Former Fayetteville City Manager Ted Voorhees is working for an executive recruiting firm that has been retained by Cumberland County to find a new director of the Solid Waste Management Department. Developmental Associates is a North Carolina-based company that most recently conducted searches for county government to hire an assistant county manager and tax administrator. “Voorhees is doing consulting work for Developmental Associates, which … is assisting with our Solid Waste recruitment process,” said county spokesperson Sally Shutt. Voorhees is employed by and being paid by Developmental Associates and is not employed by the county, she added. Former Solid Waste Director Bobby Howard retired on Dec. 31, 2015. He was with the county for 33 years and was Solid Waste Management director for 11 years. Engineering and Infrastructure Director Jeffery Brown is serving as interim director. Voorhees resigned under fire earlier this year after three-and-a-half years as Fayetteville city manager. 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 Principal of the Year

Dr. Vernon S. Lowery, principal of Westover Senior High School, is Cumberland County Schools’ Principal of the Year. Lowery will now compete against other regional award recipients. One of them will be selected as North Carolina’s 2017 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year. Lowery has served as a school administrator for nine years. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Chemistry from Methodist University. Lowery later obtained Master’s in Education and School Administration and a Ph.D. in Education from Fayetteville State University. Lowery only recently was appointed principal of Westover High. As Principal of the Year, Dr. Lowery received an award from the Cumberland County Board of Education, plus a cash award and floral arrangement, an engraved desk clock, a commemorative Principal of the Year ring, a $5,000 check for school use and $1,000 for her personal use from LaFayette Ford/Lincoln. E.E. Smith High School Principal Melody Chalmers won statewide accolades this past year as the North Carolina Principal of the Year.

 

 

 

 

Police Command Staff ChangesThe retirement of Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock has resulted in a number of personnel changes in the police department’s command staff. Interim Police Chief Anthony Kelly has named Captain Jesse Devane an acting assistant chief. He will supervise the Uniformed Patrol Bureau for the next 10 weeks while Assistant Chief Michael Petti is away attending the FBI National Academy. Assistant Chief Chris Davis is in charge of the Administrative Bureau, which provides technical services and training. Davis also heads the training and communications division. Assistant Chief Katherine Bryant continues to lead the Investigative Bureau as Chief of Detectives. Petti will resume his post as Administrative Bureau Chief when he returns to duty and Davis will lead the Patrol Bureau, said spokesman Lt. Todd Joyce.

 

 

 

 

 

Fox Attacks Two Men

The State Public Health Lab in Raleigh has confirmed a positive result of rabies in Cumberland County. Animal Control picked up a dead fox at Rosamond Drive, off Ramsey Street near Methodist College Oct. 4. County spokesman Jon Soles says the fox chased two men, one of whom was in a golf cart. The men jumped over a fence into a nearby resident’s yard. “The fox tried to jump over the fence, but the two men killed the animal by striking it with a golf club and a tree limb,” said Soles. Animal Control officers retrieved the fox’s body afterward. It was the seventh case of rabies in the County this year.