Abigail Hobbs

Copy Chief

Abigail Hobbs '25 serves as copy chief at Elon News Network and is passionate about reporting, writing and copy editing. She is a journalism and strategic communications double major and a political science minor. Find her work at abigailhobbs.com. 

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Recent Articles

NEWS 11/6/24 2:39am

Amy Galey wins North Carolina State Senate District 25

By Abigail Hobbs

North Carolina State Sen. Republican Amy Galey won her reelection campaign for District 25’s state senate seat. Galey won against Democrat Donna Vanhook with 60.34% and Vanhook received 39.66% of the votes. Galey previously told Elon News Network she works to serve all of her constituents — even those who did not vote for her. 

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NEWS 11/6/24 1:18am

District 17 judge seat results

By Abigail Hobbs

Republican Bryan Ray won the first of five of North Carolina’s District 17 Court Judge seats. Democrat Larry Brown Jr. won the second of five of North Carolina’s District 17 Court Judge seats. Republican Craig Turner won the third of five of North Carolina’s District 17 Court Judge seats. Democrat incumbent Kathryn Overby won reelection for the fourth of five of North Carolina’s District 17 Court Judge seats. Republican Meredith Tuck Edwards won the fifth of five of North Carolina’s District 17 Court Judge seats.

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NEWS 11/6/24 12:46am

Three board of commissioners candidates elected

By Abigail Hobbs

Three candidates — Pamela Thompson, John Paisley Jr. and Ed Priola were elected to the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. They respectively received 18.13% of the votes, 17.89% and 17.37%.

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LIFESTYLE 10/31/24 9:13am

Original Hollywood Horror Show puts on film-quality sets

By Abigail Hobbs

Dean and Starr Jones were 7 years old when they had their first taste of special effects makeup when their parents pulled them out of school to watch the production of the 1968 movie “Killers Three.” After growing up watching horror movies and doing haunted houses for church and boy scouts, the duo went on to Hollywood and garnered a combined total of two Emmys, six Emmy nominations and 162 makeup credits for both movies and shows — most notably “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and several of the Star Trek movies.

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NEWS 10/29/24 10:47am

Elon Poll finds Hurricane Helene motivates voters this election

By Abigail Hobbs

The third Elon Poll of the 2024 election season found that Democrat Josh Stein now has a 21-point lead in the governor race against Republican Mark Robinson and North Carolina is still in a deadlock for the presidential election. The poll also found that Hurricane Helene is motivating North Carolinians to vote, which Director of Elon Poll Jason Husser said is usual after natural disasters. The poll was made up of 800 registered North Carolina voters, conducted from Oct. 10 to 17.

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NEWS 9/27/24 4:45pm

Elon’s Fall Convocation speaker speaks on finding happiness

By Abigail Hobbs

Arthur C. Brooks is speaking at Fall Convocation at 3 p.m. Sept. 27 in Alumni Gym. Brooks is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery professor of the practice of public and nonprofit leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. Brooks writes The Atlantic column “How to Build a Life” and has written 13 books including the 2023 #1 New York Times bestseller “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier ” with co-author Oprah Winfrey, and the 2022 #1 New York Times bestseller “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”

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NEWS 9/23/24 11:27am

North Carolina Latino organizations work to mobilize community

By Abigail Hobbs

From 2010 to 2020, the Latino population in North Carolina grew by almost 40%, far more than the national growth of 23%. However, in 2022, Latino voter turnout actually decreased after having increased in the past two midterm elections, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Kelly Morales is co-director of Siembra NC — a grassroots organization defending the North Carolina Latino community, particularly with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and wage theft. The organization has registered 5,600 Latinos by touring across the state.

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LIFESTYLE 9/14/24 11:35am

Hillsborough tattoo shop celebrates Friday the 13th with discounts

By Abigail Hobbs

With 56 people coming to get tattooed on Friday, Sept. 13, shop owner and tattoo artist Lillian — aka “Honeybadger” — said Friday the 13th specials started as a way to lean into the negative stereotypes that come with tattoos. Inkognito Tattoo Studio — a minority and woman-owned studio — offered $31 tattoos with $13 tips from a set of designs called flash. Elon juniors and roommates Ash Crouse and Brooke Boozer got their first tattoos at the event due to the discount. Inkognito will be hosting another Friday the 13th discount event Dec. 13.

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NEWS 9/12/24 9:34am

Elon students struggle to find parking on campus

By Fiona McAllister and Abigail Hobbs

For three years, senior Ashland Sutton has been commuting to Elon’s campus with no issues. Now, she is accustomed to the sight of the full Innovation Quad parking lot and cars circling the lot. Living half an hour away, Sutton now gets up at 6 a.m. to guarantee a spot before her 8 a.m. class or risk parking further away in the Danieley parking lot. Sutton contacted Campus Police so they would be aware of the problem, Chief of Police Joe LeMire sent photos of available parking spaces throughout the day with timestamps.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/24 8:47pm

Artist showcases consumption habits through art

By Abigail Hobbs and Megan Walsh

David Hamlow has been collecting his own trash for almost 40 years, taking up space in his attic, basement and storage locker. He uses the trash — typically clear plastics, paper cardboard and thicker cardboard — to create art installations. Hamlow said he considers these pieces self portraits because most of it is his personal trash. Hamlow created an art installation for Elon’s Arts West Gallery 406 and hosted an artist talk Sept. 9. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until Sept. 27.

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LIFESTYLE 9/3/24 4:12pm

Sophomore brings Music For Dementia to Elon

By Abigail Hobbs

Her hands were the only thing in frame, dancing across the keys as she played a complex, classical piece on the piano. She hadn’t played in 20 years, and though there was no songbook on the music stand, she remembered the piece clearly. Sophomore Aidan Fishkind received a video of their 90-year-old aunt with dementia playing the piano from her live-in caretaker. Fishkind, who was involved in Music For Dementia in their high school, brought the organization to Elon — officially creating its first out-of-state chapter in spring 2024.

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NEWS 8/27/24 4:13pm

Elon Poll shows voter concern over fair, accurate election

By Abigail Hobbs

Less than half of North Carolina voters said they have confidence that the national vote count will be fair and accurate in the 2024 election, as found by a poll conducted by Elon Poll in partnership with The Charlotte Observer, The News & Observer and The Durham Herald-Sun. This is a major decrease from the 2020 poll, where 69% of voters were confident in the election process. Jason Husser, director of the Elon Poll, said the lack of confidence in the integrity of elections is a new phenomenon.

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NEWS 8/19/24 1:14pm

Elon University president announces AI student guide, reflects on Boldly Elon

By Abigail Hobbs

In her annual President’s Address to officially welcome the 2024-25 school year, Elon University President Connie Book announced a partnership with the American Association of Colleges and Universities to publish a student guide to artificial intelligence, which will act as a primer to AI.  The guide, titled “AI-U/v1.0,” is offered free to colleges and universities to distribute and adapt under the Creative Commons license and was developed by faculty, students and academic leaders at universities around the world. 

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NEWS 1/8/24 9:48am

Charleston County Democratic Party kicks off Biden campaign with volunteers

By Abigail Hobbs

Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta said a reporter recently asked him if a campaign based on democracy will be enough to get voters to reelect President Joe Biden. Kenyatta spoke at the Charleston County Democratic Party headquarters where the CCDP hosted a phone banking event Jan. 6 with local volunteers — calling registered democrats to remind them of the upcoming South Carolina democratic presidential primary Feb. 3 — the first democratic primary in the nation. The South Carolina Republican primary is Feb. 24 — the third Republican primary following New Hampshire and Nevada. 

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NEWS 12/1/23 11:45am

First woman to serve on Supreme Court dies

By Abigail Hobbs

Sandra Day O’Connor — the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court — died at 93 years old Dec. 1 due to complications with dementia. O’Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and played a large role in the decisions of important cases such as affirmative action, abortion, voting rights and many others. O’Connor also dedicated Elon Law in 2006 and spoke as a keynote speaker in 2010. 

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NEWS 11/16/23 8:03am

Law enforcement copes with increase in Alamance County overdoses

By Abigail Hobbs

From 2000 to 2022, over 36,000 North Carolinians died from overdose and 3,875 deaths in 2022 alone. Cpt. Chris Crain from the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department said he has responded to more calls of overdose in Alamance County than he can count — at least two to three a week. Alamance County saw 34 opioid-related overdoses in 2020, 50 in 2021 and 40 in 2022, according to the NCDHHS. Town of Elon Sgt. Chris Miles said he is seeing more younger people overdosing from fentanyl since it is being laced in drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. 

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NEWS 11/7/23 12:08pm

Elon University SGA sees failed impeachment attempt

By Abigail Hobbs

Elon University’s Student Government Association’s Vice President of Finance senior Gabby Gutiérrez faced an impeachment vote Nov. 2 after Student Body President Britt Mobley and Speaker of the Senate Chloe Higgins filed a formal judicial complaint, according to a statement sent to Elon News Network Nov. 7 from the SGA executive team. A student in SGA, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the participants at the hearing were told not to talk about it and the time between when the complaint was filed on Oct. 26 to the hearing on Nov. 2 was not long enough for proper deliberation.

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LIFESTYLE 11/3/23 10:32am

Elon University showcases art exhibition connecting humanity, consumerism

By Abigail Hobbs

Every time Elon exhibiting artist Joshua Newth went for a walk around his Missouri neighborhood in 2019, he would pick up a piece of trash. Bridging his degree in biology and interest in painting, Newth created “Confessions of the Consumer,” a collection of paintings and sculptures that reuse litter to get his audience to think about the connections between nature and humanity. The collections will be on display in Arts West until Dec. 1. In his works, Newth, an art professor at Southeast Missouri State University, said he uses the human form “accessorized” with litter to explore humanity’s relationship with consumerism in a non-confrontational way.

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NEWS 10/19/23 8:13pm

Elon University community honors sophomore with memorial

By Abigail Hobbs and Madison Powers

Friends and family of rising sophomore Jason Titunik, who died over the summer in a car crash, recognized his life Oct. 19 by sharing memories and planting a tree in his honor. Over 75 members of the Elon community gathered outside of Hook, Brannock and Barney residence halls — where Titunik lived his freshman year — to express condolences and support. The Rev. Kristin Boswell and Ira Titunik, Jason’s father, as well as friends and roommates described Jason’s personality and memory before planting a tree outside of HBB.  

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NEWS 10/9/23 9:54pm

Elon University students, faculty gather to support Jewish community

By Abigail Hobbs

At the Israel Solidarity Gathering on Phi Beta Commons on Oct. 9, students and faculty came together to support those affected by the Israel-Hamas war. On Oct. 7, the Hamas militant group attacked the southern border of Israel — killing and abducting local residents. The Israeli government declared a war on Hamas on Oct. 8, which has led to bombings and mass casualties of nearly 1,600 as of 4 p.m. Oct. 9, according to the Associated Press. The gathering, hosted by Elon Hillel and Chabad, included praying, singing Oseh Shalom — a Jewish prayer for peace —, offering resources to students and providing options of where to donate.

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