Up & Coming Weekly

STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com editor@upandcomingweekly.com stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Mary Beth Leiby MaryBeth@upandcomingweekly.com Steve Rogers Steve@upandcomingweekly.com 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. OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick PUBLISHER Bill Bowman INSIDE PUBLISHER’S PEN by DAVID G. WILSON Bill Bowman, publisher of Up and Coming Weekly, has afforded me his Publisher’s Pen space in this issue to announce the latest information on Moses Mathis, more commonly known as the Bicycle Man, and his work for underprivileged children. Last Friday’s issue of the Fayetteville Observer included an op-ed written by me that described the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee’s latest offer to Cumberland County regarding the Washington Drive property (a.k.a. the Blue Street property) which is owned by the committee. The offer of conveyance made this past April by the committee has not been acted on by the commissioners. On or about July 9, Attorney Ronnie Mitchell, legal counsel to the MLK Committee, advised me in conversation that the committee had met earlier that week and had developed an alternative offer to the county which could facilitate the Bicycle Man’s occupancy of the Blue Street building in an expedient manner. The offer is a license agreement that the county could accept from the committee which would, in turn, allow the county to re-license the property to Mathis without actually owning it. The details of the offer, as described to me by Mr. Mitchell, included a fi ve-day window for the county to act after receipt of his letter describing details of the offer. While Mr. Mitchell’s decision to delay the actual mailing of the letter was well intentioned and helpful, it clearly indicated that he and I did not adequately communicate regarding the planned mailing date. As it has turned out, the letter was not mailed until July 19. On July 16 county attornies received e-mail copies of the letter to provide them with extra time to consider the legalities of the offer and to advise county management and the county commissioners. The county commissioners will have the full week of July 19 to either accept or reject the committee’s latest and most likely last effort to help Mr. Mathis. Acceptance of the license agreement will also keep the offer of property conveyance alive until Dec. 31. The next and most obvious question is: Will the commissioners act favorably on this matter or simply let the opportunity die? Efforts by two commissioners, Chairman Billy R. King and Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Thursday July 22 Friday July 23 Saturday July 24 member Ed Melvin, to bring the matter to a discussion level have been squashed by the board majority. My conversations with both King and Melvin regarding this situation have convinced me that they are sincere in their efforts to have the county step up to its responsibilities to Mr. Mathis and his program. Cumberland County originally conveyed the property to the MLK Committee years ago. The conveyance was completed in good faith by both parties, no doubt, but the situation has changed. The property has no actual value, in fact, it is a liability, due to the soil contamination that exists. Ultimately the county must take back that which has become a “white elephant” to the MLK Committee. If the county does accept the property back it will be at once required to address a litany of building-code violations associated with the dilapidated buildings. The metal building Mathis has occupied and wishes to reoccupy is not in code violation. The City of Fayetteville has been sitting out in the weeds in this matter, seeing no dog in the fi ght for them. It would be helpful if the city would take some steps to allay the county’s concerns over this aspect of this now rather complex issue. Commissioners King and Melvin must garner support from at least two other commissioners so that this matter can be put to rest, at least temporarily. In the time remaining this year, Mr. Mathis can prepare his bicycles while others seek out a more permanent home for his program. Readers interested in seeing the Bicycle Man’s program endure should call, email or write commissioners and express your concerns and preferences about this situation. But do so quickly. Time is running out. DAVID G. WILSON, Guest Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Call 910.354.1679 Call 910.354.1679 Sunday July 25 Monday July 26 Tuesday July 27 Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 16 Concert Connection ........................ 20 TV ..................................................... 22 Movie Review ..................................22 Free Wheelin’ Feelin’ ....................... 23 News of the Weird ........................... 27 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 27 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 Bicycle Man: The Travesty Continues High 96° Low 78° Isolated Thunderstorms 4 UCW JULY 21-27, 2010 High 96° Low 79° Partly Cloudy High 94° Low 78° Mostly Sunny Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High 93° Low 77° Sunny High 88º Low 75º Scattered Thunderstorms High 91º Low 76 Mostly Sunny WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 24 / 7

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