by Tina Neeley | May 8, 2025 | Feature
FROM THE corner of your eye, Mt. Washmore looms — laundry stalled by a dead washing machine. The big box store’s helpline? Forty-five minutes on hold, promising you’re “next.” It hasn’t always been this way. Decades ago, washing machines, clothes dryers, and kitchen...
by Tina Neeley | May 8, 2025 | Feature
TRAFFIC CRAWLED along Lincoln Avenue, a backhoe leading the way, soon joined by a Fayetteville Police Department car’s flashing blue lights. The officer eased the machine over, clearing the way for frustrated drivers. As the cab door opened, preteens Chad Mullins and...
by Tina Neeley | Apr 17, 2025 | Feature
MAPS TELL stories of possibility. Not the kind printed on paper but the invisible routes we chart through life’s most challenging terrains. Some journeys are straightforward highways; others are winding, unpredictable paths that require a different kind of navigation....
by Tina Neeley | Apr 17, 2025 | Feature
AS YOU wait in the car rider lane for your student to emerge from one of Lincoln County’s schools, it’s hard to see. The double doors burst open, and students pour out, run-walking to their rides, whether it be the bus or a waiting vehicle. Some laugh with friends,...
by Tina Neeley | Mar 27, 2025 | Feature
ON THE beach of Playa Junquillal, Costa Rica, Makayla Martin gently releases baby sea turtles one by one onto the beach. The tiny creatures, no larger than the palm of her hand, instinctively scuttle toward the crashing waves. Each hatchling represents a fragile hope...
by Tina Neeley | Mar 27, 2025 | Feature
BILL SMITH broke the surface of Tims Ford Lake, his uncle, Bobby Smith, in one numb hand, and his 3-year-old son, Jess, clutched desperately in the other. The 48-degree water bit into their skin through their soaked layers of clothing, dragging them down despite their...
