News – Moore County Edition

Apr

03

2024

Pinehurst opens hiring for new village manager

NewsPinehurst Council

Pinehurst will have a new village manager before the close of 2024 according to a timeline adopted by the Village of Pinehurst Council at its regular meeting on March 26. Current Village Manager Jeff Sanborn announced his intention to resign effective October 25, so the goal is to have his replacement start in November. “Leading our exceptional Village staff has been one of the most rewarding professional experiences I have had in my life,” Sanborn said in the Feb. 29 press release announcing his upcoming departure. “I know that we have the right people and systems in place to ensure…

Apr

03

2024

By Ena Sellers

Growing state, shrinking farmland

NewsMoore County agriculture

CARY — Last week regional and state agricultural leaders gathered for NC Ag Leads: Imagine Agriculture Day at the SAS campus in Cary, to talk about agriculture, challenges and how to move the industry forward. Cris Coffin, National Ag Land Network Director and Senior Policy Advisor and Dr. Courtney Owens, Southeast Regional Director, both with American Farmland Trust were among the speakers who engaged participants in a thought-provoking conversation about the shrinking agricultural land base in North Carolina. “We are doing a lot more work in the regenerative agriculture space and keeping farmers on the land because we understand that…

Apr

03

2024

By Ryan Henkel

Aberdeen to install four-way stop on South Street

NewsAberdeen Town Board

The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, March 18, voting to approve a new four-way stop at the intersection of South Street and Glasgow Street as an attempt to slow down through traffic. According to Director of Public Works Joe Wood, the four-way stop will be installed after the street resurfacing project is finished in the area. The town had already reduced the speed limit on South Street down to 20 mph and posted new signage indicating such, but the commissioners felt that that still wasn’t doing enough to address the issue, so the four-way stop was a necessary next step.…

Mar

20

2024

By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

School Board close to finalizing new budget

NewsMoore County Schools

Moore schools Superintendent Tim Locklair presented his proposed operating budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to the Board of Education at its March 11 meeting. The updated projections would require an increase in funding from the county of $1,340,200 — increasing the local contribution to a proposed $3,540,200 — while pulling money from existing cash and using other methods, including leaving some vacant positions unfilled, some technology expenses being covered by a federal rural grant and other measures help to offset the extra spending. The superintendent noted that, thanks to staff vacancies, unspent funds were reallocated over the year to…

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

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 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…

Mar

06

2024

By North State Journal Staff

Pinehurst budget overspending lower than originally expected

News

PINEHURST -— The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, Feb. 27, approving a fiscal 2024 mid-year budget amendment to the general fund. “I met with the managers and department heads to come up with our revenue and expenditure projections for the remainder of this fiscal year, FY24,” Financial Services Director Dana Van Nostrand told the board. “We’re estimating that our expenditures will exceed the revenues by approximately $541,000. If that is the year end result, we would be drawing down from fund balance, but our original budget for FY24 anticipated us having to draw $600,000 from fund balance, so we…

Feb

28

2024

By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

Aberdeen hears proposal to update South Street railroad crossing

NewsAberdeen Town Board

ABERDEEN – The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, Feb. 26, approving ordinance change to increase the maximum height of multi-family buildings from 35 to 45 feet to accommodate sloped roofs. “When you’re doing a three-story multi-family building, you’re not able to get the proper slope” with the limit of 35 feet, Planning Director John Terziu told the board. Instead, architects are forced towards “a more urban style, flat roof without being able to put the pitched slope, which doesn’t really fit into our suburban population.” NCDOT’s Rail Division was also in attendance, proposing an update to the South Street railroad…

Feb

28

2024

By Ryan Henkel, North State Journal

Pinehurst council moves forward on SMPO

NewsVillage of Pinehurst Council

PINEHURST – The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, Feb. 13, and approved updates to the fees and charges schedule for fiscal 2025. Changes include an increase for residential building permits relating to residential additions, alterations or new construction from $0.17 per square foot to $0.30 per square foot, an 2-4% increase in the base fee for the rental of the Fair Barn and a $5 increase in administrative fees for memberships, classes, programs and youth day camps for residents. The council signed off on a number of items related to the new Sandhills Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMPO). “Once an…