Stanly News Journal Vol. 146, Issue 15

Stanly NewS Journal

Morning worship

First Baptist Church in Albemarle was glowing in the early morning sun last Thursday.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

King Charles’ brother arrested in misconduct case over ties to Epstein

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public o ce. The former Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal titles because of his links to convicted sex o ender Je rey Epstein. While Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with his friendship with Epstein, concerns about the former British prince’s links to the late nancier have dogged the royal family for more than a decade. But the arrest of a brother of a monarch was an extraordinary development with no precedent in modern times that will no doubt put more pressure on the crown. After Thursday’s arrest, King Charles III said that the law must take its course in the investigation.

Average U.S. long-term mortgage rate dips to 6.01%, lowest level in more than 3 years

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week to its lowest level in more than three years but remains around 6% in the same narrow range it has been in this year. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the benchmark 30-year xed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.01% from 6.09% last week. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.85%. The modest pullback brings the average rate to its lowest level since Sept. 8, 2022, when it was 5.89%. That was the last time the average rate was below 6%.

Locust Police Department recognizes 2025 O cer of the Year

O cer Adam Hartsell was the recipient of the annual award

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

LOCUST — The Locust Police Department has named O cer Adam Hartsell as the recipient of the 2025 Chief Steven “Smitty” Smith O cer of the Year Award. Locust Police Chief Je Shew announced the honor during the Feb. 12 Locust City Council meeting. The annual award commemorates former Chief Steven Smith, who died in 2020, and recognizes exemplary service within the department.

See LOCUST, page A5

Raleigh man arrested after multicounty chase that began in Locust

The chase ended with a crash and arrest near Albemarle Road

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

LOCUST — A Raleigh man with outstanding felony warrants was arrested on Feb. 14 following a multicounty vehicle pursuit that began with a tra c stop in Locust and ended in Mecklenburg County. Locust Police Department o cers initiated the stop at 5:25 p.m. near the Refuel ser-

“We commend our Locust o cers for their determination, work ethic and skill in safely pursuing eeing suspects.”

Locust Police Department

Historian Randell Jones will speak on Scottish settlers’ role in N.C’s ght for independence

By Melinda Burris Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — The Stanly County Historical Society will host a free lecture on Scottish settlers and their role in the American Revolution as part of its 2026 America 250th Celebration.

Historian and author Randell Jones will present “Great Scots! They Came to North Carolina” on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Central UMC Fellowship Hall in Albemarle. Jones’ talk will focus on common misconceptions about Scots — typically referred to as Scots-Irish — and how they made up two distinct groups

during the Revolution, one ghting for American independence and the other on behalf of the British.

The lecture comes days before the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, which took place Feb. 27, 1776 — the rst Revolutionary War battle fought in North Carolina.

The battle is widely credited with prompting the Halifax Resolves of April 12, 1776, in which North Carolina became the rst colony to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence — the basis of the state’s claim to being “First in Freedom.”

“This entertaining and engaging look at this timely history of the American Revolution in North Carolina is well illustrated in PowerPoint slides, sharing maps and paintings and scores of photographic images I’ve captured at historical reenactments during the last 20 years,” Jones said.

Feb. 9

• Ieesha Lynette Raynor, 36, was arrested for rst-degree trespass and intoxicated and disruptive.

• Eric Christopher Spencer, 44, was arrested for assault on a female, communicating threats, injury to personal property and injury to real property.

• Terrell Andre Witherspoon, 22, was arrested for assault on a female and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Feb. 10

• William Abiormi Browne, 19, was arrested for attempted rst-degree murder and injury to personal property.

Feb. 11

• Alexander Mitchell Berhalter, 27, was arrested for possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, larceny of motor fuel and misdemeanor larceny.

Feb. 12

• Olivia Virginia Goodman, 22, was arrested for intoxicated and disruptive and criminal contempt.

• Brandon Boone, 40, was arrested for communicating threats.

• Michael Eugene Herrin, 52, was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and giving forti ed wine, liquor or mixed beverages to a person under 21.

Feb. 13

• Charlie Dewayne Owens, 42, was arrested for misdemeanor larceny and misdemeanor conspiracy.

Feb. 14

• Nicholas Elliott Brown, 30, was arrested for felony eeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, resisting a public o cer, driving on a revoked license, failure to heed a light or siren and misdemeanor possession of stolen goods.

• Mark Anthony Williams, 36, was arrested for intoxicated and disruptive.

• Ryshard Malachi Wingate, 21, was arrested for possession of a rearm by a felon and carrying a concealed gun.

• Jerry Anthony Consiglio, 34, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Feb. 15

• Timothy Nelson Carter, 52, was arrested for driving while impaired, failure to maintain lane control and possession of an open container or consuming alcohol in a passenger area.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements to be published in Stanly News Journal. community@stanlynewsjournal.com Weekly deadline is Monday at noon

Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up

Feb. 22

Feb. 25

Feb. 27

Feb. 27

Now through March 31

The Art of Laura King A painting exhibition of original acrylic and watercolor

THE CONVERSATION

Trip

Ho end, publisher | Frank Hill, senior opinion editor

VISUAL VOICES

Oil City, Pennsylvania

— The Derrick will be no more.

At the time, nowhere else in the world was drilling for oil.

DERRICK PUBLISHING COMPANY, publisher of The Derrick and The News-Herald, announced on Feb. 5 that it will cease publication. Employees were told the decision was driven by the long-term decline in support for newspapers, along with regional losses in employment, retail activity, advertising revenue and readership.

The last day of publication of both newspapers will be March 20. Founded in 1871 as the Daily Derrick by C.E. Bishop & Company, The Derrick earned an international reputation for the quality of its reporting. Its correspondents’ dispatches and wire stories were circulated around the world, including its authoritative publication of oil spot prices — set in Oil City — as well as widely used annual statistical compendiums.

By 1871, this region was rmly established as oil country, a transformation that began just 13 years earlier when Edwin Drake struck oil in what had been the rugged wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a land of dense forests and more bears than people.

At the time, the nation stood on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, but meeting the growing demand for reliable illuminating oil posed a major challenge. Whale oil had become prohibitively expensive, and whaling was rapidly depleting the population. Alternatives such as lard oil, tallow oil and coal oil distilled from shale existed, but none were yet abundant or a ordable enough to meet the country’s needs.

The shortage of a ordable lighting fuel

was slowing both industrial expansion and urban growth. Without reliable light after dark, factories stood idle, and businesses closed their doors at sunset.

That changed when Drake successfully drilled for oil — the rst person to deliberately extract it from beneath the earth’s surface. His breakthrough sparked the oil boom and made kerosene a practical, widely available commodity.

Land prices soared, and boomtowns such as Pithole City sprang up almost overnight. At the time, nowhere else in the world was drilling for oil. The region’s economy exploded with growth, but the boom came at a steep cost as vast stretches of lush, green wilderness were cleared and scarred in the rush for petroleum.

And until The Daily Derrick began reporting on it, there was little sustained coverage of the industrial engine transforming the region — the oil trade that fueled the rising steel centers of Pittsburgh and Cleveland. There was also scant attention paid to a Cleveland bookkeeper named John D. Rockefeller, whose nancial discipline and business instincts would eventually allow him to dominate the industry as founder of Standard Oil.

As energy author Bob McNally put it in his 2017 book “Crude Volatility: The History and the Future of Boom-Bust Oil Prices,” “The Derrick’s the sole source for continuous reporting on prices, news, and fundamentals for the early decades of the modern oil industry.”

In a month, it will be gone. Its passing will likely draw less attention than

the possible closure of the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette 90 miles to the south, the 300 jobs recently cut at The Washington Post 300 miles away, or the 50 positions eliminated at the Atlanta Journal- Constitution 800 miles from here. It is part of a crisis no one seems able to solve. Last year alone, more than 135 newspapers across the country shut their doors, the latest chapter in a two - decade decline. Since 2005, the number of newspapers published in the United States has fallen from 7,325 to fewer than 4,500. It’s troubling when a major city such as Pittsburgh or a powerful hub like Washington, D.C., loses local journalism. But it may matter even more in a small community such as Oil City, where the loss creates a true news desert, weakening the region’s social fabric, eroding its sense of connection and leaving those in power with no guardrails at all.

In small towns especially, the loss can depress local voter engagement and open the door to government corruption and incompetence when no one is left to hold o cials accountable.

There are no easy answers. Newspapers, long sustained by benevolent — and often wealthy — owners, have seen the revenue streams that once supported them evaporate: legal notices, classi eds, major retail advertising and paid print subscriptions have all declined in the internet era.

But the loss of local newspapers doesn’t just a ect the journalists who worked there. It harms residents too — people who may never learn that a water authority decision could raise their taxes, or that there was even a public meeting where they could have voiced objections.

Salena Zito is a sta reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

Was climate change the greatest financial scandal in history?

Biden’s administration alone wasted $400 billion on green energy and other sham climate change programs.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCHOLAR Bjorn Lomborg recently calculated that across the globe, governments have spent at least $16 trillion feeding the climate change industrial complex.

And for what?

Arguably, not a single life has been or will be saved by this shameful and colossal misallocation of human resources. The war on safe and abundant fossil fuels has cost countless lives in poor countries and made those countries poorer by blocking a ordable energy.

Since the global warming crusade started some 30 years ago, the temperature of the planet has not been altered by one-tenth of a degree — as even the alarmists will admit. In other words, $16 trillion has been spent — a lot of people got very, very rich o the government largesse — but there is not a penny of measurable payo . But it’s much worse than that. In economics there is a concept called opportunity cost: What could we have done with $16 trillion to make the world better o ?

What if the $16 trillion had been spent on clean water for poor countries? Preventing avoidable deaths from diseases like malaria?

Building schools in African villages to end illiteracy? Bringing reliable and a ordable electric power to the more than 1 billion people who still lack access? Curing cancer?

Many millions of lives could have been saved. We could have lifted millions more out of poverty. The bene ts of speeding up the race for the cure for cancer could have added tens of millions of additional years of life at an economic value in the tens of trillions of dollars. Instead, we e ectively poured $16 trillion down the drain. For this reason, it is important that we identify the green “climate change” derangement syndrome as perhaps the most inhumane political movement in history.

The people at the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and the United Nations, and politicians like Al Gore, Joe Biden and John Kerry who voted for and carried out this Green New Deal scam, should be placed on a wall of shame. Biden’s administration alone wasted $400 billion on green energy and other sham climate change programs.

The one sliver of good news is that it

appears the climate change neuroses have nally started to subside. We’ve reached peak global warming craziness in the U.S., for sure, and even Europe seems to have turned its back on its economically masochistic net zero fossil fuels obsession.

Donald Trump is wisely and rapidly dismantling the climate change industrial complex. Of all his pro-growth economic policies, there may be none with a higher longtime payo than his recent order to repeal the mother of all costly regulations: the anti-fossil fuels “endangerment rule” taxing carbon dioxide emissions. The cost of that regulation had been estimated to exceed $1 trillion over time.

We can’t recapture the $16 trillion wasted on a false crisis. Sunk costs are, alas, sunk. But we can stop the madness of actually believing that politicians who can’t even pay o the balance on their credit cards can somehow change the world’s temperature.

Stephen Moore is a former Trump senior economic adviser and the cofounder of Unleash Prosperity, which advocates for education freedom for all children. (Copyright 2026 Creators.com)

obituaries

caring for his cows. He valued honest work and took pride in tending the land. Whether in the pasture or with his family, he appreciated the simple blessings of life.

Judge Morgan will be remembered for his steadfast faith, his dedication as an educator, his love of farming, and his unwavering devotion to his family. His legacy lives on in the many lives he touched.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, who carried on Civil Rights Movement for decades after King, dead at 84

Judge Woodrow Morgan

Barbara Jean (Taylor) Drye

Aug. 8, 1942 – Feb. 12, 2026

April 17, 1936 ~ January 14, 2023

Barbara Jean Taylor Drye, 86, of Oakboro, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2023 at her home.

Judge Woodrow Morgan, Jr., 83, passed away peacefully at home on February 12, 2026.

Barbara was born April 17, 1936 in North Carolina to the late Robert Lee Taylor and the late Eva Belle Watts Taylor.

Born on August 8, 1942, he was the son of Judge Woodrow Morgan, Sr. and Menty Elvie Little Morgan. A devoted Christian, he lived a life de ned by faith, hard work, and a deep commitment to his family and community.

She was also preceded in death by husband of 61 years, Keith Furr Drye, and brothers, Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. and George Kenneth Taylor.

Survivors include children, Debbie (Mike) Williams of Albemarle, Teresa (Tom) Curry of Oakboro, Douglas (Tammy) Drye of Oakboro; grandchildren, Melissa (Don) Parrish of Albemarle, Samantha (Destiny) Smith of Oakboro, Bradley Smith of Oakboro, Jonathan Stover of Peachland, and Jessie Stover of Lylesville; sisterin-law, Beatrice Goodman; many nieces and nephews; and her beloved cats, Bo and Gar eld.

Dwight Farmer

January 24, 1939 ~ January 15, 2023

Dwight Britten Farmer Sr., 83, of Norwood died Sunday morning, January 15, 2023 at Forrest Oakes.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Joanna Morris Morgan; his daughter, Donna M. Moore and her husband, Larry C. Moore; his son, Judge Woodrow Morgan, III and his wife, Karen H. Morgan; his sister, Darlene Morgan Stamey; and his grandchildren, Emily Moore Irving and her husband Alex Irving, John Davis Moore, and Lauren Michelle Morgan. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, O. Kemp Morgan, Ray J. Morgan, Tom A. Morgan, and D. Dan Morgan.

The dramatic speaker had an unparallelled impact on generations of Americans

James Roseboro

June 23, 1967 ~ January 10, 2023

The Associated Press

James Arthur Roseboro, 55, of Albemarle, passed away Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Anson Health and Rehab.

October 11, 1944 - January 10,

Judge Morgan was a proud graduate of Wingate Junior College and Appalachian State Teachers College. He later earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Theological Seminary. He devoted 30 years to teaching high school mathematics, including 27 years at South Stanly High School. Throughout his career, he in uenced countless students with his steady guidance, patience, and dedication to their success.

Outside the classroom, he found great joy in farming and especially enjoyed raising and

Barbara was a member of Oakboro Baptist Church for over 60 years. She worked over 30 years at Stanly Knitting Mills. After just two years of retirement, she began managing the Oakboro Senior Center and did that for 18 years until this past week. Barbara was known for her good cooking and always taking care of others. She also loved going on day long shopping trips - she could out walk and out shop people half her age. She kept her mind and body active through gardening, word searches, and various other hobbies.

Funeral services were held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at Edwards Funeral Home with Dr. Rick Walker and Rev. Larry Coley o ciating. Burial followed at Oakboro Cemetery. The family received friends from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. prior to the Service.

Dwight was born January 24, 1939 in Stanly County to the late Walter Virgil and Martha Adkins Farmer. He was a 1957 graduate of Norwood High School and was a United States Army Veteran. He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he had served as church treasurer and choir member. He began his career with the Stanly County Sheri ’s Department moving to the Norwood Police Department and retiring as Chief of Police with the Town of Norwood after many years of service.

Dwight was an avid gardener, bird watcher and Carolina fan.

Mr. Roseboro was born on June 23, 1967 to the late Robert and Delena Shipp Roseboro. He graduated from South Stanly High School and was employed by Triangle Brick. He enjoyed watching football and basketball, especially the Carolina TarHeels and Miami.

In addition to his parents he is preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Barbara Lee Roseboro, Dorothy Brown, Verna Roseboro, Henrietta Ingram, and Harold Roseboro.

CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination, has died. He was 84. His daughter, Santita Jackson, con rmed that Jackson died at home, surrounded by family.

community where he drove a school bus and worked at the local gas station during his High School years.

Doris Elaine Jones Coleman, 78, went home into God’s presence on January 10 after a sudden illness and

He graduated from Millingport High in 1954 and entered into service with the US Airforce immediately afterward. Upon return from the service, he and his high school sweetheart Julie were married in 1956. He graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College later in 1959 and began his career as a diesel mechanic at Mitchell Distributing Company, moving his growing family to Charlotte where they lived until their retirement.

himself in the blossoming Civil Rights Movement.

Jana Glyn Stutler

Jan. 4, 1968 – Feb. 2026

Jana Glyn Stutler passed away February 2026 at the age of

IN MEMORY

He is survived by his wife Hilda Whitley Farmer; one son D. Britten Farmer Jr. (Mary) of McLeansville, NC; one daughter Sharon Farmer Lowe (David) of Norwood; one sister Geraldine Dennis of Troy; two grandchildren, Dwight Britten “Dee” Farmer III and Whitley Rose Hui Lowe.

The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to their many friends for their love and support, and to Tillary Compassionate Care for their kindness, compassion, and dedicated care during this time. In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to Samaritan’s Purse or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Jana Glyn Stutler passed away February 2026 at the age of 58. Born on January 4 th, 1968

She is reunited with her twin sister Gina Stutler, her mother Billie jo Paxton and Father Virgil Eugene Stutler. She lived a full life enjoying her family, beach trips, football, and most of all her girls! Jan a is survived by her two daughters Krista Thompson , “Bobby” and Kelli Wray “Kevin”, 5 grandkids, Jordan, DeSean, Maison, Aaliyah Thompson and Kevin Barefoot. She also has three sisters, Lisa Young, Darla Scott, and Jennifer Pilgrim “Donnie”, her very best friend Christi Frick . Jan a was known and loved by many and she will be missed. A celebration of life service will take place at Fort Fisher NC on a later day where she will be united with her twin sister, and both put to rest. For further information contact Krista at 980 -230 -6352.

He was preceded in death by his son Alex, brothers, Tommy and Jimmy, sisters, Nancy, Cornelia Annabell, Glennie Mae, and Betty. Memorials may be made to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Cemetery or Choir Fund c/o Pam Smith 36071 Rocky River Springs Road, Norwood, NC 28128.

58. Born on January 4th, 1968. She is reunited with her twin sister Gina Stutler, her mother Billie jo Paxton and Father Virgil Eugene Stutler. She lived a full life enjoying her family, beach trips, football, and most of all her girls! Jana is survived by her two daughters Krista Thompson, “Bobby” and Kelli Wray “Kevin”, 5 grandkids, Jordan, DeSean, Maison, Aaliyah Thompson and Kevin Barefoot. She also has three sisters, Lisa Young, Darla Scott, and Jennifer Pilgrim “Donnie”, her very best friend Christi Frick. Jana was known and loved by many and she will be missed. A celebration of life service will take place at Fort Fisher NC on a later day where she will be united with her twin sister, and both put to rest.

MARY HELEN BRISTOW HARGETT

AUG. 4, 1940 – FEB. 16, 2026

Mary Helen Bristow Hargett, 85, of Norwood, passed away on Monday, February 16, 2026, at Carolinas Continued Care in Pineville.

He is survived by his sisters: Helen (James) Roseboro Edwards of Albemarle, Mary Roseboro of Washington DC, and Marion Morrison of Albemarle; brothers: Thomas D. Roseboro of Charlotte, Robert Roseboro (Patricia) of Norwood, and Van Horne; a special friend of over 40 years, Michelle McLendon of the home; special nieces: Nybrea Montague, Knya Little, and Laquanza Crump; special nephews: Robert Jr., Desmond Roseboro, and Marcus Lilly; and God daughter, Daphne Johnson; and special friends, Vetrella Johnson and Ben McLendon.

As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King’s successor. Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

And when he declared, “I am Somebody,” in a poem he often repeated, he sought to reach people of all colors. “I may be poor, but I am Somebody; I may be young; but I am Somebody; I may be on welfare, but I am Somebody,” Jackson intoned.

Darrick Baldwin

It was a message he took literally and personally, having risen from obscurity in the segregated South to become America’s best-known civil rights activist since King.

January 7, 1973 ~ January 8, 2023

Despite profound health challenges in his nal years including a rare brain disorder that a ected his ability to move and speak, Jackson continued protesting against racial injustice into the era of Black Lives Matter. In 2024, he appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and at a City Council meeting to show support for a resolution backing a cease re in the Israel-Hamas war.

Darrick Vashon Baldwin, age 50, entered eternal rest, Sunday, January 8, 2023, Albemarle, North Carolina. Born January 7, 1973, in Stanly County, North Carolina, Darrick was the son of Eddie James Baldwin Sr. and the late Phyllis Blue Baldwin. Darrick enjoyed life, always kept things lively and enjoyed making others smile. His presence is no longer in our midst, but his memory will forever live in our hearts.

He was educated in the Stanly County public schools and attended Albemarle Senior High School, Albemarle.

When John purchased his rst Model A Ford at the age of 17, he said that he took the car to the community mechanic when he had a small problem.The mechanic told him that if he was going to keep the car, he needed to learn to work on it. This is when John’s passion for Model A Fords began and how he spent his happiest days with his best friends from around the globe for the rest of his life!

not dope” and “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it then I can achieve it,″ to deliver his messages. Jackson had his share of critics, both within and outside of the black community. Some considered him a grandstander, too eager to seek out the spotlight. Looking back on his life and legacy, Jackson told The Associated Press in 2011 that he felt blessed to be able to continue the service of other leaders before him and to lay a foundation for those to come.

1944, in the mountains of Marion, NC while her father was away ghting in the US Navy during World War II. Raymond Jones was so proud to return after the war and meet his little girl! Doris grew up in Durham, NC and graduated from Durham High School. She furthered her studies at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1966.

By 1965, he joined the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King dispatched him to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference e ort to pressure companies to hire black workers.

Jackson called his time with King “a phenomenal four years of work.”

At age 50, after years as a Detroit Diesel Mechanic he and Julie decided to take the plunge and open a full Model A Restoration Shop. They thrived at their shop in Cornelius, NC until their retirement in 1998 when they moved back to Cabarrus County. John once again set up shop in his back yard garage where he attracted a loyal group of friends who visited almost daily. While on the farm in Gold Hill, John also began a lifelong love with Alis Chalmers tractors after he restored his Dad’s tractor and began amassing his collection of tractors as well.

“A part of our life’s work was to tear down walls and build bridges, and in a half century of work, we’ve basically torn down walls,” Jackson said. “Sometimes when you tear down walls, you’re scarred by falling debris, but your mission is to open up holes so others behind you can run through.”

In his nal months, as he received 24-hour care, he lost his ability to speak, communicating with family and visitors by holding their hands and squeezing.

Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was slain at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Jackson’s account of the assassination was that King died in his arms.

Doris married Rev. Dr. Ted Coleman in 1966 and had two daughters Amy and Laura. Doris raised Amy and Laura in North Augusta, SC. Doris was an incredible neonatal intensive care nurse for most of her career, and this was her passion. The Augusta Chronicle did a feature on her in 1985. She was a clinical nurse manager in Augusta, Georgia at University Hospital NICU and worked there for 20 years. During this time, Doris mentored young nurses and assisted in saving the lives of so many babies. She also worked for Pediatrician Dr. William A. Wilkes in Augusta for several years prior to her NICU career. Doris retired from the mother/baby area at Atrium Stanly in 2007 after over 40 years of nursing.

With his air for the dramatic, Jackson wore a turtleneck he said was soaked with King’s blood for two days, including at a King memorial service held by the Chicago City Council, where he said: “I come here with a heavy heart because on my chest is the stain of blood from Dr. King’s head.”

“I get very emotional knowing that these speeches belong to the ages now,” his son, Jesse Jackson Jr., told the AP in October.

John restored many cars of his own and had the crowning achievement of winning the most prestigious award from MARC, The Henry for a restoration that garnered top points. He was also presented with the Ken Brady Service Awardthe highest award given to members at the national level.

A student athlete drawn to the Civil Rights Movement

Jesse Louis Jackson was born on Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of high school student Helen Burns and Noah Louis Robinson, a married man who lived next door. Jackson was later adopted by Charles Henry Jackson, who married his mother.

Doris was a gentle and sweet spirit and loved her Lord. She never met a stranger, and she always left you feeling uplifted after talking with her. She would often claim that she had “adopted” friends into her immediate family, and honestly, she never made a distinction between the two. Positivity radiated from her like sunlight. She was sel ess, funny, smart, and sentimental. During her lifetime she was an active member of First Baptist Church of Durham, First Baptist Church of Augusta, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Augusta, and Palestine United Methodist Church in Albemarle. She especially loved helping at church with older adults, youth, and children.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at 3 p.m. at Freedom Holiness Church. Rev. Ryan Burris will o ciate. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

Helen was born on August 4, 1940, in Modesto, California, to the late Eugene Biven Bristow and Mary Lorene Brooks.

Celebrate the life of your loved ones. Submit obituaries and death notices to be published in SCJ at obits@stanlyjournal.com

Helen was a devout Christian all her life. She was a member of Freedom Holiness Church, which started in her living room on October 16, 1993. She was also family-oriented and loved all of her grandchildren. Helen was a seamstress for many years and enjoyed working at Burnsville Apparel as a supervisor. She was also a fan of going out to eat.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Ervin Phillips Hargett, and her son, Darren Hargett. She is survived by her son, Steve Hargett (Pam), daughter Sandy Wrenn (Kenny), seven grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

“Even if we win,” he told marchers in Minneapolis before the o cer whose knee kept George Floyd from breathing was convicted of murder, “it’s relief, not victory. They’re still killing our people. Stop the violence, save the children. Keep hope alive.”

He was a great conversationalist and loved meeting people. Darrick never met a stranger and always showed love and compassion for his fellowman. He also loved his dog, Rocky.

Calls to action, delivered in a memorable voice

He is survived by his father, Eddie J. Baldwin Sr.; sisters: Crystal (Eric) Jackson, LaFondra (Stoney) Medley, and Morgan Baldwin; brothers: Eddie Baldwin Jr., Anton Baldwin, and Lamont Baldwin; a host of other relatives and friends. A limb has fallen from our family tree. We will not grieve Darrick’s death; we will celebrate his life. We give thanksgiving for the many shared memories.

Jackson’s voice, infused with the stirring cadences and powerful insistence of the black church, demanded attention. On the campaign trail and elsewhere, he used rhyming and slogans such as: “Hope

This is what John’s Model A Community had to say upon learning of his death: He was an active member of Wesley Chapel Methodist Church where he loved serving as greeter on Sunday mornings. He also belonged to the United Methodist Men. John is survived by his wife Julie Ussery Kluttz, for 66 years of the home. He is also survived by a son John David Kluttz (Kim) of Oakboro, NC; two daughters, Sally Simerson of Denver, CO and Betsy Tusa (John) of Lafayette, CO; three grandchildren, Bonnie Kluttz Sammons (Ben) of Rich eld, NC John Alexander McKinnon (Sarah) of Asheville, NC and Seth William McKinnon (Amanda) of Germany; ve great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Meredith, Grant, Victoria and Ronan. John is also preceded in death by his parents, J.S. Kluttz and Mary Wyatt Clayton Kluttz; a large and loving group of brothers and sisters, Jack Methias Kluttz, Annie Lou Kluttz Honeycutt, Jake Nelson Kluttz, Julius Kluttz, Mary Patricia Phillips and a grandson, Kevin Fowler Kluttz.

Jackson was a star quarterback on the football team at Sterling High School in Greenville, and accepted a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. But after he reportedly was told black people couldn’t play quarterback, he transferred to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, where he became the rst-string quarterback, an honor student in sociology and economics, and student body president.

Arriving on the historically black campus in 1960 just months after students there launched sit-ins at a whites-only diner, Jackson immersed

However, several King aides, including speechwriter Alfred Duckett, questioned whether Jackson could have gotten King’s blood on his clothing. There are no images of Jackson in pictures taken shortly after the assassination. In 1971, Jackson broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to form Operation PUSH, originally named People United to Save Humanity. The organization based on Chicago’s South Side declared a sweeping mission, from diversifying workforces to registering voters in communities of color nationwide. Using lawsuits and threats of boycotts, Jackson pressured top corporations to spend millions and publicly commit to diversifying their workforces.

She was especially talented at sewing from a young age and made gifts for friends, Christmas ornaments, Halloween Costumes, doll clothes, pageant dresses, prom dresses, coats, tote bags, scarves, out ts for Amy and Laura, and Christening gowns for each of her grandchildren.

Doris was preceded in death by her father Arthur Raymond Jones, her mother Mary Ellen Cameron Jones, and her sister Maryanne Jones Brantley. Survivors include her two precious daughters: Amy Cameron Coleman (partner Dr. Edward Neal Chernault) of Albemarle, NC, and Laura Lindahl Coleman Oliverio (husband David) of Cincinnati, Ohio; seven grandchildren: Cameron David Oliverio, Stephanie Jae Dejak, Luca Beatty Oliverio, Coleman John Dejak, Carson Joseph Oliverio, Ryan Nicholas Dejak, and Jadon Richard Oliverio; and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and loved ones.

The constant campaigns often left his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, the college sweetheart he married in 1963, taking the lead in raising their ve children: Santita Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson Jr., and two future members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Luther Jackson and Jesse L. Jackson Jr., who resigned in 2012 but is seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms.

Smith’s wife, Melissa, attended the meeting and presented Hartsell with the award plaque bearing her late husband’s name.

It marks the third consecutive year Hartsell has been selected as a nalist for the department’s highest annual honor. Detective Jared Smith and O cers Jerry Wallace and Caleb Whitley were also nalists.

“The Locust Police Department is so proud of the jobs that every one of our o cers do in contributing to the success of our agency and the support we enjoy in the community,” the LPD said in a statement. “We speci cally congratulate these four o cers for their stand-out performance in 2025. Great job guys!”

Previous recipients of the Chief Steven “Smitty” Smith O cer of the Year Award include Cpl. Dwayne Dietz (2020), Sgt. Brandon Stancil

Locust Police Department

(2021), Detective Sgt. Brittany Tucker (2022), O cer Timmy Hartsell (2023) and Cpl. Ryan Tran-Thompson (2024).

Hartsell joined the LPD in 2022 after rst serving as a cadet while enrolled in Stanly Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program. At his BLET graduation, he received the Damon Smith Award, which recognizes the top overall student in the graduating class. According to the department, Hartsell, who has been named O cer of the Month eight times since he began with the LPD, has distinguished

himself through his work in tra c enforcement.

“Upon joining LPD, O cer Hartsell immediately demonstrated a very high level of skill and e ectiveness in the role of tra c enforcement, and he has led the department three straight years in enforcement statistics,” the department said. “Those contributions have included over 2,700 tra c stops initiated resulting in more than 3,000 enforcement actions, and 476 arrest charges including 65 driving while impaired arrests. Hartsell recorded 32 DWI arrests in 2025 alone.”

Hartsell received a chief’s commendation for trafc enforcement in 2023, and in 2025 he was assigned to a tra c enforcement focus ocer position.

He is the son of retired Locust Police Chief Frank Hartsell, who spent his entire career with the LPD and in 2019 became only the second o cer to retire after a full career with the agency.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48.

“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his nal days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come,” the statement read.

“For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”

Van Der Beek revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.

Van Der Beek made a surprise video appearance in September at a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion charity event in New York City after previously dropping out due to illness.

He appeared projected onstage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre during a live reading of the show’s pilot episode to bene t F Cancer and Van Der Beek. Lin-Manuel Miranda subbed for him on stage.

“Thank you to every single person here,” Van Der Beek said.

Forever tied to ‘Dawson’s Creek’

A one-time theater kid, Van Der Beek would star in the movie “Varsity Blues” and on TV in “CSI: Cyber” as FBI Special Agent Elijah Mundo, but was forever connected to “Dawson’s Creek,” which ran from 1998 to 2003 on The WB.

The series followed a high school group of friends as they learned about falling in love, creating real friendships and nding their footing in life.

Van Der Beek, than 20, played 15-year-old Dawson Leery, who aspired to be a director of Steven Spielberg quality.

“Dawson’s Creek,” with the moody theme song Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait,” helped de ne The WB as a haven for teens and young adults who related to its hyper-articulate dialogue and frank talk about sexuality. And it made household names of Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.

The show caused a stir when one of the teens embarked on a racy a air with a teacher 20 years his senior and when Holmes’ character climbs through Dawson’s bedroom window and they curl up together. Racier shows like “Euphoria” and “Sex Education” owe a debt to “Dawson’s Creek.”

Van Der Beek sometimes struggled to get out from under the shadow of the show but eventually leaned into lampooning himself.

“It’s tough to compete with something that was the cultural phenomenon that ‘Dawson’s Creek’ was,” he told Vulture in 2013. “It ran for so long. That’s a lot of hours playing one character in front of people. So it’s natural that they associate you with that.”

The action represents rst enforcement of 2022 driving school safety standards

By Josh Funk The Associated Press

MORE THAN 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. that train truckers and bus drivers must close after investigators found they employed unqualied instructors, failed to adequately test students and had other safety issues, the federal Transportation Department announced Wednesday.

The move marks the Trump administration’s latest e ort to improve safety in the trucking industry. And unlike its actions last fall to decertify up to 7,500 schools that included many defunct operations, this latest step is focused on active schools inspectors identi ed as having signi cant shortcomings in 1,426 site visits completed in December.

The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have quali ed for them ever since a fatal crash in August. A truck driver who Transportation Secretary Sean Du y says wasn’t authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. Other fatal crashes since then, including one in Indiana that killed four earlier this month, have only heightened concerns.

Du y said 448 schools failed to meet basic safety standards.

Inspectors found such de ciencies as employing unquali ed instructors, failing to test students’ skills or teach them how to handle hazardous materials and using the wrong equipment to teach drivers. Another 109 schools removed themselves from the registry of schools when they learned inspections were planned.

“American families should have con dence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel,” Du y said.

Established schools welcome the e ort

The list of schools o cials want to decertify now are generally smaller ones, including a number of programs run by school districts. Five of the bigger, more reputable schools represented by the national Commercial Vehicle Training Association were audited but those all passed.

Je ery Burkhardt, chair of the national trucking schools group, said established schools welcome the enforcement e ort to eliminate bad schools that aren’t meeting the standards. He said these audits mark the rst time regulators have enforced the standards for driving schools that were passed in 2022.

“You know, the good players have no problem with it. Absolutely none,” said Burkhardt, who is also is senior director of operations at Ancora, which provides CDL training at colleges, community colleges and companies.

Another 97 schools are currently under investigation for compliance issues.

There has been limited oversight in the past

Part of the industry problem is that schools and trucking companies can essentially self certify themselves when they apply to begin operating, observers note, and questionable operations might not be caught until much later when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gets a chance to audit them.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many students were enrolled at these schools that are being decerti ed or how many graduated with questionable quali cations. A Transportation Department spokeswoman said o cials may follow up on those graduates later. Burkhardt said that hopefully most of the unquali ed drivers were weeded out before they got on

the highway by the skills tests states administer before handing out commercial licenses. There is steady demand for truck drivers because there is high turnover in the industry, and it has been di cult to attract enough drivers willing to spend days away from home delivering heavy loads. But there is some cushion in the industry right now because there are currently more drivers than needed in the midst of a 10% drop in shipments since 2022 owing to economic uncertainty. Nonetheless, many trucking companies still struggle to nd enough well-quali ed drivers with clean records.

Trucking industry groups praise the e ort

Both the American Trucking Association and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association praised the decisive action to shut down “sham schools” that aren’t meeting

basic safety standards. Todd Spencer, President of the independent owners group, said the reliance of some companies on these questionable schools “fueled a destructive churn” in the industry.

“Rather than x retention problems and working conditions, some in the industry chose to cut corners and push undertrained drivers onto the road. That approach has undermined safety and devalued the entire trucking profession,” Spencer said.

Besides threatening to withhold federal funding from states that don’t clean up their commercial driver’s license programs, the administration has demanded truck drivers meet English pro ciency standards. California is the only state to lose funding so far with the federal government planning to withhold $160 million.

The Transportation Department is threatening to withhold $128 million from Illinois after the latest state audit announced earlier this week found problems with nearly 20% of the 150 licenses they reviewed. The most common problems uncovered in state audits across the country have been licenses that remained valid long after an immigrant’s authorization to be in the U.S. expired and instances when the states couldn’t show that they checked a driver’s immigration status before giving them a license.

Problems have been found in 10 states so far, including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas.

Colbert posted the interview on YouTube after CBS lawyers blocked it from airing

By David Bauder

The Associated Press

STEPHEN COLBERT isn’t backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show.

On “The Late Show” Tuesday, Colbert said he was surprised by a statement from CBS denying that its lawyers told him he

couldn’t show an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — which the host said had happened the night before. He then took a copy of the network statement, wrapped it in a dog poop bag, and tossed it away.

Colbert had instead shown his Talarico interview on YouTube, but told viewers why he couldn’t show it on CBS. The network was concerned about FCC Chairman Brendan Carr trying to enforce a rule that required broadcasters to give “equal time” to opposing candidates when an interview was broadcast with one of them.

“We looked and we can’t nd one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late-night career, but for anyone’s late-night career going back to the 1960s,” Colbert said.

Although Carr said in January he was thinking about getting rid of the exemption for late-night talk shows, he hadn’t done it yet. “But CBS generously did it for him,” Colbert said.

Not only had CBS been aware Monday night that Colbert was going to talk about this issue publicly, its lawyers had even approved it in his script, he said. That’s why he was surprised by

the statement, which said that Colbert had been provided “legal guidance” that broadcasting the interview could trigger the equal time rule.

“I don’t know what this is about,” Colbert said. “For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one.”

He said he was “just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.” CBS is owned by Paramount Global. Colbert is a short-timer now at CBS. The network announced last summer that Col-

bert’s show, where President Donald Trump is a frequent target of biting jokes, would end in May. The network said it was for economic reasons but others — including Colbert — have expressed skepticism that Trump’s repeated criticism of the show had nothing to do with it.

This week’s dispute with Colbert also recalls last fall, when ABC took late-night host Jimmy Kimmel o the air for a remark made about the killing of conservative activist founder Charlie Kirk, only to reinstate him following a backlash by viewers.

As of Wednesday morning, Colbert’s YouTube interview with Talarico had been viewed more than ve million times, or roughly double what the comic’s CBS program draws each night. The Texas Democrat also reported that he had raised $2.5 million in campaign donations in the 24 hours after the interview.

Iranians grieve de antly for thousands killed in last month’s crackdown

As families mark 40 days since the crackdown, mourning turns to resistance

By Amir-Hussein Radjy and Kareem Chehayeb

The Associated Press

CAIRO — Standing on her balcony in the Iranian capital, Tehran, the teacher shouted out into the darkness, “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the murderer, Khamenei!” on a recent night, joining the slogans coming from windows and rooftops around her relatively a uent neighborhood.

A few voices in the darkness responded with slogans in support of Iran’s 47-year-old Islamic Republic.

“Shut up! Choke on it!” her neighbors shouted back, drowning out the pro-government voices, the teacher recounted to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity for her safety.

Iranians across the country are still reeling with shock, grief and fear after massive nationwide protests were crushed by the deadliest crackdown ever seen under the rule of the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands are believed to have been arrested.

But a vein of de ance persists. A seething anger at Iran’s rulers is evident in videos shared on social media and in conversations with protesters. At the same time, three protesters reached by the AP also expressed futility over what can be done after hundreds of thousands braved taking to the streets only to be met with overwhelming violence. The protesters all spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution or arrest.

Adding to the uncertainty is the United States’ threat to strike Iran. The U.S. has positioned warships and ghter jets nearby even as it holds negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

The de ance appears in the shouting of slogans from windows and rooftops at night, a ritual displayed in past waves of protests. It is also evident at memorial gatherings for those killed 40 days earlier. Such commemorations — known as the “chehelom,” Persian for “the 40th” –are traditionally held by families for anyone who has died. But in times of unrest, chehelom can have a political dimension.

Commemorations turn to protests

This week marks 40 days since Jan. 8 and 9, the deadliest days of the crackdown, and multiple videos circulating online show 40-day ceremonies in towns and cities around Iran.

Some appear to have drawn hundreds of people, who often break into anti-government chants.

Often they are festive, with friends and loved ones of the slain protester singing and throwing owers – a rejection of the solemn atmosphere encouraged by the state at o cial ceremonies.

Most avoid calling the dead “shaheed,” or “martyr,” a term with Islamic religious connotations. Instead, they use the term, “javid nam,” a Persian phrase meaning, “Long live the name.”

Videos posted this week and veri ed by the AP showed a crowd of hundreds at the main cemetery in the small western Iranian town of Abdanan, chanting, “Death to Khamenei” and pumping their sts at the chehelom of Alireza Seydi, a 16-year-old boy killed on Jan. 8.

The videos show security forces ring from an armored vehicle, raising clouds of what appeared to be tear gas, sending men and women running.

During the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah and brought the Islamic Republic to power, 40-day memorials for slain protesters often turned into rallies that security forces tried to crush, causing new

deaths – which then would be marked 40 days later with new protests.

Postings on social media have reported security forces trying to restrict people from attending some chehelom ceremonies.

“For every person killed, a thousand more stand behind him,” a crowd of several hundred chanted Tuesday while gathered in the eastern city of Mashhad for the chehelom of Hamid Mahdavi, according to a video veri ed by the AP. When a few police o cers harassed some people commemorating Mahdavi, a reman shot to death in January protests, the crowd shouted, “Shameless! Shameless!”

The government held its own chehelom for those killed, whom the Revolutionary Guard in a statement depicted as victims of violence caused by foreign-backed armed “terrorist” groups that exploited “legitimate public demands.” It said the 40-day commemoration was “a chance to renew commitment to national unity.”

‘Mass depression’ and anger

“More than sad, people are angry. Everyone is so angry. Everyone is waiting for some kind of explosion,” said a resident of Karaj, a city just outside of Tehran.

He joined street marches on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 and said ve of his relatives and family friends were killed when security forc-

“We also see some indications that they may be shifting away from transacting with China and maybe toward some other regions in Asia.”

Chi Mac, JPMorganChase Institute business research director

es opened re on protesters.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency has so far counted more than 7,000 dead and believes the death toll is far higher. Iran’s government o ered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed; it has depicted many of the protesters as “terrorists.”

“I don’t know anyone around me who doesn’t know someone who was killed, or someone who was arrested or wounded,” the 26-year-old teacher in Tehran said. Two of her acquaintances were killed and the husband of one of her co-workers arrested, she said.

Iranians are also struggling with a rapidly worsening economy, as the value of their currency plummets. Every day, prices rise, said the Karaj resident. “We are getting near an economic collapse,” he said. “Buying fruit has become a luxury.” A resident of north Tehran who works in tourism and

joined last month’s protests said that with the Persian New Year approaching in March, the bazaar would usually be full of shoppers, but not now.

“It’s a combination of grieving, lack of money and in ation,” he said, describing people in the capital as being in a state of “mass depression.”

The mood has dampened Iran’s normally vibrant cultural sphere. One prominent actor posted that she would no longer accept new roles “in this land that smells of blood.”

Alireza Ostad Haji, who referees a popular television strongman competition, o ered condolences to “all mourning families” in an Instagram post and resigned from two national athletic committees. He broke down in tears as he spoke of a former bodybuilding champion, Masoud Zatparvar, who was killed. “He was not a terrorist, he was a protester,” he said.

‘They see no alternative’

There is also a fear that street protests can’t bring change in the face of the state’s overwhelming use of violence.

The Karaj resident and the Tehran protester who works in tourism both expressed support for the son of the ousted shah, Reza Pahlavi, who from exile has put himself forward as a leader of the fragmented Iranian opposition. Pahlavi has encouraged protests and called for the U.S. to strike Iran.

The depth of support for Pahlavi around Iran is impossible to gauge. But during January’s wave of protests, chants in support of him were common, a notable change from the past, when the shah’s son drew scant attention within the country or was seen as out of touch.

Some are even taking what was a previously unimaginable step for many — expressing hopes for an American attack.

“Every night, every hour, I wish I could hear (U.S.) strikes,” the protester who works in tourism said. “We cannot ght anymore with our sts against machine guns.” He said many of his friends who took to the streets alongside him in January say they won’t do so again because of the state’s violence.

The teacher said that, while she joined past protests, she didn’t in January because she didn’t like the expressions of Pahlavi support.

But she said some of her friends who also oppose the shah’s son joined the January protests and even repeated the slogan, “Long live the shah!”

“People have become very tired, and they see no alternative,” she said. She worried a U.S. attack will bring war, civil strife and even more bloodshed.

“I am afraid there will be more massacres,” she said.

Tari s paid by midsize US companies tripled last year

Companies absorb costs by raising prices, cutting costs or by accepting lower pro ts

By Josh Boak

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Tari s paid by midsize U.S. businesses tripled over the course of past year, new research tied to one of America’s leading banks showed on Thursday — more evidence that President Donald Trump ‘s push to charge higher taxes on imports is causing economic disruption.

The additional taxes have meant that companies that employ a combined 48 million people in the U.S. — the kinds of businesses that Trump had promised to revive — have had to nd ways to absorb the new expense, by passing it along to customers in the form of higher prices, employing fewer workers or accepting lower pro ts.

“That’s a big change in their cost of doing business,” said Chi Mac, business research director of the JPMorganChase Institute, which published the analysis Thursday. “We also see some indications that they may be shifting away from transacting with China and maybe toward some other regions in Asia.”

The research does not say how the additional costs are owing through the economy, but it indicates that tari s are being paid by U.S. companies. The study is part of a growing body of economic analyses that counter the administration’s claims that foreigners pay the tari s.

The JPMorganChase Institute report used payments data to look at businesses that might lack the pricing power of large multinational companies to o set tari s, but may

from page A1

The driver, identi ed as Nicholas Brown of Raleigh, refused to comply with lawful commands and ed the scene, according to authorities.

Police said Brown traveled west into Cabarrus County through Midland and continued into Mecklenburg County in the Mint Hill and Charlotte area along Albemarle Road, reaching speeds between 70 and 105 mph. At the intersection of Albemarle Road and Interstate 485, Brown was involved in a tra c crash before eeing on foot into a wooded area. No injuries were reported.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department K-9 unit and o cers with the Mint Hill Police Department assisted in the search. The CMPD K-9 tracked the suspect approxi-

be small enough to quickly change supply chains to minimize exposure to the tax increases. The companies tended to have revenues between $10 million and $1 billion with fewer than 500 employees, a category known as “middle market.”

The analysis suggests that the Trump administration’s goal of becoming less directly reliant on Chinese manufacturers has been occurring. Payments to China by these companies were 20% below their October 2024 levels, but it’s unclear whether that means China is simply routing its goods through other countries or if supply chains have moved.

The authors of the analysis emphasized in an interview that companies are still adjusting to the tari s and said they plan to continue studying the issue.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the analysis, which showed that U.S. companies are paying tari s that the president had previously claimed would be paid by foreign entities.

Trump imposed a series of tari s last year for the ostensible goal of reducing the U.S. trade imbalance with other countries, so that America was not longer importing more than it exports. But trade data published Thursday by the Census Bureau showed that the trade de cit climbed last year by $25.5 billion to $1.24 trillion. The president on Wednesday posted on social media that he expected there would be a trade surplus “during this year.”

The Trump administration has been adamant that the tari s are a boon for the economy, businesses, and workers. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Nation-

mately 600 yards to the backyard of a nearby residence, where a Mint Hill o cer located Brown and took him into custody without incident. Authorities said Brown was wanted on active warrants for felony assault by strangulation and a felony probation violation. He was evaluated and cleared at Atrium Health Stanly before being transported to the Stanly County Jail. According to jail records, Brown faces multiple charges stemming from the incident, including felony ee to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, resisting a public ocer, driving while license revoked for impaired revocation, failure to heed light or siren, and possession of stolen goods or property. Records also list an order for arrest and extradition as a fugitive from another state, along with sever-

“We also see some indications that they may be shifting away from transacting with China and maybe toward some other regions in Asia.”

Chi Mac, business research director, JPMorganChase Institute

al Economic Council, lashed out on Wednesday at research by the New York Federal Reserve showing that nearly 90% of the burden for Trump’s tari s fell on U.S. companies and consumers.

“The paper is an embarrassment,” Hassett told CNBC. “It’s, I think, the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system. The people associated with this paper should presumably be disciplined.”

Trump increased the average tari rate to 13% from 2.6% last year, according to the New York Fed researchers. He declared that tari s on some items such as steel, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities were in the national security interest of the country. He also declared an economic emergency to bypass Congress and impose a baseline tax on goods from much of the world in April 2025 at an event he called “Liberation Day.”

The high rates provoked anancial market panic, prompting Trump to walk back his rates and then engage in talks with multiple countries that led to a set of new trade frameworks. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether Trump surpassed his legal authority by declaring an economic emergency.

al local ordinance violations.

His secured bond totals $300,000.

“We commend our Locust o cers for their determination, work ethic and skill in safely pursuing eeing suspects,” the Locust Police Department said in a statement.

“Our department maintains the mindset that if you refuse to stop for our o cers initiating a lawful tra c stop, there is a reason you are choosing to do that, and this incident is a prime example of an alleged violent fugitive attempting to get away and escape the justice process. We also thank our friends at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the Mint Hill Police Department for their stellar work, invaluable assistance and contributions in apprehending this dangerous suspect.”

STANLY SPORTS

Pfei er women move into fourth with win over William Peace

The Falcons are 4-2 this month

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

MISENHEIMER — With the USA South Tournament approaching, the Pfei er women’s basketball team strengthened its postseason position Tuesday night, defeating William Peace 64-50 at Merner Gym to climb to fourth place in the conference standings.

The Falcons (14-9, 11-5 USA South) have secured their rst winning season in eight years, easily surpassing last year’s 11-13 overall record and fth-place 8-8 conference nish.

Riding a three-game winning streak, Pfei er remains in contention for third place in the league — depending on results in the nal week of the regular season — as it currently sits behind Southern Virginia, Brevard and N.C. Wesleyan.

Tuesday’s result proved pivotal in the tightly contested race,

as the Falcons overtook the Pacers (14-10, 11-6 USA South). The two teams had traded positions throughout the month.

After a 26-26 halftime tie, Pfei er seized control with a dominant second half, outscoring William Peace by six points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth to nish with a 38-point second-half e ort.

Pfei er placed six players in the scoring column with at least ve points, while junior guard Lola Cabaniss-Ali led the

team on the boards with nine rebounds.

Sophomore guard Ava Hairston topped the Falcons with 20 points, ve rebounds and ve steals. Her 14.4 points-per-game average ranks third in the conference, while her 3.5 steals per game places second. Junior guard Kaileigh Gunter added 16 points as junior guard Lettie Michael contributed seven points, four rebounds and four steals.

William Peace was led by Ensley Perry’s 18-point performance. The victory followed Pfei er’s

wins over Methodist on Feb. 11 and Salem on Feb. 14, giving the Falcons a 4-2 mark in February. Defense has been central to the team’s surge. Pfei er ranks third in the conference in scoring defense and has held its last three opponents to an average of 49 points. Despite ranking sixth in scoring o ense among USA South teams, the Falcons have managed to elevate to ve games above .500 with their persistent energy on the other side of the oor.

With the regular season winding down, Pfei er traveled to Brevard on Thursday night and will return home to Misenheimer to host Southern Virginia on Saturday afternoon. The USA South Tournament begins with opening-round games Tuesday, followed by semi nals Thursday and the championship game on Feb. 28.

Uwharrie Senior Games registration underway

Early-bird registration prices extend through Feb. 28

By Jesse Deal Stanly News Journal

ALBEMARLE — Registration is underway for the 2026 Uwharrie Senior Games, a local tradition that promotes health and recreation for adults ages 50 and older across Stanly and Montgomery counties.

Held each year in the spring, the Uwharrie Senior Games offer competition in a wide variety of sports and activities, with this year’s events beginning March 31.

Early-bird registration costs $20 through Feb. 28, while regular registration is $25 from March 1-27. Registration includes opening and closing ceremonies with dinner, a T-shirt and participation in all selected events. Interested participants can register online at albemarlenc. gov/seniorgames.

To be eligible, individuals must be 50 years of age or older on or before Dec. 31 of the current year and must have been residents of Stanly or Montgomery County for at least three months.

“The emphasis on these events is keeping seniors active,” said Mark Tracy, program supervisor for Albemarle Parks and Recreation. “It’s something that you can do through sports and through artistic expression. There’s a little bit of something for everybody, no matter how competitive or skilled you may be.”

In addition to athletic events, the Senior Games feature the Silver Arts competition, which

highlights artistic talents and can advance winners to the North Carolina Senior Games and Silver Arts competition.

The 2026 games will open March 31 at the E.E. Waddell Center with an opening ceremony, followed by basketball shooting, football, a fun walk and softball throw. Disc golf is scheduled for April 1 at Oakboro District Park, with a rain date of April 22, and bowling singles will follow April 2

COURTESY

at Woodleaf Lanes in Salisbury. Competition resumes April 7 with croquet at the Albemarle Soccer Complex, with a rain date of April 13. Singles cornhole will take place April 8 at E.E. Waddell Gym, followed by swimming April 9 at West Cabarrus YMCA. Track and eld events are set for April 10 at North Stanly High School. Pickleball will conclude the week on April 11 at Rock Creek Park, with E.E.

“The emphasis on these events is keeping seniors active.”

Mark Tracy, Albemarle Parks and Recreation program supervisor

Waddell Gym serving as the rain location.

The following week begins April 13 with miniature golf at Pelican’s. Doubles cornhole is scheduled for April 14 at E.E. Waddell Gym; horseshoes and shu eboard will be held April 15 at the Troy Senior Center. Doubles bowling will follow April 16 at Woodleaf Lanes, and billiards is set for April 17 at Ole Doghouse Saloon. Bocce is scheduled for April 21 at Rock Creek Park, with a rain date of April 28. Table tennis will be held April 23 at the Stanly County Senior Center.

The nal week of events begins April 29 with golf, with time and location to be announced. A closing celebration is scheduled for April 30 at the E.E. Waddell Center. The games will conclude May 4 with cycling at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with a rain date of May 11.

Pots, mop buckets, even babies: Anything can be a curling stone if you get creative

Rock ’n’ roll

By Julia Frankel and Steve Douglas

Associated Press

The

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Dig out your squidgy mop, a few pots and pans — or a robotic vacuum if you have one — and a pair of slippers.

It’s curling time! Social media has been ablaze with people deploying common household wares to mimic what the world’s top curlers are doing at the Winter Olympics.

“Every four years, it blows up,” American curler Tara Peterson said. “Everyone’s like, ‘We want to do it,’ and then, yes, they get creative with things, so it’s awesome.”

Creative is perhaps an understatement. In one video, two jacketed adults push a baby in a car seat across the ice, chest-bumping in glee. In another, popular Swedish comedian Mans Moller dons a wig

a la Isabella Wrana, the Swedish mixed doubles champion, and slides pans into other pans, screaming “CUUUURL!” (Bonus points: He’s outside, like the olden days of curling.)

Then there are the Italian nonnas in the country’s southern Puglia region pushing a silver pot along a stony courtyard, sweeping with broomsticks. Or the hair salon in the Swedish city of Sundsvall, where a stylist hurls hair products toward her colleague. She screams “Curl!” and looks frustrated when the colleague approaches with a — wait for it — curling iron.

Despite such valiant attempts by the public, curlers say you really do need some specialized equipment to do the sport properly (along with a sheet of pebbled ice).

Put on your curling shoes

You can’t use your normal sneakers to go curling. You’ll just slip a lot on the ice. Instead, you’ll need specialist curling

“Every four years, it blows up.”

American curler Tara Peterson

shoes that have grips either built into the soles or those that can be strapped on.

Costs vary, but Swedish curler Johanna Heldin said you can pay up to around $700 for them. Styles vary, too. While most curlers at the Olympics are wearing plain black curling shoes, some have a more casual look — like Taylor Anderson-Heide of the United States, who has donned white, sneaker-style shoes in Cortina.

Sweeping left, sweeping right

Despite sharing the same name, curling brooms and cleaning brooms are very di erent. Curling brooms swap carbon

ber for the wooden or plastic rods typical of household brooms. Nylon pads replace straw bristles. Olympic-level models will set you back around $200-$250, Peterson said. Broom lightness directly correlates to a curler’s control over a stone’s speed and trajectory. The lighter the broom, the quicker the sweep and the faster the melting of ice pebbles that make up a curling sheet.

In fact, sweeping technology has actually grown so advanced that certain models have been banned from competition. That’s what led to the “Broomgate” scandal, which rocked the curling world beginning in 2015. Curlers began debuting high-tech brooms that gave sweepers so much control over the stone that the skill of the thrower failed to matter. Those kinds of brooms were then barred from competition by World Curling, which now maintains strict parameters on what kinds of brooms are allowed.

Robots coming to assist major league umpires; even so, human touch still matters

An automated ball-strike system will be used in the big leagues this year

By David Brandt The Associated Press

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For those worried robots are about to take over Major League Baseball, Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schae er has some experience with the Automated Ball/Strike system that’s coming to stadiums this summer.

Yes, the machines have a lot of power. But the human touch still matters.

“I’ve seen challenges lost in the rst inning,” Schae er said. “That’s not good. Emotion is a big key to this.”

The ABS system made a cameo last year in big league spring training and was greeted with a mix of curiousity, excitement, disdain and uncertainty. Now that it’s here for regular-season games in 2026, the novelty is quickly giving way to strategy.

MLB gave a presentation on the ABS process last Thursday at Cactus League Media Day in Arizona. Joe Martinez, the sport’s vice president of on- eld strategy, said a survey taken by the league found 52% of fans said ABS had a “very posi-

tive” impact on last year’s spring training games, 20% called it “slightly positive,” and 18% said it was no factor. Only 10% of fans rated ABS as having a “slightly negative” or “very negative” e ect on the game. As a refresher, here’s how the system works. Stadiums are out tted with cameras that track each pitch and judge whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone.

Human umpires call every pitch, but each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game. Teams that burn their

challenges get one additional challenge in each extra inning.

A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for video reviews, which were rst used for home run calls in August 2008 and then widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season.

Only a batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a call, signaling by tapping one hand on a helmet or cap, and assistance from the dugout is not allowed. A challenge must be made within two seconds, and the graphic of the pitch and strike zone is shown on the scoreboard and broadcast feed.

The umpire then announces the updated count.

Schae er, who was managing at Albuquerque when ABS debuted in Triple-A in 2022, said it’s important that teams develop a coherent strategy on how to deploy challenges. He added that “15 guys will have 15 di erent opinions” on how to use it, but the most important aspect is everyone is on the same page.

“We still have to have a lot of conversations behind closed doors so that we’re putting our players in the best position to succeed,” the manager added.

Multiple MLB managers and GMs said that catchers will probably have the most leeway to challenge because they’ve got the best view of the baseball.

“You want to have one late in the game, just in case,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “The top of the rst inning on a 0-0 fastball ... I don’t want to challenge and lose. We’ll most likely rely on catchers rst — pitchers at times get a little emotional. Hitters can be that way sometimes, too. I think we’re going to rely on the catchers and start there.

“But I want to have one in pocket, when I can, when it’s in a critical part of the game.”

The ABS system could be particularly bene cial to players like New York Yankees slugger Aar-

The homegrown curling seen on social media makes one thing clear: To the public, anything can be a curling stone.

Even if pots, pans, hair products — and even babies — can do the trick in a pinch, they’re nothing like the curling stones on the ice in Cortina.

If you want Olympic-level material, you’ll have to look to the uninhabited isle of Ailsa Cragi, located 10 miles o the coast of Scotland.

All the stones at these Games are made of the super-dense granite from that isle, manufactured by Kays Curling.

The company has a history with the Olympics dating back to the rst winter edition in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The curling competition then was long thought to have been an exhibition event but eventually was con rmed as o cial. The company has continued to make stones for the Games since curling returned as a medal sport in Nagano 1998.

on Judge, who have a good eye for the strike zone. Judge walked an American League-high 124 times last season.

“Our guys who are really good at controlling the zone should bene t, and Aaron is certainly one of those guys who controls it real well, knows it real well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

ABS was tested in 13 spring training ballparks last year, and teams won 52.2% of 1,182 challenges, which averaged 13.8 seconds. Strike zones vary depending on a player’s height — starting at 53.5% of a batter’s height for the top and 27% of a batter’s height for the bottom.

Each player will be measured for his strike zone starting at 10 a.m. to noon on a rolling basis during spring training — the time of day to maintain uniformity — and the data will be veri ed by the Southwest Research Institute.

There appears to be widespread agreement across MLB that the ABS system is a positive.

Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young used to work closely with MLB’s umpires when he was employed by the commissioner’s o ce and said they were long overdue for some help.

“They do a phenomenal job, but the stu in today’s game is better than ever,” Young said. “Umpiring is harder than ever. If there’s the ability to use technology to add a level of consistency, that’s great for everybody.”

Could addition of trade deadline enliven Cup Series season?

Plenty of moving parts work against driver swaps

By Dan Gelston The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —

Imagine a scenario in the NASCAR world — say, around the Brickyard 400 in July — when the hot topic isn’t just which driver might kiss the bricks.

Try, which driver could kiss his current ride goodbye.

What if NASCAR took a cue from stick-and-ball sports and had a trade deadline?

Forget trading paint. How about trading a star driver for a pair of minor-league prospects?

Maybe a couple of veterans who wore out their welcome on one team get a fresh start with another?

Baseball players are traded. NFL and NHL stars get swapped, and the NBA has cornered the market on building in-season buzz with a trade deadline where the action among front o ces sparks more headlines than any action on the court.

Go ahead, NASCAR. Set a date and let fans turn on those NASCAR social media post noti cations to stay abreast of all the latest rumors and deals. Sounds fun, right?

Sure. Only it’s about as doable as successfully driving a stock car with three at tires.

“You can’t pull that o with the current league structure because we’re all independent contractors,” 2012 NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski said.

“But,” Keselowski added, “that would be something compelling.”

Trades came around in NASCAR about as frequently as a race without a caution ag.

There are only 15 teams with at least one car in Cup, and only Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing eld the maximum four cars. Organizations that didn’t already have four cars before the 2025 season are capped at three full-time teams.

“If you want content, driver free agency would de nitely cause it.”

Denny Hamlin

That automatically shrinks the trading pool.

Trades are not unprecedented; notably Spire Motorsports sent Corey LaJoie to Rick Ware Racing for Justin Haley in September 2024. There was a catch with that deal: Haley had already agreed to join Spire for the 2025 season and simply got a headstart with his new crew.

LaJoie raced just four times for RWR in 2025.

So why can’t teams trade drivers?

There are no rules that prevent teams from swapping drivers. In some cases, trades seem easier on the drivers than in the NFL or NBA where players are often forced to uproot their families on short notice.

Most drivers live near their race shops in the North Carolina area and wouldn’t have to pack up the U-Haul and start over halfway across the country. The schedule is the same for every team, every driver, every week.

NASCAR can get tangled up in wheels and deals because of contracts with sponsors that prop up teams with needed cash that are not necessarily easily moveable. Big Cereal Brand

A may only want to sign with an elite team where more eyeballs — and open wallets — are on the product and not have to deal with the e ects of getting dumped to a noncontender. There can be con icts with the manufacturers as well. Teams have deals with one brand — Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports or Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, for example — and squeezing in another manufacturer could spark all sorts of headaches.

There are essentially way more parties involved to make a trade feasible in NASCAR than just the negotiations between a pair of general managers.

Why not try a trade deadline?

But it can be idealistic to imagine a NASCAR world where fans can re up the trade machine and propose swaps of drivers and players to be named and cash considerations and all the mechanisms that make up blockbuster trades in sports such as baseball.

Most drivers don’t see a path where trades become as ingrained as silly season.

“I think it’s probably a stretch,” seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson said. “There’s a lot of layers to go. We have a soft cap now in my opinion, with a standardized car. There have been discussions around a cost cap. If more of those things happen over time, I guess we get closer to do it.”

Three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin has another possible idea to warm up the hot stove season.

“If you want content, driver free agency would de nitely cause it,” Hamlin said.

His idea, a portal much like in college athletics where drivers could declare they’re out with their old teams and sign with the highest bidder each o season.

“It’d be quite interesting if everyone just went into free agency every single year,” Hamlin said. “My guess is, I don’t know that anyone would compete with Hendrick or Penske on what they could pay.”

For now, it’s just fun to dream of trading Bubba Wallace for Ross Chastain. Or proven champion Chase Elliott for the rights down the road to future developmental drivers.

Trades are out. True free agency seems a long shot.

What’s left?

“I do like the draft,” Keselowski said with a laugh.

West Stanly, girls’ basketball

Kennedy Foxx is a senior on the West Stanly girls’ basketball team. Last week, she scored her 1,000th career point for the Colts. She joins six other players to reach that milestone, a list that includes her mother, Jenni Thomas Foxx.

She nished the night with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals in a win over Mount Pleasant. Kennedy is third in the conference in assists and leads West Stanly in steals.

Share with your community! Send us your births, deaths, marriages, graduations and other announcements: community@stanlynewsjournal.com Weekly deadline is Monday at noon

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Please run Notice: January 31, February 7, 14 and 21, 2026

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Estate File No.: 26E000062-830

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As US population ages, more employees seeking caregiver bene ts at work

Employers are lling a gap as caregivers struggle with unpaid family leave

By Cathy Bussewitz

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Debra Whitman was traveling for work when her father was suddenly admitted to the hospital in serious pain.

She jetted home to Maryland and took several days o to care for him in his rural community in eastern Washington state and to set him up with a motorized lift chair that would help him stand up. Fortunately for Whitman, who serves as chief public policy o cer at AARP, her employer o ers paid time o for caregiving for elderly family members, a bene t which experts say is growing in popularity as the U.S. population ages.

“Instead of having to take all my vacation, I could take several days of caregiving leave while I was out there,” Whitman said.

“That’s been a huge godsend for a lot of my sta .” More than 63 million Americans provide care for an adult family member, and most of them have regular paid jobs as well, according to AARP, formerly known as American Association of Retired Persons. But caretaking responsibilities can make holding down a full-time job challenging, especially for people caring for older adults and raising children at the same time.

The average caregiver spends about six hours a day caring for aging loved ones, according to Meghan Shea, vice president at New York Life Group Benet Solutions, which provides life insurance and helps administer leaves of absence for employers.

“The challenge is that leave isn’t unlimited,” Shea said. “The average caregiving role spans about six years. So really, it’s a life change for these employees, and they need to gure out how to balance responsibilities in a new way, and that’s very stressful.”

In the U.S., the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for immediate family members. The law requires federal, state and local agencies, and private employers with 50 or more workers, to maintain health bene ts and job protections for those taking leave, according to the Department of Labor.

Some employers are o ering paid time o to take care of elderly family members.

In addition to the law not applying to all workplaces, it does not account for people who can’t a ord to take unpaid leave.

More than a dozen states mandate some form of paid leave for caregiving, whether for a newborn child or a family member with a serious illness.

The state laws generally entitle workers to a portion of their normal paychecks, although for how long and other bene t details vary.

“Many people have to quit their jobs in order to care for somebody, and that not only affects their income but their retirement bene ts, and then there’s a loss of productivity for the employer who may have lost a great person,” Whitman said. “Finding ways to support family caregivers is a huge employment issue right now.”

To meet growing demand, some companies and organizations have started offering a variety of caregiving bene ts, including exible scheduling and help nding resources. Here are some ways to determine if a workplace is supportive of caregivers.

Questions to ask

Shea recommends asking the following questions during job interviews, if paid leave and other caregiving bene ts are important to you. How much caregiving leave am I entitled to?

“The average caregiving role spans about six years. So really, it’s a life change for these employees, and they need to gure out how to balance responsibilities in a new way, and that’s very stressful.”

Meghan Shea, New York Life Group Bene t Solutions vice president

Do I have to take it all at one time? Can I take it in multiple increments?

Is it paid? Is it unpaid?

What leave bene ts am I entitled to at a federal and a state level?

What do you o er employees in addition to that?

Caregiving leave

For any caretaker, time is a valuable — yet scarce — asset. Employers that provide paid leave for caregiving typically offer two to six weeks, and some provide as much as 12 weeks, said Meghan Pistritto, a vice president in Prudential Financial’s group insurance division.

“Caregiving is a reality for a signi cant portion of the workforce,” Pistritto said. “The positive news is that employers are stepping up and they’re supporting their teams here. We’re seeing a lot of growth both in the employer-provided as well as in state-mandated paid leave programs that are showing up across the U.S.”

AARP gives eligible employees up to two weeks of paid time o per calendar year to care for family members or domestic partners with serious health conditions or who are at least 50 years old and need help with activities such as meal preparation, appointments and managing nances.

More than time o Flexible scheduling and the ability to work remotely can be very helpful, especially when those bene ts are actively promoted and normalized, Pistritto said. Managers can openly encourage conversations about caregiving needs and proactively check on employee well-being, making it safe for people to share their situations without fear of stigma, she added.

“Comprehensive paid leave is just the starting point. Genuine caregiver-friendly employers also provide practical resources such as access to counseling, backup care services, and caregiver support groups,” Pistritto said.

Some employers o er access to “care concierges” who specialize in helping employees nd health care providers, understand state and federally mandated bene ts, and to navigate complex systems such as Medicare.

Whitman tapped such a bene t o ered by AARP to obtain a list of caregivers in her father’s area who could help him at home in her absence. “Just having that list was a really important step,” she said. The concierge can also help workers gure out where to nd durable medical equipment or do home modications, Whitman added.

Turning to technology

If time o work isn’t feasible, a growing number of electronic devices are available to help caregivers keep an eye on loved ones while managing their paid jobs.

Susan Hammond lives across the street from her mother, who has dementia, in rural Vermont. Hammond spends four to ve hours a day helping her mother prepare meals, take medication and shower, while also running War Legacies Project, a nonprofit organization that works to address environmental and health consequences from wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

For the hours when she is working or sleeping, Hammond set up cameras and motion detectors in her mother’s house that alert her on her watch or phone if the front door opens. Her mother sometimes meanders outside, believing she’s in the wrong house.

“The concern really is wandering. And she has said to me, ‘Why am I here? I’ve got to go home.’ At times from the camera, I can see she’s trying to get out and leave the house,” Hammond said.

Her job requires traveling within the U.S. and Asia, and when she’s away, she monitors her mother from afar while her siblings help with daily caregiving. Her mother once had a health issue while Hammond was away. When emergency medical technicians arrived to help, the monitoring software allowed Hammond to talk with her mother, to provide reassurance, and the medical sta , to answer questions.

“I can always know where she is just by looking at my watch,” Hammond said. “Because we can monitor the cameras and monitor the alarms, I know she’s safe.”

NASA conducts second rocket fueling test that will decide when Artemis astronauts head to moon

A successful test would open a path to the rst moon mission since 1972

By Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA took another crack at fueling its giant moon rocket Thursday after leaks halted the initial dress rehearsal and delayed the rst lunar trip by astronauts in more than half a century.

For the second time this month, launch teams began pumping more than 700,000 gallons of supercold fuel into the rocket atop its launch pad.

It’s the most critical and challenging part of the two-day practice countdown. The outcome will determine whether a March launch is possible for the Artemis II moon mission with four astronauts.

During the rehearsal two weeks ago, dangerous amounts of supercold liquid hydrogen escaped from the connections between the pad and the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket. Engineers replaced a pair of seals and a clogged lter in hopes of getting through the repeat test at Kennedy Space Center.

NASA won’t set a launch date for the Artemis II mission un-

til it passes the fueling demonstration. Like last time, the crew — three Americans and one Canadian — watched the test from afar. The soonest astronauts could soar is March 6. They will become the rst people to y to the moon — making a 10-day out-and-back trip with no stops — since Apollo 17 in 1972. They won’t orbit or land.

NASA has been battling hydrogen fuel leaks ever since the space shuttle era, which provided many of the SLS engines. The rst Artemis test ight without anyone on board was grounded for months by leaking hydrogen before nally blasting o in November 2022.

Going years between ights exacerbates the problem, according to NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman, a tech entrepreneur who nanced his own trips to orbit through SpaceX.

Just two months into the job, Isaacman already is promising to redesign the fuel connections between the rocket and pad before the next Artemis III launch. Still a few years away, that mission will attempt to land two astronauts near the moon’s south pole.

“We will not launch unless we are ready and the safety of our astronauts will remain the highest priority,” he said last week on X.

famous birthdays this week

Drew Barrymore is 51, Gastonia native James Worthy turns 65, Tommy Tune is 87

The Associated Press

THESE CELEBRITIES have birthdays this week.

FEB. 22

Actor Paul Dooley is 98. Actor James Hong is 97. Actor Julie Walters is 76. Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving is 76. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 67. Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh is 63. Actor Drew Barrymore is 51.

FEB. 23

Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletniko is 83. Actor Patricia Richardson is 75. Singer Howard Jones is 71. Japanese Emperor Naruhito is 66. Actor Kristin Davis is 61. Business executive Michael Dell is 61.

FEB. 24

Actor Dominic Chianese is 95. Nike co-founder Phil Knight is 88. Actor Barry Bostwick is 81. Actor Edward James Olmos is 79. Musician George Thorogood is 76. Boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 49.

FEB. 25

Former talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 91. Actor Tom Courtenay is 89. Film director Neil Jordan is 76. Rock musician-actor John Doe (punk band X) is 73. Comedian Carrot Top is 61. Actor Tea Leoni is 60. Actor Sean Astin is 55. Actor Rashida Jones is 50.

FEB. 26

Singer Mitch Ryder is 81. Singer Michael Bolton is 73. Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Mullen is 69. Actor Greg Germann is 68. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia is 68. Singer Erykah Badu is 55.

FEB. 27

Actor Joanne Woodward is 96. Football Hall of Famer Raymond Barry is 93. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 92. Broadcast journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault is 84. Rock musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 72. Basketball Hall of Famer James Worthy is 65.

FEB. 28

Rock singer Sam the Sham (aka Domingo Samudio) is

Boxer Floyd

49 on Tuesday.

89. Actor-director-choreographer Tommy Tune is 87. Hall of Fame auto racer Mario Andretti is 86. Actor Mercedes Ruehl is 79. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is 73. Actor John Turturro is 69.

‘Adolescence,’ ‘Train Dreams’ win top prizes at Film

Independent Spirit Awards

“The Perfect Neighbor” won best documentary

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

CLINT BENTLEY’S lyrical Denis Johnson adaptation “Train Dreams “ won the top lm award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles, while “Adolescence” dominated the television categories. Both were released on Net ix.

Bentley also won best director for the lm starring Joel Edgerton, whom he thanked profusely for “being the heartbeat of our lm.”

“We’re so grateful to Netix,” Bentley said. “It’s very, very hard these days to lm in the United States, but it’s worth it and we’re proud to be able to pull it o .”

Edgerton missed out on the top acting prize, however, which went to Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” The organization switched to gender-neutral acting categories in 2022.

Byrne was one of the few actors nominated for both a Spirit Award and an Oscar, for her performance as a mother on the edge.

“I share this with Mary

Bronstein, my writer-director who fought for eight years to get this movie made,” Byrne said. She added that this was a lm that could have only been made independently. Her character, she said, is “ erce and ferocious and a middle-aged woman.”

“Adolescence” won new scripted series, best actor for Stephen Graham, best supporting actor for Erin Doherty, and the breakthrough prize for Owen Cooper.

The show, which serves as a fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, was held at the Hollywood Palladium for the rst time since 1994 as its longtime beachside perch in Santa Monica undergoes renovations. Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Ego Nwodim hostedthe celebration of independent lm and television, which was livestreamed on YouTube.

“In the spirit of independent lmmaking, we don’t have a permit,” Nwodim said in her opening. “If I shout, ‘cameras down,’ you know what to do.”

“The Secret Agent” won the international feature prize. The lm is also nominated for best picture and best international lm at the Oscars.

“I really believe that programming lms in the cinemas is more and more a political act,” said director Kleber Mendonça Filho.

He dedicated the award to the late actor Udo Kier, who was part of the ensemble of “The Secret Agent.”

“The Perfect Neighbor,” about a deadly shooting incident in Florida constructed primarily from police bodycam footage, won best documentary. Filmmaker and producer Geeta Gandbhir thanked Netix for “giving us a global platform.” It’s also up for the best documentary Oscar.

Eva Victor won the screenplay prize for “Sorry, Baby.” Naomi Ackie also won the supporting award for Victor’s lm over fellow nominees like Zoey Deutch (“Nouvelle Vague”), Kirsten Dunst (“Roofman”), Nina Hoss (“Hedda”) and Archie Madekwe (“Lurker”).

The awards sometimes overlap signi cantly with major Oscar contenders and winners, as it did with “Anora,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” and sometimes not. Organizers limit eligibility to productions with budgets less than $30 million, meaning more expensive lms like “One Battle After Another” are not in the running.

Christian Siriano invites New York Fashion Week guests into surrealist dream

Rocha in a last-minute ombré

By Beatrice Dupuy

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Christian Siriano barely had 48 hours to design his nale gown for his New York Fashion Week show.

The iridescent green liquid fabric Siriano had ordered from Italy was stuck in customs for weeks before it nally arrived shortly before Thursday’s runway show.

The designer of “Project Runway” fame may have been accustomed to executing his designs on a tight deadline, but with months to design his other looks, he told The Associated Press, that the last-minute design brought a fresh wave of excitement ahead of his show.

“The best dresses come at the end because I’m really, really in it,” he said.

Unlike his previous shows, where Siriano decorated his venues in sync with this theme, this time around the designer pared down the atmospheric drama allowing his clothes to speak for themselves. For his latest collection, the designer

experimented with texture and a

and

The show opened with black and white structured looks before models emerged dipped in a sea of colors. They stopped along the runway to pose with their hair transformed into a surrealist swoop style, crisscrossed around their necks.

Siriano’s collection reimagined red-carpet silhouettes, including eye-catching gowns with dramatic asymmetric necklines and exaggerated tulle sleeves or peplums. Even his black and white designs featured shimmering fringe, alluring cut outs, feathers or delicate beading.

Siriano’s looks are not for the wall ower. The designer fashioned several revealing sheer looks.

In typical Siriano fashion, the runway was lled with models of all sizes and genders.

“We need to escape and be somewhere else … in a dream world,” he said.

Siriano’s standout looks of the night featured pops of color including a chartreuse lace cropped jacket and maxi skirt, and the bright green ombre bubble gown that arrived shortly before his show.

Siriano’s supermodel muse Coco Rocha closed the show in the ombre bubble gown.

As Rocha theatrically posed down the runway, she locked eyes with guests. Celebrity guest Jones cheered on the model, yelling “drama” as she passed by.

this week in history

Iwo Jima captured, Alamo under siege, gun battle in Waco with Branch Davidians

The Associated Press

FEB. 22

1732: George Washington, the rst president of the United States, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony.

1784: The merchant ship Empress of China departed New York on the rst American trade voyage to China.

1980: The “Miracle on Ice” unfolded at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, as the U.S. hockey team stunned the Soviet Union 4-3. The Americans went on to win the gold medal two days later with a 4-2 victory over Finland.

FEB. 23

1836: Mexican troops began the siege of the Alamo in San Antonio. Nearly all of the roughly 200 Texas defenders, including Davy Crockett, were killed in the 13-day battle.

1903: President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement leasing land at Guantanamo Bay to the United States. The naval base remains in operation, along with a high-security detention facility.

1945: During World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi and raised two American ags.

FEB. 24

1803: In Marbury v. Madison, the U.S. Supreme Court established the principle of judicial review, a rming its authority to determine the constitutionality of laws.

1942: The SS Struma, carrying nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Romania to British-mandated Palestine, was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea; all but one aboard were killed.

1988: The Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $200,000 award won by the Rev. Jerry Falwell against

On Feb. 22, 1980, in the game known as the “Miracle on Ice,” the U.S. hockey team defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union 4-3 in a medal-round game at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

Hustler magazine and publisher Larry Flynt, expanding First Amendment protections for parody and satire.

FEB. 25

1913: The 16th Amendment, authorizing Congress to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in e ect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.

1956: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev delivered a lengthy speech denouncing the brutality and “cult of personality” of his predecessor, Josef Stalin at a Communist Party congress.

1964: Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won his rst world heavyweight title, defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

FEB. 26

1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba, sailing back to France in an attempt to reclaim power.

1919: President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation establishing the Grand Canyon as a national park.

1993: A truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage beneath the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

FEB. 27

1933: Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was severely damaged by re. Chancellor Adolf Hitler blamed communists and used the incident to justify suspending civil liberties.

1942: The Battle of the Java Sea began during World War II, ending in a decisive victory for Imperial Japanese naval forces over the Allies.

1951: The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, limiting a president to two terms in o ce, was rati ed.

FEB. 28

1953: Francis H.C. Crick announced that he and fellow scientist James D. Watson had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

1983: The nal episode of the television series “M*A*S*H” aired; nearly 106 million viewers saw the nale, which remains the most-watched episode of any U.S. television series to date.

1993: A gunbattle erupted near Waco, Texas, as federal agents attempted to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh on weapons charges. Four agents and six Davidians were killed, triggering a 51-day stando .