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  • 16 Peggy Hall Friends and professional acquaintances of the late Peggy Hall mourned the death of the former Cumberland County Board of Education member and praised her as a person with deep concern for the students and teachers she worked to serve.

    Hall, 78, died on Jan. 8. A career vocational education teacher with  30 years of experience, she made her first bid to run for the school board when her late husband McKinley “Mackey” Hall, himself a career educator, decided not to seek re-election to the board for health reasons.

    Dr. Marvin Connelly, superintendent of the Cumberland County Schools, released a statement on the death of Mrs. Hall.

    “Mrs. Peggy Hall was an extraordinary educator and a dedicated school board member who always put students first,’’ he said. “Her many contributions to Cumberland County Schools will never be forgotten. The field of education has lost a great advocate for children and public education. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones during this difficult time.’’

    Hall was elected to the Board of Education in the November 2016 election to fill the District 6 seat on the board which covers schools in the Hope Mills area of Cumberland County where her late husband Mackey called home.
    Peggy Hall stepped down from the board last June because of health and personal reasons.

    Greg West, who currently serves as vice-chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Education, said Mrs. Hall brought 30 years of experience as a vocational education teacher to
    the board.

    While her late husband focused most of his energies as a board member in the areas of school facilities and athletics, West said Mrs. Hall placed an emphasis on the students in the classroom.

    “She was always polite and respectful,’’ West said. “She and Mackey wanted what was best for Cumberland County. She was a great lady. They are together again.’’

    Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner taught with Mrs. Hall on the faculty at Douglas Byrd High School years ago. The two continued their friendship through the years when Mrs. Hall married Mackey and they lived in a home on South Main Street in Hope Mills, across from the furniture business operated by Warner’s husband, Alex. Warner said her relationship with Mrs. Hall goes back 40 years, even before she met and married her husband Alex.

    “I always had a lot of respect for her,’’ Mayor Warner said of Mrs. Hall. “She was always an advocate for children. I don’t know a harsh word that was ever spoken about her. People that worked with her liked her. She was good with parents and good with kids.’’

    Hope Mills Board of Commissioners member Pat Edwards got to know Mrs. Hall through her friendship with Mackey Hall. “She was a very delightful person, very caring,’’ Edwards said. “She supported everything Mackey did. She was a beautiful person, inside and out.

    “She loved Hope Mills and she loved the school system. She was proud to live here.’’

    Edwards said both Mrs. Hall and her late husband Mackey were the kind of people who would do anything for you.

    Carolyn Thompkins, another longtime friend of Mrs. Hall, also got to know her initially through her friendship with Mackey Hall.
    “She was an amazing woman, an amazing teacher,’’ Thompkins said. “She was like a little bumblebee, all over doing everything, pleasing everybody. She was one of the people I put on a pedestal. She earned the right to be up there.’’
    Thompkins said Mrs. Hall was especially articulate, and had the ability to speak to people of any station in life on their own level. “She could escalate up or down,’’ Thompkins said. “She was so empathic, so caring.

    “She was just a shining star. She’s an asset to heaven and a loss to us.’’

    Susan Dees said she and her late husband, former Hope Mills mayor Eddie Dees, would drive to Horry County in South Carolina with Mrs. Hall and her late husband Mackey to enjoy the oyster roasts there.

    “She loved Mackey Hall and grew to love Hope Mills,’’ Dees said. “She enjoyed being on the school board. She had a passion for children and the schools.’’

    Margaret Ledford, wife of the late Randy Ledford, longtime football and baseball coach at South View High School, knew Mrs. Hall through her relationship with Mackey Hall when he was assistant principal and athletic director at South View High School.

    “She’d call me once in awhile and we’d talk on the phone,’’ Ledford said. “She was so easy to talk to, friendly and caring. She was a very sweet lady.’’
     
  • 15 college studentsFayetteville Technical Community College's Central Sterile Processing Program offers students a chance to learn a new career and enter the health field in just 16 weeks.  Sterile processing is a field that does not receive a lot of attention, so spreading the word about opportunities in this field is a top priority.  It is a growing profession and needs trained, quality and technical individuals.

    The Central Sterile Processing Program is part of the Department of Surgical Services at FTCC.  We offer a curriculum program, and our campus is military friendly.  The program’s goal is to provide the community with highly trained, certified technicians to build the local workforce.  Upon completion of the program, students will have the knowledge and skills to successfully pass the national certification exam provided by the Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution, Inc. as a Certified Sterile Processing Department Technician.

    The Sterile Processing Department is considered to be the “heart” of the hospital, as infection control starts here. SPD consists of disinfection, decontamination, preparation and packaging, sterilization, sterile storage, and distribution of medical supplies and equipment. Students must have a working knowledge of the SPD environment, including the types of chemicals used, surgical instrumentation, processes, record-keeping in addition to critical thinking and troubleshooting skills to name a few. Technicians must be able to provide safe, quality patient care.

    The program is offered every fall semester and runs from August to December. Classes are broken up into two eight-week sessions. The program offers a combination class taught during the first eight weeks on campus in the evenings and shares information on an introduction to sterile processing, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and medical terminology. There is also a lab portion that meets two evenings a week and gives the students the opportunity to learn and demonstrate the necessary skills to prepare for the clinical environment. The second eight weeks are comprised of clinical hours and professional development in preparation for employment. Clinical hours are scheduled at various facilities with a minimum of 18 hours a week and vary from day to day based on the assigned location. Students are prepared for entry-level positions and are job-ready upon completion.

    To find out more information and how to apply, visit https://www.faytechcc.edu/academics/health-programs/central-sterile-processing/, contact me at gallowas@faytechcc.edu or call 910-678-9861. In addition to receiving affordable, high-quality education, students who attend Fayetteville Technical Community College have unique opportunities to network and experience leadership roles, enjoy athletics and much more. We invite you to visit our campus locations in Fayetteville, Spring Lake, or Fort Bragg and become a member of our team. Make the SMART choice for your education — Fayetteville Technical Community College.  

  • 13 01 business rally 1If you are a local business owner or are looking to start a new venture, the Building Business Rally, which will be held on Jan. 30, is a must for you.

    “This could have one of the biggest impacts on keeping dollars local than any other event this year,” said Christine Michaels, president and CEO of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber.

    The event will be held at the Ramada Plaza, 1707 Owen Dr., from 2-6 p.m., and features purchasing and procurement representatives for Fayetteville and Cumberland County’s largest buyers who have over $1 billion of needs and opportunities for local vendors, regardless of your business.

    “To have the purchasing staff from the major companies and government entities all in one place, and all with dollars to spend, is an unbelievable opportunity for local businesses to make the right connections,” said Michaels.

    Robert Van Geons, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation, said the Building Business Rally is significant for our community. “These major organizations spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and if they have to go out of Fayetteville/Cumberland County to find businesses to meet their procurement needs, we are exporting that wealth to other people and places,” said Van Geons. “Imagine if we spent all our public dollars here, how much better our community can be. Our hope with events like the Building Business Rally is by educating our entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs, we can build that ecosystem, keep more dollars local and churn that funding through our local economy.”

    13 02 UAC012220015The town of Hope Mills is one entity looking to keep their dollars local and will be at the event. In the next five years, the town projects it will spend over $35 million on major projects, including the construction of the John W. Hodges Public Safety Building, design and implementation of the Heritage Park Masterplan, and the Hope Mills Golf Course Masterplan.

    “As we continue to see huge increases in future economic development, focusing on our local contractor and vendor base is paramount to the growth of the base of local businesses in this region, “ said Chancer McLaughlin, planning and economic development director for town of Hope Mills. “This event is so important to us because growing our local general contractor pool is vital to creating a sustainable tax base that ultimately results, not only in keeping local companies in business but also helping retain many of the local college students, creating opportunities for employment.”  

    The Building Business Rally is part of a communitywide initiative by local elected officials to increase the amount of funding spent locally on the wide range of service, supply and equipment purchased by local government.

    Michaels emphasized the event is for every type of business, and the needs of these organizations are not just construction. Suppliers, professional service providers and prime and sub-contractors of all sizes should attend.

    “We are educating and engaging local businesses on how to work with us and the types of goods and services we need, “ said city of Fayetteville Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen. “We will be there because it’s vital that our community foster an environment where businesses can thrive and grow. Even though you think you might not belong there, check it out and you may just find an opportunity that’s perfect for you.”

    Michaels said one might equate the Building Business Rally to attending a job fair, only here you are connecting your business to organizations that have money to spend and are looking for local vendors to spend it with.

    “Having attended a previous rally, I would encourage other businesses to bring materials such as a capability statement that tells them about your services, references that can talk about your performance and business cards because you want to make sure you stand out,” said Michelle Horne, president and CEO of Landart Solutions. “Time is money. It’s exciting to have a one-stop-shop and be able to participate in and find opportunities throughout the community in a short period of time.”

    Over 100 businesses are recognizing the potential opportunities available and have already registered to attend the Rally. James Suber, owner of  JS Designs is registered and says as a small business, getting the word out is hard and the event makes that easier for him. “I am looking forward to it because I hope to get the word out about the services we have to offer and hopefully gain business. I think this is a great opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to the community.”

    Joel Angarita of BGS Services agrees that as a local small business, his biggest challenge is getting his company’s name out to the community and says the Building Business Rally offers even more than promoting his services. “I also believe by attending, it will help recognize the gaps that aren’t being filled here,” he said.

    This is an opportunity to introduce your company to 15 major organizations and tell them how you can help them and find out what they are looking for,” said Ramona Moore, director of sales and marketing for Holiday Inn & Suites West/Fort Bragg.

    Even with extensive involvement and a long work history in our community, Moore knows taking advantage of this opportunity is important to her and other local businesses. “As a new hotel, I need to get the word out, and this is the perfect (venue) for that. … I would tell all businesses to take advantage of this great event and don’ t miss this opportunity.”

    The Building Business Rally is free to attend. Businesses are encouraged to preregister at www.faybids.com or can register at the door. All registrants will have their company information shared with the participating procurement representatives.
     
  • 02 BaseballThis week, Bill yields his space to sports writer Earl Vaughan Jr. to address the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The sport of baseball has a relationship with its own rules that often defies description.

    While sports like football and basketball seem to insist that rules be enforced with precision and accuracy across the board, baseball is the one major sport where the competitors seem to approach certain aspects of the game with a wink and a grin. I had the great fortune to interview legendary pitcher Gaylord Perry. For those not familiar, Perry’s a North Carolina native best-known for his alleged mastery of an illegal pitch called the spitball. He never admitted that he threw it, but there were strong suspicions and a trail of frustrated batters that would swear he did. But while Perry’s spitter was legendary, another staple of baseball is the stealing of signs.

    Again, for the uninitiated, here’s what that involves. The catcher gives a signal to the pitcher as to what pitch to throw. This usually involves dropping down a different number of fingers that represent each pitch. The pitcher either accepts the signal or he shakes off the sign and the catcher makes another suggestion. It’s possible for players on the opposing team to see these signs. The next step is to figure out the code the pitcher and catcher are using so the batter can be alerted to what pitch the pitcher is throwing. For a Major League player, that information is a huge asset that will most often result in him getting a hit. This has been going on since the game was invented.

    No complaints. Until now. You may have heard about the Houston Astros cheating scandal. They just happen to be the parent team of Fayetteville’s minor league affiliate, the Woodpeckers. The Astros have been accused of taking the art of sign stealing into the 21st century. With the help of electronic enhancement, they picked up the other teams’ signs then relayed the information to the batter. So guess what? The Astros won the 2017 World Series 4-3.
    The commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, warned the Astros to stop. Apparently, they didn’t.

    So, Manfred suspended Astros manager A.J. Hinch and G.M. Jeff Luhnow for a year. The team then fired both men. The dominos continued to fall as Alex Cora, a former Astros bench coach who led the Boston Red Sox to the World Series title in 2018 and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, a former Astros player, were both implicated in the scandal.

    There’s just one problem with all this. That shiny trophy the Astros got for winning the 2017 World Series is still in their possession. The record books still say they are the champions. That’s got to change. Stealing signs is one thing. Adding electronic technology to the mix is taking it to a completely unfair and unacceptable level.

    Multiple talking heads on television say that taking the championship from the Astros is pointless. They won the games. They won the championship. No one is going to forget that.

    True. But, they will also never forget if the title is stripped from them. When people look in a record book and go down the list and notice that word vacated next to the year 2017, it will recall this incident, how wrong it was and that the penalty exacted for it was steep.

    If the NCAA can strip national championships from college teams, there’s no reason Major League Baseball can’t do the same with the Astros. CBS Sports compiled a list of teams that lost their NCAA titles and are no longer recognized as champions for far less than what the Houston Astros did.

    San Francisco men’s soccer, 1978 — One student-athlete submitted an altered transcript when he enrolled in the school.

    Tulsa women’s golf, 1988 — The golf team did nothing wrong but lost the title because the NCAA put the entire Tulsa athletic program on three-year’s probation after a host of violations by the school’s track and field team.
    Syracuse men’s lacrosse, 1990 — Lost the title because the wife of the head coach co-signed a car loan for a player on the team.

    Hawaii men’s volleyball, 2002 — One player played on a professional team before playing for the college team.

    LSU women’s outdoor track and field, 2012 — One player used a stimulant that’s on the NCAA’s banned list. The stimulant is routinely found in over-the-counter nutritional supplements.

    The Astros, Red Sox and Mets took the first step in sending the right message that electronic sign-stealing won’t be tolerated by cutting ties with the people who have been implicated in the scheme.
    Now, Major League Baseball needs to finish the puzzle and leave the Houston Astros with an empty trophy case.
     
     
  • 07 McKaughlin VillilonFayetteville is struggling with the departure of elements of two 82nd Airborne Division combat teams to the Middle East, where casualties continue to mount. Two paratroopers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan died earlier this month. Staff Sgt. Ian Paul McLaughlin, 29, of Newport News, Virginia, and Pfc. Miguel Angel Villalon, 21, of Joliet, Illinois, were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside improvised explosive device. Two other U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne were wounded in the attack, which occurred in the southern province of Kandahar, a spokesman for the division said.

    “When our nation called for its best airborne combat engineers to deploy into harm’s way, Staff Sgt. McLaughlin and Pfc. Villalon answered without hesitation,” said Col. Art Sellers, Commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
    Maj. Gen. James Mingus, the 82nd Airborne Division’s commanding general, added, “These paratroopers represent the very best of our nation and our Army. They will be honored, mourned, but never forgotten, and we are committed to taking care of their families for life.”

    The U.S. also has the 82nd’s 1st Brigade Combat Team on duty in the Middle East. The entire unit’s 4,000 paratroopers were deployed following the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. The troops were deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and other parts of the region, overseen by the Army’s Central Command. Defense officials maintain that the additional soldiers were not a direct response to Soleimani’s death, but rather a continuation of an earlier announcement to beef up America’s military presence in the region, officials said.

    McLaughlin and Villalon were assigned to the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg. This was their first combat deployment.  McLaughlin joined the Army in 2012. His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with “C” Device, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Combat Action Badge and the Basic Parachutist Badge. He was a 2018 graduate of the U.S. Army Advanced Airborne School Jumpmaster Course. McLaughlin is survived by his wife and four children. The couple’s youngest child was born while his father was deployed.
    Villalon joined the Army in 2018. His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with “C” Device, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Action Badge. Villalon is survived by his mother of Chicago, Illinois and father of Brownsville, Texas.

    More than 2,400 American troops have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion was launched in response to the 9/11 attacks. Most of the 20,000 international troops now in Afghanistan are focused on training and advising Afghan security forces, with a smaller contingent taking part in a counterterrorism mission.

  • 11 RuinsWhen natural disasters strike Fayetteville, our community often becomes poignant, reflecting on prior disasters and our relationships with each other.  Montgomery Sutton’s “Ruins,” opening on Jan. 24 at Gilbert Theater, asks the questions, What is the past? And when we look on the past, what are we really looking back on?

    The production is a romantic tragic comedy set in the wake of a horrific natural disaster in Tornado Alley, where two lovers who haven’t seen each other in a decade are reunited in the wake of that tragedy. “Over the course of 90 minutes, they relive moments from their pasts that shed light on the past 10 years. Each of them realizes that actions and events from the past they remember may not exist in the same way they think for the other person,” Sutton explained.

    A short play was the origin of the production almost a decade ago. For Sutton, the play was inspired by personal events in his life, which spurred the evolution of the work.  He is oiginally from Dallas, Texas, and since he began the writing of the play, there have been two major natural disasters in the area — tornadoes. “And then of course, in my personal life, there have been all kinds of personal and romantic relationships that have come and gone that have elevated me and also erupted and dissolved. The play has very much become an exploration of what heightened moments of tragedy in life can inspire in our own personal spheres,” he said.

    He wanted to explore the nostalgia of events that we recall and question whether or not the memories we are recalling might, in fact, be fiction.

    Larry Carlisle III, the artistic director at Gilbert Theater is excited to see the show on stage. “This is the first time that it’s been produced anywhere, so no one has ever seen it on a stage before. We, at the Gilbert — that’s kind of part of our mission to present lesser-known and sometimes previously unpublished or unproduced works.”

    Since the show takes place in the wake of a tornado, the set reflects that. “The technical director and main builder of the set really outdid herself on this one,” Carlisle said.

    The cast is small, featuring new and familiar faces. Adam Smith is played by Justin Toyer. Grace Carson is played by Megan Martinez. The last character is a tree removal expert named Mr. Green, played by Michael Carney. Carney and Toyer are Gilbert veterans, but the show will be Martinez’s first time performing on the Gilbert stage.

    Sutton was an actor in Cape Fear Regional Theater’s “Henry V” in 2016. At Gilbert Theater, he wrote a new adaptation and directed “Antigone” two years ago.

    Sutton’s favorite part of the production is the inventive way that the cast performs the transitions in time throughout the production. Being in one space and with one audience, the production “changes the trope of this flashback into something that is very unique … and creates an experience that becomes slightly experimental in the way it looks at how our memories affect our actions in the present,” said Sutton.

    “Ruins” opens on Jan. 24 and runs through Feb. 9. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.gilberttheater.com/ or by calling 910-678-7186. Tickets are $16 and specially priced tickets for seniors 55 and up, military, students and first responders are available for $14.

  • 08 cat cageThe term pound is still commonly used in American society. Its origin is a mystery, but one belief is that it’s a derivative of impound, meaning an enclosed area. These days, homeless animals are no longer viewed as a public nuisance to be warehoused in substandard facilities and disposed of as quickly as possible. Homeless animals and the care they receive in shelters has changed for the better. Increasingly, the trend across the United States is to design shelters as friendly and inviting community centers where the public can go to relinquish or adopt pets.

    “There is an awareness and a willingness to help these animals, and we are confident that we can make an even bigger difference … in the coming years,” Cumberland County Animal Control Director Elaine Smith said in a news release. “Our ultimate goal is to never have to euthanize an adoptable animal, and we appreciate all the help from our community partners, the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society, numerous rescue groups, our volunteers and foster parents.”
    Animal Control said 3,012 dogs and cats were adopted locally in 2019, compared to 2,829 in 2018. The number of dogs and cats euthanized by the county dropped by more than 500 from 3,790 in 2018 to 3,241 in 2019. Smith said personnel at Animal Control strive to perform their jobs professionally and thoroughly. They love and care for the animals brought into the shelter, she said, and do their best to find homes for as many of the animals as possible, and only as a last resort, euthanize them.

    The Cumberland County Animal Control department has implemented the Fear Free Shelter Program whereby all 48 employees complete studies on the emotional health of animals, animal communication, gentle control techniques and good behavior training. The Fear Free Shelter Program teaches strategies and techniques to reduce fear, anxiety, stress and frustration in the dogs and cats handled by Animal Control staff in the shelter and in the field.

    “Our goal at Cumberland County Animal Control is to constantly improve the way we handle and house animals at our shelter so that we minimize the animals’ stress and fear,” Smith said. “We are all animal lovers, so the employees are eager to learn and improve their knowledge and skills.” Future Animal Control employees will be required to obtain certification when they are hired. This training is provided at no cost by the Fear Free Shelter Program.

    The public is encouraged to support the thousands of cats and dogs who find their way to the animal shelter annually. Monetary donations can be made to the Animal Enrichment Fund at licensepet.com/cumberlandcountyncdonate. Food, toys or treats can be donated at the shelter. Additionally, Friends of Cumberland County Animal Shelter collects cold-weather dog houses, straw and blankets for outdoor dogs for their comfort and safety during the winter months. 

    Residents who would like to donate cold-weather supplies may drop off items at the shelter. The Animal Control Department and Animal Shelter are located off Tom Starling Road, east of Fayetteville.

  • 04 UAC012220006In my column two weeks ago titled “Black Privilege Is Real in America,” I shared my reaction to an opinion piece that appeared in The Fayetteville Observer. It was written by Debra Figgins and titled, “County schools must address racial disparities in discipline.” The writer presented several actions that she contended should be taken by the Cumberland County School System to reduce adverse disciplinary actions toward black students. I saw her presentation as reflecting “Black Privilege.” See  http://www.karlmerritt.com/2020/01/09/black-privilege-is-real-in-america/ for my column. In part, I wrote: “If I have accurately assessed what is being called for here, it means special treatment of disruptive black students, while disadvantaging educators and non-disruptive students. For educators, that disadvantaging comes by way of adding a multitude of new requirements to a workload that is very likely already overwhelming for most. Further, the additional requirements, without attention to parental and student responsibilities, are doomed to failure. Sadly, students who, without regard to race, will be disadvantaged in that teachers will have even less time and energy for helping them in their education process.

    ‘The bottom line is that this is a call for special treatment of black students while disadvantaging educators and other students; even those black students who want to learn and do not present disciplinary problems. This is ‘black privilege.’”

    The school situation allowed for discussion of one manifestation of black privilege. However, another glaring indicator came along at about the same time as I was writing regarding Cumberland County Schools. In a column titled “Smith Recreation Center as Early Voting Site for Primary: Fear and Anger,” I addressed the push to make Smith Recreation Center an early voting site for the 2020 Primary. See http://www.karlmerritt.com/2019/12/29/smith-recreation-center-as-early-voting-site-for-primary-fear-and-anger/.

     Because the Cumberland County Board of Elections was not able to unanimously agree on a 2020 Primary early voting plan, the decision had to be made by the North Carolina Board of Elections. With three Democrats and two Republicans on that board, only a majority vote is required. Democrats from our local board presented a Majority Plan, and Republicans presented a Minority Plan. This was done before the State Board Dec. 20, 2019.

    The State Board voted, along party lines, to approve the Majority (Democratic) Plan. This was not a surprise to me. However, I found the Majority’s argument weak, while Democrats on the State Board seemed to totally disregard the case made by the Minority. Given that the area in question is predominately black by population, I hold that this is another case of “black privilege.” What follows are some instances reflecting the Majority argument weaknesses and/or disregard of the Minority case.

    Rev. Dr. Floyd W. Johnson Jr., Democrat and chairman of the County Board, opened the Majority presentation by saying, in part, “The members of the Majority Plan agrees that due to the aging community and lack of personal transportation that the Smith Recreation Center as an early voting site is a necessity because voters will not have to walk or ride the bus to another voting site. The site will not only accommodate the students from Fayetteville State University but also the voters from the Town of Spring Lake.”

    He went on to say that the recommendation regarding Smith is not driven by consideration of race. This was followed by Johnson saying, “It is, however, one of the heaviest poverty struck areas in Cumberland County that is centered in heart of Afro-American community. It makes sense that everyone should have a right or access to a voting site regardless of their circumstances.”

    When this opening is viewed in light of other information that was provided and the summary quote from my column, which is repeated at the end of this one, what is being called for here constitutes special treatment of black citizens in the area surrounding Smith.

    Linda Devore, Republican and County Board member, talked about the Minority’s approach to selecting early voting sites. She emphasized that they want to minimize wait times on Election Day. That means focusing on large precincts when selecting early voting sites. Some have as many as nearly 5,000 registered voters. This is not the case in older neighborhoods like around Smith Recreation Center and around the Board of Elections. For me, this approach seems very reasonable. This thoughtful approach does not support making Smith an early primary voting site.

    Irene Grimes, Democrat County Board member, also spoke for the Majority Plan. At one point, she made this statement: “I know we are probably going to hear about budgetary restraints that should keep Smith closed for the primary. Those, of course, have to be taken into consideration. However, one of the biggest arguments for Smith is that, this community, every time we have had a meeting about early voting plans, primary or general election, this community has shown up. They have shown up at the meetings advocating heavily for this center to be open. I believe we all are constantly lamenting the lack of voter participation in our elections. So, one of the biggest arguments is if the population in that area wants Smith Recreation as a voting site, then we should give it to them.”

    I read this statement to say forget cost, scrap reason, and just give people what they want. That is a troubling approach and a weak argument. It is even more troubling when a statement by Linda Devore, regarding the Nov. 12, 2019, meeting referred to above by Grimes, comes into play. Devore said, “Of the 46 who attended the meeting, only two live in the precinct where Smith Recreation is, and only one was from the adjacent precinct. The other people live in scattered precincts all across the county.” These numbers do not line up with the tremendous interest and support argument claimed by Grimes.

    Johnson and Grimes talked about not wanting voters to have to walk or take a bus to the Board of Elections to vote early. I found this interesting because of what was said about proposed weekend early voting. Devore explained that the Minority Plan called for Saturday voting on the first and third Saturdays so that workers would not work two weekends back-to-back. Grimes responded by saying: “I have been an election poll worker before I was appointed to the board. I also ran an early voting site, and I know that whether you are a regular staff member at the Board of Elections or a temporary poll worker like I was, everybody is extremely dedicated. And I understand that we have... that we wanted to take into consideration the staffing issue, but it’s an election. I mean, we all just buckle down, put on our big girl pants, and do the 18 hours we have to do.”

    So, people should not have to take a short bus ride to vote, but workers should “... put on big girl pants and...” This sounds like very special treatment of a selected group of people.

    Dr. Stella Anderson, Democratic member of the State Board, questioned Linda Devore regarding a reference Devore made during the Nov. 12 meeting to a newly revised state statute, adopted days earlier.  Anderson based her question to Devore on an article from The Fayetteville Observer titled “Vote site fight: Should early voting be held next door to Fayetteville State University?” Devore explained that her comments were mischaracterized by the Observer, which did not have a reporter at the meeting.  At the Nov. 12 meeting, Devore read the relevant section of the statute and then raised the concern about how this newly revised statute should be applied to the Smith issue. She also expressed her concern that the plan be based on what is best for the voters of the entire county.

    The following section from my column gives attention to what Devore was referring to — “four precincts” are those close to Smith: “Finally, this singular focus will very possibly conflict with the intent, if not the letter, of recently passed legislation. During the 2016 primary, in these four precincts, a total of 2,516 ballots were cast: 205 by Republicans, 2,301 by Democrats and 10 by others. Having Smith Recreation as an early voting site during the primary would clearly favor Democrats and a primarily black population. Senate Bill 683/SL 2019-239, 163-227.6(b) speaks to voting site selection and ends with ‘... that the use of the sites chosen will not unfairly favor any party, racial or ethnic group, or candidate.’”

    My assessment is that Anderson made a lengthy statement intended to exempt the State Board from considering the requirements of Senate Bill 683/SL 2019-239, 163-227.6(b). Quoted below is the heart of her statement: “We all need to be understanding about what the considerations are supposed to be for the state board when we have before us petition plans. And the standard is for us to look at the plan as a whole... period. All of the sites that are proposed for the county and the extent to which the county’s electorate is well served by, and in this case, the multiple sites that are before us. So it is not the inclusion or exclusion of a single site and the perception of who will be best served, who would be mostly served, by any given site.”

    Simply put, I strongly contend that Anderson’s statement dismisses consideration of an applicable statute.

    Over the course of this hearing, Devore made several points that were also raised in my column. That was the case because much of what I wrote was prompted by a review of the  Nov. 12 meeting minutes. Aside from the statute issue, I summarized as follows: The picture here is one of misinformation that is not widely and forthrightly corrected by those who initially contribute to forming it: accusations of black voter suppression not supported by facts or reason; focusing on a small segment of the population when, in this case, equal treatment of all should be the aim; disregarding the high financial cost of the proposed change; not recognizing the inequity of having one site so much closer to another than is the case with others; by declining use of city buses, calling for greater convenience than seems necessary.

    At the bottom line, Democrats on the State Board approved a plan including Smith Recreation Center, despite a weak argument for doing so, and a multitude of legitimate reasons for not approving it. Even further, they totally dismissed appropriate consideration for a statute that certainly should have been given far more attention. This is unjustified special treatment of a group of people; it is black privilege.

  • 18 NC STATEEditor’s note: This story is a departure for High School Highlights. We normally write about local high school athletic stars, but this is about a project that involves a former local athlete who has distinguished himself in the field of invention. Will Marsh was a starter on the Cape Fear High School baseball team during his days there. He’s moved on to North Carolina State University, where he was one of the team members involved in the invention of a new device that will make the baling of pine straw a lot easier. Thanks to Rebecca Nagy, science writer for the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State, for this story.

    Baling pine straw for landscaping use is a $250 million industry across the southeast, relying almost entirely on hand labor. Five alumni from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering designed and built the first production-ready machine to remove sticks and pine cones from pine straw and cut labor costs by up to 80%.

    Starting as a senior design project in BAE, alumni Matthew Parker, Ben Cauthen, Alex Greeson, Ben Cranfill and Will Marsh created the Pine Bine to address labor problems plaguing the underdeveloped pine straw industry during a capstone senior design project in 2017. By graduation in 2018, they had developed a patent-pending machine capable of reducing industry labor requirements. The Innovative Agricultural Technologies, LLC “Pine Bine,” or pine straw combine, streamlines the pine straw harvesting process to make the industry more efficient and profitable.

    In 2018, the five alumni won first place in the AGCO student design competition at the American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers Annual International Meeting in Detroit, Michigan.

    Now the founders of Innovative Agricultural Technologies, LLC they were recently finalists in The Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, a national business competition for U.S. food and agriculture startups. In addition to the judging portion of the competition, there was also a People’s Choice Award. Voting for that award ended last weekend.

    “Without the fantastic education we received at NC State and the support given to us by the BAE department both before and after graduation, we could never have developed our ideas to this level,” Parker notes. “N.C. State has truly given us the opportunity to pursue our dreams.”

    The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, awards $145,000 in startup funds to entrepreneurs who compete throughout the year, culminating at a live pitch competition at the AFBF Annual Convention. Startup funds for The Challenge are provided by sponsors Bayer Crop Science, Country Financial, Farm Bureau Bank, Farm Bureau Financial Services, Farm Credit and John Deere.

    While deciding on a project for their senior design course, the team saw a need and an opportunity in the pine straw industry. Pine straw, a big part of the landscaping industry in the southeast, is hindered by an insufficient labor force.
    “One big problem in that industry is that labor is hard to come by,” explained Parker, who is currently a graduate student at Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in Raleigh. “It’s hard to find people that want to go into the woods and separate pine straw from sticks and pine cones to get the best quality pine straw.”

    “Landscaping pine straw shields soil surrounding plants and their root systems from the sun, and holds moisture to promote plant growth, explains Greeson. “It also lasts a long time, is more cost-effective than hardwood mulch alternatives and provides a natural appearance to any garden. Pine straw is really nature’s mulch, but nobody wants their gardens littered with sticks and pine cones.”

    Then came the Pine Bine.

    “Our machine is the first ever machine to actually be successful at removing sticks and pine cones from pine straw,” Parker continues.  “And we designed it and built it right here as senior engineering students at NC State.”
    Shortly after graduation, the team formed Innovative Agricultural Technologies, LLC, and partnered with a small-scale rural equipment manufacturer in North Carolina and plans to release the Pine Bine in the general market in the next several months. 

    Parker expressed Innovative Agricultural Technologies’ goal that the Pine Bine will “revolutionize the pine straw industry and make raising longleaf pine trees profitable again.”

    Because of their unique growth habit, longleaf pine trees create an ecosystem found nowhere else on earth.  However, loblolly pines, which do not produce the same ecological benefits as longleaf pines, have largely overtaken the lumber market throughout the southeast because loblolly pines grow at twice the rate of longleaf pines.

    “If successful, the Pine Bine is positioned to help reverse this centuries-old trend of declining longleaf pine acreage throughout the southeast simply by doing its part to harness market forces rather than resorting to cumbersome state regulation,” notes Parker. “People will naturally want to protect longleaf pine ecosystems once it becomes more profitable to do so through the mechanization of the pine straw industry.”

    Parker noted the longleaf pine’s intimate connection with the history of North Carolina.

    “The North Carolina State Toast proudly declares, ‘Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine; the summer land where the sun doth shine; where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great; here’s to down-home, the Old North State!’” he said. “For our part, Innovative Agricultural Technologies wants to keep the significance of the longleaf pine alive in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast.”

  • 15 master plan croppedThe citizens of Hope Mills have spoken on which direction they’d like the development of the Heritage Park master plan to take. Now, it’s just a matter of getting the final pieces in place and securing grant money to begin actual work on the project.

    Lamarco Morrison, head of the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department, said there were no major surprises when citizens responded to a request for input on the master plan at a meeting held in mid-December.

    As expected, some people expressed strong opinions on the fate of the Parish House, which has fallen into disrepair since being donated to the town. The Board of Commissioners was expected to continue discussion on the Parish House at its regular meeting last week, which was held prior to the writing of this article. (Editor's note: Since the writing of the article, the board voted to demolish the Parish House.)

    All three of the proposed plans for Heritage Park depict the Parish House as still standing.

    Morrison said he told the design team to show the Parish House on all the plans but not to include it in anything yet to be developed as action is still needed by the board on what will happen to it.
    There were four areas of concern the citizen input focused on. They were park character, amenity needs, program needs and criteria for prioritization.

    Historic and cultural preservation were tops in two of the four categories, earning 26% under park character and 24% under criteria for prioritization. Also a high priority was adventure at 25% under the program needs category.
    Leading the way under amenity needs were nature trails at 24%.

    The only other item that hit the 20% mark was sustainable at 21%  under the park character category.

    Items that reached 15% or better were educational under park character at 16%, amphitheater at 15% under amenity needs and concerts at 17% under program needs.

    The version of Heritage Park most people preferred keeps the main parking area near the intersection of Lakeview Road and Lakeshore Drive. It also allows for about 15 more parking spaces than either of the other two plans.
    Called Concept C, Morrison said it has the least impact on the existing sewer line and takes advantage of the natural layout of the land.

    “It preserved the most open space and took into account a lot of the site features we need to be aware of,’’ Morrison said.

    Even though Concept C was preferred, Morrison said the town is still taking input from citizens. All three site plans are available on the Parks and Recreation Facebook page.
    Anyone who would still like to comment on which plan they prefer is welcome to contact Morrison directly via email at lmorrison@townofhopemills.com.

    Morrison said one of the big advantages of using Concept C is it keeps the parking area away from potentially flood-prone portions of the proposed park.

    While some of the walking trails in the park would be able to survive occasionally being flooded, Morrison said it’s not good planning to put the parking area in a space that could be subject to frequent flooding.
    Morrison said many of the favorable comments were in support of the trail system because it takes advantage of what is called pedestrian circulation.

    The preferred plan will also allow the town to use a piece of property it already owns on South Main Street and install an overlook, Morrison said.

    “That was a pleasing feature not only for the park, but for the people driving by,’’ he said.

    The next big step will be to apply for a Park and Recreation Trust Fund.

    "It’s a 50-50 match,’’ Morrison said. “You can get up to $500,000 but we’re probably going to go after $300,000 to do a phase one of Heritage Park.’’

    Morrison has worked in other municipalities that received PARTF grants. If there are no further delays in the project, Morrison said Hope Mills could be awarded the grant as soon as August of this year, and work on phase one of Heritage Park could begin as late as the end of this year or sometime early in 2021.

    “We are excited and ready to get phase one started, regardless of which way we go,’’ he said.

  • 05 N1804P17007CNow that we’ve closed the book on 2019, it’s officially tax season. As you prepare your tax returns for the April 15 deadline, you might already start looking for opportunities to improve your tax-related financial outcomes in the future. And one important step you can take is to connect your tax professional with your financial advisor. Together, these professionals can help you take advantage of some valuable strategies:

    Roth vs. traditional IRA — If you’re eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA, you might find it beneficial to have your financial advisor talk to your tax professional about which is the better choice. Generally, if you think your tax rate will be higher in retirement, you might want to contribute to the Roth IRA, which provides tax-free withdrawals, if you’re older than 59 ½ and have had your account at least five years. But if you think your tax bracket will be lower when you retire, you might be better off with the traditional IRA, which offers upfront tax benefits — specifically, your contributions may reduce your annual taxable income in a given tax year. Your tax advisor may have some thoughts on this issue, as well as how it might fit in with your overall tax picture in retirement.

    Taxable vs. non-taxable income — Turning taxable income into non-taxable income can lower your current year’s tax bracket. Depending on your income, you could potentially subtract your traditional IRA contributions, or your SEP-IRA contributions if you’re self-employed, from your taxable income. And even now, it’s not too late to affect the 2019 tax year, if you still haven’t reached the IRA or SEP-IRA contribution limits. Before you file your 2019 tax returns, your tax professional can tell your financial advisor how much you would have to contribute to your traditional IRA, SEP-IRA or similar account to potentially lower your taxable income. If you make the contribution, your financial advisor can illustrate how it would impact your retirement picture and make a recommendation on how to invest the money. You can fund your IRA with virtually any type of investment — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and so on.

    Capital gains taxes on mutual funds — You might think you have total control over taxes related to your mutual funds. After all, you decide how long to hold these funds before selling shares and incurring capital gains taxes. However, mutual fund managers are usually free to buy and sell new investments as they see fit, and some of these sales could generate capital gains taxes for you. If these taxes are relatively large in any one year, your tax professional may notice and could relay this information to your financial advisor. This doesn’t necessarily mean these mutual funds are inappropriate for you; they still may be suitable for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. But the tax aspect may be of interest to your financial advisor, who might recommend more tax-efficient investment options.

    Your investment and tax pictures have many overlaps, and by ensuring your team of advisors is working together, or at least communicating with each other, you can increase the chances of getting your desired results.

  • 02 fake newsEditor's note: The cost of the demolition of the Parish House is less than $7,800, not $1,800. The actual bid was $7,715. The original typos in the article have been corrected below.

    The decision to demolish the old Christ Episcopal Church Parish House for less than $7,800 demonstrated the common sense and prudent leadership of the newly elected commissioners of Hope Mills. Commissioners Pat Edwards, Bryan Marley and Kenjuana McCray prevailed as they rebuffed the efforts of Commissioners Jerry Legge and Jessie Bellflowers in their attempt to restore the 110-year-old building for a whopping estimated price tag of over $300,000 of Hope Mills taxpayers’ money. Over the years, even with numerous repairs, additions and building modifications, it was difficult to identify much of anything that could  be documented or classified as significantly historical about the building.

     This being the case, the commissioners demonstrated the kind of logical thinking and visionary decision-making that will move Hope Mills positively into the 21st century. Tough decisions are rarely ever popular, no doubt about it. In this case, three Hope Mills commissioners evaluated the facts, completed their due diligence and made a decision based on what was best for the town and its residents. That’s leadership. And, that’s what they were elected to do.

     They will undoubtedly experience boisterous pushback from distractors in the form of personal attacks, criticism, protests and whiney social media posts. However, with Hope Mills having 16,000+ residents, a dozen or so malcontents demonstrating this kind of behavior is mostly inconsequential. Unfortunately, it has become more and more prevalent with the reckless popularity of social media compounded by the inability of the news media to wean itself away from the temptation of creating “fake news.”

     I have written many articles about my disappointment with today’s media and journalistic community, especially when so many of them disseminate, create and report fake news. Fake news is not only defined as creating and reporting things that are not true. It is misrepresenting or eliminating known facts to add drama to a story, cause or personal agenda. Fake news is also when only one side of the story is told, depriving the public of facts they need to understand an issue or situation at hand.

    This was the situation recently when The Fayetteville Observer and WTVD-11 both ignored major facts and circumstances influencing the ultimate decision to demolish the Parish House. They chose the easy route and focused only on the sympathetic protesters and Jessie Bellflowers’ disappointment over the decision to demolish the building. They covered the story without any mention of the actual time and energy that the board invested in doing the appropriate due diligence on the project. The Parish House has no significant historical value. Estimated revitalization cost is $300,000+.  One hundred forty-thousand dollars plus must be paid up front just to stabilize the building before anyone can safely enter to get a detailed estimate on the work needed — an estimate that could very well exceed $300,000.

     Hope Mills is not Williamsburg, Virginia, nor is it Old Salem. Hope Mills has its own wonderfully unique blend of Southern hospitality and personality. Its current leadership is smart, caring and thorough. These leaders see the big picture of Hope Mills’ future — economic development, safe neighborhoods, outstanding schools, clean streets, art, music, theater, festivals and fun, lakeside family activites. What’s not to like here? Three hundred thousand dollars less to demolish the Parish House can go a long way in building and maintaining a historically wonderful Cumberland County community.
     Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

  • 08 helloquence OQMZwNd3ThU unsplashEvery other year the city of Fayetteville conducts a comprehensive survey to assess resident satisfaction of major city services. Consulting firm ETC Institute administered the most recent survey during the fall of 2019. It was reported to City Council this month. The highest level of gratification was the overall satisfaction of fire department services. Categories that citizens felt need additional emphasis were traffic flow, street maintenance and the overall quality of police protection. However, police performance was second only to fire protection.

    The survey found that residents have a positive perception of the city. The overall quality of services provided by the city was significantly higher than findings in the southeastern U.S. and the nation as a whole. Residents ranked Fayetteville as a safe and secure community and a desirable place to live and work. Survey respondents were asked about taxes and their willingness to support additional funding for certain services.

    Fire and police services and stormwater infrastructure got the most funding support along with investments in the city’s transportation network and construction of additional sidewalks. Since the last survey, satisfaction ratings have increased or stayed the same in 66 of 101 areas of concern over the last two years. Fayetteville ranks 13% above the U.S. average in the overall quality of city services and 15% above the national average in city employees’ customer service.

    Residents who took the biennial survey were asked about their feeling of safety in Fayetteville. Fifty-four percent said they felt safe. Forty-seven percent of the people were neutral in their responses or felt unsafe. Nationally, 66% of the citizenry felt safe in their communities. Police response time got good marks; 58% were satisfied with law enforcement response to emergencies. But 39% of the respondents were happy with neighborhood police patrols.

    Overall, the fall 2019 citizen survey reflected improvements in the ways the city of Fayetteville provided services to its residents. There was one area of general dissatisfaction over the last few years — code enforcement. There was a 17% negative differential in the enforcement of codes and city ordinances in Fayetteville when compared with other cities in the mid-Atlantic region. The appearance of houses in neighborhoods was down a tad since 2013. Graffiti removal got a 48% rating six years ago but was 43% in 2019. Removal of abandoned vehicles on private property got a better response from the city in 2013 than last year.

    City officials say the purpose of the resident survey was to help the city ensure that its priorities match the needs and wants of residents. This was the fourth survey that ETC Institute has conducted for the city of Fayetteville. During the past year, ETC Institute said 42% of households contacted the city to seek services, ask questions or file complaints. Survey results are available online via the city’s website, https://fayettevillenc.gov/ .

  • 11 N1111P72003CFor history buffs, avid learners or anyone up for a challenge, the Civil War & Reconstruction Quiz Bowl, which will take place on Jan. 23 at the Headquarters Library, presents an exciting opportunity for informal and friendly competition as well as an opportunity for an intellectual test.

    The quiz bowl was originally part of a larger series of programs called the Arsenal Roundtable. Now, after 19 years, the annual competition still welcomes young and old to enter and test their historical knowledge, with a cap of 15 contestants. “All ages (can compete), which is why we give a prize to the adult and youth winner,” said Leisa Greathouse, the associate curator of education for the Museum of the Cape Fear. The youth category is considered to be 16 and under.

    The winners will receive a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

    Since learning is fun, the categories are, too. “The name of the categories this year are taken from famous and popular movie quotes,” Greathouse said. “The categories are: ‘I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,’ ‘…life is like a box of chocolates,’ ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,’ ‘Here’s Johnny,’ ‘You ain’t heard nothing yet,’ ‘Shaken, not stirred,’ ‘Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys,’ ‘I feel the need — the need for speed,’ ‘Houston, we have a problem ’ (and) ‘Bond, James Bond.’”

    Some questions are easy; some questions are hard. They cover a broad range of topics, including people, battles and places, weapons and the military, slavery and freedom. Some questions are about events that took place after the war. In total, 200 questions, including some that are reserved for certain circumstances, will be prepared for the competition.

    With the recent and constant conversations around the pending transition of the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex into The North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center, one may be tempted to think the quiz bowl is especially relevant right now. However, an understanding of history is always something important for any community.

    “Even though it can be a divisive topic, we view it as an opportunity to bring understanding through education. Year after year, generation after generation, we seek to build a community of critical thinkers and history-minded individuals. Knowing at least a certain amount of history is imperative to understanding our society,” Greathouse pointed out.

    “History and history museums are always relevant, and we would like to see more people spend more time visiting our facility and attending events like this,” she said.

    Participating in the event is a great opportunity learn facts in an interactive way. Greathouse encourages teachers and college faculty to give extra credit to students in attendance.

    The Civil War & Reconstruction Quiz Bowl will take place on  Jan. 23, at 7 p.m., in the Pate Room of the Headquarters Library, located at 300 Maiden Lane. Up to 15 participants can compete and are encouraged to sign up ahead of time by emailing leisa.greathouse@ncdcr.gov or by calling 910-500-4243. If space is available, which has been the case in the past, then registrations will be taken at the door.

  •   13 512px USMC 09611The Fayetteville Cumberland County Ministerial Council presents the 27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast Monday, Jan. 20, from 8-10 a.m., at the Crown Exposition Center. The theme this year is “Seize the Moment: A New Season.”

     “This is the 27th year of the Ministerial Council sponsoring this event, and it has become somewhat iconic in the city,” said Dr. Maxie Dobson, president of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Ministerial Council. “We have the level of sustained support community-wise that we do, and I think that speaks to our community, (which) appreciates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and what he stood for, which are the principles we espouse.”

     Dobson added that’s why the celebration is so well supported and probably one of the most popular events in terms of attendance in our city on an annual basis, and the event organizers are grateful for the support.

     “We will have a great speaker, Bishop Kenneth Monroe … of Eastern North Carolina District A. M. E. Zion Church body, for the event this year. … And we are looking forward to him speaking under the theme, as there is a lot of excitement of him being a part of the program,” said Dobson.

    “It is a time to not only celebrate but to reflect as we look at the theme that the organization has selected. … It somewhat speaks to if, in past times, opportunities have not been given attention, what you would have liked to (do).

     “We can look at where we are now and examine ourselves and ask, ‘what is it can I do to contribute to my community?’ So, it’s in that context that we chose the specific theme for the 2020 breakfast.”

    One of the things that is being done this year that is different is the expansion on the theme and engagement of the community beyond the holiday.

     Dobson added that in the council’s communication to its sponsors for the 2020 breakfast included a form that would allow the sponsors to select a project that can be engaged year-round and not make the day of service effort just on the MLK holiday.

     “Some organizations do different things on that day as a show of community support,” said Dobson. “We want to provoke expanding that to select something that can be done beyond that day and not necessarily every week, but something that can encompass the entire year.

     “We are anticipating how that will be received by the community, and we have a board meeting to see what kinds of submissions that we have had so far,” said Dobson.

    He continued, “That is an expansion of an element — engaging the community in service throughout the year to be a help and (supporting) what the organizations and individuals choose to do. We are looking forward to seeing how that evolves.”

     The event will feature breakfast, entertainment, a speaker and an 8-year-old youngster who will recite speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “There’s a young man who comes well recommended, and he will recite different speeches by Dr. King,” said Dobson. “This will be a way of allowing the youth to be represented in the program, and we look forward to this highlight.

     “We will have singers, but one of the things we want to do is expedite things so that we can be completed by 10 a.m.,” said Dobson. “We are very committed about doing that, so we may not have as much entertainment as we have had in some of the previous years.”

     Dobson added that, like previous years, there will be music playing while individuals are eating breakfast.

     The Fayetteville Cumberland County Ministerial Council began in 1957, and the organization is in its 62nd year. “It was birthed during the civil rights era, and it was to give attention to … (the fact) that we had to be a better community,” said Dobson. “They were faced with things like education, housing and the typical things that many communities were challenged with during the 50s and 60s.”

     One of the primary things the Council  highlights is the hard-earned right to vote and to encourage the community and the leaders of the faith community to engage their congregation to exercise their right. As a 501c3 organization, the Council is not allowed and does not become an advocate of any particular candidate, but it is an advocate of encouraging everyone who is eligible to vote to go to the polls and vote.

     “One of the other things we do is to highlight opportunities for nonprofits to seek funds to pursue the community endeavors that they have become organized to do, and there is funding from different sources,” said Dobson. “So we have these kinds of discussions at our monthly breakfast meetings, which are the third Saturday of each month — except for the months of January, June and July.”

     One of the primary outcomes of the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast is to fund 10 scholarships of $1,000 each to high school students who are going to college. “We take great satisfaction in the legacy that we have there and the number of students that we have been able to help over the years,” said Dobson. “I think that’s one component that the community appreciates very much and that they are contributing to that kind of objective and we look forward to doing that again in 2020.”

     The Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Service is Sunday, Jan. 19, at 5 p.m., at Covenant Love Church. The guest speaker is Apostle Anthony Buie, pastor of St. Joseph Miracle Revival Center in Red Springs, North Carolina.
     Ticket cost for breakfast is $20. The day of the event ticket cost will be $25. Sponsorship levels are available for purchase.
     For more information or to purchase tickets, call Pastor Yvonne Hodges at 910-797-5879 or email Beverly Gibson at secretaryfccmcfaync@gmail.com. Visit the website at www.fayettevillemincouncil.org for more details.

  • 20 Newtown 1Dates of some tragedies are etched in our memories forever. On Sept. 11, we pause to remember the thousands who perished in 2001 as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

    Many individuals remember where they were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and/or when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on April 4, 1968.

    Unfortunately, in the past 20 years, there are several dates stamped in our memories because of shootings in our nation’s schools, such as the ones at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018.

    And on December 14, 2012, the nation wept when 26 people, including 20 children, were killed during the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. While this tragedy tore the hearts of people nationwide, it was profoundly personal to me.

    I was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and, on that day, was attending a meeting with the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. The commissioner was interrupted to take a private call, left immediately, and shortly thereafter the news of a “school shooting” reached the nation.

    Suddenly, what previously was important became insignificant as we were all shocked at yet another senseless act of violence. As details of the shooting rampage were released, the incident became more and more horrific. The principal of Sandy Hook Elementary at the time, Dawn Hochsprung, was one of the six adults who perished that day. She was a personal friend of mine.

    So, like millions of Americans this past weekend, I was overcome with emotion when Newtown High School won the CIAC Class LL State Football Championship — seven years to the exact day of the Sandy Hook tragedy. Newtown won the state title on the last play of the game as Jack Street — a fourth grader at Sandy Hook in 2012 — threw a touchdown pass just as the fog lifted enough to be able to see downfield.

    Once again, high school sports and football in particular, was a unifying activity for a community. Amid the sorrow of the day, this incredible storybook finish by the Newtown High School football team gave everyone in the community — at least for a moment — the strength to continue the healing process.

    We have seen time after time when high school sports provided students, parents and those in our communities a means to come together, to band together and to rise above struggles arm in arm. This was but the latest example.
    The grieving process will continue for those people who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook tragedy, but this amazing effort by these high school football players brought smiles and tears of joy to a community that has not had many of those emotions for the past seven years.

    Bobby Pattison, the Newtown High School football coach, had the following to say after the state title: “The great thing about football and sports in general, moments like this bring people together,” Pattison said.

    “These guys had an outstanding year. To win a state championship, to win on the last play, it’s been a tremendous accomplishment. And these boys deserve it. They’re a great bunch.”

    The value of high school football for communities across America? We would suggest what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, last month says it all.

  • 12 MarshallLooking for an event to go to that will be both inspiring and motivating? Look no further than the Givens Performing Arts Center, where  Newy Scruggs, a seven-time Emmy winner, sports personality and UNCP alumnus will host Cynthia Marshall on Jan 22.

     The Dallas Mavericks’ CEO is the first African-American CEO in the NBA. She took over the role in February 2018.

    Marshall has been making her mark since day one. She grew up in low-income housing in Richmond, California. She went to college at the University of California, Berkeley, on a full academic scholarship. She also became the university’s first African-American cheerleader.

    Marshall came out of retirement to be the CEO of the Mavericks. Before her retirement, she enjoyed a 36-year career at AT&T. She began her career there after graduating from college with a degree in business administration and human resources management. Throughout the years, she worked her way up, and in 2012, Marshall was promoted to the role of senior vice president of human resources/chief diversity officer for the national office.

    Abdul Ghaffar is the director of campus engagement and leadership at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

    Ghaffar said that the main focus of the event would be, “Mr. Scruggs and Ms. Marshall sharing their many experiences in business and television with the audience.”

    When it came to having Marshall, specifically, at the Givens Performing Arts Center, Ghaffar said, “The host of the event, Newy Scruggs, a UNCP graduate and sports personality in Dallas. He recommended her. Once I began my research, I discovered that she has several North Carolina ties, including living in the state for several years.

    “Our speaker series has a long tradition at UNCP. We have hosted such names as Spike Lee, Maya Angelou, Caitlyn Jenner, Oliver North, James Earl Jones, Henry Winkler, Cornel West, Bill Nye, Olympians Gabby Douglas and Billy Mills and so many more. Many times, we have our speakers visit parts of our community like the Pembroke Boys and Girls Club and the Lumbee Tribe. Most speakers are interviewed on WNCP TV on campus and participate in a reception for the students, faculty, staff and donors.”

    When asked about what he and the rest of the students and staff hope to get of the event, Ghaffar said, “We are co-sponsoring this event with the School of Business. Since Ms. Marshall was an executive at AT&T for many years and is the only female CEO in the NBA, meaning she runs a billion-dollar sports franchise, we are hoping our students gain some knowledge about the business world. Also Mr. Scruggs is a seven-time Emmy Award winner and hosts his own radio show and is a TV sports personality, so we hope our students will be motivated by his success as a UNCP Alumni.”

    Visit uncp.edu/resources/givens-performing-arts-center for more information or to buy tickets to this event.

  • 03 voting stickersThe start of a new year makes us feel clean, fresh, renewed and hopeful. Gone are the holiday decorations, which — no matter how treasured — seem heavy and tired. In are resolutions for kindness, health and achievement. It is a time for looking forward, knowing the road ahead may be difficult but embarking on it with hope and good faith.

    We are a nation as divided politically as we have been, at least in my lifetime, and it is impossible in January to see where we will be in November. It feels to many Americans of both persuasions that it is going to be a long and difficult haul. North Carolina is widely perceived as a battleground state in presidential politics, but we have some issues that need tackling on the home front that are not — or should not be — overtly partisan.

    Like many states, North Carolina struggles with a growing urban-rural divide. Our cities are growing and thriving, fueled by higher education, technology and financial services. Our rural areas are stagnant, even losing population, and facing losses in educational offerings, health care and economic opportunities. North Carolinians of all political persuasions should urge our political leaders to step up measures to address these disparities.

    A major help would be Medicaid expansion. In low-wealth areas where medical care is in ever-growing short supply and residents have to travel to get it, Medicaid expansion would both provide health coverage for more than half a million North Carolinians and create jobs in communities that desperately need them. Withholding Medicaid coverage, when most of it would be paid for in federal, not state, dollars is both shortsighted and cruel. This can be remedied by a vote of the General Assembly, but there has been much suffering over the last decade.

    Another significant piece in addressing the urban-rural divide is increasing public education funding. Public education in urban counties offers families strong and diverse options, including various academies and charter schools. But some North Carolina counties, especially in the northeastern part of the state, can no longer fund their schools, much less provide options. This means that students in rural areas are less prepared for today’s higher education and today’s technology-focused workplaces. Lesser educational offerings virtually guarantee that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in both economics and quality of life.

     North Carolina used to bill herself as “Variety Vacationland,” a nod toward both our beautiful pristine coast and our spectacular mountains. In the decades since that slogan disappeared from North Carolina license plates, our environment — like many across the nation — has taken hits from increased population density and emissions and wastes from energy-production facilities. North Carolinians must hold our leaders accountable for protecting our environment in ways they never have in the past.

    Finally, Americans — including the 10-million-plus of us who call ourselves Tar Heels — understand that there is something seriously wrong with our election systems and that a big part of the problem is extreme gerrymandering. Both Democrats and Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have failed to act on redistricting reform, either out of fear of losing power or hope of attaining it. While gerrymandering has existed since the earliest years of our nation, it has become more extreme with technology, and it is cutting voters out of the election process making “one man, one vote” no longer true. North Carolina voters must insist that the General Assembly address this issue in 2020. If they do not, our state will suffer through extreme gerrymandering for at least another 10 years.

    As 2020 unfolds, we are into a new decade and 20% into the 21st century. Life is good for many of us, but our issues are difficult for many North Carolinians. Our elected officials swear oaths to do the right thing, and it is up to all of us to hold them to it.
     
  • 16 studioEarlier this fall Sue Moody was looking at some pictures taken by children of her friends that were posted on Facebook when she came up with an idea.

    While the pictures were good, Moody wondered if the youngsters might be able to benefit from some expertise provided by people trained in the art of photography.

    She spoke with Elizabeth Blevins of the Hope Mills Creative Arts Council and worked with her to schedule a series of presentations for budding young photographers. The classes are scheduled to meet from February until May at The Studio on Trade Street at a cost of $10 per student.

    There is a limit on class size so anyone interested needs to sign up as soon as possible by calling 910-853-4536 or emailing HopeMillscac@gmail.com.

    Moody said response to the initial class sessions will dictate whether plans are made for other events in the future. She said there has been discussion of sessions for adults.

    “We know there is a need in our community,’’ Moody said. “Other artists are affiliated with the Creative Arts Council. We just want an inventory to find out what the community wants. We hope people will register soon so we have everything in place and are prepared for them.’’

    All classes for the sessions with students ages 12-18 will be from 6-8 p.m. Following are the instructors for the initial series of classes and the dates they will be teaching:

    Cherri Stoute, Tuesday, Feb. 11 — Stoute owns The Studio on Trade Street. Stoute is a film school graduate who has worked in a variety of roles. She’ll study cameras and smartphone cameras with the students and discuss editing.

    Elizabeth Blevins, Tuesday, March 10 — Blevins is a member of the N.C. Press Association and the U.S. Press Association. She’s been a staff member and contributing writer to four regional publications including Up & Coming Weekly. Her topics will be perspective and photography fads.

    Michelle DeHetre, Tuesday, April 21 — For the last five years, DeHetre has worked as the operations manager at The Studio on Trade Street. Based out of Greensboro, DeHetre has a background in portrait photography. Her workshop will cover the topics of composition and improvising backdrops.

    Bill McQueen, Tuesday, May 12 — McQueen has called Hope Mills home for 31 years. He is the owner of Response Marketing Group, which offers consulting services to large and small businesses around the country. His topic will be thinking outside the box and putting into practice the instruction students have received during the class.

  • 09 cape fear valley med ctrCape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville is likely one of the safest institutions in Cumberland County. It has facilities and procedures designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe at all times. The local hospital is the flagship of a system of area health facilities to include Cape Fear Valley Healthplex, Fayetteville’s most comprehensive fitness and wellness center. A couple of weeks ago, health system facilities were placed on lockdown for a day because of a nonspecific threat made to law enforcement against a Fayetteville-area hospital.

    Cape Fear Valley Health System maintains more than 700 continuously monitored security cameras at its campuses. The system also has a comprehensive visitor management system, a security team with 24-hour internal and external patrols, metal detectors and screening at emergency room entrances as well as additional safety mechanisms for use in emergency situations.

    Law enforcement officers combed medical center offices after a man called the National Suicide Hotline, threatening to kill himself and first responders employed by the hospital. The lockdown was ordered as police officers descended on the Owen Drive hospital, a sprawling set of inpatient and outpatient facilities. Police used cellphone technology to determine the caller’s location. He originally said he was on Interstate 95 in Fayetteville before then saying he was outside Cape Fear Valley’s Fayetteville campus. The situation prompted authorities to restrict admission to Cape Fear Valley except for the emergency department. Police found no one on medical center property.

    The health system also restricted access to Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital, Hoke Hospital and Bladen County Hospital. It was the second incident of concern at the medical center in the last two months.

    Cape Fear Valley Health is a 950-bed health system serving a region of more than 800,000 people in southeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit system is the state’s eighth-largest health system made up of 7,000 team members and 850 physicians, eight hospitals and more than 60 primary care and specialty clinics. Cape Fear Valley Health offers residencies in emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry and general surgery, as well as a transitional year internship in affiliation with the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University.

  • 17 01 Brower park sign One of the busiest times of the year is in progress for the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department as parents are signing up youngsters from the town and beyond for the various youth sports teams offered during the spring.
    Registration began last week at the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Department headquarters on Rockfish Road and will continue for the most part through the month of February.

    Maxey Dove of the Parks and Recreation staff encouraged parents to sign up early and avoid the last-minute rush caused by folks who wait until the final days of February to get their children enrolled in the program.
    “We get 70% of our registration the last two or three days,’’ Dove said. “Until we close the doors on that last day it’s hard to project how many teams we will have.’’

    The sports offered in the spring include baseball, softball, indoor soccer and wrestling.

    All registration is required in person at the recreation headquarters. Dove said the town is continuing to work on offering online registration and hopes to be able to offer that by the fall.

    Any youngster who has never played in the Hope Mills recreation program before is required to provide a copy of a birth certificate and proof of residence, which can be done with a utility bill.
    People outside of Hope Mills can sign their children up to play, but there is a difference in the fee charged. It’s $30 for Hope Mills residents and $40 for non-residents.

    Times for registration are 8:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.

    Baseball and softball are the most popular of the two spring sports, Dove said.

    Categories for baseball include T-ball for age 5, junior pee wee age 6, coach-pitch ages 7-8, minor baseball ages 9-10, major ages 11-12 and Dixie boys ages 13-14.
    Softball is the Darlings at ages 7-8, Angels at ages 9-10, Ponytails ages 11-12 and Belles ages 13-15.

    Last season, four Hope Mills teams won state titles and advanced to regional competition in Dixie Youth play. A fifth team supported by the town won the state Lady Legion softball championship, with several of the players on that team former competitors in the Hope Mills youth sports program.

    Soccer has an instructional level for ages 5-7 and individual teams for ages 7-12. Wrestling is divided both by weight and age from 6-12.

    Dove said if there are specific questions about any sport or registration call during regular business hours at 910-426-4109.

  • 07 MILLEY GEN CMD 13AUG2014 1Under pressure from lawmakers, America’s top military officer declined to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to grant clemency to three service members last month but said he does not believe the moves will disrupt good order in the ranks. “I think the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the means by which we maintain good order and discipline are a critical element in order to maintain some level of humanity in combat zones,” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley during an appearance before the House Armed Services Committee.

    The comments came following questioning from Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a Marine Corps veteran, who said he heard from current service members who were dismayed by the moves. The separate cases have all drawn attacks from Trump’s critics and praise from his supporters. The decisions were reportedly made over the objections of senior military officials who warned that forgiving war crimes could undermine the military justice system.

    In November, Trump granted a pardon to Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, convicted of second-degree murder in the death of two Afghans. Lorance walked out of military prison the next day. He also preemptively waived charges against Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who faced trial at Fort Bragg on murder charges for actions in Afghanistan. In the most highly publicized case, Trump granted clemency to Navy Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who had been acquitted of a string of alleged war crimes but convicted of posing for a picture alongside the corpse of an insurgent.

    Trump said their previous military service merited a “second chance.” Congressman Moulton said a Marine sergeant major texted him saying Trump’s actions were “basically setting a precedent that the rule of law in a combat zone doesn’t apply and encourages folks to start burning villages and pillaging like Genghis Khan.”

    Defense officials emphasized that the moves were within the White House’s authority. “I understand where the sergeant major is coming from,” Milley said. But, he noted the president of the United States is part of the process, and he has the legal authority to do what he did.

    Trump’s timing was part of the issue. Senior military advisers said the commander in chief should not have involved himself until all the cases were adjudicated. Asked about Golsteyn’s status, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told The Washington Post that he was focused on the Gallagher case and would “take this one step at a time.”

    Republicans came to the president’s defense. “We need to be very careful in equating bad judgment calls, calls that may get you relieved of command, with a war crime,” Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and an Army veteran said.

    First hailed a hero, then stripped of his medals and charged with murder only to be pardoned by the president, Golsteyn wants the Silver Star he was awarded in 2010 to be upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the military’s second-highest honor. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and a former Green Beret. He was cited for bravery while with the 3rd Special Forces Group during the battle of Marjah in 2010, where he repeatedly braved enemy fire, launched a mission to find enemy marksmen, aided a wounded Afghan soldier and coordinated airstrikes.

     

    Pictured: Gen. Mark Milley appeared before the House Armed Services Committee.

  • 19 Karl MolnarKarl Molnar has seen the perspective of local high school basketball from the sides of a private school and public school coach, going back to his days at Fayetteville Academy and his current role as varsity boys coach at Terry Sanford.
    He’s keenly away there has been friction between the two groups in the past, but he also thinks  the coaches involved share a common bond that should help them pull together.

    “I hated there was distance between them,’’ Molnar said. “I like to think at the end of the day, your job as coach is to do the best you can.’’

    In an effort to bridge the gap and get everybody at the same table for a change, Molnar came up with the idea of the inaugural MLK Dream Jam, which will be held on this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 20, at the Terry Sanford gymnasium.

    The schedule will feature a mixture of Cumberland County Schools and local private schools playing head-to-head in both boys and girls basketball games, the action beginning at 11:30 a.m. and continuing through the final game of the day at 7 p.m. A total of six games are scheduled.

    Molnar said he tried to involve as many public schools as possible in the event.

    Some schools accepted quickly while some others weren’t able to commit to the tournament because they had prior obligations or their schedules for this season were already full.
    Molnar said a handful of coaches, who he didn’t identify, still didn’t want to take part in the event.

    In determining the matchups for the one-day event, Molnar said he tried to go by overall records and any head-to-head competition that had already taken place.
    He is hopeful that the level of talent in this inaugural competition will draw the interest of a number of college coaches.

    “We’ve heard from some coaches who are coming to see the talent in Fayetteville,’’ Molnar said. “The hope is as this event progresses over the years, we’ll have all the top public schools and all the top private schools playing in the same event.’’

    Admission to all games will be $10 Molnar said. Fans will be allowed to stay and watch as many games as they like on a single ticket.


    MLK Dream Jam schedule

    Here is the schedule for the inaugural MLK Dream Jam at Terry Sanford High School as of Tuesday, Jan. 7. The schedule is still subject to late changes:

    GIRLS
    11:30 a.m. -  Terry Sanford vs. Freedom Christian Academy
    1 p.m. - Richmond Senior vs. Village Christian Academy
    2:30 p.m. - Cape Fear vs. Trinity Christian School

    Pictured: Karl Molnar
  • 18 fireworks debrisWhen Cape Fear football coach Jake Thomas brought his son to club wrestling practice after New Year’s Eve, he was met by a disappointing sight on the school’s football field.
    Someone had used a small area near the baseball-field end as a launching pad for fireworks.

    Photos taken by Thomas showed a burned out spot on the turf of the Cape Fear field with the litter from the various types of fireworks used by whoever trespassed illegally on school grounds still there.

    Thomas said it certainly could have been a lot worse, and has been when he’s seen people who’ve driven vehicles onto athletic fields and left damaging doughnuts cut into the turf with the wheels of their trucks or cars.
    But seeing the Cape Fear field marred by the fireworks was not a pleasing sign for Thomas, who estimates he and members of his coaching staff spend in the vicinity of 200 hours a year doing everything to the field from cutting the grass, tending to the health of the soil and painting it for Thursday and Friday football contests during the season.

    “When I was first coming into coaching, you don’t appreciate how much time you spend on field maintenance, painting the field, all those things,’’ Thomas said. “You really don’t get a full understanding until you do it yourself.’’

    Thomas said the fans who show up on Friday night only get to see the end result and don’t realize the total amount of work that the football staff puts into making the field not only safe to play on but appealing to the eye.

    Beyond the work on the field, there are rules in place about who can and can’t use school practice facilities like the football field. Thomas noted that not even Cape Fear varsity and junior varsity athletes are allowed to be on school property working out without a member of the coaching staff being present with them.

    “There are liability issues,’’ Thomas said. Even in the school weight room, athletes can’t lift without having a coach there to oversee what’s taking place.

    Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools, said those who used the Cape Fear football field for shooting fireworks were guilty of trespassing.
    “If definitely has to do with safety reasons, but it’s also a liability issue,’’ Aldridge said, “having folks on our grounds if they are injured. The liability falls on us.’’

    Aldridge said high schools are not allowed to use fireworks at their games on Friday nights because it’s a fire code issue. While it used to be alright when Aldridge was a coach at South View in the early part of 2000, the fire marshal later ruled that it was not allowed.

    During its run to the state football championship in 1991, South View had a fan who brought a musket-like gun to games that was fired following each Tiger touchdown.

    Aldridge said that practice is also no longer allowed due to firearms restrictions on campus.

    Thomas said he did not make an official police report of the incident at Cape Fear but he has asked members of the Cape Fear community to help identify who was involved, especially if they were students, so proper discipline can be administered as needed.

    Aldridge said the county will likely not get involved and will let Cape Fear handle the matter at the school level, including any decision regarding offering a reward for identifying those involved.

  • 14 car oilWalt Brinker, 1966 West Point graduate, retired US Army infantry lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, retired civilian project manager, instructor at FTCC, and Eastover resident, has provided well over 2,000 free-of-charge roadside assists as a hobby. With experience from these assists he wrote a book, “Roadside Survival: Low-Tech Solutions to Automobile Breakdowns” for the everyday motorist. He also set up a website, “roadsidesurvival.com”, to help individuals, driver education teachers, and law enforcement. This vignette captures one of his many assists, along with lessons.

    The Toyota Highlander was stopped on the Interstate highway shoulder. The right front tire was flat. Its occupants were roasting on the hot summer day. “Joseph” from Cameroon, the driver and father of the family, told me that he couldn’t get to his spare tire because the vehicle’s rear hatchback, which covered access to lower the spare, wouldn’t open. So I jacked up his vehicle, removed the flat tire wheel, wrapped it in an old sheet and put it in my car. Joseph and I took it to a Walmart for repair — all it needed was a valve stem.

    While we were there, I pointed out a portable 12-volt jumper battery and compressor, which could come in handy. He was not interested. Tire repaired, we returned to his vehicle, where I remounted the wheel. His 8-year old twin daughters, coached and rehearsed while Joseph and I were gone, performed a really cute, lively thank you dance for me. Very nice!

    Before I departed I suggested Joseph visit the nearby Toyota dealer to fix the latch on his rear door; he declined, saying he was in a hurry. His wife remarked acidly, “We might as well not have a spare tire.” I decided to leave before their fight. After taking the next exit and returning toward the Toyota, I noticed that it had not moved. I circled back and again stopped.

    Evidently, while Joseph and I were away, the family had used the sound system, running down the vehicle’s battery. So I gave him a jump start. I then gently reminded him about that portable jumper battery we had seen, suggesting he might want to reconsider. He smiled and said, “No,I don’t think so”, before thanking me and driving away.

    Driver tips:

    1. Don’t drive without a spare tire, especially in hot or cold weather, with one’s family. Not having access to the spare is the same as driving without it.
    2. If you know of a problem that restricts performance of basics such as changing a tire, get it fixed before a trip. As the saying goes, “The good Lord helps those who help themselves.”
    3. Consider keeping a 12-volt portable jumper battery and a 12-volt air compressor in your vehicle. Note: portable batteries require periodic recharging after each use or monthly, at least, otherwise they will underperform. Total loss of charge will end the battery’s effective life.

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