A Cumberland County grand jury has indicted Shana Cloud, 51, in the death of her 50-year-old husband, Clint Bonnell, a retired Green Beret soldier, whose dismembered body was discovered on February 25, 2025, in a pond along Gainey Road near the couple’s Butler Nursery Road home in Gray’s Creek.
“Her first administrative court date in Superior Court will be April 1,” Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West Jr. said Thursday. “Her case will work its way through the administrative process with a likely trial date sometime in 2027.”
Clint Bonnell first was reported missing on January 28, 2025, when he failed to attend class in the physician assistant program at Methodist University in north Fayetteville. Shana Lea Cloud was arrested and charged on March 28, 2025, with first-degree murder by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at her home.
A city lawsuit and a counter lawsuit from the contractor to build Fire Station 4 along Bragg Boulevard at Villagio Place are heading to mediation after a consultant told the Fayetteville City Council last week the preliminary construction is defective and unsafe. Council voted for demolition. Now, the lawsuits are on hold for one year for mediation. What a fiasco, and there’s plenty of blame to be borne by all.
Frances Piso, a student in the Surgical First Assistant Program at Fayetteville Technical Community College, is the recipient of the National Association of Surgical Assistants’ inaugural Scholars of Excellence Award. “Frances represents the very best of the SFA profession and the next generation of surgical assistants,” Terry Herring, FTCC’s division chair of Surgical Services, said in a news release. Piso, according to the release, has demonstrated integrity, reliability, and accountability in the classroom and clinical settings, and exhibited dedication to the surgical assisting profession.
Family and friends are scheduled to celebrate the life of Steve Kulig from 4-6 p.m. Saturday at Highland Country Club. He will be remembered for his internet technology skills in support of law enforcement agencies, as well as his basketball and baseball prowess in the 1970s at E.E. Smith High School and his passion for golf. Stephen Carl Kulig died at age 65 on December 11.
“Bill, thanks for the informative column on Bob Pinson and Kennon Jackson,” Drew Ziegler writes in an email about my February 18 story about Pinson, who is leaving on June 30 as president and chief executive officer of the Arts Council of Fayetteville | Cumberland County, and Kennon Jackson Jr., the Arts Council chief of staff, who will succeed Pinson. “Well done.”
Cape Fear Valley Health has received a $12,000 Project Support grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville | Cumberland County to offer music therapy for patients in the Adult Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit and in the Dorothea Dix Adolescent Care Unit at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
“We are extremely grateful for the Art Council’s continued support of our Cape Fear Valley Health patients,” Sabrina Brooks, vice president of the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation, said in a news release. “We are eager to offer music therapy to our adolescent behavioral health patients so they can express through music what they may not be able to put into words.” Music therapy, according to the release, provides patients, many of whom battle depression, stress, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and substance use disorder, a therapeutic activity.
Cumberland County is the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to support community resilience, disaster relief, and countywide emergency preparedness. “The Duke Energy Foundation’s support helps us take a proactive approach to preparedness by bringing critical information, resources and emergency supplies directly to our residents,” Amanda Scheck, the county emergency management coordinator, said in a news release.
The grant, according to the release, will support Cumberland County Emergency Services’ upcoming Disaster Preparedness Expo, a one-day community event designed to help residents prepare for emergencies, connect with local resources and receive essential preparedness supplies. “Through the Disaster Preparedness Expo, we are helping ensure individuals and families have both the knowledge and tools they need to respond confidently in an emergency.” A date for the expo will be announced at a later time.
The late Robert H. Short believed in education and Cumberland County students, which is why he donated $10.5 million from his estate to the Cumberland Community Foundation to assist Cumberland County high school students with dreams of their tomorrows. “His scholarship endowment has grown to $15.7 million despite having distributed $7.5 million in awards,” says Mary Holmes, president and chief executive officer for the foundation.
This year’s recipients, according to the foundation, are Deborah Asante, Terry Sanford High School; AbbiKate Daughtry, Cape Fear High School; Rylee Foster, Daysha McCrimmon, Raven Melvin and Andrew Smith of Cumberland International Early College; Ki Gordon, Nyomi Head, Arianna Johnson, Paola Jaime-Martinez, Natalie Perez, Gennise Walatee and Arianna Larrea Zuniga of Cross Creek Early College; Novia Lin and Amirrah Whalen of Jack Britt High School; and Vaungh Stone, Reid Ross Classical School.
The foundation says students receive up to $7,500 per year for up to four years. Robert H. Short died at age 89 on February 24, 2011.
Coming Sunday: “A reminder to lift up the next generation.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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