North State Journal Staff – Moore County Edition

Sep

06

2023

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By Ryan Henkel

Aberdeen approves new memorial bench program

GovernmentAberdeen, Aberdeen Town Board, memorial bench

ABERDEEN – The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, August 28, with consideration of a handful of internal requests on the agenda. To start the meeting, two officers – Cameron Parent and Kirsten Czako, took their Oath of Offices, and another, Jimmy Covington, was promoted to Sergeant before the board and meeting attendees. “This is a great event,” said Mayor Robbie Farrell. “It’s always good for the board to see this happen. We’re so glad that you’re going to work for the Town of Aberdeen. These men and women are the reason that you can sleep well at night. They’re the…

Aug

30

2023

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By Ryan Henkel

Southern Pines to look into implementing subscription-based recycling services

GovernmentSouthern Pines Council

SOUTHERN PINES – The Southern Pines Town Council met Tuesday, August 8, with an agenda full of public hearings and action items. To begin the meeting, the council first held four public hearings, the first of which was to decide on a new approach for garbage and recycling services. “This project actually started over a year ago,” said assistant town manager Mike Cameron. “We hired Davenport Lawrence back in January. We’ve done a contract extension to get us through December 31 of 2024 with GFL to continue solid waste and recycling services.” The council was presented with four options that…

Aug

23

2023

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By North State Journal Staff

Two of three county football teams start off with wins

Sportshigh school football, moore county football, Moore County sports, prep football

It was a successful start to the 2023 high school football season for two of the three teams in the area. North Moore High School and Pinecrest High School both opened their seasons with non-conference wins, while Union Pines High School took a loss in the opener. North Moore, coming off a 13-1 season last year and trip to the state quarterfinals, got off on the right foot as the Mustangs shut out Carver, 27-0, on the road. The Mustangs were led by 114 yards and a touchdown on the ground by Kolby Ritchie. Jakarey Gillis added 77 yards and…

Aug

23

2023

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By Ryan Henkel

Board of Education approves extension to Superintendent’s contract

Newsboard of education, moore county boe, Moore County Schools

CARTHAGE – The Moore County Schools Board of Education met Monday, August 14, with a few budgetary matters as well as an update on the Superintendent’s contract on the agenda. The first action item the board approved was the purchase of three new activity buses from White’s IC Bus at the price of $130,758 per bus. According to the plan presented by Assistant Superintendent for Operations Jenny Purvis, two of the buses would be purchased with ESSER funds, and the third bus will be funded through Transportation 706 funds. “We’re moving forward with the purchase of three activity buses to…

Aug

16

2023

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By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

Strickland, Morgan, Pizzella to remain on Village of Pinehurst litigation committee

Governmentlitigation committee, Village of Pinehurst, Village of Pinehurst Council

PINEHURST — The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, August 8, with various advisory board matters, road resurfacing and litigation concerns on the agenda. The council kicked off its regular meeting with appointments of four citizens to various Village boards and commissions. The first was the appointment of Tom Brereton to the Pinehurst Neighborhood Advisory Committee representing Pinewild. “We only had one applicant for Pinewild, but the good news is that Tom was the selection and designee from the Pinewild Property Owners Association, so we got the right guy,” said Village Manager Jeff Sanborn. The second was the reappointment of…

Aug

02

2023

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By U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson

Accountability on the issues impacting you

Opinionseditorial, Hudson, opinion

President Ronald Reagan famously said, “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” President Joe Biden’s open border policies have fueled a historic surge in illegal immigration and the flames of our ongoing border crisis. Since Biden took office, there have been over 5.6 million illegal crossings encountered at our Southern border, and while approximately 1.6 million illegal immigrants have escaped apprehension that we know of. According to Customs and Border Protection, 144,500 illegal immigrants were encountered at the Southern border in June alone—a 186% increase from the number of June encounters during the last administration. To…

Jul

19

2023

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By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

Frustrations boiler over again between Board of Education members

Newsboard of education members, BOE, Moore County Schools, public school

CARTHAGE — The Moore County Schools Board of Education met Monday, July 10, as animosity continued amongst board members. During discussions regarding the prioritization of the Master Facility Plan projects, emotions seemed to reach a boiling point as verbal clashes between Board Chair Robert Levy and Vice Chair David Hensley increased. Emotions had been running high between the two Republican members dating back to last month’s meeting when the two engaged in a verbal spout regarding what Hensley saw as an overstep by Levy as the Board Chair struck down three of Hensley’s added agenda items. The most recent point…

Jul

19

2023

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By North State Journal Staff

Pinehurst mayoral contest leads Moore County election filings

Governmentmayoral contest, Moore County election filings

PINEHURST — Three candidates are in the race for Pinehurst mayor in this November’s municipal election. The first candidate to file was former village councilmember Kevin Drum, who lost re-election in 2021 and has been vocal about his displeasure with the current members. “I am committed to leading Pinehurst by respecting its traditions and history, by inspiring and empowering fellow council members, village staff, and our citizens, and by restoring transparency to local governance,” Drum said in a statement following his filing. A longtime community leader, Drum was first elected to the village council in 2017 following time spent on…

Jul

12

2023

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By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

Aberdeen Town Board holds four public hearings regarding property matters

GovernmentAberdeen Town Board, property

ABERDEEN — The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, June 26, with four public hearings on the agenda, all of which related to property matters. The board meeting began with a presentation of their audit report for Fiscal Year 2021-22 presented by Forvis. “As a result of our audit, we issued an unmodified or clean audit report on the town’s financial statements,” said Forvis partner John Frank. “We did not identify any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls. Overall, positive financial results for the year.” “We survived COVID, and we’re coming out the other side in good shape,” said…

Jul

05

2023

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By North State Journal Staff

State Board of Elections approves voter ID rules, appoints county board members

Governmentcounty board members, State Board of Elections, Voter ID

RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) met on Tuesday, June 27, and approved temporary rules related to the implementation of voter ID rules in North Carolina elections. Beginning with Fall 2023 municipal elections, all voters will be asked to show a form of photo ID when voting in-person and via absentee ballot. “The agency is proposing rules to ensure uniform, standard implementation of the photo ID requirements in all 3,000-plus polling locations and among all 100 county boards of elections,” a statement from the NCSBE read. The board also reviewed more than 1,300 comments on the…