Local News

ASOM renovations make familiar history new again

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Tiffany Haywood

The Airborne & Special Operations Museum prepares to introduce new stories, artifacts and experiences while improving the exhibits Fayetteville has come to value.
“New and improved” is a phrase people place on products all the time, even though, at first, the words may seem to contradict each other. How can something be both new and improved?
It can when something familiar is brought into a new era with added features and thoughtful updates while keeping the parts people have come to value. That is exactly what the Airborne & Special Operations Museum is preparing to do.
The downtown Fayetteville museum opened in 2000 and has now spent 26 years preserving and presenting the history of the nation’s airborne and special operations forces. During that time, new stories have emerged, new artifacts have been acquired and the way museums connect visitors to history has continued to evolve.
The first phase of renovations will focus on the World War II gallery, which will be gutted and redesigned. James Bartlinski, director of the museum, said the updated space will include new audiovisual features, interactive experiences and additional stories that allow visitors to connect with the history in more personal ways.
New interactive elements are planned for the lobby, including an activity designed to help children understand how a parachute works. The redesigned spaces will also give the museum more opportunities to bring individual stories forward rather than relying only on broad descriptions of military units and missions.
Bartlinski shared the example of a former prisoner who escaped and was found by members of the 101st Airborne Division. The division informally took him in, and he later assisted as an interpreter. Stories like his give visitors an opportunity to connect with the people who lived the history, not only the units and operations connected to it.
The museum will also introduce newer acquisitions that strengthen the stories surrounding its collection.
One example is a restored tracked vehicle used by the First Special Service Force. Bartlinski said the museum plans to place it within a diorama connected to the unit’s service in Italy, allowing visitors to understand the artifact within a fuller historical setting.
“You’ll see a lot of the same artifacts,” Bartlinski said, “but we’ve also had new artifacts that have come in that can tell a story better.”
Bringing something new to the museum, however, does not mean removing everything visitors already recognize.
Some of the museum’s audiovisual equipment dates to the 1990s and no longer works.
“People go through and they see monitors with nothing on them,” Bartlinski said.
Other parts of the museum, including exhibit panels and uniforms, are beginning to show the effects of more than two decades of use. The renovations will update that technology, refresh existing displays and improve how familiar artifacts are presented.
For those who have visited before, one of the most familiar sights appears before the first gallery: the paratrooper suspended above the atrium.
He will remain in place.
The mannequin and uniform may be refreshed after more than two decades of exposure to light, but the iconic image welcoming visitors into the museum will not disappear.
“When they come in, it’s not the same,” Bartlinski said. “It’s going to be a brand-new museum inside.”
The renovations will be completed in phases, allowing museum leaders to focus on each area while limiting disruptions to daily operations. They intend to remain open as much as possible, although some atrium work may temporarily change how visitors enter or move through the building.
The project also raises an important question: Who pays to transform a federal museum when Army funding does not cover the complete cost?
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum is housed in a Fort Bragg building and operates as part of the U.S. Army museum system. Bartlinski and the museum staff work through the U.S. Army Center of Military History, overseeing the exhibits, protecting their historical accuracy and managing the day-to-day visitor experience.
The Army paid for the phase one design concept, but turning that design into a physical exhibit requires another part of the partnership.
The nonprofit ASOM Foundation raises the money needed to hire the fabrication and installation companies that will bring the design to life. It also serves as the museum’s marketing and outreach arm, hosting events, engaging the community and building support for the stories museum staff are responsible for telling.
Margaret Britten, the new executive director of the ASOM Foundation, said her predecessors raised nearly $8 million through state funding, corporate gifts, individual donations and major gifts.
Britten said the Foundation believes it has enough to support phase one unless costs or other circumstances change. Additional fundraising will be necessary for phases two and three as costs continue to rise.
Britten said the museum’s mission resonates with donors because nearly everyone in the Fort Bragg community knows someone connected to airborne or special operations service.
“They just want to support the airborne and special operations community and ensure those stories are going to be told forever,” she said.
Britten also wants residents to understand that supporting the museum does not require writing a large check.
“If everybody in this community gave $5, we could absolutely update phase two, maybe even phase three,” she said, illustrating how smaller gifts can collectively make a difference.
The Foundation offers several ways to contribute, including its friendship program and sponsorship opportunities.
Through its Field of Honor initiative, community members may purchase a $35 flag in honor of an active-duty service member, National Guard member, veteran or fallen service member. Proceeds support both the ASOM Foundation and the Cool Spring Downtown District. The flags are being sold through Aug. 15, and will go up for display on Sept. 11. The flags stay up until Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11. They can be purchased by visiting https://www.asomf.org/event/2026-field-of-honor/
Fundraising, however, is only one part of Britten’s vision. After joining the Foundation, she repeatedly heard that some residents had not visited the museum in years because little had changed.
“People were just not coming back in because there was nothing new to draw them back,” she said.
Britten plans to respond through events, stronger storytelling, community partnerships and new ways of sharing the museum’s collection, including stories connected to artifacts that are not currently on display.
“I think my number one priority is just trying to have our community engaged again in the museum,” she said.
One upcoming opportunity will be a free remembrance ceremony on Sept. 11 at 8:32 a.m., marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The museum will also feature an exhibit recognizing the impact of the wars that followed on the airborne and special operations community.
The ceremony is one way the Foundation plans to bring the public back inside while the larger renovation takes shape.
ASOM is preparing to become new and improved.
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum is already familiar to Fayetteville residents and visitors from across the country, but the experience taking shape inside will be one they have not seen before.
The goal is not to erase the museum Fayetteville remembers. It is to make it worth discovering again.

(Photo: Exhibits at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum has thoughtfully arranged exhibits, honoring those who have served. Photo courtesy of Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation)

CFVH receives $1.6 million grant to support maternal, infant health

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Staff Report

Cape Fear Valley Health has been awarded a $1.6 million grant from The Duke Endowment to participate in the Maternal Infant Health (MIH) Carolinas initiative, a multiyear effort focused on improving maternal and infant health outcomes across North Carolina and South Carolina, strengthening care coordination and advancing health equity.
The initiative supports Healing, Equity, Advocacy and Respect, 4 Mamas and Babies, a text- and phone-based screening and referral program developed by the Medical University of South Carolina. The program is designed to identify medical, behavioral health and social needs early in pregnancy and throughout the postpartum year.
The model proactively connects participants to timely and trusted services and has demonstrated significant improvements in the detection and treatment of maternal depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, chronic health conditions, intimate partner violence and unmet social determinants of health needs.
The Duke Endowment’s investment will support participating health systems in planning and implementing H4MAB. The initiative includes participation in a peer learning community and access to a comprehensive Technical Assistance and Training Center led by MUSC in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The center provides training, technology support, cross-site evaluation and data resources, along with ongoing technical assistance to strengthen implementation efforts. It will also collaborate with state agencies, Medicaid programs and private payers to explore long-term reimbursement pathways for program sustainability.
“We are thrilled to launch this initiative in partnership with MUSC, UNC-Chapel Hill and five health systems,” said Jay Kennedy, senior program officer with The Duke Endowment’s Health Care program area. “Our aim is to work together to replicate and scale this program in hopes of improving health outcomes for more women and infants across the Carolinas.”
CFVH is one of five health systems selected by The Duke Endowment to form a regional network focused on reducing risk factors associated with poor maternal and infant health outcomes while ensuring families across the Carolinas receive timely support and care.
As part of the initiative, CFVH will collaborate with local health care providers, public health agencies and community-based organizations to share information about H4MAB and connect families with medical, behavioral health, social support and peer support resources. The health system will also convene a community advisory board to provide feedback, identify resource gaps and help ensure implementation reflects local community needs and experiences.
“In Cumberland County, maternal health isn’t just a medical issue — it is a community crisis, with persistent racial disparities and preterm birth rates holding at a staggering 11.9%, the highest rate in the state,” said Kathya Gavazzi, corporate director of Women and Children’s Services at Cape Fear Valley Health. “This grant will allow us to move beyond the clinic walls and address root causes such as housing, nutrition and mental health, because every mother in our county deserves a safe pregnancy and a healthy start for her baby.”

Amid efforts to fire her, County elections director retires

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Paul Woolverton, CityView Today

The embattled Cumberland County elections director abruptly retired Aug. 1, four months after the three Republicans on the five-member county Board of Elections tried to have her fired, and 11 days after the three, plus a Democrat, sought her dismissal a second time.
“This was not an easy decision to make but one I feel was forced to make,” Angie Amaro said in a letter she sent to the board. Her retirement notice also took aim at elections board Chair Linda Devore.
“Since the completion of the March 3, 2026 election especially, Mrs. Devore ramped up her long standing effort to have me removed as Director of Elections, regardless of the effect on the operations of the office and the preparation for the upcoming mid-term election,” Amaro wrote.
“The emotional toll of the past several months is difficult to put into words what this Board has put me through. After twenty-five years of dedicating my career to serving the voters of Cumberland County, I found myself working in an environment where I no longer felt trusted, respected, or valued.”
Amaro’s departure from the elections office may be the coda to a period of tension between county elections staff and some members of its board, in particular with Devore.
Even if she survived the effort to fire her, “I do not feel I could work effectively with Mrs. Devore and others still involved with this office,” Amaro said.
Amaro joined the elections office in February 2002 and became its interim elections director in January 2022. She became the permanent elections director in October 2022.
“It was an open secret that Mrs. Devore did not want me to be hired as Director and intended to have me removed as soon as she could,” Amaro wrote.
The first petition to dismiss Amaro was filed April 2 without the knowledge of the board’s two Democrats. It generated speculation among Democrats and local activists that the board’s Republican majority was trying to replace her with a partisan leader that favored Republicans. Protesters went to board meetings to support Amaro.
But the April petition was withdrawn after the board received additional information, Devore told CityView. On July 21, a new petition with bipartisan support was filed. Democratic board member Derek Edmonds signed it along with Republicans Devore, Ryan Johnson, and Bree Eldridge.
“The 4-1 decision of our Board was based on careful consideration and investigation of factual information available to us, and focused on how to provide the best and most competent administration of our elections process,” Devore said.
The fact that the new removal petition was signed by a Democrat proves that the board’s desire to dismiss Amaro was not based on partisan politics, Devore said. “We make the right decisions for the right reasons, and I think the public can have confidence in that,” she said.
Democratic board member Irene Grimes did not sign either petition.
“I was for a while under a lot of pressure to sign on to a petition, and I did not, and I would not, because I don’t think she deserves it,” Grimes said.
She had hoped the problems the board’s majority had with Amaro’s job performance could be addressed through training or some other method rather than firing her.
The board tried to work with Amaro, Devore said. “We did, and four members of the board decided that was not the best path,” she said.
Through Grimes, Amaro declined an interview request. Edmonds could not be reached for comment.

Up & Coming Weekly Editor's Note: This article has been edited for space. To read the article in full, visit https://bit.ly/4g5lQOM

(Graphic courtesy of Cumberland County Board of Elections)

Construction begins on Fort Bragg’s All American Freeway

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by April Olsen, Fort Bragg Public Affairs

Construction is underway on the All American Freeway on Fort Bragg with crews working to remove the top layer of asphalt in a process called milling.
“Roadway milling involves grinding up the asphalt and removing it from the roadbed,” said Jeff Williamson, the Fort Bragg Director of Public Works.
Crews are working on the first stretch of All American this week, cutting a layer about 12 inches deep as they move south toward All American Gate. A machine called a planer cuts away the material and a conveyor belt moves it to a waiting dump truck. The material is called RAP or reclaimed asphalt pavement.
The repair of All American Freeway is being done through Fort Bragg’s partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation under an Inter-Governmental Service Agreement or IGSA. In June, NCDOT awarded the contract to Highland Paving of Fayetteville, which is outsourcing some work to ensure the work is done quickly and efficiently, said Williamson.
For the milling, Delta Contracting, Inc. is providing the planer and Highland Paving dump trucks carry off the RAP to their facility in Fayetteville, where it will be recycled and used to create new asphalt for a future site.
Also during this first stage of construction, Highland Paving is clearing off areas alongside the All American Freeway so that the shoulder can be expanded later in the repair process.
“Through the IGSA with NCDOT we’ve been able to get road repairs done faster and cheaper,” Williamson said. “Last year we were able to make progress on other areas of the installation with smaller projects, so we’re excited that this much-needed repair of All American Freeway has begun.”
Fort Bragg Garrison Commander Col. Luke Wittmer acknowledged the concerns that the entire project, which includes replacement of the Gruber Road bridge, is expected to take up to 24 months. “It does seem like a long timeline, and we don't take that lightly.”
When open for travel, about 15,000 commuters use the All American Freeway daily. During construction, those vehicles must use other roads and access points on the installation.
“The All American Gate and roadway is a critical thoroughfare for commuters that transits across the heart of Fort Bragg,” Wittmer said. “It is work that has to be done right. Our priority is ensuring the safety and reliability of this vital route for the thousands of Soldiers, families, and civilians who depend on it every day.”

(Photo: Roadway milling is underway on the All American Freeway on Fort Bragg Aug. 6, to remove layers of asphalt in preparation for roadbed repair. Photo by April Olsen, Fort Bragg Public Affairs)