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/1440469
4 UCW JANUARY 5-11, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Emily Sussman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Elaina J. Martin MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Kathleen Ramsey COVER Design by Dylan Hooker 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 Army Airfield, 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 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU JAN 06 FRI JAN 07 SAT JAN 08 SUN JAN 09 MON JAN 10 TUE JAN 11 58 38 44 25 48 34 63 45 54 25 42 29 Showers Sunny Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Association of Community Publishers As the New Year begins, we have much to reflect on and look forward to. Fayetteville and Cumberland County have much potential and many op- portunities, but only if our civic and political leaders relent and start com- municating and cooperating. Until that happens, Fayetteville's image, reputa- tion and potential growth will suffer under the burden of stubborn, belliger- ent and failed local leadership. One of the biggest obstacles our community faces is a lack of local media coverage. We are the fifth-largest municipality in North Carolina, yet we are without a viable daily newspaper and void of a local television station. e absence of media coverage puts our community at an insurmountable disadvantage. Truth and knowledge are power; lack- ing news and information makes our citizens and community vulnerable. e media, free speech and a free press, support American freedoms by keeping our leaders honest and accountable. We appreciate people, businesses and organizations that understand and re- spect these tenants. rough their and our actions, we have rallied to support our community's free and honest flow of information. Notably, we applaud the efforts of Tony Chavonne of City View Magazine and Marty Cayton of the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal for stepping up to fill the media void left by the decline of our daily news- paper. Likewise, here at Up & Coming Weekly, we utilize all our available resources to provide hyper-local news, views and insights. Our goal is to sup- port the residents, businesses and or- ganizations that endorse and embrace these constitutional tenets of democra- cy. We are committed and will continue to reach out to all nine Cumberland County municipalities to promote their communities, businesses, activities, events and achievements. anks to the encouragement and support of our readers, and the con- fidence of our local advertisers, we have begun an expansion of newsroom operations to provide much-requested and much-needed transparency into local government. To this end, we have invested in a professional, young, talented and energetic editorial and production staff. ey strive to focus on Fayetteville and Cumberland County's future and quality of life. ese gifted reporters and writers are committed to accuracy, fairness and transparency and will be engaging in more in-depth investigative reporting on local govern- ment officials, issues and policies. ey will report on and explain the policies and procedures of significant matters in city and county government and the relationships of those involved. In other words, we want to help our readers "connect the dots." Help them under- stand the details of the policies that impact their families and businesses. Up & Coming Weekly will ask the hard questions that are now conveniently ignored. ere will be no change in our news- paper's mission or mandates. We will continue nearly three decades of policy that includes supporting Fort Bragg and showcasing the people businesses and organizations of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. ose that make our community distinctively unique. Our local charm, southern hospitality and cultural character defined by our music, art, and theater assets are too of- ten overshadowed and minimalized by the unsavory parts of our community. Local newspapers and news media can provide the defining balance. Local is the keyword here. In 2022, you can expect the best from us. We are committed to Fayetteville, Cumberland County and Fort Bragg. Up & Coming Weekly will continue to offer a free, unbiased and open public forum for local citizens regardless of race, religion or political affiliation. We want these voices heard. Nationally, local community newspapers thrive while the daily papers struggle with relevance. We are Fayetteville's local media resource, and local is what we do best. You can depend on it. Happy New Year, and thank you for reading the Up & Coming Weekly com- munity newspaper. What's up and coming from Up & Coming Weekly in 2022 by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Photo courtesy of Pexels.