Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chair Kirk deViere not only will be delivering the State of the County Address at 6 p.m. Monday, deViere will be doing it at the historic county courthouse at 130 Gillespie St. in commemoration of its 100th anniversary.
“One hundred years ago, the people of Cumberland County built something meant to last,” deViere said this week. “Holding our State of the County Address in this courthouse is not just about honoring that history. It is about recommitting ourselves to the same standard of service that these walls were built to represent.” DeViere said it well. There’s a lot of history in the downtown courthouse, and if those old walls could talk, the stories they likely could tell from commissioners’ meetings to court trials and a Hollywood film.
Former Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Bill Harrison has been named to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education, and the commission couldn’t have a better educator when it comes to public schools. “Excellent public schools create meaningful opportunity for every North Carolinian to succeed,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a news release about the 28-member commission. “This commission represents a bipartisan commitment and an opportunity to make North Carolina’s public schools the best in the nation.” Harrison served as the county schools superintendent from 1997 to 2009 and is chair of the North Carolina Public School Forum. You have a good one, governor, in Bill Harrison.
“Some have suggested that I have an agenda,” longtime Cumberland County Schools Board member Greg West said about plans to consolidate some schools and close others to include Manchester Elementary, Margaret Willis Elementary, Anne Chesnutt Middle, Alger B. Wilkins High, and Massey Hill Classical High. “And they are right—I do. My agenda is to provide the best possible learning environments for students and staff while running the most efficient school system possible. These changes would eliminate over $31 million in deferred maintenance, reduce our campus count by eight facilities, and generate over $5 million per year in operating savings that can be reinvested annually into teachers and students. These closures help offset the cost of the new facilities and reduce the debt burden on taxpayers. No child in Cumberland County should be learning in a 1950s building when we have the ability to give them a better one. Simply put, this initiative is about moving students and staff into better buildings, operating more efficiently, and allowing us to invest more resources into each child’s education and future.” You can’t say Mr. West isn’t up front about what he believes.
Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department homicide unit responded to a reported shooting at 10:50 p.m. Monday along the 700 block of Blue Street, according to a news release, and where they discovered Tony Itmus Chance, 46, suffering from a gunshot wound. Chance died at the scene. It is the ninth city homicide of 2026.
“I don’t want my daughter to be just another statistic of gun violence,” Susan Golcher writes about my Wednesday column, where two teenagers were sentenced in the July 17, 2023, drive-by shooting death of 19-year-old Danielle Claire Golcher at a Bragg Boulevard gas station and convenience store. “She was truly everything to me.”
Filing your 2025 federal and state income taxes is looming with the April 15 deadline. I’m getting mine together for my certified public accountant to prepare for the Internal Revenue Service folks. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Don’t mess with the IRS.
“I am still learning something every day,” says Mary Holmes, who on Sunday completes her 29th year as president and chief executive officer of the Cumberland Community Foundation (circa 1980). “Mainly that people in Fayetteville worked hard for their money and yet they are very willing to contribute to a good cause that helps their fellowman.”
“Thank you, Bill,” Debbie Best writes in an email about our coverage of the Women’s Giving Circle of Cumberland County’s 8th Community Awareness Scorecard Breakfast held March 6 at the Highland Presbyterian Church fellowship hall in celebration of $1 million in grants supporting women and children since 2008. “We really appreciate you writing about the Women’s Giving Circle.” The WGC, Mrs. Best, gave us a million reasons to be there.
Spring is heading our way, and it won’t be long when the azaleas and dogwoods are blooming, and the Fayetteville landscape will be flowering in all its splendor.
You know spring is near when Chairman of the Board is in town, and the popular singing group founded by the late General Johnson is scheduled to perform 1 p.m.-6 p.m. at the Second Annual CARE Clinic Beach Blast at Gates Four Golf and Country Club. Classic Soul will be there, too, with Warren McDonald, Terri Gore and Keith Pollard. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased online or by calling 910-485-0555. Tickets at the door are $125.The beach music begins at 2 p.m., so bring your shagging shoes. It’ll be a blast.
Coming Sunday: An evening with the CityView editor-in-chief.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re nearing our fourth year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose—to deliver the news that matters to you.
