Up & Coming Weekly

July 28, 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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10 UCW JULY 29-AUGUST 4, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM City Council may be eager to reform policing in Fayetteville. Still, the head of the Police Accountability Community Task Force, Shaun McMillan, said con- sideration "might be messy and uncomfortable" for council members. e group is proposing the creation of a Civilian Police Oversight Authority. Demands to increase the power of police oversight has gained traction as protests in North Carolina against police brutality continue since the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. e Raleigh City Council voted unanimously this month to ask the state to grant more power to that city's new police advisory board, which was formed in February. Fayetteville City Council has agreed to establish a po- lice advisory board, but the Fay PACT wants a Civilian Police Oversight Authority to have jurisdiction over the review board. "I need to see (current) data," Councilman Johnny Dawkins said. "It's disappointing to me, you come in here with demands." Dawkins has been outspoken in his criticism of anything more than a review board. School to begin on time but not in classrooms e Cumberland County Board of Education ac- cepted the recommendation of Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr., superintendent of Cumberland County Schools and voted unanimously to start the school year with classes meeting online. e traditional school year is scheduled to begin Aug. 17. Under the plan approved by the school board, classes will operate remotely through at least Sept. 25. Connelly said he had discussed local COVID-19 trends with county health director Jennifer Green. "e number of COVID-19 cases is trending upward at an alarming rate in North Carolina, including Cumberland County and surrounding areas," he said. A highly contagious coronavirus causes the disease. Forty-seven people have died in Cumberland County. e plan approved by the school board calls for the schools to transition to a blended learning environ- ment beginning Sept. 28 if conditions locally have improved. Drowning at popular local swim club e grandson of retired Cumberland County Schools Superintendent John Griffin drowned earlier this month while swimming at the Lake Pines Swim Club. Fayetteville Police identified the victim as Taylin Mack, 20, of Fayetteville. He was found underwater near a diving board. CPR was performed until emer- gency personnel arrived. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Police said Mack had been swimming at the lake with friends. "I will be conducting a thorough investigation into the events of this case," said swim club owner Frank Lay on Facebook. Trump on renaming Fort Bragg President Donald Trump says he might veto a con- gressional bill to change the names of military bases in the South named after Confederate generals. "I don't care what the military says. I'm supposed to make the decision," Trump told Fox News about plans to change the names of bases that have stood for decades. "Fort Bragg is a big deal. We won two world wars — nobody even knows General Bragg. We won two World Wars," Trump said in a contentious inter- view with Chris Wallace. Trump mocked Wallace, asking him what he was going to rename Fort Bragg. "Are you going to name it after the Rev. Al Sharpton?" arbitrarily suggesting the name of the Black civil rights leader. "ere's a whole thing here. We won two World Wars, two World Wars, beautiful World Wars that were vicious and horrible, and we won them out of Fort Bragg," Trump declared. Flags that can fly and those that cannot Defense Secretary Mark Esper has issued guidance for flags allowed on military installations. It does not explicitly ban the Confederate battle flag but provides criteria for allowable flags. "Flags are powerful symbols, particularly in the military community for whom flags embody common mission, common histories, and the special, timeless bond of warriors," Esper wrote in a memo, adding "e flags we fly must accord with the military im- peratives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols." Esper's guidance narrows down the types of flags that can be displayed. ey include flags or banners of U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia, flags of the military services, as well as those of gener- als or admirals and civilian political appointees, plus flags representing the positions of Senior Executive Service employees, the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag, flags of countries that are allies or part- ners of the United States — but only when displayed for official purposes — flags of organizations the U.S. belongs to, including NATO, the United Nations and ceremonial flags representing units or branches. Fayetteville police accountability by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS DIGEST JEFF THOMPSON, Reporter. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Confederate general Braxton Bragg

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