and being a part of Lot No. 7 of the Ed M. Cooke Estate as recorded in Map Book 4, Page 78 Cabarrus County Registry and described metes and bounds as follows: Beginning an iron stake on the South side of Mona Street (said iron stake being South 80-49 West 150 feet from an iron stake on the West side of Concord Lake Concord Road. A corner of Lots Nos. 7 and 8) and runs thence S. 80-49 W. 80 feet to an iron stake corner of C.K Cook

05/29/1961 recorded on 05/30/1961 in Book 308, Page 206, in Cabarrus County Records, State of NC. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23. Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1). The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws.

A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy. Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including Single-Family Residential Real Property An

NEW HANOVER

ONSLOW

RANDOLPH

NORTH CAROLINA

23 SP 879

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY 18 SP 1502 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY SHERMAN E PETERSON AND ATHALIA L PETERSON DATED JUNE 6, 2003 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 6130 AT PAGE 250 IN THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA

LARRY EDWARD POWERS, STEFAN DANIEL POWERS, and JAMES F. POWERS, JR., Petitioner, VS.

THOMAS D. WRIGHT and wife ANNE M. WRIGHT, UNKNOWN HEIRS OF EDWARD MARTIN WRIGHT II, UNKNOWN HEIRS OF MARY WRIGHT DOLLYHIGH, UNKNOWN HEIRS OF LOUISE WRIGHT COKER, UNKNOWN HEIRS OF LENA MAE WRIGHT a/k/a LENA MAE SCOTT, Respondents.

TO: Nadine Know a/k/a Vivian Nadine Knox 5776 NC Highway 33 NW

Present Record Owners: Sherman E. Peterson and Athalia L. Peterson The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Sherman E. Peterson and Athalia L. Peterson. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, CUMBERLAND COUNTY 23 SP 1081 Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Neill P. Guy, II and Deanna Guy, in the original amount of $235,000.00, payable to RBC Centura Bank, dated March 19, 2007 and recorded on April 9, 2007 in Book 7553, Page 506, Cumberland County Registry. Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Anchor Trustee Services, LLC having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds of Cumberland County, North Carolina, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door or other usual place of sale in Cumberland County, North Carolina, at 2:00PM on August 19, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property, to wit: All the certain tract or parcel of land situated in the City of Fayetteville in Cross Creek Township, Cumberland County, North Carolina, and more particularly described as follows: Parcel A: Being all of Lot One Hundred (100) as shown on a plat entitled “Summertime, Section 4” duly recorded in Book of Plats 47,

Page 11, Cumberland County, North Carolina Registry. Parcel B:By a deed dated June 30, 1978, recorded in Book 2662, Page 324, Cumberland County, North Carolina Registry, Broadwell Construction Company has conveyed to Summertime Pond Homeowners Association, Inc. (a not-for-pro t corporation organized under Chapter 55A of the General Statutes of North Carolina) the title to a 4.11 acre tract comprising the Summertime Pond, with said conveyance being made to said corporation so long as the corporate charter of Summertime Pond Homeowners Association, Inc. continues in active existence and no longer. Beginning at the northeast corner of Lot 100, Summertime, Section 4, recorded in Plat Book 47, Page 11, Cumberland County, North Carolina Registry and running thence with the rear line of said Lot 100 the following courses and distances: North 88 degrees 31 minutes West 73.71 feet to a point; North 59 degrees 00 minutes West 56.63 feet to a point in the rear line of Lot 99; thence with the approximate center of a lake North 77 degrees 30 minutes East 126.87 feet to a point in the approximate center of the lake; thence in a southerly direction being the extension of the eastern property line of Lot 100 South 01 degree 36 minutes West 58.55 feet, to the beginning, containing 0.11, more or less. The Parcel B is described in accordance with a description furnished by Moorman, Little & Kizer, Inc. dated March 15, 1979, and being the same property conveyed to Christopher S. George and wife, Melissa L. George by deed recorded in Book 6145, Page

at 11:00AM on August 19, 2024, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Timothy Martin Strickland, dated December 20, 2005 to secure the original principal amount of $82,490.00, and recorded in Book 7106 at Page 584 of the Cumberland County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 4981 Butler Nursery Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28306 Tax Parcel ID: 0452-69-4223 Present Record Owners: Timothy Martin Strickland The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Timothy Martin Strickland. The property to be o ered pursuant to this

PARCEL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER(S):

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE FILE NUMBER: 22 SP 918 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust executed by SUE A KRYSIAK AND THOMAS N. GREB payable to HOME LOAN CENTER, INC., DBA LENDINGTREE LOANS, Lender, to LENDERS FIRST CHOICE , Trustee, dated December 23, 2006, and recorded in Book 7468, Page 846 of the Cumberland County Public Registry, default having been made in the terms of agreement set forth by the loan agreement secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Goddard & Peterson, PLLC, , having been substituted as Successor Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O cial Records of Cumberland County, North Carolina, in Book 11557, Page 0767, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door in Cumberland County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 12:00PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows:

0439-35-8630 ADDRESS: 3640 ABERNATHY DR FAYETTEVILLE, NC 28311 THE LAND DESCRIBED HEREIN IS SITUATED IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND, AND IS DESCRIBED IN DEED BOOK 7468, PAGE 846 AS FOLLOWS: ALL THAT CERTAIN TRACT OR PARCEL OF LAND SITUATED IN THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, TOWNSHIP OF CROSS CREEK, COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEING ALL OF LOT NUMBER 167 IN THE SUBDIVISION KNOWN AS COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, SECTION 4, PART 2, ACCORDING TO A PLAT OF THE SAME DULY RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 102, PAGE 41, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, REGISTRY. PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): SUE A KRYSIAK AND THOMAS N. GREB Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23. Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1). The property to be o ered pursuant to this

050244-2189 and 0502-44-1016. You are required to make defense to such pleading no later than September 10, 2024 (40 days from the date of rst publication) and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought. This the ______ day of

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

required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY

641, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina. Subject to restrictions, reservations, easement, covenants, oil, gas or mineral rights of record, if any. Together with improvements located hereon; said property being located at 180 Ellerslie Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28303. Tax ID: 041789-0452 Third party purchasers must pay the recording costs of the trustee’s deed, any land transfer taxes, the excise tax, pursuant North Carolina General Statutes §105-228.30, in the amount of One Dollar ($1.00) per each Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or fractional part thereof, and the Clerk of Courts fee, pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §7A-308, in the amount of Forty- ve Cents (0.45) per each One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or fractional part thereof with a maximum amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts will be immediately due and owing. Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS WHERE IS. There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, special assessments, land transfer

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

By:__________________________

ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING,

as described in that certain Declaration of Condominium recorded in Book 8125, Page 710, as amended and in condo Plat Book 8, Page 21, Cumberland County Registry, North Carolina, together with its applicable percentage interest in the Condominium’s Common Area. and being the same property conveyed

taxes, if any, and encumbrances of record.

To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner of the property is Neill P. Guy, II. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination (North Carolina General Statutes §45-21.16A(b)(2)). Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of termination. If the Trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the Substitute Trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to

AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing. SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS residing at the property: be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser. Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. The date of this Notice is July 30, 2024.

Jason K. Purser, NCSB# 28031 Aaron Gavin, NCSB# 59503

notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy. Additional Notice for Residential Property with Less than 15 rental units, including SingleFamily Residential Real Property:

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

have merit, may request the court to declare the sale

|

Fax | www. LOGS.com Posted: By: 24-117788

North

Register of Deeds Durham

and the holder of the

evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door in

SUNRISE HILLS, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 3, PAGE 40, IN THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 811 Carolina Avenue, Thomasville, NC 27360. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

PARTY PURCHASERS

EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

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

in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is

Jason M. Mills and Melissa D. Mills. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor

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

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 24SP000085-310 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Celestine R. Mciver AKA Celestine R. Tate (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Celestine R. McIver and Sharon R. Tate, Heirs of Celestine R. McIver a/k/a Celestine R. Tate: Sharon R. Tate, Cory McIver, Cathy Tate, Victor Tate; Heirs of Sharon R. Tate: Brian Tate, Jared Tate; Heirs of Cory McIver: Cory McIver, Jr., Courtney McIver; Heirs of Cathy Tate: Kenita Tate, Jamarius Tate, Jacqueline Tate) to Laura Layell, Trustee(s), dated January 18, 2006, and recorded in Book No. 5087, at Page 969 in Durham County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Durham County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the

Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 3:00 PM on August 20, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Durham in the County of Durham, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 9, Block C, Section 2, Casa Grande, as per plat and survey thereof on le in the O ce of the Register of Deeds of Durham County in Plat Book 63, Page 65, to which plat reference is hereby made for a more particular description of same. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 4101 Casa Street, Durham, North Carolina. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

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

pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of

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

courthouse door in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 3:00 PM on August 27, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Durham in the County of Durham, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: All that certain property situated in the City of Durham in the County of Durham and State of North Carolina, being more fully described in a deed dated 04/29/1970 and recorded 04/29/1970, among the land records of the County and State set forth above, in Deed Volume 364 and Page 258. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2019 Athens Street, Durham, North Carolina.

Tax Map or Parcel ID No.: 179500 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23. Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred

Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1). The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in

the purchaser is the return of the deposit.

Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the

and

encumbrances

COASTAL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, Plainti ,

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

23SP001983-910

Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by William Jeremy James Springthorpe and Nicole Springthorpe (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): William Jeremy James Springthorpe and Nicole Springthorpe) to Allan B. Polunsky, Trustee(s), dated July 7, 2017, and recorded in Book No. 16838, at Page 2240 in Wake County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Wake County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the Wake County Courthouse door, the Salisbury Street entrance in Raleigh, Wake

22 SP 1627

AMENDED NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

NORTH CAROLINA, WAKE COUNTY

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Homero Perez and Deborah Huntley Perez to Richard J. Arbogast, Trustee(s), which was dated August 29, 2001 and recorded on September 5, 2001 in Book 009067 at Page 01850 and rerecorded/ modi ed/corrected on April 17, 2020 in Book 017827, Page 2350, Wake County Registry, North Carolina.

the Union County Public Registry and being located on the southern edge of Houston Street (a 40-foot right-of-way) thence South 88-45-30 West 84. 82 feet to an iron thence South 01-17-37 West 167. 88 feet to an iron thence North 89-31- 24 West 80.22 feet to an iron stake in the John H Martin corner thence with Martin’s line North 00-16-07 West 169. 01 feet to the point and place of BEGINNING and containing 0. 3191 of an acre more or less according to a survey by Klaus E Krueger NCRLS dated January 20, 1998. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 322 East Houston Street, Monroe, North Carolina. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to one hour as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23.

vs. SHERMAN JOSEPH a/k/a SHERMAN SHERWIN JOSESPH; DENEY JOSEPH a/k/a DENEY NICOLE KRYSTEL SERIEUX JOSEPH; Et. Al., Defendants. TO:

DeNey Joseph a/k/a DeNey

Serieux Joseph 1505 Farthingale Court

County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on August 19, 2024 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Willow Spring in the County of Wake, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows:

Being all of Lot 43, Phase Two, Rowland Meadows Subdivision, as shown on map recorded in Book of Maps 2007, Pages 1133-1135, inclusive, Wake County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 533 Spruce Meadows Lane, Willow Spring, North Carolina.

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

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

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

The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is

Attorneys

Dates

required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any

of

thence running with the

of Wilson

to an

of way of Wilson Avenue, South 78 deg. 45 min. East 60.00 feet to the beginning and containing 0.247 acres according to survey of the property entitled “House Location for Milton R Phillips, Jr. and Sylvia B Phillips” by Williams, Pearce & Associates, P.A. dated March 10, 1995. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on August 28, 2024 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit: Beginning at an iron stake in the southern right of way of Wilson Avenue at the intersection of the western right of way of Hollybrook Road; thence running with the right of way of Hollybrook Road,

NORTH CAROLINA, WAKE COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Juan Pablo Carvajal, Unmarried Man to Blue Door Homes LLC., Trustee(s), which was dated March 22, 2022 and recorded on March 22, 2022 in Book 018962 at Page 00717, Wake County Registry, North Carolina.

Said property is commonly known as 3850 Wendell Boulevard, Wendell, NC 27591. A certi ed check only (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments,

easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Homero Perez. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination.

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

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC

Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 File No.: 14-26094-FC02

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

Said property is commonly known as 6260 Pesta Ct, Raleigh, NC 27612.

A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on August 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 167, Lynnwood Blu Townhomes, recorded in Book of Maps 2013, Pages 135-139, Wake County Registry.

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION WAKE COUNTY 23SP003749-910 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY CHARLES E. JACKSON AND JOHNNA B. JACKSON DATED SEPTEMBER 26, 2001 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 9089 AT PAGE 2205 AND MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 2, 2017 IN BOOK 16685, PAGE 1 AND FURTHER MODIFIED BY AGREEMENT RECORDED MAY 26, 2022 IN BOOK 19038 AT PAGE 260 IN THE WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Wake County courthouse at 11:00AM on August 22, 2024, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Wake County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Charles E. Jackson and Johnna B. Jackson, dated September 26, 2001 to secure the original principal amount of $155,193.00, and recorded in Book 9089 at Page 2205 of the Wake County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 3213 Flowery Branch Rd, Raleigh, NC 27610 Tax Parcel ID: 0287823

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

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

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

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that

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

THE STANLY COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Back in the trenches

The Carolina Panthers returned to the field for their preason opener, playing the New England Patriots — and their new quarterback Drake Maye, a Charlotte-area native and third overall pick out of UNC — in Foxborough, Massachusetts, last Thursday. The Patriots won 17-3.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

N.C. to expand eCourts to all 100 counties by 2025

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts plans to complete the eCourts expansion across all 100 counties and the N.C. Business Court by 2025. Currently serving about half of the state’s population, eCourts has already processed more than 1.3 million electronic filings, saving an estimated 5 million pieces of paper since February 2023. The system provides 24/7 online access to court records, averaging 1.5 million searches monthly.

With kids back to school, watch out for buses

As 1.5 million North Carolina students return to school, authorities stress the importance of bus safety. More than 14,000 school buses operate daily in the state. In 2022, there were 1,075 school bus-related crashes resulting in 786 injuries and eight fatalities.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey notes that passing a stopped school bus can result in doubled auto insurance premiums. Students should be reminded to wait for the bus to stop completely before standing, while motorists are reminded to stop far enough back from school buses to allow children safe entry and exit.

SCS announces free meal program for all students

The program was limited to elementary schools last year

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

ALBEMARLE — For the 2024-25 school year, all Stanly County Schools students are eligible to receive a free breakfast and lunch each school day.

The school system announced on Aug. 1 that the free meal program — limited to elementary students last year — will once again operate through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as part of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Under the implementation

of the CEP program, there will not be a need to submit meal applications for free, reduced-price and paid student meals; all a la carte items, snacks and beverages are still available for purchase.

At the recent Stanly County Board of Education meeting on Aug. 6, SCS Superintendent Jarrod Dennis presented a summary of the program to school board members.

“Essentially, we had CEP for our elementary students last year, but now all students have CEP,” Dennis said. “We had a phone call go out Monday about this, and we’re just trying to raise awareness.”

Dennis stated that participation will be a crucial element to the successfulness of the program.

“We want to make sure that all our kids have two meals a day when they go to school.”

Stanly County Schools Superintendent Jarrod Dennis

“We want to make sure that all our kids have two meals a day when they go to school,” he added. “On Monday through Friday, they can count on two meals a day and don’t have to worry about meal debt. Hopefully, this will ease the burden on working families, especially ones who live paycheck to paycheck. Now, you can use

Locust continues summer concert series with Cat5 Band

The music series spans from June to September

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

LOCUST — The third installment in the 2024 Locust Summer Concert Series will arrive this weekend as the Cat5 Band takes the stage at the Locust City Hall Backyard.

Formed in 2019 and based out of Ruffin, Cat5 is a variety act that performs beach music, country, yacht rock, classic rock, along with a selection of originals. The event is set for Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. with a short break for the band in between sets. Each performance in Locust’s concert series features several food trucks, craft

and business vendors, as well as free activities for children.

“Come hang out with us this Saturday for an evening of fun and entertainment featuring Cat5,” the City of Locust announced. “We’ll be kicking things off at 6 p.m., and we’ve got an awesome lineup of music, delicious food and drink vendors, unique artisan crafts, bounce houses, and even a rock climbing wall!”

This year’s Locust Summer Concert Series began on June 15 with the Zac Kellum Band and was scheduled to continue with Poison’Us/ Kings of Noise on Aug. 10, although the latter show was canceled and rescheduled to 2025.

Next up, the Chunky Daddy Band will perform on Sept. 21, leading to a post-show fire-

works display to close out the event series.

Cat5’s upcoming performance in Locust will showcase a group that took home the Horizon Award at the 2019 Carolina Beach Music Awards. Through the years, the band has also been honored by the CBMA in the categories for Songwriter of the Year, Instrumentalist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.

In May, the band announced that it was under new management with a new lineup.

some of that money to do other things instead of worrying about having to feed your kids at school.”

Board Member Glenda Gibson asked the superintendent whether students who bring their own lunches to school would need to go through the lunch line with everyone else.

Dennis said that he told principals and administration during the latest summer retreat that students with lunch boxes will be asked to sit them down and still enter the lunch line.

“Even if they just get one item, they’re still helping with the participation rate. They were told that at our summer leadership meeting.”

Regarding the breakfast portion of the CEP program, Dennis said that breakfast would be “trickier” and that the specifics will look different depending on each individual school.

Board Chair Carla Poplin floated the idea of asking the

Cat5’s recently-revised band lineup now consists of lead vocalist Tim Clark, guitarist Jerry West, keyboardist Tim Sidden, saxophonist Glen Tippett, bassist Allan Royal II and drummer Corky McClellan. The 2024 Locust Summer Concert Series is sponsored by Whitley Automotive, Rock Therapy, Buzzed Viking, Uwharrie Bank and Stanly Community College, among others.

“The Cat5 Band proudly announces new ownership, band name, and members to the lineup,” the group stated in a press release. “This lineup of extraordinary artists and talent will be electrifying and will captivate audiences around the world… Cat5 Band Inc. is also proud to announce that Live365 Entertainment LLC owned by Dwayne and Robin Porter will be taking over all management responsibilities for the band. This collaboration marks an exciting new chapter for Cat5, ensuring enhanced opportunities and experiences for fans worldwide.”

North State Journal

(USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Neal Robbins, Publisher

Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

Jesse Deal, Reporter

P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager

Published each Thursday as part of North State Journal

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We stand corrected

No charges in fatal shooting of Russian utility worker by Special Forces soldier

The strange incident leaves many questions unanswered

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Sheriff’s Office has concluded its investigation into the May shooting death of Ramzan Daraev, a Russian national from Chechnya, at the residence of an unnamed U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in Carthage. No charges will be filed against the shooter, authorities announced Monday.

The incident unfolded over more than 20 minutes on the evening of May 3. According to a lengthy statement issued by the Sheriff’s Office, the shooter’s wife first observed Daraev taking photographs near their remote residence at dusk.

The shooter, initially unarmed, approached Daraev to

inquire about his presence on the property. Unable to establish Daraev’s identity or purpose, the shooter asked him to leave, but Daraev allegedly became aggressive and refused.

According to the shooter, at one point, Daraev claimed to be a Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine, although investigators have been unable to establish Daraev’s prior foreign military status.

At 8:12 p.m., the shooter’s wife made the first of two 911 calls, reporting a suspicious person photographing their house and children. The shooter then retrieved a handgun from his residence.

A second, more urgent 911 call was made at 8:25 p.m., with the caller heard pleading for expedited law enforcement response at her husband’s request. The shooting occurred shortly after this second call, just before deputies arrived on scene.

Moore County District Attorney Michael Hardin supported the decision not to file charges, saying in an email to North State Journal: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and after reviewing the evidence, I concurred with the Sheriff’s Office that there was a reasonable belief in the use of deadly force.”

According to the report, “the confrontation escalated when Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the shooter after repeatedly refusing to leave the property. The shooter reported firing several shots in response to Daraev’s advance.”

The Sheriff’s Office cited the North Carolina Castle Doctrine as justification for the shooter’s actions, which allows for the use of defensive force when there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within one’s home or property.

Investigators found that Da-

Almost 100 NC hospitals to join medical debt-reduction effort

raev, an employee of Cable Warriors, a subcontractor for Utilities One, was conducting legitimate utility surveys in the area as part of a Brightspeed fiber optic expansion but had no identifying clothing or equipment. He had entered the United States across the southern border in December 2022 and had been living in Chicago.

The only identification associated with Daraev was an international driver’s license found in his car, parked along Dowd Road. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and he did not have any paperwork showing he was authorized to take photographs of utility poles.

Given the unique circumstances of the incident, the case materials have been made accessible to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army Criminal Investigation Division throughout the investigation.

year along with expanded Medicaid coverage to working adults who couldn’t otherwise qualify for conventional Medicaid. Hospitals pay assessments to draw down billions of dollars in federal money.

Stanly school district bus drivers to remind students that they can get their free breakfast to take to their respective classrooms in the morning.

“I wanted to also just reiterate that our cafeteria staff are allotted hours by how many meals we feed,” Poplin said. “If we’re short a worker — and one feeds 50 to 60 more kids at that school each day — that may make up those hours and it would make life easier on our Child Nutrition Department too.”

At future meetings, the school board will be updated on the participation and implementation statistics throughout the SCS school district.

“Not only does this give our kids hot meals twice a day at no cost to parents, but it also helps make our employment situation more stable,” Poplin continued. “There are multiple reasons for implementing this program, and I’m super excited that we’re going to have two hot meal options for our kids each day at every school. We just want to make sure that we’re marketing and pushing it so that we don’t start off behind with not enough participation.”

The Stanly County Board of Education is scheduled to hold its next regular meeting on Sept. 3 at 6:15 p.m. inside Central Elementary School’s auxiliary meeting room.

To report an error or a suspected error, please email: corrections@nsjonline. com with “Correction request” in the subject line. Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@ stanlyjournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

All qualifying facilities will join the innovative Medicaid program

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

RALEIGH — All qualifying North Carolina hospitals have agreed to participate in a first-ofits-kind initiative that will give them higher Medicaid payments if medical debt of low- and middle-income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liabilities, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Monday.

Cooper and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled six weeks ago a proposal submitted to federal Medicaid regulators that they said could help about 2 million people in the state get rid of $4 billion in debt held by hospitals, which usually only can recoup a small portion.

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities,” Cooper said at a news conference in which he revealed all 99 qualifying hospitals — including the state’s largest hospital systems — have committed to the voluntary debt-elimination effort.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed off last monthon the plan details, which build on a Medicaid reimbursement program started recently for 99 acute-care, rural or university-connected hospitals. The hospitals were asked to make

August 6

• Shelby William Smith, 27, was arrested for felony possession of Schedule II controlled substance, possession of firearm by felon, and carrying a concealed gun.

• Britney Nicole Gravitte, 33, was arrested for breaking and entering.

GARY D. ROBERTSON / AP PHOTO

Undue Medical Debt board member Jose N. Penabad, center, speaks while Gov. Roy Cooper, left, and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley listen at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh on Monday.

their participation decisions known by late last week.

Changes that benefit consumers will begin in the coming months, including by next July 1 the elimination of medical debt going back to early 2014 for the hospitals’ patients who are Medicaid enrollees. The hospitals in time also will eliminate medical debt that is more than two years old for non-enrollees who make below certain incomes or whose debt exceeds 5% of their annual income.

“We are often confronted with messages that tackling medical debt is impossible,” said Jose Penabad, a board member with Undue Medical Debt, a national group that will work with

August 7

• Jessica Liane Couick, 36, was arrested for seconddegree trespass.

August 8

• Michael James Oliver, 39, was arrested for abduction of children, human trafficking of a child victim, and soliciting a child by computer.

North Carolina hospitals, but “today is a message of hope.”

The hospitals also will agree to carry out programs going forward to discourage debt. By Jan. 1, for example, hospitals will automatically enroll people in charity care programs if they already qualify for food stamps and other welfare programs. And by July they’ll have to curb debt collection practices by not telling credit reporting agencies about unpaid bills and by capping interest rates on medical debt. The qualifying hospitals already participate in what’s called the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program. The General Assembly approved it last

August 9

• Jaime Dwayne Tucker, 45, was arrested for possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver Schedule II controlled substance, possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver marijuana, and other charges.

The HASP hospitals are now poised to receive even higher levels of reimbursement by agreeing to the medical debt initiatives. Kinsley’s department said that hospitals that otherwise would have shared funds from a pot of $3.2 billion this fiscal year now will benefit from an estimated $4 billion and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year.

Other state and local governments have tapped into federal American Rescue Plan funds to help purchase and cancel residents’ debt for pennies on the dollar Cooper, a Democrat who leaves the job in January, acknowledged recently that hospitals had responded somewhat negatively to the medical debt effort. He said Monday he believed that hospitals were put off initially because HASP funds previously unrestricted were now going to be tied to debt-reduction incentives.

But ultimately “these hospitals looked at the bottom line, looked at the benefits to their patients and communities and decided to sign up,” he said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association — which lobbies for nonprofit and for-profit hospitals, said Monday in a news release that it “stands ready” to help hospital implement the new debt relief initiative. “We are also committed to addressing the root causes of medical debt and will continue to work with partners to improve access to affordable, high-quality care,” the group added.

• Cody Dylan Riley, 25, was arrested for breaking and entering, and first-degree trespassing.

August 10

• Victoria Lynette Sanders, 31, was arrested for resisting a public officer, assault on a government official/employee, driving while impaired, reckless driving to endanger, and hit and run leaving the scene with property damage.

FREE MEAL from page 1

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Just who is the real middle-class president?

No administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN talked incessantly about his “from the middle class out” economic strategy.

Given his record, it would have been more accurate to call it the “middle class down and out” plan. Inflation has eroded away any income gains under Biden’s presidency.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris has her own riff on this theme. Her campaign motto is “building up the middle class.”

It isn’t exactly “Make America Great Again,” but Dems don’t have a lot of time to come up with anything catchier, given that Kamala was reluctantly chosen as the eighth-inning relief pitcher for Old Joe, who had long ago lost his fastball.

But Harris and Biden are, as the old saying goes, birds of a feather who flock together. They are running on almost precisely the same agenda as we’ve seen for four years.

The central problem is that the record for most Americans is a lot more meaningful than the message. The irony of this “build the middle class” mantra is that no administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

The most recent Census Bureau data on incomes and poverty shows that under former President Trump, incomes of the middle class rose faster than under all the three previous presidents combined.

The difference between the Trump and Biden administrations is $8,000 per household in Trump’s favor.

This same data shows income gains for minorities and female-headed households were larger under Trump. Poverty rates fell faster under Trump as well.

The reasons for the lousy Biden-Harris record are that even though incomes grew under both presidencies, inflation erased all the real income gains for workers. In other words, if the prices of eggs and bread and rent and gas go up by more

The man is not competent to be president.

DONALD TRUMP is clearly flailing. He has reportedly taken to complaining about his campaign, which candidates tend to do when they are looking for someone to blame. He is, in the words of The Washington Post, “steaming” at what has happened to him. This is what he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” the post read. “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!”

Are these the words of a stable man who is in touch with reality?

It gets worse. On Thursday, he held a lengthy press conference, supposedly to get the attention back on him instead of focusing so much on the “fun” and very successful rollout of the HarrisWalz ticket. By any measure, the press conference was a disaster.

Trump repeated his familiar rants,

than your paycheck, you’re at best treading water. Or, for the majority of households, you’re using pots and pans to keep the water out of the basement.

Biden and Harris seem to have really believed that inflation would be transitory. They drank the Kool-Aid of a trendy new economic theory called modern monetary theory, which posited that the U.S. government could spend and borrow till kingdom come without any collateral damage. But a high school economics student could tell you that handing out free money to stimulate demand for goods and services is likely to raise the price of goods and services. In the end, we learned the hard way that there’s no getting around the old law of supply and demand.

Now that the economy is showing signs of cracks in the hill, the only Harris remedy is trillions more spending and borrowing. Team Harris thinks the Fed can simply cut interest rates and the pain will go away. Maybe. But more likely that will only stimulate more spending and make the economy even more vulnerable. What they won’t do is cut excessive government spending and debt — for example, by canceling some $300 billion of failed green energy programs.

The Left shouts that Trump is the one who will rekindle inflation with his tax cuts. But that’s a hard message to sell given that there was virtually no inflation during Trump’s term. His average annual inflation rate was 1.9% versus 6% for BidenHarris.

Trump will continue to argue to the voters that he is the president who will “build out” the middle class, and even though the future is hard to predict, he has history firmly on his side.

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

complete with lies that have been repeatedly fact-checked. No, he did not cut taxes more than anyone else in history. No, he did not have a bigger crowd on Jan. 6 than Martin Luther King Jr. did for the March on Washington. No, it was not a “small” crowd that stormed the Capitol, and it was not a “peaceful” transfer of power.

At some points, he was utterly incoherent. Asked if he would direct the FDA to deny access to abortion pills, he responded: “So, you can do things that will be, would supplement, absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote. And all I want to do is give everybody a vote. And the votes are taking place right now as we speak.”

What? An aide later said that he didn’t hear the question, which is hardly an explanation, and that his position has not changed since the Supreme Court ruled. But the Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the question of whether abortion medication should be available; it only ruled that the particular plaintiffs before it did not have standing to raise the issue.

Asked how he would vote on the Florida initiative to protect abortion rights, which is on the ballot this fall, he just dodged, promising to hold a press conference sometime in the future.

He was equally incoherent about his attacks on Kamala Harris’ blackness.

Asked how he could claim that a woman who attended a historically black university had only recently claimed she

was black, Trump said: “Well, you’ll have to ask her that question because she’s the one that said it. I didn’t say it. So you’ll have to ask her. And I very much appreciate that question, but you’ll have to ask her.” What did she say? What question? His answer makes no sense at all.

We are so used to Trump ranting and raving, lying and boasting, flaunting his insecurities and anger, that it is easy to dismiss it as yet another instance of Trump being Trump. But this time he went even further, literally making up a supposed helicopter trip he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the California Assembly. According to Trump, the helicopter nearly crashed, but not before Brown disparaged Kamala Harris, a woman he dated decades ago and has supported throughout her career. According to Brown, an inveterate storyteller who pointed out, convincingly, that if it had happened, he would have told the story himself, the helicopter trip simply never happened.

Donald Trump is a man who not only rants and raves, not only exaggerates and lies, but literally makes things up. How can he possibly be qualified to be president? This is not just Trump being Trump; it is Trump literally being crazy. It is no longer simply about ideology or policy. The man is not competent to be president. It’s time to say it out loud.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

STANLY SPORTS

Stanly County high school football: 2024 preview

The upcoming season for the four Stanly teams begins this month

By Jesse Deal Stanly County Journal

LAST FALL, Stanly County’s four high school varsity football teams collectively took a step forward as they combined for a 23-23 record during the 2023 season. Although still sitting at .500 as a county, it marked a significant improvement after totaling records of 14-26 and 12-30 in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

As the 2024 season kicks off this month, one Stanly team will look to repeat as conference champion while three others aim to take the crown in their conference standings.

West Stanly Colts (Rocky River Conference 2A/3A)

2023 Record: 5 6, 2 3 RRC

2024 Player To Watch: Senior wide receiver Gavyn Efird

First-year coach Ralph Jackson will be tasked with helping the Colts aim for their first winning season in four years, and the former West running back has coaching experience at Anson and North Stanly.

A 3-0 start to the campaign last year quickly spiraled as West lost six of its next eight games and was knocked out of the first round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs by Randleman in a 43-0 shutout. Former coach Brett Morton announced in the offseason that he had decided to step down after seven years (32-36 over -

all record) with the team. Hoping to return to a period of success that the team enjoyed back in 2018-19, the revamped Colts are set to travel to North Moore on Friday for a road matchup with the Mustangs.

North Stanly Comets (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A)

2023 Record: 8 4, 3 1 Y VC

2024 Player To Watch: Senior running back Aden Allsbrook

With 11 winning seasons in a row, the Comets have consistently provided a competitive product over the past decade. Coach Chad Little — now entering his second year with North — didn’t miss a beat last year following the retirement of longtime coach Scott Crisco.

Although they settled with a second-place conference finish in 2023, the Comets’ eight total wins marked the most of any team in the county. North advanced to the second round of the 2A state playoffs, where it faced a dead end in the form of a 36-7 loss at Brevard.

The Comets will travel to Anson on Aug. 23 for their season opener and follow that up with East Rowan on the road on Aug. 30 and Western Alamance at home on Sept. 6.

South Stanly Rebel Bulls (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A)

2023 Record: 4 7, 1 3 Y VC

2024 Player To Watch: Junior linebacker Carter Callicutt

Over in Norwood, the Bulls are searching for development as they hunt for their first win-

ning season in six years and first conference title in over three decades.

Second-year coach Terry Shankle is back after his inaugural campaign with South where the team’s four wins matched the same amount it had won in the previous three seasons. In the 1A playoffs, South suffered a 52-32 loss to Bessemer City, capping off a four-game losing streak.

The Bulls will start their 2024 campaign on Aug. 23 with a familiar local foe as they head to Red Cross to face the Colts; last year’s South/West matchup resulted in a 34-0 road win for the Colts.

Albemarle Bulldogs (Yadkin Valley Conference 1A/2A)

2023 Record: 6 6, 3 1 Y VC 2024 Player To Watch: Senior wide receiver Ja’Zyion Geiger

It’s still been a decade since the Bulldogs put together a winning record, but eighthyear head coach Richard Davis saw his team achieve something even more important last fall: a conference championship.

Albemarle started slowly in 2023 but went on to win six of its eight final games, including a 14-7 win at North that delivered the Bulldogs a YVC championship over the Comets. In the postseason, a 49-0 first-round win over South Davidson in the 1A playoffs was followed up by a 41-13 upset home loss to Thomasville.

The Bulldogs will host Asheboro on Aug. 23 and Trinity on Aug. 30 before hitting the road for a Sept. 6 matchup with the Colts.

Se’shaun Swindell

North Stanly, football

Se’shaun Swindell is a rising senior on the North Stanly football team. He’s entering his third year as a starting left tackle and earned Yadkin Valley All‑Conference honors last season.

The Comets don’t open their season until Aug. 23 at Anson, but Swindell has already had a big week. On Aug. 10, he announced that he has received an offer to continue his football career at the next level, from the Texas College Steers. The HBCU is located in Tyler, Texas, and competes at the NAIA level.

NFL teams seek to limit number of joint practices

Bad blood and risk of injury risk both increase on the second day

By Steve Megargee

The Associated Press

THE FIRST WEEK of joint practices at NFL training camps included one player getting carted off the field and two teams getting fined $200,000 each for excessive fighting.

Those events have lent credence to the notion that joint practice sessions don’t need to last longer than one day, an idea growing in popularity. After nearly 80% of the 2023 joint practices lasted two days, more than two-thirds of the sessions this year are one-day affairs.

“One, to me, is plenty,” New

York Jets coach Robert Saleh said.

The argument against two - d ay joint practices is that the second day often is chippier and increases the possibility of injuries. Atlanta wide receiver Rondale Moore was carted off the field with a season-ending knee injury Wednesday as the Falcons practiced against the Miami Dolphins for a second straight day. Also Wednesday, the NFL fined the New York Giants and Detroit Lions $200,000 each for multiple fights that stretched across their two days of practicing against each other.

The NFL sent out a memo last month stating fights and unprofessional conduct at joint practices wouldn’t be tolerated. Packers coach Matt LaF-

leur noted earlier in this offseason that “sometimes it becomes a wrestling match out there or an MMA fight” when joint practices extend to a second day.

“Every time I’ve ever had a joint practice, the first day will be a little rough and then the second one ends in a fight,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said.

NFL teams are permitted to hold joint practices for as many as four days during training camp, and those can be divided in any way possible. For instance, the Los Angeles Rams are holding four separate oneday sessions against three different teams.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said after Sunday’s workout that he likes limiting joint practices to one day.

“I think there’s probably less fights, which is good,” Stafford said. “You know, the second day is when everybody kind of gets a little charged up and gets going.” New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen explained why fights are more likely on the second day.

“You have the first day’s practice,” Allen said. “One team or the other is going to feel like they got the better of the other team. Those coaches are going to go yell at their players. Their players are going to pissed off, and then that’s how that stuff happens, right?”

Some don’t see the need to have joint practices at all.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders are the only teams not having any joint

practices this year.

“I think the way we go about it — I think we go fast, we practice hard, we do those things amongst ourselves, and the guys challenge each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And I don’t think there’s a better way to do it, if your guys are willing to do that.” But others consider joint practices a valuable method of preseason preparation.

“I thought the two days were effective,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said Wednesday. “It’s really important to see different looks, just seeing different nickel pressures, corner pressures, coverage structures, fronts. It creates a lot of good conversations. The meeting time after these practices is very productive, to talk through it all.”

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA hands Harbaugh 4-year show cause order

Ann Arbor, Mich.

The NCAA says former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh had impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has handed him a fouryear show-cause order if he wants to return to college coaching. The NCAA says Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations. Harbaugh left the national championshipwinning Wolverines to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The NCAA has already given Michigan three years of probation, a fine and recruiting limits in the same case.

LIV GOLF

McDowell suspended 1 event for taking decongestant

Nashville Graeme McDowell is the first player from LIV Golf to be suspended under its anti- doping policy. McDowell says he was congested ahead of the Nashville event and took an over-the-counter decongestant that had a banned substance. That means the 45-year-old from Northern Ireland won’t be playing LIV Golf Greenbrier next week. He’s also been fined $125,000 and must forfeit his earnings from the Nashville event. McDowell tied for 42nd in Nashville against the 54-man field and made $127,500. He says he accepts the sanctions from the Saudi-funded league. He’ll be replaced at Greenbrier by an alternate.

NFL

Seahawks’ Howell directs 2 scoring drives in win over Chargers

Inglewood, Calif.

Sam Howell threw for 130 yards and a touchdown in his Seattle debut and the Seahawks had a successful preseason debut under Mike Macdonald, defeating the Chargers 16-3 Saturday in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first game with Los Angeles. Howell, the former UNC quarterback acquired from Washington during the offseason, directed a pair of scoring drives in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 27 passes in 10 series and played until a little over midway through the third quarter.

NBA Barkley says he will not retire, remain with TNT Sports

New York

Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June. Barkley previously said the upcoming season would be his last on television. He signed a 10year contract extension with TNT Sports in 2022. The parent company of TNT Sports has sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer in its upcoming 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

Dillon prevails in overtime at Richmond

Dillon’s first Cup Series win in 2 years came after he spun Joey Logano on the final lap

By Noah Trister The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond on Sunday night. It was Dillon’s first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year and entered the race ranked 32nd in the standings. Now he’s on track for the postseason — but he didn’t do it gently.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon said.

Dillon appeared to be cruising to a victory when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first cau-

tion of the entire 400-lap, 300mile race aside from the prescheduled ones after the end of the first two stages.

So the drivers went to overtime, and Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the restart. Then Dillon came up behind Logano and spun him — and when Denny Hamlin appeared to be moving past him on the inside, Dillon made contact with him too and sent him into the wall.

Dillon emerged from all that chaos with a victory in his No. 3 Chevrolet. That number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt. And that symmetry did not appear lost on seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who weighed in on social media.

“Dale Sr vibes,” Johnson said. Logano, unsurprisingly, was in no mood to shrug off Dillon’s move.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Lo -

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it.”

Austin Dillon

gano said. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

The 11 — Hamlin — wasn’t pleased either.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got the pay your dues back on stuff like that. But it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the

two guys that got taken out on the last corner.” Dillon appeared on his way to a much less controversial victory after passing Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps to go. This was the first time in a points-paying Cup race that teams had multiple tire options. The “Option” tires were softer, giving drivers a speed boost but less longevity than the “Prime” tires. Teams had only two sets of Option tires for the race. The Option tires helped Daniel Suárez to the lead early in the second stage, and he ultimately won that stage. After putting another set of Option tires on with about 40 laps remaining, Suárez began surging toward the front, but it appeared he would run out of laps before threatening Dillon.

But then the StenhousePreece crash gave Dillon bigger problems to worry about. Now he has the victory — but at least two veteran drivers with an axe to grind.

Olympic basketball: Inside the Curry flurry

How Stephen Curry’s 4 shots sealed another gold for the United States

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

PARIS — After making only five 3-pointers in his first four games of the Paris Olympics combined, Stephen Curry found his stroke in the nick of time. He made 17 3-pointers in the last two games to lead the U.S. to its fifth consecutive gold medal.

The last four of those 3-pointers came in the final 2:46 of the gold-medal game — a staggering display that anyone who watched will be hard-pressed to forget.

“ The last 21/2 minutes were special,” Curry said. A breakdown of Curry’s dramatics:

The first one

LeBron James brought the ball across midcourt, and Curry waved Anthony Davis away to create space for the pick-androll. Curry set it, then moved to the top of the key and took the pass from James. Curry shook free of French defender Guerschon Yabusele and made the 3-pointer from straightaway. Little did anyone know, he was just getting started. — USA 85, France 79, 2:41 left.

The second one

In the timeout with 2:22 left, Curry suggested that he and James keep running the pickand-roll. A simple set, but very effective for someone generally considered the best shooter in the history of basketball. So, they ran it, this time with James setting the screen. Curry kept the ball, got de-

fender Nicolas Batum in the air, waited for him to land and then shot from the left side of the top of the key.

Curry was yelling a message as he headed back down the floor. “Don’t worry about me,” he kept saying.

— USA 90, France 81, 1:52 left.

The third one

France made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six. Curry brought the ball down the floor and gave it to Kevin Durant, who immediately gave it back. Curry sent the ball his way again and eventually it was in the hands of Devin Booker. As Booker drove the baseline, he saw Curry open at the top of the key again.

He wound up using basically the same move as the possession

before; this time, it was waiting for Nando de Colo to bite on the head fake. Another 3-pointer, good.

Curry screamed several times afterward, then hoisted the top of his jersey to show the “USA” across his chest.

— USA 93, France 84, 1:18 left.

The fourth one

France got within 93-87 with 54.4 seconds left. Curry sent the ball to Durant, just as he did in the previous possession. And Durant gave it right back again. He was keeping the ball this time. He forced a shot over Batum and Evan Fournier, kind of an off-balanced heave that looked like a mistake.

“I was kind of like, ‘What the (expletive),’” U.S. center Bam

medal

Adebayo said. “Then I remembered who was shooting it.”

Of course, it was going in. The U.S. was up 96-87 with 35 seconds left.

Curry put his hands to the side of his head in celebration. “Night night,” he calls it, a reference where he tells the other team it’s time to go to sleep.

The game was over. The gold would be worn by Americans again. Curry watched Durant win gold medals at three previous Olympics. He watched Simone Biles win the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics in the same arena earlier in the Paris Games. He wanted that moment, desperately. And with four unforgettable shots, he delivered.

“This might not come around again,” Curry said. “It was very, very special.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Stephen Curry reacts after a 3-point basket against France in the gold

game.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Crew members push Austin Dillon’s car onto a pit road before a June NASCAR Cup Series race at

Remains located for 62 passengers in Brazil plane crash

plane crashed Friday in Vinhedo

The Associated Press

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue teams Saturday retrieved the remains of all 62 passengers from the wreckage of a plane crash in Sao Paulo state as families started gathering in the metropolis to identify and bury their loved ones.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo on Friday.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Voepass also said three passengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese.

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that rescue operations finished at 6:30 p.m. local time, with the identification of the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot by forensics ex-

perts. There were 34 male and 28 female bodies in the wreckage, the government said.

Earlier, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the local fire department, told journalists in Vinhedo that a winch was used to remove parts of the plane from the ground.

Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies. Blood tests were also done to help identification

efforts.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an

“This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us.”

Unidentified Voepass pilot

ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

Metsul, one of Brazil’s most renowned meteorological companies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident.

A video shared on social media channels Saturday shows a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to the city of Cascavel, the same origin of the crashed plane, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the world for decades. He also asked passengers to be respectful to the memory of his colleagues and the company and asked for prayers.

“It was a fatality. The pilot was my personal friend. I have known all the crew from long ago,” the unidentified pilot said. “We are professionals, we have our families. This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us. We are giving all our hearts, all our best to be here

and fulfill our mission to take you safely and comfortably to your destination.”

Local police restricted access to the main entrance of one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot, others came in minivans. They didn’t speak to journalists, and local authorities requested they not be filmed as they came.

An American Eagle ATR 72200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 8,000 feet and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes, telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions.

Iran president proposes an ex-nuclear negotiator as foreign minister

Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to appoint a woman among his ministers

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that

capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was chief of the Iranian Air Force in 2018-21. This would be the first time that a member of Iran’s air force headed the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as roads and housing minister. Sadegh, 47, is currently a director in the ministry. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear, however, whether she will be approved. The hard-line parliament seeks more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic sharia. Many law-

makers voiced their opposition when her name was read by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only previous female minister to be approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

Iranian presidents have, however, appointed women to be vice presidents, a role that is not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo Parsa, who served as education minister in 1968-71. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals

with enforcing the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improper wearing of the hijab led to nationwide protests.

Pezeshkian, then a lawmaker, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.”

He has suggested that he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear accord.

The president is likely to face opposition in passing legislation that supports his stated program since the chamber is dominated by hard-liners who mainly supported other candidates during the June to July presidential election.

The president named Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. Paknejad was formerly a deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed to retain current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and

current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi. Pezeshkian also named the current minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, as energy minister. On Saturday the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a May helicopter crash.

Later on Sunday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a vice president in charge of strategic affairs, resigned from his post over the proposed ministers. Following Pezeshkian’s election, Zarif had been charged with forming the committees to choose ministers for Pezeshkian’s administration.

Zarif wrote on the social media platform “X” that he was not happy with how the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet was shaping up, saying he failed to fulfill his promises to include more women, young people and ethnic groups.

The Voepass

EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO

Abbas Araghchi, right and pictured in 2019, was proposed by Iran

President Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s new foreign minister.

ANDRE PENNER / AP PHOTO

Firefighters and rescue workers work in the debris at the site where an airplane crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, on Friday.

Barbara Jean (Taylor) Drye

April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023

Annie Laura “Boots” Barbee Lambert

June 3, 1939 –August 10, 2024

Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2023 at her home.

Barbara was born April 17, 1936 in North Carolina to the late Robert Lee Taylor and the late Eva Belle Watts Taylor. She was also preceded in death by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth Taylor.

Annie Laura “Boots” Barbee Lambert, 85, of Albemarle passed away on August 10, 2024, in her home, surrounded by her family. A memorial service to honor her life will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, in the Stanly Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. David Hatley and Rev. Katie Lineberger. The family will receive friends from 5 until 6 p.m. prior to the hour of the service at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle.

Survivors include children, Debbie (Mike) Williams of Albemarle, Teresa (Tom) Curry of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) Drye of Oakboro; grandchildren, Melissa (Don) Parrish of Albemarle, Samantha (Destiny) Smith of Oakboro, Bradley Smith of Oakboro, Jonathan Stover of Peachland, and Jessie Stover of Lylesville; sisterin-law, Beatrice Goodman; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved cats, Bo and Garfield.

Born June 3, 1939, in Stanly County, NC, she was the daughter of the late Mathew Barbee and Annie Herlocker Barbee. She was a member of Main Street United Methodist Church and was a lifelong member of Tabernacle United Methodist Church until it closed. Mrs. Lambert retired as a Department Manager at Walmart where she worked for over 10 years.

Barbara was a member of Oakboro Baptist Church for over 60 years. She worked over 30 years at Stanly Knitting Mills. After just two years of retirement, she began managing the Oakboro Senior Center and did that for 18 years until this past week. Barbara was known for her good cooking and always taking care of others. She also loved going on day long shopping trips - she could out walk and out shop people half her age. She kept her mind and body active through gardening, word searches, and various other hobbies.

Mrs. Lambert is survived by her husband of 68 years, Edd Lambert. Other survivors include son Michael Lambert (Sandee) of Richfield and daughter Joanna Medlin of Salisbury, brother Jimmy Barbee (Pearl) of Albemarle, nine grandchildren Kimberly Edwards, Heather Kinney, Brandon Barbee, Lee Ann Shoe, Jessica Coley, Jeffrey Medlin, Camden Lambert, Karlen Lambert, and Matthew Lambert, and 18 greatgrandchildren. She was preceded in death by two children Teresa Lambert and Chris Mathew Lambert, as well as seven brothers and sisters Allene Sides, Estelle Dayon, Pauline Mills, J. D. “Buck” Barbee, Grace Hatley, Jessie Lowder, and Edna Gibson.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Tillery Compassionate Care, tillerycompassionatecare. org.

Dwight Farmer

Les Lanier

April 10, 1969 – August 8, 2024

January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023

Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.

Dwight was born January 24, 1939 in Stanly County to the late Walter Virgil and Martha Adkins Farmer. He was a 1957 graduate of Norwood High School and was a United States Army Veteran.

Pastor Les Lanier, 55, of Norwood passed away on Thursday, August 8, 2024, in Atrium Health Stanly. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 11, 2024, in the Stanly Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Clinton Efird and Rev. Randy Perry officiating and Rev. Derek Lanier and Rev. Scott Vanderburg assisting. The family will receive friends immediately following the service at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle.

He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he had served as church treasurer and choir member. He began his career with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Department moving to the Norwood Police Department and retiring as Chief of Police with the Town of Norwood after many years of service.

Dwight was an avid gardener, bird watcher and Carolina fan.

He is survived by his wife Hilda Whitley Farmer; one son D. Britten Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, NC; one daughter Sharon Farmer Lowe (David) of Norwood; one sister Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two grandchildren, Dwight Britten “Dee” Farmer III and Whitley Rose Hui Lowe.

He was preceded in death by his son Alex, brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Annabell, Glennie Mae, and Betty. Memorials may be made to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Smith 36071 Rocky River Springs Road, Norwood, NC 28128.

Born April 10, 1969, in Stanly County, NC he was the son of the late Baxter Ray Lanier and Carol Palmer Lanier. He was pastor of Charity Baptist Church in Albemarle and worked for Seven Oaks Supply in Oakboro. He ministered for over 30 years. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping and loved spending time with his family. Rev. Lanier is survived by his wife of 38 years Teresa Newton Lanier of the home, children Amanda Lynn Lanier Vanderburg (Scott) of New London and Derek Thomas Lanier (Brittany) of Albemarle, sister Tajuana Palmer Johnson (B.T.) of Albemarle, brother Steven Ray Lanier of Albemarle, and five grandchildren Kayden Vanderburg, Lexi Lanier, Chance Lanier, Kamya Vanderburg and Adaley Lanier.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in SCJ at obits@stanlyjournal.com

Lorrie Malinda Nantz

James Roseboro

June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023

July 16, 1969 – August 4, 2024

James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.

Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert and Delena Shipp Roseboro. He graduated from South Stanly High School and was employed by Triangle Brick. He enjoyed watching football and basketball, especially the Carolina TarHeels and Miami.

Lorrie Malinda Nantz, age 55, went home to be with her Lord on August 4th, 2024. She passed peacefully in her home with her loving family. Lorrie’s service will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 10th, 2024, at Stanly Funeral & Cremation Care Chapel, by Reverend Tim Ramsey. The family will receive family and friends from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 9th, 2024, at Stanly Funeral & Cremation Care.

In addition to his parents he is preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Barbara Lee Roseboro, Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, Henrietta Ingram, and Harold Roseboro.

He is survived by his sisters: Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Albemarle, Mary Roseboro of Washington DC, and Marion Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: Thomas D. Roseboro of Charlotte, Robert Roseboro (Patricia) of Norwood, and Van Horne; a special friend of over 40 years, Michelle McLendon of the home; special nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya Little, and Laquanza Crump; special nephews: Robert Jr., Desmond Roseboro, and Marcus Lilly; and God daughter, Daphne Johnson; and special friends, Vetrella Johnson and Ben McLendon.

L orrie was born on July 16, 1969, in Stanly County, NC. Lorrie was the daughter of William Levine “Bill” Privette and Janet Malinda Privette. Lorrie was a graduate of South Stanly High School, and she attended classes at Stanly Community College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She worked at Harris Teeter for 20 years before transitioning to Uwharrie Bank once she had her first child. She worked at Uwharrie Bank for 18 years and recently served as Senior Vice President. Lorrie enjoyed collecting porcelain dolls, Tom Clark gnomes, and dishes. Most of all, Lorrie loved spending time with her family. Whether it be going to the salon with her daughters, taking trips to the mountains with her family, or raising her kids with her husband, Lorrie will be most missed as the loving, caring, and kind mother and wife that she was.

In addition to her parents, Lorrie was preceded in death by a brother, Michael Scott Privette.

Darrick Baldwin

January 7, 1973 ~ January 8, 2023

Lorrie is survived by her husband of 25 years, Dan Matthew Nantz; two daughters, Emma Ruth Nantz and Polly Malinda Nantz; siblings, Billy (Sarah) Privette of Raleigh, NC, Cynthia (Robert) Kendrick of Lakeland, FL.; four nieces, Tessa (Anthony) Schrock, Hannah (Callum) Trainer, Mallory Kendrick, and Lilian Privette; two great-nieces, Belle Schrock, and Sophie Trainer, and a great-nephew, Joe Trainer; and a host of aunts and uncles.

Darrick Vashon Baldwin, age 50, entered eternal rest, Sunday, January 8, 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly County, North Carolina, Darrick was the son of Eddie James Baldwin Sr. and the late Phyllis Blue Baldwin. Darrick enjoyed life, always kept things lively and enjoyed making others smile. His presence is no longer in our midst, but his memory will forever live in our hearts.

Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care is serving the Nantz family.

He was educated in the Stanly County public schools and attended Albemarle Senior High School, Albemarle.

He was a great conversationalist and loved meeting people. Darrick never met a stranger and always showed love and compassion for his fellowman. He also loved his dog, Rocky.

He is survived by his father, Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: Crystal (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra (Stoney) Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; brothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton Baldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a host of other relatives and friends. A limb has fallen from our family tree. We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.

Johnny Lee Tucker

Ethan Isaiah Lee

John B. Kluttz

March 23, 1935 - January 9, 2023

December 18, 1941 –August 6, 2024

Johnny Lee Tucker, 82, of Stanfield passed away Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at his home surrounded by his son, daughter, and grandson. The Family will receive friends on Sunday, August 11, 2024, from 2-4 PM at Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care in Locust.

John grew up in the Millingport community where he drove a school bus and worked at the local gas station during his High School years. He graduated from Millingport High in 1954 and entered into service with the US Airforce immediately afterward. Upon return from the service, he and his high school sweetheart Julie were married in 1956. He graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College later in 1959 and began his career as a diesel mechanic at Mitchell Distributing Company, moving his growing family to Charlotte where they lived until their retirement.

March 20, 1996 – July 16, 2024

October 11, 1944 - January 10, 2023

Born December 18, 1941, in Stanly County, he was the son of the late Alvie Tucker and Ruby Scott. He was a member of New Hope Advent Church in Monroe and was a pipe fitter his whole working life retiring from Southern Mechanical Services of Albemarle. In retirement, Johnny enjoyed trout fishing at the beach. He was preceded in death by his wife Margaret Ann Rushing Tucker and by brothers Thomas Tucker, Lane Tucker, Sherman Tucker, Larry (Sparky) Kiker, and sister Pat LaRoach.

Ethan Isaiah Lee, 28 of Badin, passed away on July 16, 2024. The family will receive friends on Friday, July 26, 2024, at Stanly Funeral and Cremation CareAlbemarle from 6 PM til 8 PM. His funeral will be held on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at 11:00 AM at Stanly Funeral & Cremation Care Chapel conducted by Reverand Dr. Darrell Nance. Burial will follow at Poplin Grove Baptist Church cemetery.

When John purchased his first Model A Ford at the age of 17, he said that he took the car to the community mechanic when he had a small problem.The mechanic told him that if he was going to keep the car, he needed to learn to work on it. This is when John’s passion for Model A Fords began and how he spent his happiest days with his best friends from around the globe for the rest of his life!

At age 50, after years as a Detroit Diesel Mechanic he and Julie decided to take the plunge and open a full Model A Restoration Shop. They thrived at their shop in Cornelius, NC until their retirement in 1998 when they moved back to Cabarrus County. John once again set up shop in his back yard garage where he attracted a loyal group of friends who visited almost daily. While on the farm in Gold Hill, John also began a lifelong love with Alis Chalmers tractors after he restored his Dad’s tractor and began amassing his collection of tractors as well.

He is survived by his Daughter Misty Tucker of Stanfield and son Greg Tucker (Valerie) of Camden SC. He has five grandchildren, Cody Tucker (Brittony) of Stanfield, Abigail Tucker, Grayson Tucker, Zack Tucker and Ella Tucker all of Camden SC. Two great grandchildren Banks Tucker and Lainey Lee Tucker of Stanfield. Brother John (Jake) Kiker (Gail) of Oakboro and sisters Sheila Kiker Morton and Pam Kiker of Charlotte.

John restored many cars of his own and had the crowning achievement of winning the most prestigious award from MARC, The Henry for a restoration that garnered top points. He was also presented with the Ken Brady Service Awardthe highest award given to members at the national level.

The family would also like to thank Tina Ward who served as Johnny’s caregiver for the last six months. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Tillery Compassionate Care (960 N 1st St, Albemarle, NC 28001).

Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Locust is serving the Tucker family.

This is what John’s Model A Community had to say upon learning of his death: He was an active member of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church where he loved serving as greeter on Sunday mornings. He also belonged to the United Methodist Men. John is survived by his wife Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 years of the home. He is also survived by a son John David Kluttz (Kim) of Oakboro, NC; two daughters, Sally Simerson of Denver, CO and Betsy Tusa (John) of Lafayette, CO; three grandchildren, Bonnie Kluttz Sammons (Ben) of Richfield, NC John Alexander McKinnon (Sarah) of Asheville, NC and Seth William McKinnon (Amanda) of Germany; five great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Meredith, Grant, Victoria and Ronan. John is also preceded in death by his parents, J.S. Kluttz and Mary Wyatt Clayton Kluttz; a large and loving group of brothers and sisters, Jack Methias Kluttz, Annie Lou Kluttz Honeycutt, Jake Nelson Kluttz, Julius Kluttz, Mary Patricia Phillips and a grandson, Kevin Fowler Kluttz.

Ethan was born on March 20, 1996, in Stanly County, NC, to Ashlyn Rose Furr of Badin, NC, and Bobby Curtis Lee of Albemarle, NC. He loved to draw, to be outdoors, and to listen to music. He loved being a dad and spending time with his family.

Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, went home into God’s presence on January 10 after a sudden illness and a valiant week-long fight in ICU. Doris was born on October 11, 1944, in the mountains of Marion, NC while her father was away fighting in the US Navy during World War II. Raymond Jones was so proud to return after the war and meet his little girl! Doris grew up in Durham, NC and graduated from Durham High School. She furthered her studies at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1966.

Ethan, in addition to his parents, is survived by his daughters, Alaina Nicole Lee and Malia Jade Lee both of Albemarle; sisters Calista Harris of Badin, NC, and Brittany Lee of Statesville, NC; and maternal grandmother Dianne Furr of Albemarle, NC. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care to assist with funeral costs.

Stanly Funeral and Cremation Care of Albemarle is serving the Furr family.

Doris married Rev. Dr. Ted Coleman in 1966 and had two daughters Amy and Laura. Doris raised Amy and Laura in North Augusta, SC. Doris was an incredible neonatal intensive care nurse for most of her career, and this was her passion. The Augusta Chronicle did a feature on her in 1985. She was a clinical nurse manager in Augusta, Georgia at University Hospital NICU and worked there for 20 years. During this time, Doris mentored young nurses and assisted in saving the lives of so many babies. She also worked for Pediatrician Dr. William A. Wilkes in Augusta for several years prior to her NICU career. Doris retired from the mother/baby area at Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 years of nursing.

Doris was a gentle and sweet spirit and loved her Lord. She never met a stranger, and she always left you feeling uplifted after talking with her. She would often claim that she had “adopted” friends into her immediate family, and honestly, she never made a distinction between the two. Positivity radiated from her like sunlight. She was selfless, funny, smart, and sentimental. During her lifetime she was an active member of First Baptist Church of Durham, First Baptist Church of Augusta, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Augusta, and Palestine United Methodist Church in Albemarle. She especially loved helping at church with older adults, youth, and children.

She was especially talented at sewing from a young age and made gifts for friends, Christmas ornaments, Halloween Costumes, doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, outfits for Amy and Laura, and Christening gowns for each of her grandchildren.

Doris was preceded in death by her father Arthur Raymond Jones, her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Jones, and her sister Maryanne Jones Brantley. Survivors include her two precious daughters: Amy Cameron Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio (husband David) of Cincinnati, Ohio; seven grandchildren: Cameron David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Nicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.

Doris Jones Coleman

STATE & NATION

Harris, echoing Trump, pledges ending taxes on tips

The vice president is on the offensive while visiting battleground states

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has made and marking a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service

and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

Harris’ campaign said afterward that as president she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other provisions to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. She also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a five battleground-state blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president held a San Francisco where House Speaker Emerita

Trump campaign says emails hacked

The former president’s camp claims Iran was involved

By Bill Barrow

The Associated Press

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents.

The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024.

It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confi-

dence in U.S. democratic institutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. Justice Department this past week unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against political figures in the United States, including potentially Trump, and to have sought to hire purported hitmen who were actually undercover law enforcement officials. Court documents in that case pointedly noted a desire by Iran to conduct operations against perceived enemies of the regime and to avenge the

Nancy Pelosi was a speaker.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement halted entry to the event because people were becoming ill while waiting outside in 109-degree heat to go through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz referenced that during his speech but turned it into an applause line by telling Nevada, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly defeated Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a statement supporting Harris’ call for a higher minimum wage and to “ensure that there are no taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to

eliminate tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centerpiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.

“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.

The vice president also promised to tackle immigration, leaning heavily into the issue as she did the previous night during a rally in Arizona.

Harris has in recent weeks tried to seize the political offensive on an issue that Trump and

top Republicans have frequently used to slam her and the Biden administration. In doing so, Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans.

Because the vice president’s portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration, and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading GOP voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself has said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

killing of Soleimani.

Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.

“These documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said.

He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”

“The Iranians know that

President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung said, adding a warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”

Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.

JAE HONG/AP PHOTO

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas.

BEN GRAY / AP PHOTO

Sen. JD Vance, left, and former President Donald Trump shake hands at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Aug. 3.

Randolph record

Juking at the jamboree

Randolph quarterback

WHAT’S HAPPENING

N.C. to expand eCourts to all 100 counties by 2025

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts plans to complete the eCourts expansion across all 100 counties and the N.C. Business Court by 2025. Currently serving about half of the state’s population, eCourts has already processed more than 1.3 million electronic filings, saving an estimated 5 million pieces of paper since February 2023. The system provides 24/7 online access to court records, averaging 1.5 million searches monthly. Benefits include reduced paper usage, increased accessibility and streamlined court processes. The expansion will offer digital access to courthouse services for millions more North Carolinians in the coming year.

With kids back to school, watch out for buses

As 1.5 million North Carolina students return to school, authorities stress the importance of bus safety. More than 14,000 school buses operate daily in the state. In 2022, there were 1,075 school bus-related crashes resulting in 786 injuries and eight fatalities.

Insurance Commissioner

Mike Causey notes that passing a stopped school bus can result in doubled auto insurance premiums. Safety tips include: watching for flashing bus lights, using sidewalks when available and yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks. Bus riders should wait for the bus to stop completely before standing, and motorists are reminded to stop far enough back from school buses to allow children safe entry and exit.

Asheboro city manager Ogburn to retire

John Ogburn III will retire in March after 35 years of public service

By Ryan Henkel Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Longtime city manager John Ogburn announced his retirement at the end of the Asheboro City Council’s regular business meeting Aug. 8.

“My decisions and focus have always been on what’s best for the City of Asheboro, and frankly, the search for a new city manager will be more straightforward and easier to achieve than a search for a deputy city manager that could subsequently become the city manager,” Ogburn said. “Given the challenges of recruitment and desiring that the community have the best it possibly can, I have decided that my last active day as your city manager will be Friday, March 14, 2025.”

Ogburn is retiring after 35 years of local government service and a 24-year run as Asheboro city manager.

“This is a significant milestone in my city management profession,” Ogburn said of his 35 years of public service. “I have served all these years in Randolph County and almost 25 of these in our hometown, and of

this, I am very proud. However, there’s another day for reminiscing, as March 2025 will be here very soon, so I’ll spend these remaining months finishing projects, preparing the staff for change and laying the groundwork for the new manager to step right in. It will be a very busy period, but it will also be bittersweet as I prepare for the next phase of my life.”

“I’ve said this many times, Asheboro has been extremely fortunate to be the home of the best city manager in all of North Carolina,” said Mayor David Smith. “On behalf of the citizens, I want to thank John for his leadership and friendship.”

In terms of meeting business, the board was informed that Downtown Asheboro Incorporated had received a $25,000 Duke Energy Hometown Revitalization Grant, which will be subgranted to various downtown businesses.

“We were one of the selected communities in Duke’s service region,” said DAI executive director Addie Corder. “I look forward to seeing how downtown businesses and stakeholders leverage those grants for additional opportunities downtown.”

Per Duke Energy, the grants are aimed at “helping small businesses across North Carolina — from restaurants to retailers –— continue their ongoing recovery

“My

decisions and focus has always been on what’s best for the City of Asheboro.”

John Ogburn, city manager

from economic challenges initially triggered by the pandemic,” and this is the fourth year of the program. The council approved appropriations for economic development at three different agencies: $55,000 for Randolph County N.C. Economic Development Corporation, $75,000 for Asheboro/Randolph Chamber of Commerce and $73,511 for Downtown Asheboro Incorporated.

According to finance director Deborah Reaves, the appropriations had already been approved in the general operating budget they just hadn’t been allocated yet.

The board also held two legislative hearings, with the first being a rezoning application for 13 acres of property located at 909, 911 and 915 Meadowbrook Rd. from R10 to O&I.

“The property is presently used for a church,” Nuttall said. “The zoning will allow the church to expand in the future,

Rain totals climb from storm

Damage was reported around the area after Debby blows through

Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Randolph County residents endured last week’s drenching rains from the remnants of Hurricane Debby and damage was reported from around the region. Compared to some areas of the state, the official rainfall in Randolph County was lower, but those totals were still significant. The National Weather Ser-

vice released the rain totals, and Asheboro and Liberty were hit the most.

Asheboro’s totals were broken into different segments. The North/Northeast part of Asheboro received a county high of 4.76 inches of rain. Next on the list from the county was Liberty at 4.62 inches. Then came Asheboro’s West/Southwest area at 4.57 inches followed by Seagrove at 4.35 inches.

Randolph County Emergency Services had more than 150 calls for service last Thursday. There were no reported injuries.

Many of the calls for assistance were related to downed trees. Several of those situations were attributed to outages because of trees striking power lines.

Randolph Electric Membership Cooperation, which serves multiple counties, had more than 5,000 customers needing power restored at one point last week.

Flash-flood warnings were issued for the county. The Randolph County School System called off activities for the final two days of the work week, including classes at Randolph Early College.

have zoning that other churches already have and allow for modern signage.”

The second hearing was also for a rezoning application for 94.27 acres of property located on the west side of Zoo Parkway between 2358 and 2476 Zoo Parkway and the south side of Newbern Avenue between 294 and 360 Newbern Ave. to an amended R7.5 conditional zoning for the purpose of constructing a 350-unit residential planned development.

“You actually put this property into the R7.5 conditional zoning back in January, but the reason this is back before you is because the applicant has made changes that are determined by the code to be significant enough that we at the staff level cannot approve them without going back through the process,” Nuttall said.

According to Nuttall, the major changes involved allowing the construction of townhomes beyond phase one, changing the ratio of detached single-family to townhomes from 286:64 to 252:98 and utilizing Zoo Parkway as a construction entrance and not for future residential access. Following the legislative hearings, the board approved both requests.

The Asheboro City Council will next meet Sept. 5.

Randolph County Emergency Services had more than 150 calls for service last Thursday. There were no reported injuries.

THE RANDOLPH COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL

NEAL ROBBINS / RANDOLPH RECORD

Southwestern

Noah Stills scrambles against Central Davidson during a football jamboree Monday night at the Southwestern Randolph in Asheboro. Teams are gearing up for the start of the season next week. For more local sports, see B1 and B2.

CORA tackling Chatham’s rise in food insecurity

The food bank has helped thousands of local families and is up 27% in the last year

By Melinda Burris Chatham News & Record

Neal

Bob Sutton, Randolph Editor

Ryan Henkel, Reporter

P.J. Ward-Brown, Photographer

BUSINESS

David Guy, Advertising Manager

Published each Thursday as part of North State Journal

1201 Edwards Mill Rd. Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607

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919-663-3232 RANDOLPHRECORD.COM

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PITTSBORO — This year, Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA) is celebrating 35 years of serving Chatham County and surrounding communities by providing nutritious food to community members dealing with the challenge of food insecurity. Rebecca Hankins, development and communications director for CORA, shares that the 2023-24 fiscal year has seen the organization face unprecedented demand for its services.

Questioned as to what she attributes the growing need for CORA’s services, Hankins points to the rate at which the cost of everyday necessities has increased.

“I think that there’s an issue, and I don’t think this is Chatham County-specific — wages haven’t kept up with the increase of prices,” she said.”

Hankins is quick to note that “many, many of our folks work.”

Stereotypes of those likely to feel the brunt of food insecurity and need assistance to make ends meet don’t apply in an economy plagued by inflation, skyrocketing prices for basic living needs and stagnant wages.

Asked to pinpoint the root causes behind the increase in food insecurity in more detail, Hankins said, “I think it’s a lot of different things, but with the cost of child care and housing going up ... the cost of housing in Chatham County is so high that people are really at the end of the month finding they have very little money left over for some of those necessities.”

She contends this leaves many people in an untenable situation. They are forced to make tough decisions, which

CRIME LOG

Aug. 7

• Ryan Baker Brown, 51, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro Police Department (APD) for violation of a domestic violence protective order, assault by pointing a gun, carrying a concealed gun, going armed to the terror of people, felony possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, and discharge of a firearm in the city.

Aug. 10

• Isaiah Luke Overly, 23, of Liberty, was arrested by Ramseur Police Department for simple possession of Schedule IV controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license revoked, failure to heed light or siren, and exceeding posted speed.

• Alexis Joel Sanchez-Molina, 36, of Asheboro, was arrested by APD for assault

Clients

Clients

more often include questioning whether to buy something their family desperately needs or pay the weekly grocery bill.

Hankins asserts some of the influx of people taking advantage of CORA’s services is due to the opening of a new choice food pantry last July. The ability to come to a food pantry and choose the foods you enjoy and are part of your culture is a refreshing change for people who may have been used to simply receiving a bag of groceries filled with whatever food was available.

CORA’s dedicated staff and volunteers work hard to deliver great customer service while treating all clients with dignity and care, something Hankins

• Paul Wilbur Swaney, 72, was arrested by APD for seconddegree trespass.

Aug. 11

• Lacey Lee Andrews, 33, of Asheboro, was arrested by APD for second-degree trespass.

• Alexandra Katherine McArthur, 30, was arrested by APD for possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver Schedule I controlled substance, selling/delivering controlled substance within 300 feet of a school, felony possession of Schedule I controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting a public officer.

• Irving Delgado Mendoza, 34, of Ramseur, was arrested by APD for injury to real property, false report to police station, and possession/manufacture of fraudulent ID.

says is emphasized within the organization. Word has spread about the quality of CORA’s services. Hankins acknowledged that people in need from neighboring counties, including Wake, Durham, Lee and Alamance, frequent CORA’s choice food pantry. Part of Hankins’ job is communicating with the members of the community CORA serves. She receives requests from working families who, faced with financial setbacks such as health care expenses, trying to keep up with student loan payments and unexpected bills, find themselves in a difficult financial situation to the point that they have often maxed out their credit cards to pay for necessities and now wonder how they can afford to buy food for their families.

Hankins notes it’s common to hear individuals express frustration at finding themselves in a situation where they are forced to ask for help even though they work full time. Hankins explains the middle class is struggling, with a substantial number of individuals and families finding themselves “caught between the bureaucratic cracks,” earning too much to qualify for programs like SNAP but not bringing in enough income to be able to make ends meet.

Hankins and the CORA team of volunteers encounter people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and demographics, and they make a conscious effort to build relationships and an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome.

The face of food insecurity isn’t just strangers, Hankins laments: “It’s your next-door neighbor. ... You just don’t know it.” To learn more about CORA and its food programs, to volunteer or make a donation, call 919-542-5020 or visit corafoodpantry.org.

• Quinland Chyqwon Pratt, 22, of Asheboro, was arrested by Randolph County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) for violation of a domestic violence protective order, assault inflicting serious injury, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and assault by strangulation.

Aug. 12

• Juan Manuel Alarcon Hernandez, 34, of Asheboro, was arrested by APD for assault on a female.

Aaron Thomas McDowell, 19, of Trinity, was arrested by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for property damage, malicious use of explosive, injury to personal property, and littering not exceeding 15 lbs.

Antwain Adais Person, 30, was arrested by APD for disorderly conduct and impeding traffic by sitting/ standing/lying.

Randolph Guide

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Randolph County:

Aug. 19

Senior Bingo with Helping Seniors in Need

Ramseur Public Library

1-2 p.m.

1512 Main St.

Aug. 20

Randolph

This is a growers-only market where you will find local, homegrown and home-processed products from Randolph County. The farmers featured are from diverse and minority backgrounds. For more information, call 336-626-1 240.

Kids Summer Movie Series: DC League of SuperPets

Sunset Theatre Times: 1 p.m.; 3 p.m.; 7 p.m. 234 Sunset Ave., Asheboro Ticket prices for afternoon

Franklinville Storytime: First Day of School Franklinville Public Library 10:30-11:15 a.m. 111 Sumner Pl.

Description: Stories, songs, and crafts to grow little minds and bodies through play. Best for birth through Kindergarten.

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

Weekly deadline is Monday at Noon

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Just who is the real middle-class president?

No administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN talked incessantly about his “from the middle class out” economic strategy.

Given his record, it would have been more accurate to call it the “middle class down and out” plan. Inflation has eroded away any income gains under Biden’s presidency.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris has her own riff on this theme. Her campaign motto is “building up the middle class.”

It isn’t exactly “Make America Great Again,” but Dems don’t have a lot of time to come up with anything catchier, given that Kamala was reluctantly chosen as the eighth-inning relief pitcher for Old Joe, who had long ago lost his fastball.

But Harris and Biden are, as the old saying goes, birds of a feather who flock together. They are running on almost precisely the same agenda as we’ve seen for four years.

The central problem is that the record for most Americans is a lot more meaningful than the message. The irony of this “build the middle class” mantra is that no administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

The most recent Census Bureau data on incomes and poverty shows that under former President Trump, incomes of the middle class rose faster than under all the three previous presidents combined.

The difference between the Trump and Biden administrations is $8,000 per household in Trump’s favor.

This same data shows income gains for minorities and female-headed households were larger under Trump. Poverty rates fell faster under Trump as well.

The reasons for the lousy Biden-Harris record are that even though incomes grew under both presidencies, inflation erased all the real income gains for workers. In other words, if the prices of eggs and bread and rent and gas go up by more

The man is not competent to be president.

DONALD TRUMP is clearly flailing. He has reportedly taken to complaining about his campaign, which candidates tend to do when they are looking for someone to blame. He is, in the words of The Washington Post, “steaming” at what has happened to him. This is what he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” the post read. “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!”

Are these the words of a stable man who is in touch with reality?

It gets worse. On Thursday, he held a lengthy press conference, supposedly to get the attention back on him instead of focusing so much on the “fun” and very successful rollout of the HarrisWalz ticket. By any measure, the press conference was a disaster.

Trump repeated his familiar rants,

than your paycheck, you’re at best treading water. Or, for the majority of households, you’re using pots and pans to keep the water out of the basement.

Biden and Harris seem to have really believed that inflation would be transitory. They drank the Kool-Aid of a trendy new economic theory called modern monetary theory, which posited that the U.S. government could spend and borrow till kingdom come without any collateral damage. But a high school economics student could tell you that handing out free money to stimulate demand for goods and services is likely to raise the price of goods and services. In the end, we learned the hard way that there’s no getting around the old law of supply and demand.

Now that the economy is showing signs of cracks in the hill, the only Harris remedy is trillions more spending and borrowing. Team Harris thinks the Fed can simply cut interest rates and the pain will go away. Maybe. But more likely that will only stimulate more spending and make the economy even more vulnerable. What they won’t do is cut excessive government spending and debt — for example, by canceling some $300 billion of failed green energy programs.

The Left shouts that Trump is the one who will rekindle inflation with his tax cuts. But that’s a hard message to sell given that there was virtually no inflation during Trump’s term. His average annual inflation rate was 1.9% versus 6% for BidenHarris.

Trump will continue to argue to the voters that he is the president who will “build out” the middle class, and even though the future is hard to predict, he has history firmly on his side.

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

complete with lies that have been repeatedly fact-checked. No, he did not cut taxes more than anyone else in history. No, he did not have a bigger crowd on Jan. 6 than Martin Luther King Jr. did for the March on Washington. No, it was not a “small” crowd that stormed the Capitol, and it was not a “peaceful” transfer of power.

At some points, he was utterly incoherent. Asked if he would direct the FDA to deny access to abortion pills, he responded: “So, you can do things that will be, would supplement, absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote. And all I want to do is give everybody a vote. And the votes are taking place right now as we speak.”

What? An aide later said that he didn’t hear the question, which is hardly an explanation, and that his position has not changed since the Supreme Court ruled. But the Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the question of whether abortion medication should be available; it only ruled that the particular plaintiffs before it did not have standing to raise the issue.

Asked how he would vote on the Florida initiative to protect abortion rights, which is on the ballot this fall, he just dodged, promising to hold a press conference sometime in the future.

He was equally incoherent about his attacks on Kamala Harris’ blackness.

Asked how he could claim that a woman who attended a historically black university had only recently claimed she

was black, Trump said: “Well, you’ll have to ask her that question because she’s the one that said it. I didn’t say it. So you’ll have to ask her. And I very much appreciate that question, but you’ll have to ask her.” What did she say? What question? His answer makes no sense at all.

We are so used to Trump ranting and raving, lying and boasting, flaunting his insecurities and anger, that it is easy to dismiss it as yet another instance of Trump being Trump. But this time he went even further, literally making up a supposed helicopter trip he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the California Assembly. According to Trump, the helicopter nearly crashed, but not before Brown disparaged Kamala Harris, a woman he dated decades ago and has supported throughout her career. According to Brown, an inveterate storyteller who pointed out, convincingly, that if it had happened, he would have told the story himself, the helicopter trip simply never happened.

Donald Trump is a man who not only rants and raves, not only exaggerates and lies, but literally makes things up. How can he possibly be qualified to be president? This is not just Trump being Trump; it is Trump literally being crazy. It is no longer simply about ideology or policy. The man is not competent to be president. It’s time to say it out loud.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

Remains located for 62 passengers in Brazil plane crash

The Voepass plane crashed Friday in Vinhedo

The Associated Press

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue teams Saturday retrieved the remains of all 62 passengers from the wreckage of a plane crash in Sao Paulo state as families started gathering in the metropolis to identify and bury their loved ones.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo on Friday.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Voepass also said three passengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese.

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that res-

Firefighters and rescue workers work in the debris at the site where an airplane crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, on Friday.

cue operations finished at 6:30 p.m. local time, with the identification of the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot by forensics experts. There were 34 male and 28 female bodies in the wreckage, the government said.

Earlier, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the local fire department, told journalists in Vinhedo that a winch was used to remove parts of the plane from the ground.

Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies. Blood tests were also done to help identification efforts.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground in-

side a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

Metsul, one of Brazil’s most renowned meteorological companies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident.

A video shared on social media channels Saturday shows a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to the city of Cascavel, the same origin of the crashed plane, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the world for decades.

He also asked passengers to be respectful to the memory of his colleagues and the company and asked for prayers.

“It was a fatality. The pilot was my personal friend. I have known all the crew from

long ago,” the unidentified pilot said. “We are professionals, we have our families. This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us. We are giving all our hearts, all our best to be here and fulfill our mission to take you safely and comfortably to your destination.”

Local police restricted access to the main entrance of one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot, others came in minivans. They didn’t speak to journalists, and local authorities requested they not be filmed as they came.

An American Eagle ATR 72200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 8,000 feet and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes, telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions.

Iran president proposes an ex-nuclear negotiator as foreign minister

Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to appoint a woman among his ministers

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was chief of the Iranian Air Force in 2018-21. This would be the first time that a member of Iran’s air force headed the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as roads and housing minister. Sadegh, 47, is currently a director in the ministry. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear, however, whether she will be approved.

The hard-line parliament seeks more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic sharia. Many lawmakers voiced their opposition when her name was read by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only previous female minister to be approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

Iranian presidents have, however, appointed women to be vice presidents, a role that is not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo

Parsa, who served as education minister in 1968-71. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals with enforcing the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improper wearing of the hijab led

to nationwide protests. Pezeshkian, then a lawmaker, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.”

He has suggested that he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear accord.

The president is likely to face opposition in passing legislation that supports his stated program since the chamber is dominated by hard-liners who

mainly supported other candidates during the June to July presidential election.

The president named Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. Paknejad was formerly a deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed to retain current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi. Pezeshkian also named the current minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, as energy minister. On Saturday the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a May helicopter crash.

Later on Sunday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a vice president in charge of strategic affairs, resigned from his post over the proposed ministers. Following Pezeshkian’s election, Zarif had been charged with forming the committees to choose ministers for Pezeshkian’s administration.

Zarif wrote on the social media platform “X” that he was not happy with how the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet was shaping up, saying he failed to fulfill his promises to include more women, young people and ethnic groups.

ANDRE PENNER / AP PHOTO

EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO

Abbas Araghchi, right and pictured in 2019, was proposed by Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s new foreign minister.

Blanch Lorine Holt

March 22, 1945 –August 9, 2024

Blanch Lorine Holt, 79, of Franklinville, North Carolina, passed away Friday, August 9, 2024, at Randolph Hospice House, Asheboro, NC.

Funeral Service will be conducted at 11 a.m., Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, with Pastor Eric Branch officiating. Burial will follow at Randolph Memorial Park.

Mrs. Holt was born in Randolph Co. NC, on March 22, 1945, the daughter of the late Charlie Wilson and Iona Brown Wilson. She was an active member of El Shaddai Ministries for over 20 years. She loved gardening, watching and feeding the birds. She enjoyed traveling by going on cruises, going to Disney World, and going to the beach looking for seashells. The most important thing to Mrs. Holt was her family. She loved going out to eat with her family, especially at the 220 Grill and Sunday family dinners, and keeping her grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Holt was preceded in death by her 10 siblings.

Mrs. Holt is survived by her husband, Allen Holt of the home; daughters, Theresa Moffitt (Steve) of Asheboro, Lorriann Brady (Dwayne) of Bennett, Deborah Brady (Billy) of Bennett; sisters, Barbara Pierce, Illa Hunt both of Asheboro; grandchildren, Jamie Shropshire, Jessica Evans, Cameron Moffitt, Nicole Brown, Leigh Ann Sumner, Anna Brady, Landon Brady; great-grandchildren, Michael Shropshire, Noah Shropshire, Jozlyn Shropshire, Melanie Evans, Kayleigh Brown, and Easton Brown.

The family will receive friends from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at Ridge Funeral Home prior to the service. Memorials may be made to Randolph Hospice, 416 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203.

Mabel Miller Cooper

January 16, 1938 –August 10, 2024

Mabel Miller Cooper, 86, passed away peacefully on August 10, 2024, at her daughter’s home.

Mabel was born on January 16, 1938, to Howard Tate and Syble Gibson Miller. She married Everette Cooper and the two of them settled down in Asheboro, NC. Mabel worked as a seamstress for most of her life. She was a wonderful cook and loved cooking for her family. Mabel was passionate about going to yard sales, she absolutely loved doing this with her children.

Mrs. Cooper is survived by her son, Jimmy Ray Cooper (Lorraine) of Bolivia, NC, her daughter, Vicki Cooper of Asheboro, NC, grandson, Randy Cooper of Asheboro, sister, Jean Page of Pilot, VA, and her “Special Son”, Arthur Jones of Asheboro. Mabel is also survived by her beloved granddog, Benji, whom she adored.

In addition to her parents, Mabel was preceded in death by her husband, Everette Lee Cooper, grandson, Andrew Cooper, son-in-law Carl Robbins, sisters: Mildred Forbis, Myra Rich, Margaret Stocks and Becky McMasters, along with her brother, Charles Miller.

A graveside funeral service will be held for Mabel Cooper on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Richland Baptist Church Cemetery, 2323 Old Humble Mill Road Asheboro, NC 27205.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mabel’s honor to Gentiva Hospice, 497 Olde Waterford Way, Suite 208, Bellville, NC 28541.

Sarah Elizabeth Graves Williamson

(March 18, 1938 –August 8, 2024)

Sarah Elizabeth Graves Williamson, age 86, of Seagrove, passed away on August 8, 2024 at her home.

Mrs. Williamson was born in Randolph County on March 18, 1938, to James and Merle Ring Graves. Sarah was a beautician for 60 years and owned and operated her own salon. In addition to her parents, Sarah was preceded in death by her brothers, Elbert, Ralph, Farrell, Jesse, and Jimmy, and sister, Mildred Chriscoe. Sarah loved working in her flower garden, but most of all she loved Jesus and her family.

She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Roy Williamson; son, Dwight Williamson (Lisa) of Seagrove; daughter, Kim Williamson of Seagrove; grandchildren, Chris Williamson (Kayla) of Seagrove, Aaron Williamson (Jordan) of Asheboro, and Brandon Brim (Misty) of Seagrove; great-grandchildren, Karsyn, Paisley, and Hudson Williamson; and Zoe and Jaxx Brim; and sister, Vera Maxine Darden of Wilmington.

A private family service will be held. The family will receive friends and family at her home.

Pugh Funeral Home in Asheboro is serving the Williamson family.

James Richard “Dick” Renigar

April 7, 1935 – August 9, 2024

James Richard “Dick” Renigar passed away peacefully in Asheboro, NC on Friday, August 09, 2024.

Dick was born in Asheboro to Howard and Hazel Renigar. Dick attended Balfour Elementary, Asheboro High School, and graduated from Elon College. He had a love for sports and played baseball and football for Asheboro High School. He was voted “Best Personality” in his High School Senior Class.

Dick was a father first. He was a devoted Christian, an avid blood donor to the American Red Cross, and a true Tar Heel fan.

He is survived by his daughter, Jill Renigar, (Scott), his son, John Renigar, (Holly), and his granddaughters Michaela Boone and Hazel Renigar. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Thelma Wallace Renigar and his siblings William Howard Renigar and Frank Arthur Renigar.

A g raveside service will be held Wednesday, August 14 at 11 a.m. at Oaklawn Cemetery, Asheboro, NC.

We are blessed that he is in Heaven. He will be greatly missed. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to The American Red Cross, as an expression of sympathy.

Leona Pierce Cox

December 13, 1926 –August 11, 2024

Leona Pierce Cox, age 97, formerly of Asheboro passed away on August 11, 2024, at North Pointe of Archdale. Mrs. Cox was born in Thomasville on December 13, 1926, to Manleff and Bessie Bryant Pierce and she grew up in Asheboro. Leona was employed with Balfour Socks and Burlington Socks, retiring from Kayser-Roth as a folder in the Finishing Department. In addition to her parents, Leona was preceded in death by her husbands, Thomas Edward Maness and Sylvester “Bud” Cox, sons, Ronald Maness and Ricky Angle, 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Leona enjoyed quilting, crafting, and going fishing on the North Carolina Coast. She was an avid gardener and loved to cook, her specialties being blackberry jam and biscuits.

She is survived by her daughter, Toni Maness Farlow (Joe) of Asheboro; grandchildren, Thad Farlow, Ginger Meza, Amber Sheppard (Michael), Kenneth Maness (Carol), Josh Maness, and Rebecca Maness; and several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Amedisys Hospice, 2975 Crouse Lane, Burlington, NC 27215.

Pugh Funeral Home in Asheboro is serving the Cox family.

Henry Samuel Burress

February 6, 1938 –August 10, 2024

Henry Samuel Burress, 86, of Asheboro, formerly of Fayetteville, died Saturday, August 10, 2024, at his daughter’s home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Henry was born on February 6, 1938, in Waynesville, NC to the late Robert and Willie Mae Burress. He married Vivian Emma Haugen Burress on September 8, 1962, and their marriage was filled with love and happiness until her passing in 2021.

Henry served in the United States Air Force from 1956 to 1960 and then joined the United States Army in 1961, retiring in 1977. As a member of the Army Special Forces, Henry served three tours in Vietnam and received a Bronze Star for actions taken in defense of democracy during that war. Of his time as a Green Beret, Henry often said “I loved every minute of it.” De Oppresso Liber! Henry was a quiet, humble man. He was quick with a smile and loved to laugh, his easy personality allowed him to make friends everywhere he went - he made people feel seen and cared for. An avid sports fan, most weekends found him watching college basketball or football (Go Heels!) and NASCAR. He loved to be surrounded by his family, whom he loved deeply.

Henry was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, a devoted husband, and a loving father. His presence will be deeply missed but his family is confident that he is in the loving arms of Jesus and is at peace. He is survived by daughter, Cathy Hinek and her husband Arjay of Raleigh; sons, Ron Burress and wife Karen of Randleman, Tim Burress and wife Heather of Greensboro; sister, Phyllis Fulbright of Waynesville, brother Dewayne and wife Bunny of Waynesville; grandchildren, Jeremy Burress and wife Stephanie of Shelby, NC, Megan Allred and husband Rick of Hampstead, NC, Capt. Josh Burress, USAF and wife Chloe, Brennan and Cameron Burress, of Greensboro, Cecelia Tynan and husband William; and eight great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted at 12 p.m., Friday, August 16, 2024, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Justin Curry of Cross Road Baptist Church, Asheboro, officiating. Graveside services with military honors will be held at 12 p.m., Saturday, August 17, 2024, at Fulbright Cemetery, Waynesville, NC, with Dr. Nick Smith of Lake Junaluska First Baptist Church, Clyde, NC, officiating.

The family will receive friends from 10:45 - 11:45 a.m. on Friday at Ridge Funeral Home prior to the service, and again from 10 - 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Wells Funeral Home prior to the graveside service.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation (give. michaeljfox.org) or to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (specialops.org/ give).

Barbara Fogleman

August 7, 1936 –August 8, 2024

Barbara Jean Luck Fogleman, 88, of Asheboro, North Carolina, passed away Thursday, August 8, 2024, at Randolph Hospice House, Asheboro, NC.

A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 10, 2024, at the Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. James Pendell officiating. Burial will follow at Hopewell Friends Meeting Cemetery.

Mrs. Fogleman was born in Randolph Co., on August 7, 1936, the daughter of the late Murphy Luck and Cora Hoover Luck. She worked at Lowes Hardware for 19 years. Mrs. Fogleman was a member of Hopewell Friends Meeting for many years. She enjoyed working outside with her flowers and garden. Mrs. Fogleman loved going to the beach and spending time with her family and friends.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Fogleman was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis Fogleman; daughters, Wanda Bullins, Jackie King, and Deborah Vanderford.

Barbara is survived by her son, Sonny Hayes (Peggy); sister, Joyce Pickett; grandchildren, William Vanderford (Dawn), Micheal Vanderford, Anglia Vanderford, Jessica Butler, Sonny Hayes, Emmie Goins (Ryan); eight great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 10 to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, at Ridge Funeral Home, prior to the service, and other times at the home.

Memorials may be made to Hopewell Friends Meeting, 2244 Hopewell Friends Road, Asheboro, NC 27205; Hospice of Randolph, 446 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203; or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

DEATH NOTICES

• Delis Castillo, 98, died August 7, 2024.

• Elizabeth Williams Harvey, 90, of Asheboro, died August 7, 2024.

• Lucy Elizabeth Allred King, 82, of Asheboro, died August 5, 2024.

• Wilhelma Gayle Cox Poole, 84, of Asheboro, died August 5, 2024.

• William “Billy” Herman Norman, 78, of New London died August 5, 2024.

• Kenneth “Kenny” Wayne Kellam, 60, of Troy died August 5, 2024.

• Michael Stephen Johnson, 52, of Asheboro died August 4, 2024,

• Timothy Sten Kivett, 56, of Troy, died August 4, 2024.

• George William Adkins, III, 51, of Asheboro died August 4, 2024.

• Thomas “Lanny” Lawrence McIver, 73, of Asheboro died August 3, 2024.

STATE & NATION

Harris, echoing Trump, pledges ending taxes on tips

The vice president is on the offensive while visiting battleground states

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has made and marking a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service

and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

Harris’ campaign said afterward that as president she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other provisions to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. She also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a five battleground-state blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president held a San Francisco where House Speaker Emerita

Trump campaign says emails hacked

The former president’s camp claims Iran was involved

By Bill Barrow

The Associated Press

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents.

The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024.

It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confi-

dence in U.S. democratic institutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. Justice Department this past week unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against political figures in the United States, including potentially Trump, and to have sought to hire purported hitmen who were actually undercover law enforcement officials. Court documents in that case pointedly noted a desire by Iran to conduct operations against perceived enemies of the regime and to avenge

Nancy Pelosi was a speaker.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement halted entry to the event because people were becoming ill while waiting outside in 109-degree heat to go through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz referenced that during his speech but turned it into an applause line by telling Nevada, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly defeated Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a statement supporting Harris’ call for a higher minimum wage and to “ensure that there are no taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to

eliminate tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centerpiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.

“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.

The vice president also promised to tackle immigration, leaning heavily into the issue as she did the previous night during a rally in Arizona.

Harris has in recent weeks tried to seize the political offensive on an issue that Trump and

top Republicans have frequently used to slam her and the Biden administration. In doing so, Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans.

Because the vice president’s portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration, and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading GOP voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself has said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

the killing of Soleimani.

Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.

“These documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said.

He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”

“The Iranians know that

President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung said, adding a warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.” Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.

JAE HONG/AP PHOTO

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas.

BEN GRAY / AP PHOTO

Sen. JD Vance, left, and former President Donald Trump shake hands at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Aug. 3.

RandolpH SPORTS

Post 45 makes quick exit from regional

The host team fell behind early in both games of the regional Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — The host team didn’t last long in the Southeast Regional for American Legion baseball.

Randolph County Post 45 lost for the second time in as many nights, falling 11-2 to Camden (South Carolina) Post 17 in a weather-delayed elimination game last Thursday at McCrary Park.

Camden scored three first-inning runs and led 9-2 through

four innings. Starting pitcher Parker Kines took the loss and Brett Smith pitched in relief.

Pierce Leonard had two of Post 45’s five hits. Clay Hill had a fielder’s choice run batted in.

Alex Myers, Carson Weathers and Skiler Jackson all drove in two runs for Post 17.

Post 45 (11-14) had a disjointed season. Because the team didn’t qualify for the Area 3 playoffs, it had more than a month layoff prior to the regional.

Post 45 lost two games by a combined score of 27-4 in the regional. The past two years, Randolph County advanced to the fourth day of play and ended

Sudden change puts Heilig in charge at Providence Grove

The Patriots are low on numbers with the new season approaching

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

CLIMAX — Anything awkward about an August coaching change for Providence Grove’s football team isn’t a primary concern for interim coach Mark Heilig.

There’s a fast-approaching season to prepare for.

“My head has been spinning a little bit,” Heilig said. “(The amount) of time has been the big thing. There are so many things to do.”

Heilig, a longtime assistant coach, has taken the position vacated by David Hayes, whose resignation Aug. 2 resulted in a trickle down of changes.

That evening, Heilig was overseeing an open practice as part of the community night event on campus.

Now it’s a bit of a mad dash for the Patriots, who begin the season Aug. 23 at home against East Davidson.

“It was a little bit of a struggle because everything happened so fast,” Heilig said. “When you change like we did, we had to tweak some things trying to implement stuff. We had a good plan, but we had to tweak the plan.” Hayes coached one season at Providence Grove, with the Patriots going 6-5 last year with a first-round exit in the Class 2A state playoffs. The Patriots tied for third place in the Piedmont Athletic Conference with a 2-3 mark.

Hayes, a Trinity alum, is a former Asheboro assistant football coach and head girls’ basketball coach. Hayes spent three seasons at Asheboro under football coach Kevin Gillespie before following him to Thomasville.

The shifting of the Providence Grove staff extends behind Hayes, who had been the offensive coordinator as well. Defensive coordinator Rick Larrick also departed along with Hayes.

Heilig is beginning his 31st season as a football staffer. Before arriving at Providence Grove, his stops included about eight years at Eastern Randolph.

Heilig, who had been working specifically with linebackers, will be directing the offense. The defense will operate more under a coaching committee, though athletics director Cody Moran, who has been on the football staff, will likely call the defensive sets-up on game nights.

It’s a largely young staff, with two first-year assistant coaches. Three former Providence Grove players are on the staff.

Another topic to be addressed is the player turnout. About 45 players came out to participate, split almost evenly between varsity and junior varsity.

“We were low on numbers before Coach Hayes left,” Heilig said. “We’re going to need some people.”

Two days after the coaching change, Heilig and remaining staff members spent about six hours that Sunday meeting, he said. Things became more

regional competition with 2-2 records.

The first team eliminated was Jacksonville (Fla.) Post 316, which lost 10-2 to Puerto Rico in Thursday’s first game.

The beginning of the regional for American Legion baseball didn’t go well for Post 45.

Chesapeake (Virginia) Post 280 routed Post 45 by 16-2 last Wednesday night. It was the final game of the opening day.

Chesapeake drilled Randolph County for eight first-inning runs as starting pitcher Connor Adams recorded only two outs before he excited the mound.

Samuel Asbill pitched in relief.

The game ended after five in-

complicated when schools in Randolph County were barred from practicing last Thursday and Friday because of concerns about the impact from what was Hurricane Debby.

The Patriots were set to participate in a multiteam scrimmage Monday at Southwestern Randolph.

“The kids have been great,” Heilig said of the players. “They’ve been working their tails off.”

Meanwhile, Heilig said he has received widespread support from coaches in the region, fielding numerous calls in the days since taking the new role.

“It has been a little challenging,” he said. “But without that community support … I can’t say enough about the support.”

Heilig had recently taken charge of directing a youth football program that feeds the school teams, so his time is spread thin.

Morgan Heilig, the youngest of the coach’s three daughters, graduated from Providence Grove in June. His wife, Amy, had been a teacher for 28 years before retiring at the end of the past school year from Liberty Elementary School.

“We thought we were kind of winding down,” said Mark Heilig, a physical education teacher and intervention teacher. “Now I’m starting over.”

nings because of the mercy rule. Randolph County was charged with four errors. Post 45 scored both its runs in the fifth, with Caleb Dunn driving in the first run and Braxton Walker providing a run-scoring double.

Tanner Schaedel and Jacob Chadwell homered for Chesapeake.

The winner is … Troy (Ala.) Post 70 need a full day of baseball to win Southeast Regional on Sunday. Troy recovered from a loss to edge North Carolina champion Wayne County Post 11 by 5-4

in nine innings on Cody Walsh’s two-out single.

Troy will be in the American Legion World Series, which begins this week in Shelby, for the third year in a row. Wayne County, which was a first-time North Carolina state champion, won its third consecutive game after a loss by topping Troy 4-1 earlier Sunday. That was Troy’s first loss, so it forced a winner-take-all matchup.

Wayne County’s John McLamb hit a two-run home run in the first inning of the final game. Post 11 extended the lead to 4-1 in the fourth. Troy pulled even with a pair of runs in the sixth.

Ledbetter secures Challengers victory

A variety of entrants claimed top honors in demo competitions

Randolph Record staff

SOPHIA — Dalton Ledbetter returned to the front spot Saturday night at Caraway Speedway. Ledbetter, who was the fast qualifier, won the 35-lap Challengers feature, with Austin Harris the runner-up. Ledbetter had to come through much of the field after a redraw.

Points leader Brody Duggins placed third, followed by Gary Ledbetter, Bryson Pickard, Cody Griffin and McKyla Spinks.

• Josh Phillips topped the field in the 15-lap UCARs race, nipping Justin Smith at the finish line to cap a riveting final two laps. Third place went to Brandon Collins, followed by Jeremy Moose and Troy Ring in the 15-cap field.

• In Mod 4s, Issaac Harris prevailed, holding off Michael Tucker. Bobby Taylor captured third ahead of points leader Rudy Hartley, Brandon Collins and Nadine Coats.

• The Bootlegger feature was won by 12-year-old Bentley Black, who led the entire way. The next three were Corey Rose, Bobby Bescher and Ricky Jones.

• In Enduro/Any Cars, the winner was Guy Harris across 50 laps. Second place went to Zack Moore and Austin Moore was third among the 15 drivers entered.

• The theme of the night was the make-up action for the demolition derby and related competitions.

Gene Kepley won the school bus race, while Jeremy Moose was declared the winner of the “watermelon crawl.”

Ashley Black won the women’s trailer/boat race. Bentley Black was back in action to win “Bowling with Cars.”

Jimmy Walker’s victory came in the 10-vehicle demolition derby.

Racing for regular classes resumes Aug. 24.

There were different types of racing during a busy night at Caraway Speedway

PHOTOS BY PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

Left, Randolph County Post 45’s Samuel Asbill pitches in relief in the American Legion’s Southeast Regional last week at McCrary Park in Asheboro. Right, Randolph County second baseman Pierce Leonard makes a play during the team’s opening game of the regional against Chesapeake (Virginia) Post 280 as center fielder Cade Hill and pitcher Connor Adams look on.

COURTESY PHOTO

Mark Heilig

Kensley Fox

Fox

of the top throwers in Randolph County the past couple of years, specializing in the shot put.

This year, she was named the Most Outstanding Field Event Performer for the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

Fox qualified for North Carolina High School Athletic Association state meets in indoor and outdoor track and field.

During the summer, we recognize seniors from the past school year.

The State Board of Education banned NIL activities for public schools in June

By Asheebo Rojas North State Journal

WITH NAME, image and likeness at the prep level quickly spreading across the United States, North Carolina High School Athletic Association representatives met with the State Board of Education this summer about what to consider should NIL be allowed for the state’s high school athletes.

Alongside a slideshow presentation, NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker and Tod Morgan, the chair of the NCHSAA’s NIL committee, spoke about what they’ve found in the NIL policies of other states, including potential concerns and solutions, and what an NIL policy would mean for high school sports.

One of the biggest points from the presentation is what an NIL policy wouldn’t be.

“It’s not about pay to play,” Tucker said. “It’s about using your name, your image and your likeness because you own it.”

Morgan emphasized a need to separate NIL on the college level, which has been a major factor in recruiting talent, to NIL on the high school level.

“We’re just trying to put something in place that would protect our student-athletes across our state and yet give them an opportunity to make a side business, entrepreneurial-type venture using their name, image and likeness,” Morgan said.

Based on the NCHSAA’s re -

search, Morgan said the average high school NIL deal was between $60 and $120 with three to four hours of time committed to the deal.

“Very few, I mean less than 1%, are that high, high level of student-athlete that is going to be big time,” Morgan said.

Opportunities to make money also comes with opportunities to make either good or bad decisions when it comes to a player’s financial standing or eligibility. For those concerns, Tucker and Morgan talked about the importance of implementing resources that would best inform students and their families about the implications of a deal.

“When we looked at all of this, we talked about financial education,” Tucker said. “We want to make sure that our student-athletes are not being exploited. You want to make sure that in any type of a situation that our students find themselves in, and it seems unethical, that there is the opportunity for the students and their parents to discuss it.”

Morgan said, “I think we have to have some parameters in place to make sure there’s accountability and make sure there’s transparency as Commissioner Tucker talked about, so that the principal, athletic director and the coach of the school is aware of these things going on.”

With the high school NIL landscape in North Carolina and the states that border it, student-athletes might have reasons to leave their schools for the opportunity to make money.

The State Board of Education banned public school athletes from participating in NIL

activities with a new amateurism policy adopted in June, affecting the NCHSAA which governs hundreds of public schools.

The new policy didn’t affect the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, though, which did approve an NIL policy for the 2024-25 school year in February.

This difference in NIL policy has brought concerns about more athletes, especially the top talent, moving away from local public schools and going to NCISAA private schools for monetary reasons. However, Tucker said in the meeting that’s not the point of the NCISAA’s NIL policy.

“(The NCISAA) are like us,” Tucker said. “They are not interested in their schools recruiting (students) to come and play here and leave that school. That’s not how their policy is set up, and it’s not set up so that that independent school will be able to say to (students), ‘We’ll pay you this amount of money.’ Now, the independent schools can say to (students), if you come to us, there will be some opportunities for you to sign an NIL deal.”

Other states could also provide outside opportunities as Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia have policies that allow public school athletes to profit from NIL.

“NIL policy would follow years of discussion,” Tucker said. “That’s what we’ve done. We have listened to our sister states across the country, and our membership has said we need to do something so that we’re not caught trying to catch up to an issue that is in place.”

Providence Grove players wait for their next action

Games are coming soon

Southwestern Randolph was the site of a multiteam football scrimmage jamboree Monday. “Everyone seemed excited to see high school football in action again,” said Chris Chapman, Southwestern Randolph athletics director and assistant coach. “The players, coaches and staff have been working all spring and summer, and it was great to see them on the field showing off their hard work.” The event, coming in advance of other scrimmages this week and Aug. 23 season openers, came after scrimmages were postponed last week because of drenching rains. Aside from the host school, teams were from Providence Grove, Randleman, Central Davidson, East Davidson, JordanMatthews, Walkertown, Bonnie Academy and George Washington (Danville, Virginia).

COURTESY PHOTO

Kensley Fox of Trinity represented her school in state meets while in high school.

NEAL ROBBINS / RANDOLPH RECORD

Southwestern Randolph players huddle during Monday night’s scrimmaging.

NEAL ROBBINS / RANDOLPH RECORD

during the jamboree.

pen & paper pursuits

this week in history

Virginia Dare is born on Roanoke Island, Hawaii joins the union, the king of rock ’n’ roll dies

The Associated Press

AUG. 15

1057: Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.

1914: The Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the newly completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

1947: India gained independence after nearly 200 years of British rule.

1969: Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York; more than 460,000 people attended the three-day festival, which would become a watershed event in American music and culture.

AUG. 16

1777: American forces won the Battle of Bennington, considered a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

1948: Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

1977: Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42.

2018: Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul,” died of pancreatic cancer at 76.

AUG. 17

1807: Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat made its first voyage, heading up the Hudson River on a successful round trip between New York City and Albany.

1945: George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm,” an allegorical satire of Soviet communism, was published.

1959: Trumpeter Miles Davis released “Kind of Blue,” regarded as one of the most influential jazz albums of all time.

1978: The first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris.

1998: President Bill Clinton delivered a TV address in which he admitted his relationship with Monica Lewinsky

AUG. 18

1587: Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents born in present-day America on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. (However, the Roanoke colony mysteriously disappeared.)

1894: Congress established the Bureau of Immigration.

1920: The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee

became the 36th state to approve it.

AUG. 19

A.D. 14: Caesar Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, died at age 76 after a four-decade reign; he was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.

1812: The USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

1814: During the War of 1812, British forces landed at Benedict, Maryland, to capture Washington, D.C.

1848: The New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California.

1942: During World War II, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France.

AUG. 20

1882: Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow.

1940: Exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacan, Mexico, by Ramon Mercader.

1955: Hundreds of people were killed in anti-French riots in Morocco and Algeria.

1968: The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive.

AUG. 21

1911: Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)

1959: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

AP PHOTO

The “King of Rock ’n’ Roll,” Elvis Presley, died on Aug. 16, 1977.

AP PHOTO

Alice Paul, seated second from left, sews the 36th star on a banner, celebrating the ratification of the women’s suffrage amendment, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote on Aug. 18, 1920.

Reynolds-Lively wins box office with ‘Deadpool,’ ‘It Ends with Us’

The two films created a kind of family edition of “Barbenheimer”

By Jake Coyle

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — In the Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively box-office showdown, both husband and wife came out winners.

Reynolds’ Marvel Studios smash “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained the top movie in North American theaters for the third straight week with $54.2 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday. Worldwide, it’s now surpassed $1 billion. “Deadpool & Wolverine” was closely followed by “It Ends With Us,” the romance drama starring Lively, which surpassed expectations with a stellar $50 million debut.

Together, the films created a kind of family edition of “Barbenheimer,” a pair of very different movies that thrived partly due to counterprogramming. Only this time, the opposite movies were fronted by one of Hollywood’s most famous couples. The films’ one-two punch wasn’t entirely unprecedented. In 1990, Bruce Willis’ “Die Hard 2” led the box office while Demi Moore’s “Ghost” came in second.

The weekend also featured a

Blake Lively, left, and Ryan Reynolds attend the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” in New York.

high-priced flop. “Borderlands,” the long-delayed $120-million videogame adaptation directed by Eli Roth, launched with a paltry $8.8 million for Lionsgate. The film, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, was shot in 2021. After delays and reshoots, it landed in theaters effectively dead on arrival; it scored just 10% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which co-stars Hugh Jackman, continued its march through box-office records. The film, directed by Shawn Levy, is only the second R-rated movie to reach $1 billion, following 2019’s “Joker.” In three weeks, it’s already one of the most lucrative Marvel releases and trails only Disney’s other 2024 smash, “Inside Out” ($1.6 billion worldwide) among movies released this year.

Lively makes a cameo in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” but she also stars in and produces “It Ends With Us.” Adapted from the bestselling romance novel by Colleen Hoover, Lively stars as Lily Bloom, a Boston florist torn between two men, one from her present life (Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film) and another who was her first love (Brandon Sklenar).

“It Ends With Us” cost a modest $25 million to produce, which will make a sig-

nificant profit for co-financers Columbia Pictures and Wayfarer Studios. Like another female-skewing summer-release book adaptation from Sony, “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “It Ends With Us” could hold well through the typically slower August.

Reynolds and Lively occasionally promoted the convergence of their movies. Earlier this week, Reynolds posted a video of himself posing junket questions to Sklenar. The timing paid off, especially for Lively, whose film doubled earlier opening weekend forecasts.

Neon’s “Cuckoo,” a German Alps-set horror film by filmmaker Tilman Singer, opened with $3 million on 1,503 screens.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Domestic figures were released on Monday.

1. Deadpool & Wolverine,” $54.2 million 2. It Ends With Us,” $50 million 3. Twisters,” $15 million 4. Borderlands,” $8.8 million 5. “Despicable Me 4,” $8 million 6. Trap,” $6.7 million 7. Inside Out 2,” $5 million 8. “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” $3.1 million 9. Cuckoo,” $3 million 10. Longlegs,” $2 million

EVAN AGOSTINI / AP PHOTO

“Today” weatherman Al Roker, pictured in July, turns

Robert De Niro is 81, Madonna turns 66, Robert Redford hits 88

The Associated Press Aug. 15: Actor-musician Jim Dale is 89. Actor Pat Priest (“The Munsters”) is 88. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 80. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 78. Actor Debra Messing (“Will and Grace”) is 56. Actor Ben Affleck is 52. Actor Jennifer Lawrence is 34. Aug. 16: Actor Ann Blyth (“Mildred Pierce”) is 96. Actor Gary Clarke (“Hondo,” ″The Virginian”) is 91. Actor Julie Newmar (TV’s “Batman”) is 91. Actor-singer Ketty Lester (“Little House on the Prairie”) is 90. Actor Anita Gillette is 88. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 71. Director James Cameron (“Titanic,” ″The Terminator”) is 70. Actor Angela Bassett is 66. Singer Madonna is 66. Actor Timothy Hutton is 64. Actor Steve Carell is 62. Aug. 17: Actor Robert De Niro is 81. Singer Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s is 66. Actor Sean Penn is 64. Actor-singer Donnie Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block) is 55. Aug. 18: Actor Robert Redford is 88. Actor Henry G. Sanders (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) is 82. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 67. Actor Madeleine Stowe is 66. Actor Edward Norton is 55. Actor Christian Slater is 55. Aug. 19: Actor Debra Paget (“The Ten Commandments,” “Love Me Tender”) is 91. Actor Diana Muldaur (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 86. Actor Jill St. John is 84. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 81. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 80. Actor John Stamos is 61. Actor Kyra Sedgwick is 59.

Aug. 20: News anchor Connie Chung is 78. Singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 76. “Today” weatherman Al Roker is 70. Actor Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) is 54. Aug. 21: Guitarist James Burton (with Elvis Presley) is 85. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 83. Newsman Harry Smith is 73. Actor Kim Cattrall (“Sex and

City”) is 68.

the

OWEN SWEENEY / AP PHOTO Robert Plant, formerly of Led Zeppelin, hits 76 on Tuesday.

EVAN AGOSTINI / AP PHOTO

70 on Tuesday.

SILVIA IZQUIERDO / AP PHOTO Madonna, pictured performing in 2024, turns 66 on Friday.

the stream

Sydney Sweeney’s nun thriller comes to Hulu, Post Malone goes country

Guess what? Emily is still in Paris!

The Associated Press

POST MALONE’S country album and Awkwafina playing a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life in “Jackpot!” are headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time include the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate,” which makes its Hulu debut, and the fourth season of Lily Collins’ “Emily in Paris” drops.

TO STREAM

MOVIES

It’s always worth paying attention when Paul Feig (“Spy,” “The Heat,” “Bridesmaids”) makes a comedy. In “Jackpot!,” out Thursday on Prime Video, Awkwafina plays a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life. In this near-future California, residents compete to kill the winner before sundown to claim their winnings. One person who is on her side and willing to help is John Cena. Feig told Entertainment Weekly it’s the “Jackie Chan movie I always wished I could make.”

The tear-jerker documentary “Daughters,” which started streaming Wednesday on Netflix, follows four young girls as they prepare to reunite with their incarcerated fathers for a dance in a Washington, D.C., jail. Co-directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, the film took more than eight years to make as the directors earned the trust of the mothers, the daughters and the incarcerated men. “We want to show the impact on families and daughters from this system and incarcerated fathers and bring more awareness around the importance of touch visits and family connection,” Rae told AP earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won several awards.

The Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg movie “The Union” is also coming to Netflix. It is an action comedy about a construction worker who gets entangled in espionage by an old girlfriend from high school. The synopsis teases: “Knowing he’s the right

man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way.”

Finally, the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate” makes its Hulu debut on Friday. Sweeney produced and also stars as a young American nun, Cecilia, who’s decided to join an Italian convent where she’s to help tend to older, dying nuns. The prettiness of the new surroundings is just a front, of course, and she starts to discover some sinister happenings within the ancient walls.

In my review, I wrote that it’s “a great showcase for Sweeney’s range (she gets to go from somewhat meek to primal scream) and is full of interesting visuals, beautiful costumes and accomplished makeup work showing all manner of bloody, mangled faces and limbs. But it’s also a movie that does not seem as sure of itself or the point it’s trying to make.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

Was Post Malone’s journey into country music inevita-

ble? On Friday, Malone will release “F-1 Trillion,” a country album. While more and more pop acts venture into country music, Malone’s approach is different: He’s participating in the Nashville music industry, working with acts like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton, instead of operating inside the genre and outside of its politics. It’s working: His forthcoming album is one of the year’s most anticipated in and out of the country music machine, and with good reason. “I Had Some Help” is already one of the year’s biggest songs and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

SHOWS TO STREAM

Hulu is out with a new original Korean drama called “The Tyrant.” Rogue government scientists create a deadly virus to put South Korea on the same power level as the U.S. and other countries with nuclear arms. The four-part series premiered on Wednesday. MTV’s long-running competition show “The Challenge” began as a spinoff of the “Real World” and “Road Rules” and is still charging full steam ahead with season 40. “Challenge 40:

Battle of the Eras” features 40 contestants from the show’s history, including mainstays Johnny Bananas and Chris “CT” Tamburello. Episodes air on MTV and will also stream on Paramount+. Guess what? Emily is still in Paris! Part 1 of the Lily Collins-led romance, workplace comedy’s fourth season dropped Thursday on Netflix. And rumor has it that the star also visits Rome in the new “Emily in Paris” season. The Fresh Prince is on summer break in season three of “Bel-Air,” Peacock’s updated, more dramatic version of the series that once starred Will Smith. Jabari Banks now plays the teen from West Philly. “BelAir” returned to Peacock on Thursday. The parallels between Smith and Banks seem tailor-made for Hollywood. Like Smith, Banks is from West Philadelphia. Eric Goode, the director of Netflix’s “Tiger King,” has a new docuseries about the private ownership of chimps. At the center is an exotic animal broker named Tonia Haddix, who calls herself “The Dolly Parton of Chimps” and raises chimpanzees as her children. “Chimp

Crazy” debuts Sunday on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. James Cameron dives back into the ocean with his new sixpart National Geographic series, “OceanXplorers.” Cameron teamed with BBC Studios and the nonprofit research organization OceanX to explore remote parts of the ocean. They used a 285-foot research vessel called OceanXplorer to get there. The docuseries premieres on National Geographic on Sunday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is on the cover of Madden NFL 25. They may need every trick in the book thanks to an overhauled tackling system called Boom Tech (ouch). For the bigger picture, EA is also beefing up its Superstar and Franchise modes, adding more storylines for individual players or teams. And if you’ve already won the Heisman Trophy in EA’s College Football 25, you can draft that player into the pros. The season kicks off Friday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

HULU / NETFLIX / NEON VIA AP

“Tyrant,” left, the Netflix film “The Union” and the film “Immaculate” are streaming this week.

AMY HARRIS / AP PHOTO

Post Malone drops “F-1 Trillion,” a country album, on Friday.

Getting a little chippy

Max Greyserman hits from a sand trap on the 18th hole during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro on Sunday.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WSFCS to finance purchase of 7,400 laptops for staff

According to the data provided by Weikart, which was last updated on the morning of Aug. 12, there were still 69 total classroom teacher vacancies — 62 of those 69 vacancies do have a long-term sub assigned however — and 43 classified vacancies.

N.C. to expand eCourts to all 100 counties by 2025

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts plans to complete the eCourts expansion across all 100 counties and the N.C. Business Court by 2025. Currently serving about half of the state’s population, eCourts has already processed more than 1.3 million electronic filings, saving an estimated 5 million pieces of paper since February 2023. The system provides 24/7 online access to court records, averaging 1.5 million searches monthly.

With kids back to school, watch out for buses

As 1.5 million North Carolina students return to school, authorities stress the importance of bus safety. More than 14,000 school buses operate daily in the state. In 2022, there were 1,075 school busrelated crashes resulting in 786 injuries and eight fatalities. North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey notes that passing a stopped school bus can result in doubled auto insurance premiums. Students should be reminded to wait for the bus to stop completely before standing, while motorists are reminded to stop far enough back from school buses to allow children safe entry and exit.

The technology refresh will cost the district $1.35 million annually over five years

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM —

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education met Tuesday, Aug. 13 with a few contractual items on the agenda. The board was first provided with a staffing update for the upcoming school year.

“This summer, we had 804 separations across our district,” said Chief Human Re -

source Officer Christopher Weikart. “That includes teachers, classified staff, child nutrition, transportation, everything.”

Per the data provided by Weikart, 217 employees retired and 587 resigned, however, the district was able to fill many of those outstanding vacancies.

“The most important part is that we have offered employment to 812 new employees and 599 of them have been cleared to start and have started with our students this school year, and that number is effective as of today,” Weikart said.

Per Weikart, the district also filled 97.33% of its certified staff positions.

The board approved a nearly $5.6 million purchase of 7,400 Lenovo L15 Gen 4 laptops as part of a technology refresh for all WSFCS staff, certified and classified, that require a device.

However, the purchase will be made through a five-year finance plan which will have annual payments of $1.35 million. All devices will also come with a five-year warranty.

“In case there’s some angels out there listening that have some deep pockets somewhere, companies or individuals, we’re sending a message out there that we’re looking for some deep pockets,” said board member Steve Wood regarding potentially paying off the loan early.

The board then approved $262,000 in Education Resource Group contracts to pro -

vide instructional coaching and professional development to Konnoak Middle, Carver High and Clemmons Middle utilizing Title I funds.

In addition, the board also approved a $44,000 contract with Capturing Kids’ Hearts to provide experiential training and coaching focused on social-emotional well-being, culture and student connectedness for identified staff at Konnoak Middle utilizing Title I funds.

“Professional development is a part of Title I recommended dollars,” said Superintendent Tricia McManus in response to questions on Title I spending. “It’s a more personalized decision when it is a site-by-site decision on how they want to actually use these companies in their schools, and they all use them differently, and that’s why they have these Title I dollars to have flexibility.”

The board also approved a $478,000 contract with Forsyth County Department of Public Health for EC nursing.

The WSFCS Board of Education will next meet Aug. 27.

No charges in fatal shooting of Russian utility worker by Special Forces soldier

The strange incident leaves many questions unanswered

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Sheriff’s Office has concluded its investigation into the May shooting death of Ramzan Daraev, a Russian national from Chechnya, at the residence of an unnamed U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in Carthage. No charges will be filed against the shooter, authorities announced Monday. The incident unfolded over more than 20 minutes on the evening of May 3. According to a lengthy statement issued by

the Sheriff’s Office, the shooter’s wife first observed Daraev taking photographs near their remote residence at dusk.

The shooter, initially unarmed, approached Daraev to inquire about his presence on the property. Unable to establish Daraev’s identity or purpose, the shooter asked him to leave, but Daraev allegedly became aggressive and refused.

According to the shooter, at one point, Daraev claimed to be a Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine, although investigators have been unable to establish Daraev’s prior foreign military status.

At 8:12 p.m., the shooter’s wife made the first of two 911

calls, reporting a suspicious person photographing their house and children. The shooter then retrieved a handgun from his residence.

A second, more urgent 911 call was made at 8:25 p.m., with the caller heard pleading for expedited law enforcement response at her husband’s request. The shooting occurred shortly after this second call, just before deputies arrived on scene.

Moore County District Attorney Michael Hardin supported the decision not to file charges, saying in an email to North State Journal: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and after reviewing the evidence, I concurred with the Sheriff’s Office that there was

a reasonable belief in the use of deadly force.”

According to the report, “the confrontation escalated when Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the shooter after repeatedly refusing to leave the property. The shooter reported firing several shots in response to Daraev’s advance.”

The Sheriff’s Office cited the

See SHOOTING, page 2

Almost 100 NC hospitals to join medical debt-reduction effort

Neal

Cory Lavalette,

North Carolina Castle Doctrine as justification for the shooter’s actions, which allows for the use of defensive force when there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within one’s home or property. Investigators found that Daraev, an employee of Cable Warriors, a subcontractor for Utilities One, was conducting legitimate utility surveys in the area as part of a Brightspeed fiber optic expansion but had no identifying clothing or equipment. He had entered the United States across the southern border in December 2022 and had been living in Chicago.

The only identification associated with Daraev was an international driver’s license found in his car, parked along Dowd Road. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and he did not have any paperwork showing he was authorized to take photographs of utility poles.

Given the unique circumstances of the incident, the case materials have been made accessible to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army Criminal Investigation Division throughout the investigation.

By Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press

RALEIGH — All qualifying North Carolina hospitals have agreed to participate in a first-of-its-kind initiative that will give them higher Medicaid payments if medical debt of low- and middle-income patients they hold is relieved and they carry out ways for future patients to avoid liabilities, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Monday.

Cooper and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled six weeks ago a proposal submitted to federal Medicaid regulators that they said could help about 2 million people in the state get rid of $4 billion in debt held by hospitals, which usually only can recoup a small portion.

“This makes sense for the hospitals, their patients and their communities,” Cooper said at a news conference in which he revealed all 99 qualifying hospitals — including the state’s largest hospital systems — have committed to the voluntary debt-elimination effort.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed off last monthon the plan details, which build on a Medicaid reimbursement program started recently for 99 acutecare, rural or university-connected hospitals. The hospitals were asked to make their participation decisions known by late last week.

Changes that benefit consumers will begin in the coming months, including by next July 1 the elimination of medical debt going back to early 2014 for the hospitals’ patients who are Medicaid enrollees. The hospitals in time also will eliminate medical debt that is more than two years old for non-enrollees who make below certain incomes or whose debt exceeds 5% of their annual in-

come. “We are often confronted with messages that tackling medical debt is impossible,” said Jose Penabad, a board member with Undue Medical Debt, a national group that will work with North Carolina hospitals, but “today is a message of hope.”

The hospitals also will agree to carry out programs going forward to discourage debt. By Jan. 1, for example, hospitals will automatically enroll people in charity care programs if they already qualify for food stamps and other welfare programs. And by July they’ll have to curb debt collection practices by not telling credit reporting agencies about unpaid bills and by capping interest rates on medical debt.

The qualifying hospitals already participate in what’s called the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program. The

Plan approved by NC panel to meet prisoner reentry goals

The Joint Reentry Council brings together various state agencies to improve prison release outcomes

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A new state panel has laid out specifics designed to bring numerous North Carolina state government agencies together to work on improving outcomes for prisoners when they are released, leading to reduced recidivism.

The Joint Reentry Council created by Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order in January approved last week a plan to meet more than two dozen objectives by using more than 130 different strategies.

The order directed a “whole-of-government” approach, in which Cabinet de -

partments and other state agencies collaborate toward meeting goals and take action.

More than 18,000 people are released annually from the dozens of North Carolina adult correctional facilities and face challenges brought by their criminal record to employment, education, health care and housing.

The council’s plan “lays out our roadmap to help transform the lives of people leaving prison and reentering society while making our communities safe,” Cooper said in a news release Tuesday.

Cooper’s order also aligned with the goals of Reentry 2030, a national effort being developed by the Council of State Governments and other groups to promote successful offender integration. The council said North Carolina was the third state to officially join Reentry 2030.

General Assembly approved it last year along with expanded Medicaid coverage to working adults who couldn’t otherwise qualify for conventional Medicaid. Hospitals pay assessments to draw down billions of dollars in federal money.

The HASP hospitals are now poised to receive even higher levels of reimbursement by agreeing to the medical debt initiatives. Kinsley’s department said that hospitals that otherwise would have shared funds from a pot of $3.2 billion this fiscal year now will benefit from an estimated $4 billion and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year.

Other state and local governments have tapped into federal American Rescue Plan funds to help purchase and cancel residents’ debt for pennies on the dollar

Cooper, a Democrat who leaves the job in January, ac-

knowledged recently that hospitals had responded somewhat negatively to the medical debt effort. He said Monday he believed that hospitals were put off initially because HASP funds previously unrestricted were now going to be tied to debt-reduction incentives.

But ultimately “these hospitals looked at the bottom line, looked at the benefits to their patients and communities and decided to sign up,” he said.

The North Carolina Healthcare Association — which lobbies for nonprofit and for-profit hospitals, said Monday in a news release that it “stands ready” to help hospital implement the new debt relief initiative. “We are also committed to addressing the root causes of medical debt and will continue to work with partners to improve access to affordable, high-quality care,” the group added.

The plan sets what officials called challenging goals when unveiled in January. It also seeks to increase the number of high school degrees or skills credentials earned by eligible incarcerated juveniles and adults by 75% by 2030 and to reduce the number of formerly incarcerated people who are homeless by 10% annually.

Several initiatives already have started. The Department of Adult Correction, the lead agency on the reentry effort, has begun a program with a driving school to help

train prisoners to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. The Department of Health and Human Services also has provided $5.5 million toward a program helping recently released offenders with serious mental illnesses, Cooper’s release said.

The governor said in January there was already funding in place to cover many of the efforts, including new access to federal grants for prisoners to pursue post-secondary education designed to land jobs once released.

GARY D. ROBERTSON / AP PHOTO

Undue Medical Debt board member Jose N. Penabad, center, speaks while Gov. Roy Cooper, left, and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley listen at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh on Monday.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Random thoughts

With all of this craziness, we’re still the greatest country on Earth.

THE SURGEON GENERAL of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has asked Congress to require a warning that social media can harm teenagers’ health. Finally, somebody is speaking out on behalf of the safety of children.

Duke Medical School claims that “timeliness, perfectionism and individualism” are components of a “white supremacy culture.” Uh, excuse me, but I think I want perfectionism when it comes to my surgeon or other medical professionals.

A Louisiana judge has ruled that “There are two sexes.” The judge has stopped the implementation of President Joe Biden’s Title IX changes. The changes would allow men to compete in women’s sports.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Fisker has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The EV manufacturer cited low vehicle demand and economic uncertainties. Even with the unlimited funds from the federal government, it’s still not enough to sustain the industry.

The Pentagon’s plan to feed our troops lab-grown meat has met with a substantial amount of controversy. The Pentagon has been working with a company that has received mega-funding to produce the lab-grown meat. The purpose is to align with the Biden administration’s goals on climate change.

The murder rate in Venezuela has fallen to the lowest in 22 years. These violent criminals are being released into the United States. What a great deal for Venezuela but not so good for us. Venezuelan illegal aliens were arrested in Texas for the rape and brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl. An illegal Venezuelan was also charged with the brutal murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia.

A Texas mother was kicked off a plane for misgendering a flight attendant. She claims she was returning home with her baby and her elderly mother when she said, “Thank you, sir,” to a male flight attendant identifying as a woman. Can things get any crazier? Of course, the lady now has a lawyer.

Miss Maryland USA is a man. The winner is a man who identifies as a transgender woman. The crowning just so happened to be on

DONALD TRUMP is clearly flailing. He has reportedly taken to complaining about his campaign, which candidates tend to do when they are looking for someone to blame. He is, in the words of The Washington Post, “steaming” at what has happened to him. This is what he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” the post read. “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!” Are these the words of a stable man who is in touch with reality?

It gets worse. On Thursday, he held a lengthy press conference, supposedly to get the attention back on him instead of focusing so much on the “fun” and very successful rollout of the Harris-Walz ticket. By any measure, the press conference was a disaster.

the first day of Pride Month. The other contestants are speaking out about the unfairness of the selection. They believe the entire pageant was a fraud and the winner was preordained.

“No U-Turn” traffic signs were taken down in Silver Lake, California, because the signs were anti-LGBTQ. It’s true. Nobody could make this stuff up. So now signs are even discriminatory.

The state of Illinois has raised “wokeism” to new heights. Criminals’ feelings are important and they need help integrating back into society. How does that happen? Lawmakers proposed a bill to rename “criminal offenders.” The rebranded name will be “Justice Impacted Individual.” I’m certain this will make a huge difference in the lives of criminals.

Some Democrat-run sanctuary cities that have been overrun by the influx of illegal immigrants appear to have a change of heart. These desperate cities have begun to quietly cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

California is leaking residents like a sieve. People are leaving in record numbers to other states that are less burdensome and less “woke.” Elon Musk announced that he is moving all of his companies out of California and headed to Texas. Chevron is doing the same. These companies will be taking thousands of employees with them.

A secession movement has officially launched in the state of New Hampshire, the Live Free or Die state. The Free State Project is encouraging freedom-loving citizens to move to New Hampshire and change the culture and the politics of the state. There are also discussions and movements in several other states — Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Alaska — to follow suit. I hope this isn’t like the last time states tried to secede.

A surge in corporate bankruptcies is taking place in record numbers. Total bankruptcies have surpassed levels that have not been seen in 13 years. Most companies cite high interest rates and high inflation rates as the culprit.

With all of this craziness, we’re still the greatest country on Earth. We are blessed to be Americans.

Sen. Joyce Krawiec has represented Forsyth County and the 31st District in the North Carolina Senate since 2014. She lives in Kernersville.

Trump repeated his familiar rants, complete with lies that have been repeatedly fact-checked. No, he did not cut taxes more than anyone else in history. No, he did not have a bigger crowd on Jan. 6 than Martin Luther King Jr. did for the March on Washington. No, it was not a “small” crowd that stormed the Capitol, and it was not a “peaceful” transfer of power.

At some points, he was utterly incoherent. Asked if he would direct the FDA to deny access to abortion pills, he responded: “So, you can do things that will be, would supplement, absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote. And all I want to do is give everybody a vote. And the votes are taking place right now as we speak.”

What? An aide later said that he didn’t hear the question, which is hardly an explanation, and that his position has not changed since the Supreme Court ruled. But the Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the question of whether abortion medication should be available; it only ruled that the particular plaintiffs before it did not have standing to raise the issue. Asked how he would vote on the Florida initiative to protect abortion rights, which is on the ballot this fall, he just dodged, promising to hold a press conference sometime in the future.

He was equally incoherent about his attacks on Kamala Harris’ blackness.

Asked how he could claim that a woman who attended a historically black university had only recently claimed she was black,

Trump said: “Well, you’ll have to ask her that question because she’s the one that said it. I didn’t say it. So you’ll have to ask her. And I very much appreciate that question, but you’ll have to ask her.” What did she say? What question? His answer makes no sense at all.

We are so used to Trump ranting and raving, lying and boasting, flaunting his insecurities and anger, that it is easy to dismiss it as yet another instance of Trump being Trump. But this time he went even further, literally making up a supposed helicopter trip he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the California Assembly. According to Trump, the helicopter nearly crashed, but not before Brown disparaged Kamala Harris, a woman he dated decades ago and has supported throughout her career. According to Brown, an inveterate storyteller who pointed out, convincingly, that if it had happened, he would have told the story himself, the helicopter trip simply never happened.

Donald Trump is a man who not only rants and raves, not only exaggerates and lies, but literally makes things up. How can he possibly be qualified to be president? This is not just Trump being Trump; it is Trump literally being crazy. It is no longer simply about ideology or policy. The man is not competent to be president. It’s time to say it out loud.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

TRIAD STRAIGHT TALK | JOYCE KRAWEIC

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

The man is not competent to be president.

Forsyth SPORTS

NFL teams seek to limit number of joint practices

Bad blood and risk of injury risk both increase on the second day

By Steve Megargee

The Associated Press

THE FIRST WEEK of joint practices at NFL training camps included one player getting carted off the field and two teams getting fined $200,000 each for excessive fighting.

Those events have lent credence to the notion that joint practice sessions don’t need to last longer than one day, an idea growing in popularity. After nearly 80% of the 2023 joint practices lasted two days, more than two-thirds of the sessions this year are one-day affairs.

“One, to me, is plenty,” New York Jets coach Robert Saleh said.

The argument against two-day joint practices is that the second day often is chippier and increases the possibility of injuries.

Atlanta wide receiver Rondale Moore was carted off the field with a season-ending knee injury Wednesday as the Falcons practiced against the Miami Dolphins for a second straight day. Also Wednesday, the NFL fined the New York Giants and Detroit Lions $200,000 each for multiple fights that stretched across their two days of practicing against each other.

The NFL sent out a memo last month stating fights and unprofessional conduct at joint practices wouldn’t be tolerated. Packers coach Matt LaFleur noted earlier in this offseason that “sometimes it becomes a wrestling match out there or an MMA fight” when joint practices extend to a second day.

“Every time I’ve ever had a

joint practice, the first day will be a little rough and then the second one ends in a fight,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said.

NFL teams are permitted to hold joint practices for as many as four days during training camp, and those can be divided in any way possible. For instance, the Los Angeles Rams are holding four separate one-day sessions against three different teams.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said after Sunday’s workout that he likes limiting joint practices to one day.

“I think there’s probably less fights, which is good,” Stafford said. “You know, the second day is when everybody kind of gets a little charged up and gets going.”

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen explained why fights are more likely on the second day.

“You have the first day’s practice,” Allen said. “One team or the other is going to feel like they got the better of the other team. Those coaches are going to go yell at their players. Their players are

going to pissed off, and then that’s how that stuff happens, right?”

Some don’t see the need to have joint practices at all.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders are the only teams not having any joint practices this year.

“I think the way we go about it — I think we go fast, we practice hard, we do those things amongst ourselves, and the guys challenge each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And I don’t think there’s a better way to do it, if your guys are willing to do that.”

But others consider joint practices a valuable method of preseason preparation.

“I thought the two days were effective,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said Wednesday. “It’s really important to see different looks, just seeing different nickel pressures, corner pressures, coverage structures, fronts. It creates a lot of good conversations. The meeting time after these practices is very productive, to talk through it all.”

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Shamarius ‘Snook’ Peterkin

Mount Tabor, football

Shamarius Peterkin is a rising senior wide receiver on the Mount Tabor football team. Peterkin was the top kickoff returnman in the Central Piedmont Conference, and his 824 yards were third in the league. He also scored 13 touchdowns.

The Spartans don’t open their season until Aug. 23, but this is still a big week for Peterson. He’s the No. 7 prospect in the state for the class of 2025 and the top-ranked senior receiver in North Carolina.

This Friday, Peterkin will make his college decision. He has at least 19 scholarship offers from FBS schools, but he’s expected to choose from his final three of NC State, UNC and Virginia Tech.

Griner lets tears flow after US women win gold

The WNBA star won gold after spending 10 months in a Russian prison

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

PARIS — Standing on the medal stand with her third gold medal draped around her neck, Brittney Griner looked at the U.S. flag with tears streaming down her cheeks during the national anthem.

She didn’t wipe them away until after the anthem ended, never trying to hide how she feels representing her country after 10 months in a Russian prison.

Not with all that this moment meant.

Griner didn’t think she’d have this chance again.

“This one meant a lot to me,” Griner said after the U.S. held off France 67-66 to win an unprecedented eighth straight gold medal in women’s basketball Sunday. “I mean, just having a chance to play for gold, represent my country, what my country did for me? Yeah, this is the highest on the pinnacle right here.”

This gold medal victory capped a long road back for Griner, who was sitting in a Russian penal colony two years ago not sure if she would ever get home again, let alone play basketball or compete in a third Olympics.

She had been sentenced to nine years behind bars for drug possession and smuggling in Russia, spending 10 months in jail before she was part of a high-profile prisoner exchange in December 2022. Griner, a Phoenix Mercury center who had been playing basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason when she was detained, said she would never play internationally again except with USA Basketball.

“It was a long journey, a hard journey to get back into it,” the 33-year-old said. “I’m just happy that my body was able to hold up and be able to be here.”

Griner’s ordeal in Russia left her appreciating the mundane details of each day.

“Waking up, going to practice, even when you don’t want to practice, having the opportunity to do that, because we overlook it,” she said. “That’s the opportunity that we get to do and I just

cherish every second I can now.”

Teammate Diana Taurasi, who helped lobby for Griner’s return during her detention, stood two teammates away from Griner during the medal ceremony and anthem. Taurasi said she could sense Griner’s emotions and called it almost “mind-boggling” that Griner got back to this point.

“She’s a person that is grateful for all the support that she got through all this,” Taurasi said. “And it wasn’t easy. And it’s still

not easy for her. She still carries a big burden ... to make sure everyone gets out. She carries that burden really heavy on her back.”

During the game itself, Griner scored four quick points and finished with two rebounds in the win. She celebrated the victory on the basketball court with lots of hugs, including from Lisa Leslie and others cheering on the Americans at Bercy Arena, essentially a road game for the U.S.

with French President Emmanuel Macron in the stands.

“The gold (medal game) is just the icing on the cake, being in the Olympics ... as well,” Griner said. Then came time to celebrate again as the Americans huddled at midcourt for photos. Griner took out a phone for the team selfie with her right hand, using her left hand to hold up her latest gold medal.

This definitely was a moment to be remembered.

MICHAEL CONROY/AP PHOTO

Brittney Griner kisses her gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AP PHOTO

Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins runs with the ball during a joint football practice with the Rams.

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA hands Harbaugh 4-year show cause order

Ann Arbor, Mich.

The NCAA says former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh had impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has handed him a fouryear show-cause order if he wants to return to college coaching. The NCAA says Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations. Harbaugh left the national championshipwinning Wolverines to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The NCAA has already given Michigan three years of probation, a fine and recruiting limits in the same case.

LIV GOLF

McDowell suspended 1 event for taking decongestant

Nashville Graeme McDowell is the first player from LIV Golf to be suspended under its anti- doping policy. McDowell says he was congested ahead of the Nashville event and took an over-the-counter decongestant that had a banned substance. That means the 45-year-old from Northern Ireland won’t be playing LIV Golf Greenbrier next week. He’s also been fined $125,000 and must forfeit his earnings from the Nashville event. McDowell tied for 42nd in Nashville against the 54-man field and made $127,500. He says he accepts the sanctions from the Saudi-funded league. He’ll be replaced at Greenbrier by an alternate.

NFL

Seahawks’ Howell directs 2 scoring drives in win over Chargers

Inglewood, Calif.

Sam Howell threw for 130 yards and a touchdown in his Seattle debut and the Seahawks had a successful preseason debut under Mike Macdonald, defeating the Chargers 16-3 Saturday in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first game with Los Angeles. Howell, the former UNC quarterback acquired from Washington during the offseason, directed a pair of scoring drives in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 27 passes in 10 series and played until a little over midway through the third quarter.

NBA Barkley says he will not retire, remain with TNT Sports

New York

Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June. Barkley previously said the upcoming season would be his last on television. He signed a 10year contract extension with TNT Sports in 2022. The parent company of TNT Sports has sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer in its upcoming 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

Dillon prevails in overtime at Richmond

Dillon’s first Cup Series win in 2 years came after he spun Joey Logano on the final lap

By Noah Trister The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond on Sunday night. It was Dillon’s first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year and entered the race ranked 32nd in the standings. Now he’s on track for the postseason — but he didn’t do it gently.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon said.

Dillon appeared to be cruising to a victory when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first cau-

tion of the entire 400-lap, 300mile race aside from the prescheduled ones after the end of the first two stages.

So the drivers went to overtime, and Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the restart. Then Dillon came up behind Logano and spun him — and when Denny Hamlin appeared to be moving past him on the inside, Dillon made contact with him too and sent him into the wall.

Dillon emerged from all that chaos with a victory in his No. 3 Chevrolet. That number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt. And that symmetry did not appear lost on seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who weighed in on social media.

“Dale Sr vibes,” Johnson said. Logano, unsurprisingly, was in no mood to shrug off Dillon’s move.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Lo -

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it.”

Austin Dillon

gano said. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

The 11 — Hamlin — wasn’t pleased either.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got the pay your dues back on stuff like that. But it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the

two guys that got taken out on the last corner.” Dillon appeared on his way to a much less controversial victory after passing Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps to go. This was the first time in a points-paying Cup race that teams had multiple tire options. The “Option” tires were softer, giving drivers a speed boost but less longevity than the “Prime” tires. Teams had only two sets of Option tires for the race. The Option tires helped Daniel Suárez to the lead early in the second stage, and he ultimately won that stage. After putting another set of Option tires on with about 40 laps remaining, Suárez began surging toward the front, but it appeared he would run out of laps before threatening Dillon.

But then the StenhousePreece crash gave Dillon bigger problems to worry about. Now he has the victory — but at least two veteran drivers with an axe to grind.

Olympic basketball: Inside the Curry flurry

How Stephen Curry’s 4 shots sealed another gold for the United States

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

PARIS — After making only five 3-pointers in his first four games of the Paris Olympics combined, Stephen Curry found his stroke in the nick of time. He made 17 3-pointers in the last two games to lead the U.S. to its fifth consecutive gold medal.

The last four of those 3-pointers came in the final 2:46 of the gold-medal game — a staggering display that anyone who watched will be hard-pressed to forget.

“ The last 21/2 minutes were special,” Curry said.

A breakdown of Curry’s dramatics:

The first one

LeBron James brought the ball across midcourt, and Curry waved Anthony Davis away to create space for the pick-androll. Curry set it, then moved to the top of the key and took the pass from James. Curry shook free of French defender Guerschon Yabusele and made the 3-pointer from straightaway.

Little did anyone know, he was just getting started.

— USA 85, France 79, 2:41 left.

The second one

In the timeout with 2:22 left, Curry suggested that he and James keep running the pickand-roll. A simple set, but very effective for someone generally considered the best shooter in the history of basketball. So, they ran it, this time with James setting the screen.

Curry kept the ball, got de-

fender Nicolas Batum in the air, waited for him to land and then shot from the left side of the top of the key.

Curry was yelling a message as he headed back down the floor. “Don’t worry about me,” he kept saying.

— USA 90, France 81, 1:52 left.

The third one

France made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six. Curry brought the ball down the floor and gave it to Kevin Durant, who immediately gave it back. Curry sent the ball his way again and eventually it was in the hands of Devin Booker. As Booker drove the baseline, he saw Curry open at the top of the key again.

He wound up using basically the same move as the possession

before; this time, it was waiting for Nando de Colo to bite on the head fake. Another 3-pointer, good.

Curry screamed several times afterward, then hoisted the top of his jersey to show the “USA” across his chest.

— USA 93, France 84, 1:18 left.

The fourth one

France got within 93-87 with 54.4 seconds left. Curry sent the ball to Durant, just as he did in the previous possession. And Durant gave it right back again. He was keeping the ball this time. He forced a shot over Batum and Evan Fournier, kind of an off-balanced heave that looked like a mistake.

“I was kind of like, ‘What the (expletive),’” U.S. center Bam

medal

Adebayo said. “Then I remembered who was shooting it.”

Of course, it was going in. The U.S. was up 96-87 with 35 seconds left.

Curry put his hands to the side of his head in celebration. “Night night,” he calls it, a reference where he tells the other team it’s time to go to sleep.

The game was over. The gold would be worn by Americans again. Curry watched Durant win gold medals at three previous Olympics. He watched Simone Biles win the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics in the same arena earlier in the Paris Games. He wanted that moment, desperately. And with four unforgettable shots, he delivered.

“This might not come around again,” Curry said. “It was very, very special.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Stephen Curry reacts after a 3-point basket against France in the gold

game.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Crew members push Austin Dillon’s car onto a pit road before a June NASCAR Cup Series race at New

Remains located for 62 passengers in Brazil plane crash

The

plane crashed Friday in Vinhedo

The Associated Press

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue teams Saturday retrieved the remains of all 62 passengers from the wreckage of a plane crash in Sao Paulo state as families started gathering in the metropolis to identify and bury their loved ones.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo on Friday.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Voepass also said three passengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese.

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that rescue operations finished at 6:30 p.m. local time, with the identification of the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot by foren-

Firefighters and rescue workers work in the debris at the site where an airplane crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, on Friday.

sics experts. There were 34 male and 28 female bodies in the wreckage, the government said.

Earlier, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the local fire department, told journalists in Vinhedo that a winch was used to remove parts of the plane from the ground.

Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies. Blood tests were

also done to help identification efforts.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire.

Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing ap -

“This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us.”

Unidentified Voepass pilot

proach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

Metsul, one of Brazil’s most renowned meteorological companies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident.

A video shared on social media channels Saturday shows a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to the city of Cascavel, the same origin of the crashed plane, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the world for decades. He also asked passengers to be respectful to the memory of his colleagues and the company and asked for prayers.

Local police restricted access to the main entrance of one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot, others came in minivans. They didn’t speak to journalists, and local authorities requested they not be filmed as they came.

An American Eagle ATR 72-200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 8,000 feet and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes, telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions.

“It was a fatality. The pilot was my personal friend. I have known all the crew from long ago,” the unidentified pilot said. “We are professionals, we have our families. This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us. We are giving all our hearts, all our best to be here and fulfill our mission to take you safely and comfortably to your destination.”

Iran president proposes an ex-nuclear negotiator as foreign minister

Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to appoint a woman among his ministers

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that

capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was chief of the Iranian Air Force in 2018-21. This would be the first time that a member of Iran’s air force headed the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as roads and housing minister. Sadegh, 47, is currently a director in the ministry. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear, however, whether she will be approved. The hard-line parliament seeks more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic sharia. Many law-

makers voiced their opposition when her name was read by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only previous female minister to be approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

Iranian presidents have, however, appointed women to be vice presidents, a role that is not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo Parsa, who served as education minister in 1968-71. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals

with enforcing the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improper wearing of the hijab led to nationwide protests.

Pezeshkian, then a lawmaker, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.”

He has suggested that he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear accord.

The president is likely to face opposition in passing legislation that supports his stated program since the chamber is dominated by hard-liners who mainly supported other candidates during the June to July presidential election.

The president named Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. Paknejad was formerly a deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed to retain current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and

current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi. Pezeshkian also named the current minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, as energy minister. On Saturday the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a May helicopter crash.

Later on Sunday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a vice president in charge of strategic affairs, resigned from his post over the proposed ministers. Following Pezeshkian’s election, Zarif had been charged with forming the committees to choose ministers for Pezeshkian’s administration.

Zarif wrote on the social media platform “X” that he was not happy with how the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet was shaping up, saying he failed to fulfill his promises to include more women, young people and ethnic groups.

Voepass

EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO

Abbas Araghchi, right and pictured in 2019, was proposed by Iran

President Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s new foreign minister.

ANDRE PENNER / AP PHOTO

STATE & NATION

Harris, echoing Trump, pledges ending taxes on tips

The vice president is on the offensive while visiting battleground states

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has made and marking a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service

and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

Harris’ campaign said afterward that as president she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other provisions to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. She also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a five battleground-state blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president held a San Francisco where House Speaker Emerita

Trump campaign says emails hacked

The former president’s camp claims Iran was involved

By Bill Barrow

The Associated Press

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents.

The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024.

It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confi-

dence in U.S. democratic institutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. Justice Department this past week unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against political figures in the United States, including potentially Trump, and to have sought to hire purported hitmen who were actually undercover law enforcement officials. Court documents in that case pointedly noted a desire by Iran to conduct operations against perceived enemies of the regime and to avenge the

Nancy Pelosi was a speaker.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement halted entry to the event because people were becoming ill while waiting outside in 109-degree heat to go through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz referenced that during his speech but turned it into an applause line by telling Nevada, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly defeated Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a statement supporting Harris’ call for a higher minimum wage and to “ensure that there are no taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to

eliminate tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centerpiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.

“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.

The vice president also promised to tackle immigration, leaning heavily into the issue as she did the previous night during a rally in Arizona.

Harris has in recent weeks tried to seize the political offensive on an issue that Trump and

top Republicans have frequently used to slam her and the Biden administration. In doing so, Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans.

Because the vice president’s portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration, and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading GOP voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself has said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

killing of Soleimani.

Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.

“These documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said.

He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”

“The Iranians know that

President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung said, adding a warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”

Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.

JAE HONG/AP PHOTO

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas.

BEN GRAY / AP PHOTO

Sen. JD Vance, left, and former President Donald Trump shake hands at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Aug. 3.

the stream

Sydney Sweeney’s nun thriller comes to Hulu, Post Malone goes country

Guess what? Emily is still in Paris!

The Associated Press

POST MALONE’S country album and Awkwafina playing a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life in “Jackpot!” are headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time include the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate,” which makes its Hulu debut, and the fourth season of Lily Collins’ “Emily in Paris” drops.

TO STREAM

MOVIES

It’s always worth paying attention when Paul Feig (“Spy,” “The Heat,” “Bridesmaids”) makes a comedy. In “Jackpot!,” out Thursday on Prime Video, Awkwafina plays a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life. In this near-future California, residents compete to kill the winner before sundown to claim their winnings. One person who is on her side and willing to help is John Cena. Feig told Entertainment Weekly it’s the “Jackie Chan movie I always wished I could make.”

The tear-jerker documentary “Daughters,” which started streaming Wednesday on Netflix, follows four young girls as they prepare to reunite with their incarcerated fathers for a dance in a Washington, D.C., jail. Co-directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, the film took more than eight years to make as the directors earned the trust of the mothers, the daughters and the incarcerated men. “We want to show the impact on families and daughters from this system and incarcerated fathers and bring more awareness around the importance of touch visits and family connection,” Rae told AP earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won several awards.

The Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg movie “The Union” is also coming to Netflix. It is an action comedy about a construction worker who gets entangled in espionage by an old girlfriend from high school. The synopsis teases: “Knowing he’s the right

man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way.”

Finally, the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate” makes its Hulu debut on Friday. Sweeney produced and also stars as a young American nun, Cecilia, who’s decided to join an Italian convent where she’s to help tend to older, dying nuns. The prettiness of the new surroundings is just a front, of course, and she starts to discover some sinister happenings within the ancient walls.

In my review, I wrote that it’s “a great showcase for Sweeney’s range (she gets to go from somewhat meek to primal scream) and is full of interesting visuals, beautiful costumes and accomplished makeup work showing all manner of bloody, mangled faces and limbs. But it’s also a movie that does not seem as sure of itself or the point it’s trying to make.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

Was Post Malone’s journey into country music inevita-

ble? On Friday, Malone will release “F-1 Trillion,” a country album. While more and more pop acts venture into country music, Malone’s approach is different: He’s participating in the Nashville music industry, working with acts like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton, instead of operating inside the genre and outside of its politics. It’s working: His forthcoming album is one of the year’s most anticipated in and out of the country music machine, and with good reason. “I Had Some Help” is already one of the year’s biggest songs and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

SHOWS TO STREAM

Hulu is out with a new original Korean drama called “The Tyrant.” Rogue government scientists create a deadly virus to put South Korea on the same power level as the U.S. and other countries with nuclear arms. The four-part series premiered on Wednesday. MTV’s long-running competition show “The Challenge” began as a spinoff of the “Real World” and “Road Rules” and is still charging full steam ahead with season 40. “Challenge 40:

Battle of the Eras” features 40 contestants from the show’s history, including mainstays Johnny Bananas and Chris “CT” Tamburello. Episodes air on MTV and will also stream on Paramount+. Guess what? Emily is still in Paris! Part 1 of the Lily Collins-led romance, workplace comedy’s fourth season dropped Thursday on Netflix. And rumor has it that the star also visits Rome in the new “Emily in Paris” season. The Fresh Prince is on summer break in season three of “Bel-Air,” Peacock’s updated, more dramatic version of the series that once starred Will Smith. Jabari Banks now plays the teen from West Philly. “BelAir” returned to Peacock on Thursday. The parallels between Smith and Banks seem tailor-made for Hollywood. Like Smith, Banks is from West Philadelphia. Eric Goode, the director of Netflix’s “Tiger King,” has a new docuseries about the private ownership of chimps. At the center is an exotic animal broker named Tonia Haddix, who calls herself “The Dolly Parton of Chimps” and raises chimpanzees as her children. “Chimp

Crazy” debuts Sunday on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. James Cameron dives back into the ocean with his new sixpart National Geographic series, “OceanXplorers.” Cameron teamed with BBC Studios and the nonprofit research organization OceanX to explore remote parts of the ocean. They used a 285-foot research vessel called OceanXplorer to get there. The docuseries premieres on National Geographic on Sunday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is on the cover of Madden NFL 25. They may need every trick in the book thanks to an overhauled tackling system called Boom Tech (ouch). For the bigger picture, EA is also beefing up its Superstar and Franchise modes, adding more storylines for individual players or teams. And if you’ve already won the Heisman Trophy in EA’s College Football 25, you can draft that player into the pros. The season kicks off Friday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

HULU / NETFLIX / NEON VIA AP

“Tyrant,” left, the Netflix film “The Union” and the film “Immaculate” are streaming this week.

AMY HARRIS / AP PHOTO

Post Malone drops “F-1 Trillion,” a country album, on Friday.

HOKE COUNTY

Training makes better

U.S. Congressman and current candidate for N.C. Attorney General Dan Bishop visited a Joint Training Exercise with the Hoke County Fireman’s Association this week. Joining him at the training exercise was Hoke and Moore County District Attorney Mike Hardin and numerous local police, fire and EMS personnel.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

N.C. to expand eCourts to all 100 counties by 2025

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts plans to complete the eCourts expansion across all 100 counties and the N.C. Business Court by 2025. Currently serving about half of the state’s population, eCourts has already processed more than 1.3 million electronic filings, saving an estimated 5 million pieces of paper since February 2023. The system provides 24/7 online access to court records, averaging 1.5 million searches monthly.

With kids back to school, watch out for buses

As 1.5 million North Carolina students return to school, authorities stress the importance of bus safety.

More than 14,000 school buses operate daily in the state. In 2022, there were 1,075 school bus-related crashes resulting in 786 injuries and eight fatalities.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey notes that passing a stopped school bus can result in doubled auto insurance premiums. Students should be reminded to wait for the bus to stop completely before standing, while motorists are reminded to stop far enough back from school buses to allow children safe entry and exit.

Board of Education approves supplement increase for all employees

The supplement pay will increase by 1% for both classified and certified staff

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

RAEFORD — The Hoke County Schools Board of Education approved a 1% supplement increase for all employees at its meeting Aug. 13, moving certified employees from 6% to 7% and classified employees from 4% to 5% to be more competitive against neighboring counties and to combat turnover.

“This is a very good day, it’s a very historic day,” said Superintendent Kenneth Spells. “We haven’t improved this supplement in years, so I think it’s a

good olive branch and I think it will help us on the recruitment trail and help us close the gap around here.”

The board was also presented with an update on the school system’s application for the 2024 Renew America’s School Prize Funding Opportunity in which HCS was one of 21 recipients across the country awarded a phase one prize of $300,000 from the Department of Energy.

“The purpose of the grant is to help school districts purchase or install or seek out energy efficiency initiatives,” said Assistant Superintendent Chad Hunt. “So basically, that means how to cut costs with the energy that we’re using because in and across the U.S., K-12 schools are actually one of the significant sources that emits the most greenhouse emissions.”

While the school system did receive a cash prize, according to the letter from the DOE, HCS was not selected for negotiation of a financial cooperative agreement award which involves awards ranging from $500,000 to $1 million for a phase two prize or $7 million to $14 million for a phase three prize.

However, HCS was selected as an alternate, which means if another of the 16 selected school systems that was chosen for negotiation cannot continue with the award negotiations, then it may be chosen to negotiate for a full award instead.

For those given a phase two award, there is a required 5% minimum funding match for the district and phase three awards require a minimum of a 25% funding match.

The board was then pre-

sented with an update on the current vacancy report that showed 147 positions still to be filled between both certified and classified positions, which is down considerably from earlier in the summer.

“That has come down a lot,” said Assistant Superintendent Erica Fortenberry. “We had a total of 65 beginning teachers at our orientations yesterday and today, so we’re excited to have them on board. And on Friday as well, we will receive 16 of our Educational Partners International teachers, and we’re excited to have them as well.”

The board also received an update on the district’s plans to update the payment method for teacher assistants.

TAs used to be paid on a salary basis, but with the imple-

No charges in fatal shooting of Russian utility worker by Special Forces soldier

The strange incident leaves many questions unanswered

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Sheriff’s Office has concluded its investigation into the May shooting death of Ramzan Daraev, a Russian national from Chechnya, at the residence of an unnamed U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in Carthage. No charges will be filed against the shooter, authorities announced Monday.

The incident unfolded over more than 20 minutes on the evening of May 3. According to a lengthy statement issued by

the Sheriff’s Office, the shooter’s wife first observed Daraev taking photographs near their remote residence at dusk.

The shooter, initially unarmed, approached Daraev to inquire about his presence on the property. Unable to establish Daraev’s identity or purpose, the shooter asked him to leave, but Daraev allegedly became aggressive and refused.

According to the shooter, at one point, Daraev claimed to be a Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine, although investigators have been unable to establish Daraev’s prior foreign military status.

At 8:12 p.m., the shooter’s wife made the first of two 911 calls, reporting a suspicious

person photographing their house and children. The shooter then retrieved a handgun from his residence.

A second, more urgent 911 call was made at 8:25 p.m., with the caller heard pleading for expedited law enforcement response at her husband’s request. The shooting occurred shortly after this second call, just before deputies arrived on scene.

Moore County District Attorney Michael Hardin supported the decision not to file charges, saying in an email to North State Journal: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and after reviewing the evidence, I concurred with the Sheriff’s Office that there was a reasonable belief in the use of deadly force.”

According to the report, “the confrontation escalated when Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the shooter after repeatedly refusing to leave the property. The shooter reported firing several shots in response to Daraev’s advance.”

The Sheriff’s Office cited the North Carolina Castle Doctrine as justification for the shooter’s actions, which allows for

SHOOTING from page 1

the use of defensive force when there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within one’s home or property.

Investigators found that Daraev, an employee of Cable Warriors, a subcontractor for Utilities One, was conducting legitimate utility surveys in the area as part of a Brightspeed fiber optic expansion but had no identifying clothing or equipment. He had entered the United States across the southern border in December 2022 and had been living in Chicago.

The only identification associated with Daraev was an international driver’s license found in his car, parked along Dowd Road. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and he did not have any paperwork showing he was authorized to take photographs of utility poles.

Given the unique circumstances of the incident, the case materials have been made accessible to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army Criminal Investigation Division throughout the investigation.

BOE from page 1

mentation of bus pay, payments got a bit complicated. To combat that, Hoke County Schools wants to start paying all TAs on an hourly rate.

TAs hired for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school year are already being paid on an hourly basis, but the plan is to move every other salaried TA to hourly pay beginning in FY26.

In terms of action items, the board approved a three-year contract renewal with Quality Lawn Care for district lawn care services and a $55,000 contract with Anderson Smith & Wike PLLC for auditing services for FY 23-24.

The Hoke County Schools Board of Education will next meet Sept. 10.

THURSDAY

Plan approved by NC panel to meet prisoner reentry goals

The Joint Reentry Council brings together various state agencies to improve prison release outcomes

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A new state panel has laid out specifics designed to bring numerous North Carolina state government agencies together to work on improving outcomes for prisoners when they are released, leading to reduced recidivism.

The order directed a “whole-of-government” approach, in which Cabinet departments and other state agencies collaborate toward meeting goals and take action.

More than 18,000 people are released annually from the dozens of North Carolina adult correctional facilities and face challenges brought by their criminal record to employment, education, health care and housing.

The council’s plan “lays out our roadmap to help transform the lives of people leaving prison and reentering society while making our communities safe,”

The Joint Reentry Council created by Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order in January approved last week a plan to meet more than two dozen objectives by using more than 130 different strategies.

Cooper said in a news release Tuesday. Cooper’s order also aligned with the goals of Reentry 2030, a national effort being developed by the Council of State Governments and other groups to promote successful offender integration. The council said North Carolina was the third state to officially join Reentry 2030.

The plan sets what officials called challenging goals when unveiled in January. It seeks to increase by 75% the number of high school degrees or skills credentials earned by eligible incarcerated juveniles and adults by 2030 and reduce the number of formerly incarcerated homeless people by 10% annually.

Several initiatives already have started. The Department of Adult Correction, the lead agency on the reentry effort, has begun a program with a driving school to help train prisoners to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. The Department of Health and Human Services also has provided $5.5 million toward a program helping recently released offenders with serious mental illnesses, Cooper’s release said.

The governor said in January there was already funding in place to cover many of the efforts, including new access to federal grants for prisoners to pursue post-secondary education designed to land jobs once released.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Just who is the real middle-class president?

No administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN talked incessantly about his “from the middle class out” economic strategy.

Given his record, it would have been more accurate to call it the “middle class down and out” plan. Inflation has eroded away any income gains under Biden’s presidency.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris has her own riff on this theme. Her campaign motto is “building up the middle class.”

It isn’t exactly “Make America Great Again,” but Dems don’t have a lot of time to come up with anything catchier, given that Kamala was reluctantly chosen as the eighth-inning relief pitcher for Old Joe, who had long ago lost his fastball.

But Harris and Biden are, as the old saying goes, birds of a feather who flock together. They are running on almost precisely the same agenda as we’ve seen for four years.

The central problem is that the record for most Americans is a lot more meaningful than the message. The irony of this “build the middle class” mantra is that no administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

The most recent Census Bureau data on incomes and poverty shows that under former President Trump, incomes of the middle class rose faster than under all the three previous presidents combined.

The difference between the Trump and Biden administrations is $8,000 per household in Trump’s favor.

This same data shows income gains for minorities and female-headed households were larger under Trump. Poverty rates fell faster under Trump as well.

The reasons for the lousy Biden-Harris record are that even though incomes grew under both presidencies, inflation erased all the real income gains for workers. In other words, if the prices of eggs and bread and rent and gas go up by more

| SUSAN ESTRICH

The man is not competent to be president.

DONALD TRUMP is clearly flailing. He has reportedly taken to complaining about his campaign, which candidates tend to do when they are looking for someone to blame. He is, in the words of The Washington Post, “steaming” at what has happened to him. This is what he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” the post read. “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!” Are these the words of a stable man who is in touch with reality?

It gets worse. On Thursday, he held a lengthy press conference, supposedly to get the attention back on him instead of focusing so much on the “fun” and very successful rollout of the HarrisWalz ticket. By any measure, the press conference was a disaster.

Trump repeated his familiar rants,

than your paycheck, you’re at best treading water. Or, for the majority of households, you’re using pots and pans to keep the water out of the basement.

Biden and Harris seem to have really believed that inflation would be transitory. They drank the Kool-Aid of a trendy new economic theory called modern monetary theory, which posited that the U.S. government could spend and borrow till kingdom come without any collateral damage. But a high school economics student could tell you that handing out free money to stimulate demand for goods and services is likely to raise the price of goods and services. In the end, we learned the hard way that there’s no getting around the old law of supply and demand.

Now that the economy is showing signs of cracks in the hill, the only Harris remedy is trillions more spending and borrowing. Team Harris thinks the Fed can simply cut interest rates and the pain will go away. Maybe. But more likely that will only stimulate more spending and make the economy even more vulnerable. What they won’t do is cut excessive government spending and debt — for example, by canceling some $300 billion of failed green energy programs.

The Left shouts that Trump is the one who will rekindle inflation with his tax cuts. But that’s a hard message to sell given that there was virtually no inflation during Trump’s term. His average annual inflation rate was 1.9% versus 6% for BidenHarris.

Trump will continue to argue to the voters that he is the president who will “build out” the middle class, and even though the future is hard to predict, he has history firmly on his side.

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

complete with lies that have been repeatedly fact-checked. No, he did not cut taxes more than anyone else in history. No, he did not have a bigger crowd on Jan. 6 than Martin Luther King Jr. did for the March on Washington. No, it was not a “small” crowd that stormed the Capitol, and it was not a “peaceful” transfer of power.

At some points, he was utterly incoherent. Asked if he would direct the FDA to deny access to abortion pills, he responded: “So, you can do things that will be, would supplement, absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote. And all I want to do is give everybody a vote. And the votes are taking place right now as we speak.”

What? An aide later said that he didn’t hear the question, which is hardly an explanation, and that his position has not changed since the Supreme Court ruled. But the Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the question of whether abortion medication should be available; it only ruled that the particular plaintiffs before it did not have standing to raise the issue.

Asked how he would vote on the Florida initiative to protect abortion rights, which is on the ballot this fall, he just dodged, promising to hold a press conference sometime in the future.

He was equally incoherent about his attacks on Kamala Harris’ blackness.

Asked how he could claim that a woman who attended a historically black university had only recently claimed she

was black, Trump said: “Well, you’ll have to ask her that question because she’s the one that said it. I didn’t say it. So you’ll have to ask her. And I very much appreciate that question, but you’ll have to ask her.” What did she say? What question? His answer makes no sense at all.

We are so used to Trump ranting and raving, lying and boasting, flaunting his insecurities and anger, that it is easy to dismiss it as yet another instance of Trump being Trump. But this time he went even further, literally making up a supposed helicopter trip he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the California Assembly. According to Trump, the helicopter nearly crashed, but not before Brown disparaged Kamala Harris, a woman he dated decades ago and has supported throughout her career. According to Brown, an inveterate storyteller who pointed out, convincingly, that if it had happened, he would have told the story himself, the helicopter trip simply never happened.

Donald Trump is a man who not only rants and raves, not only exaggerates and lies, but literally makes things up. How can he possibly be qualified to be president? This is not just Trump being Trump; it is Trump literally being crazy. It is no longer simply about ideology or policy. The man is not competent to be president. It’s time to say it out loud.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

COLUMN

HOKE SPORTS

2024 Hoke County Bucks football preview

The preseason media poll has the Bucks fifth in the Sandhills Conference

North State Journal staff

THE WEATHER was wet as the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby went through, but the Hoke County Bucks braved the elements to open fall practice last week.

Last year, the Bucks went 3-7, 1-5 in the Sandhills Conference, good for a three-way tie for fifth place in the seven-team league.

With quarterback Brandon Saunders and several key defensive players returning, the Bucks hope to improve on last season and post a winning season for the first time in five years under coach George Small.

Are they expected to accomplish their goal? That depends on who you ask. Six of the seven Sandhills coaches cast preseason ballots at the conference’s annual football media day, and the Bucks were picked to finish dead last in the league.

Members of the press in attendance were more bullish on the prospects for the Bucks, however. The preseason media poll had the Bucks slotted for fifth in the league, beating out Southern Lee and Union Pines.

The season kicks off this Friday night at Grey’s Creek, and the Bucks play their home opener the following week against Jack Britt. Here’s a look at the schedule for the upcoming season.

Aug. 16 at Grey’s Creek:

The two teams last played in 2022, with Hoke earning a 35-34 win.

Aug. 23 vs. Jack Britt: Last year’s opening game opponent kicks off Hoke’s home schedule.

The Bucks won 7-0 last season.

Aug. 30 at South View:

The teams have split the last two seasons, with South View winning 32-0 last year and Hoke taking a 50-44 victory in 2022.

Sept. 6 at Douglas Byrd:

Hoke got a big 47-6 win last season and will look to make it two years in a row.

Sept. 13 vs. Seventy-First:

The Bucks are riding a threegame losing streak, including a 38-0 shutout loss last year. The last Hoke win in the series was in March 2021.

Sept. 20 at Scotland: Hoke beat the Scots in 2022 for the first time since 2009. Scotland got back on the winning track last year, 36-13.

Sept. 27 vs. Lee County: The Bucks have lost to Lee County each of the last six seasons.

Oct. 4 at Richmond: Another long losing streak for the Bucks — Hoke hasn’t won in the series against Richmond since 2011.

Oct. 11 vs. Southern Lee: Hoke lost by seven last season, 21-14, snapping a three-game winning streak over Southern Lee.

Oct. 18 at Union Pines: Hoke has beaten the Vikings each of the last three seasons as conference foes.

Oct. 25 vs. Pinecrest: Hoke won in 2019, the only time in the last 10 years the Bucks have come out on top in the series.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Franajai Ransom

Hoke County, football

Franajai Ransom is a rising senior for the Hoke County football team. He also plays forward for the Bucks’ basketball team. Ransom is expected to be a defensive leader for the Bucks this football season as one of the leading linebackers on the team. His 22 solo tackles last season are second among returning players, and his 30 total tackles are third. He also had two sacks, tied for third most on the team last year, and he added another tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry and two pass defenses. He represented Hoke County, along with quarterback Brandon Saunders, at the Sandhills Conference media days last week.

NFL teams seek to limit number of joint practices

Bad blood and risk of injury risk both increase on the second day

By Steve Megargee

The Associated Press

THE FIRST WEEK of joint practices at NFL training camps included one player getting carted off the field and two teams getting fined $200,000 each for excessive fighting. Those events have lent credence to the notion that joint practice sessions don’t need to last longer than one day, an idea growing in popularity. After nearly 80% of the 2023 joint practices lasted two days, more than two-thirds of the sessions this year are one-day affairs.

“One, to me, is plenty,” New York Jets coach Robert Saleh said.

The argument against two - d ay joint practices is that the second day often is chippier and increases the possibility of injuries.

Atlanta wide receiver Rondale Moore was carted off the field with a season-ending knee injury Wednesday as the Falcons practiced against the Miami Dolphins for a second straight day. Also Wednesday, the NFL fined the New York Giants and Detroit Lions $200,000 each for multiple fights that stretched across their two days of practicing against each other.

The NFL sent out a memo last month stating fights and unprofessional conduct at joint practices wouldn’t be tolerated.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur noted earlier in this offseason that “sometimes it becomes a wrestling match out there or an MMA fight” when joint practices extend to a second day.

“Every time I’ve ever had a joint practice, the first day will be a little rough and then the second one ends in a fight,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said.

NFL teams are permitted to hold joint practices for as many as four days during training camp, and those can be divided in any way possible. For instance, the Los Angeles Rams are holding four separate oneday sessions against three different teams.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said after Sunday’s workout that he likes limiting joint practices to one day.

“I think there’s probably less fights, which is good,” Stafford said. “You know, the second day is when everybody kind of gets a little charged up and gets going.”

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen explained why fights are more likely on the second day.

“You have the first day’s practice,” Allen said. “One team or the other is going to feel like they got the better of the other team. Those coaches are going to go yell at their players. Their players are going to pissed off, and then that’s how that stuff happens, right?”

Some don’t see the need to have joint practices at all.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders are the only teams not having any joint

practices this year.

“I think the way we go about it — I think we go fast, we practice hard, we do those things amongst ourselves, and the guys challenge each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And I don’t think there’s a better way to do it, if your guys are willing to do that.”

But others consider joint practices a valuable method of preseason preparation.

“I thought the two days were effective,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said Wednesday. “It’s really important to see different looks, just seeing different nickel pressures, corner pressures, coverage structures, fronts. It creates a lot of good conversations. The meeting time after these practices is very productive, to talk through it all.”

HAL NUNN FOR THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Despite the rain, the Hoke County Bucks run through their first practice of the year.

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA hands Harbaugh 4-year show cause order

Ann Arbor, Mich.

The NCAA says former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh had impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has handed him a fouryear show-cause order if he wants to return to college coaching. The NCAA says Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations. Harbaugh left the national championshipwinning Wolverines to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The NCAA has already given Michigan three years of probation, a fine and recruiting limits in the same case.

LIV GOLF

McDowell suspended 1 event for taking decongestant

Nashville Graeme McDowell is the first player from LIV Golf to be suspended under its anti- doping policy. McDowell says he was congested ahead of the Nashville event and took an over-the-counter decongestant that had a banned substance. That means the 45-year-old from Northern Ireland won’t be playing LIV Golf Greenbrier next week. He’s also been fined $125,000 and must forfeit his earnings from the Nashville event. McDowell tied for 42nd in Nashville against the 54-man field and made $127,500. He says he accepts the sanctions from the Saudi-funded league. He’ll be replaced at Greenbrier by an alternate.

NFL

Seahawks’ Howell directs 2 scoring drives in win over Chargers

Inglewood, Calif.

Sam Howell threw for 130 yards and a touchdown in his Seattle debut and the Seahawks had a successful preseason debut under Mike Macdonald, defeating the Chargers 16-3 Saturday in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first game with Los Angeles. Howell, the former UNC quarterback acquired from Washington during the offseason, directed a pair of scoring drives in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 27 passes in 10 series and played until a little over midway through the third quarter.

NBA Barkley says he will not retire, remain with TNT Sports

New York

Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June. Barkley previously said the upcoming season would be his last on television. He signed a 10year contract extension with TNT Sports in 2022. The parent company of TNT Sports has sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer in its upcoming 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

Dillon prevails in overtime at Richmond

Dillon’s first Cup Series win in 2 years came after he spun Joey Logano on the final lap

By Noah Trister The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond on Sunday night. It was Dillon’s first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year and entered the race ranked 32nd in the standings. Now he’s on track for the postseason — but he didn’t do it gently.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon said.

Dillon appeared to be cruising to a victory when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first cau-

tion of the entire 400-lap, 300mile race aside from the prescheduled ones after the end of the first two stages.

So the drivers went to overtime, and Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the restart. Then Dillon came up behind Logano and spun him — and when Denny Hamlin appeared to be moving past him on the inside, Dillon made contact with him too and sent him into the wall.

Dillon emerged from all that chaos with a victory in his No. 3 Chevrolet. That number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt. And that symmetry did not appear lost on seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who weighed in on social media.

“Dale Sr vibes,” Johnson said. Logano, unsurprisingly, was in no mood to shrug off Dillon’s move.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Lo -

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it.”

Austin Dillon

gano said. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

The 11 — Hamlin — wasn’t pleased either.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got the pay your dues back on stuff like that. But it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the

two guys that got taken out on the last corner.” Dillon appeared on his way to a much less controversial victory after passing Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps to go. This was the first time in a points-paying Cup race that teams had multiple tire options. The “Option” tires were softer, giving drivers a speed boost but less longevity than the “Prime” tires. Teams had only two sets of Option tires for the race. The Option tires helped Daniel Suárez to the lead early in the second stage, and he ultimately won that stage. After putting another set of Option tires on with about 40 laps remaining, Suárez began surging toward the front, but it appeared he would run out of laps before threatening Dillon.

But then the StenhousePreece crash gave Dillon bigger problems to worry about. Now he has the victory — but at least two veteran drivers with an axe to grind.

Olympic basketball: Inside the Curry flurry

How Stephen Curry’s 4 shots sealed another gold for the United States

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

PARIS — After making only five 3-pointers in his first four games of the Paris Olympics combined, Stephen Curry found his stroke in the nick of time. He made 17 3-pointers in the last two games to lead the U.S. to its fifth consecutive gold medal.

The last four of those 3-pointers came in the final 2:46 of the gold-medal game — a staggering display that anyone who watched will be hard-pressed to forget.

“ The last 21/2 minutes were special,” Curry said.

A breakdown of Curry’s dramatics:

The first one

LeBron James brought the ball across midcourt, and Curry waved Anthony Davis away to create space for the pick-androll. Curry set it, then moved to the top of the key and took the pass from James. Curry shook free of French defender Guerschon Yabusele and made the 3-pointer from straightaway.

Little did anyone know, he was just getting started.

— USA 85, France 79, 2:41 left.

The second one

In the timeout with 2:22 left, Curry suggested that he and James keep running the pickand-roll. A simple set, but very effective for someone generally considered the best shooter in the history of basketball. So, they ran it, this time with James setting the screen.

Curry kept the ball, got de-

fender Nicolas Batum in the air, waited for him to land and then shot from the left side of the top of the key.

Curry was yelling a message as he headed back down the floor. “Don’t worry about me,” he kept saying.

— USA 90, France 81, 1:52 left.

The third one

France made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six. Curry brought the ball down the floor and gave it to Kevin Durant, who immediately gave it back. Curry sent the ball his way again and eventually it was in the hands of Devin Booker. As Booker drove the baseline, he saw Curry open at the top of the key again.

He wound up using basically the same move as the possession

before; this time, it was waiting for Nando de Colo to bite on the head fake. Another 3-pointer, good.

Curry screamed several times afterward, then hoisted the top of his jersey to show the “USA” across his chest.

— USA 93, France 84, 1:18 left.

The fourth one

France got within 93-87 with 54.4 seconds left. Curry sent the ball to Durant, just as he did in the previous possession. And Durant gave it right back again. He was keeping the ball this time. He forced a shot over Batum and Evan Fournier, kind of an off-balanced heave that looked like a mistake.

“I was kind of like, ‘What the (expletive),’” U.S. center Bam

medal

Adebayo said. “Then I remembered who was shooting it.”

Of course, it was going in. The U.S. was up 96-87 with 35 seconds left.

Curry put his hands to the side of his head in celebration. “Night night,” he calls it, a reference where he tells the other team it’s time to go to sleep.

The game was over. The gold would be worn by Americans again. Curry watched Durant win gold medals at three previous Olympics. He watched Simone Biles win the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics in the same arena earlier in the Paris Games. He wanted that moment, desperately. And with four unforgettable shots, he delivered.

“This might not come around again,” Curry said. “It was very, very special.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Stephen Curry reacts after a 3-point basket against France in the gold

game.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Crew members push Austin Dillon’s car onto a pit road before a June NASCAR Cup Series race at New

Remains located for 62 passengers in Brazil plane crash

The Voepass plane crashed Friday in Vinhedo

The Associated Press

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue teams Saturday retrieved the remains of all 62 passengers from the wreckage of a plane crash in Sao Paulo state as families started gathering in the metropolis to identify and bury their loved ones.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo on Friday.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Voepass also said three passengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese.

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that rescue operations finished at 6:30 p.m.

local time, with the identification of the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot by forensics experts. There were 34 male and 28 female bodies in the wreckage, the government said.

Earlier, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the local fire department, told journalists in Vinhedo that a winch was used to remove parts of the plane from the ground.

Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies. Blood tests were also done to help identification efforts.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

Firefighters and rescue workers work in the debris at the site where an airplane crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, on Friday.

Metsul, one of Brazil’s most renowned meteorological companies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident.

A video shared on social media channels Saturday shows a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to the city of Cascavel, the same origin of the crashed plane, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the world for decades. He also asked passengers to be respectful to the memory of his colleagues and the company and asked for prayers.

“It was a fatality. The pilot was my personal friend. I have known all the crew from long ago,” the unidentified pilot said. “We are professionals, we have our families. This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us. We are giving all our hearts, all our best to be here and fulfill our mission to take you safely and comfortably to your destination.”

Local police restricted access to the main entrance of one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot, others came in mini-

vans. They didn’t speak to journalists, and local authorities requested they not be filmed as they came.

An American Eagle ATR 72200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 8,000 feet and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes, telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions.

Iran president proposes an ex-nuclear negotiator as foreign minister

Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to appoint a woman among his ministers

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was chief of the Iranian Air Force in 2018-21. This would be the first time that a member of Iran’s air force headed the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as roads and housing minister. Sadegh, 47, is currently a director in the ministry. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear, however, whether she will be approved. The hard-line parliament seeks more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic sharia. Many lawmakers voiced their opposition when her name was read by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only previous female minister to be approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

Iranian presidents have, however, appointed women to be vice presidents, a role that is not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo

Parsa, who served as education minister in 1968-71. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals with enforcing the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improper wearing of the hijab led

to nationwide protests. Pezeshkian, then a lawmaker, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.”

He has suggested that he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear accord.

The president is likely to face opposition in passing legislation that supports his stated program since the chamber is dominated by hard-liners who

mainly supported other candidates during the June to July presidential election.

The president named Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. Paknejad was formerly a deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed to retain current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi. Pezeshkian also named the current minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, as energy minister. On Saturday the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a May helicopter crash.

Later on Sunday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a vice president in charge of strategic affairs, resigned from his post over the proposed ministers.

Following Pezeshkian’s election, Zarif had been charged with forming the committees to choose ministers for Pezeshkian’s administration.

Zarif wrote on the social media platform “X” that he was not happy with how the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet was shaping up, saying he failed to fulfill his promises to include more women, young people and ethnic groups.

ANDRE PENNER / AP PHOTO

EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO

Abbas Araghchi, right and pictured in 2019, was proposed by Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s new foreign minister.

Calvin Brian Phillips

September 21, 1959 –August 10, 2024

Mr. Calvin B. Phillips, of Raeford, NC went to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, August 10, 2024, at the age of 64. He was born on September 21, 1959, to the late Archie and Helen Phillips. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother Jr., and sister, Joyce.

Calvin was full of life; he enjoyed music and cheeseburgers. He enjoyed being present in the moment. He is survived by his brother, Ronald Phillips (Carol), of Kernersville, NC; sister, Lorraine Fields, of Carthage, NC; and numerous other family members who will miss him dearly.

A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 1 p.m. in the Glendon Christian Church Cemetery 148 Glendon Church Road, Glendon, NC with Pastor Roger Burns officiating. Online condolences may be made on the Crumpler Funeral Home Website.

Bobbie Jean Collins

December 11, 1936 –August 7, 2024

Ms. Bobbie Jean Collins, of Raeford, NC went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, August 07, 2024, at the age of 87. Bobbie was born on December 11, 1936, to the late Cary and Louise Snelgrove. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Roger Grantham Collins; two sons, Larry Wayne Collins and James Edward Collins; and one granddaughter, Jennifer Lynn McMillan.

Bobbie was a member of the First Baptist Church of Raeford. She loved gardening, and flowers.

She is survived by her three children, Roger Eugene Collins, of Raeford, NC; Cathy Lynn McMillan, of Myrtle Beach, SC; and Lisa Ann Collins, of Raeford, NC; one grandson, Hugh Brian McMillan (Christa), of Whiteville, NC; one granddaughter, Dana Marie Collins, of Raeford, NC; and two great grandchildren, Emory Wray and Coleson McMillan.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 10, 2024, in the Raeford City Cemetery.

Martic Shevonn Eleby

August 14, 1980 –August 7, 2024

Mr. Martic Eleby, age 43 departed this earthly life on August 7, 2024. He was preceded in death by his father Michael Davis. He leaves to cherish his loving memories his children: A’niyah McNeill, Jordan Murchison; mother, Geneva Eleby along with a host of other family and friends. Martic will be greatly missed. The Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, August 18; at 2 p.m. at Word of Life Temple.

STATE & NATION

Harris, echoing Trump, pledges ending taxes on tips

The vice president is on the offensive while visiting battleground states

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has made and marking a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for ser -

vice and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

Harris’ campaign said afterward that as president she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other provisions to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. She also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a five battleground-state blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president held a San Francisco where House Speaker Emerita

Trump campaign says emails hacked

The former president’s camp claims Iran was involved

By Bill Barrow

The Associated Press

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents.

The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024.

It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confi-

dence in U.S. democratic institutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. Justice Department this past week unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against political figures in the United States, including potentially Trump, and to have sought to hire purported hitmen who were actually undercover law enforcement officials. Court documents in that case pointedly noted a desire by Iran to conduct operations against perceived enemies of the regime and to avenge the

Nancy Pelosi was a speaker.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement halted entry to the event because people were becoming ill while waiting outside in 109-degree heat to go through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz referenced that during his speech but turned it into an applause line by telling Nevada, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly defeated Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a statement supporting Harris’ call for a higher minimum wage and to “ensure that there are no taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to

eliminate tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centerpiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.

“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.

The vice president also promised to tackle immigration, leaning heavily into the issue as she did the previous night during a rally in Arizona.

Harris has in recent weeks tried to seize the political offensive on an issue that Trump and

top Republicans have frequently used to slam her and the Biden administration. In doing so, Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans.

Because the vice president’s portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration, and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading GOP voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself has said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

killing of Soleimani.

Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.

“These documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said.

He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”

“The Iranians know that

President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung said, adding a warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”

Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.

JAE HONG/AP PHOTO

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas.

BEN GRAY / AP PHOTO

Sen. JD Vance, left, and former President Donald Trump shake hands at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Aug. 3.

MOORE COUNTY

Saying goodbye to today

Mother nature delivers a staggeringly beautiful sunset over the water at

WHAT’S HAPPENING

N.C. to expand eCourts to all 100 counties by 2025

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts plans to complete the eCourts expansion across all 100 counties and the N.C. Business Court by 2025. Currently serving about half of the state’s population, eCourts has already processed more than 1.3 million electronic filings, saving an estimated 5 million pieces of paper since February 2023. The system provides 24/7 online access to court records, averaging 1.5 million searches monthly.

With kids back to school, watch out for buses

As 1.5 million North Carolina students return to school, authorities stress the importance of bus safety. More than 14,000 school buses operate daily in the state. In 2022, there were 1,075 school bus-related crashes resulting in 786 injuries and eight fatalities. North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey notes that passing a stopped school bus can result in doubled auto insurance premiums. Students should be reminded to wait for the bus to stop completely before standing, while motorists are reminded to stop far enough back from school buses to allow children safe entry and exit.

School board OKs continuation of partnership with Public Impact

The contract is in conjunction with the Advanced Teaching Roles Partnership grant

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Schools Board of Education met Monday, Aug. 12.

After a lengthy discussion, the board approved the Advanced Teaching Roles Partnership contract with Public Impact for the 2024-25 school year.

“We were very excited to share last year that we received the advanced teaching roles grant which is a multiyear grant with the purpose of building systems and structures in place for advanced

teaching roles,” said Superintendent Tim Locklair. “These are roles in which our teachers would have the opportunity to stay in the classroom and continue to work and have an impact on a greater number of students but also work with our less-veteran teachers to help grow them to have the same type of impact on students that our best have.”

Per Locklair, the money from the grant, which is limited in what it can be used on, will be used for partnering with a consultant, Public Impact, to help provide professional development intended to develop and grow that structure.

“The scope of their work is very narrow,” said Deputy Superintendent Mike Metcalf. “They are focused on helping us extend the reach of our

“These are roles in which our teachers would have the opportunity to stay in the classroom and continue to work and have an impact on a greater number of students”

Superintendent Tim Locklair

most excellent teachers, trying to increase those teachers’ pay and also providing them with a growth and leadership pathway that might keep them in the classroom rather than moving into school administration. It also provides increased embedded success for

our new teachers at the school level which we hope will help with recruitment and retention of new teachers.”

According to Metcalf, Public Impact assists with design, processes and procedures for recruitment and selection of candidates, budget support, evaluation design, outcome design, planning and methods for assessing the success of the program, and the ultimate goal is building internal capacity in order to move past the need for the contract.

MCS previously partnered with Public Impact in the spring utilizing the multiyear grant funding and both Locklair and Metcalf expressed satisfaction with the partnership. Concerns were raised by

No charges in fatal shooting of Russian utility worker by Special Forces soldier

The strange incident leaves many questions unanswered

By Jordan Golson North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Sheriff’s Office has concluded its investigation into the May shooting death of Ramzan Daraev, a Russian national from Chechnya, at the residence of an unnamed U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in Carthage. No charges will be filed against the shooter, authorities announced Monday. The incident unfolded over more than 20 minutes on the evening of May 3. According to a lengthy statement issued by the Sheriff’s Office, the shooter’s wife first observed Daraev taking photographs near their

remote residence at dusk.

The shooter, initially unarmed, approached Daraev to inquire about his presence on the property. Unable to establish Daraev’s identity or purpose, the shooter asked him to leave, but Daraev allegedly became aggressive and refused.

According to the shooter, at one point, Daraev claimed to be a Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine, although investigators have been unable to establish Daraev’s prior foreign military status.

At 8:12 p.m., the shooter’s wife made the first of two 911 calls, reporting a suspicious person photographing their house and children. The shooter then retrieved a handgun from his residence.

A second, more urgent 911 call was made at 8:25 p.m.,

with the caller heard pleading for expedited law enforcement response at her husband’s request. The shooting occurred shortly after this second call, just before deputies arrived on scene.

Moore County District Attorney Michael Hardin supported the decision not to file charges, saying in an email to North State Journal: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and after reviewing the evidence, I concurred with the Sheriff’s Office that there was a reasonable belief in the use of deadly force.”

According to the report, “the confrontation escalated when Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the shooter after repeatedly refusing to leave the property. The shooter reported firing several shots in response to Daraev’s advance.”

The Sheriff’s Office cited the North Carolina Castle Doctrine as justification for the shooter’s actions, which allows for the use of defensive force when there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within one’s home or property. Investigators found that Daraev, an employee of Cable Warriors, a subcontractor for Utilities One, was conducting legitimate utility surveys in the

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Pinehurst Lake.

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Jim Sills, VP of Local Newspapers

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Jordan Golson, Local News Editor

Shawn Krest, Sports Editor

Dan Reeves, Features Editor

“Join the conversation” The food bank has helped thousands of local families and is up 27% in the last year

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CORA tackling Chatham’s rise in food insecurity

By Melinda Burris Chatham News & Record

PITTSBORO — This year, Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA) is celebrating 35 years of serving Chatham County and surrounding communities by providing nutritious food to community members dealing with the challenge of food insecurity. Rebecca Hankins, development and communications director for CORA, shares that the 2023-24 fiscal year has seen the organization face unprecedented demand for its services.

Questioned as to what she attributes the growing need for CORA’s services, Hankins points to the rate at which the cost of everyday necessities has increased.

“I think that there’s an issue, and I don’t think this is Chatham County-specific — wages haven’t kept up with the increase of prices,” she said.”

We stand corrected

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CRIME LOG

Aug. 7

• Adam Nathan Rose, 48, was arrested by the Moore County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) for resisting a public officer.

Aug. 8

• Lavonia Faye Cagle, 46, was arrested by MCSO for passing a forged document.

Aug. 9

• Marcus Jamail Allen, 34, was arrested by MCSO for misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Jason Godden, 43, was arrested by MCSO for breaking and entering.

• Isiah Keyshawn Hinson, 27, was arrested by MCSO for assault with a deadly weapon.

Aug. 10

• Elder Omar Lopez Najera, 33, was arrested by NC Highway Patrol for driving while impaired.

• Carl Rush McLaughlin, 74, was arrested by the Aberdeen Police Department (APD) for second degree trespass.

• Jose Antonio Lopez Vazquez, 40, was arrested by MCSO for assault inflicting serious injury.

Aug. 11

• Derrick Richard Force, 33, was arrested by MCSO for misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Megan Deshae McGregor, 29, was arrested by APD for resisting a public officer.

• Robert Michael Pulliam, 35, was arrested by APD for possession of stolen goods/ property.

Aug. 12

• Aaron Michael Kondziola, 30, was arrested by MCSO for driving while impaired.

Hankins is quick to note that “many, many of our folks work.”

Stereotypes of those likely to feel the brunt of food insecurity and need assistance to make ends meet don’t apply in an economy plagued by inflation, skyrocketing prices for basic living needs and stagnant wages.

Asked to pinpoint the root causes behind the increase in food insecurity in more detail,

SCHOOLS from page 1

board member David Hensley on Public Impact’s mission statements, which focus heavily on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).

“Is this the correct company?” Hensley said. “We have a choice in who to implement, and last week I spoke about, ‘Is this a good match between cultures?’ and I would say, ‘No.’”

“I stand by my recommendation to approve Public Impact to provide this consulting and training for us here in Moore County Schools,” said Locklair in response.

“As I stated at the work session, Public Impact works for us, and their professional development that they’re doing with us and the planning and design work that they’re doing with us is at our direction and is building what I described as our opportunity culture for what we want to see the end result be for Moore County

Hankins said, “I think it’s a lot of different things, but with the cost of child care and housing going up ... the cost of housing in Chatham County is so high that people are really at the end of the month finding they have very little money left over for some of those necessities.”

She contends this leaves many people in an untenable situation. They are forced to make tough decisions, which more often include questioning whether to buy something their family desperately needs or pay the weekly grocery bill.

Hankins asserts some of the influx of people taking advantage of CORA’s services is due to the opening of a new choice food pantry last July. The ability to come to a food pantry and choose the foods you enjoy and are part of your culture is a refreshing change for people who may have been used to simply receiving a bag of groceries filled with whatever food was available.

CORA’s dedicated staff and volunteers work hard to deliver great customer service while treating all clients with dignity and care, something Hankins says is emphasized within the organization.

Word has spread about the quality of CORA’s services. Hankins acknowledged that people in need from neighboring counties, including Wake, Durham, Lee and Alamance, frequent CORA’s choice food pantry.

Part of Hankins’ job is communicating with the mem-

Schools, for our teachers and ultimately for our students as a recruitment and retention tool to grow our teachers, maintain our best and grow the new teachers that come in.”

While the rest of the board did echo Hensley’s concerns over the company’s apparent leanings and expressed their own stances against DEI, the majority felt that the trust in the oversight from the central office and the need to further support MCS teachers outweighed those concerns.

“I have the same reservations that you have, and I agree with what (Hensley’s) saying to some extents, that on the surface, it looks like they could be bringing in things that we do not want,” said Vice Chair Shannon Davis. “However, I would venture to say that in the past six months that we’ve been working with them, if there was any red flags that would have come up, (Metcalf or Locklair) would have said something because they know

bers of the community CORA serves. She receives requests from working families who, faced with financial setbacks such as health care expenses, trying to keep up with student loan payments and unexpected bills, find themselves in a difficult financial situation to the point that they have often maxed out their credit cards to pay for necessities and now wonder how they can afford to buy food for their families.

Hankins notes it’s common to hear individuals express frustration at finding themselves in a situation where they are forced to ask for help even though they work full time. Hankins explains the middle class is struggling, with a substantial number of individuals and families finding themselves “caught between the bureaucratic cracks,” earning too much to qualify for programs like SNAP but not bringing in enough income to be able to make ends meet.

Hankins and the CORA team of volunteers encounter people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and demographics, and they make a conscious effort to build relationships and an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. The face of food insecurity isn’t just strangers, Hankins laments: “It’s your next-door neighbor. ... You just don’t know it.”

To learn more about CORA and its food programs, to volunteer or make a donation, call 919-542-5020 or visit corafoodpantry.org.

what we’re looking for.”

Metcalf also clarified that in initial meetings with Public Impact, MCS clearly expressed how DEI is not acceptable within the school system and that Public Impact understood this and was OK with it.

The final vote count was five for the motion — Robert Levy, Davis, Stacey Caldwell, Philip Holmes, Ken Benway — and two against — Hensley and Pauline Bruno.

The board also recognized five new school administrators that will be starting in their roles this school year: Bryonn Williams as the principal of Carthage Elementary, Jami Burr as the principal of Connect Academy, Renee Robbins as the principal of Robbins Elementary, Matt McLean as principal of West Pine Elementary and Jeremy Swofford as the principal of West Pine Middle.

The Moore County Schools Board of Education will next meet Sept. 9.

moore happening

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Moore County:

Aug. 15

Moore County Farmers Market

9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 604 W. Morganton Rd (Armory Sports Complex), Southern Pines

Aug. 16

Wee-Ones: Nightime Critters

10-11 a.m.

Weymouth Woods — Sandhills Nature Preserve Opossums, bats, owls, oh my! Join us for our monthly program series to learn about the cool animals that come out after dark! We will read a story, do a craft, and play a game to learn about these cool critters! Designed for ages 3-5.

Movie at Sunrise Theater: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 2 to 3:50 p.m.

250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines Rated PG; tickets $5.

Aug. 17

Moore County Farmers Market

8 a.m. to noon Downtown Park, 156 SE Broad St., Southern Pines

Aug. 18

Tell Me on a Sunday — JTC Summer Theatre Festival 2024 McPherson Theater at Bradshaw Performing Arts Center (BPAC), 3395 Airport Rd., Pinehurst. 3-4:30 p.m. Tickets are $38. Call 910-5856989 for more information.

SHOOTING from page 1

area as part of a Brightspeed fiber optic expansion but had no identifying clothing or equipment. He had entered the United States across the southern border in December 2022 and had been living in Chicago.

The only identification associated with Daraev was an international driver’s license found in his car, parked along Dowd Road. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and he did not have any paperwork showing he was authorized to take photographs of utility poles.

Given the unique circumstances of the incident, the case materials have been made accessible to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army Criminal Investigation Division throughout the investigation.

THE CONVERSATION

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Just who is the real middle-class president?

No administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN talked incessantly about his “from the middle class out” economic strategy.

Given his record, it would have been more accurate to call it the “middle class down and out” plan. Inflation has eroded away any income gains under Biden’s presidency.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris has her own riff on this theme. Her campaign motto is “building up the middle class.”

It isn’t exactly “Make America Great Again,” but Dems don’t have a lot of time to come up with anything catchier, given that Kamala was reluctantly chosen as the eighth-inning relief pitcher for Old Joe, who had long ago lost his fastball.

But Harris and Biden are, as the old saying goes, birds of a feather who flock together. They are running on almost precisely the same agenda as we’ve seen for four years.

The central problem is that the record for most Americans is a lot more meaningful than the message. The irony of this “build the middle class” mantra is that no administration in recent times has done more to tear down the middle class than Biden-Harris.

The most recent Census Bureau data on incomes and poverty shows that under former President Trump, incomes of the middle class rose faster than under all the three previous presidents combined.

The difference between the Trump and Biden administrations is $8,000 per household in Trump’s favor.

This same data shows income gains for minorities and female-headed households were larger under Trump. Poverty rates fell faster under Trump as well.

The reasons for the lousy Biden-Harris record are that even though incomes grew under both presidencies, inflation erased all the real income gains for workers. In other words, if the prices of eggs and bread and rent and gas go up by more

The man is not competent to be president.

DONALD TRUMP is clearly flailing. He has reportedly taken to complaining about his campaign, which candidates tend to do when they are looking for someone to blame. He is, in the words of The Washington Post, “steaming” at what has happened to him. This is what he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon: “What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” the post read. “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!” Are these the words of a stable man who is in touch with reality?

It gets worse. On Thursday, he held a lengthy press conference, supposedly to get the attention back on him instead of focusing so much on the “fun” and very successful rollout of the HarrisWalz ticket. By any measure, the press conference was a disaster.

Trump repeated his familiar rants,

than your paycheck, you’re at best treading water. Or, for the majority of households, you’re using pots and pans to keep the water out of the basement.

Biden and Harris seem to have really believed that inflation would be transitory. They drank the Kool-Aid of a trendy new economic theory called modern monetary theory, which posited that the U.S. government could spend and borrow till kingdom come without any collateral damage. But a high school economics student could tell you that handing out free money to stimulate demand for goods and services is likely to raise the price of goods and services. In the end, we learned the hard way that there’s no getting around the old law of supply and demand.

Now that the economy is showing signs of cracks in the hill, the only Harris remedy is trillions more spending and borrowing. Team Harris thinks the Fed can simply cut interest rates and the pain will go away. Maybe. But more likely that will only stimulate more spending and make the economy even more vulnerable. What they won’t do is cut excessive government spending and debt — for example, by canceling some $300 billion of failed green energy programs.

The Left shouts that Trump is the one who will rekindle inflation with his tax cuts. But that’s a hard message to sell given that there was virtually no inflation during Trump’s term. His average annual inflation rate was 1.9% versus 6% for BidenHarris.

Trump will continue to argue to the voters that he is the president who will “build out” the middle class, and even though the future is hard to predict, he has history firmly on his side.

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

complete with lies that have been repeatedly fact-checked. No, he did not cut taxes more than anyone else in history. No, he did not have a bigger crowd on Jan. 6 than Martin Luther King Jr. did for the March on Washington. No, it was not a “small” crowd that stormed the Capitol, and it was not a “peaceful” transfer of power.

At some points, he was utterly incoherent. Asked if he would direct the FDA to deny access to abortion pills, he responded: “So, you can do things that will be, would supplement, absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote. And all I want to do is give everybody a vote. And the votes are taking place right now as we speak.”

What? An aide later said that he didn’t hear the question, which is hardly an explanation, and that his position has not changed since the Supreme Court ruled. But the Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the question of whether abortion medication should be available; it only ruled that the particular plaintiffs before it did not have standing to raise the issue.

Asked how he would vote on the Florida initiative to protect abortion rights, which is on the ballot this fall, he just dodged, promising to hold a press conference sometime in the future.

He was equally incoherent about his attacks on Kamala Harris’ blackness.

Asked how he could claim that a woman who attended a historically black university had only recently claimed she

was black, Trump said: “Well, you’ll have to ask her that question because she’s the one that said it. I didn’t say it. So you’ll have to ask her. And I very much appreciate that question, but you’ll have to ask her.” What did she say? What question? His answer makes no sense at all.

We are so used to Trump ranting and raving, lying and boasting, flaunting his insecurities and anger, that it is easy to dismiss it as yet another instance of Trump being Trump. But this time he went even further, literally making up a supposed helicopter trip he took with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the California Assembly. According to Trump, the helicopter nearly crashed, but not before Brown disparaged Kamala Harris, a woman he dated decades ago and has supported throughout her career. According to Brown, an inveterate storyteller who pointed out, convincingly, that if it had happened, he would have told the story himself, the helicopter trip simply never happened.

Donald Trump is a man who not only rants and raves, not only exaggerates and lies, but literally makes things up. How can he possibly be qualified to be president? This is not just Trump being Trump; it is Trump literally being crazy. It is no longer simply about ideology or policy. The man is not competent to be president. It’s time to say it out loud.

Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and political commentator.

COLUMN | STEPHEN MOORE

COLUMN | SUSAN ESTRICH

MOORE SPORTS

Pinecrest football picked to win Sandhills

Preseason media and coaches’ polls both have the Patriots as favorites

North State Journal staff

FOOTBALL SEASON begins on Friday across Moore County. Two of the three high schools in the county are conference rivals, and, heading into the season, Pinecrest has been tagged as the team to wear the bull’s-eye this season.

The Patriots were named the preseason pick to win the Sandhills Conference in both the coaches’ and media polls at the SAC media day voting. Pinecrest received six of the eight media votes cast and got the nod from five of the six coaches.

Pinecrest went undefeated last year, its first season in the Sandhills, and the Patriots haven’t lost a conference game since 2021.

Union Pines was picked to finish sixth in the seven-team league in both polls. The Patriots finished in a three-way tie at the bottom of the league last year and haven’t won more than one conference game since 2020-21. Meanwhile, in the Mid-Carolina Conference, North Moore is coming off a conference title, its second straight (although only one came in the Mid-Carolina).

Here’s a look at each team’s schedule for 2024.

Pinecrest (11-1 in 2023, 6-0 in the Sandhills Conference)

Aug. 16 vs. Apex

Aug. 23 at Knightdale

Aug. 30 vs. Overhills

Sept. 6 vs. Middle Creek

Sept. 13 at New Hanover

Sept. 27 vs. Richmond

Oct. 4 at Southern Lee

Oct. 11 at Lee County

Pinecrest will be hunting its third straight

this

as will

Oct. 18 vs. Scotland

Oct. 25 at Hoke County

Nov. 1 vs. Union Pines

Key games:

vs. Middle Creek, Sept. 1: The closest the Patriots came to a regular season loss was a 27-24 squeaker at Middle Creek. vs. Scotland, Oct. 18: The Scots came within 10 points of Pinecrest last season and put up 17 points, more than any other conference foe.

Union Pines (2-8 in 2023, 1-5 in the Sandhills)

Aug. 23 at Triton

Aug. 30 vs. Northwood

Sept. 6 vs. Western Harnett

Sept. 13 at Randleman

Sept. 20 vs. Lee County

Oct. 4 vs. Scotland

Oct. 11 at Richmond

Oct. 18 vs. Hoke County

Oct. 25 at Southern Lee

Nov. 1 at Pinecrest

Key games:

at Lee County, Sept. 20: Union Pines got its only conference win against Lee last year in a double overtime battle.

vs. Hoke County, Oct. 18: The Vikings’ next-best chance for a conference win last year was a seven-point loss at Hoke that featured a fourth quarter comeback by Union Pines.

North Moore (10-3 in 2023, 7-1 in the Mid-Carolina Conference)

Aug. 16 vs. West Stanly

Aug. 23 vs. Carver

Aug. 30 at Southwestern

Randolph

Sept. 6 at Northwood

Sept. 20 vs. Southeast Alamance

Sept. 27 vs. Jordan-Matthews

Oct. 4 vs. Bartlett Yancey

Oct. 11 at Seaforth

Oct. 18 at Graham

Oct. 25 vs. Cummings

Nov. 1 at Chatham Central

Key games:

vs. Southeast Alamance, Sept. 20: The only conference team to beat North Moore last season, a 33-0 shutout that the Mustangs will be looking to avenge. vs. Cummings, Oct. 25: The two teams put together a 36-33 barnburner last year, won by the Mustangs.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Colby Pennington

North Moore, football

Colby Pennington is a rising senior for the North Moore football team. He also plays baseball, basketball and golf for the Mustangs. North Moore opens its season this Friday, but Pennington is already thinking farther ahead than that. Last week, he announced on social media that he will be heading to the Naval Academy, where he will play defensive tackle. He chose the Middies over East Carolina and Richmond, which also made him scholarship offers.

NFL teams seek to limit number of joint practices

Bad blood and risk of injury risk both increase on the second day

By Steve Megargee

The Associated Press

THE FIRST WEEK of joint practices at NFL training camps included one player getting carted off the field and two teams getting fined $200,000 each for excessive fighting.

Those events have lent credence to the notion that joint practice sessions don’t need to last longer than one day, an idea growing in popularity. After nearly 80% of the 2023 joint practices lasted two days, more than two-thirds of the sessions this year are one-day affairs.

“One, to me, is plenty,” New York Jets coach Robert Saleh said.

The argument against two-day joint practices is that the second day often is chippier and increases the possibility of injuries.

Atlanta wide receiver Rondale Moore was carted off the field with a season-ending knee injury Wednesday as the Falcons practiced against the Miami Dolphins for a second straight day. Also Wednesday, the NFL fined the New York Giants and Detroit Lions $200,000 each for multiple fights that stretched across their two days of practicing against each other.

The NFL sent out a memo last month stating fights and unprofessional conduct at joint practices wouldn’t be tolerated. Packers coach Matt LaFleur noted earlier in this offseason that “sometimes it becomes a wrestling match out there or an MMA fight” when joint practices extend to a second day.

“Every time I’ve ever had a joint practice, the first day will be a little rough and then the second

one ends in a fight,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said. NFL teams are permitted to hold joint practices for as many as four days during training camp, and those can be divided in any way possible. For instance, the Los Angeles Rams are holding four separate one-day sessions against three different teams.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said after Sunday’s workout that he likes limiting joint practices to one day.

“I think there’s probably less

fights, which is good,” Stafford said. “You know, the second day is when everybody kind of gets a little charged up and gets going.”

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen explained why fights are more likely on the second day.

“You have the first day’s practice,” Allen said. “One team or the other is going to feel like they got the better of the other team. Those coaches are going to go yell at their players. Their players are going to pissed off, and then that’s

how that stuff happens, right?”

Some don’t see the need to have joint practices at all.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders are the only teams not having any joint practices this year.

“I think the way we go about it

— I think we go fast, we practice hard, we do those things amongst ourselves, and the guys challenge each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And I don’t think there’s a better way to do it, if your

guys are willing to do that.”

But others consider joint practices a valuable method of preseason preparation.

“I thought the two days were effective,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said Wednesday. “It’s really important to see different looks, just seeing different nickel pressures, corner pressures, coverage structures, fronts. It creates a lot of good conversations. The meeting time after these practices is very productive, to talk through it all.”

NORTH MOORE MUSTANGS FOOTBALL TWITTER/X ACCOUNT

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conference title

fall,

North Moore (not pictured)

DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AP PHOTO Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins runs with the ball during a joint football practice with the Rams.

SIDELINE REPORT

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA hands Harbaugh 4-year show cause order

Ann Arbor, Mich.

The NCAA says former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh had impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has handed him a fouryear show-cause order if he wants to return to college coaching. The NCAA says Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct, failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations. Harbaugh left the national championshipwinning Wolverines to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The NCAA has already given Michigan three years of probation, a fine and recruiting limits in the same case.

LIV GOLF

McDowell suspended 1 event for taking decongestant

Nashville Graeme McDowell is the first player from LIV Golf to be suspended under its anti- doping policy. McDowell says he was congested ahead of the Nashville event and took an over-the-counter decongestant that had a banned substance. That means the 45-year-old from Northern Ireland won’t be playing LIV Golf Greenbrier next week. He’s also been fined $125,000 and must forfeit his earnings from the Nashville event. McDowell tied for 42nd in Nashville against the 54-man field and made $127,500. He says he accepts the sanctions from the Saudi-funded league. He’ll be replaced at Greenbrier by an alternate.

NFL

Seahawks’ Howell directs 2 scoring drives in win over Chargers

Inglewood, Calif.

Sam Howell threw for 130 yards and a touchdown in his Seattle debut and the Seahawks had a successful preseason debut under Mike Macdonald, defeating the Chargers 16-3 Saturday in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first game with Los Angeles. Howell, the former UNC quarterback acquired from Washington during the offseason, directed a pair of scoring drives in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 27 passes in 10 series and played until a little over midway through the third quarter.

NBA Barkley says he will not retire, remain with TNT Sports

New York

Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June. Barkley previously said the upcoming season would be his last on television. He signed a 10year contract extension with TNT Sports in 2022. The parent company of TNT Sports has sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer in its upcoming 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

Dillon prevails in overtime at Richmond

Dillon’s first Cup Series win in 2 years came after he spun Joey Logano on the final lap

By Noah Trister The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond on Sunday night. It was Dillon’s first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year and entered the race ranked 32nd in the standings. Now he’s on track for the postseason — but he didn’t do it gently.

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it,” Dillon said.

Dillon appeared to be cruising to a victory when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece collided, forcing the first cau-

tion of the entire 400-lap, 300mile race aside from the prescheduled ones after the end of the first two stages.

So the drivers went to overtime, and Logano clearly got the better of Dillon on the restart. Then Dillon came up behind Logano and spun him — and when Denny Hamlin appeared to be moving past him on the inside, Dillon made contact with him too and sent him into the wall.

Dillon emerged from all that chaos with a victory in his No. 3 Chevrolet. That number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt. And that symmetry did not appear lost on seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who weighed in on social media.

“Dale Sr vibes,” Johnson said. Logano, unsurprisingly, was in no mood to shrug off Dillon’s move.

“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Lo -

“I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it.”

Austin Dillon

gano said. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it. But from four car lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

The 11 — Hamlin — wasn’t pleased either.

“He’s going to be credited with the win, but obviously he’s just not going to go far,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got the pay your dues back on stuff like that. But it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the

two guys that got taken out on the last corner.” Dillon appeared on his way to a much less controversial victory after passing Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps to go. This was the first time in a points-paying Cup race that teams had multiple tire options. The “Option” tires were softer, giving drivers a speed boost but less longevity than the “Prime” tires. Teams had only two sets of Option tires for the race. The Option tires helped Daniel Suárez to the lead early in the second stage, and he ultimately won that stage. After putting another set of Option tires on with about 40 laps remaining, Suárez began surging toward the front, but it appeared he would run out of laps before threatening Dillon.

But then the StenhousePreece crash gave Dillon bigger problems to worry about. Now he has the victory — but at least two veteran drivers with an axe to grind.

Olympic basketball: Inside the Curry flurry

How Stephen Curry’s 4 shots sealed another gold for the United States

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

PARIS — After making only five 3-pointers in his first four games of the Paris Olympics combined, Stephen Curry found his stroke in the nick of time. He made 17 3-pointers in the last two games to lead the U.S. to its fifth consecutive gold medal.

The last four of those 3-pointers came in the final 2:46 of the gold-medal game — a staggering display that anyone who watched will be hard-pressed to forget.

“ The last 21/2 minutes were special,” Curry said.

A breakdown of Curry’s dramatics:

The first one

LeBron James brought the ball across midcourt, and Curry waved Anthony Davis away to create space for the pick-androll. Curry set it, then moved to the top of the key and took the pass from James. Curry shook free of French defender Guerschon Yabusele and made the 3-pointer from straightaway.

Little did anyone know, he was just getting started.

— USA 85, France 79, 2:41 left.

The second one

In the timeout with 2:22 left, Curry suggested that he and James keep running the pickand-roll. A simple set, but very effective for someone generally considered the best shooter in the history of basketball. So, they ran it, this time with James setting the screen.

Curry kept the ball, got de-

fender Nicolas Batum in the air, waited for him to land and then shot from the left side of the top of the key.

Curry was yelling a message as he headed back down the floor. “Don’t worry about me,” he kept saying.

— USA 90, France 81, 1:52 left.

The third one

France made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six. Curry brought the ball down the floor and gave it to Kevin Durant, who immediately gave it back. Curry sent the ball his way again and eventually it was in the hands of Devin Booker. As Booker drove the baseline, he saw Curry open at the top of the key again.

He wound up using basically the same move as the possession

before; this time, it was waiting for Nando de Colo to bite on the head fake. Another 3-pointer, good.

Curry screamed several times afterward, then hoisted the top of his jersey to show the “USA” across his chest.

— USA 93, France 84, 1:18 left.

The fourth one

France got within 93-87 with 54.4 seconds left. Curry sent the ball to Durant, just as he did in the previous possession. And Durant gave it right back again. He was keeping the ball this time. He forced a shot over Batum and Evan Fournier, kind of an off-balanced heave that looked like a mistake.

“I was kind of like, ‘What the (expletive),’” U.S. center Bam

medal

Adebayo said. “Then I remembered who was shooting it.”

Of course, it was going in. The U.S. was up 96-87 with 35 seconds left.

Curry put his hands to the side of his head in celebration. “Night night,” he calls it, a reference where he tells the other team it’s time to go to sleep.

The game was over. The gold would be worn by Americans again. Curry watched Durant win gold medals at three previous Olympics. He watched Simone Biles win the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics in the same arena earlier in the Paris Games. He wanted that moment, desperately. And with four unforgettable shots, he delivered.

“This might not come around again,” Curry said. “It was very, very special.”

MICHAEL CONROY / AP PHOTO

Stephen Curry reacts after a 3-point basket against France in the gold

game.

STEVEN SENNE / AP PHOTO

Crew members push Austin Dillon’s car onto a pit road before a June NASCAR Cup Series race at New

Remains located for 62 passengers in Brazil plane crash

The Voepass plane crashed Friday in Vinhedo

The Associated Press

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue teams Saturday retrieved the remains of all 62 passengers from the wreckage of a plane crash in Sao Paulo state as families started gathering in the metropolis to identify and bury their loved ones.

Local airline Voepass’ plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos with 58 passengers and four crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo on Friday.

Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised the number to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino Thé Maia was not on its original list.

Voepass also said three pas-

sengers who held Brazilian identification also carried Venezuelan documents and one had Portuguese.

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that rescue operations finished at 6:30 p.m. local time, with the identification of the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot by forensics experts. There were 34 male and 28 female bodies in the wreckage, the government said.

Earlier, Maycon Cristo, a spokesman for the local fire department, told journalists in Vinhedo that a winch was used to remove parts of the plane from the ground.

Brazilian authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue Friday and called on victims’ family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams to help identify the bodies. Blood tests were also done to help identification efforts.

Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically

before smashing to the ground inside a gated community, leaving an obliterated fuselage consumed by fire. Residents said there were no injuries on the ground.

It was the world’s deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach. That plane also was an ATR 72, and the final report blamed pilot error.

Metsul, one of Brazil’s most renowned meteorological com-

panies, said Friday there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the accident. A video shared on social media channels Saturday shows a Voepass pilot telling passengers of a flight from Guarulhos to the city of Cascavel, the same origin of the crashed plane, that the ATR 72 has flown safely around the world for decades. He also asked passengers to be respectful to the memory of his

colleagues and the company and asked for prayers.

“It was a fatality. The pilot was my personal friend. I have known all the crew from long ago,” the unidentified pilot said. “We are professionals, we have our families. This tragedy doesn’t hit only those who perished in this accident. It hits all of us. We are giving all our hearts, all our best to be here and fulfill our mission to take you safely and comfortably to your destination.”

Local police restricted access to the main entrance of one of Sao Paulo’s morgues, where bodies from the crash were being identified. Some family members of the victims arrived on foot, others came in minivans. They didn’t speak to journalists, and local authorities requested they not be filmed as they came.

An American Eagle ATR 72200 crashed on Oct. 31, 1994, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was ice buildup while the plane was circling in a holding pattern. The plane rolled at about 8,000 feet and dove into the ground, killing all 68 people on board. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued operating procedures for ATRs and similar planes, telling pilots not to use the autopilot in icing conditions.

Iran president proposes an ex-nuclear negotiator as foreign minister

Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to appoint a woman among his ministers

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought to appoint a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to lawmakers. The hard-line-dominated chamber will have two weeks to review qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian named Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was chief of the Iranian Air Force in 2018-21. This would be the first time that a member of Iran’s air force headed the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as roads and housing minister. Sadegh, 47, is currently a director in the ministry. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear, however, whether she will be approved. The hard-line parliament seeks more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic sharia. Many lawmakers voiced their opposition when her name was read by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only previous female minister to be approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

Iranian presidents have, however, appointed women to be vice presidents, a role that is not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo

Parsa, who served as education minister in 1968-71. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals with enforcing the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improper wearing of the hijab led

to nationwide protests. Pezeshkian, then a lawmaker, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.”

He has suggested that he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear accord.

The president is likely to face opposition in passing legislation that supports his stated program since the chamber is dominated by hard-liners who

mainly supported other candidates during the June to July presidential election.

The president named Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. Paknejad was formerly a deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed to retain current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi. Pezeshkian also named the current minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, as energy minister. On Saturday the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a May helicopter crash.

Later on Sunday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a vice president in charge of strategic affairs, resigned from his post over the proposed ministers.

Following Pezeshkian’s election, Zarif had been charged with forming the committees to choose ministers for Pezeshkian’s administration.

Zarif wrote on the social media platform “X” that he was not happy with how the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet was shaping up, saying he failed to fulfill his promises to include more women, young people and ethnic groups.

ANDRE PENNER / AP PHOTO

Firefighters and rescue workers work in the debris at the site where an airplane crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil, on Friday.

EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP PHOTO

Abbas Araghchi, right and pictured in 2019, was proposed by Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s new foreign minister.

Anthony Nicholas Mauriello Sr.

June 22, 1933 –August 11, 2024

Anthony Nicholas Mauriello Sr. (Tony), 93, passed away peacefully in his favorite chair in his Pinehurst, NC, home on Sun., August 11, 2024. Tony was born in West Orange, NJ. He graduated from West Orange High School in 1951 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force shortly thereafter. He served for four years, including time in Korea and Japan. Then, Tony enrolled in the New Jersey Police Academy and graduated in December 1956. He served his hometown of West Orange as a patrol officer for 38 years before retiring to Pinehurst, NC, in 1994.

Tony was an avid and skilled golfer, playing every day for 25 years. He was known for snagging the first tee time in the morning at Pinehurst Country Club and finishing 18 holes in just over two hours. On August 11, 2000, Tony shot a hole-in-one on the seventh hole of Pinehurst #3. As a police officer in West Orange, the town was his; Tony knew everyone, and everyone knew him. In retirement, he established a similar relationship with his friends and neighbors in and around the Village of Pinehurst.

Surviving to cherish Tony’s memory are his loving wife of 65 years, Rosemary (Chuckerel) of Pinehurst, NC; his daughter Maria Mauriello and her husband, Mark Schurtman, of Raleigh, NC; and his son, Anthony Jr., and his wife Mary (Muzik), of Dunellen, NJ, as well as five grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, 300 Dundee Rd., Pinehurst on Monday, August 19th at noon with a repast to follow in the Founders’ Hall.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in Tony’s name to a charity of your choice.

Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

Jeffrey Lee Hess

June 3, 1975 – August 10, 2024

Jeffrey Lee Hess, 49, of Southern Pines, NC, formerly of Kansas City, MO, passed away unexpectedly on August 10, 2024. Born on June 3, 1975, in Kansas City, Jeffrey lived a life filled with passion, creativity, and love.

In 1992, Jeffrey moved to North Carolina, where he completed his senior year at Pinecrest High School. As an all-around athlete, he excelled in football, baseball, tennis, and wrestling. His dedication and leadership were evident early in life when he earned the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, a testament to his commitment and character. Jeffrey also carried a lifelong love for the Kansas City Chiefs, Star Wars, tabletop gaming, and video games-passions that influenced both his personal and professional life.

Jeffrey was an entrepreneur at heart, founding the “Painting Apothecary,” where he worked as a full-time artist. His creativity knew no bounds, and his talent was widely recognized by several local shops and through continuous commissioned work. One of his notable achievements was being hired to complete a mural for Ruskin High School in Kansas City.

Above all, Jeffrey was a devoted father, son, brother, and friend. He leaves behind his beloved fiancé, Ashley Burgess, and his cherished children, Zachary Tate Hess, Avery Makinlee Hess, and Asher Dean Hess. He is also survived by his mother, Deborah Hess; his brother, Ian Hess (partner Alex Harwood); his sister, Rebekah Hennings; his brother-in-law, Dylan Hennings; and his step-niece, Rachel Vanover. He was preceded in death by his father Merle Hess and son, Ethan Cole Hess. Jeffrey’s warmth, humor, and love for those around him will be profoundly missed.

A memorial service to celebrate Jeffrey’s life will be held on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at 6 p.m. at Boles Funeral Home, 425 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387. A livestream of the service will be available on Boles Funeral Home & Crematory’s Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests memorial contributions be made in honor of Jeffrey to Ashley Burgess for the future education of his children.

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Barbara Hardy Price

May 2, 1944 – August 7, 2024

Barbara Hardy Price, age 80 of Jackson Springs, NC passed away at FirstHealth Hospice House on August 7, 2024.

Barbara was born in Tazewell County, VA on May 2, 1944, to Slusher Hardy and Francis Hess.

Barbara lived life fully, independently and on her own terms. She was an avid golfer and even scored a hole in one.

She loved her home and working in her yard.

She was a beloved neighbor, friend, sister, wife and mother.

Barbara is survived by her children: Wendy Cannaday Herndon and Byron Cannaday III.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents Slusher and Francis Hardy, brothers Herbert Hardy and Robert Hardy, sisters Margie Sizemore and Betty Hardy.

She was also preceded in death by her husband and soulmate Lenford Carlton Price.

A graveside service will be held on Monday, August 12, 2024, at West Lawn Memorial Park, China Grove, NC at 11 a.m.

Mom, “You never said I’m leaving. You never said goodbye. You were gone before we knew it and only God knows why. In life, I loved you dearly. In death, I love you still. In my heart, I hold a place that only YOU can fill. It broke my heart to lose you, but you didn’t go alone because a part of me went with you, the day God took you home.”

Author Unknown Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home, Pinehurst.

James Carson Dennis

March 1, 1931 – August 5, 2024

James Carson Dennis, 93, of West End passed away peacefully on Monday, August 5, 2024, at his residence with family by his side.

Carson was born March 1, 1931, in Troy, NC to the late Anderson and Sadie Nordan Dennis.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his loving wife Doris Dennis; brother David Dennis and sister, Jane Grimes. He is survived by two sons, Steve Dennis (Pam) and Robert Dennis (Mandy); daughter Dianne VanWinkle; four grandchildren, Emma Dennis, Breese Lilly (Chris), Brady Dennis (Emily), and Angela Grippo; six greatgrandchildren, James Dennis, Clare Dennis, Gabe Grippo, Kristin Duncan (Patrick), Skylar Lilly (Colton Delancy); two sisters, Virginia Elder and Nancy Helsabeck, both of Thomasville, NC. Carson worked as a printer for Village Printers and later owned and operated Dixie Printing in Aberdeen until his retirement. He also worked for Golf World Magazine. He was a member of Culdee Presbyterian Church, a past member of both Pinehurst and Eastwood Fire Departments and the Pinehurst Lions Club. He was cherished by his family and many friends and will be deeply missed.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, from 10 – 11 a.m. at Boles Funeral Home, 425 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387. A funeral service officiated by Rev. Joe Washburn will begin at 11 a.m. and burial will follow at Culdee Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The service will also be livestreamed on Boles Funeral Home & Crematory’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Carson’s name to Eastwood Fire Department, 980 NC-73, West End, NC 27376 or Gentiva Hospice, 1198 Rockingham Road, Rockingham, NC 28379. Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.

Donald (Brush) Fuller

August 17, 1934 –August 10, 2024

Donald (Brush) Fuller of West End, North Carolina died on August 10, 2024, peacefully at home.

Born August 17, 1943, in Toronto to Margaret and Thomas Lorne Fuller.

Don attended the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall, and practiced criminal and family law in the Toronto area.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Nancy Austin; children, Andrew (Mandi) and Shannon Fuller. Also survived by siblings Brian (Joanne) Fuller and Lorraine (Max) Pomfrey; predeceased by siblings, Doug (Dianne), Bob (Barb) and (Bruce) Mary. Brush was a music lover, voracious reader, and accomplished hockey player and golfer. He was a lifelong Maple Leafs and Blue Jays fan and hated the Montreal Canadians!

A celebration of life will be held in Toronto in the spring. Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Seven Lakes.

DEATH NOTICES

• Karl Shepard Mitschke, 70, of Southern Pines, died August 5, 2024.

• Della Kay Dennis,64, of West End, died August 4, 2024.

• Michael A. Ricciardi Sr., 91, of Murrells Inlet, SC, died August 4, 2024.

• Roy “Max” Kellis, 92, of Eagle Springs died August 3, 2024.

• Barbara Britton Sedwick, 95, of Southern Pines, died August 3, 2024.

STATE & NATION

Harris, echoing Trump, pledges ending taxes on tips

The vice president is on the offensive while visiting battleground states

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris promised Saturday to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has made and marking a rare instance of political overlap from both sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump vowed essentially the same thing at his rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

“It is my promise to everyone here that, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America,” Harris said. “Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service

and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on his social media site a short time later, posting that Harris “just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!” the former president wrote. “This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.”

Harris’ campaign said afterward that as president she would work with Congress to draft a proposal that includes an income limit and other provisions to keep hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. She also would push for the proposal alongside one to increase the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a five battleground-state blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president held a San Francisco where House Speaker Emerita

Trump campaign says emails hacked

The former president’s camp claims Iran was involved

By Bill Barrow

The Associated Press

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Saturday that it has been hacked and suggested Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents.

The campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, but the claim comes a day after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024.

It cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blamed the hack on “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that it takes any report of improper foreign interference “extremely seriously” and condemns any government or entity that attempts to undermine confidence in U.S. democratic insti-

tutions, but said it deferred to the Justice Department on this matter.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. “We do not accord any credence to such reports,” the mission told The Associated Press. “The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”

However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. Justice Department this past week unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran alleged to have plotted assassination attempts against political figures in the United States, including potentially Trump, and to have sought to hire purported hitmen who were actually undercover law enforcement officials. Court documents in that case pointedly noted a desire by Iran to conduct operations against perceived enemies of the regime and to avenge the killing of Soleimani.

Nancy Pelosi was a speaker.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena on Saturday and, before the event started, local law enforcement halted entry to the event because people were becoming ill while waiting outside in 109-degree heat to go through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz referenced that during his speech but turned it into an applause line by telling Nevada, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly defeated Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union announced its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a statement supporting Harris’ call for a higher minimum wage and to “ensure that there are no taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to

eliminate tip taxation as part of a broader appeal to strengthen the nation’s middle class, seizing on a theme that was a centerpiece of Biden’s now-defunct reelection bid.

“We believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families so they have a chance, not just to get by, but to get ahead,” she said.

The vice president also promised to tackle immigration, leaning heavily into the issue as she did the previous night during a rally in Arizona.

Harris has in recent weeks tried to seize the political offensive on an issue that Trump and

top Republicans have frequently used to slam her and the Biden administration. In doing so, Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans.

Because the vice president’s portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration, and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading GOP voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself has said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

Politico first reported Saturday on the hack. The outlet reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source — an AOL email account identified only as “Robert” — passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.

“These documents were ob -

tained illegally” and “intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung said.

He pointed to the Microsoft report issued Friday and its conclusions that “Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”

“The Iranians know that President Trump will stop

their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung said, adding a warning that “any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”

Cheung did not immediately respond to questions about the campaign’s interactions with Microsoft on the matter. Microsoft said Saturday it had no comment beyond its blog post and Friday report.

JAE HONG/AP PHOTO

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas.

BEN GRAY / AP PHOTO

Sen. JD Vance, left, and former President Donald Trump shake hands at a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Aug. 3.