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 JANUARY 5-11, 2022 UCW 9 Methodist University will be delaying the opening of campus for the Spring Semester after a spike in the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Faculty and staff will return to campus on Jan. 10 while undergraduate students will return on Jan. 18. Graduate programs will begin on Jan. 10 and online programs will begin on their original start date. "I am certain we will have cases on our campus this spring, but as promised all along, we are working daily to remain as open as possible while also being as safe as possible," President Stanley Wearden said in a university announcement. "Delaying the full opening of campus by a week af- fords us multiple opportunities to mitigate risk." Faculty and staff are expected to be tested anytime before Jan. 10, preferably 72 hours before returning to campus. Students who will be on campus must show proof of full vaccination and will need to be tested for CO- VID-19 before Jan. 18. Students who live in residence halls will be asked to return to campus in four phases, beginning Jan. 13. At Fayetteville Technical Community College, all faculty and staff must undergo a COVID-19 test on or after Jan. 5. is policy applies to all faculty and staff, regard- less of vaccination status. All fully vaccinated faculty and staff will be required to wear masks until they can produce a negative test. At Fayetteville State University, COVID-19 testing is required for all employees. ey must complete a COVID-19 test within 72-hours of returning to work on campus in January. is is for vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. Unvaccinated students must participate in mandatory testing twice a week. Police investigate homicide on Christmas A 32-year-old man was found dead in front of an apartment building on Christmas morning, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. Officers were sent around 6:40 a.m. to a reported shooting along 1200 block of Beebe Estate Circle. e victim, Clarence Arthur Branch II, was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe that this was not a random incident and homicide detectives are actively investigating Anyone with information regarding this homicide investigation should reach out and contact Detective M. Waters at (910) 635-4978 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477). Recycle your leftover Christmas Trees e Annual Grinding of the Greens Christmas Tree Recycling program, a Fayetteville holiday tradition for 28 years, encourages Fayetteville residents to recycle their live Christmas trees. Recycling the trees prevents them from ending up in landfills. e Cumberland-Fayetteville Parks and Recreation will collect the trees from Fayetteville city residents in a special tree pickup beginning Monday, Jan. 10. ese pickups are separate from yard waste, trash or recycle pickups. City residents should put their trees out for curbside collection by the morning of Jan. 10. All lights, stands and trimmings should be removed from the tree before placing them on the curb. Residents who live outside the City or miss the pickup may drop off trees at the Fayetteville Com- munity Garden, located at the corner of Van Story and Mann Street sjust off Old Wilmington Road, anytime before Jan. 15. Public Works Commission and Department of En- vironmental Protection volunteers will grind the trees into mulch at the Community Garden on Jan. 15. is mulch will be used for the Fayetteville Community Garden and other local parks. Cumberland County Public Health Updates COVID-19 Guidance e Cumberland County Department of Public Health is updating their quarantine and isolation pro- tocols after the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention announced last week that the recommended isolation and quarantine times should be shortened for members of the general public who test positive from COVID-19. "People who test positive should isolate for five days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for five days to minimize the risk of infecting others," the CDC press release stated. As of Jan. 2, the Cumberland County Public Health Department reports 511 Cumberland County residents have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pan- demic. ere have been 52,476 cases in Cumberland County reported since the onset of the pandemic and according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website, the percent positive rate is 14.4%. Cumberland County continues to be in the red for the county alert system. ere is still an indoor face mask mandate for Cumberland County. is mandate applies to schools, businesses, stores, restaurants, places of worship and any place where the public is invited or allowed to congregate. "e Omicron variant in combination with social gatherings for the holidays is making for a perfect environment for increased cases," said Dr. Jennifer Green, Cumberland County Public Health Director. "We need everyone to remain diligent when wear- ing a mask and socially distancing as we move into celebrating the New Year and most importantly get vaccinated." Local organizations help homeless veterans e holidays are over, but that doesn't mean the season of giving ends. e Fayetteville Woodpeckers, the Military Luggage Company, the Rick Herrema Foundation and Off-Road Outreach have joined forces to help homeless veterans and low-income military families. e Woodpeckers Foundation and Community Leaders Program have raised $7,480 and used it to purchase 187 backpacks from the Military Luggage Company, which discounted each bag by 50%. Dona- tions collected to fill the bags include coats, shoes, hats, gloves, cold medicine and first aid kits. Off-Road Outreach will distribute the backpacks to homeless veterans and low-income military families on Jan. 10 at Operation Inasmuch, a local nonprofit. Off-road Outreach, ServiceSource and the Woodpeckers will be serving a free lunch at the event. ey will also provide free haircuts and additional resources to people who need them. Kristen Nett, community and media relations manager for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, hopes this inaugural event will persist, becoming an annual op- portunity to give back. "We have not done this event in the past," Nett said. "I hope to make this an annual event to support homeless veterans and low-income military families in our community." People can still donate hygiene items, coats, blan- kets, shoes, hats and gloves at Operations Inasmuch at 531 Hillsboro St. To register for the event or volunteer, visit www.rhfnow.org. Methodist University delays Spring Semester by HANNAH LEE AND ELAINA J. MARTIN NEWS DIGEST