President Donald Trump is heading to Fort Bragg today, according to multiple news reports, where the commander-in-chief will recognize Special Forces Delta Force soldiers, who on January 3 were part of a secret mission to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for government corruption. The president, according to ABC 11 Eyewitness News, is expected to arrive at the military base around 1:20 p.m. The president will deliver remarks at Pope Army Airfield, according to Fort Bragg officials, and he’s bringing the first lady with him.
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Mayor Mitch Colvin, Mayor Pro Tem Derrick Thompson, D.J. Haire, Lynne Greene, Deno Hondros, Malik Davis, Antonio Jones, Shaun McMillan, Brenda McNair and Stephon Ferguson say a safe and secure city is the No. 1 priority after the Fayetteville City Council met on February 4 for its annual 2027 strategic planning retreat at the Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Recreation Center. Other priorities, according to the city, are economic and strategic growth to include additional and affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization; improved and expanded transportation, transit and other connectivity needs for residents; a financially sound city with exemplary services; and increased parks and recreation opportunities for youth.
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A 49-year-old woman suffered a fatal stab wound at 7:09 p.m. Tuesday at her home along the 1900 block of Daphne Circle in west Fayetteville, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. Her 17-year-old son has been charged with first-degree murder in her death. It is, according to the FPD, the eighth city homicide of 2026.
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Members of the Community Police Advisory Board are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the FAST Transit Center, 505 Franklin St., according to a news release, for updates and a review of its charter. They just might want to address the issue of speeding motorists in the city, because some motorists drive our city streets like it’s the Daytona 500.
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Folks out in Spring Lake will have an opportunity to have “Coffee with the Commissioners” at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ask questions of the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners at Spring Lake Town Hall, 300 Ruth St. A good question for the commissioners is what is happening to the now vacant Lillian Black Elementary School, and if there is any progress on what to do with it.
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Incumbents Veronica Jones and Marshall Faircloth will join with at-large Democratic candidates Charles Evans, Toni Stewart, Mario Benavente and William Wesley, and Democratic District 1 candidates Sheila Cuffee and Larry O. Wright, according to a news release, at a Cumberland County Commissioner primary forum, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on February 19 at Crossroad Church, 3026 McArthur Road. Republican at-large candidates Greg West and Ron Ross will not participate in the forum but will attend the event. District 1 incumbent Glenn Adams and challengers Terri Thomas and Garry Murray, according to organizers, had not committed to the forum as of Thursday. The forum is hosted by Common Cause NC, Red Wine and Blue, and Fayetteville Freedom For All.
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Cumberland County Board of Elections Chair Linda Devore has been appointed by N.C. State Auditor Dave Boliek of Cumberland County to the Modernization of Election Data Systems Commission. “We have a deep bench of elections professionals from all corners of this state, including professors, researchers and election officials,” Boliek said in a news release. “It’s important that as we develop a secure, user-friendly election management system, we involve those who are on-the-ground and hear directly from North Carolina voters.” Others from the Cape Fear Region appointed to the 22-member commission are John Crumpton, former Lee County manager; Hoke County Commissioner Allen Thomas; and Scotland County Elections Director Dell Parker. Boliek will chair the bipartisan commission. Boliek surely got it right in the no-nonsense Devore.
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Tickets remain on sale for the annual Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame inductions of David Culbreth, Angela Hill, Buddy Martin, Bernie Poole and the late Jim Semple, with the ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the multipurpose room of the Tony Rand Student Center on the campus of Fayetteville Technical Community College. Tickets, which include dinner, are $65 per person and can be purchased by emailing ashleynpfp.com or calling 910-323-9195.
“Bill, as with so many of your articles recognizing and highlighting great citizens of Fayetteville, I enjoyed reading your piece on Jim Semple,” Dan Barker of Greensboro writes in an email about our February 8 column on the late Fayetteville YMCA youth director, who is scheduled to become the 118th inductee into the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame. “I spent a fair amount of time as a kid at the Fort Bragg YMCA in the 60’s and remember him well. We called him ‘Sgt Semple.’ For some reason, one thing that sticks in my mind was him telling a group of us kids to use our nondominant hand when we could for simple tasks such as brushing our teeth to help increase ambidexterity in the long run. The photo in your article is exactly as I remember him. A kind and respected man, and most appropriate that he should be inducted into the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame.”
“Well said,” Bob Cogswell, the former Fayetteville city attorney, writes in an email about the column. “Always looked forward to seeing him during church league softball. We would talk more than sports.”
“Well, Bill, what can I say except that you’ve done it again,” Candice White of Huntersville writes in an email. “Jim Semple was a well-known name in my family growing up on McNeill Circle in Fayetteville and going to church at Vaughn Memorial Presbyterian Church on Fort Bragg Road (until 1960 when my father was transferred to Germany). My father, prior to 1960, was a paratrooper at Fort Bragg, and I recall going to the Honeycutt Recreation Center. Seeing his [Semple’s] face in your article opened the floodgates to all of those memories and I cannot thank you enough. As a young child, he was just Mr. Semple. I had no idea of his dedication to and accomplishments with kids. Please keep these types of articles coming.”
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The U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division Band and Chorus is scheduled to perform a musical tribute at 6 p.m. today at Hay Street United Methodist Church downtown in honor of military service members who serve and have served the nation, according to church member Jacqueline McCloud. Doors open at 5:15 p.m., and there is no charge to attend.
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Saturday is Valentine’s Day, fellows, and don’t forget a red rose for your wife or sweetheart, or she’ll likely make reservations for you in the kennel, aka the doghouse.
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Thirteen days since Nancy Guthrie went missing from her Catalina Foothills home in Tucson, Arizona, in the early-morning hours of February 1, and the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie remains missing. Meanwhile, investigators, to include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are working around the clock to identify a masked person caught on a Nest surveillance camera at the home and believed to have abducted Nancy Guthrie. Law enforcement will apprehend the abductor, and it will not be long in coming. We continue to hope and pray for the safe return of Nancy Guthrie.
Coming Sunday: ‘Very humbled,” hall of fame inductee-elect says.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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