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.
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STAFF bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com PUBLISHER Bill Bowman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Crider kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown ltmcmd01@aol.com Kristy Sykes OFFICE & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth officemanager@ upandcomingweekly.com accounting@upandcomingweekly.com Paulette Reinhardt ACCOUNTING art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Heather Griffi ths ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly 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. INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN by BILL BOWMAN Calendar ........................................... 14 TV ..................................................... 18 Movie Review .................................. 19 Concert Connection ........................ 20 Ben the Bear Is Free Ben the Bear is free and I am a very, very happy camper. That was the good news I received after returning from my recent 4,108-mile motorcycle excursion to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where there are plenty of bears. If you have never been to the Black Hills, you've got to know, this is God's country. It is pristine with breathtaking scenery that reaches the pinnacle of American beauty. The highlights of my vacation were witnessing the grandeur of Mount Rushmore and traveling to nearby Rapid City, S.D., to visit their premier attraction, Bear Country, USA. Yes, Bear Country, where you can drive your car over acres upon acres of natural terrain to view — up-close and personal — hundreds of species of amazing wildlife, especially bears: white bears, black bears, brown bears and even black & brown bears like our lovable Ben the Bear. What makes Bear Country so unique is the fact that all the bears are living and enjoying life in their natural habitats. This was an awesome experience. Ben the Bear. Of course, we parked our motorcycles outside the entrance and opted for a tour bus for obvious reasons. Needless to say, Ben the Bear and his horrid circumstance of incarceration by James Bass II, owner of Jambbas Ranch Tours, was constantly on my mind. Seeing these animals so natural, happy and content while knowing that Ben was relegated to a concrete fl oored 12' x 22' cage with a diet of dried dog food was most unsettling. The inhumanity of it was baffl ing. I was extremely happy when I returned to Fayetteville last week and found that Cumberland County residents Rikki Harrison and Hosea Ray have fi nally been successful in fi ling a lawsuit to have Ben removed from Jambbas Ranch and placed in humane and protected custody. Hooray for them! Their tireless quest for bear justice has fi nally been accomplished. I also commend District Court Judge Kim Tucker Fayetteville's Weather Forecast August 23 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Friday Thursday August 22 Saturday August 24 Hopefully, this is a wake up call for our community. Perhaps now more attention will be paid to the way we control, protect, support and nurture our animal population. Unfortunately, to date, the most Cumberland County residents are getting is lip service. Preventive measures like spay and neutering, continuous education and law enforcement eliminating the puppy mills are the keys to protecting our four-legged friends. But success will come only with money and commitment. I see little of either. Again, my hat is off to the perseverance and accomplishments of Ms. Harrison and Mr. Ray. I hope this is the beginning of a new positive era in animal welfare, protection, control and education in Cumberland County. We'll see. The actions and outcomes here, like it or not, are the realities and a refl ection of what our community is really all about. Can a brown/black bear named Ben really have the power to defi ne our community? For some, he already has. Let's see what happens now. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. CalCall 910.354.1679l 910.354.1679 Sunday August 25 Monday August 26 Tuesday August 27 for granting the temporary injunction that facilitated this action. Finally, things are looking up for Ben the Bear. Today, as you read this article, Ben is happy and living the big life in a California animal sanctuary operated by the Performing Animal Welfare Society. Good for Ben! However, maybe it's not such good story about our community. After all, it has taken more than six years to rescue this animal from those horrid conditions. All the while area residents, organizations, daycare centers, public, private and Christian schools and even local government offi cials and agencies supported, enabled and, in some cases, protected this inhumane operation. Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 21 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 23 Classifieds ........................................ 24 Games .............................................. 26 4 UCW AUGUST 22-28, 2012 High 84° Low 66° Partly Cloudy High 86° Low 66° Partly Cloudy High 89° Low 69° Partly Cloudy Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. High 86° Low 69° Partly Cloudy High 85º Low 67º Partly Cloudy High 86º Low 66º Partly Cloudy WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 24 / 7