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/1298419
4 UCW OCTOBER 14-20, 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 April Olsen april@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATES Linda McAlister Brown linda@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 ––––––––––– 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 For the first time in my life- time, I will be a Poll Observer during this election cycle. Why? Because rumors abound about the safety and security of the most cherished right we have as Americans: the right to vote. Voting is our consti- tutionally protected patriotic duty that defines and reinforc- es our freedoms as American citizens. is election year, I want to personally witness this freedom and, hopefully, dispel the conception that the process is diabolically being compromised. is 2020 presidential elec- tion may be the most impor- tant ever in our history as this country battles inside and outside enemies and political sources whose sole purpose is to transform America into a communist country. Make no mistake about it, the overly used, benevolently disguised and distilled term "socialism" is nothing more than the initial stepping stone to Marxism and, ultimately, communism. And, as predicted by many scholars decades ago, this socialist/communist threat is coming from within. You only have to look at the changing and catastrophic ideologies of the once-patriotic and honorable Democratic Party. In summation: its integrity has been breached, and its values are compro- mised. e U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights have been designated insignificant, making it a target of ex- treme compromise and ultimate oblit- eration. is is why all citizens who cherish American freedoms, safety and security, regardless of political affilia- tion, need to VOTE! Kudos to local Fayetteville business- man Henry Tyson, currently the Chair- man of the Legislative Committee of the Fayetteville Chamber of Com- merce. He has rallied with likeminded people, businesses, and organizations and created a unique forum to intro- duce local candidates to the commu- nity. e online platform is designed to create awareness of voting's impor- tance while informing and educating local citizens on critical regional and statewide issues. Starting on Oct.13, these organiza- tions will host a series of candidate forums ahead of the general election. e event will be conducted virtu- ally and feature video interviews with local, county, state and federal candi- dates, who will discuss local, regional and state issues. Moderators will not distribute the questions in advance, and each candidate will answer identical questions as it relates to the timely and essential topics pertinent to their race. e inter- views will be streamed online and available on all the websites of the hosts and sponsors. Residents will be able to tune in throughout the month as new candidate interviews are uploaded and streamed in segments, begin- ning with the Cumberland County Board of Education, Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, local N.C. legislative races and statewide and federal offices. e schedule will be posted online each morning. is effort took a lot of work and coordination. According to Tyson, everyone was on board from the very beginning: "We wanted to have a format that allowed for the community to be informed — es- pecially during the time of COV- ID-19 — provide for a natural and unprepared response from those running for office and give the voters insight on the pressing issues we are faced with here in the greater Fayetteville area." I want to thank Henry Tyson for his leadership in shepherding this virtual forum and the five hosting organiza- tions that saw value in the project. See the schedule on the flyer. Also, a spe- cial thanks to the forums cosponsors: Coldwell Banker Advantage, Tyson Commercial Real Estate, Up & Coming Weekly community newspaper, Bronco iRadio of Fayetteville State University and JerFilm Productions. anks for reading Up & Coming VOTE! Virtual forums an awesome idea by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. HIGH LOW HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH LOW LOW OCT 19 OCT 18 OCT 16 OCT 20 OCT 15 THURSDAY FRIDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HIGH LOW LOW TUESDAY LOW OCT 17 SATURDAY Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Sunny Sunny Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Cumberland County's Community Newspaper"