Chick-fil-A to open Stafford restaurant May 21

May 16, 2026

1–2 minutes

Summary

A Chick-fil-A at 930 Garrisonville Road in Stafford is scheduled to open May 21 with about 85 jobs planned.

Why this matters

The opening gives Stafford residents details on a new dining option, its hours, and opening-day promotion. It also signals new jobs and a donation to a regional food bank.

A new Chick-fil-A restaurant is scheduled to open Thursday, May 21, at 930 Garrisonville Road in Stafford.

The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Service options will include dine-in, drive-thru, carryout, delivery, and mobile ordering. The location will also have an indoor play area.

Owner-operator Mike Lindblom and his team plan to mark the opening with a Moove-In Party. Guests who wear cow spots, including a full suit or an accessory, can redeem one free entree or kid’s meal inside the restaurant or at the drive-thru.

According to the company, the restaurant plans to create about 85 jobs. Lindblom also plans to participate in Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table program, which donates surplus food to local nonprofits.

Chick-fil-A Inc. said it is donating $25,000 to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank to support hunger relief efforts.

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This year marks the 89th year of the Miss South Carolina competition and its 15th year in Columbia.

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The Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina’s Teen competitions will return to Township Auditorium in Columbia, with contestants arriving Sunday and preliminary events beginning June 16.

There are 39 contestants in the Miss South Carolina competition and 26 in Miss South Carolina’s Teen.

New this year is a separate panel of judges for the talent competition. “It mirrors the approach taken at Miss America, where talent is evaluated by experts who live and breathe their craft,” the Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization said on Facebook.

The talent judges are Jeremy Hudson, Eras Tour choreographer; Miki Abraham, Broadway vocalist and actor; Yili Fan, director and screenwriter; Morihiko Nakahara, South Carolina Philharmonic conductor; and Corey Ward, “The Voice” semifinalist.

Judges for the Miss South Carolina competition are Melanie R. Bridgeforth, founder of strategy firm Bridgeforth; Jacob Young, producer and director; Lisa Seagroves Nulph, dancer and Miss West Virginia 1988; Eddie Rabon, storyteller and talent agent; and Lacey Whitt, educator, singer, and Miss Missouri 2008.

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The next Miss South Carolina will advance to the Miss America contest, now called Miss America Opportunity, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach. The final night is Sept. 6.

The reigning Miss America is Cassie Donegan, formerly Miss New York.

Miss South Carolina Teen 2025 is LilyKate Barbare of Greer, who was appointed Sept. 18 after Tess Ferm won Miss America’s Teen 2026. Miss America’s Teen will also be held in West Palm Beach, with the winner to be crowned Sept. 5.
North Carolina

Greenville adopts $530.4M budget, keeps tax rate

The budget kept the property tax rate at 39.54 cents per $100 of assessed value, a rate city officials said remains among the lowest for comparable North Carolina cities.

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Greenville residents will not see an increase in the city’s property tax rate after the City Council unanimously approved a $530.4 million budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year Monday night.

The plan included $194.9 million in city operating funds, $330 million for Greenville Utilities Commission, $2.3 million for the Pitt-Greenville Convention & Visitors Authority, and $3.1 million for Sheppard Memorial Library.

According to city officials, public safety accounted for more than half of the city’s operating spending.

Major investments included funding for 12 additional Fire/Rescue positions at a cost of $750,000, $250,000 for pedestrian safety projects, $450,000 in local funding for Community Development Block Grant and housing initiatives, and $300,000 in new funding for the city’s Affordable Housing Strategic Plan. The budget also included support for more than 50 special events.

The council approved the budget during a public hearing at its regular June 8 meeting.

Council members also approved several transportation, housing, and infrastructure projects. Those actions included agreements with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the Evans Street Widening Project and the North-South Connector Project, as well as contracts tied to affordable housing initiatives in partnership with Pitt Community College.

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Eastern N.C. EMS agencies get funds for addiction care

State health officials said Mobile Integrated Health programs allow EMS personnel to serve as a bridge between emergency response and ongoing health care services, especially in rural communities with limited access to care.

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Several eastern North Carolina emergency medical services agencies were among 39 recipients sharing $10 million in state funding to strengthen the EMS workforce and expand behavioral health and substance use treatment in rural communities.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced the awards Monday through the North Carolina Rural Health Transformation Program. The grants will support Mobile Integrated Health programs, which allow EMS agencies to provide care beyond traditional emergency response.

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State health officials said the investment was intended to help EMS agencies address substance use disorders, improve access to care, and support people recovering from opioid overdoses and other behavioral health challenges.

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Amazon-Corning deal to add 1,000 N.C. jobs

The company said it has invested more than $20 billion in the state since 2010.

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Amazon announced a multibillion-dollar agreement with Corning Inc. to supply optical fiber, cable, and connectivity products for Amazon’s expanding data center infrastructure in the United States.

Amazon said the agreement will create 1,000 new jobs at Corning manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and support hundreds of construction jobs tied to facility expansions.

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Amazon said the agreement is separate from its previously announced plan to invest $10 billion in North Carolina to expand cloud computing infrastructure.

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Early voting began May 26 and ran every weekday through Friday. The first day drew the most voters, with 56,407 ballots cast.

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South Carolina voters cast a record number of early ballots ahead of Tuesday’s statewide primary, according to the State Election Commission.

Nearly 319,000 ballots were cast during the two weeks before the election, more than double the number cast early in the 2024 primary and more than triple the total from two years earlier, after the state enacted no-excuse early voting.

As of last Tuesday, the most recent data available, nearly 64% of early ballots were cast in the Democratic primary. South Carolina voters do not register by party. At the polls, they choose either a Republican or Democratic primary ballot.

Another 11,000 people voted absentee, according to the election commission.

Voters will choose party nominees for governor, other statewide constitutional offices, and seats in Congress and the state Legislature.

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Kinston woman charged after child found home alone

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The Kinston Police Department said A-Squad officers responded around 9 a.m. June 7 to a home in the 900 block of Savannah Lane after a report of a missing child.

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U.S. officials confirmed three additional cases of New World screwworm on Tuesday, bringing the total to five since the first domestic infestation in six decades was found in a Texas calf last week.

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The Trump administration awarded Duke Energy a $28.4 million grant to upgrade its Roxboro coal plant in Person County, North Carolina.

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“This funding supports previously planned critical upgrades that help ensure we can continue delivering reliable power to our North Carolina customers while keeping costs as low as possible,” Kendal Bowman, president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in North Carolina, said in a statement.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to strengthen energy production, transportation, and infrastructure. He said the nation’s “aging and constrained” electric grid posed an “increasing threat” to national defense.

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It was the strongest earthquake to hit the Philippines this year.

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A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 32 people, injuring more than 200, damaging buildings, and sending tsunami waves into nearby coasts.

The quake was centered at sea off Mindanao at a depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles), about 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province, according to Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

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Russian strikes killed four people and wounded 10 others in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region early Tuesday, regional officials said.

Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram that Russian forces struck the city of Chuguiv, killing four people, including a 22-year-old woman.

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