The Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association of Cumberland County presents its fifth annual spring symposium this month. The event has sold out the past two years and as a result has moved to the Ramada Plaza on Owen Drive. It takes place Saturday, March 23, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

This year’s speakers, Tony Avent and Carol Reese, are at the top of the East Coast horticulture circuit.

Avent is the Indiana Jones of horticulture. He’s a curator, breeder, columnist and creator of Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, both in Raleigh. His talks are titled “Hot Plants in Cold Places” and “Our Fine Textured Friends — The Magical World of Ornamental Grasses.”

Reese, a nationally known speaker, columnist and extension horticulture specialist at the University of Tennessee, blends gardening with her quirky humor. She’s offering talks titled “Beyond Azaleas” and “Sex in the Garden.” Yes, you read that correctly.

Come to the Ramada Plaza to hear these speakers and enjoy visiting vendors and gathering information. Avent will end with a brief but exciting auction of some interesting plants he grows.

This event raises scholarship funds for horticulture students at Fayetteville Technical Community College. It also supports the North Carolina/Cumberland County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in their effort to educate residents in state-approved horticulture practices.

Registration, which is currently in its “late” phase, costs $60. To register, visit Eventbrite.com and search “Master Gardener Spring Symposium 2019” in Fayetteville. Or, make a check out to CCEMGVA and send it to Lynne Grates, Treasurer, 301 East Mountain Dr., Fayetteville, NC, 28306.

For further information, call 910-261-1091 and ask for Judy Dewar.

When the power bill arrives every month, most people don’t think about what PWC, Fayetteville’s hometown utility provider, does not just for its customers but for the community and for the environment, too. Now is the time to find out. Friday, March 22, from noon-9 p.m., and Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., PWC will host its 5th Annual Power & Water Expo at SkyView on Hay.

Upon arrival, the first 500 visitors will receive a reusable tote. Carolyn Justice-Hinson, PWC spokeswoman, said that by the time people leave, their totes are filled with educational and useful items. These include fat-trappers, tree seedlings, LED energysaving light bulbs and other energy and water conservation tools. Attendees can register to win a $100 bill credit, too.

There will also be a drawing for a smart thermostat, which Hinson said is one of the best tools available to help manage utility bills.

The expo is also an excellent time to learn about upcoming billing changes. “Because we are going to change to time-of-use electric rates in May, this is a great time for customers who want to learn more about how it works and how they can take advantage of the lowest rates,” Hinson said.

Hinson sees this as a great opportunity for the community to get to know PWC and the people who work so diligently to keep Fayetteville’s lights on. She invites the community to come and get answers to their questions about all aspects of PWC.

“The cool thing is that we have employees from all over the company that volunteer to come to this, and they know the basic information about conservation and our programs,” Hinson said. “And they really enjoy interacting with people.”

There will be PWC representatives from the customer service department as well as conservation specialists, utility workers with equipment to show off, system protection employees, engineers and field service workers. This gives attendees the opportunity to learn about almost every aspect of PWC and its reach. Hinson encourages people to chat with the representatives and ask questions.

Several other organizations will be represented as well, including Sustainable Sandhills, the city of Fayetteville’s Stormwater program, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

“The idea behind that was looking at organizations that we work with and that offer value to our customers,” said Hinson. “When they come, it gives them a place to interact with the public, and it showcases our partnerships we have year-round.”

Action Pathways will also be at the expo to talk about its weatherization program and how it can have a significant impact on home utility bills. Cape Fear Botanical Garden will be at the expo, too. “They have a waterwise garden,” said Hinson. “We’ve partnered with them for 20 years.”

Radio stations Bob FM, Sunny, WKML, and Old School Jamz will be on-site throughout the event.

PWC has a long reach, to include Fayetteville Technical Community College, which will also participate in the expo. “We will be promoting in partnership with FTCC its new line worker program,” said Hinson. “(We want to) help promote that as a career opportunity. Additionally, people will be able to talk to line workers.

“As we continue to expand, there are always different types of jobs in the utility industry we will be looking to fill.”

While the event is free, Hinson suggests paying it forward and bringing a nonperishable food donation for the Second Harvest Food Bank food drive.

This is a family-friendly event, so bring the children. For more information, visit www.faypwc.com/pwcexpo.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s production of “Trumbo,” running through March 17, is not an easy play to review. The show’s program contains two pages of historical context and another two-page glossary to help orient theatergoers. There is no stage, no script and no action. To understand what plot there is, it helps to be a student of American political history. That said, “Trumbo” is a compelling drama.

Spanning the period from 1947-1960, during which time capitalism and communism were locked in a pitched battle for global ideological dominance, the play tells the story of Dalton Trumbo, a highly successful, award-winning Hollywood screenwriter who ran afoul of the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee.

Written by Christopher Trumbo, Dalton’s son, and ably directed by CFRT Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke, much of the show’s dialogue is taken straight from Dalton’s prolific correspondence between friend and foe alike. The juxtaposition in those letters between the noble and the mundane is both brilliant and spellbinding.

We meet Dalton for the first time as he defiantly takes on his HUAC interrogator only to watch his defiance dissolve into irritability as he pens a longwinded complaint to the phone company.

The audience is held rapt during the reading of a high-minded moral defense — with implications for our current political climate — only to dissolve in laughter minutes later as Dalton writes his college-bound son a hilariously ribald piece of fatherly advice.

The role of Dalton is played by Larry Pine, whose screen credits include “Bull,” “House of Cards,” “Madame Secretary” and “The Good Wife,” among many others. Pine plays Trumbo as an unfailingly erudite curmudgeon who manages to hold onto his sense of humor as the world shifts beneath his feet and he plunges from fame and fortune to impecunious infamy, dragging his family along with him.

That Dalton’s family unfailingly supported him is made evident by the role of his son Christopher in the play, who acts as the glue that holds the entire performance together. Played with endearing diffidence by Michael Tisdale, whose credits include “Law & Order” and “Third Watch,” Christopher provides the context for his father’s story and helps the audience see beyond the bluster to the man he loved.

The play ends with an unflinching, yet humorous, summing up of the cost of hewing to one’s convictions.

Whether Dalton was a martyr or a menace depends upon one’s political persuasion. But politics is a pendulum that swings both ways — which should make respect for First Amendment rights a matter of universal concern. That this has not always been so is what makes “Trumbo” an important piece of theater. Burke and CFRT are to be commended for bringing it to town.

Showtimes and ticket information are available from the CFRT box office at 910-323-4233. The box office is open Tuesday-Friday from 1-6 p.m. and one hour before showtimes. Learn more at www.cfrt.org.

Photo:  “Trumbo,” starring Larry Pine (right) and Michael Tisdale (left), is at CFRT through March 17.

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year. On that day 25 years ago — March 23, 1994 — 24 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division died in the aftermath of a collision of a C-130 cargo plane and an F-16 fighter jet at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Army Airfield.

One hundred other soldiers were badly injured in a fireball that erupted when the jet crashed onto Green Ramp and into a transport aircraft.

Five hundred troops had gathered in preparation for a routine training jump. Units on the day’s manifest were the 82nd Airborne Division’s 504th Infantry, 505th Infantry and 782nd Support Battalion (Main), as well as the XVIII Airborne Corps’ 525th Military Intelligence Brigade and 159th Aviation Group (Combat) (Airborne).

The soldiers at Green Ramp were engaged in a variety of activities in preparation for the jump. Just after 2 p.m., the F-16D Fighting Falcon collided with the C-130 Hercules transport while both tried to land at Pope. The Hercules touched down safely. The F-16 pilots ejected as their plane plummeted to the ground. It crashed and slid across the tarmac into a parked C-141 Starlifter.

Both planes exploded, spewing 55,000 gallons of fuel onto Green Ramp. A massive debris-filled fireball, described by some as 75 feet in diameter, roared through the staging area. Capt. James B. Rich, the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade’s logistics officer and a primary jumpmaster, had just finished rehearsing duties with the jumpmaster team.

Rich said in an April 1994 interview that during the ordeal he felt “fully exposed.” The sensation of the “intense heat of the fireball as it passed over … was like being in a microwave with the temperature getting hotter and hotter.”

He said he “expected to burst into flames.” Actually, the captain’s backside was on fire.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Airborne Infantry Regiment, who attended the jumpmaster’s review while sitting on the ground, jumped up and scattered in several directions after the explosion. Some of them ran toward the Jumpmaster School training area. Others bolted toward a fence, and still others tried to race behind mock doors of a training device. Some found safety. Most did not. The soldiers who hit the ground and rolled fared better than the troopers who ran. Those who escaped injury went to the aid of the less fortunate, many of whom were on fire.

General officers who later became legendary military leaders were among those in charge that day. Then-Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton, the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, praised the quick and impromptu response of the soldiers and rescue teams after the explosion. “When fear sets in, training takes over,” Shelton was quoted as saying in the Fayetteville Observer-Times, Mar 31, 1994.

One month before the accident, the 504th Infantry had to simulate evacuating dead and wounded soldiers during maneuvers at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. “Most of the things... (at the crash site) were exactly what we had trained for there,” said then-Lt. Col. Stanley A. McChrystal, the battalion commander.

Proud of the heroes of Green Ramp, the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, Maj. Gen. William M. Steele, said in an interview in April of ’94 that “It was soldiers saving soldiers.” Soldiers did “anything they could do to care for their buddies that were more seriously injured.”

From the mid-1970s well into the 1990s, downtown revitalization was a significant concern and topic of public discussion in Fayetteville. Newspapers, radio and TV carried sobering reports about the death of retail business downtown. Sears, J.C. Penney, Belk and numerous small shops had abandoned Hay Street. Cross Creek Mall and nearby strip malls became Fayetteville’s retail sales hub, serving south-central North Carolina.

The opening in 2000 of the world-class Airborne & Special Operations Museum changed everything. Business investors and local government took a renewed interest in the heart of the center city.

Today, less than 20 years later, businesses along Hay Street and the surrounding innercity streets yield more property tax revenue than the mall does. That was a surprising revelation by consultant Steve Auterman of Urban Design Associates of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. “You ought to be building more of what is getting you the best return,” he said.

Auterman provided Fayetteville City Council an initial conceptual report of ways his firm believes Fayetteville’s downtown can be transformed into a vibrant business, entertainment, residential and government complex. He gave the council a detailed report Mar. 4.

Auterman foresees a physical transformation of the downtown area, which he said extends far beyond Hay Street. He noted that the recent reconstruction of W. Russell Street can be utilized better, saying that only about 10,000 cars a day travel the six-lane road.

He added that on-street parking and bike lanes could easily be carved out along Russell Street. It would be one way of addressing the need for more parking availability.

“Make the best choices — not the easy choices,” was Auterman’s theme for almost every recommendation he made. “Increased value and vibrancy are the desired outcomes,” he added. 

With the new Rowan Street railroad overpasses nearing completion, the consultant said improving downtown gateways will foster in-town living and improve mobility. Auterman envisions a downtown residential neighborhood but emphasized the need for updated zoning, which now limits progressive residential growth. Modern design standards, he said, would help stimulate investments.

“It’s important that our decisions are critical and include well-planned areas,” said District 2 Councilman Dan Culliton. His district includes downtown.

Auterman said the real estate that City Hall and police headquarters occupy is valuable, but they should be relocated in the city center. Some Council members have considered the southern tip of Murchison Road as a potential location for city offices.

Urban planners believe that downtown expansion should occur east and south of the Market House. A performing arts center envisioned by county government could be built on Person Street. One location that’s been suggested is the former Greyhound Bus station property. Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said the next step for Urban Design Associates is to bring City Council specific ideas about how the city should implement downtown revitalization.

The North Carolina Board of Elections has set the dates for new elections that will decide the country’s last unsettled congressional race from 2018. The “redo” 9th Congressional District primary election will be held May 14, with the general election tentatively set for Sept. 10.

If no candidate wins more than 30 percent of the vote in the primary, a runoff election will be held Sept. 10, with the general election pushed back to Nov. 5. The 9th District runs from Charlotte to rural Bladen County.

Cumberland County is divided between the 8th and 9th Districts. The state elections board twice refused to certify the November 2018 election results because of concerns about tampering with absentee ballots. The Republican candidate, Mark Harris, has decided not to continue his quest for Congress. Democrat Dan McCready will seek the U.S. House of Representatives seat.

The board of elections ordered a new election when it determined that public confidence had been undermined “to an extent that a new election is warranted.”

Acting Cumberland County Schools superintendent named

Dr. Mary Black, associate superintendent of student support services for Cumberland County Schools, is serving as CCS acting superintendent while Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. receives medical treatment. Connelly Jr. has a cancerous tumor in his jaw and is undergoing treatment for it but continues to serve as his schedule allows, he said. Connelly Jr. added that the prognosis is good and that he is maintaining a positive outlook. 

Feb. 28, the county school board approved the appointment of an acting superintendent to serve as needed until Connelly Jr. recovers and returns fully to work.

County schools’ proposed FY20 budget

Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. recommended a local budget for the upcoming school year of $89 million. The county Board of Education received the recommendation at its finance committee meeting March 5. The budget requests an increase of $8.9 million in local funding from the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. In North Carolina, school boards do not have taxing authority.

Connelly’s overall recommended budget for the school system is $508.8 million, which includes state and federal funding. It proposes a pay increase of 3-5 percent for some staff members.

“To adequately address the needs of the whole child, and plan for the success of all students, we must increase the number of social workers, school counselors and school nurses that serve our students,” Connelly Jr. said in a prerecorded video presentation. 

Cumberland County’s pupil population has not grown in many years. It remains at approximately 53,000 students.

Local tuberculosis case being investigated

The Cumberland County Health Department is investigating a confirmed case of tuberculosis involving a person at Village Christian Academy on S. McPherson Church Road.

The health department was notified about the confirmed case last month and is required by law to conduct an inquiry following North Carolina TB Control Program protocols.

The private school’s administration is working closely with health officials to take appropriate action. Officials said there is a select group of people who may have been exposed to the disease.

People with prolonged, frequent or close contact with someone who has TB are at high risk of becoming infected. The disease has an estimated 22 percent infection rate, according to the World Health Organization.

The Cumberland County Health Department did not say whether the infected individual is a student or an adult. With the proper treatment, TB is almost always curable.

WebMD says doctors prescribe antibiotics to kill the bacteria that cause the disease. Patients with TB must take medications for six to nine months.

For questions or concerns regarding exposure, contact Duane Holder, interim health director for the county health department, at 910-433-3600.

Local government public relations

The county of Cumberland, the city of Fayetteville and nine partner organizations have launched a project to cultivate communitywide branding. The idea is to better communicate the community’s strengths, assets, diversity and vision.

The Fayetteville Cumberland Collaborative Branding Committee is leading this effort and includes representatives from the city, county, Tourism Development Authority, Vision 2026, Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and other agencies.

The FCCBC commissioned North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tennessee, to help create a new community brand, apparently designed to replace History, Heroes and a Hometown Feeling.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not around,” said Will Ketchum, president of North Star. “Branding is what you do to change or refine that message.”

In any human enterprise as complex, varied and challenging as education, we shouldn’t expect a great deal of consensus, much less unanimity. Politicians, educators, parents and citizens debate education policy constantly — not only because it is of crucial importance to our shared futures but also because the field simply contains many highly debatable questions.

Whether paying teachers extra if they obtain graduate degrees will make them more effective is not among those debatable questions, however, at least not anymore. In the vast majority of cases, the answer is no. Pay bumps for teachers with graduate degrees is cost-ineffective. If you seek to improve student learning, such a policy isn’t worth pursuing.

Over the past three decades, scholars have published more than 100 studies in peer-reviewed academic journals testing the proposition that possessing a graduate degree makes one a better teacher, all other things being held equal. In more than 80 percent of the empirical studies, researchers found no relationship between graduate degrees and measurable teacher effectiveness.

Of course, that does leave room for a few studies finding a positive association (as well as a few finding a negative one). Even for the positive studies, though, the finding is often narrow. There is a handful of studies showing that when teachers possess graduate degrees in the subject they teach, rather than in education, their students may benefit. But this evidence has mostly to do with graduate-level mastery of math or science, not with degrees in any and all subjects.

In a rare and praiseworthy occurrence of evidence- based policymaking, the North Carolina General Assembly decided several years ago to end the state’s pay supplements for graduate degrees. Lawmakers decided instead to reform the teachersalary schedule so that pay rose with gains in teaching effectiveness, which occur disproportionately in the early years of a teaching career, while also offering bonuses for exceptional performance.

In addition, an increasing number of North Carolina school districts are pursuing the flexibility to adopt new compensation systems that pay teachers more for assuming advanced teaching roles. We may also see greater differentiation as teachers get paid more based on hard-to-staff subjects and hard-to-staff schools, although political resistance to such common-sense practices — which are common in other professions — remains significant.

As North Carolina and other states continue to iterate and innovate, some promising teacher-pay reforms will pay off. Others may prove ineffective or even counterproductive. Policymakers should always be willing to subject their ideas to evaluation in realworld settings, which are inherently more complex than the models used to craft legislation.

Does that principle sound reasonable? If you think so, keep in mind that you are obligated to apply the principle consistently. If you pounce on every adverse finding to savage an education policy you dislike, yet insist that North Carolina restore pay supplements for graduate degrees because “it just makes common sense,” you are being grossly inconsistent.

But what about that narrow finding about students benefitting from teachers with advanced math or science degrees? Couldn’t North Carolina reinstate pay bumps for those special cases?

In theory, yes. In practice, it’s neither necessary nor workable. It’s unnecessary because if obtaining such a degree will improve teacher performance, we can capture the effect of that by rewarding the performance itself — measured however you like, by value-added test scores or principal evaluation or student surveys or some combination — rather than the acquisition of the degree.

Moreover, the distinction will never stick. When a few state lawmakers filed a bill this year to restore the pay bump, they extended it to all academic subjects. The North Carolina Association of Educators then welcomed the bill only as a first step to restoring the supplement for all graduate degrees, including those in education (which represent a large majority of the degrees at issue).

Restoring pay bumps for graduate degrees would be a triumph of special-interest pressure over sound policy, of image over substance, of hope over experience. North Carolina shouldn’t backslide. It should move forward.

When Ben Franklin offered that bit of advice from Poor Richard, he may have been thinking about the Knights Templar. Today, we climb into the Way Back Machine with Mr. Peabody to visit Medieval Times between the 1100s and the 1300s. Back then, knighthood was in flower. The Crusades were all the rage for the cool kids in Europe. Yep, it’s another history lesson from the thrilling days of yesteryear, even before the Lone Ranger rode the range.

Come with us now to the year 1118, when a French Knight named Hugh des Payens founded the Knights Templar. Hugh was chilling in Jerusalem, Israel, which was chronically jabbed by the local Moslems. Hugh decided to found an order of religious warrior monks to take up arms to protect travelers heading to the Holy Land. He started his own army, the Knights Templar.

De Payens was like Col. Walter E. Kurtz in the movie “Apocalypse Now.” Kurtz was way out in the Cambodian jungle refusing to take orders from his commanders and sowing destruction according to his plans. The general who sent Captain Willard to terminate Kurtz’s command described Kurtz as follows: “He’s out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. And he is still in the field commanding troops.”

Two hundred years after the Templara were founded, King Phillip IV of France felt the same about the Templara.

De Payens was a good organizer. He started with nine knights. By the time the Knights Templar reached its maximum size, there were tens of thousands of Templara organized into a standing army. No less an authority than the internet reports, the Templara had more than 15,000 Templar houses spread across Europe in the 1300s. The Templara project was to protect pilgrims heading from Europe to Jerusalem and to protect Jerusalem from the Moslems.

Pope Urbanus declared the first crusade in 1095 to keep Jerusalem out of Moslem hands. That crusade went pretty well. The crusades that followed, not so much. In the third crusade, the Templara threw an air ball and were defeated soundly by the Moslems, who were playing on their home court.

The Templara regrouped and still had the strongest army in Europe. They concluded that crusading wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. They needed a new line of work. Naturally, they decided to go into banking. Recall Woody Guthrie’s famous line: “Some will rob you with a six gun/ And some with a fountain pen.”

The Templara figured getting killed by Moslems wasn’t as financially rewarding as banking by robbing folks with a fountain pen. They came up with a system of banking by accepting deposits that allowed everyone from kings to serfs to borrow and send money from one location to another. This made the Templara enormously rich. They had more money than most kings. Everything was dandy for a while. What could go wrong?

If you have a lot of money, other people may think they ought to have your money. Enter King Phillip IV of France.

Phil was always warring with other kings. Wars cost money. Phil went to his local Bank of Templara and borrowed a potful of money. Borrowing money is fun. Paying it back is not so much fun. If you borrow money from the Russian mafia, they will expect you to pay it back, otherwise bad things may happen to you. It was no different in the Middle Ages.

Phil borrowed a ton of money from the Templara, who incidentally had an army. They expected him to pay it back. Phil really didn’t want to pay it back. This presented a conundrum. What to do?

Phil devised a strategy. He sent out his army to arrest all of the Templara at once and charged them with heresy. Like the FBI raiding Roger Stone’s house, Phil put the Templara on double-secret probation. He sent out his troops to arrest all the Templara in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 13, 1307. This was an unlucky day for the Templara. Since then, Friday the 13th has gotten a bad rap.

After some enhanced interrogation techniques, the Templara confessed to all sorts of gruesome things, including heresies and bad manners. Their property was seized. Phil’s war debt to the Templara was cancelled. You don’t have to repay heretics, particularly dead or imprisoned heretics.

The Templar Grand Master was Jacques de Molay. After some not-so-gentle questioning by the Inquisition, he admitted to everything. Jacques spent about seven years in prison before he was finally slowly burned at the stake for his alleged crimes. Before leaving this mortal coil, Jacques laid a mighty curse on King Phil and Pope Clement IV, telling them they would all die within a year and a day of Jacques’ death. Sure enough, Phil and Clement both expired within the time limit set by Jacques.

So, what have we learned today? There is more money to be made in banking than in being the guys who fight wars. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can rent it. If you borrow money, you better pay it back. Ben Franklin was right.

U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., stunned her Senate colleagues and her fellow Americans last week by revealing at a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee that a superior officer raped her during her 26 years of service as an Air Force fighter pilot.

Her disclosure comes on the heels of a similar admission in January by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that she was raped while she was in college and was later abused physically and emotionally by her husband. U.S. Rep. Kate Porter, D-Calif., has also said she was a victim of domestic abuse during her marriage.

Make no mistake. McSally was the first woman to fly as an Air Force fighter pilot, hardly a job for the faint of heart of either gender. McSally, Ernst and Porter have also made their ways to the highest level of our government, elected by millions of Americans to represent their interests in Congress — also not responsibilities for the faint of heart.

In other words, these women and millions of others less well-known are not people we would think of as likely victims.

At the same time, they are also not unusual. McSally said in interviews that she did not report the assault at the time because she did not trust the system. She was correct in her assessment. When she began talking about her experience, she said, “I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”

Ernst and Porter also began speaking about their experiences long after the fact.

Ours is a military community, and it defies reason to imagine that women — and some men — who are our friends and neighbors have not experienced sexual assaults. Such assaults are notoriously difficult to prosecute because they occur in private and involve “he said, she said” evidence in which the perpetrator says sex was consensual and the victim says it was not. The mostly male military culture coupled with its hierarchical structure mean that many victims make the same choice McSally made not to report what happened to them. Someone reading these words may well have made the same decision, often out of fear of career-changing retaliation.

There are some positive signs, though. The Defense Department claims reporting is up by 10 percent across the services. The change is even more dramatic at our nation’s service academies, where reports of sexual assaults are up 50 percent. Disclosures by victims like these women in Congress and other public figures also shine light on such crimes and encourage other victims to come forward.

Also, slow-as-molasses Congress is taking such assaults more seriously. Led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., now a candidate for president, lawmakers have removed the statute of limitations on assault and rape cases, criminalized retaliation against people who report such crimes, and mandated dishonorable discharges of dismissal of service members convicted of sexual assault or rape.

Efforts to remove sexual assault cases from the military decision-making chain of command and put them directly in the hands of military prosecutors have thus far failed but could be reintroduced as spotlights continue to shine and get brighter.

It is clear that McSally, Ernst and Porter felt alone with their experiences, as do victims in our community. There is help.

Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County has assisted people in need of support since the late-1970s. The phone number is 910-485-7273. The National Domestic Violence hotline does the same at its website or by calling 800-799-7233.

If it can happen to Martha McSally, it can happen to us, to our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends and to men we love.

Photo:  U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., was the first woman to fly as an Air Force fighter pilot. She recently revealed that she was raped by a superior officer while serving her country. Photo by Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons

Editor’s note: Publisher Bill Bowman cedes his usual column space to Earl Vaughan Jr. this week. Vaughan Jr. talks from a personal perspective about an issue plaguing Hope Mills leadership.

I’ve known Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner since she was the cheerleading coach at Douglas Byrd High School years ago. 

Warner was one of the first cheerleading coaches at that time who pushed the envelope for her young charges. She sought to have them treated as athletes and fought for opportunities to help them get better at what they did.

As often is the case when someone tries something new, there were those who pushed back, sometimes hard. Warner played by the rules, but whenever possible, she got those rules to change. Today,mcheerleading is officially recognized as a sport by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and even has its own championship competition.

So, where am I going with an editorial talking about Warner and her cheerleading days?

Well, she’s living them again in her relationship with the current Hope Mills Board of Commissioners.

Ever since she was elected mayor, Warner has worked to promote the town of Hope Mills, to improve the quality of life for both its citizens and its businesses, and to be an ambassador for the town.

I asked her for a copy of her schedule of duties as mayor for the last couple of months, and I got exhausted just reading the list. She’s attended countless meetings and official events, representing the town, boosting its image and networking with other political leaders in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

And that’s just her elected job. She also owns and operates a small business and is a grandmother of five, which at times calls on her to be a caregiver to small children in her family while their parents are working.

There’s a faction on the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners that seems to think Warner can’t handle all that work. So, they keep using rules and loopholes and other bits of sleight of hand to continue whittling away at the responsibilities Warner has to cope with.

Even though Warner was involved in the fight to restore the Hope Mills dam about as long as anybody, the board decided not to let her travel to Seattle, Washington, when the restored dam won a national award.

And since the board didn’t want Warner to have to worry about voting on decisions regarding town property, they passed a rule that all five members of the board have to vote on property issues, which means Warner will never get to cast a vote. 

They didn’t want her dealing with the headache of appointing members to certain committees, so the board recently voted to take that responsibility away from Warner, too.

And after Warner worked out a deal with the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to put some attractive artwork designed by UNCP students around town, no one on the board took the time to renew the deal to fund the art, since I guess they didn’t want Warner worrying about it taking up too much space.

It seems the board may finally be running out of things to take away from Warner, so in the spirit of former late-night comic David Letterman, I’ve got a “Top 10” list of things they might consider to put her completely at ease.

1. Construct a wall around her house. That way, she won’t be able to get out and do all those community-related things she does to boost the image of Hope Mills.

2. Build a garage for her at town hall, lock her car in it and don’t give her the key. This is in case she gets over the wall.

3. Force local businesses to relocate and get new phone numbers, then change street names so she can’t find them anymore to reach out for possible community partnerships.

4. Erect a “She’s Not Here” sign at town hall so people won’t bother her. Make sure said sign meets the newest, often-redrawn, sign ordinance.

5. Keep her from moving all her clocks ahead for daylight saving time. Then conduct all board business before she shows up for the meetings.

6. Since Warner can’t vote, let her present a monthly award for most uncooperative board member with a framed picture of the dam when it was still broken, since it’s hard to fix problems when elected officials can’t find it in themselves to work together.

7. Use some of that extra revenue from the distribution of county sales tax money that Warner helped negotiate with the Mayor’s Coalition to send her on an extended vacation.

8. Since she’s got a teaching background, set her up to teach a local course about ethics. The board members who skipped the earlier countywide ethics training that Warner helped organize can be the first students.

9. Close the mayor’s office, since the mayor can’t vote anyway. Fill it with copies of the decisions this board has made in the name of cutting Warner’s mayoral reach.

10. Finally, in case you haven’t figured it out, I’m kidding. Save one thing. Stripping Warner of mayoral authority isn’t good for her or the town of Hope Mills. Instead of being petty and power hungry, this board should work with her, not against her, for the benefit of everyone.

Besides, she’s not going anywhere.

Photo: Mayor Jackie Warner

The Child Advocacy Center, a charitable nonprofit organization that serves local victims of child abuse and their families, is gearing up for the Third Annual Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown. This spring fundraising event, held at the Crown Center Ballroom, takes place Saturday, March 23.

The 2017 and 2018 shows both sold out, bringing in nearly $40,000 each year. Those proceeds assisted in the various education and prevention programs offered by the CAC in partnership with other community resources. In fiscal year 2018, the CAC served 686 children.

For the Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown, 14 teams of local law enforcement, business owners, health care workers, school system employees and interested community members put together their best acts and give the audience a show like no other.

Julia Adkins, chairperson for the event, said the medleys and group act mash-ups are the most popular. “There were some great acts,” she said of the past two years. “The Michael Jackson mash-up and ‘Pitch Perfect’ tribute were phenomenal. The law enforcement group had props in their performance, and it was fantastic.”

Each year, the acts have evolved into bigger performances, and team slots have filled up faster. Seventyfive percent of the teams in 2018 were returning teams from 2017.

The teams compete to be crowned Top Fundraiser, People’s Choice and Fayetteville’s Ultimate Lip Sync Stars.

Twenty-year radio announcer Gayle Nelson and Cape Fear Regional Theatre Public Relations Director Michael Thrash will emcee this year’s show. Local actress Nicki Hart, local attorney Tim Edwards, District 12 judge Toni King and local singersongwriter and producer Kyng Bea will serve as judges.

Funds are raised via ticket sales, pay-to-vote and raffle tickets. Standard table tickets cost $50, and VIP table tickets cost $75. Both options grant access to a social hour at 6 p.m., which includes hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. The show starts at 7 p.m. and includes an intermission with desserts.

The VIP ticket additionally includes wine at the table, one vote ticket and one raffle ticket. Purchase tickets online at capefeartix.com or in person at the Crown Center Box Office, 1960 Coliseum Dr.

At the show or in advance online, audience members can vote for their favorite act for $1 per vote. Raffle tickets are also available for purchase prior to the show or in person; they are one for $5 or five for $20. This year’s prizes include a 50-inch Smart LED TV, an Apple watch with GPS, a karaoke machine and more.

To learn more about this event and the CAC, or to purchase votes or raffle tickets early, visit www.CACFayNC.org.

You can help

Here is a brief list of ways you can volunteer your time at the Child Advocacy Center, located at 222 Rowan St. in downtown Fayetteville. Applications for volunteer slots will open in late April. To see a longer list or to learn more, visit www.CACFayNC.org.

A CAC wish list follows.

Office:

• Answer phones

• Put information packets together for families

• Prepare educational workshop materials

• Help send out mass mailings

• Help with the Therapy Dog Program

• Get trained to lead prevention workshops

• Adopt the flower pots in front of the building

Development:

• Participate in fundraising events

• Increase opportunities for financial giving to the CAC

Marketing:

• Get trained to join the Speaker’s Bureau and share about the CAC at presentations to community civic groups, church groups, etc.

• Seek opportunities for publicity for the CAC in our community Community Coalition:

• Serve alongside other concerned citizens to find ways to promote child abuse awareness and prevention in our community

CAC wish list:

Therapy dogs, washable dry erase markers, sharpie markers in various colors, juice boxes, individually wrapped snack items for children, comfort blankets, children’s magazines, paper rolls for easel, canned soda, powdered creamer, sugar, coffee, hot and cold drink cups, paper plates, gift cards to grocery stores or office supply stores, 8 1/2 x 11” copy paper, parent magazines, Lysol spray, air freshener

Bill Boyette isn’t the type of coach who spends time trying to find good things in the losses on his schedule. But after guiding his Fayetteville Academy boys basketball team to this year’s North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 2-A state championship, he had to admit that a loss to Cape Fear Academy on Feb. 8 may have done his Eagles more harm than good.

The Eagles ended the season 27-3 and finished No. 2 in the entire state of North Carolina among both public and private schools, according to the MaxPreps rankings.

Boyette points to that defeat in the championship game of the Coastal Rivers Conference tournament at Harrells Christian Academy as a key to the season. It was the fourth time the Eagles and Cape Fear Academy had met each other, with Fayetteville Academy winning the three previous games.

“They are an awfully good team and we knew it was going to be a battle,’’ Boyette said. His team lost the third meeting 42-40. Boyette felt the Eagles got a timely message with the defeat.

“I sensed a little complacency on our team,’’ he said. “I could see we were happy where we were.’’

At the time, the Eagles were riding an 18-game winning streak and were headed to the playoffs, almost certain of the No. 1 seed in the 2-A field.

“There’s a lot of pressure when you’re on a winning streak,’’ Boyette said. “We pointed toward the one-and-done aspect of the postseason. We went back and talked about why we lost that game. We didn’t do anything different at the next day of practice, realizing we had to play four quarters of basketball every single game or we would be going home.’’

The Eagles did just that in their run to the 2-A championship. After a first-round bye, the Eagles rolled through four opponents with little trouble, the closest margin a 55-40 win over Northside Christian in the state semifinals.

“We just thought it was imperative we got off to great starts,’’ Boyette said of state playoff stretch. He didn’t feel the Eagles did that in the state semifinals and finals as the Eagles found themselves behind in both.

As has often been the case for Boyette championship teams, defense played a role in the victories. “I’m a man-to-man coach,’’ Boyette said, referring to his philosophy of playing defense. “Ironically, as it worked out, we went zone from the second quarter on in the semifinals. It worked wonders.’’

In the title game, the Eagles faced another familiar foe, Wayne Country Day School. Boyette recalled the rematch with Cape Fear Academy in the conference tournament and just mentioned to his team once that they’d be facing a team they’d already beaten twice in the regular season.

After the Eagles beat Northside Christian in the semifinals on Friday, Boyette said several of his players stayed around to watch Wayne Country Day in its 75-67 win over Freedom Christian in the semifinals.

“They got the idea it wasn’t going to be a matter of (just) stepping on the court,’’ Boyette said.

After a slow start in the title game, the Eagles took advantage of their height in the second half, pounding the ball inside to 6-foot-8 Emmanuel Izunabor and 6-foot-5 Williams Onyeodi. Izunabor scored 26 and Onyeodi added 18 as the Eagles took the third boys basketball title in school history with a 64-45 win over Wayne Country Day.

Boyette has a long history of making key adjustments at halftime and watching his team pull away in the third quarter. This time, he just had to remind them what their original game plan was. 

He told them they had done nothing in the first half to execute the game plan of pushing the ball inside and taking advantage of their height.

“Early on in the third quarter, Emmanuel got some big hoops inside,’’ Boyette said. “We were getting stops on the defensive end. You could see our confidence growing, and you could see Emmanuel’s confidence growing.

“We just pumped it inside the entire third quarter, and that was the difference in the game.’’

Boyette had his team in a zone for the entire second half, and even he admitted that, like his team, he had to make adjustments. “It’s something I’m not accustomed to doing,’’ he said of using the zone, “but maybe the good Lord was telling me I’m a little stubborn in my ways. He showed me a different route and it worked to our advantage.

“We were very effective in the zone. I felt it was a huge key.’’

Izunabor ended the season strong for the Eagles after a long period of learning under the guidance of Boyette. “Emmanuel is a heck of a talent,’’ Boyette said. “There were days I was awfully tough on Emmanuel. He’d be the first to tell you it always seemed like the coach was calling his name.’’

Boyette said all the time he spent pushing Izunabor paid off. “He reached the ultimate,’’ Boyette said. “He was at his very best the last two games of the season. I couldn’t be more proud of him.’’

Izunabor, a native of Nigeria, said playing for Boyette was tough, like learning the fundamentals of the game from the beginning.

“He helped me a lot,’’ Izunabor said. “I had to take advantage of it.’’

Izunabor will be one of 10 seniors Boyette loses to graduation, leaving Boyette with only two players from this year’s team returning next season.

“I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world,’’ Boyette said of the big group that is departing. “It’s hard to say what’s going to happen.

“We’ll have to go with what we have. Hopefully we’ll get some guys that want to make the move to Fayetteville Academy. Good Lord willing, we’ll get some guys.’’

Fayetteville Academy wasn’t the only team from Fayetteville that advanced to the finals of an NCISAA championship game this season.

In 1-A boys, Greenfield School defeated Northwood Temple Academy 68-67. Northwood, led by University of Louisville recruit Josh Nickleberry, finished 20-14.

In 3-A boys, Carmel Christian beat Village Christian Academy 65-64. Village ended the year 22-13. 

Other Fayetteville teams that advanced to the semifinal round in the NCISAA playoffs were Trinity Christian School (21-10) in 1-A boys, Freedom Christian (12-17) in 2-A boys, Village Christian (22-13) in 3-A boys, Trinity Christian School (16-6) in 1-A girls, Fayetteville Christian (26-2) in 2-A girls and Village Christian (19-6) in 2-A girls.

Do you remember the important North Carolina connection to “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” one of America’s most loved novels?

The book was written in North Carolina. Although its author, Betty Smith, based the novel on her experience growing up in Brooklyn, New York, she wrote the book in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As a struggling divorced woman with two children, she found work at the university until Harper & Brothers published her bestselling book in 1943.

It usually happens the other way, with the Southern writer moving to New York to write. So you would have to think that this Brooklyn to North Carolina story is something special, one not likely to happen again.

Surprise! It happened again Tuesday, March 5, when Smith’s publisher, now HarperCollins, released “A Woman Is No Man,” Etaf Rum’s debut novel. 

Like Smith, Rum based her novel on her life growing up in Brooklyn. Like Smith, the divorced Rum moved to North Carolina. Like Smith, she had two children. Like Smith, she found work in higher education — in Rum’s case, community colleges near where she lives in Rocky Mount.

Rum’s Palestinian immigrant family and neighbors in Brooklyn in the 1990s and 2000s are not the same as Smith’s families, whose roots were in western Europe.

Still, both books deal with women’s struggles to make their ways in families and communities dominated by men.

The central character in the first pages of Rum’s book is Isra, a 17-yearold Palestinian girl whose family forces her into marriage with an older man, Adam. He owns a deli and lives with his parents and siblings in Brooklyn. Adam and Isra move into the family’s basement. Isra becomes a virtual servant to Adam’s mother, Fareeda, who pushes the couple to have children. She wants males who can make money and build the family’s reputation and influence. When Isra produces only four children, all girls, she is dishonored by Fareeda. Adam beats her regularly. The central character of the second part of the book is Deya, Isra and Adam’s oldest daughter. Because Adam and Isra have died, Fareeda raises the children. Following the community’s customs, when Deya is a high school senior, Fareeda looks for a Palestinian man for her to marry. Deya wants to go to college, but she is afraid to bolt her family and the community’s customs. She knows of women who have stood up against male domination and then faced beatings and even death.

“A Woman Is No Man” is fiction, but it is clearly autobiographical. As such, Rum explains, the book “meant challenging many long-held beliefs in my community and violating our code of silence.”

“Growing up,” she writes, “there were limits to what women could do in society. Whenever I expressed a desire to step outside the prescribed path of marriage and motherhood, I was reminded over and over again: a woman is no man.”

She writes that “what I hope people from both inside and outside my community see when they read this novel are the strength and resiliency of our women.”

“A Woman Is No Man” will stir readers for other reasons, too.

Its themes of conflict between a drive for individual fulfillment and the demands of community and family loyalty are universal. Readers who have given up some life ambition because it conflicted with a family or community expectation will identify with Isra and Deya. So will those who have lost family ties when they breached community norms.

The author’s well-turned and beautiful writing makes reading a pleasure.

Finally, her careful, fair-minded, sympathetic descriptions of complicated and interesting characters give the story a classic richness.

Whether or not “A Woman Is No Man” becomes a best-seller and attains the beloved status of “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,” it will, in the view of this reader, surely be a widely appreciated treasure.

Photo: Etaf Rum

Fayetteville City Council has funded another outdoor swimming pool. The Lake Rim Aquatic Center will feature a kiddie pool plus a six-lane competition pool. Lake Rim Park is off Old Raeford Road on Fayetteville’s west side. Tentative plans are to build the pools on the park soccer field, according to the city.

M & E Contracting of Fayetteville received the $2.4 million contract. City Council formally adopted the construction contract without discussion Feb. 25. The project was agreed to several months ago.

The Lake Rim Aquatic Center will be the city’s fourth public swimming pool — the third since 2015. The others are Chalmers Pool at Seabrook Park on Slater Avenue, Bates Pool at College Lakes Recreation Center and Westover Pool off Bonanza Drive. The new Lake Rim Park facilities are being funded through regular capitol development appropriations, not the $35 million Parks and Recreation Bond referendum of 2016.

The city had been playing public pool catch-up since 2015 when it had but one pool. At the same time, Fort Bragg Family & Military Welfare Recreation operated five swimming pools on post, two of which are indoor facilities.

Under the leadership of former mayor Nat Robertson, the city decided to develop at least three pools and seven splash pads. Four splash pads are already open and a fifth is under construction. Fayetteville officials said attendance at city pools has increased by 40 percent since 2016.

As part of the aforementioned Parks and Recreation Bond issue, a multipurpose aquatic and senior center and fieldhouse were initially proposed. But the $28 million project was scrapped, according to Parks and Recreation Director Michael Gibson. It would have included a large indoor multi-use aquatic and senior center. Would-be features included an indoor pool, fitness room, racquetball courts, indoor track and playing surface and community meeting space.

Jerome Najee Rasheed, known in the music business simply as Najee, is set to perform at Fayetteville State University’s J.W. Seabrook Auditorium the evening of Saturday, March 16. Najee is a musical pioneer; he released many of his jazz and R&B hits before smooth jazz was solidified as its own genre. “Smooth jazz didn’t exist until the (19)90s,” he said. “When I came out in ’86, they created a separate billboard chart. There was a billboard jazz chart and a contemporary jazz chart, and I charted on both.”

Najee has been immersed in music his entire life. “My first exposure was through my mother,” he said. “She was an avid jazz listener. It was just part of the household musical experience — she listened to everything from R&B to jazz to Latin music to classical music.”

Najee’s childhood interest in music transitioned into a career shortly after he graduated high school. He went on tour with his brother Fareed in the band Area Code at the age of 18. “We toured all over the world with the USO for about a year,” he said. “Then my mother told me that I had to go to school and get a job.”

Najee’s early experience prepared him for success later on. After attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, Najee began performing with more big names in the industry. “When I couldn’t afford to go to the conservatory, my daughter and I went to New York (City) and got hired by Chaka Khan,” he said. “We toured for a year playing with her, and I signed in 1986 to Capitol Records.

“Since that time, I’ve worked with people like Prince and Quincy Jones.”

Najee released his first album, “Najee’s Theme,” in 1986. An immediate success, it received a Grammy Award nomination for best jazz album.

That trend of success continues. “Of my first four albums, the first two went platinum, the two after that were certified gold,” he said. “After that, it was actually Prince who convinced me not to sign to a label.”

Najee has collaborated with a handful of major artists, including Stevie Wonder, Freddie Jackson, Al Jarreau and George Duke. “The beautiful thing about all of that is I was fortunate enough to see the human side of it,” he commented.

“When you’re around it, they’re just like everyone else — they like to laugh, they like to have fun,” Najee said, specifically speaking about performing for President Jerry Rawlings of the Republic of Ghana at the White House during the Bill Clinton administration.

Najee hesitates to pick favorites when it comes to his performances, but he does admit to a few shows being particularly memorable. “I have many of those,” he said. “When Nelson Mandela was president of South Africa, he remarried and sponsored three concerts in South Africa. I was a guest along with Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan; we did this major, beautiful concert on his (Mandela’s) behalf.”

Though that event was nearly 21 years ago, Najee still remembers Mandela fondly. “What he did was a gift to the nation,” he said. “The highlight of it all was to have lunch with him in the presidential residence. He was such a nice and gracious man; you felt like you were sitting there with your father or grandfather.”

After 23 years in the music industry, Najee still tours the world and releases new content. “We’ve been on the road since last year: Europe, Africa, the United States,” he said of himself and his band. “We are touring now — I’m on a smooth jazz cruise with all the major artists.

“Fortunately, at this stage in my career, I choosem what I do. I’m having fun now.”

Najee’s 17th album, “Poetry in Motion,” is a tribute to his collaboration with two outstanding artists: Al Jarreau and Prince. Najee recalls his time with these and other artists as positive learning experiences.

“Les Brown once said that people grow through people and projects, and for me that’s been certainlytrue,” Najee said of his evolution as an artist. “Every situation I’ve been blessed to go into, I’ve been fortunate to take something from that experience.”

Despite his success in the industry, Najee is humble and thankful for what he does. “No two daysare alike,” he said. “My life is just not that bad, trust me — I have nothing to complain about, and I’m very grateful to be doing what I do.”

Aaron Singleton, personal relations representative for the Seabrook Performance Series at FSU, talked about the excitement Najee is bringing to the community. “We are so pleased to bring an artist at the caliber of Najee to Fayetteville,” he said. “(His) appearance is creating a lot of buzz around town.”

Najee said the audience can look forward to a wonderful and diverse experience. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Fayetteville,” he said. “I’m looking forward to meeting some new people, some students on campus that are musicians. We do that (bring people on stage). I don’t know who’s available as of yet, but I have friends around town who might surprise you.”

For the setlist, Najee plans on incorporating a variety of songs. “We perform things that I’ve recorded over the years... and we toss in the newer stuff as well,” he said.

Steve Mack, budget director at FSU, is thrilled to welcome Najee back to North Carolina. “I’m certainly looking forward to it. I’ve seen the great Najee many times — I take advantage of every opportunity I get,” he said.

Najee performs March 16 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at FSU’s J.W. Seabrook Auditorium, located at 1200 Murchison Rd. For tickets, and to learn more, visit www.uncfsu.edu/najee.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre brings “Trumbo” to Fayetteville March 5-17. In today’s politically charged climate, the story of Dalton Trumbo, a prolific and talented Hollywood screenwriter whose work spans seven decades of the 20th century, serves as quite a cautionary tale about the lack of due process run wild.

Before Trumbo was named as a member of the Communist Party — which was not illegal — and subsequently blacklisted and prohibited from working in films or any other entertainment medium, he was one of the highest-paid screenwriters in Hollywood. His films were routinely nominated for Academy Awards.

In 1947, Trumbo, citing freedom of speech, refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee or to give the committee the names of others in Hollywood with Communist sympathies. He was convicted of contempt of Congress and served 11 months in jail. Thus began the Hollywood blacklist, which extended to Broadway, radio and television.

Before the blacklist came to an end in the 1960s, an appallingly long list of entertainment personalities were deprived of their livelihoods.

Hard evidence of Communist infiltration or subversion of the entertainment industry was never uncovered, yet hundreds of people’s lives were ruined without due process and by finger pointing alone.

Larry Pine plays Trumbo in CFRT’s production of the same name. He’s acted in “All My Children,” “As the World Turns,” “Grand Budapest Hotel” and “House of Cards” among many other television and film credits. 

“Trumbo” was written by Trumbo’s son, Christopher, and is directed by CFRT Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke.

 Despite the serious backdrop of Trumbo’s professional life, the play is warm and witty, told through personal letters. “Trumbo was such a magnificent writer,” said Burke. “His use of language and his wit make ‘Trumbo’ a very funny... and irreverent play, and Larry is an actor who is able to put the language across.

“Trumbo is a role that actors who have a substantial body of work behind them are excited to take on.”

One example of Trumbo’s legendary wit was his response to his contempt of Congress conviction.

“As far as I was concerned,” Trumbo is famously quoted as saying, “it was a completely just verdict. I had contempt for that Congress and have had contempt for several since.

“And on the basis of guilt or innocence, I could never really complain very much. That this was a crime or misdemeanor was the complaint, my complaint.”

Michael Tisdale plays Trumbo’s son, Chris. He also voices the narrator and all other characters as they appear in the script.

Andy Nicks is designing the costumes. There will be no set for “Trumbo.”

“This show is going to be staged as ‘Disgraced’ was last year,” said Burke. “We use risers so that the audience surrounds the actors on three sides in what is known as thrust theater. There was such positive audience reaction to the staging of ‘Disgraced’ that we decided to use this more intimate staging again for ‘Trumbo.’”

“Trumbo” promises to be a relevant and entertaining evening. For performance dates and ticket information, contact the CFRT box office at 910-323-4233 or visit www.cfrt.org. Box office hours are 1-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and one hour before the show on Saturdays and Sundays.

Photo: Larry Pine

Poor North Carolina is suffering yet another black eye on the national stage.

Our latest injury was suffered — and the suffering is ongoing — in the 9th Congressional District, which currently has no representation in the U.S. House of Representatives because of a tainted election four months ago. Elections officials, state courts and the House all refused to certify the election or seat the Republican vote-leader because of suspected illegal tampering with absentee ballots in Bladen and perhaps Robeson counties. The North Carolina Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement has ordered a new election, yet unscheduled, which is shaping up to pit a Democrat with a substantial war chest against whoever prevails among a growing field of Republican hopefuls.

The situation has been front page and TV story material for weeks, as Republicans defended their candidate — who had hired a political operative suspected of election fraud and now charged with it.

In a twist worthy of Shakespeare, the federal prosecutor son of the Republican candidate, himself a Baptist minister, testified to the Elections Board that he had warned his father about irregularities in absentee voting as early as 2016. After tearing up in the hearing one afternoon, the minister-turned-politician stunned everyone the next day by announcing there should be a new election and that he would not be a candidate. Political pundits wondered whether the former candidate was worried about possible perjury charges.

It all made for riveting news from a state that has been in the spotlight too many times for all the wrong reasons in recent years, and the sad tale confirms some unflattering facts about North Carolina political life. It exposes questionable election practices that may have been going on for years, in at least some counties, and brings up possibilities that law enforcement and prosecutors may have been asleep at the wheel at best and turning a blind eye at worst.

It suggests that some candidates want to win so badly they will cheat to do so. And make no mistake. Voter fraud in which a person tries to or does vote illegally is not in the same league as election fraud, where numerous ballots, in this case absentee ballots, are cast illegally. Some say a few ballots were cast illegally in the 9th Congressional District, some say hundreds were, and it could have been thousands. Chances are that we can never know for sure, which is why voters will get a second chance to vote in a member of Congress.

All the news about this is not bad.

Our system did work, though slowly. When problems became apparent, the Board of Elections refused to certify the questionable election, and investigations began, resulting in the indictment of the alleged mastermind and the questioning of others. The fellow in Bladen County cannot be the only person to have figured out an absentee ballot scheme, so elections officials across North Carolina are now more aware of the nefarious possibilities.

The spotlight has also shone on the ridiculously gerrymandered shape of the 9th Congressional District, which runs from Charlotte almost to the Atlantic Ocean and contains parts of nine of North Carolina’s 100 counties. That in itself is a strong argument for constraints on partisan political gerrymandering. The General Assembly has several bills addressing gerrymandering before it this session. If you care, let your legislators know that you do.

Finally, the disaster that was the 9th Congressional District election and its upcoming redo send a message to all who value the election system that has sustained our nation for nearly 250 years. This system must be guarded and valued not just by elections officials and the criminal justice system but by all citizens.

The lesson is we must all keep our eyes open during election season.

A new chapter in Fayetteville baseball history will be ushered in when the Woodpeckers, the Houston Astros’ advanced Class A affiliate in the Carolina League, plays its first home game. The game will take place Thursday, April 18, at the new downtown Segra Stadium on Hay Street.

As we look forward to the future of baseball in Fayetteville, it may be appropriate to look back on a pivotal piece of Fayetteville history. Almost everyone is familiar with the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth and his connection with Fayetteville.

The story begins when local merchant Hyman Fleishman convinced Jack Dunn Sr., the owner and manager of the Baltimore Orioles, to return to Fayetteville for the 1914 spring training. When the Orioles team arrived in Fayetteville by train, they were disappointed by cold temperatures barely above freezing. The team stayed at the Lafayette Hotel on Hay Street.

Young George Herman Ruth was greatly amused by the hotel elevator and would spend his evenings riding up and down from floor to floor. Rain, which occurred during part of the training, prevented the team from training outdoors. So, arrangements were made to use the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Armory for indoor catching practice.

While here, Babe Ruth and the Orioles had the opportunity to play against the cadets at the Donaldson Military School located off Raeford Road. Ruth played shortstop, had a double and a triple and scored four runs. Donaldson Military School was defeated in a score of 24-6.

Members of the Fayetteville High School varsity basketball team asked the Orioles if they would care to play a game of basketball. The Orioles accepted the challenge, and the game took place in the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Armory. The Orioles were also great basketball players, defeating Fayetteville High School’s varsity team.

March 7, 1914, while playing an intra-squad exhibition game at the Cape Fear Fairgrounds, George Herman Ruth hit his first home run in professional baseball, hitting the baseball 135 yards. It was Ruth’s fifth day as a professional, his first game and his second time at bat.

Roger Pippen, a sports writer, was covering the game and wrote for his newspaper: “The next batter made a hit that will live in the memory of all who saw it. The ball carried so far to the right field that he walked around the bases.”

It was here in Fayetteville that Ruth acquired the nickname “Babe.” Before leaving Fayetteville, Jack Dunn Sr. announced the list of players he intended to keep for the regular season, and Babe Ruth was on the list. Concerning Ruth, Dunn said, “He hits like a fiend and seems to be at home in any position, even though he’s left handed.”

April 5, 1935, Ruth returned to Fayetteville with the Boston Braves to play an exhibition game against North Carolina State College. This game drew a crowd of more than 4,000 fans, keeping Ruth busy signing autographs.

When Ruth died in 1948, residents mourned the loss of this great baseball legend. Maurice Fleishman, a Fayetteville merchant, had been a batboy at the Cape Fear Fairgrounds in 1914 when Ruth hit his first professional home run. Fleishman led the effort that resulted in a citywide celebration for the unveiling of a state historic marker placed on the site of the old fairgrounds.

Friday, March 22, the Fayetteville Transportation and Local History Museum will open a new exhibit entitled “Fayetteville Baseball Fever” that explores the local history of this popular sport. The museum is making a call for artifacts specific to baseball in Fayetteville and photographs related to baseball history in Fayetteville-Cumberland County. If you have any artifacts that you would like to loan, or any photographs that could be scanned, please call the museum staff at 910-433-1457.

Ashunti Cummings

Gray’s Creek • Track • Senior

Cummings has a grade point average of 4.1. Last year she was named the Gray’s Creek winner of the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award.

Jarrett Jacops

Gray’s Creek • Track • Senior

Jacops has a 3.7 grade point average. He has competed in both middle- and long-distance races and the long jump for Gray’s Creek.

A treat we haven’t experienced locally in at least a decade, the Christian music trio Phillips, Craig & Dean brings a spirit-filled night of worship to Fayetteville Community Church on Thursday, March 14. The “All Creation Sings Tour” hit the road March 5 starting in Dallas, Texas, and Fayetteville is its next-to-last stop.

Transparency, passion and integrity have long been the foundation for Phillips, Craig & Dean’s music and ministry. For more than two decades, the trio has churned out some of Christian music’s most enduring hits. One of these hits is “Revelation Song,” which recently earned Recording Industry Association of America’s gold single status, signifying downloads of more than 500,000. This is only the seventh time in the history of Christian music that a single has reached gold status.

The song spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Adult Contemporary chart and also topped the National Christian Audience chart, AC Indicator chart and Soft AC charts. “The songs are usually things that come out of our hearts as pastors,” Phillips said. “All three of us serve full-time as lead pastors, and sometimes the people sitting in the pews form what God’s trying to say to you.”

Those in attendance March 14 are sure to hear the songs Phillips, Craig & Dean are known for — as well as plenty of new music that may define the group from this point forward.

“I think the songs on (our latest) album are some of the best we’ve ever written,” Craig said. “It seems like we all really hit this grace place, with inspiration really pouring through us, and I praise God for that.”

The groundbreaking success of “Revelation Song” is only one of many impressive accomplishments in the group’s storied career. Phillips, Craig & Dean has created 23 No. 1 singles, won three Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and sold nearly 3 million units.

The group continues to tour while always being present Sunday through Wednesday to pastor their home churches. Phillips is based in Austin, Texas; Craig in St. Louis, Missouri; and Dean in Carrollton, Texas.

After more than two decades of music ministry, Phillips, Craig & Dean remain as passionate as ever about sharing the gospel through music. While serving as pastors at their home churches and while traveling and performing all over the world, they’ve seen the impact a great song can have on a congregation.

Fayetteville Community Church, the location of the March 14 worship night, is located at 2010 Middle River Loop. Phillips, Craig & Dean take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and concert information are available at WCLN’s website, www.christian1057.com.

Military spouses often have to maintain disrupted households, raise children, work outside the home and take on duties their partners normally tend to.

Military family advocates say some disturbing trends related to deployments have emerged in a recent survey. Only 19 percent of spouses indicated they had excellent or very good military support during their service member’s most recent deployment. That’s lower than what spouses reported in 2015. Deployments have become commonplace during nearly 18 years of warfare in Afghanistan.

Twenty-three percent said readjustments have been difficult for their service members upon return from deployment, also higher than 2015.

“What that tells me is that something’s going on in a bad way with the level of support offered families during deployments,” said Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association. “I think families get more isolated,” she added.

The survey, a scientific random sampling of spouses, was conducted by the Defense Department across the U.S. military establishment. The results can be generalized to the entire spousal population. It explored topics ranging from spouse employment and childcare to finances. Of the 45,077 active-duty spouses selected for the survey, 9,813 completed it, or 17 percent.

Vice President Mike Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, is using her position to help wives overcome the challenges that come with being wed to activeduty servicemen. Karen sees spousal happiness as key to military readiness. Unhappy spouses lead to unhappy service members who eventually will quit. She wants to launch a campaign to elevate, encourage and thank military spouses.

Karen’s effort is reminiscent of Joining Forces, an initiative that promoted military families. It was led by former first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of former Vice President Joe Biden. Karen said Joining Forces made a lot of progress for military spouses in making the states aware of uncoordinated licensing issues. It prompted legislative changes.

But a recent study by the University of Minnesota found that, while state laws may have been updated, information provided by occupational boards is sometimes lacking. The study found that some employment applications omitted questions about military status, and some websites had no information about transfer opportunities for military spouses.

The survey also found that loneliness was a problem for military wives during their husbands’ most recent deployment. The increasing sense of loneliness and lack of connectedness is a finding echoed in results from the 2018 Blue Star Families’ Military Family Lifestyle Survey. A.T. Johnston, deputy assistant secretary of defense for family policy, said it struck her that nearly 50 percent of the spouses of soldiers holding the paygrades E1 to E4 soldiers reported loneliness as a common problem during deployments.

“Helping our newest service members learn how to connect is one of the best things we can do to help with resiliency,” she said.

Meetings

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

• Board of Commissioners Saturday, March 9, 8 a.m., Camp Rockfish Retreat Center (Budget workshop for fiscal year 2019-20)

• Fayetteville-Cumberland County Human Relations Commission Thursday, March 14, 5:30 p.m., Luther Board Room, Town Hall

Activities

• Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Senior programs at the Parks and Recreation Center. The Senior programs for people ages 55-plus who are residents of Cumberland County have resumed. The rec center was closed in mid-September after Hurricane Florence. Various activities are now back and are scheduled Monday through Friday throughout the day. For details on times and days, check the schedule at www.townofhopemills.com, call the rec center at 910-426-4109, or email Kasey Ivey at kivey@townofhopemills.com.

• 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.

Promote yourself

Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

Fayetteville Fire Chief Ben Major has retired after 35 years of service with the department. Deputy Chief Mike Hill has been appointed interim chief.

A graduate of E.E. Smith High School, Major was hired as a firefighter in February 1984 after completing undergraduate studies at Pembroke State University. He went on to complete a master’s degree in public administration at the University of North Carolina – Pembroke. Major was promoted to chief of the department in October 2011.

The Fayetteville Fire Department consists of 15 fire stations and 332 personnel. The fire department received international accreditation in 2011 and was re-accredited in 2016 by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. During Chief Major’s tenure, the department earned an Insurance Services Office Class 1 Public Protection Classification, placing the FFD in the top 1 percent of fire departments in the nation.

“Ben’s commitment to constant improvement of services and personnel was his greatest strength,” said City Manager Doug Hewett. Interim Chief Hill has served the Fayetteville Fire/Emergency Management Department for more than 25 years. He has served as a deputy chief since 2010. The city of Fayetteville has always promoted its fire chiefs from within the ranks.

Voter identification struck down

A judge has thrown out two amendments to the North Carolina Constitution that voters approved in November. One of the amendments was to implement a voter ID requirement, and the other was to place a cap on the state income tax rate. News of the actions was not widely disseminated. Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins’ decisions were issued late Friday afternoon, Feb. 22.

“An illegally constituted General Assembly does not represent the people of North Carolina and is therefore not empowered to pass legislation that would amend the state’s constitution,” he wrote. 

When the legislature voted to place the amendments on the 2018 ballot, many of the members had been elected under district lines that were ruled unconstitutional because they had been gerrymandered to dilute the political power of African-American voters.

GenX controls continue

Recently, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and other parties that signed a consent order made public last month learned the courts have approved the order. Downriver reduction in GenX in the Cape Fear River Basin will continue as the result of the order. Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser approved the decree in its entirety, giving relief for people near the Chemours plant on the Cumberland/Bladen County line.

“Reliable, clean water is a right of every North Carolinian,” said DEQ Secretary Michael S. Regan. “This order was designed to ensure that the Cape Fear River can be that reliable, clean source for all who depend on its water.”

All terms of the order went into effect Feb. 25. Regan said DEQ will use the full weight of the court’s contempt to hold Chemours accountable.

Stadium naming rights continue

The Fayetteville Woodpeckers have partnered with AEVEX Aerospace in the naming of Segra Stadium’s premium club level facilities. AEVEX is a defense industry leader in airborne intelligence solutions. AEVEX Veterans Club patrons will enjoy an indoor/outdoor fan experience from the optimal vantage point in the ballpark. Lounge/ couch seating will come complete with bar service, premium food offerings and waitstaff to highlight the club’s dining experience.

AEVEX’s capabilities include three business units: Intelligence Solutions in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Flight Operations in Solana Beach, California; and Engineering & Technology in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Its operations are global in scale, with efforts in North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Pacific region and the Middle East.

 “AEVEX operates internationally and has an obvious attachment to Fort Bragg,” said Woodpeckers President Mark Zarthar. “With offices located adjacent to Segra Stadium, they have expressed confidence in Fayetteville’s vision for economic development in the city’s historic downtown.” 

Cumberland County educators focus on the future

Nearly 500 students, parents, educators and others gathered at a recent town hall meeting to discuss potential strategic plan focus areas derived from information gathered by Cumberland County Superintendent Marvin Connelly’s listening tour, district surveys and accreditation reports. 

The county Board of Education and Strategic Plan Development Team will review the feedback, which will help shape the school system’s strategic priorities over the next five years. School officials hope to begin implementing the plan this fall.

“Our work is directly connected to the quality of life our students will enjoy later in life and the economic vitality of our community,” Connelly said.

Nearly a dozen focus areas will be reduced to three to five action priorities. They include: graduating every student confident, competitive and ready for a career and college; providing a variety of classes and activities that reflect student interests and backgrounds; offering a learning environment that supports growth academically, socially and emotionally; ensuring that school buildings are safe, secure, orderly and provide innovative learning environments; and engaging parents and the community to build trusting relationships.

Photo: Ben Major