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/1284350
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 2-8, 2020 UCW 9 e final touches are being completed at Fort Bragg on its first subterranean range, which will simulate the difficulties of underground combat. e new range provides service members with unique training experience to help prepare them for the 21st-century battlefield. e tunnel complex ties into an existing urban terrain facility. Urban warfare often includes fighting in underground tunnels and caves. ere is a long history of underground fighting stretching back to biblical times. For at least 3,000 years, embattled populations have used them to hide from and strike at stronger enemies. Archaeologists have found more than 450 ancient cave systems in the Holy Land, including many that were dug into mountainsides, which the Jews used to launch guerrilla-style attacks on Roman legionnaires. e Romans faced the same tactic, around that time in their fight in Europe, against Germanic tribes who would dig hidden trenches connected by tunnels and then spring out of the ground to ambush the Roman soldiers. at tactic was used regularly by the Viet Cong during the war in Vietnam. Skate Park is open Fayetteville's first skate park has been completed at Rowan Street Park. e skateboard park was built where the hillside amphitheater used to be. Voters approved a $35 million parks and recreation bond referendum in 2016, and about $1 million of it was devoted to this facility. Team Pain Skate Park Design & Construction of Winter Springs, Florida, built the park with an in-ground concrete design to cater to both novice and advanced skaters. e park features banks, ledges and humps. It has a concrete bowl for skaters to ride rapidly up and down to do tricks. ere also is a large street skate area with ramps and fixtures to simulate skateboarding on public streets. e facility provides for open skating plus lessons, exhibitions and team competition. City helps fund the Dogwood Festival Dogwood Festival officials asked the city of Fayetteville to give it $50,000 and forgive $1,000 in rent to allow the organization to continue to put on shows. City Council formally declined the request Aug. 24 but agreed to pay the organization $27,000 in previously budgeted funds. e city also said it would forgive $1,000 in Festival Park rental fees. Council agreed to a staff recommendation to spend $15,000 the city had budgeted last fiscal year that was never allocated to the festival, as well as another $12,000 it was planning to contribute to the organi- zation this fiscal year. City funds will be donated only if a festival takes place held sometime in the com- ing year. e Dogwood Festival was canceled earlier because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote schooling is underway at Fort Bragg e U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity operates nine schools at Fort Bragg, serving students living on post in grades pre-K through 8. Students in grades 9 – 12, and those living off post, attend local county schools. Fort Bragg schools have a combined enrollment of about 5,000 students. Since Aug. 24, classes have been conducted remotely. When virus trends improve, the schools should start shifting students back to in-person classes. Parents who opted to enroll their children in the Virtual Academy administered by the Defense Department will con- tinue online learning when other students head back to the classroom. Since learning from home has be- come the new normal for students, officials want to make sure they receive nutritionally balanced meals. "We try to promote a recipe that they would enjoy," said Veronica Lee, Fort Bragg's nutrition clerk. ree drive-thru feeding sites are providing both breakfast and lunch for all students up to age 18. According to foodservice staff, that equates to about 2,700 meals a day and nearly 19,000 meals a week. Emergency crews receive funds for new defibrillators e Fayetteville Fire Department is equipping its fire engines and rescue vehicles with 60 automated external defibrillators. Each new AED costs $2,500. e department received a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $137,000 to purchase the equipment. e city's cooperative share is $13,700. e new AEDs will replace old ones that are carried on all fire department vehicles. "In the past five years, Fayetteville firefighters responded to nearly 2,000 cardiac arrest calls," said Fire Chief Mike Hill. "An AED provides the greatest chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest and is the only effective tool for certain dysrhythmias." According to the American Heart Association, ear- ly CPR and defibrillation can more than double a vic- tim's chance of survival. Since 2002, the Fayetteville Fire Department has won more than $1 million from the program, which was established after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Fort Bragg gets new subterranean battlefield by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS DIGEST JEFF THOMPSON, Reporter. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Photo by Pfc. Kyle Edwards, Fort Irwin Operations Group