Local News

Cumberland County Library has more than just books

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025

Written by Sheila D. Barker

The local library is a treasure trove of resources beyond its vast collection of books. They provide numerous enriching programs and services for community members of all ages to explore and enjoy. Throughout the next couple of weeks, we will be highlighting some of these great programs, starting with Cumberland County Public Library’s newest addition.
Free Experience Passes For Local Attractions
The Cumberland County Public Library's new Experience Passes offer residents an incredible opportunity to visit the Cape Fear Botanical Garden and Fascinate-U Children's Museum for free. Thanks to a $852 grant from the Friends of the Cumberland County Public Library, Inc., these passes allow for unlimited visits to these attractions over a seven-day period.
This initiative is designed to make cultural and educational experiences more accessible to everyone in the community. Whether you're a nature enthusiast or a parent looking for interactive learning for your children, the Experience Pass provides a cost-free way to explore and enjoy these local treasures.
The Cape Fear Botanical Garden, located at 536 Eastern Blvd., is a 77-acre haven of natural beauty, offering a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. With the Experience Pass, you can stroll through meticulously curated gardens, explore walking trails, and enjoy seasonal displays that showcase the region's flora.
The garden also features educational programs and workshops that cater to all ages, making it a perfect destination for both relaxation and learning. Whether you're interested in horticulture or simply looking for a peaceful outing, the Cape Fear Botanical Garden has something for everyone.
Fascinate-U Children's Museum is located at 116 Green street, and is a hands-on, interactive museum designed to engage young minds and spark curiosity. With the Experience Pass, children can explore various exhibits that cover topics ranging from science and technology to arts and culture.
The museum offers a dynamic learning environment where kids can participate in activities such as role-playing in a mock city, building structures, and experimenting with different scientific principles. It's an ideal place for family fun and educational enrichment.
Obtaining an Experience Pass is simple and straightforward. Residents with a Cumberland County Public Library card can check out passes on a first-come, first-served basis at the Headquarters Library located at 300 Maiden Lane, Fayetteville. The passes are valid for seven days and offer unlimited visits to both attractions during this period.
If you don't have a library card, you can easily register for one at any branch or online at cumberlandcountync.gov/library. For more information, you can call the library at 910-483-7727.
Local residents have already started to take advantage of the Experience Passes and have shared their positive experiences.
Amanda Dekker, the Headquarters Library Branch Manager, expressed her excitement about the program, saying, 'We are thrilled to offer this fantastic opportunity for our residents to experience the wonders of our community's top attractions without worrying about the cost.'
Many families have found the passes to be a great way to explore local attractions without the financial burden.
“It's wonderful to have access to these amazing places for free,” said one resident. “My kids loved the children's museum, and we can't wait to visit the botanical garden next!”

Josephus Daniels in Christensen’s new book

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Written by D.G. Martin

Rob Christensen’s new book, “Southern News, Southern Politics: How a Newspaper Defined a State for a Century,” comes out March 4. It could be two separate books.
The first might be titled, “Josephus Daniels and his family from 1865 to the present.”
The second, “The Rise and Fall of The Raleigh News and Observer (N&O), 1865 to the present”
These two possible books are brought into one by Christensen, who knows both topics well. First, as a long serving and trusted reporter for the N&O, he worked during much of the paper’s most successful times and learned about its history from those who had earlier lived it.
At the same time, he got to know members of the Daniels family, most of whom treasured their connections to the newspaper.
First, Christensen concentrates on Josephus Daniels who, after owning several smaller papers and working in Washington, D.C., bought the N&O in 1894.
Christensen writes, “It is hard to overstate Daniels’s political influence.”
He became the state's Democratic National Committeeman and was a pivotal figure for the out-of-power party that had no governor or U.S. senator. “It is hard to decide whether Daniels was a newspaper man heavily involved in politics or politician who owned a newspaper.”
Christensen explains Daniel’s racist views. “Just as crucial as Democratic loyalty was Daniels’s segregationist world-view. Daniels, who had been born during the waning days of slavery, raised in the cotton culture of the coastal plain, and spoon-fed tales of the Lost Cause and who had interacted with a partially illiterate Black population still emerging from generations of shackles, had views that firmly were rooted by the time he reached adulthood.”
Thus, Christensen writes, “Daniels left little doubt how he would use his newly acquired N&O. He immediately launched white supremacy campaigns that covered six years and reshaped North Carolina politics, resulting in the rise of a rigid Jim Crow system of segregation and sixty years of one-party Democratic control of the state.”
The N&O used two main devices to stir racial prejudice. In August 1898, it began running powerful racist cartoons on the front page and beginning in September it also ran front page stories highlighted with black borders outlining some purported “outrage” by African Americans.
Newspaper readers were told that Black people were preparing for a race war against whites and were planning to turn North Carolina into an independent territory for African Americans, and that Blacks were engaged in a black-on-white crimes--none of which was true.
Daniels used the 1898 Wilmington events “as one of several examples of the dangers of Black political agency.”
In the meantime, Daniels was establishing himself as a player in national politics. Christensen writes that “Daniels was an influential adviser in five of the next six democratic presidential campaigns--from 1896 to 1916.”
In the 1896 presidential campaign Daniels supported the Democrat, William Jennings Bryan, who lost to William McKinley. But Daniels did not think so.
“For the rest of his life, Daniels believed that Bryan had won and contended that the election was ‘stolen from him by padding registration, buying election officers and every method known to political chicanery.’”
Donald Trump would understand Daniels’s refusal to accept disappointing election results.
More about Daniels and the N&O in an upcoming column.

A new outdoor gear store opens in Haymount

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Written by Sheila D. Barker

Situated in the Haymount area, Stoke Outfitters is more than just an outdoor gear store—it's a community hub for adventurers and explorers. Founded by Jesse and Jhovanna Therrien, two lifelong adventurers, Stoke Outfitters is dedicated to providing quality gear to everyone.

Government Watch: Cumberland County, City of Fayetteville updates

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Written by Jami McLaughlin

Cumberland County
Chairman Kirk deViere, Commissioner Pavan Patel, and Assistant County Managers Faith Phillips and Sally Shutt attended the 2025 National Association of Counties conference in Washington, D.C., where they met with North Carolina Representatives to discuss legislative funding priorities including water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, federal education funding, mental health and substance use treatment services for youth and technology upgrades for first responders.
The team also advocated for routing the proposed I-685 through Cumberland County, strengthening programs for women, children, senior citizens and veterans and assisting local governments with complying with the Department of Justice mandate for ADA-accessible communications by the April 2026 deadline.
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners received an update on current projects on March 13 including the Government Services Center Parking Deck and the Sheriff’s Indoor Training Range upgrade.
The Board of Commissioners voted on March 5 to suspend all work on the Crown Event Center, approved in 2022, for 30 days in order to review and investigate the scope, schedule and budget for the project. Currently, it is budgeted at $144.5 million and is scheduled to open Spring 2027.
The Government Services Center Parking Deck, which was approved in September 2024 to help support the parking needs of the courthouse and the new Crown Event Center, is supposed to be completed in late 2026 and is estimated to cost $33 million. It is currently in the conceptual design phase although Subsurface Utility Engineering was contracted to locate underground utilities in January.
Other engineering projects included in the monthly progress report include:
• Unhoused support center at $17.4 million completion date TBD
• Recovery shelter generators at $3 million to be completed August 2025
• 109 Bradford elevator modernization at $560,000 with a bid awarded on March 5
• Crown Hospitality lobby renovation at $1.5 million to be completed by August 2025
• Crown bathroom remodel at $835,363 with a bid awarded on March 5
• Animal Services isolation building at $1.1 million, currently in the bid phase
• Sheriff’s Indoor Training Range upgrade at $850,000, currently in the bid phase
• Public Health UPS replacement at $300,000, currently in the bid phase
• County facility building systems review at $525,000, currently in the proposal phase
• Historic Courthouse switchgear replacement at $350,000 to be completed March 30
• LEC bathroom and locker room upgrade at $450,000 with contract review phase
City of Fayetteville
At their March 13 meeting, the Fayetteville City Council authorized the temporary waiver of bus fares for all fixed route and paratransit services provided by the Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) on four Saturdays in March 2025 from 8 a.m. until noon. The availability of fare-free transit service will remove transportation barriers for young children to access the United Way of Cumberland County’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library Story Time program at area libraries including Cumberland County and Fort Bragg.
The council also adopted a resolution to request the Cliffdale Recreation Center as an additional One Stop Early Voting Site and appropriated funding for an intergovernmental support agreement fund for waste management collection services on Fort Bragg. They appropriated grant funds to allow the Mid-Carolina Council of Governments (MCCOG) to continue the Community Transportation Program, helping elderly and disabled populations to have transportation.
Reports from the City of Fayetteville Economic and Community Development Department and the Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC) were approved.
Discussion for the proposed PSAP (911 Call Center) was tabled for their March 24 meeting. The vote was 8 to 1 with Councilman Deno Hondros dissenting.
The PSAP facility project was identified as a top priority in 2022 and is slated to be a 21,000 square foot building with room for growth and training space. Discussion has also included a consolidation or a co-location between Cumberland County and City of Fayetteville programs. Cumberland County moved into a new facility in 2022. However, neither government agency could agree on a satisfactory merging of the two public safety answering points according to the 911 Center & Schrader Group Architecture report in the agenda packet. The City is hoping to secure a grant from the North Carolina 911 grant program.

In other news
Cumberland County Public Library now offers seven days of general admission passes to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden and Fascinate-U Children’s Museum — available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Headquarters Library on Maiden Lane until October and funded by an $852 grant from the Friends of the Cumberland County Public Library.

About the Greater Fayetteville Chamber
Advocacy is a cornerstone of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber. Every week, the Chamber dedicates staff to attend City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County meetings as well as monitoring updates on the state and federal levels. We monitor legislation locally, statewide and federally to protect our community’s business interests. With 91% of U.S. adults recognizing a Chamber of Commerce's impact on growth, membership ensures a strong voice in shaping policies, driving economic success, and building a thriving business community—together. To learn more, visit www.faybiz.com.

(Photo courtesy of Fayetteville Area System of Transit's Facebook Page)