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/1323226
4 UCW DECEMBER 30, 2020 - JANUARY 5, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor-@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, 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 Local businesses and residents continue on by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU DEC 31 FRI JAN 01 SAT JAN 02 SUN JAN 03 MON JAN 04 TUE JAN 05 73 64 74 46 60 38 52 33 54 34 59 37 Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Showers Scattered Thunderstorms Sunny Sunny Association of Community Publishers Well, 2020 has been a year for the record books. Before we closed our Up & Coming Weekly offices for the Christ- mas holiday, I thanked our staff for their loyalty, dedi- cation, hard work and com- mitment to providing a local news media venue that freely lends its nonpartisan, apoliti- cal voice to all Fayetteville and Cumberland County commu- nity members. In 2019, I stood in the very same place and thanked them for getting U&CW through a very tough year, and I remem- ber saying, "moving forward, it couldn't get any worse." Well, I was wrong! 2020 has brought on a recession, a CO- VID pandemic, racial unrest, protests and looting, state- wide quarantines, lockdowns, mental anguish, depression, and an unprecedented level of governmental hypocrisy, abuse and mistrust. Not since George Orwell's 1945 classic "Animal Farm" has anyone attempted to warn us of such a gradual disintegration of human rights under totalitarian rule. I ad- amantly suggest to all my friends "read it." Its relevancy is profound to the point that Orwell could have written the book yesterday. And, if you want to have a stimu- lating "woke" experience, substi- tute the names of Orwell's animals with real-life people like President Trump, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Chuck Schumer, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor de Blasio, Gov. Cuomo, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. Gretch- en Whitmer, Hunter Biden and, of course, North Carolina's own Gov. Roy Cooper. Do this, and no one will be more "woke" than you. is Christmas, I witnessed thousands of dollars of food, cloth- ing and toys distributed to dozens of families by local volunteers at Joseph Dewberry's (affectionately known as Bear) On After Bar & Grill. Yes, it's the same business operating with limited occupancy and restricted operating hours and gross revenue losses for 2020 hov- ering around 70%. is is the spirit of real North Carolinians. We applaud and encourage bar and other business owners across the state to go to court and challenge Cooper's execu- tive orders that are shutting down and crippling thousands of North Carolina small busi- nesses. Businesses are not Sheeple! ey need to push back on the governor's use of Executive Orders and declare unconstitutional elements of the state Emergency Manage- ment Act. Like many other governors and mayors across the country, Cooper, is uni- laterally making decisions and passing laws during this pandemic without consulting their state legislatures. Ameri- cans are starting to rally, and I expect to see a massive push- back to this style of hypocriti- cal and dictatorial leadership. In the meantime, it is heartwarming to know that Fayetteville church bells continue ringing. We main- tain a strong work ethic and charitable nature, and people, organizations, and businesses, look beyond greed and self- serving politics to serve the less fortunate regardless of what prevails in the future. ey find solace, joy and peace in in- vesting and sharing whatever good fortune they have with humanity. Nice. Happy New Year! And ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Fayetteville residents maintain a strong work ethic and charitable nature. ey find solace, joy and peace in invest- ing and sharing whatever good fortune they have with humanity.