GARNER — The Lumberton boys basketball season came to a close on Tuesday in the first round of the 4A state playoffs in a 91-78 loss at Garner.

No. 20 Lumberton was led by senior Kwashek Breeden with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan McNeill also had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

No. 13 Garner distanced themselves from the Pirates over the second and third quarter. The Trojans took a 44-33 lead at halftime and stretched it to 72-58 after the third quarter.

Leading Garner in the scoring column were Chris Nobles with 20 points and Anthony Daniels with 18 points.

Fourth-seeded Seventy-First hosts Garner in the second round on Thursday.

Mustangs fall short to Riverside

WILLIAMSTON — The South Robeson boys basketball team lost 58-53 on the road at Riverside on Tuesday in the first round of the 1A state playoffs.

No. 21 South Robeson was led by Cameron Werrell with 36 points and 12 rebounds. Kylerr Page added 10 points for the Mustangs. Both players were the only ones to score for the Mustangs after halftime.

Daniel Murray added six points in his final high school game.

No. 12 Riverside goes to Granville Central in the second round.

Fairmont snaps streak at First Flight

KITTY HAWK — Not only did the 72-46 loss on the road to 10th-seeded First Flight end the Fairmont boys basketball team’s 10-game win streak, it also was the first loss in the first round of the state playoffs for the Golden Tornadoes since the 2008 season.

Dwayne Davis scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the 23rd-seeded Golden Tornadoes. Jayvon Morris closed his career out with a seven-point outing and Jakeem Moore had eight points.

First Flight travels to South Columbus in Thursday’s second round.

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ST PAULS — With just over a minute to go in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s first-round home game against Dixon, St. Pauls guard Emonta Smith stepped up to the free throw line, one foot behind the other, and cooly dropped two of his game-high 15 points.

The free throws were two of just three points scored in the period for the home team, but were enough to creep away with a 36-27 win and give them a second-round date with top-seeded Farmville Central on Thursday in the 2A East bracket of the NCHSAA state playoffs.

Smith’s stance at the charity stripe is similar to what coach Corey Thompson has preached to his sixteenth-seeded St. Pauls (18-9) team, instilling a “one step at a time” approach.

Thompson watched his squad take a huge first step, as they led No. 17 Dixon (15-13) by double digits heading into the second quarter. The team took a step back in the second, however, failing to score until a free throw by Anthony Campbell at the 2:08 mark, that extended their narrow lead to 17-13.

The last two minutes produced a blur of baskets by Smith and Co., which he said was a result of their work on the other end of the floor.

“We turned up the press,” said Smith. “We started getting steals, and our defense leads to offense.”

Smith and fellow guard Caleb Henderson hounded the opposing guards and created transition buckets. Henderson dropped four of his eight points during the stretch, the last being a layup that capped a 9-0 run to put them ahead 26-16 at the break.

In the opening stages of the third, Smith sprinted towards the basket and twisted his body mid-air to bank in a layup that extended the margin, 28-16. Isaiah Davis finished with 10 points, three of which came on a triple that made it 31-21 with just over two minutes left in the period.

But a frustrated Thompson watched the group go scoreless until the final minutes of the fourth.

“I thought we kind of just did some things defensively in the second half and scored enough points to hold on. Survive and advance man,” Thompson said. “And as ugly as it looked, I’ll take it.”

Dixon’s Everette Lewis was the only player to finish in double figures, scoring a team-high 10 points and Logan Hubbard chipped in with seven points.

The last two outings have been the lowest scoring outputs of the season for St. Pauls, but Thompson’s group has adopted a fighting attitude which he says they’ll need ahead of their matchup with a Farmville Central group that posted 93 points in its first-round victory and will also be looking to avenge a first-round road loss to the Bulldogs two years ago in Thompson’s first year.

“Any given night, any team can beat anybody,” Thompson said. “We know who they are and they know who we are, so they’re not going to overlook us and likewise. We just got to come out and play our game and take one possession at a time and hopefully, come out on the winning side.”

Despite the high ranking and boasting a roster loaded with Division I talent, Smith’s postgame message to his teammates was simple.

“The pressure isn’t on us, all the pressure is on them because they’re the No. 1 seed,” he said. “So, just go out and fight and don’t be scared.”

Davis

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_file-20-3.jpegDavis

Smith

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PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke men’s and women’s basketball teams will open up a regular season-ending two-game road trip on Wednesday when the Braves head to Florence, S.C., to battle Francis Marion in a pair of pivotal Peach Belt Conference matchups inside the Smith University Center. The women’s game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, with the men’s game slated to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Braves (8-18, 7-13 PBC) has now dropped four straight games after Saturday’s 59-47 setback to Clayton State in the regular season home finale. The Lakers limited UNCP to just 3-of-13 shooting in the second quarter and scored 19 points off of 22 turnovers by the Braves to key the win.

UNCP will showcase the league’s second-best scoring (62.2 points/game allowed) and field goal percentage (35.3) defense on Wednesday in Florence. The Lady Braves have held 20 of their 26 opponents to 39 percent shooting or worse in 2018-19, while holding 12 opponents under 60 points.

Junior Tee Graham has turned in double-digit scoring numbers in 11 of her last 12 outings, including each of the last nine games. The Miami, Fla., native is averaging 14.2 points an outing since January 29, while also converting on nearly 40 percent of her field goal attempts.

The Lady Patriots (10-14, 7-13 PBC) had their two-game win streak stopped with a 63-60 setback to Flagler at home on Saturday. Francis Marion nearly rallied all the way back from a 10-point deficit with 2:52 left to play, but missed a layup with five seconds left to seal the final outcome.

Francis Marion showcases one of the league’s best shot-blocking teams (4.2 blocks/game), but has allowed 69 points per game this season. The Lady Patriots have converted nearly 41 percent of their field goal attempts in 2018-19, while averaging 66.3 points per game as well.

Senior Shaunice Fulmore maintains a Peach Belt Conference-best 19.5 points per game scoring average, and has scored 20 or more points in 10 of her 24 starts this season. Sophomore Kiana Adderton is the best 3-point threat for the Lady Patriots, having canned better than 30 percent of her perimeter attempts while averaging 13.0 points an outing.

The Braves (19-7, 14-6 PBC) quashed a two-game skid with a 122-96 victory over visiting Clayton State on Saturday. UNCP shot better than 57 percent from the field in that contest, and led for nearly 39 minutes of action.

UNCP boasts the league’s top field goal percentage defense (42.4) in 2018-19, and has limited opponents to just 74.3 points per game this season as well. The Braves have bolstered their defensive effort with a league-best 4.7 blocks per game, as well as 10.3 steals an outing (10.3), while also maintaining a PBC-best rebounding margin (+10.8) as well.

Frontcourt mates James Murray-Boyles (14.5 points/game) and Akia Pruitt (14.1) have put up more than 28 points per game for UNCP in 2018-19, while also combining to convert on better than 47 percent of their field goal attempts as well. Murray-Boyles has scored 10 or more points in each of the last 13 outings, while Pruitt has tallied 13 or more points in the last 12 contests.

The Patriots (19-6, 15-5 PBC) have now won two of their last three outings after Saturday’s 84-71 Homecoming victory over Flagler. Francis Marion put together a 16-0 run in the first half to take a nine-point lead into the halftime break of that contest.

Francis Marion ranks among the league’s top four teams in 11 offensive statistical categories, and will showcase the Peach Belt Conference’s third-best scoring team (88.7 points/game) against the Braves on Wednesday. The Patriots have committed just 12.9 turnovers an outing in their previous 20 games against league opponents as well, but have surrendered nearly 83 points per game (8th PBC) in 2018-19.

Senior Brandon Parker averages a league-best 19.9 points per game this season, while also turning in a team-best 6.7 rebounds an outing as well. Parker has scored 20 or more points on 11 occasions in 2018-19, including a quartet of 30+-point games. Parker has converted on better than 63 percent of his field goal attempts inside the 3-point line, but is a deadly perimeter shooter (48.2 percent) as well.

Graham added to NCAA indoor championship field

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA made it official for junior Javon Graham on Tuesday afternoon when the Fayetteville native became the UNC Pembroke track & field team’s first qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in more than 40 years.

Graham was one of 16 student-athletes selected to participate in the 60-meter Hurdles competition – an event he has had a multitude of success in this season with eight NCAA provisional qualifying marks in as many races. He matched a 37-year-old school record with a time of 8.09 seconds at the season-opening Gene Anderson Invitational, and then eclipsed the mark with a time of 8.02 seconds at the Carolina Challenge earlier this month.

Graham broke the record again on February 16 at the USC Indoor Open, finishing sixth in among an NCAA Division I-heavy field with a time of 8.01 seconds. That time stands as the 10th-fastest among NCAA Division II student-athletes this season.

The championships will be held March 8-9 in Pittsburg, Kan., inside the Robert W. Plaster Center. Pittsburg State University and the Crawford County Convention & Visitors Bureau will serve as co-hosts of the championships which will be streamed live at www.NCAA.com.

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RALEIGH — Remember when Democrats and progressive activists warned that ending the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate would “deprive” 14 million Americans of their health coverage? Based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate, this claim helped Democrats defeat a Republican repeal-and-replace bill as recently as 2017.

It was a patently ridiculous claim from the outset. For the vast majority of those included in the estimate, the mandate was said to be forcing them to buy expensive health plans they didn’t want. Ending the mandate would have allowed them to stop buying such plans. They’d have been liberated, not “deprived.”

Aside from the faulty description, this widespread claim had a more basic flaw: the number was wildly exaggerated. By mid-2018, the estimate had fallen from 14 million affected people to 8 million. Now, CBO has admitted the exaggeration was far worse than that.

Their new estimate: 2.5 million Americans will decide to go without federally approved health insurance in the absence of the mandate, which was ultimately repealed as part of federal tax reform.

The notion that the federal government can and should attempt to compel Americans to buy federally approved health plans was both an unnecessary detour on the road to reform and a grotesque assault on our system of limited, constitutional government. It famously led to a lawsuit in which conservatives actually proved their case before the U.S. Supreme Court — the constitution gives Congress no power to compel the purchase of a private good — only to see Chief Justice John Roberts retroactively and disingenuously rewrite the Affordable Care Act to convert an unconstitutional penalty into a constitutional tax.

Want to understand the underlying rationale of the mandate, and why that rationale was faulty? You need only go back to debates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries.

Clinton argued that unless federal health reform included an individual mandate, 15 million Americans would go uncovered. Obama disagreed, arguing that using federal subsidies to help those excluded from coverage by low incomes or preexisting conditions would be sufficient. Clinton’s plan “forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can’t afford it, and you pay a penalty if you don’t,” Obama warned.

He flip-flopped later, as we know. But Obama was right the first time. For most ACA enrollees, the federal subsidies are so generous that they need no mandate to buy plans. As for higher-income individuals who consume little medical care, the mandate was never going to be enough to corral them into overly expensive exchange policies.

If you look close enough, you’ll see that most lawmakers and policy analysts across the spectrum already agree on subsidizing poor and sick patients. They differ about the specific means to do so, but most think it inefficient and unfair to foist a disproportionate share of the cost of those subsidies onto the relatively small number of consumers who make up the individual and small-group markets for health insurance. Sliding-scale tax credits and high-risk pools, subsidized by general revenue, have been common elements of Republican health proposals for decades.

Now that the individual mandate is essentially gone, we should be embracing reforms that work with our traditions of individual freedom and federalism rather than against them. One promising idea is to let individuals and small employers band together as private associations to purchase the plans they want at an affordable price.

Now that the Trump administration has removed Washington’s regulatory roadblocks, states can proceed with explicit authorization to broaden and deepen private markets for such association health plans. Here in North Carolina, Sen. Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg), Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth), and Sen. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) are the primary sponsors of the Small Business Healthcare Act (S.B. 86), which would do just that.

Even as leading Democrats now go beyond ObamaCare to talk of eliminating private plans together, conservatives should seize the opportunity to move the health care debate in a more productive direction. They were right to oppose the individual mandate. Now, the right should propose alternatives.

John Hood (@JohnHoodNC) is chairman of the John Locke Foundation and appears on “NC SPIN,” broadcast statewide Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. on UNC-TV.

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Claudius Perry Smith, of Quite Lane in Pembroke, reported a break-in to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.

Alfreda Bostick, of Jeremy Drive in Lumberton, reported the theft of a firearm to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.

Kendrick Allen Burns, of Harrill Road in Lumberton, reported an armed robbery to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.

Toni Nicole Watkins, of Fowler Road in Lumberton, reported an assault to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.

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The passing of the gavel took place during the recent Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Gala at Adelio’s Restaurant in Lumberton. Mickey Gregory of Canal Wood, LLC, center, was named chair of the chamber’s board of directors. She replaces Suzanne Abbott, left, of Abbott Insurance Services, LLC, who assumed the role in 2018. Martha Mahlke was named “Volunteer of the Year” and Abbott and Maureen Metzger, of Southeastern Health, were named “Fundraisers of the Year.” Also show is Cindy Kern, right, chamber executive director.

The passing of the gavel took place during the recent Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Gala at Adelio’s Restaurant in Lumberton. Mickey Gregory of Canal Wood, LLC, center, was named chair of the chamber’s board of directors. She replaces Suzanne Abbott, left, of Abbott Insurance Services, LLC, who assumed the role in 2018. Martha Mahlke was named “Volunteer of the Year” and Abbott and Maureen Metzger, of Southeastern Health, were named “Fundraisers of the Year.” Also show is Cindy Kern, right, chamber executive director.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_2019012595184933001002003004_ne201922716551619.jpgThe passing of the gavel took place during the recent Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Gala at Adelio’s Restaurant in Lumberton. Mickey Gregory of Canal Wood, LLC, center, was named chair of the chamber’s board of directors. She replaces Suzanne Abbott, left, of Abbott Insurance Services, LLC, who assumed the role in 2018. Martha Mahlke was named “Volunteer of the Year” and Abbott and Maureen Metzger, of Southeastern Health, were named “Fundraisers of the Year.” Also show is Cindy Kern, right, chamber executive director.

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Charles Graham, a former educator and now the representative of the 47th District in the N.C. House, which includes most of Robeson County, has promised to introduce a bill that would restore longevity pay for teachers. In fact, that might have happened by the time you read this.

We like the idea — and hope that fellow Rep. Brenden Jones, whose District 46 includes a thinner slice of Robeson County, and state Sen. Danny Britt, whose District 13 includes all of Robeson County, sign on. Their support will be needed as they are both Republicans and provide leadership in their respective chambers, both of which are dominated by their party.

Graham, as a Democrat and a member of the minority party, will need help pushing his legislation through the General Assembly.

Graham’s bill is designed to stem the flow of teachers who are leaving a profession that is becoming more and more grueling, and for which the rewards, at least monetarily, are increasingly insufficient. We understand that good teachers derive an incredible amount of satisfaction as they take students, nurture and guide them, and help them become productive citizens who contribute to society. That can hardly be overstated.

But there also are bills to pay.

Two things are happening in the field of teaching. Teachers who once saw the profession as a lifetime journey are opting out, and young people who are looking for a career are not opting in. Those two forces will take us to a logical destination that will have immense consequences, unless something changes.

One thing already has: In recent years, the North Carolina General Assembly, armed with a strong economy and fiscally conservative budgets that have yielded surpluses, has been slowly and steadily building teacher pay in the state, enough to take the average wage from near the bottom in the country to the mid-30s. Not great, but better, and while there have been attempts at scoring political points on who got what and how much, all teachers today enjoy better pay than just a few years ago.

Graham’s bill attacks the problem from the other end, and also rights this wrong: Teachers are the only state employees who do not enjoy longevity pay.

Under Graham’s proposal, teachers would need to work a minimum of a decade to qualify, which is a long time but also makes those who persevere worthy of some reward. The scale would be as follows: teachers with 10 to 14 years of experience would receive 1.5 percent of their base salary; teachers with 15 to 19 years of experience would receive 2.25 percent; 3.5 percent would be for teachers with 20 to 25 years’ experience; and 4.5 percent for 25 or more years.

So as a single example and to keep the math easy, a teacher with 22 years’ experience making $50,000 a year would enjoy a $1,750 bump in longevity pay. That might not be sufficient to attract young people to the profession, but it could keep some of our veteran teachers from looking elsewhere or retiring early.

There are a myriad of factors that direct the rise or fall of the success of our state’s public schools, but we can think of nothing that has more power to move the needle in either direction than the quality of our teachers. Graham’s bill would help the state retain some of its better and more experienced teachers.

We haven’t put a pencil to it, but we know it would be costly. At the present, the General Assembly and a booming national economy have given us budget surpluses. As for the future, government always finds money that it needs, and we see this not as an expense, but as an investment.

A sound one.

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LUMBERTON — Rumba on the Lumber, the city’s three-day outdoor festival of health, music, chili and a whole lot more, kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday.

It is the 20th year of the event that attracts several thousand runners and fun seekers to the downtown Lumberton. Rumba on the Lumber has become Lumberton’s premier event, but it was just an idea in the first year.

“The hardest part of the first year was raising money,” said Maria Parker, one of several founders. “I was new in town and making cold calls on businesses asking for money.”

Lumberton Radiological Associates and the Robeson Road Runners were the prime sponsors. This year’s major sponsors include Southeastern Health, Lumbee River Electric Membership, Allen Orthopaedics and Adams Distributors.

With founders Jeff Neelon, Dan Kenney and Mike DeCinti, Parker kicked off the first event, and it took off from there. She has not been involved in organizing the Rumba in 10 years, but Parker will run in the 5K, eat chili and ride in one of the two Sunday bike rides, which she sponsors through her business, Cruzebike.

“I’m loving the role of sponsor,” Parker said. “Jef Lambdin is really great at organizing the event, and it is attracting more and more young people to help out.

“I maintain Rumba on the Lumber is one of the best things to happen to Lumberton in a long time.”

Parker will get no argument from the throngs of people who will attend the three days of events. There will be a wide variety of things to do, from playing in the Kids Zone, shopping at the vendor stalls, eating chili, checking out the art in the Carolina Civic Center, to dancing to the music.

Despite predictions of rain Saturday, planning is going great, Lambdin said.

Saturday is the big day. Activities begin at 9 a.m. with the Southeastern Health Family One mile run/walk and the 5K and 10K runs. The Lumbee River EMC Kid Zone; vendors and a new event, Touch a Truck, sponsored by the Junior Service League; will run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. All events for children are free.

“Touch a Truck is new this year and will be a big hit with kids,” Lambdin said. “We’re bringing in vehicles that kids don’t often get to see up close, including a tank.”

After the run, the Michelob Ultra Chili Cook-off begins to warm up on Third Street. Awards are given in several categories, and the public gets a taste of 20 or so chili recipes.

The parking lot in front of Adelio’s also will be one of two music venues. The other one will be in the brand new downtown amphitheatre, where the concrete is barely dry.

“The last concrete was poured this week, and the last touch-ups are complete,” Lambdin said. “This will be a great venue for us.”

The legendary Jim Quick and the Coastline Band will play in the amphitheatre. Quick is on the final tour of his performing career, so lovers of beach music won’t want to miss it.

Other bands include the Legacy Motown Review at the chili site and the Too Much Sylvia Band at the Allen Orthopaedics Pasta Party at Adelio’s on Friday. Spaghetti is served from 5 to 7 p.m. and the band plays from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Dinner and music is $10.

Rumba on the Lumber concludes Sunday with the Ride Robeson Metric Century 20-Mile Bicycle Adventure and Family Fun 5K at the Lumberton Northeast Park from noon to 4:30 p.m.

Parker

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The 5-K run is one of the signature events of the Rumba on the Lumber, which is marking its 20th year in downtown Lumberton. The three-day event kicks off on Friday, with Saturday featuring a variety of events, including music and a chili competition.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Rumba-art.jpgThe 5-K run is one of the signature events of the Rumba on the Lumber, which is marking its 20th year in downtown Lumberton. The three-day event kicks off on Friday, with Saturday featuring a variety of events, including music and a chili competition.

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LUMBERTON — The fate of an uncertified judicial election in Robeson County could be decided on Monday.

It was announced Wednesday that the State Board of Elections will meet at 1 p.m. Monday in Raleigh and its agenda includes the District Court 16B Seat 2 race between Democrat Vanessa Burton and Republican Jack Moody Jr.

The District Court contest wasn’t certified by the State Board of Elections because of concerns the results of the Nov. 6 general election were tainted by the same absentee ballot irregularities that caused the N.C. District 9 U.S. House seat race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready not to be certified.

The vote count taken after the Nov. 6 general election showed Moody won by 138 votes. His lead was cut to 77 after absentee ballots were tallied. After provisional ballots were counted on Nov. 15, Moody trailed Burton by 71 votes.

Burton’s margin of victory was below the 1 percent of all votes cast threshold that permits a recount request. Moody was granted a recount, the results of which showed Burton had 15,382 votes to Moody’s 15,315, a margin of 67.

The congressional race became the object of a months-long investigation and a four-day public evidentiary hearing that led to an order from the state board to hold new a election. Dates for that election could also be set on Monday.

Results of the two Bladen County elections, including one for county commissioner, also were not certified and new elections ordered.

The meeting is open to the public. It will take place in the agency’s board room on the third floor of the Dobbs Building, located at 430 N. Salisbury St. in Raleigh

Burton

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Moody

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RALEIGH — The political operative at the center of an election fraud scandal that has engulfed a North Carolina congressional race was arrested Wednesday on charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy. Four people working for him were also charged.

Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., 63, was accused of directing workers to collect and mail in other people’s absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary and the 2016 general election. It is against the law in North Carolina for anyone other than the voter or a close relative to handle a mail-in ballot, a measure aimed at guarding against manipulation.

Prosecutors are still investigating evidence of ballot tampering by Dowless and others working on behalf of GOP candidate Mark Harris during last fall’s congressional election in the mostly rural 9th District, which includes part of Charlotte and extends eastward across several counties, including all of Robeson.

The indictment represents the first charges in a scandal that has cast doubt on election integrity and will leave a congressional seat unfilled for months.

“These indictments should serve as a stern warning to anyone trying to defraud elections in North Carolina,” state elections Director Kim Westbrook Strach said.

Dowless was arrested less than a week after the state elections board decided that his work for Harris, starting with the primary, tainted the Republican’s apparent victory in November. The board ordered a new election but hasn’t set a date.

Harris is not running in the do-over election; his Democratic opponent from November, Dan McCready, is.

Harris has not been charged and has denied knowledge of any illegal practices by those involved in his campaign. But he, too, could come under scrutiny. During last week’s board hearing, he admitted writing personal checks to Dowless in 2017, a potential violation if the payments weren’t reported.

Dowless has denied wrongdoing and did not respond to phone and text messages Wednesday. A woman hung up on a call to Dowless’ attorney.

Dowless was charged with illegal possession of absentee ballots, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He was booked into a Raleigh jail. The four others were charged with illegal possession of an absentee ballot and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The crimes “served to undermine the integrity of the absentee ballot process and the public’s confidence in the outcome of the electoral process,” the indictment said.

Dowless was accused of directing his workers “to mail the absentee ballot in such a manner to conceal the fact that the voter had not personally mailed it himself” — an act the indictment said constituted obstruction of justice.

In last fall’s congressional election, Harris led McCready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast, but the state elections board refused to certify Harris as the winner because of the fraud suspicions. Last week, Harris abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and called for a new election, and the board agreed.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman is still looking into evidence of irregularities in November. She indicated it could be weeks before any decisions are made on charges.

According to evidence at the elections board hearing, Dowless and his assistants illegally gathered up absentee ballots from voters by offering to put them in the mail, and in some cases forged signatures and filled in votes for local candidates.

Dowless refused to testify before the board without immunity from prosecution.

Dowless is a political junkie with felony convictions for perjury and insurance fraud — which led to a prison sentence in the 1990s — and several worthless-check offenses. He came to Harris’ attention because he was known to produce votes.

Harris said he wanted to sign Dowless onto his 2018 campaign after noting the Bladen County man’s work resulted in one of Harris’ Republican rivals scoring an incredible 98 percent of the mail-in ballots in the 2016 primary.

Harris hired Dowless despite repeated warnings from the candidate’s son, now a federal prosecutor in Raleigh, that Dowless was probably resorting to illegal methods.

In fact, Dowless had been on the radar of state elections investigators since 2010, when he was suspected of vote-buying but never charged. That was one of at least a half-dozen instances over the past nine years that prosecutors and election officials received complaints of serious irregularities in Bladen County.

The four other people charged in the case were paid by Dowless to collect ballots during the spring of 2018, when Dowless and his team were on the Harris campaign payroll, and during the 2016 general election, when Dowless himself successfully ran for a local soil and water conservation post, prosecutors said.

Harris

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Harris_1-4.jpgHarris

Dowless

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LUMBERTON — A Lumberton man arrested Wednesday in Pennsylvania for a September murder in Fairmont is one of 41 people rounded up by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office on a variety of charges.

The arrest of Steltson O’Bryan Davis, 31, was part of Operation Rise and Shine, which was conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service in which warrants were served on Davis and 40 people in Robeson County. The roundup began at 4 a.m.

Davis was arrested about 8 a.m. in the Pittsburgh area and remains in custody in the Allegheny County jail awaiting extradition to Robeson County, sheriff’s Maj. Damien McLean said.

Davis is charged with first-degree murder and possession of firearm by a felon. Bail information was not available.

He is accused of killing Anthony Bethea, whose body was found Sept. 26 in the front yard of a residence on Atkinson Road after deputies responded to a report of shots fired, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.

The 40 other Robeson County residents were arrested on charges including firearms violations, drug offenses and assaults.

“Today is the start of an effort to locate and arrest individuals with outstanding warrants in Robeson County,” according to the Sheriff’s Office release. “Sheriff (Burnis) Wilkins encourages anyone with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in now to avoid part two of this operation.”

Those arrested and the charges include:

— Julio Guzman, 54, of JFK Road in Fairmont, two counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied property and possession of firearm by a felon, and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

— Jordan Allen Locklear, 24, of Jefferson Road in Maxton, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

— Phazon Roddy, 24, of Shawn F. Road in Pembroke, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

— Donald Austin Clark, 28, of Bracey Sampson Road in Lumberton, two counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, possessing a stolen firearm and nonsupport of a child.

— Adrian Ojeda, 19, of Tahoe Drive in Fairmont, larceny of a firearm.

— Michael Maynor, 31, of N.C. 72 West in Lumberton, larceny, possessing stolen property and burning of personal property.

— Austin D. Locklear, 21, of Old Lowery Road in Red Springs, breaking and entering, larceny and failing to appear in court on a driving while impaired charge.

— Christopher Noles, 18, of JW Road in Fairmont, possessing stolen property.

— Joshua A. Scott, 38, of Martin Road in St. Pauls, breaking and entering, conspiracy to break and enter with the intent to commit a larceny.

— Daryl Adcox, 46, of Howell Road in Lumberton, possession of firearm by a convicted felon, manufacturing marijuana, maintaining a drug dwelling, possession of drug paraphernalia and nonsupport of a child.

— Jordan Britt, 31, of Evergreen Church Road in Pembroke, breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, and possessing stolen property.

— Latricia Mitchell, 23, of Chalmers Road in Maxton, obtaining property by false pretense.

— Cheyenne Locklear, 21, of Philadelphus Road in Pembroke, discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling.

— Austin J. Reed, 21, of Frontier Drive in Parkton, obtaining property by false pretense.

— Billy Joe Hunt, 35, Straightway Drive in Fairmont, communicating threats and misdemeanor assault and battery.

— James Clemon Grant Jr., 56, of Orange Street in Lumberton, parole violation.

— April Cummings, 48, of N.C. 72 West in Lumberton, failing to appear in court on charges of assault and battery, communicating threats and trespassing.

— Corey Mathis, 30, of Pine Lake Road in Pembroke, communicating threats.

— Freddie Lee Jacobs, 52, of Rachel Street in Lumberton, assault on a female.

— Michael Hucks, 39, of Mud Alley Road in Lumberton, parole violation.

— Aryanna L. Chavis, 18, of Tar Heel Road in Lumberton, cyberstalking.

— Taylor Edwards, 20, of Clover Drive in Pembroke, cyberstalking.

— Clyde Brewer, 65, of Caitlin Drive in Shannon, domestic criminal trespassing and communicating threats.

— Phonenix Maynor, 22, of Elrod Road in Maxton, misdemeanor breaking and entering, second-degree trespassing, assault on a female and injury to personal property.

— Jacob Inman, 21, of East Fourth Street in Lumberton, misdemeanor breaking and entering, misdemeanor larceny, misdemeanor conspiracy, larceny from the person and communicating threats.

— Jermaine Waters, 45, of Madison Street in Fairmont, disorderly conduct in a public building, and assault and battery.

— Emanuel Thomas, 29, of Chalmers Drive in Maxton, assault on a female, simple assault and injury to personal property.

— Edna Locklear, 27, of Chalmers Drive in Maxton, assault and battery.

— Kendrick Hanzy, 32, of Britt Road in St. Pauls, injury to personal property.

— Jacob Chavis, 20, of JW Road in Fairmont, possessing stolen property.

— Alvin Thomas 54, of Rennert Road in Lumberton, fictitious tags/registration, permit operation of a motor vehicle with no insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle.

— Kenith Kinlaw, 58, of Denmark Road in Lumberton, communicating threats.

— Ronnie Neil Locklear, 64, of Corinth Road in Pembroke, communicating threats.

— Henry C. Ransom, 19, of Kermit Drive in Maxton, possession of cocaine.

— Sharrone Brayboy, 36, of St. Pauls, federal probation violation.

Five others were charged with nonsupport of a child or failing to pay child support.

Davis

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Stelton-Davis.jpgDavis

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FLORENCE, S.C. — With March just days away, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke men’s basketball team is at a crossroads.

After an 80-72 loss at Francis Marion on the road Wednesday that solidified the Braves as the No. 4 seed in next week’s Peach Belt Conference tournament, coach Ben Miller laid out what the team needs to do to close out the year, with a chance to win a third straight conference regular season championship gone. And the defensive showing it had against the Patriots is not what the 11th-year head coach wants to see over the next two weeks.

“They can either decide if they want to start making spring break plans or if they want to develop a little bit more grit and toughness to defend. If you want to keep playing at this time of year, you’ve got to defend a heckuva lot better than that,” he said. “All the other tournament championships are within our reach and within our control.”

UNCP (19-8, 14-7 PBC) failed to match the sense of urgency that Francis Marion (20-6, 16-5 PBC) had on its senior night, according to Miller, despite a stat sheet-stuffing outing from UNCP junior Micah Kinsey.

Coming out of halftime the Patriots distanced themselves from the Braves in the early minutes of the second half behind a barrage of 3-pointers. Francis Marion hit 12 in the game, seven after halftime. While Francis Marion benefited from deep, the Braves missed their first eight shots from deep, and made three in the game on 19 tries.

“We didn’t guard them in the second half,” Miller said. “That’s not going to get it done any night, let alone against a good team like these guys. If we want to get a chance to keep playing down the stretch, we’ve got to defend a lot better.”

The Patriots took their first double-digit lead at 50-40 with 11:48 left in the game on a Kailex Stephens 3-pointer. Stephens hit all three of his triples in the second half. With Stephens and Parker stretching out the UNCP defense with 3-pointers, Francis Marion’s 5-foot-7 guard showed no fear attacking the goal, scoring 19 of his 21 after halftime.

The largest Francis Marion’s lead ballooned to was 12 points, 60-48 on a Parker 3-pointer with less than seven minutes to go, and UNCP slowly clawed their way back into the game.

Kinsey used a steal that he converted into a layup on the other end with 3:45 left to make it 66-60. Francis Marion stretched the lead out to 11 before one last UNCP charge inside a minute to go cut the lead to 76-70.

After the lead was trimmed to six, UNCP forced two turnovers, and got four chances to cut into the lead any closer, but missed all four chances on the two possessions.

“They had a greater sense of urgency and were quicker to some balls,” Miller said. “They made plays and we didn’t.”

James Murray-Boyles scored 17 of his team-best 21 points in the second half, while Kinsey scored 16 in the game, to go along with eight rebounds, eight steals and seven assists.

“He played his tail off, but we need some other guys to develop a little sense of urgency like that too,” Miller said of Kinsey.

Stephens added 19 points for the Patriots that shot 71 percent from the floor in the second half and 52 percent for the game. After boasting one of the best defenses in the Peach Belt and the country early in the season, Miller said the recent showing from his defense where the last eight teams have shot better than 46 percent from the floor, goes along with the ebb and flow of a season.

“Every team has its ups and downs and we’ve been in this position before, unfortunately too many times,” Miller said. “Our league is a lot better than it was a year ago. We have four teams capable of winning the conference tournament and winning the regional.”

Lady Braves drop fifth straight at Francis Marion

After holding Francis Marion senior Shaunice Fulmore to 13 points in 41 minutes in the first meeting in January, the UNCP women’s basketball team was unable to contain the Peach Belt Conference’s leading scorer on her senior night.

Fulmore scored a game-high 31 points as Francis Marion earned a convincing 76-52 win over the Lady Braves at home on Wednesday, and getting a one-game lead for eighth place in the Peach Belt Conference standings and the last spot in next week’s conference tournament.

“She just got it going. She hit some contested shots tonight,” UNCP coach John Haskins said. “She missed some contested shots in Pembroke last time. We didn’t try to do anything different. We tried to play her the same way.”

With Fulmore going off on the offensive end, UNCP struggled to keep control of the ball with 24 turnovers. Of those miscues, Francis Marion scored 25 points. Fulmore had six steals in the game.

“I thought we were OK offensively tonight, with the exception of turnovers,” Haskins said. “They did a good job of getting out in the passing lanes. We just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball.”

UNCP out-shot Francis Marion from the floor field goal percentage wise, 38-35.

Tee Graham posted a team-high 15 points for UNCP (8-19, 7-14 PBC), with six points coming in the third period. In the third, Francis Marion stretched a 12-point halftime lead out to 61-43.

The Francis Marion lead grew to 20 points in the third period with a Fulmore layup with 2:57 left in the frame.

Francis Marion (11-14, 8-13 PBC) took 4:15 before scoring their first field goal of the contest.

Francis Marion opened the second period with a 13-3 run to go up 34-19 on a Fulmore layup. Fulmore had seven points in the second as the Lady Patriots posted 22 points as a team to go up 43-31 at the break.

Aliyah Farmer added 10 points for UNCP and Kiana Adderton scored 10 points to assist Fulmore’s total for the Lady Patriots, that hit eight triples in the game.

UNCP closes out the regular season at Flagler on Saturday. Tipoff for the women’s game to start the doubleheader is 1:30 p.m.

UNCP Athletics Micah Kinsey drives to the bucket in a game earlier this season. Against Francis Marion on Wednesday, Kinsey had 16 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and seven assists.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_AF4P9301.jpgUNCP Athletics Micah Kinsey drives to the bucket in a game earlier this season. Against Francis Marion on Wednesday, Kinsey had 16 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and seven assists.

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ST PAULS — A lot has changed since Corey Thompson and his St. Pauls boys basketball took down Farmville Central in the first round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs in 2017.

“That seems like ages ago,” Thompson jokingly said about the matchup during his first season with the Bulldogs.

When No. 16 St. Pauls (18-9) arrives at No. 1 Farmville (27-0) on Thursday, senior Isaiah Davis will be the only leftover from the home win two seasons ago. Davis was a sophomore then, but now is a key leader for the current group looking to pull off the upset.

Davis and junior guard Emonta Smith combined for 25 of the team’s 36 points in Tuesday’s first-round win over Dixon and will look to carry the load for a struggling offense that has scored just 70 points combined the last two outings. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are fresh off a 93-point showcase in their opening-round game.

But Thompson says his current group attempts to take a page out of the book of the Bulldogs that topped a talented Jaguars team a couple of years prior.

“Those guys forgot about the name on the front of the jersey and just played,” he said. “We can’t worry about the ratings, stats…or the ‘Ball is Life’ [highlights].”

The Jaguars will also return just one member from that team, reigning Pitt County Player of the Year Justin Wright. Then, Wright was just a freshman, now as a junior, he’s blossomed into one of the most coveted prospects in the area. He already has offers from various Division I programs that include nearby East Carolina University.

Wright averages well over 20 points per game and does most of his work from the perimeter. He used a season-high 11 3-pointers to rack up 38 points in a win over Beddingfield last month, then knocked down seven triples and had 34 points in last week’s victory over North Pitt.

Terquavion Smith is a wiry wing and fellow all-county performer that runs alongside Wright to form one of the most feared fastbreak tandems in the state. As a freshman last year, he averaged 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. The 6-foot-3 sophomore has already stamped multiple highlight-reel dunks to his short resume and flashes an all-around game with his ability to step out beyond the arch.

Wright and Smith helped the Jaguars get to the 2A East Regional semifinals a year ago, and have the height and skills to make another deep run.

Thompson says he doesn’t want to treat this game any different, despite facing an undefeated team with imposing size and speed. The third-year coach stressed that there’s nothing “extra” his squad needs to do and still plans to use pressure to create offense.

“They like to run as well…so we need to make sure we work on transition defense,” said Thompson.

Smith and Caleb Henderson were key in creating havoc in the backcourt against Dixon. Meanwhile, forwards like Davis and Anthony Campbell also have the speed and length to force turnovers, with Campbell having three steals on Tuesday.

Most of all, Thompson wants his unit to be relaxed and play together, which he thinks is when they are at their best.

Tip-off from Farmville is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Jonathan Bym | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ Anthony Campbell goes up for a shot in last week’s Three Rivers Conference tournament. The Bulldogs travel to top-seeded Farmville Central on Thursday.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DSC_0337.jpgJonathan Bym | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ Anthony Campbell goes up for a shot in last week’s Three Rivers Conference tournament. The Bulldogs travel to top-seeded Farmville Central on Thursday.

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Luke 14:7-11

Considering the massive amount of books on leadership and the fact that new books on the topic are published every day, it seems just about everyone is interested in knowing how to lead people in all kinds of settings.

What is the motive driving this thirst for knowledge about leadership? Perhaps there is a desire to earn more money since a position of authority usually comes with a greater income. The motive could be driven by a conviction that a person feels he or she knows more about leading than other people. The desire for a leadership position might even be driven by a desire to be acknowledged as superior to other people.

Christ Jesus was eating a meal in the house of one of the chief Pharisees, and seeing how people looked for places of honor at the table, He spoke a parable about being invited to a marriage feast. When invited to such an event, He said, they should not seat themselves in a place of honor since someone more distinguished might come along and they would have to surrender their place.

Imagine how humiliating it would be for the host to ask you to move to a less honorable place at the table. It is better, Jesus said, to sit in a less honorable place. Then, if the host comes and asks you to move to a higher place of distinction, you will be honored in the eyes of the other guests.

Jesus gave a lesson in humility by saying, “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” But what is the meaning of this?

It is the illustration of a Christian heart, and the result of being born again. It is the attitude a Christian has because he understands he belongs to God. He was once hopelessly lost in sin, yet God gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross for his sins.

A Christian knows it was only because of the blood shed by Jesus that he has received a pardon for his sins. The Christian has been restored, and he knows it. Christ Jesus is the greatest example of humility. He set aside His glory to come and dwell among people.

As for human pride, consider how God “put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.” A good Old Testament example is David. God chose a shepherd boy to become Israel’s king. No one is so powerful that God cannot overrule them and no one is so lowly in the eyes of the world that God cannot raise them up to greatness.

The apostle Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5-6). In other words, Jesus did not exploit His equality with God.

Jesus told the Pharisee who hosted the meal that day what he should and should not do in the future when he invited guests into his home. Do not invite your friends, relatives and rich neighbors, said Jesus, because they will have special occasions and invite you to their event to pay you back.

Instead, Jesus said to invited the “poor, maimed, lame or blind.” In other words, invite the people who need a good meal, but never get invitations to eat when there is plenty of food. These are the people who cannot repay you, He said, and “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

In other words, we should lead the way by taking the initiative to serve people.

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40).

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How much are you paying for health care? You may say too much, you may even cite the cost of a recent procedure you’ve had, but do you know what the actual cost of care is? More importantly, do you know if it’s fair?

Many North Carolina families are one major medical bill away from bankruptcy, yet we don’t know what we’re paying for. Hospital executives keep health-care costs secret because they know when we’re sick and at our most vulnerable, they can charge whatever they want. What choice do we have?

We deserve to know if the bill that stands to jeopardize our family’s future is inflated. We deserve to know if we’re being overcharged to pad high-paid hospital executives’ profits. We deserve quality, affordable, transparent care.

Reform starts by changing the way we pay for care in the State Health Plan. We can bring transparency to a system that has been shrouded in secrecy, stabilize costs that have spiraled out of control, and hold providers accountable to the taxpayers and patients who pay the bills.

It’s called the Clear Pricing Project, and it will finally give patients back the power hospital executives took away.

The Clear Pricing Project will save taxpayers $300 million annually, reduce out-of-pocket costs for state employees, teachers and retirees, and help patients understand exactly what they’re paying for.

Clear pricing works by setting payments for procedures relative to a widely-used benchmark and adding a margin to ensure that providers can make a profit. In this case, the State Health Plan will reimburse providers at Medicare rates plus a 77 percent markup.

It’s not a new or radical approach.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina proposed this payment methodology nearly a decade ago to help save money for our members and other taxpayers.

Clear pricing is gaining support because it has been analyzed, tested, and proven effective.

North Carolina began using it in 2010. Hospitals provide care for workers’ compensation claims at Medicare rates plus a 40 percent margin. In the decade since, hospital executives haven’t raised profitability concerns.

Many self-insured plans across the country, both public and private, have turned to this method.

For these reasons and more, the State Health Plan Board of Trustees voted unanimously to endorse its implementation.

The Clear Pricing Project will help lower costs, keep them stable, and make them easy to understand.

So why are hospitals executives opposed to clear pricing?

For far too long, hospitals have billed their procedures at arbitrary prices with arbitrary discounts. The practice leaves consumers guessing about the true value of their care while hospitals dodge accountability and rake in profits.

Atrium Health announced that CEO Gene Woods received $6.1 million in compensation in 2018. In 2017, Atrium’s top 10 executives took home $21 million. Gene Washington, chancellor of Health Affairs at Duke Health, pulled in $2.2 million in 2018. Vidant Medical Group CEO Mike Waldrum made $1.2 million last year.

One aspect of our healthcare system is perfectly clear: Hospital executives profit from confusion.

These executives should have the burden of proof — not the benefit of the doubt — in our health-care cost debate. They are the ones who need to answer difficult questions about why their costs are out of control.

Without transparency, hospital executives’ claims of financial hardship are just that — claims from bureaucrats who have everything to lose when patients — and taxpayers — save money.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_robert-broome.jpg

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Kiwanians Carly Rochelle, president of Circle K at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Lumberton City Councilman Owen Thomas read to about 150 second-graders at Pembroke Elementary School as they celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday during Read Across America on Thursday. The two also gave out books to each student on behalf of the Kiwanis. Other Kiwanians and civic leaders spread out across the school system for similar events in other schools.

Kiwanians Carly Rochelle, president of Circle K at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Lumberton City Councilman Owen Thomas read to about 150 second-graders at Pembroke Elementary School as they celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday during Read Across America on Thursday. The two also gave out books to each student on behalf of the Kiwanis. Other Kiwanians and civic leaders spread out across the school system for similar events in other schools.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_IMG_2961_ne2019228181023664.jpgKiwanians Carly Rochelle, president of Circle K at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Lumberton City Councilman Owen Thomas read to about 150 second-graders at Pembroke Elementary School as they celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday during Read Across America on Thursday. The two also gave out books to each student on behalf of the Kiwanis. Other Kiwanians and civic leaders spread out across the school system for similar events in other schools.

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LUMBERTON — Although a first look suggests a lot of work remains to be done, county officials believe they will be moving into their new home at the old BB&T building sometime in the fall.

The building, which is located at 500 N. Chestnut St., is surrounded by a tall fence, most of it covered with black tarp and padlocked to prevent trespassing. During the day the sound of construction equipment can be heard around the structure, which was home to Southern National Bank before it merged with BB&T.

The building was given to the county by the Hector MacLean family, and the county paid $615,000 for the parking lot.

Originally the four-story building was scheduled to be finished by January. But work was delayed by weather and an unwelcome discovery.

“We had a lot of asbestos to remove,” said David Isham, project superintendent for Pembroke-based Metcon. “We’re now on schedule.”

Current work includes the installation of electrical and plumbing systems, the sprinkler system, and framing.

Pending no other major problems, construction is scheduled to be completed in October, according to County Manager Kellie Blue. Initially projected to cost between $12 million and $13 million, the project’s current cost is fixed at $13.8 million, which will be financed at a payment of about $600,000 a year over 30 years with a private financial institution. The county has said it can handle the payment without a tax increase.

“It’s a process,” Blue said. “We had a hurricane. It’s construction. It’s just the nature of the beast. It just takes a lot.”

Once completed, the 64,655-square-foot building will house six county departments. The first floor will include the Board of Commissioners’ new meeting chambers, Veterans Services and the Register of Deeds. The Tax Office will occupy the second floor. The third floor will be occupied by Human Resources and Computer Operations. The county attorney, county manager,assistant county managers and Finance Department will be on the fourth floor.

”It’s going to be a nice modern building with a fresh concept,” Blue said. “The area where they tore down the drive-thru, there will be green space. We’re trying to be good stewards and have things pleasing to the eye with green space.”

There will be tables and chairs in the green area and space for bicycles to park.

Ultimately the new building is all about convenience for county administrators, employees and especially for the residents, Blue said. Residents now may have to go to three locations to deal with their county taxes, but that will end once construction is completed.

“As a citizen you are frustrated, but now you can come under one roof and accomplish all of this,” Blue said. “Residents will not have to visit multiple locations to obtain service from one department and rid the county of leasing property. It will literally be a one-stop shop.”

The move to the old BB&T building will free up space in the county courthouse, which is cramped. City officials welcome it because it puts back to work an important piece of real estate in the middle of the downtown area.

“It’s one of the greatest things we’ve ever done,” Commissioner Tom Taylor said. “I like a one-stop kind of building where everybody is together. You don’t have to drive down the road to meet with someone, and in the new building if you need them you can get to them.”

It will also enable a more productive work environment, he said.

“When you are jammed in an office, you can’t get a lot of work done,” Taylor said. “I’ll be glad when we get in the building because it frees up the courthouse. It’s jam-packed over there.”

Commissioner David Edge is excited the years-long project is nearing an end.

“I think the building will provide relief at the courthouse by taking the Tax Department out of it,” he said. “There will be more room for people to attend board meetings without it being so tight and people having to stand up. Management and staff will have easier access to different departments without having to drive around like they have to do now.”

Commissioner Faline Locklear Dial, a board newcomer, said: “It will be open, airy, inviting and hopefully that’s what people coming in will view our county government as — transparent.”

The county administration is now housed at a building on Elm Street, which will be abandoned. The building, which has a new roof, was once floated as a possible site for a central office for the school system, but that talk has since gone away. There are no current plans for its use.

Robeson County Manager Kellie Blue, center, takes a look at future Robeson County Administration Center with Metcon’s Chris Jones, left, the assistant superintendent in charge of construction, and David Isham, the superintendent of the project.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_20190221_093809_ne2019221151954780.jpgRobeson County Manager Kellie Blue, center, takes a look at future Robeson County Administration Center with Metcon’s Chris Jones, left, the assistant superintendent in charge of construction, and David Isham, the superintendent of the project.

Renovation of the old four-story BB&T building is expected to be completed sometime in the fall. The building will be home to the county administration, as well as other departments, including Tax and Register of Deeds. The total cost is projected at $13.8 million.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DSCN6311_ne2019228152717189.jpgRenovation of the old four-story BB&T building is expected to be completed sometime in the fall. The building will be home to the county administration, as well as other departments, including Tax and Register of Deeds. The total cost is projected at $13.8 million. David Pollard | The Robesonian

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LUMBERTON — The law enforcement career of Rex, one of four new police dogs at the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, is over before he had a chance to take a bite out of crime.

But he is still looking at a good life.

Rex, a Belgian shepherd, suffered a broken left femur on Feb. 20 while training with his handler, Deputy Brandon Oxendine, at the Ventosa Kennel in Halifax County, Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said. It happened the day after a fundraiser, attended by the entire K9 squad and their handlers, at The Wing Co. in Lumberton.

Oxendine and Rex were taking part in a six-week training course when the K9 was injured. Wilkins did not know how the injury happened. Rex was taken to a veterinarian, who determined that the dog needed surgery.

The loss of Rex could have been an expensive one, Wilkins said.

“The purchase of the K9, not including the training, would have been around $7,500,” Wilkins said. “The surgery needed to potentially bring the dog back up to police standards, with no guarantee, was around $4,000.”

A second option also involved surgery in which a rod would be put into the thigh to allow the injury to heal, he said. The cost was only $600, but it meant that Rex would not be able to function as a police dog.

A third option, Wilkins said, was to have Rex euthanized. No one wanted that.

“After all the love we saw for all of our K9s at the fundraising event, my staff and I could not stand by and let a dog be put down when it could be used domestically as a pet,” Wilkins said

He and his staff agreed to keep Rex and pay the $600 cost of surgery at their own expense, the sheriff said.

“We made an agreement that the Sheriff’s Office would foot the bill, at no expense to the taxpayers, to repair the injury with a pin,” Wilkins said.

Rex is recuperating. When he is released from his doctor’s care, he’ll go home to join Oxendine and his family as their pet.

Rex’s K9 squad slot has been filled.

“Since the seller guaranteed the dog as a fully trained dog upon delivery, they provided another K9 at no cost,” Wilkins said.

Oxendine is now training with his new partner, also named Rex.

What could have been a sad situation has a happy ending, Wilkins said.

“This is a win-win for all involved,” he said.

Rex, a Belgian shepherd recently acquired by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, had surgery for a broken femur suffered during in a training exercise. The injury ended Rex’s career as a police dog. He is being adopted as a family pet by his handler, Deputy Brandon Oxendine.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_K9-Rex.jpegRex, a Belgian shepherd recently acquired by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, had surgery for a broken femur suffered during in a training exercise. The injury ended Rex’s career as a police dog. He is being adopted as a family pet by his handler, Deputy Brandon Oxendine.

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RALEIGH — North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore says borrowing money to pay for public school construction is the way to go because it offers certainty to local governments about how much money they’ll have at their disposal for projects.

Moore and other House Republicans unveiled on Thursday a $1.9 billion debt proposal, authorized only if voters would approve the borrowing in a 2020 statewide referendum. The package would have $1.5 billion for K-12 school districts and $200 million each for the University of North Carolina and community college systems.

“School construction funding is a cornerstone of the state House’s 2019-2020 education agenda,” Moore said. “To train our workforce for the needs of tomorrow, we must meet the needs of their classrooms today.”

School construction has been much talked about in Robeson County since 2016, when a plan was floated to close 30 schools and build 14. Proponents said it could be done with very little cost because of the savings from fewer schools, no utility bills and less maintenance, but while the county Board of Commissioners endorsed it, the Public Schools of Robeson County never did.

The plan died when needed legislation in Raleigh, which would have allowed state money for local school construction, died.

The local school system has been trying to build a new school since Hurricane Matthew in 2016 swamped West Lumberton Elementary, but that has not gotten traction because studies are being done on where it should go and money has to be found. The local system is also without a permanent central office.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina School Boards Association back the bond option, as does the North Carolina Association of Educators.

”It’s important that the students of North Carolina have the safe, well-equipped schools they deserve,” said Mark Jewell, president of the educators group. “NCAE agrees with Gov. Cooper that a construction bond approved by voters is the appropriate way to provide a guaranteed funding stream to repair our crumbling schools and the construction of much-needed new schools. House Bill 241 would provide such a revenue stream.”

Senate Republicans, however, favor a different approach. They support a pay-as-you-go construction plan that doesn’t require issuing debt. They say it would generate $2 billion each for K-12, community college and UNC construction over nine years.

Moore

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Moore.jpgMoore

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LUMBERTON — As winter sports are now over with, The Robesonian will look back at this past season over the next few weeks. But with basketball still ongoing for other teams across the state, let’s look back at the best of the county on the mats this past winter with the all-Robeson County wrestling team and individual awards.

The list is comprised of the county champions that were named after the county wrestling championships in January, along with input from coaches and The Robesonian sports staff.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Tray Regan, heavyweight, senior — Regan posted the winningest season for any wrestler in Lumberton history with a 58-5 record in his final high school season. He finished second at the state championships earlier this month, losing in a 4-3 decision in the title bout. A regular on the podium during the season at wrestling tournaments, Regan’s second-place finish at states was his first time to the podium in Greensboro.

He was the Sandhills Athletic Conference and 4A Mideast Regional champion this season and he went to states with five other teammates.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Jamie Bell, Lumberton — Bell led the most successful program in the county this season that had 11 wrestlers win more than 25 bouts this season. Counting Regan, the Pirates had two place at the state level along with six going to wrestle in the state tournament. The Pirates finished the season second in both the Sandhills Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championship.

This season the Pirates also earned a state dual team berth and hosted the first and second rounds.

ALL-COUNTY TEAM

106 pounds — Anthony McCormick, freshman, Lumberton. With a season record of 7-9. McCormick turned in a third-place finish at the conference championships, as well as claiming the county championship.

113 pounds — Justin Kelly, junior, Lumberton. One of two returning state qualifier for next year, Kelly posted a 39-21 record, won the county and conference championships and finished third at regionals.

120 pounds — Caden Scott, sophomore, Purnell Swett. A year after qualifying for states as a freshman, Scott finished 39-16 as a sophomore to win the county wrestling title and come in at second in the conference tournament.

126 pounds — Sabri Saleh, senior, Lumberton. Saleh finished his career out with a 33-15 record, won the county title and came in third in the conference tournament.

132 pounds — Yakemeian Johnson, senior, Lumberton. Johnson returned to the podium at states in his final season after his second-place finish. He was 32-3 on the year with a county, conference and regional title under his belt.

138 pounds — Austin Lowry, junior, Lumberton. A conference and county champion, Lowery posted a 36-20 record and will be a leader alongside Kelly next season for the Pirates.

145 pounds — Kenson Sinclair, sophomore, Lumberton. One of the young nuclei of sophomores that saw mat time this season, Sinclair finished the year at 25-12.

152 pounds — Tony Hammonds, sophomore, Lumberton. Hammonds claimed a county championship and was 19-11 on the year.

160 pounds — Davieyon King-McAllister, sophomore Lumberton. King-McAllister was the other state qualifier that will be a big piece next year for the Pirates finished 27-13 on the year. He won the county title and finished fourth at regionals.

170 pounds — Darionte McLaurin, sophomore Lumberton. During his sophomore campaign, McLaurin posted a 37-17 record and won the county title.

182 pounds — Ali Shahbaz, senior, Lumberton. Along with winning a county championship and finishing second in the conference, Shahbaz claimed a 34-21 record on the year.

195 pounds — Ed Brock, senior, Lumberton. Brock made a second straight visit to states as a senior with a 42-11 record. He was the county champion, and finished second in the conference and third at regionals.

220 pounds — Alex Hammonds, senior, Lumberton. Also making a second state appearance this season, Hammonds was 29-5 this season. He won the conference and county titles and finished second at the regional level.

285 pounds — Jonathan Salvetti, senior, St. Pauls. As the only non-Lumberton wrestler to qualify for states, Salvetti posted a 22-17 record during his final high school season and came in fourth at the regional tournament.

Bell

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_25299437_10155796489740535_5569507307111907477_n.jpgBell

Donnell Coley | The Robesonian Lumberton senior Tray Regan was named the Robeson County wrestler on the year after finishing second in the state and posting 58 wins this season for the Pirates.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DSC_0461.jpgDonnell Coley | The Robesonian Lumberton senior Tray Regan was named the Robeson County wrestler on the year after finishing second in the state and posting 58 wins this season for the Pirates.

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