By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com David Gietzen of Sanford was sentenced to six years in prison this week for his participation in the riot at the U.S. Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Gietzen, 31, will face an additional three years of supervised release upon the completion of his incarceration. U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols handed down the sentence after a hearing Tuesday afternoon at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington in the same courtroom where Gietzen was convicted last summer on seven felonies and one misdemeanor charge for ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com Contrary to what many people think, getting a proposal for new housing developments approved by the Sanford City Council isn’t a cake walk. After a developer submits a proposal and pays the required application fees, there’s a review by a group of experts known as the Technical Review Committee to assure commercial projects and major subdivisions comply with the city and county’s codes for construction and development. The property must then be rezoned according to what the developer wants to put there, and that’s a two-step process in front of the counc ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com It seems clear that Lee County Schools enjoy broad support among the county’s commissioners, and that when County Manager Lisa Minter presents the first draft of the county’s budget to the board in May, it’s likely that the school district will receive much – if not all – of the additional funding that they’re asking for when the new budget year begins on July 1. The confidence that commissioners have in Minter to develop a budget that will address the nearly $6 million in new funding Lee County Schools are asking for in the new year was on full display ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com The Lee County Board of Commissioners should receive a report on May 6 outlining options the county may have as it begins to look at the current and future needs of its jail on South Horner Boulevard that is now three decades old. The commissioners voted last fall to authorize a feasibility study by Moseley Architects of Raleigh to look at the effectiveness, efficiency, structural integrity, security, and capacity requirements for the facility that was built in the early 1990s. Moseley was selected, in part, because of their recent experience in designin ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com Sanford city leaders learned last week that their bid for federal funding that would have supported the construction of a commuter rail and mobility station along the proposed redevelopment corridor called the Sanford Central Green was not successful. The North Carolina Department of Transportation had applied on behalf of Sanford and other communities that would make up a revitalized commuter railway service stretching from Norlina near the Virginia border southward to Sanford. The goal of the corridor is to better connect rural and urban communities, e ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com It wasn’t a trip to the White House, surrounded by the resplendent trappings that so often remind visitors of the important goings-on that happen there. And there were none of the row after row of Dr. Pepper sodas that greeted Forrest Gump on his first visit there after his team’s fictitious win of a national football championship. But a group of young people from Sanford and Lee County were shown almost the same honors this week by their locally elected representatives as a way to demonstrate their community’s admiration for an accomplishment that only ..read more

By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com Whether your schedule is on your phone, your wall, or the back of your hand, make a note: fireworks are making a return to Sanford this July 4 as the highlight of a day of celebrations marking America’s 248th birthday. Independence Day and fireworks go together like parades and picnics, like cookouts and hot dog eating contests. And in this year when the city is celebrating its 150th birthday, a day of festivities that mark the adoption of the Declaration of Independence will end in spectacular fashion – the first time an official fireworks show took pla ..read more

Republican Brad Knott of Raleigh will call for a runoff in the GOP primary for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District after finishing in second place with nearly 19 percent of the vote. Fellow Republican Kelly Daughtry of Smithfield led the pack of 14 candidates with 27.38 percent, short of the 30 percent required by state law to avoid a runoff. The runoff election will be held on May 14, and the winner will face Democrat Frank Price of Raleigh for the Republican leaning seat. The 13th Congressional District includes all of Lee, Harnett, Johnston, Franklin, Person and Caswell counties, a ..read more

Democrats Cameron Sharpe, Bob Joyce and Mark Lovick will advance to the general election for the Lee County Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial results released by the Lee County Board of Elections following the close of voting on Tuesday. The three will face Republicans Samantha Martin, Bob Quilty and David Smoak in the general election for three at large seats on the board of commissioners in November. Numbers released Tuesday night with 100 percent of Lee precincts reporting show Sharpe led Democrats with 2,444 votes (27.69 percwnt), while Joyce finished with 2,203 (24.96 percen ..read more

Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin will build a manufacturing facility in Lee County, according to press releases from Governor Roy Cooper and the Sanford Area Growth Alliance. The location will be Kyowa Kirin’s first North American manufacturing operation and is expected to create 102 jobs with a $200 million tax base investment. The average wage for the jobs is $91,496. Kyowa Kirin will purchase land in the new Helix Innovation Park on Hawkins Avenue for the manufacturing facility, which is expected to be complete in four years. Kyowa Kirin’s current projects include engineering the ..read more