Blog - Randolph Record

28 Jan

‘Tiger King’ resentenced to 21 years in prison

JILL BLEED and SEAN MURPHY Associated PressEntertainmentNetflix, Tiger King

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge resentenced “Tiger King” Joe Exotic to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by just a year after an appeals court ordered a new sentence. Joe Exotic — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — was convicted in a murder-for-hire case involving animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. Both were featured in Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.” Maldonado-Passage was resentenced after a federal appeals court ruled last year than improper sentencing guidelines were used. Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage tried to hire two people — including an undercover FBI agent — to kill…

28 Jan

SWR senior is NC State scholarship finalist

Randolph RecordNewsEducation, Kaitlyn Gainey, Park Scholarship, schools, SWR

RALEIGH — An Asheboro student has been named a finalist for N.C. State's top merit scholarship. Kaitlyn Ann Gainey, a senior at Southwestern Randolph High School, has been named a finalist for the Park Scholarship. The Park Scholarships program announced that 112 finalists were named from 2,260 applicants from across the United States. Gainey, who Randolph Record's Athlete of the Week in October, is the daughter of Stephen and Kelly Gainey of Asheboro. She is currently student body president at SWR and was named homecoming queen in 2021. Gainey is her school's Beta Club chapter president and a member of…

26 Jan

Asheboro Mall staple to close

Bob SuttonNewsAsheboro, asheboro mall, cookie jar, small business

ASHEBORO – Dallas Brooks is proud of what her family has meant to Asheboro Mall. So as the lone oven is turned off this weekend at Cookie Jar, she senses a bit of sadness. Her treats through the years brought happiness. “I hope I will forever be known as the ‘Cookie Lady,’” Brooks said. Cookie Jar is set to close Sunday. That will end nearly 40 years in business for one of the mall’s original tenants. Brooks is the daughter of Cookie Jar founder Wesley Vestal, who opened the store in September 1982 at what was then called Randolph Mall.…

26 Jan

UCA gears up for more on mats

Randolph RecordSportsnchsaa, prep sports, UCA wrestling, wrestling

ASHEBORO – The Uwharrie Charter Academy wrestling team produced another stellar regular season, but the Eagles will have to wait in their pursuit of a Class 1-A dual team state title. Under coach Chris Waddell, UCA has run up a 31-0 record in duals. That includes a 6-0 mark in the Piedmont Athletic Conference. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association postponed the first and second rounds of the dual team tournament until Monday. That decision came after multiple weather-related postponements hit pockets of the state, so this will allow teams to complete more of their regular-season schedules and league…

26 Jan

BORTINS: Free markets produce better outcomes

Robert BortinsOpinionsRobert Bortins

The things you used to buy, you can’t find; and if you can find it, you can’t afford it. Inflation is when your hard-earned dollars buy less than what they did in the past. If you had $100 in your pocket on Jan. 1 of 2020, it will only purchase $94 worth of goods on Jan. 1 of 2022. In March of 2021, I called a friend who sells used cars in the Triangle about vehicle prices spiking. He replied, “Don’t worry. The federal government says it is transitory.” I told him it wasn’t. Now the government is telling us…

26 Jan

Hall, Gentry reach big point totals

Randolph RecordSportsAsheboro, high school sports, Ledford, Mid-Piedmont Conference, piedmont athletic conference, Prep Basketball, Providence Grove, Randleman, Southwestern Randolph, Trinity, UCA, Wheatmore

The 1,000-point milestone is in the works for a couple of area girls’ basketball players. Gracyn Hall of Randleman reached that mark with a couple of strong games last week. Autumn Gentry of Trinity entered this week within range of 1,000. The Bulldogs are slated for a game Friday at Uwharrie Charter Academy and a make-up game Saturday at Southwestern Randolph. Hall and Gentry are juniors, so there could be plenty of time for their point totals to swell. Hall racked up 21 points and 13 rebounds in last week’s 51-34 victory at Trinity. The next night she eclipsed 1,000…

26 Jan

New restaurant hopes to pass Asheboro taste test

Bob SuttonEventsAsheboro, Gather on MLK

ASHEBORO – Jasmine Mohamed had a plan for a restaurant in Asheboro, but she tested it somewhere else first. Now she’s up and running with Gather on MLK, an establishment that specializes in sushi and soul food. “Sushi is the reason we’re here,” Mohamed said. “But we want to pay homage to where we are.” The test run was in Denton, and it went so well that Mohamed went ahead and opened restaurants in Salisbury and Asheboro. The Denton restaurant was called Peacock Café. “About 75 percent of our customers were from Asheboro and they begged us to come to…

26 Jan

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Dylan Wheatley

Randolph RecordSportsathlete of the week, boys' basketball, Dylan Wheatley, Randleman

Dylan Wheatley | Randleman, boys’ basketball Wheatley made five 3-point shots in two different games in a pair of victories for the Tigers last week. The senior averaged 20.5 points in those games. In a 67-64 road victory against Trinity, he shot 7-for-10 from the field on the way to 20 points. Two nights later at home, he racked up 21 points in a 57-53 victory against Wheatmore. He was 6-for-10 from the field in that game. The outcomes brought an end to a four-game losing streak and improved Randleman’s record to 5-10. The Tigers won back-to-back games for the…

26 Jan

LEVY: Woke English: a new American language

Robert LevyOpinionsRobert Levy

What most Americans want is to live in a nation where everyone civilly communicates with one another. It has often been said that a common language is a necessity for a successful nation. While the rule has its exceptions in places such as Canada and Switzerland, even those countries have established dominant languages the mastery of which is a condition precedent to success. This argument became important in most of the United States until almost the close of the last century. Students were made to study and pass English courses from kindergarten through high school. Even children for whom English…

26 Jan

Young players highlight first USWNT camp of 2022

Anne M. Peterson, The Associated PressSportssoccer

The next wave of U.S. soccer talent includes several players who are under 22 The new year has brought new faces to the U.S. women’s national team. The back-to-back World Cup champions opened their January camp in Austin, Texas, with 14 players who have fewer than 12 appearances for the United States. Coach Vlatko Andonovski is taking a look at the team’s next generation as it begins preparations for qualifying this summer for the 2023 tournament. Among them is Ashley Hatch, a 26-year-old forward who plays for the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League and who won the…