By Katie Crenshaw The Kotsopoulous Family In the Kotsopoulos home, Christmas and Thanksgiving are celebrated Greek style. This means a large family gathering with a crazy amount of food. Connie Kotsopoulos said, “We make so much food you would think an army is showing up. It is truly a feast.” For both holidays, the entire […]

By Renarta Clanton Moyd Each month through the school system’s character recognition program, Amazing Acts of Character, schools are asked to nominate students who display character above and beyond expected behavior.    Two students were recently selected from individual school nominations for displaying ‘Amazing Acts of Character’ and will be recognized and honored during the […]

By Sharilyn Wells Women have a tough decision to make when they decide it’s time they want children: to stay home with them or send them to daycare while continuing her career.  I was faced with this question eight years ago. I decided on the latter. I didn’t want to give up my career in […]

By Melissa Goslin               Winter weather means steaming cups of cocoa and crackling fires. For kids, it also brings the hope of snow days spent sledding down driveways and snuggling under covers. The prospect of days spent indoors due to inclement weather stirs up a slightly different feeling in most parents—the dread of cabin […]

By Donna Foley   It is said that gingerbread originated in Europe in the medieval times. Crusaders returning from the Middle East, brought back the spicy, yet sweet bread to western civilization. However, the French argue that the bread was brought to their country by the Armenian monk-turned saint, Gregory of Nicopolis before the 10th […]

November 27 A Dickens Holiday Hay Street and downtown Fayetteville   Hay Street transforms into a scene out of a 19th century Christmas novel thanks to The Arts Council’s Dickens Holiday. A special feature this year will be “Annie’s Alehouse,” located behind The Arts Council building, it will harken back to the pub atmosphere during […]

By James Johnson Dee Hodges, owner of Fayetteville catering business, By Special Request, doesn’t like to discuss age. People like to make assumptions about people of a certain age and after 28 years of defying expectations by maintaining a small business entirely by herself in an unpredictable economy, Hodges has found that it is better […]

By James Johnson Hungry Fayetteville resident Teresa Dagat spent the first few minutes of her lunch break on Wednesday, sitting in a parked car contemplating one of life’s most persistent questions: Indian or Japanese?  Dagat said that her new job was located near the quaint Cliffdale Road adjacent shopping center, which served as home to […]

By Miriam Landru Charlotte pulls in the national tours of A-list superstars. Asheville has their indie folk scene. Up the road in Durham, there’s DPAC. We’ve got the Crown Complex and the various offerings there throughout the year. A special organization, the oldest arts focused non-profit in Cumberland County to be exact, Community Concerts, calls […]

By Melanie Mitchell With the holiday season approaching, people have a tendency to stress over the perfect food to offer their guests. And, stressed spelled backwards is DESSERTS! Here are a few desserts that are absolutely delicious and stress-free to make… each with a light liquor kick. One of my favorite desserts of all-time is […]

By Melissa Goslin Tobacco decline hit North Carolina farmers hard. As one of the few crops to thrive in sandy soil, it had been a natural fit for regional farmers since the country was settled. But there was another indigenous crop that caught the eye of Sir Walter Raleigh and his crew… grapes. Raleigh sent […]

By Miriam Landru Even if you’re a newbie to the world of wine, you are probably familiar with the fact that different glasses go with different wines.  A glass for your merlot will generally be taller and have a larger bottom, while the vessel for your Pinot Grigio will be more petite. Wine lovers are […]

By: Miriam Landru Atlanta is so much more than a Braves game and a day trip to Six Flags. This bustling metropolis, the ninth largest city in the United States, is home to over five million people. It is the home of the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It’s a hub for […]

by Melissa Goslin                 A handful of rock stars go by a single name—Madonna, Sting, Pink, Beyoncé. These mononymous celebrities have achieved a rare, instantly-recognizable level of fame, even when their one name is reduced to a symbol (who can forget The Artist, Formerly Known as Prince?). But before music and movies ruled […]

By: Marshall Waren   In the summer of 1965, I was an incoming sophomore at Fayetteville High School. Being new to the scene, I was intimidated by the stylish, well-dressed upper classmen. I had saved up money from my paper route and so I headed downtown to Ed Fleishman and Brothers on Hay Street to […]

By Kellie Gentry Hussmann   It’s no surprise that most of us want to leave this world better than we found it. If nothing else, we want to know that our time on earth made even the slightest of difference for future generations. The Cumberland Community Foundation has been helping the people of Cumberland County […]

By Kellie Gentry Hussmann Chances are, you’ve seen signs for TLC Carwash & Fast Lube around town—you know the one with the bubblegum pink Volkswagen bug perched high above the carwash accented in royal blue. And I bet you’ve also wondered, what exactly does TLC stand for?             What started out as a “Terrific Looking […]

By: Fatima Butt   People have been using letters and symbols to convey messages since before Gutenberg and the printing press.  In very ancient times, men stood in caves to tell stories with pictures. Those pictures became cryptograms became hieroglyphics, which eventually became words. Rika King, a self-taught local artist, picked up her passion for […]

By: Miriam Landru Homicide investigator-turned interior designer, Ann Marie Locklear, knows a whole lot about houses. In fact, she builds them from the ground up and then styles the entire home inside out. As she spoke about her exciting career as an interior designer and contractor, she had this mesmerizing glow about her. With a […]

BY: Courtney Phillips When Johnny Taylor was a child growing up off of Elliot Bridge Road, Ramsey Street was a far cry from the bustling, multi-lane commercial district of today. “It used to be, kids went everywhere they wanted to go. We just rode our bikes and the only rule was that we had to […]