The Fayetteville Observer
School closures are just the start of district-wide moves
Two Cumberland County elementary schools have closed for good, but students at Manchester and J.W. Coon elementaries are not the only ones facing changes next school year. The Cumberland County Board of Education’s votes and recommendations on school...
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Transitional housing plan intends to offer hope
John Russell, a peer support specialist, told city leaders Tuesday he became involved with a new effort to create transitional housing near downtown after hearing about — and then seeing for himself — what was going on at the Headquarters Library...
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They stepped away
“When we were in the game, we were actually about to blow up.” “Don’t call it a comeback,” LL Cool J famously rapped, “I’ve been here for years.” h Well, for Fayetteville rap duo and sisters Zelda and Zoletta Taylor, you CAN call it a comeback. The...
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Cannabis legalization spurs innovation
Innovation in health care saves lives. But not all health innovations have enough evidence to actually benefit patients. Barriers to innovation are often higher in illicit or restricted markets, including cannabis, stem cells and cryptocurrencies....
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County looks to expand child care to city employees
Cumberland County is looking to expand its employee child care center enrollment to include city employees. Assistant County Manager Faith Phillips presented a proposal during a Fayetteville City Council-Cumberland County Board of Commissioners joint...
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Your input will make Fayetteville streets safer
When it comes to traffic accidents, what part of Fayetteville do you think is most dangerous? I guess it comes down to where you live and what you see every day in your daily drive. For me, it’s not close. I have seen the aftermath of many accidents...
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Fayetteville PWC report shows upgrades to remove PFAS
Fayetteville's Public Works Commission 2025 Water Quality Report found that Fayetteville's drinking water meets or surpasses all EPA and state standards for safety and quality, and upgrades are underway to reduce PFAS. PWC performs more than 150,000...
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Former parking lot could be hotel site
A former parking lot — once planned for the Crown Event Center — has sat vacant for more than a year in downtown Fayetteville. It could get a new life as an upscale hotel, commissioners learned this week. Cumberland County Commissioners received a...
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Facial recognition put to use in London
LONDON – Tourists, shoppers and office workers in a busy London street on an ordinary weekday found themselves part of a digital identity check as live facial recognition cameras scanned faces against a police watch list. The operation was an example...
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Stories behind Fort Bragg roads and buildings honoring fallen soldiers
At Fort Bragg, the nation’s most populated military installation, the legacy of fallen service members endures long after their sacrifice. h Each year, Gold Star families gather on Fort Bragg to honor the memory of their loved ones who gave their lives...
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Universities still hold Native remains, artifacts
Many universities and museums in the United States have long held Native American burial artifacts, other sacred objects and even human remains. Most of these collections were acquired in the late 19th and 20th centuries. They came from grave...
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Jan. 6 officers sue to block Trump’s $1.8B ‘slush fund’
WASHINGTON – Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued President Donald Trump and his administration in a bid to block the Justice Department’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. The lawsuit, filed May 20 by...
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Cumberland County weighs data center moratorium
While Cumberland County currently has no regulations in place for data centers, officials recently took a first step that would pause data centers here until officials have time to put ordinances in place to govern the centers. A public hearing on a...
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RISING COSTS
Americans’ concerns about being able to afford electricity and home heating fuel have been elevated since the beginning of the Iran war. But recently released nationwide data shows that even before the war began, these concerns were widespread,...
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Cuba faces possible Trump ‘takeover’
federal government’s moves to indict former Cuban President Raúl Castro will ramp up pressure for regime change in Cuba and could be a prelude to a U.S. military operation, just as the Trump administration sent troops into Venezuela in January to...
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Trump leaves China with stalemate
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing may have produced modest results by the standards of U.S.-China summits but it highlighted a clear benefit for China: After the extremes of last year’s trade war, the countries have reverted to...
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Seniors struggle with housing, caregiving
SARASOTA, FL – Hurricane Milton had blown off the carport roof, damaged the lanai and broken several windows of his home in Sarasota, Florida. But that October 2024, L. Paul Laramee was reeling from an even greater shock. After months of troubling...
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Divided school board approves closures amid opposition
Following months of community outcry — and internal disagreement on the board — the Cumberland County Board of Education ultimately voted to close Manchester and J.W. Coon elementary schools during its May 12 regular meeting. Both motions passed 5-3....
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Fayetteville Goodyear plant could close by next year
Goodyear Tire & Rubber, one of Cumberland County’s largest employers, could shut its doors by the end of next year, according to a statement from the company. The closure would leave 1,700 people without a job. Spokesperson Kylie Ulanski released the...
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City eyes mixed-use project near downtown
The city of Fayetteville is seeking partners to help develop a 9.3-acre site just south of downtown into a mixed-use project featuring residential, retail and commercial development and open space. The city has issued a Request for Qualification...
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Could a new festival leverage Fayetteville’s cultural moment?
Hip-hop artist J. Cole organized Raleigh’s Dreamville Festival, which for five years was a smash success, attracting top-tier performers and bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to the Triangle and surrounding areas. Now, some folks in Jermaine...
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U.S. hybrid sales soar, along with gas prices
Many American car buyers are gravitating to hybrid vehicles to offset the recent surge in gas prices from the Iran war, according to fresh industry sales data and dealers. U.S. hybrid sales rose 37% in the two months since the Middle East conflict...
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Fort BrAss troops usins DronEs in IrAn
FORT BRAGG — Military leaders recently provided an update on the role of Fort Bragg troops deployed in support of operations in the Middle East. During a May 5 Pentagon briefing, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, singled out the...
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Uncertainty remains in labor market
U.S. employers added 115,000 jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated May 8, fueling some cautious optimism about hiring even as high oil prices tied to the Iran war and rising AI adoption pose risks to the labor market. The April...
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Charting his own path
It’s been nearly 1,000 years since King Henry IV stood barefoot in the Italian snow to beg forgiveness after clashes with Pope Gregory VII, and over two centuries since Napoleon imprisoned Pope Pius VII in France. Now, a battle is underway between a...
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Demographic dynamics upending the world
Government-shaking protests in Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal and Sri Lanka – to name a few – have all in recent years been linked to what demographers call a “youth bulge.” Meanwhile, the economic slowdown in China and ballooning public debt in the United...
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One historic stop at a time
Fayetteville’s connection to the American Revolution is more than just its namesake, the Marquis de LaFayette. The 250th anniversary of the country’s founding is a good time to remember this area’s deep revolutionary ties. Cumberland County fielded...
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Microplastics could be overestimated
It seems like every day a new study finds tiny plastic particles called microplastics where they should not be: in our bodies and our food, water and air. h Yet finding and identifying microplastics is extremely challenging, especially given their...
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Parents question speed of J.W. Coon closure
J.W. Coon Elementary staff and parents told Cumberland County Board of Education members April 29 that while they would like a new school, the board’s recommendation to close the school for the next school year feels rushed. In February, the board...
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Federal lawyers say oversight key to thwart fraud
Anthony Nel was surprised when his voter registration was revoked in Texas after he cast an early ballot for the November 2025 election. The Denton County resident was born in South Africa in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 2013 when his parents...
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Prediction markets see explosive rise
Though prediction markets have been legal in the United States for less than 18 months, they can’t stop making news and making money. On prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, users can stake real money on just about anything, from the...
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Cape Fear Valley Health plans major expansion
Cape Fear Valley Health is embarking on another planned expansion — this time of its surgery and emergency departments — amid several years of development on the campus of the health system’s flagship hospital on Owen Drive. In January, Cape Fear...
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Spring Lake residents urge board to spare school
SPRING LAKE — Spring Lake’s mayor, a school cafeteria employee and an 80-year-old resident were among 13 speakers who lambasted the Cumberland County Board of Education during an April 27 meeting on the board’s recommendation to close Manchester...
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Nonprofit worker alleges bias toward group feeding homeless people
Fayetteville resident Katie Entrocaso said she found out about the work of the Ally Foundation on TikTok. She became interested in the Fayettevillebased nonprofit because of its direct, community-based approach to helping people, here and abroad, she...
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Has partisan push sidelined Cumberland’s elections chief ?
Is Angie Amaro, who is Cumberland County’s election director, still on the job? The five-member board’s three Republicans — Chair Linda Devore, Bree Eldridge and Ryan Eric Johnson — are trying to remove Amaro. They form the board’s majority. The two...
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Food aid doesn’t make people loafers
Millie Morales believes in hard work. h “I feel that as an American citizen, we all have a great opportunity to be able to improve our life,” the 58-year-old woman explained in an interview I conducted with her in 2025. “Are you willing to put in the...
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Remembering South Side High
I learned a while ago that Joann Adams is a real one when it comes to preserving history, in particular when it comes to Fayetteville’s Black communivice ty. She serves as church historian for downtown’s Second Missionary Baptist Church. In 2019, she...
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U.S. delegation to meet with Iranian officials
The United States is sending a delegation to Pakistan to meet with Iranian officials, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said April 24, resuming direct talks as both countries accuse each other of violating a ceasefire by seizing and blocking...
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Tensions escalating in Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran remained in place April 23 as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continued and negotiations between Lebanon and Israel were expected to resume in Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador...
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World’s great fish migrations collapsing
Hidden beneath the surface of the world’s rivers, some of Earth’s great animal movements unfold – migrations that rival, in sheer biomass, the famous mass movements of zebra and wildebeest across the Serengeti. h For centuries, fish migrations were as...
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Latino vote shifting away from Trump, GOP
In the 2024 election, President Donald Trump dramatically improved his performance among nearly all groups of voters from four years earlier. Trump’s growth among Hispanic voters was especially notable, increasing by more than 10 points from 2020 to...
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A mentor’s advice shapes a life of care
Mayra Draughn teared up when she remembered the late mentor and nurse who encouraged her when she was a teenager. Mayra was working as a nursing assistant at a nursing home in Yadkin County as part of a high school internship. She had always wanted to...
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Experts: Rotavirus cases surge in U.S.
A highly contagious illness that can cause severe and even deadly vomiting and diarrhea is spreading at an alarmingly high rate across the United States, health experts warned. Cases of rotavirus usually increase during the typical cold and flu...
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‘The power of kindness’
Nearly five years ago, Dr. Scott Cameron pointed out a one-acre site near two abandoned homes, scrub oaks, pines and trash along Broadfoot Avenue and the corner of Branston Street in Fayetteville to fellow Fayetteville resident Connie Bubon. Cameron,...
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Snow drought presents climate stress test
Across much of the Western United States, winter 2026 was the year the snow never came. Many ski resorts got by with snowmaking but shut down their winter operations early. Fire officials and water supply managers are worried about summer. Where I...
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Group to Cumberland BOE: Slow down school closure process Residents feel voices ‘not being fully heard’
A civil rights organization is urging the Cumberland County Board of Education to slow the district’s school closure and consolidation process as community members affected by the board’s recommendations continue to voice their concerns. During the...
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Forge Food Hall is under construction in Fayetteville
A new food hall bringing together some of Fayetteville’s popular dining options is part of a project the developer says is designed to foster a sense of community similar to concepts seen elsewhere in the U.S. and Asia. The Forge Food Hall, with space...
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New Fayetteville Publix has unique addition
A Publix being built in Fayetteville, just outside the Hope Mills town limits, will have something no other Fayetteville-area grocery store has: A second level. Publix spokesman Jared Glover told The Fayetteville Observer in an April 8 email that the...
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Family says energy drink to blame for teen’s death
A family in Texas is suing the distributor of a popular energy drink, alleging their daughter died from an enlarged heart caused by drinking large amounts of caffeine. The family of 17-year-old Larissa Nicole Rodriguez, a high school student in...
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Prices
But that’s what’s happening, as the gasoline pump eats into the larger tax refunds that people are seeing from new tax breaks on tips, Social Security retirement payments, overtime pay, car loan interest, and state and local tax bills that were part of...
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Cameo Art House
Monday, I visited my old loft apartment on the second floor of the Cameo Art House Theatre in downtown Fayetteville. I lived there circa the late 2000s. People looked at me kind of funny when I said I lived “in” the theater, but the description mostly...
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The high cost of U.S. health care
In announcing its “Great Healthcare Plan” in January, the Trump administration became the latest in a long history of efforts by the U.S. government to rein in the soaring cost of health care. h As a physician and professor studying the intersection of...
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Residents say ‘no’ to data centers
When folks in Fayetteville and Cumberland County are given a chance to speak publicly about data centers, they show up strong and from all walks of life. And from what I’ve seen so far, they are unanimously against the idea of having more of these...
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Former N.C. Gov. Cooper speaks at Senate campaign event
RIGHT: U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper speaks to a small crowd during a campaign event in downtown Fayetteville on April 7. The Democratic former N.C. Gov. will face Republican Michael Whatley in November for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom...
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Community approach aims to prevent violence
Gun and youth violence continue to resist a downward crime trend in Fayetteville. One way the city is trying to deal with violence is to stop it before it starts. “Violence interruption” is a common designation for this approach. And it is where The...
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TSA sharing data with ICE elicits concern
The deportation of a Guatemalan mother and daughter who were detained before boarding a flight raises new questions about how the Trump administration is using government databases for immigration enforcement. The Transportation Security...
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STUFFY SEASON
If you think 2026 has been a horrible allergy season so far, you aren’t alone. h Officials say a combination of weather events coupled with a changing climate have made this year’s pollen season, always a challenge in pine-heavy North Carolina,...
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‘This is going to be a jewel in their crown’
Local and state officials held a topping-off ceremony March 31 for the NC History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction. This is an event where the builder, in this case Balfour Beatty Construction, places the final steel beam. People...
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SNAP-Ed saved money, helped Americans eat healthier
If the government had found a way to save $10 for every dollar it spent helping low-income people get healthier, wouldn’t it make sense for it to keep doing that? Well, that’s exactly what the U.S. government did when it piloted the SNAPEd program in...
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How to read conversion therapy ruling
How big of an impact will the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 31 ruling on speech-based conversion therapy have on the First Amendment? That will depend on how states across the nation have drafted their laws regulating the practice, legal experts say. In...
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Judge: Trump NPR, PBS cuts are unconstitutional
A federal judge said the Trump administration can’t enforce the president’s order to ax federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, saying in a March 31 decision that the White House can’t “extinguish speech” the...
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240+ new homes will locate near Fayetteville area pub
Dirtbag Ales, a brewpub, taproom and family-centered social gathering spot on Corporation Drive in Hope Mills is getting more company — and a lot of it. Trees have been cleared along a huge swath just south of the business to make way for a...
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‘Birth tourism’ enters immigration debate
WASHINGTON – The practice is called “birth tourism.” Companies with names like USA Happy Baby and Star Baby Care offered to shepherd pregnant women from China – or any other country – into the United States to give birth to children recognized as U.S....
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Phylicia Rashad visits Fayetteville
Phylicia Rashad, who played iconic TV mom Clair Huxtable, said a surprise decision made by her own late mother when Rashad was a teenager helped her land that role. Rashad, a stage, film and TV actress, who costarred in the “The Cosby Show,” and more...
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‘A rising tide lifts all ships’
On a recent Thursday morning, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County on Hay Street was quiet. Two women — grandmothers — moved slowly through the gallery’s exhibit by Cumberland County high schoolers. h They were there to see their...
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‘Trump slump’ hit U.S. tourism in 2025
With an upcoming FIFA World Cup being staged across the nation, 2026 was supposed to be a bumper year for tourism to the United States, driven in part by hordes of arriving soccer fans. And yet, the U.S. tourism industry is worried. While the rest of...
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Pentagon says some 82nd Airborne troops deploying
Part of the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters and some soldiers with the division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team will be deploying to the U.S. Central Command’s area of authority, a Department of War official told The Fayetteville Observer on March...
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Residents demand pause on data center
More than 25 speakers appeared before Cumberland County commissioners March 23, united in the same request — that the county impose a moratorium and put regulations in place for data centers seeking to locate here. Some of the same speakers, some...
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County seeks state funds for schools
Earlier this month, Cumberland County officials asked the county’s legislative delegation to consider a $92.5 million state allocation, with funding for E.E. Smith High School emerging as a talking point. On March 19, Cumberland County commissioners...
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ICE agents to be deployed at airports
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began deploying at some U.S. airports March 23 as travelers faced significant disruptions and Transportation Security Administration agent absences soared amid the partial government shutdown. President...
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‘Bad news for our native environment’
Drive into pretty much any neighborhood in the Fayetteville area in late winter or early spring and you’re likely to see ornamental trees in yards and along streets covered with blooming white flowers. The Bradford pear − and other varieties of the...
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‘A living symbol’
As the country prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of its founding, what better time to visit the legend of the good ol’ Liberty Tree in downtown Fayetteville? If you’ve ever walked Hay Street, you cannot have missed this striking, live oak tree...
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Troops deployed to Middle East region
Despite President Donald Trump’s promises of the war with Iran ending soon and broad domestic disapproval of further involvement, the United States is sending more troops to the region, a defense official said. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit,...
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Cookman’s lasting legacy at WIDU and in Fayetteville
To say Sandy and Wes Cookman were two peas in a pod is to understate it. The Cookmans, co-owners of the WIDU radio network, were seen everywhere together. And it was together that they built WIDU from a single AM station in which gospel music was only...
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Veteran organization saves an injured dog
Earlier this month, Fayetteville resident Stacey Buckner was on her way to grab dinner when she saw something that made her immediately stop her car on the side of the road near Hummingbird Place in Eastover. h Buckner, the director of local veteran...
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