Local News

United Way of Cumberland County embraces fresh start

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Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Written by Anna White

United Way of Cumberland County recently moved into a downtown facility that will better equip them to implement their vision of enhancing all citizens’ quality of life. On Dec. 3rd, 2024 they held a grand opening and ribbon cutting along with the Greater Fayetteville Chamber that attracted 100 visitors to their new 321 Dick Street location.
“It's not extravagant,” said Scott Embry, Executive Director of United Way of Cumberland County, “but it's a nice office building that meets all the needs of the United Way and allows us to stay focused on our mission.”
Embry said United Way serves as a central location for raising and distributing funds for nonprofit programs.
“What we do is allow these nonprofits to just focus on the work, and they don't have to spend as much of their time planning galas and fundraisers and 5ks,” he explained.
He said the need to downsize instigated the move. Maintenance in their previous location was too expensive, so they sold the building and moved into a temporary location. From there, they moved to 321 Dick Street.
“We really want to be the center of this community, we were really just needing a smaller, more efficient space,” he said. “Where we ended up is perfect for that.”
Ashlee Pearson, Director of Development at United Way of Cumberland County agreed.
“We’re able to do a lot more,” she shared. “It's just honestly amazing.”
Pearson explained that UWCC wants to “improve lives across Cumberland County by strategically raising and investing resources that successfully impact and prioritize human services and needs while working in effective and innovative partnerships with direct provider agencies each year.”
According to UWCC’s website, their 2023/2024 impact included 171,013 people helped, 4,601 volunteer hours, $1,019,474 funds granted, and 789 volunteers.
Commenting on the collaboration and volunteer efforts within the community, Embry said, “I love that Fayetteville is such a compassionate, giving community. You know that slogan that you see with Fayetteville, the 'Can-Do City'? I think it's true. I don't think it's just a slogan.”
He hopes their move downtown will free them up to focus on their work instead of maintaining a building and allow them to offer their new facility as a meeting space for agency partners, “We want people to know where we are and to utilize us.”
Embry shared that they’ve intentionally brought elements of the old into the new. They’ve repurposed exterior signs from the old building in the interior of the new building, even bringing elements such as an iconic bell that donors ring after making donations, which has been with UWCC for decades.
Several new staff members have been added to the team in the last couple of years, including Embry himself, who joined as Executive Director in 2024. Embry said many staff members feel the move is a “fresh start” for everyone.
“We don’t want to forget our roots, but we do need to be working on new stuff, and this is a great home to do it in,” he elaborated.
Embry articulated an open invitation to anyone wanting to learn how to get involved with UWCC’s mission.
“If they want to get involved with their time, talent or treasure, we need all of those and we'd love to sit down and have some dialog around it.”
Contact and upcoming event information can be found on the UWCC Facebook page and website at https://www.unitedway-cc.org/

(Photo: The United Way of Cumberland County held their ribbon cutting ceremony for their new location on Dec. 3, 2024. Photo courtesy United Way of Cumberland County)

Two Fayetteville fencers go undefeated in youth tournament

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Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Written by Staff Report

The All-American Fencing Academy hosted one of its largest tournaments, with 4 events, and a total of 34 fencers. Saturday, Jan. 4, Fayetteville's Olympic fencing academy hosted the Elementary and Middle School fencing circuit as well as one of the meets for Varsity and Junior Varsity Homeschool fencers.
After coming from back-to-back medals, Olivia McKinney, a 5th grader at Overhills High School in Harnett County, took first place with an undefeated record throughout the day. Previously, Olivia McKinney took 1st in "The Southern," a USA Fencing Regional event in Myrtle Beach. She also took 3rd place in an all-girls intramural tournament during the Christmas Holidays.
Isabella Lee, a 7th grader at Seventy-First Classical Middle School in Cumberland County, has also been competing in several USA Fencing Regional events, also went undefeated in the middle school event. Isabella has had a string of successes, recently missing the medal stand by one loss at "The Southern" and the Junior Olympic Qualifiers. However, in 2024, she had racked up 3 gold medals.
The All-American Homeschool Varsity Team, The Dead Squirrels, fell to Wilmington's Southeastern Cardinals in the homeschool team event. The Cardinals eventually took first place in the weekend's homeschool team event. The Cumberland Musketeers, the area's second homeschool varsity team, took third. This marks the first time the Fayetteville/Cumberland area has fielded 2 homeschool fencing squads!
In the Junior Varsity individual event, Mesha Green was the only competitor to represent the area. Green took 7th. The winner in the individual event was Thomas Knosky from the Wilmington Southeastern Cardinals.
From Feb. 14 to 17, Charlotte, NC, will be host to USA Fencing's Junior Olympics. Isaac Canady is the sole fencer to qualify from the All-American Fencing Academy during the Junior Olympic Qualifying tournament. This will be Canady's second time qualifying for and competing in the Junior Olympics in the Junior Men's Foil event. Last year, Canady placed 315 out of 348 fencers. This year, Canady, will have 343 fencers in his event.
A Growing Sport and a Growing Club
The sport of fencing is growing world-wide. In a historically European dominated sport, US teams have consistently been in the top places on the world stage for several years in World Cups, World Championships, and Olympics.
The All-American Fencing Academy also hosts a Walk-In Class for fencers that want to give it a try without making a full month commitment. The Walk-In Classes occur during Downtown Fayetteville’s Fourth Friday events.
The All-American Fencing Academy is located in Downtown Fayetteville at 207 B Donaldson St. It instructs and trains recreational and competitive fencers starting at age 7, teens, adults, and veterans ages 40+. Its fencers compete regionally and nationally. Their coaches include former World Cup and NCAA fencers.
For more information about the All-American Fencing Academy and its classes, please call 910-644-0137, e-mail info@allamericanfencing.com or visit www.allamericanfencing.com.

(Photo: Fencers participate in a tournament at All-American Fencing Academy, Jan. 4. Photo courtesy of All-American Fencing Academy)

Fayetteville City Council reverses decision to implement review process for deadly police shootings

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Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Written by Evey Weisblat, CityView Today

More than six months after the Fayetteville City Council voted to establish a review process for unanticipated events involving city employees that result in the loss of life or serious harm to individuals, including deadly police use-of-force incidents, the council has stepped back from implementing such a process.
The process, known as a sentinel event review, is a public examination of a serious, or “sentinel” event, in which an organization — in this case, the city — analyzes the event to understand its root causes and develop preventative recommendations moving forward. SERs are commonly used in the health care and aviation industries, but they have also been used by city police departments responding to critical incidents in recent years, such as in Seattle, Tucson, Arizona and Madison, Wisconsin.
The Fayetteville City Council initially voted 7-3 to establish a sentinel event review process last June. At the time, the council also voted to provide legal representation to the FPD officers who detained and fatally shot Jada Johnson in her home in 2022. Josh Stein, then the N.C. attorney general, formally recommended in 2023 that the City of Fayetteville complete an SER of the incident and the results be released to the public.
At the Jan. 6 work session, the council received a report from the City Attorney’s Office about SERs as a follow-up to its direction last June. Moses Brown, with the city attorney’s office, emphasized that the process was not a “blame game,” but rather a “review of the system” to understand where things went wrong along the way and how they could be improved.
“It’s not here for finger-pointing or anything to that nature,” Brown said.
Following a 45-minute discussion that was at times heated, the council voted 8-2 against moving forward with an SER at Monday’s meeting. Council Members Mario Benavente and Deno Hondros voted in favor. Benavente had proposed the motion.
The council’s decision represents a blow to local activists who have repeatedly called on the city council to implement an SER protocol amid fatal police shootings of Fayetteville residents in recent years with cases such as Justin Livesay, Jason Walker and DeMarcus Brodie.
Most recently, activists urged the council to pursue an SER in regard to the 2023 death of Lawrence Artis while in police custody.
Mayor Mitch Colvin, who repeatedly argued against establishing the process on Monday, said while he wasn’t against the idea of an SER, he didn’t think it was necessary given the steps the city has already taken to develop a holistic approach to public safety with the new Office of Community Safety.
The OCS is designed to prioritize community safety over policing by addressing underlying causes of violence, such as mental health, homelessness and youth disengagement.
“I think when Attorney General Stein said that [the recommendation for an SER] he had no idea we were already one of the communities leaning into the [community safety] space,” Colvin said.
“So I think we’re on the right path. Let’s not complicate or get in our way to trip it up before we hire the people that we’re going to trust to build this out that may include all of this. That can bring those partnerships that won’t be political-related partnerships — they’ll be real because those are the people that’s got to do the work.”
The city council earmarked $2.3 million in funding for the OCS when it approved the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget last summer. Despite multiple searches, the city has had difficulty filling the OCS director position since beginning the search in the summer of 2023.
According to the latest update, provided by city staff at the Dec. 12 council meeting, the city is now aiming to hire two people for initial program management and looking to explore partnerships through contracts for alternative response service providers.
Alternative response teams typically involve social workers, peer support specialists and mental health professionals responding to non-violent 911 calls, like for mental health support, that have historically been handled by police.

(Photo courtesy of Fayetteville City Council's Facebook Page)

Students can rebound in second half of school year

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Tuesday, 07 January 2025

Written by Staff Report

Students begin a new school year hoping to do their best in the classroom. When those hopes are overcome by academic struggles, students may need a little help to get back on track.
Students and their parents must keep in mind that poor performance in the year's opening months derails no school year. There's plenty of time for students to rebound, and the following are some ways for students to get back on strong academic footing.
• Make it a collective effort. Rebounding from a difficult start to the school year may require a collective effort on the part of students, their parents and educators. Concerned parents can reach out to teachers to learn where students are struggling and seek recommendations about what to do to help them rebound.
Once those areas are identified, students, parents and educators can work together to devise a plan to help kids improve.
• Ask to move seats. A 2020 study published in the journal PLOS One found that sitting further from the instructor negatively impacted students' grades. The authors of the study, which examined the responses of more than 1,360 students, concluded that, while the evidence is mixed, students who choose to sit nearer to the front of the classroom will do better than those who sit in the back. Students who are struggling can ask to move seats if they have been sitting in the back of the class.
• Go over class notes each day. Lectures require significant note-taking, and many students scribble notes as fast as possible so they can keep up. Scribbled notes may be hard to decipher days after a lecture, but they are more likely to be understood immediately after class or when students arrive home at night.
Going over notes at the end of the day or after each class, and even transcribing them from notebooks into typed documents, can help students grasp the material more effectively. Typed notes also can make study sessions the night before a test more effective.
• Reserve daily quiet study time. Rebounding from a difficult start to the school year will likely require a daily commitment to performing better in the classroom.
Daily study time in a quiet setting, whether that's at home or at the library, can provide the time students need to focus on their studies without distractions getting in the way. Turn smartphone and device notifications off during study time. Students can even keep a study log to track what they're studying and the amount of time they study each day. This log can be useful if students need to determine which areas require more time down the road.
A school year is long, so students who struggle at the start of the year still have plenty of time to get back on track and achieve their academic goals.