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/36377
STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Crowe stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com Marybeth@upandcomingweekly.com Julie Donahue Charlie@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Mary Catherine Thompson accounting@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jhana Lewis, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Heath- er Griffi ths, Beth Solzsmon-Carpenter–––––––––––– 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. Julie@upandcomingweekly.com Charlie Rogers MARKETING/SALES Mary Beth Leiby STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider PUBLISHER Bill Bowman INSIDE PUBLISHER’S PEN by JANICE BURTON Like many Americans, I spent some time watching the the Casey Anthony murder trial. I did not spend hours glued to Court TV, rather I saw the excerpts of the day’s court drama during the nightly news or through Web updates from the many news services I subscribe to. To say that I was shocked by the outcome of the trial is an understatement. I think that could be said about a vast majority of Americans — not because we all know with 100 percent certainty that Anthony was the hand that silenced her child, but because we know without a doubt that it was her lack of care and concern for her child that ultimately resulted in her beautiful daughter’s death. I say this from the perspective of a child who was raised not by a doting mother, but rather a loving one. My mother gave my brothers and sisters and I the freedom to make decisions and the ability to make those decisions with knowledge and with the certain and unshaking belief that she would always be right there beside us to guide us and keep us safe. She allowed us to stand on our own two feet but was never so far away that she couldn’t catch us when we fell. That can’t be said for little Caylee. Caylee never knew when her mother was going to be there because her mother was too busy hitting the clubs and looking for the next big thing. Caylee was never the focus of her mother’s attention, she was an after thought. Unfortunately, that is too often the case with many young women who have children today. They see their children not as a joy, but a burden. And they put their own pursuits before the happiness of their children. Experts will tell us this is caused by the decline of the American family. They will point to children raised in broken homes and talk about the absence of the mother in the homeplace because of her return to work. They will cite statistics and studies and in the end it will all boil down to one thing: the rise of the ME generation. What’s in it for me? What about what I want? When is it going to be about me? That’s not a question I ever hear my mother ask, and it’s never a thought that infl uenced any of her decisions. I was shocked when I heard a mother, who is in my age group, note that it “wasn’t her job to entertain her child.” She said this as Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast Thursday July 14 Friday July 15 Saturday July 16 Fayetteville’s Weather Forecast she was headed out to the club, and her 10-year-old child was plopped in front of a television alone. My friend Jennifer summed this up very succintly the other day. “In everything we do wrong in America, the worst thing we do is take care of our children.” I couldn’t agree more. Some friends of mine are foster parents (they’ve already adopted two throw-away children of parents who couldn’t be bothered with them.) For almost two years they have fostered a beautiful little boy named Eli. He has blonde hair and beautiful eyes. They were in my home this week, and Eli was busy giving me hugs and kisses. That wasn’t the case when I fi rst met him. He was a broken shell: a wild thing. His mother and her boyfriend had almost beat him to death. He was malnourished. If you reached for him, he cringed. Loud noises made him cry and quick movements made him flinch. He couldn’t talk, rather just grunt. Caylee Anthony But during the time he has been with my friends, he has learned what love is about. He has learned that people are not selfi sh. That hands can be caresses, not hits. And that being picked up doesn’t mean being shaken. “I love you, Janice,” he said to me as he left my house. It is probably the last time he will be in my house. The same system that has failed Caylee, has decided it is better for Eli to live with his mother (who has failed to meet any of the requirements for his return: getting her GED, getting her own home and a full- time job). My friends are devastated, and my heart is broken. But more than that, I am afraid. Afraid that little Eli will be the next Caylee. The truth in America is that we are failing our children. We are failing the Caylees and Elis of the world and no one is doing it more so than those whose job it is to protect them. May God have mercy on us. JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Bill@upandcomingweekly.com CalCall 910.354.1679l 910.354.1679 Sunday July 17 Monday July 18 Tuesday July 19 Calendar ........................................... 14 Best of Fayetteville Ballot ................ 17 Concert Connection ........................ 19 Movie Review .................................. 21 TV ..................................................... 21 Free Wheelin’ Feelin’ ....................... 22 News of the Weird ........................... 23 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 No Justice, No Truth High 89° Low 70° Isolated Thunderstorms 4 UCW JULY 13-19, 2011 High 88° Low 70° Isolated Thunderstorms High 88° Low 69° Isolated Thunderstorms Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High 88° Low 71° Scattered Thunderstorms High 91º Low 72º Scattered Thunderstorms WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM High 92º Low 74º Partly Cloudy 24 24 / 7