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/927312
8 UCW JANUARY 17-23, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville Cit y Manager Doug Hewett got a pay raise when his employment contract was qui- etly renewed in October. Cit y council had given Hewett a one-year deal in 2016 to see if he would turn out to be the right man for the job. He suc- ceeded Ted Voorhees who was fired. Cit y spokes- man Nathan Walls said Hewett received a $10,000 raise from $185,000 annually to $195,000 plus $6,000 in additional "executive compensation." e new agreement is open-ended, as contracts for cit y managers normally are. Hewett serves at the pleasure of cit y council. Internet knowledge for parents A local workshop in Spring Lake last week was likely a wake-up call for some parents. Cumberland Count y Schools held the forum at Manchester Elementar y School to help parents learn how to protect their children from online risks. Natalie Wood Riche of the North Carolina Department of Justice discussed with parents how exposure to cyberbullying, cyberstalking and sexting could cause harm to youth. Parents were also alerted to the realit y of child predators. Riche shared tips on what to do if a youngster becomes a victim of cyberbullying or cyberstalking. Dosomething.org, a global movement of 5.5 mil- lion young people making positive change online, found that nearly 40 percent of all teenagers have posted or sent sexually suggestive messages, but this practice is more common among boys than girls. Sending semi-nude or nude photos is more common among teens girls. Twenty-two percent of teen girls report sending images of this nature, while only 18 percent of same-age boys have. Back to the judicial drawing board A three-member panel of federal judges has again struck down a North Carolina Republican legislature's proposed congressional election districts. ey declared the revised map unconsti- tutional partisan gerrymandering and gave state lawmakers until Jan. 29 to come up with new maps. e judges, in a decision authored by Judge James A. Wynn, unanimously held that the Republican congressional map violated the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause because it favored their part y. "e General Assembly intended to discriminate against voters who supported or were likely to sup- port non-Republican candidates," Wynn wrote, and "the 2016 Plan dilutes the votes of non-Republican voters and entrenches Republican control of the state's congressional delegation." e ruling creates uncertainty in the 2018 election cycle in North Carolina a month before candidates were scheduled to file for office. Until the issue is resolved, the appeals court ordered that new congressional elections are on hold. Legis- lative leaders say they plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sexual abuse in the armed forces It was a traumatic moment for Nichole Bowen- Crawford. e last thing she wanted to do was fly across the countr y to stand in the bitter cold outside the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., to tell those who would listen about being assaulted by a fellow soldier and then silenced by her superi- ors. But she did it because she believed she had to speak up and encourage others like her to break their silence. "Standing up for the men and women who serve our country who can't report sexual assault in a safe way is more important than my feelings," she said. "It's time ... that men and women have the freedom to say 'Me, too,' instead of (maintaining) silence." Bow- en-Crawford joined a small cadre of military sexual assault survivors who demanded accountability from Pentagon leadership. "e truth is, I am really scared to be here, really scared to tell my story," she told a small crowd gathered at the Pentagon gates. Despite efforts to reduce the occurrence of military sexual assault in recent years, the Pentagon estimates more than 6,100 sexual assaults took place in fiscal year 2016, about the same as in the two previous years. e Pentagon estimates that two-thirds of victims don't come forward, which means there were more than 18,300 sexual assaults for each of those years. Lydia Watts, CEO of Service Women's Action Network, organized the protest. "When do we see military perpetrators of sexual violence held to account?" she asked. Protestors demanded that the Pentagon take increased action to stop sexual assault by changing what several called a misogy- nistic military culture. ey called on leaders to take assault cases out of the hands of command- ers – a change that has been championed by Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-NY. Military leadership has blocked the proposal, claiming it would undermine command authority. Inside the Pentagon, Army Col. Rob Manning said there is "zero tolerance" for sexual assault or harassment in the military. Better Business Bureau announces development program Liz Stiles, the Better Business Bureau customer ser- vice representative for Fayetteville and Cumberland County, announced this week a new program de- signed to enhance customer relations for local busi- nesses and organizations. With the belief that actions speak louder than words, the BBB is encouraging businesses to practice what they have designated as the 5 gestures of trust: Be honest, be transparent, be proactive, be humble, and be fair. e program will be presented in the form of a new, exclusive webinar Jan. 23 from 2-3 p.m. to accredited businesses in the Fayetteville and Cumberland County area. According to Stiles, "Ever-changing technology, social media and direct consumer experiences can make or break a business. Today's successful businesses, therefore, must be customer-centric, employee-focused, innovative and environmen- tally and socially conscious. is is what the BBB's 5 Gestures of Trust Program is all about – assisting businesses and organizations in establishing new frameworks to evaluate and improve relationships with their customers." To register for the webinar or for more informa- tion about the BBB Fayetteville/Cumberland County, contact Liz Stiles at e.stiles@coastalcarolina.bbb.org or call 910-818-0367. City manager's contract renewed by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS DIGEST Fayetteville City Manager Doug Hewett Judge James A. Wynn