Good morning, Fayetteville.

J. Cole fans bought T-shirts, hoodies and keepsakes ahead of his upcoming hometown concert at the Crown (showing strong local support).

Local tattoo artist Johnny Awesome painted a live portrait of J.

Cole while discussing the rapper’s influence on our community at Wednesday’s FAYNC Dreamers event downtown.

Grammy Award-winning rapper J.

Cole closed the North American leg of his Fall-Off Tour with a sold-out performance at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville on Wednesday, Sept. 23+ guest artists PJ and Petey Pablo also performed.

U.S. News and World Report released Cumberland County high school rankings, placing Massey Hill Classical at No. 49 statewide and Jack Britt at No. 82; district officials plan consolidation with Reid Ross possibly closing to support a new campus and Gray’s Creek receiving an addition.

Cumberland County will spend $1.3 million to research water sources for a safe public system in Cedar Creek, where wells have PFAS (forever chemicals).

Engineers will evaluate groundwater and river water options, and the board voted unanimously at a recent meeting.

UNC basketball senior Jarin Stevenson is showing a new fiery edge when scoring and defending, which UNC coach Michael Malone said could boost his chances in the NBA draft & transform him into a key leader.

Seventy-First defeated Cape Fear 36 to 7 in a rescheduled high school football game on Sept.

24 (with running back Shon Pone scoring four touchdowns) and delivered the Colts their first season loss. Both teams will start conference play soon.

Cape Fear will host Seventy-First in a rescheduled high school football game during the final week of nonconference play; live scores update on 910Preps so fans should check often for the latest action.