Local News

Complaints filed against 2 members of CC Elections Board

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Tuesday, 14 April 2026

Written by Paul Woolverton, CityView Today

A long-time elections watchdog wants the chair of the Cumberland County Board of Elections kicked off the board, asserting in complaints to the State Board of Elections that she has a conflict of interest, did not report an allegedly illegal donation, and performs her job poorly.
He further alleged in the complaints that the county board’s secretary made an illegal $25,000 donation to the county Republican Party, and the chair knew about it.
Bob Hall, the former executive director of the Democracy NC good governance organization, told CityView he filed complaints with the state board against county Chair Linda Devore and Secretary Bree Eldridge.
On the five-person county elections board, Devore and Eldridge are two of its three Republicans. Both are former chairs of the Cumberland County Republican Party. Hall’s filing included sworn statements from five Republicans in Cumberland County. Devore and Eldridge disputed Hall’s accusations in interviews with CityView.
“There’s no ‘here’ here,” Devore said. Hall’s paperwork has “so many false statements.”
“I don’t know if this is a targeted smear or what,” Eldridge said. “People can gossip and spread rumors, and I think I’ve heard the gamut lately. But there’s no proof of anything.”
Hall and Democracy NC have a long history of reporting instances of campaign finance irregularities to the State Board of Elections.
This is the second time in less than a year that Devore has faced a complaint at the state board.
Straw Donation?
Hall’s complaints, citing sworn affidavits from five local GOP activists, alleged there is evidence that Eldridge committed a felony with what he described as her straw donation of $25,000 to the county party in 2022.
A straw donation occurs when someone collects money from other people and donates it under their own name to protect the anonymity of the donors. State law requires the public disclosure of donations to political parties and prohibits straw donations.
Eldridge was the county party chair in 2022 and did not join the elections board until 2025. She said the donation was all her own money. It was to help the county GOP pay for an appearance by Michael Flynn, a prominent right-wing activist and retired general, at a party fundraiser.
Eldridge showed her checking account records to Hall, she said, to prove that she did not funnel other people’s money through her account, but instead got most of it from a brokerage account.
“I knew I was going to make this donation, and I sold a bunch of stock, or whatever, and used the proceeds of that, and transferred it over to cover the check. And I showed him all this,” Eldridge said.
Hall in his filing was unpersuaded. He argued there was little activity in general in Eldridge’s checking account, and said she could have used accounts to receive money “to augment or reimburse herself for the $25,000 donation.”
‘Quasi-Treasurer’
Hall said Devore, as chair of the audit committee of the county Republican Party, was aware of questions about Eldridge’s donation. This committee annually assesses the party’s financial records, Devore told CityView.
Hall asserts that as committee chair, Devore was the “quasi-treasurer” of the party. “It appears that the CCGOP audit committee and its chair oversee and essentially supervise the work of the treasurer,” he said in one of the complaints.
Under state law, Hall said, that would make Devore a party official and put her into a conflict of interest with her role as a member and chair of the county elections board.
Jason Tyson, a spokesperson for the State Board of Elections, told CityView the agency “has previously determined that not every role undertaken on behalf of a political party is deemed to make an individual an ‘official’ of that party.” To the best of the staff’s knowledge, he said, the state board “has not previously been presented with the question of whether a member of a party audit committee is an ‘official’ of that party.”
Complaints from Republicans
Hall’s complaints include notarized affidavits from five prominent Cumberland County Republicans.
These include Venus de la Cruz, who is running for state Senate; her daughter Calista Cuevas, who is chair of Cumberland County Moms for Liberty and president of the state chapter of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.
Also: Linda McAlister-Brown, a former assistant treasurer of the county GOP and former president of the Republican Women’s Club; former county party Chair Nina Morton; and Juanita Gonzalez, who is a former Cumberland County Commissioner who also served on the Fayetteville City Council and Cumberland County Board of Education.
Some of the points they made in their affidavits about Eldridge, Devore, and the money raised for the Flynn event: Linda McAlister-Brown said of Eldridge: “She told me she was getting donations from friends and neighbors” for the event. Calista Cuevas said she found a party record “which attributes the $25,000 contribution not to Bree but to ‘Private Donations’—note the plural Donations.” She alleged Devore knew about questions surrounding Eldridge’s donation through her tenure on the county GOP’s audit committee.
Nina Morton, who was the party chair from March 2023 to March 2025, also noticed the “private donations” citation that Cuevas mentioned, and said, “funds collected from a single person where listed as ‘Individual.’”
Juanita Gonzalez said she served on the party’s audit committee with Devore in late 2024 and early 2025. During a meeting, she said, Devore told the other members she quit the audit committee in a previous year when Eldridge’s $25,000 donation was part of the records. “She didn’t want to sign off on an audit that she knew was not correct,” Gonzalez said.
Venus de la Cruz said that during a Republican Party meeting in February 2025, Devore said she quit serving on the audit committee during a previous year because of Eldridge’s $25,000 donation. “Linda went on to say something like, ‘You know, that contribution was illegal. Dinesh D’Souza went to prison for that same thing.’”
D’Souza is a right-wing activist who pleaded guilty in 2014 to violating federal campaign finance law by using straw donors to make donations to a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in 2012. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2018.
Devore said she has no doubt that Eldridge’s donation was her own money.
“She preferred that it stay under the radar, except for the report filed with the state, so that locals did not look to her as a deep pocket donor,” Devore said. “She told me all of this within 24 hours of me seeing the donation for the first time in a campaign finance report.”
The affidavits are wrong about why she quit the audit committee in 2023 during the review of the GOP’s financial records from 2022, Devore said. She stepped away to assist her 99-year-old mother in Indiana, who “had a sudden decline in health.”
She and her siblings took turns caring for her mother in early 2023 until she died in March, Devore said. “She needed my attention, and she was my preoccupation during those weeks,” she said.
Devore returned to the audit committee in 2024, she said.

Internal GOP Division
De de la Cruz and Cuevas have at times been a nucleus of criticism within the county Republican Party, and Morton lost her bid for reelection as chair in March 2025 following complaints about her leadership and ability. Cuevas and de la Cruz have published videos questioning the leadership.
During a county GOP executive committee meeting in October, Cuevas got into a fracas with party activist Laura Mussler, and they filed misdemeanor assault charges on each other. They both told CityView in February they would drop the charges, and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office dismissed their cases on February 9.
Cuevas and de la Cruz, who are not members of the executive committee, were booted from an executive committee meeting on Jan. 8 at the Republican Candidates Resource Center on Owen Drive. Then they were issued no-trespassing notices after they remained outside and watched and videoed the meeting through the building’s windows.
Board Unanimously Rejects Earlier Complaint About Devore
In May, Jim Womack, chair of the Lee County Republican Party, accused Devore of a conflict of interest between her service on the Cumberland County Board of elections and her position in 2024 as chair of the credentialing committee for the North Carolina Republican Party’s annual convention.
This committee vets whether proposed delegates to the NCGOP’s annual convention are qualified, Devore said. For example, she said, the committee verifies that they were registered as members of the Republican Party prior to a deadline. Delegates to the convention vote on party matters.
State law prohibits elections board members from holding office in a political party but allows them to serve as delegates to a political party convention.
The State Board of Elections on July 21 considered the complaint and voted unanimously that Devore’s role in vetting delegates to the Republican Party’s state convention was not a conflict of interest with her service on the county elections board. The ruling also said that board members may serve on their parties’ convention credentialing committees.
In 2025, Devore served on the board of the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville, which is a nonprofit that financially supports CityView.

Up & Coming Editor's note: This article has been edited for space. To read the full article, please visit https://bit.ly/4suqFVX

Students curate new exhibit at ASOM on Operation Just Cause

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Tuesday, 14 April 2026

Written by Staff Report

The U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum is proud to announce the fourth year of its Curatorial Apprenticeship Program, where local high school students step into the role of museum curators to develop a professional public exhibit.
This year’s cohort includes students from Jack Britt High School and Massey Hill Classical High School, highlighting a continued partnership with Cumberland County Schools.
Selected through a competitive process, six students have spent the school year working alongside ASOM and 82nd Airborne Division Museum staff, researching primary sources, writing exhibit narratives, and selecting artifacts and imagery to bring history to life.
Their 2026 exhibit, “Defending Democracy: A JUST CAUSE,” explores U.S. involvement in Panama and culminates in an in-depth look at Operation JUST CAUSE. Launched in December 1989, the operation was the largest airborne assault since World War II and played a key role in restoring democratic governance in Panama.
The public is invited to attend the exhibit opening on Thursday, April 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Guests will have the opportunity to hear directly from the student curators about their research and the stories behind the exhibit. To register, visit: https://bit.ly/ASOMExhibit
About the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum
The U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum honors and preserves the extraordinary contributions of the Airborne and Special Operations forces of the United States Army. Located in Fayetteville, NC, the museum serves as a premier destination for education, inspiration, and connection to military history and traditions.
For more information, visit asomf.org

(Photo: Students from Jack Britt High School and Massey Hill Classical High School participate in the fourth year of the Curatorial Apprenticeship Program through the Airborne and Special Operations Museum. Photo courtesy of the Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation)

National Volunteer Appreciation Month celebrates heart of mission

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Tuesday, 14 April 2026

Written by Lisa Hughes

For nearly 58 years, the Cumberland County Council on Older Adults has been committed to helping seniors maintain independence with dignity. Through home and community-based supportive services, we strive to ensure that seniors remain healthy, safe, and connected within their homes and community.
At the center of this mission are our volunteers- the heart, soul, hands, and feet of so many of our programs. Their contributions extend far beyond service; they bring companionship, empathy, and a human connection that cannot be replicated. Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver nutritious meals while providing meaningful social connection and essential safety checks. Community Caregiving Circle volunteers connect to seniors experiencing isolation and loneliness through friendly phone calls and in-home visits, offering reassurance and a sense of belonging. Home Improvement volunteers lend their skills to build wheelchair ramps, helping older adults safely enter and exit their homes. Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program volunteers help seniors understand their Medicare options, minimizing costs while maximizing access to essential benefits.
We are proud to have nearly 200 regular volunteers who collectively provided more than 6,000 hours of service in the last fiscal year alone. These numbers reflect not only commitment, but a powerful community of individuals dedicated to making a difference in the lives of older adults.
Our story began nearly six decades ago, seeking to better understand the needs of seniors in our community, collaborate with partners who shared our vision, and build meaningful connections between volunteers and those in need. The “You Are Needed” campaign emerged from that vision. Today, that message still resonates. The need remains, as does the impact. We would not be able to touch the lives of so many older adults without the dedication of our volunteers. They are not just supporters of our mission, but essential to it.
Each April, during National Volunteer Appreciation Month, we pause to recognize the extraordinary volunteers who give their time, compassion, and energy to strengthen our community. We are excited to celebrate our volunteers this month with a special event in their honor. The celebration will include thank you gifts, prizes generously donated by amazing community partners, and a shared meal and opportunity for connection with each other. Volunteers will also have the chance to engage with elected officials and leadership from United Way, recognizing the collective impact of service and community collaboration.
As we celebrate Volunteer Appreciation Month, we extend our deepest gratitude to those who continue to answer the call. Your kindness fuels our work, your generosity uplifts our community, and your commitment ensures that dignity and independence remain within reach for every senior we serve.
If you feel inspired to make a difference, we invite you to join us. Those interested in volunteering with the Council on Older Adults can reach out to request more information at www.ccccooa.org or by calling 910-484-0111. Together, we can continue building a stronger, more compassionate community for older adults.
This April, and every day, we celebrate you- our amazing volunteers.

82nd Airborne Division cancels All American Week

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Tuesday, 14 April 2026

Written by Aly Hansen

All American Week is a long standing tradition with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. This year's festivities were set to run from May 18-21 and would include combatives and sports contests, a Division review, and the ever inspiring Division run.
This year, however, All American Week has been cancelled. In a social media post, the 82nd Airborne Division stated, "Regrettably, the 82nd Airborne Division’s All American Week 2026 is canceled. All American Week will resume in 2027, and we look forward to hosting our veterans, community partners, and supporters of the 82nd Airborne Division next year. Thank you for your unwavering support and service to the All American legacy."
All American Week is hosted by the 82nd Airborne Division Association. The association helps to maintain a bond between current and past airborne forces in the military. They set up scholarships for active duty soldiers and their families and support the 82nd Airborne Division Memorial Museum.
The Association issued a statement saying, "Due to operation requirements for our beloved 82nd Airborne Division and ongoing global developments, the decision has been made to cancel All American Week ... this decision was not made lightly. During this time, we will shift our focus to supporting our active duty paratroopers, their families and working closely with Division leadership on follow-on event planning."
Those who have already paid their registration fees for events during All American Week 2026 can ask for a full refund, or they can donate the fees to support Division deployment and family support programs.
Stars and Stripes reported on April 2 that hundreds of soldiers, including Maj. Gen. Brandon Tegtmeier, commanding general of the Division, have been sent to "undisclosed locations in the Middle East in recent days." Operation Epic Fury was launched on Feb. 28.
Thirteen service members have been killed since the operation's launch, and a US fighter jet was shot down before Easter weekend. Both airmen have been rescued by Special Forces.
The 82nd Airborne Division Association is looking ahead to 2027, when they say they'll hold All American Week again. In the meantime, they will be working to support the 82nd Airborne Division and their families.

(Photo: Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division participate in the Division Run as part of All American Week at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, May 19, 2025. US Army photo by Spc. Roberto Archila, courtesy of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)