Up & Coming Weekly

4 UCW NOVEMBER 4-10, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson 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, Stephanie Crider, Erica Gilbert –––––––––––– 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. STAFF Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 18 Concert Connection ........................ 23 TV ..................................................... 24 Movie Review .................................. 28 Movie Schedule ............................... 29 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 30 News of the Weird ........................... 31 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 31 Classifieds ........................................ 32 Games .............................................. 34 Dining Guide .................................... 35 INSIDE LocksCreek & Campbellton Landing — Celebrating a Taxing Situation by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 106 or Bill@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN Wow! The celebration of the fi rst year anniversary of LocksCreek Seafood Grill and Campbellton Landing brought mixed emotions for Kevin Summers, the owner and general manager. No doubt, he'll never forget this one. Last week Summers dodged the ruth- less execution of his entrepreneurial dream development on the banks of the Cape Fear River. North Carolina's tax police, whose sole purpose in their bureaucratic life must be to shutter upstart, struggling businesses, put their mark on LocksCreek in a re- sounding way — they locked the front doors. This isn't an uncommon occurrence, as small businesses, trying to make their mark in the community and contribute to the economy, often falter in their fi rst year of operation. Sure, it's the job of the North Carolina Tax Offi ce to collect taxes due, and no doubt they have the authority. However, where's the logic? You would think in this dismal economy, choking recession and with the state's unemployment numbers closing in on the 10 percent range, they would apply the same logic to their responsibilities as the thousands of small, humble businesses and organizations that are trying to survive. Everyone, and I repeat everyone, I know in business throughout the country is just trying to survive and keep their doors open. They are trying to "wait it out." Surely, as in the case of LocksCreek, rush- ing in and padlocking a viable but strug- gling venue while putting 40 to 50 people out of work makes logical sense only to a government that is ridiculous, dishonest and "out of control." That being said, our entrepreneurial hat's off to Summers and his small group of local investors (of which I am one) for their vision, perseverance and dedication to create something wonderful for this community by keeping alive Sol Rose's vision for the development of Campbellton Landing as a historic, fun, family destination. Note: Summers isn't the only person with vision taking risk, spending money and investing in our community. Take a look around. Look at the new owners of the Vil- lage Coffee Shop, the new location of the Southern Gourmet on Grove Street, Blue Moon Café, Huske Hardware, Circa 1800 and the Fresh Cafe — all locally owned downtown businesses. There is also Mor- gan's Chop House on Morganton Road and the northside's newest venue, ScrubOaks on Ramsey Street. These are just a few examples of restaurants whose owners dared to risk their life savings and fi nancial resources to raise the quality-of -life here in Fayetteville. There are hundreds of other small businesses aggressively doing their part to stimulate our local economy and get it back on track. Onlike local bankers and other self- proclaimed fi nancial geniuses whose arro- gance and incompetent business practices contributed to this economic mess, local entrepreneurs are up front and out front working hard to pay the taxes of those who only want to shut them down or subsidize their "bailout." Well, it's a strange world we live in, but thank God there are still many Ameri- cans who honor old-fashioned values and work ethic. Entrepreneurs are a tough bunch. So, hang in there, Kevin. Campbellton Landing is a wonderful historic asset to this com- munity. Remember, bureaucrats may be able to shut us down, but they will never be able to shut us out. Seldom has doing the right thing, for the right reason not prevailed. Up & Coming Weekly is your com- munity newspaper and I would love to hear from you. Email me at bbowman@ upandcomingweekly.com or call me at 910 391 3859. Your insights are important to us. You may also subscribe to our online edition absolutely "free" and receive our VIP Early edition. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

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