On March 3, the streets around and near Festival Park in downtown Fayetteville will be transformed into a USA Track and Field certified race route for the Second Annual American Warrior 5K Walk and Run, sponsored by His Outreach Worldwide. All proceeds from the race will benefit His Bread of Life Food Bank of Fayetteville.

According to HOW’s website, His Bread of Life is a “Christian food bank ministry, working with area churches to help feed children and families in need.” The food bank is used to support the food ministries of local churches.

His Bread of Life also works closely with the Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity to “stock the pantries of the homes they build.” The organization uses the annual 5K to keep the food bank operating so that it can continue to benefit the Fayetteville and Cumberland County area.

According to Lynne O’Quinn, president of HOW, people of all fitness levels are encouraged to attend the 5K. Pre-registration costs $25 and day-of registration costs $30. Military personnel will pay a $20 registration fee. Participants must also sign a waiver when they register.

In addition to every registrant receiving an official race T-shirt, the top three finishers in a variety of age categories will receive awards as well as the top three finishers overall.

O’Quinn emphasized that the event is familyfriendly. There will be a bouncy house for children, a DJ playing upbeat music, and Baldinos Giant Jersey Subs will be on hand serving up post-race nutrition. “We also want to encourage families with little ones to bring their strollers,” O’Quinn said.

Additionally, in keeping with the American Warrior theme, race organizers encourage participants to wear red, white and blue to the event.

For more information on the work of HOW or His Bread of Life Food Bank, visit www. HisOutreachWorldwide.org. For specific questions concerning registration or donations, contact O’Quinn at 910-476-7975 or Heather Hartley at 910-8743676. O’Quinn and Hartley can also be reached by email at Lynne@ HisOutreachWorldwide.org and HeatherH@ ThompsonLittle.com, respectively.

The American Warrior 5K Walk and Run is scheduled for March 3 at Festival Park in downtown Fayetteville. Participants can pre-register online at www.RunTheEast.com/races. On the morning of the race, registration will begin at 8 a.m. The race begins promptly at 9:30 a.m.

After a season of setting records and leading Terry Sanford to the first Patriot Athletic Conference football title, the Jayne brothers are officially breaking up the band.

Andrew Jayne put the final touches on parting company with twin brother Christian when the former signed a national letter of intent to play football at Davidson College as a receiver. Christian had earlier sealed his commitment to join the baseball team at East Carolina University as an outfielder.

The two made headline after headline as a pass and catch combination for the Bulldog football team, but Terry Sanford football coach Bruce McClelland doesn’t think their splitting company will keep them from still making news.

“You put goals in front of them and they just chew them up,’’ he said.

Andrew Jayne will be walking into a totally new situation at Davidson as the Wildcats just hired a new head football coach in January, naming Scott Abell from Washington and Lee University to take over the program.

Andrew was recruited by the previous Davidson coaching staff and will try to fit into an offense that emphasizes the triple option and runs sets with two receivers.

“The new staff loves his versatility,’’ McClelland said. “He can play tight end or H-back. He still has the speed to play wideout.’’

“They made it clear whoever is best will play,’’ Andrew said. “They’ve given me a workout schedule that starts in about two months.’’

Though the brothers will be at schools hundreds of miles apart, Christian said they’ll continue to be there for each other and always have each other’s back.

While he’s convinced college baseball was the right choice for him, Christian said he’s going to miss being involved with football.

“It’s just that whole football atmosphere,’’ he said, “leading the team, leaving the huddle. I will miss it, eventually.’’

But he’s looking forward to starting his career with the Pirates. “I’d like to get at least a 3.5 and come in and start,’’ Christian said. “The biggest thing is to get accustomed to the whole college deal.’’

Photo: Andrew Jayne, seated, signs national letter of intent to play football for Davidson College. Standing L-R are his father Scott, brother Christian who will play baseball at East Carolina and mother Katrina.

A karate club called Team Tiger might conjure up visions of the late Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. But owner/ operator Charles Cook Jr. has a different image in mind, one of civic responsibility and community pride.

On a recent Saturday, some 65 members of the Team Tiger club – ranging from tiny children to those approaching their 80s – gathered at Ed Herring Park in the Eaglewood subdivision of Hope Mills to do a little civic improvement.

Cook, who has operated Team Tiger for about four years, said his group is adopting the park with a stated goal of trying to keep it clean and possibly provide some new equipment on the grounds for the public to enjoy.

The focus of his business at Team Tiger is to teach karate, and also to teach the young people who attend lessons in character. He wants to ensure they can make good decisions when adults aren’t around to guide them.

But Cook wanted to take that teaching a step forward. “We adopted Camden Road a few years ago but didn’t feel it was as productive as it needed to be,’’ he said.

While driving through Eaglewood to avoid the traffic on Hope Mills Road, Cook found Ed Herring Park. “One day it came across my mind we should do something (about it),’’ he said, “pick it up and make it more attractive. We could have a different impact instead of picking up on the side of the road.’’

The plan, for starters, is to send a crew of volunteers from Team Tiger into the park at least once a month, hopefully reaching a point where they can visit it less frequently just to keep things maintained.

Cook went to Hope Mills Commissioner Meg Larson with the idea. She in turn put him in contact with Mayor Jackie Warner and town manager Melissa Adams. “Two or three days later, I was sitting with the town council,’’ he said.

Cook said the organization also wants to help purchase some new equipment for the park. “We want to arrange a fundraiser,’’ Cook said. “It will depend on the money we raise to see what piece of equipment we can obtain.’’

If you would like further information on the fundraiser or how to help with Team Tiger’s monthly cleanup plans for the park, contact Cook at 910-366-4381. 

Every city and town needs and deserves a strong and committed local daily newspaper. For nearly 100 years, The Fayetteville Observer has served this community and was hailed as North Carolina’s oldest and most respected continuously privately owned daily newspaper – until it sold to private equity newspaper conglomerate GateHouse Media in 2016. Though it remains the oldest newspaper in North Carolina, it is no longer privately owned, nor, as many residents will attest, does it relate to the community. After the acquisition and a short honeymoon with the Fayetteville community, GateHouse Media started doing what it does best – dismantling the company.

In December 2017, Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School, co-authored an excellent article explaining in vivid detail what is taking place in hundreds of cities, towns and communities across the country. The article, “Saving the Free Press From Private Equity” was co-authored by Hildy Zenger. Hildy Zenger is not her real name since she works for a newspaper owned by the private equity firm GateHouse Media. She is a talented writer who gives us an up-close-and-personal perspective of the havoc and carnage created by GateHouse Media as it and other private equity companies employ “scorch and burn” policies.

What follows is an account of the plight and devastation experienced by the newspaper industry and how it relates to what happened to The Fayetteville Observer and how it affects the community. What is happening to our daily newspaper is, sadly, happening in hundreds of cities and towns across the country. However, many communities with vision, dedicated leadership and a strong sense of American democracy have been able to rebuild this valuable conduit of truth, fairness and accountability in government. I hope we are one of them.

All excerpts from “Saving the Free Press From Private Equity” are referenced and reprinted with permission. Read the entire article at: prospect.org/article/saving-free-press-private-equity.

Monopolistic arrogance caused daily newspapers to ignore a changing industry. The advent of digital media has created a huge challenge for printed newspapers. Social media showed up on the scene about the same time as the 2008 recession and was followed by the private equity industry. These merciless Pac-Man-style companies began buying up newspapers that fell victim to the recession. They had no interest in news, media, publishing or communities. All they were interested in was massive layoffs, selling off assets and skimming off profits until the newspapers finally went out of business or filed for bankruptcy. They made huge profits. It’s sad for the victim newspapers and even sadder for American democracy.

Cities and towns have always depended on daily and weekly newspapers for local news and unbiased investigative reporting. Without accountability, the business of local, state and federal governments becomes veiled in secrecy. Without the media, without reporters, without the press, the Fourth Estate cannot serve as the lynchpin of truth and honesty, keeping the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government in check.

Saving the Free Press From Private Equity

Local dailies and weeklies are in a slow death spiral. They missed the digital rendezvous. … Operating losses cause owners to lay off staff and shrink content, further depressing readership and ad income, leaving little to reinvest in digital. Local web-only media are feisty in a few places, but no substitute for a robust newspaper, whether print, web or a blend.

It is here that GateHouse Media enters the Fayetteville community as the private equity player. Private equity has been gobbling up newspapers across the country and systematically squeezing the life out of them to produce windfall profits, while the papers last. Robust civic life depends on good local newspapers. Without the informed dialogue that a newspaper enables, the public business is the private province of the local commercial elite, voters are uninformed, and elected officials are unaccountable.

There are many private equity firms in the industry, but the most vicious and merciless one is GateHouse Media.

The malign genius of the private equity business mode … is that it allows the absentee owner [GateHouse Media] to drive a paper into the ground but extract exorbitant profits along the way from management fees, dividends, and tax breaks. By the time the paper is a hollow shell, the private equity company can exit and move on, having more than made back its investment. Whether private equity is contained and driven from ownership of newspapers could well determine whether local newspapers as priceless civic resources survive to make it across the digital divide.

… The Bastrop Daily Enterprise in the northeast corner of Louisiana was founded in 1904, part of a small family-owned chain. The newspaper did a thriving business, with 30 employees and $1.5 million in annual revenues. “We served our communities, won awards for our reporting, and made good money for the owner,” says a former staffer. … Then the Enterprise was bought by GateHouse Media, the newsroom was gutted, and all operations were centralized by the new corporate owners.

“Now they’ve got maybe eight people,” says this former employee. “They’re lucky if they’re doing $600,000 gross. I remember what these papers used to be. It’s unrecognizable.” Few citizens of Bastrop, however, know the reasons behind the wasting of the Enterprise because no one has reported on it.

Sound familiar? Let’s talk Fayetteville.

The Fayetteville Observer, founded in 1816, had been owned by the McMurray family since the 1920s and is the oldest North Carolina paper continually publishing. … The paper has a daily circulation across 10 counties and had been profitable and well-managed. But family members, getting older, decided it was time to sell. Charles Broadwell, whose grandmother had been board chair, was the last family member running the paper. He engaged newspaper brokers to find a buyer. GateHouse, the biggest of the private equity players, took over the paper in 2016, making deep cuts in the newsroom and the business office, and moving the copy desk to their regional center. They raised the subscription price for a shabbier product. “It was like walking around at my own funeral,” Broadwell says.

While newspapers will never be the money machines that they were in the glory days, they may yet endure as core institutions of American democracy. Zenger’s newspaper, with a circulation of under 10,000, has been pillaged in classic private equity fashion. Its pre-GateHouse staff has been cut by 70 percent, and those who remain have not had a raise in almost ten years. The paper had its own in-house production and printing operation and had won design awards, but GateHouse shut down and sold the press and fired the entire production staff. The paper is now laid out hundreds of miles away in Austin, Texas, along with most of GateHouse’s 770 papers. The printing is done in another city, at a GateHouseowned shop, by harried press workers who are under constant pressure to cut costs by reducing quality.

It doesn’t stop there.

Editors must send all the content, page by page, to the GateHouse design center via a cumbersome, laughably outmoded software interface and then wait, often for hours, to see what the pages look like on their computer screens. They are not allowed to speak to the designers, who can be contacted only by email. The designers follow strict rules that make creative layout solutions virtually impossible. Gate- House wages are so low and working conditions so high-pressured and unpleasant that turnover among layout staff is constant – so mistakes are rampant.

Although GateHouse management claims to be aggressively pursuing a “hyperlocal” digital ad strategy, its newspapers’ websites – all with close to identical design – are stunningly ugly, hard to use, and filled with dated, soft feature stories of zero local interest. Its subscriber services – all outsourced – are Eulogy for the Fourth Estate? by BILL BOWMAN COVER STORY GateHouse MediaTM What is happening to our daily newspaper is, sadly, happening in hundreds of cities and towns across the country. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 21-27, 2018 UCW 15 even worse. At Zenger’s office, the editors get calls from readers who are having trouble with their subscriptions and can’t reach anyone for help. “Sorry,” the editors have to say. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Cost-cutting measures at GateHouse are absurdly draconian, ranging from the fact that editorial staffers don’t even get complimentary subscriptions to having to buy their own coffee for the office machine. “Next, it will be the toilet paper,” says one staff member, only half-joking. … Within a decade the newspaper had lost 40 percent of its circulation and over 50 percent of its advertisers.

The ruthless miserliness of GateHouse management has two effects: It destroys the newspaper’s capacity to do its fundamental job of covering the news, and it makes for miserable employees. “Everybody I know in the leadership of the corporation were financial people or ad directors,” says the editor of a GateHouse-owned paper. “They were never journalists – never covered a story in their life. This corporate stuff is killing local newspapers. I’m sweating bullets hoping some bean counter doesn’t say we’ve got to get another 17 percent profit out of this. How much more can these people cut? It becomes harder to do the right thing – to cover the city council meetings and find out what really did happen – when you had five people in the newsroom, and now you’re down to two.”

It’s worth noting that GateHouse and other corporate predators are managing to destroy a oncerobust tradition of independent journalism without having to tell editors and reporters what to write or not write. “Eight hundred of us [from local papers] were on a call yesterday with [GateHouse CEO] Kirk Davis,” one GateHouse advertising manager said recently. “We gained nothing from it – a total waste of time. ‘I’ve got your back,’ he said. ‘I hope you’ve got mine. I’m crazy about all of you.’ I wanted to throw up.”

So, despite having cut costs to the bone, the private equity parent is, for now at least, able to take out profits in the range of 15 percent to 25 percent of revenue. Papers that don’t hit this mark can be sold for scrap or closed. GateHouse owns more newspapers, currently in 36 states, than any other media conglomerate: a mix of dailies, paid weeklies, and free “shoppers,” mostly in small cities, but also a few bigger city papers like The Providence Journal, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and The Columbus Dispatch.

The model is simple. Buy a newspaper on the cheap, often from a legacy chain like Gannett or from a family owner whose siblings and cousins want to cash out.

Last August, GateHouse purchased another 11 dailies and 30 weeklies from the Morris Publishing Group based in Augusta, Georgia. Its most recent move is to buy the Boston Herald, for just $4.5 million in cash. GateHouse announced on the same day the 171-yearold daily filed for federal bankruptcy protection. GateHouse’s bid was conditioned on voiding all of the paper’s union contracts and discarding all legacy pension, health (insurance) and other obligations to Herald workers. Major layoffs in the newspaper’s 120-person newsroom are a certainty.

With private equity, it’s about squeezing out the 20 percent, and anything goes. Use it up, sell it, or just kill it. The profit is the product.

Between 2012 and 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, all newspapers lost 24 percent of their workforces. But at a sample of 12 papers owned by Digital First Media, the layoff rate was more than half, according to a tabulation collected by journalists who worked for DFM papers. As quality drops at these papers so does circulation. And though ad revenue is down, many local businesses continue to advertise because they actually value the print newspaper and want to be seen in it.

In Southern Pines, North Carolina, The Pilot has been a family-owned paper for nearly a century and has been owned for 21 years by its current publisher, David Woronoff and family members. Editor John Nagy wrote a signed article for the paper last January bemoaning the fact that one North Carolina paper in three is absentee-owned, and that others had folded. “Folks in those communities regularly call us, asking us about buying their local paper. … They’re tired of a 12-page paper with no news, and they look at our 40-page, all-local product with envy.”

Woronoff got a call offering to sell a group of five other local papers that had been stripped down as they repeatedly changed hands over a decade. Woronoff took a good look at one, the Richmond County Daily Journal. “It’s maybe eight pages a day, six days a week,” he says. “They sold the building, sold the press; they might have two people in the newsroom. There is no kind of innovation that can come from that environment. There is nothing left. If he just handed me the keys, I’m not sure I’d take it.”

Woronoff has strengthened The Pilot by developing other lines of business that are logical outgrowths of the newspaper. He now publishes four glossy monthly city magazines in nearby communities and operates a digital agency for the newspaper’s customers. He also publishes telephone directories, and even operates a local bookstore. These profitable enterprises provide a revenue stream that strengthens the newspaper, which now accounts for only 35 percent of total revenue.

Follow the Money

Wes Edens is the CEO of Fortress Investment Group, a private equity firm which controls Gate- House Media and extracts generous management fees from it. As a rare hybrid of private equity operators controlling a publicly traded company, Fortress has to make financial disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the public, and shareholders get to vote on directors and bylaws. Public filings with the SEC revealed, for instance, that Fortress, as managers of GateHouse, had taken out $19.4 million in management fees and “incentive compensation” in 2016, and $39.7 million in 2015. As newspaper financial analyst Ken Doctor observes, these payouts are not far from the $27 million in operating expenses that GateHouse expect(ed) to extract from its papers during 2017. The money from the cuts goes straight to the private equity absentee owner and its executives. The New York Times reported Fortress CEO Wes Edens’s total 2016 pay as $54.4 million, including an $11.6 million bonus.

This public information gives some leverage to another player, the News- Guild (formerly the Newspaper Guild), the union that represents employees at 17 GateHouse properties. The Guild, after extensive research, concluded that the tightly-knit controlling group headed by Fortress CEO Edens was profiting at the expense of ordinary shareholders and that the strategy of bleeding newspapers dry was unsustainable over time.

The NewsGuild is now in collective-bargaining talks with GateHouse management. With management on the defensive, the union may be able to extract raises and better working conditions for employees at unionized GateHouse papers who have not had raises in a decade.

Fayetteville/Cumberland County needs and deserves a strong, quality daily newspaper. For 22 years, Up & Coming Weekly has proudly served as the community’s weekly newspaper. Without a local TV station, consistent coverage of local community news, events and government meetings becomes necessary to restore and preserve the core institutions of American democracy.

There is some good news. In some small towns, citizens are finding ways to take their newspapers back. The independent local weekly in the central Massachusetts town of Harvard, with 6,500 residents, was bought by GateHouse. The corporation did its usual hatchet job on the formerly beloved Harvard Post. But a group of civic-minded citizens got together and started a competing weekly, the Harvard Press, modeled on the old Post, with extensive coverage of town boards, schools, and community life—and a notably quirky and detailed police blotter. Within six years, they put the GateHouse paper out of business.

Can this happen here? You bet. Our community is one of the fastest growing in North Carolina. Here, business and economic opportunities abound. Our local elected officials need to stay at the top of their game, guiding and managing our city and county government’s resources and opportunities. The local newspaper will define our community’s brand and tell our unique story. We must focus on the positive, and for heaven’s sake, never stop seeking out and demanding the truth.

A very special thanks to Robert Kuttner and Hildy Zenger and The American Prospect for allowing us to share their article and research with our readers. “Saving the Free Press from Private Equity” can be accessed online at prospect.org/article/saving-free-press-private-equity.

Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

 

Students often ask the question, “How does one prepare for the placement test?” FTCC offers the North Carolina Diagnostic Assessment and Placement Test, which measures a student’s current academic ability. Test results determine if a student is ready for college-level courses or needs to enroll in pre-curriculum courses.

The unfortunate reality is that most students do not prepare for the placement test; they just show up. Failure to do well on the NC DAP has consequences because pre-curriculum courses delay completion, eat up financial aid and are not creditbearing courses.

FTCC recommends students prepare by completing a free online practice test called the NC DAP Longsdale. Students may also enroll in a face-to-face workshop with FTCC’s College and Career Readiness office. For the learner who prefers personal interaction with a teacher, these options have proven effective. Students may also take home study guides, which are also available at the Tony Rand Student Center. Practice tests have proven to increase test scores and reduce test anxiety.

There is no golden rule concerning how much time is required to prepare for the placement test, but FTCC recommends that students allow at least a week or more to prepare for any test or exam. On test day, students should eat a good breakfast following a good night of rest and arrive prepared to do their best.

Students also employ rituals, such as utilizing a special pencil, wearing clothing items they perceive to be lucky, etc., to bring them good luck on testing day. Some students also use spiritual preparation, such as chanting, meditating, fasting or praying to help them achieve success with testing. Students also find that yoga and Pilates help provide a sense of calmness and relaxation prior to taking the test. Other forms of preparation include walking, jogging or vigorous physical activity, which raise your heart rate, decrease stress and increase alertness. However, FTCC advises students not to overdo physical activity prior to taking a test to avoid fatigue, which can cause oversleeping and drowsiness.

On test day, students should arrive at the test location 15-30 minutes early to locate the designated room for testing. Test-takers must present a government- issued picture identification card (driver’s license, state ID, passport or tribal ID) for entry. Current FTCC students may use the FTCC ID when re-testing. About 25 percent of students who take the placement test forget the required ID, which can result in panic and anxiety.

Once a student has completed the test, he or she will receive test results immediately. Students learn if they need additional preparation or if they may proceed with registering for classes. An FTCC advisor or counselor is available to assist students with the next steps.

Students may take the NC DAP at the Tony Rand Student Center at the Fayetteville campus, at the Spring Lake Campus and at the Fort Bragg Training and Education Center. FTCC offers testing daily, and students may schedule an appointment or simply walk in. FTCC provides accommodations for students with special needs. Testing is also available for online or distance education students.

Call 910-678-8417 or visit FTCC to begin your new journey to a better future through education.

The second annual Ladies Shop ’til You Drop Expo is set for Feb. 24-25 at the Crown Expo Center. It’s planned to be a day of shopping and entertainment with vendors, onstage entertainment, door prizes, food and more.

Business owners and event organizers Donna Meixsell and Marie Rudolph are both active in the community and are interested in seeing women succeed in business and life.

“That is why we got involved in this,” said Rudolph. “We want to give back to women. They need to be recognized for their strength. A lot of our vendors at Ladies Shop ’til You Drop Expo are women-owned businesses, including direct marketing businesses – they don’t often get to show their wares.”

“Marie and I are very active in the community, and we are at a point where we want to give back,” said Meixsell. “Fayetteville doesn’t really have a lot of these types of events. We thought it would be a good idea. It is a fun day and a way for women to get out and have a good time with their friends.”

With 80 or so vendors scheduled to participate, Meixsell and Rudolph promise a variety of shopping and entertainment options, including wine-tasting, home interior design, yoga, cutlery, handmade artisanal products, a tattoo booth and a photo booth. Some of the informational and resource booths include Pathway to Veterans, Carolina Heart and Leg, Miss North Carolina and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

The entertainment stage will feature a variety of local talent throughout the weekend as well as fashion shows and a visit from local pageant queens. The entertainment schedule is available at www.ladiesshoptilyoudrop.com.

“A doctor from the Carolina Heart and Leg Center will speak about women’s heart health,” said Rudolph. “February is Heart Health Month, and heart disease and stroke cause one in three deaths for women. It’s important for women to educate and take care of themselves.”

Event sponsors Baker Motorsports and Cadillac of Fayetteville will be on-site as well.

Proceeds from the event benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital. “We want to give back to the community,” Meixsell said. “Last year, we supported literacy, but we see so many kids with cancer these days. We just want to be able to give back. We would like to give a generous donation.”

One dollar from each ticket sold will be donated to St. Jude’s.

St. Jude’s mission is to “advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. … No child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.”

The first 100 entrants will receive swag bags filled with things like jewelry, gift cards and more.

VIP tickets are available and include VIP seating at the entertainment stage and VIP swag bags.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 24 and noon to 6 p.m. Feb. 25. The first 100 guests will receive a swag bag filled with items donated by vendors. Tickets cost $8 and are available at Capefeartix.com, ladiesshoptilyoudrop.com or at the door during the event. Call 910-483-0970 to learn more.

For several years, U.S. special operations forces have been operating outside the public eye in West Africa. They have worked alongside local forces to counter various extremist groups. Few outside military circles paid any attention to the U.S. mission in Niger until the deaths of four American troops in an Oct. 2017 firefight. The three Green Berets were members of the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. Although Sgt. La David Johnson was airborne qualified, he was not a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, according to 82nd officials.

The incident report of the battle could be released in a matter of weeks, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said. “It is extensive, it is thousands of pages long,” Mattis said of the report, adding that “it is looking at all aspects, not just to this specific incident but to the broader circumstances surrounding that incident.”

Mattis cautioned that Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. Africa Command, will set that timetable. Recommendations are expected to include tighter oversight of elite forces on the ground.

The New York Times said a draft of the report of the Oct. 4 attack by ISIS-affiliated militants calls for reducing the number of U.S. ground missions in Niger and stripping field commanders of the authority to dispatch troops on risky missions. Commanders in Niger currently have the authority to make decisions on when to launch reconnaissance patrols.

Cross Creek Mall visitor information center is closed

For many years, the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau staffed an information center outside J.C. Penny’s interior entrance at Cross Creek Mall. FACVB ambassadors volunteered at the center. It was closed recently by mall management, according to John Meroski, CEO of the bureau.“Due to other plans from the mall, the space is no longer free,” he said. “In today’s market, we are able to bring visitors information directly to them.”

He added that “the bureau’s mobile app, information in the hotels and local advertising in Up & Coming Weekly and Weekender are among many marketing mediums we use.” An information center is still open at the Fayetteville Transportation and Local History Museum on Franklin Street.

Human Services consolidation in the offing

After a closed session during a recent special meeting, the Cumberland County Board of Health named Assistant County Manager Duane Holder as interim health director, effective immediately. Deputy health director Rod Jenkins had served as the interim director since July 7 and asked that he return to his duties as deputy director. Holder provided the board of health a short update on planned human services consolidation.

In 2012, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation that provided counties with new options for reorganizing and governing some local human services agencies, including local health departments and departments of social services. Commissioners have invited members of both boards to a presentation by the University of North Carolina School of Government about the reorganization and governance of local public health and other human services agencies. The presentation will take place Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. at the Department of Social Services office building.

Cold murder case resolved

Fayetteville Police have charged Howard A. Ashleman, 24, with the murder 3 1/2 years ago of James Allan Chambers II. Ashleman listed his home as in Wade, North Carolina.

Chambers was reported missing to the Fayetteville Police Department by his family Aug. 24, 2014. He was last seen the next day. The FPD’s Homicide Unit suspected foul play and assumed the investigation.

Earlier this month, homicide detectives brought formal murder and armed robbery charges against Ashleman. Police didn’t say how they got a break in the case. The FPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, along with SBI agents and Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies, apprehended Ashleman in Sophia, North Carolina.

Police have not said whether Chambers’ body has been found. Ashleman is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center without bond.

Local bridge to close March 5

The Grove Street/NC 24 bridge over the Cape Fear River will close for about one month for repairs and maintenance work that will extend its longevity. The contractor, ACC West Coast LLC of Benicia, California, will make concrete repairs below the bridge and replace deck joints on the driving surface.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation awarded the $999,500 contract in December. DOT did not say whether an inspection had found the bridge to be structurally unsound. The bridge was built in 1974 and carries about 25,000 vehicles each day.

Preliminary work is already underway with the closure of both inside lanes. If Mother Nature cooperates, the contractor will close the bridge to all traffic. While the bridge is closed, local residents will be detoured using Person Street to Cedar Creek Road/ NC 53, Clinton Road and U.S. 301/Business 95.

Photos: Top row, L-R: Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington; Sgt. La David Johnson of Miami Gardens, Florida; Bottom row, L-R: Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia.

Meetings

• Feb. 22 – Hope Mills Board of Commissioners Special Meeting at noon at the Town Hall Board Room. The board will conduct a workshop session with Cumberland County Planning & Inspections. Lunch will be provided.

• Feb. 22 – Veterans Committee at 7 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center • Feb. 26 – Parks and Recreation Committee at 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

• Feb. 26 – Appearance Committee at 7 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

Activities at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation: 5770 Rockfish Rd.

• Hope Mills Youth baseball and indoor soccer registration is open through Feb. 28 and ends at 4:30 p.m. daily. Baseball ages 5-14, instructional soccer ages 5-8, indoor soccer ages 7-12. Eligibility cut-off date for baseball and indoor soccer is May 1. Proof of address and birth certificate are required to register. Call 910-426-4105 for more information.

Email us at hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

The town of Hope Mills is starting a monthly award to honor local small businesses.

At a recent meeting of the town’s board of commissioners, Mayor Jackie Warner appointed commissioners Meg Larson and Pat Edwards to head the committee that will screen the nominations and assist with making selections of which businesses to honor.

Larson feels the purpose of the award is to recognize the community’s small businesses for exceptional customer service and to showcase how they’ve gone above and beyond to give back to the community.

“I think it’s important to recognize their contributions and help promote economic development.... They also provide a service that contributes to the quality of life for the citizens of Hope Mills,’’ Larson said.

She added Hope Mills is a community that works together, and the small businesses add to the hometown feel.

“The small businesses we have here have been around a long time,’’ she said. “It’s important to recognize them, that they’ve stuck it out. It’s hard to compete against the prices of some of those big box stores.’’

From her personal perspective, Larson said, small businesses offer a special opportunity to develop a close relationship between the employees and the consumers. “It’s like you have the ability to pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey Debbie, hey Robin,’” Larson said. “The customer service is obviously more intimate than when you go to a large store.’’

The town is soliciting nominations from local citizens for businesses to consider for the award. Forms that contain details on making a nomination are available at the Hope Mills Recreation Center or online at townofhopemills.com.

There are specific requirements for a business to be nominated that are listed on the form.

They include the following:

• Must be located with the town limits of Hope Mills.

• Must have fewer than 100 employees. • Must have been in business at least one year.

• Must have an active role in the community through community service and giving back to the community.

Larson said anyone with questions about the award can contact her and fellow commissioner Edwards. Their contact information is available at the town of Hope Mills website.

Photo: Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner appointed Commissioners Meg Larson (left) and Pat Edwards (right) to head up the new smallbusiness awards committee.

 

PWC responded positively to dozens of its customers who showed up at a Fayetteville city council meeting to vent their frustrations over unexpectedly high power bills. Eastern North Carolina faced frigid temperatures in January as polar conditions descended upon the entire East Coast. Temperatures measured at Raleigh-Durham International Airport dipped below zero on New Year’s Eve and stayed well below freezing for eight days, a period matched only twice in recorded history, said Nick Petro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Raleigh.

The effect of frigid weather on individual utility bills can’t be predicted with precision because of many variables: billing periods vary; homes are different sizes; some homes are better insulated than others; thermostat settings vary; and some homes make use of space heaters while others do not.

Some PWC customers stated their bills had doubled, even tripled, mostly as the result of the unusually cold winter weather in late December and early January. Many were fearful that their electricity would be turned off because of their inability to pay their high bills.

PWC customer service manager Mark Brown assured them there would be no cutoffs or late charges for PWC customers who make payment arrangements. He urged customers to contact his office before their invoices are due so special arrangements can be set up. This was confirmed by PWC general manager David Trego, who told Up & Coming Weekly that in January alone PWC assisted nearly 17,000 of their customers with their unexpectedly high utility bills by granting due date extensions. He said that represents 20 percent of PWC’s customer base. After the city council meeting, Brown met with about 30 residents to answer questions and provide additional assistance.

Local businessman Clarence Briggs, founder of AIT – a web hosting and technology firm – had his own concerns with PWC. He claims the Hometown Utility has been overcharging his Hay Street office building for months, and he’s hired a utility auditing firm to check into it. Brown said PWC has also examined AIT’s records, and so far, has found errors totaling $130, which have already been credited to Brigg’s account. Briggs requested that the city use its oversight to hold PWC accountable. But, under state law, the city has no regulatory authority over the independently- operated utility.

Public Works electricity rates have not changed since May 2017. PWC encourages customers with questions or concerns to contact them immediately.

Erwin Montgomery

Pine Forest • Basketball •

Junior

Montgomery has a 3.71 grade point average. In addition to playing basketball, he’s a member of the Trojans’ Builders Association.

 

 

 

 

Tishera Owens

Gray’s Creek • Basketball/ volleyball/track •

Junior

Owens has a 4.0 grade point average. She volunteers time working with children in a daycare center. She plans to go to a four-year school and major in psychology. She’d like to get an academic scholarship and play college sports.

The sky figured to be the limit for Douglas Byrd longjumper Zinzili Kelley after she stunned the crowd at last year’s Carver Classic with a leap of 19 feet.

“She came in second in the regionals and was ranked No. 1 for the states,’’ said Robert Freeman, Kelley’s track coach at Byrd.

But something happened when Kelley got to last year’s outdoor state track meet. “She didn’t hit the podium,’’ Freeman said. “I think she had anxiety.’’

Whatever the problem was, it was gone recently at the 3-A state indoor meet at the JDL Fast Track complex in Winston-Salem.

Kelley didn’t equal her Carver performance of last spring, but her leap of 18 feet, 1.25 inches was enough to give her the long jump championship in this year’s 3-A indoor meet.

Kelley didn’t get a lot of competition prior to the state meet. She only competed in two so-called polar bear indoor meets this season. They call them polar bears because they were both held outdoors, on the same track at Reid Ross Classical High School where the Carver meet took place.

When she got to this year’s state indoor meet, where she finished fourth a year ago, Kelley figured it would be best to stay ignorant of her competition.

“I didn’t want to know who I was competing against,’’ she said. “I did not know how far they jumped. I didn’t look at the performance list. It will make me nervous.’’

Kelley said she enjoyed jumping at the JDL complex in Winston-Salem. “It’s different from being outside,’’ she said. “It’s softer and I could feel the board more. The facility itself is great.’’

With the indoor season over and outdoor track season about to start, Kelley is counting on the benefits of the indoor season helping her this spring.

“In the indoor season, we’re more in the weight room and carrying tires,’’ she said. “When the outdoor season comes, I have that strength.’’

She hopes that strength will carry her to a chance to compete in track at the University of South Carolina, where former Douglas Byrd coach Curtis Frye has built a nationallyknown track program.

“I’m from South Carolina and always wanted to go there,’’ she said. “I want to be a lawyer.’’

Freeman thinks her next stop could be as a state champion in the outdoor season. “She should be in the rankings for state if she doesn’t get any jitters or stage fright,’’ he said. “She’s a top contender.’’

Photo: Zinzili Kelley

On Feb. 10, the Fayetteville Marksmen held their first ever “Pink in the Rink” game – a breast cancer awareness game that benefited the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation. Fundraising efforts included donating portions of ticket sales and proceeds from their postgame jersey auction. The rink was literally turned pink, as fans of the Marksmen and members of the community were able to come out before the game to share messages of hope on the ice in pink paint. At the end, the Marksmen presented $2,500 to the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation.

The Marksmen knew when they began their inaugural season that giving back to their new community would be an integral part of their plan. “Pink in the Rink” was not the first time fans could attend a local sporting event that was more than just a game.

In November the Marksmen held a “Teddy Bear Toss,” which benefited local children’s hospitals. Fans tossed teddy bears onto the ice after the team scored their first goal. Over 700 bears were donated. The “Pooch Party” in January allowed fans to bring their dogs to the game, but it also helped dogs who were looking for homes. Multiple adoptable dogs left the game with a new family.

The Marksmen have also reached out to the community in other ways, including their “Scout Night,” which allowed local Boy Scout troops to spend the night at the Crown after attending a game.

While the season is coming to a close, there’s still plenty of time left to experience the excitement that comes with attending a Marksmen hockey game. There are also many other games left that share the same connection – giving back to and celebrating our community.

Feb. 22 is “Education Day,” where local schools can bring their students to a daytime game and learn the connection hockey has to science and technology. Feb. 24 is “Faith Night,” where the Marksmen will have a diaper toss to benefit the Fayetteville Dream Center’s diaper bank, which provides diapers to low-income families. March 10 is “Military Appreciation Night,” which celebrates the local military community by giving all military and their families “best seat available” tickets for just $10.

Keep up with the Marksmen and their schedule by visiting marksmenhockey.com, and purchase tickets through their website or by calling 910-321-0123.

I write a lot, and grieve even more, regarding the seeming lack of common sense that has invaded our nation. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the recent three-day partial shutdown of the federal government “laying waste to reason.” Now, there is another instance of political decisions making no sense to me – absolutely no sense.

As was the case with the partial shutdown, the situation I want to address now is driven by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. An article by Katie Heinrich and Daniel Arkin titled “What Is DACA? Here’s What You Need to Know About the Program Trump Is Ending” explains DACA as follows:

“President Barack Obama created DACA through a 2012 executive order. The program has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country. Applicants cannot have serious criminal histories, and must have arrived in the U.S. before 2007, when they were under the age of 16. DACA recipients can live and work legally in the U.S. for renewable two-year periods.”

President Donald Trump rescinded President Obama’s executive order and gave Congress until March 5 to pass legislation addressing the status of DACA participants.

The partial shutdown was clearly brought about when Democrats, led by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, refused to vote in favor of a continuing resolution that would have funded the government for a short period while budget negotiations went forward. Democrats took this action because they wanted protection for DACA participants included in the continuing resolution. Since Republicans only have 51 senators, while 60 votes were required to pass the continuing resolution, the lack of sufficient Democratic votes doomed the legislation.

After the shutdown ended, Trump announced a proposal for addressing the DACA situation. Leigh Ann Caldwell and Phil McCausland detail the offer in an article titled “Trump backs citizenship for Dreamers while slashing legal immigration.” They explain there would be a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

They also reported, “The path to citizenship would be provided to DACA recipients via a 10- to 12-year path that includes ‘requirements for work, education and good moral character.’” Caldwell and McCausland said the offer further requires: a $25 billion trust fund for a border wall; funds to add new enforcement officers, immigration judges and prosecutors; an end to family reunification, also called “chain migration” by conservatives; and an end to the diversity visa lottery. A later update to this article indicated family immigration would still be allowed, but sponsorship of immigrants would be limited to spouses or children, rather than also including extended family members.

This is where I believe the lack of common sense shows up. It seems to me that common sense dictates that this offer be examined in detail, followed by a civil discussion of what legitimate participants in the process view as positives and negatives of the offer. These steps would be followed by thoughtful negotiations that aim to do what is right for America while dealing as fairly as possible with DACA-qualified persons. Yes, I am saying legislation addressing this matter should not bring undue hardship on American citizens. Hardship can be measured in terms of financial costs and the loss of jobs by American citizens; however, whatever action is taken should include every possible step to ensure that this DACA situation does not happen again.

Operating on the premise that what I outlined is reasonable, common sense, this is nowhere near what is going on in Washington as I write this column. Trump’s proposal was immediately dismissed, and even blatantly attacked, by various individuals and groups. Consider the following segments from an article titled “Schumer rejects Trump’s immigration proposal” by Burgess Everett:

“‘This plan flies in the face of what most Americans believe,’ Schumer said on Twitter. While Trump ‘finally acknowledged that the Dreamers should be allowed to stay here and become citizens, he uses them as a tool to tear apart our legal immigration system and adopt the wish list that anti-immigration hard-liners have advocated for years.’”

“‘President Trump and Republicans cannot be allowed to use Dreamers as a bargaining chip for their wish list of anti-immigrant policies,’ said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).”

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it ‘anti-immigrant,’ and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Trump’s plan would institute Trump’s ‘hardline immigration agenda — including massive cuts to legal immigration — on the backs of these young people.’”

I could go on listing quotes that support my contention that there is, with minimal exceptions, an unimaginable lack of reason, of common sense, in addressing the DACA issue. Instead of pursuing a course that could use Trump’s surprise DACA offer as a starting point and thoughtfully negotiating a resolution, people in the position to pursue this course spend their time before microphones attacking the offer in ways that reflect nearly zero thought.

Here is an example of that lack of thought. The president is accused of being “anti-immigrant,” and his DACA proposal is pointed to as supporting that accusation. A case-in-point is “chain migration.” Following are selected quotes from an article by Theresa Cardinal Brown titled “Chain Migration and DACA: An Explainer:”

“Under current U.S. immigration law, citizens may sponsor certain relatives for green cards. Green card holders may, in turn, sponsor a smaller group of relatives for green cards. Collectively, this ability of immigrants, who later become green card holders and citizens, to sponsor their family members is described by some as a ‘chain’ of migration.

“Family-sponsored green cards have been part of immigration law since at least 1965 and account for about 65 percent of new legal immigrants to the United States each year.

“Immediate Relatives: U.S. citizens, (both nativeborn and naturalized) can sponsor their spouse, children under 21 or parents (if the citizen is at least 21). There are no annual limits on how many green cards can be issued each year to this group.

“U.S. citizens can also sponsor their adult children (and their spouses and grandchildren) for green cards, as well as their brothers and sisters, but there are annual caps.

“Current green card holders can sponsor their spouses, minor children and unmarried adult children, for green cards, again subject to annual caps.”

Brown’s article leads me to at least two critical points for consideration. One is that 65 percent of legal immigrants come to America through chain migration. She says this regarding requirements of the applicant: “This step includes criminal and background checks, proof of ability to support themselves, no disqualifying medical conditions, and no previous violations of immigration law.” Nothing here addresses the question of capacity for assimilation into American society or what value the person’s presence adds to the well-being and advancement of this country. Then there is the question of whether citizenship for DACA participants would eventually allow some of them to sponsor their parents who came here illegally. I see these as reasonable concerns to be addressed.

Equally reasonable for negotiation is a wall system at the southern border and other actions that enhance border security. In the case of DACA, this action helps prevent recurrence of the problem. Then this from www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity- visa: “The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.”

Given that we are a country with debt spiraling out of control, struggling to solve a horrendous poverty crisis, and flailing in efforts to provide affordable medical care to our citizens and make living wage jobs available to millions, why are we bringing more people in through a lottery system?

Simply put, I do not see common sense at work in the negative and attacking responses to Trump’s surprise DACA offer. Given the glaring lack of common sense demonstrated here, I have to conclude there is something other than clear-headed thinking at work. I believe White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got to the heart of the matter when she said Democrats must decide, “do they hate” Trump “more than they love this country”?

Back in what she calls her younger days, Terry Sanford bowling coach Sherrie Peterson was a regular league bowler who once rolled a high game of 277.

Those memories appear to be rubbing off on the girls and boys she’s coaching as both the Bulldog girls and boys teams recently rolled their way to victory in the Patriot Athletic Conference bowling championship.

“They are the best group of kids,’’ Peterson said of her current teams. “They always come prepared, and they are eager to practice. They are the top students in the school.’’

The victory by the boys’ team came as no surprise to Peterson. The Terry Sanford boys have a history of success and returned a number of players who qualified for the state playoffs last season.

The girls were less of a sure thing. “We only had three returning bowlers and a lot of young bowlers, three ninth-graders,’’ she said. “I was definitely excited the girls got to that level and won.’’

One of the key players in the Bulldog girls’ success was freshman Zoe Cannady.

Cannady, who has been bowling for nine years, said she felt she bonded with her teammates and Peterson well in her first season with the Bulldogs. “You need to improve what you do when you bowl, even if you think you’re the best there is,’’ she said. “There are still things you can learn.’’

Senior Andrew Walker helped lead the Bulldog boys to victory. In the conference title match, he came up with three critical strikes in the tenth frame to seal the victory. Walker has a rich bowling lineage. His grandfather Junior Edge and his great grandfather Tom Iuliucci were both longtime bowling proprietors in Fayetteville.

Walker credited team chemistry as the main reason for Terry Sanford’s success on the boys’ side. “Nobody graduated from last year,’’ he said. “We pretty much had the same team. We just have to have high spirits. Usually that will work and keep our skills on point.’’

The Bulldogs will lose some key players this year, but twins Tommy and Jack Cooney, both freshmen, will return to lead next year’s squad.

“They are going to have to hold up most of the team,’’ Walker said. “Hopefully we’ll have some others come in.’’

Peterson thanked Nancy Schenk, director of league bowling for Cumberland County Schools, for her leadership of the bowling program. She also thanked both B&B Lanes and Lafayette Lanes for allowing all of the county bowlers to practice and compete there.

Photo: Front row, L-R: Abigail Walker, Olivia Jones, Autumn Edge, Zoe Cannady, Avery Schenk, Maya Ervin. Back row, L-R: Samuel Hatch, Gavin Chavis, Andrew Walker, Coach Sherrie Peterson, Thomas Cooney, Jack Cooney. Not pictured: Will Rosser.

Kenny Howell was literally almost everywhere in the early years of 2000 promoting his homemade Uncle Zip’s Beef Jerky.

You could see him at high school and professional sporting events in his trademark white apron and chef’s hat selling the original flavor of his jerky.

His business peaked when he made an appearance on the hit TV show “Shark Tank” in 2011. He didn’t get the big cash prize while on the show, but he did get a so-called “Oprah bounce” from the national exposure that was both a blessing and a curse as the orders that emanated from a national show were sometimes too much for a small business to handle.

Then came tragedy when Howell fell ill and passed way in 2014. The business floundered for a time until childhood friend Jeff Harris stepped in to right the ship.

Now, from its location on Trade Street in Hope Mills, Uncle Zip’s is back in business, with the original flavor of jerky and more for sale, and a slightly different direction for the business than the one Howell had established.

When Howell passed away, Harris tried to keep the business going with co-packing, getting someone else to produce the product and selling it.

That proved ineffective, so Harris decided to return to the roots Howell had established, making the jerky himself.

“We make it all right here in small batches,’’ Harris said. “Kenny always said homestyle, like if you make a small batch at home. It’s going to taste just like that.’’

Harris doesn’t promote Uncle Zip’s with the flair that Howell did, but he returned to Howell’s original flavor of jerky, which is flavored with soy and, in Harris’ words, is still awesome.

He’s expanded the line of flavors considerably. Selling almost as well as the original jerky is a teriyaki flavor that’s marinated in pineapple, Harris said. He’s also added hot chili lime, mesquite smoke, sriracha and habanero.

His daughter, Jenna Harris, has an interest in culinary work. Harris found some recipes Howell had hidden away, and Jenna tweaked one of them to be a spicy version. Harris said he can’t keep it in stock.

If making a decision on which flavor to buy is a problem, Harris said that’s no worry. There’s a tasting table located in the company’s Trade Street headquarters. “You can get a cup and taste the flavor before you buy,’’ Harris said. “It’s made daily.’’

Uncle Zip’s is currently open seven days a week, normally from noon until 7 p.m. weekdays and from noon to 5 p.m. on weekends.

You can walk in and buy the product, or visit the business website at www.unclezipsbeefjerky.com.

Harris takes orders for the product over the internet. Depending on his personal schedule, he may actually bring your order directly to you.

You can also find it available for sale in a variety of local businesses, from small food markets to bars and bowling lanes.

To find out more about Uncle Zip’s and what it has to offer, visit the Facebook page by searching the business title in the Facebook search bar.

The city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County have ceremoniously signed the papers financially supporting the new baseball stadium. County Commission Chairman Larry Lancaster and Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin came together at city hall with members of their boards present. Buies Creek Astros minor league team general manager David Lane was also on hand.

The single-A Houston farm team has already moved from California to North Carolina. But, construction of the local ballpark is just now getting underway and won’t be ready for baseball until the spring of next year. Until then, the team is playing at Campbell University in Buies Creek.

“Teamwork and good sportsmanship are alive and well in our community,” said Lancaster. He and Colvin executed separate interlocal agreements to devote property tax revenues earned from collateral investments near the stadium in support of the ballpark business plan. “This is a wonderful example of community collaboration,” Colvin said. Since taking office in December, Colvin has emphasized improving local government working relationships.

A special tax district is being created in the relatively small area that surrounds the stadium. Tax revenues received from private development in that district will be devoted to paying off the baseball stadium’s $33 million bond debt. It will be among the most expensive minor league stadiums on the East Coast.

The city agreed to grant a Durham- based developer exclusive rights to the property adjacent to the ballpark. PCH Holdings, LLC is currently renovating the interior of the former Prince Charles Hotel. Once that’s completed, the company will turn its attention to the exterior. It will become an apartment building. The firm also plans to build a four-story parking garage as well as a multistory hotel on top of the garage as well as retail shops. The city of Fayetteville has agreed to purchase the parking deck from PCH Holdings at its actual construction cost. The garage will be used for public parking.

The signing event also included execution of an amendment to a related agreement between the city, county and Public Works Commission for continued funding of the Franklin Street parking garage. The original parking garage agreement for tax-increment funding was approved in 2010. The county will contribute property tax collections to the project for five years after the stadium is completed and 75 percent for an additional 15 years.

The amendment redefines the district’s boundaries, adds a provision to treat formerly tax-exempt property in the same manner as nonexempt property and changes the termination of the county’s obligation for the parking deck to Dec. 31, 2030. PWC continues to provide funding for the operation and maintenance of the Franklin Street parking garage.

Fayetteville city and Cumberland county policymakers have resolved their funding differences on a pair of downtown development issues. Cumberland County commissioners voted unanimously to reaffirm their support of the Hay Street minor league baseball stadium. And they agreed to continue funding their share of the Franklin Street parking garage through 2030.

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said at a recent meeting of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Liaison Committee that he and County Commission Chairman Larry Lancaster had discussed the agreements.

“I applaud Chairman Lancaster and the commission for partnering with us in this transformative project,” Colvin said. “This is a new day in our community, and I am excited about our future.” City council confirmed minor revisions county government agreed to.

Commissioner Jimmy Keefe said the county had intended to help pay for the garage until the debt was paid off. He made the motion to adopt the interlocal agreements that had previously been agreed to by city council. “We are getting to where we need to be with the city of Fayetteville,” he said. Keefe served for several years on city council before being elected to the county board.

County Attorney Rick Morefield told commissioners his review of the agreement from the city was in keeping with county expectations.

The city is building a $33 million baseball stadium on Hay Street that will be home to a Houston Astros’ advance single-A farm team. City and county officials agreed a year and a half ago to jointly support the project, but the city’s baseball committee became concerned when county government sought to modify its funding of the parking deck. The city, county and Fayetteville Public Works Commission shared in the construction cost of the four-story garage. Any change in that arrangement would have negatively impacted the business plan adopted for the ballpark.

County commissioners this month agreed to rebate 100 percent of county property taxes earned from new development associated with the stadium for five years and 75 percent for the following 15 years. City council made an identical pledge of financial support.

PCH Holdings, a Durham-based private developer, is renovating the former Price Charles Hotel adjacent to the stadium. It will be transformed into an apartment building, with the eighth-floor ballroom becoming a posh, high-level apartment.

The firm also plans to build a four-story hotel atop a new four-story parking garage immediately adjacent to the Fayetteville train station. PCH Holdings also plans on developing the commercial property it has acquired in the available acreage surrounding the ballpark footprint. The numerous projects, including the stadium, are expected to represent $100 million in economic development.

Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, this column will appear in print on Valentine’s Day. As a gesture to this most festive and dangerous time of year, I shall explain all you need to know about love but were afraid to ask. You may thank me or throw rocks at the end of the column. One of our contemporary love goddesses, Tina Turner, once asked the musical question: “What’s love got to do with it?/ What’s love but a secondhand emotion?”

Good question, Tina. Let us go right to the source, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

I got to thinking about Aphrodite after seeing the play “Venus in Fur” at the Gilbert Theater. It was an excellent production that left me dazed and confused.

Aphrodite is in charge of love. Aphrodite came from a nontraditional family situation. Her father was Uranus, the sky god who became involved in a domestic violence episode with her brother Cronos. Cronos chopped off Uranus’ male naughty bits with a scythe and threw said bits into the ocean. This did nothing to preserve family harmony.

However, as Uranus’ blood spread out into the ocean, it eventually formed Aphrodite, who arose from the sea foam as a beautiful, fully grown woman. If you hang out long enough in museums, you will see paintings of Aphrodite standing on a seashell. Now you know why.

Aphrodite spent most of her time nekkid as a jaybird, according to Greek mythology and Renaissance painters. She was a big ol’ friendly gal and not too choosy about the concept of marital fidelity. Like most Greek mythology, there are a lot of different versions about her carryings on, so I will just pick a version that seems likely

She was married to a god named Hephaestus. After a while, she took up with Ares, the god of war, during the Trojan War. Ares wooed her by reciting a poem later made famous by Andy Griffith. Ares got down on his knees and told her, “Sure as the vine twines round the stump, you are my darling, Sugar Lump.” No gal could resist a line like this, so she hopped into bed with Ares. Unfortunately for Aphrodite, the Sun god, Helios, saw her and Ares at the Motel Sixtus. Helios, being a noted gossip, immediately blabbed to Hephaestus about Aphrodite catting around.

Hephaestus was not amused. He made a net out of solid gold to catch the lovers. The next time Aphrodite and Ares had a rendezvous, Hephaestus threw his net over them while they were in flagrante delicto, which is fancy talk for caught in the act. Hephaestus invited a bunch of his god and goddess friends in to point and laugh at the netted Aphrodite and Ares and yell “Nanny, nanny, boo, boo!” at them. Needless to say, this was an embarrassing event for Aphrodite. Almost as embarrassing as when Scarlet O’Hara got caught hugging up on Ashley Wilkes in “Gone with the Wind,” and Rhett made her go to the spring formal wearing a red dress so she would stand out as a painted woman.

Fortunately for Aphrodite, not all Greek gods were mean like a chili bean. Poseidon, the god of the sea, felt sorry for her. He paid Hephaestus to let her go. Aphrodite was as resilient as Scarlet O’Hara and soon went back to being her old cheerful self. She gave birth to a son, Eros, who was the god of lust. The identity of Eros’ dad remains in question as paternity tests did not exist back in those days, although he looked a lot like Ares. She had another son, Priapus, whose dad was probably Dionysis, the god of wine and religious ecstasy.

Aphrodite’s mother-in-law, Hera, was jealous when Aphrodite got pregnant with Priapus. Hera smeared Aphrodite’s pregnant belly with an evil potion that caused Priapus to be born with certain deformities, which will not be described in a family newspaper such as Up & Coming Weekly. Let us just leave it that Priapus was able to be a good farmer due to his deformity. Aphrodite went on to have many more amorous adventures, which shall remain unspoken in this column.

The Romans were so taken with Aphrodite’s story that they stole it. As in the old TV show “Dragnet,” the Romans changed the names of the gods to protect the innocent. In Roman mythology, Aphrodite became Venus, Ares became Mars, her husband Hephaestus became Vulcan. Confusing, ain’t it?

So, what can we say we have learned about love? That it seldom runs smooth? That love is all you need? Turns out the only thing for sure about love is that it is complicated.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Full refunds or chunks of granite available from the front desk if you feel this column wasted your time.

Photo: Tina Turner

The Crown Complex will host the Traxxas Monster Truck Tour Feb. 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. The event will feature monster trucks competing in races, wheelie contests and freestyle stunts. The show promises to be adrenaline-filled and action-packed.

The event will feature the monster truck crowd favorites Skully, Craniac, X-Maxx, Bad to the Bone and The Champ. Also, in attendance will be Transaurus, a three-story tall, firebreathing mechanical dragon.

A pit party and autograph session with the drivers will be held for fans before the show. During the pit party, and the show’s intermission, audience members have the chance to ride in a monster truck.

The Anatomy of a Monster Truck, a behind-the-scenes tour, will be held at 5 p.m. before the show. During the tour, a driver will explain the mechanics of their monster truck, answer audience questions and be available for autographs and pictures.

Advance discount tickets are available online at Capefeartix.com, by phone at 1-888- 257-6208, or the Crown Complex Box Office. Advance adult tickets starting at $15. Friday, tickets for children 2-11 start at $5. Groups rates are available. Tickets are subject to a service charge. Fees may be applied - Children under 3 are free. Ticket prices go up the day of the show.

For more information, visit http:// www.crowncomplexnc.com/events/ detail/traxxas-monster-truck

Meetings

• Feb. 14 – Historic Preservation Commission at 5 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

• Feb. 19 – Mayor’s Youth Leadership Committee at 6:30 p.m., Town Hall

• Feb. 19 – Board of commissioners at 7 p.m., Town Hall • Feb. 20 – Lake Advisory Committee at 6 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

• Feb. 22 – Veterans Committee at 7 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

• Feb. 26 – Parks and Recreation Committee at 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

• Feb. 26 – Appearance Committee at 7 p.m., Parks and Recreation Center

Activities at Hope Mills Parks and Recreation: 5770 Rockfish Rd.

• Hope Mills Youth baseball and indoor soccer registration is open through Feb. 28 and ends at 4:30 p.m. daily. Baseball ages 5-14, instructional soccer ages 5-8, indoor soccer ages 7-12. Eligibility cut-off date for baseball and indoor soccer is May 1. Proof of address and birth certificate are required to register. Call 910-426-4105 for more information.

Promote yourself

To have your business, organization or event included in this section, email us: hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com.

I enjoy riding when it is in the 60s or 70s, but when the temperature drops, our body and mind begin to compensate in strange ways. You do not have to be in the snow to be cold when riding a motorcycle.

Unlike water, which freezes at 32 degrees, humans can die in mild weather conditions. One’s body reacts to cold weather depending on age, body mass, body fat, overall health and the length of exposure time to cold temperatures.

Medically, our body’s temperature averages 98.6 degrees. With hypothermia, core temperature drops below 95 degrees. With severe hypothermia, core body temperature can drop to 82 degrees or lower. As our body’s core temperature decreases, the body also tries its best to compensate. When this happens, it becomes dangerous to ride.

As our body cools, we develop a variety of symptoms: shivering, slow and shallow breathing, confusion, memory loss, drowsiness, exhaustion, slurred or mumbled speech, loss of coordination, fumbling hands, stumbling steps and a slow or weak pulse.

Ninety percent of our heat escapes through our skin. Heat is lost through radiation and speeds up when the skin gets wet or is exposed to wind. We can compensate for this by wearing layered and electric clothing and waterproofing everything.

The neck is sensitive to cold on a motorcycle. Here, there is little protection around the carotid arteries where the heart is pumping blood to the brain. I always carry a balaclava and a neckwarmer.

The body cools 25 percent faster when exposed to moisture. GORTEX is a popular fabric known for wicking moisture away from the body, but GORTEX is a thin fabric. GORTEX alone will not keep you warm enough. Depending on the situation, my rain gear adds a wonderful and useful layer and holds in heat and protects against the outside elements.

The hands are a sensitive extremity. Waterproof gloves are part of the everyday gear in my pack. For cool days, I have GORTEX gloves. For colder days, I have a pair of electric gloves that attach to my electric jacket. I also have heated grips. Those heated grips are handy on those 60- and 70-degree days. Heated grips are just enough to keep my hands comfortable and the ride pleasant.

Eye protection should always be a priority. During the research for this article, I was unable to find out if we lose heat through the eye sockets. When I was in the Army, we often trained in cold weather. After a while, I made it a point to always keep sunglasses on during the day, and at night, even while sleeping, I kept my clear pair of safety glasses on. Although I could not find a study about this (which means I couldn’t find one in the first 30 hits on Google), the eye does contain a good amount of fluid. We have tear ducts around our eyes as well. Even with my face shield down, I wear a pair of glasses, and somehow, I feel warmer.

Once you have done all you can to stay warm, here are few tips to keep you safe. Learn your body and how to dress for the various temperatures. Plan on bad weather and be prepared. Take plenty of breaks. Get off your bike, walk a few minutes and get your blood circulating again, and let your body warm up.

If there is a topic that you would like to discuss, you can contact me at motorcycle4fun@aol.com. RIDE SAFE!

This week, Up & Coming Weekly Publisher Bill Bowman lends his regular space to columnist Jason Brady. Brady shares his thoughts about and possible solutions for an issue that has recently affected many Cumberland County residents – an issue that will present itself again and again in the coming years.

Every time I see the horse lazily grazing at the corner of Stoney Point and Dundle roads, it makes me think we need to change the makeup of the Fayetteville City Council.

Soon that horse will be gone, and some commercial monstrosity will replace one of the last bucolic scenes in that neighborhood.

To be fair, I must mention that across the road is the Four Way, a mom and pop grocery store and gas station built in 1948. It dispenses gas, drinks, lottery tickets and food. But it fits in.

Miller’s Too restaurant is attached to the vinyl-covered cinderblock building. It’s a country-style eatery that serves breakfast and lunch, the type that may not be healthy but tastes darn good. On Thursday nights, there are blue plate specials, and the regulars who’ve eaten there for years fill up the seven booths and three tables and patiently wait for their fried pork chops, beef tips over rice or country-fried chicken steak with white gravy.

The landowners across the street, who I’m sure aren’t making money out of a corner lot with a horse grazing on it, sought commercial rezoning. They were smart, very smart. They hired a politically savvy lawyer who made the right argument. Plus they had the planning board and city bureaucrats on their side. They figured since the new I-295 bypass was going to dump more traffic onto the area, why not dump some more.

The newly elected council in mid- January voted to rezone the 8.6 acres on the corner from residential to commercial conditional. It was a controversial issue that came up this past summer, but council members hoped the landowners and opponents could come up with a compromise. If not, they would revisit the issue – after the election.

The 200-plus people who signed a petition wanting to keep the area residential – or, in downtown vernacular, “in keeping with the fabric of the community” – didn’t have a chance.

I recently ran into a council member who asked me how things were going in western Fayetteville. I suggested things would be better if council hadn’t commercialized my neighborhood. He then brought up the property rights argument. People have a right to use their property for its best use. What if it were my property, he asked. My thoughts are that I wouldn’t screw over my neighbors.

He did have a point. People should have control over their property and thus their financial destiny.

But the property rights argument confuses me. Why do people have property rights that can negatively affect their neighbors but don’t have property rights when it comes to cutting down trees in their own yards, or annexation or utility easements?

I’m wondering where my neighbors’ property rights are when it comes to the highway department. My friend Art lost half his front yard, Kenny is losing about 4 1/2 acres of his business, and another friend lost her home. But that’s government pointing to other units of government. To me, government is government.

Here’s why I think city residents are under- represented. Right now, nine council members, each elected in their separate districts, don’t have to be accountable to all voters. Only the mayor is elected by the entire city. So, voters in any specific district can only hold their council member, and possibly the mayor, accountable for any unpopular council action. The remaining eight can dump on any district without worry of voter backlash.

Here’s an idea. Let’s go back a few years and reorganize city council like it used to be: six districts with three at-large members. It seems to work for the county commissioners.

Do the math. That means a council member from a district and three at-large members may be more responsive to voters in a given geographical area of the city. Throw in the mayor’s vote, and people not wanting to have their neighborhood commercialized could have a fighting chance.

I’m guessing we’d have to get out from under the federal government’s 1963 Voters Rights Act, which was created to ensure minority representation in local elections, to include Fayetteville.

Right now, the ham-fisted Department of Justice tells us how we can organize the city’s voting districts. But this is 2018, and depending on which report you read, African-Americans are no longer a minority in Fayetteville. Besides, six of the 10 members of city council are African- Americans. I’m thinking African-Americans will no longer have problems getting elected in Fayetteville.

Maybe it’s time we start making council a tad more responsive to all voters.

When people pass by Marci’s Cakes and Bakes on Trade Street in Hope Mills, owner Marci Mang fears many of them jump to an incorrect conclusion.

“A bakery experience is something everyone should be able to enjoy and not be afraid that this is going to be too expensive to take my kid there,’’ she said. “We have items that start at just $1.’’

From the most ornate wedding and special occasion cakes to cupcakes, cake pops and even healthy snacks, Mang offers the full gourmet pastry experience and even a place just to come and sip blended drinks, chat with friends or read.

Mang, a military spouse who has lived in the Hope Mills area for 20 years, took an interest in baking when she enrolled in classes through Morale Welfare Recreation to learn about making birthday cakes for her children.

That turned into work at a bakery, then making cakes on her own and, finally, opening the business at Marci’s some three years ago.

“I love making special occasion cakes for my clients,’’ she said. “I love being part of their memories and their events. We are helping to create the memories.’’

But Marci’s Cakes and Bakes isn’t just about people coming in for special orders and walking out the door. She also welcomes customers who come to the store to spend some time there.

“We have coffee, tea and frappes,’’ Mang said. “We do cold cappuccinos and blended drinks.’’

There is seating inside the business, and Wi-Fi is available. “We have a Bible study that meets here a couple of days a week,’’ she said. “We have a few realtors and photographers that meet here with clients. We encourage them to come in, sit down, bring your book and hang out.’’

All the visitors to the shop will find a variety of confectionary delights to tempt them.

“We bake every day and try to change our menu every week,’’ Mang said. “We always try to have a few gourmet cupcakes and unique brownies. I always try to have at least one pound cake and a cheesecake – cakes that everyone knows and loves – as well as cookies and bar desserts.’’

People who are health-conscious aren’t left out. Mang includes an offering of what she calls power balls that feature ingredients like chia seed, flax seed, raw honey, natural peanut butter and unsweetened coconut.

“We try to do something for everyone,’’ she said. “We have specials every day of the week.’’ Mang said she’s even willing to attempt recipes that faithful customers email to her at marcimang@gmail.com.

We’re constantly trying new recipes and definitely respecting our customers’ requests,’’ she said.

As for special orders like wedding and other cakes and large orders of cupcakes, Mang shoots for a 72-hour turnaround time. Prices begin at $24 for an 8-inch round cake and $28 for a sheet cake.

How much more expensive the cake can be depends on the specific requests of the customer, but Mang stressed prices are flexible. “If somebody comes to me and wants a quote on a cake, I’ll say let’s talk about things on it that are most important to you,’’ she said. “Then we can come up with some other ideas to cut down on what else I have.’’

For further information on the shop and what it has to offer, visit the Facebook page at Marci’s Cakes and Bakes. In addition to email, you can call Mang at the shop at 910-425-6377.