A photographer stands at one end of the historic Bynum Bridge, located over the Haw River in Pittsboro. The bridge was built in 1922, and at over 800 feet long, it is one of the longest and most historically intact tee-beam bridges in North Carolina. For safety concerns, the bridge was closed to vehicular tra c in 1999. In April 2020, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Bynum Bridge now serves as a local landmark covered in gra ti art where community events take place throughout the year.
the BRIEF this week
8 convicted of terrorism charges in Texas immigration center shooting sentenced to decades in prison
Fort Worth, Texas
A demonstrator who shot and wounded a police o cer during a protest outside a Texas immigration center July 4, 2025, has been sentenced to 100 years in federal prison. Other protesters also accused of having links to antifa were sentenced Tuesday to multiple decades in federal prison. A federal jury in March found the eight defendants guilty of providing material support to terrorists and other charges. Prosecutors say the eight took part in a demonstration at the Prairieland Detention Center last July 4 in which a police o cer was shot and wounded. The defendants deny any a liation with the far-left anti-fascist organization.
Trump administration announces $17.5 billion in loans for 10 new large nuclear reactors
The Trump administration is providing $17.5 billion to speed the development of 10 new large nuclear reactors to meet the skyrocketing power demand from massive data centers. The Energy Department announced the loans Tuesday. Energy Secretary Chris Wright cited “tremendous interest” among developers of data centers, called hyperscalers, who would buy the power, as well as utilities and energy companies.
Roberson to transition from sheri to Board of Commissioners
Roberson was the Democratic Party’s recommended successor for the District 3 seat
By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
PITTSBORO — The Chatham County Board of Commissioners has approved the
appointment of current Sheri Mike Roberson to ll the vacant seat on the board.
The District 3 seat was left vacant after former commissioner David Delaney stepped
down at the end of May due to him moving to Wake County. Roberson was the Chatham County Democratic Party’s recommended appointment to ll the vacancy, and at the board’s June 15 meeting, it opted to accept the recommendation, electing Roberson to serve out the remainder of
Delaney’s term starting July 16. In order to serve on the commission, Roberson will be stepping down as sheri , a position he’s held since 2016. Roberson was already set to take over the District 3 seat as he had won the Democratic
Watch Duty, re tracking app used by millions, expands to help monitor dangerous oods
The nonpro t’s volunteer reporters consolidate emergency information from multiple sources faster than o cial channels
By Gabriela Aoun Angueira The Associated Press
WHEN A FIRE broke out a few miles from his Altadena, California, home the evening of
Jan. 7, 2025, Matt Blea and his family needed to make a crucial decision: Should they stay home or evacuate?
A friend who did mountain rescue told Blea to download a free app called Watch Duty. On the app, he could see the re’s perimeter, track evacuation orders and read updates about the emergency response.
“It in uenced me to leave the home sooner than later,” said Blea, who left with his wife and son that evening before the Eaton Fire destroyed their home.
Blea was one of more than
Patrols, nanobubbles on display at Re ecting Pool as Trump looks for renovation do-over
“I’m
a curious citizen. I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
David Hearn,
The president claimed vandals have damaged the pool’s new coating as authorities make multiple arrests
By Nathan Ellgren and Bill Barrow The Associated Press
250th anniversary celebration.
The patrols came two days after Trump said authorities had made “multiple arrests” of people he insisted were responsible for damage to the peeling coating after an algae bloom occurred. The liner was installed as part of his $14 million-plus project.
The president has con rmed the problems most likely require draining the pool again for liner repairs, and he promised a quick x. Without o ering substantiation, he also said vandals dumped fertilizer in the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. $2.00
WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Guard members and U.S. Park Police patrolled the deck around the Lincoln Memorial Re ecting Pool on Monday as President Donald Trump’s administration faces a self-imposed deadline to x a botched renovation before the nation’s
2.5 million people who used Watch Duty to track res burning across Los Angeles County that week. The information was collected, vetted and disseminated by about two dozen Watch Duty sta and more than 100 volunteers who monitored emergency radio tra c,
THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF NORTH STATE JOURNAL
LAUREN ROSE / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
THURSDAY
6.25.26
Supreme Court reinstates murder conviction in case missing 1970s New York City boy
The 6-3 decision rejects an appeals court’s narrow basis for overturning the original conviction
By Mark Sherman The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
The justices, by a 6-3 vote, granted an appeal from New York prosecutors who had urged them to undo a federal appeals court decision that overturned the verdict. The three liberal justices dissented.
Prosecutors had been preparing to try the man, Pedro Hernandez, for a third time. His rst trial ended in a mistrial.
The unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Hernandez’s murder and kidnapping conviction in the second trial because of how the judge had answered a question from jurors.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had called the basis for overturning the conviction “a slender reed” that essentially ignored a ve-monthlong trial with 66 witnesses.
The justices agreed, in an unsigned opinion, that federal courts should not second-guess state courts under a 1996 federal law that was intended to reduce federal court oversight of state criminal trials.
“The Second Circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief,” the court wrote, referring to the New York-based appeals court.
Hernandez, 64, has been serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
CRIME LOG
June 16
• Brittany Michelle Gupton, 36, was arrested for obtaining property by false pretense, identity theft and nancial card fraud.
• Hannah Machelle Davis, 21, was arrested for involuntary manslaughter; death by distribution; and possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver fentanyl, and other charges.
June 17
• Trevon Lamar Bullard, 30, was arrested for common law robbery.
June 18
• Melinda Rose Kilgore, 73, was arrested for violation of probation.
June 19
• Cory Terell Wilkerson, 36, was arrested for driving while impaired.
• Cassey Elizabeth Carnes, 28, was arrested for driving while impaired.
• Brandon Dean Beal, 30, was arrested for second-degree trespass.
• Mathivanan Pothiyappan, 50, was arrested for indecent liberties with a child and felony stalking.
June 20
• Reuben Curtis Hamilton, 30, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny and possession of stolen property.
• Aleaha Renne Marr, 32, was arrested for driving while impaired.
• Marcos Omar Valencia Pichardo, 42, was arrested for felony larceny, assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
• Daniell Jonathan White, 44, was arrested for assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
June 21
• Hannah Michelle Truelove, 24, was arrested for assault in icting serious injury, assault and battery and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
• William Tyrell Davenport, 43, was arrested for assault on a female and false imprisonment.
“The
Second Circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Hernandez admitted to the crime under police questioning, but his lawyers say he confessed falsely because of a mental illness that sometimes made him hallucinate. They emphasized that the admission came after police queried him for about seven hours before reading him his rights and recording the interview. Hernandez then repeated his confession on tape, at least twice.
Patz vanished while walking to his downtown Manhattan school bus stop on May 25, 1979. Hernandez worked at a nearby convenience shop at
the time, but the Maple Shade, New Jersey, resident didn’t become a suspect until 2012.
Patz was among the rst missing children ever to appear on milk cartons, and the anniversary of his disappearance became National Missing Children’s Day.
Hernandez already has been tried twice. A jury deadlocked in 2015, and then a di erent panel of jurors convicted him at a 2017 retrial.
During deliberations, the 2017 jurors asked a complicated question: If they decided Hernandez didn’t confess voluntarily when he hadn’t been read his rights yet, must they disregard his other confessions? The then-judge responded simply, “The answer is no.” The jury went on to convict.
In overturning that verdict, the appeals court said the jury’s question should have gotten a more fulsome answer, including the possibility of discounting all the confessions.
Share with your community! Send your birth, death, marriage, graduation and other announcements to community@chathamnewsrecord.com The weekly deadline is Monday at noon.
CHATHAM happening
June 25
family screening of Disney’s “Strange World” (rated PG) in the Holmes Family Meeting Room. Attendees are encouraged to bring pillows, blankets and snacks.
Chatham Community Library 197 N.C. Highway 87 North Pittsboro
June 26
Beach Music Series: Band of Oz 7 p.m.
The MOSAIC Beach Music Series presents Band of Oz in a free outdoor concert at the Tommy Edwards Stage. The lawn opens at 6 p.m.; lawn chairs, blankets and leashed pets are welcome. Free tickets are available through Eventeny.
Philip H. Kohl MOSAIC Family Commons 457 Freedom Parkway Pittsboro
June 27
Chatham Celebrates America 250 10 a.m.
Chatham County marks the 250th anniversary of American independence with a free, family-friendly celebration featuring live music, food trucks, vendors, displays and demonstrations, and children’s activities. Shuttle service will be provided by Chatham Transit; the event is held indoors at an ADA-accessible facility.
Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center 1192 U.S. Highway 64 West Business Pittsboro
Central Electric providing grants to local educators to fund innovative projects
Teachers, are you looking for new opportunities to fund projects for your classroom?
Central Electric is awarding up to $15,000 in Bright Ideas education grants to local educators in K-12 classrooms for the 2026-27 school year. Educators in K-12 classrooms with creative ideas for learning projects are encouraged to apply for a grant up to $2,000. Grant applications will be accepted through Sept. 15. However, it pays to apply early.
All teachers who submit their applications by the early bird deadline of Aug. 15 will be entered into a drawing for one of ve $100 Visa gi cards. Scan the QR code or visit NCBrightIdeas.com for more information or to apply!
Sanford Farmers Market
8:30 a.m. to noon
It creates the ideal place for local food producers to build connections within the community while giving the public a place to sample and purchase foods and crafts made by their neighbors. Experience the ultimate in food, fun and fellowship in the Sandhills region.
115 Chatham St. Sanford
June 28
The Claptones 3-6 p.m.
This Triangle band specializes in blues-rock covers of some of the biggest names in the genre, including the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton and many more. No cover charge, but tips are encouraged. Most shows are rain or shine.
The Plant 220 Lorax Lane Pittsboro
MARIAM ZUHAIB / AP PHOTO
The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the conviction of Pedro Hernandez in the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz.
Wine brands chase Gen Z with playful tie-ins to Shark Week, NASCAR, more
Younger drinkers are forcing wine to trade stu ness for sass, a ordability and pop culture moments
By J.M. Hirsch The Associated Press
BOSTON — Which wine pairs well with Shark Week? Does a pinot noir have enough acidity to cut through the grime of a Tough Mudder race?
Is a big, brassy cabernet bold enough of a qua for a night of naming dead rodents after an ex?
And is a wine named SEX too provocative or not provocative enough?
Absurd as they may sound, these are the questions haunting wine marketers grappling with slumping sales and increasingly elusive drinkers. How consumers — especially younger drinkers — answer them will determine whether an industry long de ned by fuddy-duddy pretense can nd its footing in 2026 and beyond.
“That self-important way that wine can refer to itself — we’re really trying to tip that on its head,” said Helen Kurtz, chief of marketing for The Wine Group, which hopes that o erings such as its easy-drinking Cupcake Vineyards wines can attract a generation that came of age on Frappuccinos and gas station BuzzBallz.
“It’s about being less serious about ourselves, because that’s what this consumer is demanding,” she said. By which she means partnering the company’s MD 20/20 (yes, it’s a wine) with World Wrestling Entertainment matches (“Mad Dog Enters the Ring”), and launching the aptly named Fuel by Franzia line of boxed wine beverages for NASCAR (“Full Throttle Flavor”).
Alcohol consumption has dropped
It’s a fresh lesson on the importance of nding your customer rather than hoping they nd you. Because almost across the board, alcohol consumption is down, a trend that accelerated post-pandemic. A host of factors is at play, including aging Boomers seeking healthier lifestyles, Gen Z’s gravitation to low- and no-alcohol beverages, and widening availability of alternatives such as marijuana.
Each segment of the alcohol industry — valued at around $560 billion in the U.S. — is responding di erently. Hard liquor, for example, has found a rare growth category in readyto-drink canned cocktails. But the wine industry faces its own constellation of challenges, many of its own making.
For anyone new to wine particularly much-coveted 20-somethings — nding one’s way can be daunting, something of a Château du Stu y e ect.
“You’ve got a bunch of things, what you might call friction points with wine that are particularly salient to younger consumers,” including cost and drinkability, said Christian Miller, director of research for
Church News
OAKLEY BAPTIST CHURCH
As Oakley Baptist Church (2300 Siler CityGlendon Road, Siler City) seeks to begin its next chapter, we are enjoying hearing a word from the Lord from various old and new friends. Our service begins at 10:30 a.m., but we also have Sunday School classes for every member of the family at 9:30 a.m. We would be blessed if you joined us for any and all of these speakers in the coming weeks.
June 28 – Gary McCollough – Interim
We look forward to meeting you at any of these services and in the future, and invite you to pray with us as we seek a new pastor. To learn more, go to oakleybaptist.org or email us at oakleybaptistchurch@gmail.com.
LOVES CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH
“It’s about being less serious about ourselves, because that’s what this consumer is demanding.”
the Wine Market Council.
A pretentious image keeps some customers away
Wine, from the labels to the language used to describe it, historically has leaned pricy and pretentious (looking at you, “notes of asphalt and barnyard”). Wine trends also have favored boozy and bracing styles, a hard sell for folks used to sipping hard seltzers at the club.
Fewer than a third of Gen-Z households own a corkscrew, according to a trends report by the British household products company Lakeland. Even simply trying a wine comes with a gatekeeper: Hard liquor is easy to sample at a bar or as single-shot nips; most wine requires a full-bottle commitment.
A cadre of wineries has begun pushing the bounds of wine culture by ditching the fussy façade in favor of a sassy vibe and accessible language.
Price matters too (the sweet spot seems to be the $8 to $20 a bottle range), but not nearly so much as the message.
It’s about using contemporary communication to pitch “something that’s been made for centuries,” said Charles Smith, founder of House of Smith, the company behind younger, shopper-friendly brands such as Kung Fu Girl Riesling and SEX Rosé. “My mantra is always to communicate the language of wine to everyone because not everyone speaks wine. The wine should be a re ection of the consumer who is going to buy it.”
Can tie-ins to pop culture make wine more relatable?
Bogle Family Wine Collection has leaned in with its Juggernaut Wines. Adorned with almost graphically violent la-
bels showcasing alpha predators — a shark, a grizzly, an orca, a lion and some sort of particularly angry bird of prey — the bottles are a far cry from the placid villas and languorous ladies plastered across so many wines.
The other side of it is getting those bottles into spaces not traditionally associated with wine, said Jessica LaBounty, the company’s marketing director. For two years, Juggernaut has announced “Adventure awaits” as it sponsored the grueling Tough Mudder races. They’ve also done placements at zoos that host nights where people can name dead rodents and insects after former partners and feed them to the animals. Cheers…?
And this year, it’s Discovery network’s Shark Week. Juggernaut’s chardonnay label sports an especially snappish great white and “just the right amount of bite.”
“The viewer base of Shark Week lines up really, really nicely with who we know our consumer to be,” LaBounty said. “It’s another way to meet them where they are already versus kind of asking them to come to us.”
Learning to speak
Gen Z is key
The goal is to bridge a generational divide in which wine got lost. Younger drinkers don’t and won’t talk about wine the way older drinkers do. To that point, there’s a clever social media meme about a Millennial marketing team pitching wine vs. a Gen-Z social media team. The Millennial e ort goes on at length about terroir and full-bodied avors. Gen-Z’s pitch? “it’s giving… yummy”.
Vibe is everything for Bread & Butter Wines, with the tagline, “Don’t overthink it.” As in, pair their red blend with a candy charcuterie board. Or their pinot noir with a Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich. Want fries with that? Try their prosecco.
“The No. 1 goal is to disrupt the shelf because it is so crowded,” said Caitlin Ward, brand and digital marketing director. “Sassiness is a way to do that.”
J.M. Hirsch is a longtime food writer who was food editor of The Associated Press for nearly a decade until 2016.
Loves Creek Baptist Church invites you to come to our Sea Explorers Vacation Bible School Kick-O on Saturday, June 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with hot dogs, nachos, crafts and games. Our VBS continues June 28 through July 1 from 6-8:30 p.m. nightly. All kids/youth ages 4 years to 12 years are invited! There will be snacks, Bible stories and crafts each night, and our closing night, July 1, there will be a commencement followed by pizza and fellowship.
We are located at 1745 East 11th St. (Highway 64) in Siler City right across from Bojangles. We’d love to see you there as we discover God’s Truth Beneath the Waves! Please come and bring a friend.
Bible Study: Proverbs 6:16-19 Church of Living Water; Pastor: James Mitchell.
God tells us that there are seven sins of the wicked. There are six things our Lord hates, and seven are an abomination. A proud look means we are too proud to admit when we’re wrong. Then the lying tongue will butt butt like a lying goat. I’m sorry, Mr. Goat. Then all the illegals murdering our citizens. Democrats and some Republicans are committing character assassination. Satan is putting wicked imaginations in a lot of the news media, most Democrats, and a few Republicans who haven’t been born again. Satan and demonic spirits will bring evil imaginations to God’s children. The born-again have God’s power to cast down these viruses from our brains. 2 Corinthians 10:5. Wake up, America/World! The left-wing politicians are pushing socialism/communism like never before. Demonic spirits have taken over their brains! All you lying devils, repent! The seventh sin is sowing discord, which is an abomination! To all my Black, White, Hispanic, Latino brothers and sisters, the Democrats are sowing discord to divide us. I cast that spirit out, in Jesus’ name. I pray blind minds will see how Satan has deceived you, in Jesus’ name. Though the sins are so bad, if you repent and turn around, believing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the dead, all who call on God, asking for forgiveness and sincerely telling God from your heart that you will live for Him from this day forward, will be born again! Praise God, we need You more today than ever!
J.M. HIRSCH VIA AP
A variety of pinot noir wines, from left, Josh Cellars Reserve, Juggernaut and Chloe, sit on shelves at a grocery store in Concord, New Hampshire, on June 8.
Helen Kurtz, Chief of Marketing, The Wine Group
J.M. HIRSCH VIA AP
A variety of California red wines from Line 39, from left, Cupcake Vineyards and Snoop Dogg’s 19 Crimes Cali Red, are displayed on a Concord, New Hampshire, grocery store shelf.
THE CONVERSATION
Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor
COLUMN | ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN
These little lights
Nothing has taught me more about love and humility than having children.
THE CITY SHINING on the hill is the image from the Gospel of Matthew that inspired the founders of America (Matthew 5:14). Last weekend, we celebrated Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery, which serves as a reminder that our democracy can uphold its brightest ideals of liberty and justice for all.
Jesus also gave a second metaphor about a candle on a candlestick that gives light to everyone in the house (Matthew 5:15). This domestic metaphor is much smaller and humbler than the lofty city on a hill. It provides balance between the public and private, the larger community and the individual family. I nd hope in the idea that lighting a candle, which I am capable of doing, might just make a brighter di erence in the country at large. But don’t just take it from me.
Michelle Obama said, “I know that it can be hard to grasp right now when everything feels so dark. But we can reignite the optimism and empathy and ambition that has always powered this country’s greatest change.” Both the former rst lady and the ancient rabbi of Galilee call us to reignite our little lights of faith, hope and, most of all, love. Love is what Jesus preached and what he embodied. To embody God’s love and to experience it can
COLUMN | BOB WACHS
Looking up to someone not just measure of height
She tended to cut to the chase, o ering advice and direction, sometimes without being asked.
THESE WORDS, of course, come after the fact — a characteristic that seems to t my nature, especially lately. I won’t say I’m always slow or late, but I’ve been known to take a while to get started on some things and then to drag them out until the last ounce of life is gone.
It was the realization, I guess, that on the calendar last Sunday was Father’s Day that got me started down this road.
That and the realization that July 1, soon to be here, is their wedding anniversary date. 1933, it was.
In Bennettsville, South Carolina. They “ran away” — eloped is the formal word, I believe.
Lots of folks did that then, I’m told. For some reason it was easier to get married south of the border than at home in North Carolina. She was 15; he was 21. I know, I know … today that would be all sorts of crimes — child abuse, crossing state lines, underage issues and on and on. But then … well, it was di erent.
She used to tell me she “was mature for my age,” and she didn’t mean just physically.
She grew up the daughter of millworkers. Her dad also subsidized providing for their 12 children by working as postmaster of their little village, and her mom tended a garden, scrimped and saved, and added a cup of water to the soup when necessary. The life of a child then in the days of the Great Depression would, no doubt, cause you to grow up in a hurry.
One day she met a young man of that same village. I never heard her say where, when or how; maybe she always knew him. I don’t know. She did say he was a ladies’ man … or, at least, he thought he was. The rst time they went out — to church on a Sunday night — he was late, and she decided he wasn’t going to add her as a mark in his little black book so she went on without him.
He showed up late at her house that evening after she left but made sure he was the one who walked her home from church.
I don’t know how long the courtship lasted, but apparently it wasn’t extremely lengthy until that day, along with another couple as witnesses, they became Mr. and Mrs. From that union came my two older brothers and then, nally, me.
They’ve been gone some time now — he left in 1992; she followed 11 years later.
I still miss them.
transform our lives as surely as a lit match transforms the wick of a candle.
Last weekend was also Father’s Day, and nothing has taught me more about love and humility than having children. For deep down, I know that life is ultimately beyond my control. I cannot protect my children from everything. I cannot stop the pain of the world from entering their hearts. I am as eeting and fragile as a candle in the wind, yet I can hope that my words and my example o er a ickering light of wisdom on their paths ahead. My comfort is that I am not alone in the desire for a kinder, safer world for all children but that others are quietly shining their little lights. Democracy might be like a shining city on the hill. But maybe it’s also like a candlelight vigil, just one ame in the dark passed from person to person, one candle at a time. The darkness is still all around us, yet as we share the light, it’s suddenly beautiful. You might even be moved to sing, thus embarrassing your teenager if you are in public.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman’s newest book is “This Is the Day.” He serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church as well as a writer, pizza maker, co ee drinker and student of joy.
Tremendously.
Think of them every day.
He left in such a hurry I didn’t get to tell him goodbye. Died with his boots on. Best way to go. She lingered. I spent years telling her goodbye until that day.
His was better. It took me months to stop almost picking up the phone or turning into the nursing home where she lived her last ve years. Now I look at the pictures. Remember them when something crosses my mind. Need to take out one of the old family VHS tapes and stick it in ... if I could gure out how to operate the mechanism.
I really didn’t have a favorite parent; they were just di erent. I’m told sometimes children do like one better than the other. I suppose that’s true and may be all right. I don’t know from my own experience. She tended to cut to the chase, o ering advice and direction, sometimes without being asked. “Nobody cares more about your welfare than I do,” she’d say at those times.
I believe that.
He, on the other hand, would let us plow our own eld, learning sometimes the hard way as we hit rock after rock. But even when things went sour, never did we hear an “I told you so.” It was more like, “What did you learn?”
I read something the other day. Made me think once again about them. It was about fathers, written by Margaret Truman. I think it applies to me ... maybe to you, too, if you care to have it do so.
It said, “It’s only when you grow up and step back from him — or leave him for your own career and your own home — it’s only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it.”
The three sons of these parents were all taller than both of them. I remember once we three boys surrounded him in his living room and took turns patting him on top of his head, just messing with him. He squirmed and howled in protest, but I think he liked it — and was proud.
We may have been taller, but we still looked up to them then. Still do ...
Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.
Unexplained magic
You’d think I’d never seen wildlife before.
HUNDREDS OF THEM! Just hundreds! OK, maybe not hundreds, mmmmm, 50? Well, probably 30. Still a heckuva lot. My spring Canada geese contingent had landed at Williams Pond, just down the road from me. According to my annual “waiting for the geese“ calendar, they y in around March. Initially, their time is spent, shall we say, making goo-goo eyes at each other behind bushes. These geese-y romances guarantee a pageant of little goslings hatching, roundabout May. Love me some yellow-feathered, wobbly, goslings!
Sidebar: Williams Pond is situated on farmland. So, ahem, the sheer multitude of very sizable geese droppings is probably not ticking o an aesthetically inclined property owner. More meticulous property owners seem disinclined to appreciate the spirit of Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of the Wild Things” (and, of course, all the prodigious goose poop.)
Sigh. There I go again, deviating from deep geese-y excitement when my contingent arrives. What’s the spark that leaves me totally wide eyed whenever I see the geese? I’ve been asking myself that same question for 24-plus years. You’d think I’d never seen wildlife before. Truth. I’ve lived, for many years, in a semirural neighborhood, populated by annual wildlife: deer, snakes, coyotes, foxes and the very loud nightly recitations of huge bullfrogs. Wish there was a bullfrog whisperer around. I’d love to know if I’m hearing a bullfrog choral recitation of
COLUMN | MICHAEL BARONE
Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of the Wild Things.” Or, perhaps, a communal sharing of human being jokes, going ’round the bullfrog cliques.
Inquiring minds, and all that …
Surrounded by annual wildlife, my reaction to the ephemeral presence of transient geese is of a di erent order, entirely. Best illustrated by my love of diving into a ridiculously fudgy devil’s food cake (geese) rather than a Hostess cupcake (annual critters.)
Each and every time I drive by Williams Pond, I am zzy with geese-y excitement. I do love me some spring fawns, but zziness does not enter that particular picture. I don’t know why the marked di erence. I just don’t.
Much appreciation to you, fair readers, for allowing me to prattle on. I set out to discern the di erence in the magnitude of my reactions to the transient Canada geese and the annual wildlife I encounter frequently. You know what? I don’t care anymore.
There’s a little girl, still living within me who just loves the idea of magic (and ridiculously fudgy devil’s food cake.) My aliveness personi ed. Lacking understanding of what magic is (do any of us truly know?) doesn’t mean I can’t thoroughly enjoy the zziness generated by that apparent magic. And I do.
Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.
Not following the example of President James K. Polk
What if you have been clearly winning a war, by any military de nition, and yet the other side doesn’t surrender?
A PRESIDENT orders the onset of hostilities — war — without authorization of Congress and without much in the way of making a case with the public. His troops win important victories and decapitate large parts of the government of the enemy. But in the enemy capital, no one surrenders or will even negotiate seriously.
That leaves the president with the unhappy choice of launching a new military attack on the central focus of the enemy, one riskier and less certain of success than those before, or of declaring an incomplete victory, well short of his essential objective, and just getting the heck out of there.
One president in American history chose the risky rst option and, despite missteps along the way, secured major gains for the country, even if he ultimately fell short of the broader goals that emerged during the con ict. A more recent president has chosen the second option, though the results are still unclear.
Both presidents faced this basic problem: What if you have been clearly winning a war, by any military de nition, and yet the other side doesn’t surrender? Even worse, what if it’s unclear just who is making decisions on the other side and what their goal is?
At this point, it should be clear who one of the presidents is and which power he has chosen to attack and back o : President Donald Trump and the regime of Iran. The other is James Knox Polk, who served as speaker of the House in the 1830s and governor of Tennessee in the 1840s.
Polk pledged to serve just one term. He told historian and Cabinet member George Bancroft that he would pursue just four goals: set up an independent treasury, lower tari s, take uni ed control of the Oregon Territory and take possession of California. He succeeded at all four in just four years. But not without di culty and controversy.
The treasury and the lower tari s he squeezed out of a Congress with a majority of his fellow Democrats. Oregon he got after splitting the territory with Britain (which got British Columbia). For California, however, he had to go to war.
There was then some dispute about the borders of recently annexed Texas. Polk ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor to lead troops across the Nueces River to the Rio Grande, claimed by Mexico. Mexican troops attacked Taylor’s Americans. With American bloodshed on American soil, Polk called on Congress to declare war. Although one-third of members had qualms, they voted for war with Mexico. Taylor then proceeded to beat Mexican troops in multiple battles near the border. But in the capital of Mexico City, or among o -and-on leader Santa Anna’s entourage, no one was negotiating. The great mass of Mexicans lived far south of the U.S. border and weren’t inclined to surrender.
What could Polk, eager to secure rights to California, do? In e ect, he started a second war, ordering Gen. Win eld Scott to land troops at Veracruz and proceed across 11,000-foot mountains, near the route of Cortes three centuries before, to reach Mexico City. It worked. In a feat of generalship praised by the aged Duke of Wellington, Scott beat the elusive Santa
Anna, got his successor to surrender, and helped Nicholas Trist negotiate a treaty netting one-third of Mexican territory (but only 90,000 of its citizens). Polk, greedy for more land as Scott headed inland, wanted more and red Trist, but when presented with his treaty, he sent it to the Senate, which quickly rati ed it.
Trump’s actions were driven more by anger over Iran’s 1979 seizure of U.S. diplomats than by any goal as speci c as Polk’s. Still, the joint U.S.-Israel attacks during the June 2025 12-day war seriously degraded Iran’s nuclear program and set it back.
His attacks this year, starting in February, further degraded Iran’s nuclear program and, with pinpoint accuracy, killed the supreme leader and dozens of subordinates. He in icted great damage on Iran’s weaponry and its economy.
But the mullahs in Tehran, like the leaders in Mexico City, wouldn’t surrender, and they blocked oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Trump was left with two of his goals — higher tari s and zeroing out Iran’s nukes — seeming to produce politically disastrous high in ation.
So Trump decided not to follow the path of Polk. Amid occasional military attacks, he sought a “deal” with a regime that has paraded its hatred of America for 47 years and has made dozens of promises it has no intention of keeping.
In its latest iteration, the administration has been sluggish in revealing the details. The U.S. will be suspending military action and allowing Iran to freely sell oil, e ectively paying the regime billions. In return, Iran promises to negotiate about its nuclear program and to allow tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, if they pay tolls.
Not much better, you might say, than the “deal” former President Barack Obama negotiated with Iran in 2015, which Trump criticized bitterly then but doesn’t mention so much now. Vice President JD Vance says that Iranian leaders have decided they shouldn’t oppose “the Great Satan” as they have for 47 years, though that would be less incredible (though not very credible) coming from the Iranians themselves.
Perhaps Trump believes he can intimidate Iran’s evil leaders not to do things he doesn’t want, the way he has apparently intimidated Venezuela’s not-so-savory leaders. But it’s not clear that such intimidation is working optimally in the geographically closer, culturally more similar Caribbean, and, inevitably, heading into the second half of his last term, Trump’s ire is a waning asset. Neither his vice president nor any possible Democratic successor is likely to share it.
“If you set out to take Vienna, take Vienna,” Napoleon is supposed to have said. Setting out to take Tehran may or may not have been a mistake. Setting out to take Tehran and then not taking it almost clearly is.
Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime co-author of “The Almanac of American Politics.” (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)
Hillary is right
IN A NEW INTERVIEW this week, Hillary Clinton identi ed the key decision that resulted in President Donald Trump’s election in 2024. It all boiled down, in her view, to a “terrible miscalculation” — former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s decision to run for reelection. Biden made a “terrible mistake for himself, his legacy and for the country” in deciding to seek reelection at the age of 81. Had he decided to “pass the torch” and the Democratic Party had held a competitive nomination process, “whoever emerged from that contest — whether it was the vice president, or a governor, or a senator or anybody else — would have beaten Donald Trump.”
Or, I would add, they would have had a better chance than Biden did.
The simple fact that Democrats need to accept is that Americans preferred the convicted felon to the vice president.
Joe and Jill Biden clearly live in a state of denial with respect to Joe’s unpopularity. In some respects, it’s understandable: He wasn’t a bad president and he left the country in better shape than it is now. So why shouldn’t Jill think that even though she was afraid her husband was having a stroke during the debate with Trump, he should stay in the race and if he had, they both seem to believe, he would have beaten Trump. It’s delusional thinking that must have been reinforced by the deep-seated loyalty of those who had been around him for so long. Sadly, the cost of that delusional thinking is being borne around the world.
The Democratic Party is still struggling to gure out what went wrong. The uno cial o cial autopsy report, which the Party commissioned and then disowned, studiously avoided any criticism of Biden’s decision to seek reelection, which cast doubt on the rest of the report.
Of course, the question remains: Was Kamala Harris the right candidate? That’s the one that even Clinton avoided, pointing out that Kamala would have been a stronger candidate if she’d emerged from a competitive process. But would she have? Emerged from a competitive process, that is. Kamala Harris was the vice president for an unpopular president. She was caught between defending the indefensible and attacking her own administration. She never gured out how to walk that line in the general election and there’s no reason to think it would have been easier in the primaries.
The simple fact that Democrats need to accept is that Americans preferred the convicted felon to the vice president. They got to see them both, up close. Harris ran a better campaign than she gets credit for. She did put her best foot forward. She was well- nanced. Experienced strategists surrounded her. She did not use a private email server, as Hillary did. She did not have investigators nipping at her heels, the way Hillary did. It was, considering everything, a smooth run. She just didn’t win. I have yet to hear any explanation for why she’s a stronger candidate today than she was in 2024, and she would need to be a stronger candidate to defeat a Marco Rubio, for instance. Kamala is leading in most, although not all, of the early polls, but that is a matter of name recognition; perhaps more signi cant is the fact that a majority of Democrats, at this stage, favor candidates other than Harris. And Harris has done almost nothing since the election to distinguish herself as the Party’s leader.
Soon enough, we will be hearing more, not only from Gavin Newsom, who is already out there (and being investigated for it), but from Pritzker and Shapiro and Buttigieg, not to mention Jon Osso , Ro Khanna and AOC. The nomination process is awed in many ways, but at least it’s a test, one that Kamala will be forced to pass this time.
Susan Estrich is a lawyer, legal scholar, and political commentator.
(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)
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obituaries
IN MEMORY
Patrick “Pat” Garner
May 10, 1946 – June 8, 2026
Patrick “Pat” Garner, 80, passed away Monday night, June 8th, 2026, at Moore Regional Hospital.
Pat was born May 10, 1946, in Lee County, NC and was a son to the late Ollie Dixon and Milton Garner.
He was a 1964 graduate of Chatham Central High School. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill. In his senior year, he left UNC to join the U.S. Navy, where he served during the Vietnam War.
Evelyn Milligan Cartrette
Aug. 5, 1927 – June 19, 2026
Evelyn Milligan Cartrette, 98, of Fuquay Varina formally of Siler City, died Friday, June 19, 2026.
Evelyn was born one of 13 children in Columbus County on August 5, 1927, to Erico Verona and Annie Jane Ward Milligan. She was a devout Christian lady who deeply loved her Lord. She was always singing Christian music. Evelyn was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great greatgrandmother. She loved spending time with her family and sharing her delicious cooking.
She is survived by her children, Eddie Cartrette and
IN MEMORY
Left to cherish his memory are his sister and brotherin-law, Lois and Larry Miller of Goldston, NC; his niece, Tricia Hathcock (Jeremy) of Sanford, NC; nephew, Todd Miller of Bennett, NC; and several great nieces and nephews.
Pat spent most of his working years with Cassedy & Fahrbach Cabinetry, in Pittsboro, NC and Cheek Electric Company in Goldston.
He was a talented woodcraftsman, enjoyed Bluegrass music and played both banjo and guitar.
A visitation will be held, from 10-11:00AM, Friday, June 12, 2026, at Goldston Methodist Church.
The funeral will start at 11:00AM.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Goldston Memorial Cemetery fund, PO Box 578, Goldston, NC 27852. Smith & Buckner is honored to serve Mr. Garner’s family.
wife, Judi, along with their 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild; Charles Cartrette, and his 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren; Darryl Cartrette and wife, Sherry, along with their 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren; and Pam Cartrette Ritter and husband, David and their 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.
Evelyn is preceded in death by her parents and her 12 siblings; her loving husband, Charles Howard Cartrette Sr. and their infant son, Charles Ernest Cartrette, her daughter-in-law, Teri Cartrette; and her beloved grandchildren, Jill Smith and Jeremy Bass.
A graveside service will be held on Monday, June 22, 2026, at Oakley Baptist Church Cemetery, at 11:00 AM.
The family request in lieu of owers memorials may be made to the Oakley Baptist Church Cemetery Fund. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is honored to serve the Cartrette family. Online Condolences may be made at www. smithbucknerfh.com
NANCY MARIE PAINTER HAIRE
JAN. 10, 1942 – JUNE 15, 2026
Nancy Marie Painter Haire, age 84 of Moncure passed away on Monday (6/15/2026) at her home surrounded by her family.
Nancy was born on January 10, 1942, daughter of Otis Clifton Painter and Alma Davis Painter. Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, her husband William “Bill” Haire, One son Marl “Marty” Clifton Haire, two brothers; James “Jimmy” Painter and Johnny Painter. Nancy enjoyed going to church and reading her bible. She loved her Blue Bell and watching the Little League World Series. Funeral Services will be conducted at 2:00 PM on Tuesday (6/23/2026) at the Haywood Bible Church with the Rev. Greg Little, O ciating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Two sons survive Nancy, William Michael Haire (Barbara) of Sanford, NC. and William Mark Haire (Tammy) of League City, Texas, and several nieces and nephews also survive Nancy. Nine grandchildren and Eleven Great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at Haywood Bible Church on Tuesday.
We offer an on-site crematory with many options of Celebration of Life services, Traditional, and Green Burials. Call us to set an appointment to come by and learn more.
JEARLINE HANCOCK BROWN
FEB. 28, 1934 – JUNE 21, 2026
Jearline Hancock Brown, 92, of Bennett, passed away on Sunday, June 21, 2026, at her home surrounded by her family. The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at Pleasant Grove
Christian Church with Pastor Jimmy Jones and Pastor Don Edwards presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church prior to the service from 12:45-1:45 pm and return to the fellowship hall following the committal. Joyce-Brady Chapel will be open from 1:00-5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, for friends to sign the register. Friends are welcome to visit the family at her home and will formally gather on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, from 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Jearline was born on February 28, 1934, to Graham and Mossie Wilson Hancock.
In addition to her parents, Jearline was preceded in death by her husband, J.H. “Red” Brown; sisters, Ruby Hammer, Beulah Hammer, Augusta “Gus” Gilliland and Linda Jones; brothers, Roy Hancock and Raeford Hancock.
Jearline is survived by her daughters, Rita B. Holt (Steve), of Bear Creek and Angie B. Fields (Buddy), of Goldston; grandchildren, Beth Caviness (Jacob), Joshua Holt (Jean), and Amber Fields; great-grandchildren, Reid Caviness, Anna Claire Caviness, Sadie Holt and Miller Brown Holt; sister, Joyce Headen (Tommy), of Siler City; sister-in-law, Mary Etta Brown, of Siler City; brother-in-law, Jimmy Jones, of Pleasant Garden and a host of family and friends.
The family would like to extend their thanks to Gloria Josey, Peggy Beavers, Nancy Dunn, Dee Dee Mo tt, and Laura Gibbons for their loving care and compassion.
DAVID CHARLES KENNEDY
OCT. 3, 1951 – JUNE 20, 2026
David Charles Kennedy, 74, of Raleigh, North Carolina, passed away on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at Wesley Long Hospital following a series of illnesses, surrounded by his loving family.
David was born on October 3, 1951 in Troy, NC and was the son of Charles and Aitha Kennedy, of Star, NC.
He graduated from Montgomery High School, then went on to attend college at UNC-Charlotte, earning a degree in Engineering.
David married Linda Dick on June 8, 1975 at Beulah Baptist Church in Bennett, NC. They were blessed to share 51 wonderful years together.
Remaining to cherish David’s memory are his loving wife of 51 years, Linda; his daughters, Kristin (Jared) Reeder, of Franklinville, NC and Rachel (Vic) Sfera, of Riverside, California; his brother, Farrell (Brenda) Kennedy, of Cary, NC; nephew, Grant Kennedy, of Raleigh, NC and four grandsons who were the joy of his life; Paxton & Lincoln Reeder and Lucas & Clay Sfera.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. at North Ridge Bible Chapel in Raleigh. Funeral services will follow at 2:00 p.m. with Kevin Moore o ciating. Burial will be a private family graveside service at Beulah Baptist Church in Bennett, NC.
Clive Davis, music industry starmaker, dead at 94
He founded Arista Records and J Records, developing major stars across multiple genres
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Clive Davis, a music industry mogul who launched or resurrected the careers of Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys, has died. He was 94. Davis died in his Manhattan apartment, weeks after being hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue, his publicist Aliza Rabino said.
“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history,” his family’s statement said.
Davis’ in uence grew since the 1960s to span genres and labels as he directed the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to “American Idol” winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. His groundbreaking support for black artists earned him the NAACP’s Vanguard Award. His exclusive pre-Grammys gala has been an institution since he rst threw the party in 1976.
“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.
A Brooklyn background
Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a traveling salesman, and attended New York University and then Harvard Law School. He became an in-house lawyer at a time when Columbia Records was resisting rock ’n’ roll. Seven years later, he was company president and seeking to capitalize on the counterculture spirit he witnessed at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival.
His success stories were a
staggering who’s who of America’s most iconic and enduring musical acts — with Houston both a crowning achievement and a devastating tragedy. Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.
Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2012, hours before Davis’ annual gala downstairs. He had been convinced she was turning her life around.
“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life,” “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.” Davis proudly noted the other talents he signed, including Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.
“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman ... I signed Lou Reed. ... I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.
He also signed the up-and- coming producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose Bad Boy Records under Davis scored huge hits, most notably with Notorious B.I.G., long before Diddy landed in prison.
An exec who built lifelong careers
Davis also kept veterans relevant. Aretha Franklin ourished in her later years at Arista as did Luther Vandross at another Davis label, J Records. It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album “Supernatural,” pairing guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents to win eight Grammys. And he persuaded middle-aged rocker Rod Stewart to try standards from “The Great American Songbook.” That album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all. His collaborators didn’t always agree — Davis won a bit-
ter ght with producer David Foster over Houston’s all-time hit, a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” — and the song was published with its iconic a cappella intro.
And Manilow strongly objected to recording “I Write the Songs” — a song he didn’t write — but it too became a signature hit. “He’s just brilliant at picking ideas he thinks the public will connect,” raved Manilow. But not an infallible gure Columbia red Davis in 1973, accusing him of mismanaging funds. Davis pleaded guilty to tax evasion and had to pay a $10,000 ne, but said Columbia funded Arista to resolve the dispute. That label became another huge success, with country superstars Brooks & Dunn, sassy R&B group TLC, Babyface, Houston, Franklin and others.
Arista also signed Milli Vanilli, the male pop duo that was stripped of its best new artist Grammy after revealing they were lip-syncing their songs.
In 1999, Arista’s parent company BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire. He was ousted despite support from his superstar roster. But BMG then helped Davis launch J Records, where he found his next star in Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter whose powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs would sell millions of Grammy-winning albums.
Davis later ran BMG’s U.S. division, guiding “American Idol” winners to platinum albums. Some disagreed with his directions — Clarkson went her own way with “My December” — but she apologized after the album opped. Davis was serving as worldwide chief creative o cer at Sony Music Entertainment at his death. He was married twice, and in his memoir, con rmed he was bisexual and living with a man. His family — including four children — shared a loving statement on Monday, saying they “celebrate not only a towering gure whose in uence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness.”
Former AP writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody was the main writer of this obituary.
FDA panel backs rst-of-its-kind u vaccine using mRNA technology
The vaccine reduced u cases by 27% in studies, with FDA approval expected by August
By Lauran Neergaard and Matthew Perrone The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new kind of u vaccine moved a step closer to the U.S. market last Thursday as federal health advisers recommended approval of the rst made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Moderna’s new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, for older Americans ahead of the winter u season. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine’s use in people ages 50 to 64 — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.
The FDA’s independent advisory committee evaluated Moderna’s studies of the vaccine and voted unanimously that its bene ts appear to outweigh any risks for both age groups. The FDA will consider that recommendation in making a nal decision by early August.
Tens of thousands of Americans die from in uenza every year, and older adults are
among the most vulnerable.
There are various types of u vaccines already available in the U.S., including three speci cally recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting u virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match.
“Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future,” said Dr. Flor Munoz-Rivas of Texas Children’s Hospital, one of
FDA’s advisers.
In a study of 40,000 people age 50 and older, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine reduced u cases by about 27% compared with those given another routinely used vaccine brand. In a smaller study of people 65 and older, Moderna’s shot also generated a strong protective immune response compared with a highdose u vaccine already recommended for that age group.
Data showing strong immune reactions “were very compelling,” said FDA adviser Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, adding that “the vaccine looks very promising.”
Moderna’s Dr. Rituparna Das
told panelists that the company’s ability to quickly manufacture mRNA vaccines that closely match the latest u strains could prevent thousands of hospitalizations in older Americans.
Severe u cases in the U.S. generally rise in years when the u shot doesn’t closely match the circulating virus. Moderna o cials noted that u strains for each fall’s vaccines now are chosen several months earlier than the yearly recipe update for COVID-19 shots that mostly are mRNA-based — and there can be a mismatch if the u virus mutates after the recipe is made.
At the meeting, FDA vaccine reviewer Dr. Timothy Brennan suggested the agency was open to approving the vaccine for older adults ahead of the coming u season despite the need for more information about its use in frail seniors or people with weak immune systems.
If it’s approved, Moderna is planning its required next-step study to include 400,000 people 65 and older, half given the mRNA vaccine and the rest given one of today’s special-for-seniors shots. It’s supposed to repeat that study for two u seasons.
Moderna’s data showed no major safety issues, although the shot did cause some temporary reactions including injection-site pain, fever, headache, tiredness and aches. The latter reactions are common in a variety of vaccines but occurred somewhat more often than with today’s u shots.
The FDA said that’s typical of mRNA vaccines.
Those temporary reactions
BOARD from page A1 primary earlier in the year and will appear unopposed on the November general election ballot.
“My fellow commissioners and I are delighted to welcome Mike to the Board and deeply appreciate his willingness to step forward and serve in this important capacity as Chatham County continues to grow and evolve,” said Board Chair Amanda Robertson in a press release. “As our community embraces new opportunities and navigates emerging challenges, Mike’s wealth of knowledge, extensive experience, and genuine passion for public service will be tremendous assets to both the Board and the residents we serve.”
Also during the board’s June meeting, it held three public hearings for various items.
The rst hearing was for a rezoning request for around 20 acres of property located at 4501 Silk Hope Gum Springs Road to go from Residential to Conditional District Regional Business for the development of youth cricket elds.
The project is proposing to add two practice elds, and according to the applicant’s representation, no tournaments will be held on the elds nor will lighting or bleachers be installed.
Following the hearing, the board sent the item to the planning board for a nal recommendation.
The second hearing was to consider an approximately $14 million economic development incentive grant for Mosaic Hospitality. The incentives were initially agreed upon in 2016, however, the agreement was never nalized at the time and had since fallen through the
“Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future.”
Dr. Flor Munoz-Rivas, Texas Children’s Hospital
can be a signal that “your immune system is responding,” said Dr. Hayley Gans, a Stanford Medicine pediatrician and FDA adviser who stressed it will be important to explain that to vaccine recipients.
Earlier this year, Moderna’s data was at the center of a highly unusual public dispute as a then-top FDA o cial blocked the company’s application for its rst-of-its-kind shot.
The embattled vaccine chief at the time, Dr. Vinay Prasad, said the company should have compared its shot to a high-dose u vaccine recommended for seniors rather than a standard-dose brand. It was a sign of FDA’s heightened vaccine scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Moderna challenged that decision, noting that FDA sta had approved that main study’s design and citing a separate, smaller study comparing the mRNA shot with a high-dose vaccine for seniors. Days after the spat, the FDA accepted Moderna’s application.
Moderna is also studying the vaccine in younger adults and plans a separate study in 9- to 17-year-olds this fall.
“Mike’s wealth of knowledge, extensive experience, and genuine passion for public service will be tremendous assets to both the Board and the residents we serve.”
Amanda Robertson, Chatham County board chair
cracks.
“These incentives were initially talked about approximately 10 years ago,” said Chatham Economic Development Corporation President Michael Smith. “Certainly our community was very di erent 10 years ago and this particular project needed these incentives to help move things along as it relates to coming to an area that, at that time, was certainly very di erent than it is today.”
Despite that, the commissioners agreed to honor the previous word of the county as the hotel has met all previously set forth criteria and approved the incentive agreement.
The third hearing was for a special use permit for around four acres of property located at 1656 Campbell Road to be utilized for a contractor’s storage yard and staging area.
The proposal would just be for an extension of the currently existing business, Bear Creek Fabrication.
Following the hearing, the item was sent to the planning board for a nal recommendation.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will next meet July 27.
BILL SIKES / AP PHOTO
Moderna’s new mRNA u vaccine was unanimously backed by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee.
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NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINAIN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION CHATHAM COUNTYFILE NO.
22CvD000597-180 COUNTY OF CHATHAM Plainti , NOTICE OF SERVICE OF vs. PROCESS BY PUBLICATION
IVEY J. PAGE a/k/a IVEY J. PAIGE, et al
Defendants. TO: The HEIRS, ASSIGNS, and DEVISEES of JOHN BURNETT a/k/a JOHN BURNETTE and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, The HEIRS, ASSIGNS, and DEVISEES of LUCY STONE and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder, and The HEIRS, ASSIGNS, and DEVISEES of BUDDIE STONE a/k/a BURTIS STONE and spouse, if any, or any other person or entity claiming thereunder A pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-entitled action and notice of service of process by publication began on June 18, 2026. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Foreclosure on tax parcel(s) more completely described in the Complaint, to collect delinquent ad valorem taxes (assessments). Plainti seeks to extinguish any and all claim or interest that you may have in said property. You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than forty (40) days after the date of the rst publication of notice stated above, exclusive of such date, being forty (40) days after June 18, 2026, or by July 28, 2026, and upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service of process by publication will apply to the Court for relief sought. This the 11th day of June, 2026.
Mark D. Bardill/Mark B. Bardill Attorney for Plainti NC Bar #12852/56782
310 W. Jones St. P. O. Box 25 Trenton, North Carolina 28585 Telephone: (252) 448-4541 Publication dates: June 18, 2026 June 25, 2026 July 2, 2026
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having quali ed on the 10th day of June 2026, as Executor of the Estate of Linda Sue Collura, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of September 2026 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment.
This is the 10th day of June 2026. George M. Desocio, Executor of the Estate of Linda Sue Collura 366 W. Salisbury Street Pittsboro, N.C., 27312
Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd and July 9th of 2026
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having quali ed on the 4th day of JUNE 2026, as Administrator of the Estate of Jackie Watson, aka, Jackie Klingler Watson, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment.
This is the 9th day of June 2026. Robert Hendrickson, Administrator of the Estate of Jackie Watson, aka, Jackie Klingler Watson 303 Old Camp Church Road Carrollton, GA 30117
Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330 Publish On: June 18th and 25th, July 2nd and 9th, 2026.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#26E000292-180
The undersigned, ROBERT DOWLING, having quali ed on the 28TH Day of MAY 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of EILEEN DOWLING, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 4TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 4TH DAY OF JUNE 2026. ROBERT DOWLING, EXECUTOR 1536 PATHWAY DRIVE CARRBORO, NC 27510 Run dates: J4,11,25,Jy2p
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations holding claims against Charles Albert Lewis, Jr., deceased, of Chatham County, NC are noti ed to exhibit same to the undersigned on or before September 7, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This June 4th, 2026. Mark O. Costley, Exec., c/o Clarity Legal Group, PO Box 2207, Chapel Hill, NC 27515.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of ROBIN LOU FLYER, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before September 12, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This the 11th day of June, 2026.
Lynn Marie Flyer
Executor of the Estate of Robin Lou Flyer
177 Pine View Acres P.O. Box 535 Goldston, NC 27252
Leigh Anne Kasias Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler LLP
1912 Eastchester Drive, Ste 400 High Point, NC 27265 336-884-4444 Publication dates: June 11, 18, 25; July 2, 2026.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA
CHATHAM COUNTY
The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of THOMAS R. FLYER, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before September 12, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms or corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
This the 11th day of June, 2026.
Lynn Marie Flyer
Executor of the Estate of Thomas R. Flyer
177 Pine View Acres P.O. Box 535 Goldston, NC 27252
Leigh Anne Kasias Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler LLP
1912 Eastchester Drive, Ste 400 High Point, NC 27265 336-884-4444 Publication dates: June 11, 18, 25; July 2, 2026.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of MARGERY KEASLER, Deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ces of Munson Law Firm PLLC, P.O. Box 1811 Pittsboro, NC 27312, on or before the 4th day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment. This 4th day of June, 2026.
COLIN DEKEERSGIETER, ADMINISTRATOR ESTATE OF MARGERY KEASLER
NOTICE NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Dorothy Paschal Frazier of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 16th day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 10th day of June, 2026. Kenneth Broughton Frazier, Executor Of the Estate of Dorothy Paschal Frazier 3146 Shelly Graham Drive Graham, North Carolina 27253 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against George Richard Meinig, Jr., deceased, of Chatham, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 11th, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 11th day of June, 2026. Ms. Janet Meinig, Executor Estate of George Richard Meinig, Jr. c/o Roberson Law Firm 1829 E. Franklin St., Ste. 800C Chapel Hill, NC 27514 6/11, 18, 25, 7/2
CREDITOR’S NOTICE
Having quali ed on the 9th day of June 2026, as Administrator of the Estate of Johnny Scott Rhoades, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before the 18th day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate should make immediate payment. This is the 10th of June 2026. W. Woods Doster, Administrator of the Estate of Johnny Scott Rhoades
206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330
Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330
Publish On: June 18th, 25th and July 2nd and 9th 2026.
Notice to Creditors
Estate of Barbara J. Swartz
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Barbara J Swartz, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before 9/4/2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery.
Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 4th day of June, 2026. Arthur H Swartz, Executor 2819 Ferdinand Ct. Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
c/o Hopler, Wilms & Hanna, PLLC 2314 S. Miami Blvd. Suite 151 Durham, NC 27703 6/4,11,18,25, 2026
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Hoyle Edwin Beckwith of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 10th day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
This the 4th day of June, 2026.
Daniel Kevin Beckwith, Executor
Of the Estate of Hoyle Edwin Beckwith
139 Black Horse Run Bear Creek, North Carolina 27207
MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
BOX 629
SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE TO CREDITORS
CHATHAM COUNTY
HAVING QUALIFIED as Executor of the Estate of Clyde William Jones of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before the 2nd day of September, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. This the 26th day of May, 2026.
Robert Earl Jones, Executor Of the Estate of Clyde William Jones 3183 White Oak Way Staley, North Carolina 27355 MOODY, WILLIAMS, ATWATER & LEE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW BOX 629 SILER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27344 (919) 663-2850 4tp
NOTICE
ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations holding claims against Kathryn Ellen Moss, deceased, of Chatham County, NC are noti ed to exhibit same to the undersigned on or before September 14th, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 11th day of June 2026. Ryan Robert Merriam, Exec., c/o Clarity Legal Group, PO Box 2207, Chapel Hill, NC 27515.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#25E000297-180 The undersigned CAROLYN CHEEK, having quali ed on the 22ND Day of MAY 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of WILLIE MAY THOMPSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 18TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 18TH DAY OF JUNE 2026. CAROLYN CHEEK, EXECUTOR 338 CLARENCE MCKEITHAN ROAD SANFORD, NC 27330 Run dates: J18,J25,Jy2,9
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000226-180
The undersigned ROBERT L. HAITHCOX AND CHARLOTTE E. HAITHCOX, having quali ed on the 17TH Day of APRIL 2026 as CO-EXECUTORS of the Estate of EDNA N. HAITHCOX, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 11TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 11TH DAY OF JUNE 2026.
ROBERT L. HAITHCOX, CO-EXECUTOR 3555 OLD HWY 1 PO BOX 232 MONCURE, NC 27559
CHARLOTTE E. HAITHCOX, COEXECUTOR 3557 OLD HWY 1 PO BOX 146 MONCURE, NC 27559
Run dates: J11,18,J25,Jy2
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#26E000310-180
The undersigned ELIZABETH ANN HEATHERLEY, having quali ed on the 2ND Day of JUNE 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of ERSKINE X. HEATHERLEY, JR., deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 18TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 18TH DAY OF JUNE 2026.
ELIZABETH ANN HEATHERLEY, EXECUTOR 3548 CRAWFORD DAIRY RD. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27516
Run dates: J18,J25,Jy2,9
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000220-180
The undersigned Lillie M. Alston, having quali ed on the 15th Day of APRIL 2026 as Administrator of the Estate of SONJA MARIE WILSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 18TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 18TH DAY OF JUNE 2026.
LILLIE M. ALSTON, ADMINISTRATOR PO BOX 1545 PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: J18,J25,Jy2,9
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000236-180
The undersigned LATOYA D. FOX, having quali ed on the 22ND Day of APRIL 2026 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of JUNE TAYLOR ISAAC FOX, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 4TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 4TH DAY OF JUNE 2026. LATOYA D. FOX, ADMINISTRATOR 97 RILEY LANE SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: J4,11,18,J25
Notice to Creditors
Estate of Patricia Ann Woodall File No. 25E000453-180
All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Patricia Ann Woodall, deceased of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before September 25th, 2026 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 25th day of June, 2026. George Wallace Woodall, Executor c/o James S. Adcock III, PA 135 N. Main Street Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
NOTICE
NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHATHAM COUNTY WILLIAM ROLAND RIGGSBEE, Petitioner v. JACQUELINE RIGGSSBEE COBB, et al., Respondents (26SP000022-180) TO: JACQUELYNE ALLEN Take notice that a petition seeking relief against you was led on February 10, 2026 in the above partition action. The nature of this action is as follows: petition for partition and sale of real property located at Parcel Number 978500098544 and being 162 Joes Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. You are required to make defense to such petition no later than 40 days after the date of the rst publication of this Notice and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought. Wesley A. Stewart, Esq., 5410 Trinity Rd., Ste. 210, Raleigh, NC, 27607, Petitioner’s Attorney. J18, 25
NOTICE
EXECUTORS
NORTH
663-2850 4tp
NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000300-180 The undersigned DAVID ALEXANDER CLEMENT, JR., having quali ed on the 1ST Day of JUNE 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of CHARLES LOWELL THOMAS, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 18TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 18TH DAY OF JUNE 2026. DAVID ALEXANDER CLEMENT, JR., EXECUTOR 2808 SEAFORTH ROAD PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: J18,J25,Jy2,9
NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY
FILE#26E000317-180 The undersigned Timothy Perry, having quali ed on the 11th Day of JUNE 2026 as Administrator of the Estate of CLYDE BERNICE PERRY, JR., deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or before the 25TH Day OF SEPTEMBER 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This, the 25TH DAY OF JUNE 2026. TIMOTHY PERRY, ADMINISTRATOR 2880 PETE ROBERTON ROAD PITTSBORO,
Trust is now owned by the Secretary, pursuant to an assignment dated October 26, 2023 and recorded on November 17, 2023 in Book 2389 at Page 1075, in the o ce of the Register of Deeds, Chatham County, North Carolina; and WHEREAS, the Secretary is the present holder of the Note secured by the above-referenced Deed of Trust; and WHEREAS, Grantor has died and the Property described below is not the principal residence of at least one surviving borrower; and WHEREAS, the default upon which this foreclosure and the acceleration of the secured indebtedness is based, is
of the Borrower/
Grantor, should the Property not remain the principal residence of at least one surviving Borrower, the Secretary has the right to demand, and the Secretary has demanded, the immediate payment in full of all outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest; and WHEREAS, a default has occurred under the terms and conditions of the above Note and Deed of Trust, in that a demand has been made for the immediate payment in full of all outstanding principal and accrued interest, which remains unpaid; and WHEREAS, the entire amount delinquent as of June 11, 2026 is $475,098.63; and WHEREAS, by virtue of this default, the secretary has declared the entire amount of the indebtedness secured by the Deed of Trust to be immediately due and payable; NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to powers vested in me by the Single Family Mortgage Foreclosure Act of 1994, 12 U.S.C 3751 et seq., by 24 CFR part 27, subpart B, and by the Secretary’s designation of me as Foreclosure Commissioner, recorded on May 15, 2026, in Book 2526 at Page 633 of the Chatham County Register of Deeds, notice is hereby given that on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 11:00 A.M. local time, all real and personal property at or used in connection with the following described premises (“Property”) will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder: BEING ALL of Lot 697, Phase Two, Section II, Final Plat, FEARRINGTON WOODS, as shown in Plat Slide 90- 214, Chatham County Registry, to which slide reference is hereby made for a more particular description. *** Commonly known as:697 Spindlewood, Pittsboro, NC 27312 The sale will be held at the place where foreclosure sales are customarily held at the Chatham County Courthouse located in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development will bid $482,994.08. There will be no proration of taxes, rents or other income or liabilities, except that the purchaser will pay, at or before closing, his prorate share of any real estate taxes that have been paid by the Secretary to the date of the foreclosure sale. When making their bids, all bidders except the Secretary must submit a deposit totaling $48,299.40 in the form of a certi ed check or cashier’s check made out
sale or at such other time as the Secretary may determine for good cause shown, time being of the essence. This amount, like the bid deposits, must be delivered in the form of a certi ed or cashier’s check. If the Secretary is the highest bidder, he need not to pay
Pack an umbrella!
The version of this column published in the June 18 issue contained numerous errors and did not re ect the piece submitted by the author. Chatham News & Record is republishing it here in its correct form. We apologize to Erika Ho man and to our readers.
By Erika Ho man For Chatham News & Record
WHEN YOU RETURN from a two-week whirlwind overseas trip, it takes as long as the adventure itself to digest all you’ve seen, all you’ve learned and all you’ll want to research more.
Part of traveling is piquing your curiosity to learn more about the place recently experienced. Before I set sail on any venture, I declare: “This time will be di erent. This time, I’ll research the venue ahead of time. That way I’ll know what to expect — or at least I’ll know the backstory.” Do I ever do this? Never.
Yet, in fairness to my seat-ofmy-pants type of travel, there’s a bit of a thrill in not anticipating anything and discovering a place as a complete ingénue. Of course, I may misunderstand and mislabel what I encounter, as Columbus did when he surmised, after a long ocean voyage, that he had indeed landed in India. Nonetheless, one marvels more if what’s around
POOL from page A1
But the timeline was not clear Monday, with the White House saying damaged areas are still being assessed. Contractors and federal workers in recent days have been using chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat the algae.
Trump pitched the original improvements as intended to clean, beautify and reinforce an iconic site that he said had become dilapidated and dirty because of previous presidents’ neglect. Algae has plagued the pool for a century, and Trump insisted a newly installed “American ag blue” coating, which he selected himself, would turn the pool into a gleaming expanse along the National Mall.
Yet within weeks of Trump declaring the rehabilitation completed in time for Independence Day, the water was plagued by a vivid green algae bloom that clouded the pool’s coating. A piece of liner, about four square feet, was observed
FLOODS from page A1
aircraft reports and local agency communications.
The service proved vital, said David Hertz, a Malibu resident and captain of his community’s re brigade, especially when some areas received little-to-no warning about the Eaton and Palisades res that killed 31 people. “It’s like a democratization of data that empowers people.”
This month, Watch Duty began helping people track another deadly and destructive climate hazard: ooding.
The expansion comes as peak ash ood season begins in the U.S. and nearly one year after last July’s deadly Texas oods that killed more than 130 people, prompting outcry over why Texas Hill Country residents and visitors didn’t receive better communication about the impending danger.
“This is painful that this keeps happening,” said John Mills, CEO and co-founder of the donor-supported nonpro t behind the app. “We’re not spreading enough information fast enough on as many channels as humanly possible.”
Mills built app after his own close calls
Mills founded Watch Duty in 2021 after not receiving ocial alerts or evacuation instructions when a re burned near his Northern California home.
It’s a problem seen in many recent disasters. While the U.S. has systems for sending alerts by text, radio and other means, the
the bend is — unanticipated.
For instance, I’ve always wanted to visit Camargue in Provence, France, where the marshes border the Mediterranean Sea. I expected to nd vast wetlands and pink amingos. Imagine my surprise when I beheld herds of white horses galloping freely in the swamp. Then think of how I felt when I peered out the bus’ front window to witness a charging herd of cattle led by cowboys and cowgirls coming toward us on a narrow, one-lane country road. They split the herd in half as they galloped past our bus, surrounding our vehicle on the route. Thrilling!
Another surprise: I’d no idea about the quaint seaside resort with a church dedicated to the three Marys — Mary Salome, Mary Jacobe, Mother Mary and their servant, who escaped Palestine after the resurrection. Nor did I realize that Vincent van Gogh painted the Mediterranean here, in “Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.”
The stunning 9th-century Romanesque forti ed church is a Christian pilgrimage site for the Romani people, who come annually May 24-25 to honor Saint Sara, the servant. Who “the three Marys” were is open to speculation. Many believe they were the women at the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday
When you travel, always expect the unexpected. Ergo, take an umbrella!
who came to anoint his body. Some conclude the Virgin Mother, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas were the three. Some accounts say Lazarus accompanied the women when they settled in Camargue. The church at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer holds their relics. Not knowing about the three Marys beforehand has opened a Pandora’s box because now I want to learn more about these women and all the varied interpretations of who they were.
Friday partially oating in the pool. The Associated Press saw additional pieces in the water Monday. Via social media, the president has blamed the problems on “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!” He asserted Monday on Truth Social that intention-
process to issue a speci c warning or evacuation order can get tangled in bureaucracy and often depends on humans making difcult decisions under pressure.
Often the information people need to understand their risk is out there, Mills said, but it is hard to nd and use.
“The systems are really struggling to meet people where they are,” he said.
On re days, Mills found himself relying on volunteer radio operators who monitored scanners during emergencies and posted updates on social media. The posts helped, but social media had downsides — including how misinformation and unrelated content could drown out life-or-death updates.
A software engineer and entrepreneur, Mills recruited some of those volunteers and fellow engineers to build an answer. He made Watch Duty a nonprofit, which has helped build trust with its more than 20 million users. It received nearly $6 million in grants and donations in 2025.
Watch Duty puts emergency information in one place
Watch Duty now has about 300 volunteer “reporters” who collate and vet information from radio scanners, cameras, satellites, user-generated content and public announcements. Information is available in ve languages and pushed out through maps, text feeds, and push noti cations that can sound even when phones are silenced.
“You’re not going to have to go
al damages include a “300 foot long gash” and that “chemicals have been illegally placed in the water.” A day earlier, Trump posted, “Work will begin immediately on xing the seriously vandalized Re ecting Pool.”
At an executive order signing Monday, the president said ve
Lyon is called the gastronomic capital of France because of a renowned chef named Paul Bocuse, who learned his trade from the motherly women cooks of Les Halles, the marketplace. A specialty of Lyon is the “quenelle,” a dish featured at small Lyonnaise restaurants called “bouchons.” We ate at one. I ordered the specialty, “quenelle de brochet.” Ooh-la-la. Let me use French words to describe it: “Terrible, a reux, horrible!”
So I became intrigued by what was stu ed inside these awful dumplings. I learned at the marketplace that these quenelles de brochet were made from the bony sh and assorted animal parts the impoverished silk workers of old Lyon had to
eat. Pike bones are ground up and served with a sauce Nantua, a cray sh sauce. Apparently the French King Louis XV feasted on them, too. Yuck.
Have you ever heard of the Abbey of Cluny? I was clueless about it before seeing what’s left of it. Did you know it was the largest religious building in the world before St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was built? I’d no idea how destructive the French Revolution was to historic medieval buildings until I viewed the vastness of this place, built in the 10th century and now in ruins. I had no idea how many Benedictine monks once lived here and worked the vineyards. A last mass was celebrated in the abbey church Oct. 25, 1791. By 1798, the buildings were seized as national property and put up for sale. Merchants bought the stones, and little by little the Benedictine abbey, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, was dismantled.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things,” wrote Henry Miller.
“Traveling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller,” said Ibn Battuta.
“Travel is the only thing that makes you richer,” goes one anonymous saying.
To this list of well-worth-remembering quotes, I’ll add my own two cents’ worth of wisdom:
“When you travel, always expect the unexpected. Ergo, take an umbrella! It rains a lot in France. That’s why the grass is so green. Rain is no surprise; that you can anticipate.”
people had been arrested and ve more were under suspicion, and he de ected blame for the pool’s maintenance issues.
“I can’t help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up,” he said. He has not backed up those claims, and even if anyone has deliberately peeled or cut the lining, that would not explain the algae bloom that appeared more intensely than what typically occurred before the renovation.
Images showing that Trump’s project apparently back red boomeranged across social media last week, drawing crowds of onlookers eager to see the effects themselves. An unknown number ended up being detained by federal authorities.
One man arrested was David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland. A former Olympic canoe racer, Hearn told The Associated Press that he reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the peeling new coating. He said he brie y touched a chunk that was still attached to
to multiple other entities, to the weather service, emergency management website, county website,” said Watch Duty meteorologist Pete Curran. “It’s in one place, in plain language, and it’s going to wake you up if you’re asleep.”
Watch Duty can sometimes push out information faster than local agencies in part because its reporters have only one role to ll, said Curran, a retired reghter. “Our only responsibility is to watch and listen. We’re not in charge of the incident.”
The nonpro t took on ooding next because of its widespread impact.
“We are seeing crazy rainfall in places that it’s not normal for them,” said Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, U.S. Fire Administrator under President Joe Biden and longtime data scientist who is now a Watch Duty board member. “Maybe it’s never happened
before, but it’s happening now, so you need to be aware.”
The app pulls weather modeling and other data from the National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Geological Survey. Users can view NWS ood warnings and watches, river gauge levels, and notices of possible dam or levee failures. Users can also better understand their risk ahead of time. They can see whether they’re in a FEMA-designated ood area, or what levels on a river gauge would indicate danger, and customize noti cations to be alerted if a gauge reached a certain height.
Preparation, redundancy enhance safety
Despite Watch Duty’s explosive growth, a phone app can’t
the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to. Hearn said he was then detained by National Guard troops and Park Police for ve hours before being released Friday night.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
The Park Police did not immediately respond Monday to AP’s questions about how many arrests were made and whether any charges had been led. Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said Monday that the agency is not involved. The White House said Monday that any arrests have been made only by the U.S. Park Police.
It was not immediately apparent what criminal or civil violation someone might commit reaching into the pool. Trump, in one of his Truth Social posts, cited laws against defacing monuments as grounds for imprisoning anyone harming the pool.
solve all the challenges with informing the public during emergencies.
“I love seeing products like this come out, but one thing we know to be true in the Texas oods, is a warning is only as good as the knowledge to do something about it,” said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
The ASFPM recommends knowing how to reach an evacuation zone and not just having an emergency plan, but practicing it. “One of the massive failures is not knowing what to do,” said Berginnis. The national infrastructure for monitoring weather and alerting the public is also at risk from past and proposed funding cuts to federal agencies and local emergency warning systems. “At the end of the day, if you want eyes and ears out there, you’ve got to pay for it,” said Berginnis.
Mills stressed Watch Duty is not meant to replace the work of weather and emergency agencies.
“We need National Weather Service, we need re service, we need all this infrastructure to operate,” he said, adding users should still enroll in their local alerting system.
And of course, a phone app is only helpful to those who download it, and who have cell coverage to use it.
“You have to have redundancy,” said Berginnis, adding that an inexpensive NOAA weather radio can ll in when other systems fail. “Sometimes we get so focused on tech, we forget the easy stu .”
COURTESY ERIKA HOFFMAN
Riders on the Camargue’s famed white horses drive a herd of black bulls down a narrow road in Provence, France.
ETHAN SWOPE / AP PHOTO
People wade through a recreational vehicle park ooded by a king tide on Jan. 3 near Corte Madera in Marin County, California.
JON ELSWICK / AP PHOTO
A piece of the blue coating oats among algae at the Lincoln Memorial Re ecting Pool on Sunday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
CHATHAM SPORTS
The Chatham County
for the national anthem before a recent game.
Yardbirds snap skid with win over Wake
Chatham County had lost four straight before breaking through
Chatham News & Record sta
THE CHATHAM County Yardbirds snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Wake Forest Fungo.
Kaden Sajorda threw four two-hit innings and didn’t allow a run. The Holly Springs grad and future Middlesex Colt struck out ve. Andrew Riedel led the way at the plate.
The Cardinal Gibbons grad and Denison commit went 4 for 5 with a home run, double, run scored and four driven in.
Riedel is hitting .306 with two homers, four steals and nine RBIs on the season. The victory avenged a 10-7 loss to the Fungo the day before.
Anthony Lopossay, of Cleveland Community College and a 2024 Chatham Central grad, allowed just one run over six two-hit innings and struck out ve. Lopossay has a 3.27 ERA on the year with 12 strikeouts in 11 innings.
Wins for the Chatham County Yardbirds in the rst 15 games of the year
Athlete of the Week Aidan McCandless, of Burlington and Guilford, got hits all three times up and was responsible for three runs, scoring one and driving in two.
Chatham also fell, 6-0, to the Clayton Clovers and 11-10 to the Carolina Yankees last week before breaking through with the win. The shutout loss to the Clovers spoiled a strong outing by Jonathan Sendziak, who struck out ve over four innings. The current Guilford Quaker and former Louisburg and UNC Greensboro pitcher allowed two earned runs. He has struck out 13 batters — second most on the team — in 92⁄3 innings on the season. McCandless and Aidan
Northwood releases football schedule
5 Years since Northwood has had the same coach and conference in back-to-back seasons
Allred, of William Peace and formerly Chatham Charter, each had big games earlier in the week, getting multiple hits and RBIs and adding extra-base knocks. Allred has a .313 average with seven RBIs and ve steals. This week, Chatham has a game against the Sanford Spinners before the Old North State League hits the All-Star break. They return to action at the start of next week, against Clayton. The Yardbirds are now 3-12 on the season.
The Hawks posted the school’s best record last season
Chatham News & Record sta SEAFORTH HEAD coach
Tolbert Matthews returns for a second season after posting a 6-6 mark last year, the best record the program has seen. Seaforth also advanced in the playo s last season, getting a taste of the second round. That leaves the team hungry to continue the tangible progress it produced last season.
The Hawks lose a senior class of playmakers including Nicholas Gregory and Patrick Miller, but many of last year’s key contributors were juniors, which should help Seaforth stay on its upward trajectory.
Aug. 21 7 p.m. Home vs. Chapel Hill
Aug. 28 7 p.m. Away at Southeast Alamance Sept. 4 7 p.m. Home vs. Princeton
Sept. 11 7 p.m. Away at Northwood
Chatham News & Record sta AFTER GOING through four coaches and four conference alignments this decade, Northwood football nally gets some stability. The Chargers will have the same head coach and same conference as last year, the rst time they’ve gone back-to-back seasons keeping those two things the same since 2020-21. Dalton Brown returns for his third season after following up a 6-5 debut with a 3-8 record last year. Northwood also remains in the Four Rivers 3A/4A conference. The Chargers lose a senior class that included quarterback Grayson Cox, running backs Robert Tripp and Leo Mortimer, and defensive standouts Aidan Hohenwarter, Tristen Evans and Mickell Wilson. There’s still plenty of returning talent, however. See SEAFORTH, page B4
See NORTHWOOD, page B2
4 Week of the Battle for Pittsboro rivalry game with Northwood
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Yardbirds stand
PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Raje Torres (1) was one of the junior stars on last season’s Northwood team.
Aidan McCandless
Chatham County Yardbirds
Aidan McCandless is a Burlington native and rising senior on the Guilford baseball team. Following a junior season that saw him hit .273 with the Quakers, McCandless signed on to play for the Chatham County Yardbirds over the summer. McCandless has been hot at the plate for the Birds. In an 11-10 loss to the Carolina Yankees, he hit his rst home run of the summer, adding a double and three RBIs in a 2-for-3 night. In a 10-7 loss to the Wake Forest Fungo, he went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
NORTHWOOD from page B1
Aug. 14 6 p.m. Home vs. Carrboro
Aug. 21 7 p.m. Home vs. Harnett Central
Aug. 28 7:30 p.m. Away at Asheboro
Sept. 4 7 p.m. Away at Bartlett Yancey
Sept. 11 7 p.m. Home vs. Seaforth
Sept. 18 7 p.m. Home vs. North Surry
Oct. 2 7 p.m. Away at Eastern Randolph
Oct. 9 7 p.m. Away at Jordan-Matthews
Oct. 16 7 p.m. Home vs. North Moore
Oct. 23 7 p.m. Home vs. Southwestern Randolph
Oct. 30 7 p.m. Away at West Carteret
The Chargers added an opener against Carrboro and ipped home and road designations for the other games. Otherwise, the schedule is identical to last season’s in opponents and order. Northwood got wins over Bartlett Yancey, Jordan-Matthews and North Moore last season. Southwestern Randolph and West Carteret both came down to one-score margins.
As always, the game circled on the calendar will be the Battle for Pittsboro, against Seaforth. This year, the game has added signi cance, as the Chargers fell to the Hawks, snapping their winning streak in the rivalry game.
NFL nixes supplemental draft; Sorsby’s pro career on hold
The quarterback sued the NCAA for eligibility after a gambling suspension
By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press
BRENDAN SORSBY
will have to wait until 2027 to begin his NFL career.
The NFL informed the 22-year-old quarterback it will not hold a supplemental draft this year, and encouraged him to focus on preparing for possible entry into the league through the regular draft next year.
Sorsby had applied for the supplemental draft after a legal battle with the NCAA, which had declared him ineligible for making thousands of bets on sporting events worth at least $90,000 during his college career. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.
The NFL hasn’t held a supplemental draft since 2023 and had no plans to do so this year before Sorsby’s petition. No player has been selected in the supplemental draft since 2019.
“Your Petition — led three business days before the deadline, without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation e orts to avoid NCAA sanctions — does not provide a basis for the League to alter those plans,” NFL attorney Lawrence P. Ferazani Jr.
said in his letter to Sorsby and the 32 NFL teams. “The issues presented by your Petition are too signi cant, and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests, to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented.”
Eligibility for either the regular draft or supplemental draft is required for entry into the NFL, per the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its union.
A player who is not selected in the draft could then enter the league as a free agent.
“No player shall be eligible to be employed by an NFL Club until he has been eligible for selection in an NFL Draft,” the CBA states in Article 6.
Sorsby is considered a potential Day 2 pick — second or third round — in next year’s draft. Teams will have to be convinced he’s overcome his gambling problems.
The NFL’s letter pointed out that Sorsby’s petition didn’t address reports that he may have violated state law nor did it “demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition.”
It concluded: “We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft.”
The submission deadline for the rarely used supplemental draft was Monday. Sorsby had planned to work out for NFL teams on July 10.
“The issues presented by your Petition are too signi cant.”
Letter from NFL attorney Lawrence P. Ferazani Jr.
Sorsby, after transferring earlier this year from Cincinnati to Texas Tech, was banished from competition by the NCAA for the gambling activity.
After spending a month in a residential treatment program for a diagnosed addiction that led to thousands of bets, Sorsby sued the NCAA and gained a court-ordered reinstatement that prompted nationwide backlash toward Texas Tech. The controversy led Sorsby to enter this special draft session.
“The sole reasons identi ed in your Petition for seeking entry into the Supplemental Draft are that you have been ‘declared ineligible’ by the NCAA, have ‘exhausted all of (your) avenues to continue in the NCAA,’ and ‘want to now play in the NFL,’” Ferazani wrote. “The Petition provides no information regarding the basis for, or timing of, the NCAA’s decision. Public sources, however, indicate that in May 2026 the NCAA issued a determination declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics, based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three di erent universities.”
JEFF DEAN / AP PHOTO
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby throws a pass during a 2025 game.
$75 caviar-topped tots; day’s pay worth of beer look at World Cup menu, prices
There’s plenty of variety but not much savings
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — World Cup tickets are expensive. Flights to North America are expensive. Hotel rooms in many places are expensive.
Then there’s the price of beer.
There are some fun — and yes, sometimes pricey — food and drink o erings at the venues playing host to the World Cup. A $75 caviar-topped tray of tater tots and a $40 empanada weighing in at 5 pounds for the daring or for sharing in Miami. Rib-eye tacos for $8 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Something called a Twinkie cheeseburger that has nothing to do with dessert for $22 in Los Angeles.
Prices, in many cases, aren’t all that di erent from what U.S. fans would experience on NFL Sundays or college football Saturdays. But some international fans aren’t used to such pricing and are calling foul, especially over beer prices that can top $20.
“It’s unfair. It’s not right. It’s wrong,” said Thomas Schüller, an engineer from Germany in Toronto to watch his national team play over the weekend, as he held a beer that cost him $24.25 Canadian. “It’s three times the cost of what I pay in my country.”
But is that stopping him?
“Well, no,” Schüller said.
World Cup beer prices become mild pint of discord
There is clearly some sticker shock among international visitors to this World Cup, especially when it comes to the concession prices. In Europe, it’s
not uncommon for beers to be perhaps around $5-6.
There’s also no shortage of intrigue on the menu at the concession stands at stadiums across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“Never seen anything like it,” said Janine Arbetter, a fan from Austria, as she waited for a hot dog, chips and soda combo in Miami last week. The pre -tip price: $19.35, which included a discount for using Visa. “It’s a lot of food for a little snack.”
Some Argentina fans happily showed o their $34 lobster rolls from a match in Kansas City on social media, but in Toronto, the brisket sandwich with chips and a bottle of soda for nearly 40 Canadian dollars ($28) had some online commenters lamenting it as “robbery.”
“It’s OK, more or less, for the World Cup,” German fan Dan-
iel Feldmann said of the food prices while watching a match in Vancouver last week.
Concession o erings vary from stadium to stadium FIFA, the sport’s governing body and the tournament organizer, has very speci c rules on just about everything related to the World Cup — and there are guidelines that concessionaires have to follow as well. But prices can vary by market, as do the food and drink o erings. And that means the experience in one city might look, or taste, nothing like what’s o ered in another.
The “Fancy AF Tots” for $75 at Miami Stadium aren’t really tots at all — it’s three deep-fried hash brown patties, with caviar, creme fraiche and chives. (For those who just want the caviar, it’ll be $70.) Southern California’s Twinkie cheeseburger is in fact a burger topped with a Texas Twinkie — a bacon-wrapped
jalapeño stu ed with brisket and cream cheese.
But there’s also a slew of choices speci c to a local market; for example, Vancouver offers short rib poutine (an iconic Canadian dish of fries loaded with beef gravy, pulled short rib and cheese curds) along with a maple bacon smokie (smoked sausage topped with bacon onion jam that features Canadian maple syrup).
And in Miami, the signature o erings include pan con lechon (a Cuban-style sandwich with pork, infused with citrus mojo sauce and served on a toasted full Cuban loaf) and Empanada Mundial (the ve -pound, handmade, chicken-and-cheese-stu ed dish named after the World Cup).
Both Vancouver and Miami have Sodexo Live as a food and beverage provider, and the typical game-day menus in both stadiums were revised a bit to
accommodate a soccer crowd.
“We want it to feel like Miami when you’re here,” said Zach Williams, Sodexo Live’s vice president of operations at Miami Stadium. “Everything we do around the Miami Stadium, we want to make sure everybody understands that when they come here, they’re getting a Miami experience.”
Atlanta Stadium keeps prices low
In Mexico City, a beer could cost a day’s pay — literally. The daily minimum wage in Mexico City is just 315.04 pesos (roughly $18). Some beers at Mexico City Stadium were selling for between 299 and 310 pesos — about twice as much as fans would ordinarily pay in the same stadium when the World Cup isn’t in town.
But in Atlanta, where Falcons owner and stadium operator Arthur Blank promised the low concession prices he’s championed for many years would hold for the World Cup, pizza slices were $3, 32-ounce sodas were $4, a cheeseburger was $5, chicken tenders with fries were $6 and beers could be had for as little as $8.
Jonathan Arango, a 33-year- old from Greenville, South Carolina, was at a match in Atlanta with his wife, daughter and father.
“In total for what we got — three orders of tacos, a slice of pizza, two waters and a Coke — we spent like $50,” Arango said. “Compared to what we’ve paid at other events ... it’s nice after you paid a lot for a ticket.”
And Schüller pointed out that even though the tournament does come around every four years, it still feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“The entire football world is having fun,” Schüller said, “so cheers to that.”
TALES AZZONI /AP PHOTO
Fans attending the World Cup soccer game between Mexico and South Korea in Zapopan, Mexico, on June 18 buy food at a concession stand inside Guadalajara Stadium.
TIM REYNOLDS / AP PHOTO
This is the $75 dish called “Fancy AF Tots,” containing fried hash brown potatoes, caviar, crème fraiche and chives, sold at World Cup matches at Miami Stadium.
MARTA LAVANDIER / AP PHOTO
Lazaro Luya, the concession chef at Sol Cubano, displays their special, a pan with lechon and fresh mariquitas, at Miami Stadium.
Heim outduels Reddick for rst NASCAR Cup win at inaugural San Diego race
Michael Jordan’s 23XI drivers took the top two spots
The Associated Press
CORONADO, Calif. — Corey Heim slammed into the wall twice while destroying his tires during the rst few runs in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado.
It was no problem for Heim, whose No. 67 Toyota inexplicably kept getting faster on the way to his rst career Cup Series victory in only his 13th start.
The 23-year-old part-time driver from Marietta, Georgia, took a deep breath before the second half of the race and reminded himself that he had as much experience as the veterans on the 16-turn, 3.4-mile street course on Coronado Island, just south of downtown San Diego.
“I’m speechless,” Heim said. “Maybe I knocked some good
into the car. I have no idea. I had high expectations coming into this race. I just reset and went after it.”
Heim, the 2024 truck series champion who will move full time into Cup next season with 23XI Racing, led the nal three laps after snatching rst from teammate Tyler Reddick.
“I was able to stick with him, and ve to go came, and it was time to put some pressure on him and see if I could get him to make a mistake,” Heim said.
“Sure enough, he did.”
Bubba Wallace nished second to deliver a 1-2 nish for 23XI Racing, the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and NBA great Michael Jordan.
Reddick su ered a at tire in the closing laps and fell to 25th, cutting his lead in the standings to eight points over Hamlin.
“To even have a shot at it at the end was really nice,” said Reddick, who started from the rear
after unapproved adjustments to his No. 45 Toyota. “First and foremost, congratulations to Corey. I thought I was going to be able to hold him o there. It denitely stings. Really needed a good points day. Had another really bad one, so we’ll try and scrape together.”
Heim became the third rst-time winner in Cup this season, joining Ty Gibbs (Bristol) and Carson Hocevar (Talladega).
“Just crazy,” Heim said. “I hope I don’t wake up from this dream.”
His peers already think Heim’s for real.
“Awesome job by Corey Heim,” two-time Cup champion Kyle Larson said after nishing third. “That’s really cool. He’s a super talented race car driver, and it’s neat to see somebody get their rst win, especially at a challenging track like this.”
Zane Smith and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top ve.
Hamlin, the driver-owner who had won the past three races for Joe Gibbs Racing, nished 14th.
SVG stunner
Shane van Gisbergen nished 38th in his bid for an eighth road or street course victory (which will make him the active leader among Cup drivers).
After starting from the pole position, van Gisbergen was caught in a crash that started when Trackhouse Racing teammate Connor Zilisch and Aus-
tin Hill collided while battling for the lead on a Lap 32 restart. The nine-car incident caused a nine-minute red ag for wall repairs.
“I felt like I was giving Austin space, and the next thing, I was in the wall,” said Zilisch, who led the rst eight laps of his Cup career in the highlight of a miserable rookie season. “Really unfortunate. I hate to end both days for both Shane and I. We had a really fast car today. I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed just getting to race out front and lead laps.”
Scotland fans descend on Boston for World Cup; Beantown’s bars struggling to keep up
The Tartan Army has emerged as one of the stars of World Cup 2026
By Kyle Hightower
The Associated Press
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —
Ever since Scotland fans learned they’d begin the country’s ninth World Cup appearance in Boston, plans were being made for a party.
“I knew there was going to be a tsunami of Tartan Army (Scotland fans),” said Jason Waddleton, a Scotland native and owner of The Haven, a Scottish restaurant and bar in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood since 2010.
He was right.
First, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey agreed to temporarily extend bar and restaurant hours during the World Cup. Next came thousands of Scots — one estimate is as high as 50,000 — descending on the Boston area, including nearby Providence, Rhode Island, which has become a home base for many of them over the past few weeks.
Then it was the Tartan Army marching through Boston’s streets following the country’s opening win over Haiti last week — taking over the city’s famed Fenway Park alongside Red Sox Nation after the team dubbed it “Scottish
SEAFORTH from page B1
Sept. 18 7 p.m. Home vs. North Moore
Oct. 2 7 p.m. Away at Orange Oct. 9 7 p.m. Home vs. Cedar Ridge
Oct. 16 7 p.m. at South Granville
Oct. 23 7 p.m. Home vs. J.F. Webb
Oct. 30 7 p.m. Away at Carrboro
Other than the game locations, which ipped, the schedule is identical to last season’s in opponents and order.
Seaforth played just two games with a one-score margin in the regular season — a loss to Chapel Hill and a win over Orange. They held Cedar Ridge, South Granville and Carrboro to a touchdown or less, including a shutout of Carrboro.
The Battle for Pittsboro, at Northwood, is in Week 4, and the Hawks will look to y high again after tasting victory in the rivalry series last season.
Heritage Celebration Night.”
And the taps have been running nonstop.
World Cup fans in Boston, especially the Scots, have put a serious strain on the beer supply in a city that is accustomed to big drinking holidays in St. Patrick’s Day and the Fourth of July.
The Haven, which has long served Scotland’s top-selling beer, Tennent’s Lager, has gone from four kegs a week to ordering 50 just for this week. Other bars have sold out of Tennent’s and have tripled their orders to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Sam Adams said its Boston taproom ran out of their famed Samuel Adams Boston Lager last weekend after Scot-
tish fans descended on the city.
“We’ve basically blown through our own allocation. We still have it, and we’ll get more in on Monday,” Waddleton said.
The celebratory atmosphere intensi ed Friday as Scotland prepared to play its second World Cup match of the tournament outside Boston.
“They know how to party, how to make friends and in uence people,” Waddleton said of the Scots.
Scots ll pubs in the Boston area, challenging beer reserves One of the most sought-after beverages in Boston pubs over the last week is Tennent’s Lager.
Once only available at The Haven, before the tournament
started Tennent’s made deals and distributed kegs of its product to 80 bars in Boston and surrounding areas.
Samantha Crawford, the international marketing manager for Tennent’s, said they started preparing to distribute their product to the U.S. as soon as Scotland quali ed for the the World Cup in November. They’ve also sent supplies to Miami bars ahead of Scotland’s match against Brazil next week.
“It’s been a long time in the making. The next day we got to work,” she said of the preparations to make sure the beer is stocked in the U.S. She said the beer is ingrained in the sports culture in Scotland.
Many area bars, restaurants caught by surprise
Mivan Spencer, owner of Ca e Dello Sport in Boston’s North End, said he is used to handling large crowds for major soccer tournaments but has been surprised by the amount of business he’s seen during the World Cup.
“After the rst weekend of matches I de nitely ran out of almost everything,” Spencer said. “Luckily I have a couple other restaurants I borrowed product from to get me through.”
Over at High Street Place, a food hall in downtown Boston, beverage supplies that were expected to last a week were consumed in four days, said Lauren Johnson, a senior marketplace manager at the venue.
“Fortunately, we have great partners, and our distributors were able to pivot quickly and increase subsequent orders to keep pace with demand seamlessly,” she said.
Tapping in — and out — of iconic Sam Adams
Sam Adams said its Boston taproom ran out of their famed Samuel Adams Boston Lager last weekend. From last Thursday to Sunday, the Boston-based brewer said the Tartan Army drank four times as much Boston Lager as the establishment typically sells during a four-day holiday stretch like the Fourth of July.
To date, Sam Adams has sold more than 4,000 pints of Boston Lager, resulting in about 90 empty kegs, said Devon Sage, a Sam Adams spokesperson.
“We’ve had to schedule four ‘emergency deliveries’ to the Taproom,” Sage wrote in an email.
The rst thing he sold out of was Tennent’s, before quickly selling out of Peroni. Spencer said he’s since tripled his usual alcohol order for this week, saying it’s so “I don’t run out of a single thing.”
last season.
Seaforth players celebrate their win over Northwood
GENE GALIN FOR CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
DENIS POROY / AP PHOTO
Cory Heim celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Coronado, California.
MARTIN MEISSNER / AP PHOTO
Scottish fans drink and sing at a pub in central Boston ahead of the World Cup match against Haiti.
SIDELINE REPORT
NBA Sweeney takes over in Orlando, says Magic convinced him t was right Orlando, Fla.
Sean Sweeney landed interviews for more than a few NBA head coaching vacancies over the last few years, and many of them seemed the same. Talking to Orlando, he said, was di erent. Sweeney was introduced last Thursday as the new coach of the Magic, which was the obvious proof that he won them over by his answers during the interview process. Turns out, the Magic won him over with their questions as well.
MLB Ohtani, in Instagram post, announces second child
Los Angeles Shohei Ohtani is a father again. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has shared the news on his Instagram account. He and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, expressed joy over the safe birth and thanked supporters.
A photo of tiny feet and a blue blanket suggest he has a son to go with his daughter, who was born in April 2025. Ohtani missed last Friday’s game when the team placed him on paternity leave. Ohtani was back in the lineup in the leado spot for Saturday’s game.
SWIMMING
Douglass breaks women’s 50-meter freestyle world record in 23.59 Indianapolis Kate Douglass has broken the world record in the women’s 50-meter freestyle at the Tyr Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis. She won the nal in 23.59 seconds, bettering Sarah Sjostrom’s mark of 23.61 set in July 2023. Sjostrom had held the seven fastest times in history. Gretchen Walsh was second in 23.78, making her the fourth-fastest performer ever. Anna Moesch nished third in 24.30. Douglass says her time is faster than she ever expected.
NHL
Leafs acquire Raddysh from Lightning, sign him to 8-year contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Darren Raddysh to an eight-year contract after acquiring his rights in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Raddysh’s contract is reportedly worth $68 million. The 30-year-old is coming o setting career highs with 22 goals, 48 assists and 70 points in 73 games with Tampa Bay. He produced the same amount over the previous two seasons combined after becoming a full-time NHL player as recently as 2023.
WORLD CUP
Morocco star Hakimi to stand trial in rape case, French appeals court con rms
A French appeals court con rms that Paris Saint- Germain and Morocco star player Achraf Hakimi will stand trial in a rape case. The defender is currently playing with Morocco at the World Cup. Hakimi denied any wrongdoing after facing preliminary charges of rape in March 2023. A 24-year-old woman accused him of raping her at his home in a Paris suburb. The Versailles court’s decision was released just hours before Morocco takes on Scotland at the World Cup. A trial date has not been announced.
Report: Antetokounmpo getting traded to Heat in blockbuster deal
The two-time MVP will get to play for a contender
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press
MIAMI — Giannis Antetokounmpo wants more championships. So do the Miami Heat. Their interests are o cially aligned — and the Heat nally have another superstar.
Ending a marathon watch for the next great Miami get, the Heat reportedly landed Antetokounmpo — a two -time NBA MVP and 10-time All- Star — from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for a massive haul of players and draft picks.
The terms: Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are heading to Miami for Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis.
Milwaukee also gets the No. 13 selection in this year’s draft, along with a rst-round pick swap in 2030, rst-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and a second-rounder in 2033. At 31, the Heat clearly believe Antetokounmpo still has many good years left — and it’s generally presumed that by making this deal they’ll give the Greek superstar a massive extension later this year.
He was a perennial MVP candidate in Milwaukee, getting votes for that award in nine consecutive seasons before 2025-26 when too many missed games left him ineligible.
He has averaged 24.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his career, with 10 consecutive seasons of averaging at least 22.9 points — with three years in there of averaging more than 30 points per game.
Only seven active players have more points in their careers than Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo had been mentioned in trade talks countless times in recent years, with the Bucks always insisting they had no interest in trading their best player.
But this time, it seemed di erent.
The Bucks, who red Doc Rivers as coach after the season, don’t have a roster that would be considered a championship contender. By trading Antetokounmpo, they can essentially start over with four players (and the Heat were high on all of them) along with draft capital.
“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we’re going to get a lot of assets. ... You’ve got to get it right,” Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in May, when the team introduced new coach Taylor Jenkins — who was told that Antetokounmpo may or may not be with the franchise when next season starts.
Antetokounmpo had spoken highly of Miami many times over the years, even when the Heat and Bucks were going head-to-head in the playo s.
“They’re going to play tough and they’re not going to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said after Milwaukee played Miami
“They’re going to play tough and they’re not going to stop playing. That’s the Miami Heat culture.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo after a March game against the Heat
on March 12. “That’s the Miami Heat culture.”
That would be the penultimate game for Antetokounmpo in a Bucks uniform. He played three nights later against Indiana, then was held out of Milwaukee’s nal 15 games of the season. He landed awkwardly on a dunk in that Indiana game and didn’t play again due to what team o cials had labeled as a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo said he was healthy and wanted to play, a dispute that resulted in an investigation by the league o ce. Antetokounmpo said com-
ing into the 2025-26 season that he is at the point in his career where he thinks about his legacy, and how more championships are important to him. Told he is already considered an all-time great, he bristled at the notion.
“I’m not there yet,” Antetokounmpo said that day at Bucks training camp. That’s hard to believe considering his resume. He’s won a championship. He’s been an MVP. He’s been an NBA Finals MVP. He’s a perennial All-Star and All-NBA pick. He’s one of only seven players born somewhere other than the 50 states of the U.S. to have reached the 20,000-point mark. In 2025, he led Greece to its rst EuroBasket medal in 16 years.
“Every basketball player, every athlete, starts a career and they have this quest of what they want to accomplish and what to be remembered for,” Antetokounmpo said in that same training camp interview. “And I think at this point, I’ve accomplished everything that I’ve put my mind to.”
Amateur stars Russell, Koivun grouped in US Open’s ‘future
Just 17 and 21 years old, the pair shows great potential
By Brian Mahoney The Associated Press
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. —
Miles Russell had a long walk to his ball at the end of a long U.S. Open round with Jackson Koivun on Saturday after smashing his tee shot 407 yards on the 18th hole.
“Not bad, not bad,” Russell said afterward with a smile. “I hit that one pretty good.”
Imagine what he might be able to do when he’s all grown up. The 17-year-old Russell and 21-year-old Koivun were paired together in the third round, a grouping that was being referred to during TV coverage as the future of golf.
Already so accomplished before they are even professionals — Russell hasn’t even started college yet — both players understand why such expectations have been placed on them.
“I mean, I’m trying not to think about that,” Koivun said. “Just taking it one day at a time and let my golf game do the talking, but those are great compliments.”
Both players shot 4-over 74, dropping to 7 over for the tournament. Those scores weren’t too bad on a dicult day at windy Shinnecock Hills for any golfer, let alone two that were playing on the weekend for the rst
of golf’ pairing
“I think we just keep doing what we’re doing, and see where it takes us”
Miles Russell
time in a major championship.
It’s expected to be the rst of many times for both.
Koivun is about to turn pro after a dominant college career in which he led Auburn to two national championships in three seasons, becoming the rst freshman since Justin Thomas in 2012 to win the Haskins Award, given to the nation’s top collegiate golfer. He won the Southeastern Conference individual title all three years and has been the
world’s top-ranked amateur. Russell is now the next big thing. The left-hander is ranked No. 1 in the American Junior Golf Association and No. 7 among all amateurs in the world. He is headed to Florida State and will be a teammate with Charlie Woods, Tiger Woods’ son, who carried Russell’s bag when he earned his spot in the U.S. Open through a 36-hole quali er.
“He’s been been in the game for a while and he’s just such a good player,” Koivun said.
The players who didn’t know each other well before this weekend were paired again Sunday. Russell, who played with 54-year-old Padraig Harrington in the rst two rounds, took advantage of a chance to be with someone closer to his age Saturday to get some advice about school.
Like Koivun, he tried to downplay the “future of golf” hype around them.
“I don’t know, that’s kind of crazy,” Russell said. “I mean, I think the main thing is just keep enjoying it because if you’re not enjoying it, you may not have much of a future in it. So, I think we just keep doing what we’re doing, and see where it takes us.
“Golf is a very di cult sport,” he added. “One day you have it and the next day it’s gone, so I think you just have to kind of block it out and just keep doing what you’re doing, and hopefully one day that’s true.” Still, he could tell there was an interest in them, even though they were out early in the morning, long before anyone near the top of the leaderboard.
“At the beginning, we had some good crowds out there,” Russell said. “I think if we might have played a little better, they might have stuck around a little longer, but it was cool.”
Koivun and Russell were two of the ve amateurs who made the cut, a group that was led by 21-year-old Ryder Cowan. Cowan, who will be a senior at Oklahoma, was tied for 11th after 36 holes.
So perhaps the future of golf goes beyond Koivun and Russell.
“Yeah, I mean, amateur golf is in a great spot right now,” Koivun said. “The college kids are de nitely showing o , showing o how good they are, and for ve of us to make it through, it’s quite impressive.”
SETH WENIG / AP PHOTO
Miles Russell and Jackson Koivu walk on the 14th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open.
MARTA LAVANDIER / AP PHOTO
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbles the ball during a game against the Miami Heat.
this week in history
Custer’s Last Stand, Anne Frank’s diary published, Battle of Gettysburg begins
The Associated Press
JUNE 25
1876: The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand, began in Montana Territory. About 268 members of the 7th Cavalry Regiment were killed, including George Armstrong Custer and Mark Kellogg, the first Associated Press reporter to die while covering a conflict.
1947: “The Diary of a Young Girl,” the journal of Anne Frank, was first published. The book chronicled her family’s years in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II.
1950: War broke out on the Korean Peninsula as communist forces from North Korea invaded South Korea. The conflict lasted more than three years and resulted in an estimated 4 million deaths, most of them civilians.
JUNE 26
1917: U.S. troops entered World War I as the first soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force landed in Saint-Nazaire, France.
1963: President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin and delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, expressing solidarity with the city’s residents.
2015: In its 5 - 4 ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same - sex marriage nationwide.
ANNE FRANK HOUSE VIA WIKIPEDIA
On June 25, 1947, “The Diary of a Young Girl” was rst published.
JUNE 27
1844: Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
1957: Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm, causing as many as 600 deaths.
1967: Barclays unveiled the world’s rst automated teller machine (ATM) in En eld, north of London.
JUNE 28
1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, an act that helped spark World War I.
1863: During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Gen. George G. Meade to command the Army of the Potomac after Gen. Joseph Hooker resigned.
1919: The Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, formally ending the First World War.
JUNE 29
1520: Montezuma II, the ninth and last emperor of the Aztecs, died in Tenochtitlan under disputed circumstances.
1613: London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of William Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by re during a performance of “Henry VIII.”
2007: The rst version of the iPhone went on sale for the rst time, launching one of the most successful consumer products in history.
JUNE 30
1921: President Warren G. Harding nominated former President William Howard Taft to be chief justice of the United States.
1934: Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives.
1936: “Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was published.
JULY 1
1863: The pivotal Battle of Gettysburg began in Pennsylvania, ending three days later in a Union victory.
1867: Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took e ect. It is now celebrated as Canada Day.
1997: Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British colony.
2004: Marlon Brando, one of Hollywood’s most in uential actors, died in Los Angeles at age 80.
AP PHOTO
Lt. Bayard Wilkeson, on horseback, directs the re of the 4th U.S. Artillery against Confederate ranks during the Battle of Gettysburg, which began July 1, 1863.
Hamilton, Domingo lead star-studded front row at Ralph Lauren’s Milan show
Runway casting was age- and race-inclusive
By Colleen Barry The Associated Press
MILAN — Lewis Hamilton
hobnobbed with Colman Domingo in the front row of Ralph Lauren’s Milan Fashion Week show, trading notes on a menswear collection that ran the gamut from bankerly pinstripes to layered festival wear.
The fashion powerhouse has shown menswear in its stately Milan palazzo the last two seasons, drawing an A-list crowd Friday evening that also included “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding, “Avengers” actor Tom Hiddleston and U.S. actor Scott Eastwood.
Outside, eager fans braved a heatwave to glimpse of arriving celebrities and were rewarded as Thai actor Nichakoon Khajornborirak, nicknamed Meen, and Korean actor Kim Woo-bin each took a moment to turn and wave as the crowd snapped photos. Domingo took a slide on his way inside, as he circled back to his car to grab his hand fan. “I was not going to leave that
Comedian Mencia faces dozen felony charges in tax evasion case
He failed to report more than $8 million in earnings
By Andrew Dalton The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Comedi-
an Carlos Mencia was arrested Thursday and charged with 12 felony counts for failing to report or pay taxes on more than $8 million in earnings, prosecutors said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges at a news conference where he called Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax sco aws.”
The stand-up comic, 58, was charged with six felony counts of failure to le personal income tax with the intent to evade taxes — one each for the years 2019 to 2024 — and six similar counts for corporate taxes.
Mencia owes more than $300,000 in state taxes on income totaling $8.7 million, Hochman said.
He has not entered a plea, and emails sent to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.
Mencia was arrested at his Los Angeles home at about 7 a.m., authorities said. He remained in custody last Thursday afternoon and was being held on $250,000 bail. He made his rst court appearance Monday and plead not guilty to the charges. If he’s convicted of all counts, he could get more than 11 years in prison, along with paying the tax bills and interest that will almost double the total.
The charges are the rst led under the new district attorney’s new Business Tax Fraud Unit that was established in May by Hochman, a former longtime prosecutor of tax cases.
Mencia regularly paid taxes before 2019, Hochman said. He was sent 78 notices from the state about his delinquent bills, with no response.
The charges deal only with state taxes. Hochman said the IRS has not informed his o ce
Lewis Hamilton, right hugs Colman Domingo as he arrives for the Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2027 men’s collection presented in Milan, Italy, last Friday.
fan in that car,” Domingo said after the evening show. “Then my heel just slid, and I was safe. But I got the fan, which was the most important thing.”
From Brooklyn to the Hamptons
Daytime suits from Ralph Lauren’s luxury Purple line quickly morphed into tuxedo shirts and sti bow ties under trailing patchwork denim coats
that showed signs of distress. Looks were nished with berets worn askew, aviator glasses and pocket watch chains.
“Today I saw it felt like 1920s-inspired,” Domingo said, stopping to listen to Nat King Cole play in the background. “It’s evocative of what we saw today. A mixture of old and new.”
On the more casual side, colorful madras plaids held together the sportier Polo collection of layered knitwear, rugby
shirts and light pu ers more adapted to a mountain festival or nighttime beach party than a Milan heatwave. Some looks were straight out of the “Preppy Handbook,” with pink and green happily colliding. Cheekily, the coveted Polo Bear motif on knitwear wore out ts matching the runway.
From Purple to Polo, timeless accessories
Formal and casual looks gradually converged throughout the collection, without regard for occasion. Silk scarves accenting suits became colorful bandanas on casual looks. Ties became belts and were sewn together to make bags, suggesting a reusability on trend with up-cycling. Footwear ranged from leather sherman’s sandals to velvet slippers and espadrilles to rain-resistant duck boots. For bags, men can choose from Ralph Lauren-branded canvas totes or luxury snakeskin portfolios and bags. Eastwood said he had his eye on a snakeskin bag. “This is just a classy brand that’s timeless,’’ said Eastwood.
Comedian Carlos Mencia performs during the Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas
of Mencia’s federal tax status.
Born Ned Arnel Holness in Honduras and raised in East Los Angeles, Mencia began doing stand-up in LA clubs in the late 1980s. By the early 2000s, he became one of the most popular comics in the U.S. and also did some acting in lm and television. He had his own TV series, “Mind of Mencia,” combining stand-up with sketches on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2008.
Hochman pointed out at the news conference that on the show in 2007, Mencia said, “Maybe I’m di erent, but I think taxes are a good thing.”
His comedy most often dealt with race, class and Latino culture. His career took a downward turn as he was hit with accusations from many fellow comedians of joke theft, which he always denied, from other comics. Joe Rogan, then best known as a stand-up comic, con-
fronted him on a club stage on the issue in a video that went viral in 2007. Mencia had long discussions on Marc Maron’s podcast on the alleged plagiarism, acknowledging that he may have absorbed others’ material but denying outright theft. He still does regular stand-up shows, touring clubs and small theaters. He’s scheduled to do a series of dates in Southern California this week and Las Vegas next week.
JASON DECROW / AP IMAGES FOR TR3S: MTV, MUSICA Y MAS
Upfront in New York.
ANTONIO CALANNI / AP PHOTO
famous birthdays this week
Civil rights activist James Meredith turns 93, Ricky Gervais celebrates 65, Twyla Tharp hits 85
The Associated Press THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.
JUNE 25
Civil rights activist James Meredith is 93. Singer Carly Simon is 83. Actor - comedian Jimmie Walker is 79. Musician Tim Finn is 74. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is 72. Actor -writer - comedian Ricky Gervais is 65.
JUNE 26
Jazz musician- composer Dave Grusin is 92. Brazilian singer - songwriter and politician Gilberto Gil is 84. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer is 73. Musician Mick Jones (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite) is 71. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson is 56.
JUNE 27
Musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 84. Fashion designer Norma Kamali is 81. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 77. Actor Julia Du y is 75. Actor Isabelle Adjani is 71. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński is 67. Writer -producer - director J.J. Abrams is 60.
JUNE 28
Filmmaker - comedian Mel Brooks is 100. Diplomat and politician Hans Blix is 98. Actor Kathy Bates is 78. Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 66. Actor John Cusack is 60. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is 55. Country singer -TV personality Kellie Pickler is 39.
JUNE 29
Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 86. Singer - songwriter Garland Je reys is 83. Actor Gary Busey is 82. Former actor and politician Fred Grandy is 78. Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 78. Singer Don Dokken is 73.
Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer turns 73 on Friday.
JUNE 30
Actor Nancy Dussault is 90. Olympic track champion Billy Mills is 88. Oceanographer Robert Ballard is 84. Singer - songwriter Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band) is 82. Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 75. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 67.
JULY 1
Actor - dancer Leslie Caron is 94. Actor Jamie Farr (“M*A*S*H”) is 92. Dancer - choreographer Twyla Tharp is 85. Actor Genevieve Bujold is 84. Rock singer Deborah Harry (Blondie) is 81. Actor Terrence Mann is 75. Rock singer Fred Schneider (The B - 52s) is 75. Actor - comedian Dan Aykroyd is 74. Actor Alan Ruck is 70.
ROGELIO V. SOLIS / AP PHOTO
Civil rights activist James Meredith turns 93 on Thursday.
EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ / AP PHOTO Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor turns 72 on Thursday.
TONY AVELAR / AP PHOTO
Paul Simon, ‘In the Hand of Dante,’
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ Star Fox
British rockers Muse drop “The Wow! Signal”
By Jake Coyle
The Associated Press
A PAUL SIMON concert special and Season 2 of the live -action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” are some of the new television, lms, music and games headed to a device near you. Also, among the streaming o erings worth your time this week: a new Larry David series celebrating American history, the horror lm “Undertone” and the return of Star Fox.
MOVIES TO STREAM
Filmmaker Ian Tuason uses soundscapes to scare audiences in his debut feature “Undertone,” a minimalist auditory horror about a paranormal podcaster that is streaming on HBO Max on Friday. In his review for The Associated Press, lm writer Jake Coyle wrote that “it’s a testament to Tuason’s evident lmmaking talent that, with these bare bones, ‘Undertone’ swells into a gripping and unsettling experience. This is a movie that summons many of its scares with a sudden boost in audio levels, the thunderous tick of a clock or the scream of … a tea kettle. It’s even rated ‘R’ not for bloodcurdling violence or satanic ghouls but, simply, ‘language.’”
John Cena plays a buttoned-up real estate agent whose carefully curated life gets upended when his chaotic “little brother,” played by Eric André, reappears in his life in the new Net ix comedy “Little Brother,” streaming Friday. Michelle Monaghan, Christopher Meloni and Caleb Hearon are all part of the big ensemble cast. Also arriving on Net ix, on Wednesday is Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hand of Dante,” a divisive “literary gangster” movie with Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot and Al Pacino.
Peacock also has a new Tyler Perry and Jason Blum-produced psychological thriller, “Strung,” that will be streaming on Friday. Chloe Bailey plays a talented violinist who takes a
“Undertone” is a testament to Tuason’s evident lmmaking talent that, with these bare bones, ‘Undertone’ swells into a gripping and unsettling experience.”
job as a music tutor for a prestigious family in the Malcolm D. Lee - directed pic.
MUSIC TO STREAM
It’s not as good as catching Simon on the singer-songwriter’s “A Quiet Celebration Tour,” but it is the next best thing.
On Friday, fans can enjoy Simon’s brand-new two-hour concert special, “Paul Simon: The Quiet Celebration Concert,” streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Expect deep cuts, new arrangements and timeless hits recorded live at McCaw Hall in Seattle. It’s also a story of triumph — a legendary performer learning the stage again after beginning to experience hearing loss.
The globally popular English rock band Muse returns with “The Wow! Signal,” a new full-length project named after “a powerful 72-second radio burst detected in 1977 originating from the constellation Sagittarius with a bandwidth and intensity that suggested a possible extraterrestrial source,” according to a statement. It’s a tting source of inspiration for the space -y stadium rock band, and an appropriate title for an album full of retro -futuristic synth songs (“Nightshift Superstar”), scienti c vernacular (“Cryogen”) and anthemic guitars (“Unraveling.”)
SERIES TO STREAM
The live -action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” debuts its second season Thursday on Netix. It’s set in a world divided into four nations based on the four elements: earth, water, re and air. A young Avatar named Aang is the only being who can manipulate each of those ele -
Director Ian Tuason poses for a portrait to promote the
California.
ments, giving him power that serves him in both everyday life and as protection. In Season 2, Aang is still learning to master his powers.
For most kids, school is out for the summer, and that includes Charlie Brown and the gang. The animated series “Camp Snoopy” returns for Season 2 on Friday on Apple TV. It follows the adventures of Snoopy, a beagle scout (get it?), Charlie and their friends enjoying the summer at Camp Spring Lake. Just in time to celebrate America’s upcoming 250th birthday, David stars in a new historical sketch comedy series called “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness. “ Debuting Friday on HBO Max, David plays historical gures alongside guest stars including Jon Hamm, Kathryn Hahn, Vince Vaughn, Bill Hader, Jerry Seinfeld, J.B. Smoove and Isla Fisher. Like David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” this show is largely improvised and features David’s trademark pessimistic, observational humor. Barack and Michelle Obama’s
“Paul Simon: The Quiet Celebration Concert” lands on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday.
Higher Ground company produces the show.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
Fox McCloud saved the day in “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” but it’s been a long time since the dashing ghter pilot headlined a game. Nintendo is taking advantage of his new-
found celebrity with Star Fox, overhauling his 1997 Nintendo 64 adventure for the Switch 2. The high- ying aerial combat game bounces from planet to planet as players defend the Lylat System from an evil mastermind. You can team up with friends on missions or engage in 4 -vs.- 4 battles online. Blast o Thursday.
MARTIN MEISSNER / AP PHOTO
Matt Bellamy, left, from Muse gestures to the audience after winning the “Best Rock” award at the European MTV Awards 2022 in Dusseldorf, Germany. The band releases “The Wow! Signal” on Friday.
