Blog – Moore County Edition

Mar

20

2024

HUDSON: The state of our union is in crisis

Opinionsrep. richard hudson, state of the union

Under President Biden’s failed leadership, the State of the Union is in crisis. He can try to convince the American people his policies are working, but after his address last week, one thing is clear — they’re not buying it. Over the past three years, Americans have experienced one crisis after another. From the catastrophic open border, skyrocketing prices fueled by inflation, to surging violent crime, to weakness on the world stage, President Biden has made our country less prosperous and less safe. Since President Biden took office, folks in our region and across America are paying more for everything.…

Mar

13

2024

By Associated Press

Cooper rescinds order setting NIL guidelines

News

RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper rescinded an executive order from 2021 on Friday that established guidelines for allowing college athletes to profit from their fame. The executive order originally came as the NCAA cleared the way for college athletes to make money off the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). It was designed as “a standard for for individual institutions to use as they formalize their own policies and procedures” while multiple states passed their own varying NIL laws. But a federal judge recently barred the NCAA from enforcing NIL rules in a case involving the states of…

Mar

13

2024

By Associated Press

21-year-old bests longtime Rep. in NC House primary

GovernmentNC house primary, Wyatt Gable

While his college friends celebrated the end of midterm exams with a spring break trip to Florida, 21-year-old Wyatt Gable entered the home stretch of his bid to oust a 10-term Republican from the North Carolina House. Weeks spent phone banking after class and driving about an hour home on the weekends to knock on doors paid off. The East Carolina University junior narrowly beat state Rep. George Cleveland, 84, this week in a primary election in which he cast himself as “the future of the Republican Party.” Gable’s victory comes as voters nationwide express misgivings about the older ages…

Mar

13

2024

By North State Journal Staff

Moore County schools have successful week in spring sports

SportsMoore County, spring sports

Most of the spring high school teams continued promising starts to the season in a busy week outdoors across the county. Baseball Pinecrest is off to a perfect start this season, going 4-0. The Patriots swept all three games this past week, beating Terry Sanford, 13-1. Two days later, Pinecrest topped Oak Grove, 12-4, and they finished the week with a dramatic walk-off, 4-1 win over Myers Park. Bryant Kimbrell was the hero, with a three-run homer to end it. He also pitched the final four outs of the game to get the win on the mound. North Moore won…

Mar

13

2024

By North State Journal Staff

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Bryant Kimbrell

Sports

Bryant Kimbrell is a senior two-way player on the Pinecrest baseball team. The Patriots are a perfect 4-0 on the season and had three wins last week: 13-1 over Terry Sanford, 12-4 over Oak Grove, and 4-1 over Myers Park. Kimbrell hit, scored and drove in runs in all three games, going a combined 5-for-9 for the week, with 4 runs scored and 8 driven in. He also stole two bases. Against Myers Park, he hit a walk-off, three-run home run to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh, giving Pinecrest the victory. He also earned the…

Mar

06

2024

By Lauren Rose

HUDSON: Defending freedom and unleashing American nuclear energy

Opinionsopinion

Hardworking Americans like you are repeatedly paying the price for President Biden’s anti-energy policies, with costly mandates and red tape upending our way of life. You should have the freedom to choose the best car or truck for your family, business, and farm at an affordable price. Yet, just last year, the Biden Administration announced a new rule to impose an EV mandate onto families. Families are already struggling from higher prices across the board, yet this misguided decision would force them to give up their gas and diesel-powered cars for more expensive alternatives. The last thing folks in the…

Mar

06

2024

By Lauren Rose

County high schools flip the calendar to spring

Sports

Basketball season came to an end as the four teams representing the county all dropped their NCHSAA opening games. That turns the focus of Moore County to spring sports. Boys’ Basketball Union Pines and Pinecrest both lost their NCHSAA playoff openers, ending boys’ basketball season in Moore County for the 2023-24 season. Union Pines entered as a 32-seed in class 3A, giving them top-seeded Swansboro. The Vikings lost, 99-77, ending their season at 10-15. Senior Trent Hilburn scored 19 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in the game. Junior Jaylen Kyle also scored 19, adding 6 rebounds…

Mar

06

2024

By Lauren Rose

More than 7,000 cast early votes across Moore

News

7,093 voters cast ballots in early voting in Moore County for this week’s primary, according to numbers from the North Carolina Board of Elections. Early voting began Feb. 15 and finished last Saturday, March 2. The primary was held Tuesday, when voters are required to report to their designated precinct in order to cast a ballot. A photo ID was also required for all voting in the primary. Moore County has 75,437 registered voters according to the state, reflecting a 9.4 percent early turnout — almost matching the 9.3 percent turnout seen statewide, with 694,591 ballots cast out of 7,468,149…

Mar

06

2024

By North State Journal Staff

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: RJ Sales

Sportsathlete of the week

Pinecrest, baseball RJ Sales is an alum of the Pinecrest baseball team who is currently pitching for UNC Wilmington. Sales led Pinecrest to a Sandhills Conference title in his senior season of 2021, winning conference player of the year honors. Now a redshirt sophomore with the Seahawks, Sales is off to a dominating start to the season, posting a 3-0 record. In his most recent start, he struck out six in seven one-hit innings to win on the road at South Alabama. Sales has a 0.92 ERA and is has a WHIP (walks and hits per innin) of 0.56. Opponents…

Mar

06

2024

By Associated Press

USGA bringing men’s, women’s Opens to Shinnecock in consecutive weeks

News

FAR HILLS, N.J. — The USGA is planning another doubleheader for its biggest championships, this time at storied Shinnecock Hills. The New York club will host the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in consecutive weeks in 2036. The USGA first played the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, with Martin Kaymer winning the first week and Michelle Wie winning her lone major the following week. It plans to do the same at Pinehurst in 2029. This will be the first time for back-to-back Opens at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, one of the five…