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/68767
STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com PUBLISHER Bill Bowman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton caroline@upandcomingweekly.com MANAGING EDITOR Caroline Goins stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider hal@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Hal Nunn kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown ltmcmd01@aol.com Kristy Sykes OFFICE MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Anne Di Donato art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller 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. Heather Griffi ths, Shannon Angry –––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN by BILL BOWMAN Calendar ........................................... 14 Concert Connection ........................ 20 Movie Review .................................. 21 TV ..................................................... 21 Residents Will Die! pretty serious and obvious dangerous practices taking place on our city and county streets — a crisis that is virtually being ignored by both city and county offi cials. It is a case of misplaced priorities. Let me make my case: As we mollycoddle our citizens, we spend countless tax dollars on behavioral studies and sensitivity sessions that patronize both our black and white citizens, who in the end, fi nd it diffi cult to grasp the concept of civility. It seems our community has become so ultra-sensitive to race issues that some residents are actually starting to see and hear things that are not really there. Take the recent case of Jermor Simmons who alleged that Fayetteville Police offi cer E.R. Ketchum assaulted him with the "n-word" during a traffi c stop. Well, it was fi nally reported, after reviewing the video, that this just did not happen! What? It did not happen? Then it was a false complaint. It was a falsehood, expressed in writing, and not a misunderstanding. Anyone regardless of race, creed, religion or political affi liation should be held accountable if they make false allegations — especially when they burden the taxpayers with the costs of defending such bad and irresponsible behavior. For heaven's sake, this "Oh Mommy, he looked at me! Oh Mommy, he touched me!" sensitivity and silliness needs to stop immediately. It is not what our Fayetteville/Cumberland County community wants or expects. This being said, I applaud Mayor Tony Chavonne's suggestion that the cost of investigating such false complaints and allegations should be born by the person fi ling the report. And, I adamantly disagree with the Fayetteville Observer's June 3 editorial opinion (pg. 14A) that this would be a form of punishment. What? Since when is seeking the truth in pursuit of justice a form of punishment? Honest people need not fear. I was surprised and extremely disappointed that those making allegations took the lead in harboring and nurturing this kind of community discontent and unrest by planting seeds for future distrust by insinuating that future police incidents could involve Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Thursday June 7 Friday June 8 Saturday June 9 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Or should I say "continue to die" as this community ignores some Take notice of pedestrians on Eastern Blvd., Grove Street, Raeford Road, Ramsey Street and Bragg Blvd. My question is this: How many deaths will have to occur before someone takes a serious look at this situation? I am not advocating jaywalking citations, but what I am saying to community leaders is that this is a real problem. And, too much time, energy and money is being spent on situations I outlined which are mostly only feeding the egos of a few who constantly need their perpetual "15 minutes of fame" to satisfy their personal need for relevance and importance. Boulevard are all places where you can see pedestrians interacting with traffi c. This kind of behavior or performance is no substitute for real leadership. Real leadership? You'll know it when you see it. So far, it's nowhere in sight. 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 June 10 Monday June 11 Tuesday June 12 dangerous practice I referred to in my opening sentence? A lot. While all the above silliness is taking place in our community on page 4B of the Local & State section of the May 27 Fayetteville Observer, tucked away in the lower corner of the left hand page, Bill Kirby, Jr. reported on a woman who was killed attempting to cross Country Club Drive (i.e. Pamalee Drive, 401 Bypass, Skibo Road). He dedicated about 60 words to this unfortunate incident. However, it is not surprising. Night or day, observe how many pedestrians are standing, playing or riding bicycles in the center turning lanes of these local and busy main thoroughfares — some pushing baby strollers and others with young children in tow. Eastern Blvd., Grove Street, Raeford Road (Robeson to 71st), Ramsey Street, Rowan Street and Bragg recording system electronic malfunction or recordings that can be edited. These undermining suggestions and positions are both contributions to that "chilling effect" they refer to that results in our citizens having a lack of confi dence in the system. Go fi gure! So, what does all this have to do with that serious and obvious Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 22 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 4 UCW JUNE 6-12, 2012 Thunderstorms High 79° Low 63° Isolated Partly Cloudy High 83° Low 63° High 86° Low 68° Cloudy Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Partly Cloudy High 88° Low 71° Partly Cloudy High 89º Low 70º Partly Cloudy High 89º Low 70º WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 24 / 7