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/1463839
4 UCW APRIL 6 -12, 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 Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley Cindy Whitt MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Pitt Dickey, Thomas Kelsey, John Hood, Jessica May, Rabbi Dov Goldberg, Denise Dedeaux, Rep. Ben Moss COVER –––––––––––- 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 APR 07 FRI APR 08 SAT APR 09 SUN APR 10 MON APR 11 TUE APR 12 80 52 69 45 62 41 64 40 73 49 81 58 Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Thunderstorms Cloudy & Windy Sunny Association of Community Publishers PUBLISHER'S PEN North Carolina is the proud home of several military bases represent- ing the U.S. Armed Forces. Our military presence is huge, leaving the pursuit of making North Caro- lina the most military-friendly state long overdue. To some military men and women, North Carolina is just a brief stop in their journey; To over 650,000 veterans, it's home. e passing of the 2021 state budget was more than money be- ing handed out for various projects in different counties, municipali- ties, and organizations. e North Carolina General Assembly made military retirees a priority this year, including a tax exemption for re- tiree pensions. Beginning January 2021, military retirees no longer pay taxes on their pension income. is provision in the budget is expected to save North Carolina veterans roughly $30 million annually, encouraging more of them to stay in-state. e impact of this exemption goes far beyond those who will be receiving the tax break. We can expect to see a significant and lasting economic benefit to our state. e average age of a military retir- ee varies from the early 40s to mid- 50s. With the elimination of the tax on retirement benefits, we can hope to see a drastic increase in quali- fied service members retiring in our state to begin new careers. Many of these retirees are likely to become business owners, which will lead to the creation of local jobs and additional revenue directed to our community. Suppose we increase the number of military retirees in North Carolina by just 2,000 over the next three years. In that case, enough tax revenue will be gener- ated to cover what is otherwise lost by this exemption. Regardless of your politics, we can all agree that the prolonged sacrific- es made by members of our armed forces run deeper than any physi- cal wound. e valiant sacrifice made by the many men and women who selflessly serve our country is something you can't put a price tag on. While life for civilians remains unchanged, our military heroes arrive home with both physical and mental scars, having missed out on numerous family milestones and time with their loved ones. As we recently celebrated the anniversary of the last remain- ing troops exiting Vietnam, we're reminded of the world that many returned home to. A country di- vided with political warfare against those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. e tax cut for military retirees honors their bravery and commitment, bringing us one step closer to delivering on our prom- ise and making North Carolina the "most military-friendly state" in the country. REP> BEN MOSS, NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Honoring our commitment to military retirees by REP. BEN MOSS Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Raleigh. (Photo courtesy of Carolina Journal.)