Are you going to be able to vote in the upcoming November election?

Or will the coronavirus claim another victim: your right and responsibility to choose the leaders to guide us through this public health, political, economic and moral disaster?

The recent elections in Wisconsin should have taught North Carolinians that the process will probably be partisan and contentious. It will likely put a heavy burden on individual voters as well as the election day workers who will be trying to accommodate voters and protect them and themselves from the dangers of transmitting the coronavirus.

Without careful planning, North Carolina could repeat Wisconsin’s April 7 voting day experience. Milwaukee had to reduce the number of poll sites from 500 to five. Voters were forced to wait in line for hours. At least six poll workers have already come down with symptoms of the virus.

Sadly, but predictably, Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin battled for partisan advantage in a crucial judicial election pitting a conservative Republican incumbent against a more liberal Democratic challenger. The Democratic governor tried to postpone the election to give more time for mail-in voting and a better chance for his party’s candidate to win. The Republicans objected and won a legal battle to require the election to be held on schedule.

Partisan bickering about election procedures and rules is nothing new in North Carolina. In his new book “Wilmington’s Lie,” David Zucchino reminds us what happened after conservative Democrats won control of the legislature in the 1898 elections. They crafted “a constitutional amendment requiring voters in the state to pay a poll tax and pass a literacy test unless a father or a grandfather had voted before 1867. The amendment also required voters to present proof of their identity during registration, if challenged. There wasn’t much camouflage of the amendment’s motive. ‘The chief object of the amendment is to eliminate the ignorant and irresponsible Negro vote,’ the Democrats explained in a pamphlet.”

Both North Carolina political parties have a sorry legacy of framing election laws and voting districts for political advantage, with the modern Republicans being the more recent abusers.

Elections and election procedures are bare-boned political battles in Wisconsin, too. One of the arguments there is about mail-in voting.

Many political scientists, including Barry Burden, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cite studies that show no partisan advantage to either side in expanding voting by mail. But the Democratic judicial candidate won, according to The New York Times, primarily by performing better in mail voting in every community than she did at the
polling places.

North Carolina does not have a true vote-by-mail system. Should Democrats fight to have one in place by this November? Bob Cordle, former chair of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, points out that North Carolina’s no-excuse absentee voting procedure already gives voters the opportunity to secure and send in a ballot by mail. However, he says, “the requirements to obtain and vote an absentee ballot by mail need to be simplified and made more accessible to our voters.”

The current elections board chair Damon Circosta, a Democrat, and board member David Black, a Republican, recently recommended that the legislature make “it easier to securely request and cast votes
 by mail.”

They continued, “We sincerely hope that North Carolina and the United States can be past this crisis before the fall elections, but it is imperative that we are prepared in the event that the crisis remains with us. There will be plenty of time when it is all over to reengage in our partisan battles about election policy. Right now, we all need to work together. The coronavirus has given us a chance to live up to our democratic values. Let’s take it.”

Good advice for all of us.

A recent house fire nearly claimed the life of the resident at his home on Brockwood Street in Cliffdale West. The man, whose name is being withheld, told authorities he was overcome by smoke. Fortunately, a neighbor heard a smoke alarm and saw smoke billowing from the eaves of the roof and called 9-1-1. Fayetteville Fire Department units responded to the alarm.

Engine 15 was the first to arrive. Captain Shane Flack confirmed with communications that there was a working fire. Engine 11 and Rescue 2 were on the way, but additional units were dispatched. Battalion Chief Jason Davis said the house was locked with no indication that anyone was home.

As Engine 11 and Rescue 2 arrived, Lt. Beau Culbreth and firefighter Joey Regenhardt forced entry into the house and found the resident unresponsive in the foyer. They pulled the victim out of the house as Firefighters David Cosme-Reyes and Jeremiah Williams advanced a hose line inside to extinguish the fire while also searching for other victims. Captain L.B. Herndon, Lt. Culbreth and firefighter Stacy Ritchie began first aid treatment in the front yard.

The crews inside quickly got the fire under control and completed a search of the entire house. No other victims were found inside. The resident “told us that he had put a pan on the stove to heat up. He left it unattended … and lost track of time,” Battalion Chief Davis said. “When he realized there was smoke in the house, he found the fire too far advanced to put out.”

He was overcome by the smoke on his way to the front door.

Additional fire department crews that arrived rotated in to relieve their colleagues and ensure that the fire was out. Meanwhile, the home occupant regained consciousness and was able to explain what happened leading up to the incident. “A lead medic from Cape Fear Valley EMS arrived and took over primary patient care, assisted by our personnel,” Davis added.

Davis said the fire crews that responded to the fire performed exactly as they have been trained. “Thankfully, we were called early enough to make a difference.”

Unfortunately, this was another fire started by unattended cooking. “Nearly half the house fires we respond to are the result of unattended cooking, and we average a little over one building fire a day,” Davis said.

Seven thousand people are injured in kitchen fires each year in the U.S., and that doesn’t include those who are killed, according to the Fire Safety Advice Center. The kitchen is the single most dangerous place in the home. Time and again, the same problem causes many fires — unattended cooking.

The most important point about cooking is to avoid being distracted. If called away by the phone or by someone at the door, take pans off the heat. It’s easy to forget about them. Turn saucepan handles so they don’t stick out where they can accidentally be knocked over and make sure they aren’t over another stove element. Oven gloves and towels should not be left on the stove after they’ve been used.

By exercising caution, the risk of a kitchen fire can be eliminated. But if a fire does flare up, occupants need to be prepared. Officials say not to fight the fire but leave the scene, call 9-1-1 for help, and let the fire department control the fire.

Paratroopers who rapidly deployed to the Middle East at the beginning of the year in response to growing tensions with Iran have gotten the green light to come back home.

“I’m excited to tell you that their redeploy-ment has been approved, and they will begin their journey home in the next several weeks,” said Maj. Gen. James Mingus, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, in a message posted on Twitter.

“The paratroopers and our families have had a historic deployment,” Col. Andrew Saslav, the brigade commander, said in a Facebook video. Seven hundred fifty soldiers with the Immediate Response Force started deploying New Year’s Eve in response to an attack on the American embassy in Baghdad. All tolled, 3,500 paratroopers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team deployed at the beginning of the year. Near the end of February, 800 of them had returned to Fort Bragg, but because of continued tensions in the region, the rest of the brigade had been unable to. Mingus’ message said that soldiers would need to quarantine for 14 days upon returning home. No paratroopers have tested positive for COVID-19. He added that soldiers would be able to quarantine at home.

Local highway construction delayed

The North Carolina Department of Transpor-tation is pumping the brakes on major pro-jects in the year ahead. A news release from DOT states that as people across North Carolina take measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, traffic volumes and car sales have plummeted, causing a $300 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Because NCDOT revenue is fully funded through the Motor Fuels Tax, Highway Use Tax and DMV fees, all but about 50 major projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months are being delayed, the release said. A segment of the future I-295 in Cumberland County from Raeford Road to Camden Road, which is not yet under contract, has been delayed until August 2022. An I-95 eight-lane widening project in Harnett and Johnston counties has been delayed until July of next year. DOT spokesman Andrew Barksdale said the proposed interstate widening project through Fayetteville will not be delayed.

“That particular contract will not change, no work is suspended. We’ll continue to fund it,” he said.

The Raeford Road median project and road-way upgrade has been delayed until February 2022.

The Army solves the face protection issue

Four-ply microfiber cloth is the best material to use for homemade face coverings to protect against COVID-19. Army researchers at the service’s Chemical Biological Center said in a news release that microfiber cloth filters out 75% of problem-causing particles. The material can be found in the cleaning sections of most big stores. The N-95 mask is able to filter out 90% of particles, the Army said.

“The challenge is to pick a material that effectively blocks the virus particles from going through the material while not being too hard to breathe through,” said David Caretti, chief of the Chemical Biological Center’s protection and decontamination division. 

Researchers determined microfiber does well after testing more than 50 materials. Salt particles used to test the filter were about the same size as coronavirus microns.

Hospital system wins $50K grant

Cape Fear Valley Health System’s Medical Foundation has received a $50,386 grant from Truist Financial Corporation to buy telemedicine equipment needed to help treat COVID-19 patients. The grant is part of the financial service company’s Truist Cares initiative. The firm announced a $25 million philanthropic pledge in March to support basic needs, medical supplies and financial hardship relief due to COVID-19. The new telemedicine equipment will allow the Cape Fear Valley Health System’s hospitals and outpatient clinics to provide remote patient health assessments and care.

“Telemedicine has become essential in reaching all of our patients at a time when we have to adjust the way we care for people,” Cape Fear Valley CEO Mike Nagowski said.

“Hospitals and health systems are having to rethink their approach to patient care during this challenging time,” said Phil Marion, Eastern North Carolina regional president for Truist. “Cape Fear Valley is delivering critical services to more members of our community through telemedicine, and we are proud to support them in this effort.”

Twenty-year-old cold case solved

The Fayetteville Police Department’s Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit have arrested two men in connection with a rape which occurred in February 1990. Jack Blackwell, Sr., 59, of Fayetteville and Bruce Wayne Miller, 56, of Spring Lake have been charged with first-degree rape and common law robbery.

The victim told police she was staying at a local motel in the 2300 block of Gillespie St. and was sexually assaulted and robbed of her belongings. Blackwell has been jailed under $50,000 secured bond. Miller is incarcerated in at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sumterville, Florida, on charges stemming from the robbery of a convenience store. The initial 1990 investigation went unsolved, but the rape kit from this case was recently tested.

A Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance grant has funded updates of older investigations, and Blackwell was identified as a suspect. City police encourage anyone with information concerning a sexual assault case to contact the Fayetteville Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit at 910-433-1851 or Crimestoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477).  

The public health of our communities is — and should be — our collective priority during these unprecedented times. As our families, friends and neighbors face the challenges posed by our ever-changing reality, we must also reflect on the role that a healthy natural environment plays in sustaining our lives.

Reliable, affordable and accessible energy resources are critical now that much of our population is home-bound. Clean, viable water is crucial to maintaining our personal hygiene. Proper waste management procedures sustain sanitary homes and communities. And, our natural world is an important source of joy, providing many people with physical and mental respites as we practice social distancing.

But right now, our most necessary asset is one that we cannot even see: our air.

This spring, air quality has been at the forefront of the media more than ever, as researchers have discovered that air pollution is one of many factors in the spread and severity of the novel coronavirus. Conflicting reports about air quality abound. Stunning images reveal crisp, clean skylines in cities that are usually buried in a cloud of smog. Other reports claim that, in some areas, air quality is at its absolute worst. One fact is certain, though: better air means better health.

Clean air is essential for everyone but especially for those with respiratory issues such as asthma and emphysema. On rare occasions when our air is considered to be unhealthy, each breath becomes more of a concern for all. Now that our society faces a virus that adversely and indiscriminately impacts our respiratory health, our air quality is one natural resource that we simply cannot take for granted.

We are typically blessed with clean air in the Sandhills. In fact, our area boasts some of the best air quality in the state of  North Carolina. But, we must not become complacent if we want to cultivate that distinction further.

Several organizations are leading the charge for healthier air. We can attribute our air quality successes to the vigilance of agencies such as the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Sustainable Sandhills, and the Air Quality Stakeholders. Their initiatives to improve and manage the air quality of our region contribute to our public health and the quality of our lives.

Each resident of the Sandhills is also a key player in the efforts to enhance our air quality. May 4 to May 8 is National Air Quality Awareness Week. You can care for our air by adopting habits that foster healthier air in the Sandhills. Simple steps — such as riding your bicycle instead of driving your car, fueling your vehicle when temperatures are cooler and properly inflating your tires — can have significant impacts. You can also learn about the Air Quality Index. The AQI is a forecast of the air quality in a region, ranging from “good” or “Code Green” to “hazardous” or “Code Maroon.” Most weather reports include the AQI. You can learn more about the Air Quality Index and other issues at airnow.gov or sustainablesandhills.org/airquality.

Our society will undoubtedly learn many valuable lessons from these uncertain days. By using our resources responsibly and protecting the natural assets that are so vital to our lives, we can protect our residents and build healthier, more vibrant, more resilient communities that can withstand any threat — today, tomorrow and forever.

A mighty oak tree fell last week when longtime Cumberland County Senator Tony Rand met his maker.

Rand was a political animal from the get-go and had the skills of a master. His mind worked like a lightning bolt, giving him the intellectual heft to see needs and to make change. His quick wit and Southern charm gave him the honey to make change palatable even to those who opposed it. He could skewer a colleague on the Senate floor with a smile, telling someone to go to you-know-where in such a way that the victim looked forward to the trip. One of my favorite Rand quips comes from a Senate debate involving a senator from Johnston County. Said Rand on the Senate floor, “Now it might be that all the judicial wisdom of western civilization resides in Johnston County, but I doubt it.”

He understood and was a decadeslong player in big-dog politics in North Carolina, but he never lost sight of what would build up and enhance the lives of everyday people. He could play hardball, and he could and did fight hard for resources, programs and laws that would help North Carolina rise and prosper.

His legacy in Cumberland County is all around us, including increased resources for Fayetteville State University and Fayetteville Technical Community College, Cape Fear Botanical Garden, Cape Fear Regional Theatre and the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. Our community still uses 910 as our area code in part because Tony Rand suggested to the Utilities Commission that soldiers in combat zones already knew 910 and could remember it when calling home. It was the Greensboro metropolitan area that changed to the 336 area code, not Fayetteville. Goodyear remains in our community because he championed incentive legislation that encouraged the company to stay.

Rand’s fingerprints are visible in every community in North Carolina as well. He advocated for and secured funding for early childhood education, the UNC system and the UNC health care system during his legislative career. He created a formula for funding public education in low-wealth counties, including Cumberland, Hoke and Robeson, to help put their students more on par with students from wealthier school systems.

His more than two decades in the General Assembly earned him friends from all ages and walks of life — from presidents to prison guards, from generals to gofers. He treated each of them with respect and good humor, and they loved him for it. He never forgot that he grew up in small-town North Carolina and was grateful.

With his sense of perfect timing, Rand resigned his Senate seat in late 2009 and went to work using his legal skills as chair of the North Carolina Parole Commission. He then applied his knowledge of the community college system to workforce development at FTCC, and in what was a closing-of-the-circle moment, he served as Chair of the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.

Establishing a lottery in North Carolina had been a long-running and highly controversial issue for years. On the day it finally passed the General Assembly in 2005, I was barely into my second term in the North Carolina House, and for reasons I no longer remember, I decided to pop into the Senate chamber to watch the lottery debate. Sen. Rand was running the show, of course, and with an in-depth knowledge of legislative rules and procedures coupled with exquisite political timing, he engineered a tie vote. The tie was broken with a quick “aye” vote from then Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, a Rand friend and ally, and — presto! — North Carolina had it’s own Education Lottery.

A newbie senator turned to me and said, “Margaret, you and I are here playing checkers, but that guy is playing chess in 3-D with a blindfold.”

Amen to that.

Tony Rand’s was a life well and fully lived and much enjoyed.

The lack of traffic on North Carolina’s highways caused by shelter-in-place orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the North Carolina Department of Transportation to delay numerous road projects statewide. A number of them are in the Hope Mills area.

Earlier this month, NCDOT released a list 20 pages long of road projects across North Carolina that have been put on hold as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s not safety issues preventing the workers from completing projects. The money normally available to pay for the work has evaporated.

Many state road projects are funded through the Motor Fuels Tax, Highway Use Tax and fees from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

With driving dramatically curtailed because so many people are staying at home, there is currently a budget shortfall of $300 million for NCDOT for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.

Projects that were already underway or that have already been awarded won’t be affected.

In addition to a release from the NCDOT, Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner was briefed on the delays during a recent conference call involving Cumberland County’s mayors along with representatives of the county Board of Commissioners and representatives of the city of Fayetteville.

“So much is happening with the highways in Cumberland County,’’ Warner said. “Everyone is concerned. They are moving quickly to get the outer loop finished.”

 Warner said her biggest concerns for delays in Hope Mills road construction are at the intersection of Camden Road and Main Street as well as the intersection of Golfview and Rockfish Roads near the proposed new public safety building in Hope Mills.

The intersection at Camden and Main is one of the busiest in Hope Mills.

“That is one of our high-traffic areas,’’ Warner said, noting that a fatal accident recently took place near there. “A lot of development takes
place on that side of town,’’ she said. “That would be the Camden Road section that goes by Millstone Theater.’’

The other big area of concern is where the construction of the new public safety building for the Hope Mills police and fire departments, around Rockfish and Golfview Roads, is hopefully scheduled to begin work sometime this year.

It is already a high traffic area, and the pending construction of the new public safety building is only going to make the problem even worse.

The police department has temporarily relocated to the old Ace Hardware store on South Main Street, while the Hope Mills Fire Department
will continue to operate out of its building on Rockfish Road.

It’s not hard to see how road construction along Rockfish and Golfview Roads at the same time work is taking place on the public safety building could create a serious logjam.

“If that (roadwork) project is delayed and we continue to do work on the public safety building, I see a lot of problems with that,’’ Warner said.

She is hopeful that a town committee that has been working for some time on the Hope Mills Gateway Plan will be able to head off any major headaches the combination of the road construction and the building of the public safety building will cause.

The Gateway Plan group includes various officials and citizens of the town of Hope Mills along with representatives of the Fayetteville Economic Development Commission, Duke Energy and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

“We’ve had very good strategic planning sessions,’’ Warner said. “We’ve been ahead of what’s going on with Interstate 295 and how it will impact Hope Mills.

“Now we can just add to that concern and talk about what we do now if there is a delay. We have to have an immediate plan. This will give us opportunities to look at what we’re doing with a lot of input. It might mean we need to step back and do a better job.’’

 Following is a complete list of all the major Cumberland County road projects that have been delayed by the NCDOT funding shortfall:

 1. Bridge 60 over Lower Little River on U.S. 401.

2. Bridge 25 on N.C. 242 over Beaver Dam Creek.

3. 1-95 install broadband fiber from South Carolina state line to Virginia state line.

4. I-95 in Cumberland and Robeson Counties from U.S. 301 (Exit 22) to North of I-95 Business/U.S. 301 (Exit 40). Widen to eight
        lanes.

5. Fayetteville outer loop from South of State Road 1003 (Camden Road) to South of State Road 1104 (Strickland Bridge Road.)

6. Fayetteville outer loops from South of State Road 1104 (Strickland Bridge Road) to South of U.S. 401.

7. U.S. 401 (Raeford Road) from U.S. 401 (Raeford Road) from Old Raeford Road to East of Bunce Road.

8. Cumberland, Hoke. State Road 1102 (Gillis Hill Road) from North of State Road 1112 (Stoney Point Road) to U.S. 401 (Raeford
        Road). Widen to multi-lanes and replace Bridge 250075 over Little Rockfish Creek.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and place your bets. In Las Vegas, Nevada, every smart gambler knows it’s not a good idea to bet against the House (Casino). The House is always bigger, more intelligent and has a lot more resources and staying power than you do. Hence, it will ultimately win. Or, more appropriately, you will eventually lose. This could be where the phrase “you should know when to quit” originated.

Many Americans are currently feeling that local, state and national governments are betting against the House as we wrestle our way out of the grip of this nasty COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, the House is America with its God-fearing inhabitants, who strongly believe in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. It would be a sucker’s bet to wager on any person or group of people who, regardless of title or position, ignores and disregards the freedoms upon which this country was built. Yet they do.

I hope that by the time you read this article that North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, has figured out that it’s time to quit acquiescing to half-truths and partisan gamesmanship and open up North Carolina’s businesses so people can get back to work, and more importantly, get on with their lives. Cooper, along with dozens of other governors and mayors across the country, is betting against the American people (the House) when it comes to subjecting them to the Draconian rules and regulations that have accompanied the “sheltering in place” edicts. What are they thinking? Or, are they thinking at all? Thank God we have a competent U.S. Attorney General in William Barr, who believes his job is to enforce the U.S. Constitution and protect the rights of American citizens. What’s really scary about this situation is that he is protecting us against the governors and mayors and bureaucrats across the country who have taken the same oath of office he did.

What are these people thinking? Are they so greedy, self-absorbed and drunk with power that they are oblivious to their obligations and responsibilities as elected officials? Are they so desperate that they are willing to lie, cheat and destroy our country just to gain power and authority over the American people? Well, it sure seems that way. We have witnessed far too many situations where government actions lack logic and lack common sense. Need examples? In New Jersey, where liquor and hardware stores are deemed “essential,” the governor, Phil Murphy, bans church gatherings. He even went as far as having 15 Jewish men arrested at a synagogue in April as part of coronavirus quarantine enforcement. When a reporter asked him if he was concerned about violating people’s constitutional rights or if he had heard of the Bill of Rights, he replied, “That’s above my pay grade... I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we
did this.”

What? He wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights? Free speech? The right to assemble? Freedom of religion? And, this is a governor?

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper had a similar brain cramp when he gave the executive order to limit outdoor social gatherings and activities and classified protesting as “nonessential activity.” Again, being drunk on power must be the only explanation for declaring the First Amendment as “nonessential activity.”

Hopefully, Cooper will follow the example of the more pragmatic government leaders and free North Carolina so people can go back to work. Then businesses can open back up and people can  start earning a living again and getting their lives back.

 The American people are smart; they are not willing to sit back and allow their constitutional rights to be trampled. You are betting against the House if you think Americans are going to accept or tolerate government drones flying overhead, digital surveillance or being told what to do, where to be and when to be there. The last 50 days could almost be a sneak preview into what it would be like living in a socialist or communist country. Bernie Sanders followers should feel proud.

With nearly 30 million people collecting unemployment and Congress taking a pass on working, I think we may not be able to buy our way out of this. The only solution is to let Americans do what they do best — work. Otherwise, if we keep throwing money at this problem, the cure could end up being worse than the disease.

Don’t bet against the House. Americans are tough and resilient. We are going through a rough period, fighting off two diseases. One, for which we are working on a cure, is on the surface. The second is from within our government. It is a disease caused by power, greed and selfishness of those we elected. The cure here is easy and much less complicated — we unelect those who have become diseased and replace them with people who genuinely want to make America great again.

Don’t bet against the House.

Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the entire athletic world to a halt, it’s done nothing to slow the recruiting of one of Cumberland County’s hottest football prospects, Gray’s Creek High School running back Jerry Garcia Jr. 

Garcia made a huge splash for the Bears during his junior season, rushing for 2,085 yards, an average of 10.2 per carry, and 23 touchdowns.

He also pulled in 10 pass receptions for another 279 yards and four scores as he earned first team All-Patriot Athletic Conference honors as running back.

This is normally the time of year when college football coaches would be showing up at high school campuses, hitting the recruiting trail as spring football games across the country wrap up.

But because of the pandemic and quarantine rules set in place across the country, the recruiting process has been reduced to a new normal of virtual recruiting, with coaches having to rely on video they’ve been sent, while they keep in contact with potential recruits via telephone and text message.

Gray’s Creek head football coach David Lovette said Garcia ranks among the three most-recruited football players in the history of the Bear program. As far as number of direct contacts from coaches and actual scholarship offers, Lovette added Garcia is in a class by himself at the school.

Late last year, Lovette sent film of Garcia to some 40 coaches. A few made stops at Gray’s Creek before the pandemic set in.

There was some buzz out about Garcia because of his performance in camps. He was timed at 4.5 seconds electronically in the 40-yard dash at a Nike camp. Before the Bears had to shut down weightlifting, Garcia maxed out with a 275-pound bench press.

There are some things about Garcia that can’t be measured in numbers. One of them is his desire to improve. When he scheduled a recruiting trip to Furman before the pandemic, Garcia had to leave at 6 a.m. for the trip to Greenville, S.C.

Lovette said Garcia rose at 4 a.m. the morning of the Furman trip, so he’d have time to get in his weightlifting for the day at a private gym in Hope Mills.“He’s a hard worker, a great kid and a likeable kid,’’ Lovette said. “He’s fun to be around and fun to coach.’’

There’s one other part of Garcia’s resume that has so many schools interested in recruiting him. Unlike some prospects, Garcia has solid numbers in the classroom, where he enjoys studying math and working with numbers. He carries a weighted grade point average of 3.75. He plans to continue working on his grades and hopes to have a 4.0 average when fall arrives.

His high grades are reflected in the types of schools that have already offered him scholarships. All three of the service academies, along with the Citadel, have made him offers. So have Princeton and Penn, as well as Dartmouth. At last count, some 13 schools have made firm offers to Garcia.

If there’s one thing about Garcia’s recruiting to date that has disappointed Lovette, it’s the lack of offers from North Carolina schools. He had none until just days after this interview was conducted when Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs near Shelby finally stepped up and made him a scholarship offer.

“There are some good schools in North Carolina he’d be good enough to play for,’’ Lovette said. 

But even with only one offer from inside the state so far, Garcia feels he’s been getting plenty of attention in spite of the problems caused by the virus and coaches not being able to make in-person visits.

“The coaches do build a bond with me,’’ he said. “They call me on the phone a couple of times a week and check on me.’’

Garcia isn’t letting the free time he has because he's not going to school go to waste. He has weights in his garage, and he has regular workouts with a neighbor who is also on the Gray’s Creek football team. He’s hoping to gain some weight by the time football season starts in the fall.

While there’s no guarantee that’s going to happen, Garcia said he’s remaining optimistic.“I’m hoping we’ll be able to play,’’ he said.

He is in no hurry to make a decision where he’ll attend school. He had planned to decide on a school before football season started this fall. The virus is behind the reason for not rushing the process.

He said the college coaches have talked to him in detail about what their schools have to offer, but Garcia wants to pay an in-person visit to the campuses he’s looking at so he can see for himself what each school is like.

He wants to major in engineering and said that most of the schools he’s gotten offers from have an engineering program.

He doesn’t seem committed to playing running back in college, noting that some schools have told him he’ll likely play a slot position for them while others have said they may put him in the offensive backfield and use him in motion where he can get the ball on pitches and run it.

“They’ve tried to explain to me how they want to use my versatility,’’ Garcia said.

The town of Hope Mills got a piece of good news recently when it was announced the pedestrian bridge at Hope Mills Dam passed a first-ever safety inspection with flying colors.

Don Sisko, head of the Hope Mills Public Works department, said the pedestrian bridge, which is a little more than 10 years old, had never been inspected as far as he knows. Sisko added the bridge is actually not subject to any statutory requirement that it be inspected.

“We did it as a prudent measure to help ensure resident safety and make sure it is a sound structure,’’ Sisko said.The town hired the engineering firm of Vaughn and Melton out of New Bern to handle the inspection, which was conducted on April 8.

Sisko said Vaughn and Melton is a firm used by the Department of Transportation toconduct roadway bridge inspections around the state.

The Hope Mills pedestrian bridge is what’s known as a truss bridge and spans 126 feet, 3.5 inches across the creek bed below the dam.

Sisko said national bridge inspection criteria includes a variety of things like superstructure, substructure, the deck, the channel, waterway adequacy, approaches and alignments. 

The bridge is largely used by people who are visiting the Hope Mills Lake Park, Sisko said, and there’s no measure available of the number of people who walk across it during the course of a year. The bridge is meant to be used only by pedestrians, not by anyone on a wheeled vehicle like a bicycle.

The lifespan of the bridge is largely dictated by the weather and the maintenance that is performed on it, like fixing a broken weld on one of the trusses that help provide the bridge’s support.

Sisko said the engineering firm put a ladder in the creek bed below the bridge to examine it from underneath. 

All of the various aspects of the bridge Sisko listed earlier were examined by the inspectors and given a number grade from zero to nine. A nine is usually reserved for a new bridge in excellent condition. 

Sisko said the Hope Mills bridge got grades of seven and eight across the board.

Looking ahead, Sisko said the town will schedule inspections of the bridge biannually, meaning the next one will occur in 2022.

“It will help us keep on top of things,’’ Sisko said.

 Justin McClintock

Gray’s Creek  • Swimming/football • Senior

McClintock has a 3.95 grade point average. He was first team All-Patriot Conference in football and led Cumberland County Schools in tackles with 188. He also swam a leg on Gray’s Creek’s conference-winning 200 and 400-meter freestyle relay teams.

Ryan Dukes

Gray’s Creek • Swimming/soccer/track • Senior

Dukes has a 4.35 grade point average. He is in the Academy of Information Technology, the National Honor Society and the Academy of Scholars. He does volunteer work for a number of community organizations.

 Is it time to reopen America? This week, Publisher Bill Bowman yields his space to our contributing writer, Jim Jones, to discuss just that.

Did Bernie Sanders win? He ran on a platform for a socialist society. Webster defines socialism as “Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” Although Sanders has dropped from the race, he did influence a majority of our traditional thinking. Then just like that, here comes COVID-19, which brought a socialist society in the name of public safety.

March 13, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The origin of the order was to have hospitals and medical facilities surge capacity and capabilities and take additional measures needed to contain and combat the virus. We are living in the Dark Ages with the lights on. Since that declaration, the six-foot “safe zone” has been forcefully defended as the cure — at the cost of civil liberties and almost every constitutional right we are supposed to have — by power-hungry politicians. Government leaders and agencies have decided who can go where? Whose business can open? Who can work and who gets government assistance? Who can get health care? Who can get a stimulus check? Whose business is deemed blessed, I mean essential, to be operated with restricted hours and operational processes.

We are essentially making them government-sponsored monopolies. All of this leaves the rest of the people to juggle work, kids, bills and rents and find food, find money and keep something called our sanity.

 Our society is moving an inch a month while COVID-19 spreads at the speed of a sneeze, a cough or a touch. In the name of “public safety,” we deal with isolation, self-diagnosis, long lines, food and toilet paper shortages and an unemployment crisis. All of these factors increase crime, violence, suicide, drug use and mental health crisis rates. All of these things are enforceable by force. Our leaders have taken advantage of us and this crisis for their agendas. The U.S. Congress loaded extra spending for their pet projects in the COVID-19 CARES Relief Bill while most small businesses did not get any relief. Facebook is pulling down rallies as “safety concerns.” In concert with the government, Apple and Google have agreed to work together to build contract-tracing technology into their phones that will work with both platforms. In May, they will roll out updates to our phones that will send location data to servers and cross-reference your location with someone who has COVID-19. Of course, they said, all of this information will be protected, and you will never get another spam email again. 

Why are American’s becoming impatient? America was founded by rebels. It is in our DNA. We come from forefathers who left Europe to find a new land to worship and prosper. We are the country that threw down with the king of England over a tax on tea. We howl, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Except COVID-19. We are a nation of crazy people who swim with sharks, pet bears, land on the moon and can land a plane on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the night. We are the home of the brave!

If you are alive, you are here because it is your time to be alive. In Bill Bryson’s book, “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” he said, “Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, drowned, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life’s quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result — eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly — in you.” 

Americans seem to believe that we are immortal. It is true. We are, but for a minimal time. Whether we stay quarantined for another day or years, we have not faced the fact that we will either get this virus or we will not. Not until a vaccine is discovered. Anything short of that is just ideas. We have been scared to death that everyone is going to die or cause everyone to die. This is just silliness. Yes, people have died and that is sad. People die every day. Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in America. Not one person has recommended that you cut your heart out to avoid your own heart from attacking you. Not one! 

As much as we think we own our life, we do not. If a thug can walk up to you and kill you, your body is not yours. Let’s face it; you can die from a mosquito bite. There are 8,000 ways a human can die. We only get one of them. Our life’s Earth-clock started ticking the moment we took our first breath. Whether we think we deserve something or not, that is the way it is. When it happens to someone we love, we only have our beliefs and experiences to hold on too. This virus is getting passed around, and it appears that everyone’s body is affected and reacts differently. Knowingly or unknowingly. 

With each declaration and law, those orders are backed by force with a person with a gun. Is that socialism or communism? The Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, has told his country that “the police will shoot you dead for defying stay-at-home orders.” Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya police have killed more people enforcing stay-at-home orders than the coronavirus has killed in their country.

The virus will continue to spread until we build our immunity or die. Our best course of action to bring America back to a thriving and free country is to let individuals be individuals. Let them start to rebuild their businesses, jobs, careers and lives. Let us learn to mourn the dead, care for the sick and move forward with our lives. You have the power to choose to rejoice in life or live in fear. How you live should be your choice. At least I still believe that.

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, but one local organization, the Child Advocacy Center, works tirelessly all year long to serve children in the Cumberland County community.

 Headed by longtime Fayetteville resident Roberta Humphries with support from a well-trained and compassionate staff and many capable volunteers, the Child Advocacy Center is a nonprofit organization that provides multidisciplinary services for children and families affected by sexual abuse or severe physical abuse across the county. It is accredited by the National Children’s Alliance and adheres to 10 established national standards. 

The beneficial impact of the work of the Child Advocacy Center is tremendous. In 2019 alone, the Center received 730 reports of suspected sexual and/or physical abuse for children under 18. The Center conducted 416 forensic interviews for children between the ages of 3-17. 

The organization is on the frontlines, fighting abuse in several key ways. “The CAC brings together, in one location, child protective services investigators, law enforcement, detectives, prosecutors, and medical and mental health professionals to provide a coordinated, comprehensive response to victims and their caregivers,” Roberta Humphries, the executive director of the Child Advocacy Center, said. 

“The CAC also provides professional and community education related to child abuse prevention and interviention and is active in raising awareness in the community around the issue of child abuse through various community events.” 

The Center partners with numerous agencies to accomplish their objectives. “We work with all of the following agencies: Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Fayetteville Police Department, Hope Mills Police Department, Spring Lake Police Department, CID from Fort Bragg, State Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation,  Child Protective Services with CCDSS, District Attorney’s Office, Cumberland County District Court, Medical services at Southern Regional AHEC, Womack Army Medical Center and Cape Fear Valley Hospital, Rape Crisis, Alliance Health, Guardian ad Litem Program, Army Community Services and the Family Advocacy Program,” said Humphries. 

Another way the Center helps the communinty is through education, providing child abuse prevention education to 2,325 adults.

Additionally, more than 2,000 children received body safety instruction through storytimes that were held at 60 different locations during November 2019. 

A whopping 401 families received victim advocacy services. Children and caregivers received 315 mental health therapy appointments. The center also held group counseling for girls that meets every week and for boys every other week. Twenty-six case reviews were held with 242 reviewed by the full multi-disciplinary team. 

Even during tought times, the Center continues to serve the community. In keeping with the orders from Gov. Cooper, and in efforts to work safely, the Center has  limited the number of people that can be in the Center at any one time maintaining recommended safety and cleaning procedures.

“Currently our Center is still open, responding to requests from our partners to provide the forensic interview for children with allegations of abuse,” Humphries said. “We also continue to provide victim advocacy and counseling services.”

 Like many organizations, the CAC has taken advantage of available technology to accomodate as many people as possible. “We are offering counseling services via FaceTime or through Zoom meetings,” said Humphries. 

 The Center’s services are always in demand and there are many ways to help. While the numbers of reports of abuse in the community are staggering, the amount of people who have received assistance from the Center speaks volumes about the people who serve through the Center. The Child Advocacy Center has volunteer opportunities available throughout the year. “(In 2019), 1,283 hours of service were contributed by volunteers,” Humphries said. 

Some of the tasks of volunteers include providing clerical support to the center or making no-sew blankets, which are made from tying two pieces of fleece fabric together, and assembling care packages. 

Generous donations, whether they are monetary or commodities, are helpful. “We need individually wrapped snacks and juice boxes. Donations of office supplies, gift cards to Chick-fil-A, Biscuitville, Panera Bread, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts, Harris Teeter, Staples, Lowes, etc. are always beneficial,” said Humphries. Additionally, the CAC needs volunteers to assist with fundraising and special events throughout the year. Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown and the Pinwheel Masquerade Ball & Auction are two of the CAC’s most popular events. The Lip Sync Showdown invites members of the community each year to compete for titles by lip syncing their favorite tunes. There will also be a drawing for a smart TV, an Apple iPad, and a weekend getaway in Fayetteville with hotel and gift cards valued at $500. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20 and are available at the CAC. The fundraiser accounts for about 20% of the CAC’s funding each year. The event has been postponed until June 20 and will take place in the Crown Ballroom. The Pinwheel Masquerade Ball, which offers an evening of fun at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden, is scheduled for Sept. 26. Visit https://www.childadvocacycenter.com/ for more information about the events

 In particular, the Center currently has a need for cleaning supplies like disinfectant spray, as well as masks for adults and children. Thanks to the Cumberland County Community Foundation, the Center has some emergency funding, but more support is always appreciated to fund the operations of the Center. In the midst of the current pandemic, experts have predicted that added stressors will lead to more abuse. With that being the case, the CAC is continuing their work to help alleviate the potential problems. 

For more information about the ways that the Child Advocacy Center serves the community, or to support the center, visit https://www.childadvocacycenter.com/ or call 910-486-9700.

In his role as emergency management director and fire marshal for Hoke County, Bryan Marley spends his typical work days in front of a computer dealing with planning and coordinating emergency-related matters.

But as a career firefighter who has worked in close proximity with fellow fireman and other first responders, the member of the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners appreciates the challenges his peers in the field are facing now as they cope with the COVID-19 pandemic while serving in frontline roles.

“You don’t know what’s happening day to day,’’ he said. “Stuff changes. Numbers fluctuate. You get executive orders handed down.’’

The biggest problem for rescue workers in the field is the nationwide shortage of what’s called PPE, personal protective equipment.

“Nobody can get their hands on masks, gloves and gowns,’’ Marley said. “You call your suppliers and they don’t have it and don’t know when they will be able to get it. Everybody is sold out of everything. It’s a crazy time.’’

With protective gear in short supply, Marley said first responders have been forced to reuse what used to be disposable items, learning how to disinfect masks and gloves so they can be worn in multiple situations. 

In some cases, first responders may resort to unusual alternatives, like punching armholes in large garbage bags and using them as gowns, or wearing coffee filters as breathing masks.

While this may not be perfect, Marley compared it to the difference between eating a steak sandwich versus a bologna sandwich.

“When you’re hungry, a bologna sandwich is like a steak sandwich,’’ he said.

Concerns over COVID-19 have changed the way fire departments are handling emergency calls these days. There was a time when a fire truck routinely accompanied paramedic rescue vehicles on calls. Because of the virus, calls are handled differently now and fire trucks often don’t respond.

When someone calls 911, Marley said, the dispatcher asks a series of questions. If the caller replies yes to them, they meet the protocol for a COVID-19 response and the fire truck won’t be dispatched on the call. 

Marley said this is to prevent the amount of people exposed to someone who may be infected with COVID-19. The dispatcher will also warn the paramedics going out on the call that they need to take all necessary precautions for working with someone who may be carrying COVID-19.

But as big a challenge as dealing with the virus directly is, Marley said that’s only part of he problem for first responders. “You listen to this stuff all day long, then you go home and everything is closed down,’’ Marley said. “You can’t go anywhere or do anything. 

“Everything you used to do to relieve your stress levels when you get off, you can’t do. You’re cooped up at the house.’’

There’s also the anguish of loading a COVID-19 patient onto the ambulance and watching them say goodbye to their family, who can’t even go to the hospital to be with them and could be saying goodbye to that person for the last time.

“Stuff like that weighs on you after awhile,’’ Marley said.

Marley’s advice to everyone is to follow the orders of Gov. Roy Cooper and stay home as much as possible. “Limit where you go and what you do, and we’ll get through this thing a whole lot quicker,’’ he said.

“Listen to what the experts say.’’

Column Gist: The way politics is practiced in America threatens the survival of our nation.

Without a doubt, the American form of government has proved to be amazingly effective. The measure of that effectiveness shows in what the nation accomplished in a relatively short period. The political component, as designed, is an asset to our form of government. A Google search yields this definition of politics: “…the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.” Our problem is that the current practice of politics is an existential threat to this nation.

It seems that “existential” shows up everywhere now. From grammarist.com, “An existential threat is a threat to something’s survival.” The indicators as to how the practice of politics, not the system as designed, threatens our survival as a nation, are present in abundance. However, how most politicians are responding to the horrendous challenge of COVID-19 lays bare the existential threat posed by America’s current practice of politics.

In the big picture, governors of many states, members of the House and Senate, mayors and liberal media personalities are railing against the Trump administration for allegedly not providing, in a timely fashion, sufficient ventilators, personal protective gear, virus testing capability and other actions needed by states to combat COVID-19. All of these entities and individuals present their outrage with total conviction that the federal government has a responsibility to provide these items, and other actions, in support of a health threat. Further, they have citizens — voters — convinced that doing all of this is a federal responsibility and, therefore, any failure to deliver can and should be blamed on President Donald J. Trump. None of these people bother to tell the American public that health care is not a federal responsibility under the United States Constitution. 

I contend that this refusal to tell the people the “real story”— when doing so works against one’s political security and advancement — is the political norm in America. This political practice sets us up for exactly what we are experiencing in America: division, distrust, back-stabbing and far less effectiveness than should be the case. 

The truth is that, under the Constitution, individual states are responsible for health care in their state. In a federal system, as in the United States, the states and federal government have some powers that are held by one, but not the other. Then there are concurrent powers that are held by both states and the federal government. Article I, Section 8 details the powers of the federal government. There is no mention of health care or any broader category that would include it. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Again, health care is the responsibility of states … not the federal government.

A bit of looking back shows that states being responsible for health care was understood and applied. Following is from a research article titled, “The Role of State and Local Government in Health” by Drew E. Altman and Douglas H. Morgan:

State and local government involvement in public health began with the great epidemics of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The first of these, the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, struck in 1793, and epidemics of cholera, small pox, and yellow fever were frequent occurrences over the next fifty years. Initially, the government responded to these epidemics by instituting quarantine measures and efforts to improve community sanitation. Generally, these were directed by physicians appointed by the city or state government.

Note that the yellow fever plague mentioned above occurred after the U.S. Constitution had been ratified on June 21, 1788. The event was addressed by state and local governments. 

Far more recently, an effort by Michael Bloomberg, while serving as mayor of New York, points to his understanding of local and state responsibility for health care. The following segments from an article by Justin Elliott, Annie Waldman and Joshua Kaplan titled, “How New York City’s Emergency Ventilator Stockpile Ended Up on the Auction Block” summarize what happened:

In July 2006, with an aggressive and novel strain of the flu circulating in Asia and the Middle East, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping pandemic preparedness plan.

Using computer models to calculate how a disease could spread rapidly through the city’s five boroughs, experts concluded New York needed a substantial stockpile of both masks and ventilators. If the city confronted a pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Spanish flu, the experts found, it would face a “projected shortfall of between 2,036 and 9,454 ventilators.”

The city’s department of health, working with the state, was to begin purchasing ventilators and to “stockpile a supply of facemasks,” according to the report. Shortly after it was released, Bloomberg held a pandemic planning summit with top federal officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, now the face of the national coronavirus response.

In the end, the alarming predictions failed to spur action. In the months that followed, the city acquired just 500 additional ventilators as the effort to create a larger stockpile fizzled amid budget cuts.

I contend that this action by Bloomberg makes his understanding clear that health care is a state, and even local, responsibility.

Given that, by the Constitution, health care is a state responsibility, the reasonable question is, how did the federal government get so involved? An article at www.khanacademy.org titled, “The relationship between the states and the federal government” opens the door to an answer: “As we noted above, the balance of power between states and the federal government has changed a great deal over time. In the early United States, the division between state powers and federal powers was very clear. States regulated within their borders, and the federal government regulated national and international issues. 

“But since the Civil War in the 1860s, the federal government’s powers have overlapped and intertwined with state powers. In times of crisis, like the Great Depression, the federal government has stepped in to provide much-needed aid in areas typically controlled at the state level.” 

Point blank, the answer is that the federal government has repeatedly stepped in to help states when it did not have a constitutional responsibility to do so. As is human nature, especially over years and generations, people came to expect much more from the federal government than is required of it by the U.S. Constitution. 

COVID-19 comes upon us in this condition where the federal government is expected to solve problems for which it is not constitutionally responsible, not adequately funded and not sufficiently manned or organized to routinely address. States are constitutionally expected to be prepared for health emergencies such as this. The quickness with which so many governors and mayors started calling at the Trump administration to provide equipment and materials that states and cities should have been stockpiling, as Michael Bloomberg attempted to do, screams that they were not nearly prepared for this (or an even lesser event). 

This is where the existential threat of America’s practice of politics shows through. It is in the actions of governors, such as Andrew Cuomo of New York state and mayors like Bill de Blasio of New York City. These leaders, and others at the state and local level, failed to prepare for a COVID-19 challenge. These people of influence do not acknowledge failure nor educate people as to state and local responsibilities and then work in unity with all who might contribute to solving the problems at hand. Instead, they complain vociferously about the federal government in general, but specifically about Trump’s performance in this crisis. There is an unbelievably high level of finger-pointing at Trump. Granted, as of April 20, Cuomo did make some positive comments over the past few days regarding Trump and federal support. However, this was done while insisting the federal government must provide more funding and support to states.

This is the state of political practice in America. It divides Americans, including politicians, into destructively, even hate-filled, competing groups, the result of which is a country that finds itself unable to, in an orderly manner, respond to a crisis. More importantly, we are losing the ability to carry on the routine functions of government. All of this poses an existential threat to this nation.

Earlier this month, medical professionals seemed to be getting a handle on COVID-19. No cure yet, mind you, but they seemed confident in saying who is most at risk and how the novel virus affects the human body. It was beginning to feel like if we all social distanced, stayed close to home, wore masks when we were out and washed and disinfected frequently, COVID-19 infections would peak and begin a slow decline.

We were looking at only the tip of the iceberg. We are now learning the hard way what we did not know when COVID-19 first emerged in China and zipped around the world in a matter of weeks. It traveled at a pace unknown in the flu pandemic of 1918 before people routinely traveled between and all over continents. Estimates are that COVID-19 is about five times more lethal than seasonal flu.

We initially thought COVID-19 appeared at nursing facilities in Washington in late February. Turns out the first death may have been a California woman with no connection to China who died of COVID-19 in early February. Few of us will be surprised if more early victims are identified. We thought the elderly and people with respiratory issues were most at risk. Still, much younger people are dying of it as well, and asthma patients are less affected than initially feared. If more people than originally thought have had and survived the virus — with or without symptoms, could it be more contagious than we imagined and spread more quickly? A reopening of commerce would hasten the spread.

COVID-19 may have long-lasting effects on some who survive the initial infection. Medical professionals are reporting damage to lungs and other vital organs and finding that while some people emerge on the other side of infection feeling back to normal and with presumed immunity, others have a long recovery to reach their former “normal.” And, perhaps most worrisome of developments so far is what COVID-19 does to the blood of some patients — clotting that can move into the heart and lungs and block blood and extreme bleeding in other patients.

While we are watching the curve of infections and hoping to bend it in the right direction, we are also watching the course of the disease and working to understand it as quickly as we can.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the United States and North Carolina continues to mount, affecting families of the well-known and families of ordinary folks just trying to make it through this bizarre and scary time. The pandemic is complicated by the collapse of the U.S. economy and its dire financial toll on individuals and businesses. Intense pressure faces policymakers to let up on some social distancing restrictions and allow certain businesses to reopen — at least partially. Not surprisingly, that pressure is falling along partisan political lines, as does so much in American life these days.

Blessedly, not all the news is bad.

Our air and water are cleaner because we are using less fossil fuel and generating less garbage. Wild animals are reportedly rebounding with less human contact in their daily routines. Millions of Americans are learning to cook at home again and are probably healthier for it. Families are spending more time together, and while that is not without tensions, many are getting to know each other in new ways. Millions of American students may be falling behind in academic areas, but so are students in other parts of the world. On the plus side, students and their families are learning flexibility, resilience and creativity, qualities that will help them in ways book learning cannot.

Very likely, we still see only the tip of the iceberg, but the waters are clearing to give us a fuller picture of what lies ahead.

 Sabrina Brooks and Major Gifts Officer Marge Betley from the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation were on hand April 22 at Cape Fear Valley Hospital to greet Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union CEO and President Steve Foley and District 45 State Rep. John Szoka as they delivered 200 lunches to dedicated and hardworking hospital staffers and nurses.

 Bragg Mutual has three locations in Fayetteville and Cumberland County and is a full-service financial institution dedicated to helping local residents better their financial status through education and thrift. According to Foley, Bragg Mutual and its employees wanted to recognize the health service workers and thank them personally for their sacrifices during this COVID-19 crisis. 

The very next day, Foley and Bragg Mutual Volunteers took another 200 lunches to the VA Medical Center on Ramsey Street, where nurses and hospital staffers are working around the clock taking care of our veteran military service members who have served our country so gallantly.

 That was 400 meals in two days. Bragg Mutual met the challenge with the assistance of local catering company The Vine/Two Brothers Catering owners by Brad and Kelley McLawhorn. Despite their current hectic schedule fulfilling a massive and demanding daily contract for Fort Bragg, the McLawhorns collaborated with Bragg Mutual to prepare the 400 healthy individual boxed lunches for the hospital and the VA staffers and nurses. Each prepared lunch included a fresh deli turkey sandwich, macaroni salad, potato chips and for dessert, a slice of Two Brothers’ special carrot cake. Also, credit union members from Up & Coming Weekly and Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop also included an extra special gift — a sweet treat packet of candy. This heartwarming gesture was the near-perfect example of the people helping people philosophy that has made Bragg Mutual Credit Union such a valuable asset to the Fayetteville community for over seven decades. 

Rep. Szoka, chairman of the board of Bragg Mutual, encourages such local community involvement. “Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union has always been focused on helping our community, and we’re glad to show our appreciation to our hardworking health care professionals throughout the area,” said Szoka, an appropriate statement coming from the man who was chosen the 2019 National Volunteer of the Year by the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions. This prestigious award honors credit union volunteers who demonstrate leadership, dedication to Credit Union members, commitment to professionalism, service to Credit Union staff, and uphold the values of the community. Both Szoka and Foley demonstrate those qualities every day and work to bestow them in everyone they come into contact with the Credit Union.

We salute all our community health care workers serving the hospitals and medical clinics, along with the work, commitment and dedication of businesses like Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union and people like Foley and the staff of the credit union. Our community is made better because of their presence and support. The same can be said for Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation and the McLawhorns of The Vine / Two Brothers Catering company. No doubt, heroes work here in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

Want to give back time, money or words of encouragement?

Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union: www.braggmutual.orgSteve Foley, CEO: sfoley@braggmutual.org

The Vine/Two Brothers Catering: 910-584-9892

Brad McLawhorn: twobrotherscatering06@gmail.com

Kelley McLawhorn: twobrotherscatering06@gmail.com

Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation: www.cfvfoundation.org/

Marge Betley, Major Gifts Officer: mbetley@capefearvalley.com 910-615-1358

VA Medical Center: 910-488-2120

Life’s been weird, right?

I don’t know how else to start this article. What do you say? What is there left to say? I don’t even want to really talk about it any more, if I’m being honest.

Quarantine has been weird; social distancing has been weird. The world — the literal whole world — being shut down has been weird. I guess since this is being published, I should use a 50-cent word and say its “unprecedented,” but let’s be real.

This. Has. Been. Weird.

And heartbreaking. Devastating. Frustrating. Intimidating. Scary.

There will most likely never be another time in our generation — so we pray — where doing absolutely nothing can help save the world.In a society that is used to things changing in an instant, we’ve gone from moving a hundred miles an hour to moving at a snail’s pace as we’ve waited for COVID-19 to pass us by. Waiting is not our strong suit. 

We’ve lived seemingly invincibly for so long, thinking nothing will touch us here in America — no wars on our turf, no major catastrophes, no major economic downfall — yet here we are, stuck with the great equalizer — rich or poor, tall or short, young or old, no one is immune. 

For me, it has been a break. I’ve been very fortunate to have the privilege to work from home, and my husband has been able to continue his job. My son has been at home with me instead of daycare, and my dog now favors me over my husband because I get to take her outside so much more and give her treats. For me, it is a big win.

For others, this pandemic has hit them hard — so hard, they may not recover for a  long while, which brings me back to my first thought. What do you even say?

 Just one piece of dumb advice, if you haven’t done it already — don’t cut yourself quarantine bangs. Put down the scissors, Judy. It just isn’t worth it. You’ll end up looking like you feel and right now — that is, unreliable. Just wait for your stylist or barber, not that I know from experience. Dear God, help me.

But on a more serious note, I had a realization in all of this that I don’t want this not to change me. I want to remember and honor the elderly. I want to remember that everyone is going through something, so I mind my words and my impatience. I want to spend more time at home. I want to spend less money on nonessentials. I want to cook more at home. I want to remember that whether I realize it at the time or not, my actions do affect the people around me, even people I don’t know.

I want to remember that just because someone is famous, it doesn’t make them a hero, and that advertising and Hollywood don’t own me. I want to remember what it's like not to hug my family so I’ll never pull away or take another hug for granted. 

 What is normal anyway? Whatever it is, it's overrated, overexpected and just plain over. I’m done with normal. I want keep some of this weirdness and be changed for the better.

From the beginning, the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center has been about inclusion and transparency. The wheels were set in motion in 2007 with a planning grant from the N.C. General Assembly. While the ground has not yet been broken for the facility, plans are moving ahead, and it’s to the benefit of many historically underutilized businesses in North Carolina. This category of businesses includes companies owned by women, African Americans, Native Americans and others.

“The State of North Carolina believes highly in small businesses, which is what drives our economy,” said Tammie Hall, assistant to Machelle Sanders, the Secretary of HUB and the HUB Division Director. “It is important to get them engaged in what we do.”

According to nccivilwarcenter.org, once complete, the four-acre History Center site will include a 60,000-square-foot main museum built outside the U.S. Arsenal’s archaeological footprint, protecting the remnants of the asset seized by Confederate forces in 1861 and leveled by William T. Sherman’s engineers four years later. The existing 1897 E.A. Poe House and three Civil War-era structures are incorporated into the larger, interpretive plan. This project offers the public a repository, not merely of artifacts, but of information and a context for it.

Three Civil War-era houses, known as the history village, were moved to the southern end of Arsenal Park in October 2018. Work on the three houses is on schedule for completion later this month. A total of $2.5 million was budgeted to move and renovate the houses and the job has come in under budget.

In a recent press released, the History Center announced that work on the buildings include: 

•  The Arsenal House was renovated primarily for K-12 students. It includes a classroom, a distance learning studio and a technical support room, all part of the Digital Education Outreach Center. The Outreach Center will be an online educational resource to teach the history of the period before, during and after the Civil War to public school students across North Carolina.

•  The Culbreth House was renovated for higher education purposes. It will become the Center for the Study of the Civil War and Reconstruction in North Carolina. A catering kitchen and upstairs offices were added, as was a library, which will house an extensive collection of Civil War and Reconstruction books. It will be used as the offices for the Center’s Foundation.

•  The Davis House required extensive renovation following damage from the move, including adding structural elements, new floors, walls and updated rewiring and heating and air. Plans are for it to be a support building for the buildings and other developments for that end of Arsenal Park.

The next project will be an educational outdoor pavilion area, which is scheduled to be completed next year. Also planned for the site is the 60,000-square-foot building, which will replace the Museum of the Cape Fear and house large scale exhibits, an auditorium and the Center’s operations going forward.

The Center’s use of historically underutilized businesses as contractors is at 82.09%. “It is a huge accomplishment to receive 80%,” said Hall. “It’s a huge plus for our economy.  … (The) state recognizes it as investing in small businesses, which are the ones who grow our communities, and which grow our school systems. Small business is what grows our North Carolina economy.” 

“ … Our goal with the Center is to be inclusive with all North Carolinians, not only with our present and future programming, but with our operations and construction, as well.” said John M. “Mac” Healy, chair of the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center Board of Directors.

Find out more about the History Center at http://nccivilwarcenter.org/, or call 910-491-0602 to learn more.

What is the big news in North Carolina?

For some, it is not the bad news that the coronavirus has shut us up in our homes for weeks and weeks and undercut the economic lives of so many.

It is, instead, the good news that, starting April 21 with the release of Lee Smith’s latest book, “Blue Marlin,” there will be something to ease the discomfort of our confinement.

“Blue Marlin” is short, about 120 pages, each filled with Smith’s warm and sympathetic storytelling gifts and characters who reach out and remind us of people we knew growing up.

Smith confesses in an afterword that for all the stories she has ever written, “this one is dearest to me, capturing the essence of my own childhood — the kind of unruly, spoiled only child I was; the sweetness of my troubled parents, and the magic essence of Key West, ever since January 1959, when these events actually occurred.”

Smith then explains that not all the events in her book happened. The book, she says, is “autobiographical fiction, with the emphasis on fiction.” She explains, “I can tell the truth better in fiction than nonfiction.”

In the book, the “Lee Smith-like” character, Jenny, age 13, discovers her small-town lawyer dad — think Atticus Finch — is having an affair. Soon everybody in town knows. Her dad moves out of their home. Her depressed mom seeks treatment at a hospital in Asheville. Jenny is sent to stay with her mom’s cousin Glenda in South Carolina. Jenny fights this placement. Glenda is tough and deeply and out-front religious. Soon Jenny feels at home, adjusting and then thriving under Glenda’s no-nonsense orderliness.

Meanwhile, her parents decide to try to put their marriage back together on a trip to Key West. When they pick up Jenny at Glenda’s, Jenny brings a white New Testament that Glenda gave her, a necklace with a cross that Jenny stole from Glenda’s daughter and a growing interest in Jesus and boys.

Riding to Key West in the back seat of her dad’s new Cadillac, Jenny begins a list of good deeds she will do on each day of their monthly trip “which ought to be enough,” she thought, “to bring even Mama and Daddy back together.”

But the question is, will the time in Key West do the job?

Things get off to a good start. Their hotel, the Blue Marlin, is a positive, not just because of its swimming pool and water slide. The motel is full of a movie crew, including actor Tony Curtis. 

“Mama and I were crazy about Tony Curtis,” says Jenny. Both were big movie fans and read the fan magazines together. About Curtis, they “squealed together.” Then they learn Cary Grant is part of the movie’s cast, and things are off to a good start.

Jenny settles into Key West. She walks the streets, visits the old Catholic church, reads the texts in the graveyard, gets to know a group of strippers, and does her good deeds every day. Still she asks whether they were working. “My parents were endlessly cordial to each other now, but so far they had never slept in the same bed. I knew this for a fact. I checked their room every morning.”

To find out whether Tony Curtis’s help and Jenny’s good deeds can bring about real marital reconciliation, you will have to read the book.

But, here is a clue from Smith’s afterword. After the real trip to Key West to help her real parents’ troubled marriage, Smith writes that the Key West cure worked. “Mama and Daddy would go home refreshed, and stay married for the rest oftheir lives.”

The COVID-19 economic shutdown is taking a toll on government finances as a dramatic downturn in sales tax revenues is expected to disrupt the financial health of local government. The city of Fayetteville has asked the Public Works Commission to contribute millions more than it usually does in the fiscal year ahead to offset an expected reduction in revenues. PWC annually transfers $12 million to the city in lieu of taxes.

 Fayetteville Budget Director Tracey Broyles told City Council she anticipates a significant loss of sales tax proceeds and other revenues in FY21. She predicts the city could lose about $7.7 million. City Councilman Johnny Dawkins, who represents the city on the North Carolina League of Municipalities, said actual losses could be a lot more. PWC’s charter allows the utility to provide additional funding to the city in emergency situations. “We have a once in a lifetime issue here,” said city manager Doug Hewett. Councilmember Chris Davis made the motion to ask PWC for as much as $11 million — the first $8 million covering budget shortfalls, with the additional money being set aside for unforeseen COVID-19 issues. The motion passed unanimously. 

Pope Army Airfield infrastructure neglected

A recent audit found Fort Bragg’s Pope Airfield to be among the Army’s worst maintained facilities. Pope Airfield is a staging area and launch site for the 82nd Airborne Division’s Immediate Response Force. Paratroopers can deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours of notification. Lawmakers are worried Fort Bragg’s lift capabilities are being underfunded, The Army Times first reported. The airfield is now part of Fort Bragg. The Army took it over from the Air Force in 2011. “These infrastructures serve as primary training airfields for USASOC — United States Army Special Operations Command, JSOC — Joint Special Operations Command and others, including the immediate response force,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said funding has already been planned for the airfield, and more is on the way. “We have an approved project of $25 million for airfield lighting repair, and in the 2021 budget we plan to spend $65 million to repair the runway and taxiways,” the secretary and chief said in a joint statement.

Local electricity rates decline 

Fayetteville’s Public Works Commission has approved a reduction in electricity rates for residential customers as well as small and medium business customers, effective May 1. The off-peak rate was reduced from 9.1 cents to 8.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Off-peak rates apply during 88% of the average week. On-peak rates, which remain the same, occur four hours a day during weekdays. A typical PWC residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of power per month would see a decrease of $5.20. The rate reduction comes after a renegotiation of PWC’s contract with electricity provider Duke Energy, resulting in $33 million in savings. “We will not begin to see the financial savings of the contract changes until January 2021,” said PWC CEO/general manager David Trego. “However, it’s important to note that providing these savings to our customers was of the utmost importance, and the PWC Board wanted customers to receive the savings benefit as soon as possible and set the decrease to begin May 1, 2020.” 




Rental housing scam
Fayetteville police are seeing a resurgence of cases involving real estate fraud involving social media and classified rental property ads. The listings are not from established property management companies and are usually listed as for rent by owner. “This fraud scheme may even involve a written “lease” that appears legitimate, but the communications and paperwork will not be done in person,” said police spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Glass. The suspect will ask prospective tenants to send the rent money through a cash application, like PayPal or the United States Postal Service, usually before written leases are provided. Glass said scammers will not be available to meet in person. They will ask you to mail, wire or using a cash-sending appl to send money. Listings often include poor grammar, typographical errors and excessive punctuation.

Every day for the past few weeks, we’ve all awakened to a new way of life. We continue to navigate our days with modified lifestyles, including staying at home as much as possible to protect ourselves and others during this COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past weeks, I have found myself often being reminded about the incredible accomplishments that are occurring as a result of everyone moving together in harmony to follow the important health and safety guidelines currently in place. This spirit of comradery and teamwork seems to make things that are heavy feel much lighter and things that are rough feel much smoother. It’s always good to focus on positivity and look for opportunities to help us strike a healthy balance between optimism and the realities we face, and now is a time for us to stay connected to something positive in our lives.

At Fayetteville Technical Community College — even during this pandemic, our faculty and staff members have not stopped performing their jobs to continue the mission of our college: to serve our community as a learning-centered institution to build a globally competitive workforce supporting economic development. I am very proud of our faculty and staff who share the belief that education changes lives in positive ways and continue to effectively serve our students through distance education to prepare students for their futures.

FTCC ended the first week of April with two great pieces of news: 1.) The college provided thousands of items of personal protective equipment to Cape Fear Valley Health System and donated gloves to the North Carolina State Veterans Home, and 2.) the college was awarded a $961,200 grant by the Golden LEAF Foundation to renovate and equip an existing space into a dedicated simulation suite for training nursing students. The Golden LEAF grant will help FTCC train more nurses and represents a wonderful opportunity for FTCC to contribute significantly to our community by increasing access to high-quality healthcare — a vital area whose importance has been highlighted during this pandemic. Our healthcare providers are the heroes working the front lines, and we thank them most sincerely and are very proud of them.

The pandemic is a crisis situation unlike anything we’ve experienced before — certainly not in recent years. It’s important for us all to remain optimistic and follow up with positive actions. It is uplifting to see how this experience is bringing us closer together, not only in our local communities but also across the globe. Even though some of the news stories now may cause anxiety and uncertainty, we have opportunities to balance our mental health and awareness by staying connected to something positive. At the heart of our mission at FTCC lies an important objective, to remain — during good times and difficult times — the smart choice for education. As we continue to navigate life each day with new challenges, we at Fayetteville Technical Community College stand committed to serving you and thank you for this privilege.

The coronavirus crisis has unsettled every age group, as we are all worried about our health and that of our families and communities. And if you’re in the millennial generation, generally defined as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, you might also be concerned about your financial future, given the sharp decline in investment prices. How should you respond to what’s been happening?

Your view of the current situation will depend somewhat on your age. If you’re an older millennial, you had probably been investing for a few years when we went through the financial crisis in 2007-2008. And you then experienced 11 years of a record bull market, so you’ve seen both the extremes and the resilience of the investment world. But if you’re a younger millennial, you might not have really started investing until the past few years, if you’ve started at all, so you’ve only seen a steadily climbing market. Consequently, you may find the current situation particularly discouraging, but this is also a lesson in the reality of investing: Markets go down as well as up.

But no matter where you are within the millennial age cohort, you might help yourself by taking these steps:

• Enjoy the benefit of having time on your side. If you’re one of the younger millennials, you’ve got about four decades left until you’re close to retiring. Even if you’re in the older millennial group, you’ve probably got at least 25 years until you stop working. With so many years ahead, you have the opportunity to overcome the periodic drops in investment prices, and your investments have time to grow. And, of course, you’ll be able to add more money into those investments, too.

• Invest systematically. The value of your investments will always fluctuate. You can’t control these price movements, but you may be able to take advantage of them through what’s known as systematic investing. By putting the same amount of money at regular intervals into the same investments, you’ll buy more shares when the share price is lower — in other words, you’ll be “buying low,” which is one of the first rules of investing — and you’ll buy fewer shares when the price rises. Over time, this strategy can help you reduce the impact of volatility on your portfolio, although it can’t ensure a profit or protect against loss. Plus, systematic investing can give you a sense of discipline, though you’ll need to consider the ability to keep investing when share prices are declining.

• Focus on the future. You’re never really investing for today — you’re doing it to reach goals in the future, sometimes just a few years away, but usually much further out. That’s why it’s so important not to panic when you view those scary headlines announcing big drops in the financial markets, or even when you see negative results in your investment statements. By creating an investment strategy that’s appropriate for your risk tolerance and time horizon, and by focusing on your long-term goals, you can develop the discipline to avoid making hasty, ill-advised decisions during times of stress.

As a millennial, you’ve got a long road ahead of you as you navigate the financial markets. But by following the suggestions above, you may find that journey a little less stressful.

The local sports scene took another hit last week as state American Legion baseball officials announced there would be no season for the sport this summer in North Carolina due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That followed an earlier announcement by the American Legion that regional and national playoffs were also canceled.

Mark Kahlenberg, who coaches the lone Cumberland County entry, the Hope Mills Boosters, said discussions had been ongoing about the fate of the season in recent weeks, with state Legion officials announcing they would reach a decision on baseball this summer somewhere around April 13.

While no official American Legion baseball season is planned, there has been talk among coaches of some of the teams coming up a non-Legion baseball alternative that would provide those programs around the state that wanted to participate a chance to have something.

Kahlenberg said he’d seen a list of some 10 to 12 teams interested in the alternative season. He also said some teams from the northern part of South Carolina had expressed interest in joining the North Carolina teams if South Carolina should decide to cancel its American Legion baseball season.

But Kahlenberg had multiple reservations about the possibility of a non-Legion baseball league. To begin with, he’s not certain the backer of the Hope Mills Boosters, the Massey Hill Lions Club, would be willing to fund something not affiliated with American Legion baseball.

Further, there would be more expense involved than just paying for officials and travel. Any Legion teams that played in the alternative league would not be allowed to use their official American Legion baseball uniforms or even the official baseballs stamped with the American Legion logo.

Another big concern would be providing for insurance for the players. Kahlenberg said he’s almost certain any policy the teams could purchase would be unlikely to include coverage for the COVID-19 virus. “If something did come up with the virus, I don’t think I would want that on my plate,’’ Kahlenberg said.

Finally, he expects there will be a problem for many teams finding a place to play. The Boosters traditionally play their home games at South View High School. As part of the Cumberland County Schools, South View’s facilities are closed because of the virus, and Kahlenberg doesn’t think they will be opened just for a team that’s not affiliated with American Legion baseball.

The Boosters were also scheduled to play two games at Campbell University, which is also currently shut down.

Kahlenberg is about a month away from the time he would normally have been organizing this year’s team for its first game. According to longtime American Legion baseball coach Doug Watts, who retired in 2018 after 51 years with the program, this will be the first time since 1965 that Cumberland County hasn’t fielded an American Legion baseball team.

Kahlenberg had planned an ambitious 25-game schedule, about five or six more regular season games than Hope Mills normally plays.

A change in the enrollment numbers meant Hope Mills might have been able to add another school to its base this season.

The thing he will miss most, Kahlenberg said, is the camaraderie with the players.

“You have your late nights on the road,’’ he said. “That’s a lot of stories we still talk about. That’s the fun part of it.’’