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 by BILL BOWMAN The Cumberland County crackdown on red light and stop sign violators has proven very successful. Congratulations. But why stop now? Enforcing our laws against this very dangerous and epidemic problem in our community should be the highest priority. Sure, the two week crackdown was successful in terms of netting 262 tickets issued, however, this served to accentuate the seriousness of the problem. Unfortunately, in broadcasting the success of the crackdown we may have also telegraphed (unintentionally) to thousands of irresponsible vehicle operators that we do not intend to pay much attention to these violations in the future. Matter of fact, the Fayetteville Observer reported in last Saturday’s newspaper, front page below the fold, that Cumberland County spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said, “Hopefully, we can make this an annual campaign.” What? Hopefully? Annual campaign? Hmmmm? Does this mean we are assuming in Fayetteville and Cumberland County that these violators and perpetrators of death, carnage and property damage will be on holiday during the next 50 weeks? I hope this doesn’t mean that our law- enforcement offi cials have checked this box off on their annual “to do” list and now are moving on to other tasks. This may not be the intent, however, in tough economic times Cumberland County residents (aka taxpayers) are looking for not only good common sense but good value, as well. Doing anything just “one time” is not going to affect or change any situation or habit. Even a child knows when a parent isn’t serious about a rule or command (i.e., you are 200 miles away from home onvacation with the family when you say: “If you kids don’t behave I’ll turn this car around and we’ll all go home.”). Go home? Yeah, right! No validity here. Catching traffi c violators for only two weeks during the year will have the same impact. Especially in a diverse and transient community like ours that sees a turnover in our population on a weekly basis. Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Thursday July 1 Friday July 2 Saturday July 3 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sponsored by High 81° Low 69° Partly Cloudy 4 UCW JUNE 30-JULY 6, 2010 High 86° Low 69° Mostly Sunny High 89° Low 72° Mostly Sunny Regional Airport www.flyfay.com Fayetteville High 92° Low 73° Mostly Sunny High 91º Low 74º Sunny High 92º Low 74 Sunny WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Our law enforcement offi cials need to start enforcing these traffi c laws on a consistent basis, prosecuting violators and establishing our community as one that puts a high value on human lives and public safety and these laws demand respect and adherence. Enforcement should be our highest priority and can only be accomplished through repetition and consistency. In the long run it would reduce our law-enforcement costs. Other towns accomplish this. When traveling to Tampa, Fla., on Hwy. 301 South, east of Jacksonville, Fla., I travel through the small towns of Lawtey, Waldo and Starke before I get to Gainesville, Fla. All have a stellar reputation for being extremely serious about traffi c laws and public safety and have zero tolerance for violators. I have never seen an accident in these area, but what I always see is a constant fl ow of traffi c obeying the speed limit and law-enforcement vehicles in strategic and highly visible locations — usually with blue lights fl ashing. They are serious about their traffi c laws. I have since found out that all three towns have a statewide reputation for compliance. Not a bad thing. I know there are a lot of important issues we could be writing about in this space. However, in my opinion, none are more important than this issue. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Scary. Violation of red lights and stop signs is epidemic in Cumberland County and it needs to be addressed and it needs to be stopped. I am glad all the major law-enforcement agencies cooperated and participated in this exercise. We can only hope this crackdown becomes routine so we too can begin to develop a reputation for being a community of safe streets and thoroughfares and one that respects the law. Of course, we appreciate the men and women who have dedicated their careers and lives to law enforcement and making our community a safe place to live, work and play. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher. COMMENTS? Bill@upandcomingweekly.com. Call 910.354.1679 Call 910.354.1679 Sunday July 4 Monday July 5 Tuesday July 6 Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 14 Concert Connection ........................ 19 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 Red Light Initiative Should Be a Go! Go! Go! 24 24 / 7

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