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/1481514
4 UCW OCTOBER 12 - 18, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MANAGING EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com ART DIRECTOR Courtney Sapp-Scott art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Isaiah Jones graphics@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITERS Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley Kathleen Ramsey Jason Brady Chayenne Burns Laura Browne Katrina Wilson Jyl Barlow Deborah Murph Jacobs INTERN R. Elgin Zeiber CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Nothstine, John Hood, Pitt Dickey, Bobby Parker, Michael Futch, Dr. Shanessa Fenner, Loutricia J. Nelson, D.G. Martin, Cynthia Ross, Rabbi Dov Goldberg COVER Design by Courtney Sapp-Scott MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com 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. 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. Association of Community Publishers I'm less interested in partisan politics than some of my peers, but I'm tired of politicians coddling crimi- nals. Violent crime is up in North Carolina and gen- erally way up in many of America's urban environ- ments. Violent crime in Asheville is up 31% over five years. Statistics are telling, but behind the numbers are actual dead mothers, sons, and other loved ones wiped out because of rising law- lessness and a gross indif- ference to human life. ere's an old "Saturday Night Live" skit from 1992 where Dana Carvey is por- traying Ross Perot, and he's asked how he will deal with a violent rapist and murder- er. e Perot caricature says he will tie them to a stake on a hot Texas day and get a red ant trail going. But not just any red ants, but inch-long ones that devour human flesh. When the assailant begs to be put out of his misery, Carvey only chuckles and says, "How do you like them apples?" Of course, the proposal in the skit violates the Eighth Amendment. Cruel and unusual punishment is out- lawed for good reason. e government should never torture its citizens. Yet, sen- timents like that can appeal to us when those commis- sioned to uphold the rule of law fail us so egregiously. I read the other day that over 1,000 people have been killed in Philadelphia over the past 20 months. One can jump on so- cial media and see videos of people being stabbed, robbed, or brutally assault- ed in broad daylight, while onlookers look away or sim- ply maneuver around the attack. An emergency medi- cal technician in New York City was stabbed to death last week in broad daylight for no apparent reason. I know the outrage is magnified by the fact that essentially everybody has a cellphone and is recording the attacks. Still, these are real people with families that love and depend on them, and strangers are snuffing them out. Maybe it isn't his place, but Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson reflects many of our at- titudes when he jumps on television and calls New York City Mayor Eric Adams "a clown" for failing to con- trol crime. Adams raised eyebrows when he recently declared, amidst surging crime in his own city, that "Unlike Kansas, New York City has a brand." Robinson fired back at Adams, saying, "Your brand is crime is out of con- trol, and you're not doing anything about it." I may not be a Fortune 500 marketing guru, but violent crime seems like a terrible branding campaign for your city. I have genuine compas- sion for inmates and people locked away in prison. As a writer, I've visited the Louisiana State Penitentia- ry, more popularly known as "Angola Prison," and chronicled stories about my experience. I've been inside a prison in Texas and witnessed life-changing rehabilitation programs. I've also met with elderly men who are nothing like the man or boy they were in their late teens or early 20s and who will never get out of prison for their crime. I'm for legitimate rehabil- itation and restoration. e vast majority of Americans are for second chances. Obviously, I'm not for these so-called woke pros- ecutors, mayors and judges who are destroying cities and people's lives. ey all need to be turned out of of- fice. ey are simply letting some violent criminals out with no bail or ridiculously lenient sentences, who then go on to kill or rape again. While we certainly shouldn't blindly support every action by police, a proper and basic function of government is keeping order and protecting the life of the innocent and the law- abiding citizenry. How can we justify giv- ing the government more power when they can't or even refuse to promote public safety? It's long past time to put criminals on notice. As a voter, the only legal way I know how to do that, be- sides arming myself within the law, is by turning out the politicians who continu- ally coddle them. Editor's Note: Ray Nothstine is the Carolina Journal opinion editor and Second Amendment research fellow at the John Locke Foundation. PUBLISHER'S PEN Time to get rid of the soft-on-crime politicians by RAY NOTHSTINE, Carolina Journal e above have been charged with crimes ranging from drug and weapons charges to sexual assault, home invasion, murder. (All photos were released publicly by the Fayetteville Police Department between Sept. 3 and Oct. 6) RAY NOTHSTINE, Carolina Journal COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200