VOLUME 148 ISSUE 47 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2026
CHATHAMNEWSRECORD.COM
THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
COURTESY CHATHAM COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Fixing the problem Ashley, a staff member with the Spay Shuttle, weighs a cat while Chatham Sheriff’s Animal Resource Center vet tech Kristin Recknagel handles paperwork during a spay/neuter clinic on Jan. 9. The event, held in partnership with the Spay Neuter Veterinary Clinic of the Sandhills, served six dogs and nearly three dozen cats.
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BRIEF this week
Tillis to visit Denmark as Trump focuses on Greenland A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation is headed to Copenhagen later this week to show unity with Denmark amid tensions over Greenland. Sen. Chris Coons is leading the trip, which includes at least nine members of Congress, including North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. They plan to meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials on Friday and Saturday. Coons emphasized the importance of the U.S.Denmark alliance, especially after recent statements by President Donald Trump about acquiring Greenland. Tensions have grown as Trump suggests taking Greenland to prevent Russian or Chinese control. Danish and Greenlandic leaders insist Greenland’s future must be decided by its people.
DHS ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants President Donald Trump’s administration is ending temporary protected status for immigrants from Somalia. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Tuesday that conditions in the horn of Africa nation, one of the world’s poorest, no longer meet the standards of the program. The move affects hundreds of Somalis in the U.S. under TPS. Their existing protections expire March 17. Congress created TPS in 1990, and Somalia has been designated as a TPS nation since 1991.
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Construction for Hillsboro Street widening slated for this year The roadworks project will take an estimated three years to complete By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record PITTSBORO — The Town of Pittsboro is preparing for upcoming traffic disruption due
to the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s latest project. At its Jan. 12 meeting, the Town of Pittsboro Board of Commissioners was presented with an update on the NCDOT’s Hillsboro Street widening project, which plans to widen 1.8 miles of Hillsboro Street from Launis
Street to Powell Place Lane. Along that stretch, the project will widen the street with two, 12-foot lanes along with a continuous center turn lane. It will also add curb and gutter improvements with subsurface stormwater drainage, fivefoot sidewalks on the western side and a 10-foot multiuse path on the eastern side, along with
intersection and collector road upgrades. “The pedestrian facilities will provide a full connection from downtown Pittsboro up to Powell Place on both sides of Hillsboro Street,” said NCDOT Project Team Lead Morgan DeWit. NCDOT is also planning to See PITTSBORO, page A7
Family stories take root in ‘Black Mingo’ Nell Smith’s debut novel draws on generations of Lowcountry history and memory By Dan Reeves Chatham News & Record WHAT BEGAN as family stories passed down through generations in a tiny South Car-
olina town have grown into a published novel — and the opening chapter of what may one day become a trilogy. “Black Mingo,” written over the course of just 21⁄2 months, is the debut novel by Nell Smith, a North Carolina resident now living in Mebane. The book draws deeply from oral histories rooted in Ridgeland, South Carolina, where much of her ex-
tended family lived within a few miles of one another. “It just flowed,” Smith said. “I started writing in early September, and by mid-November, the book was done.” Set in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, “Black Mingo” is a work of historical fiction and mystery that leans into darker territory. The novel introduces a wide cast of characters moving
Buddhist monks, their dog captivate Americans while walking for peace “My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace.” Bhikkhu Pannakara
The nineteen monks are sleeping in tents every night By Deepa Bharath The Associated Press A GROUP OF Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route. In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It’s a medita-
tive tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it’s resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation. Their journey began Oct. 26 at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is See WALK, page A10
through a landscape defined by towering live oaks, slow-moving water and long-buried secrets. Trouble presses in from every direction, fueled by ambition, desperation and the belief that nothing is ever quite enough. The characters’ willingness to take whatever they want drives the story forward — until the See NOVEL, page A3