Fayetteville will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Sister City relationship with Saint-Avold, France, next week. “Mayor Rene Steiner has the distinction of being the first mayor from Saint-Avold to ever visit Fayetteville in the 30 years of our ‘Sister City’ relationship,” says Kris Johnson, president of the Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance. Steiner and his delegation of Saint-Avold Deputy Mayor Raymonde Schweitzer and Saint-Avold historian Pascal Flaus are scheduled to receive a “key to the city” at Monday’s 7 p.m. City Council meeting at City Hall. The Saint-Avold delegation also will attend a 10 a.m. Wednesday ceremony for the renaming of Saint-Avold Avenue at Hillsboro and Walter streets downtown near N.C. Veterans Park. Johnson said her organization “is excited that the city of Fayetteville supported this effort to honor our Sister City.” In 1994, Martha Duell of Fayetteville attended a similar ceremony in Saint-Avold, when a road in front of Lorraine American Cemetery was renamed Avenue de Fayetteville. The Lorraine American Cemetery is the final resting place of 22 North Carolina service members who died in World War II, according to Johnson. Among them is Pvt. William Shaw of Fayetteville.
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A 35-year-old woman found dead in her home in the 3200 block of Kentyre Drive on Sept. 14 is the 36th homicide victim of 2023 in the city, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. The 37-year-old suspect, who was the woman’s partner, died by suicide, according to police. His vehicle was found by police in Southern Pines. The homicide was the result of a domestic dispute, police said.
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Freshman City Councilman Mario Benavente wants letters from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina included in further discussion of a potential curfew that the ACLU says could infringe on the rights of people under 18. “We got a letter from the ACLU that was not presented in any shape, form or fashion by our Police Department,” Benavente told Mayor Mitch Colvin at Monday’s called City Council meeting. “I would like for you to present the contents of that document so that we have all the facts, not just the far right, but we also have another perspective. … The ACLU sent all of us a letter, and they outlined three reasons why youth curfews don’t actually reduce youth crime and how it could actually be an unconstitutional abridgment of people’s civil rights, and we need to discuss all these things because, thus far, no one on our city staff has presented on any other perspective except for pro-curfew, and it’s time that we get a full comprehensive discussion, not just one side of this debate.” And there is suggestion from the city’s interim city attorney that the ACLU of North Carolina should present its position at a future council meeting or council work session. Benavente’s motion passed 8-2, with Mayor Mitch Colvin and council members Kathy Keefe Jensen, Shakeyla Ingram, Derrick Thompson, Brenda McNair, Courtney Banks-McLaughlin and Deno Hondros in agreement. Council members Johnny Dawkins and D.J. Haire opposed the motion. What about the rights of Danielle Claire Golcher, the 19-year-old Hope Mills woman who was gunned down at a Bragg Boulevard gas station at 1:29 a.m. on July 17 by two juveniles, ages 17 and 15, who now are charged with first-degree murder, according to a Fayetteville Police Department news release, in the young woman’s death? True, a curfew may infringe on the rights of juveniles who are restricted from being out in public in the early morning hours. But what about Danielle Claire Golcher’s rights on that tragic July 17 morning? Who, councilman, speaks for Danielle Claire Golcher?
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Early voting is underway for the primary in the four-way Fayetteville mayoral race and in City Council Districts 2 and 5, particularly Districts 2 and 5 where some first-time challengers are thoughtful and viable candidates. Study your candidates and what they believe and see for yourself. The early-voting primary runs through 3 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Cumberland County Board of Elections Office, 227 Fountainhead Lane.
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City Councilman D.J. Haire is grieving the death of former council colleague Curtis Worthy, who died Wednesday. “My dear friend was 76 years old,” says Haire, the longest-serving member on the council. “He’s been overcoming for about two years. The Lord called him home Wednesday afternoon. Curtis Worthy was my friend. He loved his city and his neighborhood. A great husband, father of three and several grands. I’ll miss him.” Curtis Worthy was a former District 7 councilman.
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“Bill, your CityView tribute to Gen. Lindsay was awe-inspiring,” Jeff Thompson, longtime community radio icon, writes about our Sept. 17 column on Gen. James J. Lindsay. The four-star general was the first commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the leader of the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division on Fort Liberty. He also spearheaded construction of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum that opened Aug. 16, 2000. “One of the things that made it special, in my opinion, was your reference to the many local people you cited. No one else has the historic memories you do. Thank you for all you do for our community, my friend.”
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“Bill, I enjoyed reading your article on Gen. Lindsay,” Sandy Hurley, widow of the late Fayetteville Mayor Bill Hurley writes in an email about our Sept. 17 column. “It brought back so many memories. Thank you for mentioning Bill’s name. He was so happy that the museum would be built downtown.”
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“He was a great soldier and kept the dream alive about the ASOM forward to fruition,” Don Talbot, a Vietnam veteran and curator of Freedom Memorial Park adjacent to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, writes in an email about Gen. Lindsay.
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Only four more performances of “The Play That Goes Wrong” at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, and if you haven’t seen this one, then you are missing out on a hilarious production with a cast to include the incredibly gifted stage actor Jonathan Judge-Russo. The show will entertain you from the opening curtain. Directed by Laura Josepher, the whodunit play is about “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” in which the accident-prone characters contend with everything from falling props to flubbing lines one after another. This theater is a treasure in this community, and this is a gem of a production. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 tonight, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.
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Oldtimers numbering almost 250 are scheduled to gather from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday for a nostalgic reunion of The Fayetteville Observer and The Fayetteville Times employees at Paradise Acres in Hope Mills. “What a tribute to a great family company that so many former employees would want to gather together, renew old friendships and reminisce about our wonderful, shared experience,” says John Holmes, the longtime human resources director for the newspaper once owned by the Lilly family. “Yes, we all shared in the mission and vision of The Fayetteville Observer and The Fayetteville Times, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the people and the relationships we built.” Among those expected to attend from the business office, the newsrooms, advertising, classified, circulation, the pressroom and newspaper carriers are former publisher and executive editor Charles Broadwell and members of the Lilly and Ramon and Virginia Yarborough families; retired Observer managing editor Bob Wilson; retired Times managing editor Tom English Jr.; retired Observer opinion editor Tim White; former Observer-Times city editor Jeff Couch; former Observer copydesk chief Bobby Parker; former Observer design editor Suzanne Schubert, coming from Virginia; former features editor Michelle Valenzuela, from Arizona; former features/online editor Kristen Askelson, from Louisiana; former news reporter Nomee Landis, from Utah; former Observer sports editor Doug Mead; newsroom librarian Daisy Maxwell; retired advertising salesman A.J. Jordan; John Jones from advertising; former Times features editor Chick Jacobs and his wife, Meredith, a copy editor; Renee Lane from human resources; retired Observer chief photographer Johnny Horne; former photographers Cindy Burnham, Marcus Castro, Raul Ruberia, Marc Hall, Steve Hebert, Bryan Thorpe and Swayne Hall; former Observer columnist Kim Hasty; former Times features editor Janet Gibson; former military reporter Jeff Newton; features writer Tom Lassister; Sandy Hullender from classified ads; Jerry Flowers from the pressroom; current news director Beth Hutson; Jeff Frye from IT support; Sandy Flanary from the business office; former Times reporter Seth Effron; Susan Cook from advertising; Bryant Holmes from production; Donnie Beal, one of the longest-serving employees; Observer assistant city editor Jessica Banov; current courts/investigative reporter Paul Woolverton; production foreman Grisson Bain; Observer chief photographer Babette Augustin; former human resources director Linda Baez; and former general manager Tony Chavonne, who is the reunion organizer. “If this year has taught us anything,” Chavonne says, “it is that we need to cherish the people and the memories of our lives.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
