https://www.upandcomingweekly.com/


  • Details
        Dear EarthTalk: I saw a cover line on a magazine that said, “The next world war will be over water.” Tell me we’re not really running out of water! 
                                        — Nell Fox, Seattle, Wash.

        Today fully one-sixth of the world’s human population lacks access to clean drinking water, and more than 2 million people — mostly kids — die each year from water-borne diseases. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent organization that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States, predicts that by 2025, one-third of all humans will face severe and chronic water shortages.
        Needless to say, water is of primary importance to our survival, and protecting access to and the quality of fresh water supplies will likely become more and more of a challenge in the coming years. According to the nonprofit World Water Council, the 20th century saw a tripling of the world’s population while freshwater use grew by a factor of six. With world population expected to increase as much as 50 percent over the next half century, analysts are indeed worried that increasing demand for water, coupled with industrialization and urbanization, will have serious consequences both for human health and the environment. Access to freshwater is also likely to cause conflicts between governments as well as within national borders around the world.
        {mosimage}According to USAID, the world’s “water crisis” is not so much an issue of scarcity as it is of poor management and inequitable distribution. The hardest hit regions have been countries in the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide demand for water is presently doubling every 21 years.
        Water-related problems are not the sole purview of the developing world though. We here in North America have polluted and diverted our fresh water supplies far beyond nature’s capacity to restore the flows, notably in the West where sprawling, thirsty metropolises have grown up in deserts where the only way water can be provided is to siphon it from other regions.
        So how do we fix the world’s water woes? The key lies in using water more efficiently — especially in agriculture and industry, which together account for over 90 percent of the world’s total freshwater use. But changing the practices of millions of farmers and businesses around the world is a Herculean task.
        Irena Salina, director of the award-winning documentary film, FLOW, about the world’s dwindling water supplies, thinks it can be done if world leaders, international banks, the United Nations and other governmental organizations establish cooperative agreements for the use of bodies of water, including groundwater, and economic mechanisms to make sure those who need access to water can get it.
        As for the developed world — where we use 10 times the water as do developing countries — Salina remains pessimistic. “If our own leaders were serious about solving problems, we would not allow corporations to discharge pollutants into our water sources,” she says. “Instead of spending billions on technologies that clean up pollution, we would be using resources to prevent water pollution in the first place.
        CONTACTS: Ocean Conservancy, www.oceanconservancy.org; Natural History Magazine, www.naturalhistorymag.com.
        GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at:  www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

  • Details
        The first gold record ever released by Atlantic Records was Percy Sledge’s No. 1 song “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Sledge wrote the song after his girlfriend left him for a modeling career after he was laid off from a construction job late in 1965. Was Percy Sledge giving marital counseling? Probably not on purpose, but he is on the road to a successful marriage.{mosimage}
        The Apostle Paul gave some similar advice in the New Testament book of Ephesians to husbands and wives. He says, “Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33, NASB).
        First, Paul tells husbands to love their own wives. We all recognize that men and women are different. And that includes how husbands and wives give and receive “love.” Wives need to not only be told their husband loves them; they need to see it, to feel it, to sense it. Paul looks at the men of his day and says, “Guys, love your wives.” He then goes on to add “even as himself.” Love them the same way you want to be loved…fully, forgiving, forever.
        Paul then gives some marital advice to the wives of the day, “and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” Again, men and women are different. Women want to hear and sense that they are loved by the husbands. But men are different. Men, though all tough-guy on the outside, really want just one thing. They want to feel like the hero of their home. They want to be respected…and that is exactly what Paul is saying in this verse.
        Percy Sledge got it right when he said “When a man loves a woman, can’t keep his mind on nothing else; He’ll trade the world for the good thing he’s found.” Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands. Both, make Christ the center of that forever relationship.

  • Details
        The state treasurer’s race is the most important political contest in North Carolina that isn’t making the daily headlines.
        Current Treasurer Richard Moore did make headlines recently when he discussed the 12 percent drop over the past year in the assets of the pension fund for teachers and state employees. This is neither a surprising performance nor a sub-par one, due to the fund’s relatively conservative asset allocation.
        Still, Moore’s announcement underlines the critical connections among the expectations of state employees, the interests of state taxpayers, and the prospects for economic growth far away from the Tar Heel State.{mosimage}
        Democrat Janet Cowell and Republican Bill Daughtridge are trying to replace Moore as North Carolina’s chief investment officer.
        Cowell and Daughtridge both have relevant experience. Cowell is a liberal state senator (she scored 21 percent on Civitas’ new Conservative Effectiveness Ratings) who previously served on the Raleigh city council. She previously worked as a securities analyst in Asia and consulted with a venture-capital fund in Durham. Daughtridge, a moderately conservative state representative (he scored 67 percent on the CER), worked as a financial analyst in Texas before taking over the operation of Daughtridge Group, a family gas and retail concern in Rocky Mount. Both have MBAs and years of legislative experience.
        The candidates’ personal backgrounds and legislative records are worthy of consideration on their own terms. More important, it seems to me, is trying to assess whether their backgrounds and voting records telegraph how they would respond to the kinds of challenges that the state treasurer will almost certainly face in the coming years. For example:
        The new governor and general assembly will likely face a budget deficit next year of between $1 billion and $2 billion.
        There continues to be talk in Raleigh political circles of proposed bond issues for transportation, land preservation, water and sewer and school construction that would add many billion of dollars to the state’s bonded debt. But state debt per North Carolinian has nearly tripled in just the past decade, and is already close to the limit that Moore believes is affordable. Will the new state treasurer oppose massive new state borrowing?
        There’s been a troubling increase in the share of state debt issued without a vote of the people, as the state constitution requires. Will the new state treasurer cry foul?
        While the pension fund has endured some losses, a far more yawning gap exists between the state’s assets and its liability to finance supplemental health benefits for retired state employees. When I say yawning, I mean an unfunded liability in the tens of billions of dollars. Will the new state treasurer demand legislative action on the issue?
        Periodically, lawmakers and others propose that the state directly invest a portion of its pension funds in North Carolina companies. Although touted as a way to boost job creation in the state, such policies are inevitably at odds with the interests of state employees and taxpayers. Political constraints on investment choices necessarily reduce expected returns, which increases the risk the taxpayers will have to pay more to finance promised retirement benefits. Will the new state treasurer always say no to such “economic development” schemes?
        These are the questions that North Carolina voters ought to be thinking about as they choose between Cowell and Daughtridge. But given the far-larger media attention paid to high-profile races for president, U.S. Senate, and governor, I wonder if the electorate is thinking about the state treasurer’s race at all.
        Voters should be. A lot.

  • Details
        What about the other races?{mosimage}
        Few people, other than political insiders, are asking this question when they talk about the possible results of the upcoming elections in North Carolina.
        All this is understandable given the excitement surrounding the races at the top of the ballot — the close governor’s and U.S. Senate races and, for the first time in recent memory, a real contest in the battle for North Carolina’s 15 key presidential electoral votes.
        North Carolinians are experiencing continuous courtship from John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Joe Biden. When we are “in play” in the critical contest for the Presidency, it is harder to concentrate on other races.
        Perhaps the well-funded gubernatorial campaigns of Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory may be getting through to us, as maybe also are the U.S. Senate candidates Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan.
        But mostly we are thinking presidential, overlooking important council of state, congressional, state legislative, judicial and local races. It is like the Fourth of July when it is hard to watch the sparklers in your own backyard, when there is a massive fireworks show over at the football stadium.
        So it is possible, even likely, that the days after the election are going to disclose some surprising election results that could have a profound impact on political life and government in North Carolina?
        A few days ago I talked to John Davis, one of North Carolina’s most respected political observers.
    Davis pays attention to the polls and to the relative strengths of the competing political parties the same as other consultants. But he puts extra weight on other considerations. He factors in the rapidly changing electorate. For instance, although many new North Carolinians who have moved here from the Northeast may be registered Republicans, they tend to be more independent and less conservative than North Carolina Republicans. They are more likely to be ticket splitters.
        This year, he says, the new youthful voters may have been registered as a result of the efforts of the Obama campaign, but they should not be expected to vote a straight Democratic ticket. Many of them will be voting for youth and for change, rather than for a particular party label.
        These factors, says Davis, make an Obama win in North Carolina a real possibility — even a likely outcome. These considerations work against the incumbent Senator Dole in her contest with Kay Hagan, who Davis thinks will win.
        On the other hand, these same factors operate in the governor’s race to work in favor of Pat McCrory, the likely winner in Davis’s view.
        Most surprising to me is Davis’s prediction that the upcoming election will bring about a change in control of the North Carolina Senate, in which Democrats currently have a commanding 29 to 21 seat edge.
        He identifies several senate seats currently held by Democrats that are likely, for various reasons, to be won by Republicans this year — enough, he says, to give Republicans a majority for the first time in modern history.   
        Marc Basnight, the Democrats’ current senate leader, has gained enormous influence, which he has used to insure generous legislative support for environmental programs and for the University of North Carolina. New leadership would mean new priorities — and big changes in the support level for these and many other programs.
        If Davis proves correct in his predictions, there will be a lot more to talk about after the election than just who won the presidential race.

  • Details
        {mosimage}America loves the misadventures that frequently beset normal people in their daily lives. Even more engaging is the over-the-top misadventures – think Lucy and Ethel – that happen in the lives of some people. That misadventure is the type of farce that leaves us in stitches. On Friday, Nov. 7, the Cape Fear Regional Theatre will bring a beloved farce to the stage as Lend Me a Tenoropens.
        Bo Thorp, the artistic director of the theatre, is excited about the opportunity to direct the show. “It is absolutely so funny,” said Thorp. “It is such a well-crafted play. Farces are very often cheap material, but that isn’t the case with this play. It’s a classic. It truly is.”
        The play written by Ken Ludwig, focuses on the arrival of a great tenor at the Cleveland Grand Opera. The organizers of the event are so excited about his arrival that they bend over backwards to ensure that all will go well – until a crisis happens.
        “The crisis is so improbable, which is the case with most farces,” explained Thorp. “The stage is surrounded by six doors and the trick is to try and get in one and get out the next without anyone seeing each other.”
        The story revolves around a gastrointestinal problem the tenor has. Upon his arrival, all he wants to do is take a nap, instead he argues with his wife, who leaves abruptly, further upsetting the tenor. Everyone wants to be helpful and tries to give him a little bit of something to make him feel better – a little more relaxed.     The problem is that everybody gives him a little something, which knocks him out. Then the madness ensues.
        “It’s a kind of sexy play,” continued Thorp. “a little naughty.”
        This isn’t the first time Tenor has been on stage at the CFRT. It first debuted 18 years ago. “We haven’t done a farce for quite some time,” continued Thorp. “This is the best one that I know. There are a number of Neil Simon farces that are quite good, but this is the best one out there, so I thought ‘Let’s do this one.’”
    Her affection and knowledge of the play allowed Thorp to cast it almost immediately, and with people who are well-known to the theatre’s audiences. “If I ever brag about myself about anything, I have to say it is that my casting is very good,” said Thorp. “That’s when I’m at my best.”
        She think she’s outdone herself on this cast. “This is an excellent cast. So it’s not only a well-crafted play, but the actors know how to use the material. All eight of the actors are capable of the comedy,” she said. “Comedy is a different thing than a drama or a musical. It’s dependent on people who are capable of humor.”
        The play runs through Nov. 23, with tickets ranging in price from $17 to $23. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s Box Office at 910-323-4233 or via the Web site at www.cfrt.org.

  • Details
        On Friday, Nov. 7, the Department of Fine Arts at Fayetteville Technical Community College will present Fiddler on the Roofat Cumberland Hall on the FTCC campus. The performance will be on stage following the annual FTCC Foundation dinner.{mosimage}
        The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the multipurpose room of the Tony Rand Student Center. Students from FTCC’s Culinary Technology program will provide the meal. Tickets to the dinner are $50 and can be purchased by callin 678-8441. Proceeds from the foundation dinner will be used to fund scholarships and mini-grants for students and faculty.
        An exhibition of landscapes by award-winning artist Benjamin Billingsley will run in conjunction with the production of Fiddler. Billingsley will lecture on his exhibit on Saturday. Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m, in the gallery at FTCC.
        Other productions of Fiddler will be performed on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. Admission to the play is free and open to the public.

    Headquarters Library to Remain Closed to Public
        The Headquarters Library at 300 Maiden Lane will remain closed to the public for an undetermined time. Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center administration and staff are dealing with the aftermath of a fire in the library’s basement during the early morning hours of Oct. 25.
        Library Director Jody Risacher told staff Monday, Oct. 27, that the building will not open to the public until the fire alarm system is cleaned and operational; the heating and air conditioning ventilation system is cleaned, and the public areas on the first and second floors have been cleaned of soot. 
        “All exposed areas will be wiped down,” Risacher said.
        Two offices were gutted in the basement. All ceiling tiles in the library’s basement are being replaced. Administrative offices are being moved to other areas of the three-story building. Other departments being moved include Community Relations, Technical Services, Computer Services, Facilities and Mobile Outreach.
    Risacher is not able to predict when the library will be open to the public. In the meantime, the public is asked to return their books and other library materials to any of the system’s other six branches.
        All programs scheduled at the Headquarters Library have been canceled through the end of the year. With staff from the various departments taking over the Pate Room and the two conference rooms for work areas, the library will not be able to offer programming or conference and meeting room space even after the building opens to the public.
        However, the Friends of the Library Annual Author Event and Library Endowment Trust Benefit set for Nov. 10 at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre will go on as scheduled.

    Gibson Named Interim Director
        Michael Gibson has been selected as the interim Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation director, effective Nov. 1.
        Gibson has been with the parks and recreation department for 20 years having served in a variety of positions, including athletic program coordinator, parks superintendent and most recently parks division manager.
        He has a B.S. degree in physical education from Fayetteville State University.
        Gibson was selected from a pool of three highly qualified internal candidates.
         “It is clear from the quality of the candidates, that retiring Parks and Recreation director Robert Barefoot made it a high priority to prepare his employees for advancement,” City Manager Dale Iman said. “I am confident that Mr. Gibson is ready and anxious to meet the challenges of this important position.”

  • Details
        {mosimage}Across the nation, the official kickoff of the Christmas shopping season is the day after Thanksgiving — or Black Friday.
        But leave it to Cumberland County to be ahead of the curve.
        For the 42nd consecutive year, the Holly Day Fair christens the holiday shopping season, bringing more than 180 vendors peddling arts, crafts and other unique gifts to the Crown Expo Center for four days of shopping bliss.
        The Holly Day Fair — the largest holiday gift and craft show in the South — begins Thursday, Nov. 6, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 9. It is sponsored by the Junior League of Fayetteville, with the money raised through the event donated to local worthy causes and organizations.
        Last year, the Holly Day Fair drew more than 20,000 attendees and raised more than $264,000.
        Leonna Byrd, Holly Day Fair organizer, says she expects this year’s fair to be the biggest yet, as well as offering the largest variety of shopping options.
        “With the economy the way it is, we decided to offer wider variety of vendors so there will be something for every budget,” said Byrd. “We’ve also signed up some vendors that we think will appeal more to males, such as a vendor offering every type of neck tie imaginable, as well as a vendor offering personalized golf markers.”
    Tickets for the event are $8, with the exception of opening day — Thursday — when tickets will be $12.     Thursday is “Super Shopper” day, which means fewer shoppers and limited tickets, though you are asked to leave your child strollers at home on this day. Thursday’s festivities get started at 9 a.m. and last until 8 p.m. (Super Shopper is 9 a.m. until noon).
        Tickets revert back to $8 on Friday, which kicks off at 10 a.m. and runs until 8 p.m.; Saturday, the action also runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; on Sunday, the doors of the Charlie Rose Agri-Expo Center at the Crown open at noon, with the closing bell at 5 p.m. Children under 5 are admitted free.
        The Junior League of Fayetteville contributes more than 80,000 hours of service annually to local worthy causes, helping out such organizations as the Partnership for Children, CONTACT of Fayetteville, Inc., the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.
        In May, the Junior League raised money for premature babies during the March of Dime’s WalkAmerica.
    Through fundraisers such as the Holly Day Fair, the Junior League issued more than 20 grants of $100-$1,500 in 2007-2008 to such organizations as Cumberland County Schools, Rape Crisis, Fayetteville Urban Ministry and the La Leche League. In addition, 2007-2008 Partnership Grants of $1,500 to $50,000 and volunteer support were given to the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland County, the Child Advocacy Center, the Care Clinic, Cumberland County Coordinating Council on Older Adults and the Pilot Club of Fayetteville.
        The Junior League of Fayetteville has more than 400 volunteers. Over the past 40 years it has provided more than $1.3 million and countless volunteer hours.
        However, despite its past good works, the ladies of the Junior League also want to have fun, which is a major part of the Holly Day Fair.
        “It’s just a great event that’s a lot of fun,” said Byrd. “And it’s really not Christmas around here for a lot of folks until they’ve been to the fair and listened to our Christmas music. This is the area’s biggest Christmas tradition.”    

  • Details
        {mosimage}Everyone has probably met someone that you immediately felt comfortable with. Anyone meeting Calvin Mims, the new art services coordinator at the Fayetteville- Cumberland County Arts Council, is more than likely going to feel immediately at ease. After meeting him you will readily understand the arts have a new advocate in Fayetteville.
        Mims moved to Fayetteville in 2006. I met him when he was working with the Art and Soul Gallery in the downtown area. Mims has a passion for art that is self evident to anyone who speaks to him about the subject.
        Coming to terms with the reality of the arts in Fayetteville, I have become acutely aware of the impact leaders in non-profit arts organizations have on the cultural community of Fayetteville and the surrounding counties. Deborah Martin Mintz, the Arts Council’s president, clearly understands how individuals have significant roles in art organizations and how their leadership can help foster an environment in which the arts can thrive in and contribute to the creation of more livable communities for all types of people, of all ages. Proof of her understanding and insight — she hired Mims.
        Mims is still somewhat new on the job. Visitors to the art center may be running into him at 4th Friday openings. His experiences and passion for the arts are sure to influence the 2009 line up of exhibitions.
    How Mims ended up in Fayetteville is an interesting story. His home is Detroit, Mich. I asked Mims what made him decide to retire in Fayetteville. He commented, “I visited friends in Fayetteville six years ago. When I got here I was impressed with the relatively low cost of housing as compared to Detroit and most of all I was impressed with the diversity in Fayetteville. It was refreshing to see so many different cultures coexisting with respect and harmony, so I decided to retire here.”
        He and his small family moved to Fayetteville to retire; yet he immediately became involved in the arts. I was interested to know how he got involved in the arts so quickly when it takes so many years for others.
    Mims smiled, “Once I settled in Fayetteville I was told about the Art’s Council’s 4th Fridays. I was impressed with the number of businesses that supported this event and showcased local artists. This is when I met C.J. Malson, the owner of Art and Soul Gallery. We started a conversation and I discovered she had a great vision for the art community and for her gallery. We talked about some of the changes she wanted to make and I wanted to help her achieve them, so I went to work for her.”
        Just two years living in Fayetteville, and Mims has done more in the arts than many people take years to accomplish. Mims, C.J. Malson and Dwight Smith brought a traveling exhibit to the Fayetteville Museum of Art titled Voices: Twenty-Three African American Artists. And he is just getting started!
        The passion Mims has for art advocacy can be explained by the way in which the arts changed his own life. “I became interested in the arts as a very young man. I found it comforting to spend time in the Grand Hall of the Detroit Institute of Art where I would sit and read in the quietude. Although I didn’t pursue it immediately, it was in the museum I learned that you could have a career in the arts. I left the automotive profession after 12 years and became the executive director for the Ellington-White Project for the Visual and Performing Arts.”
        He continued, “Art changed my life. I am aware of how I personally came to discover the arts. And when I did, it gave me something to relate to. I bring this experience to the job at the arts council in the same way it helped me to reach young people to come to the arts and have their lives changed in the Ellington-White Project Foundation.”
        Mims time at the arts council is just beginning. I asked him what he would like to see happen at the arts council. He said, “I would like to see more educational programs to help the general public understand contemporary art forms. I would also like to initiate an educational program in which people can have art works appraised and understand how to develop a collection. So many young artists come to the arts council looking for ways to develop or market their talent, a program that helps those young artists become a reputable artist in some way would be worthwhile. I see my role as fostering an environment in which the arts can survive.”
        “Right now the greatest challenge in the arts is maintaining the funding sources by private patrons and government. When times get difficult, often art can be seen as a fringe benefit. It important for a community to see art is part of commerce, it defines a community – ultimately it is the foot print for the future generations.”

  • Details
        Looking for a special Christmas gift but don’t want to get caught up in the holiday crush, yet still want the advantage of talking to a human face-to-face instead of doing the online thing?
        Then the Home-Based Business Holiday Shopping Expo is tailor-made for you.
        The expo, as the name implies, features representatives showing off products sold through home-based businesses. It will be held Saturday, Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Carolina Room of the Hampton Inn across from Cross Creek Mall.
        The event is in its first year and is the brainchild of Amber Wellman and Bria Cunnien, who dreamed up the idea after attending a similar expo.
        {mosimage}“We decided, ‘Hey, we could make this really big... We can really do this and make it a lot better and get more vendors,’” said Wellman.
        As of press time, 13 vendors had reserved booths at the expo, with more on the way, said Wellman. And even though she says women are generally the chief demographic for such expos, everyone is invited.
    “If a man needs to get his wife a Christmas present, we’re all right here,” said Wellman. “We’re all women and we can help out.”
        Among the vendors who will be offering plenty of gift options is Amy Stewart, a consultant for Longaberger, an Ohio-based company that’s been in business for 35 years which sells handcrafted baskets and other home and lifestyle products, including pottery, wrought iron, fabric accessories and specialty foods. The company has 45,000 independent home consultants located in all 50 states who sell Longaberger products directly to customers.
        “We (consultants) can’t sell on the Internet,” said Stewart, who’s been a Longaberger consultant for about two months. “The company wants to keep us very home-show specific and committed to our clients.
        “The great thing about our baskets is if you go to a big-name retailer and buy a basket and it breaks, you just pitch it out,” said Stewart. “Longaberger is going to fix it for you and you don’t have to worry about it.”
        Stewart says Longaberger has a variety of unique products in a various sizes, shapes and colors.
        Another vendor who will be offering a unique gift experience at the expo is Bridget Barreira, who represents Ribbon, The Gift of Choice. This endeavor offers a gift card that comes in the form of an album showcasing gifts the recipient can choose for himself. Gifts vary widely in price and type, with items representing such brand names as Fossil, Sony, Dooney & Bourke, Ghirardelli, J.A. Henckels and others.
    “You get a wide variety and you get to choose your own gift,” said Barreira. “You really get to receive the gift three times — when you receive the gift certificate, when you go online to order the gift, and when you actually receive the gift through the mail.”
        A vendor proffering a more service-based gift is Nubian Farley, owner of Fondue 4 U — a catering service that offers scrumptious fondues of every variety to groups as small as two people on up to “as many as my client can safely seat” said Farley.
        Farley said her mother first got the idea for the business back in the 1970s when the military family was stationed overseas. Farley said a friend from Belgium invited her mom over and it was the first time she’d ever seen a fondue.
        “She fell in love with it and decided she wanted to bring it back to the states with her as a business,” said Farley. “My folks did just that and I helped over the years. When they became ill I took it over and put my own twist on it.”
        Farley says there are “no limits” as to what kind of fondue she can set up.
        “I do vegetarian fondue... all poultry... it’s a very client-specific dinner,” said Farley. “I can conjure up pretty much anything that you would like.
        “Cheese fondue is included with the dinners and veggies for dipping and chocolate fondue for dessert,” said Farley. “I have done expos; I do demos -  I do it as a sit-down but also as a buffet. I have set up a demo for realtors to try and sell homes, office parties, etc. My biggest hurdle is trying to get folks to realize that I am not a restaurant, that I am a traveling fondue service and I come on location to wherever you’d like me to come.”
        And you don’t have to travel far to check out these vendors and others at the Home-Based Business Holiday Shopping Expo. Admission is free and there will be door prizes and a massage therapist on site doling out free massages.

  • Details
        Syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. is the featured speaker for the Friends of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center’s 9th Annual Author Event and Library Endowment Trust Benefit on Nov. 10 at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, 1209 Hay St. Pitts writes a column that appears in newspapers across the country, including The Fayetteville Observer. His topic for the evening will be “Owning What You Know: The Decline of Reason in Politics & Public Discourse.”
        During his speech, scheduled just a few days after the presidential election, Pitts will discuss “the phenomenon we’re seeing played out in the political sphere right now where phony outrage …and intellectual dishonesty … substitute for any sort of substantive discussion of the issues before us,” Pitts said.
        “I believe part of the reason we as a nation are in the polarized state we’re in is that some seem to have decided that ideological purity is more important than making sense. And until we decide that country does, indeed, come before party, we’re going to keep going around in the same old tiresome circles.”
        When he won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, the awards committee commended Pitts for “his fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues.” His commentaries cover a wide range of topics, from pop culture and family life to social and political issues.
        {mosimage}Pitts began writing professionally in 1976 as an 18-year-old college student. He began doing freelance reviews and profiles for SOUL, a black entertainment tabloid, and two years later, he was its editor. In the years since then, his work has appeared in such publications as Musician, Spin, TV Guide, Reader’s Digest and Parenting.
        He joined The Miami Herald in 1991 as its pop music critic. Since 1994, he has written a syndicated column of commentary that is now read by millions of people. Pitts will sign copies of his book Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood, first published in 1999. Books will be available for purchase at the event. Born and raised in Southern California, he lives in Maryland with his wife and five children.
        A benefit reception to meet Pitts before his presentation will be held at 6 p.m. in the Glass Block Room of the theatre. Tickets are $85 for one or $150 for two. Please call 483-7727 ext. 119 for reception tickets or more details. General admission tickets are $10 and may be purchased at City Center Gallery, 112 Hay Street. All proceeds benefit the Library Endowment Trust.
        This year’s sponsors for the author event are: SYSTEL®; The Fayetteville Observer; Carlos and Terri Union Zukowski; Kiwanis Club of Fayetteville; Jim and Shirley Konneker; Lynn and Karl Legatski; Matlack Sales and Marketing, Inc.; Joyce and Ole Sorensen; Sharon Valentine; and www.OldMountainPress.com.

  • Details
        Reinterpret the line at Fayetteville Museum of Art’s latest exhibit, Energy of a Line opening Nov. 7 and running through Jan. 11, 2009. The premiere party is Nov. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m., and is free to the public. Artists will comment on their large-scale works that through depth and layering bring to life linear dimensions. The exploration of the physical manifestations of a line provides insight to the structure and chaos of art. Whether implied or stated, artists Jason Craighead, Gerry Lynch and Seth Hicks will deconstruct the line.
        {mosimage}Craighead is a Raleigh-based artist whose work Metro Magazine described as “conjuring up ghosts of everyone from Motherwell to Franz Kline to Cy Twombly.” This exhibit will feature a collection of at least three 64 x76 inch works on canvas, and six 22 x 30 inch works on paper that Craighead states are “passionate and emotionally charged, an evolving exploration of line and space, from scribble to scrawl.” Craighead is grateful for the opportunity that Executive Director Tom Grubb and Curator Michele Horn have extended; Craighead also displayed work at the museum’s satellite at the offices of Up & Coming, Gallery 208. “I can’t think of another museum I’d rather show in first more than the Fayetteville Museum of Art — I’m appreciative of the museum giving me another opportunity as I move forward. This really feels like good, forward motion.”
        When asked about his continually evolving work, Craighead said his work was “the ultimate transitional moment for me. And I feel these pieces are representative of that transition. I’m beginning to have a more philosophical approach to my work…I’m detaching from ‘things’, finding space and creating rhythm, letting my work become the pure thing that it is. With less fear comes more freedom.” Craighead is also thrilled to be placed alongside artists Lynch and Hicks. Lynch is an “artistic hero” of his and was blown away by her work when he discovered her 10 years ago.
        Located in Apex, N.C., Lynch’s fiery mixed-media works are inspired by “Asian calligraphy, primarily Arabic script, haute couture, mainly Christian Dior, all the great ‘50s abstract expressionists, and contemporary artists such as Cai Guo-Qiang, who makes drawings using explosives.”
        Lynch’s works take a personal look at what is often depersonalized; “Five of the paintings are named for the birth dates of members of my family, and these paintings, in one way or another, suit the character or personality of the person. For instance, the painting titled Tony, February 1963 resembles the line and movement of my son’s personal signature.” Remaining humorous on her age Lynch finds it “a kick to be in a show with two young guys.” Lynch doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously, for her advice for young artists is “marry a rich man (or woman) who has a generous heart.” Lynch also greatly admires her co-exhibitors’ works; the first time she saw one of Jason Craighead’s paintings, she felt the “fission of excitement when one knows they are in the presence of something special.” In addition, years ago Lynch bought one of Hick’s sculptures for its “simplicity and power.” {mosimage}
        Rounding out the exhibit is celebrated sculpturist Seth Hicks showcasing his varied interpretations of the line — large-scale works and small-scale sculptures that playfully depict in daring black and white statements or subtly in distressed structures. The focus of geometrical objects in his work reinforces a clinical look at the line that his bold color choices never leave cold and calculated.
        Find more information about the Energy of a Line exhibit at www.FayettevilleMuseumArt.org or by calling 910-485-5121. If you miss the opening on Nov. 7, catch the exhibit for free during the museum’s normal operating hours, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. 

  • Details
        What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day? According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, most Americans don’t know the answer to that question. They just know one is in the spring, the other in the fall. Who we are honoring on these holidays though is significant. Memorial Day is set aside so American’s can pay our respects to service members who have died on our behalf in combat, or as a result of wounds from combat. While fallen service members are also remembered on Veterans Day, it is a day set aside to thank the veterans who are still with us, those who have served honorably in wartime or in peaceful times.  {mosimage}
        On Saturday, Nov. 8, at 11 a.m. the Cumberland County Veterans Council is hosting a parade to celebrate and honor our veterans. Event co-chair Keith Bates listed an impressive number of participants in the parade. There are about 90 entries, including 5 local high school bands, Rolling Thunder, Triple Nickel, VFW Posts and American Legion Posts and several high school JROTC units.
        “There will be an Air Force flyover, an Army helicopter flyover - right through downtown, up and down Hay Street,” said Bates.  
        Some of the 82nd units that have been deployed numerous times overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan will march and display equipment in the parade too. “It’s really a sight to see when they come down,” said Bates. “We’ll be there to show our support for them.” 
        The parade route starts at the intersection of Hay Street and Bragg Boulevard – the Airborne and Special Operations Museum - and goes down Hay Street to the courthouse.
        As a veteran of more than one combat tour, the gravity of what service members endure is not lost on Bates.  “When you go away for 10, 12, 14 months at a time you endure some hardships. You could be living in a tent for 12 months at a time, and you have to make the mad dash 100 yards to the bathroom in 30 degree weather….and then just being there especially when your buddies get killed, it takes a toll,” he said.
        The Cumberland County Veterans Council, made up entirely of veterans, looks forward to being able to support and encourage their brethren with the parade.
        “It is just a way to show our appreciation for the ones that are still serving,” said Bates. “The thing to me is to show our support for the many sacrifices that the men and women are enduring so that we can be free here. We don’t have to worry about getting blown up when we got to the polls, we don’t have to worry about getting harmed when you got to the Obama rally or the McCain rally or to the mall.” 
        While parades are fun, and a great way to say thanks to America’s vets, they are out there every day on our behalf going places and doing things that the rest of us pray we will never have to endure.  It doesn’t have to be Veteran’s Day to say thank you, and it doesn’t always take a parade to show you appreciate what our service members do.  “All you got to do when you see ‘em is just say thank you,” said Bates. “The best way (to thank them) is to just tell them everyday ‘thank you.’” 
        And we do thank you, for your service, your sacrifice and the many freedoms that we have because of you. Thank you.

  • Details
        To annex, or not to annex... that is the question faced by many growing municipalities, including Fayetteville.
    At a joint meeting between the the Fayetteville City Council and the Cumberland County Commissioners held Tuesday, Oct. 28, a visiting state official gave our elected leaders a lesson on the reasons for annexation, as well as other items concerning city and county government.
        David Lawrence, who teaches public law and government at the School of Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave two reasons for annexation: money and munificence.
       {mosimage} “It’s been shown in studies that people often move into the proximity of an urban center, such as Fayetteville, because of the advantages it offers,” said Lawrence. “So, it’s only fair that these new residents help pay some of the costs for the services they take advantage of.”
        “Secondly, cities should annex areas in need of basic services,” said Lawrence, “such as good, clean water, sewage and trash pickup.”
        Lawrence made those remarks in answer to a question posed by Fayetteville City Councilman Ted Mohn: “Should we annex areas to add communities that can bring us more tax revenues or annex communities that badly need services such as water and sewer, or a little of both,” asked Mohn.
        The council recently voted to involuntarily annex the Gates Four community — a gated community of 600 homes located off Lakewood Drive. However, there have been questions as to why the city hasn’t annexed the Shaw Heights community — a neighborhood that is predominately African-American and which suffers some infrastructure problems. The annexation of Gates Four is expected to bring tax revenues of more than $2.5 million to the city over the next five years.
        While some residents of Shaw Heights — which takes up 340 acres and is bordered by Fort Bragg on three sides, forming an “island” adjacent to the city — have said they would welcome annexation by the city to repair some of the infrastructure issues, most Gates Four homeowners vehemently opposed annexation proceedings; North Carolina is one of only four states that allows forced annexation with the approval of voters.
    In addition to annexation, Lawrence also addressed issues such as the combining of city and county services in order to save money. However, he pointed out that the pooling of city and county resources can be problematic, such as combining city and county law enforcement.
        “The police provide law enforcement in the City of Fayetteville,” said Lawrence. “The sheriff provides law enforcement outside the City of Fayetteville. Unless you want to argue that one or the other is overfunded and has more people than it needs and you merge the two (to save money), it’s hard to see how you’re going to cut very many patrol officers.”
        On the subject of the division of county and city services, Dr. Jeannette Council, vice chairman of the Cumberland County Commissioners, had an issue with the poor job she says local media has done delineating the differences between services provided by the city and those provided by county.
        “This is not a slap at you (Up and Coming Weekly)... We don’t have this problem with your publication,” said Council. “Mainly, we are not, in the county, trying to shirk a responsibility when it is suggested that we fund this, we fund that, we fund the other... It’s almost as if we have an unlimited pool of resources for anything that anybody brings up just off the top of their heads and I think if citizens knew, and editorial boards knew and understood more, the function of city government and the function of county government, that we would have fewer controversies.
        “Sometimes when parties disagree, then you have a big editorial that says what we ought to be doing and we can’t defend ourselves without sounding defensive,” said Council. “We (the county) provide the bread, the meat, the vegetables and the potatoes; municipalities are only mandated to provide dessert. I just want to shout it to the rooftops to have everybody working together.”

  • Details
        Editor’s Note: Margaret is winding up her campaign, so we are running another of her favorite columns from 2004.

        Last week a rumor floated my way from a neighboring state that two of my oldest friends, a couple married for more than three decades, had separated.
        This couple saw each other through separate professional schools. They have wonderful children, three of whom they have shepherded through college and helped plant the seeds of productive adult lives. Together they have lived through the ordeals of childhood and the angst of teenage years, and together they have weathered the deaths of their parents. They have changed careers, both finding professional niches that seem to fit. They have lived together in the same house for many years, adding on and redecorating as family needs shifted. They remain active and responsible members of their community, and both are well known and well respected. Both are in their late 50s.{mosimage}
        I was astounded and saddened by the news, but it is hardly the first time I have heard such stories. Another recent one came from two high school classmates who married in a haze of romance during their junior year in college. As their second and last child finished up college, the wife got her own apartment. He was flabbergasted but has since “adjusted” and is moving on. Another high school friend was equally stunned when her husband of three decades announced one Saturday morning that he would not be coming back, and he has not been.
        My walking partner and I have discussed this circumstance over many miles of pavement in the early morning hours. She maintains that it occurs when two long-marrieds suddenly find themselves alone in the house in which they were so busy, so occupied, so intent on the day-to-day routine and frenzy of combining work and family life that they simply lost track of each other. By the time the last child leaves home for the real world, they no longer recognize each other. The handsome and ambitious young husband and father he once was and the lovely and devoted wife and mother she once was have become two middle-aged people who may no longer have much in common once their mutual “glue” — children — fades away.
        There in the stark silence of their once-bustling home they realize that the people they were have morphed into other people entirely. If they are lucky, these two new people like, maybe even come to love, each other. If they choose to, they can work together to build a new relationship within the context of their marriage, a relationship which can turn out to be even better than the original bonding so many years before. Or, they may just grit their teeth and stick it out, since that was the plan they agreed on so long ago. But if they are not so lucky or if the wounds inflicted over many years of being together cannot heal, they will go their separate ways.
        On Sunday mornings, I often read the newspaper announcements of couples who have been married for 30, 40, 50, even 60 years. These anniversaries are clearly important enough to the couples that they submit the occasion to the newspaper, often accompanied by then and now photographs, a slender young couple in dated fashions next to a couple of more robust and less hairy senior citizens. I salute and wonder about these couples, who are more the exception than the rule. How is it that their marriages survive when so many others do not?
        My own maternal grandparents were married for more than 50 years, and I cherish my grandmother’s gold wedding ring engraved inside, JGD to MRW 1911. But they were the exception for their day and in centuries before theirs. During most of human history death intervened more often than not when men labored long hours on farms and in factories and women gave birth to more babies than their bodies could really endure. I think the couples I read about in the newspaper now are the exception, too, not because today’s Americans are at high risk of premature death, but because we are not. They are exceptions because they have found their own unique ways to make the institution of marriage work for them over the long haul when over the vast sweep of human history, marriage has been relatively short because life has been relatively short.
        Several of my children’s friends have married in their early 20s, and I have looked at these beautiful young people filled with so much hope and so much promise and wondered whether they will still be together when they reach their statistical life expectancies in their 70s and 80s. I hope so, but I also know that as they work on their careers and building their families, they will also have to work on keeping up with each other.
        As for the rumor about my long time friends? At this point, it remains just that, a rumor, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. They have invested a great deal in each other, and their children and friends are invested in them.

  • Details
        I feel a need to speak up about Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
        In recent weeks, reporters have hovered over Cumberland County’s flagship hospital like a pack of lawyers sniffing out a malpractice suit (paging John Edwards, paging John Edwards). The negative articles and editorials that have appeared in the county’s other newspaper continue to build, tsunami-like, threatening to burst the dam of respectability that the hospital has worked so hard to rebuild following the failings of past administrations.
        I cannot speak to those past or present foibles or the reported long lines in the emergency room.
    The only reference point I can call upon in rating the hospital is my recent stay on the third floor of that facility, where, in the seemingly extinct journalism style of cutting to the chase, I’ll tell you I was treated like a prince.
    It was my first extended hospital stay for an illness, and let me confess, I was more than a little scared. As I lay in the hospital bed while doctors and nurses probed and pricked me in search of a cause for a sudden case of anemia brought on by internal bleeding, I felt the black dog of mortality licking and nipping at my 44-year-old heels.
        The false bravado of my outward patina of masculinity was pierced like a a carnival balloon as my secret fear of needles came to light; I would make a truly sorry junkie, as the mere sight of a hypodermic sends me rocking and rolling on the wildest roller coaster in Nausealand, afflicting me with a cold sweat that even James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, couldn’t imagine.
        {mosimage}Fortunately, that’s when the nurses and nurses aides came to my rescue like a cavalry of angels in hospital scrubs, reassuring me and consoling me, telling me everything would be just fine. Time after time, they apologized for sticking needles into my notoriously shy veins, applying cool hands and cooler compresses to my suddenly fish-belly white countenance.
        Their mea culpas extended into the wee morning hours when they would awaken me for the requisite checking of my vital signs. They were gentle and caring and incredibly competent, and out of the round robin of Florence Nightingales who cared for me during my stay, three really stood out: Charnise, Meliss and Sabrina — a trinity of caring and compassion that made a miserable situation bearable; and, I say this as someone who has an insider’s view into how pressure-packed your chosen vocation can be — my grandmother toiled for 26 years as a nurse’s aide at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton and my sister is a respiratory therapist in Richmond, Va. I know all about those pain-in-the-ass patients who press the call button like an accountant manipulating a calculator; I know the dignity you maintain as you carry out the indignity of cleaning up the secretions and excretions of your sickly citizens; I know the hours you labor for ladies in labor and men with meningitis.
        Whatever these women (and men) are paid, it’s not nearly enough — though surely, the care they gave me during my visit was priceless.

  • Details
    I have had a long love affair with books. I’ve traveled around the world, solved mysteries, seen war, known great romance and met some of the most interesting people – all in the pages of a book. {mosimage}
        So it was with great excitement that I contacted Belinda Cashwell at the Cumberland County Schools to sign Up & Coming Weekly and Kidsville News! on as sponsors of Reading Rocks. Anything that supports literacy and a love of reading in children is tops in our book (excuse the pun). So, like many Cumberland County residents, we bundled up against the cold and made our way to Festival Park last Saturday.
        What we saw was a sight that definitely warmed our hearts, if not our hands. More than 14,000 people braved the cool morning temperatures to take a walk downtown in support of literacy, and more importantly books for our schools and their children. They came in droves. Some were walking, smaller ones were in strollers or wagons, and they all came filled with enthusiasm for the walk ahead.
        In the interim, they danced. They sang. They lined up in their groups. Some sported costumes of their favorite book characters. Others wore school colors with pride. To my reckoning, a vast majority of them wore buttons that proudly proclaimed they were “Kidsville Kids!” I should know, I stickered most of them as they walked by.
        And as much fun as it was, it wasn’t just about fun. It was about raising money – lots of money for books. Books that can change people’s lives by changing their understanding of the world.
        Our staff positioned itself at the entrance of the park to cheer on every school as it began its walk. Yes, we were the crazy people with the big green Dragon – our Kidsville News! mascot Truman. We were the ones shouting at the tops of our voices. Cheering each school one by one as they marched out. Even today, my voice is hoarse and my throat is sore. But every shout out we gave was heartfelt. Reading Rocks was a huge success and that’s something to shout about!!

  • Details

    Super Nanny sets things right

    SUPERNANNY
    Friday, 9 p.m. (ABC)
        “Super” is not an exaggeration for British nanny Jo Frost. The woman can heal any rift, as she proves in this week’s episode. Jo arrives at the woeful Manley home, where Mom and Dad hate each other and the two kids are monsters. She immediately perceives that civilizing the parents is job one. She gets them to talk about their feelings and declare a truce for the children’s sake. Then she teaches them gentle-but-firm disciplinary techniques, and voilà: The monsters turn back into kids again.{mosimage}
        Has anybody considered sending Supernanny to the Middle East to work with the Shia and Sunni?

    BROTHERHOOD
    Sunday, 8 p.m. (Showtime)
        Missing The Sopranos, I decided to give Showtime’s mobster drama another try. Brotherhood is about two Irish-American siblings mixed up in dirty business in Providence, R.I. The new season has everything     The Sopranos had: corruption, violence, cusswords, regional accents, local color, gritty scripts, impressive acting. Everything, that is, except the magic.

    MASTERPIECE
    Sunday, 9 p.m. (PBS)
        “God on Trial” is set in a Nazi concentration camp barracks, where inmates stage a mock trial to determine God’s guilt or innocence in the Holocaust. You can easily imagine the potential problems with this conceit, and “God on Trial” doesn’t avoid a single one. It’s less a drama than a pat theological debate, with barely characterized believers and skeptics offering their arguments in turn. The concentration camp setting doesn’t make the debate seem more powerful and important; it just makes the producers seem more tawdry. They use the Holocaust to add urgency to their cornball philosophizing.

    SUMMER HEIGHTS HIGH
    Sunday, 10:30 p.m. (HBO)
        HBO has been accused of losing its comic touch, and this new series provides more evidence. Summer Heights High is a mock documentary about a British high school in which creator Chris Lilley plays three roles: a stupid rich girl, a stupid delinquent and a stupid drama teacher who seems unaware of how untalented (and how gay) he is.
        Does HBO think we’ve never seen a Christopher Guest film? Lilley takes exactly the same approach to self-important pinheads, minus the laughs. I must immediately rent Waiting for Guffman to cleanse my palate.

    ROOKIES                                                                                                                                                    Tuesday, 10 p.m. (A&E)
        This reality series follows newly graduated cadets from the police academy. We ride with them and their field training officers as they hit the mean streets for the first time.
        A cadet named Mark is not happy to be paired with a female officer. “No man wants to take orders from a female,” he says. “We’re the man — we’re supposed to be giving orders.”
        Mark blows a routine traffic stop, practically fainting from fright as he approaches a car on a quiet suburban street. He neglects to collect phone numbers at an accident scene, mistakes an ID card for a driver’s license, forgets to use his police radio during a crisis, and lets a domestic-disturbance call slide into chaos.
        If this is what happens with men in charge, then please, God, let women give the orders.

  • Details

    The Daily Show turns election night into a joke

        All day long, I despair over the state of the U.S. Then, at 11 p.m., I laugh about it. The Daily Show has a gift for making comedy out of national tragedy. Comedy Central’s mock newscast lays bare the hypocrisy, mendacity and idiocy in politics and media, fighting absurdity with absurdity.{mosimage}
        Of course, The Daily Show is not just absurd. Beneath the gags is a savage indignation worthy of Jonathan Swift. On some nights, host Jon Stewart is not only the country’s best political comedian, but its best broadcast journalist. He asks probing questions that the real news networks don’t have the courage to ask. In the interview segments, he’s capable of challenging political figures more vigorously than his counterparts at CNN or CBS. If you don’t believe me, Google his April 2007 jousting match with John McCain over the Iraq War.
        For some, the presidential campaign will end with a sigh of relief. I plan to watch The Daily Show’s live election special (Tuesday, 10 p.m.) to make sure it ends with a guffaw.

    UFO Hunters
    Wednesday, 10 p.m. (History Channel)
        I saw a UFO in St. Louis (orange, noiseless, football-shaped), so this is the one spooky Sci Fi reality series I will not make fun of. This week, the UFO Hunters head to Trumbull County, Ohio, where police officers and a 911 operator saw a blue-green cylindrical object hovering over the tree line. One officer reports that his radio went out of commission as he approached the mysterious craft.
        As if the Iraq War and the economic crisis weren’t enough, here’s yet one more problem for the new president to deal with.

    The Simpsons
    Sunday, 8 p.m. (Fox)
        Oh my God! The geniuses at The Simpsons have created another “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween parody! Purely for our enjoyment! And it’s all free! (Sorry — every once in a while I’m struck all over again by the wonder of TV.)
        This year’s trilogy includes a Transformers satire, a Mad Men satire and a Peanuts satire about a Grand Pumpkin who goes on a Halloween rampage after observing human atrocities against his fellow gourds. (“You roast the unborn?!” he cries when offered a tray of pumpkin seeds.) Typically, many of the best jokes lie on the margins, as in a quickly glimpsed daycare billboard: “Where Your Child Learns to Trust Strangers.”
        The prologue exploits the nightmare of the moment: malfunctioning electronic voting machines. When Homer pushes the button for Barack Obama, the machine counts his vote for McCain; he tries again, and it’s yet another vote for McCain. “This doesn’t happen in America!” Homer moans. “Maybe Ohio, but not America!” 

    All the President’s Men
    Sunday, 8 p.m. (TCM)
        Watergate felon John Dean introduces a screening of the 1976 movie about criminal activity in the Nixon White House. It’s weird how yesterday’s devastating political scandal has become today’s polite cable entertainment, featuring a once-despised, now-avuncular wrongdoer who was at the center of the scandal.     Can we expect a TCM screening of W. sometime in the next decade, introduced by a grinning Scooter Libby?

  • Details
        Hurry, tickets are going fast. Limited seating, Reservations required!
        The Fayetteville Animal Protection Society spends the majority of its time throughout the year making life better for our four-legged friends. On Friday, Nov. 7, they are asking you to give those same four-legged friends an early Christmas present by attending the annual Join us FAPS Holiday Benefit at Highland Country Club. This fun, casual affair will begin at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are still available.
        {mosimage}A $40 per person donation will allow to you to enjoy good old American eats of hotdogs, hamburgers, grilled chicken, french fries, onion rings, pasta salad and an array of deserts. Icy cold, refreshing beer, wine and soft drinks, will also be provided. A cash bar will be available.
        Once you’ve filled your tummy, event organizers hope you’ll help fill the FAPS coffers by participating in a silent auction. The auction has an array of irresistible items, including jewelry, art, lamps, antiques, pet-themed items, golf packages, pottery by Mark Hewitt and Ben Owen, salon & spa treatments and much more! A 32” Samsung Flat-Screen LCD HDTV will be auctioned off and raffle tickets are available for $10 each.
        The winner need not be present to win. The night will conclude with a live auction open to all attendees.
    Proceeds from the holiday benefit will go towards sheltering FAPS homeless animals, the agency’s spay/neuter and humane education fund, sick and injured fund and shelter operating costs.Featured items, donated by local businesses make great gifts for friends, family or yourself, just in time for the holiday season! {mosimage}
        For more information on how you can help homeless animals, attend the holiday benefit or purchase a raffle ticket, please call the FAPS shelter at 910-864-2077, Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. or check the organization out on the Web at www.fapspet.org.

  • Details
        {mosimage}It’s been a long, hot summer for the FireAntz faithful, but summer’s over and the FireAntz are ready to skate their way back in to the hearts of their fans, as FireAntz hockey comes to the Crown Coliseum on Oct. 31.
    While this will be the first home stand for Fayetteville’s most popular athletes, the hockey team will storm into the Crown after adding two notches to its belt this past weekend, defeating Richmond 6-3 on Saturday, Oct. 25; and schooling last year’s league champions, Knoxville, 3-2 on Friday, Nov. 24.
        Those wins come as no surprise to Jason Fleming, the team’s vice president. Fleming doesn’t hesitate to talk about the upcoming season and the team’s players with enthusiasm.
        “We’re really excited about this upcoming season,” said Fleming. “Last year we were just one win away from reaching the finals for the second consecutive year.”
        While many teams in the league are experiencing a rebuilding season, the FireAntz are blessed to have eight of their returning starters back on the line this season. The team’s future may very well be built on the quick reflexes and leadership of its returning goaltender — Chad Collins. Collins, a fan favorite, has already taken the lead in the Southern Professional Hockey League, and Fleming and company expect him to continue to shine throughout the season.
        He’ll be joined again this year by Kyle Knechtel, who played his rookie year last year. Collins was out for six weeks last year, and Knechtel carried the standard and kept the puck out of the goal for the team during that period. “Kyle was a rookie player, but he really stepped up to the plate and had a huge impact on the team last year. He was an awesome goalie, and we are looking forward to his getting his second playing year under his belt,” said Fleming.
        Six other players are returning – four forwards and two defensemen – to keep the FireAntz in control of the ice. Corey Hessler, the team captain and assistant coach, will lend his maturity and skills to the mix to lead the team to what Fleming and company hopes is certain victory.
        The team is looking to Rob Sich, another fan favorite, and Justin Keller to lead the team’s offense. The two didn’t disappoint in the opening weekend of the season, with both players delivering stellar performances.
    If the hockey isn’t enough to entice you, the team will again a host a number of special events throughout the year, starting with the first home game.
        “Our home opening is on Friday, Oct. 31, so we have to compete with Halloween,” said Fleming. “We’re encouraging everyone to come out and Trick-or-Treat with the FireAntz.”Fleming explained that all of the team’s business partners will have candy stands set up around the coliseum, passing out candy to all of the little FireAntz fans in costume. “It’s a fun, safe atmosphere for trick-or-treat,” continued Fleming. “On top of it, you can a chance to watch the FireAntz at home!”
        The team will also sponsor a costume contest for the best costume (and it doesn’t matter how old you are to compete in this contest.) First prize is a $100 cash prize; second prize is a team jersey; and third place is a team T-shirt.
        The second game in the opening home stand is a repeat of last year’s military events – Operation Welcome Home. “We’re going to sponsor Operation Welcome Home V in conjunction with the Home Builder’s Association of Fayetteville,” explained season. “We are providing 5,000 tickets to the men and women of our military who have recently returned from deployment. We think it’s a nice way to give back to the men and women who have put everything on the line for us. It’s a very small token to say thank you.”

  • Details
     Literacy begins in infancy.  Parents, guardians, caregivers and schools should provide a rich literacy environment in order to help our Cumberland County students acquire literacy skills.    
          The Cumberland County Education Foundation and Cumberland County Schools will tout the benefits of literacy at the Reading Rocks Walk-A- Thon on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 9 a.m. in Festival Park in downtown Fayetteville.  Registration begins at 8 a.m.
          “This is our fabulous fifth year that we have had the Reading Rocks walk-a-thon to celebrate literacy,” said Belinda Cashwell, director of media services for the Cumberland County Schools System. “It is our only countywide signature program within the greater Fayetteville area.” 
          {mosimage}The fundraiser began in 2004 when the Cumberland County Schools, in partnership with the Cumberland County Education Foundation, brought together more than 4,000 people in downtown Fayetteville to participate in the first annual Reading Rocks Walk-A-Thon. Cumberland County Schools raised more than $100,000 to buy additional books to enhance classroom libraries. Since then the annual fundraiser has become a huge success and continues to expand.  The books are processed through the schools’ media centers and used in the classroom setting.    
          To meet this year’s goal, Fabulous Fifteen, 15,000 walkers are needed at the event. “Last year the schools raised over $100,000,” said Cashwell.  “This year we raised over $101,000 and that is amazing considering how the economy is.” 
          The 1.5 mile walk will begin in Festival Park. “The route will be the same as last year but will be done in reverse,” said Cashwell.  The Cumberland County Education Foundation will have coffee and doughnuts for sale and Rush Campus Ministries will provide bottled water for all walkers.
         The kickoff for the event features Dr. William Harrison, superintendent of Cumberland County Schools and his cabinet members, CCS Board Members, Mayor Tony Chavonne, the CCS Teacher of the Year Karen Koonce, the North Carolina Teacher of the Year Cindi Rigsbee, Media Coordinator of the Year Jody Phillips, county commissioners and city council members. Recognition will be given to the most improved schools, schools that raised the most in donations and raised the most money per capita. 
         The band of the high school that raises the most money will lead the walk along with the elementary, middle and high schools that raised the most money. There will be many high school bands participating this year and they will be stationed along the route to play for the participants as they walk. “It is an exciting day for the community to celebrate literacy,” said Cashwell. “All 87 Cumberland County Schools will participate.”     
         Donations can be designated to a specific Cumberland County School or to the countywide fund that will be distributed equitably among all schools.  All donations are tax deductible.  Donations can also be submitted to the Cumberland County Education Foundation at P.O. Box 2882, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28302.
          “We look forward to seeing everyone at the walk-a-thon,” said Cashwell. “We are asking that everyone be on time by 8 a.m. due to the inside perimeter of the downtown area being closed off for the walk.” 
          For more information contact Cumberland County Media Services at 678-2613 or the Cumberland County Education Foundation at 221-8800.  No pets are allowed at the event. 

  • Details
        In these trying and troubled economic times, business owners and administrators must often get in touch with their creative sides to keep their businesses and organizations in the red.
    For those folks looking for novel ways to keep ahead of the global recession, the Fayetteville Technical Community College Center for Business and Industry and the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Chamber of County are a presenting a one-day workshop entitled, “Surviving and Growing Your Business in a Troubled Economy.”
        The free seminar will be held Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the FTCC Center for Business and Industry. Teaching the seminar will be John Peterson, the founder of The Peterson Group — a media and marketing firm established in 1995. Peterson is the former president of a $40 million newspaper company and has worked with more than 200 newspapers and has more than 20 years experience planning and implementing programs for small- to medium-sized businesses and healthcare organizations throughout the country.{mosimage}
        At the seminar, Peterson will will touch upon some of the following speaking points:
        •How smart businesses outperform the market conditions;
        •How to position and market your business in today’s challenging economy;
        •How to create a growth-oriented business strategy;
        •Effectively promoting, marketing and advertising your business;
        •Examining how your business stacks up to others.
        Tamara Bryant, FTCC’s small business coordinator, says it’s a an excellent opportunity to teach businessmen and organizational leaders how to “think outside the box.”
        “With the economy the way it is, people are trying to find ways to maintain and sustain their businesses,” said Bryant. “Marketing is key to helping these businesses keep their customers and gaining additional ones.     This seminar will teach people how to grow their business in these hard times.”
        The event is being sponsored by several local entities, including Up & Coming Weekly, the FTCC Center for Business and Industry, the Fayetteville Technical Community College Center for Business and Industry, the Courtyard Marriot and Campbellton Landing.
        There will be refreshments and door prizes, with each participant receiving a marketing gift reportedly worth “hundreds of dollars.”
        {mosimage}In order to register, contact Bryant at 678-8462, or via e-mail at bryantt@faytechcc.edu. The FTCC Center for Business and Industry is located at 2723 Fort Bragg Road.

  • Details

        {mosimage}With a shake of her head and a slightly embarrassed shrug, a current member of the Spring Lake N.C. Ghosthunters commented, “I can honestly say that of all the hobbies that I ever imagined myself becoming involved with, ghost hunting never was one of them.” But she added with a shy, almost apologetic smile, “But now, I just love it!”
        Ghost hunting is becoming one of the nation’s fastest growing hobbies. Much of the credit for the emergence of ghost hunting’s gain in popularity and legitimacy is given to Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, the founding members of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). Several years ago, these two average men, who are plumbers by day, managed to get the SciFi Channel to film their team’s ghost hunting investigations as a regular, weekly TV show.
        This public exposure of how ghost hunting can be done using scientific and experimental methods, along with specialized equipment, took away much of the scary, and often comical, stigma that was once attached to intentionally encountering ghosts and the study of the paranormal. Other networks picked up on the theme and now have their own ghost hunting and/or paranormal shows. An offshoot of the popularity of the programs is that underground groups that secretly or privately investigate or that have existed quietly within the structure of many religious bodies and organizations, are now going public.
        Ghost hunting and studying the paranormal has gone mainstream.
        In our community, the Spring Lake N.C. Ghosthunters have been conducting paranormal investigations for years. The group, founded by two childhood friends, Mick Barraza and the late Dave Gilfillan, conducts scientific investigations and to help those who are experiencing — or seem to be experiencing — paranormal activity. Upon request, the current team performs free paranormal investigations of homes, businesses or sites on a regular basis.
        By using special equipment, experience and skill, Barraza said that one of his group’s main purposes is to attempt to “debunk” or to investigate and try to explain through logical and feasible means any occurrences that might appear to be paranormal in nature. He added that he and his team go into investigations with a healthy dose of skepticism — but also with the understanding, compassion, and knowledge that not everything can be logically explained.
        According to Barraza, the group is grounded in scientific theory. Members conduct their investigations with a professional demeanor and use equipment such as digital and regular cameras, video cameras, K-II meters, laser thermometers that measure temperature fluctuations, and several other experimental ghost hunting devices.
        Using this equipment, the team attempts to capture sometimes unseen images or record unheard human voices, or obtain other types of evidence of ghosts and of paranormal activity.
        So just who are these people who choose to investigate the existence of ghosts, spirits and unexplained phenomenon?
        Members of the group are an extremely diverse group of individuals. The team is made up of business professionals, blue-color workers, a few ministers, grandmothers, several mediums and retired individuals. Barraza noted that his team comes from a cornucopia of professional, social and religious backgrounds, but the members strive to respect one another’s differences and individual gifts. He said that he considers one of the group’s greatest strengths to be its multi-faceted membership.
        The broader answer to the question of why someone chooses to become a ghost hunter, however, is more complex. Some people become ghost hunters for the thrill, and maybe the fright factor of seeing or experiencing a ghost or something paranormal. Others join because ghost hunting is one aspect or expression of their religious or spiritual journey or personal belief system. Many join out of curiosity about the paranormal or because of personal experience with the paranormal.
        Though many people are becoming more open to the scientific examination of ghosts and hauntings, many people still do not approve or understand the nature of scientifically-based ghost hunting. They still have no idea about the practices, skills and knowledge required and involved in this emerging science, Barraza said. Some people even assume that ghost hunters are non-religious individuals, witches, Satanists or people who focus solely on the occult. Barraza said those stereotypical and prejudicial notions are not true of the vast majority of ghost hunting groups.
        Belonging to a ghost hunting group definitely does have an upside, according to Barraza. Not only does a member occasionally get to encounter a ghost, but one also may find a place of refuge and safety within the group. One of the key drawing points is the common and unifying element of members being able to share their personal stories about their own paranormal encounters and experiences with other individuals who have had similar experiences or who are open to hearing about these encounters. The group is a safe place to talk about this subject that many people avoid.
        Members also learn what could almost be considered a new language of paranormal, spiritual, supernatural, and technological terminology and subject matter: “Did anyone feel that cold spot?” “Look at this orb I caught on film. Do you think it is a water spot, or a dust particle, or since it glows, could it be an energy orb?” “Anyone know the best place to buy an EMF meter?” “Do you think that black shadows are a form of negative energy, intelligent dark matter or the manifestation of a human spirit?”
        When it comes to scientific ghost hunting, there is a lot to learn, and there’s more to it than running around in the graveyard at night.
        Well, maybe.
        Barraza admits that sometimes his team does actually run around in graveyards in the middle of the night — but with permission, with proper regard for the gravestones and the graveyard property, and most importantly, always with the utmost respect toward any spirit that may be encountered by the team.
        If you have a paranormal problem and want help from the Spring Lake N.C. Ghosthunters, please call 436-2337. Leave a message on the machine and the case manager of the team will call you back. On Halloween, Up & Coming Weekly staffers will accompany the team on an investigation. Check back next week for the outcome of that investigation.

     Rules for Ghost Hunting

    Here are a few final words of wisdom from the members of the Spring Lake N.C. Ghosthunters:
    •Ghost hunting might be fun and exciting, but understand that it can also be potentially dangerous.
    •ALWAYS let someone know where you are going.
    •Never ghost hunt alone.
    •Always obtain permission before investigating a site because you can get charged with trespassing  —  or maybe even shot  —  if you investigate a site without permission.
    •Find out beforehand what the visiting hours and policies are of graveyards that you might want to investigate, especially at night.
    •If possible, give local law enforcement advance notice that you will be conducting an investigation in a certain area. They tend to get nervous and ask lots of questions when they unexpectedly encounter a group doing an investigation in the middle of the night.
    •Be aware that not everything that goes bump in the night is friendly and sometimes what you investigate can be extremely frightening and even dangerous…and might even follow you home.
    •Never use ouija boards because you may inadvertently open spiritual doorways that are often extremely hard to close.
    •ALWAYS bring extra batteries.
    •Wear appropriate clothing.
    •Remember to check for ticks after ghost hunting outdoors.
    •Never bring children along with you on a ghost hunt or investigation.
    • ALWAYS be respectful of any spirit that you might encounter or are hoping to encounter.
    •And finally, from the Spring Lake N.C. Ghosthunters, “Have a happy and most importantly safe ghost hunt!”

  • Details
        There will be a “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the Cumberland County Public Library’s Pate Room on Sunday, Nov. 2, when the 3rd Annual Bohemian Arts & Music Festival hits all the right notes with a tantalizing  cultural stew served up by an eclectic variety of musicians and performance artists.{mosimage}
        Local blues musician Claudia Swartz, the guiding force behind the festival, says she started the event to expose local folks to the often overlooked musical form that is the blues; however, she that the event has taken off into the stratosphere, soaring like a B.B. King guitar solo.
        “Last year’s event drew over 1,800 people to the seven-hour show,” said Swartz. “I started this when I noticed the lack of inclusion of blues music in town and the lack of local venues to display the local talent, such as Robby Reid. But it’s become so popular that we now have many different types of musicians... I’ve even had to turn away some bands that wanted to play the festival.”
        In addition to the blues, bands will present salsa and bluegrass music, to name just a few of the diverse forms, and performance arts will include the always popular belly dancing. There will also be works by local artists for sale at the free event, with 20 percent of the proceeds going to the Friends of the Library program. The event is cosponsored by BeatHeart Productions and the Fayetteville United Musicians and Artists.
        Swartz, who describes herself as a “community activist,” says she’s organized the past festivals — including the recent 4th Annual Artist Blues Showcase — mostly on her own, and is hoping to get a little help.
    “It would be great to get some sponsors,” she said. “It’s really gotten so big that it’s hard for me to do it all on my own.”
        Swartz says she is looking for folks to help provide the following goods and services: monetary donations to purchase old doors and other decorating items for the Pate Room, food donations for the musicians, rental of lighting for the art works, help transporting bulky items to the Pate Room.
        Among the musicians and bands on tap for the show — which is scheduled to run from noon to 7 p.m. — are: Mighty Blue, Andrea P., Mama’s Pride, Danny Nieves, Jan Petty, Pitch Blue, Corky Jones, Tony Baldwin, In That Tone, Mandy Barnes, Chris Cox, the Greg Grimes Band, Giant Drum, Ray King, Tom Beckwith, Kenny Huffman, Robbie Reid, Blue Sky, and Steve Trank.
        Visual artists include: Courtnee Hummel, Judy Anderson, Jeff Coleman, Tracy Gow, Dorothy Finiello, Robin Garr, Harold Grace, Govina Taylor, Ashley Jones, Fayetteville State University students and Flossie Wilson.
    Swartz, who came here from Atlanta, says the event has helped initiate local residents to the blues — a musical art form often relegated to the dustbin of artistry by popular culture.
        “I helped to really start a renaissance of sorts in the blues when I was in Atlanta and it is really spreading there now,” said Swartz. “With the help of local blues musicians such as Robbie Reid and jazz musician Corky Jones, more and more people are getting turned on to the blues here in Cumberland County.”
        She says here intent is to use the blues to help transform her adopted hometown of Hope Mills into a musical showcase of sorts for local artists.
        And she wants to get the youngsters turned on to the blues.
        “Next year I want to bring a blues program, to the schools,” said Swartz. “And I also want to start up a summer blues camp for guitar players.”
        If you’d like more information on the Bohemian Arts & Music Festival, or would like to donate money, goods, or time, contact Swartz at blueslover51@yahoo.com.

  • Details
        In one of those delicious little ironies of life, this reporter had a devil of a time finding a parking space to attend last week’s meeting of the Fayetteville City Council in which a long parade of folks parked themselves in front of the council to discuss the dearth of parking in the downtown.
        Specifically, those who took the podium during the public comment period of the meeting urged the council to look into leasing a 44-space parking lot on the 100 block of Hay Street next to the Gotham City Jazz building that was closed for several days as the new owner of the lot, Chris Manning, had an environmental review carried out as part of his planned purchase of the lot.
        {mosimage}The city had leased the parking lot for 22 years from BB&T — until the lease recently expired and the council decided not to purchase the lot from BB&T at a cost of $395,000.
        Instead, Manning jumped into the breach, offering $465,000 for the lot.
        While it was not known what Manning plans to do with the property, what was known by downtown merchants operating in the area was that their businesses will suffer — and perhaps shut down — without those vital parking spots.
        At last week’s council meeting, some of these merchants showed up wearing blue and white sticks that read “Vote Yes” next to a “P” for parking. These folks urged the council to work out the details and pursue some kind of lease agreement so the parking lot would stay open.
        Larry Clubine, president of the Downtown Alliance, said that if the lot utilized some sort of paid parking system, such as meters, it could generate approximately $275 a day — or approximately $5,000 a month — which he said could easily cover the cost of a lease.
        “If something’s not done, businesses will suffer a significant loss at a time when downtown is thriving,” said Clubine.
        Also speaking out on the parking issue was Diane Parfitt, treasurer of the Downtown Alliance and owner of City Center Gallery and Books, which is across the street from the parking lot.
        “We firmly believe that the core of the city is its downtown,” said Parfitt. “We are a nation of drivers. For several years the Downtown Alliance has warned about the dearth of downtown parking. I have two book clubs that meet at my store and they have told me that those clubs will die if there is a loss of parking.”
        Diane Parfitt’s husband, Hank, founder and past president of the Downtown Alliance, appealed to the stomachs of the council members when discussing the impact of losing the parking lot.
        “These are 44 spots, but if you look at the number of cars parking there throughout the day, you’re talking about 200 cars easily … 200 customers,” said Hank Parfitt. “My wife and I own the building where Horne’s Café is … I’m going to tell you right now, it has the best cheeseburger in Fayetteville, bar none. But it doesn’t matter how good their food is or how quick their service is: If people can’t park there or within a reasonable parking distance, they are not going to go there. If we cannot regain those 44 parking spots, Horne’s will be closed in two months … and our bookstore won’t be far behind and there will be many more businesses that will have to close. It’s just a fact of life.”
        While the council did not address the parking issue at the meeting, city officials did say that the city is negotiating with Manning on the possibility of leasing the space and keeping it open as a parking lot.
    The council would have to vote on any lease agreement at a future meeting.
        While the council members were tight lipped about the parking of cars, they weren’t nearly so mute as they discussed an ordinance that would close auto salvage yards within three years if they don’t abide by city regulations —  seven salvage yards could be closed under the ordinance, which passed 8-2, with dissenting votes cast by Ted Mohn and Robert Massey.
        Councilman William Crisp expressed concern that the ordinance would “put some folks out of business.”
    However, Councilman Charles Evans shot back that the council wasn’t trying to put anyone out of business, but that something had to be done to clean up the salvage yards for the betterment of the health of families living adjacent to the salvage yards.
        “I too am concerned about putting people out of business,” said Evans, pointing to a picture of one particularly unkempt auto salvage yard. “But this place is in a residential area. The residents have been complaining for years and years about getting it cleaned up. To think that a person would have to come home from a hard day’s work and pass this mess going to and from (home) every day.”
        Massey countered that most of the salvage yards had been in business for years and provide the city with a needed service for residents who can’t afford new cars or to pay repairmen, so they frequent the salvage yards themselves to seek out the needed parts themselves.
        “Our community encroached upon them (the salvage yards),” said Massey. “Is it the city’s job to put     them out of business?”
        Evans answered, rather testily, that the council had previously agreed among themselves to this ordinance, and he also cited the low economic standing of the folks who tend to live adjacent to these salvage yards — folks who he said often don’t have their voices heard.
        “We have worked long and hard on this ordinance because we knew this was a problem in Fayetteville,” said Evans. “It’s not that we’re trying to put anybody out of business … We’re trying to protect the sanctity of the neighborhoods.
        “There’s a lot of those neighborhoods where the salvage yards are in economically challenged areas and those people need a chance to lead a decent life in their particular residences.”
        In other business, the council moved ahead with the annexation of Gates Four. The community will officially become part of the city following next year’s municipal elections.

Latest Articles

  • Publisher's Pen: Eastover Community “Shines” for Sullivan
  • Lessons in mythology: Father's Day can be complicated
  • Troy's perspective: Downtown Crown Event Center
  • Health & Wellness: Easy steps: Patient doubles down after knee surgery
  • ASOM, Cool Spring District partner for 18th annual Field of Honor, flags now for sale
  • Colvin announces he will not run for mayor in 2025
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More

Popular Articles

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Up & Coming Weekly Calendar
  

Login/Subscribe