Cumberland Board of County Commissioners Glenn Adams, Toni Stewart, Jeannette Council, Jimmy Keefe, Marshall Faircloth, Michael Boose and Veronica Jones, according to a news release, are scheduled to gather at 2 p.m. today for the groundbreaking of the $145 million Crown Event Center to be built in the front parking lot of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse at the intersection of Gillespie Street and Otis F. Jones Parkway. The facility will temporarily displace 203 parking spaces, and the county says alternative parking will be available in nearby parking areas including First Presbyterian Church. Click here for more information. The county also says it is in the process of designing a parking deck behind the courthouse, with completion anticipated in 2026. The Crown Event Center, according to the release, is anticipated to open in the spring of 2027.
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Twelve days until Election Day, when some local wannabe politicians will learn it’s time to give up the political ghost because some wannabe politicians just are not electable.
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You have to be quite serious about wanting to be a county commissioner when you raise $83,184.54 in campaign contributions in six months, and that’s what 33-year-old Republican candidate Pavan Patel has done, according to CityView reporter Evey Weisblat. The dollars only are for Jan. 1 to June 30. Former N.C. Sen. Kirk deViere, a Democrat, follows with $39,359.58. Henry Tyson, a Republican, is next with $36,615.30 in the six-candidate race, with Republican Peter Pappas, Democrat Karla Icaza and incumbent Democrat Toni Stewart nowhere close.
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If you are looking for “the place to be” on Nov. 5, you may wish to be at the Crown Coliseum lounge, where candidates, supporters and politicos will await election returns. “We have been advised from the county that the Cumberland County election results will start at 7 p.m. and finish once all county precinct results are reported,” says Seth Benalt, the Crown Complex general manager. Parking, according to Benalt, will be in the West VIP parking lot. Use the West Suite entrance for access to the lounge.
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Former President Donald Trump, according to published reports, calls the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol “a day of love.” Around 140 police officers were injured, including the five deaths of Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police officers, according to published reports, who gave their lives defending Congressional leaders including Vice President Mike Pence. Jan. 6, 2021, if you’ll beg my pardon, was not “a day of love.” It was a day of national disgrace.
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Nothing presidential about Donald Trump’s remarks on Oct. 19, where, according to published reports, the 78-year-old former president offered offhand comments about late professional golfer Arnold Palmer’s anatomy during a campaign stop in Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Call it politically and socially unacceptable. Trump is an avid golfer, but that one was out of bounds with little decorum or reverence for the golf legend who died at age 87 on Sept. 25, 2016.
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Something you can’t deny is that Donald Trump can work a “Make America Great Again” campaign crowd like no politician you’ve ever witnessed, and that’s just the politicking truth of it.
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Cumberland County politico George Breece did some reminiscing with former President Bill Clinton, 78, who made an Oct. 19 stop campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and her presidential running mate Tim Walz at the Seabrook Park in Fayetteville. “I was a Clinton delegate in 1992 and was on his two bus tours in North Carolina,” Breece says. “I had my tour jacket from 1992, and he signed it today. I told Bill how I had saved the bus tour jacket for over three decades hoping that one day he could sign it. He was surprised that I still had it, and I was surprised he remembered my name. The last thing he said was, ‘Thank you, George, for being a delegate for me and for your true friendship over these many years.’”
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If you still are waiting for Nov. 5 to vote and are still debating your choice, you’ll want to check out our CityView election and The Assembly elections guides highlighting national, state and local candidates. Visit the elections guide and candidate questionnaires at our CityView website for details. You can type in your zip code to see your ballot, too.
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Former Fayetteville Dogwood Festival Executive Director Saragrace Snipes Mitchell says she has resigned from the festival board of directors to concentrate on her job with the Cumberland County Planning Department and to spend more time with her husband raising their 5-month-old son. Isabella Depietro, according to Mitchell, also has resigned from the board. Jim Long Jr. resigned on Oct. 9 after nine days as executive director.
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Acclaimed North Carolina artist Max Dowdle is scheduled to begin work Tuesday on the “Special Forces Soldier” mural along the south wall of “Stitch in Time” at 412 South Main St. in Spring Lake, according to Dr. Dave Dickerhoff, a Spring Lake dentist and member of the Spring Lake Community Appearance and Sustainability Committee. He is joining the Military and Veterans Advisory Committee and the Town of Spring Lake to unveil the canvass on Nov. 8 at a Veterans Day ceremony. “Stitch in Time” is an embroidery business owned by Air Force veteran John Springer.
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A 17-year-old is under a secured custody order for attempted first-degree murder after Fayetteville Police responded to a 911 call just before midnight on Oct. 21, where law officers discovered three individuals suffering from gunshot wounds along the 3300 block of Village Drive, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. And on Oct. 18, a juvenile was served with a secured custody order for first-degree murder in the Sept. 3 homicide of Dealton Thaggard at the 3000 block of Sanderosa Road, according to a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office news release. Honestly, juveniles with guns? What happened to responsible parenting?
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Dr. Andrea K. Dickerson, lawyer Christopher M. Bullard and businessman Ralph Huff have been sworn to four-year terms into the Fayetteville Technical Community Board of Trustees, according to a news release. Dickerson was sworn in by the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners, while Bullard was appointed by the N.C. House of Representatives and Huff by the N.C. Senate.
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“Loved your piece on the Cypress Springs Presbyterian Church,” the Rev. Ben West, former pastor at Westminster Church, writes in an email about the Oct. 20 Kirby File about homecoming at the little, white church at the crossroads of the Moore and Harnett County lines near the Woodlake community. “By the way, Westminster is celebrating 50 years at the Village Drive location on November 17. Of note, a time capsule that has been in the wall of the sanctuary since 1974 will be opened at that time.”
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“Her contributions to the educational community will be remembered, and her leadership will be missed by those who knew and worked with her,” Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Marvin Connelly says in a news release about Angela Anita Dawson, the retired principal at Sunnyside Elementary School. “On behalf of Cumberland County Schools, we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time.” Angela Dawson died at age 48 on Oct. 17. A service is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the Colvin Funeral Home and Crematory on Murchison Road.
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Preliminary plans are on the drawing board to widen Fisher Road in west Fayetteville between Strickland Bridge Road and Bingham Drive from two lanes to four, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Transportation, to ease traffic congestion and reduce vehicle collisions. You can offer input by contacting fisherrd-widening-cumberland@publicinput.com or calling (984) 205-6615 (the project code is 10723). You also can visit NCDOT public input site to learn more about the roadway project and offer comments. Deadline is Nov. 8.
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Jack Britt High School is doing its part by making blankets for those residents who are victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, according to the Cumberland County School System. Students cut and make the blankets before school and during lunch in the school media center.
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Fayetteville Street Maintenance and Solid Waste Employees are headed Sunday to Hendersonville to assist with debris removal in the wake of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. “We are proud to assist our neighbors in western North Carolina during this challenging time,” Mayor Mitch Colvin said in a news release. “Since the storm, our team has been on the ground, and we will continue to provide the necessary support to help with recovery efforts.” More than 70 city employees have assisted with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, according to the city. Visit FayettevilleNC.gov/Helene for more information about how you may assist in recovery efforts.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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