Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1025129
4 UCW SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Jason Brady, Lauren Vanderveen, Matthew Skipper, Shane Wilson SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly wel- comes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2018 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. ere seems to be a lot of attention given to fake news lately. In our neck of the woods, Methodist University conducted a panel to discuss it, e Fayetteville Ob- server is writing about it, and Jeff Gold- berg (Goldy), the host of WFNC 640 AM's morning show, recently criticized our newspaper for creating fake news about local events. Most recently, the best article about fake news was written by e Fayetteville Observer's Sand- spur stringer Lisa Carter Waring of Hope Mills. It was well-writ- ten and insightful, considering her involvement in Hope Mills issues – specifically, the ongoing controversy involving the Lone Survivor Foundation, which is trying to locate a $1.5 million military veterans retreat center in Hope Mills. Waring's article "Fake news isn't any- thing new," which ran Sept. 4, reads like a hybrid of an admission and a self-indict- ment of her own campaign conspiring with Hope Mills Commissioners Mike Mitchell and Meg Larson. e three of them have disseminated inaccurate and misguided information, seemingly for the sole pur- pose of undermining the progress and achievements of Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner and any project, person or orga- nization aligned with Warner – including this newspaper. Equally egregious is that Waring, Mitchell and Larson found an- other willing partner to pile on the Warner smear campaign in Goldy. Waring is using her trusted position with e Fayetteville Observer, along with her private and se- lectively restricted Facebook group, Hope Mills Chatter, to perpetrate her own fake news. And she's doing it under the guise of being a concerned Hope Mills resident looking out for the town's best interests. What we have been concerned with here at Up & Coming Weekly is the fact that such influential people like Waring, Goldberg, Mitchell and Larson intentionally dismiss the truth and ignore the facts to accom- modate and enhance personal agendas. is is unethical in regard to trustworthi- ness in media, and, for the commissioners, at least, it disregards the sworn oath and obligations of elected Hope Mills officials. It reflects poorly on the integrity and char- acter of each person involved. Here are the facts. 1. Goldy spent 20 minutes interviewing Mitchell and Larson Aug. 23 about the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners' rejection of and objec- tions to LSF's request to purchase property on Lake bed #2 in Hope Mills. 2. Elizabeth Blevins of Up & Coming Weekly and Hopemills.net provided portions of that radio in- terview transcript along with a link to the entire interview in the Sept. 5 edition of Up & Coming Weekly, where she rebutted specific points with documented proof – all of which is a matter of record. 3. Aug. 28, Warner was interviewed on the same radio show, by the same person. Warner did an excellent job explaining the LSF's mission and objectives as well as her position on the matter. She did this gracefully and professionally while refut- ing her detractor's allegations that "the fix was in" and that proper protocols were not followed. 4. Up & Coming Weekly dispels fake news. In all cases, our name, titles, credentials and photos are on every article we pen. We own our content and are responsible for it. In ad- dition, we return all our calls and respond to texts and emails. More importantly, concerning the Hope Mills controversy, both Blevins and I included in our articles a direct challenge and open invitation to all the parties involved that if they found anything in our articles that was misrepre- sented, inaccurate or not factual, we would get it corrected immediately. 5. e challenge went unanswered. We have not heard from anyone. No pub- lic rebuttal, no phone calls, no emails or text messages. Why? Because Larson and Mitchell have found themselves in indefensible positions when it comes to providing facts and being truthful. Here's the takeaway: Goldy will not have me on his show because he knows I have command of the Hope Mills situation and I will speak from a base of absolute facts as I know them, as Blevins has documented them, and as Warner has articulated them on Goldy's own radio show. Mitchell and Larson will continue undermining the mayor's efforts. ey want to obstruct Warner's effectiveness and impede her progress while trying to damage her credibility in the process. ey will resist contributing to or participating in anything constructive, even if it benefits the town of Hope Mills and its residents, if they feel such actions will reflect positively on the mayor, or worse, further endear her to the Hope Mills community. Waring, who writes for e Fayetteville Observer and commands her private Chatter Facebook group, will continue to struggle with her own credibility issues. Here is what we know for sure: All these people have issues, and they all have access to media. is doesn't mean that everything (or anything) they say, write or post on social media is accurate. How- ever, everything you read in Up & Com- ing Weekly can be substantiated. And, in response to Goldy's allegation that I only print one side of an issue, the policy at Up & Coming Weekly for 23 years has been that we will provide the space for anyone to respond to or opine on any subject or topic discussed in our publication. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes and supports the sharing of all viewpoints. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly! Dispelling fake news – again by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. SEPTEMBER 13 Scattered Thunderstorms/Wind LOW 74 HIGH 86 SEPTEMBER 17 Showers LOW 70 HIGH 85 SEPTEMBER 16 Scattered Thunderstorms LOW 71 HIGH 85 SEPTEMBER 14 Rain/Thunder/Wind LOW 73 HIGH 85 SEPTEMBER 15 Rain/Wind LOW 70 HIGH 83 HIGH 86 SEPTEMBER 18 Partly Cloudy LOW 67