North State Journal Vol. 8, Issue 10

BRIEF this week

Biden sending 1,500 troops for Mexico border surge

Washington, D.C.

The Biden administration will send 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border starting next week, ahead of an expected migrant surge following the end of coronavirus pandemic-era restrictions.

Military personnel will do data entry, warehouse support and other administrative tasks so that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can focus on fieldwork, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. The troops “will not be performing law enforcement functions or interacting with immigrants, or migrants,” Jean-Pierre said. “This will free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties.”

They will be deployed for 90 days, and will be pulled from the Army and Marine Corps, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will look to backfill with National Guard or Reserve troops during that period, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

Even amid the restrictions, the administration has seen record numbers of people crossing the border.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Supreme Court to decide important case on government power

Washington, D.C.

The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether to jettison a decadesold decision that has been a frequent target of conservatives and, if overruled, could make it harder to sustain governmental regulations.

The justices agreed to hear an appeal that takes aim at a 1984 case known as Chevron. It involves the Chevron oil company and says that when laws aren’t crystal clear, federal agencies should be allowed to fill in the details.

The court’s conservative majority already has been reining in federal regulators, including in last June’s decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Chevron has been one of the most frequently cited high-court cases and a decision limiting its reach or overturning it altogether could dramatically limit the discretion of federal officials to regulate in a wide range of American life.

The court is expected to hear the case in its fall term.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

McCarthy: Russia must pull out of Ukraine

Jerusalem

House Speaker Kevin

McCarthy on Monday said Russia must pull out of Ukraine, blistering Russia’s “killing of the children” in his first trip abroad as speaker.

In Israel, McCarthy emphatically stressed his support for Ukraine and rejected a suggestion that he does not support sending military and financial aid to Kyiv. “I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine, I do not support your killing of the children either,” McCarthy told a Russian reporter, adding. “You should pull out.”

McCarthy touched down in Jerusalem leading a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, his first foray abroad as the new House speaker and the first to address the Israeli Knesset in 25 years.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

House bill would tighten laws on adult entertainment; Senate passes similar measure

Drag shows might be included under “male or female impersonators” in the bill

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A bill filed in the House of the North Carolina General Assembly wants to tighten up laws pertaining to adult entertainment.

House Bill 673, Clarifying regulations on Adult Entertainment, was filed on April 19 by Reps. Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth). Mark Pless (R-Haywood), Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston), and Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth).

House bill would create academic standards commission

Bill comes after state board passed controversial social studies revisions

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A bill filed in the North Carolina House would alter the way academic standards are created and maintained by creating a new advisory commission.

House Bill 756, titled “Standards Advisory Commission,” was filed by primary sponsors Reps. John Torbett (R-Gaston), Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth), and Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke).

board either rejects or adopts the proposals.

Under the proposed legislation, the commission would consist of the superintendent of public instruction and 16 members appointed by the General Assembly; 8 recommended by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and 8 recommended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The governor would have no appointee on the commission.

The bill would place restrictions on certain adult live entertainment defined in the bill as performances by “topless dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration.”

The bill would make it unlawful to hold such a live performance in the presence of an individual under the age of 18 and persons engaging in such act would be guilty of a Class 15 A1 misdemeanor for the first offense. Any additional offenses by the same person or persons would be

See ADULT, page A2

The bill, filed on April 19, already received a favorable report from the House K-12 Committee during its April 25 meeting and was referred to the House Operations and Rules Committee.

The bill amends the statutes related to the N.C. State Board of Education’s powers in developing academic standards and the course of study for K-12 students and creates a Standard Course of Study Advisory Commission that will recommend academic standards to the board.

Under current law, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is the body responsible for recommending standards for the state’s Standard Course of Study. After receiving NCDPI’s recommendations, the state

The General Assembly’s appointments would be subject to various categorical requirements. Additional nonvoting members would include the President of the North Carolina Community College System, the President of The University of North Carolina, and the President of the North Carolina Chamber.

Members of the Commission would serve four-year terms beginning on July 1 and no member may serve more than 8 consecutive years. Vacancies would be filled by the General Assembly and the Commission would be located administratively within NCDPI but would be independent of that agency.

The commission’s duties would include surveying parents, teachers, and the public to examine the usefulness of standards and seek academic priorities.

A review of standards would

See BILL , page A3

Texas border city struggles with large arrival of migrants

The Associated Press BROWNSVILLE, Texas —

Shelters in a Texas city struggled to find space for migrants who authorities say have abruptly begun crossing by the thousands from Mexico, testing a stretch of the U.S. border that is typically equipped to handle large groups of people fleeing poverty and violence.

The pace of arrivals in Brownsville appeared to catch the city on the southernmost tip of Texas off guard, stretching social services and putting an overnight shelter in an uncommon position of turning people away. Officials say more than 15,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have illegally crossed the river near Brownsville since last week.

That is a sharp rise from the 1,700 migrants that Border Patrol agents encountered in the first two weeks of April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

“It’s a quite concerning because the logistical challenge that we encounter is massive for us,” said Gloria Chavez, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector.

Chavez said migrants have been frustrated by relying on a glitchplagued government app that can allow them to seek asylum at a port of entry. Some migrants who crossed this week cited other motivators, including cartel threats that immediately preceded the sudden increment.

The uptick comes as the Biden administration plans for the end of pandemic-era asylum restrictions. U.S. authorities have said daily illegal crossings from Mexico could climb as high as 13,000 from about 5,200 in March.

Other cities — some far away from the southern U.S. border — are also grappling with suddenly large influxes of migrants. In Chicago, authorities reported this week a tenfold increase in the arrival of migrants in the city, where

as many as 100 migrants have begun arriving daily and begun sheltering in police stations.

Brownsville is across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico, where a sprawling encampment of makeshift tents has housed about 2,000 people waiting to enter the U.S.

Last week, some tents were set ablaze and destroyed. Some migrants have said cartel-backed gangs were responsible, but a government official suggested the fires could have been set by a group of migrants frustrated over their long wait.

“It was desperation, the cartel,” said Roxana Aguirre, 24, a Venezuelan migrant who sat outside a Brownsville bus station. “You couldn’t be on the street without looking over your shoulder.”

In downtown Brownsville, families from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and China walked aimlessly, carrying their belongings and talking

AP DILLON | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

The chamber of the N.C. House of Representatives is shown during a recess at the General Assembly in Raleigh.

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Matthew 26:39

What is success? What is the true aim in life? What should one, setting out to make his way through this world, take as the goal of all his living and striving?

Many think they are in this world to make a career for themselves. They set out with some splendid vision of success in their mind — and they devote their life to the realizing of this vision. If they fail in this, they suppose they have failed in life. If they achieve their dream, they consider themselves, and are considered by others, as successful.

The world has no other standard of success. It may be the amassing of wealth; it may be the winning of power among men; it may be triumph of a certain skill; or genius in art, in literature, in music, etc. But whatever the definite object may be, it is purely an earthly ambition. The two elements in the life, according to this view, are, that the career is one which the world honors, and that a man wins distinction in it.

Applying this standard to life—only a few men are really successful. Great men are as rare as lofty mountain peaks. Only a few win the high places; the mass remain in the low valleys. The percentage of those who succeed in business is small. In the professions, too, in literature, in art, in civil life, in all the callings, it is the same—only a few win honor, rise into fame, achieve distinction; while the great multitude remain in obscurity or go down in the dust of earthly defeat.

Is this the only standard of success in life?

Do all men, except for the few who win earth’s prizes, really fail? Is there no other kind of success?

The true test of life is character. Everything else is extraneous. Nothing else is worthwhile — except that which we can carry with us

BORDER from page A1

on their cellphones.

Some waited for their buses while others were in limbo, waiting for relatives before making plans to leave but finding no shelter in the meantime. One Venezuelan couple said they slept in a parking lot after being turned away at an overnight shelter.

Officials in Brownsville issued a disaster declaration this week, following other Texas border cities that have done the same in the face of suddenly large influxes of migrants, including last year in El Paso.

“We’ve never seen these numbers before,” said Martin Sandoval, spokesperson for the Brownsville Police Department.

The reshuffling of resources at the border — in one of the busiest sectors with robust Border Patrol staffing levels — comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prepares to end the use of a public health authority known as Title 42, which allowed them to reject asylum claims.

The administration has expelled migrants 2.7 million times under a rule in effect since March 2020 that denies rights to seek asylum under U.S. and international law on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Title 42, as the public health rule is known, is scheduled to end May 11 when the U.S. lifts its last COVID-related restrictions.

ADULT from page A1

guilty of a Class I felony.

The inclusion of male or female impersonators” could apply to drag shows, which have become more prevalent and have included small children and those under the age of 18 in many instances.

One recent example occurred in Zenger’s district of Forsyth County near the end of March when a drag queen straddled a girl during a performance held at Forsyth Technical Community College’s Pride Fest.

Video of the incident posted on social media by @libsoftiktok quickly went viral. The video showed the drag queen and a young girl seated in a chair. The drag queen was sitting on the girl’s lap and wrapped their legs around her in a lap-dance-type move.

According to FOX News, students as young as 14 had been invited to attend the event. Paula Dibley, the school’s chief officer of student success, told FOX that “Parents of children under 18 were not notified of this event in advance.”

“Pride Fest is produced by the

Pride Club, which is a student-led organization,” Dibley told FOX News. “All events on campus are entirely voluntary.”

Dibley also said the community college has “been in close contact with our early college school leadership and are talking with both leaders and parents about how we can revise campus policies and procedures regarding early and middle college students’ attendance at campus events.”

Last July, a “family friendly” drag performance by the “House of Coxx” occurred at the Apex Pride Festival in Apex, a wealthy Wake County suburb. As documented in video clips released on Twitter by independent journalist Stephen Horn, the performers also engaged in sexual jokes meant for adults despite children present in the crowd.

Documentation accompanying past House of Coxx shows apparently states performances should have an “18+ advisory” on them, however, no such label was placed on the Apex event.

On May 1, the Senate unanimously passed a similar measure

through death, and into eternity. Paul puts it in a sentence when he says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

It is possible that a man may fail of winning any earthly greatness, any distinction among men, anything that will immortalize him in this world’s calendars—and yet be richly and nobly successful in spiritual things, in character, in a ministry of usefulness, in things which shall abide — when mountains have crumbled into dust. We are not accustomed to thank God for our disappointments, for the blighting of our earthly hopes and expectations, for the failure of our plans — but we might safely do so; for it is in such experiences as these — that we are led to the sources of blessing and honor. What is the standard of success in the sphere of the unseen and the eternal? It is the doing of the will of God. He who does the will of God — makes his life radiant and beautiful, though in the world’s scale he is rated as having altogether failed in the battle. He who

is true, just, humble, pure, pleasing God and living unselfishly — is the only man who really succeeds — while all others fail.

We live worthily — only when we do what God sent us here to do. A splendid career in the sight of men — has no splendor in God’s sight — if it is but the striving of human ambition; if it is not God’s ideal for the life.

The most successful life — is the one which submits the most cheerfully and the most completely, to the will of God. It is the will of God — that every ability of our being shall be brought out, trained, and disciplined to its highest possibility, and devoted to the noblest and worthiest service. But the dominant influence in our life, should always be the will of God — and not any ambition of our own. Then shall we fulfill the purpose for which God made us, when he sent us into the world. And this will be the noblest career possible for us.

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

by a vote of 48-0. Senate Bill 579, titled “Prevent Harm to Children,” raises the penalty for disseminating obscenity from a Class I (3-12 months) to a Class H (4-25 months) felony. The passage of the bill was an-

nounced in a joint press release by Sens. Buck Newton (R-Wilson), Danny Earl Britt, Jr. (R-Robeson), and Warren Daniel (R-Burke).

According to the press release, the bill does not change the definition of obscenity under North

Carolina law which has been in place since 1974.

“This is a simple update that addresses some of the more disturbing trends we’ve seen in recent years,” said Newton in the joint release. “Our society is heading in the wrong direction and this bill says we’re not going to let children face such corruption.”

“The bill is pretty straightforward: If you don’t commit obscene acts in front of children then you have nothing to worry about,” Britt said. “The fact that there has been opposition speaks volumes to where we are as a society and why the bill is needed.”

The release notes the bill was passed after a criminal investigation began into the incident at Forsyth Tech Community College.

“What happened at Forsyth Tech was a clear indication that we’ve got to do something at the state level,” said Daniel. “This bill is an appropriate step that will help put an end to this string of vulgar behavior.”

Senate Bill 579 now heads to the House for consideration.

“May Your will be done.”

Matthew 6:11

“Not as I will—but as You will.”

“Christ and the young rich ruler” by Heinrich Hofmann (1889) is a painting in the collection of Riverside Church, New York.

AP PHOTO

A Border Patrol vehicle and bus are parked near a staging area near the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, Saturday, April 29, 2023.

AP PHOTO

A drag queen who goes by the name Flame reads stories to children and their caretakers during a Drag Story Hour at a public library in New York, Friday, June 17, 2022.

April Council of State news roundup

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Highlights from Council of State news in April include the state’s insurance commissioner’s concern about a House bill, the state treasurer urging passage of a bill addressing medical debt, approval of funding for Asheville’s airport upgrade, and the state’s attorney general joining the abortion pill legal fight.

The North Carolina Council of State (COS) is an administrative body of 10 elected officials who are heads of their departments. Council members include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, commissioner of insurance and commissioner of labor.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey raised concern at a press conference this month about House Bill 346, the Reorganization & Economic Development Act. Under that act, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) would be allowed to create a holding company to which it could transfer all or some of the current $4.6 billion in policyholder reserve funds instead of reducing rates or returning excess funds to policyholders.

Causey said BCBS, which is currently regulated by his agency, would have less oversight and essentially become deregulated and rates might be raised. He also said his agency should retain jurisdiction over BCBS.

“Blue Cross was created and organized as a nonprofit corporation, and for decades they enjoyed a lot of tax advantage in this state that other insurance companies didn’t have,” Causey said during the press event. “It was created to offer health insurance to North Carolina citizens. Blue Cross North Carolina’s nonprofit status and how the proposed reorganization impact is what’s at the heart of my concern.”

Causey also visited three minor league baseball stadiums across the state to bring greater public attention to the dangers of driving while distracted.

Additionally, Causey announced an Oct. 16 hearing date for the North Carolina Rate Bureau’s proposed 28.4% auto insurance rate increase. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in the Jim Long Hearing Room in the Albemarle Building, 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.

“We are not in agreement with the Rate Bureau’s proposed increases filed on Feb. 1. The next step, according to statute, is to set a hearing date,” Causey said in a statement.

The Office of State Auditor published its annual statewide audit which highlighted several state

agencies failing to adequately monitor federal funds, including COVID-19 relief money.

The auditor’s office also published an investigative audit of the Hamilton District Volunteer FireEMS Department in Martin County showing a possible violation of federal tax laws. Among the audit’s findings was an unreported $52,670 in compensation paid to individuals for services performed from 2017 to 2021 by Hamilton Fire-EMS.

Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson held a meeting of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Advisory Council on May 2 at agency offices on Lake Boone Trail in Raleigh.

State Treasurer Dale Folwell called on lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 321, Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act. The bill would help families with mounting medical debt collections by requiring large health care facilities to provide patients with a financial assistance policy and would prevent the use of excessive collection methods. The bill also would require health care providers to publish price information on their websites and block the charging of facility fees for certain identified procedures. Health care facilities and medical debt collectors violating those provisions could be sued by a consumer.

Families can’t see themselves past their poverty because of medical debt,” Folwell said in a statement. “That’s not a political issue. That’s a moral issue. Lawmakers have the chance to change the lives of thousands of North Carolinians. With inflation at 40-year highs and rising health care costs, we can’t afford to wait for reform.”

Folwell’s office also issued a statement that the Local Government Commission (LGC) approved the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority’s request for $175 million in transportation revenue bonds to be used for the airport’s expansion and modernization projects.

At the N.C. Department of Justice, Attorney General Josh Stein joined other Democratic attorneys general in challenging a federal judge’s decision to block the abor-

tion drug mifepristone. A coalition of 24 attorneys general had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stop U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s order while appeals are made. Stein also issued a statement regarding a hefty $226,000 settlement in the Medicare fraud case involving alleged fraudulent submissions by MedCare Clinic & Pharmacy, LLC, located in Indian Trail. Funds from this settlement will go back to Medicare and the North Carolina Medicaid program.

In education, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) touted Chapel-Hill Carrboro City Schools English teacher Kimberly Jones being selected as the 2023 Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Teacher of the Year at a luncheon held at The Umstead Hotel in Cary on April 14. Jones was also named teacher for her school and district and replaces the 2022 Teacher of the Year, Leah Carper, an English teacher at Northern Guilford High School. NCDPI also released a promising report on midyear testing that showed literacy gains for K-3 students. According to an NCDPI press release, the percentage of K-3 students performing at or above the benchmark score of the 2022-23 school year was higher than assessment results from the beginning of the school year.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Standards Division has collected fines from 37 stores in 22 counties because of excessive price-scanner errors. Outlets found to have overcharged included Family Dollar, Dollar General, Circle K, Minuteman Food Mart and Target. Civil penalty fines for the first quarter of 2023 now stand at $284,635. The largest fine levied was at a Family Dollar located at 206 Ocean Highway in Hertford, which paid $32,685 in penalties, according to the press release from the N.C. Department of Agriculture.

“Our Standards Division closely watches stores to ensure that consumers are protected,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “This is an important function to make sure North Carolinians are being charged the prices they see on shelves. While our work will continue, it is important for consumers to check their receipts regularly and notify store managers if they see a discrepancy.”

In agriculture other news, the state’s Board of Agriculture met on April 17 and heard from the North Carolina Apple Growers Association, received industry updates and honored former board member Dan Finch.

Moore County judge waives parole fees in lieu of ‘voluntary’ COVID-19 vaccination proof

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A judge in Moore County has been waiving probation fees if parolees provide “voluntary proof” of full COVID-19 vaccination to probation officers.

Per reporting in March by Moore local resident and radio host JD Zumwalt, Moore County Resident Superior Court Judge James Webb was identified as the judge waiving the fees. Documentation of over a dozen parole orders spanning the years 2021 through 2022 reviewed by North State Journal verified that Webb was indeed issuing fee waivers in lieu of a person providing “voluntary” proof they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to state laws related to probation, courts “may impose conditions of probation reasonably necessary to insure that the defendant will lead a law-abiding life or to assist him to do so.”

Probation laws in North Carolina also describe “supervision fees” that are paid to the clerk of court for the county where the judgment was entered, a deferred prosecution agreement was filed, or a conditional discharge was ordered.

According to the statute,

those fees are typically around $40 but can be higher. The collected fees are supposed to be sent to the state and are deposited into the state General Fund.

North State Journal reached out to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) about Webb’s vaccination waiver option.

“We don’t have a comment on this, but one item of note is that G.S. 15A-1343(c1) permits a judge to waive supervised probation fees for ‘good cause’,” am AOC communications office spokesperson said in an email response.

The spokesperson’s reference to “good cause” comes from the section of the statute which states, “The court may exempt a person from paying the fee only for good cause and upon motion of the person placed on supervised probation.”

North State Journal also reached out to other various court officials in Moore County, including the parole office, district attorney’s office and Moore County Superior Court. No responses have been received to date from any of those entities.

Additionally, multiple attempts were made in recent weeks to obtain comment from Webb through Michelle Ritter, a judicial assistant for the court, but a response has not yet been received as of Tuesday evening.

House unanimously passes bill barring foreign enemies from buying NC farmland

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The bill filed

to stop adversarial foreign governments from buying farmland in North Carolina unanimously passed the House by a vote of 114-0. The bill will now be taken up by the Senate.

“By preventing these foreign land grabs, this legislation will mitigate an unnecessary threat to our national and food security,” said House Majority Leader John Bell (R-Wayne) in a press statement. “With agriculture and military making up our state’s top two economic impacts, it is critical that we ensure our military bases and farmland are protected and secure.”

House Bill 463, the N.C. Farmland and Military Protection Act, would prohibit China, Russia, Iran and other foreign adversaries and state-controlled entities from purchas -

Bill blocking COVID vaccine requirements for NC students passes House

By A.P. Dillon

North State Journal

RALEIGH — A bill that would block K-12 and college students from being required to have a COVID-19 vaccination shot in order to attend school passed the House on April 26.

The bill passed mainly down party lines by a vote of 73-41.

Three Democrats voted to pass the measure; Amber Baker (Forsyth), Garland Pierce (Scotland), and Michael Wray (Northampton). House Bill 98, titled the “Med-

ical Freedom Act,” would prohibit any state and local government agency or political subdivision of the state from issuing COVID-19 requirements or requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination records of any person or discriminating against anyone refusing to provide proof of such a vaccination when applying for employment.

Senate Bill 121, also filed in February, is a companion bill to House Bill 98. Under the bill, the N.C. Commission for Public Health is prohibited from requiring the vaccination or proof of a vaccination

for K-12 and college students to attend school in the state.

The measure would also block state and local governments from placing vaccine requirements on private citizens and public employees.

The bill was filed in mid-February by Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph) and co-sponsored by Reps. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), Neal Jackson (R-Moore), and Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth).

L anguage barring schools from masking children was dropped from the bill in February.

ing agricultural land in North Carolina. The bill also includes property surrounding military installations.

A ccording to the bill, “no adversarial foreign government shall purchase, acquire, lease, or hold any interest in the following:

(1) Agricultural land.

(2) Land situated within a 25mile radius of a military base, military installation, or military airport.”

In addition to Bell, primary sponsors of the bill include Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain), and Reps. Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth) and Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson).

“As someone who grew up on a family farm, preserving North Carolina’s farmland is a top priority,” said Balkcom in the press statement. “Our state’s agricultural land is one of our most important assets and it is common sense that we protect it from foreign governments that do not have America’s best interests in mind.”

House Majority Leader John Bell (R-Wayne)

A court document showing that Judge James Webb is waiving fees for COVID-19 vaccination is shown.

AP PHOTO

A nursing student administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in this file photo.

NCDPI touted Chapel-Hill Carrboro City Schools English teacher Kimberly Jones being selected as the 2023 BurroughsWellcome Fund Teacher of the Year, as well as named teacher for her school and district.

north STATEment

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

When does education become indoctrination?

UNC PROFESSORS don’t want anyone else to indoctrinate students ― just them.

In a stunning, politically tin-eared letter, 677 UNC professors ― out of a total of 2,171 on campus ― signed a letter protesting two Republican-led bills in the North Carolina General Assembly: HB 96, which would require each student to take one three-hour credit course on the Constitution and representative democracy in America, and HB 715, which would end tenure.

Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln thought the only way to preserve representative democracy was to have an educated populace who could then participate thoughtfully in the voting process.

One-third of UNC professional college educators, probably way over half of them tenured, signed this letter, confirming what many people think anyway ― they consider college campuses to be places where they get to “indoctrinate” students the way they want to indoctrinate them, not anyone else.

Worse than that, by signing this letter at the very time the Republican-led NCGA is considering its budget for the biennium, these 677 professors telegraphed their very strong objection to UNC students learning about the Constitution and Western civilization in general. They consider it to be some form of “indoctrination,” which implies they consider what they do teach every day to be indoctrination from the left, not pure education.

The letter states: “Our leaders (in the NCGA, on the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors) continue to disregard campus autonomy, attack the expertise and independence of world-class faculty, and seek to force students’ educations into pre-approved ideological containers.”

“Seek to force students’ education into pre-approved ideological containers.” You mean like the Summer Reading Series at Chapel Hill? Incoming freshmen were asked to read such books as “Approaching the Qur’an” in the summer of 2013. A review of books chosen for this series does not include one book which extols the virtues of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, free enterprise and capitalism, or the benefits of freedom in a democratic republic. In fact, most of them focus on a particular failure in American history as if to show the students how “horrible” America truly is in world history.

When it comes to “indoctrination”, ask any faculty or administrator who is the “Milton Friedman Distinguished Professor of Economics” at Carolina. They can’t answer the question ― because they don’t have any such distinguished conservative thinkers on the Chapel Hill campus, at least none they want to talk about in public.

The socialist left has erased civics classes from public schools nationwide over the past 50 years. Today we are drowning in a sea of animosity towards America from young people who know nothing about our nation or state history.

The case for full school choice

It is based on the premise that parents, not government bureaucrats, know what’s best for their children.

THERE’S HOPE FOR NORTH CAROLINA parents of school-age children.

State senators have filed Senate Bill 406, “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future,” to overhaul North Carolina’s school choice system and provide more families with money from the state’s Opportunity Scholarship grant program. In the House, a similar measure, HB 823, has been filed.

For years, parents have faced increasing concerns about their children’s education. Children have been forced into schools that are failing by state education standards. Other children are sent to schools, many in low-income areas, that are not a safe environment for learning. Still other parents are concerned about what their children are being taught in the classroom and feel government is not listening to their concerns.

How will legislation change the Opportunity Scholarship program?

Under current law, a family must earn below a certain income to qualify for a grant. SB 406 makes all North Carolina families eligible for an Opportunity Scholarship. It removes income eligibility requirements, instead awarding scholarships on a sliding scale — opening up possibilities for more families, based on household income, to send their children to a better learning environment in a private K-12 school. Here’s how it would work (all in FY 2023-24):

Children in households with an income at or below the amount required to qualify for free and reduced lunch — $55,500 for a family of four — would receive up to 100% of the average state per-pupil allocation from the prior fiscal year, for a maximum award of $7,213.

Children in households with incomes from 100% to 200% of the free and reduced lunch threshold — maximum $111,000 for a family of four — would be eligible for a maximum award of 90% of the average state per-pupil allocation from the prior fiscal year, for a maximum award of $6,492.

Children in households with an income from 200% to 450% of the free and reduced lunch threshold — maximum $249,750 for a family of four — would be eligible for a maximum award of 60% of the average state per-pupil allocation from the prior fiscal year, for a maximum award of $4,328.

All other students would be eligible for a maximum award of 45% of the average state per-pupil allocation from the prior fiscal year, for a maximum award of $3,246.

Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln wrote earnestly about the critical need to have a solid public education system founded on teaching the fundamental aspects of freedom and personal responsibility. Newly minted American citizens who came to the U.S. as refugees from Afghanistan, Congo and Muammar know more about the Constitution than the average American high school student today.

These 677 professors must think they are teaching at a private university. They are not. They are teaching at the oldest public university in America, one which is supported at least 40% financially by the taxpayers of North Carolina.

UNC prides itself on being “The University of the People” which must have misled these 677 professors to believe everyone in the state agrees with them politically as part of the socialist proletariat or something.

Well, they don’t. Assume 51% of North Carolina’s voters are either conservative or lean conservative. Are they supposed to forfeit any say about what their children are being taught at Carolina through their elected representatives in the NCGA solely because the faculty “demands” 100% autonomy when it comes to establishing curriculum?

UNC is a public, taxpayer-funded university. Taxpayers elect people to make decisions on how their tax money will be spent. There is not one other state-funded program in North Carolina that is 100% immune to elected representative overview and input. No other state program even tries to assert they are “above reproach” when it comes to spending taxpayer money.

UNC required every student pass a swimming test to graduate until 2006. After World War II, there was concern American students were not fit enough to defend our nation in case of another war, so the pools built at Chapel Hill for the Navy Pre-Flight programs were used to make sure they could at least swim 50 yards and tread water for five minutes.

There’s a lot of concern in public policy circles about young people not knowing enough about America’s rich history and selfgovernment to defend and protect it today. It is time to require every student pass one course on American civics out of forty to graduate. We will all benefit from it.

Opportunity Scholarship grants were introduced in North Carolina in 2013 to offer help to families in the worst educational situations. The program was successful, so legislative leaders added more money for grants to include more and more families.

The case for school choice is not hard. It helps level the playing field for families looking for the best opportunities for their children. It is based on the premise that parents, not government bureaucrats, know what’s best for their children. It provides freedom for families who feel their child is trapped in a dangerous or dead-end school district.

For years, Gov. Roy Cooper has opposed Opportunity Scholarships. His own budget proposals have advocated abolishing the entire program. You can be sure his NCAE teacher’s union allies will be in lockstep with the governor — just like when they pushed him to keep schools closed over parents’ wishes during COVID.

Liberal leaders who oppose the expansion of Opportunity Scholarships should know they’ll be swimming upstream with North Carolina voters. A recent poll conducted by the Carolina Partnership for Reform found that 68% of all North Carolinians supported expanding the Opportunity Scholarship program, with 50% of registered Democrats in support.

That same poll tested North Carolina voters’ concerns over what is being taught in schools. When asked whether they agreed or disagreed that “political correctness and wokeness have gone too far in our state’s public Kindergarten through 12th grade schools,” 64% agreed, including 89% of Republicans and 55% of unaffiliated voters.

Clearly, North Carolinians are concerned about our children’s education. Which is why parents are exploring school choice for their children — through private schools, charter schools, religious schools, magnets, home-schooling or seeking better public schools.

The common denominator? It is clear parents want the best education for their children and to not let decisions about where they are taught, or what they’re taught, be controlled and dictated by education bureaucrats.

If you agree that the Opportunity Scholarship program should be expanded as outlined in House Bill 823 and Senate Bill 406, please contact your state legislators and let them know.

Bob Rosser is executive director of The Carolina Partnership for Reform.

EDITORIAL | BOB ROSSER

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Who turned the lights out? Joe Biden

Where are we going to get the electric power to charge 150 million EVs every night? From windmills?

DOES THE RADICAL climate change agenda know no end? Earlier this year, it was gas stoves — and then lightbulbs.

Then, a few weeks ago, President Joe Biden’s administration announced much less gas cars after 2032. Even though about half of Americans say they don’t want an electric car and only 6% of drivers are buying them.

But that was child’s play compared to the latest Biden scheme to shut down as many as half our electric power plants across the country. These are the plants that charge those Tesla batteries and cellphones. They also keep the lights on in our factories, schools, hospitals, stores and homes, and they power the internet. Further, they cook our food and keep us warm at night. No, that power doesn’t just come magically from the socket in the wall.

Most of the electric power supply in America and around the world comes from fossil fuels.

Coal, gas and oil power plants account for more than 60% of the electric power we use in the United States today. Only about 20% comes from wind and solar power.

Hold that thought. Because the Biden administration has announced what The Washington Post calls a plan to “drastically reduce (power plant) greenhouse gas emissions.” These cuts are so stringent that most of our gasand coal-fired plants would be technologically incapable of complying. But here’s what’s sinister: That’s the point of these rules — to wrench fossil fuels from our energy supply altogether.

Our electric grid system is already stressed to the limits. States that have tried to switch to green energy — California comes to mind — are having to undergo dangerous blackouts and brownouts. This is what happens in Third World countries. It isn’t supposed to happen here.

Where are we going to get the electric power to charge 150 million EVs every night?

From windmills? Remember, these new

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

Environmental Protection Agency rules come just weeks after Biden announced cars would soon no longer be fueled with gas, oil or diesel. Yet now, we are going to shut down more power plants?

The Biden administration says coal and gas plants will have to pay for carbon offsets to make up for their carbon emissions. Who’s going to pay for that? We all will with much higher utility bills.

If you want to cripple an industrial economy like that of the U.S., a good way to do so is to dismantle its energy supply. Who is the president residing in the White House these days? Joe Biden or Dr. Evil?

No country has cleaned its air more than the U.S. has over the last many decades. The Institute for Energy Research reports that our air pollution emissions — including lead, sulfur, carbon monoxide and particulates — have fallen by a combined 74% over the past 50 years. We have the cleanest air in any of our lifetimes.

Even our carbon dioxide emissions have fallen in recent years more than any other country, thanks to natural gas production. We aren’t the problem. China is, and you can be sure they’re not doing anything to slow their economy.

These new EPA regulations aren’t about breathing cleaner air or changing the temperature of the planet. They are a dangerous assault on the American free enterprise system and U.S. global leadership.

Biden thinks his legacy will be as the president who fought global warming.

Wrong. He will go down in history as the president who turned the lights out on the U.S. economy.

Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. His latest book is “Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy.”

Joe Biden threatens to ‘finish the job’

“His ‘Finish the Job’ slogan sounds more like a threat by a movie villain than a guarantee of future prosperity.”

THIS WEEK, President Joe Biden formally launched his 2024 reelection campaign. He did so with a three-minute video in which he did not appear on camera speaking for more than two seconds at a time; the highly produced video instead utilizes audio of Biden over fast cuts of Normal Americans (TM) doing Normal Things (TM). Biden’s message is simple: “Finish the Job.”

But what, precisely, is the job? Biden’s first term record is abysmal: a 40-year inflation high, now baked into the price structure; systemic weakness in the banking system, brought about by the necessity of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates; an out-ofcontrol debt problem that will only appreciate over time; a collapsing Middle East in which a serious war is now the most likely outcome; an emboldened China casting its eyes upon Taiwan; a Europe unsure about American leadership despite the war in Ukraine; an Afghanistan turned over to eighth-century barbarians, with hundreds of Americans still behind enemy lines and 13 American service members murdered; and a social fabric frayed beyond recognition by the insistence on racial “equity” and the false malleability of sex itself, especially for children.

Biden’s record is one of the worst for any first-term president. His “Finish the Job” slogan sounds more like a threat by a movie villain than a guarantee of future prosperity.

Joe Biden has nothing to run on.

Nothing except former President Donald Trump.

His announcement contains zero actual accomplishments of his first term. Instead, his entire campaign will be rooted in the same message as his first campaign, and the Democrats’ 2022 campaign: Vote against Republicans — and by Republicans, they mean Trump — or democracy will be imperiled.

“That’s been the work of our first term,” Biden intones. “To fight for our democracy ... But, you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on these bedrock freedoms.” By MAGA extremists, of course, Biden doesn’t just mean people who attempted to prevent certification of the 2020 election. He means anyone who opposes his agenda. “When I ran for president four years ago,” Biden mumbles, “I said we were in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are.”

This campaign strategy rests almost entirely on Republicans nominating Trump. In 2022, this message resonated only in areas

McCarthy’s deal or Biden’s default

AS A FORMER SPEAKER, I remember the feeling of going to the House floor knowing I was a few votes short of what I needed. In the 15-minute voting process, we had to find the undecided or opposing Republicans and convince them to help the team. So, I have great admiration for what Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the House GOP leadership achieved this week passing the rational debt ceiling deal.

Special gratitude must go to Republican Whip Tom Emmer and his floor team for the careful way in which they helped the Speaker and the leadership grow a majority. Speaker McCarthy’s remarkable achievement in developing and passing a debt ceiling deal with $4.1 trillion in savings — and several conservative policy initiatives — has set the stage for a useful national debate.

House Republicans have passed a responsible increase in the debt ceiling while taking the first steps toward reducing spending and getting back to a balanced budget.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader, has pronounced the McCarthy debt ceiling bill dead on arrival.

But despite Schumer’s bluster, he has no hope of passing an unreformed debt ceiling through the Senate. Senate Democrats will find themselves unable to pass anything unless they work with Senate Republicans. They will have to move much closer to Speaker McCarthy than to President Joe Biden.

The Biden White House responded to the bill’s passage by saying “House Republicans must take default off the table and address the debt limit without demands and conditions.”

The challenge for President Biden is that most Americans disagree with his demand for an unamended debt ceiling increase. Only one in four Americans (24%) favor lifting the debt ceiling with no conditions. Almost as many (46%) favor raising the debt ceiling only if there are spending cuts. Another 16% would like to never raise the debt ceiling and force the government to quit going into debt.

that nominated Trump-lite candidates, from Georgia to Pennsylvania to New Hampshire. In New York and Florida, where Republicans ran more traditional Republican candidates, Democrats lost seats. Gov. Brian Kemp, who did not bow to Trump’s pressure in Georgia, won reelection handily; so did Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida, who ran on his record of accomplishment and freedom in the state. Democrats’ “Democracy Dies in Darkness” sloganeering only carries weight when Republicans allow it to do so. Will Republicans hand the 2024 election to Biden? They very well could. Right now, Trump leads in the Republican primaries, despite attacking his nearest rival, DeSantis, almost entirely from the Left: bashing DeSantis’ record on COVID-19, slamming entitlement reform, and criticizing DeSantis’ battle against Disney’s corporate social engineering. Trump has been unfairly targeted by political opponents to be sure — Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump over a 2016 payoff to former porn star Stormy Daniels is a legal joke. But that doesn’t mean that Republicans are likely to benefit from a campaign revolving around Trump’s legal troubles and his persistent focus on the supposedly “stolen” 2020 election. In fact, Trump has yet to answer the most basic question he himself has raised about his electability: If, as he states, the 2020 election was stolen through voter fraud and falsification, how does he plan to overcome that problem in the 2024 election?

The polls show a consistent pattern: If Trump is the Republican candidate, Biden is more likely to win. It is difficult to imagine millions of Americans switching their 2020 votes in precisely the opposite direction. Indeed, polls currently show Biden beating Trump by an average of 3.1% while losing to DeSantis by a slim margin. Trump currently trails Biden — a president with an approval rating in the low 40s — in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Joe Biden wants Trump. His entire campaign is built around Trump. Perhaps, like Hillary Clinton, he’ll get more than he bargained for. But Republicans don’t need to take that gamble. And they’re clearly running a higher risk of a Biden second term if they do.

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

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.

The high tax, big spending, huge deficit wing of America is a distinct minority. As Democrats go back home, they are going to learn that people want common-sense spending cuts and reforms with the debt ceiling increase. The Biden no negotiation, give me what I want on my terms strategy is going to get weaker and weaker.

Further, the scale of McCarthy’s achievement is beginning to sink in.

Remember: Speaker John Boehner and Speaker Paul Ryan couldn’t pass a debt ceiling increase with only Republican votes — and they had much bigger majorities than McCarthy’s.

As the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote, McCarthy got a win.

“House Republicans passed their first big legislative test on Wednesday as they passed their bill to increase the federal debt ceiling with no help from Democrats. Had the vote failed, House Republicans would have lost all leverage over the debt ceiling, and the Senate and White House would have cut their own deal and then jammed the House.

“The fight now will be over the spending and policy reforms in the House bill.”

The editorial board also described one of the most popular reforms in the bill.

“The GOP offer would also impose modest work requirements for Medicaid, food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. According to the President, making people work or volunteer to receive government assistance is ‘wacko.’ Most Americans must be crazy because they support work requirements for able-bodied adults.”

Ben Domenech in the Transom noted, “Kevin McCarthy Is Pretty Good At This: Holding the coalition together and notching wins.”

The chairman of the Freedom Caucus asserted to Politico, “Look, we’re passing things -- big things. Isn’t that a sign of success?”

Mark Halperin, in his brilliant Wide World of News (which I recommend everyone read) wrote:

“What Speaker McCarthy and the allies he has empowered just accomplished with the House passage of a bill that raises the debt ceiling is extraordinary — a huge political and personal win for the Californian, demonstrating the kind of carrot-and-stick, Perils-of-Pauline, justwin-baby approach for which the Dominant Media deified Speaker Pelosi.

“McCarthy overcame the odds and expectations and passed a bill that united his fractious conference, simultaneously raising the debt ceiling and passing spending restraint measures that (despite what the White House and the press suggest) are in at least some of the cases largely popular with swing voters and the public.

“The Dominant Media knows the debt ceiling is a really important story (if, admittedly, a bit process-y). This is a major substantive development, in addition to being a huge political story about a new speaker miraculously rising to the occasion.”

Let’s be clear, the House Republicans have done their job. If Schumer and Biden simply accepted the House bill, there would be no danger of default. Any threat of default now rests on President Biden’s shoulders.

No amount of lying by the White House or covering for him by the propaganda media can disguise that fact.

NATION & WORLD

Rising GOP star embroiled in tough Kentucky primary fight

The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Flagged as a rising Republican star who worked for Mitch McConnell and pitched Donald Trump’s campaign to black voters, Daniel Cameron could have taken a cautious approach and run for reelection as attorney general.

Instead, he took a career-defining risk by plunging into Kentucky’s competitive race for governor against a popular Democratic incumbent and a crowded field of GOP primary opponents. If he wins, the state’s first black attorney general would become its first black governor.

But Cameron’s pursuit of Kentucky’s top political office has turned bumpy. Instead of breezing to his party’s nomination, he’s embroiled in a tough primary fight, especially with former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, who has attacked Cameron in an ad blitz backed by her family’s fortune. The two are among a dozen candidates — including two other statewide officeholders, Ryan Quarles and Mike Harmon — competing for the GOP nomination in the May 16 primary.

Awaiting the primary winner will be Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who has received consistently high voter approval ratings. He garnered considerable goodwill in shepherding the GOP-trending state through devastating tornadoes, flooding and, more recently, a mass shooting at a Louisville bank in which a close friend of his was slain. Beshear, the son of Steve Beshear, a former two-term governor, has presided over record-setting economic development growth.

Cameron’s term as attorney general has been marked by a series of legal challenges against state and national Democratic policies, Cameron drew scrutiny for his handling of an investigation into the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by police in 2020 during a botched late-night drug raid of the black woman’s Louisville apartment in which no drugs were found.

Cameron says Taylor’s death was a tragedy. But he’s turned protests over the case into an appeal for support from Republican voters, portraying it as an example of his steadfastness in the face of pressure.

“We can have leadership that, when they protest on your front lawn, will still do what’s right without fear or favor,” he said at a recent campaign rally in suburban Louisville.

Offering a staunchly conser-

EPA allows gasoline with higher ethanol blend during summer

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — Fuel stations throughout the country will be able to sell gasoline blended with 15% ethanol during the summer under an emergency waiver issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency in a move that could reduce prices at the pump and boost demand for the Midwest-based ethanol industry.

The EPA framed its decision as a way to reduce gasoline prices at a time of market supply uncertainty because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency said its action also encourages U.S. energy independence and supports American agriculture and manufacturing.

“Allowing E15 sales during the summer driving season will not only help increase fuel supply, but support American farmers, strengthen U.S. energy security, and provide relief to drivers across the country,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a state-

BILL from page A1 be conducted to assure they are “rigorous, specific, sequenced, clear, focused, and measurable” and that high school content aligns with postsecondary requirements for admission and employment in a “21st Century economy.”

Also among the commission’s duties would be to develop “support materials to be made available to teachers and parents upon approval by the SBE.”

The commission will be required to report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (JLEOC) and the state board of education annually beginning Dec. 1, 2024.

Under the bill, the state board of education would be required to either reject or adopt the commission’s recommendations.

ment.

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol and the higher 15% blend hasn’t been allowed in the summer because of concerns it could worsen smog during hot weather.

The EPA said its analysis shows allowing sales of the higher blend shouldn’t have a significant impact on air quality.

The agency estimated that E15 blends cost about 25 cents less per gallon at the pump than E10 blends.

The U.S. Department of Energy has found that vehicles will travel 3% to 4% fewer miles on E10 and 4% to 5% less on E15 than on 100% gasoline.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers industry group questioned the move, pointing to data from the Energy Information Administration, a part of the Energy Department.

“The U.S. market is well supplied with gasoline, which EIA

Should the recommendations be rejected, the board would have to state specific reasons so the commission may make changes and resubmit its proposal.

If the original and amended recommendation are both rejected, the state board of education could develop and adopt its own standards, however, the board’s standards would be subject to a legislative review and would have to get around any bill filed barring implementation of the board’s proposed standards.

The science standards and healthful living standards currently being revised will likely be resolved and not be impacted if the bill becomes law.

Last year, adoption of new social studies standards caused controversy with the inclusion of ideological concepts and elements of Critical Race Theory,

University of Louisville football player is known for his easygoing demeanor. After a recent rally, a long line of would-be voters waited to chat with him or snap a photo.

Cameron supporter Carl Owens said he liked Cameron’s anti-abortion stand and his fight against the governor’s pandemic policies.

“Gov. Beshear seems like a nice guy, but he’s made terrible decisions,” Owens said.

In winning Trump’s backing, Cameron bridged an ever-expanding gulf between the ex-president and McConnell, the Senate Republican leader from Kentucky. Cameron is a protege of McConnell, having worked as the senator’s legal counsel.

Cameron says those relationships prove he can unite the party in its quest to reclaim the governorship.

“We’re going to have to have a lot of different factions that are willing to support our candidate,”

Cameron said on a “Flyover Country” podcast with Scott Jennings, a Kentucky-based Republican political commentator. “And I think I’m best situated to get all of those people on board.”

Democratic Sen. Cardin of Maryland announces retirement

Annapolis, Md.

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland announced he will not seek reelection at the end of his third term in 2024, triggering what is likely to be a highly competitive primary to replace him in the blue-leaning state.

“I am proud of all I have done for Maryland. I have given my heart and soul to our great state, and I thank Marylanders for trusting me as your representative for all these years,” the 79-year-old said in a statement.

Cardin has served in the Senate since 2006 when he won a seat to replace retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes. Before that, he was a congressman who represented a large part of Baltimore and several nearby suburbs, winning his first U.S. House race in 1986.

vative message, Cameron mixes talk of faith and values with core GOP principles — supporting gun rights, fossil fuel production and a crackdown on crime and illegal drugs, while opposing abortion and pushing to give parents more say in school policies.

He plays up his legal showdown with Beshear that essentially halted the governor’s COVID-era restrictions. Cameron says those restrictions amounted to executive overreach. Beshear says his actions saved lives. Cameron also points to his legal defense of the state’s anti-abortion laws.

It’s what separates him from his GOP rivals, he said.

“There’s a lot of folks right now that are going to talk the talk, but there’s only a few of us that have actually walked the walk,” Cameron said at the rally.

Cameron has star appeal within Republican circles. The former

At a recent Craft rally in Elizabethtown, about 45 miles south of Louisville, Bobbie Coleman was still pondering her choice for governor but said it wouldn’t be Cameron. “I love Trump, don’t understand his endorsement,” she said.

The GOP campaign has turned combative. Cameron has taken hits from a flurry of ads from Craft’s campaign and a group supporting her candidacy. The attacks focused on criminal justice, immigration and coal in trying to soften support for Cameron. The proCraft group portrayed Cameron as an “establishment teddy bear” in claiming he’s not tough enough as attorney general.

A pro-Cameron group swung back, including with perhaps the ultimate zinger in a GOP primary — noting that Craft worked for Trump but the ex-president’s endorsement went to Cameron.

During his tenure in the Senate, Cardin worked on health care, retirement security, the environment and fiscal issues. The senator has also been a leading advocate for clean water and the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary, which flows through his home state.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Erdogan unveils

Turkey’s first astronaut on election trail

Istanbul

Turkey’s first astronaut will travel to the International Space Station by the end of the year, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday after an illness forced him to cancel several days of appearances.

Air force pilot Alper Gezeravci, 43, was selected to be the first Turkish citizen in space. Erdogan made the announcement at the Teknofest aviation and space fair in Istanbul, the president’s first public appearance since falling ill last Tuesday. He appeared alongside Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, and Libya’s interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

“Our friend, who will go on Turkey’s first manned space mission, will stay on the International Space Station for 14 days,” Erdogan said. “Our astronaut will perform 13 different experiments prepared by our country’s esteemed universities and research institutions during this mission.”

data make clear,” Chet Thompson, the organization’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Therefore, we’re anxious to see how EPA is going to justify this decision in light of the statutory limitations and the agency’s own understanding of emergency criteria, which require a finding of inadequate domestic supply in a specific geographic area.”

Ethanol policy is especially important in the Midwest, where most of the roughly 200 renewable fuel plants are located. In 2022, those refineries produced over 15.4 billion gallons of ethanol, and the

social justice themes, gender identity ideology, and “systemic racism.”

Board member Jill Camnitz, a Gov. Roy Cooper appointee who led the committee altering the social studies standards, said that the guiding principle of “equity” embedded in the board’s strategic plan were applied to the proposed social studies revisions.

The board’s principal adviser on the social studies revisions, Matt Bristow-Smith, called the changes “the hard truths of our American narrative.”

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who sits on the state board of education pushed back on the “overall tone” of the revisions and clashed with member James Ford on the topic of “systemic racism.”

“I think they are politically charged. I think they are divisive, and I think they, quite frankly,

industry used about 45% of the nation’s corn crop, roughly one-third of which was grown in Iowa and Illinois.

The industry has pushed for years to allow year-round sales of E15. In March, the EPA proposed to permanently allow the higher blends in eight Midwestern states beginning in 2024.

“EPA’s action allowing summertime E15 will help extend gasoline supplies, prevent fuel shortages, protect air quality and reduce carbon emissions,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.

smack of a lot of leftist dogma,” Robinson said during the January 2021 state board of education meeting.

Robinson wasn’t the only frustrated board member. A little over a year after the passage of the revised social studies standards, board member Todd Chasteen resigned citing the board’s “trajectory towards activism.”

In his resignation letter, Chasteen directly cited the standards.

“In full transparency, in February when the board passed Social Studies standards by a slim majority, standards that many of us concluded, and thousands of parents agreed, were unproductive, regressive and unhelpful to the students of this wonderful state, it became more difficult to see where I could add value,” Chasteen wrote.

Erdogan described Gezeravci as a “heroic Turkish pilot who has achieved significant success in our Air Force Command.”

The Turkish Space Agency website describes Gezeravci as a 21-year air force veteran and F-16 pilot who attended the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Zealand leader says he favors nation becoming a republic Wellington, New Zealand New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Monday he favors his country becoming a republic, but it’s not a change he intends to push for as leader.

Hipkins made the comments to reporters hours before he was due to depart for this week’s coronation of King Charles III in London.

New Zealand, a former British colony, is self-governing but Charles retains a largely ceremonial role as head of state and king. Charles is represented in New Zealand by a governor-general.

Like many former British colonies, New Zealand continues to wrestle with what — if any — constitutional role the British monarchy should play in modern times.

AP PHOTO

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron responds to a question during the Kentucky gubernatorial GOP primary debate in Louisville, Ky., March 7, 2023.

AP PHOTO

An American Ethanol label is shown on a NASCAR race car gas tank in this file photo.

NFL Panthers pick up option on Brown, not Henderson

Charlotte

The Carolina Panthers have picked up the fifth-year option in defensive lineman Derrick Brown’s contract, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season. The deal will pay Brown $11.66 million for the 2024 season. The Panthers didn’t pick up the fifth-year option in cornerback C.J. Henderson’s contract. Brown was the team’s first-round pick in 2020 and will be moving to defensive end in the new 3 - 4 defensive scheme after recording 67 tackles, batting down seven passes and recording an interception in a breakout season in 2022. Henderson was a first-round draft pick by Jacksonville in 2020 who was acquired in a 2021 trade that sent a third-round pick and tight end Dan Arnold to the Jaguars. Henderson has struggled at times in coverage, but remains under contract for 2023.

MLS

DC United blanks

Charlotte FC 3- 0

Washington, D.C.

Taxiarchis Fountas scored on a first-half penalty kick to lead D.C. United to a 3 - 0 victory over Charlotte FC on Saturday night. Fountas’ PK score came in the 34th minute and helped D.C. United (4 - 4 -2) earn its third straight victory. Christian Benteke pushed the lead to 2- 0 w ith an unassisted goal in the 75th minute. Jacob Greene capped the scoring with a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Lewis O’Brien and Theodore Ku-Dipietro had assists on the final netter. DC United outshot Charlotte 13-7 with a 4 -1 advantage in shots on goal. Charlotte (2-5-3) had gone six straight matches with just one loss for the first time in club history entering play. Charlotte returns home to host New York City FC on Saturday.

Panthers bolster OL with another NC

State pick,

B3

Little things help make Young top overall pick

The Panthers choose the Alabama quarterback first in last week’s NFL Draft

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When he showed up for his first press conference after being chosen first overall by the Panthers in the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young had one question.

While walking toward the podium at the front of the room, he whispered to the media sitting in

the rows in front, “Who went No. 6?” He was told that Ohio State lineman Paris Johnson went off the board to the Arizona Cardinals, and he nodded approvingly. Then he stepped on stage to talk about the biggest day in his career so far.

After finishing his press conference, Young walked out into the hall at Kansas City’s Union Station and happened to run into Johnson, waiting for his turn at the podium. He hugged the sixth overall pick and congratulated him warmly.

They were two brief snippets — about 30 seconds out of a busy,

Frank Reich, Panthers coach

overwhelming night filled with media duties and emotion for the Panthers quarterback of the future. Amidst the whirlwind, however, Young was still able to display the characteristics that helped earn him the spot atop the draft. Those

brief exchanges might as well have been a “TED Talk” on leadership. Do your homework, see the whole field, look out for the people around you.

Young also took time to praise C.J. Stroud, a fellow quarterback who was a strong candidate for the No. 1 pick and was taken second overall.

“C.J.’s my brother,” he said. “To hear him get selected was amazing. We all know the player he is, but I know the person he is as well. Regardless of all the football stuff, that’s my brother, and to be able to go through the process with him and be able to experience it together was huge.”

Young also praised the Alabama quarterbacks who have preceded him in the NFL Draft, from Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones, being sure to also mention Jalen Hurts, who transferred out on his way to NFL stardom.

See PANTHERS, page B3

Devils’ familiar faces await Hurricanes

Carolina has home-ice advantage for the rest of the playoffs, but the pundits are still picking against them

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — The Hurricanes will undoubtedly need to shift gears for their second round series against the New Jersey Devils, which begins with Game 1 Wednesday at PNC Arena.

The Islanders, who Carolina beat in six games to advance past Round 1 for the fifth straight year under coach Rod Brind’Amour, take great pride in playing the grimiest game possible, eschewing scoring chances for defensive dependability.

The Devils, let’s just say, are more likely to fly by the seat of their reptilian tail.

“We played enough to know each other’s (tendencies),” Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said of both the Rangers and Devils prior to New Jersey winning Monday’s Game 7 on Monday to advance. “I don’t think there’s going to be surprises, but I think it’s just how we want to do things — gas down and do the things that we want to do on the ice.”

Derek Stepan, who assisted on the overtime winner in Game 6 against the Islanders, said every round presents a new challenge.

“Every time you reset a series, it’s a new opponent, it’s a completely different animal,” he said. “Everyone has to adjust.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is Carolina being a favorite — to be upset. Despite holding the best record

of any of the remaining playoff teams, the Hurricanes are again prime targets for pundits. One story in The Athletic that asked an unnamed scout, coach and executive to pick winners in the second round had all three selecting New Jersey to win the series.

Even Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk, who still faces the prospect of playing Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals, said before Game 1 of the Panthers’ series against Toronto that he considers the Maple Leafs the second-best team in the NHL behind the Bruins.

“Everybody picked the Islanders to beat us too,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday. “I saw all those guys, the hockey people on the networks, and I don’t blame them. If you don’t watch us every night over 82 games and you just say, ‘Well, you just lost a whole offensive line off your team (to injuries).’ You do that to any team and I’d probably pick the other team to win if I haven’t really dove into your group.

“But we’ve got a lot of other good pieces here. And I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the series, no one does, but I know we’re gonna give a pretty good effort, I can tell you

that. And that gives us a chance to every night.”

A deep dive into the Devils’ lineup quickly reveals a couple of familiar faces.

First there’s Dougie Hamilton, who left Carolina as a free agent following the 2020-21 season to sign a seven-year, $63 million contract with New Jersey. Hamilton ranked fourth among defensemen in scoring during the regular season with 74 points, registering a career-high 22 goals along the way. He had three points in the first round against the

“The quarterback we are getting has been a winner forever.”

TYLER KAUFMAN / AP IMAGES FOR NFL

Bryce Young poses with Panthers fans after being selected first overall in the 2023 NFL Draft last Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO Jesper Fast, left, and the Hurricanes will have to slow defenseman — and former teammate — Dougie Hamilton in their second round playoff series against the Devils.

TRENDING

Cam Robinson:

The Jaguars left tackle is facing a multigame suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performanceenhancing drugs, according to reports. Per to league rules, Robinson could be suspended without pay for up to six games to start the season. Robinson is due to count more than $22 million against the team’s salary cap this year and next after signing a three-year, $52.75 million contract in 2022 that included $33 million guaranteed.

Hailey Van Lith:

The Louisville transfer is heading to reigning national champion LSU. The 5-foot-7 guard averaged a team-high 19.7 points last year for the Cardinals and led Louisville to the Final Four in 2022. Van Lith arrives with two years of eligibility. She is also one of the sport’s most marketable names as college athletes are permitted to profit from use of their name, image and likeness. Van Lith originally chose to play for Louisville instead of Baylor, which was then led by current LSU coach Kim Mulkey.

Mike Shannon:

The two-time World Series winner and longtime Cardinals broadcaster died Saturday night in St. Louis. He was 83. Shannon spent 50 years in the broadcast booth. That followed a short stint in the front office and a nine-year playing career with his hometown team. Shannon won titles in 1964 and ’67 with St. Louis. He played his second pro season with the Carolina League’s Winston-Salem Red Birds in 1959. Shannon retired from broadcasting after the 2021 season.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

Martin Truex Jr. won for the fourth time in the Cup Series at his home track, holding off Ross Chastain on a late restart to claim victory in Monday’s rain‑delayed race at Dover Motor Speedway and secure a spot in the playoffs. Truex, who won the exhibition Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, made his first trip to Victory Lane in a points race in more than 19 months.

Former Duke star and Magic forward Paolo Banchero after he was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery after Boston lost Game 7 of their first‑round series in overtime to the Panthers after setting an NHL record for wins and points in the regular season.

PRIME NUMBER

5

Home runs for UNC third baseman Mac Horvath in four games last week, boosting his season total to 19 as the Tar Heels make a push for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Golden State guard Stephen Curry scored a playoff career‑high 50 points in the highest‑scoring Game 7 performance ever, leading the Warriors to the second round in a win over Sacramento on Sunday. Curry topped former teammate Kevin Durant’s 48 points for the Nets against Milwaukee in 2021 to set the Game 7 record.

MLB

The Ravens agreed in principle with Lamar Jackson on a five‑year deal worth $260 million with $185 million in guaranteed money,making their star quarterback the highest‑paid player in NFL history. The 2019 NFL MVP is already one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing.

Dick Groat, a two‑sport star who was an All‑American in both basketball and baseball at Duke before playing professionally in both sports — most notably with the Pittsburgh Pirates — died last Thursday at age 92. He was an All‑Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pirates. He was also drafted by the NBA’s Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952.

NASCAR

NFL MIKE ROEMER | AP PHOTO

NBA

MORRY GASH | AP PHOTO

“Disappoint ment, confusion.”

“It was just a goal I’ve always had.”

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO

MATT ROURKE | AP PHOTO

JOHN RAOUX | AP PHOTO

Zavala helps beef up Panthers’ draft class

The fourth-rounder’s father is a chef and “Chopped” champion

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Everyone knows that a successful NFL offense starts with the line. A team needs plenty of beef up front.

That won’t be a problem for the Panthers next season after Carolina used its fourth-round pick on a guard who has plenty of beef to spare.

“Coming out of high school, I wasn’t a big dude,” said Chandler Zavala, who was selected by the Panthers out of NC State. “I had to put on a lot of weight. So my mom and dad cooked for me.”

Almost as an afterthought, he added, “There was the time my dad sent me 25 pounds of beef just to help me put on weight.”

It was during Zavala’s first year of college at Fairmont State, before he transferred to NC State. The package of beef arrived on dry ice.

“He got it from his produce (company),” Zavala explained.

If it seems unusual that a college player’s family would have a produce company, that’s because Zavala’s father isn’t your standard football dad. He’s Demetrio Zavala, the first chef to win “Chopped” five times. He’s beaten Bobby Flay and opened more than a half-dozen restaurants in South Florida. It’s rare that an NFL Draft pick isn’t the most famous member of his family, but the Panthers’ new guard has just under 3,000 Instagram followers. His “Chopped” champ dad has 18,900.

There are benefits for a growing

PANTHERS from page B1

They aren’t the things that jump off the film when evaluating quarterback prospects. They’re just little things, easy to miss on a night when, as fourth overall pick Anthony Richardson said, “I didn’t realize it was this long,”

The fact that Young didn’t miss them is a very good sign for the Panthers. How often, after a loss, have dejected players stood in front of their lockers and said that the team needs to just focus on getting the little things right?

Why keep tabs on a lineman go-

HURRICANES from page B1

Rangers, scoring his lone goal in overtime of Game 3.

While Hamilton is certainly an offensive threat, the biggest adjustment the Hurricanes might have to make compared to going against the Islanders’ defense is Hamilton’s ability to retrieve and get pucks out of the zone against Carolina’s forecheck. That’s something that New York’s top pairing of Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech struggled to do in big minutes in Round 1.

“You just have to do your job, and

offensive line prospect having a chef for a dad, of course.

“I had to eat a lot of food because

I came out of high school light,” Zavala explained. “I was at 260, and I had to put on 40 pounds.” Hence the most interesting care package a college freshman has ever received.

“It was a prime rib cut,” he said. “You can break a prime rib and get ribeyes out of it, so I just cut all the fat down, trimmed it down, made my own cuts and put it in the freezer for days and weeks.” He ate it four times a day, put on

ing to another team five picks after you? Because you might bump into him in the hallway in a little while.

Why take the time to mention other quarterbacks like Stroud and Tagovailoa? Perhaps because the Texans, who drafted Stroud, and Miami, where Tagovailoa calls home, are on the Panthers’ schedule this year. And the key to the two draft night moments is that they were second nature to Young, not something he had to be sure to remember to do.

“The quarterback we are getting has been a winner forever,” Panthers coach Frank Reich said.

obviously you have an eye on players like that,” Aho said when I asked him about facing either Hamilton or the Rangers’ Adam Fox in Round 2. “You’re trying to take time and space away and not let them have time to make a play. Because they’ll make a play.”

Also waiting for Carolina in Round 2 is Erik Haula. The Finnish center played 41 games for the Hurricanes in 2019-20 before being dealt to Florida in the deal that brought Vincent Trocheck to Raleigh at that season’s trade deadline.

Since then, the Hurricanes have

the pounds, and the rest was history. And for Chandler’s big day, the future NFL player decided to give his dad the day off.

“We took a break and just brought in some tacos for today,” he said after being drafted. “He cooked yesterday, so we decided to give the old man a break.”

The Panthers hope they’ve got the right mix of ingredients for their offensive line after drafting Zavala. They reunited him with his Wolfpack teammate Ickey Ekwonu, who Carolina used its first pick on in last year’s draft. The

“This guy is a winner. He has been a winner on the field, but he wins off the field as well. He’s our kind of guy. Make no mistake about it, we got the best quarterback in college football.” They’re also getting a quarterback who took time to study the tendencies of his potential future coach while going through the draft process.

“I’ve been able to talk with him about the system and his philosophy,” Young said of Reich. “I think it was something really useful to me and was really great to learn about — doing a little bit of re-

faced Haula in each of the last two playoffs. On his sixth team in five seasons, the 32-year-old will again line up opposite his old team in the postseason.

“He’s a good player,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s why he’s been on a lot of teams because teams realize that he can play, and he’s been one of their better players.”

During those two series against Carolina, first round matchups against the Predators and Bruins in 2021 and 2022, respectively, Haula developed into a villain at PNC Arena — one of the few former Hurri-

Panthers liked the look of the two playing next to each other at State.

“Two years ago, watching tape, he lines up next to Ickey, and they’re just road grading people,” said Panthers GM Scott Fitterer. “He’s physical, smart, tough, everything we went in an O-lineman.”

Offensive line was an area of need for the Panthers, who focused on their roster holes with their early draft picks. Obviously, quarterback Bryce Young was taken with the first overall pick. The team then gave Young a new target by

search on his background, where he comes from and then hearing it from him what he looks for the quarterback position, what they want their identity to be and everything. It was great to be able to learn from him in the small time that I had, and I’m super excited to continue to learn and grow underneath him.”

The draft process has grown into its own industry — a three-month circus of preparation, rumors and speculation. And Young was able to keep a cool head, the ringmaster at the center of the three rings.

“I never knew where I was go-

canes to face such vitriol after leaving Raleigh.

“He’s the only guy that’s left here that seems that that’s going on,” Brind’Amour said with a laugh.

“I don’t know why. I mean, I don’t know what happened there.”

What happened is Haula has leaned into being an agitator since leaving the Hurricanes. Outside of accumulating 17 penalty minutes in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals with Vegas against the Capitals in 2018, Haula had taken just seven minor penalties in his first 48 career postseason games.

taking Ole Miss receiver Jonathan Mingo in the second round, No. 39 overall.

Edge rusher was another area of need, and the Panthers took Oregon’s D.J. Johnson in the third round, 93rd overall.

Zavala was the next to be added to the team, and all four of the Panthers’ first picks stand a good chance to see playing time as rookies. Young will compete with veteran Andy Dalton for the starting quarterback job. Mingo will join a cast of veteran pickups in the Panthers’ receiving corps, and Johnson is expected to line up opposite Brian Burns on the Panthers’ defensive front.

Zavala also lands in an excellent situation. Right guard Austin Corbett suffered an ACL tear in the team’s final regular season game, and he’ll miss the start of the season. That gives Zavala a shot at the starting job. Worst case, he’ll be a valuable source of depth on the Carolina line.

“It’s no secret you need depth at O-line,” said Panthers coach Frank Reich. “You need competition. Corbett’s injury, and him missing time at the beginning of the year, we needed to find somebody to come in there and find the right mix in the interior.”

The Panthers’ final pick was fifth-rounder Jammie Robinson, a safety and nickel corner from Florida State. He’ll likely begin his NFL career on special teams.

As the new draft class joins the Panthers, the players will want to remember one rule of thumb: If the fourth-rounder gets a cooler delivered from home, you might want to stay close to him.

“I’m a red meat guy,” Zavala said. “Give me a steak. Keep it simple.”

ing,” he said. “I never tried to measure anything up. I knew how Draft Day was. Nothing is promised. I didn’t try to keep up with what was in progress. I just tried to control what I could control. … I always knew God would direct me to the right place. I didn’t know. I didn’t have any confirmation. I didn’t look super deep into it.”

Now the weight of the franchise falls squarely on the rookie’s shoulders. If anyone is up to the task, it appears to be Bryce Young.

“Pressure is an opportunity,” he said. “It’s fun to be in those situations. That’s what we all dream of.”

He’s taken 16 PIMs in his last 20 playoff games, 12 of which came in 13 games against the Hurricanes over the last two seasons. He had five hits with the Bruins in Game 1 against the Hurricanes last year and six more in Game 7.

Haula will certainly try to get under the skin of Carolina’s top players — Seth Jarvis was a target last year — and the Hurricanes will try to end his season for the third straight year.

“We’ll get another series of him,” Brind’Amour said, “and hopefully the same result.”

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO

The Panthers selected NC State guard Chandler Zavala, right, in the fourth round with the 114th overall pick in last week’s NFL Draft.

KARL B. DEBLAKER | AP PHOTO

Panthers fourth round pick Chandler Zavala, left, will be reunited with former NC State teammate Ikem Okwonu on Carolina’s offensive line.

Garner’s Keion White a perfect match for Patriots

The defensive end plays things close to the vest after being selected in the second round

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

AFTER HIS PRO DAY at Georgia Tech, defensive end Keion White said something that proved to be prophetic.

“I’m a pretty nonchalant guy,” the former Garner High standout and high school teammate of Nyheim Hines said. “Compatibility is a big thing in the NFL. You might be good for one team but trash for another, just based on how you fit in.”

White was thought to be a potential first round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and while he slipped to the second round, he couldn’t have found a more compatible match for him. He was taken in the second round, No. 46 overall, by the New England Patriots.

When the pick was announced, the cameras on the draft coverage cut to him as he sat, utterly stonefaced and perhaps somewhat annoyed, as he received the news that he was officially headed to the NFL.

So, of course, he would go to the Patriots, the franchise whose head coach, Bill Belichick, is known for his monotone and lack of engagement when meeting with the media.

“I don’t know if y’all seen on TV, but I’m a pretty chill person,” White said shortly after being drafted. “So I’m not very like explosive in excitement in any form.

So I’ve just kind of been taking it in and I haven’t even talked to my family, to be honest. I’ve just kind of taken it all in and handled it myself, for sure.”

If anyone deserved to take a moment to pump a fist, shout in glee or wipe away a tear, it was White, who arrived at Garner as a 5-foot-8 waif who, he claims, couldn’t bench press 95 pounds. By his senior year, he was unrecruited and planned to enter the military before Old Dominion came through with a football scholarship two weeks before signing day. He worked as a night watchman and Domino’s delivery guy while playing college ball — he claims to still keep a polo shirt that was part of his Domino’s uniform in his closet as a reminder. White transferred to Georgia Tech and battled through an injury to earn his spot in the league.

“I’m playing with house money,” he said at the NFL Combine.

“First round, second, seventh. I don’t care. I was so close to not playing college football.”

A short while after he was selected by the Patriots, his new head coach took the podium in Foxborough and showed the rookie how a master media grump does it.

“We’re glad we ended up with (first round pick) Christian (Gonzalez),” Belichick said. “He’s a good player. We’re glad we have him. We’re glad we have Keion and Marte (Mapu, the third round pick) too. They’re all good players. Good size. Good speed.

Smart guys. They should help us.”

Belichick was asked if the Patriots considered taking White with their first round pick. He frowned, shrugged and finally said, “Yeah. Sure.”

It was pointed out that White was projected as a first-rounder by many mock drafts.

“Whatever all the predraft hype is and speculation is, as usual, it’s pretty far off,” Belichick groused. “Nobody can predict how it’s going to go.”

A month earlier at his pro day, White could have been channeling Belichick as he was asked about his draft projection.

“I don’t care about that mock

draft stuff,” he said, “because those are a bunch of guys sitting in their offices just playing around.”

White’s greatest hits also included his thoughts on his draft stock rising.

“I wish I could just go back and be an under-the-radar guy. That’s what I like.”

On which teams he’d be visiting for interviews and workouts:

“My agent handles that. I just get on the flight.”

And on which NFL players he patterns himself after:

“When you do what everybody else does, you’re going to be just like everybody else.”

All that was missing was a “We’re on to Cincinnati.”

It’s a match made in heaven.

“I’m a very big business person,” White said after being selected. “So I’m not too big on the glitz

and glamour of football. I want to work. I want to win. And I feel like that’s what the Patriots offer. And I feel like that’s where we meet in the middle there. … I feel like our personalities mix well. So I feel like it’s a really good fit.”

White was a bit surprised that New England called his name since the Patriots did a good job of downplaying their interest as Belichick, not surprisingly, kept his cards close to his vest.

“I didn’t have any contact with the Patriots. So it was a surprise to me,” White said.

Belichick was told of White’s comments and, predictably, shrugged.

“We were at his pro day,” he said. “He wasn’t able to do much (White was recovering from an injury). We had film of everything he did and saw him at the Combine and all that. We’ve had interactions with him. When you get so many scouts, as college players do, it’s tough to keep track of them all, but we had interactions with him.”

Suddenly, Belichick broke into a smirking grin.

“We know him better than he knows us,” the coach said. “But we’ll get to know each other real soon.”

Other local players chosen in the 2023 NFL Draft

Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Greensboro / Dudley High Round 3, 68th, Detroit Lions

Josh Downs, WR, UNC Round 3, 79th overall Indianapolis Colts

Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Charlotte / Mallard Creek Round 3, 86th overall, Baltimore Ravens

Kobie Turner, DT, Wake Forest Round 3, 89th overall, Los Angeles Rams

KJ Henry, Edge, Clemson Winston-Salem, West Forsyth Round 5, 137th overall, Washington Commanders

Nick Hampton, Edge, App State Round 5, 161st overall, L.A. Rams

Asim Richards, OT, UNC Round 5, 169th overall, Dallas Cowboys

A.T. Perry, WR, Wake Forest Round 6, 195th overall, New Orleans Saints

Antoine Green, WR, UNC Round 7, 219th overall, Detroit Lions

Ethan Evans, punter, Wingate Round 7, 223rd overall, L.A. Rams

Jovaughn Gwyn, OG, South Carolina Charlotte / Harding University High Round 7, 225th overall, Atlanta Falcons

Cooper Hodges, OT, App State Round 7, 226th overall, Jacksonville Jaguars

Raymond Vohasek, DT, UNC Round 7, 227th overall, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jordon Riley, DT, Oregon

Durham / Riverside High, UNC Round 7, 243rd overall, N.Y. Giants

Jalen Brooks, WR, South Carolina

Harrisburg / Hickory Ridge High, Wingate Round 7, 244th overall, Dallas Cowboys

Grant DuBose, WR, Charlotte Round 7, 256th overall, Green Bay Packers

Hendrick may consider changes after Elliott, Bowman injuries

Both drivers were injured in accidents away from their Cup rides

By Dan Gelston

The Associated Press

DOVER, Del. — Before Chase Elliott shredded on a snowboard and Alex Bowman moonlighted in a sprint car, Rick Hendrick issued a warning to all his Cup drivers who craved extracurricular activities outside their lucrative NASCAR careers. Be careful. Or else.

Even so, Hendrick Motorsports has become the home of the injured driver due to thrill-seeking outside interests.

Bowman, who has seven career wins, suffered a fractured vertebra in a sprint car crash and will miss at least the next three Cup races. Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR champion, recently returned from a six-race absence after breaking his left leg snowboarding in Colorado in March.

If these kinds of mishaps happen again to Elliott, Bowman, Kyle Larson or William Byron, it could be the end of Hendrick drivers’ adventures, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Andrews said Saturday.

“For right now, there’s not going to be any changes to our policy other than just be aware,” Andrews said. “The most important thing is the results on Sunday in the Cup Series.”

Josh Berry is coming off the bench again, this time to take the wheel of Bowman’s No. 48.

“This is Alex’s race team,” said Berry, who finished as high as second in five starts for Elliott. “My job in this situation is to try and keep these guys going and prepared and happy and ready to rock ‘n’ roll whenever Alex gets back.”

Elliott has vowed he won’t stop snowboarding or any other non-NASCAR activities he enjoys.

A five-time winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award, Elliott understands the series is dependent on stars like him to sell tickets, goose TV ratings and drive interest.

Berry, meanwhile, is a candidate to replace the retiring Kevin Harvick next season at Stewart-Haas Racing, but fans don’t flock to him in the garage and ask for autographs as they would for Elliott.

Hendrick largely banned drivers from participating in extra-

curricular activities — rules related primarily to racing outside of NASCAR — until Larson came on in 2021. Larson’s popularity exploded as he made his name as a big winner in the short-distance, high-speed races. And Bowman’s injury happened at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, in an event that is part of a racing series created by Larson. Elliott said taking away extracurriculars or removing the sprint cars and late models off the schedule would be a big mistake for Hendrick, adding that the consecutive injuries were nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.

“It’s obviously very, very poor timing with where I was at and just coming back, and obviously, Alex being hurt this week,” Elliott said. “Look, I get it, it’s a bad look. I totally understand that. But also, I understand there is a timing piece to that, and it’s just really poor timing.

“I think if one happened this year and the other happened next year, would we be having the same conversation? Probably not.”

Byron said it’d “be a bummer” if Hendrick changed its tune to be more aligned with the powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, which enforces a ban on outside racing.

“Look, I get it, it’s a bad look. I totally understand that. But also, I understand there is a timing piece to that, and it’s just really poor timing.”

Chase Elliott on he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman both getting injured away from the track this season

Larson was more blunt, saying the dirt races aren’t just something he does for fun. They’re essentially a second job.

“I make a good chunk of money racing, selling merchandise at the dirt tracks,” Larson said. “I get to race in front of a lot of fans that might not get to see me at a NASCAR race. I weigh it all.”

Larson, who plans to race the Indianapolis 500 next season, also said “There’s risk in everything you do.”

Hendrick’s GM understands the dangers as well — all outside races undergo a review process before they are approved — but Andrews said the team can’t afford to lose out on a Cup championship and risk angering sponsors simply because their drivers want to have some fun.

“We certainly don’t want to tell them no to something we feel like would help them here on Sunday,” Andrews said. “As a company, we’ll just continue to look at it, continue to talk to our guys and make sure we’re making the right decisions together. Make sure they’re in the right race cars, good race cars, safe race cars.”

“I don’t know if y’all seen on TV, but I’m a pretty chill person.”

Keion White, Garner High School alumnus

DARRON CUMMINGS | AP PHOTO

Georgia Tech defensive lineman Keion White runs a drill during the NFL Combine in early March.

The Garner High School alumnus was drafted in the second round by the Patriots.

CHRIS CARLSON | AP PHOTO

Chase Elliott, who suffered a broken left leg in a snowboarding accident in March, is one of two Hendrick Motorsports drivers to miss time this season due to an injury suffered away from their NASCAR team.

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to Silicon Valley’s collapse. In a statement, Quarles said the report provides “no evidence” that policy changes forestalled effective supervision of the bank.

Banking policy analysts said the critical reports make it more likely regulation will be tightened, though the Fed acknowledged it could take years for proposals to be implemented.

The reports “provide a clear path for a tougher and more costly regulatory regime for banks with at least $100 billion of assets,” said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at TD Cowen. “We would expect the Fed to advance proposals in the coming months.”

Alexa Philo, a former bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform, said the Fed could adopt stricter rules on its own, without relying on Congress. “It is long past time to roll back the dangerous deregulation under the last administration to the greatest extent possible, and pay close attention to the largest banks so this crisis does not worsen,” she said.

The Bank Policy Institute, a trade group that represents the largest banks, said the Fed report was wrong to single out deregulation as a contributing factor to Silicon Valley’s collapse. Instead, the BPI said, the Fed’s report points to the failure of bank supervisors to enforce existing rules, “suggesting that the regulations were fit for purpose, but the examiner response was inadequate.”

The Fed’s report, which includes the release of internal reports and Fed communications, is a rare look into how the central bank supervises individual banks as one of the nation’s bank regulators. Typically such processes are confidential, and rarely seen by the public, but the Fed chose to release these reports to show how the bank was managed up to its failure.

Bartlett Collins Naylor, financial policy advocate at Congress Watch, a division of Public Citizen, was surprised at the degree to which the Fed blamed itself for the bank failure.

“I don’t know that I expected the Fed to say ‘mea culpa’ — but I find that adds a lot of credibility,” to Federal Reserve leadership, Naylor said.

The Fed also criticized Silicon Valley Bank for tying executive compensation too closely to short-term profits and the company’s stock price. From 2018 to 2021, profit at SVB Financial, Silicon Valley Bank’s parent, doubled and the stock nearly tripled.

However, there were no pay incentives tied to risk management, the report says. Silicon Valley Bank notably had no chief risk officer at the firm for roughly a year, during a time when the bank was growing quickly.

The report also looks at the role social media and technology played in the Silicon Valley Bank’s last days. The Fed notes that social media was able to cause a bank run that happened in just hours, compared to days for earlier bank runs like those seen in 2008.

Although regulators guaranteed all the banks’ deposits, customers at other midsize regional banks rushed to pull out their money — often with a few taps on a mobile device — and move it to the perceived safety of big money center banks such as JPMorgan Chase.

FDIC recommends raising insured deposit limit for businesses

The Associated Press NEW YORK — U.S. businesses might be able to secure bank deposit insurance for accounts holding more than $250,000 if Congress agrees with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s new proposal to ease the industry turmoil that has sparked three bank failures in the past two months.

The FDIC recommended the change Monday, rethinking the decades-old limit and seeking more flexibility to cover higher deposits on a “targeted” basis. Raising the insurance limit for business accounts that pay for company operations such as payroll would shore up accounts that pose the most risk to financial stability, the FDIC said.

The proposed change appears to openly acknowledge that the FDIC is looking for ways to calm both depositors and markets as the agency contends with the third bank run this year. First Republic Bank became the second largest failure in history Monday when regulators seized it and JP Morgan Chase stepped up as a buyer.

“The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and the decision to approve Systemic Risk Exceptions to protect the uninsured depositors at those institutions, raised fundamental questions about the role of depos-

it insurance in the United States banking system,” FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said in a statement accompanying the regulator’s recommendations.

The FDIC is a government agency formed during the Great Depression to restore faith in U.S. banking institutions.

As of December, more than 99% of U.S. deposit accounts held less than $250,000, and so were automatically covered by existing FDIC insurance, Gruenberg said. However, the system remains

New report blames airlines for most flight cancellations

The Associated Press Congressional investigators said in a report Friday that an increase in flight cancellations as travel recovered from the pandemic was due mostly to factors that airlines controlled, including cancellations for maintenance issues or lack of a crew.

The Government Accountability Office also said airlines are taking longer to recover from disruptions such as storms. Surges in cancellations in late 2021 and early 2022 lasted longer than they did before the pandemic, the GAO said.

Much of the increase in airline-caused cancellations has occurred at budget airlines, but the largest carriers have also made more unforced errors, according to government data.

Airlines have clashed with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over blame for high rates of canceled and delayed flights in the past two years. Airlines argue that the government is at fault for not having enough air

subject to the sort of bank runs that brought down First Republic, despite a consortium of big lenders having pooled $30 billion in cash to stabilize the bank as recently as March.

Last Monday, First Republic reported its first-quarter results, shocking investors when it revealed that depositors had withdrawn $100 billion, most in mid-March immediately after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed. First Republic’s stock plunged more than 50% the day

“The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank … raised fundamental questions about the role of deposit insurance in the United States banking system.”

FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg

after the report.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (RNC), who leads the House Financial Services Committee, issued a statement Monday noting that the FDIC “used its available tools to resolve First Republic Bank” but the congressman didn’t immediately address the agency’s recommendations for change.

In seeking additional powers to insure business accounts, the FDIC said technological advances both hasten the speed of information and let depositors quickly take their money elsewhere at the first sign of trouble. Both factors can spur “faster, and more costly, bank runs,” the agency said.

But insuring more deposits doesn’t come without a downside. Deposit insurance can encourage banks to take on greater risk if they know their deposits are covered. Targeted coverage to protect businesses would be the most cost effective way for regulators to meet their stability objectives, Gruenberg said.

traffic controllers, while Buttigieg has blamed the carriers.

The GAO report was requested by Republican leaders of the House Transportation Committee. The GAO said it examined flight data from January 2018 through April 2022 to understand why travelers suffered more delays and cancellations as travel began to recover from the pandemic.

The GAO said weather was the leading cause of cancellations in the two years before the pandemic, but the percentage of airline-caused cancellations began increasing in early 2021. From October through December 2021, airlines caused 60% or more of cancellations — higher that at any time in 2018 or 2019.

At the time, airlines were understaffed. The airlines took $54 billion in taxpayer money to keep employees on the job through the pandemic, but they reduced workers anyway by paying them incentives to quit.

As travel rebounded, the airlines struggled to replace thousands of departed workers. They

now have more workers than in 2019 — and the cancellation rate this year is lower than during the same period in 2019, according to data from tracking service FlightAware.

A spokeswoman for trade group Airlines for America said the majority of cancellations this year have been caused by severe weather and air traffic control outages – about 1,300 flights were canceled in one day because of an outage in a Federal Aviation Administration safety-alerting system.

“Carriers have taken responsibility for challenges within their control and continue working diligently to improve operational reliability as demand for air travel rapidly returns,” said the spokeswoman, Hannah Walden. “This includes launching aggressive, successful hiring campaigns for positions across the industry and reducing schedules in response to the FAA’s staffing shortages.”

Several airlines agreed to reduce schedules in New York this summer at the request of the FAA, which has a severe shortage of controllers at a key facility on Long Island. In 2019, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines had the highest percentages of their own cancellations being caused by an airline-controlled issue — more than half of each carrier’s cancellations. In late 2021, they were joined by low-fare carriers Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue

“Carriers have taken responsibility for challenges within their control and continue working diligently to improve operational reliability as demand for air travel rapidly returns.”

— Hannah Walden, spokeswoman Airlines for America

Airways and Frontier, each of whom were responsible for 60% or more of their own total cancellations, according to GAO.

The percentage of cancellations caused by the airline also increased at Southwest, Delta, American and United. The figures did not include the 16,700 late-December cancellations at Southwest that followed the breakdown of the airline’s crew-rescheduling system.

The GAO said the Transportation Department has increased its oversight of airline-scheduling practices. The Transportation and Justice departments are investigating whether Southwest scheduled more flights than it could handle before last December’s meltdown.

The Southwest debacle has led to calls to strengthen passenger-compensation rules.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seal is shown outside its headquarters, March 14, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

A traveler looks at a flight board with delays and cancellations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

the venomous gourmet

Review: Bull City Burger and Brewery’s Tarantula Burger | Durham

Spider on a bun is the highlight of the Durham restaurant’s Exotic Meat Month

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

DURHAM — According to a list of “fascinating facts” that has been forwarded around the internet for decades, the average sleeping American swallows four spiders a year.

I guess I have three more to go.

Every April since 2012, Durham’s Bull City Burger and Brewing has celebrated Exotic Meat Month. While other restaurants may be introducing plantbased meat substitutes*, for more than a decade, Bull City has given a new meaning to impossible burger by looking far and wide for intriguing ingredients for their burger patties.

(*Rest assured, Bull City also offers plant-based alternatives for vegetarian customers.) Reindeer? Python? Emu? Kangaroo? Yak? They’re all on the menu at various points during Exotic Meat Month. The restaurant lists 20 different exotic meats on its menu, with different combinations available each day during the month. They do their best on social media to give customers a heads-up on what to expect throughout the month.

Why do they do this? As Bull City explains on its website, it gives customers “a chance to experience tastes that other cultures enjoy every day. It is a chance to learn about new flavors and increase your cultural awareness. It’s … a chance to step outside the box and experience ingredients that are daring, fresh and exciting.”

Tucked about two-thirds of the way down the exotic meat menu is an ingredient that’s easy to miss: “Bugs.”

While the chance to try an ostrich or camel burger may excite some, Exotic Meat Month made its name with two ingredients from the “Bugs” category. The supplies are extremely limited, but a few days every April, Bull City Burger and Brewery offers a few select diners the chance to sample the Tarantula Burger.

Unlike some of the other meats on the exotic menu, the patty is not made from ground tarantula. For most diners, that might actually be preferable to what is served.

The Tarantula Burger is 100% allbeef patty on a freshly baked bun, topped with lettuce, a spicy sauce similar to barbecue … and a whole, baked tarantula.

The restaurant gets the tarantulas pre-baked and tops the burgers with them, hair, legs, eyes and all. It comes with a side of dirty fries for $25. In previous years, Bull City has had to hold lotteries to determine which diners get the spiders since demand was so high. On the Sunday I went, however, there were still some left at the height of the lunch rush.

Seated at a long communal table, another customer near me received his Tarantula Burger first, happily dousing it in ketchup and chowing down, much to the chagrin of the other people in his party.

As he was finishing up, my own Tarantula Burger arrived. The top bun was leaning against the burg-

er, putting the tarantula on full display. It sat, legs folded up into its body, swimming in a pool of the BBQ sauce. This, I would later learn, was no accident.

“Your first time?” my new arachnotarian friend asked. When I nodded, he said, “Mine too.”

I put the bun in place, eschewed any ketchup — I wanted to taste it the way Bull City intended — took a deep breath, and then took a deep bite.

This may come as a shock to you, but … tarantula doesn’t taste very good.

I tried to use convoluted logic to convince myself that it wouldn’t be too bad. After all, I reasoned, an ugly, dangerous, multi-legged creature that lives in water is an expensive delicacy. And aren’t crabs and lobsters really just the tarantulas of the sea? Maybe the

big spider would taste similar to its seafood cousins. It did not. The barbecue sauce wasn’t a luxury. It was a necessity to drown out the tarantula taste. Its body was sour and bitter, tasting somewhat like milk that’s gone bad. The sweet spice of the sauce was able to blunt that somewhat, but the resulting mixture of tastes still wasn’t a pleasant one. Without the sauce, the tarantula body tasted …well, like something that simply should not be eaten.

Then there were the legs.

“The legs,” said the diner who had eaten his burger just before me. “That’s what got me. I was fine, except for the legs.”

They were crunchy, much like the texture of bacon, except for one major difference: They were covered with hair, which, while also crunchy, was also somehow sticky

and clung to my inner cheeks and tongue. An hour later, I was still picking what I was sure was tarantula hair from between my teeth. It also meant that after each bite was swallowed, my mouth was still filled with a cloud of leg bits, floating around and clinging to all surfaces. I tried chasing it with sips of a drink, but the sensation remained.

I finished the entire burger, spider and all eight legs. I’m not proud of it, but I am a professional. I did not return when they released their scorpion burger with guacamole a few days later.

As I was cleaning my plate, a waitress walked over to the chalkboard displaying the day’s specials and erased “Tarantula Burger” from view.

They’d sold out their supply for the day.

“The legs. That’s what got me. I was fine, except for the legs”

Satisfied Tarantula Burger customer

SHAWN KREST | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

The Tarantula Burger at Bull City Burger and Brewery.

COUNTY NEWS

Operation Fan Heat Relief to distribute fans to eligible recipients this summer

As temperatures begin rising, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Aging and Adult Services is partnering with the N.C. Area Agencies on Aging and local service providers to distribute fans to eligible recipients through Operation Fan Heat Relief to help older adults at risk stay safe this summer.

People 60 years of age and older, as well as adults with disabilities, are eligible to sign up for assistance from May 1 through October 31 at local aging agencies across the state. Since 1986, the relief program has purchased fans for older adults and adults with disabilities, providing them with a more comfortable living environment and reducing heat-related illnesses.

This program is made possible by donations from Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Dominion, and Valassi and allows regional Area Agencies on Aging and local provider agencies to purchase fans for eligible individuals. Local provider agencies can also purchase a limited number of air conditioners based on a person’s specific health conditions.

Last year, the Division of Aging and Adult Services received $85,1374 in donations, allowing for the distribution of 3,793 fans and 23 air conditioners.

For more information about receiving a fan or eligibility requirements, individuals may contact the Division of Aging and Adult Services at (919) 855-3400 or visit https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ operation-fan-and-heat-relief.

South Stanly High School evacuated after bomb threat

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

NORWOOD — Just three days after the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office announced that it had been investigating alleged threats of violence throughout the county’s school system, the students and staff of South Stanly High School were evacuated from the school’s facilities on April 28 following a called-in bomb threat.

Stanly County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Dennis released a statement addressing the incident later that day.

“At approximately 1:40 pm on April 28, 2023, South Stanly High School received an unsubstantiated out-of-state phone threat,” Dennis said. “The school followed its safety procedures while the Stanly County Sheriff’s Department arrived to investigate the incident.”

Due to the proximity of the buildings, the sheriff’s office also placed South Stanly Middle School on lockdown while the investigation was underway.

Dennis continued: “Out of an abundance of caution, and for the safety of everyone on the property, students and staff were escorted to a reunification site. Com-

munication was sent directly to parents and guardians, informing them of the activity and processes taken. We would like to thank the parents, students, and school staff for their cooperation and patience during this time.”

On April 25 — just days prior — the sheriff’s office posted on its social media page that it had been working to investigate violence threats that had arisen in various Stanly County schools.

“In regards to the alleged threats that have been circulating throughout the Stanly County School System, investigators with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, School Resource Officers, and Stanly County School personnel have been working diligently with every school that was involved,” the sheriff’s office stated in a post.

“Investigators have followed up on every tip that was received by law enforcement as well as tips that were provided to school officials. Subsequent to an extensive investigation, investigators determined that no threat was substantiated. The investigation will continue should any new information

Tweaked NC community colleges bill advances

The Associated Press RALEIGH — Changes to how North Carolina’s community college system is governed are proceeding again within the General Assembly after action on the legislation stalled last week.

The Senate education committee approved on Monday the measure sought by Republicans that would give more state community college board and local trustee board appointments to the General Assembly and take them away from the governor and local officials.

The measure was amended, however, to delete many specific additional powers for the state community college system president that GOP lawmakers had sought to shift from the system board. Senate leader Phil Berger suggested last week that providing those additional presidential powers were contingent on the legislature being able to vet state system presidential candidates.

Since the original bill was debated, the State Board of Community Colleges hired Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox to be the next president of the 58-college system.

Cox signed his work contract last week, a state community college spokesperson confirmed Mon-

day. The amended measure still says the state board’s choice of president will require General Assembly confirmation, but bill sponsor Sen. Amy Galey of Alamance County told the committee it would apply to future hires.

Most of the proposed appointment changes remained intact Monday. The state board ultimately would be reduced from 21 voting members to 18 by 2027, with the House and Senate electing nine each to four-year terms.

Currently Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper selects 10 members and the General Assembly eight. The lieutenant governor, labor commissioner and state treasurer would no longer be on the board.

As for local college trustee boards, school district boards would no longer fill seats, leaving positions to be chosen by legislative leaders and county commissioners. In a concession to local governments that often help fund campuses, county commissioners could appoint one person from their membership to serve on the local community college board.

Republican lawmakers have said the changes will help address system campuses’ shortcomings in training students to fill positions in expanding industries.

“The overall intent of the bill continues to be increasing our capacity for workforce development,” Galey said Monday. She also has said previously that the state constitution gives the legislature the responsibility of choosing higher-education board members.

Cooper’s office has criticized the proposal, calling the appointment change a political power grab that would hurt job-recruiting efforts.

“I do worry ... that we’re changing the governance of the community college structure way too quickly without consulting the necessary stakeholder groups,” Democratic Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, of Wake County, said before the amended measure passed on a voice vote.

The measure likely will be heard on the Senate floor later this week.

“The overall intent of the bill continues to be increasing our capacity for workforce development.”

Sen. Amy Galey

PHOTO VIA STANLY COUNTY SCHOOLS

South Stanly High School

PHOTO VIA STANLY COUNTY SCHOOLS

South Stanly Middle School

THREAT from page 1

arise.” The sheriff’s office’s Facebook post is connected to an incident from the previous day.

Around 9 p.m. on April 24, parents of students attending West Stanly Middle School received automated phone calls from the school alerting them that the district and local law enforcement were investigating social media threats of violence against the school.

Underneath the sheriff’s office’s online post, a few users expressed concerns about the severity of the threats that had been deemed unsubstantiated.

“I’m confused because there was literal proof on Snapchat of someone threatening Stanly County Schools,” one commenter wrote. “There is actual proof of the kid threatening this, and the majority of us have seen it. So, does this mean the kid is allowed back to school? Make this make sense for us,” another commenter wrote.

Local law enforcement agencies are continuing to monitor the situations for both South Stanly High School and West Stanly Middle School, although the latest threats are not the first made against local schools this year — North Stanly High School was placed under lockdown on February 16.

“We have received a report about a possible threat that was made to North Stanly High School,” the Stanly County School Board wrote in a statement that was shared with authorities in February. “The school was placed on lockdown while school and district administrators worked with law enforcement to investigate. It has been determined that the threat is not real. The lockdown has been lifted. We have resumed our regular activities. The safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance, and we thank you for your support.”

Anyone with information about former, current or future threats against schools is asked to contact the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office at 704-986-3714 or send a private message to the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

Aerosmith announces farewell tour starting in September

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the last time to celebrate the rock band’s 50-plus years together.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced Monday the dates for their farewell tour called “Peace Out” starting Sept. 2 in Philadelphia. The 40-date run of shows, which includes a stop in the band’s hometown of Boston on New Year’s Eve, will end Jan. 26 in Montreal.

“I think it’s about time,” guitarist Joe Perry said in an interview with The Associated Press. Perry said the group, with frontman Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford, learned from the staging and production from their recent Las Vegas residency shows.

Perry believes the time to say goodbye is now, especially with every founding band member over

the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group.

“It’s kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we’ve been out here,” Perry said. “You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this. … It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we’re) kind of anxious to get back on the road.”

Tyler and Perry said the band is looking forward to digging into their lengthy catalog of the group’s rock classics including “Crazy,” “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “Livin’ on the Edge.”

Over the years, Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, has collected four Grammys. The band broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for “Walk This Way.”

Aerosmith performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001 and

even had their own theme park attraction in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith” ride.

“We’re opening up Pandora’s Box one last time to present our fans with the Peace Out tour,” Tyler said in a statement to the AP. His “Pandora’s Box” reference calls out Aerosmith’s 1991 three-disc compilation album that covered the band’s output from the 1970s to the early 1980s.

“Be there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready,” Tyler added. The band said Kramer decided to not take part in the current dates on the upcoming tour. He’s still a part of the group, but the drummer has been on leave to “focus his attention on his family and health” since their Vegas residency last year. Drummer John Douglas will continue to play in his place.

Perry called Kramer their broth-

“It’s kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we’ve been out here. You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this. … It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we’re) kind of anxious to get back on the road.”

Joe Perry, guitarist

er. The band said his “legendary presence behind the drum kit will be sorely missed.”

Before the 40-date tour wraps, Perry said other cities domestically and internationally could be added.

“It’s the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while,” he said. “But I don’t know how many times we’ll be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time.”

Willie Nelson inhales the love at 90th birthday concert

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — “Are there any more real cowboys?” Neil Young sang Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl on a rare evening when he was neither the headliner nor, at age 77, even close to the oldest artist on the bill.

Providing an instant answer, Willie Nelson, wearing a cowboy hat and red-white-and-blue guitar strap, slowly strolled on to the stage on his 90th birthday, bringing the crowd of more than 17,000 to its feet.

Nelson sat in a chair — one of the few onstage concessions he’s made to age — and joined Young for the rest of their 1985 duet, “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?”

“I want to thank all the artists who came out tonight to help celebrate whatever it is we’re celebrating,” said Nelson, feigning senility and getting a laugh. The moment came three hours into the first of a two-night celebration of the country legend at the open-air Los Angeles amphitheater, where generations of stars sang his songs in tribute.

“As a kid growing up in Texas, it seemed like there was nothing bigger than Willie Nelson,” said Owen Wilson, one of the evening’s emcees along with Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke and Jennifer Garner.

“And looking out at the Hollywood Bowl tonight, it still feels like there’s nothing bigger than Willie Nelson.”

After Young, Nelson brought out George Strait, a country superstar of the following generation, for their self-referential duet, “Sing One With Willie,” followed by the Willie perennial, “Pancho and Lefty,” with Strait singing the part once played by the late Merle Haggard.

Nelson then shouted, “Come out and roll one with me Snoop!”

Strutting out came rapper Snoop Dogg, sitting next to Nelson as they launched into their stoner anthem, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I

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Die.” Perhaps fittingly, each seemed to forget the words at times. The two friends looked too happy to care.

“Somebody make some noise for the legend Mr. Willie Nelson!” Snoop shouted mid-song.

The parade of partners illustrated one of the night’s themes: Willie brings people together.

“All of the sudden, it didn’t matter if you were a hillbilly or a hippie, everyone was a Willie Nelson fan,” Wilson said of Nelson’s late-blooming emergence as a singing superstar when he left Nashville, Tennessee, and returned to his native Texas in the 1970s. “Even the Dalai Lama is a Willie Nelson fan. It’s true.”

The crowd, which ranged from small children to seniors, illustrated the point. The stands were dotted with cowboy hats while hippies danced in the aisles and weed smoke wafted in the air.

Miranda Lambert thrilled them with a rousing, sing-along version of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Ba-

bies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” Nelson’s 1978 hit with Waylon Jennings. The Chicks blazed through 1970’s “Bloody Mary Morning” at the same break-neck pace that Willie and his Family Band played it live in their prime.

Nelson has outlived nearly every member of that band, which backed him for decades of constant touring and recording. His little sister and piano player, Bobbie Nelson, died last year. She got her own tribute from Norah Jones, who banged the keys through the younger Nelson’s saloon-style solo song, “Down Yonder,” from Willie Nelson’s definitive 1975 album, “Red Headed Stranger.” While many of the women who took the stage played rousing rockers, most of the men went in for quiet emotion.

Chris Stapleton kept his guitar at his side through a soft, reflective rendition of “Always on My Mind,” Nelson’s biggest solo hit of the 1980s. Nelson’s son Lukas sang “Angel Flying Too Close to

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The Ground” alone with his acoustic guitar, his voice a dead ringer for his dad’s.

Another surviving member of the Family Band, harmonica master Mickey Raphael, was part of the weekend’s house band, led by Don Was, which backed almost everyone. Nelson also has outlived most of his classic collaborators. But an essential one, his 86-year-old Highwaymen bandmate Kris Kristofferson, made it to the stage to join Rosanne Cash, the daughter of another Highwayman: Johnny Cash.

Rosanne Cash was singing Nelson’s “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” when Kristofferson, who wrote the song, came out and harmonized with her on the choruses.

Nelson brought out all the evening’s artists to join him for the Carter Family’s 1935 song, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” a longtime live favorite of his and the classic closing song for all of country music.

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AP PHOTO

Shania Twain accepts the award for best country album on behalf of Willie Nelson for “A Beautiful Time” at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party

IT IS CLICHÉ TO SAY, “this election is the most important election of our lifetime.” So, instead, I will simply say this election presents serious ramifications for the future of the Republican Party.

Will Republicans settle for yesterday’s stale past, today’s new with subtle nuances, or the future?

Trump or counterpunch effectively when attacked. Donors are fleeing his campaign. Former colleagues are coming forward talking about his aloofness and poor people skills. The DeSantis strategy appears to be Trump version 2.0; tweak here, tweak there

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser.

Republicans are stuck. We have been for three election cycles; hostage to a single politician, obsessesd with past grievances and lies, and no plan to get unstuck. Republicans will remain stuck until someone steps forward to challenege and condemn the past and today’s 2.0 version.

Donald Trump represents yesterday’s stale past. He’s responsible for three consecutive elections of Republican losses and underperformance. And yet, Donald Trump has managed to hold the GOP hostage despite his focus on personal vendettas, political grievances, and falsehoods.

Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe Trump should run for president, and this includes thirty percent of Republicans according to the new NBC News poll. Despite these abysmal polling numbers Trump still leads the primary field for the Republican nomination. Only two resaons can explain this bizarre scenario. Voters are crazy or they haven’t found their alternative. I choose to believe the latter.

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because he faced the only politician he could beat. He will never have this luxury again. If Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will lose and Republicans will lose even more.

There’s no easy way to put it. Ron DeSantis has stumbled since his overwhelming re-election and being talked about as the candidate to stop and beat Trump. However, he appears to be Trump version 2.0 rather than a Republican with a different direction and new ideas.

DeSantis has proven to be a flip-flopper. He is scared to take on

Ron DeSantis still remains the second choice for the Republican nomination. Time is still on his side to find a coherent strategy and message that doesn’t resemble Trump version 2.0. This brings us to Tim Scott. Everyone agrees he is a true and proven conservative. He is full of charisma. He is affable. He discusses and debates issues with a brand of conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters. He is an optimist. And Scott’s message focuses on the future of America and all Americans.

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser. A great message and narrative can not be told without the resources needed to advertise it on a large scale.

The early primary calendar fits Scott’s conservatism and message better than any other candidate seeking the Republican nomination. Scott is not shy to talk about his faith and testimony. Iowa and South Carolina primary voters are largely made up of evangelicals — a constituency with which Scott has always had a close relationship. There is still a great deal of time before voters begin to cast their votes. However, Tim Scott is well-positioned, and perhaps bestpositioned, to take advantage of his strengths and the primary calendar.

I believe Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party.

Alfredo Rodriguez III is the founder and president of Dyce Communications, a national strategic communications, public affairs, media and Republican political consulting firm.

A civics education requirement would be a good thing

THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, like many other states in America, is facing a problem in terms of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among its citizens, even among college graduates.

10% thought that T.V.

personality

Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

This problem poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic, as a wellinformed and virtuous citizenry is essential to maintain its democratic institutions (Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement, “A republic, if you can keep it,” keeps coming to mind).

The North Carolina General Assembly should pass House Bill 96, also known as the NC REACH Act, to ensure that college students in the state receive a well-balanced education which includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles.

The NC REACH Act, which recently passed the House and is now in the Senate, would require college students in North Carolina to take a three-credit-hour class on American government, which includes reading and studying several essential founding documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

The class also requires students to pass a final exam that tests their knowledge of the documents’ historical context, authors’ perspectives, and their significance.

The need for such a law arises from the fact that many Americans lack the knowledge of basic civics and government principles necessary to participate effectively in our democracy. A 2018 survey by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars found that only one in three Americans could pass a basic citizenship test.

Furthermore, the survey found that college graduates were not significantly better prepared than the general population. Additionally, a 2019 Heritage Foundation report found that 60% of college graduates cannot name a single step necessary to ratify a constitutional amendment, half of them do not know how long the terms are for representatives and senators, and 10% thought that T.V. personality Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

These statistics are alarming, as they demonstrate that the education system in America is not adequately preparing its citizens to be informed and engaged members of a democratic society.

The NC REACH Act seeks to address this problem by ensuring that college students in North Carolina receive a balanced education that includes a deep dive into America’s founding documents and principles. By requiring students to read and study these documents in their entirety, the Act ensures that they receive a comprehensive education that covers the historical context, authors’ perspectives, and the documents’ significance. Furthermore, by requiring students to pass a final exam, the Act ensures that they have a deep understanding of the material covered in the class. This would have the potential to impact an estimated 345,000 college students in the state per year.

Those in opposition to the NC REACH Act may argue that it is unnecessary, as college students should already be learning about America’s founding documents and principles in their classes.

However, the reality is that many colleges and universities do not require their students

to take such courses, and even when they do, the courses may not provide a sufficient analysis of the documents. The NC REACH Act would ensure that all college students in North Carolina receive an education that includes a sufficient understanding of America’s founding documents and principles.

Additionally, opponents say that the Act would be an unnecessary burden on students and faculty. However, the Act only requires students to take a three-credit-hour class, which is 2.5% of the typical workload of an overall college education. If certain UNC system schools are going to require courses such as “Global Understanding” and “Power, Difference, & Inequality,” then I believe that a course on our country’s historically unique civic founding should also be on the required-course list.

Passing the NC REACH Act would help ensure that college students in North Carolina receive a well-balanced education that includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles. The Act would address the problem of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among college graduates in North Carolina, which poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic. By requiring students to read and analyze our most influential founding documents, they stand to gain invaluable insights into how our government works, and the civic and historical underpinnings of our unique founding almost 250 years ago.

Michael Bruce is a Research Intern at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh These are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Foundation

COLUMN | MICHAEL BRUCE

COLUMN | ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ III

SIDELINE REPORT

HORSE RACING

Forte is 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby

Louisville, Ky.

Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte is the morning line favorite for the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-yearolds. Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post, with Cox’s Angel of Empire the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post. Wet Paint drew the No. 7 post for the Oaks at 5-2 odds.

MLB

Yankees put Judge on injured list with hurt hip

New York

Yankees captain Aaron Judge is going on the injured list because of a strained right hip, joining Giancarlo Stanton, Harrison Bader and third baseman Josh Donaldson on the sidelines. Judge was hurt last Wednesday when he landed hard while making an awkward headfirst slide at Minnesota on his 31st birthday. He remained in the game and started Thursday at Texas, then left in the fourth inning after striking out twice. A four-time All-Star and the reigning AL MVP, Judge is batting .261 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his first season after signing a $360 million, nine-year contract.

NHL Flames fire coach

Sutter after disappointing season

Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Flames fired head coach Darryl Sutter on Monday, the latest major change at the NHL club after a disappointing season. The Flames missed the playoffs this season after posting a 38-27-17 record.

Sutter’s departure comes two weeks after former Flames general manager Brad Treliving turned down a contract extension and parted ways with the team. Sutter, who replaced Geoff Ward midway through the shortened 2020-21 season, signed a multi-year contract extension with Calgary before this season after leading Calgary to a 50-2111 record and a first-round playoff win in 2021-22.

NFL Daughter of Buccaneers’ Barrett

drowns in family pool

Tampa, Fla.

Police say the 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett drowned in a swimming pool at the family’s home. Officers responding to a call that a child had fallen into a pool were sent to Barrett’s home Sunday morning. The football player’s youngest child, Arrayah, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Police said an investigation is ongoing but the drowning “is not believed to be suspicious in nature at this time.” Barrett and his wife, Jordanna, have three other children.

Martin Truex back in Victory Lane with win at Dover

Truex won the second-tier Xfinity Series race on Saturday for his first NASCAR victory across all three national series in 188 career starts.

Points races without a win for Martin Truex Jr. before he won Monday’s race at Dover

ver and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019.

Truex also won a regularly scheduled Sunday race here in 2016.

The Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. mastered the Monster Mile on a Monday for the third time in his career and the former Cup Series champion snapped a 54-race winless streak overall in the Cup Series at Dover Motor Speedway. Thanks to a race postponed a day because of rain, it was a long weekend sweep for the Truex brothers. Younger brother Ryan

Big brother poked his head in Ryan’s Toyota as he pulled it into Victory Lane. Martin appreciated the winning weekend for the family.

“It’s just special,” Truex said. “It was such a big day for our family to see Ryan do that on Saturday.”

The 2017 Cup champion has the blueprint on how to win at the Monster Mile on a Monday.

Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win on June 4, 2007, at Do -

Truex held strong on the outside lane Monday off the final restart to hold off runner-up Ross Chastain by a half-second. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

“We knew we could do this,” Truex said. “It just never all came together.”

Truex was once of the most dominant drivers in the series,

MLB lefty batting average up, game time down 28 minutes

Baseball’s new rules seem to be working as hoped

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Batting average for left-handed hitters was up 13 percentage points through the first full month of the season, an impact of baseball’s new rule changes.

The biggest noticeable impact has been when games are ending. The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 37 minutes, down from 3:05 at the same point last year.

Clubhouse staff and players are getting home while their families are still awake.

“It definitely makes life easier,” Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, said Monday.

Boosted by new rules designed to speed play and increase action, stolen bases rose 40% to their highest level in nearly a quarter-century and scoring increased by 1.1 runs per game.

Pitch clock violations averaged 0.74, and the New York Mets topped the major leagues with 17 while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit tied for the fewest with four each. Of 313 clock violations, 204 were by pitchers, 91 by batters and four by catchers.

In addition, there were five penalties for batter timeouts, eight for pitcher disengagements and one for violation of shirt restrictions.

“The data looks really promising so far,” Theo Epstein, the former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive who consulted on the innovations, said Monday.

“The game had been veering in a direction where the only way to score was hope for a walk and a homer. And now we’re seeing with an increased batting average on balls in play, the increased rate of stolen-base attempts the improved success rate of stolen bases a lot of rallies that start with a single, then you have a stolen base and then you have another single and there’s a run. And that’s more entertaining.”

“The data looks really promising so far.”

Theo Epstein, former Red Sox and Cubs executive

Limits on infield shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases were implemented in an attempt to counter the impact of the Analytics Era suffocation of offense.

The big league batting average was .248 through 425 games. Lefties hit .247, up from .229 through

AP

winning a career-best eight times in 2017 and 23 times overall from 2016 to 2019. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been winless since his last Cup victory on Sept. 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway.

Determined to rebound from a winless season, Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

He did have three top-10 finishes this season in the No. 19 Toyota but couldn’t find his way to Victory Lane until Monday. He earned his 32nd career Cup victory and became the 10th driver to win four or more Cup races at Dover.

“It feels nice to get one to come around our way,” Truex said.

The Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next. Kurt Busch won likely the last race of his career there after it was cut short because of a head injury suffered in a crash at Pocono last summer. Bubba Wallace won the fall race at the track.

April last year. Righties are hitting .250, an increase from .234.

Lefty batting average on balls in play went up nine points to .292, and righty BABIP rose seven points to .302.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks he may have gotten 10 additional hits already.

“I’m just throwing a number out there,” he said. “You hit the ball well, you obviously want to be rewarded.”

Runs have increased to 9.2 from 8.1.

Stolen bases average 1.4 per game — with a 79.2% success rate, up from 1.0 steals and a 75.5% success rate. The average is the highest since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and the success rate the highest on record.

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman has noticed the speedier games after foul balls.

“You’ve got to like run back to your position and you’re out of breath, ready to go for the next player,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the pressure-packed playoff games are played at rapid-fire speed like that.”

Statcast’s time between pitches, which starts 6 seconds ahead of the clock, ranged between 11.1 seconds (Cooper Criswell) and 19.0 (Andrew Bellatti), down from last year’s 12.6 (Brent Sutter) to 25.8 (Giovanny Gallegos and Jonathan Loáisiga).

Michael Kopech dropped from 21.1 to 13.2, Tanner Houck from 20.3 to 13.1 and Shohei Ohtani to 21.7 to 15.3.

“How many hours during the course of the rest of my career is that going to save?” said Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who cut from 17.6 to 13.9.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hadn’t won since September 2021

PHOTO

Martin Truex Jr. hoists the trophy after winning Monday’s Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.

AP PHOTO

Baseball’s new rules worked as intended in the first month of the MLB season, including an increase in stolen bases.

Horse racing’s antidoping rules to start in mid-May

The Kentucky Derby and

Preakness Stakes will be run under the old testing program

The Associated Press HORSE RACING’S NEW antidoping program won’t get underway until after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in mid-May, according to an order issued Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC, which oversees the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, pushed back the new Anti-Doping and Medication Control program by three weeks until May 22. HISA had planned to relaunch the program on May 1, the start of Kentucky Derby week, after a judge’s ruling in early April delayed the start until then.

“I share the concerns that the FTC articulated in their order,” Lisa Lazarus, CEO of HISA, told The Associated Press by phone. If the program had started on May 1, prerace drug testing for the Kentucky Derby would have been conducted under Kentucky Horse Racing Commission rules and state

laboratory standards, while postrace testing would have been done under HISA’s new rules.

“To break it up like that is very unfair to horsemen, especially considering it’s the most high-profile race of the year,” Lazarus told the AP. “It’s more important that the critical thinking be put into the right time to bring it back.”

The Derby will be run May 6 in Louisville. The Preakness is May 20 in Baltimore.

HISA first began the ADMC program, which covers rules for drug testing, drug sampling, out-of-competition testing, rulings, and penalties, on March 27.

“The very first week of March 27 was very successful and went smoothly,” Lazarus said.

But a few days later a judge ruled that the program could not be implemented without a 30-day waiting period in a decision that was a victory for the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has pushed back against HISA.

The HBPA and other groups have filed multiple lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of HISA.

West Stanly tops South Stanly in regular season finale

The Colts have defeated the Bulls twice this year

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

OAKBORO

— In a showdown between interconference and intracounty rivals, the defending 2A state softball champions bested the defending 1A state champions on April 28 as both teams capped off their regular season schedules.

West Stanly (21-1, 10-0 Rocky River Conference) came away with a 3-1 home win over South Stanly (19-3, 12-0 Yadkin Valley Conference) to close out its campaign on a 21-game win streak. The Bulls, meanwhile, will look to get back on track heading into the postseason.

With their latest victory, the Colts finished their season 2-0 against the Bulls; West defeated South 4-2 during the finals of a Spring Break tournament on April 12.

“ What a great night! We honored our six seniors, had a great crowd, and got the win against an always tough South Stanly team 3-1,” the Colts posted on their official social media page. “We continue to be extremely proud of these ladies and the way they are playing as a team!”

The FTC ruling said the May 22 restart would “avoid the chaos and confusion that could occur if the anti-doping rule became effective on May 1, during the lead-up to the Triple Crown races scheduled during May.” It also said the delay would “ensure that the horseracing industry has sufficient time to prepare for the anti-doping rule to be effective.”

Lazarus said: “I would have felt a little uncomfortable with the May 1 start with two different rules in place.”

HISA had sought the quick rollout, which would have had the antidoping rules in place for five weeks before the Kentucky Derby.

The delay means the state racing commissions will remain in charge of their drug-testing programs through May 21.

As a result, if a horse tests positive in the Derby or the Preakness, racing officials in Kentucky and Maryland will hear the case, decide on punishment and handle any appeals under their existing rules.

The Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, will be run June 10 in New York under HISA’s rules.

Both teams clinched their respective conference regular season titles once again and will gear up for their conference tournaments starting on Wednesday. The Colts are scheduled to play Central Academy (7-14, 4-6 RRC) at Anson, and the Bulls will host their YVC tournament with an opening-round opponent to be determined.

The Colts currently sit atop the 2A Western Region rankings (second in the state) while the Bulls are first in the 1A Western Region rankings (12th in the state).

In West’s latest win over South, the team put a run on the board in the second, third and fourth innings and limited the Bulls to just a single run in the seventh inning. Senior Elizabeth Ingles got the Colts on the board early with a solo home run, while senior Lily Huneycutt and junior Lilly Hartsell each recorded RBI bunt singles to build West’s lead.

Huneycutt — a dual-threat star for West — finished the game with nine strikeouts, adding another strong outing to her season’s resume. Heading to the postseason, she is batting .364 and has recorded 17 wins in 19 outings along with a 0.58 ERA.

After the conference tournaments wrap up, the first round of the NCHSAA softball state playoffs will begin on May 9 with championship games scheduled to take place on June 2-3.

21-1

West Stanly softball’s record in the regular season

Talor Gooch claimed his second straight LIV Golf event, winning last weekend at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.

Gooch claims back-to-back LIV Golf titles with Singapore win

He is the first golfer to win consecutive events on the tour

The Associated Press

SINGAPORE — Talor Gooch became the first player to win back-to-back LIV Golf titles after a playoff hole victory against Sergio Garcia at the LIV Singapore tournament at Sentosa Golf Club on Sunday. Gooch and Garcia shadowed each other for most of the opening two rounds, and the final round was no different, with both the American and Spaniard never more than stroke apart as they

finished at 17-under 196 to force a playoff.

At the first playoff hole, the par5 18th, Gooch skirted with the water hazard with his tee shot but played a near perfect second shot into the heart of the green where he easily two-putted for birdie.

Garcia’s second shot at the playoff hole found the greenside bunker and the Spaniard was unable to make his birdie giving Gooch his second successive win and a $4 million prize.

For Gooch, it’s the ninth time he’s either led or shared a lead after an LIV round, the most of any player. He’s now led or shared the lead in the last six rounds.

“It’s one of those days that I’ll remember,” said Gooch. “I grew

“It’s

Talor

up watching Sergio. He’s one of the greatest golfers of this generation. To go and battle with him and come out on top is something I’ll never forget.”

Twice LIV Golf tournament winner Brooks Koepka shot 67 to finish third at 16-under 197, one shot ahead of Scott Vincent (67) of Zimbabwe, who had briefly threatened to make it a four-way battle for the title before a bogey

at the par-4 15th stalled his momentum.

British Open champion Cam Smith (71) finished in a tie for sixth after he mixed regular birdies with bogeys for an even final round and an overall score of 12-under 201.

Phil Mickelson shot a 72, with two double bogeys in his final round, to fall down the leaderboard into a tie for 13th.

Like the first round, the final round Sunday was delayed for more than an hour after 13 holes of the shotgun format due to severe weather in the area.

Garcia, who began his round on the first hole with Gooch in the shotgun-start format, birdied three of the first nine holes to

maintain the lead with the American, who had four birdies and a bogey before nine consecutive pars.

Garcia won the Singapore Open at Sentosa in 2018 and had played bogey-free golf in the first 47 holes but two bogeys at the par-4 12th and 15th hampered his efforts of a repeat victory here.

At the par-5 18th in regulation, Gooch had 41-foot putt for eagle which narrowly missed to the left of the cup. The 31-year-old American easily made his birdie to put the pressure back on Garcia.

The Spaniard responded by calmly making birdie from 11 feet to force the playoff.

The next event is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, starting May 12.

Whatmakessammyrun and Joe Bravo, left, hold off Air Force Red and Juan Hernandez to win the $100,000 Siren Lure Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita Park. Horse racing’s new anti-doping rules have been pushed back until after the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

one of those days that I’ll remember.”

Gooch

Biden’s diverse coalition of support risks fraying in 2024

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat-turned-Independent long known for his centrist views, voted for Joe Biden in 2020. But as Biden’s reelection campaign begins, Lieberman is preparing to recruit a third-party candidate capable of defeating the Democratic president.

“Centrists and moderates feel that he’s governed more from the left than they hoped,” Lieberman, a leader of the group, No Labels, said of Biden in an interview. “He hasn’t been able to be the unifier that he promised to be.”

Biden’s political challenges are not confined to voters in the middle. In the days since he formally launched his 2024 campaign, key members of the sprawling political coalition that lifted him over former President Donald Trump in 2020 are far from excited about the prospect of four more years. That underscores the test confronting Biden as he aims to motivate the coalition of African Americans, Latinos, young people, suburban voters and independents to show up for him again.

John Paul Mejia, the 20-yearold spokesman for the progressive Sunrise Movement, says Biden has simply not done enough to ensure the young voters who rallied behind him in 2020 would do so again.

“Young people are starving for more,” Mejia said, pointing to Biden’s recent decision to approve two controversial fossil fuel projects in Alaska. “Biden has to demonstrate the extent to which he’s willing to be a fighter. We’ve seen this sort of two-step on the

promises he made to young people.”

Biden has also struggled to fulfill key promises to black voters, perhaps the most loyal group in his political base. While he tapped Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first black woman on the Supreme Court, he has been unable to follow through on pledges to protect voting rights against a wave of Republican-backed restrictions or enact policing reform to help stop violence against people of color at the hands of law enforcement.

“There’s work to be done,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas,

a 42-year-old African American former civil rights attorney who joined Congress in January. “I’m not going to sugar coat it.”

Nearly 18 months before Election Day 2024, however, it’s unclear how much this lack of enthusiasm will weigh on Biden’s reelection prospects. For all the concern, no high-profile Democratic primary challengers have emerged, and none are expected to. To date, only progressive author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are mounting symbolic challenges to Biden, who has the official support of the Demo -

cratic National Committee.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden’s chief rival in the 2020 primary, told The Associated Press just hours after Biden announced that he was endorsing the president and encouraged other progressive leaders to do so as well.

“I intend to do everything I can to see that he is reelected,” Sanders said in an interview.

Instead of excitement for the 80-year-old president’s reelection, the warning signs in the Biden coalition are clear.

Just 41% of black adults want the Democratic president to run again, and only 55% said they are

likely to support him in the general election if he is the nominee. Among Latinos, only 27% want Biden to run again in 2024 and 43% said they would definitely or probably support him.

Meanwhile, just 14% of independents — adults who don’t lean toward either party, who represent a small percentage of the American electorate — want Biden to run again. And only 24% said they’d support him in the general election if he is the Democratic nominee.

Allies said one key reason why the president selected Julie Chavez Rodriguez as his campaign manager was her ability to maintain close ties with a wide swath of the Democratic coalition during her time as White House director of intergovernmental affairs.

“This is not a time to be complacent,” Biden said in his announcement video as he vowed to fight for freedom and warned of MAGA extremists and others who support banning abortion and books.

Meanwhile, Lieberman said he would likely soon begin interviewing potential candidates for No Label’s third-party alternative to Biden and the eventual Republican nominee.

Already, No Labels has secured a spot on the presidential ballot in four states, including swing states Arizona and Colorado. Lieberman noted that the group would not field a candidate if polling suggested the so-called unity ticket does not have a viable path to the presidency.

“If No Labels does not run a bipartisan unity ticket, and the two candidates are Trump and Biden, to me, it’s an easy choice,” Lieberman said. “I will vote for Biden.”

Tim Scott sets May 22 announcement for 2024 presidential bid

The Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is nearly ready to reveal his decision on entering the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, saying Sunday that he would make an announcement on May 22.

Scott didn’t definitively say that he’ll be announcing his official campaign, but he told those gathered at a downtown Charleston school during a town hall that he would be coming out with his decision at an event in about three weeks in North Charleston, which he calls home.

“It is time to make the final step,” Scott said to a room packed with cheering supporters, as well as a film crew, which a longtime Scott adviser said was gathering “content” for future use, a flick at a potential launch or campaign ad video.

“We will have a major announcement,” Scott added.

Scott, 57, has been inching ever closer to formally entering the GOP nomination race, where he would join other announced candidates, including former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and “anti-woke” biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Another of those is Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor who appointed Scott in 2012 to the Senate, where he is the sole Black Republican. Haley hasn’t commented on Scott’s potential entry into the race, while Scott has dismissed suggestions of any awkwardness in running against the former governor who appoint-

ed him to his Senate seat. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are among those considering launching their own presidential campaigns in the coming months.

Last month, Scott created an exploratory committee, a mechanism that allowed him to raise money for polling and travel related to making a determination on the race. In a video announcing

that effort, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the “radical left,” with a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty, and bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.”

“When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop. A token. Because I disrupt their narrative,” he said in

the video, which was shot on the site of Fort Sumter in his hometown of Charleston, where the Civil War’s first shots were fired.

“I threaten their control.”

In February — a day after Haley’s official campaign launch — Scott kicked off a listening tour that has taken him to other early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, where he’s held events ranging from political

meetings with evangelical pastors to town halls and speeches. In his time on the trail, Scott has tried to present a more positive vision for the future than many of his potential rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Scott told The Associated Press in Iowa that voters he has spoken with respond favorably to his optimistic outlook for the country and his conservative ideals.

“I think my candidacy is really designed around what the American people want to talk about, what their priorities are and what their issues are,” Scott told AP. If Scott enters the race, he would have just over one month to raise money before the end of the second quarter, with more candidates in the GOP field intensifying the competition for donor dollars.

But Scott has already proven that he can attract significant money. A pro-Scott super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund, spent more than $20 million to help Republicans in 2022 and reported $13 million-plus on hand to start 2023. Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has donated at least $30 million to the organization since 2021, according to federal filings. Sunday’s town hall took place at Meeting Street Academy, part of a charter school network founded by one of Scott’s top donors, Charleston philanthropist Ben Navarro. Scott was introduced by South Carolina businessman and longtime supporter Mike Johnson, who is serving as a national finance co-chair for Scott and a day after the planned May 22 announcement is hosting a day-long “call day and retreat” with Scott supporters.

AP PHOTO

FILE - Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden greets people after speaking about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas.

STATE & NATION

N. Carolina justices hand GOP big wins with election rulings

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — In massive victories for Republicans, the newly GOP-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday threw out a previous ruling against gerrymandered voting maps and upheld a photo voter identification law that colleagues had struck down as racially biased.

The partisan gerrymandering ruling should make it significantly easier for the Republican-dominated legislature to help the GOP gain seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House when state lawmakers redraw congressional boundaries for the 2024 elections. Under the current map, Democrats won seven of the state’s 14 congressional seats last November.

The court, which became a Republican majority this year following the election of two GOP justices, ruled after revisiting redistricting and voter ID opinions made in December by the court’s previous iteration, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. The court held rehearings in March.

Friday’s 5-2 rulings also mean that state lawmakers should have greater latitude in drawing General Assembly seat boundaries for elections next year and the rest of the decade, and that the voter ID law approved by the legislature in late 2018 could be carried out soon.

In another court decision Friday along party lines, the state justices overturned a trial court decision on when the voting rights of people

convicted of felonies are restored. That means tens of thousands of people will have to complete their probation or parole and pay any fines to qualify to vote again.

Republican legislators celebrated the sweeping series of favorable decisions that are assuredly the result of the changing makeup of the state’s highest court. Outside groups spent millions on the two Supreme Court campaigns in 2022.

“The decisions handed down today by the NC Supreme Court have ensured that our constitution and the will of the people of North Car-

olina are honored,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a news release.

But the remaining Democratic justices and their allies lambasted the decisions that reversed new precedents on redistricting and voter ID.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads a national Democratic group whose affiliate helped support the redistricting litigation, said Friday’s mapping decision was “a function of political personnel and partisan opportunism” by Republicans.

“History will not be kind to this court’s majority, which will now

forever be stained for irreparably harming the legitimacy and reputation of North Carolina’s highest tribunal,” Holder said.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, writing the majority opinion in the redistricting case, said that the previous Democratic majority erred by declaring that the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. The court last year struck down maps the General Assembly drew because they said it gave Republicans outsized electoral advantage compared to their voting power.

But Newby said a partisan gerrymandering prohibition is absent from the plain language of the constitution. He argued that current and former colleagues who declared otherwise had wrongly wrested power away from the General Assembly, which the state constitution designates as the mapmakers.

“In its decision today, the Court returns to its tradition of honoring the constitutional roles assigned to each branch,” Newby wrote. “This case is not about partisan politics, but rather about realigning the proper roles of the judicial and legislative branches.”

Associate Justice Anita Earls, writing the dissenting opinion, said the court correctly ruled last year to ensure all North Carolina residents “regardless of political party, were not denied their ‘fundamental right to vote on equal terms.’ ... Today, the majority strips the people of this right.”

On voter ID, the Republican majority reversed a trial court decision that struck down the 2018 law. The trial court had ruled that GOP legislators passed the law in part to retain General Assembly control by discouraging Black Democrats from voting in legislative elections. But Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote, in part,

that the trial judges erred in relying on a federal court ruling striking down a 2013 voter ID law as tainted by racial discrimination.

Although a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is still pending, the State Board of Elections said Friday that staff would start working toward “a smooth rollout” of the ID requirement with municipal elections this fall.

Voters also previously approved a separate photo voter ID mandate for the state constitution, although that amendment remains stuck in litigation that wouldn’t affect Friday’s ruling.

On the process for restoring voting rights, the court upheld a law passed in 1973 — when Democrats controlled the legislature — that automatically restored voting rights only after the “unconditional discharge of an inmate, of a probationer, or of a parolee.”

A panel of trial court judges last year declared that the law disproportionately harmed black offenders and violated the constitution. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the 1973 law remained rooted in Reconstruction-era efforts by white Democratic politicians to intentionally prevent black residents from voting.

Most of the people affected by the law — about 56,000 on probation, parole or supervision at the time of a 2021 trial — got the chance to vote last November.

Associate Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion that the trial court “wrongly imputed” discriminatory views of 19th century lawmakers upon others who later “made it easier for eligible felons of all races to regain their voting rights.”

“It is not unconstitutional to insist that felons pay their debt to society as a condition of participating in the electoral process,” Allen wrote.

US economy grew at weak 1.1% rate in Q1 in sign of slowdown

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1.1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced their inventories.

The estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened after growing 3.2% from July through September and 2.6% from October through December.

But consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, remained resilient, growing at a 3.7% annual pace, the fastest such rate in nearly two years. Spending on goods, in particular, was solid: It rose at its fastest pace since the second quarter of 2021.

Economists had been expecting overall GDP to grow at a 1.9% pace in the January-March quarter. Behind much of the quarter’s weakness was a sharp reduction in business inventories, which subtracted roughly 2.3 percentage points from overall growth. Companies typically slash their inventories when they anticipate a coming downturn.

The economy’s slowdown reflects the impact of the Feder-

al Reserve’s aggressive drive to tame inflation, with nine interest rate hikes over the past year. The surge in borrowing costs is expected to send the economy into a recession sometime this year.

Though inflation has steadily eased from the four-decade high it reached last year, it remains far above the Fed’s 2% target. The housing market, which

is especially vulnerable to higher loan rates, has been battered. And many banks have tightened their lending standards since the failure last month of two major U.S. banks, making it even harder to borrow to buy a house or a car or to expand a business.

“The economy had less forward momentum at the start of this year than previously thought,”

Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.

“We continue to expect the drag from higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions to push the economy into a mild recession soon.”

Many economists say the cumulative impact of the Fed’s rate hikes has yet to be fully felt. Still, the central bank’s policymakers are aiming for a so-called soft landing: Cooling growth enough to curb inflation yet not so much as to send the world’s largest economy tumbling into a recession.

There is widespread skepticism that the Fed will succeed. An economic model used by the Conference Board, a business research group, puts the probability of a U.S. recession over the next year at 99%. The Conference Board’s recession-probability gauge had hung around zero from September 2020, as the economy rebounded explosively from the COVID-19 recession, until March 2022, when the Fed started raising rates to fight inflation.”The focus is on the weak top-line (GDP) number, but the economy remains resilient,’’ said Robert Frick, an economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Businesses have underestimated both consumer buying and business buying.”

The worst fears of a 2008-style

financial crisis have eased over the past month. But lingering credit cutbacks, which were mentioned in the Fed’s survey this month of regional economies, is likely to hobble growth.

The global backdrop is also looking bleaker. The International Monetary Fund this month downgraded its forecast for worldwide economic growth, citing rising interest rates around the world, financial uncertainty and chronic inflation. American exporters could suffer as a consequence.

Still, the U.S. economy has surprised before. Recession fears rose early last year after GDP had shrunk for two straight quarters. But the economy roared back in the second half of 2022, powered by surprisingly sturdy consumer spending.

A strong job market has given Americans the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep shopping: 2021 and 2022 were the two best years for job creation on record. And hiring has remained strong so far this year, though it has decelerated from January to February and then to March.

The jobs report for April, which the government will issue on May 5, is expected to show that employers added a decent but still-lower total of 185,000 jobs this month, according to a survey of forecasters by FactSet.

AP PHOTO

This photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts shows Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr.

AP PHOTO

A crane stands over a residential construction project on Sunday, April 23, 2023, in downtown Denver.

Randolph record

COUNTY NEWS

Teen driver charged with hit & run after crashing into Randleman Wendy’s

On the afternoon of April 25, Randleman Fire Department and Randolph County EMS were dispatched to the Wendy’s located at 1029 High Point St. after authorities received a report about a vehicle crashing into the building. According to an accident report from the Randleman Police Department, the driver was attempting to park in front of the restaurant when she accelerated, ran over the curb and sidewalk, and crashed the windows of the restaurant before driving off. Police said that the driver, who was a teenager, later returned to the scene and was charged with hit and run and several violations of her learner’s permit. Fortunately, no one in the restaurant was injured, and the driver was fine. Police estimate that the damage to the Wendy’s will total around $50,000.

Operation Fan Heat Relief to distribute fans to eligible recipients this summer

As temperatures begin rising, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Aging and Adult Services is partnering with the N.C. Area Agencies on Aging and local service providers to distribute fans to eligible recipients through Operation Fan Heat Relief to help older adults at risk stay safe this summer. People 60 years of age and older, as well as adults with disabilities, are eligible to sign up for assistance from May 1 through October 31 at local aging agencies across the state. Since 1986, the relief program has purchased fans for older adults and adults with disabilities, providing them with a more comfortable living environment and reducing heat-related illnesses. This program is made possible by donations from Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Dominion, and Valassis. For more information about receiving a fan or eligibility requirements, individuals may contact the Division of Aging and Adult Services at (919) 855-3400 or visit https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ operation-fan-and-heat-relief.

Asheboro’s park plan honors Jarrell family

Garden near downtown considered valuable piece of green space

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — More action should commence soon in turning an Asheboro park from a mere vision to a special recreational and relaxation area.

Saturday’s ceremonial groundbreaking at the location was another step.

“Going forward, we will be losing more and more green space,” Mayor David Smith said. “Having an opportunity provided by the Jarrell family to save this amazing historic site right downtown is wonderful. You don’t have an opportunity often to save a piece of property like this.”

City officials have referred to the

Final fire district restructured to remove $0.15 cent tax cap

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday, May 1, with multiple budgetary requests on the agenda.

The board first approved a $10,000 grant for the George Washington Carver College, Inc. after-school program.

“What we did was team up with Communities in Schools, Asheboro City Schools and the City of Asheboro,” said George Washington Carver Community Enrichment Center Chairman Clyde Faust. “We got Communities in Schools to go and help us find retired teachers that would help create a foundation for developing those study habits. Some professional teachers who are going to come in and who are going to help these middle school kids get those study habits that are so important.”

“The second part of the day is bringing in professional artists. In theater, we work with RhinoLeap

park as occupying a spot in a historic neighborhood within walking distance to downtown. It’s intended to be used by residents and

visitors. The park is named the David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden after a former Asheboro

mayor and his wife.

The land was formerly owned by Gov. Jonathan Worth in the mid-1800s. The garden sits on about 3 acres.

Based on past meetings and surveys, the city’s intent is to have a public open space that will include gardens, parking, a visitor center, and references to the historic site.

“A real gem of a tourism asset and a quality of life asset,” Smith said. “Going forward, some of our kids may never see a green space garden like we’re talking about building here.”

The Jarrells were instrumental in creating a place for the park by donating and selling much of the land along Cox Street to the city. Community support has come from fundraising and providing seed money for the project.

“I’ve dreamed about this particular piece of property becoming public space for many, many years.”

The city purchased some adjacent land to enlarge the garden’s grounds, Smith said.

A master plan was formed in 2021. That included input from a design team from Prospect Archi-

mation of the Farmer Fire Tax District in order to remove the $0.15 cent tax cap that had previously been put on the districts.

Farmer is the final district to be approved for the change, which will not affect the area of service, nor is it an actual tax increase.

Productions, and they bring in professionals in the theater department. We work with artists from UNC Greensboro who brought in professionals that teach dance. We brought in professional painters who are painting a mural for Russell Murphy, who was a community leader back in the 1970s and 1980s, and people in our after-school program are actually helping to create that mural. And why the arts? The arts teach you how to think outside the box. The arts teach you how to be original, how to speak up for yourself, how to have self-confidence.”

According to Faust, the program costs parents just $25 every three months and includes professional training from teachers and artists, a hot meal and a snack, and the Carver Center is a designated bus stop for both South Asheboro and North Asheboro Middle School.

The board also approved a contract renewal with Mediko, Inc for inmate medical services.

“As a part of the contract renewal, we are requesting an additional licensed nurse practitioner,” said Chief Deputy Aundrea Azelton. “This additional position would be responsible for completing med-

ication distribution and medical screenings during intake. There is currently only one LPN who does those duties in addition to doing the daily inmate medical sick calls and attending to emergent medical needs of inmates. The new position would provide additional coverage Monday through Friday.”

The contract’s total cost is $1,420,762 for the year, which is a $26,000 increase from the base contract price last year.

The board also approved a new Human Services Planner/Evaluator II position.

“As the opioid settlement funding work has progressed, it has become very clear that Randolph County could benefit from having a human services planner or evaluator that would provide support for the settlement funds project, including implementation of strategies and compliance with the North Carolina Memorandum of Agreement and any activities approved by this board,’ said Public Health Director Tara Aker. “The HR planner or evaluator will work closely with the organizations that apply for and receive funding.”

The board then approved the abolishment and subsequent refor-

The board also approved the funding and construction of an on-site medical clinic at Northgate Wellness Center for employees and their dependents that Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist will staff.

“There are many advantag-

Four generations of the Jarrell family plant five dogwood trees during the ceremonial groundbreaking for the David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Asheboro mayor David Smith, right, and Cody Craddock of North Carolina Cooperative Extension view the grounds at the David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden.

Commissioners approve construction of onsite medical clinic for employees

WEDNESDAY

Asheboro Fall Festival returning as one-day event

Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — After three years of cancellations, the 48th Annual Fall Festival will be held Saturday, October 7, as a one-day event. The festival will continue to feature arts and crafts vendors, musical performances, and food.

“While the Fall Festival has historically been held over two days, this year, based on the responses and feedback of vendors, attendees and community members, the Fall Festival will be a one-day event,” said a statement from the Randolph

Arts Guild. Further, the Arts Guild release stated the event would comply “with the recommendations of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for guidance in all safety measures.”

This year will mark the fourth attempt by the group to hold the 48th iteration of the event. The organizers canceled the event for three straight years, citing safety concerns. In 2020, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency orders, which prevented large gatherings. In 2021, the group cited concerns

over hospital capacity and the pandemic though large events were then allowed. In 2022, the group canceled the event due to a state of emergency declared by Gov. Roy Cooper, which affected transportation and emergency management rules but did not prohibit outdoor events.

The inaugural Fall Festival was held in 1972 on Sunset Avenue in Asheboro. This year’s version will have a larger footprint in downtown Asheboro. The deadline for vendors to register for the event is Friday, August 25.

Get in touch

DEATH NOTICES

♦ Allan Jeffery Baker, age 62 of Asheboro, died Friday, April 21, 2023 at his home.

PARK from page 1

tecture.

By 2022, the Piedmont Triad Regional Council of Government was involved in assisting with grand funding.

Construction should begin soon, perhaps this month. There’s no revealed timetable for the project’s opening.

The historical components

and nurturing of native plants could be among the highlights, Smith said.

“It’s a great thing for downtown Asheboro,” he said. “It will be a 3-acre property in downtown Asheboro that will give a lot of people a chance to relax, meditate, enjoy nature. Many different types of enjoyment with this property.”

David and Pauline Jarrell

and many family members attended Saturday’s public unveiling. A landscaping bed was installed at the property entrance, and tours of the park were provided.

Now, Smith said the project seems much closer to reality, “Get this done and finished,” he said. “We see this as another asset in our quality of life puzzle.”

The Randolph Guide is a quick look at what’s going on in Randolph County.

May 4

Asheboro Farmers Market

7am – 1pm

Come out to the Asheboro Downtown Farmers Market, located at 134 S. Church Street. This event is free and open to the public!

Asheboro City Council Meeting

7pm

The Asheboro City Council will hold their next meeting at the Asheboro City Hall Council Chamber, located at 146 N. Church Street.

May 5

Asheboro Mariachi Festival

7pm

Friday kicks off the first day of the Mariachi Festival at the Sunset Theatre with the Latin GRAMMY-winning female group Flor de Toloache! Tickets are $35 for orchestra seating or $25 for balcony and can be purchased online at SunsetTheatre. eventbrite.com.

May 6

Free Mariachi Festival Event

12pm – 5pm

The Mariachi Festival will continue Saturday with a free event at Bicentennial Park! Come out and enjoy live music, dance, food trucks, and a taco eating concert!

Plans are in place for the David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden in Asheboro.

COMMISSIONERS from page 1

es to having an on-site medical clinic,” said Wellness Administrator Sam Varner. “Number one, probably the most important, is reduced healthcare costs which will save the county money. It will also improve employee productivity. Having an onsite medical clinic will definitely improve the retention of our current employees. It will improve access to quality medical care,

CRIME LOG

♦ Kirkapatrick, Ramon Ti-Shawn (M, 26), Arrested on charge of Embezzlement, on 4/27, at I-85 Exit 111.

♦ Pullum, Scotty Lynn (M, 40), Arrested on charge of Larceny of Motor Vehicle, on 4/26, at Randolph Co Courthouse.

♦ Russell, Dezmna Gemal (M, 36), Arrested on charge of Larceny of Motor Vehicle Parts, on 4/26, at Randolph Co Courthouse.

♦ Welch, Sharita Nicole Vestal (F, 37), Arrested on charge of Second Degree Trespass, on 4/26, at 3069 Wow Rd.

♦ Baxley, David Holden (M, 30), Arrested on charge of Resisting

especially for our at-risk employees. It will also reduce the annual biometrics screening cost.”

The approved cost from the county is $405,000, with a $50,000 startup cost. The design for the clinic will be done by Smith-Sinnett Architecture.

“All in all, the research from four independent studies states that for every dollar we invest in an on-site medical clinic, we will save $3 on healthcare savings,” Varner said.

May 10

Finally, the board approved a renewal of its Microsoft 365 contract totaling $888,600.

“With all the hacking that’s going on today, it’s a protection for our employees and the citizens of this county too,” said Chairman Darell Frye. “There’s a lot of records that are kept in this county. A lot of personal records are in our system here.”

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners will next meet June 5.

Public Officer, Injury to Personal Property, on 4/26, at 3782 Wood Village Dr.

♦ Board, Christopher Keith (M, 30), Arrested on charge of Possess Drug Paraphernalia, Possess Meth, Felony Larceny, Resisting Public Officer, on 4/25, at I-85 Exit 111.

♦ Cagle, Wade Franklin (M, 35), Arrested on charge of Identity Theft, Carrying Concealed Gun, on 4/25, at 1565 Manor View Rd.

♦ Carter, Jonathan Cass (M, 37), Arrested on charge of Possess Meth, on 4/26, at 3060 US Hwy 220 Bus S.

♦ Doughten, Matthew Scott (M, 20), Arrested on charge of Possession

World Tavern Poker at Carolina Tap House 7pm

Join America’s #1 Bar Poker League right in Asheboro at the Carolina Tap House! Entry is 100% free to the public and games take place every Wednesday night!

May 20

of Stolen Firearm, Carrying Concealed Weapon, on 4/25, at Randolph Co Courthouse.

♦ Holliday, Tykerria Azeyonna (F, 22), Arrested on charge of Second Degree Trespass, Simple Assault, Misdemeanor Child Abuse, Resisting Public Officer, Assault Gov Official/Employee, on 4/25, at Randolph Co Jail.

♦ Ingram, Adara Mae (F, 26), Arrested on charge of Resisting Public Officer, on 4/25, at US 311/Trotter Country Rd.

♦ Shoffner, Thomas Jarrell (M, 41), Arrested on charge of Possess Meth, Possess Heroin, Possess Drug Paraphernalia, on 4/25, at 131 East Raleigh St.

Community Day at the YMCA 7am – 4pm

The YMCA will be holding a FREE day for the community on May 20! Enjoy a pickleball tournament, group fitness classes, water fitness classes, family swim hours, food trucks, and more! For more information, visit https:// randolpasheboroymca. com/community-day.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party

Scott’s

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser.

IT IS CLICHÉ TO SAY, “this election is the most important election of our lifetime.” So, instead, I will simply say this election presents serious ramifications for the future of the Republican Party.

Will Republicans settle for yesterday’s stale past, today’s new with subtle nuances, or the future?

Republicans are stuck. We have been for three election cycles; hostage to a single politician, obsessesd with past grievances and lies, and no plan to get unstuck. Republicans will remain stuck until someone steps forward to challenege and condemn the past and today’s 2.0 version.

Donald Trump represents yesterday’s stale past. He’s responsible for three consecutive elections of Republican losses and underperformance. And yet, Donald Trump has managed to hold the GOP hostage despite his focus on personal vendettas, political grievances, and falsehoods.

Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe Trump should run for president, and this includes thirty percent of Republicans according to the new NBC News poll. Despite these abysmal polling numbers Trump still leads the primary field for the Republican nomination. Only two resaons can explain this bizarre scenario. Voters are crazy or they haven’t found their alternative. I choose to believe the latter.

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because he faced the only politician he could beat. He will never have this luxury again. If Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will lose and Republicans will lose even more.

There’s no easy way to put it. Ron DeSantis has stumbled since his overwhelming re-election and being talked about as the candidate to stop and beat Trump. However, he appears to be Trump version 2.0 rather than a Republican with a different direction and new ideas.

DeSantis has proven to be a flip-flopper. He is scared to take on

Trump or counterpunch effectively when attacked. Donors are fleeing his campaign. Former colleagues are coming forward talking about his aloofness and poor people skills. The DeSantis strategy appears to be Trump version 2.0; tweak here, tweak there

Ron DeSantis still remains the second choice for the Republican nomination. Time is still on his side to find a coherent strategy and message that doesn’t resemble Trump version 2.0. This brings us to Tim Scott. Everyone agrees he is a true and proven conservative. He is full of charisma. He is affable. He discusses and debates issues with a brand of conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters. He is an optimist. And Scott’s message focuses on the future of America and all Americans.

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser. A great message and narrative can not be told without the resources needed to advertise it on a large scale. The early primary calendar fits Scott’s conservatism and message better than any other candidate seeking the Republican nomination. Scott is not shy to talk about his faith and testimony. Iowa and South Carolina primary voters are largely made up of evangelicals — a constituency with which Scott has always had a close relationship. There is still a great deal of time before voters begin to cast their votes. However, Tim Scott is well-positioned, and perhaps bestpositioned, to take advantage of his strengths and the primary calendar. I believe Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party.

Alfredo Rodriguez III is the founder and president of Dyce Communications, a national strategic communications, public affairs, media and Republican political consulting firm.

A civics education requirement would be a good thing

THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, like many other states in America, is facing a problem in terms of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among its citizens, even among college graduates.

10% thought that T.V.

personality Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

This problem poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic, as a wellinformed and virtuous citizenry is essential to maintain its democratic institutions (Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement, “A republic, if you can keep it,” keeps coming to mind).

The North Carolina General Assembly should pass House Bill 96, also known as the NC REACH Act, to ensure that college students in the state receive a well-balanced education which includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles.

The NC REACH Act, which recently passed the House and is now in the Senate, would require college students in North Carolina to take a three-credit-hour class on American government, which includes reading and studying several essential founding documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

The class also requires students to pass a final exam that tests their knowledge of the documents’ historical context, authors’ perspectives, and their significance.

The need for such a law arises from the fact that many Americans lack the knowledge of basic civics and government principles necessary to participate effectively in our democracy. A 2018 survey by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars found that only one in three Americans could pass a basic citizenship test.

Furthermore, the survey found that college graduates were not significantly better prepared than the general population. Additionally, a 2019 Heritage Foundation report found that 60% of college graduates cannot name a single step necessary to ratify a constitutional amendment, half of them do not know how long the terms are for representatives and senators, and 10% thought that T.V. personality Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

These statistics are alarming, as they demonstrate that the education system in America is not adequately preparing its citizens to be informed and engaged members of a democratic society.

The NC REACH Act seeks to address this problem by ensuring that college students in North Carolina receive a balanced education that includes a deep dive into America’s founding documents and principles. By requiring students to read and study these documents in their entirety, the Act ensures that they receive a comprehensive education that covers the historical context, authors’ perspectives, and the documents’ significance. Furthermore, by requiring students to pass a final exam, the Act ensures that they have a deep understanding of the material covered in the class. This would have the potential to impact an estimated 345,000 college students in the state per year.

Those in opposition to the NC REACH Act may argue that it is unnecessary, as college students should already be learning about America’s founding documents and principles in their classes.

However, the reality is that many colleges and universities do not require their students

to take such courses, and even when they do, the courses may not provide a sufficient analysis of the documents. The NC REACH Act would ensure that all college students in North Carolina receive an education that includes a sufficient understanding of America’s founding documents and principles.

Additionally, opponents say that the Act would be an unnecessary burden on students and faculty. However, the Act only requires students to take a three-credit-hour class, which is 2.5% of the typical workload of an overall college education. If certain UNC system schools are going to require courses such as “Global Understanding” and “Power, Difference, & Inequality,” then I believe that a course on our country’s historically unique civic founding should also be on the required-course list.

Passing the NC REACH Act would help ensure that college students in North Carolina receive a well-balanced education that includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles. The Act would address the problem of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among college graduates in North Carolina, which poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic. By requiring students to read and analyze our most influential founding documents, they stand to gain invaluable insights into how our government works, and the civic and historical underpinnings of our unique founding almost 250 years ago.

Michael Bruce is a Research Intern at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh These are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Foundation

COLUMN | MICHAEL BRUCE

COLUMN | ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ III

SIDELINE REPORT

MLB Yankees put Judge on injured list with hurt hip

New York

Yankees captain Aaron Judge is going on the injured list because of a strained right hip, joining Giancarlo Stanton, Harrison Bader and third baseman Josh Donaldson on the sidelines. Judge was hurt last Wednesday when he landed hard while making an awkward headfirst slide at Minnesota on his 31st birthday. He remained in the game and started Thursday at Texas, then left in the fourth inning after striking out twice. A fourtime All-Star and the reigning AL MVP, Judge is batting .261 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his first season after signing a $360 million, nine-year contract.

NHL

Flames fire coach Sutter after disappointing season

Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Flames fired head coach Darryl Sutter on Monday, the latest major change at the NHL club after a disappointing season. The Flames missed the playoffs this season after posting a 38-2717 record. Sutter’s departure comes two weeks after former Flames general manager

Brad Treliving turned down a contract extension and parted ways with the team. Sutter, who replaced Geoff Ward midway through the shortened 2020-21 season, signed a multiyear contract extension with Calgary before this season after leading Calgary to a 50-21-11 record and a first-round playoff win in 2021-22.

NFL Daughter of Buccaneers’ Barrett drowns in family pool

Tampa, Fla.

Police say the 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker

Shaquil Barrett drowned in a swimming pool at the family’s home. Officers responding to a call that a child had fallen into a pool were sent to Barrett’s home Sunday morning. The football player’s youngest child, Arrayah, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Police said an investigation is ongoing but the drowning “is not believed to be suspicious in nature at this time.” Barrett and his wife, Jordanna, have three other children.

Martin Truex back in Victory Lane with win at Dover

Truex won the second-tier Xfinity Series race on Saturday for his first NASCAR victory across all three national series in 188 career starts.

Points races without a win for Martin Truex Jr. before he won Monday’s race at Dover

ver and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019.

Truex also won a regularly scheduled Sunday race here in 2016.

The Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. mastered the Monster Mile on a Monday for the third time in his career and the former Cup Series champion snapped a 54-race winless streak overall in the Cup Series at Dover Motor Speedway. Thanks to a race postponed a day because of rain, it was a long weekend sweep for the Truex brothers. Younger brother Ryan

Big brother poked his head in Ryan’s Toyota as he pulled it into Victory Lane. Martin appreciated the winning weekend for the family.

“It’s just special,” Truex said. “It was such a big day for our family to see Ryan do that on Saturday.”

The 2017 Cup champion has the blueprint on how to win at the Monster Mile on a Monday.

Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win on June 4, 2007, at Do -

MLB lefty batting average up, game time down 28 minutes

Baseball’s new rules seem to be working as hoped

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Batting average for left-handed hitters was up 13 percentage points through the first full month of the season, an impact of baseball’s new rule changes.

The biggest noticeable impact has been when games are ending. The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 37 minutes, down from 3:05 at the same point last year.

Clubhouse staff and players are getting home while their families are still awake.

“It definitely makes life easier,” Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, said Monday.

Boosted by new rules designed to speed play and increase action, stolen bases rose 40% to their highest level in nearly a quarter-century and scoring increased by 1.1 runs per game.

Pitch clock violations averaged 0.74, and the New York Mets

topped the major leagues with 17 while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit tied for the fewest with four each. Of 313 clock violations, 204 were by pitchers, 91 by batters and four by catchers. In addition, there were five pen-

alties for batter timeouts, eight for pitcher disengagements and one for violation of shirt restrictions.

“The data looks really promising so far,” Theo Epstein, the former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive who consult-

Truex held strong on the outside lane Monday off the final restart to hold off runner-up Ross Chastain by a half-second. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

“We knew we could do this,” Truex said. “It just never all came together.”

Truex was once of the most dominant drivers in the series,

“The data looks really promising so far.”

Theo Epstein, former Red Sox and Cubs executive

ed on the innovations, said Monday. “The game had been veering in a direction where the only way to score was hope for a walk and a homer. And now we’re seeing with an increased batting average on balls in play, the increased rate of stolen-base attempts the improved success rate of stolen bases a lot of rallies that start with a single, then you have a stolen base and then you have another single and there’s a run. And that’s more entertaining.”

Limits on infield shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases were implemented in an attempt to counter the impact of the Analytics Era suffocation of offense.

The big league batting average was .248 through 425 games. Lefties hit .247, up from .229 through April last year. Righties are hitting .250, an increase from .234.

Lefty batting average on balls in play went up nine points to .292, and righty BABIP rose seven points to .302.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks he may have gotten 10 additional hits

winning a career-best eight times in 2017 and 23 times overall from 2016 to 2019. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been winless since his last Cup victory on Sept. 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway.

Determined to rebound from a winless season, Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

He did have three top-10 finishes this season in the No. 19 Toyota but couldn’t find his way to Victory Lane until Monday. He earned his 32nd career Cup victory and became the 10th driver to win four or more Cup races at Dover.

“It feels nice to get one to come around our way,” Truex said.

The Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next. Kurt Busch won likely the last race of his career there after it was cut short because of a head injury suffered in a crash at Pocono last summer. Bubba Wallace won the fall race at the track.

already.

“I’m just throwing a number out there,” he said. “You hit the ball well, you obviously want to be rewarded.”

Runs have increased to 9.2 from 8.1.

Stolen bases average 1.4 per game — with a 79.2% success rate, up from 1.0 steals and a 75.5% success rate. The average is the highest since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and the success rate the highest on record.

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman has noticed the speedier games after foul balls.

“You’ve got to like run back to your position and you’re out of breath, ready to go for the next player,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the pressure-packed playoff games are played at rapid-fire speed like that.”

Statcast’s time between pitches, which starts 6 seconds ahead of the clock, ranged between 11.1 seconds (Cooper Criswell) and 19.0 (Andrew Bellatti), down from last year’s 12.6 (Brent Sutter) to 25.8 (Giovanny Gallegos and Jonathan Loáisiga).

Michael Kopech dropped from 21.1 to 13.2, Tanner Houck from 20.3 to 13.1 and Shohei Ohtani to 21.7 to 15.3.

“How many hours during the course of the rest of my career is that going to save?” said Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who cut from 17.6 to 13.9.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hadn’t won since September 2021

AP PHOTO

Martin Truex Jr. hoists the trophy after winning Monday’s Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.

Baseball’s new rules worked as intended in the first month of the MLB season, including an increase in stolen bases.

Cougars complete perfect PAC softball regular season

Randolph Record

SOUTHWESTERN Randolph won its only softball game of the week, but that meant a perfect regular season in Piedmont Athletic Conference play.

Maddie Strider hit a two-run homer as the Cougars topped host Uwharrie Carter Academy 13-1.

Southwestern Randolph (17-1 overall, 12-0 PAC) is the top seed for this week’s conference tournament.

** Eastern Randolph won 6-1 against visiting Providence Grove with winning Addie Flinchum homering. From the circle, Flinchum fired a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts and five walks.

Eastern Randolph rode Skylar

Pugh’s four-inning no-hitter in a 17-0 romp past visiting Trinity.

** Providence Grove topped visiting Randleman 4-0, with Emma Mazzarone striking out

12 batters and Leela Von Der Hey with a double and a triple and driving in three runs.

** UCA was a 14-0 winner at Wheatmore, with Kenzie Hill going 4-for-4 with a home run and double. Logan Zephir joined Hill with three runs batted in.

** Wheatmore’s Carmen Turgeon was the winning pitcher and had four runs batted in and three hits when the Warriors trounced host Trinity 16-2. Turgeon struck out 14.

Baseball

Even with 10-0 and 10-1 romps past Montgomery Central last week, Asheboro finished fourth in the Mid-Piedmont Conference.

Ben Luck homered and tripled while driving in four runs, and Davis Gore homered in the first matchup, with Connor Adams throwing a five-inning four-hitter.

In the rematch, Gore and Chandler Macon combined on a no-hitter, though Gore issued five walks and surrendered the lone run.

Tanner Marsh scored three runs, and Josh Meadows knocked in three runs for Asheboro (11-10, 4-6).

** Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season champion Randleman claimed a 6-1 victory at Northern Guilford in non-conference play in its lone game last week. Seth Way, who had a two-

run double, pitched six innings, and Shawn Miller rapped three hits.

The Tigers have geared up for the postseason without knowing if junior left-hander Drake Purvis will make it to the mound following off-season elbow surgery.

“He’s not back as far as in the games go,” coach Jake Smith said Monday. “He’s back throwing.”

It’s possible that Purvis could be available during the state playoffs, Smith said.

** Uwharrie Charter Academy won against Southwestern Randolph on back-to-back nights with 10-2 and 13-9 outcomes to secure a share of second place in the PAC. Ben Medinger scored five runs across those two games for UCA.

** Trinity split two games with last-place Eastern Randolph to tie with UCA for second place. There was Trinity’s 9-7 victory behind Cade Hill’s pitching, and Walker Parrish’s two RBI and two runs scored. Later in the week, Eastern Randolph won 4-1.

** Providence Grove and Wheatmore split, each winning home games. Providence Grove’s 6-3 victory came with Andrew Thomas pitching six innings and Josh Ward driving in two runs. Wheatmore won 6-5, with Payton Mooney driving in two runs.

Andrew Canter

Girls’ soccer

In Wheatmore’s 10-0 victory against visiting Randleman, senior Summer Bowman became the school’s all-time leader in assists with 48.

** Southwestern Randolph defeated Trinity 2-1 on Lucy Griffin’s overtime goal.

** In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Natalie Flores scored as Asheboro nipped visiting Montgomery Central 1-0 for its fourth victory in five games. Then came a 2-1 loss at Mid-Piedmont Conference co-leader Oak Grove.

Boys’ tennis

Three PAC teams were slotted for the dual-team state playoffs, led by regular-season champion Trinity.

The dual-team playoffs were set to start Wednesday after pairings were released Monday. Winners will advance to resume play next week.

Meanwhile, individual regionals are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. In the team competition, Trinity will open with visiting West Stokes in Class 2-A PAC runner-up Southwestern Randolph visits Shelby Burns.

In Class 1-A, UCA goes to Bishop McGuinness in the first round.

Providence Grove, baseball

Canter has been a key hitter and has supplied a huge boost on the mound for Providence Grove in his senior season.

Canter, who also played football at the school, rolled up four pitching victories in the regular season.

The Patriots bounced back following a rare losing season to hold a 13-9 mark at the end of the regular season.

As a quarterback in his final season in football, he tossed 10 touchdown passes and threw for more than 1,000 yards.

Wheatmore girls, Randleman boys notch PAC titles

Snotherly, Beane, Hazelwood claim most individual events

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

TRINITY — Wheatmore’s girls and Randleman’s boys were team champions in the Piedmont Athletic Conference track and field championships.

Wheatmore, the host school, posted 137 points in the girls’ competition to runner-up Providence Grove’s 108 and Randleman’s 101. On the boys’ side, Randleman had 145 to Trinity’s 134.

Multiple individual winners were prominent on the girls’ side, with Brecken Snotherly of East-

ern Randolph and Gracie Beane of Randleman racking up four victories.

Snotherly claimed the 400 meters (1 minute, 6.59 seconds) to go with titles in the 800 (2:36.59), 1,600 (5:48.98) and 3,200 (13:01.77).

Beane was the winner in the 200 (28.25), the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches), the long jump (15-4¼) and the triple jump (33-4).

Other winners were Providence Grove’s Makayla Leonard (100, 13.96) and Maya Barber (54.72), Wheatmore’s Ariel Marin (100 hurdles, 19.04) and Rylee Reidling, (discus, 88-2) as well as Randleman’s Iniyah Mitchell (shot put 34-2½). Wheatmore piled up points by

Duggins wins for first time at Caraway

Randolph Record

SOPHIA — Brody Duggins won for the first time at Caraway Speedway by capturing the Challengers feature Saturday night.

Duggins qualified for the pole position. He managed to move to the front after a redraw and hold on, with Allen Vance being second and Corey Rose placing third.

In Late Models, Jason York of Reidsville won again despite his son, Jamie York, posting the fastest qualifying time.

winning the 800 relay and 1,600 relay and taking second place in the 400 relay and 3,200 relay. Providence Grove won the 400 relay and 3,200 relay. For the boys, there was a larger variety of individual winners other than Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood sweeping the 1,600 (4:52.88) and 3,200 (10:41.94) despite challenges from Providence Grove’s Robert Burton in both races.

Randleman’s Tristan Chriscoe (110 hurdles, 16.95), Chase Farlow (high jump, 6-0), Amari Ferdna (39-4½), Amarion Moton (shot put, 39-9¾) and Landon McGee (discus, 119-6) took first place.

Trinity’s Dominic Payne (100, 11.69), Giovanni Jaimes (400, 55.77), Jose Castillo (800, 2:13.12) and Dylan Hodges (long jump, 20-2½) were winners. Trinity won all four of the boys’ relays.

Providence Grove’s Malachi Combo (300 hurdles, 45.33) and Wheatmore’s Peyton McDevitt (200, 24.15) also claimed titles.

Brian Rose was the runner-up in Late Models, followed by Chase Murphy, Camden Thomas and Jamie York.

In UCARs, Steven Collins collected his fourth victory of the year at the track despite starting in the 10th position. Josh Phillips, Jason Richmond, Daniel Hughes and Ron Mock rounded out the top five.

In Legends, there were 20 cars in the field, with London McKenzie taking the checkered flag. The 25-lap event was riddled with cautions. Caleb Day placed second, followed by Bobby Gossett, Spencer Bradshaw and Josh Lowe.

On the USAC Midgets circuit, Brady Allison Jr. secured the victory in the 35-lap race. He led the entire race, with Chris Lamb ending up in second place.

The Bandoleros race was won by Rylan Lowder, who’s listed as a third-generation driver at the speedway. Ellie Gossett placed second.

The next regular racing night at the track comes May 13, which has been dubbed Randolph County Appreciation Night with $8 admission for county residents, which will include a scheduled 100-lapper in Late Models. The Modifieds division will be in action along with other regular classes at the track.

It’s Randolph County Appreciation Night when the next regular racing card is held May 13 at the speedway.

RANDOLPH RECORD Providence Grove’s Andrew Canter delivers a pitch during a baseball game last week. COURTESY PHOTO

Brody Duggins, center, celebrates after his first Caraway Speedway victory in Saturday night’s Challengers race.

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Providence Grove’s Devon Kelly dives across the plate in front of Randleman’s Sarah Norton during last week’s Piedmont Athletic Conference softball game at Climax. Providence Grove won 4-0.

FILE PHOTO

Randleman’s Gracie Beane, shown here in the high jump during the state meet last year at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, won four events in this week’s PAC championships.

Wheatmore’s new basketball coach familiar with rivalries

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

TRINITY — The more Craig

Shoemaker learned about Wheatmore’s boys’ basketball program, the more he became interested in becoming the next coach.

So, he accepted the job, and he’ll try another rebuilding project.

“I was looking for a job,” Shoemaker said. “I didn’t know too much about Wheatmore. Seemed like they wanted someone to build it. I was very impressed by what I heard and saw.”

Shoemaker had great success during several seasons in his 13 years at Ragsdale and recently while coaching at the Leadership Academy in Kernersville.

Last season, the Warriors were

5-18 with a 0-12 regular-season mark in the Piedmont Athletic Conference. Jonathan Evans was the coach until mid-December when Jason Dennis took over on an interim basis.

“I like going to a place that needs a turnaround,” Shoemaker said.

Wheatmore had four consecutive winning seasons through 2019-20 but hasn’t posted an above-.500 mark since then.

Athletics director Rick Halo said the Warriors are seeking stability for the program after what seems like several years of a coaching carousel.

“His knowledge of the game stood out,” Halo said of Shoemaker. “We were looking for a seasoned coach who could step in and have good success. … A fresh start for

me and a fresh start for our players.”

Shoemaker coached basketball for four seasons at Leadership Academy, never winning more than nine games. He wasn’t on the bench during this past season.

At Ragsdale, Shoemaker’s teams posted 20-, 23- and 26-win seasons. By the end, he had backto-back 9-16 teams and was done there after the 2017-18 seasons. Overall, the Tigers were 188-151 under Shoemaker. “We had a lot of good guys roll through there, and we capitalized on it,” he said. “We tailed off a little bit.”

During his time at Ragsdale, his team was in the same conference as Trinity, which is Wheatmore’s neighboring rival. Shoemaker re-

called several clashes with Trinity, which continues to be coached by Tim Kelly.

“We were packing out gyms when we played,” Shoemaker said.

“He did tell me once I got the job (at Wheatmore), he was not going to give me any advice for a year.”

Though Shoemaker didn’t coach basketball this school year, he has guided the Leadership Academy boys’ soccer team for a few seasons. That squad went 21-1-1 in 2021.

His two youngest sons are seniors at Leadership Academy.

Shoemaker’s first head coaching job in basketball came at St. David’s School in Raleigh.

Shoemaker, who lives in High Point, will be involved in Wheatmore’s intervention program during school days.

Randleman keeps it close to home with new girls’ coach

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

RANDLEMAN — The next step in Steven Rightmyer’s coaching ventures takes him to something different, but he’s also familiar with much of what’s involved in Randleman’s girls’ basketball program. He was named the next coach of the Tigers, who’ve been a power the past few years.

“I always wanted to be a varsity coach,” Rightmyer said. “It’s a chance to step outside and try a new challenge.”

That’s because Rightmyer has mostly been involved in coaching boys’ sports. He moves from his role as boys’ basketball coach at Randleman Middle School, though he’ll remain there as a physical education and health teacher.

He takes over for Brandon Varner, who stepped aside after five seasons and a 103-20 record. Varner is the athletics director at the

middle school, so he’s well-connected with Rightmyer.

“Change is always a little bit different, but we’re still excited about

the change,” Randleman principal Dennis Hamilton said.

This marks the first varsity coaching assignment for Rightmyer, 35. He has coached a variety of sports, including junior varsity boys’ basketball for the Tigers. At the middle school, he also has been a head coach and assistant coach for the football team.

“He’s a tireless worker,” Randleman athletics director Jake Smith said. “We have no doubt that, through his leadership, Randleman girls’ basketball will continue to produce a quality product.”

Rightmyer said he’s fortunate because openings with such a strong program might not come along often.

Because of his teaching role, Rightmyer is familiar with the players who’ll make up the girls’ team. His nine years overall in

Randleman gives him a good feel for the community, he said.

“I’ve coached a lot of their older brothers,” he said. “It’s not like moving to a new school. It definitely helps.”

Randleman’s girls went 25-1 in 2021-22 and 27-2 during this past season, mostly dominating the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

“There was a lot of talent, especially with that senior group,” Rightmyer said. “We’ve got a good group that’s still going to be here.”

Rightmyer, who’s from Livonia, N.Y., served as a student assistant coach for three years for the Methodist University’s men’s team. He also helped with the boys’ basketball team at Pine Forest in Fayetteville while student teaching. He was at Southeastern Randolph Middle School for three years before shifting to Randleman.

Forte is 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte and Brad Cox’s filly Wet Paint are the morning line favorites respectively for the 149th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-yearolds. He brings in a five-race winning streak and has won six of seven starts including last month’s Florida Derby won by a length over Mage, who will start from the No. 8 post at 15-1 odds.

Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post on Monday, with Cox’s Angel of Empire (154 points) the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post.

Wet Paint will lead Friday’s

$1.25 million Oaks from the No. 7 post at 5-2 odds. One of three fillies trained by Louisville-born Cox among 14 entrants for the 1 1/8th mile race, she has won all three starts this year and enters with consecutive Grade 3 stakes wins in the Fantasy and Honeybee respectively at Oaklawn Park.

Stablemate Botanical is the 4-1 second choice from the No. 6 post with trainer Norm Casse’s Southlawn the 8-1 third choice from the No. 4 post.

Any suspense over where Forte would start the 1 1/4-mile race was gone quickly when the son of Violence and Queen Caroline by Blame was called out with the first pill drawn. That also relieved Pletcher, a Hall of Famer, of stress after Mo Donegal and Known Agenda started the last two Derbys from the rail. They finished fifth and ninth respectively.

The two-time Derby winner had no complaints either with draws for

Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns, a 12-1 choice from the No. 6 post. Both are 3-0 as 3-year-olds and coming off wins in the Blue Grass (Keeneland) and Louisiana Derby respectively.

“I do think it’s different with the one (post) with the new starting gate,” Pletcher said. “But still, I felt like it cost us a position or two last year and the year before. So, just happy to get out of there and pretty pleased with all three post positions.”

Meanwhile, Cox hopes strength in numbers earns his first outright Derby victory just over 15 months since Mandaloun was elevated to the 2021 win following Medina Spirit’s failed postrace drug test.

Angel of Empire certainly has the credentials after his 4¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. He has two wins and a second as a 3-year-old and a solid post just two spots right of stablemate Jace’s Road (50-1). Those posts might offset Cox’s dread after

“I do think it’s different with the one (post) with the new starting gate. But still, I felt like it cost us a position or two last year and the year before. So, just happy to get out of there and pretty pleased with all three post positions.”

Todd Pletcher

Hit Show (30-1) and Verifying (15-

1) drew the Nos. 1 and 2 posts, forcing both to avoid getting bunched against the rail out of the gate.

“Angel of Empire, I think it’s a good draw,” Cox said. “(Jockey) Flavien (Prat) will be able to break running and get a good spot midpack. That’s what I’m envisioning.

Jace’s Road will probably be more forwardly placed as opposed to Angel of Empire. Hopefully he can get himself up into the mix.”

Wet Paint and Botanical have decent spots in the Oaks, offering Cox two good chances to win that race for the third time in six years.

Post time for the Derby is 6:57 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Oaks goes off Friday at 5:51 p.m. ET.

The Kentucky Derby field from the rail out with odds: Hit Show (30-1); Verifying (15-1); Two Phil’s (12-1); Confidence Game (20-1); Tapit Trice (5-1); Kingsbarns (121); Reincarnate (50-1); Mage (151); Skinner (20-1); Practical Move (10-1); Disarm (30-1); Jace’s Road (50-1); Sun Thunder (50-1); Angel of Empire (8-1); Forte (3-1); Raise Cain (50-1); Derma Sotogake (101); Rocket Can (30-1); Lord Miles (30-1); Continuar (50-1). Also eligible: Cyclone Mischief (30-1); Mandarin Hero (20-1); King Russell (50-1).

•

PJ WARD-BROWN | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

Steven Rightmyer was named coach of the Randleman girls’ basketball team.

COURTESY PHOTO

Craig Shoemaker is Wheatmore’s new boys’ basketball coach.

David Henry Lamb

May 6, 1947 — April 27, 2023

David Henry Lamb's journey on earth was completed on April 27, 2023, at Davidson Health and Rehab in Lexington, NC.

David served our country bravely in the US Army including 13 months in the Vietnam war.

When his military service was complete, he returned to his hometown, Asheboro, NC. He continued his service as a school bus mechanic for Randolph County Public Schools. There he was dedicated to making certain that school children had safe and reliable transportation. David retired after more than 30 years of service. He came out of a brief retirement to work for the Asheboro Zoo maintaining the vehicles there. After several years, he fully retired.

David was preceded in death by his parents, Carl G. Lamb and Virginia H. Lamb, brother, Carl Lamb Jr. His grandparents, as well as several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

He is survived by his sister, Jane Lamb Graham, her Husband, William L. Graham; nephews, Jeff Sheffield and Travis Graham (Cathy); Niece, Christina Hansen (John); 4 great nephews, 3 great nieces and his many friends, especially Scott Hancock, Jimmy Wilkerson, and Patsy Varner.

Susan Ann Christ Benefield

January 30, 1969 — April 26, 2023

Susan Ann Christ Benefield, age 54, of Asheboro passed away on Thursday, April 26, 2023 at Moses Cone Hospital.

Mrs. Benefield was born in New York on January 30, 1969 to Antonio and Delores Liquari Christ. Susan was a homemaker and a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. She is survived by her husband, Michael Benefield; daughter, Jennifer Willard (Derek) of Asheboro; son, Lee Benefield of Asheboro; grandchildren, Taylor and Riley Willard; her mother; and 2 brothers; and 2 sisters.

Myrtle Bell Lakey Moss

January 11, 1932 — April 25, 2023

Myrtle Bell Lakey Moss, age 91, of Asheboro went home to be with the Lord on April 25, 2023. Mrs. Moss was born in Bassett, VA on January 11, 1932 to Charlie and Elizabeth Lakey. She was a member of Fayetteville Street Baptist Church. In addition to her parents, Myrtle was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Horace Moss, 8 siblings, and her daughter-in-law, Donna Moss. Myrtle loved taking care of her grandkids and going to yard sales with her husband. She is survived by her sons, Tom Moss of Asheboro and Jim Moss and wife Julie of Asheboro; daughter, Glenda Moss Wright and husband Darrell of Asheboro; grandchildren, Jennifer Ruggles and husband Rich, Brian Moss and wife Karen, Luke Moss, and Emily Copeland and husband Todd; great grandchildren, Jaymie Nooe, William Moss, Troy Moss, Lexa Moss, and Maverick Moss.

Jeffrey Wayne Watts

July 25, 1991 ~ April 22, 2023

Jeffrey Wayne Watts, Jr., age 31 of Archdale, passed away Saturday April 22, 2023 at his home. A native of Guilford County, Jeffrey was born July 25, 1991 to Tina Marie Williams and Jeffrey Watts, Sr. in High Point NC.

Caroline Currie Jessup Kemp

August 5, 1940 — April 25, 2023

Caroline Currie Jessup Kemp, 82, of Asheboro passed away peacefully surrounded by her family Tuesday, April 25th at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Caroline was born in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, on August 5, 1940, to Arnold and Lois Jessup.

Caroline was a 1958 graduate of Elizabethtown High School, attended Salem College and then later transferred to Guilford College, where she met the love of her life, Tommy. Following graduation, Caroline and Tommy were married in June of 1963.

Caroline, also known as Mother Nature by a few family members, was a loving southern beauty whose perfume always preceded her into a room. She was the true definition of a Southern Lady with her stylish, charming, sassy, and quick-witted ways. She was striking with her white hair, red lipstick, and eyeglasses.

Caroline was preceded in death by her parents Arnold and Lois Jessup and Sister Scarlett Misenheimer.

She is survived by her loving husband Tommy of the home, Son: David and Wife Darcy Kemp of Jamestown, NC. Daughter: Lucy and Husband Ken Grady of Asheboro, NC. Brother: Sherwood "Bud" Jessup and Wife Claudia of Clarksville, Ga. Grandchildren: Zachary Ryan Kemp of Charlotte, NC, Matthew David Kemp of Greensboro, NC, Kameron Grady of Charlotte, Kendall Bowler and Husband Matt of Charleston, SC. Great Grandchild: Max Bowler.

Bill Virgial King

October 12, 1938 — April 24, 2023

William “Bill” Virgial King, 84, passed away on April 24, 2023 at home. Bill was born on October 12, 1938 in Montgomery County to Williard and Addie Freeman King.

Bill and his wife, Florence, were members at Friendship Baptist Church, and attended Mt. Calvary Independent Baptist Church. He loved life, Blackie his 22 year old cat and feeding the crows in their yard. For 45 years Bill was loving and very protective over Florence. For many years they have loved spending time at Lake Tillery. Some of his hobbies included painting cars, repairing bicycles, and gardening. Bill always spoke his mind. He served in the US Army. After his time in the Army, Bill retired from Gayle Lord, where he worked as a repairman. He was a loving husband, father, stepfather, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Bill's family takes great comfort in knowing he is with his father in Heaven.

He is preceded in death by his parents, and his son Michael King.

Bill is survived by his wife, Florence King; Daughter Lynn Wicker (Don), son, Marc King; stepdaughter, Sheryl York (Dennis); stepson Michael Blake (Vicky); unofficial adopted son, Billy South; sisters all of Asheboro, Nancy Stultz, Brenda Pate Wilkins, and Mary Lewin (Steve); brothers all of Troy, Harold King (Mildred), Charles King (Vivian), Gary Reece King; 10 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.

Robert Shane Brower

In his formative years, Jeffrey attended Randleman High School and furthered his education at Dart Cherry in Goldsboro, NC, after which he was employed at Amerifab International in High Point for over 9 years. Jeffrey accepted Christ as his savior at Cloverdale Church of the Living God in High Point and in his leisure, he loved hunting, fishing, video games and spending time with his two loving daughters, Emmalee and Melanie Watts.

Jeffrey was preceded in death by his great grandparents, James and Mary Vanhoy, Major Lee and Lillie Holmes, grandfathers Elbert “Sam” Hopkins and Tony Watts, uncle Steven Hopkins, and his step grandmother Nancy Williams.

He leaves to cherish his memory his mother, Tina Marie Williams and her husband Larry, father Jeff Watts, daughters Emmalee Watts and Melanie Watts, brothers Jordan Watts, Jeremiah Watts and Brent Watts, stepsister Amanda Williams, stepbrother Mathew Williams and special brother Dennis Hopkins. He is also survived by his grandmothers, Lucille Hopkins and Sybil Watts, step grandfather Gene Williams, aunt Melissa Stewart, uncles Steven Lee, Mark Watts and a host of cousins. In Leu of flowers, donations may be made for the daughters’ education, c/o Lucille Hopkins, 2611 Boulder Court, Archdale, NC 27263.

Donnie Ray McNeill

October 10, 1940 — April 26, 2023

Donnie Ray McNeill, age 82 of Seagrove, passed away on April 26, 2023, at his home.

Mr. McNeill was born on October 10, 1940 in Moore County to Grady and Mellie Needham McNeill. He attended Westmoore High School and was a member of New Center Christian Church where he was a deacon and Sunday school teacher. In 1996 he became an ordained preacher.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife of 46 years, Myrtle Albright McNeill; sister, Doris Jenkins and brother, Glenn McNeill.

He is survived by his wife, Judy Warren McNeill of the home; daughters, Carolyn Morrison (Keith) of Seagrove; Rita Key (Randy) of New London; sons, Richard McNeill (Melanie) of Seagrove and Eric McNeill (Erin) of Seagrove. Sisters, Judy Poe (Tommy) of Seagrove; Jane Forester (John) of Seagrove and Rose Garner of Seagrove. Grandchildren, Bradley Morrison, Heather Morrison Hussey, Brandy Key Martin, Brooke Key Smith, Brodie Key, Ivey McNeill, Jantzen McNeill, Alden McNeill, Ashlynn McNeill, Tacoma Hall and Philomina Manning and twelve great grandchildren.

May 18, 1981 ~ April 22, 2023

Robert Shane Brower, age 41 of Asheboro, was called home by the Lord on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023. A native of Guilford County, Shane was born May 18, 1981 to William and Gina Murray Brower of Asheboro.

Shane was a Christian, having been saved and baptized as a young man. He believed firmly in the power of prayer. He enjoyed spending time with his family, was an animal lover and an avid Broncos fan. Spontaneous and often comical, his laughter was contagious. He enjoyed fishing, good music and having a good time.

Shane was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Robert L. and Frances Davis Murray, paternal grandfather William James Brower, uncles Rodney Brower and Robert I. Murray. He leaves behind to cherish his memory, his parents, William Theodore and Gina Murray Brower, brothers William Theodore, Jr., Jason Erin Brower and his wife Amanda, daughters Taylor Lynn Thompson, her husband Jesse, and Makayla Laurin Calloway and her husband Stoney. He is also survived by two grandsons, J.T Thompson and Lincoln Shane Thompson, paternal grandmother, Donnie Jean Brower, aunts Susan Smith, her husband Barry and Crystal Liles and her husband Ryan, uncle Jimmy Murry, his wife Stacey, Uncle Scott Murray and his wife Tonya, Uncle John Brower, aunt Angela Whitman and her husband David as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Jimmy Troy Anderson

September 9, 1951 ~ April 25, 2023

Jimmy Troy “Cool Hand Luke”

Anderson, age 71 of Asheboro, passed away Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem. A native of Randolph County, Jimmy was born September 9, 1951 to the late Sherman and Mary Cranford Anderson.

Jimmy accepted Christ as his savior at an early age and, in his formative years, attended Asheboro High School. On March 1, 1972, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps and served a short time in Vietnam. He was an avid fisherman, loved church, his grandchildren and spending time with his family.

Jimmy leaves behind to cherish his memory, his son Travis Anderson, daughter April Walker and her husband Paul, son Joshua Anderson and his wife Rhonaden, grandchildren Braxton Walker, Braylen Walker, Caleb Anderson, Kaylah Anderson and Dylan Anderson. He is also survived by his brother, Kenneth Hicks and sister, Brenda Anderson.

Shelby Luther Morris

August 4, 1937 - April 28, 2023 Shelby Jean Luther Morris, 85, of Asheboro, died Friday, April 28, 2023, at The Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro. Born on August 4, 1937, in Randolph County, Shelby was the daughter of the late Raymond Luther and Rosa Freeman Luther. She was a 1954 graduate of Farmer High School and a member of Eleazer Church. Shelby retired from Energizer after 35 years of service. She enjoyed walking and walked many miles. She was kindhearted, witty and loved making others happy.

In addition to her parents, Shelby was preceded in death by her husband, Claude Morris; son, Steven Morris; brothers, George Luther and Roger Luther. Shelby is survived by her daughter, Lisa Long and husband, David; sister, Allene Hall; brother, Bobby Luther and wife, Barbara; sister-in-law, Alice Luther; and many special nieces and nephews.

STATE & NATION

N. Carolina justices hand GOP big wins with election rulings

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — In massive victories for Republicans, the newly GOP-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday threw out a previous ruling against gerrymandered voting maps and upheld a photo voter identification law that colleagues had struck down as racially biased.

The partisan gerrymandering ruling should make it significantly easier for the Republican-dominated legislature to help the GOP gain seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House when state lawmakers redraw congressional boundaries for the 2024 elections. Under the current map, Democrats won seven of the state’s 14 congressional seats last November.

The court, which became a Republican majority this year following the election of two GOP justices, ruled after revisiting redistricting and voter ID opinions made in December by the court’s previous iteration, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. The court held rehearings in March.

Friday’s 5-2 rulings also mean that state lawmakers should have greater latitude in drawing General Assembly seat boundaries for elections next year and the rest of the decade, and that the voter ID law approved by the legislature in late 2018 could be carried out soon.

In another court decision Friday along party lines, the state justices overturned a trial court decision on when the voting rights of people

convicted of felonies are restored. That means tens of thousands of people will have to complete their probation or parole and pay any fines to qualify to vote again.

Republican legislators celebrated the sweeping series of favorable decisions that are assuredly the result of the changing makeup of the state’s highest court. Outside groups spent millions on the two Supreme Court campaigns in 2022.

“The decisions handed down today by the NC Supreme Court have ensured that our constitution and the will of the people of North Car-

olina are honored,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a news release.

But the remaining Democratic justices and their allies lambasted the decisions that reversed new precedents on redistricting and voter ID.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads a national Democratic group whose affiliate helped support the redistricting litigation, said Friday’s mapping decision was “a function of political personnel and partisan opportunism” by Republicans.

“History will not be kind to this court’s majority, which will now

forever be stained for irreparably harming the legitimacy and reputation of North Carolina’s highest tribunal,” Holder said.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, writing the majority opinion in the redistricting case, said that the previous Democratic majority erred by declaring that the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. The court last year struck down maps the General Assembly drew because they said it gave Republicans outsized electoral advantage compared to their voting power.

But Newby said a partisan gerrymandering prohibition is absent from the plain language of the constitution. He argued that current and former colleagues who declared otherwise had wrongly wrested power away from the General Assembly, which the state constitution designates as the mapmakers.

“In its decision today, the Court returns to its tradition of honoring the constitutional roles assigned to each branch,” Newby wrote. “This case is not about partisan politics, but rather about realigning the proper roles of the judicial and legislative branches.”

Associate Justice Anita Earls, writing the dissenting opinion, said the court correctly ruled last year to ensure all North Carolina residents “regardless of political party, were not denied their ‘fundamental right to vote on equal terms.’ ... Today, the majority strips the people of this right.”

On voter ID, the Republican majority reversed a trial court decision that struck down the 2018 law. The trial court had ruled that GOP legislators passed the law in part to retain General Assembly control by discouraging Black Democrats from voting in legislative elections. But Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote, in part,

that the trial judges erred in relying on a federal court ruling striking down a 2013 voter ID law as tainted by racial discrimination.

Although a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is still pending, the State Board of Elections said Friday that staff would start working toward “a smooth rollout” of the ID requirement with municipal elections this fall.

Voters also previously approved a separate photo voter ID mandate for the state constitution, although that amendment remains stuck in litigation that wouldn’t affect Friday’s ruling.

On the process for restoring voting rights, the court upheld a law passed in 1973 — when Democrats controlled the legislature — that automatically restored voting rights only after the “unconditional discharge of an inmate, of a probationer, or of a parolee.”

A panel of trial court judges last year declared that the law disproportionately harmed black offenders and violated the constitution. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the 1973 law remained rooted in Reconstruction-era efforts by white Democratic politicians to intentionally prevent black residents from voting.

Most of the people affected by the law — about 56,000 on probation, parole or supervision at the time of a 2021 trial — got the chance to vote last November.

Associate Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion that the trial court “wrongly imputed” discriminatory views of 19th century lawmakers upon others who later “made it easier for eligible felons of all races to regain their voting rights.”

“It is not unconstitutional to insist that felons pay their debt to society as a condition of participating in the electoral process,” Allen wrote.

US economy grew at weak 1.1% rate in Q1 in sign of slowdown

The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1.1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced their inventories.

The estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened after growing 3.2% from July through September and 2.6% from October through December.

But consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, remained resilient, growing at a 3.7% annual pace, the fastest such rate in nearly two years. Spending on goods, in particular, was solid: It rose at its fastest pace since the second quarter of 2021.

Economists had been expecting overall GDP to grow at a 1.9% pace in the January-March quarter. Behind much of the quarter’s weakness was a sharp reduction in business inventories, which subtracted roughly 2.3 percentage points from overall growth. Companies typically slash their inventories when they anticipate a coming downturn.

The economy’s slowdown reflects the impact of the Feder-

al Reserve’s aggressive drive to tame inflation, with nine interest rate hikes over the past year. The surge in borrowing costs is expected to send the economy into a recession sometime this year. Though inflation has steadily eased from the four-decade high it reached last year, it remains far above the Fed’s 2% target. The housing market, which

is especially vulnerable to higher loan rates, has been battered. And many banks have tightened their lending standards since the failure last month of two major U.S. banks, making it even harder to borrow to buy a house or a car or to expand a business.

“The economy had less forward momentum at the start of this year than previously thought,”

Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.

“We continue to expect the drag from higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions to push the economy into a mild recession soon.”

Many economists say the cumulative impact of the Fed’s rate hikes has yet to be fully felt. Still, the central bank’s policymakers are aiming for a so-called soft landing: Cooling growth enough to curb inflation yet not so much as to send the world’s largest economy tumbling into a recession.

There is widespread skepticism that the Fed will succeed. An economic model used by the Conference Board, a business research group, puts the probability of a U.S. recession over the next year at 99%.

The Conference Board’s recession-probability gauge had hung around zero from September 2020, as the economy rebounded explosively from the COVID-19 recession, until March 2022, when the Fed started raising rates to fight inflation.”The focus is on the weak top-line (GDP) number, but the economy remains resilient,’’ said Robert Frick, an economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Businesses have underestimated both consumer buying and business buying.”

The worst fears of a 2008-style

financial crisis have eased over the past month. But lingering credit cutbacks, which were mentioned in the Fed’s survey this month of regional economies, is likely to hobble growth.

The global backdrop is also looking bleaker. The International Monetary Fund this month downgraded its forecast for worldwide economic growth, citing rising interest rates around the world, financial uncertainty and chronic inflation. American exporters could suffer as a consequence.

Still, the U.S. economy has surprised before. Recession fears rose early last year after GDP had shrunk for two straight quarters. But the economy roared back in the second half of 2022, powered by surprisingly sturdy consumer spending.

A strong job market has given Americans the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep shopping: 2021 and 2022 were the two best years for job creation on record. And hiring has remained strong so far this year, though it has decelerated from January to February and then to March.

The jobs report for April, which the government will issue on May 5, is expected to show that employers added a decent but still-lower total of 185,000 jobs this month, according to a survey of forecasters by FactSet.

AP PHOTO

This photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts shows Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr.

AP PHOTO

A crane stands over a residential construction project on Sunday, April 23, 2023, in downtown Denver.

HOKE COUNTY

The Juicebox Rockstars roll into town

Twenty-two kids from ages 3 to 5 years old tackled Rockfish Speedway last Saturday night in a new division called The Juicebox Rockstars. Parents, grandparents, crews, and friends packed the speedway to see the youngsters race two laps in their decorated electric go-karts. Top: Parents and racers got lined up for their firstever race. Bottom left: The winners from each division

COUNTY NEWS

Hoke High School students wins

SkillsUSA Drone Pilot competition

At the 2023 North Carolina SkillsUSA Conference at the Greensboro Convention Center Complex, which took place April 18-20, several Hoke County High School students took part in the Drone Pilot competition. Chancellor Morton came in first place, and Andrew Scott placed fourth, respectively. Branson Winburn and Jonathan Halstead, who were also members of the drone pilot team, assisted with practice, maintenance, repair, and logistics. Due to his success in this most recent competition, Morton has been invited to represent North Carolina in the National SkillsUSA Championship Drone Competition that will be held on June 1923 in Atlanta. All four of the aforementioned drone pilots are currently enrolled in Mario Malabunga’s Level 2 Drone class at Hoke County High School, where they have learned several search and rescue and maintenance skills, which allowed them to perform at the trade and technical skills leadership competition.

Aquatic center opens for business

By Emmie Brooks North State Journal

RAEFORD — The James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center finally opened for business Monday, May 1, 2023. The building is named in honor of Hoke County commissioner of over 20 years and board chairman, James A. Leach.

“This is a long time coming; I think James definitely deserves this building,” Hoke County Board of Education Chairwoman Rosa McAllister McRae said.

The new recreational facility is a 53,000-square-foot complex that contains basketball courts, a running track, several office spac -

Vice Chairman Allen Thomas, Hoke County Board of Commissioners

es, and a pool area complete with diving boards and locker rooms.

“Some children, the reason that they love to go to school is because if they do good in school, then they get the opportunity to play basketball or are on the

basketball team,” Hoke County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Allen Thomas said. “Whatever it takes to get them and keep them in school, we’ll do it.”

A way that Hoke County Parks and Recreation found to bring together a personalized complex is by selling bricks to individuals who would like their name or other meaningful wording outside of the new James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center.

“Hoke County has been good to me, and for that reason, I try real hard to be good to you,” James Leach said.

The architectural minds behind the building are SfL+a Ar -

Commissioners approve rezoning request for potential low-income housing development

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

RAEFORD — The Hoke County Board of Commissioners met Monday, May 1, with a handful of property matters and funding requests on the agenda.

The board first held two public hearings for rezoning requests.

The first public hearing was a request to rezone 93.2 acres of property located on Philippi Church Road from RA-20 to R-8.

“This property is in the urban service area and will be serviced by county water and sewer,” said Planner Jeff Dockery. “The developers are looking at the high-density option and have chosen that with all the applicable regulations of the Hoke County Subdivision Ordinance. Our planning board recommended unanimously for the general rezoning.”

According to the developers, the reason for pursuing the higher density zoning is so that they can fit more economical and lower-income housing in the area – around 70-80 lots – with a range of costs from $250,000 to $350,000.

“After being on this board for 20 years, I can guarantee you one thing, ain’t no developer going to develop that many lots and be able to sell a house for $100,000,” said Commissioner Tony Hunt. “They’ll go broke if they do. I know that some folks are wondering if we are starting to allow homes to go in that it would devalue other homes, and I know that would be my concern too, but I guarantee with all the infrastructure, the roads, the sewer, and water... those homes aren’t going to be much different than what is in the other subdivisions for the price. Something that we certainly want to guard against is anything

that will depreciate what somebody has already invested in.”

After the public hearing, the board approved the rezoning request.

The second public hearing was a request to rezone 2.99 acres of property located at 1970 Wayside Road from RA-20 to Neighborhood Business (NB).

The applicant had been running a business under specific conditions since 2014 on the property and wished to rezone to be in better compliance and for potential expansion.

“Sales tax is critical to our budget and what we do for the residents, so we appreciate you running your business,” said Chairman Allen Thomas, Jr.

Following the hearing, the board approved the rezoning request.

chitects, a firm established in 1982. The firm specializes in energy-positive buildings and educational structures.

“The commissioners were determined that this had to be a quality building,” Robbie Ferris from SfL+a Architects said.

“It had to be something people would look at and say “we want to be in Hoke County, and that’s one of the reasons why.”

Hoke County won approval to obtain $50 million in limited obligation bonds to build the aquatic center in 2021.

The facility will also serve as the county’s emergency services shelter, according to the Local Government Commission.

“Whatever it takes to get them and keep them in school, we’ll do it.”

(Left-Right) Rhett “Kid Chaos” Kitchen in the five-year-olds, Lincoln Peterson in the three-year-olds and Weston Preston in the four-year-olds. Bottom right: Three-year-old Racyn Jones made a huge impact as 55 friends and family made it out to the speedway to watch her race in the electric racing karts.

PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE MCCARRELL OF TRACKSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY

Operation Fan Heat Relief to distribute fans to eligible recipients this summer

eli-

lo -

cal aging agencies across the state. Since 1986, the relief program has purchased fans for older adults and adults with disabilities, providing them with a more comfortable living environment and reducing heat-related illnesses. This program is made possible by donations from Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Dominion, and Valassis. For more information about receiving a fan or eligibility requirements, individuals may contact the Division of Aging and Adult Services at (919) 8553400 or visit https://www.ncdhhs. gov/operation-fan-and-heat-relief.

WEEKLY

♦ Bell, Garland Wayne (W/M/51), DWI, 04/30/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

♦ McGregor, Cedrick Arlando (B/M/37), Assault on LEO, 04/29/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

♦ Brewington, Ilse Marie (W/F/35), DWI, 04/28/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

♦ Stephens, Cordarius (B/M/25), DWI, 04/28/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s

♦ Epley, Brian Drake (W/M/32), Communicate Threats, 04/27/2023, Hoke County

The board also approved a general funding request of $58,000 for the Sandhills Center.

“The Sandhills Center Board, on March 14 of this year, voted for the 19th year in a row to not request any conditional funding from any of our counties,” said Sandhills Center CEO Victoria Whitt. “So, that means I am here tonight to request the same amount, which is $58,000, and that money stays right here in Hoke County. This funding helps to pay for services for

Sheriff’s Office

♦ McCarthy, Sean Bradley (W/M/34), Communicate Threats, 04/27/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

♦ Hill, Zabian Cordarius (B/M/42), Possession Schedule II CS, 04/26/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

♦ Isaac, Mickell (B/M/24), Poss Of Stolen Goods, 04/26/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office Locklear, Prentiss Lance (I/M/39), Resisting Arrest/ Hinder and Delay, 04/25/2023, Hoke County Sheriff’s Office

folks who don’t have insurance or Medicaid.

“We have been able, year after year, to hold the line, so to speak, on any additional funding requests because we have become the manager of Medicaid. And because of that, we’ve been able to utilize savings which we then reinvest back into the community.”

Finally, the board approved the Register of Deeds Credit Card Payment Processing Agreement contract.

The Hoke County Board of Commissioners will next meet May 15.

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party

IT IS CLICHÉ TO SAY, “this election is the most important election of our lifetime.” So, instead, I will simply say this election presents serious ramifications for the future of the Republican Party.

Will Republicans settle for yesterday’s stale past, today’s new with subtle nuances, or the future?

Trump or counterpunch effectively when attacked. Donors are fleeing his campaign. Former colleagues are coming forward talking about his aloofness and poor people skills. The DeSantis strategy appears to be Trump version 2.0; tweak here, tweak there

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser.

Republicans are stuck. We have been for three election cycles; hostage to a single politician, obsessesd with past grievances and lies, and no plan to get unstuck. Republicans will remain stuck until someone steps forward to challenege and condemn the past and today’s 2.0 version.

Donald Trump represents yesterday’s stale past. He’s responsible for three consecutive elections of Republican losses and underperformance. And yet, Donald Trump has managed to hold the GOP hostage despite his focus on personal vendettas, political grievances, and falsehoods.

Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe Trump should run for president, and this includes thirty percent of Republicans according to the new NBC News poll. Despite these abysmal polling numbers Trump still leads the primary field for the Republican nomination. Only two resaons can explain this bizarre scenario. Voters are crazy or they haven’t found their alternative. I choose to believe the latter.

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because he faced the only politician he could beat. He will never have this luxury again. If Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will lose and Republicans will lose even more.

There’s no easy way to put it. Ron DeSantis has stumbled since his overwhelming re-election and being talked about as the candidate to stop and beat Trump. However, he appears to be Trump version 2.0 rather than a Republican with a different direction and new ideas.

DeSantis has proven to be a flip-flopper. He is scared to take on

Ron DeSantis still remains the second choice for the Republican nomination. Time is still on his side to find a coherent strategy and message that doesn’t resemble Trump version 2.0.

This brings us to Tim Scott. Everyone agrees he is a true and proven conservative. He is full of charisma. He is affable. He discusses and debates issues with a brand of conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters. He is an optimist. And Scott’s message focuses on the future of America and all Americans.

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser. A great message and narrative can not be told without the resources needed to advertise it on a large scale.

The early primary calendar fits Scott’s conservatism and message better than any other candidate seeking the Republican nomination. Scott is not shy to talk about his faith and testimony. Iowa and South Carolina primary voters are largely made up of evangelicals — a constituency with which Scott has always had a close relationship. There is still a great deal of time before voters begin to cast their votes. However, Tim Scott is well-positioned, and perhaps bestpositioned, to take advantage of his strengths and the primary calendar. I believe Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party.

Alfredo Rodriguez III is the founder and president of Dyce Communications, a national strategic communications, public affairs, media and Republican political consulting firm.

A civics education requirement would be a good thing

THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, like many other states in America, is facing a problem in terms of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among its citizens, even among college graduates.

10% thought that T.V.

personality

Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

This problem poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic, as a wellinformed and virtuous citizenry is essential to maintain its democratic institutions (Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement, “A republic, if you can keep it,” keeps coming to mind).

The North Carolina General Assembly should pass House Bill 96, also known as the NC REACH Act, to ensure that college students in the state receive a well-balanced education which includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles.

The NC REACH Act, which recently passed the House and is now in the Senate, would require college students in North Carolina to take a three-credit-hour class on American government, which includes reading and studying several essential founding documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

The class also requires students to pass a final exam that tests their knowledge of the documents’ historical context, authors’ perspectives, and their significance.

The need for such a law arises from the fact that many Americans lack the knowledge of basic civics and government principles necessary to participate effectively in our democracy. A 2018 survey by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars found that only one in three

Furthermore, the survey found that college graduates were not significantly better prepared than the general population. Additionally, a 2019 Heritage Foundation report found that 60% of college graduates cannot name a single step necessary to ratify a constitutional amendment, half of them do not know how long the terms are for representatives and senators, and 10% thought that T.V. personality Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

These statistics are alarming, as they demonstrate that the education system in America is not adequately preparing its citizens to be informed and engaged members of a democratic society.

The NC REACH Act seeks to address this problem by ensuring that college students in North Carolina receive a balanced education that includes a deep dive into America’s founding documents and principles. By requiring students to read and study these documents in their entirety, the Act ensures that they receive a comprehensive education that covers the historical context, authors’ perspectives, and the documents’ significance. Furthermore, by requiring students to pass a final exam, the Act ensures that they have a deep understanding of the material covered in the class. This would have the potential to impact an estimated 345,000 college students in the state per year.

Those in opposition to the NC REACH Act may argue that it is unnecessary, as college students should already be learning about America’s founding documents and principles in their classes.

However, the reality is that many colleges and universities do not require their students

to take such courses, and even when they do, the courses may not provide a sufficient analysis of the documents. The NC REACH Act would ensure that all college students in North Carolina receive an education that includes a sufficient understanding of America’s founding documents and principles.

Additionally, opponents say that the Act would be an unnecessary burden on students and faculty. However, the Act only requires students to take a three-credit-hour class, which is 2.5% of the typical workload of an overall college education. If certain UNC system schools are going to require courses such as “Global Understanding” and “Power, Difference, & Inequality,” then I believe that a course on our country’s historically unique civic founding should also be on the required-course list.

Passing the NC REACH Act would help ensure that college students in North Carolina receive a well-balanced education that includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles. The Act would address the problem of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among college graduates in North Carolina, which poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic. By requiring students to read and analyze our most influential founding documents, they stand to gain invaluable insights into how our government works, and the civic and historical underpinnings of our unique founding almost 250 years ago.

Michael Bruce is a Research Intern at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh These are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Foundation

COLUMN | MICHAEL BRUCE

COLUMN | ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ III

SIDELINE REPORT

HORSE RACING

Forte is 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby

Louisville, Ky.

Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte is the morning line favorite for the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-yearolds. Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post, with Cox’s Angel of Empire the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post. Wet Paint drew the No. 7 post for the Oaks at 5-2 odds.

MLB

Yankees put Judge on injured list with hurt

hip

New York

Yankees captain Aaron Judge is going on the injured list because of a strained right hip, joining Giancarlo Stanton, Harrison Bader and third baseman Josh Donaldson on the sidelines. Judge was hurt last Wednesday when he landed hard while making an awkward headfirst slide at Minnesota on his 31st birthday. He remained in the game and started Thursday at Texas, then left in the fourth inning after striking out twice. A four-time All-Star and the reigning AL MVP, Judge is batting .261 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his first season after signing a $360 million, nine-year contract.

NHL Flames fire coach

Sutter after disappointing season

Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Flames fired head coach Darryl Sutter on Monday, the latest major change at the NHL club after a disappointing season. The Flames missed the playoffs this season after posting a 38-27-17 record.

Sutter’s departure comes two weeks after former Flames general manager Brad Treliving turned down a contract extension and parted ways with the team. Sutter, who replaced Geoff Ward midway through the shortened 2020-21 season, signed a multi-year contract extension with Calgary before this season after leading Calgary to a 50-2111 record and a first-round playoff win in 2021-22.

NFL Daughter of Buccaneers’ Barrett drowns in family pool

Tampa, Fla.

Police say the 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett drowned in a swimming pool at the family’s home. Officers responding to a call that a child had fallen into a pool were sent to Barrett’s home Sunday morning. The football player’s youngest child, Arrayah, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Police said an investigation is ongoing but the drowning “is not believed to be suspicious in nature at this time.” Barrett and his wife, Jordanna, have three other children.

Martin Truex back in Victory Lane with win at Dover

Truex won the second-tier Xfinity Series race on Saturday for his first NASCAR victory across all three national series in 188 career starts.

Points races without a win for Martin Truex Jr. before he won Monday’s race at Dover

ver and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019.

Truex also won a regularly scheduled Sunday race here in 2016.

The Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. mastered the Monster Mile on a Monday for the third time in his career and the former Cup Series champion snapped a 54-race winless streak overall in the Cup Series at Dover Motor Speedway. Thanks to a race postponed a day because of rain, it was a long weekend sweep for the Truex brothers. Younger brother Ryan

Big brother poked his head in Ryan’s Toyota as he pulled it into Victory Lane. Martin appreciated the winning weekend for the family.

“It’s just special,” Truex said. “It was such a big day for our family to see Ryan do that on Saturday.”

The 2017 Cup champion has the blueprint on how to win at the Monster Mile on a Monday.

Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win on June 4, 2007, at Do -

Truex held strong on the outside lane Monday off the final restart to hold off runner-up Ross Chastain by a half-second. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

“We knew we could do this,” Truex said. “It just never all came together.”

Truex was once of the most dominant drivers in the series,

MLB lefty batting average up, game time down 28 minutes

Baseball’s new rules seem to be working as hoped

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Batting average for left-handed hitters was up 13 percentage points through the first full month of the season, an impact of baseball’s new rule changes.

The biggest noticeable impact has been when games are ending. The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 37 minutes, down from 3:05 at the same point last year.

Clubhouse staff and players are getting home while their families are still awake.

“It definitely makes life easier,” Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, said Monday.

Boosted by new rules designed to speed play and increase action, stolen bases rose 40% to their highest level in nearly a quarter-century and scoring increased by 1.1 runs per game.

Pitch clock violations averaged 0.74, and the New York Mets topped the major leagues with 17 while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit tied for the fewest with four each. Of 313 clock violations, 204 were by pitchers, 91 by batters and four by catchers.

In addition, there were five penalties for batter timeouts, eight for pitcher disengagements and one for violation of shirt restrictions.

“The data looks really promising so far,” Theo Epstein, the former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive who consulted on the innovations, said Monday.

“The game had been veering in a direction where the only way to score was hope for a walk and a homer. And now we’re seeing with an increased batting average on balls in play, the increased rate of stolen-base attempts the improved success rate of stolen bases a lot of rallies that start with a single, then you have a stolen base and then you have another single and there’s a run. And that’s more entertaining.”

“The data looks really promising so far.”

Theo Epstein, former Red Sox and Cubs executive

Limits on infield shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases were implemented in an attempt to counter the impact of the Analytics Era suffocation of offense.

The big league batting average was .248 through 425 games. Lefties hit .247, up from .229 through

AP

winning a career-best eight times in 2017 and 23 times overall from 2016 to 2019. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been winless since his last Cup victory on Sept. 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway.

Determined to rebound from a winless season, Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

He did have three top-10 finishes this season in the No. 19 Toyota but couldn’t find his way to Victory Lane until Monday. He earned his 32nd career Cup victory and became the 10th driver to win four or more Cup races at Dover.

“It feels nice to get one to come around our way,” Truex said.

The Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next. Kurt Busch won likely the last race of his career there after it was cut short because of a head injury suffered in a crash at Pocono last summer. Bubba Wallace won the fall race at the track.

April last year. Righties are hitting .250, an increase from .234.

Lefty batting average on balls in play went up nine points to .292, and righty BABIP rose seven points to .302.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks he may have gotten 10 additional hits already.

“I’m just throwing a number out there,” he said. “You hit the ball well, you obviously want to be rewarded.”

Runs have increased to 9.2 from 8.1.

Stolen bases average 1.4 per game — with a 79.2% success rate, up from 1.0 steals and a 75.5% success rate. The average is the highest since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and the success rate the highest on record.

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman has noticed the speedier games after foul balls.

“You’ve got to like run back to your position and you’re out of breath, ready to go for the next player,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the pressure-packed playoff games are played at rapid-fire speed like that.”

Statcast’s time between pitches, which starts 6 seconds ahead of the clock, ranged between 11.1 seconds (Cooper Criswell) and 19.0 (Andrew Bellatti), down from last year’s 12.6 (Brent Sutter) to 25.8 (Giovanny Gallegos and Jonathan Loáisiga).

Michael Kopech dropped from 21.1 to 13.2, Tanner Houck from 20.3 to 13.1 and Shohei Ohtani to 21.7 to 15.3.

“How many hours during the course of the rest of my career is that going to save?” said Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who cut from 17.6 to 13.9.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hadn’t won since September 2021

PHOTO

Martin Truex Jr. hoists the trophy after winning Monday’s Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.

AP PHOTO

Baseball’s new rules worked as intended in the first month of the MLB season, including an increase in stolen bases.

Horse racing’s antidoping rules to start in mid-May

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes will be run under the old testing program

The Associated Press HORSE RACING’S NEW antidoping program won’t get underway until after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in mid-May, according to an order issued Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC, which oversees the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, pushed back the new Anti-Doping and Medication Control program by three weeks until May 22. HISA had planned to relaunch the program on May 1, the start of Kentucky Derby week, after a judge’s ruling in early April delayed the start until then.

“I share the concerns that the FTC articulated in their order,” Lisa Lazarus, CEO of HISA, told The Associated Press by phone.

If the program had started on May 1, prerace drug testing for the Kentucky Derby would have been conducted under Kentucky Horse Racing Commission rules and state laboratory standards, while postrace testing would have been done under HISA’s new rules.

“To break it up like that is very unfair to horsemen, especially considering it’s the most high-profile race of the year,” Lazarus told the

AP PHOTO

Whatmakessammyrun and Joe Bravo, left, hold off Air Force Red and Juan Hernandez to win the $100,000 Siren Lure Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita Park. Horse racing’s new anti-doping rules have been pushed back until after the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

AP. “It’s more important that the critical thinking be put into the right time to bring it back.” The Derby will be run May 6 in Louisville. The Preakness is May 20 in Baltimore.

HISA first began the ADMC program, which covers rules for drug testing, drug sampling, out-of-competition testing, rulings, and penalties, on March 27.

“The very first week of March

27 was very successful and went smoothly,” Lazarus said.

But a few days later a judge ruled that the program could not be implemented without a 30-day waiting period in a decision that was a

victory for the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has pushed back against HISA.

The HBPA and other groups have filed multiple lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of HISA.

The FTC ruling said the May 22 restart would “avoid the chaos and confusion that could occur if the anti-doping rule became effective on May 1, during the lead-up to the Triple Crown races scheduled during May.” It also said the delay would “ensure that the horseracing industry has sufficient time to prepare for the anti-doping rule to be effective.”

Lazarus said: “I would have felt a little uncomfortable with the May 1 start with two different rules in place.”

HISA had sought the quick rollout, which would have had the antidoping rules in place for five weeks before the Kentucky Derby.

The delay means the state racing commissions will remain in charge of their drug-testing programs through May 21. As a result, if a horse tests positive in the Derby or the Preakness, racing officials in Kentucky and Maryland will hear the case, decide on punishment and handle any appeals under their existing rules.

The Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, will be run June 10 in New York under HISA’s rules.

Talor Gooch claimed his second straight LIV Golf event, winning last weekend at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.

CHARLES

Gooch claims back-to-back LIV Golf titles with Singapore win

He is the first golfer to win consecutive events on the tour

The Associated Press

SINGAPORE — Talor Gooch became the first player to win back-to-back LIV Golf titles after a playoff hole victory against Sergio Garcia at the LIV Singapore tournament at Sentosa Golf Club on Sunday. Gooch and Garcia shadowed each other for most of the opening two rounds, and the final round was no different, with both the American and Spaniard never more than stroke apart as they

finished at 17-under 196 to force a playoff.

At the first playoff hole, the par5 18th, Gooch skirted with the water hazard with his tee shot but played a near perfect second shot into the heart of the green where he easily two-putted for birdie.

Garcia’s second shot at the playoff hole found the greenside bunker and the Spaniard was unable to make his birdie giving Gooch his second successive win and a $4 million prize.

For Gooch, it’s the ninth time he’s either led or shared a lead after an LIV round, the most of any player. He’s now led or shared the lead in the last six rounds.

“It’s one of those days that I’ll remember,” said Gooch. “I grew

“It’s one of those days that I’ll remember.”

Talor Gooch

up watching Sergio. He’s one of the greatest golfers of this generation. To go and battle with him and come out on top is something I’ll never forget.”

Twice LIV Golf tournament winner Brooks Koepka shot 67 to finish third at 16-under 197, one shot ahead of Scott Vincent (67) of Zimbabwe, who had briefly threatened to make it a four-way battle for the title before a bogey

at the par-4 15th stalled his momentum.

British Open champion Cam Smith (71) finished in a tie for sixth after he mixed regular birdies with bogeys for an even final round and an overall score of 12-under 201.

Phil Mickelson shot a 72, with two double bogeys in his final round, to fall down the leaderboard into a tie for 13th.

Like the first round, the final round Sunday was delayed for more than an hour after 13 holes of the shotgun format due to severe weather in the area.

Garcia, who began his round on the first hole with Gooch in the shotgun-start format, birdied three of the first nine holes to

maintain the lead with the American, who had four birdies and a bogey before nine consecutive pars.

Garcia won the Singapore Open at Sentosa in 2018 and had played bogey-free golf in the first 47 holes but two bogeys at the par-4 12th and 15th hampered his efforts of a repeat victory here.

At the par-5 18th in regulation, Gooch had 41-foot putt for eagle which narrowly missed to the left of the cup. The 31-year-old American easily made his birdie to put the pressure back on Garcia.

The Spaniard responded by calmly making birdie from 11 feet to force the playoff.

The next event is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, starting May 12.

LABERGE / LIV GOLF VIA AP

Biden’s diverse coalition of support risks fraying in 2024

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat-turned-Independent long known for his centrist views, voted for Joe Biden in 2020. But as Biden’s reelection campaign begins, Lieberman is preparing to recruit a third-party candidate capable of defeating the Democratic president.

“Centrists and moderates feel that he’s governed more from the left than they hoped,” Lieberman, a leader of the group, No Labels, said of Biden in an interview. “He hasn’t been able to be the unifier that he promised to be.”

Biden’s political challenges are not confined to voters in the middle. In the days since he formally launched his 2024 campaign, key members of the sprawling political coalition that lifted him over former President Donald Trump in 2020 are far from excited about the prospect of four more years. That underscores the test confronting Biden as he aims to motivate the coalition of African Americans, Latinos, young people, suburban voters and independents to show up for him again.

John Paul Mejia, the 20-yearold spokesman for the progressive Sunrise Movement, says Biden has simply not done enough to ensure the young voters who rallied behind him in 2020 would do so

again.

“Young people are starving for more,” Mejia said, pointing to Biden’s recent decision to approve two controversial fossil fuel projects in Alaska. “Biden has to demonstrate the extent to which he’s willing to be a fighter. We’ve seen this sort of two-step on the promises he made to young people.”

Biden has also struggled to fulfill key promises to black voters, perhaps the most loyal group in his political base. While he tapped Ketanji Brown Jackson to become

the first black woman on the Supreme Court, he has been unable to follow through on pledges to protect voting rights against a wave of Republican-backed restrictions or enact policing reform to help stop violence against people of color at the hands of law enforcement.

“There’s work to be done,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, a 42-year-old African American former civil rights attorney who joined Congress in January. “I’m not going to sugar coat it.”

Nearly 18 months before Elec-

tion Day 2024, however, it’s unclear how much this lack of enthusiasm will weigh on Biden’s reelection prospects. For all the concern, no high-profile Democratic primary challengers have emerged, and none are expected to. To date, only progressive author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are mounting symbolic challenges to Biden, who has the official support of the Democratic National Committee.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden’s chief rival in the 2020 primary, told The Associated Press just hours after Biden announced that he was endorsing the president and encouraged other progressive leaders to do so as well.

“I intend to do everything I can to see that he is reelected,” Sanders said in an interview.

Instead of excitement for the 80-year-old president’s reelection, the warning signs in the Biden coalition are clear.

Just 41% of black adults want the Democratic president to run again, and only 55% said they are likely to support him in the general election if he is the nominee. Among Latinos, only 27% want Biden to run again in 2024 and 43% said they would definitely or probably support him.

Meanwhile, just 14% of independents — adults who don’t lean toward either party, who

represent a small percentage of the American electorate — want Biden to run again. And only 24% said they’d support him in the general election if he is the Democratic nominee.

Allies said one key reason why the president selected Julie Chavez Rodriguez as his campaign manager was her ability to maintain close ties with a wide swath of the Democratic coalition during her time as White House director of intergovernmental affairs.

“This is not a time to be complacent,” Biden said in his announcement video as he vowed to fight for freedom and warned of MAGA extremists and others who support banning abortion and books.

Meanwhile, Lieberman said he would likely soon begin interviewing potential candidates for No Label’s third-party alternative to Biden and the eventual Republican nominee.

Already, No Labels has secured a spot on the presidential ballot in four states, including swing states Arizona and Colorado. Lieberman noted that the group would not field a candidate if polling suggested the so-called unity ticket does not have a viable path to the presidency.

“If No Labels does not run a bipartisan unity ticket, and the two candidates are Trump and Biden, to me, it’s an easy choice,” Lieberman said. “I will vote for Biden.”

Tim Scott sets May 22 announcement for 2024 presidential bid

The Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is nearly ready to reveal his decision on entering the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, saying Sunday that he would make an announcement on May 22.

Scott didn’t definitively say that he’ll be announcing his official campaign, but he told those gathered at a downtown Charleston school during a town hall that he would be coming out with his decision at an event in about three weeks in North Charleston, which he calls home.

“It is time to make the final step,” Scott said to a room packed with cheering supporters, as well as a film crew, which a longtime Scott adviser said was gathering “content” for future use, a flick at a potential launch or campaign ad video.

“We will have a major announcement,” Scott added.

Scott, 57, has been inching ever closer to formally entering the GOP nomination race, where he would join other announced candidates, including former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and “anti-woke” biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Another of those is Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor who appointed Scott in 2012 to the Senate, where he is the sole Black Republican. Haley hasn’t commented on Scott’s potential entry into the race, while Scott has dismissed suggestions of any awkwardness in running against the former governor who appoint-

ed him to his Senate seat.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are among those considering launching their own presidential campaigns in the coming months.

Last month, Scott created an exploratory committee, a mechanism that allowed him to raise money for polling and travel related to making a determination on the race. In a video announcing

that effort, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the “radical left,” with a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty, and bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.”

“When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop. A token. Because I disrupt their narrative,” he said in

the video, which was shot on the site of Fort Sumter in his hometown of Charleston, where the Civil War’s first shots were fired.

“I threaten their control.”

In February — a day after Haley’s official campaign launch — Scott kicked off a listening tour that has taken him to other early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, where he’s held events ranging from political

meetings with evangelical pastors to town halls and speeches. In his time on the trail, Scott has tried to present a more positive vision for the future than many of his potential rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Scott told The Associated Press in Iowa that voters he has spoken with respond favorably to his optimistic outlook for the country and his conservative ideals.

“I think my candidacy is really designed around what the American people want to talk about, what their priorities are and what their issues are,” Scott told AP.

If Scott enters the race, he would have just over one month to raise money before the end of the second quarter, with more candidates in the GOP field intensifying the competition for donor dollars.

But Scott has already proven that he can attract significant money. A pro-Scott super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund, spent more than $20 million to help Republicans in 2022 and reported $13 million-plus on hand to start 2023. Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has donated at least $30 million to the organization since 2021, according to federal filings.

Sunday’s town hall took place at Meeting Street Academy, part of a charter school network founded by one of Scott’s top donors, Charleston philanthropist Ben Navarro. Scott was introduced by South Carolina businessman and longtime supporter Mike Johnson, who is serving as a national finance co-chair for Scott and a day after the planned May 22 announcement is hosting a day-long “call day and retreat” with Scott supporters.

AP PHOTO

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks at a town hall, Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. Scott has launched an exploratory committee and says he’ll announce a decision on the 2024 presidential race by the end of May.

AP PHOTO

President Joe Biden greets people after speaking about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas.

Tara Marie Charles

March 20, 1985 ~ April 27, 2023

Tara Marie Charles, of Raeford, NC passed away on April 27, 2023, at the age of 38.

She was born in Fayetteville, NC on March 20, 1985, to William Joseph Charles, and Melinda Ann Charles Dick.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Alice Charles, and grandfather, Buck Batton.

Tara was always optimistic and bubbly. She was loved by so many who will miss her.

She is survived by her children, Ayden Joseph Hagins, and Nellie Marie Hagins; her parents William Charles and Melinda Charles Dick (David), siblings, Robert Charles (Samantha), Matthew Charles (Jewel), and Zetta Charles; grandmother, Gertrude Batton.

Isabel Gomez

May 3, 1934 ~ April 23, 2023

Isabel Gomez transitioned to Heaven on April 23, 2023, at the age of 88, surrounded by her family.

She was born on May 3, 1934, in Puerto Rico to the late Herakio and Carmen Gomez.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Obdulio Carrion; two sons, Stanley Principe, and Dennis Carrion, Sr. Isabel was a loving mother, and grandmother. She worked as a seamstress when she was younger and enjoyed sewing and crocheting. She also enjoyed traveling.

Kimberly Bratcher Carthens

December 29, 1968 ~ April 25, 2023

Ms. Kimberly Carthens departed this life on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 in the comfort of her home. She leaves to cherish her memories: Her father G.B. Bratcher (Diane) of Vass NC, 2 sons: Jerrod Bratcher (Bianca) of Greensboro NC, Brandon Carthens (Tia) of Detroit MI, 2 daughters: Sandra Wooten (Eric) of Jacksonville FL, Kiara Brown (Wardell) of San Antonio TX, and 1 sister Ollionna Bratcher of Spring Lake NC.

Mattie Jones

May 18, 1956 ~ April 21, 2023

Ms. Mattie Jones age, 66 went home to be with her heavenly father on April 21, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her children: Lorenzo McLauchlin, Mattie Jones, Donetta Jones; mother, Mable Hasty McLauchlin; sisters: Jackie Armstrong, Linda Armstrong, Lucille Handon along with a host of other family and friends. Mattie will be greatly missed.

Kendrick Evans

September 19, 1979 ~ April 24, 2023

Mr. Kendrick Evans age, 43 went home to be with his heavenly father on April 24, 2023. He leaves to cherish his loving memories his children, Zarious Evans, Ken'audrea Evans; parents: Delois Whyte, William Winston; stepdad, Derrick Whyte; sisters: Keyshonna McLean Vaquez, Keyshanda McLean; brothers: Kenyonta' Evans, Juan Winston, Darrell McPhaul, Keshawn McLean, Keshandre McLean; aunts: Bertha Evans, Viola McLean; uncles: Harold Evans, Robert Evans, Melvin Evans, Marvin Evans, John Winston, Willie Winston, Daniel Winston, Charles Winston, Martin Evans; one grandchild along with a host of other family and friends. Kendrick will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her children, Margaret Carrion (Raul Vega, Sr.), Christopher Carrion, Stephan (Jacquiline) Gomez, Barbara Gomez Nadir (Obdulio), Emilio Canales, and Alvin Gomez; grandchildren, Sasha Marie Bosch, Adam X. Nadir, Ryan A. Nadir, Raul Vega, Jr., Imani Gomez, Stephan Gomez II, Fernando Gomez, Chris Carrion Jr., Anthony Carrion, Patrick S. Carrion, Michael Carrion, Christina Carrion, Dennis Carrion, Jr., Joseph Carrion, Stanley Principe, Jr., and Emiliana Principe; great grandchildren, Natalia Tapia, Makayla Tapia, Anaya Perez, plus 23 more; nieces and nephews, Marie DeBren, William Gomez, Angie Gomez, Helen Gomez, Manny Gomez, Daisy Gomez, Nelson Gomez, Maria Nieves, Ginnete Nieves, and Eddie Nieves.

Mary Lizzie (Peterson) Blue

January 29, 1936 ~ April 27, 2023

Ms. Mary Lizzie Blue age, 87 went home to rest with her heavenly father on April 27, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her children: Jessie Blue, Lewis Blue; sister, Della Mae McArn; brothers: David McArn, Chester McArn, four grandchildren, eight great grandchildren along with a host of other famiy and friends. Mary will be greatly missed.

Gwendolyn Southerland

October 19, 1952 ~ April 20, 2023

Mrs. Gwendolyn Southerland age, 70 went home to rest with her heavenly father on April 20, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her husband, Harrison Southerland; children: LaShonda Ely (Calvin), LaWanda Southerland; special nephew, Terry Southerland; grandchildren: Calvin D. Ely II, C'Alvion A. Ely; brothers: Leon Hough, Clyde Hough along with a host of other family and friends. Gwendolyn will be greatly missed.

STATE & NATION

N. Carolina justices hand GOP big wins with election rulings

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — In massive victories for Republicans, the newly GOP-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday threw out a previous ruling against gerrymandered voting maps and upheld a photo voter identification law that colleagues had struck down as racially biased.

The partisan gerrymandering ruling should make it significantly easier for the Republican-dominated legislature to help the GOP gain seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House when state lawmakers redraw congressional boundaries for the 2024 elections. Under the current map, Democrats won seven of the state’s 14 congressional seats last November.

The court, which became a Republican majority this year following the election of two GOP justices, ruled after revisiting redistricting and voter ID opinions made in December by the court’s previous iteration, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. The court held rehearings in March.

Friday’s 5-2 rulings also mean that state lawmakers should have greater latitude in drawing General Assembly seat boundaries for elections next year and the rest of the decade, and that the voter ID law approved by the legislature in late 2018 could be carried out soon.

In another court decision Friday along party lines, the state justices overturned a trial court decision on when the voting rights of people

convicted of felonies are restored. That means tens of thousands of people will have to complete their probation or parole and pay any fines to qualify to vote again.

Republican legislators celebrated the sweeping series of favorable decisions that are assuredly the result of the changing makeup of the state’s highest court. Outside groups spent millions on the two Supreme Court campaigns in 2022.

“The decisions handed down today by the NC Supreme Court have ensured that our constitution and the will of the people of North Car-

olina are honored,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a news release.

But the remaining Democratic justices and their allies lambasted the decisions that reversed new precedents on redistricting and voter ID.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads a national Democratic group whose affiliate helped support the redistricting litigation, said Friday’s mapping decision was “a function of political personnel and partisan opportunism” by Republicans.

“History will not be kind to this court’s majority, which will now

forever be stained for irreparably harming the legitimacy and reputation of North Carolina’s highest tribunal,” Holder said.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, writing the majority opinion in the redistricting case, said that the previous Democratic majority erred by declaring that the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. The court last year struck down maps the General Assembly drew because they said it gave Republicans outsized electoral advantage compared to their voting power.

But Newby said a partisan gerrymandering prohibition is absent from the plain language of the constitution. He argued that current and former colleagues who declared otherwise had wrongly wrested power away from the General Assembly, which the state constitution designates as the mapmakers.

“In its decision today, the Court returns to its tradition of honoring the constitutional roles assigned to each branch,” Newby wrote. “This case is not about partisan politics, but rather about realigning the proper roles of the judicial and legislative branches.”

Associate Justice Anita Earls, writing the dissenting opinion, said the court correctly ruled last year to ensure all North Carolina residents “regardless of political party, were not denied their ‘fundamental right to vote on equal terms.’ ... Today, the majority strips the people of this right.”

On voter ID, the Republican majority reversed a trial court decision that struck down the 2018 law. The trial court had ruled that GOP legislators passed the law in part to retain General Assembly control by discouraging Black Democrats from voting in legislative elections. But Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote, in part,

that the trial judges erred in relying on a federal court ruling striking down a 2013 voter ID law as tainted by racial discrimination.

Although a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is still pending, the State Board of Elections said Friday that staff would start working toward “a smooth rollout” of the ID requirement with municipal elections this fall.

Voters also previously approved a separate photo voter ID mandate for the state constitution, although that amendment remains stuck in litigation that wouldn’t affect Friday’s ruling.

On the process for restoring voting rights, the court upheld a law passed in 1973 — when Democrats controlled the legislature — that automatically restored voting rights only after the “unconditional discharge of an inmate, of a probationer, or of a parolee.”

A panel of trial court judges last year declared that the law disproportionately harmed black offenders and violated the constitution.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the 1973 law remained rooted in Reconstruction-era efforts by white Democratic politicians to intentionally prevent black residents from voting.

Most of the people affected by the law — about 56,000 on probation, parole or supervision at the time of a 2021 trial — got the chance to vote last November.

Associate Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion that the trial court “wrongly imputed” discriminatory views of 19th century lawmakers upon others who later “made it easier for eligible felons of all races to regain their voting rights.”

“It is not unconstitutional to insist that felons pay their debt to society as a condition of participating in the electoral process,” Allen wrote.

US economy grew at weak 1.1% rate in Q1 in sign of slowdown

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1.1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced their inventories.

The estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened after growing 3.2% from July through September and 2.6% from October through December.

But consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, remained resilient, growing at a 3.7% annual pace, the fastest such rate in nearly two years. Spending on goods, in particular, was solid: It rose at its fastest pace since the second quarter of 2021.

Economists had been expecting overall GDP to grow at a 1.9% pace in the January-March quarter. Behind much of the quarter’s weakness was a sharp reduction in business inventories, which subtracted roughly 2.3 percentage points from overall growth. Companies typically slash their inventories when they anticipate a coming downturn.

The economy’s slowdown reflects the impact of the Feder-

al Reserve’s aggressive drive to tame inflation, with nine interest rate hikes over the past year. The surge in borrowing costs is expected to send the economy into a recession sometime this year. Though inflation has steadily eased from the four-decade high it reached last year, it remains far above the Fed’s 2% target. The housing market, which

is especially vulnerable to higher loan rates, has been battered. And many banks have tightened their lending standards since the failure last month of two major U.S. banks, making it even harder to borrow to buy a house or a car or to expand a business.

“The economy had less forward momentum at the start of this year than previously thought,”

Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.

“We continue to expect the drag from higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions to push the economy into a mild recession soon.”

Many economists say the cumulative impact of the Fed’s rate hikes has yet to be fully felt. Still, the central bank’s policymakers are aiming for a so-called soft landing: Cooling growth enough to curb inflation yet not so much as to send the world’s largest economy tumbling into a recession.

There is widespread skepticism that the Fed will succeed. An economic model used by the Conference Board, a business research group, puts the probability of a U.S. recession over the next year at 99%.

The Conference Board’s recession-probability gauge had hung around zero from September 2020, as the economy rebounded explosively from the COVID-19 recession, until March 2022, when the Fed started raising rates to fight inflation.”The focus is on the weak top-line (GDP) number, but the economy remains resilient,’’ said Robert Frick, an economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Businesses have underestimated both consumer buying and business buying.”

The worst fears of a 2008-style

financial crisis have eased over the past month. But lingering credit cutbacks, which were mentioned in the Fed’s survey this month of regional economies, is likely to hobble growth.

The global backdrop is also looking bleaker. The International Monetary Fund this month downgraded its forecast for worldwide economic growth, citing rising interest rates around the world, financial uncertainty and chronic inflation. American exporters could suffer as a consequence.

Still, the U.S. economy has surprised before. Recession fears rose early last year after GDP had shrunk for two straight quarters. But the economy roared back in the second half of 2022, powered by surprisingly sturdy consumer spending.

A strong job market has given Americans the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep shopping: 2021 and 2022 were the two best years for job creation on record. And hiring has remained strong so far this year, though it has decelerated from January to February and then to March.

The jobs report for April, which the government will issue on May 5, is expected to show that employers added a decent but still-lower total of 185,000 jobs this month, according to a survey of forecasters by FactSet.

AP PHOTO

This photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts shows Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr.

AP PHOTO

A crane stands over a residential construction project on Sunday, April 23, 2023, in downtown Denver.

Industrial shredding company adds state-ofthe-art facility in High Point expansion

Guilford County

Vecoplan, a manufacturer of industrial shredding equipment, will create 33 jobs in Guilford County and invest $6.75 million to locate a new manufacturing facility in High Point.

Vecoplan opened in North Carolina in 2000 as the North American headquarters for the German-based company that develops innovative secure destruction equipment. Vecoplan manufactures industrial shredding, grinding and recycling machines for various markets, including waste management, wood and plastics, and document shredding. This new advanced manufacturing facility will help meet the increased demand of mobile shredding trucks, waste collection trucks, and other recycling and sorting equipment and components.

Although the salaries will vary by position, the overall average annual wage is $84,848, which exceeds Guilford County’s overall average of $57,190. These new jobs will have a potential annual payroll impact of more than $2.7 million for the region.

A performance-based grant of $75,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will help with Vecoplan’s expansion in North Carolina. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All One NC grants require matching participation from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.

NC.GOV

West Forsyth’s KJ Henry selected by Washington in NFL Draft

Clemson star taken in fifth round

North State Journal

KJ HENRY’S football career began in Forsyth County and will continue in Washington, D.C.

The Winston-Salem native and West Forsyth alum was drafted by the Washington Commanders in last week’s NFL Draft. Washington, coached by former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, selected Henry in the fifth round, at No. 137 overall.

Henry was a five-star recruit at West Forsyth after recording 24 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and 14 pass defenses as a senior. He was ranked No. 6 in the nation by ESPN and No. 14 by 247, who also had him as the No. 3 defensive end in the recruiting class and the No. 2 recruit in the state. Henry chose

to play for Clemson in college and was a team captain during his five years with the Tigers. In 48 games with the Tigers, Henry racked up 13 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and 124 tackles. He was named second-team All-ACC last season.

Henry was projected to go in the fourth round, but he had to wait until the second pick of round five.

“I’m always a not-too-high, nottoo-low guy,” he said. “Obviously, I was just blessed to even be waiting for a call. That was my mindset today.”

Despite the extra wait, Henry wasn’t quite ready for the big moment. His mother had just heated up some chicken pot pie, and he was getting ready to chow down.

“It came fast,” Henry said of the pick. “We started this(waiting) early, and I was getting hungry. Sure enough, I started to eat and that phone call comes in. … “I was

“Obviously, I was just blessed to even be waiting for a call.”

KJ Henry

watching the television and grabbing some grub. It had been a minute.”

Still, he was more than happy to get the call from Washington.

”That just shows the love,” he said. “Obviously, all the picks want to be drafted earlier, but the fifth round for number five (his jersey number at Clemson). It only makes sense.”

Henry was excited to land with any team, but getting selected by Washington had significance to his family. Father Keith has been a lifelong fan of the franchise.

Commissioners approve Special Use Permit for new LCID landfill

Board authorizes issuance of four bond orders

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

WINSTON-SALEM – The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, April 20 with multiple property and budgetary matters on the agenda.

The board started the meeting by holding three public hearings.

The first dealt with the consideration of a special use permit for a land clearing and inert debris (LCID) landfill and borrow site area located on property on the east side of Piney Grove Road and across from Lawson Acres Drive.

“This is a request by David and Betty Lawson for a 73.45 acre site,” said City/County Planning Director Chris Murphy. “The request is for an elected body special use permit for an LCID greater than 2 acres in size and two borrow sites. An LCID is a specific type of landfill that is for land clearing and inert debris just as it says, but a little bit of a further explanation is

that it’s for soil, rock, concrete, yard waste such as brush and those kinds of things and untreated and unpainted wood.” According to Murphy, an LCID is a permitted use in the RS-40 Zoning District with the issuance of a SUP and the property meets UDO requirements. Local property owners brought up concerns over potential groundwater contamination, noise complaints from trucks and machinery and the effect on local property values.

However, following the hearing, the board unanimously approved the special use permit.

“In a special use permit of this type, we are bound to make a decision based on the evidence that has been presented to us,” said commissioner Dan Besse. “We can’t make a decision based upon possible effects in 30 years of an expanded landfill. We don’t have the evidence. We have to make a decision based upon the information that is in front of us.

“The concerned nearby property owners have raised reasonable questions. On each of those rea-

“No one was screaming more than him,” he said. “He’s been a Commanders—now (referring to the team’s recent name change)— fan all his life. This has been his team. Now it’s my team. It’s a big moment.”

Henry knew Washington was interested during the pre-draft process.

“I talked to Ryan (Kerrigan, the team’s assistant defensive line coach) at the Senior Bowl more than anybody on the staff. I also got on a zoom call with them as well. So I kind of had a sense. You just kind of get a feel for what teams are looking for. I let my dad and agent talk to each other. They were trying to figure it out, but my agent tapped my pops and said, ‘This is the one.’ So it came full circle. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

Henry becomes the third former West Forsyth player in the league, joining Jalen Dalton, who played seven games for the Falcons last season, and Ja’Quan McMillian, who got into a game with the Broncos last year. He is the highest drafted West Forsyth player since running back Tyrone Anthony was taken in the third round in 1984.

“The main purpose of these bond orders are to identify the amount and purpose of the bonds, to identify that the security backing these bonds is your taxing authority as the board and that also this bond order will take effect, if approved, 30 days after the publication, which will be tomorrow,” We have to make a decision based upon the information that is in front of us.”

Dan Besse

sonable questions raised, the greater weight of the evidence that is actually before us, suggests that they have been satisfactorily answered. On the amount of land clearing that would be going on at a time, on the operational conditions from state regulations as well as local, on the potential hydrological impacts. I do not criticize at all the raising of the questions, but I do note that on the reasonable questions raised, the weight of the evidence before us supports the proponents request.”

The second and third hearings were for the issuance and authorization of four bond orders for general obligation school bonds, community college bonds, parks and recreation bonds and public facilities bonds.

AP PHOTO

Former West Forsyth pass rusher K.J. Henry runs a drill at the NFL Combine earlier this year. Henry was selected by Washington in the NFL Draft over the weekend and embarks on his pro career.

COMMISSIONERS from page 1

said Assistant Chief Financial Officer Lee Plunkett. “These bonds will be sold with the remaining tranche of the 2016 Referendum Bonds.”

The bonds amount to $22,920,000 for public schools, of which $8,500,000 will go towards Biennial Capital Maintenance Projects and the remaining $14,420,000 plus premiums will go towards providing additional funding capacity for project shortfalls, $2,300,000 for Forsyth Technical Community College for capital maintenance projects, $2,000,000 for Parks and Recreation for capital maintenance programs and projects and $2,000,000 to public facilities for general county projects and capital maintenance.

The board then approved a resolution ratifying and authorizing the execution of an interlocal agreement with each of the town of Rural Hall, the village of Tobaccoville and the town of Walkertown for three grants of $200,000 each from the state of North Carolina.

“These are pass-through funds that were part of a state appropriation of $700,000,” said County Manager Dudley Watts, Jr. “$100,000 was used for the Blues Lake Project but the remaining is used in these jurisdictions.”

The board also approved a revision to the 2022-23 Juvenile Crime Prevention Council Funding Plan - Youth Services.

The board then approved the submission of an application and, if awarded, acceptance of a Clean Air Act Grant from the US EPA for $47,300 to the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection for equipment and design services.

Finally, the board authorized four contracts. A contract not to exceed $55,450 with Professional Services Nurses, Inc., to provide software licenses for school nurses, a renewal in an amount not to exceed $142,140 with Laserfiche Document Management Subscription Services for county-wide document management solution, a contract up to the amount of $120,000 with both Beroth Tire and Automotive, Inc. and Parrish Tire Company for the purchase of tires.

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will next meet May 4.

Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party

is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser.

IT IS CLICHÉ TO SAY,

“this election is the most important election of our lifetime.” So, instead, I will simply say this election presents serious ramifications for the future of the Republican Party.

Will Republicans settle for yesterday’s stale past, today’s new with subtle nuances, or the future?

Republicans are stuck. We have been for three election cycles; hostage to a single politician, obsessesd with past grievances and lies, and no plan to get unstuck. Republicans will remain stuck until someone steps forward to challenege and condemn the past and today’s 2.0 version.

Donald Trump represents yesterday’s stale past. He’s responsible for three consecutive elections of Republican losses and underperformance. And yet, Donald Trump has managed to hold the GOP hostage despite his focus on personal vendettas, political grievances, and falsehoods.

Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe Trump should run for president, and this includes thirty percent of Republicans according to the new NBC News poll. Despite these abysmal polling numbers Trump still leads the primary field for the Republican nomination. Only two resaons can explain this bizarre scenario. Voters are crazy or they haven’t found their alternative. I choose to believe the latter.

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because he faced the only politician he could beat. He will never have this luxury again. If Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will lose and Republicans will lose even more.

There’s no easy way to put it. Ron DeSantis has stumbled since his overwhelming re-election and being talked about as the candidate to stop and beat Trump. However, he appears to be Trump version 2.0 rather than a Republican with a different direction and new ideas.

DeSantis has proven to be a flip-flopper. He is scared to take on Trump or counterpunch effectively

♦ Gary Moore Bennett, 66, of Walkertown, died April 26, 2023. Wynne Allen Blair, 74, died April 29, 2023.

♦ Connie Marlene Graves Cherry, 63, died April 29, 2023.

♦ Royden Raymond Combs, 93, of Winston-Salem, died April 28, 2023.

♦ Bobby Redman Craddock, 73, died April 30, 2023.

♦ David Wayne Dalton, 46, of Rural Hall, died April 27, 2023.

when attacked. Donors are fleeing his campaign. Former colleagues are coming forward talking about his aloofness and poor people skills. The DeSantis strategy appears to be Trump version 2.0; tweak here, tweak there Ron DeSantis still remains the second choice for the Republican nomination. Time is still on his side to find a coherent strategy and message that doesn’t resemble Trump version 2.0.

This brings us to Tim Scott. Everyone agrees he is a true and proven conservative. He is full of charisma. He is affable. He discusses and debates issues with a brand of conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters. He is an optimist. And Scott’s message focuses on the future of America and all Americans.

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser. A great message and narrative can not be told without the resources needed to advertise it on a large scale.

The early primary calendar fits Scott’s conservatism and message better than any other candidate seeking the Republican nomination. Scott is not shy to talk about his faith and testimony. Iowa and South Carolina primary voters are largely made up of evangelicals — a constituency with which Scott has always had a close relationship.

There is still a great deal of time before voters begin to cast their votes. However, Tim Scott is wellpositioned, and perhaps best-positioned, to take advantage of his strengths and the primary calendar.

I believe Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party.

Alfredo Rodriguez III is the founder and president of Dyce Communications, a national strategic communications, public affairs, media and Republican political consulting firm.

♦ Billie Jean Boulware Gregory Ford, 90, of Winston-Salem, died April 27, 2023.

♦ Betty Gibbons, 83, of Kernersville, died April 30, 2023.

♦ Dorothy R. Harlan, 92, of Charlotte, died April 30, 2023.

♦ Donovan Isaack Harris, 34, of Winston-Salem, died April 26, 2023.

♦ John Francis Michael Hernon, 80, of Winston-Salem, died April 27, 2023.

♦ Barbara Sue Styers Hill, 89, of Winston-Salem, died April 26, 2023.

♦ Brenda Hall Holman, 70, died April 26, 2023.

♦ Sara Phelps Holder, 90 of Clemmons, died April 28, 2023.

♦ James Dal Ingram, 88, of Clifside, died April 30, 2023.

♦ Diane Landreth Jarvis, 76, of Forsyth County, died April 28, 2023.

♦ Mae Carter Kiger, 89, of Forsyth County, died April 28, 2023.

♦ Ramona Gale Quesenberry McGowen, 85, of King, died April 29, 2023.

♦ Manuel Luna Montellano, 46, died April 26, 2023.

♦ Maurice Ashley “Tom” Tomlinson, 85, of Kernersville, died April 27, 2023.

♦ Sarah Daughtry Trulove, 88, of Winston-Salem, died April 28, 2023.

♦ Richard “Rick” Wayne Webster, 76, of Germanton, died May 1, 2023.

♦ Francis Allen (Yank) Yancey, 95, of Winston-Salem, died April 21, 2023. Bottom of Form

♦ BANOS, EDER was arrested on a charge of AFFRAY at 418 W FOURTH ST on 4/29/2023

♦ Barber, Jtare Montez (M/20) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 2800 Blk Piedmont Circle, Winston Salem, NC, on 4/29/2023 20:16.

♦ Barrow, John Franklin (M/40) Arrest on chrg of 1) Fail To Appear/compl (F), 2) Fail To Appear/compl (M), and 3) Vio. Protective Order By Courts Another State/ Indian Tribe (M), at 157 Old Hollow Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/29/2023 10:38.

♦ BELLAMY, XAVIER JAVONN was arrested on a charge of AFFRAY at 418 W FOURTH ST on 4/29/2023

♦ Christmas, Nathan John (M/34) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault-point Gun (M) and 2) Assault On Female (M), at 2070 Walker Rd, Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/27/2023 20:04.

♦ DAVIS, RODNEY LEWIS was arrested on a charge of ADW - INFLICT INJURY at 1295 SILAS CREEK PW on 5/1/2023

♦ Dohna, Tyrone Olin (M/32) Arrest on chrg of Impaired Driving Dwi, M (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 5/1/2023 11:00.

♦ Fisher, Deara Nicole (F/30) Arrest on chrg of 1) Fail To Appear/compl (M), 2) Probation Violation (M), 3) Ofa-fta-dwi (M), and 4) Ofa-ftamisdemeanor Probation Viol (M), at

200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/28/2023 09:44.

♦ Gaddy, Mea Keana (F/37) Arrest on chrg of Probation Violation (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 5/1/2023 14:15.

♦ GAVIN, THOMAS EDWARD was arrested on a charge of RESISTING ARREST at 799 W FOURTH ST/N BROAD ST on 4/29/2023

♦ Goodman, Levi Seth (M/19) Arrest on chrg of 1) Assault - Strangulation (F) and 2) Assault On Female (M), at 2718 W Mountain St, Kernersville, NC, on 4/29/2023 12:45.

♦ HELMS, SEAN STEVEN was arrested on a charge of RESISTING

♦ Jackson, Shaerod Lorenzo (M/22) Arrest on chrg of 1) P/w/i/s/d Sched Vi (F), 2) Drug Paraphernalia (M), 3) Weap-poss By Felon (F), 4) Ccw (F), and 5) Equip - Violation Tinted Windows (M), at 1498 Williamson St/bruce St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/27/2023 15:06.

♦ JENKINS, TERENCE LAMAR was arrested on a charge of FUGITIVE at 201 N CHURCH ST on 4/30/2023

♦ Justice, Joshua Daniel (M/37) Arrest on chrg of Fraud-obt Property (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston Salem, NC, on 4/27/2023 10:44.

♦ Lilly, Jennifer Dawn (F/41) Arrest on chrg of Drugs-poss Sched I, F (F), at 2209 Fairstone Ct, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/30/2023 21:40.

♦ Martin, Kathryn Blair (F/45) Arrest on chrg of Hit & Run - Fail To Give Aid And Assistance, M (M), at Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/26/2023 18:03.

♦ Marshall, Brandon Arthur (M/40) Arrest on chrg of Vio. Protective Order By Courts Another (M), at 7285 Blue Water Dr, Belews Creek, NC, on 4/26/2023 20:16.

♦ Mathur, Shad Michael Chandra (M/31) Arrest on chrg of 1) Vandpersonal Prop (M) and 2) Interfering With Emergency Communication (M), at 2810 Knob Hill Dr, Clemmons, NC, on 4/30/2023 10:59.

♦ Mccloud, George Terrell (M/43)

Arrest on chrg of Impaired Driving Dwi (M), at 200 N Main St, Winstonsalem, NC, on 5/1/2023 11:20.

♦ MCDOWELL, NAQUAVIAN LEONDRE was arrested on a charge of FUGITIVE at 201 N CHURCH ST on 4/30/2023

♦ MOSES, MICHAEL WAYNE was arrested on a charge of COMMUNICATING THREATS at 819 N PEACE HAVEN RD on 4/30/2023

♦ Noble, Francisco Rico (M/33) Arrest on chrg of 1) Probation Violation (F) and 2) Probation Violation (F), at 2518 Stratford Crossing Dr, Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/26/2023 13:00.

♦ Noble, Francisco Rico (M/33) Arrest on chrg of Robbery (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/27/2023 13:30.

♦ Noble, Francisco Rico (M/33) Arrest on chrg of 1) Concealing Mdse (M), 2) Larceny-felony (F), 3) Larceny After B&e (F), and 4) Larceny-felony (F), at 201 N Church St, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/28/2023 09:13.

♦ PITTS, MALCOLM GERRAD was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 744 JONESTOWN RD on 4/30/2023

♦ Quiroz, Anthony (M/44) Arrest on chrg of Probation Violation (M), at 200 N Main St, Winston-salem, NC, on 5/1/2023 11:00.

COLUMN | ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ III

“Join the conversation”

not only possesses a brand of conservatism that

SIDELINE REPORT

HORSE RACING

Forte is 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby

Louisville, Ky.

Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte is the morning line favorite for the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-yearolds. Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post, with Cox’s Angel of Empire the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post. Wet Paint drew the No. 7 post for the Oaks at 5-2 odds.

MLB

Yankees put Judge on injured list with hurt hip

New York

Yankees captain Aaron Judge is going on the injured list because of a strained right hip, joining Giancarlo Stanton, Harrison Bader and third baseman Josh Donaldson on the sidelines. Judge was hurt last Wednesday when he landed hard while making an awkward headfirst slide at Minnesota on his 31st birthday. He remained in the game and started Thursday at Texas, then left in the fourth inning after striking out twice. A four-time All-Star and the reigning AL MVP, Judge is batting .261 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his first season after signing a $360 million, nine-year contract.

NHL Flames fire coach Sutter after disappointing season

Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Flames fired head coach Darryl Sutter on Monday, the latest major change at the NHL club after a disappointing season. The Flames missed the playoffs this season after posting a 38-27-17 record.

Sutter’s departure comes two weeks after former Flames general manager Brad Treliving turned down a contract extension and parted ways with the team. Sutter, who replaced Geoff Ward midway through the shortened 2020-21 season, signed a multi-year contract extension with Calgary before this season after leading Calgary to a 50-2111 record and a first-round playoff win in 2021-22.

NFL Daughter of Buccaneers’ Barrett drowns in family pool

Tampa, Fla.

Police say the 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett drowned in a swimming pool at the family’s home. Officers responding to a call that a child had fallen into a pool were sent to Barrett’s home Sunday morning. The football player’s youngest child, Arrayah, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Police said an investigation is ongoing but the drowning “is not believed to be suspicious in nature at this time.” Barrett and his wife, Jordanna, have three other children.

Martin Truex back in Victory Lane with win at Dover

Truex won the second-tier Xfinity Series race on Saturday for his first NASCAR victory across all three national series in 188 career starts.

Points races without a win for Martin Truex Jr. before he won Monday’s race at Dover

ver and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019.

Truex also won a regularly scheduled Sunday race here in 2016.

The Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. mastered the Monster Mile on a Monday for the third time in his career and the former Cup Series champion snapped a 54-race winless streak overall in the Cup Series at Dover Motor Speedway.

Thanks to a race postponed a day because of rain, it was a long weekend sweep for the Truex brothers. Younger brother Ryan

Big brother poked his head in Ryan’s Toyota as he pulled it into Victory Lane. Martin appreciated the winning weekend for the family.

“It’s just special,” Truex said. “It was such a big day for our family to see Ryan do that on Saturday.”

The 2017 Cup champion has the blueprint on how to win at the Monster Mile on a Monday.

Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win on June 4, 2007, at Do -

Truex held strong on the outside lane Monday off the final restart to hold off runner-up Ross Chastain by a half-second. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

“We knew we could do this,” Truex said. “It just never all came together.”

Truex was once of the most dominant drivers in the series,

MLB lefty batting average up, game time down 28 minutes

Baseball’s new rules seem to be working as hoped

The Associated Press NEW YORK — Batting average for left-handed hitters was up 13 percentage points through the first full month of the season, an impact of baseball’s new rule changes.

The biggest noticeable impact has been when games are ending. The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 37 minutes, down from 3:05 at the same point last year.

Clubhouse staff and players are getting home while their families are still awake.

“It definitely makes life easier,” Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, said Monday.

Boosted by new rules designed to speed play and increase action, stolen bases rose 40% to their highest level in nearly a quarter-century and scoring increased by 1.1 runs per game.

Pitch clock violations averaged 0.74, and the New York Mets topped the major leagues with 17 while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit tied for the fewest with four each. Of 313 clock violations, 204 were by pitchers, 91 by batters and four by catchers.

In addition, there were five penalties for batter timeouts, eight for pitcher disengagements and one for violation of shirt restrictions.

“The data looks really promising so far,” Theo Epstein, the former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive who consulted on the innovations, said Monday.

“The game had been veering in a direction where the only way to score was hope for a walk and a homer. And now we’re seeing with an increased batting average on balls in play, the increased rate of stolen-base attempts the improved success rate of stolen bases a lot of rallies that start with a single, then you have a stolen base and then you have another single and there’s a run. And that’s more entertaining.”

“The data looks really promising so far.”

Theo Epstein, former Red Sox and Cubs executive

Limits on infield shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases were implemented in an attempt to counter the impact of the Analytics Era suffocation of offense.

The big league batting average was .248 through 425 games. Lefties hit .247, up from .229 through

AP

winning a career-best eight times in 2017 and 23 times overall from 2016 to 2019. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been winless since his last Cup victory on Sept. 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway.

Determined to rebound from a winless season, Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

He did have three top-10 finishes this season in the No. 19 Toyota but couldn’t find his way to Victory Lane until Monday. He earned his 32nd career Cup victory and became the 10th driver to win four or more Cup races at Dover.

“It feels nice to get one to come around our way,” Truex said. The Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next. Kurt Busch won likely the last race of his career there after it was cut short because of a head injury suffered in a crash at Pocono last summer. Bubba Wallace won the fall race at the track.

April last year. Righties are hitting .250, an increase from .234.

Lefty batting average on balls in play went up nine points to .292, and righty BABIP rose seven points to .302.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks he may have gotten 10 additional hits already.

“I’m just throwing a number out there,” he said. “You hit the ball well, you obviously want to be rewarded.”

Runs have increased to 9.2 from 8.1.

Stolen bases average 1.4 per game — with a 79.2% success rate, up from 1.0 steals and a 75.5% success rate. The average is the highest since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and the success rate the highest on record.

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman has noticed the speedier games after foul balls.

“You’ve got to like run back to your position and you’re out of breath, ready to go for the next player,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the pressure-packed playoff games are played at rapid-fire speed like that.”

Statcast’s time between pitches, which starts 6 seconds ahead of the clock, ranged between 11.1 seconds (Cooper Criswell) and 19.0 (Andrew Bellatti), down from last year’s 12.6 (Brent Sutter) to 25.8 (Giovanny Gallegos and Jonathan Loáisiga).

Michael Kopech dropped from 21.1 to 13.2, Tanner Houck from 20.3 to 13.1 and Shohei Ohtani to 21.7 to 15.3.

“How many hours during the course of the rest of my career is that going to save?” said Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who cut from 17.6 to 13.9.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hadn’t won since September 2021

PHOTO

Martin Truex Jr. hoists the trophy after winning Monday’s Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.

AP PHOTO

Baseball’s new rules worked as intended in the first month of the MLB season, including an increase in stolen bases.

STATE & NATION

N. Carolina justices hand GOP big wins with election rulings

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — In massive victories for Republicans, the newly GOP-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday threw out a previous ruling against gerrymandered voting maps and upheld a photo voter identification law that colleagues had struck down as racially biased.

The partisan gerrymandering ruling should make it significantly easier for the Republican-dominated legislature to help the GOP gain seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House when state lawmakers redraw congressional boundaries for the 2024 elections. Under the current map, Democrats won seven of the state’s 14 congressional seats last November.

The court, which became a Republican majority this year following the election of two GOP justices, ruled after revisiting redistricting and voter ID opinions made in December by the court’s previous iteration, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. The court held rehearings in March.

Friday’s 5-2 rulings also mean that state lawmakers should have greater latitude in drawing General Assembly seat boundaries for elections next year and the rest of the decade, and that the voter ID law approved by the legislature in late 2018 could be carried out soon.

In another court decision Friday along party lines, the state justices overturned a trial court decision on when the voting rights of people

convicted of felonies are restored. That means tens of thousands of people will have to complete their probation or parole and pay any fines to qualify to vote again.

Republican legislators celebrated the sweeping series of favorable decisions that are assuredly the result of the changing makeup of the state’s highest court. Outside groups spent millions on the two Supreme Court campaigns in 2022.

“The decisions handed down today by the NC Supreme Court have ensured that our constitution and the will of the people of North Car-

olina are honored,” House Speaker Tim Moore said in a news release. But the remaining Democratic justices and their allies lambasted the decisions that reversed new precedents on redistricting and voter ID.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads a national Democratic group whose affiliate helped support the redistricting litigation, said Friday’s mapping decision was “a function of political personnel and partisan opportunism” by Republicans.

“History will not be kind to this court’s majority, which will now

forever be stained for irreparably harming the legitimacy and reputation of North Carolina’s highest tribunal,” Holder said.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, writing the majority opinion in the redistricting case, said that the previous Democratic majority erred by declaring that the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. The court last year struck down maps the General Assembly drew because they said it gave Republicans outsized electoral advantage compared to their voting power.

But Newby said a partisan gerrymandering prohibition is absent from the plain language of the constitution. He argued that current and former colleagues who declared otherwise had wrongly wrested power away from the General Assembly, which the state constitution designates as the mapmakers.

“In its decision today, the Court returns to its tradition of honoring the constitutional roles assigned to each branch,” Newby wrote. “This case is not about partisan politics, but rather about realigning the proper roles of the judicial and legislative branches.”

Associate Justice Anita Earls, writing the dissenting opinion, said the court correctly ruled last year to ensure all North Carolina residents “regardless of political party, were not denied their ‘fundamental right to vote on equal terms.’ ... Today, the majority strips the people of this right.”

On voter ID, the Republican majority reversed a trial court decision that struck down the 2018 law. The trial court had ruled that GOP legislators passed the law in part to retain General Assembly control by discouraging Black Democrats from voting in legislative elections. But Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote, in part,

that the trial judges erred in relying on a federal court ruling striking down a 2013 voter ID law as tainted by racial discrimination.

Although a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is still pending, the State Board of Elections said Friday that staff would start working toward “a smooth rollout” of the ID requirement with municipal elections this fall.

Voters also previously approved a separate photo voter ID mandate for the state constitution, although that amendment remains stuck in litigation that wouldn’t affect Friday’s ruling.

On the process for restoring voting rights, the court upheld a law passed in 1973 — when Democrats controlled the legislature — that automatically restored voting rights only after the “unconditional discharge of an inmate, of a probationer, or of a parolee.”

A panel of trial court judges last year declared that the law disproportionately harmed black offenders and violated the constitution. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the 1973 law remained rooted in Reconstruction-era efforts by white Democratic politicians to intentionally prevent black residents from voting.

Most of the people affected by the law — about 56,000 on probation, parole or supervision at the time of a 2021 trial — got the chance to vote last November.

Associate Justice Trey Allen wrote in the majority opinion that the trial court “wrongly imputed” discriminatory views of 19th century lawmakers upon others who later “made it easier for eligible felons of all races to regain their voting rights.”

“It is not unconstitutional to insist that felons pay their debt to society as a condition of participating in the electoral process,” Allen wrote.

US economy grew at weak 1.1% rate in Q1 in sign of slowdown

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1.1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced their inventories.

The estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened after growing 3.2% from July through September and 2.6% from October through December.

But consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, remained resilient, growing at a 3.7% annual pace, the fastest such rate in nearly two years. Spending on goods, in particular, was solid: It rose at its fastest pace since the second quarter of 2021.

Economists had been expecting overall GDP to grow at a 1.9% pace in the January-March quarter. Behind much of the quarter’s weakness was a sharp reduction in business inventories, which subtracted roughly 2.3 percentage points from overall growth. Companies typically slash their inventories when they anticipate a coming downturn.

The economy’s slowdown reflects the impact of the Feder-

al Reserve’s aggressive drive to tame inflation, with nine interest rate hikes over the past year. The surge in borrowing costs is expected to send the economy into a recession sometime this year.

Though inflation has steadily eased from the four-decade high it reached last year, it remains far above the Fed’s 2% target.

The housing market, which

is especially vulnerable to higher loan rates, has been battered. And many banks have tightened their lending standards since the failure last month of two major U.S. banks, making it even harder to borrow to buy a house or a car or to expand a business.

“The economy had less forward momentum at the start of this year than previously thought,”

Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.

“We continue to expect the drag from higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions to push the economy into a mild recession soon.”

Many economists say the cumulative impact of the Fed’s rate hikes has yet to be fully felt. Still, the central bank’s policymakers are aiming for a so-called soft landing: Cooling growth enough to curb inflation yet not so much as to send the world’s largest economy tumbling into a recession.

There is widespread skepticism that the Fed will succeed. An economic model used by the Conference Board, a business research group, puts the probability of a U.S. recession over the next year at 99%.

The Conference Board’s recession-probability gauge had hung around zero from September 2020, as the economy rebounded explosively from the COVID-19 recession, until March 2022, when the Fed started raising rates to fight inflation.”The focus is on the weak top-line (GDP) number, but the economy remains resilient,’’ said Robert Frick, an economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Businesses have underestimated both consumer buying and business buying.”

The worst fears of a 2008-style

financial crisis have eased over the past month. But lingering credit cutbacks, which were mentioned in the Fed’s survey this month of regional economies, is likely to hobble growth.

The global backdrop is also looking bleaker. The International Monetary Fund this month downgraded its forecast for worldwide economic growth, citing rising interest rates around the world, financial uncertainty and chronic inflation. American exporters could suffer as a consequence.

Still, the U.S. economy has surprised before. Recession fears rose early last year after GDP had shrunk for two straight quarters. But the economy roared back in the second half of 2022, powered by surprisingly sturdy consumer spending.

A strong job market has given Americans the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep shopping: 2021 and 2022 were the two best years for job creation on record. And hiring has remained strong so far this year, though it has decelerated from January to February and then to March.

The jobs report for April, which the government will issue on May 5, is expected to show that employers added a decent but still-lower total of 185,000 jobs this month, according to a survey of forecasters by FactSet.

AP PHOTO

This photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts shows Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr.

AP PHOTO

A crane stands over a residential construction project on Sunday, April 23, 2023, in downtown Denver.

COUNTY NEWS

Carthage man sentenced to life in prison for firstdegree murder

Last Friday, in Moore County Superior Court, a jury found defendant Adam McRee, AKA Kevin Vaughn, guilty of FirstDegree Murder following a two-week trial.

On June 24, 2017, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to 415 Union Pines Drive in Carthage. There, deputies found the body of Darrel Long with a gunshot wound in the chest in a camper on the property. Long had been living there in the camper. The night before, at dinner, Jayne McRee and Long had an argument when Jayne McRee told Long he had to move out in the morning. The argument turned physical when Long grabbed Jayne McRee by the neck. Long went back to the camper for the night.

Janye McRee contacted her son, the defendant, who came to Mr. Long’s camper armed with a .38 Special caliber revolver. The defendant shot Long one time in the chest and left the scene. Long died from the gunshot wound. Detectives recovered text messages between the defendant and his mother showing that the defendant intended to kill Long.

The defendant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Mike Hardin, Assistant District Attorney Drew Cochran, and Assistant District Attorney Brian Chapman.

“The Moore County Sheriff’s Office and officers from several other agencies worked diligently in investigating and presenting this case,” said Hardin. “Additionally, the jury should be commended for their two-week service.”

MOORE COUNTY

Moore County Schools reports bomb threat to middle school

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

PINEHURST — Moore County Public Schools received a bomb threat on one of its middle schools, according to an April 26 press statement by the district.

“This afternoon, a bomb threat was reported at New Century Middle School. The school immediately evacuated all students and staff following the procedure for this situation,” the statement said. “Currently, authorities are conducting a full search of the campus. All students and staff remained in their designated safe areas.”

The district said it appreciated the support of the Moore County Sheriff’s Department, Carthage Police Department, and Moore County Schools Police.

The statement also said a message was sent to all New Century

Middle School parents about the procedures for dismissal. The students were released on a normal schedule that began at 3 p.m.

The communications department for Moore Schools told North State Journal that as of April 26, New Century Middle School is operating on a normal schedule and that an investigation into the source of the threat is ongoing.

Moore County Schools joins other districts that have received bomb threats in the past few months.

At the onset of April, a 15-yearold boy admitted to making a school bomb threat towards Havelock Middle School, located in Craven County. The Havelock police have indicated charges are pending for that juvenile.

Another juvenile was charged on April 11 with making a bomb threat as well as other threats

It is a Class H felony to communicate threats involving educational property under North Carolina state law. A Class H felony can carry a sentence of five to 20 months in prison per count.

during the months of March and April in Lee County. That individual is facing six counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property and one count of communicating threats toward a school resource officer.

It is a Class H felony to communicate threats involving educational property under North Car-

Stabbing at Moore County high school leaves female student in stable condition

Victim identified as Pinecrest Junior Avery Slatcher. Attacker’s name withheld due to age; facing charge of felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

By A.P. Dillon North

State Journal

RALEIGH — A female student at Pinecrest High School in the Moore County Public Schools district is in stable condition after being stabbed on campus on the morning of April 28. Moore County Public Schools’ initial press statement said that “a serious assault incident occurred at Pinecrest High School prior to the start of the school day.”

The statement said multiple agencies responded to the incident, including EMS, and that a suspect was in custody and the victim is being treated.

“All students and staff are safe and accounted for. Pinecrest High School was in a modified lockdown for a period of time,” the statement read. “The modified lockdown has been lifted, and students can be checked out by their parents. The school will operate on a normal schedule for the remainder of today.”

Pinecrest High’s principal also sent a message to Pinecrest High School parents.

“As previously shared, we had an incident in the auditorium parking lot prior to school starting. All students are accounted for and are safe,” wrote Principal Stefanie Phillips. She also reiterated the school schedule and that parents could check their students out.

In an updated statement later in the day, Moore County Public Schools offered some more details about the incident, indicating a stabbing had occurred but that it was an “isolated incident.

“The suspect was immediately apprehended by Moore County Schools Police and Pinecrest High School staff,” the updated statement said. “The suspect is in custody and being detained.”

The district also said that Moore County Schools Critical Response Team, made up of counselors and social workers from the district, was “immediately deployed to Pinecrest High School to provide additional support to the students and staff.”

“Additionally, we appreciate the support of Moore County Schools Police, Southern Pines Police Department, and EMS that responded to the incident,” the updated statement read. Later in the afternoon, it was

reported by CBS 17 that students said the stabbing happened after the victim tried to “end a relationship with a boy.”

Southern Pines Police Chief Nick Polidori confirmed a female student was stabbed in the school’s parking lot area and that she was transported for treatment.

“The victim was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment,” Polidori said. “A suspect was taken into custody. There is no ongoing threat to the community.”

Moore County Schools Police Chief Rodney Hardy gave similar information as Polidori and said a female student had received “severe” wounds during the attack by a male student.

The following morning, on Saturday, April 29, a community prayer event was held at Pinecrest High School for the victim.

Moore County Public Schools did not identify the female student. However, a GoFundMe page that was set up seeking donations from the public for medical expenses for the family identified the student as Avery Slatcher, a junior at the school.

The GoFundMe page says the attack left Slatcher in “critical condition” and that she is the middle child of seven in the family.

Due to her injuries, she was life-flighted to UNC for extensive

olina state law. A Class H felony can carry a sentence of five to 20 months in prison per count.

Also, during the second week of April, Davie and Lexington Counties had received bomb threats via an “anonymous email” about potential bombs on school property. The threats were later deemed “not credible.”

Last fall, both the Cabarrus and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school districts, as well as the Mooresville Graded school districts, were subject to bomb threats.

In late September, three threats over a two-day period were called in related to at least four campuses in Cabarrus County Public Schools. Campuses evacuated included Jay M. Robinson High School, Cox Mill Elementary School, Cox Mill High School and Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord.

Around the same timeframe as the Cabarrus threats were received, the Mooresville Graded School District in Iredell County also received a bomb threat, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools reportedly received two threats to its high schools within a 24-hour period.

treatment. Needing to stay close to their daughter/sister, Avery’s family is staying in Chapel Hill for as long as possible. In an effort to relieve their stress during this difficult time, we ask that you donate anything you can to help fund the Slatcher family’s stay in the triangle area as well as the cost of Avery’s life-saving treatments and rehabilitation,” the GoFundMe

PHOTO VIA MOORE COUNTY SCHOOLS New Century Middle School

The GoFundMe page included a message from the Slatcher family:

Our family is extremely grateful for all of the support that has come from the community in so many ways. There are no words to describe the gratitude we feel, just as there are no words to describe the tragedy that has happened to our family.

Our sweet girl is still recovering in the hospital at this time. She has a long road ahead of her, but she is strong; she’s a fighter. I know it sounds cliche, but ‘Avery

truly is one of the kindest, best people I know. She is thoughtful, genuine, and loving. It’s so hard to see her struggling, scared, and in pain. Please gently remind your children that may see them in the schools that Avery’s siblings are also suffering from this horrific event. One of her sisters had to witness this happen. It will take a lot of time for our whole family to recover from this.

We are also grateful for those who refrained from spreading misinformation and for those that tried to keep others from doing so. This is something no parent and no person should ever

have to experience no matter their role or involvement.

We will be eternally thankful for the kindness and generosity of this community, our friends, and our family. The donations that were so selflessly given have lifted a huge burden from our family during this difficult time.

The suspect, who is not being identified because of his age, is currently being held at the Cabarrus Regional Juvenile Detention Center after Moore County Schools police secured a juvenile protective custody order. He faces a charge of felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

show

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Moore County:

May 4

Moore County Farmers Market

9am – 1pm

Enjoy the Moore County Farmers Market at the Armory Sports Complex.

Trivia Thursday at the Brewery

6pm

Come out for Trivia at the Southern Pines Brewery! Enjoy fun and prizes each Thursday.

May 5-6

Cameron Antiques Street Fair

9am – 5pm

The annual Cameron Spring Antiques Street Fair occurs this Friday and Saturday in Historic Downtown Cameron! Enjoy shopping at all the antique stores, plus the over 100 vendors!

May 6

Strawberry Days Festival

White Hill Farms and C-Cape is holding their 2nd annual Strawberry Days Festival! Come out and enjoy farm fun for all ages, which includes berry picking, ice cream, a petting zoo, food vendors, hayrides, and more!

Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party

IT IS CLICHÉ TO SAY, “this election is the most important election of our lifetime.” So, instead, I will simply say this election presents serious ramifications for the future of the Republican Party.

Will Republicans settle for yesterday’s stale past, today’s new with subtle nuances, or the future?

Trump or counterpunch effectively when attacked. Donors are fleeing his campaign. Former colleagues are coming forward talking about his aloofness and poor people skills. The DeSantis strategy appears to be Trump version 2.0; tweak here, tweak there

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser.

Republicans are stuck. We have been for three election cycles; hostage to a single politician, obsessesd with past grievances and lies, and no plan to get unstuck. Republicans will remain stuck until someone steps forward to challenege and condemn the past and today’s 2.0 version.

Donald Trump represents yesterday’s stale past. He’s responsible for three consecutive elections of Republican losses and underperformance. And yet, Donald Trump has managed to hold the GOP hostage despite his focus on personal vendettas, political grievances, and falsehoods.

Sixty percent of Americans don’t believe Trump should run for president, and this includes thirty percent of Republicans according to the new NBC News poll. Despite these abysmal polling numbers Trump still leads the primary field for the Republican nomination. Only two resaons can explain this bizarre scenario. Voters are crazy or they haven’t found their alternative. I choose to believe the latter.

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because he faced the only politician he could beat. He will never have this luxury again. If Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, he will lose and Republicans will lose even more.

There’s no easy way to put it. Ron DeSantis has stumbled since his overwhelming re-election and being talked about as the candidate to stop and beat Trump. However, he appears to be Trump version 2.0 rather than a Republican with a different direction and new ideas.

DeSantis has proven to be a flip-flopper. He is scared to take on

Ron DeSantis still remains the second choice for the Republican nomination. Time is still on his side to find a coherent strategy and message that doesn’t resemble Trump version 2.0.

This brings us to Tim Scott. Everyone agrees he is a true and proven conservative. He is full of charisma. He is affable. He discusses and debates issues with a brand of conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters. He is an optimist. And Scott’s message focuses on the future of America and all Americans.

Scott not only possesses a brand of conservatism that is inviting, different, and refreshing; he is a proven fundraiser. A great message and narrative can not be told without the resources needed to advertise it on a large scale.

The early primary calendar fits Scott’s conservatism and message better than any other candidate seeking the Republican nomination. Scott is not shy to talk about his faith and testimony. Iowa and South Carolina primary voters are largely made up of evangelicals — a constituency with which Scott has always had a close relationship. There is still a great deal of time before voters begin to cast their votes. However, Tim Scott is well-positioned, and perhaps bestpositioned, to take advantage of his strengths and the primary calendar. I believe Tim Scott’s brand of conservatism could save the Republican Party.

Alfredo Rodriguez III is the founder and president of Dyce Communications, a national strategic communications, public affairs, media and Republican political consulting firm.

A civics education requirement would be a good thing

THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, like many other states in America, is facing a problem in terms of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among its citizens, even among college graduates.

10% thought that T.V.

personality

Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

This problem poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic, as a wellinformed and virtuous citizenry is essential to maintain its democratic institutions (Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement, “A republic, if you can keep it,” keeps coming to mind).

The North Carolina General Assembly should pass House Bill 96, also known as the NC REACH Act, to ensure that college students in the state receive a well-balanced education which includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles.

The NC REACH Act, which recently passed the House and is now in the Senate, would require college students in North Carolina to take a three-credit-hour class on American government, which includes reading and studying several essential founding documents such as the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

The class also requires students to pass a final exam that tests their knowledge of the documents’ historical context, authors’ perspectives, and their significance.

The need for such a law arises from the fact that many Americans lack the knowledge of basic civics and government principles necessary to participate effectively in our democracy. A 2018 survey by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars found that only one in three

Furthermore, the survey found that college graduates were not significantly better prepared than the general population. Additionally, a 2019 Heritage Foundation report found that 60% of college graduates cannot name a single step necessary to ratify a constitutional amendment, half of them do not know how long the terms are for representatives and senators, and 10% thought that T.V. personality Judge Judy was a justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.

These statistics are alarming, as they demonstrate that the education system in America is not adequately preparing its citizens to be informed and engaged members of a democratic society.

The NC REACH Act seeks to address this problem by ensuring that college students in North Carolina receive a balanced education that includes a deep dive into America’s founding documents and principles. By requiring students to read and study these documents in their entirety, the Act ensures that they receive a comprehensive education that covers the historical context, authors’ perspectives, and the documents’ significance. Furthermore, by requiring students to pass a final exam, the Act ensures that they have a deep understanding of the material covered in the class. This would have the potential to impact an estimated 345,000 college students in the state per year.

Those in opposition to the NC REACH Act may argue that it is unnecessary, as college students should already be learning about America’s founding documents and principles in their classes.

However, the reality is that many colleges and universities do not require their students

to take such courses, and even when they do, the courses may not provide a sufficient analysis of the documents. The NC REACH Act would ensure that all college students in North Carolina receive an education that includes a sufficient understanding of America’s founding documents and principles.

Additionally, opponents say that the Act would be an unnecessary burden on students and faculty. However, the Act only requires students to take a three-credit-hour class, which is 2.5% of the typical workload of an overall college education. If certain UNC system schools are going to require courses such as “Global Understanding” and “Power, Difference, & Inequality,” then I believe that a course on our country’s historically unique civic founding should also be on the required-course list.

Passing the NC REACH Act would help ensure that college students in North Carolina receive a well-balanced education that includes an in-depth study of America’s founding documents and principles. The Act would address the problem of the lack of knowledge about America’s founding documents and principles among college graduates in North Carolina, which poses a significant threat to the future of America as a free republic. By requiring students to read and analyze our most influential founding documents, they stand to gain invaluable insights into how our government works, and the civic and historical underpinnings of our unique founding almost 250 years ago.

Michael Bruce is a Research Intern at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh These are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Foundation

COLUMN | MICHAEL BRUCE

COLUMN | ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ III

Sheree Lynn Lancaster

November 1, 1976 - April 27, 2023

Sheree Lynn Lancaster, 46, passed away suddenly on April 27, 2023.

Born on November 1, 1976 in Auburn, New York to Frank and Charlene Sciortino. Sheree started her career in the banking industry over 25 years ago which is what brought her to North Carolina. She worked at numerous banks over the years and was a bank manager by the age of 22. Her dedication to service and the people of her community led to her open Star of the Pines Wealth Management in Southern Pines. She worked side by side with her loving husband and they dedicated themselves to each and every client. Sheree’s success over the years was not only from hard work but her love of people. She greeted everyone with a big smile and that smile would light up every room she walked into.

Sheree served on the Southern Pines Board of Small Business Association and was the Vice President of Sandhills Wedding and Event Association.

Sheree had many interests which included her love of horses and she rode competitively over the years. She enjoyed competing in archery and going out to the rifle range. She also enjoyed to dabble in arts and crafts, hiking, and traveling especially to Italy and Hawaii. Sheree loved anything purple or turquoise, she loved her handbags and shoes but with everything that kept her busy, she also enjoyed a great night in watching Netflix with her husband.

Sheree is survived by her loving husband, Daniel Lancaster; two step-daughters, Ava Grace and Riley Lancaster; mother, Charlene Sciortino; father, Frank Sciortino and his wife, Susan; brother, Jeremy Sciortino; sister, Felicia Sciortino; mother-in-law, Dolores Lancaster; brother-inlaws, Henry and Gus Lancaster; also survived by many other family and friends and her fur babies; Fern and the late Star.

Joseph "Joey" Duane Schoolcraft

June 19, 1961 - December 12, 2016

Joseph “Joey” Duane Schoolcraft, Age 55, of Aberdeen, North Carolina passed on December 12, 2016.

Joey was born June 19, 1961 in Rhode Island; to the late Cecil D. and the late Agnes (Rose) Schoolcraft.

Joey is survived by his daughter Jenna Rose Schoolcraft. He was the brother of John Schoolcraft, James Schoolcraft, Jason Schoolcraft, Darleen Rabbitt, Patti Hein, and uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Joey enjoyed reading - specifically Stephen King novels, playing video games, listening to any type of music, and loved to watch the New England Patriots.

Bristow Leggett Lovin

June 6, 1953 - April 26, 2023

Mr. Bristow Leggett Lovin, affectionately known as Toy, of 101 Winston Drive West End, NC was born on June 6, 1953, in Robeson County. He departed this journey of 69 years at home with family by his side on April 26, 2023.

He leaves to cherish his memories his wife Sharon Britt Lovin of the home, two daughters Christy Lovin Musselwhite (Greg) and Kimberly Lovin Nealy (Chris). A son Shane Lovin (Karen). His mother Mrs. Ann McNabb. A brother Alton Lovin (Carolyn). Three sisters Sarah Freeman, Sue Kropp (Eric) and Angel Hunt. Four granddaughters and three grandsons.

He was preceded in death by his father Bristow Leggett and his grandmother Annie S. Lovin, who adopted him at birth. Brothers Thomas and Archie Lovin, sisters JoAnn McNabb and Lynn McNabb.

Barbara Burkhart Garcia

September 8, 1936 - April 23, 2023

Barbara Burkhart Garcia, 86, a resident of Belle Meade in Southern Pines, NC died on Sunday, April 23 after a short illness.

Mrs. Garcia was born in Lancaster, PA., the daughter of the late Paul T. and Ruth Burkhart. She spent her formative years in New Cumberland, PA., graduating from high school in 1954. A graduate of Gettysburg College in 1958 she earned her Master's at Pennsylvania State University. After settling in the Albany, NY area, she became the assistant dean the graduate studies at SUNY Albany. There she met Joe Garcia, her husband, the director of Athletics at SUNY. Barbara and Joe retired to Foxfire, NC in 1987.

She is survived by her brother Paul T. Burkhart, Jr. of Southampton, NY; her step-son Michael Garcia and his wife Jennifer and their children Jessica Cobley and Ben Garcia and by step-daughter Rebecca Belding, and her children Megan Belding and Matt Belding.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Alzheimer's Disease Research Fund, Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs, 300 W. Morgan St, Ste #1200, Durham, NC 27701.

George T. Meindl

December 2, 1934 - April 22, 2023

George T. Meindl, 88, of Pinehurst, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

George was born in Pittsburgh, PA on December 2, 1934, to the late Frank and Margaret Kerin Meindl.

Toy was dedicated to Pepsi Bottling Ventures serving 47 years in the beverage industry. Legend has it, he was not only the most dedicated employee in Pepsi’s history but also the quickest! Did you ever see him pushing a hand truck full of drinks? Probably not, because he rolled by so fast, he looked more like a breezy blur! Toy always led by example, and so instilled the value of a strong and committed work ethic to his children and grandchildren. Toy loved spending time fishing with Sharon, hunting and supporting the grandboys at their sporting events. The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23) shown through daily in the way Toy carried himself. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

George earned his Bachelor of Science from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He met his wife Mary while in medical school and they married on August 8, 1959. After medical school, George completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University. He then proudly served his country in the United States Navy as a Lieutenant JG on the submarine tender the U.S.S. Orion. Following his discharge and a return to Pittsburgh, George began his medical career in General Practice and later specialized in Radiology. Most of his medical career was spent at The Washington Hospital in Washington, PA. He and his wife retired to Pinehurst in October, 1998. George was a history aficionado who read voraciously and was especially knowledgeable about war-time history. He had a near photographic memory, a sharp wit and winning any trivia challenge against him was impossible. He enjoyed hunting, camping and golfing. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather whose presence will be forever missed.

George leaves to cherish his memory, his beloved wife of 63 years, Mary Meindl; two daughters, Barbara Stegall (Bryan) and Beverly Flanagan (Brendan); four grandchildren, Thomas Stegall, Owen Flanagan, Anne Stegall, and Audrey Flanagan; and one greatgrandchild, Aiden DeShields.

In addition to his parents, George was preceded in death by his brother Joseph Louis Meindl.