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  • 12aIndividuals looking for a little more excitement and adventure in their lives can think about making New Year’s resolutions that align with their adventurous goals. Below are some ideas that can serve as inspiration for anyone who wants to be a little more daring with this year’s resolutions.

    Try a new outdoor activity

    The great outdoors consistently beckons. Answer the call by engaging in a new outdoor activity. Any activity can be adventurous if it’s new to you.
    Start off small and get more into it as your skills improve. Consider kayaking, surfing, mountain biking, rock climbing, or anything else that presents a thrill.

    Get creative in the kitchen

    Being adventurous can extend to any aspect of life, including dining. Expand your culinary horizons by trying new flavor profiles and recipes inspired by global cuisine. This may include ingredients you deem to be “exotic” but are customary in other parts of the world.
    Inviting others to join you in these culinary efforts can also bring new ideas to the table. You may find your new favorite dish.

    Sleep outdoors

    Adventures do not have to be large and time-consuming. In fact, the term “microadventure” was dubbed by Alastair Humphreys, an adventurer and speaker, as a way to squeeze more gutsy activity into anyone’s schedule.
    One way to do so is to resolve to sleep outdoors in a new place once a month. Shaking off the creature comforts of home enables you to adapt and embrace new experiences.

    Aim to be more sustainable

    Active lifestyles often involve exploring natural landscapes. These areas can be affected by trash, which also can impact wildlife in negative ways.
    Resolve to keep parks, trails, rivers, lakes, forests and other outdoor areas clean and beautiful. Various organizations spearhead these types of efforts, but you can work independently as well. Always practice a “carry in, carry out” policy when hiking or enjoying nature.

    Individuals can ponder the many ways to embrace more adventurous resolutions in the year ahead.

  • 13bEstimates vary depending on the year and scope of the study, but research into New Year’s resolutions has generally found that fewer than 10% of people who make resolutions each year stay the course until they’ve accomplished their goal.

    In fact, a 2020 poll conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Crispy Green found that the average person has abandoned his or her resolution by February 1.
    No two people are the same, but resolutions could fall victim to various pitfalls that can affect anyone. Recognition of these pitfalls when making a resolution may improve your chances of being successful in the year ahead.

    Lack of specificity: When making a resolution, be as specific as possible. If you want to read more, resolve to read two books per month (or however many books you feel you can reasonably read in a month). If you want to lose weight, speak to your physician to help you set a specific weight loss goal you can meet without compromising your overall health.

    No measuring stick to track progress: Specificity is important, but it’s not the only tool you can use to stay the course with a resolution. Maintain a resolution journal or blog that allows you to gauge your performance.
    This can help you engage more fully in your resolution efforts, providing an outlet you can use to explore your successess and failures.
    The more engaged you are in your resolution efforts, the more likely those efforts will prove successful.

    Going it alone: The buddy system works when pursuing various goals, and New Year’s resolutions are no exception. A friend or family member along for the resolution journey can make it easier to maintain your motivation. For example, anyone who wants to read more can join a book club, which can provide the motivation to finish books or excerpts before a weekly discussion.

    Biting off more than you can chew: Small resolutions may not seem like much, but minor efforts can serve as the stepping stones to realizing larger goals.
    If your goals are too ambitious at the outset, you’re more likely to give up at the first setback.

    Not anticipating setbacks: Setbacks will happen, and as noted, it’s easy to let them derail your efforts when they first appear. Recognize that there will be bumps in the road but that these bumps should in no way end your journey. Take setbacks as the valuable lessons that they can be, and use them as an opportunity to examine what you did that didn’t work and what you can do to avoid future setbacks.

  • 9aPiedmont Natural Gas earned the No. 1 spot in customer satisfaction with residential natural gas service in the South among large utilities, according to the J.D. Power 2022 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.

    This is the first time Piedmont Natural Gas has received the No.1 ranking, topping six other utilities in the South Large segment.

    “Earning top honors in customer satisfaction demonstrates our strategy to put customers first,” said Sasha Weintraub, senior vice president and president of Piedmont Natural Gas. “Our think-customer approach is simple — listen to what our customers say and act on it. We work daily to deliver what matters most to them — safe, reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy. We are grateful these efforts have been noticed, and I’m proud of the entire Piedmont Natural Gas team for this recognition.”

    Piedmont’s efforts to understand and address the needs of customers earned top rankings in the following study factors: billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, customer care and safety and reliability.

    J.D. Power represents the voice of customers. This year’s study results are based on responses from over 57,000 online interviews conducted from January 2022 through October 2022 with residential customers of the 84 largest natural gas utility brands, representing nearly 64.6 million households across the United States.

    J.D. Power began measuring the customer satisfaction of natural gas utilities in 2002.
    Piedmont Natural Gas is a subsidiary of Duke Energy, and distributes natural gas to more than 1.1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in North Carolina, as well as South Carolina and Tennessee.

    Piedmont has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S. For more information visit the website at piedmontng.com.
    Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.

    More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues.

  • 14Award-winning rhythm and blues trio Tony! Toni! Toné! will help usher in the new year during the city’s New Year’s Eve party at Festival Park.
    The group will headline the city’s New Year’s Eve party when a Night Circus: A District New Year’s Eve Spectacular returns for a second year, the Cool Spring Downtown District and the city of Fayetteville said in a release.

    The group was popular in the late 1980s to the early 90s. It has 14 Billboard-charting R&B singles, including five No. 1 hits, three top 10 pop singles, one gold album, two platinum albums and one double platinum album, and over six million total albums sold, according to the release.

    Their hits include “Feels Good,’’ “The Blues’’ and “Anniversary.’’ The group includes D’Wayne Wiggins, Timothy Christian Riley and Amar Khalil. The night also will include carnival attractions such as stilt walkers, fire dancers and roving magicians. There also will be food trucks and live music, the release said.

    Local DJs will entertain the crowd before the headliner takes the stage. At midnight, organizers plan to raise a large multi-colored star. There also will be fireworks, the release said.

    The Cool Spring District is facilitating the event on behalf of the city. Organizations and individuals who are interested in becoming a sponsor should contact Bianca Shoneman, president and CEO of the Cool Spring Downtown District at 910-223-1089 or Bianca@CoolSpringFay.org.

    The Night Circus and concert are free and open to the public.

  • 19If you happened to be at the Cumberland County Courthouse last month, it was hard to miss the news that Nov. 30 was Amy H. Cannon Day. On every floor, a huge poster display in the area of the elevators thanked Cannon for 32 years of service.

    The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners had proclaimed the day in her honor. Cannon has been the Cumberland County manager for the past eight years. Unlike the departures of many chief executives in public service these days, hers was civil. She did not get fired on the whim of an elected body. And she’s not packing her belongings to head to some faraway place.

    Instead, Cannon is retiring amid a host of accolades from the county commissioners who hired her and the fellow employees she worked with. The Fayetteville native grew up in the Cliffdale Road area of Fayetteville and graduated from Seventy-First High School in 1983.

    Commissioner Jeannette Council said Cannon was good at her job. And she had to be: She was a woman at the helm of one of the largest counties in North Carolina, Council said. Commissioner Jimmy Keefe also praised Cannon and said she served the county well. Commissioner Charles Evans echoed those statements.

    At one of Cannon’s last meetings as manager, those three commissioners were asked to present her with awards because they were on the board when it hired her as manager in 2014.
    Cannon acknowledges that being a native and having the opportunity to serve 32 years in local government doesn’t happen often.

    “Not many managers have the opportunity to service in their own community,” she said.

    She plans to stay right here in Fayetteville and spend some quality time with her family: her mother; two sons; a daughter-in-law who she says is like the daughter she never had; and an 8-week-old grandbaby.

    A team player

    Cannon started her final morning as manager visiting employees in the tax department and thanking them. She said other goodbyes and thanked employees; had lunch with her administrative staff; and honored her assistant county manager, Tracy Jackson. Jackson also plans to retire in December. Cannon credits her team with any success she’s had, referring to them as “dedicated public servants.”

    Her fifth-floor office overlooks the parking lot where the county commissioners, just days before her last day, decided to build a 69,000- to 89,000-square-foot multipurpose center that they say will be a downtown showpiece to replace the aging Crown Theatre and Crown Arena, located just off U.S. 301.

    “I am very excited about the Crown Event Center,” Cannon said. “I’m excited to have had a part in it. It’s going to be transformational for our community. The next step is for the county to hire a construction manager.”

    Cannon said to be successful as a public servant and leader, one must “feel the burden of those you represent.” That includes understanding the pressure on elected officials who may have come into office with a specific agenda or passion for a certain project.

    “I always understood their burden. (The commissioners) make difficult decisions. The needs often outweigh the resources. And, at the end of the day, they are the policymakers.”

    Challenging times

    Looking back over her career, Cannon reflects on her accomplishments as well as the things she wanted to get done before she left. The one project she wishes she could have seen to completion is building a homeless shelter.

    “Homelessness is a significant issue. I do wish we were further along to providing a solution to homelessness,” she said.

    The county is working to acquire land to build a homeless center. It’s one of the commissioners’ top priorities, she said. Cannon believes one of her successes was achieving financial stability in county government.
    “It’s something I’m extremely proud of,” she said.

    She recalls the dire years of 2012 and 2013, when the federal government shut down. County sales tax revenue plummeted in part because the military quit contracting with local vendors. When she became manager, she initiated stringent measures to ensure financial security, setting aside money for just such economic downturns.

    “When I became manager, I put into place some long-term capital plans. We set aside funding for capital projects so we didn’t have to raise taxes and the money would be there,” she said.

    “I’m so proud the board adopted those measures and embraced them and followed through on them,” she said. “It went a long way to stabilize the county financially and to weather upcoming storms.”

    Setting money aside for a rainy day paid dividends in 2017, the year the county underwent a property revaluation. Property values declined in Cumberland County that year, which resulted in a drop in tax revenue.

    “That never happened before. There was a $5 million shortfall in property taxes that year,” she said.

    Cannon recalls the difficult decisions that faced her management team. They included cutting jobs, slashing department budgets, and asking the commissioners to pass a small tax rate increase. But that needed to be done to ensure the county’s financial integrity and that it could weather economic storms.

    Some of the economic storms came in the form of hurricanes — first Matthew in October 2016, then Florence in September 2018. Cannon said Hurricane Florence resulted in historic flooding in Cumberland County.
    In the midst of recovering from the lower property revaluation and the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence, the county faced another economic disaster.

    “Then came the pandemic, another historic event,” Cannon said. “Those were significant events, and we survived each one of them.”

    Cannon graduated from UNC-Charlotte in 1987 with an accounting degree. An on-campus interview landed her a job with Cherry, Bekaert and Holland, a Raleigh-based accounting firm. At the time, the firm was hired to conduct annual audits for both Cumberland County and the city of Fayetteville.

    For the next several years, Cannon’s employers had her delving into local government finances, giving her what she calls “a great foundation” in the budget process. She moved on from the accounting firm to become the city of Fayetteville’s internal auditor, giving her more experience.

    But soon she was hired as a county budget analyst. Eight years later, in 1998, she became the county’s finance director. In 2000, then-County Manager James Martin appointed Cannon to a dual role: finance director and assistant county manager.

    “It was the best of both worlds: finance and budget, and an opportunity to grow in a leadership role,” she said.

    Looking back over her years with the county, Cannon says her successes came from the people who worked for her.

    “I could not have done this job without the grace of God, my family, and an extremely supportive workforce,” she said.

    For the rest of the month, Cannon plans to reconnect with friends and spend time with her family. In January, she hopes to start several home projects that have been waiting on the wings. And at some point, she said, she may reach out to colleagues in local government seeking part-time work.

    “When you have public service in your heart, you can’t cut it off after 32 years,” she said.

  • 6Howdy boys and girls, here’s the annual New Year’s salute to what was doing 100 years ago. After some high level cyphering, it turns out 1923 is the year that turns 100 in 2023. A decade here, a decade there, and pretty soon it adds up to some real time. Grab a cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage, put on your thinking cap, and hop into Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine to relive the thrills of 1923.

    On 1 January 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established under the old Soviet calendar. The USSR died on 26 December 1991 at the age of 68 due to sclerosis. It was replaced by Russia which may suffer the same fate this time due to chronic corruption. January 13 saw Hitler stir up a riot of 5,000 storm troopers to protest everything. This would not be the last the world saw of Hitler. Over in Italy, Mussolini formed the Fascists Voluntary Militia on February 1. The ferment of World War 2 was starting to bubble.

    On February 16, British archeologist Howard Carter opened the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. King Tut had been peacefully dead for about 3,000 years until Howie woke him up. Like most people rudely awakened from sleep, King Tut was cranky at being disturbed. You would not like King Tut when he was angry, and he was plenty angry. Nine people who were involved in disturbing Tut died mysterious deaths. Some good things did result. Steve Martin became famous for doing the King Tut Strut on "Saturday Night Live." Who can ever forget the immortal lyrics: “Born in Arizona/ Moved to Babylonia/ Dancin’ by the Nile/ Ladies love his style/ Rockin’ for a mile/ He ate a crocodile/ King Tut.”

    Boris Karloff’s career soared after playing Imhotep the mummy in the 1932 movie "The Mummy." Multiple mummy movies have stalked the silver screen since then. The actor Billy Mumy owes his name and success to King Tut. Mr. Mumy appeared in "Lost in Space" and the "Twilight Zone" episode in which he plays an evil child with psychic powers. His most dramatic role was in the short musical film "Fish Heads" which stars singing fish heads. Go look "Fish Heads" up on Mr. Google. You’ll be glad you did.

    On February 22 the first successful chinchilla farm was founded in California. People of a certain vintage may remember when chinchilla coats were the rage.
    On the entertainment front, the hit song “Yes, We have no Bananas” appeared on March 23. On June 6, Albert Anastasia was sentenced to two years in prison. Al was not someone to let time in the slammer get him down. Al went on to be one of the founding fathers of the American Mafia, the Boss of Murder Inc, and head of the Gambino Crime Family. Sadly, Al later died of lead poisoning in October 1957 while sitting in a barber chair in New York City.

    Harry Houdini astounded New Yorkers on June 12 when he escaped from a strait jacket while hanging upside down forty feet above the ground. Why anyone would want to hang upside down in a strait jacket remains one of the many mysteries surrounding Houdini’s life. The comic strip "Moon Mullins" debuted on 19 June and ran until 1991 lasting almost as long as the USSR.

    On July 13, paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews found the first fossilized dinosaur eggs while digging in Mongolia. It is unclear if the eggs were poached, sunny side up or scrambled.
    Warren G. Harding, the 29th President, died mysteriously in a hotel room in San Francisco on August 3 making Cal Coolidge the 30th President. Silent Cal didn’t say much, but is remembered for saying “The business of America is business” whatever that means.

    On September 5, a boxing miracle occurred when two fly weight boxers, Gene LaRue and Kid Pancho knocked each other out simultaneously. That was an athletic feat unlikely to be repeated. In September, Lou Gehrig playing for the NY Yankees got his first hit. He went on to get a total of 2,721 hits,493 home runs with a life time batting average of .340. Pretty darned impressive.
    In Germany, the Mark continued its downward spiral, reaching a conversion rate of 4 billion Marks to a dollar on 11 October. The Disney Brothers founded their studio on 16 October. Disney thinks kids grow up too fast, but capitalizes on it by charging full adult admission at its theme parks for any kid over the age of 9.

    On 16 October John Harwood patented the first self-winding watch for people too lazy to wind their watch. This ultimately ruined the old saying about learning something dumb: “I did not know whether to go blind or wind my watch.”

    On November 8, Adolph Hitler surfaced like pond scum with the Beer Hall Putsch in another failed attempt to take over the German government.

    So, there you have it. Our old pal 1923 turns 100 this year. He doesn’t look a day over 75. Must be the curse of King Tut is finally wearing off. Happy New Year to us each and every one.

  • 11Each year Army Community Service accepts nomination packets from units for the Family of the Year program. There were 25 families nominated from units across Fort Bragg. Out of those 25, the family that chose “Commitment” was the Burlee family.

    Maj. Sarah Burlee and 1st Sgt. Christopher Burlee has been together for 16 years. After almost two decades together, they have been deployed multiple times, stationed at several military installations, and raised one older son and two daughters together. The two met in Korea. They bonded over the movie “Highlander” and had a similar sense of humor.

    “The night that I caught her with a really great line, she was on her way up the stairs, with the basket laundry, and I was on my way down, and she just passed by when I said, ‘what, you’re not going to say hi,’ which I’m pretty sure made her more angry than anything else,” Christopher Burlee joked.

    They were married a few months later in Hawaii. Alex Burlee, 26, was Christopher’s son from a previous relationship. Their daughters, Audie, 11, and Paisley, 9, have been to four different schools, but have kept a happy, joking attitude and don’t mind being the ‘new kids’ at school.

    The success of the family can be partially credited to Sarah’s family. Her parents moved out to Fort Campbell shortly after the family was stationed there. When Sarah worked in the D.C. area for two years, her sister was in the area and helped watch after the girls. Now at Fort Bragg, Sarah’s parents have moved to Fayetteville and reconnected with other family members who live in the area.

    Her family were present at the Fort Bragg Family of the Year ceremony on Dec. 1. Another thing that helps the family is a digital family calendar and jumping back into routine after one of the Burlees were away. Christopher has been on eight total rotations to Afghanistan, six after the girls were born.

    “So when he says like eight rotations, it’s like, okay, we’re leaving today,” Sarah remarked.

    Christopher says the one to two month rotations are the hardest to get adjusted back into family life.11a

    “Because by the time I got back, she had found her way into a schedule. And now I’m back and it’s like, oh, throw me into the rotation coach and it just threw her off a lot of times. But I look back now and I think that her assertion was absolutely 100% correct. You just have to have family help and just understand that when we come back, things have to change. That was the hardest thing for me,” Christopher remarked.

    “I know it’s not easy for anybody, even me traveling in and out. I try to get back into the routine just in time to like jump back out again,” Sarah jumped in. In the last year, Sarah spent 13 to 14 weeks gone — a quarter of the year away from her family.

    In the end, both the Burlees agree that, at the end of the day, the job has to get done.

    “I think there’s the understanding too that, you know, for especially in Sarah’s position now is this stuff has to get done. There’s very few people that can do it and when she showed up to her job, they said, ‘here’s a problem, we need you to fix it.’ And then a little over a year later, she’s like, ‘Are your problems fixed?’ ‘How did you do that,’ ‘Well, because you told me to fix it.’ So it was fixed with trips and long days at work and everything else,” Christopher said.

    “My job requires me to be here. There’s 300 people in this company that need my help. So I just have to be available for them and have to be willing to say work day doesn’t end just because 1700 hits or 1800. The workday continues until the next workday begins for everybody else. So just a lot of commitment and dedication to get the job done. We're hired for a reason.”

    The Fort Bragg Family of the Year is a unique title given to just one family annually who exemplifies the spirit of military families. Christopher was the one who nominated his family for the Family of the Year award, which was odd, according to Sarah, because he’s typically the one who hates any attention and additionally hates Hallmark movies.

    Little did he know that the submission for his family would lead to the ultimate Hallmark moment — lighting the Christmas tree at the annual Fort Bragg tree lighting ceremony. Christopher also didn’t tell his wife that he applied. She learned about it a few days before the Family of the Year Board interviewed them. She was also in Lithuania at the time, so she had to call in.

    11b“I heard very little of the interview. I was literally in a speakeasy in Lithuania trying to listen in,” Sarah said.

    According to the ACS, one of the many reasons why the Burlee Family was nominated included the Family’s initiation of a Girl Scout Troop, where they have volunteered leading the girls and helping them develop tangible skills.

    The Burlee family also organized a blood donation program at the Fort Bragg Blood Donor Center and created a Quilts for Valor program with Sarah’s mother. The program presents Soldier’s newborn children with handmade baby quilts.

    Each family who is nominated for family of the year has to submit a word that describes their family. The word for the Burlee family was “Commitment.”
    Sarah recalls a story from a kickboxing teacher in Afghanistan, which has stuck with her for a long time and has reflected in how their family is run.

    “You don’t think you have time? You don’t think you want to do a second workout? You don't want to have to deal with the laundry. You don’t want to have yeah yeah yeah. And then you will do it because you want to. We'll do it because we decided that was what we were going to do,” Sarah said.

    “We decided to do the Girl Scouts thing. We decided to put them in the school. We decided that we were not caving either one of our careers. We decided that we were going to finish this degree,” Sarah said. “We do because we decided to do.”

  • 13aNew Year’s Eve is one of the most festive nights of the year. Despite its reputation for revelry, New Year’s Eve also can be dangerous, which underscores the need to celebrate responsibly when ringing in a new year.
    American Addiction Centers surveyed 1,000 Americans regarding their alcohol consumption habits on certain holidays. The survey found that the average person consumes 4.4 alcoholic drinks on New Year’s Eve, making the holiday second only to Mardi Gras in terms of drinks consumed.

    Alcohol lowers individuals’ inhibitions and adversely affects their judgment, which could make them vulnerable to criminals and more likely to make bad decisions, including driving after a few drinks. In fact, the National Safety Council estimates that 427 people may die on U.S. roads during the 2022 New Year’s holiday period.

    A new year is worthy of celebration, and the festivities can be even more enjoyable when individuals take these safety tips to heart.

    Recognize the risks. Recognition of the potentially serious threats that can be lurking on New Year’s Eve is vital to celebrating safely. A 2011 report from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research in the United States noted a significant spike in the rate of assaults, murders, sexual assaults and robberies on New Year’s Eve, linking that increase to higher levels of alcohol consumption. Individuals who recognize how vulnerable overconsumption of alcohol can make them may be less inclined to overdo it this year.

    Avoid the roads. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that 68% of drunk driving traffic fatalities on New Year’s 2016 involved drivers with a high blood alcohol concentration. One of the safest things individuals can do on New Year’s Eve is to avoid the roads. Consider celebrating at home or staying in a hotel or the home of a loved one. If you must be on the road, call a cab or book an Uber when you need to get to and from a party.

    Be careful even if you’re hosting. New Year’s Eve celebrants also must be vigilant if they’re hosting a gathering at home. Laws vary, but social host liability laws generally hold hosts who serve alcohol responsible for the actions of their guests after they leave their homes. So hosts could conceivably be vulnerable to criminal or civil proceedings if they serve alcohol to guests who are then involved in traffic accidents or other incidents after they leave hosts’ homes.

    New Year’s Eve is a time for celebration. Taking steps to ensure celebrations are safe can make the night even more fun.

  • 17aThe New Year represents a fresh start and is the perfect time to invest in your health. However, you may be unsure what resolutions will have the biggest impact. Doctors say that the easy, tangible actions you take are some of the most important.

    “Many people kick off the start of each new year with big-picture health resolutions,” says Jack Resneck, Jr., M.D., president of the American Medical Association. “The good news is that small, positive health choices made right now can have long-lasting effects.”

    Want to get started today? Here are the 10 resolutions the AMA recommends to top your list this year:

    1. Exercise is essential for your physical and mental health, so get moving today. A good rule of thumb for adults is at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity.

    2. Vaccination is the best protection against a number of serious illnesses. To protect yourself and your family, get up to date on your vaccines, including the annual flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 6 months and older. Your doctor can let you know if you’re due for a COVID booster. If you have questions, speak with your physician and review trusted resources, including getvaccineanswers.org.

    3. Get screened. Estimates based on statistical models show that since April 2020, millions of screenings for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer diagnoses may have been missed due to pandemic-related care disruptions. Check in with your physician. If you’re due for preventive care, tests or screenings, make an appointment. These measures are designed to keep you healthy and help your doctor spot certain conditions before they become more serious.

    4. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke, and it affects millions of Americans. Visit ManageYourBP.org to understand what your blood pressure numbers mean and what you can do to get your blood pressure under control.

    5. One in 3 American adults has prediabetes, a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes if left unmanaged. However, there are steps you can take that can help delay or even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. Learn your risk by taking a simple two-minute self-screening test at DoIHavePrediabetes.org. This resource also features helpful lifestyle tips that can help you reverse prediabetes.

    6. Whenever possible, drink water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages and replace processed foods — especially those with added sodium and sugar — with nutritious, whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, herbs and spices.

    7. If consuming alcohol, drink only in moderation. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines that as up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men, and only by adults of legal drinking age.

    8. Speak with your doctor or health care professional about quitting tobacco and nicotine use. Declare your home and car smoke-free to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure.17b

    9. Follow your doctor’s instructions when taking prescription drugs — especially opioids. Always store and dispose of these medications safely to prevent misuse. Whenever prescribed antibiotics, take them exactly as directed. Not taking the full course can lead to antibiotic resistance, a serious public health problem, and will not make you feel better if you have a virus, such as a cold or flu.

    10. Invest in your mental health by managing stress, getting sufficient sleep, exercising and seeking help from a mental health professional when you need it.
    If you don’t have health insurance, the AMA encourages you to sign up for coverage at healthcare.gov, which has new, affordable options. The enrollment deadline for 2023 coverage is Jan. 15, 2023. Find more health resources at ama-assn.org.

    For a healthy 2023 and beyond, invest in your wellness with these doctor-recommended New Year’s resolutions.

  • 9Alex McFadyen, an agent with Coldwell Banker Advantage in Fayetteville, was named RISMedia’s inaugural “Rookie of the Year” national award winner in November at the annual conference of the National Association of Realtors.

    According to RISMedia, the official news source for residential real estate, hundreds of agents were nominated from throughout the United States. The field was narrowed to 10 finalists. In a ceremony at Rosen Centre in Orlando, Fla., McFadyen, 27, was announced as the honoree by Jennifer Dixson Hoff, president of Colibri Real Estate, sponsor of the award.

    “I’m honored and a little surprised,” said McFadyen. “It feels good to be recognized for all the hard work of the past year.”

    McFadyen’s win was based on achievements for his clients in 2021. He closed 86 units for $19.7 million in production for the year. In 2022, he is presently at 81 units and $22 million in closed sales.
    After winning the honor, McFadyen recognized his mentors, including company CEO Ralph Huff and president of the Sandhills division, Lisa Geddie. He also thanked Alan Tucker, his Fayetteville broker-in-charge, now general manager for the Southern Pines office/director of marketing; Malcolm McFadyen, a long-time, top-producing broker at CBA who is his uncle; and CBA trainer Megan Gerber. Alex McFadyen spoke of growing up among the business. Another uncle, Bill McFadyen, works in commercial real estate.

    Alex earned his real estate license in the final semester of his senior year at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He believes his degree helped better prepare him for a career in real estate. He graduated with his bachelor’s in communications with a minor in business administration in December 2019. One month later, he went to work for Coldwell Banker Advantage in his hometown of Fayetteville, the #1 Coldwell Banker franchise in North America.

    When asked the key to his success, he thoughtfully replied, “Always put your clients first, to make sure their interests are met, that they’re making a good investment. And grow your relationships.”
    McFadyen said he jump-started his business by notifying family and friends that he had become a licensed real estate agent and by reaching out to persons who had listed their properties as For Sale By Owner.

    He established trust, and the business began steadily growing through referrals.

    According to Lisa Geddie, “Being selected as a top 10 finalist is a phenomenal achievement in itself. We are so proud of Alex for being chosen for such an honor as the Rookie of the Year.”

    Geddie said his success comes down to basics. “Alex has embraced all the tools and training that Coldwell Banker Advantage has to offer,” she said. “Most importantly, he shows up every day ready to do what it takes to be successful.”

  • Cumberlan Co logo The head of Cumberland County’s engineering and infrastructure department on Dec. 19 assured the county commissioners that parking for the planned Crown Event Center will be adequate once the facility is completed in 2025.

    Jermaine Walker told members of the Board of Commissioners’ Crown Event Center Committee that the county is undertaking a parking study.

    The committee includes Commissioners Jeannette Council, Jimmy Keefe and Glenn Adams. Board Chairwoman Toni Stewart and Commissioner Veronica Jones also attended Monday’s meeting.
    Walker said the center committee has considered parking throughout the site selection process and knows that building the Center next to the County Courthouse would result in a reduction of 203 parking spaces in the courthouse’s front parking lot.

    He said county officials are exploring “parking alternatives” that would be within walking distance of the new theater and expo center.
    Assistant County Manager Brian Haney said that although he could not divulge specifics, the county is working on options that would result in more parking spaces than are currently available at the courthouse.

    Walker said the county is doing a detailed parking study to determine the impact of the site selection in terms of displaced parking and analyzing how a downtown location would affect parking capacity. Walker said the parking study results should come before the board in February.

    The committee also met the EwingCole architectural design team. George Bushey, a programmer and planner for EwingCole, said the team will be back in January to start its programming phase.
    Bushey said in late February, EwingCole will conduct a “concept workshop” to determine what the facility will look like, how big it will be, and how it will fit into the neighborhood.

    “It will be an intensive January and February,” Bushey said.

    Bushey said the events center needs to be attractive to people who will buy tickets to events there and to promoters who need to come to Cumberland County and make money.
    Committee member Glenn Adams said an African American Museum is planned nearby and its organizers need to be involved in the planning process for the events center.

    Walker said a contractor information session was held Dec. 6 and more than 50 companies nationwide participated.

    “It was very successful,” Walker said.

    Walker said that by Feb. 24, he hopes to have a short list of contractors to be considered for the job and conduct interviews March 6-10.
    An advertisement for contractors will be posted in the county’s website, on a state portal for minority firms, on social media and in news releases.

  • 18After a holiday season spent racking up credit card bills, many Americans consider making financial resolutions in the New Year.
    However, now is the perfect time to not only reevaluate your saving and spending, but also commit to creating a more holistic financial plan designed to protect your finances and your family.

    Consumers are seeking stability and preparedness in today’s uncertain economic environment, according to a recent Consumer Sentiment Tracker study by Lincoln Financial Group. With ongoing inflation and market volatility, 56% of respondents cited protection from risk as being most important to them.

    When it comes to thinking about their finances, people said they have the greatest interest in protecting their family (39%) and their income (26%).

    “Our research reinforced the importance of financial solutions that can help consumers navigate through market cycles and protect their loved ones,” said David Berkowitz, president, Lincoln Financial Network,

    Lincoln Financial’s wealth management business.

    “People are not only concerned about having enough to pay their bills, but also saving for retirement and preparing for the unexpected. It’s important to have a well-rounded financial plan that can address those risks, protect assets and create positive outcomes for today’s families.”

    To achieve a stronger financial future, don’t neglect your finances in 2023 — instead, add a little TLC (Talk, Learn, Commit). Resolve to create a robust financial plan using these three tips from Lincoln Financial:

    Talk about it. Financial conversations play a crucial role. Be transparent with your loved ones about financial priorities so you can set expectations and work toward your shared financial goals. Initiate ongoing discussions to stay on track with everything from saving for retirement to paying for a long-term healthcare event, which can happen suddenly and be very costly. Also, consider talking to a financial professional who can help identify solutions that best meet your individual needs, as well as drive better outcomes. Lincoln’s research found those who work with financial professionals are more likely to prioritize retirement savings (26% vs. 10%).

    Learn more about tax-deferred investments. Life insurance can be more than just a death benefit, with some types of policies offering income replacement for unforeseen events. It can also protect your financial security from the impact of taxes, market volatility and longevity. It’s not just for individuals and families either, but businesses, too.
    Also, consider diversifying your portfolio with an annuity, which can provide protected growth and monthly lifetime income to help cover expenses in retirement and ensure you have a stream of income.

    Commit to maximizing your workplace benefits. Look into supplemental coverages like disability, accident and life insurance that may be available through your employer. Solutions like these protect against unexpected events that can disrupt your ability to provide for your family or drive you into additional debt.

    If you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, make sure you are contributing and getting a match, if offered. Tap into any financial wellness tools offered at work to help provide an accurate picture of your holistic financial situation and lower stress.

  • 16 The U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum opened a new temporary exhibit, Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin and the Art of War Dec. 20.
    The exhibit will be available through June 11, 2023.

    On loan from the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Drawn to Combat explores Mauldin’s career with an in-depth focus on his unmatched skill in documenting and satirizing military life and political affairs.

    This exhibit features nearly 150 of the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist’s original drawings and published cartoons, as well as personal material from Bill Mauldin’s exceptional career.16a

    For nearly 50 years, from World War II to the end of the Cold War, Bill Mauldin used his artistry and wit to provide commentary on the world as he saw it, earning two Pulitzer Prizes in the process. As a soldier and nationally syndicated political cartoonist, Mauldin used his voice and platform to critique the policies and actions of the nation’s leaders, both military and civilian, when they came up short.

    Drawn to Combat is the most comprehensive exploration of the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist’s life and career.

    ASOM is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays and most federal holidays. The ASOM will be closed on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

    The ASOM is located at 100 Bragg Boulevard. For more information call 910-643-2778 or visit info@asomf.org.

  • 10 The Cumberland Community Foundation raised approximately $1.8 million in this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign. Coupled with the $575,000 local match, that means nearly $2.4 million was raised for nonprofits in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

    “It’s a very generous community,’’ said Mary Holmes, the president and chief executive officer of the Cumberland Community Foundation. “We may not be the wealthiest community, but I’m sure we’re the most generous.”

    This was the third year that the foundation has participated in the Giving Tuesday campaign and overseen the donations from Cumberland County. Seventy-six nonprofits participated this year compared with 65 last year, Holmes said. The money was raised over 10 days, she said.

    Holmes said the financial gifts ranged in size from $10 to $100,000.

    “Two anonymous donors gave us $100,000,” she said.

    “Most of the gifts were $100,’’ she said. “We’re very proud of that. Our goal is to help people who have any ability to give to support these charitable organizations.”

    Overall, Holmes said, 3,885 gifts were received from more than 2,000 donors of the different organizations.

    “Our campaign is only for our grantees who decided to participate,” said Holmes. “So, that was 76 charitable organizations that decided to participate. So, we’re fundraising just for those organizations.”

    In terms of individual organizations, Cape Fear Regional Theatre received the most money, said Holmes, who declined to divulge the amount. Other organizations that ranked high in receiving donations included the Cape Fear Botanical Garden, the Fayetteville Police Foundation, the CARE Clinic and the N.C. History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction. The CityView News Fund also participated this year.

    According to the foundation, the family of Eleanor and Raymond Manning, the Fayetteville Area New Car Dealers Association, Elizabeth M. “Beth” Keeney, Ramon Yarborough, the Cumberland Community Foundation, board alumni and an anonymous donor joined together to offer the cumulative $575,000 to match the gifts throughout the campaign. The matching funds amplify the original donation.

    Giving Tuesday — which is often referred to as a global day of generosity — was held from 9 a.m. Nov. 21 through 5 p.m. Nov. 30. The donations will be directed toward “a local nonprofit working to improve Fayetteville and Cumberland County for those who live here,” the foundation states. The foundation put out a catalog featuring the nonprofit organizations participating in the campaign.

    “We run the campaign over a 10-day window,” Holmes said. “If you think about it, we have so many charitable organizations here in this community doing fabulous work that really don’t have any fundraising staff.

    And the Community Foundation is really good at raising money, and so why wouldn’t we use that skill to help these smaller organizations support their work?”

    “We have a really good relationship with donors,” she said, “this is a good role for the Community Foundation.”

    The local campaign has seen donations grow each year. In 2020, the campaign raised more than $872,000. A match of $300,000 brought the total to more than $1.17 million, Holmes said. In 2021, nearly $1.25 million was raised before the match of $400,000 was added for a total of more than $1.65 million, she said.

    Giving Tuesday dates back to 2012 with the mission to help organizations raise money, Holmes said. The Cumberland Community Foundation determined in 2020 that no one was involved locally in the Giving Tuesday campaign. The foundation changed that.

    “We realized that local charities were not participating in an international effort to increase giving," Holmes said, "so we decided to create an online giving catalog on our website and invite nonprofit organizations to participate."

  • 5I love this time of year!

    It can be festive, joyous, sometimes quiet and peaceful, and a moment when many of us step back from our routine lives and concentrate on family and friends. I also enjoy the annual look back over the year that was — “best of” lists, memories of the notables who left us, retrospectives that make us say “aha!,” and personal tours of what happened to us and ours over the past 12 months.

    It is also a time when we look ahead to the year to come, wondering what it will bring us individually and collectively. We Americans are fortunate in so many ways and outliers in others. One outlier status that impacts our nation negatively, that destroys families and communities, and divides us as a people is our gun problem.

    As we move into 2023, Americans have more guns than human beings, the only nation on God’s green earth with that status. The Swiss-based Small Arms Survey reports that there are 120 guns for every 100 Americans. Statista reports that North Carolina ranks 8th in the United States for the number of registered firearms, and no one knows, of course, how many illegal weapons are in North Carolina or the United States.

    Equally, if not more alarming, is the fact that guns are now the number 1 cause of death for our children, infants to age 19, more than accidents, illnesses and congenital issues. Canada is a distant second, whose gun death rate for the same age group is nine times lower than ours. The Kaiser Foundation recently reported that the U.S. accounts for 97% of gun-related child deaths, and that no other wealthy nation has guns in the top four causes of child deaths. It is certainly fair to say that accidents happen. It is also fair to say the more guns we have, the more gun accidents we will have.

    Mass shootings and deaths in schools, malls and other public places grab headlines at home and internationally — other nations wonder with horror what is happening in the United States — but most American shootings do not make news.

    The majority are actually suicides made impulsively easy by gun availability. Others are homicides, also impulsively easy because of gun availability. Still others are tragic accidents, like the death of a toddler in nearby Benson earlier this year. The boy found a loaded gun in his father’s truck and shot himself.
    The random nature of many of these deaths came close to home recently when someone near and dear to me stood in his kitchen in a quiet neighborhood about six o’clock one afternoon when a bullet apparently fired from a nearby apartment complex blasted through his living room wall and shattered onto his floor. Police were called. Evidence was taken. We all knew, though, that there is virtually no chance the shooter will ever be identified, much less prosecuted for his/her careless endangerment.

    Unlike most other nations, our Constitution expressly protects gun ownership, and many law abiding and responsible Americans, including my own sons, are hunters and enjoy shooting sports. But it is also true federal and state gun laws are lax, and state gun laws are a hodgepodge. My sincere hope for our nation in the coming year is that our elected leaders will thoughtfully consider, without hysteria, more thorough background checks, “red flag” laws for people who are dangers to themselves and/or others, and restrictions on assault weapons designed for mass killings.

    Wishing us all a happy, healthy and safe 2023.

  • 15For seven holiday seasons, the town of Cary has given residents and out-of-town visitors alike one of the most enchanting and memorable festivals imaginable.
    The annual Chinese Lantern Festival in Koka Booth Amphitheatre just off Regency Parkway brings in thousands of spectators from throughout North Carolina. This year, the festival opened Nov. 18 and runs through Jan. 8.

    Visitors can view life-size and larger lantern displays with hundreds of parts and thousands of LED lights. Many of the animal lantern displays are animated; some are interactive. First, visitors walk through a tunnel of multicolored lighted fish lanterns, arriving at a large parakeet display.

    From there, lantern displays are in the shapes of a variety of birds, dragonflies, Panda bears, dinosaurs, and traditional Chinese architecture. Some displays are built on platforms on Symphony Lake, making them more spectacular because of the reflections in the water.

    It takes about an hour to walk the pathways bordering the displays. This year, 40 displays were added, according to event organizers.
    Gates open at 6 nightly and close at 10 p.m. Tickets range from $11 to $36, depending on the date and time. For example, there are “any time” tickets for those who want to have the flexibility of when to attend or if they are given as gifts.

    “Golden hour” tickets give access to the festival about 90 minutes before the gates open to the public. Golden hour tickets are for those who want to photograph the festival at dusk.

    There are also group rates, and an educational tour offers insight into how the lanterns are made and the history of the festival. To purchase tickets or for more information, go to the Koka Booth Amphitheatre website www.boothamphitheatre.com/.

    Food trucks and booths are scattered throughout the venue. The festival includes nightly performances by jugglers, acrobats, and traditional Chinese dancers. The festival was started in 2015, and although it’s in its seventh season, organizers took 2020 off because of the COVID pandemic, according to William Lewis, the town of Cary’s cultural arts manager.15a

    Lewis said Tiyanu Arts & Culture approached the town about the festival based on the town’s reputation for quality facilities and diversity in arts and culture programming. Tianyu is the largest Chinese lantern festival producer in North America and one of the first companies to bring authentic traditions of the lanterns to the U.S. and Europe, according to its website. The U.S.-based corporation is a subsidiary of Sichuan Tianyu Culture Communication Co., which is headquartered in Zigong in China’s Sichuan province.

    “After touring other potential sites throughout North Carolina, they selected Koka Booth Amphitheatre because of its overall beauty and amenities,” Lewis said in an email.

    “The amenities include dedicated staff at the facility, ample parking, a full-service box office, professional-grade staging and in-house production, concessions, restrooms, a spacious lawn, and a covered deck. Plus, an adjacent greenway, Symphony Lake, and other natural features.”

    "Each year, Cary staff works directly with our partners at Tianyu to design, select, and curate new lantern displays for the festival at Koka Booth Amphitheatre. After agreeing on preferred designs and layouts, Tianyu contracts with the artists in China to build the lanterns. Most of the lanterns are made in the city of Zigong in the Sichuan province, which is considered the lantern capital of China for many centuries. The craft of making lanterns has been handed down to artisans in Zigong for generations," Lewis said.

    The lanterns are then disassembled and shipped from China to Wilmington, where they are loaded onto 15 tractor-trailers and driven to Cary to be reassembled.

    “The festival has grown in attendance every year, with last year’s attendance topping 200,000. Cary has signed a contract to keep the N.C. Chinese Lantern Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheatre through the 2028-29 season,” Lewis said.

    The Chinese Lantern Festival runs through Jan. 8.

  • 8 It has been one of my greatest honors to serve the people of Cumberland County over the last two terms in the North Carolina Senate. I thank you for putting your trust in me. I am thankful for the loving support of my wife Jenny and son Grey who have sacrificed family time so I could serve.

    As I look back over the last four years at what we were able to accomplish together, I am reminded that what’s most important are deeds not words. While I can talk about historic funding levels or new laws, I’d first like to talk about the people whose lives I was able to touch and in return, touched mine. People like Angelina and Gerald who didn't have adequate housing for their families but now do; and Carrie, a veteran and mother, who reached out after facing eviction because she had lost her job during the pandemic but now lives in a better home with a new job; and Ginger and hundreds of people in our county navigating the state unemployment system to get benefits they deserved during COVID; and the healthcare business owners who were not receiving reimbursement for their services who, with our help, broke through the industry red tape and began receiving overdue payments; and the many families and seniors that we helped through the state’s slow-moving hurricane recovery program, RebuildNC.

    My Senate office handled over 4,000 constituent issues and I am thankful to my staff and agencies who assisted me to do my #1 job as your senator — helping people.
    When elected, I said I would always represent you in Raleigh. I vowed to put people first and politics second. It was important for me that Cumberland County was relevant at the state level — that we had a strong voice. I am proud of the relationships, both at home and in Raleigh, that allowed me the opportunity to be in the middle of hard conversations that moved our state forward.

    These conversations included the reopening of our schools after the COVID pandemic began to subside. I took a hard stand, one that was against many in my party, including the governor. Through bipartisan discussions, we created a compromise the Governor and General Assembly supported which allowed schools to reopen and put children back into the classroom.

    We also had conversations around justice reform which led to bipartisan bills improving policing and expansion of expungement programs; bipartisan COVID relief bills totaling over $2.5 billion in state funding; and state hurricane recovery funding of $200 million.

    The state budget was another test of “people over politics” after Medicaid expansion was taken off the table as part of the discussion and negotiations had stalled with the governor and Republican leadership. I reached across the aisle and worked with Republicans and other fellow brave Democrats to find a compromise for a state budget for the first time in four years.8a

    The budget included an increase in public education funding over $1.3 billion; an increase in pay for teachers and state employees; the largest investment in PFAS protection and research; broadband investments of over $1 billion; tax cuts for working families; and investments in childcare, early childhood education and mental health. And so much more.

    I am proud of my work in this budget to lower tuition to $500 a semester at Fayetteville State University through NC Promise which will afford more young people access to a college degree without the fear of massive student debt.

    8bAs an Army veteran, I was also proud to champion eliminating the state income tax on military pensions; an incredible way to honor our veterans and encourage them to make our state their final home.
    I worked diligently to ensure Cumberland County was not left behind. I helped bring back a historic $421 million to our community that included funding for construction at FSU, Fayetteville Technical Community College and Cape Fear Valley; direct support for Cape Fear Regional Theatre, the Civil War & Reconstruction Center, and Martin Luther King Jr. Park; investments in local governments including funding homeless centers, affordable housing, and pedestrian safety with crosswalks and sidewalks as well as stormwater protection, including repair of Rhoades Pond; $2 million investment in community health centers and substance abuse programs and over $3 million in support of minority businesses.

    As I leave office at the end of December, I hope you see someone that fought for you every day; someone who did what was best for the people in his community; someone who was more concerned about the people he represented than keeping his Senate seat; and someone that was at the table and worked across the aisle for solutions. Service is in my DNA. I do recognize and know that we have God’s hand on us in this journey of service so we will continue to trust Him and see where He leads.

  • 12bNew Year’s resolutions run the gamut from kicking bad habits like smoking to finding more time to exercise to learning a foreign language. Many resolutions are about self-improvement, and that desire to live better can extend into the professional arena. New Year’s resolutions can be just as beneficial to a person’s professional life as they can in that same individual’s personal life. With that in mind, professionals can consider these work-related resolutions this January.

    Make a concerted effort to change careers. The numbers are in regarding satisfaction at work, and they’re not very promising. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 report, 60% of workers report being emotionally detached at work. Perhaps more troubling is that 19% report being miserable at their jobs. Professionals who are not engaged at work can resolve to get the ball rolling on a career change in the year ahead. Look into what that might entail, whether it’s simply applying for new jobs in your field or going back to school to facilitate a career change, and take the necessary first step.

    Rebalance your work and family life. A 2015 survey of 1,000 full-time professionals in the United States found that 77% felt they had experienced burnout at their jobs. Rebalancing work and family life can make more time for things outside of work, including family. That can lead to greater life satisfaction, including a renewed vigor for your career.

    Resolve to communicate more effectively with your team. Even professionals satisfied with their careers can take steps to make their work lives better. There are many reasons why workers feel stressed and burned out, and some may find communication with their managers is lacking. Managers can make a concerted effort to improve lines of communication with their staff. Doing so can improve productivity and create a better working environment for all.

    Find ways to be more productive. Remarkably, a 2019 study by Rescue Time found that, in a given workday, workers’ average time of productivity is just two hours and 28 minutes. By making a concerted effort to be more productive, workers can get more done in a typical eight-hour workday, thus paving the way for a better work-life balance. Spend less time surfing the internet, avoid checking your phone for texts and other distractions, and make a daily schedule of tasks to tackle. Each of these steps can help you be more productive in a given workday.

    When making New Year’s resolutions this January, professionals can resolve to find ways to make their workdays better.

  • Salvation Army logo Local homeless shelters will be opening expanded space for “white flag’’ nights as the area prepares for a blast of Artic cold weather that will see overnight temperatures dip into the teens.

    White flag nights are when the shelters let the homeless and destitute inside to give them a place to stay when the weather is 32 degrees or lower or in the event of inclement weather.

    The Salvation Army will open for white flag nights Friday, Dec. 23 through Tuesday, Dec. 27 with the possibility of opening Wednesday as well, said Vanessa Chavis, the shelter manager.

    The hours are 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the shelter at 220 E. Russell St.

    Chavis said the regular shelter reached capacity on Tuesday.

    Identification is not required for white flag nights, she said. Only a full name and the last four digits of an individual’s Social Security number are needed.

    “We are prepared for white flag,” Chavis said. “We are always watching temperatures and stay prepared for that with coordinated entries. Actually, white flag has not begun for us. We’re actually waiting and preparing for it with the food and other things that we need. We usually order extra food so we can have more than enough.”

    The Manna Church Dream Center men's shelter on Person Street normally offers 20 beds for those in need. On white flag nights, an additional two beds open up at the shelter. As of Wednesday evening, the shelter was two beds below capacity, leaving four available beds on white flag nights.

    Manager Randy Davis said he already had a man eager to take one of the two white flag spots, leaving three beds open for the upcoming cold weather nights.

    The hours are 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

    "They just need to show up,’’ Davis said. “First come, first served."

    True Vine Ministries, which has provided space previously on white flag nights, could not be reached for comment.

    Andrew Kren, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh, said rain showers moving into the area will increase in coverage tonight and into Thursday morning. The rain should be moving out by Thursday afternoon.

    “But the main impact is what we’ve been advertising most of the week,” Kren said. “A strong Arctic cold front moving through Friday morning. With that, temperatures will be more or less dropping. That front will move through Friday morning and temperatures will pretty much tap out in the upper 40s in the early morning hours but then quickly crash into the 30s and eventually into the 20s by the evening hours. Overnight lows on Saturday morning will mostly be in the teens.”

    Along with the frontal passage, he said, they are expecting some strong wind gusts Friday with some reaching upwards of 45 mph. With the high wind gusts and the Arctic cold air coming in, wind chills will likely be in the lower teens and single digits Friday night.

    The coldest day is forecast for Saturday, with temperatures in the low 30s, Kren said. Morning lows on Saturday and Sunday will be in the mid-teens.

    Temperatures on Sunday morning will warm up a little, to the upper 30s.

    “That’s well below normal,” he said. “Our normal basically for the holiday weekend in the Fayetteville area, generally, are in the mid-50s. And our average lows are in the mid-30s. So, temperatures in the 30s for highs and lows in the teens Saturday and Sunday morning are well below average.”

    The record on Christmas Eve is 14 degrees set in 1989. Saturday’s forecast calls for “cutting it close” to the record low for this area, Kren said.

    The record low, he said, is 4 degrees set in 1989 for Dec. 23 and Christmas Day.

    “So, we’re unlikely to reach that on Sunday morning but Saturday morning, we’ll be very close to reaching that record low of 14.”

    Temperatures are anticipated to rise into the low 40s on Monday and Tuesday.

    “A nice little warming trend, if you want to call it that,” he said. “Certainly, warmer than it will be this weekend. That’s still below average.”

  • Bolanos AnaviscaOscarA funeral service for Cumberland County sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Yovani Bolanos-Anavisca Jr., who was killed in the line of duty last Friday, be held this Friday, Dec. 23, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

    Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. at Rivers of Living Water church, 1764 Bingham Drive, followed by the funeral service at 2 p.m.
    Bolanos-Anavisca, who was 23, will be laid to rest at Rockfish Memorial Park, 4017 Gillespie St., the release said.

    The service will be open to the public, and law enforcement officers and people who work in the justice system are invited.
    Rivers of Living Water will stream the funeral service on its Facebook page, Rivers of Living Water on Facebook.

    Bolanos-Anavisca died after being struck by a vehicle on Gillespie Street early last Friday, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He and other deputies were investigating a robbery report at the Circle K convenience store at 2990 Gillespie St. at 2:46 a.m. last Friday, a news release said.

    As deputies returned from running a canine track, Bolanos-Anavisca, who was walking, was hit by a vehicle, the release said.
    Bolanos-Anavisca was taken by ambulance to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

    Investigators said Nicholas Terlizzi, 24, of Linden, was driving the vehicle that struck the deputy. Terlizzi was charged with death by motor vehicle; hit and run; driving while impaired; reckless driving to endanger; driving while license revoked; no liability insurance; revoked tag; driving a motor vehicle with no registration; and failing to stop for a steady red light, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

    Bolanos-Anavisca was “a dedicated, selfless member of the Sheriff’s Office who lost his life protecting the citizens of Cumberland County,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release last week.

    Bolanos-Anavisca joined the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office in November 2020, a news release said. Before being assigned to C Platoon, he was a school resource officer at Hope Mills Middle School.

  • Deputy Shield Family and co-workers of Cumberland County sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Yovani Bolanos-Anavisca Jr. gathered Dec. 16 afternoon to recall the 23-year-old who was killed earlier in the day after being struck by a vehicle on Gillespie Street.

    Nearly 30 members of the deputy’s family quietly entered the Sheriff’s Assembly Room for a news conference. Most were crying, and they comforted one another.

    The family had gathered with members of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Cumberland County staff and other officials.

    “I’m standing here with a heavy heart here,” Sheriff Ennis Wright said. “Just lost a good deputy, a mother lost a son, sisters and brothers lost a brother. Cousins, nephews. I look at it as a senseless tragedy that could have been prevented. What we have — drinking and driving on these roadways.”

    Bolanos-Anavisca Jr. died from injuries he received while he and other deputies were investigating a robbery report at the Circle K convenience store at 2990 Gillespie St. just before 3 a.m.

    “This young man gave his life for something that he wanted to do,” Wright said.

    Nicholas Terlizzi, 24, of Linden, has been charged with death by motor vehicle, hit and run, driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, reckless driving to endanger, failing to stop for steady red light and other North Carolina registration violations, according to Lt. Scott Smith of Troop B of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

    He is being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $1 million bond, Smith said.

    Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West later said that Terlizzi’s $1 million bond had been upgraded on Friday to no bond during his first appearance.

    West said his office would “get justice in this case.’’

    “The one promise I can make to his family and to this community,” West said, “we will get justice in this case for what was done today. Because we lost an officer that was protecting us and willing to give his life to serve and protect us. And we lost a citizen of this county and this state. And for that, we will get justice.”

    Bolanos-Anavisca was returning to the convenience store after working with the canine unit when he was hit by a vehicle while crossing Gillespie Street, the sheriff said.

    “We had an officer out there doing his job,” Wright said. “What he loved to do. What he wanted to do. And his life taken away so quickly. A highly senseless act for someone to get behind the wheel after they had been drinking and decided to drive a vehicle.”

    Wright recalled that when Bolanos-Anavisca joined the department two other family members also started with the Sheriff’s Office.

    “And it’s something that he always wanted to do is be a deputy. All of them wanted to do — be a sheriff’s deputy,” the sheriff said. “It really bothers me because this was our week for swearing everyone back in. It really bothers me that this has just happened.”

    Wright then went into the details of what occurred Friday morning.

    “The morning started out, deputies responded to the Circle K at Gillespie and Black & Decker. Once the deputies got there, the suspect was gone. And like we do, being good officers, they started to try to track the suspect down.”

    The deputies were returning from running a canine track. Bolanos-Anavisca and the other deputies waited until the light was red to cross the roadway, Wright said.

    “The subject driving the BMW did not stop at the red-light signal,” Wright said.

    Bolanos-Anavisca was hit, the Sheriff’s Office has said.

    Deputies administered lifesaving efforts, a release said. Bolanos-Anavisca was taken by ambulance to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
    The driver of the vehicle left the scene but was located a short distance away, the Sheriff’s Office has said.

    “Like I say, it weighs on me’’ Wright said. “I take the responsibility for every deputy that’s in this Sheriff’s Office. I take responsibility for that.”

    Bolanos-Anavisca joined the Sheriff’s Office in November 2020. He previously worked as a school resource officer at Hope Mills Middle School, the Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

    “On behalf of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners and all Cumberland County employees, we are devastated by the tragic loss of one of our own – Deputy Oscar Yovani Bolanos-Anavisca Jr.,’’ Toni Stewart, chairwoman of the county Board of Commissioners said in a release. “We extend our condolences, our thoughts and our prayers to his family during their time of grief. Deputy Bolanos-Anavisca was part of the Cumberland County government family, and our hearts break for his coworkers in the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and across our organization, as well as all the lives he touched.

    “We appreciate the selfless service he provided to the citizens of Cumberland County over the last two years as he worked to keep his fellow citizens safe.”

    The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and N.C. State Highway Patrol are investigating the incident.

  • police lights N2210P17003H A man was taken into custody after a six-hour standoff with police on Friday Dec. 16, the Fayetteville Police Department said.

    Members of the Police Department’s Violent Crime Apprehension Team received information that a wanted suspect was at a residence on the 2000 block of Caramel Drive, the Police Department said in a release.

    The wanted subject, 26-year-old Raeqwon Mitchell Carlisle of Fayetteville, had warrants for his arrest for parole violation, three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, larceny of a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a female, misdemeanor larceny, communicating threats, carrying a concealed weapon, and resist, delay and obstruct a public officer, police said in the release.

    Members of VCAT and the Police Department’s Gang Unit located Carlisle at the residence on Caramel Drive. While trying to apprehend Carlisle, he barricaded himself inside the residence, police said.

    Members of the Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team, Emergency Response Team, Aviation Unit and Traffic Unit responded to assist in the apprehension of Carlisle, the release said.

    Over an approximately six-hour effort to apprehend Carlisle, he was taken into custody without incident, police said.

    He is being processed at the Cumberland County Detention Center.

  • caught in handcuffs N2201P16007H A Fayetteville man has been charged in connection with the robbery that a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy was investigating when he was struck by a vehicle and killed, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

    Antonio Craig Bradley, 39, was arrested Sunday, Dec. 18 in the robbery at the Circle K convenience store at 2990 Gillespie St., the news release said.
    Deputy Oscar Bolanos-Anavisca and other deputies were investigating the robbery just before 3 a.m. Friday when he was struck by a vehicle and died of his injuries. Deputies were trying to arrest Bradley when he ran from them. He was taken into custody after a short foot chase, the news release said.

    Investigators said Nicholas Terlizzi, 24, of Linden, was drunk and was driving the vehicle that struck Bolanos-Anavisca. Terlizzi was charged with death by motor vehicle; hit and run; driving while impaired; reckless driving to endanger; driving while license revoked; no liability insurance; revoked tag; driving a motor vehicle with no registration; and failing to stop for a steady red light, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

    Bradley was charged with breaking and entering; larceny after breaking and entering; and possession of stolen goods in a Nov. 17 theft at the Circle K store, the news release said. He was charged with resisting arrest after fleeing from deputies last Friday.

    Bradley was held at the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $52,500 secured bond, the news release said.

    The Hope Mills Police Department assisted in his arrest, the Sheriff’s Office said.

  • FPD logo A Fayetteville man is charged with exposing himself to an employee at a business on Ramsey Street, according to the Fayetteville Police Department.

    The incident was reported about 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18 in the 5000 block of Ramsey Street, according to a news release.

    The man left the business before police officers arrived but was located on foot in the area of Ramsey Street, the news release said.

    Dennis Edwards Rodgers Jr., 34, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, the release said.

    The Police Department says Rodgers has been involved in at least two previous indecent exposure incidents that are under investigation.

    Rodgers was held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $1,000 secured bond, the release said.

    Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Sgt. Newland, the Special Victims Unit supervisor, at 910- 818-6276 or CrimeStoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477).

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