Up & Coming Weekly

STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com Steve Rogers Steve@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson suzy@upandcomingweekly.com –––––––––––––– GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soni Martin, D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, Bob Cogswell, John Hood, Shanessa Fenner, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Renee Gibbs, Heather Griffi ths –––––––––––– 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 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 Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. INSIDE PUBLISHER’S PEN Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 14 Concert Connection ........................ 18 TV ..................................................... 20 Movie Review ..................................20 Movie Schedule ............................... 21 Free Wheelin’ Feelin’ ....................... 22 News of the Weird ........................... 23 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 Dining Guide .................................... 27 Headlines and Impending Disasters. Docks’ and Chen: Yikes! OMG! What depressing headlines. I was up early last Friday morning, coffee and newspaper in hand, ready to jump start my Memorial Day weekend when I read the Fayetteville Observer’s front page, below the fold headline Docks building in default. Then, another headline bombshell in the local news section caught my eye. This time, it’s above the fold: City sues Chen over fi nes. Both, inevitable and unfortunate signs of impending disasters for which our community will again They were simply irresponsible by turning “blind eyes” and “deaf ears” to what many local and vocal concerned citizens were calling gross and obvious disregard for sound, basic and elementary business and economic-development practices. Duh! Red fl ags were up all over the place. Up & Coming Weekly has followed the Dock’s saga since the inception. Many articles have appeared in this publication over the last several years both celebrating Dr. Mel Henderson’s initiative and vision for his downtown business but also in questioning the terms and conditions of the “wink wink-nod nod” program Marshal Isler championed to involve the city, Chamber of Commerce and the taxpayers of the city. Well, get ready, because I have a feeling all the gory details of this transaction are going to come to light very soon. It will not be pretty. Matter of fact, the city better get ready because as the details of this fi asco becomes known the credibility and competence of all involved will be called into question. As the “he said, she said” fi nger pointing and confrontation begins the feasibility of the Dock’s venture will fall apart like a cheap suit in a rain storm. And, again, local taxpayers will be left holding the treads. become the victim. How exasperating! Will we ever learn? Now, there is nothing left to do but shake our heads in dismay and disgust and imagine what could have been. It begs the question, why has Fayetteville/ Cumberland County never been a community that learns and benefi ts from its past mistakes? What makes this so incredibly sad is that both of these depressing situations could have been avoided using common sense, honesty and prudent judgment. In the case of Dock’s it is not as if the banks, city staff, city council members and the Chamber of Commerce (then the CC Business Council) were duped, blindsided or misled. Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Thursday June 3 Friday June 4 Saturday June 5 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sponsored by High 87° Low 65° Isolated Thunderstorms 4 UCW JUNE 2-8, 2010 High 83° Low 67° Partly Cloudy High 88° Low 66° Scattered Thunderstorms Regional Airport www.fl yfay.com Fayetteville High 87° Low 65° Partly Cloudy High 86º Low 67º Scattered Thunderstorms High 88º Low 67º Scattered Thunderstorms WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Concerning John Chen and his unresponsive and arrogant posture toward paying the city more than $45,000 in fi nes for violating our historic standard codes (and our community) at the Prince Charles Hotel. Well, in my opinion, jail time would be good. Chen leaving town would be even better. He as infl icted enough embarrassment on our community. Enough said for now on both issues. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Stay tuned. We will continue to provide you insights and observations on these and other important issues affecting our community. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher. COMMENTS? Bill@upandcomingweekly.com. Call 910.354.1679 Call 910.354.1679 Sunday June 6 Monday June 7 Tuesday June 8 24/24 7

• Cover