Individuals with disabilities have long struggled with and continue to struggle with a lack of appropriate assistance. Many who cope with physical or mental impairments have not always received appropriate assistance because of their limitations. As a consequence, career and educational options can seem dim for these individuals.

In the past, society offered little to no support related to jobs and educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities. This was primarily because of a lack of acceptance for those individuals coupled with problems in providing adequate accommodations for individuals who needed them.

Currently, our society agrees that it’s important to treat all people fairly. Acceptance is growing nationally for those who have disabilities. Many areas of government are inspiring and encouraging people to live rewarding lifestyles regardless of their situations or limitations. Federal and state laws are helping everyone reach for academic accomplishment and achievement.

Contemporary standards and regulations associated with the Americans with Disability Act protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination at federally funded colleges. Fayetteville Technical Community College collaborates with this initiative by providing students with quality, non-discriminatory education. FTCC’s Disability Support Services Office works hard to assure students that FTCC is working on their behalf.

Students who have documented psychological and medical disabilities often obtain services through FTCC’s Disability Support Services Office. FTCC provides these services, known as academic accommodations, to students at any time as needed during each semester. Accommodations depend on the student’s diagnosis.

A few examples of common accommodations students might receive include extended time on assessments, a separate setting for assessments, use of assistive technology, preferential classroom seating, extended time transitioning between classes and more.

Accommodations related to a student’s disability are determined according to the proper diagnostician and Office of the Civil Rights recommendations. Approvals for services are accessible through a straightforward application process for academic assistance.

FTCC ensures that faculty and staff employees throughout the college understand the importance of implementing ADA standards and regulations. FTCC also promotes assured methods of maintaining ADA compliance. FTCC also provides professional development opportunities and training for school personnel to verify policies and procedures are efficient and effective.

FTCC provides equal learning opportunities to all regardless of a student’s physical or mental impairment. An office representative from the Disability Support Services Office will be happy to assist current and future FTCC students with their inquiries about eligibility for receiving accommodations.

Students can sign up now for spring classes, which begin Jan. 14. For additional information, please email grooverc@faytechcc.edu or call 910-678-8479.

 The Givens Performing Arts Center presents “So Good for the Soul: A Tribute to Motown Music” Saturday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. in Pembroke.

“We are excited to start the new year with this nostalgic concert,” said Chad Locklear, marketing director of GPAC. “It will feature a cast of about eight veteran entertainers and their bands.”

Locklear said some of the entertainers are former members of The Marvelettes, and some are past Broadway performers who have had leading roles in shows like “Dreamgirls,” “Porgy & Bess” and “Show Boat.”

The show’s director, musical director, choreographer and costume designer have jointly won more than 25 of America’s most prestigious theater awards. Cumulatively, the cast members have performed on recordings with more than 30 million record sales and have more than 40 years of experience.

“It is a very talented cast of performers, and it is a tribute to Motown music (with) a lot of the songs everyone will be familiar with because folks have grown up with them,” said Locklear. “They are iconic songs by performers that everyone will be familiar with like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and many more.”

Locklear added that the show pays tribute to a lot of Motown performers and their songs throughout the 1960s and ’70s.

“We try to do concerts that are nostalgic and will appeal to our older generation, alumni and a wider audience,” said Locklear. “This is one of those familyfriendly shows that any age group can appreciate.”

Adding an extra bit of flavor to this show, there will be a themed meal before the performance. Tickets for the dinner will be sold separately.

“There is going to be a soul food meal prepared by our chef on campus and it will be held in the Chancellor’s dining room,” said Locklear. “The dinner will begin around 6 p.m. We’ve got a grant from the Robeson County Arts Council, The North Carolina Arts Council and McDonald’s Rust Enterprises, and we are grateful that they are sponsoring us. We look forward to everyone coming out to enjoy the show.”

Ticket cost is $21-$36. For more information, visit www.uncp.edu or call 910-521-6361.

 Come join the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra for a magical evening of “Magical Mozart” at St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Fayetteville. The concert, set for Thursday, Jan. 17, is the first concert for FSO in the new year. St. John’s Episcopal Church provides an intimate venue for listening to a sampling of works by the famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart, a child prodigy who began composing music at the tender age of 5, authored more than 600 symphonies, concertos, operas and chamber music pieces designed for smaller venues, such as a palace chamber, before his death at age 35. Each selection at St. John’s will be discussed prior to the musicians playing it, so guests will know what makes each piece special.

Many people are not aware of the reach of Mozart’s influence but have most likely observed his effects on modern culture. At some point, almost everyone has watched the Looney Tunes cartoon-opera “The Barber of Seville” where “The Marriage of Figaro” is the hilarious ending to the cat-and-mouse game frequently played by Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Even the band Queen gave an open nod to Mozart in their classic mock opera “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And, of course, the 1984 movie “Amadeus” featured a fictional portrayal of Mozart’s life.

The song “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco is a historical pop song dedicated to the composer. Mozart’s works are also used in commercials, movies and TV shows today.

According to FSO President Chris Kastner, the beauty of “Magical Mozart” is that it is set in a historical church with excellent sound quality in the heart of Fayetteville. “There is nothing better on a cold winter’s night than being enveloped with the sound of the music,” she said.

St. John’s seats about 300 people, and the acoustics are perfect for chamber music concerts.

FSO prepared a program to highlight Mozart’s three most popular operas, “The Magic Flute,” “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni,” as well as “Serenade No. 12 in C Minor,” to be played by eight wind instruments in this instrumental-only performance.

“This program is great for high school students or others that may want to perform,” stated Kastner, “and small chamber concerts allow for novices to hear individual instruments where they typically cannot in a large orchestra setting.”

Kastner also noted, “The intimacy of the setting allows attendees to appreciate how hard the musicians work during a performance.” Whether you are a seasoned classical music aficionado or a novice looking to expand your horizons, the FSO concert at St. John’s is a fantastic setting for listening to music by one of the world’s greatest composers.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door the evening of the performance on Jan. 17. Find out more at https://squareup.com/store/fayettevillesymphony-orchestra/item/magical-mozart-tickets.

St. John’s is located at 302 Green St. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Readers of Up & Coming Weekly have likely encountered Pitt Dickey’s funny and sometimes outlandish biweekly opinion column. He has a knack for combining Greek mythology, random factoids, quotes from old T.V. commercials, politics and social commentary in a way that leaves readers chuckling and, on occasion, slightly bewildered.

Dickey is more than just a funny writer, though. He’s an attorney who specializes in advocating for people in need of Social Security disability benefits. He became a partner with Smith, Dickey & Dempster P.A. in 1978 and has been working Social Security disability cases for more than 35 years.

“There’s very little funny in disability,” he said of his career. “There are a lot of people that need help.”

While Dickey likes to poke fun at authority in his column, that strategy connects to a serious ideology. “(Authority bothers me) when it squishes the little people,” he said. “The poor and the sick don’t have that much of a lobbying ability like big pharma.

“Representing people with Social Security disability, basically I’m representing people who the government says are not sick enough to get disability benefits.

“I say they are, and then we have a hearing, and the judge decides for us.”

In a seeming paradox, Pitt said he knew he wanted to be a lawyer as a child because he wanted to know what the rules were. As an adult, he said, he still believes in the importance of rules.

“If we don’t follow the rules, then it’s whoever’s strongest gets to eat the weak people. These folks I represent in disability cases, they’re at the end of their rope. They have no money, and they have no insurance for the most part, unless they’re military. And I can use the rules to help them.”

In 1996, Dickey was working both Social Security disability and family law cases, which he described as “the equivalent of being a legal proctologist.” He needed an outlet, and he’d taken several English classes as an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the early ’70s.

Back to 1996. Dickey ran into Bill Bowman, who had recently become the new owner of Up & Coming Weekly, at Haymont Grill. Dickey asked if he could write a column for the paper.

Dickey’s only foray into published humorous writing at that point was an opinion piece he’d written during his adolescent years at Seventy-First High School. The topic? The lunchroom. The entire edition of that school newspaper was recalled. “You can’t poke fun at the school lunchroom,” is what he learned.

Back again to 1996. “(Bill) said sure, send one in, and I did. And the rest is history.

“The column in Up & Coming Weekly allows me to poke at the powers that be. … You can’t go out and make people do things, but if you point out that what they’re doing is ridiculous, that might in some way change things. Authority doesn’t like humor.”

Ultimately, he said, he also just genuinely enjoys entertaining people. The key to both his writing process and to understanding his articles, he said, is “the drinking of coffee. Then everything makes sense.”

Since 1998, Dickey has also written a monthly column covering various need-to-know subjects for Social Security disability claimants. It appears online at www.seniormag.com and in several local publications.

He’s been married for more than 40 years to Lani Dickey, a longtime educator at FTCC who recently retired.

“We met on the steps of the institute of government on the first day of law school (at UNC),” he said. “She was a Davidson and I was a Dickey, and we were lined up in alphabetical order. Isn’t that beautiful? If she’d been a Smith, who knows?”

Photo: Pitt Dickey

 The North Carolina Department of Transportation had hoped to open a new section of Fayetteville’s Outer Loop by Christmas. But DOT spokesman Andrew Barksdale said it will likely be summer or fall of this year before the segment from the All American Freeway to Cliffdale Road opens to traffic.

“Fort Bragg wanted a way to get from a unit’s motor pool straight to the training area and not have to go out and around (Interstate) 295,” Barksdale said. “A bridge was too costly, so we are building a large enough tunnel — at a cost of $2 million — for the military vehicles to use to travel under I-295.”

Barksdale noted Fort Bragg formally requested the enhancement of the project, and DOT Secretary Jim Trogdon approved it. Trogdon is from Hope Mills and retired in 2016 as the Deputy Adjutant General of the North Carolina National Guard.

A Fayetteville loop was first considered in 1977. But similar projects in Charlotte were given funding priority for several years.

In 2005, the DOT received the I-295 designation as a future route with signs erected along initial sections of the route soon after that. Changes made in 2014 downgraded the freeway to NC 295, a temporary designation pending completion of the loop. The Outer Loop, as it is alternately known, improves connectivity between Fort Bragg and Interstate 95, a commitment the Army sought for decades.

It also provides a new commuter route between the post and the city of Fayetteville. The final design takes the bypass 39 miles around the north, west and south sides of Fayetteville. Once the section to Cliffdale Road is completed, the next project awarded by DOT at a cost of $85.2 million will be a 3.1-mile stretch to Raeford Road.

The final three legs of the beltway are being built simultaneously. A design-build concept makes it possible for Barnhill Contracting Co., Sanford Construction, and HDR Engineering to work together and combine all aspects of the plan from design through construction under a single contract.

Work includes replacing the Lake Rim runoff bridge over Bones Creek on Old Raeford Road. That fragment should be finished by May 2022. Then comes Raeford Road to Camden Road. A contract is set to be awarded by DOT this month with construction to be completed by 2023.

The final leg of the future interstate is from Camden Road to I-95 South just below the Cumberland/ Robeson County line. That $129.7 million design-build contract has already been awarded to the Wilmington-based team of Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., Branch Civil Inc. and STV Engineers Inc. and has a scheduled completion of July 2021.

When finished, I-295 will connect I-95 North and U.S. Highway 13 at Eastover to Fort Bragg. It then curves around Fayetteville and Hope Mills and  reconnects to I-95 South above St. Pauls. Total cost will be $1 billion.

Works of art most often reflect what is important to the artist: beliefs, sentiments or ideas.

For local artist Saundra “Sandy” Smith Rubiera, memory became the core of her inspiration. A personal story, a Southern cultural memory, Rubiera’s childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina, frames the narrative in her mature body of work. Tuesday, Jan. 15, Gallery 208 will host an opening reception for her latest exhibit, “What Touches Us: Works by Sandy Rubiera” from 5:30-7 p.m. at 208 Rowan St.

The beginning of Rubiera’s accomplished artistic career began when she attended East Carolina University as an art student. By the time she left the university, she had completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting with a minor in printmaking.

She married a professional photographer (her son is a professional photographer as well) and they lived in Miami, Florida, for 25 years before she and her family returned to Fayetteville. A former educator, Rubiera has illustrated three published picture books and exhibits nationally, regionally and locally.

Most recently, Rubiera was one of the artists awarded the 2016-2017 Regional Artist Grant. This grant is administered and funded by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County with support from the North Carolina Arts Council and the counties of Lee, Moore, Richmond, Robertson and Scotland, the city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

Although the majority of works in “What Touches Us” are Rubiera’s most recent works in Prismacolor pencils, professional markers and acrylic paints, Gallery 208 will present a range of Rubiera’s work so visitors can see the span of her career, including several multi-colored relief prints she made while studying at ECU.

After seeing the early work, visitors to the exhibit will readily recognize that Rubiera’s identity as an artist and what she values was present even when she was a young art student. Her early work evoked a sense of joy and celebrated simple pleasures. The early relief images are figurative and revel in the love between women and children.

Experiences of joy, beauty and simple pleasures are central to Rubiera’s content. Her approach to composition and pictorial perspective was forever altered when, as a student, she climbed a ladder to change a light bulb and viewed her surroundings from above. All of her mature body of work combines a birds-eye viewpoint with bright colors, patterns and a flattened space.

Rubiera is clear about her approach to imagemaking: “I have spent my life studying, teaching and making art. What inspired me to pick up a pencil, brush or pen and make marks on paper or canvas is the same now as when I first started out as an artist: color, pattern and flattened space.

“Although I draw from life, I make a conscious effort to flatten the space in the picture plane by tilting it toward the viewer and altering the perspective. The objects looked stacked, one on top of the other, vertically, rather than one behind the other, horizontally.

“For me, color needs to be intense and as bright as I can make it to be exciting, like opening a new box of crayons on the first day of school. My work is flat and decorative. I love patterns, texture and making marks on a surface. I like the movement they create in a drawing or painting and the way they activate the surface by breaking large shapes into smaller colored areas.”

Memories, the core of Rubiera’s mature work, take the form of sensations, objects and emotions. Unlike in her early work, the figure is replaced with the still life as a subject. Embedded in the still life are memories — like being a small child at her grandmother’s house.

“There is an element of storytelling in my work,” Rubiera said. “The objects I draw and paint are objects I touch or use every day — objects perhaps unimportant to others, but which have meaning for me beyond my finding them interesting or beautiful. These objects evoke stories from my own memories or sometimes stories I make up about them.

“I find these stories funny or whimsical, sometimes sad, sometimes silly. We all struggle, I think, daily, with horrors in the news and difficulties in our own lives. In my drawings, there is no cruelty or violence, no war or hunger or pain. I am aware that this is not the real world, but I want the viewer to forget all that if only for a moment.”

When reflecting on Rubiera’s body of work, I think about the greater meaning successful works of art can have for all of us who view it. While memory sensations have had a direct influence on the work, has Rubiera given voice to a varied and changing cultural landscape of identities and values? Rubiera is presenting her personal reflections and experiences. As an artist, has she left out enough information for us to construct our own meaning?

Positive answers to the above questions relate to the success of Rubiera’s work. Although the image is crowded with objects, Rubiera’s formal choices leave us, the viewers, with enough room to complete the work with our own curiosity. If we let go of preconceived ideas about what a work of art should be, we can rethink the familiar.

Works of art can express feelings and emotions in ways that speech does not. Rubiera successfully stimulates a type of joy that anyone, of any age, can appreciate.

Overall, art reflects what it is to be human, and the cultural dialogue in art is many things. Rubiera brings to the table an important perspective: beauty and joy are still important to our wellbeing. Having knowledge of Rubiera’s career path as an artist, it is easy to see she is a creative role model who can inspire many people of all ages to enjoy art or become artists.

Locally, Rubiera’s work is carried by Lisa’s Picture Framing in the Haymount area of Fayetteville. She also has a website: www.saundrasmithrubiera.com.

The public is invited to attend the Jan. 15 reception of “What Touches Us: Works by Sandy Rubiera,” from 5:30-7 p.m. at Gallery 208, located at 208 Rowen St. The exhibit will remain in the gallery until mid-March. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information, call 910-484-6200.

 Note from Up & Coming Weekly Publisher Bill Bowman: No one has a better feel for the progress and economic momentum taking place in Cumberland County than Robert Van Geons, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation. When an inept Washington, D.C., personal finance website like WalletHub shoots from the hip and publishes its version of fake news at our expense, someone needs to set the record straight. Read on. Van Geons does just that. Let’s see if WalletHub picks up on this story. Or, better yet, maybe WTVD 11 will pick it up.

On the morning of Jan. 3, I received a call from Fayetteville Mayor Colvin asking if I had seen a recent study by WalletHub, which listed Fayetteville last on its list of “Best Places to Find a Job.” Considering all the projects we have underway, the recent economic development announcements and general state of our local economy, his instincts told him this wasn’t correct. While the city’s communication team followed up with the publisher, I took a closer look at the study. We soon found out that the mayor’s suspicions were on point.

Digging deeper, when reviewing the sources listed, it was clear that most of the data had been collected in 2016, before projects like the $130 million Woodpeckers Stadium/downtown development, our new transit center, the $35 million Parks and Recreation Bond and important initiatives such as Pathways to Prosperity. And it certainly didn’t include any of the job-creating economic development announcements made in the last two years, Booz Allen Hamilton, Campbell’s Soup Company and eClerx as examples.

At best, rankings like what was published by WalletHub say a lot about where we’ve been — as opposed to where we are today or where we are headed.

Before going any further, let’s be clear. We are a work in progress. I am confident that most of our public- and private-sector leadership would agree that, while we are making great strides, there remains much to be done. That said, our recent history shows us confronting tough challenges, investing in the future and driving progress forward.

Wanting to understand better the data that went into the WalletHub rankings, we went searching for the reports referenced, starting with the heavily weighted “Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.” To our surprise, that analysis is only available for the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, of which we are not one (Fayetteville is #138).

Shortly after this discovery, the city’s communications team received additional information from WalletHub, showing that five data points for Fayetteville were marked “N/A – Not Available,” taking 17.07 of 100 possible points off the proverbial table.

Subsequent conversations with the publisher confirmed that while we were not penalized for unavailable data, based on the sources they chose to use, we could not receive points for any of the following:

• Employment Outlook: Double Weight (6.53 points)

• Job Satisfaction: Full Weight (3.27 points)

• Retirement Access and Participation: Full Weight (3.27 Points)

• Transit Score: Full Weight (2.00 Points)

• Recreation-Friendliness: Full Weight (2.00 Points)

In the end, benchmarking our community against other cities can provide valuable insights. However, if someone is going to saddle a community with a label, the same criteria must be used for all. Putting our city at the bottom of a list that was developed using incomplete data is downright disingenuous.

Our community is moving forward, and I am confident that our citizens — and those considering Fayetteville for a business or personal move — will see past this website’s ranking. While WalletHub left out important statistics about our community, here are a few of which we can be proud.

• 1,200-plus current job openings in Fayetteville (NCWorks Employment Center)

• $200 million-plus announced projects under construction (FCEDC)

• 1,100-plus new jobs announced since January 2017 (FCEDC)

• 3,725 more people working than December 2016. (NC Commerce)

• 2,000 more people in the labor force (NC Commerce)

• 1,00,000-plus square feet of new construction underway (FCEDC)

• 4.6 percent unemployment rate – down 1.5 percent since December 2016 (NC Commerce)

The actions we are taking today set the foundation for us to be a stronger, more vibrant and globally competitive city. Working together, we are committed to building an economic landscape full of opportunity for all of our citizens. No internet study is going to deter us from continued progress along our path toward a brighter and more prosperous future.

 When the 116th Congress convened last week, 25 women were sworn in as senators, and a stunning 102 women became members of the House of Representatives, 43 of them women of color. For the first time in our nation’s history, nearly one-fourth of Congress is composed of women members — nowhere near our 51 percent of the population but far above the paltry numbers of the past.

And, oh, the diversity! At 29, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman to serve in Congress. Two Muslim women were sworn in, one of them wearing a traditional Palestinian gown, a colorful throbe. The other, a Somali native, recalled her arrival to the United States with her father 23 years ago from a refugee camp in Kenya.

Kansas and New Mexico sent the first Native American women to Congress. Marsha Blackburn and Cindy Hyde-Smith became the first women senators from Tennessee and Mississippi, respectively. Six states — Arizona, California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington — are now represented by two women Senators. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is the first openly bisexual person ever sworn into the U.S. Senate.

Our U.S. Congress remains overwhelmingly white and male, but it is beginning to look more like the rest of America than it ever has.

The gains for women are unequal viewed through a partisan lens, however. Far more women ran and won as Democrats than as Republicans, who lost 10 women House members, down from 23 in the last Congress to 13 today. Of the 127 women now serving in Congress, 21 are Republicans. Of the 36 new women members of the House, one is a Republican. Republicans picked up two new women senators, but it is clear that for all sorts of reasons, Republican women remain on the elective sidelines.

Two questions seem obvious. Why is this pink wave happening now, and why is it important?

Many American women were stunned by the election of Donald Trump. Add in the #MeToo movement ignited by sexual harassment and assault from Trump, media moguls and stars, chefs and bosses of all stripes, and women reached a breaking point.

We ran for election to offices at local levels and to win positions as governors and members of Congress, and more of us won than ever before. We are doing so at younger ages, often without prior experience in public life, much less public office. Books are being written about this, including “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger,” a New York Times best-seller by Rebecca Traister and a powerful and profane look at the lives of American women in workplaces dominated and controlled by men.

It is critical that women serve in public office, because we make up more than half of our nation’s population and because our life experiences are different from those of men, not better or worse but different in all respects.

From childhood, girls and boys experience the world in different ways, just as we do as adults. Like it or not, women continue to shoulder most household responsibilities, including child care and homemaking chores. This does not mean we come to elected responsibilities, from school board to U.S. president, with more skills than men but with different perspectives.

This difference was summed up nicely on a Christmas towel someone sent me online, which read, “Wise women would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stables, made a casserole, brought practical gifts, and there would be Peace on Earth.”

Neither approach is wrong, just different. The same is true of women in elective office. Some are better at their jobs than their men counterparts, and some are not. Both perspectives are needed at the table when public policy for all is being made.

It is clear that some of us are threatened by changes in American demographics, culture and governance. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus understood that people struggle with change when he wrote, “the only thing that is constant is change.”

American women are going through significant change now, and our nation will be better for it.

 In the three years my column has appeared in Up & Coming Weekly, I do not think there has been a time when I forthrightly characterized anybody. Circumstances, and my assessment of them, force me to do so in this column. I must acknowledge that far too many bullies and wimps populate the United States Congress. For the most part, many Democrats in Congress have earned the “bully” characterization, while a substantial number of Republicans are justifiably labelled as “wimps.”

The most recent event that shines a bright light on this “bullies and wimps” condition is front and center as I start this column Dec. 26, 2018. Twenty-five percent of the federal government shut down because the House, Senate, and president have not agreed on funding for a wall on the Southern border. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has repeatedly stated that Senate Democrats will not approve any funding for a wall. Since this matter was not settled by the expiration of the last continuing resolution Dec. 21, the partial shutdown commenced.

In what is happening here, the bullying shows through, first, in Democrats refusing to negotiate on a matter of national security reasonably. Allowing illegal immigration to proceed as it currently is in America clearly threatens our national security.

Then there is the in-your-face, confrontational, attacking approach employed by many Democrats in dealing with anybody who is part of the Trump administration or supportive of the president’s agenda.

A prime example of this conduct is reflected in comments by Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois to Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, during a House Committee hearing. He brands her a liar, misappropriates a biblical passage and walks out of the hearing as Nielsen starts to respond to his comments. To get the full impact of the point I am making here regarding bullying by Democrats, please watch the clip of the Gutierrez/Nielsen exchange at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ScCMHhnkUk.

On the other hand, Congress has far too many Republicans whose actions show them to be wimps. For the last two years, Republicans have held a majority in the House and Senate and had a Republican in the White House. Donald Trump won the presidency, in great part, by promising to build a wall along the Southern border to curb illegal immigration. Congressional Republicans have given lip service to making the wall happen. Time and again, when they should have taken a stand, they promised to address the matter later. Republicans repeatedly bowed to the bullying of the Democrats.

In March 2018, Congress passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that funded the government through Sept. 30, 2018. Trump threatened to not sign the legislation because it did not include funding for a border wall. Republican Congressional leadership promised Trump that wall funding would be secured by the end of this year.

After Sept. 30 and into the new fiscal year, no serious action was taken to make wall funding available. An FY 2019 budget was put in place and funding was appropriated for 75 percent of the government. The remaining 25 percent was operating on temporary extensions that expired at midnight Dec. 21, 2018.

The Senate, overly populated by Republican wimps, by voice vote, passed another extension that would have gone into February 2019 — after Democrats take over the House majority. The extension included $1.6 billion for border security but did not include wall funding. Instead of accepting the Senate’s extension, the House passed a spending bill providing $5.7 billion for border security, including wall construction.

The Senate took no action on the House’s bill because Schumer made it clear that Democrats would not vote for wall funding. Given that it would take 60 votes in the Senate and there are only 51 Republicans, the House bill would fail in the Senate. No need to bring it up.

Trump has, rightly, locked in to his position that he will veto any bill that does not provide wall funding. At this point, it is not publicly known what amount would be acceptable to the president. Before the House action, it appeared Trump was about ready to give up the fight until the House Freedom Caucus demonstrated their lack of wimp affliction and encouraged the president to stand his ground. They committed to stand with him. The House Freedom Caucus is made up of 30-plus conservative Republicans led by Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

Another wimp presence indicator is that when the House was moving toward a spending bill vote, many Republican members had already left Washington, headed home for Christmas. This was especially true of those who were retiring or lost their re-election bid. Still on the payroll, in the midst of a crucial fight, they went home. Some had to be called back for the vote. Despite the urgency, 11 Republican House members did not vote.

In this bully/wimp circumstance, governing deteriorates to a dangerous and disgusting level. Conditions that make absolutely no sense are allowed to fester, and American citizens suffer. Consider some of what, with regard to the shutdown and illegal immigration, illustrates the horrible consequences of being governed by too many bullies and wimps.

Start with the $5.7 billion the House approved. Subtract the $1.6 billion the Senate offered for border security, but not a wall. That leaves $4.1 billion that could be spent on the wall, and Trump would probably accept this amount. An article by Kimberly Amadeo titled “FY 2017 Federal Budget Compared to Trump’s Spending” stated that FY 2017 federal spending totaled $3.982 trillion.

The government is in partial shutdown over $4.1 billion, or one-tenth of 1 percent of the total government spending in FY 2017.

We have 420,000 federal employees working without pay because they are considered essential and 380,000 on furlough without pay. It makes no sense.

An article by Alan Gomez titled “Federal judge blocks another attempt by Trump to limit asylum” addresses an area where the president has tried to take needed action, but the matter requires congressional correction. Following are crucial sections of the article:

“A federal judge in Washington on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration violated federal law by barring migrants from qualifying for asylum in the U.S. based on their fears from domestic abuse or gang violence in their home countries.”

“Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced new rules in June that required U.S. officials to deny those applications for asylum and place the applicants into expedited deportation proceedings.”

“Sullivan’s ruling follows a separate decision from a federal judge in San Francisco on Nov. 19, which temporarily prevents the Trump administration from implementing new rules that bar migrants who enter the U.S. illegally from requesting asylum.”

Being granted asylum in the U.S. requires that a person demonstrate that he or she has been, or expects to be, persecuted in their home country and that persecution is due to one of these five reasons: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, political opinion. Former Attorney General Sessions took the position that these conditions refer to actions by governments. If extended beyond governments, and beyond the five categories, we could have an even more dire situation than now.

As for illegal immigrants being allowed to apply for asylum, given the overwhelming flow across the Southern border, allowing it is unmanageable and does not pass the common-sense test. Both of these are matters that Congress should address, but they won’t touch them. They leave it to the president and then complain about what he does in response to these situations that threaten our national security.

A report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform titled “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers” (2017) estimates that, after adjustments for taxes paid, illegal immigrants cost the federal government and state governments $115.9 billion annually. Paying $5.7 billion, even $25 billion, appears to be a reasonable investment to reduce that annual expense.

Democrats repeatedly say walls do not work. The Border Patrol says, and has demonstrated, that walls work. Further, research these walls that work: Israel- West Bank; Morocco-Algeria; Cyprus; India-Pakistan; Turkey-Syria. These walls work.

I could go on to address the negative impact of illegal immigration on employment for American citizens; the horrendous human consequence of illegal drugs that come across the Southern border; the additional crime that happens in our country; abuse of the asylum process. The list goes on.

Simply considering what is presented here makes it crystal-clear that Congress is an abysmal failure, and has been for years, with regard to addressing illegal immigration. Sadly, this is just one example among many that shows this institution to be nearing a state of uselessness, if not a danger, to the very survival of America. This condition should not be a surprise where bullies and wimps dramatically outnumber people of reason and courage.

  My wife, Deb, and I were having a discussion this morning and she reminded me of an old cliché that I hadn’t heard in years. “If you’re going to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs.” I felt this saying to be appropriate for my article.

It surprises me how isolated the American people are to what is happening globally. Here in the U.S., President Trump is considered the No. 1 egg cracker. He is tough, and his style parallels that of Andrew Jackson. Jackson’s style was referred to by many as the “populist laissez-faire.” Middle America loved him, and the urban elitists despised him. Sound familiar?

The fact is, Europe has led the way in the global populist movement. This movement has been fully entrenched in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and let’s not forget Greece. The similarities for all these countries have been the issues of immigration, taxes, trade and ultimately, cost of living. Any of that sound familiar?

British Prime Minister Teresa May’s days appear to be limited as her negotiation regarding Brexit — the U.K. leaving the European Union — likely will not pass the parliament. A decision must be made very soon on the agreement because on March 29, a hard Brexit is set to take place. This could prove devastating to the U.K. economy. One of the toughest issues in her negotiations with the EU was an open border with Ireland. You see, Ireland is part of the EU. Northern Ireland is considered part of the British Isles, and this is a huge issue for the UK.

In Italy, the trouble has been immigration as well as budget disagreements with the EU. The 5-Star Movement, a political party, is well organized and has teamed up with other groups to seize control of Italy’s legislative body. As a result, Parliament is now controlled by the populists. They are not likely to bow to EU demands.

A few weeks back, all eyes were focused on France as Macron called up nearly 89,000 police officers to bring an end to the civil unrest. Riots broke out after Macron attempted to increase the gas tax, bringing gas prices to more than $7.90 a gallon — all in the name of global warming. The unrest continued after he reversed his position on the gas tax increase. Now, the “yellow vests” — the rioters — continue their unrest due to the high taxes and the high cost of living in France.

Macron was elected in 2017 and his term is scheduled to end in 2022. Seventy-five percent of the population disapproves of his administration. I bet he does not serve his full term.

He has taken the torch from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, supporting a unified EU. Merkel just announced she will not seek re-election simply because she no longer has support of the people in Germany.

The issue in Germany has been immigration. One of the cornerstone policies of the EU is open borders among its members. As a result, there has been a huge influx of Muslim refugees into Germany.

The borders have closed, but not before a million Muslim refugees made Germany their home. Most of these refugees are uneducated, and most Muslim women are not allowed to work. Medical centers and hospitals are being swamped to meet the medical needs of these refugees — who have no means to pay.

The German citizens have had enough. Hence, the fall of the Merkel dynasty.

The Netherlands appears to be a carbon copy of Italy. The populist movement is led by Geert Wilders. He was the founder of the Partij voor de Vrijheid, or PVV, party. Currently, it is the third-largest party in the Netherlands. It was instrumental in keeping Prime Minister Mark Rutte in office. Immigration was the No. 1 issue for the PVV, and now it has focused on the EU deficit reduction plan. The PVV has clearly focused its attention on Brussels, home of the EU headquarters, as well as the European Central Bank.

The Belgian populist movement has gained traction under the leadership of Steve Bannon of Breitbart. Bannon was a trusted adviser for Donald Trump.

The populist movement is a global phenomenon that started years before the election of Donald Trump. Concepts of secure borders and bilateral trade agreements aren’t all that original. These same issues are coming to a head in Europe and have had an economic impact over all of the continent. Furthermore, these collective happenings have the potential to slow European growth to a crawl, and in some countries, the potential for recession is alive and well.

Populism is a grassroots movement that was born out of the struggles of the working class. I have written many times on the concentration of wealth, which is not just limited to the United States. As you can see, it has impacted the entire world.

If you’re struggling to put food on the table and a roof over your head, it’s hard to be worried about global warming. The last thing you need is a carbon tax on gasoline when it’s already close to $8 a gallon. President Macron, take care of your people first.

Of course we want to lend a helping hand to refugees fleeing war and oppression — but only to the extent we can afford to do so. On our very own Statue of Liberty, it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” A stone’s throw away, we also have Ellis Island, where migrants were screened for serious medical issues. If medical issues were found, they were treated and deported back to their original countries. We couldn’t risk the cost of spreading epidemics let alone the cost of medical treatment. The EU took none of these precautions, and it is paying the price.

As of this article’s writing on Jan. 3, our government has been shut down for almost two weeks, and Nancy Pelosi was just voted in as speaker of the house. The issue, of course, is the wall and immigration policy. Only time will tell who blinks first. The point is, immigration is a global issue, and I, for one, believe our safety is the first obligation of our government.

So, Mr. President, continue to crack eggs and stir them up in that omelet. If we get a few shells mixed in, so be it. Continue putting America first, and rebuild its heartbeat. Bring our industrial base home and secure our borders. And, yes, drain the swamp.

 The Fayetteville Police Department’s system of surveillance cameras is still not fully functional. It went down two years ago, and according to police spokesman Sgt. Shawn Strepay, “a portion of the system is up and running and other portions remain down.”

The cameras were purchased and installed with drug forfeiture funds. “The latest hurricane was a setback and caused additional damage to the system,” Strepay added. That was more than a year ago.

Dozens of cameras were initially installed, most of them in the downtown area. They can be monitored in real time at police headquarters. “We are currently going through the process of upgrading the system’s infrastructure to include hardwiring portions of the system with fiber optics, instead of relying only on a wireless system,” Strepay said.

The new FAST Transit Center on Robeson Street has its own system of exterior surveillance cameras that are monitored live, Strepay said. Recordings are also made, and the footage can be reviewed when necessary.

Voter information updating

In the past, local voters who failed to cast ballots on a regular basis had their names purged from the system, requiring that they re-register. The Cumberland County Board of Elections recently mailed biennial list maintenance notices to 13,169 registered voters to ensure their voter information is current. The notices were sent to registered voters who had not voted in two consecutive federal election cycles. They included address confirmation cards with instructions that they be filled out and returned.

“We encourage voters that receive the biennial list maintenance notice from our office to please respond,” said Board of Elections Director Terri Robertson. Voters who do not return their cards will be marked inactive. They will still be registered but will be asked to update their addresses the next time they vote.

Voters may also update their records at the Board of Elections office, 227 Fountainhead Ln. The office is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Another cold case cleared

The Fayetteville Police Department’s Special Victims Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, has charged a suspect with a rape that occurred nearly 30 years ago. An investigation from Nov. 20, 1990, revealed the victim was kidnapped at Mazarick Park and sexually assaulted, after which the suspect stole her vehicle.

The case remained unsolved until Nov. 2017, when detectives learned that DNA from the crime scene had been linked to a Wilbur D. McGill, 54, of Torbay Drive.

He was recently located in Orange County, Florida, and charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. McGill is being held in Orange County pending extradition to North Carolina.

Town hall community development meetings

Cumberland County Community Development is holding town hall meetings to provide information about various housing programs and other activities offered to eligible Cumberland County residents through the Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnership Program. Feedback is welcomed from community residents. It helps the department prioritize projects to be undertaken during the 2019 program year.

Several meetings have taken place. Those still scheduled will be held Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. — Godwin Town Hall, Godwin; Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. — Falcon Town Hall, Falcon; Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. — Spring Lake Town Hall, Spring Lake; Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. — Wade Town Hall, Wade; and Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. — Linden Town Hall, Linden.

For more information, contact Community Development at 910-321-6112 or online at www.co.cumberland.nc.us/departments/communitydevelopment-group/community_development.

 The North Carolina Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is evaluating tangible evidence of voter fraud in Cumberland and Robeson counties. Robeson is one of the counties alleged to have been significantly involved in election irregularities in the 2018 9th Congressional District race.

The state is investigating allegations that Harry L. Faust, 34, of Fayetteville and Lumberton voted twice using different addresses. Documents obtained by Up & Coming Weekly purport that Faust registered and voted first in Robeson County Oct. 22.

An email sent by Cumberland County Board of Elections Director Teri Robertson to the state board of elections’ chief investigator said Faust voted in Fayetteville, where he was already registered, Nov. 2. “That case is under investigation, and I cannot comment further,” said Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the state board.

There is no apparent record of Faust living at the Cattail Court address in East Fayetteville that he claimed on registration documents. He is, however, a former resident of 785 Rose Ct. in Lumberton, which is the address he listed on forms there.

Other public records indicate Faust is a registered sex offender. He spent a year in prison after being convicted in 2013 of taking indecent liberties with a child. He gave Rose Court as his address at that time.

Robertson said that while reviewing duplicate voter information, a board of elections staffer found documentation that Faust had voted twice. The office of the state board says on its website that it “works in conjunction with County Boards of Elections to ensure that elections are conducted lawfully and fairly.”

It is unclear whether findings in the Faust case will be presented during an evidentiary hearing into allegations of misconduct during the 9th Congressional District election campaign.

Among the allegations are that Bladen County businessman Leslie McCrea Dowless, who worked for Republican Mark Harris’ campaign, coordinated an effort to collect and fill in, or discard, the ballots of Democratic voters who might have otherwise voted for Harris’ opponent, Democrat Dan McCready.

The board initially planned to hold the hearing Dec. 21, 2018, but it was rescheduled for Jan 11. Last week, the board put the hearing off again saying it needed more time to continue its investigation into illicit campaign activity. Harris beat McCready by 905 votes of 283,317 total votes cast.

The elections board refused to certify the results, citing an unusually high number of requested absentee ballots, many of which were unreturned, in rural Bladen County and neighboring Robeson County.

The 116th House of Representatives was sworn in Jan. 3 with a Democratic majority. The party flipped 40 seats in November. The local congressional district election is the only one undecided. The state board of elections appears to be leaning toward calling a new election to settle the issue.

Harris’ narrow victory over incumbent Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., in the Republican primary is also under scrutiny, with new attention on the disproportionate number of absentee ballots — 96 percent — that Harris won in Bladen County. Pittenger said he will not challenge Harris if a second primary is held.

Photo: Mark Harris

  Sweet Tea Shakespeare, Fayetteville’s traveling theater company, starts the new year off with a twist. The location for its latest production is not a museum or a church, it’s Fayetteville Pie Company — and for good reason. Jan. 17-Feb. 3, the troupe will present the delectably gruesome “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Production Manager Medina Demeter said that while the troupe is known for its Shakespearean productions, this is not the first time it has strayed from the bard’s work. STS’ previous non-Shakespearean productions include “Jane Eyre,” “Songs for a New World” and “Sense and Sensibility.”

The character Sweeney Todd first appeared in literature in the 1840s. He was the villain in a Victorian weekly serial “The String of Pearls.” Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 rendition of Todd’s story, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” opened on Broadway in 1979 and won several awards, including Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. Many other stories have been created with the basic premise and character of Sweeney Todd, but it is Sondheim’s tale that STS will portray.

Shaking up the season with “Sweeney Todd” was an easy decision, Demeter said. “Sondheim is good any time of the year. The lyrics and melodies in ‘Sweeney Todd’ are particularly appropriate for those wishing to escape the commercialism of Valentine’s Day.”

The play’s main character and namesake, Sweeney Todd, played by STS founder Jeremy Fiebig, is a barber. He is also a killer with a tragic backstory. He disposes of his victims with the help of Mrs. Lovett, played by Marie Lowe, who bakes the victims’ flesh into meat pies and sells them in her pie shop. In true STS fashion, the group has made the story its own.

In addition to performing, Lowe is an associate art director and master of audience and LIT — the group’s drunken Shakespeare series. “We are a small troupe of company members who travel to different towns and venues, which is different than other theaters, but no matter what kind of show you see at Sweet Tea, some things are always the same: a focus on making great stories accessible to diverse audiences through great performances, music, fellowship and food,” she said. “One of my favorite things about Sweet Tea Shakespeare is that almost all of the people who have joined the company since I’ve been here came straight from the audience — including me.”

STS performs at a variety of venues, both indoor and outdoor, and is dedicated to bringing shows to as many audiences as possible. Setting this production at the Fayetteville Pie Company was the obvious choice.

“We are so fortunate to be working with the Fayetteville Pie Company — one of Fayetteville’s iconic eateries — for this production,” Demeter said. “With their help and the awesome staging possibilities in their restaurant, audiences can expect to feel like they are a part of the action.

“I am really enjoying the way the space at the Fayetteville Pie Company is at once challenging and infinitely fun to create in. I am excited to see the audience’s reaction to the use of space.”

Ticket price includes a savory pie, a sweet pie and a soft drink or tea. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

“Try to carve out time to see this show,” said Demeter. “Getting tickets is easy as pie, and it’s guaranteed to not be crummy.”

Lowe noted that audiences often leave STS performances feeling pleasantly surprised at the uniqueness of the experience. “Almost everyone who comes to see one of our shows, whether it’s a musical or a new adaptation of ‘Jane Eyre’ or a drunk ‘Shakes in a bar’ or a traditional Shakespeare play, says the same thing — ‘I didn’t think I would have such a good time!’ There’s music, food, beverages adult and non, fellowship, T-shirts and a lot of laughter. I’d encourage people to … just come have a good time.”

STS’ mission is to celebrate the wonder of language, story and stagecraft by engaging a diverse community with accessible, imaginative, magical theater. STS work, inspired by Shakespeare and the early modern spirit, is heightened by music, presence, familiarity and fellowship.

STS employs universal lighting, which was common in Shakespeare’s day. Universal lighting illuminates the actor, the stage and the audience so the actors can engage more fully with the audience.

The company also uses large, movable set pieces instead of fixed sets. This not only keeps things simple, it emphasizes the actors and the performance. Many actors in STS productions assume the roles of more than one character in each production. In Shakespearean custom, cross-gender casting is also a part of STS productions.

There are two shows remaining in the STS 2018- 2019 season — “Maid Marion,” which runs April 25- May 12, and “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” which runs June 4-23.

Call the box office at 910-420-4383 or visit www.sweetteashakespeare.com for tickets and information. Tickets to “Sweeney Todd” cost $45. Performances are Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 17-Feb. 3. The show starts at 7 p.m.

 The holidays have come and gone, and we are entering a new year with all its blank new days stretched out in front of us.

I love the glitz and sparkle of the holidays, as well as the quiet moments of reflection that we somehow manage to work into our often-frantic schedules. Now that it is all over, I welcome the new year with its sense of freshness and renewal. Out with the dry tree and in with the paperwhite bulbs blooming on the kitchen counter.

Among the joys for me this holiday season was meeting several new babies just weeks old — the sort my father called “teeny weenies.” The new parents, thrilled and starry-eyed with both love and sleep deprivation, assured me they are getting the hang of 24/7 parenting. I, in turn, told them they have many adventures ahead with moments of great joy and moments of sheer terror. They smiled the smile of the uninitiated, but I know they will come to understand.

Also on my list of joys are the cards that come my way, bearing photographs of children with Santa, at play with siblings or just hanging out in their yards. The cards come, of course, not from the children but from the parents who love them so much they want to share them with family and friends not close enough to enjoy every moment with their precious little ones.

I understand. I, too, sent those cards for many years and still have a complete collection of Dickson photo cards from Precious Jewel No. 1’s first Christmas going forward to be joined by numbers 2 and 3 and into young adulthood. I would probably still be sending photo cards if the Precious Jewels were still willing to pose for them.

Those of us who have been parents for decades know, and new parents will learn, that bringing up children is a process, a journey that never ends. Even when we parents are gone, we live in our children’s memories, and our voices echo in their heads. Parenthood is not a series of highly significant and life-altering events, though those exist as well.

This brings me to a 2010 News and Observer profile of nationally acclaimed Durham architect Phil Freelon. In it, his wife, Nnenna, herself a Grammy award nominee, said this about her husband’s role as the father of their three children.

“I think he builds children. Not in the same way you build buildings, but you do build them. The time you spend, the things you model, the way you behave. Just the same way your partners, your employees watch you, your children watch you. And at some point, the walk becomes more important than the talk.”

She has hit on the simple and profound truth about being a good parent. You cannot tell children what it means to become a good person. You must show them.

Anyone who has ever been a parent or who has taken care of children knows this truth. Children, and especially adolescents, may seem lost in their own worlds that parents can barely fathom, but they are still sponges, taking in everything that happens around them, absorbing and processing their parents’ every word and action, for good or for ill.

That does not mean, of course, that every word and action must be perfect — an impossible standard — but it does mean just what Nnenna Freelon said, that “the walk becomes more important than the talk.”

My hope for 2019 for young parents beginning their journeys with their children is that you will live lives you hope your children will understand and admire, knowing that some days you will fail and some days you will be gratified to hear your own words and values repeated back to you, whether the children recognize that or not.

I wish the entire Up & Coming Weekly family and all its readers a happy and healthy 2019.

  It’s time once again to hop into Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine to take a stroll down memory lane to visit our old friend — the year 1919. For a year that is now a century old, 1919 doesn’t look a day over 68.

The year started with a bang on Jan. 1 when Edsel Ford took over the Ford Motor Company from his daddy, Henry Ford. Those of you of a certain vintage may recall his namesake car, the Ford Edsel, which appeared in 1958. The Edsel turned out to be one of the worst cars ever produced, although it provided many jokes for 1950s-era comedians. The Edsel only lasted until 1960 when production stopped due to lack of buyers. Naturally, if you have an Edsel now, it is worth a lot more than it was then.

In January, the tragic Boston Molasses Disaster took place. A storage tank filled with more than 2 million gallons of molasses collapsed. A 25-foot-high tsunami of molasses rushed through the streets of Boston at 35 miles an hour, killing 21 people and injuring more than 150 others. It was a sticky situation. To make matters worse, the 16th Amendment, creating Prohibition, went into effect the next day.

Politically, things were grumpy in 1919. The War to End All Wars, also known as World War I, had just ended. Like all things, nothing is finished until the paperwork is done. The winning team and the losers got together in Paris in January to work out the terms of the victory in the Treaty of Versailles so that the world could live in peace forever.

The treaty worked out about as well as the Titanic did in 1912 or the Edsel in 1958. The German’s were made to say, “I’m a bad country, kick me, and Uncle three times.” The Germans promised to pay the Allies much more in reparations than they could have done without using a rubber check. Unfortunately, the winning team was never told that winning is enough and a victory dance in the end zone is too much. The seeds of World War II were planted at Versailles.

In January, the Nazi party was founded as the German Farmers Party. Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in Italy in February. The first congress of the Communist International met in Moscow in March and picked Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin as its leaders. Trouble was brewing. The poo was heading toward the fan. As Roman Emperor Claudius once said, “Let all the evil that lurks in the mud, hatch out.” The hatching started early in the year.

Not everything was grim in 1919. The comic strip “Barney Google” first graced the funny papers in June. Barney Google’s side kick, Snuffy Smith, eventually became the star of the strip. Snuffy’s wife, Loweezy, spent most of the strip hanging out clothes on the line and gossiping with her neighbor, Elviney. When Mrs. Smith was startled by news of some local event, she would blurt out, “Land O’ Goshen!” The “Snuffy Smith” comic strip continues to appear in fine newspapers 100 years later.

A bit of presidential medical trivia occurred the fall of 1919. President Woodrow Wilson was out on a long tour promoting the League of Nations. He had a stroke in October 1919, which left him essentially incapacitated for the rest of his term of office until 1921. Wilson’s wife, Edith, kept the country from learning how bad off Woody was by cutting off access to the president. Edith served as the country’s first female president for the rest of Woody’s term in office, acting as regent. She made presidential decisions in Wilson’s name while Woody recuperated. Just for a moment, ponder something like this happening now. President Melania has a nice ring to it.

In October, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” first appeared in The New York Globe newspaper, dazzling and amazing readers ever since. You can now be dazzled and amazed at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Not to be outdone by the man with the world’s longest toe nails, Felix the Cat made his film debut in November 1919 in “Feline Follies.” Felix is credited with being the first cartoon character to gain a major audience. Mickey Mouse did not make his film debut until 1928, so Felix beat Mickey to the audience, although Mickey beat Felix to the bank.

So, what have we learned about 1919? Sometimes, the people selling wars to the public do not always tell the truth. If you suddenly smell a strong odor of molasses, either make pancakes or get to higher ground immediately. Melania might make a better president than our current Dear Glorious Very Stable Genius Leader. Bless his heart. Land O’ Goshen, I’m just sayin’. Happy New Year.

  As another year draws to a close, a year of Democratic resurgence in both national and local politics, I offer this challenge to incumbent and newly elected lawmakers alike. Do you really want to be leaders? Or do you just want to be politicians?

A mastery of politics is required to lead effectively, I grant you. No matter how high your ideals and how ambitious your goals may be, you have to win elections and cultivate alliances in order to fashion public policy. But only some effective politicians prove to be effective leaders.

In Washington, D.C., there is an obvious test of seriousness that, alas, few would-be leaders have been passing lately. Will Congress and the Trump administration do anything of consequence to address the most consequential issue we face, fiscal irresponsibility?

The federal budget is wildly, recklessly out of whack. Its massive annual deficits will add trillions more to the federal debt in the coming years.

Democrats blame the tax cuts enacted by the Republican Congress in 2017. It’s certainly the case that the reductions in personal and corporate income taxes, while growth-enhancing, will lead to lower federal revenues that would otherwise have been collected, at least in the near future. I believe the tax cuts should have been fully offset by budget cuts.

But Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility didn’t begin in 2017, and it has little to do with the nickeland- dime stuff we usually hear about on cable networks and talk shows.

Nearly three-quarters of what the federal government does can be described as transfer payments. It collects revenue from income and payroll taxes and then sends checks either to households (for Social Security, pensions and welfare) or to health care providers (for Medicare and Medicaid).

The federal government has promised more outflow than can be financed with the projected inflow. Progressives say they want to make up the difference with massive tax hikes — indeed, most want to expand Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and welfare programs even more — while conservatives say they want to control expenditures.

In truth, neither group seems to have the courage of their purported convictions. Few have offered anything approaching a viable plan for balancing the budget. When progressives claim only the “wealthy” will pay for their grandiose schemes and conservatives claim they can bring spending into line by targeting only “waste, fraud and abuse,” both groups are offering us a governing fantasy, not a governing philosophy. They are being unserious.

Here in North Carolina, the dividing line between politician and leader runs directly through the largest single function of state government: financing education. Democrats have promised vastly larger expenditures for preschool, elementary, secondary and higher education than the Republican-led General Assembly has yet appropriated. The money can’t come from borrowing, and the desired amount is too large to be financed by economizing elsewhere in the budget.

Either explicitly or implicitly, Democrats are calling for major tax increases — in the hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars a year. Will Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper include them in his upcoming 2019-21 budget proposal? Will Democrats list themselves as sponsors of such a tax hike in the 2019 session? Will the Republicans who have themselves promised much-higher spending levels be willing to sign on, as well?

I expect few such profiles in courage. Rather, I think some will be tempted to construct a kind of collusive settlement in the long-running Leandro litigation that would yield an order by the North Carolina Supreme Court to increase state spending — and, in effect, to raise taxes. This would be a thoroughly political gambit, not an exercise of leadership, and would provoke a constitutional crisis.

If they would truly lead, then policymakers of both parties should be looking for mutually agreeable ways to increase the productivity of the tax dollars North Carolinians already pay into education. States such as Florida, Indiana and Texas have higher-performing school systems as well as tax burdens comparable to or lower than ours. It can be done.

Will serious leaders step forward in 2019?

   Since 2007, the federal debt has more than doubled in relation to the size of the economy, and it will keep growing significantly if annual budget deficits projected under current law come to pass. The Congressional Budget Office periodically issues suggestions of policy options that could reduce the deficit.

The latest CBO report, issued last month, presents 121 options that would decrease federal spending and/or increase federal revenues over the next 10 years. Twenty of those proposals would affect the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, including holding the line on the base pay of military service members.

Basic pay is the largest component of service members’ cash compensation, accounting for about 60 percent of the total. This option would cap basic pay raises for service members at 0.5 percentage points below the increase in the Employment Compensation Index for five years starting in 2020 and then return them to the ECI benchmark in 2025. The CBO estimates that this would reduce the discretionary budget by nearly $18 billion from 2020 through 2028.

“Fatal Vision” update

Jeffrey MacDonald is a name with deep connections to Fort Bragg. He was convicted 40 years ago of the February 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters in the Corregidor Court housing area on post. The military was unsuccessful in prosecuting MacDonald, and he received an honorable discharge from the Army in late 1970.

Years of subsequent allegations and judicial appeals ended when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear his case. His trial was held in U.S. District Court in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1979. Since his conviction, MacDonald has continued to maintain his innocence.

Last month, on Dec. 21, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, refused to grant the former Army officer a new trial. The three-judge panel declined to overturn a federal judge’s 2014 ruling. The appeals court agreed with the lower-court ruling that MacDonald failed to show that new evidence, if presented to a jury, would likely change the outcome of his conviction.

FOCCAS an abbreviation worth remembering

Friends of the Cumberland County Animal Shelter made Christmas special for about 100 dogs and 50 cats at the compound. The dogs and cats enjoyed animal-friendly holiday meals at the shelter. The animals also received stockings filled with treats an  toys. FOCCAS is also collecting cold-weather dog houses, blankets and food for outdoor dogs.

“Ideally, dogs should be brought indoors during cold weather, but we understand there are some pets that will remain outside,” said Shelly Bryant, FOCCAS president. “For these cases, we want to ensure pet owners have adequate shelter for their pets.” FOCCAS is a 501c3 nonprofit that promotes animal welfare initiatives and responsible pet ownership through education, community outreach, and animal enrichment programs.

Fayetteville Technical Community College names new senior vice president

FTCC has announced the appointment of Dr. Mark Sorrells as its new senior vice president for academic and student services. Sorrells comes to FTCC from the Golden LEAF Foundation where he was senior vice president and its longest-serving staff member. Sorrells earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville and completed his doctorate in education at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

In July, FTCC announced that then-Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Services David Brand was leaving, and that President Larry Keen would assume his duties. The college did not say at the time why Brand left abruptly. Later, the college issued a statement saying Brand was on leave recovering from shoulder surgery and would retire Nov. 1.

Grinding of the Greens recycles trees

Grinding of the Greens encourages Fayetteville residents to recycle their live Christmas trees and has kept thousands of pounds of recyclable material out of our landfills. The long-standing partnership between Fayetteville Public Works Commission, Cumberland-Fayetteville Parks & Recreation and Duke Energy Progress turns live Christmas trees into mulch for the Fayetteville Community Garden and

other local parks.

Employees from Cumberland-Fayetteville Parks and Recreation will collect the trees from Fayetteville city residents in a special tree pickup beginning the morning of Monday, Jan. 7. Pickups are separate from yard waste, trash or recycle pickups. All lights, stands and trimmings should be removed from the tree.

Residents who live outside the city or miss the pickup may drop off trees at the Fayetteville Community Garden, located at the corner of Van Story and Mann Street just off Old Wilmington Road, any day before Jan. 12. PWC and DEP volunteers will grind them into mulch at the Community Garden on Jan. 12, following a ceremonial start at 8:30 a.m.

 Since election day last month, there has been a slow ripple of revelations about 9th Congressional District get-out- the-vote conduct in Bladen County, the small, eastern-most county in the 9th district. The North Carolina congressional election is the only one in the nation still pending because of allegations of election fraud.

Bladen County businessman McCrae Dowless is the central figure in an alleged conspiracy being investigated by the State Board of Elections. Some officials are calling for a new 9th district election because of multiple examples of potentially criminal behavior by Dowless.

At issue is an apparent 905-vote margin of nearly 283,000 votes cast between the Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. The vote as it stands favors Republican Mark Harris over Democrat Dan McCready.

Dowless has no political party allegiance. He has supported Democrats in the past. Dowless is accused of having workers collect dozens of mail-in absentee ballots from residents before they were filled in, which violates the law.

The attention in the 9th district is not always on Republican partisan conduct. A political action committee with an unofficial affiliation with the North Carolina Democratic Party had two paid staffers who served as witnesses for more than 100 absentee ballots. Also, a Democratic member of the Bladen County Board of Elections was once a business partner of Dowless. The local elections board is being examined by the state for potential conflicts of interest.

Dr. Michael Bitzer is a political scientist at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He is considered one of the nation’s leading scholars on the American presidency. Bitzer found that many more North Carolinians returned absentee ballots than four years ago. And there was a distinct partisan difference in the voting than in years past as well.

Bitzer noted that, historically, a low percentage of absentee ballots in the 9th district is returned compared to other districts in the state. This time, Bladen County had twice the number of absentee ballots on average than most other counties. Bitzer’s analysis suggested additional aberrations.

In seven of the eight counties in the 9th District, for example, McCready got a lopsided majority of absentee ballots. But not in Bladen County. There, Harris won 61 percent of the vote, even though registered Republicans initially received few of the county’s accepted absentee ballots. Most of the unreturned ballots belonged to African-American and Native American voters.

The United States is divided into 435 congressional districts, each with a population of about 710,000 individuals. States with larger populations have greater representation. Each district elects a member to the U.S. House of Representatives for a two-year term.

The 8th and 9th Congressional districts adjoin each other and stretch along the South Carolina border to Mecklenburg County and a small portion of Gaston County. Cumberland County is split in half and is shared by both districts. Fort Bragg is part of the 8th district.

Photo: McCrae Dowless

  Our P.L.A.C.E., which stands for Passion, Lives and Creative Experiences, is an arts-based Fayetteville nonprofit. Its mission is to provide opportunity, education, funding and resources to artists to impact society. Under the Our P.L.A.C.E umbrella is a multitude of projects, workshops, events, community drives and more. The Marquis Slam, a poetry competition created and hosted by Eean Tyson, is the longest running program the nonprofit presents. It takes place the first Saturday of every month at the Arts Center.

A poetry slam is a three-round competition where up to 12 poets perform their original work within a three-minute time frame and are then scored by five random judges in the audience. The highest and lowest of the five scores are dropped each round to get the poet’s score for that round. The three scores are then added after the final round to see who wins.

Slam season is from September to August. Poets compete in the local Marquis Slam events September through March in hopes of making the official Marquis Slam Team in April. From there, the Slam Team competes regionally and nationally in June and August.

Since its creation in September 2012, The Marquis Slam has been a monthly staple in the poetry community of Fayetteville. Month after month, people come from all across Cumberland County and surrounding areas to enjoy an evening of food, fun, music and, most importantly, poetry.

At each event, The Marquis Slam features a poet before the slam to prime the audience. Poets from around the country have graced the stage and made The Marquis Slam an experience like no other in town.

This month’s event takes place Jan. 5 and features Harlem’s own, Joan “Lyric” Leslie. Now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, Lyric is known for her works of self discovery and self-love, all while using humor and wit to captivate her audience. Her book “My Blackness Rhymes with Joy” showcases her journey through love, healing, justice and the reclamation of black joy.

Ashlee Connors, a local poet, author and threetime Marquis Slam Team member, said each year on the team was different. Of her first year, Connors said, “Making the team — a team — for the first time ever was the reward. It’s a meeting of the minds that everyone speaks on. Every single year there has been a new member on the team, and that is rewarding by itself.”

Of her second and third year, she said, “Once you make the team, that’s when the real work begins. Now you are challenged to write from different perspectives and be open to the critiques. The team overall wants to push you to be better”.

The event’s creator, Tyson, not only hosts the show, he also coaches the Slam Team once it is formed. He leads them in competitions both regionally and nationally. For seven seasons, The Marquis Slam team, under Tyson’s leadership, has traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana; Greenville, South Carolina; Little Rock, Arkansas; Greensboro, North Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; and San Antonio, Texas, to compete regionally at the Southern Fried Poetry Slam. The team has also traveled to Oakland, California; Decatur, Georgia; and Denver, Colorado; to compete at the National Poetry Slam.

Every first Saturday, make your way to the Arts Center at 301 Hay St. in downtown Fayetteville for an evening of poetry like no other in the city. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Admission in $10. Food is available for purchase.

To learn more about Our P.L.A.C.E and The Marquis Slam, visit www.welcome2ourplace.org. Send inquiries to ourplacenpo@gmail.com or on Facebook and Instagram at Our P.L.A.C.E NPO and The Marquis Slam.

 As the final days of 2018 passed, Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner discussed her hopes and dreams for what’s ahead for the town in 2019. Here is some of what she shared in an interview with Up & Coming Weekly.

Interstate 295

The one thing I see that we’ve got to work on is economic development. We have to start thinking ahead. The exits off Interstate 295 are going to be here before we know it. They are quickly moving to get that funded.

You are looking at Black’s Bridge Road or Golfview Road out to 295, that whole corridor I see as becoming a new gateway for Hope Mills. Since we have an opportunity, we need to plan that. We don’t need to  let it be our gateway and be embarrassed by what people see when they come off at that exit.

What we need in Hope Mills is (to) maybe start trying to recruit. That might be an area where we could get a hotel or some other business we’re not aware of that would like the fact it’s coming off a major artery that surrounds this area.

Finish the lake park

I want to see the lake park phase two and phase three completed. We’ve been working on the lake and the dam coming back for such a long time. It’s a trophy for us that the dam is working. I would like the lake park updated, parking updated, so when people come there it’s easy in, easy out and more accessible for everybody.

The plans are in place. We’ve got to facilitate getting them completed. It’s going to take some figuring out where we get the funding, whether it’s grant funding or another means of funding. We need to put that in our forefront, that it’s something we want to accomplish and don’t let it linger any longer. My experience the whole time I’ve been mayor is if you can make those decisions and move on them, it’s less expensive. The longer you wait, the cost of labor, the cost of everything, goes up, and that’s kind of where we are.

Phase three includes Heritage Park. Heritage Park has been on the plans since before the dam went out. It was much cheaper to complete those plans in 2008 than it is right now.

Complete sidewalks

I’d like to make sure the sidewalks we have received grants for, the ones on Rockfish Road and the ones on Johnson Street to Trade Street, are completed. Those have been in the works for a very long time, almost as long as I’ve been mayor.

It’s just a matter of making sure we are being good stewards of grant money, staying focused on trying to push to get it done. We want to get this job completed so we can walk from the ballparks (near the Town Hall complex) all the way down to the lake.

The crosswalks on Main Street would make it so we can walk right over to the lake and enjoy it. We can save cars being on the highway because we can park and walk, and it’s safer with those sidewalks in place. We’ll have a walking trail from the Town Hall and the gyms at Parks and Recreation all the way down to the businesses on Trade Street and the Lake. I think that’s important.

Develop Hope Mills Golf Course property

We need to take and use the plan we got from the  McAdams Group. We spent a lot of money getting that in order. I think that we are going to have to start looking at being a unified board when something like (that study) is completed and brought back. They’ve done surveys. They’ve talked to the community. They are the professionals.

None of us (the mayor and members of the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners) are professionals when it comes to that kind of planning. We have got to take the “I” out of it.

I know what I would like there, and I know each of the board members has something they would like there. But we’ve got to be realistic. For us to get the job done, we’ve got to start accepting the fact that many of our citizens may not have the same opinions we have, and that’s who we represent. I think moving into 2019 that’s going to be real important, to sit back and listen to what our community is telling us, either by way of these surveys or the input we get from our meetings or input we might get from other sources.

The main thing is, if we listen, every board member has a good idea. But what happens is each of us has our own idea. We’ve got to somehow come to a unified board where we realize all of our ideas are outweighed by what our citizens want, and we’ve got to do what our citizens are asking. I think that’s what’s important when it comes to the golf course.

It’s going to attract attention if we do it the right way. I’d like to see us at the point where we’re moving on that, not trying to decide and differ from what the McAdams Group is bringing back to us.

Moving forward on Public Safety Building

That’s a perfect example of the cost of something changing over time. When we first started looking at it, we were talking about 6 1/2 to 7 million dollars. What we (recently) heard was potentially this building could cost 12 million dollars.

It may not be that high, but I’m glad to finally see us making a move. But I’m also thinking we are probably going to have to look at making a decision on other properties and doing it so we can take advantage of opportunities of different types of funding and also save cost.

Closing Thoughts

In 2019 we have to get focused on what Hope Mills looks like in 2020, what we are going to look like in the next decade. We need to start thinking about what we want to see in areas that are going to be opening up because of change of ownership of some of the homes on Main Street if they are changed to commercial.

I want to say something about our board, our staff and our community and how important it is we all work together. That would be my goal for 2019, that we have a unified community moving forward. We are a good example of what a small, growing town looks like. I want this board to work together and be on common ground with the decisions we make.

We all represent Hope Mills, and we’ve got to put our best face forward, as a team, this whole town. We want to give the very best impression to anybody who cares about us or sees us.

Photo: Mayor Jackie Warner and husband, Alex Warner

 The decision by the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners to hand operation of J.P. Riddle Stadium over to Fayetteville Technical Community College has some people in the county wondering what that means for the future of the Fayetteville SwampDogs. The SwampDogs is the summer baseball team that plays at J.P. Riddle Stadium and offers opportunities for college players to compete in a wood bat league.

One person with expertise in that area who thinks both the SwampDogs and Fayetteville’s new minor league baseball team, the Woodpeckers, can both survive is Darden Jenkins.

Jenkins runs Classic Ballpark Solutions, a company that consults with people looking to start or refurbish baseball stadiums. He’s currently working with a community that’s looking to field both a pro and college baseball team in the same community.

Jenkins thinks the main thing the SwampDogs have on their side is tradition and a loyal fan base. “They’ve been in town almost 20 years, and the last several years they’ve led their division in attendance,’’ he said. He also pointed to the many families in the community who’ve worked with the SwampDogs over the years to provide housing for the college players who’ve come to Fayetteville to play.

As for proof that a pro and college team can work in the same town, he pointed to Columbia, South Carolina, where a similar situation already exists.

“You can’t say Columbia is apples to apples with Fayetteville,’’ he said, “but it can work, and we’re going to see pretty fast if it will work here.’’

Jenkins thinks the decision by the county commissioners to give J.P. Riddle Stadium to Fayetteville Tech was a maneuver that takes the pressure off local government to have to deal with any future lease arrangement with the SwampDogs to use the stadium.

“If they put it in the college’s hands, it will be the college’s decision whether the SwampDogs continue,’’ Jenkins said. “But since the SwampDogs use college kids and FTCC is a college, it makes sense. It’s going to be an amateur baseball hub. I think there will be good synergy there.’’

Since FTCC plans to use the stadium as a training tool for its students studying professions related to field maintenance and such, Jenkins thinks it would be to FTCC’s advantage for the SwampDogs to remain and keep the stadium in use.

The stadium will be occupied by the new FTCC baseball team. If this team plays a typical community college schedule, it will be done with its season before May, when the SwampDogs would begin their season.

“The more dates they have, the more they are going to make,’’ Jenkins said of FTCC. “When I ran Jackie Robinson ballpark (in Daytona Beach, Florida), I tried to get as many games as we could. I think it’s a good experience and good for Fayetteville.’’

Meetings

For details about all meetings and activities, including location where not listed, call Town Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113. Most meetings take place at Town Hall or the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation center. Until the Parks and Recreation building has been repaired following damage from Hurricane Florence, some meetings may be moved to Luther Meeting Room at Town Hall at regular dates and times. Those meetings are noted with an asterisk below.

• Board of Commissioners Monday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m., Town Hall, Bill Luther Meeting Room

• Festival Committee Monday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m., Town Hall, Front Conference Room

• Lake Advisory Committee Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center*

• Appearance Committee Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center*

• Veterans Affairs Commission Thursday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center*

Activities

For more information on these activities, contact Meghan Hawkins at 910-426-4109.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, Jan. 21 — Town offices closed.

• Hope Mills Area Kiwanis Club at Sammio’s, second Tuesdays at noon and fourth Tuesdays at 6 p.m. For details,  call 910-237-1240.

Promote yourself

Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

 Football players and coaches weren’t the only specially invited guests at the recent Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas all-star football game in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

South View High School’s Marianna Blount spent the Shrine Bowl week working as a student athletic trainer with the North Carolina team.

A senior at South View, Blount got into athletic training somewhat by accident when she missed out on cheerleader tryouts as a freshman at South View and wanted to find something else to pursue.

Linda Buie, the athletic department secretary at South View, suggested Blount try athletic training, and it didn’t take long for her to get hooked.

“I think the thing that drew me to it was learning new things and getting to meet new people while helping out people in the process,’’ said Blount.

Samantha Colbourne, the staff athletic trainer at South View, said Blount has helped out with just about every sport the school offers in Blount’s four years there.

“She’s learned how to tape kids, watched me assess injuries, watched me do rehab and helped with daily duties like getting water and putting stuff out when we have practice,’’ Colbourne said.

Blount has also been to camps and clinics for student athletic trainers to learn more about skills athletic trainers need.

“She’s very eager to learn,’’ Colbourne said. “She picks up all the skills pretty quick. She’s very personable and always asking questions.” Blount said being chosen to work at the Shrine Bowl was an honor and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

She said her favorite part of the week was joining the coaches and football players for the annual visit to the Shriners Hospital for burned and crippled children in Greenville, South Carolina.

“Seeing the kids, the looks on their faces, they were so excited,’’ she said. “We were able to tour the hospital and meet with them and their parents. It makes your heart feel good, especially with Christmas coming up.

“It was over the top. Amazing.’’

Blount said she got valuable experience being around the certified athletic trainers at the Shrine Bowl, learning taping methods and getting to know the players and coaches.

“The whole thing about the Shrine Bowl is it’s for a good cause,’’ she said. “It makes you feel good to know you are there, making a difference in these kids’ lives. That’s the main goal, to be there and raise money for them. It’s a great feeling to raise money for them to be treated.’’

Photo: Marianna Blount