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: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1357003
4 UCW MARCH 31-APRIL 6, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. 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 information 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 person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN Many Republicans still waiting for olive branch by REP. RICHARD HUDSON 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU APR 01 FRI APR 02 SAT APR 03 SUN APR 04 MON APR 05 TUE APR 06 54 32 53 34 61 44 72 49 73 52 75 55 Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Association of Community Publishers On Inauguration Day, I was encouraged to hear President Biden focus much of his speech on unity, going so far as say- ing, "We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitter- ness and fury." However, more than halfway through President Biden's first 100 days in office, I have yet to see that olive branch be ex- tended. I came to Washington to fight for you, no matter who is president, and to work across the aisle to deliver real re- sults. Unfortunately, President Biden's promises of unity have so far been empty words on issues like COVID relief, infrastructure, immigra- tion and the latest — gun control. Amidst a global pandemic, we are experiencing a heartbreaking hu- manitarian crisis on our southern border and it is being ignored by the administration for political reasons. e media continues to cover for President Biden, but nearly twice as many unaccompanied minors are being apprehended daily than during the peak of 2019. During this Biden border surge, ac- cording to a report last week, crimi- nal organizations trafficking women, children and families have earned as much as $14 million a day. Migrants are packed together in fa- cilities and not being tested for COV- ID-19, then being released to travel to states including North Carolina. Also, in the last week, only 13% of 13,000 migrants were returned to Mexico. ese facts all point to a worsening border crisis that must be addressed. However, instead of focusing on the border, last week President Biden unveiled a new $3 trillion spending package disguised as an infrastruc- ture bill. e only problem — this bill will be full of Green New Deal climate initiatives that will make it harder to build any new infrastructure that our country needs. is package follows up on their $2 trillion non-COVID relief bill that was passed without a single Republican vote. Once again, it is clear the Democrats will try and go at it alone. To pay for this package, they plan to raise your taxes, wiping out the historic tax cuts from President Trump and during one of the hardest financial years our country has seen. Cutting taxes and regulations the last four years un- leashed the greatest economy we have seen — record low unemployment, record low poverty among all races and record high median income. As Washington Democrats aim to reverse these policies and push their massive Green New Deal spending, hold on to your wallets, folks. Last week, I was also devastated to see the recent shootings in Georgia and Colorado. As I have said, as a father, I am committed to ending this scourge of gun violence. at's why as recently as this month, I have championed legislation that increases school safety, supports mental health, expands information sharing and tackles the root causes of gun violence. Unfortunately, many on the left have rushed to politicize the recent tragedies in order to push for gun control legislation that harms law-abiding citizens and would have done noth- ing to prevent previous mass shootings. Earlier this month, House Democrats passed H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 that would turn law-abiding citizens into criminals for helping a friend or neighbor and allow a government bureaucrat to delay a firearm sale indefinitely. ese bills would only threaten our Second Amendment rights and are not the solutions we need. As President Biden and Washington Democrats renew their push for these bills, I am calling on my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to work together and pass targeted measures that would fix the problem. If President Biden meant what he said, I remain ready to work together to end the crisis on the border, invest in our infrastructure, and end the tragic scourge of gun violence. So far, it looks like the Biden administration is working to appease the radical left, but I will not be discouraged from working to solve problems and represent you. REP. RICHARD HUDSON, R-N.C. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Rep. Hudson recently appeared on Fox News to discuss gun control legislation. (Image courtesy https://hudson.house.gov/)