By NANCY DAVIS
Statesville City Council voted 5-4 Monday night to enter into a contract to purchase Statesville Flying Service (SFS), the long-time Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at the Statesville Regional Airport.
This action comes following the recommendations of a 2017 Airport Marketing Study which endorsed further study on the advantages of a city-operated airport. “This is a mutually-agreed upon action,” said Statesville City Manager Ron Smith. “We have enjoyed our relationship with Statesville Flying Service and are grateful for the professional manner in which they have operated the airport as the FBO for 40 years.”
Statesville Flying Service was started in 1978 by Phil Hazel, whose son, Thomas, currently serves as president of the company. SFS provides aircraft maintenance, fuel and oil, short and long term hangar space, and other airport services.
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By CASH MICHAELS
Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the NCNAACP, was responding to reports that now, with South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, one of Pres. Trump’s most loyal Republican supporters, now the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, recent published reports say he’s met with the White House recently to cover a list of Trump’s judicial nominees who were not taken up by the Republican-led Senate for confirmation in the 115th Congress.
Farr, a former campaign attorney for racial segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) who is documented to have coordinated a so-called “ballot security” program for the Helms campaign against Black Democratic voters in the 1980s and 90s, was nominated by Trump in 2017, and had his nomination voted out by the Senate Judiciary Committee in early 2018, only to have it temporarily shelved before going to the full Senate before the midterms. More ↠
Publishers standing L-R: J.J. Jones- Fayetteville Press, Vickie and Afrique Kilimanjaro- Carolina Peacemaker, Kenneth Edmonds- Carolina Times, Paul Jervay- The Carolinian, Johnnie Grant- The Urban News, Kathy and Peter Grear- Greater Diversity News
By FRAN FARRER
Dr. Spearman applauded the publishers and noted that Black publishers were the “Guardians of the Truth” in a free society. He added, “We know, generally speaking, that this profession and its association, the Newspaper Guild, has been under attack by Mendacity and Denial from the White House for almost three years, but I come honoring you in this time of crisis in our democracy, and if you have to, forgive me for expressing my (Explicit bias, but to me), Black Publishers and News Reporters Particularly Matter. To me you always have and always will. I'm certain that Fran Farrer, Afrique Kilimanjaro, Cash Michaels, Peter Grear and maybe even Ben Chavis will confirm that.”
Dr. Spearman joined the publishers for one primary issue facing people of color across the states today; voter suppression and all of the tactics and diabolical strategies that it has spawned down through the years.
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Congress May Decide 9th District Seat
By CASH MICHAELS
Even though a new five-member State Board of Elections (SBOE) – appointed by Gov. Cooper – takes over in two weeks on January 31st, and, based on the alleged illegality in the 2018 midterm Ninth Congressional District race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready, is likely to order a new general election race (assuming that four of the five members indeed vote for one), it is pretty certain that the US House of Representatives can, and very well will, have the final say as to who ultimately represents the Ninth in Congress. More ↠
