Meck sheriff, SC nurse among local State of the Union guests

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday night before a joint session of Congress.

Several people from the Carolinas will be guests at the speech.

Congresswoman Dr. Alma Adams has invited Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden as her guest. She highlighted several of his career achievements in her announcement, including the strides McFadden has made with youth gun violence.

“I am honored to be attending the State of the Union as the guest of Congresswoman Dr. Alma Adams,” Sheriff McFadden said in a statement. “Protecting our community isn’t just about enforcing the law; I will use this platform to effectively tackle youth violence, so we can prevent more deaths, better safeguard families and foster trust within our community.”

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden invited two people from our area to Thursday’s address. The first is Kris Blackley who is from Fort Mill. She’s an oncology nurse as well as the director of patient navigation at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute. Last month, during Dr. Biden’s visit to Atrium Health, Blackley helped share how the health system is using federal funding to help more cancer patients.

Dr. Biden also invited Steven Hadfield, a Matthews man who has a rare blood cancer as well as Type 2 diabetes. The drug that treats his cancer costs $15,000 per month and the other for his insulin costs up to $400 per month. Hadfield has taken on several jobs to help pay for the drugs. His out-of-pocket costs are capped this year because of a federal law addressing Medicare costs.

Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis have invited the family of Keith Siegel to be their guests. The North Carolina native is one of six Americans who are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. He and his wife, Adrienne ‘Aviva’ Siegel, were both taken hostage but she was released back in November. WTVD reported the Siegels moved to Israel a few decades ago but have ties to Chapel Hill and Durham.

Biden will deliver the speech Thursday at 9 p.m.

The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

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