Early voting is underway throughout Cumberland County for the Nov. 7 general election, including the Fayetteville City Council races for mayor and competitions in District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, District 5 and District 9. The early voting period runs through Nov. 4. With 127,846 registered city voters, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections, only 10,751, or 8.41%, bothered to vote in the Oct. 10 primary. Every registered city resident should vote, either early or on Election Day. You have no voice in what transpires in City Hall if you don’t exercise your right to vote.
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Once we know results of the Nov. 7 general election for Fayetteville mayor and six districts, the winners will be sworn in at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 in Seabrook Auditorium at Fayetteville State University, according to a news release from the city. The council will vote on the mayor pro tem after the swearings-in.
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“I think this has been very informative,” said Nat Robertson, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber, after Wednesday morning’s candidate forum for City Council incumbents and challengers at the Crown Coliseum ballroom. Some of us would beg to disagree with Robertson and the chamber’s Government Relations Committee that put the forum together. Candidates did not have enough time to speak, and there were limited inquiries and comments about community gun violence and crime. Robertson is a former city mayor and councilman, and he has been involved in his share of candidate forums. And this forum fell flat.
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A 40-year-old woman’s body discovered Oct. 12 in a wooded area of Fieldcrest and Cedrick Streets near Sante Fe Drive is the 41st city homicide of 2023, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. That’s three shy of the 44 city homicides in 2022. If you have information regarding the homicide, call Crime Stoppers at 910-483-8477 or Detective Waters at 910-635-4978.
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“When a consumer sees that certified sticker displayed in the businesses, they know they can shop with confidence,” Angela Selitto of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber says about Thursday’s announcement of the chamber’s Consumer Protection Division that will promote sound ethical practices for businesses and consumers in the community. Participating businesses will receive an annual “blue checkmark” window decal, Selitto said, to give consumers assurances of best business practices. “Our aim with the Consumer Protection Division is to create an environment where both consumers and businesses thrive,” Nat Robertson, the chamber president and CEO, said in a news release. “By promoting fairness, transparency and accountability, we believe we can foster a lasting trust between the business community and the consumers we all serve.” Kudos to the chamber on a sound initiative for all of us.
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The Dogwood Fall Festival returns to downtown Fayetteville today through Sunday with events for families and ages young, old and in between. The festival kicks off from 6 to 10 tonight at Festival Park and will include hayrides, food trucks and live music. It’s back to the park from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday with more of the same and a vendor fair. The festival concludes from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at the park.
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You’ve heard it said that Cape Fear Regional Theatre is a treasure in this community, and an example is "The Addams Family Musical" that kicked off Thursday with a sold-out audience. The musical performance is selling out like those proverbial hotcakes, prompting theater folks to add two more shows, one for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 and one for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15. Tickets are going fast. If you miss any play or performance at the theater on Haymount Hill, you are missing out.
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Call it a special night when Douglas Byrd High School recognizes its 1972-73 Pioneer 3-A Conference football championship team that featured quarterback Solomon Everette and late running back Horace Whitaker at halftime of tonight’s 7:30 game against Purnell Sweat. Nineteen of 37 athletes from the Eagles’ 8-3-0 squad under the late coach Maurice Chapman will be in attendance for the halftime ceremony. The 1972-73 team lost by one point to Sanford Central that went on to win the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A championship, and Whitaker was honored with the season Richard Lilly Award as the county’s most valuable football player.
Whitaker, who earned an athletic scholarship to N.C. State, was 66 when he died Nov. 11, 2021. Those taking part in tonight’s reunion are Jay Carrier, Randy Carrier, Worth Carter, Haywood Jacobs, Gene Liau, Thomas Maynard, Mike McCaskill, David Ramsey, Danny Roseborough, Tony Chavonne, Bobby Dole, Lee Harris, Kenny Jackson, Andy Miller, Mike Petsuck, Joey Taylor, Floyd Thomas, Jay Tilley and Reco White.
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One in eight women will face breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation special edition newsletter for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And 35% of patients at Cape Fear Valley Cancer Centers, the newsletter says, are battling breast cancer. You can make a donation for someone you know who is diagnosed with breast cancer or in memory of someone who lost their battle with breast cancer. Visit cfvfoundation.org or call 910-615-1285 for more information.
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Don Talbot with the Sudan-Suez Hope Mills Shrine Club sends a reminder that the 65th Shriners Fish Fry drive-thru is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at 3030 Boone Trail. Plates that include two fish filets, coleslaw and hushpuppies are $10 each. Proceeds benefit the Shriners Hospital. You may purchase a ticket, Talbot says, from any Shriner.
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“Hi, Bill, thank you so much for the very kind and amazing article,” Jeff Darling, the new president and chief executive officer for the YMCA of the Sandhills, writes in an email about our Oct. 8 column about the YMCA. “I have received emails from as far south as Florida, and as far west as Dallas. Apparently, your readers are far and wide. It has been wonderful to hear comments from our members and new folks that are coming in. I can’t thank you enough for taking an interest in me personally and the great work we are trying to do in our community.”
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The Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan is a collaboration of the city, the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority, community stakeholders, faith-based organizations, anchor institutions and businesses via a December 2020 HUD Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant — and the work is not going unnoticed. The city was awarded the 2023 North Carolina Marvin Collins Award in the “Advancing Equity” category from the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association for the Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan.
“Receiving this award validates the plan we created with our community at the center, supporting our City Council’s goals,” Chris Cauley, the city’s economic and community development director, said in a news release. “It was important to council that we approached planning for a majority minority community and home to a historically Black college and university with a sense of equity and respect for the diversity that makes our community great.”
The award, according to the release, recognizes a project or program that involves historically underrepresented groups, positively impacts quality of life for low- or moderate-income individuals and achieves planning objectives that address structural inequities. The Choice Plan, part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhood initiative, is a guide, according to the release, for revitalization of the public housing units while also directing positive transformation along the Murchison Road corridor.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
