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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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NOVEMBER 4-10, 2020 UCW 9 Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department's Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit have arrested a 60-year-old Florida man al- leged to have committed a pair of rapes which occurred thirty years ago. Timothy Keller has been charged with two counts each of 1st degree rape, 1st degree sex offense, 1st degree kidnapping and armed robbery in the abduc- tion and sexual assault of two women. One of the victims was attacked on Jan. 5, 1990. "e victim was walking to her vehicle in the parking lot of Bordeaux Shopping Cen- ter on Owen Drive when Keller kidnapped her at gunpoint," police spokesman Jeremy Strickland said. "He drove her to the rear of the shopping center where he then raped her." Fayetteville and Hope Mills authorities have also accused Keller of kidnapping another woman at an ATM machine on Hope Mills Road on April 25, 1990. "Keller kidnapped her at gunpoint, drove her to an isolated location where he then raped her," Strickland said. Both cases went unsolved until now. Keller is being held in the Cumberland County Deten- tion Center under $300,000 secured bond after being extradited from Florida. Over the last five years city police have solved dozens of cold cases utilizing technolo- gies provided by grants from the U.S. Depart- ment of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. e police department received an initial grant in 2015 and a second allocation in 2016 for a total of $1.2 million to test sexual assault kits, obtain technical training and prosecute sex crimes. e DOJ says that since June 2015, the FPD Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit has made nearly 60 arrests. Police ask that anyone with information concerning a sexual assault cold case contact Detective D. Kocher with the FPD at 910-433- 1500 ext. 2323 or Crime Stoppers at 910- 483-TIPS. Public health scam e Cumberland County Health Depart- ment says some residents have received calls and voice messages from individuals claim- ing to be with the Health Department. Resi- dents should beware of contact tracing scams seeking personal and financial information. ese callers say it is about an "urgent health matter." Legitimate contact tracers with the COVID-19 Community Team will never ask for anyone's social security number, bank or credit card numbers, or any other financial information. If you are asked for this informa- tion, hang up and call the Cumberland County Health Department at 910-433-3600 to report the incident Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact tracing is an important tool to combat the spread of COVID-19. Legitimate contact tracers will call, text or email indi- viduals who have been in close contact with positive coronavirus cases. Information shared with the COVID-19 Community Team is a pri- vate health record and is strictly confidential. Contact tracers will never reveal the identity of persons who have tested positive. e Electoral College Presidential elections in America are unique. In other U.S. elections, candidates are elected directly by the people. But the president and vice president are not. Instead, they're chosen by "electors" through a process called the Elec- toral College. is process of using electors is prescribed in the Constitution. Changing the system would require a constitutional amend- ment. Electoral College vote totals determine the winner, not the statistical plurality or ma- jority a candidate may have in national popu- lar vote totals. Electoral votes are awarded on the basis of the popular vote in each state. 48 out of the 50 states award electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis, as does the District of Columbia. For example, all 15 of North Caro- lina's electoral votes go to the winner of the state election, even if the margin of victory is only 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent. e number of electors each state has is based on the total number of U.S. senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives. ose numbers are based on each state's population. Califor- nia has the largest population. North Carolina is ranked 10th. Proposed inter-basin water transfer Fayetteville depends on the Cape Fear River for water and is impacted by inter-basin water transfers. e Fayetteville Public Works Com- mission is asking the public to comment on Fuquay-Varina's proposed inter-basin transfer from the Cape Fear River basin to the Neuse River basin. PWC's hope is that a thorough process will include full consideration of the impact on all communities downstream on the Cape Fear River and that before any IBT certifi- cate is issued, it has been demonstrated there is no alternate option that would eliminate the need for an IBT. Fuquay-Varina is requesting an average transfer of approx. 4 million gal- lons per day and a maximum day transfer of 8 million gallons from the Cape River basin to the Neuse River basin. e request is based on 2055 water demand projects in the town's ser- vice area. Previous agreements have included requirements for water to be returned to the Cape Fear River. e NC Division of Water Re- sources makes any decisions relating to such requests. Public comments can be submitted to msadler@hazenandsawyer.com. e public comment period closes on Nov. 20. Fayetteville Police solve 30-year-old rape cases by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS DIGEST JEFF THOMPSON, Reporter. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200.