RALEIGH — The North Carolina House’s nearly $30 billion budget proposal was passed on April 5
Biden again delays reelection announcement
Washington, D.C.
Speaking at the annual White House Easter egg roll Monday, President Joe Biden once again declined to give a timeline of his reelection announcement.
Biden told “Today” show host Al Roker “I’m planning on running, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet.”
Following the 2022 midterm elections, Biden was expected to make an announcement in February or March. That date was subsequently pushed to April, and reports now say the announcement could take place in July.
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2nd hearing
Raleigh The House Oversight and Reform Committee invited key members of Gov. Roy Cooper’s staff and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) general counsel to testify before the committee Tuesday, April 18.
The hearing will further investigate allegations made in a hearing last month by SBI director Bob Schurmeier of the governor’s staff attempts to intimidate and control the independent law-enforcement agency, the committee’s leadership said in a statement.
“Political interference compromises the credibility of the state’s top law enforcement agency,” Rep. Jake Johnson (R-Polk) said. “We look forward to hearing from the governor’s staff and others to bring light to the allegations of overreach.”
NSJ STAFF
Raleigh
Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson (NC-14) and Wiley
Nickel (NC-13) are facing ethics complaints over their use of controversial Chinese social media app TikTok.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed complaints against both freshmen with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).
FACT’s complaint demands
OCE investigate whether the lawmakers are violataing House rules and abusing official resources by using his TikTok account for official and political purposes.
The complaint is the second filed by FACT over alleged official use of TikTok for official and political purposes. The first was filed against controversial Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. Federal law and House ethics rules require strict separation between campaign and official acts. Members are prohibited from using official resources for campaign purposes and using campaign funds for official purposes.
TikTok is banned from federal government devices and in dozens of states, including in North Carolina.
NSJ STAFF
and has been sent to the Senate.
The second edition of the House’s 2023 Appropriations Act passed that chamber by a vote of 78-37 with significant Democratic support.
Democrats voting in favor of passage were Reps. Kelly Alexander, (D-Mecklenburg), Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford), Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg), Allison Dahle
(D-Wake), Joe John (D-Wake), Nasif Majeed (D-Mecklenburg), Garland Pierce (D-Scotland), Shelly Willingham (D-Edgecombe) and Michael Wray (Northampton). Rep. Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg), who had announced she was changing her party affiliation to Republican earlier that day, also
Rep. Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg) is joined by state Republican legislators announcing her switch to the party on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at NCGOP headquarters in Raleigh. Cotham’s move gives Republicans a supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly.
The veto was Cooper’s 76th as governor and successful override is first since 2018
By Matt Mercer North StateJournal
RALEIGH — Rep. Tricia
Cotham of Mecklenburg County stunned North Carolina politics on April 5 when she announced she was officially joining the Republican Party in a press conference flanked by GOP legislators.
Serving in her second stint in the N.C. House of Representatives, Cotham had been elevated by Republicans — one of three Demo-
crats at the time given committee chair gavels — and has felt increasingly isolated by her former party. In her remarks, Cotham said she was a “single mom, small business owner, teacher, public servant, and today I add Republican to that list.”
She detailed a lengthy list of times she had been attacked by members of her former party and interest groups aligned with Democrats, saying she was yelled at while shopping with her son in Target, frozen out of the Democratic caucus since her election in November 2022 and had messages sent directly to her 12-year-old son on social media. “If you don’t do exactly what
they want to do, they’ll bully you and cast you aside,” she said. “I’ve suffered many attacks from those in the party, going after my family, my children — that is wrong, and I will not stand for that. They picked on the wrong chick.”
House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) introduced Cotham at the press conference, joking that the news, which became public a day earlier, was “the worst-kept secret in Raleigh.”
He commended Cotham as being one of the most bipartisan members of the legislature and welcomed her to what he called “the big tent party with members across the ideological spectrum.”
“The party here represents the values and views of North Carolina,” said Moore, also adding that Cotham was not the only Democrat with whom they have had conversations about a potential move.
U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-08) also spoke at the event. He quipped that an ill-advised game of pickleball resulted in his torn Achilles, but “it would take a lot more than that to keep me from being here today.”
Bishop called Cotham a longtime friend and wanted to be part of the announcement as a vote of confidence for someone who keeps
See COTHAM , page A8
RALEIGH — Bills prohibiting biological males from competing in women’s sports have been filed in both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly.
The bill, as written, would prevent biological males, including those who claim to be transgender females, from playing on women’s high school sports teams. House Bill 574 and Senate Bill 631 are identical and titled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.”
House Bill 574’s primary sponsors include Reps. Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), Karl Gillespie (R-Macon), Erin Paré (R-Wake) and Kristin Baker (R-Cabarrus).
The bill already has 37 of the 72 House Republicans as co-sponsors in addition to the primary sponsors. All 30 Senate Republicans have signed on in support of the measure. Both bills would amend state statutes by adding five new sub-subdivisions that include sports teams “shall be expressly
designated by the biological sex of the team participants.” The team designations include males, men or boys; females, women or girls; and coed or mixed.
“Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the bills state. Similarly, male sports teams will not be open to girls unless a comparable female sport is not available.
As currently written, the bill wouldn’t allow girls to play on boys’ contact sports teams such as football, however, Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Iredell) has indicated that wasn’t the intention of the bill and the language will be amended.
Both bills say a student’s sex “shall be recognized based solely on the student’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The bills both allow for legal action. Those who have been harmed or suffered due to the opposite sex being allowed to play on a team prohibited by the bill or those who have been retaliated against for reporting such a situation can seek injunctive relief and damages in
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports erases nearly 50 years of advances for women. It is neither fair nor safe for women to be forced to compete against biological males. The vast majority of North Carolinians agree, and I look forward to seeing this bill become law.”
State Rep. Erin
Pare (R-Wake)court. If passed and enacted, the State Board of Education will be in charge of monitoring middle and high schools for compliance with the law, and if Board finds a school in violation, the school in violation
“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.”
John 20:27
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COTHAM from page A1
her priorities in the right order.
Taking questions from members of the media, Cotham did not address several questions related to abortion, noting that there was no legislation at present requiring a vote. On the timeline of the announcement, she detailed how Democratic leaders didn’t want her to run for the seat she holds in 2022 and how, since her election, she was treated by party leaders.
Cotham said Minority Leader Rep. Robert Reives (D-Chatham) refused to speak with her and labeled her a freshman despite her numerous years of service from 2007-2016 in the House.
At the first Democratic House caucus meeting, Cotham said she did what she usually had before: bringing cookies, snacks and drinks for the members. She was shunned and called a traitor and a spy for being given a gavel as a cochair and was tracked with what she termed a “shadow chair” from
SPORTS from page A1
will be reported to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.
A similar bill was proposed in the 2021-22 session.
House Bill 358, the Save Women’s Sports Act, was created “to protect the opportunities for women and girls in athletics by ensuring women are not forced to compete against men playing on women’s sports teams.” The bill passed the first reading in the House but never emerged from the Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.
Legislative members from both chambers held a press conference about the bill on April 6.
Former UNC Chapel Hill women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell spoke at the press event and said she backs the bill and said it is needed to provide “fair and safe” competition.
Sherry Norris, a retired Chapel Hill High basketball and volleyball
BUDGET from page A1
voted in favor.
The House budget proposal saw 27 amendments proposed during floor debate, with 15 passing. Some of the amendments made technical or language corrections, while others removed or added entire sections. The section regarding structural changes for the Schools for the Deaf and Blind was removed due to a bill with the same aim passing into law without Gov. Roy Cooper’s signature.
A mendment 22, which included
We see here, how kind and merciful Christ is to dull and slow believers. Nowhere, perhaps, in all the four Gospels, do we find this part of our Lord’s character so beautifully illustrated, as in the story before our eyes. It is hard to imagine anything more tiresome and provoking than the conduct of Thomas, when even the testimony of ten faithful brethren had no effect on him, and he doggedly declared, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side — I will not believe.”
But it is impossible to imagine anything more patient and compassionate, than our Lord’s treatment of this weak disciple. He does not reject him, or dismiss him, or excommunicate him. He comes again at the end of a week, and apparently for the special benefit of Thomas. He deals with him according to his weakness, like a gentle mother dealing with a froward child, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side.” If nothing but the grossest, coarsest, most material evidence could satisfy Thomas — even that evidence was supplied. Surely this was a love which surpasses knowledge, and a patience which surpasses understanding.
A passage of Scripture like this, we need not doubt, was written for the special comfort of all true believers. The Holy Spirit knew well that the dull, and the slow, and the stupid, and the doubting, are by far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world. The Holy Spirit has taken care to supply abundant evidence that Jesus is rich in patience as well as compassion, and that He bears with the infirmities of all His people. Let us take care that we drink into our Lord’s spirit, and copy His example. Let us never set down men as godless — because their faith is feeble, and their love is cold. Let us remember the case of
the party. Cotham added that she would not be told what color to wear on certain days or “fashion policed by Democratic women.”
“I started praying on this issue and reflecting,” she added. “I do this all on my own then I’ll tell others. I have not changed overnight. Some people just can’t accept a bold, strong woman who is an independent thinker, and I’m happy to stand on these high heels on that.”
Welcoming Cotham on behalf of Senate Republicans, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said she was there (at NCGOP headquarters) because she didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the party left her. He noted that Democrats in the state have lost members in historic ways.
“The party seems to value ideological purity and adherence to what ‘superior individuals’ think as the right way to think,” said Berger. After reading some of the comments on Twitter, I wouldn’t want to be associated with those people
coach who also attended the press event said the state needs legislation to bar biological men from competing in women’s sports, citing the obvious strength advantages of males.
Both Sawyer and Norris also referenced an incident involving a female Cherokee County volleyball player who suffered a concussion when an athlete — a biological male identifying as a female spiked the ball into the player’s head, causing injuries.
Paré took to Twitter in support of the bill, tweeting “As a mom of two teenagers, one girl and one boy, who both play competitive sports, I am proud to be a primary sponsor of HB 574 ‘Fairness in Women’s Sports’ which was filed today.
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports erases nearly 50 years of advances for women. It is neither fair nor safe for women to be forced to compete against biological males. The vast majority of North Carolinians agree, and I look forward to seeing
several education-related provisions, added a new section requiring the N.C. Department of Public Instruction to establish a “Teacher Apprentice Grant Program” for the 2023-25 fiscal biennium. The program would give districts funds for an eligible apprentice teacher’s tuition cost at an educator preparation program as well as salary supplements for teacher apprentices who become teachers in the unit.
Amendment 13 establishes a 12-member Joint Legislative Study Committee on the State Crime Lab to study and propose possible administrative and organizational
“I’ve suffered many attacks from those in the party, going after my family, my children — that is wrong, and I will not stand for that. They picked on the wrong chick.”
State Rep. Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg)
either.”
Cotham’s move resulted in reactions ranging from Republicans’ joy to Democrats’ anger over the move.
“We are thrilled to have Rep. Cotham join the Republican Party to advance solutions for North Carolina families,” said NCGOP Chairman Michael Whatley. “This announcement continues to reflect that the Democratic Party is too radical for North Carolina. The values of the Republican Party
this bill become law.”
Paré’s tweet also cited the Cherokee County High Schooler who was “severely injured when a transgender woman (biological male) spiked a ball in her face, causing her severe neck and head injuries, vision problems and long-term consequences from a concussion.”
In response to the sports bills, as well as bills filed blocking hormone suppression therapy and sex-change surgeries for minors, LGBTQ activist group Equality NC began circulating a letter template for their supporters to use to mass email legislators that calls for them to “reject the #SlateofHate.”
The bills were applauded by Tami Fitzgerald, the director of the conservative NC Values Coalition.
“This bill would protect females from being forced to play against biological males on sports teams, which can leave females with injuries and cheats them out of equal opportunities,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Girls deserve a level playing field. Allowing males
locations for the State Crime Lab within the state government. Six members would be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, with five of those appointees to be members of the General Assembly, two of which have to be members of the minority party.
One of the Speaker’s appointees has to be a member of the public that either currently serves or at one time served in a scientific or managerial role at the State Crime Lab. The president pro tempore of the Senate will appoint six others with the same rules. The House’s proposal contains
Thomas, and be very compassionate and of tender mercy.
Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many dull pupils in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, many lame sheep in His flock. Yet He bears with them all, and casts none away.
Happy is that Christian who has learned to deal likewise with his brethren. There are many in the Church, who, like Thomas, are dull and slow — but for all that, like Thomas, are real and true believers.
J.C. Ryle was an English evangelical Anglican bishop. He was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. His works are now in the public domain.
align with voters, and the people of Mecklenburg County should be proud to have her representation in Raleigh.”
“Tricia and I entered the N.C. House in the class of 2007,” U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said. “She is a no-nonsense legislator who works hard to make a positive difference for all North Carolinians. She is a welcome addition to the Republican caucus.”
State Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) said at the announcement,” I’m here to welcome my friend. When I was appointed to the House, I sat near her and we got to know one another. It’s about people, and we should never lose sight of that. Whether she’s been a Democrat or Republican, she will look out for the best interest of her constituents. She is the same today as she was yesterday. I’ve wanted her to come for a long time.”
Predictably, state Democrats were not happy about the news.
“This is deceit of the highest order,” Democratic Chair Anderson Clayton said in an April 4 state-
to compete in girls’ sports reverses nearly 50 years of advances for women. We can’t allow women to be benched from equal opportunities in sports.”
Should the bills become law, it is more than likely a legal challenge will arise as was the case in West Virginia. The West Virginia case involves a 12-year-old biological male identifying as a transgender female who sued over the law in order to continue participating on a middle school track team.
A request to fully enact a West Virginia law with the same goals and name as the North Carolina bills was turned down in an unsigned U.S. Supreme Court order issued on April 6.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, writing that the issue was an important one that would likely come before the court soon with regard to Title IX and that, “Among other things, enforcement of the law at issue should not be forbidden by the federal courts without any explanation.”
several policy items, including expansion of the state’s school choice options.
Cooper issued multiple tweets attacking the budget.
In particular, the governor’s Twitter thread denounced the expansion of school choice while claiming the budget “injects culture wars into the classroom.”
Cooper also claimed the budget was “setting curricula” that would result in the removal of science, civics and history before going on to attack tax cuts for North Carolinians included in the proposal. Notably, those claims do not ap-
ment. “Rep. Cotham’s decision is a betrayal to the people of HD-112 with repercussions not only for the people of her district, but for the entire state of North Carolina. If she can no longer represent the values her constituents trusted her to champion, she should resign immediately.”
A day later at a press conference in Raleigh, Clayton went even further.
“This is not about control or to welcome different ideas in the party,” she said. “We have done that. Don’t tell me our party has not done that. I’m from a place where honesty means something. Your word ain’t good for a hill of beans though if you’re not gonna stick to it.”
Clayton also asked for any other Democrats who may harbor the same feelings as Cotham did to out themselves ahead of the 2024 election cycle. State Board of Elections information shows that Cotham formally updated her party affiliation on Monday.
The same day the Supreme Court issued its order denying to hear the West Virginia case, the Biden administration’s Department of Education (DOE) also issued notice of a proposed rule to “clarify” Title IX discrimination language.
The proposed rule would punish states by withholding federal funding from schools or states that do not allow males to participate in female sports teams based on one’s “gender identity.”
In May 2021, Biden’s DOE revived the Obama-era Title IX guidance requiring schools to allow students access to bathrooms and locker rooms based on a student’s self-declared gender identity and threatened to block federal funding to states for noncompliance.
Within a few months of the guidance announcement, nearly two dozen states sued. A year later, in August 2022, a federal judge in Tennessee issued an injunction blocking the Biden administration from enforcing its guidance under Title IX.
pear in the budget report or bill summary.
“The House budget fails public schools while injecting culture wars into classrooms, increasing vouchers for unaccountable private schools, giving even more tax breaks to wealthy people and letting childcare centers fail when they’re needed to help parents get back to work,” one tweet read. “A budget that pushes extreme policy changes and more tax breaks for the wealthy over the basic needs of students and parents is wrong for our state and legislators should get back to the drawing board.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland, arrives for a Senate Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing to examine a proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2024 for the Department of Justice
RALEIGH — A report issued by a U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee found “no legitimate law-enforcement basis” for a memorandum issued by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directing the FBI to investigate parents protesting at school board meetings.
“After surveying local law enforcement, U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country reported back to Main Justice that there was no legitimate law-enforcement basis for the Attorney General’s directive to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats,” states the report by the House Judiciary’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
The subcommittee’s report details information contained in the initial set of materials produced in response to the committee’s subpoenas to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI and the Department of Education (DOE) related to the committee’s oversight of the Biden administration’s use of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents, according to an executive summary.
Both the FBI and DOE “continue to produce responsive documents while the FBI has produced only 14 pages of documents and permitted an in-camera review of 346 pages to date in response to the Committee’s subpoena — a flagrant disregard of the serious concerns about the Bureau’s misuse of its authorities against parents.”
Highlights from the report included internal communications showing the Biden administration
and National School Boards Association (NSBA) “extensively colluded” before Garland issued his Oct. 4, 2021, memorandum.
The report accuses the DOJ of not performing due diligence that would have shown the memorandum “lacked a legitimate predicate” and would have discovered law enforcement described the problem of school board protests as “manufactured.” Additionally, law enforcement apparently warned of “misapplied” federal law-enforcement priorities while state and local officials stood in opposition to federal involvement in school board meetings.
“In response to the Committee’s subpoena, the FBI acknowledged for the first time that it opened 25 ‘Guardian assessments’ of school board threats, and that six of these investigations were run by the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division,” the report says.
The report goes on to state whistleblowers and other disclosures showed the FBI investigated a mother because she belonged to a “right-wing mom’s group” and “is a gun owner,” and a father because “he rails against the government.”
The report also says that per the FBI, “none of the school board-related investigations have resulted in federal arrests or charges, highlighting the political motives behind the Attorney General’s actions.”
“This weaponization of law-enforcement powers against American parents exercising their First Amendment rights is dangerous,” the report reads. “The Justice Department subjected moms and dads to the opening of an FBI investigation about them, the establishment of an FBI case file that includes their political views, and
—
RALEIGH
A bill filed in the North Carolina House seeks to block credit card companies from attaching flags or codes to firearm and ammunition purchases. House Bill 564, Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, was filed earlier this month by Reps. Reece Pyrtle (R-Rockingham), Edward Goodwin (R-Chowan) and Charles Miller (R-Brunswick). Joining the primary sponsors of the bill is House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain).
The bill cites merchant codes (MCC) created for firearms retailers by the Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization in September 2022.
the application of a “threat tag” to their names as a direct result of their exercise of their fundamental constitutional right to speak and advocate for their children.”
Republicans on the House Judiciary have called on Garland to rescind his memorandum, but to date, the attorney general has refused to do so.
Two days after the release of the report, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing on “Free Speech: The Biden Administration’s Chilling of Parents’ Fundamental Rights.”
Witnesses who testified during the meeting included Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education; Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty; and Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom, Alliance Defending Freedom.
“I ask you to hold accountable those that violated their oath to the Constitution who trampled on our right to be heard and who sought to use their position of power to subvert we the parents,” Justice told the subcommittee. “The No. 1 indicator of student success is parental involvement. Any action by the government that undermines that jeopardizes the very future of this nation.”
During the hearing, Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-12) said the use of the counterterrorism threat tag “EDUOFFICIALS” was “nothing nefarious.” He also said the Biden administration was not trying to “chill free speech” but instead the FBI was “doing its job.”
The hearing spanned two hours and is available to view on the U.S. House Judiciary’s YouTube channel.
If enacted, the bill would amend current statutes by adding a new article to prohibit financial institutions from using a firearm code in connection with payment card transactions involving a firearms retailer in the state and from knowingly maintaining a record of persons in the state who own firearms.
“No financial institution shall knowingly maintain a record of individuals residing in this State who own firearms,” according to the bill. The measure would also allow the state’s attorney general to assess civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation after notice is given and a hearing is held. There are also civil actions individuals can take with the same penalty limit for each violation plus attorneys fees and court costs. The civil actions would have a three-year statute of limitations.
“The new merchant category code would allow banks, payment card networks, and others involved in payment card processing to identify and separately track lawful payment card purchases at firearms retailers in North Carolina,” the bill states. “This surveillance would cause a significant chilling effect on individuals in North Carolina wishing to exercise their federal and State constitutional rights to keep and bear arms.” Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard have both seemingly backed off implementing the practice after several state legislatures filed bills similar to North Carolina’s House Bill 564.
“There are bills advancing in several states related to the use of this new code,” a Mastercard spokesperson said in an early March 2023 statement. “If passed, the proposals would create an ‘inconsistency’ in how the code is applied by merchants and others. It’s for that reason that we have decided to pause work on the implementation of the firearms-specific MCC.”
A spokesperson for Visa said the company would pause the practice due to “significant confusion and legal uncertainty” of the bills being filed blocking MCC.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major leak of classified U.S. documents that’s shaken Washington and exposed new details of its intelligence gathering may have started in a chatroom on a social media platform popular with gamers.
Held on the Discord platform, which hosts real-time voice, video and text chats, a discussion originally created to talk about a range of topics turned to the war in Ukraine. As part of debates about Ukraine, according to one member of the chat, an unidentified poster shared documents that were allegedly classified, first typing them out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, beginning to post images of papers with folds in them.
The posts appear to have gone unnoticed outside of the chat until a few weeks ago, when they began to circulate more widely on social media and get picked up by major news outlets. The leaks have alarmed U.S. officials and sparked a Justice Department investigation.
The records have provided startling and surprisingly timely details of U.S. and NATO assistance to Ukraine. They also provided clues about efforts to assist Ukraine in
its war with Russia, including an anticipated spring offensive.
The scale of the exposure has yet to be determined. Also unclear is whether any government worked to share the documents or manipulate them.
Asked Monday if the U.S. government was effectively waiting for more intelligence documents to show up online, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby replied: “The truth and the honest answer to your question is: We don’t know. And is that a matter of concern to us? You’re darn right it is.”
Chris Meagher, top spokesman for the Pentagon, urged caution in “promoting or amplifying any of these documents,” adding that “it does appear that slides have been doctored.”
But the breach underscores the difficulties the U.S. and other governments face in securing classified information. Congressional reviews and experts have long warned of weaknesses in U.S. counterintelligence, of the challenges of monitoring an estimated 3 million people with security clearances, and of agencies producing and over-classifying so much information that the U.S. cannot reliably control it.
“I think that the intelligence
Council spokesman
agencies have adjusted and gotten better at preventing all sorts of mass electronic leaks,” said Kellen Dwyer, a former Justice Department prosecutor who was part of the team that brought a federal case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. “But clearly, they haven’t gotten good enough.”
The Associated Press interviewed a person who said he was a member of the Discord chat group in which documents appeared for several months. The person, who said he was 18 years old, refused to give his name, citing concerns for his personal safety.
The AP could not independently confirm many details shared by the person, and the original chatroom has been deleted. The AP reviewed images of doc-
uments that appeared in recent weeks in the discussion forums. They include a top-secret analysis of deepening intelligence service ties between Russia’s FSB and agencies in the United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation that hosts a U.S. air base and cooperates on many security matters with Washington.
Citing signals intelligence, the March analysis says officers from the FSB were caught claiming that the UAE had agreed with Russia “to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies.”
A spokesman for the Emirati government said the allegations “are categorically false.” U.S. officials at several agencies declined to comment on the document.
The AP also saw an analysis of what might happen in the Russia-Ukraine war in certain “wild card” scenarios, including if Russian President Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were to die. The analysis is marked secret, a lower level of classification than top-secret.
Were Putin to fire his top military advisers and the war to escalate, the document speculates he might authorize the use of tactical nuclear weapons if “elites question Putin’s decision-making and Russian forces are unable to overcome
manning and equipment shortfalls.”
The death of Zelenskyy, in a worst-case scenario, might prompt Europe to restrict weapons shipments, the document says. But a “high-profile Ukrainian leader” might also retain domestic and foreign support as well, it says.
The investigative journalism organization Bellingcat, which specializes in digging through social media and open-source records, interviewed the same person and two others in the Discord chatroom, called “Thug Shaker Central.”
Bellingcat reported Saturday that documents from Thug Shaker Central appear to have been shared in another chatroom, “WowMao.” From WowMao, the documents appear to have spread more widely — and eventually became the subject of a story in The New York Times on Thursday, which first reported that the Pentagon was investigating a breach.
The Discord user who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity says he was on a call with others — including the person who for months had been posting documents he or she said were classified — when the Times story broke.
“We all just kind of lost it,” the Discord user said. “We couldn’t believe what was happening.”
EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL
SOMETHING’S GOT TO BE DONE about Social Security.
In France, citizens are taking it to the streets to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. It is almost like they don’t believe they are going to live long in retirement.
The Social Security eligibility age in America has been going up steadily since 2000. It used to be 65. Today, a person has to be 66 years and 4 months old to receive SS benefits. In 2027, a person will have to be 67.
No one has even noticed.
Ida Mae Fuller hit the proverbial jackpot when it comes to Social Security.
Social Security can be improved ― and made much more “fair, equal and equitable” ― if Democrats would join with Republicans quietly to make necessary changes to the program as were made in 1983 after the Greenspan Commission Report. No changes, however, will return Social Security to its original payout ratio, simply because it was not set up completely the right way in 1935.
Ida Mae Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, was the first American Social Security recipient in 1940. She received her first check in January for $22.54 at age 65. She worked for three years under the new Social Security law and paid a grand total of $24.75 in SS payroll taxes.
She received almost her entire “contribution” (payroll tax) in a single month.
The average life expectancy at the time of Ida Mae’s birth in 1874 was only 49 years. She was already living 15 years beyond her expected lifespan when she got her first SS check.
Ida Mae had great genes and good health. She lived to be 100 years old. She passed away on Jan. 27, 1975. She received $22,888.92 in Social Security payments during her retirement after paying only $24.75 into it. No one else ever has come close to such a magnificent return on their Social Security “investment” (taxes paid) ever since.
Ida Mae Fuller hit the proverbial jackpot when it comes to Social Security.
Social Security was set up as a very simple pay-as-you-go system transferring payroll taxes paid by current workers to support retirees on Social Security. No person’s payroll taxes (“contributions”) ever go into an individual retirement account to build up wealth with compound interest over their working career. Social Security was not set up properly to be a permanent “retirement” or pension plan in the first place. FDR wanted a threepart program of old-age security consisting of: old-age welfare
EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS
pensions; compulsory contributory social insurance (what we now think of as Social Security); and a third tier which would consist of optional annuity certificates sold by the government to workers who, upon retirement, could convert the certificates to monthly annuities which would be used as supplements to their basic Social Security retirement benefit,” according to the Social Security Administration website.
Had Congress passed all three components in 1935 and workers today had the option of buying annuity certificates, or mutual funds, out of their SS payroll taxes, SS would not be facing imminent demise in the next decade.
But they didn’t. No Congress or president has had the guts and internal fortitude to lead the nation in a thoughtful, coherent, comprehensive debate about the structure of Social Security ever since, mostly due to Democrat demagoguery of the issue.
Will senior mature Democrats in Congress agree to continue the annual increase in the SS retirement age — which no one notices anyway — and allow it to hit 70 by 2037? Will any rational Democrat agree uber-wealthy seniors such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should not remain on the social welfare teat and receive the maximum $4,555/month ($54,660/year) in SS benefits ― even though both most assuredly stopped paying payroll taxes decades ago?
The Boomer Generation is the last cohort of American citizens who will receive a small net positive return on the money they contributed to Social Security over their lifetime. Every generation hereafter ― Gen Xers, Millennials, Gen Zers and all to come ― will suffer an increasingly net negative return on their contributions barring any radical improvement.
Unless, of course, they way outlive their life expectancy like Ida Mae Fuller and live to be 150.
Failing to talk about Social Security won’t make it any better for everyone under the age of 50 today. Taking it to the streets to protest changes like the French won’t either. Social Security has some very serious math problems which can’t be avoided and must be addressed today.
THOUGH FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S arraignment was undeniably the biggest news of last week in American politics, another huge political story was also playing out in North Carolina — and it’s one that, unlike the Trump news, has Democrats seething with rage and telling on themselves in the process.
During a press conference last Wednesday, Democrat state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Charlottean who comes from a family of prominent Democrat leaders in local politics, announced she was switching to the Republican Party.
“Yeah and Dems turned on me like a wild pack of dogs”
Joel Ford, former state senator
During her presser, Cotham talked about what she’d experienced as a Democrat legislator who, more than most of her colleagues on the left, would sometimes work with Republicans in order to get things done.
“It became very clear to me in early January that you better vote in line with what Gov. [Roy] Cooper wants you to do … all in this sense of control. I will not be controlled by anyone,” she said.
“The modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me and to so many others around this state and this country,” Cotham also stated. “The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, who wants to get to work to better our state. Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done.
“Because that’s what real public servants do. If you don’t do exactly what Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you, they will try to cast you aside.”
Cotham’s switch, which gave House Republicans a veto-proof majority, caused meltdowns on the Democratic side, with the prevailing sentiment being that she should “resign” for her supposed “betrayal” of voters in her reliably blue district.
Some Democrats, including former state Rep. Chaz Beasley, essentially accused Cotham of lying about how she was treated by Democrats, especially Cooper.
“Never once did Gov. Cooper make me vote a certain way. Never once did he tell me which committees to join. He definitely didn’t tell me where to sit.
This ain’t it,” Beasley proclaimed. Except yeah, it is kinda “it.” There are receipts to prove how often Cooper
bullies Democrats who don’t fall in line, as former Democratic state Sen. Kirk deViere, to name just one, can attest.
Cooper also strong-armed Democrats in the state legislature during his time as the state’s attorney general, effectively keeping a compromise bill on the controversial HB2 “bathroom bill” from happening in the summer of 2016 because he wanted to continue to use it as a wedge issue in his election fight against then-Gov. Pat McCrory.
As WBTV News reported at the time, 10 Democrats were on board with a compromise bill, but that changed once Cooper began making some phone calls.
“We started losing Democrats,” one person who reportedly took part in the negotiations told the news outlet. “We were told Cooper was making personal phone calls to the 10 Democratic members saying if they wanted to be on the team in November they needed to vote against the bill.”
Democrat Joel Ford, a former state senator, also weighed in when attacked over his previous and very public disagreements with the North Carolina Democratic Party.
“Yeah and Dems turned on me like a wild pack of dogs,” Ford tweeted. “The most dangerous thing a democrat can be today is an independent thinker.”
I think it’s become pretty clear at this point that the intolerance of the North Carolina Democratic Party when it comes to dissenting views and their mindless obedience to wokeness is pushing people, including current and former state lawmakers, away. And sadly for North Carolina Democrats, Cotham may not be the only one to switch in this election cycle.
As always, stay tuned.
North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.
North Carolina is in a position to implement this budget without any income tax increase.
IT’S A TROUBLING TIME for many American families, with inflation cutting deep into their ability to buy basic household necessities, violence appearing to be on the rise and too many schools — traditionally a solid source of support — seemingly faltering or even working against them.
Amidst the concerns for our country, though, I have seen a lot to be hopeful about in North Carolina as House leaders rolled out our proposed state budget which would direct the use of their taxpayer dollars for the next two years.
For North Carolinians who are worried about the future, I wanted to share how this budget would address many of the issues they care about today and set our state up for a brighter tomorrow. This proposed budget:
• Provides $40 million in grants to help fund school safety, School Resource Officers and other programs.
• Increases teacher pay by 10.2%, with an additional 1% average raise for teachers in rural, underserved areas, for an average teacher salary of $62,650.
• Restores master’s degree pay for teachers.
• Provides a 9.5 % raise for school bus drivers.
• Improves school employee benefits by funding 4-8 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Increases state employee pay by 7.5%.
• Provides $60 million to fund teacher assistants and STEM education.
• Expands Opportunity Scholarship eligibility to grades K-8.
• Increases pay for state highway patrol officers by 11% and for correctional officers by 8.5%.
• Provides $20 million in additional funding for local law enforcement grants and $8.7 million for operations at juvenile justice facilities.
• Invests more than $200 million in workforce
COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONETrump’s lead over DeSantis in national multicandidate polling in the RealClearPolitics average grew from 46% to 30% on March 31 to 51% to 25% last Wednesday morning.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO WIN an election when your candidate is universally known and unpopular with a majority of voters? That’s a question both major parties have had to face in the last few years. Both look like they’re going to face it for some time longer.
One way is to get the other party to nominate someone who is even more unpopular. Sometimes that happens, as when Barack Obama tried to clear the field for Hillary Clinton in 2016 or when no Republican wanted to risk the brickbats of challenging Donald Trump in 2020.
Now we’re watching Democrats acquiesce to the apparent fourth presidential candidacy of 80-year-old Joe Biden. Such polling as there is shows him with well under half the votes in multicandidate primary fields.
But his closest competitors have obvious weaknesses. Kamala Harris has record-low numbers for a vice president, Bernie Sanders is 81 and Pete Buttigieg has been an absentee transportation secretary in multiple crises. None has been chief executive of anything larger than Burlington, Vermont, or South Bend, Indiana.
The obvious solution for Democrats is once again to run against Donald Trump. He lost in 2020, and his post-election actions — acting in reckless disregard of, if not actively encouraging, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, preposterously boasting that he actually won in a landslide, focusing on his own complaints and ignoring those of actual voters — haven’t made him any more popular.
But what may have done so, at least temporarily, is the pathetically weak indictment procured by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who effectively won the office in 2021 by a three-point margin — 34% to 31%.
Trump is charged with making a false business record in order to conceal a felony. The felony connection is essential — otherwise, New York’s statute of limitations would have expired in 2019. But what’s the felony? The indictment doesn’t actually say. In a press conference, Bragg suggested Trump violated federal campaign finance laws, but it’s not clear the New York law covers them. And it’s hornbook law that the government shouldn’t be able to put you in prison for conduct it hasn’t specifically criminalized.
Even liberal legal commentators have criticized the indictment. “Bragg,” writes Vox’s Ian Millhiser, “has built one of the most controversial and high-profile criminal cases in American history upon the most uncertain of foundations.” Similarly, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern warns that “this is not at all the slam-dunk case that so many Democrats wanted.”
development programs.
• Waives all state registration fees for courses that lead to a workforce credential and increases financial aid for students seeking an associate degree.
• Allocates $3.4 billion for capital spending, including $300 million for community colleges, more than $550 million for new and existing UNC system projects and $167 million for debt elimination.
• Appropriates more than $900 million from lottery proceeds for school construction spending.
• Allocates $2 billion for local water and sewer projects. As a result of years of disciplined, conservative fiscal policy in the state legislature, North Carolina can implement this budget without any income tax increase. In fact, this budget would accelerate already planned personal income tax rate reductions and increase the child tax credit for North Carolina taxpayers. It also would create a refundable adoption tax credit of $2,000 per child. In addition, it would maintain a rainy-day reserve fund balance of $4.75 billion to safeguard state finances in the event of an economic downturn or major natural disaster. Now that it has been approved by the House, I hope you’ll join me in urging the state Senate to pass this principled spending plan. This budget would take concrete, common-sense steps toward addressing the biggest concerns our citizens have today: schools, safety and economic stability. We can’t solve Washington’s problems from Raleigh, but we can — and will — do everything possible to insulate North Carolina families against them.
Rep. Dean Arp (R-Union) serves as senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
IN 2021, WHEN ATTORNEY GENERAL Merrick Garland redefined “terrorism” to include parents who protest at school board meetings, he aimed to scare parents witless and no doubt was stunned when parents countered, “We will not be silenced!”
To combat this new breed of “domestic terrorists,” Virginia’s teachers union has assembled a “toolkit” teachers can use to sidestep parents who oppose their mission to “dismantle cis-gender privilege” and advance “the disruption of Western nuclear family dynamics.” If you’re among that new breed of “terrorists,” what follows is a toolkit you can use to challenge the educrats who subvert public school instruction.
For starters, you could cite the origin of the plot to turn public schools into a redoubt for leftists. You weren’t around in 1972 when Marxist scholar Herbert Marcuse announced plans to recruit a “subversive majority” who would launch “a long march through our institutions” — and teach “intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left.” Their first stop was public education, and their first target was the schoolmarm who held that being able to speak and write standard English should be a requirement for graduation.
No more.
Beguiled by the Marcuse doctrine, the National Council of the Teachers of English decided that requiring students to use standard English was a racist, rightist value and ruled against it. In 1974, the NCTE passed a resolution affirming “students’ right to their own patterns and varieties of language — the dialects of their nurture or whatever dialects in which they find their identity” because allowing “one social group to exert its dominance over another” is “immoral.” So began the decline of literacy nationwide and the rise of the “social justice” warriors whose resolution betrayed the very students whose “varieties of language” they meant to uphold.
But it has had some of the political effects that so many Democratic strategists have wanted. Some Democrats who, preindictment, were proclaiming that no one is above the law, have kept silent out of embarrassment at the weakness of Bragg’s case or are perhaps aware of that argument’s dissonance with their party’s response when Bill Clinton unquestionably committed perjury.
But Republicans, even those adversarial toward Trump, have chimed in with similar criticism. “The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system,” declared Mitt Romney, the only U.S. senator in history who has voted twice in impeachment proceedings to remove from office a president of his own party.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” tweeted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is obviously preparing to run in 2024 and has been leading Trump in some two-candidate polls.
Lo and behold, Trump’s lead over DeSantis in national multicandidate polling in the RealClearPolitics average grew from 46% to 30% on March 31 to 51% to 25% last Wednesday morning. That’s not as massive a shift as some of the political commentary suggests, and preferences in primary polling tend to be more volatile than in general elections when party loyalties settle in. But it is worthy of note that Trump’s percentage of the vote in the 2016 primaries was 44% overall, and he had been stuck at that figure or below since last November when the stark defeats of Trump-endorsed candidates who echoed his claim of a stolen 2020 election started to sink in.
Before the indictment, a growing number of Republican voters seemed to be thinking that it might be better to nominate a governor of a once-marginal state who was reelected with 59% of the vote than a former president who, when seeking reelection, had won only 47% of the popular vote. After all, 59 is a bigger number than 47.
“Any day spent talking about Donald Trump,” writes National Review’s Dan McLaughlin, “is a day Republicans are losing.” Now Bragg’s disgraceful indictment has got everyone talking once again about the man Democrats want them to be talking about. Bad law, smart politics. Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime coauthor of “The Almanac of American Politics.”
Nor was reading instruction safe from the scythe-wielding NCTE. In 2022, they decided that “the time has come to decenter book reading and essay writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education” and to promote “media literacy” instead. If you think that reading and writing instruction should remain the centerpiece of English education, you might point out that requiring students to take classes in “digital media” and “popular culture” would be like asking Taylor Swift to enroll in song-writing classes.
You might also note that the College Board’s National Commission on Writing has found that depriving students of instruction in reading and writing will handicap them in the workplace. In 2004, they published the results of a nationwide survey of business leaders who claimed that literacy was the “ticket to professional opportunity” while illiteracy was the “kiss of death” for job applicants.
Those findings still hold true — unless a job applicant aims to join that cabal of educrats who would “transform” public schools into a no-go zone for old-school standards.
If you are among those parents who impose strict standards of literacy and civility at home, your youngsters will never be caught on camera goading law students to bully a conservative judge, all the while claiming, “Me and many people in this administration do absolutely believe in free speech.”
With that one statement, Stanford law school DEI deanlet Tirien Steinbach exposed both the ignorance and the hypocrisy of the hard left, but it was her malice aforethought that triggered the backlash that left her suspended.
The failure of the Steinbach stunt should embolden you to challenge the provocateurs who would make public schools a “safe space” — for leftists only.
To achieve that aim, the National Education Association, our largest teachers union, lobbies for all school employees to practice “restorative justice,” which is code for “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Enter the DEI militia, which will retrain teachers to typecast white students as irredeemably racist and black and brown students as their unwitting victims. Even The New York Times now admits that “mandatory training that blames dominant groups … may well have a net-negative effect on the outcomes.”
Social philosopher Eric Hoffer is often attributed as saying, “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” In 2020, the DEI racket cost taxpayers an estimated $3.4 billion — and provided a whopping reason for you to join that new breed of “terrorists” who would loosen the grip subversives have on public education.
for style, length or clarity when
The Associated Press
INDIA WILL SURPASS China’s population this month. Or maybe in July. Or perhaps it’s happened already?
Demographers are unsure exactly when India will take the title as the most populous nation in the world because they’re relying on estimates to make their best guess. But they know it’s going to happen soon, if it hasn’t occurred by now.
China has had the most people in the world since at least 1950, the year United Nations population data began. Both China and India have more than 1.4 billion people, and combined they make up more than a third of the world’s 8 billion people.
“Actually, there is no way we can know exactly when India will surpass China,” said Bruno Schoumaker, a demographer at Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. “There is some uncertainty, not only about India’s population, but also China’s population.”
Still, when is it happening?
Mathematical calculations from a range of surveys, as well as birth and death records, project that India will overtake China sometime in the middle of April. But demographers warn that it should be taken with a grain of salt since the numbers are fuzzy and could be revised.
“It’s a crude approximation, a best guess,” said Patrick Gerland, chief of the population estimates and projections section at the U.N. in New York.
Not long ago, India wasn’t expected to become most populous until later this decade. But the timing has been sped up by a drop in China’s fertility rate, with families having fewer children.
How is it calculated?
Demographers at the U.N.
Population Division make estimates based on projections from a wide variety of data sources to get what they believe are the most up-to-date demographic numbers. The last update to the data used for these calculations for both India and China was July 2022, said Sara Hertog, a U.N. population affairs officer in New York.
The demographers then use a statistical technique to infer when India’s population has surpassed that of China, according to Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor at Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.
“The reality, of course, is that these estimates are just that,” Gietel-Basten said. “But at least they are based on a relatively sol-
id and consistent methodology.”
Where do the numbers come from?
The foundations of both nations’ numbers are censuses, or head counts, conducted every decade.
China’s last census was in 2020. Demographers used birth and death records, along with other administrative data, to calculate how the population has grown since then.
India’s last census was in 2011. Its scheduled 2021 census was postponed by COVID-19. Without an actual door-to-door count for more than a decade, sample surveys have filled in the gaps to help demographers and India itself understand its population,
said Alok Vajpeyi of the New Delhi-based non-government organization, Population Foundation of India.
Among the most important is the Sample Registration System, India’s large-scale demographic survey that gathers data on such things as births, deaths, fertility and more.
Andrea Wojnar, the United Nations Population Fund’s representative for India, said the agency is confident in the survey’s numbers “because it uses a very robust methodology.”
Why is India moving ahead?
China has an aging population with stagnant growth even after the government seven years ago retreated from a one-child policy and just two years ago said couples could have three children.
India has a much younger population, a higher fertility rate and a decrease in infant mortality over the last three decades.
India has more babies born each year than in any other country, while China has joined many European countries in having more deaths each year than births, said Dudley Poston Jr., an emeritus professor of sociology at Texas A&M University.
Why does this matter?
There’s more than bragging rights at stake over which nation is the world’s most populous — there are social and economic consequences. In India, that means a growing labor force and growth that sparks economic activity. In China, that means fewer working-age adults able to support an aging population.
Once a country hits a low fertility level, it’s often hard to recover population growth, even with changes in government policy to encourage more births, said Toshiko Kaneda, technical director of demographic research at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington.
“Psychologically, it will be tough for China, especially given the rivalry in other areas between the two countries,” Gietel-Basten said. “It is a big moment in human history as the baton is passed to India.”
The Associated Press BANGKOK — More than 60 asylum-seeking members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained last week in Thailand are en route to the United States, a religious freedom advocate who has been aiding them said.
A colonel in Thailand’s police immigration division confirmed that the group left Thailand on Thursday night. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not his agency’s spokesperson. Thai police said the 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, also known as the Mayflower Church, would be deported within a week, likely to a third country. The U.S. Embassy has declined comment on the fate of the group but was involved
along with representatives of the U.N. Refugee Agency in talks with Thai officials about the matter.
The church members, who have been in Thailand since last September, were arrested last week in the seaside city of Pattaya for overstaying their visas, fined and then taken to Bangkok, where they were detained in immigration facilities.
Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization, said the group was heading to the United States and is expected to arrive in Dallas on Friday evening.
“ChinaAid welcomes the landing of the persecuted Chinese ‘Mayflower Church’ to freedom in America and welcome to Texas,” Fu said in a text message which also thanked U.S. and Thai officials and activists.
“We will not rest until religious freedom is fully realized in China.”
ChinaAid President Bob Fu
“We will not rest until religious freedom is fully realized in China,” he said. Christian church organizations have been working to resettle them in Texas, lobbying for their admittance to the U.S. and offering to host them.
The church members have said they faced unbearable harassment in China.
Christians in China are legally allowed to worship only in churches affiliated with Communist Party-controlled religious
groups, but for decades the authorities largely tolerated independent, unregistered “house churches.” They have tens of millions of worshippers, possibly outnumbering those in the official groups.
In recent years, however, house churches have come under heavy pressure, with many prominent ones shut down. Unlike previous crackdowns, such as Beijing’s ban on Falun Gong, a spiritual movement it labels a cult, the authorities have also targeted some believers not explicitly opposed to the Chinese state.
Before they arrived in Thailand, the Mayflower Church members fled to South Korea’s Jeju island in October 2019 and stayed there for nearly three years. They decided to leave after it became clear that prospects for refuge there were dim.
South Korean president invited to address US Congress Washington, D.C.
Congressional leaders have invited the president of South Korea to address a joint meeting during a visit to Washington later this month.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced they have invited Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol to address a joint meeting of Congress in honor of the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. The session is set for April 27.
They said the relationship between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea “is one of great importance and significance” and said the meeting “would provide an ideal platform for you to share your vision for the future of the U.S.-Korea alliance.”
President Joe Biden is hosting Yoon at an April 26 state dinner, Biden’s second as president.
The invitation to address Congress comes as the U.S. is strengthening its alliances with Asia and intensifying its focus on China.
South Korea recently increased joint security efforts with the United States as concerns grow about China’s intentions in the region. The country also has economic concerns about U.S. measures regarding the tech industry and trade with China.
PRESS
ASSOCIATED
THE
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania to seek 4th term
Harrisburg, Pa.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will seek a fourth term in office, bringing the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his party’s defense of a seat in a critical presidential battleground state.
The announcement by Casey, the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania history, gives Democrats a boost ahead of a difficult 2024 Senate map. They must defend incumbents not only in red states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — but also in multiple swing states.
Casey has cast himself as standing up to what he calls “corporate special interests,” and said there is more to do to lower the cost of living for working families, such as child care or prescription drugs.
Republicans have one potential top-tier candidate: former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who narrowly lost the GOP nomination for Senate in 2022 to Dr. Mehmet Oz.
McCormick, who has strong support from party brass, has a solid-gold resume as a decorated Gulf War veteran who graduated from West Point, got a doctoral degree from Princeton, served in the highest levels of thenPresident George W. Bush’s administration and ran one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NC A&T hires Ross as next coach
Greensboro
North Carolina A&T has hired its next men’s basketball coach, naming former Delaware coach Monté Ross to lead the Aggies. Ross has been an assistant at Temple the past four seasons and was previously head coach at Delaware from 2006 -16, compiling a 132-184 record and leading the Blue Hens to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The 52-year- old Ross, who played guard at Winston- Salem State from 1998-92, was Colonial Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 and has also served as an assistant at Saint Joseph’s, Drexel and Lehigh. He replaces Phillip Shumpert, who guided the Aggies to a 13 -19 record last season as the Aggies’ interim coach. Shumpert was elevated from assistant coach after head coach Will Jones was abruptly fired in mid-August.
Filipowski returning to Duke for 2nd season
Durham
Duke 7-footer Kyle Filipowski is returning to the Blue Devils for his sophomore season instead of testing the NBA draft waters, he announced Tuesday in a social media post.
Filipowski was named The Associated Press newcomer of the year in the ACC. He also was named the most valuable player of the ACC Tournament after the Blue Devils claimed the title. He averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds this past season.
UNC’s Love plans to transfer to Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Caleb Love plans to transfer to Michigan from UNC, giving coach Juwan Howard some much-needed talent for his roster next season. The 6 -foot- 4 guard announced his decision on social media Friday. Love averaged a team-high 16.7 points last season for the Tar Heels.
CHARLOTTE —
As the final buzzer sounded on the Hornets’ 2022-23 season, Sunday’s 10695 victory over the playoff-bound Cavaliers marked a positive finish to a year that won’t be fondly remembered.
Rookies and burgeoning talents Mark Williams and Bryce McGowens each notched 22 points in the win, offering the
Hornets (27-55) some optimism as they closed the season winning 12 of their final 24 games.
When a team slogs to a 15-43 record in the first two-thirds of the season, playing .500 ball for a few months can feel like quite the improvement even if the stakes are comparatively lower.
“Unless you make the playoffs, it’s a long offseason, but these are important games for our young guys,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after the season finale.
A s the Hornets enter the offseason for the seventh year in a row without reaching the playoffs, all eyes turn toward the May 16 NBA Draft Lottery when
“He badly wants to win. … It’s important to his career.”
Hornets coach Steve Clifford on star point guard LaMelo Ball
Charlotte — which finished with the league’s fourth-worst record — has a 1-in-8 chance of landing the top overall pick. That would allow the Hornets to select 7-foot3 Frenchman Victor Wembanyama at the NBA Draft on June 22.
Detroit, Houston and San Antonio each have slightly better odds (14%) of getting the top pick.
It’s difficult to describe how impactful it would be for the Hornets franchise to land Wembanyama — not just in terms of a talent upgrade for the team’s frontcourt depth, but also as an overall morale boost for the coaching staff, roster and fan base.
General manager Mitch Kupchak and Charlotte have five draft picks this year, including two in the first round. That makes it essential for the Hornets to come out of the draft with impact players, especially if ownership decides to part ways with top scorers Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre Jr.
Perhaps most importantly, Clifford mentioned at the Hornets’ season-ending news conference that the team needs to improve if it wants star point guard
See HORNETS, page B4
By Cory Lavalette North State Journal
THE THREE-DAY NASCAR
All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway will offer a bit of everything for stock car racing fans, but the spotlight of the Cup Series’ return to the 0.625mile oval for the first time since 1996 will be on the reborn throwback track itself.
“We wanted it to be simple. We wanted the speedway to be part of the star factor of this event,” Marcus Smith, Speedway Motorsports president and CEO, said of the event being held at the track.
The three days of Cup events from May 19-21 will be preceded by late model events, with the ASA Stars National Tour competing on Tuesday, May 16, and the CARS Tour racing the following day.
That will set the stage for NASCAR’s return to the track, which last hosted a Cup Series event on Sept. 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon bested Dale Earnhardt Sr. to win the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro.
On Friday, May 19, the Cup drivers will first have a practice and then the Pit Crew Challenge. In past all-star races, Cup Series teams competed to best the fastest crew in a pit stop simulation. That returns this year, with a twist: The starting order for the
two heat races on Saturday will be determined by how the pit crews perform in the challenge.
Before the heat races, the Truck Series will compete in a points event at 1:30 p.m. That will be followed by Saturday’s two heat races. They will be 60 laps each, with the first heat determining the inside row for Sunday’s main event and the sec-
ond race lining up the outside row.
Those two races will be made up of the 22 drivers who have already secured spots in Sunday’s All-Star Race. Those drivers earned a spot by being a points race winner from this season or last season, a past Cup champion or the winner of a previous All-Star Race.
The 22 drivers already in the field are Christopher Bell, Ryan
Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Mar-
Adam Fantilli:
The Michigan freshman was named the winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in college hockey. Fantilli helped the Wolverines reach the Frozen Four last week, where they lost to Quinnipiac in the national semifinals. Fantilli, who led the NCAA with 65 points, including 30 goals, is expected to be one of the top picks in this summer’s NHL Draft. He is the third freshman to win the award, joining Jack Eichel (2016) and Paul Kariya (1993).
Dusty May:
The Florida Atlantic basketball coach has received a 10‑year contract extension from the school after leading the Owls to the Final Four this season. Florida Atlantic went 35‑4 this season and made the national semifinals, by far the best season in program history. Its season ended with a loss to national runner‑up San Diego State. FAU has had a winning record in all five of May’s seasons at the school, going 101‑60 overall.
Justin Owen:
The sprint car driver from Harrison, Ohio, died from injuries he suffered when his car crashed during a race Saturday in southeastern Indiana. USAC says Owen’s car struck the outside wall and flipped several times along the third turn in a qualifying race at Lawrenceburg Speedway. USAC canceled the remainder of the event after the crash. USAC says the 26‑year‑old Owen was the reigning track champion at Lawrenceburg Speedway with two feature wins and the title in 2022.
Jacob Quillan scored 10 seconds into overtime to give Quinnipiac a 3‑2 victory over Minnesota for its first NCAA hockey title. The Bobcats scored with their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker with under 3 minutes left in regulation to force overtime. The Bobcats won the faceoff to open OT and Zach Metsa flipped a pass to a streaking Sam Lipkin, who fed Quillan for the winning goal. Bobcats center Skyler Brind’Amour, pictured left, is the son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour.
Christopher Bell after he won Sunday’s dirt race at Bristol.
PRIME NUMBER
63
Age of Fred Couples, who became the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters. Couples shot 1 over through the first two rounds and a pair of 76s on the weekend to finish 9 over for the tournament and tied for 50th. Couples has made 31 cuts at the Masters, trailing only the 37 that Jack Nicklaus made during his career.
NASCAR penalized points leader Alex Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for violations found in the post‑race inspections at Richmond last week. Bowman and Byron’s teams were penalized 60 points, five playoff points and their crew chiefs were suspended two races, starting after Sunday’s race at Bristol.
Oilers center Connor McDavid became the first player in 27 years to reach 150 points in a season on his NHL‑leading his 63rd goal on Saturday. Mario Lemieux was the last to reach the mark when he scored 161 points in 1995‑96. Wayne Gretzky, Phil Esposito, Steve Yzerman and Bernie Nichols are the others to reach 150 points.
Stephen Silas won’t return as coach of the Rockets next season, according to reports. Silas wrapped up his third season with the team with a 22‑60 record, tied for the second worst in the NBA. The 49‑year‑old Silas spent a decade as an assistant in Charlotte during his father Paul’s two stints as coach of the Hornets and Bobcats.
“This place is so much fun.”
“It’s not Kyrie or bust, but we want to keep him.”Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on wanting to re‑sign former Duke star Kyrie Irving, above. SAM HODDE | AP PHOTO
AS THE FINAL ACC underclassmen finish up their announcements on whether they’re returning to school next season or heading to the pros, it’s worth remembering one key truth about the NBA Draft: Nobody knows anything.
Take some of the most recent national champions from the state. In 2017, UNC finished off its redemption tour as Joel Berry, Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks led the Heels to a national title. It came a year after Carolina, led by senior stars Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, fell heart-breakingly short in the title game. That group of five players combined for seven spots on All-ACC teams, including four first-teamers and an ACC Player of the Year award.
Six years later, the last Heel standing will be a player best known for crashing postgame press conferences he wasn’t invited to: Glue guy and good teammate Theo Pinson, who played in 40 games for the Mavericks this past season. Jackson, played in 23 for the Celtics before being traded and released, the third time he’s been cut in the last two seasons.
The 2010 Duke team has a similar story. Led by Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, the
Blue Devils cut down the nets. The trio combined for seven All-ACC teams, four first-team selections and a Player of the Year trophy. And the last Blue Devil standing is a freshman who scored less than four points per game that year: Mason Plumlee. Glue guy Lance Thomas was the second-tolast man standing.
And, in those two seasons, the ACC player who has had the biggest impact on the NBA wasn’t on the title team and would take
quite a few guesses to come to the mind of most league observers. Boston College’s Reggie Jackson is the league’s leading NBA scorer from the 2010 season, and Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell holds the honor from 2017. In both seasons, four players received more All-ACC votes than the player who ended up being the best NBA prospect.
That’s nothing new for the league. Over 69 ACC seasons, the league’s Player of the Year has
gone on to play more NBA games than anyone else in the ACC a total of seven times, and he’s scored the most NBA points 11 times.
That includes some of the league’s biggest stars. Three-time Player of the Year David Thompson? Clemson’s Tree Rollins played more games in the league.
So did UNC’s Bobby Jones. And UNC’s Walter Davis scored more points. Phil Ford? He won the hardware, but Mike Gminski lasted longer in the league and Clemson’s Larry Nance put up the most points from that season’s ACC rosters.
Ralph Sampson? How about Maryland’s Buck Williams. Michael Jordan? Teammate Sam Perkins played in more NBA games.
Danny Ferry? Dennis Scott? Rodney Monroe? Clemson’s Dale Davis was the ACC’s NBA games played leader all four years that those players won the league’s best player honor.
The list goes on and on. Tyler Hansbrough? Jeff Teague. T.J. Warren? Jerami Grant. Jahlil Okafor? Terry Rozier. Marvin Bagley? Teammate Gary Trent.
Part of the reason for the difference between league award voting and NBA success is that NBA teams aren’t necessarily looking for college production as much as NBA fit. That’s why Pinson and Thomas, with their length and specialties (Pinson’s defense and Thomas’ rebounding), can stick while bigger names can’t. It’s why NBA scouts were more intrigued with UNC’s Leaky Black this season than Armando Bacot and Caleb Love.
Another reason is that award voters tend to look at the top of the standings, while NBA prospects can come from anywhere, as Clemson’s run of NBA big men shows. If you chose Clem-
1,156
Regular season NBA games for Clemson alumnus Tree Rollins, 564 more than the 592 three-time ACC Player of the Year David Thompson had in his career.
son’s starting big man each season, you’d end up with more NBA games and scoring leaders than if you picked the league’s MVP. That’s thanks to Rollins, Nance, Horace Grant, Dale Davis and Elden Campbell, who gave Clemson the best NBA career 12 times in an 18 ACC season span.
Over the 69 ACC seasons, the eventual NBA career games leader came from Duke 17 times and UNC 16 times. While that might be expected, third on the list is Clemson with 11, followed by Wake Forest with 10. Tim Duncan, Chris Paul and Teague were the most recent Deacs leaders. Maryland (4) and South Carolina (3) are the only other teams to produce more than two.
Scoring leaders are again led by UNC (22 seasons) and Duke (16). Wake Forest is next with 11, followed by Clemson (5), Maryland (4) and Louisville (3).
So, as we begin the NBA Draft season and visions of Dereck Lively and Terquavion Smith dance in our heads, it’s worth taking a little deeper look. In 10 years, don’t be surprised if seldom-used FSU big Baba Miller is the last ACC player standing in the league. Or, based on history, perhaps Clemson center PJ Hall.
The second-ranked Deacons have swept three straight ACC foes
By Shawn Krest North State JournalWAKE FOREST’S 2023 baseball season had its roots in a disappointing June weekend in College Park, Maryland. The 2022 Demon Deacons entered the NCAA Tournament as the second seed in their regional on the strength of 39 regular season wins, the second most in program history and the biggest year-to-year improvement Wake baseball had ever seen.
Against third-seeded UConn, Wake scored first, led twice and overcame a five-run deficit in the eighth inning only to lose on an unearned run in the ninth. Two games later against Maryland, the Deacs again scored first and led twice before giving up six runs in the eighth to bring their historic season to an end.
“That’s where it starts,” coach Tom Walter said after Wake’s first practice of the 2023 season. “They know what it feels like when we’re standing on the field at Maryland when they know we should have and could have played better.
“We were certainly disappointed in our performance. We had the UConn game right there where we wanted it and couldn’t get it done. Then had the Maryland game right there and then couldn’t close it out in the eighth and ninth innings. That hunger started last year when we were on that field staring at each other asking, ‘How is our season over?’”
After nearly two months of games, the bad taste seems to be stubbornly remaining in the mouths of the Demon Deacons. Wake has played like a team possessed in the first half of the season, looking like a group on a mission.
NASCAR from page B1
tin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.
Three more drivers will earn a spot in Sunday’s All-Star Race, and they can get in the field one of two ways.
Two drivers will get a spot in the main event by finishing in the top two of Sunday’s All-Star Open, which will take place at 5 p.m. before the 25-car final race. The 100-lap race will have a competition yellow on the 40th lap and standard overtime rules will apply.
A third driver will get into the All-Star Race field via a fan vote.
Sunday’s All-Star Race is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and will be
The Deacs won their first 13 games of the season, added another eight-game winning streak later on and are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. After beating Notre Dame and Duke two out of three games each to win their first two ACC series of the season, Wake has not lost a conference game since, sweeping three from Miami and Clemson — the school’s first time sweeping back-to-back ACC series since 2002 — then beating NC State in a doubleheader, with Easter weekend rain doing what conference opponents couldn’t by stopping the Deacs from winning three.
At 28-4 overall and 12-2 in the ACC, Wake is off to its best start since 1950, better even than its 1955 team that won the College World Series. The Deacons are doing it on
200 laps with a competition break around the race’s midway point.
“When we throw the green flag, we should just give them 100 straight laps of green flag racing,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was instrumental in revitalizing North Wilkesboro Speedway and bringing Cup racing back to the track.
“You know, if there’s a natural yellow (flag) in there, fine. but let’s take all the gimmicks out. Let’s just see these cars go around the racetrack. Let’s just watch these drivers struggle with the grip and the challenge of that surface and just watch and see who’s trying to save some tire, who’s maybe trying to take advantage of getting some
the mound, leading the nation with a 2.30 ERA and allowing less than a baserunner an inning. They’re also doing it in the batter’s box, with six starters hitting over .300 and an offense that is eighth in the country in runs scored.
Wake is outscoring foes by a 29697 margin, meaning their average game is a 9-3 win. The Deacs outscored ACC opponents by a 6-3 average margin.
The pitching staff has made the difference for Wake this season. The Deacs have posted four shutouts on the year and haven’t allowed more than five runs in a game in the last month. They’ve recorded 390 strikeouts against 75 walks. Wake has the ACC’s top three strikeout leaders in Sean Sullivan, Josh Hartle and Rhett Lowder, who also rank in the
“The fans are woven into the fabric of this racetrack, and the drivers appreciate that.”
Marcus Smith, Speedway Motorsports president and CEO
track position early and let the race sort of play out.”
Earnhardt attended last September’s announcement by Gov. Roy Cooper that the All-Star Race would bring NASCAR back to
top eight in the league in ERA and are a combined 17-2. They also have closer Camden Minacci, who is second in the nation with eight saves.
“I feel like we’ve had a good enough offense consistently to go to Omaha,” Walter said. “We’ve always scored enough runs. But if you look consistently at the teams who go to Omaha, it comes down to pitching and defense. We haven’t been as good in those areas as we need to be.”
Against NC State, the pitching helped an offense that was missing some punch, with Adam Cecere and Nick Kurtz, who rank second and fourth respectively in the ACC in OPS, out injured. Both are expected back within two weeks. The Deacs’ pitchers were able to keep the Wolfpack in check, and the of-
North Wilkesboro. That came after the North Carolina state budget allocated American Rescue Plan money to speedways across the state, including $18 million to restore the downtrodden track in Wilkes County. That cleared the path for racing to return to North Wilkesboro, and Smith said fan reaction to races held there last summer contributed to making the racing at the track the centerpiece of the All-Star Race.
“Being there, if you were there this past summer, and you saw the way that the fans kind of interacted with the racetrack, and the time they could see the old building and the old signs and just the
fense scratched out a pair of comeback wins.
“It says a lot about our team,” Walter said. “We’re scrappy. We’re not swinging the bats well right now up and down the lineup. When you don’t have Cec and Kurtz, that allows them to pitch around Brock (Wilken, who leads the ACC in home runs and runs scored). … We’re finding different ways to win, and we’re winning primarily with pitching and defense, which is good. Because I do think this will be a good offensive club before it’s all over with, but we’re just an average offensive club right now.”
In other words, the Deacs still think they can get better. And that bad taste in their mouth is looking like it might last all the way to Omaha.
way everything worked together,” he said. “The fans are woven into the fabric of this racetrack, and the drivers appreciate that. And so it’s all going to work together. We didn’t want the format to be the story. We wanted the race to be the story, and the racetrack, and it’s going to really provide I think a great platform for the NASCAR All-Star race.”
Cars in Sunday’s final race will start on sticker tires and have three additional new sets available to them for the race, though only one may be used after the competition yellow. Like the AllStar Open, overtime rules will apply. The winner will take home $1 million.
LeBron and the Lakers played Tuesday night in a play-in game, while Warriors will look to defend their title
By Tim ReynoldsThe Associated Press
GOLDEN STATE is in the playoffs. LeBron James is heading to the play-in tournament. And the Minnesota Timberwolves lost Rudy Gobert to a fight with a teammate, then won a fight to improve their playoff hopes.
The final day of the NBA season was predictably wild — with tons of unpredictable elements as well.
It took until the 1,230th and last game of the year went final, but the Western Conference playoff and play-in bracket are finally set, highlighted by the Los Angeles Clippers and defending champion Golden State Warriors getting a few days off knowing that they’re officially in the postseason.
The Clippers beat Phoenix to clinch the No. 5 seed — and a firstround matchup with Phoenix. Golden State had its highest-scoring game in almost 33 years on its way to routing Portland 157101 and clinching the No. 6 seed, giving the Warriors an automatic berth in the playoffs and a firstround matchup with Sacramento.
Golden State led by as many as 59 in that game, the largest lead by any team all season.
James and the No. 7 — for now
— Los Angeles Lakers will get two chances to get into the playoffs, starting with Tuesday’s play-in game against No. 8 Minnesota. If the Lakers lose that game, they’ll get another chance Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 9 New Orleans and No. 10 Oklahoma City. The Lakers-Timberwolves winner gets No. 2 Memphis in Round 1; the winner of Friday’s West play-in game will start the playoffs next Sunday at No. 1 Denver.
No team in the West has had a better record since the All-Star break than the Lakers, who went 16-7 down the stretch — even with James sidelined for about half of that run by injury.
Minnesota locked up the No. 8 seed (and two chances at the playoffs) by holding off New Orleans 113-108.
It was the last game to finish in the league this season, though for Gobert, it ended early. He threw a punch at Kyle Anderson — his teammate — during a firsthalf timeout, didn’t return to the game, and Minnesota also lost Jaden McDaniels to a right hand injury after he appeared to punch a wall.
“We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter,” Timberwolves President Tim Connelly said in a postgame statement. “His behavior on the bench was unacceptable and we will contin-
ue handling the situation internally.” If the Timberwolves lost that game, they would have been the No. 9 seed out West. There were 16 possible ways the 5-6-7-8-9 seeds on the West bracket could have gone on Sunday — and the Pelicans had a shot to finish as high as No. 5. Instead, they settled for No. 9.
The Eastern Conference postseason matchups were all set be -
fore Sunday. No. 7 Miami plays No. 8 Atlanta on Tuesday, and No. 9 Toronto plays No. 10 Chicago on Wednesday. The HeatHawks winner advances to play No. 2 Boston in Round 1; the Raptors-Bulls winner will play the Heat-Hawks loser on Friday for the chance to play No. 1 Milwaukee in the opening round. No. 3 Philadelphia will play No. 6 Brooklyn, and No. 4 Cleveland will meet No. 5 New York.
Woods made it to the weekend at the Masters for the 23rd consecutive time
By Paul Newberry The Associated PressAUGUSTA, Ga. — For Tiger Woods, it’s come to this.
He’s no longer a factor at the top of the leaderboard.
Instead, the golfer who provided some of the game’s most electrifying moments can be found plodding along at the cut line, his primary goal simply to make it to the weekend.
He backed into another bit of Masters history on a cold, rainy Saturday morning at Augusta National, making his 23rd consecutive cut to tie the tournament record shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples.
Woods has never missed the Masters cut as a professional, a remarkable accomplishment in a career filled with them.
But it feels so un-Tiger-like.
He’s about winning green jackets, not surviving the cut.
Woods closed his weather-delayed second round with back-toback bogeys for a 1-over round of 73. When he walked off the course, he was one shot above the projected cut of 2-over 146.
But the line jumped to 3 over when Justin Thomas imploded down the stretch, earning Woods and several other golfers the chance to play on through the weekend.
But more than a dozen shots off the lead, Woods wasn’t focused on reaching the top of the leaderboard.
A sixth green jacket was far out of reach.
Despite a grim look on his face as he plodded around the soggy course, Woods insisted he was eager to keep going.
It didn’t sound all that persuasive. “I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,” he said. “I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here. I’ve
HORNETS from page B1
LaMelo Ball to stay in Charlotte after his contract expires.
“He badly wants to win,” Clifford said bluntly. “When you’re at his level, there are certain expectations. You’re going to be compared to the other point guards his age that have had not incredible playoff success but have had some. It’s important to his career.”
Ball, who played just 36 games this season due to injuries, has not made the playoffs in his first three campaigns and saw Char -
The last time the Kings reached the postseason until Sacramento earned the No. 3 in the Western Conference this year.
It may be a major letdown to see him scuffling around the course, but that is his new reality.
Since the car crash on February 23, 2021, Woods has played only five truly competitive tournaments — four of them majors, the other an event he hosts at Riviera.
The first of those five came at last year’s Masters, where he made the cut despite a noticeable limp but had nothing left for the weekend, posting back-to-back 78s.
Woods took another go of it at the PGA Championship, only to withdraw before the final round after shooting 79 on Saturday.
After skipping the U.S. Open, he missed the cut at the British Open and tied for 45th at Riviera in his only event of the current year before arriving in Augusta.
The fans have demonstrated over and over again that they will forgive Woods for his many foibles away from the course.
Like his longtime girlfriend, Erica Herman, accusing him of a cruel breakup in which she was told to pack a bag for a vacation and then found herself locked out of his home. Dragged into court over the matter, Woods denies he did anything wrong.
Then there’s the much-deserved criticism Wood received for a distasteful, sexist prank he pulled at Riviera. After outdriving Justin Thomas, he discreetly passed a tampon to his playing partner, implying he hit it like a girl.
Strange behavior, indeed, for the father of a 15-year-old girl who we would hope is being raised to believe there are no limits on what she can accomplish.
loved it.”
With a body that aches on every step, every swing, this might be the best he can muster.
When asked about the pain, he replied, “It’s constant.”
How much longer will that be worth it to a guy who has claimed 15 major championships — five of them at this place?
He withdrew from competition with a foot injury less than halfway through his third round.
Certainly, this isn’t the way he would want to be remembered, essentially a hobbling, part-time relic from a different era. He wouldn’t want the cacophony of cheers that still follow his every step to be tinged with charity in-
lotte’s win total drop from 43 to 27 this season.
When asked on April 10 about how he views his long-term future with the team, Ball didn’t tip his hand.
“I love it here,” he said. “I can’t really tell the future. We’ll just see how it goes and go from there.”
On top of any additions from the draft, the Hornets’ lineup could look very different given that the team has $39 million in cap space, according to Spotrac.
Some of that money could be used to re-sign restricted free
“I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here. I’ve loved it.”
Tiger Woods on playing at Augusta National
stead of awe.
There have been plenty of great athletes who hung around far longer than they should have, from Muhammad Ali to Willie Mays to Michael Jordan.
Golf is a bit different, of course,
agent Miles Bridges, who missed all of this season after being arrested on domestic violence charges last summer.
W hile the 25-year-old has certainly proven his worth on the court — he led the Hornets in scoring during the 2021-22 season — his off-court issues have clouded his present and future. Bridges and Ball have proven to have a strong relationship the past few years, which could factor into how circumstances play out. With the Hornets’ lineup in flux, even the ownership situation
since it’s a game that can be played at a high level well into the second half-century of one’s life.
Tom Watson nearly won the British Open at 59. Phil Mickelson did win the PGA Championship after turning 50.
But it’s a tenuous line between those turn-back-the-clock moments and essentially being MJ in a Wizards uniform.
Woods is 47, and it’s an old 47.
It’s hard to envision his battered body — after all the surgeries and a devastating car wreck that nearly cost him his right leg — feeling any better than it does now.
Woods’ window to win a sixth Masters title, or a 16th major championship, has surely closed.
appears to be in transition.
L ast month, it was revealed that team owner and six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan is negotiating to sell an additional stake in the franchise to a group that includes current minority owner George Plotkin.
Clifford was recently asked about his job status given the possibility of a shift in ownership.
“Obviously, I hope nothing happens because I want to coach again next year,” he said. “But I’ve also been around this league long enough to know to not ever be
Through it all, Woods still draws some of the biggest galleries at Augusta National, serenaded with chants of “Go Tiger!” all the way around the course.
He continues to draw fans to the game, as evidenced by a young boy in a “TW” cap who persuaded his father to let him keep his spot along the ropes at No. 4 until Woods walked by Friday.
But the shouts sound more respectful than hopeful these days, a nod to a time when Woods was a threat to win every time he teed it up.
That time is over.
Soon enough, he’ll need to decide if making the cut is worth the damage to his legacy.
surprised by anything that happens. That’s pro sports.”
As the dust settles from the Hornets’ 2022-23 season, it’s clear that there is a lot of work to do for the team to improve, although it’s hard to imagine the number of injuries and amount of adversity encountered this season could be topped. That could provide some optimism for Hornets fans — a sense of hope that would turn euphoric if Charlotte managed to land the No. 1 pick next month and draft a generational talent.
from April 5, 2023
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll took place on Monday, April 10, on the South Lawn. The White House Easter “EGGucation” Roll, as First Lady Jill Biden named the event this year, used eggs donated by Braswell Family Farms in North Carolina. These eggs were hand-dyed by farm families moving through five different processing stations to complete. “We feel so blessed to play a role in the beloved tradition of the White House Easter Egg Roll,” says Trey Braswell, president of Braswell Family Farms.
The NC Department of Labor (NCDOL) and Barringer
Construction celebrated the completion of the safety and health construction partnership for the building of a foundry known as Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, which is located in Oakboro. Labor Commissioner
Josh Dobson presented company officials with a certificate at the closing ceremony on Tuesday, March 28, after giving brief remarks.
“It was an honor to be invited to the new site of Charlotte Pipe and Foundry and see this project come to completion,” said Dobson.
“One of the things I have noticed as I have traveled this state is that at some organizations, safety and health is part of the culture, but it’s not the culture. At Barringer Construction and Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, safety and health is not just part of the culture; it is the culture.”
The project consists of new construction from the ground up of a 505,000-square-foot foundry building, including six other buildings constructed on the land that add another 50,000 square feet of constructed space located on approximately 135 acres of land. The Partnership began on October 29, 2020, and consisted of quarterly consultative walkthroughs to identify hazards, promote best practices, and education for both Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) personnel and construction workers.
“We created this culture that made safety a high property and really gave everyone ownership in the process,” said Chris Frye, partner at Barringer Construction. “It allowed for an environment where people looked out for each other with the common goal to send everybody home safe every day.”
Barringer Construction completed this project with four recordable injuries and illnesses during the entire project, which consisted of approximately 1,121,877 man-hours with 502 total subcontractors.
ALBEMARLE — The final concert of the Stanly County Concert Association’s 20222023 season is arriving soon as the Lonesome River Band is set for a show at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center on April 16.
The critically-acclaimed contemporary bluegrass band is scheduled to hit the stage at 3 p.m.
Anchored by group leader Sammy Shelor — a five-time International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year winner and Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass honoree — the band also features a pair of lead vocalists in Jesse Smathers (guitar) and Adam Miller (mandolin) as well as Mike Hartgrove (fiddle) and Kameron Keller (bass).
Formed in 1982, the Virginia-based band has recorded over
a dozen studio records, including their most recent album, “Heyday,” which was released last summer.
“Heyday is a representation of the Lonesome River Band in transition from many years with Brandon Rickman and Barry Reed in the band to the introduction of Adam Miller and Kameron Keller as the newest members,” Shelor said in a press release. “After 40 years in the business, LRB is looking forward to many more years on the road bringing new music to our wonderful friends across the country.”
The Lonesome River Band’s upcoming appearance in Stanly County serves as a precursor to more bluegrass music that’s coming later this month. The annual Big Lick Bluegrass Festival — set for April 20-22 at Big Lick Festival Park in Oakboro (722 S. Oak Ridge Rd.) — is back for its 19th year with a selection of mu-
The Lonesome River Band’s upcoming appearance in Stanly County serves as a precursor to more bluegrass music that’s coming later this month.
sic, camping sites, and food vendors.
An open mic night will kick off the festivities on April 20 at 6 p.m. while ten artists will play on April 22 between 1 p.m. and 11 p.m. Additionally, a dozen artists will play on April 22 between noon and 11 p.m.
Drive Time (7 p.m.), Tennessee Bluegrass (8 p.m.), Deeper Shade of Blue (9 p.m.), and Sideline (10 p.m.) will be the second-night headliners; Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive (7 p.m.), The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys (8
p.m.), Authentic Unlimited (9 p.m,), and Sideline (10 p.m.) will headline the final night of the festival.
“We’re really looking forward to making our way to Oakboro for the Big Lick Bluegrass Festival,” Josh Rinkel, guitarist for The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, said in an event statement. “We’ll be there on Saturday with Sideline, Authentic Unlimited, and Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive, which should make for an exciting day! There’s no telling what will come of the day when you get all of us together, so you definitely won’t want to miss it.” Regular tickets, early bird tickets, and camping information for the event can be found at www.biglickbluegrass.com. Daily ticket prices range from $10 to $40 based on the attendee age and the chosen day. For those wanting to attend the entire festival, three-day tickets are on sale for $85.
ALBEMARLE — The Stanly County Schools Board of Education met on April 4 with a resolution opposing a recent house bill, the main item on the agenda.
The board began their meeting by passing a resolution opposing House Bill 219 Charter School Omnibus due to what they claimed would essentially amount to extra funding for charter schools at the expense of public schools.
“If HB219 passes, the total financial impact on Stanly County Schools and loss of operating funding based on the fiscal year 2022-23 would be substantial,” said Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Dennis. “The total financial impact to all local school districts could expand over time and lead to egregious results.
“According to BEST NC’s,
which is a business consortium that basically evaluates public education in Stanly County and North Carolina, facts and figures, charter schools fail to meet the standards at the same level that public schools did in the EOC/ EOG testing in 2022,” said board member Bill Sorenson. “What the legislature is asking us to do is to give them more money to fail more frequently. That’s what I feel like.”
The board then passed the Stanly County Schools Legislative Agenda for 2023 to be submitted to the North Carolina General Assembly.
“As far as I’ve been on this board and even before then, I do not remember a time that the Stanly County School Board has drafted a legislative agenda that they send to the North Carolina General Assembly,” said Board Chair Glenda Gibson. “And I do know that many school systems do that, and we know the importance of that. These items are what we value as being extremely important to Stanly County Schools.”
The Legislative Agenda contains six key areas of focus for Stanly County Schools: recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce, flexibility, school construction capital, school safety, school performance grade accountability, and public school funding.
For recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce, SCS intends to reinstate pay for advanced degrees, restore longevity pay for teachers, increase teacher salary to the national average, pay improvement for all school personnel, remove the retiree wait period, and reinstate retirement insurance and expand teaching fellows program to include all education majors. For flexibility, SCS intends to implement the same local school board flexibility as charter schools in terms of calendar, funding, and teacher licensure.
For school construction capital, SCS intends to search out statewide construction bonds for
The Associated Press
THE NATIONAL OCEANIC and Atmospheric Administration named Mike Brennan, who was supervising hurricane forecasters during one of the busiest times for storms hitting America, as the new director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Brennan, who started Monday, had been branch chief since 2018 for the center’s hurricane specialist unit,
which writes warnings and forecasts for the public. He spent 2022 as the center’s acting deputy director. During those last five years, 18 hurricanes have hit the United States, eight of them major. Brennan, 45, started at the hurricane center in 2008 as a hurricane specialist and got his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from NC State University.
“The NHC director is one of the
most visible and important jobs in the nation, and Mike possesses the right combination of experience, leadership and personal traits to prepare and guide us through major storms,” NOAA chief Rick Spinrad said. Hurricane center chiefs not only warn the public about upcoming storms, but coordinate work with emergency managers and the public to prepare for a hurricane hitting the coast.
University of Albany atmospheric sciences professor and hurricane expert Kristen Corbosiero said Brennan keeps up with the science, is an associate editor of a meteorology journal, and is well-liked.
“Mike is a fantastic choice to lead NHC,” she said. “I think he’ll do a great job interfacing with the public and our political leaders, incorporating the latest science and forecasting knowledge into his briefings.”
The hurricane center job became vacant when Ken Graham took over last June as director of the National Weather Service. Jamie Rhome, who was acting director last year, returns to his former job as deputy director, NOAA said.
Hurricane season starts June 1.
The Associated Press PICTURE MAY 17, 2001. In the final seconds of the season seven finale of “Friends,” Jennifer Aniston’s R achel reveals she’s pregnant — but who’s the father? This was a classic May sweeps cliffhanger, luring viewers and reaping advertising dollars for NBC. Most shows used to kick off in the fall, air big episodes in November and February, and go out with a bang in May. Baby announcements, marriage proposals and sudden deaths were just a few of the popular plot twists used in spring season finales to hook viewers and build anticipation for the fall season.
Network television still largely follows that model, but the streamers and premium cable competitors of the new guard tend to operate with different goals. Rather than angling for ratings, those companies are releasing new seasons of popular TV shows — “Ted Lasso,” “Succession,” “The Mandalorian,” “ The Last of Us,” and “ Yellowjackets “ — with an eye to Primetime Emmy Award recognition. Everyone wants to be fresh in the minds of voters, said Joyce Eng, a senior editor of the Hollywood
new school construction and renovations with funds distributed equitably, implement transparency in programs used to fund capital projects, and work towards having fewer restrictions on lottery funding.
For school safety, SCS intends to fully fund SROs in every school and increase funding for security
awards-centric website Gold Derby.
“A lot of networks, streamers and campaigners will capitalize on recency bias,” she said.
For a TV series to be eligible for a Primetime Emmy, it must air between June 1 and May 31 of the following year. Six episodes of a returning season need to air by May 31 to qualify for a series category. The cast and crew then cross their fingers for nominations, which this year will be announced July 12, followed by the Emmy telecast on September 18, when the awards are handed out.
Limited series have to air all their episodes by May 31 in order to be eligible for nomination. In March, Amazon Prime’s highly anticipated “ Daisy Jones & The Six “ dropped its 10 episodes in four batches.
It can be a scramble for show to finish by the end of May: “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+ drops its final episode of season three, and maybe the entire series, on May 31. The fifth and final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” returns on Amazon on April 14 and swiftly wraps by May 26.
If a returning series does not release six episodes of its season by the May 31 deadline, the remaining “hanging” episodes can be nominated in categories that only require a
equipment and weapon detection systems.
For school performance grade accountability, SCS intends to have a larger focus on growth than proficiency, implement other school quality metrics instead of just proficiency and growth, and include private schools receiving school vouchers to be included in the school accountability model. And for public school fund-
a series is released
timely and speaks to what’s happening in the world.”
Tony
Phelansingle episode to enter, such as guest actor.
Season three of “The Handmaid’s Tale” premiered June 5, 2019 — which was too late for Emmy eligibility that year. Rather than sit the year out though, “they found a loophole,” Eng said. They submitted three episodes that had aired in 2018 during the previous season for individual achievement categories, and earned 11 nominations.
When it comes to scheduling, network and streamer executives maintain tight control over the release-date calendar.
They choose when we go,” said Rob Eric, chief creative officer and executive producer of Scout Productions, behind the Emmy-winning reality series “Queer Eye.” This year, he has four series premiering right be-
ing, SCS intends to fully fund the class size mandates for K-3, allow flexibility in allotments to include funding for long-term substitutes and contracted services, increase funding for support staff, increase per-pupil funding to the national average, fully fund needs for students with disabilities, have equitable low-wealth funding to compete with wealthier districts and supplements, and oppose laws that
fore the deadline.
We can make suggestions, but really they’re in charge of how that rollout looks,” he said of the platforms.
Release dates are not always entirely about potential accolades.
Sometimes a series is released because it’s timely and speaks to what’s happening in the world,” said Tony Phelan, who created “A Small Light” with Joan Rater. The NatGeo series tells the story of Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family.
“It’s in direct response to what’s happening in the world, specifically in America in terms of division and the rise in nationalism and antisemitism,” Phelan said of the show.
Still, to end the show in time for award eligibility, “ A Small Light “ will release two episodes each week on National Geographic, premiering May 1 and ending May 31.
“How did that happen?” Phelan asked in mock surprise of the reason behind the show’s timeline.
It should be noted that shows released in late summer and fall can still garner attention from awards committees — just a little later. Netflix dropped all nine episodes of “Squid Game” in September 2021 — and it was still nominated for last
cause inequitable funding between regular public schools and charter schools.
The board then finally approved its audit contract for the 2022-23 school year, going with the firm of Anderson, Smith & Wike, PLLC, for an amount totaling $38,000.
And in closing statements, Vice Chair Carla Poplin addressed a rumor that had been circulating regarding school closures.
year’s Emmy Awards, including best drama series. Lee Jung-jae also won best actor in a drama series, making history as the first person to win in the drama category for a non-English speaking role.
Th critically acclaimed and popular series “The Bear” debuted its first season last June, but it was too late for the 2022 Emmy Awards. By premiering in the summer though, the Hulu show shined and wasn’t drowned out by competitors. And the Emmy Awards aren’t everything: Star Jeremy Allen White cleaned up at the Golden Globes, where he won best actor in a musical or comedy series.
There are just so many shows, so many streaming services, and people don’t have the time,” Eng said. From the studio and network standpoint, maybe you should pull something like ‘The Bear’ and drop it in the summer and build that momentum because that was a word-ofmouth hit.”
Still, some award shows reign supreme.
Eric Korsh, the president of Scout Productions, distilled the value of award recognition: The Emmys, he said, “are about defining the best in television.”
“We have no intention of closing East [Albemarle] Elementary School,” said board member Carla Poplin. “I’m not sure where that came from exactly. And frankly, we have no intention of closing any school at this time, and that has been talked about as far as that goes.”
The Stanly County Schools Board of Education will next meet May 2.
“Sometimes
because it’sNeal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
MY FIELD OF STUDY in graduate school was communism. As a fellow at the Russian Institute of Columbia’s School of International Affairs, I was, if I remember correctly, one of seven students in the entire university to major in what was known at the time as “Communist Affairs.”
I cite this in order to make this point: In my wildest dreams, I never imagined what I was studying would ever apply to the United States of America, the freest country in world history.
speech for “hate speech,” which, of course, means they are for suppressing all speech with which the Left differs.
It was only a matter of time until the Left would arrest a former president of the opposition party.
I assumed that communism was, for various reasons, something that happened elsewhere — most obviously, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia and North Korea.
What were those various reasons? One was the absence of freedom in the history of those countries. Another was that all those countries were, with the exception of Cuba, outside of Western civilization.
All these years later, I see that I was wrong. Communism — or if you will, left-wing fascism and totalitarianism — is coming to America and Canada, and (a bit more gradually) to Australia and New Zealand.
Incredibly — or maybe not so incredibly — more than two hundred years of unprecedented and unrivaled liberty and commitment to JudeoChristian values and reason, and all the unparalleled achievements of Western civilization, have come to mean nothing to about half of the American people and to virtually every one of its major institutions.
Our universities have become moral and intellectual wastelands — almost as ideologically pure as Moscow State University was in the Soviet era. As of December 2022, there were seven times more administrators (15,750) at Stanford University than faculty (2,288).
Our medical schools are embracing Soviet-like science. In more and more of them, incoming doctors are instructed not to use the terms “male” and “female.” Harvard Medical School officials use the terms “pregnant and birthing people” rather than “pregnant women.” And children’s hospitals are using hormone blockers (which, among other dangers, can impair future reproductive functioning) and mutilating perfectly healthy teenagers.
Students at elite law schools such as Stanford and Yale behave as if they were members of Komsomol, the Soviet Communist Youth League. On the rare occasions that conservative speakers come to their campuses to give a lecture, students heckle, shout and curse at them, disrupting their ability to speak in ways reminiscent of the Hitler Youth in 1930s Germany.
The greatest of all freedoms, that of speech, is disappearing. Since Lenin, no left-wing institution or country has ever allowed dissent, and the Left in America — which is elected and defended by liberals — is no exception. Already almost half of all college students say they do not believe in free
Perhaps even more than in the Soviet Union, lunacy has replaced reason. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, the provincial agency in charge of education has announced that the notion that there is only one correct answer in mathematics is an expression of white supremacy. The Oregon Education Department has announced the same thing. The American Medical Association has declared that no American birth certificates should list the sex/gender of a child — the child will decide that later.
Teachers across the country are robbing children as young as 5 of their innocence. They are routinely taken to drag queen shows where men in women’s clothing dance for them (sometimes lewdly). Why? Because it is the aim of most American schools from first grade to postgraduate to have all American young people believe that sex/gender is “nonbinary” — that alone in the animal kingdom, human beings are not sexually divided into male and female.
In the COVID-19 era, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and virtually every other national medical and health agency largely abandoned science and even elementary decency (recall all the Americans who were forcibly deprived of any visitors and left to die alone in hospitals) and became tools of the Left. They and America’s Sovietized teachers’ unions ruined millions of American children by closing schools for nearly two years. In addition to the doomsday hysteria over climate change, the imposed gender confusion and the absence of religion, this has led to the highest rates of adolescent depression and suicide ever recorded in America.
Our justice department, about half of our judges and our security agencies are well on their way to becoming what the Soviet ministry of justice, Soviet security agencies and Soviet judges were: tools of the ruling party.
Our mainstream media, with few exceptions, are as uncommitted to truth as were the organs of the Soviet Communist Party, Pravda and Izvestia. The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR and PBS play the same role for the Left and therefore the Democratic Party.
It was only a matter of time until the Left would arrest a former president of the opposition party.
HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight.
North Carolina already has robust educational choices and families are enthusiastically enjoying those opportunities. According to a 2022 report from BESTNC.com, approximately 16% of North Carolina families attend private school or home school. Families already have school choice, and this freedom allows for extraordinary educational innovation and entrepreneurship at a net gain to taxpayers.
Politicians in Raleigh want to transform our freedom with House Bill 420 giving state bureaucrats more control over North Carolinians educational options, consequently driving up prices, reducing quality and innovation and normalizing state welfare checks for the middle class and wealthy.
For the 280,000 students and their families who have opted out of public education, HB 420 will allow them to collect state welfare checks twice a year to pay for eligible expenses. Further, language in HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight. The consequences are significant: increased cost to manage and maintain the schools, potentially forced woke ideological teaching and reduced quality of education due to client shift: the government NOT the families.
With shekels come shackles.
You may have noticed, after the federal government flooded our economy with money, that the price of every good and service has increased significantly. Consider specifically how rising college tuition costs have priced many families out of secondary education; interestingly, despite generous government handouts, college remains unaffordable and unattainable for many. When the government disrupts a market by throwing money into it the natural outcome is higher prices and lower quality. I predict this will happen with K-12 education in North Carolina should HB 420 be passed in its current form.
aren’t new ideas, Indiana has led the way in school choice for more than a decade. According to a new study out of Indiana “We also did not find statistical evidence that voucher students experience an improvement in their average achievement after baseline the longer they are enrolled in a private school. One might expect that students and their private schools would adjust to better meet the educational needs of voucher students. Collectively, this does not appear to be the case.” In other words, the lackluster results of Indiana’s voucher program, publicly funded ESA’s, demonstrates no statistical improvement in educational outcomes.
Solutions abound and immediate options are available, for example: academic and athletic scholarship for underserved students attending private schools, educational scholarships from non-profits such as the Homeschool Foundation who provides resources to those in poverty who chose to homeschool, and scholarships distributed by funds contributed through the community by way of churches and civic groups. North Carolina families are innovative and benevolent; therefore, our families do not require government handouts, nor do they require heavy-handed regulation.
North Carolina is considered one of the best states in the country for educational freedom and our citizens are freely exercising their inalienable rights. As a Christian and conservative, HB 420 is wrong for North Carolina because it will drive up prices, reduce quality and innovation and normalize welfare for the middle class and rich. Too much money is being spent to provide freedom that is already ours; the money should stay with the family.
Though well-intentioned and honorable, HB 420 is the height of welfare and big government as there is no free money from the government. Perhaps our legislators should champion for our citizens to retain more of the money they earn, instead of redistributing it.
Robert Bortins lives in Southern Pines.NFL Odell Beckham Jr. agrees to deal with Ravens
Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year contract with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the team announced Sunday.
The 30-year-old Beckham did not play last season following ACL surgery. He joins a Baltimore team that used the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has asked to be traded. Even with Jackson, the Ravens’ passing game was limited by a lack of production from their wide receivers.
Rashod Bateman played only six games last season. Aside from tight end Mark Andrews, no Baltimore player managed even 500 yards receiving.
NBA Casey steps down as Pistons coach
Chicago
Detroit Pistons coach
Dwane Casey stepped down after the team lost to to Chicago Bulls to end the 2022-23 season. Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office. The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 1765 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. Casey guided the team to the playoffs in his first season in Detroit but the start of a rebuilding project the following season left Detroit near the Eastern Conference’s basement. He was 121-162 with the Pistons and 494569 overall over 14 seasons with Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota.
FORMULA ONE
Ferrari’s Leclerc urges fans to stop coming to his home
Monaco Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has asked fans to respect his privacy after his address was leaked, leading to some turning up at his apartment. The Ferrari driver is from Monaco and lives in the tiny Principality. He pleaded with his supporters not to go too far. Posting on Instagram, Leclerc says “my home address has somehow become public, leading to people gathering beneath my apartment, ringing my bell and asking for pictures and autographs.” Leclerc says he will always stop for autographs in the street but will no longer respond if fans come to his door.
New York
The WNBA is adding charter flights for the entire playoffs and back-to-back regular season games this year. The league announced Monday it will pay for all of the flights. The cost is expected to be around $4.5 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details haven’t been publicly released. The league chartered for the WNBA Finals as well as for the road team in the Commissioner Cup championship game last year.
The 28-year-old became the fourth Spainard to win Augusta National’s landmark tournament
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — By the time Jon Rahm walked up the 18th fairway on Sunday and made like his late idol Seve Ballesteros with a brilliant par save to finish off the Masters, the fact that the Spaniard would be soon slipping into the green jacket had long been decided.
The most eventful of tournaments had a most uneventful finish.
That was owed to the brilliance of Rahm, who began Sunday four shots back of Brooks Koepka as players arrived early to finish a
third round that had been suspended by weather. He cut his deficit to two by the end of the round, pulled ahead on the front nine of the final round, and closed with a 69 for a four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
“We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” said Rahm, who had three rounds in the 60s to finish at 12 under for the championship.
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament,” he said, “but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
In truth, there was plenty to laugh and cry and cringe about during an eventful week at Augusta National. But in the end, it was Rahm at the center of it all. He sudden-
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
ly has two legs of the career grand slam in the bag and needs the PGA and British Open to finish it off. And given the way he played Sunday, Rahm figures to be the favorite just about everywhere. He trailed Koepka by two when they returned to Augusta National early Sunday to finish their third rounds and cut the deficit in half almost immediately. The two went shot-for-shot the rest of the
The Associated Press
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Christopher Bell to figure out Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface was ready made for drivers with dirt experience.
And it was the perfect layout for Bell to win his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race there Sunday night.
“It was a very tough surface to get a hold of and should’ve rewarded guys that kind of knew what to expect and how to get the car around the racetrack, which I think it did,” Bell said.
Bell held on through a restart eight laps from the end hold off another who grew up racing on dirt in Tyler Reddick.
Bell was a whiz-kid dirt racing sensation growing up — he won three Chili Bowl Nationals driving midget cars on dirt — and that experience helped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday.
The first two years of Bristol dirt racing, NASCAR champs Joey Logano and Kyle Busch both won despite have less expansive dirt experience than many of their colleagues.
That changed this year as organizers gave racers more of a dirt
feel than ever before, Bell said. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete,” Bell said.
Reddick was second for a second straight season, followed by Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe.
Bell’s last challenge came after defending race winner Busch spun with 15 laps left. Bell took off on the restart and widened his lead over Reddick.
Reddick, who won the second stage, was closing in on the last lap when the 16th and final caution came out, instantly ending the race and sending Bell’s team into hysterics.
“Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel,” Bell said. Reddick also enjoyed the intensity down the stretch.
“I thought I had a little bit more,” he said. “I was at the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last
round, and the U.S. Open champion at Torrey Pines was still two shots behind Koepka when they started the final round.
Koepka began to collapse, though. The birdies dried up and the bogeys multiplied, and at one point he went 22 straight holes without a birdie. Rahm had no such trouble, seizing the opening to build a lead that nobody could touch.
The lasting image from a memorable Masters came when Rahm walked off the 18th green in the twilight.
On the birthdate of Ballesteros, and the 40th anniversary of his winning a second Masters title, Rahm had one of his own. He embraced his wife and two children, then hugged two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, who had stuck around to see whether his fellow Spaniard could join him in the most exclusive of company.
“That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win,” Rahm said later. “That might have been the hardest thing.”
couple of laps.”
Justin Haley was sixth, Bell’s JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. seventh, Todd Gilliland eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth with Ty Gibbs in 10th, giving Gibbs three cars in the top 10.
Points leader Ross Chastain, who took the top spot after Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman’s car was hit with a 60-point penalty for violations at Richmond, ended a lap down in 28th.
Kyle Larson, like Bell a dirt racing supernova who started from pole, won the first stage and took only fuel — no fresh tires — heading to the final segment. But Larson spun on his own 96 laps from the end, had to pit and restarted at the back of the field.
Larson’s race ended for good some 20 laps later after bumping several times with Ryan Preece between turn three all the way to turn one.
Preece was angered by earlier contact with Larson and gave him a hand gesture soon after to make that clear as their cars passed each other.
“I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” said Larson, who was 35th. “He rode me straight into the fence.”
The Cup Series stays on the short tracks and heads back to Virginia when the Cup Series runs at Martinsville on Sunday. William Byron, already a twotime winner this season, is the defending champion for Martinsville’s spring race.
Jon RahmAP PHOTO Scottie Scheffler puts the green jacket on Jon Rahm after Rahm won the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club. AP PHOTO Christopher Bell celebrates after picking up his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, winning on the dirt Sunday at Bristol.
The Falcons have won five of their last six games
By Jesse DealMISENHEIMER — Two members of the Pfeiffer Falcons baseball team were included in the USA South Athletic Conference’s recent Athletes of the Week list.
Junior Thad Lewis received Pitcher of the Week honors and freshman Badin Gusa was named the conference’s Rookie Pitcher of the Week.
The new Buffaloes coach has already heightened expectations
The Associated Press
BOULDER, Colorado — New Colorado coach Deion Sanders can’t yet point to any on-field wins in Boulder, but signs of a massive shift in mood and expectation abound at this school and in this city around what has been a forlorn football program.
Hired in December after a highly successful run as Jackson State’s head coach, the NFL Hall of Fame cornerback is in the midst of running practices with his new team in preparation for Colorado’s annual intrasquad spring game on April 22.
The school announced earlier this week that the game, which is also being nationally televised on ESPN, had sold out with more than 45,000 people expected to be on hand. It would stand out as the highest attendance ever for Colorado’s spring game, eclipsing the previous high of 17,800 in 2008. Indeed, according to the school,
the anticipated attendance will be higher than the combined total for the previous nine spring games.
“We haven’t won a game. There’s no impact right now,” Sanders said at a news conference Saturday. “The financial aspect of what’s going on, that’s a blessing. Somebody’s profiting really well and I’m happy for that, especially this university because they deserve it. And to display and show what’s here, in your beloved city, I think that’s a beautiful thing to bring that to fruition.”
Sanders, popularly known as “Primetime” in his playing days but better known now as “Coach Prime,” said he likes the way the team is starting to mesh. He can sense the eagerness and desire among his players and the students he’s met to turn around the program.
“I can’t wait for the spring game, really looking forward to it, because I want to see the difference in the atmosphere and the feeling and the spirit of everything,” said Sanders, who is taking over a program that has had a losing record in its last six seasons, including a 1-11 finish last season.
“I spoke to the School of Busi-
ness yesterday and it was phenomenal,” Sanders said. “Those kids were hungry. Every kid had a pencil and piece of paper and taking notes and they were on every darn word, every thought, everything I uttered, they were on it. They wanted it. I loved that.”
Sanders insists change has to be made by both players and fans.
“If we’re going to change the game here, that means the fans have got to change, too,” he said. “We want to impact them as well. We want them to be ready for us like we want to be ready for them.”
If his players are anything like their coach, they’ll be ready, for primetime. Sanders attended the conference wearing a cowboy hat with a gold chain and traditional coach’s whistle draped around his neck. He was asked if he would like to see some of his players, which include his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, take on any of his football characteristics as is sometimes wont between players and coaches.
“I hope so,” Sanders said with a smile. “God, I hope so. That’s what I want. That’s what I’m looking for.”
In his latest pitching appearance for the Falcons (8-14, 4-7 USA South), Lewis had a complete game victory in Pfeiffer’s 8-1 win over conference opponent Southern Virginia. The Greenville native allowed just three hits and one walk in the performance while recording 13 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Gusa had a strong outing on a road trip to 12th-ranked Christopher Newport. Despite the 6-0 loss, the Thomasville native allowed only one earned run on five hits with one strikeout and three walks.
After a sluggish start to the season, the Falcons have now won five of their past six matchups and are looking to move up from sixth place in the conference standings. Methodist (22-5, 8-2 USA South) and N.C. Wesleyan (20-8, 9-3 USA South) and Brevard (17-10, 7-3 USA South) currently occupy the top three spots.
Most recently, Pfeiffer split a road doubleheader on April 10 against rival Greensboro (12-14, 6-4 USA South) where the Falcons came out on top 11-3 in the first matchup before losing 5-3 later in the day.
Pfeiffer will now take a quick break from its conference schedule as it travels to take on No. 8 Lynchburg on April 12. The Falcons then have three home matchups against William Peace (15-13, 8-4 USA South).
Along with the rest of the USA South, Pfeiffer is included in this week’s annual celebration of the nationwide Division III Week.
“Division III Week is a positive opportunity for all individuals associated with a Division III institution to observe and celebrate the impact athletics and student-athletes have on campus and in the surrounding community,” the USA South announced in a press release.
“During the week, every Division III school and conference office is encouraged to conduct an outreach activity that falls into one of three categories: academic accomplishment, athletic experience, or leadership/community service/campus involvement. Division III Week is a strategic initiative that achieves its desired impact from a unity of effort. It harnesses everyone working toward the same goal at the same time to build a greater awareness and understanding of Division III athletics.”
The lawsuit is one of several accusations against the Daniel Snyder-owned NFL team
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Commanders have settled a lawsuit with the District of Columbia attorney general’s office over fans’ season-ticket deposit money.
Attorney general Brian L. Schwalb on Monday announced the agreement that returns $200,000 to fans and pay
$425,000 to the district to resolve allegations related to the deposits.
Predecessor Karl A. Racine filed the consumer protection lawsuit late last year before leaving office, and Schwalb picked up the case.
The district’s investigation showed the team deceptively kept fans’ deposits for years after ticket contracts expired, improperly used that money and in some cases made it difficult to reclaim the money.
“Rather than being transparent and upfront in their ticket sale practices, the Commanders unlawfully took advantage of their fan base, holding on to security deposits instead of re -
turning them,” Schwalb said in a statement. “Under this settlement agreement, our office will maintain strict oversight over the Commanders to ensure all necessary steps are taken to reimburse fans for the refunds they are entitled to.”
The district still has a civil suit ongoing against the Commanders, owner Dan Snyder, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell over what the attorney general’s office called collusion to deceive residents about the team’s toxic workplace culture. A league investigation into the team yielded a $10 million fine but no written report, which prompted out-
rage and a congressional review.
The Commanders previously settled with Maryland on season-ticket holder deposits by agreeing to return money and pay the state $250,000.
Under the terms of the settlement with the district, the Commanders must conduct a public records search for contact information for affected fans and attempt to notify them, disclose the refund process on their website and provide the attorney general’s office with regular reports documenting their progress.
A team spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press
“Division III Week is a positive opportunity for all individuals associated with a Division III institution to observe and celebrate the impact athletics and studentathletes have on campus and in the surrounding community.” USA South in a press release
seeking comment.
The Washington Commanders have settled a suit with the District of Columbia’s attorney general’s office over fans’ season-ticket deposit money.
The series of lawsuits in the Washington area were among the latest turns in the team’s tumultuous run under Snyder, who along with wife Tanya hired a firm in November to explore selling part or all of the team. That came amid multiple investigations and two weeks after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said there was “merit to remove” Snyder.
Two groups, one led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson and another by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, have submitted fully financed bids to buy the Commanders. It’s unclear how soon a sale could happen; Snyder must first choose his preferred bidder and send to the league for approval.
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to make his first public appearance in South Carolina, a state where votes will be critical if he launches an expected 2024 presidential bid.
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would host DeSantis for an event on April 19 in Spartanburg, in South Carolina’s heavily Repub-
lican Upstate. DeSantis’ first public visit to South Carolina, home of the leadoff presidential primary in the South, comes amid a brisk travel schedule during which the governor has taken his “Florida Blueprint” tour to Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan in recent weeks.
With an anticipated presidential bid in the offing, the travel has opened up an avenue for DeSantis to lay out some of his policy
achievements in Florida, setting up possible contrasts with potential GOP rivals, including former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Kimbrell told the AP that he had been hoping to bring DeSantis to South Carolina for months now, arguing that politically savvy Republicans in the early voting state are accustomed to having multiple chances to get to know presidential candidates, in person.
“I’ve told everybody associated with his team, ‘You’ve got to get here early and often,’” said Kimbrell, who has already joined efforts with a political action committee urging DeSantis to get into the race. “I’ve tried to make it clear to them that, if you want to win, you’ve got to get here early.” South Carolina for months has been hosting GOP candidates, including Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. There have also been trips from many of those anticipated to join the field, including former Vice President Mike Pence. Later this week, after a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Tim Scott returns home to South Carolina for a summit with donors, as
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas court ruling that would halt approval of a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the U.S., calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
If allowed to stand, the order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone as early as Friday, unsettling abortion providers less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade already dramatically curtailed abortion access.
The Food and Drug Administration in 2000 granted approval to mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States. There is essentially no precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s medical decisions, and pharmaceutical executives signed a letter Monday warning that the ruling could endanger other medications.
In appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Biden administration said Kacsmaryk’s “extraordinary and unprecedented order” should remain on hold while it challenges the decision.
“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.
Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued his decision
Friday but ruled it would not take effect for seven days — meaning the end of this week barring another court stepping in.
Adding to the uncertainty was unresolved confusion Monday over a conflicting order by a different federal judge in the state of Washington, who within 20 min-
utes of Kacsmaryk’s decision issued a separate ruling that directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats had sued.
Underlining that confusion, the Justice Department on Monday separately asked the federal court in Washington state for clarity, given the competing orders.
The abortion drug has been widely used in the U.S. since securing FDA approval. The other drug used for abortion medication in the United States is misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions and was not part of Kacsmaryk’s decision.
Many providers must wait and see what happens in the courts between now and Friday before deciding what to do next, Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, told reporters. If the Texas court’s ruling takes effect, some providers are prepared to pivot to a misoprostol-only regimen while others may transition to only surgical abortions.
“We don’t know exactly what will happen,” Dalven said. “What we do know is that there will be significant confusion and chaos as providers try to provide the best
he mulls a bid of his own. While this would be DeSantis’ first public South Carolina event, he was in the state last year for a gubernatorial fundraiser. The event near Charleston was attended by some of Trump’s top donors in the state.
To Kimbrell, who said he agrees with Trump on policy but not “on the way he approached things personally,” DeSantis is well-positioned to be a better alternative to Trump, but needs to start spending more time in South Carolina.
“I believe that Ron DeSantis is as popular among my base as Trump is,” Kimbrell said, of his heavily GOP district. “But you can’t just mail it in. He’s going to have to press the flesh, roll his sleeves up, and get really serious.”
care they possibly can for their patients.”
The lawsuit in Texas was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned. At the lawsuit’s core is the allegation that the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone was flawed because it did not adequately review its safety risks.
Courts have long deferred to the FDA on issues of drug safety and effectiveness. But the agency’s authority faces challenges in a postRoe legal environment in which abortions are banned or unavailable in 14 states, while 16 states have laws specifically targeting abortion medications.
Among the pharmaceutical executives who signed the petition criticizing Kacsmaryk’s ruling was Albert Bourla, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has produced the biggest-selling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment in the U.S.
The document warns that the decision diminishes the FDA’s authority over drug approvals. A Pfizer spokeswoman verified for The Associated Press that Bourla signed the letter.
“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the letter states.
April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023
Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2023 at her home.
April 27, 1932 - April 9, 2023
Barbara was born April 17, 1936 in North Carolina to the late Robert Lee Taylor and the late Eva Belle Watts Taylor.
She was also preceded in death by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth Taylor.
Lt Col (Ret) Dewey Ralph Preslar, Sr, age 90, passed away Easter morning at Trinity Place in Albemarle on April 9, 2023.
Dewey was born April 27, 1932 in Wadesboro NC to Robert O. and Hannah Treadaway Preslar.
He and his wife Geraldine Carter
Survivors include children, Debbie (Mike) Williams of Albemarle, Teresa (Tom) Curry of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) Drye of Oakboro; grandchildren, Melissa (Don) Parrish of Albemarle, Samantha (Destiny) Smith of Oakboro, Bradley Smith of Oakboro, Jonathan Stover of Peachland, and Jessie Stover of Lylesville; sisterin-law, Beatrice Goodman; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved cats, Bo and Garfield.
Preslar later moved to Albemarle where they raised their four children. He was a lifetime member of Christ Episcopal Church on Pee Dee Ave. in Albemarle, serving the church in numerous roles.
January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023
Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.
February 21, 1959 - April 7, 2023
Dwight was born January 24, 1939 in Stanly County to the late Walter Virgil and Martha Adkins Farmer. He was a 1957 graduate of Norwood High School and was a United States Army Veteran. He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he had served as church treasurer and choir member. He began his career with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Department moving to the Norwood Police Department and retiring as Chief of Police with the Town of Norwood after many years of service.
June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023
March 23, 1935 - January 9, 2023
Barbara was a member of Oakboro Baptist Church for over 60 years. She worked over 30 years at Stanly Knitting Mills. After just two years of retirement, she began managing the Oakboro Senior Center and did that for 18 years until this past week. Barbara was known for her good cooking and always taking care of others. She also loved going on day long shopping trips - she could out walk and out shop people half her age. She kept her mind and body active through gardening, word searches, and various other hobbies.
Lt Col Preslar, served in many positions throughout his long and distinguished career in the North Carolina Air National Guard, with the 118 th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron and the 263 rd CBCS, retiring as a Lt Col on 25 April 1992 with over 42 years and 10 months of faithful and dedicated service. Lt Col Preslar was one of the handful of exemplary members who received a direct commission as an officer based on his expertise, experience, and longevity, reporting as a MSgt (E-7) that morning and left that evening as a Captain (0-3). Ironically, it was the same day the flying unit received its first C-130B in 1970. Early in his career, he deployed with the 118 th to South Africa in the early 1950s. Additionally, at age 58, Lt Col Preslar deployed at the end of the first Gulf War to manage the return of wartime equipment and materials.
Brother Preslar was a 55-year endowed member of Albemarle #703 Masonic Lodge, having served as Master in 1975. He was an honorary member of his father’s Masonic Lodge, Kilwinning 64 in Wadesboro, NC. He was a 33 rd degree Scottish Rite Mason coronated in 1993. Also, he was a life member of the Oasis Shrine, a member of the Oasis Past Master unit, and a member of the Stanly County Shrine Club. He was named the special Assistant to the Grand Master of Masons serving in 2013. Dewey volunteered and donated his time and energy on various Boards with the Stanly County Senior Services Department in Albemarle.
He is survived by his four children, Dewey R Preslar, Jr (Terrie), R David Preslar (Becky), Douglas R Preslar (Tracie), and Deanna Deere (John). He also leaves behind nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Teresa Carter and Michelle Boone private caregivers; Sara Beth Craven, Jennifer Belsinger, and Brittany Poplin of Hospice of Stanly and Uwharrie, and the staff at Trinity Place for their loving care.
Dwight was an avid gardener, bird watcher and Carolina fan.
He is survived by his wife Hilda Whitley Farmer; one son D. Britten Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, NC; one daughter Sharon Farmer Lowe (David) of Norwood; one sister Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two grandchildren, Dwight Britten “Dee” Farmer III and Whitley Rose Hui Lowe.
He was preceded in death by his son Alex, brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Annabell, Glennie Mae, and Betty.
Barbara Jean Keldorf Hadley was born on February 21, 1959. After battling cancer since August 2019, she passed at home at age 64, surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by her parents Richard and Hilda Keldorf, brother-in-law Terry, and nephew RJ. She is survived by her husband Dave, son and daughterin-law, Mike and Camille Daniels, her three grandchildren Isla, Cambria, and Evah, her sisters Betty, LeEtta (Bill), Irene (Bob), Ann (Dick), her nieces Kristin, Kim, and Nikki, nephews Sean, Kevin, Aaron, and the beloved Keldorf and Sillen families and many dear friends. Barbara had a love for her God Jehovah and was baptized in Oct of 1988. One of her greatest joys was spending time with her family. She enjoyed sewing and crocheting, appreciated flowers and plants. She was a strong, cheerful, patient person with a spirit of integrity worth imitating. She will be sorely missed and in our hearts until we see her in the new world.
Memorials may be made to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Smith 36071 Rocky River Springs Road, Norwood, NC 28128.
November 22, 1933 - April 7, 2023
Peggy Sue Love Floyd, 89, of Stanfield passed away on April 7, 2023 in her home.
Born November 22, 1933 in Stanly County, NC she was the daughter of the late Rush Love and Julia Love Love. She was a member of Love's Chapel United Methodist Church and retired from Teledyne Allvac in Monroe. She loved stamp and post card collecting and she enjoyed yard sales and flower gardening. She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband Paul "Jake" Floyd in 1993. Survivors include two daughters Marie Morton of Stanfield and Paula Floyd (Gayle) of Stanfield, three grandsons Bradley Morton of Stanfield, Britt Morton (Stephen) of Greensboro, and Brian Morton (Trixie) of Albemarle, 5 greatgrandchildren Jade Morton, Luxe Morton, and Kimber Morton, Nathaniel Swoap, and Hayden Swoap. In addition to her parents and husband she was preceded in death by her son-in-law Keith Morton, sisters Lucy Smith, and Ruth Tucker, and brother Smoot Love.
December 20, 1939 ~ April 8, 2023
James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.
February 9, 1937 ~ April 8, 2023
October 11, 1944 - January 10, 2023
Conley L. Howell, 83, of Albemarle, passed away Saturday, April 8, 2023 at home in Albemarle.
Conley was born December 20, 1939 in North Carolina to the late Lawrence McKinney and the late Mildred Howell.
Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert and Delena Shipp Roseboro. He graduated from South Stanly High School and was employed by Triangle Brick. He enjoyed watching football and basketball, especially the Carolina TarHeels and Miami.
In addition to his parents he is preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Barbara Lee Roseboro, Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, Henrietta Ingram, and Harold Roseboro.
He was also preceded in death by his daughter, Rhonda Tinney.
Conley was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He was a devoted Christian, loved everyone, and always had a kind word and a warm smile to share with anyone he met. Conley enjoyed beach trips with his family. His grandchildren were the light of life and he enjoyed every moment he spent with them. Conley loved the Lord with all his heart and now rests in the arms of his Lord and Savior.
Survivors include wife, Phyllis Howell; son, Dean (Katie) Howell; grandchildren, Grace Compton and Noah Howell.
He is survived by his sisters: Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Albemarle, Mary Roseboro of Washington DC, and Marion Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: Thomas D. Roseboro of Charlotte, Robert Roseboro (Patricia) of Norwood, and Van Horne; a special friend of over 40 years, Michelle McLendon of the home; special nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya Little, and Laquanza Crump; special nephews: Robert Jr., Desmond Roseboro, and Marcus Lilly; and God daughter, Daphne Johnson; and special friends, Vetrella Johnson and Ben McLendon.
January 7, 1973 ~ January 8, 2023
Darrick Vashon Baldwin, age 50, entered eternal rest, Sunday, January 8, 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly County, North Carolina, Darrick was the son of Eddie James Baldwin Sr. and the late Phyllis Blue Baldwin. Darrick enjoyed life, always kept things lively and enjoyed making others smile. His presence is no longer in our midst, but his memory will forever live in our hearts.
He was educated in the Stanly County public schools and attended Albemarle Senior High School, Albemarle.
He was a great conversationalist and loved meeting people. Darrick never met a stranger and always showed love and compassion for his fellowman. He also loved his dog, Rocky.
He is survived by his father, Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: Crystal (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra (Stoney) Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; brothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton Baldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a host of other relatives and friends. A limb has fallen from our family tree. We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.
Donald Gene Efird, 86, of Albemarle, passed away Saturday, April 8, 2023 at Atrium Health Stanly Hospital in Albemarle.
Donnie was born February 9, 1937 in North Carolina to the late James Henry Efird and the late Lessie Efird. He was also preceded in death by son, Dexter Gene Efird; brothers, J. Kenneth Efird, Darrell C. Efird, and Larry R. Efird.
John grew up in the Millingport community where he drove a school bus and worked at the local gas station during his High School years. He graduated from Millingport High in 1954 and entered into service with the US Airforce immediately afterward. Upon return from the service, he and his high school sweetheart Julie were married in 1956. He graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College later in 1959 and began his career as a diesel mechanic at Mitchell Distributing Company, moving his growing family to Charlotte where they lived until their retirement.
Donnie was a loving husband and father. He enjoyed camping, rabbit hunting and deer hunting with his friends. Donald was a member of Saint Martin's Lutheran Church for most of his life. He enjoyed talking with people, but his most cherished moments were spent with his loving family. Donald was a godly man who will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
When John purchased his first Model A Ford at the age of 17, he said that he took the car to the community mechanic when he had a small problem.The mechanic told him that if he was going to keep the car, he needed to learn to work on it. This is when John’s passion for Model A Fords began and how he spent his happiest days with his best friends from around the globe for the rest of his life!
Survivors include wife, Janice Furr Efird; daughter Sheila (Tony) Poplin.
At age 50, after years as a Detroit Diesel Mechanic he and Julie decided to take the plunge and open a full Model A Restoration Shop. They thrived at their shop in Cornelius, NC until their retirement in 1998 when they moved back to Cabarrus County. John once again set up shop in his back yard garage where he attracted a loyal group of friends who visited almost daily. While on the farm in Gold Hill, John also began a lifelong love with Alis Chalmers tractors after he restored his Dad’s tractor and began amassing his collection of tractors as well.
John restored many cars of his own and had the crowning achievement of winning the most prestigious award from MARC, The Henry for a restoration that garnered top points. He was also presented with the Ken Brady Service Awardthe highest award given to members at the national level.
This is what John’s Model A Community had to say upon learning of his death:
He was an active member of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church where he loved serving as greeter on Sunday mornings. He also belonged to the United Methodist Men.
John is survived by his wife Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 years of the home. He is also survived by a son John David Kluttz (Kim) of Oakboro, NC; two daughters, Sally Simerson of Denver, CO and Betsy Tusa (John) of Lafayette, CO; three grandchildren, Bonnie Kluttz Sammons (Ben) of Richfield, NC John Alexander McKinnon (Sarah) of Asheville, NC and Seth William McKinnon (Amanda) of Germany; five great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Meredith, Grant, Victoria and Ronan. John is also preceded in death by his parents, J.S. Kluttz and Mary Wyatt Clayton Kluttz; a large and loving group of brothers and sisters, Jack Methias Kluttz, Annie Lou Kluttz Honeycutt, Jake Nelson Kluttz, Julius Kluttz, Mary Patricia Phillips and a grandson, Kevin Fowler Kluttz.
December 20, 1949 ~ April 6, 2023
Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, went home into God’s presence on January 10 after a sudden illness and a valiant week-long fight in ICU.
David M. Chewning passed away peacefully on April 6, 2023, after a long illness. He was surrounded by family and friends, and was laughing and joking until the very end.
He was born on December 20, 1949, in Aiken, SC and spent most of his life in the Carolinas. He ran his own company, DC Paint Works, Inc., for twenty-five years.
He was preceded by his parents, J. Harold and Anne Manning Chewning.
Doris was born on October 11, 1944, in the mountains of Marion, NC while her father was away fighting in the US Navy during World War II. Raymond Jones was so proud to return after the war and meet his little girl! Doris grew up in Durham, NC and graduated from Durham High School. She furthered her studies at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1966.
Doris married Rev. Dr. Ted Coleman in 1966 and had two daughters Amy and Laura. Doris raised Amy and Laura in North Augusta, SC.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Marjorie of Locust; his son, Michael and wife Judith and their two daughters, Abbey and Tatum; his daughter, Cleo Wilson and her son, Nicholas; his daughter, Alexandra Peoples and her two sons, Donovan and Colby; his three brothers, Joseph of Round O, SC, Ted and Susan of Round O, SC, and Donald and Melissa of Summerville, SC and their families.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the staff of DaVita, Kannapolis for their exceptional and compassionate care dealing with his health issues.
Doris was an incredible neonatal intensive care nurse for most of her career, and this was her passion. The Augusta Chronicle did a feature on her in 1985. She was a clinical nurse manager in Augusta, Georgia at University Hospital NICU and worked there for 20 years. During this time, Doris mentored young nurses and assisted in saving the lives of so many babies. She also worked for Pediatrician Dr. William A. Wilkes in Augusta for several years prior to her NICU career. Doris retired from the mother/baby area at Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 years of nursing.
Doris was a gentle and sweet spirit and loved her Lord. She never met a stranger, and she always left you feeling uplifted after talking with her. She would often claim that she had “adopted” friends into her immediate family, and honestly, she never made a distinction between the two. Positivity radiated from her like sunlight. She was selfless, funny, smart, and sentimental. During her lifetime she was an active member of First Baptist Church of Durham, First Baptist Church of Augusta, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Augusta, and Palestine United Methodist Church in Albemarle. She especially loved helping at church with older adults, youth, and children.
She was especially talented at sewing from a young age and made gifts for friends, Christmas ornaments, Halloween Costumes, doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, outfits for Amy and Laura, and Christening gowns for each of her grandchildren.
Doris was preceded in death by her father Arthur Raymond Jones, her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Jones, and her sister Maryanne Jones Brantley.
Survivors include her two precious daughters: Amy Cameron Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio (husband David) of Cincinnati, Ohio; seven grandchildren: Cameron David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Nicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A bill requiring North Carolina voters to turn in their absentee ballots no later than when polls close on Election Day is advancing in the state House.
A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 last week in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s three-day grace period after an election for an absentee by-mail ballot to arrive and set a 7:30 p.m. cutoff on Election Day for county boards to accept absentee ballots, regardless of postmark.
All absentee by-mail ballots would have to be submitted at a county board of elections office, whether by mail or in person, and could not be turned in at a onestop early voting site. The measure would not apply to military or overseas absentee ballots. It must also pass the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor for a vote.
While Republican sponsors, like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, say the change is needed to restore trust in elections, critics say it would disenfranchise lawful voters of all parties and play into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to sow distrust in elections after he lost the last presidential race in 2020.
“The whole thing is to make the process more concise, more trustworthy, more transparent and more straightforward,” Davis said, adding that the bill aims to streamline the vote counting process so more races can be called on Election Day.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed a similar proposal in 2021, saying the bill “virtually guarantees that some (votes) will go uncounted.” Republican seat gains in the midterms improved their chances this year of
overriding a veto, but they will typically need at least one Democratic vote — or some absences from the chamber — to do so.
A 2009 bill, supported by GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, created the existing three-day grace period for mail-in ballots that Republicans are now trying to eliminate.
Republicans at the committee meeting did not mention Trump
nor his false claim that he was robbed of a 2020 win by widespread voter fraud. But Democrats tried to link the two, saying what is disguised as an election integrity measure reinforces a nationwide narrative promoted by the former president that mail-in ballots are less trustworthy. Calling the bill “undemocratic,” Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat and former U.S.
Postal Service employee, spoke of ballot delivery delays, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She warned that the proposal could discard thousands of legitimate votes. The State Board of Elections received and counted more than 11,600 ballots in the three days after the last presidential election in 2020.
“We’re all going to be throw-
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the House Select Committee on China said Saturday the U.S. must take seriously the threat posed to Taiwan, as Beijing launched military drills around the island in the aftermath of the Taiwanese president’s meetings with American lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who attended the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week, told The Associated Press that he plans to lead his committee in working to shore up the island government’s defenses, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan.
“I think it all just points to what is obvious,” Gallagher told the AP, arguing that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.
China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in what was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the U.S. lawmakers and the president
of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Tsai in a bipartisan session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, with more than a dozen members of the U.S. House for what was the most sensitive stop
during her transit through the U.S.
China’s response to Tsai’s transit through the U.S. has not, so far, been as intense as its reaction last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
While both McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintain-
ing the status quo between their countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, the daylong meeting enraged China.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.
Taiwan split with China in 1949 after a civil war, and the United States broke off official ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government.
The U.S. acknowledges a “one China” policy in which Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, but it does not endorse China’s claim to the island and remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defense assistance.
The ruling Communist Party says the island is obliged to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing says contact with foreign officials encourages Taiwanese who want formal independence, a step the ruling party says would lead to war.
Chinese officials condemned Tsai’s meetings with lawmakers and announced sanctions on two organizations that hosted her in the U.S., but its immediate response so far has been less force-
ing away our constituents’ ballots by this if we pass this bill,” Harrison said. “I can’t really figure out the purpose of the bill beyond suppressing the vote.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County Republican, said it’s not fair to say such a high number of ballots might be discarded in future elections because the earlier deadline was not in place at that time.
ful than its reaction to Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan.
China had warned U.S. lawmakers not to join the meeting with Tsai, Gallagher said. And after the meeting, China urged the U.S. off what it called a “wrong and dangerous road” Gallagher, who served as a U.S. Marine with tours in Iraq, said U.S. lawmakers will not be intimidated by the Chinese.
“It’s an attempt to shift the ideological battle space and, again, an attempt to intimidate us, and make us feel like we’re changing the status quo and provoking them, when the opposite is true,” he said.
Gallagher said he wants Congress to work on stepping up its military commitments to Taiwan. He said the U.S. should be more quickly sending weapon systems to Taiwan for its defense.
One idea that arose from the meeting, he said, was for the U.S. to help Taiwan with technology to manufacture its own defense systems.
In 2022, China responded in the aftermath of Pelosi’s visit with its largest live-fire drills in decades, including firing a missile over the island.
Chinese officials gave no indication whether the drills underway now might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights.
Randleman woman facing multiple felony drug trafficking charges
A Randleman woman is facing multiple felony drug charges in two separate cases from last month, according to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.
On March 21, the sheriff’s office Criminal Interdiction team, assisted by the Vice and Narcotics Division, stopped Tracey Canoy Corum at a traffic stop on I-73 in Randleman.
Officers transported Corum to the Randolph County Jail after she was found to be in possession of a trafficking amount of heroin, amphetamine, and US currency. She was given a $25,000 secured bond, which she immediately posted. Last week, Corum was arrested following the execution of a search warrant on her residence which led to the discovery of a trafficking amount of heroin, amphetamine, and marijuana, as well as several items of drug paraphernalia, firearms, and a large amount of US currency. She was given a $125,000 secured bond after the magistrate found probable cause for the additional felony drug charges. She has been charged with felony trafficking heroin, felony possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver heroin, felony maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for controlled substance, felony possession schedule II-controlled substance, misdemeanor possession marijuana, and misdemeanor possession drug paraphernalia. At this time, Corum is still being held at the Randolph County Jail.
On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper officially proclaimed April 2023 as the “Month of the Military Child” in North Carolina and commended its observance to all citizens. This designation of April as the Month of the Military Child underscores the important role military children play in the armed forces community. Sponsored by the Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy, April is a time to applaud military families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome. The Month of the Military Child is part of the legacy left by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who established the Defense Department commemoration in 1986. According to the proclamation released by Governor Cooper’s Office, “The Month of the Military Child presents an opportunity to recommit to providing our military communities with the necessary resources to support public education, strengthen essential infrastructure, and address the needs of the over 50,000 military children in North Carolina.”
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll took place on Monday, April 10, on the South Lawn. The White House Easter “EGGucation” Roll, as First Lady Jill Biden named the event this year, used eggs donated by Braswell Family Farms in North Carolina. These eggs were hand-dyed by farm families moving through five different processing stations to complete. “We feel so blessed to play a role in the beloved tradition of the White House Easter Egg Roll,” says Trey Braswell, president of Braswell Family Farms.
ASHEBORO — Four finalists to fill the vacancy as Randolph Community College’s next president are expected to visit the campus next week.
Based on the list of candidates released from the college, the next president will come from an out-of-state job, though one of them has ties to the Triad.
Here’s the list:
** John Grosskopf, president of North Florida College (in Madison, Fla.).
** Dr. Jeremy Thomas, provost of Oklahoma City College.
** Dr. Shah Ardalan, president of Lone Star College-University Park (in Houston).
** Dr. George McNulty, president of Gogebic Community College (in Ironwood, Mich).
In March, the four candidates were approved by the State Board of Community Colleges in March.
Their visits to campus are scheduled on consecutive days next week, beginning with Grosskopf on Monday. Thomas comes Tuesday, followed by Ardalan on Wednesday and McNulty on Thursday.
A forum will be held with each candidate.
Grosskopf has a master’s de -
gree from Florida State and is finishing a doctorate from Aspen University. He also has held roles of director/dean of teaching and learning along with the vice president of academic affairs at North Florida College.
Thomas has a doctorate in developmental education from Grambling State, in addition to a master’s degree from Northwestern State. He has spent time working at colleges in Texas and Louisiana.
Ardalan received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T in Greensboro. He holds a doctorate in community college leadership from National American University in Austin, Texas. He has worked at Prairie View A&M and San Juan College in Farmington, N.M. McNulty, an Army veteran, has a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nevada. He previously worked at Colby Community College in Colby, Kan.
RCC has had a vacancy since last summer upon the retirement of Dr. Robert Shackleford Jr.
The new president will be the fifth in RCC’s more than 60 years. Enrollment at RCC has fluctuated in recent years, in part
ASHEBORO — The City of Asheboro Council met Thursday, April 6, with multiple budgetary matters on the agenda.
The first action the council took was the approval of a contract not to exceed $41,500 for auditing services for the 2023 fiscal year.
“The Finance Department recommends the firm of Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams and Co. as the most responsive bidder for the City of Asheboro audit,” said Assistant Finance Director Steve Hackett. “The firm has six offices, and the audit will be staffed out of the Whiteville office with assistance from the Cary office if needed. Alan Thompson, a partner with the firm with over 25 years of experience, will be the partner in charge of the audit, and it will be staffed by an audit manager with
three senior staff.”
The council was then given a preliminary presentation for a request from Downtown Asheboro Inc. for a $550,000 budget request in order to purchase property at 105 North Fayetteville Street.
“After doing some surveying on the property and assessing what available space we had with Trade Street and this project, it was found that this acquisition was needed to make sure we properly fit the required trash and power, and it will also provide additional parking,” said DAI Executive Director Addie Corder.
According to Corder, the $550,000 would be used to support the city’s Trade Street Project by purchasing property for the parking as well as to have a place for businesses to place trash receptors and power transforming units.
“By providing space for the transformer bank in that location, it frees up access on Trade Street, as well as saves some money in the
Water
distribution of electricity,” said Mayor Pro Tem Walker Moffitt.
“There would have been a tremendous cost had we not had an alternate location, not to mention ongoing maintenance costs. So, it’s a partial reallocation as opposed to a straight expense.”
No vote was taken on the request, but one will be presented before the council at a later date.
The council then approved two change orders, one for $74,000 in order to add North Street to the Wooten Company’s engineering services contract related to
the proposed Trade Street renovations and the other for $3,436 for additional design services by Prospect Landscape Architecture, PLLC related to the development of the David and Pauline Jarell Center City Garden Project.
“The City received a state grant for the purpose of improving the look and value of Trade Street while also maintaining that par-
See COUNCIL, page 2
“The project did not score very well last year, and we’re trying to find any low-hanging fruit that we can to improve it.”
Resources Director Michael RhoneyNeal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
SPRING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED here in the Sandhills, and the warmer weather is not the only reason to rejoice. As Matthew 28:6 states, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” For many, Easter Sunday is spent with family hunting for Easter eggs and celebrating Jesus defeating death and rising from the grave. I always look forward to sharing the story of Jesus’ resurrection with my son, Lane, and “losing” in our Easter egg hunt.
their state-of-the-art facility that is now accepting patients. I am working to make sure everyone has access to quality and affordable health care like we do at FirstHealth. I am also fighting for those who do not receive the proper care they deserve, such as Master Sergeant Richard Stayskal.
Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, skyhigh energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear.
Every Easter, I spend time reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation and how even out of despair, there is life. The same can be said for our nation. Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, sky-high energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear. However, House Republicans are working to solve these issues while delivering on our “Commitment to America.”
Last week, House Republicans passed the bipartisan Lower Energy Costs Act, which will unleash American energy production, reverse President Joe Biden’s anti-energy policies, and lower your costs. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, yet gas prices in North Carolina spiked 20 cents last month. This pain at the pump must stop. Additionally, House Republicans are working to protect children by recently passing the Parents Bill of Rights. As the father of an elementary-aged child, I will not stop fighting for parents’ rights to know what our children are being taught in school.
While it is important to deal with the obstacles we see, it’s also a priority to prepare for challenges ahead. That’s why I have spearheaded legislation like the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act to increase seniors’ access to early cancer detection technology through Medicare. Too many families are devastated by a cancer diagnosis every day in our region. By increasing access to world-class technologies, we can detect cancers sooner and save lives.
Last month at FirstHealth Cancer Center in Pinehurst, I toured
Rich Stayskal lives in Moore County. He served our country honorably and was wounded in combat. But while stationed back at Fort Bragg, a missed cancer diagnosis changed his life. In response, I helped change the law in 2020 so he and other military families could receive support when facing non-combat medical malpractice while on active-duty. However, over two years since the Rich Stayskal Medical Accountability Act was signed, Stayskal and hundreds of other heroes have had their claims delayed or denied. That’s why I called on the Department of Defense last week to fix this immediately or step aside. As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, I will continue to speak out, not only for Rich and his family, but for every military family and veteran.
Master Sgt. Stayskal’s example reminds us that unexpected challenges can appear for any of us at any moment. However, I am working on solutions to address as many obstacles as possible in Congress. And especially at this time of year, I am reminded of God’s grace and His many blessings. As Psalm 33 states, “We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.”
As you celebrate with your families, I hope you’re able to find comfort in your faith and remember that brighter days lie ahead. Renee, Lane, and I would like to wish you a Happy Easter and Passover to all those celebrating. May God continue to bless you and our great nation.
Richard Hudson is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House and represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee.
HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight.
North Carolina already has robust educational choices and families are enthusiastically enjoying those opportunities. According to a 2022 report from BESTNC.com, approximately 16% of North Carolina families attend private school or home school. Families already have school choice, and this freedom allows for extraordinary educational innovation and entrepreneurship at a net gain to taxpayers.
Politicians in Raleigh want to transform our freedom with House Bill 420 giving state bureaucrats more control over North Carolinians educational options, consequently driving up prices, reducing quality and innovation and normalizing state welfare checks for the middle class and wealthy.
For the 280,000 students and their families who have opted out of public education, HB 420 will allow them to collect state welfare checks twice a year to pay for eligible expenses. Further, language in HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight. The consequences are significant: increased cost to manage and maintain the schools, potentially forced woke ideological teaching and reduced quality of education due to client shift: the government NOT the families.
With shekels come shackles.
You may have noticed, after the federal government flooded our economy with money, that the price of every good and service has increased significantly. Consider specifically how rising college tuition costs have priced many families out of secondary education; interestingly, despite generous government handouts, college remains unaffordable and unattainable for many. When the government disrupts a market by throwing money into it the natural outcome is higher prices and lower quality. I predict this will happen with K-12 education in North Carolina should HB 420 be passed in its current form. The good news is that private educational savings accounts (ESA)
aren’t new ideas, Indiana has led the way in school choice for more than a decade. According to a new study out of Indiana “We also did not find statistical evidence that voucher students experience an improvement in their average achievement after baseline the longer they are enrolled in a private school. One might expect that students and their private schools would adjust to better meet the educational needs of voucher students. Collectively, this does not appear to be the case.” In other words, the lackluster results of Indiana’s voucher program, publicly funded ESA’s, demonstrates no statistical improvement in educational outcomes.
Solutions abound and immediate options are available, for example: academic and athletic scholarship for underserved students attending private schools, educational scholarships from non-profits such as the Homeschool Foundation who provides resources to those in poverty who chose to homeschool, and scholarships distributed by funds contributed through the community by way of churches and civic groups. North Carolina families are innovative and benevolent; therefore, our families do not require government handouts, nor do they require heavyhanded regulation.
North Carolina is considered one of the best states in the country for educational freedom and our citizens are freely exercising their inalienable rights. As a Christian and conservative, HB 420 is wrong for North Carolina because it will drive up prices, reduce quality and innovation and normalize welfare for the middle class and rich. Too much money is being spent to provide freedom that is already ours; the money should stay with the family.
Though well-intentioned and honorable, HB 420 is the height of welfare and big government as there is no free money from the government. Perhaps our legislators should champion for our citizens to retain more of the money they earn, instead of redistributing it.
Robert Bortins lives in Southern Pines.NFL Odell Beckham Jr. agrees to deal with Ravens
Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year contract with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the team announced Sunday.
The 30-year-old Beckham did not play last season following ACL surgery. He joins a Baltimore team that used the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has asked to be traded. Even with Jackson, the Ravens’ passing game was limited by a lack of production from their wide receivers.
Rashod Bateman played only six games last season. Aside from tight end Mark Andrews, no Baltimore player managed even 500 yards receiving.
NBA
Casey steps down as Pistons coach
Chicago Detroit Pistons coach
Dwane Casey stepped down after the team lost to to Chicago Bulls to end the 2022-23 season. Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office. The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 1765 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. Casey guided the team to the playoffs in his first season in Detroit but the start of a rebuilding project the following season left Detroit near the Eastern Conference’s basement. He was 121-162 with the Pistons and 494569 overall over 14 seasons with Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota.
FORMULA ONE
Ferrari’s Leclerc urges fans to stop coming to his home
Monaco
Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has asked fans to respect his privacy after his address was leaked, leading to some turning up at his apartment. The Ferrari driver is from Monaco and lives in the tiny Principality. He pleaded with his supporters not to go too far. Posting on Instagram, Leclerc says “my home address has somehow become public, leading to people gathering beneath my apartment, ringing my bell and asking for pictures and autographs.” Leclerc says he will always stop for autographs in the street but will no longer respond if fans come to his door.
WNBA
WNBA adding charter flights for some games
New York
The WNBA is adding charter flights for the entire playoffs and back-to-back regular season games this year. The league announced Monday it will pay for all of the flights. The cost is expected to be around $4.5 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details haven’t been publicly released. The league chartered for the WNBA Finals as well as for the road team in the Commissioner Cup championship game last year.
The 28-year-old became the fourth Spainard to win Augusta National’s landmark tournament
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — By the time Jon Rahm walked up the 18th fairway on Sunday and made like his late idol Seve Ballesteros with a brilliant par save to finish off the Masters, the fact that the Spaniard would be soon slipping into the green jacket had long been decided.
The most eventful of tournaments had a most uneventful finish.
That was owed to the brilliance of Rahm, who began Sunday four shots back of Brooks Koepka as players arrived early to finish a
third round that had been suspended by weather. He cut his deficit to two by the end of the round, pulled ahead on the front nine of the final round, and closed with a 69 for a four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
“We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” said Rahm, who had three rounds in the 60s to finish at 12 under for the championship.
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament,” he said, “but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
In truth, there was plenty to laugh and cry and cringe about during an eventful week at Augusta National. But in the end, it was Rahm at the center of it all. He sudden-
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
ly has two legs of the career grand slam in the bag and needs the PGA and British Open to finish it off. And given the way he played Sunday, Rahm figures to be the favorite just about everywhere.
He trailed Koepka by two when they returned to Augusta National early Sunday to finish their third rounds and cut the deficit in half almost immediately. The two went shot-for-shot the rest of the
The Associated Press
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Christopher Bell to figure out Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface was ready made for drivers with dirt experience.
And it was the perfect layout for Bell to win his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race there Sunday night.
“It was a very tough surface to get a hold of and should’ve rewarded guys that kind of knew what to expect and how to get the car around the racetrack, which I think it did,” Bell said.
Bell held on through a restart eight laps from the end hold off another who grew up racing on dirt in Tyler Reddick.
Bell was a whiz-kid dirt racing sensation growing up — he won three Chili Bowl Nationals driving midget cars on dirt — and that experience helped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday.
The first two years of Bristol dirt racing, NASCAR champs Joey Logano and Kyle Busch both won despite have less expansive dirt experience than many of their colleagues.
That changed this year as organizers gave racers more of a dirt
feel than ever before, Bell said.
“This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete,” Bell said.
Reddick was second for a second straight season, followed by Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe.
Bell’s last challenge came after defending race winner Busch spun with 15 laps left. Bell took off on the restart and widened his lead over Reddick.
Reddick, who won the second stage, was closing in on the last lap when the 16th and final caution came out, instantly ending the race and sending Bell’s team into hysterics.
“Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel,” Bell said.
Reddick also enjoyed the intensity down the stretch.
“I thought I had a little bit more,” he said. “I was at the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last
round, and the U.S. Open champion at Torrey Pines was still two shots behind Koepka when they started the final round.
Koepka began to collapse, though. The birdies dried up and the bogeys multiplied, and at one point he went 22 straight holes without a birdie. Rahm had no such trouble, seizing the opening to build a lead that nobody could touch.
The lasting image from a memorable Masters came when Rahm walked off the 18th green in the twilight.
On the birthdate of Ballesteros, and the 40th anniversary of his winning a second Masters title, Rahm had one of his own. He embraced his wife and two children, then hugged two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, who had stuck around to see whether his fellow Spaniard could join him in the most exclusive of company.
“That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win,” Rahm said later. “That might have been
couple of laps.”
Justin Haley was sixth, Bell’s JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. seventh, Todd Gilliland eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth with Ty Gibbs in 10th, giving Gibbs three cars in the top 10.
Points leader Ross Chastain, who took the top spot after Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman’s car was hit with a 60-point penalty for violations at Richmond, ended a lap down in 28th.
Kyle Larson, like Bell a dirt racing supernova who started from pole, won the first stage and took only fuel — no fresh tires — heading to the final segment. But Larson spun on his own 96 laps from the end, had to pit and restarted at the back of the field.
Larson’s race ended for good some 20 laps later after bumping several times with Ryan Preece between turn three all the way to turn one.
Preece was angered by earlier contact with Larson and gave him a hand gesture soon after to make that clear as their cars passed each other.
“I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” said Larson, who was 35th. “He rode me straight into the fence.”
The Cup Series stays on the short tracks and heads back to Virginia when the Cup Series runs at Martinsville on Sunday. William Byron, already a twotime winner this season, is the defending champion for Martinsville’s spring race.
Randolph Record
RANDLEMAN’S BASEBALL
team went to the Mingo Bay Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and came away with a 4-0 mark in the event during spring break.
It began with a 4-3 victory against Woodson, Va., as Caleb Dunn drove in two runs in a fourrun first inning.
The Tigers rode Seth Way’s bat and arm in a 9-3 victory against Robinson, Va. Way worked six innings on the mound while he drilled a three-run home run and a double on his way to five runs batted in.
Austin Lemons threw a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts in an 8-1 romp past Buckhannon-Upshur, W. Va. Hunter Atkins had three hits, including a double and triple. Then came a 4-1 victory against University out of Morgantown, W. Va., as Braxton Walker logged six
Most Piedmont Athletic Conference teams return to league action this week in baseball, softball and girls’ soccer. There’s less than three weeks remaining in the regular seasons for baseball and softball.
innings in his first pitching start. Atkins tripled and drove in two runs.
Split decisions
The four Randolph County teams in the ZooKeepers Classic at Southwestern Randolph all split two games last week. The final day of competition in the event, which had pre-determined matchups,
was wiped out by Friday’s rain.
Eastern Randolph got off to a good start by defeating North Moore 13-5, with Pierce Leonard providing two triples and four runs batted in. Apex Friendship defeated the Wildcats 11-1/
Southwestern Randolph fell 12-10 to Chapel Hill despite Eli Gravely’s home run. The Cougars then held off North Moore for a 10-9 victory as Kamden Carter drove in three runs.
Providence Grove lost 10-0 to Apex Friendship before pounding Jordan-Matthews 13-0.
Wheatmore began with a 9-0 whipping of Jordan-Matthews. But the Warriors fell short in a 6-4 loss to Chapel Hill.
Asheboro falls twice
In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Asheboro lost by 7-2 at home and 8-3 on the road to North Davidson. Tanner Marsh homered in the home game for the Blue Comets. This week, the Blue Comets are slated for games Wednesday through Friday as part of a tournament at First National Bank Field, which is home to the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Flores has been a big part of Asheboro’s offense, and that has helped the Blue Comets in their first two Mid-Piedmont Conference games. A senior forward and striker, Flores has provided five goals and a team-leading five assists. She has regularly been one of Asheboro’s top threats. This continues a trend because she was second on the team in both goals and assists last year.
RAMSEUR — Brecken Snotherly’s path has taken a few turns during high school, but generally the Eastern Randolph standout athlete has reached her destinations. She put the basketball in the hoop at an alarmingly successful rate, and she knows her way around running courses as well. Basketball became her passion, and she’ll continue in that sport for East Tennessee State.
“Basketball is my main thing,” she said. “I’ve been playing basketball since kindergarten. I just have a real love for the game.”
That makes sense considering her scoring prowess and ball-moving abilities. Snotherly poured in more than 2,000 points in a prep career that included time with Winston-Salem Christian.
But once the pandemic passed, she said she knew she wanted to be back home at Eastern Randolph. The Wildcats have been glad to
Snotherly committed to East Tennessee State before the end of her junior season. She had multiple college offers, but decided it was best to lock in on one school before her final go-around with the Wildcats.
have her.
“One of the hardest-working kids I’ve seen at this level,” Eastern Randolph girls’ basketball coach Jeff Davis said. “Just her IQ. She studies and studies the game and wants to keep learning.”
That example helped set the tone as the Wildcats racked up a 19-8 record during the recently completed season.
As a senior, Snotherly scored 30.7 points to go with 9.7 rebounds per game.
“She’s a player we’ve been battling with it seems like forever,” Randleman coach Brandon Varner said.
With 51 points against Trinity
during a game this winter, she reset her single-game school record.
While Snotherly has a smooth jumper, it’s not like she relied on 3-point shooting. She’s efficient on fast breaks and well-equipped to carve through defenses.
“Some of it comes from transition,” Davis said. “It’s more of a desire.”
It was noticeable every time she was on the court.
“That kid is a nice player,” said Eastern Alamance coach Tim Krotish, who topped the career 500-win mark during the season. “She’ll pull up and knock that thing down in your face. She can go right, left.”
Ask Snotherly about that midrange shot, and she’ll widen her smile.
“My little pull-up jumper, that’s my specialty,” she said.
Snotherly, a top 10 finisher in past state meets in cross country and track and field, has been excelling again in middle-distance events this spring. So there’s more to do before she takes her basketball skills to the collegiate level.
Snotherly committed to East Tennessee State before her senior season. She had multiple college offers, but decided it was best to lock in on one school before her final go-around with the Wildcats.
So, there are more places to go and things to accomplish. For Snotherly, it seems to fit right in.
“It has been my journey,” she said. “I wouldn’t change it.”
Asheboro pulled out a pair of victories in Mid-Piedmont Conference play last week. The Blue Comets topped Oak Grove 3-2 at home as Flores, Jaira Arellano, and Tess Moody scored goals.
In a 2-0 victory at Central Davidson, Itzel Macias scored off a free kick for the first goal. Moody added the second goal. The Blue Comets recorded their first shutout of the season, with goalkeeper Carlisle Dozier making 12 saves.
Asheboro (5-2-4 overall, 2-0 Mid-Piedmont Conference) has this week off.
Randolph Record Thomas makes starts for UNCG baseball
GREENSBORO – Providence Grove alum Luke Thomas has moved to a role as a starting pitcher for UNC Greensboro’s baseball team over the past two weeks.
Thomas, a freshman, was the starter for the Spartans in the opening games of the past two Southern Conference series. He had a no-decision against Virginia Military Institute and a loss at Samford.
Thomas (2-2) made his first 11 collegiate appearances as a reliever. He has one save.
The Spartans (16-16 overall, 4-5 Southern Conference) have a three-game conference series at home against The Citadel, with games Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
** At Elon, UNC Wilmington’s Trevor Marsh of Asheboro had two hits, including a double, in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader as the visiting Seahawks won 7-6 in a matchup of the Colonial Athletic Association’s top two teams.
Marsh, a center fielder, also had a stolen base in the game. He’s batting .325 through 30 games. Elon won the first game 3-1 after postponements the previous two days reduced the series to two games.
Asheboro man contends in Four-Ball event
WILSON – An Asheboro golfer was among the contenders in the North Carolina Super Senior Four-Ball Championships last month.
Charlie Parks of Asheboro and playing partner Doug Owens of Albemarle placed third in the 65-and-older division at Wilson Country Club. Parks and Owens had rounds 71 and 67 for a two-round total of 6-under-par 138.
That left them a shot behind the tandems of Surf City’s Gary Howze / Claremont’s Randall Sullins, and Morrisville’s Preston Edmondson / Pinehurst’s Steve Fox among the 28 teams in the division. Edmondson and Fox claimed the championship on the second playoff hole.
Caraway set to resume racing this weekend
`SOPHIA – After a weekend off for the Easter holiday, racing resumes at Caraway Speedway with Saturday night’s card. It’s Chatham County Night and Moore County Night at the speedway. Residents of those counties will be admitted for $8.
Racing is slated for the speedway’s regular division in addition to Southern Ground Pounders Vintage racing club.
Snotherly’s stellar career comes with skills, desire
The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to make his first public appearance in South Carolina, a state where votes will be critical if he launches an expected 2024 presidential bid.
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would host DeSantis for an event on April 19 in Spartanburg, in South Carolina’s heavily Republican Upstate.
DeSantis’ first public visit to South Carolina, home of the leadoff presidential primary in the South, comes amid a brisk travel schedule during which the governor has taken his “Florida Blueprint” tour to Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan in recent weeks.
With an anticipated presidential bid in the offing, the travel has opened up an avenue for DeSantis to lay out some of his policy achievements in Florida, setting up possible contrasts with potential GOP rivals, including former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Kimbrell told the AP that he had been hoping to bring DeSantis to South Carolina for months now, arguing that politically savvy Republicans in the early voting state are accustomed to having multiple chances to get to know presidential candidates, in person.
“I’ve told everybody associated with his team, ‘You’ve got to get here early and often,’” said Kimbrell, who has already joined efforts with a political action com-
mittee urging DeSantis to get into the race. “I’ve tried to make it clear to them that, if you want to win, you’ve got to get here early.” South Carolina for months has been hosting GOP candidates, including Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. There have also
been trips from many of those anticipated to join the field, including former Vice President Mike Pence. Later this week, after a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Tim Scott returns home to South Carolina for a summit with donors, as he mulls a bid of his own.
While this would be DeSantis’
first public South Carolina event, he was in the state last year for a gubernatorial fundraiser. The event near Charleston was attended by some of Trump’s top donors in the state.
To Kimbrell, who said he agrees with Trump on policy but not “on the way he approached things personally,” DeSantis is well-posi-
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas court ruling that would halt approval of a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the U.S., calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
If allowed to stand, the order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone as early as Friday, unsettling abortion providers less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade already dramatically curtailed abortion access.
The Food and Drug Administration in 2000 granted approval to mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States. There is essentially no precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s medical decisions, and pharmaceutical executives signed a letter Monday warning that the ruling could endanger other medications.
In appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Biden administration said Kacsmaryk’s “extraordinary and unprecedented order” should remain on hold while it challenges the decision.
“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.
Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued his decision
Friday but ruled it would not take effect for seven days — meaning the end of this week barring another court stepping in. Adding to the uncertainty was unresolved confusion Monday over a conflicting order by a different federal judge in the state of Washington, who within 20 min-
utes of Kacsmaryk’s decision issued a separate ruling that directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats had sued.
Underlining that confusion, the Justice Department on Monday separately asked the federal court in Washington state for clarity, given the competing orders.
The abortion drug has been widely used in the U.S. since securing FDA approval. The other drug used for abortion medication in the United States is misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions and was not part of Kacsmaryk’s decision.
Many providers must wait and see what happens in the courts between now and Friday before deciding what to do next, Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, told reporters.
If the Texas court’s ruling takes effect, some providers are prepared to pivot to a misoprostol-only regimen while others may transition to only surgical abortions.
“We don’t know exactly what will happen,” Dalven said. “What we do know is that there will be significant confusion and chaos as providers try to provide the best
tioned to be a better alternative to Trump, but needs to start spending more time in South Carolina.
“I believe that Ron DeSantis is as popular among my base as Trump is,” Kimbrell said, of his heavily GOP district. “But you can’t just mail it in. He’s going to have to press the flesh, roll his sleeves up, and get really serious.”
care they possibly can for their patients.”
The lawsuit in Texas was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned. At the lawsuit’s core is the allegation that the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone was flawed because it did not adequately review its safety risks.
Courts have long deferred to the FDA on issues of drug safety and effectiveness. But the agency’s authority faces challenges in a postRoe legal environment in which abortions are banned or unavailable in 14 states, while 16 states have laws specifically targeting abortion medications.
Among the pharmaceutical executives who signed the petition criticizing Kacsmaryk’s ruling was Albert Bourla, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has produced the biggest-selling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment in the U.S.
The document warns that the decision diminishes the FDA’s authority over drug approvals. A Pfizer spokeswoman verified for The Associated Press that Bourla signed the letter.
“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the letter states.
October 7, 1929 — April 7, 2023
Nancy Carolyn Caudle, 93, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, April 7, 2023 at Woodland Hill Center.
Nancy was born on October 7, 1929, to Samuel Avery and Ina Roberts Anderson. She received her Associate’s Degree in Accounting from Randolph Community College. Nancy lived in Asheboro with her late husband, Glenn Allen Caudle, and their three daughters. She loved the beach, spending many years at Topsail Island making memories with her family. Nancy also enjoyed gardening and square dancing. She taught Sunday School for more than 50 years, and was a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church.
Mrs. Caudle is survived by her loving daughters: Doris Trogdon of Haw River, and Dianne (Kenneth Greg) Matthews of Ramseur. She is also survived by her son-in-law, Michael Isley of Burlington. Grandchildren: Wendy (Jeff) Martin, Kelly (Greg) Roney, Christopher Todd Trogdon, Jason (Shannon) Isley, and Chris Matthews. Greatgrandchildren: Henry Roney, Sydney Martin, Liz Roney, and Ethan Roney. She is survived by her brother-in-law, John Henry (Rose) Caudle of Farmington, along with several nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband and her parents, Nancy is preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Anita Jean Isley.
Pace
February 2, 1928 — April 6, 2023
Georgeann Kivett Pace, age 95 formerly of Asheboro, passed away peacefully at her son’s home on Thursday, April 6, 2023, in West Columbia, SC.
Georgeann was born on February 2, 1928 in Staunton, VA, the daughter of the late George C. Kivett and Rose Elliott Kivett of Asheboro. She graduated from Asheboro High School and attended Guilford College several years. For 34 years she was employed with Burlington Industries in Greensboro as an executive secretary.
She was an avid craft person and tried every new craft that appeared. She loved playing bridge and was active with Burlington’s Retired Girl’s Club. As a member of Guilford College United Methodist Church, she was active in the James Lew Sunday School Class, Naomi Circle, and The Senior’s Group.
Georgeann was also a member of The Busy Bees making many baby caps for Women’s Hospital.
Georgeann is survived by her son, Stephen Elliott Pace and wife Nancy of West Columbia, SC; grandsons, Joshua Pace of Greensboro, NC and Michael Pace of West Columbia, SC; sister, Betsy Kivett of Asheboro; niece, Laura Lewis Matteson and husband Steven of Leland, NC ; and many special friends.
November 14, 1929 — April 5, 2023
Doris Faedene Brower, age 93, of Asheboro passed away on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at the Randolph Hospice House.
Ms. Brower was born in Randolph County on November 14, 1929 to Clay and Ardena Yow Brower. Faedene was the owner/ operator of Asheboro Paint Center for 35 years. In addition to her parents, Faedene was preceded in death by her husband, George Jones, 1 brother, and 7 sisters. She was the former Chairperson of the Randolph County Democratic Party. Faedene was a talented seamstress, and enjoyed making clothes for her family.
She is survived by her daughter, Sharon Thomas Church of Asheboro; sons, Craig Thomas (Carol) of Siler City and Kenneth "Kenny" Thomas of Siler City; grandchildren, Mandy Frank (Matt), Kimberley Mathis (David), Kris Thomas, Casey Hardin (Zac), and Holly Sorenson (Cody); 14 great grandchildren; and special friend, Kathy Allen.
December 29, 1944 — April 9, 2023
James Winfred Garner, age 78, of Seagrove NC went home to be with the Lord on April 9, 2023 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.
Winfred was born on December 29, 1944 in Moore County, NC to the late Luther Garner and Mary Alice Comer Garner. Winfred was a Vietnam Veteran serving his country from 1966 to 1968. He was a recipient of the purple heart, bronze star, and the CIB badge. Winfred worked in the textile and furniture industry until he retired. He enjoyed spending time on the farm, gardening and spending time with his family, whom he loved dearly.
He is survived by his wife, Doris McNeill Garner; sons: James Ken Garner (Shelly), Robert Dale Garner (Melissa); daughter: Renee Garner Myrick (Roby); brothers: Eddie Garner (Sunny) and Andre' Garner (Nancy) ; grandchildren: Josh Garner (Colby), Samantha Strider (Jeff), Kendra Hunt (Dakota), Logan Myrick, and Nick Garner; great grandchildren: Brooklyn, Levi, Nora, and Rainsleigh. He was preceded in death by brothers Jerry Garner and Clinton Garner, and a sister Annette Kohari.
September 11, 1934 — April 7, 2023
Floyd John McNeill, age 88, of Seagrove, passed away on April 7, 2023 at First Health Moore Regional Hospital.
Mr. McNeill was born in Moore County on September 11, 1934, to Henry and Sarah Latham McNeill. He was retired from Energizer Battery and he enjoyed going to flea markets. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his wife, Zelma McNeill, son, Larry McNeill, sisters, Annie Mofield, Bonnie Beane, and Madie Jordan; brothers, Grady McNeill, Colon McNeill and Carl McNeill. Floyd is survived by his sons, Phillip McNeill (Audrey) of Seagrove and Jerry McNeill (Sharon) of Seagrove; daughterin-law, Sharon Harper McNeill of Seagrove; sister, Eva Garner (Bill) of Robbins; and brother, Garland McNeill (Joyce) of Bennett. Nine grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren.
August 17, 1949 - April 8, 2023
Gurney Calvin Hunt, 73, of Asheboro, passed away Saturday, April 8, 2023, at The Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro.
Born August 17, 1949, in Randolph Co., NC, Mr. Hunt was the son of the late Kermit and Albertha Thompson Hunt. He had worked for GE / Black & Decker for over 30 years. He was a fan of Duke and the New York Yankees. He was an avid rabbit hunter, enjoyed fishing, cutting wood and being outside. He especially enjoyed camping with his grandson.
In addition to his parents Mr. Hunt was preceded in death by his grandson, Greyson Cowfer.
Survivors included his wife, Linda Dunn Hunt of the home; daughter, Amanda Cowfer (Scott) of Asheboro; stepson, Mike Hodgin (Jenny) of Asheboro; sisters-in-law, Barbara Lamb (Ed) of Asheboro, Lillian Dunn of High Falls; grandchildren, Peyton Cowfer, Katie Hodgin, Lydia Hodgin; and several cousins Memorials may be made to Hospice of Randolph, 416 Vision Drive, Asheboro, NC 27203.
July 16, 1941 - April 10, 2023
Nancy Ella Wilkerson Carter, 81, of Asheboro, passed away Monday, April 10, 2023 at Alpine Health and Rehabilitation in Asheboro.
A native of Chesterfield Co., SC, Mrs. Carter was born July 16, 1941, the daughter of the late Henry and Lorena Jordan Wilkerson. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She loved the Lord and loved to read her Bible. While Nancy was taken too soon from our world, her imprint of who she was will never leave us. Nancy, until we meet again in Heaven, we will miss you dearly.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Carter was preceded in death by her children, Kathy Ann Carter, J.H. Carter, Mark Glenn Carter; brothers, Robert Wilkerson, Bill Wilkerson; and granddaughter, Alisha Carter. She is survived by her husband, Jackie Carter of the home; daughters, Darlene Mitchell (Todd DeForest) of Asheboro, Linda Sparks (Jerry) of Sophia, Sharon Hill of Sophia; grandchildren, Ciara Massingale (Daniel), Heather Smith (Edward), Zachary Varner (Kaitlyn), Matthew Varner, Josh Carter, Christian Carter, Jay Hill, Daniel Hill, Jimmy Lee Hill; great grandchildren, Luna Massingale, Holden Smith; and eight great-great grandchildren.
February 5, 1947 ~ April 3, 2023
Elliott Lee Spriggs, age 76 of Asheboro, passed away Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at the Randolph Hospice House. A native of Baltimore MD, he was born on February 5, 1947 to the late Charles and Mary Drummond Spriggs.
In his formative years, Elliott attended Baltimore public schools. He was a graduate of Fredrick Douglas High School and was a member of the Army ROTC program while there. He later served as a Baltimore city police officer for 7 years and then moved to driving commercial Tractor Trailer trucks until he retired after his second stroke.
In addition to his parents, Elliott was preceded in death by his sister, Geraldine Coln, brothers Charles Spriggs Jr., Donald Lee Spriggs and Melvin Spriggs.
He leaves behind to cherish his memory, his daughters Michelle Spriggs of Baltimore and Kynia “Candie” Spriggs-Isley and her husband Byron of Ramseur, grandchildren Lamon, James, Charday, Ray Quon, Unique, TiyReek, Beyonce, Kevin, Kalin and Kelise. Elliott also leaves behind two sisters, Rebecca Hawkins and Constance Short and two great-grandsons.
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A bill requiring North Carolina voters to turn in their absentee ballots no later than when polls close on Election Day is advancing in the state House.
A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 last week in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s three-day grace period after an election for an absentee by-mail ballot to arrive and set a 7:30 p.m. cutoff on Election Day for county boards to accept absentee ballots, regardless of postmark.
All absentee by-mail ballots would have to be submitted at a county board of elections office, whether by mail or in person, and could not be turned in at a onestop early voting site. The measure would not apply to military or overseas absentee ballots. It must also pass the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor for a vote.
While Republican sponsors, like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, say the change is needed to restore trust in elections, critics say it would disenfranchise lawful voters of all parties and play into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to sow distrust in elections after he lost the last presidential race in 2020.
“The whole thing is to make the process more concise, more trustworthy, more transparent and more straightforward,” Davis said, adding that the bill aims to streamline the vote counting process so more races can be called on Election Day.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed a similar proposal in 2021, saying the bill “virtually guarantees that some (votes) will go uncounted.” Republican seat gains in the midterms improved their chances this year of
overriding a veto, but they will typically need at least one Democratic vote — or some absences from the chamber — to do so.
A 2009 bill, supported by GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, created the existing three-day grace period for mail-in ballots that Republicans are now trying to eliminate.
Republicans at the committee meeting did not mention Trump
nor his false claim that he was robbed of a 2020 win by widespread voter fraud. But Democrats tried to link the two, saying what is disguised as an election integrity measure reinforces a nationwide narrative promoted by the former president that mail-in ballots are less trustworthy. Calling the bill “undemocratic,”
Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat and former U.S.
Postal Service employee, spoke of ballot delivery delays, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She warned that the proposal could discard thousands of legitimate votes. The State Board of Elections received and counted more than 11,600 ballots in the three days after the last presidential election in 2020.
“We’re all going to be throw-
The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the House Select Committee on China said Saturday the U.S. must take seriously the threat posed to Taiwan, as Beijing launched military drills around the island in the aftermath of the Taiwanese president’s meetings with American lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who attended the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week, told The Associated Press that he plans to lead his committee in working to shore up the island government’s defenses, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan.
“I think it all just points to what is obvious,” Gallagher told the AP, arguing that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.
China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in what was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the U.S. lawmakers and the president
of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Tsai in a bipartisan session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, with more than a dozen members of the U.S. House for what was the most sensitive stop
during her transit through the U.S.
China’s response to Tsai’s transit through the U.S. has not, so far, been as intense as its reaction last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
While both McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintain-
ing the status quo between their countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, the daylong meeting enraged China.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.
Taiwan split with China in 1949 after a civil war, and the United States broke off official ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government.
The U.S. acknowledges a “one China” policy in which Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, but it does not endorse China’s claim to the island and remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defense assistance. The ruling Communist Party says the island is obliged to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing says contact with foreign officials encourages Taiwanese who want formal independence, a step the ruling party says would lead to war.
Chinese officials condemned Tsai’s meetings with lawmakers and announced sanctions on two organizations that hosted her in the U.S., but its immediate response so far has been less force-
ing away our constituents’ ballots by this if we pass this bill,” Harrison said. “I can’t really figure out the purpose of the bill beyond suppressing the vote.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County Republican, said it’s not fair to say such a high number of ballots might be discarded in future elections because the earlier deadline was not in place at that time.
ful than its reaction to Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan.
China had warned U.S. lawmakers not to join the meeting with Tsai, Gallagher said. And after the meeting, China urged the U.S. off what it called a “wrong and dangerous road” Gallagher, who served as a U.S. Marine with tours in Iraq, said U.S. lawmakers will not be intimidated by the Chinese.
“It’s an attempt to shift the ideological battle space and, again, an attempt to intimidate us, and make us feel like we’re changing the status quo and provoking them, when the opposite is true,” he said.
Gallagher said he wants Congress to work on stepping up its military commitments to Taiwan. He said the U.S. should be more quickly sending weapon systems to Taiwan for its defense.
One idea that arose from the meeting, he said, was for the U.S. to help Taiwan with technology to manufacture its own defense systems.
In 2022, China responded in the aftermath of Pelosi’s visit with its largest live-fire drills in decades, including firing a missile over the island.
Chinese officials gave no indication whether the drills underway now might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights.
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll took place on Monday, April 10, on the South Lawn. The White House Easter
the event this year, used eggs donated by Braswell Family Farms in North Carolina. These eggs were
stations to complete. “We feel so blessed to play a role in the beloved tradition of the
Governor Cooper proclaims April 2023 as “Month of the Military Child”
On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper officially proclaimed April 2023 as the “Month of the Military Child” in North Carolina and commended its observance to all citizens. This designation of April as the Month of the Military Child underscores the important role military children play in the armed forces community. Sponsored by the Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy, April is a time to applaud military families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome. The Month of the Military Child is part of the legacy left by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who established the Defense Department commemoration in 1986.
Convicted felon arrested for illegal firearm and kidnapping in Red Springs
A man was arrested in Hoke County this past weekend after firing a gun inside a home during an altercation. According to the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were notified about the disturbance, which took place on the 600 block of Cope Road in Red Springs, just before noon on Saturday, April 8. Following a brief investigation, deputies discovered that Calvin Hammonds shot the gun off in the home during a fight with another person, though no one was hurt. Hammonds was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, second-degree kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill. He received no bond. If anyone has any additional information regarding this incident, please contact Detective Chavis at (910) 875-5111.
The Associated Press RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly would get to choose many more members of several powerful state commissions, under legislation approved by the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday. Currently, most of the commissioners on the targeted panels are picked by the Democratic governor. Senate Republicans, including their top leader Phil Berger, are pushing for the changes, which would eliminate majority — or in one case unanimous — control held by Gov. Roy Cooper’s appointees. Among other duties, these eight boards and commissions approve electricity rates and road-building projects, and adopt environmental regulations.
The bill sponsors argue the changes would bring more accountability and diversity of thought on important boards that
are currently dominated by the governor’s picks.
“It’s best for the people of North Carolina if there’s a fairer balance
of appointments between the executive branch and the legislative branch,” bill cosponsor Sen. Warren Daniel, a Burke County Re -
publican, said during floor debate. “The legislative appointments are voted on by all 170 members of the legislature, not chosen by one individual.”
Cooper’s office this week called the bill an “unconstitutional power grab” by Republican lawmakers. Democratic Sen. Lisa Grafstein of Wake County said the state constitution sets limits on the General Assembly’s powers. Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate.
“This bill robs the people of the right to have the governor that they chose execute the laws consistent with the governor’s policy preferences,” Grafstein said.
Opponents also say the bill would be unlawful in light of a state Supreme Court ruling on whether lawmakers can serve on commissions. The court has also said compositions of some boards can be unlawful when they interfere with the governor’s ability to carry out laws and leave him with no meaningful control over them.
Cooper and the Republican-controlled legislature have been fighting over their division of powers since before Coo -
The Associated Press RALEIGH — A bill requiring North Carolina voters to turn in their absentee ballots no later than when polls close on Election Day is advancing in the state House.
A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 last week in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s threeday grace period after an election for an absentee by-mail ballot to arrive and set a 7:30 p.m. cutoff on Election Day for county boards to accept absentee ballots, regardless of postmark.
All absentee by-mail ballots would have to be submitted at a county board of elections office, whether by mail or in person, and could not be turned in at a onestop early voting site. The measure would not apply to military or overseas absentee ballots. It must also pass the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor for a vote. While Republican sponsors,
like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, say the change is needed to restore trust in elections, critics say it would disenfranchise lawful voters of all parties and play into former Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s efforts to sow distrust in elections after he lost the last presidential race in 2020.
per took his oath of office in early 2017.
The bill, which passed the chamber on a 29-18 party-line vote before heading to the House, would either shift control or eliminate over 20 commission seats otherwise filled by Cooper and future governors. Current members wouldn’t be replaced until their terms end.
The legislature, Senate leader or House speaker would get to make many of those appointments instead. The state treasurer, agriculture commissioner and insurance commissioner, all of whom lead executive branch departments but are elected separately from the governor, would also get to make some appointments.
For example, the governor currently names all seven members of the Utilities Commission, which sets electric rates.
With a floor amendment ap -
proved Thursday, the commission would be reduced to five members. Two would still be picked by the governor, with two others named by the legislature on the recommendation of the Senate leader and House speaker. The treasurer would pick the other member.
The bill would give the legislature the majority of appointments on the Board of Transportation and Economic Investment Committee, which awards state incentives to companies seeking to build in North Carolina. The speaker and Senate leader, or their substitutes, would serve on the economic committee.
The General Assembly would make new appointments to a ninth board also getting reworked in the bill.
“We’re not concerned about the constitutionality of the bill,” said Daniel while acknowledging litigation may be coming: “Our courts are open to the citizens of the state to file a grievance.”
“The whole thing is to make the process more concise, more trustworthy, more transparent and more straightforward,” Davis said, adding that the bill aims to streamline the vote counting process so more races can be called on Election Day.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed a similar proposal in 2021, saying the bill “virtually guarantees that some (votes) will go uncounted.” Republican seat gains in the midterms improved their chances this year of overriding a veto, but they will typically need at least one Democratic vote — or some absences from the chamber — to do so.
A 2009 bill, supported by GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, created the existing three-day grace period for mail-in ballots that Republicans are now trying to eliminate.
Republicans at the committee meeting did not mention Trump nor his false claim that he was robbed of a 2020 win by widespread voter fraud. But Democrats tried to link the two, saying what is disguised as an election integrity measure reinforces a nationwide narrative promoted by the former president that mail-in ballots are less trustworthy. Calling the bill “undemocratic,”
Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat and former U.S. Postal Service employee, spoke of ballot delivery delays, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She warned that the proposal could discard thousands of legitimate votes. The State Board of Elections received and counted more than 11,600 ballots in the three days after the last presidential election in 2020.
“We’re all going to be throwing away our constituents’ ballots by this if we pass this bill,” Harrison said. “I can’t really figure out the purpose of the bill beyond suppressing the vote.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County Republican, said it’s not fair to say such a high number of ballots might be discarded in future elections because the earlier deadline was not in place at that time.
SPRING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED here in the Sandhills, and the warmer weather is not the only reason to rejoice. As Matthew 28:6 states, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” For many, Easter Sunday is spent with family hunting for Easter eggs and celebrating Jesus defeating death and rising from the grave. I always look forward to sharing the story of Jesus’ resurrection with my son, Lane, and “losing” in our Easter egg hunt.
state-of-the-art facility that is now accepting patients. I am working to make sure everyone has access to quality and affordable health care like we do at FirstHealth. I am also fighting for those who do not receive the proper care they deserve, such as Master Sergeant Richard Stayskal.
Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, skyhigh energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear.
Every Easter, I spend time reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation and how even out of despair, there is life. The same can be said for our nation. Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, sky-high energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear. However, House Republicans are working to solve these issues while delivering on our “Commitment to America.”
Last week, House Republicans passed the bipartisan Lower Energy Costs Act, which will unleash American energy production, reverse President Joe Biden’s anti-energy policies, and lower your costs. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, yet gas prices in North Carolina spiked 20 cents last month. This pain at the pump must stop. Additionally, House Republicans are working to protect children by recently passing the Parents Bill of Rights. As the father of an elementary-aged child, I will not stop fighting for parents’ rights to know what our children are being taught in school.
While it is important to deal with the obstacles we see, it’s also a priority to prepare for challenges ahead. That’s why I have spearheaded legislation like the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act to increase seniors’ access to early cancer detection technology through Medicare. Too many families are devastated by a cancer diagnosis every day in our region. By increasing access to world-class technologies, we can detect cancers sooner and save lives.
Last month at FirstHealth Cancer Center in Pinehurst, I toured their
Rich Stayskal lives in Moore County. He served our country honorably and was wounded in combat. But while stationed back at Fort Bragg, a missed cancer diagnosis changed his life. In response, I helped change the law in 2020 so he and other military families could receive support when facing non-combat medical malpractice while on active-duty. However, over two years since the Rich Stayskal Medical Accountability Act was signed, Stayskal and hundreds of other heroes have had their claims delayed or denied. That’s why I called on the Department of Defense last week to fix this immediately or step aside. As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, I will continue to speak out, not only for Rich and his family, but for every military family and veteran.
Master Sgt. Stayskal’s example reminds us that unexpected challenges can appear for any of us at any moment. However, I am working on solutions to address as many obstacles as possible in Congress. And especially at this time of year, I am reminded of God’s grace and His many blessings. As Psalm 33 states, “We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.”
As you celebrate with your families, I hope you’re able to find comfort in your faith and remember that brighter days lie ahead. Renee, Lane, and I would like to wish you a Happy Easter and Passover to all those celebrating. May God continue to bless you and our great nation.
Richard Hudson is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House and represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee.
COLUMN
THE PHRASE to put “lipstick on a pig” means making superficial or cosmetic changes to something in a futile attempt to disguise its fundamental failings.
pool is not the solution to our problems.
Hoke County has dropped from a Tier Two (less distressed) county to a Tier One (most distressed) county.
The new James A. Leach Aquatic Center (JALARC) in Hoke County is a prime example of irresponsible spending on a vanity project that does nothing to solve the oppressive state of affairs here in our community. Skyrocketing crime, low performing schools, and lack of high paying jobs has taken its toll on our neighborhoods. Decaying buildings and abandoned homes litter our streets and invite crime into once pristine areas of our county.
None of this seems to bother the Hoke County Commissioners, though. We got our swimming pool, and that is all that matters.
Commissioner Allen Thomas, in a euphoric statement at the JALARC gala last week, claimed that we are now “moving on up.” Thomas declared that while we were once a poor county, we can dare people to say we are poor any longer.
Why? Because we got a pool? Every citizen in Hoke County should be offended by these ridiculous statements. Under the watch of Allen Thomas, James Leach, Tony Hunt, and Harry Southerland, Hoke County has dropped from a Tier Two (less distressed) county to a Tier One (most distressed) county in just a few short years.
Since 2007, North Carolina has used a three-level tier system to determine a variety of state funding opportunities to assist counties in economic development. The tier guidelines, mandated by state law, calculate tier rankings using four factors: average unemployment rate, median household income, percentage of population growth, and adjusted property tax base per capita. Published annually, you can access a comprehensive explanation of tier calculations and comparisons at www.commerce.nc.gov.
Each county is ranked from 1 to 100 on each variable, making the highest possible County Rank Sum 400, and the lowest 4. In 2021, Hoke County shifted from Tier Two to Tier One. The county’s economic distress ranking was #31 (it was #43 in 2020). Counties that rank in the bottom 40 are assigned the Tier One ranking. The N.C. Department of Commerce cites changes in Hoke County’s median household income rank as the main driver of this change. We are moving in the wrong direction, and an over-priced swimming
The late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) set the standard for having government property and other community assets named after himself, with more than 30 public properties named after him while a sitting senator. Unfortunately, Hoke County is catching up with the James A. Leach mega-pool being named after a current commissioner. Complete with a bust of himself, Leach and the contractors that profited from the project gathered last Friday night to pay tribute to themselves.
The swanky invitation-only affair was primarily funded by “sponsorships,” which could be construed as kickbacks, from the principal players in the project: Metcon General Contractors, SFL+A Architects, and J&K General Contractors. These businesses are making quite a living working for Hoke County.
Since Hoke County is “moving on up,” I think it is time to look like it. Let’s tear down those trailers on Highway 211. Let’s tear down all of those abandoned drug dens that litter our streets. We can replace these eyesores with community gardens and affordable housing. Let’s build a new high school and outfit the ones we already have with the latest technology and learning tools. Let’s make sure our police are supported. We need to reevaluate our priorities as a community. The education of our children and the safety of our citizens should be at the top of the list. There is no category for excessive pool spending in the N.C. Commerce Tier guidelines. No matter what the commissioners say, the data does not lie.
How can we, as a community, ensure that this is the end of wasteful spending and lack of discretion by our elected leaders? Another election year will be here before you know it. In the meantime, I like the idea first floated by commissioner candidate Chris Holland during his 2022 campaign. Mr. Holland suggested a litmus test for future projects that measures the purpose and benefit versus the financial and opportunity costs of each project. When applied to the mega aquatic center, I am pretty certain it would have been built on a much smaller scale or not at all.
The JALARC is not going to save our community or bring us some great economic boom. We need strong leadership and fiscal responsibility to bring us out of this abyss. Let’s “move on up” to being a safer community with great schools and economic opportunities for all. Hopefully we do not drown before we get there.
Melissa Swarbrick lives in Hoke CountyNFL Odell Beckham Jr. agrees to deal with Ravens
Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year contract with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the team announced Sunday.
The 30-year-old Beckham did not play last season following ACL surgery. He joins a Baltimore team that used the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has asked to be traded. Even with Jackson, the Ravens’ passing game was limited by a lack of production from their wide receivers.
Rashod Bateman played only six games last season. Aside from tight end Mark Andrews, no Baltimore player managed even 500 yards receiving.
NBA Casey steps down as Pistons coach
Chicago
Detroit Pistons coach
Dwane Casey stepped down after the team lost to to Chicago Bulls to end the 2022-23 season. Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office. The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 1765 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. Casey guided the team to the playoffs in his first season in Detroit but the start of a rebuilding project the following season left Detroit near the Eastern Conference’s basement. He was 121-162 with the Pistons and 494569 overall over 14 seasons with Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota.
FORMULA ONE
Ferrari’s Leclerc urges fans to stop coming to his home
Monaco Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has asked fans to respect his privacy after his address was leaked, leading to some turning up at his apartment. The Ferrari driver is from Monaco and lives in the tiny Principality. He pleaded with his supporters not to go too far. Posting on Instagram, Leclerc says “my home address has somehow become public, leading to people gathering beneath my apartment, ringing my bell and asking for pictures and autographs.” Leclerc says he will always stop for autographs in the street but will no longer respond if fans come to his door.
New York
The WNBA is adding charter flights for the entire playoffs and back-to-back regular season games this year. The league announced Monday it will pay for all of the flights. The cost is expected to be around $4.5 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details haven’t been publicly released. The league chartered for the WNBA Finals as well as for the road team in the Commissioner Cup championship game last year.
The 28-year-old became the fourth Spainard to win Augusta National’s landmark tournament
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — By the time Jon Rahm walked up the 18th fairway on Sunday and made like his late idol Seve Ballesteros with a brilliant par save to finish off the Masters, the fact that the Spaniard would be soon slipping into the green jacket had long been decided.
The most eventful of tournaments had a most uneventful finish.
That was owed to the brilliance of Rahm, who began Sunday four shots back of Brooks Koepka as players arrived early to finish a
third round that had been suspended by weather. He cut his deficit to two by the end of the round, pulled ahead on the front nine of the final round, and closed with a 69 for a four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
“We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” said Rahm, who had three rounds in the 60s to finish at 12 under for the championship.
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament,” he said, “but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
In truth, there was plenty to laugh and cry and cringe about during an eventful week at Augusta National. But in the end, it was Rahm at the center of it all. He sudden-
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
ly has two legs of the career grand slam in the bag and needs the PGA and British Open to finish it off. And given the way he played Sunday, Rahm figures to be the favorite just about everywhere.
He trailed Koepka by two when they returned to Augusta National early Sunday to finish their third rounds and cut the deficit in half almost immediately. The two went shot-for-shot the rest of the
The Associated Press
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Christopher Bell to figure out Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface was ready made for drivers with dirt experience.
And it was the perfect layout for Bell to win his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race there Sunday night.
“It was a very tough surface to get a hold of and should’ve rewarded guys that kind of knew what to expect and how to get the car around the racetrack, which I think it did,” Bell said.
Bell held on through a restart eight laps from the end hold off another who grew up racing on dirt in Tyler Reddick.
Bell was a whiz-kid dirt racing sensation growing up — he won three Chili Bowl Nationals driving midget cars on dirt — and that experience helped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday.
The first two years of Bristol dirt racing, NASCAR champs Joey Logano and Kyle Busch both won despite have less expansive dirt experience than many of their colleagues.
That changed this year as organizers gave racers more of a dirt
feel than ever before, Bell said. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete,” Bell said.
Reddick was second for a second straight season, followed by Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe.
Bell’s last challenge came after defending race winner Busch spun with 15 laps left. Bell took off on the restart and widened his lead over Reddick.
Reddick, who won the second stage, was closing in on the last lap when the 16th and final caution came out, instantly ending the race and sending Bell’s team into hysterics.
“Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel,” Bell said. Reddick also enjoyed the intensity down the stretch.
“I thought I had a little bit more,” he said. “I was at the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last
round, and the U.S. Open champion at Torrey Pines was still two shots behind Koepka when they started the final round.
Koepka began to collapse, though. The birdies dried up and the bogeys multiplied, and at one point he went 22 straight holes without a birdie. Rahm had no such trouble, seizing the opening to build a lead that nobody could touch.
The lasting image from a memorable Masters came when Rahm walked off the 18th green in the twilight.
On the birthdate of Ballesteros, and the 40th anniversary of his winning a second Masters title, Rahm had one of his own. He embraced his wife and two children, then hugged two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, who had stuck around to see whether his fellow Spaniard could join him in the most exclusive of company.
“That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win,” Rahm said later. “That might have been the hardest thing.”
couple of laps.”
Justin Haley was sixth, Bell’s JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. seventh, Todd Gilliland eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth with Ty Gibbs in 10th, giving Gibbs three cars in the top 10.
Points leader Ross Chastain, who took the top spot after Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman’s car was hit with a 60-point penalty for violations at Richmond, ended a lap down in 28th.
Kyle Larson, like Bell a dirt racing supernova who started from pole, won the first stage and took only fuel — no fresh tires — heading to the final segment. But Larson spun on his own 96 laps from the end, had to pit and restarted at the back of the field.
Larson’s race ended for good some 20 laps later after bumping several times with Ryan Preece between turn three all the way to turn one.
Preece was angered by earlier contact with Larson and gave him a hand gesture soon after to make that clear as their cars passed each other.
“I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” said Larson, who was 35th. “He rode me straight into the fence.”
The Cup Series stays on the short tracks and heads back to Virginia when the Cup Series runs at Martinsville on Sunday. William Byron, already a twotime winner this season, is the defending champion for Martinsville’s spring race.
Jon RahmAP PHOTO Scottie Scheffler puts the green jacket on Jon Rahm after Rahm won the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club. AP PHOTO Christopher Bell celebrates after picking up his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, winning on the dirt Sunday at Bristol.
The new Buffaloes coach has already heightened expectations
The Associated Press
BOULDER, Colorado — New Colorado coach Deion Sanders can’t yet point to any on-field wins in Boulder, but signs of a massive shift in mood and expectation abound at this school and in this city around what has been a forlorn football program.
Hired in December after a highly successful run as Jackson State’s head coach, the NFL Hall of Fame cornerback is in the midst of running practices with his new team in preparation for Colorado’s annual intrasquad spring game on April 22.
The school announced earlier this week that the game, which is also being nationally televised on ESPN, had sold out with more than 45,000 people expected to be on hand. It would stand out as the highest attendance ever for Colorado’s spring game, eclipsing the previous high of 17,800 in 2008. Indeed, according to the school,
the anticipated attendance will be higher than the combined total for the previous nine spring games.
“We haven’t won a game. There’s no impact right now,” Sanders said
at a news conference Saturday. “The financial aspect of what’s going on, that’s a blessing. Somebody’s profiting really well and I’m happy for that, especially this university be-
Deion Sanderscause they deserve it. And to display and show what’s here, in your beloved city, I think that’s a beautiful thing to bring that to fruition.”
Sanders, popularly known as “Primetime” in his playing days but better known now as “Coach Prime,” said he likes the way the team is starting to mesh. He can sense the eagerness and desire among his players and the students he’s met to turn around the program. “I can’t wait for the spring game, really looking forward to it, because I want to see the difference in the atmosphere and the feeling and the spirit of everything,” said Sanders, who is taking over a program that has had a losing record in its last six seasons, including a 1-11 finish last
season.
“I spoke to the School of Business yesterday and it was phenomenal,” Sanders said. “Those kids were hungry. Every kid had a pencil and piece of paper and taking notes and they were on every darn word, every thought, everything I uttered, they were on it. They wanted it. I loved that.”
Sanders insists change has to be made by both players and fans.
“If we’re going to change the game here, that means the fans have got to change, too,” he said. “We want to impact them as well. We want them to be ready for us like we want to be ready for them.”
If his players are anything like their coach, they’ll be ready, for primetime. Sanders attended the conference wearing a cowboy hat with a gold chain and traditional coach’s whistle draped around his neck. He was asked if he would like to see some of his players, which include his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, take on any of his football characteristics as is sometimes wont between players and coaches.
“I hope so,” Sanders said with a smile. “God, I hope so. That’s what I want. That’s what I’m looking for.”
The Washington Commanders have settled a suit with the District of Columbia’s attorney general’s office over fans’ season-ticket deposit money.
The lawsuit is one of several accusations against the Daniel Snyder-owned NFL team
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Commanders have settled a lawsuit with the District of Columbia attorney general’s office over fans’ season-ticket deposit money. Attorney general Brian L. Schwalb on Monday announced the agreement that returns $200,000 to fans and pay
$425,000 to the district to resolve allegations related to the deposits.
Predecessor Karl A. Racine filed the consumer protection lawsuit late last year before leaving office, and Schwalb picked up the case.
The district’s investigation showed the team deceptively kept fans’ deposits for years after ticket contracts expired, improperly used that money and in some cases made it difficult to reclaim the money.
“Rather than being transparent and upfront in their ticket sale practices, the Commanders unlawfully took advantage of their fan base, holding on to security deposits instead of re -
turning them,” Schwalb said in a statement. “Under this settlement agreement, our office will maintain strict oversight over the Commanders to ensure all necessary steps are taken to reimburse fans for the refunds they are entitled to.”
The district still has a civil suit ongoing against the Commanders, owner Dan Snyder, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell over what the attorney general’s office called collusion to deceive residents about the team’s toxic workplace culture. A league investigation into the team yielded a $10 million fine but no written report, which prompted out-
rage and a congressional review.
The Commanders previously settled with Maryland on season-ticket holder deposits by agreeing to return money and pay the state $250,000.
Under the terms of the settlement with the district, the Commanders must conduct a public records search for contact information for affected fans and attempt to notify them, disclose the refund process on their website and provide the attorney general’s office with regular reports documenting their progress.
A team spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press
AP PHOTO
seeking comment.
The series of lawsuits in the Washington area were among the latest turns in the team’s tumultuous run under Snyder, who along with wife Tanya hired a firm in November to explore selling part or all of the team. That came amid multiple investigations and two weeks after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said there was “merit to remove” Snyder.
Two groups, one led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson and another by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, have submitted fully financed bids to buy the Commanders. It’s unclear how soon a sale could happen; Snyder must first choose his preferred bidder and send to the league for approval.
“If we’re going to change the game here, that means the fans have got to change, too.”
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to make his first public appearance in South Carolina, a state where votes will be critical if he launches an expected 2024 presidential bid.
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would host DeSantis for an event on April 19 in Spartanburg, in South Carolina’s heavily Repub-
lican Upstate. DeSantis’ first public visit to South Carolina, home of the leadoff presidential primary in the South, comes amid a brisk travel schedule during which the governor has taken his “Florida Blueprint” tour to Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan in recent weeks.
With an anticipated presidential bid in the offing, the travel has opened up an avenue for DeSantis to lay out some of his policy
achievements in Florida, setting up possible contrasts with potential GOP rivals, including former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Kimbrell told the AP that he had been hoping to bring DeSantis to South Carolina for months now, arguing that politically savvy Republicans in the early voting state are accustomed to having multiple chances to get to know presidential candidates, in person.
“I’ve told everybody associated with his team, ‘You’ve got to get here early and often,’” said Kimbrell, who has already joined efforts with a political action committee urging DeSantis to get into the race. “I’ve tried to make it clear to them that, if you want to win, you’ve got to get here early.” South Carolina for months has been hosting GOP candidates, including Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. There have also been trips from many of those anticipated to join the field, including former Vice President Mike Pence. Later this week, after a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Tim Scott returns home to South Carolina for a summit with donors, as
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas court ruling that would halt approval of a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the U.S., calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
If allowed to stand, the order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone as early as Friday, unsettling abortion providers less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade already dramatically curtailed abortion access.
The Food and Drug Administration in 2000 granted approval to mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States. There is essentially no precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s medical decisions, and pharmaceutical executives signed a letter Monday warning that the ruling could endanger other medications.
In appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Biden administration said Kacsmaryk’s “extraordinary and unprecedent-
ed order” should remain on hold while it challenges the decision.
“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.
Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued his decision Friday but ruled it would not take
effect for seven days — meaning the end of this week barring another court stepping in.
Adding to the uncertainty was unresolved confusion Monday over a conflicting order by a different federal judge in the state of Washington, who within 20 minutes of Kacsmaryk’s decision issued a separate ruling that directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict
access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats had sued.
Underlining that confusion, the Justice Department on Monday separately asked the federal court in Washington state for clarity, given the competing orders.
The abortion drug has been widely used in the U.S. since securing FDA approval. The other drug used for abortion medication in the United States is misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions and was not part of Kacsmaryk’s decision.
Many providers must wait and see what happens in the courts between now and Friday before deciding what to do next, Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, told reporters.
If the Texas court’s ruling takes effect, some providers are prepared to pivot to a misoprostol-only regimen while others may transition to only surgical abortions.
“We don’t know exactly what will happen,” Dalven said. “What we do know is that there will be significant confusion and chaos as providers try to provide the best care they possibly can for their patients.”
he mulls a bid of his own.
While this would be DeSantis’ first public South Carolina event, he was in the state last year for a gubernatorial fundraiser. The event near Charleston was attended by some of Trump’s top donors in the state.
To Kimbrell, who said he agrees with Trump on policy but not “on the way he approached things personally,” DeSantis is well-positioned to be a better alternative to Trump, but needs to start spending more time in South Carolina.
“I believe that Ron DeSantis is as popular among my base as Trump is,” Kimbrell said, of his heavily GOP district. “But you can’t just mail it in. He’s going to have to press the flesh, roll his sleeves up, and get really serious.”
The lawsuit in Texas was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned. At the lawsuit’s core is the allegation that the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone was flawed because it did not adequately review its safety risks.
Courts have long deferred to the FDA on issues of drug safety and effectiveness. But the agency’s authority faces challenges in a postRoe legal environment in which abortions are banned or unavailable in 14 states, while 16 states have laws specifically targeting abortion medications.
Among the pharmaceutical executives who signed the petition criticizing Kacsmaryk’s ruling was Albert Bourla, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has produced the biggest-selling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment in the U.S.
The document warns that the decision diminishes the FDA’s authority over drug approvals. A Pfizer spokeswoman verified for The Associated Press that Bourla signed the letter.
“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the letter states.
Neil Oxendine
June 22, 1936 ~ April 6, 2023
Mr. Neil Oxendine, of Red Springs, NC went to be with his Lord and Savior on April 06, 2023, in his home, surrounded by his family.
He was born in Robeson County on June 22, 1936, to the late Charlie and Streetie Oxendine.
He was preceded in death by his daughter in law Cynthia L. Oxendine in 2016. Neil was a member of South Hoke Baptist Church where he served as chairman deacon for many years. He loved the Lord and his church family. He was a beloved father who enjoyed gardening, fishing, and hunting for his family and community.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Evon Oxendine; children, Dwight Oxendine (Cynthia L. Oxendine), and his friend Mary Annette Bunce, Donna Dial (Morris), Tonya Cummings (Steven); grandchildren, Dwight Andrew Oxendine, Chelsey L. Goodman, Amber D. Oxendine, Moira Dial, Lucas Dial, Jordan Cummings, Jonathan Cummings, and Jamison Cummings; 12 great-grandchildren; caretakers, Josephine Locklear, Hannah Young, and Susie Goins, a special nephew/second son, Anthony “Pete” Oxendine, his only surviving sibling, Maggie O. Hunt, and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.
March 5, 1941 ~ April 4, 2023
Ms. Mary Burke age, 82 went home to rest with her heavenly father on April 4, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her children: Mary Ann Wise, Douglas E. Wilson, Cleveland Wilson (Pop), Sylvia D. Wilson, Derrick J. Wilson; sister, Devon McLean along with a host of other family and friends. Ms. Mary will be greatly missed.
June 4, 1943 ~ April 1, 2023
Mr. Bobby Love age, 79 went home to rest with his heavenly father on April 1, 2023. He was the son of the late Richard and Queen Love. He leaves to cherish his loving memories his wife, Patricia P. Love; children: Dwaine Stubbs, Kimberly McNeill, Pamela Harris, April McNeill; siblings: Peggy Davis, Annette Love, Hazel Lloyd, Lillie Pittman, Richard Love, Thomas Love, Tony Love along with a host of other family and friends. Bobby will be greatly missed.
May 21, 1941 ~ April 1, 2023
Mrs. Margaret Scurry age, 81 went home to rest with her heavenly father on April 1, 2023. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her husband, Ronald D. Scurry; children: Ronald Scurry II, Michelle A. Scurry; grandchildren: Derek J. Scurry, Shonda Barnes, Billy Campbell, Monroe Campbell, Deanna Smalls, Erin Scurry, three great grandchildren along with a host of other family and friends. Mother Margaret will be greatly missed.
August 27, 1956 ~ April 2, 2023
Mr. James Randy Kershaw departed this life on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at FirstHealth Moore Regional in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The Associated Press
WHEN NAT WEST, owner of cider-making company Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, decided to supplement his wholesale business by opening a taproom in a bustling neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, he thought getting financing would be a breeze.
After all, he was only seeking $50,000, has been in business for 11 years, and takes in more than $1 million in annual revenue.
In February and March, West reached out to three lenders he had previously gotten financing from, including one where he has an existing line of credit. To his surprise, he was rejected.
“I feel like it’s really weird, it’s such a small amount of money for a business that has so much ongoing, sustained revenue and has been in the same community for a long time,” he said.
West isn’t alone. Borrowing for small businesses was already constrained due to rising interest rates. Following the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, some lenders – particularly the small and midsize banks that serve small businesses -- may be forced to tighten credit further, since they’re seeing an outflow of deposits, which means they need to retain capital. And banks are being more cautious in general due to uncertainty about the economy.
“It’s hard to read how severe this is going to be, but it’s certainly going to be significant and when you look at how things play out, small businesses are hit the hardest,” said Ray Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.
According to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index released in February, the approval rates of small business loan requests at big banks have fallen
for nine consecutive months. The larger banks approved just 14.2% of applications in February, down from 28.3% in February 2020. Small banks granted about 20% of loan applications this February, but they were approving about half of all requests back in early 2020, before the pandemic hit.
An overall tightening of credit will help slow down the economy and ease inflation, which is
what the Federal Reserve hopes to achieve by hiking interest rates, said Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2Credit. But that means that small businesses -- a big job creator and source of innovation for the economy -- will be left in the lurch.
“It will be the small companies that suffer the most if this continues,” he said.
Basic Fun, a Boca Raton, Flor-
ida-based maker of such toys as Care Bears and Lincoln Logs, had to temporarily scuttle plans for an acquisition due to the crunch. CEO Jay Foreman said he was ready to go with non-binding agreements with 12 of the prospective 23 lenders lined up in late February and early March. But that number shrank to two after Silicon Valley Bank failed and triggered the recent banking turmoil.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the House Select Committee on China said Saturday the U.S. must take seriously the threat posed to Taiwan, as Beijing launched military drills around the island in the aftermath of the Taiwanese president’s meetings with American lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who attended the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week, told The Associated Press that he plans to lead his committee in working to shore up the island government’s defenses, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan.
“I think it all just points to what is obvious,” Gallagher told the AP, arguing that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.
China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in what was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the U.S. lawmakers and the president
of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Tsai in a bipartisan session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, with more than a dozen members of the U.S. House for what was the most sensitive stop
during her transit through the U.S.
China’s response to Tsai’s transit through the U.S. has not, so far, been as intense as its reaction last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
While both McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintain-
ing the status quo between their countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, the daylong meeting enraged China.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.
Taiwan split with China in 1949 after a civil war, and the United States broke off official ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government.
The U.S. acknowledges a “one China” policy in which Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, but it does not endorse China’s claim to the island and remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defense assistance.
The ruling Communist Party says the island is obliged to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing says contact with foreign officials encourages Taiwanese who want formal independence, a step the ruling party says would lead to war.
Chinese officials condemned Tsai’s meetings with lawmakers and announced sanctions on two organizations that hosted her in the U.S., but its immediate response so far has been less force-
“It’s just not the right timing now as lenders appear unclear about the broader credit markets and seem to be clutching the purse strings tightly at this point,” Foreman said. “We just have to ride this out until conditions are right to arrange the proper financing for our acquisition.”
Companies that have existing lines of credit are seeing interest rates increase. James Carron, who operates Flatirons Pharmaceuticals, in Longmont, Colorado, has seen rates increase for his line of credit that’s about $150,000. Before the pandemic, the rate was 6.99%, but that went up to 10%. Now it’s 13% and rapidly approaching 14%. Other potential lenders he contacted had even higher rates.
So, Carron said he’s put off the purchase of two servers and additional hardware security upgrades that he had planned for the first half of this year. He’s monitoring the economy now to see when he might be able to make the purchases.
A credit crunch affects small businesses more than larger ones, he said, because smaller businesses have fewer levers they can pull to get financing.
“We can’t issue corporate bonds or have other money available to us,” he said. “Large corporations have multiple avenues for them to secure reasonable rates for funding. A small business owner doesn’t have that ability.”
As for West, the Oregon cider-maker, he had to put $10,000 on his personal credit card to finance the new taproom, which is open. He’s still short of what he needs, but that will keep the taproom running for now, he said.
“I’m super thankful I can put it together,” he said. “A lot of people will just have to put their dreams on hold.”
ful than its reaction to Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan.
China had warned U.S. lawmakers not to join the meeting with Tsai, Gallagher said. And after the meeting, China urged the U.S. off what it called a “wrong and dangerous road” Gallagher, who served as a U.S. Marine with tours in Iraq, said U.S. lawmakers will not be intimidated by the Chinese.
“It’s an attempt to shift the ideological battle space and, again, an attempt to intimidate us, and make us feel like we’re changing the status quo and provoking them, when the opposite is true,” he said.
Gallagher said he wants Congress to work on stepping up its military commitments to Taiwan. He said the U.S. should be more quickly sending weapon systems to Taiwan for its defense.
One idea that arose from the meeting, he said, was for the U.S. to help Taiwan with technology to manufacture its own defense systems.
In 2022, China responded in the aftermath of Pelosi’s visit with its largest live-fire drills in decades, including firing a missile over the island.
Chinese officials gave no indication whether the drills underway now might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights.
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll took place on Monday, April 10, on the South Lawn. The White House Easter “EGGucation” Roll, as First Lady Jill Biden named the event this year, used eggs donated by Braswell Family Farms in North Carolina. These eggs were hand-dyed by farm families moving through five different processing stations to complete. “We feel so blessed to play a role in the beloved tradition of the White House Easter Egg Roll,” says Trey Braswell, president of Braswell Family Farms.
Free leaf mulch is back!
Forsyth County
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities announced the annual leaf mulch giveaway for Forsyth County homeowners. Free leaf mulch will only be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The giveaway started last Friday, April 7, and will continue while supplies last on the next two Saturdays, April 15 and 22. Operators will load your vehicle from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Forum 52 Yard Waste Facility, 180 Northstar Dr. in Rural Hall.
Operators will be available to help load your vehicle. If you do not bring a tarp to fully cover your mulch before leaving the site, your vehicle will not be loaded. Before departing, citizens will be directed to a safe area to exit the vehicle and secure their load.
Free mulch is only for homeowners in cars and pickup trucks with or without trailers. Large vehicles over one ton will not be allowed to receive mulch under any circumstances. Homeowners who hire contractors to haul mulch for residential use must follow all vehicle guidelines listed above. Details and updates on supply availability can be found at cityofws.org/ leafmulch.
CITY OF WINSTON-SALEM
WINSTON-SALEM — The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education met Tuesday, March 28 with new safety measures as well as a handful of new contracts on the agenda.
The first action the board took, was the approval of the naming of two East Forsyth High School facilities: the Richard “Wick” Barrow Press Box and the Karen Dull Softball Field.
“Wick Barrow has been the voice of the Eagles for many
years,” said East Forsyth principal Rusty Hall. “He was a graduate of Kernersville High School. His kids, grandkids all graduated from East Forsyth High School. Wick has announced football games, basketball games and baseball games at East Forsyth since the late ‘70s. Anytime you’re at an East Forsyth game, you knew the voice.
“Karen was the head softball coach from 1985 to 2011. Quite a long time molding the students of East Forsyth and establishing wonderful student athletes and that tradition still lives on today.”
The board was then presented with a preliminary discussion about the Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant.
“With the MSAP grant, you
$723,000
can apply for up to $15 million,” said Executive Director for Choice and Magnet Schools Frank Pantano. “All grant recipients receive either $15 million or $10 million. Those are the two amounts that have been successful and we’re going to be requesting the full $15 million and similarly sized districts have received that. The grant term is five years
City sanitation workers will take over for private company who had done it since 1991
North State Journal
ALMOST FOUR YEARS after his father’s death, Thomas Workman of Winston-Salem won a $120,000 jackpot in Monday’s Cash 5 drawing by continuing to play their shared lucky numbers.
“My dad used to play them and, after he died, I told myself I’m going to keep playing them,” he said.
Workman said their mutual love of sports inspired the lucky numbers.
“It’s jersey numbers from some favorite players like Scottie Pippen and Shaquille O’Neal,” he said.
Workman, a 47-year-old maintenance worker, bought his lucky $1 Cash 5 ticket from BY-LO on Old Lexington Road in Winston-Salem. He matched all five white balls Monday night to win
the jackpot.
“I thought it was an April Fools’ joke,” he laughed. “I was flipping out a little bit.”
Workman said he told his girlfriend many times that he would one day win the lottery.
“I truly believe in karma,”
Workman said. “I just felt that one of these days something like this would happen to me.”
Workman arrived at lottery headquarters Tuesday to collect his prize and, after required state
and the 2023-24 school year would be when it began, but we wouldn’t find out until we’re in that school year if we got it or not, but it will go through the 2027-28 school year.”
According to Pantano, there are no matching funds required by the district for the grant and the grant can be applied for again and again each year even if you received it already.
“Schools also have to have a central theme,” Pantano said. “So how other districts that have been successful have done it, is they pick one of their themes, they get the grant for those schools that year and then the next year they can move on to another one.
“We’re choosing to start with IB, but we also have plans to apply again year after year for our other programs to reach all of our magnet schools over a four year period.”
As such, the recommended schools for the 2023-24 MSAP
See BOE, page 2
It was only a matter of time until the Left would arrest a former president of the opposition party.
♦ ACEROCANO, CESAR AUGUSTO was arrested on a charge of ASSAULT ON FEMALE at 980 PETERS CREEK PW on 4/9/2023
♦ Aderounmu, Gideon Adedotun (M/32) Arrest on chrg of Assault On Female (M), at 4375 Winterberry Ridge Ct, Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/6/2023 03:02.
♦ ALEXANDER, TRENARD TYREELE was arrested on a charge of RESISTING ARREST at 130 SAINT JOHNS CT on 4/7/2023
♦ Ancrum, Keyshawn Lamont (M/20) Arrest on chrg of 1) P/w/i/s/d Marijuana (F), 2)
Poss Marijuana Fel (F), 3) Drug
Paraphernalia (M), and 4) Ndl - Suspended / Revoked (M), at 4900 Reidsville Rd, Walkertown, NC, on 4/6/2023 01:36.
♦ ATCHISON, AMY LYNN was arrested on a charge of VANDPERSONAL PROP at 301 MEDICAL CENTER BV on 4/9/2023
♦ BALDWIN, LATRICE RENEE was arrested on a charge of RESISTING ARREST at 301 W FIFTH ST on 4/9/2023
♦ BARROW, JOHN FRANKLIN was arrested on a charge of DRUGSPOSS SCHED II at 2401 RAVEN RD on 4/9/2023
♦ CAFOLLA, TONY FERNANDO was arrested on a charge of TAMPERING WITH VEHICLE at 832 BRICKWOOD CT on 4/8/2023
♦ Chambers, Marcus Emmanuel (M/28) Arrest on chrg of 1)
P/w/i/s/d Cocaine (F), 2) Drug
Paraphernalia (M), 3) Drug
Paraphernalia (M), 4) Ccw (F), and 5) Ndl - Suspended / Revoked (M), at 3620 Old Vineyard Rd, Winstonsalem, NC, on 4/6/2023 00:50.
♦ Crews, Patrick Renard (M/39) Arrest on chrg of 1) Adw Minor Present (M), 2) Assault On Female (M), 3) Larceny After B&e (F), 4) Vand-personal Prop (M), 5)
2nd Degree Trespass (M), 6)
Fail To Appear/compl (M), 7)
Fail To Appear/compl (F), 8) Fail To Appear/compl (M), and 9)
Resisting Arrest (M), at 5023 Baux Mountain Rd, Winston-salem, NC, on 4/5/2023 12:13.
LOTTERY from page 1
and federal tax withholdings, took home $85,500.
He said he will use the winnings to pay off his car and look into buying a home with his girlfriend.
Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
The odds of winning a Cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 962,598.
MY FIELD OF STUDY in graduate school was communism. As a fellow at the Russian Institute of Columbia’s School of International Affairs, I was, if I remember correctly, one of seven students in the entire university to major in what was known at the time as “Communist Affairs.”
I cite this in order to make this point: In my wildest dreams, I never imagined what I was studying would ever apply to the United States of America, the freest country in world history.
I assumed that communism was, for various reasons, something that happened elsewhere — most obviously, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia and North Korea.
What were those various reasons? One was the absence of freedom in the history of those countries. Another was that all those countries were, with the exception of Cuba, outside of Western civilization.
All these years later, I see that I was wrong. Communism — or if you will, left-wing fascism and totalitarianism — is coming to America and Canada, and (a bit more gradually) to Australia and New Zealand.
Incredibly — or maybe not so incredibly — more than two hundred years of unprecedented and unrivaled liberty and commitment to JudeoChristian values and reason, and all the unparalleled achievements of Western civilization, have come to mean nothing to about half of the American people and to virtually every one of its major institutions.
Our universities have become moral and intellectual wastelands — almost as ideologically pure as Moscow State University was in the Soviet era. As of December 2022, there were seven times more administrators (15,750) at Stanford University than faculty (2,288).
Our medical schools are embracing Soviet-like science. In more and more of them, incoming doctors are instructed not to use the terms “male” and “female.” Harvard Medical School officials use the terms “pregnant and birthing people” rather than “pregnant women.” And children’s hospitals are using hormone blockers (which, among other dangers, can impair future reproductive functioning) and mutilating perfectly healthy teenagers.
Students at elite law schools such as Stanford and Yale behave as if they were members of Komsomol, the Soviet Communist Youth League. On the rare occasions that conservative speakers come to their campuses to give a lecture, students heckle, shout and curse at them, disrupting their ability to speak in ways reminiscent of the Hitler Youth in 1930s Germany.
The greatest of all freedoms, that of speech, is disappearing. Since Lenin, no left-wing institution or country has ever allowed dissent, and the Left in
♦ Kathleen (Katie) Bee, 95, of Winston-Salem, died April 7, 2023.
♦ Brenda Ann Coleman Boyd, 61, of WinstonSalem, died April 5, 2023.
♦ Richard Haywood Cox Jr., 85, of Grantham, died April 6, 2023.
♦ Claudia Helen Swain Dameron, 79, of Elkin, died April 5, 2023.
♦ Bryant William Galbaugh, 62, of Clemmons, died
BOE from page 1
grant include Konnoak Elementary, Paisley IB Magnet Middle, Flat Rock Middle, Parkland High.
“The purpose of the grant is to assist in the voluntary desegregation of our schools by reducing minority group isolation through successful recruitment at magnet schools,” Pantano said. “We are a choice district and our goal is to give families great choices. The idea of these funds would be to bring further great programming to these schools and have parents excited about signing up for those schools.”
April 8, 2023.
♦ Eva Rachel Evans Hauser, 85, of Rockingham County, died April 6, 2023.
♦ Kenneth “Ken” Miller Jackson, 86, of WinstonSalem, died April 5, 2023.
♦ Sarah Gilley Jackson, 79, died April 7, 2023.
♦ Clyde H., Kearney, 92, of Pfafftown, died April 7, 2023.
The board then approved a $162,579 contract with KNC Technologies in order to purchase and install door access equipment at 28 elementary schools.
“Back when the 2016 Bond passed and we started down the road of adding excess control to our schools, we were quickly able to add front door access to some of our other schools,” said Chief Safety, Security and Emergency Management Officer Jonathan Wilson. “Now, I think we are at our last piece to finish up access control and add those same types of devices at the back doors of our elementary schools. This would
America — which is elected and defended by liberals — is no exception. Already almost half of all college students say they do not believe in free speech for “hate speech,” which, of course, means they are for suppressing all speech with which the Left differs.
Perhaps even more than in the Soviet Union, lunacy has replaced reason. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, the provincial agency in charge of education has announced that the notion that there is only one correct answer in mathematics is an expression of white supremacy. The Oregon Education Department has announced the same thing. The American Medical Association has declared that no American birth certificates should list the sex/gender of a child — the child will decide that later.
Teachers across the country are robbing children as young as 5 of their innocence. They are routinely taken to drag queen shows where men in women’s clothing dance for them (sometimes lewdly). Why? Because it is the aim of most American schools from first grade to postgraduate to have all American young people believe that sex/gender is “nonbinary” — that alone in the animal kingdom, human beings are not sexually divided into male and female.
In the COVID-19 era, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and virtually every other national medical and health agency largely abandoned science and even elementary decency (recall all the Americans who were forcibly deprived of any visitors and left to die alone in hospitals) and became tools of the Left. They and America’s Sovietized teachers’ unions ruined millions of American children by closing schools for nearly two years. In addition to the doomsday hysteria over climate change, the imposed gender confusion and the absence of religion, this has led to the highest rates of adolescent depression and suicide ever recorded in America.
Our justice department, about half of our judges and our security agencies are well on their way to becoming what the Soviet ministry of justice, Soviet security agencies and Soviet judges were: tools of the ruling party.
Our mainstream media, with few exceptions, are as uncommitted to truth as were the organs of the Soviet Communist Party, Pravda and Izvestia. The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR and PBS play the same role for the Left and therefore the Democratic Party.
It was only a matter of time until the Left would arrest a former president of the opposition party. Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talkshow host and columnist.
♦ Gwendolyn Mann Herndon Loggins, 90, of Forsyth County, died April 6, 2023.
♦ Louise Hemric Parks, 93, of Winston-Salem, died April 5, 2023.
♦ Tonny Hjort Petersen, 88, of Winston-Salem, died April 5, 2023.
♦ Judy Privette Reifsnider, 70, of Advance, died April 5, 2023.
actually work in the same fashion as we’re using in our middle school and high schools today.”
According to Wilson, WSFCS had received $723,000 for equipment as part of the Safer Schools Grant and so decided to use part of that funding to install backdoor access equipment at 28 of the 43 elementary schools – the ones with exterior buildings. Also according to Wilson, students will be able to use their student IDs to gain access, which would be the same number they are familiar with to purchase lunch, access chromebooks and other various activities. Staff
♦ Glenda Dean Sheets, 83, of Davidson County, died April 8, 2023.
♦ Sandra Lynn Widener “Sandy”, 75, of WinstonSalem, died April 8, 2023.
♦ James Sandry Zimmerman, Jr., 84, of Davie County, died April 7, 2023.
members could use their unique employee ID or the card reader.
The board then approved a one-year, $208,080 contract with Advance Property Solutions, LLC for middle school groundskeeping.
While the board also approved a new bell time schedule –from 7:25-2:00 – for The Kingswood School, the initial proposal was to also bring that new schedule to Petree Elementary School, but a decision on Petree was tabled so that more parent feedback could be acquired. The WSFCS Board of Education will next meet April 11.
NFL Odell Beckham Jr. agrees to deal with Ravens
Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year contract with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the team announced Sunday.
The 30-year-old Beckham did not play last season following ACL surgery. He joins a Baltimore team that used the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has asked to be traded. Even with Jackson, the Ravens’ passing game was limited by a lack of production from their wide receivers.
Rashod Bateman played only six games last season. Aside from tight end Mark Andrews, no Baltimore player managed even 500 yards receiving.
NBA
Casey steps down as Pistons coach
Chicago
Detroit Pistons coach
Dwane Casey stepped down after the team lost to to Chicago Bulls to end the 2022-23 season. Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office. The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 1765 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. Casey guided the team to the playoffs in his first season in Detroit but the start of a rebuilding project the following season left Detroit near the Eastern Conference’s basement. He was 121-162 with the Pistons and 494569 overall over 14 seasons with Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota.
FORMULA ONE
Ferrari’s Leclerc urges fans to stop coming to his home
Monaco Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has asked fans to respect his privacy after his address was leaked, leading to some turning up at his apartment. The Ferrari driver is from Monaco and lives in the tiny Principality. He pleaded with his supporters not to go too far. Posting on Instagram, Leclerc says “my home address has somehow become public, leading to people gathering beneath my apartment, ringing my bell and asking for pictures and autographs.” Leclerc says he will always stop for autographs in the street but will no longer respond if fans come to his door.
New York
The WNBA is adding charter flights for the entire playoffs and back-to-back regular season games this year. The league announced Monday it will pay for all of the flights. The cost is expected to be around $4.5 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details haven’t been publicly released. The league chartered for the WNBA Finals as well as for the road team in the Commissioner Cup championship game last year.
The 28-year-old became the fourth Spainard to win Augusta National’s landmark tournament
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — By the time Jon Rahm walked up the 18th fairway on Sunday and made like his late idol Seve Ballesteros with a brilliant par save to finish off the Masters, the fact that the Spaniard would be soon slipping into the green jacket had long been decided.
The most eventful of tournaments had a most uneventful finish.
That was owed to the brilliance of Rahm, who began Sunday four shots back of Brooks Koepka as players arrived early to finish a
third round that had been suspended by weather. He cut his deficit to two by the end of the round, pulled ahead on the front nine of the final round, and closed with a 69 for a four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
“We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” said Rahm, who had three rounds in the 60s to finish at 12 under for the championship.
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament,” he said, “but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
In truth, there was plenty to laugh and cry and cringe about during an eventful week at Augusta National. But in the end, it was Rahm at the center of it all. He sudden-
“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.”
ly has two legs of the career grand slam in the bag and needs the PGA and British Open to finish it off. And given the way he played Sunday, Rahm figures to be the favorite just about everywhere.
He trailed Koepka by two when they returned to Augusta National early Sunday to finish their third rounds and cut the deficit in half almost immediately. The two went shot-for-shot the rest of the
The Associated Press
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Christopher Bell to figure out Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface was ready made for drivers with dirt experience.
And it was the perfect layout for Bell to win his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race there Sunday night.
“It was a very tough surface to get a hold of and should’ve rewarded guys that kind of knew what to expect and how to get the car around the racetrack, which I think it did,” Bell said.
Bell held on through a restart eight laps from the end hold off another who grew up racing on dirt in Tyler Reddick.
Bell was a whiz-kid dirt racing sensation growing up — he won three Chili Bowl Nationals driving midget cars on dirt — and that experience helped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday.
The first two years of Bristol dirt racing, NASCAR champs Joey Logano and Kyle Busch both won despite have less expansive dirt experience than many of their colleagues.
That changed this year as organizers gave racers more of a dirt
feel than ever before, Bell said. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete,” Bell said.
Reddick was second for a second straight season, followed by Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe.
Bell’s last challenge came after defending race winner Busch spun with 15 laps left. Bell took off on the restart and widened his lead over Reddick.
Reddick, who won the second stage, was closing in on the last lap when the 16th and final caution came out, instantly ending the race and sending Bell’s team into hysterics.
“Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel,” Bell said. Reddick also enjoyed the intensity down the stretch.
“I thought I had a little bit more,” he said. “I was at the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last
round, and the U.S. Open champion at Torrey Pines was still two shots behind Koepka when they started the final round.
Koepka began to collapse, though. The birdies dried up and the bogeys multiplied, and at one point he went 22 straight holes without a birdie. Rahm had no such trouble, seizing the opening to build a lead that nobody could touch.
The lasting image from a memorable Masters came when Rahm walked off the 18th green in the twilight.
On the birthdate of Ballesteros, and the 40th anniversary of his winning a second Masters title, Rahm had one of his own. He embraced his wife and two children, then hugged two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, who had stuck around to see whether his fellow Spaniard could join him in the most exclusive of company.
“That might have been the hardest thing to control today, is the emotion of knowing what it could be if I were to win,” Rahm said later. “That might have been the hardest thing.”
couple of laps.”
Justin Haley was sixth, Bell’s JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. seventh, Todd Gilliland eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth with Ty Gibbs in 10th, giving Gibbs three cars in the top 10.
Points leader Ross Chastain, who took the top spot after Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman’s car was hit with a 60-point penalty for violations at Richmond, ended a lap down in 28th.
Kyle Larson, like Bell a dirt racing supernova who started from pole, won the first stage and took only fuel — no fresh tires — heading to the final segment. But Larson spun on his own 96 laps from the end, had to pit and restarted at the back of the field.
Larson’s race ended for good some 20 laps later after bumping several times with Ryan Preece between turn three all the way to turn one.
Preece was angered by earlier contact with Larson and gave him a hand gesture soon after to make that clear as their cars passed each other.
“I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” said Larson, who was 35th. “He rode me straight into the fence.”
The Cup Series stays on the short tracks and heads back to Virginia when the Cup Series runs at Martinsville on Sunday. William Byron, already a twotime winner this season, is the defending champion for Martinsville’s spring race.
Jon RahmAP PHOTO Scottie Scheffler puts the green jacket on Jon Rahm after Rahm won the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club. AP PHOTO Christopher Bell celebrates after picking up his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, winning on the dirt Sunday at Bristol.
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A bill requiring North Carolina voters to turn in their absentee ballots no later than when polls close on Election Day is advancing in the state House.
A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 last week in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s three-day grace period after an election for an absentee by-mail ballot to arrive and set a 7:30 p.m. cutoff on Election Day for county boards to accept absentee ballots, regardless of postmark.
All absentee by-mail ballots would have to be submitted at a county board of elections office, whether by mail or in person, and could not be turned in at a onestop early voting site. The measure would not apply to military or overseas absentee ballots. It must also pass the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor for a vote.
While Republican sponsors, like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, say the change is needed to restore trust in elections, critics say it would disenfranchise lawful voters of all parties and play into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to sow distrust in elections after he lost the last presidential race in 2020.
“The whole thing is to make the process more concise, more trustworthy, more transparent and more straightforward,” Davis said, adding that the bill aims to streamline the vote counting process so more races can be called on Election Day.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed a similar proposal in 2021, saying the bill “virtually guarantees that some (votes) will go uncounted.” Republican seat gains in the midterms improved their chances this year of
overriding a veto, but they will typically need at least one Democratic vote — or some absences from the chamber — to do so.
A 2009 bill, supported by GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, created the existing three-day grace period for mail-in ballots that Republicans are now trying to eliminate.
Republicans at the committee meeting did not mention Trump
nor his false claim that he was robbed of a 2020 win by widespread voter fraud. But Democrats tried to link the two, saying what is disguised as an election integrity measure reinforces a nationwide narrative promoted by the former president that mail-in ballots are less trustworthy. Calling the bill “undemocratic,”
Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat and former U.S.
Postal Service employee, spoke of ballot delivery delays, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She warned that the proposal could discard thousands of legitimate votes. The State Board of Elections received and counted more than 11,600 ballots in the three days after the last presidential election in 2020.
“We’re all going to be throw-
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the House Select Committee on China said Saturday the U.S. must take seriously the threat posed to Taiwan, as Beijing launched military drills around the island in the aftermath of the Taiwanese president’s meetings with American lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who attended the meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week, told The Associated Press that he plans to lead his committee in working to shore up the island government’s defenses, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan.
“I think it all just points to what is obvious,” Gallagher told the AP, arguing that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.
China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in what was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the U.S. lawmakers and the president
of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Tsai in a bipartisan session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, with more than a dozen members of the U.S. House for what was the most sensitive stop
during her transit through the U.S.
China’s response to Tsai’s transit through the U.S. has not, so far, been as intense as its reaction last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
While both McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintain-
ing the status quo between their countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, the daylong meeting enraged China.
The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent.
Taiwan split with China in 1949 after a civil war, and the United States broke off official ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government.
The U.S. acknowledges a “one China” policy in which Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, but it does not endorse China’s claim to the island and remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defense assistance.
The ruling Communist Party says the island is obliged to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing says contact with foreign officials encourages Taiwanese who want formal independence, a step the ruling party says would lead to war.
Chinese officials condemned Tsai’s meetings with lawmakers and announced sanctions on two organizations that hosted her in the U.S., but its immediate response so far has been less force-
ing away our constituents’ ballots by this if we pass this bill,” Harrison said. “I can’t really figure out the purpose of the bill beyond suppressing the vote.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County Republican, said it’s not fair to say such a high number of ballots might be discarded in future elections because the earlier deadline was not in place at that time.
ful than its reaction to Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan.
China had warned U.S. lawmakers not to join the meeting with Tsai, Gallagher said. And after the meeting, China urged the U.S. off what it called a “wrong and dangerous road” Gallagher, who served as a U.S. Marine with tours in Iraq, said U.S. lawmakers will not be intimidated by the Chinese.
“It’s an attempt to shift the ideological battle space and, again, an attempt to intimidate us, and make us feel like we’re changing the status quo and provoking them, when the opposite is true,” he said.
Gallagher said he wants Congress to work on stepping up its military commitments to Taiwan. He said the U.S. should be more quickly sending weapon systems to Taiwan for its defense.
One idea that arose from the meeting, he said, was for the U.S. to help Taiwan with technology to manufacture its own defense systems.
In 2022, China responded in the aftermath of Pelosi’s visit with its largest live-fire drills in decades, including firing a missile over the island.
Chinese officials gave no indication whether the drills underway now might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights.
Sheriff’s office makes child exploitation arrest following undercover investigation
Last Tuesday, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the Leland Police Department arrested a man for sexually exploiting a minor following a lengthy undercover investigation.
According to Sheriff Ronnie Fields, the sheriff’s office and the Leland Police Department are both part of the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (NCICAC) Taskforce. Though the investigation initially began with the Leland Police Department, information was provided to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, which led to the arrest of 49-year-old Gregory Simmons from West End. Simmons was charged with one count of felony third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and taken to the Moore County Detention Center, where he was later released on a $5,500 unsecured bond. Sheriff Fields noted that the investigation is ongoing but did not release any further details about the arrest. Simmons is expected to appear in court on Wednesday, April 19, and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper officially proclaimed April 2023 as the “Month of the Military Child” in North Carolina and commended its observance to all citizens. This designation of April as the Month of the Military Child underscores the important role military children play in the armed forces community. Sponsored by the Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy, April is a time to applaud military families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome. The Month of the Military Child is part of the legacy left by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who established the Defense Department commemoration in 1986.
cifically those with the Country Club of North Carolina, that were created with the prior regulations placed on short-term rentals.
land use, Neighborhood Lodging Accommodation (NLA), with a planned community neighborhood (PCN).”
ers within the PCN are obligated to pay real property taxes, insurance premiums, or other expenses to maintain, improve, or benefit other lots or common areas or other real estate described in the declaration. A Neighborhood Lodging Accommodation is leased, offered or made available by shortterm lease or other financial consideration for a time period or lease term less than 30 consecutive days.”
PINEHURST
— The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, March 28, with all three public hearings dealing with text amendments to the Pinehurst Development Ordinance on the agenda.
The first public hearing was to consider a text amendment to the PDO to create definitions and stipulations for Planned Community Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Lodging Accommodations in order to address conflicts, spe-
“As part of the discussions surrounding short-term rentals with this group and this council, a different type of lodging use was brought forth to our attention and a similar type of lodging use within the single-family homes and certain residential communities,” said Planning and Inspections Director Alex Cameron. “Distinctions were made by the way of the process, procedures, rules, regulations, and organization of these types of uses in what is deemed planned communities. These amendments would create a new
The definition for PCN and NLA provided by Village staff reads, “A Planned Community Neighborhood is a contiguous area containing at least twenty acres, or twenty dwelling units as included within a platted subdivision or condominium development for which any person or corporation, by virtue of ownership of a lot or dwelling unit within the PCN, is by declaration, governed by a master association with powers to enforce and adopt and amend, bylaws, rules, and regulations and which property own-
According to the plan by Village staff, NLAs would be permitted in select districts with a special use permit. Those zones include R-210, R-30, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-8, R-5, R-MF, VR and SR-10.
“These amendments further address the impacts of STRs on single-family neighborhoods,” said Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Pizzella. “Going back to the earlier ordinance we adopted last year, it was adopted because of significant
See PINEHURST, page 2
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — A bill requiring North Carolina voters to turn in their absentee ballots no later than when polls close on Election Day is advancing in the state House.
A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 last week in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s three-day grace period after an election for an absentee by-mail ballot to arrive and set a 7:30 p.m. cutoff on Election Day for county boards to accept absentee ballots, regardless of postmark.
All absentee by-mail ballots would have to be submitted at a county board of elections office, whether by mail or in person, and could not be turned in at a onestop early voting site. The measure would not apply to military or overseas absentee ballots. It must also pass the House Rules Committee before reaching the floor for a vote.
While Republican sponsors, like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, say the change is needed to restore trust in elections, critics say it would disenfranchise lawful voters of all parties and play into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to sow distrust in elections after he lost the last presidential race in 2020.
“The whole thing is to make the process more concise, more trustworthy, more transparent
and more straightforward,” Davis said, adding that the bill aims to streamline the vote counting process so more races can be called on Election Day.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper successfully vetoed a similar proposal in 2021, saying the bill “virtually guarantees that some (votes) will go uncounted.” Republican seat gains in the midterms improved their chances this year of overriding a veto, but they will typically need at least one Democratic vote — or some absences from the chamber — to do so.
A 2009 bill, supported by GOP
Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, created the existing three-day grace period for mail-in ballots that Republicans are now trying to eliminate.
Republicans at the committee meeting did not mention Trump nor his false claim that he was robbed of a 2020 win by widespread voter fraud. But Democrats tried to link the two, saying what is disguised as an election integrity measure reinforces a nationwide narrative promoted by the former
BALLOTS, from page 1
president that mail-in ballots are less trustworthy.
Calling the bill “undemocratic,” Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat and former U.S. Postal Service employee, spoke of ballot delivery delays, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She warned that the proposal could discard thousands of legitimate votes. The State Board of Elections received and counted more than 11,600 ballots in the three days after the last presidential election in 2020.
“We’re all going to be throwing away our constituents’ ballots by this if we pass this bill,” Harrison said. “I can’t really figure out the purpose of the bill beyond suppressing the vote.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County Republican, said it’s not fair to say such a high number of ballots might be discarded in future elections because the earlier deadline was not in place at that time.
concerns over the amount of and the rapid proliferation of shortterm rentals in our community and their impact on the historical ambiance and quality of life in the Village. We adopted that because that statement really represented the majority of citizens views in this Village. I think we’re being consistent with that continuing responsibility with what is before us tonight.”
However, just as has been the case all through the short-term rental debates, the council’s opinions on the matter were not all in line.
“There’s a saying in medicine,” said Jeff Morgan. “It’s, ‘Do no harm,’ and the ban that was placed on our community did some harm, and that’s a ripple effect to what happened with CCNC (Country Club of North Carolina). And so now we’re a very common thing in government which is addressing the laws of unintended consequences. CCNC should have never lost their ability to do shortterm rentals. Period. They weren’t a problem, and it’s a vibrant portion of our community. So, I am also prepared to vote at any time in addressing this because I do think it’s the right thing to do.
“Now the other part of this, the unintended consequences of what is going to occur, is that there is an equity issue because you have a lot of other people in the town that
Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Pizellacannot do this because they are not part of a big community like this. I just want to recognize that we have this issue and the issue because we created a ban.”
The council did not take action on any of the proposed amendments from the first public hearing.
The second public hearing was for a text amendment to the PDO pertaining to the regulation of retaining walls.
“We have points of confusion or conflicting language in our development ordinance that need to be cleared up and this is one such occasion with regards to retaining walls,” said Village Manager Jeff Sanborn.
While most of the amendments were just cleaning up language, two of the changes to the ordinance include that any retaining wall that is 18 inches or taller will require a development permit, and that all retaining walls must be constructed out of solid cement, masonry, or wood and constructed to the standards of the NC State
Building Code. Following the hearing, the amendments were approved.
The third and final public hearing was for text amendments to the PDO pertaining to the temporary rental of RVs in the PC (Public Conservation) zoning district where the harness track is located.
“Historically, for horse shows, we have allowed RVs on horse track facilities, however, there is no provision allowing that in our development ordinance currently,” Sanborn said. “In order to continue to offer that opportunity in the future, we think we need to amend the ordinance to allow RV hookups in the PC district, the one pertaining to the harness track.”
Following the hearing, the council approved the amendments.
The council was finally presented with the audit contract for the 2023 fiscal year.
“This year, we have our audit contract for the 2023 audit of the financial statements as well as the single audit for the Powell Bill funding, and for this year, our alternative examination engagement related to the ARPA funds, which will be a one time expense this year,” said Financial Services Director Dana Van Nostrand.
The total cost of the audit comes out to $41,000, which according to Van Nostrand, is a 1.6% increase from the previous year.
The Village of Pinehurst Council will next meet April 11.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Moore County:
April 13
Moore County Farmers Market
9am – 1pm
Enjoy the Moore County Farmers Market at the Armory Sports Complex, which is located at 604 W. Morganton Road in Southern Pines! Buy local and fresh seasonal produce and products every Thursday morning from 9 am until 1pm!
Trivia Thursday at the Brewery
6pm
Come out for Trivia at the Southern Pines Brewery! Enjoy fun and prizes each Thursday. Southern Pines Brewing Company is located at 565 Air Tool Dr., Southern Pines, NC.
April 14
Live After 5
Concert Series
5:15pm – 9pm
Come out for the 2023 Live After 5 Concert Series, which kicks off with a performance by The Sand Band! This year’s series will be held at the new location of The Village Arboretum. Enjoy live music, dancing, children’s activities, and food trucks!
April 15
Airport Young Eagles Event
9am – 1pm
The Moore County Airport is holding a Young Eagles event this Saturday! Children ages 8-17 can take a free flight in a small plane with local pilots. There will also be displays of airplanes and aviation equipment to inspire any aviation enthusiast!
April 16
Sipping on Sunday
2pm
The Triangle Wine Company, located at 144 Brucewood Road in Southern Pines, is hosting Sipping on Sunday wine tastings! Wine down on your Sunday and enjoy sipping on a great selection!
$299/case
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“These amendments further address the impacts of STRs on single-family neighborhoods.”Neal Robbins, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
SPRING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED here in the Sandhills, and the warmer weather is not the only reason to rejoice. As Matthew 28:6 states, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” For many, Easter Sunday is spent with family hunting for Easter eggs and celebrating Jesus defeating death and rising from the grave. I always look forward to sharing the story of Jesus’ resurrection with my son, Lane, and “losing” in our Easter egg hunt.
their state-of-the-art facility that is now accepting patients. I am working to make sure everyone has access to quality and affordable health care like we do at FirstHealth. I am also fighting for those who do not receive the proper care they deserve, such as Master Sergeant Richard Stayskal.
Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, skyhigh energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear.
Every Easter, I spend time reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation and how even out of despair, there is life. The same can be said for our nation. Even during this season, it is hard to ignore the challenges you and your family continue to face, including inflation, sky-high energy prices, and attacks on the values we hold dear. However, House Republicans are working to solve these issues while delivering on our “Commitment to America.”
Last week, House Republicans passed the bipartisan Lower Energy Costs Act, which will unleash American energy production, reverse President Joe Biden’s anti-energy policies, and lower your costs. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, yet gas prices in North Carolina spiked 20 cents last month. This pain at the pump must stop. Additionally, House Republicans are working to protect children by recently passing the Parents Bill of Rights. As the father of an elementary-aged child, I will not stop fighting for parents’ rights to know what our children are being taught in school.
While it is important to deal with the obstacles we see, it’s also a priority to prepare for challenges ahead. That’s why I have spearheaded legislation like the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act to increase seniors’ access to early cancer detection technology through Medicare. Too many families are devastated by a cancer diagnosis every day in our region. By increasing access to world-class technologies, we can detect cancers sooner and save lives.
Last month at FirstHealth Cancer Center in Pinehurst, I toured
Rich Stayskal lives in Moore County. He served our country honorably and was wounded in combat. But while stationed back at Fort Bragg, a missed cancer diagnosis changed his life. In response, I helped change the law in 2020 so he and other military families could receive support when facing non-combat medical malpractice while on active-duty. However, over two years since the Rich Stayskal Medical Accountability Act was signed, Stayskal and hundreds of other heroes have had their claims delayed or denied. That’s why I called on the Department of Defense last week to fix this immediately or step aside. As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, I will continue to speak out, not only for Rich and his family, but for every military family and veteran.
Master Sgt. Stayskal’s example reminds us that unexpected challenges can appear for any of us at any moment. However, I am working on solutions to address as many obstacles as possible in Congress. And especially at this time of year, I am reminded of God’s grace and His many blessings. As Psalm 33 states, “We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.”
As you celebrate with your families, I hope you’re able to find comfort in your faith and remember that brighter days lie ahead. Renee, Lane, and I would like to wish you a Happy Easter and Passover to all those celebrating. May God continue to bless you and our great nation.
Richard Hudson is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House and represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee.
HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight.
North Carolina already has robust educational choices and families are enthusiastically enjoying those opportunities. According to a 2022 report from BESTNC.com, approximately 16% of North Carolina families attend private school or home school. Families already have school choice, and this freedom allows for extraordinary educational innovation and entrepreneurship at a net gain to taxpayers.
Politicians in Raleigh want to transform our freedom with House Bill 420 giving state bureaucrats more control over North Carolinians educational options, consequently driving up prices, reducing quality and innovation and normalizing state welfare checks for the middle class and wealthy.
For the 280,000 students and their families who have opted out of public education, HB 420 will allow them to collect state welfare checks twice a year to pay for eligible expenses. Further, language in HB 420 will require now independent schools to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in-turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight. The consequences are significant: increased cost to manage and maintain the schools, potentially forced woke ideological teaching and reduced quality of education due to client shift: the government NOT the families. With shekels come shackles.
You may have noticed, after the federal government flooded our economy with money, that the price of every good and service has increased significantly. Consider specifically how rising college tuition costs have priced many families out of secondary education; interestingly, despite generous government handouts, college remains unaffordable and unattainable for many. When the government disrupts a market by throwing money into it the natural outcome is higher prices and lower quality. I predict this will happen with K-12 education in North Carolina should HB 420 be passed in its current form. The good news is that private educational savings accounts (ESA)
aren’t new ideas, Indiana has led the way in school choice for more than a decade. According to a new study out of Indiana “We also did not find statistical evidence that voucher students experience an improvement in their average achievement after baseline the longer they are enrolled in a private school. One might expect that students and their private schools would adjust to better meet the educational needs of voucher students. Collectively, this does not appear to be the case.” In other words, the lackluster results of Indiana’s voucher program, publicly funded ESA’s, demonstrates no statistical improvement in educational outcomes.
Solutions abound and immediate options are available, for example: academic and athletic scholarship for underserved students attending private schools, educational scholarships from non-profits such as the Homeschool Foundation who provides resources to those in poverty who chose to homeschool, and scholarships distributed by funds contributed through the community by way of churches and civic groups. North Carolina families are innovative and benevolent; therefore, our families do not require government handouts, nor do they require heavyhanded regulation.
North Carolina is considered one of the best states in the country for educational freedom and our citizens are freely exercising their inalienable rights. As a Christian and conservative, HB 420 is wrong for North Carolina because it will drive up prices, reduce quality and innovation and normalize welfare for the middle class and rich. Too much money is being spent to provide freedom that is already ours; the money should stay with the family.
Though well-intentioned and honorable, HB 420 is the height of welfare and big government as there is no free money from the government. Perhaps our legislators should champion for our citizens to retain more of the money they earn, instead of redistributing it.
Robert Bortins lives in Southern Pines.March 2, 1928 - April 8, 2023
Ruth Ineta Creighton Guild, 95, passed away on April 8, 2023. Born on March 2, 1928, as the youngest child of Silas Creighton and Elizabeth (Bessie) French Creighton, Ruth spent her childhood in Lebanon New Hampshire. She enjoyed many athletic, musical, and academic activities, graduating from Lebanon High School with honors in 1947. She attended Fisher Secretarial School for Girls in Boston Massachusetts and in 1951 received her associates degree in general studies from Jackson Junior College in Michigan.
In the spring of 1954, while a member of staff at the Student Health Center, Ruth met her future husband, Alden Guild. Alden had just returned from the Korean War, where he served as a United States Airforce Staff Sargent, to complete his Junior and Senior years at Dartmouth. Following Alden’s graduation from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar, Ruth and Alden were married on September 14, 1957, at the Church of Christ on the Dartmouth campus.
Ruth and Alden settled in Montpelier Vermont, where they lived for 59 years. In 1958, they bought a wooded property on the corner of Towne Hill and Murray Road overlooking the England Farm. It was here that Ruth was able to pursue her love of gardening, turning the acre plot into a beautiful home with eight surrounding gardens. In January 1960, Ruth and Alden welcomed the birth of their daughter Heather. Ruth was active as a substitute teacher and served on the Nursing Committee at Vermont Junior College, which later became part of Norwich University. She also substitute taught at Montpelier High School in the business department until 1964. In 2017, following the passing of her beloved Alden, Ruth moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina to be closer to their daughter. During her time there she was active with Moore County Republican Women and attended The Village Chapel in nearby Pinehurst.
Ruth is survived by her beloved daughter Heather Louise Guild of Seven Lakes, NC and sister-in-law Pauline Creighton of Henderson, NV, and nieces and nephews from across the country. She is predeceased by her husband Alden Guild, her brothers Arthur Creighton, Crandall Creighton Sr., Clarence Creighton, Donald Creighton, and Wendell Creighton Sr., and her sisters Pearl Augustyniak, Daisy Benson, and Margaret Jane MacKinnon. A celebration of life service will be held in September.
May 19, 1932 - April 5, 2023
Albert Lawrence Daniels, age 90 of Southern Pines, NC passed away at FirstHealth Hospice House on April 5, 2023. Albert was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 19, 1932 to Andrew R. Daniels and Anna Berger Daniels.
Al attended West Technical High School in Cleveland, where he was in the Boys Choir, and lettered in Baseball, and Track. He also worked part time at the West Side Market to save up money to attend Fenn College after graduation. He attended only for one year, as the Korean Conflict had started and he felt he should enlist, so he signed up with the U.S. Air Force, and was stationed at Sampson Air Force Base. After four years of serving as a staff sergeant/crew chief with tours of duty in the far east, including Japan and Korea. While in the service, in Al’s free time, he played harmonica in the Harmonicats Trio, as well as sang solos whenever he had the opportunity to entertain.
After 4 years serving his country, he went back to Fenn College, now Cleveland State University, to finish his studies in civil engineering. The “music bug” in his soul creeped out to his class in Music Appreciation, where he met the love of his life, Annette Liscynski. He and Annette were also in the Fenn Choir, and again, Al had the opportunity to sing in college operettas, as well as fraternity “fun nights.” The “music bug” didn’t stop there, it went on to the Society For The Preservation of Barbershop Singing in America, where Al was a lead singer of the Cleveland Chorus after he and Annette married in 1958.
Al’s work career included Cooperative Jobs offered by Fenn College, as well as U. S. Steel, Mau Sherwood Supply, and Small Design Firms, ending up with 35 years as Sales Engineer, and Branch Manager, of the Cleveland Office of Dresser Industries. During those years, he traveled 4 states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York.
The Al Daniels family included 4 children, David, (Heidi), of Lakewood, CO, Christine Schroder, (Roberto), of Puerto Rico, Thomas, (Missy), of Chicago, IL, and Anthony, (Teresa), of Gallipolis, OH. There are 8 grandchildren, Marie, Annika, and Max Schroder, Keagen, Kamryn, and Kyran Daniels, and Nai’a, and Lily Daniels. Albert was one of 6 children, deceased sisters include Helene Burant, Barbara Repasky, Teresa Kehoe, and Joanne Lupson. His surviving sister is Mary Ann Roberts, KA. He has many nieces and nephews.
May 17, 1927 - April 5, 2023
Cormier, Dorothy Mary (nee Zubrycki), 95, of Southern Pines, NC passed away peacefully and into the loving arms of our Lord surrounded by family on April 5th, 2023. Preceded in death by husband Tom, brothers John, Mike, Fred, and Pete and daughter Stephanie; survived by 97-year old sister Stephanie Palm, sons Robert (Kay) and Roger (Sara), son-in law Rob Byrnes, grandsons and granddaughters Chris (Colleen), Drew (Melissa), Darcy (Mark Stewart), Madeline, Thomas, Nicholas, step-granddaughter Erin (Berndt Jaehnigen), and great-grandchildren Mark Jr., Emmabelle, Matthew, Liam, and Niall.
Married in Minneapolis in 1949 after Tom’s post-WWII return from the Navy, she moved to Washington, DC where Tom’s career took them to Germany and Hong Kong. On Tom’s passing in 1985, she returned to NorthernVirginia and lived there until moving to Southern Pines in 2020. A enthusiastic traveler and explorer, Dorothy visited dozens of countries throughout Europe, Africa and southeast Asia, as well as India, Pakistan and Australia. A devoted mother, Dorothy was the consummate hostess for frequent parties and a dedicated community volunteer. In addition to speaking German, she transcribed braille books. An avid golfer, she was the first nonBritish chairwoman and club champion at Shek-O Country Club in Hong Kong. She also won club championships at Virginia golf clubs Twin Lakes, Burke, and Greendale. She made two career holes-in-one and was an active golfer until age 88. She remained an inspired participant in a wide range of activities at her retirement communities in Virginia and Penick Village. Loved by many, she is be missed by all.
November 2, 1928 - April 5, 2023
Josephine (Jo) L. Stallings Heger, 94, of Pinehurst, North Carolina died April 5, 2023.
Josephine was born in 1928 in East St. Louis, Illinois to John E. and Rose A. Creane Stallings. She married Alfred Luke Heger at St. Mary Catholic Church, Trenton, Illinois on November 12, 1956.
Josephine was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Alfred; her parents, John and Rose; a brother, Monsignor John (Jack) Stallings of Belleville Catholic Diocese of Southern Illinois; a sister, Mary Ann (Martin) Haselhort; a sister, Therese (Michael) Schmalz; a brother, Paul Stallings; and infant daughter, Elizabeth Rose.
Josephine is survived by her two daughters, Rita (Geoffrey) White of Pinehurst, North Carolina and Virginia (David) Sannerud of Castle Rock, Colorado; sister, Ursula (Gerald) Tabaska; four grandchildren, Katherine (Antoine), Michael, Sarah and Patrick White; and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
November 17, 1942 - April 6, 2023
Gary L. Butler, 80 of Pinehurst passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at home. Gary was born in Rochester, NY on Nov. 17, 1942. He grew up on Thurston Rd. and then Bryan Street, attending John Marshall High School. Gary worked for Eastman Kodak Company while attending Rochester Institute of Technology evenings and weekends where he earned a BS degree in Business Administration in 1976. Gary was preceded in death by his parents, Kenneth William “Bill” and Thelma Sheldon Butler and his brother David. He is survived by his loving wife Mary Steffen of 36 years, daughter Michelle Butler “Love Bug” Wallace and her husband Martin, so special and loving granddaughters Julia Marie, Jaime Elizabeth, Jenna Rae Karnath (Eric), Jaclyn Michelle and grandson Joseph Martin Wallace. Thank you Mary, Michelle, Marty and Grandchildren for all you are and have become. You’ve made me very proud.
May 15, 1921 - April 2, 2023
Betty Gross passed away peacefully on April 2, 2023 in Pinehurst. Mom was a newcomer permanent resident of Pinehurst since relocating from New York City in October of 2021. Very few of our neighbors and friends got to know her personally so we would like to take this opportunity to share who she was. She was born in Glen Rock, New Jersey on May 15, 1921 to Mabel and Burt Moore. Mom had two sisters, Marie McGrayne later of Whispering Pines and Jeanne Young, a lifelong resident of Glen Rock. She married our father, Andrew Edward Gross of Ramsey, New Jersey in February of 1941. Following Dad's return from WWII, they took residence in Glen Rock, Boston, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA and eventually back to Glen Rock. Along the way came the two of us, Susan in 1947 and Drew in 1950.
November 10, 1933 - April 5, 2023
Arlene Joyce Schoonover, 89, of Southern Pines, passed away peacefully on April 5, 2023, at FirstHealth Hospice House. in Pinehurst.
She was born on November 10, 1933, in Fosterdale, New York, she was preceded in death by her parents Harry Starck and Arlene McCoach Starck and her beloved husband of 58 years Roger E. Schoonover.
Joyce is survived by her son Todd and his wife Jeanette of Carthage; brother Paul and his wife Keisha of Pinehurst; her niece; nephews and her precious baby doll Nancy Lee.
She lived a simple life and mostly enjoyed reading, watching game shows and was a collector of dolls and collectables. Joyce always wanted to be a wife and mother and was content in fulfillment of both roles.
