Up & Coming Weekly

June 02, 2020

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.

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8 UCW JUNE 3-9, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Bill, As I read your (May 13) editorial I keep saying AMEN! You hit the nail on the head. At my age (76) it is difficult to real- ize that our freedoms are slowly — maybe rapidly — being taken away from us. Your opinion piece should be read by every- one. Put your piece together with the article by Karl Merritt and we have all we need to know about the path this country is taking. AMEN! AMEN! to both of you. ank you for your work at Up & Com- ing Weekly. —Myra Parker (Mrs. Weeks Parker) I was stuck in traffic on McPherson Church Road at 5 p.m. Saturday. When I finally reached the intersection, I saw that the police were protecting a line of people holding signs — that was a peaceful assembly. ree hours later I heard on the radio about smoke and a man on fire at the Market House — that was not peaceful. Six hours later, I learned of looting and broken glass at Walmart on Skibo and JC Penney at the Mall — that is a mob. What happened, dear Fayettevillians? We are not Baltimore, we are not Los Angeles, we are not Minneapolis. I have lived half my life here and have embraced the city's 230+ year history. We are black and white and brown and yellow. We are biracial, interracial, multi-ethnic. We are not Bosnia or Serbia or Croatia, where neighbors fought neighbors. We are not an underdeveloped country, although the COVID crisis almost reduced our day-to- day economy as such with toilet paper lines instead of bread lines. We are the center of the military universe and about to celebrate the 2020 graduation of our high school and college students. Is anar - chy their future instead of law and order and respect for oneself and others? My heart broke when I visited the Market House Sunday. Priceless Lafayette exhibits on the second floor were taken and now stolen from the children of this county. To see boarded up windows and doors on both sides of Hay Street was awful. ese are small-business owners. A hurricane did not cause this; reckless action did. My thoughts Sunday at midnight were where was the city's leadership, telling the crowds: "OK, time to go home. Do not de - stroy your town; do not destroy our town." Why did the police stand down, be it at Walmart or the Market House? Was it to prevent confrontation, prevent escalation of a planned tense situation? A witness told me Sunday that cars were parked zigzag on Hay Street while their drivers were ransacking the area; that sounds like a calculated maneuver. Other Skibo Road witnesses told me of the 2 a.m. swarm of cars and people running in and out of Walmart as well as J.C. Penney's with merchandise, egged on by others on their cell phones. With all the store cam- eras and the bragging Facebook posts, will the police be serving warrants soon? Perhaps the beloved educator, Dr. E.E. Smith, can return and calm the waters. He lived in a time when the racial wounds were more fresh (1852-1933). Yet, he worked well with others to achieve his education and ministry, build up Fayetteville State University, start the first black-owned newspaper in North Carolina and represent the U.S.. overseas. Every Fayetteville child should know about him and Lafayette; mob rule should not be their model. We cannot be going backward. — Linda McAlister Community Notes • 2810 Bragg Blvd. will be the 2020 Headquarters for the Cumberland County Republican Party. Educational material, voter information and precinct maps will be on display. Campaign literature, and candidate signs will be available soon. e current shelter-in- place lockdown has delayed distribution of signs. County Chairman Jackie Taylor and her Board of Officers will be hosting an outdoor Grand Opening with Ribbon- Cutting and special guests on June 13 in the parking lot. ere will be a guest speaker, Mark Robinson, candidate for Lt. Governor. More details to be an- nounced. In the meantime, doors will be open Monday through Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. as of June 1. For more information, contact jackieleetay- lor41@gmail.com or call the Headquar- ters at 910-339-2011. • St. Ann RC Church in Fayetteville is hosting a Blood Drive, Saturday, June 13, from 9 a.m.-noon at 357 N. Cool Spring St. e Cape Fear Valley Blood Donor Center is providing two Blood Mobiles to facilitate the collection of blood. e Blood Mobiles can accommodate five donors every fifteen minutes. Average time it takes to donate is approximately 30 minutes. ere is an urgent need for O-negative blood. Amen! TO THE EDITOR MONEY During the coronavirus pandemic, our health concerns — for ourselves and our loved ones — have been at the top of our minds. But financial worries have been there, too, both for people whose employment has been affected and for investors anxious about the volatile financial markets. And one aspect of every individual's total finan- cial picture has become quite clear — the importance of an emergency fund. in normal times, it's a good idea for you to keep three to six months' worth of living expenses in a liquid, low-risk account. Having an emergency fund available can help you cope with those large, unexpected costs, such as a ma- jor car repair or a costly medical bill. Furthermore, if you have an ad- equate emergency fund, you won't have to dip into your long-term invest- ments to pay for short-term needs. ese investment vehicles, such as your IRA and 401(k), are designed for your retirement, so the more you can leave them intact, the more assets you're likely to have when you retire. And because they are intended for your retirement, they typically come with disincentives, including taxes and penalties, if you do tap into them early. (However, as part of the economic stimulus legislation known as the CARES Act, individuals can now take up to $100,000 from their 401(k) plans and IRAs without paying the 10% pen- alty that typically applies to investors younger than 59½. If you take this type of withdrawal, you have up to three years to pay the taxes and, if you want, replace the funds, beyond the usual caps on annual contributions. Of course, life is expensive, so it's not always easy to put away money in a fund that you aren't going to use for your normal cash flow. at's why it's so important to establish a budget and stick to it. When developing such a budget, you may find ways to cut down on your spending, freeing up money that could be used to build your emer- gency fund. ere are different ways to establish a budget, but they all typically involve identifying your income and expenses and separating your needs and wants. You can find various online budget- ing tools to help you get started, but, ultimately, it's up to you to make your budget work. Nonetheless, you may be pleasantly surprised at how painless it is to follow a budget. For example, if you've budgeted a certain amount for food each month, you'll need to avoid going to the grocery store several times a week, just to pick up "a few things" — because it doesn't really take that many visits for those few things to add up to hundreds of dollars. You'll be much better off limiting your trips to the grocery, making a list of the items you'll need and adhering to these lists. After doing this for a few months, see how much you've saved — it may be much more than you'd expect. Besides using these savings to strengthen your emergency fund, you could also deploy them toward longer-term in- vestments designed to help you reach other objectives, such as retirement. Saving money is always a good idea, and when you use your savings to build an emergency fund, you can help yourself prepare for the unex- pected and make progress toward your long-term goals. Sticking to budget can boost your emergency fund submitted by DEBBIE BEST DEBBIE BEST, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones Investments. COM- MENTS? 910-488-7535 You'll be much better off limiting your trips to the grocery, making a list of the items you'll need and adhering to these lists. e front door to JC Penney at the mall was smashed in and the store was looted.

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