4 JANUARY 20-26, 2016
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
If you have been following the Presidential Election Campaign
for the past year, you are probably on election sound bite
overload. With nearly hourly updates on the Iowa and New
Hampshire primaries;
with the Republican
debates last Thursday
and Democratic
debates on Sunday; I
have been forced over
the edge of exhaustion
and frustration and
will join the ranks of
hundreds of thousands
of former Democratic
and Republican Party
members who have
found credence in
Groucho Marx's advice
to "Refuse to join any
club that would have
him as a member."
For the average
American, the polls
have concluded that
the government of
the greatest nation
in the world has not
only let us down but
has abused us. Both parties have grossly misrepresented their
constituents, abused their power and ignored, disrespected and
trampled upon the Constitution of the United States making the
term "law-of-the-land" a joke.
Americans are worse off now than they have ever been. They
are scared, economically depressed and angry with a government
that has proven time and time again by word and deed that we
just don't matter. Only they matter.
This being the case, how can anyone pledge alliance to a
politician or political
order so brazen,
selfish and corrupt?
Well, I cannot. Out of
protest, I have already
pledged not to vote
for any incumbent
nationally after finding
it almost impossible
to distinguish who the
good guys are. At least,
as an Independent
voter I can enjoy
the fact that I have
a choice. A choice
without guilt. A choice
without compromise.
A choice that will
allow me to feel that
I am not part of the
problem, which allows
me not to advocate
for a dysfunctional
government. My choice
allows
me not to enable that government. It's not much,
but it's a huge relief to practice my independence.
Thank you for
choosing to read
Up & Coming
Weekly.
PUBLISHER'S PEN
I, Independent
by BILL BOWMAN
STAFF
PUBLISHER
Bill Bowman
Bill@upandcomingweekly.com
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Janice Burton
editor@upandcomingweekly.com
EDITOR
Stephanie Crider
stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com
SENIOR REPORTER
Jeff Thompson
jeff@upandcomingweekly.com
ART DIRECTOR
Sara Smith
art@upandcomingweekly.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey,
Margaret Dickson, John Hood,
Erinn Crider, Jim Jones,
Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Karla Allen
karla@upandcomingweekly.com
SALES ADMINISTRATOR/
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
Laurel Handforth
laurel@upandcomingweekly.com
ACCOUNTING
Paulette Naylor
accounting@upandcomingweekly.com
MARKETING/SALES
Linda McAlister Brown
linda@upandcomingweekly.com
Beverly Pone
beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com
Melissa Zalaznik
melissa@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 publi-
cation consideration, but assumes no responsibil-
ity 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
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Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor
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Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and
Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per
person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction or use
of editorial or advertisements without
permission is strictly prohibited.
BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP &
COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS?
BILL@
upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.
484-6200
www.upandcomingweekly.com
Turn to our calendar every Wednesday and
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Call
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for more info.
January 21
Mostly Sunny
January 22
Rain
January 23
AM Showers
January 24
Sunny
January 25
Sunny
January 26
Mostly Cloudy
THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY
HIGH
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HIGH
52
HIGH
48
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53
HIGH
60
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38
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31
LOW
34
LOW
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LOW
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