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 Staff report

CHINA GROVE – The 23rd annual Rowan Masters Golf Tournament is coming up in June.

The tournament attracts many of the top local golfers who have amateur status and is held at Warrior Golf Club.

A round of stroke play determines a field of 32 and the seeding for match play.

Qualifying rounds are on June 19-21.

Match play is scheduled for June 26-28.

Matt Davis won last year’s event in exciting fashion, as he won four of his five matches, 1-up. He topped some well-known local golfers – Andrew Morgan, Jaden Sprinkle, 2024 champ Chris Owen and William Little – on his way to the title.

Rowan Masters winners

2003 – Keith Dorsett
2004 – Gary Miller
2005  – Keith Dorsett
2006  – Keith Dorsett
2007  – Keith Dorsett
2008 – Ronnie Eidson
2009 – Ronnie Eidson
2010 – Keith Dorsett
2011 – Keith Dorsett
2012 – Keith Dorsett
2013 – Phil Miller
2014- Matt Hardman
2015  – Matt Hardman
2016 – Andrew Purcell
2017 -Keith Dorsett
2018 -No tournament (renovations)
2019 – Nick Lyerly
2020 – Nick Lyerly
2021 – Nick Lyerly
2022 – Nick Lyerly
2023 — Michael Swaringen
2024 — Chris Owen
2025 – Matt Davis

 

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

MISENHEIMER – USA South opponents were ready for Pfeiffer softball’s Landry Stewart this season.

They’d seen her act before and they’d game planned to stop her – but, putting it as nicely as possible, they failed to do so.

The junior center fielder, a run-scoring machine as a lead-off slapper, bumped her batting average from .474 in 2025 to .516 in 2026 and nearly doubled her stolen base tally from 42 to 81. She was voted USA South Player of the Year for the second straight season.

“I set a standard my first year at Pfeiffer, and my goal was to try to top it,” Stewart said. “There are always ways to improve.”

Stewart is skilled enough that she can “power slap” the ball through the infielders if they play in tight. She hit a few balls through gaps in the outfield, which explains how she had three triples and four doubles.

“Most teams play a bunt defense against me, but I can either slap it between them or by them,” Stewart said. “And if the third baseman stays back, that makes it easy. I can lay it down for a hit almost every time.”

Stewart started playing softball as a 7-year-old for her grandfather, Lex Graham, the former A.L. Brown basketball coach. She is phenomenally fast, a gift coaches started discovering by the time she was in middle school.

While she was in middle school, Landry watched her sister, Rylie, do the pitching for Carson, as the Cougars got hot in the playoffs and reached the West Championship Series. That exciting playoff run is what convinced Landry that she wanted to become a college softball player.

The Stewart sisters had divergent skill sets. While Rylie had the head and the heart to control games from the circle, Landry was blessed with the raw athletic talent in the family.

Landry made a decision by the time she got to high school that becoming a lefty slapper gave her the best chance to succeed at a high level. Slapping made the best use of her most obvious tool – her speed.

“(Coach) Johnny Meadows connected me with Tianna Batts, a coach who had been an All-America slapper at Alexander Central and went on to play at Tennessee,” Stewart said. “She taught me a lot about slapping. It took a lot of training, but it became a natural way to hit for me. You’re walking into the ball, so slapping is not easy, but I’ve gotten consistent with it.”

Stewart learned that slapping involves hard slaps as well as soft slaps. There are different slaps for different situations. She became an expert.

COVID was the first thing to slow down Stewart. She was limited to six games as a Carson freshman and 15 in the half-season that was played her sophomore year. But she blew up at camps between her sophomore and junior years of high school.

She had two All-State high school seasons for the Cougars, batting .500 with 35 runs as a junior and .473 with 32 runs as a senior. Her speed got her recruited by a number of schools.

She signed with USC Upstate, in Spartanburg, S.C., in the fall of her senior year. It was a good D-I program and seemed like the ideal fit, not too far away from home, but things didn’t work out for her there. It’s not like she wasn’t good enough to play there, but she wasn’t enjoying softball the way she had in high school and she was homesick. She missed her family. She also missed her boyfriend, Carson graduate Cameron Burleyson, who was busy playing baseball for Catawba.

She only stayed at USC-Upstate for a semester. She continued to take college courses after she came home and she watched a lot of Catawba baseball games, but she didn’t know what was coming next as far as athletics.

Meadows re-entered the picture at that point and introduced Stewart to his friend and colleague, Pfeiffer head softball coach Monte Sherrill, a former Pfeiffer baseball player, a former U.S. Marine and a legendary high school coach before he returned to Pfeiffer to guide the Falcons.

Pfeiffer is only 18 miles from Salisbury and provided Stewart with a chance to not only return to the softball field, but to be the girlfriend, daughter, sister and aunt that she wanted to be. Coach Sherrill quickly restored the love of the game that she had slipped away during her freshman year.

“Softball players are people,” Stewart said. “Life is a lot bigger than softball. Pfeiffer is a small school, and it’s been great for me. Pfeiffer has given me the chance to be more than just a softball player.”

Stewart was terrific for Pfeiffer when she debuted in 2025. There were some nerves initially in her new surroundings, but once she settled in, she was hard to contain – 63 hits and 49 runs scored. She batted over .500 until very late in the season.

Her encore in 2006 was even better. She is one of the national leaders in D-III in hits (82), runs (64), steals (81) and batting average (.517). She was an astounding 81-for-85 on steals, breaking all sorts of records. She’s been able to turn softball games into track meets. As soon as she gets to first base, she’s thinking about stealing second. As soon as she steals second, she’s looking to take third. She puts a lot of pressure on a defense.

“I’ve had the green light,” Stewart said. “There was a period of adjustment last year. Coach Sherrill usually has power softball teams, and I was a different kind of player from what he normally recruits. But he’s been great as far as believing in me and in what I can do for the team.”

Stewart started a lot of games by getting on base and using her wheels to manufacture the Falcons a quick 1-0 lead. She understands her role precisely – provide the spark and light the fuse for the capable hitters coming up behind her. She struck out only 10 times all season, while walking 20 times.

Defensively, Stewart plays center field for the Falcons. Not much falls in front of her or behind her.

She already has been named All-Region and probably will be an All-America selection.

The Falcons finished this season with a 40-11 record. They lost in a regional championship game on the road, 3-2, to a 48-0 Virginia Wesleyan team that might win it all.

Stewart, who expects be a teacher/coach down the road, plans to return to Pfeiffer for one more softball season in 2027.

It will be hard to top .517 and 81 steals, but she’ll take her best shot at raising the bar even higher for all the Falcons that follow her.

 

 

Six years ago, the world stopped due to COVID-19. Many questions remain unanswered. Was it of natural origin, as Fauci said, or a leak from a bio-lab he funded in China? Was it truly necessary to shut down “non-essential” businesses? Were masks helpful or harmful? Should we wear one or two, as Fauci later said? Where is the science behind the “six-foot” rule? Did the shot prevent COVID, as we were told, or actually make it worse?

We, as the public, are not wrong to seek answers for these legitimate questions. And when one man stands up and proclaims, “I am the science,” should we willingly accept his claim when his medical record from the 1980s, when working with third-world children and HIV experiments, is very problematic?

I am only one of thousands who lost loved ones during COVID-19. My brother-in-law was hospitalized, put on a ventilator, given Remdesivir and died alone. The professionals would not allow us to visit him. This is more than just infuriating; it is criminal, especially in light of what we now know. New information is being disclosed that the COVID-19 responses were manipulated by Tony Fauci and his cohorts. The CDC, NIH and NIAID, whose job is to protect us, willingly and intentionally used this virus for their own purposes. If this doesn’t incense you, it’s either because you don’t know the facts or don’t care. But for everyone whose lives were turned upside down and even destroyed, we seek accountability, justice, transparency, Congressional oversight and new regulations to ensure this never happens again.

Until we get to the bottom of the matter, the COVID-19 crisis won’t be over. Thankfully, Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee refuse to let this go until the truth is known. This past week, they met with career CIA agent whistleblower James Erdman, who testified under oath about events that took place behind the scenes. It is noteworthy that not one Democrat on the committee was present! Why not? Isn’t knowing the reasons that caused a national pandemic important enough for them to attend? Apparently not.

A career CIA operations officer, Agent Erdman spent this past year on a joint assignment for the Director of National Intelligence’s Director Initiatives Group (DNI DIG). Wednesday, against the CIA’s objections, he gave firsthand testimony of what he discovered in this role. He stated that Dr. Fauci was very involved in the cover-up of the virus’s origins. Fauci’s claim that the virus was of natural origin, originating in bats and “evolved in nature and then jumped species,” was a lie. This deception was necessary to keep his illegally funded gain-of-function projects conducted in Wuhan labs from being exposed. President Obama halted these projects in 2014 because of the danger they posed. For Fauci, this was no problem. He simply took grants and funds allocated elsewhere and moved his experiments overseas, where they could not be monitored by our government.

According to Erdman, Fauci successfully “influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the (Intelligence Community) consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health officials and scientists.”

Although CIA analysts initially concluded that the pandemic was likely a lab leak from Wuhan, they were overruled. This information was withheld from Congress. According to the committee chair, Sen. Rand Paul, the CIA still has not released the requested files concerning COVID’s origins. What are they continuing to hide?

Last month, Fauci’s right-hand man at NIAID, Dr. David Morens, was indicted for helping suppress the lab leak theory, destroying and concealing records related to COVID, avoiding required disclosures by using private emails, and working with outside researchers in COVID research. Do we really think all this was done without Fauci’s knowledge?

Fauci’s actions resulted in one of the deadliest epidemics in our time. Since he is “not above the law,” his prestige and power should not keep him from being accountable. Tell us the truth! We can handle it.

Renee C. Scheidt lives in Salisbury.

I miss Dean Martin. Yes, that boozy baritone from ’60s and ’70s Rat Pack fame. I miss him because I enjoyed his celebrity roasts that can now be found on YouTube or TikTok more than this drivel being churned out on Comedy Central and Netflix. I’ve always prided myself on never being shocked or surprised by anything this lack of humanity we’re forced to live through today, but I can be disgusted. Just when I thought I had reached my personal pinnacle goal of disgust with our current level of politics, Netflix said on Mother’s Day to hold my beer. They patted themselves on the back during the opening to the Celebrity Roast of Kevin Hart by acknowledging the content would be racist in tone. Against my better judgement, I tuned in anyway mainly because video clips continuously popped up on my social media news feed.

I’m not new to racial hate cloaked in comedic intent or thinly veiled as a 1st Amendment right. I can recall the first time I was called the N-word was at 10 years old during the same year this country was celebrating its bicentennial. Although I was still an innocent, less-than-socially-conscious and aware child, I felt no national pride in being relegated to less than while the man uttering the slur probably lit sparklers and sang Yankee Doodle Dandy later that evening. It would not be the last time I would be put in an uncomfortable position to evaluate my place in society based on someone else’s misguided arrogance. Back in the early 2000s working as a director at an Asheboro hospital, I routinely had racist cartoons taped to my office door or slid underneath. You learn to internalize it and not complain because speaking up in the corporate world means you will be labeled difficult, divisive, not a team player and ultimately unemployed. When I served as a city councilman here from 2015-2017, I was reminded several times that I needed to learn my place and was once publicly shamed in a meeting as saying I didn’t understand the political game because I was new to it. Yeah, that was code for calling into question my intellect and capabilities so as not to have equal footing as those who didn’t look like me. I’ve even been subjected to hate-inspired remarks and behavior at my current veterans business too with some less-melanin holding folks saying they won’t support it because it’s Black owned and the patronage “is too dark.”

So, with my history of persevering through the murky swamps of hatred, I find racial humor unfunny. The Netflix folks thought that having a Black band, The Roots, playing ’70s throwback soul music interludes somehow excused the hate and legitimized the racist tone. It didn’t. The nearly three-hour run time was filled with abhorrent jokes targeting the physically disabled, intellectually challenged, lynching, misogyny, sexual violence, 9/11, women with weight issues, suicide and a particularly sad attempt at humor about George Floyd not being able to breathe. There may have been more, but I fast forwarded at times to try and speed up the emotional pain I was self-inflicting.

The late El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, better known to the world as Malcolm X, said in a 1962 speech “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” It was difficult listening to one comedian after another debase the Black women on the dais and see how they took it in stride and laughed heartily right along. My integrity isn’t motivated by money or materialism but it was obvious many of the new Uncle Clarence Thomas (formerly Uncle Tom) that participated were. I was saddened that modern day Negropeans like Kevin Hart, NBA star Draymond Green and other men of color in attendance allowed this to continue unchallenged. Again, disgusted.

We’ve become so callous and insensitive as a society. Some of us have even tried to turn the term “woke” into a negative slight. It’s thrown around now to justify a lack of humanity and basic dignity and respect for our fellow man. If it satisfies your fragile ego to call me woke and justifies your hate, then please do. I will always choose kindness and show dignity and respect for people who don’t look, think or behave like me. There’s nothing funny about that.

Kenneth “Kenny” L. Hardin is an alumni member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

SALISBURY — As part of the third phase of renovations taking place at the former West End Plaza, the Friends of the Rowan County Public Library’s Second Saturday Bookshop is looking for a new home.

As was noted in a previous article, the organization is one of several groups or businesses that have to move from their current location on Jake Alexander Boulevard by Aug. 4.

In sharing about the move, Barbara Corriher, who serves as the president of the organization, shared how “incredible that we were allowed to rent the old Radio Shack storefront for $1 from the county for the last five or six years.”

She further expressed how amazing it would be if the county could offer the group some space in one of the buildings vacated by county organizations that are moving into the newly renovated center.

Corriher described the bookshop as welcoming and charming and said that Jenny Hubbard, who is a past president of the Friends of RPL, helped to make it this way.

She said that their Second Saturday Bookshop has been embraced by the public, with lots of repeat customers attending the monthly event, and she noted that they are “very anxious to find a new location.”

As of May 9, the organization stopped taking donations; however, noted Hubbard, they still have a number of items in the bookshop including books of every genre and for every age along with CDs, audiobooks and jigsaw puzzles.

On June 13, the Second Saturday Bookshop sale will be a Blow-Out sale, as noted from information provided by Hubbard. The sale, which is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is open to the public.

The following Saturday, June 20, she shared that this will be Rowan County Educators’ Day from 9 a.m. to noon. Books will be free, and educators are encouraged to bring boxes, bags and proof of employment, which can be IDs or check stubs or screenshots will be acceptable.

The stock that is not sold by the time they have to vacate the center, said Hubbard, they plan to give away, recycle what’s left and try to sell all the shelving, decorative pieces and wall hangings, which they anticipate taking place sometime in July. Additional details will be announced as the time approaches through their newsletter and social media accounts.

The Friends of the RPL raises money from the bookshop, book sales at the different library branches and the sale of book bags, said Corriher, with the majority of the proceeds going to support “the library’s staff, events and other requests made by the director. Basically everything we make goes right back to supporting the library’s budget.”

And while the bookshop is not accepting donations, it was noted that the Rowan Public Library branches are accepting hardcover and paperback books, DVDs, CDs and recorded books. However, they do not accept VHS tapes, magazines, newspapers, textbooks and encyclopedias.

In the event the group isn’t able to find a space by the August deadline, Hubbard said they would continue to sell books at all four of the library branches as each has a tiny shop inside.

Those interested in sponsoring or donating a location for the group or needing more information, email her at jenhubbard@gmail.com

SALISBURY — Cheerwine was not the only one downtown on Saturday with a secret recipe.

Local businesses really lean into the Salisbury soda connection during Cheerwine Festival, offering a broad palette of food and drink items with a Cheerwine twist.

Grove Cartel Brewing Company in China Grove is a regular vendor at the Cheerwine Festival. The brewery is known for its wide-ranging beer and seltzer menu that offers something for everybody. On Saturday, owner Jason Overcash and bartender Amanda Chavis were keeping Cheerwine Festival attendees cool with three Cheerwine-flavored beverages: a lager, an India Pale Ale or IPA, and a seltzer.

“At the Cheerwine Festival, they want Cheerwine authentic products,” Overcash said. “We use the Cheerwine base syrup to infuse into our drinks.”

Overcash credits Brewmaster Jonathan Woodward for getting the recipes right. Overcash was just happy to be able to share it with all the folks at Cheerwine Festival, especially the IPA, which he said turned out ever better than they could have expected.

“It was one of our best sellers,” he said. “Traditionally, the IPAs don’t do well at that festival but we had a lot of lager drinkers going to our IPA because of how smooth it was.”

Again, Overcash sang Woodward’s praises for that one, commenting on how the beer retained its boldness while maintaining a smooth drinkable profile. Overcash estimated that they sold approximately 600 beers throughout the day, indicating that the remaining supply they produced for the event would be available at the brewery in China Grove while it lasted.

In the years since he began participating in the Cheerwine Festival, it has proven to be good for publicity and profitability.

“The first year was a little slower for us because we were a new brewery but it has been a profitable event,” Overcash said. “It brings a lot of people to our taproom that might not know we are here.”

Overcash’s setup was one of the temporary locations laid out on Main Street, but local brick-and-mortar storefronts got in on the action, too.

Shug’s at Brooklyn South Square sits at the corner of South Fisher and East Lee streets. It is just outside the perimeter barricade of the Cheerwine Festival, but owner Tiffany Day delights in being able to take part in Salisbury’s signature event.

“We have a whole drink menu that is all Cheerwine-themed,” Day said. “We have a Cheerwine Ol’ Fashioned, Cheerwine Sangria, Cheerwine Jell-O shots.

“… We also have an espresso martini that you can have Cheerwine syrup in. It is very good. It tastes like espresso cherry taste.”

Shug’s has been open for a few years now and has been offering variations of Cheerwine drinks during the annual festival.

“They are always in demand but we have typically only offered them during the festival,” Day said. “This year though, we are offering them all week. A lot of people who are from the area don’t necessarily come down today because it can be a little crazy, so we offer it for the whole week so they can still get in on it.”

The Cheerwine concoctions did not stop behind the bar, extending into the kitchen with multiple soda-seasoned items.

“We have Chef Brittany (Sprinkle) in there,” Day said. “She is making a braised beef brisket with a bourbon Cheerwine glaze. We have pork chop sliders, they have a Cheerwine bourbon compote and we have the habanero Cheerwine chicken wings.”

Cheerwine Festival typically brings upwards of 100,000 people to downtown Salisbury for the event. Day said that with foot traffic like that, you are going to have a lot of new faces along with the familiar ones.

Mean Mug is another downtown business. It is a coffee shop, located on North Main Street, so on Saturday it was right in the thick of things.

Head barista Ashley Medina said that while it is a hectic day, it gives the employees a chance to interact with the community and be a part of what downtown is.

“Downtown does a great job with events like and incorporating businesses like ours,” she said.

Mean Mug offers a respiteful Cheerwine frappe beverage that is a favorite during the festival. Its early success led the owners of Mean Mug to serve it year round.

“We introduced Cheerwine frappe the first year we were part of the festival,” Medina said. “It was such a hit we kept it on the menu.”

It is not the only drink available at Mean Mug with a Cheerwine connection. Medina said they also do a hot and over ice latte. With sweltering temperatures creeping into the high 80s and low 90s on Saturday, it stands to reason why the frappe, a frozen drink, was the most popular.

Salisbury resident Anthony Radford was enjoying a Cheerwine frappe inside Mean Mug on Saturday.

“It is like a mix of espresso and Cheerwine combined,” Radford said. “It is really good.”

Radford said he like espresso drinks and has them regularly, but he is also a big fan of the festival’s namesake.

“Cheerwine is also great by itself,” Radford said.

The local looks forward to the festival every year, because it puts Salisbury’s signature beverage on the map, but the best part is seeing so many others enjoy the drink that he loves, too.

SALISBURY — For the Plein Air Carolina group, outside is their studio and it’s where multiple of the artists said they enjoyed being.

Plein air is different from studio art, said Phyllis Steimel, a founding member of the local group, in that painters are “painting from life. We’re outside, we’re setting up our easels and painting what is in front of us and not painting from photographs in our studio or from our heads.”

She said plein air follows the tradition of Monet, the impressionist, noting that it was this group that started it all because “they were the first ones to go outside and paint from life so their tradition kind of lives on through plein air painting.”

The group tries to go somewhere every Friday, depending on the weather, said Steimel, adding that sometimes they go on Saturdays and Sundays and the times vary because the light is totally different from morning to afternoon.

“The light has a lot to do with it,” she said. “So on a gray day, we try to paint a gray painting. On a sunny day, we paint a sunny painting.”

Seven members of the Plein Air Carolina group, which officially started in 2003, gathered at a nursery on Scout Road in Salisbury on May 15 and once there, they scattered and found the spot they wanted to paint depending on the particular aspect they wanted to paint.

“We get out here, and we see what inspires us,” said Steimel, and attracted to color, she selected a place with lots of flowers filled with color.

“It’s almost overwhelming,” she said, but added that she liked it along with the wheel, which she said attracted her to the area.

Standing behind her easel nearby, Cherrathee Hager was also painting the small wagon but from a different perspective.

She said she liked the way the light was reflecting, causing one side to be brighter and added that the light was reflecting off the wheels and plants and noting the “subdued color in the back, that gave me some variety.”

Mary Jo Agner, Steimel’s daughter, was there and said she was new at this but her sister, also an artist, had taught her to do plein air at a beginner class.

“I had fun with it,” she said, noting she was looking for a new hobby because she was close to retirement and wanted something fun to do. Her mother got her started with the group.

Agner said she selected the gazebo to paint because she liked the way the light was hitting the wood and flowers.

Sarah White-Harvey, who said she attends most of the events, said she would normally concentrate on one particular flower like a daisy in the sun, but opted to paint an area less overwhelming with people this time.

Sue Bartlett, also a regular attendee, said she chose “predominantly architectural details with the plants” as her subject to paint, “because I just like the diagonals and I like the shadows.”

She said that she is still pretty much a studio painter, doing this type of painting has helped her to “more quickly frame a painting and get into it quickly.”

For Karen Koritko, who said she has been doing this type of painting for at least 10 years, said her choice of subjects was probably because of the color and shapes of the flowers.

Plus, she noted she enjoys being outside and the fresh air and natural lighting.

Maryjo Gunning said she only paints Plein Air and actually belongs to four different groups.

She said with a laugh, “I’m totally addicted” noting that there is fresh air and she come prepared with anything she might need including bug spray, sunscreen or an umbrella.

Her choice of subjects was the plants and because she likes to do figures, she was going to add the young worker watering the plants.

Gunning said the light was beautiful on Friday.

“I chase the light like Monet did. He’s my mentor. It’s who I talk to,” she said with a smile.

As for how locations are selected, Steimel said they switch off and members that sign up to take a month are responsible for picking a site for the group to go and paint.

Agner selected the nursery for this Friday Paint Out and said what attracted her to the site was the colors and options to paint because there are fields, flowers, the greenhouse and the fact that it’s peaceful and quiet.

Hager said she is still in the learning process of plein air, noting that it is totally different from what she normally does, which is painting murals, windows and studio art.

However, she said, three years later she has some that are good and some are not, “but I’m still learning and it’s helped me so much. It’s a learning process, but I love being out here in all this nature.”

Hager said that this is the perfect place to learn how to paint and the other artists provide lots of support.

The group also has a plein air art show, organized by Sharon Forthofer, and held in the spring at Rail Walk.

She also noted that plein air groups are everywhere and artists can join these groups if in the area.

Steimel said anyone wishing to join them and paint outdoors may do so by contacting her at phyllissteimel@gmail.com and providing their email address and she would send out weekly identification of where they will be meeting and painting.

SALISBURY — Over the weekend, multiple subjects vandalized The Patriots Flag Concourse and Memorial.

According to information from the Salisbury Police Department, the incident occurred sometime overnight between Saturday and Sunday.

“The report was taken on the 17th. It looks like overnight or early in the morning, they took several small American flags and threw some in the trash cans and others in the creek,” said Salisbury Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Moreau.

The park is located at 305 West Miller Street in Salisbury. It is on the site where the Salisbury Armory was once located and features multiple walls displaying the names of United States veterans.

The park was decorated with American flags in honor of upcoming Memorial Day. The officer attempted to retrieve the flags that they could.

“Whatever they could pick up, they scattered around,” Moreau said. “Officers placed some flags back on the grounds. The rest that were damaged were taken to Summersett Funeral Home for proper disposal.”

Moreau indicated that video surveillance was recovered from the scene which has helped investigators develop subjects of interest, however, no names or identities were released.

If additional information becomes available, this story will be updated.

A man showed up to the hospital with a gunshot wound over the weekend, but details about how he was shot are under investigation.

A 48-year-old man arrived to the emergency department at the Novant Health Rowan Medical Center shortly before 3 p.m. on May 16. Reports from the Salisbury Police Department indicated that the man suffered the gunshot wound in his leg.

The Criminal Investigations Division is currently looking into the incident but no charges have been filed at this time.

In other Salisbury Police Department reports

• A crime of domestic violence occurred in the 600 block of Vance Avenue on May 15.
• A motor vehicle theft occurred in the 800 block of South Main Street between 6 p.m. on May 13 and 5 p.m. on May 14.
• Property damage occurred in the 100 block of Emerson Lane around 5:34 p.m. on May 15.
• An assault with a gun occurred in the 800 block of Laurel Pointe Circle around 9 p.m. on May 15.
• A report of a recovered firearm was taken in the 100 block of North Main Street around 3:39 p.m. on May 16.
• A report of an intoxicated individual was taken in the 500 block of East Innes Street around 7:45 p.m. on May 16.
• A hit and run causing property damage occurred in the 300 block of East Innes Street around 10 p.m. on May 16.
• Larceny occurred in the 1500 block of South Jake Alexander Boulevard between 8:30 and 11:10 p.m. on May 16.
• Tampering with a motor vehicle occurred in the 900 block of East Lafayette Street around 1 a.m. on May 17.
• A hit and run causing property damage occurred in the 600 block of South Main Street around 1:40 a.m. on May 17.
• An assault occurred in the 2200 block of Woodleaf Road between 1 and 1:47 a.m. on May 17.
• Larceny from a motor vehicle occurred in the 100 block of Marriott Circle between 10 p.m. on May 16 and 3:40 a.m. on May 17. The total estimated loss was $3,000.
• An attempted motor vehicle theft reportedly occurred in the 300 block of North Long Street around 5:25 a.m. on May 17.
• Vandalism occurred in the 100 block of Clancy Street around midnight on May 18.
• Lennix Nyree Blackwell, 18, of Salisbury, was charged with possessing stolen goods on May 16.

In Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reports

• Fraud occurred on Harrison Road (Salisbury) between noon on April 24 and 10:28 a.m. on May 14.
• Larceny occurred on Southern Oaks Lane (Salisbury) between 5:30 p.m. on May 13 and 6:30 a.m. on May 14.
• Fraud occurred on Amber Court (China Grove) between noon on Aug. 1 and noon on Sept. 12 of 2025.
• Vandalism occurred on Webb road (Salisbury) between 4 p.m. on May 10 and 4 p.m. on May 14.
• Larceny occurred on Deal Road (Mooresville) between 5:19 p.m. on May 10 and 5:19 p.m. on May 14.
• Vandalism causing property damage occurred on Varnadore Road (Salisbury) between 7:30 and 9:36 p.m. on May 14.
• Fraud by impersonation occurred on Statesville Boulevard (Salisbury) between 9:48 a.m. on May 11 and 9:48 a.m. on May 12.
• Vandalism causing property damage occurred on Woodbury Drive (Salisbury) around 2:47 a.m. on May 15.
• Burglary by forced entry occurred on Mooresville Road (Salisbury) between 6:40 and 6:45 a.m. on May 15.
• Fraud by false pretense occurred on Webb Road around 8:23 a.m. on May 15.
• Identity theft occurred on Redmon Road (Cleveland) between 5 p.m. on May 14 and 11:19 a.m. on May 15.
• Larceny occurred on Wiley Lane (Salisbury) between 7 p.m. on May 14 and noon on May 15.
• Impersonation occurred on Smith Road (Kannapolis) between 6 and 6:05 a.m. on May 16.
• Burglary occurred on Townview Drive (Kannapolis) between 5:30 p.m. on May 15 and 11:30 p.m. on May 16.
• Mark Andrew Harrison, 45, of Woodleaf, was charged with failing to register as a sex offender on May 14.
• Denijiah Marquez Brown, 29, of Charlotte, was charged with breaking and entering to terrorize/injure and possession of marijuana up to 1.5 ounces on May 15.
• Rodercik Leigh Bethea, 39, was charged with communicating threats on May 15.

SALISBURY — The proposed Salisbury fiscal year 2027 budget totals roughly $131 million and includes a 1.9-cent property tax increase to address police pay, fire apparatus needs and the capital project management department among other priorities.

The property tax increase is expected to have a $3.75 per month impact for the average residential home. Beyond property tax, there are not any proposed increases to solid waste, recycling or stormwater fees which had previously been indicated. However, there is a proposed increase in water and sewer rates of four percent, an estimated $2.72 per month for the average residential customer.

This totals to an estimated $6.47 monthly impact to the average residential home in Salisbury.

The primary reasoning given for these increases at the initial budget presentation on May 18 were police salary adjustments along with four new positions in the department. This comes after a reported decrease in the crime rate but expressed retention problems and vacancies in the department.

There are also recommendations funding the continuity of operations plan for emergency response under the fire department and purchasing an additional fire truck. The budget also includes fire department personnel evaluation for strategies to improve the department moving forward amid dissatisfaction about employee retention and pay expressed by members of the department.

Additionally, the budget includes implementation of a new capital project management department that will include one new employee. The department was introduced at the April 21 City Council meeting as a way to consolidate the capital projects underway across departments, excluding those under Salisbury-Rowan Utilities.

There is also increased funding for street resurfacing at $1.5 million; roof and HVAC repairs and upgrades at $500,000; Ellis and Bank Street bridge repairs at $200,000; Bell Tower improvements at $140,000; city website upgrading and branding study at $130,000 and an economic development strategic plan at $50,000.

According to the City of Salisbury, all departments reduced operating requests by five percent in reaction to slowing or stagnant revenues.

“This budget emphasizes our commitment to financial stewardship, service efficiency, strategic investment, infrastructure maintenance and planning for growth,” City Manager Jim Greene said.

The budget will be discussed more in depth at the Salisbury City Council meeting on May 19 at 6 p.m. The official public hearing for the budget will be held June 2 at the City Council Meeting at 6 p.m at City Hall.

The full recommended budget is available online at salisburync.gov/Budget. Hard copies of the budget are available to view at City Hall at 217 South Main Street and Rowan Public Library at 201 West Fisher Street.

SALISBURY — The man arrested in connection to a Vance Avenue shooting earlier this month is facing additional charges.

37-year-old Jorod Qutez Young is now charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to seriously injure and shooting into an occupied property for his alleged role in the May 2 incident that injured an adult woman.

Young was arrested earlier this month and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.

The incident

On May 2, around 8 p.m. officers responded to the 600 block of Vance Avenue in reference to a shooting incident.

Upon arrival, officers located an adult female inside the residence suffering from injuries related to the incident. She was transported to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

During the investigation, detectives acquired evidence indicating that Young was allegedly involved in the shooting incident and found in possession of a firearm while being a convicted felon.

On May 6, members of the Salisbury Police Department’s Special Response Team and Criminal Investigations Division located and arrested Young without incident.

In a release from the department, Chief PJ Smith commended the work of the Salisbury Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division in quickly identifying a suspect in this case.

“Their dedication, attention to detail, and professionalism demonstrated throughout this investigation, from evidence analysis to witness interviews, reflects a strong commitment to public safety and justice,” he said. “Their efforts help strengthen trust within the community and provide reassurance to our residents.”

SALISBURY — A motorcycle crash on Sunday claimed the life of a Salisbury man. Since then, tributes have poured out on social media celebrating his life.

Dwayne Muhamed Mutevelic, 35, was killed as a result of the crash that occurred on Statesville Boulevard Sunday afternoon.

The J.F. Hurley YMCA page posted: “It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our former coworker, Muhamed Mutevelic, who tragically passed away yesterday in a motorcycle accident. Muhamed will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing and working with him.”

Similarly, the Forum of Salisbury shared remarks about Mutevelic’s death, reflecting how he was a member of the exercise community there as well.

“With heavy hearts, we share the passing of one of our Forum community members,” the post said. “… Muhamed was a valued member of our Forum community and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”

Forum owner Matthew Marsh added, “He was really supportive, really positive, any time he was around, he was encouraging. Just a good guy to be around. That positive attitude was very encouraging.”

Marsh said that Mutevelic had an imposing frame.

“He was a big guy,” Marsh said. “His presence, you could not miss him. You were kind of drawn to him.”

That was a good thing though for a man with Mutevelic’s personality.

“He did not know a stranger,” Marsh said.

Due to the incident involving a fatality, the traffic safety unit is performing a full investigation. Additional information will be released if it becomes available.

The Carolina Artists guild’s monthly meeting and mini workshop will be on Thursday, May 21, at St. John’s Lutheran Church Faith Center, 100 North Jackson Street. The doors open at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting starts at 6:45. Guests are welcome to attend.

This month’s meeting will feature Dr. Mary-Louise Biasotti Hooper. Influenced by the art of Greenwich Village in NYC in the 1940s, art has been a part of Hooper’s life since she was a child. Her immigrant Italian family did not value art as a career, so she went into education. But art was always a hobby — both self-taught and later with university degrees.

Hooper began teaching art when she retired in 2003. She first taught at Penn State, Pennsylvania, and York College, in York, Pennsylvania, then later taught at art centers in Pennsylvania, Florida and N.C. To date, Hooper has taught more than 218 classes in painting and drawing. She had been associated with The Carolina Artists for 2 years and also Plein Air Carolina. Hooper’s major goal is to help others on their art journey.

Members will be recognized at the meeting who participated in the Rowan County Silver Arts show. Many were awarded medals, and will represent Rowan County in the state finals later this year.

Mary Ellen Bennett, Jessica Wrike and Cherrathee Hager are currently are exhibiting their work at Mean Mug Coffee Company at 110 North Main Street in Salisbury. The show features three distinct styles, and the artwork will be available for viewing and purchase until mid June.

On March 30, The Carolina Artists will also be exhibiting member art at two additional public art events.
• East Spencer Summerfest from noon-5 p.m. at Royal Grants Park, 200 Robinson Road, Salisbury. This event is supported by The Rowan Arts Council.
• The Salisbury Art Crawl from 5-7 p.m. at the corner of West Innes and Main streets at the Square

Members are busy planning for the 38th annual Art Expo Show and Sale in September at the Salisbury Civic Center. Last year’s event featured more than 200 pieces of art.

Several art classes and workshops are scheduled over the next few weeks. Pottery classes and workshops will be offered at The Joyce Darling Gallery at 111 Central Avenue, Landis. Beginners welcome, and there is limited space. For additional information and to register for classes, call 980-454-8599 or go to www.darlingartstudio.com.

Hooper is teaching watercolor classes at the Salisbury Civic Center. Contact the Civic Center for info and to register at 704-638- 5375.

Art lovers are encouraged to participate as an annual partner, supporter or sponsor to help fund community art events. The guild is also in the process of looking for a permanent home that would offer space for a gallery, classroom, studio and meeting space. Guild supporters will be recognized at events and publications. All donations are tax deductible.

For further information on The Carolina Artists, membership, meetings, classes and workshops, or sponsorships, contact President Cherrathee Hager at 704-490-2001, Cherratheeart@gmail.com or go to www.thecarolinaartists.org.

SALISBURY — The Summer 2026 Salisbury the Magazine is hot off the press with stories of local flea markets, rose-filled business owner retreats and the future of the HUB.

The Webb Road Flea Market has hundreds of vendors that were highlighted in Pete Prunkel’s article “World of Weekend Wonders: The Webb Road Flea Market is a community all to its own.” The market is open every weekend and has been operated for over 40 years by the Walton family. The story features vendors and customers that regularly frequent the market, telling about their connections with the market.

The magazine includes a walkthrough of the new lake-side home of Jack Page and Robert Myers, the owners of The Perfect Rose. The home is fittingly surrounded by roses that the pair cultivated and planted around the property. “The Perfect House” article by Susan Shinn Turner highlights photos of the 2,800-square-foot home on High Rock Lake including the details that make the house a home for Page and Myers.

As the HUB project continues toward completion, Pete Prunkl’s story “The HUB: The Oestreicher building goes from fashion to the future” features the family that previously owned the building and its legacy in the city. Rachel Bernheim and Samantha Haspell are related to Irvin Oestricher, the former building owner, and talk about his legacy in connection with the current United Way project going into the building.

For this edition’s artistic articles,“Through the Lens” features a photo by Gary Odrosky edited to look like a watercolor painting. The “Bookish” section by Margaret Basinger focuses on three book reviews of stories in hot places, in time for summer. “Local Colors” shows a watercolor painting from Susan Linn.

The “Rowan Original” by magazine editor Maggie Blackwell tells the story of Sam Post, the local business owner of PhenomWell and son of Rose Post. Finally, “The Scene” features a photo essay of Earth Day Jam filled with submitted photos.

Copies of Salisbury the Magazine are available around town or you can visit the Salisbury Post office and request a copy at the front desk. The magazine can also be viewed on the Salisbury the Magazine website at salisburythemagazine.com.

By David Larson

Carolina Journal

This week, Senate Majority PAC, the Democrat’s national U.S. Senate party committee, announced that they were devoting $31.4 million in ad spending to boost Roy Cooper, as the former governor seeks to win North Carolina’s vacant U.S. Senate seat over the Republican, Michael Whatley.

But, if you read the press release closely, you saw that they also announced even larger injections of cash into the U.S. Senate races in Ohio ($46.4 million) and Maine ($33.4 million). They are likely to make more announcements in places like Georgia, Alaska and Michigan. Some of these may also be larger than what was dedicated to North Carolina.

Those who have been following the race since before current incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis announced his retirement will have become familiar with the ubiquitous prediction that this year’s North Carolina U.S. Senate race will be “the most expensive in American history.” There have been predictions that it would clear $500 million, and maybe even reach $1 billion!

I’m going to make my own prediction: It won’t be, unless Whatley’s numbers start to make significant progress. Other states, like in the Senate Majority PAC announcement this week, will get more funds if their races are closer.

In the latest CJ Poll, released yesterday, we found the widest margin between Cooper and Whatley, with 50 percent of likely general election voters saying they would vote for Cooper and 39 percent choosing Whatley. That 11-point margin is three-points worse for Whatley than in our last poll in March.

Some of this is due to the wider Republican trends, with Trump’s numbers dropping three points to 42 percent favorable and 57 percent unfavorable, and with Democrats now having a seven-point advantage over Republicans in the generic state legislative ballot. If the war in Iran improves and gas prices come down, these numbers are likely to improve, and Republicans numbers will improve along with them.

But there appears to be an additional problem for Whatley, in that he has not successfully introduced himself to the voters. While Cooper had 50 percent favorable and 39 percent unfavorable in the poll (identical to his share of the vote), the most common answer on Whatley’s favorability, at 33 percent, was “never heard of.” Another 19 percent said “no opinion,” which means about the same thing — he hasn’t defined himself in these voters’ minds yet.

The fact that 39 percent chose Whatley in the poll, even as most of the state’s likely voters say they haven’t heard (or have no opinion) of him, signals that he can at least rely on the party floor of about 40 percent, who pull the lever for the Republican regardless.

But getting from 40 percent to “50 percent plus one” could be a Herculean task, especially since polls are already putting Cooper around the 50 percent mark. That means Whatley will need to gain a lot of voters with a positive introduction and also will need to pry at least some voters away from Cooper, who is seen positively by a slight majority.

Whatley’s team has started seeing some traction on negative messaging around Cooper’s record on criminal justice recently, which could be an opening to chip away at his positive image.

Both Fox News and the New York Post released reports on Cooper’s agreement with certain civil rights groups, which released certain inmates early due to COVID-19 concerns. The reports showed that about half of those released went on to commit additional crimes.

While crime could move the needle some, it is not in the running for top issue among the voters in our poll. The top answer, by far, was “inflation and cost of living.” This issue is one that will likely negatively affect Republicans overall at the moment, since their party has the White House and majorities in Congress.

The war in Iran may be hitting a turning point though, and if gas starts to flow again, it will give Trump and the Republicans a double win — a major foreign policy success and an inevitable drop in gas prices. With a lot of inflation connected to transportation costs and energy overall, Americans would see an improvement in their finances and the negative mood would likely lift.

So Whatley’s fortunes will come down to a successful introduction to the voters, a real slip in Cooper’s positive image, and good news on the national and international front in order to improve the economy and boost Trump’s (and the overall GOP) favorability.

If there is success on all these fronts (and it probably has to be all), the polling should move into more competitive territory, making the race as expensive as initially anticipated. If not, then Democrats are likely to keep their powder dry for other closer races, and big national Republican donors may do the same.

David Larson is managing editor of Carolina Journal where this column first appeared.

 By Mike London Salisbury Post SALISBURY — After four meetings, the final vote for the Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was taken last week. It’s an interesting class, a tall class heavy on hoops and with an abundance of life experience. Two electees are in their 80s, while another will reach 80 before he’s inducted. Two more Hall newcomers are in their 70s. Nine individuals and one team were elected by the HOF committee. Five of the new Hall of Famers were exceptional athletes who graduated from Rowan County high schools prior to achieving considerable success beyond high school. Two were outstanding high school coaches, institutions at their respective schools. The high school coaches elected were North Rowan football coach Roger Secreast (1988-2001) and South Rowan boys basketball coach Bobby Parker (1983-1999). Athletes elected were Wade Moore (West Rowan, Class of 2006), Hillary Hampton Nixon (West Rowan, Class of 2024), Larry Dixon (North Rowan, Class of 1990), Dr. Sheldon “Skip” Shipman (Salisbury, Class of 1972) and Damien Argrett (South Rowan, Class of 2000). There are two annual inductees for contributions to sports in Rowan County. They enter the Hall as recipients of the Fred Evans Community Service Award and the Horace Billings Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2025, the Hall also began recognizing one very special team from the hundreds of great teams that have represented Rowan County. When they are inducted in ceremonies at 3 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the Salisbury Civic Center, the Hall’s membership will swell to 175. The Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame was started in 2001. This is the 26th year, but it’s the 24th induction class. There were no inductions in 2020 or 2021. There were no meetings in those years due to the COVID pandemic. Charles “Buddy” Poole, long-time broadcaster, is this year’s Horace Billings Award winner. Poole has been part of the radio landscape in North Carolina for 60 years and has been a familiar, friendly voice on broadcasts for Rowan County American Legion, Catawba College and Rowan high school sports. A volunteer coach who has meant a lot to a lot of young ball players, William “Willie” Noles is the Fred Evans Community Service Award winner. Noles is a  legend at the Eighth Street Ballpark in Spencer. The main field was named Sparger-Noles Field in 2022 to honor Noles and Phip Sparger. Noles began coaching in Spencer back in the 1960s. Parker coached 182 varsity boys basketball wins at South. He’s eighth on the all-time wins list for the county. That’s an achievement. as almost of his seasons were spent coaching in the 4A ranks and competing with the Winston-Salem schools. Parker was an assistant football coach during South’s  best days on the gridiron, and he had a 25-year run as a broadcaster after that. Secreast is famed for bringing “The Airport” to the Cavaliers in the 1990s. North’s passing game was well ahead of its time. The Cavaliers were 108-59 during Secreast’s head-coaching tenure. The Cavaliers were regional champs and 3A state runners-up in 1992. They won 12 games in 1992 and again in 1994 when they reached the 2A quarterfinals. They also made the state quarterfinals in 2000 and 2001. Moore was an outstanding football player as well as a standout two-way baseball player for the Falcons and Rowan County American Legion. He rushed for 4,256 yards for West and scored 54 TDs in three varsity seasons as an I-formation tailback. He set school and county records that were short-lived, as KP Parks arrived at West just a few months after Moore graduated. Moore was recruited by UNC and NC State as a baseball outfielder before choosing the Wolfpack. He returned home for his senior year of college and put up huge numbers for Catawba. He made All-America teams. Moore was a draft pick and played pro baseball for several years. After baseball, he found NASCAR. He was part of the winning pit crew at Daytona this year. Hampton scored over 1,800 points for West Rowan basketball and was the program’s all-time leading scorer when she graduated. She was a Rowan County Basketball Player of the Year. On the softball field, she was a big part of West’s back-to-back 3A state championships in 2002 and 2003. Hampton also played volleyball well in high school. She was honored 17 times in high school as all-county or all-conference. Hampton played four years of college basketball at Catawba and two years of softball. She had a night where she went 6-for-6 on 3-pointers to enter the Catawba record book. Shipman was a standout on the Boyden basketball team of 1970-71 and the first team that played as the Salisbury Hornets in 1971-72. He was the point guard for the 1971 team, a famous squad that beat undefeated Crest, led by David Thompson, in the WNCHSAA championship game played at Catawba. As a senior, Shipman led the 1972 Hornets to a 25-2 season. He was Rowan County and South Piedmont Conference Player of the Year. He had more success in the sixth-man role for the UNC Charlotte 49ers during his college career. He set program records for double-figure games off the bench that still stand. Dixon was a basketbal standout for North, averaging better than 20 points per game as a senior in 1990. Dixon got an opportunity to play college ball at Johnson C Smith and became a major factor for the Golden Bulls. He won awards such as Most Improved Player and Best Defensive Player. Dixon went into high school coaching before taking a leap of faith and a pay cut to enter the college ranks at St. Andrews. That led to a long journey as a Division I assistant coach with stops at South Florida, Georgia Southern, Winthrop, East Carolina and South Carolina State. Dixon was on the staff for the NC State team that made a run to the Final Four in 2024. He got his first chance as a head coach this past season at Division II Morehouse in Atlanta and enjoyed tremendous success. He was honored with a number of post-season accolades. Argrett was a late-blooming, late-growing post man, who suddenly burst on the scene at South Rowan as a senior in the 1999-2000 season. He starred, including a 40-point, 22-rebound game against Northwest Cabarrus. Argrett continued to improve and was a devastating player at 6-foot-8 for the Pfeiffer Falcons, shooting 62 percent for his career when they were among the country’s top D-II programs. Argrett scored over 1,500 points for Pfeiffer. He was a conference tournament MVP and a 2005 All-America. He added success in pro ball overseas. He averaged 20 points and 7 rebounds and was named MVP of his league in the Czech Republic. The honored team for this year is the 1955 Salisbury Legion team that Tom Eaton’s left arm and the power of China Grove’s Richard Snider and Granite Quarry’s Virgil Bernhardt propelled all the way to the World Series in Minnesota. That team, coached by the great Joe Ferebee, made Legion baseball a popular summer staple in Rowan County. The Hall’s membership includes 37 men who were elected as coaches/ADs and another 30 men and women who have received the Billings Award or Evans Award as contributors to sports or as public servants. As far as those elected as athletes, 88 males have been elected and 20 females. Thirty-five coaches and athletes have been elected primarily for what they did on the football field. Next are men’s basketball (22), baseball (17) and women’s basketball (13). The criteria for election: “The Salisbury-Rowan Sports Hall of Fame was created in 2001 to honor individuals, living or deceased, who are native to, or have worked or performed in Rowan County. The inductees must be of good character, have made significant contributions to the dimension of sports by their participation and performance and have made a positive impact on sports locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.” “Worked or performed in Rowan County” has included college coaching fixtures such as Jim Gantt, but it has not included Catawba or Livingstone athletes who came to Rowan for a four-year stay and then moved on. Even Dwight Durante and Ben Coates are not in the Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame always has taken the position that Catawba and Livingstone already have their own halls of fame. Many sports — golf, soccer, wrestling, tennis, swimming, volleyball, softball, to name a few  — remain drastically under-represented in the Salisbury-Rowan Hall. The 1970s appear to be the most under-represented time period. With the addition of Shipman, 49 coaches and players have been elected to  the Hall from Boyden/Salisbury, with another nine from J.C. Price. That’s counting the 1940 Red Devils football team that was honored last summer. North is next. Dixon and Secreast will raise the total to 30 Cavaliers in the Hall. Moore and Hampton will bring West’s total to 16. Forms for Hall of Fame nominations are available online through Salisbury Parks and Recreation. Candidates aren’t likely to be elected without an official nomination.  Dixon and Shipman were on the ballot for the first time this year – and they were elected.

 

 

Staff report

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee’s softball team, ranked eighth, won a regional on Sunday as the host team.

The Vols (45-10) beat Virginia 5-1 in the championship game.

Sophomore Emma Clarke (West Rowan) is one of the key bats in the lineup for Tennessee. She has hit 12 homers and is tied for the team lead.

Clarke is batting .276 with 10 doubles and 33 RBIs. She’s walked 20 times to boost her OBP to .374.

Next for Tennessee is a Super Regional, a best-of-three series against Georgia. That series will be played in Knoxville, starting on Thursday.

***

UNC Greensboro, the Southern Conference regular season and tournament champ, has finished a 43-19 season.

The Spartans played in the regional at Georgia and won 1-0 against Clemson in the opening round. Senior Kaylyn Belfield (A.L. Brown) played a role in that run as her sacrifice bunt in the first inning moved the runner to second base.

UNCG lost 8-0 early Saturday to Georgia despite a great catch in center field by Belfield, who made the grab with her back to the plate while running toward the fence.

Then the Spartans lost 4-1 to Clemson in an elimination game on Saturday night.

Belfield batted .362 for the season with 71 hits and 53 runs scored.

 

 

Staff report

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – North Carolina A&T’s baseball team wrapped up the season with an 8-7 loss at Monmouth on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.

Former Rowan County American Legion star JT Taylor, the third baseman for the Aggies, had his best game of the season. The redshirt sophomore hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer to double his long-ball output for the season.

Taylor had a productive three-game series at Monmouth. The homers were his only hits, but he drew six walks. drove in seven runs and scored six.

Taylor hit .258 for the season, but with 27 walks he had an OBP of .386.

He had four homers, 10 doubles, eight steals, 22 RBIs and 39 runs scored.

NC A&T (14-38, 5-25) had a tough season, losing all 10 weekend series in the Coastal Athletic Association. The conference tournament at UNC Wilmington only includes the top six teams, so the Aggies are finished for 2026.

 

Staff report

BOONE – App State baseball star Steven Smith’s regular season ended earlier than planned.

Smith, a West Rowan grad, was injured Thursday in a game against Georgia State in Atlanta.

Smith was hit by a pitch leading off the game and scored on a home run, and the Mountaineers were on their way to a 12-2 romp.

Smith’s second trip to the plate came in the second inning. He was again hit by a pitch, but this one was much worse. He was hit in the face.

Smith’s jaw was not broken, as was initially feared, but his wounds did require a number of stitches. He missed the games in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday, and App State lost them both, 4-2 and 3-2.

App State (30-22, 17-13) still had a good season in the Sun Belt Conference and is the 3 seed for the upcoming conference tournament that begins in Montgomery, Ala., on May 19. The two games on May 19 (7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9) will trim the 10-team field down to eight.  Then they’ll play a double-elimination tournament.

App State’s first action will be on the 20th against 6 seed Texas State. Smith, a graduate student who is finishing his college career, hopes to be back in the lineup.

The top two seeds in the event are Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina.

Smith, who played previously at Caldwell Tech and Emory & Henry, is batting .371 with 25 of his 69 hits going for extra bases. He has six homers. He’s scored 48 runs while knocking in 49.

 

 

 

 

 

Staff report

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Pfeiffer’s softball season ended with a 3-2 loss to undefeated Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday in a regional championship game.

Pfeiffer would have had to beat the Marlins twice to take the regional.

Landry Stewart (Carson) had two hits and a steal, scored a run and drove in one in the loss.

It was only the second one-run game Virginia Wesleyan (48-0) has been involved in this season. The powerful Marlins have outscored opponents 466-41 and have mercy-ruled a high percentage of their opponents.

Pfeiffer, the USA South regular season and tournament champs, finished 40-11. Pfeiffer won twice in the double-elimination regional. Pfeiffer lost 2-1 to Manhattanville on Thursday, but bounced back to crush John Jay 13-0 in an elimination game early Friday.

On Friday night, Pfeiffer beat Manhattanville 7-2 in an elimination game. Stewart produced a terrific effort with two hits, two walks, four steals and two runs to spark the Falcons. EA Nance (West Rowan) walked twice and scored a run.

The Marlins will play a Division III round-of-16 Super Regional next weekend against Case Western Reserve of Cleveland.

***

Stewart batted .516 for the season with 82 hits, 64 runs and 81 steals in 85 attempts. The junior was USA South Player of the Year for the second time.

Nance, a freshman, hit six homers and 11 doubles and drove in 40 runs. Brooke Piper (Mooresville), a transfer playing her first season for the Falcons, batted .329 with four homers and 38 RBIs.

 

 

 

 

Staff report

BALTIMORE – Pfeiffer’s baseball team ended its season in regional action on Saturday night.

The USA South Tournament champs, Pfeiffer (26-22) won one game in the double-elimination regional hosted by Johns Hopkins.

Pfeiffer lost to Johns Hopkins 9-6 on Friday.

In an elimination game played early on Saturday, Pfeiffer rallied in the eighth inning and beat Mary Washington 8-6. Freshman Conner Coy (South Rowan) had a hit and two walks, and the Falcons got homers from Ben Mecimore, Ethan Willard and Josh Jones.

Pfeiffer scored five runs in the first inning, but lost 19-8 to Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday night.

Coy had three RBIs, including a two-double in the first inning. He had a sac fly in the seventh.

Jake Blevins (West Rowan) started on the mound for the Falcons. He allowed five runs in four innings. Sam Safrit (Carson) pitched later in the game and allowed four runs, while getting five outs.

***

Coy batted .286 for the season with four doubles and 16 RBIs. He drew 21 walks, which boosted his on-base percentage to .442.

Blevins went 2-5 on the mound. Safrit was 1-0. JD Basinger (East Rowan) was 0-0. He pitched in four games.

 

 

 

Staff report

SALISBURY – Catawba’s baseball team went 3-0 in regional play at Newman Park and advanced in the Division II playoffs.

Catawba romped 10-3 against Belmont Abbey on Thursday and followed that up with 17-5 and 6-4 wins against Young Harris on Friday and Saturday.

Next for the second-seeded Indians (45-11) is a best-of-three Super Regional. That will start at Newman Park on Thursday at 6 p.m., with Game 2 on Friday at 6 p.m.  The opponent will be Francis Marion, from Florence, S.C. Francis Marion (45-12) was the 5 seed, but emerged as the survivor of the four-team regional being hosted by No. 1 seed North Greenville, the second-ranked team in D-II.

In Friday night’s high-scoring game, Catawba plated six runs in the first inning to take control and blew out Young Harris with nine runs in the ninth.

Catawba was designated as the visiting team, so Casey Gouge (West Rowan) had a 6-0 lead before he threw a pitch. The lefty was perfect for five innings and cruised into the seventh before running into any sort of trouble.

Brandon Crabtree homered and drove in four. Ty Hubbard (South Rowan) knocked in three. Nathan Chrismon (South Rowan) and Malachi Cloud had two RBIs. Logan Dyer (East Rowan), Jake Dunlap and Hunter Atkins had three hits each.

***

In Saturday’s 6-4 win, the Indians grabbed the lead with the long ball, getting early homers by Crabtree, Chrismon and Cloud. Hubbard made it 5-0 when he doubled to score Chrismon in the fourth inning.

Young Harris got back within 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Catawba got an insurance run in the eighth, and was able to hold on and eliminate the sixth-seeded Mountain Lions.

Hubbard and Cloud had two doubles each. Seth Sharpe got two outs in relief of starter and winner Kemper Nix, and Joe Burleyson (East Rowan) got the last six outs.

Catawba              600  100   109   – 17

Young Harris     000  000   401   –  5

HR – Crabtree (15).

W – Gouge (9-1).

***

Catawba                121  100  010   – 6

Young Harris       000 200  020   – 4

HR – Crabtree (16), Chrismon (4), Cloud (6).

W – Nix (3-0).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final ACC standings:

Georgia Tech 25-5
North Carolina 22-8
Florida State 19-11
Boston College 17-13
Miami 16-14
Wake Forest 16-14
Virginia Tech 15-15
N.C. State 14-16
Virginia 14-16
Louisville 13-17
Notre Dame 13-17
Stanford 13-17
California 12-18
Pittsburgh 11-19
Clemson 10-20
Duke 10-20

ACC tournament at Truist Field, Charlotte

Starts on Tuesday.

Georgia Tech No. 1 seed. Defending champ UNC No. 2 seed.

(Tuesday, May 19)
No. 9 (N.C. State) vs. No. 16 (Duke), 9 a.m.
No. 12 (Stanford) vs. No. 13 (California), 1 p.m.
No. 10 (Notre Dame) vs. No. 15 (Clemson), 5 p.m.
No. 11 (Louisville) vs. No. 14 (Pittsburgh), 9 p.m.
(Wednesday, May 20)
No. 9-16 winner vs. No. 8 (Virginia), 9 a.m.
No. 12-13 winner vs. No. 5 (Miami), 1 p.m.
No. 10-15 winner vs. No. 7 (Virginia), 5 p.m.
No. 11-14 winner vs. No. 6 (Wake Forest), 9 p.m.
(Thursday, May 21)
No. 9-16-8 winner vs. No. 1 (Georgia Tech), 3 p.m.
No. 12-13-5 winner vs. No. 4 (Boston College), 7 p.m.
(Friday, May 22)
No. 10-15-7 winner vs. No. 2 (North Carolina), 3 p.m.
No. 11-14-6 winner vs. No. 3 (Florida State), 7 p.m.
(Saturday, May 23)
Semifinal- Thursday winners, 1 p.m.
Semifinal- Friday winners, 5 p.m.
(Sunday, May 24)
Championship- noon

 

 

 

 

Staff report

PUMPKIN CENTER – Top-seeded North Lincoln scored on a suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning and beat fifth-seeded East Rowan 4-3 in the fourth round of the 5A state playoffs.

There was some irony attached to Friday’s setback, as East had wrecked rival West Rowan by the 10-run rule with a series of bunts in Round 3.

North Lincoln (26-2) knocked the Mustangs (23-6) out of the playoffs last season in 14 innings. This one was nearly as frustrating for East, as the Mustangs had six hits, seven walks and two HBPs, but failed to score again after getting three quick runs in the first inning.

Sam Blackwelder had a run-scoring single and Braylen Ketchie had a two-run double in the first inning, but that was it for East. If the Mustangs had been able to get one more knock in the first they may have buried North Lincoln, but it didn’t happen.

The Knights weren’t going to let Harrison Ailshie beat them. He walked four straight times, but the Mustangs only got him home once. Ailshie was a .600-hitter for the season and a .427 hitter with 22 homers for his career.

Charlie Lefler was on the mound for the Mustangs. He gave East every chance to prevail on the road, throwing 90 pitches and exiting with one out and one on in the sixth in a 3-3 game. He was saddled with a tough loss when the runner he allowed to reach base in the sixth scored the decisive run. The Knights got that runner around the bases after Brady Ailshie relieved Lefler with a hit batsman, a wild pitch and the Blake Mincey suicide squeeze that plated Beckett Rinkus from third base.

North Lincoln’s sophomore starting pitcher Parker Williams settled in after that shaky first inning, and the home team started to mount a comeback in the second, scratching a pair of runs on a wild pitch and on an infield single that deflected off Lefler’s glove.

North Lincoln tied it at 3-all in the fourth with two singles, a sac bunt by Mincey and an odd error. The ball got loose after the sac bunt on a throw from first base to the mound. That break got North Lincoln even, and the Knights made their own break with the well-executed squeeze for the go-ahead run in the sixth.

Cason McGinnis moved from shortstop to the mound for North Lincoln in the fifth and shut out the Mustangs the rest of the way. His shortstop skills came in handy in the top of the seventh. East had a chance to tie the game in the  seventh when Brady Ailshie opened the inning with a single. Andrew Lopez, one of East’s three seniors, was the courtesy runner for the pitcher. A balk immediately moved Lopez to second.

East tried to advance Lopez to third with a bunt, but McGinnis pounced on the ball, didn’t hesitate and threw a strike to get Lopez out at third. McGinnis took a chance, but he made a play. That stifled the rally. Two outs later, North Lincoln was celebrating another dramatic victory over East.

North Lincoln advances to the regional championship series and will play second-seeded South Point. Game 1 will be played in Pumpkin Center. Game 2 will be in Belmont.

East Rowan   300  000   0   – 3

N. Lincoln       020 101      x   – 4

W – McGinnis. L – Lefler (5-2).

 

 

Staff report

GREENSBORO – Rowan County athletes competed in the 5A Track and Field State Championships held on Friday at North Carolina A&T.

East Rowan’s girls fared the best. They tied for 10th with 19 points with Lelu Hill and Miley Carrico scoring in two events each.

Hill cleared 11 feet for second place in the pole vault and placed fifth in the long jump with an effort of 17 feet, 1.5 inches.

Carrico was fifth in the 100 hurdles in 16.07 seconds and sixth in the 300 hurdles in 48.37.

East’s boys scored one point. That came from Oliver Shank’s eighth-place finish in the pole vault. He cleared the bar at 12 feet, 6 inches.

***

Carson’s girls scored nine points.

Tasean Perkins was fourth in the 100 hurdles in 15.95. Kara Crotts was fifth in the 3200 in 11:30.

Carson’s boys did not score with a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system that scored eight places. Connor Karriker came close. He cleared 6 feet in the high jump and was ninth.

***

West Rowan’s boys totaled 11 points.

Dillon Smith was fourth in the long jump with an effort of 21 feet, 1 inch.

Jacob Kirk placed seventh in the 300 hurdles in 40.76 seconds.

West’s 4×800 unit of Jayden Romero, Jonathan Medina, Ben Woodward and Luke Henson ran 8:12.17 and placed fifth.

West’s girls did not score. The 4×100 relay girls came close. They clocked 50.01 and finished ninth.

By Susan Shinn Turner

For the Salisbury Post

When Ed Tyson lay in that polio hospital in Greensboro for a year in the early 1950s, he didn’t think about becoming a great leader when he grew up.

But that’s what happened.

Tyson, a Kannapolis native who served as superintendent of his city’s school system from 1992-2001, died May 8, 2026, at age 85.

The 10-year-old Tyson wanted to get back to the baseball field, and to the basketball court. He’d excelled at both before contracting what was called “infantile paralysis.”

He always said he was lucky. He walked out of that hospital, but with lingering right-side weakness in his leg, arm and shoulder. He returned to baseball.

But he never shot a basketball right-handed again.

Instead, his son Bryan said, he adapted, learning to shoot left-handed. When Bryan was in elementary and middle school, he and his dad would shoot baskets most nights after dinner.

“He shot the lights out!,” Bryan said. He couldn’t beat his dad at “H-O-R-S-E” or “Around the World” until he was in sixth or seventh grade.

Tyson played table tennis and spent time with his children in the backyard. He golfed, and although he didn’t have a powerful tee shot, his son said, it went straight down the fairway.

“He was very good with his approach shots to the green,” Bryan said. “He was a good putter. He never got in trouble.”

Since Tyson wasn’t able to play sports at the level he hoped, he turned his energies elsewhere. He was student body president at A.L. Brown High School. He was a cum laude graduate of Pfeiffer University, the University of Georgia (M.A. in educational counseling) and Duke University (doctorate in educational administration).

Still, his daughter Brooke Hynes — a UNC grad who lives near Boston with her family — said he’d pull for Carolina and the Boston Red Sox if Duke or the Yankees weren’t playing.

“I got a corporate degree from the dinner table about the funding challenges and recruitment with the school system,” Brooke said.

Brooke, whose degree is in journalism, was vice president for crisis communication at Tufts Medical Center before launching Possibility Partners with two others in 2019. Along with a project manager, the three offer team development, human-centered design and strategic communications.

When she was at Carolina, she leaned on her dad a lot. “He was the best. He knew you were gonna fail some, and he supported you. Those were good lessons.”

Bryan chose a career in coaching. He’s the district athletic director for Cabarrus County Schools.

“I knew I wanted to coach,” he said. “Dad knew education was important for making a difference in kids’ lives, and I wanted to make a difference in kids’ lives. Mom was a teaching assistant, so this all fell into place.”

Bryan said his father didn’t have to discipline he and his sister too much.

“He didn’t have to. We didn’t want to disappoint him. We didn’t want to let him down.”

What you called Tyson depended on your relationship. Nancy, his wife of 62 years, called him Eddie when they started dating, then later Ed in married life. His three sisters, 12 and 10 years older, respectively — the oldest two were twins — called him Little Eddie and then Eddie. His nieces and nephews called him Uncle Eddie. He was known professionally as Ed Tyson.

But not to Dr. Chip Buckwell, who was superintendent from 2016 to 2021. He first met Tyson as a sixth-grader, and he never called him anything but Dr. Tyson. Before becoming superintendent, he served as principal at North Kannapolis Elementary School and later Kannapolis Middle School.

“He insisted on me calling him Ed, but I couldn’t do it,” he said.

Buckwell knew Tyson was a polio survivor, but they never discussed it.

“Having polio shaped his leadership, but it didn’t affect it,” he said.

Buckwell represented the next generation of leadership in Kannapolis City Schools.

Tyson could be at turns critical when necessary, congratulatory and hold his staff accountable, “but you were always supported in that work,” Buckwell said.

“Ed was 100 percent my mentor,” he said. “If I had one person I wanted to look toward, Ed Tyson would be that leader. He wasn’t perfect, but he was really close. He was an exceptional leader.”

Dr. Jo Anne Byerly spent 10 years working with Tyson as an associate superintendent. She immediately succeeded him, becoming Kannapolis City Schools’ first female superintendent. She retired in 2010.

“Our friendship went far beyond work,” she said of Tyson. “My husband Ron and I shared so many wonderful memories with him and his wife — traveling across the United States and Europe, laughing, going out to dinner, enjoying life and friendship. Those memories are treasures to us.

“Dr. Ed Tyson’s impact on education will be remembered for many years, but those of us who knew him personally will remember the warmth of his friendship and the goodness of his heart.”

Last July, the Rev. Stacey Lundy arrived at Tyson’s church, Central United Methodist in Concord.

“We did a lot of work in those 10 months, and got to know each other pretty well,” she said. “He is a Kannapolis man through and through, and he is beloved by the community.”

Even though Tyson was slowly losing his eyesight, his pastor said, “he found it powerful and meaningful to see the golden cross at the front of our sanctuary. It brought him great comfort.”

His final months in hospice care were focused on getting his wife settled into a local retirement community, his pastor said. “He was determined she was going to be taken care of.”

Tyson died two weeks later.

Tyson’s service was held Saturday morning at Central UMC. View it on the church’s YouTube page. You may also view a video of Tyson discussing his experience with polio in which he stresses the importance of vaccines.

Memorials: Kannapolis Education Foundation, which the school board established under Tyson’s recommendation; the Rotary Club’s Polio Eradication Project; or Central United Methodist Church.

Freelance writer Susan Shinn Turner lives in Raleigh.

LANDIS — Landis will hold a public hearing on its proposed budget next month.

The Board of Aldermen approved a resolution to hold the public hearing on June 8. The vote was taken after Town Manager Michael Ambrose provided some highlights on the proposed finances.

“It is a balanced budget,” Ambrose said on Monday. “It took a long time to get this but we are at a balanced budget with a zero-cent increase for all citizens.”

That tax rate in Landis is 49 cents per $100 valuation.

Within the proposed budget are requests for new employees across various departments. Administratively, there is a carve out for a full-time planning director. The police department’s employee requests included four new officers (a school resource officer, two corporals and an investigator).

From an equipment standpoint, the police department was requesting two additional vehicles, while a Ford F550 multi-use dump truck ($90,000) was on the list for the street department.

The parks and recreation department had a few requests to upgrade its facilities including a dog park at Lake Wilderness Corriher Park, the concession stands at Linn Field ($35,000) and a Beaver Street park remodel

“(The dog park) is something we have heard a lot about from the community,” Ambrose said. “That is approximately $25,000.”

The town is still service debt to the tune of $737,299 left to pay on the loans from the fire department and town hall renovations. Those were started in 2007 as 40-year loans.

Water resources are requesting a water line camera ($60,000).

“That camera goes down and crawls the system to see if there are any leaks or if anybody has hit the system,” Ambrose said. “Stormwater can use that and wastewater can use that to see if there are intrusions on any lines.”

There are requests for two new full-time positions.

“With those two personnel, they will need an F250 service truck ($90,000) and they will also need an F150 truck (to replace the one moved to the street department),” Ambrose said.

The budget includes a four-percent cost of living adjustment for employees. It also includes a step plan which will take place Jan. 1 2027.

“This is a step plan that will allow potential applicants to advance based on certain certifications,” Ambrose said.

Those include bilingualism and additional educational attainment. Years of service is another criteria.

There will also be a reduction in stormwater fees for non-residential properties.

“We have done a lot of (stormwater) projects,” Ambrose said. “I have been working on stormwater fees. As you know that has been a big discussion around here lately.”

For the upcoming fiscal year, the $5 per residential parcel will remain in effect.

“Then, the commercial rate will also match that $5 (per ERU),” Ambrose said.

“An ERU is 2,045 square feet impervious surface,” Ambrose said. “Therefore it will cut stormwater fees in half of what you currently see today.”

That will tentatively go into effect on July 1.

That budget hearing will take place at the June 8 Board of Aldermen meeting at town hall which starts at 6 p.m.

SALISBURY — A slice of Salisbury celebrated 20 years of business this week.

Salty Caper, the Lee Street pizza shop, welcomed patrons on Wednesday, May 13, to recognize two decades in the space serving Salisbury.

“We’re 20 years old now, so now we’re officially an institution,” Salty Caper owner Gian Moscardini said.

The restaurant was filled with regular customers and community members on the outdoor patio and dining room. Local band falllift performed outside on the back patio while diners enjoyed pizzas. The business also sold $2 draft beers and gave out T-shirts to commemorate the anniversary.

Not much has changed for Salty Caper since they opened in 2006 beyond expanding the restaurant seating area. The restaurant has focused on keeping fresh, simple ingredients for their menu and sticking to what they know.

“Nothing is frozen. Everything’s fresh. We make our pesto everyday still. It’s a small menu, so fresh food. That’s been my concept for day one,” Moscardini said.

One of the only changes that the menu has seen is the addition of a lunch special that has been very popular for the restaurant over the years despite not being the biggest moneymaker for the business.

“That was kind of my little gift back to the community, take the hit. They’ve all supported me for so long,” Moscardini said.

Beyond giving back to patrons, they have also worked with other Salisbury businesses like New Sarum Brewing to get more variety in their selections.

The business has been a family affair for the Moscardinis. When the business started, their kids were young, and now their oldest son is a manager for the business.

“The restaurant business is a lifestyle. It’s not fun. You have to love it. My 22-year-old now, I couldn’t believe it when he told me he wanted to be in the restaurant business. I tried everything for him not to be interested,” Moscardini said.

Looking forward to the next 20 years, Moscardini plans to continue making the food they make best and staying connected with the community. They have amassed a loyal following of regular customers over the years, but they have also given back to the community donating pies to children’s organizations around the city.

“I’m so glad that the community has supported me this long. I see people here I’ve known for 20 years,” Moscardini said. “They’ve always been beyond me since day one when we opened up here.”

I’ll concede I’m having a tough time accommodating myself to the arrogant and lawless gutting of the Voting Rights Act. It’s not that it came as a surprise. John Roberts and Samuel Alito have made its eradication a life’s work. Though I do marvel that, knowing the American story, these sons of the Harvard and Yale law schools would choose such an unworthy mission as the core of their professional efforts. I know all of us are different. But really? Snuffing out the most consequential piece of civil rights legislation in our nation’s history? And doing it joyfully, with the aura of a victory dance.

To me, it’s as if we declared, through official proclamation, that we now reject the “self-evident” truths of the Declaration, or the Gettysburg Address’ “dedication to the proposition” that all “are created equal.” Or as if, when Martin Luther King pled: “All we say to America is, ‘Be true to what you said on paper” — we responded, “you’ve got a great point, we’ll change what we wrote down.”

And then there are the things some people say.

When Hans Van Spakofsky, former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission and architect of many of the voting “reform” proposals of Project 2025, was asked what happens if the Callais decision means that the number of Black congresspersons is dramatically reduced, he said: “If Black people want to get someone elected, they need to affiliate with the Republican Party.” In other words, if Black southerners want to participate fully in the electoral process, they need to sign on to an agenda of White supremacy. Then we’ll lock arms.

Or, closer to home, when Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), chairman of the national Republican Congressional Committee, praised the VRA ruling as “a victory for the Constitution,” saying, “for too long activists have manipulated the redistricting process to achieve political outcomes, dividing Americans instead of bringing them together” — it might have been nice to remind him that for the last 16 years it hasn’t been “activists” who have “manipulated the redistricting process” in North Carolina, it has been the ruthless Republican lawmakers of the General Assembly.

They, the reviewing federal courts have specifically found, have given us “one of the most widespread racial gerrymanders ever confronted by a federal court in the United States” — “resulting in serious and longstanding constitutional violations.” The “transgressions were so foundational” that they “intruded upon” the very notion of “popular sovereignty.” The violations were so extreme that they “raised legitimate questions regarding the General Assembly’s capacity or willingness” to comply with the Constitution.

Lawmakers also drew plans, another court ruled, because the mapmaker “thinks electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats.” The primary goal was “to create as many districts as possible” to favor Republicans. They gave a “partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats because they didn’t think it was possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and 2 Democrats.” Only mathematics, not will, limited their efforts.

Then, just months ago, Republican lawmakers re-re-gerrymandered our congressional districts because Donald Trump told them to. One of the main architects of the new distortion scheme said, amazingly, the change was necessary “to make sure that one man does not predetermine the controls of Congress… North Carolina will not be bullied into submission. We will not let outsiders tell us how to govern.”

I’m not making this up.

When Lyndon Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act, he said:

“There is no constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong — deadly wrong — to deny any fellow American the right to vote.”

They’ve torn the paper. Shame.

Gene Nichol is a professor of law teaching courses in the constitution and federal courts at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

“The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts…” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It’s that time of year again. Graduation announcements are starting to fall like leaves out of trees. Colleges and high schools are already saying good-bye to graduates, and caps and gowns are appearing in all shapes, sizes and colors around town as this year’s seniors are looking for the perfect photograph to capture the moment.

This graduation season feels different for me. Our first grandchild will be graduating from high school in a few weeks. I’m not sure how that can be possible. I still remember her first complete sentence in my presence when she wasn’t even two years old as she confidently announced in her robotic baby voice, Ma-ma and dad-dy at “ba-ket-ball” game. Her parents had left her with my wife and me for a few days so they could attend the ACC tournament in Atlanta. While in our car, she confidently proclaimed over our shoulders where her parents were, just in case we didn’t know.

Now, 18 years later, one of our greatest joys is being able to talk with her at length, in adult conversations. I love to hear her thoughts about the world, which can focus on everything from current political crises to who is the most valuable player for the Carolina Hurricanes. I truly believe her generation will not accept the status quo in the coming decades. They are too smart — and honest — for that.

The thoughts of youth are more often than not, unvarnished and perceptive. They tend to say what they think, without fear of being misunderstood. There are other times, however, when they won’t say what they think, unless prompted, and even then, they may choose to be cryptic even in a secure setting. Who doesn’t remember asking their own children what they did during a seven-hour school day, only to receive the nonchalant reply, “Not much.” Or, after asking how an important event went, only to be told, “It was OK.”

My own mother once said her five boys didn’t usually tell her enough while her two girls told her too much. When I was a teacher, some of my best entertainment was passively listening to kids when they entered the room in a spirited conversation about something that had just happened in their last class or over the weekend. Sometimes, their thoughts made me laugh. Sometimes, however, they made me cry. But they always made me think. I was glad to have an orchestra-level seat in the theatre of youth.

In my experience as an educator as well as a parent and grandparent, I have found the thoughts of youth to be candid expressions of truth with little fear or awareness of how the truth “comes out.” One example was when a student told me that she really liked my class, but I talked so loud! I wasn’t sure at first how to take her assessment, but at least I knew I could trust her. Another student once told me when we were studying the Latin vocabulary word aquiline, that I had an aquiline nose. (For those who don’t know what that means, it means like an eagle.) In that case, it was an unsolicited comment, without any flattery. I happily then knew he was listening — and thinking — which wasn’t always the case!

During the past few years, my wife and I have had the privilege of occasionally doing car duty for all four of our grandkids. As they deprogrammed from their day over the three-mile ride home, we heard quite a bit about their teachers, and a principal or two. As a retired teacher, that was pure entertainment, but it also made me wonder what my former students had to say about me on their rides home.

Having heard myriad thoughts of youth when I was teaching is one of the greatest honors of my life. Now hearing the thoughts of my own teenaged grandchildren humbles me even further. I pray that any future teachers or significant adults in their lives will continue to patiently listen to their long, long thoughts before, and after, they graduate. Long, long thoughts can become deep, deep thoughts the world needs to hear. Otherwise, when asked if there is any honesty left in the world they might be tempted to answer, “Not much.” And sadly, they would be telling the truth once again.

Larry Efird, a former Kannapolis school employee, now lives in Durham.

On May 12, brain cancer took the life of Jason Collins at age 47. Thirteen years earlier, he was the cover story of the May 6, 2013, edition of Sports Illustrated, for being the first active NBA player to come out as gay. At that time, he had played for six teams over 12 seasons and was a former first-round pick, but this announcement would redefine his name to the nation. There was anger at all the publicity, with loud voices shouting that being gay was nothing to be proud of. Indeed, it is not.

Being gay or straight, black or white, male or female, left-handed or right-handed, blue-eyed or brown-eyed, is no reason for anyone to be proud. We are what we are.

Unlike being blue-eyed or brown-eyed, however, being gay carries a stigma, a judgment, an often unbearable burden. Being gay means keeping quiet when others are sharing about their spouses or their dates or joking around in the locker room, because to share one’s own stories would stop all conversation. Being gay means closing oneself off from potential friendships because, once the “friend” learns that the gay person is gay, rejection is more the rule than the exception. Being gay means knowing that to be open about one’s orientation is to invite the world to cave in around them. To lose a job, to lose the love and support of family, to be accused by one’s religious community of being outside of God’s grace.

But despite the misguided judgment that some religious groups continue to pass down, people do not choose to be gay or straight. LGBT people have been a part of every civilization and every time period in history, without geographical, racial or religious boundaries. LGBT people are in every work environment, in every sport, in every family, hiding and fearing rejection. But for LGBT people to live their entire lives in fear means the next generation will live with those fears too, and the next, and the next. Someone has to break the cycle.

It is for those future generations, as well as simply for a desire to remove one’s own prison walls, that some of the most courageous LGBT people choose to “come out,” because they know for certain what others can only talk about on a “they” basis. And if future generations are going to have a better chance at life, LGBT people know they must courageously tell their stories. Many never do. The risk is too great.

But Jason Collins did, while he was playing in the NBA, while he had everything to lose. Jason Collins is a hero to every LGBT person, present and future, and to every person who loves someone who is LGBT. To every young person whose family has rejected them, to every young person who is struggling with self-acceptance in a world that seems unable to understand, to every precious human being who has contemplated taking their own life to escape facing a lifetime of rejection, Jason is a hero.

We are not proud of Jason Collins for being gay. We are proud of Jason Collins for being courageous enough to put his own life on the line in the hopes of making tomorrow just a little better for someone else. Isn’t that the real definition of a hero? Rest in peace, Jason. Your life made a difference.

“Dear Neighbor” authors are united in a belief that civility and passion can coexist. We believe curiosity and conversation make us a better community.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2026 during its commencement ceremony on Friday at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord.

The Class of 2026 included 1,527 students eligible to participate in commencement, earning a total of 2,095 associate degrees, diplomas and certificates. Additionally, nearly 100 High School Equivalency and Adult High School students completed their programs. More than 700 graduates participated in the ceremony, ranging in age from 18 to 62.

“This event demonstrates the college’s impact as a leader in workforce education, reflecting its position as the sixth largest community college in North Carolina,” noted a release from the school, adding that “it also highlights the college’s ongoing commitment to preparing students with the skills needed to meet regional industry demands while also creating pathways for students to transfer and continue their education at four-year institutions.”

The ceremony welcomed more than 4,200 guests, including family members, friends and educators. Rowan-Cabarrus faculty, staff, Board of Trustees members and superintendents from local school systems were also in attendance. The college also provided a livestream of the event, extending its reach across the community.

The ceremony celebrated students who completed programs across a range of disciplines, including associate in arts, associate in engineering, associate in science, associate in fine arts, associate in applied science and associate in general education. Students earning diplomas and certificates, as well as those completing high school equivalency or adult high school requirements, were also recognized.

Rowan-Cabarrus President Dr. Carol S. Spalding shared remarks with graduates, recognizing their perseverance and accomplishments. “These students are entering a workforce that is evolving every day, equipped not only to meet those changes but to lead them. The knowledge and skills they have gained at Rowan-Cabarrus are in demand across our region, positioning them to make an immediate and meaningful impact in their careers and communities.”

Barbi Jones, president and CEO of the Cabarrus Chamber of Commerce, served as the commencement speaker. She offered congratulations to the Class of 2026 and encouraged graduates to remain focused on their future while contributing to the region’s continued growth and success.

“Everyone’s journey is going to look different depending on the hand you are dealt, and your hard work that is recognized today is your opportunity. There’s a saying, ‘Opportunity rarely announces itself. What matters is whether you’ve done the work to be ready when it arrives.’”

Kylie Baucom served as the student speaker for the ceremony. A mother of two, she returned to Rowan-Cabarrus determined to complete her education and quickly distinguished herself through academic excellence and campus involvement. Baucom graduated from Rowan-Cabarrus in 2025 and is continuing her educational journey at the college while completing an additional degree in 2026. She is a member of first-generation student support system TRIO, the National Society of Leadership and Success, Phi Theta Kappa, and Future Business Leaders of America Collegiate, and received the 2025 Outstanding eLearning Student Award from the Instructional Technology Council.

In her remarks, Baucom reflected on her nontraditional path and the perseverance that brought her back to college. “Sometimes all it takes is one person, one moment or one sentence to change the way you see yourself,” she said. “For me, it was a simple reminder: yes, you can.”

In addition to celebrating graduates, the college recognized nominees for three prestigious statewide community college awards:

• Michael Shoe, Academic Excellence Award Winner
• Bradley Harkey, Dallas Herring Achievement Award nominee
• Aja Walker, Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award nominee

“The achievements of the Class of 2026 reflect what is possible through perseverance and a commitment to personal growth,” said President Dr. Carol S. Spalding. “Each graduate has followed a unique path to reach this moment, and the education they have earned is something that can never be taken away from them.”

Those who missed the ceremony can access a recording on the college’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. For more information about Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, go to www.rccc.edu or call 704-216-7222.

KANNAPOLIS — The old Cannon Mill site in Kannapolis is maintaining an homage to textiles with the recent renderings released at the Kannapolis City Council meeting.

Cambridge Properties, the developer at the property on North Main and Loop Road, presented its initial renderings for the residential and retail development that are planned for that property. Considering the proximity to the city, they are also hoping to incorporate city-partnered branding that highlights the history of Kannapolis and directs people toward downtown as well.

“From the start of this project, both in working with Manager (Wilmer) Melton, Director (Patrick) Smith and envisioning this plan, we’ve always been sensitive to the critical importance of this site, both for its historical value as the site of the former Cannon Mills but also for its geographic importance to downtown.

“It’s what we really feel is the northern gateway to downtown, as you transition from historic mill homes to the north of Loop Road south into the center city district and the research campus then onto the West Avenue improvements,” Cambridge Properties Development Director Nate Buhler said.

There will be a hardscape sign on the property’s corner on North Main Street, welcoming drivers to downtown Kannapolis. Additionally, in the residential area of the development on Research Campus Drive, there is a proposed archway that will welcome people into the Millstone Village complex, as they cross Laureate Way.

As part of these recommendations, the property managers are requesting $200,000 from the Kannapolis proposed budget to help fund these additions. Buhler emphasized that Cambridge Properties is funding around $4.5 million worth of public infrastructure improvements as part of the current development project.

In total, they estimate that the development will bring roughly $150 million of new tax base to the city. They want to continue working with the city throughout the project.

“We really think we have one shot to do this right with you all, and doing it right the first time is our best chance,” Buhler said.

Beyond direct signage toward Kannapolis, the buildings will also include extensive masonry to match the surrounding downtown buildings. There are also proposed murals and textures that commemorate Cannon Mill throughout the site.

Buzz Bizzell from Bizzell Design has been working with Cambridge Properties to design the signage and structures for Millstone Village. Bizzell also helped do the design work on West Avenue in its renovation.

“The ability to tell your story in key areas of growth like this north sector of downtown is very important,” Bizzell said. “Our goal in all of this was to honor the people, the craftsman and the artist that actually worked here all those years ago. That made us develop a theme that was based on thread and weaving and how this project is going to weave and tie in together with the downtown community.”

Each of the segments of the property will have its own textile-like pattern that will be used for signage and other branding purposes. It will also encompass other features from downtown Kannapolis like light fixtures and street signs to tie the property and larger downtown together.

One of the primary features Bizzell showed in detail was the archway that will connect the property to the research campus.

“What makes a city a city and what makes a downtown a downtown is when it has an archway, somewhere people can meet, where they can sit, where they can walk under. This makes a huge beautiful transition between the research campus and this community right here,” Bizzell said.

Mayor Doug Wilson asked about the other side of the archway heading into town from the property, which Buhler said was not in the initial plans but could be considered.

Council member Darrell Jackson asked about the project timeline. Buhler estimates that Harris Teeter and the initial retail space will be open by August 2027. The first townhome units are expected to open around the end of 2027 or early 2028, and the multifamily homes are estimated for later in 2028.

The City Council took no direct action on the requested funding for potential signage around the property.

Like many of you, I was shocked and saddened early Monday morning to see that an older couple had succumbed to the flames of a house fire in Rowan County just before midnight Sunday. Life taken in such a way is nothing short of tragic.

Yet, later in the day, as reported here in the Salisbury Post, I saw the couple’s church — Homestead Baptist — post encouraging scripture and announcing a prayer vigil. My husband and I were honored to serve this family for a couple of years at that church when we were young in ministry over 20 years ago. To call them pillars of their community is an understatement, as many attested at the prayer vigil Monday evening.

What struck me most, in the midst of tears and sorrows, was that there was still talk of God’s goodness. Indeed, the night ended with CeCe Winans’ rendition of “The Goodness of God.” This church is clearly clinging to the verse they shared — 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 — “that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

But what about others?

Being a Christian and a minister’s wife has given me unique opportunities to be by bedsides, in funeral parlors and in homes of many who grieve. While many profess to know God, not all who profess such things grieve with hope.

Anger is a common response to the death of a loved one; in fact, many recognize it as one of the stages of grief. Even righteous Job in the Bible sat in this stage, believing God to be an unjust tyrant for a season. But while some can still say or will eventually remember that “God is good,” there are many who will live much of their lives believing “God is cruel” for taking a loved one, regardless of age or situation.

In tragic losses, how can we still see God as good and not a cruel tyrant? It may help to begin with questions about the faith system we lean into:

Do my beliefs point to an eternity manipulated by mankind? Does heavenly assurance have more to do with works on my own behalf or prayers said and works done on behalf of another? What if the way I view the scales when my works are weighed is different from my god’s point of view? Could he mercilessly revoke earnings? If so, it would be easy to see why I could believe that God could be cruel.

Do my beliefs reflect confidence in God’s grace and mercy — given through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and leading to eternal peace — or do they reflect confidence in my own efforts to earn a place there? Do I realize that breath is a gift from God that He gives and can take at His will for His glory? If so, then whatever death befalls me or my loved one may be the result of living in a fallen, sinful world, but the gift available for eternal life reveals a good God.

Next week, the headlines will reflect more tragedies, perhaps one close to you. Once past the shock and natural stages of anger, will you, too, be able to say, “God is good”?

Ashlie Miller lives in Concord with her family.

With the drought continuing to linger, many outdoor gardening activities are on hold. Moisture levels are reaching critical stages. Many shrubs and small trees have not yet succumbed to the drought yet. Homeowners can reduce water evaporation and conserve water by adding or replenishing existing mulch in landscape beds and around trees.
Pine needles, bark nuggets, composted ground limbs, twigs and wood shavings are popular organic mulching materials. Avoid mulching material containing green wood or cellulose such as fresh-ground limbs, sawdust or twigs because these will attract termites. Pine needles, bark nuggets and composted material do not have viable cellulose (wood) that attracts termites. Adding mulch conserves moisture and reduces water consumption. Organic mulches also enrich the soil and, in many instances, prevent lawn mower and trimmer damage. Mulches may also reduce weed competition by preventing many weed seeds from germinating. But mulch will not prevent or delay weed growth forever. Mulches should be applied 3­ to 4 inches deep over clean, weed-free soil. Over mulching can cause serious problems with root development. Heavy applications of fine mulch such as sawdust and finely ground bark inhibit oxygen uptake of trees and shrubs.
Landscape fabric or geo-­textile material placed under mulch retards and prevent germination of some weed species. However, this material will not prevent growth of bermuda grass. Bermuda grass, nutsedge and other perennial weeds or grasses must be eliminated before applying geo-­textile material.

Darrell Blackwelder is the retired horticulture agent and director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. Contact him at deblackw@ncsu.edu.

A neighbor and good friend passed away a couple of weeks ago, and the pastor doing the graveside service said, “One thing about Gene, he loved life!” The pastor went on to say why, much about being inquisitive, involved, loving and smart.
I have been walking mostly for the last two weeks after somehow acquiring inflammation and infection in both lungs. Tired legs and shortness of breath alerted me to the issue, then a lung CT confirmed it. Ten days of meds are hopefully the solution.
But along the way, I missed running with the graduates of our latest beginning runners class. I missed running the Special Olympics Torch Run for the first time in many years. And the daily walks have adjusted my fitness goals for a while. But I do love walking, because the thinking is easier and less jumbled as it is on the run.
Last week, I had a very busy week and a few deadlines. And one of my favorite races, the Main Street Challenge 5K in China Grove, was just ahead on Friday evening. The weather was great all week, I had time to work on some delayed projects and more energy helped by Prednisone. I had one of those days when projects kept coming and I kept knocking them out. One of the biggest was to slightly change the newest version of the Main Street Challenge course, which meant an extra four miles of walking behind a wheel counter. At that point, a friend said, “You love all this, don’t you?” He was right, I do love all these things. And I love life too, even including most of the hard things.
As we grow older, our perspective on so many things will likely change. What is important to us might change too, but all of it has to do with our makeup. Keep a positive outlook. Feeling a sense of gratitude and appreciation for everyday experiences is a strong sign. This includes enjoying simple pleasures and finding joy in routine activities.
We all should have our passions and pursue them. Engaging in activities that excite and inspire us indicate a love for life. These could be hobbies, work or relationships that bring fulfillment and happiness. Never underestimate the joy of volunteerism.
Setbacks will come for sure, but we have to be resilient. Being able to cope with challenges and setbacks while maintaining a hopeful perspective shows a deep connection to life. This resilience often stems from a love for the journey itself. My own journey comes with a perpetual “I think I can” attitude, which sounds easier than it is.
I think strong connections to others are key. Building and maintaining meaningful relationships with others enhances a love for life. Feeling supported and connected to friends and family contributes significantly to overall happiness. Grandchildren help!
Our Chillin’ to the Bare Bones 5K is just ahead, at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, at Overton Elementary School. We will use the greenway there and portions of the Eagle Heights neighborhood. All participants, runners and walkers, get their choice of a bunch of ice cream options including popsicles, Nutty Buddies, ice cream sandwiches and much more, all provided by Novant Health. Run the race and then grab your ice cream. We will have the usual refreshment options as well. Elite race directors Wayne Crowder and Lynn Furr will manage the event. Crowder was once rated as one of the best runners in the Southeast and Furr is his protégé.
As usual, the 25th Annual Cathy Griffin Century 21 Town and Country Realty Bare Bones 5K is low-key and open to anyone. The fun run, a half-mile, is flat and very fast and also is open to anyone, but kids 12 and under get the awards. All 5K participants get a very unique commemorative shirt. Dick’s Sporting Goods is a primary sponsor and will have plenty of gift certificate giveaways throughout the morning. Other sponsors include the Carter Law Group and the City of Salisbury.
At this race as well, runners and walkers are invited to bring their used running shoes and donate them to Rowan Helping Ministries. The Salisbury Rowan Runners have collected shoes for this purpose for more than 25 years. Other gently worn shoes are acceptable as well. All race proceeds go to Relay for Life.
Look for Bare Bones and other upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

I grew up watching the Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver. These were iconic families. They were perfect families. We watched because we enjoyed the show but I think there was a small part of all of us that wished our families were like those families. We wanted the perfect mom and dad and lots of love.

No one had that kind of perfect childhood. No parent, no matter how hard they try or want to be, is perfect. As adults, we all make bad choices because we live in a fallen world. Parents have to try and do the best they can in each situation. Sometimes things turn out great, other times things aren’t so great.

I feel lucky and blessed to have grown up in a home where my needs were met. I had good food, nice clothes and a good roof over my head. There are many people who aren’t so lucky. I grew up in a safe and stable environment. My parents were not perfect but they did the best they could for our family.

Since Mother’s Day was last weekend, I was thinking specifically about my mother. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She has always been active in the community and until recently she was active in church. Mom has always loved a bargain and passed that love on to her four children. Mom has always loved gardening and still loves planting flowers and growing vegetables. She has also been an avid reader. She would sometimes have several books going at the same time. Both my parents could be found reading when we went on family vacations.

Mom has a green thumb and she knows how to revive those plants that are on the discount table. Mom is a very creative person. She ran a flower business when I was a kid and arranged the flowers for my wedding. Her creativity wasn’t limited to flowers; she could write, too. She writes an annual Christmas letter to family and friends, a tradition my brother and I maintain.

My mother taught me right from wrong. Switches were out of style when I was coming along so she used the metal spatula. Sometimes all she had to do was rattle the drawer that held the spatula to get us back in line. Mom believes in treating people right and she modeled that for us kids. She taught us to believe and look for the best in people and I really appreciate that and try to practice that as I teach my students.

I feel lucky that my mom is still with us. I have been reflecting on the idea that sometimes God gives us “extra” moms. Naturally, a mother-in-law becomes extra mom. My wife and I found a special person when we were in college who became like an extra mom for us. She and her husband gave us some home-cooked meals and took us on adventures. I told my Dad’s significant other that she was like an extra Mom. I believe we can’t have too many people investing in us, caring about us, speaking words of encouragement, and helping guide us through the many ins and outs of life.

The Bible encourages us to honor our parents, and it’s nice that we set aside a day in May to honor moms and a day in June to honor dads. If we are lucky enough to have good parents, we can receive great deposits from them. I’ll admit that sometimes we pick up our parent’s quirks within those deposits, but that is part of what makes life interesting. Still, we should stop, reflect and appreciate all that our parents did to raise us and encourage us to spread our wings and fly. My mom did a good job raising her four children and helping each of us grow into responsible adults. I honor her for the good job that she did with each of us.

I want to encourage you to reflect on your life and consider the impact your parents, especially your mom, had on your trajectory in life. Remember to be thankful for all that she did and sacrificed for you. Take time to express that thanks to her. If your mom has passed then let the seeds she planted in your heart grow and produce a harvest in her memory. Moms live so selflessly all their lives, wanting to make sure that their kids grow up to have a positive impact in their little corner of the world. Thanks, Mom, for a job well done. I hope we make you proud. I love you, Mom!

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or doug@dougcreamer.com.

SALISBURY — Learning, celebrating accomplishments and introducing something new and special were all part of the 126th N.C. Society Daughters of the American Revolution State Conference, and Salisbury’s Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter was a part of the event.

Held April 23-26 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Raleigh-Durham, the conference featured a variety of meetings, workshops and programs.

Those attending from the local chapter included Sharon Bolles, Patricia Dance, Beth Fowler, Trudy Hall and Jane Smith-Steinberg, and Dance said that “between business sessions, workshops and excellent programs, all had a great time and got to see other Daughters from chapters across the state.”

Special speakers during the conference included Carole Curran who spoke on the topic of Soaring Onward Together: The America 250! Float. Dance said that she shared about “the process of making the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Float for the Rose Parade in California January 2026.”

Phyllis Wilson also spoke, presenting a program about the Military Women’s Memorial and preserving the stories and contributions of women in military service.

In addition to the business meetings and workshops, Dance noted that during the conference, the chapters are recognized for their accomplishments for the year and awards are presented to contest winners.

She said that the awards luncheon is one thing she loves, noting that the DAR has contests each year for children, adults and teachers.

“It is gratifying to hear our generations moving forward understanding the importance of American history and our civic duties,” said Dance.

Passionate about providing support to active-duty military, which includes active-duty, National Guard and Reservists, DAR members provide this support in multiple ways to those in the military, veterans and their families in their outreach for patriotism, she said.

During the 2025 conference, the chapter supported the Patriot Project Baby Bundles connecting with the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) at Fort Bragg.

Dance noted that this program was “tailored to meet the needs of becoming new parents as the military member and spouse serving in the Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield communities.”

The 2026 state conference project was supporting Operation Deploy Your Dress (ODYD) at Fort Bragg, which is, said Dance, “a well-organized boutique where military servicewomen and military spouses can select one dress and one accessory per year.”

Those attending the conference donated items including formal dresses and gowns, along with accessories such as shoes, bags, wraps and jewelry.

Dance noted that she was able to help with the delivery and unloading of the donated gowns to the ASYMCA at Fort Bragg.

A new feature of the NCSDAR State Conference was the formation and participation of an all female Colonial Color Guard, the first ever in North Carolina, said Dance, noting that for the 250th anniversary of the nation, they have been focusing on “discovering female patriots who either found or participated in the Revolutionary War,” and she was asked by the State Regent to form a color guard made up of North Carolina Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NCSDAR) who had prior military service.

Dance said she coordinated with one of the daughters who assembled a color guard from five different chapters in the state, which consisted of 10 members, including a commander, two with muskets and seven with flags.

The all female Colonial color guard participated by posting and retiring the colors on Friday and Saturday of the conference for four sessions.

Dance introduced the color guard to the North Carolina Society State Conference, and said “they represent a 250-year legacy of strength, persistence and sacrifice.”

In her introduction, she said that “for too long, the story of the Revolution was told through only half its participants. Today, we ‘illuminate’ the women who served, from Deborah Sampson, who fought in disguise, to the brave women of the Carolinas, whose daily courage was essential to survival on the southern frontier.

“This all-female colonial unit, which reflects the unity of North Carolina Daughters from five different chapters serving in our mission dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing America’s future through better education for children. By featuring this unit, we ensure our patriotism is, in the words of our founders, ‘broad and just enough to commemorate the names of women’ alongside their male counterparts.”

Falcons. Aubrey Martin, front row, left.

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

MOUNT ULLA – West Rowan’s Aubrey Martin is getting a chance to continue her basketball career at Greensboro College.

Martin overcame a torn ACL to earn that opportunity. Every Rowan County basketball fan can tell you West’s Tiara Thompson was the leading scorer in the county for the 2025-26 season,  but probably only 10 percent of them might know that Martin was No. 2 in county scoring with 12.2 points a game. She’s only 5-foot-6, but she can really shoot. She made a pile of 3s.

“The ACL tear she had was a case of a really bad injury happening to a really good kid,” West head coach Ashley Poole said. “You don’t find many girls like her any more. She’s always been coachable. She had to wait a long time to shine for us, but when her time came, she was ready for the moment and she helped lead us to a 25-3 season.”

Martin was showing flashes of talent even when she made sporadic appearances for the varsity as a freshman. As a sophomore, she moved up to the role of key reserve for the varsity. Both of those teams were exceptionally talented. Both won state titles. Martin contributed 153 points.

Martin’s time was supposed to arrive after the deep Class of 2024 graduated – she’d waited and worked for that day – but she got hurt the summer between her sophomore and junior years.

“I still remember it clearly,” Martin said. “AAU tournament in Kentucky. We’re up by 10 points and I had a layup on a fast break. I went up and that’s when I heard a pop in my knee. I knew it was pretty bad.”

Surgery came a few months later after the swelling had subsided. Then it was rehab several times a week. She missed her whole junior season. She watched as a bunch of West freshmen took a beating in the South Piedmont Conference twice a week and went 2-21.

“That was an important time for me,” Martin said. “I learned a lot when I could only watch. I also realized I’d always taken being able to play basketball for granted. Once it was taken away from me, that’s when I found out how much I loved the game.”

Prior to Martin’s senior season, she got the word that Thompson was returning to Mount Ulla from Maryland to play her final high school season.

“That was an exciting day,” Martin said. “Obviously, Tiara is a great player, and I knew how much our freshman had improved. They were going to be a lot better as sophomores.”

Thompson was even more phenomenal than anyone dreamed. Opponents had to virtually double-team her to keep her from scoring 40. Martin was huge for the Falcons, taking some of the scoring pressure off Thompson with 18 double-figure games. Martin began January by scoring 74 points in a four-game stretch, 18.5 points per game. A lot of those points were on flurries of 3-pointers that either got West started or blew games open.

“The 3-pointer is my strength,” Martin said. “When you get hurt like I did, you get a little hesitant to drive, but I’m getting more confident now with that part of my game.”

Poole believed Martin was a college player and was determined to find a next-level fit for her. It helped that she was a good student and good students who can really shoot the ball are always in demand. At Martin’s size, D-III was the realistic option.  Several coaches loved Martin’s film and wanted her to visit. Poole drove her on those visits.

It came down to Methodist (in Fayetteville) and Greensboro.

“I really liked both schools and the players and coaches,” Martin said. “But Greensboro is closer, and I really wanted my family to be able to see me play as much as possible. That’s important to me.”

Martin’s planned major makes a lot of sense: exercise science. She’s had some first-hand experience in that field.

“A lot of people helped me after I was hurt, and I’d like to be able to do that for others,” Martin said. “I know what it takes to come back.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff report

Salisbury High running back Xavier Frazier received a $5,000 scholarship on Wednesday from Marvin Wilson.

Wilson, a 1990 graduate of Salisbury, served in Desert Storm not long after high school. He was employed in secretarial duties at the Pentagon after the Gulf War and served in the U. S. Navy for two years before working at the VA Medical Center.

Wilson is the founder of the Charlotte-based Wisdom Foundation. The goal of that organization is to encourage and inspire young people. That mission brought him back to Salisbury High for the personal presentation of the Foundation’s inagural  “Access to Opportunity” Scholarship to Frazier.

“This is pouring into the next generation,” Wilson said. “Xavier is already showing what hard work, discipline and dedication look like. He is proof that the future is still bright when our young men are given guidance, support and opportunity.”

Frazier was a significant player for SHS football as a varsity freshman. He rushed 72 times for 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Beyond the stadium lights, “X-Man” built a 3.5 GPA and showed academic ability and leadership qualities.

“This is bigger than sports,” Wilson said. “And it’s bigger than a scholarship. This is legacy work. Passing the torch. Making sure the next generation has access to rooms, resources and opportunities some of us had to learn about the hard way.”

Wilson thanked SHS principal Franchesca Gantt and AD Carson Herndon for their assistance.

“Much respect to them for embracing the vision and helping make a powerful moment happen,” Wilson said.

 

 

Staff report

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Pfeiffer lead-off batter Landry Stewart’s priority is to score in the first inning, to put the Falcons on top right away.

The former Carson star succeeded in that task on Friday when Pfeiffer played an elimination game in a double-elimination regional hosted by Virginia Wesleyan. Stewart walked on a 3-and-2 pitch to open the game, stole second and then stole third. When she stole third base, the throw got away and she trotted home with the game’s first run.

Pfeiffer got three runs in the first and went on to a 13-0 rout of John Jay College (NY) in five innings. John Jay was eliminated from the four-team event which includes the undefeated host team. Pfeiffer lost in the first round.

Stewart was 1-for-1 with two walks. She scored three runs and added four more stolen bases to her program record.

Mollie Bulla was the winning pitcher. EA Nance (West Rowan) had two hits for the Falcons, including a triple. Former Mooresville (and Rowan Little League) standout Brooke Piper homered for Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer    333  22   –  13

John Jay  000 00    – 0

W – Bulla. HR – Piper.

 

 

 

Staff report

 HUDSON – Daxton Savage (Carson) is one of the key players for the Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute (Caldwell Tech) baseball team that won the Region 10 Tournament in Burlington and is headed for the D-3 Junior College World Series.Savage is an All-Region right-handed pitcher. He also made the All-Region defensive team and the all-tournament team.

Savage, a 19-year-old sophomore, is 6-1 with a 4.27 ERA. He’s walked 35 in 46 1/3 innings, but he’s struck out 63, and that’s helped him work out of some jams.

Caldwell is ranked fifth in the latest NJCAA D-3 poll. The Cobras will play in the  World Series in Johnson City, Tenn., on May 23-27.

 

By Brandon Kingdollar

NC Newsline

The State Employees Association of North Carolina has a simple explanation for the raft of vacant positions in state government: poor pay.

A dashboard released by SEANC on Wednesday compiles findings from State Auditor Dave Boliek’s January report on long-term vacancies in state government, arguing that the auditor’s inquiry vindicates their assertion that inadequate salaries are the primary reason many of North Carolina’s government positions go unfilled.

“State Auditor Dave Boliek’s report shows what we have long argued: North Carolina’s vacancy problem is a pay problem,” said SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins. “The auditor himself recommends that the state bring salaries in line with neighboring states and appropriate additional funds where vacancy rates are high.”

As of last August, 8,845 positions had been vacant for more than six months, representing about 11 percent of the state workforce, according to the dashboard and Boliek’s report. More than a third of those long-term vacancies were attributed to low compensation, the No. 1 one cause identified in the auditor’s report.

The dashboard was released just after Republican lawmakers announced a budget framework that will include an average 3-percent pay raise for state government employees, with higher increases in some of the areas Boliek identified as especially underpaid.

The vacancies, SEANC argues, are not necessarily a chronic issue. According to the dashboard, roughly 3,000 positions are legally blocked from being filled because the state has been operating without an enacted budget. And in the eight weeks following the passage of the DAVE Act authorizing the auditor to probe government efficiency, 1,181 vacant positions were filled.

“The question now is whether the General Assembly will act on what the data shows,” Watkins said.

Boliek’s office did not respond to a request for comment. But while the auditor recommended increasing pay for some state employees — such as correctional officers and registered nurses — he also encouraged the General Assembly to consider eliminating at least a chunk of the longstanding vacancies.

“Long-term vacancies muddy the waters of government expenditures. In some agencies, you have tax dollars meant to go to a person serving a valuable state need, but instead that spot sits empty for years and the money goes elsewhere,” he said in a press release accompanying the report. “(The report) includes several different options to improve government efficiency, from cuts to job vacancies, to increases in areas where additional resources may be necessary.”

According to the SEANC dashboard and the auditor’s report, more than $1.04 billion in lapsed salary has been generated by those 8,845 vacancies. Lapsed salaries would represent more than 16 percent of the state payroll budget or around $482 million if the vacancy positions remained unfilled for a year.

Much of that money, funded through state appropriations and receipts, is available for use by the departments while the positions remain unfilled — going instead to things like overtime, temporary workers and other operational costs.

“What they aren’t telling you is, are they doing that by removing lapsed salaries, which a lot of our departments actually rely on in order to just do their programmatic work?” Batch asked. “Are they going to do it by cutting a whole bunch of positions and using the auditor’s report to say that you don’t actually need human capital to run this government and somehow, AI is going to do it for us?”

However, House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) told reporters Wednesday that this week’s budget agreement slowing down the state’s planned tax cut timeline has lessened the need to eliminate vacant government positions in the final bill.

“The need isn’t as great to go in and look at all of those vacant positions. That doesn’t mean some of those won’t wind up being in there,” Hall said. “I think Dave Boliek’s done a good job as state auditor at getting us a bunch of information, new data that’s out there — so areas across state government where we can improve efficiency, you may see some cuts there.”

Asked about potential cuts to vacant positions Wednesday, state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) declined to offer specifics, telling members of the media, “We’re going to let the subcommittees go through the process.”

Brandon Kingdollar covers North Carolina government and state politics for NC Newsline.

Submitted

This summer, Piedmont Players will celebrate one of the most influential filmmakers in movie history with Summer of Spielberg, a four-week film series featuring some of Steven Spielberg’s most beloved classics.

The series will take place on four consecutive Wednesdays at the Norvell Theater in Downtown Salisbury and will include screenings of “Jaws,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Jurassic Park.” Each film represents a different part of Spielberg’s lasting impact on American cinema, from suspense and adventure to wonder and family-friendly storytelling.

Summer of Spielberg will open with Jaws, the groundbreaking thriller that helped define the modern summer blockbuster. The series continues with Raiders of the Lost Ark, the action-packed first adventure of Indiana Jones, followed by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the heartfelt story of a young boy and a visitor from another world. The series concludes with Jurassic Park, the landmark adventure that brought dinosaurs roaring back to life on the big screen.

Audiences are invited to experience these iconic films the way they were meant to be seen: on the big screen, surrounded by the energy of a theater audience. Whether revisiting a longtime favorite or introducing these films to a new generation, “Summer of Spielberg” offers a chance for the community to come together for four evenings of classic moviegoing.

Summer of Spielberg Schedule:

• June 3 at 7 p.m. — Jaws
• une 10 at 7 p.m. — Raiders of the Lost Ark
• June 17 at 7 p.m. — E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• June 24 at 7 p.m. — Jurassic Park

Tickets are $5 per person and can be purchased at PiedmontPlayers.com/summer-of-spielberg or by calling the Box Office (M-F 10 a.m.-3 p.m.) at 704-633-5471

Showtimes at 7 p.m.. House opens at 6:30 p.m. Concessions—including popcorn, candy, snacks, beer/wine—will be available for purchase.

The Norvell Theater is located at 135 E. Fisher St. Salisbury.

SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council will hear the data center text amendment, conduct budget discussion and consider support for Western North Carolina Rail funding at the May 19 meeting.

After recommendation for approval from the Planning Board for a potential data center ordinance text amendment, the council will hold a public hearing about the amendment before considering approval. The Planning Board and Technical Review Committee both heard the text amendment multiple times with revisions before recommending approval.

The amendment sets guidelines for data centers in the city limits including electricity limitations, noise level restrictions, extended setbacks and quarterly inspection expectations. If passed, it would allow the potential data center developer on Henderson Grove Church Road, Flexential, to begin the conditional districting application process.

The Council will also discuss the fiscal year 2026-27 proposed budget. The budget will initially be presented on Monday, May 18, at 3 p.m. in the Council Chambers. As of now, the council has two additional special meetings to discuss the budget on May 26 and June 9 at 4 p.m.

They will also discuss the budget at each regular meeting with June 2 being a public hearing on the budget and adoption consideration on June 16.

Finally, the Council will consider adopting a resolution of support for Western North Carolina rail corridor, which would connect Salisbury to Asheville. Funding for the rail corridor was included in the governor’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, so the resolution intends to encourage the N.C. general assembly to include the funding in their proposed budget.

The Council meets on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Salisbury City Hall, located at 217 South Main Street, Salisbury. The other agenda items include:

• The council will consider appointments to various boards and commissions.
• The council will recognize Memorial Day, National Public Works Week and National Preservation Month.

ROWAN COUNTY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners will hear the initial budget proposal, consider fund balance policy and request legislative support for Kannapolis extraterritorial jurisdiction at their May 18 meeting.

The board will hear the initial budget proposal from County Manager Aaron Church. After the meeting, the proposed budget will be available on the county website.

As part of the proposal, the commissioners will consider a potential fund balance policy that was initially discussed at their budget planning retreat. The policy would codify that if the unassigned fund balance exceeds 20 percent of the previous year’s original expenditures then 50 percent of the remaining unassigned fund balance will be dedicated to capital needs.

The presentation includes a calculation based on this year’s unassigned balance that leaves roughly $37 million for capital needs, which are being proposed for telecommunications, the Dan Nichols Park train and the Rowan Community Center concourse design and signage.

The board will also consider requesting state legislative intervention to accommodate the Kannapolis ETJ relinquishing because of potential down-zoning issues. By state law, a zoning change cannot decrease potential uses or development density without the written consent of the property owners.

Considering there are more than 900 parcels included in the relinquished area, the county would have to adopt Kannapolis’ regulations to comply with the statute. Alternatively, the county is requesting Senator Carl Ford sponsor a bill to waive the down-zoning restrictions and give the county 90 days to put zoning in place on the properties.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday and will be held at the Rowan County Administration building located at 130 W. Innes St. in Salisbury. The other agenda items that will be discussed include:

• The board will hold a quasi-judicial hearing for a special use permit for canine training on Mount Vernon Road.

• The board will hear a financial report.

In Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reports

• Assault reportedly occurred on Bringle Ferry Road (Salisbury) between 6:25 p.m. on May 11 and 6:36 a.m. on May 12.
• An assault reportedly occurred on Reeves Island Road (Richfield) between 4:30 p.m. on May 11 and 9:42 a.m. on May 12.
• Credit card fraud occurred on Jones Road (Salisbury) between 1:52 and 8:23 p.m. on May 6.
• Fraud occurred on Larin Way (Salisbury) between 10 a.m. on May 12 and 2:23 p.m. on May 12.
• Fraud occurred on John Morgan Road (Gold Hill) between 5:26 p.m. on May 10 and 2:25 p.m. on May 12.
• An assault occurred on East Ridge Road (Salisbury) between 9 a.m. on Feb. 1 and 10 a.m. on May 7.
• Fraud by false pretense occurred on South Arlington Street (Salisbury) around 5:55 p.m. on May 12.
• Burglary occurred on Geneva Drive (Rockwell) between 10:44 and 11 a.m. on May 12.
• Littering occurred on Henderson Grove Church Road (Salisbury) around 10:34 a.m. on May 13.
• Fraud occurred on Chinquapin Lane (Mount Ulla) between noon on May 1 and noon on May 6.
• Wire fraud occurred on Potneck Road between noon on April 24 and 3:16 p.m. on May 8.
• Burglary by unlawful entry occurred on Lakeview Drive (Salisbury) between 10 p.m. on May 10 and 4:29 p.m. on May 13.
• Stedman OBryan Robb, 36, of Salisbury, was charged with sell/deliver fentanyl on May 13.

In Salisbury Police Department reports

• An assault occurred in the 300 block of South Arlington Street between 1 and 1:03 p.m. on May 13.
• A crime of domestic violence occurred in the 1900 block of Ganell Avenue around 6:55 p.m. on May 13.
• A firearm was discharged in the 200 block of Chestnut Street between 9 and 9:07 p.m. on May 13.
• A motor vehicle theft occurred in the 2300 block of South Main Street between 2 p.m. on May 12 and 2 p.m. on May 13.
• Fraud by false present occurred in the 2100 block of Statesville Boulevard between 10 a.m. on May 5 and 10:30 a.m. on May 6.
• An automobile accessories larceny occurred in the 1400 block of West Innes Street between 5:22 and 5:42 a.m. on May 14. The total estimated loss was $400.
• An assault occurred in the 600 block of Mocksville Avenue around 8:35 p.m. on May 14.
• A larceny occurred in the 2100 block of Executive Drive between 10 and 10:28 p.m. on May 14.
• A crime of domestic violence occurred in the 600 block of Vance Avenue around 12:07 a.m. on May 15.
• Garrett Seth Young, 32, was charged with breaking and entering vehicles on May 12.
• Harry Leroy Brunson, 70, was charged with possession of a controlled substance on May 14.

SALISBURY — Rowan County’s spirit of volunteerism is once again being recognized at the state level as five local individuals and organizations have been selected to receive the 2026 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award, North Carolina’s highest honor for community volunteer service. The recipients will be recognized by the Rowan County commissioners for their dedication, compassion and lasting impact throughout the community.

Among this year’s honorees is Kaisha Brown, whose leadership and community involvement have made her one of Rowan County’s most recognizable advocates for service and civic engagement.

Since becoming involved with Rowan County United Way in 2020, Brown has played a significant role in strengthening community partnerships and encouraging volunteerism across the county. She served as campaign chair during a successful $1.1 million fundraising campaign and inspired supporters through her theme, “Building Community Together.”

Brown’s volunteer efforts extend far beyond United Way. She dedicates her time and talents to numerous local organizations and initiatives, including the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals, Leadership Rowan, Youth Leadership Rowan, Literacy Council of Rowan County, Rowan Helping Ministries, BlockWork and Adopt-A-Street programs. Her commitment to service has earned her multiple honors over the years, including Young Professional of the Year, Rotarian of the Year, the Campaign Champion Award and the NAACP President’s Medal. Those who nominated Brown described her as someone who demonstrates exceptional service, leadership and unwavering commitment to Rowan County.

Also receiving the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award is Rick Hunning, nominated by Rowan Helping Ministries for his dedicated work with the Crisis Assistance Network. Hunning interviews clients, manages critical data and helps ensure daily operations run smoothly for those seeking assistance. Known for his compassion, reliability and calm presence, Hunning has become a valued source of support for both clients and fellow volunteers.

The Museum Magic Makers, nominated by the N.C. Museum of Dolls, Toys and Miniatures, were honored for their tireless work helping relocate and expand the museum after it outgrew its original home. The volunteer group carefully packed and moved more than 100,000 artifacts while continuing to support tours, exhibits and day-to-day museum operations. Their dedication has helped preserve one of Rowan County’s unique cultural attractions.

Nadine Potts was recognized for her years of service through Rowan Helping Ministries despite facing her own health and mobility challenges. Potts assists clients in the Crisis Assistance Network, helping individuals and families navigate financial assistance for rent, utilities and other essential needs. Volunteers and staff say her resilience, encouragement and compassionate spirit quietly inspire everyone around her.

First Reformed Church of Landis was also selected for the award in recognition of the congregation’s extensive volunteer efforts with Rowan Helping Ministries. Church members routinely support programs by preparing and serving meals in Jeannie’s Kitchen, participating in Packing Parties, delivering food through Food for Thought and assisting with the Second Helping program. Their ongoing commitment has made a meaningful difference for countless residents across Rowan County.

The Governor’s Volunteer Service Award honors individuals and groups who demonstrate a strong commitment to community service and improving the lives of others. This year’s Rowan County recipients represent a wide range of service areas, from hunger relief and literacy to cultural preservation and youth leadership, reflecting the many ways volunteers continue to strengthen the community every day.

KANNAPOLIS — Effective Friday, May 15, Kannapolis will enter level two mandatory water restriction because of continued drought conditions.

“Despite some rainfall last week, drought conditions persist throughout Concord, Kannapolis and across Cabarrus and Rowan counties. The mandatory water restrictions are needed to help protect the regional water supply by reducing nonessential water use as there is no significant rainfall expected in the near future,” a statement from the city read.

Restrictions include:

• Residents are only allowed to water or irrigate lawns, gardens and ornamental plants on Tuesdays after 8 p.m until Wednesday at 8 a.m. and Saturdays after 8 p.m. until Sundays before 8 a.m.
• Permits are required for the filling of newly constructed or drained pools.
• Residents cannot wash vehicles at home.
• Residents cannot pressure wash driveways or homes, with the exception of professional pressure washing companies.
• Public buildings, sidewalks and streets cannot be washed unless to comply with safety or health regulations.

Residents are still permitted to use hand-held water containers for plant and garden watering and can top off swimming pools. Commercial car washes and pressure washing companies are still permitted to run in the city, so residents can utilize those services.

If residents or businesses are connected to private well or irrigation, not in the municipal water system, they are exempt from these restrictions. Those residents can get a free well water irrigation sign to display on their property by contacting the City of Kannapolis.

According to the city’s statement, violations to these restrictions could result in “civil citations or fees.” While the city will be monitored, any violations can be reported by calling 704-920-4444.

Additional information about drought restrictions, permitting and sign requests can be found at kannapolisnc.gov/drought.

CONCORD — A routine morning at the Cabarrus County Construction and Demolition Waste Landfill in March turned critical when flames sparked on the county’s compactor, a nearly $1 million piece of equipment acquired in 2023.

But Heavy Equipment Operator Ron Hoffman acted quickly, stopped the blaze and saved the machine.

Hoffman’s manager, Environmental Management Director Kevin Grant, recognized him with a County Manager’s Award of Excellence nomination, citing his “quick and decisive” actions.

The recognition is reserved for employees who demonstrate exceptional performance above and beyond regular duties. Interim County Manager Kelly Sifford approved Hoffman’s nomination immediately.

The incident happened on March 21. As Hoffman powered up the compactor at the start of his shift, he noticed something didn’t sound right. A quick flash in his peripheral vision confirmed his suspicion. Flames were sparking behind him.

Hoffman immediately shut down the compactor and activated the fire suppression system. His response, which took only seconds, stopped what could have escalated into a major fire and total loss of the compactor. Instead, Hoffman’s quick response minimized the damage. Repairs were completed quickly, and the equipment returned to service within days.

The compactor, a large piece of heavy equipment used to compress waste, is crucial to conserving space and extending the landfill’s life. Increased compaction allows the landfill to receive and store more waste.

Hoffman’s response reflected years of training and experience.

Before joining Cabarrus County in October 2023, Hoffman served four years in the U.S. Navy as a sonar technician aboard a submarine. His role demanded constant readiness, long stretches without sunlight, rigorous training and frequent emergency drills. Fire prevention and response were reinforced repeatedly.

That training stayed with him.

Since joining the county, Hoffman has built a reputation for being reliable and team oriented. In addition to operating heavy equipment, he regularly assists in other areas, including the scale house.

Grant said Hoffman stood out from the start.

“Ron didn’t have direct experience with our equipment, but he showed genuine interest during the interview process,” Grant said. “He connected with employees right away and demonstrated strong potential. He’s been an outstanding addition to the team.”

Hoffman said the work environment and benefits contribute to his job satisfaction.

“We’ve got a good team here,” Hoffman said. “We’ve also got great benefits like 401(k) contributions from the county as well as being a part of the state local government retirement system.”

For the second year now, Southern Heritage is anticipated to be celebrated and honored around the date of North Carolina’s declaration of independence from overwhelming government intervention and authoritarian tyranny to mark May 20, 1861, as the day that the Old North State stood on its own forefront of becoming a Republic, and later a Confederate state in its own Union of its own making alongside 10 other states and commonwealths all posing the same American dream of sovereignty and liberty above all other things government threatens.

On May 23, from noon until 4 p.m., Fame Preservation Group will be hosting its second annual Fame Fest at Old Lutheran Cemetery next to the Fame Confederate Monument in downtown Salisbury to celebrate those patriotic American deeds of contributions to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as outlined by the fathers of the Revolution which is both illustrated and inscribed on and by Gloria Victis as the Memorial represents Rowan County’s Confederate dead and their families.

Fame Fest will be hosted at the dead-end portion of East Franklin Street next to Old Lutheran Cemetery at the intersection of North Lee Street where artisan vendors, a food truck vendor, various demonstrators, living history reenactors and provided restrooms will all be staged on that streetscape with city barricades provided. Parking will be directed in the grass field there as main venue accessibility in addition to nearby street parking also. And inside the cemetery next to the Fame Confederate Monument, guest speakers will be giving presentations of historical and cultural regards to the Southern perspective of not only the War of Northern Aggression but also all other attributes which are captured within the identity of a Southern American.

Entry to the street portion of the festival is charged $10 admission for attendees as a fundraiser apparatus for the organizers, however entry to the cemetery is free for participation in the planned headstone cleaning courses and historical walking tour of the grounds. Oh, and as a bonus, there will be multiple full-size cannons and mortars on display which will be fired with blank rounds in a memorial service, courtesy of Rowan Artillery at the end of the event along with volleys from Confederate reenactors. Hearing protection will be provided to guests.

Vendors are asked to arrive between 9 and 11 a.m. for staging where washable white spray chalk will outline on the ground who goes where by numbers provided. A drive-thru course will be directed for vendors to offload their gear and continue driving around utilizing the Norfolk Southern maintenance road to park nearby in close proximity.

Fame Fest as a festival event is intended by design to shed new positive light on the Confederate Monument for what it is and what it has incorrectly been portrayed to be for the benefit and promotion of historical preservation, community engagement, and local tourism of a still cherished piece of art, illustrated compassion and defeat symbolized by the dying soldier depicted to recognize the history behind the monument, engage in conversations of how it pertains to our modern era, and reflect on how Confederate Monuments and the understanding that a Confederation of government is an American principle from our first founding under the Articles of Confederation and the founding of the United States of America prior to the Constitution.

This festival marks the beginning of the promotional phase of the Fame Preservation Group Barbecue Festival also which will be hosted on Aug. 22, at Stars and Bars Tavern on Klumac Road in Salisbury as a summer bash event with live music, Southern barbecue with fixins, invited guests and another opportunity for vendors to attend.

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of a nation by recognizing the birth of another through those same principles of 1861 being 1776, and join us on the ground next to Fame for a truly Southern experience and yet another opportunity for Fame Preservation Group to bridge the gap between hateful political divisiveness and a peaceful sense of unity across the board.

Gregory Lambeth II is president and founder of Fame Preservation Group, Inc.

 

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

SALISBURY – Forty years ago, the most memorable moment of the Rowan County Girls Track and Field Championships came in what is traditionally the  climactic race of the day – the 4×400.

The drama played out at North Rowan’s Eagle Stadium where South Rowan’s Tracy Bradshaw came diving across the finish line, toting the baton on the anchor leg for the Raiders.

Bradshaw expended maximum effort trying to catch East Rowan anchor Roxie Williams, but the Mustangs still won the event by a tiny fraction of a second.

Bleeding from an elbow, leg and knee after her all-out collision with the asphalt, Bradshaw was treated for her wounds at the finish line. Then she joined the celebration as South’s girls exulted in one more team championship.

Bradshaw was the county’s top distance runner 40 years ago. Believe it or not, she was even faster in 1986 than Carson’s Kara Crotts, who is very fast, is now. Bradshaw already had won the 1600 and 3200 that day. She also had finished second by the margin of half an eyelash to teammate Miriam Karriker in the 800. Karriker’s time was recorded as 2:27.82. Bradshaw went in the books at  2:27.83.

Steve Beaver was the head track coach for the SR girls in 1986 and explained to the Post’s Ed Dupree why Bradshaw had been so grimly determined to win the 4×400 when the team championship had long been decided.

“It was her competitiveness and she was thinking about the other three girls on that 4×400 relay,” Beaver said. “Winners of events are all-county and South gives plaques to all-county athletes. One of the girls on that relay with Tracy hadn’t won an event. Tracy wanted to get her a plaque.”

East officially won that spectacularly close relay in 4:18.97. That time also would have won that event in the Robert Steele Rowan County Championships of 2026, although if you could have loaded the 1986 Mustangs into a time machine and dropped them off in Granite Quarry for this year’s county meet, they would have staged a thrilling race against the modern Mustangs. East won the 4×400 in this year’s county meet in 4:20.

Rowan high school athletes are obviously bigger now than they were in 1986. There have been serious advances in training knowledge, coaching knowledge, nutritional knowledge and sports medicine knowledge during the last 40 years. Still, the girls and boys of 1986 had advantages. They probably stayed more active in drive ways and back yards from sunrise to sundown in an era before smart phones, the Internet and Netflix.

The mid-1980s were a terrific era for South Rowan girls track and field.

The 1986 Raiders lacked a pole vaulter like East’s Lelu Hill because Rowan girls weren’t competing in the pole vault yet, but South had the the state’s best discus thrower, a top-notch shot putter and a bunch of determined athletes.

South raised banners for South Piedmont Conference championships in 1983, 1984 and 1985. The autumn of 1985 brought NCHSAA realignment, and the Raiders, the largest school in Rowan, moved up to the 4A Central Piedmont Conference.

That switch to taking on “city” competition didn’t faze that particular group of South track girls. They went out and beat the Winston-Salem and Greensboro schools for the CPC championship in the spring of 1986.

In their backyard, Rowan County, the Raiders ruled the roost for several years in that era. They won the county meets held in 1984, 1985 and 1986, although the other Rowan schools always had enough athletes to make them work for it.

Salisbury’s Lisa Taylor and North’s Mia Gibson were very special in that era.

Taylor was a Hornet sophomore in 1986. She scored 20 points in that county meet, as Salisbury finished second behind South. She took first place in both hurdling events and placed second in the triple jump and 200 meters.

Taylor was a state champion in 1986 in the 100 hurdles.

Taylor probably could have won the triple jump in this year’s Rowan County Championships, not by inches, but by several feet. South’s Brenda Brown was  the triple jump champion in the county meet in 1986, but Taylor had some triple jumps of better than 37 feet that year.

Some of the meets in 1986 had enough athletes competing that girls had to run three races – a preliminary, a semifinal and then a final – in events such as the 100 hurdles and 100 and 200 meters.  In the 1986 Central Carolina Conference Championships, Taylor competed in nine races to complete three events, plus she did some jumping on the side.  That’s a difficult day, but she led the Hornets to their league title.

Salisbury’s current sprint queen Shekiya Woodruff is a little swifter in the 100 and 200 then Gibson was back then, but Gibson’s strongest race definitely was the 400 meters. Gibson could crank out 58s regularly and was a state champion in her favorite event. The teenage Gibson could have won the 400 in the 2026 Rowan County Championships by about 5 seconds.

Bradshaw’s 1600 and 3200 times in the 1986 county meet – 5:26 and 12:18 – are still among the best times the county has witnessed. Crotts won those two events in the 2026 Robert Steele Rowan County Championships in 5:56 and 12:26. Crotts, like Bradshaw, was competing in four grueling runs on the same day. Bradshaw anchored the 4×400 for her fourth event, as there was no 4×800 race for her to run in. Crotts ran the 4×800 for the Cougars.

Crotts’ winning 800 time in this year’s county meet was 2:29, just a shade behind the clockings that Raider teammates Karriker and Bradshaw registered in their literal head-to-head duel of 40 years ago.

In 1986, South’s Ellen Miller was on a different level from modern Rowan throwers. She threw 119 feet, 6 inches in the county meet and pushed that mark to 126 feet, 1 inch when she won the state championship.

South shot putter Belinda Harris won the 1986 county meet with an effort of 35 feet, 9 inches. She could have won this year’s county event by 5 feet.

There are also events where the current Rowan girls are posting better marks than their grandparents did in 1986. East’s Hill and North’s Ty’Tiana can produce stronger long jump marks than girls were doing 40 year ago.  Clearing 5 feet won a lot of high jump meets in 1986, and that’s still the case. A successful jump at 4-10 won the county in 1986. That height also won the county in 2026.

The county has excellent female hurdlers, led by East’s Miley Carrico, Carson’s Tasean Perkins and North’s Clemons. Carrico’s PRs are almost identical to Taylor’s best times.

The other two winning relay times in the 1986 Rowan County Championships  were posted by the Hornets – 52.9 in the 4×100 and 1:51.75 in the 4×200. Today’s strong, young relay girls – West’s 4×100 crew, which has been clocked in  under 50 seconds, and North’s 4×200 unit- are definitely faster.

One more thing about the Rowan County track and field girls of 2026. They are young and they will keep getting better. Most of the standouts are in the junior class, and there are quite a few exciting freshmen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff report

APPLETON, Wisc. – Kane Kepley had an outrageous game for the South Bend Cubs on Thursday in the Midwest League.

The former South Rowan, Liberty and UNC standout had four singles, stole four bases and scored five runs (for the first time as a pro) as the lead-off batter in a 25-6 romp against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

A 22-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder Kepley pumped up his batting average to .284 and boosted his on-base percentage to .486.

In 29 games, Kepley has scored 41 runs and driven in 15. He has walked 35 times and has 29 hits, including a homer, seven doubles and two triples.

He has 23 steals in 24 attempts and hasn’t made an error yet.

Kepley leads the advanced Class A Midwest League in some categories, including steals and runs scored.  His super on-base percentage is the highest in all of advanced Class A.

Kepley is ranked sixth on Chicago’s prospect list and could be ready to move up to Double A after the first half of this season.

 

 

Cailynn Withers (2). Photo Credit: Sean Meyers

From staff reports GOLF THOMASVILLE – GARS members played at Winding Creek Golf Club. Low ‘A” Flight player was Gene White with a net of 67.79. Low ‘B’ Flight player was Jesse King with a net of 66.04. Low ‘C’ Flight player was Don Bost with a net of 67.07. Low ‘D’ Flight player was John Mitchell with a net of 62.00.

Larry Petrea shot a 78 to win low gross, while Mitchell won low net score. Super Senior was Bill Rogers with a net of 65.70.

***

SALISBURY – Bryan Reynolds made a hole-in-one on the No. 2 hole at Rolling Hills on Thursday.

Reynolds used a 3-wood from the blue tee on the 204-yard hole.

Wayne Bostian and Bradley Cobb witnessed the feat.

 

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

Rowan-Salisbury Schools Athletes of the Month for March/April are Salisbury basketball player Royce Perkins and South Rowan soccer player Cailynn Withers.

  The awards are sponsored by Randy Marion Automotive and are presented by Ben Goins. Perkins, a freshman, provided one of the unforgettable moments of the school year with his game-winning, halfcourt shot as time expired in the Hornets’ regional final game with Central Davidson at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Salisbury, coached by Royce’s father, Albert, went on to win the 4A state championship. A senior,  Withers has recorded 24 goals and 27 assists for coach Brian Bell, showcasing her ability to both score and create opportunities for her teammates. She ranked third in the South Piedmont Conference in goals and was first in assists. SIGNERS, OFFERS, COMMITS Carson Kirk, Carson baseball to USC Lancaster Keynai Ambers, Salisbury, Coker track and field Kayden Weeks, West Rowan, additional football offers from Elon, Campbell

BOBBLEHEADS

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled officially licensed UNC, Duke and NC State bobbleheads to celebrate graduation season.

The limited edition bobbleheads are part of the new Graduation Bobblehead Series and feature each school’s mascot standing on a graduation cap with the school’s name on the front while holding a diploma with their name on it and wearing a cap and gown. Each bobblehead in the series is individually numbered to the year the school was founded – 1,789 for UNC, 1,887 for NC State and 1,924 for Duke.

The $40 bobbleheads are expected to ship in November

 

 

 

From staff reports

HUNTERSVILLE – Lake Norman Charter’s girls soccer team scored three goals in the final 7 minutes, 30 seconds and beat South Rowan 4-0 on Thursday.

“We had the tying goal cleared off the line, and we gave up their second goal right after that,” South coach Brian Bell said. “Then we gave up two more goals, pressing, trying to get up the field. It was a huge effort from our girls for 72.5 minutes.

The loss for the ninth-seeded Raiders (15-7-1) came in the second round of the 4A state playoffs. South had won 5-0 at home against East Burke in the first round.

The eighth-seeded Knights (14-4-3) advance to Round 3.

“What a season we had,” Bell said. “If we’d gotten that goal, those last seven minutes tied 1-1 would’ve been fun. I can’t wait to watch the film to see how close it was.”

***

SALISBURY – Salisbury ended the season with a 3-1 home setback to Lincoln Charter in the second round of the 4A playoffs on Thursday.

The fifth-seeded Hornets (15-5) turned in a strong season as they closed the curtain on the Matt Parrish Era.

The Hornets had a first-round bye.

Leslie Funes scored the Salisbury goal for a 1-0 lead at the 21-minute mark, and goalkeeper Reid Stewart made a number of saves to preserve a halftime lead.

The 21st-seeded Eagles (8-14) got the equalizer on a corner 13 minutes into the second half.

The visitors scored the go-ahead goal three minutes later and added an insurance goal at the 67-minute mark.

All three Lincoln Charter goals came on corners.

 

 

 

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Pfeiffer’s softball team lost 2-1 on Thursday in its first outing in the double-elimination regional being hosted by Virginia Wesleyan.

The second-seeded Falcons fell to third-seeded Manhattanville (NY). Manhattanville scored twice in the first inning and held on.

Pfeiffer scored in the bottom of the second inning on hits by Brooke Piper (Mooresville), EA Nance (West Rowan) and Kirstyn Herman.

Pfeiffer’s Abigail Bowman pitched scoreless ball after the first inning, but the Falcons didn’t score after the second.

Landry Stewart (Carson) had two of Pfeiffer’s seven hits.

With the loss, Pfeiffer (38-10) will play at 1:30 p.m. on Friday against fourth-seeded John Jay College (NY).

 

Staff report

SALISBURY – Catawba pounded Belmont Abbey 10-3 to open regional play on Thursday.

The second-seeded Indians scored eight runs in the first two innings and cruised behind the pitching of Colt Wilkins.

Nathan Chrismon (South Rowan) had a two-run single to key a four-run first inning against the seventh-seeded Crusaders (38-15). Hunter Atkins had a two-run double to highlight a four-run second.

Logan Dyer (East Rowan) had three hits for the Indians (43-11). Atkins scored three runs. Chrismon knocked in three. Jake Dunlap had two hits and two RBIs.

Wilkins pitched seven innings, struck out seven and walked one.

Regional action will continue on Friday at Newman Park.

The other half of the regional is taking place at top-seeded North Greenville.

Belmont Abbey     000  003  000   – 3

Catawba                  440    010  00x   – 10

W- Wilkins (10-2).

 

Rowan County American Legion baseball schedule 2026

Home games are at South Rowan High. 7 p.m. is standard starting time.

May 22 – EASTERN RANDOLPH

May 30 – CALDWELL COUNTY

June 1 – at Eastern Randolph

June 2 – at High Point (Finch Field)

June 5 – HIGH POINT

June 6 – at Kannapolis

June 7 – KANNAPOLIS

June 8 – RANDOLPH COUNTY

June 9 – at Randolph County (McCrary Park)

June 11 – ANSON COUNTY

June 12 – MATTHEWS*

June 13 – MOORESVILLE*

June 15 – at Anson*

June 16 – MOCKSVILLE*

June 17 – QUEEN CITY*

June 18 – at Mocksville*

June 19 – Tournament at Wilmington

June 20 – Tournament at Wilmington

June 21 – Tournament at Wilmington

June 23 – at Mooresville*

June 25- at Matthews*

June 26 – at Kannapolis

June 27 – KANNAPOLIS*

June 28 – at Queen City*

June 29 – UNION COUNTY*

July 1 – DAVIDSON COUNTY

July 2 – at Union County (Wingate)*

————

July 4 – Area 3 All-Star Game (Finch Field)

———

July 6-9 – First round of playoffs, best of 3

July 10-13 – Second round, best of 5

July 14-19 – Third round, best of 5

July 20-21 -Area III championship game

July 25-29 – State Tournament (Gastonia)

Aug. 5-9 – Southeast Regional (Cherryville)

Aug. 14-19 – World Series (Shelby)

SETH GRAHAM, head coach
COLE HALES, CASEY GOUGE, MATT CONNOLLY, assistant coaches
JIM FULTON, team manager
RICHARD DILLON, athletic officer

 

SALISBURY — It’s time to put on your dancing shoes as the 2026 Middle School Sneaker Ball Prom is approaching.

Hosted by the Strozier Community & Family Foundation, the fundraiser event will be held May 23 at the Harold B. Jarrett American Legion, 1024 Lincolnton Road, Salisbury from 7-11 p.m.

April Butler, CEO and founder of the Strozier Family Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serves as the organizer of the event.

This would be the fourth year that the organization has served as host, said Butler, noting that previously the Salisbury Parks and Recreation held the event.

All Rowan County middle school students are welcome to attend, as Butler shared in an email it would be “a night of fun, style and unforgettable memories at the Sneaker Ball Prom” with a goal of providing an experience for youth in the community that is positive, fun and engaging.

Attendees can enjoy dancing and live music during the evening, which will be provided by All Thingz Musical, a local group that provides DJ and hosting services.

In addition to the music, attendees will be treated to food and drinks, popcorn and candy bar, a Best Dress contest and the opportunity to have pictures taken at a photo booth.

Advance tickets for the prom are available for $15 by using the link at https://forms.gle/Vis25ZXXhtwNE45CA or scanning the QR code on the event’s Facebook page. Tickets will also be available at the door for $20.

Proceeds from the prom will support the nonprofit’s community initiative programs.

Butler said that they encourage all students from all middle schools to attend, and for those students whose parents are educators, they are asked to reach out as they can receive a discount on their ticket.

SALISBURY — The Rowan County Animal Shelter announced on Thursday that it was temporarily pausing feline intake.

“We have temporarily paused routine cat and kitten intake due to an increase in felines arriving with upper respiratory symptoms,” Animal Services Director Maria Pannell said in an email on Thursday. “Our isolation room is currently full, and because upper respiratory infections can have an incubation period before symptoms are visible, we want to be cautious to protect the health of the animals already in our care.”

Pannell indicated that the pause is temporary.

“We are hopeful we may be able to return to normal operations as early as next week, depending on space and the health status of the cats currently in our care,” she said.

Special circumstances still apply.

“Emergency situations will still be handled, including cats or kittens who are suffering, seriously injured, critically ill or in immediate danger,” she said.

In the meantime, the shelter is asking residents not to bring in healthy cats or kittens unless there is a true emergency.

Adoption services are still operating on a normal basis.

“Healthy cats and kittens are still available for adoption in our front adoption rooms, which are completely separate from isolation areas,” Pannell said. “Our large dog kennels are also very full, and adoption is one of the best ways the community can help right now.”

As a bonus, the shelter is offering adoption discounts.

“We also have an 80 percent off adoption event scheduled for this Saturday and hope the community will come out to help create much needed space,” Pannell said.

SALISBURY — The national CEO of the United Church of Christ will be preaching in Salisbury on Sunday.

Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, is sharing her perspectives with the community during the 11 a.m. service at First Church of Christ, located at 207 West Horah Street, Salisbury.

Thompson is the general minister and president and the chief executive officer of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Thompson is the first woman and first woman of African descent to serve as leader of the denomination.

According to her bio, Thompson was elected at General Synod 34 in 2023. She is a writer, poet and theologian who has contributed to numerous publications.

As general minister and president, Thompson is the spiritual leader of the denomination, representing the UCC ecumenically and speaking on behalf of the denomination. She is the leader of the denominational offices in Cleveland, overseeing the daily operations of the national offices which includes 115 staff persons and an annual budget of $22 million.

Prior to this call, Thompson served in the national setting of the United Church of Christ for 14 years — two years as minister for racial justice, eight years as minister for ecumenical and interfaith relations, and four years as the associate general minister for Wider Church Ministries and co-executive for Global Ministries. She was elected as associate general minister in 2019.

According to her bio, Thompson’s passion for justice and equity has informed her focus on justice in the global context. That passion for justice is a catalyst for her global advocacy to reduce the marginalization experienced by African descendant peoples and other communities globally. She continues to participate in global forums, bringing her leadership to address a variety of issues including global racial justice, gender justice and human rights.

Before joining the national ministries staff in 2009, Thompson served in the Florida Conference United Church of Christ as a pastor and on the conference staff as the minister for disaster response and recovery. She also worked in the nonprofit arena for more than 10 years in leadership positions.

She continues to contribute her time to the leadership and mission of several organizations, including Church World Service and Bread for the World. She is a member of the World Council of Churches Executive Committee and Central Committee, the National Council of Churches Governing Board, and she is the president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. She also serves on the United Church of Christ Board, United Church Funds Board, and is a trustee of the Pension Boards United Church of Christ.

Thompson earned a bachelor of arts from Brooklyn College in New York, a master of public administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham and a master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She also studied public policy at Duke University and earned her doctor of ministry at Seattle University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Heidelberg University in 2023.

Her book of poetry, “Drums in Our Veins,” was published in 2022. “Painting Rainbows with Raindrops,” her second book of poetry, is pending publication.

 

 

 

From Catawba sports information

The Catawba College men’s and women’s tennis teams learned their first opponents and paths to the NCAA Division II National Championships, as the NCAA released final brackets on Wednesday.

Catawba’s women (22-1) earned the No. 4 seed out of the final 16 remaining teams. Catawba will face 13th-seed Queens College of New York on Tuesday morning.

Catawba’s men (20-1) earned the No. 5 seed in their bracket and will face 12th-seeded Biola (Calif.) on Wednesday morning.

The teams will play at 8 a.m. local time and 11 a.m. Eastern Time in Arizona. Despite being in the Mountain Time Zone, Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, hence the three-hour difference.

Both Catawba teams have advanced to the DII championship site for the first time.

 

SALISBURY – West Rowan Middle School’s varsity volleyball team won the conference tournament to finish a 14-2 season. West defeated South Davie in the quarterfinals; China Grove in the semifinals, and Mooresville in the championship match. West was coached by Regan Bell and Jacqueline White Mulkey. “This group has put in the work all season long, and it showed when it mattered most,” Bell said. “Their effort, discipline and ability to compete together set them apart. They represented our school the right way and earned this championship through consistency and grit.” We are proud of the way they supported one another, stayed focused, and finished the job.

 

 

Staff report

GREENSBORO – Salisbury’s boys track and field team shared a state title in Wednesday’s 4A State Championships held at North Carolina A&T.

Salisbury and Lake Norman Charter tied at the top of the leaderboard with 54 points. It was a three-team race. The Hornets and Knights edged third-place Eastern Wayne (51).

The Hornets accumulated 23 points in the relays, including 10 for a victory in the 4×200. Christion McNeely, Jaylin Johnson, Ephraim Williams and Qua’ Zair Delee ran 1:28.17 to hold off TW Andrews.

It was the first Salisbury state championship in the 4×200.

Salisbury also claimed two individual championships with Delee adding to the Hornets’ history of success in the 200 meters.

Previous Salisbury winners in the 200 in outdoor state championship meets were Adam Boyd (1988), Andre Steele (1989), who was even better in the 400, and Romar Morris, who took the event back-to-back in 2009-2010. Delee’s 21.73 was quicker than Morris’ winning time in 2009, but not as fast as Morris’  2010 time of 21.47.

It’s interesting that the Hornets have won the state championship every time they’ve won the 200 meters race.

Sam Fatovic had a breakthrough gold for the program in the 800 meters. No Hornet had ever won the 800 in an outdoor state championship meet, but Fatovic got it done with a strong 1:54.52 clocking. He won by six seconds.

Obviously, every point counted. The Hornets racked up eight for second place in the 4×100 and five for placing fourth in the 4×800.

Delee added a sixth in the 100 meters. McNeely was fifth in the 200 (22.78).

Landon Joyner placed sixth in the 300 hurdles (40.32) and eighth in the 110 hurdles (16.20).

Salisbury boosted its NCHSAA team state championship tally. This was the fifth banner for boys outdoor track and field. Salisbury has won even more NCHSAA championships in girls tennis (12), boys golf (7), girls golf (6) and girls basketball (6).

***

South Rowan’s boys tied for 14th with 19 points, as Kamden Rowell and Ethan Overby produced runner-up finishes.

Overby was second in the 800 in 2:00.53 and added sixth in the 1600 (4:34.85).

Rowell cleared 12 feet, 6 inches for silver in the pole vault.

 

 

SALISBURY — Law enforcement officers from various departments around Rowan County joined together on Wednesday to memorialize the sacrifices of fellow lawmen who had died in the line of duty.

Spencer Police Chief Michael File directed the ceremony on the lawn of the Rowan County Courthouse. He shared a story about his youthful exuberance entering his BLET classroom 21 years ago, a lasting message that has resonated with him ever since.

His instructor at the time told him that if he was looking for a job or a career, he was in the wrong building, but that if he was answering a calling, he’d come to the right place. File said that he continues to use that same messaging when interviewing recruits for positions in Spencer.

Recently nominated Rowan County Board of Commissioners candidate Sgt. Daniel Lancaster addressed the crowd.

“Today, we gather with purpose,” Lancaster said. “We gather to remember, to honor and to pay tribute to the brave men and women in law enforcement who gave their lives in service to others.”

Lancaster called the ceremony more than a simple tradition.

“It is a promise,” he said. “A promise that the sacrifices made by our fallen officers will never be forgotten. Every name we recognize today represents a life dedicated to service, duty and protecting others. Behind every badge was a person — a son or daughter, a husband or wife, a parent, a friend, a neighbor. People who laughed with their families, made plans for the future, and answered the call to serve their communities with courage and pride.

“These officers faced challenges and dangers most people will never fully understand. They worked long hours. They missed holidays and family events. They stepped into difficult situations when others were stepping away. And they did so because they believed in something greater than themselves. They believed in service. They believed in protecting others. And they believed their communities were worth that sacrifice.”

The commissioner candidate outlined what it takes to be a law enforcement officer.

It requires strength in moments of fear, calmness in moments of chaos, and compassion during times of pain and tragedy,” he said.

Lancaster stood at a podium set up alongside the county’s fallen officer memorial that bears the names of the men who have died while actively serving various departments around Rowan County.

“The officers we honor today carried those responsibilities every day they wore the uniform,” he said. “And while their time with us was cut short, their impact continues to live on. Today, we also recognize the families of the fallen. To the spouses, children, parents, siblings and loved ones here today — your sacrifice is seen, and it is remembered.”

Seventh grader Charis Roth, of the Salisbury Symphony Youth Orchestra performed a violin solo (“The Swan”) for those attending the ceremony.

Roth said that she was happy to be able to perform at such a meaningful event and offered that it really resonated with her since her father previously served as a police officer in another state.

Salisbury Mayor Tamara Sheffield shared a proclamation approved by the city honoring law enforcement. Rowan County Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Jimmy Greene read a similar proclamation approved by his board. Sheriff Travis Allen read the names aloud the Rowan County Roll Call of Honor and the Reverently Remembered tribute.

The ceremony also served as a time to highlight the Shield a Badge With Prayer program, which celebrated 30 years in 2025. Shield a Badge is a volunteer program that matches a community prayer partner with a deputy or officer for one year. During that year, the prayer partner is asked to pray for their law enforcement partner every day, and to send a card to them, in care of their office, three times a year: on their birthday, at Christmas and during Law Enforcement Memorial Week.

“I believe this program is a contributing factor in our low rate of officers killed in the line of duty and even of officers who are injured,” Rowan County Sheriff’s Chaplain Mike Taylor said last year. “I know there are officers who have gone to 9-1-1 calls and thought ‘I hope my prayer partner is praying today.’”

Included alongside this article is a Shield a Badge cutout with space for your name, address and phone number. If you would like to join this movement, complete the cutout and mail it to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 232 North Main Street, Salisbury, NC 28144.

Anyone can volunteer to be a prayer partner by filling out the form or by filling out the contact form here.

KANNAPOLIS — Kannapolis City Council heard the initial presentation of the 2026-27 proposed budget, which totals $134.2 million, a six-percent increase from last year.

City Manager Wilmer Melton presented the proposed budget emphasizing that there will not be any increase in property tax rates for the upcoming year. However, there are expected increases to the water, sewer and stormwater rates to accommodate planned wastewater treatment improvements and debt service.

The water base rate will increase by $1.45, raising the charge to $9.75 per month inside the city. The volumetric rate increase for water is $0.53 per 1,000 gallons, totaling between $7.84 and $8.15 based on tiers. The sewer rate base is going to be increased $4.80 per month, increasing to $12. The volumetric sewer increase is $1.08 per 1,000 gallons used, totaling $8.53 for individual users. Stormwater will increase by a base $1 per month for all accounts.

The highlights of the proposed budget revolve around three major themes: “support for the most valuable assets of the city — employees, fiscal responsibility and reinvestment in core services.”

For employees, the budget includes a five percent performance increase for full-time and part-time employees. This totals roughly $2.3 million across all funds. The budget also accounts for a five percent 401k contribution and increased health and dental insurance support.

Melton emphasized that water and sewer rate increases were a primary part of fiscal responsibility. To keep up with recommended debt ratios considering the $12 million taken on last year for the spillway and dam project, the city needs to grow the water and sewer fund. Additionally, the city is planning improvements to the wastewater treatment system, including a joint wastewater treatment plant with Landis, that will require capital in the future.

Beyond rate increases, the city is also moving forward with cutting the transit budget to roughly $730,000 compared to $1.4 million in previous years. The budget also states that funding changes will result in “an elimination of the Brown Route and possible slight modifications to the Blue Route.” These changes will take effect in July 2026, and the green and yellow routes are expected to be substantially unchanged.

The City Council voted to support this cut in March 2026, and residents and community leaders have voiced their concern with this plan since then at City Council meetings.

Additionally, the city is pushing the Gem and Swanee theaters with the hopes of pushing them toward self-sustainability. Parks and Recreation will be responsible for overseeing a three-year transition plan to push both venues toward profitable years, as the Gem returned a $220,000 deficit and the Swanee a $469,000 deficit in fiscal year 2026. After three years, the city expects the Gem to return an annual $77,000 profit and the Swanee a $124,000 profit.

In the proposed budget, there is a cut to the summer event series from $575,000 to $400,000 “to align recreational programming and entertainment expenditures with long-term financial priorities.”

For the final priority, the budget states “a renewed focus on core operations and essential services,” which includes a primary focus on public safety and employee recruitment and retention. The recent capital improvement plan phase two that was approved in April 2026 reflects these focuses. It includes expansion west for fire services, a fire training tower, fire storage facility, western communications tower and support for the adaptive response program.

The general fund is allocated a roughly $3.7 million increase with only parks and recreation and general debt service seeing a decrease. Public safety is proposed to get a $2.8 million increase to public safety, roughly nine percent from last year. Non-departmental funds are expected to get an 11 percent increase to accommodate pay study implementation across the city.

Of the other funds, transit is the only fund expected to see a decreased allocation from last year.

The proposed budget is accessible on the Kannapolis City website under news. The City Council will hold a special meeting on May 20 at 6 p.m. to discuss the budget, and a public hearing is scheduled for June 8 at 6 p.m. The budget is slated for adoption on June 22 at the City Council meeting.

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Planning Board recommended a text amendment on data centers in the city on May 12, after two meetings of deliberation and significant public input.

This text amendment is being requested by Trammell Crow, the developers of the potential Flexential data center on Henderson Grove Church Road, which was the subject of a recent town hall in April 2026. In order to apply for permitting and special use, the Land Development Ordinance must include a data center as a potential use within the city limits.

Land and Development Services Director Phillip Lookadoo and Planning Manager Victoria Bailiff presented the amendment to the Planning Board.

The amendment allows “data storage facilities” in light industrial and heavy industrial under conditional districting with additional restrictions specifically for that usage. Any data center, which is specifically limited to an operation on contiguous parcels or in multiple buildings by the same owner, would not be able to exceed 60 megawatts of anticipated electricity capacity.

Additionally, these facilities will have a required 60-foot undisturbed setback and an additional 500-foot buffer between any “structure, mechanical equipment or generator with the data storage facility” and a residential, school or commercial day care facility. Substations or other utilities would be required to allow a 300-foot buffer between residential, school or commercial day care facilities.

For noise, a data center facility would be expected to stay under 65 decibels at any adjoining property to the facility. Generators will be expected to be entirely enclosed, and other equipment will be required to have a wall at least a foot over the height of the equipment.

At the first hearing for this text amendment on April 28, there were concerns from public commenters and the planning board about cooling systems and compliance monitoring.

At the first meeting, 13 people spoke against the ordinance with complaints about water and electricity consumption, setbacks, noise limitations, environmental protections and community monitoring. Representatives from Trammell Crow were also present to answer questions about the development.

Mark Wells expressed concerns about the allowance for all closed loop cooling systems. There are evaporative and non-evaporative systems that could be classified under closed loop cooling systems. Wells was concerned by the water capacity required for evaporative systems and wanted clarification to eliminate the possibility for those systems from the amendment.

The other concern was shared by multiple board members about monitoring of ordinance violations, particularly around noise. The original amendment did not include any language on staff inspections, instead putting the onus on resident complaints and typical ordinance inspection rules.

Board members requested a codified inspection recommendation for quarterly, random noise inspections. There was some concern about putting this direction in the land development ordinance rather than another place, but it was noted as a request from the board.

Ultimately, the Planning Board agreed to continue the discussion into the next meeting, recommending staff add language to address these concerns before deciding on recommendation to City Council.

At the May 12 meeting, the text amendment included language about monitoring that required the data center company to request a noise inspection quarterly. To ensure random inspections, the company must request in the first week but the inspection itself will take place unannounced afterward. Residents nearby will still have the ability to submit complaints to the city about suspected ordinance violations.

Planning staff also added a clause requiring applicants to submit electrical plans to ensure they comply with the 60-megawatt limitation. The developer also requested an additional clause pushing the airport impact report to later in the planning process, as companies would not have enough planning done to realistically run this study at this stage of application.

For closed loop systems, the planning staff recommended keeping the original language opening to evaporative and non-evaporative systems rather than limiting it to only non-evaporative. Evaporative systems require more water but less electricity, and non-evaporative systems require more electricity but less water. For utility balance, the staff recommended keeping both options.

Fewer public commenters showed up for this meeting, but some still expressed their concerns about the lack of environmental protections. Some also requested a general moratorium for six months to a year on all data center development.

After some discussion on the amendment, the Planning Board recommended approval for the amendment with the changes about monitoring and electrical plans but not the water cooling system limitation. This passed with one nay from Wells to this recommendation.

SALISBURY — Union Lutheran Church in Salisbury is gearing up for its first ever Cruise’n with a goal of helping others.

Scheduled for May 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the church, which is located at 4770 Bringle Ferry Road, will serve as the host of the fundraiser and will be held rain or shine.

All years and models of cars and trucks are welcome to be a part of the show. No registration is needed, just show up, said Pastor Heidi Punt.

And there is no judging involved, as it’s just a time for people to fellowship and look around.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the church’s intergenerational mission trip to Tryon in Western North Carolina where she said they need 10 houses rebuilt from scratch. The trip is planned for June.

She noted that last year’s team, their youngest member was six and the oldest was 85, “and everybody had a spot to serve.”

The idea to hold a Cruise’n as a way to raise funds for the trip came about when after going last year and spending two weeks and a weekend reconstructing homes and exhausting their funds, Punt said they realized they needed to do something more than just meals at the church and do something a little creative, which was one reason.

Another, she was, was for the church “to be a footprint in the community, what sets our church apart from other churches, how can we plug into the community.”

She then reached out to Poole and he got in touch with Miller and Jenkins and they came on board to help.

The event, said Johnny Miller, who is helping with the event, said the Cruise’n, was “going to be about fellowship and making new friends.”

Miller and fellow car enthusiasts Greg Poole and Johnny Jenkins, who are also assisting with the Cruise’n, will also have their own cars at the event. Miller said he would be bringing his 1961 Buick; Poole would have two on site, a 1946 Chevrolet truck, and a 1952 Business Coupe; and Jenkins, would bring his 1962 Corvette.

The three shared stories about their cars and how family and friendship played a role in them finding and getting these special cars as Miller stressed that “this is a day of fellowship among people and that brings this group together” and that it’s not about trophies.

In planning this event, Punt said she also had to give credit to Janie Vellines and Robyn Arey who have been spearheading and motivating the mission group.

“We only have 110 that worship every Sunday,” said Punt, “and it will take every one of us and it’s exciting that everybody wants to be part of it.”

As participants gather, Punt said she would start out with a devotional and sharing about the mission of “why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

An area for the children will be available offering crafts for them to be entertained, and as for how they would be raising funds for the trip, she said there would be several opportunities for people to donate to including a bake sale which will be taking place, T-shirt sales, decals, as well as having breakfast, lunch and finger foods available and 50/50 raffle tickets.

Punt said that they were not charging for the food but it was a donation basis with a suggested donation price noted by the items.

She said there would be two ticket booth stations and people would go there and purchase tickets and then take those tickets to the different places and hand in tickets for whatever they want. She did say to come prepared with cash.

Those unable to attend the event, Punt said that people can give online by visiting the church’s website or send a check to the church and note on it that it is for missions.

When asked about the event becoming an annual tradition, Punt noted that this isn’t just a Union Lutheran Church event, “because each of the men come from different churches, coming together for the sake of enjoying the cars and for the sake of the mission.”

For additional information about the Cruise’n, call 704-636-5092 or visit https://ulcsalisbury.org/

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Elks Lodge 699 is working to help Shelter Guardians, Inc. with their mission of bringing veterans and service dogs together by hosting a fundraiser.

Shelter Guardians, Inc., as noted on its website, is a local nonprofit organization, with a mission of “pairing rescue dogs with veterans and providing training for the dog to become a service dog for that veteran.”

The Service Dog Fundraiser will be held at the lodge, 508 S. Main St., Salisbury, on May 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include a chicken dinner which will include half a chicken with beans, slaw, bun and dessert for $15.

Dine in or to-go plates are available by calling or texting Kenny Martin at 704-239-9152 or Debbie Martin, Elks Lodge secretary, at 704-636-1161, or those not wishing to eat and just donate to the cause may do so as well.

During the event, there will also be entertainment, Model A cars on display, fundraising baskets, craft vendors and veterans with their service dogs that are in the program.

A short training class on how to walk your dog on a leash will be offered. The program trainers will also be available to answer questions about the program or your pets.

The fundraiser, as noted from information from the Elks Lodge, supports sponsoring a veteran with a service dog through the Shelter to Service program.

This program pairs rescued shelter dogs with veterans and provides extensive training so the dog can become a fully trained service dog, at no cost to the veteran.

“Every dollar raised will help give the veteran and rescue dog a new purpose and a new life,” it was noted.

To learn more or to make a donation, visit https://shelterguardians.org/shelter-to-service/

CHINA GROVE — Cars, music and more will be a part of the Mt. Moriah Car Show, which is planned to serve as a fundraiser for the youth.

Proceeds from the show will go toward the church’s youth ministries and mainly, it was noted, for their mission trip to Kentucky that is planned for June.

The fourth annual show, scheduled for May 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will be held at the church, 750 Mt. Moriah Church Road, China Grove. General admission and parking are free.

Registration for those wishing to enter their cars for the show may do so on the day of the event until noon. Cost is $20 per car, and judging will be held at 1 p.m.

Multiple awards will be presented during the afternoon. Participants will vote for seven trophy categories including for cars: pre 1945, 1946-1959, 1960-1979, 1970-1999, 2000 and up and for trucks, pre-1945, 1946 and up.

The youth and ministry team will choose the winner of the Not Your Average Choice Award.

Live music will be performed by Mercy Falls, a Christian rock contemporary band, as it was shared they will be arriving by 10 a.m and remain throughout the day.

In addition to the car show and music, there will be fun for the family including food, a 50/50 raffle, raffle baskets and face painting.

They will also be holding a golf cart raffle, with only 200 tickets being sold and $100 per ticket. To get a ticket, call Jason Page at 704-202-4017.

For additional information contact mountmoriah@windstream.net or visit the church’s Facebook page.

Staff report

GREENSBORO — North Rowan’s boys track and field team placed 10th in Wednesday’s 2A State Championships held at North Carolina A&T.

North scored 19 points in a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.

North’s Zy’Quize Carpenter won the triple jump with an effort of 46 feet, 5 inches. He also was a state champ in the event indoors in February.

North has a proud tradition in that particular event. Carpenter won the program’s 11th outdoor state title in the triple. Brian Ellis won the first two (1990-91). Greg Yeldell won four straight (1995-98). Outdoor triple jump state titles also were won by Darnell Tillman (1999), Terry Wood (2003), Andre Tillman (2004) and Sam Starks (2011).

North pieced together its other nine points. Nick Morrow was sixth in the 400 in 51.02. Myles Witherspoon was eighth in the high jump (5-10) and seventh in 110  hurdles (15.40). Eric Fair took seventh in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 110 hurdles.

Corvian Community School rolled to the team title with 137 points. Mountain Island Charter was second with 82. Elkin was a distant third with 36.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff report

GREENSBORO — Girls representing Salisbury and South Rowan track and field placed in Wednesday’s 4A State Championships held at North Carolina A&T.

The Hornets were 23rd with nine points. South scored four points and was 34th.

Salisbury’s Shekiya Woodruff was seventh in the 100 meters in 12.76 seconds and fourth in the 200 meters in 25.83.

Taliyah Freeman was seventh in the 100 hurdles in 16.02 seconds.

Camille Siscoe scored for the Raiders with fifth place in the high jump. She cleared the bar at 5 feet.

Cummings High of Burlington ran away with the meet with 104 points. Next were First Flight (55.5) and TW Andrews of High Point (46).

 

 

 

 

Staff report

GREENSBORO – North Rowan’s girls track and field team placed eighth in Wednesday’s 2A State Championships held at North Carolina A&T.

North scored 27 points with a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.

Junior Ty’Tiana Clemons placed in three individual events and accounted for 15 points. Clemons was second in the long jump (17 feet, 4 inches), fifth in the 300 hurdles (48.66 seconds) and sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.99).

North’s other 12 points came via a pair of third-place relay finishes. Clemons, Ky’mari Davidson, Amiyah Stevenson and Lavierah Walker ran 1:46.27 in the 4×200. Davidson, Melanie Parker, Stevenson and Walker clocked 51.17 in the 4×100.

Corvian Community School scored 129 points to run away with the meet. Mountain Island Charter (83) and Swain County (73) were next.

 

In Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reports

• Burglary occurred on Agner Road (Salisbury) around noon on May 10.
• A firearm was seized during a 50-B restraining order call on Flat Rock Road (China Grove) around 2:05 p.m. on May 11.
• An assault occurred on Andrews Street (East Spencer) between 3 and 6:15 a.m. on May 11.
• An assault with a dangerous weapon occurred on North Enochville Avenue (China Grove) around 12:30 a.m. on May 11.
• Rape reportedly occurred on Airport Road (Salisbury) between 4:15 and 7:30 a.m. on April 25.
• A firearm was seized during a 50-B restraining order call on Scottsdale Drive (Salisbury) around 9 p.m. on May 11.
• Shots were reportedly fired along the roadway on Safrit Road (Salisbury) around 9:25 p.m. on May 11.
• Fraud reportedly occurred on Knox Road (Cleveland) on May 7.
• Angel Corrine Hall, 55, of Landis, was charged with possession of a controlled substance on a penal institution premises on May 10.
• Christopher Douglas Earnhardt, 45, of Rockwell, was charged with possession of methamphetamine, felony possession of cocaine, driving while license revoked, driving without liability insurance, driving without registration on May 11.

In Salisbury Police Department reports

• Larceny from a motor vehicle occurred in the 200 block of West D Avenue between 11:34 and 11:40 p.m. on May 11.
• Larceny occurred in the 800 block of Park Avenue between midnight on March 1 and 4:45 p.m. on May 12.
• Robbery occurred in the 200 block of Faith Road around 9:45 p.m. on May 12.

Submitted

SALISBURY — Lee Street Theatre is thrilled to announce its upcoming production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s classic comedy “School for Scandal,” running May 15–30 at Lee Street Theatre.

This fresh and imaginative staging reimagines the beloved 18th-century satire through a daring all-female cast, contemporary visual storytelling and an irreverent theatrical style designed to connect Sheridan’s razor-sharp wit with modern audiences.

Adapted by Executive Artistic Director Rod Oden, this inventive production embraces the play’s timeless themes of vanity, rumor and reputation while heightening the comedy through suggestive modern flair and bold design choices.

Known for its biting humor, outrageous gossip, and delicious social satire, School for Scandal remains one of theatre’s most enduring comedies. Lee Street Theatre’s production leans fully into the spectacle and absurdity of public image and private behavior with a vibrant, visually rich aesthetic. Costumes designed by Sarah Deutsch blend period-inspired silhouettes with modern textures and bold color palettes, while a deconstructed scenic environment and expressive lighting design bring Sheridan’s classical comedy roaring into the present day.

“Sheridan’s comedy is already incredibly sharp and mischievous,” said Rod Oden. “This production leans fully into the scandal, the spectacle, and the absurdity of public image and private behavior in a way that feels surprisingly current.”

The production features the hilarious local talents of Raquel Oden, Cara Evalyn, Shelby Mays, Annmarie Santos, Jessica Jax, Kiera Whittemore, Lynn Fesenmeyer-Johnson, Hannah Wells, Raquel DuFour, Tori Carpenter, Jessie Dietzel, Maddie Wyatt, Theresa Brandt and Jackie Edwards.

The production is directed and designed by Rod Oden, costumes designed by Sarah Deutsch, stage managed by Kenzie Cloninger, assistant stage managed by Faith Shuman, with stage crew including Tristan Saunders and Lucas Oden.

Audiences can expect a lively evening filled with razor-edged banter, theatrical mischief, scandalous humor and bold visual storytelling in one of the greatest comedies ever written.

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Police Department has made an arrest in connection with a 2024 shooting that left 26-year-old Shaleek Williams dead.

On April 13, 2024, Salisbury Police officers were dispatched to the 700 block of West Kerr Street (Jersey City Park) in reference to a shooting. As a result of the shooting Williams succumbed to his injuries several hours later.

Since that time the investigation has been ongoing, but on Monday, the department made an arrest. Marcellus Anquan Steele, 24, is charged with felony discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear and felony discharging a firearm into an occupied property or vehicle.

According to the release, the investigation remains ongoing as authorities seek identification of other involved parties which could lead to additional charges. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact lead investigator Sgt. R.J. Hill with the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or information can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

The man slain in a Kannapolis shooting on Tuesday has been identified.

According to information from the city, 48-year-old Craig Andrew Mullis was found dead in the yard of the residence located at 2308 Woodlawn Street around 4 p.m. Kannapolis officers found him dead after being dispatched to the scene in reference to a gunshot victim.

The information released by the city indicated that investigators had determined there was a physical alteraction between the deceased and an individual at the home. During that altercation, the individual reportedly discharged a firearm, which resulted in Mullis being struck. The release from the city described that individual as a relative but gave not additional identifying information.

“The relative’s name will not be released at this time, as this is an ongoing investigation,” the release said.

The release also indicated that at this time, no charges have been filed, adding that the investigative report will be turned over to Rowan County District Attorney Brandy Cook. Any decision to prosecute will be up to the district attorney’s discretion.

Catawba College News Service

SALISBURY — Catawba College proudly celebrated its 2026 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 9, honoring the academic achievements, perseverance and promise of the 377 graduates in the Class of 2026.

Held on the college’s historic Salisbury campus, the ceremonies brought together graduates, families, friends, faculty, staff, trustees and members of the Catawba community for a day of celebration, reflection and tradition. The College hosted two ceremonies: a 10 a.m. ceremony for traditional undergraduate students and a 2 p.m. ceremony for Catawba Online and graduate students.

Catawba College President David P. Nelson presided over both ceremonies, joined by Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Monica Cowart. Barbara Marshall, a 1972 alumna and chair of Catawba’s board of trustees, offered congratulatory remarks on behalf of the board. The ceremonies also included music by Dr. Phillip E. Burgess and the Catawba Brass Ensemble, invocations and benedictions by the Rev. Kendra Joyner-Miller, Catawba Class of 2011, and performances of the national anthem led by graduating senior Noah Haberacker and the Alma Mater led by another graduating senior, Aurora del Vecchio.

Graduates received degrees from Catawba’s academic schools, including the James F. and Gerry T. Hurley School of Arts and Sciences, Ralph W. Ketner School of Business, Enoch A. and Dorothy H. Goodman School of Education, the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, and the Adrian L. Jr. and Dorothy L. Shuford School of Performing Arts. Degrees were awarded to traditional undergraduate, online undergraduate and graduate students, including recipients of bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees in business administration, clinical mental health counseling, exercise and nutrition sciences, and sport management.

As part of the morning ceremony, Catawba presented the Whitener Medals, the college’s most prestigious awards given to graduating seniors. The Whitener Medals have been presented annually at commencement since 1927 and recognize the man and woman in the graduating class who best embody the qualities of good character, leadership and scholarship.

The 2026 female recipient of the Whitener Medal was Jacy Noble, a student-athlete, scholar, campus leader and servant leader. Noble has been a member and captain of the Catawba women’s tennis team, president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a leader in the Honors Program and Honors Council, and an active member of several academic and service organizations. A 4.0 student who has conducted independent research, presented at regional and national conferences, and completed an Honors thesis, Noble plans to attend veterinary school at N.C. State after graduation.

The 2026 male recipient of the Whitener Medal was Mason McLain, who distinguished himself through student advocacy, academic excellence and leadership. McLain served in the Student Government Association for all four years, including as senior class president, and held leadership roles in the Honors Council of Students. He also served as a Teaching Fellow, Teaching Assistant, writing tutor and student leader. A 4.0 student completing an honors thesis, McLain will continue his education at Clemson University in counseling education with an emphasis in student affairs.

During the afternoon ceremony, Catawba recognized Jeremy Post with the Barbara Andrews Award. The award is presented annually to the graduating senior in the Catawba Online program who most successfully embodies character, leadership and scholarship. Post returned to college at age 40 after building a successful career in logistics, data analytics and business intelligence. His path to graduation reflects perseverance, transformation and a commitment to excellence. He has also become a public speaker, coach, endurance athlete and entrepreneur.

In a special moment during the morning ceremony, the college recognized Fletcher Harris, a cherished member of the Catawba family and the Class of 2026 who died earlier this year. Harris’ parents accepted his diploma on his behalf as the college honored his life, accomplishments and lasting impact on the Catawba community.

The ceremonies also included several meaningful family and campus moments. President Nelson’s son, Joshua Nelson, was recognized among the graduates, and members of the college community were invited to participate in presenting diplomas to graduates with family connections to Catawba. The college also celebrated two graduating students, Sibella Mable Jessinia Woodruff and Autumn Elisabeth Perkins, who helped bring Blue, Catawba’s sideline mascot, to life during the mascot program’s launch year.

Throughout the day, speakers reminded graduates that Commencement is both an ending and a beginning — a celebration of what they have accomplished and a call to carry Catawba’s ideal of Scholarship with Character and Culture for Service into the world.

Sara Culbert was presented the P.E.O. STAR Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Culbert is a senior at South Rowan High School. The award was presented at the Crosby Scholars awards ceremony, at the newly opened Rowan Community Center, by Jacquie Pipkin, chair of the STAR Scholarship Committee of Chapter AX.

Culbert is the daughter of Kurt and Erin Culbert and was recommended for the scholarship by Chapter AX of Salisbury. Culbert has received assured enrollment in the nursing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and will begin her studies this fall.

The P.E.O. Star Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship based on excellence in leadership, extracurricular activities, community service, academics and potential for future success. The program is open to young women who are citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States or Canada and who are graduating high school seniors at the time of application. A student must be recommended by a P.E.O. chapter.

SALISBURY — Partners In Learning’s Woods Early Learning Center has officially achieved national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), considered a high mark in early childhood education.

That accomplishment comes after a process in which the program met more than 400 criteria focused on high-quality teaching, curriculum, health and safety, family engagement and leadership practices.

“This is an incredible moment for our organization,” said Norma Honeycutt, M.Ed., executive director of Partners In Learning. “When we transitioned from our Catawba site to our new Woods campus, we were unable to transfer our accreditation. Our team embraced that challenge with determination and excellence. Achieving NAEYC accreditation again speaks volumes about the dedication, professionalism and passion our staff bring to children and families every single day.”

Of nearly 6,000 licensed child care centers in North Carolina, only 110 currently hold NAEYC accreditation.

Heather Fidler, director of the Woods Early Learning Center, emphasized the team effort behind the achievement.

“This recognition reflects the heart and commitment of our teachers and staff,” she said. “They go above and beyond to create nurturing, engaging and developmentally appropriate environments for every child. I am incredibly proud of our team for their hard work and for never losing sight of what matters most — the children and families we serve.”

What staff members believed was simply a regular staff meeting last week turned into a celebration of the organization’s accomplishment. Team members were surprised with a catered dinner as leadership announced the successful accreditation achievement. The evening was filled with laughter, gratitude and meaningful time spent simply enjoying one another’s company.

“In a field that requires so much love, patience and selflessness, nights like this remind us just how important it is to slow down and celebrate the people behind the magic,” Honeycutt said.

The celebration continued into Friday morning as families arrived to a surprise congratulatory sign welcoming them to the center. Parents were also greeted with commemorative badges to wear in honor of the occasion, allowing children, families and staff to celebrate the achievement together as one community.

As Partners In Learning celebrates its 30-year anniversary this year, the accreditation milestone feels even more meaningful, noted a release from the organization which added, “the recognition serves as both a reflection of the strong foundation built over the past three decades and a symbol of the organization’s continued commitment to excellence” in early childhood education.

“We are so thankful for every teacher, staff member, family member, and supporter who helps make this place so special,” Honeycutt said. “This achievement honors the foundation built before us while inspiring us for the many beautiful years still to come.”

SALISBURY — There is nothing quite like playing outside and making new friends when you are young.

Summit Virtual Academy held an event, the Summit Virtual Academy Wellness Festival and Field Day, at the J.F. Hurley YMCA earlier this month, that let its students do both of those things.

“We could not have asked for better weather,” Assistant Principal Mallory Whitley said. “Not too hot, not too cold.”

The field day was not something new for the virtual academy, but this was the first year it had incorporated the wellness component into the event.

“It was an effort to get some community partners out and for our families to realize what is available to them, like in the summer, that they might not be aware of,” Whitley said.

As an example, she pointed to BrickEd, Crosby Scholars, the Terrie Hess House and the Rowan Public Library as a few of organizations and vendors that were on site during the festival.

Showcasing summer opportunities is important, as Whitley explained, but the event was also about encouraging active lifestyles, especially for young people who spend so much time on devices for school.

“We have tried to incorporate wellness into what we do since they have to sit to be on their devices,” Whitley said. “This is a way to pull all that together with families and community and everything.”

Virtual Academy serves nearly 500 students. While all those students were not at the event, Whitley said she was pleased with the turnout and that it was a delight to watch them play tug of war, jump rope and run sack races.

“It really creates a social aspect where they have to communicate with each other and in person,” she said.

Let’s not waste an opportunity to fight breast cancer in N.C.

One in eight women in America will be diagnosed with breast cancer over their lifetime and, like with all malignancies, survivability drops depending on the stage at diagnosis. As with all cancers, survival rates are significantly affected by the degree of spread at diagnosis. According to the SEER Program at the National Cancer Institute, five-year survival rates for breast cancer fall from 99 percent when diagnosed at Stage 1 to 32 percent when found at Stage 4.

As a practicing physician, I never want to give a patient a cancer diagnosis, but it is a conversation that includes more options and more hope when discovered at an early stage. This concept of developing care models that identify diseases at their infancy when treatment options are the most plentiful is the reason for screening tests.

Routine mammograms have repeatedly been shown to reduce the risk of death from breast cancer and increase the chance of diagnosis at an early stage. Mammography can detect small lesions that are not palpable on either self-exams or clinical evaluations (Radiology Imaging Cancer; October 2023). The testing is relatively quick with minimal radiation exposure and has been the greatest advance in early detection by far.

As beneficial as this technology has been, we all know that every person is different. Variations in breast architecture and density are among the variables that can affect the ability of mammograms to detect early cancers. In these instances, different imaging techniques are needed to offer these patients the same chance of decreasing their risk of death from breast cancer.

Imagine you are with your doctor, and you are discussing your screening results for a disease that you are concerned about; heart disease, prostate cancer, colon cancer or cervical cancer. Now imagine being told that due to a unique characteristic of how you are made, the technique cannot give you same reassurance or detection as other patients. Now imagine being expected to shrug your shoulders and say, “well, we gave it a shot” and settling for simply not knowing your risk. Now imagine being told that there are alternative methods of screening that will give you the same quality of screening but being told that you are expected to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars compared to others to gain the same degree of peace about your health.

This is the current state of breast cancer screening in North Carolina. Through no fault of their own, patients with variations of breast anatomy or tissue density will mean that routine low-dose mammography is not able to detect early lesions like others. Health insurance companies are allowed in our state to tell these patients that they cannot achieve the same protection and reassurance without substantial and often unaffordable out-of-pocket expenses. Imaging such as ultrasound and MRI are often required for these patients to achieve the same levels of protection and these often require substantial co-payments or are not covered at all.

Last May, H297 passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support after receiving favorable reports from both the House Health and House Insurance Committees. Since that time, it has languished in the Senate without action. This bill requires similar personal cost requirements for patients requiring additional imaging beyond mammography than those who need mammography alone. Since that time, more than 8,000 women in North Carolina have been diagnosed with breast cancer with approximately 3,000 of them with cancer that has spread beyond the breast at the time of discovery.

Effectively fighting cancer is a mission that you will have a hard time finding an opponent, but true battles are not simply discussed with catchphrases and battled in the abstract. The effective practice of medicine is often challenging, but as clinicians and human beings we are not trained to abandon care in the presence of additional tools that can help.

If effective screening for a deadly disease requires personal costs that are unaffordable, it is no different than if the test didn’t exist at all. The current system will leave many women in our state to not only cope with a diagnosis of breast cancer but face a tougher fight due to it being at a more advanced stage.

I would wager that every reader of this piece could name eight women who are very important to them. Let’s commit to ensuring that all patients in North Carolina have access to all the tools required for early diagnosis. This would come at a financial cost to each resident of this state of about fifty cents per year. This is a cost we can carry and it’s an endeavor we can all be proud of.

I hope to see debate and movement of this bill in the Senate soon.

Rep. Dr. Grant Campbell serves District 83, Rep. Erin Pare serves District 37 and Rep. Dr. Timothy Reeder serves District 9 in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

As high school graduations are scheduled in the near future, many parents and legal guardians are anxiously awaiting what’s next for their children as they enter adulthood. For many students with developmental and intellectual disabilities, it is time to put their transition plans into action. The federal law known as the “Individuals with Disabilities Act,” or IDEA, has mandated that schools design and implement transition plans for students to prepare for life after high school completion.

Each ID/DD student is required to have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), designed specifically for them indicating what services and supports they will need to move forward to make a successful transition from high school to adulthood. It is of the utmost importance to have the students’ parents or legal guardians actively involved in the IEP process consistently. As goals, objectives, plans, services and supports are put in place it will be an asset to know what the outlook for their child’s future looks like. Attending IEP sessions, parent/teacher conferences, as well as other school sponsored academic and cultural programs help relieve the stress of anticipating what’s next.

Staying actively involved in the process is of major significance in determining what current and post-secondary services, collaborations and connections will be needed as they look for their children to be able to function successfully and live independently. Utilizing a team approach that includes the student, parents, teachers and other relevant school officials and community supports helps indicate the future direction that one should pursue. Examining the student’s academic ability, life skills and social acumen, as well as their functional strengths and limitations will help make the transition smoother.

Many school systems start their transition planning for students as young as 14 years old. The law requires that transition planning must be started by age 16 if they have been diagnosed as intellectually or developmentally impaired. The IEP is designed to explore and begin the process of implementing the instruction, resources and other supports the student may need while in school and after they finish.

Early intervention services are available in North Carolina from birth through their third birthday. In North Carolina, it’s never too early to get informed about the step-by-step actions that help develop plans for the child’s long-term projections and long-term security. Being actively involved in the process upon realizing that your child may have some delays in being able to perform age-appropriate activities entitles one to have a free psychological evaluation through your local school district. Your child does not have to attend public schools once it is determined that they are eligible for special education services. A student can remain in public school until the age of 21 as long as they have not yet graduated. This applies especially to students with disabilities who are legally entitled through the year in which they turn 21 if they are receiving special education services.

While exploring options for a child with impairments, some of the major areas the IEP addresses but are not limited to are: vocational training, post-secondary education, jobs and employment including internships, apprenticeships, and on the job training, volunteer service, transportation, health and hygiene care, service learning, independent living skills, interpersonal relationships, and self-advocacy. The most important element is the student’s personal involvement based on their abilities, desires and interests.

The Rowan-Salisbury School System and the Kannapolis and Cabarrus County school systems all have education and resource fairs which bring many different agencies together and provide information about their services and programs. The best method of gaining additional information is to contact your local school system or North Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, which recently adopted the moniker of “The Division of Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (EIPD).”

Transition planning is an important aspect in the lives of graduating students which gives them some insights and momentum as they find some perspective direction as to their future.

Wilson R. Cherry is the director of community affairs for Rowan Vocational Opportunities, Inc.

A U.S. Congressperson who mocks teachers and children should not be re-elected to her district seat.

This happened recently. A 10-year-old Greensboro student and his classmates were given a class assignment to write a persuasive essay. Students were instructed to write the essay about an issue of their own choosing, then to send the letter to a decision maker who was in a position to implement the issue. One student wrote to his U.S. Congressional Representative, Virginia Foxx, and encouraged her to consider a $5,000 tax rebate for the purchase of electric vehicles.

The letter was mailed with a return address saying “4th grade” and the address of the child’s school. Foxx emailed a response to the child using the school’s email address. She explained why, in her view, providing a tax rebate towards the purchase of electric vehicles would be a bad decision. She was towing the GOP line of implementing austerity measures and eliminating government regulations, but that wasn’t the major problem with her letter.

Towards the end of her letter, she stated, “Incidentally, please ask your teacher to explain propaganda to you. While I will never be able to know, my guess is that your teachers will not give you a good educational experience and help you learn to think as they are too interested in indoctrinating you. How sad.”

What in the world??? Who says that to a child? Accusing a teacher she doesn’t know of spreading propaganda is not an appropriate response! Rep. Foxx owes the teacher and the child an apology. A child’s voice does matter!

Karen Puckett, retired RSS teacher, lives in Salisbury.

In essence, military service is regarded as a lasting mark of public service — manifesting both personal commitment and national trust. And during National Military Appreciation Month — an annual tribute held each May — that recognition is formally renewed across the country, including in communities like Rowan County, where veterans remain an integral part of civic and family life. Yet, besides paying homage to service members’ exceptional dedication, this period also brings into focus an uncomfortable truth: for many of them, their time in uniform may have included exposure to hazardous substances linked to severe illnesses. With this, strengthening policies — such as the proposed Veterans Exposed to Toxic (VET) PFAS Act — becomes even more vital to translate acknowledgment into concrete protection and timely support for affected veterans.

Veterans in Rowan County facing the alarming issue of toxic exposure

As with other regions, Rowan County — home to roughly 8,800 veterans — reflects a broader reality that has become too difficult to ignore over the past decades: military service has long been intertwined with risks that continue to inflict long-term health repercussions. And at the center of this issue is exposure to a variety of substances that at the time were deemed technological breakthroughs but later proven to be perilous. Asbestos, for one, was extensively embedded in numerous naval vessels, tanks, trucks, weapons and barracks like those in Camp Lejeune — about 270 miles from Rowan County — for most of the 20th century. However, researchers revealed that inhaling or ingesting its tiny fibers may cause life-threatening diseases, which have already killed nearly 175 residents in Rowan County between 1999 and 2017.

Escalating concern also has emerged with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of almost 15,000 synthetic chemicals previously valued for their resistance to heat, water and oil. In fact, these same properties made such compounds a crucial component of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), which the Department of Defense relied on for firefighting exercises and emergency responses. Tragically, its widespread employment has led to severe contamination at over 700 bases nationwide — including the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, approximately 230 miles east of Rowan County. Worse, numerous veterans once deployed at these sites have become vulnerable to leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as cancers developing in the kidney, breast, ovaries, endometrium, testicles, prostate glands and brain.

Why a responsive system matters for toxic-exposed veterans

Despite mounting scientific attention surrounding PFAS exposure, many veterans still face substantial barriers when seeking healthcare access and service-related recognition for associated illnesses. Unlike other toxic exposure cases that already fall within clearer presumptive frameworks of the Honoring Our PACT Act, a large number of the veteran population is still required to individually establish the connection between their medical conditions and military service — a process that can become especially difficult in cases involving exposures that occurred decades earlier.

Amid this, the proposed VET PFAS Act has gained significance. Still lobbied for in Congress, this bill intends to expand presumptive service connections and cover specifically those impacted by PFAS exposure to allow victims to access healthcare services and other benefits seamlessly. In effect, the bill acknowledges that these exposure risks were not incidental but tied to the operational realities of military service itself. Apart from this, the proposal also reflects a broader issue that extends beyond PFAS alone. Fundamentally, it highlights that as service members have historically encountered multiple toxic hazards throughout their careers, scientific understanding continues to evolve. At the same time, policy frameworks must also remain capable of adapting alongside emerging evidence rather than lagging years behind it.

But notwithstanding its promising purpose, the VET PFAS Act has yet to be brought into fruition. That is why, as National Military Appreciation Month unfolds every May, advocating for its enactment would be very timely, especially as this represents more than symbolic recognition — it would demonstrate a willingness to address the full scope of service-related sacrifice through timely and concrete legislative action.

Cristina Johnson serves as a veteran advocate at the Asbestos Ships Organization, a nonprofit that raises awareness of veterans’ exposure to toxic substances.

 

 

Staff report

MISENHEIMER –  The Pfeiffer University softball team will travel to Virginia Beach, Va., and will take on third-seeded Manhattanville University on Thursday, May 14, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament.

The NCAA released the field for the 64-team tournament on Monday.

The Falcons (38-9) are fresh off winning their fourth consecutive USA South regular season and tournament championships.The Falcons are winners of 24 of their last 25 games.

Pfeiffer is the No. 2 seed in the Virginia Beach Regional. Top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan (45-0) is the regional host. John Jay is the 4 seed. The regional is scheduled for May 14-16.

Pfeiffer junior center fielder Landry Stewart (Carson) won her second straight USA South Player of the Year Award.  Stewart leads USA South with a .503 batting average and has also scored a league-best 62 runs.  She also leads the league in hits (83) and stolen bases (82).

Pfeiffer freshman EA Nance (West Rowan) has hit six homers and was MVP of the recent USA South Tournament.

Freshman first baseman Heather Vaughn is the third Falcon to earn USA South Softball Rookie of the Year honors.

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

MOUNT ULLA – East Rowan’s baseball team executed with precision at the plate, on the mound and in the field and harshly jettisoned rival West Rowan from the 5A baseball state playoffs on Tuesday.

“West Rowan has a really good team,” winning pitcher Harrison Ailshie said. “But we’ve also got a really good team. We came prepared to fight for this one.”

Fifth-seeded East (23-5), the South Piedmont Conference regular-season champ, was considered to be a 50/50 proposition to win the marquee matchup with fourth-seeded West Rowan (23-6), the SPC tourney champ, even on the road, but no one could have anticipated the shocking final score.

The Mustangs prevailed 11-1 in five innings.

Logan Bradley drove in five runs for East.

You don’t expect to win a third-round playoff game against anyone by the 10-run rule. You don’t expect to score 11 runs in a game that Brant Graham is starting for the opposition. Graham, recently named South Piedmont Conference Pitcher of the Year, usually allows about 11 runs in a season. You also don’t expect to hold an offense as dynamic as West’s to one run.

But it happened.

“Brant is an excellent pitcher,” East head coach Brett Hatley said. “He’s got three pitches and he can throw them all for strikes. But our guys had solid at-bats, just grinded them out one at a time. We executed up and down the lineup, from 1 to 9. We weren’t striking out. We put balls in play. We got bunts down. Things went our way.”

UNC recruit Ailshie is batting .600 for the season. He was intentionally walked three times, but after each of those free passes, East put runs on the board.

“I didn’t get frustrated,” Ailshie said. “I’ve walked a lot this season. I know my teammates have my back if they walk me. Those walks helped us have some big innings tonight, helped us blow it open.”

Ailshie hasn’t started often on the mound this season – he’s been used in a closer  role – but Hatley gave the ball to the senior to start this one. The lefty only struck out three, but he didn’t walk anyone. The Falcons had six hits, but he kept them in the park – barely.

Ailshie’s friend, Maddox Moore, a teammate on the South Charlotte Panthers travel team, hit two screamers. East right fielder Braylen Ketchie caught one of them with his back pressed to the wall.

East made one error, but the infield was sharp. Shortstop Sam Blackwelder and second baseman Isaiah Osterhus, who made a sliding backhand play up the middle, helped out Ailshie several times.

“All I had to focus on was pounding the strike zone,” Ailshie said. “We were making all the plays. As soon as they hit it on the ground, I knew it was an out.”

And sometimes it was two outs.

East broke on top right away with a four-run top of the first. Bradley delivered a key hit.

West cut the deficit to 4-1 in the second when Carter Lefebvre knocked in Cole Ludwick.

It remained 4-1 going to the top of the fourth, with Graham starting to settle into a groove and the Falcons in it, but then things went sideways in a hurry for the home team.

No. 8 hitter Parker McGinnis singled to start the East fourth before 9-hole hitter Holden Frick’s sac bunt was so good it became a bunt single. When West couldn’t get an out on Osterhus’ bunt, the bases were loaded with no outs, and Ailshie was striding to the plate. A wild pitch made it 5-1. That also opened up first base for a certain intentional walk to Ailshie.

Then Bradley’s ground ball created chaos. East scored three runs on that play.

“I think the shortstop (Ludwick) just rushed his throw a little bit to second base, and then the ball got away,” Hatley said. “Our guys kept running. That made it 8-1. That play may have sucked a lot of the life out of them.”

It was 9-1 before the Falcons could turn a double play to finally escape the inning.

In the fifth, following a walk to Ailshie, Bradley produced the two-run single to center that made it 11-1, and the Mustangs suddenly were just three outs away from a 10-run rule victory.

Bradley has 27 RBIs this season, only one fewer than Ailshie, and is batting .367. Finding the right person to hit behind Ailshie has been a key to East’s success.

Ketchie had two RBIs. Bradley, Frick and Osterhus scored two runs each.

Bradley, Ketchie and Brady Ailshie, Harrison’s younger brother, had two hits each for the Mustangs. Gavin Loftis had a double for East’s only extra-base hit.

The Mustangs will play at top-seeded North Lincoln (25-2) in Round 4. North Lincoln beat East in a 14-inning game in last year’s playoffs.

East will go into that game with major momentum.

“We won a ball game played in a great high school baseball atmosphere tonight,” Hatley said. “The place was packed. We travel well and I think there were quite a few fans of Carson and South Rowan on hand since they weren’t playing. Our guys  performed really well. We beat a good team. West Rowan has one of the best lineups I’ve seen, probably the strongest West has had since 2004 (West was 29-5 that year and reached the state championship series).”

The Falcons socked 27 homers this season. The 2004 Falcons hit 26.

Hatley hit three of those 26. He was one of the standouts on that 2004 team.

East     400  52   – 11

West     010  00   – 1

W – H. Ailshie (2-1). L – Graham (8-2).

HR – None.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

LEXINGTON – East Rowan golfers Brady McIntyre and Cameron Honeycutt finished strong in the 5A State Championships at Sapona.

McIntyre, a senior, was quite literally finishing his stellar career as a Mustang on the slopes of Sapona on Tuesday. He can look back on his high school accomplishments with pride for years to come. For Honeycutt, a freshman, his best days are still ahead of him. He’s just getting started.

Honeycutt served notice to everyone in attendance that he plans to return to state events as a serious contender for the next three years. He eagled his closing hole (No. 18) on Monday. He also eagled his final hole on Tuesday as he wrapped up his round on No. 9. He has developed a flair for the dramatic at a young age.

McIntyre and Honeycutt shot 2-under 69s in Monday’s first round and were tied for second, one shot off the pace on the leaderboard.

That leader was Oak Grove senior Lincoln Newton, who made sure no one caught him on Tuesday. Newton went out and shot the best score for the second day in a row. Newton followed his 68 with a 67. He finished at 7-under, won the tournament by five shots and also paced the Oak Grove Grizzlies to the team championship.

Honeycutt shot 1-over 72 on Tuesday and tied with Seaforth senior Ty Willoughby for second place at 1-under for the tournament. McIntyre shot 73 in Round 2 and wound up in three-way tie for fourth at even par for the tournament, along with Oak Grove senior Aidan Wilson and South Point sophomore Harley Green.

“Both our guys played very solid,” East coach Shane Benfield said. “Sapona is a tough track and you’ve got to be patient and you’ve got to practice course management. You also have to keep your emotions in check. Having two guys finish in the top five at the state level is just fantastic. They represented their team and their school very well.”

McIntyre’s scorecard for the second round revealed 12 pars, four bogeys and two birdies. His birdies came on the par-5 18th and the par-3 No. 7 hole.

“Brady Mac closed out his high school career with loads of class, shooting even par in such a big event,” Benfield said.

Starting on No. 10 in a threesome that also included McIntyre, Honeycutt bogeyed 11 and 17. After the turn, bogeys on 4 and 5 pushed him down to 4-over for the round, but his scorecard on the last three holes looked like he was playing miniature golf – 2-4-2. He birdied the par-3 7th. After parring No. 8, he had another “2” on the 9th hole, a short par 4 measuring 366 yards.

“Cam holed out for the eagle on 9 from about 50 yards,” Benfield said. “The ball bounced one time and then it disappeared. That was a great way to end his amazing freshman season.”

That eagle moved Honeycutt one shot ahead of McIntyre for the tournament. They were neck-and-neck all the way.

***

SOUTHERN PINES – Salisbury’s Sam Goodman, a regional medalist, experienced some struggles with his putter on Monday on his way to an 81.

The long-hitting Hornet bounced back with a 76 on Tuesday in the 4A State Championships being staged at Longleaf. He finished tied for 25th on the leaderboard at 157.

“Sam was much better in Round 2,” Salisbury coach Josh Brincefield. “And he deserved it. He’s been a joy to coach and he’s a hard worker. I’m going to miss our senior class.”

***

South Rowan junior Dane Wheeler shot 74 at Longleaf on Monday and was tied for 12th. He didn’t fare as well on Tuesday, shooting 88. He finished at 162, tied for 31st.

“Dane could have easily packed it in, but that’s not his nature,” South coach Jarrod Smith said. “He kept fighting, and that was important. He learned a lot in this tournament, and I’m confident he’ll be back.”

 

 

 

 

 

From staff reports

BOILING SPRINGS — West Rowan’s softball season ended on Tuesday with an 8-7 loss at Crest in the third round of the 5A state playoffs.

The fifth-seeded Chargers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a back-and-forth game. Both teams had 12 hits.

“We left 14 on base,” West head coach Jimmy Greene said. “Had our chances. At this point in the playoffs everyone is good and you have to take advantage when you get those chances.”

Raney Phelps and Ansley Jenkins pitched for 13th-seeded West (15-14).

Ava Baxter had two doubles for the Falcons. Tinley Summitt had a double and two RBIs. Reese Poole had a double.

Madison Crocker cranked a homer for the Chargers (20-4). Sage McCurry whacked  three doubles.

Crest survived five errors and advanced to play Enka.

“If you’d told me in March we would have a winning season and would make the third round of the playoffs, I would have jumped for joy,” Greene said.

West  302 200  0   – 7

Crest  014  100  2   – 8

• • •

LINCOLNTON — Tenth-seeded East Rowan was shut out 3-0 at second-seeded North Lincoln on Tuesday in a third-round game in the 5A playoffs.

“Regan Williams only needed 60 pitches to pitch six innings and certainly pitched well enough to win tonight,” East head coach Todd McNeely said. “But we just couldn’t give her any run support. Bases loaded, one out, in the sixth. That was our chance, but we couldn’t do anything.”

The Mustangs finished 18-11 and were runner-up to a strong South Rowan team in the South Piedmont Conference.

“I hate losing, but this team over-achieved so much this season that it’s hard to be upset right now,” McNeely said. “We just ran out of magic dust tonight.”

North Lincoln (23-2) advanced to play North Davidson in Round 4.

• • •

HARRISBURG — A.L. Brown fell at Hickory Ridge in the 7A playoffs on Tuesday, the Wonders’ fourth loss of the season to their Greater Metro Conference rivals.

The Bulls (21-6) have pulled out some close ones against the fifth-seeded Wonders, but this one was one-sided. Fourth-seeded Hickory Ridge scored nine runs in the bottom of the third and rolled 15-5 in six innings.

A.L. Brown (18-6) got doubles from Marynda Blackwelder, Myla McNeely and Madyson Baker.

Hickory Ridge pounded out 13 hits.

A.L. Brown       000 230      – 5

Hickory Ridge  029  202    -15

Staff report

MISENHEIMER — Pfeiffer’s baseball team swept William Peace 17-7 and 6-0 at Ferebee Field in the USA South Championship series.

Freshman Conner Coy (South Rowan) was the DH in the second game. He had a hit and a walk and scored two runs.

Next for the Falcons (25-20) is a trip to Baltimore to play Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Division III Regionals. They’ll play on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Falcons are seeded fourth in a four-team regional. Johns Hopkins (33-9) is the No. 1 seed. The other teams there are third-seeded Mary Washington (Va.) and second-seeded Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.). The survivor will move on to Super Regional action.

The USA South Tournament championship was the first for the Falcons. This will be their first appearance in the D-III postseason. They competed in the D-II playoffs in 2004 after winning the Conference Carolinas Tournament.

 

 

Staff report

HUNTERSVILLE – Salisbury’s boys tennis team lost at Lake Norman Charter 6-0 in Tuesday’s 4A West Regional final.

The second-seeded Hornets finished 19-3. The top-seeded Knights (15-1) advanced to the dual team 4A State Championships that will be held in Burlington on May 16.

Lake Norman Charter won all the matches in straight sets, although the Hornets were competitive.

At No. 1 singles, Tejas Sridhar, the 4A individual champ, topped AJ Jarrell 6-2, 6-1.

Lake Norman’s 2 and 4 players, William Seymour and Dylan Bender, were runners-up as a doubles team in the 4A individual state tournament.

Seymour won 6-2, 7-5 against Bryant Davis. Bender won 6-4, 6-3 against Aiden Moss.

At No. 3, LNC’s Rohan Manargudi topped Henry Walser 6-2, 6-2.

LNC’s Abhinav Bodalva won 6-1, 6-0 against Owen Hammill at No. 5.

At No. 6, Salisbury’s Luke Yang fell 6-4, 6-1 to Ashrith Kattika.

 

Kannapolis Police Officers are reportedly investigating a shooting.

According to an email from the city, officers were dispatched to Woodlawn Street in reference to a gunshot wound around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

When they arrived, they found a deceased person in the front yard.

The email indicated that there is no threat to the public.

“We will release additional information as the investigation warrants it,” the email said.

In Salisbury Police Department reports

• A motor vehicle theft occurred in the 1200 block of South Main Street between 5 p.m. on April 30 and 10:05 a.m. on May 11.

• A motor vehicle was tampered with in the 200 block of West D Avenue between 11:30 p.m. on May 11 and 3:10 a.m. on May 12.

CHINA GROVE — Farmers Day in China Grove is an annual event that numerous visitors to the Rowan County town look forward to every year, but this year’s event is going to look a little different.

In an effort to get back to the festival’s roots, which pays homage to southern Rowan’s agriculture community and heritage, the event organizers reconsidered what kind of vendors would optimize their vision.

“For years, we have had a problem with Farmers Day and that attendance was dwindling every year,” Mayor Rodney Phillips said. “Feedback was that it became stale.

“We knew if we did not change things, we might have to stop the festival and do something different.”

After the festival last year, the town formed a committee and began asking what changes needed to take place.

“One big concern we have heard is that you guys have too much commercial and civic presence,” Phillips said. “One third of our booths were either a commercial vendor or a civic group. We knew we had a problem. This is not a festival for people to come and solicit donations or buy windows.”

One of the decisions that was made involved capping the amount of commercial and civic booths to 10 percent.

“There are 140 booths,” Phillips said. “So no more than 14 civic groups.”

It is not just civic groups.

“We also cut out political campaigns,” Phillips said. “Republican party won’t have a booth. Democrat party won’t have a booth either.”

That was not all however. In year’s past, they still had a lot of civic organizations from out of town.

“We added a requirement for civic groups,” Phillips said. “First priority goes to civic groups in China Grove who are investing their money back in China Grove or South Rowan. For example, FFA (Future Farmers of America) at South Rowan sells ice cream and those profits go back into the South Rowan FFA.”

One local member, Charles Dean, of two groups, Fame Preservation Group and Rowan Rifles Sons of Confederate Veterans #405, remarked how those organizations have been present in years past and objected to the new rules during the most recent China Grove Town Council meeting. Dean addressed the council during the public comment section.

“For the last several years, both groups have been vendors at the annual Farmer Day Festival,” Dean said in an email summarizing his talking points from the meeting. “Both groups are non-partisan non-profit entities based in Rowan County. Both groups have done extensive work specifically in China Grove in the way of genealogical research, historical preservation, upkeep of gravestones/memorial markers and educational programming/outreach. Many of our members reside in China Grove and/or do business there nearly every day. China Grove’s first mayor, General Andrew Jackson Sechler, was a Confederate veteran.”

Dean indicated that he would like to see those booths reinstated.

“The town and its annual event are large enough to accommodate both and many more organizations,” he said. “As a professional historian, I see value in the presence of these groups and any like civic organization that wishes to promote and preserve our local heritage.”

The mayor explained that with such a tight cap on commercial and civic groups, some organizations did not make the cut, his own church included. At the end of the day, he said it was not about excluding any one group but about reimagining Farmers Day and the history that it has as an agricultural celebration of local commerce and food production.

The mayor remains optimistic that they are creating something special this year.

“There will be more farmers, a watermelon-eating contest and even a kiss-a-pig contest,” the mayor said with a laugh.

Farmers Day is July 17 and 18.

SALISBURY — “What a night” was what Dr. Rebecca Childs said when reflecting on the S.O.S. Youth Centers Inc. spring semester Art Showcase.

Childs, who serves as executive director of the faith based nonprofit organization, said the showcase “was the culmination of four months of hard work and commitment, and the youth participants showed that it was time well spent.”

On May 7, family and friends gathered at the Salisbury Civic Center, to witness what the students had learned during the semester as several shared reflections of their time in the classes and read some of their ode and acrostic poetry they had written as well as performed several dances choreography by Lexi Kyle, one of the program facilitators, and presented their four act play, “Journey For a New Home.”

Childs noted that the content of the play was from the students as they divided into groups and came up with ideas about characters and setting, what the main conflict would be and the lesson learned at the conclusion.

These ideas, she said, were then taken by Parthenia Hosch, another program facilitator, who took the ideas and combined them into one play.

“So what you will see is a product of that,” she said.

Facilitator Joseph Harris helped in choreography and blocking the play.

Examples of their visual artwork was on display in the room, and attendees were given an opportunity before and after the program to see the various drawings or read some of the poetry.

Love Others was the theme for this semester, and that theme was demonstrated in the participants’ artwork, “including their play that was a combination of different storylines they developed with the underlying message of the importance of loving others — especially those who are different,” said Childs in a release. “It was empowering to see these young people work diligently and collaboratively to deliver an evening that integrated so many aspects of learning. It was also encouraging to see the community step up and show support for this endeavor.”

Prior to the program, a PowerPoint was running with the participants photos, names, statements of what they had learned during the semester and how they described what loving others means in their own words.

In addition to learning about various artists and techniques, some noted that they had learned about trying their best, being patient and confident, being good and kind, how to love and to keep learning.

Childs expressed gratitude to each for their support including the families for bringing their children, the Parks and Recreation staff for ensuring they had a place to meet, to The Carolina Artists guild members Cherrathee Hager and Anita Ryan for hanging the artwork, Mr. Jose for putting up the frames for the exhibit, to Kyle, Hosch and Harris who helped with programming during the semester, and all the community ambassadors who she said helped spread the word about the program or gave in some way.

“Every single person in this room is special to us, and we say thank you,” said Childs.

Hager likewise thanked Childs and presented her a plant on behalf of the Carolina Artists.

“We are artists, and she is mentoring and supporting and developing the next generation of artists and so we want to thank her for that,” said Hager.

Special awards were presented to each of the participants, which included Lucas Bacca Aguilar, Janell Bell, Keylonie Coney, Indyia Cowan, Hosea Crooms, Hozai Crooms, Annah De Los Santos Childs, Gabriella De Los Santos Childs, Tysun Dixon, Valeria Fuentes, Joseph Hoyt, Corbin Knox, Marley Mitchell, Isabela Ortiz, Julian Tamayo, Alijah Hosch White, My’Jere Hosch White, Byrnlee Witherspoon and Raheem Woodruff.

Students were also recognized for their attendance with awards recognizing those who had attended 75 percent of the sessions. Special awards were given to three students who had 100 percent attendance.

Childs noted that S.O.S. stands for Sharing Our Success and Shaping Our Successors and that “S.O.S. Youth Centers Inc. is a nonprofit organization that is committed to ensuring that we have positive youth development opportunities for our kids.”

In addition to the fall and spring sessions, they offer a weeklong Arts Enrichment Summer Camp. This year it will be held June 8-12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a showcase for the families on the final day.

The next regular session will resume in August. and start back in August for the regular sessions.

Childs shared several highlights of the evening in a release. She said that watching participants tour the showcase gallery before the guests arrived was one of the highlights of the night. This was the first time they saw their work displayed professionally and collectively. The sounds of joy and excitement were contagious. It was powerful to see them realize how much they accomplished over the course of the semester.

Another highlight, she said, was hearing the audience respond to their children reading their ode poems. Multiple participants wrote about family members, and hearing their creative expressions of love impacted the entire audience.

Childs said the theme of Love Others was evident throughout the event. Participants showed respect and encouragement to one another, families shared gratitude for the program and pride in their participants, and community members expressed hope and thanks that the youth are carrying on the love of the arts in Salisbury.

KANNAPOLIS — The Kannapolis City Council voted to pursue a $40 million general obligation bond process to support parks and recreation capital projects in the city.

On Monday, May 11, the City Council heard a presentation from city staff and Davenport Financial about the process of a general obligation, GO, bond. After brief discussion and questions, the council unanimously approved a notice of intention to apply for the bond.

A GO bond has to be approved by the voter base in a referendum, as it relies on the taxing power of a municipality as collateral. This would be the first GO bond that Kannapolis has pursued as a municipality, historically using limited obligation bonds that rely on city property as collateral instead.

This $40 million bond would support various park projects that have been put on hold or on the horizon for the city. This includes Eastside Park, which has brought multiple people to public comment for the past couple months to express concern about its delay and potential forfeiting of a $500,000 grant. With this bond, the city could apply for an extension on the grant to still utilize the funds for the park project.

Beyond Eastside Park, Director of Parks and Recreation Gary Mills shared the projects that the bond may help fund. These include a $16 million Westside Park, the Irish Buffalo Creek Greenway expansions, Rocky River Greenway and Gem Theatre renovations. The proposed projects also noted a potential project off Glenn Avenue that has yet to be determined.

The projects are expected to total roughly $37.5 million, and the bond builds in a $2.5 million contingency for cost changes.

“There are multiple projects in our master plan, but we felt that these were more of a priority. They also stretch all the way across the city, so there are multiple projects on the west side, projects in the middle and, of course, projects on the east side. So, a little bit of everything for everyone,” Miller said.

The next steps for the bond are publishing public notice in media outlets and receiving approval from the Local Government Commission. The City Council will hear a bond order by June 8, which then sets the public hearing about the bond. By June 22, the City Council would hold the public hearing and vote on setting the bond referendum for the November general election.

The referendum wording has to be decided by June, stating the purpose of the bond, the expected principal plus interest and the estimated property tax liability increase. Beyond the principal, these numbers are estimates, and according to Mitch Brigulio from Davenport Financial, the estimated property tax increase is not binding or immediate.

The estimated interest for the bond if issued immediately is roughly $22.4 million with a maximum property tax impact of 4.6 cents. The interest would change based on the issuance schedule.

Brigulio emphasized that it is good practice to issue the bonds quickly, but based on the multi-project plan, the bond would likely be issued in chunks based on when the capital is needed.

“This is establishing on the high end what the maximum amount to be expected in terms of interest, the maximum property tax liability could be. It doesn’t necessarily say what the tax rate or tax bill will be. It’s the tax liability,” Brigulio said.

If voted for by residents and then approved by the LGC, Kannapolis will have seven years to use the $40 million, with the option to apply for a three year extension. The issue will be discussed again in June with finalized language of the referendum.

 

 

State Championships schedule

at Marcus T. Johnson Track at N.C. A&T, Greensboro

2A (North Rowan) and 4A (Salisbury and South Rowan) meets are Wednesday, May 13

1A and 3A meets are Thursday, May 14

5A (West Rowan, East Rowan, Carson) and 7A (A.L. Brown) meets are Friday, May 15

6A and 8A meets are Saturday, May 16

Staff report

LANDIS – South Rowan’s girls soccer team achieved the second playoff win in program history on Monday by shutting out East Burke 5-0.

South led 4-0 at halftime and stayed in command in the second half.

Seeded 24th in the 5A West bracket, East Burke (5-13-1) has only scored 14 goals all season and didn’t have much hope against the ninth-seeded Raiders, who have scored more than 100 goals.

South (15-6-1) got two goals each from Avery Rawlings and Anabelle Chavis, while Cailynn Withers had one.

Sophie Steedley, Ella Morgan and Withers had assists.

Margo Maples made five saves for the clean sheet.

South will play in the second round at eighth-seeded Lake Norman Charter (12-4-3) on Thursday.

***

The only other Rowan team that will play Thursday is Salisbury. The Hornets had a bye in the first round. Seeded fifth in the 4A West bracket, the Hornets (15-4) will play No. 21 seed Lincoln Charter (6-14) on Thursday. Lincoln Charter was a 2-1 winner on the road at 12 seed North Surry.

Lincoln Charter finished seventh in an eight-team league, but it’s a strong league that includes teams such as Pine Lake Prep, Lake Norman Charter and Community School of Davidson.

***

East Rowan, Carson, West Rowan, North Rowan and A.L. Brown ended their seasons on Monday with first-round losses on the road.

West Rowan (6-11) held Concord to three shots on goal, but one of them found the back of the net and beat the Falcons 1-0 in a 5A playoff game. Seeded 19th, West lost to the 14th-seeded Spiders (12-11) for the third time. All three were tight.

East Rowan (2-18-1) lost 7-1 at Parkwood (11-8-4) in the 5A playoffs.

Carson (2-17) lost  9-0 at Franklin (12-6-2) in the 5A playoffs.

North Rowan (8-11-1) lost 7-0 at Bradford Prep (7-9) in the 2A playoffs.

A.L. Brown (12-11) lost 3-0 at Ballantyne Ridge (12-9) in the 7A playoffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For 29 years, there has been a Friday evening 5K race in China Grove. Ricky and Edie Smith from Sidekick Karate, then located nearby, founded the race in 1998. Edie Smith said, “Our first one was on a July Friday night before Farmer’s Day, what were we thinking? Ricky and I were dating and then were married in August.” Three years later, the J. Fred Corriher South Rowan YMCA new race directors Aaron Crowe and Richard Reinholz took over this strong event and partnered with the Town of China Grove. China Grove staff took over the event in 2025, and their second round took center stage last Friday, May 8.
The course is highly regarded as flat and fast on Main Street, out and back, with only the turnaround at Kimball Road to slightly slow the runners. The fastest verified 5K time ever ran in North Carolina was set on this course in 2022. Donnie Cowart of Winston-Salem ran a sizzling time of 14 minutes and 6 seconds. That same course was tweaked this year to highlight China Grove’s town hall and downtown in preparation for last Friday’s event. The start/finish area allowed spectators a wonderful viewing opportunity on an evening with 60 degrees and low humidity, cool even by early May standards.
Matthew Martin, a Charlotte resident who grew up in China Grove, smoked the field with a time of 14 minutes, 58.07 seconds. Second went to Anthony Kuchera of Davidson in 16:08.73 while third went to Liam Crews of Kannapolis in 16:33.16.
Mallary Price of Charlotte led the women in 18:40.18. Meghan Mitchell, also of Charlotte, was second in 19:20.26 and Madison Lowery of Kannapolis grabbed third in 19:53.40. Notable top local finishers included 60-year-old Milton Matheny of Kannapolis who took 2nd place Grand Masters (over 60 years of age) with a time of 20:39.94. Salisbury’s Danielle Saroka, 52, was the top Masters (over 40) female with a time of 22:12.32. Salisbury’s Debbie Dickson, 50, took the top female Grand Masters spot for females with a time of 24:19.66.
Martin, 30, said, “Growing up in China Grove, I always saw this race as a must-run event. It consistently brings out strong competition and a great atmosphere. I love the course because the lack of turns allows you to really settle into a rhythm and stay locked in throughout the race. Conditions on Friday night were nearly perfect, which made the experience even better. The China Grove 5K has become my favorite race, and it’s one I always look forward to each year.”
Regular racer and Concord resident Susan Livengood, 62, “I don’t have enough time to say all the good things about this race. Well done, well organized, a great course and a great shirt! I love the move to May and the earlier start time. The whole experience was fantastic!”
A competitive half-mile fun run for kids, also on Main Street, preceded the 5K. Winners were first place Caleb Kiker with a time of 3 minutes and 22 seconds, followed by Beau Efird in 3:24 and top girl Evolet Carranza-Gonzalez in 3:27. A non-competitive 200-yard Tot Trot was also held.
Parks and Recreation Director Jill Sellers led the effort to make the Main Street Challenge races both fun and challenging. She said, “We could not have asked for a better turnout! Seeing Main Street filled with runners, families and neighbors cheering one another on is exactly what makes all the work worthwhile. The China Grove 5K Main Street Challenge is a celebration of our community, and this year’s race showed just how much heart and pride our town has. Our town staff’s wonderful effort shows in the quality of this event, and the future is bright for next year!”

China Grove Mayor Rodney Phillips welcomed the nearly 400 participants and was the official starter. Following the races, he said, “The China Grove Main Street 5K continues to evolve, and more importantly grow. This year’s event was a tremendous success for our great little town and is becoming one of our signature events. Participants were as young as toddlers, all the way to people in their 80’s. It brings our entire town together to celebrate community, healthy lifestyles and a sense of togetherness that defines China Grove. Our staff continues to improve the event every year, so next year we will look forward to an even better celebration as we use the momentum to create opportunities for more people to participate.”

Complete results are available at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.

Dear God,

I pray for wisdom, truth and justice regarding those who have broken both moral law and the laws established to protect people from deception, abuse, slander and wrongdoing.
Your Holy Word teaches clearly that truth matters, honesty matters and how we treat one another matters.

The Bible says:

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” — Exodus 20:16

Yet lies, slander, deceit, manipulation and the spreading of false information have become far too common among some within the Summerfield community of Salisbury. False accusations, gossip, forged documents, misuse of authority and actions motivated by greed rather than service to the people are not small matters before God. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. There is no gray area when people knowingly deceive others for personal gain.

The Bible warns us:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” — Isaiah 5:20

There are those who have used fear, pressure, threats and manipulation against neighbors instead of compassion and honesty. Some have attempted to use prayer, religion or public appearances of righteousness while acting in ways that contradict the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Scripture says:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” — Matthew 7:15

God teaches us to love our neighbor, help those in hardship and act with mercy and integrity — not to shame people, threaten them, exploit them or seek advantage over the weak and trusting.

“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” — Mark 12:31

No community can remain strong when truth is replaced with gossip, when greed replaces compassion and when good people are manipulated through deceit.
Lord of Lords and King of Kings, I pray that those involved may recognize the error of their ways and repent. I pray Your light reveals the truth fully and openly. I pray that both the laws of God and the just laws of man are upheld fairly and honestly.

Your Word reminds us:

“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” — Luke 12:2

I do not seek hatred, revenge or evil upon anyone. I release judgment into Your hands, Lord, because vengeance belongs to You alone.

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” — Romans 12:19

At the same time, wrongdoing must not be ignored, hidden or normalized. Truth must stand. Justice matters. Accountability matters. Communities cannot thrive when dishonesty and corruption are allowed to continue unchecked. I pray for strength, wisdom, clarity and a sound mind through Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I pray for the courage to speak truth lawfully and responsibly to those entrusted to enforce the laws of North Carolina and the United States of America. I also pray for forgiveness — for myself and for all who have sinned against others. As Christians, we are called to forgive, but forgiveness does not mean accepting evil, ignoring truth or pretending wrongdoing never happened.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians:

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour.” — Ephesians 4:25

And again:

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you.” — Ephesians 4:31

We are all imperfect and still of the flesh, but hatred, deception, greed and false witness have no place among people who claim to walk with God. I pray that truth prevails, that innocent people are protected, and that hearts are changed before more harm is done. May God guide us toward honesty, repentance, mercy, justice and peace.

In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

I have sent this out for reflection of our country as well. We need morals to be held steadfast and true to overcome.

Darryl G. Thornton lives in Salisbury.

With everything going on in this crazy world we live in, let’s take a look at the actions being taken by Democrats around us; it’s enough to make your head spin. Then again, that’s what they want as they know most people don’t want to spend time in the weeds figuring things out.

Starting with N.C. House Rep. Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg), she has maintained the position of being a very rare conservative-to-moderate Democrat with seven years of service in the House. Once she cast the deciding vote in the House to override Gov. Stein’s veto of the bill requiring sheriffs across the state to work with ICE, her fellow Democrats were out for blood. Without it, the bill would not have passed. When it did, Stein and her party immediately put a target on her back. They recruited someone to primary Cunningham whom they could manipulate to vote on matters and bills the way the party is supposed to do — all together on everything, no questions asked.

Cunningham did lose the primary as expected. Stein, party leaders and unions piled on. According to her afterwards, she stated, “Josh Stein’s endorsement of my opponent was never about immigration,” she said. “It’s about power. It’s about telling us if you don’t do what we tell you to do, we’re going to put you off the plantation…” By getting rid of someone the party (and Stein) could not control, the Democrats still want to put illegal immigrants at the front of the line and protect them before the rest of us. She prefers to focus on legislation, the pros and cons, and not the party. After her loss, she changed her party affiliation to Unaffiliated and plans to run against her hand-picked challenger in the general election hoping enough Republicans and Independents in the district may help her keep her seat.

Moving to another Mecklenburg Democrat, Nasif Majeed. He cast the critical vote on HB 805 which included strong definitions of sex and gender in state law. Once passed, Majeed said, “I had some moral issues and I had to lean on my values.” As expected, Stein and Democrat leaders did not like the end result with the bill’s passage. The chairman of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party, of course, expressed being “disappointed” with their votes. He claims he received multiple calls from other Democrats across the state wanting to help find candidates they can support against Cunningham and Majeed. Instead of trying to work with the two in trying to find some middle ground in their philosophies, Democrat leaders — starting with Stein — decided to put them out.

The latest Democrat in the area in the news is Charlotte mayor, Vi Lyles. Just a few short months after winning another term, she announced she will be resigning in June and will not be seeking re-election in 2027. Mayor Lyles may be a nice person, but she has been in office all these years just being the mouthpiece for the folks who actually run Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. She, in my opinion, has brought nothing to the table. She was quick to buy in on the whole Black Lives Matter hoax hook, line and sinker. That debacle sucked in Democrats, many Independents and a lot of corporations and carried the water for those who ripped them off in message and huge donations. After the BLM founders were exposed to be frauds and used the money for mansions, luxury trips and lifestyles, there is nothing to show for the charade. Can anyone name one positive result that has survived the BLM fecal matter show? Just goes to show you none of them did their homework before rushing to jump on their bandwagon. It’s hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

While staying in the Democrat playbook, note they are the very ones who constantly preach anyone and anything against them is a “threat to democracy.” They are quick to call out those opposing them when challenged. More times than not, when they are backed into a corner to actually defend their positions using common sense reasoning, they cannot. When this happens, as if on cue, here comes the race card. That is their go-to play every time. After years of doing this and getting their way, folks here and across the nation finally saw through all the hate, division and plain BS. No doubt it’s still out there, but so are more and more voters calling them out for it, and making much anticipated and needed changes.

Floyd Prophet lives in Kannapolis.

The furor over ICE has thawed somewhat but that’s no reason to cast wary eyes off Trump’s men in black.

Now, back to the story.

With apologies to Eugene O’Neill, “The Iceman Cometh,” his play about some down-and-out guys hoping for better days is much like the plight of the illegal migrants coming to the U.S. hoping for better days. They are desperate just like the men in the play. For the actors, the Iceman was death. ICE has arrested thousands and cram them belly to belly into facilities that lack even the most fundamental amenities such toilets, running water or showers. Some prisoners have been beaten or abused and have died at the hands of the ICE men.

ICE reported their masked men have locked up record highs with more than 70,000 people on a single day in January 2026. Statistics in March 2026 alone, 32,531 people were booked into ICE detention, with daily, nationwide ICE arrests exceeding 1,100.

No doubt the increases are because the Trump administration rolled out a massive recruitment program to add 10,000 agents. It is bolstered by offering enticing incentives that include a $50,000 sign-on bonus paid over five years, student loan forgiveness of up to $60,000 and return-to-work bonuses for retired law enforcement officers.

No experience, law enforcement background or age limits are required, arguably the most troubling element of the plan. ICE officers do receive approximately 50 hours of training, some of which can be on-the-job, read “sketchy” at best. ICE agents wear masks and do not wear badges. Many abuses have been common. People are simply detained because of their skin color or language accent.

As a native Minnesotan, I was mortified by the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The officer who shot Renee Good had the audacity to hold his pistol in one hand and his camera in the other as he fired. The ICE gunmen even gloated after their nearly 20 shots were fired into Alex Pretti. It was especially infuriating to see two officers shoot their pistols after Pretti was already dead. He was dead after the first shot into his head. One of them mockingly said: “Boo Hoo” on camera.

Widespread fear has prompted neighborhoods stand guard, sometimes using police-style whistles. Targeted minorities have evaded arrest and are now hiding out in terror that the masked men will knock on their front door or invade their workplaces and drag them off unceremoniously into blacked out SUVs or vans, never to be seen again. In many cases such as the recent “Charlotte’s Web,” people did not dare to go the grocery store, go to church or buy a pail of nails at Lowes.

That said, the government has a legitimate beef that these people entered the U.S. illegally and need to stand in the ubiquitous court dock to plead their cases. Many such immigrants have asked for asylum based on threats from rampant gang activity in their countries.

Governor Josh Stein, on Nov. 14, 2025, said:

“I want to encourage North Carolinians to remember our values. We follow the law. We remain peaceful. We do not allow ourselves to be provoked. We stand with our neighbors. And when we see injustice, we bear witness. If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe long after these federal agents leave. That’s the North Carolina way.”

The Trump administration has opened a few detention centers including the infamous “Alligator Alley” in the Florida Everglades. That said, a federal judge has shut the place down. Many new facilities have been blocked by local communities across the country. This is not a partisan issue as both Democrats and Republicans are united and fully understand the detrimental impact on the local infrastructure. Thousands of detainees will demand water and sewer, electric power and medical care. Further, there are no significant economic incentives, such as jobs to offset the burden.

Some proposed facilities in North Carolina include:

A warehouse in Concord with 1,500 beds but the owner has said the building is not for sale or lease by the federal government.

Feds are also eyeing the former American Hebrew Academy campus in Greensboro. Community officials say there hasn’t been any contact with ICE or Homeland Security.

The Rivers Correctional facility in Winton (Hertford County), private prison was closed in 2021. Its 300-bed capacity is the last on the government’s North Carolina immigration hit list.

Stay tuned. What could break bad? Just give a guy a gun, a mask and no accountability, then wait for the carnage.

Veteran John Jesperson lives in Rowan County.

(Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series. It addresses utility costs, water usage and the local tax structures driving data center developments.)

When raising concerns about power demand, Haspel notes that large data centers require hundreds of megawatts. That is accurate. The International Energy Agency reported data centers accounted for about 1.5 percent of global electricity demand in 2024. But her argument jumps from demand to the conclusion that residents will subsidize it. That depends on how costs are allocated through utility regulation. In North Carolina, utilities operate under the Utilities Commission via Chapter 62 of the General Statutes. Cost recovery and rate design are determined through formal proceedings. Duke Energy publicly stated it does not offer discounted bills to data centers as recruitment incentives. Haspel claims zoning conditions will ensure companies pay for their own infrastructure, but cost allocation is determined through regulated utility proceedings, not zoning. The real question is not whether demand exists. It is how that demand is priced.

She presents water use as another concern without full context. Figures of 1 to 5 million gallons per day are cited. That range appears in national reporting depending on facility size and design. But water use varies based on cooling systems. The U.S. Department of Energy documents cooling efficiency strategies like filtration, reuse and closed-loop designs that drastically reduce freshwater demand. The relevant question is not a general number. It is what this specific project requires under its permitted design. Until that is defined, the claim is incomplete.

Haspel argues data centers are not worth it because they employ only 30 to 50 permanent workers. That is partially true. They are not labor-intensive. But that is actually part of the appeal. They generate massive capital investment with minimal traffic. North Carolina’s data center sector boasts billions in economic contribution through construction, infrastructure investment and expansion of the property tax base. The real job benefits come from the industries that follow a data center. These facilities act as magnets for secondary industries like research, engineering, telecommunications, cybersecurity and network support. Those are the exact careers that keep our kids in Rowan County instead of moving to Raleigh or Atlanta. Job count inside the building alone does not tell the full story.

Her claim that existing zoning law “gives away leverage” may resonate, but it does not reflect how the law is structured. Under Chapter 160D, zoning ordinances define permitted uses. If a use is allowed by right, an applicant proceeds if they meet those requirements. Public input occurs when those rules are written or changed. If residents want more control, the strongest tool is to change those rules. That is where leverage exists.
Haspel compares the county process to the city of Salisbury’s project, framing it as a contrast in transparency. She acknowledges the city project still faces months of meetings, rulemaking and public input before approval. If one project is still subject to conditions and oversight, why is the other framed as a final outcome? The difference is not legal structure. The difference is presentation.

Local governments do not approve projects in isolation. They operate within a tax structure rewarding large-scale development. Property taxes on land and business equipment create a system where larger investments yield a larger taxable base. When officials evaluate data centers, the justification almost always returns to revenue. North Carolina law under Chapter 105 governs how property is assessed and taxed. When residents ask why projects like this move forward, the answer is simple. The system creates a financial incentive. As long as local governments rely on these property taxes, they favor developments expanding that base. That is not speculation. That is incentive.

If people are serious about slowing this development, focusing only on one project misses the larger issue. The more effective pressure point is the system making these projects attractive. That means questioning the tax structure itself. If property tax incentives are removed, the pressure to approve projects like this changes with them. That is where the real leverage is.

There are real questions that still need answers. Water limits. Cooling systems. Noise standards. Setbacks. Infrastructure responsibility. Tax structure. Those answers will determine the outcome. Not assumptions. There is nothing wrong with skepticism or opposition. But there is a difference between asking hard questions and answering them before the facts exist. Rowan County is debating a project that is still taking shape. The responsible approach is simple. Demand real answers. And make decisions only when those facts actually exist.

Sources and reference material

1. International Energy Agency: https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai
2. NC General Statutes Chapter 62: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/bychapter/Chapter_62.html
3. Duke Energy Rate Information: https://www.duke-energy.com/home/billing/dec-nc-rate-case
4. U.S. Department of Energy: https://www.energy.gov/cmei/femp/cooling-water-efficiency-opportunities-federal-data-centers
5. WFAE Economic Reporting: https://www.wfae.org/2026-04-08/gov-stein-energy-task-force-overhaul-data-center-tax-breaks
6. NC General Statutes Chapter 105: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/bychapter/Chapter_105.html

Stephen Arthur lives in Salisbury. Visit the online version of this column for links to Arthur’s sources and reference material.

 

 

Staff report

SOUTHERN PINES – South Rowan junior Dane Wheeler shot 78 and tied for second in the 4A Central Regional to qualify for the State Championships.

Wheeler was even sharper on Monday, shooting 37-37 – 74 at Longleaf. At 3-over, he’s tied for 12th, but he’s only five shots off the lead.

“A key to Dane’s round was his very first tee shot,” South coach Jarrod Smith explained. “He started on No. 10 and was facing all the pressure of competing for a state championship. He put his tee shot right in the fairway, and that first shot can put you on track to a successful day. I think it did that for him.”

After making three straight pars to start his round, Wheeler’s confidence was growing. He birdied No. 13. Then he scrambled to save par on the 14th and was 1-under through five holes.

He continued to make a lot of pars and knocked in his second birdie of the round on No. 5.

“That birdie gave him the momentum to finish the round strong,” Smith said. “I was very proud of the composure he showed. He’s put himself in the conversation for Round 2.”

***

While Wheeler tied for second in the 4A Central Regional at Asheboro, Salisbury senior Sam Goodman grabbed medalist honors with a sensational back nine. He shot 74, won by four shots and carried a pile of momentum into the State Championships.

But it wasn’t Goodman’s day on Monday.

“Rough day for Sam,” Salisbury coach Josh Brincefield said. “His putter just didn’t make the trip to Pinehurst. Missed a ton of birdie putts.”

Goodman’s 81 tied him for 28th after the first round. He struck the ball well enough to be much higher on the leaderboard, but his putter let him down. Thirty-four of his 81 strokes were putts. He endured a double bogey and two triple bogeys.

The low point of his round was a four-putt on No. 15 after he had reached the green in regulation.

“Sam will get ’em tomorrow,” Brincefield said.

 

 

 

Staff report

LEXINGTON – While East Rowan’s boys golf team fell one shot short of qualifying for the 5A State Championships, two Mustangs are in contention for an individual state title after Monday’s opening round at Sapona.

Senior Brady McIntyre and freshman Cam Honeycutt traveled by different routes to 2-under 69, but they both arrived safely. They are one shot back of Oak Grove’s  Lincoln Newton with 18 more holes still to come on Tuesday.

“The boys played amazing,” East coach Shane Benfield said. “It would hurt less,  would take away some of the sting from missing states as a team if we can bring home an individual title. I couldn’t be prouder of our two guys. They’ve played extremely well all year. I’m just beaming with joy right now.”

Benfield has taken up serious running and will extend his streak of consecutive running days to 365 next week. He plans to participate in the annual Ed Dupree 5K race on Saturday. His strides were filled with joy and pride on Monday.

McIntyre turned in a steady 2-under, with 14 pars, three birdies and a bogey. McIntyre produced consecutive birdies on 5 and 6 and also birdied No. 18. The only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on the par-3 No. 7 hole.

Honeycutt’s round was far more volatile. He made only two pars during an adventure-filled back nine. There was a double bogey on 10 and bogeys on 11, 13 and 17. He compensated with back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 and an eagle 3 on the 552-yard, par-5 18th.

Cruising through a stellar front nine, Honeycutt fired a 32, with four birdies and one bogey.

“Brady Mac played solid,” Benfield said. “Cam played a very interesting round of golf, especially that back nine.”

South Point leads Oak Grove by two shots in the team scoring.

 

 

 

 

Staff report

BURLINGTON – Surry Community College wrapped up the baseball season with two losses on Sunday to Caldwell Tech in the Region X Tournament.

As usual, Surry (26-24) benefited from the efforts of Rowan County players.

Will Bradshaw (Carson) swung a very hot bat in the stretch run and in the conference tournament and finished 21-for-49, a .429 batting average. Bradshaw hit two homers and drove in 14 runs.

Brett Morris (South Rowan) was 4-3 on the mound and hit a home run.

Eli Graham (West Rowan) played often in the infield. He scored 17 runs and drove in 19. He hit one homer and won a game on the mound.

Outfielder/catcher Gaige Scruggs (West Rowan), who will be playing for Rowan County American Legion again this summer. He hit one homer and batted .272 with 27 runs scored and 17 RBIs.

Surry also got contributions this season from Brice Knox (West Rowan), Aaron Jones (South Rowan), Jaden Johnson (A.L. Brown) and Nolan Tovornik (Carson).

 

 

Staff report

PEMBROKE – UNC Pembroke’s baseball team wrapped up the season with a 7-3  Conference Carolinas Tournament loss to Francis Marion in a game played at Gastonia’s Sims Legion Park.

Junior first baseman Morgan Padgett (East Rowan) started 36 games for the Braves (33-18) this season and played in 48.

He batted .254 and 19 walks gave him an OBP of .389.

Padgett had five homers, five doubles, 33 runs scored and 35 RBIs.

Padgett came back strong from some struggles his sophomore season.

He hit two homers for the Braves as a freshman.

 

 

SALISBURY — The East Rowan High School Future Farmers of America hosted its first ever car show at the school, but it featured more than just cars as there was a variety of additional things for attendees to see and enjoy.

Caroline Fitzwater, the agriculture teacher at the school, said the group usually holds a spring fundraiser selling their greenhouse plants; however, they have had some needed maintenance with the greenhouse and got a late start.

She said she thought about what they could do and the idea of a car show was brought up at a FFA chapter meeting, and they agreed with hosting a show.

“It was kind of a decision made by the students,” said Fitzwater, “and everything here is run by the students as well. So you’re looking at the product of some really dedicated FFA members.”

No stranger to car shows, Fitzwater said her father owns a 1956 Corvette and therefore she grew up going to car shows with him.

“I really love the atmosphere, the community that comes along with car shows,” she said.

The event, which served as a fundraiser, had a bounce house, face painting, plants from the FFA greenhouse for sale, several vendors including a 3-D printing business, bakery and pottery and food for sale.

Proceeds from the day are being used to help students attend the state convention and FFA camp, “to help cut down those funds so more people can go and will make that opportunity larger for them,” said Katelynn Bonds, a sophomore, who serves as FFA reporter.

To get the word out and attract the attention of those wishing to participate in the car show, Fitzwater said they promoted it on Facebook and placed fliers at local body shops, auto shops and gas stations and word of mouth. She noted that some who exhibited their cars are regular car show participants.

Serving as judges for the event were from Peeler’s Body Shop in Rockwell, said Fitzwater, who said they were looking at a variety of things to determine the winners, such as the exterior and interior, how clean the car was, the motor and overall impression.

There were multiple classes in the show, including a classic class, truck class and a miscellaneous class. Fitzwater said they also had a farm equipment class; however, due to this being a busy time of year for the farmers, they did not have anybody register for that category.

Speaking of the cars in the show, she said, “we’ve got some really unique things out here” as she mentioned a Harley and an interesting foreign car.

Owned by Adam Fifield, the foreign car was a Daihatsu Mira Walkthrough that he had imported from Japan about five years ago, he said which was in bad shape when he got it. He said that he did all the work to fix it up inside and a friend of his from Monroe did the paint job.

His dad, Dale Fifield, was at the event as well and said his son uses the car for shows, parades and car cruise-in events.

Adam said he learned about the car show on Facebook and seeing it was for the school’s FFA organization, he decided to come support the students.

Participant Tim Klaus, who has a 1964 Austin Healey, said he wanted to participate in the event because, “I always like helping out kids.”

David Suther, who had his 1979 Corvette on display, said his dad was in the FFA in Mount Pleasant, “so that’s why I’m supporting them.”

Steve Moreno said he was there and wanted to help “because we need future farmers. We need them bad.” He had his 1970 Dodge Charger at the show.

Fitzwater said the number of cars was good for the first time and the turnout had been pretty good.

FFA Sentinel Adisyn Kerr, a junior, likewise thought the event “turned out extremely better than what we anticipated for it to be a cloudy day and wish washy weather.”

Bonds agreed that it turned out better than they thought it would be, especially since the event had gotten rained out the previous weekend.

“It was really a surprise that we had this many people come out and support us,” she said.

Kerr and Bonds said they plan to be in FFA again next year and for them, the organization is special because of the community to which Kerr added, feeling “like a part of something big, something that means more than just a school function because we go out and we do things and we bring in people and supporters. This is probably a future for a lot of us, so we’re just making a path for people younger than us.”

Bonds said the organization was special because it had helped her “find what I want to do for the rest of my life. I would really like to go into the ag industry and this is what’s really helped me.”

Fitzwater said she thinks they will have another car show next year; however, they are considering changing it to a fall event, which would mean less competition and have it as a harvest season car show.

She said they had learned from this year’s event and they can “build and make it greater every year that we embark on it.”

The China Grove Town Council will hold its first budget public hearing on June 2.

Town Manager Franklin Gover offered a short walk-through of the budget as it currently stands during the most recent Council meeting.

“The current balance has no proposed tax increase,” Gover said. That tax rate is 56 cents per $100 of valuation.

“This budget is based on that,” Gover said. “The budget is balanced at $10.86 million. It is mission focused, strategic resident focused. No fund balance appropriation and it is dedicated to providing excellent services to the community.”

Budget highlights:

1. Two-percent cost of living adjustment, 2-percent merit pool

2. $35,000 for the Downtown Development Program

3. $80,000 for Downtown Capital Improvements

4. $150,000 for police fleet vehicles

5. $30,000 for fire equipment

6. $128,000 for two new parks, buildings and grounds maintenance positions

7. $99,850 transfer for Community Memorial Park PARTF grant

8. $130,000 for backhoe replacement

9. $75,000 for skid steer replacement

10. $180,000 for paving projects

“We have two major revenues, property tax and sales tax,” Gover said. “Property tax is 71 percent of our total budget. Sales tax makes up 16-17 percent. Everything else is counted as minor revenue.”

According to Gover, property tax creates a revenue of $7.28 million for the next fiscal year.

“Part of the large growth you see in the ad valorem taxes is the Macy’s fulfillment center which is 58 percent of the total valuation,” he said. “We are in an incentive agreement with that company and the incentive payment is $2.6 million.”

Gover dove into the process for the town council members.

“When we develop a budget we work closely with department heads who bring requests to the manager and council,” he said. “This year, the department heads brought in over 1.2 million worth of requests. We cannot fund them all, but this budget does recommend funding just over $700,000 of requests.”

He added that to fund the remaining requests would take a seven-cent increase on the tax rate.

“These requests represent a blend of personnel and operating expenditures among some much needed capital items,” Gover said.

SALISBURY — Neighbors were working together to help neighbors facing a need by providing help and hope during the Serving our Neighbors community outreach event.

Hosted by Students in Training, the event was held on May 9 at the Salisbury Civic Center, during which time local non-profits gathered to serve free hot meals, bags of groceries, clothing, hygiene items and health screenings, along with answering questions and providing information about the services they offer.

Robert Howell, who serves as the director of Students in Training, which is a technology focused program aimed at helping children have access to career building programs. He said they “put on the event, but we’re working with all the people in here to put it on” with a goal of trying to bring nonprofits and those who need the help all together in one place.

Grill 4 God Ministries was one of the nonprofits on site, which cooked all the food, grilling chicken and preparing the sides.

On the day of the event, Brad Bullock, executive director of Grill 4 God Ministries, said they would be serving more than 400 meals during the day, and probably reaching 450.

Bullock noted that since he first started, they have not only doubled the amount of chicken boxes served but, more importantly, he said, they had double their partnerships, “bringing the community together to help those in our community who are in need, so we want to feed physically and spiritually because we believe the two really go together.”

Community Care Clinic of Rowan County, Inc. was on site, and as noted on the event flier, offered a brief screen of vital signs and additional assistance concerning medical, dental and pharmacy care for uninsured residents.

Food Lion Feeds provided non-perishable food, which was distributed to everyone. Howell said 400 bags of food were packed the morning of the event.

Multiple volunteers were busy grilling and cutting up the chicken. One of them, Jarrod Hammons, said being able to help is “what we’re supposed to do,” as he shared from Matthew 25 that we are “supposed to feed those that need to be fed, give drinks to those who are thirsty, clothe those who need clothes.”

Grill 4 God board member James Faggart Jr. said they pray for people and that feeding all these people means a lot and “it’s sticking to a Biblical principle of helping those that are in need.”

Plus, he said, it’s all free and all those helping are volunteers, adding that “nobody gets paid, but we’re doing it for the love that’s in our heart.”

Marcy Clark, program lead for Students in Training, said the day was dedicated toward the homeless and underserved and they wanted to organize an event for “the area and all the people where we can get everybody together to get the resources they need. We want to make sure that if someone needs access to something, they know where to get it and how to get it.”

Clark said they began taking donations of clothes and hygiene items last month, and Howell added that if people have items they wish to donate they may do so as they will have their Back to School Bazaar in August. People can get in touch with them through their website, sitorg.org or by calling 704-630-7676.

Howell also noted that Project Light, which is at the old Salisbury Mall, offered to be a drop off spot for them if people have items to donate.

As for the biggest need they had seen at the event, Clark said, food in general, noting that the most helpful type of food donations for the homeless would be canned foods with the easy open tabs that don’t get crushed easily and can be reused.

Hygiene items are also a big need noting that many women don’t have access to feminine hygiene products, she said.

A total of 57 volunteers were there, said Howell, helping with a variety of tasks including setup, cooking, packing grocery bags, clothing and food distribution and clean up.

Clark noted that some great nonprofits were there which have been helping them for years, and that “share our community based missions, and we want to focus on helping them grow as they help us grow.”

Vendors who were on hand for the community event, in addition to Students in Training, Food Lion Feeds, Grill 4 God and Community Care Clinic of Rowan County, include Rowan Helping Ministries, Smart Start Rowan, Project Light Rowan, Family Crisis Council, Head Start Rowan, Nazareth Child & Family Connection, Healthy Blue NC, Families First NC, Lutheran Services Carolinas, The Blessing Warehouse, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Voter Registration Booth and Dreamency.

Howell said they plan to do this again and the next time would like to get the word out to more people noting they had a good turnout, but said he hates to miss people.

“I know there are some who didn’t know about it or nonprofits that we missed,” he said.

When asked about being able to serve the many they did reach, Bullock said things on social media says the “world is a cruel, selfish place, but when you get to meet people one on one, you see there’s a lot of people who really do care, a lot of people who do want to serve their community.”

CHINA GROVE — Two people were killed in a fire in China Grove on Sunday.

According to Rowan County Emergency Services Deputy Chief Allyson Summitt, fire crews were dispatched to 245 Saw Road at 11:45 p.m. in response to a house fire.

When they arrived, they found a fully-involved structure fire. Two victims were reportedly found inside the home. Rowan County has not officially released identities of the deceased, as autopsy result confirmations await.

According to the Rowan County GIS tool, the home is owned by Randy Lee McClamrock and his wife Vicki McClamrock.

Homestead Baptist Church in Kannapolis, where the couple reportedly worshiped, announced on Monday that it would be hosting a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. on Monday to honor the McClamrocks’ lives and to pray for their family.

“It is with a heavy and saddened heart that we share the passing of Bro. Randy and Sis. Vickie McClamrock last night,” the church said. “Together, they entered into the presence of their Lord and Savior in Glory.

“We are all deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss, and our church family grieves alongside those who loved them so dearly.”

The church shared a passage from the book of I Thessalonians.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” – ‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Homestead Baptist Church is located at 105 W. 22nd St., Kannapolis.

The motorcyclist killed in Saturday’s crash has been identified.

Antonio Antwan McCullough, 21, was killed in the collision that occurred in the 2800 block of South Main Street near American Drive around 8:42 p.m.

McCullough, who was operating one of the two motorcycles involved in the crash with a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck, was pronounced dead on scene.

Brooklyn Leigh Moss, 20, who was also involved in the crash, was airlifted to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in critical unsteady condition, the Sunday morning report noted. Moss was reportedly in emergency surgery on Sunday.

The pickup driver, Jorge Luis Salvana Arceo, 58, was transported to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center for treatment by ambulance.

A witness told the officers at the scene that the motorcycles did not appear to be traveling at a high rate of speed.

The Blue Collar Cycle Company in Salisbury posted about the incident.

“Say a prayer for Antonio’s family and his girlfriend,” the company said. “Antonio was a former employee and a great kid. He was doing big things. His girlfriend is in critical care and will have a long road ahead of her. Look twice, save a life.”

That same post shared details about a celebration of life for McCullough. That event is reportedly taking place on May 16, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. at 7336 Mission Road, Mt. Pleasant.

The incident remains under investigation by the Salisbury Police Department’s traffic unit. Additional details will be released as they become available.

 

 

From staff reports

LANDIS — South Rowan’s baseball season ended in the second round of the 4A state playoffs on Friday.

Seeded 12th, Forbush (16-12) beat the fifth-seeded Raiders 4-2. South (21-6) had a first-round bye.

South got eight hits off Forbush starter Luke Hutchens, but he struck out eight and only walked one. He pitched into the seventh inning before reaching the pitch-count limit.

Freshman Connor Mullins had a triple, while Bo Moxley and Hunter Conrad had doubles for the Falcons from East Bend.

South won the Cannon Ballers Tournament and 21 games, 11 of them in the South Piedmont Conference, so it was one of the better seasons in program history.

Forbush advances to play at Lincoln Charter in Round 3.

• • •

HIGH POINT — A.L. Brown won 10-5 at Southwest Guilford on Friday in a second-round game in the 7A state playoffs.

The seventh-seeded Cowboys finished the season at 17-10.

The 10th-seeded Wonders (20-9) got a big hit from Matt Blume to clear the bases late in the game.

Next for the Wonders is another meeting with second-seeded Hickory Ridge (24-2). The Bulls whipped West Cabarrus 10-0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff report

DENTON – North Rowan’s boys track and field team had three individual champions and took first place in the team scoring in Saturday’s 2A Central Regional.

North totaled 104 points. Runner-up Voyager Academy had 75.

South Davidson was the host for the meet. Top-four placers in each regional event advanced to state competition.

North champs were Nick Morrow in the 400 meters (51.41 seconds); Eric Fair in the 110 hurdles (15.21), and Zy’Quize Carpenter in the triple jump (45 feet, 8 inches).

Morrow added a third place in the 200 meters. Shakeel Monroe Jr. took third in the 100. Fair was third in the 300 hurdles.

North got 11 points in the relays with third in the 4×100 and fourth in the 4×400.

Myles Witherspoon was second in the 110 hurdles, fifth in the 300 hurdles and third in the high jump.

Brenden Ellis was fourth in the triple jump, fifth in the discus and seventh in the long jump.

Dyaon Norman-Jackson was fifth in the 200. Tristen Brown was seventh in the triple jump. De’Ryan Robinson placed eighth in the 400.

 

 

 

Staff report

DENTON — North’s female sprinters dominated the 2A Central Regional Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

South Davidson hosted the meet. North Rowan’s girls totaled 111 points. Eno River was second with 71.

Top-four placers in each event advanced to the state meet.

North scored all of it points, in sprints, jumps and hurdles.

Ty’Tiana Clemons swept the hurdles and also won the long jump. She ran 15.69 in the 100 hurdles and 50.31 in the 300 hurdles. Her winning long jump was 16 feet, 8.5 inches.

Clemons had a 4-for-4 day as she ran on the winning 4×200 team along with Ky’mari Davidson, Amiyah Stevenson and Lavierah Walker. They clocked 1:46.29.

The Cavaliers also won the 4×100 relay with Davidson, Walker, Stevenson and Breslyn Broom timed in 51.51 seconds.

North added fifth-place points to its total in the 4×400.

North went 1-2-3 in the 100 meters. Davidson also had a 4-for-4 day and led that sweep in 13.29 seconds. Stevenson took second, with Walker third.

North went 1-2-4 in the 200 meters. Davidson won in 27.51, with Stevenson and Walker also in the 27s.

Broom had a third in the 100 hurdles and a fifth in the 300 hurdles.