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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JUNE 11-17, 2014 UCW 7 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Billy Richardson Makes a Run for the Senate by BILLY RICHARDSON Hello, my name is Billy Richardson. I'm an attorney and small businessman who grew up in Fayetteville and graduated from Cumberland County Public Schools, UNC and Campbell University Law School, returning home to Fayetteville to work for the District Attorney before starting private practice. I was honored to serve as your representative in the N.C. House, then left public life to raise my family with my wife and high school sweetheart, Barbara. Our children are all grown up and successful now, giving us three grandchildren so far. I'm asking you, the good people of Cumberland County, to elect me as your state senator for District 19. I want to be your state senator because things have clearly gotten out of hand in Raleigh. The majority party has gone too far in "reform" and has virtually handed control of our state government and public resources (your resources) over to a few big corporations and out-of-state interests. I will represent you and your vital interests and will work every day to make North Carolina the shining beacon of progress that we were. I care about what you think, I listen, and I will be your voice in Raleigh. I see our most pressing issues today as jobs and the economy, education and our natural resources, most critically, safe water. These things are key to our present welfare and are the foundation of the future we bequeath to our children and grandchildren. We need secure, well-paying jobs in Cumberland County. That not only means enthusiastically supporting Fort Bragg and Pope Army Air Field, it means bringing to our community critical business and industrial infrastructure like hyper-speed Internet (N.C. Next Generation Network) and fully embracing the highest quality education for our citizens. Your children should be able to obtain the best possible public education, from kindergarten through graduate school, without ever having to leave their hometown, should they desire. To get there, we need to reverse the trend of cutting our teachers' pay to 48th in the nation, defunding public schools in favor of unconstitutional voucher programs, and cutting funding to our university and community college systems, which were once considered the best in the U.S. We hear a lot from the current administration about "helping small business," but I think you'll agree that most of their help has been sent to huge corporations like Duke Energy. Duke's disreputable coal ash ponds are the most recent example. Not only has Duke been let off with barely a nod by the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources for failing to adequately maintain more than a dozen leaky old toxic waste dumps they call coal ash ponds, but DENR compounded the travesty by stepping into suits against Duke and settling the cases for peanuts, meanwhile barring the original plaintiffs from continuing their suits. In a move that's nothing short of scandalous, the legislature has allowed Duke Energy to continue poisoning greater and greater amounts of surrounding land, rather than clean up their toxic mess. We face other environmental policy questions in N.C. as well, including coastal fisheries, sea level rise, fracking, and control of our public fresh water resources. We are blessed here in N.C. with some of the greatest natural resources and prettiest surroundings found anywhere in the world. We are loaded with talented and innovative people, and we have a long history of making steady progress in education, business, and cultural advancement for all citizens, not just a select few. Watching what has happened to state government in the last four years has been emotionally and physically painful for us all. I want to do my part to right this ship — elect me to the N.C. Senate, "People Not Politics." Billy Richardson BILLY RICHARDSON , Candidate, Contributing Writer, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Call Today for Details! 910-429-0600 • CCRCNC.COM 4251 LEGION ROAD-107 HOPE MILLS, NC 28348 Better results in fewer visits. Saving you time & money. CCRC PHYSICAL THERAPY presents Fun In Therapy F.I.T. Camp July 8 through July 31st Open to the first 20 kids to register! Ages 10-13 4 Week camp fun, games & activities to teach children the importance of health & wellness! Tuesdays: July 8, 15, 22 & 29 Thursdays: July 10, 17, 24 & 31 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Investment Only $40