Cape Fear Regional Theatre finishes up its 2018-19 season with a crowd-pleasing production of the hit musical “Memphis,” once again bringing amazing music, dance and talent to a local stage. It runs through May 26.

Written by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, “Memphis” is loosely based on real-life Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, who introduced blues and soul music to a white Southern audience in the 1950s. In the musical, DJ Huey Calhoun wants to share the music he enjoys with a wide audience. Huey is not an activist — he simply doesn’t see color lines — a trait that makes this character almost a superhero in 2019.

When Huey, who is white, meets aspiring singer Felicia Farrell, who is black, he makes it his mission to get her song played on the (white) radio station. Huey also wants to get a kiss, which only makes Felicia’s overprotective sister, Delray, even more suspicious.

As Huey’s popularity continues to rise, he begins to take risks with breaking color barriers, including in his relationship with Felicia, whose singing career is blooming. This leads to angry and violent responses that put both Huey and Felicia in danger.

The story of “Memphis” reminds us that standing up for your beliefs is and always will be important and often requires courage. It is a story of equality, love, acceptance and striving to reach your potential. It is also a story about learning to deal with ignorance, bigotry and hatred. It is a story that, unfortunately, still needs to be told in 2019.

Director Suzanne Agins brings together a cast and crew of local, regional and national talent to deliver a unique and entertaining performance. Some of the cast and crew also worked on Agins’ production of last season’s “Dreamgirls.”

Alongside Broadway’s “Hamilton” alum Shonica Gooden (Felicia) and “Memphis” alums David Robbins (Bobby) and Dani Burke (Delray), Agins rounds out the cast with Matthew Mucha (Huey), Kathy Day (Gladys), Gerard M. Williams (Gator) and Bill Saunders (Mr. Simmons).

Gooden and Burke wow the audience with their performances as Felicia and Delray. Gooden delivers vocals and emotion that bring home the story highlighting the effects of racism and inequality. Mucha is heartwarming as Huey. His zany performance is just the right mix of naivete and measured refusal to draw color lines. His indifference to color is really the message of the story of “Memphis.”

Gooden, Burke, Robbins and Mucha deliver rousing performances with “Someday,” “Colored Woman,” “Underground” and “Big Love.”

The audience also gets wonderful surprises when Huey’s mama, Gladys, deliver the character-awakening songs “Say a Prayer,” and “Change Don’t Come Easy.” Gator, a soft-spoken bartender, and Gladys demonstrate how love and tolerance can help us all learn and grow together, supporting each other despite our differences.

Special mention needs to be made of the “Memphis” ensemble, which includes Ricardo Morgan, Tishmone’, Sha’Air Hawkins, Cheleen Sugar, Eliz Camacho, Demetrius Dante’ Jackson, Jarrett Bennett, JaRon Davis, Shawntez D’Nadre Bell, Amber Dawn French, Meagan Mackenzie Chieppor, Cherie Kaufman, Randy Cain, Sean Michael Jaenicke, and Ian Shain. You will likely recognize some of them from CFRT productions of “Dreamgirls,” “Crowns,” “Music City” and “Annie.”

The talented ensemble helps make “Memphis” a spectacular show and reminds the audience that we have a treasure trove of local and regional talent. In this show, the ensemble literally brings Memphis radio to life. Their performance also highlights choreographer Ellenore Scott’s fun, creative and energetic dance routines.

“Memphis” is a wonderful way to tide theater-goers over until CFRT’s 2019-20 season kicks off in September with “Mamma Mia,” which will also be directed by Agins.

The musical is rated PG-13 due to some language and violence. Visit www.cfrt.org for tickets and more information.

Photo: Matthew Mucha as Huey Calhoun (left) and Shonica Gooden as Felicia Farrell (right)

Fayetteville’s 4th Fridays are a community tradition. On the 4th Friday of every month, people of all ages are welcome to enjoy a night on the town — downtown that is — with free entertainment that differs from one month to the next. Fayetteville’s historical district meets modern art with May’s theme: Art Attack. The event takes place May 24 from 6-10 p.m.

“We’ll have live art up and down the street, from Hay Street to Person Street and the side streets,” said Johanna Brum, the event co-chair for this month’s 4th Friday.

Instead of only selling previously made art, local artists will paint and dance and sculpt in front of a live audience. “Dancers (will be) out on the street; we’ll have body painters out. It’s the first time we’ve done it,” said Brum. To broaden audience appeal, Art Attack will be more PG-13 than kid-oriented, so a Kids Corner will be set up by Greg’s Pottery on Maxwell Street. It will feature face-painting, balloon animals and other activities.

Downtown businesses are getting involved with 4th Friday a little differently this month. “They’re actually going to sponsor the artists,” said Brum. “It’ll be free for almost all of the artists.” The businesses will support the artists one-on-one, and each artist will set up shop in front of his or her respective store sponsor.

Systel will sponsor Second Time Around, an old-fashioned swing band featured on Jazz Juice Radio. “Fifteen people with horns and all kinds of instruments (play) swing music from the ’40s, and they cover more contemporary music,” said Jane Casto, Headquarters manager at Cumberland County Public Library. “They have been coming for several years — it’s kind of a tradition.” Refreshments will be available.

The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County will play an important role in the event as well. According to Christina Williams, marketing specialist at the Arts Council, 4th Friday attendees can expect an exciting display for the evening. “We will be opening our ‘Public Works’ exhibit, which is traditionally our largest exhibition of the year,” said Williams. This exhibition is open to artists of any age and skill level in Cumberland County and the surrounding areas. The Parsons, a local folk band, will perform outside the Arts Council building, and Fayetteville PWC will be inside handing out free conservation goodies.

Art Attack is a large-scale version of a weekly event hosted by Shawn Adkins at The Rock Shop. It is designed to unite all types of artists, from photographers to tattoo artists, with one platform. Adkins is now the owner of Back-A-Round Records downtown.

For more information about 4th Friday, visit www.theartscouncil.com or call the Cool Spring Downtown District at 910-223-1089.

Emilya Holt

Cape Fear • Soccer • Senior

Holt has a 3.9 grade point average. She’s a member of the Student Media Specialist Association, Key Club, and Students Against Destructive Decisions. 

Matthew Raynor

Cape Fear • Baseball • Senior

Raynor has a 4.6 grade point average. He’s a member of Student Government Association, Game Day Operations Staff, and the Creative Writing Club.

Two complex issues, the athletic status of transgender students and allowing home-schooled students to play for public school teams, were addressed at the May 1 spring meeting of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Board of Directors in Chapel Hill.

On the subject of transgender athletes, the NCHSAA ruled that when the gender an athlete identifies with differs from the one listed on his or her birth certificate, the student must submit a Gender Identity Request Form to the NCHSAA.

The form lists a variety of supporting information the student must provide to the NCHSAA, which will refer the matter to the Gender Identity Committee for consideration. That committee will include a member of the current NCHSAA Board of Directors, a school administrator, and a physician and a psychiatrist or psychologist with credentials in the area of gender identity health.

Home-schooled students will be allowed to participate in athletics with the school located in the district where they live. They must provide notice to the school principal 10 days before the first practice of the sport in which they wish to participate. They must also provide documentation on such things as attendance, immunization and transcripts before being allowed to play for a high school team.

East Bladen High School’s Patty Evers attended her final NCHSAA board meeting May 1. Evers has represented Region 4 for the last four years. The region includes Fayetteville and surrounding counties.

“I think we moved in a positive direction,’’ Evers said of the announcements on both transgender athletes and home-schooled athletes.

Evers thinks the new language added to the NCHSAA Handbook for the 2019-20 school year is a good starting point. “Like everything else, there will be tweaks along the way,’’ she said.

Speaking specifically about the transgender issue, Evers said she knows there are transgender athletes in some parts of the state and that their parents have questions.

“It’s something we needed to do,’’ she said. Other action taken by the board at last Wednesday’s meeting included the following:

• Wilson, the official ball of the NCHSAA, will be used in all playoff competition for volleyball, soccer, football, basketball, softball, baseball and tennis. Schools that don’t use the Wilson ball will be penalized for illegal equipment.

• An increase in fees for officials for five percent will be established every four years starting with the 2020-21 school year.

• Baseball and softball teams can play doubleheaders with both games lasting five innings, subject to mutual agreement.

• Wrestlers can take part in two tournaments per day. But there are limits. They can’t exceed any weekly limitations. The two tournaments must be on the same day. Only varsity wrestlers can do this, and only a maximum of three times per season.

• An annual girls wrestling state tournament was approved. The NCHSAA held its first-ever all-girls wrestling tournament this past season on a trial basis. It drew more than 80 female wrestlers from across the state.

A year ago, Pine Forest’s Josiah Hopkins had his worst round of the regular season in the final match and fell short of winning the Patriot Athletic Conference individual golf championship. Cape Fear boys golf coach Todd Edge entered this season with a young team that included no seniors as he tried to rebound from a second-place finish to Pine Forest last year.

Both Hopkins and the Cape Fear team found the answers last week during the final regular season conference match at Baywood Golf Club.

Hopkins shot a final round 74 at Baywood to win both the weekly tournament and the regular season title. It was his lowest round of the season.

The Cape Fear team completed a sweep of the seven regular-season matches, shooting a 326 on its home course at Baywood.

“I think one of the main reasons I blew up last year was my mindset wasn’t in the right place,’’ Hopkins said. “I guess you could say my chances were pretty good, but when push comes to shove, I just wanted to have fun this year and give all the glory to God.”

Hopkins didn’t feel any one part of his physical game made a big difference for him this year. “I don’t hit the ball that far,’’ he said. “I don’t hit the ball that straight. I’m not the best chipper, and I don’t make the most putts.

“Frankly, there are better golfers in our conference than me. The only thing that separates me from the rest is keeping a good attitude when I hit the bad shots.’’

Hopkins feels last Monday’s win gives him some momentum entering postseason competition in the regionals and possibly the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state tournament if he or the Pine Forest team manages to qualify.

“I hope I qualify for the states,’’ he said. “That’s been my goal for this season.’’

Edge said his team entered this year leaning on the play of junior Colton Danks. “He was the most experienced player coming back,’’ Edge said. “He didn’t have a good sophomore season.’’

Freshmen Austin White and Mason Starling contributed to the Colt effort in some tournaments this year. Edge also got some good rounds from Luke McCorquodale and Alex Benbenek.

“We didn’t have the best player every match, but we had four consistent players every match,’’ Edge said. He said he could count on two or three players shooting in the 80 to 85 range every match. Danks turned in a 76 at Baywood last week, his lowest round of the regular season.

“We played well off each other,’’ Danks said of the Cape Fear team. “We had each other’s backs, and we knew what we were capable of.’’

Playing the final match of the regular season at Baywood, Cape Fear’s home course, was also a boost, Danks said. “That’s something we looked forward to, that we could finish up at home, having all our parents there to see us win,’’ he said.

If Cape Fear survives the regional tournament, Danks thinks the Colts could challenge for a top five finish in the NCHSAA championship match.

“There is going to be a bunch of higher level competition, but I believe we could give it a run,’’ he said. “We are going to have to play with a more defined strategy than we’ve had all year. We’re going to have to be confident and believe in our abilities for us to do well in the postseason.’’

Here is the Patriot Athletic All-Conference golf team, which is based on order of finish in the regular season. Coach of the year was based on a vote of the head coaches.

Player of the year: Josiah Hopkins, Pine Forest

Coach of the year: Todd Edge, Cape Fear

First team: Josiah Hopkins, Pine Forest; Max Canada, Terry Sanford; Colton Danks, Cape Fear; Spencer Barbour, Terry Sanford; Luke McCorquodale, Cape Fear; Austin White, Cape Fear.

Second team: Hunter Cole, Gray’s Creek; Walker Shearin, Pine Forest; Mason Starling, Cape Fear; Alex Benbenek, Cape Fear; Chandler Parker, South View.

The Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department is launching a new initiative aimed at keeping young people off the streets on summer nights by engaging them in wholesome activities. Beginning June 7 and continuing until July 12, the department will offer coed 3-on-3 basketball at the recreation center gymnasium, every Friday night from 9 p.m. until midnight. The doors will open at 8:30 p.m. each Friday.

There is no charge to play — participants simply have to sign up at the recreation offices at 5766 Rockfish Rd. 

Lamarco Morrison, new head of the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department, said he got the idea after a recent meeting of the town’s Citizen Academy and the result of a conversation with recreation department staff member Stephen Kessenger.

Morrison said the question was raised as to what the town was doing to attract youth in hard-to-reach areas of the community.

The idea of night basketball was suggested. “It was a way to get the youth off the street in the summer, plus involve the police department,’’ Morrison said.

Morrison later learned that Kessenger had done something similar when he was working in Hoke County. Morrison then ran the idea by other people in Hope Mills, including the town manager and people associated with the parks department.

The plan every Friday is to hold play from 9 p.m. until midnight in the recreation department gym. There will be two half-court games going on at once, each team composed of three players. Each game will last 12 minutes.

“If you win, you stay on the court,’’ Morrison said. “If you lose, you’re off the court. We’ll go that way until 12 (a.m.’)”

The league is open to both male and female players. Although there is no age limit for the games, Morrison said the targeted age group is from 15 to 20 years old.

Morrison is working to get members of the Hope Mills Police Department to play in the games, along with staff from the recreation department. They will be there both to participate but also to supervise the activity.

“The police have two roles,’’ Morrison said, “to make sure everybody behaves, but they also will be involved with playing the game.’’

Morrison said he is still working out some details of that arrangement with Hope Mills Police Chief Joel Acciardo.

Concession stands won’t be open inside the gym during the games, but Morrison said food trucks would be outside for those who might want to get something to eat.

“We’ll do it for six weeks,’’ Morrison said. “If people say they want more, we’ll look at doing it longer.’’

It’s been more than two years since the town of Hope Mills took action to start the process of bringing red-light cameras to the community.

The cameras, which are already in nearby Fayetteville, are posted at no cost to the town at designated intersections and capture images of drivers running red lights.

The drivers are contacted by mail and assessed fines. The money collected from the fines is divided between the company that operates the cameras and Cumberland County Schools.

Neither the town nor its police department are involved in any way in the operation of the cameras or where the money goes. The only thing the town does is decide which intersections to have the cameras cover.

When the plan was first presented to the town’s board of commissioners March 6, 2017, members of that board voted unanimously to move forward with looking into adding cameras to the town.

The issue has resurfaced since the North Carolina House of Representatives recently passed legislation that would bring the cameras to Hope Mills. It still has to pass the North Carolina Senate for it to happen.

Hope Mills Police Chief Joel Acciardo stood by his previous comments from the board meeting of two years ago and said traffic safety is always a priority in Hope Mills. He added that no decisions had been made on where cameras would be located if they are finally approved. When it comes time to make a decision, Acciardo said, the town will likely draw on statistics and find the locations where accidents have been the biggest problem.

Commissioner Pat Edwards, who seconded the original motion by Commissioner Jerry Legge to look into the cameras, said she had heard a lot of pros and cons since then about bringing the cameras to Hope Mills.

Edwards said input from citizens would guide her final decision on adding cameras, but she added that if the issue involves safety for the community and the schools get additional funding from the project, she would tend to be supportive.

“How often do you get something that doesn’t cost anything that provides safety?’’ Edwards said.

Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner supports the cameras, both for the role they could play in saving lives and for providing money to the schools.

Warner mentioned a number of intersections where accidents occur frequently that have been looked at in previous years. The list includes Hope Mills and Camden Road, Hope Mills and Highway 162, and Legion Road and Highway 162.

“A lot of it has to do with impatience, especially at Main Street/Hope Mills Road and Camden,’’ Warner said. “They just take a chance. We see it happening all the time.

“Statistically, there is national proof that the red-light cameras save lives and prevent accidents in attempting to prevent traffic from running yellow and red lights. Ultimately, the final decision will be left up to this board.’’

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113.

• Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday, May 8, 5-6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Building

• Board of Commissioners Monday, May 20, 7 p.m., Luther Meeting Room, Town Hall

• Lake Advisory Committee Tuesday, May 21, 6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Building

• Veterans Affairs Commission Thursday, May 23, 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreation Building

• Appearance Committee Tuesday, May 28, 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreation Building

Activities

• Citizens Academy Tuesday, May 14, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Town Hall

• Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio’s, second Tuesdays at noon and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details, call 910-237-1240.

• Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Senior programs at Parks and Recreation Building. Senior programs are for those ages 55 and up who are residents of Cumberland County. Various activities, especially Zumba classes, are scheduled Monday through Sunday throughout the day. For details on times and days, check the schedule at townofhopemills.com. You can call the recreation center at 910-426-4109 or email Kasey Ivey at kivey@townofhopemills.com.

Promote yourself

Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

A national car rental company once had a major advertising campaign based on the notion that since they were No. 2, they tried harder.

Nobody’s suggesting the Hope Mills Fire Department do the same thing, but the No. 2 rating it received from the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshall is something to brag about. 

A No. 1 rating is next to impossible to get according to Derrick Clouston, one of the people involved with handing the ratings out. There are currently 1,252 fire departments in the state. Clouston said only nine have No. 1 ratings.

Clouston said what it takes to get a rating of one varies by community. “It’s not a cookiecutter process,’’ he said. “You can’t compare one community to another.’’

The No. 2 rating Hope Mills received is also based on support Hope Mills could get at a fire from surrounding departments, like Fayetteville, Stoney Point or Pearce’s Mill, Clouston said. 

Mike Williams, who also works with the office that handles the inspections, said the rating is based on a number of factors, including the county water system, communication system, overall operation of the local fire department and its training.

Williams said the high rating Hope Mills earned, which will go into effect in August this year, shows Hope Mills has done a great job maintaining its overall efficiency as a fire department.

Hope Mills fire chief Chuck Hodges is delighted with the rating Hope Mills got, adding that to him it’s like getting a one. “Our guys are pretty ecstatic,’’ he said. “You’re recognized nationwide with this rating. For a fire chief, it’s saying how I stack up, not in other departments by size. This is how I stack up against every fire department in the United States.’’

Earning the rating involved a lot of hard work by Hodges and his staff. Much of the inspection for the rating involves going through paperwork, including years of service test records. Hodges said the Hope Mills fire department team assembled the records ahead of time as much as possible to make the process go smoother.

But there is also a physical inspection involved. “They open every compartment on every truck,’’ Hodges said. They also check to make sure all the needed equipment is there, going so far as to count how many pike poles of certain lengths a truck carries.

“They look at how many trucks we send to certain types of calls, how many people we have on those types of calls,’’ Hodges said.

The tangible benefit for the town, aside from having a fire department ready to handle the job required, is how it can affect the community’s insurance rates.

“The lower your rating, the less insurance premiums you pay as far as the town is concerned,’’Hodges said. “We look very good to businesses and developers. That’s a selling point to them.

“You can move into Hope Mills, open a business in Hope Mills, and you’re going to pay less insurance premiums because of the ratings. Commercial properties really see savings when you get below a five.

“For any town officials trying to recruit business or development in the town, that’s a feather in the cap.’’

Photo: Chuck Hodges

Although group riding is fun and a great place to meet new friends, it can be a bit intimidating. The ride is more enjoyable if you are prepared and knowledgeable about the ride beforehand.

When deciding to join a group ride, know what you are getting into. Distance, time, speeds and ability are all factors to be considered. Asking yourself if you have the right bike for the ride is important. Another question you should ask is what speeds you will be traveling. If you are unsure about practical details like this, contact the organizers. Finally, and very importantly, you must ask yourself, “Are these the right guys to ride with?”

When riding with a group, get there with your bike ready and a full tank of gas. This is just being polite.

Before the start, you should have you clothing adjusted so you will be comfortable during the ride. As the temperature and weather conditions change, you need to be prepared. You will want to have the appropriate clothing for the appropriate weather — and don’t forget about ensuring the same for your passenger, if you have one.

Although most riders do not like riding in the rain, the truth is that if you ride long enough, you will get wet. So bring your rain gear just in case.

Communicating during the ride is essential. Talk with the group or ride organizer about hand signals. The lead rider will set the pace and communicate by hand signals everyone will know. Many of these signals will tell riders to slow down, to turn or to notice a danger on the road. These are helpful for this time of year as pot holes from the winter weather are still prevalent throughout the state.

Do not over ride your ability. If the group is fast, there is no shame is staying back. If you feel the person behind you is too close or you are riding beyond your ability, hang back and let the people behind you pass.

The person in front of you should be responsible to look back and keep an eye on you. You would do the same for the rider behind you. If you lose sight of someone, pull over and, after a minute or so, turn back to check on them. In theory, this should keep the group together as a whole.

My biggest concern when riding in a group is distance. Your No. 1 safety priority when motorcycling is space. Although it looks cool to ride side-by-side, this is extremely dangerous and jeopardizes yourself, the person beside you and the people behind you. To avoid disaster, you should instead stay staggered: stay one second behind the person in front of you who is in the opposite lane as you and two seconds behind the person directly in front of you in the same lane. This will give you room to brake and swerve in the event of a dog running out or that eventual pot hole that is ahead of you.

Motorcyclists have a lot in common. They are all, by nature, risktakers. Knowing when to throw in the towel with a group is something you should be ready to do. So if you come to that point where you no longer feel comfortable about riding with someone, do not be ashamed to let the group know you are breaking off. Chances are that if you are not having fun, they are not either, and it is probably the best decision for all.

If there is a topic you would like to discuss, please contact me at motorcycle4fun@aol.com.

RIDE SAFE!

Dr. Larry Keen and the board of trustees of Fayetteville Technical Community College are excited to announce the 57th Annual Commencement Exercises May 17, at the Crown Coliseum. Due to high number of graduates, FTCC decided last year to split the graduation into two ceremonies and host them both during the day. The ceremonies were successful, and the plan for 2019 is to continue with two daytime graduation ceremonies.

The morning commencement will begin at 10 a.m., and the doors will unlock for the public at 9 a.m. Graduates from computer information technology programs, business programs, engineering and applied technology programs and health programs will be recognized.

The afternoon commencement will begin at 2 p.m., and the doors will unlock for the public at 1 p.m. FTCC will recognize graduates from the arts and humanities programs, math and science programs, public service programs and continuing education programs.

The commencement speaker will be former North Carolina Sen. Dr. Eric L. Mansfield. Rev. Jacob Warren from Veritas Church in Fayetteville will provide the invocation and benediction during both ceremonies.

Photo Specialties, which is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, will provide photo services for graduates. Class rings for the 2019 class are available for student purchase through the Balfour Ring Company. Representatives from FTCC’s Jobs Center are available to assist graduates with creating resumes and finding employment.

Representatives from FTCC’s University Outreach Transfer Center are also helpful in discussing various options for students interested in continuing their academic journeys beyond the two-year program of study.

Anyone who plans to attend the morning or afternoon graduation ceremonies should anticipate heavy traffic around the Crown Coliseum. Students only will arrive through the Expo Doors located off East Mountain Drive. All friends and family should enter the Crown Coliseum through the North, West and East entrances.

The Crown Coliseum will stream the commencement exercises live at www.crowncomplexnc.com/events/event-streaming. For more information about the FTCC 2019 commencement ceremony and an additional direct link to the graduation streaming, visit the FTCC Graduation Page at www.faytechcc.edu/campus-life/academic-resources/graduation.

FTCC has been serving the Fayetteville/ Cumberland County area since 1961. The college offers more than 250 programs of study leading to the award of associate degree, certificate or diploma. Program areas include arts and humanities, math and sciences, business, computer technology, engineering/applied technology, health, and public service.

Fayetteville Tech’s corporate and continuing education programs also provide a wide array of courses with convenient options for affordable career training, personal interest courses and high school diploma education. FTCC’s website, www.faytechcc.edu, shares a great deal of information, and admissions counselors are available at the Fayetteville, Fort Bragg and Spring Lake campus locations. Browse the website, or visit one of the campus locations for assistance in enrolling for summer and fall classes at your community college.

The Scott family. Too much for one book. Too much for one column.

Five years ago, in “The Political Career of W. Kerr Scott: The Squire from Haw River,” Julian Pleasants chronicled the exceptional life of the only governor of North Carolina who proudly called himself a liberal. Kerr Scott was North Carolina governor from 1949-1953 and U.S. senator from 1955 until his death in 1958. He broke the hold of a conservative Democratic Party establishment and opened the door for the progressive administrations of future governors Terry Sanford, Robert Scott and Jim Hunt.

Missing from Pleasants’ excellent book was the story of the entire Scott family and its role in North Carolina political life. Former Raleigh News & Observer political reporter and columnist Rob Christensen takes up that task in “The Rise and Fall of the Branchhead Boys.” He follows the Alamance County farm family beginning with Kerr Scott’s grandfather, Henderson Scott, 1814-1870, a slave-holding farmer. After the Civil War, he became active in the Ku Klux Klan and was briefly jailed as a result.

Henderson’s son, Robert, 1861-1929, continued the family farming tradition. He spent almost a year in New York state to study modern farming methods. Then, after transforming his own farming operations, he shared his expertise throughout the state, earning the nickname “Farmer Bob.” Active in politics, he served in the state house and senate and unsuccessfully ran for commissioner of agriculture.

Robert had 13 children, including two important political figures: Kerr, 1896-1958, and future powerful state legislator Ralph, 1903-1989. 

Christensen does a good job of reviewing and supplementing Kerr’s political career as covered in Pleasants’ more detailed account. He describes how Kerr defeated the favored gubernatorial candidate of the conservative wing of the party in 1948. When in office, he adopted a liberal program of road building, public school improvement and the expansion of government services. Hard-working and hardheaded, direct and plain-spoken, he appointed women and African Americans to government positions and disregarded criticism of his actions. Then, when elected to the U.S. Senate in 1954 as a liberal in a campaign managed by future Gov. Terry Sanford, he nevertheless joined with fellow Southerners to oppose civil rights legislation.

Christensen’s greater contribution to the Scott family saga is his account of the political career of Kerr’s son, Bob Scott, 1929-2009. Young Bob grew up on Kerr’s dairy farm and, like his father, became active in farmers’ organizations, working in political campaigns, including Terry Sanford’s 1960 successful race for governor. By 1964, at age 35, Bob was ready to mount a statewide campaign for lieutenant governor. But two senior Democrats, state Sen. John Jordan and House Speaker Clifton Blue, were already running. Christensen writes, “In some ways Scott had broken into the line.”

Nevertheless, with the help of powerful county political machines, Bob won a squeaker victory in a primary runoff over Blue. Bob used his new office to run for the next one, giving hundreds of speeches each year and eating meals of “razor thin roast beef, seventeen green beans, a wad of mashed potatoes and apple pie the density of lead.”

Meanwhile, Christensen notes, “The growing white backlash against racial integration gave Scott reason for caution.” He won the 1968 Democratic nomination over conservative Democrat and later Republican Mel Broughton and African American dentist Reginald Hawkins.

The results of the presidential contest in North Carolina marked what Christensen calls “the breakup of the Democratic Party.” Richard Nixon won; George Wallace was second, and Hubert Humphrey was third.

Nevertheless, in the governor’s race, Bob faced and beat Republican Jim Gardner. 

The mountains of bitter controversies in the areas of race, labor, student unrest and higher education administration he confronted are too much for this column to cover.

We will continue in a later column.

Photo: Kerr Scott

I was recently invited to view Sweet Tea Shakespeare’s “Maid Marian” at the historic 1897 Poe House. The production was enchanting. The brick-paved courtyard was lined with homemade quilts and Turkish carpets for guests to sit on while enjoying the show. The cast interacted with guests, introducing one another, explaining the history of the play and creating opportunities for the audience to enjoy it on many levels. STS raffled a walk-on part to audience members, which proved to be a hilarious addition to the production. STS also auctioned an opportunity to sit on a fabulous velvet lounge.

The story of Robin Hood has enthralled audiences since the 16th century, but Jessica Osnoe, an actress and playwright with the company, has reimagined it from a decidedly female perspective for the company’s Honey Series, celebrating women in theater.

It would have been easy for Osnoe to take a hyperfeminist perspective in her rewrite, depicting men as accessories and usurping the traditional legend of Robin Hood for Marian. But Osnoe used a gentle approach, implying Marian’s evolution as a vigilante, or benefactor to the masses, ran parallel with Robin Hood. Instead of removing him from the scenario, she created a level playing field on which they met as true equals. This, in turn, leaves the audience with the hope of their eventual romance.

The play begins as the devious Sheriff of Nottingham suggests his disciple, Guy of Gisborne, marry Lady Marian so he might control her family’s estate — and their profit. The high-borne Marian, played by Jen Pommerenke, and her younger sister Emma, played by Laura Voytko, abandon the estate and flee to Sherwood Forest with several women from the village.

Marian and Emma are joined by Marian’s cousin Eleanor, played by Osnoe. They teach other women to fight, then disguise themselves as performers so they can move about the countryside without drawing the sheriff’s attention. Then, they plunder! They rob the rich to feed the poor in proper Robin Hood tradition. Marian and her all-girl gang establish themselves as legends amongst the villagers and proper criminals with the sheriff and Sir Guy.

Pommerenke wows the audience with her performance. She gives depth to what has traditionally been a two-dimensional character. Her Marian is strong, innovative and, at times, humorous.

Voytko fearlessly introduces Marian’s sister Emma to the world. She’s precocious and unapologetic, educated and playfully charming.

And Osnoe brings strength and determination to the character of Eleanor. She’s a stabilizing influence for Marian, a voice of reason in their world of chaos.

Remaining show dates for “Maid Marian” are May 9-12. The shows begin at 7:30 p.m., and there is a preshow at 6:45 p.m. General admission is $25. Advance general admission is $17.50. Advance senior/military admission is $15, and advance student tickets are $10.

Photo: Jen Pommerenke as Maid Marian (left) and Laura Voytko as Emma Fitzwalter, Maid Marian’s sister (right)

A longstanding local tradition, Fayetteville After 5 brings free concerts to Festival Park all summer long. It happens every second Friday, May through August. Show up ready to enjoy a night of music — and dancing, if you feel like it — under the stars. Come hungry and get dinner from the food trucks on hand, too.

The season kicks off May 10 with ’90s tribute band 120 Minutes. Based in the Triangle area, the band brings the best alternative and radio rock and pop hits from the ’90s. If artists like Nirvana, Gin Blossoms, Third Eye Blind, Weezer, Backstreet Boys, Green Day, The Cranberries, Shania Twain, Cracker, Tom Petty, Smash Mouth and Hootie and the Blowfish get your toes tapping, this is a concert you won’t want to miss.

June 14, Eagles tribute band On the Border takes the stage. This group goes all-out to provide an authentic Eagles experience. Each band member plays their respective band member of the Eagles during the performance. Their delivery of spot-on music has not only garnered them a loyal following, they have been declared the greatest Eagles tribute band in the world by AXSTV and host Katie Daryl.

Fayetteville’s own Rivermist headlines the July 12 concert. Rivermist formally came together in 2014, but the band members have been playing in and around Fayetteville for more than 20 years. A classic rock and variety party band, Rivermist is energetic on the stage and knows how to play to its audience. The band has won several awards locally, including Up & Coming Weekly’s Best of Fayetteville.

Aug. 9, Kasey Tyndall closes the season. Tynda’s debut single, “Everything is Texas,” dropped in 2017. The video was in the top 10 on CMT’s 12 Pack Countdown.

“For as long as people have been breaking hearts or getting their hearts broken, there’s a bar, that bar’s regulars, and its staff to help,” says Tyndall on her website. “We all have that bar in our life — no matter what we’re going through, we’re somehow family when we come together there.”

The gates open at 5 p.m. for all the concerts. Music starts around 6:30 p.m. and ends around 10:30 p.m. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair. No canopies, please. No coolers or outside food is permitted. Service dogs are welcome. The concerts are free.

Visit www.thedogwoodfestival.com/fayetteville-after-five to learn more.

Justin Lopes was captain of the soccer team his senior year of high school. He was a member of Honor Society, Key Club and Lafayette Baptist Church. Justin loved to play baseball and soccer. He was family-oriented and loyal to those he loved. In 2014, he died unexpectedly, at the age of 21. He was a rising senior at the University of South Carolina majoring in finance. In honor of Justin, the Derby Run was established. This year’s Derby Run takes place Saturday, May 18, starting at Terry Sanford High School. The 10K run will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the 5K run/walk will begin at 8:30 a.m. They are both timed events.

“David and Andrea Phillips started the Derby Run in 2016 and thought it would be a good way to remember and honor Justin’s life,” said Donna Lopes, Justin’s mom. “It has continued to grow each year. It started as a fun run the first year, and basically people got together and we walked.”

They have added a 10K run this year in hopes the event will continue to grow. The goal is to have between 200-300 runners.

“The proceeds from the event will go to local charities to benefit children,” said Lopes. “The charities are The Child Advocacy Center, the Justin Richard Lopes Memorial Scholarship of Cumberland Community Foundation, and Cy’s World Foundation.”

Each runner will receive a T-shirt and a sports bag filled with coupons from local vendors. 

The top three overall male and female winners will receive trophies and gift certificates from Fleet Feet.

Awards will be given to the top three male and female winners in each age category, for best derby-themed costume, best derby-themed hat, best derby-themed stroller, first dog to finish, first stroller to finish and largest team.

Bunker, the mascot for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball team, will be on site, along with Kidsvile News! celebrity Truman the dragon and Sweet Frog’s mascot. There will be face-painting for the children.

“In the three years that we have done this run, we have been able to donate over $25,000 to charities that benefit children in Justin’s memory, because of our generous sponsors and Derby participants,” said Donna. “The Derby Run is a way for us to help others in his memory.”

The cost of the 5K for ages 12 and under is $20, and for ages 13 and over, it is $30. The cost of the 10K for all ages is $35. Teams with four or more participants for either race will receive a $5 discount for each runner. Pets are allowed but must be on a leash. Packets can be picked up Friday, May 17, at Orangetheory Fitness from 5-7 p.m.

Registration is at 7 a.m. for participants who did not preregister. For more information or to register, visit its-go-time.com/the-derby-run.

In the 1950s, Memphis, Tennessee, was subject to Jim Crow laws and segregation. R&B and rock ’n’ roll played to two distinctly different crowds — until DJ Dewy Philips changed things. Take a journey with Cape Fear Regional Theatre to “Memphis,” where rock ’n’ roll was born. The show runs May 9-26.

“Memphis” is inspired by reallife events and people. According to director Suzanne Agins, the central character is a white DJ, named Huey Calhoun in the play, who makes it his mission to expose his white audience to the blues. He is played by Matthew Mucha and is based on real-life DJ Dewy Philips. The story is about his drive to expand people’s minds about music and his relationship with African American blues singer Felicia Farrell, a character who is not based on a real-life counterpart. “It is all this great R&B and early rock ’n’ roll coming from the African American community, and this guy who made it his life’s work to get it out to whites,” said Agins.

When she started thinking about how to tell the story best, Agins, who also directed “Dreamgirls” at CFRT in 2017, reached back to her previous experience in Fayetteville. “I was here for ‘Dreamgirls,’ and it was an amazing thing to be surround by amazing women,” she said.

Agins noticed that Felicia, played by Shonica Gooden, didn’t have strong female characters to relate to in the story. “I thought about the main character and wondered why she didn’t have a friend to talk to,” said Agins. “I looked at (the character of ) her brother and thought there is nothing about this (character) that is inherently male. It is a human who cares deeply for his sister.

“We asked the licensing company if we could change this to a female character and made our case. … We cast an amazing actress, and she is killing it.” The script didn’t change, just the gender of one character.

Gooden didn’t know the role of her character’s brother was going to change to that of a sister, but she’s embraced it. “I think it has made it better,” she said. “We brought that sisterly bond into the story, making it that much more authentic onstage.”

CFRT Marketing Director Ashley Owen noted that the story covers an important topic — race. “It delves into the relationship between white and black people in that time,” she said. “The message is one of loving people when you come together and experience something special. It is an important story to tell, and we work hard to do it well, if for no other reason than for people to be able to talk about the message.”

David Robbins plays Bobby Dupree, Huey’s best friend. For him, the music adds to an already meaty performance. “‘Memphis’ won best score for the year it came out,” he said. “You will be leaving the theater humming the tunes.”

Ricardo Morgan is a Fayetteville native and no stranger to the CFRT stage. “Member of the Wedding,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Trip to Bountiful” are a few of the shows he’s performed in. Morgan is in the ensemble. “Given the theme of the show and climate of our nation, this is another opportunity for the arts to help heal,” he said. “And in doing so, we talk about preconceptions. You will leave singing, but you will also leave having asked yourself questions. Questions we ask daily come to life onstage — it is about a sense of community and supporting each other.” Due to the content, the show is rated PG-13.

The play runs May 9-26. Visit www.cfrt.org for tickets and information. Look for theme nights and special events, including Red Carpet Ready, Opening Night Dance Party, Mimosa Brunch and Military Night, on the website.

Photo:  Matthew Mucha as Huey Calhoun (left) and Shonica Gooden as Felicia Farrell (right)

America is facing a national public health crisis. Each day, 22 veterans, service members, reservists and members of the National Guard die by suicide, totaling more than 7,300 deaths per year. Three veterans shot and killed themselves at Veterans Affairs facilities within five days late last month. While Veterans Affairs has been the public face of the issue, veterans are in many ways an amplification of the same factors that drive suicide in the broader American population: a shortage of mental health resources, a lack of funding for suicide research, and easy access to guns, according to the VA National Suicide Data Report.

The 2015 Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for Americans Act requires officials to provide annual reviews of mental health care and suicide prevention programs. It found that veterans receive good mental health care at many Department of Veterans Affairs centers, but that has not decreased suicide rates. Some programs to address veteran suicide are showing promise. A relatively new program, known as the Mayor’s Challenge, helps city and state governments reach more veterans through public health programs via Veterans Affairs partnerships. Separately, former Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson collaborated with retired Fayetteville VA Medical Center Director Elizabeth Goolsby to launch a local outreach challenge on veterans’ needs.

A study of nine VA emergency rooms found 45 percent fewer suicidal behaviors among patients who received follow-up outreach after suicide attempts. As a result of this study, all VA medical centers have put in place a safety planning intervention program. Yet about 70 percent of veterans do not regularly use VA access to federal facilities that may be viewed as central to suicide prevention.

Exposure to combat is considered a leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans. PTSD is a psychiatric condition in people who experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. “We need to expand our understanding of mental health among veterans,” said Rep. Mark Takano, DCalif., chairman of the House Veteran Affairs Committee. “We need to commit to providing the resources needed to implement a comprehensive plan.”

A 2014 Veterans Health Administration audit unearthed rampant problems, including allegations that scheduling delays led to 40 Arizona veterans dying from lack of timely medical care by the VA.

“Providing same-day 24/7 access to mental health crisis intervention and support for veterans, service members and their families is our top clinical priority,” said VA secretary Robert Wilkie in an April 16 press release. “It’s important that all Veterans, their family and friends know that help is easily available.”

Yet myriad political, structural and cultural impediments exist far beyond Washington, D.C. Many suicide experts believe that a lack of proper training in suicide prevention in the broader mental health field, hobbled by a lack of research, is central to the issue.

The VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is a national leader in making high-quality mental health care and suicide prevention resources available to veterans through a full spectrum of outpatient, inpatient and mental health services. Veterans in crisis — or those concerned about one — should call the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 and press 1, send a text message to 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net.

The Cumberland County Department of Public Health has been notified by the state that a local individual thought to have been infected with tuberculosis did not in fact have TB. Parents, faculty and staff at Village Christian Academy were so advised in late April. The Cumberland County Health Department received updated information and a recommendation from the Public Health Division of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services about a TB contact investigation conducted in February. Some individuals at the school were believed to have been exposed to a case of infectious tuberculosis. An investigation conducted by the state revealed that the individual was not infected.

The determination was made just as a scheduled second round of testing was to begin. Initial positive lab tests needed to be confirmed by growing the TB germ in culture, which can take six weeks from the time a specimen has been collected. None of the specimens collected, including the specimen that had the initial positive test, have grown the TB germ.

“We are notifying everyone that a second round of testing is not needed, based on results received from the state lab,” said Cumberland County Interim Health Director Duane Holder. “The contact investigation and first round of skin testing was the best course of action to protect potentially exposed students, faculty and staff,” he said.

“The Health Department acted according to state protocol … we had to wait six weeks for the culture results from the state lab.”

Consumption, or the White Plague, as TB was once known, has been around since the dawn of man. In 2014, a DNA study of a tuberculosis genome reconstructed from remains in southern Peru suggested that human tuberculosis is less than 6,000 years old. But there is evidence that the first tuberculosis infection happened about 9,000 years ago.

By the 1960s, industrialized nations were seeing the health benefits of economic improvement, better sanitation, more widespread education and particularly the establishment of public health practices for tuberculosis control. The rate of deaths from tuberculosis in England and Wales dropped from 190 per 100,000 population in 1900 to seven per 100,000 in the early 1960s. In the United States during the same period, it dropped from 194 per 100,000 to approximately six per 100,000. In the popular mind, tuberculosis was then a disease of the past.

However, in the mid-1980s, the number of deaths caused by TB began to rise again in developed countries. The disease’s resurgence was attributed in part to increased immigration of people from regions where tuberculosis was prevalent, and the spread of HIV. In the early 2000s, as a result of the rapid implementation of global efforts to combat the disease, the incidence rates stabilized. Globally today, the mortality rate from tuberculosis remains between 1.6 million and two million deaths per year. Anyone with questions about TB testing should contact the Cumberland County Health Department at 910-433-3638 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A new election in the 9th Congressional District, which includes part of Cumberland County, will be held Tuesday, May 14. Only registered Republican and unaffiliated voters can vote in the primary election. One-stop early voting began April 24 and runs through May 10, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Board of Elections Office, 227 Fountainhead Lane.

A second primary will be held Sept. 10, if necessary, followed by the general election Nov. 5. If a second primary is not necessary, the general election for the 9th Congressional District will be Sept. 10.

The 9th Congressional District covers most of eastern and southern Cumberland County. The State Board of Elections ordered the new election in the 9th Congressional District after determining that irregularities occurred to such an extent that they tainted the results of the general election last November and cast doubt on its fairness.

The Cumberland County Board of Elections office is located in the E. Newton Smith Center on Fountainhead Lane, Fayetteville. The office is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 910-678-7733 or go to co.cumberland.nc.us/election-board for more information. 

Fort Bragg food spoilage compensation

A week after a cyberattack exercise shut down electricity on Fort Bragg, leadership is offering soldiers and their families a chance to recoup their losses. Post residents can file claims with the judge advocate general’s office, according to a May 2 Facebook post.

“Following the exercise, we’ve received a number of inquiries about claims for food that spoiled as a result of the power outage,” the statement said.

The simulated cyberattack, meant to coincide with an 82nd Airborne Division deployment exercise, was meant to test the community’s ability to rebound from an attack. The outage began the night of April 24 and lasted for about 12 hours, affecting everything from food to refrigerated medications, both those stored in homes but also at pharmacies on post.

Post officials issued an apology later that afternoon. JAG’s claims division is accepting reports for reimbursements. Peter Straub, the chief of the division, can be reached at 910-396-7505 or peter.j.straub.civ@mail.mil.

Army border support

The Pentagon may send another 300 troops to the U.S. southern border in support roles that could put them in contact with migrants and thus mark a break from current practice, officials said. Charles Summers, a spokesman for Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, said the proposal was developed as a response to a call from the Department of Homeland Security for additional military assistance. The new troops would be in support roles such as driving buses with detained migrants and providing meals to them.

There currently are about 2,900 active-duty soldiers at the border, plus about 2,000 National Guard troops. The policy includes a prohibition on direct contact with migrants, which is meant to emphasize that the military is not in a law enforcement role.

Summers said the proposal being considered by Shanahan would include an “amendment” to the current policy on avoiding contact with migrants.

Fayetteville Beautiful annual cleanup

The annual Fayetteville Beautiful citywidevcleanup is scheduled for Saturday, May 11.vDedicated to reducing litter, encouraging wastevreduction and promoting beautification projectsvthrough community engagement, FayettevillevBeautiful asks residents to pick up litter by signingvup at Fayettevillebeautiful.com, which is highlightedvon the Fayetteville Beautiful homepagevwith the words “Citywide Cleanup Map” in red.

Volunteers should meet at the entrance to CrossvCreek Park on Green Street from 8-9:30 a.m. Orangevbags, gloves and bottled water will be provided.

During last year’s event, 478 volunteers pickedvup 9,722 pounds of litter. Over the years, duringv14 citywide cleanups, more than 147 tons of littervhave been collected along 216 miles of roads.vFayetteville Beautiful, in partnership with KeepvAmerica Beautiful and Keep NC Beautiful, encouragesvcitizens to create and maintain a cleanervand more beautiful Fayetteville.

City citizen service

The city of Fayetteville has some vacancies to fill on a couple of citizen commissions. The Millennial Advisory Commission is new and has 13 openings. The Redevelopment Commission has one opening. Applications will be accepted until midnight May 16. Qualified applicants will be presented to City Council’s appointments committee in May. The Council will approve board and commission members at a regular meeting in June. The city accepts applications via the city website at www.fayettevillenc.gov.

Motorcycle security

The Fayetteville Police Department’s Property Unit reminds motorcycle owners to secure their bikes properly to avoid theft as warmer weather sets in. Most motorcycle larcenies reported to police occur in apartment complexes, where motorcycles have been left unsecured in the open. Owners are encouraged to lock their bikes to protect their investments. They are advised to park in well-lit areas.

Thefts of vans and trucks are often associated with the theft of motorcycles. Thieves sometimes use trucks to facilitate motorcycle thefts during this time of the year.

If you observe anything that appears to be suspicious, especially if you see vehicles driving slowly through an apartment complex during the hours of darkness or someone loading a motorcycle into a van, call 911.

At a recent North Carolina Department of Transportation committee meeting, my John Locke Foundation colleague Joe Coletti offered this blunt assessment to state policymakers: our system of road financing isn’t sustainable.

“There simply isn’t enough money to do it all,” Coletti told the committee. He observed that the amount of gas taxes collected per mile traveled is lower in inflation-adjusted terms than it was a generation ago. Our cars get more miles to the gallon, for one thing, so a per-gallon tax can’t keep up. And a growing, albeit still small, share of our cars are electric or hybrid vehicles for which the gas tax is obviously inadequate as a means of charging drivers to use government roads.

There’s really no doubt that we will have to move eventually to a system that charges drivers according to mileage and vehicle weight. Such a system should also vary the price according to time and congestion, just as utilities charge more for electricity during peak hours.

Getting from here to there will be tricky, however. Tolling new roads or lanes can be unpopular, at least at first, as policymakers in North Carolina and elsewhere have discovered. For the entire road-andstreet system as a whole, a GPS-based mileage charge could get the job done. But it would invite even more public scrutiny.

Of course, no system for funding transportation is free from major challenges. Raising gas and car taxes angers the public, as well. Dipping into general revenues, from sources such as sales and property taxes, may be more salable politically but has the obvious defect of severing the relationship between the cost individuals impose on the road system and the price they pay to use it. It is inequitable and inefficient.

Coletti’s point is not simply that we have a mismatch between tools and tasks. More broadly, we have a mismatch between means and ends. Because North Carolina and other states rely so much on transfers from the federal government, for example, and those federal dollars come with lots of strings, we end up using scarce dollars to build new roads rather than maintaining our existing ones, even though the latter ought to be the higher priority.

And the truth is that while transportation investment can be productive, it isn’t infinitely valuable. No matter how we pay for new roads, some of the ones currently on North Carolina’s wish list are unlikely ever to be built — and we should be okay with that. The extent to which their long-term benefits, expressed as greater mobility or safety or economic development, will exceed their long-term cost is unclear.

Just as most other valuable things do, roads have diminishing marginal utility. When North Carolina built its first true statewide road network in the early decades of the 20th century, the payoff was gigantic. During successive waves of road-building — during the interstate boom, for example, and the belt-andconnector program enacted during the administration of Gov. Jim Martin — the benefits also exceeded the costs, although not by as much.

There are still valuable roads and lanes to build, to be sure, and I’m happy to report that state policymakers have done their part to move such projects forward. North Carolina is spending hundreds of millions more a year on road construction and maintenance than we used to because state legislators and governors of both parties cooperated to reduce dramatically the transfer of gas and car taxes to nonhighway purposes.

But no reform of our financing system, no matter how carefully designed and skillfully marketed, can generate enough revenue to fund all desired roads at a cost that won’t provoke intense opposition from taxpayers. As Coletti put it, “because there is never enough money to do everything that everyone thinks should be done, the state needs to identify the core needs for transportation funding.”

Thus, policymakers must set firm priorities and stick to them. In many cases, the right answer will consist not of “how to” but, simply, “no.”

Who would not want a box of awesome? I know I do. I discovered the world’s greatest company name one afternoon while on walkabout through the wilds of Haymount. There is a company advertising on the internet named Box of Awesome. The name says it all. Buy our product and you will get a box of awesome stuff. The advertising genius who came up with this company name should win Advertising Age’s Grand Prize for 2019. I salute you, sir or madam. You have my undying admiration.

How did I discover this amazing company, you ask? To keep myself motivated while walking through the late afternoons of life, I listen to news channels, Howard Stern or the History of Byzantium podcast. The company Box of Awesome frequently advertises on the internet. The concept is brilliant in its effectiveness and simplicity. You sign up to pay $45 a month. You take a short, very simplified online version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test, which determines what sort of awesome stuff suits your personality. Box of Awesome then sends you a box full of different awesome stuff each month.

The Box of Awesome analytics formula does its magic by using your personal information you provided. Presto, the computer figures out what sort of stuff you would like to receive and then sends it to you.

It takes the worry and thought out of deciding what you want in life. Let the machine’s siliconbased analytics decide for you. In our brave new world, you don’t need free will. Determinism can be outsourced to the cloud. The computer knows better than you do what you want.

Box of Awesome digitizes impulse buying so you don’t have to think at all. The part of the brain that you used to use to make an impulse buy from the rows of candy in the checkout line at the grocery store can now safely wither away like the muscles you used to use to exercise. You do get a few days’ notice of the contents of the box. You can say no if you decide you don’t want what the computer says you want. But who is going to say no to the computer? It’s like the old Record of the Month club. You could notify RCA you didn’t want the next record, but no one ever got around to saying no before the new Burl Ives record hit your front door.

The concept reminded me of “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” a movie in which the Griswalds compete in the Pig in a Poke TV quiz show. What is more fun than getting a surprise prize? Two families compete with each other dressed up in pink pig costumes. The theme song of the show has the immortal lines: “Pig in a poke. It pays to be a glutton. Oink, Oink!/You could win all or nothing, Pig in a Poke.”

The families don’t know what fabulous prize they are playing for. Could it be a year’s supply of Johnson Turtle Wax? A Kelvinator home freezer? No one knows until the end of the show. Fortunately, the Griswalds are not playing against “Jeopardy’s” newest phenomenon, James Holzhauer, who would have squashed them into the dust like an angry elephant tap dancing on a rhino poacher. For reasons too bizarre to go into today, the Griswalds win Pig in a Poke and get a free trip to Europe.

The Box of Awesome concept also borrows from the late, great Monty Hall’s “Let’s Make a Deal” TV show. With Monty, you could trade what you had in the box for Door Number Three or vice versa. You didn’t know what was behind Door Number Three. It could be a brandnew 1968 Chevy Nova. Or it could be a set of lawn furniture.

The lure of the unknown is a great motivator and inhibitor of common sense. With a Box of Awesome, you do get to see what is in the box before it arrives, but who in their right mind is going to say no to a box of awesome stuff?

The same principle applies to the upcoming 2020 presidential election. We know what we have in Dear Glorious Very Stable Genius Leader. We don’t know what Dear Leader will do next. What kookie thing will he do to entertain us? Vote for him and find out. It’s fun to be entertained and not have to think. The Roman Emperors did pretty well for centuries keeping themselves in power by entertaining the masses with bread and circuses.

From the Democrats’ side of the ledger, we have more than 20 candidates who each are promising a Box of Awesome to the voters. Free college? Check. Green bill of rights? Check. Fresh face? Check. Ability to lose close elections? Check. Oldest president to ever be sworn into office? Check. Abolish the Electoral College? Check. It’s Pig in a Poke once again, with both sides promising the voters a Box of Awesome.

So, what have we learned today? Thinking for yourself is such an uncool, antiquated, 20th-century concept. Let the computer’s analytics decide what you want. Big Brother knows what is best for you. As our old buddy George Orwell pointed out in “1984,” when Winston says: “But it was all right. Everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” You, too, can love Big Brother.

Even Hollywood screenwriters would be hard pressed to come up with this wild scenario — even though it does have the makings of a hit movie. 

A top aide to the president of the United States and leader of the free world is married to a man who advocates for her boss’s impeachment on the op/ed pages of The Washington Post. The aide has the gift of gab and can spin anything for the president. Her husband practices law and wordsmiths the president’s demise on the side.

Meet Kellyanne and George Conway.

She is the aide who told ABC “the president is not going to jail. He’s is staying in the White House for five-and-a-half more years.” He is the spouse who takes a lesson from the president’s own playbook, referring to him as “Deranged Donald” and repeatedly calling for Trump’s impeachment.

It is a fair guess that the Conways’ pillow talk is a lot different from what Hollywood screenwriters penned for Doris Day and Rock Hudson way back when. Even Trump has jumped into the Conway fray — on Kellyanne’s side, naturally enough — describing his loyal aide’s husband as a “stonecold loser and husband from hell.”

The Conways, worth $39 million according to financial disclosures, reportedly live with their four children in a 15,000-square foot home in a tony Washington neighborhood, which is probably a good thing. It is certainly understandable if they each need a little space to themselves.

In fairness, none of us knows what is going on in other people’s marriages, and certainly not in those of people we only read about and see on television. But is it fair and interesting to view the Conways as a metaphor for what is going on all over our nation — in marriages, in workplaces and among friends and neighbors.

No one is neutral on Trump. Some of us adore his candor, if you describe his public utterances as “candid.” Some of us are so repulsed by our president that we can barely listen to him. And some of us are just praying for this to be over soon. We all have our own opinions about Trump, and Kellyanne and George Conway are doing a great job of laying out and articulating our great national divide.

Our national landscape is now so deeply bifurcated that millions of us no longer feel the same way about friends, neighbors and even relatives who hold political views, and especially views about Trump, that differ from our own. We are now isolated in Camp Donald Trump and Camp Anybody but Donald Trump, and there appears to be little appetite for or interest in crossing the great divide from either camp.

This cannot be good for our nation today or for our democracy in the long run.

There is always the chance, of course, that the Conways are conning us. Maybe he is her insurance policy in case Trump does implode, and maybe she his lucky government charm in case we do face four more years. But I think not. The Conways seem deeply and seriously entrenched in their positions, very much lacking the humor and deftness of another politically divided long married couple. Republican Mary Matalin and Democrat James Carville have sparred with each other for years and do so with wit and affection. They do not name-call or aim for the jugular.

So, in the tradition of the cliffhanger, are the still-married Conways a sign that ordinary Americans might survive our ongoing great divide? Are Kellyanne and George symbols of hope for the rest of us? Or do they bode a more permanent schism in our national unity? Will they, as Buck Owens so poignantly sang, “split the blanket down the middle,” or will they find a way to be cozy as a family in their Washington mega-mansion?

Only time will tell.

Photo: Presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia

Many Fayetteville and Cumberland County community leaders, elected officials and residents are scratching their heads. They’re wondering what in the world Mayor Mitch Colvin’s motives are for his abrupt 180 on supporting the $46 million North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center that has been destined for a statewide home here in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

I’m not a mind reader. However, my guess is it has something to do with some form of political maneuvering.

What sense does it make for a mayor who has led an aggressive charge for Fayetteville’s growth and economic development to suddenly and without cause object to a sanctioned economic tour de force like the History Center? It’s especially puzzling since Colvin initially endorsed the project and played a significant role in advocating for and advancing it. Colvin’s reversed position jeopardizes the chances of locating this state-owned museum in our community.

It defies logic when a smart man like Colvin goes on FakeBook (not a typo) and compares the combined $17 million budget requests of Greensboro and Asheville to a funding request for the construction of a $46 million state-owned museum. However, in the same post he did say something that was true if put in the proper context. He said, “Tell your state representatives we deserve more than this.”

How right he is. Fayetteville does deserve more. About $46 million worth — plus more jobs, more visitors via tourism, more statewide and nationwide recognition and more tax revenues from increased economic activity.

Colvin is a smart political operative, and his colleagues are all aware that this abrupt change of heart has an underlying motive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make any difference what that motive is. Sudden, unexplained changes have never been good or beneficial to the taxpaying residents of Fayetteville. It is this kind of inside political baseball that has proven to be Fayetteville’s nemesis while reinforcing that haunting localized adage, “Fayetteville never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Besides abandoning his colleagues, Colvin may find it difficult to defend his position on several fronts. The most difficult will be his claim that Fayetteville residents have more pressing needs. Does he really want to go there? Especially when the city is confronting some pretty harsh criticism for spending $14 million of taxpayers’ money on a parking deck they cannot use? And, even more importantly, when the downtown development project — which includes the baseball stadium, the Prince Charles apartments and the classy hotel and office building housing those apartments — is completed, more money should be coming into the community. This economic stimulus plan publicly boasted it will generate $100 plus million of economic vitality to our city.

If this is still the case, then we are in the winner’s circle by adding this proposed statewide History Center to our city. Current estimates are that it will bring another $20 million in revenue to our community. If this isn’t enough to question Colvin’s decision and judgement, consider this: Colvin believes in education and awareness. In the past, he has joined dozens of local scholars, educators and community, civic and governmental officials in realizing the need for factual historical awareness and education about the Civil War and the Reconstruction periods.

Take a close look at downtown Fayetteville and you will see Colvin has provided us the leadership we desperately need to move the community forward. The question many are asking in response to his changed position is: Why stop now?

Next up, a Fayetteville Performing Arts Center? We’ll see. Let’s all hope the mayor sides with the people. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

“It’s not easy, day to day, to get an upclose and personal look at what lineworkers do,” said Carolyn Justice-Hinson, communications and community relations officer at Fayetteville Public Works Commission. “In their day to day, it is very dangerous and you don’t want people observing in harm’s way. But (this competition) is a safe environment to watch what they do and learn more about it.” Thursday, May 16, the public is invited to the Military Business Park off Santa Fe Drive to check out the 2019 Annual North Carolina Association of Municipal Electric Systems Lineman Rodeo. The event is free to attend.

Fayetteville last hosted the NCAMES Lineman Rodeo in 2002. Before that, it hosted the very first rodeo in 1998. “Many years ago, (NCAMES) decided to do the rodeo to showcase what electric systems do here in North Carolina to keep the lights on,” Justice-Hinson said. Participants, in the division of either Journeyman or Apprentice, compete in events that display the specialized skills and knowledge they apply in their everyday work. They’re scored on safety procedures, work practices, equipment handling and timeliness.

The rodeo kicks off at 8 a.m. with a brief opening ceremony featuring the Golden Knights, which is the U.S. Army parachute team; the 82nd Airborne Division “All-American” Chorus; and remarks by Mayor Mitch Colvin. The competitive events begin around 8:30 a.m. and last until approximately 2 p.m. 

Events include the Hurtman Rescue, Transformer Load Switching, Three-Phase Fuse Replacement, 4KV Single Phase Pole Transfer, URB Elbow Replacement, and Alley Arm Center Phase Insulator Change. Most involve climbing, with equipment, 40-foot utility poles and remaining stable and in place while performing timesensitive, technical work — then quickly descending back to the ground. The longest events of the rodeo have “drop-dead,” or cut-off, times of 20 minutes. The shortest and most popular event, the Hurtman Rescue, has a drop-dead time of 6 minutes, with points being deducted after the 4-minute mark.

“You won’t see this anywhere else; it’s a one-ofa- kind event that you really have to come and see to appreciate,” Justice-Hinson said. “I personally am amazed when I watch them climb the poles because it takes so much physical strength to climb and stay on the pole, let alone actually do the work once they’re up there. It’s very athletic. … It’s a fun event.”

She added that people bring lawn chairs and blankets for comfy viewing, that there will be lots of interesting equipment on display, and that at least four local food trucks will be present, too.

Carey Jacobs, PWC’s senior technical resources technician, said organizers are expecting more than 100 competitors from electric system cities across the state. “These are cities that have their own electric systems, like Fayetteville,” Justice-Hinson explained. “Other cities (that have their own electric systems) include Rocky Mount, New Bern, Greenville, Wilson and High Point, to name a few.”

The first- and second-place Apprentice and Journeyman, the third-place Journeyman and the Journeyman alternate winners will be recognized at 6 p.m. at the nearby Embassy Suites Convention Center. The winners will go on to compete as a team representing NCAMES at the national level, at the 2020 American Public Power Association Lineworkers Rodeo in Kansas City, Kansas.

“I would love to see a lot of people come out and support not only PWC lineworkers but the ones coming from across the state,” Justice-Hinson said. “A lot of these cities have come to help PWC during emergencies, and we’ve done the same thing for other cities.

“These guys go out in some of the worst conditions — whether it be cold or rain or wind. They’re the ones out there getting services back on and keeping your services on.”

Speaking of the most recent major weather emergency lineworkers had to deal with, Hurricane Florence, she said, “In that one, we had municipal electric workers from other states. Because so much of North Carolina was impacted, everyone was kind of dealing with their own system. We had lineworkers from Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia that came and helped in North Carolina.”

Another plus to the event, Justice-Hinson said, is it provides an exploration opportunity for those considering a career in the field. “There is a shortage of lineworkers,” she said. “It’s kind of an aging workforce. Every company is going to be looking for lineworkers in the future.... (This event) is a way for people to come out and see what’s happening and talk to lineworkers.

Fayetteville Technical Community College, which PWC collaborated with to create a lineworkers training program, will also be at the rodeo with information. “(PWC) has hired several people from this program, and this last FTCC class (to graduate from the program), every one of them was placed and got a job,” Justice-Hinson said. “I think there were 10 or 12 of them.

“It’s a really inexpensive course, it’s provided here locally, and it’s a really good bet for getting a job.” The course lasts eight to 10 weeks. To learn more, visit www.faytechcc.edu/corporatecontinuing-education/corporate-industrytraining/ and scroll down to “Line Worker Basic Training Course.”

The two days leading up to the rodeo, May 14 and 15, NCAMES will host its 58th Annual Engineering and Operations Conference, which draws 300-400 utility directors, engineers, linemen and all types of municipal employees involved in electric systems each year. The conference will be held near the rodeo grounds, at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, 4760 Lake Valley Dr. Attendees will receive industry updates on topics like issues and trends within public power, mutual aid response and new technology.

The rodeo grounds in Military Business Park will be easy to spot, with rows of 40-foot utility poles in place. The park is located off Santa Fe Drive. FTCC’s CollisionU center, at 2821 Procurement Circle, is located within the park for people who would like an address to put into their GPS. For more information, visit www.ncames.com or call PWC at 910-483-1382.