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/894958
NOVEMBER 1 - 7, 2017 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@ upandcomingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200. NEWS DIGEST The city of Fayetteville continues to deal with remnants of damage caused by Hurricane Mathew a year ago. Crews continue to work on repairs to the unique pair of square water features at the NC Veterans Park downtown. They work for three or four days and then shut down, according to Parks & Recreation director Michael Gibson. They, and many other elements of the park, depend on under- ground computer-operated facilities. "We've been working on the fountains for three or four months," Gibson said. The state built the park, but the cit y is responsible for maintenance. Gibson acknowledges that the public has become impatient because repairs to the water feature have taken so long. "Matthew dumped 4 feet of water in the main building," he said, "and the Federal Emergency Management Agency covered that damage." He added that the cit y has hired a full-time engineer to work on the park computers. An end to Spring Lake's road project is near A massive highway project in Spring Lake is almost finished. NCDOT says motorists will en- counter intermittent lane closures over the next few weeks as workers put the finishing touches on the $32.3 million project that widened and resur- faced three major roads. DOT spokesman Andrew Barksdale said the lane restrictions are needed so crews can place permanent lane markings on Bragg Boulevard, Murchison Road and Lillington Highway. State highways 24, 87 and 210 merge in Spring Lake. "This new road system was a collaborative effort between the North Carolina Department of Trans- portation and local officials working together to address a challenge," Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey said. Not all local business people are t hrilled w it h t he outcome. Some retail out lets went out of business because of limited access to and realignment of Bragg Boulevard. The project included t hese major improvements: A Poe Av- enue overpass on Bragg Boulevard; closure of a major entrance to Fort Bragg at Butner Road and Bragg Boulevard; and relocation and w idening of Murchison Road from four lanes to si x. Murchi- son Road now ties into t he future I-295 on t he Fayettev ille end of t he project. It took politics to bring Gov. Cooper to Fayetteville Gov. Roy Cooper came to Fayetteville last week to campaign for city council member Mitch Colvin, who's running for mayor. Both are Democrats. Cooper's predecessor, Republican Pat McCrory, previously campaigned on behalf of incumbent mayor Nat Robertson, who's also a Republican. Had McCrory been re-elected, Robertson has said he would not have run for re-election. He had been promised a top administration post in Raleigh. The Fayetteville Cit y Council election is non- partisan, but some candidates have felt part y politics was good strateg y. Cooper attended a fundraiser in downtown Fayetteville for Colvin. Tickets ranged from $150 to $1,000. ASOM has a New Director T he boa rd of directors of t he A irbor ne & Specia l Operat ions Museum Foundat ion hired a new E xecut ive Director, Michael (Mi ke) Ly nch. He ret ired f rom t he A r my a f ter 39 yea rs of ser- v ice, 33 of which were at For t Bragg. He has pre- v iously ser ved on t he Foundat ion Boa rd as a n ex of f icio member a nd adv iser. He was Director of Pla ns, Tra ining, Mobi lizat ion a nd Secur it y for t he A r my, which included super v ision of A r my Museums. He's been involved w it h ASOM since its forma- tion in 2000. "We are excited about t he continued success of t he museum and t he foundation as it looks toward t he future plans and develop- ment of t he foundation and museum activ ities under t he hand of such a proven, experienced and fait hful leader," Jim Soffe, president of t he foundation board, said. Ly nch has held several leadership positions in professional, civ ic and communit y organizations during his tenure in t he Fayettev ille area. Local teen receives national recognition Kennedi W hitener-Mason of Fayetteville has been selected from a pool of national candidates to attend The First Tee Outstanding Participant & Leadership Summit, Nov. 8–11, in Orlando, Florida. The First Tee is a youth development organization that introduces young people to the game of golf and its inherent values. The summit will be held in conjunction with The First Tee Net- work Meeting, a biennial conference of more than 800 local representatives. W hitener-Mason is a member of The First Tee of t he Sandhills. She attends Pine Forest Senior High School where she is in t he Key Club, Na- tional FFA Organization and is a cadet in t he A ir Force Junior ROTC. "I'm look ing for wa rd to cont inuing my educa- t ion a nd lea r ning new sk i l ls as I meet ot her pa r t icipa nts w it h sim i la r goa ls a nd interests," she sa id. She has been a pa r t icipa nt in T he First Tee of t he Sa nd hi l ls for 10 yea rs a nd recent ly at tended t he USGA Lea r ning Science t hroug h Golf Academy. Veterans Park repairs by JEFF THOMPSON Gov. Roy Cooper Michael Lynch Kennedi Whitener-Mason