Local News

Dining Guide: Winter Comfort Food

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Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Written by Staff Report

Evenings are turning cool and sweater weather is here. Comfort food is calling! A plate of something warm, comforting, and nostalgic hits the spot as October gives way to November. Here is a roundup of restaurants serving up hearty meals, familiar flavors and seasonal indulgences.

KINLAW'S WELCOME GRILL
1816 Sapona Rd
910-483-9425
Kinlaw's is the go-to destination for homestyle plates once the weather turns cool. Their hearty lunch and breakfast options feature traditional Southern comfort food staples like fried chicken and slow-cooked ribs. Their generous portions will satisfy the most hearty of appetites. Their casual, unpretentious roadhouse atmosphere matches their authentic down-home flavors.

READY AND HOT SPOT FOOD SPOT #3
1431 Ramsey St
910-920-1049
This venue specializes in quick and deeply satisfying homestyle hot meals that will bring warmth to your day. They offer a rotating selection of ready-to-go hot homestyle meat and vegetable dishes. Perfect for grabbing a comforting, substantial meal in the middle of the day.

BEES & BOARDS RESTAURANT
225 Green St
910-263-8754
Bees & Boards gives an artisan touch to comfort food, including charcuterie boards, sandwiches, and cafe fare. Their carefully curated menu is as inviting as their downtown location. This is the perfect place to pair a meet-up, a meal and a specialty drink.

SOUTHERN COALS
3319 C Raeford Rd
910-745-7675
www.southerncoals.com
Southern Coals is all about slow-cooked comfort, offering hearty meats like smoked brisket, pork chops, and roast beef. End your meal with a nostalgic dessert like banana pudding. Their unique spin on Southern-infused comfort food with flavorful, hearty dishes will surely hit the spot for those looking for a homestyle meal. Their cozy and welcoming ambiance makes it a great winter meal destination.

MARYBILL'S CAFE (Best of Fayetteville 2026 Winner)
801 Elm St
901-221-1170
A beloved local staple, MaryBill's Cafe offers a comforting line up of classic Southern breakfast and hearty lunch options. Their signature S.O.S., homemade ground beef and sausage gravy served over a biscuit or toast, is the epitome of comfort food. Midday fare includes melts, hoagies, soups and more. Relax in a neighborhood diner vibe as you fill up on a warm meal while temperatures drop.

MELVIN'S AT RIVERSIDE
1130 Person St
910-339-3059
www.melvins-atriverside.com
Located on the east side of the Cape Fear River, Melvin's is popular for their comfort food, authentic Southern soul food, barbecue, and seafood. They offer up large, satisfying, and warm portions that fit the bill for those looking for regional comfort food. Crowd favorites include fried catfish, shrimp and grits, and sides like mac and cheese and collard greens.

FLAVORS RESTAURANT & BAR
500 N Reilly Rd, Suite 128
910-568-5719
www.flavorsbarandgrill.com
Flavors is the place to go if you are looking for rich, slow-simmered comfort food. Their soul-warming plates and generous portions make them a local favorite. Signature meals include slow-simmered oxtails and crispy fried pork chops. Pair that with classic sides like seasoned greens or mac and cheese.

Liberty Basketball searches for habits that build a pro

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Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Written by Jamie Bishop

The gym will not care about a player’s highlight reel.
On Saturday, Nov. 21, every possession will become evidence. A sprint back on defense, an extra pass, a missed rotation, or the response to a bad play may reveal more than a spectacular dunk. For the athletes pursuing a place with Fayetteville Liberty Professional Basketball, the smallest decisions could determine who receives a larger opportunity.
The Liberty will hold its 2027 season tryout at 1 p.m. at Fayetteville Academy, 3200 Cliffdale Road. Players should arrive by 12:15 p.m. for check-in. Registration costs $75, is open to players age 16 and older, and must be completed by Nov. 14.
The numbers make the stakes clear. The organization expects to invite approximately 18 players to training camp, then reduce that group to a final 12-player roster. Team Market Owner Robert L. Edwards Jr. said the Liberty anticipates selecting about six to eight players from the November tryout for camp.
That means the day is not a ceremonial open call. It is a genuine, narrow doorway into professional basketball.
“We are looking for effort, skill and basketball IQ,” Edwards said. “Talent matters, but we pay close attention to whether a player competes throughout every drill, runs the floor, gets back on defense and continues working after making a mistake.”
Mistakes are inevitable in a tryout. What interests the evaluators is what happens next. Does a player sulk after missing a shot, or does he recover in time to stop a transition basket? Can he recognize the problem and adjust without requiring the same instruction repeatedly? The answers help distinguish an athlete who can produce a memorable moment from one a coaching staff can trust through an entire season.
For the Liberty, the tryout is also an early step toward refining what the team learned during its inaugural campaign. Fayetteville welcomed the franchise to Crown Arena in March, giving the city another professional team to claim and local players another basketball destination to pursue. The first season provided energy and possibility, but it also gave the organization a clearer view of what the next roster must become.
Edwards said the Liberty needs more size and more dependable shooting. A true big man could strengthen rebounding, rim protection and the team’s interior presence. Shooters must do more than make baskets in an empty gym; they must understand spacing, recognize when a shot belongs within the offense and convert open opportunities consistently.
The word Edwards returned to was “dependable.”
“Consistency, fundamentals and basketball IQ separate a professional prospect from a talented player,” he said.
Scoring will attract attention, but the staff will also study whether a player communicates on defense, moves without the ball, makes the correct pass, and understands positioning. Conditioning matters because fatigue strips away performance and exposes habits. The professional prospect is the athlete who can still make a sound decision when his legs are heavy and his shot is not falling.
The evaluation team will include Edwards, General Manager Tiras Ray, Head Coach George Stackhouse, and Assistant Coach Charles McCray. Players need only bring basketball shoes and arrive prepared to compete. Drills will measure skill, effort, conditioning, decision-making, basketball intelligence, and the ability to work with others.
That final quality is particularly important in Fayetteville, where potential players may arrive from college programs, military backgrounds, neighborhood gyms and cities beyond the region. The Liberty cannot build chemistry by pretending those experiences are the same. Edwards said the organization uses team-building activities away from basketball to help players learn one another, establish trust and communicate beyond practices and games.
The uniform also carries obligations beyond the baseline.
“Community involvement is a requirement for our players,” Edwards said.
The Liberty conducts several youth basketball camps, including free and paid programs, and takes part in approximately one or two community events each month. Players are expected to attend and engage with the people who support the franchise. For Edwards, representing the Liberty is not a part-time identity reserved for game nights.
That standard gives the tryout a second layer. The staff is selecting basketball players, but it is also choosing the people children will watch, families will meet and Fayetteville will recognize as representatives of its professional team.
After the final drill, there will be no immediate promise for most participants. The staff will review its evaluations and contact the selected players with training-camp invitations and instructions for what comes next. Registration does not guarantee a contract, a camp invitation, or a roster position. It guarantees only an honest look.
For some, that will be enough to change the direction of a career.
Professional basketball dreams often begin with noise, a cheering crowd, a buzzer, or the bounce of a ball in an otherwise quiet gym. On Nov. 21, the Liberty will listen for something beneath that noise: the habits that remain after the highlight is over.

(Photos courtesy of Fayetteville Liberty's Facebook page)

Callie Tisdale soars at National Civics Bee in D.C.

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Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Written by Leina-Malie Lake, Kidsville News!

On Oct. 14, Fayetteville local Callie Tisdale represented North Carolina on the national stage at the National Civics Bee Championship in Washington, D.C. Tisdale competed against 51 other state and regional winners across the United States, delivered a brilliant performance and placed 15th overall. Tisdale’s journey to the national championship began locally at the Greater Fayetteville Area Chamber’s regional Civics Bee. Students entered the competition by submitting an essay addressing a public issue. Following winning the local contest, Tisdale moved on to the state competition, where she claimed first place for North Carolina. Her top finish secured her a spot at the national finals in D.C.
Tisdale selected human trafficking as the theme of her essay. Her awareness of this crisis grew from her mother, Karen Tisdale, who has a long history of volunteering with the Child Advocacy Center in Fayetteville. Over the years, Tisdale engaged in several public service announcements and awareness campaigns for the center. Throughout her research, Tisdale found a myriad of common misconceptions surrounding the issue. She noted that human trafficking is not always what it is portrayed in dramatized media; instead, it involves someone you may know, often occurring locally without even passing state lines.
“Before doing research, I used to think human trafficking usually involved people getting kidnapped by strangers in white vans, taken somewhere else, and held in a hostage situation,” Callie explained. “For me, it was really the false narrative a lot of us are given. That’s what you see on TV or on TikTok because it’s more dramatized, but the reality isn’t exactly like that.”
The preparation for the national championship required a dedicated analysis of history. After her state win, Tisdale engaged in hands-on work with three history teachers at her school. Each teacher focused on a different area of study. One covered Supreme Court Cases and judicial topics, another helped refine her presentation pitch and navigate the U.S. Constitution, and a third supplied an extensive overview of American history from pre-Revolutionary times to the Roaring Twenties. Outside of school, Tisdale studied a Quizlet set with 460 flashcards. She employed other resources like the popular YouTube educator, Heimler. When she isn’t studying government, Tisdale is deeply involved in performing arts. She has performed on stage in Cape Fear Regional Theatre productions like Matilda, highlighting how theatre allows actors to explore unlimited perspectives and measure live audience reactions.
Tisdale’s love of history is perfectly matched by her appreciation for English and writing. James Madison stands out as her favorite Founding Father through his intellectual depth and foundational work on the US Constitution, a document she describes as the ultimate rulebook. Maintaining a balance of a high school workload with competitive civics preparation was no small job. This required strict time management and prioritization. Tisdale’s history in theater and childhood pageants helped her conquer public speaking; when addressing students nervous about speaking in public, she offered very reassuring advice.
“Really, it’s about getting used to it and knowing that nobody in the audience is praying for your downfall. A lot of the time it can be intimidating... but nobody in the audience wants you to do badly or is picking apart everything you say. For the most part, people in the audience are trying to enjoy what you’re saying… So, it’s about remembering that the audience is on your side and doing it as much as you can,” she said.
As for civics, Callie has a strong belief that youth involvement is essential.
“I feel like a lot of people think kids shouldn’t know a lot about our government, but kids are some of the most important people to know about it because, in the future, we’re going to be the ones running the government,” she said.
Callie Tisdale has shown that she is more than ready for the future.

(Photo: Callie Tisdale represented North Carolina at the National Civic Bee on Oct. 14 after winning the regional and state bees. Tisdale joined 51 other students from across the US in Washington D.C. at the National Bee, where she placed 15th overall. Photo courtesy of Karen Tisdale)

Fayetteville emergency management prepares before, during, after storms

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Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Written by Tiffany Haywood

Fayetteville coordinator Laura Smith helps prepare residents, coordinate resources as emergencies unfold and connect neighbors with support during recovery.
Modern technology can warn us before we know what is coming, alert us as danger approaches and help us make sense of what happened afterward. On Oct. 11, my phone gave the warning its familiar soundtrack: beep, beep, beep. A tornado warning.
It can be tempting to check your location, dismiss the alert and think the storm is headed somewhere else. For some Fayetteville residents, that warning marked the beginning of a very different afternoon.
At 12:03 p.m., the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado over Fayetteville. Smith said the initial report described an overturned tractor-trailer near Walmart on Skibo Road. As more reports of damage arrived, the fire chief asked her to join the response. Officials were assessing a damaged hotel roof and what residents and city departments might need.
Would people need another place to stay? Was a shelter needed? Would transit or public safety departments need additional resources? Smith joined the unfolding response to help coordinate those needs and keep city operations moving.
The City of Fayetteville’s Office of Emergency Management prepares for emergencies before they happen, coordinates with departments and outside partners as they unfold, and helps connect residents with support afterward. Its work includes severe weather, hazardous materials incidents, infrastructure failures and technological disruptions.
“The Office of Emergency Management is really about making sure that the city of Fayetteville is prepared for the unexpected,” Smith said.
A road closure or other disruption can affect more than traffic. Smith said a closed major route could disrupt transit service and nearby businesses, so planning includes finding ways to keep residents moving and services operating until a problem is resolved.
At the city, Smith is an “office of one.” Coordination is central to the role. During the storm and its aftermath, she checked in with departments, utilities and partners, including Fayetteville Public Works Commission and Duke Energy, and worked with the National Weather Service to assess the tornado’s path. Volunteer organizations such as Baptist on Mission and Team Rubicon also joined recovery efforts. The goal, Smith said, is to help people return to normal—or “some sense of normalcy”—as quickly as possible.
That work includes planning and practice long before the next storm. Smith works with city and county partners on exercises and after-action reviews, which help teams identify gaps and improve how they work together. Tabletop exercises let staff discuss how they would respond to a scenario; full-scale exercises give responders and partner agencies a chance to practice in the field.
For Smith, the work is personal. She worked in Cumberland County 911 dispatch during Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. During Florence, she said, she felt “the call” to move into emergency management. After the Oct. 11 tornado, she went into affected areas to talk with residents. Those conversations helped her understand their needs and consider where the City could improve.
Smith said she developed the City’s self-reporting tool to help residents share what they were experiencing. The City’s Office of Emergency Management page links to the form as “Report an impact.” Residents can use it to report nonemergency storm impacts such as property damage, flooding, debris, road obstructions, utility hazards and impacts to City services. The reports help the City build a fuller picture of an incident and where support may be needed. Residents can find the tool at FayettevilleNC.gov/OEM and request progress updates using a tracking number.
After the Oct. 11 tornado, Smith used reports to help route requests to the appropriate City department, county or state resources, or volunteer organizations. The City cannot enter private property to remove trees, she said, but volunteer groups may be able to help cut debris and move it to the roadside. For residents who need hands-on help with fallen trees or yard debris, the City has also directed people to call United Way 211. Emergencies or immediate danger should be reported to 911.
ReadyFay is the City’s preparedness campaign. It offers guidance for emergency plans and supply kits and is separate from the self-reporting tool. Smith recommends a three-day emergency kit for every person in the household, with essentials such as medications, toiletries, clothing and food. Families should plan for pets, check on elderly neighbors, choose an out-of-area contact, agree on a meeting place and practice the plan. Residents can find preparedness information at FayettevilleNC.gov/ReadyFay. Cumberland Alerts, operated by Cumberland County, is a separate system for emergency notifications.
For all the plans, training and checklists, Smith said Fayetteville neighbors “always come together to help their neighbors.” Seeing that response, she added, “restores a little bit of faith in humanity.”

(Photo: Laura Smith participates in a tabletop emergency-management exercise. Photo by Noticed by Nick Photography.)