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One-stop early voting starts Thursday, October 15, 2026
Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina • The News-Journal • By Catharin Shepard • Editor • One-stop early voting in Hoke County starts Thursday, October 15, 2026 and will conclude October 31. VIEW CANDIDATE Q&As HERE Early voting will be held in the commissioners’ meeting room in the Pratt Building (Board of Elections office) on Main Street in Raeford, and at...
Frog Holler Philosopher: A Time of Adjustment
Viewpoints Column • By Ron Huff • It has now been almost three months since my wife Charlotte left this world with me in it. She wanted to go after years of suffering and she finally willed herself out of her trap. I was mentally prepared for this and there was no explosion of grief, only entrance into a period of questioning what it all meant and...
Rezoning clears way for Sheetz gas station in Hoke County
Sheetz logo. (PRNewsFoto/SHEETZ, INC.) Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina • By Editor Catharin Shepard • A rezoning request that got commissioners’ nod Monday night cleared the way for a Sheetz gas station in Hoke County. The board approved a request to rezone a .85-acre parcel of land at Brock Road and Fayetteville Road, located by the Paraclete XP wind tunnel...
North Carolina Fall Festival parade is Saturday
Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina • The North Carolina Fall Festival Parade will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2026 on Main Street in Raeford. The change to Saturday from its previous schedule of Thursday, took place last year, and the festival kept it the same this year. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. Melissa Kaye Senior Bingo Day...
Is Tractor Supply coming to Raeford?
(Photo by Tractor Supply.) Raeford, Hoke County, North Carolina • By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Short answer: Yes, it is. There’s been a lot of local chatter about the construction on Laurinburg Road as you’re going out of town toward Wagram, just past the Strickland Brothers oil change station at the Raeford flea market property. Word has it, that’s...
Fighting Bucks win their first flag football game
Photo by Scott Boucher Despite the weather, the Bucks Flag Football team secured their first-ever victory, 12-6 over the Southern School of Energy and Sustainability last Saturday. The win followed a tough loss against an experienced Green Hope team. The Bucks played hard but fell short, 22-0. Both games were played at Apex High School; the Green Hope matchup marked...
Women’s Golf is back on course for Hoke County High School
For the first time in more than five years, the Fighting Bucks are back on the links with a women's golf team. Coaches Ivan Street and Kristen Danet have brought together a dedicated group of young women ready to represent Hoke County on the course. Ella Williams, Scarlet Wright, Ava Gibson, Madison OQuinn, AmberLynn Bullock and Audrianna Castellanos made history...
$20k reward offered in 19-year-old’s murder: family of Rayonna Bell seeks justice after body found at Mott Lake
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Rayonna Diane “Ray Ray” Bell’s smile could light up a room. That smile is what her oldest sister, Sissalee “Sunshine” Bell remembers most about the 19-year-old. “She was one of those people, if she was riding down the road and saw a dead dog, she wanted to get it off the road. If she...
Hoke County resident says event center causing “conditions that no homeowner should be expected to endure”
This story was originally published in The News-Journal August 5, 2026 By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A homeowner who lives in a subdivision next to the Shahbain Farms & Event Center told commissioners that noise, traffic and littering at the event center are impacting the lives of residents who live near it. A speaker who introduced himself as Kevin...
Permit documents appear to confirm Hoke County ordinance violation
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Documents sent to The News-Journal last week in response to a public records request appeared to confirm some of what was said during a recorded phone conversation between Hoke County Manager Letitia Edens and Interim Planner Jackie Lowery. In the recording, Lowery told the county manager that a Hoke County commissioner allegedly told her...
Recording reveals ordinance violation in Hoke County Planning Office
Commissioner denies telling interim county planner to sign unapproved permit By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A Hoke County commissioner allegedly told the interim county planner to remove a special use permit from the board’s meeting agenda, and allegedly told her to approve the permit although the board never voted on it, according to a recording of a phone conversation...
Homegrown Hoke music artists performing May 23
Homegrown Hoke County rap and R&B artists will present a pop-up listening experience Saturday, May 23, 2026 at Deep Freeze Productions, located at 645 Laurinburg Road. “That’s not just a listening session – it’s a statement,” a press release for the event said. The O.M.3 “They Live, We Mutate” is part of a “shift” happening in Hoke County that’s putting...
Eagle Scout project guides the way at Hoke County Community Forest
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Hoke High School student Quinton Douglas has been busy the past few months, scoping out the trails at the Hoke Community Forest. The 16-year-old Boy Scout approached the Hoke County Board of Commissioners in January, alongside Jesse Wimberley of the NC Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association, to seek permission to install trail markers on the...
Tango Kilo Event Center grand opening honors CMSgt. King
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • As Euniceteen Diggs and her family prepared Friday afternoon to cut the ribbon on the Tango Kilo Event Center, a gust of wind came along and knocked the portrait of her daughter, the late Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Tresse Z. King, off of its stand. Amid the surprise from the crowd at the...
Newcomer ousts incumbent Hoke County commissioner in Democratic primary election
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • There was a changing of the guard for the Hoke County Board of Commissioners in the Democratic primary election Tuesday night, with candidate Deborah McMillan-Evans winning more votes than longtime incumbent Commissioner Tony Hunt. Voters chose to send McMillan-Evans, and incumbent Commissioners Harry Southerland and Allen Thomas through to the election in November on...
Presbyterian Church observing World Day of Prayer
Raeford Presbyterian Church will observe the World Day of Prayer Friday, March 6. The church sanctuary will be open to anyone interested in praying between 12 noon-2 p.m. This event is an international and ecumenical movement where churches come together to promote unity, understanding and social justice through communal prayer. It is celebrated annually in over 170 countries.
Engineer Brigade conducting demolition training March 2-6
The 20th Engineer Brigade will conduct demolition testing and training on Fort Bragg from March 2-6. The demolition charges will occur multiple times a day during daylight hours. The explosions will occur in the middle of the Fort Bragg ranges, but there is a chance that the noise and possible shaking will be felt of the installation. Fort Bragg trains...
“She brings out the best” : Burney honored with Raeford Kiwanis Club Citizen of the Year Award
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Sharon Burney breathed life into the Partners for Education program, seeking out funding, recognizing teachers and students, planning the annual golf tournament and more – all while working a full-time career at Burlington Industries. “Sharon worked tirelessly, tirelessly. She got gift cards, she went to Walmart, she got donations, she got sponsorships,” John Jordan...
Funeral home and crematory starts new “Legacy” in Raeford
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Comfortable couches, soft chairs, delicate chandeliers and a sense of quiet welcome, help make the new funeral home in Raeford put the emphasis on “home.” That was Jonathan Prather’s goal in the designing and planning for Legacy Funeral Home: he didn’t want it to feel like a funeral home at all. And with the...
Crumpler sworn in as Raeford police chief
A familiar face in Raeford has a brand-new badge. With his family and friends gathered in support at city hall Tuesday, Ray Crumpler of the Raeford Police Department took the oath to become the new Chief of Police. Chief Crumpler has served with the department for over 20 years, including seven years as assistant chief. “It’s an honor. I appreciate...
Pennsylvania Transformer Technology breaks ground on $102 million manufacturing expansion in Hoke County’s industrial park
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • The “largest capital investment in the history of Hoke County,” slated to create over 200 jobs, got started this month with a toss of shovelfuls of dirt at the county industrial park on Golf Course Road. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was one of the officials with his hands on a shovel handle, as...
With SNAP benefits not fully released yet, Hoke County commissioners look for ways to help citizens in need
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • When the Hoke County Board of Commissioners met Monday in a resumed meeting to discuss the impacts of the government shutdown, the board ended up voting to allow the county manager and Department of Social Services to use $100,000 in funds already moved from the DSS budget, to support food drives for those in...
Couple murdered in Hoke County, teen suspect commits suicide
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A man and woman were killed Monday night at their home on Cope Road in Hoke County, and a teenage suspect wanted in connection with the case later committed suicide at the Lake Waccamaw Boys and Girls Home when confronted by authorities, according to law enforcement agencies. Ted Chavis and Joann Chavis were the...