HIT: Fayetteville’s 15th annual Blues-N-Brews Festival was a resounding success. It’s the Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s major fundraiser. Thousands turned out at Festival Park and paid $40 each for small glasses resembling shot glasses on steroids to sample the many craft beers available and enjoy the concert.

MISS: The departure of newspaperman Andrew Barksdale from The Fayetteville Observer is a loss for our community. Andrew spent 17 years reporting on local government for the Observer. He was a good journalist. Barksdale is a casualty of the purchase of the newspaper by GateHouse Media, headquartered in suburban Rochester, New York. He said he’s been looking to change jobs for quite a while. He resigned to take a job in public relations with the state Department of Transportation in Raleigh.

HIT: Imagine this: A motorist driving along Pinecrest Drive was actually doing 25 mph, the speed limit. I was behind her. When she turned onto Morganton Road, she stepped it up to 35 mph, also the speed limit. I was in no hurry, but you can imagine how impatient everyone else was.

MISS: The Bragg Boulevard construction detour near downtown was a flop. DOT set up signs, orange barrels and cones directing inbound traffic to turn left onto the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway over to Ramsey Street and then downtown. A smarter and much shorter detour was to turn right onto the MLK over to Hay Street, only three-tenths of a mile, and then downtown. Motorists had to figure that out for themselves … and many did.

HIT: Thanks to the merchants and restaurants who give seniors their discounts without customers having to ask for them. In most cases, it’s obvious when seniors are making purchases and are therefore entitled to their 10 percent discount. Not all places give the discounts unless requested by the customers.

MISS:  Pretty soon, the new downtown FAST Transit Center will open. It’s more than a year behind schedule. Greyhound will also use the terminal. Something’s missing, though. There isn’t any public parking on the property for visitors or families. There are a few parking spots on the street.

HIT: City Councilman Ted Mohn speaks his mind no matter what. He said he isn’t going to seek re-election, which may be why he’s so willing to be more straightforward these days. Not only does Mohn say it like it is, he’s the Council’s resident numbers analyst. Maybe we can persuade him to run again.