Gladys Hill was honored at Monday’s night’s Fayetteville City Council meeting with a proclamation from Mayor Mitch Colvin to recognize her community work of selling pink light bulbs each October to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
She thanked the mayor but had a question, too.
“Why can't we light the Market House pink again, Mister Mayor?” Hill asked.
The mayor said the city will look into the matter.
The city should light the Market House in pink every October. Breast cancer affects women and men no matter the color of their skin or nationality. And BTW, that was an honor for Hill worthy of taking some extra time.
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“Crime was a big part of it,” says Jimmy Buxton, 76, president of the Fayetteville Chapter of the NAACP, which held a candidates forum Sunday at the Cumberland County Headquarters Library & Information Center for those running for Fayetteville City Council. “A juvenile curfew was brought up. Not much was said, but they did discuss it.”
Among those participating, Buxton said, were Mayor Colvin and challenger Efrain “Freddie” de la Cruz; District 1 incumbent Kathy Keefe Jensen and challenger Jose Alex Rodriguez; District 2 incumbent Shakeyla Ingram and challenger Malik Davis; District 3 challenger Michele Dillon; District 5 incumbent Johnny Dawkins; and District 9 incumbent Deno Hondros.
Candidates absent from the forum, Buxton said, were District 4 incumbent D.J. Haire, because of recent surgery, and his challenger, Stuart Collick; District 5 challenger Lynne Bissette Greene; and District 9 challenger Fredlisha Lansana.
Candidates fielded questions from moderator Amanda Williams and later questions from the audience estimated by Buxton at between 70 and 80 people.
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“Excellent coverage on the District 5 race,” George Breece, a longtime Cumberland County politico, writes in an email about our Oct. 22 column on the Fayetteville City Council race between Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Dawkins and challenger Lynne Greene. “Fair and balanced. And never forget, Bill, politics is a contact sport, and defining one’s opponent is a part of that contact sport. As for the other eight municipalities, incumbents are well positioned. The mayor of Hope Mills' race will be a repeat,” Breece says about Mayor Jackie Warner, who is going up against challenger Jessie Bellflowers in his second bid for the mayoral gavel. “Some of these other local races are like ‘Groundhog Day.’ We already know the outcomes. As for the Fayetteville mayoral race between three-term incumbent Mitch Colvin and challenger Efrain ‘Freddie’ de la Cruz, Mitch is presently the closest thing to ‘Mayor for Life,’” Breece says. “He’s got that one nailed down till he runs for something in Raleigh or D.C.”
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A 31-year-old man is the 42nd homicide victim of 2023, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. He was one of four people suffering from gunshot wounds about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in the 1500 block of Slater Avenue, according to a Police Department news release. A 21-year-old man, according to a news release, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. The year's death total is two shy of 44 homicides in 2022.
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Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, who is commanding general of Fort Liberty and the 18th Airborne Corps; Col. John Wilcox; Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory A. Seymour; and Command Sgt. Maj. T.J. Holland will serve as grand marshals for the 2023 Cumberland County Veterans Day Parade scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 4 in downtown, according to Michael O. Gillis of the Cumberland County Veterans Council. Wilcox is garrison commander of Fort Liberty. Seymour is command sergeant major for Fort Liberty; and Holland is command sergeant major for the 18th Airborne Corps. The parade theme is “We Fought for Liberty.” The parade will begin on Cool Spring and Person streets and end at Pittman Street.
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Retired Col. Willie F. Wright will be the keynote speaker at the Blue Star Memorial Veterans Day ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at Freedom Memorial Park, according to a news release from Don Talbot, curator of the park. LaRue Cooke, president of the sponsoring Cross Creek-Briarwood Garden Club, will give opening remarks after a presentation of colors by the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry. The Daughters of the American Revolution also will have a part in the ceremony. In the event of rain, the ceremony will take place at N.C. State Veterans Park.
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Devin Heath is the new president and chief executive officer of DistiNCtly Fayetteville, according to Seth Benalt, board chairman of the nonprofit that promotes Fayetteville and Cumberland County as a destination for conventions, events and travel. “I am extremely excited to join the DistiNCtly Fayetteville team and to work with the community to expand the future for Cumberland County,” Heath says in a news release from the organization formerly known as the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Heath has been executive director for Visit Natchez in Natchez, Mississippi, since 2021 and has 30 years of tourism marketing and hospitality management experience, according to the release. He replaces interim president and CEO Scott Meszaros. Heath begins work on Dec. 4 in Cumberland County.
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The Cumberland County Board of Elections conducted a logic and accuracy voting test system to ensure that each ballot will be tabulated correctly in preparation for the Nov. 7 general election for Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Eastover, Falcon, Godwin, Linden, Stedman, Wade and the Eastover Sanitary District. Ballots were coded for a mock election and run through a tabulator, according to a news release from the board. A bipartisan team supervised the test. After testing, the election staff reset all voting devices.
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For folks wondering about early voting for the general election, 1,758 people had cast ballots as of late Thursday afternoon, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections. That would be for all countywide races to include Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Remember, there are 128,415 Fayetteville residents, according to the board, who are registered to vote. So, there’s still plenty of campaigning to do until the Nov. 7 general election.
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Oct. 23 was a significant day for youths, adults and residents with special needs with the reopening of the renovated Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Recreation Center at 1600 Purdue Drive. A ribbon-cutting took place at 10 a.m., according to a city news release. Renovations include an interactive sensory room, a remodeled kitchen with updated appliances, new flooring and a newly resurfaced parking lot. The center, according to the release, has expanded from 3,099 square feet to 15,444 square feet, thanks to $775,000 from a parks and bond package passed in 2016; $500,000 from the state; and $100,000 from Cumberland County. The center’s slogan is “Where Abilities and dis-Abilities Become POSS-ABILITES.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
