The Fayetteville Observer
Confession thrown out in 9/11 case
A U.S. military judge has thrown out Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s 2007 confession to FBI agents about his alleged lead role in the 9/11 attacks, ruling that it wasn’t given voluntarily and can’t be used against him at trial. The Aug. 28 ruling by the...
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‘ISOLATED’
Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, flooding out festivals, canceling community events and keeping people indoors. They’re also evidence of how climate change isn’t just changing the environments we...
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‘I feel right at home here’
Dolly Parton once told a Fayetteville crowd that the city reminded her of home. The country music icon, who died Aug. 25 at age 80, spent time backstage with The Fayetteville Observer before a 1976 show here, discussing her career and why she enjoyed...
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Colleges confront decline in reading
Anyone who has spent time on a college campus lately has probably heard laments from faculty about their students’ reading habits, or rather nonreading habits. Such complaints are more than an unfounded nostalgia for a bygone age. Reading – not just...
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Fort Bragg lands spot in Army’s nuclear power push
FORT BRAGG — Fort Bragg is one of five sites selected to host a nuclear microreactor under a new energy program, the Army announced Aug. 26. Fort Bragg’s vendor will be Antares, a nuclear fission energy company that was founded in 2023 and develops...
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Future of Wade tract remains uncertain
Cumberland County commissioners have sent a proposed rezoning for a 36.6-acre tract in Wade back to the Joint Planning Board, requesting alternatives that could ease residents’ concerns while allowing the landowner to develop the...
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Embryo personhood debate gains notice
About 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in 2024, according to the most recent U.S. data. But IVF commonly involves trying to create multiple embryos, because success is never guaranteed. If unused, those embryos can be frozen,...
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FSU opens new College of Education building
The opening of the new College of Education building on the morning of Aug. 20 at Fayetteville State University represented a full-circle moment for the school. The institution was founded as the Howard School in 1867, just two years after the Civil...
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New Cumberland County school opens
In just a few days, students who previously attended Ramsey Street Alternative High School will walk into a new building, under a new name, as Pauline Jones High School begins its first school year. The newly named high school held a ribbon-cutting...
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What is Cumberland County’s oldest school?
Four Cumberland County schools have served students for more than a century, but only two have earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places, leaving some of the county’s oldest school buildings without formal historic recognition. h Some...
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Trump plan could hit science funding
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their...
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Local pitmaster introduces new barbecue throwdown
Fayetteville will become a mecca for pitmasters across the Southeast this Saturday at the inaugural 2-6 K.A. Barbecue Throwdown. The throwdown, which will take place at 5319 Yadkin Road from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 22, includes more than 20 teams...
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Veteran’s grave marker found at city site raises questions
A mistaken grave marker found in a concrete pile at a Fayetteville construction site is different from the marker now at the veteran’s grave at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery, state officials confirmed Aug. 17. The state says an error was...
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Poll: Trump approval rating hits new low
President Donald Trump’s polling woes continue as he fell to a new record low since his return to the White House, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey, with only one in three Americans approving of his job performance. The poll, released Aug. 17,...
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Mass hearings held in immigration courts
Lines have stretched out the front door of courthouses. Overflow seating has been set up in hallways. And there have been classroom-style exchanges, with judges asking people to raise their hands in response to generic questions about their...
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Umoja Wall of Honor mosaic makeover nearly complete
The makeover of the Wall of Honor at the corner of Murchison Road and Langdon Street is nearly complete. I wrote last month that the scaffolding that had partly concealed the community mural, which is affiliated with the Umoja Group, was being made...
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EVOLVING BOUNDARIES
Market Square and Hay Street are widely considered the heart of downtown Fayetteville. Yet, beyond that historic core, where downtown begins and ends is less clear, with city leaders, business owners and residents often drawing boundaries in very...
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U.S. tells Iran it will step up pressure
LONDON – Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Aug. 14 after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely. A senior Iranian source said...
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Al-Qaida, Islamic State group adopting AI
Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. h It...
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Fayetteville puts off data center rules
After a contentious public hearing marked by protests and multiple removals from City Hall, the Fayetteville City Council voted 7-3 on Aug. 10 to send proposed data center regulations back to staff for revisions, with an updated ordinance expected to...
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More than movies
The CAMEO Collective offers more than movies, according to Brian Kline, the nonprofit’s artistic director. For 26 years, the former CAMEO Art House Theatre hosted films and live events. Since rebranding as the CAMEO Collective, Kline said the...
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Union files lawsuit over TSA Gold+ information
The union representing 47,000 Transportation Security Administration workers is suing TSA. The lawsuit is looking to force the release of records regarding the expansion of privatized security screening at airports, a new program known as TSA...
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Service honors Staff Sgt. Michael Swinton
Outside Southview Baptist Church, a woman pressed her hand against the hearse carrying the flag-draped coffin of Staff Sgt. Michael Swinton before collapsing into the arms of a man beside her. h Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, was killed in action July...
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NC ends key race data requirement that improved traffic stops
Unbeknownst to most, the state legislators in the recently passed North Carolina budget struck a major blow against unbiased policing. The action will set back efforts by local police departments statewide to become more responsive (and less reactive)...
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Gunshot detection tech ignites controversy
When gunshots ring out on America’s streets, bystanders face an instant, high-stakes dilemma. h Do I call the cops? Were those even gunshots? Maybe it was just fireworks. h Every moment of hesitation risks a delay in medical treatment or gives a...
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Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt
WASHINGTON – A Republican-led Senate committee voted Aug. 6 to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal official who led the government’s COVID-19 response in 2020, in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions during a July 29 hearing. The...
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FSU gathering space expands dining options
Food trucks have gone from curbside convenience to destinations of their own, and now Fayetteville State University is carving out a permanent campus spot for a rotating lineup of mobile eateries. FSU is unveiling a new outdoor gathering space known...
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Rubio sees progress in Hormuz talks
DUBAI – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Aug. 4 there has been progress made in discussions with Iran and Oman on getting more ships through the Strait of Hormuz but no final agreement has been reached. “There’s been progress made in those...
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Rolling the dice on community
The brick wall that used to divide The Sweet Palette and Blanc Coffee Roasters is gone. In its stead stand three 10-foottall arches that Sweet Palette owner Patsy Crawford said were built to resemble the Market House. Since the coffee shop at 103...
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‘Shuttle Buddy’ is local veteran’s latest mission
After helping coordinate one of the U.S. military’s most chaotic evacuation operations, Tauheed “Ty” Wood found a new mission back home in Fayetteville to help travelers get where they need to go. His Fayetteville-based company Shuttle Buddy provides...
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‘Restoring vital long-term care’
More than two years after structural problems forced the closure of the Fayetteville State Veterans Home and displaced dozens of veterans, North Carolina has approved $40 million to rebuild the facility. But the requirement that the Department of...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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‘History is history’
Ask Phillip Lover if he named his business Fort Liberty Sheds because the Army post changed its name a few years ago — before changing it back to Fort Bragg in February of last year — and he will tell you nope. He opened the Murchison Road enterprise...
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Different kinds of justice
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett likes to note that the black robes she and her colleagues wear show that the nine justices are “united symbolically.” h Despite different personalities, legal philosophies and backgrounds, the robes...
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Case over church endorsements renewed
As the midterm campaign heats up, a legal case continues to unfold over whether churches will be able to endorse candidates and more openly take part in politics – without drawing the ire of the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has long banned...
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What finally breaks a cold case open?
For more than 40 years, John Warren’s family had no answers about who killed him. For the loved ones of Nuria Columbina Rodriguez, a young Bronx mother who disappeared in the early 1990s, it took more than three decades to learn what happened to...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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‘For the love of the music’
Fayetteville has a long musical history. Since the 1930s, local venues have hosted concerts ranging from neighborhood acts to nationally known performers. But in 2026, the city no longer has a venue dedicated exclusively to live music. h Over the...
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U.S. strikes shipping point on Red Sea
DUBAI – U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran, reaching as far as its Caspian coast, on July 24 after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the war to a second major shipping...
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From Haymount to Massey Hill
Today, as in most city’s across the country, transportation in downtown Fayetteville is dominated by automobiles. In the early 1900s, however, streetcars once crisscrossed the budding metropolis on steel rails that stretched out from the city...
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The latest in the case of missing Fort Bragg soldier
FORT BRAGG — Nearly a month after Fort Bragg soldier Spc. Sayveon N. Anderson vanished from post, Army investigators say they continue to pursue leads while his family urges the public to keep searching. Anderson was last seen June 29 on Fort Bragg,...
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Election officials reviewing voters flagged
The Cumberland County Board of Elections learned on July 14 that there were 1,104 people considered deceased on the county’s voter rolls from a report by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. The NCSBE found 34,641 across the state who are...
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Year-round schools return as closure questions linger
Students returned to Cumberland County’s year-round schools July 16, even as parents at two of the three campuses face uncertainty over the schools’ futures. Students at E.E. Miller Elementary, Anne Chesnutt Middle and Reid Ross Classical Middle and...
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Donor support fuels regional blood supply
Emily Rodgers, 13, loves the thrill of flying through the air when teammates toss her during cheerleading stunts. “She’s brave, but it makes me nervous when she’s flying,” her mother, Jennifer Rodgers said, during one of her daughter’s recent blood...
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Local readers find connection in silence
Silent reading time. Doesn’t that make you think of elementary school? The structured, 10 to 20-minute periods set by teachers to just sit and get your nose in a book? For some, that meant getting as many pages as possible out of their 10th book of the...
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U.S., Iran trade infrastructure attacks
DUBAI – The United States struck bridges and an airport in Iran on July 17 and Tehran responded by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, as the warring foes risked further escalation by expanding their targets to include infrastructure. In...
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Blanche grilled at AG confirmation
Todd Blanche faced a tough grilling from Democrats at his Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general, but it’s not clear they have the votes to block his nomination. The former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump was hit with accusations...
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Students seek guidance online instead of from schools
A second grader in Norway drew a YouTube logo when my colleagues and I asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. When we asked why, the child explained that YouTubers are famous and make lots of money. When we asked second graders in Wisconsin...
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Tiny homes, big mission for Fayetteville neighbors
What started with prayer walks in Fayetteville in 2023 will result in a groundbreaking next month for a 16cottage community that will provide permanent housing in Fayetteville for homeless veterans, representatives with Fayetteville Area Operation...
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Trump: U.S. aims to control Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said the United States is reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and will seek operational control of the Strait of Hormuz after several days in which he declared the ceasefire over, and the United States and Iran...
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Newest affordable senior complex fills up fast
As the demand for affordable senior housing continues to grow in Fayetteville, a new development is adding options for the city’s older residents. Cliffmore Park, which held its grand opening in late June, will serve senior households earning 40%, 50%...
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Fayetteville’s skyline is empty compared to similar NC cities
Fayetteville, with a population of about 208,500, is the sixth-largest city in North Carolina. Why, then, is its skyline so flat compared with those of the state’s other major cities? There are mid-rise buildings in Fayetteville, but relatively few...
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Ceasefire falls apart as Iran buries slain leader
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to have fallen apart over continued strife over the Strait of Hormuz as Iranians buried their supreme leader, killed by U.S.-Israel forces at the outset of the war. There were no new...
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Graham Platner exit leaves Dems in disarray
Democrats are racing for the reset button in the pivotal U.S. Senate battle in Maine after Graham Platner announced he will suspend his campaign, throwing the party into a frantic search for a replacement nominee to take on Republican incumbent Susan...
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Crossing guards urge city to fix school zones
Several school traffic safety concerns raised by Fayetteville traffic control officers last month have already prompted action from city officials, including the installation of a new stop sign near Max Abbott Middle School and plans to pursue school...
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Board faces vacancy as election season begins
The unexpected death of the chair of the Cumberland County Board of Education could result in a temporary appointment to one of three at-large seats up for election this year. Filing for the school board seats started July 6. Longtime educator and...
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Section of Raeford Road closing for repairs
A section of Raeford Road near Ireland Drive will close in both directions beginning July 13 so crews can replace a drainage pipe, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The closure comes after crews repairing a drainage near...
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Fayetteville’s luxury rentals come at a price
Fayetteville’s average rent is below the national average, but its most expensive apartments top the national rate by more than 65%, according to analyses released earlier this year. The NC Budget & Tax Center released the 2026 Economic County...
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Liberty
Division. Slavery. Civil War. All etched into the face of a man who spent his presidency fighting to hold together a nation that seemed determined to tear itself apart. Here, on a recent day at the Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park near...
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Rescuers scour rubble after attack in Kyiv
KYIV – Rescuers sifted through rubble in a search for survivors in Kyiv on July 3 as the Ukrainian capital observed a day of mourning, a day after a Russian missile and drone attack killed at least 30 people in the deadliest strike on the city this...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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Recreational fishing outpaces estimates
One of the United States’ largest fisheries is hiding in plain sight. Recreational freshwater anglers in the lower 48 states catch – and keep – far more fish than any official body has estimated, according to new research from our team of North...
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BUILDING SKILLS
About 30 teens, ages 16 to 19, picked up hammers, drills and saws the week of June 22-26 to get a crash course in construction-related trades and home building. The Third Annual Construction Camp was hosted by the Fayetteville Area Habitat for...
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Meet the newest class of Fayetteville’s 40 Under 40
When we’re young, it’s easy to rack up the accolades. There’s no shortage of people — parents, teachers, coaches — cheering us on. Grades, certificates, winning scores and honor rolls offer feedback that lets kids know when they’re doing a good...
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‘Our history should be taught, not erased’
The push to revert Fort Bragg’s name back to Fort Liberty has again made it into the House Armed Services Committee’s draft of the defense budget for the next fiscal year. Democratic Rep. Marilyn Strickland, of Washington, pushed for an amendment last...
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‘NURTURE HOPE’
A teenager scrolls through their phone at the dinner table, barely looks up and answers questions with one-word replies. For many adults, that image has come to stand for a larger fear: that today’s young people are disconnected from others and may be...
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More vendors, a bigger drag show
This year’s Fayetteville PrideFest is growing in size and scope, with organizers vowing a stronger focus on families and ensuring the annual LGBTQ+ celebration feels welcoming to all. Set for June 27 at the Crown Expo Center, the free festival will...
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Former inmate awarded settlement in federal suit
Cumberland County has agreed to pay a former inmate $4,000 to settle a federal lawsuit in which he alleged he was denied due process while being held in the Cumberland County jail in 2024, according to the settlement agreement. In April 2025, Samuel...
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BUILDING A COMEBACK
Two residential development proposals in downtown Fayetteville have been submitted to the city’s Technical Review Committee. Separate developers have submitted plans for townhomes and an apartment complex located off North and South Cool Spring...
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Graduations grow contentious in U.S.
As graduation season in the United States draws to a close, the last few moments of school for some recent high school and college grads were marred by controversy. Graduation ceremonies around the country in recent weeks have made headlines for...
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Growth is coming to Bingham
Fans of Dairy Queen have a reason to be excited. A new one is happening. Land has now been cleared along a large block on Bingham Drive that has, for a while now, contained a small billboard that shows a combination Dairy Queen and Atkinson’s...
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‘Our goal is one consolidated’
State Sen. Val Applewhite says local leaders were blindsided June 16 by a bill in the North Carolina General Assembly that would give Cumberland County commissioners the power to create a joint 911 center with the city — a project nearly two decades in...
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LOWER CRIME RATES AT RISK
The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century. Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer...
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PRESERVING A LEGACY
Juneteenth is a time of remembering. The national holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, has always been a reminder of a formerly forgotten part of Black history. Not in opposition to the...
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