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/759468
8 UCW DECEMBER 7-13, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS DIGEST NEWS A Cumberland County State Trooper has been awarded the Highway Patrol's Meritorious Service Award. Trooper S.D. Reed was honored by Col. Bill Grey, Commander of the State Highway Patrol and Frank L. Perry, Secretary of the Department of Public Safety. Reed was one of several troopers and civilians to receive awards in a ceremony on Nov. 29. On May 5, 2016 at 9 a.m., Reed presented "Keys for Life" at Cape Fear High School. The program showed students the consequences of drinking and driving as well as texting while driving. The presentation included a mock collision involving a fatality and an impaired driver being arrested. Reed explained that an impaired driver faces DWI and felony death by motor vehicle charges. He explained that the worst part of his job is having to tell loved ones of the death. The program has been presented to 1,400 juniors and seniors of area schools over the last two years. Reed is assigned to Highway Patrol Troop B, District 1 Headquarters in Fayetteville. Personal Weapons on Post In mid-November, the Pentagon issued a regulation giving service members permission to carry personal firearms on military bases. The regulation "provides guidance for permitting the carrying of privately owned firearms on DoD property by DoD personnel for personal protection purposes that are not associated with the performance of official duties," the order says. The regulation requires soldiers to conform to all federal, state and local laws. It isn't clear whether commanders of individual installations are given authority to set local rules. "We are awaiting guidance from the Department of the Army on how this will be implemented," Fort Bragg spokeswoman Christina Douglas told Up & Coming Weekly. Military Pay Raise Likely Congressional budget planners say they have provided for a January 2017 pay raise for service members despite a proposed four-month budget extension through April. House Appropriations staffers say that a continuing resolution they're drafting will provide a pay raise for troops, said The Military Times. Exactly how much that will be is being negotiated. President Barack Obama suggests a 1.6 percent increase. The House of Representatives has proposed a 2.1 percent pay raise. But they've got to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to pay for it. A 1.6 percent pay increase amounts to a $400 yearly pay boost for most junior enlisted troops and up to $1,500 more in annual pay for mid-career officers. Service advocates argue that a 2.1 percent pay raise would send a significant message to soldiers that the government appreciates their family finances State Trooper Earns Meritorious Service Award a STAFF REPORT Fayetteville City Council's Parks Bond Committee is anxious for contractors to get shovels in the ground on projects authorized by voters in last spring's $35 million referendum. It was the first Fayetteville parks bond issue of four others held in the last 50 years to be approved. The first bond issuance of $11 million is planned for next September, but council isn't waiting until they have the money in hand to begin building. Mayor Nat Robertson would like to see work begin on seven splash pads right away. The projection is that $10 million will be spent during the first three years, said Recreation & Parks Director Michael Gibson. A revised schedule has construction on the first five splash pads beginning next year. They'll be placed at Myers Park Recreation Center, Kiwanis Recreation Center, Massey Hill and Dorothy Gilmore Rec Centers. A fifth site is in West Fayetteville at one of two locations. The last two splash pads will come on line in 2019. One of them will be on the grounds of the minor-league baseball stadium, downtown; the other in West Fayetteville. They'll cost $7 million altogether. The city will borrow money from itself temporarily until bond proceeds begin to become available next fall. Other projects to be funded by the first bond sale include a west side Senior Center at Lake Rim Park, a skateboard park and land acquisition for a tennis center, plus improvements to some existing parks. A master plan for a large multi-purpose sports complex will also be funded. The sports complex and tennis center are budgeted for a combined $15 million. The second and final bond issuance will be in January of 2021, for $23.7 million to fund a downtown senior center adjacent to the new Rowan Street Bridge. The $6 million Cape Fear River Park will be the final project and is slated for construction in 2022-23. The State Local Government Commission requires that all bond projects be planned and built within seven years. Mott McDonald Consultants projects that supplemental funding opportunities can be found in several potential grants. The consulting firm is managing the bond program for the city and reports regularly to City Council's Parks Bond Committee. Additional funding sources include the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the Connect NC statewide bond package, the Recreational Trails Program, Clean Water Management Trust Fund, DOT's Strategic Transportation Improvement program and National Endowment for the Arts, plus numerous private foundations. City Initiates Parks and Rec Plan by JEFF THOMPSON Fayetteville's Parks & Rec bond referendum that was voted on last year autho- rized $35 million in expenditures on local facilities. S.D. Reed JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200.