Local News

Court of Appeals revives property owners’ lawsuit against Fayetteville

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Tuesday, 08 October 2024

Written by Paul Woolverton, CityView Today

Neighborhoods want the city to rebuild lakes that drained when dams burst during 2016’s Hurricane Matthew.
Western Fayetteville residents whose private lakes and dams were damaged or destroyed in Hurricane Matthew in 2016 may continue their lawsuit over their losses against the City of Fayetteville, the N.C. Court of Appeals said in a ruling issued Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge William R. Pittman in 2023 had ordered their case dismissed.
This aerial view from Google Maps shows where Arran Lake used to be in western Fayetteville. The lake washed away when its dam breached during Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. Credit: Screenshot from Google Maps
The property owners and their homeowner associations want the city to repair and rebuild the dams of four lakes — Devonwood-Loch Lomond, Upper Rayconda, Arran Lake (which all overtopped and breached during Hurricane Matthew, and no longer hold water) plus the dam for a lake near Strickland Bridge Road (which did not breach but was heavily damaged).
Hurricane Matthew caused severe flooding throughout Fayetteville, Cumberland County and southeastern North Carolina.
The property owners contend Fayetteville had used their lakes to help control stormwater, and so the city bears responsibility for the damaged and destroyed dams.
In court papers, Fayetteville’s lawyers said the lakes were built before 1961 and were designed to be recreational amenities for their neighborhoods. This was long before the neighborhoods were annexed into the Fayetteville city limit.
The city’s lawyers said an engineering study concluded the city’s urbanized infrastructure upstream of the lakes contributed a negligible amount of stormwater during the hurricane’s massive rainfall — that the hydrological models show the water would have overflowed these dams even if the city had not been built up around them.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge N.C. Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday said some of Pittman’s reasons for dismissing the property owners’ lawsuit were valid, but he had been mistaken on other points. The appeals court said the lawsuit should have advanced:
• On the question of whether since the hurricane destroyed and damaged the dams, the city has been negligent in sending stormwater through the empty lake beds (which now have the original creeks on which the dams were built).
• On the question of whether the city is trespassing on private property by discharging its stormwater through the empty lakebeds, instead of discharging it some other way.
Court of Appeals Judge Hunter Murphy and Judge April Wood were in the majority opinion. Judge John M. Tyson, who is a Fayetteville resident, agreed with most of Murphy and Wood’s decision. But he said the lawsuit should also have advanced to consider whether the city, by sending its stormwater through the dry lakebeds, has taken the residents’ property via inverse condemnation
Inverse condemnation occurs when the government takes or damages something you own without paying you first, says a definition published by the Cornell Law School. The federal constitution requires the government to pay you if it takes your property.
This lawsuit could next move to the N.C. Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision. The parties have until Nov. 5 to request this.

Dogwood Festival selects new Executive Director, Jim Long Jr.

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Tuesday, 08 October 2024

Written by Staff Report

The Board of Directors of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival announces Jim Long Jr. as Dogwood Festival Executive Director.
Calling Fayetteville home, Long is an Army veteran with extensive knowledge in project management, stakeholder engagement, and the entertainment industry. Long most recently has been involved in race series and race track events promotion throughout the Southeast.
“The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival Board of Directors is pleased to announce Jim Long Jr. as our new Executive Director. Mr. Long’s proven business acumen will be an incredible asset to the stability and future of the Festival. Moreover, it is our hope that with the hiring of Mr. Long, alongside the unbelievable success of this year’s Dogwood Festival, that we will be able to build and develop a truly memorable Dogwood Festival experience for the community in 2025.” said R. Andrew Porter, Chairman of the Board.
Long is excited to hit the ground running.
“The Dogwood Festival is a significant part of our community. Not only does the community look forward to the Festival each year, but the region looks forward to visiting Downtown Fayetteville to experience a premier event,”he said.
“I am honored to be selected to serve my community in such a way. I would also like to thank the past directors, board members, volunteers and marketing partners for their dedication and hard work in keeping the Dogwood Festival strong for over 40 years.”
Long’s first day as Executive Director was Oct. 1, and plans to begin community engagement initiatives immediately.

(Photo: Jim Long Jr. has been selected as the new Executive Director of the Dogwood Festival in Fayetteville. His first day on the job was Oct. 1. Photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival’s Facebook page)

Trump visit signals importance of NC, Fayetteville in election

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Tuesday, 08 October 2024

Written by Paul Woolverton, CityView Today

Data and outside observers say North Carolina is critical in Donald Trump’s effort to return to the White House.
So did Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential candidate.
“It’s very hard for us to win unless we’re able to get North Carolina,” Vance told reporters on Sept. 14 during a visit to Greenville. The state has 16 votes in the Electoral College. A candidate needs 270 to win.
In 2020, Trump’s victory in North Carolina was tight, just 74,483 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast.
“NC was the bluest red state in the country in 2020, which means it’s the definition of purple as we look towards 2024,” political scientist Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University said in 2023.
In Fayetteville on Friday, Trump took questions from voters. He came to an area of the state that has been friendly to him. Where does Cumberland County fit in the equation?
Fayetteville region important to the campaigns
Trump won in North Carolina both in 2016 and 2020. The numbers from 2020 suggest the Fayetteville region is important to his effort to try to win the state for a third time. They also indicate the region is important to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris as she tries to wrest North Carolina away from the Republicans for the first time since Barack Obama won the presidential race here in 2008.
In Cumberland County in 2020, Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump in the presidential race: 84,469 votes to 60,032 votes.
But Trump’s visit to the Crown Arena in Fayetteville on Friday wasn’t just a visit to Democrat-favoring Cumberland County. It’s a visit to Cumberland County plus the surrounding areas. Most of the surrounding counties supported Donald Trump in 2020.
The cluster of counties around Fayetteville — Cumberland, Hoke, Moore, Harnett, Sampson, Bladen and Robeson — overall picked Trump over Biden in 2020, with 196,319 votes for Trump and 176,457 votes for Biden. Trump led the region by almost 20,000 votes.
A path to victory through North Carolina?
Political analysts often look at presidential candidates’ potential path to victory via the winner-takes-all practice that most states use to award their Electoral College votes.
Echoing Vance’s statement about North Carolina, political probability analyst Nate Silver recently said (as cited by political analyst Matt Robison in Newsweek), Harris has a 95% chance of winning the whole election if she wins the Tar Heel state.
The polling between Harris and Trump in North Carolina has been close, with Real Clear Politics having Trump ahead by just 0.5% in an average of recent polling.
As a result, both Harris and Trump have been campaigning in North Carolina, as analysts say Trump can’t afford to lose here. Biden was able to win nationally in 2020 without North Carolina, as he had a base of Democrat-favoring states elsewhere.
Harris campaigned in Fayetteville in July, a few days before Biden dropped out and backed her for the Democratic nomination.
Trump visited Fayetteville in the 2016 and 2020 races, and was here again on Oct. 4.
What do the parties say?
Here is what the Republicans and Democrats have to say about Trump’s town hall held Oct. 4.
Communications Director Matt Mercer of the N.C. Republican Party: “We’re thrilled to have President Trump in Fayetteville and in this town hall format, it will be an exciting night. President Trump will take questions from voters about their concerns, particularly those in communities directly impacted by the failures of the Harris-Biden administration.
“As young military families deal with the reality that the world is less safe that it was four years ago and struggle due to Kamala Harris’ poor economic record, President Trump will talk about his common sense platform and how he will lower prices, restore American manufacturing, and bring back peace through strength.”
Rapid Response Director Michael Zhadanovsky of the N.C. Democratic Coordinated Campaign: “Every time Donald Trump comes to North Carolina it’s a reminder to voters that Trump and his MAGA allies like Mark Robinson are too extreme for North Carolina. [Robinson is the lieutenant governor and the Republican nominee for governor.]
“Trump’s Project 2025 agenda would raise taxes on middle class families by almost $4,000 and gut veterans benefits while giving handouts to the rich. It’s time to turn the page on Trump’s extremism and elect Vice President Harris to lower costs for North Carolinians, protect our fundamental freedoms, and keep our communities safe.”

(Photo: Official portrait of former President Donald J. Trump published Oct. 6, 2017. Photo by Shealah Craighead / Library of Congress)

Noteworthy statistics underscore prevalence of breast cancer

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Tuesday, 01 October 2024

Written by Staff Report

Breast cancer affects millions of women and their family and friends every year. Each of those women has their own unique experience upon receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, and those journeys hopefully end with successful treatment.
Because each woman’s breast cancer journey is unique, data regarding the disease only tells part of the story. But recognition of key breast cancer statistics is still important, as data can compel support for women fighting the disease and underscore how vital it is for young women to prioritize breast health.
• A 2017 study from the American Cancer Society found that roughly 42 percent of cancer diagnoses and 45 percent of cancer deaths in the United States are linked to controllable risk factors for the disease. Breast cancer is no exception in that regard, as the Breast Cancer Coalition Foundation points to studies that have shown as many as 50 to 70 percent of breast cancers can be prevented if women adopt lifestyle changes early enough.
• The ACS estimates that approximately 30 percent of postmenopausal breast cancer diagnoses are linked to modifiable risk factors such as diet and physical activity levels.
• The World Health Organization reports 2.3 million women across the globe were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. WHO data also indicates 670,000 women lost their lives to the disease in 2022.
• Breast cancer poses a greater threat to women’s lives in countries with a low Human Development Index (HDI), which is a metric used by the United Nations Development Program to gauge a country’s average achievement in areas such as healthy life and standard of living.
WHO data indicates one in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and one in 71 women will die of the disease in countries with a high HDI. In countries with a low HDI, where access to medical care is more limited, one in 27 will be diagnosed with breast cancer and one in 48 will die from it.
• Five-year survival rates indicate that treatment is most effective when breast cancer is caught in its earliest stages. Data from the ACS indicates a 99 percent five-year survival rate for cancer discovered before it has spread beyond the place it started.
When the cancer is considered regional, which the National Cancer Institute defines as cancer that has spread to nearby lymph nodes, tissues or organs, the five-year survival rate is 86 percent. The five-year survival rate for distant cancer, which indicates it has spread to distant parts of the body, is 30 percent.
• Survival rates differ considerably between Black women and White women diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the ACS, the five-year survival rate for Black women between 2012-2018 was 83 percent compared to 92 percent for White women during that same period.