North State Journal Vol. 11, Issue 10

The King’s speech

Britain’s King Charles III addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday as part of his state visit to Washington, D.C.

Second Mecklenburg Democrat leaves party

Raleigh Rep. Nasif Majeed announced he is dropping his Democratic Party a liation and has opted to become una liated. Majeed was one of three state House Democrats who faced and lost primary challenges in March after earlier voting with Republicans to help override vetoes by Gov. Josh Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper. Majeed is the second Mecklenburg County Democrat to leave the party recently, following Carla Cunningham, who announced last week that she was dropping her Democratic a liation for una liated following her loss in the primary. Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe was also targeted in the primary and defeated.

Comey indicted again in probe over online post Washington, D.C.

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted again on Tuesday, this time in an investigation over a social media photo of seashells arranged on a beach that o cials said constituted a threat against President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter. The criminal case is the second in a matter of months against Comey and is part of the Trump administration Justice Department’s e ort to prosecute political opponents of the Republican president. The indictment involving the year- old photo was secured as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a Trump loyalist who previously served as his personal lawyer, aims to prove to the president that he’s the right person to hold the job permanently.

Cooper’s COVID-19 settlement list faces probe

The legislative subcommittee is also looking at Gov. Josh Stein’s involvement

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A legislative subcommittee to investigate former Gov. Roy Cooper’s COVID - era “secret reentry settlement list” was announced last week.

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) and House Speaker Destin Hall (R- Granite Falls) both issued similar press releases last Monday on the creation of a Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, Subcommittee on Prisons.

“Roy Cooper opened the oodgates and then did the bare minimum to inform the public about the criminals

See PROBE, page A3

The governor’s spending plan raises average educator salaries by 11% and rolls back the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Gov. Josh

Stein released his recommended budget for the 2026-27 biennium last week, proposing total General Fund appropriations of $33.3 billion in the rst year and $35.44 billion in the second.

The House and Senate originally agreed to $32.59 billion for FY 2025-26, and Stein’s budget proposal is $2.85 billion higher.

His previous budget proposal had similar spending, with $33.65 billion in FY 2025-26 and $34.35 billion in FY 2026 -27. In March, Stein issued a $1.4 billion “critical needs budget” as the legislature still had not passed a state budget.

“North Carolina’s people are our greatest asset, and when they succeed, we suc-

Lumbee Tribe casino moves forward with constitutional amendment

The tribe bought 240 acres along I-95 for $6.8 million last year

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — A casino along I-95 is one step closer after the Lumbee Tribe amended its constitution to allow gaming. The full tribe membership will need to approve the measure at a yet-unscheduled future vote. At its April 16 business meeting, the Lumbee Tribal Council approved a resolution amending the tribe’s constitu-

tion to authorize gaming by a vote of 17-2.

“(The) Tribal Council nds it is in the best interest and welfare of the Tribe to authorize gaming activities on Tribal lands,” the resolution states.

Chairman John Lowery issued a statement on Facebook ahead of the resolution vote.

“Tonight, the Lumbee Tribal Council will take a historic step to give you, the citizens of the Lumbee Tribe, the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment that will allow our Tribe to conduct gaming,” Lowery said while encouraging

See CASINO, page A2

“(The) Tribal Council nds it is in the best interest and welfare of the Tribe to authorize gaming activities on Tribal lands.” Lumbee Tribe resolution

ceed,” Stein said in a press release. “We must make scally responsible decisions now to keep our schools strong, our communities safe, and our economy working for every person. This budget is a balanced, forward-looking plan to secure our future, lower costs, and ensure that every North Carolinian has a shot at real prosperity.”

On the revenue side, the plan proposes roughly $378 million in “tax relief” for working families, including a refundable Working Families Tax Credit, a Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and the reinstatement of a back-to -school sales tax holiday. Stein’s budget would pay for those items by halting further reductions to the individual and corporate income tax rates. The proposal claims a “ scal cli ” has been created by previous income tax reductions.

The top spending increases in Stein’s proposal include “fully” funding Medicaid Rebase needs ($319 million for 2025-26 and more than $728 million for 2026 -27) and

“Run for your lives! Do not stop anywhere in the plain. Do not look back! Escape to the mountain, or you will die!”

Genesis 19:17

This is still the gospel message. We are in danger of God’s judgment, and must escape from it — if we would live. We must not stay anywhere in all the plain of sin — for there is no safe spot, no shelter anywhere, no place where the res of judgment will not fall.

Some people would like to compromise; they are willing to ee from some sins, but not from others. There are some professed Christians who like to stay on the borders of their old life. They are continually asking whether they can do this or that, go here or there — and still be Christians. They want to keep just as near to Sodom as possible — so as not to be burnt up in Sodom’s destruction. The answer to all such questions is, “Run for your lives! Do not stop anywhere in the plain. Do not look back! Escape to the mountain, or you will die!” Even the borders are unsafe. The only safe place is the mountain, the mountain where Christ’s Cross stands.

Lot’s wife “looked back.” There had been a speci c command, “Do not look back!” Why Lot’s wife looked back is not explained. Was it curiosity to see the nature of the terrible destruction that she heard roaring behind her? Or was it her dismay as she thought of her beautiful home, with all its wealth of furnishing and decoration, and all her jewels and garments and other possessions — which were now being consumed in the great con agration?

It would seem to be, that she was appalled at the thought of leaving and losing all her beloved possessions, and paused in her ight and looked back, with the hope that possibly she might yet run back and snatch some of the ornaments or gems — something, at least, from the awful destruction. “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

“Remember Lot’s wife!” Luke 17:32. We should not miss the “lesson” which our Lord Himself teaches us from the tragic fate of this woman: we cannot have both worlds. Lot’s wife could have escaped with her husband and her daughters, but she could escape only by resolutely and determinedly leaving everything she had in Sodom. Her love for her possessions, cost her her life!

Just so, there are thousands today, to whom God’s message comes: “Run for your lives! Do not stop anywhere in the plain. Do not look back! Escape to the mountain, or you will die!” They somewhat desire to follow Christ, but

includes a sweeping package of compensation increases for state employees and teachers.

One resolution calls on Chancellor Lee Roberts to release the report

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — The UNC Chapel Hill Faculty Council issued two resolutions regarding the 400-page report being withheld on the investigation conducted on the School of Civic Life and Leadership during its April 17 meeting.

In early March, UNC Chapel Hill o cials received the results of an independent review of the School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) over leadership complaints and other issues, but the school withheld its release, citing con dentiality of personnel matters and protection of interviewees.

The two resolutions put forward by the Faculty Council call for clarity on SCiLL’s oversight structure, reporting relationships, faculty appointment practices and performance benchmarks, and for UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts to release the 400-page investigative report.

The rst resolution cites the

members to attend the meeting. Lowery was appointed in mid- October 2025 to ll the remainder of his brother Jarrod’s term representing Robeson County in the North Carolina House. Jarrod Lowery resigned e ective Oct. 1, 2025, and left the state to take the role of senior adviser to the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Indian A airs in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Last December, Lumbee Holdings, the for-pro t arm of the tribe, paid $6.8 million for two properties along I-95 in Robeson County. The properties are approximately 240 acres. A Lumbee casino would be the fourth native gaming facility in the state.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians operates two casinos, in-

Faculty Executive Committee’s October 2025 letter to university administration asking for the details on SCiLL’s structure and practices and also asks for established protocols and criteria for creating new schools like SCiLL, as well as broader “institutional” questions.

The second resolution called on Roberts to release the report “in order to move forward with the transparency that the faculty, University community, and the public deserve, and to lift the cloud these allegations cast on the legitimacy of SCiLL and the excellence of our University.”

The SCiLL investigation cost $1.2 million using public funds and was conducted by the rm of K&L Gates. The use of public funds is the crux of a lawsuit led by media outlets demanding release of the report.

cluding Harrah’s in Cherokee in the western part of the state.

In 2027, the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation will be fully opening Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain west of Charlotte. The Two Kings Casino has been opening in stages since 2021, with an “introductory casino” that opened in March, according to 500Nations.com.

Federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe was among President Donald Trump’s campaign promises during the 2024 election cycle. Trump followed through and issued a memorandum directing the secretary of the Interior to work toward achieving that promise in January.

The Lumbee Tribe had 55,000 enrolled members during 2025-26, however, some estimates put membership at

Education remains the largest single category of state spending at 57% of the General Fund, or roughly $18.95 billion. Health and Human Services follows at 26% with $8.7 billion, and Justice and Public Safety at 12% with $4.09 billion.

The budget’s education section includes a proposed restructuring of the statewide teacher salary schedule, which Stein’s proposal says would bring North Carolina’s starting teacher pay from a current ranking of 45th in the nation to the highest starting salary in the Southeast.

Across all current teachers, the budget projects an average pay increase of 11% by the second year of the biennium and reinstatement of a 10% salary supplement for educators with master’s degrees in their subject area. Principals and assistant principals would see a 5% increase totaling $28.8 million.

Beginning teachers would earn a state base of $53,120 by FY 2026 -27, up from $41,000 today, which translates to nearly a 30% increase over two years. Combined with local supplements, starting pay is projected in the proposal at a minimum of $56,338.

For experienced educators, the plan restores annual

60,000, making it the largest tribe in North Carolina. Many of the tribe’s members live in Robeson County, with others in Cumberland, Hoke and Scotland counties.

Both the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes opposed Lumbee federal recognition during a Nov. 5, 2025, U.S. Senate Committee on Indian A airs hearing.

The Lumbee Tribe received federal recognition following a historic vote by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 17, 2025. To operate gaming and similar activities, North Carolina state law requires a tribe to be federally recognized.

Lowery has said the tribe is expected to receive $70 million to $80 million a year from the Bureau of Indian A airs and Indian Health Services because of its recognition. The casino is estimated to create 3,000 jobs.

their love for the world is so intense that they cannot give it up — they cannot renounce it. They must decide, however, which they will renounce: Christ or the world. They cannot keep both. In Lot’s wife, we have an example of one who was almost saved — and yet lost. She was lost because she loved the world.

J. R. Miller was a pastor and former editorial superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication from 1880 to 1911. His works are now in the public domain. This passage is from “The Outcome of Lot’s Choice” (1908).

step increases through 25-plus years of service.

Beyond the salary schedule, the budget includes a one-time $1,000 bonus for all teachers and education employees with an additional $500 for those earning below $75,000 annually, plus a $300 classroom supply stipend that will total $30 million statewide.

The total cost of teacher compensation changes is listed at $734.4 million in recurring appropriations for FY 2026 -27, plus $255.8 million in nonrecurring bonus funding.

Beyond educators, the budget proposes a 2.5% cost- ofliving adjustment for all state employees in each year of the biennium, totaling $515.5 million in recurring costs by year two. Employees in law enforcement and certi ed public safety roles would receive a 10% raise in FY 2025-26, growing to a cumulative 15% increase by FY 2026 -27 that would cost $157.8 million. Nurses and other health care personnel at state facilities would receive the same tiered increase, totaling $31.8 million.

The total workforce investment package, including retiree adjustments and bonuses, reaches $919 million in recurring appropriations by the second year.

Like his predecessor, former Gov. Roy Cooper, Stein is proposing a moratorium on the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program, which provides

grants on a sliding income scale to families for private school tuition. The proposal would issue no new vouchers and would roll the program back to its pre- expansion eligibility of requiring households earn no more than 150% of the reduced-price school lunch income threshold.

Stein’s changes to the program would allow families who received vouchers in the 2025-26 school year to renew their awards.

The governor’s budget projects the moratorium would reduce appropriations by $454.5 million in FY 2026-27 and $587.5 million in FY 2027-28, with an included summary table listing a total savings gure of $1.042 billion by year two.

Other priorities in the budget include nearly $1 billion for a package spanning behavioral health, public safety and nutrition assistance, funding for 360 new school health professionals, school safety grants and continuation of the state’s SNAP program administration.

The budget also proposes $100 million for student technology devices, $115 million for public school facility repairs and $80 million for rural broadband infrastructure.

The proposal has been sent to the General Assembly for consideration. The legislature began its short session last Tuesday and is expected to pass its own overdue budget in the coming weeks.

Lawmakers make $319M Medicaid funding deal

Citizen checks, eligibility reviews and audits are included in House Bill 696

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Legislative leaders announced a deal on Medicaid Rebase funding last week, with a bill passing almost unanimously in initial votes taken in both chambers.

“Medicaid should serve the people who truly need it, and this bill makes sure that happens,” said House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls). “After Gov. Stein and his administration let costs run wild, we’re tightening things up by adding common-sense guardrails that cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.

“North Carolina taxpayers deserve con dence that their money is being spent wisely, and patients deserve a system that prioritizes care for those who depend on it the most.”

Sen. Benton Sawrey (R-Johnston), chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, added in a Senate press release, “We cannot continue to throw dollars at a program without making changes to protect taxpayers and ensure the North Carolinians who truly need Medicaid can get care.”

The conference committee version of House Bill 696 includes $319 million drawn from the Medicaid Contingency Reserve to cover the current year’s rebase shortfall. The funding is retroactive to July 1, 2025. The

funding will address higher enrollment, cost increases and the launch of the new Children and Families Specialty Plan.

The legislation also requires transfers from the four regional mental-health managed-care organizations, totaling roughly $18 million per year, and restructures hospital assessments to help fund the state’s Medicaid share.

The bill passed the House on a second reading by a vote of 112-1, with only Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) voting no. The Senate approved the measure later the same day by a 48-1 vote, with Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Guilford) in opposition.

No changes were made in the Senate, and the bill was placed on both chamber calendars for nal action on April 28.

Other key provisions include monthly eligibility reviews, instead of quarterly, using data on income, employment, lottery winnings, incarceration and death records. The reviews start in October.

Stronger documentation standards prohibiting self-attestation as the sole proof of eligibility are also in the bill, as is citizenship and immigration veri cation for applicants and bene ciaries. Income of ineligible household members must be counted, and unveri able immigration status would trigger a referral to federal authorities.

Language includes federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, e ective Jan. 1, 2027, with applicants needing to show compliance for the prior three months.

Additionally, the state auditor is to conduct a comprehensive performance audit of the Medicaid program and NCWorks Career Centers. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is required to submit transparency reports on improper payments, recovered funds and ineligible recipients.

NCDHHS is also directed to develop a Medicaid integrity and e ciency plan to reduce administrative burdens and identify cost savings.

The legislation also has new guardrails for Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for children with autism, including limits on telehealth, certi cation requirements and supervision caps.

Aside from Medicaid, other critical spending needs are addressed in the bill:

• $80 million (nonrecurring) for the Department of Adult Correction

• $13.1 million (recurring) and $8.5 million (nonrecurring) for the Division of Motor Vehicles

• $2.5 million (recurring) and $1.2 million (nonrecurring) for the State Bureau of Investigation

• $10 million recurring in scal year 2026-27 for the Children of Wartime Veterans Scholarship program

• $1 million (nonrecurring) for the remainder of the 2025-26 school year for Children of Wartime Veterans Scholarship awards

• $165,000 nonrecurring to maintain and operate the Business Court’s current case management software

Mecklenburg Democrat switches to una liated following primary ouster

Carla Cunningham became the second seated Democrat to leave the party in the past two years

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Mecklenburg County state Rep. Carla Cunningham has dropped her Democratic a liation and is now registered as una liated, as rst reported by WBT Radio’s Brett Jensen.

The change comes after Cunningham lost in her March primary reelection bid to challenger Rodney Sadler.

Cunningham was one of three Democrats targeted for a primary challenge by the state Democratic Party for having voted to override vetoes made by former Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov. Josh Stein. The other two Democrats were Reps. Nasif Majeed (Mecklenburg) — who also changed his a liation to una liated on Monday — and Shelly Willingham (Edgecombe), and both also lost their primary races.

Cunningham was targeted after her veto override vote of a bill requiring law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration o cials. In an April 2 interview with Jensen, Cunningham defended that vote and criticized Stein for endorsing her primary opponent.

“Josh Stein’s endorsement of my opponent was never about immigration,” she told Jensen.

“It’s about power. It’s about tell-

Onslow educator named NC’s top teacher

By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

RALEIGH — Onslow County’s Cason Justice was named the Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year for 2026 at an award ceremony held at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary last Friday. Justice teaches history at Swansboro High School and is a National Board Certi ed Teacher and North Carolina teaching fellow. In addition to being named the N.C. Teacher of the Year (NCTOY), Justice was also named Onslow County Schools’ Teacher of the Year and the Swansboro High School Teacher of the Year.

“Mr. Justice approaches teaching with a level of dedication and excellence that creates

results,” State Superintendent Mo Green said in a press release. “Through his intentional lessons and investment outside of the classroom, Mr. Justice encourages his students and colleagues to reach their full potential.”

secret until earlier this year, when Gov Ops obtained and released it.”

being released into their communities,” Berger said. “He made every e ort to hide what he did, and Republicans in the General Assembly are going to hold him and Gov. (Josh) Stein accountable for releasing violent, repeat o enders and endangering our citizens.”

The releases said the committee would investigate Cooper’s decision “to release more than 4,200 criminals early after settling a COVID - era lawsuit with his liberal allies, including the ACLU and NAACP.”

“Public safety is the most important responsibility of our government,” Hall said. “If Roy Cooper or any other ocial failed at this most basic responsibility, the people of this state deserve to know about it.

The release of violent, repeat offenders back onto our streets is a serious miscarriage of justice. This committee will investigate exactly how these early release decisions were made, who was responsible, and whether proper safeguards were followed.”

The releases note that the individuals on the list were “kept

The full list of names was not released publicly until earlier this year. Not long after, it was discovered that repeat o ender Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused of the Aug. 22, 2025, stabbing murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail train system, was on the list.

Recent court lings have asked for continuance in the case after documentation provided suggested Brown was incompetent to stand trial.

Prison o cials have maintained that Brown’s initial 2020 release after serving his full minimum sentence for armed robbery, plus his Feb. 15, 2021, postrelease supervision reinstatement after a new arrest, were unrelated to Cooper’s prisoner settlement and would have happened anyway.

According to Berger and Hall, the subcommittee will look at the release conditions and parole of the prisoners on the list, as well as explore Stein’s role since he was the attorney general at the time and his of-

“Mr.

Justice approaches teaching with a level of dedication and excellence that creates results.”

Mo Green, state superintendent

Justice, an educator with 13 years of experience, also serves as a mentor teacher, strategic planning team chair and is a member of the teacher leadership council at Swansboro High. He has also served as an adviser for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes since beginning his role at the high school.

As NCTOY, Justice will spend the next school year traveling to schools around the state advocating for teachers and engaging in events at the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching, the National Teacher of the

ce represented Cooper in both the lawsuit and settlement.

Sen. Buck Newton (R-Wilson) and Rep. Brenden Jones (R- Columbus) will be the chairs of the new subcommittee.

The other subcommittee includes eight Republicans and four Democrats: Sens. Lisa Barnes (R-Nash), Woodson Bradley (D -Mecklenburg), Danny Earl Britt Jr. (R-Robeson), Warren Daniel (R-Burke), Terence Everitt (D -Wake) and Amy Galey (R-Alamance); and Reps. Amber Baker (D -Forsyth), Celeste Cairnes (R- Carteret), Grant Campbell (R- Cabarrus), Allen Chesser (R-Nash), Lindsey Prather (D -Buncombe) and Mike Schietzelt (R-Wake).

According to the release by Berger and Hall, the subcommittee will also review the state prison system and other justice-related topics such as “sta ng, healthcare, facility locations, consolidation, programming, re- entry, recidivism, the Justice Reinvestment Act, and community support.”

The 2021 COVID - era prison settlement implemented when Cooper — the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in this

ing us, ‘If you don’t do what we tell you to do, we’re going to put you o the plantation.’ And I’m not on it. I’m free.

“And I’m glad that I stood where I stood. I’m not changing where I am. Because I don’t have to. I can be authentic. I can be who I am.”

Currently, the North Carolina House is one vote shy of a Republican supermajority. Cunningham’s a liation change could have rami cations for six bills awaiting veto override votes in that chamber.

In the April 2 interview, Jensen asked her about future votes, saying people were “worried” about what she would do.

“I’m going to look at what’s good and I’m going to look at what’s bad and I’m going to weigh it,” Cunningham told Jensen. “And then that’s how I determine how I vote. They’ll know when I know.”

Cunningham is the second state House Democrat to leave the party in the past two years. In April 2023, Rep. Tricia Cotham, also from Mecklenburg County, announced she was changing her a liation to Republican.

Year Conference and International Space Camp.

Additionally, Justice will have the chance to attend the International Society for Technology in Education conference and travel abroad through an endowment sponsored by Global NC.

The 2025 N.C. Teacher of the Year was Rachel Candaso, a middle school teacher from Pitt County Schools.

Prizes for NCTOY include a mobile device from Lenovo, an engraved award, nancial support to serve as a liaison for North Carolina Public Schools, as well as a cash award from Bojangles and a gift from Carolina Hunger Initiative.

According to Green’s press release, Burroughs Wellcome will fund Justice’s participation in the yearlong North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship.

The other nalists for this year’s NCTOY award were: Northeast: Heather Dail, Hert-

year’s election — stemmed from a lawsuit led in April 2020 when Cooper was governor by the North Carolina NAACP, ACLU of North Carolina, Disability Rights North Carolina and other groups. They alleged that overcrowded state prisons violated inmates’ constitutional rights by preventing adequate COVID -19 precautions like social distancing.

In June 2020, a Wake County Superior Court judge ruled the state was likely violating the rights of up to 32,000 incarcerated people. The parties reached a formal settlement agreement on Feb. 25, 2021. Under the deal, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, which is now the Department of Adult Correction, agreed to “early reentry” for at least 3,500 people in custody within six months and at least 1,500 within the rst 90 days.

“Early reentry” used a Feb. 15, 2021, cuto date for eligibility.

Early release was de ned as releasing inmates at least 14 days before a projected release date, transferring eligible inmates to a community supervision status, or reinstating/restoring in-

ford Grammar School (Perquimans County Schools); North Central: Shannon Campbell, Wilson Early College Academy (Wilson County Schools); Sandhills: Manzell Spencer, Jr., Douglas Byrd Middle School (Cumberland County Schools); Piedmont-Triad: Jonathan Lancho Villa, Pilot Mountain Elementary School (Surry County Schools); Southwest: Melissa Hollar Culp, St. James Elementary School (Lincoln County Schools); Northwest: Gina Holste, Valle Crucis School (Watauga County Schools); Western: Nishelle Henson, Macon Middle School (Macon County Schools); Charter: Stephanie Lane, Lake Norman Charter School.

The NCTOY award ceremony was live streamed courtesy of PBC North Carolina and can be viewed on the Department of Public Instruction’s YouTube channel.

The recognition of the NCTOY began in 1970, and the Department of Public Instruction and Burroughs Wellcome Fund have partnered on the Teacher of the Year award since 2013.

mates to postrelease supervision like parole sooner than scheduled.

O cials stated the releases focused on “non-violent” offenders where possible, but the provisions did not strictly bar all violent cases, and at least 51 life-sentenced inmates were on Cooper’s release list.

Critics, including Republican lawmakers and Cooper’s Senate opponent, Michael Whatley, argue the deal released dangerous o enders into communities, that Cooper’s policies are to blame, and o cials misled the public about the inclusion of violent o enders.

“These blatant lies from Republicans have been fact-checked for months and found to be false,” Cooper campaign spokesperson Jordan Monaghan said in a statement reported by The Assembly. “After Roy fought against these releases in court, North Carolina law enforcement o cials and parole o cers looked to similar criteria President (Donald) Trump used a year prior when his administration released thousands of federal prisoners due to COVID -19.”

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

EDITORIAL | FRANK HILL

Constant redistricting can ruin American representative democracy

Bad things in politics end when enough voters say it will end by the way they vote at the ballot box.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE of having a

“House of Representatives” in the rst place? It was created so average people could have a voice in their government.

Representatives are elected to “represent the interests” of the people and region they know and who know them. A person elected from a rural area is expected to know and understand the challenges faced by farmers and neighbors in the agricultural community around them.

A person elected from a major metropolitan area is expected to know and understand the challenges of urban life. If they don’t, the purpose and ideals of “representational government” are compromised from the beginning.

When a congressman stops being viewed as a “representative” of their town, family and community, they essentially become a free agent of the political party that elected them solely to do the bidding of party leaders or massive independent expenditure committees controlled by people such as George Soros. They run the risk of becoming viewed like modern collegiate athletes who go from one college to another at the drop of a hat and bear no particular allegiance or duty to the people in their previous district.

One of the most painful things to witness in public life is when a representative who hails from a major metropolitan city tries to advocate for the interests of a rural community that was added to their district after an egregious gerrymander. Try as hard as they might to represent the rural interests, they simply speak di erent languages and have di erent life experiences, so their arguments come across as insincere and not passionate.

Imagine being a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and being told the following: One day in the future, distinguished leaders in the local community such as themselves would be asked to run for Congress in a district which could be wiped out at any time during a two-year term by a governor and state legislature composed of the opposition party (such as what happened in Virginia recently).

The new district may barely include the representative’s home address but will include new towns, cities and areas where they have no community of interest and no one would know who they were or what they had done in their lifetime.

Once they were told that a state authority such as a governor could have that sort of power, the delegates would have sprinted at breakneck speed to get out of town, and the Constitution may never have been signed or later rati ed. There is no plausible reason for any American to want to replace one tyrannical power with another at a lower level of government.

Partisan redistricting has been going on since the beginning of the American democratic republic — which doesn’t make it right. In the past, however, everyone knew there would at least be a 10-year hiatus after the decennial census when congressmen could focus on doing their job for the people of their district, which is far more complicated than just casting votes on major issues.

Up until the 1980s at least, congressional districts stayed roughly intact, giving a sense of stability and con dence to the voter. However, with the advent of many legal challenges to the

Voting Rights Act, mid-decade redistricting sessions were called in many states, not the least of which included North Carolina. One session produced the now-infamous 12th District that snaked its way down I-85 from Greensboro to Charlotte and crossed over from one lane to the other halfway down the interstate precisely where no one lived.

Both political parties bear some part of the shame of egregious gerrymandering, but it does bring up an important question and point: How or why will it ever end?

Does the American voting public want it to end? They are the only ones who can put an end to it. Bad things in politics end when enough voters say it will end by the way they vote at the ballot box.

When voters feel disenfranchised by the constant change of their elected representatives and feel ignored by a new congressman every year, perhaps that will be when they demand change. Millions of registered una liated voters in states such as North Carolina are quite open about their disgust with extremely partisan politics, of which constant redistricting is an obvious example. They are the ones who hold the key to any reform and positive change in the way we elect our leaders. The extreme gerrymandering of Virginia under Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly in 2026 should become the poster child for such a movement. Going from a 6-5 GOP/Democratic split in their Washington delegation to 10-1 Democratic advantage overnight may be just brazen enough to ignite the public backlash to force signi cant change in Virginia rst and hopefully spill over to the other 49 states.

EDITORIAL | STACEY MATTHEWS

On Rep. Cunningham’s ‘adios’ to the NC Democratic Party

“No country is going to allow people to come in and not acknowledge its constitution, legal systems and laws.”

Rep. Carla Cunningham

FOR THE SECOND TIME in three years, a North Carolina Democratic state lawmaker has decided to change parties, and, as was the case when Rep. Tricia Cotham did it in April 2023, this one packed a powerful punch.

Seven-term Rep. Carla Cunningham, who represents Mecklenburg County’s District 106 in the N.C. House, changed her party a liation last Friday from Democratic to una liated.

“This comes after many Democrats, including Gov. Josh Stein, campaigned against her,” WBT Radio’s Brett Jensen, who rst broke the story, noted on X. “Cunningham will be a key gure in veto overrides.”

Cunningham’s apparent crime was thinking for herself instead of always voting down the party line. In particular, back in July 2025, she gave her House Republican colleagues the one vote they needed to override Stein’s veto of a bill, House Bill 318, that mandated better cooperation and coordination between state sheri s and federal immigration enforcement agencies like ICE.

In a passionate oor speech explaining her decision at the time, Cunningham further triggered Democrats with the following observations.

“As a social scientist reports, all cultures are not equal,” she said. “Some immigrants come and believe they can function in isolation, refusing to adapt. They have come to our

country for many reasons, but I suggest they must assimilate.

“Adapt to the culture of the country they wish to live in. No country is going to allow people to come in and not acknowledge its constitution, legal systems and laws. They will not tolerate it.”

Though she voted with Democrats the vast majority of the time, her vote to override Stein’s veto on H.B. 318, followed by her blistering speech, prompted the N.C. Democratic machine to call for her to be primaried, along with two other Democratic House members of color who committed the grave o ense of voting their conscience on certain bills and overrides, which in a handful of instances meant voting against their party.

Stein endorsed Rev. Rodney Sadler, one of Cunningham’s two primary opponents, in January. In the March primary, Sadler defeated Cunningham.

Cunningham, who had already been loaded for bear after Stein’s betrayal, made her fellow Democrats sweat in the aftermath of her primary loss, telling WBT’s Jensen in an early April interview, “Let them be worried” about how she was going to vote in the legislative short session that would start some two weeks later.

The short session started last Tuesday. That Friday, Cunningham dropped her political bomb, saying in a statement after the fact, “I

have been a Democrat all my life, but I came to realize that I want to serve the people, not a party. Being an independent thinker does not align with party politics, and I will never compromise the needs of my constituents to satisfy a political agenda.”

It remains to be seen if Cunningham helps House Republicans in her nal year in o ce, including with any veto overrides that are attempted in the short session, but she gave hints in that early April interview with WBT Radio.

Stein’s endorsement, she stressed, was “about power” instead of immigration. “It’s about telling us, if you don’t do what we tell you to do, we’re going to put you o the plantation,” she said.

“And I’m not on it. I’m free. And I’m glad that I stood where I stood. I’m not changing where I am. Because I don’t have to. I can be authentic. I can be who I am.”

Though I’ve never served in the state legislature, I experienced my own political conversion of sorts many years ago, leaving the Democratic Party behind and never looking back. To Cunningham, I just have one thing to say: You go, girl.

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

James Madison saw Abigail Spanberger coming

DURING THE NATIONAL DEBATES of 1788, the great Virginian James Madison worried that mere “parchment barriers,” or constitutions, wouldn’t be enough to stop an “overbearing majority” from seeking power and stripping minorities of their voice and rights. What he envisioned, in other words, was someone like Abigail Spanberger.

The governor recently signed a bill making Virginia the 18th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a scheme to circumvent the Constitution and award all electoral votes to the presidential ticket with the highest national vote total rather than to candidates who won the state’s election.

Let’s ponder the practical consequences of the compact.

Democrats spend a lot of their time accusing Republicans of denying minorities a vote. Well, Virginia Democrats, already campaigning behind the most radical gerrymandering in U.S. history, now propose nullifying the outcome of a presidential election by handing the votes of all Virginians to other states with dissimilar, sometimes con icting, interests.

How would Virginians feel if their electors ignored their votes to follow states that legalized the illegal immigrant vote or didn’t require voter ID? Because nationalizing elections means nationalizing the corruption and problems of other states.

One of the most fruitless tasks in contemporary politics is championing countermajoritarian institutions. It’s not a surprise that the Electoral College, which tempers some of the excesses of democracy, isn’t popular — especially among Democrats who’d like to silence massive swaths of the country.

How many people understand that, despite its elevated place in our vernacular and thinking, a “popular vote” isn’t a real thing? Winning the overall vote is like winning “most hits” rather than scoring the most runs in a World Series.

Even that analogy exaggerates its signi cance because the “popular vote” represents the gross totals of a contest that isn’t being played.

Presidential tickets, after all, focus on appealing to voters in 51 separate elections. If presidential tickets concentrated on big, untapped reserves of voters in major states, the “popular vote” would look very di erent — and not in a healthy way.

Forty states, for example, have smaller populations than Los Angeles County. A “democracy”-loving left-winger majoritarian would likely tell you that Los Angeles voters should have a bigger say than those 40 states.

COLUMN | BEN SHAPIRO

Too many Americans have been programmed to believe that voting is not only the pinnacle of civic duty but also power. Otherwise, they will argue, the country is experiencing “minority rule.” No one with even a passing knowledge of U.S. history believes that’s what the framers envisioned.

Democrats have also convinced half the country that the Electoral College’s undercutting of the popular vote is an antiquated quirk of the Constitution. No, it’s the point. If the Electoral College synchronized with the outcome of the national vote every time, it wouldn’t need to exist. It compels national candidates to moderate their views, create coalitions and appeal to voters in disparate areas who have disparate views and needs. In this way, a di used election generates stability.

Anyway, we are inching closer to a constitutional crisis. The member states of the compact don’t have to send their votes to the “popular vote” winner until the coalition reaches an Electoral College majority of 270.

With Virginia on board, the number is now at 222.

How would the Supreme Court rule if the member states stole an election? The Constitution explicitly rejects the notion of direct popular vote for the president. It’s not opaque. The Founders debated numerous other processes, mechanisms and ideas, and landed on this compromise. States have leeway in how they run their own elections. By creating a de facto direct democracy, the compact threatens not only to compel state electors to cast votes against candidates that voters have chosen but also to deny the country the ability to run a presidential election using the constitutional design of the framers.

Moreover, there’s already a prescription in place to change the process: It’s called a constitutional amendment. It’s di cult to pass one? Yeah, and that’s the point, as well. Without threats against legislative libuster, seemingly on its last legs, and the Electoral College, and a signi cant number of progressive groups that also want to pack the Supreme Court and lament the undemocratic nature of two-seat Senate representation, we are heading into a third-world direct democracy territory.

Any elected o cial who signs the compact is literally abandoning their constitutional duty.

Then again, in the end, the Constitution is only as good as the people. And that doesn’t bode well for its survival these days.

David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.

AI data centers: the new populist target

THERE’S A GROWING impulse in American politics to blame the free market — and the technologies it produces — for every bout of economic indigestion, as if a shadowy cabal of innovators is deliberately dismantling the middle-class way of life.

That impulse is no longer abstract. It has become physical.

People are now attacking data centers.

To understand what’s happening, it helps to draw a distinction between two kinds of populism: moral populism and economic populism.

Moral populism has a long American pedigree. It was a statement about character: The average citizen, shaped by church, family and community, often has a more grounded moral compass than the credentialed elite.

Economic populism assumes that the economy should be centrally controlled by “the people,” usually through a strong government empowered to override markets, capital ows and private decision-making. It treats the dispersed intelligence of millions of individuals as less legitimate than the commands of a centralized authority.

This is the exact opposite of the basic insight of capitalism. Markets are not perfect, but they are adaptive. They process information in ways no bureaucracy can.

Economic populism rejects that. Its logic is blunt: If the market produces something I don’t like, then the market must be illegitimate.

So the target becomes not merely a policy but a symbol.

And today, that symbol is the data center.

This is where the oldest and most poisonous lie resurfaces: that rich people are rich because they stole from the poor.

In a free-market system, that is generally false. Wealth is usually created because someone provides goods and services people voluntarily purchase. In the aggregate, people get rich by giving consumers something they want at a price they are willing to pay.

The places where wealth is most often derived from direct theft are not capitalist democracies. They are authoritarian regimes: communist states, kleptocracies and tyrannies where power — not innovation — determines who eats and who starves.

But if you can convince enough people that America’s economy is fundamentally “rigged,” then the next step is obvious: go after the means of production.

In 2026, that means going after the infrastructure of arti cial intelligence.

The hostility to data centers is not con ned to one faction.

There is a grievance-based economic left that sees AI as a new tool of exploitation — a machine that will enrich Silicon Valley while hollowing out the working class.

This coalition against AI is not merely misguided. It is becoming dangerous.

If the United States chooses to cripple its own AI industry, AI will not disappear. It will simply migrate

elsewhere. And the nation most eager to seize that advantage is China.

If you think China will forgo arti cial intelligence development out of ethical concern, you are fooling yourself. They will pursue it aggressively, ruthlessly and without the moral and legal restraints that exist in the West.

This is not an academic debate. It is a strategic race.

A China that dominates AI will dominate productivity. A China that dominates productivity will dominate the global economy. And a China that dominates the global economy will inevitably dominate military capacity.

That is not speculation. It is the logic of power.

Military superiority is downstream of industrial superiority. Industrial superiority is downstream of technological superiority. And technological superiority is increasingly downstream of AI.

If China outpaces the United States, they will not merely reshape their own region. They will export their systems — and with them, their in uence. Other countries will become dependent on Chinese technology, Chinese platforms, Chinese infrastructure and ultimately Chinese permission.

That is the future economic populism is irting with.

None of this means data centers should get a blank check.

If the political goal becomes stopping data centers because they symbolize capitalism, or because they o end a romantic vision of a preindustrial America, or because some activists believe prosperity itself is immoral, then we are no longer discussing regulation.

We are discussing self-destruction.

There is an ideological throughline connecting economic populism to political violence. It is the belief that you are a victim of society, and therefore normal moral rules do not apply.

At the individual level, it manifests as vandalism, arson or assassination attempts.

At the political level, it manifests as a demand for centralized power — the insistence that “the people” must seize control, override markets and punish those who have succeeded.

But history has already run this experiment.

The result is stagnation, poverty and tyranny.

The United States is in a competition — economically, militarily and technologically — with hostile powers that would love to see it implode from within.

And the surest way to lose that competition is to start attacking the very engines of prosperity and strength.

When it comes to economics, you must win.

When it comes to military dominance, you must win.

And when it comes to technology, you must win.

Because if you choose to lose, someone else will gladly win for you.

Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

Let’s think about property tax

PROPERTY TAXES are too high. What are the questions to ask? What is a tax? Taxes, fees and utility rates are not the same thing. Decades ago, Popular Government published an article by professor Charles Liner explaining why stormwater utility “fees” are, in reality, a tax. They are the most regressive tax in North Carolina. At last count, about 104 local governments charge such “fees.” I litigated that for 10 years with some success against Durham and Greensboro. Why do local governments love to add fees or rates that operate like taxes? They get more money without having to call this new money “taxes.” Fees are nondeductible to individuals, while taxes are deductible. For individuals, it is a loss both ways. There are many more examples: The North Carolina Supreme Court has just allowed class certi cation for those paying water and sewer utility “fees” in Raleigh. The question is whether these are properly imposed fees. Years ago, Durham had School Impact “fees.” We won an $8 million class action. Checks were written by homebuilders, but it was homeowners who paid all of it in mortgage payments.

Apex is currently being sued by a class over its recreation “fees” on developers. Apex now has a yard waste fee that applies every month whether anything was picked up or not. I am glad the town picks up yard waste. Until recently, it was paid for by sales and property taxes. If it were based on the number or weight of the yard waste, it would be a fee. The way it is charged, it is really a tax and a highly regressive one. The most egregious example is $100 citations for drivers running red lights. The biggest problem is that 80% to 90% of those cited are actually innocent of the crime. The second problem is that this is a “tax” on innocent drivers, some of whom don’t even live in the city. At one point, 15 cities used this funding mechanism. Now only Greensboro does. Charlotte is considering it.

My conclusion is that a limit on the property tax rates will be ine ectual unless it includes fees and rates that are taxes in a true economic sense.

Are there practical problems with levy limits on true property taxes that are tied to population growth and in ation? Yes. 1. A local government cannot factor improvements in levels of service. 2. While local government can count the buildings in town there is no ready way to count population in the middle of the decade when tax rates are reset. 3. In ation measured by any of the several measures, such as CPI or the GDP de ator, will not be available at the local level. 4. State budgets have purported to be limited by population and in ation for the last 15 years. The growth in spending has gone way beyond that “TABOR” calculation by various budget gimmicks. State appropriators use “reserves,” which are then spent o budget. Cities can do that as well. Think of all the JDIG (a targeted economic incentive) money that simply delays money required to be spent in later years by businesses not in favor by the JDIG Committee.

I am a victim of large property tax increases. This is not because of a fundamental aw in the property tax but because the Wake County commissioners and Apex council members where I live are all liberal Democrats. A majority of the voters in Wake County want much more spending on higher levels of service and/or waste. This is democracy. My side lost in city and county elections.

What else can be done? The General Assembly could look at three reforms that would help: 1. Some nonpro ts that act like a business should not get exemption from property or sales tax. Some hospitals pay their executives tens of millions per year in compensation. 2. Expand eligibility for elderly, lower-income folks to defer tax until death or sale with interest accrued at the legal rate. There is no reason why their heirs should get the bene t of deferred tax. 3. Agricultural deferred taxes come due in full upon sale for nonagricultural purposes. Local government recaptures three past years of deferred tax plus the legal rate of interest. That could well be a recapture of the deferred amount for 6-8 years instead of three.

There is one myth that should be refuted at every turn. “We don’t like property taxes because only people like us pay them. Tenants don’t.” That is a myth. Property taxes are paid by tenants. In reality, property tax is part of the rent, except for the truly homeless.

Paul Stam spent 16 years in the North Carolina House of Representatives — the last 10 as Republican leader and then speaker pro tem.

BE IN TOUCH

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Murphy to Manteo Jones & Blount

Best of NC Community Colleges

PIEDMONT

Memorial bike ride held in honor of fallen o cer

Forsyth County

The greater Forsyth County community came together this weekend to honor Deputy Kaleb Mitchell after he died in a crash last month. A motorcycle ride was organized in memory of Mitchell, who served on the Forsyth County Sheri ’s O ce Motorcycle Unit. Organizers asked for a $10 donation for each bike and passenger and said 100% of the proceeds will go to the Mitchell family. In addition to the donations, organizers also o ered food and ra es.

2030 cicada surge has started early across Triad

Rockingham County Across several counties from Rockingham and Stokes County to Forsyth and Guilford, residents are reporting hundreds, even thousands of cicadas emerging in localized areas.

EAST

Healthy foals born to Outer Banks herd

Currituck County

Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued an advisory saying that 47 North Carolina counties are experiencing extreme drought, with most of the rest of the state experiencing severe drought. Jackson County has been included in the extreme drought, and as a result, authorities are asking residents to be mindful of their water usage. According to a social media post, no restrictions have been put in place; however water authorities noted that conservation will help ensure that the water supply remains adequate to meet community needs. The post shared the following ways to conserve water: taking shorter showers; only washing clothes when a full load is ready; only washing dishes when a full load is in the dishwasher; avoiding lawn watering; and avoiding washing cars.

NSJ

Man suspected of elder fraud arrested at airport

Mecklenburg County

WXII

A Cary man claimed he was an FBI agent as he swindled $16,000 from a North Carolina man in a case of elder exploitation, according to an arrest warrant from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation. After a monthlong investigation, Christopher Aaron Murray, 40, of Cary, was arrested Sunday at the main airport in Charlotte, according to an NCSBI news release Sunday. Authorities said the suspect targeted an eastern North Carolina family and there “may be additional victims.”

NSJ

The insects being spotted belong to Brood II cicadas, a group of 17-year cicadas not expected to make their next widespread appearance until 2030. These red- eyed bugs are smaller and darker in color rather than their green summer counterparts, according to insect experts from NC State, and they are just the beginning of the wave expected by 2030. In parts of the Triad, yards are dotted and tree trunks lined with cicadas, while buzzing is growing loud enough to notice indoors. Local outlets report hundreds to thousands of bugs concentrated in a small area. Experts con rm these early cicadas tend to cluster tightly, and one neighborhood might see almost nothing while another just a few miles away suddenly feels overrun.

Four new healthy wild horse foals have emerged in the region, according to a statement from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Three llies and a colt have made their debut, with more wild horses still possibly hiding and roaming around the untouched marsh and maritime forests. The statement also issued a reminder to visitors to approach the area with caution and respect the horses’ natural habitat, which plays a critical role in their life cycle, ensuring foals stay attached to their families.

NSJ

PCC students nish rst in technical skills competition

unique titles” on sexuality, gender identity and sexual activity sitting on the district’s elementary school shelves. Multiple committee members felt CHCCS has been and still is treating sections of the law as optional.

“If the statute passes and is written into the books, you must follow the law. It’s no way around it,” Rep. Carla Cunningham (D -Mecklenburg) told Trice. “It’s not about your emotions. It’s not about what people think is right or wrong.”

Questioning by multiple lawmakers on the same topic highlighted the district relying on nonbinding guidance rather than formal board policy, allowing what lawmakers called “quiet walk-arounds” of the statute.

Rep. Grant Campbell (R- Cabarrus) confronted Trice on library content. He asked the superintendent, who was under oath, to agree that “materials that talk about sexuality, describing sexual acts, illustrating sexual acts, shouldn’t be in elementary school libraries.”

Trice refused, stating, “I’m not necessarily agreeing with that.”

Beaufort

Pitt County Pitt Community College students earned top honors at the 2026 SkillsUSA North Carolina State Competition. Students in PCC’s Construction and Industrial Technology programs brought home multiple rst-place nishes across a wide range of skilled trades. Those wins included cabinet making, carpentry, construction tool identi cation, industrial motor control, TeamWorks and welding fabrication. The success extended beyond rst place, with students also earning second-, third- fourth- and fth-place nishes in categories such as automotive service technology, HVAC, welding and electrical construction wiring. From individual contests to team-based competitions, PCC students demonstrated the hands- on training and real-world experience they’ve gained through the college’s workforce programs. School leaders say the strong performance re ects both the dedication of the students and the strength of PCC’s career and technical education programs.

WITN

The district’s equity website scrubbing was revisited. Rep. Brian Echevarria (R- Cabarrus) noted the timing, telling Trice only eight website updates had been made in the prior 15 months, yet 17 were made in one day after their letter arrived. Rep. Amos Quick (D - Guilford) defended the district, calling Trice a “political punching bag” for a “ awed” law passed without educator input. Other Democratic members emphasized parent involvement and the district’s high performance while arguing libraries are voluntary spaces, not curriculum.

Co - Chair Rep. Jake Johnson (R-Polk) countered, stating there appeared to be “a willful intent to subvert the intent of the law.” Rep. Harry Warren (R-Rowan) and others reiterated that third-party links and library books still fall under Senate Bill 49’s restrictions on K- 4 instruction.

Jones

CUMBERLAND

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NUMBER: 26E000341-250

In the Matter of the Estate of: EUGENE HENRY MADDOX Deceased.

EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Eugene Henry Maddox deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before July 9, 2026 (which is three (3) months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

THIS the 9th day of April, 2026. Eugene Henry Maddox, Jr. Executor of the Estate of Eugene Henry Maddox, Deceased c/o J. Thomas Neville Yarborough, Winters & Neville, P.A. P.O. Box 705 Fayetteville, NC 28302-0705 Publish: 04/09/2026, 04/16/2026, 04/23/2026 and 04/30/2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Stachis K. Alers, deceased, late of Cumberland County, This is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 9th day of July 2026, (Which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This is the 9th day of April 2026. Adlai Alers, Executor of the Estate of Stachis K. Alers Adlai Alers 6701 Agnes Scott Ct, Fayetteville, NC 28311 First day of publication 9 Apr 2026 NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK ESTATE FILE NO. 26E000659-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY

ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Theodore Francis Brown III, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 30th day of July, 2026 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 30th day of April, 2026. Sarah Leann Brown Administrator of the Estate of Theodore Francis Brown III 7332 Cayman Drive Fayetteville, NC 28306 NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE CUMBERLAND COUNTY

SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION FILE NO. 26E000514250

ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Rochelle Byers, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said decedent to present them to the undersigned on or before July 23, 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 23rd day of April, 2026. Danny M. Byers Administrator 11628 Sidney Crest Avenue Charlotte, NC 28213 Of the Estate of Rochelle Byers, Deceased Publish: April 23, 2026; April 30, 2026; May 7, 2026; May 14, 2026.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE NO. 26E000580-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Nathan Davis, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent

NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA In the General Court of Justice County of Cumberland Superior Court Division Estate File #______ Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Elsa Mahler Fleenor, deceased, late of Cumberland County hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 23 day of July, 2026, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 16th day of April, 2026_. Maryann Fleenor Ford Administrator/Executor 2501 McFayden Rd Fayetteville, NC 28306 Of the Estate of Elsa Mahler Fleenor, Deceased

NOTICE IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION ESTATE FILE #26E000611-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND EXECUTOR’S NOTICE Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Peggy Imogene Gearhart, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 23rd day of July, 2026, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. Dated this 23rd day of April, 2026. Billy R. Meha ey, Jr., Executor of the Estate of Peggy Imogene Gearhart, deceased 646 Apelehama Place Diamondhead, MS 39525

Notice to Creditors Ad

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the estate of Frances Ann Gentilin, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 24th day of July, 2026 (which is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 23rd day of April, 2026 Leah Gentilin, Administrator/executor of the estate of Frances Ann Gentilin, deceased 439 Westwood Shopping Center, # 138 Fayetteville, NC 28314

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File # 26E000596-250 State Of North Carolina Cumberland County Administrator Notice. The undersigned having quali ed as administrator over the Estate of Karabeth Ann Sanderson Hammonds deceased 19th day of March,2026 of 2005 Iris Dr Hope Mills, NC Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them on or before 23rd day of July, 2026, ( which date is three months after the day of rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 23rd of April,2026. Administrator of the Estate of Karabeth Ann Sanderson Hammonds Paul Kelley 2005 Iris Dr Hope Mills, NC 28348

NOTICE

In The General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File #26E000643-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Ursula H. Harper deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 1st day of August, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 30th day of April, 2026. Administrator of the Estate of Ursula H. Harper Michelle Martinez 2208 Merle Dr Copperas Cove Tx 76522

Administrator’s/Executor’s Notice

Estate File # 26E000247-250

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator/Executor of the estate of Millie Ann Havemann, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the twenty third day of July 2026. (which is 3 months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. The tenth day of April 2026 Katherine H. Bridgeman 7866 King Rd Fayetteville NC 28306 Administrator/Executor of the estate of Millie Ann Havemann

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS

Estate of Shirley Mae Henry

this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before 7-23-26 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. 516 Rosewood Drive Stedman,

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

ESTATE FILE 25E000054 IN THE MATTER OF THE: GENEVA MCGIRT HILL Executor’s NOTICE

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of. the Estate of Geneva McGirt Hill, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is To notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to Present them to the under-signed on or before the 30th day of July, 2026, [which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice] or this notice will be pleaded in bar Of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned This 21, day of April 2026 Executor: Carolyn Hill Williams 2229 Lake Upchurch Dr. Parkton, NC 28371 Of the Estate of Deceased: Geneve McGirt Hill April 21,202

ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE

In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Estate File # 26E000457-250

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND

The undersigned having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Dale Patrick Ivey, Deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before July 16, 2026 at 1411 Maywood Street, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28305, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 16th day of April, 2026 Carol Greiner Ivey, Administrator Estate of Dale Patrick Ivey, deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC Post O ce Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305 (910) 485-8899 04/16/2026, 04/23/2026, 04/30/2026 and 05/07/2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF GWENDOLYN ANN JACOBS

CUMBERLAND County Estate File No. 26E000024-250

All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Gwendolyn Ann Jacobs deceased, of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are noti ed to present their claims to the Administrator Davis W. Puryear, 4317 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28311 on or before the 31st day of July, 2026 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice), or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. Debtors of the Decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the Administrator named above. This the 21st day of April, 2026. Davis W. Puryear Administrator of the Estate of Gwendolyn Ann Jacobs Davis W. Puryear Hutchens Law Firm Attorneys for the Estate 4317 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28311 Run dates: April 30, May 7, May 14, and May 21, 2026

Notice To Creditors

The undersigned, having quali ed as

Executor of the Estate of Mary Claire Kosterman, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 23rd day of July, 2026, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice: or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 23rd day of April, 2026. Mary Kosterman Hopkins Executor 509 Thorncli Drive Fayetteville NC 28303 Of the Estate of Mary Claire Kosterman, Deceased

April 13, 2026

All persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the Estate of Shirley Mae Henry, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, are hereby noti ed to present such claims to the undersigned on or before the 30th day of July 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 30th day of April, 2026. Jacqueline L. Joyner Executrix of the Estate of Shirley Mae Henry, Deceased 409 Swan Island Court, Fayetteville NC 28311 703-919-4879 MrDJoyner1@gmail.com

Notice to Creditors

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Mary Reist Mathews AKA Mary Kristine Mathews, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 9th day July, 2026, (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in the bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 9th day of April, 2026. Executor: Kristina April Addis Address: 6400 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27410 Of the Estate of Mary Reist Mathews AKA Mary Kristine Mathews, Deceased Estate File #: 26E000535-250

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

The undersigned, Oriana Mellot Nivens, quali ed on March 31, 2026 as EXECUTOR of the ESTATE OF EUNICE H. MELLOTT, deceased, this is to notify all persons, rms or corporations having claims against said Estate that they must present them to the undersigned at 7718 Ridgeloch Place, Charlotte, NC 28314 or 125 Applecross Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374, on or before the 1st day of August, 2026, or the claims will be forever barred thereafter, and 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 30th day of April, 2026. Oriana Mellott Nivens Executor of the Estate of Eunice H. Mellott Jennifer B. Garner Garner Law Firm, PLLC Attorney for Estate 125 Applecross Road Pinehurst, North Carolina 28374

EXECUTOR’S NOTICE

In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Estate File # 26E000417-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND

The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Joyce B. Nunnery aka Joyce Bowen Nunnery, deceased, late of Cumberland County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before July 9, 2026 at 13808 North Meadows Court, Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms and corporations indebted to said Estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 9th day of April, 2026 David Edward Nunnery, Executor of the Estate of Joyce B. Nunnery aka Joyce Bowen Nunnery, deceased c/o Gilliam Law Firm, PLLC Post O ce Box 53555 Fayetteville, NC 28305 (910) 485-8899 04/09/2026, 04/16/2026, 04/23/2026 and 04/30/2026

Notice to Creditors

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Richard Pataky, AKA Richard Anthony Pataky, deceased, late of Cumberland County, do hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claim to the undersigned on or before the 23rd day of July, 2026 (which date is 3 months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in the bar of their recovery. All Debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payments to the undersigned. This 23rd day of April 2026 Executor: Janine Marie McLaughlin Address: 135 Bridgeport Drive Sneads Ferry, NC 28460 Of the Estate of Richard Pataky AKA Richard Anthony Pataky, Deceased Estate File # 26E000361-250

Administrator’s/Executor Notice File No. 26 File 26E000275-250

NOTICE

Estate of Sheila Louise Vannoy

The undersigned, having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Sheila Louise Vannoy, deceased, late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons having claims against the estate to present them to the undersigned on or before July 23, 2026. Failure to do so will result in this notice being pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 23rd day of April, 2026. Administrator of the Estate of Sheila Louise Vannoy 218 Kristin Ave Spring Lake, N.C. 28390 (Daughter, Kathleen McNeill)

Notice to Creditors

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Kenneth E. Martin, deceased, late of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, who died on February 17, 2026, does hereby notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at the address below on or before July 23, 2026 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. Administrator: Kim Martin 1912 Blake Street Fayetteville, NC 28301

NOTICE

In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File # 26E000452-250 State of North Carolina Cumberland County Administrator Notice The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of, Timmy Dall Mullis, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned at 4169 Maxwell Road, Autryville, North Carolina 28318 on or before the 9th of July 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 29th day of March 2026. Gina Miller, Executor of the Estate of Timmy Dall Mullis

The undersigned having quali ed as Catherine Weber of the estate of Ryoko Ariga Roberts, deceased late of Cumberland County, hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to present their claims to the undersigned on or before the 9 July 2026 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All debtors of the decedent are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned. This 2 April 2026. Catherine Weber - Executor 718 Argyll Road Fayetteville, NC 28303 Of the estate of Ryoko A Roberts, deceased date of death 15 Nov 2025

NOTICE

In the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division Before the Clerk Estate File #26E000530-250 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CUMBERLAND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE The undersigned having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Melree H. Tart, deceased, late of Cumberland County, this is to notify all persons having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 10th day of July, 2026 (which date is three months after the day of the rst publication of this notice) or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. This the 9th day of April, 2026. Administrator of the Estate of Melree H. Tart Rebekah T. Wiens 234 Courtyard Lane Fayetteville, NC 28303

NOTICE

Estate le #26E000588-250 administrators /executors notice the undersigned, having quali ed as administrator of the estate of James

New direction for NASCAR, B4

Keep … what now?

Monroe Freeling, selected

the Thursday SIDELINE REPORT

NCAA BASKETBALL

Former Wisconsin guard Blackwell announces transfer to Duke

Former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell is transferring to Duke. Blackwell was one of the most highly regarded players to enter the transfer portal. Blackwell’s decision was part of a productive day of commitments for the Blue Devils and top rival UNC. The Tar Heels landed commitments from Utah guard Terrence Brown, guard Matt Able from fellow in-state program NC State and 6-foot-9 French forward Maxim Logue from Florida Atlantic.

NFL Chiefs assistant Merritt charged in suburban K.C. with misdemeanor domestic battery

Overland Park, Kan. Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Dave Merritt was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. The former NC State linebacker pleaded not guilty of causing bodily harm to a daughter. Merritt, 54, has been with the Chiefs since 2019 and has helped teams win three Super Bowls. He also won two with the Giants. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said the team is aware of the situation.

MLB Padres rally past Diamondbacks in Mexico City as Miller sets club record for scoreless streak

Mexico City The San Diego Padres rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Mexico City. Former Gardner-Webb pitcher Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save, extending his scoreless streak to 342⁄3 innings and breaking the team record. Miller hasn’t allowed a run since Aug. 5, 2025. It’s the eighth-longest shutout streak by an MLB reliever since 1961.

the

Panthers add o ensive tackle in rst round

Carolina drafted defensive line and receiver help in the early rounds

By Shawn Krest North State Journal

THE CAROLINA Panthers’ mantra is “Keep pounding.” Ironically, rst-round draft pick Monroe Freeling is going to need to take another attempt or two before he’s got it perfected. The Georgia o ensive tackle was asked what game from his college career summed him up as a player.

“Tennessee,” he said. “I think I might have given up a sack that game, but I just kept going. I just kept at it. I just kept chopping. It was a tough game. It was a shootout, and I just said, ‘Keep chopping. Keep chopping.

Keep chopping,’ and we ended up winning that game even though it wasn’t my best game.”

That was actually Freeling’s second botch of the team motto. During a predraft pro day,

Stankoven, Andersen rise to occasion for Hurricanes in Round 1

The young center and veteran goaltender dominated against the Senators

By Cory Lavalette North State Journal

RALEIGH — If there was a metric showing which Hurricanes players were mentioned most on social media as being a weak link this season, chances are Frederik Andersen and Logan Stankoven would be at the top of the list. Andersen, the veteran goalie who is one win shy of a combined 375 regular season and playo wins, went through perhaps the most di cult season of his career. The 36-year-old nished with a career-worst .874 save percentage and lost more games (14 in regulation, ve in overtime and shootouts)

than he won (16) for the rst time in 13 NHL seasons.

The buzz around Stankoven had less to do with his performance and more about the perception that Carolina needed a bigger, more dynamic center behind Sebastian Aho.

Both silenced their detractors in Round 1.

“You can’t understate that, especially when you consider how well the other guy was playing in their end,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Andersen after Carolina completed its sweep of Ottawa on Saturday. “It was a goalie matchup, and they were going save for save. And we needed it, right? Otherwise this thing could look a lot different. … Freddie, it’s probably the best hockey he’s played for us since being a Hurricane.”

While Andersen — who nished the series with a .955

he had trouble with a drill he was performing for Panthers’ line coach Joe Gilbert.

“I messed up the drill once or twice,” Freeling recalled. “I was thinking that I was like, ‘Oh,

dude, they’re (going to) remember the drill.’ I was probably overthinking it in the moment.”

That’s when Gilbert gave him words of encouragement, nishing with, “Keep pounding.”

“I thought he said, ‘Keep bounding,’” Freeling admitted. “I was like ‘keep bounding’? I was like, is he talking about the drill? Now I’m here. He said, ‘Keep pounding.’ OK, I get it now. A little bit of confusion at rst.”

Freeling will have plenty of time to learn the team’s culture now that he’ll be protecting Panthers’ quarterback Bryce Young. Carolina took Freeling with the 19th overall pick. Young checked in with GM Dan Morgan shortly after the pick to give his stamp of approval.

“He actually texted me and sounded pretty excited about it, so that was a good text,” Morgan said.

What did the text say?

“I think it said, ‘Let’s go,’ with exclamation points,” Morgan said. “I think Bryce is pretty happy.”

The Panthers’ decision makers share the sentiment.

See PANTHERS, page B3

save percentage and 1.10 goalsagainst average — was keeping the Senators o the scoreboard, Stankoven was lling it for the Hurricanes. The 23-year-old opened the scoring in each of the rst three games and would have had the game-winner in Game 4 if Ottawa hadn’t scored with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker in the nal minutes.

His line with Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake combined for seven goals, nine assists and 16 points — half of the 32 points Carolina totaled in the series — and was the di erence in four straight wins that were closer

THURSDAY

4.30.26

TRENDING

Rob Refsnyder:

The former Durham Bull successfully challenged a third-strike call and then hit a go-ahead solo home run in the ninth inning to lift Seattle to a 3-2 win against St. Louis in the most dramatic use of the new robo-ump system yet. Refsnyder was initially called out on an 0-2 pitch that ABS showed was outside. After two more balls, he hit a 412-foot blast to give the Mariners their rst lead.

Tyler Reddick:

The NASCAR Cup Series points leader nalized a multiyear contract extension with 23XI Racing. The deal was announced before Sunday’s race at Talladega. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin recently had guaranteed the return of Reddick, who has 10 of his 13 career wins (including ve this season) since joining 23XI Racing in 2023. “Excited to have it all done,” Reddick said.

Jess Fishlock:

The 39-year-old Seattle Reign mid elder will retire at the end of the season. Fishlock has played for Seattle since the rst NWSL season in 2013. She will be honored when Seattle hosts the North Carolina Courage on Oct. 2. Fishlock’s 49 goals rank second on the club’s career list and her 30 assists rank rst. She was the 2021 NWSL MVP and a seven-time all-league selection.

Beyond the box score

POTENT QUOTABLES

“I couldn’t feel my hands. I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t feel anything.”

Alex Fitzpatrick, right, after he and brother Matt, left, won the Zurich Classic team golf tournament, earning Alex a two-year exemption on the

PGA Tour.

“That was like a little bit embarrassing.”

Coco Gau , after vomiting on the court mid-match. She rallied to win the fourth-round match at the Madrid Open.

PRIME NUMBER 1:59:30

The winning time of Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe in the London Marathon. Sawe became the rst person to eclipse the two-hour barrier in an o cial marathon, breaking the men’s world record by 65 seconds.

NASCAR

Carson Hocevar earned the rst victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career, outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, joined Ty Gibbs as rst-time winners this season. Hocevar won in his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series. The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman to edge past Buescher.

The Boston Red Sox red manager Alex Cora and ve coaches, including third-base coach and 2012 Durham Bulls player Kyle Hudson. Boston replaced Cora on an interim basis with Triple-A manager Chad Tracy (pictured). Cora led the Sox to the 2018 World Series title, but Boston started the year 10-17.

Duke’s Cameron Boozer, right, and UNC’s Henri Veesaar, left, entered the NBA Draft after one year at their respective schools. Boozer became the fth freshman to win national player of the year. Veesaar, a junior 7-footer, averaged 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds after transferring from Arizona.

Andre the Giant, right, was honored with a roadside marker in Ellerbe. The wrestler, born Andre Rene Roussimo , lived on a ranch there and was involved in the community, even ghting a radioactive waste land ll. Billed as 7-foot- 4 and 520 pounds, he was a towering wrestling gure during the 1970s and 1980s. He died in 1993 at 46.

Former Wolfpack star drafted in rst round by Browns

Wide receiver KC Concepcion went 24th overall last Thursday

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

FORMER NC STATE receiv-

er and Charlotte native KC Concepcion saw his dream come true last Thursday when he was drafted in the rst round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

Concepcion, 21, was the 24th overall pick in the draft and the fourth wide receiver taken o the board. The pick was originally held by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was traded to Cleveland last year as part of the package to trade up for Travis Hunter.

“It’s a blessing, honestly,” Concepcion said in his rst postdraft press conference. “A dream come true. When I heard my name called, it was just excitement.”

Before playing his nal collegiate season at Texas A&M, Concepcion spent his rst two years of college with the Wolfpack, who recruited him out of high school.

And even as a freshman, you could tell that Concepcion was going to be special.

The then 19-year-old set NC State program records for receptions and receiving yards by a freshman and took home ACC Rookie of the Year honors that year as well.

Despite the Wolfpack lacking many o ensive weapons that year, teams still struggled to shut down Concepcion, who had a knack for getting open with his speed and shiftiness.

“KC has been a dynamic producer at NC State, Texas A&M,” said Cleveland Browns General Manager Andrew Berry. “He’s electric with the ball in his hands, and we’re looking forward to having him.”

However, he was poorly utilized in his second season at NC State, leading to a signi cant drop in production and eventually a transfer to Texas A&M. With the Aggies, Concepcion nished the year with 919 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through the air, but he also became a signi cant punt return threat, totaling nearly 500 yards and two touchdowns on returns.

the best punt returner in this class.”

“It’s a blessing, honestly. A dream come true.”

KC Concepcion

“The more things you can do, the better your value is,” Concepcion said. “The faster you learn, the more plays you get. Just being able to play all across the eld is just going to open up many more opportunities.”

Concepcion’s multipositional ability this past year also won him the Paul Hornung Award, which recognizes the NCAA player judged to be the most versatile.

“He’s dynamic,” Berry said. “He’s an outstanding separator, really good with the ball in his hands and, honestly, probably

Before the draft, Concepcion also penned a letter to all 32 NFL GMs that was also published in The Players’ Tribune, talking about the struggles he’s had to overcome through his life — such as his stutter and family life — but also his ability to play football.

“I’m the best receiver in this draft,” Concepcion wrote. “Period.”

“I’m very con dent,” Concepcion said when asked about the letter. “I feel like I am the most versatile and the best playmaker. Everybody has their things that they do well.” The Browns were impressed with Concepcion’s talent and con dence, but they also gained a new appreciation for his character as they got to know him.

Locals picked in later rounds of NFL Draft

Duke led North Carolina with three draftees

By Asheebo Rojas

North State Journal

FOR MOST of North Caroli-

na’s 2026 NFL draftees, their big moment took a bit of patience.

Nearly all draftees coming directly out of the state’s college programs were selected after the third round, and for the rst time since 2016, UNC didn’t have a player drafted. Nevertheless, plenty of players with connections to North Carolina were given the opportunity to live out their NFL dreams. Here’s a breakdown of where the locals — college players, transfers and some North Carolina natives — will be headed to begin their professional careers.

Straight out of N.C. colleges DUKE

Wesley Williams

Defensive end Wesley Williams was selected by the Jaguars with the 119th overall pick in the fourth round. He was the highest draft pick for the Blue Devils this year after recording 131 tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in three collegiate seasons.

Chandler Rivers

Chandler Rivers, the standout corner, is heading to Baltimore after being picked by the Ravens with the 162nd overall pick in the fth round. Across four seasons at Duke, Rivers logged 223 tack-

PANTHERS from page B1

“Best player on our board,” said Morgan. “Big, long, athletic, physical, a guy with high upside that we’re extremely excited about adding him to our room. I think he can play left side, he can play right side. He brings a lot of value to us. We’re really excited.”

While the team had plenty of exibility entering the draft — with few glaring needs — it was able to stay put and have things go according to plan.

“Pretty amazing to be able to boil this thing down so we knew exactly what we’re going to do,” said coach Dave Canales. “When we got to that, and the way it played out, he came right to us.” The Panthers added two more players on o ense in lat-

les, 16 tackles for loss and seven interceptions. He returned two interceptions for touchdowns in college.

Brian Parker II

O ensive tackle Brian Parker II was selected by the Bengals with the 189th overall pick in the sixth round. Parker was an All-ACC selection in 2024 and 2025, and he will look to help improve the Bengals’ bottom-four rushing attack (total rush yards) from last season.

NC STATE

Justin Joly

Tight end Justin Joly was the Wolfpack’s highest pick in this draft, going 152nd overall to the Broncos in the fth round. Joly hauled in 92 passes for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons at NC State, earning rst-team All-ACC honors this past fall.

Brandon Cleveland

Brandon Cleveland, a defensive tackle, will head to Las Vegas after being picked 229th overall by the Raiders in the seventh round. Cleveland is coming o one of his most productive seasons in college in which he logged 36 tackles, a career-high seven tackles for loss and two sacks.

WAKE FOREST

Karon Prunty

Karon Prunty, the defensive back who made stops at Kansas

er rounds. Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II went in the third round, No. 83 overall. Kansas State center Sam Hecht was added in the fth round, 144th overall. “He’s one of my favorite players in the draft,” Canales said of Brazzell. “Just his lm over the last two years, when you look at Tulane and then you look at Tennessee and you kind of combine all of it, you’re going to get a full picture of a route tree, body control, ability to do all those things and of course just the ability to stretch the eld and really put stress on teams from a vertical standpoint. We weren’t expecting Chris to be there.” The Panthers had a need at center, so Hecht will get a bigger opportunity than many fth-rounders.

“He’s going to have a chance

and North Carolina A&T before Wake Forest, was selected by New England with the 171st overall pick in the fth round. Prunty earned third-team All-ACC honors this past fall after recording 22 tackles, six passes defended, a sack and a fumble recovery.

Demond Claiborne

Standout running back Demond Claiborne was selected by the Vikings with the 198th overall pick in the sixth round. Claiborne nished his career as the Demon Deacons’ fourth all-time rusher. After rushing for 907 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns, he earned second-team All-ACC honors.

ECU

Anthony Smith

Receiver Anthony Smith, who spent four seasons at NC State before transferring to ECU, was selected in the seventh round by the Cowboys as the 218th overall pick. Smith earned rst-team All-American Conference honors in 2025 after hauling in 64 receptions for 1,053 yards and seven touchdowns.

TRANSFERS

Brandon Cisse

South Carolina corner Brandon Cisse went o the board in the second round to Green Bay (52nd overall pick). Before his lone season with the Gamecocks in which he logged 19 tackles, six passes defended and an interception, he

“‘Keep pounding.’ OK, I get it now. A little bit of confusion at rst.”

Monroe Freeling

to compete,” Morgan said. “I think rst and foremost you see his initial quickness. He’s really good with angles. He can reach guys. He’s good with his hands, getting his hands inside, controlling blockers, and staying sticky on blocks. … There’s a lot of things we like with him.”

While the o ensive additions had Young happy, Morgan and Canales also had work to do on the other side of the ball. They traded up to take Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter in the second round, 49th overall.

“I think it’s incredible what he’s overcome and gone through in his life,” Berry said. “When we got the letter, I called him afterward and said, ‘Hey look, I think that’s really awesome.’ That was separate from obviously liking him as a prospect. Everything that that kid is about, everything that he’s overcome, I just really loved the person.”

In Cleveland, Concepcion will be joining a talented receiver room already with the likes of Jerry Jeudy and fellow 2026 draftee Denzel Boston.

“I just think you have to keep adding to the room as best you can,” said Browns coach Todd Monken. “You’re trying to raise the oor. At any position group, you start by raising the oor and developing who you have.”

Concepcion is also looking forward to working with potential starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, someone who he has connected with before.

“When I entered the transfer portal after my sophomore season, I had actually went down to Colorado and met Shadeur,” Concepcion said. “He’s a great guy, a great leader, and I just cannot wait to build that relationship and build that connection with him.”

The talented receiver will certainly have a good opportunity to prove himself on the eld in Cleveland, and with his work ethic and talent level, it shouldn’t be too long before we see him making headlines on Sundays.

played two seasons at NC State.

Travis Burke

Memphis o ensive tackle Travis Burke, who began his college career at Gardner-Webb, was a fourth-round selection (117th overall) by the Chargers. Burke stands at 6-foot-9 and 315 pounds. He helped Memphis rush for more than 2,300 yards ( ve yards per carry) in 2025.

Keagen Trost

On the way to becoming the Rams’ third-round selection (93rd overall), Mizzou o ensive tackle Keagen Trost spent the 2024 season at Wake Forest. This past fall, he helped the Tigers post the eighth-best rushing offense in the country.

N.C. NATIVE

Nick Barrett

Eastern Wayne alum Nick Barrett is heading to Los Angeles after being selected by the Chargers in the fth round as the 145th overall pick. The defensive tackle recorded 42 tackles, six tackles for loss and two sacks. Barrett could be the second Eastern Wayne alum to play in an NFL game (Manny Lawson was the rst).

UDFA signings/mini-camp invites (as of Monday)

App State: Joey Aguilar (Jaguars, UDFA, most recently played at Tennessee) Charlotte: Randy Franklin (Broncos, rookie mini-camp);

He seems destined to be a fan favorite in Carolina. Nicknamed the Fridge, he described his style as, “Someone who is violent.”

“When you’re an interior defensive lineman, it all starts with violence,” Canales said. “That’s one thing that he kind of characterized himself. What’s your play style? Violence. And he repeatedly said violence.”

The Panthers addressed the secondary with later picks, taking Texas A&M corner Will Lee III in the fourth round, 129th overall, and Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley in the fth, 151st overall.

Lee arrives with the nickname “the Blanket” and declared himself “the best press-man cornerback in the draft.”

Canales said Wheatley is “just a really instinctive player, a physical player. Shows up

Ja’Qurious Conley (Buccaneers, UDFA); Reid Williford (Ravens, UDFA); Shay Taylor (Chiefs and Commanders, rookie mini-camp); Sean Brown (Broncos, UDFA); Aidan Laros (Buccaneers, UDFA, most recently played at Kentucky)

Duke: Vincent Anthony Jr. (Chiefs, UDFA); Aaron Hall (Panthers, UDFA); Josiah Green (Buccaneers, UDFA); Jaiden Francois (Eagles, rookie mini-camp); Justin Pickett (Raiders, UDFA); Anderson Castle (Colts, UDFA); Caleb Weaver (Jets, rookie mini-camp); Andrel Anthony (Falcons, UDFA); Sahmir Hagans (Colts, rookie mini-camp)

ECU: Triston O’Brien (Saints, rookie mini-camp); Mike Wright (Seahawks, rookie mini-camp); Laith Marjan (Steelers, UDFA, most recently played at Kansas) Elon: Je Yurk (Broncos, rookie mini-camp) NC State: Devon Marshall (Jaguars, UDFA); Cian Slone (Raiders, UDFA); Sabastian Harsh (Texans, UDFA); Caden Fordham (Buccaneers, UDFA); Sean Brown (Titans, UDFA); Cody Hardy (Saints, UDFA); Wesley Grimes (49ers, UDFA); Devan Boykin (Steelers, UDFA, most recently played at Indiana)

UNC: Marcus Allen (Vikings, UDFA); Thaddeus Dixon (Giants, UDFA); Austin Blaske (Rams, UDFA); Chad Lindberg (Rams, UDFA); Diego Pounds (Ravens, UDFA, most recently played at Ole Miss); Travis Shaw (Ravens, UDFA, most recently played at Texas) NC Central: J’Mari Taylor (Jaguars, UDFA, most recently played at Virginia) Wake Forest: Lardarius Webb (Ravens, UDFA); Jayden Loving (Bears, UDFA); Nick Andersen (Rams, UDFA); Eni Falayi (Packers, UDFA)

downhill, takes really good angles, runs downhill. He’s all over the eld.”

The team closed out the draft with Miami (Ohio) linebacker Jackson Kuwatch, who went in the seventh round, 227th overall.

“He can run, can play fast,” Morgan said. “I think he’s denitely going to be able to contribute on special teams.”

The Panthers didn’t add a tight end or running back in the draft and also didn’t sign one in the rst wave of undrafted free agents, indicating that Morgan was accurate when he claimed before the draft that he was happy with how the team was currently stocked at both positions. As the newest Panthers begin to compete for roster spots and playing time, it’s worth remembering one crucial fact: It’s “Keep Pounding.”

Smith con dent Charlotte FC can regain momentum

The club looks to stabilize after a recent stretch of uneven results

By Jesse Deal North State Journal

CHARLOTTE — Char-

lotte FC’s promising start to the 2026 MLS season has recently given way to turbulence, but third-year coach Dean Smith remains steadfast in his belief that his club can regain its footing.

After building momentum through March and early April, Charlotte entered the nal week of April at 4-4-2 (14 points), sitting fth in the Eastern Conference standings but searching for stability following a recent dicult stretch.

Losses in two of the club’s past three MLS matches exposed defensive vulnerabilities, with Charlotte conceding eight goals across back-to-back defeats after allowing just 10 through its rst eight league games.

Despite those struggles, Smith said Monday he remains focused on long-term development rather than short-term panic.

“What we have to do is make sure that we keep working hard every day to become the team that we want to be,” Smith said. “As I said, be consistent. The fact is that we nished fth in my rst year, we nished fourth

in the second year and our aim is to go better. And if somebody tells me after 10 games that we’re not going to do better, I’d say they’re seeing a lot further into the future than probably a lot of other people can.”

Charlotte’s week began with a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 showdown Tuesday against regional rival Atlanta United FC at the Sportsplex at Matthews, with the club seeking its rst quarter nal berth in the tournament.

The match followed Charlotte’s resounding 6-0 victory over Charlotte Independence

“What we have to do is make sure that we keep working hard every day to become the team that we want to be.”

Dean Smith, Charlotte FC coach

in the Round of 32 on April 15, but MLS form entering the Atlanta matchup had been far less convincing.

The Crown opened its recent league swing with a re-

silient 2-1 road win over New York City FC on April 18, overcoming a sluggish rst half that produced no shots before second-half goals from Idan Toklomati and Kerwin Vargas secured the result.

That momentum quickly dissipated.

A trip to Orlando City SC on April 22 resulted in a season-worst defensive showing, with Charlotte surrendering four goals in a lopsided defeat. Morrison Agyemang’s goal for the club provided little solace in a match where defensive breakdowns repeatedly gave Orlando’s o ensive attack room to work.

Charlotte then traveled to face Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC last weekend and again conceded four goals in another loss.

For Smith, navigating adversity is nothing new.

“I’ve had the fortune of being in professional football since I was 16 — 39 years — so I’ve been through a lot of wins, a lot of draws, a lot of losses as any footballer and football manager has,” Smith said. “I’ve gotten better at coping with it, but losing is still as bad as it always has been. You probably work harder after every loss than you do after every win, and the wins last much less longer than the losses do in your brain because you always feel that there’s something new to x.”

Charlotte’s defensive concerns have become increasingly important as the club attempts to match or exceed the breakthrough success of 2025.

Last season marked Charlotte FC’s best campaign since joining MLS, as the club post-

ed a franchise-best 19-13-2 record and amassed 59 points to nish fourth in the Eastern Conference.

It also established Bank of America Stadium as one of MLS’s premier home- eld advantages, producing the league’s best home record while transforming from postseason hopeful into legitimate contender.

Though the club’s playo run ended in a rst-round exit to New York City FC, the season signi cantly raised expectations for a club now pursuing its third straight winning season. Replicating that success will require a return to the defensive discipline that fueled Charlotte’s rise.

The group has allowed opponents one of the league’s highest shot volumes this season, a troubling trend that has placed increasing pressure on its back line and goalkeeper.

Still, Smith believes perspective is critical.

“When you’re 10 games in, you don’t get too high and you don’t get too low,” he said. “I didn’t get too high after New York, I didn’t get too low after Orlando, and I certainly won’t after Nashville, where I felt that we’ve competed. So people will have opinions, and as I say, opinions I’m OK with.”

With MLS play continuing Saturday on the road against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium, Charlotte now faces an important opportunity to steady itself.

From there, the club will have a much-needed return home to Bank of America Stadium where it will host ve home games in a row, starting with FC Cincinnati on May 9.

France to step down as NASCAR’s chief executive o cer

Steve O’Donnell became the rst CEO from outside the France family

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR majority owner Jim France is stepping down as chief executive and will be replaced by president Steve O’Donnell.

France will remain as NASCAR’s chairman, and his majority ownership stake will not change.

O’Donnell will be the rst person outside the France family to hold the CEO title of NASCAR. Bill France Sr. founded the United States’ most popular racing series in 1948 and always had a family member in the top role prior.

The change was announced at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama on Saturday.

In his introductory remarks, O’Donnell said he wants to bring some fun back to NASCAR, which he calls a “badass American sport.”

O’Donnell vowed to “make some moves” that will return the storied racing series to its roots.

“We lost that in recent years,” O’Donnell said.

Ben Kennedy, France’s great-nephew and the son of NASCAR executive Lesa Kennedy France, was promoted to chief operating o cer.

“They’re going to take this thing even further,” Jim France said.

Jim France had been chairman and CEO of NASCAR since the 2019 resignation of his nephew, Brian.

It marks the second promotion in nearly a year for O’Donnell, who has spent 30-plus years guiding NASCAR’s mar-

CANES from page B1 than the sweep suggested.

“Just exceptional,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said of the trio after Game 4. “That line and (Stankoven) really took control of the series for us and found ways to bury them. I just kept telling (Stankoven) to get to the net because the puck seemed to be nding him. Another big goal tonight, and he’s been so good. He competes so hard and he wants it so bad, and that’s what everyone else in this room feeds o of and wants it as well.” Hall pointed out that his line

“They’re going to take this thing even further.”

keting and later competition departments. He was named president in March 2025.

France took a hardline stance in negotiations for the 2025 revenue-sharing agreement, triggering an antitrust lawsuit by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The sides reached a settlement in December that granted NASCAR teams the permanent charters they had sought.

France was soft-spoken, needed several questions repeated and struggled to remember several topics during his rst day of testimony in the an-

not only produced but was responsible in its own end, proving that sometimes the best defense is a good o ense.

“It’s the other stu too,” Hall said. “We weren’t on for a goal against all series, and he’s our centerman. He’s the guy down there doing the work. So it’s not just the goals — it’s a 200-foot game that him and our line has done pretty well.”

At 5-on-5, the Stankoven line had 65.59% of the shot attempts, 65.31% of the scoring chances and 77.78% of the high-danger chances. They outscored the Senators 3-0 when on the ice and

ti-trust trial before a stronger second day.

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps resigned earlier this year after in ammatory texts he sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed during the trial.

O’Donnell escaped unscathed and now gets tasked with NASCAR’s next phase. He vowed to unite the industry, listen to every stakeholder — including fans — and address matters with urgency.

“It’s what we have to do each and every day,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve got to showcase that.”

A good example of what O’Donnell may envision took place the following day, when driver Carson Hocevar won the Cup Series race at Talladega. Hocevar never stops thinking about how he can connect with NASCAR fans, whether through zany social media

added a pair of power play goals — both by Stankoven, Carolina’s only man-advantage tallies in the series.

“Stanky’s line carried us throughout the series,” Aho said.

Stankoven said he’s felt more comfortable as the season has progressed and he got more experience at center.

“Some guys are able to just jump right into the league and produce right away,” Stankoven said Tuesday. “I think for me, it’s taken me a little bit longer to get to where I want to be, and I’m still not a nished product. I just want to be the best version

Steve O’Donnell, pictured in 2022 in Charlotte, is the new CEO of NASCAR.

posts or cheering beside them in the grandstands. He devised a unique way to greet NASCAR Nation after the rst Cup Series win of his career.

During a daring victory lap that bordered on dangerous, Hocevar piloted his No. 77 Chevrolet while hanging out the window. He enthusiastically slammed the car’s roof and saluted the crowd as he rolled down the Talladega Superspeedway frontstretch and performed a burnout.

“I thought, ‘Man, I have really long legs, and I wonder if I can hit the throttle and sit on the door and ride,’” Hocevar said. “I just wanted them to get as loud as possible. I felt like they would if they could see me seeing them. Hopefully, it was cool.”

Based on the cheers, the thousands in attendance loved the celebration.

of myself and help this team win a Cup.” With it likely the Hurricanes will have to wait at least a week to start their second round series against either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, Carolina will have to balance rest — which is important given injuries to Alexander Nikishin and Nikolaj Ehlers — with staying sharp as the rest of the league catches up with them.

“Obviously you like having a few days for sure to heal some bumps and bruises,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday. “But we’re playing pretty well, pretty dialed in — you run the risk of

Led by its new executive management team, NASCAR was just as eager to christen its newest star at the Alabama track known as the biggest party venue on the circuit.

A 23-year-old who embraces the quintessential Gen Z hallmarks of digital outreach and gaming, Hocevar also has an unvarnished and unapologetically aggressive side that has encouraged comparisons with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Just like “The Intimidator,” NASCAR broadcasters have a xed the Spire Motorsports driver with a nickname — “Hurricane Hocevar” — re ecting his willingness to stir up trouble as he relentlessly chases victories.

O’Donnell sat through Hocevar’s rst news conference as a Cup Series winner Sunday and gave a thumbs up to the Portage, Michigan, native for “the coolest celebration I’ve ever seen.”

O’Donnell said his main goal is to bring fun back to NASCAR, whose popularity has eroded from a peak driven by charismatic personalities. NASCAR launched a “Hell Yeah” marketing campaign intended to emphasize its roots in moonshine running and rabble-rousing.

Hocevar seems the relatable star to carry that message while bridging the gap to a 21st-century audience.

“He’s one of those guys we’re going to rely on as a sport,” O’Donnell said on the “Inside the Race” podcast Sunday night after Hocevar’s win. “What we just watched, the excitement and enthusiasm, that emotion is what fans want to see. They want to embrace a guy like Carson Hocevar, who is not only winning but looks like they’re enjoying themselves.”

being a little rusty, but it’s out of your control.”

Brind’Amour is hopeful that Nikishin, who is in the league’s concussion protocol following a hit by Ottawa defenseman Tyler Kleven in Saturday’s Game 4, and Ehlers, who sat out the clinching game with a lower-body injury, will be ready to go for the second round.

“Everything is trending in the right direction,” Brind’Amour said of Nikishin. “So I guess it kind of depends on how long we’re (waiting to play Round 2). So that could work in our favor if it is a little longer.”

UNION

COUNTY OF UNION IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

25SP000747-890

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

NORTH CAROLINA, UNION COUNTY

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale

contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Charles E. Storey to Karyn T. Wilson, Trustee(s), which was dated March 15, 2001 and recorded on March 15, 2001 in Book 1520 at Page 730, Union County Registry, North Carolina. Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on May 12, 2026 at 12:30 PM, and will sell to

25SP000547-890 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, UNION COUNTY Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Robbie D. Ossman and Tammy B Ossman to William R. Echols, Trustee(s), which was dated May 28, 2010 and recorded on June 1, 2010 in Book 5339 at Page 859, Union County Registry, North Carolina. Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on May 12, 2026 at 12:30 PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Union County, North Carolina, to wit: BEGINNING AT THE CENTER LINE OF

26-CV001515-890 LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC, Plainti , v. MATTHEW MILLER a/k/a MATTHEW CLAY MILLER; CAROLINA MILLER; PARKSIDE AT STALLINGS TOWNHOME ASSOCIATION, INC.; MOVEMENT MORTGAGE, LLC; SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE SERVICES, INC.; and JOHN B. THIRD, TRUSTEE Defendants. NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION TO: MATTHEW MILLER a/k/a MATTHEW CLAY MILLER CAROLINA MILLER Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above-

the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Union County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 20, Summerhill Estates, Phase 2, as shown on plat thereof by Walter L. Gordon and Company, NCRLS, recorded in Plat Cabinet F, File 945, Union County Registry, to which reference is made for a more particular description. See Deed recorded in Book 1520, Page 728, Union County Registry. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 8028 Hillanby Court, Waxhaw, NC 28173. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be o ered pursuant to

THE INTERSECTION OF S.R #1631 AND S.R. #1632; THENCE WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY OF SAID S.R. #1631, TWO (2) CALLS AS FOLLOWS: 1ST, NORTH 09-3326 EAST 100.00 FEET; AND 2ND, NORTH 07-52-47 EAST 58.57 FEET; THENCE ALONG THE COMMON BOUNDRY LINE WITH THE WILLIAM BRASWELL (NOW OR FORMERLY) PROPERTY (DEED BOOK 361, PAGE 237), NORTH 73-4522 EAST 330.94 FEET TO A POINT IN THE CENTER LINE OF BULL BRANCH; THENCE ALONG THE CENTER LINE OF BULL BRANCH FIVE (5) CALLS AS FOLLOWS: 1ST, NORTH 31-48-16 EAST 34.53 FEET; 2ND, NORTH 04-40-00 EAST 60.86 FEET; 3RD, NORTH 20-38-05 EAST 91.26 FEET; 4TH, NORTH 54-54-47 EAST 62.12 FEET; AND 5TH, SOUTH 73-01-12 EAST 61.77 FEET; THENCE ALONG THE COMMON BOUNDRY LINE WITH THE ROBERT FRANCIS (NOW OR FORMERLY) PROPERTY (DEED BOOK 293, PAGE 746), SAID COMMON BOUNDRY LINE ALSO BEING THE BOUNDARY OF TRACT 21 OF OLIVE BRANCH ESTATES, SOUTH 04-1628 WEST, PASSING AN EXISTING IRON AT 15 FEET, FOR A TOTAL DISTANCE OF 577.35 FEET TO A POINT LOCATED WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY OF S.R. 1632; THENCE WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY OF SAID ROAD TWO (2) CALLS: 1ST, NORTH 74-24-21 WEST 299.86 FEET; AND 2ND, NORTH 75-15-37 WEST 183.50 FEET TO THE POINT AND PLACE OF BEGINNING, BEING ALL OF LOTS 22

to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Union County courthouse at 11:00AM on May 5, 2026, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Union County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Greg J. Dominico, dated May 17, 2023 to secure the original principal amount of $280,000.00, and recorded in Book 8709 at Page 793 of the Union County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 315 North Elm Street, Marshville, NC 28103 Tax Parcel ID: 02310088 Present Record Owners:

22-114828 IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION UNION COUNTY 23SP000592-890 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED

Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the abovereferenced deed of trust and because of default in payment of the secured debt and failure to perform the agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the secured debt, the undersigned will expose for sale at public auction at the usual place of sale at the Union County courthouse at 11:00AM on May 7, 2026, the following described real estate and any improvements situated thereon, in Union County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed of Trust executed Lynda K. Torres and Ricardo G. Torres, dated September 28, 2007 to secure the original principal amount of $124,461.78, and recorded in Book 4702 at Page 24 of the Union County Public Registry. The terms of the said Deed of Trust may be modi ed by other instruments appearing in the public record. Additional identifying information regarding the collateral property is below and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 7111 McCain Blvd, Waxhaw, NC 28173 Tax Parcel ID: 05048018

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 26SP000113-890 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Nicholas A. Zilkoski and Brittany Nikole Stalder (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Nicholas A. Zilkoski and Brittany Nikole Stalder) to William T. Morrison and Philip M. Rudisill, Trustee(s), dated September 25, 2020, and recorded in Book No. 07823, at Page 0031 in Union County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Union County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the Judicial Center in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:00 PM on May 14, 2026 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real

estate situated in Monroe in the County of Union, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: BEGINNING at a point in the centerline of Ruben Road, common corner with Rupert Shelton (see Deed Book 445 at page 174); thence with the centerline of Ruben Road, N 36-52-59 E 90.45 feet; thence N 3456-58 E 95.68 feet; thence N 32-47-14 E 98.47 feet; thence N 27-27-46 E 94.81 feet; thence S 34-42-51 E 529.06 feet; thence in the property line of Clarence Starnes, S 00-44-46 W 291.84 feet to an iron; thence, N 71-46-00 W 315.99 feet to an iron in the Shelton line; thence N 33-16-18 W 370.96 feet to the point of BEGINNING and being 4.616 acres, more or less, according to a survey of Carroll L. Rushing, dated December 20, 1995. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 2415 Ruben Road, Monroe, North Carolina. Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to three hours as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23. Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are All Lawful Heirs of Charles E. Storey. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental

AND 23 OF OLIVE BRANCH ESTATES PER PLAT AND SURVEY BY JAMES RICHARD HARRINGTON, NCRLS, DATED JULY 27, 1992, RECHECKED AND UPDATED JUNE 10, 1996, AND ALSO SHOWN ON PLAT RECORDED IN PLAT CABINET A, FILE 166, UNION COUNTY REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA TO WHICH PLAT REFERENCE IS HEREBY MADE. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 4709 Lawyers Road East, Wingate, NC 281748236. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be o ered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for

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

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

Should the property be purchased by a third party, 31 CFR 1031.320 requires certain qualifying residential real estate transactions to be reported to the federal government. If you are the successful bidder in this proceeding, you may be required to provide all applicable identifying information about yourself and, if applicable, any entity or trust purchasing the property. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior

(43) days from the date 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.

agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default

Pursuant to NCGS

purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are All Lawful Heirs of Tammy B. Ossman and All Lawful Heirs of Robbie D. Ossman. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. Pursuant to NCGS §45-21.25A, this sale may be subject to remote bids placed by bidders not physically present at the place of sale, which

tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. Cash will not be accepted. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. After the expiration of the upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Substitute Trustee or the attorney of any of the foregoing. SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD

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

encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy

sudoku

TAKE NOTICE

25SP000117-910 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE NORTH CAROLINA, WAKE COUNTY

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Kevin Walker and Miea Walker to First American Title Insurance Company, Trustee(s), which was dated November 26, 2003 and recorded on December 1, 2003 in Book 10569 at Page 2325, Wake County Registry, North Carolina. Default having been made of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said default having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on May 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Wake County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 364, Chastain Subdivision, Phase Eight, as shown on map recorded in Book of Maps 2002, Page 989, Wake County Registry. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record. Said property is commonly known as 3332 Marshlane Way, Raleigh, NC 27610. A Certi ed Check ONLY (no personal checks) of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED. Said property to be o ered pursuant to

this Notice of Sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS WHERE IS.” There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being o ered for sale. Substitute Trustee does not have possession of the property and cannot grant access, prior to or after the sale, for purposes of inspection and/or appraisal. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are All Lawful Heirs of Kevin Walker. An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or

after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be e ective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b)(2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the e ective date of the termination. Pursuant to NCGS §45-21.25A, this sale may be subject to remote bids placed by bidders not physically present at the place of sale, which may be accepted by the person conducting the sale, or their agent”. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling of a bankruptcy petition prior to the con rmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy. If the transaction is subject to the FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule (“RRE”) issued pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, information necessary to comply with the RRE Rule must be obtained and provided to the Reporting Person,

All that certain lot or parcel of land situated in the House Creek Township, and more particularly described as follows: Being all of Lot 28 Westborough Subdivision, Phase 3, as recorded in Book of Maps 1999, Page 2166, and ReRecorded in Book of Maps 2000 at Page 400, Wake County Registry. Together with improvements located thereon; said property being located at 6600 Fleetwood Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina. Being all that certain property conveyed from Nathaniel B. Powell, Julie A. Powell to Noel B. Crumpler by the deed dated May 13, 2013 and recorded May 13, 2013 in Book 015268, Page 01023 of o cial records. APN: 0787.17-11-0052 0268266 Trustee may, in the Trustee’s sole discretion, delay the sale for up to three hours as provided in N.C.G.S. §45-21.23. Should the property be purchased by a third party, that party must pay the excise tax, as well as the court costs of Forty-Five Cents ($0.45) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) required by N.C.G.S. §7A-308(a)(1).

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 25SP000780-910 Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in a certain Deed of Trust made by Noel B. Crumpler (PRESENT RECORD OWNER(S): Noel B. Crumpler) to 20/20 Title, LLC, Trustee(s), dated February 16, 2023, and recorded in Book No. 019265, at Page 01068 in Wake County Registry, North Carolina, default having been made in the payment of the promissory note secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Substitute Trustee Services, Inc. having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust by an instrument duly recorded in the O ce of the Register of Deeds Wake County, North Carolina and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will o er for sale at the Wake County Courthouse door, the Salisbury Street entrance in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, or the customary location designated for foreclosure sales, at 1:30 PM on May 11, 2026 and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following real estate situated in Raleigh in the County of Wake, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: The land hereinafter referred to is situated in the Township of House Creek : County of Wake, State of NC and is described as follows

Should the property be purchased by a third party, 31 CFR 1031.320 requires certain qualifying residential real estate transactions to be reported to the federal government. If you are the successful bidder in this proceeding, you may be required to provide all applicable identifying information about yourself and, if applicable, any entity or trust purchasing the property. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust/security agreement, or both, being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being o ered for sale, and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition are expressly disclaimed. Also, this property is being sold subject to all taxes, special assessments, and prior liens or prior encumbrances of record and any recorded releases. Said property is also being sold subject to applicable Federal and State laws. A deposit of ve percent (5%) of the purchase price, or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the ling

Tax Parcel ID: 195283 & 0438084

The record owner(s) of the property, according to the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Christopher R Wilcox and Ti any J Wilcox. The property to be o ered pursuant to this notice of sale is being o ered for sale, transfer and conveyance AS IS, WHERE IS. Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, nor the o cers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either the Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property

and is believed to be accurate, but no representation or warranty is intended. Address of property: 12660 Boyce Mill Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613

(5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required from the highest bidder and must be tendered in the form of certi ed funds at the time of the sale. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as

Farm labor

the BRIEF this week

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event

Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom. Sen. Lindsay Graham said at a news conference that it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington Hilton.

$2.00

Commissioners push out decision on Fearrington Reserve

724 Andrews Store Road to be zoned as a compact community known as Fearrington Reserve.

By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record

PITTSBORO — The Chatham County Board of Commissioners has postponed a decision on a proposed com-

pact community to next month.

At its April 20 meeting, the board held three public hearings, with one being for a rezoning request for seven parcels of property containing approximately 370 acres and located o

The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a former North Carolina law enforcement o cer planned to kill black people in a mass shooting at a major New Orleans festival but was arrested at a Florida hotel with a hand-

gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities in several states did not name the event, but the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazz Fest, runs from last Thursday through May 3. The gathering attracted about 460,000

The proposed development is projected to include up to 603 residential units, potentially 23,000 square feet of commercial, 183 acres of natural open space and 75 acres of managed open space.

The project would be split into three phases, with Phase 1 involving the construction of single-family detached units, an amenity area and potentially a commercial area. Phase 2 would contain multifamily, two-story condo units, and Phase 3 would also consist of single-family detached units.

people last year, organizers said.

Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill was wanted for “terroristic threats,” the Okaloosa County Sheri ’s O ce in Florida posted online last Thursday. Federal authorities told the sheri ’s o ce that Gillum, who is white, was in the Florida Panhandle

Tillis says he’s ready to move ahead with con rming Warsh as Trump’s pick as Fed chair

The Senate Banking Committee was set to vote after the DOJ closed its inquiry of Jerome Powell

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republican senator who had e ectively blocked con rmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve said Sunday he was dropping his opposition after the Department of Justice ended its investigation of the current central bank chair.

The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a big hurdle to Trump’s e ort to install Kevin Warsh, a former high-ranking Fed o -

cial, in the job in place of Jerome Powell, long under White House pressure to lower interest rates. Tillis’ opposition was enough to stall the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.

“I am prepared to move on with the con rmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” two days after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said her o ce’s investigation of the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovations was over. Powell’s brief congressional testimony last summer about that work was also under review. The Fed’s internal watchdog is

“heading to do a mass shooting at a large festival in Louisiana.”

The FBI in New Orleans said it’s working on the investigation with law enforcement across the three states. The Okaloosa sheri ’s o ce

April 20

• Sykeem Kivon Freeman, 27, was arrested for reckless driving and speeding.

• Teona Nicole Thompson, 25, was arrested for assault on a government o cial or employee, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, simple assault and other charges.

• Vernon Wayne Newby, 69, was arrested for possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, felony possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and other charges.

• Kerry Donnell Wright, 33, was arrested for attempted tra cking in cocaine and maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance.

• Timothy Lamont Sanders, 30, of Pittsboro, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny and possession of stolen goods or property.

• Tony Elisha Sanders, 32, of Pittsboro, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny and possession of stolen goods or property.

• Ian Lavar Brooks, 38, of Pittsboro, was arrested for manufacturing cocaine; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver cocaine; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver marijuana and other charges.

• Matthew James McDiarmid, 63, of Pittsboro, was arrested for assault and battery.

April 21

• Daniel McLean Fanfan, 51, of Pittsboro, was arrested for possession of a rearm by a felon; manufacturing cocaine; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver cocaine and other charges.

April 22

• Joshua Alexander Robledo-Vera, 24, was arrested for breaking and entering a motor vehicle and felony larceny.

• Pablo Suarez Baldovinos, 33, was arrested for assault on a female, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

April 23

• Michael Lamont Mayo Hardy, 22, was arrested for resisting a public o cer.

• Brandon Nicholas March, 41, was arrested for identity theft.

• Pate Russell Scott, 36, was arrested for possession of a rearm by a felon.

• Darreus Vo Shon McNeill, 28, was arrested for failure to register as a sex o ender.

• Phillip Charles Laney, 47, was arrested for possession of a rearm by a felon and probation revocation.

• Lakayla Chasity Davis, 28, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny.

• Martavelin Paul Witherspoon, 24, was arrested for violation of a domestic violence protective order.

Andre the Giant honored by small Richmond County town with roadside marker

The legendary wrestler adopted Ellerbe as his home

The Associated Press

ELLERBE — Andre the Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina.

O cials unveiled the marker Thursday in the Richmond County town of Ellerbe, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimo lived on a ranch just outside town.

Roussimo was billed at 7-foot-4 and 520 pounds during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger-than-life villain, Roussimo was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimo appeared on lm as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.

Roussimo was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In

1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive land ll nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.

Roussimo died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funeral. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

Wrestler Vladimir Kolo , who befriended Roussimo as he helped him get into the business, said his friend deserved the marker because he turned wrestling from a regional pastime into a huge international business.

“The world of professional wrestling has given us a larger-than-life icon,” Kolo said just before helping take the cover o the marker.

The Richmond County marker at N.C. Highway 73 and Old N.C. Highway 220

A newly erected historical marker celebrating legendary wrestler Andre the Giant is along a highway near Ellerbe.

simply says “Andre the Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimo . Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

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!

May 1

Beach

headline the rst May installment of MOSAIC’s free outdoor Beach Music Series at the Tommy Edwards Stage. The lawn opens at 6 p.m.; the concert runs through 9 p.m.

Philip H. Kohl MOSAIC Family Commons 457 Freedom Parkway Pittsboro

Bynum

General Store; a hat is passed for band tips.

Bynum Front Porch 950 Bynum Road Pittsboro

May 2

NC Spring Chicken Festival 10 a.m.

The eighth annual NC Spring Chicken Festival, sponsored by Mountaire Farms, brings live music, food trucks, vendors and in atables to three blocks of downtown Siler City. Admission is free; the festival runs through 4 p.m.

Downtown Siler City Chatham Street Siler City

May 3

Downtown Pittsboro Historical Walking Tour: Making a Living noon

The Chatham County Historical Association leads its monthly themed walking tour of Pittsboro’s

Former Fauci adviser indicted for allegedly concealing communications related to COVID-19 research

Prosecutors say he suppressed alternative COVID-19 origin theories

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

“These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday. “Government o cials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”

Morens faces charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsication of records in federal investigations; concealment, remov-

al or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to a Justice Department news release. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. An attorney for Morens declined to comment.

The indictment re ects Republicans’ long-held belief that the federal government covered up key information about COVID-19 as the pandemic unfolded. Despite numerous probes, the origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insu cient evidence to prove either theory.

Blanche said Morens’ alleged

US

soldier charged

conduct was part of an e ort to “suppress alternative theories” about COVID-19’s origins. The Justice Department also accused Morens of having an improper relationship with a collaborator, including allegedly accepting a gift of wine and discussing COVID-19 research and potential publications in a prominent medical journal. The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

with using

classi ed intel to win $400K on Maduro raid being released on bond

The case fuels a bipartisan push to regulate increasingly popular prediction markets

By Gary D. Robertson

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A U.S. special forces soldier who took part in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be released on bond on charges accusing him of using classi ed information about the operation to win more than $400,000 in an online prediction market, a federal magistrate said last Friday.

The magistrate in North Carolina said he would allow Gannon Ken Van Dyke to be released and told him to report to a New York federal courthouse by Tuesday to continue his case there.

Bearded with arm tattoos, Van Dyke said little during the nearly hourlong hearing, during which he was appointed a federal public defender who declined to comment afterward. The $250,000 unsecured bond did not require Van Dyke to put up any money. Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke used his access to classi ed information about the operation to capture Maduro in January to win money on the prediction market site Polymarket.

The sites allow people to trade on almost anything — from the Super Bowl to U.S. elections and even the winners of the TV reality shows.

Van Dyke, who is stationed at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, was charged last Thursday with the unlawful use of con dential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

He could face up to 10 years on four of the criminal counts, and up to 20 years on a fth, the government said Friday. A publicly listed phone number listed for Van Dyke isn’t in service.

Van Dyke, 38, was involved for about a month in the planning and execution of captur-

ing Maduro, according to the New York federal prosecutor’s o ce. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classi ed or sensitive information” related to the operations, but prosecutors say he used what he knew to make a series of bets related to Maduro being out of power by Jan. 31.

“This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to pro t o of a righteous military operation,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.

Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets, said it found someone trading on classi ed government information, alerted the Justice Department and “cooperated with their investigation.”

Massive pro ts from well-timed bets aroused public attention days after the raid in Venezuela and brought bipartisan calls for stricter regulation of the markets.

The sudden rise of these markets has led to growing scrutiny by Congress and state governments. Some lawmakers alarmed by highly specific, well-timed trades on the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and wagers on President Donald Trump’s next moves have pushed for guardrails against insider trading.

The Trump administration has been supportive of the in-

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.

May 3 – Eddie Ellison May 10 – John Hill

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.

Horton High School Alumni Association 2026 Scholarship Application

Applications are being accepted for Horton High School Alumni Association 2026-2027 Scholarship

Descendent of Horton High School alumnus or attendee of Horton High School may apply.

• Apply on website: www.hortonhighalumni.com

• CLICK: “Scholarship”

Deadline for application: June 1, 2026

NOTICE

I Am Retiring From The Practice Of Law Effective April 23rd, 2026

2026

Thanks For Letting Me Practice In Siler City For 60 Years

dustry’s expansion. The president’s eldest son is an adviser for both Polymarket and its main competitor, Kalshi, and is a Polymarket investor. Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is launching its own prediction market called Truth Predict.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, announced Thursday that it had led a parallel complaint against Van Dyke.

That complaint alleges that Van Dyke moved $35,000 from his personal bank account into a cryptocurrency exchange account Dec. 26 — a little over a week before U.S. forces ew into Caracas and seized Maduro.

Van Dyke made a series of bets on when Maduro might be removed from power, according to the complaint. He placed those bets between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, with the vast majority occurring the night of Jan. 2 — just hours before the rst missiles struck Caracas.

The bets resulted in “more than $404,000 of pro ts,” the complaint says.

“The defendant was entrusted with con dential information about U.S. operations and yet took action that endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way,” said Michael Selig, the commission’s chairman.

THANK GOD FOR OUR MILITARY/LAW

Bible study: 2 Timothy 3:1-13. Church of Living Water; Pastor: James Mitchell.

The evil in the world today is because most have turned away from God and His Word. Perilous times are here now, as God’s Word says would come. We are at war now, and all America should be united together. Can you believe that most of the Democratic Party stands with our enemies? We also have a few RINO Republicans standing with Democrats. God will see that His judgment falls on you! NATO/Europe, you’re no friend or ally of America. Israel is America’s greatest friend! Those who stand against Israel are under the curse of Almighty God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Genesis 12:3. America has defeated and will defeat our enemies! Israel is victorious over its enemies! Praise God! God and His children are greater than Satan and his children. We are in a spiritual war and a physical war. Heavenly Father, bless our military; Heavenly Father, bless Israel; Heavenly Father, bless our law enforcement—in Jesus’ name. Heavenly Father, let Your judgment fall on all who are standing against our ICE and Border Patrol. You blind, evil Democrats who brought in 15 to 20 million illegals/criminals for a rigged election. That’s why you want to defund our ICE and Border Patrol. Patriots/America First want immigrants to come legally to America. My Black, Brown, White brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by the Socialists/radical Muslims who promise all the free stuff. They want to bring you into slavery, just for your votes! Have we forgotten that a great Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, freed the slaves? Now we have President Trump to keep us safe, free, and prosperous! Satan is the father of lies who has blinded the minds of so many. Hispanic/Latinos/Black/White, America welcomes you to America — just come legally! Biden/Harris was part of an invasion that brought in millions of criminals. These criminals have killed approximately 13,000 people. We need more law enforcement. If I were younger, I would join up. I pray for all our law enforcement, in Jesus’ name!

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

COLUMN | ANDREW TAYLOR-TROUTMAN

Solidarity with our educators

Showing solidarity is yet another reason why I’m grateful for our county’s decision to cancel school on May 1.

I WAS ESPECIALLY proud to live in Chatham County when the school board voted to make May 1 an annual leave day. This decision was in response to requests from 20% of our teachers for a personal day o in order to participate in the educator march in downtown Raleigh. With our schools o cially closed, sta can exercise their right to peaceful assembly and make their voices heard.

The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) has planned this event in support of educators, students and their families. The rally highlights critical funding issues.

According to the 2025 report by the Education Law Center, our state ranks dead last among all states in the nation in funding per student. This ranking considers factors such as curriculum funds, school building repairs and teacher salary.

Our state’s abysmal record has not occurred overnight. Corporate tax cuts have siphoned funding from public education for the past decade. By 2030, North Carolina’s corporate income tax rate is set to zero out, meaning corporations will no longer pay to support the state’s public education, health services and other infrastructure.

The NCAE has launched a campaign called “Kids Over Corporations” to highlight the lack of investment in our schools, our children and our collective future.

School funding has also been curtailed by our state

legislature’s failure to pass a budget, which means that teachers and sta have not received raises or cost-of-living increases. This economic impact is exacerbated by rising costs in gas, groceries and utilities. These issues hit home on a personal level for educators and families. People across the political spectrum can relate. Solidarity is recognizing our common humanity with di erent people rather than trying to hold on to the little bit we have. There are lessons for all of us to learn outside the classroom.

Showing solidarity is yet another reason why I’m grateful for our county’s decision to cancel school May 1 so that my children and I can support the rally in Raleigh. I will march with the NCAE because my life is immeasurably better on account of my experience in North Carolina public schools. I owe an incalculable debt to my teachers and all the sta , from the superintendent to the custodian. While I cannot put a price tag on my enriching educational experience, I can add my voice to this Friday’s chorus of support: “This is what democracy looks like!”

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.

Some things temporary; others something else

But if I lost those things or had them taken away before that day, it would be a di erent story.

IN THE STUDY at my house, one wall is made up of built-in bookcases reaching from oor to ceiling.

There are lots of great things on them, things that mean so very much to me.

For instance, there are notes and pictures from my children at various stages of their lives — and of mine. There are many great books … and the Great Book. Some of those books are from my time at seminary; others are great works of ction and history; some belonged to my mama.

There’s a metal horse that used to be golden in color. My daddy got him for me when I was 5 years old. It used to sit on the mantle of his home; now it sits in mine. There’s my mama’s pocketbook, just like it was the day she handed it to me when she went into the nursing home where she’d spend her last ve years.

There are pictures of my wife and children; I’m in some of them. There are notes from friends and family, some saying “thank you” for a time we spent together when times were tough for them. There’s a box of letters from my better half when I was trying to convince her to become my better half.

And there are lots of other things. Truth be told I’m not really sure what’s on the bottom shelves, especially at the back because there’s stu piled on the oor in front of them. And one day I’m going to get around to cleaning out the place so I can see just what is in there.

At least, that’s what I say.

But I think you get the picture.

And I’ll bet you’ve got a similar room or places in several rooms where special things of yours live.

Sometimes I think that one day those things will be here and I won’t. And that doesn’t really bother me because I won’t know it. Other folks, I guess, will go through those things. They may keep some of them and they may toss others. They may look at some and wonder or even say, “Why in the world did he keep this?”

But if I lost those things or had them taken away before that day, it would be a di erent story. I would know it, and I wouldn’t like it.

And I think that’s how the folks who have lived through tornadoes and similar storms must feel afterward.

Think back to Sanford a few years ago. So many folks lost all they had — except their lives and the lives of their loved ones. There were the tears and the shock of it all but then the gradual, sometimes instant, recognition it could have been worse.

But still they’ve lost the pictures of their children. And they’ve lost Mama’s pocketbook and they’ve lost special things. And life does — and must — go on.

Through the years, I’ve had occasion to be around numerous families at the time of a death. And I’ve come to notice that such times can and usually do bring out either the best or the worst in folks.

Tragedy can do the same. The tornadoes produced countless stories of heroes and helpers, but we also saw looters and losers.

Two things strike me immediately about all this.

One is a renewed understanding of a line I often nd myself using at gravesides when it is time to commit a body to its nal resting place until the time the old spiritual refers to as “that great getting up morning.” I’m always awestruck by the sights and sounds of life all around at that moment — the sounds of nature and commerce, the sight of other living beings. Yet I know, can sense even, we all stand at the edge of eternity.

And I remember that line out of the New Testament that tells us “the things which are seen are temporary; the things which are not seen are eternal.”

My pictures, Mama’s pocketbook, the horse from my Daddy … they’re all temporary. So are the houses that were destroyed and the contents that were ung from them. That tells me if we try to make a life only on what we can see, we’re basing our lives only on a temporary state of a airs.

That doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t have some stu , but it does mean we shouldn’t make it our do all, end all.

And the second thing is don’t ask or wonder if you can or should help our neighbors.

Be like Nike … just do it.

Bob Wachs is a native of Chatham County and emeritus editor at Chatham News & Record. He serves as pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church.

Wall therapy — who knew?

“Don’t you have better things to do than staring at a wall?”

YOU HAVE APPOINTMENTS, meetings, and events you just dread attending? Anxiety to the max? Overload-city?

Of course you have. You’re human.

Returning from one of those high-anxiety appointments, I found myself sitting, staring at my living room wall. It’s de nitely a nice wall. My favorite woven tapestry, a tree, is the centerpiece. The beloved tapestry, however, was going unseen. I was staring, straight ahead, at the wall. Feeling surprisingly comforted.

“Don’t you have better things to do than staring at a wall?”

Uh-oh, it’s baaaack! My eons-long internal argument. “No, no! Staring at the wall feels calming. I love it. I’m tuckered out from the anxiety and overstimulation of my appointment. I need a break!”

“A break? Why a break? Go do something. The world needs your active presence. Now! I mean, you’re nonstop staring at, of all things, a wall! For heaven’s sakes, nd your putative bootstraps, pull up, and get a move on it. Geez … you’re coddling yourself. There’s great need in the world, and you’re spending precious time staring at a wall?”

COLUMN | EMILY STACK

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! This ‘great need in the world’ thing? What am I? Chopped liver? Don’t I have needs too?”

“Yep. I do have needs as a vulnerable human being. (Like you, perhaps?) I’m one of the many, many human underpinnings working to heal our fractious world. But hold it. Whatever happened to “healer heal thyself?” My underpinnings are in dire need of healing, too.”

“We must dig out the roots of unpeacefulness in ourselves. … Without this e ort, we can never hope to have any real e ect on others.” (Adam Curle, Peacemaker)

Yours truly is quite happily staring at the living room wall. Allowing the wall to do its own smoothing within me. I need a reset. Moments of stop. A minihibernation from overwhelming input (usually, from our damn world). An emergency brake, allowing my overstimulated brain to rest, recover and return to being a good human. That counts, doesn’t it?

Wall therapy. Who knew?

Jan Hutton, a resident of Chatham County and retired hospice social worker, lives life with heart and humor.

If China restricts these products at home, why are they

our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply

chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else.

It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination, and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one.

And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

Letters to the editor may be sent to letters@nsjonline.com or mailed to 1201 Edwards Mill Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27607. Letters must be signed; include the writer’s phone number, city and state; and be no longer than 300 words. Letters may be edited for style, length or clarity when necessary. Ideas for op-eds should be sent to opinion@nsjonline.com.

Contact a writer or columnist: connect@northstatejournal.com

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election. All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

obituaries

Bobby Hudson

March 29, 1945 –April 22, 2026

Bobby Hudson passed away peacefully on April 22, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Siler City, Bobby was known for his quick sense of humor, love of sports, and unwavering devotion to his family. He worked as a truck driver and farmer and took great pride in providing for his family and lending a helping hand to others whenever he could.

Bobby found joy in life’s simple pleasures, including

R.V. Anders

April 4, 1931 – April 23, 2026

R.V. Anders, age 95, of Goldston, NC, passed away on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Beacon Place in Greensboro, NC. Mr. Anders was born in Sylva, NC on April 4, 1931, to the late Charlie Anders and the late Rosa Mathis Anders.

R.V. was born in a family of eleven children. He worked in textiles for 18 years for Southern Webbing Mill in Greensboro, NC and also at Boling Chair Company in Siler City. He loved helping people. He was a self-taught

Charles L. Thomas

Feb. 19, 1938 – April 17, 2026

Charles L. Thomas, age 88 of Pittsboro, passed away Friday, April 17, 2026 at Laurels of Chatham. A native of Chatham County, he was a son of the late George Harbert and Martha Annie Sturdevant Thomas. Charles was a retired service representative with Ohio Medical Products where he worked for over 30 years.

A lifelong bachelor he loved and cared for his family. He was an active member of Pittsboro Seventh-day Adventist church for his whole life. Over the years he served as treasure, deacon, Sabbath school teacher and superintendent, piano player, but above all of that he was probably most known for his

working in his yard, gardening, playing Rook, and cheering on the grandchildren at every sporting event. He treasured time spent with his family and created memories that will be cherished for generations.

He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Becky Hudson; his children, Michael Hudson (Jill) of Siler City and Joy Olczak (John) of Winston-Salem; his grandchildren, Jake Hudson (Ashley), Josh Hudson (Kelsey), Jonathon Olczak (Sierra), and Justin Olczak (Amber); and his ve precious greatgrandchildren, Cal, Lyla, Hatten, Eliza, and Teddy.

He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Beulah Hudson, as well as many beloved brothers and sisters.

Though our hearts are heavy with loss, we celebrate Bobby’s life and the love, laughter, and wisdom he shared with everyone who knew him. His memory will continue to live on in the hearts of all those he touched.

A celebration of Bobby’s life will be held at a later date.

carpenter by trade and spent his time remodeling and adding additions to houses. He loved working in his yard and making trips to the mountains to visit his mother.

R.V. is survived by his daughter: Darlene Bristow Greensboro, NC; son: Steve Anders (Alice) of Oak Ridge, NC; grandchildren: Joseph Bristow, Brandon Anders, Lenena Blake (Tim); greatgrandchildren: Myah, Kaylee, Kaydan, Lilli Grace, and Adley. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Faye Anders, son Kenneth Anders, granddaughter Tania Anders, and son-in-law Joe Bristow.

A Graveside service will be held on Monday, April 27, 2026, at 11:00 AM at Carbonton Community Church Cemetery, 5442 Goldston-Carbonton Road, Goldston, NC with the Mike Seawell o ciating. Online condolences may be made at www. pughfuneralhome.com. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of R. V. Anders.

great cooking and managing countless church potlucks and special events. Charles was also a genealogist and spent countless hours tracing families throughout Chatham, Lee, Moore and other counties. He was a devoted volunteer with the Chatham County Historical Association.

He is survived by his sister, Annette T. Clement and husband David of Pittsboro; nephews Randy Conken and wife Debbie, Je Conken and wife Joy; great-nephews Jeremy Conken and wife Ti any and Ethan Conken; great-great nephews CJ, Liam and Maverick Conken.

A memorial service will be held at 4:00 Sunday, June 7, 2026 at Pittsboro Seventh-day Adventist Church. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Following the service the family will gather in the church fellowship hall as Charles so many times did for a time of fellowship and heavy hor dourves. Charles will be buried beside his mother and father at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church cemetery. Memorials may be made to Pittsboro SDA Church, P.O. Box 339, Pittsboro, NC 27312. Services are entrusted to Fry & Prickett Funeral Home, Carthage, NC.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Chatham News & Record at obits@chathamnewsrecord.com

Coy Burke Caudle

March 3, 1946 –April 20, 2026

Coy Burke Caudle, 80, of Bear Creek, went to his Heavenly home Monday, April 20th, 2026, at his home surrounded by family.

Coy was born March 3rd, 1946, in Chatham County, to the late Andrew “Leroy” and Sallie Burke Caudle. He is preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Virginia Brady.

Coy was a 1964 graduate of Chatham Central High School, where he played basketball and

IN MEMORY

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.

was the senior class president. He was the Pepsi man for many years and then was an auditor for The Pantry and other convenience stores. Coy enjoyed coaching and o ciating rec league basketball and baseball. He was PTA president at Bonlee School and the Athletic Booster Club President at Chatham Central for many years. He was very involved in his community working with Meals on Wheels and driving buses for multiple sports teams. He took pride in his yard and always made sure it was well maintained. Coy was a very giving man and loved helping those in need. He was a member of Goldston Baptist Church, where he was also a Deacon and Adult Sunday school teacher. The family would like to send a special thank you to Coy’s special caregivers, Dana Vest and Buck Wiley, and the sta from Liberty Hospice for the love and care they provided.

Left to cherish Coy’s memory is his wife of 54 years, Karen Moon Caudle; his daughters, Laurie Caudle Paige and her husband, Shane of Bear Creek, and Kathryn Caudle Perry and her husband, Clint of Bear

Creek; his grandchildren, Hasten Paige, Anderson Paige, Lane Perry, and Madison Perry; his sister, Jane Campbell and her husband, Jerry of Goldston; his brother, Howard Caudle and his wife Maude of Summer eld; his brother-in-law, Ledford Brady of Bennett; numerous nieces and nephews; and his faithful canine companion, Tanner.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, at 3 pm, at Goldston Baptist Church with Reverend Bob Wachs and Pastor Bruce Macinnes o ciating the services. A visitation will be held Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026, from 6-8 pm, at Smith & Buckner Funeral Home Chapel in Siler City.

Burial will follow the service Thursday at Sandy Branch Baptist Church Cemetery. Memorials can be made to Liberty Hospice, 401 E 3rd St, Siler City, NC 27344. Smith & Buckner Funeral Home will be assisting the Caudle family.

Online condolences can be made at www.smithbucknerfh. com

WILLIAM CARL “W.C.” CURRIN

OCT. 19, 1934 – APRIL 25, 2026

William Carl “W.C.” Currin, 91, of Bennett, passed away on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at his home. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Joyce-Brady Chapel. The funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at Bennett Baptist Church with Rev. Tim Strider presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will return to the fellowship hall following the committal.

W.C. was born In Nash County on October 19, 1934, to Aubrey and Selma Flowers Currin. He was a member of Bennett Baptist Church where he served as a Deacon for many years. W.C. was a Veteran of the U.S. Army and retired as a butcher from Winn-Dixie after over 40 years of service. Following his retirement, he did taxidermy work. He enjoyed camping with his family at White Lake and Morehead City. W.C. loved his family and cherished his time spent with them.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Linda Bennett and Nancy Parker and one brother, Alan Currin.

W.C. is survived his wife of 69 years, Mae Upchurch Currin, of the home; daughter, Teresa Biggs (David Welch), of Bennett; son Wesley Currin (Shanna Jarrett), of White Lake; sister, Audrey McCullam, of Warsaw; brother, Bobby Currin (Betty), of Benson; grandchildren, Michael Biggs, of Bennett and Samantha Pittman, of Grantville; great-grandchild, Kyliegh Collins and a host of family and friends. Condolences may be o ered online at www.joycebradychapel.com.

VERNON MONROE MINTON

JUNE 6, 1932 – APRIL 19, 2026

Vernon Monroe Minton, 93, of Bennett, passed away on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Dunmore. Senior Living in Siler City. The graveside service will at 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Bennett Baptist Church with Rev. Tim Strider presiding. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall from 1:00-1:45 pm. They will return to the fellowship hall following the committal. Joyce-Brady Chapel will be open on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 1:00-5:00 pm for friends to sign the register.

Vernon was born on June 6, 1932, to Hayes and Cullie Caviness Minton. He retired as a supervisor from Boling Chair Company after 30 years of service. He was a master craftsman. He enjoyed working on classic cars, sandblasting and woodworking.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes Minton, brother, Eugene Minton and sister, Virginia Minton.

Vernon is survived by his son, Wayne Minton, Bennett; daughter, Brenda Kivett (Larry), of Bennett; grandson, David Kivett, of Bennett; sister, Edith Shelton, of Wilkesboro; brother, Ray Minton, of Bear Creek and a host of family and friends.

Donald Riegle, represented Michigan in Congress under 7 presidents, dead at 88

He switched from Republican to Democrat and led Senate opposition to NAFTA

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Donald W. Riegle, who represented Michigan in Congress for nearly three decades under seven presidents, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

Riegle, who began his career as a Republican and later became a Democrat, died Friday of cardiac arrest at his home in San Diego, according to a family statement.

“The cornerstone of our family, Don was a kind, loving, courageous leader who taught us to stand up for justice, economic opportunity, and fairness for everyone,” the statement said.

His family said Riegle was proud of ghting for the rights of working people and leading the Senate opposition to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement that resulted in the loss of many jobs in his home state. He pushed for economic development and the

“The cornerstone of our family, Don was a kind, loving, courageous leader who taught us to stand up for justice, economic opportunity, and fairness for everyone.”

Family statement

expansion of health insurance in Michigan.

The native of Flint, Michigan, was rst elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1966 at age 28. As a congressman, he challenged President Richard Nixon’s policies on the Vietnam War and crossed the aisle to join the Democratic Party in 1973. Three years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1994. As chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Riegle pushed fornancial reforms of the savings and loan industry. Later, he was instrumental in getting treatment for Gulf War syndrome for military veterans who fought in the Persian Gulf in 1991. Riegle was caught up in the Keating Five controversy, when

he and four other senators faced Ethics Committee hearings in 1990 about whether they pressured federal regulators to go easy on savings and loan kingpin Charles Keating after receiving campaign contributions from him. The committee found Riegle did not break any federal laws or Senate rules but determined his conduct gave the appearance of being improper.

In 2001, Riegle became chairman of government relations for public relations rm APCO Worldwide.

In retirement, he spent time with his grandchildren and other family at his homes in Michigan and California, his family said. His wife of 48 years, Lori Hansen Riegle, was by his side when he died, the statement said. Memorial services are pending.

Rep. David Scott, Georgia Democrat seeking 13th term in Congress, dead at age 80

The pioneering lawmaker championed farm aid and support for historically black colleges

By Bill Barrow, Matt Brown and Je Amy The Associated Press

ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat and the rst black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, was once a leading voice for Democrats on issues related to farm aid policy and food aid for consumers, and a prominent black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. But he faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health, enduring a primary challenge in 2024 and facing another one at the time of his death.

Democrats on Capitol Hill praised the longtime lawmaker.

“The news of Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Je ries (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Wednesday.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served the district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to be-

come the rst African American ever to chair the House Ag Committee,” Je ries said. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was ercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

News of Scott’s death came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill. The Black Caucus’ chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, told lawmakers at the outset of the meeting.

Death creates another vacancy

Scott’s death slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority going into the thick of this midterm election year. The GOP began the current Congress with a 220-215 advantage, but the margin has uctuated. Scott is the fourth House Democrat to die in o ce during this Congress.

Scott had been mostly absent from the campaign trail in 2024 and 2026 and had become a noted example of Democrats’ aging leadership targeted by younger generations of the left. He dodged questions from reporters when he quali ed for another term in March, but he earlier dismissed pressure to retire.

“Thank God I’m in good

tions to choose a representative for the next two-year term. Early in-person voting starts Monday for May 19 party primaries for the next full term.

Scott was a pioneering black lawmaker

David Albert Scott was born in rural Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, in the era of Jim Crow segregation. He spent part of his childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania, along with stints in New York and Florida.

Scott graduated from Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest historically black college campuses — and in ofce he was an outspoken advocate for federal support of HBCUs. Scott also earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1969.

health, moving and doing the people’s work,” the congressman said in 2024. His wife and campaign adviser Alfredia Scott was even more direct. “When the congressman decides to leave, he won’t be pushed out,” she said in 2024. “He will bow out.”

State o cials will have to schedule a special election to ll out the rest of Scott’s term, which could overlap with elec-

He settled in Atlanta, opened his own advertising business and got his start in politics as a sta er on Andrew Young’s 1972 congressional campaign. Young would go on to be Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador under President Jimmy Carter, another Georgian.

The support of Young and baseball legend Henry “Hank” Aaron, who was the older brother of Scott’s wife, helped launch Scott into Congress in 2002, said Democratic state Sen. Emanuel Jones. He was opposing Scott in the May 19 primary,

BOARD from page A1

Per the scal impact analysis done by the developers, the project is projected to bring an increase of $342.3 million in real property tax base and around $2.6 million in new Chatham County annual revenues.

However, the public and commissioners raised concerns regarding tra c impacts, protections for the wetland areas, setback distances, potential ooding risks, the location of wastewater treatment plant, impacts to Pokeberry Creek, a ordable housing and more.

County sta also didn’t see the project as being in line with what they would consider a compact community and saw it more as separate pods of development.

“To us, this is not a compact community nor is it o ering what the compact community ordinance envisioned when it was done,” said Zoning Director Angela Plummer. “Compact communities were created to create inner workings and walkability.”

Due to those concerns as well as a few unanswered questions from the commissioners, the board continued the hearing to May 18 in order to gather more information.

The second hearing was for a general use rezoning request for four parcels of property, totalling nearly 300 acres and located o of Christian Chapel Church Road, to be rezoned Heavy Industrial.

There is no current site plan submitted for the site, but any

although he called Scott “a good friend.” Scott was one of a pioneering generation of black state lawmakers in Georgia, winning election to the state House in 1974 and the state Senate in 1982 before being elected to Congress. Once identifying as a moderate “Blue Dog” — Scott had sponsored a law mandating a moment of silent school prayer in the state Senate — he evolved into a more mainstream liberal.

An advocate for historically black schools

Scott served decades in Congress while living outside his district after maps were redrawn. He maintained support, focusing intently on constituent service, including hosting job and health fairs.

Among his notable achievements on Capitol Hill, Scott secured $80 million for historically black land-grant schools as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. The money was steered to agriculture-related scholarships at 19 campuses. He helped author various housing and mortgage aid measures, and he pushed for better health care and other bene ts for veterans and their families. On foreign policy, Scott was an outspoken advocate for NATO and post-World War II American alliances.

Scott’s fellow Democrats ousted him from his post as ranking minority member on the Agriculture Committee in 2024 amid concerns about his age and health. Scott is survived by Alfredia Scott, the couple’s two adult daughters and grandchildren.

construction will be limited to 36% built upon area due to it being located in a W4 protected area as well as a local watershed designation.

“These properties are located in the rural node of our land use plan, however, this property falls within the Moncure Small Area Plan and is located within the employment center node of that plan,” Plummer said.

The property is intended to be utilized for industrial use and was described by the applicants as a “shovel-ready site.”

The property owners are currently working with the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation to identify potential ts for the site.

The nal hearing was for a map amendment to the Chatham Cary Joint Land Use Plan for approximately 6.5 acres of property located at 955 Earnest Jones Road from very low density residential (VLDR) to low density residential (LDR).

The parcel to the north, which is owned by the same owner, is already zoned LDR, so this request is to create consistency between them.

According to the applicant, the plan for the property is to construct a maximum of 27 homes between the two sites, with an average lot size of 1.26 units per acre. These two hearings were referred to the planning board after discussion.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will next meet May 18.

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ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS now for one-bedroom apartments, adults 55 years or older. Water included, appliances furnished, on-site laundry, elevator, keyless entry. Section 8 accepted. No security deposit. Application fee $25 per adult. Call Braxton Manor, 919-663-1877. Handicap accessible. Equal Housing Opportunity. J14,tfnc

AUCTIONS

RICKY ELLINGTON AUCTIONEERS - Equipment, business, liquidation, estates, land, houses, antiques, personal property, coins, furniture, consignments, bene ts, etc., NCAL #7706, 919-548-3684, 919-6633556. Jy6,tfnc

SERVICES

RAINBOW WATER FILTERED VACUUMS, Alice Cox, Cox’s Distributing - Rainbow - Cell: 919-548-4314, Sales, Services, Supplies. Serving public for 35 years. Rada Cutlery is also available.

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JUNK CARS PICKED UP Free of charge. Due to many months of low steel prices and unstable steel markets, we cannot pay for cars at this time. Cars, trucks, and machinery will be transported and environmentally correctly recycled at no charge. 919-542-2803.

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LETT’S TREE SERVICE - tree removal, stump grinding, lot clearing. Visa & Master Card accepted. Timber. Free estimates. 919-258-3594. N9,tfnc

FOR SALE

1975 Ford 4000 Diesel Tractor – (Needs Work), RC 200-72 Bush Hog, 72” cut, Runs Good and in Good Shape, and a Hay Pick. $1,800 for all three! Call 336508-0356. 5tp

FOR SALE

HAY FOR SALE - $25/ROLL CALL - 919-663-6056

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YARD SALE

Carbonton Community Center 6953 Carbonton Rd. (Hwy 42 West} Sanford, N.C. 27330 Thursday May 7, 7:00-6:00 Friday May 8, 7:00-6:00 Saturday May 9, 7:00-12:00 Household items, Linens, Clothes, Baby clothes, Shoes, Toys, Furniture, Homemade Baked Goods, and so much more. 2tc

Multi-Family Yard Sale - FRIDAY, May 1st, 8:00 -3:00 .. Located at 219 Chatham Square behind LAM Bu et Cheap Prices! Clothes, Furniture, Household Goods, Jewelry, and lots more! 1tc

Now accepting applications for 2BR, 1.5BA Range, refrigerator, dishwasher are included in the rent. Rent starts at $630 and up. 400 Honeysuckle Dr., Pittsboro, NC 27312 919-542-5410 TDD 1-800-735-2962

Email: pittsborovillage@ECCMGT.com EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES

Chatham, Guilford and

Counties

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF DAVID MANSFIELD BUNNELL-FILE

NO.26E000166-180 ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims

against David Mans eld Bunnell, deceased, of Chatham County, NC, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before July 20, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 16th day of April, 2026.

Anne E. Bunnell, Executor

c/o Whitaker & Hamer, PLLC

121 E. Main Street Clayton, NC 27520 Chatham News + Record 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/7, 2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Personal Representative of the Estate of David Clement McCormick, deceased of Chatham County, North Carolina, on the 2nd day of April, 2026, the undersigned hereby noti es all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against said estate to exhibit them to the undersigned at the o ce of the attorney for the estate on or before the 18th day of July, 2026, or this Notice will be pled in bar of recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned. Issued this 16th day of April, 2026. Barbara L. McCormick, Personal Representative, c/o Christina Goshaw Hinkle, Attorney for the Estate, 3211 Shannon Road, Suite 400, Durham, NC 27707. Chatham News & Record: 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/7NOTICE

IN THE PROBATE COURT OF BRADLEY COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CLEVELAND

IN RE: GEORGIA FRAZIER, Decedent, SANDRA WILDASIN, Petitioner.

Docket No.: 2026-PR-92 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Georgia Frazier; Date of Death: January 18, 2026; Docket No.2026-PR-92 Notice is hereby given that on the 17thday of April, 2026, Letters Testamentary in respect to the Estate of Georgia Frazier, deceased, who died January 18, 2026, were issued to the undersigned by the Chancery Court, Probate Division of Bradley County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or un-matured, against the Estate are required to le the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2) otherwise their claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the rst publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this notice if the creditor received an actual copy of this notice to creditors at least sixty (60) days before the date that is four (4) months from the date of the rst publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date the creditor received an actual copy of this notice to creditors if the creditor received the copy of the notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of rst publication (or posting) as described in (1) (A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedent’s date of death.

This the 17th day of April, 2026 Sandra Wildasin, Personal Representative Estate of Georgia Frazier, Deceased HOLLY THOMPSON, CLERK & MASTER

APPROVED FOR SUBMISSION BY:

WILLIAM J. BROWN (BPR #05450 Attorney for Sandra Wildasin

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

NOTICE TO CREDITORS COUNTY OF CHATHAM

THE UNDERSIGNED, having quali ed on the 30th day of March 2026, as Executor of the ESTATE OF ABNER GRISWOLD BEVIN, AKA ABNER GRISWOLD BEVIN JR., Deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 10th day of July 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 9th day of April 2026.

CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL BEVIN SR.,

EXECUTOR ESTATE OF ABNER GRISWOLD BEVIN c/o Shirley M. Diefenbach, Attorney Walker Lambe, PLLC Post O ce Box 51549 Durham, North Carolina 27717

Notice to Creditors

File Number: 26E000115-180

Having Quali ed as Executor of the Estate of John Alfred Gorman, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned on or before the 16th day of July, 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This the 3rd day of April, 2026.

Executor for the Estate Lynn Elizabeth Williford 87603 Aycock Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against Cathy Blair Regan, deceased, of Chatham County, N.C., are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before July 23rd, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This 23rd day of April 2026. Kimberly Wallace, Executor Estate of Cathy Blair Regan c/o Roberson Law Firm 1829 E. Franklin St., Ste. 800C Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Run Dates: 4/23, 30, 5/7, 14

NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY NOTICE TO CREDITORS File No: 26E000078-180 Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of MERLE LEE FEATHERS, deceased, of 13

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ALL PERSONS, rms and corporations having claims against THOMAS BRIEN NEFF, deceased, of Chatham County, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before, the 30th day of July, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to the Estate will please make immediate payment.

This 30th day of April, 2026.

PAMELA STRAUB NEFF, Executrix

THOMAS BRIEN NEFF

c/o Tillman, Whichard & Cagle, PLLC 501 Eastowne Drive, Suite 130 Chapel Hill, NC 27514

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

26E000193-180

The undersigned, having quali ed as Administrator of the Estate of Rachel O. Brooks, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, noti es all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned at her address, 1179 Charlie Brooks Road, Moncure, North Carolina, 27559, on or before the 16th day of July, 2026, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This 10th day of April, 2026. Amy Jo Brooks 1179 Charlie Brooks Road Moncure, North Carolina 27559

GUNN & MESSICK, PLLC P. O. Box 880 Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312-0880 April 16, 23, 30, May 7

CREDITOR’S NOTICE

Having quali ed on the 23rd day of April 2026, as Executor of the Estate of Sammy Franklin Dickinson, 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 30th day of July 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 23rd day of April 2026. Jan Rene Boydstun, Executor of the Estate of Sammy Franklin Dickinson 226 Haven Creek Road Apt 101 Pittsboro, N.C., 27312

Attorneys: Law O ces of Doster & Brown, P.A. 206 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, NC 27330

Publish On: April 30, May 7, 14 and 21 of 2026

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION FILE NO: 25CV000297-180

linda harris, Plainti vs. SHIHEIM MONTRELL SUGGS, Defendant TO: SHIHEIM MONTRELL SUGGS

Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been led in the above Court in the aboveentitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is compensation for bodily injury arising from an automobile accident on 1/15/2023.

You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than May 26, 2026, and upon your failure to do so, the parties seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought.

This 8th day of April, 2026. Eliot F. Smith FARRIS & THOMAS LAW, P.A.

Attorneys at Law P. O. Box 2848 Wilson, NC 27894-2848

Telephone: (252) 243-3000

PUBLISH DATES: 4/16/26, 4/23/26, 4/30/26

NOTICE

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHATHAM LEGAL NOTICE

The undersigned, Kenneth Hilliard, having quali ed on April 20, 2026 as Executor of the Estate of Arthur Jackson Hilliard, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons, rms, or corporations having claims against said estate to present them to the undersigned’s Attorney, Tyler F. Chriscoe, at 135 West New Hampshire Avenue, P. O. Box 371, Southern Pines, North Carolina 283880371 on or before the 3rd day of August, 2026 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons, rms, and corporations indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This 30th day of April, 2026. Kenneth Hilliard, Executor Estate of Arthur Jackson Hilliard Tyler F. Chriscoe Attorney for the Estate Poyner Spruill LLP Attorneys at Law P. O. Box 371 Southern Pines, N. C. 28388-0371 4: 30, and 5: 7, 14, 21, 2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

ESTATE OF GEORGE DANIEL JOHNSON FILE NO. 26E000201-180 All persons, rms and corporations having claims against GEORGE DANIEL JOHNSON, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before August 7, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in the bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment. This the 30th day of April, 2026. KELLY L JOHNSON, Executor C/O Caitlin Stone, Attorney for the Estate Pierce Law Group, PLLC 3020 S. Miami Blvd, Ste 201 Durham, NC 27703 A30, 7, 14 and 21

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA

CHATHAM COUNTY

26E000222-180 ALL persons having claims against Lois Jane Helburn, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before July 30, 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.

This the 30th day of April, 2026.

BRUCE JAMES STEINHARDT, Administrator

C/O Pierce Law Group, PLLC

3020 S Miami Blvd, Suite 201 Durham, NC 27703 April 30, May 7, 14, 21 A30, 7, 14 and 21

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

26E000189-180

ALL persons having claims against Joyce Ellis Clark, deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit the same to the undersigned on or before Jul 23 2026, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment.

This the 23rd day of April, 2026.

MELVIN ALAN CLARK C/O SIMPSON LAW FIRM, Executor C/O Simpson Law Firm 1188 Stonecrest Blvd, Suite #105 Fort Mill, SC 29708 A23, 30, 7 and 14

NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS OF Dora Elizabeth Bachtel Mathisen All persons, rms and corporations having claims against Dora Elizabeth Bachtel Mathisen, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, are noti ed to exhibit them to Barbara Jean Ramsland as Executor of the decedent’s estate on or before July 18, 2026, c/o Janet B. Witchger, Attorney at Law, 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, or be barred from their recovery. Debtors of the decedent are asked to make immediate payment to the above-named Executor. This the 16th day of April 2026. Barbara Jean Ramsland, Executor c/o Janet B. Witchger, Atty. TrustCounsel 1414 Raleigh Rd., Ste. 203 Chapel Hill, NC 27517

NOTICE

“All persons having claims against the estate of SALLY CHENEY MILLER of Chatham County, NC, who died on February 27, 2026, are noti ed to present them on or before Friday, July 17, 2026 to True Campbell, Executrix for the estate of Sally Cheney Miller, c/o Schupp & Hamilton, PLLC, 3013 Rippy Lane, Hillsborough, N.C. 27278, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery.”

DATES: 04/16/2026, 04/23/2026, 04/30/2026, 05/07/2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#26E000175-180

The undersigned LATOYA FOX, having quali ed on the 30TH Day of MARCH 2026 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of ALYEASE 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 23RD Day OF JULY 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 23RD DAY OF APRIL 2026.

LATOYA FOX, ADMINISTRATOR 97 RILEY LANE SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: A23,30,M7,14p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA

CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#26E000242-180

The undersigned TAMARA TICKLE, having quali ed on the 23RD Day of APRIL 2026 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of ROBERT L. MIMS, 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 30TH Day OF JULY 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 30TH DAY OF APRIL 2026.

TAMARA TICKLE, ADMINISTRATOR 309 PINEYWOOD CHURCH RD. CAMERON, NC 28326 Run dates: A30,M7,14,21p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA

CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#26E000181-180 The undersigned HELEN FAYE MARKHAM, having quali ed on the 1ST Day of APRIL 2026 as ADMINISTRATOR of the Estate of PHILLIP LAWRENCE MARKHAM, 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 9TH Day OF JULY 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 9TH DAY OF APRIL 2026.

HELEN FAYE MARKHAM, ADMINISTRATOR 4090 NC HWY.751 APEX, NC 27523 Run dates: A9,16,23,30p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA

CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#26E000169-180

The undersigned JAY W. MARSHALL, having quali ed on the 9TH Day of APRIL 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JOANNE MARSHALL, 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 16TH Day OF JULY 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 16TH DAY OF APRIL 2026.

JAY W. MARSHALL, EXECUTOR 5696 SUGAR GROVE ROAD GREENS FORK, IN 47345 Run dates: A16,23,30,M7p

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

TOWN OF PITTSBORO, NC

On Monday, May 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm, the Pittsboro

Board of Commissioners will hold a legislative public hearing for the following requests at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center at 1192 Hwy 64 Business West: The Town of Pittsboro’s Budget for FY 2026-2027 has been submitted to the Board of Commissioners, and a copy is available for public inspection in the o ce of the Town Clerk, Town of Pittsboro Town Hall, 287 East Street, Suite 221, Pittsboro, NC.

ZTA-2026-05. A legislative request by Town Sta to amend the De nitions found in the UDO Section 12.12. ZTA-2026-06. A legislative request by Town Sta to amend UDO Section 4.5 and include Wetland Protections of the UDO.

ZTA-2026-08. A legislative request by Town Sta to amend the Annexation Procedure and Table of Contents in the UDO Section 10.4.17 and Table of Contents. ZTA-2026-09. A legislative request by Town Sta to amend the Accessory Use/Structure Table found in the UDO Section 3.3.4.C to permit “Dwelling Unit, Accessory (ADU)” in the Neighborhood Mixed-Use Center (NMUC) and Community Mixed-Use Center (CMUC) zoning districts. The hearing will be held in person. The public can also watch the hearing live on the Town’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@townofpittsboronc/ streams. Members of the public must attend in person if they wish to speak at the hearing. Contact the Town Clerk, Carrie Bailey, by 4 pm on May 8, 2026 with written comments or to sign up to speak at the hearing. You can contact Carrie Bailey at cbailey@pittsboronc.gov, (919) 542-4621 ext. 1104, or PO Box 759, Pittsboro, NC 27312.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000229-180

The undersigned WANDA STAFFORD AND JAMES HADLEY, having quali ed on the 20TH Day of APRIL 2026 as CO-EXECUTORS of the Estate of JEANETTE LINDLEY HADLEY, 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 30TH Day OF JULY 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 30TH DAY OF APRIL 2026. WANDA STAFFORD, CO-EXECUTOR 4457 SILK HOPE LINDLEY MILL RD. SNOW CAMP, NC 27349 JAMES HADLEY, CO-EXECUTOR 4305 SILK HOPE LINDLEY MILL RD. SNOW CAMP, NC 27349 Run dates: A30,M7,14,21p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#23E000651-180 The undersigned GEORGE DAVIS CATES, having quali ed on the 9TH Day of APRIL 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of GEORGE DAVIS CATES, 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 16TH Day OF JULY 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 16TH DAY OF APRIL 2026. VIRGINIA B. CATES, EXECUTOR 87 EASY ST. PITTSBORO, NC 27312 Run dates: A16,23,30,M7p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY FILE#26E000168-180 The undersigned CARLA REIL, having quali ed on the 27TH Day of MARCH 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of BARBARA FARRELL, deceased, of Chatham County, North Carolina, does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against said Estate to exhibit them on or

MARTHAS CHAPEL ROAD APEX, NC 27523 Run dates: A9,16,23,30p PUBLIC NOTICE The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEAPart B, Public Law 108.446) Project is presently being amended. The Project describes the special education programs that Chatham Charter School proposes for Federal funding for the 2026-2027 School Year. Interested persons are encouraged to review amendments to the Project and make comments concerning the implementation of special education under this Federal Program. All comments will be considered prior to submission of the amended Project to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh, North Carolina. The IDEA-Part B Project is open to the public for review and comments during the days of May 14,15,18,19, 2026 2026 in the o ce of Julie Franklin located at 2200 Hamp Stone Rd, Siler City, NC 27344.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Executor of the Estate of Thomas Bayard Hollingsworth, Jr., deceased, late of Chatham County, North Carolina, the undersigned does hereby notify all persons, rms and corporations having claims against the decedent to present them to the undersigned on or before 07/31/2026 or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All claims must be presented in writing and delivered or mailed to: James D. Hollingsworth, Executor 1309 Snyder Street Durham, NC 27713 This the 26th day of April, 2026. James D. Hollingsworth Executor of the Estate of Thomas Bayard Hollingsworth, Jr. Chatham County Estate File No.: 26E000039-180 Publication Dates (once a week for four consecutive weeks): 4/30/2026 / 5/7/2026] / 05/14/2026 /05/21/2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#25E000661-180 The undersigned JONATHAN K. MCMILLAN, having quali ed on the 20TH Day of APRIL 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of BOBBY EUGENE MCMILLAN, 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 30TH Day OF JULY 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 30TH DAY OF APRIL 2026. JONATHAN K. MCMILLAN, EXECUTOR 188 LORI LANE SILER CITY, NC 27344 Run dates: A30,M7,14,21p

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NORTH CAROLINA CHATHAM COUNTY

FILE#26E000146-180 The undersigned AMY LYNDON, having quali ed on the 27TH Day of MARCH 2026 as EXECUTOR of the Estate of JAMES M. LYNDON, 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 30TH Day OF JULY 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 30TH DAY OF APRIL 2026. AMY LYNDON, EXECUTOR 17302 BELMONT STAKES LANE CHARLOTTE, NC 28278 Run dates: A30,M7,14,21p

European cruise delivers castles, history; quirks, characters, odd lessons linger

What sticks after the trip: the small moments, not the monuments

By Erika Ho man For Chatham News & Record

WHAT’S REMEMBERED after taking an exorbitant, European, entertainment- lled cruise is not the castles you saw, the over-the-top meals you devoured, or the spa treatments you took or avoided; it’s sometimes other stu , little stu .

Last year, we accompanied friends on a once-in-a-lifetime journey starting in London and then sailing from Southport to the remote Orkney Islands and down the U.K. coast to Omaha Beach, where the moving scene of endless crosses of American GIs is unforgettable. It’s not that I don’t recall historical sites like the Rock of Cashel, the Standing Stones of Stenness or Skara Brae, a prehistoric village older than the pyramids of Giza. I do. For these, I have photos along with souvenir placemats, mugs and other trinkets — made in China — to remind me. I remember some big stu .

Yet when I look at what I scribbled in the corner of magazines, the backs of receipts and on paper scraps, they’re not facts one nds in tourist books. On one occasion, I devoted more room to chronicling the behavior of a snarky ight attendant on the trip over than to the Tower of London. Had I not made a quick notation, I might have forgotten the redheaded, chippy chap. When I read my scribbles, he materialized in my memory.

As we entered the plane in Charlotte, a male passenger blocked the aisle while hordes of others tried to board. Our seats were the last in the back — commode coach. The man was saving space in the overhead compartment for his wife’s luggage, preventing others from reaching their seats. His wife was behind us. I asked if I could scoot past

SHOOTING from page A1

said Gillum was arrested without incident last Wednesday night at a hotel in the city of Destin, and it posted a photo of him being led away in handcu s. Deputies recovered a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from the hotel room, the statement said.

Gillum was arrested as a fugitive from justice and will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges there, the sheri ’s ofce said. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer. The Associated Press left a message at phone numbers listed for him.

Gillum’s family reported him

FED from page A1

scrutinizing a project, now at $2.5 billion after earlier estimates had put it at $1.9 billion, that the Republican president has criticized for cost overruns. Powell had asked in July for the inspector general’s review.

“I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing,” Tillis said. “Maybe we nd a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn’t? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to a criminal prosecution. That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early,” he said.

Tillis, who infuriated Trump in June for opposing his big tax and spending cuts bill over Medicaid reductions and then announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, added that he had received assurances from the Justice Department that “the case is completely and fully settled … and that the only way an investigation would be opened would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals.”

him, which I could have if he had brie y stepped into a row. Before he could answer, a snarky, young ginger steward apped his hands and told me to wait.

“There’s plenty of time!” he announced loudly.

That’s not the instruction we usually hear over a plane’s loudspeaker. Typically, passengers are told to move aside so others can nd their seats quickly. Later, just before dinner, I asked the same ight attendant if he could request the man in front of me to raise his seat so I could lower my tray table. The passenger had reclined as far as possible.

“No. I can’t tell him to raise his seat. It’s his right to recline his seat!” the attendant said.

I asked if there were another attendant I could speak with. He ignored me.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“You have no right to know my name,” he replied. He wasn’t wearing a name tag like the others.

missing last Tuesday, and he has a history of self-harm, according to Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheri ’s O ce in North Carolina. Gillum’s family told law enforcement he had a gun and had “expressed recent threats to harm ‘Black people,’” according to a bulletin from police in Burlington. Lyons said Gillum left the state before his agency could prepare the paperwork to involuntarily commit him to psychiatric treatment. Lyons said there were no criminal grounds to detain Gillum despite his comments about black people “because there was no victim,” however the agen-

Important week for Fed leadership

The committee on Saturday said it planned to vote Wednesday on Warsh’s nomination. The ranking Democrat, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responded with a statement that “no Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.”

So, I tapped the passenger in front of me and asked if he could raise his seat.

“No problema,” he said.

“Gracias.”

Later, I watched as an obese woman across the aisle struggled into the aisle while the same ight attendant attempted to squeeze past her. Her girth blocked his way. Temporarily pinned between the seat in front of us and the woman, he tried to wiggle through. Karma has a sense of humor.

On excursions, we learned U.K. history, but what stuck with me wasn’t Jacobite battles or dates. It was quirky bits of knowledge that surprised or amused me.

An Irish guide spoke of “Cove,” though road signs read “Cobh.” The Gaelic language once had only 18 letters and no “v,” so that sound was spelled “bh.”

I learned where the expression “get plastered” originated. In old houses like one owned by the Talbot family 800 years ago,

cy decided it needed to spread the word about him to other departments.

Gillum was located and stopped by law enforcement in Okaloosa County last Wednesday, according to Lyons and the Burlington police bulletin. However, he “did not present any grounds for involuntary commitment or criminal charges” and was allowed to continue on his way, the bulletin stated. Gillum told o cers he was “en route to New Orleans,” the report added.

Okaloosa deputies were initially asked to make a “welfare check” on him last Wednesday morning but they didn’t

“No Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Also Wednesday, Fed policymakers will meet and are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting, shrugging o Trump’s demands for a cut. At a news conference, Powell could indicate whether he will remain on the Fed’s board of governors after his term as chair ends, an unusual but not completely unprecedented step that would deny Trump the opportunity to ll another seat on the seven-member board. Powell’s term as a governor lasts until January 2028. At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates and pledged to be “an independent actor” if con rmed as chair. Hours before that, Trump had been asked in a CNBC interview whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut rates. “I would,” the president said. Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis has spoken out forcefully about Powell, decrying the inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “vindictive prosecution” and suggested it threatened the Fed’s longtime independence from

didn’t always nd the humor funny. One guide joked that we might see “mammals” in the park — meaning middle-aged men in Lycra. As a motorcyclist sped by, he added, “You know what we call motorcyclists over here? Body part donors.”

In Scotland, I learned that the Holy Loch was where American soldiers were based during World War II. North of the mountain fault lies the Highlands. Trees were planted close together so they would grow straight. A glen is a steep valley. Inveraray Castle, still privately owned, generates income for the duke and duchess. “Downton Abbey,” among other lms, was shot there.

I also learned why tree trunks turn black near distilleries. As whiskey ages in barrels, vapors escape into the air. A fungus attracted to the vapors coats nearby trees, darkening them.

Beyond the quirky facts and random bits of knowledge, travel o ers something more lasting: the desire to learn more.

plaster was applied to ceilings and often mixed with beer and wine. To get drunk was to get plastered. Perhaps the plasterers were drunk when they built the house.

At Malahide Castle, I learned that women once wore beeswax on their faces as makeup; if they sat too close to the re, it melted — thus the expression “to lose face.”

“Gink the horn,” I heard an Irish guide tell a driver. It sounds better than “honk.” Ireland has no snakes because St. Patrick drove them out, though badgers are plentiful. In large mansions, liquor was locked behind bars and only the owner had the key. Thus, “bar” became synonymous with a place to drink. A “blister plaster” is their term for a Band-Aid, and trash pickup is called “rubbish uplift.” Whiskey is “the water of life,” and “a crack” means a good time — a phrase with a very different meaning back home.

While I enjoyed the slang, I

know he’d been making violent threats, sheri spokesperson Michele Nicholson said. Later that day, after the sheri ’s o ce learned Gillum was being investigated, deputies surveilled him until an arrest warrant arrived from Louisiana, she added.

“At this time, there are no known direct threats to any festivals in Louisiana,” State Police spokesperson Trooper Danny Berrincha said.

Gillum served as a sworn police o cer in Chapel Hill from 2004 until his resignation in 2019, town spokesperson Alex Carrasquillo said.

He worked as a police o cer

day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had gotten assurances from the Justice Department that he needed “to feel like they were not using DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his con rmation.”

On Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters whether there was now smooth sailing for Warsh with the end of the Justice Department’s investigation. “I imagine it’s smooth,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “is going to be fantastic.” The president said he still wanted to nd out “how can a building of that size cost ... whatever it’s going to be.”

Trump visited the Fed building in July and, in front of television cameras, said the renovations would run $3.1 billion. Powell, standing next to him, said after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, that the president’s latest price tag was incorrect.

Justice Department pursues Trump adversaries

The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived adversar -

I had no interest in watching “Outlander” when friends raved about it — perhaps more about its handsome Scottish lead than its story. But after seeing the Standing Stones of Stenness, I found myself intrigued by time travel, witches and kilts. The trip sparked questions about Scottish origins, the D-Day invasion and modern history.

I’m not concerned with whether the Loch Ness monster exists, but I would like to learn more about the Orkney pirate who placed his hand through the perforated Stone of Odin to clasp his lover’s hand in a binding oath. John Gow was hanged in London in 1701. Legend says his sweetheart had to touch his dead hand to free herself from the vow.

Was it a severed hand?

Now that sounds like a horrid — but interesting — tale. Maybe even the start of a Stephen King novel.

in the coastal town of Carolina Beach from October 2019 until his resignation the following October, town administrative services o cer Sheila Nicholson said. Gillum became a detention o cer in October 2023 with the Orange County Sheri ’s O ce and left in July 2024, spokesperson Alicia L. Stemper said.

He returned the Chapel Hill police force as a non-sworn employee in 2024 before leaving again by the end of the year, Carrasquillo said. He was then rehired as an Orange County sheri ’s deputy in January 2025 but resigned that September, she said.

ies. For months it had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct. Other e orts by the department to prosecute Trump’s adversaries, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, have also been unsuccessful.

Last month, a federal judge quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “to harass and pressure Powell to resign” and open the path for a new chair.

A prosecutor handling the Powell case had acknowledged at a closed-door court hearing that the government had not found any evidence of a crime. Pirro said last Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that ”there is no doubt that we will investigate” if the inspector general nds evidence of criminal conduct. Warsh is a nancier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump nominated him in January.

CHATHAM SPORTS

Chatham Charter baseball takes share of conference title

The Knights split the series and crown with Clover Garden

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

SILER CITY — For the fourth straight year, the Knights sit on the conference throne.

Chatham Charter clinched a share of the Central Tar Heel 1A conference title with a 10-0 win over Clover Garden on April 21.

Senior pitcher Garrison Clark struck out 13 batters and allowed three hits, leading Chatham Charter to its fth straight shutout victory. He struck out six straight batters between the fourth and fth

innings. Clark ended his regular season without giving up a run.

“Just got to go after people,” Clark said. “You can only strike people out if you throw strikes. So just going after people and knowing I can get them out. Trusting myself and my defense helps a lot.”

Sophomore Ryder Murphy went 2 for 3 from the plate with a team-high three runs and two RBIs. Senior Jace Young notched two doubles, including a shot to left center eld in the bottom of the fth inning that sparked the Knights’ pull-away stretch.

“They were going at me with a lot of fastballs,” Young said.

“So staying on the fastball, trusting that I can hit the fastball, (and) they can’t get it by

me. Once I got the two strikes, fastball, adjust, so if I get a fastball over the plate, I’m going to swing and try to hit it.”

The Knights’ lead grew to 3-0 when Murphy, who got on base with a single, scored on Young’s fth-inning double. In the following at-bats, Clark walked, and senior Tyner Williams scored Young on a sacrice y. With two outs, junior Jax Young then hit a single to score Jackson Clark, who ran for Garrison Clark, giving the Knights a 5-0 advantage.

Senior Brandon Rives scored Chatham Charter’s rst run on a passed ball in the second inning.

Following walks from Murphy and Jace Young in the third inning, Williams doubled to send in the Knights’ second

PJ WARD-BROWN / CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD

Northwood’s Riley D’Angelo slides home in the Chargers’ win over Uwharrie Charter on April 24.

Northwood baseball claims rst conference title since 2017

The Chargers beat defending champions Uwharrie Charter 7-2

By Asheebo Rojas

Chatham News & Record

ASHEBORO — In the biggest moment of the regular season, the Northwood baseball team, like it has all season, delivered when it mattered. The Chargers scored ve runs in the top of the seventh

inning to defeat the three -time defending 1A champions Uwharrie Charter on the road 7-2 Friday, claiming their rst regular season conference title since 2017. “After the Seaforth series, we had some tough luck,” Northwood coach Brent Haynes said. “Trying to get those guys motivated. We still had something to achieve other than what (Seaforth) had, right? So I used that as like a selling point. ‘Hey guys, we’re

still playing for something. We’re still playing for that conference championship. So let’s take advantage of it. Let’s get after it for these last two weeks of the regular season and see what happens.’ “I said, ‘This can etch yourself in Northwood history forever.’” Junior Zeke Wicker went 2 for 4 from the plate and recorded a team-high three

run. Williams went 2 for 3 from the plate and nished the game with a team-high three RBIs.

But with a chance to take the conference title for themselves, the Knights’ bats went cold in a 2-0 loss to Clover Garden on April 23.

Both teams recorded three hits. The Grizzlies notched all of theirs in the bottom of the third inning, including a double by Gavin Phillips that scored two runs. Meanwhile, Chatham Charter couldn’t get more than two runners on base in a single inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Knights had runners on second and third base with one out, but they were stranded due to back-to-back popouts.

Clover Garden pitcher

Runs allowed by Garrison Clark in the regular season

Brayden DeAlto struck out six batters in a complete game.

After splitting the series, Chatham Charter ended the regular season at 17-4, achieving its best regular season win percentage since 2023.

As of Sunday, the Knights sit at third in the 1A RPI standings, which will set them up for a high seed in the state playo s if their position holds.

Chatham Charter isn’t yet worried about that tournament, though. With losses to Clover Garden in the last two conference tournament championship games in mind, the Knights are focused on entering the playo s with two titles to their name.

“They want to put two trophies in the case this year,” Chatham Charter coach Bill

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record Baseball

Seaforth swept South Granville with an 11-1 win April 21 and a 16-4 win Friday. Junior Bauer Bowling hit a three-run home run in the second game, nishing the night with a team-high ve RBIs. The Hawks fell to Grace Christian for the second time this year 2-1 on April 23. Chatham Central ended its regular season with three straight wins over Bishop McGuinness (6-4), Southern Wake (19-3) and North Stokes (7-2). The Bears secured second place in the conference and their best regular season winning percentage since 2023.

Jordan-Matthews fell to Eastern Randolph twice, losing 15-0 on April 21 and 5-2 Friday. The Jets picked up a 13-3 win over South Davidson on April 23 behind a team total of 15 hits and senior Landon Moser’s 11 strikeouts and two hits on the mound. Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference)

*clinched conference title Central Tar Heel 1A: T1.

No-hitters this season for Emma Grace Hill

Chatham Charter* (17-4, 7-1); T1. Clover Garden* (12-8, 7-1); 3. River Mill (10-7, 4-4); 4. Southern Wake (2-10, 2-6); 5. Central Carolina (0-11, 0-8) Greater Triad 1A/2A: 1. South Stokes* (17-6, 11-1); T2. Chatham Central (12-8, 7-5); T2. Bishop McGuinness (13-8, 7-5); 4. North Stokes (4-18, 4-7); 5. South Davidson (6-15, 1-11) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Northwood* (13-9, 8-2); T2. Eastern Randolph (13-11, 7-3); T2. Uwharrie Charter (17-6, 7-3); 4. Southwestern Randolph (15-6, 6-4); T5. North Moore (5-13, 1-9); T5. Jordan-Matthews (5-16, 1-9) Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Cedar Ridge (17-4, 10-0); T2. Seaforth (15-7, 7-2); T2. South Granville (12-9, 7-2); 4. Orange (15-7, 7-3); 5. Carrboro (4 -14, 2-8); 6. Durham School of the Arts (5-14, 1-10) 7. Webb (2-14, 0-9)

ROUNDUP, page B3 See BASEBALL, page B5

Ruby Parks

Northwood, softball

Northwood freshman Ruby Parks earns athlete of the week honors for the week of April 20.

Against Uwharrie Charter on April 21, Parks set a new single-season stolen base record for Northwood. She entered the game with 32 stolen bases and needed two to break the previous mark (33) held by Kayli Blankenship. Parks nished the night with three stolen bases, overtaking the record in a single at-bat in the second inning.

With Northwood and Uwharrie Charter tied at 2-2 in a rematch Friday, Parks scored the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning. The Chargers won 3-2.

Local athletes make college decisions

Jordan-Matthews announces three football commitments

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL athletes have made decisions on their future college homes. Northwood and Seaforth held signing ceremonies this month, and Jordan-Matthews announced a few commitments recently. Here’s a rundown of the seniors who have signed or committed to collegiate programs over the past few weeks.

SIGNEES

Jayden Young (Seaforth, Belmont Abbey track and eld)

Jayden Young will continue his throwing career at Belmont Abbey, an NCAA Division II institution and a member of Conference Carolinas. Young has posted personal bests of 122 feet, 1 inch in discus and 37-2.5 in shot put this outdoor season.

Dylan Watkins (Seaforth, Belmont Abbey track and eld)

Dylan Watkins will join his high school teammate at Belmont Abbey. This outdoor season, Watkins has recorded personal bests of 146-0 in discus and 44-2 in shot put. He’s also jumping this year, hitting a mark of 5-4 in the high jump and 15-8 in the long jump.

Delaney Babo (Northwood, Lynchburg track and eld)

Delaney Babo is heading to Lynchburg, an NCAA Division III school in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, to continue her track and eld career. In 2024, Babo won the 1A/2A indoor and 2A outdoor girls’ pole vault state titles.

Amelia Cherry (Northwood, Vassar women’s soccer)

Amelia Cherry signed to the Vassar women’s soccer program. Vassar is an NCAA Division III program in Poughkeepsie, New York, that competes in the Liberty League. Cherry, a midelder, earned All-State honors while at Woods Charter in 2024.

James Flanagan (Northwood, UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse)

James Flanagan will continue his goalkeeping career at UMass Lowell, which is an NCAA Di-

vision I program that competes in the America East Conference. Flanagan has logged 158 saves and a career-high .620 save percentage this season.

Robert Tripp (Northwood, North Carolina Wesleyan football)

Robert Tripp signed to the North Carolina Wesleyan, an NCAA Division III program in the USA South Athletic Conference. Tripp battled injuries his senior season but still rushed for 271 yards and an average of 6.3 yards per carry. As a junior, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. At linebacker this season, Tripp recorded 49 tackles, including eight tackles for loss.

Ben Porter (Northwood, Mercer football)

Porter made his commitment to Mercer permanent, becoming next in line of multiple Northwood specialists to sign to a Division I program.

Breanna Armstrong (Chatham Charter, Sandhills Community College volleyball)

Breanna Armstrong signed to the Sandhills Community College volleyball program. Sandhills CC competes in the NJCAA Division III as a member of Region 10. Armstrong recorded 206 digs and 34 kills as a senior.

COMMITMENTS

Jakari Blue (Jordan-Matthews, North Carolina Wesleyan football)

Jakari Blue announced his commitment to North Carolina

Wesleyan. Blue rushed for 750 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he recorded 36 tackles (10 tackles for loss) and ve sacks as a senior.

Kamarie Hadley (Jordan-Matthews, Methodist football and track and eld)

Kamarie Hadley committed to Methodist for two sports. Methodist is an NCAA Division III program in the USA South Athletic Conference. Hadley handled the quarterback duties in exciting season for Jordan-Matthews football, throwing for 650 yards and six touchdowns alongside 425 yards and ve scores as a rusher. He competed in the 2025 2A outdoor track and eld state championships, nishing fourth in the long jump and 16th in the triple jump.

DeAntaye Smith (Jordan-Matthews, Methodist football)

DeAntaye Smith committed to the Methodist football program alongside his high school teammate. Smith had a standout senior season as a defensive end, recording 45 tackles (10 tackles for loss) and eight sacks.

Landon Moser (Jordan-Matthews, Guilford baseball)

Landon Moser committed to the Guilford baseball program. Guilford is an NCAA Division III program competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Moser, one of two seniors for Jordan-Matthews, has been a crucial asset to the Jets both on the mound and at the plate this season.

Laros signs to Bucs as UDFA

The Northwood alum will compete for an NFL punting job

By Asheebo Rojas Chatham News & Record

FORMER NORTHWOOD

football specialist Aidan Laros is taking a shot at the pros.

Following the 2026 NFL Draft last weekend, Laros signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.

Laros played two seasons at Kentucky before turning pro. Prior to Kentucky, Laros played at UT Martin as a sophomore, and he spent his rst two college seasons at Charlotte.

This past fall, Laros averaged 44.5 yards per punt and landed a career-high 38% of his punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. In a 10-3 win over Auburn on Nov. 1, he dropped all six of his punts inside the Tigers’ 20, including a longest

ROUNDUP from page B1

Power rankings (week of April 20): 1. Seaforth; 2. Chatham Charter; 3. Northwood; 4. Chatham Central; 5. Jordan-Matthews

RPI standings as of Sunday (ranking): 1A: Chatham Charter (3), Chatham Central (14); 3A: Northwood (17); 4A: Jordan-Matthews (50); 5A: Seaforth (12)

Softball

Seaforth edged Orange 8-6 in a 10-inning battle on April 23. Annika Johansson hit a two -RBI double in the 10th inning to give Seaforth the lead, and she nished the night with three hits and a team-high four RBIs. Emma Grace Hill notched her third no-hitter of the season and hit a home run in a 10-0 win over Webb on Friday.

Chatham Central clinched the Greater Triad 1A/2A conference title with two wins over North Stokes on April 21. The Bears, who have won a share of the conference title for the fth consecutive year, closed out the regular season with a ve-game winning streak, defeating Wheatmore 17-4 on April 22 and Western Harnett 10-0 on April 23. Northwood snapped its six-game skid with a 3-2 win

kick of 57 yards (one yard shy of his season high). He ended his career ranked second on Kentucky’s career punting average list (45.8 yards). Laros also picked up kicko and eld goal duties at his previous schools. At UT Martin in 2023, he went 43 of 45 on PATs and made 62% of his eld goal attempts with a long of 43 yards. He also performed 65 kicko s for the Skyhawks, averaging 63.1 yards and logging 42 touchbacks. That season, he was named the FCS Punter of the Year by The Augusta Sports Council as he averaged 47.3 yards and notched a career long of 71 yards. As a redshirt freshman at Charlotte, Laros attempted 50 kicko s, landing 28 touchbacks and averaging 61.9 yards. Laros is the lone undrafted punter signed by the Buccaneers as of Sunday. Riley Dixon, entering his 11th NFL season, is the only other punter listed on the Buc-

Distance in yards of Aidan Laros’ longest collegiate punt

caneers’ roster. In 2025, Dixon recorded a gross average of 44.7 yards per punt, and 46% of his kicks landed within the opponents’ 20. For the season, Tampa Bay ranked near the bottom of the league in gross and net punting average, but it tied for fourth in total punts inside of the opponents’ 20 (29). The Buccaneers also tied for rst with the Saints, Browns and Raiders for the most punts blocked (two). Blocked punts were an issue for Tampa Bay early in the season as the two blocks came within its rst 16 attempts. If Laros can stick with the Buccaneers through the o season and make the 53-man ros-

over Uwharrie Charter in its regular season nale Friday. Jordan-Matthews won two games over Eastern Randolph and split the victories with a 14-3 loss to Providence Grove last week.

Chatham Charter dropped two games to Clover Garden but defeated River Mill 12-2. Conference standings as of Sunday (overall, conference) *clinched conference title Central Tar Heel 1A: 1. Clover Garden* (20-2, 12-0); 2. River Mill (10-7, 8-4); 3. Chatham

Charter (10-8, 7-5); 4. Central Carolina (3-13, 3-9); 5. Ascend Leadership (0-14, 0-12) Greater Triad 1A/2A: 1. Chatham Central* (19-4, 8-1); 2. South Stokes (10-10, 7-2); 3. North Stokes (9-11, 3-6); 4. South Davidson (4-15, 0-9) Four Rivers 3A/4A: 1. Southwestern Randolph* (16-4, 9-1); T2. Northwood (11-9, 6-4); T2. Uwharrie Charter (7-10, 6-4); 4. Jordan-Matthews (11-8, 5-5); 5. North Moore (6-12, 3-7); 6. Eastern Randolph (3-15, 1-9) Big Seven 4A/5A: 1. Seaforth (16-2, 10-0); 2. Cedar

Kentucky kicker Aidan Laros punts during a game against Georgia.

ter later this year, he can potentially be the third Chatham County high school alum to play in an NFL game behind Northwood’s Tobias Palmer and Jordan-Matthews’ Eddie Mason. Palmer, a receiver, appeared in one game with the Jaguars

Ridge (13-6, 7-2); 3. Orange (8-10, 7-3); 4. South Granville (6-9, 4-4); 5. Webb (11-6, 4-6); 6. Carrboro (4-13, 2-8); Durham School of the Arts (1-17, 0-11)

Power rankings (week of April 20): 1. Chatham Central; 2. Seaforth; 3. Northwood; 4. Jordan-Matthews; 5. Chatham Charter RPI standings as of Sunday (ranking): 1A: Chatham Central (3), Chatham Charter (14); 3A: Northwood (20); 4A: Jordan-Matthews (25); 5A: Seaforth (6)

Boys’ lacrosse

After Seaforth fell 11-10 to Southern Alamance on April 22, the Hawks defeated Northwood 9-5 Friday. Northwood lost to Orange 9-5 on April 20.

Girls’ lacrosse

Seaforth beat Northwood 12-7 on April 22. Freshmen Addie Holloway and Evie Ditter scored four goals each. The Hawks have won three of their last four as of Sunday.

Track and eld

Local winners from Northwood’s home meet on April 23 (school, event, time):

in 2013. Mason, a linebacker, played in 80 games and made three starts across six seasons from 1995 to 2002.

Jordan-Matthews alum George Edwards is currently the Buccaneers’ pass game coordinator.

Boys: Ezra Roebuck (Northwood, 100, 11.35 seconds); Tequone Moore (Northwood, 200, 23.03); Juan Sanchez (Northwood, 400, 54.12); Owen Becker (Northwood, 800, 2:10.64); Eli Coleman (Chatham Charter, 1,600, 4:56.97); Liam Patterson (Northwood, 3,200, 10:41.47); Yadiel Zayas (Jordan-Matthews, 110 hurdles, 17.57); Ben Altenburg (Northwood, 300 hurdles, 40.97); Northwood (4x100, 47.16); Northwood (4x200, 1:40.65); Chatham Charter (4x400, 3:49.43); Northwood (4x800, 9:00.00); Kamarie Hadley (Jordan-Matthews, long jump and triple jump, 21 feet and 40-3); Michael Ferrin (Northwood, pole vault, 6-0); Jamison Brown (Northwood, shot put, 40-4.5) Girls: Aaliyah Walden (Chatham Charter, 100, 13.62); Saniya Baldwin (Northwood, 200, 28.84); Sydney Gray (Northwood, 1,600 and 3,200, 5:44.65 and 12:38.24); Taylor Perry (Northwood, 100 hurdles, 19.75); Khamya Woods (Jordan-Matthews, 300 hurdles, 52.42); Jordan-Matthews (4x100, 55.34); Jordan-Matthews (4x200, 1:58.94); Northwood (4x400, 5:18.10); Evelyn Becker (Northwood, long jump, 13-11); Juanita Perez (Jordan-Matthews, triple jump, 28-2.5)

SIDELINE REPORT

NFL

“Hot pick” at No. 257: Broncos made Murdock latest Mr. Irrelevant

Pittsburgh University of Bu alo linebacker Red Murdock is this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.” He was the nal pick of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Murdock expressed gratitude after being selected 257th on Saturday. The Broncos also picked Utah tight end Dallen Bentley just before Murdock. Denver became the only team to hold the last two picks since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Broncos coach Sean Payton praised Murdock’s instincts and tackling skills. Both players will attend the traditional celebration for the nal draft pick.

MLB Bauer dominates with 7-inning no-hitter for Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

Lancaster, Pa.

Trevor Bauer threw a no-hitter for the Long Island Ducks against the Lancaster Stormers in the Atlantic League. Bauer allowed just one baserunner in seven innings, striking out seven on 84 pitches. The Ducks won 13-0. The former Cy Young Award winner is trying to revive his career after a 194 -game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2023. Bauer pitched in Japan and Mexico, where he was named the Mexican Baseball League’s pitcher of the year in 2024.

PGA Furyk returning as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2027 with Woods out

Houston

The PGA of America con rmed Jim Furyk is the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Furyk will be the fourth American captain to get another chance. Furyk was the choice after Tiger Woods took his name out of the mix following his March 27 arrest on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Europe has been dominating the matches for three decades. That includes last year at Bethpage Black when it built a record lead and held on. Furyk was captain in a losing e ort in France in 2018.

TENNIS

Reigning two-time champ Alcaraz out of French Open due to wrist injury

Madrid Carlos Alcaraz won’t play for a third successive French Open title due to a right wrist injury. No. 2-ranked Alcaraz was injured at the Barcelona Open this month during his rst-round win and withdrew the day after. He also pulled out of this week’s Madrid Open. He con rmed he was a no -go for Paris after undergoing more medical tests on Friday. Alcaraz said “It’s a complicated moment for me, but I’m sure we’ll come out stronger from here.”

NBA

Wolves’ Edwards has bone bruise in left knee, likely to miss weeks

The left knee of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards remained structurally intact when he was injured during Game 4 of his team’s rst-round playo series, but he is likely to miss multiple weeks. Edwards has a bone bruise and hyperextended the knee. The Wolves also lost Donte DiVincenzo in that game with a torn Achilles tendon, meaning his season is over.

NHL playo s nearing record for penalty shots; rst round isn’t yet close to over

The rst 21 games featured more penalty shots than the last three years combined

By Stephen Whyno The Associated Press

NO GAME IN the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playo s has ever ended with a goal on a penalty shot in overtime, and Carolina’s Jordan Martinook was not eager to make history.

He and the Hurricanes thought they’d won Game 2 of their rst-round series against Ottawa when teammate Mark Jankowski scored, but a league-initiated challenge ruled the play to be o side, took the goal o the board and rewound the clock. On the same shift, Martinook was hooked by Senators forward Warren Foegele on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot.

“I was trying to tell (the referee) we needed the power play, not the penalty shot,” Martinook said. He got turned aside by Linus Ullmark, then scored the winner in double overtime.

Through last Thursday night’s games, there had been four penalty shots already in these playo s — more through 21 games than the previous three years’ worth combined, including zero in 2025 — and the goaltenders have saved all four.

Two more penalty shots would tie the record for the most in a single postseason. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the uptick in refs calling for penalty shots over power plays, but there is no doubt it has added rare and must-see entertainment to a compelling rst round.

“Everything’s very circumstantial,” Bu alo goalie Alex Lyon said after denying Boston’s Viktor Arvidsson in Game 3 last Thursday night. He’s not sure if he’d rather face the 1-on-1 matchup or endure a 2-minute penalty kill.

“To be honest with you, every player in this league has the ability to score on penalty shots,” Lyon said. “So yeah, I guess it’s just more circumstantial, but I don’t really have a denitive answer one way or the other.”

Lyon stopped Arvidsson, Ullmark stopped Martinook, Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett missed the net against Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner, and Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood made such a highlight-reel save on Los Angeles’ Quinton Byeld that jubilant fans in Denver broke the glass behind the Kings’ bench.

“Never really seen the glass shatter behind the bench,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said following a repair process that delayed the game more than 15 minutes. “That’s a di erent one. Stu happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited.” Is more grabbing going on

“Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Jordan Martinook

during play? More breakaways in a league that has increased the emphasis on o ense in recent years? Both could be true. The NHL’s rule 24.1 says “a penalty shot is designed to restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of an infraction being committed by the o ending team, based on the parameters set out in these rules.” That does provide some latitude for o cials to determine what constitutes a penal-

ty shot if a player is unimpeded by an opponent with no one between him and the net.

Still, four penalty shots before the end of the rst round is unusual. The only playo s with more penalty shots were 2019 ( ve) and 2008 (six).

These are potentially game-changing moments and add even more pressure to a playo game. Martinook described his experience as being the big guy on one end of a teeter-totter, acknowledging he didn’t feel good about himself after not scoring on his opportunity. The 33-year-old grinder made good on his next one to keep from being perceived as the goat.

“It was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me,” Martinook said. “Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Japan awakens to Radio Taiso exercise tradition

The morning routine is credited for the country’s longevity

By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

TOKYO — This is how Japan wakes up. It’s called Radio Taiso — Exercise Radio in English — a simple yet dynamic way to start the day.

Japanese radio plays music every morning at 6:30 to accompany basic instructions for calisthenics, and millions perform in the choreography: in parks, workplaces, schools — and at home.

Radio Taiso has an almost 100-year history, formally introduced in 1928 and coinciding with the enthronement of Emperor Hirohito. The tradition endures because the exercises are suitable for all ages and capabilities, and easily accessible.

We’re talking about basic exercise movements: reach to the sky to limber up, twist at the torso, bend at the hips, swing the arms and get the shoulders loose, or jump or run in place.

Exercisers can make it as strenuous as they wish, and it’s over in just 10 minutes, all done to the rhythm of a soft piano melody. There are about a dozen basic moves that can be done standing or seated. The idea is to keep moving and, though the program runs early in the morning, many devotees repeat it on their own later in the day.

The routine features a trio of three-minute segments that get slightly more di cult — but not much. Most Radio Taiso followers know the sequences by heart, but beginners can join in and quickly pick up the routines. No equipment is needed.

The program begins with arms exercises — lifting the arms, circling the arms and

stretching the arms side to side. It’s followed by bending from the waist and twisting at the waist.

Shoulder raises are incorporated with a few mini-jumping exercises and marching-in place moves. Along the way you add in neck exercises, moves to stretch the chest and small squats for leg power.

Each movement is repeated four to eight times with instructions throughout to relax, breathe, and inhale and exhale slowly.

Mieko Kobayashi is 88 and goes to Kiba Park — an expansive layout in the east Tokyo area — almost every day, where a large group gathers without fail.

“If it’s cold or raining, I don’t go,” she said. “By moving my body, I feel better.”

She and her 77-year-old friend, Yoshiko Nagao, said that some who go to the park daily live alone, and this is an important social anchor

particularly for the elderly.

“Laughing and chatting while taking a walk after is also good,” Nagao added. “We come even on New Year’s Day.”

Kenji Iguchi is 83 — he’d pass for 60 — and he’s been a regular for about 20 years.

“It’s for my joints, mainly the knees and back, because of my age,” Iguchi said.

“I get up at 5 a.m. anyway,” he added. “I come to the park about 6 a.m. and do a round of walking ahead of the Radio Taiso session. Most of the faces are familiar, and coming here and getting together with them is also one of the things I look forward to.”

Japan has one of the world’s longest-lived populations, attributed to its diet, healthcare system and a lifestyle that encourages the elderly to be active. The average life expectancy is about 85, and only Hong Kong is reported to be slightly higher. By comparison, the United States

“By

Mieko Kobayashi, 88-year-old Radio Taiso practitioner

life expectancy is about 79.

The Japanese government announced late last year that 99,763 people were alive in Japan at 100 or more, a new national record for the 55th straight year. Japan holds the record for the most centenarians relative to its population, which is about 122 million.

Radio Taiso was inspired a century ago by a similar radio program in the United States sponsored by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The Japan Radio Taiso Federation says o cials of the postal ministry visited the United States in the 1920s and returned to Japan with the concept.

Within a decade, millions were participating. The federation says the program was led by postal workers who distributed pamphlets and organized training sessions.

Japan was under United States occupation after its defeat in 1945 in World War II, and the exercises were banned — largely because they were done in groups. The federation says the practice was seen as “totalitarian” with a possible air of militarism.

The group exercises were resumed in 1951, backed by popular demand as the American occupation ended in 1952. According to a 2023 survey by the federation, more than 20 million people in Japan practiced a Radio Taiso session at least once a week.

Radio Taiso has caught on in many countries abroad, most notably in Brazil, which has the largest population of people of Japanese descent living outside Japan.

Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway

He became the 13th driver to earn his rst win at the track

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose- rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for a while,” Hocevar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his rst Cup win at Talladega.

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

BASEBALL from page B1

RBIs. Sophomore pitcher Riley D’Angelo struck out nine batters and allowed three hits and zero earned runs in the rst ve innings. Senior pitcher Owen Zsuppan closed the game without allowing a batter to reach a base in the nal two innings.

“Actually tonight, o speeds weren’t the best,” D’Angelo said. “Just had to work with what I had. I had my guys in the dugout get me up. I was a little down in the beginning. Like I said with J-M, Finn told me what to throw to each guy.”

Facing a 2-0 de cit in the sixth inning with one out and runners on base, Wicker smashed a sin-

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it.”

Carson Hocevar

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs — who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series.

The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining. Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,” Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”

Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said.

gle to score the tying runs. The two baserunners, D’Angelo and senior Dylan Perry, stole second and third base, respectively.

“I had a clear mind,” Wicker said about his approach to that hit. “I added it to my approach coming o the rst two (at-bats) with a punch out and a chance to score one that just went straight to the pitcher. So I reset my mindset, cleared my head. I knew I’m capable of this, I’ve done it before, and I just lead the bat on the ball.”

With one out in the following inning, junior Nic Armstrong hit a double and sparked a run of six straight Northwood batters getting on base against future Western Carolina pitcher Jake Hunter. After Armstrong’s

“I’m getting old and don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck

With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

hit, Zsuppan walked, and Perry hit a single to score both runners for the Chargers’ rst lead of the game.

D’Angelo then walked, once again putting two Northwood runners on base. Junior Finn Sullivan launched a triple and scored both runners to put the Chargers’ lead at four runs. Wicker put the nishing touches on the avalanche with a double to bring Sullivan home.

“That (at-bat) for me was just con dence,” Wicker said. “We were in a great position and just did damage where I could.”

Leading up to thenal two innings, Northwood only landed two hits. Hunter struck out seven batters and walked one during North-

Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who nished outside the top 30 for the third time in ve races.

wood’s scoreless batting turns.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Uwharrie Charter took the lead with Wilson Boswell and Brody Engle taking advantage of the Chargers’ mistakes and scoring on passed balls.

From that point, Hunter became the only Uwharrie Charter batter to get on base for the rest of the night. Hunter went 2 for 3 from the plate.

Northwood sophomore Tripp O’Leary also went 2 for 3.

With the win, the Chargers ended their regular season with a 13-9 overall record, including 8-2 in conference play.

Northwood had a chance to put a bow on the conference championship in Tuesday’s home meeting against Uwhar-

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start. “But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

rie Charter, but it couldn’t bring home the potential game-winning runs at the end of a 3-2 loss. Nevertheless, that game gave Northwood a preview of what to expect from Hunter, as he pitched the nal inning and, after making the necessary plays the second time around, the Chargers earned a crucial change in their playo positioning.

Leading up to Friday’s game, Northwood sat at 24th in the 3A RPI rankings. As of Sunday, the Chargers are 17th and still have time to move up more after this week’s conference tournament.

“We’re just going to try to build on this and take it into next week and then the following week,” Haynes said.

this week in history

Vietnam War ends, Francis Gary Powers shot down, Napoleon dies at 51

APRIL 30

1789: George Washington took the oath of o ce at Federal Hall in New York as the rst president of the United States.

1803: The United States completed the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring 828,000 square miles from France for 60 million francs (about $15 million), roughly doubling the nation’s size.

1975: The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War as the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

MAY 1

1960: The U-2 incident occurred when the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

1963: Jim Whittaker, joined by Sherpa mountaineer Nawang Gombu, became the rst American to summit Mount Everest.

2011: President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden.

MAY 2

1863: During the American Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Battle of Chancellorsville; he died eight days later.

1927: In Buck v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld,

On April 30, 1803, the United States secured the Louisiana Territory from France in a $15 million deal, adding 828,000 square miles and e ectively doubling the nation’s landmass.

8-1, a Virginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.”

1994: Nelson Mandela claimed victory for the African National Congress.

MAY 3

1802: Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

1937: Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Gone with the Wind.”

1948: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that racially restrictive housing covenants were legally unenforceable.

MAY 4

1886: A labor rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago

turned deadly when a bomb exploded, killing seven police ocers and at least four civilians.

1904: The United States took over construction of the Panama Canal from France.

1961: The rst group of Freedom Riders departed Washington, D.C., to challenge segregation on interstate buses and in terminals.

1970: Ohio National Guardsmen opened re on student demonstrators at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine in an anti-war protest.

MAY 5

1821: Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, died in exile on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena.

1925: High school teacher John T. Scopes was charged in Tennessee with violating a state law banning the teaching of evolution; he was later found guilty, though the conviction was set aside.

1973: Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in 1:59.4, the rst of his Triple Crown victories and a record that still stands.

MAY 6

1889: The Ei el Tower opened to the public as part of the Paris World’s Fair.

1935: The Works Progress Administration was established by executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1937: The German airship Hindenburg caught re and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and one crew member on the ground.

Evans, Choi among 6 nalists for Women’s Prize for Fiction

Winners of both prizes will be announced June 11 in London

By Jill Lawless The Associated Press

LONDON — Four debut

novelists are among six books on a U.S.-dominated list ofnalists for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, which is open to female English-language writers from any country.

American authors take four of the six places on the shortlist for the 30,000 pounds ($40,000) prize, announced last Wednesday by a judging panel led by former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Among them are bestselling writer Lily King’s campus-set romance “Heart the Lover” and Susan Choi’s twisty family saga “Flashlight,” a nalist for last year’s Booker Prize. First novels making the list include U.S. writer Virginia Evans’ “The Correspondent,” a novel told in letters with an older woman as protagonist that became a slow-burn hit after its release in 2025; and Ad-

die E. Citchens’ “Dominion,” a story of power and patriarchy centered on a black church in Mississippi.

Rounding out the list are two debut novels by British writers: Marcia Hutchinson’s “The Mercy Step,” a girl’s coming-of-age story set in northern England, and Rozie Kelly’s tale of love and grief, “King sher.”

Gillard, who was Australia’s leader between 2010 and 2013, said the books are all page-turners with intriguing characters that explore “power — where it lies, where it doesn’t lie. How you nd the ability to chart your own life course, what it means to potentially have others that are pushing you in di erent directions as you

Growing amateur choir brings joy, community to hundreds in Serbia

2,000 people have sung with Pop Hor since it started

By Jovana Gec

The Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia — An amateur pop choir that started with a couple dozen singers in a small Serbian town has found unexpected success across the country. Its motto? Anyone can sing.

While community choirs are common in other countries, they are relatively rare in Serbia. The no-stress and fun approach has attracted hundreds of people, mostly women of all ages.

Modeled after similar projects abroad, the choir is encouraging “everyone from 5 to 105” to join and sing for joy and stress relief.

Since starting out in a small town in central Serbia four years ago, Pop Hor has spread to 10 towns across the Balkan country with an ambition to grow further. There are no auditions or voice tests, and newcomers don’t have to know how to read music.

try and chart that life course.” The number of debut novelists doesn’t mean the authors lack experience. Hutchinson is a former lawyer in her 60s, while Evans wrote seven unpublished novels before nding international success with “The Correspondent.”

“I think the way the publishing industry is working now, there are quite a number of authors coming to the fore for whom being a ction author is well and truly a second act in a life that has brought other careers,” said Gillard.

“I’m delighted to see that,” Gillard told The Associated Press — though she is not in a rush to join them. While former leaders including Bill Clinton in the U.S. and Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland have written or co-written political thrillers, Gillard says she is not working on a novel.

“Never say never, but I’m not sure about that,” said Gillard, who has written a memoir and non ction books about women and leadership. “But I’m a ction lover, a ction reader, and it’s been just fantastic to have this experience” as a Women’s Prize judge.

Next, the ve judges will meet to choose a winner. Previous winners of the ction prize, founded in 1996, include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Barbara Kingsolver. A sister prize for non ction was founded in 2024.

their after-class chat and co ee together.

The choir has had “a very positive e ect on me, psychologically,” she said. “It is joyful, it reduces stress.”

Music is known for positive neurobiological and psychological e ects, psychologist and Singidunum University professor Aleksandra Djuric said. In a group, she added, “we release the energy together, cortisol (levels) come down and positive hormones rise out of union and happiness.”

“I keep telling my students that we can’t be exposed on a daily basis to information, to be bombarded by information and follow everything all the time,” Djuric said. “We need to nd a space to calm down, relax and connect.”

Nevenka Bila, 72, said the choir has provided a much-needed positive contrast to the everyday reality of political tensions and pro-democracy protests in the troubled Balkan country.

“People come as total amateurs, most of them say they have no clue about singing,” said Nenad Azanjac, who trained as a music teacher and who founded Pop Hor, or Pop Choir, with his wife.

“In this madness that we are living, where I spend half of my free time in the streets ghting for basic human rights, I found something that feels so good for me,” Bila said. “I discovered a new world.”

The group packs halls and venues across the country weekly to belt out popular tunes — mostly in Serbian, though sometimes they also sing songs by Croatian and Bosnian bands and singers. Though amateur, the choir often performs at festivals and events in Serbia and abroad.

Serbia endured years of wars, international sanctions and economic crisis in the 1990s. The country remains politically divided and struggles economically. Youth-led protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic erupted in 2024 over a train station tragedy blamed on widespread negligence and corruption in big state-run infrastructure projects.

“I never miss a class,” said Radmila Kozarac, a 62-year- old economist. The choir has changed her life for the better, she said, adding that she has made wonderful new friends and can’t wait for

Azanjac said many people have joined his choir after their therapists recommended singing as an anti-stress activity. They “ nd a sense of belonging here, they enjoy it,” he added, describing a “feeling of togetherness.”

“Singing comes second, socializing comes rst,” Azanjac said.

famous birthdays this week

Engelbert Humperdinck hits 90, Rita Coolidge celebrates 81, Christopher Cross is 75, Carlos Alcaraz turns 23

THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

APRIL 30

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is 77. Filmmaker Jane Campion is 72. Filmmaker Lars von Trier is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 65. Actor Johnny Galecki is 51. Actor Kirsten Dunst is 44.

MAY 1

Singer Judy Collins is 87. Singer Rita Coolidge is 81. Filmmaker John Woo is 80. Actor Dann Florek is 76. Musician Ray Parker Jr. is 72. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 66. Singer-actor Tim McGraw is 59. Filmmaker Wes Anderson is 57.

MAY 2

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 90. Actor David Suchet is 80. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 78. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 76. Actor Christine Baranski is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes is 73. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 71.

MAY 3

Singer Frankie Valli is 92. Singer Christopher Cross is 75. Actor Amy Ryan is 58. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 56. Music executive-entrepreneur Damon Dash is 55. Actor Christina Hendricks is 51. Actor Dule Hill is 51. Country musician Eric Church is 49. Golfer Brooks Koepka is 36.

MAY 4

Jazz musician Ron Carter is 89. Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator George Will is 85. Actor Richard Jenkins is 79. Country singer Randy Travis is 67. Comedian Ana Gasteyer is 59. Actor Will Arnett is 56. Basketball Hall of Famer Dawn Staley is 56.

MAY 5

Actor Lance Henriksen is 86. Comedian-actor Michael Palin is 83. Actor Richard E. Grant is 69. R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn is 51. Actor Vincent Kartheiser is 47. Actor Danielle Fishel is 45. Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz is 23.

MAY 6

Rock musician Bob Seger is 81. Country musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 81. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 73. TV host Tom Bergeron is 71. Actor-director George Clooney is 65.

Michael B. Jordan, Kacey Musgrave, Tori Amos, double dose of Matthew Rhys

Kacey Musgraves drops “Middle of Nowhere” on Friday

The Associated Press

MICHAEL B. JORDAN voicing a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with a majestic bird in the animated movie “Swapped” and Kacey Musgraves’ seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” 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 TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” on Prime Video, the anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” on Crunchyroll and two Matthew Rhys projects — the movie thriller “Hallow Road” and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Newly minted Oscar winner Jordan voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Net ix on Friday. “Tangled” lmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.” The anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the lm, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help ght devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

“Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a ve-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”) and it’s debuting exclusively on the Criterion Channel on Friday. And nally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, Rosamund Pike and Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident

“‘Hallow Road’ is an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.” Lindsey Bahr, AP lm writer

late one night. AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that “it’s an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

TO STREAM

MUSIC

Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’ “Dry Spell,” the rst single from her highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday. But a one-trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on. Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: from criticism for their political statements, which previously saw

them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, listeners will be able to form their own opinions: They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule.

Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic lm version of a rock band, have been undeniably in uential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.”

It is an immediately recognizable sound, de ned by its characteristics: an unusual, complex

time signature, intricate ngerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.”

A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her ight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s o cial press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good ght.

SERIES TO STREAM

Roku has a new program for younger rst-time home buyers. “This First House” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spino of the PBS staple “This Old House.” The TV adaptation of Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” is available now on Prime Video. The Spanish-lan-

Kacey Musgraves performs during the rst weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025. The country star’s latest album, “Middle of Nowhere,” drops Friday.

guage series follows the trials and tribulations of a multigenerational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination, but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series is streaming now.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY Artemis II made space travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it lled with hostile life-forms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing Thursday on PS5.

Duplin Journal

5 arrested during saturation patrol

Beulaville

Five people were arrested during a saturation patrol conducted April 20 in Beulaville. O cers from the Beulaville Police Department, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Duplin County Sheri ’s O ce, and police departments from Wallace, Warsaw and Holly Ridge conducted tra c stops focused on improving roadway safety, resulting in 26 citations and 32 tra c charges. Additional charges included three felony drug o enses, seven misdemeanor drug charges, two weapons violations and one count of resisting a public o cer. O cers also located three wanted individuals. The patrol was aimed at increasing law enforcement visibility and enhancing public safety.

James Kenan earns Purple Star designation

Warsaw James Kenan High School was recognized as a Purple Star School on April 24 for its support of military-connected students. The Purple Star Award, presented through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, is a state-sponsored designation for schools that demonstrate a strong commitment to helping military families navigate challenges such as frequent relocations and parental deployments.

Town o cials remind residents of pool safety, permitting rules

Faison Local o cials are reminding Faison residents to follow local regulations governing residential swimming pools as warmer weather approaches. Under the town’s land development ordinance, all in-ground pools and above-ground pools with a depth of 30 inches or more must be enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet high and equipped with a locking gate. The requirement applies to both permanent and temporary pools to help prevent unauthorized access and improve safety.

Town o cials also note that pools are classi ed as accessory structures, meaning a zoning permit must be obtained prior to installation. Residents are encouraged to check requirements in advance to ensure compliance and avoid potential penalties.

$2.00

Pickle Festival turns 40 with big crowds

Thousands packed downtown Mount Olive last weekend as the Pickle Festival marked its 40th anniversary with live music, contests, a drone show and dozens of pickle-themed foods and attractions. Turn to B6 for more.

The town board advanced major water and sewer projects funded through state forgivable loans

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

THE MAGNOLIA Town Board advanced a slate of major infrastructure projects and emergency services updates during its most recent meeting,

Warsaw

approving more than $5 million in state-backed utility improvements while also receiving a candid report on the recovery of the town’s volunteer re department and public safety concerns on local roads. Joe McKinney of McDavid &

Associates presented a series of infrastructure projects funded through state programs, primarily structured as “forgiven loans,” meaning they function as grants if all requirements are met.

The rst project involves replacing the Newberry sewer pump station, with funding of just under $1 million. The upgrade will include modern pumps, improved infrastructure

and relocation of the station from its current unsafe position in the roadway. This relocation requires land acquisition but will improve both safety and system reliability. McKinney noted that while the funding is largely forgiven, the town will still incur approximately $20,000 in administrative and related costs, with completion expected around 2027 due to permitting and construction timelines.

The second project expands improvements across the town’s sewer system, with funding of approximately $1.97 million. This initiative targets widespread infrastructure issues, including deteriorated clay pipes, damaged

debates sta ng, policy compliance, approves settlement

The town approved a $38,500 settlement in a police-related claim

By Ena Sellers Duplin Journal

WARSAW — Town o cials grappled with sta ng shortages, nancial pressures and pol-

icy questions during Warsaw’s April board meeting as they considered how to ll key administrative roles, pursue a major parks grant and nalize a legal settlement.

“Our nance o cer clerk was working part time, but she has had to leave that position,” said Town Manager Lea Turner. “We need to appoint an interimnance o cer, and I’m requesting that be me again, until we can get someone in this position.”

Board members debated whether assigning additional re-

Duplin County Veterans Museum honors 2 longtime volunteers

The board president is planning a budget review and expanded hours

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

TWO VOLUNTEERS with the Duplin County Veterans Memorial Museum in Warsaw were honored at a dinner at the Country Squire Restaurant on April 16 for their years of service.

Earl Rouse, who served as curator until recently, and Sara Freeman, who served on the board of the museum since its early days, were recognized

during the event. Rouse received a plaque for his service. Freeman, who could not attend, was also honored.

The event was hosted by Earl Hardy, the newly elected president of the board for the museum. In an interview with Duplin Journal, Hardy said one of his rst goals is to evaluate what the museum needs nancially.

“We’re going to sit down and look at our past three years’ expenses and develop a budget,” Hardy said. “I need to talk about why we need money and how much we need.”

“I need to talk about why we need money and how much we need.”

Earl Hardy, Duplin County Veterans Memorial Museum board president

sponsibilities to the town manager without clear policy guidance could create legal risk. Commissioner Scotty Smith asked whether any sta member could be promoted into the role, to which Turner said, “We don’t have anybody certi ed

O

O ce Phone: 910 463-1240

To place a legal ad: 919 663-3232; Fax: 919 663-4042

MAGNOLIA from page A1

manholes and aging sewer lines. Work will occur throughout multiple areas of town.

The project also includes upgrades to the Blanton Street pump station, with potential installation of a standby generator to improve resilience during power outages. Due to its scale, the budget includes higher allocations for construction, engineering and contingency planning, as well as provisions for potential easements where sewer lines cross private property.

The third project focuses on upgrading the town’s wastewater treatment plant, with funding of $980,000.

“This is to replace your disinfection system. … You can no longer use the ultraviolet,” said McKinney, explaining the primary goal is to resolve regulatory violations related to elevated bacteria levels by replacing the outdated disinfection system.

The proposed solution includes installing a chlorination and dechlorination system, along with

THURSDAY

Share with your community!

Send your birth, death, marriage, graduation and other announcements to community@ duplinjournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at noon.

MUSEUM from page A1

Hardy said the museum began as the Warsaw Veterans Museum. However, with town expenses growing, the local government could not offer much nancial support, so the museum became the Duplin County Veterans Memorial Museum in hopes of gaining more support. “No one ever really brought other municipalities or government entities into play,”

possible postaeration enhancements to improve water quality before discharge. These upgrades are essential for regulatory compliance, environmental protection and long-term operational reliability.

The largest project presented involves replacing an aging water supply well, with funding exceeding $2.38 million. “We’re going to construct a new water supply well … to replace well one,” said McKinney.

This project is critical to ensuring a reliable source of potable water for the town. Because Magnolia quali es as a distressed utility system, it may not be required to provide matching funds. Ofcials said a suitable site for the new well remains under review.

The council unanimously approved all four projects, authorizing the town manager to execute agreements and move forward with design and construction phases.

In other business

Newly appointed Fire Chief

Hardy added. “I spoke with the town manager in Warsaw, and she said she didn’t know if they are going to keep giving money or not.”

In addition to seeking more nancial support, Hardy said the museum is in need of volunteers to provide tours.

“We’re going to talk about this in the next board meeting,” he said, adding that they want to extend the days and hours the museum is open so there are more op -

Phil Grove reported progress in rebuilding the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department following a leadership transition that led to a loss of personnel and operational disruptions. He said a state inspection had previously identi ed signi cant de ciencies, including equipment, insucient sta ng and years of missing reports.

“They had enough to shut this re department down … but they gave us a chance,” said Grove.

Grove said the department has since completed required inspections, restored compliance records and rebuilt its roster to 21 volunteers. He reported 78 emergency responses between January and March, with mutual aid support from neighboring departments during the transition.

Chief Jerry Wood addressed concerns about the use of ATVs and similar vehicles on public roads, explaining that many such vehicles meet the legal de nition of motor vehicles and must be registered, insured and equipped with proper safety features. He emphasized that many riders —

portunities for people to visit it.

The museum is housed in the historic Lucius B. Best home on East Hill Street in downtown Warsaw. The home was built in 1894. In addition to a large collection of artifacts mostly donated by families of Duplin County veterans, the museum also contains the Duplin County Veterans Honor Roll, which lists local veterans’ names, service dates and military branches.

especially minors — are operating these vehicles illegally.

“These kids are at risk. …

They don’t realize it,” said Wood. “We’re gonna go nd the parents, and we’re gonna charge them for allowing them to do that.”

The department plans to increase enforcement, including holding parents accountable when minors are involved. Wood explained that properly modied golf carts — equipped with lights, signals and other required features — can be registered and used on certain roads. However, unmodi ed carts are generally restricted from public highways.

He also noted that towns have the authority to pass local ordinances allowing limited golf cart use on designated streets. Such programs typically involve inspections, permits and restrictions to ensure safety.

The meeting concluded with discussion of a recent incident involving drivers failing to stop for school buses. O cials described the issue as a serious safety concern and called for increased awareness and enforcement.

DUPLIN happening

BY

April 30

Community Baby Shower

5-7 p.m.

The Duplin County Health Department will host a free Community Baby Shower for expectant moms and moms with newborns 0-3 months old. Free baby supplies available for the rst 30 moms. The event will feature refreshments, resources, support and information for expectant and new mothers, and will cover pregnancy and postpartum topics at the Albertson Community Library.

3763 N. N.C. 111-903 Highway, Albertson

May 2

Duplin County Historical Society Meeting Noon

The Duplin County Historical Society will meet at Wesley Chapel UMC Fellowship Hall. The program will focus on Maj. James H. Craig’s 1781 raid into Eastern North Carolina, including Duplin, Jones, Craven and Lenoir counties. Presenters Dennis Harper and Stacey Jones are authors of “August Reign of Terror: Major James H. Craig’s 1781 Punitive Raid.” Copies of the book will be available for $50 cash. Lunch will be provided. Annual membership dues may be paid at the meeting. The event is open to the public.

1127 N. N.C. 11-903 Highway, Kenansville

May 8-9

Creekstone Rising Music Festival

The Creekstone Rising Country Music Festival returns to Tara Creek featuring rising country artists across two nights. The event promises live music, entertainment and a lively community atmosphere.

136 Robert Hobbs Road, Faison

May 16

Fireman’s Day in Pink Hill

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Pink Hill Volunteer Fire and Rescue will host Fireman’s Day. The family-friendly event will include local vendors, a car show, music, kids entertainment, barbecue plates and ra e prizes. Downtown Pink Hill

CAROLINA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Saturday May 2nd at 8 a.m. at the Campbell Center

SPONSORED BY Wallace Parks and Recreation

ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP

Depot Stage

Friday, May 1st

• 6:15 pm Welcome & Strawberry Raising

• 6:30pm Band of Oz

Saturday, May 2nd

• 10am OPENING CEREMONY with these acts to follow:

• 210 Productions

• Bullpup Bouncers

• 2026 Strawberry Queens

• Silver & Golden Steppers

• 2:00 pm ANDREW BEAM

• 4:30 pm SPARE CHANGE

• 7:00 pm CHOCOLATE CHIP & COMPANY

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

COLUMN | JIMMY DIXON

Preserving America’s founding principles in troubled times

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.”

WE LIVE IN DAYS of great deception. Perhaps if we could sustain some of the good thoughts engendered in us during the recent Easter season, we might avoid being deceived. There are only a few primary questions related to the Easter tradition. There are numberless secondary questions that are designed to ood the airwaves and media with deceptive notions that aim to destroy America as a Christian nation.

That which Jesus established during His three-year earthly ministry was the ful llment of Daniel’s prophecy that a “stone was cut out of the mountain without hands …” (Daniel 2:45). After His betrayal, mock trial, scourging and cruci xion, His resurrection — which we celebrate during the Easter season — provides us with the hope of life after mortal death. Will we live forever? That is the most primary of all the primary questions. I declare with con dence that, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

(1 Cor. 15:22)

The prophet Daniel also said, in essence, that in the days of these kings (present and future) the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom (government), which shall never be destroyed, and that kingdom (government) shall not be left to other people, but it shall

| LARRY ELDER

break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms (governments), and it shall stand forever. Thus, one additional primary question to be considered is, does that prophecy refer to America, and will America stand forever? After years of studying, pondering the King James Version of the Bible, modern Restoration Scriptures, the work and words of our Founding Fathers, I declare that indeed America will stand until the Second Coming of our Savior, as long as America and the majority of her citizens serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ.

America is a Christian nation, and, as John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Columbus, the great explorer, said, “Who can doubt that this re was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit … with a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind and guided my course.”

Then what of the great deception that exists today? The adversary knows well the divine founding and the prophetic destiny of America, America, the most choice of all the “promised lands.” It is he and his beguiled followers who lead the profound and deceptive e orts to destroy this nation and our Christian heritage.

Consider these instructive and warning words from the great Republican President Abraham Lincoln, about the perpetuation of our political institutions. “Gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us to faithfully preserve our constitutional Republic.” He understood that we were then and are still now the bene ciaries of our divinely inspired Founding Fathers. He said further, “All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio River, or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years,” if every lover of liberty swore by the blood of the Revolution to never violate the laws of our nation. America will fall only from decay within. We the people, to avoid being deceived, should therefore not forget the secular decay promoted by certain high-ranking leaders of the Democratic Party; especially when we cast our votes in November.

Rep. Jimmy Dixon represents Duplin and Wayne counties in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every

Republican presidential victory since 2000. In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

New event venue takes shape near Mount Olive

Southern Ground Manor launches as a community-focused event space

By Rebecca Whitman Cooke For Duplin Journal

JUST FOUR MILES from Mount Olive, a new event venue aims to host not only weddings but also community events, fundraisers and future agritourism.

Southern Ground Manor, located on West Trade Road, was designed as a multipurpose space featuring a commercial kitchen, large event hall, bridal and groom suites, and outdoor gathering areas. Its owners, Amy and Robbie Brogden, say the goal is to create a venue that serves both private events and community needs for years to come.

The main event space, framed by archways, can accommodate up to 500 guests. The facility also features an indoor-outdoor replace, a large wraparound porch and a spiral staircase leading to a balcony equipped for DJ services. Though great thought has gone into every detail of the manor, building it came together unexpectedly.

“We had bought land at the Pamlico River and were starting to make plans to retire there in a couple of years when this piece of Robbie’s family’s land became available,” said Amy Brogden.

The land was 26 acres adjacent to the Brogden’s home.

“I just feel like we’re supposed to buy it,” said Robbie Brogden.

There were no plans for what to do with it at the time, and he wasn’t anxious to go into debt when everything else was already paid for and retirement

from page A1

for nance at this time except for myself.”

After being asked by Mayor Wesley Boykin, Turner acknowledged that the previous nance clerk lacked formal certi cation.

“She was not certi ed as a clerk, but she did have enough nance experience which quali ed her. … She had the education and experience in nance,” Turner said, adding that certication is “not mandatory.”

Commissioner Ebony Willis-Wells asked if there was someone on sta who had either certi cation, to which Turner con rmed that a certi ed deputy clerk is on sta .

“She is serving as deputy clerk right now. … It’s like an interim clerk position,” Turner said when Boykin and Willis-Wells asked to clarify how it was being handled.

was on the horizon. Still, they bought it.

A couple of years passed, and they got deals they couldn’t pass up, such as getting a whole commercial kitchen at a fraction of the cost. There still were no plans for the manor, but they still got the kitchen. Then one day, Robbie said the Lord impressed on him in his prayer time that the community needs an event center. Right away, the

Turner explained the deputy clerk has been assisting with additional duties, but no formal interim appointment or salary adjustment was established. Instead, Turner noted, “She is receiving compensation as far as time. … She’s being paid overtime for that.”

When Boykin asked whether the arrangement was based on policy, Turner responded, “We don’t have anything speci cally said about that.”

The discussion prompted concerns about compliance with the town’s human resources policies and administrative procedures.

“This board can be sued just like previously with not providing a procedure for Freedom of Information Act request as not following our policy with regard to human resource policy,” Boykin said.

Willis-Wells expressed concern about the town choosing

Join us for Older Americans Month – a great chance for seniors in Duplin County to connect and socialize!

Friday, May 1, 2026 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM

Duplin Events Center 195 Fairgrounds Dr. Kenansville, NC 28349

they say its purpose is not profit-driven.

Brogdens started drawing up plans. One of the rst things they knew belonged in the space was that commercial kitchen.

As they stepped out in faith, the rest of the details fell into place in similar ways.

“God provided everything we needed at a fraction of the cost,”

Amy Brogden said.

Southern Ground Manor will become the fourth business the Brogdens run today, and yet

“She was not certi ed as a clerk, but she did have enough nance experience which quali ed her.”

Lea Turner, town manager

to pay someone overtime instead of formally reclassifying the position.

“I don’t think that we should make up policies on our own that’s not within our ordinances,” said Willis-Wells.

She emphasized that decisions about pay and job duties should follow established rules, not informal or temporary arrangements made on the spot.

Boykin noted that informal compensation arrangements without proper policy authori-

Activities: Senior resources, Wild Hearts DJ, line dancing, and popcorn

Lunch will be served. Seniors must be present to win door prizes.

For more information, call 910-296-2140

“It’s not about money for us. We didn’t build it to make a killing, we built it because it was a need for the community and we think it can help people,” Amy Brodgen said. Pro ts from the manor will be used to fund charity events set to be hosted at the venue as part of the couple’s nonpro t charity, Southern Grace Group. For example, they are hoping to become the new host of some of the large re department fundraisers, such as the Cancer bene t at Calypso and the Oyster Roast at Smith Chapel that have already outgrown their spaces.

“We hope to be able to host some Christian concerts out here as well, and we have plans in the works to start a farmers market in June,” Amy Brogden added. Over time, the manor will grow into an agri-tourism

ty could create legal exposure. Members also discussed whether administrative responsibilities should be more clearly divided among sta , noting that ongoing sta ng shortages may require attention during the upcoming budget process.

Following discussion, Turner was appointed interim nance o cer until a permanent replacement is hired. Willis-Wells opposed the measure due to concerns about workload and operational impact.

In other business

The board discussed reports of inconsistent water usage readings and unusual consumption patterns that may require further review. One proposal under consideration would require customers to pay up-front for water meter testing, with reimbursement only

destination.

“We’ve already planted grapevines and blueberries so kids can come out and do you-pick eld trips to learn about where food comes from,” Amy Brogden said.

More produce will be added with time — animals too. Robbie wants to eventually have a deer farm on the property as well.

The manor is on a hill with a long road lined by oak trees that will eventually grow into shadowy canopies over the road. The land drops down behind the manor house into elds edged by trees. Robbie plans to eventually build an outdoor chapel down the hill behind the manor house. The couple has been working hard since last year to prepare the manor for use. Its rst event was a reception held April 25, and its rst wedding is scheduled for May. Three more weddings have already been scheduled this year.

if a malfunction is con rmed. Parks and recreation ocials outlined plans to pursue a state-funded 50-50 matching grant for Phase Two improvements at Memorial Park, including a paved parking lot, outdoor basketball court and multipurpose athletic eld. The application is due in May, with award decisions expected later in the year. The meeting concluded with the town of Warsaw approving a $38,500 settlement with Charles Bailey related to a May 2, 2025, incident involving the Warsaw Police Department. Bailey alleged personal injuries, though no lawsuit had been led in court, according to town ofcials. The board unanimously approved the negotiated agreement, which includes a full release of all past, present and future claims. A corresponding budget amendment was also approved to fund the payment.

Small-town spirit on display at Greenevers Fireman’s Day

Small-town Americana was on full display Saturday during Greenevers’ annual Fireman’s Day celebration. People lined Charity Road near the Greenevers Volunteer Fire Department long before the highlight of the day — the annual parade.

Firetrucks and units from nearby re departments joined Greenevers vehicles, along with classic cars, nonpro t groups, local elected o cials, pageant queens and members of a golf cart club.

After the parade, people made their way to the Greenevers Park for chicken and barbecue. Kids gravitated to two in atable bouncy houses, while adults enjoyed food and conversation.

Greenevers Volunteer Fire Department Chief Greg Carr told Duplin Journal he appreciated the community’s support.

“It lets me know that we’re doing something right for them when they come out and support us the way they do,” Carr said.

A re truck known as “The Green Machine” from the

Fire Department leads the annual Fireman’s Day parade Saturday.

Hidden gem north of Beulaville o ers a ordable outdoor escape

Cabin Lake County Park o ers recreation and a unique origin story

By Mark Grady For Duplin Journal

TRAVEL ABOUT ve miles north of Beulaville on N.C. Highway 111, turn right on Cabin Lake Road, and you’ll end up at what is Duplin County’s hidden gem — Cabin Lake County Park. Featuring camping, swimming, shing, picnic tables, kayaking and canoeing, it is a beautiful park o ering a ordable, year-round family recreation. It all surrounds the serene Cabin Lake.

The history of Cabin Lake is interesting. Visiting the park today and enjoying the natural views from the edge of the lake, or on one of its piers, you would likely imagine the lake has always been there. However, that is not the case.

In an interview with Duplin Journal, Park Superintendent Jordon Whaley said the lake was born thanks to the need for dirt in highway construction.

“From my personal research, Calvin Mercer donated the land to the county,” Whaley said. “Before then, there was a little stream that ran through, and people would go through the woods riding four-wheelers and motorcycles.”

Whaley said Mercer sold dirt out of the property to be used to build parts of N.C. Highway 24 and Interstate 40. After the dirt was removed, he donated the land to the county, which decided to create a lake. A spillway was added as highway contractors dug out the dirt. That was over a quarter of a century ago.

Whaley was named superintendent of the park in January 2021. One of his goals is to generate more interest in the park. One way he is doing that is by creating what are now ve special events during the year, including a youth shing tournament, a customer appreciation day, a fall dinner, a Thanksgiving

“There’s not a whole lot of stu for kids to do around here, so we want everyone to know it’s a good place for young folks and families.”

Jordon Whaley, Cabin Lake County Park superintendent

dinner and a Christmas movie.

The next event scheduled at Cabin Lake County Park is the Youth Fishing Tournament on May 16, followed by a customer appreciation day on June 13 featuring hot dogs and hamburgers.

Spreading the word has paid o .

“The year before last was the one with the most revenue,” Whaley said.

Another of Whaley’s goals is to get the word out about the park being a great place for the family.

“There’s not a whole lot of stu for kids to do around here, so we want everyone to know it’s a good place for young folks and families,” Whaley said.

Cabin Lake County Park is on par with any of the state parks in North Carolina, and it is an a ordable place to enjoy a day or a vacation without breaking the bank. Admission is $3 for county residents and $4 for nonresidents. Campsites, ranging from primitive tent sites to RV sites with electricity, cost $25 to $35 per night, depending on residency. There are discounts for seniors and the military.

Whaley and county leaders have been working on a new master plan for the park that could add more activities and even cabins at the park. In the meantime, Cabin Lake County Park is a great recreational area the county can be proud of. Even a simple walk through the park offers some of the most peaceful sights in the area.

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the Duplin County Board of Equalization

DUPLIN SPORTS

Panthers within few kicks of fourth ECC title in 6 years

“Our

girls have stayed grounded and kept

their heads about them.”

Joey Jones, ED head coach.

Anamarie Rodriguez, Joselin Mata-Aguilar and Sosa Hernandez-Espino carried ED to its ninth straight win

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — It’s become known as “that time of year” for the East Duplin girls’ soccer team.

The Panthers battled their way through a competitive nonconference schedule and picked up steam following a 2-1 loss to Trask on March 20.

ED (12-6, 7-1) then won its last nine matches, yielding just eight goals while scoring 39.

“We had a good later part of the season in a conference with its weaknesses and strengths,” said longtime Panthers coach Joey Jones, whose teams in 2024 and 2025 made runs into the fourth and third rounds of the playo s, respectively, after playing competitive soccer programs outside the East Central Conference.

“We were fortunate to play two of our better games against Clinton,” Jones said. “Our girls have stayed grounded and kept their heads about them. They’re a good group that listens and follows instruction.”

The Panthers have been on re since Anamarie Rodriguez began to show her repaired knee wouldn’t stop her from

being a scorer that few teams have on their roster.

The junior striker leads ED in goals with 18.

On the wing is classmate Joselin Mata-Aguilar, who has 12 goals.

Both Rodriguez and Mata-Aguilar have four assists.

Mid elder Sosa Hernandez-Espino has a team-high 14 assists. Melanie Reyes has ve scores from the mid eld, while Kayleigh Chase is more of a defensive mid elder starter for the past two seasons.

Hernandez-Espino handles many of the Panthers’ corner and direct kicks.

And by the time this is in

JK, WRH and Princeton battle for the Swine Valley title, while ND looks for its rst Carolina crown

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

TEACHEY — Pride is normally the calling card when Wallace-Rose Hill and James Kenan line up on the soccer eld.

Not this season.

Both schools are having successful seasons, and the winner of the April 30 match could carry the ECC trophy — or a share of it — into the playo s.

JK (12-4, 9-1) won the March 31 match with a pair of late goals by Aleyah Wilson and has gone 6-1 since the triumph on its home turf.

WRH (9-7, 8-2) has gone 4-1 since its loss to the Tigers, including a 2-0 win over Princeton (13-3-2, 9-1), the other player in the Swine Valley Conference race.

“We’re playing good ball and they believe now, and I told the girls they control their own destiny,” said Dennis Ly, WRH’s rst-year coach. “It’s team soccer, and our four seniors (Salma Sabillon,

A split of the two-game series against defending East Region champ South Lenoir will deliver ED its rst conference title since 2022

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — East Du-

plin has the cards aligned in its favor since it has two cracks at breaking the jackpot that is the ECC regular season title.

But as in any game, South Lenoir will play its hand, using kings and aces from its East Region title team from last spring.

The math is simple: A Panthers win or split and they are

the ace of the ECC diamonds.

Two Blue Devils wins brings South Lenoir consecutive crowns.

The Panthers (12-5, 7-0) enter the week on a four-game winning streak, though they have lost to South Lenoir the previous ve encounters. ED’s last win in the series came in 2023 via a 12-2 verdict in Deep Run.

“We’ve challenged our players all year, especially our seniors, to give yourself something to

play for the last week of season,” said Panthers coach Brandon Thigpen. “This is why you play the game.”

SL (13-4, 7-1) has lost two of its last three games, including an 11-10 setback to Southwest Onslow, which created a scenario in which the Blue Devils would have to sweep ED to retain its title.

“They’re a good team, and we will have to play well to win,” said Thigpen, who coached a number of SL players last summer as manager of Beulaville Post 511 that advanced to the

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

SPONSORED BY BILL CARONE

Jansley Page

Wallace-Rose Hill, softball

Jansley Page’s 11-game hitting streak came to a halt last week, but the Wallace-Rose Hill shortstop started anew with two hits against Spring Creek to raise her average to .479.

She’s hit safely in all but three games this spring and scored in all but four.

Page has 20 hits, three doubles and 15 stolen bases.

She hit .407 a season ago, and the four-year starter has nearly 100 hits and a career mark of .402.

Page is a four-year player in volleyball and basketball.

She was Ms. Volleyball in Duplin County in the fall and an all-state player on the NC Volleyball Coaches’ Association.

The Bulldogs went 77-18 with her in the lineup.

Page, who will play volleyball at Fayetteville Tech, was a defensive specialist (4.3 points, 4.8 rebounds) for the basketball team that logged its best record (18-7) in a decade.

Rebels start postseason prep as top seed in East

ND’s Jaime Higginbotham says she’s still looking for answers as the Rebels enter the playo s, while JK seeks a sweep of WRH

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

CALYPSO — It takes a village to make a deep run in the playo s as it’s almost impossible to ride one pitching arm and a few hot sticks.

Yet for the North Duplin softball team, several new players have emerged for the Rebels, who started the week as the No. 3 RPI team in 2A.

Newcomers Hannah Gonzales, a junior, and freshmen Wyllow Holmes, Sara Smith and Gracie Higginbotham have played integral roles to back up the play of veterans such as Lilly Fulghum and Marissa Bernal.

Higginbotham has been an instant star, hitting .516 and scoring a team-high 24 runs. She’s also used her left arm to split time in the circle with Fulghum.

“She’s learning about leadership and has accepted and done well as our leado hitter,” said Jaime Higginbotham, her mother and Rebels coach since 2022. “We’ve noticed the hits she gave up have been close together, so we’re looking to scatter those. We’ve focused on trying to get exceptional movement with good speed. A lot of players can beat speed.”

Fulghum, a right-hander, is starting most games and is a bulldog of a competitor in the circle.

When she’s on the mound, Gonzales slips into her spot at shortstop.

“She’s done a great job,” said the coach. “We’re not as strong with Lilly pitching, but she’s really helped make us better.”

Holmes, the second hitter in the lineup, appears to be the real deal, with stats similar to Higginbotham. She’s hitting .390 and tied with Higginbotham for second in hits while driving in one more run than her classmate. The pair have combined to steal 13 bases in 13 attempts.

“We are a 60-by-60 (foot) team and not a power team as we have been the last couple years,” said Jaime Higginbotham of the Rebels’ o ense.

Smith, meanwhile, showed her stu recently when catcher Abigael Brown (.286, 8 RBIs) was forced to the sidelines. Smith is hitting .427 with about half the plate appearances of a starter.

Fulghum is hitting .559 and has a team-high 24 RBIs. She’s playing well despite not having “protection” in the order. She had that security last season with Addy Higginbotham hitting in front of her, and two years ago with Higginbotham and Reece Outlaw as bu ers.

The senior doubled in three runs last week during a 6-2 triumph over Rosewood. Holmes had two hits, Gracie Higginbotham a base knock, two walks and two runs, and Bernal added an RBI.

ND was up 6-0 before the Eagles scored twice in the sixth.

Yet coach Higginbotham said the Rebels (11-1, 7-1) must keep improving. The Rebels close out the regular season against West Columbus (4-10, 4-5) and Lakewood (4-16, 2-6) and will likely nish tied with East Columbus (16-5, 8-1) for the top spot in the Carolina Conference.

“We’re still putting the pieces together and need to be better before the state tournament,” Higginbotham said. That alone is scary to the opposition.

Tigers, Bulldogs renew rivalry

Wallace-Rose Hill looks to play spoiler to forge a tie for second place in the Swine Valley Conference.

James Kenan wants to sweep its rival as the two teams clash in Teachey on the nal day in April.

JK broke open a close game late with a ve-run fth during an 8-2 win the last day in March.

WRH (8-9, 7-3) has had a rockier road yet enters the week having won four of its last ve games.

The Bulldogs beat Spring Creek 15-0 last week after falling to league champ 3-0 Midway (17-1, 10-1). Sophia Sloan had two hits and drove in a pair of runs in the triumph over the Gators. Jansley Page singled, walked and knocked in a run.

Payton Tyndall, who struck out six in three innings in the win, was the hard-luck loser against Midway, yielding just two earned runs.

Mattie Gavin punched two of WRH’s ve hits.

JK (15-3, 8-2) is having its best season in two decades and has won three straight by a margin of 61-14 following a 12-3 setback to the Raiders, the No. 2 RPI team in 3A. No. 9 JK looks to be among the teams receiving rst-round byes in the East. WRH is No. 22.

Shylah Sloan and Ava Jones each ripped three hits and combined for 10 RBIs during a 24-0 slaughter of Northside-Jacksonville (0 -19).

The next day, Jourdan Joe, Sadie Casteen, Kenadi Gideons and Jovi Hall bashed the Tigers past Lakewood 19-6. Crusaders come up short against Wake Christian

Mary Willow Rumbold and Breelyn Peed drove in runs, but Wake Christian outhit Harrells Christian 9-4 during its 5-3 win last week on the Crusaders’ diamond.

Landry Singletary added two hits for HCA (8-9, 4-7). Nothing went wrong the previous day when the Crusaders rocked Coastal Christian 32-0.

HCA closes the regular season against Cape Fear Christian (3-10) and Wilmington Christian (5-6).

Consistent Panthers look to nish o regular season with trophy

ED’s two-game set with South Lenoir can clinch the ECC outright for either team

By Michael Jaenicke Duplin Journal

BEULAVILLE — East Du-

plin’s softball team has been one of the best in 4A from the rst pitch of the spring to the beginning of the nal week of the regular season.

The Panthers (16-2, 7-1) will play South Lenoir (14-6, 7-1) for the East Central Conference title. The rst game is in Deep Run, the league-capper on the Panthers’ diamond on the nal day of April.

“Everything is clicking right now,” said Panthers coach Greg Jenkins, whose team has won ve straight and can match its longest winning streak of the season with a sweep of the Blue Devils.

“Our o ense is pounding it with double-digit hits and errorless elding and our consistent pitching. We’ve had nine errors all year and not even struck out 60.”

ED is hitting a blistering .386 with 69 extra-base hits. Yet the Panthers have been opportunis-

from page B1

American Legion’s elite eight state nals.

The Blue Devils have ve players with 18 or more RBIs and a team batting average of .370.

Noah Rouse is at .500 with seven doubles, 24 runs and 24 RBIs.

Braden Barnett (.469) is on his heels on the base paths with eight doubles, a triple, 26 runs and 24 RBIs.

Not far o is Gage Howard (.431) with 19 runs and 19 RBIs.

And Thigpen won’t forget about Austin Clements (.370, 22 RBIs), who is the ace of the SL sta . He’s 5-1 with a 2.83 ERA, has struck out 26 and walked six in 261⁄3 innings.

SL went 23-6 last season and had 6-5 and 5-1 triumphs over the Panthers. The Blue Devils beat Whiteville in a pair of one-run games to capture the East Region title. They lost to East Rutherford in the 2A nal series 4-3 and 11-0.

ED’s hitting and pitching are comparable in terms of players sharing the workload.

The Panthers are hitting .327 and have four players with 13 or more RBIs.

tic at the plate — in 587 at-bats, they’ve struck out 63 times while walking 37 times.

“The old saying about hitting being contagious, and it is,” Jenkins said. “Our girls go up there to get the job done, and they are totally disappointed when they don’t move a runner or get on base.”

ED, which is No. 4 in RPI in 4A, swept Pender last week in 10-0 and 14-0 run-rule wins.

They are led by catcher Shawn Marshburn, pitcher/ rst baseman Gavin Holmes and shortstop Jack Tuck, each of whom is over .400.

Marshburn (.483) has produced seven doubles, a team-high 29 hits and drove in 13.

Holmes (.442), an all-state player from a season ago, has six doubles, three triples, 18 RBIs and has scored a team-high 23 times.

Tuck (.423) has scored 19 runs and driven in 17.

The senior singled twice and doubled to drive in three runs during ED’s 18-1 pasting of Pender.

Holmes scored three times and drove in two, while Marshburn had a two-run single.

Hayes Lanier (.295) added a pair of run-scoring hits.

JP Murphy and Silas Jarman limited the Patriots to a pair of hits.

Brayden Jones picked up the win in the 14-2 a air that followed, giving up two hits in four innings.

Marshburn and Colton Holmes (.275, 17 walks) each had three hits and combined to drive in ve runs. Luke Hall (.312) had two hits and scored twice.

In the opener, Ava Noble (.619) homered for the third time this season, and Sophia Jones (.490) laced two hits and had two RBIs.

Both have carried lightning rod-like sticks this season with Noble, a junior, having nine doubles, ve triples, driving in 22 and scoring 34 runs. Jones, a sophomore, has eight doubles, two triples and a ’round-tripper.

Ansley Hunter (.441) had two hits and knocked in a pair, and

Rebels drop heartbreaker to Wildcats

North Duplin’s seventh-inning rally came up short during a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Hobbton during a key Carolina Conference game in Calypso.

“We had a lot of momentum going into the game and needed one or two hits and a couple of pitches executed better,” said Rebels coach Brad Rhodes as his team fell to fourth place in the league, though two wins this week would likely move them up a spot.

“They had opportunities they converted on, and we had opportunities we didn’t capitalize on.”

Garris Warren laced four hits as ND led 3-2 in the fourth inning before the Wildcats tacked up one in the fth and a pair in the sixth. Both teams scored a run in the seventh.

Garrett Stevens drove in two runs, and Ben Kelly also had a plate-crossing at-bat.

Noah Price and Cole Grady were 1 of 3 and scored. Henry Pope singled, doubled and walked as ND outhit Hobbton 10-9.

“We competed,” Rhodes said. “Noah (Quintanilla) hit two balls that were smoked

Head coach Greg Jenkins and the Panthers swarm Ava Noble after she hit her third home run and 17th extra-base hit of the season.

right and Bennett Holley in left) is the fastest out eld I’ve ever had. They go get it. Constantly moving, constantly talking and so quick.”

Freshmen Rodriguez (.400) and Holley (.333) have also made impressive debuts in the batter’s box.

The Panthers picked up their third-straight shutout in the second win over the Patriots. ED has six shutouts this spring and has allowed just eight runs in their last 10 games.

ED split with SL last season, losing 8-6 and winning a 1-0 defensive thriller behind graduate lefty hurler Morgan Brown and an RBI by Rebecca Beach that forced in Karysn Parker.

“I don’t think anyone expected us to be where we are after losing the three-time conference pitcher of the year,” said Jenkins, who is 380-173 in 25 seasons and is seeking to guide ED to its fth ECC title since 2016. “The girls have stepped up, and this is one of my favorite years.”

third baseman Leighton Davis (.365) got her 15th RBI of the spring.

Zoe Turner, a .346 hitter, did her damage with her right arm, holding South Lenoir to two hits, with six strikeouts and one walk.

“She’s really hitting her spots, moving the ball and changing speeds, and she looks good because our out eld (Hunter in center, Lorena Rodriguez in

and 3 feet away from the defense. But that’s baseball. Hobbton also made two great defensive plays. A few of our misplays cost us.”

Warren was the star during a loss to Rosewood.

He held the Eagles (17-4) to three runs in 52⁄3 innings before Rosewood pounced on ve other Rebels pitchers for 10 runs in the next 11⁄3 innings.

“That spoiled what was a competitive night for us against one of the best teams in 2A,” said Rhodes, whose team fell to 7-6 yet showed it could hang with good teams. “Garris’ performance lifted us, and I still think we’re capable of making some noise late (in the playo s). We’re in a position to compete. No doubt about that. And for some reason, we seem to play better on the road.”

Bulldogs look for revenge against Tigers

Two roller-coaster teams will clash in Teachey on April 30 with each aiming to nish the regular season with a .500 record.

A win for Wallace-Rose Hill (8-9, 4-6) would be a nice act of revenge after James Kenan

TOWN OF WALLACE PUBLIC HEARING

TOWN OF WALLACE TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE May 14, 2026, after 6:00 PM

NOTICE IS HEARBY GIVEN that the Town Council of the Town of Wallace has called for a Public Hearing at the Wallace Women’s Club, located at 216 N. East Railroad Street, Wallace, NC 28466, on Thursday, May 14, 2026, after 6:00 PM for the following: The applicant is seeking to rezone 44.49 acres, Pin 331603115966 located on the

Yet the Panthers will have to battle with SL hurler Jade Basnett (10-1, 2.37 ERA, 99 strikeouts, 33 walks), and the hitting of Makenzie Herring (.550, 15 extra-base hits, 22 runs), Carley Boone (.421, team-high 21 RBIs), and Rylan Wade (.385) and Lyndsey Philyaw (.340), who have each driven in 15 runs.

Two wins could deliver the top seed in the East Region for the Panthers, though that might depend on whether No. 1 Central Davidson (17-3) and No. 2 Randleman (20-2) are in the East or West.

(6-7, 5-5) topped the Bulldogs 6-3 in Warsaw on March 31. WRH is coming in o a 17-5 win over Spring Creek in which Luke Jackson (.388) laced four hits and senior Landen Berringer was 3 of 4 and had six RBIs. Hayden Lovette (.400) had a hit, two walks and scored three times.

Will Brooks (.370) scored twice and drove in a run to help WRH forget about a 10-0 whitewashing at the hands of Midway (14-7, 10-1) two days earlier. JK enters the week after toasting Goldsboro 10-3.

Strickland lays down law to pace Crusaders

Reid Strickland did a bit of everything in Harrells Christian Academy’s 5-1 win over Wayne Christian. The senior drove in two runs and held the Eagles to one hit while striking out 11 and walking one during a 93-pitch performance.

Colten Harrell and Brayden Frederick smacked two and three hits, respectively, and combined for three RBIs.

A day later, Wilmington Christian scored nine times in the ninth inning for a 12-3 win over the Crusaders (11-6, 3-4) despite two hits from Harrell.

South side of S NC 41 Hwy

at the

Persons having questions may contact

or rfritz@wallacenc.gov.

Kaylee Guzman, Brianna Maradiaga and Yaslin Melendez) have stepped up. Kaylee has come o the bench and is making a di erence.

“We were locked in against Princeton and held a good team in check. And again, it was good team soccer.”

Guzman, Gabriel Debman and Bayleen Flores connected as WRH beat Midway 3-0 early last week.

The next day, Flores scored her team-leading 12th and 13th goals of the campaign during a 2-0 win over Spring Creek.

Debman, who has seven goals, picked up her third assist.

Ly said he’s getting solid play from Kaylann Leon, Bella Sabillon and Alison Rozalez. Sabillon, who made a save on a penalty kick, has stepped in to play goalie in the absence of Gissele Lincona.

“We’re communicating so much better,” Ly said. “That’s big in soccer and any sport. We’re hoping to have Gissele back for James Kenan.”

Wilson’s 22 cage ringers have energized the Tigers. Upstart wing Yaneidi Cruz has 10 goals and 11 assists.

JK plays Princeton in Warsaw before its matchup with WRH, where a win would give the Bulldogs at least a share of the Swine Valley title. Though should JK beat Princeton and fall to WRH, there would be a three-way tie in the standings.

“I’m proud of the girls for the job they’ve done to put themselves in position to have a chance to go do something special,” said JK second-year coach Kenny Williams. “To a degree, I feel like we have overachieved a bit, especially considering some of the injuries and adversity we’ve dealt with, and I’m most proud of them for just hanging in there and pushing through one game at a time.

“We’re not the biggest or fastest team. We don’t have the strongest kicking legs. We’re not really capable of blowing anybody out, and we struggle at times to put the ball in the net.”

But the Tigers nd ways to score — and win.

Cruz and Wilson scored, Noilin Rodriguez had an assist, and Gabriel Outlaw made ve saves when WRH beat Goldsboro 2-1 last week. The one the senior didn’t stop was a penalty kick.

Cruz and Wilson received assists from Josselyn Gomez and Angie Irula as JK beat Lakewood by the same score.

Rebels so close to nabbing CC title

For all intents and purposes, the Carolina Conference is North Duplin’s to win.

All it will take is wins over cellar-dweller West Columbus (0-17, 0-11) and Lakewood (5-10, 4-6).

That would give the Rebels at least a share of the title.

This was set up by ND’s 4-0 win over Hobbton (10-5, 8-2). The Wildcats face lightweights East Columbus (2-13, 2-8) and then Union (10-5, 7-4).

Carrly Strickland scored twice, and Tristen Stemmler and Sasha Arguijo each added a goal. ND led 3-0 at halftime.

The win put a bit of salve on the Rebels’ 3-0 loss to East Bladen (11-5-1, 7-3) ve days earlier. Strickland scored ve times during a 7-0 triumph over Rosewood. She leads ND in scoring with 20 goals and four assists. Stemmler placed ve in the back of the net and entered the week with 17 goals. Arguijo has 10 scores and four assists.

ND has gone 32-89 since starting soccer in 2015, with its lone winning season coming after last season’s 8-7 nish.

SOCCER from page B1

print, ED may have already captured its fourth ECC title in six seasons, nabbing outright crowns in ’24, ’22 and sharing the trophy with Clinton in ’21. There was no o cial season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Panthers were to face last-place South Lenoir (4 -12 -1, 1-7) twice this week, needing just one win to seal the ECC regular season title. They nish with matches against Princeton and Wallace-Rose Hill in which they will be favored, having beaten both schools earlier this spring.

ED entered this week as the No. 12 RPI school in 4A, a spot that will give Jones and company a bye into the sec -

ond round. Clinton (12 - 5 -1), ironically, is No. 10. No. 8 North Johnston (14-3-2) is the only other East school in front of the Panthers.

Yet seeds often mean little in the playo s as it’s often hard to compare one conference against another.

“It’s how you play when you get there,” Jones said. “We peaked the last two years during the playo s. You always have to play good defense, and a good goalie can beat any team.

“But I like how we are playing team soccer.”

Mata-Aguilar netted a hat trick in the 9-0 conquest of Pender. Hernandez-Espino and Raegan Campbell each banged in two scores, while Rodriguez and Ashley Salinas found the back of the net once.

ND’s Carrly

scored ve goals in a game last week and has 20 for the season.

TOWN OF KENANSVILLE PUBLIC HEARING

As per N.C.G.S. 160A-364, the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Kenansville has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Town Hall located at 141 Routledge Road, Kenansville, N.C. 28349 to receive public comment on the following zoning matter:

The Town of Kenansville has received a request to consider extending the manufactured housing overlay to include the property on the right side of N Church Street beginning at the corner of Mallard and N Church Street and ending at the corner of Seminary and N Church Street. The request will include the following parcel numbers: 13-2078, 13-1195, 13-E061, 13-7, 13-559, 13-1657, 13-509, 13-4, 13-2, 13-3, 13-5, 13-6, 13-1996, 13-677, 13-488, 13-3102, 13-2651, 13-2653, 13-1763, 13-550, 13-1196, 13-1770, 13-1753, 13-555, 13-1629, 13-1655, 13-1095, 13-1727, 8925987

Anyone with comments or questions concerning this matter may attend the public hearing to speak on the matter. To obtain further information and view a copy of the map identifying the subject properties, you may do so by calling 910-296-0369 or visit the Kenansville Town Hall.

This 8th day of April 2026.

Anna West, Town Manager Town of Kenansville

TOWN OF ROSE HILL PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

SUBMISSION OF FISCAL YEAR 26/27 TOWN OF ROSE HILL PROPOSED BUDGET AND BUDGET ORDINANCE

Day: Tuesday

Date: May 12, 2026

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Place: Rose Hill Town Hall: Main Meeting Room, 103 S.E. Railroad St., Rose Hill, NC 28458

Purpose: To hear and record public comments regarding the proposed FY 2627 Budget and Budget Ordinance for the Town of Rose Hill. The budget will not be adopted after the public hearing.

Day: Tuesday

Date: May 12, 2026

Time: 6:00 pm

Place:

Said proposed Budget Ordinance is available for public inspection in the O ces of the Rose Hill Town Clerk and Finance O cer (located in Rose Hill Town Hall) during normal o ce hours (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The proposed Budget Ordinance is also posted on the Town of Rose Hill’s website. Notice is further given that the adoption of the FY 26-27 Budget and Budget Ordinance may be considered at the Board’s regular meeting which shall be held on June 9, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in Rose Hill Town Hall at 103 S.E. Railroad Street, Rose Hill, NC 28458. The budget must be adopted no later than June 30, 2026. Any person needing special accommodations, Please contact 910-289-3159 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.

Publish April 30 & May 7

TOWN OF ROSE HILL PUBLIC HEARING

the Rose Hill Town Clerk, located in the Town Hall during normal business hours, Monday-Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.

Written comments on this request will be accepted two (2) business days prior to May 12, 2026 to the Town Clerk, Mrs. Keren Parker.

obituaries

Consonja Hall

April 22, 1958 – April 17, 2026

Kenansville- With deep sorrow, we announce that Ms. Consonja Hall, age 67, was called home to be with the Lord on Friday, April 17, 2026, at ECU Health Kenansville in Kenansville, North Carolina. Her unwavering faith was an inspiration to all, and we nd peace knowing she is resting in the arms of the Savior. The Celebration of Life will be on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 1 p.m. at J. Bernado Memorial Chapel, 195 Kenansville Hwy. Warsaw, NC 28398. There will be no viewing prior to the service. She will be laid to rest at Miller Cemetery, Perry Miller Road, Kenansville, NC.

Garland Maddox

Aug. 28, 1938 – April 20, 2026

Garland Ervin Maddox, 87, of Beulaville, NC, passed away April 20, 2026, in Kenansville, NC. Funeral service will be at noon, Monday, April 27, 2026, at Daisy Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Beulaville, NC. Public viewing will be from 11 a.m. to noon (one hour prior to the service). Interment following the service at Daisy Chapel MBC cemetery.

Ralph Earl Culbreth

March 18, 1942 – April 20, 2026

Ralph Earl Culbreth, 84, passed away Monday, April 20, 2026, at his home in Magnolia, NC. Mr. Culbreth was born on March 18, 1942, in Duplin County, NC, to the late Harvey G. Culbreth and Eliza Sutton Culbreth. A memorial service will be held at noon on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Faith Independent Baptist Church, Magnolia, NC. Mr. Culbreth will be buried in Magnolia Cemetery.

Mr. Ralph is survived by wife, Betty L. Culbreth of the home; son, Ralph Culbreth and wife, Jean of Kinston; daughter, Lynette Busbee and Ronald Pigott of Magnolia; grandchildren, David Culbreth and Missy, Aaron Busbee, Amie McClure and Amanda Wood and Gregory; great grandchildren, Barrett, GrayLynn, Braxton, and Bryson McClure; and sister, Jewel Hordinski of Willoughby, Ohio.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Culbreth was preceded in death by his brothers, Bill and Dewey Culbreth, and his sisters, Goldie Stoddard and Margaret Culbreth.

Mildred Wallace

April 25, 1939 –April 20, 2026

Mildred Wallace, 86, of Kenansville, NC, passed away April 20, 2026, at her residence. Funeral service will be at noon on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at The Kingdom Hall, 405 Rosemary Road, Rose Hill, NC. Burial will take place at Devotional Gardens in Warsaw following the service.

Roger Ross

March 22, 1946 –April 20, 2026

Roger Ross, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, passed away on April 20, 2026, leaving behind a lifetime of love, hard work, and cherished memories for all who knew him.

Roger had the biggest heart and loved his family deeply, especially his grandchildren, who meant the world to him. He never hesitated to drop everything to be there for them. He was someone you could always count on— steady, dependable, and full of love. If there was ever a way to make things better, he would nd it. That’s just who he was.

He was a skilled mechanic who could x just about anything and was always willing to lend a helping hand. He took great pride in passing his knowledge down to his family, teaching them not only how to work with their hands, but the value of patience, dedication, and doing things the right way. His legacy will live on through the hands and hearts of those he taught.

Roger was a hard worker and a provider in every sense. Whether he was selling his homemade “Roger’s Fishing Weights” or sharing fresh pecans, he found joy in giving and took pride in the things he created and provided for others.

In his free time, he found peace and happiness shing, enjoying the quiet moments by the water. He loved to joke and had a way of making people laugh, even in the simplest moments. He would always tell it like it is—his honesty was something people respected and appreciated.

He shared a deep and lasting love with his wife, Melanie, the love of his life. Their bond was truly special, built on years of devotion, partnership, and unwavering care for one another. He loved her ercely and was always looking out for her, a love that was clear to anyone who knew them.

Roger’s family and friends were his greatest pride and joy. Whether sharing laughs, spending time together, or o ering guidance, he made sure everyone knew how much they meant to him. We were so lucky to have him. His presence was a constant source of comfort, and his love is something that will be carried on forever.

He will be deeply missed but never forgotten by all who loved him.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Melanie Ross; his children, Maria Whaley (James), Michael Garcia, and Roger Scott Ross; his grandchildren, Mikhayla Minton (Chris), Ghabriel Whaley (Logan), Destinie Kornegay (Zion), Jordyn Dick (Daniel), Brodeigh Whaley (Alpha), Dharian Whaley, Lyllianaha Whaley, Ethan Garcia, Payton Garcia, and Lauren Ross; and 9 great-grandchildren. Services are private.

Ted Ellis Thigpen

March 12, 1954 –April 20, 2026

Ted Ellis Thigpen, age 72, died Monday, April 20, 2026, at home. He is survived by his wife, Judy Thigpen of Beulaville; sons, Kevin Thigpen of Beulaville, Brian Thigpen and wife Zenda of Beulaville; sister, Joan Price and husband Tony of Pink Hill; brothers, Frankie Thigpen and wife Rhonda of Chinquapin, Phillip Thigpen and wife Cathy of Chinquapin; ve grandchildren, Austin Stewart, Annika Thigpen, John John, Jordan Thigpen, Sara Thigpen, Ty Thigpen; and two great grandchildren, Declan Thigpen, and Landon Thigpen.

A funeral service is Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 7 p.m. followed by visitation at Serenity Funeral Home in Beulaville. The graveside service is Friday, April 24, 2026, at 1 p.m. at East Duplin Memorial Gardens in Beulaville.

Pinkey Copper

Jan. 4, 1952 – April 20, 2026

Mrs. Pinkey Mora McArthur Copper, age 74, of Chesapeake, VA, formerly of Duplin County, NC, passed away in Chesapeake, VA.

A viewing will be held on Friday, May 1, 2026, one hour prior to the service from 10-10:45 a.m., immediately followed by the funeral service at 11 a.m. at the Rose Hill Funeral Home Chapel in Rose Hill, NC. Burial will follow at Dobson Family Cemetery in Magnolia, NC.

Left to cherish her precious memories are four brothers: Earl McArthur, Jr., Calvin McArthur, Dexter McArthur, all of Brooklyn, NY and Benjamin McArthur (Marie) of Columbus, GA; four sisters: Angelyn McArthur and Barbara Stephens, both of Brooklyn, NY, Mary Reid of Queens, NY and Quenia D. Kenneybrew of Inglewood, CA; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends that will miss her dearly.

J.D. Thigpen Jr.

March 5, 1948 –April 23, 2026

J.D. Thigpen Jr., 78, passed away on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Novant New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, NC

Preceded in death by his spouse, Sheral Houston Thigpen. A funeral service is Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 7 p.m. followed by visitation at Community Funeral Home in Beulaville, NC. There will be a private burial. He is survived by son Je rey Thigpen of Potters Hill, NC; sister Betty Simpson of Richlands, NC; and grandchild Jacob Rowan of Wilmington, NC

Raeford Bruce Kennedy

Feb. 1, 1927 – April 21, 2026

Raeford Bruce Kennedy, 99, died on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at Onslow House, Jacksonville, NC.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Ellen Williams Kennedy, and a son, Craig Kennedy.

A funeral service is Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 3 p.m. at Community Funeral Home in Beulaville, NC. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at East Duplin Memorial Gardens in Beulaville, NC

He is survived by son Andy Kennedy (Joyce) of Roanoke Rapids, NC; grandchildren Kathryn Kennedy-Slagle (Mark) of Hanover, NH and Carolyn Hennessey (Matthew) of Greensboro, NC; and greatgranddaughter Laurel Hennessey of Greensboro, NC

Robert Ray Hebert

July 1, 1938 – April 20, 2026

Robert Ray Hebert, known a ectionately as “Papa” or Mr. Bob, a longtime resident of Kenansville, North Carolina, passed away on April 20, 2026. He was 87 years old.

Born on July 1, 1938, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Robert’s time in the United States Air Force brought him to Goldsboro, North Carolina. There he began a multifaceted career as an electrical contractor, real estate agent, and all-around entrepreneur. Through his hard work and dedication, he provided a strong foundation for his family while building a life rooted in eastern North Carolina. He later made Kenansville his home for many years and was the beloved husband of Jon Ann Dutton Hebert.

He is survived by his wife, Jon Ann Dutton Hebert; his sister, Juanita Wilson and husband Don, of Covington, Louisiana; his sisterin-law, Joanne Hebert, of Houma, Louisiana; his sister-in-law, Gloria Hebert, of Gladstone, Missouri; his daughter, Terry Lynn Carter, of Stedman, North Carolina; his son, Robert Ray Hebert II, and daughter-in-law, Terri Hebert, of White Oak, North Carolina; his son, James Grady Dutton Jr., and daughter-in-law, Dawn Dutton, of Panama City Beach, Florida; his son, Jonathan Stewart Dutton, and daughter-in-law, Janice Dutton, of Panama City, Florida; seven grandchildren; six greatgrandchildren; and other loving family members who will carry forward his memory. He will be remembered by those who knew him in the Kenansville community for his entrepreneurial spirit and the love he showed his family. Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Alcie and Lillian Hebert; his brother, Darrell “Sonny” Hebert; his brother, Alcie Paul “AP” Hebert Jr.; Paul Ray Hebert, his son; and his son-inlaw, Bobby Carter. There will be no formal funeral service. Instead, the family will hold a celebration of life at a later date. Details will be announced as they become available. Friends and loved ones are invited to share memories and condolences with the family. Updates can be found through Serenity Funeral Home. In lieu of owers, memorial donations may be made to Word of Faith Food Ministries in Kenansville, NC.

Margaret Rivenbark Kennedy

April 24, 1931 – April 21, 2026

Margaret Rivenbark Kennedy, 94, of Willard, NC, passed away Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at the Lower Cape Fear Life Care Center in Wilmington, NC. Born in Pender County on April 24, 1931, she was the youngest daughter of the late William Owen Rivenbark and Maggie Murray Rivenbark. Also preceding her in death were her husband of 61 years, Henry Scott Kennedy; sisters, Lola Rivenbark, Catherine Shephard, and Lillian Romanak; and brothers, William Ivey Rivenbark and Cleveland Rivenbark.

Left to cherish her memory are her sons Henry Scott Kennedy, Jr. and wife Brenda of Je erson, NC and William Franklin Kennedy and wife Tammy of Willard, NC who were her care givers for ve years, granddaughters Sherry Ramsey and friend Dan Marks of Wilmington, NC and Windy O’Kelley and husband Scott of Kernersville, NC. In her earlier years, Margaret was employed with Townsend Auto Parts and Blanchard Pontiac in Wallace, NC, as a bookkeeper. Later in life, she worked at Spanky’s Cleaners. She loved working in the yard and gardening. She was a devoted fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels. She was a member of Watha Baptist Church. Graveside services and internment will be Sunday, April 26, at 2 p.m. at Riverview Memorial Park in Watha, NC. The service will be o ciated by the Reverend Scott Kennedy, Pastor at Watha Baptist Church. Active pallbearers will consist of Richard Murray, Roy Evans, Charles Hawley, Todd Peterson, Glenn Batten and Red Robbins.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the sta of the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Car Care Center for exemplary care and compassion given to Margaret Kennedy in the nal stage of her life. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center in her name.

April 26, 1944 – April 22, 2026

Mrs. Maggie Frances Gibbons, age 81, of Bryans Road, MD, passed away on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, VA.

A viewing will be held on Friday, May 1, 2026, one hour prior to the service from 2:30-3:15 p.m., immediately followed by the funeral service at 3:30 p.m. at the Rose Hill Funeral Home Chapel in Rose Hill, NC. Burial will follow at Little Mission Cemetery in Magnolia, NC.

Left to cherish her precious memories are four daughters: Gail, Angela, Shenita and Kendra; three sisters: Alice, Evelyn and Veretta; eight grandchildren: Ebony, John, Darnell, David, Bryahna, Keonna, KeSean and DaeSean; six great-grandchildren: Chalel, Riley, Ryan, Breon, Zay’d and Zay’mir; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends that will miss her dearly.

Pickle Festival turns 40

Thousands ock to Mount Olive for festival’s anniversary

The Mount Olive Pickle Festival celebrated its 40th anniversary this weekend with a two-day event drawing thousands to Mount Olive.

Friday night festivities included a live Spare Change concert and the traditional Cuke Patch Glow Run at the University of Mount Olive, where runners dressed in pickle-themed costumes. A drone show lit up the sky above Breazeale Avenue around 9 p.m.

Saturday brought heavy crowds as Center Street and nearby blocks closed to tra c. Wayne County school buses operated as shuttle “pickle buses,” moving attendees from remote parking areas into the festival.

Events included the Tour de Pickle bike ride, a pickle-eating contest, a tractor show and exhibits at the Mount Olive History Museum. Entertainment ranged from live music and dance performances to roaming acts and carnival attractions.

About 200 vendors o ered pickle-themed foods and traditional fair items. Organizers estimate 30,000 to 40,000 visitors attended.

Stanly NewS Journal

THE

WHAT’S HAPPENING

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.

The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom. Sen. Lindsay Graham said at a news conference that it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington Hilton.

Trumps call for ABC to re Kimmel — again — after morbid joke about rst lady

Both President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, are calling on ABC to re Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night comic joked last week that the rst lady had “the glow of an expectant widow.” Kimmel made the joke while delivering a mock comic routine for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — two nights before that event was cut short when a man tried to rush the ballroom where the Trumps and other leaders were. The president said Kimmel’s words were “beyond the pale.” Kimmel described the joke during his Monday night monologue as a light roast about the rst couple’s age di erence.

Norwood unveils Battle of Colson’s Mill mural

Albemarle seeks developer for former police headquarters

The city is seeking proposals for the historic downtown redevelopment

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — A 90-year-old building that once served as Albemarle’s police headquarters is now available for redevelopment, as the city seeks a private partner to help shape the next chapter of the property.

The city issued a request for proposals this month for

The dedication was a highlight of the 32nd Arbor Day festival

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

NORWOOD — The town of Norwood’s annual Arbor Day Festival carried added signicance this year with the unveiling of a new mural commemorating a Revolutionary War battle fought locally more than two centuries ago.

Serving as the focal point of the 32nd Norwood Arbor Day Festival, the Battle of Colson’s Mill mural was unveiled Saturday morning at the town’s out-

the sale and redevelopment of the former Albemarle Police Department building at 203 N. Second St., which has been vacant since 2020.

Built in 1936 as a post o ce under the Works Progress Administration, the two-story, 7,800-square-foot structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Colonial Revival design elements include original masonry, terrazzo oors, 14-foot ceilings and tall windows.

Appraised at $665,000 in December 2025, the property

door art gallery near the Farmers Market area between Main and Campbell streets.

While festivalgoers enjoyed the usual slate of events and live entertainment, this year’s celebration also emphasized the historical signi cance of the July 21, 1780, battle, which resulted in a Patriot victory in what is now Norwood.

“This Arbor Day is particularly special since it’s being celebrated in conjunction with the festivities leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026,” Norwood Mayor Linda Campbell said. “As part of these observances, the town is very pleased to include the unveiling of the newest mural in our downtown gallery, which depicts the Battle of Colson’s Mill.”

The mural depicts Patriot militia forces led by William Lee Davidson routing a group of

Prosecutors say he suppressed alternative COVID-19 origin theories

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health.

The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an e ort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

“These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the Ameri-

CRIME LOG THURSDAY

April 20

• Heidi Lynn Wise, 58, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a revoked license, and other charges.

April 21

• Charles Jarmall Battle, 35, was arrested for second degree kidnapping, false imprisonment and interfering with emergency communication.

• Eric Paul Moore, 60, was arrested for assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

can people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday. “Government o cials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”

Morens faces charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsi cation of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to a Justice Department news release. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. An attorney for Morens declined to comment.

The indictment re ects Republicans’ long-held belief that the federal government covered up key information about COVID-19 as the pandemic unfolded. Despite numerous probes, the origins of COVID have never been proven. Sci-

• Brittany Faith Mauldin, 34, was arrested for possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamine; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a controlled substance; and possession of a controlled substance on prison/ jail premises, and other charges.

April 22

• Eric Walter Wilhite, 41, was arrested for assault in icting serious injury, possession of a rearm by a felon and assault by pointing a gun, and other charges.

• Colleen Inez Kelly, 44, was

entists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insu cient evidence to prove either theory.

Blanche said Morens’ alleged conduct was part of an e ort to “suppress alternative theories” about COVID-19’s origins. The Justice Department also accused Morens of having an improper relationship with a collaborator, including allegedly accepting a gift of wine and discussing COVID-19 research and potential publications in a prominent medical journal.

The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

arrested for misdemeanor child abuse.

• Jadasia Mone Richardson, 24, was arrested for communicating threats and show cause.

April 23

• James Everette Foster, 43, was arrested for assault on a female, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and communicating threats.

April 25

• Miguel Perez Gomez, 38, was arrested for driving while impaired, reckless driving with wanton disregard and no operator's license, and other charges.

with your community!

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Stanly County.

April 30

“Our American Journey in Music”

7 p.m.

The

of America,” a specially commissioned work by North Carolina composer Bruce W. Tippette, celebrating American heritage as part of the America 250 observance. Free or low-cost admission.

Stanly County Agri-Civic Center 26032 Newt Road Albemarle

America 250 Patriotic Composition Premiere

The Stanly County Chorale and Stanly County Concert Band will debut a commissioned patriotic composition as part of the county’s America250 bicentennial celebration programming.

Stanly County Agri-Civic Center 26032 Newt Road Albemarle

May 2

Camp Forget-Me-Not

Tillery Compassionate Care hosts a free grief day camp for children ages 5 through 18 and their families who have experienced a loss. The program combines grief support, grief education and activities; each child receives a memory bear.

Camp Joshua 29387 Pennington Road Albemarle

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | LARRY ELDER

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter,

COLUMN | EMILY STACK

former Democratic National Committee

Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

If China restricts these products at home, why are they flooding our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was

legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing

the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else.

It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one.

And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses students at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last month.

Tillis says he’s ready to move ahead with con rming

Warsh

as Trump’s pick as Fed chair

The Senate Banking Committee was set to vote after the DOJ closed its inquiry of Jerome Powell

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Republican senator who had e ectively blocked conrmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve said Sunday he was dropping his opposition after the Department of Justice ended its investigation of the current central bank chair.

The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a big hurdle to Trump’s e ort to install Kevin Warsh, a former high-ranking Fed o cial, in the job in place of Jerome Powell, long under White House pressure to lower interest rates. Tillis’ opposition was enough to stall the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.

“I am prepared to move on with the con rmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” two days after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said her o ce’s investigation of the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovations was over. Powell’s brief congressional testimony last summer about that work was also under review.

MURAL from page A1

British loyalists near the junction of the Rocky and Pee Dee rivers. The project is part of the county’s broader America 250 initiative, which is organizing local events and historical recognitions tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.

State Rep. Cody Huneycutt attended the unveiling and later praised the project.

“Enjoyed the morning at the 2026 Arbor Day Festival in the Town of Norwood, NC, for the unveiling and dedication of the Colson Mill mural in honor of our nation’s America 250

celebrations,” Huneycutt said.

“Thank you to the Williams brothers for creating this mural for our community to enjoy.”

The accompanying plaque provides historical context:

“At daybreak, July 21, 1780, six miles south of here near Colson’s Mill, Colonel William Lee Davidson’s Patriot militias surprised and scattered a band of Loyalist recruits who supported the King of England. Colson’s Mill was one of the rst Patriot victories in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution and encouraged other colonists to support the

The Fed’s internal watchdog is scrutinizing a project, now at $2.5 billion after earlier estimates had put it at $1.9 billion, that the Republican president has criticized for cost overruns. Powell had asked in July for the inspector general’s review.

“I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing,” Tillis said. “Maybe we nd a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn’t? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to a criminal prosecution. That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early,” he said.

Tillis, who infuriated Trump in June for opposing his big tax and spending cuts bill over Medicaid reductions

American War of Independence.

“After the victory at Colson’s, the winds of war shifted with subsequent victories at Kings Mountain and Cowpens. The wider campaign continued through Guilford Courthouse and ultimately Yorktown, where the British surrendered.”

Local Albemarle artists Jack and Eli Williams of WMS Brothers, who have painted numerous murals across Stanly County, created the piece.

In a statement, they described the work as an abstract interpretation of the historic battle.

“Our inspiration came from

and then announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, added that he had received assurances from the Justice Department that “the case is completely and fully settled … and that the only way an investigation would be opened would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals.”

Important

week for Fed leadership

The committee on Saturday said it planned to vote Wednesday on Warsh’s nomination. The ranking Democrat, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responded with a statement that “no Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.” Also Wednesday, Fed policymakers will meet and are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting, shrugging o Trump’s demands for a cut. At a news conference, Powell could indicate whether he will remain on the Fed’s board of governors after his term as chair ends, an unusual but not completely unprecedented step that would deny Trump the opportunity to ll another seat on the seven-member board. Powell’s term as a governor lasts until January 2028.

At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates and pledged to be “an independent actor” if con rmed as chair. Hours before that, Trump had been asked in a CNBC interview whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut rates. “I would,” the president said.

Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis has spoken out forcefully about Powell, decrying the inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “vindictive prosecution” and suggested it threatened the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had gotten assurances from the Justice Department that he needed “to feel

the cubist art style, using sharp angles, broken shapes and bold color blocks to capture the chaos, speed and intensity of the battle, feeling loud and full of motion. The blue forms with white lines represent the patriot militia, while the reds and oranges symbolize the loyalists. The mill sits at center, and the owing shapes along the bottom represent the meeting point of the Pee Dee River and Rocky River.”

The mural was funded by the Stanly County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the America 250 N.C. Stanly County Committee.

like they were not using DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his con rmation.”

On Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters whether there was now smooth sailing for Warsh with the end of the Justice Department’s investigation. “I imagine it’s smooth,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “is going to be fantastic.” The president said he still wanted to nd out “how can a building of that size cost ... whatever it’s going to be.”

Trump visited the Fed building in July and, in front of television cameras, said the renovations would run $3.1 billion. Powell, standing next to him, said after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, that the president’s latest price tag was incorrect.

Justice Department pursues Trump adversaries

The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived adversaries. For months it had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct. Other e orts by the department to prosecute Trump’s adversaries, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, have also been unsuccessful. Last month, a federal judge quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “to harass and pressure Powell to resign” and open the path for a new chair. A prosecutor handling the Powell case had acknowledged at a closed-door court hearing that the government had not found any evidence of a crime. Pirro said last Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that ”there is no doubt that we will investigate” if the inspector general nds evidence of criminal conduct. Warsh is a nancier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump nominated him in January.

“Our inspiration came from the cubist art style, using sharp angles, broken shapes and bold color blocks to capture the chaos, speed and intensity of the battle.”

Jack and Eli Williams of WMS Brothers

US soldier charged with using classi ed intel to win $400K on Maduro raid being released on bond

The case fuels a bipartisan push to regulate increasingly popular prediction markets

By Gary D. Robertson

The Associated Press

RALEIGH — A U.S. spe -

cial forces soldier who took part in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be released on bond on charges accusing him of using classi ed information about the operation to win more than $400,000 in an online prediction market, a federal magistrate said last Friday.

The magistrate in North Carolina said he would allow Gannon Ken Van Dyke to be released and told him to report to a New York federal courthouse by Tuesday to continue his case there.

Bearded with arm tattoos, Van Dyke said little during the nearly hourlong hearing, during which he was appointed a federal public defender who declined to comment afterward.

Christ the King Christian Academy is registering students for the school year through

The sites allow people to trade on almost anything — from the Super Bowl to U.S. elections and even the winners of the TV reality shows.

A publicly listed phone number listed for Van Dyke isn’t in service.

righteous military operation,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.

Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets, said it found someone trading on classi ed government information, alerted the Justice Department and “cooperated with their investigation.”

Massive pro ts from well-timed bets aroused public attention days after the raid in Venezuela and brought bipartisan calls for stricter regulation of the markets.

“This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to pro t o of a righteous military operation.”

Kash Patel, FBI Director

parallel complaint against Van Dyke.

The $250,000 unsecured bond did not require Van Dyke to put up any money.

Hot dogs, fixings, drink, and cookie available

Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke used his access to classi ed information about the operation to capture Maduro in January to win money on the prediction market site Polymarket.

Van Dyke, who is stationed at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, was charged last Thursday with the unlawful use of con dential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

He could face up to 10 years on four of the criminal counts, and up to 20 years on a fth, the government said Friday.

For more information, call

Van Dyke, 38, was involved for about a month in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro, according to the New York federal prosecutor’s o ce. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classi ed or sensitive information” related to the operations, but prosecutors say he used what he knew to make a series of bets related to Maduro being out of power by Jan. 31.

The sudden rise of these markets has led to growing scrutiny by Congress and state governments. Some lawmakers alarmed by highly speci c, well-timed trades on the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and wagers on President Donald Trump’s next moves have pushed for guardrails against insider trading.

Located at 210 N. Ferry Rd, New London. Follow the signs.

“This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to pro t o of a

The Trump administration has been supportive of the industry’s expansion. The president’s eldest son is an adviser for both Polymarket and its main competitor, Kalshi, and is a Polymarket investor. Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is launching its own prediction market called Truth Predict.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, announced Thursday that it had led a

Christ the King Christian Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at this school. It does not discriminate based on race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school -administered programs.

Christ the King Christian Academy is registering students for the school year through

Christ the King Christian Academy is registering students for the school year through

Christ the King Christian Academy is registering students for the school year through

Christ the King Christian Academy is registering students for the school year through

Hot dogs, fixings, drink, and cookie available

Hot dogs, fixings, drink, and cookie available

Hot dogs, fixings, drink, and cookie available

Located at 210 N. Ferry Rd, New London. Follow the signs.

Located at 210 N. Ferry Rd, New London. Follow the signs.

from page A1

sits on approximately 0.28 acres at the corner of North Second Street and West North Street.

“This building has served Albemarle across generations, from a WPA-era post o ce to a cornerstone of public safety, and now it’s ready for its next chapter,” said Lindsey Almond, the city’s economic development director. “You just can’t replicate this kind of character. For the right developer, especially someone experienced in historic preservation, this is a truly unique opportunity.”

That complaint alleges that Van Dyke moved $35,000 from his personal bank account into a cryptocurrency exchange account Dec. 26 — a little over a week before U.S. forces ew into Caracas and seized Maduro.

Van Dyke made a series of bets on when Maduro might be removed from power, according to the complaint. He placed those bets between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, with the vast majority occurring the night of Jan. 2 — just hours before the rst missiles struck Caracas.

The bets resulted in “more than $404,000 of pro ts,” the complaint says.

“The defendant was entrusted with con dential information about U.S. operations and yet took action that endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way,” said Michael Selig, the commission’s chairman.

and increase downtown activity.

“Downtown Albemarle is evolving quickly,” Almond said. “You’re surrounded by signi cant recent investment, new housing, small business growth and the Pfei er University Health Sciences Center. City Council is very intentional about encouraging development that builds on this momentum, especially projects that support walkability, generate foot tra c and help create a vibrant destination into the evening hours.”

Almond encouraged developers and investors to weigh whether the site ts their vision ahead of the deadline.

For more information, call

Hot dogs, fixings, drink, and cookie available

For more information, call

Located at 210 N. Ferry Rd, New London. Follow the signs.

Christ the King Christian Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at this school. It does not discriminate based on race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.

Located at 210 N. Ferry Road, New London. Follow the signs. For more information call,

For more information, call

The property is eligible for federal, state and local historic tax credits, along with additional grants and incentives. Permitted uses include commercial, residential, o ce or institutional development.

The city has provided developers with market data, an economic opportunities report and the building’s appraisal as part of the RFP package. Priority will be given to proposals that support job creation, address market gaps

“For someone who values historic character and wants to be part of shaping a downtown on the rise, this is the kind of project that doesn’t come around often,” Almond said. “We encourage developers and investors to review the RFP, determine whether the site ts their vision and consider submitting a proposal.”

King Christian Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at this school. It does not discriminate based on race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.

Nicholas Fasul Finch February 27, 1988 – April 28, 2020

New London. Follow the signs.

New London. Follow the signs.

New London. Follow the signs.

Proposals are due May 6 at noon; additional information about the RFP process is available at albemarlenc.gov/RFP.

OBITUARIES

VIVIAN EDWARDS TALBERT

FEB. 2, 1942 – APRIL 22, 2026

Vivian Edwards Talbert, 84, of Albemarle, passed away on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Atrium Health Stanly.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Edwards Funeral Home in Norwood. Brandi Edwards will o ciate. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

Vivian was born on February 2, 1942, to the late Hubert Beagle and Geneva Lee Edwards.

She was a devoted member of Union Chapel Methodist Church, serving in their Missions Program. Vivian was a volunteer member of the Stanly County Christian Ministry serving at both the Food Table in Albemarle and Norwood location. She also volunteered for the Back Pack program providing after school meals for Elementary School as well as for the Girl Scouts of America for over 30 years, particularly the Hornets Nest Council. She was also the Chair for the Pray Shaw Ministry at Union Chapel. Vivian enjoyed the Thursday morning Bible Study at Parkway House Restaurant. She was one of Elvis’ biggest fans, and on two of her birthdays, she was serenaded by an Elvis impersonator.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband: Terry Brown Talbert, grandchild Abigail Slater and her siblings: Benji Edwards, Leon Edwards, Don Edwards, and Jean Webb.

She is survived by her children: Sharon Taylor, Michael Beachum (Cindy), and Angie Slater (Chris), grandchildren: Heather Poythress (Robby), Nicki Mauldin (David), Dudley Beachum (Kianna), Jennie Slater, and Ian Slater, great-grandchildren: Skylar, Drake, Connor, Olive, MacKenzie, and Raylin, her sister Miriam Evans, and numerous nieces and nephews.

SANDY HUNT

OCT. 22, 1970 – APRIL 27, 2026

Sandy Michele Taylor Hunt, 55, of Stan eld, passed away on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Tucker Hospice House in Kannapolis.

Sandy was born on October 22, 1970, to Tommy Randall and Hilda Helms Taylor. She worked as a travel nurse and was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church in Albemarle.

She is preceded in death by her brothers: Tommy Randall Taylor Jr. and Michael Shane Taylor.

In addition to her parents, she is survived by her husband, Glen Hunt, children, Leslie Dabbs, Marc Dabbs, and Michael Dabbs, and two grandchildren, Ryan and Jayce. Memorials may be made to the Stanly County Humane Society, 2049 Badin Road, Albemarle, NC 28001.

Dirk Kempthorne, former Idaho governor and US Interior secretary, dead at 74

He went from mayor of Boise to the president’s Cabinet

By Gene Johnson The Associated Press

FORMER IDAHO Gov. and U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has died at age 74, his family said in a written statement Saturday.

Kempthorne died last Friday evening in Boise, the statement said. No cause was given. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year.

“Beyond his public service, he was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose greatest joy came from time spent with family and the people he met along the way,” his family said. “He had a rare gift for truly seeing others — remembering names, stories, and the small details that made each person feel known and valued.”

Kempthorne, a moderate Republican, was elected mayor of Boise in 1985 at age 34, and he was credited with revitalizing the downtown by securing an agreement to build a convention center and promoting other development. He served seven years before winning the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Steve Symms in 1992.

During his time in Washington, he authored legislation — signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton — to end unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments.

Rather than run for reelection in 1998, he entered an open election for governor, trouncing his Democratic opponent by garnering more than two-thirds of the vote.

ing his e orts to push oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico and o Alaska. More than 100 conservation groups opposed his nomination as Interior secretary, saying that as a senator he had voted to eliminate federal money for recovery of the endangered wolf, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, and to sell o federal public lands. Yet in 2008, he bucked other advisers in the White House by insisting that the polar bear should be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because of the loss of sea ice in the Arctic. He was prepared to resign over it when Bush decided to back him.

support of diplomatic channels to charter buses and an Airbus A340 to help resettle the evacuees in the U.S. and Canada. He helped Afghan refugees

At one point, with the ight fully booked, the organizers received a list of more people who needed to leave urgently.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Stanly News Journal at obits@stanlynewsjournal.com

President George W. Bush appointed him Interior secretary in 2006, a position he held until the end of Bush’s presidency — and during which he lived on a houseboat docked in the Potomac River.

“Dirk was one of the nest public servants I ever knew because he was one of the nest men,” former President George W. Bush said in a written statement Saturday. “He was considerate, smart, and capable. Dirk loved our lands and waters, and as Secretary of the Interior, he was an e ective steward of our natural resources.”

He protected polar bears

Environmentalists often found Kempthorne too accommodating to industry, cit-

“As Governor, Dirk left an enduring mark on our state,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a written statement. With the partnership of his wife, Patricia, Kempthorne “championed children and families, strengthened public education, and led transformational investments in our transportation system that will bene t Idahoans for generations.”

After leaving the federal government, he became the chief executive of a trade association of life insurance companies.

In a 2023 question-and-answer session with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Kempthorne recalled helping evacuate nearly 400 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan two years earlier, as many were being sought by the Taliban following the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal. Kempthorne and others worked frantically for months to raise money and garner the

Donald Riegle, represented Michigan in Congress under 7 presidents, dead at 88

He switched from Republican to Democrat and led Senate opposition to NAFTA

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Donald W. Riegle, who represented Michigan in Congress for nearly three decades under seven presidents, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88. Riegle, who began his career as a Republican and later became a Democrat, died Friday of cardiac arrest at his home in San Diego, according to a family statement.

“The cornerstone of our family, Don was a kind, loving, courageous leader who taught us to stand up for justice, economic opportunity, and fairness for everyone,” the statement said.

His family said Riegle was proud of ghting for the rights of working people and leading the Senate opposition to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement that resulted in the loss of many jobs in his home state. He pushed for economic development and the expansion of health insurance in Michigan.

The native of Flint, Michigan, was rst elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1966 at age 28. As a congressman, he challenged President Richard Nixon’s policies on the Vietnam War and crossed the aisle to join the Democratic Party in 1973. Three years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1994.

As chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Riegle pushed for nancial reforms of the sav-

“That night, at a total loss for answers, alone, I knelt in prayer,” Kempthorne recalled. “I said, ‘Dear God, we cannot leave these people behind, please give a path forward.’ ” He said he then had a vision of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus. It gave him an idea: The babies on the ight didn’t need their own seats, as their parents could hold them. The organizers con rmed that with the airline and were able to add an additional 50 people to the ight, Kempthorne said.

Kempthorne was born in San Diego and grew up in Spokane, Washington. His father was a regional representative for Maytag, the appliance company. His mother, a homemaker, once worked as a secretary for the Legislature in Nebraska, her home state.

Kempthorne attended San Bernardino Valley College in California before transferring to the University of Idaho, where he served as student body president and met his future wife, Patricia. After graduation he worked as executive assistant to the director of the Idaho Department of Lands before joining the Idaho Home Builders Association as the executive vice president.

Kempthorne is survived by his wife, as well as their children Heather and Je and their families.

ings and loan industry. Later, he was instrumental in getting treatment for Gulf War syndrome for military veterans who fought in the Persian Gulf in 1991.

Riegle was caught up in the Keating Five controversy, when he and four other senators faced Ethics Committee hearings in 1990 about whether they pressured federal regulators to go easy on savings and loan kingpin Charles Keating after receiving campaign contributions from him. The committee found Riegle did not break any federal laws or Senate rules but determined his conduct gave the appearance of being improper.

In 2001, Riegle became chairman of government relations for public relations rm APCO Worldwide.

In retirement, he spent time with his grandchildren and other family at his homes in Michigan and California, his family said. His wife of 48 years, Lori Hansen Riegle, was by his side when he died, the statement said.

Memorial services are pending.

STANLY SPORTS

West Stanly, South Stanly softball teams win regular-season titles

The Colts and Bulls have a combined 19-0 conference record

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — West Stan-

ly and South Stanly capped o dominant seasons with undefeated conference records, giving Stanly County two regular-season softball champions for the 2026 season.

The Colts and Rowdy Rebel Bulls combined to go 19-0 in conference play, each securing outright titles while nishing

ahead of their top challengers.

West Stanly (20-4, 12-0 Rocky River) clinched its rst regular-season conference championship since 2023 last Friday with a 10-2 road win over Mount Pleasant, which nished second in the league standings at 10-2.

South Stanly (19-2, 7-0 Yadkin Valley) also sealed its rst regular-season title since 2023 by defeating second-place Union Academy last Friday in Norwood to complete a perfect conference slate.

Both teams showed a progression from last season. West Stanly nished 21-5 overall and 11-1 in conference

Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame to induct 2026 class

Three former local athletes will be added

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame announced its 2026 class as part of its 34th annual induction ceremony.

The ceremony is scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 16 at Pfei er University’s Stokes Student Center. This year’s inductees are Donnie Poplin, David Smith and the late Roger Whitley.

Poplin, a South Stanly High graduate, was a three-sport athlete for the Rebels but made his biggest mark on the diamond, earning All-Rocky River Conference honors and team MVP from 1983 to 1985. He was the Rocky River Conference Player of the Year in 1984 before becoming the rst signee in UNC Charlotte’s 1985-86 recruiting class.

Poplin was a three-year team

captain with the 49ers, earning All-Sun Belt Conference rst-team and team MVP honors in 1989. His professional scouting career spans 34 years, including stints with Seattle, Atlanta and Cleveland. He currently serves as special assistant to the general manager for pro personnel strategy with the Kansas City Royals. Smith, an Albemarle High School standout in the 1960s, helped lead the Bulldogs to the only WNCHSAA basketball championship in program history in 1966. In tennis, Smith went 30-3 as the Bulldogs’ No. 1 player, earning All-Conference honors all three years. At Pfei er College, Smith earned three All-Conference and two All-District tennis selections, won two conference titles and quali ed for the NAIA Nationals in 1968. He was later ranked fth in North Carolina in the early 1980s and was inducted into the Pfei er Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Smith, who also served as a

play in 2025 but placed second in the Rocky River Conference.

South Stanly made the county’s biggest turnarounds, improving from a 13-14 overall record and fourth-place 4-6 YVC nish last year to conference champion status.

West Stanly coach Emily Smith praised her senior leaders following the championship run.

“What a week,” Smith said. “We were able to celebrate our three seniors, Payton (Watson), Nevaeh (Alexander) and Saylor (Edwards), for their senior night and then nish the week with a conference championship. We are thankful for our seniors and all the time and e ort they have

“We are looking forward to the conference tournament this week.”

Emily Smith, West Stanly coach

poured into our program. They are three amazing young ladies. We are looking forward to the conference tournament this week.”

The postseason now becomes the focus for both programs as they pursue deeper playo runs. Conference tournaments were scheduled for this week, with the

NCHSAA state playo brackets set to be released Monday and rst-round games beginning Tuesday. In 2025, both West Stanly and South Stanly advanced past their rst-round state playo opponents but fell short in the second round.

Elsewhere in Stanly County, the remaining three softball programs all nished below .500 this season.

North Stanly (6-12, 3-4 YVC) placed third in the YVC, a notable decline after four consecutive winning seasons. The Comets went 18-7 overall and nished second in conference play last year.

Gray Stone (5-11, 1-6 YVC) nished fourth in the conference and remains in search of its rst winning season since 2017, while Albemarle (0-6, 0-4 YVC) endured another di cult season and nished winless after posting just one victory in 2025. The Bulldogs have recorded four total wins since 2018.

championship team under Coach H.T. Webb, averaging nearly 185 yards and two touchdowns per game that season.

number of individual inductees currently in Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame

Pfei er tennis coach and vice president, remains active in community leadership across Stanly County.

Whitley was a star fullback on Albemarle High School’s 1957 WNCHSAA football

He earned All-South Piedmont Conference, All-State honors from three newspapers and All-American recognition from World Week and Scholastic magazines, and was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl.

Whitley continued his career at Ferrum Junior College and Mars Hill College — earning Hall of Fame honors at both — before a 44-year career in law enforcement that included 27 years as director

of the Criminal Justice Academy at Gaston College, where he trained nearly 2,500 ocers. He died Oct. 16, 2025, at age 85.

Induction ceremony tickets — scheduled to go on sale May 11 — are $35 in advance and jump to $50 on the day of the event. They will be available online at albemarle.recdesk.com and in person at the Jesse F. Niven Community Center, E.E. Waddell Community Center in Albemarle, Starnes-Bramlett Jewelers, Locust City Hall and Oakboro City Hall.

NFL

“Hot pick” at No. 257: Broncos made Murdock latest Mr. Irrelevant

Pittsburgh University of Bu alo linebacker Red Murdock is this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.” He was the nal pick of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Murdock expressed gratitude after being selected 257th on Saturday. The Broncos also picked Utah tight end Dallen Bentley just before Murdock. Denver became the only team to hold the last two picks since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Broncos coach Sean Payton praised Murdock’s instincts and tackling skills. Both players will attend the traditional celebration for the nal draft pick.

MLB Bauer dominates with 7-inning no-hitter for Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks Lancaster, Pa. Trevor Bauer threw a no-hitter for the Long Island Ducks against the Lancaster Stormers in the Atlantic League. Bauer allowed just one baserunner in seven innings, striking out seven on 84 pitches. The Ducks won 13-0. The former Cy Young Award winner is trying to revive his career after a 194-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2023. Bauer pitched in Japan and Mexico, where he was named the Mexican Baseball League’s pitcher of the year in 2024.

PGA

Furyk returning as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2027 with Woods out

Houston The PGA of America con rmed Jim Furyk is the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Furyk will be the fourth American captain to get another chance. Furyk was the choice after Tiger Woods took his name out of the mix following his March 27 arrest on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Europe has been dominating the matches for three decades. That includes last year at Bethpage Black when it built a record lead and held on. Furyk was captain in a losing e ort in France in 2018.

TENNIS

Reigning two-time champ Alcaraz out of French Open due to wrist injury

Madrid Carlos Alcaraz won’t play for a third successive French Open title due to a right wrist injury. No. 2-ranked Alcaraz was injured at the Barcelona Open this month during his rst-round win and withdrew the day after. He also pulled out of this week’s Madrid Open. He con rmed he was a no -go for Paris after undergoing more medical tests on Friday. Alcaraz said “It’s a complicated moment for me, but I’m sure we’ll come out stronger from here.”

NBA

Wolves’ Edwards has bone bruise in left knee, likely to miss weeks

The left knee of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards remained structurally intact when he was injured during Game 4 of his team’s rst-round playo series, but he is likely to miss multiple weeks. Edwards has a bone bruise and hyperextended the knee. The Wolves also lost Donte DiVincenzo in that game with a torn Achilles tendon, meaning his season is over.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@stanlynewsjournal.com Weekly deadline is Monday at noon

He became the 13th driver to earn their rst win on the track

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose- rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for a while,” Hocevar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his rst Cup win at Talladega.

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be

to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it.”

Carson Hocevar

going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs

— who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series.

The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining.

Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,” Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming

BASEBALL

SOUTH STANLY (15-9, 9-1 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won at Union Academy 6-2

• Won vs. Carson 5-4

• Won vs. Union Academy 10-7

This week’s schedule

• April 28 vs. Gray Stone Day (conference tournament)

• TBD

WEST STANLY (21-2, 9-1 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won vs. Mount Pleasant 10-3

• Lost at Hickory Ridge 11-10

• Won at Mount Pleasant 13-0

This week’s schedule

• TBD (conference tournament)

NORTH STANLY (20-4, 9-1 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost at Reagan 7-6

• Won at North Rowan 15-0

• Won at North Rowan 21-0

Upcoming schedule

• April 28 vs. Union Academy (conference tournament)

• TBD

ALBEMARLE (3-16, 1-9 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost vs. Gray Stone Day 9-8

• Lost at Gray Stone Day 12-1

• Lost at Gray Stone Day 11-1 (conference tournament)

o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”

Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said.

“I’m getting old and don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck

With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who nished outside the top 30 for the third time in ve races.

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start.

“But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

Upcoming schedule

• TBD

GRAY STONE DAY (8-9, 4-6 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won at Albemarle 9-8

• Lost at Central Davidson 10-0

• Won vs. Albemarle 12-1

• Won vs. Albemarle 11-1 (conference tournament)

Upcoming schedule

• April 28 at South Stanly (conference tournament)

• TBD SOFTBALL

SOUTH STANLY (19-2, 7-0 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won at Union Academy 3-0

• Won vs. Union Academy 10-0

This week’s schedule

• April 29 vs. Gray Stone Day (conference tournament)

• TBD WEST STANLY (20-4, 12-0 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won vs. East Rowan 11-1

• Won at Mount Pleasant 10-2

Upcoming schedule

• TBD (conference tournament)

NORTH STANLY (6-12, 3-4 IN CONFERENCE)

• No games scheduled

Upcoming schedule

• April 29 at Union Academy (conference tournament)

ALBEMARLE (0-6, 0-4 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost at Gray Stone Day 1-0

No games scheduled

GRAY STONE DAY (5-11,1-6 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won vs. Albemarle 1-0

• Won vs. South Davidson 10-6

• Lost at Carson 8-2

• Lost at Greater Cabarrus 11-10

Upcoming schedule

• April 29 vs. South Stanly (conference tournament)

GIRLS’ SOCCER

SOUTH STANLY (5-7, 4-5 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost at North Stanly 2-1

• Lost vs. Union Academy 9-0

This week’s schedule

• April 29 at Gray Stone Day

• May 5 at Anson

WEST STANLY (14-2-2, 8-1-1 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won at Monroe 4-1

• Won vs. Forest Hills 9-0

• Won vs. Montgomery 6-0

This week’s schedule

• April 28 at Anson

• May 4 at Concord SPRING SPORTS ROUNDUPS

• April 30 at Union Academy

• May 4 at Mount Pleasant

NORTH STANLY (2-15-1, 2-7 IN CONFERENCE)

• Won vs. South Stanly 2-1

• Won at North Rowan 4-1

Upcoming schedule

• April 29 vs. Albemarle

ALBEMARLE (1-12, 1-8 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost vs. North Rowan 2-0

• Lost at Gray Stone Day 5-1

Upcoming schedule

• April 29 at North Stanly

• May 4 at Anson

GRAY STONE DAY (9-7, 7-2 IN CONFERENCE)

• Lost at Union Academy 10-0

• Won vs. Albemarle 5-1

Upcoming schedule

• April 29 vs. South Stanly

Lot Number Eleven [11] in Block Number Eight [8] as the same is shown and designated upon the Tallassee Power Company’s Plan of Lots No. 1, dated January 1, 1919, and filed in Plat Book No. 2, Page 80-K, Records of Stanly County, North Carolina. For reference see Deed Book 1214, Page 374, Stanly County Registry. Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as 85 Maple St, Badin, NC 28009. A Certified Check ONLY (no personal

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checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing. THIRD PARTY PURCHASERS MUST PAY THE EXCISE TAX AND THE RECORDING COSTS FOR THEIR DEED.

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

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord, to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor

has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination [NCGS § 45-21.16A(b) (2)]. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Pursuant to NCGS §45-21.25A, this sale may be subject to remote bids placed by bidders not physically present at the place of sale, which may be accepted by the person conducting the sale, or their agent”. If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

If the transaction is subject to the FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule (“RRE”) issued pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, information necessary to comply with the RRE Rule must be obtained and provided to the Reporting Person, as defined in the RRE Rule, prior to closing.

Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Attorneys for Trustee Services of Carolina, LLC 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403

PHONE: (910) 392-4988 File No.: 25-21218-FC01

FOR SALE

4 piece Solid Cherry Bedroom suite made by Young-Hinkle, good condition, $1,200.00 Call 704-438-5132. 3tp

YARD SALE

Saturday, May 2nd from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, 614 Park Ridge Road, Albemarle. Glassware, small kitchen appliances, ladies dresses, clothes & shoes. Men’s dress shirts (size Large), 4-piece solid cherry bedroom suite, Lots of costume jewelry, push-lawn mower, dog beds & dog toys, New Ford Bronco Carpet Mats and lots of miscellaneous items. (Rain date will be scheduled for May 9th.)

NOTICES

NOTICE OF

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF STANLY IN THE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION

RUBEN MONGRAGON CASAS, Plainti , Vs. COURTNEY ANN LEDFORD, Defendant.

TO: COURTNEY ANN LEDFORD, Defendant

This the 15th day of April, 2026. Brown & Senter, PLLC James L. Senter Attorney for Plainti PO Box 400 Albemarle, NC 28002

PUBLISH: April 15, 2026; April 22, 2026; and April

NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, STANLY COUNTY

In the District Court Division MARIA OFELIA YAM YAM, Plainti Vs. JESUS MARTINEZ VAZQUEZ, Defendant.

TO: JESUS MARTINEZ VAZQUEZ, DEFENDANT:

TAKE NOTICE that a pleading seeking relief against you was led September 24, 2025 in Stanly County, North Carolina in the above-entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: COMPLAINT FOR CHILD CUSTODY AND ABSOLUTE DIVORCE (25CV001319-830 You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than May 26, 2026 to the Stanly County Clerk of Court, P.O. Box 668, Albemarle, NC 28002, Attn: Civil Division and upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the Court for the relief sought. This the 15th of April, 2026. PARNELL AND SCALES, PLLC Cameron S. Vick Attorney for Plainti P.O. Box 2300 Albemarle, NC 28002

PUBLISH: April 15, 2026, April 22, 2026 and April 29, 2026

Public Hearing Notice

The Town Council of the Town of Red Cross will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, May 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall. The purpose of this public hearing is for the rst reading of the Proposed Budget for the 2026-2027 scal year. This public hearing is also to hear citizens’ comments for or against, the Proposed Budget for 2026-2027 scal year for the Town of Red Cross. A copy of the proposed budget has been submitted to the town council and is available to the public at the Red Cross Town Hall, and online at www.townofredcross.com. For additional information contact the Red Cross Town Hall at 704-485-2002.

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA

STANLY COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO. 26E000200-830

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having quali ed as Co-Executor of the

This

Tommy Dewayne Rushing 13526 Brooks Road Stan eld, NC 28163 Co-Executor Tracy Howard Rushing PO Box 1023 Locust, NC 28097 Co-Executor

NOTICE

NORTH CAROLINA STANLY COUNTY IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK File No.: 26E000116-830 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF MARY FREE AKIN

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having

the stream

Michael B. Jordan, Kacey Musgrave, Tori Amos, double dose of Matthew Rhys

Kacey Musgraves drops “Middle of Nowhere” on Friday

The Associated Press

MICHAEL B. JORDAN voicing a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with a majestic bird in the animated movie “Swapped” and Kacey Musgraves’ seventh studio album, “Dry Spell,” 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 TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” on Prime Video, the anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” on Crunchyroll and two Matthew Rhys projects — the movie thriller “Hallow Road” and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Newly minted Oscar winner Jordan voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Net ix on Friday. “Tangled” lmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.” The anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the lm, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help ght devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

“Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a ve-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”) and it’s debuting exclusively on the Criterion Channel on Friday.

And nally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, Rosamund Pike and Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident

“‘Hallow Road’ is an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

Lindsey Bahr, AP lm writer

late one night. AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that “it’s an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’ “Dry Spell,” the rst single from her highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday. But a one-trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on. Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: From criticism for their political statements, which previously saw

them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, listeners will be able to form their own opinions: They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule.

Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic lm version of a rock band, have been undeniably in uential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.” It is an immediately recognizable sound, de ned by its characteristics: An unusual, complex

time signature, intricate ngerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.”

A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her ight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s o cial press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good ght.

SERIES TO STREAM

Roku has a new program for younger rst-time home buyers. “This First House” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spino of the PBS staple “This Old House.”

The TV adaptation of Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” is available now on Prime Video. The Spanish-lan-

Kacey Musgraves performs during the rst weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025. The country star’s latest album, “Middle of Nowhere,” drops Friday.

guage series follows the trials and tribulations of a multigenerational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination, but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series is streaming now.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Artemis II made space travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it lled with hostile life-forms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing Thursday on PS5.

Wake up

Out elders Javar Williams (14), Luke Costello (11) and Jordan Serrano celebrate as Wake Forest topped App State 3-2 on Tuesday night. With the win, the Demon Deacons moved to 29-17 on the year.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event

Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom. Sen. Lindsey Graham said at a news conference that it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington Hilton.

$2.00

Council approves concrete plant expansion

The expansion will provide the business with access to the nearby railway

By Ryan Henkel Twin City Herald

WINSTON-SALEM — The Winston-Salem City Council met April 20 for its regular business meeting.

The council held two public hearings, with the rst hearing being for an elected body special permit petition submitted by Concrete Supply Co. for the expansion of asphalt and concrete plant use in the general industrial zoning district.

The existing business, which is located on 11 acres of property on the south side of Lowery Street between Stedman

Andre

“They are looking to expand to enlarge their presence through rail distribution of concrete and concrete materials.”

Chris Murphy, planning director

Street and Boulder Park Road, has been in operation for more than 20 years, and there have been no reported issues with it.

According to the applicant, one of the added bene ts with the expansion is that it will lead to a reduction in incoming trafc as they will be looking to utilize the nearby railway for deliveries as opposed to trucking.

“There is a railroad spur that actually comes o of the nearby railroad and pulls into the site, and that’s one of the areas that

they are looking to expand to enlarge their presence through rail distribution of concrete and concrete materials,” said Planning Director Chris Murphy. According to the submitted site plan, the applicants are proposing to add six additional silos, new scales and two additional buildings to the property.

In regard to concerns over the nearby Salem Lake, Murphy also stated that the plant

does not drain into its water supply or watershed.

“It is adjacent to Salem Lake water supply/watershed, but it ows away from the lake itself,” Murphy said. “It’s below the dam where the water goes, so this will not get into the water supply/watershed of Salem Lake.”

The second hearing was for a general use rezoning request for approximately three acres of property located on the east side of Germanton Road and North Patterson Avenue to be rezoned from Residential to Highway Business. As the request is for a general use rezoning, no site plan has to be submitted.

Following both hearings, the council approved the requests.

Finally, the council also approved a voluntary annexation request of a portion of property located north of the intersection of Maple Chase Lane and Penns Meadow Lane, known as Brookberry Farm

The Winston-Salem City Council will next meet May 4.

the Giant honored by Richmond County town with roadside marker

The Associated Press ELLERBE — Andre the Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina. O cials unveiled the marker Thursday in the Richmond County town of Ellerbe, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimo lived on a ranch just outside town. Roussimo was billed at 7-foot-4 and 520 pounds during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger-than-life villain, Roussimo was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once-regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimo appeared on lm as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions. Roussimo was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-lev-

A newly erected historical marker celebrating legendary wrestler Andre the Giant is along a highway near Ellerbe.

el radioactive land ll nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum. Roussimo died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funer-

al. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

Wrestler Vladimir Kolo , who befriended Roussimo as he helped him get into the business, said his friend deserved the marker because he turned wrestling from a regional pastime into a huge international business.

“The world of professional wrestling has given us a larger-than-life icon,” Kolo said just before helping take the cover o the marker. The Richmond County marker at N.C. Highway 73 and Old N.C. Highway 220 simply says “Andre the Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimo . Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

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North State Journal (USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

Trip Ho end, Publisher

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Cory Lavalette, Senior Editor

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THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Tillis says he’s ready to move ahead with con rming Warsh as Trump’s pick as Fed chair

The Senate Banking Committee was set to vote after the DOJ closed its inquiry of Jerome Powell

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Republican senator who had e ectively blocked conrmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve said Sunday he was dropping his opposition after the Department of Justice ended its investigation of the current central bank chair.

The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a big hurdle to Trump’s e ort to install Kevin Warsh, a former high-ranking Fed o cial, in the job in place of Jerome Powell, long under White House pressure to lower interest rates. Tillis’ opposition was enough to stall the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.

“I am prepared to move on with the con rmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” two days after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said her o ce’s investigation of the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovations was over. Powell’s brief congressional testimony last summer about that work was also under review.

The Fed’s internal watchdog is scrutinizing a project, now at $2.5 billion after earlier estimates had put it at $1.9 billion, that the Republican president has criticized for cost overruns. Powell had asked in July for the inspector general’s review.

“I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing,” Tillis said.

“Maybe we nd a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn’t? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to a criminal prosecution. That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early,” he said.

Tillis, who infuriated Trump in June for opposing his big tax and spending cuts bill over Medicaid reductions and then announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, added that he had received assurances from the Justice Department that “the case is completely and fully settled … and that the only way an investigation would be opened would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals.”

Important week for Fed leadership

The committee on Saturday said it planned to vote Wednesday on Warsh’s nomination. The ranking Democrat, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responded with a statement that “no Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.”

Also Wednesday, Fed policymakers will meet and are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting, shrugging o Trump’s demands for a

cut. At a news conference, Powell could indicate whether he will remain on the Fed’s board of governors after his term as chair ends, an unusual but not completely unprecedented step that would deny Trump the opportunity to ll another seat on the seven-member board. Powell’s term as a governor lasts until January 2028. At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates and pledged to be “an independent actor” if con rmed as chair. Hours before that, Trump had been asked in a CNBC interview whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut rates. “I would,” the president said. Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis has spoken out forcefully about Powell, decrying the inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “vindictive prosecution” and suggested it threatened the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had gotten assurances from the Justice Department that he needed “to feel like they were not using DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to

move on with his con rmation.”

On Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters whether there was now smooth sailing for Warsh with the end of the Justice Department’s investigation. “I imagine it’s smooth,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “is going to be fantastic.” The president said he still wanted to nd out “how can a building of that size cost ... whatever it’s going to be.”

Trump visited the Fed building in July and, in front of television cameras, said the renovations would run $3.1 billion. Powell, standing next to him, said after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, that the president’s latest price tag was incorrect.

Justice Department pursues Trump adversaries

The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived adversaries. For months it had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct. Other e orts by the department to prosecute Trump’s adversaries, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, have also been unsuccessful.

Last month, a federal judge quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “to harass and pressure Powell to resign” and open the path for a new chair. A prosecutor handling the Powell case had acknowledged at a closed-door court hearing that the government had not found any evidence of a crime.

Pirro said last Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that ”there is no doubt that we will investigate” if the inspector general nds evidence of criminal conduct.

Warsh is a nancier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump nominated him in January.

Former Fauci adviser indicted for allegedly concealing communications related to COVID-19 research

Prosecutors say he suppressed alternative COVID-19 origin theories

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed re-

cords of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an e ort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

“These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday. “Government o cials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”

Morens faces charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsi cation of records in federal investigations; conceal-

ment, removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to a Justice Department news release. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. An attorney for Morens declined to comment.

The indictment re ects Republicans’ long-held belief that the federal government covered up key information about COVID-19 as the pandemic unfolded. Despite numerous probes, the origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insu cient evidence to prove either theory.

Blanche said Morens’ al-

leged conduct was part of an e ort to “suppress alternative theories” about COVID-19’s origins. The Justice Department also accused Morens of having an improper relationship with a collaborator, including allegedly accepting a gift of wine and discussing COVID-19 research and potential publications in a prominent medical journal.

The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

COLUMN | LARRY ELDER

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter,

former Democratic National Committee

Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

If China restricts these products at home, why are they flooding our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was

legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing

the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else.

It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination, and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one.

And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

Trump’s many upcoming large, public events may present fresh security challenges after latest attack

The third violent assault in less than two years renews a security debate

By Will Weissert The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal law enforcement ocials are evaluating how to proceed with some high-pro le public events featuring President Donald Trump after the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The third violent assault in the vicinity of Trump in less than two years is renewing the central tension confronting the Republican president’s defenders: how to accommodate the public-facing demands of the presidency while minimizing the risk of an attack.

Saturday’s episode, in which a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the Washington, D.C., hotel ballroom where the president was set to address the White House Correspondents’ Association, comes ahead of Trump’s expected participation in a stretch of large, high-pro le events indoors and outdoors in the months ahead. Among them, he’s set to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, oversee the U.S. co-hosting the World Cup and lead rallies meant to galvanize support for Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.

White House chief of sta Susie Wiles will hold a meeting this week with o cials from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss security protocol at events with the president, according to a senior White House o cial. The meeting will examine security steps that were successful on Saturday while “exploring additional options” for future events, said the o cial, who insisted on anonymity to con rm private discussions.

Separately, a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. Secret Service was already reevaluating its security footing for the upcoming events. The agency’s posture was already elevated due to the extraordinary number of threats facing Trump — including two assassination attempts in 2024 — and the realities of recent events such as the U.S.-Iran war.

“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that is more dangerous,” Trump said of the presidency Saturday night from the White House.

Inside the Secret Service, agents on protective intelligence and threat assessment teams are also reexamining threats made against Trump in recent months. Copycat violence can follow high-pro le attacks, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security planning.

The White House and Buck-

ingham Palace said King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit Monday went ahead as planned. Still, organizing around large-scale events deeper in the future — including the UFC bout on the White House lawn marking Trump’s 80th birthday in June, World Cup matches and the IndyCar race past the White House — could get more complicated.

An inherent tension in presidential protection is exposed

Lawmakers, event attendees and some allies of the president saw fault in the correspondents’ dinner security planning, questioning why someone like the shooter could reserve a room at the hotel to sneak in weapons around the outermost layer of security.

Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security Committee, said security protocols for Trump and Vice President JD Vance may need altering.

“I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that,” McCaul told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Kari Lake, a former unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona and Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, complained about not having to show a photo ID to match her ticket to the event when entering the hotel for the correspondents’ dinner.

“I can’t believe how lax the security was,” Lake wrote on X.

The Secret Service is charged only with the safety of its protectees, not of the event itself, and the agency immediately celebrated its response, drawing a high-pro le endorsement from Trump himself.

“Our multilayered protection works,” director Sean Curran said Saturday.

“Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job,” echoed Trump on Sunday in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

Garrett Gra , author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die,” wrote in an analysis of the multiple layers of security around Trump during the dinner, “Seems like the system basically working as designed, amid the always necessary trade-o s of security in a free society.”

Retired Secret Service Agent Thomas D. Quinn, who helped pioneer Secret Service counterassault teams, posted on X that “the Secret Service security plan for the WHCD worked and the assailant was stopped.” He continued, “As long as we are a free people in a freedom loving Nation, the Secret Service responsibilities will continue to be immense.”

More security changes ahead

Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect,” said authorities are likely to consider placing bulletproof glass around where Trump speaks outside and inside — not un-

like after the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt during the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Attendees, Kessler said, will likely be more thoroughly screened going forward — exacerbating lines at entrances that can already take hours to clear. An example of what might happen came last fall, when Trump attended the men’s nal of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and triggered massive security lines.

Such events underscore the complicated security questions surrounding presidential protection in a country where citizens expect their leaders to move through public spaces, hold rallies, attend events and appear before crowds.

“Presidents don’t like to have too much protection,” Kessler said. “I think, by their nature, they’re very outgoing. They want to meet people. They don’t want to be accused of being prisoners of the White House. And so they’ll try to get around some of these improvements.”

Presidents can have love-hate relationships with security details

The Secret Service took over full-time responsibility for protecting the president during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, who came to o ce after an assassin killed William McKinley in 1901. Roosevelt found the constant security presence tiresome, however, and would sometimes slip away for unprotected hikes or horseback rides in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park, ac-

cording to the White House Historical Association.

Security personnel wanted President Ronald Reagan to exit the building where Saturday night’s shooting occurred, the Washington Hilton, through a covered garage in 1981, Kessler said. Reagan’s sta worried the optics would be bad, however, and the president was shot as he left an open-air exit, ultimately surviving.

After shots were red Saturday, Secret Service agents surrounded Trump, who appeared to slip slightly as he was whisked away. Another team moved Vance so quickly it seemed as if it might haul him out while still seated in a banquet chair.

Trump told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that he “wasn’t making it easy” for the Secret Service by being “a little bit me.”

“I wanted to see what was happening,” the president said Sunday. “And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem — di erent kind of a problem — bad one.

“I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute.’”

He said he started walking out but, “They said, ‘Please go down. Please go down on the oor.′ So I went down, and the rst lady went down also.”

Trump repeatedly praised the Secret Service and his detail, and he has pushed the correspondents’ association to reschedule the dinner. He said it would have “even more security.”

“And they’ll have bigger perimeter security,” he said. “It’ll be ne.”

Forsyth SPORTS

1 football player from each ACC team to watch next season

17 schools in the conference had someone emerge in spring ball

By Aaron Beard

The Associated Press

A LOOK AT FOOTBALL players to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference coming out of spring practices and heading into preseason camp.

Duke

Duke added graduate transfer Nick Del Grande from Coastal Carolina to help bolster its offensive line. The Blue Devils lost starting tackles Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina from last year’s ACC title run, so there’s an opportunity for the 6-4, 302-pound Del Grande with 35 career starts to jump right in up front.

NC State

Linebacker Harvey Dyson offers transfer help for a unit that ranked 12th in the ACC in scoring defense (27.2) and 14th in total defense (411.9). Dyson started his career at Texas Tech before playing last year at Tulane, starting all 14 games for a CFP team. He nished as the team leader there with 11.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

UNC

Tight end Jordan Washington arrives as a transfer from Texas as the Tar Heels adapt to new o ensive coordinator Bobby Petrino’s scheme. The 6-foot- 4, 264-pound redshirt sophomore had seven catches for 109 yards and a score last year. Petrino described Washington as a “take charge, no-nonsense type of guy — and then has shown up on video playing that way.”

Wake Forest

Defensive back Davaughn Patterson could be a key piece of a defense that might have to lead the way for Jake Dickert’s second season with the Demon Deacons. He’s been a two-year starter with 154 tackles the past two seasons, showing the ability to help in coverage or close to the line of scrimmage.

Then-Duke quarterback

Darian Mensah passes during the ACC Championship Game. He’ll be passing for Miami this season.

Miami

Darian Mensah has moved on from Duke to be the quarterback for a Miami team that made the College Football Playo and pushed all the way to the championship game. Mensah nished second last year in the Bowl Subdivision ranks in both passing yardage (3,973) and touchdown throws (34). He had three touchdown throws during scrimmage work at last weekend’s spring game.

Virginia Tech

Duke transfer receiver Que’Sean Brown is positioned to bolster the Hokies’ receiving corps. The redshirt junior had 64 catches for 846 yards and ve touchdowns for last year’s ACC champs, starting 12 games. He had a 14-yard touchdown grab in the Hokies’ spring game last weekend.

Boston College

Running back Evan Dickens could boost the ground game for the Eagles as they come o a 2-10 season. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound back ran for 1,339 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Liberty.

California

Quarterback Jaron-Keawe

Sagapolutele will garner national attention in returning from a strong freshman season with the Golden Bears.

Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway

He became the 13th driver to earn his rst win on the track

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose- rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for

Clemson

The plan has been for redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina to take over the o ense after the departure of Cade Klubnik.

Florida State

The Seminoles announced Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels as the starting quarterback after the completion of spring drills.

Georgia Tech

Quarterback Alberto Mendoza, the Indiana transfer and younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, was the o ensive captain for the team’s recent spring game.

Louisville

The Cardinals brought in quarterback Lincoln Kienholz after three seasons at Ohio State.

Pittsburgh

Receiver Bryce Yates had 11 catches for 202 yards while playing 11 games as a true freshman.

SMU

Running back Dramekco Green is a hard-running back with a strong frame, running for 90 yards in ve games as a redshirt freshman last year.

Stanford

Tight end Benji Blackburn could have a bigger role after making ve starts last year, nishing with nine catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Syracuse

Quarterback Steve Angeli helped Syracuse start 3-1 last year, including a win at Clemson, before going down to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury.

Virginia

Receiver Rico Flores Jr. has gone from Notre Dame to UCLA and now Virginia.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

John Templeton

Forsyth Country Day, cross-country

John Templeton is a senior distance runner on the Forsyth Country Day cross-country team. Templeton is a state champion in cross-country. He won the state 4A title as a junior and nished third in class 4A as a senior, earning all-state honors. He will now continue his running career in south Florida after signing his letter of intent to join the University of Miami cross-country team starting in the fall.

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it.”

Carson Hocevar

a while,” Hocevar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his rst Cup win at Talladega.

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs — who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series. The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting

drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining. Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,” Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”

Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four

races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said. “I’m getting old and don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push

by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who nished outside the top 30 for the third time in ve races.

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start.

“But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

SIDELINE REPORT

NFL

“Hot pick” at No. 257: Broncos made Murdock

latest Mr. Irrelevant

Pittsburgh University of Bu alo linebacker Red Murdock is this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.” He was the nal pick of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Murdock expressed gratitude after being selected 257th on Saturday. The Broncos also picked Utah tight end Dallen Bentley just before Murdock. Denver became the only team to hold the last two picks since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Broncos coach Sean Payton praised Murdock’s instincts and tackling skills. Both players will attend the traditional celebration for the nal draft pick.

MLB

Bauer dominates with 7-inning no-hitter for Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

Lancaster, Pa. Trevor Bauer threw a no-hitter for the Long Island Ducks against the Lancaster Stormers in the Atlantic League. Bauer allowed just one baserunner in seven innings, striking out seven on 84 pitches. The Ducks won 13-0. The former Cy Young Award winner is trying to revive his career after a 194 -game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2023. Bauer pitched in Japan and Mexico, where he was named the Mexican Baseball League’s pitcher of the year in 2024.

PGA Furyk returning as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2027 with Woods out

Houston The PGA of America con rmed Jim Furyk is the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Furyk will be the fourth American captain to get another chance. Furyk was the choice after Tiger Woods took his name out of the mix following his March 27 arrest on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Europe has been dominating the matches for three decades. That includes last year at Bethpage Black when it built a record lead and held on. Furyk was captain in a losing e ort in France in 2018.

TENNIS

Reigning two-time

champ Alcaraz out of French Open due to wrist injury

Madrid Carlos Alcaraz won’t play for a third successive French Open title due to a right wrist injury. No. 2-ranked Alcaraz was injured at the Barcelona Open this month during his rst-round win and withdrew the day after. He also pulled out of this week’s Madrid Open. He con rmed he was a no -go for Paris after undergoing more medical tests on Friday. Alcaraz said “It’s a complicated moment for me, but I’m sure we’ll come out stronger from here.”

NBA Wolves’ Edwards has bone bruise in left knee, likely to miss weeks

The left knee of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards remained structurally intact when he was injured during Game 4 of his team’s rst-round playo series, but he is likely to miss multiple weeks. Edwards has a bone bruise and hyperextended the knee. The Wolves also lost Donte DiVincenzo in that game with a torn Achilles tendon, meaning his season is over.

NHL playo s nearing record for penalty shots; rst round isn’t yet close to over

The rst 21 games featured more penalty shots than the last three years combined

By Stephen Whyno The Associated Press

NO GAME IN the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playo s has ever ended with a goal on a penalty shot in overtime, and Carolina’s Jordan Martinook was not eager to make history.

He and the Hurricanes thought they’d won Game 2 of their rst-round series against Ottawa when teammate Mark Jankowski scored, but a league-initiated challenge ruled the play to be o side, took the goal o the board and rewound the clock. On the same shift, Martinook was hooked by Senators forward Warren Foegele on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot.

“I was trying to tell (the referee) we needed the power play, not the penalty shot,” Martinook said. He got turned aside by Linus Ullmark, then scored the winner in double overtime.

Through last Thursday night’s games, there had been four penalty shots already in these playo s — more through 21 games than the previous three years’ worth combined, including zero in 2025 — and the goaltenders have saved all four.

Two more penalty shots would tie the record for the most in a single postseason. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the uptick in refs calling for penalty shots over power plays, but there is no doubt it has added rare and must-see entertainment to a compelling rst round.

“Everything’s very circumstantial,” Bu alo goalie Alex Lyon said after denying Boston’s Viktor Arvidsson in Game 3 last Thursday night. He’s not sure if he’d rather face the 1-on-1 matchup or endure a 2-minute penalty kill.

“To be honest with you, every player in this league has the ability to score on penalty shots,” Lyon said. “So yeah, I guess it’s just more circumstantial, but I don’t really have a denitive answer one way or the other.”

Lyon stopped Arvidsson, Ullmark stopped Martinook, Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett missed the net against Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner, and Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood made such a highlight-reel save on Los Angeles’ Quinton Byeld that jubilant fans in Denver broke the glass behind the Kings’ bench.

“Never really seen the glass shatter behind the bench,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said following a repair process that delayed the game more than 15 minutes. “That’s a di erent one. Stu happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited.” Is more grabbing going on

“Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Jordan Martinook

during play? More breakaways in a league that has increased the emphasis on o ense in recent years? Both could be true. The NHL’s rule 24.1 says “a penalty shot is designed to restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of an infraction being committed by the o ending team, based on the parameters set out in these rules.” That does provide some latitude for o cials to determine what constitutes a penal-

ty shot if a player is unimpeded by an opponent with no one between him and the net. Still, four penalty shots before the end of the rst round is unusual. The only playo s with more penalty shots were 2019 ( ve) and 2008 (six).

These are potentially game-changing moments and add even more pressure to a playo game. Martinook described his experience as being the big guy on one end of a teeter-totter, acknowledging he didn’t feel good about himself after not scoring on his opportunity. The 33-year-old grinder made good on his next one to keep from being perceived as the goat.

“It was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me,” Martinook said. “Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Japan awakens to Radio Taiso exercise tradition

The morning routine is credited for the country’s longevity

By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

TOKYO — This is how Japan wakes up. It’s called Radio Taiso — Exercise Radio in English — a simple yet dynamic way to start the day.

Japanese radio plays music every morning at 6:30 to accompany basic instructions for calisthenics, and millions perform in the choreography: in parks, workplaces, schools — and at home.

Radio Taiso has an almost 100-year history, formally introduced in 1928 and coinciding with the enthronement of Emperor Hirohito. The tradition endures because the exercises are suitable for all ages and capabilities, and easily accessible.

We’re talking about basic exercise movements: reach to the sky to limber up, twist at the torso, bend at the hips, swing the arms and get the shoulders loose, or jump or run in place.

Exercisers can make it as strenuous as they wish, and it’s over in just 10 minutes, all done to the rhythm of a soft piano melody. There are about a dozen basic moves that can be done standing or seated. The idea is to keep moving and, though the program runs early in the morning, many devotees repeat it on their own later in the day.

The routine features a trio of three-minute segments that get slightly more di cult — but not much. Most Radio Taiso followers know the sequences by heart, but beginners can join in and quickly pick up the routines. No equipment is needed.

The program begins with arms exercises — lifting the arms, circling the arms and

stretching the arms side to side. It’s followed by bending from the waist and twisting at the waist.

Shoulder raises are incorporated with a few mini-jumping exercises and marching-in place moves. Along the way you add in neck exercises, moves to stretch the chest and small squats for leg power.

Each movement is repeated four to eight times with instructions throughout to relax, breathe, and inhale and exhale slowly.

Mieko Kobayashi is 88 and goes to Kiba Park — an expansive layout in the east Tokyo area — almost every day, where a large group gathers without fail.

“If it’s cold or raining, I don’t go,” she said. “By moving my body, I feel better.”

She and her 77-year-old friend, Yoshiko Nagao, said that some who go to the park daily live alone, and this is an important social anchor

particularly for the elderly.

“Laughing and chatting while taking a walk after is also good,” Nagao added. “We come even on New Year’s Day.”

Kenji Iguchi is 83 — he’d pass for 60 — and he’s been a regular for about 20 years.

“It’s for my joints, mainly the knees and back, because of my age,” Iguchi said.

“I get up at 5 a.m. anyway,” he added. “I come to the park about 6 a.m. and do a round of walking ahead of the Radio Taiso session. Most of the faces are familiar, and coming here and getting together with them is also one of the things I look forward to.”

Japan has one of the world’s longest-lived populations, attributed to its diet, healthcare system and a lifestyle that encourages the elderly to be active. The average life expectancy is about 85, and only Hong Kong is reported to be slightly higher. By comparison, the United States

life expectancy is about 79.

The Japanese government announced late last year that 99,763 people were alive in Japan at 100 or more, a new national record for the 55th straight year. Japan holds the record for the most centenarians relative to its population, which is about 122 million.

Radio Taiso was inspired a century ago by a similar radio program in the United States sponsored by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The Japan Radio Taiso Federation says o cials of the postal ministry visited the United States in the 1920s and returned to Japan with the concept.

Within a decade, millions were participating. The federation says the program was led by postal workers who distributed pamphlets and organized training sessions.

Japan was under United States occupation after its defeat in 1945 in World War II, and the exercises were banned — largely because they were done in groups. The federation says the practice was seen as “totalitarian” with a possible air of militarism.

The group exercises were resumed in 1951, backed by popular demand as the American occupation ended in 1952. According to a 2023 survey by the federation, more than 20 million people in Japan practiced a Radio Taiso session at least once a week.

Radio Taiso has caught on in many countries abroad, most notably in Brazil, which has the largest population of people of Japanese descent living outside Japan.

the stream

Michael B. Jordan, Kacey Musgrave, Tori Amos, double dose of Matthew Rhys

Kacey Musgraves drops “Middle of Nowhere” on Friday

The Associated Press

MICHAEL B. JORDAN voicing a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with a majestic bird in the animated movie “Swapped” and Kacey Musgraves’ seventh studio album, “Dry Spell,” 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 TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” on Prime Video, the anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” on Crunchyroll and two Matthew Rhys projects — the movie thriller “Hallow Road” and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Newly minted Oscar winner Jordan voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Net ix on Friday. “Tangled” lmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.” The anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the lm, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help ght devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

“Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a ve-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”) and it’s debuting exclusively on the Criterion Channel on Friday.

And nally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, Rosamund Pike and Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident

“‘Hallow Road’ is an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

Lindsey Bahr, AP lm writer

late one night. AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that “it’s an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’ “Dry Spell,” the rst single from her highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday. But a one-trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on. Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: From criticism for their political statements, which previously saw

them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, listeners will be able to form their own opinions: They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule.

Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic lm version of a rock band, have been undeniably in uential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.” It is an immediately recognizable sound, de ned by its characteristics: An unusual, complex

time signature, intricate ngerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.”

A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her ight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s o cial press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good ght.

SERIES TO STREAM

Roku has a new program for younger rst-time home buyers. “This First House” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spino of the PBS staple “This Old House.”

The TV adaptation of Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” is available now on Prime Video. The Spanish-lan-

Musgraves performs during the rst weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025. The country star’s latest album, “Middle of Nowhere,” drops Friday.

guage series follows the trials and tribulations of a multigenerational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination, but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series is streaming now.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Artemis II made space travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it lled with hostile life-forms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing Thursday on PS5.

STATE & NATION

DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family

The highly educated tutor allegedly called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings

By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Balsamo The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man accused of opening re at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before an attack that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a message reviewed by The Associated Press.

The writings, sent shortly before shots were red Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions, including U.S. strikes on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Paci c Ocean.

Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence yet of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.

Authorities uncovered what one law enforcement ocial described as numerous anti-Trump social media posts linked to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple guns and knives.

Suspect’s brother reached out to Connecticut police

Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings, according to the law enforcement o cial, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The New London Police Department said in a statement it was contacted at 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, by an individual who wanted to share information related to it. The police department said it then immediately notied federal law enforcement.

Allen’s sister, who lives in Maryland, told investigators her brother had legally purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at their parents’ home in Torrance without their knowledge, according to the o cial. She described her brother as prone to making radical statements, the o cial said.

The writings examined by the AP ran more than 1,000 words and read as a rambling, deeply personal message, opening almost jarringly with a ca-

sual “hello everybody!” before shifting into apologies to family members, co-workers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence. The note moved between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen thanking people in his life even as he sought to explain the attack.

Elsewhere, he veered between political anger, religious justi cations and rebuttals to imagined critics. He also made a taunting critique of security at the Washington Hilton, mocking what he described as lax precautions and expressing surprise he was able to enter the hotel armed without detection.

The AP limits the use of attackers’ writings and social media posts to avoid amplifying their views or encouraging copycat actions. The AP chooses to summarize their words and focus mainly on the victims and investigations.

Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later, according

to the law enforcement ocial and another one who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Acting head of Justice Department says Trump o cials were targets

Allen is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, D.C., where he checked himself in as a guest at the hotel where the gala dinner was held with its typically tight security, said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He is believed to have acted alone.

Authorities say Allen attempted to charge toward the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being red, Trump being hurried o the stage unharmed and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president.”

Todd Blanche, acting attorney general

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pro le of the shooting suspect emerges

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

A May 2025 pro le photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.

A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had de -

Members of the U.S. Secret Service counterassault team stand on the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

veloped a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign nance records.

Chaotic scene unfolded minutes after gala began

The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted o stage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities ooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.

Randolph record

Street food

Ramseur attracted visitors along with vendors selling various goods for the seventh annual Ramseur Food Truck Festival on Saturday.

WHAT’S HAPPENING UCA promotes Wheat to superintendent

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event

Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath.

$2.00

The charter school’s new leader has been with the school in other roles for several years

Randolph Record sta

ASHEBORO — Uwharrie Charter Academy is promoting Chris Wheat to superintendent when the position becomes vacant this summer.

Wheat has accepted the appointment after about eight years in other positions at UCA.

He replaces Sharon Castelli, who’s retiring June 30 with nearly six years in the position.

Wheat came to UCA in 2018 as high school principal and more recently has been the deputy superintendent. He’ll become superintendent July 1.

“Dr. Wheat’s leadership has helped shape UCA into what it is today,” Becca Mead, chair

of the UCA board of directors, said in a statement. “His dedication and passion for this school, combined with his vi-

sion for the future, make him uniquely quali ed to lead Uwharrie Charter Academy into its next chapter.”

Prior to UCA, Wheat worked in Guilford County Schools as an assistant principal, school counselor and teacher for more than 20 years. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Liberty University, along with advanced credentials in education administration and counseling. He is also a licensed professional counselor.

New principals picked for two RCSS high schools

The school district has shifted some personnel in lling administrative positions

Randolph Record sta

TWO HIGH SCHOOLS in the Randolph County School System will have new principals next school year. The appointments were among several administrative moves approved by the system’s board of education. The moves become e ective July 1.

Matt Smith will be Wheatmore’s principal, shifting

from his principal’s role at Wheatmore Middle School. Smith has been in RCSS since 2009 with positions at Archdale-Trinity Middle School and Southwestern Randolph High School.

The new Eastern Randolph principal will be Christopher Campbell, who’s an assistant principal at Orange High School in Hillsborough. Campbell has been in the position at Orange since July 2021 after several roles since 2012 with Durham Public Schools.

Jason Lohr, principal at Uwharrie Ridge Six-Twelve, will take the principal posi-

tion at Wheatmore Middle School. Uwharrie Ridge SixTwelve is closing at the end of the school year. Lohr has been in RCSS since last year following more than a decade in Davidson County Schools. Also, Mark Beasley will go from assistant principal at Northeastern Randolph Middle School to principal at Trinity Elementary School. He has worked in RCSS since August.

In another shift, Mark Dougherty is slated to move from assistant principal at Randleman Middle School to principal at Grays Chap -

“When I came to UCA in 2018, I immediately connected with our student-centered learning and freedom to lead instruction that capitalizes on teacher and student creativity,” Wheat said. “I am honored to step into the role of superintendent at UCA, where I have loved serving for the past eight years. I have been blessed to serve alongside Dr. Castelli and witness her exemplary leadership, and I look forward to continuing to serve our students, sta , and families.”

Castelli called Wheat “an Eagle through and through. While I am deeply grateful for the time, relationships, and growth we’ve shared, I am equally excited for him as he steps into this role.”

UCA has more than 1,800 students in grades K-12 as one of North Carolina’s largest public charter schools.

el Elementary School. He has worked in RCSS since 2015, rst at Archdale-Trinity Middle School and since 2021 at Randleman Middle School.

Other notes

Chris Maner, agriculture teacher at Southwestern Randolph High School, was awarded for “Ideas Unlimited” by the North Carolina Agriculture Teachers Association. This recognizes teachers with fresh, e ective and creative ideas for their classrooms and/ or Future Farmers of America chapters.

• Stephen Gainey, superintendent of RCSS, was named the Superintendent of the Year for the Piedmont Triad Education Consortium. He’s one of eight regional winners in the state. The Piedmont Triad Education Consortium includes 18 districts.

THURSDAY 4.30.26

Two Randolph men arrested

Police handed out a variety of charges after a raid in Greensboro

Randolph Record sta

GREENSBORO — Two Randolph County men were among those charged in a monthslong investigation that resulted in a raid of two Greensboro locations earlier this month. The North Carolina Alcohol

Law Enforcement Division and Greensboro Police Department executed search warrants, including at Pura Vida Cocktail Bar and Restaurant on South Elm Street.

Agents reported that they found illegal alcohol and drug sales and/or tra cking. Arrests also resulted at a location at Cedar Park Road.

Cocaine, methamphetamine, two rearms and drug paraphernalia were seized.

Trip Ho end, Publisher

Dan

Send

There were more than 150 charges lodged for various o enses.

Among those facing charges are Jose Ortiz, 27, of Asheboro, and Hector Toledo-Sanchez, 33, of Sophia. They both face charges regarding delivery of cocaine, possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver cocaine and selling cocaine.

Police said more charges are pending.

Victory Junction adds board member

The organization’s mission is to serve children with complex medical needs

Randolph Record sta

LEVEL CROSS — Scott

Love, regional president with Cellular Sales, has been appointed to the board of directors of Victory Junction. Love, who has lived in Greensboro since 1998, over-

CRIME LOG

April 20

• Marcus Ryan Norton, 36, of Sophia, was arrested by Randleman PD for conspiracy to tra c methamphetamine; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamine; and manufacturing, selling, delivering or possessing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, and other charges.

• Alicia Ann Small, 36, of Sophia, was arrested by Randleman PD for felony conspiracy.

• Jonathon Gonzalez-Martinez, 20, of Lexington, was arrested by Archdale PD for eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, driving on a revoked license and resisting a public o cer, and other charges.

THURSDAY APRIL 30

FRIDAY MAY 1

SATURDAY MAY 2

SUNDAY MAY 3

• Joyce Renee Hall, 42, of Seagrove, was arrested by RCSO for seconddegree trespass.

• Bethany Caitlin Nance, 30, of Trinity, was arrested by RCSO for misdemeanor child abuse and possession of drug paraphernalia.

• John Andrew Newman, 36, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for possession of stolen goods and misdemeanor larceny.

• Courtney Nicole Pineda, 35, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for domestic criminal trespass.

April 21

• James Michael Branch, 51, of Randleman, was arrested by RCSO for possession of methamphetamine.

• Roylee Michael Creech, 57, of Sophia, was arrested by Randleman PD for leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

April 22

• Sean Raymond David, 62, of Randleman, was arrested by Asheboro PD for assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Je rey Wayne Isom, 31, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for assault and battery.

• Drameco Kindle, 31, of Spring Lake, was arrested by Asheboro PD for assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

sees operations for Cellular Sales across North Carolina and South Carolina. He brings extensive leadership experience and a strong commitment to community engagement, also serving on the board of the North Carolina Wildlife Habitat Foundation.

“We are excited to welcome Scott to the Victory Junction Board of Directors,” Chad Coltrane, president and CEO of Victory Junction, said in a statement. “His leadership ex-

April 23

• Sir Olan Byers, 44, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for possession of methamphetamine, simple possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and other charges.

• Van Lorenzo Fowler, 60, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for rst-degree statutory sexual o ense and indecent liberties with a child.

• Mayra Juarez Franco, 39, of Randleman, was arrested by RCSO for malicious conduct by a prisoner; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver cocaine; and felony possession of cocaine, and other charges.

• James Anthony Godwin, 31, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for urinating in public.

• Julio Villagomez Juarez, 50, of Asheboro, was arrested by RCSO for possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver cocaine; and going armed to the terror of the people.

• Kathleen Marie Kujan, 35, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver fentanyl; possession of fentanyl; and exposing a child to a controlled substance, and other charges.

• Tyler Mark Mans eld, 39, of Siler City, was arrested by Liberty PD for driving while impaired.

• Jesse Lee Owens, 40, of Randleman, was arrested by RCSO for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, rst-degree burglary and felony larceny, and other charges.

• Mickey Tylar Smith, 33, of Archdale, was arrested by RCSO for assault with a deadly weapon on a government o cer or employee, felony eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle and larceny of a motor vehicle, and other charges.

April 24

• Samuel Clifton Bump, 59, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for second-degree trespass.

• Shelby Erin Lee, 25, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for simple assault and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

perience and dedication to serving others will help us continue to grow our impact and reach more children and families.”

Victory Junction’s mission is to serve children living with complex medical and physical needs.

Love is part of a 14-member board of directors that includes chairman Danny Agresta and camp founders Richard Petty and Kyle Petty, the chairman emeritus.

Guide

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in Randolph County.

May 1

42nd Annual Juried Art Show

11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The annual juried exhibition featuring works by artists from Randolph County and surrounding areas closes on its nal day. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday.

Sara Smith Self Gallery, Randolph Arts Council 123 Sunset Ave. Asheboro

May 2

Asheboro Downtown Farmers Market — Season Opening

7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Jonathan Michael Cole, 34, of Asheboro, was arrested by RCSO for communicating threats.

• Hansel Collins, 58, of Thomasville, was arrested by RCSO for felony breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering and possession of stolen goods.

• Stan Millikan Davis, 51, of Randleman, was arrested by Archdale PD for tra cking in fentanyl; possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamine; and possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a controlled substance, and other charges.

• April Ann Maring, 43, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for simple assault and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

April 25

• Jesus Flores, 24, of Charlotte, was arrested by NCHP for driving while impaired, reckless driving to endanger and no operator’s license, and other charges.

• Janice Anne Buncy, 40, of Randleman, was arrested by RCSO for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

• Jose Leonardo Contreras Lopez, 27, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for driving while impaired, eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle and reckless driving with wanton disregard, and other charges.

• Austin Lee Creech, 34, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for second-degree trespass and intoxicated and disruptive.

• Gary Lee Hughes, 53, of Archdale, was arrested by RCSO for assault on a female, communicating threats and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Hector Gustavo Rosales Garrido, 43, of Winterville, was arrested by Asheboro PD for simple assault and disorderly conduct.

April 26

• Darwin Toscano Vazquez, 21, of Vass, was arrested by Asheboro PD for assault by strangulation, rstdegree burglary and assault on a female, and other charges.

• Joshua Dean Hughes, 38, of Sophia, was arrested by RCSO for communicating threats.

The City of Asheboro’s growers-only farmers market opens for the 2026 season, o ering locally grown and home-processed products. The market operates Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October.

Asheboro Downtown Farmers Market 134 S. Church St. Asheboro

Katie Bunch Memorial 5K Run/Walk 9 a.m.

The seventh annual memorial race honors Katie Bunch, a history teacher at Asheboro High School, and raises funds for the Katie Bunch Servant Leader Scholarship, which annually recognizes two Asheboro High students for exemplary leadership in school and community.

Asheboro Memorial Park 898 S. Church St. Asheboro

May 3

“The American Constitution” — Free Film Screening and Discussion 2 p.m.

Revolutionary Randolph hosts a free public screening of the documentary “The American Constitution,” a one-hour lm dramatizing the 1787 Constitutional Convention using only the Founders’ own words. Filmmaker David Garrigus will participate in a discussion following the screening.

Sunset Theatre 234 Sunset Ave. Asheboro

MONDAY MAY 4

TUESDAY MAY 5

WEDNESDAY MAY 6

• Carol Marie Smith, 56, of Archdale, was arrested by NC P&P for possession of drug paraphernalia.

• Billy Joe Bishop, 55, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for possession of stolen goods, misdemeanor larceny and injury to personal property.

• Logan Riley Locklear, 26, of Asheboro, was arrested by Asheboro PD for resisting a public o cer.

May 7

Strawberry Jam Workshop 2 p.m.

A hands-on workshop teaching participants the basic steps for making strawberry jam and preserving it using water bath canning. Cost is $10; registration required.

N.C. Cooperative Extension, Randolph County Center 1880 U.S. Highway 64 E Asheboro

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

COLUMN | LARRY ELDER

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter,

former Democratic National Committee

Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

If China restricts these products at home, why are they flooding our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was

legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing

the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else. It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one. And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

Glory “Gloria” Collins

Oct. 19, 1945 – April 17, 2026

Glory “Gloria” Dine Marshall Collins, 80, of Asheboro, passed away Friday, April 17, 2026, at her home.

A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m., Friday, April 24, 2026, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, Asheboro, with Pastor Tim Hu man o ciating. Burial will follow at New Hope Memorial Gardens.

Gloria was born on October 19, 1945, in Forsyth County, the daughter of the late Oscar Marshall and Sadie Fulk Marshall. She was an active member of Church Street Baptist Church in Greensboro. Gloria retired from Hanesbrands in 2012. She was a true die-hard sports fan always pulling for her favorite team the Carolina Tar Heels. Gloria enjoyed bowling and was a part of a bowling league. She loved vacationing to Kure Beach and looked forward to her yearly trips to visit family down in Florida. Gloria took great pride in spoiling her grandchildren rotten, especially her youngest, Dalton.

In addition to her parents, Gloria was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, George “Sam” Collins; brothers, Sanders Marshall, Ernest Marshall, Doug Marshall, and Burnie Marshall.

She is survived by her daughter, Angela Cornelison of Southern Pines; son, Je Collins of Denton; sister, Hulda Campbell of McCleansville; brother, Larry Marshall and wife Becky of Greensboro; sister-in-law, Brenda Marshall; grandchildren, Stephanie Cornelison, Brian Cornelison, Dalton Cornelison, Maranda Robinson, James McNeil; great grandchildren, Addie, Tyler, Birdie; and special cat, “Menace”.

The family will receive friends from 1-2 p.m. on Friday at Ridge Funeral Home prior to the funeral service.

Glen Elwood Hiatt Sr.

May 23, 1958 – April 23, 2026

Today we celebrate the life of Glen Elwood Hiatt Sr., 68, of Asheboro, who passed away at Randolph Hospital on April 23, 2026, at 3:44 p.m.

A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m., Friday, May 1, 2026, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel with Lawrence Nicholson, III o ciating. Burial will follow at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery.

Glen was born in Lexington, NC, to the late David E. Hiatt Jr., and surviving mother, Lessie P. Hiatt of Lexington, NC. Glen worked at Baker Furniture in Mocksville, NC. After that, Glen helped out on their family farm and enjoyed carpentry.

Glen Hiatt was married and divorced to his best friend, Rosey Hiatt Cagle, 62 of Asheboro, NC.

They had three sons, Glen Hiatt Jr. (Jamie), Tony Hiatt (Dina) and Toby Hiatt all from Asheboro. He is also survived by his sisters, Kathy Hiatt Myers, Janice Hiatt Walker both from Lexington, and Beverly Fay Hiatt of Clemmons; grandchildren, Abbie Hiatt, Mikayla Hiatt, Jasmine Hiatt and Glen Hiatt, III a.k.a., “Bubba”; and one awesome great grandchild, Zayden Hiatt.

The family will receive friends from 1-1:45 p.m., Friday, at Ridge Funeral Home prior to the service.

obituaries

Carol Jean Pope Wood

Aug. 9, 1973 – April 18, 2026

Carol Jean Pope Wood, 52, of Robbins, passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at her home. The family will receive friends at Joyce-Brady Chapel from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, 2026. Burial will follow at Brown’s Chapel Christian Church.

Carol Jean was born in Moore County on August 9, 1973, to Ritchie Pope and Linda Susan Hinesley. She worked as a waitress and cook. She enjoyed going to the beach. She loved family gatherings and adored her grandchildren.

In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by her mother and step-father, Linda and Richard Brown; husband, Charlie Wood; brother, Charlie Brown and two nephews.

Carol Jean is survived her children, Amber Cagle (Shawn), of Cameron, Richard Matthew Pope, of Robbins and Brandon Lynn Wood, of Robbins; sisters, Donna “Pebbles” Smith (Todd), of Robbins, Wendy Lowe (Brad), of Troy, Deana Brewer (Eddie), of Ether and Belinda “Runt” Britt (Ronnie), of Star; brothers, Ritchie Pope, of Robbins and Raymond “R.T.” Pope, of Robbins; grandchildren, Nicholas Andrew Gonzalez, Elijah Shawn Saunders, J.W. Saunders, Joshua Matthew Pope, Rihanna Paige Pope, Harmonie Jean Pope, Honestie Evelyn Pope and a host of family and friends.

Charles “Leon” Furr

Sept. 5, 1930 – April 24, 2026

Charles “Leon” Furr, age 95, passed away peacefully at Randolph Hospice House, Asheboro, North Carolina, on April 24, 2026. Leon was born in Asheboro, North Carolina, on September 5, 1930, to Rufus and Florence Bulla Furr. He was a graduate of Asheboro High School. Leon enlisted in the United States Army and served proudly until 1954, when Leon was honorably discharged.

Leon worked in the textile industry at Acme-McCrary before retirement, where he was the plant manager. He was an easy-going and laid-back person who enjoyed playing golf in his earlier years, he also enjoyed shing. Leon, for many years, coached Little League Baseball in North Asheboro, which he really enjoyed. His most notable accomplishment was being a loving husband to Ermel for close to 78 years and a loving father to his son. Leon was an exceptional provider for both. Leon was a faithful member of Neighbor’s Grove Wesleyan Church for many years.

Leon was preceded in death by his parents and brothers: Lloyd Furr and Larry Furr. Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife, Ermel, of the home, and son, Rodney, of Asheboro. Graveside services are scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Oaklawn Cemetery in Asheboro, North Carolina, with the Rev. Mark Wilburn presiding. Internment will follow.

The Furr family wants to thank the sta and caregivers of Hospice for the wonderful care given during their brief time there.

Bronna Merritt

Sept. 3, 1935 – April 19, 2026

Bronna Dale Deaton Merritt, 90, of Charlotte, passed away Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Atrium Health Hospice & Palliative Care Union in Monroe.

Graveside services, 3 p.m., Saturday, at Oaklawn Cemetery, Asheboro, with Pastor Greg Baker o ciating.

Born September 3, 1935, in Stanly Co., NC, Mrs. Merritt was the daughter of the late Carroll Floyd Deaton and Grace Morris Robbins. After graduating from Troy High School, she earned her bachelor’s degree in education from High Point College, and her Master’s Degree in education with a certi cation in working with exceptional children from UNCGreensboro. She received the STAR teacher award in Georgia and was a member of Association of Children with Learning Disabilities (A.C.L.D.) She retired her education career from the Randolph County School System. Afterwards, she ran the Smart Shop in Asheboro for several years tutoring children.

Mrs. Merritt was a member of Central Church in Charlotte. She was an avid reader, a faithful Christian and a loving mother and grandmother.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Merritt was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Eugene Merritt, granddaughter, Arianna Merritt, and brothers, Reece Deaton and Bobby Deaton.

Surviving are her son, Gene Merritt and daughter-in-law, Laura Merritt of Charlotte; grandchildren, Ellowyn Merritt, Jon Isaac Merritt, and Arabella Merritt.

The family will receive friends from 1:30-2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Ridge Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Asheboro.

In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to Central Church, 5301 Sardis Road, Charlotte, NC 28270.

June 29, 1932 –April 19, 2026

Vernon Monroe Minton, 93, of Bennett, passed away on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Dunmore Senior Living in Siler City. The graveside service will be at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Bennett Baptist Church with Rev. Tim Strider presiding. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall from 1-1:45 p.m. They will return to the fellowship hall following the committal. Joyce-Brady Chapel will be open on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 1-5 p.m. for friends to sign the register. Vernon was born on June 29, 1932, to Hayes and Cullie Caviness Minton. He retired as a supervisor from Boling Chair Company after 30 years of service. He was a master craftsman. He enjoyed working on classic cars, sandblasting and woodworking.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes Minton; brother, Eugene Minton and sister, Virginia Minton.

Vernon is survived by his son, Wayne Minton, of Bennett; daughter, Brenda Kivett (Larry), of Bennett; grandson, David Kivett of Bennett; sister, Edith Shelton, of Wilkesboro; brother, Ray Minton, of Bear Creek and a host of family and friends.

Judy Kay Taylor Richardson

April 18, 1962 – April 18, 2026

Judy Kay Taylor Richardson, 64, of Asheboro, died Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Randolph Health in Asheboro. Memorial services will be conducted at 1 p.m., Saturday, April 25, 2026, at First Baptist Church, Asheboro, with Pastor Stephen Owen o ciating. Born in Richmond Co., NC, on April 18, 1962, Mrs. Richardson was the daughter of the late George Morgan Taylor and Edna Rebecca Heaton Taylor. She was a member of First Baptist Church Asheboro where she helped with their movie and meal programs for the homeless, until her health declined. She loved her church family very much. Mrs. Richardson de ned sel ess. She would always try to help others. Many times she would do things for others without their knowledge while never wanting any recognition. She also had a special love for children serving as a pre-school teacher. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her mother-in-law, Teresa Kay Richardson. Mrs. Richardson is survived by her husband, Waymon Richardson Jr., of the home; sister, Becky Williams of Burgaw; brothers, George Taylor (Janet), Danny Taylor (Mary), all of Hamlet; niece, Nikki Traywick; father-in-law, Waymon Richardson Sr., (Linda); and special friend, Betty Caviness. The family will receive friends from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at the church prior to the service.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.

Joyce Davidson

Nov. 24, 1978 – April 19, 2026

Joyce Marie Voncannon Davidson, age 47, of Asheboro, passed away April 19, 2026, surrounded by loved ones at her home. She was born on November 24, 1978, in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, the daughter of Sandra Moore Voncannon and the late Melvin Tommy Voncannon. She is also preceded in death by the mother of her grandchildren and daughter, Taylor Staley. Marie lived a life lled with love, devotion, and joy. Her family was her greatest pride, and she found immense happiness in the laughter and smiles of her children and grandchildren. She, with her husband, Sean, lled a twenty-year union with love, laughter and commitment to raising a family. Marie had a unique talent for transforming a house into a home, creating a space that radiated warmth and comfort through her tasteful décor. Her beloved dogs were always by her side, and she delighted in preparing meals

Brenda Evans

Lunsford

April 24, 2026

Brenda Evans Lunsford passed away peacefully at her home on April 24, 2026, surrounded by the love and memories she cherished throughout her life.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m., Thursday, April 30, 2026, at Ridge Funeral Home Chapel, Asheboro, with Pastor Darrell Greene and Ira Edwards o ciating. Burial will follow at Star Pentecostal Holiness Church Cemetery, Star.

Brenda was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She found her greatest joy in her family, always o ering love, strength, and kindness to those closest to her. Her home was a place of comfort, warmth and togetherness—a re ection of the care she gave so freely.

She is survived by her loving husband, Gary Lunsford of the home; her three sons, Garland Kivett, Terry Kivett, and Lynn Kivett; and her cherished granddaughters, Teressa Kivett, Ashley Edwards, and Debby Douglas. Brenda also leaves behind her siblings, Mary Campbell and Bill Evans, along with many nieces, nephews, and one of her favorite brotherin-laws, Ira Edwards, who will remember her fondly.

The family will receive friends from 12:45 - 1:45 p.m. on Thursday at Ridge Funeral Home, prior to the funeral service.

Brenda’s legacy is one of love, resilience and unwavering devotion to her family. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her, but her spirit will live on in the hearts of those she touched.

that brought her family together. Whether planning trips or special events, Marie infused every moment with her thoughtful touch. Her travels were cherished adventures, particularly the car rides with her daughter Alexa. Together, they embraced the open road, their spirits lifted by music and each other’s company. Marie was the steadfast backbone of her family, o ering unwavering support and comfort to all who needed it. Her presence will be deeply missed, but her spirit and love will continue to inspire those who knew her.

Marie’s legacy is one of enduring love and cherished memories that will forever warm the hearts of her loved ones.

Left to cherish her memory are her beloved husband, Sean Davidson; children, Ashtin Palacios (O’Shea), Anthony Palacios (Cierrah), Bryson Davidson, and Alexa Davidson; grandchildren, Addalin, Bentley, Zaiden, and Kingsly; mother, Sandra Moore Voncannon; sister, Debbie Saunders; halfbrother, Jerry Locke; half-sisters, Beth Locke and Renee Locke; fur babies, Dozer and Nyla; and numerous other beloved family and friends.

The family will receive friends from 3-4 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Midstate Cremation & Funeral Service, 304 Lanier Avenue, Asheboro, NC 27203. A celebration of life service will follow at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at the funeral home. Flowers are welcome, or memorials may be made to assist the family with the unexpected costs associated with a loss.

Dwight Hooker

Sept. 24, 1942 –April 22, 2026

Dwight Hooker, 83, passed away April 22, 2026, in Greensboro. He was born in Asheboro on September 24, 1942, to Tyson and Mary Britt Hooker, both deceased. Also deceased are sister Sybil H. Brown of Eagle Springs and Bill Hooker of Asheboro, niece Tammy Cromer of Asheboro, nephews Ty Hooker of Asheboro and Dwayne Brown of Wilmington, and brother-in-law, Odell Brown.

He was a 1961 graduate of Asheboro High School and furthered his education at Chowan, Campbell and A&T State Universities. He was a former high school English teacher. He later worked for Hospice of Randolph and New Hope Bereavement Center of Pugh Funeral Home. Especially meaningful to him were the 28 years he spent nurturing members of his support group at the Bereavement Center. He retired at age 79 in 2021 after 38 years in Bereavement Care.

One of his proudest moments was acquisition of land for the Hospice complex on Vision

Arvin Ray Braxton

March 3, 1943 –April 24, 2026

Ray Braxton, aged 83, peacefully passed away on April 24, 2026, in Ramseur, North Carolina. Born on March 3, 1943, in Greene County, NC, Ray lived a life lled with love, family and cherished pursuits.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, Ray is survived by his loving wife, Rachel Braxton of Ramseur, NC. He was the proud father of Johnny Braxton (wife Corinna) of Climax, NC; Jimmy Braxton of Asheboro, NC; Scott Braxton (wife Michele) of Asheboro, NC; Tammie Braxton Everhart (husband Je ) of Trinity, NC; and Bobby Braxton (wife Cindi) of Asheboro, NC.

He was lovingly known as “Papaw or Daddy Ray” to his grandchildren: Beth Ferrell (husband Brian) of Scotland; Joshua Braxton (wife Stephanie) of Pleasant Garden, NC; Josiah Braxton (wife Jordan) of Pleasant Garden, NC; Kristia Cogan

William

Carl

“W.C.” Currin

Oct. 19, 1934 – April 25, 2026

William Carl “W.C.” Currin, 91, of Bennett, passed away on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at his home. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Joyce-Brady Chapel. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at Bennett Baptist Church with Rev. Tim Strider presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will return to the fellowship hall following the committal.

W.C. was born in Nash County

Drive while he served as Board President. He was also a longtime volunteer with Randolph Help Line. He was a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church where he served as Church Historian. He enjoyed the outdoors, reading, writing, politics and traveling to 45 of 50 states. Especially enjoyable was the time he spent at Ridge Haven, his country hideaway.

He is survived by his wife, Maggie Anderson Hooker of the home. Other survivors include Parker and Jason Anderson and their father Brian Anderson of Asheboro; Kate Leonard of Raleigh, Sam Leonard of Durham and Justin Leonard and Dr. Bethany Latham of Key West, Florida, and their parents Karen and Chris Leonard of Fletcher, NC. Also, brother and his wife, John and Kelly Hooker of Ramseur. He is also survived by nieces Donna Bryson of Carthage, Keli Tate Hooker Hewitt (Chris) of High Point and nephew Josh Hooker of Ramseur.

Family and friends may pay their respects from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Pugh Funeral Home.

The family will receive friends one hour prior to the memorial service at Oakhurst Baptist Church.

Memorial service will be Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Oakhurst Baptist Church, 2225 S. Fayetteville Street in Asheboro, o ciated by Je Nobles and Dr. Rob Roberts. Burial will be at New Hope Memorial Gardens, 3448 New Hope Church Road in Asheboro.

Memorials may be made to Oakhurst Baptist Church, 2225 S. Fayetteville St., Asheboro, NC 27205.

(husband Luke) of Angier, NC; Samantha Crowder of Thomasville, NC; and Ashley Braxton of Climax, NC. Ray’s legacy extends to seven greatgrandchildren who brought him immense joy.

Preceded in death by his father, Ernest A. Braxton and his brothers Ernest and David Braxton, Ray held his family close, nurturing bonds that would last generations. His favorite “F” words—family, faith, friends, and rearms—were the pillars of his life.

Professionally, Ray worked as an electrician, a career that showcased his skills and dedication. In his leisure time, he found solace in the great outdoors, often casting a line while shing and teaching his children on hunting trips, getting lost in a good book, or enjoying the camaraderie of hunting trips. He was very proud of his children and grandchildren. Socializing with family and friends brought him immeasurable happiness, and he frequently enjoyed bragging on his grandchildren.

Rooted in his Baptist faith, Ray’s spirituality was a guiding force throughout his life. His wishes were simple and clear: the family is to have a “Braxton Family” get-together to reminisce and laugh over memories and stories over good food. He wishes for no funeral where those he loves are sad.

Ray will be remembered for his love of summer days spent by a stream or lake, surrounded by those he held dear. His spirit lives on in the hearts of his family and friends.

on October 19, 1934, to Aubrey and Selma Flowers Currin. He was a member of Bennett Baptist Church, where he served as a Deacon for many years. W.C. was a Veteran of the U.S. Army and retired as a butcher from Winn-Dixie after over 40 years of service. Following his retirement, he did taxidermy work. He enjoyed camping with his family at White Lake and Morehead City. W.C. loved his family and cherished his time spent with them.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Linda Bennett and Nancy Parker and one brother, Allen Currin.

W.C. is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mae Upchurch Currin, of the home; daughter, Teresa Biggs (David Welch), of Bennett; son Wesley Currin (Shanna Jarrett), of White Lake; sister, Audrey McCullen, of Warsaw; brother, Bobby Currin (Betty), of Benson; grandchildren, Michael Biggs, of Bennett and Samantha Pittman, of Grantville; greatgrandchild, Kyliegh Collins and a host of family and friends.

Douglas “Doug” Randolph Proctor

June 15, 1959 –April 20, 2026

Douglas “Doug” Randolph Proctor, 66, of Kernersville, passed away Monday, April 20, 2026, at his home.

Born June 15, 1959, in the Hoopers Creek Community, NC, Doug was the son of the late Benny and Betty Jean Williams Proctor. He attended High Point Central High School. He was formerly employed with Salem Leasing as a diesel mechanic and later retired from Harris Teeter after 33 years of service as a truck driver. His passion was classic cars and trucks and he loved restoring them. He also enjoyed carpentry work, all genres of music, drag races, the beach, camping and seafood.

Surviving are his wife, Tomi Winfrey Proctor of the home; son, Dan Gray Proctor (Jessica) of Kernersville; sisters, Teresa Rich (Macon), Katrina Varner (Tim); brother, Eugene Cox (Wanda); and several nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life service will be held at Bunker Hill United Methodist Church fellowship hall, 1510 Bunker Hill Sandy Ridge Road, Kernersville, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026, with Rev. Chuck Ireson o ciating. The family will receive friends following the service and refreshments will be served.

To honor Doug’s life and love of classic cars, the family invites everyone to bring a car and come to celebrate his life, enjoy a time of re ection and tell a “Doug” story in a “cruise in” atmosphere. In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Donation Processing Center, PO Box 5041, Boone, IA 509500041; or to Trellis Supportive Care, Attention: Finance, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103; or to Bunker Hill UMC, 1510 Bunker Hill Sandy Ridge Road, Kernersville, NC 27284.

Carol Ann DiNatale

Sept. 3, 1952 – April 23, 2026

On April 23, 2026, at 9:40 p.m. Carol Ann DiNatale took her last breath with her children by her side. There are no services scheduled at this time.

Carol was born on September 3, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York. Carol has been a resident of the North Carolina Triad area for about 21 years. She moved up here from Clearwater, Florida and stayed with her son in Thomasville and enjoyed every day playing and watching her grandsons grow.

Carol has been in retail and customer service for over 30 years and has a degree in Social Work from Montana State University, which she received in 1995. After graduating, Carol relocated in 1996 with her daughter to Dunedin, Florida, where they both fell in love with the beaches, the warm weather and the beautiful peacocks that would roam in their neighborhood.

Carol was a beautiful woman, with awless skin, a beautiful heart and a voice of an angel. She was always cracking silly jokes and had such an infectious smile. She will be greatly missed by her children, her family and all who loved her beautiful soul.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas DiNatale and Paula Moore. She left behind two children, Thomas Horne, wife Tonia, and their two boys, Alex and Zach. Her daughter, (her twin) Susie Horne, her signi cant other Steven Rodriguez and their daughter Isabella. Sister Paulette DiNatale and brother Gary Milliken, nieces, nephews, and long-time friends. We ask that you light a candle and say a prayer for the most beautiful star in the sky. And know that every beautiful sunset is a reminder of her.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in Randolph Record at obits@ randolphrecord.com

Donald Riegle, represented Michigan in Congress under 7 presidents, dead at 88

He switched from Republican to Democrat and led Senate opposition to NAFTA

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Donald W. Riegle, who represented Michigan in Congress for nearly three decades under seven presidents, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

Riegle, who began his career as a Republican and later became a Democrat, died Friday of cardiac arrest at his home in San Diego, according to a family statement.

“The cornerstone of our family, Don was a kind, loving, courageous leader who taught us to stand up for justice, economic opportunity, and fairness for everyone,” the statement said.

His family said Riegle was proud of ghting for the rights of working people and leading the Senate opposition to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement that resulted in the loss of many jobs in his home state. He pushed for economic development and the expansion of health insurance in Michigan.

The native of Flint, Michigan, was rst elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1966 at age 28. As a congressman, he challenged President Richard Nixon’s policies on the Vietnam War and crossed the aisle to join

President Jimmy Carter,

shakes hands with the Michigan delegation in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 1980, who were present for the signing by Carter of a bill that would enable Volkswagen to operate an auto assembly plant in a Detroit suburb. Sen. Don Riegle (D-Mich.), next to Carter, and Michigan Senate Majority Leader William Faust, seated center, look on.

the Democratic Party in 1973. Three years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1994. As chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Riegle pushed for nancial reforms of the savings and loan industry. Later, he was instrumental in getting treatment for Gulf War syndrome for military veterans who fought in the Persian Gulf in 1991. Riegle was caught up in the Keating Five controversy, when he and four other senators faced Ethics Committee hearings in 1990 about whether they pressured federal regulators to go easy on savings and loan king-

pin Charles Keating after receiving campaign contributions from him. The committee found Riegle did not break any federal laws or Senate rules but determined his conduct gave the appearance of being improper.

In 2001, Riegle became chairman of government relations for public relations rm APCO Worldwide.

In retirement, he spent time with his grandchildren and other family at his homes in Michigan and California, his family said. His wife of 48 years, Lori Hansen Riegle, was by his side when he died, the statement said. Memorial services are pending.

STATE & NATION

DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family

The highly educated tutor allegedly called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings

By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Balsamo The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man accused of opening re at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before an attack that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a message reviewed by The Associated Press.

The writings, sent shortly before shots were red Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions, including U.S. strikes on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Paci c Ocean.

Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence yet of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.

Authorities uncovered what one law enforcement ocial described as numerous anti-Trump social media posts linked to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple guns and knives.

Suspect’s brother reached out to Connecticut police

Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings, according to the law enforcement o cial, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The New London Police Department said in a statement it was contacted at 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, by an individual who wanted to share information related to it. The police department said it then immediately notied federal law enforcement.

Allen’s sister, who lives in Maryland, told investigators her brother had legally purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at their parents’ home in Torrance without their knowledge, according to the o cial. She described her brother as prone to making radical statements, the o cial said.

The writings examined by the AP ran more than 1,000 words and read as a rambling, deeply personal message, opening almost jarringly with a ca-

sual “hello everybody!” before shifting into apologies to family members, co-workers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence. The note moved between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen thanking people in his life even as he sought to explain the attack.

Elsewhere, he veered between political anger, religious justi cations and rebuttals to imagined critics. He also made a taunting critique of security at the Washington Hilton, mocking what he described as lax precautions and expressing surprise he was able to enter the hotel armed without detection.

The AP limits the use of attackers’ writings and social media posts to avoid amplifying their views or encouraging copycat actions. The AP chooses to summarize their words and focus mainly on the victims and investigations.

Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later, according

to the law enforcement ocial and another one who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Acting head of Justice Department says Trump o cials were targets

Allen is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, D.C., where he checked himself in as a guest at the hotel where the gala dinner was held with its typically tight security, said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He is believed to have acted alone.

Authorities say Allen attempted to charge toward the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being red, Trump being hurried o the stage unharmed and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

“It

does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president.”

Todd Blanche, acting attorney general

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pro le of the shooting suspect emerges

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

A May 2025 pro le photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.

A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had de -

Members of the U.S. Secret Service counterassault team stand on the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

veloped a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign nance records.

Chaotic scene unfolded minutes after gala began

The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted o stage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities ooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.

RandolpH SPORTS

Brumley rumbles to 100 title in county meet

The Asheboro speedster relishes opportunities on the track

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

ASHEBORO — Asheboro’s Luke Brumley doesn’t mind running from behind as long as he ends up in front.

“I want someone for me to chase,” the senior sprinter said. Brumley was the fastest run-

ner in the 100 meters in last week’s Randolph County Championships on his home track.

Brumley nished the nals in 11.23 seconds, edging teammate Connor Brinton (11.47 seconds).

Getting to championship level in the premier sprinting event was more of a marathon for Brumley. He used to concentrate on longer distances.

“I just started running track when I was a sophomore,” he said. “I used to not run the 100, and I built my way up to that.”

36 years later, Trinity returns to top spot

The Bulldogs ended a long drought between conference baseball championships

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

TRINITY — First place not only feels di erent for members of Trinity’s baseball team — it is di erent.

“Winning a conference has always been a goal,” senior catcher Brody Little said. “It’s good to have it actually happen.”

The Bulldogs are regular-season champions in the Central Carolina 3-A Conference, securing the school’s rst baseball conference title in 36 years.

“We are very proud,” ninth-year coach Ryan Spencer said. “We’ve got six guys who start most games are seniors. All seven nd a way to contribute every single game. We also have some young guys who have been really, really good.”

Capped by a 5-0 victory last Friday night at Wheatmore, Trinity went 9-1 in conference play to edge Providence Grove by one game in the standings.

This is what the Bulldogs have been chasing since

“We put in the work so when it comes game time, we don’t have to panic. We trust our work.”

Cameron

Hill, Trinity rst baseman

before these players were born. “We’ve strived for it and fell short, barely, every year until now,” senior out elder Walker Parrish said. “I wouldn’t say we’re the most talented. We just all do the little things and do our part.”

With seven seniors, there’s a veteran element to the group.

“It’s a goal that we had before the season,” senior rst baseman Cameron Hill said. “We’re all so connected as one team. We put in the work so when it comes game time, we don’t have to panic. We trust our work.” Center elder Peyton Williams, the team’s No. 2 pitcher, said there’s a good mix on the roster.

“All of our players are good at something,” Williams said. “Everybody has put our work in.” In the game that clinched at

Elijah Woodle of Asheboro was last year’s 100 winner in the county meet as a senior. Brumley said Woodle helped him become a better sprinter because of their workouts in past seasons.

“We were pushing ourselves to our limits,” Brumley said. “I nally got to where I was beating him.”

Brumley, whose personal best in the 100 is 10.8 seconds, is built di erently than the slender Woodle. Brumley is at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds.

least a share of the title early last week, reserve Josh Anderson, the only senior nonstarter, drilled the game-ending single in a 12-2 home run-rule victory vs. Wheatmore. Spencer said that was tting because contributions have been so widespread during the season.

Parrish drove in three runs, and he and Williams each scored twice. Lincoln Coble pitched a complete game with 12 strikeouts.

Then last Friday night, the Bulldogs used a ve-run seventh inning for a 5-0 triumph at Wheatmore for the outright title. Williams pitched six innings and Hill worked the ninth.

The week’s outcomes came with elation and perhaps relief.

“A lot of second places. The rst time you do it, it’s pretty cool because you go from sixth to second, it’s pretty cool,” Spencer said. “Then you do it a couple of more times, and then, man, it sucks. We want to get one. So these guys have been through a lot together, and to be able to get through it and stick together and come out on this side is a pretty cool experience.”

Little said there were high expectations because of the team’s veteran components. Parrish said the players have been together since middle school.

The coaching sta made sure it all meshed.

“Nobody deserves this more than our coaches and what they do,” Williams said. “Coach

Brumley was a linebacker on Asheboro’s football team, racking up more than 100 tackles and earning all-conference recognition. He said there was pride in being part of that program’s turnaround.

Now he’s gaining attention other than on the football eld.

“People are coming out to watch the 100, not that other events aren’t important,” Brumley said. “The 100 is my thing.” Yet he said his favorite event is the 800-meter relay. He gets to make the turn as the anchor leg.

“My favorite thing is chasing people down because I get such an adrenaline rush,” Brumley said. “I get so much adrenaline from running track. Running makes me feel so free.”

“My favorite thing is chasing people down because I get such an adrenaline rush.”

Luke Brumley, Asheboro sprinter

OTHER BOYS’ RESULTS

Asheboro’s Michael Mark and Aaron Tyson both won three events.

Mark claimed the 110 hurdles (14.98), 300 hurdles (40.74)

The competition this spring for the Blue Comets might mark his nal races. He’ll go to NC State to major in business administration.

Trinity to have opening for AD

There will be a change in the athletic department with Robert Mitchell leaving his position

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

TRINITY — Robert Mitchell is stepping aside as Trinity’s athletics director after 13 years. Mitchell has been working in some capacity at the high school for 20 years since he graduated in 2006. He immediately was on board assisting longtime boys’ basketball coach Tim Kelly, even while attending UNC Greensboro. Mitchell, 38, said he’ll look forward to a change of pace.

He’s also a history teacher at the school.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I don’t want to be anywhere else.” His last day as AD will be June 10. He said this will mark the rst time in 20 years that his summer won’t include ties to sports at Trinity.

“We’ve appreciated all he has done over the years,” baseball coach Ryan Spencer said.

“It’s going to be di erent not having him. I’m glad while he’s here we could get him one [conference championship]. He has been a major help with a lot of the stu we had going on around the eld and changes we’ve been able to make.” Mitchell said he’s looking to move into school administration.

He said he likes how Trinity has t into the new Central Carolina 3-A Conference.

“It’s a good time to pass the baton,” Mitchell said. “I’ll still be around and can try to help the next person.”

Alyssa Harris

Southwestern Randolph, softball

Harris has been a major contributor for the Cougars in the pitching circle and at the plate for several years.

That has continued this spring during her senior season. She has been one of the regular run producers for the team’s o ense along with a reliable hurler among the team’s deep pitching sta .

The Cougars won the Four Rivers Conference regular season. They produced a 16-4 record prior to this week’s conference tournament, so they’ll be bidding for a third 20-win season in a four-year stretch.

Harris selected Pfei er, where she’ll play college softball.

TRINITY from page B1

Spencer is always here and working on the eld. His wife comes down here and gets him to come home. We make fun of him for that, but we appreciate what he does.”

Along the way, a conference championship always makes it on the Bulldogs’ list of goals.

“This year, it happened,” Williams said.

A conference opponent scored more than two runs against Trinity in only one

game. The Bulldogs have continued to see the payo . “We’re really close this year, and we’re working like crazy,” Little said. “We’ve got incredible work ethic. We had it, and I think it’s over the top this year.” And it has, nally, put the Bulldogs at the top.

Trinity picks up road win

Williams drove in three runs and Little had three hits in Trinity’s 8-3 road victory against Southwest Guilford last week.

Southwestern Randolph, Randleman maintain top spots

There were multiple games matching up contending teams

By Bob Sutton Randolph Record

KATELYN WEST hit a grand slam and a two-run double when regular-season champion Southwestern Randolph smacked host North Moore 22-2 in Four Rivers Conference softball last week.

The Cougars won 13-5 against North Moore at home with West the winning pitcher and Ryleigh Hineline driving in three runs. Kami Dunn posted three hits, Nauttica Parrish scored three runs and Alyssa Harris homered.

Out of conference, Central Davidson topped visiting Southwestern Randolph 5-3.

• Meghan Peters circled the bases on a three-run play as Uwharrie Charter Academy nipped host Northwood 5-4

in the Four Rivers Conference.

In last Friday’s rematch, Northwood secured a 3-2 road victory with a seventh-inning run. UCA scored on Julia Nelson’s two-run homer in the rst inning.

• Shelby Williams scored three runs and Eastern Randolph won 15-5 at Southeast Guilford.

But the Wildcats lost 7-4 to visiting Jordan-Matthews in the Four Rivers Conference.

• Addyson Dees knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Ella Rogers pitched a complete game in Randleman’s 5-4 victory against Central Davidson in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

The Tigers are unbeaten in PAC play, while second-place Central Davidson tries to pull even in Thursday’s regular-season nale.

Randleman had an easier time when Lyric Chriscoe drove in ve runs and scored three runs and Elsie Prince knocked

in ve runs in a 16-1 home victory against High Point Central. Dees was the winning pitcher.

• Providence Grove’s Campbell Ziemba notched nine strikeouts, and Callie Lambert hit a two-run home run in a 15-0 victory against visiting Wheatmore. In another Central Carolina 3-A Conference game, Providence Grove trampled host Thomasville 18-0 in three innings with Ziemba pitching and Ruby Caudle collecting four hits to secure a tie for second place in the league.

The Patriots received a two -run home run from Lambert, four hits from Cailyn York and 10 strikeouts from Ziemba in a 14-3 home rout of Jordan-Matthews.

• Cora Little drove in six runs when Asheboro defeated host Northeast Guilford 22-5 in the Triad Area Athletic Conference. The fth-place Blue Comets then lost in a home game to second-place Southern Guilford by 15-5.

PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD

in for a run during last Friday night’s

Regular season closes with key games in league races

There were several teams from the county in position to claim conference titles

Randolph Record sta

MOST AREA baseball teams played their regular-season nales with championship implications last Friday night, while another team from Randolph County has more work to do before the postseason.

• Northwood, which didn’t score until the sixth inning, scored ve runs in the top of the seventh to break a tie and win 7-2 against Uwharrie Charter Academy to claim the Four Rivers Conference title last Friday night.

UCA ace Jake Hunter suffered the loss.

UCA’s 3-2 road victory earlier in the week against Northwood came with Keaton Hill striking out six batters in six innings, setting up the winner-take-all nal.

In between the league games, UCA fell 6-5 to Piedmont Athletic Conference leader Central Davidson despite a double and two runs scored by Jaxon Mabe.

• Cade McCallum struck out 12 batters and had three hits in Eastern Randolph’s 15-0 blanking of host Jordan-Matthews in the Four Rivers Conference, allowing the Wildcats to tie UCA for second place. Mad-

dox Dunn drove in four runs.

Eastern Randolph also won the rematch with Jordan-Matthews by 5-2 at home courtesy of Isaiah Batchelor’s three runs batted in and solid pitching from Bryson Marley and Chance Holdaway. Carlos Cordero knocked in three runs, and McCallum drove in two runs and scored twice when Eastern Randolph beat visiting Northeast Guilford 14-4. Landon Albright was the winning pitcher.

• Grant Kirk drove in four runs and scored three runs in Southwestern Randolph’s 15-5 road victory against North Moore in the Four Rivers Conference. The fourth-place Cougars also rolled in the rematch at home by 15-4 as Elijah Sykes drove in four runs, Carson Coltrane scored three runs, and Brady Arm eld and Lucas Connor both had three hits.

Later in the week, Arm eld hit a two-run home run and drove in three runs and Grant Kirk smacked a solo homer as Southwestern Randolph rallied with seven seventh-inning runs to defeat host Providence Grove 11-5. Carson Coltrane and Logan Weidman each drove in two runs. Sykes struck out 10 batters in 51⁄3 innings.

• Randleman stayed in contention for the Piedmont Athletic Conference championship by ripping High Point Central 19-0 and 28-0 in

a home doubleheader last Thursday.

John Kirkpatrick drove in three runs in both games, and Titan Burgess knocked in four runs in the nightcap.

Randleman entered this week needing to defeat Ledford twice to tie Central Davidson for the league championship.

At the beginning of the week, Jake Riddle struck out nine batters in six innings when Randleman blanked host Asheboro 11-0. Riddle had four hits at the plate and scored two runs.

• Andrew Thomas homered and Trevor Kirkman pitched a ve-inning complete game in Providence Grove’s 11-1 home victory against Thomasville in the Central Carolina 3-A Conference.

The Patriots then won 12-2 at Thomasville, boosted by Bishop Moore’s three-run double and Caden Waugh’s three runs scored. Providence Grove ended up second in the conference, one game behind Trinity.

• Asheboro’s Daniel Jaimes pitched 51⁄3 innings and Sam Gore nished on the mound in a 5-3 road victory against Southern Guilford in the Triad Area Athletic Conference. The Storm got even by defeating host Asheboro 2-1 on Friday to end the regular season. Asheboro’s Price Kidd struck out 11 batters.

The Blue Comets nished tied for second place.

PEN

Wheatmore, UCA maintain top spots

There were multiple games matching up contending teams

Randolph Record sta

JOCELYN MCDOWELL’S four goals and Hallie Myer’s two goals helped rst-place Wheatmore whip host Thomasville 9-0 in the Central Caroli-

na 3-A Conference girls’ soccer last week.

Emmie Messner and Tatum Wagner joined McDowell and Myer with one goal each in the Warriors’ 4-1 home triumph against East Davidson.

• Second-place Trinity defeated host East Davidson 2-0 with goals from Madison Hill and Carolina Case.

Trinity also topped visit-

ing Providence Grove 4-0.

• First-place Uwharrie Charter Academy won 2-1 at second-place Northwood in the Four Rivers Conference.

The Eagles also beat visiting Southwestern Randolph 7-1.

• Eastern Randolph su ered its third consecutive shutout defeat with a 9-0 loss to visiting Northwood.

• Three goals apiece from Jaira Arellano and Penny Smith lifted visiting Asheboro past Southern Guilford 8-1 in the Triad Area Athletic Conference.

Last Thursday, second-place Asheboro fell 5-0 at home to rst-place Northern Guilford.

Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway

He became the 13th driver to earn his rst win on the track

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose- rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for a while,” Hocevar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his rst Cup win at Talladega. “I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs — who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series.

RESULTS from page B1

and the 200 (22.88), edging Brumley by less than a half-second.

Tyson was tops in the pole vault (12-0) — ahead of Randleman’s Matthew Bowman (personal-best 11-6) — in the long jump (22-2) and triple (43-8), but he missed a fourth victory with fourth place at 5-10 in the high jump.

Asheboro easily claimed the team title in the county championships with 198 points. Randleman (117) was next, followed by Wheatmore (98), Southwestern Randolph (43), Eastern Randolph (31), Trinity (28), Providence Grove (28) and Uwharrie Charter Academy (9).

Mark and Brumley were on the Blue Comets’ winning 400 relay (44.41) along with William Sherrod and Sharaun Williams.

Randleman’s Bryson Nall was the winner in the 400 (51.68) and 800 (2:14.38). Wheatmore’s Ayden Fitzgerald claimed the 1,600 (4:51.75) and 3,200 (11:08.49).

Eastern Randolph’s Caden Revelle was the high jump winner at 6-0. He placed third in

BUTCH DILL / AP PHOTO

Carson Hocevar celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega.

The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining. Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,”

Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”

Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said.

“I’m getting old and don’t have

the 200. Randleman’s Izaiah Troxler (shot put, 44-7¼) and Asheboro’s Juan Pablo Munoz (discus, 135-7) won the throws. Randleman’s 800 relay with Kayd Saunders, Fareed Ray, Zier Williams and Bryson Nall won in 1:33.74. Southwestern Randolph’s 1,600 relay of Thomas Costello, Kegan Sugg, Devonte Dukes and Kaiden Mabe won in 3:45.33. Wheatmore was rst in the 3,200 relay in 9:19.22.

GIRLS’ RESULTS

Senior Jalaya Showers of Asheboro swept the 100 (11.93) and 200 (25.71) in the county championships for the fourth year in a row.

Asheboro was the team champion with 134 points, followed by Wheatmore (105), Providence Grove (93), Southwestern Randolph (55), Trinity (55), Eastern Randolph (42), Randleman (36) and Uwharrie Charter Academy (31).

Trinity’s Kayla Franklin won a dramatic 400 in 1:03.73, nipping Showers at the end. Franklin also was rst in the triple jump at 31-6.

Asheboro’s Nyla Prince (100

much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck

With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who nished outside the top 30 for the third time in ve races.

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start. “But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

hurdles, 16.53; 300 hurdles, 49.86) was a double winner in hurdles for the third year in a row.

Wheatmore’s Scarlett Hildreth (1,600, 5:29.10; 3,200, 13:38.65) also was a two-time winner, repeating from 2025 in both races.

Eastern Randolph had Mirianna Corea (shot put, 38-1¾; discus, 122-0) swept the throws for the third straight year.

Providence Grove’s Laurel Bernhardt won the 800 (2:28.22), Randleman’s Janiyah Brooks (long jump, 14 - 6), Wheatmore’s Kyln Surratt (pole vault 8-0) and Eastern Randolph’s Roxanne Davis (high jump, 5-4) also won individual events.

Providence Grove, with Bernhardt, Lyndsay Browder, Aaliyah Burpee and Abigal Lewis, won the 3,200 relay (11:46.59) and the 1,600 (4:42.00).

Southwestern Randolph’s Rhylea Maness, Jessica Zuniga, Kayla Hernandez and Kiersten Litell combined to win the 400 relay (53.35).

Trinity’s Franklin, Judith Davis, Leyla Martinez and Aubrey Yow formed the winning 800 relay (1:55.05).

Kahan’s new ‘The Great Divide’ meets moment as ‘Stick Season’ successor

For fans of The Lumineers, Taylor Swift’s pandemic albums and Jason Isbell

By Mike Catalini

The Associated Press

GATHER AROUND. Sing-

er-songwriter Noah Kahan is leading his audience to therapy — or a walk in the woods.

Kahan’s fourth studio album, “The Great Divide,” out Friday, picks up where “Stick Season” left o with folksy, introspective hooks and catchy choruses that hit like a windows-down drive on a cool summer night.

Recorded primarily in Nashville and upstate New York and produced by Gabe Simon with Aaron Dessner, the 17-track

album nds Kahan reaching for new insights on familiar themes like family trauma, sobriety and home. The album sounds similar to its predecessor, but here, Kahan explores perspectives outside of his own.

It’s impossible to recapture the past, and the pressure to follow up “Stick Season” with another successful release weighed heavily on Kahan, as he revealed in his new Netix documentary “Noah Kahan: Out of Body,” released just ahead of the album.

The result is “The Great Divide” — not a radical departure from the 2022 record that won him a best new artist Grammy nomination, but an enjoyable listen, nonetheless. Anyone hoping for a new style should look elsewhere. Though there are some new features, notably

piano and some rock-pop detours that stand out in “American Cars,” a sound best described as Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” meets Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.”

“Doors,” the second track, is all the best parts of Kahan: blistering guitars, searching lyrics, heavy subject matter. “Have you ever stared directly at the sun? / Have you ever shared some closeness, so exposed, to have it spit back by someone?”

“The Great Divide,” the title track and lead single, has an aching humanity in its lyrics and a searing juxtaposition inviting the listener to view haunting spirits, killers and illness as, well, not the worst things. “I hope you’re scared of only ordinary s---” / Like murderers and ghosts and cancer on your skin / And not your soul, and what he might do with it.”

But it’s the prechorus that resonates deeply. Rhythmic guitar chord changes come into the foreground, adding a layer to the quicker strumming that carries throughout the song.

“You know I think about you all the time,” he sings, “And my deep misunderstanding of your life.”

It’s impossible to recreate “Stick Season,” but the album doesn’t endeavor to rehash the past. It carries on, a kindred spirit to its predecessor, and why not? Seasons change, but they come back again.

Evans, Choi among 6 nalists for Women’s Prize for Fiction

Winners of both prizes will be announced June 11 in London

By Jill Lawless The Associated Press

LONDON — Four debut

novelists are among six books on a U.S.-dominated list ofnalists for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, which is open to female English-language writers from any country.

American authors take four of the six places on the shortlist for the 30,000 pounds ($40,000) prize, announced last Wednesday by a judging panel led by former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Among them are bestselling writer Lily King’s campus-set romance “Heart the Lover” and Susan Choi’s twisty family saga “Flashlight,” a nalist for last year’s Booker Prize.

First novels making the list include U.S. writer Virginia Evans’ “The Correspondent,” a novel told in letters with an older woman as protagonist that became a slow-burn hit after its release in 2025; and Addie E. Citchens’ “Dominion,” a story of power and patriarchy centered on a black church in Mississippi.

Rounding out the list are two debut novels by British writers: Marcia Hutchinson’s “The Mercy Step,” a girl’s coming-of-age story set in northern England, and Rozie Kelly’s tale of love and grief, “King sher.” Gillard, who was Australia’s leader between 2010 and 2013, said the books are all page-turners with intriguing characters that explore “power — where it lies, where it doesn’t lie. How you nd the ability to chart your own life course,

SOLUTIONS FOR THIS WEEK

“I’m a ction lover, a ction reader, and it’s been just fantastic to have this experience.”

Julia Gillard, former Australian prime minister

what it means to potentially have others that are pushing you in di erent directions as you try and chart that life course.”

The number of debut novelists doesn’t mean the authors lack experience. Hutchinson is a former lawyer in her 60s, while Evans wrote seven unpublished novels before nding international success with “The Correspondent.”

“I think the way the publishing industry is working now, there are quite a number of authors coming to the fore for whom being a ction author is

well and truly a second act in a life that has brought other careers,” said Gillard.

“I’m delighted to see that,” Gillard told The Associated Press — though she is not in a rush to join them. While former leaders including Bill Clinton in the U.S. and Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland have written or co-written political thrillers, Gillard says she is not working on a novel.

“Never say never, but I’m not sure about that,” said Gillard, who has written a memoir and non ction books about women and leadership. “But I’m a ction lover, a ction reader, and it’s been just fantastic to have this experience” as a Women’s Prize judge.

Next, the ve judges will meet to choose a winner. Previous winners of the ction prize, founded in 1996, include Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Barbara Kingsolver. A sister prize for non ction was founded in 2024.

famous birthdays this week

Engelbert Humperdinck hits 90, Rita Coolidge celebrates 81, Christopher Cross is 75, Carlos Alcaraz turns 23

THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

APRIL 30

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is 77. Filmmaker Jane Campion is 72. Filmmaker Lars von Trier is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 65. Actor Johnny Galecki is 51. Actor Kirsten Dunst is 44.

MAY 1

Singer Judy Collins is 87. Singer Rita Coolidge is 81. Filmmaker John Woo is 80. Actor Dann Florek is 76. Musician Ray Parker Jr. is 72. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen is 66. Singer-actor Tim McGraw is 59. Filmmaker Wes Anderson is 57.

MAY 2

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 90. Actor David Suchet is 80. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 78. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 76. Actor Christine Baranski is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes is 73. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 71.

MAY 3

Singer Frankie Valli is 92. Singer Christopher Cross is 75. Actor Amy Ryan is 58. Actor Bobby Cannavale (ka-nuhVAL’-ee) is 56. Music executive-entrepreneur Damon Dash is 55. Actor Christina Hendricks is 51. Actor Dule (dooLAY’) Hill is 51. Country musician Eric Church is 49. Golfer Brooks Koepka is 36.

MAY 4

Jazz musician Ron Carter is 89. Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator George Will is 85. Actor Richard Jenkins is 79. Country singer Randy Travis is 67. Comedian Ana Gasteyer is 59. Actor Will Ar-

nett is 56. Basketball Hall of Famer Dawn Staley is 56.

MAY 5

Actor Lance Henriksen is 86. Comedian-actor Michael Palin is 83. Actor Richard E. Grant is 69. R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn is 51. Actor Vincent Kartheiser is 47. Actor Danielle

MAY 6

Rock musician Bob

the stream

Michael B. Jordan, Kacey Musgrave, Tori Amos, double dose of Matthew Rhys

Kacey Musgraves drops “Middle of Nowhere” on Friday

The Associated Press

MICHAEL B. JORDAN voicing a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with a majestic bird in the animated movie “Swapped” and Kacey Musgraves’ seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” 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 TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” on Prime Video, the anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” on Crunchyroll and two Matthew Rhys projects — the movie thriller “Hallow Road” and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

MOVIES TO STREAM

Newly minted Oscar winner Jordan voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Net ix on Friday. “Tangled” lmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.”

The anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the lm, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help ght devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

“Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a ve-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”) and it’s debuting exclusively on the Criterion Channel on Friday. And nally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, Rosamund Pike and Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident

“‘Hallow Road’ is an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.” Lindsey Bahr, AP lm writer

late one night. AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that “it’s an e ectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

MUSIC TO STREAM

Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’ “Dry Spell,” the rst single from her highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday. But a one-trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on. Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: From criticism for their political statements, which previously saw

them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, listeners will be able to form their own opinions: They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule.

Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic lm version of a rock band, have been undeniably in uential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.” It is an immediately recognizable sound, de ned by its characteristics: An unusual, complex

time signature, intricate ngerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.”

A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her ight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s o cial press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good ght.

SERIES TO STREAM

Roku has a new program for younger rst-time home buyers. “This First House” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spino of the PBS staple “This Old House.”

The TV adaptation of Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” is available now on Prime Video. The Spanish-lan-

Kacey Musgraves performs during the rst weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025. The country star’s latest album, “Middle of Nowhere,” drops Friday.

guage series follows the trials and tribulations of a multigenerational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination, but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series is streaming now.

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Artemis II made space travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it lled with hostile lifeforms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing Thursday on PS5.

HOKE COUNTY

Who’s paying for the ponds?

The Hoke County Board of Education held a special meeting April 20 to discuss whether the cost of the retention ponds for the new Hoke County High School Project will be paid from the owner contingency fund or the contractor contingency fund. There was a closed session to consult with the board attorney to prevent the disclosure of privileged or con dential information and to preserve the attorney-client privilege.

WHAT’S HAPPENING US soldier charged with using intel to win $400K on Maduro raid being released

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event

Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom. Sen. Lindsey Graham said at a news conference that it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington Hilton.

The case fuels a bipartisan push to regulate increasingly popular prediction markets

By Gary D. Robertson

Associated Press

The

RALEIGH — A U.S. special forces soldier who took part in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be released on bond on charges accusing him of using classi ed information about the operation to win more than $400,000 in an online prediction market, a federal magistrate said last Friday. The magistrate in North Carolina said he would allow Gannon Ken Van Dyke to be released and told him to report to a New York federal courthouse by Tuesday to continue his case there.

Bearded with arm tattoos, Van Dyke said little during the nearly hourlong hearing,

during which he was appointed a federal public defender who declined to comment afterward. The $250,000 unsecured bond did not require Van Dyke to put up any money.

Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke used his access to classi ed information about the operation to capture Maduro in January to win money on the prediction market site Polymarket.

The sites allow people to trade on almost anything — from the Super Bowl to U.S. elections and even the winners of the TV reality shows.

Van Dyke, who is stationed at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, was charged last Thursday with the unlawful use of

See CHARGE, page A2

Andre the Giant honored by Richmond County town with roadside marker

The legendary wrestler adopted Ellerbe as his home

The Associated Press

ELLERBE — Andre the Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina.

O cials unveiled the marker Thursday in the Richmond County town of Ellerbe, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimo lived on a ranch just outside town. Roussimo was billed at 7-foot-4 and 520 pounds during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger-than-life villain, Roussimo was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimo appeared on lm as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.

Roussimo was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-lev-

el radioactive land ll nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum. Roussimo died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funer-

al. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

Wrestler Vladimir Kolo , who befriended Roussimo as he helped him get into the business, said his friend deserved the marker because he turned wrestling from a regional pastime into a huge international business.

“The world of professional wrestling has given us a larger-than-life icon,” Kolo said just before helping take the cover o the marker.

The Richmond County marker at N.C. Highway 73 and Old N.C. Highway 220 simply says “Andre the Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimo . Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

(USPS 20451) (ISSN 2471-1365)

CHARGE from page A1

con dential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

He could face up to 10 years on four of the criminal counts, and up to 20 years on a fth, the government said Friday. A publicly listed phone number listed for Van Dyke isn’t in service.

Van Dyke, 38, was involved for about a month in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro, according to the New York federal prosecutor’s o ce. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classi ed or sensitive information” related to the operations, but prosecutors say he used what he knew to make a series of bets related to Maduro being out of power by Jan. 31.

“This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to pro t o of a righteous military operation,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.

Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets, said it found someone trading on classi ed government information, alerted the Justice Department and “cooperated with their investigation.”

Massive pro ts from well-timed bets aroused public attention days after the raid in Venezuela and brought bipartisan calls for stricter regulation of the markets.

The sudden rise of these markets has led to growing scrutiny by Congress and state governments. Some lawmakers alarmed by highly speci c,

THURSDAY

Former Fauci adviser indicted for allegedly concealing communications related to COVID-19 research

Prosecutors say he suppressed alternative COVID-19 origin theories

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A

former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

“These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday.

well-timed trades on the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and wagers on President Donald Trump’s next moves have pushed for guardrails against insider trading.

The Trump administration has been supportive of the industry’s expansion. The president’s eldest son is an adviser for both Polymarket and its main competitor, Kalshi, and is a Polymarket investor. Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is launching its own prediction market called Truth Predict.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, announced Thursday that it had led a parallel complaint against Van Dyke.

That complaint alleges that Van Dyke moved $35,000 from his personal bank account into a cryptocurrency exchange account Dec. 26 — a little over a week before U.S. forces ew into Caracas and seized Maduro.

Van Dyke made a series of bets on when Maduro might be removed from power, according to the complaint. He placed those bets between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, with the vast majority occurring the night of Jan. 2 — just hours before the rst missiles struck Caracas.

The bets resulted in “more than $404,000 of pro ts,” the complaint says.

“The defendant was entrusted with con dential information about U.S. operations and yet took action that endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way,” said Michael Selig, the commission’s chairman.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: hokecommunity@northstatejournal.com

Weekly deadline is Monday at noon

“Government o cials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”

Morens faces charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsi cation of records in federal investigations; concealment,

removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to a Justice Department news release. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

An attorney for Morens declined to comment. The indictment re ects Republicans’ long-held belief that the federal government covered up key information about

COVID-19 as the pandemic unfolded. Despite numerous probes, the origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insu cient evidence to prove either theory.

Blanche said Morens’ alleged conduct was part of an e ort to “suppress alternative theories” about COVID-19’s origins. The Justice Department also accused Morens of having an improper relationship with a collaborator, including allegedly accepting a gift of wine and discussing COVID-19 research and potential publications in a prominent medical journal.

The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

COLUMN | LARRY ELDER

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter,

COLUMN | EMILY STACK

former Democratic National Committee

Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

If China restricts these products at home, why are they flooding our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was

legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing

the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else.

It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination, and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one.

And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

Trump’s many upcoming large, public events may present fresh security challenges after latest attack

The third violent assault in less than two years renews a security debate

By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal law enforcement ocials are evaluating how to proceed with some high-pro le public events featuring President Donald Trump after the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The third violent assault in the vicinity of Trump in less than two years is renewing the central tension confronting the Republican president’s defenders: how to accommodate the public-facing demands of the presidency while minimizing the risk of an attack.

Saturday’s episode, in which a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the Washington, D.C., hotel ballroom where the president was set to address the White House Correspondents’ Association, comes ahead of Trump’s expected participation in a stretch of large, high-pro le events indoors and outdoors in the months ahead. Among them, he’s set to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, oversee the U.S. co-hosting the World Cup and lead rallies meant to galvanize support for Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.

White House chief of sta Susie Wiles will hold a meeting this week with o cials from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss security protocol at events with the president, according to a senior White House o cial. The meeting will examine security steps that were successful on Saturday while “exploring additional options” for future events, said the o cial, who insisted on anonymity to con rm private discussions.

Separately, a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. Secret Service was already reevaluating its security footing for the upcoming events. The agency’s posture was already elevated due to the extraordinary number of threats facing Trump — including two assassination attempts in 2024 — and the realities of recent events such as the U.S.-Iran war.

“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that is more dangerous,” Trump said of the presidency Saturday night from the White House.

Inside the Secret Service, agents on protective intelligence and threat assessment teams are also reexamining threats made against Trump in recent months. Copycat violence can follow high-pro le attacks, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security planning.

The White House and Buckingham Palace said King

“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that is more dangerous.”

President Donald Trump

Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit Monday went ahead as planned. Still, organizing around large-scale events deeper in the future — including the UFC bout on the White House lawn marking Trump’s 80th birthday in June, World Cup matches and the IndyCar race past the White House — could get more complicated.

An inherent tension in presidential protection is exposed

Lawmakers, event attendees and some allies of the president saw fault in the correspondents’ dinner security planning, questioning why someone like the shooter could reserve a room at the hotel to sneak in weapons around the outermost layer of security.

Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security Committee, said security protocols for Trump and Vice President JD Vance may need altering.

“I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that,” McCaul told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Kari Lake, a former unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona and Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, complained about not having to

Kyeshia is a compassionate PCA who puts the resident’s needs before her own. She provides professional care and always meets the needs of the resident. Thank you for a job well done!

show a photo ID to match her ticket to the event when entering the hotel for the correspondents’ dinner.

“I can’t believe how lax the security was,” Lake wrote on X.

The Secret Service is charged only with the safety of its protectees, not of the event itself, and the agency immediately celebrated its response, drawing a high-pro le endorsement from Trump himself.

“Our multilayered protection works,” director Sean Curran said Saturday.

“Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job,” echoed Trump on Sunday in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

Garrett Gra , author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die,” wrote in an analysis of the multiple layers of security around Trump during the dinner, “Seems like the system basically working as designed, amid the always necessary trade-o s of security in a free society.”

Retired Secret Service Agent Thomas D. Quinn, who helped pioneer Secret Service counterassault teams, posted on X that “the Secret Service security plan for the WHCD worked and the assailant was stopped.” He continued, “As long as we are a free people in a freedom loving Nation, the Secret Service responsibilities will continue to be immense.”

More security changes ahead

Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect,” said

authorities are likely to consider placing bulletproof glass around where Trump speaks outside and inside — not unlike after the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt during the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Attendees, Kessler said, will likely be more thoroughly screened going forward — exacerbating lines at entrances that can already take hours to clear. An example of what might happen came last fall, when Trump attended the men’s nal of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and triggered massive security lines.

Such events underscore the complicated security questions surrounding presidential protection in a country where citizens expect their leaders to move through public spaces, hold rallies, attend events and appear before crowds.

“Presidents don’t like to have too much protection,” Kessler said. “I think, by their nature, they’re very outgoing. They want to meet people. They don’t want to be accused of being prisoners of the White House. And so they’ll try to get around some of these improvements.”

Presidents can have love-hate relationships with security details

The Secret Service took over full-time responsibility for protecting the president during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, who came to o ce after an assassin killed William McKinley in 1901. Roosevelt found the constant security presence tiresome, however, and would sometimes slip away for unprotected hikes

or horseback rides in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park, according to the White House Historical Association.

Security personnel wanted President Ronald Reagan to exit the building where Saturday night’s shooting occurred, the Washington Hilton, through a covered garage in 1981, Kessler said. Reagan’s sta worried the optics would be bad, however, and the president was shot as he left an open-air exit, ultimately surviving.

After shots were red Saturday, Secret Service agents surrounded Trump, who appeared to slip slightly as he was whisked away. Another team moved Vance so quickly it seemed as if it might haul him out while still seated in a banquet chair.

Trump told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that he “wasn’t making it easy” for the Secret Service by being “a little bit me.”

“I wanted to see what was happening,” the president said Sunday. “And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem — di erent kind of a problem — bad one.

“I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute.’”

He said he started walking out but, “They said, ‘Please go down. Please go down on the oor.′ So I went down, and the rst lady went down also.”

Trump repeatedly praised the Secret Service and his detail, and he has pushed the correspondents’ association to reschedule the dinner. He said it would have “even more security.”

“And they’ll have bigger perimeter security,” he said. “It’ll be ne.”

Robert General has been a resident at Open Arms since August 2021. He was born in South Carolina, relocated to Richmond Virginia and later moved to North Carolina. Robert enjoys BINGO, church and knitting. He is a joy to have here at Open Arms Retirement Center.

Mrs. Florence Herbert has been a resident here since May 2021. She moved to North Carolina from Pennsylvania to escape the bad weather. Florence enjoys word searches, BINGO, watching TV and spending time with her friends on the Special Care Unit at Integrity Open Arms.

Mrs. Betty Purcell is from Raeford, North Carolina. She moved into our assisted living this past June. Besides being the mother of two, she worked for many years at Burlington Mills. Betty enjoys church, watching youtube and doing word searches.

happy to discuss your needs or questions. W here to help!

HOKE SPORTS

Postseason begins for some area teams

North State Journal sta

Baseball

The Bucks enter the last week of the regular season on a ve-game losing streak. Hoke County dropped three last week, falling to Pinecrest at home by a 5- 0 score, then losing at Purnell Swett 16 -1 and at Pinecrest 15-1.

Hoke is now 8-12, 5-8 in conference and needs to make a run in the nal three games of the schedule as well as the conference tournament to secure a spot in the state tourney.

The Bucks have a home and home this week with Jack Britt,

as well as a home tilt with South View, then start preparing for the postseason.

Girls’ soccer

Hoke is still winless in April, going 0 -5 -1 since a March 30 win. The Bucks lost a pair of home matches last week, 5 -1 to Pine Forest and 3 -2 against Richmond. Hoke is now .500, at 7-7- 4, 0 -5 -3 in conference. The Bucks still need one more win to post their highest victory total since 2014.

This week, Hoke plays three of its four remaining regular

season matches, at Pinecrest and Jack Britt and home against Athens Drive.

Softball

Hoke won two of three last week to enter the nal week of the regular season on a roll. The Bucks swept a home and home with Pinecrest, 4 -1 and 5 - 0, and lost at Purnell Swett 7- 4. That puts Hoke at 15 -5, 7-1 in conference. The Bucks wrap up the regular season this week with a home and home with Jack Britt and a road game at Dillon Christian.

1 football player from each ACC team to watch next season

17 schools in the

By Aaron Beard

A LOOK AT FOOTBALL players to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference

ing

of

and

Duke added graduate transfer Nick Del Grande from Coastal Carolina to help bolster its o ensive line. The Blue Devils lost starting tackles Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina from last year’s ACC title run, so there’s an opportunity for the 6 - 4, 302 -pound Del Grande with

Then-Duke quarterback Darian Mensah passes during the ACC Championship Game. He’ll be passing for Miami this season. See ACC, page B2

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Annabelle Lee

Hoke County softball

Annabelle Lee is a sophomore out elder on the Hoke County softball team.

The Bucks are wrapping up the regular season and preparing for the postseason after a successful campaign.

Last week, Lee went 2 for 3 with a run scored and stolen base in a win over Pinecrest. In the rematch with the Patriots, she went 3 for 4 with two runs. In a loss to Purnell Swett, she scored again and stole another base.

Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway

He became the 13th driver to earn their rst win on the track

The Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose - rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co - owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for a while,” Hoecvar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn

ACC from page B1

35 career starts to jump right in up front.

NC State Linebacker Harvey Dyson

o ers transfer help for a unit that ranked 12th in the ACC in scoring defense (27.2) and 14th in total defense (411.9). Dyson started his career at Texas Tech before playing last year at Tulane, starting all 14 games for a CFP team. He nished as the team leader there with 11.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

UNC

Tight end Jordan Washington arrives as a transfer from Texas as the Tar Heels adapt to new o ensive coordinator

Bobby Petrino’s scheme. The 6 -foot- 4, 264 -pound redshirt sophomore had seven catches for 109 yards and a score last year. Petrino described Washington as a “take charge, no -nonsense type of guy — and then has shown up on video playing that way.”

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it.”

Carson Hocevar

his rst Cup win at Talladega.

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs — who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series.

The 23 -year - old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining.

Wake Forest

Defensive back Davaughn Patterson could be a key piece of a defense that might have to lead the way for Jake Dickert’s second season with the Demon Deacons. He’s been a two -year starter with 154 tackles the past two seasons, showing the ability to help in coverage or close to the line of scrimmage.

Miami

Darian Mensah has moved on from Duke to be the quarterback for a Miami team that made the College Football Playo and pushed all the way to the championship game. Mensah nished second last year in the Bowl Subdivision ranks in both passing yardage (3,973) and touchdown throws (34). He had three touchdown throws during scrimmage work at last weekend’s spring game.

Virginia Tech

Duke transfer receiver

Que’Sean Brown is positioned to bolster the Hokies’ receiving corps. The redshirt junior

Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three -lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,” Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”

Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“Take

charge, nononsense type of guy — and then has shown up on video playing that way.”

UNC assistant Bobby Petrino’s scouting report on tight end Jordan Washington

had 64 catches for 846 yards and ve touchdowns for last year’s ACC champs, starting 12 games. He had a 14 -yard touchdown grab in the Hokies’ spring game last weekend.

Boston College

Running back Evan Dickens could boost the ground game for the Eagles as they come o a 2 -10 season. The 5 -foot-10, 195 -pound back ran for 1,339 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Liberty.

California

Quarterback Jaron-Keawe

Sagapolutele will garner national attention in returning

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said.

“I’m getting old and don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck

With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross

from a strong freshman season with the Golden Bears.

Clemson

The plan has been for redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina to take over the o ense after the departure of Cade Klubnik.

Florida State

The Seminoles announced Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels as the starting quarterback after the completion of spring drills.

Georgia Tech

Quarterback Alberto Mendoza, the Indiana transfer and younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, was the o ensive captain for the team’s recent spring game.

Louisville

The Cardinals brought in quarterback Lincoln Kienholz after three seasons at Ohio State.

Pittsburgh

Receiver Bryce Yates had

Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who nished outside the top 30 for the third time in ve races.

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start. “But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

11 catches for 202 yards while playing 11 games as a true freshman.

SMU

Running back Dramekco Green is a hard-running back with a strong frame, running for 90 yards in ve games as a redshirt freshman last year.

Stanford

Tight end Benji Blackburn could have a bigger role after making ve starts last year, nishing with nine catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Syracuse

Quarterback Steve Angeli helped Syracuse start 3 -1 last year, including a win at Clemson, before going down to a season- ending Achilles tendon injury.

Virginia

Receiver Rico Flores Jr. has gone from Notre Dame to UCLA and now Virginia.

John Taylor

Dec. 25, 1964 – April 17, 2026

It is with heartfelt sympathy that we announce the passing of Mr. John Taylor. Mr. Taylor departed this life, leaving cherished memories with his family and friends who will continue to honor his legacy of love and kindness. Funeral service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 11 a.m. at St. Andrews Church. Please continue to keep the Taylor family in your thoughts and prayers.

Helen Finch

July 8, 1936 – April 22, 2026

Helen Norton Grooms Capps Finch. Helen Finch, aged 89, peacefully went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Fayetteville, NC. Born on July 8, 1936, in Fayetteville, she was the beloved daughter of the late Duncan and Beulah Norton.

A graduate of 71st High School, Helen excelled as a basketball and softball player. She was a trailblazer for female high school athletes, advocating for better playing conditions during a time when women’s teams often faced inequities, such as playing on outdoor dirt courts.

Helen’s love for nature was evident in her passion for watching hummingbirds and nurturing her vibrant garden. Her green thumb brought beauty to her yard year after year. Over the years, she held various roles, including working with South River Baptist Association and Yarborough Motor Company. For 13 years, she also served as a dedicated caregiver.

Helen is survived by her children: Eddie Grooms (Karen), Cathy Bain (Daniel), Kelly Grooms (Sherry), and Melanie Grooms-Garrett; ve grandchildren: Austin Grooms, Alec Grooms, Megan Huddleston, Travis Brewer (Brittany), and Kayleigh Curthis (Tyler); as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her blended family: Wendle Capps (Charlene), Patricia Fox (Charlie), Walter Capps (Jody), Chris Winstead, Patricia Ward (Mitch), Mike Finch (Barbara), and many extended family members.

She was preceded in death by two devoted husbands: Wendle Capps, with whom she shared 16 years of marriage, and James Sydney Finch, who blessed her life for four years.

The family will receive friends at Balm in Gilead Church, 3110 Doc Bennett Road, Fayetteville, NC, on Friday, May 1, 2026, from 5-5:45 p.m., followed by a Celebration of Life service o ciated by Dr. Vivian Rhone. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Crumpler Funeral Home. In lieu of owers, donations may be made to Backpack Programs at Balm in Gilead Family Counseling Ministries via balmingileadnc.org or Dementia Alliance of NC.

Seavy Hales

May 15, 1934 – April 19, 2026

Mr. Seavy Hales went to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, April 19, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born on May 15, 1934, in Hoke County, North Carolina, to the late Mattie Mae Hales and George Curtis Hales. Mr. Hales was a hardworking man who dedicated 52 years of his life to Burlington Industries. He loved gardening, his family, and attending church. He will be deeply missed.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Lib Hales; his son, Seavy Bryan Hales (Tammy); his daughter, Janet Nelson (David); grandchildren Brandon Hedgpeth (Liz), Logan Hales, Trace Gaskins (Chelseigh), Dave Nelson Jr. (Rebecca), and Carrie Nelson; and many greatgrandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2026, from 4-5 p.m. at Crumpler Funeral Home, 131 Harris Avenue, Raeford, NC 28376. A service will immediately follow. Burial will be at Raeford City Cemetery.

Patricia C. Holt

Aug. 25, 1938 –April 22, 2026

Patricia C. Holt went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. She was born in Hoke County on August 25, 1938, to the late Archie and Agnes Clark.

Alongside her parents, Patricia was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph (Joe) Holt; her brother, James Calvin Clark; and her niece, Alicia Beth Clark. She is survived by her nieces, Angela Wilkes (Richard), and Terry Horne; her nephews, Tony Clark (Deborah), Tim Clark, and Sean Clark; and her cousin Connie Jackson (William).

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 between 10:00 am – 11:00 am at Crumpler Funeral Home, 131 Harris Avenue, Raeford, NC 28376. A service will immediately follow. Burial will be at Raeford City Cemetery.

Horace “PeeWee” McLean

Jan. 22, 1957 – April 20, 2026

Mr. Horace “PeeWee” McLean, age 69, went home to be with his Heavenly Father on Monday, April 20, 2026. A Memorial Service to Honor his Life and Legacy will be held on Saturday, May 2, at 1 p.m. at the Pauline T. Buie Chapel. PeeWee will be greatly missed.

Melinda McKoy

Nov. 17, 1950 – April 21, 2026

Ms. Melinda McKoy, age 75, went home to rest with her Heavenly Father on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. The Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, April 30th; 1:00 PM at the Pauline T. Buie Chapel. Melinda will be greatly missed.

Calvin Melvin

Aug. 25, 1958 –April 20, 2026

Mr. Calvin Melvin, age 67, went home to be with his Heavenly Father on Monday, April 20, 2026. The Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m. at the Pauline T. Buie Chapel. Calvin will be greatly missed.

Mark Alan Carter

April 5, 1958 – April 23, 2026

Mark Alan Carter, age 68, passed away on April 23, 2026, at home in Raeford, North Carolina. He was born on April 5, 1958, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He fought a long battle with lung cancer and now rests in the arms of the Savior, free from pain, nding peace in God’s promise.

Mark retired from Goodyear after 34 years and from Rock sh Fire Department as Assistant Chief after 40 years. We are honored to say that he comes from a long family legacy of re ghters. He was an avid hunter and sherman. He and his four grandchildren spent a lot of time in the woods and on the river. He passed his knowledge down and showed his love through teaching and quality time. They spent many hours together, bonding over hunting, shing, and camping. Mark found strength in God and maintained a personal devotion that was steady and sincere. He was a dedicated leader in prison and street ministries, always ready to lend a hand. His favorite verse was John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

He is survived by his wife, Joann Carter; two children, Amy Carter, Matthew Carter and wife Rita; four grandchildren, Brianna Carter and partner Seth Posey, Lynzee Radakovich and husband Josiah, Caleb Kersey, Cameron Carter and wife Chrissy; two great-grandchildren, McKinley Carter and Haisley Carter; mother, Pauline Hildon; one brother, Andy Carter. He is preceded in death by his father, Donald Carter.

Mark will be greatly missed and forever remembered.

A visitation will be held at Tabernacle Baptist Church on May 2, 2026, from 1-2 p.m., 3219 Lindsay Road, Raeford, NC 28376. A service will follow at 2 p.m. In lieu of owers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society in Mark’s memory.

STATE & NATION

DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family

The highly educated tutor allegedly called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings

By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Balsamo The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man accused of opening re at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before an attack that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a message reviewed by The Associated Press.

The writings, sent shortly before shots were red Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions, including U.S. strikes on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Paci c Ocean.

Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence yet of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.

Authorities uncovered what one law enforcement ocial described as numerous anti-Trump social media posts linked to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year- old California man accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple guns and knives.

Suspect’s brother reached out to Connecticut police

Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings, according to the law enforcement o cial, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The New London Police Department said in a statement it was contacted at 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, by an individual who wanted to share information related to it. The police department said it then immediately notied federal law enforcement.

Allen’s sister, who lives in Maryland, told investigators her brother had legally purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at their parents’ home in Torrance without their knowledge, according to the o cial. She described her brother as prone to making radical statements, the o cial said.

The writings examined by the AP ran more than 1,000 words and read as a rambling, deeply personal message, opening almost jarringly with a ca-

sual “hello everybody!” before shifting into apologies to family members, co -workers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence. The note moved between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen thanking people in his life even as he sought to explain the attack.

Elsewhere, he veered between political anger, religious justi cations and rebuttals to imagined critics. He also made a taunting critique of security at the Washington Hilton, mocking what he described as lax precautions and expressing surprise he was able to enter the hotel armed without detection.

The AP limits the use of attackers’ writings and social media posts to avoid amplifying their views or encouraging copycat actions. The AP chooses to summarize their words and focus mainly on the victims and investigations.

Allen legally bought a .38- caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later, according

to the law enforcement ocial and another one who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Acting head of Justice Department says Trump o cials were targets

Allen is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, D.C., where he checked himself in as a guest at the hotel where the gala dinner was held with its typically tight security, said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He is believed to have acted alone.

Authorities say Allen attempted to charge toward the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being red, Trump being hurried o the stage unharmed and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

“It

does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president.”

Todd Blanche, acting attorney general

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pro le of the shooting suspect emerges

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

A May 2025 pro le photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.

A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had de -

Members of the U.S. Secret Service counterassault team stand on the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

veloped a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign nance records.

Chaotic scene unfolded minutes after gala began

The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted o stage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities ooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.

April shower

The Pinecrest varsity women’s soccer team clinched the Mid-South 7A/8A conference championship on Tuesday thanks to a 2-0 win over Hoke County. The Lady Patriots are without a loss this year, going 9-0 in conference play and 15-0-3 overall. Above, coach Tyler Herbst takes a celebratory (if involuntary) shower.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

United Arab Emirates to leave OPEC, dealing blow to oil cartel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC e ective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

Republicans in Congress push for Trump’s White House ballroom after shooting at event

Republicans in Congress have launched new e orts to approve and pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom at the White House. They argue it would help avert security breaches like the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. A bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom. Sen. Lindsey Graham said at a news conference that it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington

$2.00

Moore County Sheri ’s O ce to take over SRO program

The transition will ensure that an armed o cer is in place at every school in the district

By Ryan Henkel North State Journal

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Schools Board of Education will be transitioning the responsibility of school safety and security to the Moore County Sheri ’s O ce starting next year.

E ective Jan. 1, 2027, the school district will no longer be utilizing its own police force for its school resource program (it was one of two counties in North Carolina that employed its own o cers), instead turning over that responsibility to the local sheri ’s o ce.

“Recently, we were given an opportunity by our board of commissioners and our sheri ’s department to ensure that we have a school o cer in every school in Moore County School District,” said Board Chair Robin Calcutt. “This is a step forward in strengthening our school safety. We’re very grateful for our Board of Commissioners and our sheri for stepping up to assist us.”

Interim Superintendent Jenny Purvis added, “At the end of March, I had discussions in regard to the sheri ’s department taking over Moore County Schools Police, what the structure of that would look like and the timeline of having an o cer in every school.” According to Purvis, the timeline for implementation

would be approximately 12-18 months to get an o cer in every school.

The board has tried for years to reach a 100% ll rate for SRO o cers within its schools, but it has struggled with both recruitment and retention.

Some of those di culties are also tied directly to state regulations, which prevented the hiring of o cers straight out of school and also didn’t allow the district to hire military or other state o cer retirees.

“We have always valued the fact that there is an o cer in every middle and high school and that is the same every day and the students get to know them and form a relationship with them,” Purvis said. “That is something that the sheri ’s o ce felt that they could

sustain and, in addition, they could put an o cer in every elementary school. This board has had a lot of conversation about it and has gone back and forth, but ultimately, the goal is to ensure that an armed ofcer is in every school, and so this is where we have landed.” Purvis also stated that full-time o cers currently employed by the school will have the opportunity to transfer to the sheri ’s o ce. In addition, the board approved the paying of a severance to each Moore County Schools’ o cer in an amount equal to three months of base salary as of Dec. 31, 2026, contingent on them remaining employed through the e ective date of transition.

Andre the Giant honored by Richmond County town with roadside marker

legendary

Ellerbe as his home

The Associated Press ELLERBE — Andre the Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina. O cials unveiled the marker Thursday in the Richmond County town of Ellerbe, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimo lived on a ranch just outside town. Roussimo was billed at 7-foot-4 and 520 pounds during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger-than-life villain, Roussimo was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimo appeared on lm as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.

Roussimo was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-lev-

el radioactive land ll nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum. Roussimo died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funer-

al. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

Wrestler Vladimir Kolo , who befriended Roussimo as he helped him get into the business, said his friend deserved the marker because he turned wrestling from a regional pastime into a huge international business.

“The world of professional wrestling has given us a larger-than-life icon,” Kolo said just before helping take the cover o the marker. The Richmond County marker at N.C. Highway 73 and Old N.C. Highway 220 simply says “Andre the Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimo . Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

4.30.26

FRIDAY

“Join the conversation”

Tillis says he’s ready to move ahead with con rming Warsh as Trump’s pick as Fed chair

The Senate Banking Committee was set to vote after the DOJ closed its inquiry of Jerome Powell

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Republican senator who had e ectively blocked con rmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve said Sunday he was dropping his opposition after the Department of Justice ended its investigation of the current central bank chair.

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in and around Moore County:

April 20

• Cotey Lee Dunlap, 30, of Bennett, was arrested by MCSO for second degree trespass and injury to personal property.

• Christopher Blake Thompson, 31, of Aberdeen, was arrested by Aberdeen PD for possession of a rearm by a felon, possession of a stolen rearm and felony possession of cocaine, and other charges.

• Sandra Arlene Triska, 44, was arrested by MCSO for possession of methamphetamine, simple possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and other charges.

• Gino Alahundra Gibson, 52, of Fayetteville, was arrested by MCSO for forgery of an instrument.

• Ashley Dawn McDonald, 38, of Fayetteville, was arrested by Aberdeen PD for shoplifting by concealing goods and possession of ve or more counterfeit instruments.

• Anthony Maurice Smith, 34, of Southern Pines, was arrested by Southern Pines PD for eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, reckless driving and driving on a revoked license, and other charges.

April 21

• Joey Andrew Mizell, 48, of Robbins, was arrested by MCSO for driving on a revoked license.

• Tamara Lynn Muse, 35, of Carthage, was arrested by MCSO for simple assault and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Gregory Alan Parsons, 41, of Jackson Springs, was arrested by MCSO for civil contempt.

• Robin Christine Smith, 40, of Fayetteville, was arrested by MCSO for uttering a forged instrument and obtaining property by false pretenses.

April 22

• Antonio Alexander Brown, 34, of Cameron, was arrested by MCSO for misdemeanor stalking, reckless driving to endanger and injury to personal property, and other charges.

• Je rey Brian Dunbar, 42, of Robbins, was arrested by MCSO for violating a domestic violence protection order.

• Stephen Scott Daniel, 34, of Aberdeen, was arrested by Carthage PD for possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.

• Bartholomew Ambrose McArthur, 39, of Laurinburg, was arrested by U.S. Marshals on a federal hold.

• Katrina Nicole Quick, 42, of Sanford, was arrested by MCSO for carrying a concealed weapon.

April 23

• Chris Andre Hernandez, 26, of Candor, was arrested by MCSO for eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and other charges.

• Frederick Ramon Jackson, 52, of Greensboro, was arrested by MCSO for eeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, reckless driving and driving on a revoked license, and other charges. CRIME LOG

The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a big hurdle to Trump’s e ort to install Kevin Warsh, a former high-ranking Fed o cial, in the job in place of Jerome Powell, long under White House pressure to lower interest rates. Tillis’ opposition was enough to stall the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.

“I am prepared to move on with the con rmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” two days after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said her o ce’s investigation of the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovations was over. Powell’s brief congressional testimony last summer about that work was also under review.

The Fed’s internal watchdog is scrutinizing a project, now at $2.5 billion after earlier estimates had put it at $1.9 billion, that the Republican president has criticized for cost overruns.

Powell had asked in July for the inspector general’s review.

“I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing,” Tillis said.

“Maybe we nd a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn’t? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to a criminal prosecution. That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early,” he said.

Tillis, who infuriated Trump in June for opposing his big tax and spending cuts bill over Medicaid reductions and then announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, added that he had received assurances from the Justice Department that “the case is completely and fully settled … and that the only way an investigation would be opened would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals.”

Important week for Fed leadership

The committee on Saturday said it planned to vote Wednesday on Warsh’s nomination. The ranking Demo-

CHARLES KRUPA / AP PHOTO

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses students at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last month.

crat, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responded with a statement that “no Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.”

Also Wednesday, Fed policymakers will meet and are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting, shrugging o Trump’s demands for a cut. At a news conference, Powell could indicate whether he will remain on the Fed’s board of governors after his term as chair ends, an unusual but not completely unprecedented step that would deny Trump the opportunity to ll another seat on the seven-member board. Powell’s term as a governor lasts until January 2028.

At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates and pledged to be “an independent actor” if con rmed as chair. Hours before that, Trump had been asked in a CNBC interview whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut rates. “I would,” the president said.

Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis has spoken out forcefully about Powell, decrying the inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “vindictive prosecution” and suggested it threatened the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had gotten assurances from the Justice Department that he needed “to feel like they were not using DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his con rmation.”

On Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters whether there was now smooth sailing for Warsh with the end of the

Justice Department’s investigation. “I imagine it’s smooth,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “is going to be fantastic.” The president said he still wanted to nd out “how can a building of that size cost ... whatever it’s going to be.”

Trump visited the Fed building in July and, in front of television cameras, said the renovations would run $3.1 billion. Powell, standing next to him, said after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, that the president’s latest price tag was incorrect.

Justice Department pursues Trump adversaries

The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived adversaries. For months it had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct. Other e orts by the department to prosecute Trump’s adversaries, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, have also been unsuccessful. Last month, a federal judge quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “to harass and pressure Powell to resign” and open the path for a new chair. A prosecutor handling the Powell case had acknowledged at a closed-door court hearing that the government had not found any evidence of a crime.

Pirro said last Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that ”there is no doubt that we will investigate” if the inspector general nds evidence of criminal conduct.

Warsh is a nancier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump nominated him in January.

May 1

Artists League of the Sandhills — “Eclectic” Opening Reception 5 p.m.

The Artists League of the Sandhills opens “Eclectic,” a select members exhibition showcasing work in a variety of styles and media, at its gallery in historic downtown Aberdeen. The free opening reception runs until 7 p.m. and o ers a chance to meet the participating artists.

Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art 129 Exchange St. Aberdeen

Cameron Spring Antiques Street Fair 9 a.m.

More than 100 vendors ll Historic Downtown Cameron for this biannual antiques street fair, which has drawn buyers and collectors for more than 40 years. The free, rain-or-shine event continues through Saturday, May 2; antique shops along the street remain open both days. Historic Downtown Cameron Carthage Street Cameron

SCC Theatre — “The Fantasticks”

7 p.m.

Sandhills Community College’s Department of Theatre presents “The Fantasticks,” the world’s longest-running musical, in an intimate black box production featuring an ensemble cast of college performers. The show runs May 1-3 with additional performances Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.; tickets range from $5 to $20.

McPherson Theater, Bradshaw Performing Arts Center 3395 Airport Road Pinehurst

May 2

Met Opera Live in HD — “Eugene Onegin” 1 p.m.

SRO from page A1

“This transition to the sheri ’s department is absolutely no re ection of the value that our SROs have brought to our school system,” Purvis said. “We could not have done what we’ve done without our SROs. They have been tremendous in the safety of our schools and helping us. This is just a re ection of the fact that we need an o cer in every school and have been unable to do that. But we certainly value them and want to recognize that they are valued members and that we recognize their contributions.”

“We’re deeply grateful for the men and women who have served as our resource o cers in our schools,” Calcutt said.

“Their commitment to protecting our schools, the relationships they’ve built with our students and employees, and their service to our community has made a lasting impact, and I could not be more proud of their professional service and experience.”

The Moore County Schools Board of Education will next meet May 11.

The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” directed by Tony Award-winner Deborah Warner, broadcasts live from the Met stage in New York to the Sunrise Theater screen. Soprano Asmik Grigorian stars as Tatiana opposite baritone Iurii Samoilov in this adaptation of Pushkin’s verse novel.

Sunrise Theater 250 NW Broad St. Southern Pines

THE CONVERSATION

Trip Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

COLUMN | LARRY ELDER

On CNN, Democrat ‘election deniers’ get a pass

Comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020.

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER recently denounced Trump administration judicial nominees because, at their con rmation hearing, they refused to say “yes” when asked, “Did Biden win the 2020 election?” Instead, the nominees replied, “Biden was CERTIFIED as the winner.”

For Tapper, this was an unacceptable dodge. He said, “What oath is going to be administered in those judges’ courtrooms? Will it be, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God ... unless they are truths that o end Donald Trump?’”

On MS Now, co-host Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, argued the nominees’ failure to answer “yes” disquali ed them from serving. He said, “If you cannot ask a fundamental question, right, this is a civics test, did the president of the United States lose the election in 2020, and if you do that kind of an answer, then you are not t to serve in government, period. Because no matter what else you say or do after that, it exposes who you are, and it exposes how you will lead.”

Let’s set aside questions about the 2020 election integrity in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. California took away attorney John Eastman’s license to practice law because Eastman represented Donald Trump and raised factual and legal questions about the 2020 election. If you consider Eastman’s objections and legal arguments devoid of merit, please watch Eastman’s American Freedom Alliance speech on Rumble.

Did Tapper or any other CNN “reporters” ask former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter,

former Democratic National Committee

Chairman Terry McAuli e or former Vice President Kamala Harris — to name a few “election- denying” Democrats — “Did Donald Trump win the 2016 election?”

About the 2016 election, former Obama Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testi ed that, while the Russians tried to manipulate voting machines, there is no evidence that a single vote tally was changed. Not one. Yet, a 2018 YouGov poll found 66% of Democrats believe Russia “changed vote tallies to elect Trump in 2016.”

CNN politics editor Chris Cillizza wrote that “76% of self-identi ed Republicans in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. That’s the number of Republicans who said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” But what about Democrats and their concern about the integrity of the 2016 election?

A 2018 Gallup poll found 78% of Democrats believe that Russian interference in 2016 “changed the outcome of the election” in favor of Trump. Never mind that Johnson testi ed there’s no way of knowing whether the interference altered the outcome. And a New York University study on the e ect of Russian interference found “no measurable changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign in uence campaign.”

The bottom line is that comparable or higher percentages of Democrats expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 win compared to Republican doubts about 2020. Furthermore, House Democrats have disputed the certi cation of every Republican presidential victory since 2000.

In January 2001, nearly a dozen black House Democrats voted against certifying the election results of 2000. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a joint session of Congress: “The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate (as is necessary to force a Senate vote on the challenge.)”

As for the 2004 election, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in January 2005 joined 30 other House Democrats and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to object to the certi cation of Ohio’s presidential election results, claiming “voter suppression.”

As for 2016, Hillary Clinton consistently called the presidential election “stolen” and described President Donald Trump as “illegitimate.” Jimmy Carter, in 2019, said: “I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into o ce because the Russians interfered on his behalf.” New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president.”

One more thing about “election interference.” There are polling data suggesting the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story — in which CNN, particularly Brian Stelter, whom you rehired, was complicit — may have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

All of this makes Tapper look like fake news, a hypocrite and a partisan.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

(Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

If China restricts these products at home, why are they flooding our communities?

China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products.

AS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP prepares to meet with President Xi, much of the conversation will center on tari s, trade de cits and global competition. But there is another issue, one far closer to home for millions of American families that deserves urgent attention: the ood of illicit Chinese vapes into our communities.

Across the country, moms are watching a troubling trend unfold. Products that are unregulated, often illegal and clearly designed to appeal to young people are showing up in gas stations, convenience stores and even online marketplaces with little resistance. These aren’t the carefully reviewed products that went through federal approval processes. Many are unauthorized, mislabeled or smuggled into the United States altogether.

Overwhelmingly, they are coming from China.

What makes this even more concerning is the double standard. China has taken signi cant steps to restrict avored vape products and tighten oversight within its own borders. Yet at the same time, these same types of products are mass-produced for export, many ultimately ending up in the United States through illicit channels.

American families are left dealing with the consequences.

This is not just a regulatory issue. It’s a fairness issue. And for moms, it’s a safety issue.

Parents should not have to wonder whether the product their child was exposed to was

legally sold, properly vetted or even safe. They should not have to compete with a black market that thrives on bright packaging, youth-targeted marketing and a lack of accountability.

At its core, this is about protecting our kids while enforcing laws already on the books.

For years, policymakers have debated how best to approach vaping. But there should be broad agreement on at least one point: Products that are illegal, unregulated and deliberately targeting minors should not be allowed to ood our markets unchecked.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting gaps in enforcement, mislabeling shipments and routing products through complex supply chains to evade detection. Meanwhile, small businesses trying to follow the rules are undercut by a steady stream of illicit competition. And families are left navigating a marketplace that feels increasingly out of control.

This is where leadership and leverage matter.

As Trump enters discussions with China, this issue should be on the table. Not as a secondary concern, but as part of a broader conversation about trade, accountability and reciprocity.

If a product is deemed harmful enough to warrant strict controls domestically, it should not be exported in ways that undermine the health and safety of families abroad. And if it is being exported illegally, there must be consequences.

This is not about punishing innovation or limiting adult choice. It is about enforcing

the law, protecting children and ensuring that American communities are not treated as a dumping ground for products that other countries have chosen to restrict.

Moms understand trade may be complex. But this issue is not.

We teach our kids that rules matter. That fairness matters. That you don’t get to play by one set of rules at home and another somewhere else.

It’s time for our trade policy to re ect those same values.

The United States has the tools to address this problem, through stronger enforcement, better coordination, and a clear message to foreign manufacturers that illegal activity will not be tolerated. But it also requires raising the issue at the highest levels.

Because when it comes to protecting our kids, this isn’t just a domestic challenge. It’s an international one.

And it’s one we can’t a ord to ignore.

Emily Stack serves as the executive director of Moms for America Action.

(Copyright Daily Caller News Foundation)

Trump’s many upcoming large, public events may present fresh security challenges after latest attack

The third violent assault in less than two years renews a security debate

By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal law enforcement ocials are evaluating how to proceed with some high-pro le public events featuring President Donald Trump after the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The third violent assault in the vicinity of Trump in less than two years is renewing the central tension confronting the Republican president’s defenders: how to accommodate the public-facing demands of the presidency while minimizing the risk of an attack.

Saturday’s episode, in which a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the Washington, D.C., hotel ballroom where the president was set to address the White House Correspondents’ Association, comes ahead of Trump’s expected participation in a stretch of large, high-pro le events indoors and outdoors in the months ahead. Among them, he’s set to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, oversee the U.S. co-hosting the World Cup and lead rallies meant to galvanize support for Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.

White House chief of sta Susie Wiles will hold a meeting this week with o cials from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss security protocol at events with the president, according to a senior White House o cial. The meeting will examine security steps that were successful on Saturday while “exploring additional options” for future events, said the o cial, who insisted on anonymity to con rm private discussions.

Separately, a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. Secret Service was already reevaluating its security footing for the upcoming events. The agency’s posture was already elevated due to the extraordinary number of threats facing Trump — including two assassination attempts in 2024 — and the realities of recent events such as the U.S.-Iran war.

“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that is more dangerous,” Trump said of the presidency Saturday night from the White House.

Inside the Secret Service, agents on protective intelligence and threat assessment teams are also reexamining threats made against Trump in recent months. Copycat violence can follow high-pro le attacks, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of

“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that is more dangerous.”

President Donald Trump

anonymity to discuss sensitive security planning.

The White House and Buckingham Palace said King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit Monday went ahead as planned. Still, organizing around large-scale events deeper in the future — including the UFC bout on the White House lawn marking Trump’s 80th birthday in June, World Cup matches and the IndyCar race past the White House — could get more complicated.

An inherent tension in presidential protection is exposed

Lawmakers, event attendees and some allies of the president saw fault in the correspondents’ dinner security planning, questioning why someone like the shooter could reserve a room at the hotel to sneak in weapons around the outermost layer of security.

Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security Committee, said security protocols for Trump and Vice President JD Vance may need altering.

“I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that,” McCaul told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Kari Lake, a former unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona and

Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, complained about not having to show a photo ID to match her ticket to the event when entering the hotel for the correspondents’ dinner.

“I can’t believe how lax the security was,” Lake wrote on X.

The Secret Service is charged only with the safety of its protectees, not of the event itself, and the agency immediately celebrated its response, drawing a high-pro le endorsement from Trump himself.

“Our multilayered protection works,” director Sean Curran said Saturday.

“Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job,” echoed Trump on Sunday in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

Garrett Gra , author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die,” wrote in an analysis of the multiple layers of security around Trump during the dinner, “Seems like the system basically working as designed, amid the always necessary trade-o s of security in a free society.”

Retired Secret Service Agent Thomas D. Quinn, who helped pioneer Secret Service counterassault teams, posted on X that “the Secret Service security plan for the WHCD worked and the assailant was stopped.” He continued, “As long as we are a free people in a freedom loving Nation, the Secret Service responsibilities will continue to be immense.”

More security changes ahead

Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents

in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect,” said authorities are likely to consider placing bulletproof glass around where Trump speaks outside and inside — not unlike after the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt during the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Attendees, Kessler said, will likely be more thoroughly screened going forward — exacerbating lines at entrances that can already take hours to clear. An example of what might happen came last fall, when Trump attended the men’s nal of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and triggered massive security lines.

Such events underscore the complicated security questions surrounding presidential protection in a country where citizens expect their leaders to move through public spaces, hold rallies, attend events and appear before crowds.

“Presidents don’t like to have too much protection,” Kessler said. “I think, by their nature, they’re very outgoing. They want to meet people. They don’t want to be accused of being prisoners of the White House. And so they’ll try to get around some of these improvements.”

Presidents can have love-hate relationships with security details

The Secret Service took over full-time responsibility for protecting the president during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, who came to o ce after an assassin killed William McKinley in 1901. Roosevelt found the constant security presence tiresome, however, and would sometimes

slip away for unprotected hikes or horseback rides in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park, according to the White House Historical Association.

Security personnel wanted President Ronald Reagan to exit the building where Saturday night’s shooting occurred, the Washington Hilton, through a covered garage in 1981, Kessler said. Reagan’s sta worried the optics would be bad, however, and the president was shot as he left an open-air exit, ultimately surviving.

After shots were red Saturday, Secret Service agents surrounded Trump, who appeared to slip slightly as he was whisked away. Another team moved Vance so quickly it seemed as if it might haul him out while still seated in a banquet chair.

Trump told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that he “wasn’t making it easy” for the Secret Service by being “a little bit me.”

“I wanted to see what was happening,” the president said Sunday. “And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem — di erent kind of a problem — bad one.

“I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute.’”

He said he started walking out but, “They said, ‘Please go down. Please go down on the oor.′ So I went down, and the rst lady went down also.”

Trump repeatedly praised the Secret Service and his detail, and he has pushed the correspondents’ association to reschedule the dinner. He said it would have “even more security.”

“And they’ll have bigger perimeter security,” he said. “It’ll be ne.”

MOORE SPORTS

SPRING SPORTS ROUNDUP

Postseason begins for some area teams

North State Journal sta Baseball

Pinecrest hits the home stretch on a four-game winning streak. The Patriots swept Hoke County last week, 5-0 and 15-1, then added a win over Laney 4-2. Pinecrest is now 18-5 and atop the Mid-South 7A/8A with a 12-1 conference record. They close out the schedule with a home and home against Richmond.

Union Pines is also on a four-game winning streak of its own after going 3-0 last week. The Vikings swept Lee County, 11-1 and 4-1, then beat Western Harnett 17-4. Union Pines is 17-8 on the year and nished 11-3 in conference play. They open the conference tournament against 12-10, 8-6 Triton.

North Moore had a three-game losing streak to close out the regular season and then dropped the conference tournament opener. The Mustangs fell to Eastern Randolph 12-0, then got swept by Southwestern Randolph, 15-4 and 15-5. A rematch with Eastern Randolph in the conference tourney led to a 7-4 loss. At 5-14, 1-8, North Moore will have to see if it gets a bid to the state tournament. Softball

Pinecrest dropped below .500 for the season with a home-and-home series sweep at the hands of Hoke County, losing by 4-1 and 5-0 margins. The Patriots are now 8-10, 2-6 in conference and close the regular season schedule with a home and home against Richmond.

Union Pines closed out an undefeated regular season with four wins. The Vikings won at Lee County 15-0 and at Apex 19-1. They nished the home-and-home sweep of Lee with a 16-3 home win, then hosted Southern Lee, winning 15-0.

Union Pines is now 22-0, 15-0 in league play and awaits postseason matchup information.

North Moore lost two of three to nish out the regular season slate, getting swept in a home and home with Southwestern Randolph, 22-2 and 135. The Mustangs then salvaged the week with a 4-3 win at Jordan-Matthews.

North Moore has a rematch with Southwestern Randolph to start conference tourney play.

Girls’ soccer

Pinecrest enters the nal week of the regular season still undefeated. The Patriots won both matches last week, topping Overhills at home 5-0, and winning at Pine Forest 4-0. They had a week o to sit at 11-0-2, 5-0 in conference. The Patriots return to action this week with a home game against Cape Fear and a road match at Jack Britt.

Pinecrest is now 14-0-3, 8-0 in conference and has four games left in the regular season. Two of them are this week, home against Hoke County and at Richmond.

Union Pines enters the nal week on an eight-game winning streak. All eight games were shutouts, including three last week, 2-0 and 7-0 against Lee County and 2-0 at Cedar Ridge.

The Vikings are 15-4-1, 11-0 and in rst in the conference. They nish the regular season schedule this week with a home and home against West Johnston and a home match against Southern Lee.

North Moore won two of three last week to clinch a winning regular-season record. The Mustangs won 3-0 at Jordan-Matthews and 4-2 at home against Central Carolina Academy. They then lost at home to Uwharrie Charter, 5-1.

North Moore is 10-4-1, 3-2, and plays three of its nal four regular season games this week — a home and home with Northwood and a match at Eastern Randolph.

baseball seniors are presented their school jerseys by their respective mothers.

Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway

He became the 13th driver to earn their rst win on the track

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his rst NASCAR Cup Series win would remember it.

After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated with one of NASCAR’s most unconventional victory laps. While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with st pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.

He steered the car nose- rst into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.

“He looked like Shamu hanging out the window,” said Je Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.

The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star who has made headlines by angering veterans with aggressive moves.

“I’ve had this thought up for a while,” Hocevar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his rst Cup win at Talladega. “I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it. It took me a while.

“I’m so thankful. This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way.”

“I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to gure out how to do it.”

Carson Hocevar

Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs — who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway — as the second rst-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR’s premier series. The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.

Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining. Jones’ No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the nal yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered ag.

“That was a fun race,” Buescher said. “I felt really good where we were at coming o Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.” Bowman nished third — his best nish since missing four races with vertigo — followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.

“To be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,” Bowman said.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Bohdi Robertson

Pinecrest, baseball

Bohdi Robertson is a senior on the Pinecrest baseball team.

The Patriots are ending the season on a winning streak, and Robertson came up big in a win over Hoke County. He went 2 for 3 at the plate, scoring a run and driving in one. In addition, he was dominant on the mound, turning in a complete game shutout and striking out 12 while allowing just two hits and not walking anyone.

“I’m getting old and don’t have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.”

Big wreck

With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the eld.

Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross

and Kyle

eliminated from

were among

“It’s a bummer,” said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start.

“But we’ve got to gure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we’ll have a good debrief and gure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.”

SIDELINE REPORT

NFL

“Hot pick” at No. 257: Broncos made Murdock

latest Mr. Irrelevant

Pittsburgh University of Bu alo linebacker Red Murdock is this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.” He was the nal pick of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Murdock expressed gratitude after being selected 257th on Saturday. The Broncos also picked Utah tight end Dallen Bentley just before Murdock. Denver became the only team to hold the last two picks since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Broncos coach Sean Payton praised Murdock’s instincts and tackling skills. Both players will attend the traditional celebration for the nal draft pick.

MLB

Bauer dominates with 7-inning no-hitter for Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

Lancaster, Pa. Trevor Bauer threw a no-hitter for the Long Island Ducks against the Lancaster Stormers in the Atlantic League. Bauer allowed just one baserunner in seven innings, striking out seven on 84 pitches. The Ducks won 13-0. The former Cy Young Award winner is trying to revive his career after a 194 -game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2023. Bauer pitched in Japan and Mexico, where he was named the Mexican Baseball League’s pitcher of the year in 2024.

PGA Furyk returning as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2027 with Woods out

Houston

The PGA of America con rmed Jim Furyk is the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Furyk will be the fourth American captain to get another chance. Furyk was the choice after Tiger Woods took his name out of the mix following his March 27 arrest on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Europe has been dominating the matches for three decades. That includes last year at Bethpage Black when it built a record lead and held on. Furyk was captain in a losing e ort in France in 2018.

TENNIS

Reigning two-time

champ Alcaraz out of French Open due to wrist injury

Madrid Carlos Alcaraz won’t play for a third successive French Open title due to a right wrist injury. No. 2-ranked Alcaraz was injured at the Barcelona Open this month during his rst-round win and withdrew the day after. He also pulled out of this week’s Madrid Open. He con rmed he was a no -go for Paris after undergoing more medical tests on Friday. Alcaraz said “It’s a complicated moment for me, but I’m sure we’ll come out stronger from here.”

NBA Wolves’ Edwards has bone bruise in left knee, likely to miss weeks

The left knee of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards remained structurally intact when he was injured during Game 4 of his team’s rst-round playo series, but he is likely to miss multiple weeks. Edwards has a bone bruise and hyperextended the knee. The Wolves also lost Donte DiVincenzo in that game with a torn Achilles tendon, meaning his season is over.

NHL playo s nearing record for penalty shots; rst round isn’t yet close to over

The rst 21 games featured more penalty shots than the last three years combined

By Stephen Whyno The Associated Press

NO GAME IN the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playo s has ever ended with a goal on a penalty shot in overtime, and Carolina’s Jordan Martinook was not eager to make history.

He and the Hurricanes thought they’d won Game 2 of their rst-round series against Ottawa when teammate Mark Jankowski scored, but a league-initiated challenge ruled the play to be o side, took the goal o the board and rewound the clock. On the same shift, Martinook was hooked by Senators forward Warren Foegele on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot.

“I was trying to tell (the referee) we needed the power play, not the penalty shot,” Martinook said. He got turned aside by Linus Ullmark, then scored the winner in double overtime.

Through last Thursday night’s games, there had been four penalty shots already in these playo s — more through 21 games than the previous three years’ worth combined, including zero in 2025 — and the goaltenders have saved all four.

Two more penalty shots would tie the record for the most in a single postseason. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the uptick in refs calling for penalty shots over power plays, but there is no doubt it has added rare and must-see entertainment to a compelling rst round.

“Everything’s very circumstantial,” Bu alo goalie Alex Lyon said after denying Boston’s Viktor Arvidsson in Game 3 last Thursday night. He’s not sure if he’d rather face the 1-on-1 matchup or endure a 2-minute penalty kill.

“To be honest with you, every player in this league has the ability to score on penalty shots,” Lyon said. “So yeah, I guess it’s just more circumstantial, but I don’t really have a denitive answer one way or the other.”

Lyon stopped Arvidsson, Ullmark stopped Martinook, Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett missed the net against Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner, and Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood made such a highlight-reel save on Los Angeles’ Quinton Byeld that jubilant fans in Denver broke the glass behind the Kings’ bench.

“Never really seen the glass shatter behind the bench,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said following a repair process that delayed the game more than 15 minutes. “That’s a di erent one. Stu happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited.” Is more grabbing going on

“Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Jordan Martinook

during play? More breakaways in a league that has increased the emphasis on o ense in recent years? Both could be true. The NHL’s rule 24.1 says “a penalty shot is designed to restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of an infraction being committed by the o ending team, based on the parameters set out in these rules.” That does provide some latitude for o cials to determine what constitutes a penal-

ty shot if a player is unimpeded by an opponent with no one between him and the net. Still, four penalty shots before the end of the rst round is unusual. The only playo s with more penalty shots were 2019 ( ve) and 2008 (six).

These are potentially game-changing moments and add even more pressure to a playo game. Martinook described his experience as being the big guy on one end of a teeter-totter, acknowledging he didn’t feel good about himself after not scoring on his opportunity. The 33-year-old grinder made good on his next one to keep from being perceived as the goat.

“It was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me,” Martinook said. “Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”

Japan awakens to Radio Taiso exercise tradition

The morning routine is credited for the country’s longevity

By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

TOKYO — This is how Japan wakes up. It’s called Radio Taiso — Exercise Radio in English — a simple yet dynamic way to start the day.

Japanese radio plays music every morning at 6:30 to accompany basic instructions for calisthenics, and millions perform in the choreography: in parks, workplaces, schools — and at home.

Radio Taiso has an almost 100-year history, formally introduced in 1928 and coinciding with the enthronement of Emperor Hirohito. The tradition endures because the exercises are suitable for all ages and capabilities, and easily accessible.

We’re talking about basic exercise movements: reach to the sky to limber up, twist at the torso, bend at the hips, swing the arms and get the shoulders loose, or jump or run in place.

Exercisers can make it as strenuous as they wish, and it’s over in just 10 minutes, all done to the rhythm of a soft piano melody. There are about a dozen basic moves that can be done standing or seated. The idea is to keep moving and, though the program runs early in the morning, many devotees repeat it on their own later in the day.

The routine features a trio of three-minute segments that get slightly more di cult — but not much. Most Radio Taiso followers know the sequences by heart, but beginners can join in and quickly pick up the routines. No equipment is needed.

The program begins with arms exercises — lifting the arms, circling the arms and

stretching the arms side to side. It’s followed by bending from the waist and twisting at the waist.

Shoulder raises are incorporated with a few mini-jumping exercises and marching-in place moves. Along the way you add in neck exercises, moves to stretch the chest and small squats for leg power.

Each movement is repeated four to eight times with instructions throughout to relax, breathe, and inhale and exhale slowly.

Mieko Kobayashi is 88 and goes to Kiba Park — an expansive layout in the east Tokyo area — almost every day, where a large group gathers without fail.

“If it’s cold or raining, I don’t go,” she said. “By moving my body, I feel better.”

She and her 77-year-old friend, Yoshiko Nagao, said that some who go to the park daily live alone, and this is an important social anchor

particularly for the elderly.

“Laughing and chatting while taking a walk after is also good,” Nagao added. “We come even on New Year’s Day.”

Kenji Iguchi is 83 — he’d pass for 60 — and he’s been a regular for about 20 years.

“It’s for my joints, mainly the knees and back, because of my age,” Iguchi said.

“I get up at 5 a.m. anyway,” he added. “I come to the park about 6 a.m. and do a round of walking ahead of the Radio Taiso session. Most of the faces are familiar, and coming here and getting together with them is also one of the things I look forward to.”

Japan has one of the world’s longest-lived populations, attributed to its diet, healthcare system and a lifestyle that encourages the elderly to be active. The average life expectancy is about 85, and only Hong Kong is reported to be slightly higher. By comparison, the United States

life expectancy is about 79.

The Japanese government announced late last year that 99,763 people were alive in Japan at 100 or more, a new national record for the 55th straight year. Japan holds the record for the most centenarians relative to its population, which is about 122 million.

Radio Taiso was inspired a century ago by a similar radio program in the United States sponsored by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. The Japan Radio Taiso Federation says o cials of the postal ministry visited the United States in the 1920s and returned to Japan with the concept.

Within a decade, millions were participating. The federation says the program was led by postal workers who distributed pamphlets and organized training sessions.

Japan was under United States occupation after its defeat in 1945 in World War II, and the exercises were banned — largely because they were done in groups. The federation says the practice was seen as “totalitarian” with a possible air of militarism.

The group exercises were resumed in 1951, backed by popular demand as the American occupation ended in 1952. According to a 2023 survey by the federation, more than 20 million people in Japan practiced a Radio Taiso session at least once a week.

Radio Taiso has caught on in many countries abroad, most notably in Brazil, which has the largest population of people of Japanese descent living outside Japan.

Stephen Dalton Thomasson

Oct. 29, 1961 – April 18, 2026

Stephen Dalton Thomasson, 64, of Carthage, passed suddenly at his home on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

A lifelong resident of Moore County, Steve was born in St. Joseph’s Hospital on Oct. 29, 1961, to Jim Thomasson and the late Sue Jones Thomasson Vaun. In addition to his father, he is survived by his sons Zach Thomasson, wife Rachel, and Jesse Thomasson, wife Leigh – Anne. He was the brother of Keith Thomasson, wife Ginny, and Amy Martin, husband Jody. Steve was the grandfather of Madilyn James, Ava Claire, Olivia Zee and Charlotte Dalton. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

Steve attended Appalachian State University and Sandhills Community College. He loved nature, studied botany and horticulture and loved camping and being outdoors. Steve was also a music lover who always had the radio on or playing a song.

A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

Linburg Jones

Jan. 3, 1953 – April 21, 2026

Linburg Jones, 73, of Laurinburg, departed this life on April 21, 2026. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at The Kenneth M. Chapel. A viewing will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Purcell Funeral Home. Services are entrusted to Purcell Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Kenneth Raymond Black

March 18, 1954 –April 18, 2026

Kenneth Raymond Black, age 72, of Vass Woodlake, passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at his home, surrounded by his family.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at noon at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery with full Military Honors. Kenneth was born in Caribou, Maine, on March 18, 1954, to the late Del Finnegan and Irene Black.

He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Michelle Black, daughter, Kendra Walden (Stampley) of Raleigh, grandsons, Wesley and William, brother, Keith Black of Ohio.

He lived his life to the fullest by seeing and doing everything he could have possibly dreamed of as a husband, father, grandfather, and a pilot for the U.S. Air Force. He will be greatly missed.

Michael W. Hill

March 21, 1958 –April 18, 2026

Michael W. Hill, 68, departed this life on April 18, 2026. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at The Kenneth M. Purcell Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at Hillside Memorial Park. A viewing and visitation will be held from noon until 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at Purcell Funeral Home. Services are entrusted to Purcell Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Charles E. Norris

May 23, 1946 – April 23, 2026

Charles E. Norris, 79, of Carthage, NC, passed away on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at First Health Hospice House in Pinehurst, NC, surrounded by his family.

Bonnie Rogers McQueen

May 19, 1933 – April 22, 2026

Mother Bonnie Rogers McQueen, 92, of Wagram, departed this life on April 22, 2026. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Nazareth Missionary Baptist Church. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. A viewing and visitation will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Purcell Funeral Home. Services are entrusted to Purcell Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Family and friends will gather at the home of Harris Rogers, 123 Fern Court, Raeford, NC 28376.

Hattie McLean

June 22, 1948 –April 25, 2026

Hattie Mae Tyson McLean, 77, of Laurel Hill, departed this life on April 25, 2026. A funeral service will be held at noon on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Anointed House of Deliverance Church. Interment will follow in the Hillside Memorial Park. A viewing will be held from 1-5 p.m. Friday, May 1, 2026, at Purcell Funeral Home. Services are entrusted to Purcell Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Lance Phillip Retzlo

Jan. 4, 1948 – April 18, 2026

Lance Phillip Retzlo , age 78, passed away on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Born on January 4, 1948, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Lance was the son of the late Harry and Isabelle Retzlo . Lance was raised in Warwick, Rhode Island, and later moved to Connecticut after marrying Cheryl D. Rice. Following a long and successful career as a mechanical engineer with Pratt & Whitney, he retired and relocated to Whispering Pines, North Carolina, where he embraced a slower pace of life and the things he loved most.

Lance attended Roger Williams College, where he studied engineering. He dedicated much of his professional life to Pratt & Whitney and was respected for his strong work ethic and technical expertise. He was known for his sharp, sarcastic wit and his ability to keep those around him laughing.

An avid golfer, Lance enjoyed spending time on the course. He also liked watching true crime shows and was a passionate fan of the UConn Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as a loyal Boston Red Sox fan. Together with his wife, Lynn, he enjoyed cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs. In addition to his parents, Lance was preceded in death by his rst wife, Cheryl Retzlo ; his sister, June M. Dean; his brother, John D. Retzlo ; and his sister, Isabelle M. Henry.

Lance is survived by his wife, Lynn Sue Retzlo ; his sister, Carol Corcelli and her husband, Ralph; his brother-in-law, Alan Rice and family; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Psalm 23 was a source of comfort and strength to Lance and his family.

In lieu of owers, donations may be made in memory of Lance Retzlo for a purpose to be designated by the family.

Checks made payable to the UConn Foundation, Inc. can be mailed to:

The UConn Foundation, Inc.

Attn: Gift and Pledge Management 2390 Alumni Dr., Unit 3206

Storrs, CT 06269-3206

Please include the name of the memorialized, along with the name and address of the individual(s) to whom you would like an acknowledgment sent.

Michael James Villone

Oct. 7, 1957 – April 21, 2026

Michael James Villone, 68, of Seven Lakes West, North Carolina, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at the FirstHealth Hospice House in Pinehurst on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

Born on October 7, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of the late Michael Vincent Villone and Della Mae Butler Villone.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 44 years, Angela Villone, née DiNardo, their daughters, Dr. Kassandra Villone and Janelle Villone, his brother, Mark Villone, and his sister, Sharon Riccione. And his dog Tucker.

Mike dedicated many years of his life to his work as a machinist 1st class with Exxon Mobil, where he was employed from 1977 until his retirement in 2013.

Mike was an avid motorcyclist and had a deep appreciation for the outdoors. He enjoyed boating and shing, tinkering with household projects and found great peace in nature. He will be remembered for his quiet strength, his love for his family, and the simple joys he found in life.

A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

Larry Darnell Drakeford

May 5, 1955 – April 22, 2026

Mr. Larry Darnell Drakeford, 70, of Aberdeen, North Carolina, entered into eternal rest on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at FirstHealth Hospice and Palliative Care in West End, North Carolina. Please keep the family and friends of Mr. Larry Darnell Drakeford in your thoughts and prayers.

STATE & NATION

DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family

The highly educated tutor allegedly called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings

By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Balsamo The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The man accused of opening re at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before an attack that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a message reviewed by The Associated Press.

The writings, sent shortly before shots were red Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions, including U.S. strikes on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Paci c Ocean.

Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence yet of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.

Authorities uncovered what one law enforcement ocial described as numerous anti-Trump social media posts linked to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple guns and knives.

Suspect’s brother reached out to Connecticut police

Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings, according to the law enforcement o cial, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The New London Police Department said in a statement it was contacted at 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the shooting, by an individual who wanted to share information related to it. The police department said it then immediately notied federal law enforcement.

Allen’s sister, who lives in Maryland, told investigators her brother had legally purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at their parents’ home in Torrance without their knowledge, according to the o cial. She described her brother as prone to making radical statements, the o cial said.

The writings examined by the AP ran more than 1,000 words and read as a rambling, deeply personal message, opening almost jarringly with a ca-

sual “hello everybody!” before shifting into apologies to family members, co-workers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence. The note moved between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen thanking people in his life even as he sought to explain the attack.

Elsewhere, he veered between political anger, religious justi cations and rebuttals to imagined critics. He also made a taunting critique of security at the Washington Hilton, mocking what he described as lax precautions and expressing surprise he was able to enter the hotel armed without detection.

The AP limits the use of attackers’ writings and social media posts to avoid amplifying their views or encouraging copycat actions. The AP chooses to summarize their words and focus mainly on the victims and investigations.

Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later, according

to the law enforcement ocial and another one who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Acting head of Justice Department says Trump o cials were targets

Allen is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, D.C., where he checked himself in as a guest at the hotel where the gala dinner was held with its typically tight security, said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He is believed to have acted alone.

Authorities say Allen attempted to charge toward the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being red, Trump being hurried o the stage unharmed and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

“It

does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president.”

Todd Blanche, acting attorney general

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pro le of the shooting suspect emerges

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

A May 2025 pro le photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.

A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had de -

Members of the U.S. Secret Service counterassault team stand on the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

veloped a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign nance records.

Chaotic scene unfolded minutes after gala began

The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted o stage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities ooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.