Lorry Williams was statuesque with bright, blue eyes and a dab of Beautiful perfume behind her ear lobes, with a touch on her neck. She carried herself with class and a dignity that was hers and hers alone. She was in a league of her own. She was the consummate journalist who held herself and all of us to the highest hallmarks of journalism. We called her Lorry.
Bill Kirby Jr.
Bill Kirby Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent 49 years as a newspaper editor, reporter and columnist covering Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the Cape Fear Region for The Fayetteville Observer. He most recently has written for CityView Magazine.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Fayetteville bidding for All-America City designation
The city of Fayetteville apparently is touting itself for 2023 All-America City designation, according to Monday’s City Council agenda, and it is promoting its bid based on youth participation and engagement, youth empowerment, mentoring and education programs, youth boards and commissions, and the Market House Repurposing Project.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: ‘Historic day’ for Methodist University, Cape Fear Valley Health, and local and regional health care
Dr. Rakesh Gupta was beside himself with unbridled excitement. He looks forward to the fall of 2026, when Methodist University is scheduled to welcome its first medical school class to the Raleigh Road campus, and all the more forward to 2030, when an estimated 80 new physicians and health care providers will graduate.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: What you dispose of in your household and business drains matters, PWC says
None of us wants to see an increase in our utility rates. Looks like a cost hike is inevitable sometime around May from what was reported this week by Ben Sessoms, our new CityView government accountability reporter, who on Wednesday covered a Fayetteville Public Works Commission meeting at which the utility’s director of financial planning and capital projects said it is necessary because of inflation.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: There’s a difference between experience and the good-old-boy system
City Councilman Mario Benavente gets it when it comes to appointing Josef Hallastchek as a member of the Fayetteville Public Works Commission to replace Wade Fowler. So does Kathy Keefe Jensen and freshman council members Deno Hondros and Brenda McNair, who all voted for Hallastchek on Feb. 13, with Benavente leading the way.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Hope Mills town board delays vote on 4-year staggered terms until March
HOPE MILLS – With more than 18,000 town residents, you would have thought Town Hall would have been overflowing Monday night for a public hearing about changing two-year board of commissioners’ terms to staggered four-year terms.
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Column: City battalion chief posthumously honored as Fire Officer of the Year
John Bowen was a firefighter, and proud to be a firefighter. A mentor to young firefighters under his watch. “He was your friend when you needed to talk,” Assistant Fire Chief David …
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Column: Country, rock and Michael Jackson tribute headline 41st annual Fayetteville Dogwood Festival
The city’s calling card is on the way. It’s the marquee event. It’s the annual Fayetteville Dogwood Festival that is scheduled to stage its 41st spring rite in April at Festival Plaza Park and the side streets downtown.
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Column: Mayor, others offer congratulations to Fayetteville native on Super Bowl triumph
Mayor Mitch Colvin is singing the praises of Joshua Williams, the 6-foot-3 cornerback and Fayetteville native who was part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory Sunday over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. And what a Super Bowl thriller it was.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: When a man loves a woman with all his heart deep within his soul
There are love stories. And then there is this love story. “Jimmie had a good day,” Bill Barefoot, who is 76, recently wrote to a church friend. “Getting very good care at St. …
