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/1225263
4 UCW MARCH 25-31, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Jenna Shackelford jenna@upandcomingweekly.com HOPE MILLS AND SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Baker art@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATES Linda McAlister Brown and Melanie Twine linda@upandcomingweekly.com melanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING COORDINATOR FOR WOMEN'S VIEW AND FAYETTEVILLE LADIES POWER LUNCH Caroline Schafer caroline@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Avery Powers, Crissy Neville PAGE 21 Photo credit for headshot of Miya Giles- Jones: Matthew Plyler/MaxPreps ––––––––––– 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 welcomes 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. © 2020 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. PUBLISHER'S PEN Friends, By now, we've all become familiar with the term social distancing. I know many of you are sitting at home scared and frustrated, as restaurants, gyms and other businesses came grinding to a halt last week due to coronavirus. I share your concerns. That's why I'm working every day listening to folks on the ground and finalizing legislation to boost our response efforts. Thankfully, there is good news. While coronavirus continues to impact our state and country, the U.S. Small Business Administration delivered some needed relief to small businesses last week by approving a disaster declaration for North Carolina. This declaration means small businesses in every county in our state may now apply for low-interest economic injury disaster loans (EIDLs) as a result of the ongoing effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus). To apply, you can visit my website at Hudson.house.gov or Disasterloan.sba.gov. In addition to my office, the N.C. Small Business & Tech- nology Development Center can help small businesses through this process free of charge. The closest physical locations to our district are on the campuses of Fayetteville State University and UNC Charlotte. However, staff is avail- able to assist over the phone at 919-715-7272. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and I'll continue to fight to make sure they, and all workers, have the assistance they need. That's why I joined with Senator Thom Tillis and Rep- resentative David Price on a bipartisan effort to urge swift approval of Governor Cooper's request for this declaration. I also led a bipartisan effort with Representative G.K. But- terfield to request more aid for small businesses struggling with cash flow while they must pay bills, payroll and other expenses. In addition to our small businesses, I've been leading efforts to ensure our agriculture industry has access to the temporary workforce it needs to protect our domestic food supply, as well as to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to handle an influx of patients and strain due to coronavirus. I am happy to report the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that became law last week included $82 million for the Department of Defense and $60 million for the VA to cover the costs of testing for veterans. Following my request for increased funding, I was glad to see President Trump's latest coronavirus aid proposal includes an additional $8 billion for the Department of Defense. As we now continue negotiations on a third coronavirus bill, I'll continue advocating for any and all resources that our health care providers, workers, small businesses, farm- ers and schools need at this time. My priorities have been shaped directly from feedback from people on the ground. Just last week, I led calls with school superintendents in our region, VA medical center directors in Fayetteville and Salisbury, and small business owners. As always, my offices are also open to take phone calls and emails and hear di- rectly from you about any questions you might have. As I remain focused on legislation in Congress to address this unprecedented public health challenge, President Trump has also taken action to move the tax filing deadline to July 15, suspend student loan payments, give states flexibility on K-12 testing and remove red tape for the FDA to approve new treatments for coronavirus. By working together across local, state and federal governments, I am confident we can over- come this challenge and come out stronger than ever. Please stay tuned for rapidly changing updates and guidelines and never hesitate to let me know anything I can do to serve you and your family. Offering help in troubled times by REP. RICHARD HUDSON HIGH HIGH 72 72 LOW LOW 52 52 HIGH HIGH 85 85 HIGH HIGH 83 83 HIGH HIGH 87 87 HIGH HIGH 69 69 LOW LOW 57 57 LOW LOW 51 51 MARCH 30 MARCH 29 MARCH 27 MARCH 28 MARCH 31 Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy PM Showers MARCH 26 THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HIGH HIGH 69 69 LOW LOW 54 54 Humidity 61 66 47 50 63 50 LOW LOW 70 70 TUESDAY LOW LOW 66 66 REP. RICHARD HUDSON, R-N.C. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. New policies and legislation aim to help ease the burden COVID-19 has put on the state and its people.