He’s back behind the microphone at WFNC 640 for the “Good Morning, Fayetteville” radio broadcast from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Cumulus Broadcast Center off Bragg Boulevard. “I retired for the second time nine months ago, and I was totally convinced I would never sit in this studio again,” Jeff Goldberg, aka Goldy, said Monday about his temporary return to the morning talk show. “I’ve spent 20 years in this building doing mornings. I had just turned 65, so Medicare was calling my name, and I said I will never come back here, and look at me now. I will tell you something, I have been loving retirement. I was built for retirement. I’ve been rolling out of the sack at 10 and 11 on most mornings.” Goldberg says he told his wife, “I said, ‘Honey, my head’s going to explode if I have to talk about what’s going on in Washington right now.’” But Goldy is back, he says, but just for a while as the station looks for a voice to replace Jennifer Jones Rochelle on the morning broadcast. “It could be two weeks, could be three, could be four,” Goldberg says. “I don’t know yet, but it’ll be no more than that. So, here I am. I’m excited.” Jennifer Jones Rochelle, the “Good Morning, Fayetteville” anchor, no longer is with the station, according to General Manager Kelvin Culbreth. “Goldy is filling in,” Culbreth said, “and we’ll be making a big announcement in the next two weeks.”
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City police respond to a reported shooting just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, where officers find an 18-year-old male suffering from a fatal gunshot wound in the parking lot of Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill on Skibo Road, according to a Fayetteville Police Department news release. The victim later died at Cape Fear Medical Center in what is the fifth homicide in the city within five days. Four city homicides occurred on Feb. 21, one in the early morning hours in the area of Bragg Boulevard and Winston Avenue near Mazarack Park, where a 35-year-old was the victim, according to the FPD. And three more just before 9 a.m. on Bellarthur Lane in the Cape Fear Crossing subdivision off Clinton Road, where a 77-year-old woman and two juveniles were stabbed to death. Mackendy Darbouze, 26, has been charged in the murders of the three victims in the Cape Fear Crossing neighborhood. The deaths bring city homicides to 14 in 2025, according to Police Chief Kem Braden. There were 27 city homicides in 2024.
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Here’s an alternative for folks put off with the rising prices of eggs at the grocery stores. Buy the pancake and waffle mix. Don’t forget the maple syrup.
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Although Bill Owen faced health issues in recent years, he never lost his spirit or love of life with friends. You never saw him without his welcoming smile or reaching from his motorized wheelchair to shake your hand. He looked you in the eye, and he genuinely was pleased to be in your company. He was engaged in this community and gave much of his time to making Fayetteville a better place. He would be the first to tell you his life was blessed, and blessed all the more because of his devoted wife, Elva Garren Owen, of 61 years. William “Bill” Headrick Owen was 87 when he died Feb. 23. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 3 at Highland Presbyterian Church.
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“We are honored to receive this national award recognizing our achievements over the past year,” Amy Navejas, executive director, says in a news release about the North Carolina Down Syndrome Alliance being honored as the Down Syndrome Affiliate of the Year at a 2025 Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. “2024 has been a busy year of transition and reevaluation, resulting in the launch of the UNC Down syndrome clinic, programmatic growth, accreditation, financial review and more. This is a tremendous nod to NCDSA’s hard working staff, who leaned in to prioritize families and operational excellence. We appreciate the recognition of our efforts.” The NCDSA is a nonprofit support, resource and advocacy organization serving individuals, families and professionals. Navejas is the former executive of United Way of Cumberland County.
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A bridge in Edgecombe County along N.C. 42 over the Tar River was dedicated last week for Karo and Katie Edmondson, the husband and wife who once operated a general store in the Old Sparta community, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Transportation. The couple farmed and operated the store that served the community as a grocery store, bank, news outlet and fellowship hall. We need more bridges in honor of downhome folks such as the Edmondson couple.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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