Let our city be grateful that Kemberle Braden was a cop’s cop in this community for 29 years, and our chief of police since Feb. 3, 2023. “It has been my honor, and it has been my privilege,” Braden, 50, told the Fayetteville City Council on Monday after receiving a “Key To The City” and a city coin from Mayor Mitch Colvin. “I’m grateful to have had that opportunity and I’m grateful to the city of Fayetteville, all the citizens and everybody that supported me throughout my tenure as chief of police.” Braden succeeded Gina Hawkins, whose tenure was marked by controversy, as the city’s 25th police chief since 1832. Braden’s last day as chief is Monday, and Braden leaves the police department better than Kemberle Braden found it, and fellow police officers will tell you so.
***
Those who continually cast aspersions on the Fayetteville Police Department during public forums at city council meetings might want to consider enrolling in the Citizens Police Academy. The academy, according to a news release, is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Tuesday from April 8 through June 10 at the Fayetteville Police Department Training Center, 671 N. Eastern Blvd. Applications are available online or you may email amandaelmore@fayettevillenc.gov or call (910) 433-1903. The goal of the academy is to build stronger relationships with the community and promote a safer and more informed Fayetteville.
***
“Bill, I am not sure who to ask, but I thought you might have some information as to what is the progress (or lack of) of the monster, half completed fire station on Bragg Boulevard?” Lou Brooks writes in an email. “It looks like the construction has been halted for quite some time. It looks shuttered almost.” Basically, Mrs. Brooks, construction of the $9.44 million state-of-the-art station No. 4 at 4210 Bragg Blvd. has been something of a fiasco, replete with legal wranglings between the city and contractor W.B. Brawley Co. and its bonding company. The city alleges, according to published reports, that W.B. Brawley Co. failed to provide adequate manpower, materials and equipment to complete the work on time and also performed defective work. W.B. Brawley argues that the city’s hired architect for the project provided inadequate and incomplete designs. “We are still working with the bonding company at the moment,” Loren Bymer, director of marketing and communications for the city, said Wednesday. “We will continue the project with or without them, depending on how the conversations transpire. We don’t have a definitive timeline yet but will let you know as things progress.” So much for “America’s Can Do City” that can’t seem to so far build the fire station. Again, Mrs. Brooks, it’s been something of a fiasco since city officials broke ground in late August 2022.
***
If you are a Cumberland County commissioner, be accountable or step aside. Four out of seven doesn’t cut the muster.
***
Plans to replace an aging culvert (circa 1940s), scheduled to begin Monday on a portion of Raeford Road toward Haymount, have been postponed until April 14, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Transportation. The $1 million project, which drains Branson Creek underneath the roadway, is expected to close traffic both ways, with a completion date in November.
***
You may have heard that love is in the air when spring rolls around, and spring also is a time for pollen, which brings hay fever, runny noses and sneezing.
***
“I loved working with Francis Ford Coppola in ‘The Conversation,’” the late Elizabeth MacRae once told me about the 1974 film that starred the late Gene Hackman and was nominated for Best Picture at the 47th Academy Awards. “I loved it with Gene Hackman. Gene is an incredible actor because he never acts. We worked very similar. He would become the character, and I would become my character. That’s to me is what it’s all about. It’s about who you are working with.” Elizabeth MacRae Halsey, who grew up in Fayetteville and enjoyed a distinguished television and film career, died at age 88 on May 27, 2024. Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar recipient, died at age 95 on Feb. 18 at his Santa Fe, New Mexico home.
***
“Reaching 1,000 members is a testament to the strength and vitality of our business community,” Todd Kenthack, chair of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber Board of Directors, says in a news release about the Chick-fil-A on Skibo Road as its newest member. “This milestone reflects the trust and support of our members who believe in the chamber’s mission to foster economic development, advocate for business-friendly policies and create valuable networking opportunities.” The chamber will celebrate the Chick-fil-A of Skibo at its business networking breakfast scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at Fayetteville Technical Community College in classroom building room 108.
***
Fayetteville Technical Community College President Mark Sorrells is singing praises about the Duke Energy Foundation for its $25,000 grant to the FTCC Foundation for the school’s Lineworker program. “This funding will help us continue to provide top-notch training to the next generation of line workers who are essential to our community’s infrastructure,” Sorrells says in a news release. Sorrells says the grant is an “investment in our students” and “an investment in the future.” It is the third consecutive year the Duke Energy Foundation has provided a grant to the FTCC Foundation.
***
Former Fayetteville resident Wayne Parkins, who as a teenager was quite skilled as a Westover High School basketball athlete, has become a published author and storyteller. Now residing in Florida, Parkins is scheduled to be at City Center Gallery & Books downtown from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 3 for discussion and signing of “Waltzing With Wayne: Giving Permission to Have Fun.” His book inspires readers to rethink their routines and embrace new challenges and adventures in life.
***
Club member Pat Spears offers a reminder about the Exchange Club of Fayetteville’s annual fundraising Bar-B-Que plate sale, which is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 4 adjacent to the Masonic Center at 2900 Village Drive. Plates are $10 and include barbecue, potato salad, slaw and a roll. It’s something of a spring rite for the club, and where you’ll find plenty of fellowship with those good guys of the Exchange Club.
***
Sixty-one days since Clinton “Clint” Bonnell last was seen alive on Jan. 27 at a Fit4Life health business on Owen Drive. The 50-year-old retired Special Forces soldier, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, failed to attend class on Jan. 28 at Methodist University, where Bonnell was a student in the Physician Assistant studies program. A deceased body discovered in a pond on Feb. 25 along Gainey Road, not far from Bonnell’s home on Butler Nursery Road in the Gray’s Creek community, has been sent to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh for identification, according to the Sheriff’s Office. It’s still a mystery for now.
Coming Sunday: Civic Center commissioner wonders about Event Center moratorium
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re in our third year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose — to deliver the news that matters to you.
