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.
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4 MARCH 19-25, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Personally, I like Governor Pat McCrory. Makes no difference that he is a Republican. He won the top North Carolina seat by proving his competency as Mayor of Charlotte, the state's largest city. Caring about our state and its people got him elected. Now, he is faced with making some extremely difficult decisions; ones he needs to make quickly. John Skvarla, head of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is under fire and many feel he needs to go. In fact, many think he needs to go now. If he doesn't, McCrory runs the risk of mimicking President Barack Obama's self-serving management style of no blame, no responsibility and no consequences by allowing bad conduct to go unpunished. Further, by not holding anyone accountable — no matter how offensive or treacherous the deed — McCrory is setting himself up for a failed administration. Attorney General Eric Holder, IRS Director Lois Lerner and Department of Health and Human Resources head Kathleen Sybellius are just a few examples that come to mind from the Obama administration. Now, with tons of Duke Energy's coal ash polluting the Dan River and contaminating wells and drinking water, it becomes pretty obvious that Skvarla and Duke Energy were derelict in their duties by failing to look out for, and protect our natural resources. Granted this cushy relationship between Duke Energy, big business and state politicians has been going on for years, and has been nurtured under the auspices of state Democrats. The shoe is now on the other foot, and with a Republican majority in charge, McCrory and his administration must deal with the aftermath. No doubt Skvarla and his DENR chums are playing footsie with Duke Energy at our expense. Not good. However, we should not be too hasty to indict McCrory just because he was a former employee of Duke Energy. That being said, where there's smoke there could be fire. Duke Energy has poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of high- ranking politicians on both sides of the aisle. Is ignoring environmental safety concerns in favor of big business profits what's at play here? Perhaps. One thing is paramount, McCrory owns the problem now. All eyes are on him waiting to see how he will move forward. With Skvarla at the DENR helm, if McCrory doesn't act quickly, he could go down with the ship. Let's hope not. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Coal Ash: McCrory Owns It Now by BILL BOWMAN STAFF INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Jerred Sanders accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Cynthia Spears cynthia@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– 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. High 67° Low 43° Showers 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday March 24 Tuesday March 25 High 64° Low 44° Sunny 24 / Thursday March 20 High 59° Low 37° Mostly Cloudy High 61° Low 40° Partly Cloudy High 63º Low 44º Partly Cloudy Friday March 21 Saturday March 22 Sunday March 23 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 High 65º Low 42º Partly Cloudy BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? Bill@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Calendar............................................ 14 Concert.Connection......................... 19 TV...................................................... 20 Movie................................................ 21. Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'........................ 22 Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.......... 23 Classifieds......................................... 24. Games............................................... 26 Tons of Duke Energy 's coal ash is polluting the Dan River.