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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4 UCW FEBRUARY 22-28, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 infor- mation 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 pub- lication consideration, but assumes no respon- sibility 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 distrib- uted at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. 4 UCW DECEMBER 28 - JANUARY 3, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 2017. Believe me, I'm ready. Judging from all the calls, emails and countless social media posts, our readers had a very Merry Christmas. And, for the most part, residents throughout Fayetteville and Cumberland County are excited about the future prospects in store for our community. And we should be. The seeds of growth, economic development and a better quality of life have all been planted. Now, city and county leadership need to take aggressive and affirmative action to make sure these local life-changing projects stay on track. Elected officials and city and county staff all need to be at the top of their game. Initiative, hard work and leadership will be vitally important in the months to come. In the words of the late General George S. Patton Jr.: "Lead me, follow me or get the hell out of my way." This should be the battlecry and motto adopted countywide. It will be interesting to see who steps up. One thing is for sure, Fayetteville is a community full of opportunity. The challenge is knowing how to capitalize on it. So, my hope for the New Year is that aggressive leaders will seek out the people, businesses and organizations that can help us realize our dreams, thus contributing to this growing vibrant community. Here are just a few of the organizations poised to take this community to new heights, starting with your favorite weekly community newspaper: Up & Coming Weekly Chamber of Commerce City of Fayetteville County of Cumberland FTCC CEED Reeve's School of Business Fayetteville Economic Development FSU Entrepreneurial Center Better Business Bureau These are just to name a few organizations ready, willing and able to help take our community to new heights. In other words, the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community has the will and all the resources necessary to help individuals and businesses develop, strive and survive, along with the willingness to "help those who help themselves." 2017 is going to be an exciting and awesome year. So, buckle your seat belts folks, because, if executed properly, our progress will be fast and furious. And, you can count on us to be right in the center of it. Happy New Year! And, as always, thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. PUBLISHER'S PEN Fayetteville and Cumberland County Heed These Words: "Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of the way!" by BILL BOWMAN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sara Smith art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 infor- mation 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 pub- lication consideration, but assumes no respon- sibility 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 distrib- uted at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast December 29 AM Showers December 30 Partly Cloudy December 31 Sunny January 1 Mostly Sunny January 2 Partly Cloudy January 3 PM Showers THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 64 HIGH 52 HIGH 47 HIGH 53 HIGH 44 HIGH 54 LOW 42 LOW 30 LOW 32 LOW 35 LOW 35 LOW 43 BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. – General George S. Patton Jr. General George S. Patton Jr. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast February 23 Mostly Cloudy February 24 Mostly Sunny February 25 Partly Cloudy February 26 Sunny February 27 PM Showers February 28 AM Clouds/PM Sun THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 79 HIGH 83 HIGH 82 HIGH 65 HIGH 73 HIGH 77 LOW 56 LOW 58 LOW 46 LOW 44 LOW 54 LOW 59 There's a TV show called Law and Order, and like most TV shows and movies, it depicts situations and circumstances as they should be, not necessarily as they are. On this show, criminals break the law, law enforcement hunts them down and arrests them. They go to court, get convicted and go to jail to serve their sentence. Really? Well, all that may eventually happen, but in the real world, chances are it would take years. Many think, as I do, that political correctness has gotten so out of control it has our nation paralyzed with intimidation and fear. As a result, enforcing the rule of law has taken a back seat to political correctness. Really. When, and at what point, was it decide that Americans had the right to choose what laws they would or would not obey? This obsession with political correctness has transformed our republic into a revolutionary free-for-all when it comes to obeying and enforcing laws and the doctrines outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Have we allowed slick lawyers and glib politicians to dilute and distort the U.S. Constitution by allowing them to use it for their personal political gain? These questions need to be asked and answered before our American way of life melts down into anarchy. Cases in point: illegal immigration and sanctuary cities. When was the word illegal redefined in America to mean "no harm, no foul?" It used to be if something was illegal then it is unlawful. Unlawful meaning "against the law." So, if an act is against the law, then it should be stopped and punished and certainly not rewarded. We encourage lawlessness by rewarding such bad behavior and illegal activities. For illegals we issue driver's licenses, knowingly hire and shelter them and spend billions of taxpayers' dollars on medical treatment, welfare and social programs, protecting and sheltering those documented criminals whose own countries have rejected them. Why? Because they have political value. To make matters worse, over the last decade, our inept federal government (Congress) has been transformed into the vehicle of choice for diluting the U.S. Constitution and making the rule of law arbitrary. The two most egregious examples of this are federal funding for sanctuary cities and the proliferation of rights, benefits and legal services extended to illegals while millions of our own natural-born Americans live in poverty, receive inadequate health care and attend schools with few resources and subpar academic records. Please don't get the wrong idea. I'm not down on America nor am I being negative. These are all obvious observations. Our country and our American way of life have become much too politically charged and motivated. Why? Mostly out of the pursuit of greed, money and power. So much so that the checks and balances built into our Constitution by our forefathers (the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government) have been politically homogenized. Homogenized? Maybe a better word for this is contaminated? Either way, it is not a healthy situation and the task of righting America should be both a Democratic or Republican objective. It's the American thing to do. I'm extremely confident that as American's it is in our DNA to figure out the best way to preserve our country, our traditions and our American way of life. Let's get to it! Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Political Correctness and Lawlessness: A Rant by BILL BOWMAN