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/1451418
4 UCW FEBRUARY 16 - 22, 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 WRITERS Elaina J. Martin Alyson Hansen MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Dr. Shanessa Fenner, Cynthia Ross, Dan DeBruler, Elazzoa McArthur, Sr. COVER Designed 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. 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU FEB 17 FRI FEB 18 SAT FEB 19 SUN FEB 20 MON FEB 21 TUE FEB 22 76 65 71 42 53 33 58 35 60 42 67 47 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Showers Showers Association of Community Publishers REP. RICHARD HUDSON, R-N.C. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. PUBLISHER'S PEN Rules for thee but not for me. is has become a common theme for too many politicians who want to control your life. From mayors to gov- ernors to the president, these hypo- crites who want to force mandates on you are being caught violating those very policies. e latest example came last week from activist and perennial candi- date for Governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams. During an elementary school visit, Abrams was photographed maskless while surrounded by chil- dren forced to keep their masks on. Abrams initially claimed she only removed her mask for a photo, until other pictures showed her maskless throughout the school. She since called the episode a "mistake." To be clear, making a mistake is understandable. We are all human. What is wrong, however, is the double standard applied to mandate-pushing politicians like Stacey Abrams. On ursday, for example, just one day before Abrams' classroom photo shoot, a 12-year-old student in our community decided not to wear his mask to school, with support from his dad. e student explained his dif- ficulty breathing in a mask, especially when forced to wear it even while running during gym class. Guess what — the student was written up and kicked out for insubordination. After the student's father appealed the decision, the school lowered its infraction. I am glad that since this news broke, the Cabarrus County School Board voted to make masks optional. However, too many students continue to face severe consequence in the face of mask mandates. In Cumberland County, the school board also voted last week to make masks optional. However, the deci- sion was blocked by a Cumberland County Health Department's order which requires masks indoors. On Friday, I requested the health director immediately revise the order so the school board's decision for optional masks can proceed. As a Member of Congress and most importantly as a dad of a kindergart- ner, I am as frustrated by these man- dates as many of you. I'm frustrated because throughout the pandemic, bureaucrats lectured us to just "follow the science." Well thankfully, two years into this pan- demic, we now have science behind masking and the impacts of COV- ID-19 on children. First, we have learned that COVID, and especially the Omicron variant, do not pose an extreme threat to chil- dren. Second, we have learned from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that cloth masks are not effective, and instead proper venti- lation is critical to limit spread in a classroom. ird, mask mandates are impacting our student's development and contributing to a skyrocketing mental health crisis among children and teens. What we have also known all along is how important it is for children to see faces and lips to develop. Even the World Health Organization acknowl- edges this. Yet even with this data, many school mask mandates remain in place. One thing is certain — keeping our kids safe should be everyone's top priority. is is why Congress has ap- proved nearly $200 billion for schools to respond to the pandemic. Every school should now have the resources it needs to keep kids safe and in school — without mask mandates. As many school districts and lead- ers continue to ignore the actual sci- ence and consequences of long-term masking, I cosponsored the Unmask Our Kids Act. is commonsense bill directs federal education funding only to school districts that provide in-person education and allow par- ents to opt their children out of mask mandates. If parents want their child to wear a mask at school, that should also be their option. Unfortunately, last week House Democrats blocked consideration of my bill, even as governors from both parties begin to drop mandates across the country. I will continue fighting for the Un- mask Our Kids Act and other com- monsense solutions that respect sci- ence and protect children. Too many politicians like Stacey Abrams who have violated their own mandates have forgotten that parents also have rights. It's time to scrap these man- dates and give parents the freedom to choose what's best for their children. If it's good enough for the politicians, it's good enough for our kids. Rules for thee but not for me by REP. RICHARD HUDSON Photo courtesy of Pexels.