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/49480
STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Crowe stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com hal@upandcomingweekly.com Michelle Schumacher michelle@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Mary Catherine White 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. MARKETING/SALES Hal Nunn ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider PUBLISHER Bill Bowman INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN by BILL BOWMAN First, I want to commend (not condemn) Dr. John Lauby for the excellent job he is doing as the Director of Cumberland County Animal Control. He has a big job and, fi nally, for the fi rst time in many years, we have the talent and expertise needed to operate that vital county department. I hope we don't run him off. Unfortunately, with the recent rash of misinformation being spread about the department and the options informally discussed about how the Animal Control Board can deal with the crisis, Cumberland County is facing trying to control the excessive number of unwanted stray dogs designated as bully breeds. These are dogs known for being aggressive by nature, showing sporadic hostility and behaving unpredictably. For the past week Lauby, his department and the Cumberland County Commissioners have been bombarded with thousands of phone calls and emails expressing protest and concern that the adoption of these animals (pit bulls, Rottweiler's, chows) would be restricted with an automatic death sentence imposed after 72 hours. This was just not true, and the rumor went viral over Facebook and the internet. In reality, the Animal Control Board's (ACB) job is to "control the animals" and protect the public. The 72 hour policy applies to any animal.That being said, the outrage is misguided and unfounded and has an eerie resemblance to the crime situation we have here in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Consider this: Our community is experiencing a serious, some say massive, crime wave. The increase in the number of homicides, robberies and damage to personal property has law enforcement frustrated and working overtime while local residents and business owners live and work in constant fear. Criminals, like the stray dogs, are excessive and an extreme nuisance taking over the county. Law enforcement, like the ACB, Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Saturday Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Friday Thursday December 8 December 9 December 10 is working hard to solve the problem. Yet, if a certain group of people arbitrarily don't like the solutions or techniques these agencies use to solve the problems they attack the individual and try to dismantle the entire system. Sure, we all hate crime but what if our "solutions" make it impossible to arrest the criminals? Sure, we hate packs of wild-stray dogs running amuck in our neighborhoods, but, like the criminals, when we catch them what do we do with them? Hostile animals cannot be adopted nor can they be rehabilitated. Again, it is the same for career criminals and again, like the captured animals, where do you put them? The animal shelter, like the jail, is Cumberland County Commissioners have been bombarded with thousands of phone calls and emails expressing protest and concern that the adoption of these animals (pit bulls, Rottweiler's, chows) would be restricted with an automatic death sentence imposed after 72 hours. already at its max capacity now. So, many say turn them loose. Well, our local courts and justice system are already turning them loose. It's no wonder our crime rate is escalating. The failure of our leaders to lead and our community's failure to accept its social responsibilities and let them lead have resulted in the creation of our own customized "bully breed" of criminal. A hideous specimen of a human being who is bold, confi dent, aggressive and unafraid because they have been bred in the reality of no consequences or penalties for their actions. Unless this trend is reversed, Fayetteville and Cumberland County will be on its way to becoming the next Gotham City — without a Batman and Robin. Back to the dogs. We must accept our responsibility as a community and stop griping and complaining about the situation and start offering up some solutions. After all, those dogs came from somewhere. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Bill@upandcomin- gweekly.com CalCall 910.354.1679l 910.354.1679 Sunday Monday December 11 December 12 Calendar ........................................... 12 Concert Connection ........................ 16 TV ..................................................... 17 Movie Review .................................. 18 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 19 Classifieds ........................................ 20 Games .............................................. 22 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Who Let the Dogs Out? Tuesday December 13 High 55° Low 34° Partly Sunny High 59° Low 37° Mostly Cloudy 4 UCW DECEMBER 7-13, 2011 High 62° Low 44° Cloudy Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High 66° Low 42° Partly Cloudy High 64º Low 39º Partly Cloudy High 63º Low 39º Mostly Sunny WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 24 / 7